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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/37895-8.txt b/37895-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c1acb42 --- /dev/null +++ b/37895-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,25570 @@ + +Project Gutenberg's A Literary History of the Arabs, by Reynold Nicholson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Literary History of the Arabs + +Author: Reynold Nicholson + +Release Date: November 11, 2011 [EBook #37985] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LITERARY HISTORY OF THE ARABS *** + + + + +Produced by Fritz Ohrenschall, Turgut Dincer, Sania Ali +Mirza and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +---------------------------------------------------------------+ + Transcriber's note: + + Spelling of the Arabic names is different in the body of + the text, in the References and in the Index, these have + been left as shown in the original text. + + The symbol looking like a breve in metres has been replaced + by tilde and the crosses showing the date of death by plus + signs "+". Bold numbers in the Index are enclosed between + "+" signs. + +---------------------------------------------------------------+ + + +[Illustration: LITIGANTS BEFORE A JUDGE + +From an Arabic manuscript in the British Museum (Or. 1200; No. 1007 in +Rieu's _Arabic Supplement_), dated A.H. 654 = A.D. 1256, which contains +the _Maqám[.a]t_ of [H.]arìrì illustrated by 81 miniatures in colours. +This one represents a scene in the 8th Maqáma: Abú Zayd and his son +appearing before the Cadi of Ma`arratu ´l-Nu´mán. The figure on the left +is [H.]árith b. Hammám, whom [H.]arìrì puts forward as the relater of +Abú Zayd's adventures.] + + + A LITERARY + HISTORY OF THE ARABS + + BY + + REYNOLD A. NICHOLSON + + CAMBRIDGE + + AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS + + 1966 + + + PUBLISHED BY + + THE SYNDICS OF THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS + + Bentley House, 200 Euston Road, London, N.W. 1 + American Branch: 32 East 57th Street, New York N.Y. 10022, + West African Office: P.O. Box 33, Ibadan, Nigeria + + First edition (T. Fisher Unwin) 1907, reprinted 1914, 1923 + Reprinted (Cambridge University Press) 1930, 1941, 1953, + 1962, 1966 + + _First printed in Great Britain at the University Press, Cambridge + Reprinted by offset-litho by Latimer Trend & Co. Ltd, Whitstable_ + + + + To + + PROFESSOR A. A. BEVAN + + In grateful recollection of many kindnesses + + + + +PREFACE + + +_A Literary History of the Arabs_, published by T. Fisher Unwin in 1907 +and twice re-issued without alteration, now appears under new auspices, +and I wish to thank the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press for +the opportunity they have given me of making it in some respects more +accurate and useful than it has hitherto been. Since the present edition +is printed from the original plates, there could be no question of +revising the book throughout and recasting it where necessary; but while +only a few pages have been rewritten, the Bibliography has been brought +up to date and I have removed several mistakes from the text and +corrected others in an appendix which includes a certain amount of +supplementary matter. As stated in the preface to the first edition, I +hoped "to compile a work which should serve as a general introduction to +the subject, and which should be neither too popular for students nor +too scientific for ordinary readers. It has been my chief aim to sketch +in broad outlines what the Arabs thought, and to indicate as far as +possible the influences which moulded their thought.... Experience has +convinced me that young students of Arabic, to whom this volume is +principally addressed, often find difficulty in understanding what they +read, since they are not in touch with the political, intellectual, and +religious notions which are presented to them. The pages of almost every +Arabic book abound in allusions to names, events, movements, and ideas +of which Moslems require no explanation, but which puzzle the Western +reader unless he have some general knowledge of Arabian history in the +widest meaning of the word. Such a survey is not to be found, I believe, +in any single European book; and if mine supply the want, however +partially and inadequately, I shall feel that my labour has been amply +rewarded.... As regards the choice of topics, I agree with the author of +a famous anthology who declares that it is harder to select than compose +(_ikhtiyáru ´l-kalám a[s.]`abu min ta´lífihi_). Perhaps an epitomist may +be excused for not doing equal justice all round. To me the literary +side of the subject appeals more than the historical, and I have +followed my bent without hesitation; for in order to interest others a +writer must first be interested himself.... Considering the importance +of Arabic poetry as, in the main, a true mirror of Arabian life, I do +not think the space devoted to it is excessive. Other branches of +literature could not receive the same attention. Many an eminent writer +has been dismissed in a few lines, many well-known names have been +passed over. But, as before said, this work is a sketch of ideas in +their historical environment rather than a record of authors, books, and +dates. The exact transliteration of Arabic words, though superfluous for +scholars and for persons entirely ignorant of the language, is an almost +indispensable aid to the class of readers whom I have especially in +view. My system is that recommended by the Royal Asiatic Society and +adopted by Professor Browne in his _Literary History of Persia_; but I +use [z.] for the letter which he denotes by _dh_. The definite article +_al_, which is frequently omitted at the beginning of proper names, has +been restored in the Index. It may save trouble if I mention here the +abbreviations 'b.' for 'ibn' (son of); J.R.A.S. for _Journal of the +Royal Asiatic Society_; Z.D.M.G. for _Zeitschrift der Deutschen +Morgenländischen Gesellschaft_; and S.B.W.A. for _Sitzungsberichte der +Wiener Akademie_. Finally, it behoves me to make full acknowledgment of +my debt to the learned Orientalists whose works I have studied and +freely 'conveyed' into these pages. References could not be given in +every case, but the reader will see for himself how much is derived from +Von Kremer, Goldziher, Nöldeke, and Wellhausen, to mention only a few of +the leading authorities. At the same time I have constantly gone back to +the native sources of information." + +There remains an acknowledgment of a more personal kind. Twenty-two +years ago I wrote--"my warmest thanks are due to my friend and +colleague, Professor A. A. Bevan, who read the proofs throughout and +made a number of valuable remarks which will be found in the footnotes." +Happily the present occasion permits me to renew those ties between us; +and the book which he helped into the world now celebrates its majority +by associating itself with his name. + + REYNOLD A. NICHOLSON + + _November 1, 1929_ + + +Frontispiece + +LITIGANTS BEFORE A JUDGE (British Museum Or. 1200) + + + + + Contents + + PAGE + + PREFACE ix + + INTRODUCTION xv + + CHAPTER + + I. SABA AND [H.]IMYAR 1 + + II. THE HISTORY AND LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 30 + + III. PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY, MANNERS, AND RELIGION 71 + + IV. THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 141 + + V. THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE AND THE UMAYYAD + DYNASTY 181 + + VI. THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDÁD 254 + + VII. POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE IN THE `ABBÁSID + PERIOD 285 + + VIII. ORTHODOXY, FREE-THOUGHT, AND MYSTICISM 365 + + IX. THE ARABS IN EUROPE 405 + + X. FROM THE MONGOL INVASION TO THE PRESENT DAY 442 + + APPENDIX 471 + + BIBLIOGRAPHY 477 + + INDEX 487 + + + + +Introduction + + +[Sidenote: The Semites.] + +The Arabs belong to the great family of nations which on account of +their supposed descent from Shem, the son of Noah, are commonly known as +the 'Semites.' This term includes the Babylonians and Assyrians, the +Hebrews, the Phoenicians, the Aramæans, the Abyssinians, the Sabæans, +and the Arabs, and although based on a classification that is not +ethnologically precise--the Phoenicians and Sabæans, for example, being +reckoned in Genesis, chap. x, among the descendants of Ham--it was well +chosen by Eichhorn (+ 1827) to comprehend the closely allied peoples +which have been named. Whether the original home of the undivided +Semitic race was some part of Asia (Arabia, Armenia, or the district of +the Lower Euphrates), or whether, according to a view which has lately +found favour, the Semites crossed into Asia from Africa,[1] is still +uncertain. Long before the epoch when they first appear in history they +had branched off from the parent stock and formed separate +nationalities. The relation of the Semitic languages to each other +cannot be discussed here, but we may arrange them in the chronological +order of the extant literature as follows:--[2] + +1. Babylonian or Assyrian (3000-500 B.C.). + +2. Hebrew (from 1500 B.C.). + +3. South Arabic, otherwise called Sabæan or [H.]imyarite (inscriptions + from 800 B.C.). + +4. Aramaic (inscriptions from 800 B.C.). + +5. Phoenician (inscriptions from 700 B.C.). + +6. Æthiopic (inscriptions from 350 A.D.). + +7. Arabic (from 500 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: The Arabs as representatives of the Semitic Race.] + +Notwithstanding that Arabic is thus, in a sense, the youngest of the +Semitic languages, it is generally allowed to be nearer akin than any of +them to the original archetype, the 'Ursemitisch,' from which they all +are derived, just as the Arabs, by reason of their geographical +situation and the monotonous uniformity of desert life, have in some +respects preserved the Semitic character more purely and exhibited it +more distinctly than any people of the same family. From the period of +the great Moslem conquests (700 A.D.) to the present day they have +extended their language, religion, and culture over an enormous expanse +of territory, far surpassing that of all the ancient Semitic empires +added together. It is true that the Arabs are no longer what they were +in the Middle Ages, the ruling nation of the world, but loss of temporal +power has only strengthened their spiritual dominion. Islam still reigns +supreme in Western Asia; in Africa it has steadily advanced; even on +European soil it has found in Turkey compensation for its banishment +from Spain and Sicily. While most of the Semitic peoples have vanished, +leaving but a meagre and ambiguous record, so that we cannot hope to +become intimately acquainted with them, we possess in the case of the +Arabs ample materials for studying almost every phase of their +development since the sixth century of the Christian era, and for +writing the whole history of their national life and thought. This book, +I need hardly say, makes no such pretensions. Even were the space at my +disposal unlimited, a long time must elapse before the vast and various +field of Arabic literature can be thoroughly explored and the results +rendered accessible to the historian. + +[Sidenote: Arabs of the North and South.] + +From time immemorial Arabia was divided into North and South, not only +by the trackless desert (_al-Rub` al-Khálí_, the 'Solitary Quarter') +which stretches across the peninsula and forms a natural barrier to +intercourse, but also by the opposition of two kindred races widely +differing in their character and way of life. Whilst the inhabitants of +the northern province (the [H.]ijáz and the great central highland of +Najd) were rude nomads sheltering in 'houses of hair,' and ever shifting +to and fro in search of pasture for their camels, the people of Yemen or +Arabia Felix are first mentioned in history as the inheritors of an +ancient civilisation and as the owners of fabulous wealth--spices, gold +and precious stones--which ministered to the luxury of King Solomon. The +Bedouins of the North spoke Arabic--that is to say, the language of the +Pre-islamic poems and of the Koran--whereas the southerners used a +dialect called by Mu[h.]ammadans '[H.]imyarite' and a peculiar script of +which the examples known to us have been discovered and deciphered in +comparatively recent times. Of these Sabæans--to adopt the designation +given to them by Greek and Roman geographers--more will be said +presently. The period of their bloom was drawing to a close in the early +centuries of our era, and they have faded out of history before 600 +A.D., when their northern neighbours first rise into prominence. + +[Sidenote: Ishmaelites and Yoq[t.]ánids.] + +It was, no doubt, the consciousness of this racial distinction that +caused the view to prevail among Moslem genealogists that the Arabs +followed two separate lines of descent from their common ancestor, Sám +b. Nú[h.] (Shem, the son of Noah). As regards those of the North, their +derivation from `Adnán, a descendant of Ismá`íl (Ishmael) was +universally recognised; those of the South were traced back to +Qa[h.][t.]án, whom most genealogists identified with Yoq[t.]án (Joktan), +the son of `Ábir (Eber). Under the Yoq[t.]ánids, who are the elder line, +we find, together with the Sabæans and [H.]imyarites, several large and +powerful tribes--_e.g._, [T.]ayyi´, Kinda, and Tanúkh--which had settled +in North and Central Arabia long before Islam, and were in no respect +distinguishable from the Bedouins of Ishmaelite origin. As to `Adnán, +his exact genealogy is disputed, but all agree that he was of the +posterity of Ismá`íl (Ishmael), the son of Ibráhím (Abraham) by Hájar +(Hagar). The story runs that on the birth of Ismá`íl God commanded +Abraham to journey to Mecca with Hagar and her son and to leave them +there. They were seen by some Jurhumites, descendants of Yoq[t.]án, who +took pity on them and resolved to settle beside them. Ismá`íl grew up +with the sons of the strangers, learned to shoot the bow, and spoke +their tongue. Then he asked of them in marriage, and they married him to +one of their women.[3] The tables on the opposite page show the +principal branches of the younger but by far the more important family +of the Arabs which traced its pedigree through `Adnán to Ismá`íl. A +dotted line indicates the omission of one or more links in the +genealogical chain.[4] + + + I.[5] + + The Descendants of Rabí`a. + + `Adnán. + | + Ma`add. + | + Nizár. + | + Rabi`a. + | + ---------------------------------------------------------------------- + . . . + . . . + `Anaza. . . + Wá´il. Namir. + | + +-----------+ + | | + Bakr. Taghlib. + + + II. + + The Descendants of Mu[d.]ar. + + `Adnán. + | + Ma`add. + | + Nizár. + | + Mu[d.]ar. + | + ---------------------------------------------------------------------- + . . . + . . . / \ + Qays `Aylán. . . / \ + . [D.]abba. . / \ + . . . Khuzayma. Hudhayl. + . . . . + Gha[t.]afán. . Tamím. / \ + . . / \ + . +---------+ / \ + . | | Asad. Kinána. + . Sulaym. Hawázin. . + . . + +-------+ . + | | . + `Abs. Dhubyán. Fihr (Quraysh). + +[Sidenote: Character of Mu[h.]ammadan genealogy.] + +It is undeniable that these lineages are to some extent fictitious. +There was no Pre-islamic science of genealogy, so that the first +Mu[h.]ammadan investigators had only confused and scanty traditions to +work on. They were biassed, moreover, by political, religious, and other +considerations.[6] Thus their study of the Koran and of Biblical history +led to the introduction of the patriarchs who stand at the head of their +lists. Nor can we accept the national genealogy beginning with `Adnán as +entirely historical, though a great deal of it was actually stored in +the memories of the Arabs at the time when Islam arose, and is +corroborated by the testimony of the Pre-islamic poets.[7] On the other +hand, the alleged descent of every tribe from an eponymous ancestor is +inconsistent with facts established by modern research.[8] It is +probable that many names represent merely a local or accidental union; +and many more, _e.g._, Ma`add, seem originally to have denoted large +groups or confederations of tribes. The theory of a radical difference +between the Northern Arabs and those of the South, corresponding to the +fierce hostility which has always divided them since the earliest days +of Islam,[9] may hold good if we restrict the term 'Yemenite' (Southern) +to the civilised Sabæans, [H.]imyarites, &c., who dwelt in Yemen and +spoke their own dialect, but can hardly apply to the Arabic-speaking +'Yemenite' Bedouins scattered all over the peninsula. Such criticism, +however, does not affect the value of the genealogical documents +regarded as an index of the popular mind. From this point of view legend +is often superior to fact, and it must be our aim in the following +chapters to set forth what the Arabs believed rather than to examine +whether or no they were justified in believing it. + +'Arabic,' in its widest signification, has two principal dialects:-- + +1. South Arabic, spoken in Yemen and including Sabæan, [H.]imyarite, +Minæan, with the kindred dialects of Mahra and Shi[h.]r. + +2. Arabic proper, spoken in Arabia generally, exclusive of Yemen. + +[Sidenote: South Arabic.] + +Of the former language, leaving Mahrí, Socotrí, and other living +dialects out of account, we possess nothing beyond the numerous +inscriptions which have been collected by European travellers and which +it will be convenient to discuss in the next chapter, where I shall give +a brief sketch of the legendary history of the Sabæans and +[H.]imyarites. South Arabic resembles Arabic in its grammatical forms, +_e.g._, the broken plural, the sign of the dual, and the manner of +denoting indefiniteness by an affixed _m_ (for which Arabic substitutes +_n_) as well as in its vocabulary; its alphabet, which consists of +twenty-nine letters, _Sin_ and _Samech_ being distinguished as in +Hebrew, is more nearly akin to the Æthiopic. The [H.]imyarite Empire was +overthrown by the Abyssinians in the sixth century after Christ, and by +600 A.D. South Arabic had become a dead language. From this time forward +the dialect of the North established an almost universal supremacy and +won for itself the title of 'Arabic' _par excellence_.[10] + + +[Sidenote: The oldest specimens of Arabic writing.] + +[Sidenote: The Pre-islamic poems.] + +[Sidenote: The Koran.] + +[Sidenote: Arabic in the Mu[h.]ammadan Empire.] + +The oldest monuments of written Arabic are modern in date compared with +the Sabæan inscriptions, some of which take us back 2,500 years or +thereabout. Apart from the inscriptions of [H.]ijr in the northern +[H.]ijáz, and those of [S.]afá in the neighbourhood of Damascus (which, +although written by northern Arabs before the Christian era, exhibit a +peculiar character not unlike the Sabæan and cannot be called Arabic in +the usual acceptation of the term), the most ancient examples of Arabic +writing which have hitherto been discovered appear in the trilingual +(Syriac, Greek, and Arabic) inscription of Zabad,[11] south-east of +Aleppo, dated 512 or 513 A.D., and the bilingual (Greek and Arabic) of +[H.]arrán,[12] dated 568 A.D. With these documents we need not concern +ourselves further, especially as their interpretation presents great +difficulties. Very few among the Pre-islamic Arabs were able to read or +write.[13] Those who could generally owed their skill to Jewish and +Christian teachers, or to the influence of foreign culture radiating +from [H.]íra and Ghassán. But although the Koran, which was first +collected soon after the battle of Yamáma (633 A.D.), is the oldest +Arabic book, the beginnings of literary composition in the Arabic +language can be traced back to an earlier period. Probably all the +Pre-islamic poems which have come down to us belong to the century +preceding Islam (500-622 A.D.), but their elaborate form and technical +perfection forbid the hypothesis that in them we have "the first +sprightly runnings" of Arabian song. It may be said of these magnificent +odes, as of the Iliad and Odyssey, that "they are works of highly +finished art, which could not possibly have been produced until the +poetical art had been practised for a long time." They were preserved +during hundreds of years by oral tradition, as we shall explain +elsewhere, and were committed to writing, for the most part, by the +Moslem scholars of the early `Abbásid age, _i.e._, between 750 and 900 +A.D. It is a noteworthy fact that the language of these poems, the +authors of which represent many different tribes and districts of the +peninsula, is one and the same. The dialectical variations are too +trivial to be taken into account. We might conclude that the poets used +an artificial dialect, not such as was commonly spoken but resembling +the epic dialect of Ionia which was borrowed by Dorian and Æolian bards. +When we find, however, that the language in question is employed not +only by the wandering troubadours, who were often men of some culture, +and the Christian Arabs of [H.]íra on the Euphrates, but also by +goat-herds, brigands, and illiterate Bedouins of every description, +there can be no room for doubt that in the poetry of the sixth century +we hear the Arabic language as it was then spoken throughout the length +and breadth of Arabia. The success of Mu[h.]ammad and the conquests made +by Islam under the Orthodox Caliphs gave an entirely new importance to +this classical idiom. Arabic became the sacred language of the whole +Moslem world. This was certainly due to the Koran; but, on the other +hand, to regard the dialect of Mecca, in which the Koran is written, as +the source and prototype of the Arabic language, and to call Arabic 'the +dialect of Quraysh,' is utterly to reverse the true facts of the case. +Mu[h.]ammad, as Nöldeke has observed, took the ancient poetry for a +model; and in the early age of Islam it was the authority of the heathen +poets (of whom Quraysh had singularly few) that determined the classical +usage and set the standard of correct speech. Moslems, who held the +Koran to be the Word of God and inimitable in point of style, naturally +exalted the dialect of the Prophet's tribe above all others, even laying +down the rule that every tribe spoke less purely in proportion to its +distance from Mecca, but this view will not commend itself to the +unprejudiced student. The Koran, however, exercised a unique influence +on the history of the Arabic language and literature. We shall see in a +subsequent chapter that the necessity of preserving the text of the Holy +Book uncorrupted, and of elucidating its obscurities, caused the Moslems +to invent a science of grammar and lexicography, and to collect the old +Pre-Mu[h.]ammadan poetry and traditions which must otherwise have +perished. When the Arabs settled as conquerors in Syria and Persia and +mixed with foreign peoples, the purity of the classical language could +no longer be maintained. While in Arabia itself, especially among the +nomads of the desert, little difference was felt, in the provincial +garrison towns and great centres of industry like Ba[s.]ra and Kúfa, +where the population largely consisted of aliens who had embraced Islam +and were rapidly being Arabicised, the door stood open for all sorts of +depravation to creep in. Against this vulgar Arabic the philologists +waged unrelenting war, and it was mainly through their exertions that +the classical idiom triumphed over the dangers to which it was exposed. +Although the language of the pagan Bedouins did not survive intact--or +survived, at any rate, only in the mouths of pedants and poets--it +became, in a modified form, the universal medium of expression among the +upper classes of Mu[h.]ammadan society. During the early Middle Ages it +was spoken and written by all cultivated Moslems, of whatever +nationality they might be, from the Indus to the Atlantic; it was the +language of the Court and the Church, of Law and Commerce, of Diplomacy +and Literature and Science. When the Mongol invasion in the thirteenth +century swept away the `Abbásid Caliphate, and therewith the last +vestige of political unity in Islam, classical Arabic ceased to be the +[Greek: koinê] or 'common dialect' of the Moslem world, and was +supplanted in Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and other Arabic-speaking countries +by a vulgar colloquial idiom. In these countries, however, it is still +the language of business, literature, and education, and we are told on +high authority that even now it "is undergoing a renaissance, and there +is every likelihood of its again becoming a great literary vehicle."[14] +And if, for those Moslems who are not Arabs, it occupies relatively much +the same position as Latin and Greek in modern European culture, we must +not forget that the Koran, its most renowned masterpiece, is learned by +every Moslem when he first goes to school, is repeated in his daily +prayers, and influences the whole course of his life to an extent which +the ordinary Christian can hardly realise. + +[Sidenote: The Naba[t.]æans.] + +I hope that I may be excused for ignoring in a work such as this the +information regarding Ancient Arabian history which it is possible to +glean from the Babylonian and Assyrian monuments. Any sketch that might +be drawn of the Arabs, say from 2500 B.C. to the beginning of our era, +would resemble a map of Cathay delineated by Sir John Mandeville. But +amongst the shadowy peoples of the peninsula one, besides Saba and +[H.]imyar, makes something more than a transient impression. The +Naba[t.]æans (_Naba[t.]_, pl. _Anbá[t.]_) dwelt in towns, drove a +flourishing trade long before the birth of Christ, and founded the +kingdom of Petra, which attained a high degree of prosperity and culture +until it was annexed by Trajan in 105 A.D. These Naba[t.]æans were Arabs +and spoke Arabic, although in default of a script of their own they used +Aramaic for writing.[15] Mu[h.]ammadan authors identify them with the +Aramæans, but careful study of their inscriptions has shown that this +view, which was accepted by Quatremère,[16] is erroneous. 'The Book of +Naba[t.]æan Agriculture' (_Kitábu 'l-Falá[h.]at al-Naba[t.]iyya_), +composed in 904 A.D. by the Moslem Ibnu i.e.l-Wa[h.]shiyya, who professed +to have translated it from the Chaldæan, is now known to be a forgery. I +only mention it here as an instance of the way in which Moslems apply +the term 'Naba[t.]æan'; for the title in question does not, of course, +refer to Petra but to Babylon. + +[Sidenote: Three periods of Arabian history.] + +From what has been said the reader will perceive that the history of the +Arabs, so far as our knowledge of it is derived from Arabic sources, may +be divided into the following periods:-- + + I. The Sabæan and [H.]imyarite period, from 800 B.C., + the date of the oldest South Arabic inscriptions, to + 500 A.D. + + II. The Pre-islamic period (500-622 A.D.). + + III. The Mu[h.]ammadan period, beginning with the Migration + (Hijra, or Hegira, as the word is generally written) + of the Prophet from Mecca to Medína in 622 A.D. + and extending to the present day. + +[Sidenote: The Sabæans and [H.]imyarites.] + +For the first period, which is confined to the history of Yemen or South +Arabia, we have no contemporary Arabic sources except the inscriptions. +The valuable but imperfect information which these supply is appreciably +increased by the traditions preserved in the Pre-islamic poems, in the +Koran, and particularly in the later Mu[h.]ammadan literature. It is +true that most of this material is legendary and would justly be ignored +by any one engaged in historical research, but I shall nevertheless +devote a good deal of space to it, since my principal object is to make +known the beliefs and opinions of the Arabs themselves. + +[Sidenote: The pagan Arabs.] + +The second period is called by Mu[h.]ammadan writers the _Jáhiliyya_, +_i.e._, the Age of Ignorance or Barbarism.[17] Its characteristics are +faithfully and vividly reflected in the songs and odes of the heathen +poets which have come down to us. There was no prose literature at that +time: it was the poet's privilege to sing the history of his own people, +to record their genealogies, to celebrate their feats of arms, and to +extol their virtues. Although an immense quantity of Pre-islamic verse +has been lost for ever, we still possess a considerable remnant, which, +together with the prose narratives compiled by Moslem philologists and +antiquaries, enables us to picture the life of those wild days, in its +larger aspects, accurately enough. + +[Sidenote: The Moslem Arabs.] + +The last and by far the most important of the three periods comprises +the history of the Arabs under Islam. It falls naturally into the +following sections, which are enumerated in this place in order that the +reader may see at a glance the broad political outlines of the complex +and difficult epoch which lies before him. + + +_A._ The Life of Mu[h.]ammad. + +[Sidenote: Life of Mu[h.]ammad.] + +About the beginning of the seventh century of the Christian era a man +named Mu[h.]ammad, son of `Abdulláh, of the tribe Quraysh, appeared in +Mecca with a Divine revelation (Koran). He called on his fellow-townsmen +to renounce idolatry and worship the One God. In spite of ridicule and +persecution he continued for several years to preach the religion of +Islam in Mecca, but, making little progress there, he fled in 622 A.D. +to the neighbouring city of Medína. From this date his cause prospered +exceedingly. During the next decade the whole of Arabia submitted to his +rule and did lip-service at least to the new Faith. + + +_B._ The Orthodox Caliphate (632-661 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: The Orthodox Caliphs.] + +On the death of the Prophet the Moslems were governed in turn by four of +the most eminent among his Companions--Abú Bakr, `Umar, `Uthmán, and +`Alí--who bore the title of _Khalífa_ (Caliph), _i.e._, Vicegerent, and +are commonly described as the Orthodox Caliphs (_al-Khulafá +al-Ráshidún_). Under their guidance Islam was firmly established in the +peninsula and was spread far beyond its borders. Hosts of Bedouins +settled as military colonists in the fertile plains of Syria and Persia. +Soon, however, the recently founded empire was plunged into civil war. +The murder of `Uthmán gave the signal for a bloody strife between rival +claimants of the Caliphate. `Alí, the son-in-law of the Prophet, assumed +the title, but his election was contested by the powerful governor of +Syria, Mu`áwiya b. Abí Sufyán. + + +_C._ The Umayyad Dynasty (661-750 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: The Umayyad dynasty.] + +`Alí fell by an assassin's dagger, and Mu`áwiya succeeded to the +Caliphate, which remained in his family for ninety years. The Umayyads, +with a single exception, were Arabs first and Moslems afterwards. +Religion sat very lightly on them, but they produced some able and +energetic princes, worthy leaders of an imperial race. By 732 A.D. the +Moslem conquests had reached the utmost limit which they ever attained. +The Caliph in Damascus had his lieutenants beyond the Oxus and the +Pyrenees, on the shores of the Caspian and in the valley of the Nile. +Meantime the strength of the dynasty was being sapped by political and +religious dissensions nearer home. The Shí`ites, who held that the +Caliphate belonged by Divine right to `Alí and his descendants, rose in +revolt again and again. They were joined by the Persian Moslems, who +loathed the Arabs and the oppressive Umayyad government. The `Abbásids, +a family closely related to the Prophet, put themselves at the head of +the agitation. It ended in the complete overthrow of the reigning house, +which was almost exterminated. + + +_D._ The `Abbásid Dynasty (750-1258 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: The `Abbásid dynasty.] + +Hitherto the Arabs had played a dominant rôle in the Moslem community, +and had treated the non-Arab Moslems with exasperating contempt. Now the +tables were turned. We pass from the period of Arabian nationalism to +one of Persian ascendancy and cosmopolitan culture. The flower of the +`Abbásid troops were Persians from Khurásán; Baghdád, the wonderful +`Abbásid capital, was built on Persian soil; and Persian nobles filled +the highest offices of state at the `Abbásid court. The new dynasty, if +not religious, was at least favourable to religion, and took care to +live in the odour of sanctity. For a time Arabs and Persians forgot +their differences and worked together as good Moslems ought. Piety was +no longer its own reward. Learning enjoyed munificent patronage. This +was the Golden Age of Islam, which culminated in the glorious reign of +Hárún al-Rashíd (786-809 A.D.). On his death peace was broken once more, +and the mighty empire began slowly to collapse. As province after +province cut itself loose from the Caliphate, numerous independent +dynasties sprang up, while the Caliphs became helpless puppets in the +hands of Turkish mercenaries. Their authority was still formally +recognised in most Mu[h.]ammadan countries, but since the middle of the +ninth century they had little or no real power. + + +_E._ From the Mongol invasion to the present day (1258 A.D.--). + +[Sidenote: The Post-Mongolian period.] + +The Mongol hordes under Húlágú captured Baghdád in 1258 A.D. and made an +end of the Caliphate. Sweeping onward, they were checked by the Egyptian +Mamelukes and retired into Persia, where, some fifty years afterwards, +they embraced Islam. The successors of Húlágú, the Íl-kháns, reigned in +Persia until a second wave of barbarians under Tímúr spread devastation +and anarchy through Western Asia (1380-1405 A.D.). The unity of Islam, +in a political sense, was now destroyed. Out of the chaos three +Mu[h.]ammadan empires gradually took shape. In 1358 the Ottoman Turks +crossed the Hellespont, in 1453 they entered Constantinople, and in 1517 +Syria, Egypt, and Arabia were added to their dominions. Persia became an +independent kingdom under the [S.]afawids (1502-1736); while in India +the empire of the Great Moguls was founded by Bábur, a descendant of +Tímúr, and gloriously maintained by his successors, Akbar and Awrangzíb +(1525-1707). + +[Sidenote: Arabian literary history.] + +[Sidenote: Writers who are wholly or partly of foreign extraction.] + +Some of the political events which have been summarised above will be +treated more fully in the body of this work; others will receive no more +than a passing notice. The ideas which reveal themselves in Arabic +literature are so intimately connected with the history of the people, +and so incomprehensible apart from the external circumstances in which +they arose, that I have found myself obliged to dwell at considerable +length on various matters of historical interest, in order to bring out +what is really characteristic and important from our special point of +view. The space devoted to the early periods (500-750 A.D.) will not +appear excessive if they are seen in their true light as the centre and +heart of Arabian history. During the next hundred years Moslem +civilisation reaches its zenith, but the Arabs recede more and more into +the background. The Mongol invasion virtually obliterated their national +life, though in Syria and Egypt they maintained their traditions of +culture under Turkish rule, and in Spain we meet them struggling +desperately against Christendom. Many centuries earlier, in the balmy +days of the `Abbásid Empire, the Arabs _pur sang_ contributed only a +comparatively small share to the literature which bears their name. I +have not, however, enforced the test of nationality so strictly as to +exclude all foreigners or men of mixed origin who wrote in Arabic. It +may be said that the work of Persians (who even nowadays are accustomed +to use Arabic when writing on theological and philosophical subjects) +cannot illustrate the history of Arabian thought, but only the influence +exerted upon Arabian thought by Persian ideas, and that consequently it +must stand aside unless admitted for this definite purpose. But what +shall we do in the case of those numerous and celebrated authors who are +neither wholly Arab nor wholly Persian, but unite the blood of both +races? Must we scrutinise their genealogies and try to discover which +strain preponderates? That would be a tedious and unprofitable task. The +truth is that after the Umayyad period no hard-and-fast line can be +drawn between the native and foreign elements in Arabic literature. Each +reacted on the other, and often both are combined indissolubly. Although +they must be distinguished as far as possible, we should be taking a +narrow and pedantic view of literary history if we insisted on regarding +them as mutually exclusive. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +SABA AND [H.]IMYAR + + +[Sidenote: Primitive races.] + +[Sidenote: Legend of `Ad.] + +With the Sabæans Arabian history in the proper sense may be said to +begin, but as a preliminary step we must take account of certain races +which figure more or less prominently in legend, and are considered by +Moslem chroniclers to have been the original inhabitants of the country. +Among these are the peoples of `Ád and Thamúd, which are constantly held +up in the Koran as terrible examples of the pride that goeth before +destruction. The home of the `Ádites was in [H.]a[d.]ramawt, the province +adjoining Yemen, on the borders of the desert named _A[h.]qáfu ´l'Raml_. +It is doubtful whether they were Semites, possibly of Aramaic descent, +who were subdued and exterminated by invaders from the north, or, as +Hommel maintains,[18] the representatives of an imposing non-Semitic +culture which survives in the tradition of 'Many-columned Iram,'[19] the +Earthly Paradise built by Shaddád, one of their kings. The story of +their destruction is related as follows:[20] They were a people of +gigantic strength and stature, worshipping idols and committing all +manner of wrong; and when God sent to them a prophet, Húd by name, who +should warn them to repent, they answered: "O Húd, thou hast brought us +no evidence, and we will not abandon our gods for thy saying, nor will +we believe in thee. We say one of our gods hath afflicted thee with +madness."[21] Then a fearful drought fell upon the land of `Ád, so that +they sent a number of their chief men to Mecca to pray for rain. On +arriving at Mecca the envoys were hospitably received by the Amalekite +prince, Mu`áwiya b. Bakr, who entertained them with wine and music--for +he had two famous singing-girls known as _al-Jarádatán_; which induced +them to neglect their mission for the space of a whole month. At last, +however, they got to business, and their spokesman had scarce finished +his prayer when three clouds appeared, of different colours--white, red, +and black--and a voice cried from heaven, "Choose for thyself and for +thy people!" He chose the black cloud, deeming that it had the greatest +store of rain, whereupon the voice chanted-- + + "Thou hast chosen embers dun | that will spare of `Ád not one | that + will leave nor father nor son | ere him to death they shall have + done." + +Then God drove the cloud until it stood over the land of `Ád, and there +issued from it a roaring wind that consumed the whole people except a +few who had taken the prophet's warning to heart and had renounced +idolatry. + +From these, in course of time, a new people arose, who are called 'the +second `Ád.' They had their settlements in Yemen, in the region of Saba. +The building of the great Dyke of Ma´rib is commonly attributed to their +king, Luqmán b. `Ád, about whom many fables are told. He was surnamed +'The Man of the Vultures' (_Dhu ´l-Nusúr_), because it had been granted +to him that he should live as long as seven vultures, one after the +other. + +[Sidenote: Legend of Thamúd.] + +In North Arabia, between the [H.]ijáz and Syria, dwelt the kindred race of +Thamúd, described in the Koran (vii, 72) as inhabiting houses which they +cut for themselves in the rocks. Evidently Mu[h.]ammad did not know the +true nature of the hewn chambers which are still to be seen at [H.]ijr +(Madá´in [S.]áli[h.]), a week's journey northward from Medína, and which +are proved by the Naba[t.]æan inscriptions engraved on them to have been +sepulchral monuments.[22] Thamúd sinned in the same way as `Ád, and +suffered a like fate. They scouted the prophet [S.]áli[h.], refusing to +believe in him unless he should work a miracle. [S.]áli[h.] then caused +a she-camel big with young to come forth from a rock, and bade them do +her no hurt, but one of the miscreants, Qudár the Red (al-A[h.]mar), +hamstrung and killed her. "Whereupon a great earthquake overtook them +with a noise of thunder, and in the morning they lay dead in their +houses, flat upon their breasts."[23] The author of this catastrophe +became a byword: Arabs say, "More unlucky than the hamstringer of the +she-camel," or "than A[h.]mar of Thamúd." It should be pointed out that, +unlike the `Ádites, of whom we find no trace in historical times, the +Thamúdites are mentioned as still existing by Diodorus Siculus and +Ptolemy; and they survived down to the fifth century A.D. in the corps +of _equites Thamudeni_ attached to the army of the Byzantine emperors. + +[Sidenote: `Amálíq.] + +[Sidenote: [T.]asm and Jadís.] + +Besides `Ád and Thamúd, the list of primitive races includes the `Amálíq +(Amalekites)--a purely fictitious term under which the Moslem +antiquaries lumped together several peoples of an age long past,_e.g._, +the Canaanites and the Philistines. We hear of Amalekite settlements in +the Tiháma (Netherland) of Mecca and in other parts of the peninsula. +Finally, mention should be made of [T.]asm and Jadís, sister tribes of +which nothing is recorded except the fact of their destruction and the +events that brought it about. The legendary narrative in which these are +embodied has some archæological interest as showing the existence in +early Arabian society of a barbarous feudal custom, 'le droit du +seigneur,' but it is time to pass on to the main subject of this +chapter. + +[Sidenote: History of the Yoq[t.]ánids.] + +The Pre-islamic history of the Yoq[t.]ánids, or Southern Arabs, on which +we now enter, is virtually the history of two peoples, the Sabæans and +the [H.]imyarites, who formed the successive heads of a South Arabian +empire extending from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf. + +[Sidenote: The Sabæans.] + +Saba[24] (Sheba of the Old Testament) is often incorrectly used to +denote the whole of Arabia Felix, whereas it was only one, though +doubtless the first in power and importance, of several kingdoms, the +names and capitals of which are set down in the works of Greek and Roman +geographers. However exaggerated may be the glowing accounts that we +find there of Sabæan wealth and magnificence, it is certain that Saba +was a flourishing commercial state many centuries before the birth of +Christ.[25] "Sea-traffic between the ports of East Arabia and India was +very early established, and Indian products, especially spices and rare +animals (apes and peacocks) were conveyed to the coast of `Umán. Thence, +apparently even in the tenth century B.C., they went overland to the +Arabian Gulf, where they were shipped to Egypt for the use of the +Pharaohs and grandees.... The difficulty of navigating the Red Sea +caused the land route to be preferred for the traffic between Yemen and +Syria. From Shabwat (Sabota) in [H.]a[d.]ramawt the caravan road went to +Ma´rib (Mariaba), the Sabæan capital, then northward to Macoraba (the +later Mecca), and by way of Petra to Gaza on the Mediterranean."[26] The +prosperity of the Sabæans lasted until the Indian trade, instead of +going overland, began to go by sea along the coast of [H.]a[d.]ramawt +and through the straits of Báb al-Mandab. In consequence of this change, +which seems to have taken place in the first century A.D., their power +gradually declined, a great part of the population was forced to seek +new homes in the north, their cities became desolate, and their massive +aqueducts crumbled to pieces. We shall see presently that Arabian legend +has crystallised the results of a long period of decay into a single +fact--the bursting of the Dyke of Ma´rib. + +[Sidenote: The [H.]imyarites.] + +The disappearance of the Sabæans left the way open for a younger branch +of the same stock, namely, the [H.]imyarites, or, as they are called by +classical authors, Homeritæ, whose country lay between Saba and the sea. +Under their kings, known as Tubba`s, they soon became the dominant power +in South Arabia and exercised sway, at least ostensibly, over the +northern tribes down to the end of the fifth century A.D., when the +latter revolted and, led by Kulayb b. Rabí`a, shook off the suzerainty +of Yemen in a great battle at Khazázá.[27] The [H.]imyarites never +flourished like the Sabæans. Their maritime situation exposed them more +to attack, while the depopulation of the country had seriously weakened +their military strength. The Abyssinians--originally colonists from +Yemen--made repeated attempts to gain a foothold, and frequently managed +to instal governors who were in turn expelled by native princes. Of +these Abyssinian viceroys the most famous is Abraha, whose unfortunate +expedition against Mecca will be related in due course. Ultimately the +[H.]imyarite Empire was reduced to a Persian dependency. It had ceased +to exist as a political power about a hundred years before the rise of +Islam. + +[Sidenote: Sources of information.] + +The chief Arabian sources of information concerning Saba and [H.]imyar +are (1) the so-called '[H.]imyarite' inscriptions, and (2) the +traditions, almost entirely of a legendary kind, which are preserved in +Mu[h.]ammadan literature. + +[Sidenote: The South Arabic or Sabæan inscriptions.] + +[Sidenote: Objections to the term '[H.]imyarite.'] + +Although the South Arabic language may have maintained itself +sporadically in certain remote districts down to the Prophet's time or +even later, it had long ago been superseded as a medium of daily +intercourse by the language of the North, the Arabic _par excellence_, +which henceforth reigns without a rival throughout the peninsula. The +dead language, however, did not wholly perish. Already in the sixth +century A.D. the Bedouin rider made his camel kneel down while he +stopped to gaze wonderingly at inscriptions in a strange character +engraved on walls of rock or fragments of hewn stone, and compared the +mysterious, half-obliterated markings to the almost unrecognisable +traces of the camping-ground which for him was fraught with tender +memories. These inscriptions are often mentioned by Mu[h.]ammadan +authors, who included them in the term _Musnad_. That some +Moslems--probably very few--could not only read the South Arabic +alphabet, but were also acquainted with the elementary rules of +orthography, appears from a passage in the eighth book of Hamdání's +_Iklíl_; but though they might decipher proper names and make out the +sense of words here and there, they had no real knowledge of the +language. How the inscriptions were discovered anew by the enterprise of +European travellers, gradually deciphered and interpreted until they +became capable of serving as a basis for historical research, and what +results the study of them has produced, this I shall now set forth as +briefly as possible. Before doing so it is necessary to explain why +instead of '[H.]imyarite inscriptions' and '[H.]imyarite language' I +have adopted the less familiar designations 'South Arabic' or 'Sabæan.' +'[H.]imyarite' is equally misleading, whether applied to the language of +the inscriptions or to the inscriptions themselves. As regards the +language, it was spoken in one form or another not by the [H.]imyarites +alone, but also by the Sabæans, the Minæans, and all the different +peoples of Yemen. Mu[h.]ammadans gave the name of '[H.]imyarite' to the +ancient language of Yemen for the simple reason that the [H.]imyarites +were the most powerful race in that country during the last centuries +preceding Islam. Had all the inscriptions belonged to the period of +[H.]imyarite supremacy, they might with some justice have been named +after the ruling people; but the fact is that many date from a far +earlier age, some going back to the eighth century B.C., perhaps nearly +a thousand years before the [H.]imyarite Empire was established. The +term 'Sabæan' is less open to objection, for it may fairly be regarded +as a national rather than a political denomination. On the whole, +however, I prefer 'South Arabic' to either. + +[Sidenote: Discovery and decipherment of the South Arabic inscriptions.] + +Among the pioneers of exploration in Yemen the first to interest himself +in the discovery of inscriptions was Carsten Niebuhr, whose +_Beschreibung von Arabien_, published in 1772, conveyed to Europe the +report that inscriptions which, though he had not seen them, he +conjectured to be '[H.]imyarite,' existed in the ruins of the once +famous city of [Z.]afár. On one occasion a Dutchman who had turned +Mu[h.]ammadan showed him the copy of an inscription in a completely +unknown alphabet, but "at that time (he says) being very ill with a +violent fever, I had more reason to prepare myself for death than to +collect old inscriptions."[28] Thus the opportunity was lost, but +curiosity had been awakened, and in 1810 Ulrich Jasper Seetzen +discovered and copied several inscriptions in the neighbourhood of +[Z.]afár. Unfortunately these copies, which had to be made hastily, were +very inexact. He also purchased an inscription, which he took away with +him and copied at leisure, but his ignorance of the characters led him +to mistake the depressions in the stone for letters, so that the +conclusions he came to were naturally of no value.[29] The first +serviceable copies of South Arabic inscriptions were brought to Europe +by English officers employed on the survey of the southern and western +coasts of Arabia. Lieutenant J. R. Wellsted published the inscriptions +of [H.]i[s.]n Ghuráb and Naqb al-[H.]ajar in his _Travels in Arabia_ +(1838). + +Meanwhile Emil Rödiger, Professor of Oriental Languages at Halle, with +the help of two manuscripts of the Berlin Royal Library containing +'[H.]imyarite' alphabets, took the first step towards a correct +decipherment by refuting the idea, for which De Sacy's authority had +gained general acceptance, that the South Arabic script ran from left to +right[30]; he showed, moreover, that the end of every word was marked by +a straight perpendicular line.[31] Wellsted's inscriptions, together +with those which Hulton and Cruttenden brought to light at [S.]an`á, +were deciphered by Gesenius and Rödiger working independently (1841). +Hitherto England and Germany had shared the credit of discovery, but a +few years later France joined hands with them and was soon leading the +way with characteristic brilliance. In 1843 Th. Arnaud, starting from +[S.]an`á, succeeded in discovering the ruins of Ma´rib, the ancient +Sabæan metropolis, and in copying at the risk of his life between fifty +and sixty inscriptions, which were afterwards published in the _Journal +Asiatique_ and found an able interpreter in Osiander.[32] Still more +important were the results of the expedition undertaken in 1870 by the +Jewish scholar, Joseph Halévy, who penetrated into the Jawf, or country +lying east of [S.]an`á, which no European had traversed before him since +24 B.C., when Ælius Gallus led a Roman army by the same route. After +enduring great fatigues and meeting with many perilous adventures, +Halévy brought back copies of nearly seven hundred inscriptions.[33] +During the last twenty-five years much fresh material has been collected +by E. Glaser and Julius Euting, while study of that already existing by +Prætorius, Halévy, D. H. Müller, Mordtmann, and other scholars has +substantially enlarged our knowledge of the language, history, and +religion of South Arabia in the Pre-islamic age. + +[Sidenote: The historical value of the inscriptions.] + +Neither the names of the [H.]imyarite monarchs, as they appear in the +lists drawn up by Mu[h.]ammadan historians, nor the order in which these +names are arranged can pretend to accuracy. If they are historical +persons at all they must have reigned in fairly recent times, perhaps a +short while before the rise of Islam, and probably they were unimportant +princes whom the legend has thrown back into the ancient epoch, and has +invested with heroic attributes. Any one who doubts this has only to +compare the modern lists with those which have been made from the +material in the inscriptions.[34] D. H. Müller has collected the names +of thirty-three Minæan kings. Certain names are often repeated--a proof +of the existence of ruling dynasties--and ornamental epithets are +usually attached to them. Thus we find Dhamar`alí Dhirrí[h.] (Glorious), +Yatha`amar Bayyin (Distinguished), Kariba´íl Watár Yuhan`im (Great, +Beneficent), Samah`alí Yanúf (Exalted). Moreover, the kings bear +different titles corresponding to three distinct periods of South +Arabian history, viz., 'Priest-king of Saba' (_Mukarrib Saba_),[35] +'King of Saba' (_Malk Saba_), and 'King of Saba and Raydán.' In this way +it is possible to determine approximately the age of the various +buildings and inscriptions, and to show that they do not belong, as had +hitherto been generally supposed, to the time of Christ, but that in +some cases they are at least eight hundred years older. + +[Sidenote: Votive inscriptions.] + +How widely the peaceful, commerce-loving people of Saba and [H.]imyar +differed in character from the wild Arabs to whom Mu[h.]ammad was sent +appears most strikingly in their submissive attitude towards their gods, +which forms, as Goldziher has remarked, the keynote of the South Arabian +monuments.[36] The prince erects a thank-offering to the gods who gave +him victory over his enemies; the priest dedicates his children and all +his possessions; the warrior who has been blessed with "due +man-slayings," or booty, or escape from death records his gratitude, and +piously hopes for a continuance of favour. The dead are conceived as +living happily under divine protection; they are venerated and sometimes +deified.[37] The following inscription, translated by Lieut.-Col. W. F. +Prideaux, is a typical example of its class:-- + + "Sa`d-iláh and his sons, Benú Marthadim, have endowed Il-Ma[k.]ah of + Hirrán with this tablet, because Il-Ma[k.]ah, lord of Awwám + Dhú-`Irán Alú, has favourably heard the prayer addressed to him, and + has consequently heard the Benú Marthadim when they offered the + first-fruits of their fertile lands of Arha[k.]im in the presence of + Il-Ma[k.]ah of Hirrán, and Il-Ma[k.]ah of Hirrán has favourably + heard the prayer addressed to him that he would protect the plains + and meadows and this tribe in their habitations, in consideration of + the frequent gifts throughout the year; and truly his (Sa`d-iláh's) + sons will descend to Arha[k.]im, and they will indeed sacrifice in + the two shrines of `Athtor and Shamsim, and there shall be a + sacrifice in Hirrán--both in order that Il-Ma[k.]ah may afford + protection to those fields of Bin Marthadim as well as that he may + favourably listen--and in the sanctuary of Il-Ma[k.]ah of [H.]arwat, + and therefore may he keep them in safety according to the sign in + which Sa`d-iláh was instructed, the sign which he saw in the + sanctuary of Il-Ma[k.]ah of Na`mán; and as for Il-Ma[k.]ah of + Hirrán, he has protected those fertile lands of Arha[k.]im from hail + and from all misfortune (_or_, from cold and from all extreme + heat)."[38] + +In concluding this very inadequate account of the South Arabic +inscriptions I must claim the indulgence of my readers, who are aware +how difficult it is to write clearly and accurately upon any subject +without first-hand knowledge, in particular when the results of previous +research are continually being transformed by new workers in the same +field. + +[Sidenote: Literary sources.] + +[Sidenote: Hamdání (+ 945 A.D.).] + +Fortunately we possess a considerable literary supplement to these +somewhat austere and meagre remains. Our knowledge of South Arabian +geography, antiquities, and legendary history is largely derived from +the works of two natives of Yemen, who were filled with enthusiasm for +its ancient glories, and whose writings, though different as fact and +fable, are from the present point of view equally instructive--[H.]asan +b. A[h.]mad al-Hamdání and Nashwán b. Sa`íd al-[H.]imyarí. Besides an +excellent geography of Arabia (_[S.]ifatu Jazírat al-`Arab_), which has +been edited by D. H. Müller, Hamdání left a great work on the history +and antiquities of Yemen, entitled _al-Iklíl_ ('The Crown'), and divided +into ten books under the following heads:--[39] + + Book I. _Compendium of the beginning and origins of genealogy._ + + Book II. _Genealogy of the descendants of al-Hamaysa` b. [H.]imyar._ + + Book III. _Concerning the pre-eminent qualities of Qa[h.][t.]án._ + + Book IV. _Concerning the first period of history down to the reign + of Tubba` Abú Karib._ + + Book V. _Concerning the middle period from the accession of As`ad + Tubba` to the reign of Dhú Nuwás._ + + Book VI. _Concerning the last period down to the rise of Islam._ + + Book VII. _Criticism of false traditions and absurd legends._ + + Book VIII. _Concerning the castles, cities, and tombs of the + [H.]imyarites; the extant poetry of `Alqama,_[40] + _the elegies, the inscriptions, and other matters._ + + Book IX. _Concerning the proverbs and wisdom of the [H.]imyarites in + the [H.]imyarite language, and concerning the alphabet + of the inscriptions._ + + Book X. _Concerning the genealogy of [H.]áshid and Bakíl_ (the two + principal tribes of Hamdán). + +[Sidenote: Nashwán b. Sa`íd al-[H.]imyarí (+ 1177 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: `Abíd b. Sharya.] + +[Sidenote: [H.]amza of I[s.]fahán.] + +The same intense patriotism which caused Hamdání to devote himself to +scientific research inspired Nashwán b. Sa`íd, who descended on the +father's side from one of the ancient princely families of Yemen, to +recall the legendary past and become the laureate of a long vanished and +well-nigh forgotten empire. In 'The [H.]imyarite Ode' (_al-Qa[s.]ìdatu +´l-[H.]imyariyya_) he sings the might and grandeur of the monarchs who +ruled over his people, and moralises in true Mu[h.]ammadan spirit upon +the fleetingness of life and the futility of human ambition.[41] +Accompanying the Ode, which has little value except as a comparatively +unfalsified record of royal names,[42] is a copious historical +commentary either by Nashwán himself, as Von Kremer thinks highly +probable, or by some one who lived about the same time. Those for whom +history represents an aggregate of naked facts would find nothing to the +purpose in this commentary, where threads of truth are almost +inextricably interwoven with fantastic and fabulous embroideries. A +literary form was first given to such legends by the professional +story-tellers of early Islam. One of these, the South Arabian `Abíd b. +Sharya, visited Damascus by command of the Caliph Mu`áwiya I, who +questioned him "concerning the ancient traditions, the kings of the +Arabs and other races, the cause of the confusion of tongues, and the +history of the dispersion of mankind in the various countries of the +world,"[43] and gave orders that his answers should be put together in +writing and published under his name. This work, of which unfortunately +no copy has come down to us, was entitled 'The Book of the Kings and the +History of the Ancients' (_Kitábu ´l-Mulúk wa-akhbáru ´l-Má[d.]ín_). +Mas`údí (+ 956 A.D.) speaks of it as a well-known book, enjoying a wide +circulation.[44] It was used by the commentator of the [H.]imyarite Ode, +either at first hand or through the medium of Hamdání's _Iklíl_. We may +regard it, like the commentary itself, as a historical romance in which +most of the characters and some of the events are real, adorned with +fairy-tales, fictitious verses, and such entertaining matter as a man of +learning and story-teller by trade might naturally be expected to +introduce. Among the few remaining Mu[h.]ammadan authors who bestowed +special attention on the Pre-islamic period of South Arabian history, I +shall mention here only [H.]amza of I[s.]fahán, the eighth book of whose +Annals (finished in 961 A.D.) provides a useful sketch, with brief +chronological details, of the Tubba`s or [H.]imyarite kings of Yemen. + +[Sidenote: Ya`rub.] + +[Sidenote: [H.]imyar and Kahlán.] + +Qa[h.][t.]án, the ancestor of the Southern Arabs, was succeeded by his +son Ya`rub, who is said to have been the first to use the Arabic +language, and the first to receive the salutations with which the Arabs +were accustomed to address their kings, viz., "_In`im [s.]abá[h.]an_" +("Good morning!") and "_Abayta ´l-la`na_" ("Mayst thou avoid +malediction!"). His grandson, `Abd Shams Saba, is named as the founder +of Ma´rib and the builder of the famous Dyke, which, according to +others, was constructed by Luqmán b. `Ád. Saba had two sons, [H.]imyar +and Kahlán. Before his death he deputed the sovereign authority to +[H.]imyar, and the task of protecting the frontiers and making war upon +the enemy to Kahlán. Thus [H.]imyar obtained the lordship, assumed the +title Abú Ayman, and abode in the capital city of the realm, while +Kahlán took over the defence of the borders and the conduct of war.[45] +Omitting the long series of mythical Sabæan kings, of whom the legend +has little or nothing to relate, we now come to an event which fixed +itself ineffaceably in the memory of the Arabs, and which is known in +their traditions as _Saylu ´l-`Arim_, or the Flood of the Dyke. + +[Sidenote: The Dam of Ma´rib.] + +Some few miles south-west of Ma´rib the mountains draw together leaving +a gap, through which flows the River Adana. During the summer its bed is +often dry, but in the rainy season the water rushes down with such +violence that it becomes impassable. In order to protect the city from +floods, and partly also for purposes of irrigation, the inhabitants +built a dam of solid masonry, which, long after it had fallen into ruin, +struck the imagination of Mu[h.]ammad, and was reckoned by Moslems among +the wonders of the world.[46] That their historians have clothed the +bare fact of its destruction in ample robes of legendary circumstance is +not surprising, but renders abridgment necessary.[47] + +[Sidenote: Its destruction announced by portents.] + +Towards the end of the third century of our era, or possibly at an +earlier epoch,[48] the throne of Ma´rib was temporarily occupied by `Amr +b. `Ámir Má´ al-Samá, surnamed Muzayqiyá.[49] His wife, [Z.]arífa, was +skilled in the art of divination. She dreamed dreams and saw visions +which announced the impending calamity. "Go to the Dyke," she said to +her husband, who doubted her clairvoyance, "and if thou see a rat +digging holes in the Dyke with its paws and moving huge boulders with +its hind-legs, be assured that the woe hath come upon us." So `Amr went +to the Dyke and looked carefully, and lo, there was a rat moving an +enormous rock which fifty men could not have rolled from its place. +Convinced by this and other prodigies that the Dyke would soon burst and +the land be laid waste, he resolved to sell his possessions and depart +with his family; and, lest conduct so extraordinary should arouse +suspicion, he had recourse to the following stratagem. He invited the +chief men of the city to a splendid feast, which, in accordance with a +preconcerted plan, was interrupted by a violent altercation between +himself and his son (or, as others relate, an orphan who had been +brought up in his house). Blows were exchanged, and `Amr cried out, "O +shame! on the day of my glory a stripling has insulted me and struck my +face." He swore that he would put his son to death, but the guests +entreated him to show mercy, until at last he gave way. "But by God," he +exclaimed, "I will no longer remain in a city where I have suffered this +indignity. I will sell my lands and my stock." Having successfully got +rid of his encumbrances--for there was no lack of buyers eager to take +him at his word--`Amr informed the people of the danger with which they +were threatened, and set out from Ma´rib at the head of a great +multitude. Gradually the waters made a breach in the Dyke and swept over +the country, spreading devastation far and wide. Hence the proverb +_Dhahabú_ (or _tafarraqú_) _aydí Saba_, "They departed" (or "dispersed") +"like the people of Saba."[50] + +[Sidenote: Fall of the Sabæan Empire.] + +This deluge marks an epoch in the history of South Arabia. The waters +subside, the land returns to cultivation and prosperity, but Ma´rib lies +desolate, and the Sabæans have disappeared for ever, except "to point a +moral or adorn a tale." Al-A`shá sang:-- + + ~| ~| ~| + Metre _Mutaqárib]_: (~ - -|~ - -|~ - -|~ -). + + "Let this warn whoever a warning will take-- + And Ma´rib withal, which the Dam fortified. + Of marble did [H.]imyar construct it, so high, + The waters recoiled when to reach it they tried. + It watered their acres and vineyards, and hour + By hour, did a portion among them divide. + So lived they in fortune and plenty until + Therefrom turned away by a ravaging tide. + Then wandered their princes and noblemen through + Mirage-shrouded deserts that baffle the guide."[51] + +The poet's reference to [H.]imyar is not historically accurate. It was +only after the destruction of the Dyke and the dispersion of the Sabæans +who built it[52] that the [H.]imyarites, with their capital [Z.]afár (at +a later period, [S.]an`á) became the rulers of Yemen. + +[Sidenote: The Tubba`s.] + +The first Tubba`, by which name the [H.]imyarite kings are known to +Mu[h.]ammadan writers, was [H.]árith, called al-Rá´ish, _i.e._, the +Featherer, because he 'feathered' his people's nest with the booty which +he brought home as a conqueror from India and Ádharbayján.[53] Of the +Tubba`s who come after him some obviously owe their place in the line of +[H.]imyar to genealogists whose respect for the Koran was greater than +their critical acumen. Such a man of straw is [S.]a`b Dhu ´l-Qarnayn +([S.]a`b the Two-horned). + +[Sidenote: Dhu ´l-Qarnayn.] + +The following verses show that he is a double of the mysterious Dhu +´l-Qarnayn of Koranic legend, supposed by most commentators to be +identical with Alexander the Great[54]:-- + + "Ours the realm of Dhu ´l-Qarnayn the glorious, + Realm like his was never won by mortal king. + Followed he the Sun to view its setting + When it sank into the sombre ocean-spring; + Up he clomb to see it rise at morning, + From within its mansion when the East it fired; + All day long the horizons led him onward,[55] + All night through he watched the stars and never tired. + Then of iron and of liquid metal + He prepared a rampart not to be o'erpassed, + Gog and Magog there he threw in prison + Till on Judgment Day they shall awake at last."[56] + +[Sidenote: Bilqís.] + +Similarly, among the Tubba`s we find the Queen of Sheba, whose +adventures with Solomon are related in the twenty-seventh chapter of the +Koran. Although Mu[h.]ammad himself did not mention her name or lineage, +his interpreters were equal to the occasion and revealed her as Bilqís, +the daughter of Shará[h.]íl (Shara[h.]bíl). + +[Sidenote: As`ad Kámil.] + +The national hero of South Arabian legend is the Tubba` As`ad Kámil, or, +as he is sometimes called, Abú Karib. Even at the present day, says Von +Kremer, his memory is kept alive, and still haunts the ruins of his +palace at [Z.]afár. "No one who reads the Ballad of his Adventures or +the words of exhortation which he addressed on his deathbed to his son +[H.]assán can escape from the conviction that here we have to do with +genuine folk-poetry--fragments of a South Arabian legendary cycle, the +beginnings of which undoubtedly reach back to a high antiquity."[57] I +translate here the former of these pieces, which may be entitled + + +THE BALLAD OF THE THREE WITCHES.[58] + + "Time brings to pass full many a wonder + Whereof the lesson thou must ponder. + Whilst all to thee seems ordered fair, + Lo, Fate hath wrought confusion there. + Against a thing foredoomed to be + Nor cunning nor caution helpeth thee. + Now a marvellous tale will I recite; + Trust me to know and tell it aright! + + Once on a time was a boy of Asd + Who became the king of the land at last, + Born in Hamdán, a villager; + The name of that village was Khamir. + This lad in the pride of youth defied + His friends, and they with scorn replied. + None guessed his worth till he was grown + Ready to spring. + + One morn, alone + On Hinwam hill he was sore afraid.[59] + (His people knew not where he strayed; + They had seen him only yesternight, + For his youth and wildness they held him light. + The wretches! Him they never missed + Who had been their glory had they wist). + + O the fear that fell on his heart when he + Saw beside him the witches three! + The eldest came with many a brew-- + In some was blood, blood-dark their hue. + 'Give me the cup!' he shouted bold; + 'Hold, hold!' cried she, but he would not hold. + She gave him the cup, nor he did shrink + Tho' he reeled as he drained the magic drink. + + Then the second yelled at him. Her he faced + Like a lion with anger in his breast. + 'These be our steeds, come mount,' she cried, + 'For asses are worst of steeds to ride.' + ''Tis sooth,' he answered, and slipped his flank + O'er a hyena lean and lank, + But the brute so fiercely flung him away, + With deep, deep wounds on the earth he lay. + Then came the youngest and tended him + On a soft bed, while her eyes did swim + In tears; but he averted his face + And sought a rougher resting-place: + Such paramour he deemed too base. + And him thought, in anguish lying there, + That needles underneath him were.[60] + + Now when they had marked his mien so bold, + Victory in all things they foretold. + 'The wars, O As`ad, waged by thee + Shall heal mankind of misery. + Thy sword and spear the foe shall rue + When his gashes let the daylight through; + And blood shall flow on every hand + What time thou marchest from land to land. + By us be counselled: stay not within + Khamir, but go to [Z.]afár and win! + To thee shall dalliance ne'er be dear, + Thy foes shall see thee before they hear. + Desire moved to encounter thee, + Noble prince, us witches three. + Not jest, but earnest on thee we tried, + And well didst thou the proof abide.' + + As`ad went home and told his folk + What he had seen, but no heed they took. + On the tenth day he set out again + And fared to [Z.]afár with thoughts in his brain. + There fortune raised him to high renown: + None swifter to strike ever wore a crown.[61] + + * * * * * + + Thus found we the tale in memory stored, + And Almighty is the Lord. + Praise be to God who liveth aye, + The Glorious to whom all men pray!" + +Legend makes As`ad the hero of a brilliant expedition to Persia, where +he defeated the general sent against him by the Arsacids, and penetrated +to the Caspian Sea. On his way home he marched through the [H.]ijáz, and +having learned that his son, whom he left behind in Medína, had been +treacherously murdered, he resolved to take a terrible vengeance on the +people of that city. + + [Sidenote: As`ad Kámil and the two Rabbins of Medína.] + + [Sidenote: As`ad Kámil at Mecca.] + + [Sidenote: He seeks to establish Judaism in Yemen.] + + [Sidenote: The ordeal of fire.] + + "Now while the Tubba` was carrying on war against them, there came + to him two Jewish Rabbins of the Banú Quray[z.]a, men deep in + knowledge, who when they heard that he wished to destroy the city + and its people, said to him: 'O King, forbear! Verily, if thou wilt + accept nothing save that which thou desirest, an intervention will + be made betwixt thee and the city, and we are not sure but that + sudden chastisement may befall thee.' 'Why so?' he asked. They + answered: ''Tis the place of refuge of a prophet who in the after + time shall go forth from the sacred territory of Quraysh: it shall + be his abode and his home.' So the king refrained himself, for he + saw that those two had a particular knowledge, and he was pleased + with what they told him. On departing from Medína he followed them + in their religion.[62]... And he turned his face towards Mecca, that + being h is way to Yemen, and when he was between `Usfán and Amaj some + Hudhalites came to him and said: 'O King, shall we not guide thee to a + house of ancient treasure which the kings before thee neglected, + wherein are pearls and emeralds and chrysolites and gold and silver?' + He said, 'Yea.' They said: 'It is a temple at Mecca which those who + belong to it worship and in which they pray.' Now the Hudhalites + wished to destroy him thereby, knowing that destruction awaited the + king who should seek to violate its precinct. So on comprehending what + they proposed, he sent to the two Rabbins to ask them about the + affair. They replied: 'These folk intend naught but to destroy thee + and thine army; we wot not of any house in the world that God hath + chosen for Himself, save this. If thou do that to which they invite + thee, thou and those with thee will surely perish together.' He said: + 'What then is it ye bid me do when I come there?' They said: 'Thou + wilt do as its people do--make the circuit thereof, and magnify and + honour it, and shave thy head, and humble thyself before it, until + thou go forth from its precinct.' He said: 'And what hinders you from + doing that yourselves?' 'By God,' said they, 'it is the temple of our + father Abraham, and verily it is even as we told thee, but we are + debarred therefrom by the idols which its people have set up around it + and by the blood-offerings which they make beside it; for they are + vile polytheists,' or words to the same effect. The king perceived + that their advice was good and their tale true. He ordered the + Hudhalites to approach, and cut off their hands and feet. Then he + continued his march to Mecca, where he made the circuit of the temple, + sacrificed camels, and shaved his head. According to what is told, he + stayed six days at Mecca, feasting the inhabitants with the flesh of + camels and letting them drink honey.[63]... Then he moved out with his + troops in the direction of Yemen, the two Rabbins accompanying him; + and on entering Yemen he called on his subjects to adopt the religion + which he himself had embraced, but they refused unless the question + were submitted to the ordeal of fire which at that time existed in + Yemen; for as the Yemenites say, there was in their country a fire + that gave judgment between them in their disputes: it devoured the + wrong-doer but left the injured person unscathed. The Yemenites + therefore came forward with their idols and whatever else they used as + a means of drawing nigh unto God, and the two Rabbins came forward + with their scriptures hung on their necks like necklaces, and both + parties seated themselves at the place from which the fire was wont to + issue. And the fire blazed up, and the Yemenites shrank back from it + as it approached them, and were afraid, but the bystanders urged them + on and bade them take courage. So they held out until the fire + enveloped them and consumed the idols and images and the men of + [H.]imyar, the bearers thereof; but the Rabbins came forth safe and + sound, their brows moist with sweat, and the scriptures were still + hanging on their necks. Thereupon the [H.]imyarites consented to adopt + the king's religion, and this was the cause of Judaism being + established in Yemen."[64] + +[Sidenote: As`ad's farewell to his son.] + +The poem addressed to his son and successor, [H.]assán, which tradition +has put into his mouth, is a sort of last will and testament, of which +the greater part is taken up with an account of his conquests and with +glorification of his family and himself.[65] Nearly all that we find in +the way of maxims or injunctions suitable to the solemn occasion is +contained in the following verses:-- + + "O [H.]assán, the hour of thy father's death has arrived at last: + Look to thyself ere yet the time for looking is past. + Oft indeed are the mighty abased, and often likewise + Are the base exalted: such is Man who is born and dies. + Bid ye [H.]imyar know that standing erect would I buried be, + And have my wine-skins and Yemen robes in the tomb with me.[66] + And hearken thou to my Sibyl, for surely can she foresay + The truth, and safe in her keeping is castle Ghaymán aye.[67] + +[Sidenote: The castles of Yemen.] + +[Sidenote: Ghumdán.] + +In connection with Ghaymán a few words may be added respecting the +castles in Yemen, of which the ruined skeletons rising from solitary +heights seem still to frown defiance upon the passing traveller. Two +thousand years ago, and probably long before, they were occupied by +powerful barons, more or less independent, who in later times, when the +[H.]imyarite Empire had begun to decline, always elected, and +occasionally deposed, their royal master. Of these castles the +geographer Hamdání has given a detailed account in the eighth book of +his great work on the history and antiquities of Yemen entitled the +_Iklíl_, or 'Crown.'[68] The oldest and most celebrated was Ghumdán, the +citadel of [S.]an`á. It is described as a huge edifice of twenty +stories, each story ten cubits high. The four façades were built with +stone of different colours, white, black, green, and red. On the top +story was a chamber which had windows of marble framed with ebony and +planewood. Its roof was a slab of pellucid marble, so that when the lord +of Ghumdán lay on his couch he saw the birds fly overhead, and could +distinguish a raven from a kite. At each corner stood a brazen lion, and +when the wind blew it entered the hollow interior of the effigies and +made a sound like the roaring of lions. + +[Sidenote: Zarqá´u ´l-Yamáma.] + +The adventure of As`ad Kámil with the three witches must have recalled +to every reader certain scenes in _Macbeth_. Curiously enough, in the +history of his son [H.]assán an incident is related which offers a +striking parallel to the march of Birnam Wood. [T.]asm and Jadís have +already been mentioned. On the massacre of the former tribe by the +latter, a single [T.]asmite named Ribá[h.] b. Murra made his escape and +took refuge with the Tubba` [H.]assán, whom he persuaded to lead an +expedition against the murderers. Now Ribá[h.]'s sister had married a +man of Jadís. Her name was Zarqá´u ´l-Yamáma--_i.e._, the Blue-eyed +Woman of Yamáma--and she had such piercing sight that she was able to +descry an army thirty miles away. [H.]assán therefore bade his horsemen +hold in front of them leafy branches which they tore down from the +trees. They advanced thus hidden, and towards evening, when they had +come within a day's journey, Zarqá said to her people: "I see trees +marching." No one believed her until it was too late. Next morning +[H.]assán fell upon them and put the whole tribe to the sword. + +[Sidenote: [H.]assán murdered by his brother.] + +[Sidenote: Dhú Ru`ayn.] + +The warlike expeditions to which [H.]assán devoted all his energy were +felt as an intolerable burden by the chiefs of [H.]imyar, who formed a +plot to slay him and set his brother `Amr on the throne. `Amr was at +first unwilling to lend himself to their designs, but ultimately his +scruples were overcome, and he stabbed the Tubba` with his own hand. The +assassin suffered a terrible punishment. Sleep deserted him, and in his +remorse he began to execute the conspirators one after another. There +was, however, a single chief called Dhú Ru`ayn, who had remained loyal +and had done his best to save `Amr from the guilt of fratricide. Finding +his efforts fruitless, he requested `Amr to take charge of a sealed +paper which he brought with him, and to keep it in a safe place until he +should ask for it. `Amr consented and thought no more of the matter. +Afterwards, imagining that Dhú Ru`ayn had joined in the fatal plot, he +gave orders for his execution. "How!" exclaimed Dhú Ru`ayn, "did not I +tell thee what the crime involved?" and he asked for the sealed writing, +which was found to contain these verses-- + + "O fool to barter sleep for waking! Blest + Is he alone whose eyelids close in rest. + Hath [H.]imyar practised treason, yet 'tis plain + That God forgiveness owes to Dhú Ru`ayn.[69]" + +On reading this, `Amr recognised that Dhú Ru`ayn had spoken the truth, +and he spared his life. + +[Sidenote: Dhú Nuwás.] + +[Sidenote: Massacre of the Christians in Najrán (523 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Death of Dhú Nuwás.] + +With `Amr the Tubba` dynasty comes to an end. The succeeding kings were +elected by eight of the most powerful barons, who in reality were +independent princes, each ruling in his strong castle over as many +vassals and retainers as he could bring into subjection. During this +period the Abyssinians conquered at least some part of the country, and +Christian viceroys were sent by the Najáshí (Negus) to govern it in his +name. At last Dhú Nuwás, a descendant of the Tubba` As`ad Kámil, crushed +the rebellious barons and made himself unquestioned monarch of Yemen. A +fanatical adherent of Judaism, he resolved to stamp out Christianity in +Najrán, where it is said to have been introduced from Syria by a holy +man called Faymiyún (Phemion). The [H.]imyarites flocked to his +standard, not so much from religious motives as from hatred of the +Abyssinians. The pretended murder of two Jewish children gave Dhú Nuwás +a plausible _casus belli_. He marched against Najrán with an +overwhelming force, entered the city, and bade the inhabitants choose +between Judaism and death. Many perished by the sword; the rest were +thrown into a trench which the king ordered to be dug and filled with +blazing fire. Nearly a hundred years later, when Mu[h.]ammad was being +sorely persecuted, he consoled and encouraged his followers by the +example of the Christians of Najrán, who suffered "_for no other reason +but that they believed in the mighty, the glorious God_."[70] Dhú Nuwás +paid dearly for his triumph. Daws Dhú Tha`labán, one of those who +escaped from the massacre, fled to the Byzantine emperor and implored +him, as the head of Christendom, to assist them in obtaining vengeance. +Justinus accordingly wrote a letter to the Najáshí, desiring him to take +action, and ere long an Abyssinian army, 70,000 strong, under the +command of Aryá[t.], disembarked in Yemen. Dhú Nuwás could not count on +the loyalty of the [H.]imyarite nobles; his troops melted away. "When he +saw the fate that had befallen himself and his people, he turned to the +sea and setting spurs to his horse, rode through the shallows until he +reached the deep water. Then he plunged into the waves and nothing more +of him was seen."[71] + +Thus died, or thus at any rate should have died, the last representative +of the long line of [H.]imyarite kings. Henceforth Yemen appears in +Pre-islamic history only as an Abyssinian dependency or as a Persian +protectorate. The events now to be related form the prologue to a new +drama in which South Arabia, so far from being the centre of interest, +plays an almost insignificant rôle.[72] + + [Sidenote: Yemen under Abyssinian rule.] + + [Sidenote: Abraha and Aryá[t.].] + + [Sidenote: Abraha viceroy of Yemen.] + + On the death of Dhú Nuwás, the Abyssinian general Aryá[t.] continued + his march through Yemen. He slaughtered a third part of the males, + laid waste a third part of the land, and sent a third part of the + women and children to the Najáshí as slaves. Having reduced the + Yemenites to submission and re-established order, he held the + position of viceroy for several years. Then mutiny broke out in the + Abyssinian army of occupation, and his authority was disputed by an + officer, named Abraha. When the rivals faced each other, Abraha said + to Aryá[t.]: "What will it avail you to engage the Abyssinians in a + civil war that will leave none of them alive? Fight it out with me, + and let the troops follow the victor." His challenge being accepted, + Abraha stepped forth. He was a short, fleshy man, compactly built, a + devout Christian, while Aryá[t.] was big, tall, and handsome. When + the duel began, Aryá[t.] thrust his spear with the intention of + piercing Abraha's brain, but it glanced off his forehead, slitting + his eyelid, nose, and lip--hence the name, _al-Ashram_, by which + Abraha was afterwards known; and ere he could repeat the blow, a + youth in Abraha's service, called `Atwada, who was seated on a + hillock behind his master, sprang forward and dealt him a mortal + wound. Thus Abraha found himself commander-in-chief of the + Abyssinian army, but the Najáshí was enraged and swore not to rest + until he set foot on the soil of Yemen and cut off the rebel's + forelock. On hearing this, Abraha wrote to the Najáshí: "O King, + Aryá[t.] was thy servant even as I am. We quarrelled over thy + command, both of us owing allegiance to thee, but I had more + strength than he to command the Abyssinians and keep discipline and + exert authority. When I heard of the king's oath, I shore my head, + and now I send him a sack of the earth of Yemen that he may put it + under his feet and fulfil his oath." The Najáshí answered this act + of submission by appointing Abraha to be his viceroy.... Then Abraha + built the church (_al-Qalís_) at San`á, the like of which was not to + be seen at that time in the whole world, and wrote to the Najáshí + that he would not be content until he had diverted thither every + pilgrim in Arabia. This letter made much talk, and a man of the Banú + Fuqaym, one of those who arranged the calendar, was angered by what + he learned of Abraha's purpose; so he went into the church and + defiled it. When Abraha heard that the author of the outrage + belonged to the people of the Temple in Mecca, and that he meant to + show thereby his scorn and contempt for the new foundation, he waxed + wroth and swore that he would march against the Temple and lay it in + ruins. + +[Sidenote: Sayf b. Dhí Yazan.] + +[Sidenote: The Persians in Yemen (_circa_ 572 A.D.).] + +The disastrous failure of this expedition, which took place in the year +of the Elephant (570 A.D.), did not at once free Yemen from the +Abyssinian yoke. The sons of Abraha, Yaksum and Masrúq, bore heavily on +the Arabs. Seeing no help among his own people, a noble [H.]imyarite +named Sayf b. Dhí Yazan resolved to seek foreign intervention. His +choice lay between the Byzantine and Persian empires, and he first +betook himself to Constantinople. Disappointed there, he induced the +Arab king of [H.]íra, who was under Persian suzerainty, to present him +at the court of Madá´in (Ctesiphon). How he won audience of the Sásánian +monarch, Núshírwán, surnamed the Just, and tempted him by an ingenious +trick to raise a force of eight hundred condemned felons, who were set +free and shipped to Yemen under the command of an aged general; how they +literally 'burned their boats' and, drawing courage from despair, routed +the Abyssinian host and made Yemen a satrapy of Persia[73]--this forms +an almost epic narrative, which I have omitted here (apart from +considerations of space) because it belongs to Persian rather than to +Arabian literary history, being probably based, as Nöldeke has +suggested, on traditions handed down by the Persian conquerors who +settled in Yemen to their aristocratic descendants whom the Arabs called +_al-Abná_ (the Sons) or _Banu 'l-A[h.]rár_ (Sons of the Noble). + +Leaving the once mighty kingdom of Yemen thus pitiably and for ever +fallen from its high estate, we turn northward into the main stream of +Arabian history. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE HISTORY AND LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS + + +[Sidenote: The Age of Barbarism (al-Jáhiliyya).] + +Mu[h.]ammadans include the whole period of Arabian history from the +earliest times down to the establishment of Islam in the term +_al-Jáhiliyya_, which was used by Mu[h.]ammad in four passages of the +Koran and is generally translated 'the state or ignorance' or simply +'the Ignorance.' Goldziher, however, has shown conclusively that the +meaning attached to _jahl_ (whence _Jáhiliyya_ is derived) by the +Pre-islamic poets is not so much 'ignorance' as 'wildness,' 'savagery,' +and that its true antithesis is not _`ilm_ (knowledge), but rather +_[h.]ilm_, which denotes the moral reasonableness of a civilised man. +"When Mu[h.]ammadans say that Islam put an end to the manners and +customs of the _Jáhiliyya_, they have in view those barbarous practices, +that savage temper, by which Arabian heathendom is distinguished from +Islam and by the abolition of which Mu[h.]ammad sought to work a moral +reformation in his countrymen: the haughty spirit of the _Jáhiliyya_ +(_[h.]amiyyatu ´l-Jáhiliyya_), the tribal pride and the endless tribal +feuds, the cult of revenge, the implacability and all the other pagan +characteristics which Islam was destined to overcome."[74] + +Our sources of information regarding this period may be classified as +follows:-- + +[Sidenote: Sources of information concerning the Jáhiliyya.] + +(1) _Poems and fragments of verse_, which though not written down at the +time were preserved by oral tradition and committed to writing, for the +most part, two or three hundred years afterwards. The importance of +this, virtually the sole contemporary record of Pre-islamic history, is +recognised in the well-known saying, "Poetry is the public register of +the Arabs (_al-shi`ru díwánu ´l-`Arab_); thereby genealogies are kept in +mind and famous actions are made familiar." Some account of the chief +collections of old Arabian poetry will be given in the next chapter. + +(2) _Proverbs._ These are of less value, as they seldom explain +themselves, while the commentary attached to them is the work of +scholars bent on explaining them at all costs, though in many cases +their true meaning could only be conjectured and the circumstances of +their origin had been entirely forgotten. Notwithstanding this very +pardonable excess of zeal, we could ill afford to lose the celebrated +collections of Mufa[d.][d.]al b. Salama (+ _circa_ 900 A.D.) and Maydání +(+ 1124 A.D.),[75] which contain so much curious information throwing +light on every aspect of Pre-islamic life. + +[Sidenote: _The Book of Songs._] + +(3) _Traditions and legends._ Since the art of writing was neither +understood nor practised by the heathen Arabs in general, it was +impossible that Prose, as a literary form, should exist among them. The +germs of Arabic Prose, however, may be traced back to the _Jáhiliyya_. +Besides the proverb (_mathal_) and the oration (_khu[t.]ba_) we find +elements of history and romance in the prose narratives used by the +rhapsodists to introduce and set forth plainly the matter of their +songs, and in the legends which recounted the glorious deeds of tribes +and individuals. A vast number of such stories--some unmistakably +genuine, others bearing the stamp of fiction--are preserved in various +literary, historical, and geographical works composed under the `Abbásid +Caliphate, especially in the _Kitábu ´l-Aghání_ (Book of Songs) by Abu +´l-Faraj of I[s.]fahán (+ 967 A.D.), an invaluable compilation based on +the researches of the great Humanists as they have been well named by +Sir Charles Lyall, of the second and third centuries after the +Hijra.[76] The original writings of these early critics and scholars +have perished almost without exception, and beyond the copious citations +in the _Aghání_ we possess hardly any specimens of their work. "The +_Book of Songs_," says Ibn Khaldún, "is the Register of the Arabs. It +comprises all that they had achieved in the past of excellence in every +kind of poetry, history, music, _et cetera_. So far as I am aware, no +other book can be put on a level with it in this respect. It is the +final resource of the student of belles-lettres, and leaves him nothing +further to desire."[77] + + +[Sidenote: Scope of this chapter.] + +In the following pages I shall not attempt to set in due order and +connection the confused mass of poetry and legend in which all that we +know of Pre-islamic Arabia lies deeply embedded. This task has already +been performed with admirable skill by Caussin de Perceval in his _Essai +sur l'histoire des Arabes avant l'Islamisme_,[78] and it could serve no +useful purpose to inflict a dry summary of that famous work upon the +reader. The better course, I think, will be to select a few typical and +outstanding features of the time and to present them, wherever possible, +as they have been drawn--largely from imagination--by the Arabs +themselves. If the Arabian traditions are wanting in historical accuracy +they are nevertheless, taken as a whole, true in spirit to the Dark Age +which they call up from the dead and reverently unfold beneath our eyes. + +[Sidenote: The Arab dynasties of [H.]íra and Ghassán.] + +[Sidenote: Odenathus and Zenobia.] + +About the middle of the third century of our era Arabia was enclosed on +the north and north-east by the rival empires of Rome and Persia, to +which the Syrian desert, stretching right across the peninsula, formed a +natural termination. In order to protect themselves from Bedouin +raiders, who poured over the frontier-provinces, and after laying hands +on all the booty within reach vanished as suddenly as they came, both +Powers found it necessary to plant a line of garrisons along the edge of +the wilderness. Thus the tribesmen were partially held in check, but as +force alone seemed an expensive and inefficient remedy it was decided, +in accordance with the well-proved maxim, _divide et impera_, to enlist +a number of the offending tribes in the Imperial service. Regular pay +and the prospect of unlimited plunder--for in those days Rome and Persia +were almost perpetually at war--were inducements that no true Bedouin +could resist. They fought, however, as free allies under their own +chiefs or phylarchs. In this way two Arabian dynasties sprang up--the +Ghassánids in Syria and the Lakhmites at [H.]íra, west of the +Euphrates--military buffer-states, always ready to collide even when +they were not urged on by the suzerain powers behind them. The Arabs +soon showed what they were capable of when trained and disciplined in +arms. On the defeat of Valerian by the Chosroes Sábúr I, an Arab +chieftain in Palmyra, named Udhayna (Odenathus), marched at the head of +a strong force against the conqueror, drove him out of Syria, and +pursued him up to the very walls of Madá´in, the Persian capital (265 +A.D.). His brilliant exploits were duly rewarded by the Emperor +Gallienus, who bestowed on him the title of Augustus. He was, in fact, +the acknowledged master of the Roman legions in the East when, a year +later, he was treacherously murdered. He found a worthy successor in his +wife, the noble and ambitious Zenobia, who set herself the task of +building up a great Oriental Empire. She fared, however, no better than +did Cleopatra in a like enterprise. For a moment the issue was doubtful, +but Aurelian triumphed and the proud 'Queen of the East' was led a +captive before his chariot through the streets of Rome (274 A.D.). + +These events were not forgotten by the Arabs. It flattered their +national pride to recall that once, at any rate, Roman armies had +marched under the flag of an Arabian princess. But the legend, as told +in their traditions, has little in common with reality. Not only are +names and places freely altered--Zenobia herself being confused with her +Syrian general, Zabdai--but the historical setting, though dimly visible +in the background, has been distorted almost beyond recognition: what +remains is one of those romantic adventures which delighted the Arabs of +the _Jáhiliyya_, just as their modern descendants are never tired of +listening to the _Story of `Antar_ or to the _Thousand Nights and a +Night_. + +[Sidenote: Málik the Azdite.] + +[Sidenote: Jadhíma al-Abrash.] + +The first king of the Arab settlers in `Iráq (Babylonia)[79] is said to +have been Málik the Azdite, who was accidentally shot with an arrow by +his son, Sulayma. Before he expired he uttered a verse which has become +proverbial:-- + + _U`allimuhu ´l-rimáyata kulla yawmin + falamma ´stadda sá`iduhú ramání._ + + "I taught him every day the bowman's art, + And when his arm took aim, he pierced my heart." + +Málik's kingdom, if it can properly be described as such, was +consolidated and organised by his son, Jadhíma, surnamed al-Abrash (the +Speckled)--a polite euphemism for al-Abra[s.] (the Leprous). He reigned +as the vassal of Ardashír Bábakán, the founder (226 A.D.) of the +Sásánian dynasty in Persia, which thereafter continued to dominate the +Arabs of `Iráq during the whole Pre-islamic period. Jadhíma is the hero +of many fables and proverbs. His pride, it is said, was so overweening +that he would suffer no boon-companions except two stars called +_al-Farqadán_, and when he drank wine he used to pour out a cup for each +of them. He had a page, `Adí b. Na[s.]r, with whom his sister fell in +love; and in a moment of intoxication he gave his consent to their +marriage. Next morning, furious at the trick which had been played upon +him, he beheaded the unlucky bridegroom and reviled his sister for +having married a slave. Nevertheless, when a son was born, Jadhíma +adopted the boy, and as he grew up regarded him with the utmost +affection. One day the youthful `Amr suddenly disappeared. For a long +time no trace of him could be found, but at last he was discovered, +running wild and naked, by two brothers, Málik and `Aqíl, who cared for +him and clothed him and presented him to the king. Overjoyed at the +sight, Jadhíma promised to grant them whatever they asked. They chose +the honour, which no mortal had hitherto obtained, of being his +boon-companions, and by this title (_nadmáná Jadhíma_) they are known to +fame. + +[Sidenote: The story of Zabbá.] + +Jadhíma was a wise and warlike prince. In one of his expeditions he +defeated and slew `Amr b. [Z.]arib b. [H.]assán b. Udhayna, an Arab +chieftain who had brought part of Eastern Syria and Mesopotamia under +his sway, and who, as the name Udhayna indicates, is probably identical +with Odenathus, the husband of Zenobia. This opinion is confirmed by the +statement of Ibn Qutayba that "Jadhíma sought in marriage Zabbá, the +daughter of the King of Mesopotamia, who became queen after her +_husband_."[80]--According to the view generally held by Mu[h.]ammadan +authors Zabbá[81] was the daughter of `Amr b. [Z.]arib and was elected +to succeed him when he fell in battle. However this may be, she proved +herself a woman of extraordinary courage and resolution. As a safeguard +against attack she built two strong castles on either bank of the +Euphrates and connected them by a subterranean tunnel; she made one +fortress her own residence, while her sister, Zaynab, occupied the +other. + + Having thus secured her position she determined to take vengeance on + Jadhíma. She wrote to him that the sceptre was slipping from her + feeble grasp, that she found no man worthy of her except himself, + that she desired to unite her kingdom with his by marriage, and + begged him to come and see her. Jadhíma needed no urging. Deaf to + the warnings of his friend and counsellor, Qa[s.]ír, he started from + Baqqa, a castle on the Euphrates. When they had travelled some + distance, Qa[s.]ír implored him to return. "No," said Jadhíma, "the + affair was decided at Baqqa"--words which passed into a proverb. On + approaching their destination the king saw with alarm squadrons of + cavalry between him and the city, and said to Qa[s.]ír, "What is the + prudent course?" "You left prudence at Baqqa," he replied; "if the + cavalry advance and salute you as king and then retire in front of + you, the woman is sincere, but if they cover your flanks and + encompass you, they mean treachery. Mount al-`A[s.]á"--Jadhíma's + favourite mare--"for she cannot be overtaken or outpaced, and rejoin + your troops while there is yet time." Jadhíma refused to follow this + advice. Presently he was surrounded by the cavalry and captured. + Qa[s.]ír, however, sprang on the mare's back and galloped thirty + miles without drawing rein. + + When Jadhíma was brought to Zabbá she seated him on a skin of + leather and ordered her maidens to open the veins in his arm, so + that his blood should flow into a golden bowl. "O Jadhíma," said + she, "let not a single drop be lost. I want it as a cure for + madness." The dying man suddenly moved his arm and sprinkled with + his blood one of the marble pillars of the hall--an evil portent for + Zabbá, inasmuch as it had been prophesied by a certain soothsayer + that unless every drop of the king's blood entered the bowl, his + murder would be avenged. + + Now Qa[s.]ír came to `Amr b. `Adí, Jadhíma's nephew and son by + adoption, who has been mentioned above, and engaged to win over the + army to his side if he would take vengeance on Zabbá. "But how?" + cried `Amr; "for she is more inaccessible than the eagle of the + air." "Only help me," said Qa[s.]ír, "and you will be clear of + blame." He cut off his nose and ears and betook himself to Zabbá, + pretending that he had been mutilated by `Amr. The queen believed + what she saw, welcomed him, and gave him money to trade on her + behalf. Qa[s.]ír hastened to the palace of `Amr at [H.]íra, and, + having obtained permission to ransack the royal treasury, he + returned laden with riches. Thus he gradually crept into the + confidence of Zabbá, until one day he said to her: "It behoves every + king and queen to provide themselves with a secret passage wherein + to take refuge in case of danger." Zabbá answered: "I have already + done so," and showed him the tunnel which she had constructed + underneath the Euphrates. His project was now ripe for execution. + With the help of `Amr he fitted out a caravan of a thousand camels, + each carrying two armed men concealed in sacks. When they drew near + the city of Zabbá, Qa[s.]ír left them and rode forward to announce + their arrival to the queen, who from the walls of her capital viewed + the long train of heavily burdened camels and marvelled at the slow + pace with which they advanced. As the last camel passed through the + gates of the city the janitor pricked one of the sacks with an + ox-goad which he had with him, and hearing a cry of pain, exclaimed, + "By God, there's mischief in the sacks!" But it was too late. `Amr + and his men threw themselves upon the garrison and put them to the + sword. Zabbá sought to escape by the tunnel, but Qa[s.]ír stood + barring the exit on the further side of the stream. She hurried + back, and there was `Amr facing her. Resolved that her enemy should + not taste the sweetness of vengeance, she sucked her seal-ring, + which contained a deadly poison, crying, "By my own hand, not by + `Amr's!"[82] + +In the kingdoms of [H.]íra and Ghassán Pre-islamic culture attained its +highest development, and from these centres it diffused itself and made +its influence felt throughout Arabia. Some account, therefore, of their +history and of the circumstances which enabled them to assume a +civilising rôle will not be superfluous.[83] + +[Sidenote: The foundation of [H.]íra.] + +About the beginning of the third century after Christ a number of +Bedouin tribes, wholly or partly of Yemenite origin, who had formed a +confederacy and called themselves collectively Tanúkh, took advantage of +the disorder then prevailing in the Arsacid Empire to invade `Iráq +(Babylonia) and plant their settlements in the fertile country west of +the Euphrates. While part of the intruders continued to lead a nomad +life, others engaged in agriculture, and in course of time villages and +towns grew up. The most important of these was [H.]íra (properly, +al-[H.]íra, _i.e._, the Camp), which occupied a favourable and healthy +situation a few miles to the south of Kúfa, in the neighbourhood of +ancient Babylon.[84] According to Hishám b. Mu[h.]ammad al-Kalbí (+ 819 +or 821 A.D.), an excellent authority for the history of the Pre-islamic +period, the inhabitants of [H.]íra during the reign of Ardashír Bábakán, +the first Sásánian king of Persia (226-241 A.D.), consisted of three +classes, viz.:-- + +(1) The _Tanúkh_, who dwelt west of the Euphrates between [H.]íra and +Anbár in tents of camel's hair. + +(2) The _`Ibád_, who lived in houses in [H.]íra. + +(3) The _A[h.]láf_ (Clients), who did not belong to either of the +above-mentioned classes, but attached themselves to the people of +[H.]íra and lived among them--blood-guilty fugitives pursued by the +vengeance of their own kin, or needy emigrants seeking to mend their +fortunes. + +[Sidenote: The `Ibád.] + +Naturally the townsmen proper formed by far the most influential element +in the population. Hishám, as we have seen, calls them 'the `Ibád.' His +use of this term, however, is not strictly accurate. The `Ibád are +exclusively the _Christian Arabs of [H.]íra_, and are so called in +virtue of their Christianity; the pagan Arabs, who at the time when +[H.]íra was founded and for long afterwards constituted the bulk of the +citizens, were never comprised in a designation which expresses the very +opposite of paganism. _`Ibád_ means 'servants,' _i.e._, those who serve +God or Christ. It cannot be determined at what epoch the name was first +used to distinguish the religious community, composed of members of +different tribes, which was dominant in [H.]íra during the sixth +century. Dates are comparatively of little importance; what is really +remarkable is the existence in Pre-islamic times of an Arabian community +that was not based on blood-relationship or descent from a common +ancestor, but on a spiritual principle, namely, the profession of a +common faith. The religion and culture of the `Ibád were conveyed by +various channels to the inmost recesses of the peninsula, as will be +shown more fully in a subsequent chapter. They were the schoolmasters of +the heathen Arabs, who could seldom read or write, and who, it must be +owned, so far from desiring to receive instruction, rather gloried in +their ignorance of accomplishments which they regarded as servile. +Nevertheless, the best minds among the Bedouins were irresistibly +attracted to [H.]íra. Poets in those days found favour with princes. A +great number of Pre-islamic bards visited the Lakhmite court, while +some, like Nábigha and `Abíd b. al-Abra[s.], made it their permanent +residence. + +[Sidenote: The Lakhmites.] + +[Sidenote: Nu`mán I. (_circa_ 400 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: The Castle of Khawarnaq.] + +[Sidenote: Nu`mán becomes an anchorite.] + +It is unnecessary to enter into the vexed question as to the origin and +rise of the Lakhmite dynasty at [H.]íra. According to Hishám b. +Mu[h.]ammad al-Kalbi, who gives a list of twenty kings, covering a +period of 522 years and eight months, the first Lakhmite ruler was `Amr +b. `Adí b. Na[s.]r b. Rabí`a b. Lakhm, the same who was adopted by +Jadhíma, and afterwards avenged his death on Queen Zabbá. Almost nothing +is known of his successors until we come to Nu`mán I, surnamed al-A`war +(the One-eyed), whose reign falls in the first quarter of the fifth +century. Nu`mán is renowned in legend as the builder of Khawarnaq, a +famous castle near [H.]íra. It was built at the instance of the Sásánian +king, Yazdigird I, who desired a salubrious residence for his son, +Prince Bahrám Gór. On its completion, Nu`mán ordered the architect, a +'Roman' (_i.e._, Byzantine subject) named Sinimmár, to be cast headlong +from the battlements, either on account of his boast that he could have +constructed a yet more wonderful edifice "which should turn round with +the sun," or for fear that he might reveal the position of a certain +stone, the removal of which would cause the whole building to collapse. +One spring day (so the story is told) Nu`mán sat with his Vizier in +Khawarnaq, which overlooked the Fen-land (al-Najaf), with its +neighbouring gardens and plantations of palm-trees and canals, to the +west, and the Euphrates to the east. Charmed by the beauty of the +prospect, he exclaimed, "Hast thou ever seen the like of this?" "No," +replied the Vizier, "if it would but last." "And what is lasting?" asked +Nu`mán. "That which is with God in heaven." "How can one attain to it?" +"By renouncing the world and serving God, and striving after that which +He hath." Nu`mán, it is said, immediately resolved to abandon his +kingdom; on the same night he clad himself in sack-cloth, stole away +unperceived, and became a wandering devotee (_sá´i[h.]_). This legend +seems to have grown out of the following verses by `Adí b. Zayd, the +`Ibádite:-- + + "Consider thou Khawarnaq's lord--and oft + Of heavenly guidance cometh vision clear-- + Who once, rejoicing in his ample realm, + Surveyed the broad Euphrates, and Sadír;[85] + Then sudden terror struck his heart: he cried, + 'Shall Man, who deathward goes, find pleasure here?' + They reigned, they prospered; yet, their glory past, + In yonder tombs they lie this many a year. + At last they were like unto withered leaves + Whirled by the winds away in wild career."[86] + +The opinion of most Arabian authors, that Nu`mán embraced Christianity, +is probably unfounded, but there is reason to believe that he was well +disposed towards it, and that his Christian subjects--a Bishop of +[H.]íra is mentioned as early as 410 A.D.--enjoyed complete religious +liberty. + +[Sidenote: Mundhir I.] + +[Sidenote: Mundhir III, b. Má´ al-samá.] + +[Sidenote: Rise of Kinda.] + +[Sidenote: Mazdak.] + +[Sidenote: Mundhir expelled from [H.]íra by [H.]árith of Kinda.] + +[Sidenote: Death of Mundhir III.] + +[Sidenote: Mundhir's "Good Day and Evil Day."] + +[Sidenote: [H.]an[z.]ala and Sharík.] + +Nu`mán's place was filled by his son Mundhir, an able and energetic +prince. The power of the Lakhmites at this time may be inferred from the +fact that on the death of Yazdigird I Mundhir forcibly intervened in the +dispute as to the Persian succession and procured the election of Bahrám +Gór, whose claims had previously been rejected by the priesthood.[87] In +the war which broke out shortly afterwards between Persia and Rome, +Mundhir proved himself a loyal vassal, but was defeated by the Romans +with great loss (421 A.D.). Passing over several obscure reigns, we +arrive at the beginning of the sixth century, when another Mundhir, the +third and most illustrious of his name, ascended the throne. This is he +whom the Arabs called Mundhir b. Má´ al-samá.[88] He had a long and +brilliant reign, which, however, was temporarily clouded by an event +that cannot be understood without some reference to the general history +of the period. About 480 A.D. the powerful tribe of Kinda, whose princes +appear to have held much the same position under the Tubba`s of Yemen as +the Lakhmites under the Persian monarchs, had extended their sway over +the greater part of Central and Northern Arabia. The moving spirit in +this conquest was [H.]ujr, surnamed Akilu ´l-Murár, an ancestor of the +poet Imru´u ´l-Qays. On his death the Kindite confederacy was broken up, +but towards the year 500 it was re-established for a brief space by his +grandson, [H.]árith b. `Amr, and became a formidable rival to the +kingdoms of Ghassán and [H.]íra. Meanwhile, in Persia, the communistic +doctrines of Mazdak had obtained wide popularity among the lower +classes, and were finally adopted by King Kawádh himself.[89] Now, it is +certain that at some date between 505 and 529 [H.]árith b. `Amr, the +Kindite, invaded `Iráq, and drove Mundhir out of his kingdom; and it +seems not impossible that, as many historians assert, the latter's +downfall was due to his anti-Mazdakite opinions, which would naturally +excite the displeasure of his suzerain. At any rate, whatever the causes +may have been, Mundhir was temporarily supplanted by [H.]árith, and +although he was restored after a short interval, before the accession of +Anúshirwán, who, as Crown Prince, carried out a wholesale massacre of +the followers of Mazdak (528 A.D.), the humiliation which he had +suffered and cruelly avenged was not soon forgotten;[90] the life and +poems of Imru´u ´l-Qays bear witness to the hereditary hatred subsisting +between Lakhm and Kinda. Mundhir's operations against the Romans were +conducted with extraordinary vigour; he devastated Syria as far as +Antioch, and Justinian saw himself obliged to entrust the defence of +these provinces to the Ghassánid [H.]árith b. Jabala ([H.]árith +al-A`raj), in whom Mundhir at last found more than his match. From this +time onward the kings of [H.]íra and Ghassán are continually raiding and +plundering each other's territory. In one of his expeditions Mundhir +captured a son of [H.]árith, and "immediately sacrificed him to +Aphrodite"--_i.e._, to the Arabian goddess al-`Uzzá;[91]--but on taking +the field again in 554 he was surprised and slain by stratagem in a +battle which is known proverbially as 'The Day of [H.]alíma.'[92] On the +whole, the Lakhmites were a heathen and barbarous race, and these +epithets are richly deserved by Mundhir III. It is related in the +_Aghání_ that he had two boon-companions, Khálid b. al-Mu[d.]allil and +`Amr b. Mas`úd, with whom he used to carouse; and once, being irritated +by words spoken in wine, he gave orders that they should be buried +alive. Next morning he did not recollect what had passed and inquired as +usual for his friends. On learning the truth he was filled with remorse. +He caused two obelisks to be erected over their graves, and two days in +every year he would come and sit beside these obelisks, which were +called _al-Ghariyyán_--_i.e._, the Blood-smeared. One day was the Day of +Good (_yawmu na`imin_), and whoever first encountered him on that day +received a hundred black camels. The other day was the Day of Evil +(_yawmu bu´sin_), on which he would present the first-comer with the +head of a black polecat (_[z.]aribán_), then sacrifice him and smear the +obelisks with his blood.[93] The poet `Abíd b. al-Abra[s.] is said to +have fallen a victim to this horrible rite. It continued until the doom +fell upon a certain [H.]an[z.]ala of [T.]ayyi´, who was granted a year's +grace in order to regulate his affairs, on condition that he should find +a surety. He appealed to one of Mundhir's suite, Sharík b. `Amr, who +straightway rose and said to the king, "My hand for his and my blood for +his if he fail to return at the time appointed." When the day came +[H.]an[z.]ala did not appear, and Mundhir was about to sacrifice Sharík, +whose mourning-woman had already begun to chant the dirge. Suddenly a +rider was seen approaching, wrapped in a shroud and perfumed for burial. +A mourning-woman accompanied him. It was [H.]an[z.]ala. Mundhir +marvelled at their loyalty, dismissed them with marks of honour, and +abolished the custom which he had instituted.[94] + +[Sidenote: `Amr B. Hind (554-569 A.D.).] + +He was succeeded by his son `Amr, who is known to contemporary poets and +later historians as `Amr, son of Hind.[95] During his reign [H.]íra +became an important literary centre. Most of the famous poets then +living visited his court; we shall see in the next chapter what +relations he had with [T.]arafa, `Amr b. Kulthúm, and [H.]árith b. +[H.]illiza. He was a morose, passionate, and tyrannical man. The Arabs +stood in great awe of him, but vented their spite none the less. "At +[H.]íra," said Daháb al-`Ijlí, "there are mosquitoes and fever and lions +and `Amr b. Hind, who acts unjustly and wrongfully."[96] He was slain by +the chief of Taghlib, `Amr b. Kulthúm, in vengeance for an insult +offered to his mother, Laylá. + +[Sidenote: Nu`mán Abú Qábús.] + +[Sidenote: `Adí b. Zayd.] + +It is sufficient to mention the names of Qábús and Mundhir IV, both of +whom were sons of Hind, and occupied the throne for short periods. We +now come to the last Lakhmite king of [H.]íra, and by far the most +celebrated in tradition, Nu`mán III, son of Mundhir IV, with the _kunya_ +(name of honour) Abú Qábús, who reigned from 580 to 602 or from 585 to +607. He was brought up and educated by a noble Christian family in +[H.]íra, the head of which was Zayd b. [H.]ammád, father of the poet +`Adí b. Zayd. `Adí is such an interesting figure, and his fortunes were +so closely and tragically linked with those of Nu`mán, that some account +of his life and character will be acceptable. Both his father and +grandfather were men of unusual culture, who held high posts in the +civil administration under Mundhir III and his successors. Zayd, +moreover, through the good offices of a _dihqán_, or Persian landed +proprietor, Farrukh-máhán by name, obtained from Khusraw Anúshirwán an +important and confidential appointment--that of Postmaster--ordinarily +reserved for the sons of satraps.[97] When `Adí grew up, his father sent +him to be educated with the son of the _dihqán_. He learned to write and +speak Persian with complete facility and Arabic with the utmost +elegance; he versified, and his accomplishments included archery, +horsemanship, and polo. At the Persian court his personal beauty, wit, +and readiness in reply so impressed Anúshirwán that he took him into his +service as secretary and interpreter--Arabic had never before been +written in the Imperial Chancery--and accorded him all the privileges of +a favourite. He was entrusted with a mission to Constantinople, where he +was honourably received; and on his departure the Qay[s.]ar,[98] +following an excellent custom, instructed the officials in charge of the +post-routes to provide horses and every convenience in order that the +ambassador might see for himself the extent and resources of the +Byzantine Empire. `Adí passed some time in Syria, especially at +Damascus, where his first poem is said to have appeared. On his father's +death, which happened about this time, he renounced the splendid +position at [H.]íra which he might have had for the asking, and gave +himself up to hunting and to all kinds of amusement and pleasure, only +visiting Madá´in (Ctesiphon) at intervals to perform his secretarial +duties. While staying at [H.]íra he fell in love with Nu`mán's daughter +Hind, who was then eleven years old. The story as told in the _Book of +Songs_ is too curious to be entirely omitted, though want of space +prevents me from giving it in full.[99] + + [Sidenote: `Adí meets the Princess Hind in church.] + + [Sidenote: His marriage to Hind.] + + It is related that Hind, who was one of the fairest women of her + time, went to church on Thursday of Holy Week, three days after Palm + Sunday, to receive the sacrament. `Adí had entered the church for + the same purpose. He espied her--she was a big, tall girl--while she + was off her guard, and fixed his gaze upon her before she became + aware of him. Her maidens, who had seen him approaching, said + nothing to their mistress, because one of them called Máriya was + enamoured of `Adí and knew no other way of making his acquaintance. + When Hind saw him looking at herself, she was highly displeased and + scolded her handmaidens and beat some of them. `Adí had fallen in + love with her, but he kept the matter secret for a whole year. At + the end of that time Máriya, thinking that Hind had forgotten what + passed, described the church of Thómá (St. Thomas) and the nuns + there and the girls who frequented it, and the beauty of the + building and of the lamps, and said to her, "Ask thy mother's leave + to go." As soon as leave was granted, Máriya conveyed the + intelligence to `Adí, who immediately dressed himself in a + magnificent gold-embroidered Persian tunic (_yalmaq_) and hastened + to the rendezvous, accompanied by several young men of [H.]íra. When + Máriya perceived him, she cried to Hind, "Look at this youth: by + God, he is fairer than the lamps and all things else that thou + seest." "Who is he?" she asked. "`Adí, son of Zayd." "Do you think," + said Hind, "that he will recognise me if I come nearer?" Then she + advanced and watched him as he conversed with his friends, + outshining them all by the beauty of his person, the elegance of his + language, and the splendour of his dress. "Speak to him," said + Máriya to her young mistress, whose countenance betrayed her + feelings. After exchanging a few words the lovers parted. Máriya + went to `Adí and promised, if he would first gratify her wishes, to + bring about his union with Hind. She lost no time in warning Nu`mán + that his daughter was desperately in love with `Adí and would either + disgrace herself or die of grief unless he gave her to him. Nu`mán, + however, was too proud to make overtures to `Adí, who on his part + feared to anger the prince by proposing an alliance. The ingenious + Máriya found a way out of the difficulty. She suggested that `Adí + should invite Nu`mán and his suite to a banquet, and having well + plied him with wine should ask for the hand of his daughter, which + would not then be refused. So it came to pass. Nu`mán gave his + consent to the marriage, and after three days Hind was brought home + to her husband.[100] + +[Sidenote: `Adí secures the election of Nu`mán as King of [H.]íra.] + +[Sidenote: He is imprisoned and put to death by Nu`mán.] + +On the death of Mundhir IV `Adí warmly supported the claims of Nu`mán, +who had formerly been his pupil and was now his father-in-law, to the +throne of [H.]íra. The ruse which he employed on this occasion was +completely successful, but it cost him his life.[101] The partisans of +Aswad b. Mundhir, one of the defeated candidates, resolved on vengeance. +Their intrigues awakened the suspicions of Nu`mán against the +'King-maker.' `Adí was cast into prison, where he languished for a long +time and was finally murdered by Nu`mán when the Chosroes (Parwéz, son +of Hurmuz) had already intervened to procure his release.[102] + +[Sidenote: The vengeance of Zayd b. `Adí.] + +[Sidenote: Death of Nu`mán III.] + +`Adí left a son named Zayd, who, on the recommendation of Nu`mán, was +appointed by Khusraw Parwéz to succeed his father as Secretary for +Arabian Affairs at the court of Ctesiphon. Apparently reconciled to +Nu`mán, he was none the less bent on vengeance, and only waited for an +opportunity. The kings of Persia were connoisseurs in female beauty, and +when they desired to replenish their harems they used to circulate an +advertisement describing with extreme particularity the physical and +moral qualities which were to be sought after;[103] but hitherto they +had neglected Arabia, which, as they supposed, could not furnish any +woman possessed of these perfections. Zayd therefore approached the +Chosroes and said: "I know that Nu`mán has in his family a number of +women answering to the description. Let me go to him, and send with me +one of thy guardsmen who understands Arabic." The Chosroes complied, and +Zayd set out for [H.]íra. On learning the object of his mission, Nu`mán +exclaimed with indignation: "What! are not the gazelles of Persia +sufficient for your needs?" The comparison of a beautiful woman to a +gazelle is a commonplace in Arabian poetry, but the officer accompanying +Zayd was ill acquainted with Arabic, and asked the meaning of the word +(_`ín_ or _mahá_) which Nu`mán had employed. "Cows," said Zayd. When +Parwéz heard from his guardsman that Nu`mán had said, "Do not the cows +of Persia content him?" he could scarcely suppress his rage. Soon +afterwards he sent for Nu`mán, threw him into chains, and caused him to +be trampled to pieces by elephants.[104] + +[Sidenote: Character of Nu`mán III.] + +Nu`mán III appears in tradition as a tyrannical prince, devoted to wine, +women, and song. He was the patron of many celebrated poets, and +especially of Nábigha Dhubyání, who was driven from [H.]íra in +consequence of a false accusation. This episode, as well as another in +which the poet Munakhkhal was concerned, gives us a glimpse into the +private life of Nu`mán. He had married his step-mother, Mutajarrida, a +great beauty in her time; but though he loved her passionately, she +bestowed her affections elsewhere. Nábigha was suspected on account of a +poem in which he described the charms of the queen with the utmost +minuteness, but Munakhkhal was the real culprit. The lovers were +surprised by Nu`mán, and from that day Munakhkhal was never seen again. +Hence the proverb, "Until Munakhkhal shall return," or, as we might say, +"Until the coming of the Coqcigrues." + +[Sidenote: Nu`mán's conversion to Christianity.] + +Although several of the kings of [H.]íra are said to have been +Christians, it is very doubtful whether any except Nu`mán III deserved +even the name; the Lakhmites, unlike the majority of their subjects, +were thoroughly pagan. Nu`mán's education would naturally predispose him +to Christianity, and his conversion may have been wrought, as the legend +asserts, by his mentor `Adí b. Zayd. + + +[Sidenote: The Ghassánids or Jafnites.] + +According to Mu[h.]ammadan genealogists, the Ghassánids, both those +settled in Medína and those to whom the name is consecrated by popular +usage--the Ghassánids of Syria--are descended from `Amr b. `Ámir +al-Muzayqiyá, who, as was related in the last chapter, sold his +possessions in Yemen and quitted the country, taking with him a great +number of its inhabitants, shortly before the Bursting of the Dyke of +Ma´rib. His son Jafna is generally regarded as the founder of the +dynasty. Of their early history very few authentic facts have been +preserved. At first, we are told, they paid tribute to the [D.]ajá`ima, +a family of the stock of Salí[h.], who ruled the Syrian borderlands +under Roman protection. A struggle ensued, from which the Ghassánids +emerged victorious, and henceforth we find them established in these +regions as the representatives of Roman authority with the official +titles of Patricius and Phylarch, which they and the Arabs around them +rendered after the simple Oriental fashion by 'King' (_malik_). + + [Sidenote: Ibn Qutayba's account of the Ghassánids.] + + [Sidenote: [H.]árith the Lame.] + + [Sidenote: Jabala b. al-Ayham.] + + The first (says Ibn Qutayba) that reigned in Syria of the family of + Jafna was [H.]árith b. `Amr Mu[h.]arriq, who was so called because + he burnt (_[h.]arraqa_) the Arabs in their houses. He is [H.]árith + the Elder (al-Akbar), and his name of honour (_kunya_) is Abú + Shamir. After him reigned [H.]árith b. Abí Shamir, known as + [H.]árith the Lame (_al-A`raj_), whose mother was Máriya of the + Ear-rings. He was the best of their kings, and the most fortunate, + and the craftiest; and in his raids he went the farthest afield. He + led an expedition against Khaybar[105] and carried off a number of + prisoners, but set them free after his return to Syria. When Mundhir + b. Má´ al-samá marched against him with an army 100,000 strong, + [H.]árith sent a hundred men to meet him--among them the poet Labíd, + who was then a youth--ostensibly to make peace. They surrounded + Mundhir's tent and slew the king and his companions; then they took + horse, and some escaped, while others were slain. The Ghassánid + cavalry attacked the army of Mundhir and put them to flight. + [H.]árith had a daughter named [H.]alíma, who perfumed the hundred + champions on that day and clad them in shrouds of white linen and + coats of mail. She is the heroine of the proverb, "The day of + [H.]alíma is no secret."[106] [H.]árith was succeeded by his son, + [H.]árith the Younger. Among his other sons were `Amr b. [H.]árith + (called Abú Shamir the Younger), to whom Nábigha came on leaving + Nu`mán b. Mundhir; Mundhir b. [H.]árith; and al-Ayham b. [H.]árith. + Jabala, the son of al-Ayham, was the last of the kings of Ghassán. + He was twelve spans in height, and his feet brushed the ground when + he rode on horseback. He reached the Islamic period and became a + Moslem in the Caliphate of `Umar b. al-Kha[t.][t.]áb, but afterwards + he turned Christian and went to live in the Byzantine Empire. The + occasion of his turning Christian was this: In passing through the + bazaar of Damascus he let his horse tread upon one of the + bystanders, who sprang up and struck Jabala a blow on the face. The + Ghassánís seized the fellow and brought him before Abú `Ubayda b. + al-Jarrá[h.],[107] complaining that he had struck their master. Abú + `Ubayda demanded proof. "What use wilt thou make of the proof?" said + Jabala. He answered: "If he has struck thee, thou wilt strike him a + blow in return." "And shall not he be slain?" "No." "Shall not his + hand be cut off?" "No," said Abú `Ubayda; "God has ordained + retaliation only--blow for blow." Then Jabala went forth and betook + himself to Roman territory and became a Christian; and he stayed + there all the rest of his life.[108] + +[Sidenote: [H.]árith the Lame.] + +The Arabian traditions respecting the dynasty of Ghassán are hopelessly +confused and supply hardly any material even for the rough historical +sketch which may be pieced together from the scattered notices in +Byzantine authors.[109] It would seem that the first unquestionable +Ghassánid prince was [H.]árith b. Jabala ([Greek: Arethas tou Gabala]), +who figures in Arabian chronicles as '[H.]árith the Lame,' and who was +appointed by Justinian (about 529 A.D.) to balance, on the Roman side, +the active and enterprising King of [H.]íra, Mundhir b. Má´ al-samá. +During the greater part of his long reign (529-569 A.D.) he was engaged +in war with this dangerous rival, to whose defeat and death in the +decisive battle of [H.]alíma we have already referred. Like all his +line, [H.]árith was a Christian of the Monophysite Church, which he +defended with equal zeal and success at a time when its very existence +was at stake. The following story illustrates his formidable character. +Towards the end of his life he visited Constantinople to arrange with +the Imperial Government which of his sons should succeed him, and made a +powerful impression on the people of that city, especially on the +Emperor's nephew, Justinus. Many years afterwards, when Justinus had +fallen into dotage, the chamberlains would frighten him, when he began +to rave, with "Hush! Arethas will come and take you."[110] + +[Sidenote: Mundhir b. [H.]árith.] + +[H.]árith was succeeded by his son, Mundhir, who vanquished the new King +of [H.]íra, Qábús b. Hind, on Ascension Day, 570 A.D., in a battle which +is perhaps identical with that celebrated by the Arabs as the Battle of +`Ayn Ubágh. The refusal of the Emperor Justinus to furnish him with +money may have prevented Mundhir from pursuing his advantage, and was +the beginning of open hostility between them, which culminated about +eleven years later in his being carried off to Constantinople and forced +to reside in Sicily. + +From this time to the Persian conquest of Palestine (614 A.D.) anarchy +prevailed throughout the Ghassánid kingdom. The various tribes elected +their own princes, who sometimes, no doubt, were Jafnites; but the +dynasty had virtually broken up. Possibly it was restored by Heraclius +when he drove the Persians out of Syria (629 A.D.), as the Ghassánians +are repeatedly found fighting for Rome against the Moslems, and +according to the unanimous testimony of Arabian writers, the Jafnite +Jabala b. al-Ayham, who took an active part in the struggle, was the +last king of Ghassán. His accession may be placed about 635 A.D. The +poet [H.]assán b. Thábit, who as a native of Medína could claim kinship +with the Ghassánids, and visited their court in his youth, gives a +glowing description of its luxury and magnificence. + + [Sidenote: [H.]assán b. Thábit's picture of the Ghassánid court.] + + "I have seen ten singing-girls, five of them Greeks, singing Greek + songs to the music of lutes, and five from [H.]íra who had been + presented to King Jabala by Iyás b. Qabí[s.]a,[111] chanting + Babylonian airs. Arab singers used to come from Mecca and elsewhere + for his delight; and when he would drink wine he sat on a couch of + myrtle and jasmine and all sorts of sweet-smelling flowers, + surrounded by gold and silver vessels full of ambergris and musk. + During winter aloes-wood was burned in his apartments, while in + summer he cooled himself with snow. Both he and his courtiers wore + light robes, arranged with more regard to comfort than + ceremony,[112] in the hot weather, and white furs, called + _fanak_,[113] or the like, in the cold season; and, by God, I was + never in his company but he gave me the robe which he was wearing on + that day, and many of his friends were thus honoured. He treated the + rude with forbearance; he laughed without reserve and lavished his + gifts before they were sought. He was handsome, and agreeable in + conversation: I never knew him offend in speech or act."[114] + +[Sidenote: Ghassánid civilisation.] + +[Sidenote: Nábigha's encomium.] + +Unlike the rival dynasty on the Euphrates, the Ghassánids had no fixed +residence. They ruled the country round Damascus and Palmyra, but these +places were never in their possession. The capital of their nomad +kingdom was the temporary camp (in Aramaic, _[h.]értá_) which followed +them to and fro, but was generally to be found in the Gaulonitis +(al-Jawlán), south of Damascus. Thus under the quickening impulse of +Hellenistic culture the Ghassánids developed a civilisation far superior +to that of the Lakhmites, who, just because of their half-barbarian +character, were more closely in touch with the heathen Arabs, and +exercised a deeper influence upon them. Some aspects of this +civilisation have been indicated in the description of Jabala b. +al-Ayham's court, attributed to the poet [H.]assán. An earlier bard, the +famous Nábigha, having fallen out of favour with Nu`mán III of Híra, +fled to Syria, where he composed a splendid eulogy of the Ghassánids in +honour of his patron, King `Amr, son of [H.]árith the Lame. After +celebrating their warlike prowess, which he has immortalised in the +oft-quoted verse-- + + "One fault they have: their swords are blunt of edge + Through constant beating on their foemen's mail," + +he concludes in a softer strain: + + "Theirs is a liberal nature that God gave + To no men else; their virtues never fail. + Their home the Holy Land: their faith upright: + They hope to prosper if good deeds avail. + Zoned in fair wise and delicately shod, + They keep the Feast of Palms, when maidens pale, + Whose scarlet silken robes on trestles hang, + Greet them with odorous boughs and bid them hail. + Long lapped in ease tho' bred to war, their limbs + Green-shouldered vestments, white-sleeved, richly veil."[115] + +[Sidenote: Character of Bedouin history.] + +The Pre-islamic history of the Bedouins is mainly a record of wars, or +rather guerillas, in which a great deal of raiding and plundering was +accomplished, as a rule without serious bloodshed. There was no lack of +shouting; volleys of vaunts and satires were exchanged; camels and women +were carried off; many skirmishes took place but few pitched battles: it +was an Homeric kind of warfare that called forth individual exertion in +the highest degree, and gave ample opportunity for single-handed deeds +of heroism. "To write a true history of such Bedouin feuds is well-nigh +impossible. As comparatively trustworthy sources of information we have +only the poems and fragments of verse which have been preserved. +According to Suyú[t.]í, the Arabian traditionists used to demand from +any Bedouin who related an historical event the citation of some verses +in its support; and, in effect, all such stories that have come down to +us are crystallised round the poems. Unfortunately these crystals are +seldom pure. It appears only too often that the narratives have been +invented, with abundant fancy and with more or less skill, to suit the +contents of the verses."[116] But although what is traditionally related +concerning the Battle-days of the Arabs (_Ayyámu ´l-`Arab_) is to a +large extent legendary, it describes with sufficient fidelity how tribal +hostilities generally arose and the way in which they were conducted. +The following account of the War of Basús--the most famous of those +waged in Pre-islamic times--will serve to illustrate this important +phase of Bedouin life.[117] + +[Sidenote: War of Basús.] + +Towards the end of the fifth century A.D. Kulayb, son of Rabí`a, was +chieftain of the Banú Taghlib, a powerful tribe which divided with their +kinsmen, the Banú Bakr, a vast tract in north-eastern Arabia, extending +from the central highlands to the Syrian desert. His victory at the head +of a confederacy formed by these tribes and others over the Yemenite +Arabs made him the first man in the peninsula, and soon his pride became +no less proverbial than his power.[118] He was married to [H.]alíla, +daughter of Murra, of the Banú Bakr, and dwelt in a 'preserve' +(_[h.]imá_), where he claimed the sole right of pasturage for himself +and the sons of Murra. His brother-in-law, Jassás, had an aunt named +Basús. While living under her nephew's protection she was joined by a +certain Sa`d, a client of her own people, who brought with him a +she-camel called Sarábi. + +[Sidenote: Kulayb b. Rabí`a and Jassás b. Murra.] + +[Sidenote: The wounding of Sa`d's she-camel.] + +Now it happened that Kulayb, seeing a lark's nest as he walked on his +land, said to the bird, which was screaming and fluttering distressfully +over her eggs, "Have no fear! I will protect thee." But a short time +afterwards he observed in that place the track of a strange camel and +found the eggs trodden to pieces. Next morning when he and Jassás +visited the pasture ground, Kulayb noticed the she-camel of Sa`d among +his brother-in-law's herd, and conjecturing that she had destroyed the +eggs, cried out to Jassás, "Take heed thou! Take heed! I have pondered +something, and were I sure, I would have done it! May this she-camel +never come here again with this herd!" "By God," exclaimed Jassás, "but +she shall come!" and when Kulayb threatened to pierce her udder with an +arrow, Jassás retorted, "By the stones of Wá´il,[119] fix thine arrow in +her udder and I will fix my lance in thy backbone!" Then he drove his +camels forth from the _[h.]imá_. Kulayb went home in a passion, and said +to his wife, who sought to discover what ailed him, "Knowest thou any +one who durst defend his client against me?" She answered, "No one +except my brother Jassás, if he has given his word." She did what she +could to prevent the quarrel going further, and for a time nothing worse +than taunts passed between them, until one day Kulayb went to look after +his camels which were being taken to water, and were followed by those +of Jassás. While the latter were waiting their turn to drink, Sa`d's +she-camel broke loose and ran towards the water. Kulayb imagined that +Jassás had let her go deliberately, and resenting the supposed insult, +he seized his bow and shot her through the udder. The beast lay down, +moaning loudly, before the tent of Basús, who in vehement indignation at +the wrong suffered by her friend, Sa`d, tore the veil from her head, +beating her face and crying, "O shame, shame!" Then, addressing Sa`d, +but raising her voice so that Jassás might hear, she spoke these verses, +which are known as 'The Instigators' (_al-Muwaththibát_):-- + +[Sidenote: Verses spoken by Basús.] + + "_O Sa`d, be not deceived! Protect thyself! + This people for their clients have no care. + Look to my herds, I charge thee, for I doubt + Even my little daughters ill may fare. + By thy life, had I been in Minqar's house, + Thou would'st not have been wronged, my client, there! + But now such folk I dwell among that when + The wolf comes, 'tis my sheep he comes to tear!_"[120] + +[Sidenote: Kulayb murdered by Jassás.] + +Jassás was stung to the quick by the imputation, which no Arab can +endure, that injury and insult might be inflicted upon his guest-friend +with impunity. Some days afterwards, having ascertained that Kulayb had +gone out unarmed, he followed and slew him, and fled in haste to his own +people. Murra, when he heard the news, said to his son, "Thou alone must +answer for thy deed: thou shalt be put in chains that his kinsmen may +slay thee. By the stones of Wá´il, never will Bakr and Taghlib be joined +together in welfare after the death of Kulayb. Verily, an evil thing +hast thou brought upon thy people, O Jassás! Thou hast slain their chief +and severed their union and cast war into their midst." So he put Jassás +in chains and confined him in a tent; then he summoned the elders of the +families and asked them, "What do ye say concerning Jassás? Here he is, +a prisoner, until the avengers demand him and we deliver him unto them." +"No, by God," cried Sa`d b. Málik b. [D.]ubay`a b. Qays, "we will not +give him up, but will fight for him to the last man!" With these words +he called for a camel to be sacrificed, and when its throat was cut they +swore to one another over the blood. Thereupon Murra said to Jassás:-- + + [Sidenote: Verses of Murra, the father of Jassás.] + + "_If war thou hast wrought and brought on me, + No laggard I with arms outworn. + Whate'er befall, I make to flow + The baneful cups of death at morn._ + + _When spear-points clash, my wounded man + Is forced to drag the spear he stained. + Never I reck, if war must be, + What Destiny hath preordained._ + + _Donning war's harness, I will strive + To fend from me the shame that sears. + Already I thrill and my lust is roused + For the shock of the horsemen against the spears!_"[121] + +[Sidenote: Outbreak of war between Taghlib and Bakr.] + +Thus began the War of Basús between Taghlib on the one side and the clan +of Shaybán, to which Murra belonged, on the other; for at first the +remaining divisions of Bakr held aloof from the struggle, considering +Shaybán to be clearly in the wrong. The latter were reduced to dire +straits, when an event occurred which caused the Bakrites to rise as one +man on behalf of their fellows. [H.]árith b.`Ubád, a famous knight of +Bakr, had refused to take part in the contest, saying in words which +became proverbial, "I have neither camel nor she-camel in it," _i.e._, +"it is no affair of mine." One day his nephew, Bujayr, encountered +Kulayb's brother, Muhalhil, on whom the mantle of the murdered chief had +fallen; and Muhalhil, struck with admiration for the youth's comeliness, +asked him who he was. "Bujayr," said he, "the son of `Amr, the son of +`Ubád." "And who is thy uncle on the mother's side?" "My mother is a +captive" (for he would not name an uncle of whom he had no honour). Then +Muhalhil slew him, crying, "Pay for Kulayb's shoe-latchet!" On hearing +this, [H.]árith sent a message to Muhalhil in which he declared that if +vengeance were satisfied by the death of Bujayr, he for his part would +gladly acquiesce. But Muhalhil replied, "I have taken satisfaction only +for Kulayb's shoe-latchet." Thereupon [H.]árith sprang up in wrath and +cried:-- + + "_God knows, I kindled not this fire, altho' + I am burned in it to-day. + A lord for a shoe-latchet is too dear: + To horse! To horse! Away!_"[122] + +And al-Find, of the Banú Bakr, said on this occasion:-- + + [Sidenote: Verses by al-Find.] + + "_We spared the Banú Hind[123] and said,'Our brothers they remain: + It may be Time will make of us one people yet again.'_" + _But when the wrong grew manifest, and naked Ill stood plain, + And naught was left but ruthless hate, we paid them bane with bane! + As lions marched we forth to war in wrath and high disdain: + Our swords brought widowhood and tears and wailing in their train, + Our spears dealt gashes wide whence blood like water spilled amain. + No way but Force to weaken Force and mastery obtain; + 'Tis wooing contumely to meet wild actions with humane: + By evil thou may'st win to peace when good is tried in vain._"[124] + +[Sidenote: The Day of Shearing.] + +The Banú Bakr now prepared for a decisive battle. As their enemy had the +advantage in numbers, they adopted a stratagem devised by [H.]árith. +"Fight them," said he, "with your women. Equip every woman with a small +waterskin and give her a club. Place the whole body of them behind +you--this will make you more resolved in battle--and wear some +distinguishing mark which they will recognise, so that when a woman +passes by one of your wounded she may know him by his mark and give him +water to drink, and raise him from the ground; but when she passes by +one of your foes she will smite him with her club and slay him." So the +Bakrites shaved their heads, devoting themselves to death, and made this +a mark of recognition between themselves and their women, and this day +was called the Day of Shearing. Now Ja[h.]dar b. [D.]ubay`a was an +ill-favoured, dwarfish man, with fair flowing love-locks, and he said, +"O my people, if ye shave my head ye will disfigure me, so leave my +locks for the first horseman of Taghlib that shall emerge from the +hill-pass on the morrow" (meaning "I will answer for him, if my locks +are spared"). On his request being granted, he exclaimed:-- + + [Sidenote: The vow of Ja[h.]dar b. [D.]ubay`a.] + + "_To wife and daughter + Henceforth I am dead: + Dust for ointment + On my hair is shed._ + + _Let me close with the horsemen + Who hither ride, + Cut my locks from me + If I stand aside!_ + + _Well wots a mother + If the son she bore + And swaddled on her bosom + And smelt him o'er,_ + + _Whenever warriors + In the mellay meet, + Is a puny weakling + Or a man complete!_"[125] + +He kept his promise but in the course of the fight he fell, severely +wounded. When the women came to him, they saw his love-locks and +imagining that he was an enemy despatched him with their clubs. + +[Sidenote: Women as combatants.] + +The presence of women on the field and the active share they took in the +combat naturally provoked the bitterest feelings. If they were not +engaged in finishing the bloody work of the men, their tongues were busy +inciting them. We are told that a daughter of al-Find bared herself +recklessly and chanted:-- + + "_War! War! War! War! + It has blazed up and scorched us sore. + The highlands are filled with its roar. + Well done, the morning when your heads ye shore!_"[126] + +The mothers were accompanied by their children, whose tender age did not +always protect them from an exasperated foe. It is related that a +horseman of the Banú Taghlib transfixed a young boy and lifted him up on +the point of his spear. He is said to have been urged to this act of +savagery by one al-Bazbáz, who was riding behind him on the crupper. +Their triumph was short; al-Find saw them, and with a single +spear-thrust pinned them to each other--an exploit which his own verses +record. + +On this day the Banú Bakr gained a great victory, and broke the power of +Taghlib. It was the last battle of note in the Forty Years' War, which +was carried on, by raiding and plundering, until the exhaustion of both +tribes and the influence of King Mundhir III of [H.]íra brought it to an +end. + + +[Sidenote: The War of Dá[h.]is and Ghabrá.] + +Not many years after the conclusion of peace between Bakr and Taghlib, +another war, hardly less famous in tradition than the War of Basús, +broke out in Central Arabia. The combatants were the tribes of `Abs and +Dhubyán, the principal stocks of the Banú Gha[t.]afán, and the occasion +of their coming to blows is related as follows:-- + + Qays, son of Zuhayr, was chieftain of `Abs. He had a horse called + Dá[h.]is, renowned for its speed, which he matched against Ghabrá, a + mare belonging to [H.]udhayfa b. Badr, the chief of Dhubyán. It was + agreed that the course should be a hundred bow-shots in length, and + that the victor should receive a hundred camels. When the race began + Ghabrá took the lead, but as they left the firm ground and entered + upon the sand, where the 'going' was heavy, Dá[h.]is gradually drew + level and passed his antagonist. He was nearing the goal when some + Dhubyánites sprang from an ambuscade prepared beforehand, and drove + him out of his course, thus enabling Ghabrá to defeat him. On being + informed of this foul play Qays naturally claimed that he had won + the wager, but the men of Dhubyán refused to pay even a single + camel. Bitterly resenting their treachery, he waylaid and slew one + of [H.]udhayfa's brothers. [H.]udhayfa sought vengeance, and the + murder of Málik, a brother of Qays, by his horsemen gave the signal + for war. In the fighting which ensued Dhubyán more than held their + own, but neither party could obtain a decisive advantage. Qays slew + the brothers [H.]udhayfa and [H.]amal-- + + "_[H.]amal I slew and eased my heart thereby, + [H.]udhayfa glutted my avenging brand; + But though I slaked my thirst by slaying them, + I would as lief have lost my own right hand._"[127] + + After a long period--forty years according to the traditional + computation--`Abs and Dhubyán were reconciled by the exertions of + two chieftains of the latter tribe, [H.]árith b. `Awf and Harim b. + Sinán, whose generous and patriotic intervention the poet Zuhayr has + celebrated. Qays went into exile. "I will not look," he said, "on + the face of any woman of Dhubyán whose father or brother or husband + or son I have killed." If we may believe the legend, he became a + Christian monk and ended his days in `Umán. + +[Sidenote: The Hijáz.] + +Descending westward from the highlands of Najd the traveller gradually +approaches the Red Sea, which is separated from the mountains running +parallel to it by a narrow strip of coast-land, called the Tiháma +(Netherland). The rugged plateau between Najd and the coast forms the +[H.]ijáz (Barrier), through which in ancient times the Sabæan caravans +laden with costly merchandise passed on their way to the Mediterranean +ports. Long before the beginning of our era two considerable trading +settlements had sprung up in this region, viz., Macoraba (Mecca) and, +some distance farther north, Yathrippa (Yathrib, the Pre-islamic name of +Medína). Of their early inhabitants and history we know nothing except +what is related by Mu[h.]ammadan writers, whose information reaches back +to the days of Adam and Abraham. Mecca was the cradle of Islam, and +Islam, according to Mu[h.]ammad, is the religion of Abraham, which was +corrupted by succeeding generations until he himself was sent to purify +it and to preach it anew. Consequently the Pre-islamic history of Mecca +has all been, so to speak, 'Islamised.' The Holy City of Islam is made +to appear in the same light thousands of years before the Prophet's +time: here, it is said, the Arabs were united in worship of Allah, hence +they scattered and fell into idolatry, hither they return annually as +pilgrims to a shrine which had been originally dedicated to the One +Supreme Being, but which afterwards became a Pantheon of tribal deities. +This theory lies at the root of the Mu[h.]ammadan legend which I shall +now recount as briefly as possible, only touching on the salient points +of interest. + +[Sidenote: Foundation of the Ka`ba.] + +In the Meccan valley--the primitive home of that portion of the Arab +race which claims descent from Ismá`íl (Ishmael), the son of Ibráhím +(Abraham) by Hájar (Hagar)--stands an irregular, cube-shaped building of +small dimensions--the Ka`ba. Legend attributes its foundation to Adam, +who built it by Divine command after a celestial archetype. At the +Deluge it was taken up into heaven, but was rebuilt on its former site +by Abraham and Ishmael. While they were occupied in this work Gabriel +brought the celebrated Black Stone, which is set in the south-east corner +of the building, and he also instructed them in the ceremonies of the +Pilgrimage. When all was finished Abraham stood on a rock known to later +ages as the _Maqámu Ibráhím_, and, turning to the four quarters of the +sky, made proclamation: "O ye people! The Pilgrimage to the Ancient +House is prescribed unto you. Hearken to your Lord!" And from every part +of the world came the answer: "_Labbayka ´lláhumma, labbayka_"--_i.e._, +"We obey, O God, we obey." + +[Sidenote: Idolatry introduced at Mecca.] + +The descendants of Ishmael multiplied exceedingly, so that the barren +valley could no longer support them, and a great number wandered forth +to other lands. They were succeeded as rulers of the sacred territory by +the tribe of Jurhum, who waxed in pride and evil-doing until the +vengeance of God fell upon them. Mention has frequently been made of the +Bursting of the Dyke of Ma´rib, which caused an extensive movement of +Yemenite stocks to the north. The invaders halted in the [H.]ijáz, and, +having almost exterminated the Jurhumites, resumed their journey. One +group, however--the Banú Khuzá`a, led by their chief Lu[h.]ayy--settled +in the neighbourhood of Mecca. `Amr, son of Lu[h.]ayy, was renowned +among the Arabs for his wealth and generosity. Ibn Hishám says: 'I have +been told by a learned man that `Amr b. Lu[h.]ayy went from Mecca to +Syria on some business and when he arrived at Má´ab, in the land of +al-Balqá, he found the inhabitants, who were `Amálíq, worshipping idols. +"What are these idols?" he inquired. "They are idols that send us rain +when we ask them for rain, and help us when we ask them for help." "Will +ye not give me one of them," said `Amr, "that I may take it to Arabia to +be worshipped there?" So they gave him an idol called Hubal, which he +brought to Mecca and set it up and bade the people worship and venerate +it.'[128] Following his example, the Arabs brought their idols and +installed them round the sanctuary. The triumph of Paganism was +complete. We are told that hundreds of idols were destroyed by +Mu[h.]ammad when he entered Mecca at the head of a Moslem army in 8 A.H. += 629 A.D. + +[Sidenote: The Quraysh.] + +To return to the posterity of Ismá`íl through `Adnán: the principal of +their descendants who remained in the [H.]ijáz were the Hudhayl, the +Kinána, and the Quraysh. The last-named tribe must now engage our +attention almost exclusively. During the century before Mu[h.]ammad we +find them in undisputed possession of Mecca and acknowledged guardians +of the Ka`ba--an office which they administered with a shrewd +appreciation of its commercial value. Their rise to power is related as +follows:-- + + [Sidenote: The story of Qu[s.]ayy.] + + [Sidenote: Qu[s.]ayy master of Mecca.] + + Kiláb b. Murra, a man of Quraysh, had two sons, Zuhra and Zayd. The + latter was still a young child when his father died, and soon + afterwards his mother, Fá[t.]ima, who had married again, left Mecca, + taking Zayd with her, and went to live in her new husband's home + beside the Syrian borders. Zayd grew up far from his native land, + and for this reason he got the name of Qu[s.]ayy--_i.e._, 'Little + Far-away.' When he reached man's estate and discovered his true + origin he returned to Mecca, where the hegemony was wholly in the + hands of the Khuzá`ites under their chieftain, [H.]ulayl b. + [H.]ubshiyya, with the determination to procure the superintendence + of the Ka`ba for his own people, the Quraysh, who as pure-blooded + descendants of Ismá`íl had the best right to that honour. By his + marriage with [H.]ubbá, the daughter of [H.]ulayl, he hoped to + inherit the privileges vested in his father-in-law, but [H.]ulayl on + his deathbed committed the keys of the Ka`ba to a kinsman named Abú + Ghubshán. Not to be baffled, Qu[s.]ayy made the keeper drunk and + persuaded him to sell the keys for a skin of wine--hence the + proverbs "A greater fool than Abú Ghubshán" and "Abú Ghubshán's + bargain," denoting a miserable fraud. Naturally the Khuza`ites did + not acquiesce in the results of this transaction; they took up arms, + but Qu[s.]ayy was prepared for the struggle and won a decisive + victory. He was now master of Temple and Town and could proceed to + the work of organisation. His first step was to bring together the + Quraysh, who had previously been dispersed over a wide area, into + the Meccan valley--this earned for him the title of _al-Mujammi`_ + (the Congregator)--so that each family had its allotted quarter. He + built a House of Assembly (_Dáru ´l-Nadwa_), where matters affecting + the common weal were discussed by the Elders of the tribe. He also + instituted and centred in himself a number of dignities in + connection with the government of the Ka`ba and the administration + of the Pilgrimage, besides others of a political and military + character. Such was his authority that after his death, no less than + during his life, all these ordinances were regarded by the Quraysh + as sacred and inviolable. + +[Sidenote: Mecca in the sixth century after Christ.] + +The death of Qu[s.]ayy may be placed in the latter half of the fifth +century. His descendant, the Prophet Mu[h.]ammad, was born about a +hundred years afterwards, in 570 or 571 A.D. With one notable exception, +to be mentioned immediately, the history of Mecca during the period thus +defined is a record of petty factions unbroken by any event of +importance. The Prophet's ancestors fill the stage and assume a +commanding position, which in all likelihood they never possessed; the +historical rivalry of the Umayyads and `Abbásids appears in the persons +of their founders, Umayya and Háshim--and so forth. Meanwhile the +influence of the Quraysh was steadily maintained and extended. The Ka`ba +had become a great national rendezvous, and the crowds of pilgrims which +it attracted from almost every Arabian clan not only raised the credit +of the Quraysh, but also materially contributed to their commercial +prosperity. It has already been related how Abraha, the Abyssinian +viceroy of Yemen, resolved to march against Mecca with the avowed +purpose of avenging upon the Ka`ba a sacrilege committed by one of the +Quraysh in the church at [S.]an`á. Something of that kind may have +served as a pretext, but no doubt his real aim was to conquer Mecca and +to gain control of her trade. + +[Sidenote: The Year of the Elephant.] + +[Sidenote: The Abyssinians at Mecca.] + +This memorable expedition[129] is said by Moslem historians to have +taken place in the year of Mu[h.]ammad's birth (about 570 A.D.), usually +known as the Year of the Elephant--a proof that the Arabs were deeply +impressed by the extraordinary spectacle of these huge animals, one or +more of which accompanied the Abyssinian force. The report of Abraha's +preparations filled the tribesmen with dismay. At first they endeavoured +to oppose his march, regarding the defence of the Ka`ba as a sacred +duty, but they soon lost heart, and Abraha, after defeating Dhú Nafar, a +[H.]imyarite chieftain, encamped in the neighbourhood of Mecca without +further resistance. He sent the following message to `Abdu +´l-Mu[t.][t.]alib, the Prophet's grandfather, who was at that time the +most influential personage in Mecca: "I have not come to wage war on +you, but only to destroy the Temple. Unless you take up arms in its +defence, I have no wish to shed your blood." `Abdu ´l-Mu[t.][t.]alib +replied: "By God, we seek not war, for which we are unable. This is +God's holy House and the House of Abraham, His Friend; it is for Him to +protect His House and Sanctuary; if He abandons it, we cannot defend +it." + + [Sidenote: `Abdu ´l-Mu[t.][t.]alib's interview with Abraha.] + + Then `Abdu ´l-Mu[t.][t.]alib was conducted by the envoy to the + Abyssinian camp, as Abraha had ordered. There he inquired after Dhú + Nafar, who was his friend, and found him a prisoner. "O Dhú Nafar," + said he, "can you do aught in that which has befallen us?" Dhú Nafar + answered, "What can a man do who is a captive in the hands of a + king, expecting day and night to be put to death? I can do nothing + at all in the matter, but Unays, the elephant-driver, is my friend; + I will send to him and press your claims on his consideration and + ask him to procure you an audience with the king. Tell Unays what + you wish: he will plead with the king in your favour if he can." So + Dhú Nafar sent for Unays and said to him, "O Unays, `Abdu + ´l-Mu[t.][t.]alib is lord of Quraysh and master of the caravans of + Mecca. He feeds the people in the plain and the wild creatures on + the mountain-tops. The king has seized two hundred of his camels. + Now get him admitted to the king's presence and help him to the best + of your power." Unays consented, and soon `Abdu ´l-Mu[t.][t.]alib + stood before the king. When Abraha saw him he held him in too high + respect to let him sit in an inferior place, but was unwilling that + the Abyssinians should see the Arab chief, who was a large man and a + comely, seated on a level with himself; he therefore descended from + his throne and sat on his carpet and bade `Abdu ´l-Mu[t.][t.]alib + sit beside him. Then he said to his dragoman, "Ask him what he wants + of me." `Abdu ´l-Mu[t.][t.]alib replied, "I want the king to restore + to me two hundred camels of mine which he has taken away." Abraha + said to the dragoman, "Tell him: You pleased me when I first saw + you, but now that you have spoken to me I hold you cheap. What! do + you speak to me of two hundred camels which I have taken, and omit + to speak of a temple venerated by you and your fathers which I have + come to destroy?" Then said `Abdu ´l-Mu[t.][t.]alib: "The camels are + mine, but the Temple belongs to another, who will defend it," and on + the king exclaiming, "He cannot defend it from me," he said, "That + is your affair; only give me back my camels." + + As it is related in a more credible version, the tribes settled + round Mecca sent ambassadors, of whom `Abdu ´l-Mu[t.][t.]alib was + one, offering to surrender a third part of their possessions to + Abraha on condition that he should spare the Temple, but he refused. + Having recovered his camels, `Abdu ´l-Mu[t.][t.]alib returned to the + Quraysh, told them what had happened, and bade them leave the city + and take shelter in the mountains. Then he went to the Ka`ba, + accompanied by several of the Quraysh, to pray for help against + Abraha and his army. Grasping the ring of the door, he cried:-- + + "_O God, defend Thy neighbouring folk even as a man his gear[130] + defendeth! + Let not their Cross and guileful plans defeat the plans Thyself + intendeth! + But if Thou make it so, 'tis well: according to Thy will it + endeth._"[131] + + [Sidenote: Rout of the Abyssinians.] + + Next morning, when Abraha prepared to enter Mecca, his elephant + knelt down and would not budge, though they beat its head with an + axe and thrust sharp stakes into its flanks; but when they turned it + in the direction of Yemen, it rose up and trotted with alacrity. + Then God sent from the sea a flock of birds like swallows every one + of which carried three stones as large as a chick-pea or a lentil, + one in its bill and one in each claw, and all who were struck by + those stones perished.[132] The rest fled in disorder, dropping down + as they ran or wherever they halted to quench their thirst. Abraha + himself was smitten with a plague so that his limbs rotted off + piecemeal.[133] + +These details are founded on the 105th chapter of the Koran, entitled +'The Súra of the Elephant,' which may be freely rendered as follows:-- + + "Hast not thou seen the people of the Elephant, how dealt + with them the Lord? + Did not He make their plot to end in ruin abhorred?-- + When He sent against them birds, horde on horde, + And stones of baked clay upon them poured, + And made them as leaves of corn devoured." + +The part played by `Abdu ´l-Mu[t.][t.]alib in the story is, of course, a +pious fiction designed to glorify the Holy City and to claim for the +Prophet's family fifty years before Islam a predominance which they did +not obtain until long afterwards; but equally of course the legend +reflects Mu[h.]ammadan belief, and may be studied with advantage as a +characteristic specimen of its class. + +"When God repulsed the Abyssinians from Mecca and smote them with His +vengeance, the Arabs held the Quraysh in high respect and said, 'They +are God's people: God hath fought for them and hath defended them +against their enemy;' and made poems on this matter."[134] The following +verses, according to Ibn Is[h.]áq, are by Abu ´l-[S.]alt b. Abí Rabí`a +of Thaqíf; others more reasonably ascribe them to his son Umayya, a +well-known poet and monotheist ([H.]aníf) contemporary with +Mu[h.]ammad:-- + + [Sidenote: Verses by Umayya b. Abi ´l-[S.]alt.] + + "Lo, the signs of our Lord are everlasting, + None disputes them except the unbeliever. + He created Day and Night: unto all men + Is their Reckoning ordained, clear and certain. + Gracious Lord! He illumines the daytime + With a sun widely scattering radiance. + He the Elephant stayed at Mughammas + So that sore it limped as though it were hamstrung, + Cleaving close to its halter, and down dropped, + As one falls from the crag of a mountain. + Gathered round it were princes of Kinda, + Noble heroes, fierce hawks in the mellay. + There they left it: they all fled together, + Every man with his shank-bone broken. + Vain before God is every religion, + When the dead rise, except the [H.]anífite.[135]" + +[Sidenote: Battle of Dhú Qár (circa 610 A.D.).] + +The patriotic feelings aroused in the Arabs of the [H.]ijáz by the +Abyssinian invasion--feelings which must have been shared to some extent +by the Bedouins generally--received a fresh stimulus through events +which occurred about forty years after this time on the other side of +the peninsula. It will be remembered that the Lakhmite dynasty at +[H.]íra came to an end with Nu`mán III, who was cruelly executed by +Khusraw Parwéz (602 or 607 A.D.).[136] Before his death he had deposited +his arms and other property with Háni´, a chieftain of the Banú Bakr. +These were claimed by Khusraw, and as Háni´ refused to give them up, a +Persian army was sent to Dhú Qár, a place near Kúfa abounding in water +and consequently a favourite resort of the Bakrites during the dry +season. A desperate conflict ensued, in which the Persians were +completely routed.[137] Although the forces engaged were comparatively +small,[138] this victory was justly regarded by the Arabs as marking the +commencement of a new order of things; _e.g._, it is related that +Mu[h.]ammad said when the tidings reached him: "This is the first day on +which the Arabs have obtained satisfaction from the Persians." The +desert tribes, hitherto overshadowed by the Sásánian Empire and held in +check by the powerful dynasty of [H.]íra, were now confident and +aggressive. They began to hate and despise the Colossus which they no +longer feared, and which, before many years had elapsed, they trampled +in the dust. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY, MANNERS, AND RELIGION + + +"When there appeared a poet in a family of the Arabs, the other tribes +round about would gather together to that family and wish them joy of +their good luck. Feasts would be got ready, the women of the tribe would +join together in bands, playing upon lutes, as they were wont to do at +bridals, and the men and boys would congratulate one another; for a poet +was a defence to the honour of them all, a weapon to ward off insult +from their good name, and a means of perpetuating their glorious deeds +and of establishing their fame for ever. And they used not to wish one +another joy but for three things--the birth of a boy, the coming to +light of a poet, and the foaling of a noble mare."[139] + +As far as extant literature is concerned--and at this time there was +only a spoken literature, which was preserved by oral tradition, and +first committed to writing long afterwards--the _Jáhiliyya_ or +Pre-islamic Age covers scarcely more than a century, from about 500 +A.D., when the oldest poems of which we have any record were composed, +to the year of Mu[h.]ammad's Flight to Medína (622 A.D.), which is the +starting-point of a new era in Arabian history. The influence of these +hundred and twenty years was great and lasting. They saw the rise and +incipient decline of a poetry which most Arabic-speaking Moslems have +always regarded as a model of unapproachable excellence; a poetry rooted +in the life of the people, that insensibly moulded their minds and fixed +their character and made them morally and spiritually a nation long +before Mu[h.]ammad welded the various conflicting groups into a single +organism, animated, for some time at least, by a common purpose. In +those days poetry was no luxury for the cultured few, but the sole +medium of literary expression. Every tribe had its poets, who freely +uttered what they felt and thought. Their unwritten words "flew across +the desert faster than arrows," and came home to the hearts and bosoms +of all who heard them. Thus in the midst of outward strife and +disintegration a unifying principle was at work. Poetry gave life and +currency to an ideal of Arabian virtue (_muruwwa_), which, though based +on tribal community of blood and insisting that only ties of blood were +sacred, nevertheless became an invisible bond between diverse clans, and +formed, whether consciously or not, the basis of a national community of +sentiment. + +[Sidenote: Origins of Arabian poetry] + +In the following pages I propose to trace the origins of Arabian poetry, +to describe its form, contents, and general features, to give some +account of the most celebrated Pre-islamic poets and collections of +Pre-islamic verse, and finally to show in what manner it was preserved +and handed down. + +By the ancient Arabs the poet (_shá`ir_, plural _shu`ará_), as his name +implies, was held to be a person endowed with supernatural knowledge, a +wizard in league with spirits (_jinn_) or satans (_shayá[t.]ín_) and +dependent on them for the magical powers which he displayed. This view +of his personality, as well as the influential position which he +occupied, are curiously indicated by the story of a certain youth who +was refused the hand of his beloved on the ground that he was neither a +poet nor a soothsayer nor a water-diviner.[140] The idea of poetry as an +art was developed afterwards; the pagan _shá`ir_ is the oracle of his +tribe, their guide in peace and their champion in war. It was to him +they turned for counsel when they sought new pastures, only at his word +would they pitch or strike their 'houses of hair,' and when the tired +and thirsty wanderers found a well and drank of its water and washed +themselves, led by him they may have raised their voices together and +sung, like Israel-- + + "Spring up, O well, sing ye unto it."[141] + +[Sidenote: Satire.] + +Besides fountain-songs, war-songs, and hymns to idols, other kinds of +poetry must have existed in the earliest times--_e.g._, the love-song +and the dirge. The powers of the _shá`ir_, however, were chiefly +exhibited in Satire (_hijá_), which in the oldest known form "introduces +and accompanies the tribal feud, and is an element of war just as +important as the actual fighting."[142] The menaces which he hurled +against the foe were believed to be inevitably fatal. His rhymes, often +compared to arrows, had all the effect of a solemn curse spoken by a +divinely inspired prophet or priest,[143] and their pronunciation was +attended with peculiar ceremonies of a symbolic character, such as +anointing the hair on one side of the head, letting the mantle hang down +loosely, and wearing only one sandal.[144] Satire retained something of +these ominous associations at a much later period when the magic +utterance of the _shá`ir_ had long given place to the lampoon by which +the poet reviles his enemies and holds them up to shame. + +[Sidenote: Saj`.] + +The obscure beginnings of Arabian poetry, presided over by the magician +and his familiar spirits, have left not a rack behind in the shape of +literature, but the task of reconstruction is comparatively easy where +we are dealing with a people so conservative and tenacious of antiquity +as the Arabs. Thus it may be taken for certain that the oldest form of +poetical speech in Arabia was rhyme without metre (_Saj`_), or, as we +should say, 'rhymed prose,' although the fact of Mu[h.]ammad's +adversaries calling him a poet because he used it in the Koran shows the +light in which it was regarded even after the invention and elaboration +of metre. Later on, as we shall see, _Saj`_ became a merely rhetorical +ornament, the distinguishing mark of all eloquence whether spoken or +written, but originally it had a deeper, almost religious, significance +as the special form adopted by poets, soothsayers, and the like in their +supernatural revelations and for conveying to the vulgar every kind of +mysterious and esoteric lore. + +[Sidenote: Rajaz.] + +Out of _Saj`_ was evolved the most ancient of the Arabian metres, which +is known by the name of _Rajaz_.[145] This is an irregular iambic metre +usually consisting of four or six--an Arab would write 'two or +three'--feet to the line; and it is a peculiarity of _Rajaz_, marking +its affinity to _Saj`_, that all the lines rhyme with each other, +whereas in the more artificial metres only the opening verse[146] is +doubly rhymed. A further characteristic of _Rajaz_ is that it should be +uttered extempore, a few verses at a time--commonly verses expressing +some personal feeling, emotion, or experience, like those of the aged +warrior Durayd b. Zayd b. Nahd when he lay dying:-- + + "The house of death[147] is builded for Durayd to-day. + Could Time be worn out, sure had I worn Time away. + No single foe but I had faced and brought to bay. + The spoils I gathered in, how excellent were they! + The women that I loved, how fine was their array!"[148] + +[Sidenote: Other metres.] + +Here would have been the proper place to give an account of the +principal Arabian metres--the 'Perfect' (_Kámil_), the 'Ample' (_Wáfir_) +the 'Long' (_[T.]awíl_), the 'Wide' (_Basi[t.]_), the 'Light' +(_Khafíf_), and several more--but in order to save valuable space I must +content myself with referring the reader to the extremely lucid +treatment of this subject by Sir Charles Lyall in the Introduction to +his _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, pp. xlv-lii. All the metres are +quantitative, as in Greek and Latin. Their names and laws were unknown +to the Pre-islamic bards: the rules of prosody were first deduced from +the ancient poems and systematised by the grammarian, Khalíl b. Ahmad (+ +791 A.D.), to whom the idea is said to have occurred as he watched a +coppersmith beating time on the anvil with his hammer. + +[Sidenote: The oldest extant poems.] + +We have now to consider the form and matter of the oldest extant poems +in the Arabic language. Between these highly developed productions and +the rude doggerel of _Saj`_ or _Rajaz_ there lies an interval, the +length of which it is impossible even to conjecture. The first poets are +already consummate masters of the craft. "The number and complexity of +the measures which they use, their established laws of quantity and +rhyme, and the uniform manner in which they introduce the subject of +their poems,[149] notwithstanding the distance which often separated one +composer from another, all point to a long previous study and +cultivation of the art of expression and the capacities of their +language, a study of which no record now remains."[150] + +[Sidenote: Their date.] + +It is not improbable that the dawn of the Golden Age of Arabian Poetry +coincided with the first decade of the sixth century after Christ. About +that time the War of Basús, the chronicle of which has preserved a +considerable amount of contemporary verse, was in full blaze; and the +first Arabian ode was composed, according to tradition, by Muhalhil b. +Rabí`a the Taghlibite on the death of his brother, the chieftain Kulayb, +which caused war to break out between Bakr and Taghlib. At any rate, +during the next hundred years in almost every part of the peninsula we +meet with a brilliant succession of singers, all using the same poetical +dialect and strictly adhering to the same rules of composition. The +fashion which they set maintained itself virtually unaltered down to the +end of the Umayyad period (750 A.D.), and though challenged by some +daring spirits under the `Abbásid Caliphate, speedily reasserted its +supremacy, which at the present day is almost as absolute as ever. + +[Sidenote: The Qa[s.]ída.] + +This fashion centres in the _Qa[s.]ída_,[151] or Ode, the only form, or +rather the only finished type of poetry that existed in what, for want +of a better word, may be called the classical period of Arabic +literature. The verses (_abyát_, singular _bayt_) of which it is built +vary in number, but are seldom less than twenty-five or more than a +hundred; and the arrangement of the rhymes is such that, while the two +halves of the first verse rhyme together, the same rhyme is repeated +once in the second, third, and every following verse to the end of the +poem. Blank-verse is alien to the Arabs, who regard rhyme not as a +pleasing ornament or a "troublesome bondage," but as a vital organ of +poetry. The rhymes are usually feminine, _e.g._, sa_khíná_, tu_líná_, +mu_híná_; mukh_lidí_, _yadí_, `uw_wadí_; ri_jámuhá_, si_lámuhá_, +[h.]a_rámuhá_. To surmount the difficulties of the monorhyme demands +great technical skill even in a language of which the peculiar formation +renders the supply of rhymes extraordinarily abundant. The longest of +the _Mu`allaqát_, the so-called 'Long Poems,' is considerably shorter +than Gray's _Elegy_. An Arabian Homer or Chaucer must have condescended +to prose. With respect to metre the poet may choose any except _Rajaz_, +which is deemed beneath the dignity of the Ode, but his liberty does not +extend either to the choice of subjects or to the method of handling +them: on the contrary, the course of his ideas is determined by rigid +conventions which he durst not overstep. + + [Sidenote: Ibn Qutayba's account of the contents and divisions of + the Ode.] + + "I have heard," says Ibn Qutayba, "from a man of learning that the + composer of Odes began by mentioning the deserted dwelling-places + and the relics and traces of habitation. Then he wept and complained + and addressed the desolate encampment, and begged his companion to + make a halt, in order that he might have occasion to speak of those + who had once lived there and afterwards departed; for the dwellers + in tents were different from townsmen or villagers in respect of + coming and going, because they moved from one water-spring to + another, seeking pasture and searching out the places where rain had + fallen. Then to this he linked the erotic prelude (_nasíb_), and + bewailed the violence of his love and the anguish of separation from + his mistress and the extremity of his passion and desire, so as to + win the hearts of his hearers and divert their eyes towards him and + invite their ears to listen to him, since the song of love touches + men's souls and takes hold of their hearts, God having put it in the + constitution of His creatures to love dalliance and the society of + women, in such wise that we find very few but are attached thereto + by some tie or have some share therein, whether lawful or + unpermitted. Now, when the poet had assured himself of an attentive + hearing, he followed up his advantage and set forth his claim: thus + he went on to complain of fatigue and want of sleep and travelling + by night and of the noonday heat, and how his camel had been reduced + to leanness. And when, after representing all the discomfort and + danger of his journey, he knew that he had fully justified his hope + and expectation of receiving his due meed from the person to whom + the poem was addressed, he entered upon the panegyric (_madí[h.]_), + and incited him to reward, and kindled his generosity by exalting + him above his peers and pronouncing the greatest dignity, in + comparison with his, to be little."[152] + +Hundreds of Odes answer exactly to this description, which must not, +however, be regarded as the invariable model. The erotic prelude is +often omitted, especially in elegies; or if it does not lead directly to +the main subject, it may be followed by a faithful and minute +delineation of the poet's horse or camel which bears him through the +wilderness with a speed like that of the antelope, the wild ass, or the +ostrich: Bedouin poetry abounds in fine studies of animal life.[153] The +choice of a motive is left open. Panegyric, no doubt, paid better than +any other, and was therefore the favourite; but in Pre-islamic times the +poet could generally please himself. The _qa[s.]ída_ is no organic +whole: rather its unity resembles that of a series of pictures by the +same hand or, to employ an Eastern trope, of pearls various in size and +quality threaded on a necklace. + +The ancient poetry may be defined as an illustrative criticism of +Pre-islamic life and thought. Here the Arab has drawn himself at full +length without embellishment or extenuation. + +It is not mere chance that Abú Tammám's famous anthology is called the +_[H.]amása_, _i.e._, 'Fortitude,' from the title of its first chapter, +which occupies nearly a half of the book. '[H.]amása' denotes the +virtues most highly prized by the Arabs--bravery in battle, patience in +misfortune, persistence in revenge, protection of the weak and defiance +of the strong; the will, as Tennyson has said, + + "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." + +[Sidenote: The Ideal Arab hero.] + + [Sidenote: Shanfará.] + +As types of the ideal Arab hero we may take Shanfará of Azd and his +comrade in foray, Ta´abba[t.]a Sharran. Both were brigands, outlaws, +swift runners, and excellent poets. Of the former + + "it is said that he was captured when a child from his tribe by the + Banú Salámán, and brought up among them: he did not learn his origin + until he had grown up, when he vowed vengeance against his captors, + and returned to his own tribe. His oath was that he would slay a + hundred men of Salámán; he slew ninety-eight, when an ambush of his + enemies succeeded in taking him prisoner. In the struggle one of his + hands was hewn off by a sword stroke, and, taking it in the other, + he flung it in the face of a man of Salámán and killed him, thus + making ninety-nine. Then he was overpowered and slain, with one + still wanting to make up his number. As his skull lay bleaching on + the ground, a man of his enemies passed by that way and kicked it + with his foot; a splinter of bone entered his foot, the wound + mortified, and he died, thus completing the hundred."[154] + +The following passage is translated from Shanfará's splendid Ode named +_Lámiyyatu ´l-`Arab_ (the poem rhymed in _l_ of the Arabs), in which he +describes his own heroic character and the hardships of a predatory +life:--[155] + + "And somewhere the noble find a refuge afar from scathe, + The outlaw a lonely spot where no kin with hatred burn. + Oh, never a prudent man, night-faring in hope or fear, + Hard pressed on the face of earth, but still he hath room to turn. + + To me now, in your default, are comrades a wolf untired, + A sleek leopard, and a fell hyena with shaggy mane:[156] + True comrades: they ne'er let out the secret in trust with them, + Nor basely forsake their friend because that he brought them bane. + + And each is a gallant heart and ready at honour's call, + Yet I, when the foremost charge, am bravest of all the brave; + But if they with hands outstretched are seizing the booty won, + The slowest am I whenas most quick is the greedy knave. + + By naught save my generous will I reach to the height of worth + Above them, and sure the best is he with the will to give. + Yea, well I am rid of those who pay not a kindness back, + Of whom I have no delight though neighbours to me they live. + + Know are companions three at last: an intrepid soul, + A glittering trenchant blade, a tough bow of ample size, + Loud-twanging, the sides thereof smooth-polished, a handsome bow + Hung down from the shoulder-belt by thongs in a comely wise, + That groans, when the arrow slips away, like a woman crushed + By losses, bereaved of all her children, who wails and cries." + +On quitting his tribe, who cast him out when they were threatened on all +sides by enemies seeking vengeance for the blood that he had spilt, +Shanfará said:-- + + "Bury me not! Me you are forbidden to bury, + But thou, O hyena, soon wilt feast and make merry, + When foes bear away mine head, wherein is the best of me, + And leave on the battle-field for thee all the rest of me. + Here nevermore I hope to live glad--a stranger + Accurst, whose wild deeds have brought his people in danger."[157] + +[Sidenote: Ta´abba[t.]a Sharran.] + +Thábit b. Jábir b. Sufyán of Fahm is said to have got his nickname, +Ta´abba[t.]a Sharran, because one day his mother, who had seen him go +forth from his tent with a sword under his arm, on being asked, "Where +is Thábit?" replied, "I know not: he put a mischief under his arm-pit +(_ta´abba[t.]a sharran_) and departed." According to another version of +the story, the 'mischief' was a Ghoul whom he vanquished and slew and +carried home in this manner. The following lines, which he addressed to +his cousin, Shams b. Málik, may be applied with equal justice to the +poet himself:-- + + "Little he complains of labour that befalls him; much he wills; + Diverse ways attempting, mightily his purpose he fulfils. + Through one desert in the sun's heat, through another in starlight, + Lonely as the wild ass, rides he bare-backed Danger noon and night. + He the foremost wind outpaceth, while in broken gusts it blows, + Speeding onward, never slackening, never staying for repose. + Prompt to dash upon the foeman, every minute watching well-- + Are his eyes in slumber lightly sealed, his heart stands sentinel. + When the first advancing troopers rise to sight, he sets his hand + From the scabbard forth to draw his sharp-edged, finely-mettled brand. + When he shakes it in the breast-bone of a champion of the foe, + How the grinning Fates in open glee their flashing side-teeth show! + Solitude his chosen comrade, on he fares while overhead + By the Mother of the mazy constellations he is led."[158] + +[Sidenote: The old Arabian points of honour.] + +These verses admirably describe the rudimentary Arabian virtues of +courage, hardness, and strength. We must now take a wider survey of the +moral ideas on which pagan society was built, and of which Pre-islamic +poetry is at once the promulgation and the record. There was no written +code, no legal or religious sanction--nothing, in effect, save the +binding force of traditional sentiment and opinion, _i.e._, Honour. +What, then, are the salient points of honour in which Virtue +(_Muruwwa_), as it was understood by the heathen Arabs, consists? + +[Sidenote: Courage.] + +Courage has been already mentioned. Arab courage is like that of the +ancient Greeks, "dependent upon excitement and vanishing quickly before +depression and delay."[159] Hence the Arab hero is defiant and boastful, +as he appears, _e.g._, in the _Mu`allaqa_ of `Amr b. Kulthúm. When there +is little to lose by flight he will ride off unashamed; but he will +fight to the death for his womenfolk, who in serious warfare often +accompanied the tribe and were stationed behind the line of battle.[160] + + "When I saw the hard earth hollowed + By our women's flying footprints, + And Lamís her face uncovered + Like the full moon of the skies, + Showing forth her hidden beauties-- + Then the matter was grim earnest: + I engaged their chief in combat, + Seeing help no other wise."[161] + +The tribal constitution was a democracy guided by its chief men, who +derived their authority from noble blood, noble character, wealth, +wisdom, and experience. As a Bedouin poet has said in homely language-- + + "A folk that hath no chiefs must soon decay, + And chiefs it hath not when the vulgar sway. + Only with poles the tent is reared at last, + And poles it hath not save the pegs hold fast + But when the pegs and poles are once combined, + Then stands accomplished that which was designed."[162] + +[Sidenote: Loyalty.] + +The chiefs, however, durst not lay commands or penalties on their +fellow-tribesmen. Every man ruled himself, and was free to rebuke +presumption in others. "_If you are our lord_" (_i.e._, if you act +discreetly as a _sayyid_ should), "_you will lord over us, but if you +are a prey to pride, go and be proud!_" (_i.e._, we will have nothing to +do with you).[163] Loyalty in the mouth of a pagan Arab did not mean +allegiance to his superiors, but faithful devotion to his equals; and it +was closely connected with the idea of kinship. The family and the +tribe, which included strangers living in the tribe under a covenant of +protection--to defend these, individually and collectively, was a sacred +duty. Honour required that a man should stand by his own people through +thick and thin. + + "I am of Ghaziyya: if she be in error, then I will err; + And if Ghaziyya be guided right, I go right with her!" + +sang Durayd b. [S.]imma, who had followed his kin, against his better +judgment, in a foray which cost the life of his brother `Abdulláh.[164] +If kinsmen seek help it should be given promptly, without respect to the +merits of the case; if they do wrong it should be suffered as long as +possible before resorting to violence.[165] The utilitarian view of +friendship is often emphasised, as in these verses:-- + + Take for thy brother whom thou wilt in the days of peace, + But know that when fighting comes thy kinsman alone is near. + Thy true friend thy kinsman is, who answers thy call for aid + With good will, when deeply drenched in bloodshed are sword and spear. + Oh, never forsake thy kinsman e'en tho' he do thee wrong, + For what he hath marred he mends thereafter and makes sincere."[166] + +At the same time, notwithstanding their shrewd common sense, nothing is +more characteristic of the Arabs--heathen and Mu[h.]ammadan alike--than +the chivalrous devotion and disinterested self-sacrifice of which they +are capable on behalf of their friends. In particular, the ancient +poetry affords proof that they regarded with horror any breach of the +solemn covenant plighted between patron and client or host and guest. +This topic might be illustrated by many striking examples, but one will +suffice:-- + + [Sidenote: The story of Samaw´al b. `Adiyá.] + + The Arabs say: "_Awfá mina ´l-Samaw´ali_"--"More loyal than + al-Samaw´al"; or _Wafáun ka-wafá´i ´l-Samaw´ali_"--" A loyalty like + that of al-Samaw´al." These proverbs refer to Samaw´al b. `Adiyá, an + Arab of Jewish descent and Jew by religion, who lived in his castle, + called al-Ablaq (The Piebald), at Taymá, some distance north of + Medína. There he dug a well of sweet water, and would entertain the + Arabs who used to alight beside it; and they supplied themselves + with provisions from his castle and set up a market. It is related + that the poet Imru´u ´l-Qays, while fleeing, hotly pursued by his + enemies, towards Syria, took refuge with Samaw´al, and before + proceeding on his way left in charge of his host five coats of mail + which had been handed down as heirlooms by the princes of his + family. Then he departed, and in due course arrived at + Constantinople, where he besought the Byzantine emperor to help him + to recover his lost kingdom. His appeal was not unsuccessful, but he + died on the way home. Meanwhile his old enemy, the King of [H.]íra, + sent an army under [H.]árith b. [Z.]álim against Samaw´al, demanding + that he should surrender the coats of mail. Samaw´al refused to + betray the trust committed to him, and defended himself in his + castle. The besiegers, however, captured his son, who had gone out + to hunt. [H.]árith asked Samaw´al: "Dost thou know this lad?" "Yes, + he is my son." "Then wilt thou deliver what is in thy possession, or + shall I slay him?" Samaw´al answered: "Do with him as thou wilt. I + will never break my pledge nor give up the property of my + guest-friend." So [H.]árith smote the lad with his sword and clove + him through the middle. Then he raised the siege. And Samaw´al said + thereupon:-- + + "_I was true with the mail-coats of the Kindite,[167] + I am true though many a one is blamed for treason. + Once did `Ádiyá, my father, exhort me: + 'O Samaw´al, ne'er destroy what I have builded.' + For me built `Ádiyá a strong-walled castle + With a well where I draw water at pleasure; + So high, the eagle slipping back is baffled. + When wrong befalls me I endure not tamely._"[168] + +The Bedouin ideal of generosity and hospitality is personified in +[H.]átim of [T.]ayyi´, of whom many anecdotes are told. We may learn +from the following one how extravagant are an Arab's notions on this +subject:-- + + [Sidenote: [H.]átim of [T.]ayyi´.] + + When [H.]átim's mother was pregnant she dreamed that she was asked, + "Which dost thou prefer?--a generous son called [H.]átim, or ten + like those of other folk, lions in the hour of battle, brave lads + and strong of limb?" and that she answered, "[H.]átim." Now, when + [H.]átim grew up he was wont to take out his food, and if he found + any one to share it he would eat, otherwise he threw it away. His + father, seeing that he wasted his food, gave him a slave-girl and a + mare with her foal and sent him to herd the camels. On reaching the + pasture, [H.]átim began to search for his fellows, but none was in + sight; then he came to the road, but found no one there. While he + was thus engaged he descried a party of riders on the road and went + to meet them. "O youth," said they, "hast thou aught to entertain us + withal?" He answered: "Do ye ask me of entertainment when ye see the + camels?" Now, these riders were `Abíd b. al-Abras and Bishr b. Abí + Kházim and Nábigha al-Dhubyání, and they were on their way to King + Nu`mán.[169] [H.]átim slaughtered three camels for them, whereupon + `Abíd said: "We desired no entertainment save milk, but if thou must + needs charge thyself with something more, a single young she-camel + would have sufficed us." [H.]átim replied: "That I know, but seeing + different faces and diverse fashions I thought ye were not of the + same country, and I wished that each of you should mention what ye + saw, on returning home." So they spoke verses in praise of him and + celebrated his generosity, and [H.]átim said: "I wished to bestow a + kindness upon you, but your bounty is greater than mine. I swear to + God that I will hamstring every camel in the herd unless ye come + forward and divide them among yourselves." The poets did as he + desired, and each man received ninety-nine camels; then they + proceeded on their journey to Nu`mán. When [H.]átim's father heard + of this he came to him and asked, "Where are the camels?" "O my + father," replied [H.]átim, "by means of them I have conferred on + thee everlasting fame and honour that will cleave to thee like the + ring of the ringdove, and men will always bear in mind some verse of + poetry in which we are praised. This is thy recompense for the + camels." On hearing these words his father said, "Didst thou with my + camels thus?" "Yes." "By God, I will never dwell with thee again." + So he went forth with his family, and [H.]átim was left alone with + his slave-girl and his mare and the mare's foal.[170] + +[Sidenote: [H.]átim's daughter before the Prophet.] + +We are told that [H.]átim's daughter was led as a captive before the +Prophet and thus addressed him: "'O Mu[h.]ammad, my sire is dead, and he +who would have come to plead for me is gone. Release me, if it seem good +to thee, and do not let the Arabs rejoice at my misfortune; for I am the +daughter of the chieftain of my people. My father was wont to free the +captive, and protect those near and dear to him, and entertain the +guest, and satisfy the hungry, and console the afflicted, and give food +and greeting to all; and never did he turn away any who sought a boon. I +am [H.]átim's daughter.' The Prophet (on whom be the blessing and peace +of God) answered her: 'O maiden, the true believer is such as thou hast +described. Had thy father been an Islamite, verily we should have said, +"God have mercy upon him!" Let her go,' he continued, 'for her sire +loved noble manners, and God loves them likewise.'"[171] + +[H.]átim was a poet of some repute.[172] The following lines are +addressed to his wife, Máwiyya:-- + + "O daughter of `Abdulláh and Málik and him who wore + The two robes of Yemen stuff--the hero that rode the roan, + When thou hast prepared the meal, entreat to partake thereof + A guest--I am not the man to eat, like a churl, alone--: + Some traveller thro' the night, or house-neighbour; for in sooth + I fear the reproachful talk of men after I am gone. + The guest's slave am I, 'tis true, as long as he bides with me, + Although in my nature else no trait of the slave is shown."[173] + +[Sidenote: Position of women.] + +[Sidenote: Arabian heroines.] + +[Sidenote: Fá[t.]ima daughter of Khurshub.] + +[Sidenote: Fukayha.] + +Here it will be convenient to make a short digression in order that the +reader may obtain, if not a complete view, at least some glimpses of the +position and influence of women in Pre-islamic society. On the whole, +their position was high and their influence great. They were free to +choose their husbands, and could return, if ill-treated or displeased, +to their own people; in some cases they even offered themselves in +marriage and had the right of divorce. They were regarded not as slaves +and chattels, but as equals and companions. They inspired the poet to +sing and the warrior to fight. The chivalry of the Middle Ages is, +perhaps, ultimately traceable to heathen Arabia. "Knight-errantry, the +riding forth on horseback in search of adventures, the rescue of captive +maidens, the succour rendered everywhere to women in adversity--all +these were essentially Arabian ideas, as was the very name of +_chivalry_, the connection of honourable conduct with the horse-rider, +the man of noble blood, the cavalier."[174] But the nobility of the +women is not only reflected in the heroism and devotion of the men; it +stands recorded in song, in legend, and in history. Fá[t.]ima, the +daughter of Khurshub, was one of three noble matrons who bore the title +_al-Munjibát_, 'the Mothers of Heroes.' She had seven sons, three of +whom, viz., Rabí` and `Umára and Anas, were called 'the Perfect' +(_al-Kamala_). One day [H.]amal b. Badr the Fazárite raided the Banú +`Abs, the tribe to which Fá[t.]ima belonged, and made her his prisoner. +As he led away the camel on which she was mounted at the time, she +cried: "Man, thy wits are wandering. By God, if thou take me captive, +and if we leave behind us this hill which is now in front of us, surely +there will never be peace between thee and the sons of Ziyád" (Ziyád was +the name of her husband), "because people will say what they please, and +the mere suspicion of evil is enough." "I will carry thee off," said he, +"that thou mayest herd my camels." When Fá[t.]ima knew that she was +certainly his prisoner she threw herself headlong from her camel and +died; so did she fear to bring dishonour on her sons.[175] Among the +names which have become proverbial for loyalty we find those of two +women, Fukayha and Umm Jamíl. As to Fukayha, it is related that her +clansmen, having been raided by the brigand Sulayk b. Sulaka, resolved +to attack him; but since he was a famous runner, on the advice of one of +their shaykhs they waited until he had gone down to the water and +quenched his thirst, for they knew that he would then be unable to run. +Sulayk, however, seeing himself caught, made for the nearest tents and +sought refuge with Fukayha. She threw her smock over him, and stood with +drawn sword between him and his pursuers; and as they still pressed on, +she tore the veil from her hair and shouted for help. Then her brothers +came and defended Sulayk, so that his life was saved.[176] Had space +allowed, it would have been a pleasant task to make some further +extracts from the long Legend of Noble Women. I have illustrated their +keen sense of honour and loyalty, but I might equally well have chosen +examples of gracious dignity and quick intelligence and passionate +affection. Many among them had the gift of poetry, which they bestowed +especially on the dead; it is a final proof of the high character and +position of women in Pre-islamic Arabia that the hero's mother and +sisters were deemed most worthy to mourn and praise him. The praise of +living women by their lovers necessarily takes a different tone; the +physical charms of the heroine are fully described, but we seldom find +any appreciation of moral beauty. One notable exception to this rule +occurs at the beginning of an ode by Shanfará. The passage defies +translation. It is, to quote Sir Charles Lyall, with whose faithful and +sympathetic rendering of the ancient poetry every student of Arabic +literature should be acquainted, "the most lovely picture of womanhood +which heathen Arabia has left us, drawn by the same hand that has given +us, in the unrivalled _Lâmîyah_, its highest ideal of heroic hardness +and virile strength."[177] + + + UMAYMA. + + "She charmed me, veiling bashfully her face, + Keeping with quiet looks an even pace; + Some lost thing seem to seek her downcast eyes: + Aside she bends not--softly she replies. + Ere dawn she carries forth her meal--a gift + To hungry wives in days of dearth and thrift. + No breath of blame up to her tent is borne, + While many a neighbour's is the house of scorn. + Her husband fears no gossip fraught with shame, + For pure and holy is Umayma's name. + Joy of his heart, to her he need not say + When evening brings him home--'Where passed the day?' + Slender and full in turn, of perfect height, + A very fay were she, if beauty might + Transform a child of earth into a fairy sprite!"[178] + +Only in the freedom of the desert could the character thus exquisitely +delineated bloom and ripen. These verses, taken by themselves, are a +sufficient answer to any one who would maintain that Islam has increased +the social influence of Arabian women, although in some respects it may +have raised them to a higher level of civilisation.[179] + +[Sidenote: Infanticide.] + +There is, of course, another side to all this. In a land where might was +generally right, and where + + "the simple plan + That he should take who has the power + And he should keep who can," + +was all but universally adopted, it would have been strange if the +weaker sex had not often gone to the wall. The custom which prevailed in +the _Jáhiliyya_ of burying female infants alive, revolting as it appears +to us, was due partly to the frequent famines with which Arabia is +afflicted through lack of rain, and partly to a perverted sense of +honour. Fathers feared lest they should have useless mouths to feed, or +lest they should incur disgrace in consequence of their daughters being +made prisoners of war. Hence the birth of a daughter was reckoned +calamitous, as we read in the Koran: "_They attribute daughters unto +God--far be it from Him!--and for themselves they desire them not. When +a female child is announced to one of them, his face darkens wrathfully: +he hides himself from his people because of the bad news, +thinking--'Shall I keep the child to my disgrace or cover it away in the +dust?'_"[180] It was said proverbially, "The despatch of daughters is a +kindness" and "The burial of daughters is a noble deed."[181] Islam put +an end to this barbarity, which is expressly forbidden by the Koran: +"_Kill not your children in fear of impoverishment: we will provide for +them and for you: verily their killing was a great sin._"[182] Perhaps +the most touching lines in Arabian poetry are those in which a father +struggling with poverty wishes that his daughter may die before him and +thus be saved from the hard mercies of her relatives:-- + + + THE POOR MAN'S DAUGHTER + + "But for Umayma's sake I ne'er had grieved to want nor braved + Night's blackest horror to bring home the morsel that she craved. + Now my desire is length of days because I know too well + The orphan girl's hard lot, with kin unkind enforced to dwell. + I dread that some day poverty will overtake my child, + And shame befall her when exposed to every passion wild.[183] + She wishes me to live, but I must wish her dead, woe's me: + Death is the noblest wooer a helpless maid can see. + I fear an uncle may be harsh, a brother be unkind, + When I would never speak a word that rankled in her mind."[184] + +And another says:-- + + "Were not my little daughters + Like soft chicks huddling by me, + Through earth and all its waters + To win bread would I roam free. + + Our children among us going, + Our very hearts they be; + The wind upon them blowing + Would banish sleep from me."[185] + +[Sidenote: Treatment of enemies.] + +"Odi et amo": these words of the poet might serve as an epitome of +Bedouin ethics. For, if the heathen Arab was, as we have seen, a good +friend to his friends, he had in the same degree an intense and deadly +feeling of hatred towards his enemies. He who did not strike back when +struck was regarded as a coward. No honourable man could forgive an +injury or fail to avenge it. An Arab, smarting under the loss of some +camels driven off by raiders, said of his kin who refused to help him:-- + + "For all their numbers, they are good for naught, + My people, against harm however light: + They pardon wrong by evildoers wrought, + Malice with loving kindness they requite."[186] + +The last verse, which would have been high praise in the mouth of a +Christian or Mu[h.]ammadan moralist, conveyed to those who heard it a +shameful reproach. The approved method of dealing with an enemy is set +forth plainly enough in the following lines:-- + + "Humble him who humbles thee, close tho' be your kindredship: + If thou canst not humble him, wait till he is in thy grip. + Friend him while thou must; strike hard when thou hast him on + the hip."[187] + +[Sidenote: Blood-revenge.] + +Above all, blood called for blood. This obligation lay heavy on the +conscience of the pagan Arabs. Vengeance, with them, was "almost a +physical necessity, which if it be not obeyed will deprive its subject +of sleep, of appetite, of health." It was a tormenting thirst which +nothing would quench except blood, a disease of honour which might be +described as madness, although it rarely prevented the sufferer from +going to work with coolness and circumspection. Vengeance was taken upon +the murderer, if possible, or else upon one of his fellow-tribesmen. +Usually this ended the matter, but in some cases it was the beginning of +a regular blood-feud in which the entire kin of both parties were +involved; as, _e.g._, the murder of Kulayb led to the Forty Years' War +between Bakr and Taghlib.[188] The slain man's next of kin might accept +a blood-wit (_diya_), commonly paid in camels--the coin of the +country--as atonement for him. If they did so, however, it was apt to be +cast in their teeth that they preferred milk (_i.e._, she-camels) to +blood.[189] The true Arab feeling is expressed in verses like these:-- + + "With the sword will I wash my shame away, + Let God's doom bring on me what it may!"[190] + +It was believed that until vengeance had been taken for the dead man, +his spirit appeared above his tomb in the shape of an owl (_háma_ or +_[s.]adá_), crying "_Isqúní_" ("Give me to drink"). But pagan ideas of +vengeance were bound up with the Past far more than with the Future. The +shadowy after-life counted for little or nothing beside the +deeply-rooted memories of fatherly affection, filial piety, and +brotherhood in arms. + +Though liable to abuse, the rough-and-ready justice of the vendetta had +a salutary effect in restraining those who would otherwise have indulged +their lawless instincts without fear of punishment. From our point of +view, however, its interest is not so much that of a primitive +institution as of a pervading element in old Arabian life and +literature. Full, or even adequate, illustration of this topic would +carry me far beyond the limits of my plan. I have therefore selected +from the copious material preserved in the _Book of Songs_ a +characteristic story which tells how Qays b. al-Kha[t.]ím took vengeance +on the murderers of his father and his grandfather.[191] + + [Sidenote: The story of the vengeance of Qays b. al-Kha[t.]ím.] + + It is related on the authority of Abú `Ubayda that `Adí b. `Amr, the + grandfather of Qays, was slain by a man named Málik belonging to the + Banú `Amr b. `Ámir b. Rabí`a b. `Ámir b. [S.]a`[s.]a`a; and his + father, Kha[t.]ím b. `Adí, by one of the Banú `Abd al-Qays who were + settled in Hajar. Kha[t.]ím died before avenging his father, `Adí, + when Qays was but a young lad. The mother of Qays, fearing that he + would sally forth to seek vengeance for the blood of his father and + his grandfather and perish, went to a mound of dust beside the door + of their dwelling and laid stones on it, and began to say to Qays, + "This is the grave of thy father and thy grandfather;" and Qays + never doubted but that it was so. He grew up strong in the arms, and + one day he had a tussle with a youth of the Banú [Z.]afar, who said + to him: "By God, thou would'st do better to turn the strength of + thine arms against the slayers of thy father and grandfather instead + of putting it forth upon me." "And who are their slayers?" "Ask thy + mother, she will tell thee." So Qays took his sword and set its hilt + on the ground and its edge between his two breasts, and said to his + mother: "Who killed my father and my grandfather?" "They died as + people die, and these are their graves in the camping-ground." "By + God, verily thou wilt tell me who slew them or I will bear with my + whole weight upon this sword until it cleaves through my back." Then + she told him, and Qays swore that he would never rest until he had + slain their slayers. "O my son," said she, "Málik, who killed thy + grandfather, is of the same folk as Khidásh b. Zuhayr, and thy + father once bestowed a kindness on Khidásh, for which he is + grateful. Go, then, to him and take counsel with him touching thine + affair and ask him to help thee." So Qays set out immediately, and + when he came to the garden where his water-camel was watering his + date-palms, he smote the cord (of the bucket) with his sword and cut + it, so that the bucket dropped into the well. Then he took hold of + the camel's head, and loaded the beast with two sacks of dates, and + said: "Who will care for this old woman" (meaning his mother) "in my + absence? If I die, let him pay her expenses out of this garden, and + on her death it shall be his own; but if I live, my property will + return to me, and he shall have as many of its dates as he wishes to + eat." One of his folk cried, "I am for it," so Qays gave him the + garden and set forth to inquire concerning Khidásh. He was told to + look for him at Marr al-[Z.]ahrán, but not finding him in his tent, + he alighted beneath a tree, in the shade of which the guests of + Khidásh used to shelter, and called to the wife of Khidásh, "Is + there any food?" Now, when she came up to him, she admired his + comeliness--for he was exceeding fair of countenance--and said: "By + God, we have no fit entertainment for thee, but only dates." He + replied, "I care not, bring out what thou hast." So she sent to him + dates in a large measure (_qubá`_), and Qays took a single date and + ate half of it and put back the other half in the _qubá`_, and gave + orders that the _qubá`_ should be brought in to the wife of Khidásh; + then he departed on some business. When Khidásh returned and his + wife told him the news of Qays, he said, "This is a man who would + render his person sacred."[192] While he sat there with his wife + eating fresh ripe dates, Qays returned on camel-back; and Khidásh, + when he saw the foot of the approaching rider, said to his wife, "Is + this thy guest?" "Yes." "'Tis as though his foot were the foot of my + good friend, Kha[t.]ím the Yathribite." Qays drew nigh, and struck + the tent-rope with the point of his spear, and begged leave to come + in. Having obtained permission, he entered to Khidásh and told his + lineage and informed him of what had passed, and asked him to help + and advise him in his affair. Khidásh bade him welcome, and recalled + the kindness which he had of his father, and said, "As to this + affair, truly I have been expecting it of thee for some time. The + slayer of thy grandfather is a cousin of mine, and I will aid thee + against him. When we are assembled in our meeting-place, I will sit + beside him and talk with him, and when I strike his thigh, do thou + spring on him and slay him." Qays himself relates: "Accompanied by + Khidásh, I approached him until I stood over his head when Khidásh + sat with him, and as soon as he struck the man's thigh I smote his + head with a sword named _Dhu ´l-Khur[s.]ayn_" (the Two-ringed). "His + folk rushed on me to slay me, but Khidásh came between us, crying, + 'Let him alone, for, by God, he has slain none but the slayer of his + grandfather.'" Then Khidásh called for one of his camels and mounted + it, and started with Qays to find the `Abdite who killed his father. + And when they were near Hajar Khidásh advised him to go and inquire + after this man, and to say to him when he discovered him: "I + encountered a brigand of thy people who robbed me of some articles, + and on asking who was the chieftain of his people I was directed to + thee. Go with me, then, that thou mayest take from him my property. + If," Khidásh continued, "he follow thee unattended, thou wilt gain + thy desire of him; but should he bid the others go with thee, laugh, + and if he ask why thou laughest, say, 'With us, the noble does not + as thou dost, but when he is called to a brigand of his people, he + goes forth alone with his whip, not with his sword; and the brigand + when he sees him gives him everything that he took, in awe of him.' + If he shall dismiss his friends, thy course is clear; but if he + shall refuse to go without them, bring him to me nevertheless, for I + hope that thou wilt slay both him and them." So Khidásh stationed + himself under the shade of a tree, while Qays went to the `Abdite + and addressed him as Khidásh had prompted; and the man's sense of + honour was touched to the quick, so that he sent away his friends + and went with Qays. And when Qays came back to Khidásh, the latter + said to him, "Choose, O Qays! Shall I help thee or shall I take thy + place?" Qays answered, "I desire neither of these alternatives, but + if he slay me, let him not slay thee!" Then he rushed upon him and + wounded him in the flank and drove his lance through the other side, + and he fell dead on the spot. When Qays had finished with him, + Khidásh said, "If we flee just now, his folk will pursue us; but let + us go somewhere not far off, for they will never think that thou + hast slain him and stayed in the neighbourhood. No; they will miss + him and follow his track, and when they find him slain they will + start to pursue us in every direction, and will only return when + they have lost hope." So those two entered some hollows of the sand, + and after staying there several days (for it happened exactly as + Khidásh had foretold), they came forth when the pursuit was over, + and did not exchange a word until they reached the abode of Khidásh. + There Qays parted from him and returned to his own people. + +[Sidenote: Song of Vengeance by Ta´abba[t.]a Sharran.] + +The poems relating to blood-revenge show all that is best and much that +is less admirable in the heathen Arab--on the one hand, his courage and +resolution, his contempt of death and fear of dishonour, his +single-minded devotion to the dead as to the living, his deep regard and +tender affection for the men of his own flesh and blood; on the other +hand, his implacable temper, his perfidious cruelty and reckless +ferocity in hunting down the slayers, and his savage, well-nigh inhuman +exultation over the slain. The famous Song or Ballad of Vengeance that I +shall now attempt to render in English verse is usually attributed to +Ta´abba[t.]a Sharran,[193] although some pronounce it to be a forgery by +Khalaf al-A[h.]mar, the reputed author of Shanfará's masterpiece, and +beyond doubt a marvellously skilful imitator of the ancient bards. Be +that as it may, the ballad is utterly pagan in tone and feeling. Its +extraordinary merit was detected by Goethe, who, after reading it in a +Latin translation, published a German rendering, with some fine +criticism of the poetry, in his _West-oestlicher Divan_.[194] I have +endeavoured to suggest as far as possible the metre and rhythm of the +original, since to these, in my opinion, its peculiar effect is largely +due. The metre is that known as the 'Tall' (_Madíd_), viz.:-- + + ~ |~ | + - ~ - -|- ~ -|- ~ - - + +Thus the first verse runs in Arabic:-- + + _Inna bi´l-shi` | bi ´lladhi |`inda Sal`in + la-qatílan | damuhú | má yu[t.]allu._ + +Of course, Arabic prosody differs radically from English, but _mutatis +mutandis_ several couplets in the following version (_e.g._ the third, +eighth, and ninth) will be found to correspond exactly with their model. +As has been said, however, my object was merely to suggest the abrupt +metre and the heavy, emphatic cadences, so that I have been able to give +variety to the verse, and at the same time to retain that artistic +freedom without which the translator of poetry cannot hope to satisfy +either himself or any one else. + +The poet tells how he was summoned to avenge his uncle, slain by the +tribesmen of Hudhayl: he describes the dead man's heroic character, the +foray in which he fell, his former triumphs over the same enemy, and +finally the terrible vengeance taken for him.[195] + + "In the glen there a murdered man is lying-- + Not in vain for vengeance his blood is crying. + He hath left me the load to bear and departed; + I take up the load and bear it true-hearted. + I, his sister's son, the bloodshed inherit, + I whose knot none looses, stubborn of spirit;[196] + Glowering darkly, shame's deadly out-wiper, + Like the serpent spitting venom, the viper. + Hard the tidings that befell us, heart-breaking; + Little seemed thereby the anguish most aching. + Fate hath robbed me--still is Fate fierce and froward-- + Of a hero whose friend ne'er called him coward: + As the warm sun was he in wintry weather, + 'Neath the Dog-star shade and coolness together: + Spare of flank--yet this in him showed not meanness; + Open-handed, full of boldness and keenness: + Firm of purpose, cavalier unaffrighted-- + Courage rode with him and with him alighted: + In his bounty, a bursting cloud of rain-water; + Lion grim when he leaped to the slaughter. + Flowing hair, long robe his folk saw aforetime, + But a lean-haunched wolf was he in war-time. + Savours two he had, untasted by no men: + Honey to his friends and gall to his foemen. + Fear he rode nor recked what should betide him: + Save his deep-notched Yemen blade, none beside him. + + Oh, the warriors girt with swords good for slashing, + Like the levin, when they drew them, outflashing! + Through the noonday heat they fared: then, benighted, + Farther fared, till at dawning they alighted.[197] + Breaths of sleep they sipped; and then, while they nodded, + Thou didst scare them: lo, they scattered and scudded. + Vengeance wreaked we upon them, unforgiving: + Of the two clans scarce was left a soul living.[198] + + Ay, if _they_ bruised his glaive's edge 'twas in token + That by him many a time their own was broken. + Oft he made them kneel down by force and cunning-- + Kneel on jags where the foot is torn with running. + Many a morn in shelter he took them napping; + After killing was the rieving and rapine. + + They have gotten of me a roasting--I tire not + Of desiring them till me they desire not. + First, of foemen's blood my spear deeply drinketh, + Then a second time, deep in, it sinketh. + Lawful now to me is wine, long forbidden: + Sore my struggle ere the ban was o'erridden.[199] + Pour me wine, O son of `Amr! I would taste it, + Since with grief for mine uncle I am wasted. + O'er the fallen of Hudhayl stands screaming + The hyena; see the wolf's teeth gleaming! + Dawn will hear the flap of wings, will discover + Vultures treading corpses, too gorged to hover." + +[Sidenote: Honour conferred by noble ancestry.] + +All the virtues which enter into the Arabian conception of Honour were +regarded not as personal qualities inherent or acquired, but as +hereditary possessions which a man derived from his ancestors, and held +in trust that he might transmit them untarnished to his descendants. It +is the desire to uphold and emulate the fame of his forbears, rather +than the hope of winning immortality for himself, that causes the Arab +"to say the say and do the deeds of the noble." Far from sharing the +sentiment of the Scots peasant--"a man's a man for a' that"--he looks +askance at merit and renown unconsecrated by tradition. + + "The glories that have grown up with the grass + Can match not those inherited of old."[200] + +Ancestral renown (_[h.]asab_) is sometimes likened to a strong castle +built by sires for their sons, or to a lofty mountain which defies +attack.[201] The poets are full of boastings (_mafákhir_) and revilings +(_mathálib_) in which they loudly proclaim the nobility of their own +ancestors, and try to blacken those of their enemy without any regard to +decorum. + + +It was my intention to add here some general remarks on Arabian poetry +as compared with that of the Hebrews, the Persians, and our own, but +since example is better than precept I will now turn directly to those +celebrated odes which are well known by the title of _Mu`-allaqát_, or +'Suspended Poems,' to all who take the slightest interest in Arabic +literature.[202] + +[Sidenote: The Mu`allaqát, or 'Suspended Poems.'] + +_Mu`allaqa_ (plural, _Mu`allaqát_) "is most likely derived from the word +_`ilq_, meaning 'a precious thing or a thing held in high estimation,' +either because one 'hangs on' tenaciously to it, or because it is 'hung +up' in a place of honour, or in a conspicuous place, in a treasury or +storehouse."[203] In course of time the exact signification of +_Mu`allaqa_ was forgotten, and it became necessary to find a plausible +explanation. Hence arose the legend, which frequent repetition has made +familiar, that the 'Suspended Poems' were so called from having been +hung up in the Ka`ba on account of their merit; that this distinction +was awarded by the judges at the fair of `Uká[z.], near Mecca, where +poets met in rivalry and recited their choicest productions; and that +the successful compositions, before being affixed to the door of the +Ka`ba, were transcribed in letters of gold upon pieces of fine Egyptian +linen.[204] Were these statements true, we should expect them to be +confirmed by some allusion in the early literature. But as a matter of +fact nothing of the kind is mentioned in the Koran or in religious +tradition, in the ancient histories of Mecca, or in such works as the +_Kitábu ´l-Aghání_, which draw their information from old and +trustworthy sources.[205] Almost the first authority who refers to the +legend is the grammarian A[h.]mad al-Na[h.][h.]ás (+ 949 A.D.), and +by him it is stigmatised as entirely groundless. Moreover, although it +was accepted by scholars like Reiske, Sir W. Jones, and even De Sacy, it +is incredible in itself. Hengstenberg, in the Prolegomena to his edition +of the _Mu`-allaqa_ of Imru´u ´l-Qays (Bonn, 1823) asked some pertinent +questions: Who were the judges, and how were they appointed? Why were +only these seven poems thus distinguished? His further objection, that +the art of writing was at that time a rare accomplishment, does not +carry so much weight as he attached to it, but the story is sufficiently +refuted by what we know of the character and customs of the Arabs in the +sixth century and afterwards. Is it conceivable that the proud sons of +the desert could have submitted a matter so nearly touching their tribal +honour, of which they were jealous above all things, to external +arbitration, or meekly acquiesced in the partial verdict of a court +sitting in the neighbourhood of Mecca, which would certainly have shown +scant consideration for competitors belonging to distant clans?[206] + +[Sidenote: Origin of the collection.] + +However _Mu`allaqa_ is to be explained, the name is not contemporary +with the poems themselves. In all probability they were so entitled by +the person who first chose them out of innumerable others and embodied +them in a separate collection. This is generally allowed to have been +[H.]ammád al-Ráwiya, a famous rhapsodist who flourished in the latter +days of the Umayyad dynasty, and died about 772 A.D., in the reign of +the `Abbásid Caliph Mahdí. What principle guided [H.]ammád in his choice +we do not know. Nöldeke conjectures that he was influenced by the fact +that all the _Mu`allaqát_ are long poems--they are sometimes called 'The +Seven Long Poems' (_al-Sab` al-[T.]iwál_)--for in [H.]ammád's time +little of the ancient Arabian poetry survived in a state even of +relative completeness. + +[Sidenote: Difficulty of translating the Mu`allaqát.] + +It must be confessed that no rendering of the _Mu`allaqát_ can furnish +European readers with a just idea of the originals, a literal version +least of all. They contain much that only a full commentary can make +intelligible, much that to modern taste is absolutely incongruous with +the poetic style. Their finest pictures of Bedouin life and manners +often appear uncouth or grotesque, because without an intimate knowledge +of the land and people it is impossible for us to see what the poet +intended to convey, or to appreciate the truth and beauty of its +expression; while the artificial framework, the narrow range of subject +as well as treatment, and the frank realism of the whole strike us at +once. In the following pages I shall give some account of the +_Mu`allaqát_ and their authors, and endeavour to bring out the +characteristic qualities of each poem by selecting suitable passages for +translation.[207] + +[Sidenote: Imru´u ´l-Qays.] + +The oldest and most famous of the _Mu`allaqát_ is that of Imru´u +´l-Qays, who was descended from the ancient kings of Yemen. His +grandfather was King [H.]árith of Kinda, the antagonist of Mundhir III, +King of [H.]íra, by whom he was defeated and slain.[208] On [H.]árith's +death, the confederacy which he had built up split asunder, and his sons +divided among themselves the different tribes of which it was composed. +[H.]ujr, the poet's father, ruled for some time over the Banú Asad in +Central Arabia, but finally they revolted and put him to death. "The +duty of avenging his murder fell upon Imru´u ´l-Qays, who is represented +as the only capable prince of his family; and the few historical data +which we have regarding him relate to his adventures while bent upon +this vengeance."[209] They are told at considerable length in the +_Kitábu ´l-Aghání_, but need not detain us here. Suffice it to say that +his efforts to punish the rebels, who were aided by Mundhir, the +hereditary foe of his house, met with little success. He then set out +for Constantinople, where he was favourably received by the Emperor +Justinian, who desired to see the power of Kinda re-established as a +thorn in the side of his Persian rivals. The emperor appointed him +Phylarch of Palestine, but on his way thither he died at Angora (about +540 A.D.). He is said to have perished, like Nessus, from putting on a +poisoned robe sent to him as a gift by Justinian, with whose daughter he +had an intrigue. Hence he is sometimes called 'The Man of the Ulcers' +(_Dhu ´l-Qurú[h.]_). + +Many fabulous traditions surround the romantic figure of Imru´u +´l-Qays.[210] According to one story, he was banished by his father, who +despised him for being a poet and was enraged by the scandals to which +his love adventures gave rise. Imru´u ´l-Qays left his home and wandered +from tribe to tribe with a company of outcasts like himself, leading a +wild life, which caused him to be known as 'The Vagabond Prince' +(_al-Malik al-[D.]illíl_). When the news of his father's death reached +him he cried, "My father wasted my youth, and now that I am old he has +laid upon me the burden of blood-revenge. Wine to-day, business +to-morrow!" Seven nights he continued the carouse; then he swore not to +eat flesh, nor drink wine, nor use ointment, nor touch woman, nor wash +his head until his vengeance was accomplished. In the valley of Tabála, +north of Najrán, there was an idol called Dhu ´l-Khala[s.]a much +reverenced by the heathen Arabs. Imru´u ´l-Qays visited this oracle and +consulted it in the ordinary way, by drawing one of three arrows +entitled 'the Commanding,' 'the Forbidding,' and 'the Waiting.' He drew +the second, whereupon he broke the arrows and dashed them on the face of +the idol, exclaiming with a gross imprecation, "If _thy_ father had been +slain, thou would'st not have hindered me!" + +Imru´u ´l-Qays is almost universally reckoned the greatest of the +Pre-islamic poets. Mu[h.]ammad described him as 'their leader to +Hell-fire,' while the Caliphs `Umar and `Alí, _odium theologicum_ +notwithstanding, extolled his genius and originality.[211] Coming to the +_Mu`allaqa_ itself, European critics have vied with each other in +praising its exquisite diction and splendid images, the sweet flow of +the verse, the charm and variety of the painting, and, above all, the +feeling by which it is inspired of the joy and glory of youth. The +passage translated below is taken from the first half of the poem, in +which love is the prevailing theme:--[212] + + "Once, on the hill, she mocked at me and swore, + 'This hour I leave thee to return no more,' + Soft! if farewell is planted in thy mind, + Yet spare me, Fá[t.]ima, disdain unkind. + Because my passion slays me, wilt thou part? + Because thy wish is law unto mine heart? + Nay, if thou so mislikest aught in me, + Shake loose my robe and let it fall down free. + But ah, the deadly pair, thy streaming eyes! + They pierce a heart that all in ruin lies. + + How many a noble tent hath oped its treasure + To me, and I have ta'en my fill of pleasure, + Passing the warders who with eager speed + Had slain me, if they might but hush the deed, + What time in heaven the Pleiades unfold + A belt of orient gems distinct with gold. + I entered. By the curtain there stood she, + Clad lightly as for sleep, and looked on me. + 'By God,' she cried, 'what recks thee of the cost? + I see thine ancient madness is not lost.' + I led her forth--she trailing as we go + Her broidered skirt, lest any footprint show-- + Until beyond the tents the valley sank + With curving dunes and many a pilèd bank, + Then with both hands I drew her head to mine, + And lovingly the damsel did incline + Her slender waist and legs more plump than fine;-- + A graceful figure, a complexion bright, + A bosom like a mirror in the light; + A white pale virgin pearl such lustre keeps, + Fed with clear water in untrodden deeps. + Now she bends half away: two cheeks appear, + And such an eye as marks the frighted deer + Beside her fawn; and lo, the shapely neck + Not bare of ornament, else without a fleck; + While from her shoulders in profusion fair, + Like clusters on the palm, hangs down her coal-dark hair." + +In strange contrast with this tender and delicate idyll are the wild, +hard verses almost immediately following, in which the poet roaming +through the barren waste hears the howl of a starved wolf and hails him +as a comrade:-- + + "Each one of us what thing he finds devours: + Lean is the wretch whose living is like ours."[213] + +The noble qualities of his horse and its prowess in the chase are +described, and the poem ends with a magnificent picture of a +thunder-storm among the hills of Najd. + +[Sidenote: [T.]arafa.] + +[T.]arafa b. al-`Abd was a member of the great tribe of Bakr. The +particular clan to which he belonged was settled in Ba[h.]rayn on the +Persian Gulf. He early developed a talent for satire, which he exercised +upon friend and foe indifferently; and after he had squandered his +patrimony in dissolute pleasures, his family chased him away as though +he were 'a mangy camel.' At length a reconciliation was effected. He +promised to mend his ways, returned to his people, and took part, it is +said, in the War of Basús. In a little while his means were dissipated +once more and he was reduced to tend his brother's herds. His +_Mu`allaqa_ composed at this time won for him the favour of a rich +kinsman and restored him to temporary independence. On the conclusion of +peace between Bakr and Taghlib the youthful poet turned his eyes in the +direction of [H.]íra, where `Amr b. Hind had lately succeeded to the +throne (554 A.D.). He was well received by the king, who attached him, +along with his uncle, the poet Mutalammis, to the service of the +heir-apparent. But [T.]arafa's bitter tongue was destined to cost him +dear. Fatigued and disgusted by the rigid ceremony of the court, he +improvised a satire in which he said-- + + "Would that we had instead of `Amr + A milch-ewe bleating round our tent!" + +Shortly afterwards he happened to be seated at table opposite the king's +sister. Struck with her beauty, he exclaimed-- + + "Behold, she has come back to me, + My fair gazelle whose ear-rings shine; + Had not the king been sitting here, + I would have pressed her lips to mine!" + +`Amr b. Hind was a man of violent and implacable temper. [T.]arafa's +satire had already been reported to him, and this new impertinence added +fuel to his wrath. Sending for [T.]arafa and Mutalammis, he granted them +leave to visit their homes, and gave to each of them a sealed letter +addressed to the governor of Ba[h.]rayn. When they had passed outside +the city the suspicions of Mutalammis were aroused. As neither he nor +his companion could read, he handed his own letter to a boy of +[H.]íra[214] and learned that it contained orders to bury him alive. +Thereupon he flung the treacherous missive into the stream and implored +[T.]arafa to do likewise. [T.]arafa refused to break the royal seal. He +continued his journey to Ba[h.]rayn, where he was thrown into prison and +executed. + +Thus perished miserably in the flower of his youth--according to some +accounts he was not yet twenty--the passionate and eloquent [T.]arafa. +In his _Mu`allaqa_ he has drawn a spirited portrait of himself. The most +striking feature of the poem, apart from a long and, to us who are not +Bedouins, painfully tedious description of the camel, is its insistence +on sensual enjoyment as the sole business of life:-- + + "Canst thou make me immortal, O thou that blamest me so + For haunting the battle and loving the pleasures that fly? + If thou hast not the power to ward me from Death, let me go + To meet him and scatter the wealth in my hand, ere I die. + + Save only for three things in which noble youth take delight, + I care not how soon rises o'er me the coronach loud: + Wine that foams when the water is poured on it, ruddy, not bright. + Dark wine that I quaff stol'n away from the cavilling crowd; + + "And second, my charge at the cry of distress on a steed + Bow-legged like the wolf you have startled when thirsty he cowers; + And third, the day-long with a lass in her tent of goat's hair + To hear the wild rain and beguile of their slowness the hours."[215] + +Keeping, as far as possible, the chronological order, we have now to +mention two _Mu`allaqas_ which, though not directly related to each +other,[216] are of the same period--the reign of `Amr b. Hind, King of +[H.]íra (554-568 A.D.). Moreover, their strong mutual resemblance and +their difference from the other _Mu`allaqas_, especially from typical +_qa[s.]ídas_ like those of `Antara and Labíd, is a further reason for +linking them together. Their distinguishing mark is the abnormal space +devoted to the main subject, which leaves little room for the subsidiary +motives. + +[Sidenote: `Amr b. Kulthúm.] + +`Amr b. Kulthúm belonged to the tribe of Taghlib. His mother was Laylá, +a daughter of the famous poet and warrior Muhalhil. That she was a woman +of heroic mould appears from the following anecdote, which records a +deed of prompt vengeance on the part of `Amr that gave rise to the +proverb, "Bolder in onset than `Amr b. Kulthúm"[217]:-- + + [Sidenote: How ´Amr avenged an insult to his mother.] + + One day `Amr. b. Hind, the King of [H.]íra, said to his + boon-companions, "Do ye know any Arab whose mother would disdain to + serve mine?" They answered, "Yes, the mother of `Amr b. Kulthúm." + "Why so?" asked the king. "Because," said they, "her father is + Muhalhil b. Rabí`a and her uncle is Kulayb b. Wá´il, the most + puissant of the Arabs, and her husband is Kulthúm b. Málik, the + knightliest, and her son is `Amr, the chieftain of his tribe." Then + the king sent to `Amr b. Kulthúm, inviting him to pay a visit to + himself, and asking him to bring his mother, Laylá, to visit his own + mother, Hind. So `Amr came to [H.]íra with some men of Taghlib, and + Laylá came attended by a number of their women; and while the king + entertained `Amr and his friends in a pavilion which he had caused + to be erected between [H.]íra and the Euphrates, Laylá found + quarters with Hind in a tent adjoining. Now, the king had ordered + his mother, as soon as he should call for dessert, to dismiss the + servants, and cause Laylá to wait upon her. At the pre-arranged + signal she desired to be left alone with her guest, and said, "O + Laylá, hand me that dish." Laylá answered, "Let those who want + anything rise up and serve themselves." Hind repeated her demand, + and would take no denial. "O shame!" cried Laylá. "Help! Taghlib, + help!" When `Amr heard his mother's cry the blood flew to his + cheeks. He seized a sword hanging on the wall of the pavilion--the + only weapon there--and with a single blow smote the king dead.[218] + +`Amr's _Mu`allaqa_ is the work of a man who united in himself the ideal +qualities of manhood as these were understood by a race which has never +failed to value, even too highly, the display of self-reliant action and +decisive energy. And if in `Amr's poem these virtues are displayed with +an exaggerated boastfulness which offends our sense of decency and +proper reserve, it would be a grave error to conclude that all this +sound and fury signifies nothing. The Bedouin poet deems it his bounden +duty to glorify to the utmost himself, his family, and his tribe; the +Bedouin warrior is never tired of proclaiming his unshakable valour and +recounting his brilliant feats of arms: he hurls menaces and vaunts in +the same breath, but it does not follow that he is a _Miles Gloriosus_. +`Amr certainly was not: his _Mu`allaqa_ leaves a vivid impression of +conscious and exultant strength. The first eight verses seem to have +been added to the poem at a very early date, for out of them arose the +legend that `Amr drank himself to death with unmixed wine. It is likely +that they were included in the original collection of the _Mu`allaqát_, +and they are worth translating for their own sake:--- + + "Up, maiden! Fetch the morning-drink and spare not + The wine of Andarín, + Clear wine that takes a saffron hue when water + Is mingled warm therein. + The lover tasting it forgets his passion, + His heart is eased of pain; + The stingy miser, as he lifts the goblet, + Regardeth not his gain. + + Pass round from left to right! Why let'st thou, maiden, + Me and my comrades thirst? + Yet am I, whom thou wilt not serve this morning, + Of us three not the worst! + Many a cup in Baalbec and Damascus + And Qá[s.]irín I drained, + Howbeit we, ordained to death, shall one day + Meet death, to us ordained."[219] + +In the next passage he describes his grief at the departure of his +beloved, whom he sees in imagination arriving at her journey's end in +distant Yamáma:-- + + "And oh, my love and yearning when at nightfall + I saw her camels haste, + Until sharp peaks uptowered like serried sword-blades, + And me Yamáma faced! + Such grief no mother-camel feels, bemoaning + Her young one lost, nor she, + The grey-haired woman whose hard fate hath left her + Of nine sons graves thrice three."[220] + +Now the poet turns abruptly to his main theme. He addresses the King of +[H.]íra, `Amr b. Hind, in terms of defiance, and warns the foes of +Taghlib that they will meet more than their match:-- + + "Father of Hind,[221] take heed and ere thou movest + Rashly against us, learn + That still our banners go down white to battle + And home blood-red return. + And many a chief bediademed, the champion + Of the outlaws of the land, + Have we o'erthrown and stripped him, while around him + Fast-reined the horses stand. + Our neighbours lopped like thorn-trees, snarls in terror + Of us the demon-hound;[222] + Never we try our hand-mill on the foemen + But surely they are ground. + We are the heirs of glory, all Ma`add knows,[223] + Our lances it defend, + And when the tent-pole tumbles in the foray, + Trust us to save our friend![224] + + O `Amr, what mean'st thou? Are we, we of Taghlib, + Thy princeling's retinue? + O `Amr, what mean'st thou, rating us and hearkening + To tale-bearers untrue? + O `Amr, ere thee full many a time our spear-shaft + Has baffled foes to bow;[225] + Nipped in the vice it kicks like a wild camel + That will no touch allow-- + Like a wild camel, so it creaks in bending + And splits the bender's brow!"[226] + +The _Mu`allaqa_ ends with a eulogy, superb in its extravagance, of the +poet's tribe:-- + + "Well wot, when our tents rise along their valleys, + The men of every clan + That we give death to them that durst attempt us, + To friends what food we can; + That staunchly we maintain a cause we cherish, + Camp where we choose to ride, + Nor will we aught of peace, when we are angered, + Till we be satisfied. + We keep our vassals safe and sound, but rebels + We soon force to their knees; + And if we reach a well, we drink pure water, + Others the muddy lees. + Ours is the earth and all thereon: when _we_ strike, + There needs no second blow; + Kings lay before the new-weaned boy of Taghlib + Their heads in homage low. + We are called oppressors, being none, but shortly + A true name shall it be![227] + We have so filled the earth 'tis narrow for us, + And with our ships the sea![228] + +[Sidenote: [H.]árith b. [H.]illiza.] + +Less interesting is the _Mu`allaqa_ of [H.]árith b. [H.]illiza of Bakr. +Its inclusion among the _Mu`allaqát_ is probably due, as Nöldeke +suggested, to the fact that [H.]ammád, himself a client of Bakr, wished +to flatter his patrons by selecting a counterpart to the _Mu`allaqa_ of +`Amr b. Kulthúm, which immortalised their great rivals, the Banú +Taghlib. [H.]árith's poem, however, has some historical importance, as +it throws light on feuds in Northern Arabia connected with the +antagonism of the Roman and Persian Empires. Its purpose is to complain +of unjust accusations made against the Banú Bakr by a certain group of +the Banú Taghlib known as the Aráqim:-- + + "Our brothers the Aráqim let their tongues + Against us rail unmeasuredly. + The innocent with the guilty they confound: + Of guilt what boots it to be free? + They brand us patrons of the vilest deed, + Our clients in each miscreant see."[229] + +A person whom [H.]árith does not name was 'blackening' the Banú Bakr +before the King of [H.]íra. The poet tells him not to imagine that his +calumnies will have any lasting effect: often had Bakr been slandered by +their foes, but (he finely adds):-- + + "Maugre their hate we stand, by firm-based might + Exalted and by ancestry-- + Might which ere now hath dazzled men's eyes: thence scorn + To yield and haughty spirit have we. + On us the Days beat as on mountain dark + That soars in cloudless majesty, + Compact against the hard calamitous shocks + And buffetings of Destiny."[230] + +He appeals to the offenders not wantonly to break the peace which +ended the War of Basús:-- + + "Leave folly and error! If ye blind yourselves, + Just therein lies the malady. + Recall the oaths of Dhu ´l-Majáz[231] for which + Hostages gave security, + Lest force or guile should break them: can caprice + Annul the parchments utterly?[232] + +[Sidenote: `Antara.] + +`Antara b. Shaddád, whose father belonged to the tribe of `Abs, +distinguished himself in the War of Dá[h.]is.[233] In modern times it is +not as a poet that he is chiefly remembered, but as a hero of +romance--the Bedouin Achilles. Goddess-born, however, he could not be +called by any stretch of imagination. His mother was a black slave, and +he must often have been taunted with his African blood, which showed +itself in a fiery courage that gained the respect of the pure-bred but +generally less valorous Arabs. `Antara loved his cousin `Abla, and +following the Arabian custom by which cousins have the first right to a +girl's hand, he asked her in marriage. His suit was vain--the son of a +slave mother being regarded as a slave unless acknowledged by his +father--until on one occasion, while the `Absites were hotly engaged +with some raiders who had driven off their camels, `Antara refused to +join in the mêlée, saying, "A slave does not understand how to fight; +his work is to milk the camels and bind their udders." "Charge!" cried +his father, "thou art free." Though `Antara uttered no idle boast when +he sang-- + + "On one side nobly born and of the best + Of `Abs am I: my sword makes good the rest!" + +his contemptuous references to 'jabbering barbarians,' and to 'slaves +with their ears cut off, clad in sheepskins,' are characteristic of the +man who had risen to eminence in spite of the stain on his scutcheon. He +died at a great age in a foray against the neighbouring tribe of +[T.]ayyi´. His _Mu`allaqa_ is famous for its stirring battle-scenes, one +of which is translated here:--[234] + + "Learn, Málik's daughter, how + I rush into the fray, + And how I draw back only + At sharing of the prey. + + I never quit the saddle, + My strong steed nimbly bounds; + Warrior after warrior + Have covered him with wounds. + + Full-armed against me stood + One feared of fighting men: + He fled not oversoon + Nor let himself be ta'en. + + With straight hard-shafted spear + I dealt him in his side + A sudden thrust which opened + Two streaming gashes wide, + + Two gashes whence outgurgled + His life-blood: at the sound + Night-roaming ravenous wolves + Flock eagerly around. + + So with my doughty spear + I trussed his coat of mail-- + For truly, when the spear strikes, + The noblest man is frail-- + + And left him low to banquet + The wild beasts gathering there; + They have torn off his fingers, + His wrist and fingers fair!" + +[Sidenote: Zuhayr.] + +While `Antara's poem belongs to the final stages of the War of Dá[h.]is, +the _Mu`allaqa_ of his contemporary, Zuhayr b. Abí Sulmá, of the tribe +of Muzayna, celebrates an act of private munificence which brought about +the conclusion of peace. By the self-sacrificing intervention of two +chiefs of Dhubyán, Harim b. Sinán and [H.]árith b. `Awf, the whole sum +of blood-money to which the `Absites were entitled on account of the +greater number of those who had fallen on their side, was paid over to +them. Such an example of generous and disinterested patriotism--for +Harim and [H.]árith had shed no blood themselves--was a fit subject for +one of whom it was said that he never praised men but as they +deserved:-- + + Noble pair of Ghay[z.] ibn Murra,[235] well ye laboured to restore + Ties of kindred hewn asunder by the bloody strokes of war. + Witness now mine oath the ancient House in Mecca's hallowed bound,[236] + Which its builders of Quraysh and Jurhum solemnly went round,[237] + That in hard or easy issue never wanting were ye found! + Peace ye gave to `Abs and Dhubyán when each fell by other's hand + And the evil fumes they pestled up between them filled the land."[238] + +At the end of his panegyric the poet, turning to the lately reconciled +tribesmen and their confederates, earnestly warns them against nursing +thoughts of vengeance:-- + + "Will ye hide from God the guilt ye dare not unto Him disclose? + Verily, what thing soever ye would hide from God, He knows. + Either it is laid up meantime in a scroll and treasured there + For the day of retribution, or avenged all unaware.[239] + War ye have known and war have tasted: not by hearsay are ye wise. + Raise no more the hideous monster! If ye let her raven, she cries + Ravenously for blood and crushes, like a mill-stone, all below, + And from her twin-conceiving womb she brings forth woe on woe."[240] + +After a somewhat obscure passage concerning the lawless deeds of a +certain [H.]usayn b. [D.]am[d.]am, which had well-nigh caused a fresh +outbreak of hostilities, Zuhayr proceeds, with a natural and touching +allusion to his venerable age, to enforce the lessons of conduct and +morality suggested by the situation:-- + + "I am weary of life's burden: well a man may weary be + After eighty years, and this much now is manifest to me: + Death is like a night-blind camel stumbling on:--the smitten die + But the others age and wax in weakness whom he passes by. + He that often deals with folk in unkind fashion, underneath + They will trample him and make him feel the sharpness of their teeth. + He that hath enough and over and is niggard with his pelf + Will be hated of his people and left free to praise himself. + He alone who with fair actions ever fortifies his fame + Wins it fully: blame will find him out unless he shrinks from blame. + He that for his cistern's guarding trusts not in his own stout arm + Sees it ruined: he must harm his foe or he must suffer harm. + He that fears the bridge of Death across it finally is driven, + Though he span as with a ladder all the space 'twixt earth and heaven. + He that will not take the lance's butt-end while he has the chance + Must thereafter be contented with the spike-end of the lance. + He that keeps his word is blamed not; he whose heart repaireth straight + To the sanctuary of duty never needs to hesitate. + He that hies abroad to strangers doth account his friends his foes; + He that honours not himself lacks honour wheresoe'er he goes. + Be a man's true nature what it will, that nature is revealed + To his neighbours, let him fancy as he may that 'tis concealed."[241] + +The ripe sententious wisdom and moral earnestness of Zuhayr's poetry are +in keeping with what has been said above concerning his religious ideas +and, from another point of view, with the tradition that he used to +compose a _qa[s.]ída_ in four months, correct it for four months, submit +it to the poets of his acquaintance during a like period, and not make +it public until a year had expired. + +Of his life there is little to tell. Probably he died before Islam, +though it is related that when he was a centenarian he met the Prophet, +who cried out on seeing him, "O God, preserve me from his demon!"[242] +The poetical gifts which he inherited from his uncle Basháma he +bequeathed to his son Ka`b, author of the famous ode, _Bánat Su`ád_. + +[Sidenote: Labíd.] + +Labíd b. Rabí`a, of the Banú `Ámir b. [S.]a`[s.]a`a, was born in the +latter half of the sixth century, and is said to have died soon after +Mu`áwiya's accession to the Caliphate, which took place in A.D. 661. He +is thus the youngest of the Seven Poets. On accepting Islam he abjured +poetry, saying, "God has given me the Koran in exchange for it." Like +Zuhayr, he had, even in his heathen days, a strong vein of religious +feeling, as is shown by many passages in his Díwán. + +Labíd was a true Bedouin, and his _Mu`allaqa_, with its charmingly fresh +pictures of desert life and scenery, must be considered one of the +finest examples of the Pre-islamic _qa[s.]ída_ that have come down to +us. The poet owes something to his predecessors, but the greater part +seems to be drawn from his own observation. He begins in the +conventional manner by describing the almost unrecognisable vestiges of +the camping-ground of the clan to which his mistress belonged:-- + + "Waste lies the land where once alighted and did wone + The people of Miná: Rijám and Ghawl are lone. + The camp in Rayyán's vale is marked by relics dim + Like weather-beaten script engraved on ancient stone. + Over this ruined scene, since it was desolate, + Whole years with secular and sacred months had flown. + In spring 'twas blest by showers 'neath starry influence shed, + And thunder-clouds bestowed a scant or copious boon. + Pale herbs had shot up, ostriches on either slope + Their chicks had gotten and gazelles their young had thrown; + And large-eyed wild-cows there beside the new-born calves + Reclined, while round them formed a troop the calves half-grown. + Torrents of rain had swept the dusty ruins bare, + Until, as writing freshly charactered, they shone, + Or like to curved tattoo-lines on a woman's arm, + With soot besprinkled so that every line is shown. + I stopped and asked, but what avails it that we ask + Dumb changeless things that speak a language all unknown?"[243] + +After lamenting the departure of his beloved the poet bids himself think +no more about her: he will ride swiftly away from the spot. Naturally, +he must praise his camel, and he introduces by way of comparison two +wonderful pictures of animal life. In the former the onager is described +racing at full speed over the backs of the hills when thirst and hunger +drive him with his mate far from the barren solitudes into which they +usually retire. The second paints a wild-cow, whose young calf has been +devoured by wolves, sleeping among the sand-dunes through a night of +incessant rain. At daybreak "her feet glide over the firm wet soil." For +a whole week she runs to and fro, anxiously seeking her calf, when +suddenly she hears the sound of hunters approaching and makes off in +alarm. Being unable to get within bowshot, the hunters loose their dogs, +but she turns desperately upon them, wounding one with her needle-like +horn and killing another. + +Then, once more addressing his beloved, the poet speaks complacently of +his share in the feasting and revelling, on which a noble Arab plumes +himself hardly less than on his bravery:-- + + "Know'st thou not, O Nawár, that I am wont to tie + The cords of love, yet also snap them without fear? + That I abandon places when I like them not, + Unless Death chain the soul and straiten her career? + Nay, surely, but thou know'st not I have passed in talk + Many a cool night of pleasure and convivial cheer, + And often to a booth, above which hung for sign + A banner, have resorted when old wine was dear. + For no light price I purchased many a dusky skin + Or black clay jar, and broached it that the juice ran clear; + And many a song of shrill-voiced singing-girl I paid, + And her whose fingers made sweet music to mine ear."[244] + +Continuing, he boasts of dangerous service as a spy in the enemy's +country, when he watched all day on the top of a steep crag; of his +fearless demeanour and dignified assertion of his rights in an assembly +at [H.]íra, to which he came as a delegate, and of his liberality to the +poor. The closing verses are devoted, in accordance with custom, to +matters of immediate interest and to a panegyric on the virtues of the +poet's kin. + +Besides the authors of the _Mu`allaqát_ three poets may be mentioned, of +whom the two first-named are universally acknowledged to rank with the +greatest that Arabia has produced--Nábigha, A`shá, and `Alqama. + +[Sidenote: Nábigha of Dhubyán.] + +Nábigha[245]--his proper name is Ziyád b. Mu`áwiya, of the tribe +Dhubyán--lived at the courts of Ghassán and [H.]íra during the latter +half of the century before Islam. His chief patron was King Nu`mán b. +Mundhir Abú Qábús of [H.]íra. For many years he basked in the sunshine +of royal favour, enjoying every privilege that Nu`mán bestowed on his +most intimate friends. The occasion of their falling out is differently +related. According to one story, the poet described the charms of Queen +Mutajarrida, which Nu`mán had asked him to celebrate, with such charm +and liveliness as to excite her husband's suspicion; but it is said--and +Nábigha's own words make it probable--that his enemies denounced him as +the author of a scurrilous satire against Nu`mán which had been forged +by themselves. At any rate he had no choice but to quit [H.]íra with all +speed, and ere long we find him in Ghassán, welcomed and honoured, as +the panegyrist of King `Amr b. [H.]árith and the noble house of Jafna. +But his heart was in [H.]íra still. Deeply wounded by the calumnies of +which he was the victim, he never ceased to affirm his innocence and to +lament the misery of exile. The following poem, which he addressed to +Nu`mán, is at once a justification and an appeal for mercy[246]:-- + + "They brought me word, O King, thou blamedst me; + For this am I o'erwhelmed with grief and care. + I passed a sick man's night: the nurses seemed, + Spreading my couch, to have heaped up briars there. + Now (lest thou cherish in thy mind a doubt) + Invoking our last refuge, God, I swear + That he, whoever told thee I was false, + Is the more lying and faithless of the pair. + Exiled perforce, I found a strip of land + Where I could live and safely take the air: + Kings made me arbiter of their possessions, + And called me to their side and spoke me fair-- + Even as thou dost grace thy favourites + Nor deem'st a fault the gratitude they bear.[247] + O leave thine anger! Else, in view of men + A mangy camel, smeared with pitch, I were. + Seest thou not God hath given thee eminence + Before which monarchs tremble and despair? + All other kings are stars and thou a sun: + When the sun rises, lo, the heavens are bare! + A friend in trouble thou wilt not forsake; + I may have sinned: in sinning all men share. + If I am wronged, thou hast but wronged a slave, + And if thou spar'st, 'tis like thyself to spare." + +It is pleasant to record that Nábigha was finally reconciled to the +prince whom he loved, and that [H.]íra again became his home. The date +of his death is unknown, but it certainly took place before Islam was +promulgated. Had the opportunity been granted to him he might have died +a Moslem: he calls himself 'a religious man' (_dhú ummatin_),[248] and +although the tradition that he was actually a Christian lacks authority, +his long residence in Syria and `Iráq must have made him acquainted with +the externals of Christianity and with some, at least, of its leading +ideas. + +[Sidenote: A`shá.] + +The grave and earnest tone characteristic of Nábigha's poetry seldom +prevails in that of his younger contemporary, Maymún b. Qays, who is +generally known by his surname, al-A`shá--that is, 'the man of weak +sight.' A professional troubadour, he roamed from one end of Arabia to +the other, harp in hand, singing the praises of those who rewarded him; +and such was his fame as a satirist that few ventured to withhold the +bounty which he asked. By common consent he stands in the very first +rank of Arabian poets. Abu ´l-Faraj, the author of the _Kitábu +´l-Aghání_, declares him to be superior to all the rest, adding, +however, "this opinion is not held unanimously as regards A`shá or any +other." His wandering life brought him into contact with every kind of +culture then existing in Arabia. Although he was not an avowed +Christian, his poetry shows to what an extent he was influenced by the +Bishops of Najrán, with whom he was intimately connected, and by the +Christian merchants of [H.]íra who sold him their wine. He did not rise +above the pagan level of morality. + + It is related that he set out to visit Mu[h.]ammad for the purpose + of reciting to him an ode which he had composed in his honour. When + the Quraysh heard of this, they feared lest their adversary's + reputation should be increased by the panegyric of a bard so famous + and popular. Accordingly, they intercepted him on his way, and asked + whither he was bound. "To your kinsman," said he, "that I may accept + Islam." "He will forbid and make unlawful to thee certain practices + of which thou art fond." "What are these?" said A`shá. + "Fornication," said Abú Sufyán, "I have not abandoned it," he + replied, "but it has abandoned me. What else?" "Gambling." "Perhaps + I shall obtain from him something to compensate me for the loss of + gambling. What else?" "Usury." "I have never borrowed nor lent. What + else?" "Wine." "Oh, in that case I will drink the water I have left + stored at al-Mihrás." Seeing that A`shá was not to be deterred, Abú + Sufyán offered him a hundred camels on condition that he should + return to his home in Yamáma and await the issue of the struggle + between Mu[h.]ammad and the Quraysh. "I agree," said A`shá. "O ye + Quraysh," cried Abú Sufyán, "this is A`shá, and by God, if he + becomes a follower of Mu[h.]ammad, he will inflame the Arabs against + you by his poetry. Collect, therefore, a hundred camels for + him."[249] + +A`shá excels in the description of wine and wine-parties. One who +visited Manfú[h.]a in Yamáma, where the poet was buried, relates that +revellers used to meet at his grave and pour out beside it the last +drops that remained in their cups. As an example of his style in this +_genre_ I translate a few lines from the most celebrated of his poems, +which is included by some critics among the _Mu`allaqát_:-- + + "Many a time I hastened early to the tavern--while there ran + At my heels a ready cook, a nimble, active serving-man-- + 'Midst a gallant troop, like Indian scimitars, of mettle high; + Well they know that every mortal, shod and bare alike, must die. + Propped at ease I greet them gaily, them with myrtle-boughs I greet, + Pass among them wine that gushes from the jar's mouth bittersweet. + Emptying goblet after goblet--but the source may no man drain-- + Never cease they from carousing save to cry, 'Fill up again!' + Briskly runs the page to serve them: on his ears hang pearls: below, + Tight the girdle draws his doublet as he bustles to and fro. + 'Twas the harp, thou mightest fancy, waked the lute's responsive note, + When the loose-robed chantress touched it and sang shrill with + quavering throat. + Here and there among the party damsels fair superbly glide: + Each her long white skirt lets trail and swings a wine-skin at her + side."[250] + +[Sidenote: `Alqama.] + +Very little is known of the life of `Alqama b. `Abada, who was surnamed +_al-Fa[h.]l_ (the Stallion). His most famous poem is that which he +addressed to the Ghassánid [H.]árith al-A`raj after the Battle of +[H.]alíma, imploring him to set free some prisoners of Tamím--the poet's +tribe--among whom was his own brother or nephew, Shás. The following +lines have almost become proverbial:-- + + "Of women do ye ask me? I can spy + Their ailments with a shrewd physician's eye. + The man whose head is grey or small his herds + No favour wins of them but mocking words. + Are riches known, to riches they aspire, + And youthful bloom is still their heart's desire."[251] + +[Sidenote: Elegiac poetry.] + +In view of these slighting verses it is proper to observe that the +poetry of Arabian women of the Pre-islamic period is distinctly +masculine in character. Their songs are seldom of Love, but often of +Death. Elegy (_rithá_ or _marthiya_) was regarded as their special +province. The oldest form of elegy appears in the verses chanted on the +death of Ta´abba[t.]a Sharran by his sister:-- + + "O the good knight ye left low at Rakhmán, + Thábit son of Jábir son of Sufyán! + He filled the cup for friends and ever slew his man."[252] + +"As a rule the Arabian dirge is very simple. The poetess begins with a +description of her grief, of the tears that she cannot quench, and then +she shows how worthy to be deeply mourned was he whom death has taken +away. He is described as a pattern of the two principal Arabian virtues, +bravery and liberality, and the question is anxiously asked, 'Who will +now make high resolves, overthrow the enemy, and in time of want feed +the poor and entertain the stranger?' If the hero of the dirge died a +violent death we find in addition a burning lust of revenge, a thirst +for the slayer's blood, expressed with an intensity of feeling of which +only women are capable."[253] + +[Sidenote: Khansá.] + +Among Arabian women who have excelled in poetry the place of honour is +due to Khansá--her real name was Tumá[d.]ir--who flourished in the last +years before Islam. By far the most famous of her elegies are those in +which she bewailed her valiant brothers, Mu`áwiya and [S.]akhr, both of +whom were struck down by sword or spear. It is impossible to translate +the poignant and vivid emotion, the energy of passion and noble +simplicity of style which distinguish the poetry of Khansá, but here are +a few verses:-- + + Death's messenger cried aloud the loss of the generous one, + So loud cried he, by my life, that far he was heard and wide. + Then rose I, and scarce my soul could follow to meet the news, + For anguish and sore dismay and horror that [S.]akhr had died. + In my misery and despair I seemed as a drunken man, + Upstanding awhile--then soon his tottering limbs subside."[254] + + _Yudhakkiruní [t.]ulú`u ´l-shamsi [S.]akhran + wa-adhkuruhú likulli ghurúbi shamsi._ + + "Sunrise awakes in me the sad remembrance + Of [S.]akhr, and I recall him at every sunset." + +[Sidenote: The last poets born in the Age of Paganism.] + +To the poets who have been enumerated many might be added--_e.g._, +[H.]assán b. Thábit, who was 'retained' by the Prophet and did useful +work on his behalf; Ka`b b. Zuhayr, author or the famous panegyric on +Mu[h.]ammad beginning "_Bánat Su`ád_" (Su`ád has departed); Mutammim b. +Nuwayra, who, like Khansá, mourned the loss of a brother; Abú Mi[h.]jan, +the singer of wine, whose devotion to the forbidden beverage was +punished by the Caliph `Umar with imprisonment and exile; and +al-[H.]u[t.]ay´a (the Dwarf), who was unrivalled in satire. All these +belonged to the class of _Mukha[d.]ramún_, _i.e._, they were born in the +Pagan Age but died, if not Moslems, at any rate after the proclamation +of Islam. + + +[Sidenote: Collections of ancient poetry.] + +The grammarians of Ba[s.]ra and Kúfa, by whom the remains of ancient +Arabian poetry were rescued from oblivion, arranged and collected their +material according to various principles. Either the poems of an +individual or those of a number of individuals belonging to the same +tribe or class were brought together--such a collection was called +_Díwán_, plural _Dawáwín_; or, again, the compiler edited a certain +number of _qa[s.]ídas_ chosen for their fame or excellence or on other +grounds, or he formed an anthology of shorter pieces or fragments, which +were arranged under different heads according to their subject-matter. + +[Sidenote: Díwáns.] + +Among _Díwáns_ mention may be made of _The Díwáns of the Six Poets_, +viz. Nábigha, `Antara, [T.]arafa, Zuhayr, `Alqama, and Imru´u ´l-Qays, +edited with a full commentary by the Spanish philologist al-A`lam +(+ 1083 A.D.) and published in 1870 by Ahlwardt; and of _The Poems of the +Hudhaylites_ (_Ash`áru ´l-Hudhaliyyín_) collected by al-Sukkarí +(+ 888 A.D.), which have been published by Kosegarten and Wellhausen. + +The chief Anthologies, taken in the order of their composition, are:-- + +[Sidenote: Anthologies. 1. The _Mu`allaqát_.] + +1. The _Mu`allaqát_, which is the title given to a collection of seven +odes by Imru´u ´l-Qays, [T.]arafa, Zuhayr, Labíd, `Antara, `Amr b. +Kulthúm, and [H.]árith b. [H.]illiza; to these two odes by Nábigha and +A`shá are sometimes added. The compiler was probably [H.]ammád +al-Ráwiya, a famous rhapsodist of Persian descent, who flourished under +the Umayyads and died in the second half of the eighth century of our +era. As the _Mu`allaqát_ have been discussed above, we may pass on +directly to a much larger, though less celebrated, collection dating +from the same period, viz.:-- + +[Sidenote: 2. The _Mufa[d.][d.]aliyyát_.] + +2. The _Mufa[d.][d.]aliyyát_,[255] by which title it is generally known +after its compiler, Mufa[d.][d.]al al-[D.]abbí (+ circa 786 A.D.), who +made it at the instance of the Caliph Man[s.]úr for the instruction of +his son and successor, Mahdí. It comprises 128 odes and is extant in two +recensions, that of Anbárí (+ 916 A.D.), which derives from Ibnu +´l-A`rábí, the stepson of Mufa[d.][d.]al, and that of Marzúqí (+ 1030 +A.D.). About a third of the _Mufa[d.][d.]aliyyát_ was published in 1885 +by Thorbecke, and Sir Charles Lyall has recently edited the complete +text with Arabic commentary and English translation and notes.[256] + +All students of Arabian poetry are familiar with-- + +[Sidenote: 3. The _[H.]amása_ of Abú Tammám.] + +3. The _[H.]amása_ of Abú Tammám [H.]abíb b. Aws, himself a +distinguished poet, who flourished under the Caliphs Ma´mún and +Mu`ta[s.]im, and died about 850 A.D. Towards the end of his life he +visited `Abdulláh b. [T.]áhir, the powerful governor of Khurásán, who +was virtually an independent sovereign. It was on this journey, as Ibn +Khallikán relates, that Abú Tammám composed the _[H.]amása_; for on +arriving at Hamadhán (Ecbatana) the winter had set in, and as the cold +was excessively severe in that country, the snow blocked up the road and +obliged him to stop and await the thaw. During his stay he resided with +one of the most eminent men of the place, who possessed a library in +which were some collections of poems composed by the Arabs of the desert +and other authors. Having then sufficient leisure, he perused those +works and selected from them the passages out of which he formed his +_[H.]amása_.[257] The work is divided into ten sections of unequal +length, the first, from which it received its name, occupying (together +with the commentary) 360 pages in Freytag's edition, while the seventh +and eighth require only thirteen pages between them. These sections or +chapters bear the following titles:-- + + I. The Chapter of Fortitude (_Bábu ´l-[H.]amása_). + II. The Chapter of Dirges (_Bábu ´l-Maráthí_). + III. The Chapter of Good Manners (_Bábu ´l-Adab_). + IV. The Chapter of Love-Songs (_Bábu ´l-Nasíb_). + V. The Chapter of Satire (_Bábu ´l-Hijá_). + VI. The Chapter of Guests (Hospitality) and Panegyric (_Bábu + ´l-A[d.]yáf wa ´l-Madíh_). + VII. The Chapter of Descriptions (_Bábu ´l-[S.]ifát_). + VIII. The Chapter of Travel and Repose (_Bábu ´l-Sayr wa ´l-Nu`ás_). + IX. The Chapter of Facetiæ (_Bábu ´l-Mula[h.]_). + X. The Chapter of Vituperation of Women (_Bábu Madhammati + ´l-Nisá_). + +The contents of the _[H.]amása_ include short poems complete in +themselves as well as passages extracted from longer poems; of the poets +represented, some of whom belong to the Pre-islamic and others to the +early Islamic period, comparatively few are celebrated, while many are +anonymous or only known by the verses attached to their names. If the +high level of excellence attained by these obscure singers shows, on the +one hand, that a natural genius for poetry was widely diffused and that +the art was successfully cultivated among all ranks of Arabian society, +we must not forget how much is due to the fine taste of Abú Tammám, who, +as the commentator Tibrízí has remarked, "is a better poet in his +_[H.]amása_ than in his poetry." + +[Sidenote: 4. The _[H.]amása_ of Bu[h.]turí.] + +4. The _[H.]amása_ of Bu[h.]turí (+ 897 A.D.), a younger contemporary of +Abú Tammám, is inferior to its model.[258] However convenient from a +practical standpoint, the division into a great number of sections, each +illustrating a narrowly defined topic, seriously impairs the artistic +value of the work; moreover, Bu[h.]turí seems to have had a less +catholic appreciation of the beauties of poetry--he admired, it is said, +only what was in harmony with his own style and ideas. + +[Sidenote: 5. The _Jamhara_.] + +5. The _Jamharatu Ash`ári ´l-`Arab_, a collection of forty-nine odes, +was put together probably about 1000 A.D. by Abú Zayd Mu[h.]ammad +al-Qurashí, of whom we find no mention elsewhere. + +[Sidenote: Prose sources.] + +Apart from the _Díwáns_ and anthologies, numerous Pre-islamic verses are +cited in biographical, philological, and other works, _e.g._, the +_Kitábu ´l-Aghání_ by Abu ´l-Faraj of I[s.]fahán (+ 967 _A.D._), the +_Kitábu ´l-Amálí_ by Abú `Alí al-Qálí (+ 967 _A.D._), the _Kámil_ of +Mubarrad (+ 898 A.D.), and the _Khizánatu ´l-Adab_ of `Abdu ´l-Qádir of +Baghdád (+ 1682 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: The tradition of Pre-islamic poetry.] + +[Sidenote: The Ráwís.] + +[Sidenote: The Humanists.] + +We have seen that the oldest existing poems date from the beginning of +the sixth century of our era, whereas the art of writing did not come +into general use among the Arabs until some two hundred years +afterwards. Pre-islamic poetry, therefore, was preserved by oral +tradition alone, and the question arises, How was this possible? What +guarantee have we that songs living on men's lips for so long a period +have retained their original form, even approximately? No doubt many +verses, _e.g._, those which glorified the poet's tribe or satirised +their enemies, were constantly being recited by his kin, and in this way +short occasional poems or fragments of longer ones might be perpetuated. +Of whole _qa[s.]ídas_ like the _Mu`allaqát_, however, none or very few +would have reached us if their survival had depended solely on their +popularity. What actually saved them in the first place was an +institution resembling that of the Rhapsodists in Greece. Every +professed poet had his _Ráwí_ (reciter), who accompanied him everywhere, +committed his poems to memory, and handed them down, as well as the +circumstances connected with them, to others. The characters of poet and +_ráwí_ were often combined; thus Zuhayr was the _ráwí_ of his stepfather, +Aws b. [H.]ajar, while his own _ráwí_ was al-[H.]u[t.]ay´a. If the +tradition of poetry was at first a labour of love, it afterwards became +a lucrative business, and the _Ráwís_, instead of being attached to +individual poets, began to form an independent class, carrying in their +memories a prodigious stock of ancient verse and miscellaneous learning. +It is related, for example, that [H.]ammád once said to the Caliph Walíd +b. Yazíd: "I can recite to you, for each letter of the alphabet, one +hundred long poems rhyming in that letter, without taking into count the +short pieces, and all that composed exclusively by poets who lived +before the promulgation of Islamism." He commenced and continued until +the Caliph, having grown fatigued, withdrew, after leaving a person in +his place to verify the assertion and hear him to the last. In that +sitting he recited two thousand nine hundred _qa[s.]ídas_ by poets who +flourished before Mu[h.]ammad. Walíd, on being informed of the fact, +ordered him a present of one hundred thousand dirhems.[259] Thus, +towards the end of the first century after the Hijra, _i.e._, about 700 +A.D., when the custom of _writing_ poetry began, there was much of +Pre-islamic origin still in circulation, although it is probable that +far more had already been irretrievably lost. Numbers of _Ráwís_ +perished in the wars, or passed away in the course of nature, without +leaving any one to continue their tradition. New times had brought new +interests and other ways of life. The great majority of Moslems had no +sympathy whatever with the ancient poetry, which represented in their +eyes the unregenerate spirit of heathendom. They wanted nothing beyond +the Koran and the [H.]adíth. But for reasons which will be stated in +another chapter the language of the Koran and the [H.]adíth was rapidly +becoming obsolete as a spoken idiom outside of the Arabian peninsula: +the 'perspicuous Arabic' on which Mu[h.]ammad prided himself had ceased +to be fully intelligible to the Moslems settled in `Iráq and Khurásán, +in Syria, and in Egypt. It was essential that the Sacred Text should be +explained, and this necessity gave birth to the sciences of Grammar and +Lexicography. The Philologists, or, as they have been aptly designated, +the Humanists of Ba[s.]ra and Kúfa, where these studies were prosecuted +with peculiar zeal, naturally found their best material in the +Pre-islamic poems--a well of Arabic undefiled. At first the ancient +poetry merely formed a basis for philological research, but in process +of time a literary enthusiasm was awakened. The surviving _Ráwís_ were +eagerly sought out and induced to yield up their stores, the +compositions of famous poets were collected, arranged, and committed to +writing, and as the demand increased, so did the supply.[260] + +[Sidenote: Corrupt tradition of the old poetry.] + +[Sidenote: [H.]ammád al-Ráwiya.] + +[Sidenote: Khalaf al-A[h.]mar.] + +In these circumstances a certain amount of error was inevitable. Apart +from unconscious failings of memory, there can be no doubt that in many +cases the _Ráwís_ acted with intent to deceive. The temptation to father +their own verses, or centos which they pieced together from sources +known only to themselves, upon some poet of antiquity was all the +stronger because they ran little risk of detection. In knowledge of +poetry and in poetical talent they were generally far more than a match +for the philologists, who seldom possessed any critical ability, but +readily took whatever came to hand. The stories which are told of +[H.]ammád al-Ráwiya, clearly show how unscrupulous he was in his +methods, though we have reason to suppose that he was not a typical +example of his class. His contemporary, Mufa[d.][d.]al al-[D.]abbí, is +reported to have said that the corruption which poetry suffered through +[H.]ammád could never be repaired, "for," he added, "[H.]ammád is a man +skilled in the language and poesy of the Arabs and in the styles and +ideas of the poets, and he is always making verses in imitation of some +one and introducing them into genuine compositions by the same author, +so that the copy passes everywhere for part of the original, and cannot +be distinguished from it except by critical scholars--and where are such +to be found?"[261] This art of forgery was brought to perfection by +Khalaf al-A[h.]mar (+ about 800 A.D.), who learned it in the school of +[H.]ammád. If he really composed the famous _Lámiyya_ ascribed to +Shanfará, his own poetical endowments must have been of the highest +order. In his old age he repented and confessed that he was the author +of several poems which the scholars of Ba[s.]ra and Kúfa had accepted as +genuine, but they laughed him to scorn, saying, "What you said then +seems to us more trustworthy than your present assertion." + +[Sidenote: Other causes of corruption.] + +Besides the corruptions due to the _Ráwís_, others have been accumulated +by the philologists themselves. As the Koran and the [H.]adíth were, of +course, spoken and afterwards written in the dialect of Quraysh, to whom +Mu[h.]ammad belonged, this dialect was regarded as the classical +standard;[262] consequently the variations therefrom which occurred in +the ancient poems were, for the most part, 'emended' and harmonised with +it. Many changes were made under the influence of Islam, _e.g._, 'Allah' +was probably often substituted for the pagan goddess 'al-Lát.' Moreover, +the structure of the _qa[s.]ída_, its disconnectedness and want of +logical cohesion, favoured the omission and transposition of whole +passages or single verses. All these modes of depravation might be +illustrated in detail, but from what has been said the reader can judge +for himself how far the poems, as they now stand, are likely to have +retained the form in which they were first uttered to the wild Arabs of +the Pre-islamic Age. + +[Sidenote: Religion.] + +[Sidenote: The Fair of `Uká[z.].] + +Religion had so little influence on the lives of the Pre-islamic Arabs +that we cannot expect to find much trace of it in their poetry. They +believed vaguely in a supreme God, Allah, and more definitely in his +three daughters--al-Lát, Manát, and al-`Uzzá--who were venerated all +over Arabia and whose intercession was graciously accepted by Allah. +There were also numerous idols enjoying high favour while they continued +to bring good luck to their worshippers. Of real piety the ordinary +Bedouin knew nothing. He felt no call to pray to his gods, although he +often found them convenient to swear by. He might invoke Allah in the +hour of need, as a drowning man will clutch at a straw; but his faith in +superstitious ceremonies was stronger. He did not take his religion too +seriously. Its practical advantages he was quick to appreciate. Not to +mention baser pleasures, it gave him rest and security during the four +sacred months, in which war was forbidden, while the institution of the +Meccan Pilgrimage enabled him to take part in a national fête. Commerce +went hand in hand with religion. Great fairs were held, the most famous +being that of `Uká[z.], which lasted for twenty days. These fairs were +in some sort the centre of old Arabian social, political, and literary +life. It was the only occasion on which free and fearless intercourse +was possible between the members of different clans.[263] + +Plenty of excitement was provided by poetical and oratorical +displays--not by athletic sports, as in ancient Greece and modern +England. Here rival poets declaimed their verses and submitted them to +the judgment of an acknowledged master. Nowhere else had rising talents +such an opportunity of gaining wide reputation: what `Uká[z.] said +to-day all Arabia would repeat to-morrow. At `Uká[z.], we are told, the +youthful Mu[h.]ammad listened, as though spellbound, to the persuasive +eloquence of Quss b. Sá`ida, Bishop of Najrán; and he may have +contrasted the discourse of the Christian preacher with the brilliant +odes chanted by heathen bards. + +The Bedouin view of life was thoroughly hedonistic. Love, wine, +gambling, hunting, the pleasures of song and romance, the brief, +pointed, and elegant expression of wit and wisdom--these things he knew +to be good. Beyond them he saw only the grave. + + "Roast meat and wine: the swinging ride + On a camel sure and tried, + Which her master speeds amain + O'er low dale and level plain: + Women marble-white and fair + Trailing gold-fringed raiment rare: + Opulence, luxurious ease, + With the lute's soft melodies-- + Such delights hath our brief span; + Time is Change, Time's fool is Man. + Wealth or want, great store or small, + All is one since Death's are all."[264] + +It would be a mistake to suppose that these men always, or even +generally, passed their lives in the aimless pursuit of pleasure. Some +goal they had--earthly, no doubt--such as the accumulation of wealth or +the winning of glory or the fulfilment of blood-revenge. "_God forbid_" +says one, "_that I should die while a grievous longing, as it were a +mountain, weighs on my breast!_"[265] A deeper chord is touched by +Imru´u ´l-Qays: "_If I strove for a bare livelihood, scanty means would +suffice me and I would seek no more. But I strive for lasting renown, +and 'tis men like me that sometimes attain lasting renown. Never, while +life endures, does a man reach the summit of his ambition or cease from +toil._"[266] + +[Sidenote: Judaism and Christianity in Arabia.] + +[Sidenote: The `Ibád of [H.]íra.] + +[Sidenote: `Adí b. Zayd.] + +These are noble sentiments nobly expressed. Yet one hears the sigh of +weariness, as if the speaker were struggling against the conviction that +his cause is already lost, and would welcome the final stroke of +destiny. It was a time of wild uproar and confusion. Tribal and family +feuds filled the land, as Zuhayr says, with evil fumes. No wonder that +earnest and thoughtful minds asked themselves--What worth has our life, +what meaning? Whither does it lead? Such questions paganism could not +answer, but Arabia in the century before Mu[h.]ammad was not wholly +abandoned to paganism. Jewish colonists had long been settled in the +[H.]ijáz. Probably the earliest settlements date from the conquest of +Palestine by Titus or Hadrian. In their new home the refugees, through +contact with a people nearly akin to themselves, became fully +Arabicised, as the few extant specimens of their poetry bear witness. +They remained Jews, however, not only in their cultivation of trade and +various industries, but also in the most vital particular--their +religion. This, and the fact that they lived in isolated communities +among the surrounding population, marked them out as the salt of the +desert. In the [H.]ijáz their spiritual predominance was not seriously +challenged. It was otherwise in Yemen. We may leave out of account the +legend according to which Judaism was introduced into that country from +the [H.]ijáz by the Tubba` As`ad Kámil. What is certain is that towards +the beginning of the sixth century it was firmly planted there side by +side with Christianity, and that in the person of the [H.]imyarite +monarch Dhú Nuwás, who adopted the Jewish faith, it won a short-lived +but sanguinary triumph over its rival. But in Yemen, except among the +highlanders of Najrán, Christianity does not appear to have flourished +as it did in the extreme north and north-east, where the Roman and +Persian frontiers were guarded by the Arab levies of Ghassán and +[H.]íra. We have seen that the latter city contained a large Christian +population who were called distinctively `Ibád, _i.e._, Servants (of +God). Through them the Aramaic culture of Babylonia was transmitted to +all parts of the peninsula. They had learned the art of writing long +before it was generally practised in Arabia, as is shown by the story of +[T.]arafa and Mutalammis, and they produced the oldest _written_ poetry +in the Arabic language--a poetry very different in character from that +which forms the main subject of this chapter. Unfortunately the bulk of +it has perished, since the rhapsodists, to whom we owe the preservation +of so much Pre-islamic verse, were devoted to the traditional models and +would not burden their memories with anything new-fashioned. The most +famous of the `Ibádí poets is `Adí b. Zayd, whose adventurous career as +a politician has been sketched above. He is not reckoned by +Mu[h.]ammadan critics among the _Fu[h.]úl_ or poets of the first rank, +because he was a townsman (_qarawí_). In this connection the following +anecdote is instructive. The poet al-`Ajjáj (+ about 709 A.D.) said of +his contemporaries al-[T.]irimmá[h.] and al-Kumayt: "They used to ask me +concerning rare expressions in the language of poetry, and I informed +them, but afterwards I found the same expressions wrongly applied in +their poems, the reason being that they were townsmen who described what +they had not seen and misapplied it, whereas I who am a Bedouin describe +what I have seen and apply it properly."[267] `Adí is chiefly remembered +for his wine-songs. Oriental Christianity has always been associated +with the drinking and selling of wine. Christian ideas were carried into +the heart of Arabia by `Ibádí wine merchants, who are said to have +taught their religion to the celebrated A`shá. `Adí drank and was merry +like the rest, but the underlying thought, 'for to-morrow we die,' +repeatedly makes itself heard. He walks beside a cemetery, and the +voices of the dead call to him--[268] + + "Thou who seest us unto thyself shalt say, + 'Soon upon me comes the season of decay.' + Can the solid mountains evermore sustain + Time's vicissitudes and all they bring in train? + Many a traveller lighted near us and abode, + Quaffing wine wherein the purest water flowed-- + Strainers on each flagon's mouth to clear the wine, + Noble steeds that paw the earth in trappings fine! + For a while they lived in lap of luxury, + Fearing no misfortune, dallying lazily. + Then, behold, Time swept them all, like chaff, away: + Thus it is men fall to whirling Time a prey. + Thus it is Time keeps the bravest and the best + Night and day still plunged in Pleasure's fatal quest." + +It is said that the recitation of these verses induced Nu`mán al-Akbar, +one of the mythical pagan kings of [H.]íra, to accept Christianity and +become an anchorite. Although the story involves an absurd anachronism, +it is _ben trovato_ in so far as it records the impression which the +graver sort of Christian poetry was likely to make on heathen minds. + +[Sidenote: Pre-Islamic poetry not exclusively pagan in sentiment.] + +The courts of [H.]íra and Ghassán were well known to the wandering +minstrels of the time before Mu[h.]ammad, who flocked thither in eager +search of patronage and remuneration. We may be sure that men like +Nábigha, Labíd, and A`shá did not remain unaffected by the culture +around them, even if it seldom entered very deeply into their lives. +That considerable traces of religious feeling are to be found in +Pre-islamic poetry admits of no denial, but the passages in question +were formerly explained as due to interpolation. This view no longer +prevails. Thanks mainly to the arguments of Von Kremer, Sir Charles +Lyall, and Wellhausen, it has come to be recognised (1) that in many +cases the above-mentioned religious feeling is not Islamic in tone; (2) +that the passages in which it occurs are not of Islamic origin; and (3) +that it is the natural and necessary result of the widely spread, though +on the whole superficial, influence of Judaism, and especially of +Christianity.[269] It shows itself not only in frequent allusions, +_e.g._, to the monk in his solitary cell, whose lamp serves to light +belated travellers on their way, and in more significant references, +such as that of Zuhayr already quoted, to the Heavenly Book in which +evil actions are enscrolled for the Day of Reckoning, but also in the +tendency to moralise, to look within, to meditate on death, and to value +the life of the individual rather than the continued existence of the +family. These things are not characteristic of old Arabian poetry, but +the fact that they do appear at times is quite in accord with the other +facts which have been stated, and justifies the conclusion that during +the sixth century religion and culture were imperceptibly extending +their sphere of influence in Arabia, leavening the pagan masses, and +gradually preparing the way for Islam. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN + + +With the appearance of Mu[h.]ammad the almost impenetrable veil thrown +over the preceding age is suddenly lifted and we find ourselves on the +solid ground of historical tradition. In order that the reasons for this +change may be understood, it is necessary to give some account of the +principal sources from which our knowledge of the Prophet's life and +teaching is derived. + +[Sidenote: Sources of information: I. The Koran.] + +[Sidenote: How it was preserved.] + +[Sidenote: Value of the Koran as an authority.] + +There is first, of course, the Koran,[270] consisting "exclusively of +the revelations or commands which Mu[h.]ammad professed, from time to +time, to receive through Gabriel as a message direct from God; and +which, under an alleged Divine direction, he delivered to those about +him. At the time of pretended inspiration, or shortly after, each +passage was recited by Mu[h.]ammad before the Companions or followers +who happened to be present, and was generally committed to writing by +some one amongst them upon palm-leaves, leather, stones, or such other +rude material as conveniently came to hand. These Divine messages +continued throughout the three-and-twenty years of his prophetical life, +so that the last portion did not appear till the year of his death. The +canon was then closed; but the contents were never, during the Prophet's +lifetime, systematically arranged, or even collected together."[271] +They were preserved, however, in fragmentary copies and, especially, by +oral recitation until the sanguinary wars which followed Mu[h.]ammad's +death had greatly diminished the number of those who could repeat them +by heart. Accordingly, after the battle of Yamáma (633 A.D.) `Umar b. +al-Kha[t.][t.]áb came to Abú Bakr, who was then Caliph, and said: "I +fear that slaughter may wax hot among the Reciters on other +battle-fields, and that much of the Koran may be lost; so in my opinion +it should be collected without delay." Abú Bakr agreed, and entrusted +the task to Zayd b. Thábit, one of the Prophet's amanuenses, who +collected the fragments with great difficulty "from bits of parchment, +thin white stones, leafless palm-branches, and the bosoms of men." The +manuscript thus compiled was deposited with Abú Bakr during the +remainder of his life, then with `Umar, on whose death it passed to his +daughter [H.]af[s.]a. Afterwards, in the Caliphate of `Uthmán, +[H.]udhayfa b. al-Yamán, observing that the Koran as read in Syria was +seriously at variance with the text current in `Iráq, warned the Caliph +to interfere, lest the Sacred Book of the Moslems should become a +subject of dispute, like the Jewish and Christian scriptures. In the +year 651 A.D. `Uthmán ordered Zayd b. Thábit to prepare a Revised +Version with the assistance of three Qurayshites, saying to the latter, +"If ye differ from Zayd regarding any word of the Koran, write it in the +dialect of Quraysh; for it was revealed in their dialect."[272] This has +ever since remained the final and standard recension of the Koran. +"Transcripts were multiplied and forwarded to the chief cities in the +empire, and all previously existing copies were, by the Caliph's +command, committed to the flames."[273] In the text as it has come down +to us the various readings are few and unimportant, and its genuineness +is above suspicion. We shall see, moreover, that the Koran is an +exceedingly human document, reflecting every phase of Mu[h.]ammad's +personality and standing in close relation to the outward events of his +life, so that here we have materials of unique and incontestable +authority for tracing the origin and early development of Islam--such +materials as do not exist in the case of Buddhism or Christianity or any +other ancient religion. Unfortunately the arrangement of the Koran can +only be described as chaotic. No chronological sequence is observed in +the order of the Súras (chapters), which is determined simply by their +length, the longest being placed first.[274] Again, the chapters +themselves are sometimes made up of disconnected fragments having +nothing in common except the rhyme; whence it is often impossible to +discover the original context of the words actually spoken by the +Prophet, the occasion on which they were revealed, or the period to +which they belong. In these circumstances the Koran must be supplemented +by reference to our second main source of information, namely, +Tradition. + +[Sidenote: 2. Tradition ([H.]adíth).] + +[Sidenote: Biographies of Mu[h.]ammad.] + +[Sidenote: General collections.] + +[Sidenote: Commentaries on the Koran.] + +Already in the last years of Mu[h.]ammad's life (writes Dr. Sprenger) it +was a pious custom that when two Moslems met, one should ask for news +(_[h.]adíth_) and the other should relate a saying or anecdote of the +Prophet. After his death this custom continued, and the name _[H.]adíth_ +was still applied to sayings and stories which were no longer new.[275] +In the course of time an elaborate system of Tradition was built up, as +the Koran--originally the sole criterion by which Moslems were guided +alike in the greatest and smallest matters of public and private +interest--was found insufficient for the complicated needs of a rapidly +extending empire. Appeal was made to the sayings and practice (_sunna_) +of Mu[h.]ammad, which now acquired "the force of law and some of the +authority of inspiration." The Prophet had no Boswell, but almost as +soon as he began to preach he was a marked man whose _obiter dicta_ +could not fail to be treasured by his Companions, and whose actions were +attentively watched. Thus, during the first century of Islam there was a +multitude of living witnesses from whom traditions were collected, +committed to memory, and orally handed down. Every tradition consists of +two parts: the text (_matn_) and the authority (_sanad_, or _isnád_), +_e.g._, the relater says, "I was told by _A_, who was informed by _B_, +who had it from _C_, that the Prophet (God bless him!) and Abú Bakr and +`Umar used to open prayer with the words 'Praise to God, the Lord of all +creatures.'" Written records and compilations were comparatively rare in +the early period. Ibn Is[h.]áq (+ 768 A.D.) composed the oldest extant +Biography of the Prophet, which we do not possess, however, in its +original shape but only in the recension of Ibn Hishám (+ 833 A.D.). Two +important and excellent works of the same kind are the _Kitábu +´l-Maghází_ ('Book of the Wars') by Wáqidí (+ 822 A.D.) and the _Kitábu +´l-[T.]abaqát al-Kabír_ ('The Great Book of the Classes,' _i.e._, the +different classes of Mu[h.]ammad's Companions and those who came after +them) by Ibn Sa`d (+ 844 A.D.). Of miscellaneous traditions intended to +serve the Faithful as a model and rule of life in every particular, and +arranged in chapters according to the subject-matter, the most ancient +and authoritative collections are those of Bukhárí (+ 870 A.D.) and +Muslim (+ 874 A.D.), both of which bear the same title, viz., +_al-[S.]a[h.]í[h.]_, 'The Genuine.' It only remains to speak of +Commentaries on the Koran. Some passages were explained by Mu[h.]ammad +himself, but the real founder of Koranic Exegesis was `Abdulláh b. +`Abbás, the Prophet's cousin. Although the writings of the early +interpreters have entirely perished, the gist of their researches is +embodied in the great commentary of [T.]abarí (+ 922 A.D.), a man of +encyclopædic learning who absorbed the whole mass of tradition existing +in his time. Subsequent commentaries are largely based on this colossal +work, which has recently been published at Cairo in thirty volumes. That +of Zamakhsharí (+ 1143 A.D.), which is entitled the _Kashsháf_, and that +of Bay[d.]áwí (+ 1286 A.D.) are the best known and most highly esteemed +in the Mu[h.]ammadan East. A work of wider scope is the _Itqán_ of +Suyú[t.]í (+ 1505 A.D.), which takes a general survey of the Koranic +sciences, and may be regarded as an introduction to the critical study +of the Koran. + +[Sidenote: Character of Moslem tradition.] + +While every impartial student will admit the justice of Ibn Qutayba's +claim that no religion has such historical attestations as Islam--_laysa +li-ummatin mina ´l-umami asnádun ka-asnádihim_[276]--he must at the same +time cordially assent to the observation made by another Mu[h.]ammadan: +"In nothing do we see pious men more given to falsehood than in +Tradition" (_lam nara ´l-[s.]áli[h.]ína? fí shayin akdhaba minhum fi +´l-[h.]adíth_).[277] Of this severe judgment the reader will find ample +confirmation in the Second Part of Goldziher's _Muhammedanische +Studien_.[278] During the first century of Islam the forging of +Traditions became a recognised political and religious weapon, of which +all parties availed themselves. Even men of the strictest piety +practised this species of fraud (_tadlís_), and maintained that the end +justified the means. Their point of view is well expressed in the +following words which are supposed to have been spoken by the Prophet: +"You must compare the sayings attributed to me with the Koran; what +agrees therewith is from me, whether I actually said it or no;" and +again, "Whatever good saying has been said, I myself have said it."[279] +As the result of such principles every new doctrine took the form of an +Apostolic _[H.]adíth_; every sect and every system defended itself by an +appeal to the authority of Mu[h.]ammad. We may see how enormous was the +number of false Traditions in circulation from the fact that when +Bukhárí (+ 870 A.D.) drew up his collection entitled 'The Genuine' +(_al-[S.]a[h.]í[h.]_), he limited it to some 7,000, which he picked out +of 600,000. + +The credibility of Tradition, so far as it concerns the life of the +Prophet, cannot be discussed in this place.[280] The oldest and best +biography, that of Ibn Is[h.]áq, undoubtedly contains a great deal of +fabulous matter, but his narrative appears to be honest and fairly +authentic on the whole. + + +[Sidenote: Birth of Mu[h.]ammad.] + +If we accept the traditional chronology, Mu[h.]ammad, son of `Abdulláh +and Ámina, of the tribe of Quraysh, was born at Mecca on the 12th of +Rabí` al-Awwal, in the Year of the Elephant (570-571 A.D.). His descent +from Qu[s.]ayy is shown by the following table:-- + + Qu[s.]ayy. + | + `Abd Manáf. + | + +--------------------+ + | | +`Abd Shams. Háshim. + | | + Umayya. `Abdu ´l-Mu[t.][t.]alib. + | + +-------------------------+ + | | | + `Abbás. `Abdulláh. Abú [T.]álib. + | + MU[H.]AMMAD. + +[Sidenote: His childhood.] + +Shortly after his birth he was handed over to a Bedouin +nurse--[H.]alíma, a woman of the Banú Sa`d--so that until he was five +years old he breathed the pure air and learned to speak the +unadulterated language of the desert. One marvellous event which is said +to have happened to him at this time may perhaps be founded on fact:-- + + [Sidenote: Mu[h.]ammad and the two angels.] + + "He and his foster-brother" (so [H.]alíma relates) "were among the + cattle behind our encampment when my son came running to us and + cried, 'My brother, the Qurayshite! two men clad in white took him + and laid him on his side and cleft his belly; and they were stirring + their hands in it.' When my husband and I went out to him we found + him standing with his face turned pale, and on our asking, 'What + ails thee, child?' he answered, 'Two men wearing white garments came + to me and laid me on my side and cleft my belly and groped for + something, I know not what.' We brought him back to our tent, and my + husband said to me, 'O [H.]alíma, I fear this lad has been smitten + (_u[s.]íba_); so take him home to his family before it becomes + evident.' When we restored him to his mother she said, 'What has + brought thee, nurse? Thou wert so fond of him and anxious that he + should stay with thee.' I said, 'God has made him grow up, and I + have done my part. I feared that some mischance would befall him, so + I brought him back to thee as thou wishest.' 'Thy case is not thus,' + said she; 'tell me the truth,' and she gave me no peace until I told + her. Then she said, 'Art thou afraid that he is possessed by the + Devil?' I said, 'Yes.' 'Nay, by God,' she replied, 'the Devil cannot + reach him; my son hath a high destiny.'"[281] + +Other versions of the story are more explicit. The angels, it is said, +drew forth Mu[h.]ammad's heart, cleansed it, and removed the black +clot--_i.e_., the taint of original sin.[282] If these inventions have +any basis at all beyond the desire to glorify the future Prophet, we +must suppose that they refer to some kind of epileptic fit. At a later +period he was subject to such attacks, which, according to the unanimous +voice of Tradition, often coincided with the revelations sent down from +heaven. + +[Sidenote: His meeting with the monk Ba[h.]írá.] + +`Abdulláh had died before the birth of his son, and when, in his sixth +year, Mu[h.]ammad lost his mother also, the charge of the orphan was +undertaken first by his grandfather, the aged `Abdu ´l-Mu[t.][t.]alib, +and then by his uncle, Abú [T.]álib, a poor but honourable man, who +nobly fulfilled the duties of a guardian to the last hour of his life. +Mu[h.]ammad's small patrimony was soon spent, and he was reduced to +herding sheep--a despised employment which usually fell to the lot of +women or slaves. In his twelfth year he accompanied Abú [T.]álib on a +trading expedition to Syria, in the course of which he is said to have +encountered a Christian monk called Ba[h.]írá, who discovered the Seal +of Prophecy between the boy's shoulders, and hailed him as the promised +apostle. Such anticipations deserve no credit whatever. The truth is +that until Mu[h.]ammad assumed the prophetic rôle he was merely an +obscure Qurayshite; and scarcely anything related of him anterior to +that event can be deemed historical except his marriage to Khadíja, an +elderly widow of considerable fortune, which took place when he was +about twenty-five years of age. + +[Sidenote: The [H.]anífs.] + +During the next fifteen years of his life Mu[h.]ammad was externally a +prosperous citizen, only distinguished from those around him by an +habitual expression of thoughtful melancholy. What was passing in his +mind may be conjectured with some probability from his first utterances +when he came forward as a preacher. It is certain, and he himself has +acknowledged, that he formerly shared the idolatry of his countrymen. +"_Did not He find thee astray and lead thee aright?_" (Kor. xciii, 7). +When and how did the process of conversion begin? These questions cannot +be answered, but it is natural to suppose that the all-important result, +on which Mu[h.]ammad's biographers concentrate their attention, was +preceded by a long period of ferment and immaturity. The idea of +monotheism was represented in Arabia by the Jews, who were particularly +numerous in the [H.]ijáz, and by several gnostic sects of an ascetic +character--_e.g._, the [S.]ábians[283] and the Rakúsians. Furthermore, +"Islamic tradition knows of a number of religious thinkers before +Mu[h.]ammad who are described as [H.]anífs,"[284] and of whom the best +known are Waraqa b. Nawfal of Quraysh; Zayd b. `Amr b. Nufayl, also of +Quraysh; and Umayya b. Abi ´l-[S.]alt of Thaqíf. They formed no sect, as +Sprenger imagined; and more recent research has demonstrated the +baselessness of the same scholar's theory that there was in Pre-islamic +times a widely-spread religious movement which Mu[h.]ammad organised, +directed, and employed for his own ends. His Arabian precursors, if they +may be so called, were merely a few isolated individuals. We are told by +Ibn Is[h.]áq that Waraqa and Zayd, together with two other Qurayshites, +rejected idolatry and left their homes in order to seek the true +religion of Abraham, but whereas Waraqa is said to have become a +Christian, Zayd remained a pious dissenter unattached either to +Christianity or to Judaism; he abstained from idol-worship, from eating +that which had died of itself, from blood, and from the flesh of animals +offered in sacrifice to idols; he condemned the barbarous custom of +burying female infants alive, and said, "I worship the Lord of +Abraham."[285] As regards Umayya b. Abi ´l-[S.]alt, according to the +notice of him in the _Aghání_, he had inspected and read the Holy +Scriptures; he wore sackcloth as a mark of devotion, held wine to be +unlawful, was inclined to disbelieve in idols, and earnestly sought the +true religion. It is said that he hoped to be sent as a prophet to the +Arabs, and therefore when Mu[h.]ammad appeared he envied and bitterly +opposed him.[286] Umayya's verses, some of which have been translated in +a former chapter,[287] are chiefly on religious topics, and show many +points of resemblance with the doctrines set forth in the early Súras of +the Koran. With one exception, all the [H.]anífs whose names are +recorded belonged to the [H.]ijáz and the west of the Arabian peninsula. +No doubt Mu[h.]ammad, with whom most of them were contemporary, came +under their influence, and he may have received his first stimulus from +this quarter.[288] While they, however, were concerned only about their +own salvation, Mu[h.]ammad, starting from the same position, advanced +far beyond it. His greatness lies not so much in the sublime ideas by +which he was animated as in the tremendous force and enthusiasm of his +appeal to the universal conscience of mankind. + + +[Sidenote: Mu[h.]ammad's vision.] + +In his fortieth year, it is said, Mu[h.]ammad began to dream dreams and +see visions, and desire solitude above all things else. He withdrew to a +cave on Mount [H.]irá, near Mecca, and engaged in religious austerities +(_ta[h.]annuth_). One night in the month of Rama[d.]án[289] the +Angel[290] appeared to him and said, "Read!" (_iqra´_). He answered, "I +am no reader" (_má ana bi-qári´in_).[291] Then the Angel seized him with +a strong grasp, saying, "Read!" and, as Mu[h.]ammad still refused to +obey, gripped him once more and spoke as follows:-- + + + THE SÚRA OF COAGULATED BLOOD (XCVI). + + (1) Read in the name of thy Lord[292] who created, + (2) Who created Man of blood coagulated. + (3) Read! Thy Lord is the most beneficent, + (4) Who taught by the Pen,[293] + (5) Taught that which they knew not unto men. + +On hearing these words Mu[h.]ammad returned, trembling, to Khadíja and +cried, "Wrap me up! wrap me up!" and remained covered until the terror +passed away from him.[294] Another tradition relating to the same event +makes it clear that the revelation occurred in a dream.[295] "I awoke," +said the Prophet, "and methought it was written in my heart." If we take +into account the notions prevalent among the Arabs of that time on the +subject of inspiration,[296] it will not appear surprising that +Mu[h.]ammad at first believed himself to be possessed, like a poet or +soothsayer, by one of the spirits called collectively _Jinn_. Such was +his anguish of mind that he even meditated suicide, but Khadíja +comforted and reassured him, and finally he gained the unalterable +conviction that he was not a prey to demoniacal influences, but a +prophet divinely inspired. For some time he received no further +revelation.[297] Then suddenly, as he afterwards related, he saw the +Angel seated on a throne between earth and heaven. Awe-stricken, he ran +into his house and bade them wrap his limbs in a warm garment +(_dithár_). While he lay thus the following verses were revealed:-- + + + THE SÚRA OF THE ENWRAPPED (LXXIV). + + (1) O thou who enwrapped dost lie! + (2) Arise and prophesy,[298] + (3) And thy Lord magnify, + (4) And thy raiment purify, + (5) And the abomination fly![299] + +Mu[h.]ammad no longer doubted that he had a divinely ordained mission to +preach in public. His feelings of relief and thankfulness are expressed +in several Súras of this period, _e.g._-- + + + THE SÚRA OF THE MORNING (XCIII). + + (1) By the Morning bright + (2) And the softly falling Night, + (3) Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee, neither art thou hateful in + His sight. + (4) Verily, the Beginning is hard unto thee, but the End shall be + light.[300] + (5) Thou shalt be satisfied, the Lord shall thee requite. + (6) Did not He shelter thee when He found thee in orphan's plight? + (7) Did not He find thee astray and lead thee aright? + (8) Did not He find thee poor and make thee rich by His might? + (9) Wherefore, the orphan betray not, + (10) And the beggar turn away not, + (11) And tell of the bounty of thy Lord. + +[Sidenote: The first Moslems.] + +[Sidenote: Hostility of the Quraysh.] + +[Sidenote: Emigration to Abyssinia.] + +[Sidenote: Temporary reconciliation with the Quraysh.] + +According to his biographers, an interval of three years elapsed between +the sending of Mu[h.]ammad and his appearance as a public preacher of +the faith that was in him. Naturally, he would first turn to his own +family and friends, but it is difficult to accept the statement that he +made no proselytes openly during so long a period. The contrary is +asserted in an ancient tradition related by al-Zuhrí (+ 742 A.D.), where +we read that the Prophet summoned the people to embrace Islam[301] both +in private and public; and that those who responded to his appeal were, +for the most part, young men belonging to the poorer class.[302] He +found, however, some influential adherents. Besides Khadíja, who was the +first to believe, there were his cousin `Alí, his adopted son, Zayd b. +[H.]áritha, and, most important of all, Abú Bakr b. Abí Quháfa, a +leading merchant of the Quraysh, universally respected and beloved for +his integrity, wisdom, and kindly disposition. At the outset Mu[h.]ammad +seems to have avoided everything calculated to offend the heathens, +confining himself to moral and religious generalities, so that many +believed, and the Meccan aristocrats themselves regarded him with +good-humoured toleration as a harmless oracle-monger. "Look!" they said +as he passed by, "there goes the man of the Banú `Abd al-Mu[t.][t.]alib +who tells of heaven." But no sooner did he begin to emphasise the Unity +of God, to fulminate against idolatry, and to preach the Resurrection of +the dead, than his followers melted away in face of the bitter +antagonism which these doctrines excited amongst the Quraysh, who saw in +the Ka`ba and its venerable cult the mainspring of their commercial +prosperity, and were irritated by the Prophet's declaration that their +ancestors were burning in hell-fire. The authority of Abú [T.]álib +secured the personal safety of Mu[h.]ammad; of the little band who +remained faithful some were protected by the strong family feeling +characteristic of old Arabian society, but many were poor and +friendless; and these, especially the slaves, whom the levelling ideas +of Islam had attracted in large numbers, were subjected to cruel +persecution.[303] Nevertheless Mu[h.]ammad continued to preach. "I will +not forsake this cause" (thus he is said to have answered Abú [T.]álib, +who informed him of the threatening attitude of the Quraysh and begged +him not to lay on him a greater burden than he could bear) "until God +shall make it prevail or until I shall perish therein--not though they +should set the sun on my right hand and the moon on my left!"[304] But +progress was slow and painful: the Meccans stood obstinately aloof, +deriding both his prophetic authority and the Divine chastisement with +which he sought to terrify them. Moreover, they used every kind of +pressure short of actual violence in order to seduce his followers, so +that many recanted, and in the fifth year of his mission he saw himself +driven to the necessity of commanding a general emigration to the +Christian kingdom of Abyssinia, where the Moslems would be received with +open arms[305] and would be withdrawn from temptation.[306] About a +hundred men and women went into exile, leaving their Prophet with a +small party of staunch and devoted comrades to persevere in a struggle +that was daily becoming more difficult. In a moment of weakness +Mu[h.]ammad resolved to attempt a compromise with his countrymen. One +day, it is said, the chief men of Mecca, assembled in a group beside the +Ka`ba, discussed as was their wont the affairs of the city, when +Mu[h.]ammad appeared and, seating himself by them in a friendly manner, +began to recite in their hearing the 53rd Súra of the Koran. When he +came to the verses (19-20)-- + + "Do ye see Al-Lát and Al-`Uzzá, and Manát, the third and last?" + +Satan prompted him to add:-- + + "These are the most exalted Cranes (or Swans), + And verily their intercession is to be hoped for." + +The Quraysh were surprised and delighted with this acknowledgment of +their deities; and as Mu[h.]ammad wound up the Súra with the closing +words-- + + "Wherefore bow down before God and serve Him," + +the whole assembly prostrated themselves with one accord on the ground +and worshipped.[307] But scarcely had Mu[h.]ammad returned to his house +when he repented of the sin into which he had fallen. He cancelled the +idolatrous verses and revealed in their place those which now stand in +the Koran-- + + "Shall yours be the male and his the female?[308] + This were then an unjust division! + They are naught but names which ye and your fathers have named." + +[Sidenote: Mu[h.]ammad's concession to the idolaters.] + +We can easily comprehend why Ibn Hishám omits all mention of this +episode from his Biography, and why the fact itself is denied by many +Moslem theologians.[309] The Prophet's friends were scandalised, his +enemies laughed him to scorn. It was probably no sudden lapse, as +tradition represents, but a calculated endeavour to come to terms with +the Quraysh; and so far from being immediately annulled, the +reconciliation seems to have lasted long enough for the news of it to +reach the emigrants in Abyssinia and induce some of them to return to +Mecca. While putting the best face on the matter, Mu[h.]ammad felt +keenly both his own disgrace and the public discredit. It speaks well +for his sincerity that, as soon as he perceived any compromise with +idolatry to be impossible--to be, in fact, a surrender of the great +principle by which he was inspired--he frankly confessed his error and +delusion. Henceforth he "wages mortal strife with images in every +shape"--there is no god but Allah. + +[Sidenote: Death of Khadíja and Abú [T.]álib.] + +The further course of events which culminated in Mu[h.]ammad's Flight to +Medína may be sketched in a few words. Persecution now waxed hotter than +ever, as the Prophet, rising from his temporary vacillation like a giant +refreshed, threw his whole force into the denunciation of idolatry. The +conversion of `Umar b. al-Kha[t.][t.]áb, the future Caliph, a man of +'blood and iron,' gave the signal for open revolt. "The Moslems no +longer concealed their worship within their own dwellings, but with +conscious strength and defiant attitude assembled in companies about the +Ka`ba, performed their rites of prayer and compassed the Holy House. +Their courage rose. Dread and uneasiness seized the Quraysh." The latter +retaliated by cutting off all relations with the Háshimites, who were +pledged to defend their kinsman, whether they recognised him as a +prophet or no. This ban or boycott secluded them in an outlying quarter +of the city, where for more than two years they endured the utmost +privations, but it only cemented their loyalty to Mu[h.]ammad, and +ultimately dissensions among the Quraysh themselves caused it to be +removed. Shortly afterwards the Prophet suffered a double +bereavement--the death of his wife, Khadíja, was followed by that of the +noble Abú [T.]álib, who, though he never accepted Islam, stood firm to +the last in defence of his brother's son. Left alone to protect himself, +Mu[h.]ammad realised that he must take some decisive step. The situation +was critical. Events had shown that he had nothing to hope and +everything to fear from the Meccan aristocracy. He had warned them again +and again of the wrath to come, yet they gave no heed. He was now +convinced that they would not and could not believe, since God in His +inscrutable wisdom had predestined them to eternal damnation. +Consequently he resolved on a bold and, according to Arab ways of +thinking, abominable expedient, namely, to abandon his fellow-tribesmen +and seek aid from strangers.[310] Having vainly appealed to the +inhabitants of [T.]á´if, he turned to Medína, where, among a population +largely composed of Jews, the revolutionary ideas of Islam might more +readily take root and flourish than in the Holy City of Arabian +heathendom. This time he was not disappointed. A strong party in Medína +hailed him as the true Prophet, eagerly embraced his creed, and swore to +defend him at all hazards. In the spring of the year 622 A.D. the +Moslems of Mecca quietly left their homes and journeyed northward. A few +months later (September, 622) Mu[h.]ammad himself, eluding the vigilance +of the Quraysh, entered Medína in triumph amidst the crowds and +acclamations due to a conqueror. + +[Sidenote: The _Hijra_ or Migration to Medina (622 A.D.).] + +This is the celebrated Migration or Hegira (properly _Hijra_) which +marks the end of the Barbaric Age (_al-Jáhiliyya_) and the beginning of +the Mu[h.]ammadan Era. It also marks a new epoch in the Prophet's +history; but before attempting to indicate the nature of the change it +will be convenient, in order that we may form a juster conception of his +character, to give some account of his early teaching and preaching as +set forth in that portion of the Koran which was revealed at Mecca. + +[Sidenote: The Koran.] + +[Sidenote: Was Mu[h.]ammad poet?] + +Koran (Qur´án) is derived from the Arabic root _qara´a_, 'to read,' and +means 'reading aloud' or 'chanting.' This term may be applied either to +a single Revelation or to several recited together or, in its usual +acceptation, to the whole body of Revelations which are thought by +Moslems to be, actually and literally, the Word of God; so that in +quoting from the Koran they say _qála ´lláhu_, _i.e._, 'God said.' Each +Revelation forms a separate _Súra_ (chapter)[311] composed of verses of +varying length which have no metre but are generally rhymed. Thus, as +regards its external features, the style of the Koran is modelled upon +the _Saj`_,[312] or rhymed prose, of the pagan soothsayers, but with +such freedom that it may fairly be described as original. Since it was +not in Mu[h.]ammad's power to create a form that should be absolutely +new, his choice lay between _Saj`_ and poetry, the only forms of +elevated style then known to the Arabs. He himself declared that he was +no poet,[313] and this is true in the sense that he may have lacked the +technical accomplishment of verse-making. It must, however, be borne in +mind that his disavowal does not refer primarily to the poetic art, but +rather to the person and character of the poets themselves. He, the +divinely inspired Prophet, could have nothing to do with men who owed +their inspiration to demons and gloried in the ideals of paganism which +he was striving to overthrow. "_And the poets do those follow who go +astray! Dost thou not see that they wander distraught in every vale? and +that they say that which they do not?_" (Kor. xxvi, 224-226). +Mu[h.]ammad was not of these; although he was not so unlike them as he +pretended. His kinship with the pagan _Shá`ir_ is clearly shown, for +example, in the 113th and 114th Súras, which are charms against magic +and _diablerie_, as well as in the solemn imprecation calling down +destruction upon the head of his uncle, `Abdu ´l-`Uzzá, nicknamed Abú +Lahab (Father of Flame). + + + THE SÚRA OF ABÚ LAHAB (CXI). + + (1) Perish the hands of Abú Lahab and perish he! + (2) His wealth shall not avail him nor all he hath gotten in fee. + (3) Burned in blazing fire he shall be! + (4) And his wife, the faggot-bearer, also she. + (5) Upon her neck a cord of fibres of the palm-tree. + +If, then, we must allow that Mu[h.]ammad's contemporaries had some +justification for bestowing upon him the title of poet against which he +protested so vehemently, still less can his plea be accepted by the +modern critic, whose verdict will be that the Koran is not poetical as a +whole; that it contains many pages of rhetoric and much undeniable +prose; but that, although Mu[h.]ammad needed "heaven-sent moments for +this skill," in the early Meccan Súras frequently, and fitfully +elsewhere, his genius proclaims itself by grand lyrical outbursts which +could never have been the work of a mere rhetorician. + + [Sidenote: The Meccan Súras.] + + "Mu[h.]ammad's single aim in the Meccan Súras," says Nöldeke, "is to + convert the people, by means of persuasion, from their false gods to + the One God. To whatever point the discourse is directed, this + always remains the ground-thought; but instead of seeking to + convince the reason of his hearers by logical proofs, he employs the + arts of rhetoric to work upon their minds through the imagination. + Thus he glorifies God, describes His working in Nature and History, + and ridicules on the other hand the impotence of the idols. + Especially important are the descriptions of the everlasting bliss + of the pious and the torments of the wicked: these, particularly the + latter, must be regarded as one of the mightiest factors in the + propagation of Islam, through the impression which they make on the + imagination of simple men who have not been hardened, from their + youth up, by similar theological ideas. The Prophet often attacks + his heathen adversaries personally and threatens them with eternal + punishment; but while he is living among heathens alone, he seldom + assails the Jews who stand much nearer to him, and the Christians + scarcely ever."[314] + +The preposterous arrangement of the Koran, to which I have already +adverted, is mainly responsible for the opinion almost unanimously held +by European readers that it is obscure, tiresome, uninteresting; a +farrago of long-winded narratives and prosaic exhortations, quite +unworthy to be named in the same breath with the Prophetical Books of +the Old Testament. One may, indeed, peruse the greater part of the +volume, beginning with the first chapter, and find but a few passages of +genuine enthusiasm to relieve the prevailing dulness. It is in the short +Súras placed at the end of the Koran that we must look for evidence of +Mu[h.]ammad's prophetic gift. These are the earliest of all; in these +the flame of inspiration burns purely and its natural force is not +abated. The following versions, like those which have preceded, imitate +the original form as closely, I think, as is possible in English. They +cannot, of course, do more than faintly suggest the striking effect of +the sonorous Arabic when read aloud. The Koran was designed for oral +recitation, and it must be _heard_ in order to be justly appraised. + + + THE SÚRA OF THE SEVERING (LXXXII). + + (1) When the Sky shall be severèd, + (2) And when the Stars shall be shiverèd, + (3) And when the Seas to mingle shall be sufferèd, + (4) And when the Graves shall be uncoverèd-- + (5) A soul shall know that which it hath deferred or deliverèd.[315] + (6) O Man, what beguiled thee against thy gracious Master to rebel, + (7) Who created thee and fashioned thee right and thy frame did fairly + build? + (8) He composed thee in whatever form He willed. + (9) Nay, but ye disbelieve in the Ordeal![316] + (10) Verily over you are Recorders honourable, + (11) Your deeds inscribing without fail:[317] + (12) What ye do they know well. + (13) Surely the pious in delight shall dwell, + (14) And surely the wicked shall be in Hell, + (15) Burning there on the Day of Ordeal; + (16) And evermore Hell-fire they shall feel! + (17) What shall make thee to understand what is the Day of Ordeal? + (18) Again, what shall make thee to understand what is the Day + of Ordeal?-- + (19) A Day when one soul shall not obtain anything for another soul, + but the command on that Day shall be with God alone. + + + THE SÚRA OF THE SIGNS (LXXXV). + + (1) By the Heaven in which Signs are set, + (2) By the Day that is promisèd, + (3) By the Witness and the Witnessèd:-- + (4) Cursèd be the Fellows of the Pit, they that spread + (5) The fire with fuel fed, + (6) When they sate by its head + (7) And saw how their contrivance against the Believers sped;[318] + (8) And they punished them not save that they believed on God, + the Almighty, the Glorified, + (9) To whom is the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth, and He + seeth every thing beside. + (10) Verily, for those who afflict believing men and women and + repent not, the torment of Gehenna and the torment of + burning is prepared. + (11) Verily, for those who believe and work righteousness are + Gardens beneath which rivers flow: this is the great + Reward. + (12) Stern is the vengeance of thy Lord. + (13) He createth the living and reviveth the dead: + (14) He doth pardon and kindly entreat: + (15) The majestic Throne is His seat: + (16) That he willeth He doeth indeed. + (17) Hath not word come to thee of the multitude + (18) Of Pharaoh, and of Thamúd?[319] + (19) Nay, the infidels cease not from falsehood, + (20) But God encompasseth them about. + (21) Surely, it is a Sublime Koran that ye read, + (22) On a Table inviolate.[320] + + + THE SÚRA OF THE SMITING (CI). + + (1) The Smiting! What is the Smiting? + (2) And how shalt thou be made to understand what is the Smiting? + (3) The Day when Men shall be as flies scatterèd, + (4) And the Mountains shall be as shreds of wool tatterèd. + (5) One whose Scales are heavy, a pleasing life he shall spend, + (6) But one whose Scales are light, to the Abyss he shall descend. + (7) What that is, how shalt thou be made to comprehend? + (8) Scorching Fire without end! + + + THE SÚRA OF THE UNBELIEVERS (CIX). + + (1) Say: 'O Unbelievers, + (2) I worship not that which ye worship, + (3) And ye worship not that which I worship. + (4) Neither will I worship that which ye worship, + (5) Nor will ye worship that which I worship. + (6) Ye have your religion and I have my religion.' + +[Sidenote: The teaching of Mu[h.]ammad at Mecca.] + +To summarise the cardinal doctrines preached by Mu[h.]ammad during the +Meccan period:-- + +1. There is no god but God. + +2. Mu[h.]ammad is the Apostle of God, and the Koran is the Word of God +revealed to His Apostle. + +3. The dead shall be raised to life at the Last Judgment, when every one +shall be judged by his actions in the present life. + +4. The pious shall enter Paradise and the wicked shall go down to Hell. + +Taking these doctrines separately, let us consider a little more in +detail how each of them is stated and by what arguments it is enforced. +The time had not yet come for drawing the sword: Mu[h.]ammad repeats +again and again that he is only a warner (_nadhír_) invested with no +authority to compel where he cannot persuade. + +[Sidenote: The Unity of God.] + +1. The Meccans acknowledged the supreme position of Allah, but in +ordinary circumstances neglected him in favour of their idols, so that, +as Mu[h.]ammad complains, "_When danger befalls you on the sea, the gods +whom ye invoke are forgotten except Him alone; yet when He brought you +safe to land, ye turned your backs on Him, for Man is ungrateful._"[321] +They were strongly attached to the cult of the Ka`ba, not only by +self-interest, but also by the more respectable motives of piety towards +their ancestors and pride in their traditions. Mu[h.]ammad himself +regarded Allah as Lord of the Ka`ba, and called upon the Quraysh to +worship him as such (Kor. cvi, 3). When they refused to do so on the +ground that they were afraid lest the Arabs should rise against them and +drive them forth from the land, he assured them that Allah was the +author of all their prosperity (Kor. xxviii, 57). His main argument, +however, is drawn from the weakness of the idols, which cannot create +even a fly, contrasted with the wondrous manifestations of Divine power +and providence in the creation of the heavens and the earth and all +living things.[322] + +It was probably towards the close of the Meccan period that Mu[h.]ammad +summarised his Unitarian ideas in the following emphatic formula:-- + + + THE SÚRA OF PURIFICATION (CXII).[323] + + (1) Say: 'God is One; + (2) God who liveth on; + (3) Without father and without son; + (4) And like to Him there is none!' + +[Sidenote: Mu[h.]ammad, the Apostle of God.] + +2. We have seen that when Mu[h.]ammad first appeared as a prophet he was +thought by all except a very few to be _majnún_, _i.e._, possessed by a +_jinní_, or genie, if I may use a word which will send the reader back +to his _Arabian Nights_. The heathen Arabs regarded such +persons--soothsayers, diviners, and poets--with a certain respect; and +if Mu[h.]ammad's 'madness' had taken a normal course, his claim to +inspiration would have passed unchallenged. What moved the Quraysh to +oppose him was not disbelief in his inspiration--it mattered little to +them whether he was under the spell of Allah or one of the _Jinn_--but +the fact that he preached doctrines which wounded their sentiments, +threatened their institutions, and subverted the most cherished +traditions of old Arabian life. But in order successfully to resist the +propaganda for which he alleged a Divine warrant, they were obliged to +meet him on his own ground and to maintain that he was no prophet at +all, no Apostle of Allah, as he asserted, but "an insolent liar," "a +schooled madman," "an infatuated poet," and so forth; and that his +Koran, which he gave out to be the Word of Allah, was merely "old folks' +tales" (_asá[t.]íru ´l-awwalín_), or the invention of a poet or a +sorcerer. "Is not he," they cried, "a man like ourselves, who wishes to +domineer over us? Let him show us a miracle, that we may believe." +Mu[h.]ammad could only reiterate his former assertions and warn the +infidels that a terrible punishment was in store for them either in this +world or the next. Time after time he compares himself to the ancient +prophets--Noah, Abraham, Moses, and their successors--who are +represented as employing exactly the same arguments and receiving the +same answers as Mu[h.]ammad; and bids his people hearken to him lest +they utterly perish like the ungodly before them. The truth of the Koran +is proved, he says, by the Pentateuch and the Gospel, all being +Revelations of the One God, and therefore identical in substance. He is +no mercenary soothsayer, he seeks no personal advantage: his mission is +solely to preach. The demand for a miracle he could not satisfy except +by pointing to his visions of the Angel and especially to the Koran +itself, every verse of which was a distinct sign or miracle +(_áyat_).[324] If he has forged it, why are his adversaries unable to +produce anything similar? "_Say: 'If men and genies united to bring the +like of this Koran, they could not bring the like although they should +back each other up'_" (Kor. xvii, 90). + +[Sidenote: Resurrection and Retribution.] + +3. Such notions of a future life as were current in Pre-islamic Arabia +never rose beyond vague and barbarous superstition, _e.g._, the fancy +that the dead man's tomb was haunted by his spirit in the shape of a +screeching owl.[325] No wonder, then, that the ideas of Resurrection and +Retribution, which are enforced by threats and arguments on almost every +page of the Koran, appeared to the Meccan idolaters absurdly ridiculous +and incredible. "_Does Ibn Kabsha promise us that we shall live?_" said +one of their poets. "_How can there be life for the [s.]adá and the +háma? Dost thou omit to ward me from death, and wilt thou revive me when +my bones are rotten?_"[326] God provided His Apostle with a ready answer +to these gibes: "_Say: 'He shall revive them who produced them at first, +for He knoweth every creation_" (Kor. xxxvi, 79). This topic is +eloquently illustrated, but Mu[h.]ammad's hearers were probably less +impressed by the creative power of God as exhibited in Nature and in Man +than by the awful examples, to which reference has been made, of His +destructive power as manifested in History. To Mu[h.]ammad himself, at +the outset of his mission, it seemed an appalling certainty that he must +one day stand before God and render an account; the overmastering sense +of his own responsibility goaded him to preach in the hope of saving his +countrymen, and supplied him, weak and timorous as he was, with strength +to endure calumny and persecution. As Nöldeke has remarked, the grandest +Súras of the whole Koran are those in which Mu[h.]ammad describes how +all Nature trembles and quakes at the approach of the Last Judgment. "It +is as though one actually saw the earth heaving, the mountains crumbling +to dust, and the stars hurled hither and thither in wild +confusion."[327] Súras lxxxii and ci, which have been translated above, +are specimens of the true prophetic style.[328] + +[Sidenote: The Mu[h.]ammadan Paradise.] + +4. There is nothing spiritual in Mu[h.]ammad's pictures of Heaven and +Hell. His Paradise is simply a glorified pleasure-garden, where the +pious repose in cool shades, quaffing spicy wine and diverting +themselves with the Houris (_[H.]úr_), lovely dark-eyed damsels like +pearls hidden in their shells.[329] This was admirably calculated to +allure his hearers by reminding them of one of their chief +enjoyments--the gay drinking parties which occasionally broke the +monotony of Arabian life, and which are often described in Pre-islamic +poetry; indeed, it is highly probable that Mu[h.]ammad drew a good deal +of his Paradise from this source. The gross and sensual character of the +Mu[h.]ammadan Afterworld is commonly thought to betray a particular +weakness of the Prophet or is charged to the Arabs in general, but as +Professor Bevan has pointed out, "the real explanation seems to be that +at first the idea of a future retribution was absolutely new both to +Mu[h.]ammad himself and to the public which he addressed. Paradise and +Hell had no traditional associations, and the Arabic language furnished +no religious terminology for the expression of such ideas; if they were +to be made comprehensible at all, it could only be done by means of +precise descriptions, of imagery borrowed from earthly affairs."[330] + +[Sidenote: Prayer.] + +Mu[h.]ammad was no mere visionary. Ritual observances, vigils, and other +austerities entered largely into his religion, endowing it with the +formal and ascetic character which it retains to the present day. Prayer +was introduced soon after the first Revelations: in one of the oldest +(Súra lxxxvii, 14-15) we read, "_Prosperous is he who purifies himself +(or gives alms) and repeats the name of his Lord and prays._" Although +the five daily prayers obligatory upon every true believer are nowhere +mentioned in the Koran, the opening chapter (_Súratu ´l-Fáti[h.]a_), +which answers to our Lord's Prayer, is constantly recited on these +occasions, and is seldom omitted from any act of public or private +devotion. Since the _Fáti[h.]a_ probably belongs to the latest Meccan +period, it may find a place here. + + + THE OPENING SÚRA (I). + + (1) In the name of God, the Merciful, who forgiveth aye! + (2) Praise to God, the Lord of all that be, + (3) The Merciful, who forgiveth aye, + (4) The King of Judgment Day! + (5) Thee we worship and for Thine aid we pray. + (6) Lead us in the right way, + (7) The way of those to whom thou hast been gracious, against + whom thou hast not waxed wroth, and who go not + astray! + +[Sidenote: The Night journey and Ascension of Mu[h.]ammad.] + +About the same time, shortly before the Migration, Mu[h.]ammad dreamed +that he was transported from the Ka`ba to the Temple at Jerusalem, and +thence up to the seventh heaven. The former part of the vision is +indicated in the Koran (xvii, 1): "_Glory to him who took His servant a +journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, the +precinct whereof we have blessed, to show him of our signs!_" Tradition +has wondrously embellished the _Mi`ráj_, by which name the Ascension of +the Prophet is generally known throughout the East; while in Persia and +Turkey it has long been a favourite theme for the mystic and the poet. +According to the popular belief, which is also held by the majority of +Moslem divines, Mu[h.]ammad was transported in the body to his journey's +end, but he himself never countenanced this literal interpretation, +though it seems to have been current in Mecca, and we are told that it +caused some of his incredulous followers to abandon their faith. + +[Sidenote: Mu[h.]ammad at Medína.] + +Possessed and inspired by the highest idea of which man is capable, +fearlessly preaching the truth revealed to him, leading almost alone +what long seemed to be a forlorn hope against the impregnable stronghold +of superstition, yet facing these tremendous odds with a calm resolution +which yielded nothing to ridicule or danger, but defied his enemies to +do their worst--Mu[h.]ammad in the early part of his career presents a +spectacle of grandeur which cannot fail to win our sympathy and +admiration. At Medína, whither we must now return, he appears in a less +favourable light: the days of pure religious enthusiasm have passed away +for ever, and the Prophet is overshadowed by the Statesman. The +Migration was undoubtedly essential to the establishment of Islam. It +was necessary that Mu[h.]ammad should cut himself off from his own +people in order that he might found a community in which not blood but +religion formed the sole bond that was recognised. This task he +accomplished with consummate sagacity and skill, though some of the +methods which he employed can only be excused by his conviction that +whatever he did was done in the name of Allah. As the supreme head of +the Moslem theocracy both in spiritual and temporal matters--for Islam +allows no distinction between Church and State--he exercised absolute +authority, and he did not hesitate to justify by Divine mandate acts of +which the heathen Arabs, cruel and treacherous as they were, might have +been ashamed to be guilty. We need not inquire how much was due to +belief in his inspiration and how much to deliberate policy. If it +revolts us to see God Almighty introduced in the rôle of special +pleader, we ought to remember that Mu[h.]ammad, being what he was, could +scarcely have considered the question from that point of view. + +[Sidenote: Medína predisposed to welcome Mu[h.]ammad as Legislator and +Prophet.] + +The conditions prevailing at Medína were singularly adapted to his +design. Ever since the famous battle of Bu`áth (about 615 A.D.), in +which the Banú Aws, with the help of their Jewish allies, the Banú +Quray[z.]a and the Banú Na[d.]ír, inflicted a crushing defeat upon the +Banú Khazraj, the city had been divided into two hostile camps; and if +peace had hitherto been preserved, it was only because both factions +were too exhausted to renew the struggle. Wearied and distracted by +earthly calamities, men's minds willingly admit the consolations of +religion. We find examples of this tendency at Medína even before the +Migration. Abú `Ámir, whose ascetic life gained for him the title of +'The Monk' (_al-Ráhib_), is numbered among the _[H.]anífs_.[331] He +fought in the ranks of the Quraysh at U[h.]ud, and finally went to +Syria, where he died an outlaw. Another Pre-islamic monotheist of +Medína, Abú Qays b. Abí Anas, is said to have turned Moslem in his old +age.[332] + + "The inhabitants of Medína had no material interest in idol-worship + and no sanctuary to guard. Through uninterrupted contact with the + Jews of the city and neighbourhood, as also with the Christian + tribes settled in the extreme north of Arabia on the confines of the + Byzantine Empire, they had learned, as it were instinctively, to + despise their inherited belief in idols and to respect the far + nobler and purer faith in a single God; and lastly, they had become + accustomed to the idea of a Divine revelation by means of a special + scripture of supernatural origin, like the Pentateuch and the + Gospel. From a religious standpoint paganism in Medína offered no + resistance to Islam: as a faith, it was dead before it was attacked; + none defended it, none mourned its disappearance. The pagan + opposition to Mu[h.]ammad's work as a reformer was entirely + political, and proceeded from those who wished to preserve the + anarchy of the old heathen life, and who disliked the dictatorial + rule of Mu[h.]ammad."[333] + +[Sidenote: Parties in Medína.] + +There were in Medína four principal parties, consisting of those who +either warmly supported or actively opposed the Prophet, or who adopted +a relatively neutral attitude, viz., the Emigrants (_Muhájirún_), the +Helpers (_An[s.]ár_), the Hypocrites (_Munáfiqún_), and the Jews +(_Yahúd_). + +[Sidenote: The Emigrants.] + +The Emigrants were those Moslems who left their homes at Mecca and +accompanied the Prophet in his Migration (_Hijra_)--whence their name, +_Muhájirún_--to Medína in the year 622. Inasmuch as they had lost +everything except the hope of victory and vengeance, he could count upon +their fanatical devotion to himself. + +[Sidenote: The Helpers.] + +The Helpers were those inhabitants of Medína who had accepted Islam and +pledged themselves to protect Mu[h.]ammad in case of attack. Together +with the Emigrants they constituted a formidable and ever-increasing +body of true believers, the first champions of the Church militant. + + [Sidenote: The Hypocrites.] + + "Many citizens of Medína, however, were not so well disposed towards + Mu[h.]ammad, and neither acknowledged him as a Prophet nor would + submit to him as their Ruler; but since they durst not come forward + against him openly on account of the multitude of his enthusiastic + adherents, they met him with a passive resistance which more than + once thwarted his plans, their influence was so great that he, on + his part, did not venture to take decisive measures against them, + and sometimes even found it necessary to give way."[334] + +These are the Hypocrites whom Mu[h.]ammad describes in the following +verses of the Koran:-- + + + THE SÚRA OF THE HEIFER (II). + + (7) And there are those among men who say, 'We believe in God + and in the Last Day'; but they do not believe. + + (8) They would deceive God and those who do believe; but they + deceive only themselves and they do not perceive. + + (9) In their hearts is a sickness, and God has made them still more + sick, and for them is grievous woe because they lied.[335] + +Their leader, `Abdulláh b. Ubayy, an able man but of weak character, was +no match for Mu[h.]ammad, whom he and his partisans only irritated, +without ever becoming really dangerous. + +[Sidenote: The Jews.] + +The Jews, on the other hand, gave the Prophet serious trouble. At first +he cherished high hopes that they would accept the new Revelation which +he brought to them, and which he maintained to be the original Word of +God as it was formerly revealed to Abraham and Moses; but when the Jews, +perceiving the absurdity of this idea, plied him with all sorts of +questions and made merry over his ignorance, Mu[h.]ammad, keenly alive +to the damaging effect of the criticism to which he had exposed himself, +turned upon his tormentors, and roundly accused them of having falsified +and corrupted their Holy Books. Henceforth he pursued them with a deadly +hatred against which their political disunion rendered them helpless. A +few sought refuge in Islam; the rest were either slaughtered or driven +into exile. + +It is impossible to detail here the successive steps by which +Mu[h.]ammad in the course of a few years overcame all opposition and +established the supremacy of Islam from one end of Arabia to the other. +I shall notice the outstanding events very briefly in order to make room +for matters which are more nearly connected with the subject of this +History. + + +[Sidenote: Beginnings of the Moslem State.] + +Mu[h.]ammad's first care was to reconcile the desperate factions within +the city and to introduce law and order among the heterogeneous elements +which have been described. "He drew up in writing a charter between the +Emigrants and the Helpers, in which charter he embodied a covenant with +the Jews, confirming them in the exercise of their religion and in the +possession of their properties, imposing upon them certain obligations, +and granting to them certain rights."[336] This remarkable document is +extant in Ibn Hishám's _Biography of Mu[h.]ammad_, pp. 341-344. Its +contents have been analysed in masterly fashion by Wellhausen,[337] who +observes with justice that it was no solemn covenant, accepted and duly +ratified by representatives of the parties concerned, but merely a +decree of Mu[h.]ammad based upon conditions already existing which had +developed since his arrival in Medína. At the same time no one can study +it without being impressed by the political genius of its author. +Ostensibly a cautious and tactful reform, it was in reality a +revolution. Mu[h.]ammad durst not strike openly at the independence of +the tribes, but he destroyed it, in effect, by shifting the centre of +power from the tribe to the community; and although the community +included Jews and pagans as well as Moslems, he fully recognised, what +his opponents failed to foresee, that the Moslems were the active, and +must soon be the predominant, partners in the newly founded State. + +[Sidenote: Battle of Badr, January, 624 A.D.] + +[Sidenote: Battle of U[h.]ud, 625 A.D.] + +[Sidenote: Submission of Mecca, 630 A.D.] + +All was now ripe for the inevitable struggle with the Quraysh, and God +revealed to His Apostle several verses of the Koran in which the +Faithful are commanded to wage a Holy War against them: "_Permission is +given to those who fight because they have been wronged,--and verily God +to help them has the might,--who have been driven forth from their homes +undeservedly, only for that they said, 'Our Lord is God'_" (xxii, +40-41). "_Kill them wherever ye find them, and drive them out from +whence they drive you out_" (ii, 187). "_Fight them that there be no +sedition and that the religion may be God's_" (ii, 189). In January, 624 +A.D., the Moslems, some three hundred strong, won a glorious victory at +Badr over a greatly superior force which had marched out from Mecca to +relieve a rich caravan that Mu[h.]ammad threatened to cut off. The +Quraysh fought bravely, but were borne down by the irresistible onset of +men who had learned discipline in the mosque and looked upon death as a +sure passport to Paradise. Of the Moslems only fourteen fell; the +Quraysh lost forty-nine killed and about the same number of prisoners. +But the importance of Mu[h.]ammad's success cannot be measured by the +material damage which he inflicted. Considering the momentous issues +involved, we must allow that Badr, like Marathon, is one of the greatest +and most memorable battles in all history. Here, at last, was the +miracle which the Prophet's enemies demanded of him: "_Ye have had a +sign in the two parties who met; one party fighting in the way of God, +the other misbelieving; these saw twice the same number as themselves to +the eyesight, for God aids with His help those whom He pleases. Verily +in that is a lesson for those who have perception_" (Kor. iii, 11). And +again, "_Ye slew them not, but God slew them_" (Kor. viii, 17). The +victory of Badr turned all eyes upon Mu[h.]ammad. However little the +Arabs cared for his religion, they could not but respect the man who had +humbled the lords of Mecca. He was now a power in the +land--"Mu[h.]ammad, King of the [H.]ijáz."[338] In Medína his cause +flourished mightily. The zealots were confirmed in their faith, the +waverers convinced, the disaffected overawed. He sustained a serious, +though temporary, check in the following year at U[h.]ud, where a Moslem +army was routed by the Quraysh under Abú Sufyán, but the victors were +satisfied with having taken vengeance for Badr and made no attempt to +follow up their advantage; while Mu[h.]ammad, never resting on his +laurels, never losing sight of the goal, proceeded with remorseless +calculation to crush his adversaries one after the other, until in +January, 630 A.D., the Meccans themselves, seeing the futility of +further resistance, opened their gates to the Prophet and acknowledged +the omnipotence of Allah. The submission of the Holy City left +Mu[h.]ammad without a rival in Arabia. His work was almost done. +Deputations from the Bedouin tribes poured into Medína, offering +allegiance to the conqueror of the Quraysh, and reluctantly subscribing +to a religion in which they saw nothing so agreeable as the prospect of +plundering its enemies. + +[Sidenote: Death of Mu[h.]ammad, 632 A.D.] + +Mu[h.]ammad died, after a brief illness, on the 8th of June, 632 A.D. He +was succeeded as head of the Moslem community by his old friend and +ever-loyal supporter, Abú Bakr, who thus became the first _Khalífa_, or +Caliph. It only remains to take up our survey of the Koran, which we +have carried down to the close of the Meccan period, and to indicate the +character and contents of the Revelation during the subsequent decade. + + +[Sidenote: The Medína Súras.] + +The Medína Súras faithfully reflect the marvellous change in +Mu[h.]ammad's fortunes, which began with his flight from Mecca. He was +now recognised as the Prophet and Apostle of God, but this recognition +made him an earthly potentate and turned his religious activity into +secular channels. One who united in himself the parts of prince, +legislator, politician, diplomatist, and general may be excused if he +sometimes neglected the Divine injunction to arise and preach, or at any +rate interpreted it in a sense very different from that which he +formerly attached to it. The Revelations of this time deal, to a large +extent, with matters of legal, social, and political interest; they +promulgate religious ordinances--_e.g._, fasting, alms-giving, and +pilgrimage--expound the laws of marriage and divorce, and comment upon +the news of the day; often they serve as bulletins or manifestoes in +which Mu[h.]ammad justifies what he has done, urges the Moslems to fight +and rebukes the laggards, moralises on a victory or defeat, proclaims a +truce, and says, in short, whatever the occasion seems to require. +Instead of the Meccan idolaters, his opponents in Medína--the Jews and +Hypocrites--have become the great rocks of offence; the Jews especially +are denounced in long passages as a stiff-necked generation who never +hearkened to their own prophets of old. However valuable historically, +the Medína Súras do not attract the literary reader. In their flat and +tedious style they resemble those of the later Meccan period. Now and +again the ashes burst into flame, though such moments of splendour are +increasingly rare, as in the famous 'Throne-verse' (_Áyatu ´l-Kursí_):-- + + [Sidenote: The 'Throne-verse.'] + + "God, there is no god but He, the living, the self-subsistent. + Slumber takes Him not, nor sleep. His is what is in the heavens and + what is in the earth. Who is it that intercedes with Him save by His + permission? He knows what is before them and what behind them, and + they comprehend not aught of His knowledge but of what He pleases. + His throne extends over the heavens and the earth, and it tires Him + not to guard them both, for He is high and grand."[339] + +[Sidenote: The nationalisation of Islam.] + +The Islam which Mu[h.]ammad brought with him to Medína was almost +entirely derived by oral tradition from Christianity and Judaism, and +just for this reason it made little impression on the heathen Arabs, +whose religious ideas were generally of the most primitive kind. +Notwithstanding its foreign character and the absence of anything which +appealed to Arabian national sentiment, it spread rapidly in Medína, +where, as we have seen, the soil was already prepared for it; but one +may well doubt whether it could have extended its sway over the +peninsula unless the course of events had determined Mu[h.]ammad to +associate the strange doctrines of Islam with the ancient heathen +sanctuary at Mecca, the Ka`ba, which was held in universal veneration by +the Arabs and formed the centre of a worship that raised no difficulties +in their minds. Before he had lived many months in Medína the Prophet +realised that his hope of converting the Jews was doomed to +disappointment. Accordingly he instructed his followers that they should +no longer turn their faces in prayer towards the Temple at Jerusalem, as +they had been accustomed to do since the Flight, but towards the Ka`ba; +while, a year or two later, he incorporated in Islam the superstitious +ceremonies of the pilgrimage, which were represented as having been +originally prescribed to Abraham, the legendary founder of the Ka`ba, +whose religion he professed to restore. + +[Sidenote: Antagonism of Islamic and Arabian ideals.] + +These concessions, however, were far from sufficient to reconcile the +free-living and freethinking people of the desert to a religion which +restrained their pleasures, forced them to pay taxes and perform +prayers, and stamped with the name of barbarism all the virtues they +held most dear. The teaching of Islam ran directly counter to the ideals +and traditions of heathendom, and, as Goldziher has remarked, its +originality lies not in its doctrines, which are Jewish and Christian, +but in the fact that it was Mu[h.]ammad who first maintained these +doctrines with persistent energy against the Arabian view of life.[340] +While we must refer the reader to Dr. Goldziher's illuminating pages for +a full discussion of the conflict between the new Religion (_Dín_) and +the old Virtue (_Muruwwa_), it will not be amiss to summarise the chief +points at which they clashed with each other.[341] In the first place, +the fundamental idea of Islam was foreign and unintelligible to the +Bedouins. "It was not the destruction of their idols that they opposed +so much as the spirit of devotion which it was sought to implant in +them: the determination of their whole lives by the thought of God and +of His pre-ordaining and retributive omnipotence, the prayers and fasts, +the renouncement of coveted pleasures, and the sacrifice of money and +property which was demanded of them in God's name." In spite of the +saying, _Lá dína illá bi ´l-muruwwati_ ("There is no religion without +virtue"), the Bedouin who accepted Islam had to unlearn the greater part +of his unwritten moral code. As a pious Moslem he must return good for +evil, forgive his enemy, and find balm for his wounded feelings in the +assurance of being admitted to Paradise (Kor. iii, 128). Again, the +social organisation of the heathen Arabs was based on the tribe, whereas +that of Islam rested on the equality and fraternity of all believers. +The religious bond cancelled all distinctions of rank and pedigree; it +did away, theoretically, with clannish feuds, contests for honour, pride +of race--things that lay at the very root of Arabian chivalry. "_Lo_," +cried Mu[h.]ammad, "_the noblest of you in the sight of God is he who +most doth fear Him_" (Kor. xlix, 13). Against such doctrine the +conservative and material instincts of the desert people rose in revolt; +and although they became Moslems _en masse_, the majority of them +neither believed in Islam nor knew what it meant. Often their motives +were frankly utilitarian: they expected that Islam would bring them +luck; and so long as they were sound in body, and their mares had fine +foals, and their wives bore well-formed sons, and their wealth and herds +multiplied, they said, "We have been blessed ever since we adopted this +religion," and were content; but if things went ill they blamed Islam +and turned their backs on it.[342] That these men were capable of +religious zeal is amply proved by the triumphs which they won a short +time afterwards over the disciplined armies of two mighty empires; but +what chiefly inspired them, apart from love of booty, was the +conviction, born of success, that Allah was fighting on their side. + + +We have sketched, however barely and imperfectly, the progress of Islam +from Mu[h.]ammad's first appearance as a preacher to the day of his +death. In these twenty years the seeds were sown of almost every +development which occurs in the political and intellectual history of +the Arabs during the ages to come. More than any man that has ever +lived, Mu[h.]ammad shaped the destinies of his people; and though they +left him far behind as they moved along the path of civilisation, they +still looked back to him for guidance and authority at each step. This +is not the place to attempt an estimate of his character, which has been +so diversely judged. Personally, I feel convinced that he was neither a +shameless impostor nor a neurotic degenerate nor a socialistic reformer, +but in the beginning, at all events, a sincere religious enthusiast, as +truly inspired as any prophet of the Old Testament. + + [Sidenote: Character of Mu[h.]ammad.] + + "We find in him," writes De Goeje, "that sober understanding which + distinguished his fellow-tribesmen: dignity, tact, and equilibrium; + qualities which are seldom found in people of morbid constitution: + self-control in no small degree. Circumstances changed him from a + Prophet to a Legislator and a Ruler, but for himself he sought + nothing beyond the acknowledgment that he was Allah's Apostle, since + this acknowledgment includes the whole of Islam. He was excitable, + like every true Arab, and in the spiritual struggle which preceded + his call this quality was stimulated to an extent that alarmed even + himself; but that does not make him a visionary. He defends himself, + by the most solemn asseveration, against the charge that what he had + seen was an illusion of the senses. Why should not we believe + him?"[343] + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE AND THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY + + +The Caliphate--_i.e._, the period of the Caliphs or Successors of +Mu[h.]ammad--extends over six centuries and a quarter (632-1258 A.D.), +and falls into three clearly-marked divisions of very unequal length and +diverse character. + +[Sidenote: The Orthodox Caliphate (632-661 A.D.).] + +The first division begins with the election of Abú Bakr, the first +Caliph, in 632, and comes to an end with the assassination of `Alí, the +Prophet's son-in-law and fourth successor, in 661. These four Caliphs +are known as the Orthodox (_al-Ráshidún_), because they trod faithfully +in the footsteps of the Prophet and ruled after his example in the holy +city of Medína, with the assistance of his leading Companions, who +constituted an informal Senate. + +[Sidenote: The Ummayyad Caliphate (661-750 A.D.).] + +The second division includes the Caliphs of the family of Umayya, from +the accession of Mu`áwiya in 661 to the great battle of the Záb in 750, +when Marwán II, the last of his line, was defeated by the `Abbásids, who +claimed the Caliphate as next of kin to the Prophet. According to Moslem +notions the Umayyads were kings by right, Caliphs only by courtesy. They +had, as we shall see, no spiritual title, and little enough religion of +any sort. This dynasty, which had been raised and was upheld by the +Syrian Arabs, transferred the seat of government from Medína to +Damascus. + +[Sidenote: The `Abbásid Caliphate (750-1258 A.D.).] + +The third division is by far the longest and most important. Starting in +750 with the accession of Abu ´l-`Abbás al-Saffáh, it presents an +unbroken series of thirty-seven Caliphs of the same House, and +culminates, after the lapse of half a millennium, in the sack of +Baghdád, their magnificent capital, by the Mongol Húlágú (January, +1258). The `Abbásids were no less despotic than the Umayyads, but in a +more enlightened fashion; for, while the latter had been purely Arab in +feeling, the `Abbásids owed their throne to the Persian nationalists, +and were imbued with Persian ideas, which introduced a new and fruitful +element into Moslem civilisation. + +[Sidenote: Early Islamic literature.] + +From our special point of view the Orthodox and Umayyad Caliphates, +which form the subject of the present chapter, are somewhat barren. The +simple life of the pagan Arabs found full expression in their poetry. +The many-sided life of the Moslems under `Abbásid rule may be studied in +a copious literature which exhibits all the characteristics of the age; +but of contemporary documents illustrating the intellectual history of +the early Islamic period comparatively little has been preserved, and +that little, being for the most part anti-Islamic in tendency, gives +only meagre information concerning what excites interest beyond anything +else--the religious movement, the rise of theology, and the origin of +those great parties and sects which emerge, at various stages of +development, in later literature. + +[Sidenote: Unity of Church and State.] + +Since the Moslem Church and State are essentially one, it is impossible +to treat of politics apart from religion, nor can religious phenomena be +understood without continual reference to political events. The +following brief sketch of the Orthodox Caliphate will show how +completely this unity was realised, and what far-reaching consequences +it had. + +[Sidenote: Abú Bakr elected Caliph (June, 632 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Musaylima the Liar.] + +That Mu[h.]ammad left no son was perhaps of less moment than his neglect +or refusal to nominate a successor. The Arabs were unfamiliar with the +hereditary descent of kingly power, while the idea had not yet dawned of +a Divine right resident in the Prophet's family. It was thoroughly in +accord with Arabian practice that the Moslem community should elect its +own leader, just as in heathen days the tribe chose its own chief. The +likeliest men--all three belonged to Quraysh--were Abú Bakr, whose +daughter `Á´isha had been Mu[h.]ammad's favourite wife, `Umar b. +al-Kha[t.][t.]áb, and `Alí, Abú [T.]álib's son and Fá[t.]ima's husband, +who was thus connected with the Prophet by blood as well as by marriage. +Abú Bakr was the eldest, he was supported by `Umar, and on him the +choice ultimately fell, though not without an ominous ebullition of +party strife. A man of simple tastes and unassuming demeanour, he had +earned the name _al-[S.]iddíq_, _i.e._, the True, by his unquestioning +faith in the Prophet; naturally gentle and merciful, he stood firm when +the cause of Islam was at stake, and crushed with iron hand the revolt +which on the news of Mu[h.]ammad's death spread like wildfire through +Arabia. False prophets arose, and the Bedouins rallied round them, eager +to throw off the burden of tithes and prayers. In the centre of the +peninsula, the Banú [H.]anífa were led to battle by Musaylima, who +imitated the early style of the Koran with ludicrous effect, if we may +judge from the sayings ascribed to him, _e.g._, "The elephant, what is +the elephant, and who shall tell you what is the elephant? He has a poor +tail, and a long trunk: and is a trifling part of the creations of thy +God." Moslem tradition calls him the Liar (_al-Kadhdháb_), and +represents him as an obscene miracle-monger, which can hardly be the +whole truth. It is possible that he got some of his doctrines from +Christianity, as Professor Margoliouth has suggested,[344] but we know +too little about them to arrive at any conclusion. After a desperate +struggle Musaylima was defeated and slain by 'the Sword of Allah,' +Khálid b. Walíd. The Moslem arms were everywhere victorious. Arabia +bowed in sullen submission. + +[Sidenote: Islam a world-religion.] + +[Sidenote: Conquest of Persia and Syria (633-643 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Moslem toleration.] + +Although Muir and other biographers of Mu[h.]ammad have argued that +Islam was originally designed for the Arabs alone, and made no claim to +universal acceptance, their assertion is contradicted by the unequivocal +testimony of the Koran itself. In one of the oldest Revelations (lxviii, +51-52), we read: "_It wanteth little but that the unbelievers dash thee +to the ground with their looks_ (of anger) _when they hear the Warning_ +(_i.e._, the Koran); _and they say, 'He is assuredly mad': but it_ (the +Koran) _is no other than a_ WARNING UNTO ALL CREATURES" (_dhikrun li +´l-`álamín_).[345] The time had now come when this splendid dream was to +be, in large measure, fulfilled. The great wars of conquest were +inspired by the Prophet's missionary zeal and justified by his example. +Pious duty coincided with reasons of state. "It was certainly good +policy to turn the recently subdued tribes of the wilderness towards an +external aim in which they might at once satisfy their lust for booty on +a grand scale, maintain their warlike feeling, and strengthen themselves +in their attachment to the new faith."[346] The story of their +achievements cannot be set down here. Suffice it to say that within +twelve years after the Prophet's death the Persian Empire had been +reduced to a tributary province, and Syria, together with Egypt, torn +away from Byzantine rule. It must not be supposed that the followers of +Zoroaster and Christ in these countries were forcibly converted to +Islam. Thousands embraced it of free will, impelled by various motives +which we have no space to enumerate; those who clung to the religion in +which they had been brought up secured protection and toleration by +payment of a capitation-tax (_jizya_).[347] + +[Sidenote: The Caliph `Umar (634-644 A.D.).] + +The tide of foreign conquest, which had scarce begun to flow before the +death of Abú Bakr, swept with amazing rapidity over Syria and Persia in +the Caliphate of `Umar b. al-Kha[t.][t.]áb (634-644), and continued to +advance, though with diminished fury, under the Prophet's third +successor, `Uthmán. We may dwell for a little on the noble figure of +`Umar, who was regarded by good Moslems in after times as an embodiment +of all the virtues which a Caliph ought to possess. Probably his +character has been idealised, but in any case the anecdotes related of +him give an admirable picture of the man and his age. Here are a few, +taken almost at random from the pages of [T.]abarí. + + [Sidenote: His simple manners.] + + [Sidenote: His sense of personal responsibility.] + + [Sidenote: The Caliph as a policeman.] + + [Sidenote: His strictness towards his own family.] + + [Sidenote: Instructions to his governors.] + + One said: "I saw `Umar coming to the Festival. He walked with bare + feet, using both hands (for he was ambidextrous) to draw round him a + red embroidered cloth. He towered above the people, as though he + were on horseback."[348] A client of (the Caliph) `Uthmán b. `Affán + relates that he mounted behind his patron and they rode together to + the enclosure for the beasts which were delivered in payment of the + poor-tax. It was an exceedingly hot day and the simoom was blowing + fiercely. They saw a man clad only in a loin-cloth and a short cloak + (_ridá_), in which he had wrapped his head, driving the camels into + the enclosure. `Uthmán said to his companion, "Who is this, think + you?" When they came up to him, behold, it was `Umar b. + al-Kha[t.][t.]áb. "By God," said `Uthmán, "this is _the strong, the + trusty_."[349]--`Umar used to go round the markets and recite the + Koran and judge between disputants wherever he found them.--When + Ka`bu ´l-A[h.]bár, a well-known Rabbin of Medína, asked how he could + obtain access to the Commander of the Faithful,[350] he received + this answer: "There is no door nor curtain to be passed; he performs + the rites of prayer, then he takes his seat, and any one that wishes + may speak to him."[351] `Umar said in one of his public orations, + "By Him who sent Mu[h.]ammad with the truth, were a single camel to + die of neglect on the bank of the Euphrates, I should fear lest God + should call the family of al-Kha[t.][t.]áb" (meaning himself) "to + account therefor."[352]--"If I live," he is reported to have said on + another occasion, "please God, I will assuredly spend a whole year + in travelling among my subjects, for I know they have wants which + are cut short ere they reach my ears: the governors do not bring the + wants of the people before me, while the people themselves do not + attain to me. So I will journey to Syria and remain there two + months, then to Mesopotamia and remain there two months, then to + Egypt and remain there two months, then to Ba[h.]rayn and remain + there two months, then to Kúfa and remain there two months, then to + Ba[s.]ra and remain there two months; and by God, it will be a year + well spent!"[353]--One night he came to the house of `Abdu + ´l-Ra[h.]mán b. `Awf and knocked at the door, which was opened by + `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán's wife. "Do not enter," said she, "until I go + back and sit in my place;" so he waited. Then she bade him come in, + and on his asking, "Have you anything in the house?" she fetched him + some food. Meanwhile `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán was standing by, engaged in + prayer. "Be quick, man!" cried `Umar. `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán immediately + pronounced the final salaam, and turning to the Caliph said: "O + Commander of the Faithful, what has brought you here at this hour?" + `Umar replied: "A party of travellers who alighted in the + neighbourhood of the market: I was afraid that the thieves of Medína + might fall upon them. Let us go and keep watch." So he set off with + `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán, and when they reached the market-place they + seated themselves on some high ground and began to converse. + Presently they descried, far away, the light of a lamp. "Have not I + forbidden lamps after bedtime?"[354] exclaimed the Caliph. They went + to the spot and found a company drinking wine. "Begone," said `Umar + to `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán; "I know him." Next morning he sent for the + culprit and said, addressing him by name, "Last night you were + drinking wine with your friends." "O Commander of the Faithful, how + did you ascertain that?" "I saw it with my own eyes." "Has not God + forbidden you to play the spy?" `Umar made no answer and pardoned + his offence.[355]--When `Umar ascended the pulpit for the purpose of + warning the people that they must not do something, he gathered his + family and said to them: "I have forbidden the people to do + so-and-so. Now, the people look at you as birds look at flesh, and I + swear by God that if I find any one of you doing this thing, I will + double the penalty against him."[356]--Whenever he appointed a + governor he used to draw up in writing a certificate of investiture, + which he caused to be witnessed by some of the Emigrants or Helpers. + It contained the following instructions: That he must not ride on + horseback, nor eat white bread, nor wear fine clothes, nor set up a + door between himself and those who had aught to ask of him.[357]--It + was `Umar's custom to go forth with his governors, on their + appointment, to bid them farewell. "I have not appointed you," he + would say, "over the people of Mu[h.]ammad (God bless him and grant + him peace!) that you may drag them by their hair and scourge their + skins, but in order that you may lead them in prayer and judge + between them with right and divide (the public money) amongst them + with equity. I have not made you lords of their skin and hair. Do + not flog the Arabs lest you humiliate them, and do not keep them + long on foreign service lest you tempt them to sedition, and do not + neglect them lest you render them desperate. Confine yourselves to + the Koran, write few Traditions of Mu[h.]ammad (God bless him and + grant him peace!), and I am your ally." He used to permit + retaliation against his governors. On receiving a complaint about + any one of them he confronted him with the accuser, and punished him + if his guilt were proved.[358] + +[Sidenote: The Register of `Umar.] + +It was `Umar who first made a Register (_Díwán_) of the Arabs in Islam +and entered them therein according to their tribes and assigned to them +their stipends. The following account of its institution is extracted +from the charming history entitled _al-Fakhrí_:-- + + In the fifteenth year of the Hijra (636 A.D.) `Umar, who was then + Caliph, seeing that the conquests proceeded without interruption and + that the treasures of the Persian monarchs had been taken as spoil, + and that load after load was being accumulated of gold and silver + and precious jewels and splendid raiment, resolved to enrich the + Moslems by distributing all this wealth amongst them; but he did not + know how he should manage it. Now there was a Persian satrap + (_marzubán_) at Medína who, when he saw `Umar's bewilderment, said + to him, "O Commander of the Faithful, the Persian kings have a thing + they call a _Díwán_, in which is kept the whole of their revenues + and expenditures without exception; and therein those who receive + stipends are arranged in classes, so that no confusion occurs." + `Umar's attention was aroused. He bade the satrap describe it, and + on comprehending its nature, he drew up the registers and assigned + the stipends, appointing a specified allowance for every Moslem; and + he allotted fixed sums to the wives of the Apostle (on whom be God's + blessing and peace!) and to his concubines and next-of-kin, until he + exhausted the money in hand. He did not lay up a store in the + treasury. Some one came to him and said: "O Commander of the + Faithful, you should have left something to provide for + contingencies." `Umar rebuked him, saying, "The devil has put these + words into your mouth. May God preserve me from their mischief! for + it were a temptation to my successors. Come what may, I will provide + naught except obedience to God and His Apostle. That is our + provision, whereby we have gained that which we have gained." Then, + in respect of the stipends, he deemed it right that precedence + should be according to priority of conversion to Islam and of + service rendered to the Apostle on his fields of battle.[359] + + [Sidenote: The aristocracy of Islam.] + + [Sidenote: "'Tis only noble to be good."] + + Affinity to Mu[h.]ammad was also considered. "By God," exclaimed + `Umar, "we have not won superiority in this world, nor do we hope + for recompense for our works from God hereafter, save through + Mu[h.]ammad (God bless him and grant him peace!). He is our title to + nobility, his tribe are the noblest of the Arabs, and after them + those are the nobler that are nearer to him in blood. Truly, the + Arabs are ennobled by God's Apostle. Peradventure some of them have + many ancestors in common with him, and we ourselves are only removed + by a few forbears from his line of descent, in which we accompany + him back to Adam. Notwithstanding this, if the foreigners bring good + works and we bring none, by God, they are nearer to Mu[h.]ammad on + the day of Resurrection than we. Therefore let no man regard + affinity, but let him work for that which is in God's hands to + bestow. He that is retarded by his works will not be sped by his + lineage."[360] + +It may be said of `Umar, not less appropriately than of Cromwell, that +he + + "cast the kingdoms old + Into another mould;" + +and he too justified the poet's maxim-- + + "The same arts that did gain + A power, must it maintain." + +[Sidenote: Foundation of Ba[s.]ra and Kúfa (638 A.D.).] + +Under the system which he organised Arabia, purged of infidels, became a +vast recruiting-ground for the standing armies of Islam: the Arabs in +the conquered territories formed an exclusive military class, living in +great camps and supported by revenues derived from the non-Mu[h.]ammadan +population. Out of such camps arose two cities destined to make their +mark in literary history--Ba[s.]ra (Bassora) on the delta of the Tigris +and Euphrates, and Kúfa, which was founded about the same time on the +western branch of the latter stream, not far from [H.]íra. + +[Sidenote: Death of `Umar (644 A.D.)] + +`Umar was murdered by a Persian slave named Fírúz while leading the +prayers in the Great Mosque. With his death the military theocracy and +the palmy days of the Patriarchal Caliphate draw to a close. The broad +lines of his character appear in the anecdotes translated above, though +many details might be added to complete the picture. Simple and frugal; +doing his duty without fear or favour; energetic even to harshness, yet +capable of tenderness towards the weak; a severe judge of others and +especially of himself, he was a born ruler and every inch a man. Looking +back on the turmoils which followed his death one is inclined to agree +with the opinion of a saintly doctor who said, five centuries +afterwards, that "the good fortune of Islam was shrouded in the +grave-clothes of `Umar b. al-Kha[t.][t.]áb."[361] + +[Sidenote: `Uthmán elected Caliph (644 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: General disaffection.] + +[Sidenote: `Uthmán murdered (656 A.D.).] + +When the Meccan aristocrats accepted Islam, they only yielded to the +inevitable. They were now to have an opportunity of revenging +themselves. `Uthmán b. `Affán, who succeeded `Umar as Caliph, belonged +to a distinguished Meccan family, the Umayyads or descendants of Umayya, +which had always taken a leading part in the opposition to Mu[h.]ammad, +though `Uthmán himself was among the Prophet's first disciples. He was a +pious, well-meaning old man--an easy tool in the hands of his ambitious +kinsfolk. They soon climbed into all the most lucrative and important +offices and lived on the fat of the land, while too often their ungodly +behaviour gave point to the question whether these converts of the +eleventh hour were not still heathens at heart. Other causes contributed +to excite a general discontent. The rapid growth of luxury and +immorality in the Holy Cities as well as in the new settlements was an +eyesore to devout Moslems. The true Islamic aristocracy, the Companions +of the Prophet, headed by `Alí, [T.]al[h.]a, and Zubayr, strove to +undermine the rival nobility which threatened them with destruction. The +factious soldiery were ripe for revolt against Umayyad arrogance and +greed. Rebellion broke out, and finally the aged Caliph, after enduring +a siege of several weeks, was murdered in his own house. This event +marks an epoch in the history of the Arabs. The ensuing civil wars rent +the unity of Islam from top to bottom, and the wound has never healed. + +[Sidenote: `Alí elected Caliph (656 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Character of `Alí.] + +[Sidenote: His apotheosis.] + +`Alí, the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law, who had hitherto remained in +the background, was now made Caliph. Although the suspicion that he was +in league with the murderers may be put aside, he showed culpable +weakness in leaving `Uthmán to his fate without an effort to save him. +But `Alí had almost every virtue except those of the ruler: energy, +decision, and foresight. He was a gallant warrior, a wise counsellor, a +true friend, and a generous foe. He excelled in poetry and in eloquence; +his verses and sayings are famous throughout the Mu[h.]ammadan East, +though few of them can be considered authentic. A fine spirit worthy to +be compared with Montrose and Bayard, he had no talent for the stern +realities of statecraft, and was overmatched by unscrupulous rivals who +knew that "war is a game of deceit." Thus his career was in one sense a +failure: his authority as Caliph was never admitted, while he lived, by +the whole community. On the other hand, he has exerted, down to the +present day, a posthumous influence only second to that of Mu[h.]ammad +himself. Within a century of his death he came to be regarded as the +Prophet's successor _jure divino_; as a blessed martyr, sinless and +infallible; and by some even as an incarnation of God. The `Alí of +Shí`ite legend is not an historical figure glorified: rather does he +symbolise, in purely mythical fashion, the religious aspirations and +political aims of a large section of the Moslem world. + + +[Sidenote: `Alí against Mu`áwiya.] + +[Sidenote: Battle of [S.]iffín (657 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Arbitration.] + +[Sidenote: The award.] + +[Sidenote: The Khárijites revolt against `Alí.] + +[Sidenote: Alí assassinated (661 A.D.).] + +To return to our narrative. No sooner was `Alí proclaimed Caliph by the +victorious rebels than Mu`áwiya b. Abí Sufyán, the governor of Syria, +raised the cry of vengeance for `Uthmán and refused to take the oath of +allegiance. As head of the Umayyad family, Mu`áwiya might justly demand +that the murderers of his kinsman should be punished, but the contest +between him and `Alí was virtually for the Caliphate. A great battle was +fought at [S.]iffín, a village on the Euphrates. `Alí had well-nigh +gained the day when Mu`áwiya bethought him of a stratagem. He ordered +his troops to fix Korans on the points of their lances and to shout, +"Here is the Book of God: let it decide between us!" The miserable trick +succeeded. In `Alí's army there were many pious fanatics to whom the +proposed arbitration by the Koran appealed with irresistible force. They +now sprang forward clamorously, threatening to betray their leader +unless he would submit his cause to the Book. Vainly did `Alí +remonstrate with the mutineers, and warn them of the trap into which +they were driving him, and this too at the moment when victory was +within their grasp. He had no choice but to yield and name as his umpire +a man of doubtful loyalty, Abú Músá al-Ash`arí, one of the oldest +surviving Companions of the Prophet. Mu`áwiya on his part named `Amr b. +al-`Á[s.], whose cunning had prompted the decisive manoeuvre. When the +umpires came forth to give judgment, Abú Músá rose and in accordance +with what had been arranged at the preliminary conference pronounced +that both `Alí and Mu`áwiya should be deposed and that the people should +elect a proper Caliph in their stead. "Lo," said he, laying down his +sword, "even thus do I depose `Alí b. Abí [T.]álib." Then `Amr advanced +and spoke as follows: "O people! ye have heard the judgment of my +colleague. He has called you to witness that he deposes `Alí. Now I call +you to witness that I confirm Mu`áwiya, even as I make fast this sword +of mine," and suiting the action to the word, he returned it to its +sheath. It is characteristic of Arabian notions of morality that this +impudent fraud was hailed by Mu`áwiya's adherents as a diplomatic +triumph which gave him a colourable pretext for assuming the title of +Caliph. Both sides prepared to renew the struggle, but in the meanwhile +`Alí found his hands full nearer home. A numerous party among his +troops, including the same zealots who had forced arbitration upon him, +now cast him off because he had accepted it, fell out from the ranks, +and raised the standard of revolt. These 'Outgoers,' or Khárijites, as +they were called, maintained their theocratic principles with desperate +courage, and though often defeated took the field again and again. +`Alí's plans for recovering Syria were finally abandoned in 660, when he +concluded peace with Mu`áwiya, and shortly afterwards he was struck down +in the Mosque at Kúfa, which he had made his capital, by Ibn Muljam, a +Khárijite conspirator. + +With `Alí's fall our sketch of the Orthodox Caliphate may fitly end. It +was necessary to give some account of these years so vital in the +history of Islam, even at the risk of wearying the reader, who will +perhaps wish that less space were devoted to political affairs. + + +[Sidenote: The Umayyad dynasty.] + +[Sidenote: Moslem tradition hostile to the Umayyads.] + +[Sidenote: Mu`áwiya's clemency.] + +[Sidenote: His hours of study.] + +The Umayyads came into power, but, except in Syria and Egypt, they ruled +solely by the sword. As descendants and representatives of the pagan +aristocracy, which strove with all its might to defeat Mu[h.]ammad, they +were usurpers in the eyes of the Moslem community which they claimed to +lead as his successors.[362] We shall see, a little further on, how this +opposition expressed itself in two great parties: the Shí`ites or +followers of `Alí, and the radical sect of the Khárijites, who have been +mentioned above; and how it was gradually reinforced by the non-Arabian +Moslems until it overwhelmed the Umayyad Government and set up the +`Abbásids in their place. In estimating the character of the Umayyads +one must bear in mind that the epitaph on the fallen dynasty was +composed by their enemies, and can no more be considered historically +truthful than the lurid picture which Tacitus has drawn of the Emperor +Tiberius. Because they kept the revolutionary forces in check with +ruthless severity, the Umayyads pass for bloodthirsty tyrants; whereas +the best of them at any rate were strong and singularly capable rulers, +bad Moslems and good men of the world, seldom cruel, plain livers if not +high thinkers; who upon the whole stand as much above the `Abbásids in +morality as below them in culture and intellect. Mu`áwiya's clemency was +proverbial, though he too could be stern on occasion. When members of +the house of `Alí came to visit him at Damascus, which was now the +capital of the Mu[h.]ammadan Empire, he gave them honourable lodging and +entertainment and was anxious to do what they asked; but they (relates +the historian approvingly) used to address him in the rudest terms and +affront him in the vilest manner: sometimes he would answer them with a +jest, and another time he would feign not to hear, and he always +dismissed them with splendid presents and ample donations.[363] "I do +not employ my sword," he said, "when my whip suffices me, nor my whip +when my tongue suffices me; and were there but a single hair (of +friendship) between me and my subjects, I would not let it be +snapped."[364] After the business of the day he sought relaxation in +books. "He consecrated a third part of every night to the history of the +Arabs and their famous battles; the history of foreign peoples, their +kings, and their government; the biographies of monarchs, including +their wars and stratagems and methods of rule; and other matters +connected with Ancient History."[365] + +[Sidenote: Ziyád ibn Abíhi.] + +Mu`áwiya's chief henchman was Ziyád, the son of Sumayya (Sumayya being +the name of his mother), or, as he is generally called, Ziyád ibn Abíhi, +_i.e._, 'Ziyád his father's son,' for none knew who was his sire, though +rumour pointed to Abú Sufyán; in which case Ziyád would have been +Mu`áwiya's half-brother. Mu`áwiya, instead of disavowing the scandalous +imputation, acknowledged him as such, and made him governor of Ba[s.]ra, +where he ruled the Eastern provinces with a rod of iron. + +[Sidenote: Yazíd (680-683 A.D.).] + +Mu`áwiya was a crafty diplomatist--he has been well compared to +Richelieu--whose profound knowledge of human nature enabled him to gain +over men of moderate opinions in all the parties opposed to him. Events +were soon to prove the hollowness of this outward reconciliation. Yazíd, +who succeeded his father, was the son of Maysún, a Bedouin woman whom +Mu`áwiya married before he rose to be Caliph. The luxury of Damascus had +no charm for her wild spirit, and she gave utterance to her feeling of +homesickness in melancholy verse:-- + + "A tent with rustling breezes cool + Delights me more than palace high, + And more the cloak of simple wool + Than robes in which I learned to sigh. + + The crust I ate beside my tent + Was more than this fine bread to me; + The wind's voice where the hill-path went + Was more than tambourine can be. + + And more than purr of friendly cat + I love the watch-dog's bark to hear; + And more than any lubbard fat + I love a Bedouin cavalier."[366] + +[Sidenote: [H.]usayn marches on Kúfa.] + +[Sidenote: Massacre of [H.]usayn and his followers at Karbalá (10th +Mu[h.]arram, 61 A.H. = 10th October, 680 A.D.).] + +Mu`áwiya, annoyed by the contemptuous allusion to himself, took the dame +at her word. She returned to her own family, and Yazíd grew up as a +Bedouin, with the instincts and tastes which belong to the +Bedouins--love of pleasure, hatred of piety, and reckless disregard for +the laws of religion. The beginning of his reign was marked by an event +of which even now few Moslems can speak without a thrill of horror and +dismay. The facts are briefly these: In the autumn of the year 680 +[H.]usayn, the son of `Alí, claiming to be the rightful Caliph in virtue +of his descent from the Prophet, quitted Mecca with his whole family and +a number of devoted friends, and set out for Kúfa, where he expected the +population, which was almost entirely Shí`ite, to rally to his cause. It +was a foolhardy adventure. The poet Farazdaq, who knew the fickle temper +of his fellow-townsmen, told [H.]usayn that although their hearts were +with him, their swords would be with the Umayyads; but his warning was +given in vain. Meanwhile `Ubaydulláh b. Ziyád, the governor of Kúfa, +having overawed the insurgents in the city and beheaded their leader, +Muslim b. `Aqíl, who was a cousin of [H.]usayn, sent a force of cavalry +with orders to bring the arch-rebel to a stand. Retreat was still open +to him. But his followers cried out that the blood of Muslim must be +avenged, and [H.]usayn could not hesitate. Turning northward along the +Euphrates, he encamped at Karbalá with his little band, which, including +the women and children, amounted to some two hundred souls. In this +hopeless situation he offered terms which might have been accepted if +Shamir b. Dhi ´l-Jawshan, a name for ever infamous and accursed, had not +persuaded `Ubaydulláh to insist on unconditional surrender. The demand +was refused, and [H.]usayn drew up his comrades--a handful of men and +boys--for battle against the host which surrounded them. All the +harrowing details invented by grief and passion can scarcely heighten +the tragedy of the closing scene. It would appear that the Umayyad +officers themselves shrank from the odium of a general massacre, and +hoped to take the Prophet's grandson alive. Shamir, however, had no such +scruples. Chafing at delay, he urged his soldiers to the assault. The +unequal struggle was soon over. [H.]usayn fell, pierced by an arrow, and +his brave followers were cut down beside him to the last man. + +[Sidenote: Differing views of Mu[h.]ammadan and European writers.] + +[Sidenote: The Umayyads judged by Islam.] + +[Sidenote: Character of Yazíd.] + +Mu[h.]ammadan tradition, which with rare exceptions is uniformly hostile +to the Umayyad dynasty, regards [H.]usayn as a martyr and Yazíd as his +murderer; while modern historians, for the most part, agree with Sir W. +Muir, who points out that [H.]usayn, "having yielded himself to a +treasonable, though impotent design upon the throne, was committing an +offence that endangered society and demanded swift suppression." This +was naturally the view of the party in power, and the reader must form +his own conclusion as to how far it justifies the action which they +took. For Moslems the question is decided by the relation of the +Umayyads to Islam. Violators of its laws and spurners of its ideals, +they could never be anything but tyrants; and being tyrants, they had no +right to slay believers who rose in arms against their usurped +authority. The so-called verdict of history, when we come to examine it, +is seen to be the verdict of religion, the judgment of theocratic Islam +on Arabian Imperialism. On this ground the Umayyads are justly +condemned, but it is well to remember that in Moslem eyes the +distinction between Church and State does not exist. Yazíd was a bad +Churchman: therefore he was a wicked tyrant; the one thing involves the +other. From our unprejudiced standpoint, he was an amiable prince who +inherited his mother's poetic talent, and infinitely preferred wine, +music, and sport to the drudgery of public affairs. The Syrian Arabs, +who recognised the Umayyads as legitimate, thought highly of him: +"Jucundissimus," says a Christian writer, "et cunctis nationibus regni +ejus subditis vir gratissime habitus, qui nullam unquam, ut omnibus +moris est, sibi regalis fastigii causa gloriam appetivit, sed communis +cum omnibus civiliter vixit."[367] He deplored the fate of the women and +children of [H.]usayn's family, treated them with every mark of respect, +and sent them to Medína, where their account of the tragedy added fresh +fuel to the hatred and indignation with which its authors were generally +regarded. + +The Umayyads had indeed ample cause to rue the day of Karbalá. It gave +the Shí`ite faction a rallying-cry--"Vengeance for [H.]usayn!"--which +was taken up on all sides, and especially by the Persian _Mawálí_, or +Clients, who longed for deliverance from the Arab yoke. Their +amalgamation with the Shí`a--a few years later they flocked in thousands +to the standard of Mukhtár--was an event of the utmost historical +importance, which will be discussed when we come to speak of the +Shí`ites in particular. + +[Sidenote: Medína and Mecca desecrated (682-3 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Rebellion of Mukhtár (685-6 A.D.).] + +The slaughter of [H.]usayn does not complete the tale of Yazíd's +enormities. Medína, the Prophet's city, having expelled its Umayyad +governor, was sacked by a Syrian army, while Mecca itself, where +`Abdulláh b. Zubayr had set up as rival Caliph, was besieged, and the +Ka`ba laid in ruins. These outrages, shocking to Moslem sentiment, +kindled a flame of rebellion. [H.]usayn was avenged by Mukhtár, who +seized Kúfa and executed some three hundred of the guilty citizens, +including the miscreant Shamir. His troops defeated and slew `Ubaydulláh +b. Ziyád, but he himself was slain, not long afterwards, by Mus`ab, the +brother of Ibn Zubayr, and seven thousand of his followers were +massacred in cold blood. On Yazíd's death (683) the Umayyad Empire +threatened to fall to pieces. As a contemporary poet sang-- + + "Now loathed of all men is the Fury blind + Which blazeth as a fire blown by the wind. + They are split in sects: each province hath its own + Commander of the Faithful, each its throne."[368] + +[Sidenote: Civil war renewed.] + +[Sidenote: Rivalry of Northern and Southern Arabs.] + +Fierce dissensions broke out among the Syrian Arabs, the backbone of the +dynasty. The great tribal groups of Kalb and Qays, whose coalition had +hitherto maintained the Umayyads in power, fought on opposite sides at +Marj Ráhi[t.] (684), the former for Marwán and the latter for Ibn +Zubayr. Marwán's victory secured the allegiance of Syria, but henceforth +Qays and Kalb were always at daggers drawn.[369] This was essentially a +feud between the Northern and the Southern Arabs--a feud which rapidly +extended and developed into a permanent racial enmity. They carried it +with them to the farthest ends of the world, so that, for example, after +the conquest of Spain precautions had to be taken against civil war by +providing that Northerners and Southerners should not settle in the same +districts. The literary history of this antagonism has been sketched by +Dr. Goldziher with his wonted erudition and acumen.[370] Satire was, of +course, the principal weapon of both sides. Here is a fragment by a +Northern poet which belongs to the Umayyad period:-- + + "Negroes are better, when they name their sires, + Than Qa[h.][t.]án's sons,[371] the uncircumcisèd cowards: + A folk whom thou mayst see, at war's outflame, + More abject than a shoe to tread in baseness; + Their women free to every lecher's lust, + Their clients spoil for cavaliers and footmen."[372] + +Thus the Arab nation was again torn asunder by the old tribal +pretensions which Mu[h.]ammad sought to abolish. That they ultimately +proved fatal to the Umayyads is no matter for surprise; the sorely +pressed dynasty was already tottering, its enemies were at its gates. By +good fortune it produced at this crisis an exceptionally able and +vigorous ruler, `Abdu ´l-Malik b. Marwán, who not only saved his house +from destruction, but re-established its supremacy and inaugurated a +more brilliant epoch than any that had gone before. + +[Sidenote: `Abdu ´l-Malik and his successors.] + +[Sidenote: Reforms of `Abdu ´l-Malik.] + +[Sidenote: The writing of Arabic.] + +[Sidenote: [H.]ajjáj b. Yúsuf (+ 714 A.D.).] + +`Abdu ´l-Malik succeeded his father in 685, but required seven years of +hard fighting to make good his claim to the Caliphate. When his most +formidable rival, Ibn Zubayr, had fallen in battle (692), the eastern +provinces were still overrun by rebels, who offered a desperate +resistance to the governor of `Iráq, the iron-handed [H.]ajjáj. But +enough of bloodshed. Peace also had her victories during the troubled +reign of `Abdu ´l-Malik and the calmer sway of his successors. Four of +the next five Caliphs were his own sons--Walíd (705-715), Sulaymán +(715-717), Yazíd II (720-724), and Hishám (724-743); the fifth, `Umar +II, was the son of his brother, `Abdu ´l-`Azíz. For the greater part of +this time the Moslem lands enjoyed a well-earned interval of repose and +prosperity, which mitigated, though it could not undo, the frightful +devastation wrought by twenty years of almost continuous civil war. Many +reforms were introduced, some wholly political in character, while +others inspired by the same motives have, none the less, a direct +bearing on literary history. `Abdu ´l-Malik organised an excellent +postal service, by means of relays of horses, for the conveyance of +despatches and travellers; he substituted for the Byzantine and Persian +coins, which had hitherto been in general use, new gold and silver +pieces, on which be caused sentences from the Koran to be engraved; and +he made Arabic, instead of Greek or Persian, the official language of +financial administration. Steps were taken, moreover, to improve the +extremely defective Arabic script, and in this way to provide a sound +basis for the study and interpretation of the Koran as well as for the +collection of _[h.]adíths_ or sayings of the Prophet, which form an +indispensable supplement thereto. The Arabic alphabet, as it was then +written, consisted entirely of consonants, so that, to give an +illustration from English, _bnd_ might denote _band_, _bend_, _bind_, or +_bond_; _crt_ might stand for _cart_, _carat_, _curt_, and so on. To an +Arab this ambiguity mattered little; far worse confusion arose from the +circumstance that many of the consonants themselves were exactly alike: +thus, _e.g._, it was possible to read the same combination of three +letters as _bnt_, _nbt_, _byt_, _tnb_, _ntb_, _nyb_, and in various +other ways. Considering the difficulties of the Arabic language, which +are so great that a European aided by scientific grammars and +unequivocal texts will often find himself puzzled even when he has +become tolerably familiar with it, one may imagine that the Koran was +virtually a sealed book to all but a few among the crowds of foreigners +who accepted Islam after the early conquests. `Abdu 'l-Malik's viceroy +in `Iráq, the famous [H.]ajjáj, who began life as a schoolmaster, +exerted himself to promote the use of vowel-marks (borrowed from the +Syriac) and of the diacritical points placed above or below similar +consonants. This extraordinary man deserves more than a passing mention. +A stern disciplinarian, who could be counted upon to do his duty without +any regard to public opinion, he was chosen by `Abdu ´l-Malik to besiege +Mecca, which Ibn Zubayr was holding as anti-Caliph. [H.]ajjáj bombarded +the city, defeated the Pretender, and sent his head to Damascus. Two +years afterwards he became governor of `Iráq. Entering the Mosque at +Kúfa, he mounted the pulpit and introduced himself to the assembled +townsmen in these memorable words:-- + +[Sidenote: His service to literature.] + + "I am he who scattereth the darkness and climbeth o'er the summits. + When I lift the turban from my face, ye will know me.[373] + +"O people of Kúfa! I see heads that are ripe for cutting, and I am the +man to do it; and methinks, I see blood between the turbans and +beards."[374] The rest of his speech was in keeping with the +commencement. He used no idle threats, as the malcontents soon found +out. Rebellion, which had been rampant before his arrival, was rapidly +extinguished. "He restored order in `Iráq and subdued its people."[375] +For twenty years his despotic rule gave peace and security to the +Eastern world. Cruel he may have been, though the tales of his +bloodthirstiness are beyond doubt grossly exaggerated, but it should be +put to his credit that he established and maintained the settled +conditions which afford leisure for the cultivation of learning. Under +his protection the Koran and Traditions were diligently studied both in +Kúfa and Ba[s.]ra, where many Companions of the Prophet had made their +home: hence arose in Ba[s.]ra the science of Grammar, with which, as we +shall see in a subsequent page, the name of that city is peculiarly +associated. [H.]ajjáj shared the literary tastes of his sovereign; he +admired the old poets and patronised the new; he was a master of terse +eloquence and plumed himself on his elegant Arabic style. The most hated +man of his time, he lives in history as the savage oppressor and butcher +of God-fearing Moslems. He served the Umayyads well and faithfully, and +when he died in 714 A.D. he left behind him nothing but his Koran, his +arms, and a few hundred pieces of silver. + + +[Sidenote: Walíd (705-715 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Moslem conquests in the East.] + +[Sidenote: Conquest of Spain (711-713 A.D.).] + +It was a common saying at Damascus that under Walíd people talked of +fine buildings, under Sulaymán of cookery and the fair sex, while in the +reign of `Umar b. `Abd al-`Azíz the Koran and religion formed favourite +topics of conversation.[376] Of Walíd's passion for architecture we have +a splendid monument in the Great Mosque of Damascus (originally the +Cathedral of St. John), which is the principal sight of the city to this +day. He spoke Arabic very incorrectly, and though his father rebuked +him, observing that "in order to rule the Arabs one must be proficient +in their language," he could never learn to express himself with +propriety.[377] The unbroken peace which now prevailed within the Empire +enabled Walíd to resume the work of conquest. In the East his armies +invaded Transoxania, captured Bokhárá and Samarcand, and pushed forward +to the Chinese frontier. Another force crossed the Indus and penetrated +as far as Múltán, a renowned centre of pilgrimage in the Southern +Punjaub, which fell into the hands of the Moslems after a prolonged +siege. But the most brilliant advance, and the richest in its results, +was that in the extreme West, which decided the fate of Spain. Although +the Moslems had obtained a footing in Northern Africa some thirty years +before this time, their position was always precarious, until in 709 +Músá b. Nu[s.]ayr completely subjugated the Berbers, and extended not +only the dominion but also the faith of Islam to the Atlantic Ocean. Two +years later his freedman [T.]áriq crossed the straits and took +possession of the commanding height, called by the ancients Calpe, but +henceforth known as Jabal [T.]áriq (Gibraltar). Roderic, the last of the +West Gothic dynasty, gathered an army in defence of his kingdom, but +there were traitors in the camp, and, though he himself fought +valiantly, their defection turned the fortunes of the day. The king +fled, and it was never ascertained what became of him. [T.]áriq, meeting +with feeble resistance, marched rapidly on Toledo, while Músá, whose +jealousy was excited by the triumphal progress of his lieutenant, now +joined in the campaign, and, storming city after city, reached the +Pyrenees. The conquest of Spain, which is told by Moslem historians with +many romantic circumstances, marks the nearest approach that the Arabs +ever made to World-Empire. Their advance on French soil was finally +hurled back by Charles the Hammer's great victory at Tours (732 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: `Umar b. `Abd al-`Azíz (717-720 A.D.).] + +Before taking leave of the Umayyads we must not forget to mention `Umar +b. `Abd al-`Azíz, a ruler who stands out in singular contrast with his +predecessors, and whose brief reign is regarded by many Moslems as the +sole bright spot in a century of godless and bloodstained tyranny. There +had been nothing like it since the days of his illustrious namesake and +kinsman,[378] `Umar b. al-Kha[t.][t.]áb, and we shall find nothing like +it in the future history of the Caliphate. Plato desired that every king +should be a philosopher: according to Mu[h.]ammadan theory every Caliph +ought to be a saint. `Umar satisfied these aspirations. When he came to +the throne the following dialogue is said to have occurred between him +and one of his favourites, Sálim al-Suddí:-- + + + `Umar: "Are you glad on account of my accession, or sorry?" + + Sálim: "I am glad for the people's sake, but sorry for yours." + + `Umar: "I fear that I have brought perdition upon my soul." + + Sálim: "If you are afraid, very good. I only fear that you may + cease to be afraid." + + `Umar: "Give me a word of counsel." + + Sálim: "Our father Adam was driven forth from Paradise because + of one sin."[379] + +Poets and orators found no favour at his court, which was thronged by +divines and men of ascetic life.[380] He warned his governors that they +must either deal justly or go. He would not allow political +considerations to interfere with his ideal of righteousness, but, as +Wellhausen points out, he had practical ends in view: his piety made him +anxious for the common weal no less than for his own salvation. Whether +he administered the State successfully is a matter of dispute. It has +been generally supposed that his financial reforms were Utopian in +character and disastrous to the Exchequer.[381] However this may be, he +showed wisdom in seeking to bridge the menacing chasm between Islam and +the Imperial house. Thus, _e.g._, he did away with the custom which had +long prevailed of cursing `Alí from the pulpit at Friday prayers. The +policy of conciliation was tried too late, and for too short a space, to +be effective; but it was not entirely fruitless. When, on the overthrow +of the Umayyad dynasty, the tombs of the hated 'tyrants' were defiled +and their bodies disinterred, `Umar's grave alone was respected, and +Mas`údí (+ 956 A.D.) tells us that in his time it was visited by crowds +of pilgrims. + +[Sidenote: Hishám and Walíd II.] + +The remaining Umayyads do not call for particular notice. Hishám ranks +as a statesman with Mu`áwiya and `Abdu ´l-Malik: the great `Abbásid +Caliph, Man[s.]úr, is said to have admired and imitated his methods of +government.[382] Walíd II was an incorrigible libertine, whose songs +celebrating the forbidden delights of wine have much merit. The eminent +poet and freethinker, Abu ´l-`Alá al-Ma`arrí, quotes these verses by +him[383]:-- + + [Sidenote: Verses by Walíd II (743-4 A.D.).] + + "The Imám Walíd am I! In all my glory + Of trailing robes I listen to soft lays. + When proudly I sweep on towards her chamber, + I care not who inveighs. + + There's no true joy but lending ear to music, + Or wine that leaves one sunk in stupor dense. + Houris in Paradise I do not look for: + Does any man of sense?" + + +Let us now turn from the monarchs to their subjects. + +[Sidenote: Political and religious movements of the period.] + +In the first place we shall speak of the political and religious +parties, whose opposition to the Umayyad House gradually undermined its +influence and in the end brought about its fall. Some account will be +given of the ideas for which these parties fought and of the causes of +their discontent with the existing _régime_. Secondly, a few words must +be said of the theological and more purely religious sects--the +Mu`tazilites, Murjites, and [S.]úfís; and, lastly, of the extant +literature, which is almost exclusively poetical, and its leading +representatives. + +[Sidenote: The Arabs of `Iráq.] + +The opposition to the Umayyads was at first mainly a question of +politics. Mu`áwiya's accession announced the triumph of Syria over +`Iráq, and Damascus, instead of Kúfa, became the capital of the Empire. +As Wellhausen observes, "the most powerful risings against the Umayyads +proceeded from `Iráq, not from any special party, but from the whole +mass of the Arabs settled there, who were united in resenting the loss +of their independence (_Selbstherrlichkeit_) and in hating those into +whose hands it had passed."[384] At the same time these feelings took a +religious colour and identified themselves with the cause of Islam. The +new government fell lamentably short of the theocratic standard by which +it was judged. Therefore it was evil, and (according to the Moslem's +conception of duty) every right-thinking man must work for its +destruction. + +Among the myriads striving for this consummation, and so far making +common cause with each other, we can distinguish four principal classes. + +[Sidenote: Parties opposed to the Umayyad government.] + +(1) The religious Moslems, or Pietists, in general, who formed a wing of +the Orthodox Party.[385] + +(2) The Khárijites, who may be described as the Puritans and extreme +Radicals of theocracy. + +(3) The Shí`ites, or partisans of `Alí and his House. + +(4) The Non-Arabian Moslems, who were called _Mawálí_ (Clients). + +[Sidenote: The Pietists.] + +It is clear that the Pietists--including divines learned in the law, +reciters of the Koran, Companions of the Prophet and their +descendants--could not but abominate the secular authority which they +were now compelled to obey. The conviction that Might, in the shape of +the tyrant and his minions, trampled on Right as represented by the +Koran and the _Sunna_ (custom of Mu[h.]ammad) drove many into active +rebellion: five thousand are said to have perished in the sack of Medína +alone. Others again, like [H.]asan of Ba[s.]ra, filled with profound +despair, shut their eyes on the world, and gave themselves up to +asceticism, a tendency which had important consequences, as we shall +see. + + +[Sidenote: The Khárijites.] + +[Sidenote: Battle of Nahrawán (658 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Khárijite risings.] + +When `Alí, on the field of [S.]iffin, consented that the claims of +Mu`áwiya and himself to the Caliphate should be decided by arbitration, +a large section of his army accused him of having betrayed his trust. +He, the duly elected Caliph--so they argued--should have maintained the +dignity of his high office inviolate at all costs. On the homeward march +the malcontents, some twelve thousand in number, broke away and encamped +by themselves at [H.]arúrá, a village near Kúfa. Their cry was, "God +alone can decide" (_lá [h.]ukma illá lilláhi_): in these terms they +protested against the arbitration. `Alí endeavoured to win them back, +but without any lasting success. They elected a Caliph from among +themselves, and gathered at Nahrawán, four thousand strong. On the +appearance of `Alí with a vastly superior force many of the rebels +dispersed, but the remainder--about half--preferred to die for their +faith. Nahrawán was to the Khárijites what Karbalá afterwards became to +the Shí`ites, who from this day were regarded by the former as their +chief enemies. Frequent Khárijite risings took place during the early +Umayyad period, but the movement reached its zenith in the years of +confusion which followed Yazíd's death. The Azraqites, so called after +their leader, Náfi` b. al-Azraq, overran `Iráq and Southern Persia, +while another sect, the Najdites, led by Najda b. `Ámir, reduced the +greater part of Arabia to submission. The insurgents held their ground +for a long time against `Abdu ´l-Malik, and did not cease from troubling +until the rebellion headed by Shabíb was at last stamped out by +[H.]ajjáj in 697. + +[Sidenote: Meaning of 'Khárijite.'] + +[Sidenote: Their political theories.] + +It has been suggested that the name _Khárijí_ (plural, _Khawárij_) +refers to a passage in the Koran (iv, 101) where mention is made of +"those who go forth (_yakhruj_) from their homes as emigrants +(_muhájiran_) to God and His Messenger"; so that 'Khárijite' means 'one +who leaves his home among the unbelievers for God's sake,' and +corresponds to the term _Muhájir_, which was applied to the Meccan +converts who accompanied the Prophet in his migration to Medína.[386] +Another name by which they are often designated is likewise Koranic in +origin, viz., _Shurát_ (plural of _Shárin_): literally 'Sellers'--that +is to say, those who sell their lives and goods in return for +Paradise.[387] The Khárijites were mostly drawn from the Bedouin +soldiery who settled in Ba[s.]ra and Kúfa after the Persian wars. Civil +life wrought little change in their unruly temper. Far from +acknowledging the peculiar sanctity of a Qurayshite, they desired a +chief of their own blood whom they might obey, in Bedouin fashion, as +long as he did not abuse or exceed the powers conferred upon him.[388] +The mainspring of the movement, however, was pietistic, and can be +traced, as Wellhausen has shown, to the Koran-readers who made it a +matter of conscience that `Alí should avow his contrition for the fatal +error which their own temporary and deeply regretted infatuation had +forced him to commit. They cast off `Alí for the same reason which led +them to strike at `Uthman: in both cases they were maintaining the cause +of God against an unjust Caliph.[389] It is important to remember these +facts in view of the cardinal Khárijite doctrines (1) that every free +Arab was eligible as Caliph,[390] and (2) that an evil-doing Caliph must +be deposed and, if necessary, put to death. Mustawrid b. `Ullifa, the +Khárijite 'Commander of the Faithful,' wrote to Simák b. `Ubayd, the +governor of Ctesiphon, as follows: "We call you to the Book of God +Almighty and Glorious, and to the _Sunna_ (custom) of the Prophet--on whom +be peace!--and to the administration of Abú Bakr and `Umar--may God be +well pleased with them!--and to renounce `Uthmán and `Alí because they +corrupted the true religion and abandoned the authority of the +Book."[391] From this it appears that the Khárijite programme was simply +the old Islam of equality and fraternity, which had never been fully +realised and was now irretrievably ruined. Theoretically, all devout +Moslems shared in the desire for its restoration and condemned the +existing Government no less cordially than did the Khárijites. What +distinguished the latter party was the remorseless severity with which +they carried their principles into action. To them it was absolutely +vital that the Imám, or head of the community, should rule in the name +and according to the will of God: those who followed any other sealed +their doom in the next world: eternal salvation hung upon the choice of +a successor to the Prophet. Moslems who refused to execrate `Uthmán and +`Alí were the worst of infidels; it was the duty of every true believer +to take part in the Holy War against such, and to kill them, together +with their wives and children. These atrocities recoiled upon the +insurgents, who soon found themselves in danger of extermination. Milder +counsels began to prevail. Thus the Ibá[d.]ites (followers of `Abdulláh +b. Ibá[d.]) held it lawful to live amongst the Moslems and mix with them +on terms of mutual tolerance. But compromise was in truth incompatible +with the _raison d'être_ of the Khárijites, namely, to establish the +kingdom of God upon the earth. This meant virtual anarchy: "their +unbending logic shattered every constitution which it set up." As `Alí +remarked, "they say, 'No government' (_lá imára_), but there must be a +government, good or bad."[392] Nevertheless, it was a noble ideal for +which they fought in pure devotion, having, unlike the other political +parties, no worldly interests to serve. + +[Sidenote: Their religion.] + +The same fierce spirit of fanaticism moulded their religious views, +which were gloomy and austere, as befitted the chosen few in an ungodly +world. Shahrastání, speaking of the original twelve thousand who +rebelled against `Alí, describes them as 'people of fasting and prayer' +(_ahlu [s.]iyámin wa-[s.]alátin_).[393] The Koran ruled their lives and +possessed their imaginations, so that the history of the early Church, +the persecutions, martyrdoms, and triumphs of the Faith became a +veritable drama which was being enacted by themselves. The fear of hell +kindled in them an inquisitorial zeal for righteousness. They +scrupulously examined their own belief as well as that of their +neighbours, and woe to him that was found wanting! A single false step +involved excommunication from the pale of Islam, and though the slip +might be condoned on proof of sincere repentance, any Moslem who had +once committed a mortal sin (_kabíra_) was held, by the stricter +Khárijites at least, to be inevitably damned with the infidels in +everlasting fire. + + +[Sidenote: Khárijite poetry.] + +Much might be written, if space allowed, concerning the wars of the +Khárijites, their most famous chiefs, the points on which they +quarrelled, and the sects into which they split. Here we can only +attempt to illustrate the general character of the movement. We have +touched on its political and religious aspects, and shall now conclude +with some reference to its literary side. The Khárijites did not produce +a Milton or a Bunyan, but as Arabs of Bedouin stock they had a natural +gift of song, from which they could not be weaned; although, according +to the strict letter of the Koran, poetry is a devilish invention +improper for the pious Moslem to meddle with. But these are poems of a +different order from the pagan odes, and breathe a stern religious +enthusiasm that would have gladdened the Prophet's heart. Take, for +example, the following verses, which were made by a Khárijite in +prison:--[394] + + "'Tis time, O ye Sellers, for one who hath sold himself + To God, that he should arise and saddle amain. + Fools! in the land of miscreants will ye abide, + To be hunted down, every man of you, and to be slain? + O would that I were among you, armèd in mail, + On the back of my stout-ribbed galloping war-horse again! + And would that I were among you, fighting your foes, + That me, first of all, they might give death's beaker to drain! + It grieves me sore that ye are startled and chased + Like beasts, while I cannot draw on the wretches profane + My sword, nor see them scattered by noble knights + Who never yield an inch of the ground they gain, + But where the struggle is hottest, with keen blades hew + Their strenuous way and deem 'twere base to refrain. + Ay, it grieves me sore that ye are oppressed and wronged, + While I must drag in anguish a captive's chain." + +[Sidenote: Qa[t.]arí b. al-Fujá´a.] + +Qa[t.]arí b. al-Fujá´a, the intrepid Khárijite leader who routed army +after army sent against him by [H.]ajjáj, sang almost as well as he +fought. The verses rendered below are included in the _[H.]amása_[395] +and cited by Ibn Khallikán, who declares that they would make a brave +man of the greatest coward in the world. "I know of nothing on the +subject to be compared with them; they could only have proceeded from a +spirit that scorned disgrace and from a truly Arabian sentiment of +valour."[396] + + "I say to my soul dismayed-- + 'Courage! Thou canst not achieve, + With praying, an hour of life + Beyond the appointed term. + Then courage on death's dark field, + Courage! Impossible 'tis + To live for ever and aye. + Life is no hero's robe + Of honour: the dastard vile + Also doffs it at last.'" + +[Sidenote: The Shí`ites.] + +[Sidenote: The theory of Divine Right.] + +The murder of `Uthmán broke the Moslem community, which had hitherto +been undivided, into two _shí`as_, or parties--one for `Alí and the +other for Mu`áwiya. When the latter became Caliph he was no longer a +party leader, but head of the State, and his _shí`a_ ceased to exist. +Henceforth 'the Shí`a' _par excellence_ was the party of `Alí, which +regarded the House of the Prophet as the legitimate heirs to the +succession. Not content, however, with upholding `Alí, as the worthiest +of the Prophet's Companions and the duly elected Caliph, against his +rival, Mu`áwiya, the bolder spirits took up an idea, which emerged about +this time, that the Caliphate belonged to `Alí and his descendants by +Divine right. Such is the distinctive doctrine of the Shí`ites to the +present day. It is generally thought to have originated in Persia, where +the Sásánian kings used to assume the title of 'god' (Pahlaví _bagh_) +and were looked upon as successive incarnations of the Divine majesty. + + [Sidenote: Dozy's account of its origin.] + + "Although the Shí`ites," says Dozy, "often found themselves under + the direction of Arab leaders, who utilised them in order to gain + some personal end, they were nevertheless a Persian sect at bottom; + and it is precisely here that the difference most clearly showed + itself between the Arab race, which loves liberty, and the Persian + race, accustomed to slavish submission. For the Persians, the + principle of electing the Prophet's successor was something unheard + of and incomprehensible. The only principle which they recognised + was that of inheritance, and since Mu[h.]ammad left no sons, they + thought that his son-in-law `Alí should have succeeded him, and that + the sovereignty was hereditary in his family. Consequently, all the + Caliphs except `Alí--_i.e._, Abú Bakr, `Umar, and `Uthmán, as well + as the Umayyads--were in their eyes usurpers to whom no obedience + was due. The hatred which they felt for the Government and for Arab + rule confirmed them in this opinion; at the same time they cast + covetous looks on the wealth of their masters. Habituated, moreover, + to see in their kings the descendants of the inferior divinities, + they transferred this idolatrous veneration to `Alí and his + posterity. Absolute obedience to the Imám of `Alí's House was in + their eyes the most important duty; if that were fulfilled all the + rest might be interpreted allegorically and violated without + scruple. For them the Imám was everything; he was God made man. A + servile submission accompanied by immorality was the basis of their + system."[397] + +[Sidenote: The Saba´ites.] + +[Sidenote: Doctrine of Ibn Sabá.] + +Now, the Shí`ite theory of Divine Right certainly harmonised with +Persian ideas, but was it also of Persian origin? On the contrary, it +seems first to have arisen among an obscure Arabian sect, the Saba´ites, +whose founder, `Abdulláh b. Sabá (properly, Saba´), was a native of +[S.]an`á in Yemen, and is said to have been a Jew.[398] In `Uthmán's +time he turned Moslem and became, apparently, a travelling missionary. +"He went from place to place," says the historian, "seeking to lead the +Moslems into error."[399] We hear of him in the [H.]ijáz, then in +Ba[s.]ra and Kúfa, then in Syria. Finally he settled in Egypt, where he +preached the doctrine of palingenesis (_raj`a_). "It is strange indeed," +he exclaimed, "that any one should believe in the return of Jesus (as +Messias), and deny the return of Mu[h.]ammad, which God has announced +(Kor. xxviii, 85).[400] Furthermore, there are a thousand Prophets, +every one of whom has an executor (_wa[s.]í_), and the executor of +Mu[h.]ammad is `Alí.[401] Mu[h.]ammad is the last of the Prophets, and +`Alí is the last of the executors." Ibn Sabá, therefore, regarded Abú +Bakr, `Umar, and `Uthmán as usurpers. He set on foot a widespread +conspiracy in favour of `Alí, and carried on a secret correspondence +with the disaffected in various provinces of the Empire.[402] According +to Shahrastání, he was banished by `Alí for saying, "Thou art thou" +(_anta anta_), _i.e._, "Thou art God."[403] This refers to the doctrine +taught by Ibn Sabá and the extreme Shí`ites (_Ghulát_) who derive from +him, that the Divine Spirit which dwells in every prophet and passes +successively from one to another was transfused, at Mu[h.]ammad's death, +into `Alí, and from `Alí into his descendants who succeeded him in the +Imámate. The Saba´ites also held that the Imám might suffer a temporary +occultation (_ghayba_), but that one day he would return and fill the +earth with justice. They believed the millennium to be near at hand, so +that the number of Imáms was at first limited to four. Thus the poet +Kuthayyir (+ 723 A.D.) says:-- + + "Four complete are the Imáms + `Alí and his three good sons, + One was faithful and devout; + One, until with waving flags + Dwells on Mount Ra[d.]wá, concealed: + of Quraysh, the lords of Right: + each of them a shining light. + Karbalá hid one from sight; + his horsemen he shall lead to fight, + honey he drinks and water bright."[404] + +[Sidenote: The Mahdí or Messiah.] + +The Messianic idea is not peculiar to the Shí`ites, but was brought into +Islam at an early period by Jewish and Christian converts, and soon +established itself as a part of Mu[h.]ammadan belief. Traditions +ascribed to the Prophet began to circulate, declaring that the approach +of the Last Judgment would be heralded by a time of tumult and +confusion, by the return of Jesus, who would slay the Antichrist +(_Dajjál_), and finally by the coming of the Mahdí, _i.e._, 'the +God-guided one,' who would fill the earth with justice even as it was +then filled with violence and iniquity. This expectation of a Deliverer +descended from the Prophet runs through the whole history of the Shí`a. +As we have seen, their supreme religious chiefs were the Imáms of `Alí's +House, each of whom transmitted his authority to his successor. In the +course of time disputes arose as to the succession. One sect +acknowledged only seven legitimate Imáms, while another carried the +number to twelve. The last Imám of the 'Seveners' (_al-Sab`iyya_), who +are commonly called Ismá`ílís, was Mu[h.]ammad b. Ismá`íl, and of the +'Twelvers' (_al-Ithná-`ashariyya_) Mu[h.]ammad b. al-[H.]asan.[405] Both +those personages vanished mysteriously about 770 and 870 A.D., and their +respective followers, refusing to believe that they were dead, asserted +that their Imám had withdrawn himself for a season from mortal sight, +but that he would surely return at last as the promised Mahdí. It would +take a long while to enumerate all the pretenders and fanatics who have +claimed this title.[406] Two of them founded the Fá[t.]imid and Almohade +dynasties, which we shall mention elsewhere, but they generally died on +the gibbet or the battle-field. The ideal which they, so to speak, +incarnated did not perish with them. Mahdiism, the faith in a divinely +appointed revolution which will sweep away the powers of evil and usher +in a Golden Age of justice and truth such as the world has never known, +is a present and inspiring fact which deserves to be well weighed by +those who doubt the possibility of an Islamic Reformation. + +[Sidenote: Shí`ite gatherings at Karbalá.] + +The Shí`a began as a political faction, but it could not remain so for +any length of time, because in Islam politics always tend to take +religious ground, just as the successful religious reformer invariably +becomes a ruler. The Saba´ites furnished the Shí`ite movement with a +theological basis; and the massacre of [H.]usayn, followed by Mukhtár's +rebellion, supplied the indispensable element of enthusiasm. Within a +few years after the death of [H.]usayn his grave at Karbalá was already +a place of pilgrimage for the Shí`ites. When the 'Penitents' +(_al-Tawwábún_) revolted in 684 they repaired thither and lifted their +voices simultaneously in a loud wail, and wept, and prayed God that He +would forgive them for having deserted the Prophet's grandson in his +hour of need. "O God!" exclaimed their chief, "have mercy on [H.]usayn, +the Martyr and the son of a Martyr, the Mahdí and the son of a Mahdí, +the [S.]iddíq and the son of a [S.]iddíq![407] O God! we bear witness +that we follow their religion and their path, and that we are the foes +of their slayers and the friends of those who love them."[408] Here is +the germ of the _ta`ziyas_, or Passion Plays, which are acted every year +on the 10th of Mu[h.]arram, wherever Shí`ites are to be found. + +[Sidenote: Mukhtár.] + +But the Moses of the Shí`a, the man who showed them the way to victory +although he did not lead them to it, is undoubtedly Mukhtár. He came +forward in the name of `Alí's son, Mu[h.]ammad, generally known as Ibnu +´l-[H.]anafiyya after his mother. Thus he gained the support of the +Arabian Shí`ites, properly so called, who were devoted to `Alí and his +House, and laid no stress upon the circumstance of descent from the +Prophet, whereas the Persian adherents of the Shí`a made it a vital +matter, and held accordingly that only the sons of `Alí by his wife +Fá[t.]ima were fully qualified Imáms. Raising the cry of vengeance for +[H.]usayn, Mukhtár carried this party also along with him. In 686 he +found himself master of Kúfa. Neither the result of his triumph nor the +rapid overthrow of his power concerns us here, but something must be +said about the aims and character of the movement which he headed. + + [Sidenote: The _Mawálí_ of Kúfa.] + + "More than half the population of Kúfa was composed of _Mawálí_ + (Clients), who monopolised handicraft, trade, and commerce. They + were mostly Persians in race and language; they had come to Kúfa as + prisoners of war and had there passed over to Islam: then they were + manumitted by their owners and received as clients into the Arab + tribes, so that they now occupied an ambiguous position + (_Zwitterstellung_), being no longer slaves, but still very + dependent on their patrons; needing their protection, bound to their + service, and forming their retinue in peace and war. In these + _Mawálí_, who were entitled by virtue of Islam to more than the + 'dominant Arabism' allowed them, the hope now dawned of freeing + themselves from clientship and of rising to full and direct + participation in the Moslem state."[409] + +[Sidenote: Mukhtár and the _Mawálí_.] + +[Sidenote: Persian influence on the Shí`a.] + +Mukhtár, though himself an Arab of noble family, trusted the _Mawálí_ +and treated them as equals, a proceeding which was bitterly resented by +the privileged class. "You have taken away our clients who are the booty +which God bestowed upon us together with this country. We emancipated +them, hoping to receive the Divine recompense and reward, but you would +not rest until you made them sharers in our booty."[410] Mukhtár was +only giving the _Mawálí_ their due--they were Moslems and had the right, +as such, to a share in the revenues. To the haughty Arabs, however, it +appeared a monstrous thing that the despised foreigners should be placed +on the same level with themselves. Thus Mukhtár was thrown into the arms +of the _Mawálí_, and the movement now became not so much anti-Umayyad as +anti-Arabian. Here is the turning-point in the history of the Shí`a. Its +ranks were swelled by thousands of Persians imbued with the extreme +doctrines of the Saba´ites which have been sketched above, and animated +by the intense hatred of a downtrodden people towards their conquerors +and oppressors. Consequently the Shí`a assumed a religious and +enthusiastic character, and struck out a new path which led it farther +and farther from the orthodox creed. The doctrine of 'Interpretation' +(_Ta´wíl_) opened the door to all sorts of extravagant ideas. One of the +principal Shí`ite sects, the Háshimiyya, held that "there is an esoteric +side to everything external, a spirit to every form, a hidden meaning +(_ta´wíl_) to every revelation, and to every similitude in this world a +corresponding reality in the other world; that `Alí united in his own +person the knowledge of all mysteries and communicated it to his son +Mu[h.]ammad Ibnu ´l-[H.]anafiyya, who passed it on to his son Abú +Háshim; and that the possessor of this universal knowledge is the true +Imám."[411] So, without ceasing to be Moslems in name, the Shí`ites +transmuted Islam into whatever shape they pleased by virtue of a +mystical interpretation based on the infallible authority of the House +of Mu[h.]ammad, and out of the ruins of a political party there +gradually arose a great religious organisation in which men of the most +diverse opinions could work together for deliverance from the Umayyad +yoke. The first step towards this development was made by Mukhtár, a +versatile genius who seems to have combined the parts of political +adventurer, social reformer, prophet, and charlatan. He was crushed and +his Persian allies were decimated, but the seed which he had sown bore +an abundant harvest when, sixty years later, Abú Muslim unfurled the +black standard of the `Abbásids in Khurásán. + + +[Sidenote: The oldest theological sects.] + +Concerning the origin of the oldest theological sects in Islam, the +Murjites and the Mu`tazilites, we possess too little contemporary +evidence to make a positive statement. It is probable that the latter at +any rate arose, as Von Kremer has suggested, under the influence of +Greek theologians, especially John of Damascus and his pupil, Theodore +Abucara (Abú Qurra), the Bishop of [H.]arrán.[412] Christians were +freely admitted to the Umayyad court. The Christian al-Akh[t.]al was +poet-laureate, while many of his co-religionists held high offices in +the Government. Moslems and Christians exchanged ideas in friendly +discussion or controversially. Armed with the hair-splitting weapons of +Byzantine theology, which they soon learned to use only too well, the +Arabs proceeded to try their edge on the dogmas of Islam. + +[Sidenote: The Murjites.] + +The leading article of the Murjite creed was this, that no one who +professed to believe in the One God could be declared an infidel, +whatever sins he might commit, until God Himself had given judgment +against him.[413] The Murjites were so called because they deferred +(_arja´a_ = to defer) their decision in such cases and left the sinner's +fate in suspense, so long as it was doubtful.[414] This principle they +applied in different ways. For example, they refused to condemn `Alí and +`Uthmán outright, as the Khárijites did. "Both `Alí and `Uthmán," they +said, "were servants of God, and by God alone must they be judged; it is +not for us to pronounce either of them an infidel, notwithstanding that +they rent the Moslem people asunder."[415] On the other hand, the +Murjites equally rejected the pretensions made by the Shí`ites on behalf +of `Alí and by the Umayyads on behalf of Mu`áwiya. For the most part +they maintained a neutral attitude towards the Umayyad Government: they +were passive resisters, content, as Wellhausen puts it, "to stand up for +the impersonal Law." Sometimes, however, they turned the principle of +toleration against their rulers. Thus [H.]árith b. Surayj and other +Arabian Murjites joined the oppressed _Mawálí_ of Khurásán to whom the +Government denied those rights which they had acquired by +conversion.[416] According to the Murjite view, these Persians, having +professed Islam, should no longer be treated as tax-paying infidels. The +Murjites brought the same tolerant spirit into religion. They set faith +above works, emphasised the love and goodness of God, and held that no +Moslem would be damned everlastingly. Some, like Jahm b. [S.]afwán, went +so far as to declare that faith (_ímán_) was merely an inward +conviction: a man might openly profess Christianity or Judaism or any +form of unbelief without ceasing to be a good Moslem, provided only that +he acknowledged Allah with his heart.[417] The moderate school found +their most illustrious representative in Abú [H.]anífa (+ 767 A.D.), and +through this great divine--whose followers to-day are counted by +millions--their liberal doctrines were diffused and perpetuated. + +[Sidenote: The Mu`tazilites.] + +During the Umayyad period Ba[s.]ra was the intellectual capital of +Islam, and in that city we find the first traces of a sect which +maintained the principle that thought must be free in the search for +truth. The origin of the Mu`tazilites (_al-Mu`tazila_), as they are +generally called, takes us back to the famous divine and ascetic, +[H.]asan of Ba[s.]ra (+728 A.D.). One day he was asked to give his +opinion on a point regarding which the Murjites and the Khárijites held +opposite views, namely, whether those who had committed a great sin +should be deemed believers or unbelievers. While [H.]asan was +considering the question, one of his pupils, Wá[s.]il b. `A[t.]á +(according to another tradition, `Amr b. `Ubayd) replied that such +persons were neither believers nor unbelievers, but should be ranked in +an intermediate state. He then turned aside and began to explain the +grounds of his assertion to a group which gathered about him in a +different part of the mosque. [H.]asan said: "Wá[s.]il has separated +himself from us" (_i`tazala `anná_); and on this account the followers +of Wá[s.]il were named 'Mu`tazilites,' _i.e._, Schismatics. Although the +story may not be literally true, it is probably safe to assume that the +new sect originated in Ba[s.]ra among the pupils of [H.]asan,[418] who +was the life and soul of the religious movement of the first century +A.H. The Mu`tazilite heresy, in its earliest form, is connected with the +doctrine of Predestination. On this subject the Koran speaks with two +voices. Mu[h.]ammad was anything but a logically exact and consistent +thinker. He was guided by the impulse of the moment, and neither he nor +his hearers perceived, as later Moslems did, that the language of the +Koran is often contradictory. Thus in the present instance texts which +imply the moral responsibility of man for his actions--_e.g._, "_Every +soul is in pledge_ (with God) _for what it hath wrought_"[419]; "_Whoso +does good benefits himself, and whoso does evil does it against +himself_"[420]--stand side by side with others which declare that God +leads men aright or astray, as He pleases; that the hearts of the wicked +are sealed and their ears made deaf to the truth; and that they are +certainly doomed to perdition. This fatalistic view prevailed in the +first century of Islam, and the dogma of Predestination was almost +universally accepted. Ibn Qutayba, however, mentions the names of +twenty-seven persons who held the opinion that men's actions are +free.[421] Two among them, Ma`bad al-Juhaní and Abú Marwán Ghaylán, who +were put to death by `Abdu ´l-Malik and his son Hishám, do not appear to +have been condemned as heretics, but rather as enemies of the Umayyad +Government.[422] The real founder of the Mu`tazilites was Wá[s.]il b. +`A[t.]á (+ 748 A.D.),[423] who added a second cardinal doctrine to that +of free-will. He denied the existence of the Divine attributes--Power, +Wisdom, Life, &c.--on the ground that such qualities, if conceived as +eternal, would destroy the Unity of God. Hence the Mu`tazilites called +themselves 'the partisans of Unity and Justice' (_Ahlu´l-taw[h.]íd +wa-´l-`adl_): of Unity for the reason which has been explained, and of +Justice, because they held that God was not the author of evil and that +He would not punish His creatures except for actions within their +control. The further development of these Rationalistic ideas belongs to +the `Abbásid period and will be discussed in a subsequent chapter. + + +[Sidenote: Growth of asceticism.] + +[Sidenote: [H.]asan of Ba[s.]ra.] + +The founder of Islam had too much human nature and common sense to +demand of his countrymen such mortifying austerities as were practised +by the Jewish Essenes and the Christian monks. His religion was not +without ascetic features, _e.g._, the Fast of Rama[d.]án, the +prohibition of wine, and the ordinance of the pilgrimage, but these can +scarcely be called unreasonable. On the other hand Mu[h.]ammad condemned +celibacy not only by his personal example but also by precept. "There is +no monkery in Islam," he is reported to have said, and there was in fact +nothing of the kind for more than a century after his death. During this +time, however, asceticism made great strides. It was the inevitable +outcome of the Mu[h.]ammadan conception of Allah, in which the +attributes of mercy and love are overshadowed by those of majesty, awe, +and vengeance. The terrors of Judgment Day so powerfully described in +the Koran were realised with an intensity of conviction which it is +difficult for us to imagine. As Goldziher has observed, an exaggerated +consciousness of sin and the dread of Divine punishment gave the first +impulse to Moslem asceticism. Thus we read that Tamím al-Dárí, one of +the Prophet's Companions, who was formerly a Christian, passed the whole +night until daybreak, repeating a single verse of the Koran (xlv, +20)--"_Do those who work evil think that We shall make them even as +those who believe and do good, so that their life and death shall be +equal? Ill do they judge!_"[424] Abu ´l-Dardá, another of the +Companions, used to say: "If ye knew what ye shall see after death, ye +would not eat food nor drink water from appetite, and I wish that I were +a tree which is lopped and then devoured."[425] There were many who +shared these views, and their determination to renounce the world and to +live solely for God was strengthened by their disgust with a tyrannical +and impious Government, and by the almost uninterrupted spectacle of +bloodshed, rapine, and civil war. [H.]asan of Ba[s.]ra (+ 728)--we have +already met him in connection with the Mu`tazilites--is an outstanding +figure in this early ascetic movement, which proceeded on orthodox +lines.[426] Fear of God seized on him so mightily that, in the words of +his biographer, "it seemed as though Hell-fire had been created for him +alone."[427] All who looked on his face thought that he must have been +recently overtaken by some great calamity.[428] One day a friend saw him +weeping and asked him the cause. "I weep," he replied, "for fear that I +have done something unwittingly and unintentionally, or committed some +fault, or spoken some word which is unpleasing to God: then He may have +said, 'Begone, for now thou hast no more honour in My court, and +henceforth I will not receive anything from thee.'"[429] Al-Mubarrad +relates that two monks, coming from Syria, entered Ba[s.]ra and looked +at [H.]asan, whereupon one said to the other, "Let us turn aside to +visit this man, whose way of life appears like that of the Messiah." So +they went, and they found him supporting his chin on the palm of his +hand, while he was saying--"How I marvel at those who have been ordered +to lay in a stock of provisions and have been summoned to set out on a +journey, and yet the foremost of them stays for the hindermost! Would +that I knew what they are waiting for!"[430] The following utterances +are characteristic:-- + + "God hath made fasting a hippodrome (place or time of training) for + His servants, that they may race towards obedience to Him.[431] Some + come in first and win the prize, while others are left behind and + return disappointed; and by my life, if the lid were removed, the + well-doer would be diverted by his well-doing, and the evildoer by + his evil-doing, from wearing new garments or from anointing his + hair."[432] + + "You meet one of them with white skin and delicate complexion, + speeding along the path of vanity: he shaketh his hips and clappeth + his sides and saith, 'Here am I, recognise me!' Yes, we recognise + thee, and thou art hateful to God and hateful to good men."[433] + + "The bounties of God are too numerous to be acknowledged unless with + His help, and the sins of Man are too numerous for him to escape + therefrom unless God pardon them."[434] + + "The wonder is not how the lost were lost, but how the saved were + saved."[435] + + "Cleanse ye these hearts (by meditation and remembrance of God), for + they are quick to rust; and restrain ye these souls, for they desire + eagerly, and if ye restrain them not, they will drag you to an evil + end."[436] + +[Sidenote: [H.]asan of Ba[s.]ra not a genuine [S.]úfí.] + +The [S.]úfís, concerning whom we shall say a few words presently, claim +[H.]asan as one of themselves, and with justice in so far as he attached +importance to spiritual righteousness, and was not satisfied with merely +external acts of devotion. "A grain of genuine piety," he declared, "is +better than a thousandfold weight of fasting and prayer."[437] But +although some of his sayings which are recorded in the later biographies +lend colour to the fiction that he was a full-blown [S.]úfí, there can +be no doubt that his mysticism--if it deserves that name--was of the +most moderate type, entirely lacking the glow and exaltation which we +find in the saintly woman, Rábi`a al-`Adawiyya, with whom legend +associates him.[438] + + +[Sidenote: The derivation of '[S.]úfí.'] + +[Sidenote: The beginnings of [S.]úfiism.] + +The origin of the name '[S.]úfí' is explained by the [S.]úfís themselves +in many different ways, but of the derivations which have been proposed +only three possess any claim to consideration, viz., those which connect +it with [Greek: sophos] (wise) or with _[s.]afá_ (purity) or with +_[s.]úf_ (wool).[439] The first two are inadmissible on linguistic +grounds, into which we need not enter, though it may be remarked that +the derivation from _[s.]afá_ is consecrated by the authority of the +[S.]úfí Saints, and is generally accepted in the East.[440] The reason +for this preference appears in such definitions as "The [S.]úfí is he +who keeps his heart pure (_[s.]áfí_) with God,"[441] "[S.]úfiism is 'the +being chosen for purity' (_i[s.][t.]ifá_): whoever is thus chosen and +made pure from all except God is the true [S.]úfí."[442] Understood in +this sense, the word had a lofty significance which commended it to the +elect. Nevertheless it can be tracked to a quite humble source. Woollen +garments were frequently worn by men of ascetic life in the early times +of Islam in order (as Ibn Khaldún says) that they might distinguish +themselves from those who affected a more luxurious fashion of dress. +Hence the name '[S.]úfí,' which denotes in the first instance an ascetic +clad in wool (_[s.]úf_), just as the Capuchins owed their designation to +the hood (_cappuccio_) which they wore. According to Qushayrí, the term +came into common use before the end of the second century of the Hijra +(= 815 A.D.). By this time, however, the ascetic movement in Islam had +to some extent assumed a new character, and the meaning of '[S.]úfí,' if +the word already existed, must have undergone a corresponding change. It +seems to me not unlikely that the epithet in question marks the point of +departure from orthodox asceticism and that, as Jámí states, it was +first applied to Abú Háshim of Kúfa (_ob._ before 800 _A.D._), who +founded a monastery (_khánaqáh_) for [S.]úfís at Ramla in Palestine. Be +that as it may, the distinction between asceticism (_zuhd_) and +[S.]úfiism--a distinction which answers, broadly speaking, to the _via +purgativa_ and the _via illuminativa_ of Western mediæval +mysticism--begins to show itself before the close of the Umayyad period, +and rapidly develops in the early `Abbásid age under the influence of +foreign ideas and, in particular, of Greek philosophy. Leaving this +later development to be discussed in a subsequent chapter, we shall now +briefly consider the origin of [S.]úfiism properly so called and the +first manifestation of the peculiar tendencies on which it is based. + + +As regards its origin, we cannot do better than quote the observations +with which Ibn Khaldún (+ 1406 A.D.) introduces the chapter on +[S.]úfiism in the Prolegomena to his great historical work:-- + + [Sidenote: Ibn Khaldún's account of the origin of [S.]úfiism.] + + "This is one of the religious sciences which were born in Islam. The + way of the [S.]úfís was regarded by the ancient Moslems and their + illustrious men--the Companions of the Prophet (_al-[S.]a[h.]ába_), + the Successors (_al-Tábi`ún_), and the generation which came after + them--as the way of Truth and Salvation. To be assiduous in piety, + to give up all else for God's sake, to turn away from worldly gauds + and vanities, to renounce pleasure, wealth, and power, which are the + general objects of human ambition, to abandon society and to lead in + seclusion a life devoted solely to the service of God--these were + the fundamental principles of [S.]úfiism which prevailed among the + Companions and the Moslems of old time. When, however, in the second + generation and afterwards worldly tastes became widely spread, and + men no longer shrank from such contamination, those who made piety + their aim were distinguished by the title of _[S.]úfís_ or + _Muta[s.]awwifa_ (aspirants to [S.]úfiism).[443] + +[Sidenote: The earliest form of [S.]úfiism.] + +From this it is clear that [S.]úfiism, if not originally identical with +the ascetic revolt of which, as we have seen, [H.]asan of Ba[s.]ra was +the most conspicuous representative, at any rate arose out of that +movement. It was not a speculative system, like the Mu`tazilite heresy, +but a practical religion and rule of life. "We derived [S.]úfiism," said +Junayd, "from fasting and taking leave of the world and breaking +familiar ties and renouncing what men deem good; not from disputation" +(_qíl wa-qál_).[444] The oldest [S.]úfís were ascetics and hermits, but +they were also something more. They brought out the spiritual and +mystical element in Islam, or brought it in, if they did not find it +there already. + +[Sidenote: The difference between asceticism and [S.]úfiism.] + +"[S.]úfiism," says Suhrawardí,[445] "is neither 'poverty' (_faqr_) nor +asceticism (_zuhd_), but a term which comprehends the ideas of both, +together with something besides. Without these superadded qualities a +man is not a [S.]úfí, though he may be an ascetic (_záhid_) or a fakír +(_faqír_). It is said that, notwithstanding the excellence of 'poverty,' +the end thereof is only the beginning of [S.]úfiism." A little further +on he explains the difference thus:-- + + "The fakír holds fast to his 'poverty' and is profoundly convinced + of its superior merit. He prefers it to riches because he longs for + the Divine recompense of which his faith assures him ... and whenever + he contemplates the everlasting reward, he abstains from the + fleeting joys of this world and embraces poverty and indigence and + fears that if he should cease to be 'poor' he will lose both the + merit and the prize. Now this is absolutely unsound according to the + doctrine of the [S.]úfís, because he hopes for recompense and + renounces the world on that account, whereas the [S.]úfí does not + renounce it for the sake of promised rewards but, on the contrary, + for the sake of present 'states,' for he is the 'son of his + time.'...[446] The theory that 'poverty' is the foundation of + [S.]úfiism signifies that the diverse stages of [S.]úfiism are + reached by the road of 'poverty'; it does not imply that the [S.]úfí + is essentially a fakír." + +[Sidenote: The early [S.]úfís.] + +The keynote of [S.]úfiism is disinterested, selfless devotion, in a +word, Love. Though not wholly strange, this idea was very far from being +familiar to pious Mu[h.]ammadans, who were more deeply impressed by the +power and vengeance of God than by His goodness and mercy. The Koran +generally represents Allah as a stern, unapproachable despot, requiring +utter submission to His arbitrary will, but infinitely unconcerned with +human feelings and aspirations. Such a Being could not satisfy the +religious instinct, and the whole history of [S.]úfiism is a protest +against the unnatural divorce between God and Man which this conception +involves. Accordingly, I do not think that we need look beyond Islam for +the origin of the [S.]úfí doctrines, although it would be a mistake not +to recognise the part which Christian influence must have had in shaping +their early development. The speculative character with which they +gradually became imbued, and which in the course of time completely +transformed them, was more or less latent during the Umayyad period and +for nearly a century after the accession of the House of `Abbás. The +early [S.]úfís are still on orthodox ground: their relation to Islam is +not unlike that of the mediæval Spanish mystics to the Roman Catholic +Church. They attach extraordinary value to certain points in +Mu[h.]ammad's teaching and emphasise them so as to leave the others +almost a dead letter. They do not indulge in profound dialectic, but +confine themselves to matters bearing on practical theology. +Self-abandonment, rigorous self-mortification, fervid piety, and +quietism carried to the verge of apathy form the main features of their +creed. + +[Sidenote: Ibráhím b. Adham.] + +A full and vivid picture of early [S.]úfiism might be drawn from the +numerous biographies in Arabic and Persian, which supply abundant +details concerning the manner of life of these Mu[h.]ammadan Saints, and +faithfully record their austerities, visions, miracles, and sayings. +Here we have only space to add a few lines about the most important +members of the group--Ibráhím b. Adham, Abú `Alí Shaqíq, Fu[d.]ayl b. +`Iyá[d.], and Rábi`a--all of whom died between the middle and end of the +second century after the Hijra (767-815 A.D.). Ibráhím belonged to the +royal family of Balkh. Forty scimitars of gold and forty maces of gold +were borne in front of him and behind. One day, while hunting, he heard +a voice which cried, "Awake! wert thou created for this?" He exchanged +his splendid robes for the humble garb and felt cap of a shepherd, bade +farewell to his kingdom, and lived for nine years in a cave near +Naysábúr.[447] His customary prayer was, "O God, uplift me from the +shame of disobedience to the glory of submission unto Thee!" + + "O God!" he said, "Thou knowest that the Eight Paradises are little + beside the honour which Thou hast done unto me, and beside Thy love, + and beside Thy giving me intimacy with the praise of Thy name, and + beside the peace of mind which Thou hast given me when I meditate on + Thy majesty." And again: "You will not attain to righteousness until + you traverse six passes (_`aqabát_): the first is that you shut the + door of pleasure and open the door of hardship; the second, that you + shut the door of eminence and open the door of abasement; the third, + that you shut the door of ease and open the door of affliction; the + fourth, that you shut the door of sleep and open the door of + wakefulness; the fifth, that you shut the door of riches and open + the door of poverty; and the sixth, that you shut the door of + expectation and open the door of making yourself ready for death." + +[Sidenote: Shaqíq of Balkh.] + +[Sidenote: Fu[d.]ayl b. `Iyá[d.].] + +[Sidenote: Rábi`a al-`Adawiyya.] + +Shaqíq, also of Balkh, laid particular stress on the duty of leaving +one's self entirely in God's hands (_tawakkul_), a term which is +practically synonymous with passivity; _e.g._, the _mutawakkil_ must +make no effort to obtain even the barest livelihood, he must not ask for +anything, nor engage in any trade: his business is with God alone. One +of Shaqíq's sayings was, "Nine-tenths of devotion consist in flight from +mankind, the remaining tenth in silence." Similarly, Fu[d.]ayl b. +`Iyá[d.], a converted captain of banditti, declared that "to abstain for +men's sake from doing anything is hypocrisy, while to do anything for +men's sake is idolatry." It may be noticed as an argument against the +Indian origin of [S.]úfiism that although the three [S.]úfís who have +been mentioned were natives of Khurásán or Transoxania, and therefore +presumably in touch with Buddhistic ideas, no trace can be found in +their sayings of the doctrine of dying to self (_faná_), which plays a +great part in subsequent [S.]úfiism, and which Von Kremer and others +have identified with _Nirvána_. We now come to a more interesting +personality, in whom the ascetic and quietistic type of [S.]úfiism is +transfigured by emotion and begins clearly to reveal the direction of +its next advance. Every one knows that women have borne a distinguished +part in the annals of European mysticism: St. Teresa, Madame Guyon, +Catharine of Siena, and Juliana of Norwich, to mention but a few names +at random. And notwithstanding the intellectual death to which the +majority of Moslem women are condemned by their Prophet's ordinance, the +[S.]úfís, like the Roman Catholics, can boast a goodly number of female +saints. The oldest of these, and by far the most renowned, is Rábi`a, +who belonged to the tribe of `Adí, whence she is generally called Rábi`a +al-`Adawiyya. She was a native of Ba[s.]ra and died at Jerusalem, +probably towards the end of the second century of Islam: her tomb was an +object of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages, as we learn from Ibn Khallikán +(+ 1282 A.D.). Although the sayings and verses attributed to her by +[S.]úfí writers may be of doubtful authenticity, there is every reason +to suppose that they fairly represent the actual character of her +devotion, which resembled that of all feminine mystics in being inspired +by tender and ardent feeling. She was asked: "Do you love God Almighty?" +"Yes." "Do you hate the Devil?" "My love of God," she replied, "leaves +me no leisure to hate the Devil. I saw the Prophet in a dream. He said, +'O Rábi`a, do you love me?' I said, 'O Apostle of God, who does not love +thee?--but love of God hath so absorbed me that neither love nor hate of +any other thing remains in my heart.'" Rábi`a is said to have spoken the +following verses:-- + + "Two ways I love Thee: selfishly, + And next, as worthy is of Thee. + 'Tis selfish love that I do naught + Save think on Thee with every thought; + 'Tis purest love when Thou dost raise + The veil to my adoring gaze. + Not mine the praise in that or this, + Thine is the praise in both, I wis."[448] + +Whether genuine or not, these lines, with their mixture of devotion and +speculation--the author distinguishes the illuminative from the +contemplative life and manifestly regards the latter as the more +excellent way--serve to mark the end of the ascetic school of [S.]úfiism +and the rise of a new theosophy which, under the same name and still +professing to be in full accord with the Koran and the _Sunna_, was +founded to some extent upon ideas of extraneous origin--ideas +irreconcilable with any revealed religion, and directly opposed to the +severe and majestic simplicity of the Mu[h.]ammadan articles of faith. + + +[Sidenote: Umayyad literature.] + +[Sidenote: The decline of Arabian poetry not due to Mu[h.]ammad.] + +[Sidenote: The Umayyad poets.] + +The opening century of Islam was not favourable to literature. At first +conquest, expansion, and organisation, then civil strife absorbed the +nation's energies; then, under the Umayyads, the old pagan spirit +asserted itself once more. Consequently the literature of this period +consists almost exclusively of poetry, which bears few marks of Islamic +influence. I need scarcely refer to the view which long prevailed in +Europe that Mu[h.]ammad corrupted the taste of his countrymen by setting +up the Koran as an incomparable model of poetic style, and by condemning +the admired productions of the heathen bards and the art of poetry +itself; nor remind my readers that in the first place the Koran is not +poetical in form (so that it could not serve as a model of this kind), +and secondly, according to Mu[h.]ammadan belief, is the actual Word of +God, therefore _sui generis_ and beyond imitation. Again, the poets whom +the Prophet condemned were his most dangerous opponents: he hated them +not as poets but as propagators and defenders of false ideals, and +because they ridiculed his teaching, while on the contrary he honoured +and rewarded those who employed their talents in the right way. If the +nomad minstrels and cavaliers who lived, as they sang, the free life of +the desert were never equalled by the brilliant laureates of imperial +Damascus and Baghdád, the causes of the decline cannot be traced to +Mu[h.]ammad's personal attitude, but are due to various circumstances +for which he is only responsible in so far as he founded a religious and +political system that revolutionised Arabian society. The poets of the +period with which we are now dealing follow slavishly in the footsteps +of the ancients, as though Islam had never been. Instead of celebrating +the splendid victories and heroic deeds of Moslem warriors, the bard +living in a great city still weeps over the relics of his beloved's +encampment in the wilderness, still rides away through the sandy waste +on the peerless camel, whose fine points he particularly describes; and +if he should happen to be addressing the Caliph, it is ten to one that +he will credit that august personage with all the virtues of a Bedouin +Shaykh. "Fortunately the imitation of the antique _qa[s.]ída_, at any +rate with the greatest Umayyad poets, is to some extent only accessory +to another form of art that excites our historical interest in a high +degree: namely, the occasional poems (very numerous in almost all these +writers), which are suggested by the mood of the moment and can shed a +vivid light on contemporary history."[449] + + +[Sidenote: Music and song in the Holy Cities.] + +[Sidenote: `Umar b. Abí Rabí`a.] + +The conquests made by the successors of the Prophet brought enormous +wealth into Mecca and Medína, and when the Umayyad aristocracy gained +the upper hand in `Uthmán's Caliphate, these towns developed a +voluptuous and dissolute life which broke through every restriction that +Islam had imposed. The increase of luxury produced a corresponding +refinement of the poetic art. Although music was not unknown to the +pagan Arabs, it had hitherto been cultivated chiefly by foreigners, +especially Greek and Persian singing-girls. But in the first century +after the Hijra we hear of several Arab singers,[450] natives of Mecca +and Medína, who set favourite passages to music: henceforth the words +and the melody are inseparably united, as we learn from the _Kitábu +´l-Aghání_ or 'Book of Songs,' where hundreds of examples are to be +found. Amidst the gay throng of pleasure-seekers women naturally played +a prominent part, and love, which had hitherto formed in most cases +merely the conventional prelude to an ode, now began to be sung for its +own sake. In this Peninsular school, as it may be named in contrast with +the bold and masculine strain of the great Provincial poets whom we are +about to mention, the palm unquestionably belongs to `Umar b. Abí Rabí`a +(+ 719 A.D.), the son of a rich Meccan merchant. He passed the best part +of his life in the pursuit of noble dames, who alone inspired him to +sing. His poetry was so seductive that it was regarded by devout Moslems +as "the greatest crime ever committed against God," and so charming +withal that `Abdulláh b. `Abbás, the Prophet's cousin and a famous +authority on the Koran and the Traditions, could not refrain from +getting by heart some erotic verses which `Umar recited to him.[451] The +Arabs said, with truth, that the tribe of Quraysh had won distinction in +every field save poetry, but we must allow that `Umar b. Abí Rabí`a is a +clear exception to this rule. His diction, like that of Catullus, has +all the unaffected ease of refined conversation. Here are a few lines:-- + + "Blame me no more, O comrades! but to-day + Quietly with me beside the howdahs stay. + Blame not my love for Zaynab, for to her + And hers my heart is pledged a prisoner. + Ah, can I ever think of how we met + Once at al-Khayf, and feel no fond regret? + My song of other women was but jest: + She reigns alone, eclipsing all the rest. + Hers is my love sincere, 'tis she the flame + Of passion kindles--so, a truce to blame!"[452] + +[Sidenote: Love-ballads.] + +We have no space to dwell on the minor poets of the same school, +al-`Arjí (a kinsman of the Umayyads), al-A[h.]wa[s.], and many others. +It has been pointed out by Dr. C. Brockelmann that the love-poetry of +this epoch is largely of popular origin; _e.g._, the songs attributed to +Jamíl, in which Buthayna is addressed, and to Majnún--the hero of +countless Persian and Turkish romances which celebrate his love for +Laylá--are true folk-songs such as occur in the _Arabian Nights_, and +may be heard in the streets of Beyrout or on the banks of the Tigris at +the present day. Many of them are extremely beautiful. I take the +following verses from a poem which is said to have been composed by +Jamíl:-- + + "Oh, might it flower anew, that youthful prime, + And restore to us, Buthayna, the bygone time! + And might we again be blest as we wont to be, + When thy folk were nigh and grudged what thou gavest me! + + Shall I ever meet Buthayna alone again, + Each of us full of love as a cloud of rain? + Fast in her net was I when a lad, and till + This day my love is growing and waxing still. + + I have spent my lifetime, waiting for her to speak, + And the bloom of youth is faded from off my cheek; + But I will not suffer that she my suit deny, + My love remains undying, though all things die!"[453] + +[Sidenote: Poetry in the provinces.] + +The names of al-Akh[t.]al, al-Farazdaq, and Jarír stand out +pre-eminently in the list of Umayyad poets. They were men of a very +different stamp from the languishing Minnesingers and carpet-knights +who, like Jamíl, refused to battle except on the field of love. It is +noteworthy that all three were born and bred in Mesopotamia. The +motherland was exhausted; her ambitious and enterprising youth poured +into the provinces, which now become the main centres of intellectual +activity. + +[Sidenote: The _Naqá´i[d.]_ of Jarír and Farazdaq.] + +[Sidenote: General interest in poetry.] + +Farazdaq and Jarír are intimately connected by a peculiar +rivalry--"_Arcades ambo_--_id est_, blackguards both." For many years +they engaged in a public scolding-match (_muháját_), and as neither had +any scruples on the score of decency, the foulest abuse was bandied to +and fro between them--abuse, however, which is redeemed from vulgarity +by its literary excellence, and by the marvellous skill which the +satirists display in manipulating all the vituperative resources of the +Arabic language. Soon these 'Flytings' (_Naqá´i[d.]_) were recited +everywhere, and each poet had thousands of enthusiastic partisans who +maintained that he was superior to his rival.[454] One day Muhallab b. +Abí Sufra, the governor of Khurásán, who was marching against the +Azáriqa, a sect of the Khárijites, heard a great clamour and tumult in +the camp. On inquiring its cause, he found that the soldiers had been +fiercely disputing as to the comparative merits of Jarír and Farazdaq, +and desired to submit the question to his decision. "Would you expose +me," said Muhallab, "to be torn in pieces by these two dogs? I will not +decide between them, but I will point out to you those who care not a +whit for either of them. Go to the Azáriqa! They are Arabs who +understand poetry and judge it aright." Next day, when the armies faced +each other, an Azraqite named `Abída b. Hilál stepped forth from the +ranks and offered single combat. One of Muhallab's men accepted the +challenge, but before fighting he begged his adversary to inform him +which was the better poet--Farazdaq or Jarír? "God confound you!" cried +`Abída, "do you ask me about poetry instead of studying the Koran and +the Sacred Law?" Then he quoted a verse by Jarír and gave judgment in +his favour.[455] This incident affords a striking proof that the taste +for poetry, far from being confined to literary circles, was diffused +throughout the whole nation, and was cultivated even amidst the fatigues +and dangers of war. Parallel instances occur in the history of the +Athenians, the most gifted people of the West, and possibly elsewhere, +but imagine British soldiers discussing questions of that kind over the +camp-fires! + +Akh[t.]al joined in the fray. His sympathies were with Farazdaq, and the +_naqá´i[d.]_ which he and Jarír composed against each other have come +down to us. All these poets, like their Post-islamic brethren generally, +were professional encomiasts, greedy, venal, and ready to revile any one +who would not purchase their praise. Some further account of them may be +interesting to the reader, especially as the anecdotes related by their +biographers throw many curious sidelights on the manners of the time. + +[Sidenote: Akh[t.]al.] + +The oldest of the trio, Akh[t.]al (Ghiyáth b. Ghawth) of Taghlib, was a +Christian, like most of his tribe--they had long been settled in +Mesopotamia--and remained in that faith to the end of his life, though +the Caliph `Abdu ´l-Malik is said to have offered him a pension and +10,000 dirhems in cash if he would turn Moslem. His religion, however, +was less a matter of principle than of convenience, and to him the +supreme virtue of Christianity lay in the licence which it gave him to +drink wine as often as he pleased. The stories told of him suggest +grovelling devoutness combined with very easy morals, a phenomenon +familiar to the student of mediæval Catholicism. It is related by one +who was touring in Syria that he found Akh[t.]al confined in a church at +Damascus, and pleaded his cause with the priest. The latter stopped +beside Akh[t.]al and raising the staff on which he leaned--for he was an +aged man--exclaimed: "O enemy of God, will you again defame people and +satirise them and caluminate chaste women?" while the poet humbled +himself and promised never to repeat the offence. When asked how it was +that he, who was honoured by the Caliph and feared by all, behaved so +submissively to this priest, he answered, "It is religion, it is +religion."[456] On another occasion, seeing the Bishop pass, he cried to +his wife who was then pregnant, "Run after him and touch his robe." The +poor woman only succeeded in touching the tail of the Bishop's ass, but +Akh[t.]al consoled her with the remark, "He and the tail of his ass, +there's no difference!"[457] It is characteristic of the anti-Islamic +spirit which appears so strongly in the Umayyads that their chosen +laureate and champion should have been a Christian who was in truth a +lineal descendant of the pagan bards. Pious Moslems might well be +scandalised when he burst unannounced into the Caliph's presence, +sumptuously attired in silk and wearing a cross of gold which was +suspended from his neck by a golden chain, while drops of wine trickled +from his beard,[458] but their protests went unheeded at the court of +Damascus, where nobody cared whether the author of a fine verse was a +Moslem or a Christian, and where a poet was doubly welcome whose +religion enabled him to serve his masters without any regard to +Mu[h.]ammadan sentiment; so that, for example, when Yazíd I wished to +take revenge on the people of Medína because one of their poets had +addressed amatory verses to his sister, he turned to Akh[t.]al, who +branded the _An[s.]ár_, the men who had brought about the triumph of +Islam, in the famous lines-- + + "Quraysh have borne away all the honour and glory, + And baseness alone is beneath the turbans of the An[s.]ár."[459] + +We must remember that the poets were leaders of public opinion; their +utterances took the place of political pamphlets or of party oratory for +or against the Government of the day. On hearing Akh[t.]al's ode in +praise of the Umayyad dynasty,[460] `Abdu ´l-Malik ordered one of his +clients to conduct the author through the streets of Damascus and to cry +out, "Here is the poet of the Commander of the Faithful! Here is the +best poet of the Arabs!"[461] No wonder that he was a favourite at court +and such an eminent personage that the great tribe of Bakr used to +invite him to act as arbitrator whenever any controversy arose among +them.[462] Despite the luxury in which he lived, his wild Bedouin nature +pined for freedom, and he frequently left the capital to visit his home +in the desert, where he not only married and divorced several wives, but +also threw himself with ardour into the feuds of his clan. We have +already noticed the part which he played in the literary duel between +Jarír and Farazdaq. From his deathbed he sent a final injunction to +Farazdaq not to spare their common enemy. + +Akh[t.]al is commended by Arabian critics for the number and excellence +of his long poems, as well as for the purity, polish, and correctness of +his style. Abú `Ubayda put him first among the poets of Islam, while the +celebrated collector of Pre-islamic poetry, Abú `Amr b. al-`Alá, +declared that if Akh[t.]al had lived a single day in the Pagan Age he +would not have preferred any one to him. His supremacy in panegyric was +acknowledged by Farazdaq, and he himself claims to have surpassed all +competitors in three styles, viz., panegyric, satire, and erotic poetry; +but there is more justification for the boast that his satires might be +recited _virginibus_--he does not add _puerisque_--without causing a +blush.[463] + + +[Sidenote: Farazdaq.] + +Hammám b. Ghálib, generally known as Farazdaq, belonged to the tribe of +Tamím, and was born at Ba[s.]ra towards the end of `Umar's Caliphate, +His grandfather, [S.]a`[s.]a`a, won renown in Pre-islamic times by +ransoming the lives of female infants whom their parents had condemned +to die (on account of which he received the title, _Mu[h.]yi +´l-Maw´údát_, 'He who brings the buried girls to life'), and his father +was likewise imbued with the old Bedouin traditions of liberality and +honour, which were rapidly growing obsolete among the demoralised +populace of `Iráq. Farazdaq was a _mauvais sujet_ of the type +represented by François Villon, reckless, dissolute, and thoroughly +unprincipled: apart from his gift of vituperation, we find nothing in +him to admire save his respect for his father's memory and his constant +devotion to the House of `Alí, a devotion which he scorned to conceal; +so that he was cast into prison by the Caliph Hishám for reciting in his +presence a glowing panegyric on `Alí's grandson, Zaynu ´l-`Ábidín. The +tragic fate of [H.]usayn at Karbalá affected him deeply, and he called +on his compatriots to acquit themselves like men-- + + "If ye avenge not him, the son of the best of you, + Then fling, fling the sword away and naught but the spindle ply."[464] + +While still a young man, he was expelled from his native city in +consequence of the lampoons which he directed against a noble family of +Ba[s.]ra, the Banú Nahshal. Thereupon he fled to Medína, where he +plunged into gallantry and dissipation until a shameless description of +one of his intrigues again drew upon him the sentence of banishment. His +poems contain many references to his cousin Nawár, whom, by means of a +discreditable trick, he forced to marry him when she was on the point of +giving her hand to another. The pair were ever quarrelling, and at last +Farazdaq consented to an irrevocable divorce, which was witnessed by +[H.]asan of Ba[s.]ra, the famous theologian. No sooner was the act +complete than Farazdaq began to wish it undone, and he spoke the +following verses:--[465] + + "I feel repentance like al-Kusa`í,[466] + Now that Nawár has been divorced by me. + She was my Paradise which I have lost, + Like Adam when the Lord's command he crossed. + I am one who wilfully puts out his eyes, + Then dark to him the shining day doth rise!" + +'The repentance of Farazdaq,' signifying bitter regret or +disappointment, passed into a proverb. He died a few months before Jarír +in 728 A.D., a year also made notable by the deaths of two illustrious +divines, [H.]asan of Ba[s.]ra and Ibn Sírín. + + +[Sidenote: Jarír.] + +Jarír b. `Atiyya belonged to Kulayb, a branch of the same tribe, Tamím, +which produced Farazdaq. He was the court-poet of [H.]ajjáj, the dreaded +governor of `Iráq, and eulogised his patron in such extravagant terms as +to arouse the jealousy of the Caliph `Abdu ´l-Malik, who consequently +received him, on his appearance at Damascus, with marked coldness and +hauteur. But when, after several repulses, he at length obtained +permission to recite a poem which he had composed in honour of the +prince, and came to the verse-- + + "Are not ye the best of those who on camel ride, + More open-handed than all in the world beside?"-- + +the Caliph sat up erect on his throne and exclaimed: "Let us be praised +like this or in silence!"[467] Jarír's fame as a satirist stood so high +that to be worsted by him was reckoned a greater distinction than to +vanquish any one else. The blind poet, Bashshár b. Burd (+ 783 A.D.), +said: "I satirised Jarír, but he considered me too young for him to +notice. Had he answered me, I should have been the finest poet in the +world."[468] The following anecdote shows that vituperation launched by +a master like Jarír was a deadly and far-reaching weapon which degraded +its victim in the eyes of his contemporaries, however he might deserve +their esteem, and covered his family and tribe with lasting disgrace. + + There was a poet of repute, well known by the name of Rá`i ´l-ibil + (Camel-herd), who loudly published his opinion that Farazdaq was + superior to Jarír, although the latter had lauded his tribe, the + Banú Numayr, whereas Farazdaq had made verses against them. One day + Jarír met him and expostulated with him but got no reply. Rá`í was + riding a mule and was accompanied by his son, Jandal, who said to + his father: "Why do you halt before this dog of the Banú Kulayb, as + though you had anything to hope or fear from him?" At the same time + he gave the mule a lash with his whip. The animal started violently + and kicked Jarír, who was standing by, so that his cap fell to the + ground. Rá`í took no heed and went on his way. Jarír picked up the + cap, brushed it, and replaced it on his head. Then he exclaimed in + verse:-- + + "_O Jandal! what will say Numayr of you + When my dishonouring shaft has pierced thy sire?_" + + He returned home full of indignation, and after the evening prayer, + having called for a jar of date-wine and a lamp, he set about his + work. An old woman in the house heard him muttering, and mounted the + stairs to see what ailed him. She found him crawling naked on his + bed, by reason of that which was within him; so she ran down, crying + "He is mad," and described what she had seen to the people of the + house. "Get thee gone," they said, "we know what he is at." By + daybreak Jarír had composed a satire of eighty verses against the + Banú Numayr. When he finished the poem, he shouted triumphantly, + "_Allah Akbar!_" and rode away to the place where he expected to + find Rá`í ´l-ibil and Farazdaq and their friends. He did not salute + Rá`í but immediately began to recite. While he was speaking Farazdaq + and Rá`í bowed their heads, and the rest of the company sat + listening in silent mortification. When Jarír uttered the final + words-- + + "_Cast down thine eyes for shame! for thou art of + Numayr--no peer of Ka`b nor yet Kiláb_"-- + + Rá`í rose and hastened to his lodging as fast as his mule could + carry him. "Saddle! Saddle!" he cried to his comrades; "you cannot + stay here longer, Jarír has disgraced you all." They left Ba[s.]ra + without delay to rejoin their tribe, who bitterly reproached Rá`í + for the ignominy which he had brought upon Numayr; and hundreds of + years afterwards his name was still a byword among his people.[469] + +[Sidenote: Dhu ´l-Rumma.] + +Next, but next at a long interval, to the three great poets of this +epoch comes Dhu ´l-Rumma (Ghaylán b. `Uqba), who imitated the odes of +the desert Arabs with tiresome and monotonous fidelity. The philologists +of the following age delighted in his antique and difficult style, and +praised him far above his merits. It was said that poetry began with +Imru´u ´l-Qays and ended with Dhu ´l-Rumma; which is true in the sense +that he is the last important representative of the pure Bedouin school. + + +[Sidenote: Prose writers of the Umayyad period.] + +Concerning the prose writers of the period we can make only a few +general observations, inasmuch as their works have almost entirely +perished.[470] In this branch of literature the same secular, +non-Mu[h.]ammadan spirit prevailed which has been mentioned as +characteristic of the poets who flourished under the Umayyad dynasty, +and of the dynasty itself. Historical studies were encouraged and +promoted by the court of Damascus. We have referred elsewhere to `Abíd +b. Sharya, a native of Yemen, whose business it was to dress up the old +legends and purvey them in a readable form to the public. Another +Yemenite of Persian descent, Wahb b. Munabbih, is responsible for a +great deal of the fabulous lore belonging to the domain of _Awá´il_ +(Origins) which Moslem chroniclers commonly prefix to their historical +works. There seems to have been an eager demand for narratives of the +Early Wars of Islam (_maghází_). It is related that the Caliph `Abdu +´l-Malik, seeing one of these books in the hands of his son, ordered it +to be burnt, and enjoined him to study the Koran instead. This anecdote +shows on the part of `Abdu ´l-Malik a pious feeling with which he is +seldom credited,[471] but it shows also that histories of a legendary +and popular character preceded those which were based, like the +_Maghází_ of Músá b. `Uqba (+ 758 A.D.) and Ibn Is[h.]áq's _Biography of +the Prophet_, upon religious tradition. No work of the former class has +been preserved. The strong theological influence which asserted itself +in the second century of the Hijra was unfavourable to the development +of an Arabian prose literature on national lines. In the meantime, +however, learned doctors of divinity began to collect and write down the +_[H.]adíths_. We have a solitary relic of this sort in the _Kitábu +´l-Zuhd_ (Book of Asceticism) by Asad b. Músá (+ 749 A.D.). The most +renowned traditionist of the Umayyad age is Mu[h.]ammad b. Muslim b. +Shiháb al-Zuhrí (+ 742 A.D.), who distinguished himself by accepting +judicial office under the tyrants; an act of complaisance to which his +more stiff-necked and conscientious brethren declined to stoop. + + +[Sidenote: The non-Arabian Moslems.] + +It was the lust of conquest even more than missionary zeal that caused +the Arabs to invade Syria and Persia and to settle on foreign soil, +where they lived as soldiers at the expense of the native population +whom they inevitably regarded as an inferior race. If the latter thought +to win respect by embracing the religion of their conquerors, they found +themselves sadly mistaken. The new converts were attached as clients +(_Mawálí_, sing. _Mawlá_) to an Arab tribe: they could not become +Moslems on any other footing. Far from obtaining the equal rights which +they coveted, and which, according to the principles of Islam, they +should have enjoyed, the _Mawálí_ were treated by their aristocratic +patrons with contempt, and had to submit to every kind of social +degradation, while instead of being exempted from the capitation-tax +paid by non-Moslems, they still remained liable to the ever-increasing +exactions of Government officials. And these 'Clients,' be it +remembered, were not ignorant serfs, but men whose culture was +acknowledged by the Arabs themselves--men who formed the backbone of the +influential learned class and ardently prosecuted those studies, +Divinity and Jurisprudence, which were then held in highest esteem. Here +was a situation full of danger. Against Shí`ites and Khárijites the +Umayyads might claim with some show of reason to represent the cause of +law and order, if not of Islam; against the bitter cry of the oppressed +_Mawálí_ they had no argument save the sword. + + +[Sidenote: Presages of the Revolution.] + +We have referred above to the universal belief of Moslems in a Messiah +and to the extraordinary influence of that belief on their religious and +political history. No wonder that in this unhappy epoch thousands of +people, utterly disgusted with life as they found it, should have +indulged in visions of 'a good time coming,' which was expected to +coincide with the end of the first century of the Hijra. Mysterious +predictions, dark sayings attributed to Mu[h.]ammad himself, prophecies +of war and deliverance floated to and fro. Men pored over apocryphal +books, and asked whether the days of confusion and slaughter +(_al-harj_), which, it is known, shall herald the appearance of the +Mahdí, had not actually begun. + +The final struggle was short and decisive. When it closed, the Umayyads +and with them the dominion of the Arabs had passed away. Alike in +politics and literature, the Persian race asserted its supremacy. We +shall now relate the story of this Revolution as briefly as possible, +leaving the results to be considered in a new chapter. + +[Sidenote: The `Abbásids.] + +[Sidenote: `Abbásid propaganda in Khurásán.] + +While the Shí`ite missionaries (_du`át_, sing. _dá`í_) were actively +engaged in canvassing for their party, which, as we have seen, +recognised in `Alí and his descendants the only legitimate successors to +Mu[h.]ammad, another branch of the Prophet's family--the `Abbásids--had +entered the field with the secret intention of turning the labours of +the `Alids to their own advantage. From their ancestor, `Abbás, the +Prophet's uncle, they inherited those qualities of caution, duplicity, +and worldly wisdom which ensure success in political intrigue. +`Abdulláh, the son of `Abbás, devoted his talents to theology and +interpretation of the Koran. He "passes for one of the strongest pillars +of religious tradition; but, in the eyes of unprejudiced European +research, he is only a crafty liar." His descendants "lived in deep +retirement in [H.]umayma, a little place to the south of the Dead Sea, +seemingly far withdrawn from the world, but which, on account of its +proximity to the route by which Syrian pilgrims went to Mecca, afforded +opportunities for communication with the remotest lands of Islam. From +this centre they carried on the propaganda in their own behalf with the +utmost skill. They had genius enough to see that the best soil for their +efforts was the distant Khurásán--that is, the extensive north-eastern +provinces of the old Persian Empire."[472] These countries were +inhabited by a brave and high-spirited people who in consequence of +their intolerable sufferings under the Umayyad tyranny, the devastation +of their homes and the almost servile condition to which they had been +reduced, were eager to join in any desperate enterprise that gave them +hope of relief. Moreover, the Arabs in Khurásán were already to a large +extent Persianised: they had Persian wives, wore trousers, drank wine, +and kept the festivals of Nawrúz and Mihrgán; while the Persian language +was generally understood and even spoken among them.[473] Many +interesting details as to the methods of the `Abbásid emissaries will be +found in Van Vloten's admirable work.[474] Starting from Kúfa, the +residence of the Grand Master who directed the whole agitation, they +went to and fro in the guise of merchants or pilgrims, cunningly +adapting their doctrine to the intelligence of those whom they sought to +enlist. Like the Shí`ites, they canvassed for 'the House of the +Prophet,' an ambiguous expression which might equally well be applied to +the descendants of `Alí or of `Abbás, as is shown by the following +table:-- + + + HÁSHIM. + | + `Abdu ´l-Mu[t.][t.]alib. + | + +----------------------------+----------------+ + | | | + `Abdulláh. Abú [T.]álib. `Abbás. + | | + Mu[h.]ammad (the Prophet). `Alí (married to Fá[t.]ima, daughter of + the Prophet). + +[Sidenote: The Shí`ites join hands with the `Abbásids.] + +It was, of course, absolutely essential to the `Abbásids that they +should be able to count on the support of the powerful Shí`ite +organisation, which, ever since the abortive rebellion headed by Mukhtár +(see p. 218 _supra_) had drawn vast numbers of Persian _Mawálí_ into its +ranks. Now, of the two main parties of the Shí`a, viz., the Háshimites +or followers of Mu[h.]ammad Ibnu ´l-[H.]anafiyya, and the Imámites, who +pinned their faith to the descendants of the Prophet through his +daughter Fá[t.]ima, the former had virtually identified themselves with +the `Abbásids, inasmuch as the Imám Abú Háshim, who died in 716 A.D., +bequeathed his hereditary rights to Mu[h.]ammad b. `Alí, the head of the +House of `Abbás. It only remained to hoodwink the Imámites. Accordingly +the `Abbásid emissaries were instructed to carry on their propaganda in +the name of Háshim, the common ancestor of `Abbás and `Alí. By means of +this ruse they obtained a free hand in Khurásán, and made such progress +that the governor of that province, Na[s.]r b. Sayyár, wrote to the +Umayyad Caliph, Marwán, asking for reinforcements, and informing him +that two hundred thousand men had sworn allegiance to Abú Muslim, the +principal `Abbásid agent. At the foot of his letter he added these +lines:-- + + "I see the coal's red glow beneath the embers, + And 'tis about to blaze! + The rubbing of two sticks enkindles fire, + And out of words come frays. + 'Oh! is Umayya's House awake or sleeping?' + I cry in sore amaze."[475] + +We have other verses by this gallant and loyal officer in which he +implores the Arab troops stationed in Khurásán, who were paralysed by +tribal dissensions, to turn their swords against "a mixed rabble without +religion or nobility":-- + + "'Death to the Arabs'--that is all their creed."[476] + +[Sidenote: Declaration of war.] + +[Sidenote: Abú Muslim.] + +These warnings, however, were of no avail, and on June 9th, A.D. 747, +Abú Muslim displayed the black banner of the `Abbásids at Siqadanj, near +Merv, which city he occupied a few months later. The triumphant advance +of the armies of the Revolution towards Damascus recalls the celebrated +campaign of Cæsar, when after crossing the Rubicon he marched on Rome. +Nor is Abú Muslim, though a freedman of obscure parentage--he was +certainly no Arab--unworthy to be compared with the great patrician. "He +united," says Nöldeke, "with an agitator's adroitness and perfect +unscrupulosity in the choice of means the energy and clear outlook of a +general and statesman, and even of a monarch."[477] Grim, ruthless, +disdaining the pleasures of ordinary men, he possessed the faculty in +which Cæsar excelled of inspiring blind obedience and enthusiastic +devotion. To complete the parallel, we may mention here that Abú Muslim +was treacherously murdered by Man[s.]úr, the second Caliph of the House +which he had raised to the throne, from motives exactly resembling those +which Shakespeare has put in the mouth of Brutus-- + + "So Caesar may: + Then, lest he may, prevent. And since the quarrel + Will bear no colour for the thing he is, + Fashion it thus: that what he is, augmented, + Would run to these and these extremities; + And therefore think him as a serpent's egg + Which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous, + And kill him in the shell." + +[Sidenote: Accession of Abu ´l-`Abbás al-Saffá[h.].] + +The downfall of the Umayyads was hastened by the perfidy and selfishness +of the Arabs on whom they relied: the old feud between Mu[d.]ar and +Yemen broke out afresh, and while the Northern group remained loyal to +the dynasty, those of Yemenite stock more or less openly threw in their +lot with the Revolution. We need not attempt to trace the course of the +unequal contest. Everywhere the Arabs, disheartened and divided, fell an +easy prey to their adversaries, and all was lost when Marwán, the last +Umayyad Caliph, sustained a crushing defeat on the River Záb in +Babylonia (January, A.D. 750). Meanwhile Abu ´l-`Abbás, the head of the +rival House, had already received homage as Caliph (November, 749 A.D.). +In the inaugural address which he delivered in the great Mosque of Kúfa, +he called himself _al-Saffá[h.]_, _i.e._, 'the Blood-shedder,'[478] and +this title has deservedly stuck to him, though it might have been +assumed with no less justice by his brother Mansúr and other members of +his family. All Umayyads were remorselessly hunted down and massacred in +cold blood--even those who surrendered only on the strength of the most +solemn pledges that they had nothing to fear. A small remnant made their +escape, or managed to find shelter until the storm of fury and +vengeance, which spared neither the dead nor the living,[479] had blown +over. One stripling, named `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán, fled to North Africa, and +after meeting with many perilous adventures founded a new Umayyad +dynasty in Spain. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDÁD + + +The annals of the `Abbásid dynasty from the accession of Saffá[h.] (A.D. +749) to the death of Musta`[s.]im, and the destruction of Baghdád by the +Mongols (A.D. 1258) make a round sum of five centuries. I propose to +sketch the history of this long period in three chapters, of which the +first will offer a general view of the more important literary and +political developments so far as is possible in the limited space at my +command; the second will be devoted to the great poets, scholars, +historians, philosophers, and scientists who flourished in this, the +Golden Age of Mu[h.]ammadan literature; while in the third some account +will be given of the chief religious movements and of the trend of +religious thought. + + +[Sidenote: Political results of the Revolution.] + +The empire founded by the Caliph `Umar and administered by the Umayyads +was essentially, as the reader will have gathered, a military +organisation for the benefit of the paramount race. In theory, no doubt, +all Moslems were equal, but in fact the Arabs alone ruled--a privilege +which national pride conspired with personal interest to maintain. We +have seen how the Persian Moslems asserted their right to a share in the +government. The Revolution which enthroned the `Abbásids marks the +beginning of a Moslem, as opposed to an Arabian, Empire. The new +dynasty, owing its rise to the people of Persia, and especially of +Khurásán, could exist only by establishing a balance of power between +Persians and Arabs. That this policy was not permanently successful will +surprise no one who considers the widely diverse characteristics of the +two races, but for the next fifty years the rivals worked together in +tolerable harmony, thanks to the genius of Man[s.]úr and the +conciliatory influence of the Barmecides, by whose overthrow the +alliance was virtually dissolved. In the ensuing civil war between the +sons of Hárún al-Rashíd the Arabs fought on the side of Amín while the +Persians supported Ma´mún, and henceforth each race began to follow an +independent path. The process of separation, however, was very gradual, +and long before it was completed the religious and intellectual life of +both nationalities had become inseparably mingled in the full stream of +Moslem civilisation. + + +[Sidenote: The choice of a new capital.] + +[Sidenote: Foundation of Baghdád.] + +The centre of this civilisation was the province of `Iráq (Babylonia), +with its renowned metropolis, Baghdád, 'the City of Peace' (_Madínatu +´l-Salám_). Only here could the `Abbásids feel themselves at home. +"Damascus, peopled by the dependants of the Omayyads, was out of the +question. On the one hand it was too far from Persia, whence the power +of the `Abbásids was chiefly derived; on the other hand it was +dangerously near the Greek frontier, and from here, during the troublous +reigns of the last Omayyads, hostile incursions on the part of the +Christians had begun to avenge former defeats. It was also beginning to +be evident that the conquests of Islam would, in the future, lie to the +eastward towards Central Asia, rather than to the westward at the +further expense of the Byzantines. Damascus, on the highland of Syria, +lay, so to speak, dominating the Mediterranean and looking westward, but +the new capital that was to supplant it must face east, be near Persia, +and for the needs of commerce have water communication with the sea. +Hence everything pointed to a site on either the Euphrates or the +Tigris, and the `Abbásids were not slow to make their choice."[480] +After carefully examining various sites, the Caliph Man[s.]úr fixed on a +little Persian village, on the west bank of the Tigris, called Baghdád, +which, being interpreted, means 'given (or 'founded') by God'; and in +A.D. 762 the walls of the new city began to rise. Man[s.]úr laid the +first brick with his own hand, and the work was pushed forward with +astonishing rapidity under his personal direction by masons, architects, +and surveyors, whom he gathered out of different countries, so that 'the +Round City,' as he planned it, was actually finished within the short +space of four years. + + +[Sidenote: Despotic character of `Abbásid rule.] + +[Sidenote: The Vizier.] + +The same circumstances which caused the seat of empire to be transferred +to Baghdád brought about a corresponding change in the whole system of +government. Whereas the Umayyads had been little more than heads of a +turbulent Arabian aristocracy, their successors reverted to the old type +of Oriental despotism with which the Persians had been familiar since +the days of Darius and Xerxes. Surrounded by a strong bodyguard of +troops from Khurásán, on whose devotion they could rely, the `Abbásids +ruled with absolute authority over the lives and properties or their +subjects, even as the Sásánian monarchs had ruled before them. Persian +fashions were imitated at the court, which was thronged with the +Caliph's relatives and freedmen (not to mention his womenfolk), besides +a vast array of uniformed and decorated officials. Chief amongst these +latter stood two personages who figure prominently in the _Arabian +Nights_--the Vizier and the Executioner. The office of Vizier is +probably of Persian origin, although in Professor De Goeje's opinion the +word itself is Arabic.[481] The first who bore this title in `Abbásid +times was Abú Salama, the minister of Saffá[h.]: he was called _Wazíru +Áli Mu[h.]ammadin_, 'the Vizier of Mu[h.]ammad's Family.' It was the +duty of the Vizier to act as intermediary between the omnipotent +sovereign and his people, to counsel him in affairs of State, and, above +all, to keep His Majesty in good humour. He wielded enormous power, but +was exposed to every sort of intrigue, and never knew when he might be +interned in a dungeon or despatched in the twinkling of an eye by the +grim functionary presiding over the _na[t.]`_, or circular carpet of +leather, which lay beside the throne and served as a scaffold. + + +[Sidenote: Two periods of `Abbásid history.] + +We can distinguish two periods in the history of the `Abbásid House: one +of brilliant prosperity inaugurated by Man[s.]úr and including the +reigns of Mahdí, Hárún al-Rashíd, Ma´mún, Mu`tasim, and Wáthiq--that is +to say, nearly a hundred years in all (754-847 A.D.); the other, more +than four times as long, commencing with Mutawakkil (847-861 A.D.)--a +period of decline rapidly sinking, after a brief interval which gave +promise of better things, into irremediable decay.[482] + +[Sidenote: Reign of Man[s.]úr (754-775 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Outbreaks in Persia.] + +Cruel and treacherous, like most of his family, Abú Ja`far Man[s.]úr was +perhaps the greatest ruler whom the `Abbásids produced.[483] He had to +fight hard for his throne. The `Alids, who deemed themselves the true +heirs of the Prophet in virtue of their descent from Fá[t.]ima, rose in +rebellion against the usurper, surprised him in an unguarded moment, and +drove him to such straits that during seven weeks he never changed his +dress except for public prayers. But once more the `Alids proved +incapable of grasping their opportunity. The leaders, Mu[h.]ammad, who +was known as 'The Pure Soul' (_al-Nafs al-zakiyya_), and his brother +Ibráhím, fell on the battle-field. Under Mahdí and Hárún members of the +House of `Alí continued to 'come out,' but with no better success. In +Eastern Persia, where strong national feelings interwove themselves with +Pre-Mu[h.]ammadan religious ideas, those of Mazdak and Zoroaster in +particular, the `Abbásids encountered a formidable opposition which +proclaimed its vigour and tenacity by the successive revolts of Sinbádh +the Magian (755-756 A.D.), Ustádhsís (766-768), Muqanna`, the 'Veiled +Prophet of Khurásán' (780-786), and Bábak the Khurramite (816-838).[484] + +[Sidenote: Man[s.]úr's advice to Mahdí.] + +Man[s.]úr said to his son Mahdi, "O Abú `Abdalláh, when you sit in +company, always have divines to converse with you; for Mu[h.]ammad b. +Shiháb al-Zuhrí said, 'The word _[h.]adíth_ (Apostolic Tradition) is +masculine: only virile men love it, and only effeminate men dislike it'; +and he spoke the truth."[485] + +[Sidenote: Man[s.]úr and the poet.] + +On one occasion a poet came to Mahdí, who was then heir-apparent, at +Rayy, and recited a panegyric in his honour. The prince gave him 20,000 +dirhems. Thereupon the postmaster of Rayy informed Man[s.]úr, who wrote +to his son reproaching him for such extravagance. "What you should have +done," he said, "was to let him wait a year at your door, and after that +time bestow on him 4,000 dirhems." He then caused the poet to be +arrested and brought into his presence. "You went to a heedless youth +and cajoled him?" "Yes, God save the Commander of the Faithful, I went +to a heedless, generous youth and cajoled him, and he suffered himself +to be cajoled." "Recite your eulogy of him." The poet obeyed, not +forgetting to conclude his verses with a compliment to Man[s.]úr. +"Bravo!" cried the Caliph, "but they are not worth 20,000 dirhems. Where +is the money?" On its being produced he made him a gift of 4,000 dirhems +and confiscated the remainder.[486] + +[Sidenote: The Barmecides.] + +[Sidenote: Ya[h.]yá b. Khálid.] + +Notwithstanding irreconcilable parties--`Alids, Persian extremists, and +(we may add) Khárijites--the policy of _rapprochement_ was on the whole +extraordinarily effective. In carrying it out the Caliphs received +powerful assistance from a noble and ancient Persian family, the +celebrated Barmakites or Barmecides. According to Mas`údí,[487] Barmak +was originally a title borne by the High Priest (_sádin_) of the great +Magian fire-temple at Balkh. Khálid, the son of one of these +dignitaries--whence he and his descendants were called Barmakites +(_Barámika_)--held the most important offices of state under Saffá[h.] +and Man[s.]úr. Ya[h.]yá, the son of Khálid, was entrusted with the +education of Hárún al-Rashíd, and on the accession of the young prince +he was appointed Grand Vizier. "My dear father!" said the Caliph, "it is +through the blessings and the good fortune which attend you, and through +your excellent management, that I am seated on the throne;[488] so I +commit to you the direction of affairs." He then handed to him his +signet-ring. Ya[h.]yá was distinguished (says the biographer) for +wisdom, nobleness of mind, and elegance of language.[489] Although he +took a truly Persian delight in philosophical discussion, for which +purpose freethinking scholars and eminent heretics used often to meet +in his house, he was careful to observe the outward forms of piety. It +may be said of the `Abbásids generally that, whatever they might do or +think in private, they wore the official badge of Islam ostentatiously +on their sleeves. The following verses which Ya[h.]yá addressed to his +son Fa[d.]l are very characteristic:--[490] + + "Seek glory while 'tis day, no effort spare, + And patiently the loved one's absence bear; + But when the shades of night advancing slow + O'er every vice a veil of darkness throw, + Beguile the hours with all thy heart's delight: + The day of prudent men begins at night. + Many there be, esteemed of life austere, + Who nightly enter on a strange career. + Night o'er them keeps her sable curtain drawn, + And merrily they pass from eve to dawn. + Who but a fool his pleasures would expose + To spying rivals and censorious foes?" + +[Sidenote: Fall of the Barmecides (803 A.D.).] + +For seventeen years Ya[h.]yá and his two sons, Fa[d.]l and Ja`far, +remained deep in Hárún's confidence and virtual rulers of the State +until, from motives which have been variously explained, the Caliph +resolved to rid himself of the whole family. The story is too well known +to need repetition.[491] Ja`far alone was put to death: we may conclude, +therefore, that he had specially excited the Caliph's anger; and those +who ascribe the catastrophe to his romantic love-affair with Hárún's +sister, `Abbása, are probably in the right.[492] Hárún himself seems to +have recognised, when it was too late, how much he owed to these great +Persian barons whose tactful administration, unbounded generosity, and +munificent patronage of literature have shed immortal lustre on his +reign. Afterwards, if any persons spoke ill of the Barmecides in his +presence, he would say (quoting the verse of [H.]u[t.]ay´a):--[493] + + "O slanderers, be your sire of sire bereft![494] + Give o'er, or fill the gap which they have left." + +[Sidenote: Hárún al-Rashíd (786-809 A.D.).] + +Hárún's orthodoxy, his liberality, his victories over the Byzantine +Emperor Nicephorus, and last but not least the literary brilliance of +his reign have raised him in popular estimation far above all the other +Caliphs: he is the Charlemagne of the East, while the entrancing pages +of the _Thousand and One Nights_ have made his name a household word in +every country of Europe. Students of Moslem history will soon discover +that "the good Haroun Alraschid" was in fact a perfidious and irascible +tyrant, whose fitful amiability and real taste for music and letters +hardly entitle him to be described either as a great monarch or a good +man. We must grant, however, that he thoroughly understood the noble art +of patronage. The poets Abú Nuwás, Abu ´l-`Atáhiya, Di`bil, Muslim b. +Walíd, and `Abbás b. A[h.]naf; the musician Ibráhím of Mosul and his son +Is[h.]áq; the philologists Abú `Ubayda, A[s.]ma`í, and Kisá´í; the +preacher Ibnu ´l-Sammák; and the historian Wáqidí--these are but a few +names in the galaxy of talent which he gathered around him at Baghdád. + +[Sidenote: Amín and Ma´mún (809-833 A.D.).] + +The fall of the Barmecides revived the spirit of racial antagonism which +they had done their best to lay, and an open rupture was rendered +inevitable by the short-sighted policy of Hárún with regard to the +succession. He had two grown-up sons, Amín, by his wife and cousin +Zubayda, and Ma´mún, whose mother was a Persian slave. It was arranged +that the Caliphate should pass to Amín and after him to his brother, but +that the Empire should be divided between them. Amín was to receive +`Iráq and Syria, Ma´mún the eastern provinces, where the people would +gladly welcome a ruler of their own blood. The struggle for supremacy +which began almost immediately on the death of Hárún was in the main one +of Persians against Arabs, and by Ma´mún's triumph the Barmecides were +amply avenged. + +[Sidenote: Ma´mún's heresies.] + +[Sidenote: Rise of independent dynasties.] + +[Sidenote: Turkish mercenaries introduced.] + +[Sidenote: Decline of the Caliphate.] + +The new Caliph was anything but orthodox. He favoured the Shí`ite party +to such an extent that he even nominated the `Alid, `Alí b. Músá b. +Ja`far al-Ri[d.]á, as heir-apparent--a step which alienated the members +of his own family and led to his being temporarily deposed. He also +adopted the opinions of the Mu`tazilite sect and established an +Inquisition to enforce them. Hence the Sunnite historian, Abu +´l-Ma[h.]ásin, enumerates three principal heresies of which Ma´mún was +guilty: (1) His wearing of the Green (_labsu ´l-Khu[d.]ra_)[495] and +courting the `Alids and repulsing the `Abbásids; (2) his affirming that +the Koran was created (_al-qawl bi-Khalqi ´l-Qur´án_); and (3) his +legalisation of the _mut`a_, a loose form of marriage prevailing amongst +the Shí`ites.[496] We shall see in due course how keenly and with what +fruitful results Ma´mún interested himself in literature and science. +Nevertheless, it cannot escape our attention that in this splendid reign +there appear ominous signs of political decay. In 822 A.D. [T.]áhir, one +of Ma´mún's generals, who had been appointed governor of Khurásán, +omitted the customary mention of the Caliph's name from the Friday +sermon (_khu[t.]ba_), thus founding the [T.]ahirid dynasty, which, +though professing allegiance to the Caliphs, was practically +independent. [T.]áhir was only the first of a long series of ambitious +governors and bold adventurers who profited by the weakening authority +of the Caliphs to carve out kingdoms for themselves. Moreover, the +Moslems of `Iráq had lost their old warlike spirit: they were fine +scholars and merchants, but poor soldiers. So it came about that +Ma´mún's successor, the Caliph Mu`ta[s.]im (833-842 A.D.), took the +fatal step of surrounding himself with a Prætorian Guard chiefly +composed of Turkish recruits from Transoxania. At the same time he +removed his court from Baghdád sixty miles further up the Tigris to +Sámarrá, which suddenly grew into a superb city of palaces and +barracks--an Oriental Versailles.[497] Here we may close our brief +review of the first and flourishing period of the `Abbásid Caliphate. +During the next four centuries the Caliphs come and go faster than ever, +but for the most part their authority is precarious, if not purely +nominal. Meanwhile, in the provinces of the Empire petty dynasties +arise, only to eke out an obscure and troubled existence, or powerful +states are formed, which carry on the traditions of Mu[h.]ammadan +culture, it may be through many generations, and in some measure restore +the blessings of peace and settled government to an age surfeited with +anarchy and bloodshed. Of these provincial empires we have now +principally to speak, confining our view, for the most part, to the +political outlines, and reserving the literary and religious aspects of +the period for fuller consideration elsewhere. + +[Sidenote: The Second `Abbásid Period (847-1258 A.D.).] + +The reigns of Mutawakkil (847-861 A.D.) and his immediate successors +exhibit all the well-known features of Prætorian rule. Enormous sums +were lavished on the Turkish soldiery, who elected and deposed the +Caliph just as they pleased, and enforced their insatiable demands by +mutiny and assassination. For a short time (869-907 A.D.) matters +improved under the able and energetic Muhtadí and the four Caliphs who +followed him; but the Turks soon regained the upper hand. From this date +every vestige of real power is centred in the Generalissimo (_Amíru +´l-Umará_) who stands at the head of the army, while the once omnipotent +Caliph must needs be satisfied with the empty honour of having his name +stamped on the coinage and celebrated in the public prayers. The +terrorism of the Turkish bodyguard was broken by the Buwayhids, a +Persian dynasty, who ruled in Baghdád from 945 to 1055 A.D. Then the +Seljúq supremacy began with [T.]ughril Beg's entry into the capital and +lasted a full century until the death of Sanjar (1157 A.D.). The Mongols +who captured Baghdád in 1258 A.D. brought the pitiable farce of the +Caliphate to an end. + + [Sidenote: Dynasties of the early `Abbásid Age.] + + "The empire of the Caliphs at its widest," as Stanley Lane-Poole + observes in his excellent account of the Mu[h.]ammadan dynasties, + "extended from the Atlantic to the Indus, and from the Caspian to + the cataracts of the Nile. So vast a dominion could not long be held + together. The first step towards its disintegration began in Spain, + where `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán, a member of the suppressed Umayyad family, + was acknowledged as an independent sovereign in A.D. 755, and the + `Abbásid Caliphate was renounced for ever. Thirty years later Idrís, + a great-grandson of the Caliph `Alí, and therefore equally at + variance with `Abbásids and Umayyads, founded an `Alid dynasty in + Morocco. The rest of the North African coast was practically lost to + the Caliphate when the Aghlabid governor established his authority + at Qayrawán in A.D. 800." + +[Sidenote: Dynasties of the Second Period. 872 A.D.] + +[Sidenote: The Sámánids (874-999 A.D.).] + +Amongst the innumerable kingdoms which supplanted the decaying Caliphate +only a few of the most important can be singled out for special notice +on account of their literary or religious interest.[498] To begin with +Persia: in Khurásán, which was then held by the [T.]áhirids, fell into +the hands of Ya`qúb b. Layth the Coppersmith (_al-[S.]affár_), founder +of the [S.]affárids, who for thirty years stretched their sway over a +great part of Persia, until they were dispossessed by the Sámánids. The +latter dynasty had the seat of its power in Transoxania, but during the +first half of the tenth century practically the whole of Persia +submitted to the authority of Ismá`íl and his famous successors, Na[s.]r +II and Nú[h.] I. Not only did these princes warmly encourage and foster +the development, which had already begun, of a national literature in +the Persian language--it is enough to recall here the names of Rúdagí, +the blind minstrel and poet; Daqíqí, whose fragment of a Persian Epic +was afterwards incorporated by Firdawsí in his _Sháhnáma_; and Bal`amí, +the Vizier of Man[s.]úr I, who composed an abridgment of [T.]abarí's +great history, which is one of the oldest prose works in Persian that +have come down to us--but they extended the same favour to poets and men +of learning who (though, for the most part, of Persian extraction) +preferred to use the Arabic language. Thus the celebrated Rhazes (Abú +Bakr al-Rází) dedicated to the Sámánid prince Abú [S.]áli[h.] Man[s.]úr +b. Isháq a treatise on medicine, which he entitled _al-Kitáb +al-Man[s.]úrí_ (the Book of Man[s.]úr) in honour of his patron. The +great physician and philosopher, Abú `Alí b. Síná (Avicenna) relates +that, having been summoned to Bukhárá by King Nú[h.], the second of that +name (976-997 A.D.), he obtained permission to visit the royal library. +"I found there," he says, "many rooms filled with books which were +arranged in cases row upon row. One room was allotted to works on Arabic +philology and poetry; another to jurisprudence, and so forth, the books +on each particular science having a room to themselves. I inspected the +catalogue of ancient Greek authors and looked for the books which I +required: I saw in this collection books of which few people have heard +even the names, and which I myself have never seen either before or +since."[499] + +[Sidenote: The Buwayhids (932-1055 A.D.).] + +The power of the Sámánids quickly reached its zenith, and about the +middle of the tenth century they were confined to Khurásán and +Transoxania, while in Western Persia their place was taken by the +Buwayhids. Abú Shujá` Buwayh, a chieftain of Daylam, the mountainous +province lying along the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, was one of +those soldiers of fortune whom we meet with so frequently in the history +of this period. His three sons, `Alí, A[h.]mad, and [H.]asan, embarked +on the same adventurous career with such energy and success, that in the +course of thirteen years they not only subdued the provinces of Fárs and +Khúzistán, but in 945 A.D. entered Baghdád at the head of their +Daylamite troops and assumed the supreme command, receiving from the +Caliph Mustakfí the honorary titles of `Imádu ´l-Dawla, Mu`izzu +´l-Dawla, and Ruknu ´l-Dawla. Among the princes of this House, who +reigned over Persia and `Iráq during the next hundred years, the most +eminent was `A[d.]udu ´l-Dawla, of whom it is said by Ibn Khallikán that +none of the Buwayhids, notwithstanding their great power and authority, +possessed so extensive an empire and held sway over so many kings and +kingdoms as he. The chief poets of the day, including Mutanabbí, visited +his court at Shíráz and celebrated his praises in magnificent odes. He +also built a great hospital in Baghdád, the Bímáristán al-`A[d.]udí, +which was long famous as a school of medicine. The Viziers of the +Buwayhid family contributed in a quite unusual degree to its literary +renown. Ibnu ´l-`Amíd, the Vizier of Ruknu ´l-Dawla, surpassed in +philology and epistolary composition all his contemporaries; hence he +was called 'the second Já[h.]i[z.],' and it was a common saying that +"the art of letter-writing began with `Abdu ´l-[H.]amíd and ended with +Ibnu ´l-`Amíd."[500] His friend, the [S.]á[h.]ib Ismá`íl b. `Abbád, +Vizier to Mu´ayyidu ´l-Dawla and Fakhru ´l-Dawla, was a distinguished +savant, whose learning was only eclipsed by the liberality of his +patronage. In the latter respect Sábúr b. Ardashír, the prime minister +of Abú Na[s.]r Bahá´u ´l-Dawla, vied with the illustrious [S.]á[h.]ib. +He had so many encomiasts that Tha`álibí devotes to them a whole chapter +of the _Yatíma_. The Academy which he founded at Baghdád, in the Karkh +quarter, and generously endowed, was a favourite haunt of literary men, +and its members seem to have enjoyed pretty much the same privileges as +belong to the Fellows of an Oxford or Cambridge College.[501] + +Like most of their countrymen, the Buwayhids were Shí`ites in religion. +We read in the Annals of Abu ´l-Ma[h.]ásin under the year 341 A.H. = 952 +A.D.:-- + + [Sidenote: Zeal of the Buwayhids for Shí`ite principles.] + + "In this year the Vizier al-Muhallabí arrested some persons who held + the doctrine of metempsychosis (_tanásukh_). Among them were a youth + who declared that the spirit of `Alí b. Abí [T.]álib had passed into + his body, and a woman who claimed that the spirit of Fá[t.]ima was + dwelling in her; while another man pretended to be Gabriel. On being + flogged, they excused themselves by alleging their relationship to + the Family of the Prophet, whereupon Mu`izzu ´l-Dawla ordered them + to be set free. This he did because of his attachment to Shí`ism. It + is well known," says the author in conclusion, "that the Buwayhids + were Shí`ites and Ráfi[d.]ites."[502] + +[Sidenote: The Ghaznevids (976-1186 A.D.).] + +Three dynasties contemporary with the Buwayhids have still to be +mentioned: the Ghaznevids in Afghanistan, the [H.]amdánids in Syria, and +the Fá[t.]imids in Egypt. Sabuktagín, the founder of the first-named +dynasty, was a Turkish slave. His son, Ma[h.]múd, who succeeded to the +throne of Ghazna in 998 A.D., made short work of the already tottering +Sámánids, and then sweeping far and wide over Northern India, began a +series of conquests which, before his death in 1030 A.D., reached from +Lahore to Samarcand and I[s.]fahán. Although the Persian and +Transoxanian provinces of his huge empire were soon torn away by the +Seljúqs, Ma[h.]múd's invasion of India, which was undertaken with the +object of winning that country for Islam, permanently established +Mu[h.]ammadan influence, at any rate in the Panjáb. As regards their +religious views, the Turkish Ghaznevids stand in sharp contrast with the +Persian houses of Sámán and Buwayh. It has been well said that the true +genius of the Turks lies in action, not in speculation. When Islam came +across their path, they saw that it was a simple and practical creed +such as the soldier requires; so they accepted it without further +parley. The Turks have always remained loyal to Islam, the Islam of Abú +Bakr and `Umar, which is a very different thing from the Islam of +Shí`ite Persia. Ma[h.]múd proved his orthodoxy by banishing the +Mu`tazilites of Rayy and burning their books together with the +philosophical and astronomical works that fell into his hands; but on +the same occasion he carried off a hundred camel-loads of presumably +harmless literature to his capital. That he had no deep enthusiasm for +letters is shown, for example, by his shabby treatment of the poet +Firdawsí. Nevertheless, he ardently desired the glory and prestige +accruing to a sovereign whose court formed the rallying-point of all +that was best in the literary and scientific culture of the day, and +such was Ghazna in the eleventh century. Besides the brilliant group of +Persian poets, with Firdawsí at their head, we may mention among the +Arabic-writing authors who flourished under this dynasty the historians +al-`Utbí and al-Bírúní. + +[Sidenote: The [H.]amdánids (929-1003 A.D.).] + +While the Eastern Empire of Islam was passing into the hands of Persians +and Turks, we find the Arabs still holding their own in Syria and +Mesopotamia down to the end of the tenth century. These Arab and +generally nomadic dynasties were seldom of much account. The +[H.]amdánids of Aleppo alone deserve to be noticed here, and that +chiefly for the sake of the peerless Sayfu ´l-Dawla, a worthy descendant +of the tribe of Taghlib, which in the days of heathendom produced the +poet-warrior, `Amr b. Kulthúm. `Abdulláh b. [H.]amdán was appointed +governor of Mosul and its dependencies by the Caliph Muktafí in 905 +A.D., and in 942 his sons [H.]asan and `Alí received the complimentary +titles of Ná[s.]iru ´l-Dawla (Defender of the State) and Sayfu ´l-Dawla +(Sword of the State). Two years later Sayfu ´l-Dawla captured Aleppo and +brought the whole of Northern Syria under his dominion. During a reign +of twenty-three years he was continuously engaged in harrying the +Byzantines on the frontiers of Asia Minor, but although he gained some +glorious victories, which his laureate Mutanabbí has immortalised, the +fortune of war went in the long run steadily against him, and his +successors were unable to preserve their little kingdom from being +crushed between the Byzantines in the north and the Fá[t.]timids in the +south. The [H.]amdánids have an especial claim on our sympathy, because +they revived for a time the fast-decaying and already almost broken +spirit of Arabian nationalism. It is this spirit that speaks with a +powerful voice in Mutanabbí and declares itself, for example, in such +verses as these:--[503] + + "Men from their kings alone their worth derive, + But Arabs ruled by aliens cannot thrive: + Boors without culture, without noble fame, + Who know not loyalty and honour's name. + Go where thou wilt, thou seest in every land + Folk driven like cattle by a servile band." + +[Sidenote: The circle of Sayfu ´l-Dawla.] + +The reputation which Sayfu ´l-Dawla's martial exploits and his repeated +triumphs over the enemies of Islam richly earned for him in the eyes of +his contemporaries was enhanced by the conspicuous energy and +munificence with which he cultivated the arts of peace. Considering the +brevity of his reign and the relatively small extent of his resources, +we may well be astonished to contemplate the unique assemblage of +literary talent then mustered in Aleppo. There was, first of all, +Mutanabbí, in the opinion of his countrymen the greatest of Moslem +poets; there was Sayfu ´l-Dawla's cousin, the chivalrous Abú Firás, +whose war-songs are relieved by many a touch of tender and true feeling; +there was Abu ´l-Faraj of I[s.]fahán, who on presenting to Sayfu +´l-Dawla his _Kitábu ´l-Aghání_, one of the most celebrated and +important works in all Arabic literature, received one thousand pieces +of gold accompanied with an expression of regret that the prince was +obliged to remunerate him so inadequately; there was also the great +philosopher, Abú Na[s.]r al-Fárábí, whose modest wants were satisfied by +a daily pension of four dirhems (about two shillings) from the public +treasury. Surely this is a record not easily surpassed even in the +heyday of `Abbásid patronage. As for the writers of less note whom Sayfu +´l-Dawla attracted to Aleppo, their name is legion. Space must be found +for the poets Sarí al-Raffá, Abu ´l-`Abbás al-Námí, and Abu ´l-Faraj +al-Babbaghá for the preacher (_kha[t.]íb_) Ibn Nubáta, who would often +rouse the enthusiasm of his audience while he urged the duty of +zealously prosecuting the Holy War against Christian Byzantium; and for +the philologist Ibn Khálawayh, whose lectures were attended by students +from all parts of the Mu[h.]ammadan world. The literary renaissance +which began at this time in Syria was still making its influence felt +when Tha`álibí wrote his _Yatíma_, about thirty years after the death of +Sayfu ´l-Dawla, and it produced in Abu ´l-`Alá al-Ma`arrí (born 973 +A.D.) an original and highly interesting personality, to whom we shall +return on another occasion. + + +[Sidenote: The Fá[t.]imids (909-1171 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: The Ismá`ílite propaganda.] + +The dynasties hitherto described were political in their origin, having +generally been founded by ambitious governors or vassals. These upstarts +made no pretensions to the nominal authority, which they left in the +hands of the Caliph even while they forced him at the sword's point to +recognise their political independence. The Sámánids and Buwayhids, +Shí`ites as they were, paid the same homage to the Caliph in Baghdád as +did the Sunnite Ghaznevids. But in the beginning of the tenth century +there arose in Africa a great Shí`ite power, that of the Fá[t.]imids, +who took for themselves the title and prerogatives of the Caliphate, +which they asserted to be theirs by right Divine. This event was only +the climax of a deep-laid and skilfully organised plot--one of the most +extraordinary in all history. It had been put in train half a century +earlier by a certain `Abdulláh the son of Maymún, a Persian oculist +(_qaddá[h.]_) belonging to A[h.]wáz. Filled with a fierce hatred of the +Arabs and with a freethinker's contempt for Islam, `Abdulláh b. Maymún +conceived the idea of a vast secret society which should be all things +to all men, and which, by playing on the strongest passions and tempting +the inmost weaknesses of human nature, should unite malcontents of every +description in a conspiracy to overthrow the existing _régime_. Modern +readers may find a parallel for this romantic project in the pages of +Dumas, although the Aramis of _Twenty Years After_ is a simpleton beside +`Abdulláh. He saw that the movement, in order to succeed, must be +started on a religious basis, and he therefore identified himself with +an obscure Shí`ite sect, the Ismá`ílís, who were so called because they +regarded Mu[h.]ammad, son of Ismá`íl, son of Ja`far al-[S.]ádiq, as the +Seventh Imám. Under `Abdulláh the Ismá`ílís developed their mystical and +antinomian doctrines, of which an excellent account has been given by +Professor Browne in the first volume of his _Literary History of Persia_ +(p. 405 sqq.). Here we can only refer to the ingenious and fatally +insidious methods which he devised for gaining proselytes on a gigantic +scale, and with such amazing success that from this time until the +Mongol invasion--a period of almost four centuries--the Ismá`ílites +(Fá[t.]imids, Carmathians, and Assassins) either ruled or ravaged a +great part of the Mu[h.]ammadan Empire. It is unnecessary to discuss the +question whether `Abdulláh b. Maymún was, as Professor Browne thinks, +primarily a religious enthusiast, or whether, according to the view +commonly held, his real motives were patriotism and personal ambition. +The history of Islam shows clearly enough that the revolutionist is +nearly always disguised as a religious leader, while, on the other hand, +every founder of a militant sect is potentially the head of a state. +`Abdulláh may have been a fanatic first and a politician afterwards; +more probably he was both at once from the beginning. His plan of +operations was briefly as follows:-- + + The _dá`í_ or missionary charged with the task of gaining adherents + for the Hidden Imám (see p. 216 seq.), in whose name allegiance was + demanded, would settle in some place, representing himself to be a + merchant, [S.]úfí, or the like. By renouncing worldly pleasures, + making a show of strict piety, and performing apparent miracles, it + was easy for him to pass as a saint with the common folk. As soon as + he was assured of his neighbours' confidence and respect, he began + to raise doubts in their minds. He would suggest difficult problems + of theology or dwell on the mysterious significance of certain + passages of the Koran. May there not be (he would ask) in religion + itself a deeper meaning than appears on the surface? Then, having + excited the curiosity of his hearers, he suddenly breaks off. When + pressed to continue his explanation, he declares that such mysteries + cannot be communicated save to those who take a binding oath of + secrecy and obedience and consent to pay a fixed sum of money in + token of their good faith. If these conditions were accepted, the + neophyte entered upon the second of the nine degrees of initiation. + He was taught that mere observance of the laws of Islam is not + pleasing to God, unless the true doctrine be received through the + Imáms who have it in keeping. These Imáms (as he next learned) are + seven in number, beginning with `Alí; the seventh and last is + Mu[h.]ammad, son of Ismá`íl. On reaching the fourth degree he + definitely ceased to be a Moslem, for here he was taught the + Ismá`ílite system of theology in which Mu[h.]ammad b. Ismá`íl + supersedes the founder of Islam as the greatest and last of all the + Prophets. Comparatively few initiates advanced beyond this grade to + a point where every form of positive religion was allegorised away, + and only philosophy was left. "It is clear what a tremendous weapon, + or rather machine, was thus created. Each man was given the amount + of light which he could bear and which was suited to his prejudices, + and he was made to believe that the end of the whole work would be + the attaining of what he regarded as most desirable."[504] Moreover, + the Imám Mu[h.]ammad b. Ismá`íl having disappeared long ago, the + veneration which sought a visible object was naturally transferred + to his successor and representative on earth, viz., `Abdulláh b. + Maymún, who filled the same office in relation to him as Aaron to + Moses and `Alí to Mu[h.]ammad. + +About the middle of the ninth century the state of the Moslem Empire was +worse, if possible, than it had been in the latter days of Umayyad rule. +The peasantry of `Iráq were impoverished by the desolation into which +that flourishing province was beginning to fall in consequence of the +frequent and prolonged civil wars. In 869 A.D. the negro slaves (_Zanj_) +employed in the saltpetre industry, for which Ba[s.]ra was famous, took +up arms at the call of an `Alid Messiah, and during fourteen years +carried fire and sword through Khúzistán and the adjacent territory. We +can imagine that all this misery and discontent was a godsend to the +Ismá`ílites. The old cry, "A deliverer of the Prophet's House," which +served the `Abbásids so well against the Umayyads, was now raised with +no less effect against the `Abbásids themselves. + +[Sidenote: The Fá[t.]imid dynasty founded by the Mahdí `Ubaydu´lláh (909 +A.D.).] + +`Abdulláh b. Maymún died in 875 A.D., but the agitation went on, and +rapidly gathered force. One of the leading spirits was [H.]amdán +Qarma[t.], who gave his name to the Carmathian branch of the Ismá`ílís. +These Carmathians (_Qarámi[t.]a_, sing. _Qirmi[t.]í_) spread over +Southern Persia and Yemen, and in the tenth century they threatened +Baghdád, repeatedly waylaid the pilgrim-caravans, sacked Mecca and bore +away the Black Stone as a trophy; in short, established a veritable +reign of terror. We must return, however, to the main Ismá`ílite faction +headed by the descendants of `Abdulláh b. Maymún. Their emissaries +discovered a promising field of work in North Africa among the credulous +and fanatical Berbers. When all was ripe, Sa`íd b. [H.]usayn, the +grandson of `Abdulláh b. Maymún, left Salamya in Syria, the centre from +which the wires had hitherto been pulled, and crossing over to Africa +appeared as the long-expected Mahdí under the name of `Ubaydu´lláh. He +gave himself out to be a great-grandson of the Imám Mu[h.]ammad b. +Ismá`íl and therefore in the direct line of descent from `Alí b. Abí +[T.]álib and Fá[t.]ima the daughter of the Prophet. We need not stop to +discuss this highly questionable genealogy from which the Fá[t.]imid +dynasty derives its name. In 910 A.D. `Ubaydu´lláh entered Raqqáda in +triumph and assumed the title of Commander of the Faithful. Tunis, where +the Aghlabites had ruled since 800 A.D., was the cradle of Fá[t.]imid +power, and here they built their capital, Mahdiyya, near the ancient +Thapsus. Gradually advancing eastward, they conquered Egypt and Syria as +far as Damascus (969-970 A.D.). At this time the seat of government was +removed to the newly-founded city of Cairo (_al-Qáhira_), which remained +for two centuries the metropolis of the Fá[t.]imid Empire.[505] + +[Sidenote: The Ayyúbids (1171-1250 A.D.).] + +The Shí`ite Anti-Caliphs maintained themselves in Egypt until 1171 A.D., +when the famous Saladin ([S.]alá[h.]u ´l-Dín b. Ayyúb) took possession +of that country and restored the Sunnite faith. He soon added Syria to +his dominions, and "the fall of Jerusalem (in 1187) roused Europe to +undertake the Third Crusade." The Ayyúbids were strictly orthodox, as +behoved the champions of Islam against Christianity. They built and +endowed many theological colleges. The [S.]úfí pantheist, Shihábu ´l-Dín +Ya[h.]yá al-Suhrawardí, was executed at Aleppo by order of Saladin's +son, Malik al-[Z.]áhir, in 1191 A.D. + + +[Sidenote: The Seljúqs (1037-1300 A.D.).] + +The two centuries preceding the extinction of the `Abbásid Caliphate by +the Mongols witnessed the rise and decline of the Seljúq Turks, who +"once more re-united Mu[h.]ammadan Asia from the western frontier of +Afghanistan to the Mediterranean under one sovereign." Seljúq b. Tuqáq +was a Turcoman chief. Entering Transoxania, he settled near Bukhárá and +went over with his whole people to Islam. His descendants, [T.]ughril +Beg and Chagar Beg, invaded Khurásán, annexed the western provinces of +the Ghaznevid Empire, and finally absorbed the remaining dominions of +the Buwayhids. Baghdád was occupied by [T.]ughril Beg in 1055 A.D. It +has been said that the Seljúqs contributed almost nothing to culture, +but this perhaps needs some qualification. Although Alp Arslán, who +succeeded [T.]ughril, and his son Malik Sháh devoted their energies in +the first place to military affairs, the latter at least was an +accomplished and enlightened monarch. "He exerted himself to spread the +benefits of civilisation: he dug numerous canals, walled a great number +of cities, built bridges, and constructed _ribá[t.]s_ in the desert +places."[506] He was deeply interested in astronomy, and scientific as +well as theological studies received his patronage. Any shortcomings of +Alp Arslán and Malik Sháh in this respect were amply repaired by their +famous minister, [H.]asan b. `Alí, the Ni[z.]ámu ´l-Mulk or 'Constable +of the Empire,' to give him the title which he has made his own. Like so +many great Viziers, he was a Persian, and his achievements must not +detain us here, but it may be mentioned that he founded in Baghdád and +Naysábúr the two celebrated academies which were called in his honour +al-Ni[z.]ámiyya. + + +[Sidenote: Arabia and Spain.] + +We have now taken a general, though perforce an extremely curtailed and +disconnected, view of the political conditions which existed during the +`Abbásid period in most parts of the Mu[h.]ammadan Empire except Arabia +and Spain. The motherland of Islam had long sunk to the level of a minor +province: leaving the Holy Cities out of consideration, one might +compare its inglorious destiny under the Caliphate to that of Macedonia +in the empire which Alexander bequeathed to his successors, the +Ptolemies and Seleucids. As regards the political history of Spain a few +words will conveniently be said in a subsequent chapter, where the +literature produced by Spanish Moslems will demand our attention. In the +meantime we shall pass on to the characteristic literary developments of +this period, which correspond more or less closely to the historical +outlines. + + +The first thing that strikes the student of mediæval Arabic literature +is the fact that a very large proportion of the leading writers are +non-Arabs, or at best semi-Arabs, men whose fathers or mothers were of +foreign, and especially Persian, race. They wrote in Arabic, because +down to about 1000 A.D. that language was the sole medium of literary +expression in the Mu[h.]ammadan world, a monopoly which it retained in +scientific compositions until the Mongol Invasion of the thirteenth +century. I have already referred to the question whether such men as +Bashshár b. Burd, Abú Nuwás, Ibn Qutayba, [T.]abarí, Ghazálí, and +hundreds of others should be included in a literary history of the +Arabs, and have given reasons, which I need not repeat in this place, +for considering their admission to be not only desirable but fully +justified on logical grounds.[507] The absurdity of treating them as +Persians--and there is no alternative, if they are not to be reckoned as +Arabs--appears to me self-evident. + +"It is strange," says Ibn Khaldún, "that most of the learned among the +Moslems who have excelled in the religious or intellectual sciences are +non-Arabs (_`Ajam_) with rare exceptions; and even those savants who +claimed Arabian descent spoke a foreign language, grew up in foreign +lands, and studied under foreign masters, notwithstanding that the +community to which they belonged was Arabian and the author of its +religion an Arab." The historian proceeds to explain the cause of this +singular circumstance in an interesting passage which may be summarised +as follows:-- + + [Sidenote: Ibn Khaldún's explanation of the fact that learning was + chiefly cultivated by the Persian Moslems.] + + The first Moslems were entirely ignorant of art and science, all + their attention being devoted to the ordinances of the Koran, which + they "carried in their breasts," and to the practice (_sunna_) of + the Prophet. At that time the Arabs knew nothing of the way by which + learning is taught, of the art of composing books, and of the means + whereby knowledge is enregistered. Those, however, who could repeat + the Koran and relate the Traditions of Mu[h.]ammad were called + Readers (_qurrá_). This oral transmission continued until the reign + of Hárún al-Rashíd, when the need of securing the Traditions against + corruption or of preventing their total loss caused them to be set + down in writing; and in order to distinguish the genuine Traditions + from the spurious, every _isnád_ (chain of witnesses) was carefully + scrutinised. Meanwhile the purity of the Arabic tongue had gradually + become impaired: hence arose the science of grammar; and the rapid + development of Law and Divinity brought it about that other + sciences, _e.g._, logic and dialectic, were professionally + cultivated in the great cities of the Mu[h.]ammadan Empire. The + inhabitants of these cities were chiefly Persians, freedmen and + tradesmen, who had been long accustomed to the arts of civilisation. + Accordingly the most eminent of the early grammarians, + traditionists, and scholastic theologians, as well as of those + learned in the principles of Law and in the interpretation of the + Koran, were Persians by race or education, and the saying of the + Prophet was verified--"_If Knowledge were attached to the ends of + the sky, some amongst the Persians would have reached it._" Amidst + all this intellectual activity the Arabs, who had recently emerged + from a nomadic life, found the exercise of military and + administrative command too engrossing to give them leisure for + literary avocations which have always been disdained by a ruling + caste. They left such studies to the Persians and the mixed race + (_al-muwalladún_), which sprang from intermarriage of the conquerors + with the conquered. They did not entirely look down upon the men of + learning but recognised their services--since after all it was Islam + and the sciences connected with Islam that profited thereby.[508] + +Even in the Umayyad period, as we have seen, the maxim that Knowledge is +Power was strikingly illustrated by the immense social influence which +Persian divines exerted in the Mu[h.]ammadan community.[509] +Nevertheless, true Arabs of the old type regarded these _Mawálí_ and +their learning with undisguised contempt. To the great majority of +Arabs, who prided themselves on their noble lineage and were content to +know nothing beyond the glorious traditions of heathendom and the +virtues practised by their sires, all literary culture seemed petty and +degrading. Their overbearing attitude towards the _Mawálí_, which is +admirably depicted in the first part of Goldziher's _Muhammedanische +Studien_, met with a vigorous response. Non-Arabs and Moslem pietists +alike appealed to the highest authority--the Koran; and since they +required a more definite and emphatic pronouncement than was forthcoming +from that source, they put in the mouth of the Prophet sayings like +these: "He that speaks Arabic is thereby an Arab"; "whoever of the +people of Persia accepts Islam is (as much an Arab as) one of Quraysh." +This doctrine made no impression upon the Arabian aristocracy, but with +the downfall of the Umayyads the political and social equality of the +_Mawálí_ became an accomplished fact. Not that the Arabs were at all +disposed to abate their pretensions. They bitterly resented the favour +which the foreigners enjoyed and the influence which they exercised. The +national indignation finds a voice in many poems of the early `Abbásid +period, _e.g._:-- + + "See how the asses which they used to ride + They have unsaddled, and sleek mules bestride! + No longer kitchen-herbs they buy and sell,[510] + But in the palace and the court they dwell; + Against us Arabs full of rage and spleen, + Hating the Prophet and the Moslem's _dín_."[511] + +[Sidenote: The Shu`úbites.] + +The side of the non-Arabs in this literary quarrel was vehemently +espoused by a party who called themselves the Shu`úbites +(_al-Shu`úbiyya_),[512] while their opponents gave them the name of +Levellers (_Ahlu ´l-Taswiya_), because they contended for the equality +of all Moslems without regard to distinctions of race. I must refer the +reader who seeks information concerning the history of the movement to +Goldziher's masterly study,[513] where the controversial methods adopted +by the Shu`úbites are set forth in ample detail. He shows how the bolder +spirits among them, not satisfied with claiming an _equal_ position, +argued that the Arabs were absolutely inferior to the Persians and other +peoples. The question was hotly debated, and many eminent writers took +part in the fray. On the Shu`úbite side Abú `Ubayda, Bírúní, and +[H.]amza of I[s.]fahán deserve mention. Já[h.]i[z.] and Ibn Durayd +were the most notable defenders of their own Arabian nationality, but +the 'pro-Arabs' also included several men of Persian origin, such as Ibn +Qutayba, Baládhurí, and Zamakhsharí. The Shu`úbites directed their +attacks principally against the racial pride of the Arabs, who were fond +of boasting that they were the noblest of all mankind and spoke the +purest and richest language in the world. Consequently the Persian +genealogists and philologists lost no opportunity of bringing to light +scandalous and discreditable circumstances connected with the history of +the Arab tribes or of particular families. Arabian poetry, especially +the vituperative pieces (_mathálib_), furnished abundant matter of this +sort, which was adduced by the Shu`úbites as convincing evidence that +the claims of the Arabs to superior nobility were absurd. At the same +time the national view as to the unique and incomparable excellence of +the Arabic language received some rude criticism. + +[Sidenote: Assimilation of Arabs and Persians.] + +[Sidenote: Enthusiasm for learning in the early `Abbásid period.] + +So acute and irreconcilable were the racial differences between Arabs +and Persians that one is astonished to see how thoroughly the latter +became Arabicised in the course of a few generations. As clients +affiliated to an Arab tribe, they assumed Arabic names and sought to +disguise their foreign extraction by fair means or foul. Many provided +themselves with fictitious pedigrees, on the strength of which they +passed for Arabs. Such a pretence could have deceived nobody if it had +not been supported by a complete assimilation in language, manners, and +even to some extent in character. On the neutral ground of Mu[h.]ammadan +science animosities were laid aside, and men of both races laboured +enthusiastically for the common cause. When at length, after a century +of bloody strife and engrossing political agitation, the great majority +of Moslems found themselves debarred from taking part in public affairs, +it was only natural that thousands of ardent and ambitious souls should +throw their pent-up energies into the pursuit of wealth or learning. We +are not concerned here with the marvellous development of trade under +the first `Abbásid Caliphs, of which Von Kremer has given a full and +entertaining description in his _Culturgeschichte des Orients_. It may +be recalled, however, that many commercial terms, _e.g._, tariff, names +of fabrics (muslin, tabby, &c.), occurring in English as well as in most +European languages are of Arabic origin and were brought to Europe by +merchants from Baghdád, Mosul, Ba[s.]ra, and other cities of Western +Asia. This material expansion was accompanied by an outburst of +intellectual activity such as the East had never witnessed before. It +seemed as if all the world from the Caliph down to the humblest citizen +suddenly became students, or at least patrons, of literature. In quest +of knowledge men travelled over three continents and returned home, like +bees laden with honey, to impart the precious stores which they had +accumulated to crowds of eager disciples, and to compile with incredible +industry those works of encyclopædic range and erudition from which +modern Science, in the widest sense of the word, has derived far more +than is generally supposed. + +[Sidenote: Development of the Moslem sciences.] + +The Revolution which made the fortune of the `Abbásid House was a +triumph for Islam and the party of religious reform. While under the +worldly Umayyads the studies of Law and Tradition met with no public +encouragement and were only kept alive by the pious zeal of oppressed +theologians, the new dynasty drew its strength from the Mu[h.]ammadan +ideas which it professed to establish, and skilfully adapted its policy +to satisfying the ever-increasing claims of the Church. Accordingly the +Moslem sciences which arose at this time proceeded in the first instance +from the Koran and the [H.]adíth. The sacred books offered many +difficulties both to provincial Arabs and especially to Persians and +other Moslems of foreign extraction. For their right understanding a +knowledge of Arabic grammar and philology was essential, and this +involved the study of the ancient Pre-islamic poems which supplied the +most authentic models of Arabian speech in its original purity. The +study of these poems entailed researches into genealogy and history, +which in the course of time became independent branches of learning. +Similarly the science of Tradition was systematically developed in order +to provide Moslems with practical rules for the conduct of life in every +conceivable particular, and various schools of Law sprang into +existence. + +[Sidenote: Their classification.] + +Mu[h.]ammadan writers usually distinguish the sciences which are +connected with the Koran and those which the Arabs learned from foreign +peoples. In the former class they include the Traditional or Religious +Sciences (_al-`Ulúm al-Naqliyya awi ´l-Shar`iyya_) and the Linguistic +Sciences (_`Ulúmu ´l-Lisáni ´l-`Arabí_); in the latter the Intellectual +or Philosophical Sciences (_al-`Ulúm al-`Aqliyya awi ´l-[H.]ikmiyya_), +which are sometimes called 'The Sciences of the Foreigners' (_`Ulúmu +´l-`Ajam_) or 'The Ancient Sciences' (_al-`Ulúm al-Qadíma_). + +The general scope of this division may be illustrated by the following +table:-- + + I. THE NATIVE SCIENCES. + + 1. Koranic Exegesis (_`Ilmu ´l-Tafsír_). + 2. Koranic Criticism (_`Ilmu ´l-Qirá´át_). + 3. The Science of Apostolic Tradition (_`Ilmu ´l-[H.]adíth_). + 4. Jurisprudence (_Fiqh_). + 5. Scholastic Theology (_`Ilmu ´l-Kalám_). + 6. Grammar (_Na[h.]w_). + 7. Lexicography (_Lugha_). + 8. Rhetoric (_Bayán_). + 9. Literature (_Adab_). + + + II. THE FOREIGN SCIENCES. + + 1. Philosophy (_Falsafa_).[514] + 2. Geometry (_Handasa_).[515] + 3. Astronomy (_`Ilmu ´l-Nujúm_). + 4. Music (_Músíqí_). + 5. Medicine (_[T.]ibb_). + 6. Magic and Alchemy (_al-Si[h.]r wa-´l-Kímiyá_). + +[Sidenote: The early `Abbásid period favourable to free-thought.] + +The religious phenomena of the Period will be discussed in a separate +chapter, and here I can only allude cursorily to their general +character. We have seen that during the whole Umayyad epoch, except in +the brief reign of `Umar b. `Abd al-`Azíz, the professors of religion +were out of sympathy with the court, and that many of them withdrew from +all participation in public affairs. It was otherwise when the `Abbásids +established themselves in power. Theology now dwelt in the shadow of the +throne and directed the policy of the Government. Honours were showered +on eminent jurists and divines, who frequently held official posts of +high importance and stood in the most confidential and intimate +relations to the Caliph; a classical example is the friendship of the +Cadi Abú Yúsuf and Hárún al-Rashíd. The century after the Revolution +gave birth to the four great schools of Muhammadan Law, which are still +called by the names of their founders--Málik b. Anas, Abú [H.]anífa, +Sháfi`í, and Ahmad b. [H.]anbal. At this time the scientific and +intellectual movement had free play. The earlier Caliphs usually +encouraged speculation so long as it threatened no danger to the +existing _régime_. Under Ma´mún and his successors the Mu`tazilite +Rationalism became the State religion, and Islam seemed to have entered +upon an era of enlightenment. Thus the first `Abbásid period (750-847 +A.D.) with its new learning and liberal theology may well be compared to +the European Renaissance; but in the words of a celebrated Persian +poet-- + + _Khil`atí bas fákhir ámad `umr `aybash kútahíst._[516] + + "Life is a very splendid robe: its fault is brevity." + +[Sidenote: The triumph of orthodoxy.] + +The Caliph Mutawakkil (847-861 A.D.) signalised his accession by +declaring the Mu`tazilite doctrines to be heretical and by returning to +the traditional faith. Stern measures were taken against dissenters. +Henceforth there was little room in Islam for independent thought. The +populace regarded philosophy and natural science as a species of +infidelity. Authors of works on these subjects ran a serious risk unless +they disguised their true opinions and brought the results of their +investigations into apparent conformity with the text of the Koran. +About the middle of the tenth century the reactionary spirit assumed a +dogmatic shape in the system of Abu ´l-[H.]asan al-Ash`arí, the father +of Mu[h.]ammadan Scholasticism, which is essentially opposed to +intellectual freedom and has maintained its petrifying influence almost +unimpaired down to the present time. + + +I could wish that this chapter were more worthy of the title which I +have chosen for it, but the foregoing pages will have served their +purpose if they have enabled my readers to form some idea of the +politics of the Period and of the broad features marking the course of +its literary and religious history. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE IN THE `ABBÁSID PERIOD + +[Sidenote: The Pre-islamic poets regarded as classical.] + +Pre-Islamic poetry was the natural expression of nomad life. We might +therefore have expected that the new conditions and ideas introduced by +Islam would rapidly work a corresponding revolution in the poetical +literature of the following century. Such, however, was far from being +the case. The Umayyad poets clung tenaciously to the great models of the +Heroic Age and even took credit for their skilful imitation of the +antique odes. The early Mu[h.]ammadan critics, who were philologists by +profession, held fast to the principle that Poetry in Pre-islamic times +had reached a perfection which no modern bard could hope to emulate, and +which only the lost ideals of chivalry could inspire.[517] To have been +born after Islam was in itself a proof of poetical inferiority.[518] +Linguistic considerations, of course, entered largely into this +prejudice. The old poems were studied as repositories of the pure +classical tongue and were estimated mainly from a grammarian's +standpoint. + +[Sidenote: Abú Nuwás as a critic.] + +These ideas gained wide acceptance in literary circles and gradually +biassed the popular taste to such an extent that learned pedants could +boast, like Khalíl b. Ahmad, the inventor of Arabic prosody, that it lay +in their power to make or mar the reputation of a rising poet as they +deemed fit. Originality being condemned in advance, those who desired +the approval of this self-constituted Academy were obliged to waste +their time and talents upon elaborate reproduction of the ancient +masterpieces, and to entertain courtiers and citizens with borrowed +pictures of Bedouin life in which neither they nor their audience took +the slightest interest. Some, it is true, recognised the absurdity of +the thing. Abú Nuwás (+ _circa_ 810 A.D.) often ridicules the custom, to +which reference has been made elsewhere, of apostrophising the deserted +encampment (_a[t.]lál_ or _[t.]ulúl_) in the opening lines of an ode, +and pours contempt on the fashionable glorification of antiquity. In the +passage translated below he gives a description of the desert and its +people which recalls some of Dr. Johnson's sallies at the expense of +Scotland and Scotsmen:-- + + "Let the south-wind moisten with rain the desolate scene + And Time efface what once was so fresh and green! + Make the camel-rider free of a desert space + Where high-bred camels trot with unwearied pace; + Where only mimosas and thistles flourish, and where, + For hunting, wolves and hyenas are nowise rare! + Amongst the Bedouins seek not enjoyment out: + What do they enjoy? They live in hunger and drought. + Let them drink their bowls of milk and leave them alone, + To whom life's finer pleasures are all unknown."[519] + +Ibn Qutayba, who died towards the end of the ninth century A.D., was the +first critic of importance to declare that ancients and moderns should +be judged on their merits without regard to their age. He writes as +follows in the Introduction to his 'Book of Poetry and Poets' (_Kitábu +´l-Shi`r wa-´l-Shu`ará_):--[520] + + [Sidenote: Ibn Qutayba on ancient and modern poets.] + + "In citing extracts from the works of the poets I have been guided + by my own choice and have refused to admire anything merely because + others thought it admirable. I have not regarded any ancient with + veneration on account of his antiquity nor any modern with contempt + on account of his being modern, but I have taken an impartial view + of both sides, giving every one his due and amply acknowledging his + merit. Some of our scholars, as I am aware, pronounce a feeble poem + to be good, because its author was an ancient, and include it among + their chosen pieces, while they call a sterling poem bad though its + only fault is that it was composed in their own time or that they + have seen its author. God, however, did not restrict learning and + poetry and rhetoric to a particular age nor appropriate them to a + particular class, but has always distributed them in common amongst + His servants, and has caused everything old to be new in its own day + and every classic work to be an upstart on its first appearance." + +[Sidenote: Revolt against classicism.] + +The inevitable reaction in favour of the new poetry and of contemporary +literature in general was hastened by various circumstances which +combined to overthrow the prevalent theory that Arabian heathendom and +the characteristic pagan virtues--honour, courage, liberality, &c.--were +alone capable of producing poetical genius. Among the chief currents of +thought tending in this direction, which are lucidly set forth in +Goldziher's essay, pp. 148 sqq., we may note (_a_) the pietistic and +theological spirit fostered by the `Abbásid Government, and (_b_) the +influence of foreign, pre-eminently Persian, culture. As to the former, +it is manifest that devout Moslems would not be at all disposed to admit +the exclusive pretensions made on behalf of the _Jáhiliyya_ or to agree +with those who exalted chivalry (_muruwwa_) above religion (_dín_). Were +not the language and style of the Koran incomparably excellent? Surely +the Holy Book was a more proper subject for study than heathen verses. +But if Moslems began to call Pre-islamic ideals in question, it was +especially the Persian ascendancy resulting from the triumph of the +`Abbásid House that shook the old arrogant belief of the Arabs in the +intellectual supremacy of their race. So far from glorying in the +traditions of paganism, many people thought it grossly insulting to +mention an `Abbásid Caliph in the same breath with heroes of the past +like [H.]átim of [T.]ayyi´ and Harim b. Sinán. The philosopher al-Kindí +(+ about 850 A.D.) rebuked a poet for venturing on such odious +comparisons. "Who are these Arabian vagabonds" (_[s.]a`álíku ´l-`Arab_), +he asked, "and what worth have they?"[521] + +[Sidenote: Critics in favour of the modern school.] + +While Ibn Qutayba was content to urge that the modern poets should get a +fair hearing, and should be judged not chronologically or +philologically, but _æsthetically_, some of the greatest literary +critics who came after him do not conceal their opinion that the new +poetry is superior to the old. Tha`álibí (+ 1038 A.D.) asserts that in +tenderness and elegance the Pre-islamic bards are surpassed by their +successors, and that both alike have been eclipsed by his +contemporaries. Ibn Rashíq (+ _circa_ 1070 A.D.), whose _`Umda_ on the +Art of Poetry is described by Ibn Khaldún as an epoch-making work, +thought that the superiority of the moderns would be acknowledged if +they discarded the obsolete conventions of the Ode. European readers +cannot but sympathise with him when he bids the poets draw inspiration +from nature and truth instead of relating imaginary journeys on a camel +which they never owned, through deserts which they never saw, to a +patron residing in the same city as themselves. This seems to us a very +reasonable and necessary protest, but it must be remembered that the +Bedouin _qa[s.]ída_ was not easily adaptable to the conditions of urban +life, and needed complete remoulding rather than modification in +detail.[522] + +[Sidenote: Popularity of the modern poets.] + +"In the fifth century," says Goldziher--_i.e._, from about 1000 +A.D.--"the dogma of the unattainable perfection of the heathen poets may +be regarded as utterly demolished." Henceforth popular taste ran +strongly in the other direction, as is shown by the immense +preponderance of modern pieces in the anthologies--a favourite and +characteristic branch of Arabic literature--which were compiled during +the `Abbásid period and afterwards, and by frequent complaints of the +neglect into which the ancient poetry had fallen. But although, for +Moslems generally, Imru´u ´l-Qays and his fellows came to be more or +less what Chaucer is to the average Englishman, the views first +enunciated by Ibn Qutayba met with bitter opposition from the learned +class, many of whom clung obstinately to the old philological principles +of criticism, and even declined to recognise the writings of Mutanabbí +and Abu ´l-`Alá al-Ma`arrí as poetry, on the ground that those authors +did not observe the classical 'types' (_asálíb_).[523] The result of +such pedantry may be seen at the present day in thousands of +_qa[s.]ídas_, abounding in archaisms and allusions to forgotten far-off +things of merely antiquarian interest, but possessing no more claim to +consideration here than the Greek and Latin verses of British scholars +in a literary history of the Victorian Age. + + +[Sidenote: Characteristics of the new poetry.] + +Passing now to the characteristics of the new poetry which followed the +accession of the `Abbásids, we have to bear in mind that from first to +last (with very few exceptions) it flourished under the patronage of the +court. There was no organised book trade, no wealthy publishers, so that +poets were usually dependent for their livelihood on the capricious +bounty of the Caliphs and his favourites whom they belauded. Huge sums +were paid for a successful panegyric, and the bards vied with each other +in flattery of the most extravagant description. Even in writers of real +genius this prostitution of their art gave rise to a great deal of the +false glitter and empty bombast which are often erroneously attributed +to Oriental poetry as a whole.[524] These qualities, however, are +absolutely foreign to Arabian poetry of the best period. The old +Bedouins who praised a man only for that which was in him, and drew +their images directly from nature, stand at the opposite pole to +Tha`álibí's contemporaries. Under the Umayyads, as we have seen, little +change took place. It is not until after the enthronement of the +`Abbásids, when Persians filled the chief offices at court, and when a +goodly number of poets and eminent men of learning had Persian blood in +their veins, that an unmistakably new note makes itself heard. One might +be tempted to surmise that the high-flown, bombastic, and ornate style +of which Mutanabbí is the most illustrious exponent, and which is so +marked a feature in later Mu[h.]ammadan poetry, was first introduced by +the Persians and Perso-Arabs who gathered round the Caliph in Baghdád +and celebrated the triumph of their own race in the person of a noble +Barmecide; but this would scarcely be true. The style in question is not +specially Persian; the earliest Arabic-writing poets of Íránian descent, +like Bashshár b. Burd and Abú Nuwás, are (so far as I can see) without a +trace of it. What the Persians brought into Arabian poetry was not a +grandiose style, but a lively and graceful fancy, elegance of diction, +depth and tenderness of feeling, and a rich store of ideas. + +The process of transformation was aided by other causes besides the +influx of Persian and Hellenistic culture: for example, by the growing +importance of Islam in public life and the diffusion of a strong +religious spirit among the community at large--a spirit which attained +its most perfect expression in the reflective and didactic poetry of Abu +´l-`Atáhiya. Every change of many-coloured life is depicted in the +brilliant pages of these modern poets, where the reader may find, +according to his mood, the maddest gaiety and the shamefullest +frivolity; strains of lofty meditation mingled with a world-weary +pessimism; delicate sentiment, unforced pathos, and glowing rhetoric; +but seldom the manly self-reliance, the wild, invigorating freedom and +inimitable freshness of Bedouin song. + + +[Sidenote: Five typical poets of the `Abbásid period.] + +It is of course impossible to do justice even to the principal `Abbásid +poets within the limits of this chapter, but the following five may be +taken as fairly representative: Mu[t.]í` b. Iyás, Abú Nuwás, Abu +´l-`Atáhiya, Mutanabbí, and Abu ´l-`Alá al-Ma`arrí. The first three were +in close touch with the court of Baghdád, while Mutanabbí and Abu +´l-`Alá flourished under the [H.]amdánid dynasty which ruled in Aleppo. + + +[Sidenote: Mu[t.]í` b. Iyás.] + +Mu[t.]í` b. Iyás only deserves notice here as the earliest poet of the +New School. His father was a native of Palestine, but he himself was +born and educated at Kúfa. He began his career under the Umayyads, and +was devoted to the Caliph Walíd b. Yazíd, who found in him a fellow +after his own heart, "accomplished, dissolute, an agreeable companion +and excellent wit, reckless in his effrontery and suspected in his +religion."[525] When the `Abbásids came into power Mu[t.]í` attached +himself to the Caliph Man[s.]úr. Many stories are told of the debauched +life which he led in the company of _zindíqs_, or freethinkers, a class +of men whose opinions we shall sketch in another chapter. His songs of +love and wine are distinguished by their lightness and elegance. The +best known is that in which he laments his separation from the daughter +of a _Dihqán_ (Persian landed proprietor), and invokes the two +palm-trees of [H.]ulwán, a town situated on the borders of the Jibál +province between Hamadhán and Baghdád. From this poem arose the proverb, +"Faster friends than the two palm-trees of [H.]ulwán."[526] + + + THE YEOMAN'S DAUGHTER. + + "O ye two palms, palms of [H.]ulwán, + Help me weep Time's bitter dole! + Know that Time for ever parteth + Life from every living soul. + + Had ye tasted parting's anguish, + Ye would weep as I, forlorn. + Help me! Soon must ye asunder + By the same hard fate be torn. + + Many are the friends and loved ones + Whom I lost in days of yore. + Fare thee well, O yeoman's daughter!-- + Never grief like this I bore. + Her, alas, mine eyes behold not, + And on me she looks no more!" + +[Sidenote: Abú Nuwás (+ _circa_ 810 A.D.).] + +By Europeans who know him only through the _Thousand and One Nights_ Abú +Nuwás is remembered as the boon-companion and court jester of "the good +Haroun Alraschid," and as the hero of countless droll adventures and +facetious anecdotes--an Oriental Howleglass or Joe Miller. It is often +forgotten that he was a great poet who, in the opinion of those most +competent to judge, takes rank above all his contemporaries and +successors, including even Mutanabbí, and is not surpassed in poetical +genius by any ancient bard. + +[H.]asan b. Háni´ gained the familiar title of Abú Nuwás (Father of the +lock of hair) from two locks which hung down on his shoulders. He was +born of humble parents, about the middle of the eighth century, in +A[h.]wáz, the capital of Khúzistán. That he was not a pure Arab the name +of his mother, Jallabán, clearly indicates, while the following verse +affords sufficient proof that he was not ashamed of his Persian blood:-- + + "Who are Tamím and Qays and all their kin? + The Arabs in God's sight are nobody."[527] + +He received his education at Ba[s.]ra, of which city he calls himself a +native,[528] and at Kúfa, where he studied poetry and philology under +the learned Khalaf al-A[h.]mar. After passing a 'Wanderjahr' among the +Arabs of the desert, as was the custom of scholars at that time, he made +his way to Baghdád and soon eclipsed every competitor at the court of +Hárún the Orthodox. A man of the most abandoned character, which he took +no pains to conceal, Abú Nuwás, by his flagrant immorality, drunkenness, +and blasphemy, excited the Caliph's anger to such a pitch that he often +threatened the culprit with death, and actually imprisoned him on +several occasions; but these fits of severity were brief. The poet +survived both Hárún and his son, Amín, who succeeded him in the +Caliphate. Age brought repentance--"the Devil was sick, the Devil a monk +would be." He addressed the following lines from prison to Fa[d.]l b. +al-Rabí`, whom Hárún appointed Grand Vizier after the fall of the +Barmecides:-- + + "Fa[d.]l, who hast taught and trained me up to goodness + (And goodness is but habit), thee I praise. + Now hath vice fled and virtue me revisits, + And I have turned to chaste and pious ways. + To see me, thou would'st think the saintly Ba[s.]rite, + [H.]asan, or else Qatáda, met thy gaze,[529] + So do I deck humility with leanness, + While yellow, locust-like, my cheek o'erlays. + Beads on my arm; and on my breast the Scripture, + Where hung a chain of gold in other days."[530] + +The Díwán of Abú Nuwás contains poems in many different styles--_e.g._, +panegyric (_madí[h.]), satire (_hijá_), songs of the chase +([t.]ardiyyát_), elegies (_maráthí_), and religious poems (_zuhdiyyát_); +but love and wine were the two motives by which his genius was most +brilliantly inspired. His wine-songs (_khamriyyát_) are generally +acknowledged to be incomparable. Here is one of the shortest:-- + + "Thou scolder of the grape and me, + I ne'er shall win thy smile! + Because against thee I rebel, + 'Tis churlish to revile. + + Ah, breathe no more the name of wine + Until thou cease to blame, + For fear that thy foul tongue should smirch + Its fair and lovely name! + + Come, pour it out, ye gentle boys, + A vintage ten years old, + That seems as though 'twere in the cup + A lake of liquid gold. + + And when the water mingles there, + To fancy's eye are set + Pearls over shining pearls close strung + As in a carcanet."[531] + +Another poem begins-- + + "Ho! a cup, and fill it up, and tell me it is wine, + For I will never drink in shade if I can drink in shine! + Curst and poor is every hour that sober I must go, + But rich am I whene'er well drunk I stagger to and fro. + Speak, for shame, the loved one's name, let vain disguise alone: + No good there is in pleasures o'er which a veil is thrown."[532] + +Abú Nuwás practised what he preached, and hypocrisy at any rate cannot +be laid to his charge. The moral and religious sentiments which appear +in some of his poems are not mere cant, but should rather be regarded as +the utterance of sincere though transient emotion. Usually he felt and +avowed that pleasure was the supreme business of his life, and that +religious scruples could not be permitted to stand in the way. He even +urges others not to shrink from any excess, inasmuch as the Divine mercy +is greater than all the sins of which a man is capable:-- + + "Accumulate as many sins thou canst: + The Lord is ready to relax His ire. + When the day comes, forgiveness thou wilt find + Before a mighty King and gracious Sire, + And gnaw thy fingers, all that joy regretting + Which thou didst leave thro' terror of Hell-fire!"[533] + +We must now bid farewell to Abú Nuwás and the licentious poets +(_al-shu`ará al-mujján_) who reflect so admirably the ideas and manners +prevailing in court circles and in the upper classes of society which +were chiefly influenced by the court. The scenes of luxurious +dissipation and refined debauchery which they describe show us, indeed, +that Persian culture was not an unalloyed blessing to the Arabs any more +than were the arts of Greece to the Romans; but this is only the darker +side of the picture. The works of a contemporary poet furnish evidence +of the indignation which the libertinism fashionable in high places +called forth among the mass of Moslems who had not lost faith in +morality and religion. + + +[Sidenote: Abu ´l-`Atáhiya (748-828 A.D.).] + +Abu ´l-`Atáhiya, unlike his great rival, came of Arab stock. He was bred +in Kúfa, and gained his livelihood as a young man by selling +earthenware. His poetical talent, however, promised so well that he set +out to present himself before the Caliph Mahdí, who richly rewarded him; +and Hárún al-Rashíd afterwards bestowed on him a yearly pension of +50,000 dirhems (about 2,000 pounds), in addition to numerous +extraordinary gifts. At Baghdád he fell in love with `Utba, a slave-girl +belonging to Mahdí, but she did not return his passion or take any +notice of the poems in which he celebrated her charms and bewailed the +sufferings that she made him endure. Despair of winning her affection +caused him, it is said, to assume the woollen garb of Mu[h.]ammadan +ascetics,[534] and henceforth, instead of writing vain and amatorious +verses, he devoted his powers exclusively to those joyless meditations +on mortality which have struck a deep chord in the hearts of his +countrymen. Like Abu ´l-`Alá al-Ma`arrí and others who neglected the +positive precepts of Islam in favour of a moral philosophy based on +experience and reflection, Abu ´l-`Atáhiya was accused of being a +freethinker (_zindíq_).[535] It was alleged that in his poems he often +spoke of death but never of the Resurrection and the Judgment--a calumny +which is refuted by many passages in his Díwán. According to the +literary historian al-[S.]úlí (+ 946 A.D.), Abu ´l-`Atáhiya believed in +One God who formed the universe out of two opposite elements which He +created from nothing; and held, further, that everything would be +reduced to these same elements before the final destruction of all +phenomena. Knowledge, he thought, was acquired naturally (_i.e._, +without Divine Revelation) by means of reflection, deduction, and +research.[536] He believed in the threatened retribution (_al-wa`íd_) +and in the command to abstain from commerce with the world (_ta[h.]rímu +´l-makásib_).[537] He professed the opinions of the Butrites,[538] a +subdivision of the Zaydites, as that sect of the Shí`a was named which +followed Zayd b. Alí b. [H.]usayn b. `Alí b. Abí [T.]álib. He spoke evil +of none, and did not approve of revolt against the Government. He held +the doctrine of predestination (_jabr_).[539] + +Abu ´l-`Atáhiya may have secretly cherished the Manichæan views ascribed +to him in this passage, but his poems contain little or nothing that +could offend the most orthodox Moslem. The following verse, in which +Goldziher finds an allusion to Buddha,[540] is capable of a different +interpretation. It rather seems to me to exalt the man of ascetic life, +without particular reference to any individual, above all others:-- + + "If thou would'st see the noblest of mankind, + Behold a monarch in a beggar's garb."[541] + +But while the poet avoids positive heresy, it is none the less true that +much of his Díwán is not strictly religious in the Mu[h.]ammadan sense and +may fairly be called 'philosophical.' This was enough to convict him of +infidelity and atheism in the eyes of devout theologians who looked +askance on moral teaching, however pure, that was not cast in the +dogmatic mould. The pretended cause of his imprisonment by Hárún +al-Rashíd--namely, that he refused to make any more love-songs--is +probably, as Goldziher has suggested, a popular version of the fact that +he persisted in writing religious poems which were supposed to have a +dangerous bias in the direction of free-thought. + +His poetry breathes a spirit of profound melancholy and hopeless +pessimism. Death and what comes after death, the frailty and misery of +man, the vanity of worldly pleasures and the duty of renouncing +them--these are the subjects on which he dwells with monotonous +reiteration, exhorting his readers to live the ascetic life and fear God +and lay up a store of good works against the Day of Reckoning. The +simplicity, ease, and naturalness of his style are justly admired. +Religious poetry, as he himself confesses, was not read at court or by +scholars who demanded rare and obscure expressions, but only by pious +folk, traditionists and divines, and especially by the vulgar, "who like +best what they can understand."[542] Abu ´l-`Atáhiya wrote for 'the man +in the street.' Discarding conventional themes tricked out with +threadbare artifices, he appealed to common feelings and matters of +universal experience. He showed for the first and perhaps for the last +time in the history of classical Arabic literature that it was possible +to use perfectly plain and ordinary language without ceasing to be a +poet. + +Although, as has been said, the bulk of Abu ´l-`Atáhiya's poetry is +philosophical in character, there remains much specifically Islamic +doctrine, in particular as regards the Resurrection and the Future Life. +This combination may be illustrated by the following ode, which is +considered one of the best that have been written on the subject of +religion, or, more accurately, of asceticism (_zuhd_):-- + + "Get sons for death, build houses for decay! + All, all, ye wend annihilation's way. + For whom build we, who must ourselves return + Into our native element of clay? + O Death, nor violence nor flattery thou + Dost use, but when thou com'st, escape none may. + Methinks, thou art ready to surprise mine age, + As age surprised and made my youth his prey. + What ails me, World, that every place perforce + I lodge thee in, it galleth me to stay? + And, O Time, how do I behold thee run + To spoil me? Thine own gift thou tak'st away! + O Time! inconstant, mutable art thou, + And o'er the realm of ruin is thy sway. + What ails me that no glad result it brings + Whene'er, O World, to milk thee I essay? + And when I court thee, why dost thou raise up + On all sides only trouble and dismay? + Men seek thee every wise, but thou art like + A dream; the shadow of a cloud; the day + Which hath but now departed, nevermore + To dawn again; a glittering vapour gay. + This people thou hast paid in full: their feet + Are on the stirrup--let them not delay! + But those that do good works and labour well + Hereafter shall receive the promised pay. + As if no punishment I had to fear, + A load of sin upon my neck I lay; + And while the world I love, from Truth, alas, + Still my besotted senses go astray. + I shall be asked of all my business here: + What can I plead then? What can I gainsay? + What argument allege, when I am called + To render an account on Reckoning-Day? + Dooms twain in that dread hour shall be revealed, + When I the scroll of these mine acts survey: + Either to dwell in everlasting bliss, + Or suffer torments of the damned for aye!"[543] + +I will now add a few verses culled from the Díwán which bring the poet's +pessimistic view of life into clearer outline, and also some examples of +those moral precepts and sententious criticisms which crowd his pages +and have contributed in no small degree to his popularity. + + "The world is like a viper soft to touch that venom spits."[544] + + "Men sit like revellers o'er their cups and drink, + From the world's hand, the circling wine of death."[545] + + "Call no man living blest for aught you see + But that for which you blessed call the dead."[546] + + + FALSE FRIENDS. + + "'Tis not the Age that moves my scorn, + But those who in the Age are born. + I cannot count the friends that broke + Their faith, tho' honied words they spoke; + In whom no aid I found, and made + The Devil welcome to their aid. + May I--so best we shall agree-- + Ne'er look on them nor they on me!"[547] + + + "If men should see a prophet begging, they would turn and scout him. + Thy friend is ever thine as long as thou canst do without him; + But he will spew thee forth, if in thy need thou come about him."[548] + + + THE WICKED WORLD. + + "'Tis only on the culprit sin recoils, + The ignorant fool against himself is armed. + Humanity are sunk in wickedness; + The best is he that leaveth us unharmed."[549] + + + "'Twas my despair of Man that gave me hope + God's grace would find me soon, I know not how."[550] + + + LIFE AND DEATH. + + "Man's life is his fair name, and not his length of years; + Man's death is his ill-fame, and not the day that nears. + Then life to thy fair name by deeds of goodness give: + So in this world two lives, O mortal, thou shalt live."[551] + + + MAXIMS AND RULES OF LIFE. + + "Mere falsehood by its face is recognised, + But Truth by parables and admonitions."[552] + + + "I keep the bond of love inviolate + Towards all humankind, for I betray + Myself, if I am false to any man."[553] + + + "Far from the safe path, hop'st thou to be saved? + Ships make no speedy voyage on dry land."[554] + + + "Strip off the world from thee and naked live, + For naked thou didst fall into the world."[555] + + + "Man guards his own and grasps his neighbours' pelf, + And he is angered when they him prevent; + But he that makes the earth his couch will sleep + No worse, if lacking silk he have content."[556] + + + "Men vaunt their noble blood, but I behold + No lineage that can vie with righteous deeds."[557] + + + "If knowledge lies in long experience, + Less than what I have borne suffices me."[558] + + + "Faith is the medicine of every grief, + Doubt only raises up a host of cares."[559] + + + "Blame me or no, 'tis my predestined state: + If I have erred, infallible is Fate."[560] + +Abu ´l-`Atáhiya found little favour with his contemporaries, who seem to +have regarded him as a miserly hypocrite. He died, an aged man, in the +Caliphate of Ma´mún.[561] Von Kremer thinks that he had a truer genius +for poetry than Abú Nuwás, an opinion in which I am unable to concur. +Both, however, as he points out, are distinctive types of their time. If +Abú Nuwás presents an appalling picture of a corrupt and frivolous +society devoted to pleasure, we learn from Abu ´l-`Atáhiya something of +the religious feelings and beliefs which pervaded the middle and lower +classes, and which led them to take a more earnest and elevated view of +life. + + +With the rapid decline and disintegration of the `Abbásid Empire which +set in towards the middle of the ninth century, numerous petty dynasties +arose, and the hitherto unrivalled splendour of Baghdád was challenged +by more than one provincial court. These independent or semi-independent +princes were sometimes zealous patrons of learning--it is well known, +for example, that a national Persian literature first came into being +under the auspices of the Sámánids in Khurásán and the Buwayhids in +`Iráq--but as a rule the anxious task of maintaining, or the ambition of +extending, their power left them small leisure to cultivate letters, +even if they wished to do so. None combined the arts of war and peace +more brilliantly than the [H.]amdánid Sayfu ´l-Dawla, who in 944 A.D. made +himself master of Aleppo, and founded an independent kingdom in Northern +Syria. + + [Sidenote: Tha`álibí's eulogy of Sayfu ´l-Dawla.] + + "The [H.]amdánids," says Tha`álibí, "were kings and princes, comely of + countenance and eloquent of tongue, endowed with open-handedness and + gravity of mind. Sayfu ´l-Dawla is famed as the chief amongst them + all and the centre-pearl of their necklace. He was--may God be + pleased with him and grant his desires and make Paradise his + abode!--the brightest star of his age and the pillar of Islam: by + him the frontiers were guarded and the State well governed. His + attacks on the rebellious Arabs checked their fury and blunted their + teeth and tamed their stubbornness and secured his subjects against + their barbarity. His campaigns exacted vengeance from the Emperor of + the Greeks, decisively broke their hostile onset, and had an + excellent effect on Islam. His court was the goal of ambassadors, + the dayspring of liberality, the horizon-point of hope, the end of + journeys, a place where savants assembled and poets competed for the + palm. It is said that after the Caliphs no prince gathered around + him so many masters of poetry and men illustrious in literature as + he did; and to a monarch's hall, as to a market, people bring only + what is in demand. He was an accomplished scholar, a poet himself + and a lover of fine poetry; keenly susceptible to words of + praise."[562] + +Sayfu ´l-Dawla's cousin, Abú Firás al-[H.]amdání, was a gallant soldier +and a poet of some mark, who if space permitted would receive fuller +notice here.[563] He, however, though superior to the common herd of +court poets, is overshadowed by one who with all his faults--and they +are not inconsiderable--made an extraordinary impression upon his +contemporaries, and by the commanding influence of his reputation +decided what should henceforth be the standard of poetical taste in the +Mu[h.]ammadan world. + +[Sidenote: Mutanabbí (915-965 A.D.).] + +Abu ´l-[T.]ayyib Ahmad b. [H.]usayn, known to fame as al-Mutanabbí, was +born and bred at Kúfa, where his father is said to have been a +water-carrier. Following the admirable custom by which young men of +promise were sent abroad to complete their education, he studied at +Damascus and visited other towns in Syria, but also passed much of his +time among the Bedouins, to whom he owed the singular knowledge and +mastery of Arabic displayed in his poems. Here he came forward as a +prophet (from which circumstance he was afterwards entitled +al-Mutanabbí, _i.e._, 'the pretender to prophecy'), and induced a great +multitude to believe in him; but ere long he was captured by Lu´lu´, the +governor of [H.]ims (Emessa), and thrown into prison. After his release +he wandered to and fro chanting the praises of all and sundry, until +fortune guided him to the court of Sayfu ´l-Dawla at Aleppo. For nine +years (948-957 A.D.) he stood high in the favour of that cultured +prince, whose virtues he celebrated in a series of splendid eulogies, +and with whom he lived as an intimate friend and comrade in arms. The +liberality of Sayfu ´l-Dawla and the ingenious impudence of the poet are +well brought out by the following anecdote:-- + + Mutanabbí on one occasion handed to his patron the copy of an ode + which he had recently composed in his honour, and retired, leaving + Sayfu ´l-Dawla to peruse it at leisure. The prince began to read, + and came to these lines-- + + _Aqil anil aq[t.]i` i[h.]mil `alli salli a`id + zid hashshi bashshi tafa[d.][d.]al adni surra [s.]ili._[564] + + "_Pardon, bestow, endow, mount, raise, console, restore, + Add, laugh, rejoice, bring nigh, show favour, gladden, give!_" + + Far from being displeased by the poet's arrogance, Sayfu ´l-Dawla + was so charmed with his artful collocation of fourteen imperatives + in a single verse that he granted every request. Under _pardon_ he + wrote 'we pardon thee'; under _bestow_, 'let him receive such and + such a sum of money'; under _endow_, 'we endow thee with an estate,' + which he named (it was beside the gate of Aleppo); under _mount_, + 'let such and such a horse be led to him'; under _raise_, 'we do + so'; under _console_, 'we do so, be at ease'; under _restore_, 'we + restore thee to thy former place in our esteem'; under _add_, 'let + him have such and such in addition'; under _bring nigh_, 'we admit + thee to our intimacy'; under _show favour_, 'we have done so'; under + _gladden_, 'we have made thee glad'[565]; under _give_, 'this we + have already done.' Mutanabbí's rivals envied his good fortune, and + one of them said to Sayfu ´l-Dawla--"Sire, you have done all that + he asked, but when he uttered the words _laugh_, _rejoice_, why did + not you answer, 'Ha, ha, ha'?" Sayfu ´l-Dawla laughed, and said, + "You too, shall have your wish," and ordered him a donation. + +Mutanabbí was sincerely attached to his generous master, and this +feeling inspired a purer and loftier strain than we find in the fulsome +panegyrics which he afterwards addressed to the negro Káfúr. He seems to +have been occasionally in disgrace, but Sayfu ´l-Dawla could deny +nothing to a poet who paid him such magnificent compliments. Nor was he +deterred by any false modesty from praising himself: he was fully +conscious of his power and, like Arabian bards in general, he bragged +about it. Although the verbal legerdemain which is so conspicuous in his +poetry cannot be reproduced in another language, the lines translated +below may be taken as a favourable and sufficiently characteristic +specimen of his style. + + "How glows mine heart for him whose heart to me is cold, + Who liketh ill my case and me in fault doth hold! + Why should I hide a love that hath worn thin my frame? + To Sayfu ´l-Dawla all the world avows the same. + Tho' love of his high star unites us, would that we + According to our love might so divide the fee! + Him have I visited when sword in sheath was laid, + And I have seen him when in blood swam every blade: + Him, both in peace and war the best of all mankind, + Whose crown of excellence was still his noble mind. + + Do foes by flight escape thine onset, thou dost gain + A chequered victory, half of pleasure, half of pain. + So puissant is the fear thou strik'st them with, it stands + Instead of thee, and works more than thy warriors' hands. + Unfought the field is thine: thou need'st not further strain + To chase them from their holes in mountain or in plain. + What! 'fore thy fierce attack whene'er an army reels, + Must thy ambitious soul press hot upon their heels? + Thy task it is to rout them on the battle-ground; + No shame to thee if they in flight have safety found. + Or thinkest thou perchance that victory is sweet + Only when scimitars and necks each other greet? + + O justest of the just save in thy deeds to me! + _Thou_ art accused and thou, O Sire, must judge the plea. + Look, I implore thee, well! Let not thine eye cajoled + See fat in empty froth, in all that glisters gold![566] + What use and profit reaps a mortal of his sight, + If darkness unto him be indistinct from light? + + My deep poetic art the blind have eyes to see, + My verses ring in ears as deaf as deaf can be. + They wander far abroad while I am unaware, + But men collect them watchfully with toil and care. + Oft hath my laughing mien prolonged the insulter's sport, + Until with claw and mouth I cut his rudeness short. + Ah, when the lion bares his teeth, suspect his guile, + Nor fancy that the lion shows to you a smile. + I have slain the man that sought my heart's blood many a time, + Riding a noble mare whose back none else may climb, + Whose hind and fore-legs seem in galloping as one; + Nor hand nor foot requireth she to urge her on. + And O the days when I have swung my fine-edged glaive + Amidst a sea of death where wave was dashed on wave! + The desert knows me well, the night, the mounted men, + The battle and the sword, the paper and the pen!"[567] + +Finally an estrangement arose between Mutanabbí and Sayfu ´l-Dawla, in +consequence of which he fled to Egypt and attached himself to the +Ikhshídite Káfúr. Disappointed in his new patron, a negro who had +formerly been a slave, the poet set off for Baghdád, and afterwards +visited the court of the Buwayhid `A[d.]udu ´l-Dawla at Shíráz. While +travelling through Babylonia he was attacked and slain by brigands in +965 A.D. + +The popularity of Mutanabbí is shown by the numerous commentaries[568] +and critical treatises on his _Díwán_. By his countrymen he is generally +regarded as one of the greatest of Arabian poets, while not a few would +maintain that he ranks absolutely first. Abu ´l-`Alá al-Ma`arrí, himself +an illustrious poet and man of letters, confessed that he had sometimes +wished to alter a word here and there in Mutanabbí's verses, but had +never been able to think of any improvement. "As to his poetry," says +Ibn Khallikán, "it is perfection." European scholars, with the exception +of Von Hammer,[569] have been far from sharing this enthusiasm, as may +be seen by referring to what has been said on the subject by +Reiske,[570] De Sacy,[571] Bohlen,[572] Brockelmann,[573] and others. No +doubt, according to our canons of taste, Mutanabbí stands immeasurably +below the famous Pre-islamic bards, and in a later age must yield the +palm to Abú Nuwás and Abu ´l-`Atáhiya. Lovers of poetry, as the term is +understood in Europe, cannot derive much æsthetic pleasure from his +writings, but, on the contrary, will be disgusted by the beauties hardly +less than by the faults which Arabian critics attribute to him. +Admitting, however, that only a born Oriental is able to appreciate +Mutanabbí at his full worth, let us try to realise the Oriental point of +view and put aside, as far as possible, our preconceptions of what +constitutes good poetry and good taste. Fortunately we possess abundant +materials for such an attempt in the invaluable work of Tha`álibí, which +has been already mentioned.[574] Tha`álibí (961-1038 A.D.) was nearly +contemporary with Mutanabbí. He began to write his _Yatíma_ about thirty +years after the poet's death, and while he bears witness to the +unrivalled popularity of the _Díwán_ amongst all classes of society, he +observes that it was sharply criticised as well as rapturously admired. +Tha`álibí himself claims to hold the balance even. "Now," he says, "I +will mention the faults and blemishes which critics have found in the +poetry of Mutanabbí; for is there any one whose qualities give entire +satisfaction?-- + + _Kafa ´l-mar´a fa[d.]lan an tu`adda ma`áyibuh._ + + 'Tis the height of merit in a man that his faults can be numbered. + +Then I will proceed to speak of his beauties and to set forth in due +order the original and incomparable characteristics of his style. + + The radiant stars with beauty strike our eyes + Because midst gloom opaque we see them rise." + +It was deemed of capital importance that the opening couplet +(_ma[t.]la`_) of a poem should be perfect in form and meaning, and that +it should not contain anything likely to offend. Tha`álibí brings +forward many instances in which Mutanabbí has violated this rule by +using words of bad omen, such as 'sickness' or 'death,' or technical +terms of music and arithmetic which only perplex and irritate the hearer +instead of winning his sympathy at the outset. He complains also that +Mutanabbí's finest thoughts and images are too often followed by low and +trivial ones: "he strings pearls and bricks together" (_jama`a bayna +´l-durrati wa-´l-ájurrati_). "While he moulds the most splendid +ornament, and threads the loveliest necklace, and weaves the most +exquisite stuff of mingled hues, and paces superbly in a garden of +roses, suddenly he will throw in a verse or two verses disfigured by +far-fetched metaphors, or by obscure language and confused thought, or +by extravagant affectation and excessive profundity, or by unbounded and +absurd exaggeration, or by vulgar and commonplace diction, or by +pedantry and grotesqueness resulting from the use of unfamiliar words." +We need not follow Tha`álibí in his illustration of these and other +weaknesses with which he justly reproaches Mutanabbí, since we shall be +able to form a better idea of the prevailing taste from those points +which he singles out for special praise. + +In the first place he calls attention to the poet's skill in handling +the customary erotic prelude (_nasíb_), and particularly to his +brilliant descriptions of Bedouin women, which were celebrated all over +the East. As an example of this kind he quotes the following piece, +which "is chanted in the salons on account of the extreme beauty of its +diction, the choiceness of its sentiment, and the perfection of its +art":-- + + "Shame hitherto was wont my tears to stay, + But now by shame they will no more be stayed, + So that each bone seems through its skin to sob, + And every vein to swell the sad cascade. + She uncovered: pallor veiled her at farewell: + No veil 'twas, yet her cheeks it cast in shade. + So seemed they, while tears trickled over them, + Gold with a double row of pearls inlaid. + She loosed three sable tresses of her hair, + And thus of night four nights at once she made; + But when she lifted to the moon in heaven + Her face, two moons together I surveyed."[575] + +The critic then enumerates various beautiful and original features of +Mutanabbí's style, _e.g._-- + +1. His consecutive arrangement of similes in brief symmetrical clauses, +thus:-- + + "She shone forth like a moon, and swayed like a moringa-bough, + And shed fragrance like ambergris, and gazed like a gazelle." + +2. The novelty of his comparisons and images, as when he indicates the +rapidity with which he returned to his patron and the shortness of his +absence in these lines:-- + + "I was merely an arrow in the air, + Which falls back, finding no refuge there." + +3. The _laus duplex_ or 'two-sided panegyric' (_al-mad[h.], al-muwajjah_), which may be compared to a garment +having two surfaces of different colours but of equal beauty, as in the +following verse addressed to Sayfu ´l-Dawla:-- + + "Were all the lives thou hast ta'en possessed by thee, + Immortal thou and blest the world would be!" + +Here Sayfu ´l-Dawla is doubly eulogised by the mention of his triumphs +over his enemies as well as of the joy which all his friends felt in the +continuance of his life and fortune. + +4. His manner of extolling his royal patron as though he were speaking +to a friend and comrade, whereby he raises himself from the position of +an ordinary encomiast to the same level with kings. + +5. His division of ideas into parallel sentences:-- + + "We were in gladness, the Greeks in fear, + The land in bustle, the sea in confusion." + +From this summary of Tha`álibí's criticism the reader will easily +perceive that the chief merits of poetry were then considered to lie in +elegant expression, subtle combination of words, fanciful imagery, witty +conceits, and a striking use of rhetorical figures. Such, indeed, are +the views which prevail to this day throughout the whole Mu[h.]ammadan +world, and it is unreasonable to denounce them as false simply because +they do not square with ours. Who shall decide when nations disagree? If +Englishmen rightly claim to be the best judges of Shakespeare, and +Italians of Dante, the almost unanimous verdict of Mutanabbí's +countrymen is surely not less authoritative--a verdict which places him +at the head of all the poets born or made in Islam. And although the +peculiar excellences indicated by Tha`álibí do not appeal to us, there +are few poets that leave so distinct an impression of greatness. One +might call Mutanabbí the Victor Hugo of the East, for he has the grand +style whether he soars to sublimity or sinks to fustian. In the +masculine vigour of his verse, in the sweep and splendour of his +rhetoric, in the luxuriance and reckless audacity of his imagination we +recognise qualities which inspired the oft-quoted lines of the +elegist:-- + + "Him did his mighty soul supply + With regal pomp and majesty. + A Prophet by his _diction_ known; + But in the _ideas_, all must own, + His miracles were clearly shown."[576] + +One feature of Mutanabbí's poetry that is praised by Tha`álibí should +not be left unnoticed, namely, his fondness for sententious moralising +on topics connected with human life; wherefore Reiske has compared him +to Euripides. He is allowed to be a master of that proverbial philosophy +in which Orientals delight and which is characteristic of the modern +school beginning with Abu ´l-`Atáhiya, though some of the ancients had +already cultivated it with success (cf. the verses of Zuhayr, p. 118 +_supra_). The following examples are among those cited by Bohlen (_op. +cit._, p. 86 sqq.):-- + + "When an old man cries 'Ugh!' he is not tired + Of life, but only tired of feebleness."[577] + + + "He that hath been familiar with the world + A long while, in his eye 'tis turned about + Until he sees how false what looked so fair."[578] + + + "The sage's mind still makes him miserable + In his most happy fortune, but poor fools + Find happiness even in their misery."[579] + +[Sidenote: Abu ´l-`Alá al-Ma`arrí (973-1057 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: His visit to Baghdád.] + +The sceptical and pessimistic tendencies of an age of social decay and +political anarchy are unmistakably revealed in the writings of the poet, +philosopher, and man of letters, Abu ´l-`Alá al-Ma`arrí, who was born in +973 A.D. at Ma`arratu ´l-Nu`mán, a Syrian town situated about twenty +miles south of Aleppo on the caravan road to Damascus. While yet a child +he had an attack of small-pox, resulting in partial and eventually in +complete blindness, but this calamity, fatal as it might seem to +literary ambition, was repaired if not entirely made good by his +stupendous powers of memory. After being educated at home under the eye +of his father, a man of some culture and a meritorious poet, he +proceeded to Aleppo, which was still a flourishing centre of the +humanities, though it could no longer boast such a brilliant array of +poets and scholars as were attracted thither in the palmy days of Sayfu +´l-Dawla. Probably Abu ´l-`Alá did not enter upon the career of a +professional encomiast, to which he seems at first to have inclined: he +declares in the preface to his _Saq[t.]u ´l-Zand_ that he never +eulogised any one with the hope of gaining a reward, but only for the +sake of practising his skill. On the termination of his 'Wanderjahre' he +returned in 993 A.D. to Ma`arra, where he spent the next fifteen years +of his life, with no income beyond a small pension of thirty dínárs +(which he shared with a servant), lecturing on Arabic poetry, +antiquities, and philology, the subjects to which his youthful studies +had been chiefly devoted. During this period his reputation was steadily +increasing, and at last, to adapt what Boswell wrote of Dr. Johnson on a +similar occasion, "he thought of trying his fortune in Baghdád, the +great field of genius and exertion, where talents of every kind had the +fullest scope and the highest encouragement." Professor Margoliouth in +the Introduction to his edition of Abu ´l-`Alá's correspondence supplies +many interesting particulars of the literary society at Baghdád in which +the poet moved. "As in ancient Rome, so in the great Mu[h.]ammadan +cities public recitation was the mode whereby men of letters made their +talents known to their contemporaries. From very early times it had been +customary to employ the mosques for this purpose; and in Abu ´l-`Alá's +time poems were recited in the mosque of al-Man[s.]úr in Baghdád. Better +accommodation was, however, provided by the Mæcenates who took a pride +in collecting savants and _littérateurs_ in their houses."[580] Such a +Mæcenas was the Sharíf al-Ra[d.]í, himself a celebrated poet, who +founded the Academy called by his name in imitation, probably, of that +founded some years before by Abú Nasr Sábúr b. Ardashír, Vizier to the +Buwayhid prince, Bahá´u ´l-Dawla. Here Abu ´l-`Alá met a number of +distinguished writers and scholars who welcomed him as one of +themselves. The capital of Islam, thronged with travellers and merchants +from all parts of the East, harbouring followers of every creed and +sect--Christians and Jews, Buddhists and Zoroastrians, [S.]ábians and +[S.]úfís, Materialists and Rationalists--must have seemed to the +provincial almost like a new world. It is certain that Abu ´l-`Alá, a +curious observer who set no bounds to his thirst for knowledge, would +make the best use of such an opportunity. The religious and +philosophical ideas with which he was now first thrown into contact +gradually took root and ripened. His stay in Baghdád, though it lasted +only a year and a half (1009-1010 A.D.), decided the whole bent of his +mind for the future. + +Whether his return to Ma`arra was hastened, as he says, by want of means +and the illness of his mother, whom he tenderly loved, or by an +indignity which he suffered at the hands of an influential patron,[581] +immediately on his arrival he shut himself in his house, adopted a +vegetarian diet and other ascetic practices, and passed the rest of his +long life in comparative seclusion:-- + + "Methinks, I am thrice imprisoned--ask not me + Of news that need no telling-- + By loss of sight, confinement to my house, + And this vile body for my spirit's dwelling."[582] + +We can only conjecture the motives which brought about this sudden +change of habits and disposition. No doubt his mother's death affected +him deeply, and he may have been disappointed by his failure to obtain a +permanent footing in the capital. It is not surprising that the blind +and lonely man, looking back on his faded youth, should have felt weary +of the world and its ways, and found in melancholy contemplation of +earthly vanities ever fresh matter for the application and development +of these philosophical ideas which, as we have seen, were probably +suggested to him by his recent experiences. While in the collection of +early poems, entitled _Saq[t.]u ´l-Zand_ or 'The Spark of the +Fire-stick' and mainly composed before his visit to Baghdád, he still +treads the customary path of his predecessors,[583] his poems written +after that time and generally known as the _Luzúmiyyát_[584] arrest +attention by their boldness and originality as well as by the sombre and +earnest tone which pervades them. This, indeed, is not the view of most +Oriental critics, who dislike the poet's irreverence and fail to +appreciate the fact that he stood considerably in advance of his age; +but in Europe he has received full justice and perhaps higher praise +than he deserves. Reiske describes him as 'Arabice callentissimum, +vasti, subtilis, sublimis et audacis ingenii';[585] Von Hammer, who +ranks him as a poet with Abú Tammám, Bu[h.]turí, and Mutanabbí, also +mentions him honourably as a philosopher;[586] and finally Von Kremer, +who made an exhaustive study of the _Luzúmiyyát_ and examined their +contents in a masterly essay,[587] discovered in Abu ´l-`Alá, one of the +greatest moralists of all time whose profound genius anticipated much +that is commonly attributed to the so-called modern spirit of +enlightenment. Here Von Kremer's enthusiasm may have carried him too +far; for the poet, as Professor Margoliouth says, was unconscious of the +value of his suggestions, unable to follow them out, and unable to +adhere to them consistently. Although he builded better than he knew, +the constructive side of his philosophy was overshadowed by the negative +and destructive side, so that his pure and lofty morality leaves but a +faint impression which soon dies away in louder, continually recurring +voices of doubt and despair. + +Abu ´l-`Alá is a firm monotheist, but his belief in God amounted, as it +would seem, to little beyond a conviction that all things are governed +by inexorable Fate, whose mysteries none may fathom and from whose +omnipotence there is no escape. He denies the Resurrection of the dead, +_e.g._:-- + + "We laugh, but inept is our laughter; + We should weep and weep sore, + Who are shattered like glass, and thereafter + Re-moulded no more!"[588] + +Since Death is the ultimate goal of mankind, the sage will pray to be +delivered as speedily as possible from the miseries of life and refuse +to inflict upon others what, by no fault of his own, he is doomed to +suffer:-- + + "Amends are richly due from sire to son: + What if thy children rule o'er cities great? + That eminence estranges them the more + From thee, and causes them to wax in hate, + Beholding one who cast them into Life's + Dark labyrinth whence no wit can extricate."[589] + +There are many passages to the same effect, showing that Abu ´l-`Alá +regarded procreation as a sin and universal annihilation as the best +hope for humanity. He acted in accordance with his opinions, for he +never married, and he is said to have desired that the following verse +should be inscribed on his grave:-- + + "This wrong was by my father done + To me, but ne'er by me to one."[590] + +Hating the present life and weary of its burdens, yet seeing no happier +prospect than that of return to non-existence, Abu ´l-`Alá can scarcely +have disguised from himself what he might shrink openly to avow--that he +was at heart, not indeed an atheist, but wholly incredulous of any +Divine revelation. Religion, as he conceives it, is a product of the +human mind, in which men believe through force of habit and education, +never stopping to consider whether it is true. + + "Sometimes you may find a man skilful in his trade, perfect in + sagacity and in the use of arguments, but when he comes to religion + he is found obstinate, so does he follow the old groove. Piety is + implanted in human nature; it is deemed a sure refuge. To the + growing child that which falls from his elders' lips is a lesson + that abides with him all his life. Monks in their cloisters and + devotees in the mosques accept their creed just as a story is handed + down from him who tells it, without distinguishing between a true + interpreter and a false. If one of these had found his kin among the + Magians, he would have declared himself a Magian, or among the + [S.]ábians, he would have become nearly or quite like _them_."[591] + +Religion, then, is "a fable invented by the ancients," worthless except +to those unscrupulous persons who prey upon human folly and +superstition. Islam is neither better nor worse than any other creed:-- + + "[H.]anífs are stumbling,[592] Christians all astray, + Jews wildered, Magians far on error's way. + We mortals are composed of two great schools-- + Enlightened knaves or else religious fools."[593] + +Not only does the poet emphatically reject the proud claim of Islam to +possess a monopoly of truth, but he attacks most of its dogmas in +detail. As to the Koran, Abu ´l-`Alá could not altogether refrain from +doubting if it was really the Word of God, but he thought so well of the +style that he accepted the challenge flung down by Mu[h.]ammad and +produced a rival work (_al-Fu[s.]úl wa-´l-Gháyát_), which appears to +have been a somewhat frivolous parody of the sacred volume, though in +the author's judgment its inferiority was simply due to the fact that it +was not yet polished by the tongues of four centuries of readers. +Another work which must have sorely offended orthodox Mu[h.]ammadans is +the _Risálatu ´l-Ghufrán_ (Epistle of Forgiveness).[594] Here the +Paradise of the Faithful becomes a glorified salon tenanted by various +heathen poets who have been forgiven--hence the title--and received +among the Blest. This idea is carried out with much ingenuity and in a +spirit of audacious burlesque that reminds us of Lucian. The poets are +presented in a series of imaginary conversations with a certain Shaykh +`Alí b. Man[s.]úr, to whom the work is addressed, reciting and +explaining their verses, quarrelling with one another, and generally +behaving as literary Bohemians. The second part contains a number of +anecdotes relating to the _zindíqs_ or freethinkers of Islam +interspersed with quotations from their poetry and reflections on the +nature of their belief, which Abu ´l-`Alá condemns while expressing a +pious hope that they are not so black as they paint themselves. At this +time it may have suited him--he was over sixty--to assume the attitude +of charitable orthodoxy. Like so many wise men of the East, he practised +dissimulation as a fine art-- + + "I lift my voice to utter lies absurd, + But when I speak the truth, my hushed tones scarce are heard."[595] + +In the _Luzúmiyyát_, however, he often unmasks. Thus he describes as +idolatrous relics the two Pillars of the Ka`ba and the Black Stone, +venerated by every Moslem, and calls the Pilgrimage itself 'a heathen's +journey' (_ri[h.]latu jáhiliyyin_). The following sentiments do him +honour, but they would have been rank heresy at Mecca:-- + + "Praise God and pray, + Walk seventy times, not seven, the Temple round-- + And impious remain! + Devout is he alone who, when he may + Feast his desires, is found + With courage to abstain."[596] + +It is needless to give further instances of the poet's contempt for the +Mu[h.]ammadan articles of faith. Considering that he assailed persons as +well as principles, and lashed with bitter invective the powerful class +of the _`Ulamá_, the clerical and legal representatives of Islam, we may +wonder that the accusation of heresy brought against him was never +pushed home and had no serious consequences. The question was warmly +argued on both sides, and though Abu ´l-`Alá was pronounced by the +majority to be a freethinker and materialist, he did not lack defenders +who quoted chapter and verse to prove that he was nothing of the kind. +It must be remembered that his works contain no philosophical system; +that his opinions have to be gathered from the ideas which he scatters +incoherently, and for the most part in guarded language, through a long +succession of rhymes; and that this task, already arduous enough, is +complicated by the not infrequent occurrence of sentiments which are +blamelessly orthodox and entirely contradictory to the rest. A brilliant +writer, familiar with Eastern ways of thinking, has observed that in +general the conscience of an Asiatic is composed of the following +ingredients: (1) an almost bare religious designation; (2) a more or +less lively belief in certain doctrines of the creed which he professes; +(3) a resolute opposition to many of its doctrines, even if they should +be the most essential; (4) a fund of ideas relating to completely alien +theories, which occupies more or less room; (5) a constant tendency to +get rid of these ideas and theories and to replace the old by new.[597] +Such phenomena will account for a great deal of logical inconsistency, +but we should beware of invoking them too confidently in this case. Abu +´l-`Alá with his keen intellect and unfanatical temperament was not the +man to let himself be mystified. Still lamer is the explanation offered +by some Mu[h.]ammadan critics, that his thoughts were decided by the +necessities of the difficult metre in which he wrote. It is conceivable +that he may sometimes have doubted his own doubts and given Islam the +benefit, but Von Kremer's conclusion is probably near the truth, namely, +that where the poet speaks as a good Moslem, his phrases if they are not +purely conventional are introduced of set purpose to foil his pious +antagonists or to throw them off the scent. Although he was not without +religion in the larger sense of the word, unprejudiced students of the +later poems must recognise that from the orthodox standpoint he was +justly branded as an infidel. The following translations will serve to +illustrate the negative side of his philosophy:-- + + "Falsehood hath so corrupted all the world + That wrangling sects each other's gospel chide; + But were not hate Man's natural element, + Churches and mosques had risen side by side."[598] + + + "What is Religion? A maid kept close that no eye may view her; + The price of her wedding-gifts and dowry baffles the wooer. + Of all the goodly doctrine that I from the pulpit heard + My heart has never accepted so much as a single word!"[599] + + + "The pillars of this earth are four, + Which lend to human life a base; + God shaped two vessels, Time and Space, + The world and all its folk to store. + + "That which Time holds, in ignorance + It holds--why vent on it our spite? + Man is no cave-bound eremite, + But still an eager spy on Chance. + + "He trembles to be laid asleep, + Tho' worn and old and weary grown. + We laugh and weep by Fate alone, + Time moves us not to laugh or weep; + + "Yet we accuse it innocent, + Which, could it speak, might us accuse, + Our best and worst, at will to choose, + United in a sinful bent."[600] + + "'The stars' conjunction comes, divinely sent, + And lo, the veil o'er every creed is rent. + No realm is founded that escapes decay, + The firmest structure soon dissolves away.[601] + With sadness deep a thoughtful mind must scan + Religion made to serve the pelf of Man. + Fear thine own children: sparks at random flung + Consume the very tinder whence they sprung. + Evil are all men; I distinguish not + That part or this: the race entire I blot. + Trust none, however near akin, tho' he + A perfect sense of honour show to thee, + Thy self is the worst foe to be withstood: + Be on thy guard in hours of solitude." + + * * * * * + + "Desire a venerable shaykh to cite + Reason for his doctrine, he is gravelled quite. + What! shall I ripen ere a leaf is seen? + The tree bears only when 'tis clad in green."[602] + + + "How have I provoked your enmity? + Christ or Mu[h.]ammad, 'tis one to me. + No rays of dawn our path illume, + We are sunk together in ceaseless gloom. + Can blind perceptions lead aright, + Or blear eyes ever have clear sight? + Well may a body racked with pain + Envy mouldering bones in vain; + Yet comes a day when the weary sword + Reposes, to its sheath restored. + Ah, who to me a frame will give + As clod or stone insensitive?-- + For when spirit is joined to flesh, the pair + Anguish of mortal sickness share. + O Wind, be still, if wind thy name, + O Flame, die out, if thou art flame!"[603] + +Pessimist and sceptic as he was, Abu ´l-`Alá denies more than he +affirms, but although he rejected the dogmas of positive religion, he +did not fall into utter unbelief; for he found within himself a moral +law to which he could not refuse obedience. + + "Take Reason for thy guide and do what she + Approves, the best of counsellors in sooth. + Accept no law the Pentateuch lays down: + Not there is what thou seekest--the plain truth."[604] + +He insists repeatedly that virtue is its own reward. + + "Oh, purge the good thou dost from hope of recompense + Or profit, as if thou wert one that sells his wares."[605] + +His creed is that of a philosopher and ascetic. Slay no living creature, +he says; better spare a flea than give alms. Yet he prefers active +piety, active humanity, to fasting and prayer. "The gist of his moral +teaching is to inculcate as the highest and holiest duty a conscientious +fulfilment of one's obligations with equal warmth and affection towards +all living beings."[606] + +Abu ´l-`Alá died in 1057 A.D., at the age of eighty-four. About ten +years before this time, the Persian poet and traveller, Ná[s.]ir-i +Khusraw, passed through Ma`arra on his way to Egypt. He describes Abu +´l-`Alá as the chief man in the town, very rich, revered by the +inhabitants, and surrounded by more than two hundred students who came +from all parts to attend his lectures on literature and poetry.[607] We +may set this trustworthy notice against the doleful account which Abu +´l-`Alá gives of himself in his letters and other works. If not among +the greatest Mu[h.]ammadan poets, he is undoubtedly one of the most +original and attractive. After Mutanabbí, even after Abu ´l-`Atáhiya, he +must appear strangely modern to the European reader. It is astonishing +to reflect that a spirit so unconventional, so free from dogmatic +prejudice, so rational in spite of his pessimism and deeply religious +notwithstanding his attacks on revealed religion, should have ended his +life in a Syrian country-town some years before the battle of Senlac. +Although he did not meddle with politics and held aloof from every sect, +he could truly say of himself, "I am the son of my time" (_ghadawtu ´bna +waqtí_).[608] His poems leave no aspect of the age untouched, and +present a vivid picture of degeneracy and corruption, in which tyrannous +rulers, venal judges, hypocritical and unscrupulous theologians, +swindling astrologers, roving swarms of dervishes and godless +Carmathians occupy a prominent place.[609] + + +Although the reader may think that too much space has been already +devoted to poetry, I will venture by way of concluding the subject to +mention very briefly a few well-known names which cannot be altogether +omitted from a work of this kind. + +[Sidenote: Abú Tammám and Bu[h.]turí.] + +Abú Tammám ([H.]abíb b. Aws) and Bu[h.]turí, both of whom flourished in +the ninth century, were distinguished court poets of the same type as +Mutanabbí, but their reputation rests more securely on the anthologies +which they compiled under the title of _[H.]amása_ (see p. 129 seq.). + +[Sidenote: Ibnu ´l-Mu`tazz (861-908 A.D.).] + +Abu ´l-`Abbás `Abdulláh, the son of the Caliph al-Mu`tazz, was a +versatile poet and man of letters, who showed his originality by the +works which he produced in two novel styles of composition. It has often +been remarked that the Arabs have no great epos like the Iliad or the +Persian _Sháhnáma_, but only prose narratives which, though sometimes +epical in tone, are better described as historical romances. Ibnu +´l-Mu`tazz could not supply the deficiency. He wrote, however, in praise +of his cousin, the Caliph Mu`ta[d.]id, a metrical epic in miniature, +commencing with a graphic delineation of the wretched state to which the +Empire had been reduced by the rapacity and tyranny of the Turkish +mercenaries. He composed also, besides an anthology of Bacchanalian +pieces, the first important work on Poetics (_Kitábu ´l-Badí`_). A sad +destiny was in store for this accomplished prince. On the death of the +Caliph Muktarí he was called to the throne, but a few hours after his +accession he was overpowered by the partisans of Muqtadir, who strangled +him as soon as they discovered his hiding-place. Picturing the scene, +one thinks almost inevitably of Nero's dying words, _Qualis artifex +pereo!_ + + +[Sidenote: `Umar Ibnu ´l-Fári[d.] (1181-1235 A.D.).] + +The mystical poetry of the Arabs is far inferior, as a whole, to that of +the Persians. Fervour and passion it has in the highest degree, but it +lacks range and substance, not to speak of imaginative and speculative +power. `Umar Ibnu ´l-Fári[d.], though he is undoubtedly the poet of +Arabian mysticism, cannot sustain a comparison with his great Persian +contemporary, Jalálu´l-Dín Rúmí (+ 1273 A.D.); he surpasses him only in +the intense glow and exquisite beauty of his diction. It will be +convenient to reserve a further account of Ibnu ´l-Fári[d.] for the next +chapter, where we shall discuss the development of [S.]úfiism during +this period. + +Finally two writers claim attention who owe their reputation to single +poems--a by no means rare phenomenon in the history of Arabic +literature. One of these universally celebrated odes is the _Lámiyyatu +´l-`Ajam_ (the ode rhyming in _l_ of the non-Arabs) composed in the year +1111 A.D. by [T.]ughrá´í; the other is the _Burda_ (Mantle Ode) of +Bú[s.]írí, which I take the liberty of mentioning in this chapter, +although its author died some forty years after the Mongol Invasion. + +[Sidenote: [T.]ughrá´í (+ _circa_ 1120 A.D.).] + +[H.]asan b. `Alí al-[T.]ughrá´í was of Persian descent and a native of +I[s.]fahán.[610] He held the offices of _kátib_ (secretary) and _munshí_ +or _[t.]ughrá´í_ (chancellor) under the great Seljúq Sultans, Maliksháh +and Mu[h.]ammad, and afterwards became Vizier to the Seljúqid prince +Ghiyáthu ´l-Dín Mas`úd[611] in Mosul. He derived the title by which he +is generally known from the royal signature (_[t.]ughrá_) which it was +his duty to indite on all State papers over the initial _Bismilláh_. The +_Lámiyyatu ´l-`Ajam_ is so called with reference to Shanfará's renowned +poem, the _Lámiyyatu ´l-`Arab_ (see p. 79 seq.), which rhymes in the +same letter; otherwise the two odes have only this in common,[612] that +whereas Shanfará depicts the hardships of an outlaw's life in the +desert, [T.]ughrá´í, writing in Baghdád, laments the evil times on which +he has fallen, and complains that younger rivals, base and servile men, +are preferred to him, while he is left friendless and neglected in his +old age. + +[Sidenote: Bú[s.]írí (+ _circa_ 1296 A.D.).] + +The _Qa[s.]ídatu ´l-Burda_ (Mantle Ode) of al-Bú[s.]írí[613] is a hymn in +praise of the Prophet. Its author was born in Egypt in 1212 A.D. We know +scarcely anything concerning his life, which, as he himself declares, +was passed in writing poetry and in paying court to the great[614]; but +his biographers tell us that he supported himself by copying +manuscripts, and that he was a disciple of the eminent [S.]úfí, Abu +´l-`Abbás A[h.]mad al-Marsí. It is said that he composed the _Burda_ while +suffering from a stroke which paralysed one half of his body. After +praying God to heal him, he began to recite the poem. Presently he fell +asleep and dreamed that he saw the Prophet, who touched his palsied side +and threw his mantle (_burda_) over him.[615] "Then," said al-Bú[s.]írí, +"I awoke and found myself able to rise." However this may be, the Mantle +Ode is held in extraordinary veneration by Mu[h.]ammadans. Its verses +are often learned by heart and inscribed in golden letters on the walls +of public buildings; and not only is the whole poem regarded as a charm +against evil, but some peculiar magical power is supposed to reside in +each verse separately. Although its poetical merit is no more than +respectable, the _Burda_ may be read with pleasure on account of its +smooth and elegant style, and with interest as setting forth in brief +compass the mediæval legend of the Prophet--a legend full of prodigies +and miracles in which the historical figure of Mu[h.]ammad is glorified +almost beyond recognition. + + +[Sidenote: Rhymed prose.] + +Rhymed prose (_saj`_) long retained the religious associations which it +possessed in Pre-islamic times and which were consecrated, for all +Moslems, by its use in the Koran. About the middle of the ninth century +it began to appear in the public sermons (_khu[t.]ab_, sing. +_khu[t.]ba_) of the Caliphs and their viceroys, and it was still further +developed by professional preachers, like Ibn Nubáta (+ 984 A.D.), and +by official secretaries, like Ibráhím b. Hilál al-[S.]ábí (+ 994 A.D.). +Henceforth rhyme becomes a distinctive and almost indispensable feature +of rhetorical prose. + +[Sidenote: Badí`u ´l-Zamán al-Hamadhání (+ 1007 A.D.).] + +The credit of inventing, or at any rate of making popular, a new and +remarkable form of composition in this style belongs to al-Hamadhání (+ +1007 A.D.), on whom posterity conferred the title _Badí`u ´l-Zamán_, +_i.e._, 'the Wonder of the Age.' Born in Hamadhán (Ecbatana), he left +his native town as a young man and travelled through the greater part of +Persia, living by his wits and astonishing all whom he met by his talent +for improvisation. His _Maqámát_ may be called a romance or literary +Bohemianism. In the _maqáma_ we find some approach to the dramatic +style, which has never been cultivated by the Semites.[616] Hamadhání +imagined as his hero a witty, unscrupulous vagabond journeying from +place to place and supporting himself by the presents which his +impromptu displays of rhetoric, poetry, and learning seldom failed to +draw from an admiring audience. The second character is the _ráwí_ or +narrator, "who should be continually meeting with the other, should +relate his adventures, and repeat his excellent compositions."[617] The +_Maqámát_ of Hamadhání became the model for this kind of writing, and +the types which he created survive unaltered in the more elaborate work +of his successors. Each _maqáma_ forms an independent whole, so that the +complete series may be regarded as a novel consisting of detached +episodes in the hero's life, a medley of prose and verse in which the +story is nothing, the style everything. + +[Sidenote: [H.]arírí (1054-1122 A.D.).] + +Less original than Badí`u ´l-Zamán, but far beyond him in variety of +learning and copiousness of language, Abú Mu[h.]ammad al-Qásim +al-[H.]arírí of Ba[s.]ra produced in his _Maqámát_ a masterpiece which +for eight centuries "has been esteemed as, next to the Koran, the chief +treasure of the Arabic tongue." In the Preface to his work he says that +the composition of _maqámát_ was suggested to him by "one whose +suggestion is a command and whom it is a pleasure to obey." This was the +distinguished Persian statesman, Anúshirwán b. Khálid,[618] who +afterwards served as Vizier under the Caliph Mustarshid Billáh +(1118-1135 A.D.) and Sultán Mas`úd, the Seljúq (1133-1152 A.D.); but at +the time when he made [H.]arírí's acquaintance he was living in +retirement at Ba[s.]ra and devoting himself to literary studies. +[H.]arírí begged to be excused on the score that his abilities were +unequal to the task, "for the lame steed cannot run like the strong +courser."[619] Finally, however, he yielded to the request of +Anúshirwán, and, to quote his own words-- + + "I composed, in spite of hindrances that I suffered + From dullness of capacity and dimness of intellect, + And dryness of imagination and distressing anxieties, + Fifty Maqámát, which contain serious language and lightsome, + And combine refinement with dignity of style, + And brilliancies with jewels of eloquence, + And beauties of literature with its rarities, + Beside verses of the Koran wherewith I adorned them, + And choice metaphors, and Arab proverbs that I interspersed, + And literary elegancies and grammatical riddles, + And decisions based on the (double) meaning of words, + And original discourses and highly-wrought orations, + And affecting exhortations as well as entertaining jests: + The whole of which I have indited as by the tongue of Abú Zayd + of Sarúj, + The part of narrator being assigned to Harith son of Hammám + of Ba[s.]ra."[620] + +[H.]arírí then proceeds to argue that his _Maqámát_ are not mere frivolous +stories such as strict Moslems are bound to reprobate in accordance with +a well-known passage of the Koran referring to Na[d.]r b. [H.]árith, who +mortally offended the Prophet by amusing the Quraysh with the old +Persian legends of Rustam and Isfandiyár (Koran, xxxi, 5-6): "_There is +one that buyeth idle tales that he may seduce men from the way of God, +without knowledge, and make it a laughing-stock: these shall suffer a +shameful punishment. And when Our signs are read to him, he turneth his +back in disdain as though he heard them not, as though there were in his +ears a deafness: give him joy of a grievous punishment!_" [H.]arírí +insists that the _Assemblies_ have a moral purpose. The ignorant and +malicious, he says, will probably condemn his work, but intelligent +readers will perceive, if they lay prejudice aside, that it is as useful +and instructive as the fables of beasts, &c.,[621] to which no one has +ever objected. That his fears of hostile criticism were not altogether +groundless is shown by the following remarks of the author of the +popular history entitled _al-Fakhrí_ (+ _circa_ 1300 A.D.). This writer, +after claiming that his own book is more useful than the _[H.]amása_ of +Abú Tammám, continues:-- + + [Sidenote: _Maqámát_ criticised as immoral.] + + "And, again, it is more profitable than the _Maqámát_ on which men + have set their hearts, and which they eagerly commit to memory; + because the reader derives no benefit from _Maqámát_ except + familiarity with elegant composition and knowledge of the rules of + verse and prose. Undoubtedly they contain maxims and ingenious + devices and experiences; but all this has a debasing effect on the + mind, for it is founded on begging and sponging and disgraceful + scheming to acquire a few paltry pence. Therefore, if they do good + in one direction, they do harm in another; and this point has been + noticed by some critics of the _Maqámát_ of [H.]arírí and Badí`u + ´l-Zamán."[622] + +[Sidenote: The character of Abú Zayd.] + +Before pronouncing on the justice of this censure, we must consider for +a moment the character of Abú Zayd, the hero of [H.]arírí's work, whose +adventures are related by a certain [H.]árith b. Hammám, under which +name the author is supposed to signify himself. According to the general +tradition, [H.]arírí was one day seated with a number of savants in the +mosque of the Banú [H.]arám at Ba[s.]ra, when an old man entered, +footsore and travel-stained. On being asked who he was and whence he +came, he answered that his name of honour was Abú Zayd and that he came +from Sarúj.[623] He described in eloquent and moving terms how his +native town had been plundered by the Greeks, who made his daughter a +captive and drove him forth to exile and poverty. [H.]arírí was so +struck with his wonderful powers of improvisation that on the same +evening he began to compose the _Maqáma of the Banú [H.]arám_,[624] +where Abú Zayd is introduced in his invariable character: "a crafty old +man, full of genius and learning, unscrupulous of the artifices which he +uses to effect his purpose, reckless in spending in forbidden +indulgences the money he has obtained by his wit or deceit, but with +veins of true feeling in him, and ever yielding to unfeigned emotion +when he remembers his devastated home and his captive child."[625] If an +immoral tendency has been attributed to the _Assemblies_ of [H.]arírí it +is because the author does not conceal his admiration for this +unprincipled and thoroughly disreputable scamp. Abú Zayd, indeed, is +made so fascinating that we can easily pardon his knaveries for the sake +of the pearls of wit and wisdom which he scatters in splendid +profusion--excellent discourses, edifying sermons, and plaintive +lamentations mingled with rollicking ditties and ribald jests. Modern +readers are not likely to agree with the historian quoted above, but +although they may deem his criticism illiberal, they can hardly deny +that it has some justification. + +[H.]arírí's rhymed prose might be freely imitated in English, but the +difficulty of rendering it in rhyme with tolerable fidelity has caused +me to abandon the attempt to produce a version of one of the +_Assemblies_ in the original form.[626] I will translate instead three +poems which are put into the mouth of Abú Zayd. The first is a tender +elegiac strain recalling far-off days of youth and happiness in his +native land:-- + + "Ghassán is my noble kindred, Sarúj is my land of birth, + Where I dwelt in a lofty mansion of sunlike glory and worth, + A Paradise for its sweetness and beauty and pleasant mirth! + + And oh, the life that I led there abounding in all delight! + I trailed my robe on its meadows, while Time flew a careless flight, + Elate in the flower of manhood, no pleasure veiled from my sight. + + Now, if woe could kill, I had died of the troubles that haunt me here, + Or could past joy ever be ransomed, my heart's blood had not been + dear, + Since death is better than living a brute's life year after year, + + Subdued to scorn as a lion whom base hyenas torment. + But Luck is to blame, else no one had failed of his due ascent: + If she were straight, the conditions of men would never be bent."[627] + +The scene of the eleventh _Assembly_ is laid in Sáwa, a city lying +midway between Hamadhán (Ecbatana) and Rayy (Rhages). "[H.]árith, in a +fit of religious zeal, betakes himself to the public burial ground, for +the purpose of contemplation. He finds a funeral in progress, and when +it is over an old man, with his face muffled in a cloak, takes his stand +on a hillock, and pours forth a discourse on the certainty of death and +judgment.... He then rises into poetry and declaims a piece which is one +of the noblest productions of Arabic literature. In lofty morality, in +religious fervour, in beauty of language, in power and grace of metre, +this magnificent hymn is unsurpassed."[628] + + "Pretending sense in vain, how long, O light of brain, wilt thou heap + sin and bane, and compass error's span? + Thy conscious guilt avow! The white hairs on thy brow admonish thee, + and thou hast ears unstopt, O man! + Death's call dost thou not hear? Rings not his voice full clear? Of + parting hast no fear, to make thee sad and wise? + How long sunk in a sea of sloth and vanity wilt thou play heedlessly, + as though Death spared his prize? + Till when, far wandering from virtue, wilt thou cling to evil ways + that bring together vice in brief? + For thy Lord's anger shame thou hast none, but let maim o'ertake thy + cherished aim, then feel'st thou burning grief. + Thou hail'st with eager joy the coin of yellow die, but if a bier pass + by, feigned is thy sorry face; + Perverse and callous wight! thou scornest counsel right to follow + the false light of treachery and disgrace. + Thy pleasure thou dost crave, to sordid gain a slave, forgetting + the dark grave and what remains of dole; + Were thy true weal descried, thy lust would not misguide nor thou + be terrified by words that should console. + Not tears, blood shall thine eyes pour at the great Assize, when thou + hast no allies, no kinsman thee to save; + Straiter thy tomb shall be than needle's cavity: deep, deep thy plunge + I see as diver's 'neath the wave. + There shall thy limbs be laid, a feast for worms arrayed, till utterly + decayed are wood and bones withal, + Nor may thy soul repel that ordeal horrible, when o'er the Bridge of + Hell she must escape or fall. + Astray shall leaders go, and mighty men be low, and sages shall cry, + 'Woe like this was never yet.' + Then haste, my thoughtless friend, what thou hast marred to mend, + for life draws near its end, and still thou art in the net. + Trust not in fortune, nay, though she be soft and gay; for she will + spit one day her venom, if thou dote; + Abate thy haughty pride! lo, Death is at thy side, fastening, whate'er + betide, his fingers on thy throat. + When prosperous, refrain from arrogant disdain, nor give thy tongue + the rein: a modest tongue is best. + Comfort the child of bale and listen to his tale: repair thine actions + frail, and be for ever blest. + Feather the nest once more of those whose little store has vanished: + ne'er deplore the loss nor miser be; + With meanness bravely cope, and teach thine hand to ope, and spurn + the misanthrope, and make thy bounty free. + Lay up provision fair and leave what brings thee care: for sea + the ship prepare and dread the rising storm. + This, friend, is what I preach expressed in lucid speech. Good luck + to all and each who with my creed conform!" + +In the next _Maqáma_--that of Damascus--we find Abú Zayd, gaily attired, +amidst casks and vats of wine, carousing and listening to the music of +lutes and singing-- + + "I ride and I ride through the waste far and wide, and I fling away + pride to be gay as the swallow; + Stem the torrent's fierce speed, tame the mettlesome steed, that + wherever I lead Youth and Pleasure may follow. + I bid gravity pack, and I strip bare my back lest liquor I lack when + the goblet is lifted: + Did I never incline to the quaffing of wine, I had ne'er been with + fine wit and eloquence gifted. + Is it wonderful, pray, that an old man should stay in a well-stored + seray by a cask overflowing? + Wine strengthens the knees, physics every disease, and from sorrow + it frees, the oblivion-bestowing! + Oh, the purest of joys is to live sans disguise unconstrained by + the ties of a grave reputation, + And the sweetest of love that the lover can prove is when fear and + hope move him to utter his passion. + Thy love then proclaim, quench the smouldering flame, for 'twill + spark out thy shame and betray thee to laughter: + Heal the wounds of thine heart and assuage thou the smart by the cups + that impart a delight men seek after; + While to hand thee the bowl damsels wait who cajole and enravish + the soul with eyes tenderly glancing, + And singers whose throats pour such high-mounting notes, when + the melody floats, iron rocks would be dancing! + Obey not the fool who forbids thee to pull beauty's rose when in + full bloom thou'rt free to possess it; + Pursue thine end still, tho' it seem past thy skill; let them say + what they will, take thy pleasure and bless it! + Get thee gone from thy sire, if he thwart thy desire; spread thy + nets nor enquire what the nets are receiving; + But be true to a friend, shun the miser and spend, ways of charity + wend, be unwearied in giving. + He that knocks enters straight at the Merciful's gate, so repent + or e'er Fate call thee forth from the living!" + +The reader may judge from these extracts whether the _Assemblies_ of +[H.]arírí 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. [H.]arírí himself was a subtle grammarian, living in +Ba[s.]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 illustrate 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, assonances, 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 [H.]arírí's countrymen the _Maqámát_ are prized as +an almost unique monument of their language, antiquities, and culture. +One of the author's contemporaries, the famous Zamakhsharí, has +expressed the general verdict in pithy verse-- + + "I swear by God and His marvels, + By the pilgrims' rite and their shrine: + [H.]arírí's _Assemblies_ 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 (_[H.]adíth_) we +must refer the reader to what has been already said. All that can be +attempted here is to take a passing notice of the most eminent writers +and the most celebrated works of this epoch in the field of religion. + +[Sidenote: Málik b. Anas (713-795 A.D.).] + +The place of honour belongs to the Imám Málik b. Anas of Medína, whose +_Muwa[t.][t.]a´_ is the first great _corpus_ of Mu[h.]ammadan Law. He +was a partisan of the `Alids, and was flogged by command of the Caliph +Man[s.]úr in consequence of his declaration that he did not consider the +oath of allegiance to the `Abbásid dynasty to have any binding effect. + +[Sidenote: Bukhárí and Muslim.] + +The two principal authorities for Apostolic Tradition are Bukhárí (+ 870 +A.D.) and Muslim (+ 875 A.D.), authors of the collections entitled +_[S.]a[h.]í[h.]_. Compilations of a narrower range, embracing only those +traditions which bear on the _Sunna_ or custom of the Prophet, are the +_Sunan_ of Abú Dáwúd al-Sijistání (+ 889 A.D.), the _Jámi`_ of Abú `Isá +Mu[h.]ammad al-Tirmidhí (+ 892 A.D.), the _Sunan_ of al-Nasá´í (+ 915 +A.D.), and the _Sunan_ of Ibn Mája (+ 896 A.D.). These, together with the +_[S.]a[h.]í[h.]s_ of Bukhárí 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[s.]ábí[h.]u ´l-Sunna_ by al-Baghawí (+ +_circa_ 1120 A.D.). A later adaptation called _Mishkátu +´l-Ma[s.]ábí[h.]_ has been often printed, and is still extremely +popular. + +[Sidenote: Máwardí (+ 1058 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Arabic authorities on [S.]úfiism.] + +[Sidenote: Ghazálí (+ 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-Máwardí, a Sháfi`ite lawyer, who wrote a well-known treatise +on politics--the _Kitábu ´l-A[h.]kám al-Sul[t.]ániyya_, 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. Máwardí lived at Baghdád 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 `Abbásid dynasty the mystical doctrines of the [S.]úfís were +systematised and expounded. Some of the most important Arabic works of +reference on [S.]úfiism are the _Qútu ´l-Qulúb_, or 'Food of Hearts,' by +Abú [T.]álib al-Makkí (+ 996 A.D.); the _Kitábu ´l-Ta`arruf li-Madhhabi +ahli ´l-Ta[s.]awwuf_, or 'Book of Enquiry as to the Religion of the +[S.]úfís,' by Mu[h.]ammad b. Is[h.]áq al-Kalábádhí (+ _circa_ 1000 A.D.); +the _[T.]abaqátu ´l-[S.]úfiyya_, or 'Classes of the [S.]úfís,' by Abú +`Abd al-Ra[h.]mán al-Sulamí (+ 1021 A.D.); the _[H.]ilyatu ´l-Awliyá_, +or 'Adornment of the Saints,' by Abú Nu`aym al-I[s.]fahání (+ 1038 +A.D.); the _Risálatu ´l-Qushayriyya_, or 'Qushayrite Tract,' by Abu +´l-Qásim al-Qushayrí of Naysábúr (+ 1074 A.D.); the _I[h.]yá´u `Ulúm +al-Dín_, or 'Revivification of the Religious Sciences,' by Ghazálí (+ +1111 A.D.); and the _`Awárifu ´l-Ma`árif_, or 'Bounties of Knowledge,' +by Shihábu ´l-Dín Abú [H.]af[s.] `Umar al-Suhrawardí (+ 1234 A.D.)--a +list which might easily be extended. In Dogmatic Theology there is none +to compare with Abú [H.]ámid al-Ghazálí, surnamed 'the Proof of Islam' +(_[H.]ujjatu ´l-Islám_). 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 illustrate the history of +Mu[h.]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 Ghazálí according to the _Shadharátu ´l-Dhahab_.] + + "In this year (505 A.H. = 1111 A.D.) died the Imám, who was the + Ornament of the Faith and the Proof of Islam, Abú [H.]ámid + Mu[h.]ammad ... of [T.]ús, the Sháfi`ite. His death took place on the + 14th of the Latter Jumádá at [T.]ábarán, a village near [T.]ús. He + was then fifty-five years of age. Ghazzálí is equivalent to Ghazzál, + like `A[t.][t.]árí (for `A[t.][t.]ár) and Khabbází (for Khabbáz), in + the dialect of the people of Khurásán[632]: so it is stated by the + author of the _`Ibar_.[633] Al-Isnawí says in his + _[T.]abaqát_[634]:--Ghazzálí is an Imám by whose name breasts 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 [T.]ús + in the year 450 A.H. = 1058-1059 A.D. His father used to spin wool + (_yaghzilu ´l-[s.]úf_) and sell it in his shop. On his deathbed he + committed his two sons, Ghazzálí himself and his brother A[h.]mad, + to the care of a pious [S.]úfí, who taught them writing and educated + them until the money left him by their father was all spent. 'Then,' + says Ghazzálí, '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 Abú Na[s.]r al-Ismá`ílí in Jurján, then to the + Imámu ´l-[H.]aramayn[635] at Naysábúr, under whom he studied with + such assiduity that he became the best scholastic of his + contemporaries (_[s.]ára an[z.]ara ahli zamánihi_), and he lectured + _ex cathedrâ_ 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[z.]ámu ´l-Mulk, whose assembly 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 principal doctors, and disputed with his + opponents and rebutted them in spite of their eminence. So the + Ni[z.]ámu ´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 professorship in the Ni[z.]ámiyya College at + Baghdád, where a splendid reception awaited him. His words reached + far and wide, and his influence soon exceeded that of the Emírs 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 [H.]ijáz.[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[h.]yá_ is said + to be one. Then, after visiting Jerusalem and Alexandria, he + returned to his home at [T.]ús, intent on writing and worship 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[z.]ámu ´l-Mulk, came to see him, and urged him by + every means in his power to accept a professorship in the + Ni[z.]ámiyya College at Naysábúr.[639] Ghazzálí consented, but after + teaching for a time, resigned the appointment and returned to end + his days in his native town." + +[Sidenote: His principal works.] + +Besides his _magnum opus_, the already-mentioned _I[h.]yá_, in which he +expounds theology and the ethics of religion from the standpoint of the +moderate [S.]úfí school, Ghazálí wrote a great number of important +works, such as the _Munqidh mina ´l-[D.]alál_, or 'Deliverer from +Error,' a sort of 'Apologia pro Vitâ Suâ'; the _Kímiyá´u ´l-Sa`ádat_, or +'Alchemy of Happiness,' which was originally written in Persian; and the +_Taháfutu ´l-Falásifa_, 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: Shahrastání'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 _Kitábu ´l-Milal wa-´l-Ni[h.]al_,[640] +that is to say, 'The Book of Religions and Sects,' by Ibn [H.]azm of +Cordova (+ 1064 A.D.) and Abu ´l-Fat[h.] al-Shahrastání (+ 1153 A.D.). +Ibn [H.]azm we shall meet with again in the chapter which deals +specially with the history and literature of the Spanish Moslems. +Shahrastání, as he is named after his birthplace, belonged to the +opposite extremity of the Mu[h.]ammadan Empire, being a native of +Khurásán, the huge Eastern province bounded by the Oxus. Cureton, who +edited the Arabic text of the _Kitábu ´l-Milal wa-´l-Ni[h.]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[h.]ammad, and + likewise of those to whom a true revelation had been made (the _Ahlu + ´l-Kitáb_, or 'People of the Scripture'), that is, Jews and + Christians; and of those who had a doubtful or pretended revelation + (_man lahú shubhatu ´l-Kitáb_), such as the Magi and the Manichæans. + The second division comprises an account of the philosophical + opinions of the Sabæans ([S.]ábians), which are mainly set forth in + a very interesting dialogue between a Sabæan and an orthodox + Mu[h.]ammadan; of the tenets of various Greek Philosophers and some + of the Fathers of the Christian Church; and also of the + Mu[h.]ammadan doctors, more particularly of the system of Ibn Síná + 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[s.]ra.] + +The science of grammar took its rise in the cities of Ba[s.]ra and Kúfa, +which were founded not long after Mu[h.]ammad's death, and which +remained the chief centres of Arabian life and thought outside the +peninsula until they were eclipsed by the great `Abbásid 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 classical idiom was peculiarly exposed to +corrupting influences. If the pride and delight of the Arabs in their +noble 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 pronunciation 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´ilí, +who died at Ba[s.]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 `Alí b. Abí [T.]álib. It is said +that he never made known any of the principles which he had received +from `Alí till Ziyád[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 God. He at first asked to be excused, but on hearing a man +recite the following passage out of the Koran, _anna ´lláha baríun mina +´l-mushrikína wa-rasúluhu_,[642] which last word the reader pronounced +_rasúlihi_, he exclaimed, 'I never thought that things would have come +to this.' He then returned to Ziyád and said, 'I will do what you +ordered.'"[643] The Ba[s.]ra school of grammarians which Abu ´l-Aswad is +said to have founded is older than the rival school of Kúfa and +surpassed it in fame. Its most prominent representatives were Abú `Amr +b. al-`Alá (+ 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; Khalíl b. A[h.]mad, inventor of the +Arabic system of metres and author of the first Arabic lexicon (the +_Kitábu ´l-`Ayn_), which, however, he did not live to complete; the +Persian Síbawayhi, whose Grammar, entitled 'The Book of Síbawayhi,' is +universally celebrated; the great Humanists al-A[s.]ma`í and Abú `Ubayda +who flourished under Hárún al-Rashid; al-Mubarrad, about a century +later, whose best-known work, the _Kámil_, has been edited by Professor +William Wright; his contemporary al-Sukkarí, 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 principal works, in addition to the famous ode known +as the _Maq[s.]úra_, are a voluminous lexicon (_al-Jamhara fi ´l-Lugha_) +and a treatise on the genealogies of the Arab tribes (_Kitábu +´l-Ishtiqáq_). + +[Sidenote: The philogists of Kúfa.] + +Against these names the school of Kúfa can set al-Kisá´í, a Persian +savant who was entrusted by Hárún al-Rashíd with the education of his +sons Amín and Ma´mún; al-Farrá (+ 822 A.D.), a pupil and compatriot of +al-Kisá´í; al-Mufa[d.][d.]al al-[D.]abbí, a favourite of the Caliph +Mahdí, for whom he compiled an excellent anthology of Pre-islamic poems +(_al-Mufa[d.][d.]aliyyát_), which has already been noticed[644]; Ibnu +´l-Sikkít, whose outspoken partiality for the House of `Alí b. Abí +[T.]álib 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 +Kúfa school in his time (+ 904 A.D.), of whose rivalry with al-Mubarrad +many stories are told. A contemporary, Abú 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._, [H.]ammád al-Ráwiya (+ 776 A.D.) and his slightly +younger contemporary, Khalaf al-A[h.]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 `Abbásids, the +place of honour belongs to Abú `Ubayda (+ about 825 A.D.) and al-Asma`í +(+ about 830 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: Abú `Ubayda.] + +[Sidenote: A[s.]ma`í.] + +Abú `Ubayda Ma`mar b. al-Muthanná was of Jewish-Persian race, and +maintained in his writings the cause of the Shu`úbites against the Arab +national party, for which reason he is erroneously described as a +Khárijite.[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[h.]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 _Kitábu ´l-Aghání_ and elsewhere. He left +nearly two hundred works, of which a long but incomplete catalogue +occurs in the _Fihrist_ (pp. 53-54). Abú `Ubayda was summoned by the +Caliph Hárún al-Rashíd to Baghdád, where he became acquainted with +A[s.]ma`í. 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[s.]ma`í was, like his rival, a native of +Ba[s.]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 Abú `Ubayda was dreaded +for his sharp tongue and sarcastic humour, A[s.]ma`í had all the +accomplishments and graces of a courtier. Abú Nuwás, the first great +poet of the `Abbásid period, said that A[s.]ma`í 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' (_Kitábu ´l-Ibil_), 'The Book of +Horses' (_Kitábu ´l-Khayl_), and 'The Book of the Making of Man' +(_Kitábu Khalqi ´l-Insán_), 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: Já[h.]i[z.] (+ 869 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Ibn `Abdi Rabbihi (+ 940 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Abu ´l-Faraj al-I[s.]fahání (+ 967 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Tha`álibí (+ 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 Rúzbih, +better known as `Abdulláh Ibnu ´l-Muqaffa`, who was put to death by +order of the Caliph Man[s.]úr, made several translations from the +Pehleví or Middle-Persian literature into Arabic. We possess a specimen +of his powers in the famous _Book of Kalíla 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 Dínawar, and lived +at Baghdád in the latter half of the ninth century. We have more than +once cited his 'Book of General Knowledge' (_Kitábu ´l-Ma`árif_)[651] +and his 'Book of Poetry and Poets,' (_Kitábu ´l-Shi`r wa-´l-Shu`ará_), +and may add here the _Adabu ´l-Kátib_, or 'Accomplishments of the +Secretary,'[652] a manual of stylistic, dealing with orthography, +orthoepy, lexicography, and the like; and the _`Uyúnu ´l-Akhbár_, or +'Choice Histories,'[653] a work in ten chapters, each of which is +devoted to a special theme such as Government, War, Nobility, +Friendship, Women, &c. `Amr b. Ba[h.]r al-Já[h.]i[z.] of Ba[s.]ra was a +celebrated freethinker, and gave his name to a sect of the Mu`tazilites +(_al-Já[h.]i[z.]iyya_).[654] He composed numerous books of an anecdotal +and entertaining character. Ibn Khallikán singles out as his finest and +most instructive works the _Kitábu ´l-[H.]ayawán_ ('Book of Animals'), +and the _Kitábu ´l-Bayán wa-´l-Tabyín_ ('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, Hishám b. `Abd al-Ra[h.]mán (788-796 A.D.), has left us +a miscellaneous anthology entitled _al-`Iqd al-Faríd_, 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 `Alí, the author of the _Kitábu ´l-Aghání_, was born +at I[s.]fahán, he was an Arab of the Arabs, being a member of the tribe +Quraysh and a lineal descendant of Marwán, the last Umayyad Caliph. +Coming to Baghdád, he bent all his energies to the study of Arabian +antiquity, and towards the end of his life found a generous patron in +al-Muhallabí, 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 Hárún al-Rashíd, 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 quantity of historical traditions and anecdotes, +including much ancient and modern verse. It is said that the [S.]á[h.]ib +Ibn `Abbád,[655] when travelling, used to take thirty camel-loads of +books about with him, but on receiving the _Aghání_ he contented himself +with this one book and dispensed with all the rest.[656] The chief man +of letters of the next generation was Abú Mansúr al-Tha`álibí (the +Furrier) of Naysábúr. 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 _Yatímatu ´l-Dahr_, or 'Solitaire of the +Time'--supplies indubitable proof of his fine scholarship and critical +taste. Successive continuations of the _Yatíma_ were written by +al-Bákharzí (+ 1075 A.D.) in the _Dumyatu ´l-Qa[s.]r_, or 'Statue of the +Palace'; by Abu ´l-Ma`álí al-[H.]a[z.]írí (+ 1172 A.D.) in the _Zínatu +´l-Dahr_, or 'Ornament of the Time'; and by the favourite of Saladin, +`Imádu ´l-Dín al-Kátib al-I[s.]fahání (+ 1201 A.D.), in the _Kharídatu +´l-Qa[s.]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 _[H.]adíth_ 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 Pehleví _Khudáy-náma_, or 'Book of Kings,' +which Ibnu ´l-Muqaffa` turned into Arabic in the eighth century of our +era under the title of _Siyaru Mulúki ´l-`Ajam_, that is, 'The History +of the Kings of Persia.' + +Under the first head Hishám Ibnu ´l-Kalbí (+ 819 A.D.) and his father +Mu[h.]ammad deserve particular mention as painstaking and trustworthy +recorders. + +[Sidenote: Histories of the Prophet and his Companions.] + +Historical traditions relating to the Prophet were put in writing at an +early date (see p. 247). The first biography of Mu[h.]ammad (_Síratu +Rasúli ´lláh_), compiled by Ibn Is[h.]áq, who died in the reign of +Man[s.]úr (768 A.D.), has come down to us only in the recension made by +Ibn Hishám (+ 834 A.D.). This work as well as those of al-Wáqidí (+ 823 +A.D.) and Ibn Sa`d (+ 845 A.D.) have been already noticed. + +Other celebrated historians of the `Abbásid period are the following. + + +[Sidenote: Baládhurí.] + +A[h.]mad b. Ya[h.]yá al-Baládhurí (+ 892 A.D.), a Persian, wrote an +account of the early Mu[h.]ammadan conquests (_Kitábu Futú[h.]i +´l-Buldán_), which has been edited by De Goeje, and an immense chronicle +based on genealogical principles, 'The Book of the Lineages of the +Nobles' (_Kitábu Ansábi ´l-Ashráf_), of which two volumes are +extant.[657] + +[Sidenote: Dínawarí.] + +Abú [H.]ánífa A[h.]mad al-Dínawarí (+ 895 A.D.) was also of Íránian +descent. His 'Book of Long Histories' (_Kitábu ´l-Akhbár al-[T.]iwál_) +deals largely with the national legend of Persia, and is written +throughout from the Persian point of view. + +[Sidenote: Ya`qúbí.] + +Ibn Wá[d.]i[h.] al-Ya`qúbí, a contemporary of Dínawarí, produced an +excellent compendium of universal history, which is specially valuable +because its author, being a follower of the House of `Alí, has preserved +the ancient and unfalsified Shí`ite tradition. His work has been edited +in two volumes by Professor Houtsma (Leyden, 1883). + + +The Annals of [T.]abarí, edited by De Goeje and other European scholars +(Leyden, 1879-1898), and the Golden Meadows[658] (_Murúju ´l-Dhahab_) of +Mas`údí, which Pavet de Courteille and Barbier de Meynard published with +a French translation (Paris, 1861-1877), have been frequently cited in +the foregoing pages; and since these two authors are not only the +greatest historians of the Mu[h.]ammadan East but also (excepting, +possibly, Ibn Khaldún) the most eminent of all who devoted themselves to +this branch of Arabic literature, we must endeavour to make the reader +more closely acquainted with them. + +[Sidenote: [T.]abarí (838-923 A.D.).] + +Abú Ja`far Mu[h.]ammad b. Jarír was born in 838-839 A.D. at Ámul in +[T.]abaristán, the mountainous province lying along the south coast of +the Caspian Sea; whence the name, [T.]abarí, by which he is usually +known.[659] At this time `Iráq was still the principal focus of +Mu[h.]ammadan culture, so that a poet could say:-- + + "I see a man in whom the secretarial dignity is manifest, + One who displays the brilliant culture of `Iráq."[660] + +Thither the young [T.]abarí came to complete his education. He travelled +by way of Rayy to Baghdád, visited other neighbouring towns, and +extended his tour to Syria and Egypt. Although his father sent him a +yearly allowance, it did not always arrive punctually, and he himself +relates that on one occasion he procured bread by selling the sleeves of +his shirt. Fortunately, at Baghdád he was introduced to `Ubaydulláh b. +Ya[h.]yá, the Vizier of Mutawakkil, who engaged him as tutor for his +son. How long he held this post is uncertain, but he was only +twenty-three years of age when his patron went out of office. Fifteen +years later we find him, penniless once more, in Cairo (876-877 A.D.). +He soon, however, returned to Baghdád, where he passed the remainder of +his life in teaching and writing. Modest, unselfish, and simple in his +habits, he diffused his encyclopædic knowledge with an almost superhuman +industry. During forty years, it is said, he wrote forty leaves every +day. His great works are the _Ta´ríkhu ´l-Rusul wa-´l-Mulúk_, or 'Annals +of the Apostles and the Kings,' and his _Tafsír_, or 'Commentary on the +Koran.' Both, even in their present shape, are books of enormous extent, +yet it seems likely that both were originally composed on a far larger +scale and were abbreviated by the author for general use. His pupils, we +are told, flatly refused to read the first editions with him, whereupon +he exclaimed: "Enthusiasm for learning is dead!" The History of +[T.]abarí, from the Creation to the year 302 A.H. = 915 A.D., is +distinguished by "completeness of detail, accuracy, and the truly +stupendous learning of its author that is revealed throughout, and that +makes the Annals a vast storehouse of valuable information for the +historian as well as for the student of Islam."[661] It is arranged +chronologically, the events being tabulated under the year (of the +Mu[h.]ammadan era) in which they occurred. Moreover, it has a very +peculiar form. "Each important fact is related, if possible, by an +eye-witness or contemporary, whose account came down through a series of +narrators to the author. If he has obtained more than one account of a +fact, with more or less important modifications, through several series +of narrators, he communicates them all to the reader _in extenso_. Thus +we are enabled to consider the facts from more than one point of view, +and to acquire a vivid and clear notion of them."[662] According to +modern ideas, [T.]abarí's compilation is not so much a history as a +priceless collection of original documents placed side by side without +any attempt to construct a critical and continuous narrative. At first +sight one can hardly see the wood for the trees, but on closer study the +essential features gradually emerge and stand out in bold relief from +amidst the multitude of insignificant circumstances which lend freshness +and life to the whole. [T.]abarí suffered the common fate of standard +historians. His work was abridged and popularised, the _isnáds_ or +chains of authorities were suppressed, and the various parallel accounts +were combined by subsequent writers into a single version.[663] Of the +Annals, as it left the author's hands, no entire copy exists anywhere, +but many odd volumes are preserved in different parts of the world. The +Leyden edition is based on these scattered MSS., which luckily comprise +the whole work with the exception of a few not very serious lacunæ. + +[Sidenote: Mas`údí (+ 956 A.D.).] + +`Alí b. [H.]usayn, a native of Baghdád, was called Mas`údí after one of +the Prophet's Companions, `Abdulláh b. Mas`úd, to whom he traced his +descent. Although we possess only a small remnant of his voluminous +writings, no better proof can be desired of the vast and various +erudition which he gathered not from books alone, but likewise from long +travel in almost every part of Asia. Among other places, he visited +Armenia, India, Ceylon, Zanzibar, and Madagascar, and he appears to have +sailed in Chinese waters as well as in the Caspian Sea. "My journey," he +says, "resembles that of the sun, and to me the poet's verse is +applicable:-- + + "'We turn our steps toward each different clime, + Now to the Farthest East, then West once more; + Even as the sun, which stays not his advance + O'er tracts remote that no man durst explore.'"[664] + +He spent the latter years of his life chiefly in Syria and Egypt--for he +had no settled abode--compiling the great historical works,[665] of +which the _Murúju ´l-Dhahab_ is an epitome. As regards the motives which +urged him to write, Mas`údí declares that he wished to follow the +example of scholars and sages and to leave behind him a praiseworthy +memorial and imperishable monument. He claims to have taken a wider view +than his predecessors. "One who has never quitted his hearth and home, +but is content with the knowledge which he can acquire concerning the +history of his own part of the world, is not on the same level as one +who spends his life in travel and passes his days in restless +wanderings, and draws forth all manner of curious and precious +information from its hidden mine."[666] + +[Sidenote: The _Murúju ´l-Dhahab_.] + +Mas`údí has been named the 'the Herodotus of the Arabs,' and the +comparison is not unjust.[667] His work, although it lacks the artistic +unity which distinguishes that of the Greek historian, shows the same +eager spirit of enquiry, the same open-mindedness and disposition to +record without prejudice all the marvellous things that he had heard or +seen, the same ripe experience and large outlook on the present as on +the past. It is professedly a universal history beginning with the +Creation and ending at the Caliphate of Mu[t.]í`, in 947 A.D., but no +description can cover the immense range of topics which are discussed +and the innumerable digressions with which the author delights or +irritates his readers, as the case may be.[668] Thus, to pick a few +examples at random, we find a dissertation on tides (vol. i, p. 244); an +account of the _tinnín_ or sea-serpent (_ibid._, p. 267); of +pearl-fishing in the Persian Gulf (_ibid._, p. 328); and of the +rhinoceros (_ibid._, p. 385). Mas`údí was a keen student and critic of +religious beliefs, on which subject he wrote several books.[669] The +_Murúju ´l-Dhahab_ supplies many valuable details regarding the +Mu[h.]ammadan sects, and also regarding the Zoroastrians and [S.]ábians. +There is a particularly interesting report of a meeting which took place +between A[h.]mad b. [T.]úlún, the governor of Egypt (868-877 A.D.), and +an aged Copt, who, after giving his views as to the source of the Nile +and the construction of the Pyramids, defended his faith (Christianity) +on the ground of its manifest errors and contradictions, arguing that +its acceptance, in spite of these, by so many peoples and kings was +decisive evidence of its truth.[670] Mas`údí's account of the Caliphs is +chiefly remarkable for the characteristic anecdotes in which it abounds. +Instead of putting together a methodical narrative he has thrown off a +brilliant but unequal sketch of public affairs and private manners, of +social life and literary history. Only considerations of space have +prevented me from enriching this volume with not a few pages which are +as lively and picturesque as any in Suetonius. His last work, the +_Kitábu ´l-Tanbíh wa-´l-Ishráf_ ('Book of Admonition and +Recension'),[671] was intended to take a general survey of the field +which had been more fully traversed in his previous compositions, and +also to supplement them when it seemed necessary. + + +[Sidenote: Minor historians.] + +We must pass over the minor historians and biographers of this +period--for example, `Utbí (+ 1036 A.D.), whose _Kitáb al-Yamíní_ +celebrates the glorious reign of Sultan Mahmúd of Ghazna; Kha[t.]íb of +Baghdád (+ 1071 A.D.), who composed a history of the eminent men of that +city; `Imádu ´l-Dín of I[s.]fahán (+ 1201 A.D.), the biographer of +Saladin; Ibnu ´l-Qiftí (+ 1248 A.D.), born at Qif[t.] (Coptos) in Upper +Egypt, whose lives of the philosophers and scientists have only come +down to us in a compendium entitled _Ta´ríkhu ´l-[H.]ukamá_; Ibnu +´l-Jawzí (+ 1200 A.D.), a prolific writer in almost every branch of +literature, and his grandson, Yúsuf (+ 1257 A.D.)--generally called +Sib[t.] Ibn al-Jawzí--author of the _Mir´átu ´l-Zamán_, or 'Mirror of +the Time'; Ibn Abí U[s.]aybi`a (+ 1270 A.D.), whose history of +physicians, the _`Uyúnu ´l-Anbá_, has been edited by A. Müller (1884); +and the Christian, Jirjis (George) al-Makín (+ 1273 A.D.), compiler of a +universal chronicle--named the _Majmú` al-Mubárak_--of which the second +part, from Mu[h.]ammad to the end of the `Abbásid dynasty, was rendered +into Latin by Erpenius in 1625. + + +[Sidenote: Ibnu ´l-Athír (+ 1234 A.D.).] + +A special notice, brief though it must be, is due to `Izzu ´l-Dín Ibnu +´l-Athír (+ 1234 A.D.). He was brought up at Mosul in Mesopotamia, and +after finishing his studies in Baghdád, Jerusalem, and Syria, he +returned home and devoted himself to reading and literary composition. +Ibn Khallikán, who knew him personally, speaks of him in the highest +terms both as a man and as a scholar. "His great work, the _Kámil_,[672] +embracing the history of the world from the earliest period to the year +628 of the Hijra (1230-1231 A.D.), merits its reputation as one of the +best productions of the kind."[673] Down to the year 302 A.H. the author +has merely abridged the Annals of [T.]abarí with occasional additions +from other sources. In the first volume he gives a long account of the +Pre-islamic battles (_Ayyámu ´l-`Arab_) which is not found in the +present text of [T.]abarí; but De Goeje, as I learn from Professor +Bevan, thinks that this section was included in [T.]abarí's original +draft and was subsequently struck out. Ibnu ´l-Athír was deeply versed +in the science of Tradition, and his _Usdu ´l-Ghába_ ('Lions of the +Jungle') contains biographies of 7,500 Companions of the Prophet. + + +[Sidenote: Geographers.] + +An immense quantity of information concerning the various countries and +peoples of the `Abbásid Empire has been preserved for us by the Moslem +geographers, who in many cases describe what they actually witnessed and +experienced in the course of their travels, although they often help +themselves liberally and without acknowledgment from the works of their +predecessors. The following list, which does not pretend to be +exhaustive, may find a place here.[674] + + +[Sidenote: Ibn Khurdádbih.] + +1. The Persian Ibn Khurdádbih (first half of ninth century) was +postmaster in the province of Jibál, the Media of the ancients. His +_Kitábu ´l-Masálik wa-´l-Mamálik_ ('Book of the Roads and Countries'), +an official guide-book, is the oldest geographical work in Arabic that +has come down to us. + +[Sidenote: I[s.][t.]akhrí and Ibn [H.]awqal.] + +2. Abú Is[h.]áq al-Fárisí a native of Persepolis (I[s.][t.]akhr)--on +this account he is known as I[s.][t.]akhrí--wrote a book called +_Masáliku ´l-Mamálik_ ('Routes of the Provinces'), which was afterwards +revised and enlarged by Ibn [H.]awqal. Both works belong to the second +half of the tenth century and contain "a careful description of each +province in turn of the Muslim Empire, with the chief cities and notable +places." + +[Sidenote: Muqaddasí.] + +3. Al-Muqaddasí (or al-Maqdisí), _i.e._, 'the native of the Holy City', +was born at Jerusalem in 946 A.D. In his delightful book entitled +_A[h.]sanu ´l-Taqásím fí ma`rifati ´l-Aqálím_ he has gathered up the +fruits of twenty years' travelling through the dominions of the +Caliphate. + +[Sidenote: Yáqút.] + +4. Omitting the Spanish Arabs, Bakrí, Idrísí, and Ibn Jubayr, all of +whom flourished in the eleventh century, we come to the greatest of +Moslem geographers, Yáqút b. `Abdalláh (1179-1229 A.D.). A Greek by +birth, he was enslaved in his childhood and sold to a merchant of +Baghdád. His master gave him a good education and frequently sent him on +trading expeditions to the Persian Gulf and elsewhere. After being +enfranchised in consequence of a quarrel with his benefactor, he +supported himself by copying and selling manuscripts. In 1219-1220 A.D. +he encountered the Tartars, who had invaded Khwárizm, and "fled as naked +as when he shall be raised from the dust of the grave on the day of the +resurrection." Further details of his adventurous life are recorded in +the interesting notice by Ibn Khallikán.[675] His great Geographical +Dictionary (_Mu`jamu ´l-Buldán_) has been edited in six volumes by +Wüstenfeld (Leipzig, 1866), and is described by Mr. Le Strange as "a +storehouse of geographical information, the value of which it would be +impossible to over-estimate." We possess a useful epitome of it, made +about a century later, viz., the _Mará[s.]idu ´l-I[t.][t.]ilá`_. Among +the few other extant works of Yáqút, attention maybe called to the +_Mushtarik_--a lexicon of places bearing the same name--and the _Mu`jamu +´l-Udabá_, or 'Dictionary of Littérateurs,' which has been edited by +Professor Margoliouth for the Trustees of the Gibb Memorial Fund. + +[Sidenote: The foreign sciences.] + +[Sidenote: Translations from the Greek.] + +[Sidenote: Ma´mún's encouragement of the New Learning.] + +As regards the philosophical and exact sciences the Moslems naturally +derived their ideas and material from Greek culture, which had +established itself in Egypt, Syria, and Western Asia since the time of +Alexander's conquests. When the Syrian school of Edessa was broken up by +ecclesiastical dissensions towards the end of the fifth century of our +era, the expelled savants took refuge in Persia at the Sásánian court, +and Khusraw Anúshirwán, or Núshírwán (531-578 A.D.)--the same monarch +who welcomed the Neo-platonist philosophers banished from Athens by +Justinian--founded an Academy at Jundé-shápúr in Khúzistán, where Greek +medicine and philosophy continued to be taught down to `Abbásid days. +Another centre of Hellenism was the city of [H.]arrán in Mesopotamia. +Its inhabitants, Syrian heathens who generally appear in Mu[h.]ammadan +history under the name of '[S.]abians,' spoke Arabic with facility and +contributed in no small degree to the diffusion of Greek wisdom. The +work of translation was done almost entirely by Syrians. In the +monasteries of Syria and Mesopotamia the writings of Aristotle, Galen, +Ptolemy, and other ancient masters were rendered with slavish fidelity, +and these Syriac versions were afterwards retranslated into Arabic. A +beginning was made under the Umayyads, who cared little for Islam but +were by no means indifferent to the claims of literature, art, and +science. An Umayyad prince, Khálid b. Yazíd, procured the translation of +Greek and Coptic works on alchemy, and himself wrote three treatises on +that subject. The accession of the `Abbásids gave a great impulse to +such studies, which found an enlightened patron in the Caliph Man[s.]úr. +Works on logic and medicine were translated from the Pehleví by Ibnu +´l-Muqaffa` (+ about 760 A.D.) and others. It is, however, the splendid +reign of Ma´mún (813-833 A.D.) that marks the full vigour of this +Oriental Renaissance. Ma´mún was no ordinary man. Like a true Persian, +he threw himself heart and soul into theological speculations and used +the authority of the Caliphate to enforce a liberal standard of +orthodoxy. His interest in science was no less ardent. According to a +story told in the _Fihrist_,[676] he dreamed that he saw the venerable +figure of Aristotle seated on a throne, and in consequence of this +vision he sent a deputation to the Roman Emperor (Leo the Armenian) to +obtain scientific books for translation into Arabic. The Caliph's +example was followed by private individuals. Three brothers, +Mu[h.]ammad, A[h.]mad, and [H.]asan, known collectively as the Banú +Músá, "drew translators from distant countries by the offer of ample +rewards[677] and thus made evident the marvels of science. Geometry, +engineering, the movements of the heavenly bodies, music, and astronomy +were the principal subjects to which they turned their attention; but +these were only a small number of their acquirements."[678] Ma´mún +installed them, with Ya[h.]yá b. Abí Man[s.]úr and other scientists, in +the House of Wisdom (_Baytu ´l-[H.]ikma_) at Baghdád, an institution +which comprised a well-stocked library and an astronomical observatory. +Among the celebrated translators of the ninth century, who were +themselves conspicuous workers in the new field, we can only mention the +Christians Qus[t.]á b. Lúqá and [H.]unayn b. Is[h.]áq, and the [S.]ábian +Thábit b. Qurra. It does not fall within the scope of this volume to +consider in detail the achievements of the Moslems in science and +philosophy. That in some departments they made valuable additions to +existing knowledge must certainly be granted, but these discoveries +count for little in comparison with the debt which we owe to the Arabs +as pioneers of learning and bringers of light to mediæval Europe.[679] +Meanwhile it is only possible to enumerate a few of the most eminent +philosophers and scientific men who lived during the `Abbásid age. The +reader will observe that with rare exceptions they were of foreign +origin. + +The leading spirits in philosophy were:-- + +[Sidenote: Kindí.] + +1. Ya`qúb b. Is[h.]áq al-Kindí, a descendant of the princely family of +Kinda (see p. 42). He was distinguished by his contemporaries with the +title _Faylasúfu ´l-`Arab_, 'The Philosopher of the Arabs.' He +flourished in the first half of the ninth century. + +[Sidenote: Fárábí.] + +2. Abú Na[s.]r al-Fárábí (+ 950 A.D.), of Turkish race, a native of +Fáráb in Transoxania. The later years of his life were passed at Aleppo +under the patronage of Sayfu ´l-Dawla. He devoted himself to the study +of Aristotle, whom Moslems agree with Dante in regarding as "il maestro +di color che sanno." + +[Sidenote: Ibn Síná.] + +3. Abú `Alí Ibn Síná (Avicenna), born of Persian parents at Kharmaythan, +near Bukhárá, in the year 980 A.D. As a youth he displayed extraordinary +talents, so that "in the sixteenth year of his age physicians of the +highest eminence came to read medicine with him and to learn those modes +of treatment which he had discovered by his practice."[680] He was no +quiet student, like Fárábí, but a pleasure-loving, adventurous man of +the world who travelled from court to court, now in favour, now in +disgrace, and always writing indefatigably. His system of philosophy, in +which Aristotelian and Neo-platonic theories are combined with Persian +mysticism, was well suited to the popular taste, and in the East it +still reigns supreme. His chief works are the _Shifá_ (Remedy) on +physics, metaphysics, &c., and a great medical encyclopædia entitled the +_Qánún_ (Canon). Avicenna died in 1037 A.D. + +4. The Spanish philosophers, Ibn Bájja (Avempace), Ibn [T.]ufayl, and +Ibn Rushd (Averroes), all of whom flourished in the twelfth century +after Christ. + + +[Sidenote: Medicine, Astronomy, and Mathematics.] + +[Sidenote: Bírúní 973-1048 A.D.] + +The most illustrious name beside Avicenna in the history of Arabian +medicine is Abú Bakr al-Rází (Rhazes), a native of Rayy, near Teheran (+ +923 or 932 A.D.). Jábir b. [H.]ayyán of Tarsus (+ about 780 A.D.)--the +Geber of European writers--won equal renown as an alchemist. Astronomy +went hand in hand with astrology. The reader may recognise al-Farghání, +Abú Ma`shar of Balkh (+ 885 A.D.) and al-Battání, a [S.]ábian of +[H.]arrán (+ 929 A.D.), under the names of Alfraganus, Albumaser, and +Albategnius, by which they became known in the West. Abú `Abdalláh +al-Khwárizmí, who lived in the Caliphate of Ma´mún, was the first of a +long line of mathematicians. In this science, as also in Medicine and +Astronomy, we see the influence of India upon Mu[h.]ammadan +civilisation--an influence, however, which, in so far as it depended on +literary sources, was more restricted and infinitely less vital than +that of Greece. Only a passing reference can be made to Abú Ray[h.]án +al-Bírúní, a native of Khwárizm (Khiva), whose knowledge of the +sciences, antiquities, and customs of India was such as no Moslem had +ever equalled. His two principal works, the _Áthár al-Báqiya_, or +'Surviving Monuments,' and the _Ta´ríkhu ´l-Hind_, or 'History of +India,' have been edited and translated into English by Dr. Sachau.[681] + +[Sidenote: The _Fihrist_.] + +Some conception of the amazing intellectual activity of the Moslems +during the earlier part of the `Abbásid period, and also of the enormous +losses which Arabic literature has suffered through the destruction of +thousands of books that are known to us by nothing beyond their titles +and the names of their authors, may be gained from the _Fihrist_, or +'Index' of Mu[h.]ammad b. Is[h.]áq b. Abí Ya`qúb al-Nadím al-Warráq +al-Baghdádí (+ 995 A.D.). Regarding the compiler we have no further +information than is conveyed in the last two epithets attached to his +name: he was a copyist of MSS., and was connected with Baghdád either by +birth or residence; add that, according to his own statement (p. 349, l. +14 sqq.), he was at Constantinople (_Dáru ´l-Rúm_) in 988 A.D., the same +year in which his work was composed. He may possibly have been related +to the famous musician, Is[h.]áq b. Ibráhím al-Nadím of Mosul (+ 849-850 +A.D.), but this has yet to be proved. At any rate we owe to his industry +a unique conspectus of the literary history of the Arabs to the end of +the fourth century after the Flight. The _Fihrist_ (as the author +explains in his brief Preface) is "an Index of the books of all nations, +Arabs and foreigners alike, which are extant in the Arabic language and +script, on every branch of knowledge; comprising information as to their +compilers and the classes of their authors, together with the +genealogies of those persons, the dates of their birth, the length of +their lives, the times of their death, the places to which they +belonged, their merits and their faults, since the beginning of every +science that has been invented down to the present epoch: namely, the +year 377 of the Hijra." As the contents of the _Fihrist_ (which +considerably exceed the above description) have been analysed in detail +by G. Flügel (_Z.D.M.G._, vol. 13, p. 559 sqq.) and set forth in tabular +form by Professor Browne in the first volume of his _Literary History of +Persia_,[682] I need only indicate the general arrangement and scope of +the work. It is divided into ten discourses (_maqálát_), which are +subdivided into a varying number of sections (_funún_). Ibnu ´l-Nadím +discusses, in the first place, the languages, scripts, and sacred books +of the Arabs and other peoples, the revelation of the Koran, the order +of its chapters, its collectors, redactors, and commentators. Passing +next to the sciences which, as we have seen, arose from study of the +Koran and primarily served as handmaids to theology, he relates the +origin of Grammar, and gives an account of the different schools of +grammarians with the treatises which they wrote. The third discourse +embraces History, Belles-Lettres, Biography, and Genealogy; the fourth +treats of Poetry, ancient and modern. Scholasticism (_Kalám_) forms the +subject of the following chapter, which contains a valuable notice of +the Ismá`ílís and their founder, `Abdulláh b. Maymún, as also of the +celebrated mystic, [H.]usayn b. Man[s.]úr al-[H.]alláj. From these and +many other names redolent of heresy the author returns to the orthodox +schools of Law--the Málikites, [H.]anafites, Sháfi`ites and +[Z.]áhirites; then to the jurisconsults of the Shí`a, &c. The seventh +discourse deals with Philosophy and 'the Ancient Sciences,' under which +head we find some curious speculations concerning their origin and +introduction to the lands of Islam; a list of translators and the books +which they rendered into Arabic; an account of the Greek philosophers +from Thales to Plutarch, with the names of their works that were known +to the Moslems; and finally a literary survey of the remaining sciences, +such as Mathematics, Music, Astronomy, and Medicine. Here, by an abrupt +transition, we enter the enchanted domain of Oriental fable--the _Hazár +Afsán_, or Thousand Tales, Kalíla and Dimna, the Book of Sindbád, and +the legends of Rustam and Isfandiyár; works on sorcery, magic, +conjuring, amulets, talismans, and the like. European savants have long +recognised the importance of the ninth discourse,[683] which is devoted +to the doctrines and writings of the [S.]ábians and the Dualistic sects +founded by Manes, Bardesanes, Marcion, Mazdak, and other heresiarchs. +The author concludes his work with a chapter on the Alchemists +(_al-Kímiyá´ún_). + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +ORTHODOXY, FREE-THOUGHT, AND MYSTICISM + + +[Sidenote: The `Abbásids and Islam.] + +[Sidenote: Influence of theologians.] + +We have already given some account of the great political revolution +which took place under the `Abbásid dynasty, and we have now to consider +the no less vital influence of the new era in the field of religion. It +will be remembered that the House of `Abbás came forward as champions of +Islam and of the oppressed and persecuted Faithful. Their victory was a +triumph for the Mu[h.]ammadan over the National idea. "They wished, as +they said, to revive the dead Tradition of the Prophet. They brought the +experts in Sacred Law from Medína, which had hitherto been their home, +to Baghdád, and always invited their approbation by taking care that +even political questions should be treated in legal form and decided in +accordance with the Koran and the Sunna. In reality, however, they used +Islam only to serve their own interest. They tamed the divines at their +court and induced them to sanction the most objectionable measures. They +made the pious Opposition harmless by leading it to victory. With the +downfall of the Umayyads it had gained its end and could now rest in +peace."[684] There is much truth in this view of the matter, but +notwithstanding the easy character of their religion, the `Abbásid +Caliphs were sincerely devoted to the cause of Islam and zealous to +maintain its principles in public life. They regarded themselves as the +sovereign defenders of the Faith; added the Prophet's mantle +(_al-burda_) to those emblems of Umayyad royalty, the sceptre and the +seal; delighted in the pompous titles which their flatterers conferred +on them, _e.g._, 'Vicegerent of God,' 'Sultan of God upon the Earth,' +'Shadow of God,' &c.; and left no stone unturned to invest themselves +with the attributes of theocracy, and to inspire their subjects with +veneration.[685] Whereas the Umayyad monarchs ignored or crushed +Mu[h.]ammadan sentiment, and seldom made any attempt to conciliate the +leading representatives of Islam, the `Abbásids, on the other hand, not +only gathered round their throne all the most celebrated theologians of +the day, but also showed them every possible honour, listened +respectfully to their counsel, and allowed them to exert a commanding +influence on the administration of the State.[686] When Málik b. Anas +was summoned by the Caliph Hárún al-Rashíd, who wished to hear him +recite traditions, Málik replied, "People come to seek knowledge." So +Hárún went to Málik's house, and leaned against the wall beside him. +Málik said, "O Prince of the Faithful, whoever honours God, honours +knowledge." Al-Rashíd arose and seated himself at Malik's feet and spoke +to him and heard him relate a number of traditions handed down from the +Apostle of God. Then he sent for Sufyán b. `Uyayna, and Sufyán came to +him and sat in his presence and recited traditions to him. Afterwards +al-Rashíd said, "O Málik, we humbled ourselves before thy knowledge, and +profited thereby, but Sufyán's knowledge humbled itself to us, and we +got no good from it."[687] Many instances might be given of the high +favour which theologians enjoyed at this time, and of the lively +interest with which religious topics were debated by the Caliph and his +courtiers. As the Caliphs gradually lost their temporal sovereignty, the +influence of the _`Ulamá_--the doctors of Divinity and Law--continued to +increase, so that ere long they formed a privileged class, occupying in +Islam a position not unlike that of the priesthood in mediæval +Christendom. + + +It will be convenient to discuss the religious phenomena of the `Abbásid +period under the following heads:-- + +I. Rationalism and Free-thought. + +II. The Orthodox Reaction and the rise of Scholastic Theology. + +III. The [S.]úfí Mysticism. + + +[Sidenote: Rationalism and Free-thought.] + +I. The first century of `Abbásid rule was marked, as we have seen, by a +great intellectual agitation. All sorts of new ideas were in the air. It +was an age of discovery and awakening. In a marvellously brief space the +diverse studies of Theology, Law, Medicine, Philosophy, Mathematics, +Astronomy, and Natural Science attained their maturity, if not their +highest development. Even if some pious Moslems looked askance at the +foreign learning and its professors, an enlightened spirit generally +prevailed. People took their cue from the court, which patronised, or at +least tolerated,[688] scientific research as well as theological +speculation. + +[Sidenote: The Mu`tazilites and their opponents.] + +These circumstances enabled the Mu`tazilites (see p. 222 sqq.) to +propagate their liberal views without hindrance, and finally to carry +their struggle against the orthodox party to a successful issue. It was +the same conflict that divided Nominalists and Realists in the days of +Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and Occam. As often happens when momentous +principles are at stake, the whole controversy between Reason and +Revelation turned on a single question--"Is the Koran created or +uncreated?" In other terms, is it the work of God or the Word of God? +According to orthodox belief, it is uncreated and has existed with God +from all eternity, being in its present form merely a transcript of the +heavenly archetype.[689] Obviously this conception of the Koran as the +direct and literal Word of God left no room for exercise of the +understanding, but required of those who adopted it a dumb faith and a +blind fatalism. There were many to whom the sacrifice did not seem too +great. The Mu`tazilites, on the contrary, asserted their intellectual +freedom. It was possible, they said, to know God and distinguish good +from evil without any Revelation at all. They admitted that the Koran +was God's work, in the sense that it was produced by a divinely inspired +Prophet, but they flatly rejected its deification. Some went so far as +to criticise the 'inimitable' style, declaring that it could be +surpassed in beauty and eloquence by the art of man.[690] + +[Sidenote: Rationalism adopted and put in force by the Caliph Ma´mún.] + +[Sidenote: Mutawakkil returns to orthodoxy.] + +The Mu`tazilite controversy became a burning question in the reign of +Ma´mún (813-833 A.D.), a Caliph whose scientific enthusiasm and keen +interest in religious matters we have already mentioned. He did not +inherit the orthodoxy of his father, Hárún al-Rashíd; and it was +believed that he was at heart a _zindíq_. His liberal tendencies would +have been wholly admirable if they had not been marred by excessive +intolerance towards those who held opposite views to his own. In 833 +A.D., the year of his death, he promulgated a decree which bound all +Moslems to accept the Mu`tazilite doctrine as to the creation of the +Koran on pain of losing their civil rights, and at the same time he +established an inquisition (_mi[h.]na_) in order to obtain the assent of +the divines, judges, and doctors of law. Those who would not take the +test were flogged and threatened with the sword. After Ma´mún's death +the persecution still went on, although it was conducted in a more +moderate fashion. Popular feeling ran strongly against the Mu`tazilites. +The most prominent figure in the orthodox camp was the Imám A[h.]mad b. +[H.]anbal, who firmly resisted the new dogma from the first. "But for +him," says the Sunnite historian, Abu ´l-Ma[h.]ásin, "the beliefs of a +great number would have been corrupted."[691] Neither threats nor +entreaties could shake his resolution, and when he was scourged by +command of the Caliph Mu`ta[s.]im, the palace was in danger of being +wrecked by an angry mob which had assembled outside to hear the result +of the trial. The Mu`tazilite dogma remained officially in force until +it was abandoned by the Caliph Wáthiq and once more declared heretical +by the cruel and bigoted Mutawakkil (847 A.D.). From that time to this +the victorious party have sternly suppressed every rationalistic +movement in Islam. + +[Sidenote: The end of the Mu`tazilites.] + +According to Steiner, the original Mu`tazilite heresy arose in the bosom +of Islam, independently of any foreign influence, but, however that may +be, its later development was largely affected by Greek philosophy. We +need not attempt to follow the recondite speculations of Abú Hudhayl +al-`Alláf (+ about 840 A.D.) of his contemporaries, al-Na[z.][z.]ám, +Bishr b. al-Mu`tamir, and others, and of the philosophical schools of +Ba[s.]ra and Baghdád in which the movement died away. Vainly they sought +to replace the Mu[h.]ammadan idea of God as will by the Aristotelian +conception of God as law. Their efforts to purge the Koran of +anthropomorphism made no impression on the faithful, who ardently hoped +to see God in Paradise face to face. What they actually achieved was +little enough. Their weapons of logic and dialectic were turned against +them with triumphant success, and scholastic theology was founded on the +ruins of Rationalism. Indirectly, however, the Mu`tazilite principles +leavened Mu[h.]ammadan thought to a considerable extent and cleared the +way for other liberal movements, like the Fraternity of the _Ikhwánu +´l-[S.]afá_, which endeavoured to harmonise authority with reason, and +to construct a universal system of religious philosophy. + +[Sidenote: The Ikhwánu ´l-[S.]afá.] + +These 'Brethren of Purity,'[692] as they called themselves, compiled a +great encyclopædic work in fifty tractates (_Rasá´il_). Of the authors, +who flourished at Ba[s.]ra towards the end of the tenth century, five +are known to us by name: viz., Abú Sulaymán Mu[h.]ammad b. Ma`shar +al-Bayusti or al-Muqaddasí (Maqdisí), Abu ´l-[H.]asan `Alí b. Hárún +al-Zanjání, Abú A[h.]mad al-Mihrajání, al-`Awfí, and Zayd b. Rifá`a. +"They formed a society for the pursuit of holiness, purity, and truth, +and established amongst themselves a doctrine whereby they hoped to win +the approval of God, maintaining that the Religious Law was defiled by +ignorance and adulterated by errors, and that there was no means of +cleansing and purifying it except philosophy, which united the wisdom of +faith and the profit of research. They held that a perfect result would +be reached if Greek philosophy were combined with Arabian religion. +Accordingly they composed fifty tracts on every branch of philosophy, +theoretical as well as practical, added a separate index, and entitled +them the 'Tracts of the Brethren of Purity' (_Rasá´ilu Ikhwán +al-[S.]afá_). The authors of this work concealed their names, but +circulated it among the booksellers and gave it to the public. They +filled their pages with devout phraseology, religious parables, +metaphorical expressions, and figurative turns of style."[693] Nearly +all the tracts have been translated into German by Dieterici, who has +also drawn up an epitome of the whole encyclopædia in his _Philosophie +der Araber im X Jahrhundert_. It would take us too long to describe the +system of the _Ikhwán_, but the reader will find an excellent account of +it in Stanley Lane-Poole's _Studies in a Mosque_, 2nd ed., p. 176 sqq. +The view has recently been put forward that the Brethren of Purity were +in some way connected with the Ismá`ílí propaganda, and that their +eclectic idealism represents the highest teaching of the Fátimids, +Carmathians, and Assassins. Strong evidence in support of this theory is +supplied by a MS. of the Bibliothèque Nationale (No. 2309 in De Slane's +Catalogue), which contains, together with fragments of the _Rasá´il_, a +hitherto unknown tract entitled the _Jámi`a_ or 'Summary.'[694] The +latter purports to be the essence and crown of the fifty _Rasá´il_, it +is manifestly Ismá`ílite in character, and, assuming that it is genuine, +we may, I think, agree with the conclusions which its discoverer, M. P. +Casanova, has stated in the following passage:-- + + [Sidenote: The doctrines of the Brethren of Purity identical with + the esoteric philosophy of the Ismá`ílís.] + + "Surtout je crois être dans le vrai en affirmant que les doctrines + philosophiques des Ismaïliens sont contenues tout entières dans les + Epîtres des Frères de la Pureté. Et c'est ce qui explique 'la + séduction extraordinaire que la doctrine exerçait sur des hommes + sérieux.'[695] En y ajoutant la croyance en l'_imám caché_ (_al-imám + al-mastúr_) qui doit apparaître un jour pour établir le bonheur + universel, elle réalisait la fusion de toutes les doctrines + idéalistes, du messianisme et du platonisme. Tant que l'imám restait + caché, il s'y mêlait encore une saveur de mystère qui attachait les + esprits les plus élevés.... En tous cas, on peut affirmer que les + Carmathes et les Assassins ont été profondément calomniés quand ils + ont été accusés par leurs adversaires d'athéisme et de débauche. Le + fetwa d'Ibn Taimiyyah, que j'ai cité plus haut, prétend que leur + dernier degré dans l'initiation (_al-balágh al-akbar_) est la + négation même du Créateur. Mais la _djâmi`at_ que nous avons + découverte est, comme tout l'indique, le dernier degré de la science + des Frères de la Pureté et des Ismaïliens; il n'y a rien de fondé + dans une telle accusation. La doctrine apparait très pure, très + élevée, très simple même: je repète que c'est une sorte de + panthéisme mécaniste et esthétique qui est absolument opposé au + scepticisme et au matérialisme, car il repose sur l'harmonie + générale de toutes les parties du monde, harmonie voulue par le + Créateur parce qu'elle est la beauté même. + + "Ma conclusion sera que nous avons là un exemple de plus dans + l'histoire d'une doctrine très pure et très élevée en théorie, + devenue, entre les mains des fanatiques et des ambitieux, une source + d'actes monstrueux et méritant l'infamie qui est attachée a ce nom + historique d'Assassins." + +Besides the Mu`tazilites, we hear much of another class of heretics who +are commonly grouped together under the name of _Zindíqs_. + +[Sidenote: The _Zindíqs_.] + +"It is well known," says Goldziher,[696] "that the earliest persecution +was directed against those individuals who managed more or less adroitly +to conceal under the veil of Islam old Persian religious ideas. +Sometimes indeed they did not consider any disguise to be necessary, but +openly set up dualism and other Persian or Manichæan doctrines, and the +practices associated therewith, against the dogma and usage of Islam. +Such persons were called _Zindíqs_, a term which comprises different +shades of heresy and hardly admits of simple definition. Firstly, there +are the old Persian families incorporated in Islam who, following the +same path as the Shu`úbites, have a _national interest_ in the revival +of Persian religious ideas and traditions, and from this point of view +react against the _Arabian_ character of the Mu[h.]ammadan system. Then, +on the other hand, there are freethinkers, who oppose in particular the +stubborn dogma of Islam, reject _positive religion_, and acknowledge +only the moral law. Amongst the latter there is developed a monkish +asceticism extraneous to Islam and ultimately traceable to Buddhistic +influences." + +[Sidenote: Persecution of _Zindíqs_.] + +The `Abbásid Government, which sought to enforce an official standard of +belief, was far less favourable to religious liberty than the Umayyads +had been. Orthodox and heretic alike fell under its ban. While Ma´mún +harried pious Sunnites, his immediate predecessors raised a hue and cry +against _Zindíqs_. The Caliph Mahdí distinguished himself by an +organised persecution of these enemies of the faith. He appointed a +Grand Inquisitor (_[S.]á[h.]ibu ´l-Zanádiqa_[697] or _`Arífu +´l-Zanádiqa_) to discover and hunt them down. If they would not recant +when called upon, they were put to death and crucified, and their +books[698] were cut to pieces with knives.[699] Mahdí's example was +followed by Hádí and Hárún al-Rashíd. Some of the `Abbásids, however, +were less severe. Thus Kha[s.]íb, Man[s.]úr's physician, was a _Zindíq_ +who professed Christianity,[700] and in the reign of Ma´mún it became +the mode to affect Manichæan opinions as a mark of elegance and +refinement.[701] + +[Sidenote: Bashshár b. Burd.] + +The two main types of _zandaqa_ which have been described above are +illustrated in the contemporary poets, Bashshár b. Burd and [S.]áli[h.] +b. `Abd al-Quddús. Bashshár was born stone-blind. The descendant of a +noble Persian family--though his father, Burd, was a slave--he cherished +strong national sentiments and did not attempt to conceal his sympathy +with the Persian clients (_Mawálí_), whom he was accused of stirring up +against their Arab lords. He may also have had leanings towards +Zoroastrianism, but Professor Bevan has observed that there is no real +evidence for this statement,[702] though Zoroastrian or Manichæan views +are probably indicated by the fact that he used to dispute with a number +of noted Moslem theologians in Ba[s.]ra, _e.g._, with Wá[s.]il b. +`A[t.]á, who started the Mu`tazilite heresy, and `Amr b. `Ubayd. He and +[S.]áli[h.] b. `Abd al-Quddús were put to death by the Caliph Mahdí in +the same year (783 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: [S.]áli[h.] b. `Abd al-Quddús.] + +This [S.]áli[h.] belonged by birth or affiliation to the Arab tribe of +Azd. Of his life we know little beyond the circumstance that he was for +some time a street-preacher at Ba[s.]ra, and afterwards at Damascus. It +is possible that his public doctrine was thought dangerous, although the +preachers as a class were hand in glove with the Church and did not, +like the Lollards, denounce religious abuses.[703] His extant poetry +contains nothing heretical, but is wholly moral and didactic in +character. We have seen, however, in the case of Abu ´l-`Atáhiya, that +Mu[h.]ammadan orthodoxy was apt to connect 'the philosophic mind' with +positive unbelief; and [S.]áli[h.] appears to have fallen a victim to +this prejudice. He was accused of being a dualist (_thanawí_), _i.e._, a +Manichæan. Mahdí, it is said, conducted his examination in person, and +at first let him go free, but the poet's fate was sealed by his +confession that he was the author of the following verses:-- + + "The greybeard will not leave what in the bone is bred + Until the dark tomb covers him with earth o'erspread; + For, tho' deterred awhile, he soon returns again + To his old folly, as the sick man to his pain."[704] + +[Sidenote: Abu ´l-`Alá al-Ma`arrí on the _Zindíqs_.] + +Abu ´l-`Alá al-Ma`arrí, himself a bold and derisive critic of +Mu[h.]ammadan dogmas, devotes an interesting section of his _Risálatu +´l-Ghufrán_ to the _Zindíqs_, and says many hard things about them, +which were no doubt intended to throw dust in the eyes of a suspicious +audience. The wide scope of the term is shown by the fact that he +includes under it the pagan chiefs of Quraysh; the Umayyad Caliph Walíd +b. Yazíd; the poets Di`bil, Abú Nuwás, Bashshár, and [S.]áli[h.] b. `Abd +al-Quddús; Abú Muslim, who set up the `Abbásid dynasty; the Persian +rebels, Bábak and Mázyár; Afshín, who after conquering Bábak was starved +to death by the Caliph Mu`ta[s.]im; the Carmathian leader al-Jannábí; +Ibnu ´l-Ráwandí, whose work entitled the _Dámigh_ was designed to +discredit the 'miraculous' style of the Koran; and [H.]usayn b. +Man[s.]úr al-[H.]alláj, the [S.]úfí martyr. Most of these, one may +admit, fall within Abu ´l-`Alá´s definition of the _Zindíqs_: "they +acknowledge neither prophet nor sacred book." The name _Zindíq_, which +is applied by Já[h.]i[z.] (+ 868 A.D.) to certain wandering monks,[705] +seems in the first instance to have been used of Manes (_Mání_) and his +followers, and is no doubt derived, as Professor Bevan has suggested, +from the _zaddíqs_, who formed an elect class in the Manichæan +hierarchy.[706] + +[Sidenote: The Orthodox Reaction.] + +[Sidenote: Abu ´l-[H.]asan al-ash`arí.] + +II. The official recognition of Rationalism as the State religion came +to an end on the accession of Mutawakkil in 847 A.D. The new Caliph, who +owed his throne to the Turkish Prætorians, could not have devised a +surer means of making himself popular than by standing forward as the +avowed champion of the faith of the masses. He persecuted impartially +Jews, Christians, Mu`tazilites, Shí`ites, and [S.]úfís--every one, in +short, who diverged from the narrowest Sunnite orthodoxy. The Vizier Ibn +Abí Du´ád, who had shown especial zeal in his conduct of the Mu`tazilite +Inquisition, was disgraced, and the bulk of his wealth was confiscated. +In Baghdád the followers of A[h.]mad b. [H.]anbal went from house to +house terrorising the citizens,[707] and such was their fanatical temper +that when [T.]abarí, the famous divine and historian, died in 923 A.D., +they would not allow his body to receive the ordinary rites of +burial.[708] Finally, in the year 935 A.D., the Caliph Rá[d.]í issued an +edict denouncing them in these terms: "Ye assert that your ugly, +ill-favoured faces are in the likeness of the Lord of Creation, and that +your vile exterior resembles His, and ye speak of the hand, the fingers, +the feet, the golden shoes, and the curly hair (of God), and of His +going up to Heaven and of His coming down to Earth.... The Commander of +the Faithful swears a binding oath that unless ye refrain from your +detestable practices and perverse tenets he will lay the sword to your +necks and the fire to your dwellings."[709] Evidently the time was ripe +for a system which should reconcile the claims of tradition and reason, +avoiding the gross anthropomorphism of the extreme [H.]anbalites on the +one side and the pure rationalism of the advanced Mu`tazilites (who were +still a power to be reckoned with) on the other. It is a frequent +experience that great intellectual or religious movements rising slowly +and invisibly, in response, as it were, to some incommunicable want, +suddenly find a distinct interpreter with whose name they are henceforth +associated for ever. The man, in this case, was Abu ´l-[H.]asan +al-Ash`arí. He belonged to a noble and traditionally orthodox family of +Yemenite origin. One of his ancestors was Abú Músá al-Ash`arí, who, as +the reader will recollect, played a somewhat inglorious part in the +arbitration between `Alí and Mu`áwiya after the battle of +[S.]iffín.[710] Born in 873-874 A.D. at Ba[s.]ra, a city renowned for +its scientific and intellectual fertility, the young Abu ´l-[H.]asan +deserted the faith of his fathers, attached himself to the freethinking +school, and until his fortieth year was the favourite pupil and intimate +friend of al-Jubbá´í (+ 915 A.D.), the head of the Mu`tazilite party at +that time. He is said to have broken with his teacher in consequence of +a dispute as to whether God always does what is best (_a[s.]la[h.]_) for +His creatures. The story is related as follows by Ibn Khallikán (De +Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 669 seq.):-- + + [Sidenote: Story of the three brothers.] + + Ash`arí proposed to Jubbá´í the case of three brothers, one of whom + was a true believer, virtuous and pious; the second an infidel, a + debauchee and a reprobate; and the third an infant: they all died, + and Ash`arí wished to know what had become of them. To this Jubbá´í + answered: "The virtuous brother holds a high station in Paradise; + the infidel is in the depths of Hell, and the child is among those + who have obtained salvation."[711] "Suppose now," said Ash`arí, + "that the child should wish to ascend to the place occupied by his + virtuous brother, would he be allowed to do so?" "No," replied + Jubbá´í, "it would be said to him: 'Thy brother arrived at this + place through his numerous works of obedience towards God, and thou + hast no such works to set forward.'" "Suppose then," said Ash`arí, + "that the child say: 'That is not my fault; you did not let me live + long enough, neither did you give me the means of proving my + obedience.'" "In that case," answered Jubbá´í, "the Almighty would + say: 'I knew that if I had allowed thee to live, thou wouldst have + been disobedient and incurred the severe punishment (of Hell); I + therefore acted for thy advantage.'" "Well," said Ash`arí, "and + suppose the infidel brother were to say: 'O God of the universe! + since you knew what awaited him, you must have known what awaited + me; why then did you act for his advantage and not for mine?" + Jubbá´í had not a word to offer in reply. + +[Sidenote: Ash`arí's conversion to orthodoxy.] + +Soon afterwards Ash`arí made a public recantation. One Friday, while +sitting (as his biographer relates) in the chair from which he taught in +the great mosque of Ba[s.]ra, he cried out at the top of his voice: +"They who know me know who I am: as for those who do not know me I will +tell them. I am `Alí b. Ismá`íl al-Ash`arí, and I used to hold that the +Koran was created, that the eyes of men shall not see God, and that we +ourselves are the authors of our evil deeds. Now I have returned to the +truth; I renounce these opinions, and I undertake to refute the +Mu`tazilites and expose their infamy and turpitude."[712] + +[Sidenote: Ash`arí as the founder of Scholastic Theology.] + +These anecdotes possess little or no historical value, but illustrate +the fact that Ash`arí, having learned all that the Mu`tazilites could +teach him and having thoroughly mastered their dialectic, turned against +them with deadly force the weapons which they had put in his hands. His +doctrine on the subject of free-will may serve to exemplify the method +of _Kalám_ (Disputation) by which he propped up the orthodox creed.[713] +Here, as in other instances, Ash`arí took the central path--_medio +tutissimus_--between two extremes. It was the view of the early Moslem +Church--a view justified by the Koran and the Apostolic Traditions--that +everything was determined in advance and inscribed, from all eternity, +on the Guarded Tablet (_al-Law[h.] al-Ma[h.]fú[z.]_), so that men had no +choice but to commit the actions decreed by destiny. The Mu`tazilites, +on the contrary, denied that God could be the author of evil and +insisted that men's actions were free. Ash`arí, on his part, declared +that all actions are created and predestined by God, but that men have a +certain subordinate power which enables them to acquire the actions +previously created, although it produces no effect on the actions +themselves. Human agency, therefore, was confined to this process of +acquisition (_kasb_). With regard to the anthropomorphic passages in the +Koran, Ash`arí laid down the rule that such expressions as "_The +Merciful has settled himself upon His throne_," "_Both His hands are +spread out_," &c., must be taken in their obvious sense without asking +'How?' (_bilá kayfa_). Spitta saw in the system of Ash`arí a successful +revolt of the Arabian national spirit against the foreign ideas which +were threatening to overwhelm Islam,[714] a theory which does not agree +with the fact that most of the leading Ash`arites were Persians.[715] +Von Kremer came nearer the mark when he said "Ash`arí's victory was +simply a clerical triumph,"[716] but it was also, as Schreiner has +observed, "a victory of reflection over unthinking faith." + +The victory, however, was not soon or easily won.[717] Many of the +orthodox disliked the new Scholasticism hardly less than the old +Rationalism. Thus it is not surprising to read in the _Kámil_ of Ibnu +´l-Athír under the year 456 A.H. = 1063-4 A.D., that Alp Arslán's +Vizier, `Amídu ´l-Mulk al-Kundurí, having obtained his master's +permission to have curses pronounced against the Ráfi[d.]ites (Shí`ites) +from the pulpits of Khurásán, included the Ash`arites in the same +malediction, and that the famous Ash`arite doctors, Abu ´l-Qásim +al-Qushayrí and the Imámu ´l-[H.]aramayn Abu ´l-Ma`álí al-Juwayní, left +the country in consequence. The great Ni[z.]ámu ´l-Mulk exerted himself +on behalf of the Ash`arites, and the Ni[z.]ámiyya College, which he +founded in Baghdád in the year 1067 A.D., was designed to propagate +their system of theology. But the man who stamped it with the impression +of his own powerful genius, fixed its ultimate form, and established it +as the universal creed of orthodox Islam, was Abú [H.]ámid al-Ghazálí +(1058-1111 A.D.). We have already sketched the outward course of his +life, and need only recall that he lectured at Baghdád in the +Ni[z.]ámiyya College for four years (1091-1095 A.D.).[718] At the end of +that time he retired from the world as a [S.]úfí, and so brought to a +calm and fortunate close the long spiritual travail which he has himself +described in the _Munqidh mina ´l-[D.]alál_, or 'Deliverer from +Error.'[719] We must now attempt to give the reader some notion of this +work, both on account of its singular psychological interest and because +Ghazálí's search for religious truth exercised, as will shortly appear, +a profound and momentous influence upon the future history of +Mu[h.]ammadan thought. It begins with these words:-- + + [Sidenote: Ghazálí's autobiography.] + + "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Praise be to + God by the praise of whom every written or spoken discourse is + opened! And blessings on Mu[h.]ammad, the Elect, the Prophet and + Apostle, as well as on his family and his companions who lead us + forth from error! To proceed: You have asked me, O my brother in + religion, to explain to you the hidden meanings and the ultimate + goal of the sciences, and the secret bane of the different + doctrines, and their inmost depths. You wish me to relate all that I + have endured in seeking to recover the truth from amidst the + confusion of sects with diverse ways and paths, and how I have dared + to raise myself from the abyss of blind belief in authority to the + height of discernment. You desire to know what benefits I have + derived in the first place from Scholastic Theology, and what I have + appropriated, in the second place, from the methods of the + Ta`límites[720] who think that truth can be attained only by + submission to the authority of an Imám; and thirdly, my reasons for + spurning the systems of philosophy; and, lastly, why I have accepted + the tenets of [S.]úfiism: you are anxious, in short, that I should + impart to you the essential truths which I have learned in my + repeated examination of the (religious) opinions of mankind." + +In a very interesting passage, which has been translated by Professor +Browne, Ghazálí tells how from his youth upward he was possessed with an +intense thirst for knowledge, which impelled him to study every form of +religion and philosophy, and to question all whom he met concerning the +nature and meaning of their belief.[721] But when he tried to +distinguish the true from the false, he found no sure test. He could not +trust the evidence of his senses. The eye sees a shadow and declares it +to be without movement; or a star, and deems it no larger than a piece +of gold. If the senses thus deceive, may not the mind do likewise? +Perhaps our life is a dream full of phantom thoughts which we mistake +for realities--until the awakening comes, either in moments of ecstasy +or at death. "For two months," says Ghazálí, "I was actually, though not +avowedly, a sceptic." Then God gave him light, so that he regained his +mental balance and was able to think soundly. He resolved that this +faculty must guide him to the truth, since blind faith once lost never +returns. Accordingly, he set himself to examine the foundations of +belief in four classes of men who were devoted to the search for truth, +namely, Scholastic Theologians, Ismá`ílís (_Bátiniyya_), Philosophers, +and [S.]úfís. For a long while he had to be content with wholly negative +results. Scholasticism was, he admitted, an excellent purge against +heresy, but it could not cure the disease from which he was suffering. +As for the philosophers, all of them--Materialists (_Dahriyyún_), +Naturalists (_[T.]abí`iyyún_), and Theists (_Iláhiyyún_)--"are branded +with infidelity and impiety." Here, as often in his discussion of the +philosophical schools, Ghazálí's religious instinct breaks out. We +cannot imagine him worshipping at the shrine of pure reason any more +than we can imagine Herbert Spencer at Lourdes. He next turned to the +Ta`límites (Doctrinists) or Bá[t.]inites (Esoterics), who claimed that +they knew the truth, and that its unique source was the infallible Imám. +But when he came to close quarters with these sectaries, he discovered +that they could teach him nothing, and their mysterious Imám vanished +into space. [S.]úfiism, therefore, was his last hope. He carefully +studied the writings of the mystics, and as he read it became clear to +him that now he was on the right path. He saw that the higher stages of +[S.]úfiism could not be learned by study, but must be realised by actual +experience, that is, by rapture, ecstasy, and moral transformation. +After a painful struggle with himself he resolved to cast aside all his +worldly ambition and to live for God alone. In the month of Dhu +´l-Qa`da, 488 A.H. (November, 1095 A.D.), he left Baghdád and wandered +forth to Syria, where he found in the [S.]úfí discipline of prayer, +praise, and meditation the peace which his soul desired. + +Mr. Duncan B. Macdonald, to whom we owe the best and fullest life of +Ghazálí that has yet been written, sums up his work and influence in +Islam under four heads[722]:-- + +_First_, he led men back from scholastic labours upon theological dogmas +to living contact with, study and exegesis of, the Word and the +Traditions. + +_Second_, in his preaching and moral exhortations he re-introduced the +element of fear. + +_Third_, it was by his influence that [S.]úfiism attained a firm and +assured position within the Church of Islam. + +_Fourth_, he brought philosophy and philosophical theology within the +range of the ordinary mind. + + [Sidenote: Ghazálí's work and influence.] + + "Of these four phases of al-Ghazz[=a]l[=i]'s work," says Macdonald, + "the first and third are undoubtedly the most important. He made his + mark by leading Islam back to its fundamental and historical facts, + and by giving a place in its system to the emotional religious life. + But it will have been noticed that in none of the four phases was he + a pioneer. He was not a scholar who struck out a new path, but a man + of intense personality who entered on a path already trodden and + made it the common highway. We have here his character. Other men + may have been keener logicians, more learned theologians, more + gifted saints; but he, through his personal experiences, had + attained so overpowering a sense of the divine realities that the + force of his character--once combative and restless, now narrowed + and intense--swept all before it, and the Church of Islam entered on + a new era of its existence." + +[Sidenote: [S.]úfiism in the `Abbásid period.] + +III. We have traced the history of Mysticism in Islam from the ascetic +movement of the first century, in which it originated, to a point where +it begins to pass beyond the sphere of Mu[h.]ammadan influence and to +enter on a strange track, of which the Prophet assuredly never dreamed, +although the [S.]úfís constantly pretend that they alone are his true +followers. I do not think it can be maintained that [S.]úfiism of the +theosophical and speculative type, which we have now to consider, is +merely a development of the older asceticism and quietism which have +been described in a former chapter. The difference between them is +essential and must be attributed in part, as Von Kremer saw,[723] to the +intrusion of some extraneous, non-Islamic, element. As to the nature of +this new element there are several conflicting theories, which have been +so clearly and fully stated by Professor Browne in his _Literary History +of Persia_ (vol. i, p. 418 sqq.) that I need not dwell upon them here. +Briefly it is claimed-- + +(_a_) That [S.]úfiism owes its inspiration to Indian philosophy, and +especially to the Vedanta. + +(_b_) That the most characteristic ideas in [S.]úfiism are of Persian +origin. + +(_c_) That these ideas are derived from Neo-platonism. + +Instead of arguing for or against any of the above theories, all of +which, in my opinion, contain a measure of truth, I propose in the +following pages to sketch the historical evolution of the [S.]úfí +doctrine as far as the materials at my disposal will permit. This, it +seems to me, is the only possible method by which we may hope to arrive +at a definite conclusion as to its origin. Since mysticism in all ages +and countries is fundamentally the same, however it may be modified by +its peculiar environment, and by the positive religion to which it +clings for support, we find remote and unrelated systems showing an +extraordinarily close likeness and even coinciding in many features of +verbal expression. Such resemblances can prove little or nothing unless +they are corroborated by evidence based on historical grounds. Many +writers on [S.]úfiism have disregarded this principle; hence the +confusion which long prevailed. The first step in the right direction +was made by Adalbert Merx,[724] who derived valuable results from a +chronological examination of the sayings of the early [S.]úfís. He did +not, however, carry his researches beyond Abú Sulaymán al-Dárání (+ 830 +A.D.), and confined his attention almost entirely to the doctrine, +which, according to my view, should be studied in connection with the +lives, character, and nationality of the men who taught it.[725] No +doubt the origin and growth of mysticism in Islam, as in all other +religions, _ultimately_ depended on general causes and conditions, not +on external circumstances. For example, the political anarchy of the +Umayyad period, the sceptical tendencies of the early `Abbásid age, and +particularly the dry formalism of Moslem theology could not fail to +provoke counter-movements towards quietism, spiritual authority, and +emotional faith. But although [S.]úfiism was not called into being by +any impulse from without (this is too obvious to require argument), the +influences of which I am about to speak have largely contributed to make +it what it is, and have coloured it so deeply that no student of the +history of [S.]úfiism can afford to neglect them. + +[Sidenote: Ma`rúf al-Karkhí (+ 815 A.D.).] + +Towards the end of the eighth century of our era the influence of new +ideas is discernible in the sayings of Ma`rúf al-Karkhí (+ 815 A.D.), a +contemporary of Fu[d.]ayl b. `Iyá[d.] and Shaqíq of Balkh. He was born +in the neighbourhood of Wási[t.], one of the great cities of +Mesopotamia, and the name of his father, Fírúz, or Fírúzán, shows that +he had Persian blood in his veins. Ma`rút was a client (_mawlá_) of the +Shí`ite Imám, `Alí b. Músá al-Ri[d.]á, in whose presence he made +profession of Islam; for he had been brought up as a Christian (such is +the usual account), or, possibly, as a [S.]ábian. He lived during the +reign of Hárún al-Rashíd in the Karkh quarter of Baghdád, where he +gained a high reputation for saintliness, so that his tomb in that city +is still an object of veneration. He is described as a God-intoxicated +man, but in this respect he is not to be compared with many who came +after him. Nevertheless, he deserves to stand at the head of the +mystical as opposed to the ascetic school of [S.]úfís. He defined +[S.]úfiism as "the apprehension of Divine realities and renunciation of +human possessions."[726] Here are a few of his sayings:-- + + "Love is not to be learned from men; it is one of God's gifts and + comes of His grace. + + "The Saints of God are known by three signs: their thought is of + God, their dwelling is with God, and their business is in God. + + "If the gnostic (_`árif_) has no bliss, yet he himself is in every + bliss. + + "When you desire anything of God, swear to Him by me." + +From these last words, which Ma`rúf addressed to his pupil Sarí +al-Saqa[t.]í, it is manifest that he regarded himself as being in the +most intimate communion with God. + +[Sidenote: Abú Sulaymán al-Dárání (+ 830 A.D.).] + +Abú Sulaymán (+ 830 A.D.), the next great name in the [S.]úfí +biographies, was also a native of Wási[t.], but afterwards emigrated to +Syria and settled at Dárayá (near Damascus), whence he is called +'al-Dárání.' He developed the doctrine of gnosis (_ma`rifat_). Those who +are familiar with the language of European mystics--_illuminatio_, +_oculus cordis_, &c.--will easily interpret such sayings as these:-- + + "None refrains from the lusts of this world save him in whose heart + there is a light that keeps him always busied with the next world. + + "When the gnostic's spiritual eye is opened, his bodily eye is shut: + they see nothing but Him. + + "If Gnosis were to take visible form, all that looked thereon would + die at the sight of its beauty and loveliness and goodness and + grace, and every brightness would become dark beside the splendour + thereof.[727] + + + "Gnosis is nearer to silence than to speech." + +[Sidenote: Dhu ´l-Nún al-Misrí (+ 860 A.D.).] + +We now come to Dhu ´l-Nún al-Misrí (+ 860 A.D.), whom the [S.]úfís +themselves consider to be the primary author of their doctrine.[728] +That he at all events was among the first of those who helped to give it +permanent shape is a fact which is amply attested by the collection of +his sayings preserved in `A[t.][t.]ár's _Memoirs of the Saints_ and in +other works of the same kind.[729] It is clear that the theory of +gnosis, with which he deals at great length, was the central point in +his system; and he seems to have introduced the doctrine that true +knowledge of God is attained only by means of ecstasy (_wajd_). "The man +that knows God best," he said, "is the one most lost in Him." Like +Dionysius, he refused to make any positive statements about the Deity. +"Whatever you imagine, God is the contrary of that." Divine love he +regarded as an ineffable mystery which must not be revealed to the +profane. All this is the very essence of the later [S.]úfiism. It is +therefore desirable to ascertain the real character of Dhu ´l-Nún and +the influences to which he was subjected. The following account gives a +brief summary of what I have been able to discover; fuller details will +be found in the article mentioned above. + +His name was Abu ´l-Fay[d.] Thawbán b. Ibráhím, Dhu ´l-Nún (He of the +Fish) being a sobriquet referring to one of his miracles, and his father +was a native of Nubia, or of Ikhmím in Upper Egypt. Ibn Khallikán +describes Dhu ´l-Nún as 'the nonpareil of his age' for learning, +devotion, communion with the Divinity (_[h.]ál_), and acquaintance with +literature (_adab_); adding that he was a philosopher (_[h.]akím_) and +spoke Arabic with elegance. The people of Egypt, among whom he lived, +looked upon him as a _zindíq_ (freethinker), and he was brought to +Baghdád to answer this charge, but after his death he was canonised. In +the _Fihrist_ he appears among "the philosophers who discoursed on +alchemy," and Ibnu ´l-Qif[t.]í brackets him with the famous occultist +Jábir b. [H.]ayyán. He used to wander (as we learn from Mas`údí)[730] +amidst the ruined Egyptian monuments, studying the inscriptions and +endeavouring to decipher the mysterious figures which were thought to +hold the key to the lost sciences of antiquity. He also dabbled in +medicine, which, like Paracelsus, he combined with alchemy and magic. + +Let us see what light these facts throw upon the origin of the [S.]úfí +theosophy. Did it come to Egypt from India, Persia, or Greece? + +[Sidenote: The origin of theosophical [S.]úfiism.] + +Considering the time, place, and circumstances in which it arose, and +having regard to the character of the man who bore a chief part in its +development, we cannot hesitate, I think, to assert that it is largely a +product of Greek speculation. Ma`rúf al-Karkhí, Abú Sulaymán al-Dárání, +and Dhu ´l-Nún al-Mi[s.]rí all three lived and died in the period (786-861 +A.D.) which begins with the accession of Hárún al-Rashíd and is +terminated by the death of Mutawakkil. During these seventy-five years +the stream of Hellenic culture flowed unceasingly into the Moslem world. +Innumerable works of Greek philosophers, physicians, and scientists were +translated and eagerly studied. Thus the Greeks became the teachers of +the Arabs, and the wisdom of ancient Greece formed, as has been shown in +a preceding chapter, the basis of Mu[h.]ammadan science and philosophy. +The results are visible in the Mu`tazilite rationalism as well as in the +system of the _Ikhwánu ´l-[S.]afá_. But it was not through literature +alone that the Moslems were imbued with Hellenism. In `Iráq, Syria, and +Egypt they found themselves on its native soil, which yielded, we may be +sure, a plentiful harvest of ideas--Neo-platonic, Gnostical, Christian, +mystical, pantheistic, and what not? In Mesopotamia, the heart of the +`Abbásid Empire, dwelt a strange people, who were really Syrian +heathens, but who towards the beginning of the ninth century assumed the +name of [S.]ábians in order to protect themselves from the persecution +with which they were threatened by the Caliph Ma´mún. At this time, +indeed, many of them accepted Islam or Christianity, but the majority +clung to their old pagan beliefs, while the educated class continued to +profess a religious philosophy which, as it is described by Shahrastání +and other Mu[h.]ammadan writers, is simply the Neo-platonism of Proclus +and Iamblichus. To return to Dhu ´l-Nún, it is incredible that a mystic +and natural philosopher living in the first half of the ninth century in +Egypt should have derived his doctrine directly from India. There may be +Indian elements in Neo-platonism and Gnosticism, but this possibility +does not affect my contention that the immediate source of the [S.]úfí +theosophy is to be sought in Greek and Syrian speculation. To define its +origin more narrowly is not, I think, practicable in the present state +of our knowledge. Merx, however, would trace it to Dionysius, the +Pseudo-Areopagite, or rather to his master, a certain "Hierotheus," whom +Frothingham has identified with the Syrian mystic, Stephen bar Sudaili +(_circa_ 500 A.D.). Dionysius was of course a Christian Neo-platonist. +His works certainly laid the foundations of mediæval mysticism in +Europe, and they were also popular in the East at the time when +[S.]úfiism arose. + +[Sidenote: [S.]úfiism composed of many different elements.] + +When speaking of the various current theories as to the origin of +[S.]úfiism, I said that in my opinion they all contained a measure of +truth. No single cause will account for a phenomenon so widely spread +and so diverse in its manifestations. [S.]úfiism has always been +thoroughly eclectic, absorbing and transmuting whatever 'broken lights' +fell across its path, and consequently it gained adherents amongst men +of the most opposite views--theists and pantheists, Mu`tazilites and +Scholastics, philosophers and divines. We have seen what it owed to +Greece, but the Perso-Indian elements are not to be ignored. Although +the theory "that it must be regarded as the reaction of the Aryan mind +against a Semitic religion imposed on it by force" is inadmissible--Dhu +´l-Nún, for example, was a Copt or Nubian--the fact remains that there +was at the time a powerful anti-Semitic reaction, which expressed +itself, more or less consciously, in [S.]úfís of Persian race. Again, +the literary influence of India upon Mu[h.]ammadan thought before 1000 +A.D. was greatly inferior to that of Greece, as any one can see by +turning over the pages of the _Fihrist_; but Indian religious ideas must +have penetrated into Khurásán and Eastern Persia at a much earlier +period. + +These considerations show that the question as to the origin of [S.]úfiism +cannot be answered in a definite and exclusive way. None of the rival +theories is completely true, nor is any of them without a partial +justification. The following words of Dr. Goldziher should be borne in +mind by all who are interested in this subject:-- + + [Sidenote: Goldziher on the character of [S.]úfiism.] + + "[S.]úfiism cannot be looked upon as a regularly organised sect within + Islam. Its dogmas cannot be compiled into a regular system. It + manifests itself in different shapes in different countries. We find + divergent tendencies, according to the spirit of the teaching of + distinguished theosophists who were founders of different schools, + the followers of which may be compared to Christian monastic orders. + The influence of different environments naturally affected the + development of [S.]úfiism. Here we find mysticism, there asceticism the + prevailing thought."[731] + +The four principal foreign sources of [S.]úfiism are undoubtedly +Christianity, Neo-platonism, Gnosticism, and Indian asceticism and +religious philosophy. I shall not attempt in this place to estimate +their comparative importance, but it should be clearly understood that +the speculative and theosophical side of [S.]úfiism, which, as we have +seen, was first elaborated in `Iráq, Syria, and Egypt, bears +unmistakable signs of Hellenistic influence. + + +[Sidenote: Báyazíd of Bis[t.]ám.] + +The early [S.]úfís are particularly interested in the theory of mystical +union (_faná wa-baqá_) and often use expressions which it is easy to +associate with pantheism, yet none of them can fairly be called a +pantheist in the true sense. The step from theosophy to pantheism was +not, I think, made either by [H.]alláj (+ 922 A.D.) or by the celebrated +Abú Yazíd, in Persian Báyazíd (+ 874-75 A.D.), of Bis[t.]ám, a town in the +province of Qúmis situated near the south-eastern corner of the Caspian +Sea. While his father, Surúshán, was a Zoroastrian, his master in +[S.]úfiism seems to have been connected with Sind (Scinde), where Moslem +governors had been installed since 715 A.D. Báyazíd carried the +experimental doctrine of _faná_ (dying to self) to its utmost limit, and +his language is tinged with the peculiar poetic imagery which was +afterwards developed by the great [S.]úfí of Khurásán, Abú Sa`íd b. Abi +´l-Khayr (+ 1049 A.D.). I can give only a few specimens of his sayings. +Their genuineness is not above suspicion, but they serve to show that if +the theosophical basis of [S.]úfiism is distinctively Greek, its mystical +extravagances are no less distinctively Oriental. + + "Creatures are subject to 'states' (_a[h.]wál_), but the gnostic has no + 'state,' because his vestiges are effaced and his essence is + annihilated by the essence of another, and his traces are lost in + another's traces. + + + "I went from God to God until they cried from me in me, 'O Thou I!' + + + "Nothing is better for Man than to be without aught, having no + asceticism, no theory, no practice. When he is without all, he is + with all. + + + "Verily I am God, there is no God except me, so worship me! + + + "Glory to me! how great is my majesty! + + + "I came forth from Báyazíd-ness as a snake from its skin. Then I + looked. I saw that lover, beloved, and love are one, for in the + world of unification all can be one. + + + "I am the wine-drinker and the wine and the cup-bearer." + +Thus, in the course of a century, [S.]úfiism, which at first was little +more than asceticism, became in succession mystical and theosophical, +and even ran the risk of being confused with pantheism. Henceforward the +term _Ta[s.]awwuf_ unites all these varying shades. As a rule, however, +the great [S.]úfís of the third century A.H. (815-912 A.D.) keep their +antinomian enthusiasm under control. Most of them agreed with Junayd of +Baghdád (+ 909 A.D.), the leading theosophist of his time, in preferring +"the path of sobriety," and in seeking to reconcile the Law (_sharí`at_) +with the Truth (_[h.]aqíqat_). "Our principles," said Sahl b. `Abdulláh +al-Tustarí (+ 896 A.D.), "are six: to hold fast by the Book of God, to +model ourselves upon the Apostle (Mu[h.]ammad), to eat only what is +lawful, to refrain from hurting people even though they hurt us, to +avoid forbidden things, and to fulfil obligations without delay." To +these articles the strictest Moslem might cheerfully subscribe. +[S.]úfiism in its ascetic, moral, and devotional aspects was a +spiritualised Islam, though it was a very different thing essentially. +While doing lip-service to the established religion, it modified the +dogmas of Islam in such a way as to deprive them of their original +significance. Thus Allah, the God of mercy and wrath, was in a certain +sense depersonalised and worshipped as the One absolutely Real +(_al-[H.]aqq_). Here the [S.]úfís betray their kinship with the +Mu`tazilites, but the two sects have little in common except the Greek +philosophy.[732] It must never be forgotten that [S.]úfiism was the +expression of a profound religious feeling--"hatred of the world and +love of the Lord."[733] "_Ta[s.]awwuf_," said Junayd, "is this: that God +should make thee die to thyself and should make thee live in Him." + +The further development of [S.]úfiism may be indicated in a few words. + +[Sidenote: The development of [S.]úfiism.] + +What was at first a form of religion adopted by individuals and +communicated to a small circle of companions gradually became a monastic +system, a school for saints, with rules of discipline and devotion which +the novice (_muríd_) learned from his spiritual director (_pír_ or +_ustádh_), to whose guidance he submitted himself absolutely. Already in +the third century after Mu[h.]ammad it is increasingly evident that the +typical [S.]úfí adept of the future will no longer be a solitary ascetic +shunning the sight of men, but a great Shaykh and hierophant, who +appears on ceremonial occasions attended by a numerous train of admiring +disciples. Soon the doctrine began to be collected and embodied in +books. Some of the most notable Arabic works of reference on [S.]úfiism +have been mentioned already. Among the oldest are the _Kitábu ´l-Luma`_, +by Abú Na[s.]r al-Sarráj (+ 988 A.D.) and the _Qútu ´l-Qulúb_ by Abú +[T.]álib al-Makkí (+ 996 A.D.). The twelfth century saw the rise of the +Dervish Orders. `Adí al-Hakkárí (+ 1163 A.D.) and `Abdu ´l-Qádir al-Jílí +(+ 1166 A.D.) founded the fraternities which are called `Adawís and +Qádirís, after their respective heads. These were followed in rapid +succession by the Rifá`ís, the Shádhilís, and the Mevlevís, of whom the +last named owe their origin to the Persian poet and mystic, Jalálu +´l-Dín Rúmí (+ 1273 A.D.). By this time, mainly through the influence of +Ghazálí, [S.]úfiism had won for itself a secure and recognised position +in the Mu[h.]ammadan Church. Orthodoxy was forced to accept the popular +Saint-worship and to admit the miracles of the _Awliyá_, although many +Moslem puritans raised their voices against the superstitious veneration +which was paid to the tombs of holy men, and against the prayers, +sacrifices, and oblations offered by the pilgrims who assembled. Ghazálí +also gave the [S.]úfí doctrine a metaphysical basis. For this purpose he +availed himself of the terminology, which Fárábí (also a [S.]úfí) and +Avicenna had already borrowed from the Neo-platonists. From his time +forward we find in [S.]úfí writings constant allusions to the Plotinian +theories of emanation and ecstasy. + + +[Sidenote: `Umar Ibnu ´l-Fári[d.].] + +Mysticism was more congenial to the Persians than to the Arabs, and its +influence on Arabic literature is not to be compared with the +extraordinary spell which it has cast over the Persian mind since the +eleventh century of the Christian era to the present day. With few +exceptions, the great poets of Persia (and, we may add, of Turkey) speak +the allegorical language and use the fantastic imagery of which the +quatrains of the Persian [S.]úfí, Abú Sa`íd b. Abi ´l-Khayr,[734] afford +almost the first literary example. The Arabs have only one mystical poet +worthy to stand beside the Persian masters. This is Sharafu ´l-Dín `Umar +Ibnu ´l-Fári[d.], who was born in Cairo (1181 A.D.) and died there in +1235. His _Díwán_ was edited by his grandson `Alí, and the following +particulars regarding the poet's life are extracted from the +biographical notice prefixed to this edition[735]:-- + + "The Shaykh `Umar Ibnu ´l-Fári[d.] was of middle stature; his face + was fair and comely, with a mingling of visible redness; and when he + was under the influence of music (_samá`_) and rapture (_wajd_), and + overcome by ecstasy, it grew in beauty and brilliancy, and sweat + dropped from his body until it ran on the ground under his feet. I + never saw (so his son relates) among Arabs or foreigners a figure + equal in beauty to his, and I am the likest of all men to him in + form.... And when he walked in the city, the people used to press + round him asking his blessing and trying to kiss his hand, but he + would not allow anyone to do so, but put his hand in theirs.... + `Umar Ibnu ´l-Fári[d.] said: 'In the beginning of my detachment + (_tajríd_) from the world I used to beg permission of my father and + go up to the Wádi ´l-Musta[d.]`afín on the second mountain of + al-Muqa[t.][t.]am. Thither I would resort and continue in this + hermit life (_síyá[h.]a_) night and day; then I would return to my + father, as bound in duty to cherish his affection. My father was at + that time Lieutenant of the High Court (_khalífatu ´l-[h.]ukmi + ´l-`azíz_) in Qáhira and Mi[s.]r,[736] the two guarded cities, and + was one of the men most eminent for learning and affairs. He was + wont to be glad when I returned, and he frequently let me sit with + him in the chambers of the court and in the colleges of law. Then I + would long for "detachment," and beg leave to return to the life of + a wandering devotee, and thus I was doing repeatedly, until my + father was asked to fill the office of Chief Justice (_Qá[d.]i + ´l-Qu[d.]át_), but refused, and laid down the post which he held, + and retired from society, and gave himself entirely to God in the + preaching-hall (_qá`atu ´l-khi[t.]ába_) of the Mosque al-Azhar. + After his death I resumed my former detachment, and solitary + devotion, and travel in the way of Truth, but no revelation was + vouchsafed to me. One day I came to Cairo and entered the Sayfiyya + College. At the gate I found an old grocer performing an ablution + which was not prescribed. First he washed his hands, then his feet; + then he wiped his head and washed his face. "O Shaykh," I said to + him, "do you, after all these years, stand beside the gate of the + college among the Moslem divines and perform an irregular ablution?" + He looked at me and said, "O `Umar, nothing will be vouchsafed to + thee in Egypt, but only in the [H.]ijáz, at Mecca (may God exalt + it!); set out thither, for the time of thy illumination hath come." + Then I knew that the man was one of God's saints and that he was + disguising himself by his manner of livelihood and by pretending to + be ignorant of the irregularity of the ablution. I seated myself + before him and said to him, "O my master, how far am I from Mecca! + and I cannot find convoy or companions save in the months of + Pilgrimage." He looked at me and pointed with his hand and said, + "Here is Mecca in front of thee"; and as I looked with him, I saw + Mecca (may God exalt it!); and bidding him farewell, I set off to + seek it, and it was always in front of me until I entered it. At + that moment illumination came to me and continued without any + interruption.... I abode in a valley which was distant from Mecca + ten days' journey for a hard rider, and every day and night I would + come forth to pray the five prayers in the exalted Sanctuary, and + with me was a wild beast of huge size which accompanied me in my + going and returning, and knelt to me as a camel kneels, and said, + "Mount, O my master," but I never did so.'" + +When fifteen years had elapsed, `Umar Ibnu ´l-Fári[d.] returned to +Cairo. The people venerated him as a saint, and the reigning monarch, +Malik al-Kámil, wished to visit him in person, but `Umar declined to see +him, and rejected his bounty. "At most times," says the poet's son, "the +Shaykh was in a state of bewilderment, and his eyes stared fixedly. He +neither heard nor saw any one speaking to him. Now he would stand, now +sit, now repose on his side, now lie on his back wrapped up like a dead +man; and thus would he pass ten consecutive days, more or less, neither +eating nor drinking nor speaking nor stirring." In 1231 A.D. he made the +pilgrimage to Mecca, on which occasion he met his famous contemporary, +Shihábu´ l-Dín Abú [H.]af[s.] `Umar al-Suhrawardí. He died four years +later, and was buried in the Qaráfa cemetery at the foot of Mount +Muqa[t.][t.]am. + +[Sidenote: The poetry of Ibnu ´l-Fári[d.].] + +His _Díwán_ of mystical odes, which were first collected and published +by his grandson, is small in extent compared with similar works in the +Persian language, but of no unusual brevity when regarded as the +production of an Arabian poet.[737] Concerning its general character +something has been said above (p. 325). The commentator, [H.]asan +al-Búríní (+ 1615 A.D.), praises the easy flow (_insijàm_) of the +versification, and declares that Ibnu ´l-Fári[d.] "is accustomed to play +with ideas in ever-changing forms, and to clothe them with splendid +garments."[738] His style, full of verbal subtleties, betrays the +influence of Mutanabbí.[739] The longest piece in the _Díwán_ is a Hymn +of Divine Love, entitled _Na[z.]mu ´l-Sulúk_ ('Poem on the Mystic's +Progress'), and often called _al-Tá´iyyatu ´l-Kubrá_ ('The Greater Ode +rhyming in _t_'), which has been edited with a German verse-translation +by Hammer-Purgstall (Vienna, 1854). On account of this poem the author +was accused of favouring the doctrine of _[h.]ulúl_, _i.e._, the +incarnation of God in human beings. Another celebrated ode is the +_Khamriyya_, or Hymn of Wine.[740] + +The following versions will perhaps convey to English readers some faint +impression of the fervid rapture and almost ethereal exaltation which +give the poetry of Ibnu ´l-Fári[d.] a unique place in Arabic +literature:-- + + "Let passion's swelling tide my senses drown! + Pity love's fuel, this long-smouldering heart, + Nor answer with a frown, + When I would fain behold Thee as Thou art, + '_Thou shall not see Me._'[741] O my soul, keep fast + The pledge thou gav'st: endure unfaltering to the last! + For Love is life, and death in love the Heaven + Where all sins are forgiven. + To those before and after and of this day, + That witnesseth my tribulation, say, + 'By me be taught, me follow, me obey, + And tell my passion's story thro' wide East and West.' + With my Beloved I alone have been + When secrets tenderer than evening airs + Passed, and the Vision blest + Was granted to my prayers, + That crowned me, else obscure, with endless fame, + The while amazed between + His beauty and His majesty + I stood in silent ecstasy, + Revealing that which o'er my spirit went and came. + Lo! in His face commingled + Is every charm and grace; + The whole of Beauty singled + Into a perfect face + Beholding Him would cry, + 'There is no God but He, and He is the most High!'"[742] + +Here are the opening verses of the _Tá´iyyatu ´l-[S.]ughrá_, or 'The +Lesser Ode rhyming in _t_,' which is so called in order to distinguish +it from the _Tá´iyyatu ´l-Kubrá_:-- + + "Yea, in me the Zephyr kindled longing, O my loves, for you; + Sweetly breathed the balmy Zephyr, scattering odours when it blew; + Whispering to my heart at morning secret tales of those who dwell + (How my fainting heart it gladdened!) nigh the water and the well; + Murmuring in the grassy meadows, garmented with gentleness, + Languid love-sick airs diffusing, healing me of my distress. + When the green slopes wave before thee, Zephyr, in my loved [H.]ijáz, + Thou, not wine that mads the others, art my rapture's only cause. + Thou the covenant eternal[743] callest back into my mind, + For but newly thou hast parted from my dear ones, happy Wind! + Driver of the dun-red camels that amidst acacias bide, + Soft and sofa-like thy saddle from the long and weary ride! + Blessings on thee, if descrying far-off Tú[d.]ih at noonday, + Thou wilt cross the desert hollows where the fawns of Wajra play, + And if from `Uray[d.]'s sand-hillocks bordering on stony ground + Thou wilt turn aside to [H.]uzwá, driver for Suwayqa bound, + And [T.]uwayli`'s willows leaving, if to Sal` thou thence wilt ride-- + Ask, I pray thee, of a people dwelling on the mountain-side! + Halt among the clan I cherish (so may health attend thee still!) + And deliver there my greeting to the Arabs of the hill. + For the tents are basking yonder, and in one of them is She + That bestows the meeting sparely, but the parting lavishly. + All around her as a rampart edge of sword and point of lance, + Yet my glances stray towards her when on me she deigns to glance. + Girt about with double raiment--soul and heart of mine, no less-- + She is guarded from beholders, veiled by her unveiledness. + Death to me, in giving loose to my desire, she destineth; + Ah, how goodly seems the bargain, and how cheap is Love + for Death![744] + +Ibnu ´l-Fári[d.] came of pure Arab stock, and his poetry is thoroughly +Arabian both in form and spirit. This is not the place to speak of the +great Persian [S.]úfís, but [H.]usayn b. Man[s.]úr al-[H.]alláj, who was +executed in the Caliphate of Muqtadir (922 A.D.), could not have been +omitted here but for the fact that Professor Browne has already given an +admirable account of him, to which I am unable to add anything of +importance.[745] The Arabs, however, have contributed to the history of +[S.]úfiism another memorable name--Mu[h.]yi´l-Dín Ibnu ´l-`Arabí, whose +life falls within the final century of the `Abbásid period, and will +therefore fitly conclude the present chapter.[746] + +[Sidenote: Ibnu ´l-`Arabí.] + +Mu[h.]yi ´l-Dín Mu[h.]ammad b. `Alí Ibnu ´l-`Arabí (or Ibn `Arabí)[747] +was born at Mursiya (Murcia) in Spain on the 17th of Rama[d.]án, 560 +A.H. = July 29, 1165 A.D. From 1173 to 1202 he resided in Seville. He +then set out for the East, travelling by way of Egypt to the [H.]ijáz, +where he stayed a long time, and after visiting Baghdád, Mosul, and Asia +Minor, finally settled at Damascus, in which city he died (638 A.H. = +1240 A.D.). His tomb below Mount Qásiyún was thought to be "a piece of +the gardens of Paradise," and was called the Philosophers' Stone.[748] +It is now enclosed in a mosque which bears the name of Mu[h.]yi ´l-Dín, +and a cupola rises over it.[749] We know little concerning the events of +his life, which seems to have been passed chiefly in travel and +conversation with [S.]úfís and in the composition of his voluminous +writings, about three hundred in number according to his own +computation. Two of these works are especially celebrated, and have +caused Ibnu ´l-`Arabí to be regarded as the greatest of all +Mu[h.]ammadan mystics--the _Futú[h.]át al-Makkiyya_, or 'Meccan +Revelations,' and the _Fu[s.]ú[s.]ú ´l-[H.]ikam_, or 'Bezels of +Philosophy.' The _Futú[h.]át_ is a huge treatise in five hundred and +sixty chapters, containing a complete system of mystical science. The +author relates that he saw Mu[h.]ammad in the World of Real Ideas, +seated on a throne amidst angels, prophets, and saints, and received his +command to discourse on the Divine mysteries. At another time, while +circumambulating the Ka`ba, he met a celestial spirit wearing the form +of a youth engaged in the same holy rite, who showed him the living +esoteric Temple which is concealed under the lifeless exterior, even as +the eternal substance of the Divine Ideas is hidden by the veils of +popular religion--veils through which the lofty mind must penetrate, +until, having reached the splendour within, it partakes of the Divine +nature and beholds what no mortal eye can endure to look upon. Ibnu +´l-`Arabí immediately fell into a swoon. When he came to himself he was +instructed to contemplate the visionary form and to write down the +mysteries which it would reveal to his gaze. Then the youth entered the +Ka`ba with Ibnu ´l-`Arabí, and resuming his spiritual aspect, appeared +to him on a three-legged steed, breathed into his breast the knowledge +of all things, and once more bade him describe the heavenly form in +which all mysteries are enshrined.[750] Such is the reputed origin of +the 'Meccan Revelations,' of which the greater portion was written in +the town where inspiration descended on Mu[h.]ammad six hundred years +before. The author believed, or pretended to believe, that every word of +them was dictated to him by supernatural means. The _Fú[s.]ú[s.]_, a +short work in twenty-seven chapters, each of which is named after one of +the prophets, is no less highly esteemed, and has been the subject of +numerous commentaries in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. + +[Sidenote: The doctrine of the Perfect Man.] + +Curiously enough, Ibnu ´l-`Arabí combined the most extravagant mysticism +with the straitest orthodoxy. "He was a [Z.]áhirite (literalist) in +religion and a Bá[t.]inite (spiritualist) in his speculative +beliefs."[751] He rejected all authority (_taqlíd_). "I am not one of +those who say, 'Ibn [H.]azm said so-and-so, A[h.]mad[752] said +so-and-so, al-Nu`mán[753] said so-and-so,'" he declares in one of his +poems. But although he insisted on punctilious adherence to the letter +of the sacred law, we may suspect that his refusal to follow any human +authority, analogy, or opinion was simply the overweening presumption of +the seer who regards himself as divinely illuminated and infallible. +Many theologians were scandalised by the apparently blasphemous +expressions which occur in his writings, and taxed him with holding +heretical doctrines, _e.g._, the incarnation of God in man (_[h.]ulúl_) +and the identification of man with God (_itti[h.]ád_). Centuries passed, +but controversy continued to rage over him. He found numerous and +enthusiastic partisans, who urged that the utterances of the saints must +not be interpreted literally nor criticised at all. It was recognised, +however, that such high mysteries were unsuitable for the weaker +brethren, so that many even of those who firmly believed in his sanctity +discouraged the reading of his books. They were read nevertheless, +publicly and privately, from one end of the Mu[h.]ammadan world to the +other; people copied them for the sake of obtaining the author's +blessing, and the manuscripts were eagerly bought. Among the +distinguished men who wrote in his defence we can mention here only +Majdu ´l-Dín al-Fírúzábádí (+ 1414 A.D.), the author of the great Arabic +lexicon entitled _al-Qámús_; Jalálu ´l-Dín al-Suyú[t.]í (+ 1445 A.D.); +and `Abdu ´l-Wahháb al-Sha`rání (+ 1565 A.D.). The fundamental principle +of his system is the Unity of Being (_wa[h.]datu ´l-wujúd_). There is no +real difference between the Essence and its attributes or, in other +words, between God and the universe. All created things subsist +eternally as ideas (_a`yán thábita_) in the knowledge of God, and since +being is identical with knowledge, their "creation" only means His +knowing them, or Himself, under the aspect of actuality; the universe, +in fact, is the concrete sum of the relations of the Essence as subject +to itself as object. This pantheistic monism puts on an Islamic mask in +the doctrine of "the Perfect Man" (_al-Insán al-Kámil_), a phrase which +Ibnu ´l-`Arabí was the first to associate with it. The Divine +consciousness, evolving through a series of five planes +(_[h.]a[d.]arát_), attains to complete expression in Man, the +microcosmic being who unites the creative and creaturely attributes of +the Essence and is at once the image of God and the archetype of the +universe. Only through him does God know Himself and make Himself known; +he is the eye of the world whereby God sees His own works. The daring +paradoxes of Ibnu ´l-`Arabí's dialectic are illustrated by such verses +as these:-- + + He praises me (by manifesting my perfections and creating me in + His form), + And I praise Him (by manifesting His perfections and obeying Him). + How can He be independent when I help and aid Him? (because the Divine + attributes derive the possibility of manifestation from their human + correlates). + For that cause God brought me into existence, + And I know Him and bring Him into existence (in my knowledge + and contemplation of Him).[754] + +Thus it is the primary function of Man to reveal and realise his Divine +nature; and the Perfect Men, regarded individually, are the prophets and +saints. Here the doctrine--an amalgam of Manichæan, Gnostic, +Neo-platonic and Christian speculations--attaches itself to Mu[h.]ammad, +"the Seal of the prophets." According to Moslem belief, the pre-existent +Spirit or Light of Mu[h.]ammad (_Núr Mu[h.]ammadí_) became incarnate in +Adam and in the whole series of prophets, of whom Mu[h.]ammad is the +last. Mu[h.]ammad, then, is the Logos,[755] the Mediator, the Vicegerent +of God (_Khalífat Allah_), the God-Man who has descended to this earthly +sphere to make manifest the glory of Him who brought the universe into +existence. + +But, of course, Ibnu ´l-`Arabí's philosophy carries him far beyond the +realm of positive religion. If God is the "self" of all things sensible +and intelligible, it follows that He reveals Himself in every form of +belief in a degree proportionate to the pre-determined capacity of the +believer; the mystic alone sees that He is One in all forms, for the +mystic's heart is all-receptive: it assumes whatever form God reveals +Himself in, as wax takes the impression of the seal. + + "My heart is capable of every form, + A cloister for the monk, a fane for idols, + A pasture for gazelles, the pilgrim's Ka`ba, + The Tables of the Torah, the Koran. + Love is the faith I hold: wherever turn + His camels, still the one true faith is mine."[756] + +The vast bulk of Ibnu ´l-`Arabí's writings, his technical and scholastic +terminology, his recondite modes of thought, and the lack of method in +his exposition have, until recently, deterred European Orientalists from +bestowing on him the attention which he deserves.[757] In the history of +[S.]úfiism his name marks an epoch: it is owing to him that what began +as a profoundly religious personal movement in Islam ends as an eclectic +and definitely pantheistic system of philosophy. The title of "The Grand +Master" (_al-Shaykh al-Akbar_), by which he is commonly designated, +bears witness to his supremacy in the world of Moslem mysticism from the +Mongol Invasion to the present day. In Persia and Turkey his influence +has been enormous, and through his pupil, [S.]adru ´l-Dín of Qóniya, he +is linked with the greatest of all [S.]úfí poets, Jalálu ´l-Dín Rúmí, +the author of the _Mathnawí_, who died some thirty years after him. Nor +did all those who borrowed his ideas call themselves Moslems. He +inspired, amongst other mediæval Christian writers, "the Illuminated +Doctor" Raymond Lull, and probably Dante.[758] + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE ARABS IN EUROPE + + +It will be remembered that before the end of the first century of the +Hijra, in the reign of the Umayyad Caliph, Walíd b. `Abd al-Malik +(705-715 A.D.), the Moslems under [T.]áriq and Músá b. Nu[s.]ayr, +crossed the Mediterranean, and having defeated Roderic the Goth in a +great battle near Cadiz, rapidly brought the whole of Spain into +subjection. The fate of the new province was long doubtful. The Berber +insurrection which raged in Africa (734-742 A.D.) spread to Spain and +threatened to exterminate the handful of Arab colonists; and no sooner +was this danger past than the victors began to rekindle the old feuds +and jealousies which they had inherited from their ancestors of Qays and +Kalb. Once more the rival factions of Syria and Yemen flew to arms, and +the land was plunged in anarchy. + +[Sidenote: `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán, the Umayyad.] + +Meanwhile `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán b. Mu`áwiya, a grandson of the Caliph +Hishám, had escaped from the general massacre with which the `Abbásids +celebrated their triumph over the House of Umayya, and after five years +of wandering adventure, accompanied only by his faithful freedman, Badr, +had reached the neighbourhood of Ceuta, where he found a precarious +shelter with the Berber tribes. Young, ambitious, and full of confidence +in his destiny, `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán conceived the bold plan of throwing +himself into Spain and of winning a kingdom with the help of the Arabs, +amongst whom, as he well knew, there were many clients of his own +family. Accordingly in 755 A.D. he sent Badr across the sea on a secret +mission. The envoy accomplished even more than was expected of him. To +gain over the clients was easy, for `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán was their natural +chief, and in the event of his success they would share with him the +prize. Their number, however, was comparatively small. The pretender +could not hope to achieve anything unless he were supported by one of +the great parties, Syrians or Yemenites. At this time the former, led by +the feeble governor, Yúsuf b. `Abd al-Ra[h.]mán al-Fihrí, and his cruel +but capable lieutenant, [S.]umayl b. [H.]átim, held the reins of power +and were pursuing their adversaries with ruthless ferocity. The +Yemenites, therefore, hastened to range themselves on the side of `Abdu +´l-Ra[h.]mán, not that they loved his cause, but inspired solely by the +prospect of taking a bloody vengeance upon the Syrians. These Spanish +Moslems belonged to the true Bedouin stock! + +A few months later `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán landed in Spain, occupied Seville, +and, routing Yúsuf and [S.]umayl under the walls of Cordova, made +himself master of the capital. On the same evening he presided, as +Governor of Spain, over the citizens assembled for public worship in the +great Mosque (May, 756 A.D.). + +During his long reign of thirty-two years `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán was busily +employed in defending and consolidating the empire which more than once +seemed to be on the point of slipping from his grasp. The task before +him was arduous in the extreme. On the one hand, he was confronted by +the unruly Arab aristocracy, jealous of their independence and regarding +the monarch as their common foe. Between him and them no permanent +compromise was possible, and since they could only be kept in check by +an armed force stronger than themselves, he was compelled to rely on +mercenaries, for the most part Berbers imported from Africa. Thus, by a +fatal necessity the Moslem Empire in the West gradually assumed that +despotic and Prætorian character which we have learned to associate with +the `Abbásid Government in the period of its decline, and the results +were in the end hardly less disastrous. The monarchy had also to reckon +with the fanaticism of its Christian subjects and with a formidable +Spanish national party eager to throw off the foreign yoke. +Extraordinary energy and tact were needed to maintain authority over +these explosive elements, and if the dynasty founded by `Abdu +´l-Ra[h.]mán not only survived for two centuries and a half but gave to +Spain a more splendid era of prosperity and culture than she had ever +enjoyed, the credit is mainly due to the bold adventurer from whom even +his enemies could not withhold a tribute of admiration. One day, it is +said, the Caliph Man[s.]úr asked his courtiers, "Who is the Falcon of +Quraysh?" They replied, "O Prince of the Faithful, that title belongs to +you who have vanquished mighty kings and have put an end to civil war." +"No," said the Caliph, "it is not I." "Mu`áwiya, then, or `Abdu +´l-Malik?" "No," said Man[s.]úr, "the Falcon of Quraysh is `Abdu +´l-Ra[h.]mán b. Mu`áwiya, he who traversed alone the deserts of Asia and +Africa, and without an army to aid him sought his fortune in an unknown +country beyond the sea. With no weapons except judgment and resolution +he subdued his enemies, crushed the rebels, secured his frontiers, and +founded a great empire. Such a feat was never achieved by any one +before."[759] + + +[Sidenote: Islam in Spain.] + +[Sidenote: Ya[h.]yá b. Ya[h.]yá.] + +[Sidenote: The Revolt of the Suburb.] + +Of the Moslems in Spain the Arabs formed only a small minority, and +they, moreover, showed all the indifference towards religion and +contempt for the laws of Islam which might be expected from men imbued +with Bedouin traditions whose forbears had been devotedly attached to +the world-loving Umayyads of Damascus. It was otherwise with the Spanish +converts, the so-called 'Renegades' or _Muwalladún_ (Affiliati) living +as clients under protection of the Arab nobility, and with the Berbers. +These races took their adopted religion very seriously, in accordance +with the fervid and sombre temperament which has always distinguished +them. Hence among the mass of Spanish Moslems a rigorous orthodoxy +prevailed. The Berber, Ya[h.]yá b. Ya[h.]yá (+ 849 A.D.), is a typical +figure. At the age of twenty-eight years he travelled to the East and +studied under Málik. b Anas, who dictated to him his celebrated work +known as the _Muwa[t.][t.]a´_. Ya[h.]yá was one day at Málik's lecture +with a number of fellow-students, when some one said, "Here comes the +elephant!" All of them ran out to see the animal, but Ya[h.]yá did not +stir. "Why," said Málik, "do you not go out and look at it? Such animals +are not to be seen in Spain." To this Ya[h.]yá replied, "I left my +country for the purpose of seeing you and obtaining knowledge under your +guidance. I did not come here to see the elephant." Málik was so pleased +with this answer that he called him the most intelligent (_`áqil_) of +the people of Spain. On his return to Spain Ya[h.]yá exerted himself to +spread the doctrines of his master, and though he obstinately refused, +on religious grounds, to accept any public office, his influence and +reputation were such that, as Ibn [H.]azm says, no Cadi was ever +appointed till Ya[h.]yá had given his opinion and designated the person +whom he preferred.[760] Thus the Málikite system, based on close +adherence to tradition, became the law of the land. "The Spaniards," it +is observed by a learned writer of the tenth century, "recognise only +the Koran and the _Muwa[t.][t.]a´_; if they find a follower of Abú +[H.]anífa or Sháfi`í, they banish him from Spain, and if they meet with +a Mu`tazilite or a Shí`ite or any one of that sort, they often put him +to death."[761] Arrogant, intensely bigoted, and ambitious of power, the +Mu[h.]ammadan clergy were not disposed to play a subordinate rôle in the +State. In Hishám (788-796 A.D.), the successor of `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán, +they had a prince after their own heart, whose piety and devotion to +their interests left nothing to be desired. [H.]akam (796-822 A.D.) was +less complaisant. He honoured and respected the clergy, but at the same +time he let them see that he would not permit them to interfere in +political affairs. The malcontents, headed by the fiery Ya[h.]yá b. +Ya[h.]yá, replied with menaces and insults, and called on the populace +of Cordova--especially the 'Renegades' in the southern quarter +(_raba[d.]_) of the city--to rise against the tyrant and his insolent +soldiery. One day in Rama[d.]án, 198 A.H. (May, 814 A.D.), [H.]akam +suddenly found himself cut off from the garrison and besieged in his +palace by an infuriated mob, but he did not lose courage, and, thanks to +his coolness and skilful strategy, he came safely out of the peril in +which he stood. The revolutionary suburb was burned to the ground and +those of its inhabitants who escaped massacre, some 60,000 souls, were +driven into exile. The real culprits went unpunished. [H.]akam could not +afford further to exasperate the divines, who on their part began to +perceive that they might obtain from the prince by favour what they had +failed to wring from him by force. Being mostly Arabs or Berbers, they +had a strong claim to his consideration. Their power was soon restored, +and in the reign of `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán II (822-852 A.D.) Ya[h.]yá +himself, the ringleader of the mutiny, directed ecclesiastical policy +and dispensed judicial patronage as he pleased. + +[Sidenote: `Umar b. [H.]af[s.]ún.] + +The Revolt of the Suburb was only an episode in the long and sanguinary +struggle between the Spaniards, Moslem or Christian, on the one hand, +and the monarchy of Cordova on the other--a struggle complicated by the +rival Arab tribes, which sometimes patched up their own feuds in order +to defend themselves against the Spanish patriots, but never in any +circumstances gave their support to the detested Umayyad Government. The +hero of this war of independence was `Umar b. [H.]af[s.]ún. He belonged +to a noble family of West-Gothic origin which had gone over to Islam and +settled in the mountainous district north-east of Malaga. Hot-blooded, +quarrelsome, and ready to stab on the slightest provocation, the young +man soon fell into trouble. At first he took shelter in the wild +fastnesses of Ronda, where he lived as a brigand until he was captured +by the police. He then crossed the sea to Africa, but in a short time +returned to his old haunts and put himself at the head of a band of +robbers. Here he held out for two years, when, having been obliged to +surrender, he accepted the proposal of the Sultan of Cordova that he and +his companions should enlist in the Imperial army. But `Umar was +destined for greater glory than the Sultan could confer upon him. A few +contemptuous words from a superior officer touched his pride to the +quick, so one fine day he galloped off with all his men in the direction +of Ronda. They found an almost impregnable retreat in the castle of +Bobastro, which had once been a Roman fortress. From this moment, says +Dozy, `Umar b. [H.]af[s.]ún was no longer a brigand-chief, but leader of +the whole Spanish race in the south. The lawless and petulant free-lance +was transformed into a high-minded patriot, celebrated for the stern +justice with which he punished the least act of violence, adored by his +soldiers, and regarded by his countrymen as the champion of the national +cause. During the rest of his life (884-917 A.D.) he conducted the +guerilla with untiring energy and made himself a terror to the Arabs, +but fortune deserted him at the last, and he died--_felix opportunitate +mortis_--only a few years before complete ruin overtook his party. The +Moslem Spaniards, whose enthusiasm had been sensibly weakened by their +leader's conversion to Christianity, were the more anxious to make their +peace with the Government, since they saw plainly the hopelessness of +continuing the struggle. + +In 912 A.D. `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán III, the Defender of the Faith +(_al-Ná[s.]ir li-díní ´lláh_), succeeded his grandfather, the Amír +`Abdulláh, on the throne of Cordova. The character, genius, and +enterprise of this great monarch are strikingly depicted in the +following passage from the pen of an eloquent historian whose work, +although it was published some fifty years ago, will always be +authoritative[762]:-- + + [Sidenote: `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán III (912-961 A.D).] + + "Amongst the Umayyad sovereigns who have ruled Spain the first place + belongs incontestably to `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán III. What he + accomplished was almost miraculous. He had found the empire + abandoned to anarchy and civil war, rent by factions, parcelled + amongst a multitude of heterogeneous princes, exposed to incessant + attacks from the Christians of the north, and on the eve of being + swallowed up either by the Léonnese or the Africans. In spite of + innumerable obstacles he had saved Spain both from herself and from + the foreign domination. He had endowed her with new life and made + her greater and stronger than she had ever been. He had given her + order and prosperity at home, consideration and respect abroad. The + public treasury, which he had found in a deplorable condition, was + now overflowing. Of the Imperial revenues, which amounted annually + to 6,245,000 pieces of gold, a third sufficed for ordinary expenses; + a third was held in reserve, and `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán devoted the + remainder to his buildings. It was calculated that in the year 951 + he had in his coffers the enormous sum of 20,000,000 pieces of gold, + so that a traveller not without judgment in matters of finance + assures us that `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán and the [H.]amdánid (Ná[s.]iru + ´l-Dawla), who was then reigning over Mesopotamia, were the + wealthiest princes of that epoch. The state of the country was in + keeping with the prosperous condition of the treasury. Agriculture, + industry, commerce, the arts and the sciences, all flourished.... + Cordova, with its half-million inhabitants, its three thousand + mosques, its superb palaces, its hundred and thirteen thousand + houses, its three hundred bagnios, and its twenty-eight suburbs, was + inferior in extent and splendour only to Baghdád, with which city + the Cordovans loved to compare it.... The power of `Abdu + ´l-Ra[h.]mán was formidable. A magnificent fleet enabled him to + dispute with the Fá[t.]imids the empire of the Mediterranean, and + secured him in the possession of Ceuta, the key of Mauritania. A + numerous and well-disciplined army, perhaps the finest in the world, + gave him superiority over the Christians of the north. The proudest + sovereigns solicited his alliance. The emperor of Constantinople, + the kings of Germany, Italy, and France sent ambassadors to him. + + "Assuredly, these were brilliant results; but what excites our + astonishment and admiration when we study this glorious reign is not + so much the work as the workman: it is the might of that + comprehensive intelligence which nothing escaped, and which showed + itself no less admirable in the minutest details than in the + loftiest conceptions. This subtle and sagacious man, who + centralises, who founds the unity of the nation and of the monarchy, + who by means of his alliances establishes a sort of political + equilibrium, who in his large tolerance calls the professors of + another religion into his councils, is a modern king rather than a + mediæval Caliph."[763] + +[Sidenote: Regency of Man[s.]úr Ibn Abí `Ámir (976-1002 A.D.).] + +In short, `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán III made the Spanish Moslems one people, +and formed out of Arabs and Spaniards a united Andalusian nation, which, +as we shall presently see, advanced with incredible swiftness to a +height of culture that was the envy of Europe and was not exceeded by +any contemporary State in the Mu[h.]ammadan East. With his death, +however, the decline of the Umayyad dynasty began. His son, [H.]akam II +(+ 976 A.D.), left as heir-apparent a boy eleven years old, Hishám II, +who received the title of Caliph while the government was carried on by +his mother Aurora and the ambitious minister Mu[h.]ammad b. Abí `Ámir. +The latter was virtually monarch of Spain, and whatever may be thought +of the means by which he rose to eminence, or of his treatment of the +unfortunate Caliph whose mental faculties he deliberately stunted and +whom he condemned to a life of monkish seclusion, it is impossible to +deny that he ruled well and nobly. He was a great statesman and a great +soldier. No one could accuse him of making an idle boast when he named +himself 'Al-Man[s.]úr' ('The Victorious'). Twice every year he was +accustomed to lead his army against the Christians, and such was the +panic which he inspired that in the course of more than fifty campaigns +he scarcely ever lost a battle. He died in 1002 A.D. A Christian monk, +recording the event in his chronicle, adds, "he was buried in Hell," but +Moslem hands engraved the following lines upon the tomb of their +champion:-- + + "His story in his relics you may trace, + As tho' he stood before you face to face. + Never will Time bring forth his peer again, + Nor one to guard, like him, the gaps of Spain."[764] + +His demise left the Prætorians masters of the situation. Berbers and +Slaves[765] divided the kingdom between them, and amidst revolution and +civil war the Umayyad dynasty passed away (1031 A.D.). + + +[Sidenote: The Party Kings (_Mulúku ´l-[T.]awá´if_).] + +It has been said with truth that the history of Spain in the eleventh +century bears a close resemblance to that of Italy in the fifteenth. The +splendid empire of `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán III was broken up, and from its +ruins there emerged a fortuitous conglomeration of petty states governed +by successful condottieri. Of these Party Kings (_Mulúku +´l-[T.]awá´if_), as they are called by Mu[h.]ammadan writers, the most +powerful were the `Abbádids of Seville. Although it was an age of +political decay, the material prosperity of Spain had as yet suffered +little diminution, whilst in point of culture the society of this time +reached a level hitherto unequalled. Here, then, we may pause for a +moment to review the progress of literature and science during the most +fruitful period of the Moslem occupation of European soil. + + +[Sidenote: Influence of Arabic culture on the Spaniards.] + +Whilst in Asia, as we have seen, the Arab conquerors yielded to the +spell of an ancient culture infinitely superior to their own, they no +sooner crossed the Straits of Gibraltar than the rôles were reversed. As +the invaders extended their conquests to every part of the peninsula, +thousands of Christians fell into their hands, who generally continued +to live under Moslem protection. They were well treated by the +Government, enjoyed religious liberty, and often rose to high offices in +the army or at court. Many of them became rapidly imbued with Moslem +civilisation, so that as early as the middle of the ninth century we +find Alvaro, Bishop of Cordova, complaining that his co-religionists +read the poems and romances of the Arabs, and studied the writings of +Mu[h.]ammadan theologians and philosophers, not in order to refute them +but to learn how to express themselves in Arabic with correctness and +elegance. "Where," he asks, "can any one meet nowadays with a layman who +reads the Latin commentaries on the Holy Scriptures? Who studies the +Gospels, the Prophets, the Apostles? Alas, all young Christians of +conspicuous talents are acquainted only with the language and writings +of the Arabs; they read and study Arabic books with the utmost zeal, +spend immense sums of money in collecting them for their libraries, and +proclaim everywhere that this literature is admirable. On the other +hand, if you talk with them of Christian books, they reply +contemptuously that these books are not worth their notice. Alas, the +Christians have forgotten their own language, and amongst thousands of +us scarce one is to be found who can write a tolerable Latin letter to a +friend; whereas very many are capable of expressing themselves +exquisitely in Arabic and of composing poems in that tongue with even +greater skill than the Arabs themselves."[766] + +However the good bishop may have exaggerated, it is evident that +Mu[h.]ammadan culture had a strong attraction for the Spanish +Christians, and equally, let us add, for the Jews, who made numerous +contributions to poetry, philosophy, and science in their native speech +as well as in the kindred Arabic idiom. The 'Renegades,' or Spanish +converts to Islam, became completely Arabicised in the course of a few +generations; and from this class sprang some of the chief ornaments of +Spanish-Arabian literature. + + +[Sidenote: The poetry of the Spanish Arabs.] + +Considered as a whole, the poetry of the Moslems in Europe shows the +same characteristics which have already been noted in the work of their +Eastern contemporaries. The paralysing conventions from which the +laureates of Baghdád and Aleppo could not emancipate themselves remained +in full force at Cordova and Seville. Yet, just as Arabic poetry in the +East was modified by the influences of Persian culture, in Spain also +the gradual amalgamation of Aryans with Semites introduced new elements +which have left their mark on the literature of both races. Perhaps the +most interesting features of Spanish-Arabian poetry are the tenderly +romantic feeling which not infrequently appears in the love-songs, a +feeling that sometimes anticipates the attitude of mediæval chivalry; +and in the second place an almost modern sensibility to the beauties of +nature. On account of these characteristics the poems in question appeal +to many European readers who do not easily enter into the spirit of the +_Mu`allaqát_ or the odes of Mutanabbí, and if space allowed it would be +a pleasant task to translate some of the charming lyric and descriptive +pieces which have been collected by anthologists. The omission, however, +is less grave inasmuch as Von Schack has given us a series of excellent +versions in his _Poesie und Kunst der Araber in Spanien und Sicilien_ +(2nd ed., Stuttgart, 1877). + +[Sidenote: Folk-songs.] + +"One of its marvels," says Qazwíní, referring to the town of Shilb +(Silves) in Portugal, "is the fact, which innumerable persons have +mentioned, that the people living there, with few exceptions, are makers +of verse and devoted to belles-lettres; and if you passed by a labourer +standing behind his plough and asked him to recite some verses, he would +at once improvise on any subject that you might demand."[767] Of such +folk-songs the _zajal_ and _muwashsha[h.]_ were favourite types.[768] +Both forms were invented in Spain, and their structure is very similar, +consisting of several stanzas in which the rhymes are so arranged that +the master-rhyme ending each stanza and running through the whole poem +like a refrain is continually interrupted by a various succession of +subordinate rhymes, as is shown in the following scheme:-- + + _aa_ + _bbba_ + _ccca_ + _ddda._ + +Many of these songs and ballads were composed in the vulgar dialect and +without regard to the rules of classical prosody. The troubadour Ibn +Quzmán (+ 1160 A.D.) first raised the _zajal_ to literary rank. Here is +an example of the _muwashsha[h.]_:-- + + "Come, hand the precious cup to me, + And brim it high with a golden sea! + Let the old wine circle from guest to guest, + While the bubbles gleam like pearls on its breast, + So that night is of darkness dispossessed. + How it foams and twinkles in fiery glee! + 'Tis drawn from the Pleiads' cluster, perdie. + + Pass it, to music's melting sound, + Here on this flowery carpet round, + Where gentle dews refresh the ground + And bathe my limbs deliciously + In their cool and balmy fragrancy. + + Alone with me in the garden green + A singing-girl enchants the scene: + Her smile diffuses a radiant sheen. + I cast off shame, for no spy can see, + And 'Hola,' I cry, 'let us merry be!'"[769] + +[Sidenote: Verses by `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán I.] + +True to the traditions of their family, the Spanish Umayyads loved +poetry, music, and polite literature a great deal better than the Koran. +Even the Falcon of Quraysh, `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán I, if the famous verses +on the Palm-tree are really by him, concealed something of the softer +graces under his grim exterior. It is said that in his gardens at +Cordova there was a solitary date-palm, which had been transplanted from +Syria, and that one day `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán, as he gazed upon it, +remembered his native land and felt the bitterness of exile and +exclaimed:-- + + "O Palm, thou art a stranger in the West, + Far from thy Orient home, like me unblest. + Weep! But thou canst not. Dumb, dejected tree, + Thou art not made to sympathise with me. + Ah, thou wouldst weep, if thou hadst tears to pour, + For thy companions on Euphrates' shore; + But yonder tall groves thou rememberest not, + As I, in hating foes, have my old friends forgot."[770] + +[Sidenote: Ziryáb the musician.] + +At the court of `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán II (822-852 A.D.) a Persian musician +was prime favourite. This was Ziryáb, a client of the Caliph Mahdí and a +pupil of the celebrated singer, Is[h.]áq al-Maw[s.]ilí.[771] Is[h.]áq, +seeing in the young man a dangerous rival to himself, persuaded him to +quit Baghdád and seek his fortune in Spain. `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán received +him with open arms, gave him a magnificent house and princely salary, +and bestowed upon him every mark of honour imaginable. The versatile and +accomplished artist wielded a vast influence. He set the fashion in all +things appertaining to taste and manners; he fixed the toilette, +sanctioned the cuisine, and prescribed what dress should be worn in the +different seasons of the year. The kings of Spain took him as a model, +and his authority was constantly invoked and universally recognised in +that country down to the last days of Moslem rule.[772] Ziryáb was only +one of many talented and learned men who came to Spain from the East, +while the list of Spanish savants who journeyed "in quest of knowledge" +(_fí [t.]alabi ´l-`ilm_) to Africa and Egypt, to the Holy Cities of +Arabia, to the great capitals of Syria and `Iráq, to Khurásán, +Transoxania, and in some cases even to China, includes, as may be seen +from the perusal of Maqqarí's fifth chapter, nearly all the eminent +scholars and men of letters whom Moslem Spain has produced. Thus a +lively exchange of ideas was continually in movement, and so little +provincialism existed that famous Andalusian poets, like Ibn Hání and +Ibn Zaydún, are described by admiring Eastern critics as the Bu[h.]turís +and Mutanabbís of the West. + +[Sidenote: The Library of [H.]akam II.] + +The tenth century of the Christian era is a fortunate and illustrious +period in Spanish history. Under `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán III and his +successor, [H.]akam II, the nation, hitherto torn asunder by civil war, +bent its united energies to the advancement of material and intellectual +culture. [H.]akam was an enthusiastic bibliophile. He sent his agents in +every direction to purchase manuscripts, and collected 400,000 volumes +in his palace, which was thronged with librarians, copyists, and +bookbinders. All these books, we are told, he had himself read, and he +annotated most of them with his own hand. His munificence to scholars +knew no bounds. He made a present of 1,000 dínárs to Abu ´l-Faraj of +I[s.]fahán, in order to secure the first copy that was published of the +great 'Book of Songs' (_Kitábu ´l-Aghání_), on which the author was then +engaged. Besides honouring and encouraging the learned, [H.]akam took +measures to spread the benefits of education amongst the poorest of his +subjects. With this view he founded twenty-seven free schools in the +capital and paid the teachers out of his private purse. Whilst in +Christian Europe the rudiments of learning were confined to the clergy, +in Spain almost every one could read and write. + + [Sidenote: The University of Cordova.] + + "The University of Cordova was at that time one of the most + celebrated in the world. In the principal Mosque, where the lectures + were held, Abú Bakr b. Mu`áwiya, the Qurayshite, discussed the + Traditions relating to Mu[h.]ammad. Abú `Alí al-Qálí of Baghdád + dictated a large and excellent miscellany which contained an immense + quantity of curious information concerning the ancient Arabs, their + proverbs, their language, and their poetry. This collection he + afterwards published under the title of _Amálí_, or 'Dictations.' + Grammar was taught by Ibnu ´l-Qú[t.]iyya, who, in the opinion of Abú + `Ali al-Qálí, was the leading grammarian of Spain. Other sciences + had representatives no less renowned. Accordingly the students + attending the classes were reckoned by thousands. The majority were + students of what was called _fiqh_, that is to say, theology and + law, for that science then opened the way to the most lucrative + posts."[773] + +Among the notable savants of this epoch we may mention Ibn `Abdi Rabbihi +(+ 940 A.D.), laureate of `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán III and author of a +well-known anthology entitled _al-`Iqd al-Faríd_; the poet Ibn Hání of +Seville (+ 973 A.D.), an Ismá`ílí convert who addressed blasphemous +panegyrics to the Fá[t.]imid Caliph Mu`izz;[774] the historians of +Spain, Abú Bakr al-Rází (+ 937 A.D.), whose family belonged to Rayy in +Persia, and Ibnu ´l-Qú[t.]iyya (+ 977 A.D.), who, as his name indicates, +was the descendant of a Gothic princess; the astronomer and +mathematician Maslama b. A[h.]mad of Madrid (+ 1007 A.D.); and the great +surgeon Abu ´l-Qásim al-Zahráwí of Cordova, who died about the same +time, and who became known to Europe by the name of Albucasis. + + +[Sidenote: The `Abbádids (1023-1091 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Mu`tamid of Seville (1069-1091 A.D.).] + +The fall of the Spanish Umayyads, which took place in the first half of +the eleventh century, left Cordova a republic and a merely provincial +town; and though she might still claim to be regarded as the literary +metropolis of Spain, her ancient glories were overshadowed by the +independent dynasties which now begin to flourish in Seville, Almeria, +Badajoz, Granada, Toledo, Malaga, Valencia, and other cities. Of these +rival princedoms the most formidable in arms and the most brilliant in +its cultivation of the arts was, beyond question, the family of the +`Abbádids, who reigned in Seville. The foundations of their power were +laid by the Cadi Abu ´l-Qásim Mu[h.]ammad. "He acted towards the people +with such justice and moderation as drew on him the attention of every +eye and the love of every heart," so that the office of chief magistrate +was willingly conceded to him. In order to obtain the monarchy which he +coveted, the Cadi employed an audacious ruse. The last Umayyad Caliph, +Hishám II, had vanished mysteriously: it was generally supposed that, +after escaping from Cordova when that city was stormed by the Berbers +(1013 A.D.), he fled to Asia and died unknown; but many believed that he +was still alive. Twenty years after his disappearance there suddenly +arose a pretender, named Khalaf, who gave out that he was the Caliph +Hishám. The likeness between them was strong enough to make the +imposture plausible. At any rate, the Cadi had his own reasons for +abetting it. He called on the people, who were deeply attached to the +Umayyad dynasty, to rally round their legitimate sovereign. Cordova and +several other States recognised the authority of this pseudo-Caliph, +whom Abu ´l-Qásim used as a catspaw. His son `Abbád, a treacherous and +bloodthirsty tyrant, but an amateur of belles-lettres, threw off the +mask and reigned under the title of al-Mu`ta[d.]id (1042-1069 A.D.). He +in turn was succeeded by his son, al-Mu`tamid, whose strange and +romantic history reminds one of a sentence frequently occurring in the +_Arabian Nights_: "Were it graven with needle-gravers upon the +eye-corners, it were a warner to whoso would be warned." He is described +as "the most liberal, the most hospitable, the most munificent, and the +most powerful of all the princes who ruled in Spain. His court was the +halting-place of travellers, the rendezvous of poets, the point to which +all hopes were directed, and the haunt of men of talent."[775] Mu`tamid +himself was a poet of rare distinction. "He left," says Ibn Bassám, +"some pieces of verse beautiful as the bud when it opens to disclose the +flower; and had the like been composed by persons who made of poetry a +profession and a merchandise, they would still have been considered +charming, admirable, and singularly original."[776] Numberless anecdotes +are told of Mu`tamid's luxurious life at Seville: his evening rambles +along the banks of the Guadalquivir; his parties of pleasure; his +adventures when he sallied forth in disguise, accompanied by his Vizier, +the poet Ibn `Ammár, into the streets of the sleeping city; and his +passion for the slave-girl I`timád, commonly known as Rumaykiyya, whom +he loved all his life with constant devotion. + +Meanwhile, however, a terrible catastrophe was approaching. The causes +which led up to it are related by Ibn Khallikán as follows[777]:-- + + [Sidenote: The Almoravides in Spain.] + + [Sidenote: Battle of Zalláqa (October 23, 1086 A.D.).] + + "At that time Alphonso VI, the son of Ferdinand, the sovereign of + Castile and king of the Spanish Franks, had become so powerful that + the petty Moslem princes were obliged to make peace with him and pay + him tribute. Mu`tamid Ibn `Abbád surpassed all the rest in greatness + of power and extent of empire, yet he also paid tribute to Alphonso. + After capturing Toledo (May 29, 1085 A.D.) the Christian monarch + sent him a threatening message with the demand that he should + surrender his fortresses; on which condition he might retain the + open country as his own. These words provoked Mu`tamid to such a + degree that he struck the ambassador and put to death all those who + accompanied him.[778] Alphonso, who was marching on Cordova, no + sooner received intelligence of this event than he returned to + Toledo in order to provide machines for the siege of Seville. When + the Shaykhs and doctors of Islam were informed of this project they + assembled and said: 'Behold how the Moslem cities fall into the + hands of the Franks whilst our sovereigns are engaged in warfare + against each other! If things continue in this state the Franks will + subdue the entire country.' They then went to the Cadi (of Cordova), + `Abdulláh b. Mu[h.]ammad b. Adham, and conferred with him on the + disasters which had befallen the Moslems and on the means by which + they might be remedied. Every person had something to say, but it + was finally resolved that they should write to Abú Ya`qúb Yúsuf b. + Táshifín, the king of the _Mulaththamún_[779] and sovereign of + Morocco, imploring his assistance. The Cadi then waited on Mu`tamid, + and informed him of what had passed. Mu`tamid concurred with them on + the expediency of such an application, and told the Cadi to bear the + message himself to Yúsuf b. Táshifín. A conference took place at + Ceuta. Yúsuf recalled from the city of Morocco the troops which he + had left there, and when all were mustered he sent them across to + Spain, and followed with a body of 10,000 men. Mu`tamid, who had + also assembled an army, went to meet him; and the Moslems, on + hearing the news, hastened from every province for the purpose of + combating the infidels. Alphonso, who was then at Toledo, took the + field with 40,000 horse, exclusive of other troops which came to + join him. He wrote a long and threatening letter to Yúsuf b. + Táshifín, who inscribed on the back of it these words: '_What will + happen thou shalt see!_' and returned it. On reading the answer + Alphonso was filled with apprehension, and observed that this was a + man of resolution. The two armies met at Zalláqa, near Badajoz. The + Moslems gained the victory, and Alphonso fled with a few others, + after witnessing the complete destruction of his army. This year was + adopted in Spain as the commencement of a new era, and was called + the year of Zalláqa." + +[Sidenote: Captivity and death of Mu`tamid.] + +Mu`tamid soon perceived that he had "dug his own grave"--to quote the +words used by himself a few years afterwards--when he sought aid from +the perfidious Almoravide. Yúsuf could not but contrast the beauty, +riches, and magnificent resources of Spain with the barren deserts and +rude civilisation of Africa. He was not content to admire at a distance +the enchanting view which had been dangled before him. In the following +year he returned to Spain and took possession of Granada. He next +proceeded to pick a quarrel with Mu`tamid. The Berber army laid siege to +Seville, and although Mu`tamid displayed the utmost bravery, he was +unable to prevent the fall of his capital (September, 1091 A.D.). The +unfortunate prince was thrown into chains and transported to Morocco. +Yúsuf spared his life, but kept him a prisoner at Aghmát, where he died +in 1095 A.D. During his captivity he bewailed in touching poems the +misery of his state, the sufferings which he and his family had to +endure, and the tragic doom which suddenly deprived him of friends, +fortune, and power. "Every one loves Mu`tamid," wrote an historian of +the thirteenth century, "every one pities him, and even now he is +lamented."[780] He deserved no less, for, as Dozy remarks, he was "the +last Spanish-born king (_le dernier roi indigène_), who represented +worthily, nay, brilliantly, a nationality and culture which succumbed, +or barely survived, under the dominion of barbarian invaders."[781] + +[Sidenote: Ibn Zaydún.] + +The Age of the Tyrants, to borrow from Greek history a designation which +well describes the character of this period, yields to no other in +literary and scientific renown. Poetry was cultivated at every +Andalusian court. If Seville could point with just pride to Mu`tamid and +his Vizier, Ibn `Ammár, Cordova claimed a second pair almost equally +illustrious--Ibn Zaydún (1003-1071 A.D.) and Walláda, a daughter of the +Umayyad Caliph al-Mustakfí. Ibn Zaydún entered upon a political career +and became the confidential agent of Ibn Jahwar, the chief magistrate of +Cordova, but he fell into disgrace, probably on account of his love for +the beautiful and talented princess, who inspired those tender melodies +which have caused the poet's European biographers to link his name with +Tibullus and Petrarch. In the hope of seeing her, although he durst not +show himself openly, he lingered in al-Zahrá, the royal suburb of +Cordova built by `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán III. At last, after many wanderings, +he found a home at Seville, where he was cordially received by +Mu`ta[d.]id, who treated him as an intimate friend and bestowed on him +the title of _Dhu ´l-Wizáratayn_.[782] The following verses, which he +addressed to Walláda, depict the lovely scenery of al-Zahrá and may +serve to illustrate the deep feeling for nature which, as has been said, +is characteristic of Spanish-Arabian poetry in general.[783] + + "To-day my longing thoughts recall thee here; + The landscape glitters, and the sky is clear. + So feebly breathes the gentle zephyr's gale, + In pity of my grief it seems to fail. + The silvery fountains laugh, as from a girl's + Fair throat a broken necklace sheds its pearls. + Oh, 'tis a day like those of our sweet prime, + When, stealing pleasures from indulgent Time, + We played midst flowers of eye-bewitching hue, + That bent their heads beneath the drops of dew. + Alas, they see me now bereaved of sleep; + They share my passion and with me they weep. + Here in her sunny haunt the rose blooms bright, + Adding new lustre to Aurora's light; + And waked by morning beams, yet languid still, + The rival lotus doth his perfume spill. + All stirs in me the memory of that fire + Which in my tortured breast will ne'er expire. + Had death come ere we parted, it had been + The best of all days in the world, I ween; + And this poor heart, where thou art every thing, + Would not be fluttering now on passion's wing. + Ah, might the zephyr waft me tenderly, + Worn out with anguish as I am, to thee! + O treasure mine, if lover e'er possessed + A treasure! O thou dearest, queenliest! + Once, once, we paid the debt of love complete + And ran an equal race with eager feet. + How true, how blameless was the love I bore, + Thou hast forgotten; but I still adore!" + +[Sidenote: Ibn [H.]azm (994-1064 A.D.).] + +The greatest scholar and the most original genius of Moslem Spain is Abú +Mu[h.]ammad `Alí Ibn [H.]azm, who was born at Cordova in 994 A.D. He +came of a 'Renegade' family, but he was so far from honouring his +Christian ancestors that he pretended to trace his descent to a Persian +freedman of Yazíd b. Abí Sufyán, a brother of the first Umayyad Caliph, +Mu`áwiya; and his contempt for Christianity was in proportion to his +fanatical zeal on behalf of Islam. His father, A[h.]mad, had filled the +office of Vizier under Man[s.]úr Ibn Abí `Ámir, and Ibn [H.]azm himself +plunged ardently into politics as a client--through his false +pedigree--of the Umayyad House, to which he was devotedly attached. +Before the age of thirty he became prime minister of `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán +V (1023-1024 A.D.), but on the fall of the Umayyad Government he retired +from public life and gave himself wholly to literature. Ibn Bashkuwál, +author of a well-known biographical dictionary of Spanish celebrities +entitled _al-[S.]ila fí akhbári a´immati ´l-Andalus_, speaks of him in +these terms: "Of all the natives of Spain Ibn [H.]azm was the most +eminent by the universality and the depth of his learning in the +sciences cultivated by the Moslems; add to this his profound +acquaintance with the Arabic tongue, and his vast abilities as an +elegant writer, a poet, a biographer, and an historian; his son +possessed about 400 volumes, containing nearly 80,000 leaves, which Ibn +[H.]azm had composed and written out."[784] It is recorded that he said, +"My only desire in seeking knowledge was to attain a high scientific +rank in this world and the next."[785] He got little encouragement from +his contemporaries. The mere fact that he belonged to the [Z.]áhirite +school of theology would not have mattered, but the caustic style in +which he attacked the most venerable religious authorities of Islam +aroused such bitter hostility that he was virtually excommunicated by +the orthodox divines. People were warned against having anything to do +with him, and at Seville his writings were solemnly committed to the +flames. On this occasion he is said to have remarked-- + + "The paper ye may burn, but what the paper holds + Ye cannot burn: 'tis safe within my breast: where I + Remove, it goes with me, alights when I alight, + And in my tomb will lie."[786] + +[Sidenote: 'The Book of Religions and Sects.'] + +After being expelled from several provinces of Spain, Ibn [H.]azm +withdrew to a village, of which he was the owner, and remained there +until his death. Of his numerous writings only a few have escaped +destruction, but fortunately we possess the most valuable of them all, +the 'Book of Religions and Sects' (_Kitábu ´l-Milal +wa-´l-Ni[h.]al_),[787] which was recently printed in Cairo for the first +time. This work treats in controversial fashion (1) of the +non-Mu[h.]ammadan religious systems, especially Judaism, Christianity, +and Zoroastrianism, and (2) of Islam and its dogmas, which are of course +regarded from the [Z.]áhirite standpoint, and of the four principal +Mu[h.]ammadan sects, viz., the Mu`tazilites, the Murjites, the Shí`ites, +and the Khárijites. The author maintains that these sects owed their +rise to the Persians, who sought thus to revenge themselves upon +victorious Islam.[788] + + +[Sidenote: Literature in Spain in the eleventh century.] + +[Sidenote: Samuel Ha-Levi.] + +The following are some of the most distinguished Spanish writers of this +epoch: the historian, Abú Marwán Ibn [H.]ayyán of Cordova (+ 1075 A.D.), +whose chief works are a colossal history of Spain in sixty volumes +entitled _al-Matín_ and a smaller chronicle (_al-Muqtabis_), both of which +appear to have been almost entirely lost;[789] the jurisconsult and +poet, Abu ´l-Walíd al-Bájí (+ 1081 A.D.); the traditionist Yúsuf Ibn +`Abd al-Barr (+ 1071 A.D.); and the geographer al-Bakrí, a native of +Cordova, where he died in 1094 A.D. Finally, mention should be made of +the famous Jews, Solomon Ibn Gabirol (Avicebron) and Samuel Ha-Levi. The +former, who was born at Malaga about 1020 A.D., wrote two philosophical +works in Arabic, and his _Fons Vitae_ played an important part in the +development of mediæval scholasticism. Samuel Ha-Levi was Vizier to +Bádís, the sovereign of Granada (1038-1073 A.D.). In their admiration of +his extraordinary accomplishments the Arabs all but forgot that he was a +Jew and a prince (_Naghíd_) in Israel.[790] Samuel, on his part, when he +wrote letters of State, did not scruple to employ the usual +Mu[h.]ammadan formulas, "Praise to Allah!" "May Allah bless our Prophet +Mu[h.]ammad!" and to glorify Islam quite in the manner of a good Moslem. +He had a perfect mastery of Hebrew and Arabic; he knew five other +languages, and was profoundly versed in the sciences of the ancients, +particularly in astronomy. With all his learning he was a supple +diplomat and a man of the world. Yet he always preserved a dignified and +unassuming demeanour, although in his days (according to Ibnu +´l-`Idhárí) "the Jews made themselves powerful and behaved arrogantly +towards the Moslems."[791] + + +During the whole of the twelfth, and well into the first half of the +thirteenth, century Spain was ruled by two African dynasties, the +Almoravides and the Almohades, which originated, as their names denote, +in the religious fanaticism of the Berber tribes of the Sahara. The rise +of the Almoravides is related by Ibnu ´l-Athír as follows:--[792] + + [Sidenote: Rise of the Almoravides.] + + "In this year (448 A.H. = 1056 A.D.) was the beginning of the power + of the _Mulaththamún_.[793] These were a number of tribes descended + from [H.]imyar, of which the most considerable were Lamtúna, Jadála, + and Lam[t.]a.... Now in the above-mentioned year a man of Jadála, + named Jawhar, set out for Africa[794] on his way to the Pilgrimage, + for he loved religion and the people thereof. At Qayrawán he fell in + with a certain divine--Abú `Imrán al-Fásí, as is generally + supposed--and a company of persons who were studying theology under + him. Jawhar was much pleased with what he saw of their piety, and on + his return from Mecca he begged Abú `Imrán to send back with him to + the desert a teacher who should instruct the ignorant Berbers in the + laws of Islam. So Abú `Imrán sent with him a man called `Abdulláh b. + Yásín al-Kuzúlí, who was an excellent divine, and they journeyed + together until they came to the tribe of Lamtúna. Then Jawhar + dismounted from his camel and took hold of the bridle of `Abdulláh + b. Yásín's camel, in reverence for the law of Islam; and the men of + Lamtúna approached Jawhar and greeted him and questioned him + concerning his companion. 'This man,' he replied, 'is the bearer of + the Sunna of the Apostle of God: he has come to teach you what is + necessary in the religion of Islam.' So they bade them both welcome, + and said to `Abdulláh, 'Tell us the law of Islam,' and he explained + it to them. They answered, 'As to what you have told us of prayer + and alms-giving, that is easy; but when you say, "He that kills + shall be killed, and he that steals shall have his hand cut off, and + he that commits adultery shall be flogged or stoned," that is an + ordinance which we will not lay upon ourselves. Begone + elsewhere!'... And they came to Jadála, Jawhar's own tribe, and + `Abdulláh called on them and the neighbouring tribes to fulfil the + law, and some consented while others refused. Then, after a time, + `Abdulláh said to his followers, 'Ye must fight the enemies of the + Truth, so appoint a commander over you.' Jawhar answered, 'Thou art + our commander,' but `Abdulláh declared that he was only a + missionary, and on his advice the command was offered to Abú Bakr b. + `Umar, the chief of Lamtúna, a man of great authority and influence. + Having prevailed upon him to act as leader, `Abdulláh began to + preach a holy war, and gave his adherents the name of Almoravides + (_al-Murábitún_)."[795] + +[Sidenote: The Almoravide Empire (1056-1147 A.D.).] + +The little community rapidly increased in numbers and power. Yúsuf b. +Táshifín, who succeeded to the command in 1069 A.D., founded the city of +Morocco, and from this centre made new conquests in every direction, so +that ere long the Almoravides ruled over the whole of North-West Africa +from Senegal to Algeria. We have already seen how Yúsuf was invited by +the `Abbádids to lead an army into Spain, how he defeated Alphonso VI at +Zalláqa and, returning a few years later, this time not as an ally but +as a conqueror, took possession of Granada and Seville. The rest of +Moslem Spain was subdued without much trouble: laity and clergy alike +hailed in the Berber monarch a zealous reformer of the Faith and a +mighty bulwark against its Christian enemies. The hopeful prospect was +not realised. Spanish civilisation enervated the Berbers, but did not +refine them. Under the narrow bigotry of Yúsuf and his successors free +thought became impossible, culture and science faded away. Meanwhile the +country was afflicted by famine, brigandage, and all the disorders of a +feeble and corrupt administration. + + +[Sidenote: Ibn Túmart.] + +The empire of the Almoravides passed into the hands of another African +dynasty, the Almohades.[796] Their founder, Mu[h.]ammad Ibn Túmart, was +a native of the mountainous district of Sús which lies to the south-west +of Morocco. When a youth he made the Pilgrimage to Mecca (about 1108 +A.D.), and also visited Baghdád, where he studied in the Ni[z.]ámiyya +College and is said to have met the celebrated Ghazálí. He returned home +with his head full of theology and ambitious schemes. We need not dwell +upon his career from this point until he finally proclaimed himself as +the Mahdí (1121 A.D.), nor describe the familiar methods--some of them +disreputable enough--by which he induced the Berbers to believe in him. +His doctrines, however, may be briefly stated. "In most questions," says +one of his biographers,[797] "he followed the system of Abu ´l-[H.]asan +al-Ash`arí, but he agreed with the Mu`tazilites in their denial of the +Divine Attributes and in a few matters besides; and he was at heart +somewhat inclined to Shí`ism, although he gave it no countenance in +public."[798] The gist of his teaching is indicated by the name +_Muwa[h.][h.]id_ (Unitarian), which he bestowed on himself, and which +his successors adopted as their dynastic title.[799] Ibn Túmart +emphasised the Unity of God; in other words, he denounced the +anthropomorphic ideas which prevailed in Western Islam and strove to +replace them by a purely spiritual conception of the Deity. To this main +doctrine he added a second, that of the Infallible Imám (_al-Imám +al-Ma`[s.]úm_), and he naturally asserted that the Imám was Mu[h.]ammad +Ibn Túmart, a descendant of `Alí b. Abí [T.]álib. + + +[Sidenote: The Almohades (1130-1269 A.D.).] + +On the death of the Mahdí (1130 A.D.) the supreme command devolved upon +his trusted lieutenant, `Abdu ´l-Mu´min, who carried on the holy war +against the Almoravides with growing success, until in 1158 A.D. he +"united the whole coast from the frontier of Egypt to the Atlantic, +together with Moorish Spain, under his sceptre."[800] The new dynasty +was far more enlightened and favourable to culture than the Almoravides +had been. Yúsuf, the son of `Abdu ´l-Mu´min, is described as an +excellent scholar, whose mind was stored with the battles and traditions +and history of the Arabs before and after Islam. But he found his +highest pleasure in the study and patronage of philosophy. The great +Aristotelian, Ibn [T.]ufayl, was his Vizier and court physician; and Ibn +Rushd (Averroes) received flattering honours both from him and from his +successor, Ya`qúb al-Man[s.]úr, who loved to converse with the +philosopher on scientific topics, although in a fit of orthodoxy he +banished him for a time.[801] This curious mixture of liberality and +intolerance is characteristic of the Almohades. However they might +encourage speculation in its proper place, their law and theology were +cut according to the plain [Z.]áhirite pattern. "The Koran and the +Traditions of the Prophet--or else the sword!" is a saying of the +last-mentioned sovereign, who also revived the autos-da-fé, which had +been prohibited by his grandfather, of Málikite and other obnoxious +books.[802] The spirit of the Almohades is admirably reflected in Ibn +[T.]ufayl's famous philosophical romance, named after its hero, _[H.]ayy +ibn Yaq[z.]án_, _i.e._, 'Alive, son of Awake,'[803] of which the +following summary is given by Mr. Duncan B. Macdonald in his excellent +_Muslim Theology_ (p. 253):-- + + [Sidenote: The story of [H.]ayy b. Yaq[z.]án.] + + "In it he conceives two islands, the one inhabited and the other + not. On the inhabited island we have conventional people living + conventional lives, and restrained by a conventional religion of + rewards and punishments. Two men there, Salámán and Asál,[804] have + raised themselves to a higher level of self-rule. Salámán adapts + himself externally to the popular religion and rules the people; + Asál, seeking to perfect himself still further in solitude, goes to + the other island. But there he finds a man, [H.]ayy ibn Yaq[z.]án, + who has lived alone from infancy and has gradually, by the innate + and uncorrupted powers of the mind, developed himself to the highest + philosophic level and reached the Vision of the Divine. He has + passed through all the stages of knowledge until the universe lies + clear before him, and now he finds that his philosophy thus reached, + without prophet or revelation, and the purified religion of Asál are + one and the same. The story told by Asál of the people of the other + island sitting in darkness stirs his soul, and he goes forth to them + as a missionary. But he soon learns that the method of Mu[h.]ammad + was the true one for the great masses, and that only by sensuous + allegory and concrete things could they be reached and held. He + retires to his island again to live the solitary life." + +[Sidenote: Literature under the Almoravides and Almohades (1100-1250 +A.D.).] + +Of the writers who flourished under the Berber dynasties few are +sufficiently important to deserve mention in a work of this kind. The +philosophers, however, stand in a class by themselves. Ibn Bájja +(Avempace), Ibn Rushd (Averroes), Ibn [T.]ufayl, and Músá b. Maymún +(Maimonides) made their influence felt far beyond the borders of Spain: +they belong, in a sense, to Europe. We have noticed elsewhere the great +mystic, Mu[h.]yi ´l-Dín Ibnu ´l-`Arabí (+ 1240 A.D.); his +fellow-townsman, Ibn Sab`ín (+ 1269 A.D.), a thinker of the same type, +wrote letters on philosophical subjects to Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. +Valuable works on the literary history of Spain were composed by Ibn +Kháqán (+ 1134 A.D.), Ibn Bassám (+ 1147 A.D.), and Ibn Bashkuwál (+ +1183 A.D.). The geographer Idrísí (+ 1154 A.D.) was born at Ceuta, +studied at Cordova, and found a patron in the Sicilian monarch, Roger +II; Ibn Jubayr published an interesting account of his pilgrimage from +Granada to Mecca and of his journey back to Granada during the years +1183-1185 A.D.; Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar), who became a Vizier under the +Almoravides, was the first of a whole family of eminent physicians; and +Ibnu ´l-Bay[t.]ár of Malaga (+ 1248 A.D.), after visiting Egypt, Greece, +and Asia Minor in order to extend his knowledge of botany, compiled a +Materia Medica, which he dedicated to the Sultan of Egypt, Malik +al-Kámil. + + +[Sidenote: Reconquest of Spain by Ferdinand III.] + +[Sidenote: The Na[s.]rids of Granada (1232-1492 A.D.).] + +We have now taken a rapid survey of the Moslem empire in Spain from its +rise in the eighth century of our era down to the last days of the +Almohades, which saw the Christian arms everywhere triumphant. By 1230 +A.D. the Almohades had been driven out of the peninsula, although they +continued to rule Africa for about forty years after this date. Amidst +the general wreck one spot remained where the Moors could find shelter. +This was Granada. Here, in 1232 A.D., Mu[h.]ammad Ibnu ´l-A[h.]mar +assumed the proud title of 'Conqueror by Grace of God' (_Ghálib billáh_) +and founded the Na[s.]rid dynasty, which held the Christians at bay +during two centuries and a half. That the little Moslem kingdom survived +so long was not due to its own strength, but rather to its almost +impregnable situation and to the dissensions of the victors. The latest +bloom of Arabic culture in Europe renewed, if it did not equal, the +glorious memories of Cordova and Seville. In this period arose the +world-renowned Alhambra, _i.e._, 'the Red Palace' (al-[H.]amrá) of the +Na[s.]rid kings, and many other superb monuments of which the ruins are +still visible. We must not, however, be led away into a digression even +upon such a fascinating subject as Moorish architecture. Our information +concerning literary matters is scantier than it might have been, on +account of the vandalism practised by the Christians when they took +Granada. It is no dubious legend (like the reputed burning of the +Alexandrian Library by order of the Caliph `Umar),[805] but a +well-ascertained fact that the ruthless Archbishop Ximenez made a +bonfire of all the Arabic manuscripts on which he could lay his hands. +He wished to annihilate the record of seven centuries of Mu[h.]ammadan +culture in a single day. + +The names of Ibnu ´l-Kha[t.]íb and Ibn Khaldún represent the highest +literary accomplishment and historical comprehension of which this age +was capable. The latter, indeed, has no parallel among Oriental +historians. + +[Sidenote: Ibnu ´l-Kha[t.]íb (1313-1374 A.D.).] + +Lisánu ´l-Dín Ibnu ´l-Kha[t.]íb[806] played a great figure in the +politics of his time, and his career affords a conspicuous example of +the intimate way in which Moslem poetry and literature are connected +with public life. "The Arabs did not share the opinion widely spread +nowadays, that poetical talent flourishes best in seclusion from the +tumult of the world, or that it dims the clearness of vision which is +required for the conduct of public affairs. On the contrary, their +princes entrusted the chief offices of State to poets, and poetry often +served as a means to obtain more brilliant results than diplomatic notes +could have procured."[807] A young man like Ibnu ´l-Kha[t.]íb, who had +mastered the entire field of belles-lettres, who improvised odes and +rhyming epistles with incomparable elegance and facility, was marked out +to be the favourite of kings. He became Vizier at the Na[s.]rid court, a +position which he held, with one brief interval of disgrace, until 1371 +A.D., when the intrigues of his enemies forced him to flee from Granada. +He sought refuge at Fez, and was honourably received by the reigning +Sultan, `Abdu ´l-`Azíz; but on the accession of Abu ´l-`Abbás in 1374 +A.D. the exiled minister was incarcerated and brought to trial on the +charge of heresy (_zandaqa_). While the inquisition was proceeding a +fanatical mob broke into the gaol and murdered him. Maqqarí relates that +Ibnu ´l-Kha[t.]ib suffered from insomnia, and that most of his works +were composed during the night, for which reason he got the nickname of +_Dhu ´l-`Umrayn_, or 'The man of two lives.'[808] He was a prolific +writer in various branches of literature, but, like so many of his +countrymen, he excelled in History. His monographs on the sovereigns and +savants of Granada (one of which includes an autobiography) supply +interesting details concerning this obscure period. + +[Sidenote: Ibn Khaldún (1332-1406 A.D.).] + +Some apology may be thought necessary for placing Ibn Khaldún, the +greatest historical thinker of Islam, in the present chapter, as though +he were a Spaniard either by birth or residence. He descended, it is true, +from a family, the Banú Khaldún, which had long been settled in Spain, +first at Carmona and afterwards at Seville; but they migrated to Africa +about the middle of the thirteenth century, and Ibn Khaldún was born at +Tunis. Nearly the whole of his life, moreover, was passed in Africa--a +circumstance due rather to accident than to predilection; for in 1362 +A.D. he entered the service of the Sultan of Granada, Abú `Abdalláh Ibnu +´l-A[h.]mar, and would probably have made that city his home had not the +jealousy of his former friend, the Vizier Ibnu ´l-Kha[t.]íb, decided him +to leave Spain behind. We cannot give any account of the agitated and +eventful career which he ended, as Cadi of Cairo, in 1406 A.D. Ibn +Khaldún lived with statesmen and kings: he was an ambassador to the +court of Pedro of Castile, and an honoured guest of the mighty +Tamerlane. The results of his ripe experience are marvellously displayed +in the Prolegomena (_Muqaddima_), which forms the first volume of a huge +general history entitled the _Kitábu ´l-`Ibar_ ('Book of +Examples').[809] He himself has stated his idea of the historian's +function in the following words:-- + + [Sidenote: Ibn Khaldún as a philosophical historian.] + + "Know that the true purpose of history is to make us acquainted with + human society, _i.e._, with the civilisation of the world, and with + its natural phenomena, such as savage life, the softening of + manners, attachment to the family and the tribe, the various kinds + of superiority which one people gains over another, the kingdoms and + diverse dynasties which arise in this way, the different trades and + laborious occupations to which men devote themselves in order to + earn their livelihood, the sciences and arts; in fine, all the + manifold conditions which naturally occur in the development of + civilisation."[810] + +Ibn Khaldún argues that History, thus conceived, is subject to universal +laws, and in these laws he finds the only sure criterion of historical +truth. + + [Sidenote: His canons of historical criticism.] + + "The rule for distinguishing what is true from what is false in + history is based on its possibility or impossibility: that is to + say, we must examine human society (civilisation) and discriminate + between the characteristics which are essential and inherent in its + nature and those which are accidental and need not be taken into + account, recognising further those which cannot possibly belong to + it. If we do this we have a rule for separating historical truth + from error by means of a demonstrative method that admits of no + doubt.... It is a genuine touchstone whereby historians may verify + whatever they relate."[811] + +Here, indeed, the writer claims too much, and it must be allowed that he +occasionally applied his principles in a pedantic fashion, and was led +by purely _a priori_ considerations to conclusions which are not always +so warrantable as he believed. This is a very trifling matter in +comparison with the value and originality of the principles themselves. +Ibn Khaldún asserts, with justice, that he has discovered a new method +of writing history. No Moslem had ever taken a view at once so +comprehensive and so philosophical; none had attempted to trace the +deeply hidden causes of events, to expose the moral and spiritual forces +at work beneath the surface, or to divine the immutable laws of national +progress and decay. Ibn Khaldún owed little to his predecessors, +although he mentions some of them with respect. He stood far above his +age, and his own countrymen have admired rather than followed him. His +intellectual descendants are the great mediæval and modern historians of +Europe--Machiavelli and Vico and Gibbon. + + +[Sidenote: Ibn Kaldún's theory of historical evolution.] + +It is worth while to sketch briefly the peculiar theory of historical +development which Ibn Khaldún puts forward in his Prolegomena--a theory +founded on the study of actual conditions and events either past or +passing before his eyes.[812] He was struck, in the first place, with +the physical fact that in almost every part of the Mu[h.]ammadan Empire +great wastes of sand or stony plateaux, arid and incapable of tillage, +wedge themselves between fertile domains of cultivated land. The former +were inhabited from time immemorial by nomad tribes, the latter by an +agricultural or industrial population; and we have seen, in the case of +Arabia, that cities like Mecca and [H.]íra carried on a lively +intercourse with the Bedouins and exerted a civilising influence upon +them. In Africa the same contrast was strongly marked. It is no wonder, +therefore, that Ibn Khaldún divided the whole of mankind into two +classes--Nomads and Citizens. The nomadic life naturally precedes and +produces the other. Its characteristics are simplicity and purity of +manners, warlike spirit, and, above all, a loyal devotion to the +interests of the family and the tribe. As the nomads become more +civilised they settle down, form states, and make conquests. They have +now reached their highest development. Corrupted by luxury, and losing +the virtues which raised them to power, they are soon swept away by a +ruder people. Such, in bare outline, is the course of history as Ibn +Khaldún regards it; but we must try to give our readers some further +account of the philosophical ideas underlying his conception. He +discerns, in the life of tribes and nations alike, two dominant forces +which mould their destiny. The primitive and cardinal force he calls +_`a[s.]abiyya_, the _binding_ element in society, the feeling which +unites members of the same family, tribe, nation, or empire, and which +in its widest acceptation is equivalent to the modern term, Patriotism. +It springs up and especially flourishes among nomad peoples, where the +instinct of self-preservation awakens a keen sense of kinship and drives +men to make common cause with each other. This _`a[s.]abiyya_ is the +vital energy of States: by it they rise and grow; as it weakens they +decline; and its decay is the signal for their fall. The second of the +forces referred to is Religion. Ibn Khaldún hardly ascribes to religion +so much influence as we might have expected from a Moslem. He +recognises, however, that it may be the only means of producing that +solidarity without which no State can exist. Thus in the twenty-seventh +chapter of his _Muqaddima_ he lays down the proposition that "the Arabs +are incapable of founding an empire unless they are imbued with +religious enthusiasm by a prophet or a saint." + +In History he sees an endless cycle of progress and retrogression, +analogous to the phenomena of human life. Kingdoms are born, attain +maturity, and die within a definite period which rarely exceeds three +generations, _i.e._, 120 years.[813] During this time they pass through +five stages of development and decay.[814] It is noteworthy that Ibn +Khaldún admits the moral superiority of the Nomads. For him civilisation +necessarily involves corruption and degeneracy. If he did not believe in +the gradual advance of mankind towards some higher goal, his pessimism +was justified by the lessons of experience and by the mournful plight of +the Mu[h.]ammadan world, to which his view was restricted.[815] + +[Sidenote: The fall of Granada (1492 A.D.).] + +In 1492 A.D. the last stronghold of the European Arabs opened its gates +to Ferdinand and Isabella, and "the Cross supplanted the Crescent on the +towers of Granada." The victors showed a barbarous fanaticism that was +the more abominable as it violated their solemn pledges to respect the +religion and property of the Moslems, and as it utterly reversed the +tolerant and liberal treatment which the Christians of Spain had enjoyed +under Mu[h.]ammadan rule. Compelled to choose between apostasy and exile, +many preferred the latter alternative. Those who remained were subjected +to a terrible persecution, until in 1609 A.D., by order of Philip III, +the Moors were banished _en masse_ from Spanish soil. + + +[Sidenote: The Arabs in Sicily.] + +Spain was not the sole point whence Moslem culture spread itself over +the Christian lands. Sicily was conquered by the Aghlabids of Tunis +early in the ninth century, and although the island fell into the hands +of the Normans in 1071 A.D., the court of Palermo retained a +semi-Oriental character. Here in the reign of Frederick II of +Hohenstaufen (1194-1250 A.D.) might be seen "astrologers from Baghdád +with long beards and waving robes, Jews who received princely salaries +as translators of Arabic works, Saracen dancers and dancing-girls, and +Moors who blew silver trumpets on festal occasions."[816] Both Frederick +himself and his son Manfred were enthusiastic Arabophiles, and +scandalised Christendom by their assumption of 'heathen' manners as well +as by the attention which they devoted to Moslem philosophy and science. +Under their auspices Arabic learning was communicated to the +neighbouring towns of Lower Italy. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +FROM THE MONGOL INVASION TO THE PRESENT DAY + + +[Sidenote: General characteristics of the period.] + +Before proceeding to speak of the terrible catastrophe which filled the +whole of Western Asia with ruin and desolation, I may offer a few +preliminary remarks concerning the general character of the period which +we shall briefly survey in this final chapter. It forms, one must admit, +a melancholy conclusion to a glorious history. The Caliphate, which +symbolised the supremacy of the Prophet's people, is swept away. +Mongols, Turks, Persians, all in turn build up great Mu[h.]ammadan +empires, but the Arabs have lost even the shadow of a leading part and +appear only as subordinate actors on a provincial stage. The chief +centres of Arabian life, such as it is, are henceforth Syria and Egypt, +which were held by the Turkish Mamelukes until 1517 A.D., when they +passed under Ottoman rule. In North Africa the petty Berber dynasties +([H.]af[s.]ids, Ziyánids, and Marínids) gave place in the sixteenth +century to the Ottoman Turks. Only in Spain, where the Na[s.]rids of +Granada survived until 1492 A.D., in Morocco, where the Sharífs +(descendants of `Alí b. Abí [T.]álib) assumed the sovereignty in 1544 +A.D., and to some extent in Arabia itself, did the Arabs preserve their +political independence. In such circumstances it would be vain to look +for any large developments of literature and culture worthy to rank with +those of the past. This is an age of imitation and compilation. Learned +men abound, whose erudition embraces every subject under the sun. The +mass of writing shows no visible diminution, and much of it is valuable +and meritorious work. But with one or two conspicuous exceptions--_e.g._ +the historian Ibn Khaldún and the mystic Sha`rání--we cannot point to +any new departure, any fruitful ideas, any trace of original and +illuminating thought. The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries "witnessed +the rise and triumph of that wonderful movement known as the +Renaissance,... but no ripple of this great upheaval, which changed the +whole current of intellectual and moral life in the West, reached the +shores of Islam."[817] Until comparatively recent times, when Egypt and +Syria first became open to European civilisation, the Arab retained his +mediæval outlook and habit of mind, and was in no respect more +enlightened than his forefathers who lived under the `Abbásid Caliphate. +And since the Mongol Invasion I am afraid we must say that instead of +advancing farther along the old path he was being forced back by the +inevitable pressure of events. East of the Euphrates the Mongols did +their work of destruction so thoroughly that no seeds were left from +which a flourishing civilisation could arise; and, moreover, the Arabic +language was rapidly extinguished by the Persian. In Spain, as we have +seen, the power of the Arabs had already begun to decline; Africa was +dominated by the Berbers, a rude, unlettered race, Egypt and Syria by +the blighting military despotism of the Turks. Nowhere in the history of +this period can we discern either of the two elements which are most +productive of literary greatness: the quickening influence of a higher +culture or the inspiration of a free and vigorous national life.[818] + + +[Sidenote: The Mongol Invasion.] + +Between the middle of the eleventh century and the end of the fourteenth +the nomad tribes dwelling beyond the Oxus burst over Western Asia in +three successive waves. First came the Seljúq Turks, then the Mongols +under Chingíz Khan and Húlágú, then the hordes, mainly Turkish, of +Tímúr. Regarding the Seljúqs all that is necessary for our purpose has +been said in a former chapter. The conquests of Tímúr are a frightful +episode which I may be pardoned for omitting from this history, inasmuch +as their permanent results (apart from the enormous damage which they +inflicted) were inconsiderable; and although the Indian empire of the +Great Moguls, which Bábur, a descendant of Tímúr, established in the +first half of the sixteenth century, ran a prosperous and brilliant +course, its culture was borrowed almost exclusively from Persian models +and does not come within the scope of the present work. We shall, +therefore, confine our view to the second wave of the vast Asiatic +migration, which bore the Mongols, led by Chingíz Khan and Húlágú, from +the steppes of China and Tartary to the Mediterranean. + + +[Sidenote: Chingíz Khan and Húlágú.] + +In 1219 A.D. Chingíz Khan, having consolidated his power in the Far +East, turned his face westward and suddenly advanced into Transoxania, +which at that time formed a province of the wide dominions of the Sháhs +of Khwárizm (Khiva). The reigning monarch, `Alá´u ´l-Dín Mu[h.]ammad, +was unable to make an effective resistance; and notwithstanding that his +son, the gallant Jalálu ´l-Dín, carried on a desperate guerilla for +twelve years, the invaders swarmed over Khurásán and Persia, massacring +the panic-stricken inhabitants wholesale and leaving a wilderness behind +them. Hitherto Baghdád had not been seriously threatened, but on the +first day of January, 1256 A.D.--an epoch-marking date--Húlágú, the +grandson of Chingíz Khan, crossed the Oxus, with the intention of +occupying the `Abbásid capital. I translate the following narrative from +a manuscript in my possession of the _Ta´ríkh al-Khamís_ by Diyárbakrí +(+ 1574 A.D.):-- + + [Sidenote: Húlágú before Baghdád (1258 A.D.).] + + [Sidenote: Sack of Baghdád.] + + In the year 654 (A.H. = 1256 A.D.) the stubborn tyrant, Húlágú, the + destroyer of the nations (_Mubídu ´l-Umam_), set forth and took the + castle of Alamút from the Ismá`ílís[819] and slew them and laid + waste the lands of Rayy.... And in the year 655 there broke out at + Baghdád a fearful riot between the Sunnís and the Shí`ites, which + led to great plunder and destruction of property. A number of + Shí`ites were killed, and this so incensed and infuriated the Vizier + Ibnu ´l-`Alqami that he encouraged the Tartars to invade `Iráq, by + which means he hoped to take ample vengeance on the Sunnís.[820] And + in the beginning of the year 656 the tyrant Húlágú b. Túlí b. + Chingíz Khán, the Moghul, arrived at Baghdád with his army, + including the Georgians (_al-Kurj_) and the troops of Mosul. The + Dawídár[821] marched out of the city and met Húlágú's vanguard, + which was commanded by Bájú.[822] The Moslems, being few, suffered + defeat; whereupon Bájú advanced and pitched his camp to the west of + Baghdád, while Húlágú took up a position on the eastern side. Then + the Vizier Ibnu ´l-`Alqamí said to the Caliph Musta`[s.]im Billáh: "I + will go to the Supreme Khán to arrange peace." So the hound[823] + went and obtained security for himself, and on his return said to + the Caliph: "The Khán desires to marry his daughter to your son and + to render homage to you, like the Seljúq kings, and then to depart." + Musta`[s.]im set out, attended by the nobles of his court and the + grandees of his time, in order to witness the contract of marriage. + The whole party were beheaded except the Caliph, who was trampled to + death. The Tartars entered Baghdád and distributed themselves in + bands throughout the city. For thirty-four days the sword was never + sheathed. Few escaped. The slain amounted to 1,800,000 and more. + Then quarter was called.... Thus it is related in the _Duwalu + ´l-Islám_.[824]... And on this wise did the Caliphate pass from + Baghdád. As the poet sings:-- + + "_Khalati ´l-manábiru wa-´l-asirralu minhumú + wa-`alayhimú hatta ´l-mamáti salámú._" + + "_The pulpits and the thrones are empty of them; + I bid them, till the hour of death, farewell!_" + +[Sidenote: Battle of `Ayn Jálút (September, 1260 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Arabic ceases to be the language of the whole Moslem world.] + +It seemed as if all Mu[h.]ammadan Asia lay at the feet of the pagan +conqueror. Resuming his advance, Húlágú occupied Mesopotamia and sacked +Aleppo. He then returned to the East, leaving his lieutenant, Ketboghá, +to complete the reduction of Syria. Meanwhile, however, an Egyptian army +under the Mameluke Sultan Mu[z.]affar Qu[t.]uz was hastening to oppose +the invaders. On Friday, the 25th of Rama[d.]án, 658 A.H., a decisive +battle was fought at `Ayn Jálút (Goliath's Spring), west of the Jordan. +The Tartars were routed with immense slaughter, and their subsequent +attempts to wrest Syria from the Mamelukes met with no success. The +submission of Asia Minor was hardly more than nominal, but in Persia the +descendants of Húlágú, the Íl-Kháns, reigned over a great empire, which +the conversion of one of their number, Gházán (1295-1304 A.D.), restored +to Moslem rule. We are not concerned here with the further history of +the Mongols in Persia nor with that of the Persians themselves. Since +the days of Húlágú the lands east and west of the Tigris are separated +by an ever-widening gulf. The two races--Persians and Arabs--to whose +co-operation the mediæval world, from Samarcand to Seville, for a long +time owed its highest literary and scientific culture, have now finally +dissolved their partnership. It is true that the cleavage began many +centuries earlier, and before the fall of Baghdád the Persian genius had +already expressed itself in a splendid national literature. But from +this date onward the use of Arabic by Persians is practically limited to +theological and philosophical writings. The Persian language has driven +its rival out of the field. Accordingly Egypt and Syria will now demand +the principal share of our attention, more especially as the history of +the Arabs of Granada, which properly belongs to this period, has been +related in the preceding chapter. + + +[Sidenote: The Mamelukes of Egypt (1250-1517 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Sultan Baybars (1260-1277 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: The `Abbásid Caliphs of Egypt.] + +The dynasty of the Mameluke[825] Sultans of Egypt was founded in 1250 +A.D. by Aybak, a Turkish slave, who commenced his career in the service +of the Ayyúbid, Malik [S.]áli[h.] Najmu ´l-Dín. His successors[826] held +sway in Egypt and Syria until the conquest of these countries by the +Ottomans. The Mamelukes were rough soldiers, who seldom indulged in any +useless refinement, but they had a royal taste for architecture, as the +visitor to Cairo may still see. Their administration, though disturbed +by frequent mutinies and murders, was tolerably prosperous on the whole, +and their victories over the Mongol hosts, as well as the crushing blows +which they dealt to the Crusaders, gave Islam new prestige. The ablest +of them all was Baybars, who richly deserved his title Malik +al-[Z.]áhir, _i.e._, the Victorious King. His name has passed into the +legends of the people, and his warlike exploits into romances written in +the vulgar dialect which are recited by story-tellers to this day.[827] +The violent and brutal acts which he sometimes committed--for he shrank +from no crime when he suspected danger--made him a terror to the +ambitious nobles around him, but did not harm his reputation as a just +ruler. Although he held the throne in virtue of having murdered the late +monarch with his own hand, he sought to give the appearance of +legitimacy to his usurpation. He therefore recognised as Caliph a +certain Abu ´l-Qásim A[h.]mad, a pretended scion of the `Abbásid house, +invited him to Cairo, and took the oath of allegiance to him in due +form. The Caliph on his part invested the Sultan with sovereignty over +Egypt, Syria, Arabia, and all the provinces that he might obtain by +future conquests. This A[h.]mad, entitled al-Mustan[s.]ir, was the first +of a long series of mock Caliphs who were appointed by the Mameluke +Sultans and generally kept under close surveillance in the citadel of +Cairo. There is no authority for the statement, originally made by +Mouradgea d'Ohsson in 1787 and often repeated since, that the last of +the line bequeathed his rights of succession to the Ottoman Sultan Selím +I, thus enabling the Sultans of Turkey to claim the title and dignity of +Caliph.[828] + +[Sidenote: Arabic poetry after the Mongol Invasion.] + +[Sidenote: [S.]afiyyu ´l-Dín al-[H.]illí.] + +The poets of this period are almost unknown in Europe, and until they +have been studied with due attention it would be premature to assert +that none of them rises above mediocrity. At the same time my own +impression (based, I confess, on a very desultory and imperfect +acquaintance with their work) is that the best among them are merely +elegant and accomplished artists, playing brilliantly with words and +phrases, but doing little else. No doubt extreme artificiality may +coexist with poetical genius of a high order, provided that it has +behind it Mutanabbí's power, Ma`arrí's earnestness, or Ibnu +´l-Fári[d.]'s enthusiasm. In the absence of these qualities we must be +content to admire the technical skill with which the old tunes are +varied and revived. Let us take, for example, [S.]afiyyu ´l-Dín +al-[H.]illí, who was born at [H.]illa, a large town on the Euphrates, in +1278 A.D., became laureate of the Urtuqid dynasty at Máridín, and died +in Baghdád about 1350. He is described as "the poet of his age +absolutely," and to judge from the extracts in Kutubí's _Fawátu +´l-Wafayát_[829] he combined subtlety of fancy with remarkable ease and +sweetness of versification. Many of his pieces, however, are _jeux +d'esprit_, like his ode to the Prophet, in which he employs 151 +rhetorical figures, or like another poem where all the nouns are +diminutives.[830] The following specimen of his work is too brief to do +him justice:-- + + "How can I have patience, and thou, mine eye's delight, + All the livelong year not one moment in my sight? + And with what can I rejoice my heart, when thou that art a joy + Unto every human heart, from me hast taken flight? + I swear by Him who made thy form the envy of the sun + (So graciously He clad thee with lovely beams of light): + The day when I behold thy beauty doth appear to me + As tho' it gleamed on Time's dull brow a constellation bright. + O thou scorner of my passion, for whose sake I count as naught + All the woe that I endure, all the injury and despite, + Come, regard the ways of God! for never He at life's last gasp + Suffereth the weight to perish even of one mite!"[831] + +[Sidenote: Popular poetry.] + +We have already referred to the folk-songs (_muwashsha[h.]_ and _zajal_) +which originated in Spain. These simple ballads, with their novel metres +and incorrect language, were despised by the classical school, that is +to say, by nearly all Moslems with any pretensions to learning; but +their popularity was such that even the court poets occasionally +condescended to write in this style. To the _zajal_ and _muwashsha[h.]_ +we may add the _dúbayt_, the _mawáliyyá_, the _kánwakán_, and the +_[h.]imáq_, which together with verse of the regular form made up the +'seven kinds of poetry' (_al-funún al-sab`a_). [S.]afiyyu ´l-Dín +al-[H.]illí, who wrote a special treatise on the Arabic folk-songs, +mentions two other varieties which, he says, were invented by the people +of Baghdád to be sung in the early dawn of Rama[d.]án, the Moslem +Lent.[832] It is interesting to observe that some few literary men +attempted, though in a timid fashion, to free Arabic poetry from the +benumbing academic system by which it was governed and to pour fresh +life into its veins. A notable example of this tendency is the _Hazzu +´l-Qu[h.]úf_[833] by Shirbíní, who wrote in 1687 A.D. Here we have a +poem in the vulgar dialect of Egypt, but what is still more curious, the +author, while satirising the uncouth manners and rude language of the +peasantry, makes a bitter attack on the learning and morals of the +Mu[h.]ammadan divines.[834] For this purpose he introduces a typical +Fellah named Abú Shádúf, whose rôle corresponds to that of Piers the +Plowman in Longland's _Vision_. Down to the end of the nineteenth +century, at any rate, such isolated offshoots had not gone far to found +a living school of popular poetry. Only the future can show whether the +Arabs are capable of producing a genius who will succeed in doing for +the national folk-songs what Burns did for the Scots ballads. + +[Sidenote: Ibn Khallikán (1211-1282 A.D.).] + +Biography and History were cultivated with ardour by the savants of +Egypt and Syria. Among the numerous compositions of this kind we can +have no hesitation in awarding the place of honour to the _Wafayátu +´l-A`yán_, or 'Obituaries of Eminent Men,' by Shamsu ´l-Dín Ibn +Khallikán, a work which has often been quoted in the foregoing pages. +The author belonged to a distinguished family descending from Ya[h.]yá +b. Khálid the Barmecide (see p. 259 seq.), and was born at Arbela in +1211 A.D. He received his education at Aleppo and Damascus (1229-1238) +and then proceeded to Cairo, where he finished the first draft of his +Biographical Dictionary in 1256. Five years later he was appointed by +Sultan Baybars to be Chief Cadi of Syria. He retained this high office +(with a seven years' interval, which he devoted to literary and +biographical studies) until a short time before his death. In the +Preface to the _Wafayát_ Ibn Khallikán observes that he has adopted the +alphabetical order as more convenient than the chronological. As regards +the scope and character of his Dictionary, he says:-- + + [Sidenote: His Biographical Dictionary.] + + "I have not limited my work to the history of any one particular + class of persons, as learned men, princes, emirs, viziers, or poets; + but I have spoken of all those whose names are familiar to the + public, and about whom questions are frequently asked; I have, + however, related the facts I could ascertain respecting them in a + concise manner, lest my work should become too voluminous; I have + fixed with all possible exactness the dates of their birth and + death; I have traced up their genealogy as high as I could; I have + marked the orthography of those names which are liable to be written + incorrectly; and I have cited the traits which may best serve to + characterise each individual, such as noble actions, singular + anecdotes, verses and letters, so that the reader may derive + amusement from my work, and find it not exclusively of such a + uniform cast as would prove tiresome; for the most effectual + inducement to reading a book arises from the variety of its + style."[835] + +Ibn Khallikan might have added that he was the first Mu[h.]ammadan +writer to design a Dictionary of National Biography, since none of his +predecessors had thought of comprehending the lives of eminent Moslems +of every class in a single work.[836] The merits of the book have been +fully recognised by the author's countrymen as well as by European +scholars. It is composed in simple and elegant language, it is extremely +accurate, and it contains an astonishing quantity of miscellaneous +historical and literary information, not drily catalogued but conveyed +in the most pleasing fashion by anecdotes and excerpts which illustrate +every department of Moslem life. I am inclined to agree with the opinion +of Sir William Jones, that it is the best general biography ever +written; and allowing for the difference of scale and scope, I think it +will bear comparison with a celebrated English work which it resembles +in many ways--I mean Boswell's _Johnson_.[837] + + +[Sidenote: Historians of the Mameluke period.] + +[Sidenote: Maqrízí.] + +To give an adequate account of the numerous and talented historians of +the Mameluke period would require far more space than they can +reasonably claim in a review of this kind. Concerning Ibn Khaldún, who +held a professorship as well as the office of Cadi in Cairo under Sultan +Barqúq (1382-1398 A.D.), we have already spoken at some length. This +extraordinary genius discovered principles and methods which might have +been expected to revolutionise historical science, but neither was he +himself capable of carrying them into effect nor, as the event proved, +did they inspire his successors to abandon the path of tradition. I +cannot imagine any more decisive symptom of the intellectual lethargy in +which Islam was now sunk, or any clearer example of the rule that even +the greatest writers struggle in vain against the spirit of their own +times. There were plenty of learned men, however, who compiled local and +universal histories. Considering the precious materials which their +industry has preserved for us, we should rather admire these diligent +and erudite authors than complain of their inability to break away from +the established mode. Perhaps the most famous among them is Taqiyyu +´l-Dín al-Maqrízí (1364-1442 A.D.). A native of Cairo, he devoted +himself to Egyptian history and antiquities, on which subject he +composed several standard works, such as the _Khi[t.]a[t.]_[838] and the +_Sulúk_.[839] Although he was both unconscientious and uncritical, too +often copying without acknowledgment or comment, and indulging in +wholesale plagiarism when it suited his purpose, these faults which are +characteristic of his age may easily be excused. "He has accumulated and +reduced to a certain amount of order a large quantity of information +that would but for him have passed into oblivion. He is generally +painstaking and accurate, and always resorts to contemporary evidence if +it is available. Also he has a pleasant and lucid style, and writes +without bias and apparently with distinguished impartiality."[840] Other +well-known works belonging to this epoch are the _Fakhrí_ of Ibnu +´l-[T.]iq[t.]aqá, a delightful manual of Mu[h.]ammadan politics[841] +which was written at Mosul in 1302 A.D.; the epitome of universal +history by Abu ´l-Fidá, Prince of [H.]amát (+ 1331); the voluminous +Chronicle of Islam by Dhahabí (+ 1348); the high-flown Biography of +Tímúr entitled _`Ajá´ibu ´l-Maqdúr_, or 'Marvels of Destiny,' by Ibn +`Arabsháh (+ 1450); and the _Nujúm al-Záhira_ ('Resplendent Stars') by +Abu ´l-Ma[h.]ásin b. Taghríbirdí (+ 1469), which contains the annals of +Egypt under the Moslems. The political and literary history of +Mu[h.]ammadan Spain by Maqqarí of Tilimsán (+ 1632) was mentioned in the +last chapter.[842] + +[Sidenote: Jalálu ´l-Dín al-Suyú[t.]í (1445-1505 A.D.).] + +If we were asked to select a single figure who should exhibit as +completely as possible in his own person the literary tendencies of the +Alexandrian age of Arabic civilisation, our choice would assuredly fall +on Jalálu ´l-Dín al-Suyú[t.]í, who was born at Suyú[t.] (Usyú[t.]) in +Upper Egypt in 1445 A.D. His family came originally from Persia, but, +like Dhahabí, Ibn Taghríbirdí, and many celebrated writers of this time, +he had, through his mother, an admixture of Turkish blood. At the age of +five years and seven months, when his father died, the precocious boy +had already reached the _Súratu ´l-Ta[h.]rím_ (Súra of Forbidding), +which is the sixty-sixth chapter of the Koran, and he knew the whole +volume by heart before he was eight years old. He prosecuted his studies +under the most renowned masters in every branch of Moslem learning, and +on finishing his education held one Professorship after another at Cairo +until 1501, when he was deprived of his post in consequence of +malversation of the bursary monies in his charge. He died four years +later in the islet of Raw[d.]a on the Nile, whither he had retired under +the pretence of devoting the rest of his life to God. We possess the +titles of more than five hundred separate works which he composed. This +number would be incredible but for the fact that many of them are brief +pamphlets displaying the author's curious erudition on all sorts of +abstruse subjects--_e.g._, whether the Prophet wore trousers, whether +his turban had a point, and whether his parents are in Hell or Paradise. +Suyú[t.]í's indefatigable pen travelled over an immense field of +knowledge--Koran, Tradition, Law, Philosophy and History, Philology and +Rhetoric. Like some of the old Alexandrian scholars, he seems to have +taken pride in a reputation for polygraphy, and his enemies declared +that he made free with other men's books, which he used to alter +slightly and then give out as his own. Suyú[t.]í, on his part, laid +before the Shaykhu ´l-Islám a formal accusation of plagiarism against +Qas[t.]allání, an eminent contemporary divine. We are told that his +vanity and arrogance involved him in frequent quarrels, and that he was +'cut' by his learned brethren. Be this as it may, he saw what the public +wanted. His compendious and readable handbooks were famed throughout the +Moslem world, as he himself boasts, from India to Morocco, and did much +to popularise the scientific culture of the day. It will be enough to +mention here the _Itqán_ on Koranic exegesis; the _Tafsíru ´l-Jalálayn_, +or 'Commentary on the Koran by the two Jaláls,' which was begun by +Jalálu ´l-Dín al-Ma[h.]allí and finished by his namesake, Suyú[t.]í; the +_Muzhir_ (_Mizhar_), a treatise on philology; the _[H.]usnu +´l-Mu[h.]á[d.]ara_, a history of Old and New Cairo; and the _Ta´ríkhu +´l-Khulafá_, or 'History of the Caliphs.' + + +[Sidenote: Other scholars of the period.] + +To dwell longer on the literature of this period would only be to +emphasise its scholastic and unoriginal character. A passing mention, +however, is due to the encyclopædists Nuwayrí (+ 1332), author of the +_Niháyatu ´l-Arab_, and Ibnu ´l-Wardí (+ 1349). [S.]afadí (+ 1363) +compiled a gigantic biographical dictionary, the _Wáfí bi ´l-Wafayát_, +in twenty-six volumes, and the learned traditionist, Ibn [H.]ajar of +Ascalon (+ 1449), has left a large number of writings, among which it +will be sufficient to name the _I[s.]ába fí tamyíz al-[S.]a[h.]ába_, or +Lives of the Companions of the Prophet.[843] We shall conclude this part +of our subject by enumerating a few celebrated works which may be +described in modern terms as standard text-books for the Schools and +Universities of Islam. Amidst the host of manuals of Theology and +Jurisprudence, with their endless array of abridgments, commentaries, +and supercommentaries, possibly the best known to European students are +those by Abu ´l-Barakát al-Nasafí (+ 1310), `A[d.]udu ´l-Dín al-Íjí (+ +1355), Sídí Khalíl al-Jundí (+ 1365), Taftázání (+ 1389), Sharíf +al-Jurjání (+ 1413), and Mu[h.]ammad b. Yúsuf al-Sanúsí (+ 1486). For +Philology and Lexicography we have the _Alfiyya_, a versified grammar by +Ibn Málik of Jaen (+ 1273); the _Ájurrúmiyya_ on the rudiments of +grammar, an exceedingly popular compendium by [S.]anhájí (+ 1323); and +two famous Arabic dictionaries, the _Lisánu ´l-`Arab_ by Jamálu ´l-Dín +Ibn Mukarram (+ 1311), and the _Qámús_ by Fírúzábádí (+ 1414). Nor, +although he was a Turk, should we leave unnoticed the great +bibliographer [H.]ájjí Khalífa (+ 1658), whose _Kashfu ´l-[Z.]unún_ +contains the titles, arranged alphabetically, of all the Arabic, +Persian, and Turkish books of which the existence was known to him. + + +[Sidenote: The 'Thousand and One Nights.'] + +The Mameluke period gave final shape to the _Alf Layla wa-Layla_, or +'Thousand and One Nights,' a work which is far more popular in Europe +than the Koran or any other masterpiece of Arabic literature. The modern +title, 'Arabian Nights,' tells only a part of the truth. Mas`údí (+ 956 +A.D.) mentions an old Persian book, the _Hazár Afsána_ ('Thousand +Tales') which "is generally called the Thousand and One Nights; it is +the story of the King and his Vizier, and of the Vizier's daughter and +her slave-girl: Shírázád and Dínázád."[844] The author of the _Fihrist_, +writing in 988 A.D., begins his chapter "concerning the Story-Tellers +and the Fabulists and the names of the books which they composed" with +the following passage (p. 304):-- + + [Sidenote: Persian origin of the 'Thousand and One Nights.'] + + [Sidenote: The _Hazár Afsán_.] + + "The first who composed fables and made books of them and put them + by in treasuries and sometimes introduced animals as speaking 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 [H.]umání, 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, and 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 this + purpose. 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 (_kitábun ghaththun + báridu ´l-hadíth_).[845] + + Abu `Abdalláh Mu[h.]ammad b. `Abdús al-Jahshiyárí (+ 942-943 A.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." + +[Sidenote: Different sources of the collection.] + +Evidently, then, the _Hazár Afsán_ was 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 and 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 charming paraphrase, which in some respects is more true +to the spirit of the original than are the scholarly renderings of Lane +and Burton. + +[Sidenote: The 'Romance of `Antar.'] + +The 'Romance of `Antar' (_Síratu `Antar_) is traditionally ascribed to +the great philologist, A[s.]ma`í,[846] who flourished in the reign of +Hárún al-Rashíd, but this must be considered as an invention of the +professional reciters who sit in front of Oriental cafés and entertain +the public with their lively declamations.[847] According to +Brockelmann, the work in its present form apparently dates from the time +of the Crusades.[848] Its 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 seven _Mu`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 the +_Mines de l'Orient_ (1802) was the means of introducing the _Síratu +`Antar_ to 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 (_[H.]ijáziyya_) and the Syrian +(_Shámiyya_), the latter being very much curtailed.[849] + + +[Sidenote: Orthodoxy and mysticism.] + +While the decadent state of Arabic literature during all these 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 over Islam and +which manifested itself by the complete victory of the Ash`arites or +Scholastic Theologians about 1200 A.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 of _ijmá`_, _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 the _Yawáqít_ of Sha`rání. After giving +instances of the persecution to which the [S.]úfís 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 recently[850]:-- + + [Sidenote: Persecution of heretics.] + + "They brought the Imám Abú Bakr al-Nábulusí, notwithstanding his + merit and profound learning and rectitude in religion, from the + 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.[851] When he + silenced them by his arguments, they devised a plan for his + destruction, thus: They wrote the _Súratu ´l-Ikhlá[s.]_[852] on 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 + reciting _muwashsha[h.]s_ in 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'-[H.]asan al-Shádhilí[853] from 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-Salám[854] of + 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-Subkí[855] on 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 was now so firmly established that all progress +towards moral and intellectual liberty had apparently ceased, or at any +rate only betrayed itself in spasmodic outbursts. [S.]úfiism 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-Fári[d.], 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. + +[Sidenote: Ibn Taymiyya (1263-1328 A.D.).] + +Ibn Taymiyya was born at [H.]arrán in 1263 A.D. A few years later his +father, fleeing before the Mongols, brought him 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 +[H.]anbalite 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 Islam of 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 [S.]úfís, 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. + +[Sidenote: Sha`rání (+ 1565 A.D.).] + +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 of _faqíh_ +(theologian) and _faqír_ (dervish), the one class forming a powerful +official hierarchy in close alliance with the Government, whereas the +[S.]úfís 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 +Mu[h.]ammadan theosophist, `Abdu ´l-Wahháb 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 new _régime_ with 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, Mu[h.]yi ´l-Dín Ibnu +´l-`Arabí, whose _Meccan Revelations_ he studied and epitomised. His +autobiography entitled _La[t.]á´ifu ´l-Minan_ displays 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 recipient _ad 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 [S.]úfiism, 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 ra[h.]matun_). Like the Arabian [S.]úfís generally, +Sha`rání kept his mysticism within narrow bounds, and declared himself +an adherent of the moderate section which follows Junayd of Baghdád (+ +909-910 A.D.). For all his extravagant pretensions and childish belief +in the supernatural, he never lost touch with the Mu[h.]ammadan 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] + +[Sidenote: Mu[h.]ammad b. `Abd al-Wahháb and his successors.] + +Mu[h.]ammad b. `Abd al-Wahháb,[858] from whom its name is derived, was +born about 1720 A.D. in Najd, the Highlands of Arabia. In his youth he +visited the principal cities of the East, "as is much the practice with +his countrymen even now,"[859] and 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,[860] Ibn `Abd al-Wahháb determined to re-establish the pure +religion of Mu[h.]ammad in its primitive form. Accordingly he returned +home and retired with his family to [D.]ira`iyya at the time when +Mu[h.]ammad 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 Mu[h.]ammad b. Sa`úd, gained their first great +successes. In 1801 they sacked Imám-[H.]usayn,[861] a town in the +vicinity of Baghdád, massacred five thousand persons, and destroyed the +cupola of [H.]usayn'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 [H.]ijáz, 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 +Mu[h.]ammad `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, +[D.]ira`iyya, by storm. The sect, however, still maintains its power in +Central Arabia, and in recent times has acquired political importance. + +[Sidenote: The Wahhábite Reformation.] + +The Wahhábís were regarded by the Turks as infidels and authors of a new +religion. It was natural that they should 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."[863] In 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] + +[Sidenote: The Sanúsís in Africa.] + +The Wahhábite movement has been compared with the Protestant 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 Sanúsiyya +Brotherhood, whose influence is supreme in Tripoli, the Sahara, and the +whole North African Hinterland, and whose members are reckoned by +millions. Mu[h.]ammad 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. + + +[Sidenote: Islam and modern civilisation.] + +Since Napoleon showed the way by his expedition to Egypt in 1798, the +Moslems in that country, as likewise in Syria and North Africa, have +come more and more under European influence.[865] The above-mentioned +Mu[h.]ammad `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 +of many 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.[866] +Besides 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,[867] the fables of La +Fontaine, 'Paul and Virginia,' the 'Talisman,' 'Monte Cristo' (not to +mention scores of minor romances), and even the Iliad of Homer.[868] +Parallel 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 traditional lines 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 Mu[h.]ammadans 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 [s.]adrihí + Lam yadri [h.]ulwa ´l-`ayshi min murrihi + Wa-man wa`á akhbára man qad ma[d.]á + A[d.]áfa a`máran ilá `umrihí._" + + "He in whose heart no History is enscrolled + Cannot discern in life's alloy the gold. + But he that keeps the records of the Dead + Adds to his life new lives a hundredfold." + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + + +[1] H. Grimme, _Weltgeschichte in Karakterbildern: Mohammed_ (Munich, +1904), p. 6 sqq. + +[2] _Cf._ Nöldeke, _Die Semitischen Sprachen_ (Leipzig, 1899), or the +same scholar's article, 'Semitic Languages,' in the _Encyclopædia +Britannica_, 11th edition. Renan's _Histoire générale des langues +sémitiques_ (1855) is now antiquated. An interesting essay on the +importance of the Semites in the history of civilisation was published +by F. Hommel as an introduction to his _Semitischen Völker und +Sprachen_, vol. i (Leipzig, 1883). The dates in this table are of course +only approximate. + +[3] Ibn Qutayba, _Kitábu ´l-Ma`árij_, ed. by Wüstenfeld, p. 18. + +[4] Full information concerning the genealogy of the Arabs will be found +in Wüstenfeld's _Genealogische Tabellen der Arabischen Stämme und +Familien_ with its excellent _Register_ (Göttingen, 1852-1853). + +[5] The tribes [D.]abba, Tamím, Khuzayma, Hudhayl, Asad, Kinána, and +Quraysh together formed a group which is known as Khindif, and is often +distinguished from Qays `Aylán. + +[6] Goldziher, _Muhammedanische Studien_, Part I, p. 133 sqq., 177 sqq. + +[7] Nöldeke in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 40, p. 177. + +[8] See Margoliouth, _Mohammed and the Rise of Islam_, p. 4. + +[9] Concerning the nature and causes of this antagonism see Goldziher, +_op. cit._, Part I, p. 78 sqq. + +[10] The word 'Arabic' is always to be understood in this sense wherever +it occurs in the following pages. + +[11] First published by Sachau in _Monatsberichte der Kön. Preuss. Akad. +der Wissenschaften zu Berlin_ (February, 1881), p. 169 sqq. + +[12] See De Vogüé, _Syrie Centrale, Inscriptions Sémitiques_, p. 117. +Other references are given in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 35, p. 749. + +[13] On this subject the reader may consult Goldziher. _Muhammedanische +Studien_, Part I, p. 110 sqq. + +[14] Professor Margoliouth in _F.R.A.S._ for 1905, p. 418 + +[15] Nöldeke, _Die Semitischen Sprachen_, p. 36 sqq. and p. 51. + +[16] _Journal Asiatique_ (March, 1835), p. 209 sqq. + +[17] Strictly speaking, the _Jáhiliyya_ includes the whole time between +Adam and Mu[h.]ammad, but in a narrower sense it may be used, as here, to +denote the Pre-islamic period of Arabic Literature. + +[18] _Die Namen der Säugethiere bei den Südsemitischen Völkern_, p. 343 +seq. + +[19] _Iramu Dhátu ´l-`Imád_ (Koran, lxxxix, 6). The sense of these words +is much disputed. See especially [T.]abarí's explanation in his great +commentary on the Koran (O. Loth in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 35, p. 626 sqq.). + +[20] I have abridged [T.]abarí, _Annals_, i, 231 sqq. _Cf._ also chapters +vii, xi, xxvi, and xlvi of the Koran. + +[21] Koran, xi, 56-57. + +[22] See Doughty's _Documents Epigraphiques recueillis dans le nord de +l'Arabie_, p. 12 sqq. + +[23] Koran, vii, 76. + +[24] Properly Saba´ with _hamza_, both syllables being short. + +[25] The oldest record of Saba to which a date can be assigned is found +in the Assyrian cuneiform inscriptions. We read in the Annals of King +Sargon (715 B.C.), "I received the tribute of Pharaoh, the King of +Egypt, of Shamsiyya, the Queen of Arabia, of Ithamara the Sabæan--gold, +spices, slaves, horses, and camels." Ithamara is identical with +Yatha`amar, a name borne by several kings of Saba. + +[26] A. Müller, _Der Islam im Morgen und Abendland_, vol. i, p. 24 seq. + +[27] Nöldeke, however, declares the traditions which represent Kulayb as +leading the Rabí`a clans to battle against the combined strength of +Yemen to be entirely unhistorical (_Fünf Mo`allaqát_, i, 44). + +[28] _Op. cit._, p. 94 seq. An excellent account of the progress made in +discovering and deciphering the South Arabic inscriptions down to the +year 1841 is given by Rödiger, _Excurs ueber himjaritische Inschriften_, +in his German translation of Wellsted's _Travels in Arabia_, vol. ii, p. +368 sqq. + +[29] Seetzen's inscriptions were published in _Fundgruben des Orients_, +vol. ii (Vienna, 1811), p. 282 sqq. The one mentioned above was +afterwards deciphered and explained by Mordtmann in the _Z.D.M.G._, vol. +31, p. 89 seq. + +[30] The oldest inscriptions, however, run from left to right and from +right to left alternately ([Greek: boustrorêdon]). + +[31] _Notiz ueber die himjaritische Schrift nebst doppeltem Alphabet +derselben_ in _Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes_, vol. i +(Göttingen, 1837), p. 332 sqq. + +[32] See Arnaud's _Relation d'un voyage à Mareb (Saba) dans l'Arabie +méridionale_ in the _Journal Asiatique_, 4th series, vol. v (1845), p. +211 sqq. and p. 309 sqq. + +[33] See _Rapport sur une mission archéologique dans le Yémen_ in the +_Journal Asiatique_, 6th series, vol. xix (1872), pp. 5-98, 129-266, +489-547. + +[34] See D. H. Müller, _Die Burgen und Schlösser Südarabiens_ in +_S.B.W.A._, vol. 97, p. 981 sqq. + +[35] The title _Mukarrib_ combines the significations of prince and +priest. + +[36] Goldziher, _Muhammedanische Studien_, Part I, p. 3. + +[37] See F. Prætorius, _Unsterblichkeitsglaube und Heiligenverehrung bei +den Himyaren_ in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 27, p. 645. Hubert Grimme has given an +interesting sketch of the religious ideas and customs of the Southern +Arabs in _Weltgeschichte in Karakterbildern: Mohammed_ (Munich, 1904), +p. 29 sqq. + +[38] _Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archæology_, vol. 5, p. +409. + +[39] This table of contents is quoted by D. H. Müller (_Südarabische +Studien_, p. 108, n. 2) from the title-page of the British Museum MS. of +the eighth book of the _Iklíl_. No complete copy of the work is known to +exist, but considerable portions of it are preserved in the British +Museum and in the Berlin Royal Library. + +[40] The poet `Alqama b. Dhí Jadan, whose verses are often cited in the +commentary on the '[H.]imyarite Ode.' + +[41] _Die Himjarische Kasideh_ herausgegeben und übersetzt von Alfred +von Kremer (Leipzig, 1865). _The Lay of the Himyarites_, by W. F. +Prideaux (Sehore, 1879). + +[42] Nashwán was a philologist of some repute. His great dictionary, the +_Shamsu ´l-`Ulúm_, is a valuable aid to those engaged in the study of +South Arabian antiquities. It has been used by D. H. Müller to fix the +correct spelling of proper names which occur in the [H.]imyarite Ode +(_Z.D.M.G._, vol. 29, p. 620 sqq.; _Südarabische Studien_, p. 143 sqq.). + +[43] _Fihrist_, p. 89, l. 26. + +[44] _Murúju ´l-Dhahab_, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. iv, p. 89. + +[45] Von Kremer, _Die Südarabische Sage_, p. 56. Possibly, as he +suggests (p. 115), the story may be a symbolical expression of the fact +that the Sabæans were divided into two great tribes, [H.]imyar and +Kahlán, the former of which held the chief power. + +[46] _Cf._ Koran xxxiv, 14 sqq. The existing ruins have been described +by Arnaud in the _Journal Asiatique_, 7th series, vol. 3 (1874), p. 3 +sqq. + +[47] I follow Mas`údí, _Murúju ´l-Dhahab_ (ed. by Barbier de Meynard), +vol. iii, p. 378 sqq., and Nuwayrí in Reiske's _Primæ lineæ Historiæ +Rerum Arabicarum_, p. 166 sqq. + +[48] The story of the migration from Ma´rib, as related below, may have +some historical basis, but the Dam itself was not finally destroyed +until long afterwards. Inscriptions carved on the existing ruins show +that it was more or less in working order down to the middle of the +sixth century A.D. The first recorded flood took place in 447-450, and +on another occasion (in 539-542) the Dam was partially reconstructed by +Abraha, the Abyssinian viceroy of Yemen. See E. Glaser, _Zwei +Inschriften über den Dammbruch von Mârib_ (_Mitteilungen der +Vorderastatischen Gesellschaft_, 1897, 6). + +[49] He is said to have gained this sobriquet from his custom of tearing +to pieces (_mazaqa_) every night the robe which he had worn during the +day. + +[50] Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. i, p. 497. + +[51] Hamdání, _Iklíl_, bk. viii, edited by D. H. Müller in _S.B.W.A._ +(Vienna, 1881), vol. 97, p. 1037. The verses are quoted with some +textual differences by Yáqút, _Mu`jam al-Buldán_, ed. by Wüstenfeld, +vol. iv, 387, and Ibn Hishám, p. 9. + +[52] The following inscription is engraved on one of the stone cylinders +described by Arnaud. "Yatha`amar Bayyin, son of Samah`alí Yanúf, Prince +of Saba, caused the mountain Balaq to be pierced and erected the +flood-gates (called) Ra[h.]ab for convenience of irrigation." I +translate after D. H. Müller, _loc. laud._, p. 965. + +[53] The words _[H.]imyar_ and _Tubba`_ do not occur at all in the older +inscriptions, and very seldom even in those of a more recent date. + +[54] See Koran, xviii, 82-98. + +[55] Dhu ´l-Qarnayn is described as "the measurer of the earth" +(_Massá[h.]u ´l-ar[d.]_) by Hamdání, _Jazíratu ´l-`Arab_, p. 46, l. 10. +If I may step for a moment outside the province of literary history to +discuss the mythology of these verses, it seems to me more than probable +that Dhu ´l-Qarnayn is a personification of the Sabæan divinity `Athtar, +who represents "sweet Hesper-Phosphor, double name" (see D. H. Müller in +_S.B.W.A._, vol. 97, p. 973 seq.). The Minæan inscriptions have "`Athtar +of the setting and `Athtar of the rising" (_ibid._, p. 1033). Moreover, +in the older inscriptions `Athtar and Almaqa are always mentioned +together; and Almaqa, which according to Hamdání is the name of Venus +(_al-Zuhara_), was identified by Arabian archæologists with Bilqís. For +_qarn_ in the sense of 'ray' or 'beam' see Goldziher, _Abhand. zur Arab. +Philologie_, Part I, p. 114. I think there is little doubt that Dhu +´l-Qarnayn and Bilqís may be added to the examples (_ibid._, p. 111 +sqq.) of that peculiar conversion by which many heathen deities were +enabled to maintain themselves under various disguises within the pale +of Islam. + +[56] The Arabic text will be found in Von Kremer's _Altarabische +Gedichte ueber die Volkssage von Jemen_, p. 15 (No. viii, l. 6 sqq.). +[H.]assán b. Thábit, the author of these lines, was contemporary with +Mu[h.]ammad, to whose cause he devoted what poetical talent he possessed. +In the verses immediately preceding those translated above he claims to +be a descendant of Qa[h.][t.]án. + +[57] Von Kremer, _Die Südarabische Sage_, p. vii of the Introduction. + +[58] A prose translation is given by Von Kremer, _ibid._, p. 78 sqq. The +Arabic text which he published afterwards in _Altarabische Gedichte +ueber die Volkssage von Jemen_, p. 18 sqq., is corrupt in some places +and incorrect in others. I have followed Von Kremer's interpretation +except when it seemed to me to be manifestly untenable. The reader will +have no difficulty in believing that this poem was meant to be recited +by a wandering minstrel to the hearers that gathered round him at +nightfall. It may well be the composition of one of those professional +story-tellers who flourished in the first century after the Flight, such +as `Abíd b. Sharya (see p. 13 _supra_), or Yazíd b. Rabí`a b. Mufarrigh +(+ 688 A.D.), who is said to have invented the poems and romances of the +[H.]imyarite kings (_Aghání_, xvii, 52). + +[59] Instead of Hinwam the original has Hayyúm, for which Von Kremer +reads Ahnúm. But see Hamdání, _Jazíralu ´l-`Arab_, p. 193, last line and +fol. + +[60] I read _al-jahdi_ for _al-jahli_. + +[61] I omit the following verses, which tell how an old woman of Medína +came to King As`ad, imploring him to avenge her wrongs, and how he +gathered an innumerable army, routed his enemies, and returned to +[Z.]afár in triumph. + +[62] Ibn Hishám, p. 13, l. 14 sqq. + +[63] Ibn Hishám, p. 15, l. 1 sqq. + +[64] _Ibid._, p. 17, l. 2 sqq. + +[65] Arabic text in Von Kremer's _Altarabische Gedichte ueber die +Volkssage von Jemen_, p. 20 seq.; prose translation by the same author +in _Die Südarabische Sage_, p. 84 sqq. + +[66] The second half of this verse is corrupt. Von Kremer translates (in +his notes to the Arabic text, p. 26): "And bury with me the camel +stallions (_al-khílán_) and the slaves (_al-ruqqán_)." Apart, however, +from the fact that _ruqqán_ (plural of _raqíq_) is not mentioned by the +lexicographers, it seems highly improbable that the king would have +commanded such a barbarity. I therefore take _khílán_ (plural of _khál_) +in the meaning of 'soft stuffs of Yemen,' and read _zuqqán_ (plural of +_ziqq_). + +[67] Ghaymán or Miqláb, a castle near [S.]an`á, in which the +[H.]imyarite kings were buried. + +[68] The text and translation of this section of the _Iklíl_ have been +published by D. H. Müller in _S.B.W.A._, vols. 94 and 97 (Vienna, +1879-1880). + +[69] _Aghání_, xx, 8, l. 14 seq. + +[70] Koran, lxxxv, 4 sqq. + +[71] [T.]abarí, i, 927, l. 19 sqq. + +[72] The following narrative is abridged from [T.]abarí, i, 928, l. 2 +sqq. = Nöldeke, _Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der +Sasaniden_, p. 192 sqq. + +[73] The reader will find a full and excellent account of these matters +in Professor Browne's _Literary History of Persia_, vol. i, pp. 178-181. + +[74] Goldziher, _Muhammedanische Studien_, Part I, p. 225. + +[75] Maydání's collection has been edited, with a Latin translation by +Freytag, in three volumes (_Arabum Proverbia_, Bonn, 1838-1843). + +[76] The _Kitábu ´l-Aghání_ has been published at Buláq (1284-1285 A.H.) +in twenty volumes. A volume of biographies not contained in the Buláq +text was edited by R. E. Brünnow (Leiden, 1888). + +[77] _Muqaddima_ of Ibn Khaldún (Beyrout, 1900), p. 554, ll. 8-10; _Les +Prolégomènes d' Ibn Khaldoun traduits par M. de Slane_ (Paris, 1863-68) +vol. iii, p. 331. + +[78] Published at Paris, 1847-1848, in three volumes. + +[79] These are the same Bedouin Arabs of Tanúkh who afterwards formed +part of the population of [H.]íra. See p. 38 _infra_. + +[80] Ibn Qutayba in Brünnow's _Chrestomathy_, p. 29. + +[81] Properly _al-Zabbá_, an epithet meaning 'hairy.' According to +[T.]abarí (i, 757) her name was Ná´ila. It is odd that in the Arabic +version of the story the name Zenobia (Zaynab) should be borne by the +heroine's sister. + +[82] The above narrative is abridged from _Aghání_, xiv, 73, l. 20-75, +l. 25. _Cf._ [T.]abarí, i, 757-766; Mas`údí, _Murúju ´l-Dhahab_ (ed. by +Barbier de Meynard), vol. iii, pp. 189-199. + +[83] Concerning [H.]íra and its history the reader may consult an +admirable monograph by Dr. G. Rothstein, _Die Dynastie der La[h=]miden +in al-[H.]íra_ (Berlin, 1899), where the sources of information are set +forth (p. 5 sqq.). The incidental references to contemporary events in +Syriac and Byzantine writers, who often describe what they saw with +their own eyes, are extremely valuable as a means of fixing the +chronology, which Arabian historians can only supply by conjecture, +owing to the want of a definite era during the Pre-islamic period. +Mu[h.]ammadan general histories usually contain sections, more or less +mythical in character, "On the Kings of [H.]íra and Ghassán." Attention +may be called in particular to the account derived from Hishám b. +Mu[h.]ammad al-Kalbí, which is preserved by [T.]abarí and has been +translated with a masterly commentary by Nöldeke in his _Geschichte der +Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden_. Hishám had access to the +archives kept in the churches of [H.]íra, and claims to have extracted +therefrom many genealogical and chronological details relating to the +Lakhmite dynasty ([T.]abarí, i, 770, 7). + +[84] [H.]íra is the Syriac _[h.]értá_ (sacred enclosure, monastery), +which name was applied to the originally mobile camp of the Persian +Arabs and retained as the designation of the garrison town. + +[85] Sadír was a castle in the vicinity of [H.]íra. + +[86] [T.]abarí, i, 853, 20 sqq. + +[87] Bahrám was educated at [H.]íra under Nu`mán and Mundhir. The +Persian grandees complained that he had the manners and appearance of +the Arabs among whom he had grown up ([T.]abarí, i, 858, 7). + +[88] Má´ al-samá (_i.e._, Water of the sky) is said to have been the +sobriquet of Mundhir's mother, whose proper name was Máriya or Máwiyya. + +[89] For an account of Mazdak and his doctrines the reader may consult +Nöldeke's translation of [T.]abarí, pp. 140-144, 154, and 455-467, and +Professor Browne's _Literary History of Persia_, vol. i, pp. 168-172. + +[90] Mundhir slaughtered in cold blood some forty or fifty members of +the royal house of Kinda who had fallen into his hands. [H.]árith +himself was defeated and slain by Mundhir in 529. Thereafter the power +of Kinda sank, and they were gradually forced back to their original +settlements in [H.]a[d.]ramawt. + +[91] On another occasion he sacrificed four hundred Christian nuns to +the same goddess. + +[92] See p. 50 _infra_. + +[93] _Aghání_, xix, 86, l. 16 sqq. + +[94] _Aghání_, xix, 87, l. 18 sqq. + +[95] Hind was a princess of Kinda (daughter of the [H.]árith b. `Amr +mentioned above), whom Mundhir probably captured in one of his marauding +expeditions. She was a Christian, and founded a monastery at [H.]íra. +See Nöldeke's translation of [T.]abarí, p. 172, n. 1. + +[96] _Aghání_, xxi, 194, l. 22. + +[97] Zayd was actually Regent of [H.]íra after the death of Qábús, and +paved the way for Mundhir IV, whose violence had made him detested by +the people (Nöldeke's translation of [T.]abarí, p. 346, n. 1). + +[98] The Arabs called the Byzantine emperor '_Qay[s.]ar_,' _i.e._, +Cæsar, and the Persian emperor '_Kisrá_,' _i.e._, Chosroes. + +[99] My friend and colleague, Professor A. A. Bevan, writes to me that +"the story of `Adí's marriage with the king's daughter is based partly +on a verse in which the poet speaks of himself as connected by marriage +with the royal house (_Aghání_, ii, 26, l. 5), and partly on another +verse in which he mentions 'the home of Hind' (_ibid._, ii, 32, l. 1). +But this Hind was evidently a Bedouin woman, not the king's daughter." + +[100] _Aghání_, ii, 22, l. 3 sqq. + +[101] When Hurmuz summoned the sons of Mundhir to Ctesiphon that he +might choose a king from among them, `Adí said to each one privately, +"If the Chosroes demands whether you can keep the Arabs in order, reply, +'All except Nu`mán.'" To Nu`mán, however, he said: "The Chosroes will +ask, 'Can you manage your brothers?' Say to him: 'If I am not strong +enough for them, I am still less able to control other folk!'" Hurmuz +was satisfied with this answer and conferred the crown upon Nu`mán. + +[102] A full account of these matters is given by [T.]abarí, i, +1016-1024 = Nöldeke's translation, pp. 314-324. + +[103] A similar description occurs in Freytag's _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. +ii. p. 589 sqq. + +[104] [T.]abarí, i, 1024-1029 = Nöldeke's translation, pp. 324-331. Ibn +Qutayba in Brünnow's _Chrestomathy_, pp. 32-33. + +[105] A town in Arabia, some distance to the north of Medína. + +[106] See Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. ii, p. 611. + +[107] A celebrated Companion of the Prophet. He led the Moslem army to +the conquest of Syria, and died of the plague in 639 A.D. + +[108] Ibn Qutayba in Brünnow's _Chrestomathy_, pp. 26-28. + +[109] The following details are extracted from Nöldeke's monograph: _Die +Ghassânischen Fürsten aus dem Hause Gafna's_, in _Abhand. d. Kön. +Preuss. Akad. d. Wissenschaften_ (Berlin, 1887). + +[110] Nöldeke, _op. cit._, p. 20, refers to John of Ephesus, iii, 2. See +_The Third Part of the Ecclesiastical History of John, Bishop of +Ephesus_, translated by R. Payne Smith, p. 168. + +[111] Iyás b. Qabí[s.]a succeeded Nu`mán III as ruler of [H.]íra +(602-611 A.D.). He belonged to the tribe of [T.]ayyi´. See Rothstein, +_La[h=]miden_, p. 119. + +[112] I read _yatafa[d.][d.]alu_ for _yanfa[s.]ilu_. The arrangement +which the former word denotes is explained in Lane's Dictionary as "the +throwing a portion of one's garment over his left shoulder, and drawing +its extremity under his right arm, and tying the two extremities +together in a knot upon his bosom." + +[113] The _fanak_ is properly a kind of white stoat or weasel found in +Abyssinia and northern Africa, but the name is also applied by +Mu[h.]ammadans to other furs. + +[114] _Aghání_, xvi, 15, ll. 22-30. So far as it purports to proceed +from [H.]assán, the passage is apocryphal, but this does not seriously +affect its value as evidence, if we consider that it is probably +compiled from the poet's _díwán_ in which the Ghassánids are often +spoken of. The particular reference to Jabala b. al-Ayham is a mistake. +[H.]assán's acquaintance with the Ghassánids belongs to the pagan period +of his life, and he is known to have accepted Islam many years before +Jabala began to reign. + +[115] Nábigha, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 78; Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 96. +The whole poem has been translated by Sir Charles Lyall in his _Ancient +Arabian Poetry_, p. 95 sqq. + +[116] Thorbecke, _`Antarah, ein vorislamischer Dichter_, p. 14. + +[117] The following narrative is an abridgment of the history of the War +of Basús as related in Tibrízí's commentary on the _[H.]amása_ (ed. by +Freytag), pp. 420-423 and 251-255. _Cf._ Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 39 sqq. + +[118] See p. 5 _supra_. + +[119] Wá´il is the common ancestor of Bakr and Taghlib. For the use of +stones (an[s.]áb) in the worship of the Pagan Arabs see Wellhausen, +_Reste Arabischen Heidentums_ (2nd ed.), p. 101 sqq. Robertson Smith, +_Lectures on the Religion of the Semites_ (London, 1894), p. 200 sqq. + +[120] _[H.]amása_, 422, 14 sqq. Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 39, last line and +foll. + +[121] _[H.]amása_, 423, 11 sqq. Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 41, l. 3 sqq. + +[122] _[H.]amása_, 252, 8 seq. Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 44, l. 3 seq. + +[123] Hind is the mother of Bakr and Taghlib. Here the Banú Hind (Sons +of Hind) are the Taghlibites. + +[124] _[H.]amása_, 9, 17 seq. Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 45, l. 10 sqq. + +[125] _[H.]amása_, 252, 14 seq. Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 46, l. 16 sqq. + +[126] _[H.]amása_, 254, 6 seq. Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 47, l. 2 seq. + +[127] _[H.]amása_, 96. Ibn Nubáta, cited by Rasmussen, _Additamenta ad +Historiam Arabum ante Islamismum_, p. 34, remarks that before Qays no +one had ever lamented a foe slain by himself (_wa-huwa awwalu man rathá +maqtúlahu_). + +[128] Ibn Hishám, p. 51, l. 7 sqq. + +[129] In the account of Abraha's invasion given below I have followed +[T.]abarí, i, 936, 9-945, 19 = Nöldeke's translation, pp. 206-220. + +[130] I read _[h.]ilálak_. See Glossary to [T.]abarí. + +[131] [T.]abarí, i, 940, 13. + +[132] Another version says: "Whenever a man was struck sores and +pustules broke out on that part of his body. This was the first +appearance of the small-pox" ([T.]abarí, i, 945, 2 sqq.). Here we have +the historical fact--an outbreak of pestilence in the Abyssinian +army--which gave rise to the legend related above. + +[133] There is trustworthy evidence that Abraha continued to rule Yemen +for some time after his defeat. + +[134] Ibn Hishám, p. 38, l. 14 sqq. + +[135] _Ibid._, p. 40, l. 12 sqq. + +[136] See pp. 48-49 _supra_. + +[137] Full details are given by [T.]abarí, i, 1016-1037 = Nöldeke's +translation, pp. 311-345. + +[138] A poet speaks of three thousand Arabs and two thousand Persians +([T.]abarí, i, 1036, 5-6). + +[139] Ibn Rashíq in Suyú[t.]í's Muzhir (Buláq, 1282 A.H.), Part II, p. +236, l. 22 sqq. I quote the translation of Sir Charles Lyall in the +Introduction to his _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 17, a most admirable +work which should be placed in the hands of every one who is beginning +the study of this difficult subject. + +[140] Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. ii, p. 494. + +[141] Numb. xxi, 17. Such well-songs are still sung in the Syrian desert +(see Enno Littmann, _Neuarabische Volkspoesie_, in _Abhand. der Kön. +Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, Phil.-Hist. Klasse_, Göttingen, 1901), +p. 92. In a specimen cited at p. 81 we find the words _witla y[=a] +dlêw[=e]na_--_i.e._, "Rise, O bucket!" several times repeated. + +[142] Goldziher, _Ueber die Vorgeschichte der Higâ'-Poesie_ in his +_Abhand. zur Arab. Philologie_, Part I (Leyden, 1896), p. 26. + +[143] _Cf._ the story of Balak and Balaam, with Goldziher's remarks +thereon, _ibid._, p. 42 seq. + +[144] _Ibid._, p. 46 seq. + +[145] _Rajaz_ primarily means "a tremor (which is a symptom of disease) +in the hind-quarters of a camel." This suggested to Dr. G. Jacob his +interesting theory that the Arabian metres arose out of the +camel-driver's song (_[h.]idá_) in harmony with the varying paces of the +animal which he rode (_Studien in arabischen Dichtern_, Heft III, p. 179 +sqq.). + +[146] The Arabic verse (_bayt_) consists of two halves or hemistichs +(_mi[s.]rá`_). It is generally convenient to use the word 'line' as a +translation of _mi[s.]rá`_, but the reader must understand that the +'line' is not, as in English poetry, an independent unit. _Rajaz_ is the +sole exception to this rule, there being here no division into +hemistichs, but each line (verse) forming an unbroken whole and rhyming +with that which precedes it. + +[147] In Arabic 'al-bayt,' the tent, which is here used figuratively for +the grave. + +[148] Ibn Qutayba, _Kitábu ´l-Shi`r wa-´l-Shu`ará_, p. 36, l. 3 sqq. + +[149] Already in the sixth century A.D. the poet `Antara complains that +his predecessors have left nothing new for him to say (_Mu`allaqa_, v. +1). + +[150] _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, Introduction, p. xvi. + +[151] _Qa[s.]ída_ is explained by Arabian lexicographers to mean a poem +with an artistic purpose, but they differ as to the precise sense in +which 'purpose' is to be understood. Modern critics are equally at +variance. Jacob (_Stud. in Arab. Dichtern_, Heft III, p. 203) would +derive the word from the principal motive of these poems, namely, to +gain a rich reward in return for praise and flattery. Ahlwardt +(_Bemerkungen über die Aechtheit der alten Arab. Gedichte_, p. 24 seq.) +connects it with _qa[s.]ada, to break_, "because it consists of verses, +every one of which is divided into two halves, with a common end-rhyme: +thus the whole poem is _broken_, as it were, into two halves;" while in +the _Rajaz_ verses, as we have seen (p. 74 _supra_), there is no such +break. + +[152] _Kitábu ´l-Shi`r wa-´l-Shu`ará_, p. 14, l. 10 sqq. + +[153] Nöldeke (_Fünf Mo`allaqát_, i, p. 3 sqq.) makes the curious +observation, which illustrates the highly artificial character of this +poetry, that certain animals well known to the Arabs (_e.g._, the +panther, the jerboa, and the hare) are seldom mentioned and scarcely +ever described, apparently for no reason except that they were not +included in the conventional repertory. + +[154] _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 83. + +[155] Verses 3-13. I have attempted to imitate the 'Long' (_[T.]awíl_) +metre of the original, viz.:-- + + ~ | ~ | ~ | + ~ - - | ~ - - - | ~ - - | ~ - ~ - + +The Arabic text of the _Lámiyya_, with prose translation and commentary, +is printed in De Sacy's _Chrestomathie Arabe_ (2nd. ed.), vol. iiº, p. +134 sqq., and vol. ii, p. 337 sqq. It has been translated into English +verse by G. Hughes (London, 1896). Other versions are mentioned by +Nöldeke, _Beiträge zur Kenntniss d. Poesie d. alten Araber_, p. 200. + +[156] The poet, apparently, means that his three friends are _like_ the +animals mentioned. Prof. Bevan remarks, however, that this +interpretation is doubtful, since an Arab would scarcely compare his +_friend_ to a hyena. + +[157] _[H.]amása_, 242. + +[158] _[H.]amása_, 41-43. This poem has been rendered in verse by Sir +Charles Lyall, _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 16, and by the late Dr. A. +B. Davidson, _Biblical and Literary Essays_, p. 263. + +[159] Mahaffy, _Social Life in Greece_, p. 21. + +[160] See pp. 59-60 _supra_. + +[161] _[H.]amása_, 82-83. The poet is `Amr b. Ma`díkarib, a famous +heathen knight who accepted Islam and afterwards distinguished himself +in the Persian wars. + +[162] Al-Afwah al-Awdí in Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 4, ll. 8-10. The +poles and pegs represent lords and commons. + +[163] _[H.]amása_, 122. + +[164] _Ibid._, 378. + +[165] _Cf._ the verses by al-Find, p. 58 _supra_. + +[166] _[H.]amása_, 327. + +[167] Imru´u ´l-Qays was one of the princes of Kinda, a powerful tribe +in Central Arabia. + +[168] _Aghání_, xix, 99. The last two lines are wanting in the poem as +there cited, but appear in the Selection from the Aghání published at +Beyrout in 1888, vol. ii, p. 18. + +[169] See p. 45 sqq. + +[170] _Aghání_, xvi, 98, ll. 5-22. + +[171] _Aghání_, xvi, 97, l. 5 sqq. + +[172] His _Díwán_ has been edited with translation and notes by F. +Schulthess (Leipzig, 1897). + +[173] _[H.]amása_, 729. The hero mentioned in the first verse is `Ámir +b. U[h.]aymir of Bahdala. On a certain occasion, when envoys from the +Arabian tribes were assembled at [H.]íra, King Mundhir b. Má´ al-samá +produced two pieces of cloth of Yemen and said, "Let him whose tribe is +noblest rise up and take them." Thereupon `Ámir stood forth, and +wrapping one piece round his waist and the other over his shoulders, +carried off the prize unchallenged. + +[174] Lady Anne and Mr. Wilfrid Blunt, _The Seven Golden Odes of Pagan +Arabia_, Introduction, p. 14. + +[175] _Aghání_ xvi, 22, ll. 10-16. + +[176] _Aghání_, xviii, 137, ll. 5-10. Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. +ii, p. 834. + +[177] _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 81. + +[178] _Mufa[d.][d.]aliyyát_, ed. Thorbecke, p. 23. + +[179] See Goldziher, _Muhammedanische Studien_, Part II, p. 295 sqq. + +[180] Koran, xvi, 59-61. + +[181] Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. i, p. 229. + +[182] Koran, xvii, 33. _Cf._ lxxxi, 8-9 (a description of the Last +Judgment): "_When the girl buried alive shall be asked for what crime +she was killed._" + +[183] Literally: "And tear the veil from (her, as though she were) flesh +on a butcher's board," _i.e._, defenceless, abandoned to the +first-comer. + +[184] _[H.]amása_, 140. Although these verses are not Pre-islamic, and +belong in fact to a comparatively late period of Islam, they are +sufficiently pagan in feeling to be cited in this connection. The +author, Is[h.]áq b. Khalaf, lived under the Caliph Ma´mún (813-833 A.D.). +He survived his adopted daughter--for Umayma was his sister's child--and +wrote an elegy on her, which is preserved in the _Kámil_ of al-Mubarrad, +p. 715, l. 7 sqq., and has been translated, together with the verses now +in question, by Sir Charles Lyall, _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 26. + +[185] _[H.]amása_, 142. Lyall, _op. cit._, p. 28. + +[186] _[H.]amása_, 7. + +[187] _[H.]amása_, 321. + +[188] See p. 55 sqq. + +[189] _Cf._ Rückert's _Hamâsa_, vol. i, p. 61 seq. + +[190] _[H.]amása_, 30. + +[191] _Aghání_, ii, 160, l. 11-162, l. 1 = p. 13 sqq. of the Beyrout +Selection. + +[192] The Bedouins consider that any one who has eaten of their food or +has touched the rope of their tent is entitled to claim their +protection. Such a person is called _dakhíl_. See Burckhardt, _Notes on +the Bedouins and Wahábys_ (London, 1831), vol. i, p. 160 sqq. and 329 +sqq. + +[193] See p. 81 _supra_. + +[194] Stuttgart, 1819, p. 253 sqq. The other renderings in verse with +which I am acquainted are those of Rückert (_Hamâsa_, vol. i, p. 299) +and Sir Charles Lyall (_Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 48). I have adopted +Sir Charles Lyall's arrangement of the poem, and have closely followed +his masterly interpretation, from which I have also borrowed some turns +of phrase that could not be altered except for the worse. + +[195] The Arabic text will be found in the _Hamása_, p. 382 sqq. + +[196] This and the following verse are generally taken to be a +description not of the poet himself, but of his nephew. The +interpretation given above does no violence to the language, and greatly +enhances the dramatic effect. + +[197] In the original this and the preceding verse are transposed. + +[198] Although the poet's uncle was killed in this onslaught, the +surprised party suffered severely. "The two clans" belonged to the great +tribe of Hudhayl, which is mentioned in the penultimate verse. + +[199] It was customary for the avenger to take a solemn vow that he +would drink no wine before accomplishing his vengeance. + +[200] _[H.]amása_, 679. + +[201] _Cf._ the lines translated below from the _Mu`allaqa_ of +[H.]árith. + +[202] The best edition of the _Mu`allaqát_ is Sir Charles Lyall's (_A +Commentary on Ten Ancient Arabic Poems_, Calcutta, 1894), which contains +in addition to the seven _Mu`allaqát_ three odes by A`shá, Nábigha, and +`Abíd b. al-Abra[s.]. Nöldeke has translated five Mu`allaqas (omitting +those of Imru´ u´ l-Qays and [T.]arafa) with a German commentary, +_Sitzungsberichte der Kais. Akad. der Wissenschaften in Wien_, +_Phil.-Histor. Klasse_, vols. 140-144 (1899-1901); this is by far the +best translation for students. No satisfactory version in English prose +has hitherto appeared, but I may call attention to the fine and +original, though somewhat free, rendering into English verse by Lady +Anne Blunt and Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (_The Seven Golden Odes of Pagan +Arabia_, London, 1903). + +[203] _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, Introduction, p. xliv. Many other +interpretations have been suggested--_e.g._, 'The Poems written down +from oral dictation' (Von Kremer), 'The richly bejewelled' (Ahlwardt), +'The Pendants,' as though they were pearls strung on a necklace (A. +Müller). + +[204] The belief that the _Mu`allaqát_ were written in letters of gold +seems to have arisen from a misunderstanding of the name _Mudhhabát_ or +_Mudhahhabát_ (_i.e._, the Gilded Poems) which is sometimes given to +them in token of their excellence, just as the Greeks gave the title +[Greek: chrysea epê] to a poem falsely attributed to Pythagoras. That +some of the _Mu`allaqát_ were recited at `Uká[z.] is probable enough and +is definitely affirmed in the case of `Amr b. Kulthúm (_Aghání_, ix, +182). + +[205] The legend first appears in the _`Iqd al-Faríd_ (ed. of Cairo, +1293 A.H., vol. iii, p. 116 seq.) of Ibn `Abdi Rabbihi, who died in 940 +A.D. + +[206] See the Introduction to Nöldeke's _Beiträge zur Kenntniss der +Poesie der alten Araber_ (Hannover, 1864), p. xvii sqq., and his article +Mo`alla[k.]át' in the _Encyclopædia Britannica_. + +[207] It is well known that the order of the verses in the _Mu`allaqát_, +as they have come down to us, is frequently confused, and that the +number of various readings is very large. I have generally followed the +text and arrangement adopted by Nöldeke in his German translation. + +[208] See p. 42 _supra_. + +[209] _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 105. + +[210] See the account of his life (according to the _Kitábu´ l-Aghání_) +in _Le Diwan d'Amro´lkaïs_, edited with translation and notes by Baron +MacGuckin de Slane (Paris, 1837), pp. 1-51; and in _Amrilkais, der +Dichter und König_ by Friedrich Rückert (Stuttgart and Tübingen, 1843). + +[211] That he was not, however, the inventor of the Arabian _qa[s.]ída_ +as described above (p. 76 sqq.) appears from the fact that he mentions +in one of his verses a certain Ibn [H.]umám or Ibn Khidhám who +introduced, or at least made fashionable, the prelude with which almost +every ode begins: a lament over the deserted camping-ground (Ibn +Qutayba, _K. al-Shi`r wa-´l-Shu`ará_, p. 52). + +[212] The following lines are translated from Arnold's edition of the +_Mu`allaqát_ (Leipsic, 1850), p. 9 sqq., vv. 18-35. + +[213] The native commentators are probably right in attributing this and +the three preceding verses (48-51 in Arnold's edition) to the +brigand-poet, Ta´abba[t.]a Sharran. + +[214] We have already (p. 39) referred to the culture of the Christian +Arabs of [H.]íra. + +[215] Vv. 54-59 (Lyall); 56-61 (Arnold). + +[216] See Nöldeke, _Fünf Mu`allaqát_, i, p. 51 seq. According to the +traditional version (_Aghání_, ix, 179), a band of Taghlibites went +raiding, lost their way in the desert, and perished of thirst, having +been refused water by a sept of the Banú Bakr. Thereupon Taghlib +appealed to King `Amr to enforce payment of the blood-money which they +claimed, and chose `Amr b. Kulthúm to plead their cause at [H.]íra. So +`Amr recited his _Mu`allaqa_ before the king, and was answered by +[H.]árith on behalf of Bakr. + +[217] Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. ii, p. 233. + +[218] _Aghání_, ix, 182. + +[219] Vv. 1-8 (Arnold); in Lyall's edition the penultimate verse is +omitted. + +[220] Vv. 15-18 (Lyall); 19-22 (Arnold). + +[221] The Arabs use the term _kunya_ to denote this familiar style of +address in which a person is called, not by his own name, but 'father of +So-and-so' (either a son or, as in the present instance, a daughter). + +[222] _I.e._, even the _jinn_ (genies) stand in awe of us. + +[223] Here Ma`add signifies the Arabs in general. + +[224] Vv. 20-30 (Lyall), omitting vv. 22, 27, 28. + +[225] This is a figurative way of saying that Taghlib has never been +subdued. + +[226] Vv. 46-51 (Lyall), omitting v. 48. + +[227] _I.e._, we will show our enemies that they cannot defy us with +impunity. This verse, the 93rd in Lyall's edition, is omitted by Arnold. + +[228] Vv. 94-104 (Arnold), omitting vv. 100 and 101. If the last words +are anything more than a poetic fiction, 'the sea' must refer to the +River Euphrates. + +[229] Vv. 16-18. + +[230] Vv. 23-26. + +[231] A place in the neighbourhood of Mecca. + +[232] Vv. 40-42 (Lyall); 65-67 (Arnold). + +[233] See _`Antarah, ein vorislamischer Dichter_, by H. Thorbecke +(Leipzig, 1867). + +[234] I have taken some liberties in this rendering, as the reader may +see by referring to the verses (44 and 47-52 in Lyall's edition) on +which it is based. + +[235] Ghay[z.] b. Murra was a descendant of Dhubyán and the ancestor of +Harim and [H.]árith. + +[236] The Ka`ba. + +[237] This refers to the religious circumambulation (_[t.]awáf_). + +[238] Vv. 16-19 (Lyall). + +[239] There is no reason to doubt the genuineness of this passage, which +affords evidence of the diffusion of Jewish and Christian ideas in pagan +Arabia. Ibn Qutayba observes that these verses indicate the poet's +belief in the Resurrection (_K. al-Shi`r wa-´l-Shu`ará_, p. 58, l. 12). + +[240] Vv. 27-31. + +[241] The order of these verses in Lyall's edition is as follows: 56, +57, 54, 50, 55, 53, 49, 47, 48, 52, 58. + +[242] Reference has been made above to the old Arabian belief that poets +owed their inspiration to the _jinn_ (genii), who are sometimes called +_shayátín_ (satans). See Goldziher, _Abhand. zur arab. Philologie_, Part +I, pp. 1-14. + +[243] Vv. 1-10 (Lyall), omitting v. 5. + +[244] Vv. 55-60 (Lyall). + +[245] The term _nábigha_ is applied to a poet whose genius is slow in +declaring itself but at last "jets forth vigorously and abundantly" +(_nabagha_). + +[246] _Díwán_, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 83; Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 96. + +[247] He means to say that Nu`mán has no reason to feel aggrieved +because he (Nábigha) is grateful to the Ghassánids for their munificent +patronage; since Nu`mán does not consider that his own favourites, in +showing gratitude to himself, are thereby guilty of treachery towards +their former patrons. + +[248] _Diwán_, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 76, ii, 21. In another place (p. +81, vi, 6) he says, addressing his beloved:-- + + "Wadd give thee greeting! for dalliance with women is lawful to me + no more, + Since Religion has become a serious matter." + +Wadd was a god worshipped by the pagan Arabs. Derenbourg's text has +_rabbí_, _i.e._, Allah, but see Nöldeke's remarks in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. +xli (1887), p. 708. + +[249] _Aghání_, viii, 85, last line-86, l. 10. + +[250] Lyall, _Ten Ancient Arabic Poems_, p. 146 seq., vv. 25-31. + +[251] Ahlwardt, _The Divans_, p. 106, vv. 8-10. + +[252] _[H.]amása_, p. 382, l. 17. + +[253] Nöldeke, _Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Poesie der alten Araber_, p. +152. + +[254] Nöldeke, _ibid._, p. 175. + +[255] The original title is _al-Mukhtárát_ (The Selected Odes) or +_al-Ikhtiyárát_ (The Selections). + +[256] Oxford, 1918-21. The Indexes of personal and place-names, poetical +quotations, and selected words were prepared by Professor Bevan and +published in 1924 in the E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Series. + +[257] Ibn Khallikán, ed. by Wüstenfeld, No. 350 = De Slane's +translation, vol. ii, p. 51. + +[258] See Nöldeke, _Beiträge_, p. 183 sqq. There would seem to be +comparatively few poems of Pre-islamic date in Bu[h.]turí's anthology. + +[259] Ibn Khallikán, ed. by Wüstenfeld, No. 204 = De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 470. + +[260] Many interesting details concerning the tradition of Pre-islamic +poetry by the _Ráwís_ and the Philologists will be found in Ahlwardt's +_Bemerkungen ueber die Aechtheit der alten Arabischen Gedichte_ +(Greifswald, 1872), which has supplied materials for the present sketch. + +[261] _Aghání_, v, 172, l. 16 sqq. + +[262] This view, however, is in accordance neither with the historical +facts nor with the public opinion of the Pre-islamic Arabs (see Nöldeke, +_Die Semitischen Sprachen_, p. 47). + +[263] See Wellhausen, _Reste Arab. Heidentums_ (2nd ed.), p. 88 seq. + +[264] _[H.]amása_, 506. + +[265] _Ibid._, 237. + +[266] _Díwán_ of Imru´u ´l-Qays, ed. by De Slane, p. 22 of the Arabic +text, l. 17 sqq. = No. 52, ll. 57-59 (p. 154) in Ahlwardt's _Divans of +the Six Poets_. With the last line, however, _cf._ the words of Qays b. +al-Kha[t.]ím on accomplishing his vengeance: "_When this death comes, +there will not be found any need of my soul that I have not satisfied_" +(_[H.]amása_, 87). + +[267] _Aghání_, ii, 18, l. 23 sqq. + +[268] _Aghání_, ii, 34, l. 22 sqq. + +[269] See Von Kremer, _Ueber die Gedichte des Labyd_ in _S.B.W.A._, +_Phil.-Hist. Klasse_ (Vienna, 1881), vol. 98, p. 555 sqq. Sir Charles +Lyall, _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, pp. 92 and 119. Wellhausen, _Reste +Arabischen Heidentums_ (2nd ed.), p. 224 sqq. + +[270] I prefer to retain the customary spelling instead of Qur´án, as it +is correctly transliterated by scholars. Arabic words naturalised in +English, like Koran, Caliph, Vizier, &c., require no apology. + +[271] Muir's _Life of Mahomet_, Introduction, p. 2 seq. I may as well +say at once that I entirely disagree with the view suggested in this +passage that Mu[h.]ammad did not believe himself to be inspired. + +[272] The above details are taken from the _Fihrist_, ed. by G. Fluegel, +p. 24, l. 14 sqq. + +[273] Muir, _op. cit._, Introduction, p. 14. + +[274] With the exception of the Opening Súra (_al-Fáti[h.]a_), which is +a short prayer. + +[275] Sprenger, _Ueber das Traditionswesen bei den Arabern_, _Z.D.M.G._, +vol. x, p. 2. + +[276] Quoted by Sprenger, _loc. cit._, p. 1. + +[277] Quoted by Nöldeke in the Introduction to his _Geschichte des +Qorâns_, p 22. + +[278] See especially pp. 28-130. + +[279] _Muhamm. Studien_, Part II, p. 48 seq. + +[280] The reader may consult Muir's Introduction to his _Life of +Mahomet_, pp. 28-87. + +[281] Ibn Hishám, p. 105, l. 9 sqq. + +[282] This legend seems to have arisen out of a literal interpretation +of Koran, xciv, 1, "_Did we not open thy breast?_"--_i.e._, give thee +comfort or enlightenment. + +[283] This name, which may signify 'Baptists,' was applied by the +heathen Arabs to Mu[h.]ammad and his followers, probably in consequence +of the ceremonial ablutions which are incumbent upon every Moslem before +the five daily prayers (see Wellhausen, _Reste Arab. Heid._, p. 237). + +[284] Sir Charles Lyall, _The Words '[H.]aníf' and 'Muslim,'_ _J.R.A.S._ +for 1903, p. 772. The original meaning of _[h.]aníf_ is no longer +traceable, but it may be connected with the Hebrew _[h.]ánéf_, +'profane.' In the Koran it generally refers to the religion of Abraham, +and sometimes appears to be nearly synonymous with _Muslim_. Further +information concerning the [H.]anífs will be found in Sir Charles +Lyall's article cited above; Sprenger, _Das Leben und die Lehre des +Mo[h.]ammed_, vol. i, pp. 45-134; Wellhausen, _Reste Arab. Heid._, p. +238 sqq.; Caetani, _Annali dell' Islam_, vol. i, pp. 181-192. + +[285] Ibn Hishám, p. 143, l. 6 sqq. + +[286] _Aghání_, iii, 187, l. 17 sqq. + +[287] See p. 69 _supra_. + +[288] Tradition associates him especially with Waraqa, who was a cousin +of his first wife, Khadíja, and is said to have hailed him as a prophet +while Mu[h.]ammad himself was still hesitating (Ibn Hishám, p. 153, l. +14 sqq.). + +[289] This is the celebrated 'Night of Power' (_Laylatu ´l-Qadr_) +mentioned in the Koran, xcvii, 1. + +[290] The Holy Ghost (_Rú[h.]u´l-Quds_), for whom in the Medína Súras +Gabriel (Jibríl) is substituted. + +[291] But another version (Ibn Hishám, p. 152, l. 9 sqq.) represents +Mu[h.]ammad as replying to the Angel, "What am I to read?" (_má aqra´u_ +or _má dhá aqra´u_). Professor Bevan has pointed out to me that the +tradition in this form bears a curious resemblance, which can hardly be +accidental, to the words of Isaiah xl. 6: "The voice said, Cry. And he +said, What shall I cry?" The question whether the Prophet could read and +write is discussed by Nöldeke (_Geschichte des Qorâns_, p. 7 sqq.), who +leaves it undecided. According to Nöldeke (_loc. cit._, p. 10), the +epithet _ummí_, which is applied to Mu[h.]ammad in the Koran, and is +commonly rendered by 'illiterate,' does not signify that he was ignorant +of reading and writing, but only that he was unacquainted with the +ancient Scriptures; _cf._ 'Gentile.' However this may be, it appears +that he wished to pass for illiterate, with the object of confirming the +belief in his inspiration: "_Thou_" (Mu[h.]ammad) "_didst not use to +read any book before this_" (the Koran) "_nor to write it with thy right +hand; else the liars would have doubted_" (Koran, xxix, 47). + +[292] The meaning of these words (_iqra´ bismi rabbika_) is disputed. +Others translate, "Preach in the name of thy Lord" (Nöldeke), or +"Proclaim the name of thy Lord" (Hirschfeld). I see no sufficient +grounds for abandoning the traditional interpretation supported by +verses 4 and 5. Mu[h.]ammad dreamed that he was commanded to read the +Word of God inscribed in the Heavenly Book which is the source of all +Revelation. + +[293] Others render, "who taught (the use of) the Pen." + +[294] This account of Mu[h.]ammad's earliest vision (Bukhárí, ed. by +Krehl, vol. iii, p. 380, l. 2 sqq.) is derived from `A´isha, his +favourite wife, whom he married after the death of Khadíja. + +[295] Ibn Hishám, p. 152, l. 9 sqq. + +[296] See p. 72 _supra_. + +[297] This interval is known as the Fatra. + +[298] Literally, 'warn.' + +[299] 'The abomination' (_al-rujz_) probably refers to idolatry. + +[300] Literally, "The Last State shall be better for thee than the +First," referring either to Mu[h.]ammad's recompense in the next world +or to the ultimate triumph of his cause in this world. + +[301] _Islám_ is a verbal noun formed from _Aslama_, which means 'to +surrender' and, in a religious sense, 'to surrender one's self to the +will of God.' The participle, _Muslim_ (Moslem), denotes one who thus +surrenders himself. + +[302] Sprenger, _Leben des Mohammad_, vol. i, p. 356. + +[303] It must be remembered that this branch of Mu[h.]ammadan tradition +derives from the pietists of the first century after the Flight, who +were profoundly dissatisfied with the reigning dynasty (the Umayyads), +and revenged themselves by painting the behaviour of the Meccan +ancestors of the Umayyads towards Mu[h.]ammad in the blackest colours +possible. The facts tell another story. It is significant that hardly +any case of real persecution is mentioned in the Koran. Mu[h.]ammad was +allowed to remain at Mecca and to carry on, during many years, a +religious propaganda which his fellow-citizens, with few exceptions, +regarded as detestable and dangerous. We may well wonder at the +moderation of the Quraysh, which, however, was not so much deliberate +policy as the result of their indifference to religion and of +Mu[h.]ammad's failure to make appreciable headway in Mecca. + +[304] Ibn Hishám, p. 168, l. 9. sqq. + +[305] At this time Mu[h.]ammad believed the doctrines of Islam and +Christianity to be essentially the same. + +[306] [T.]abarí, i, 1180, 8 sqq. _Cf._ Caetani, _Annali dell' Islam_, +vol. i, p. 267 sqq. + +[307] Muir, _Life of Mahomet_, vol. ii, p. 151. + +[308] We have seen (p. 91 _supra_) that the heathen Arabs disliked +female offspring, yet they called their three principal deities the +daughters of Allah. + +[309] It is related by Ibn Is[h.]áq ([T.]abarí, i, 1192, 4 sqq.). In his +learned work, _Annali dell' Islam_, of which the first volume appeared +in 1905, Prince Caetani impugns the authenticity of the tradition and +criticises the narrative in detail (p. 279 sqq.), but his arguments do +not touch the main question. As Muir says, "it is hardly possible to +conceive how the tale, if not founded in truth, could ever have been +invented." + +[310] The Meccan view of Mu[h.]ammad's action may be gathered from the +words uttered by Abú Jahl on the field of Badr--"O God, bring woe upon +him who more than any of us hath severed the ties of kinship and dealt +dishonourably!" ([T.]abarí, i, 1322, l. 8 seq.). Alluding to the Moslems +who abandoned their native city and fled with the Prophet to Medína, a +Meccan poet exclaims (Ibn Hishám, p. 519, ll. 3-5):-- + + _They_ (the Quraysh slain at Badr) _fell in honour. They + did not sell their kinsmen for strangers living in a far + land and of remote lineage;_ + + _Unlike you, who have made friends of Ghassán_ (the people + of Medína), _taking them instead of us--O, what a shameful + deed!_ + + _Tis an impiety and a manifest crime and a cutting of all + ties of blood: your iniquity therein is discerned by men of + judgment and understanding._ + +[311] _Súra_ is properly a row of stones or bricks in a wall. + +[312] See p. 74 _supra_. + +[313] Koran, lxix, 41. + +[314] Nöldeke, _Geschichte des Qorâns_, p. 56. + +[315] _I.e._, what it has done or left undone. + +[316] The Last Judgment. + +[317] Moslems believe that every man is attended by two Recording Angels +who write down his good and evil actions. + +[318] This is generally supposed to refer to the persecution of the +Christians of Najrán by Dhú Nuwás (see p. 26 _supra_). Geiger takes it +as an allusion to the three men who were cast into the fiery furnace +(Daniel, ch. iii). + +[319] See above, p. 3. + +[320] According to Mu[h.]ammadan belief, the archetype of the Koran and +of all other Revelations is written on the Guarded Table (_al-Law[h.] +al-Ma[h.]fú[z.]_) in heaven. + +[321] Koran, xvii, 69. + +[322] See, for example, the passages translated by Lane in his +_Selections from the Kur-án_ (London, 1843), pp. 100-113. + +[323] _Ikhlá[s.]_ means 'purifying one's self of belief in any god +except Allah.' + +[324] The Prophet's confession of his inability to perform miracles did +not deter his followers from inventing them after his death. Thus it +was said that he caused the infidels to see "the moon cloven asunder" +(Koran, liv, 1), though, as is plain from the context, these words refer +to one of the signs of the Day of Judgment. + +[325] I take this opportunity of calling the reader's attention to a +most interesting article by my friend and colleague, Professor A. A. +Bevan, entitled _The Beliefs of Early Mohammedans respecting a Future +Existence_ (_Journal of Theological Studies_, October, 1904, p. 20 +sqq.), where the whole subject is fully discussed. + +[326] Shaddád b. al-Aswad al-Laythí, quoted in the _Risálatu ´l-Ghufrán_ +of Abu ´l-`Alá al-Ma`arrí (see my article in the _J.R.A.S._ for 1902, +pp. 94 and 818); _cf._ Ibn Hishám, p. 530, last line. Ibn (Abí) Kabsha +was a nickname derisively applied to Mu[h.]ammad. _[S.]adá_ and _háma_ +refer to the death-bird which was popularly supposed to utter its shriek +from the skull (_háma_) of the dead, and both words may be rendered by +'soul' or 'wraith.' + +[327] Nöldeke, _Geschichte des Qorâns_, p. 78. + +[328] _Cf._ also Koran, xviii, 45-47; xx, 102 sqq.; xxxix, 67 sqq.; +lxix, 13-37. + +[329] The famous freethinker, Abu ´l-`Alá al-Ma`arrí, has cleverly +satirised Mu[h.]ammadan notions on this subject in his _Risálatu +´l-Ghufrán_ (_J.R.A.S._ for October, 1900, p. 637 sqq.). + +[330] _Journal of Theological Studies_ for October, 1904, p. 22. + +[331] Ibn Hishám, p. 411, l. 6 sqq. + +[332] _Ibid._, p. 347. + +[333] L. Caetani, _Annali dell' Islam_, vol. i, p. 389. + +[334] Nöldeke, _Geschichte des Qorâns_, p. 122. + +[335] Translated by E. H. Palmer. + +[336] Ibn Hishám, p. 341, l. 5. + +[337] _Mu[h.]ammad's Gemeindeordnung von Medina in Skizzen und +Vorarbeiten_, Heft IV, p. 67 sqq. + +[338] Ibn Hishám, p. 763, l. 12. + +[339] Koran, ii, 256, translated by E. H. Palmer. + +[340] _Muhamm. Studien_, Part I, p. 12. + +[341] See Goldziher's introductory chapter entitled _Muruwwa und Dîn_ +(_ibid._, pp. 1-39). + +[342] Bay[d.]áwí on Koran, xxii, 11. + +[343] _Die Berufung Mohammed's_, by M. J. de Goeje in +_Nöldeke-Festschrift_ (Giessen, 1906), vol. i, p. 5. + +[344] On the _Origin and Import of the Names Muslim and [H.]aníf_ +(_J.R.A.S._ for 1903, p. 491) + +[345] See T. W. Arnold's _The Preaching of Islam_, p. 23 seq., where +several passages of like import are collected. + +[346] Nöldeke, _Sketches from Eastern History_, translated by J. S. +Black, p. 73. + +[347] See Professor Browne's _Literary History of Persia_, vol. i, p. +200 sqq. + +[348] [T.]abarí, i, 2729, l. 15 sqq. + +[349] _Ibid._, i, 2736, l. 5 sqq. The words in italics are quoted from +Koran, xxviii, 26, where they are applied to Moses. + +[350] `Umar was the first to assume this title (_Amíru ´l-Mu´minín_), by +which the Caliphs after him were generally addressed. + +[351] [T.]abarí, i, 2738, 7 sqq. + +[352] _Ibid._, i, 2739, 4 sqq. + +[353] _Ibid._, i, 2737, 4 sqq. + +[354] It is explained that `Umar prohibited lamps because rats used to +take the lighted wick and set fire to the house-roofs, which at that +time were made of palm-branches. + +[355] [T.]abarí, i, 2742, 13 sqq. + +[356] _Ibid._, i, 2745, 15 sqq. + +[357] _Ibid._, i, 2747, 7 sqq. + +[358] _Ibid._, i, 2740, last line and foll. + +[359] _Al-Fakhrí_, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 116, l. 1 to p. 117, l. 3. + +[360] [T.]abarí, i, 2751, 9 sqq. + +[361] Ibn Khallikán (ed. by Wüstenfeld), No. 68, p. 96, l. 3; De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 152. + +[362] Mu`áwiya himself said: "I am the first of the kings" (Ya`qúbí, ed. +by Houtsma, vol. ii, p. 276, l. 14). + +[363] _Al-Fakhrí_, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 145. + +[364] Ya`qúbí, vol. ii, p. 283, l. 8 seq. + +[365] Mas`údí, _Murúju ´l-Dhahab_ (ed. by Barbier de Meynard), vol. v. +p. 77. + +[366] Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 25, l. 3 sqq., omitting l. 8. + +[367] The _Continuatio_ of Isidore of Hispalis, § 27, quoted by +Wellhausen, _Das Arabische Reich und sein Sturz_, p. 105. + +[368] [H.]amása, 226. The word translated 'throne' is in Arabic _mínbar_, +_i.e._, the pulpit from which the Caliph conducted the public prayers +and addressed the congregation. + +[369] Kalb was properly one of the Northern tribes (see Robertson +Smith's _Kinship and Marriage_, 2nd ed., p. 8 seq.--a reference which I +owe to Professor Bevan), but there is evidence that the Kalbites were +regarded as 'Yemenite' or 'Southern' Arabs at an early period of Islam. +_Cf._ Goldziher, _Muhammedanische Studien_, Part I, p. 83, l. 3 sqq. + +[370] _Muhammedanische Studien_, i, 78 sqq. + +[371] Qa[h.][t.]án is the legendary ancestor of the Southern Arabs. + +[372] _Aghání_, xiii, 51, cited by Goldziher, _ibid._, p. 82. + +[373] A verse of the poet Su[h.]aym b. Wathíl. + +[374] The _Kámil_ of al-Mubarrad, ed. by W. Wright, p. 215, l. 14 sqq. + +[375] Ibn Qutayba, _Kitábu ´l-Ma`árif_, p. 202. + +[376] _Al-Fakhrí_, p. 173; Ibnu ´l-Athír, ed. by Tornberg, v, 5. + +[377] _Ibid._, p. 174. _Cf._ Mas`údi, _Murúju ´l-Dhahab_, v, 412. + +[378] His mother, Umm `Á[s.]im, was a granddaughter of `Umar I. + +[379] Mas`údí, _Murúju ´l-Dhahab_, v, 419 seq. + +[380] Ibnu ´l-Athír, ed. by Tornberg, v, 46. _Cf._ _Agání_, xx, p. 119, +l. 23. `Umar made an exception, as Professor Bevan reminds me, in favour +of the poet Jarír. See Brockelmann's _Gesch. der Arab. Litteratur_, vol. +i, p. 57. + +[381] The exhaustive researches of Wellhausen, _Das Arabische Reich und +sein Sturz_ (pp. 169-192) have set this complicated subject in a new +light. He contends that `Umar's reform was not based on purely ideal +grounds, but was demanded by the necessities of the case, and that, so +far from introducing disorder into the finances, his measures were +designed to remedy the confusion which already existed. + +[382] Mas`údí, _Murúju ´l-Dhahab_, v, 479. + +[383] The Arabic text and literal translation of these verses will be +found in my article on Abu ´l-`Alá's _Risálatu ´l-Ghufrán_ (_J.R.A.S._ +for 1902, pp. 829 and 342). + +[384] Wellhausen, _Das Arabische Reich und sein Sturz_, p. 38. + +[385] _I.e._, the main body of Moslems--_Sunnís_, followers of the +_Sunna_, as they were afterwards called--who were neither Shí`ites nor +Khárijites, but held (1) that the Caliph must be elected by the Moslem +community, and (2) that he must be a member of Quraysh, the Prophet's +tribe. All these parties arose out of the struggle between `Alí and +Mu`áwiya, and their original difference turned solely on the question of +the Caliphate. + +[386] Brünnow, _Die Charidschiten unter den ersten Omayyaden_ (Leiden, +1884), p. 28. It is by no means certain, however, that the Khárijites +called themselves by this name. In any case, the term implies +_secession_ (_khurúj_) from the Moslem community, and may be rendered by +'Seceder' or 'Nonconformist.' + +[387] _Cf._ Koran, ix, 112. + +[388] Brünnow, _op. cit._, p. 8. + +[389] Wellhausen, _Die religiös-politischen Oppositionsparteien im alten +Islam_ (_Abhandlungen der Königl. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu +Göttingen_, _Phil.-Hist. Klasse_, 1901), p. 8 sqq. The writer argues +against Brünnow that the oldest Khárijites were not true Bedouins +(_A`rábí_), and were, in fact, even further removed than the rest of the +military colonists of Kúfa and Ba[s.]ra from their Bedouin traditions. +He points out that the extreme piety of the Readers--their constant +prayers, vigils, and repetitions of the Koran--exactly agrees with what +is related of the Khárijites, and is described in similar language. +Moreover, among the oldest Khárijites we find mention made of a company +clad in long cloaks (_baránis_, pl. of _burnus_), which were at that +time a special mark of asceticism. Finally, the earliest authority (Abú +Mikhnaf in [T.]abarí, i, 3330, l. 6 sqq.) regards the Khárijites as an +offshoot from the Readers, and names individual Readers who afterwards +became rabid Khárijites. + +[390] Later, when many non-Arab Moslems joined the Khárijite ranks the +field of choice was extended so as to include foreigners and even +slaves. + +[391] [T.]abarí, ii, 40, 13 sqq. + +[392] Shahrastání, ed. by Cureton, Part I, p. 88. l. 12. + +[393] _Ibid._, p. 86, l. 3 from foot. + +[394] [T.]abarí, ii, 36, ll. 7, 8, 11-16. + +[395] _[H.]amása_, 44. + +[396] Ibn Khallikán, ed. by Wüstenfeld, No. 555, p. 55, l. 4 seq.; De +Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 523. + +[397] Dozy, _Essai sur l'histoire de l'Islamisme_ (French translation by +Victor Chauvin), p. 219 sqq. + +[398] Wellhausen thinks that the dogmatics of the Shí`ites are derived +from Jewish rather than from Persian sources. See his account of the +Saba´ites in his most instructive paper, to which I have already +referred, _Die religiös-politischen Oppositionsparteien im alten Islam_ +(_Abh. der König. Ges. der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen_, _Phil.-Hist. +Klasse_, 1901), p. 89 sqq. + +[399] [T.]abarí, i, 2942, 2. + +[400] "_Verily, He who hath ordained the Koran for thee_ (_i.e._, for +Mu[h.]ammad) _will bring thee back to a place of return_" (_i.e._, to +Mecca). The ambiguity of the word meaning 'place of return' (_ma`ád_) +gave some colour to Ibn Sabá's contention that it alluded to the return +of Mu[h.]ammad at the end of the world. The descent of Jesus on earth is +reckoned by Moslems among the greater signs which will precede the +Resurrection. + +[401] This is a Jewish idea. `Alí stands in the same relation to +Mu[h.]ammad as Aaron to Moses. + +[402] [T.]abarí, _loc. cit._ + +[403] Shahrastání, ed. by Cureton, p. 132, l. 15. + +[404] _Aghání_, viii, 32, l. 17 sqq. The three sons of `Alí are [H.]asan, +[H.]usayn, and Mu[h.]ammad Ibnu ´l-[H.]anafiyya. + +[405] Concerning the origin of these sects see Professor Browne's _Lit. +Hist. of Persia_, vol. i, p. 295 seq. + +[406] See Darmesteter's interesting essay, _Le Mahdi depuis les origines +de l'Islam jusqu'à nos jours_ (Paris, 1885). The subject is treated more +scientifically by Snouck Hurgronje in his paper _Der Mahdi_, reprinted +from the _Revue coloniale internationale_ (1886). + +[407] _[S.]iddíq_ means 'veracious.' Professor Bevan remarks that in +this root the notion of 'veracity' easily passes into that of +'endurance,' 'fortitude.' + +[408] [T.]abarí, ii, 546. These 'Penitents' were free Arabs of Kúfa, a +fact which, as Wellhausen has noticed, would seem to indicate that the +_ta`ziya_ is Semitic in origin. + +[409] Wellhausen, _Die religiös-politischen Oppositionsparteien_, p. 79. + +[410] [T.]abarí, ii, 650, l. 7 sqq. + +[411] Shahrastání, Haarbrücker's translation, Part I, p. 169. + +[412] Von Kremer, _Culturgeschicht_. _Streifzüge_, p. 2 sqq. + +[413] The best account of the early Murjites that has hitherto appeared +is contained in a paper by Van Vloten, entitled _Irdjâ_ (_Z.D.M.G._, +vol. 45, p. 161 sqq.). The reader may also consult Shahrastání, +Haarbrücker's trans., Part I, p. 156 sqq.; Goldziher, _Muhammedanische +Studien_, Part II, p. 89 sqq.; Van Vloten, _La domination Arabe_, p. 31 +seq. + +[414] Van Vloten thinks that in the name 'Murjite' (_murji´_) there is +an allusion to Koran, ix, 107: "_And others are remanded (murjawna) +until God shall decree; whether He shall punish them or take pity on +them--for God is knowing and wise._" + +[415] _Cf._ the poem of Thábit Qu[t.]na (_Z.D.M.G._, _loc. cit._, p. +162), which states the whole Murjite doctrine in popular form. The +author, who was himself a Murjite, lived in Khurásán during the latter +half of the first century A.H. + +[416] Van Vloten, _La domination Arabe_, p. 29 sqq. + +[417] Ibn [H.]azm, cited in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 45, p. 169, n. 7. Jahm (+ +about 747 A.D.) was a Persian, as might be inferred from the boldness of +his speculations. + +[418] [H.]asan himself inclined for a time to the doctrine of free-will, +but afterwards gave it up (Ibn Qutayba, _Kitábu ´l-Ma`árif_, p. 225). He +is said to have held that everything happens by fate, except sin +(_Al-Mu`tazilah_, ed. by T. W. Arnold, p. 12, l. 3 from foot). See, +however, Shahrastání, Haarbrücker's trans., Part I, p. 46. + +[419] Koran, lxxiv, 41. + +[420] _Ibid._, xli, 46. + +[421] _Kitábu ´l-Ma`árif_, p. 301. Those who held the doctrine of +free-will were called the Qadarites (_al-Qadariyya_), from _qadar_ +(power), which may denote (1) the power of God to determine human +actions, and (2) the power of man to determine his own actions. Their +opponents asserted that men act under compulsion (_jabr_); hence they +were called the Jabarites (_al-Jabariyya_). + +[422] As regards Ghaylán see _Al-Mu`tazilah_, ed. by T. W. Arnold, p. +15, l. 16 sqq. + +[423] Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. iii, p. 642; +Shahrastání, trans. by Haarbrücker, Part I, p. 44. + +[424] Sha`rání, _Lawáqihu ´l-Anwár_ (Cairo, 1299 A.H.), p. 31. + +[425] _Ibid._ + +[426] See Von Kremer, _Herrschende Ideen_, p. 52 sqq.; Goldziher, +_Materialien zur Entwickelungsgesch. des Súfismus_ (_Vienna Oriental +Journal_, vol. 13, p. 35 sqq.). + +[427] Sha`rání, _Lawáqi[h.]_, p. 38. + +[428] Qushayrí's _Risála_ (1287 A.H.), p. 77, l. 10. + +[429] _Tadhkiratu ´l-Awliyá_ of Farídu´ddín `A[t.][t.]ár, Part I, p. 37, +l. 8 of my edition. + +[430] _Kámil_ (ed. by Wright), p. 57, l. 16. + +[431] The point of this metaphor lies in the fact that Arab horses were +put on short commons during the period of training, which usually began +forty days before the race. + +[432] _Kámil_, p. 57, last line. + +[433] _Kámil_, p. 58, l. 14. + +[434] _Ibid._, p. 67, l. 9. + +[435] _Ibid._, p. 91, l. 14. + +[436] _Ibid._, p. 120, l. 4. + +[437] Qushayrí's _Risála_, p. 63, last line. + +[438] It is noteworthy that Qushayrí (+ 1073 A.D.), one of the oldest +authorities on [S.]úfiism, does not include [H.]asan among the [S.]úfí +Shaykhs whose biographies are given in the _Risála_ (pp. 8-35), and +hardly mentions him above half a dozen times in the course of his work. +The sayings of [H.]asan which he cites are of the same character as +those preserved in the _Kámil_. + +[439] See Nöldeke's article, _'[S.][=u]f[=i]_,' in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 48, +p. 45. + +[440] An allusion to _safá_ occurs in thirteen out of the seventy +definitions of [S.]úfí and [S.]úfiism (_Ta[s.]awwuf_) which are +contained in the _Tadhkiratu ´l-Awliyá_, or 'Memoirs of the Saints,' of +the well-known Persian mystic, Farídu´ddín `A[t.][t.]ár (+ _circa_ 1230 +A.D.), whereas _[s.]úf_ is mentioned only twice. + +[441] Said by Bishr al-[H.]áfí (the bare-footed), who died in 841-842 +A.D. + +[442] Said by Junayd of Baghdád (+ 909-910 A.D.), one of the most +celebrated [S.]úfí Shaykhs. + +[443] Ibn Khaldún's _Muqaddima_ (Beyrout, 1900), p. 467 = vol. iii, p. +85 seq. of the French translation by De Slane. The same things are said +at greater length by Suhrawardí in his _`Awárifu ´l-Ma`árif_ (printed on +the margin of Ghazálí's _I[h.]yá_, Cairo, 1289 A.H.), vol. i, p. 172 _et +seqq._ _Cf._ also the passage from Qushayrí translated by Professor E. +G. Browne on pp. 297-298 of vol. i. of his _Literary History of Persia_. + +[444] Suhrawardí, _loc. cit._, p. 136 seq. + +[445] _Loc. cit._, p. 145. + +[446] _I.e._, he yields himself unreservedly to the spiritual 'states' +(_a[h.]wál_) which pass over him, according as God wills. + +[447] Possibly Ibráhím was one of the _Shikaftiyya_ or 'Cave-dwellers' +of Khurásán (_shikaft_ means 'cave' in Persian), whom the people of +Syria called _al-Jú`íyya_, _i.e._, 'the Fasters.' See Suhrawardí, _loc. +cit._, p. 171. + +[448] Ghazálí, _I[h.]yá_ (Cairo, 1289 A.H.), vol. iv, p. 298. + +[449] Brockelmann, _Gesch. d. Arab. Litteratur_, vol. i, p. 45. + +[450] _E.g._, Ma`bad, Gharí[d.], Ibn Surayj, [T.]uways, and Ibn `Á´isha. + +[451] _Kámil_ of Mubarrad, p. 570 sqq. + +[452] _Aghání_, i, 43, l. 15 sqq.; Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 17, last +line and foll. + +[453] Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 9, l. 11 sqq., omitting l. 13. + +[454] An edition of the _Naqá´i[d.]_ by Professor A. A. Bevan has been +published at Leyden. + +[455] _Aghání_, vii, 55, l. 12 sqq. + +[456] _Aghání_, vii, 182, l. 23 sqq. + +[457] _Ibid._, vii, 183, l. 6 sqq. + +[458] _Ibid._, p. 178, l. 1 seq. + +[459] _Ibid._, xiii, 148, l. 23. + +[460] _Encomium Omayadarum_, ed. by Houtsma (Leyden, 1878). + +[461] _Aghání_, vii, 172, l. 27 sqq. + +[462] _Ibid._, p. 179, l. 25 sqq. + +[463] _Ibid._, p. 178, l. 26 seq. + +[464] _Aghání_, xix, 34, l. 18. + +[465] _Kámil_ of Mubarrad, p. 70, l. 17 sqq. + +[466] Al-Kusa`í broke an excellent bow which he had made for himself. +See _The Assemblies of [H.]arírí_, trans. by Chenery, p. 351. Professor +Bevan remarks that this half-verse is an almost verbal citation from a +verse ascribed to `Adí b. Maríná of [H.]íra, an enemy of `Adí b. Zayd +the poet (_Aghání_, ii, 24, l. 5). + +[467] Ibn Khallikán (ed. by Wüstenfeld), No. 129; De Slane's translation +vol. i, p. 298. + +[468] _Aghání_, iii, 23, l. 13. + +[469] _Aghání_, vii, 49, l. 8 sqq. + +[470] The following account is mainly derived from Goldziher's _Muhamm. +Studien_, Part II, p. 203 sqq. + +[471] _Cf._ Browne's _Lit. Hist. of Persia_, vol. i, p. 230. + +[472] Nöldeke, _Sketches from Eastern History_, tr. by J. S. Black, p. +108 seq. + +[473] Wellhausen, _Das Arabische Reich_, p. 307. + +[474] _Recherches sur la domination Arabe_, p. 46 sqq. + +[475] Dínawarí, ed. by Guirgass, p. 356. + +[476] _Ibid._, p. 360, l. 15. The whole poem has been translated by +Professor Browne in his _Literary History of Persia_, vol. i, p. 242. + +[477] _Sketches from Eastern History_, p. 111. + +[478] Professor Bevan, to whose kindness I owe the following +observations, points out that this translation of _al-Saffá[h.]_, +although it has been generally adopted by European scholars, is very +doubtful. According to Professor De Goeje, _al-Saffá[h.]_ means 'the +munificent' (literally, 'pouring out' gifts, &c.). In any case it is +important to notice that the name was given to certain Pre-islamic +chieftains. Thus Salama b. Khálid, who commanded the Banú Taghlib at the +first battle of al-Kuláb (Ibnu ´l-Athír, ed. by Tornberg, vol. i, p. +406, last line), is said to have been called _al-Saffá[h.]_ because he +'emptied out' the skin bottles (_mazád_) of his army before a battle +(Ibn Durayd, ed. by Wüstenfeld, p. 203, l. 16); and we find mention of a +poet named al-Saffá[h.] b. `Abd Manát (_ibid._, p. 277, penult. line). + +[479] See p. 205. + +[480] G. Le Strange, _Baghdad under the Abbasid Caliphate_, p. 4 seq. + +[481] Professor De Goeje has kindly given me the following +references:--[T.]abarí, ii, 78, l. 10, where Ziyád is called the _Wazír_ +of Mu`áwiya; Ibn Sa`d, iii, 121, l. 6 (Abú Bakr the _Wazír_ of the +Prophet). The word occurs in Pre-islamic poetry (Ibn Qutayba, _K. +al-Shi`r wa-´l-Shu`ará_, p. 414, l. 1). Professor De Goeje adds that the +`Abbásid Caliphs gave the name _Wazír_ as title to the minister who was +formerly called _Kátib_ (Secretary). Thus it would seem that the Arabic +_Wazír_ (literally 'burden-bearer'), who was at first merely a 'helper' +or 'henchman,' afterwards became the representative and successor of the +_Dapír_ (official scribe or secretary) of the Sásánian kings. + +[482] This division is convenient, and may be justified on general +grounds. In a strictly political sense, the period of decline begins +thirty years earlier with the Caliphate of Ma´mún (813-833 A.D.). The +historian Abu ´l-Ma[h.]ásin (+ 1469 A.D.) dates the decline of the +Caliphate from the accession of Muktafí in 902 A.D. (_al-Nujúm +al-Záhira_, ed. by Juynboll, vol. ii, p. 134). + +[483] See Nöldeke's essay, _Caliph Man[s.]ur_, in his _Sketches from +Eastern History_, trans. by J. S. Black, p. 107 sqq. + +[484] Professor Browne has given an interesting account of these +ultra-Shí`ite insurgents in his _Lit. Hist. of Persia_, vol. i, ch. ix. + +[485] [T.]abarí, iii, 404, l. 5 sqq. + +[486] [T.]abarí, iii, 406, l. 1 sqq. + +[487] _Murúju ´l-Dhahab_, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. iv, p. 47 seq. + +[488] When the Caliph Hádí wished to proclaim his son Ja`far +heir-apparent instead of Hárún, Ya[h.]yá pointed out the danger of this +course and dissuaded him (_al-Fakhrí_, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 281). + +[489] Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 105. + +[490] Mas`údí, _Murúju ´l-Dhahab_, vol. vi, p. 364. + +[491] See, for example, _Haroun Alraschid_, by E. H. Palmer, in the New +Plutarch Series, p. 81 sqq. + +[492] _Cf._ A. Müller, _Der Islam_, vol. i, p. 481 seq. + +[493] Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 112. + +[494] Literally, "No father to your father!" a common form of +imprecation. + +[495] Green was the party colour of the `Alids, black of the `Abbásids. + +[496] _Al-Nujúm al-Záhira_, ed. by Juynboll, vol. i, p. 631. + +[497] The court remained at Sámarrá for fifty-six years (836-892 A.D.). +The official spelling of Sámarrá was _Surra-man-ra´á_, which may be +freely rendered 'The Spectator's Joy.' + +[498] My account of these dynasties is necessarily of the briefest and +barest character. The reader will find copious details concerning most +of them in Professor Browne's _Literary History of Persia_: [S.]affárids +and Sámánids in vol. i, p. 346 sqq.; Fá[t.]imids in vol. i, pp. 391-400 +and vol. ii, p. 196 sqq.; Ghaznevids in vol. ii, chap. ii; and Seljúqs, +_ibid._, chaps. iii to v. + +[499] Ibn Abí Usaybi`a, _[T.]abaqátu ´l-Atibbá_, ed. by A. Müller, vol. +ii, p. 4, l. 4 sqq. Avicenna was at this time scarcely eighteen years of +age. + +[500] `Abdu ´l-Hamíd flourished in the latter days of the Umayyad +dynasty. See Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 173, +Mas`údí, _Murúju ´l-Dhahab_, vol. vi, p. 81. + +[501] See Professor Margoliouth's Introduction to the _Letters of `Abu +´l-`Alá al-Ma`arrí_, p. xxiv. + +[502] Abu ´l-Mahásin, _al-Nujúm al-Záhira_, ed. by Juynboll, vol. ii, p. +333. The original Ráfi[d.]ites were those schismatics who rejected +(_rafa[d.]a_) the Caliphs Abú Bakr and `Umar, but the term is generally +used as synonymous with Shí`ite. + +[503] Mutanabbí, ed. by Dieterici, p. 148, last line and foll. + +[504] D. B. Macdonald, _Muslim Theology_, p. 43 seq. + +[505] I regret that lack of space compels me to omit the further history +of the Fá[t.]imids. Readers who desire information on this subject may +consult Stanley Lane-Poole's _History of Egypt in the Middle Ages_; +Wüstenfeld's _Geschichte der Fa[t.]imiden-Chalifen_ (Göttingen, 1881); +and Professor Browne's _Lit. Hist. of Persia_, vol. ii, p. 196 sqq. + +[506] Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 441. + +[507] See the Introduction. + +[508] Ibn Khaldún, _Muqaddima_ (Beyrout, 1900), p. 543 seq.--De Slane, +_Prolegomena_, vol. iii, p. 296 sqq. + +[509] _Cf._ Goldziher, _Muhamm. Studien_, Part I, p. 114 seq. + +[510] Read _mashárátí ´l-buqúl_ (beds of vegetables), not _mushárát_ as +my rendering implies. The change makes little difference to the sense, +but _mashárat_, being an Aramaic word, is peculiarly appropriate here. + +[511] _Aghání_, xii, 177, l. 5 sqq; Von Kremer, _Culturgesch. +Streifzüge_, p. 32. These lines are aimed, as has been remarked by S. +Khuda Bukhsh (_Contributions to the History of Islamic Civilisation_, +Calcutta, 1905, p. 92), against Nabatæans who falsely claimed to be +Persians. + +[512] The name is derived from Koran, xlix, 13: "_O Men, We have created +you of a male and a female and have made you into peoples_ (shu`úban) +_and tribes, that ye might know one another. Verily the noblest of you +in the sight of God are they that do most fear Him._" Thus the +designation 'Shu`úbite' emphasises the fact that according to +Mu[h.]ammad's teaching the Arab Moslems are no better than their +non-Arab brethren. + +[513] _Muhamm. Studien_, Part I, p. 147 sqq. + +[514] The term _Falsafa_ properly includes Logic, Metaphysics, +Mathematics, Medicine, and the Natural Sciences. + +[515] Here we might add the various branches of Mathematics, such as +Arithmetic, Algebra, Mechanics, &c. + +[516] `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]man Jámí (+ 1492 A.D.). + +[517] I am deeply indebted in the following pages to Goldziher's essay +entitled _Alte und Neue Poesie im Urtheile der Arabischen Kritiker_ in +his _Abhand. zur Arab. Philologie_, Part I, pp. 122-174. + +[518] _Cf._ the remark made by Abú `Amr b. al-`Alá about the poet +Akh[t.]al (p. 242 _supra_). + +[519] _Diwan des Abu Nowas, Die Weinlieder_, ed. by Ahlwardt, No. 10, +vv. 1-5. + +[520] Ed. by De Goeje, p. 5, ll. 5-15. + +[521] _Cf._ the story told of Abú Tammám by Ibn Khallikán (De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 350 seq.). + +[522] See Nöldeke, _Beiträge_, p. 4. + +[523] Ibn Khaldún, _Muqaddima_ (Beyrout, 1900), p. 573, l. 21 seq.; +_Prolegomena_ of Ibn K., translated by De Slane, vol. iii, p. 380. + +[524] See Professor Browne's _Literary History of Persia_, vol. ii, p. +14 sqq. + +[525] _Aghání_, xii, 80, l. 3. + +[526] Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. i, p. 46 seq., where the reader +will find the Arabic text of the verses translated here. Rückert has +given a German rendering of the same verses in his _Hamâsa_, vol. i, p. +311. A fuller text of the poem occurs in _Aghání_, xii, 107 seq. + +[527] _Díwán_, ed. by Ahlwardt, _Die Weinlieder_, No. 26, v. 4. + +[528] Ibn Qutayba, _K. al-Shi`r wa-´l-Shu`ará_, p. 502, l. 13. + +[529] For the famous ascetic, [H.]asan of Ba[s.]ra, see pp. 225-227. +Qatáda was a learned divine, also of Ba[s.]ra and contemporary with +[H.]asan. He died in 735 A.D. + +[530] These verses are quoted by Ibn Qutayba, _op. cit._, p. 507 seq. +'The Scripture' (_al-ma[s.][h.]af_) is of course the Koran. + +[531] _Die Weinlieder_, ed. by Ahlwardt, No. 47. + +[532] _Ibid._, No. 29, vv. 1-3. + +[533] Ibn Khallikán, ed. by Wüstenfeld, No. 169, p. 100; De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 393. + +[534] _Cf._ _Díwán_ (ed. of Beyrout, 1886), p. 279, l. 9, where he +reproaches one of his former friends who deserted him because, in his +own words, "I adopted the garb of a dervish" (_[s.]irtu fi ziyyi +miskíni_). Others attribute his conversion to disgust with the +immorality and profanity of the court-poets amongst whom he lived. + +[535] Possibly he alludes to these aspersions in the verse (_ibid._, p. +153, l. 10): "_Men have become corrupted, and if they see any one who is +sound in his religion, they call him a heretic_" (_mubtadi`_). + +[536] Abu ´l-`Atáhiya declares that knowledge is derived from three +sources, logical reasoning (_qiyás_), examination (_`iyár_), and oral +tradition (_samá`_). See his _Díwán_, p. 158, l. 11. + +[537] _Cf._ _Mání, seine Lehre und seine Schriften_, by G. Flügel, p. +281, l. 3 sqq. Abu ´l-`Atáhiya did not take this extreme view (_Díwán_, +p. 270, l. 3 seq.). + +[538] See Shahrastání, Haarbrücker's translation, Part I, p. 181 sqq. It +appears highly improbable that Abu ´l-`Atáhiya was a Shí`ite. _Cf._ the +verses (_Díwán_, p. 104, l. 13 seq.), where, speaking of the prophets +and the holy men of ancient Islam, he says:-- + + "_Reckon first among them Abú Bakr, the veracious, + And exclaim 'O `Umar!' in the second place of honour. + And reckon the father of [H.]asan after `Uthmán, + For the merit of them both is recited and celebrated._" + +[539] _Aghání_, iii, 128, l. 6 sqq. + +[540] _Transactions of the Ninth Congress of Orientalists_, vol. ii. p. +114. + +[541] _Díwán_, p. 274, l. 10. _Cf._ the verse (p. 199, penultimate +line):-- + + "_When I gained contentment, I did not cease (thereafter) + To be a king, regarding riches as poverty._" + +The ascetic "lives the life of a king" (_ibid._, p. 187, l. 5). +Contented men are the noblest of all (p. 148, l. 2). So the great +Persian mystic, Jalálu ´l-Dín Rúmí, says in reference to the perfect +[S.]úfí (_Díván-i Shams-i Tabríz_, No. viii, v. 3 in my edition): +_Mard-i khudá sháh buvad zír-i dalq_, "the man of God is a king 'neath +dervish-cloak;" and eminent spiritualists are frequently described as +"kings of the (mystic) path." I do not deny, however, that this metaphor +may have been originally suggested by the story of Buddha. + +[542] _Díwán_, p. 25, l. 3 sqq. Abu ´l-`Atáhiya took credit to himself +for introducing 'the language of the market-place' into his poetry +(_ibid._ p. 12, l. 3 seq.). + +[543] _Díwán_ (Beyrout, 1886), p. 23, l. 13 et seqq. + +[544] _Ibid._, p. 51, l. 2. + +[545] _Ibid._, p. 132, l. 3. + +[546] _Ibid._, p. 46, l. 16. + +[547] _Díwán_, p. 260, l. 11 _et seqq._ + +[548] _Ibid._, p. 295, l. 14 _et seqq._ + +[549] _Ibid._, p. 287, l. 10 seq. + +[550] _Ibid._, p. 119, l. 11. + +[551] _Ibid._, p. 259, penultimate line _et seq._ + +[552] _Ibid._, p. 115, l. 4. + +[553] _Díwán_, p. 51, l. 10. + +[554] _Ibid._, p. 133, l. 5. + +[555] _Ibid._, p. 74, l. 4. + +[556] _Ibid._, p. 149, l. 12 seq. + +[557] _Ibid._, p. 195, l. 9. _Cf._ p. 243, l. 4 seq. + +[558] _Ibid._, p. 274, l. 6. + +[559] _Ibid._, p. 262, l. 4. + +[560] _Ibid._, p. 346, l. 11. _Cf._ p. 102, l. 11; p. 262, l. 1 seq.; p. +267, l. 7. This verse is taken from Abu ´l-`Atáhiya's famous didactic +poem composed in rhyming couplets, which is said to have contained 4,000 +sentences of morality. Several of these have been translated by Von +Kremer in his _Culturgeschichte des Orients_, vol. ii, p. 374 sqq. + +[561] In one of his poems (_Díwán_, p. 160, l. 11), he says that he has +lived ninety years, but if this is not a mere exaggeration, it needs to +be corrected. The words for 'seventy' and 'ninety' are easily confused +in Arabic writing. + +[562] Tha`álibí, _Yatimatu ´l-Dahr_ (Damascus, 1304 A.H.), vol. i, p. 8 +seq. + +[563] See Von Kremer's _Culturgeschichte_, vol. ii, p. 381 sqq.; +Ahlwardt, _Poesie und Poetik der Araber_, p. 37 sqq.; R. Dvorak, _Abú +Firás, ein arabischer Dichter und Held_ (Leyden, 1895). + +[564] Mutanabbí, ed. by Dieterici, p. 493. Wá[h.]idí gives the whole +story in his commentary on this verse. + +[565] Mutanabbí, it is said, explained to Sayfu ´l-Dawla that by _surra_ +(gladden) he meant _surriyya_; whereupon the good-humoured prince +presented him with a slave-girl. + +[566] Literally, "Do not imagine fat in one whose (apparent) fat is +(really) a tumour." + +[567] _Díwán_, ed. by Dieterici, pp. 481-484. + +[568] The most esteemed commentary is that of Wá[h.]idí (+ 1075 A.D.), +which has been published by Fr. Dieterici in his edition of Mutanabbí +(Berlin, 1858-1861). + +[569] _Motenebbi, der grösste arabische Dichter_ (Vienna, 1824). + +[570] _Abulfedæ Annales Muslemici_ (Hafniæ, 1789, &c.), vol. ii, p. 774. +_Cf._ his notes on [T.]arafa's _Mu`allaqa_, of which he published an +edition in 1742. + +[571] _Chrestomathie Arabe_ (2nd edition), vol. iii, p. 27 sqq. _Journal +des Savans_, January, 1825, p. 24 sqq. + +[572] _Commentatio de Motenabbio_ (Bonn, 1824). + +[573] _Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur_ (Weimar, 1898, &c.), vol. +i, p. 86. + +[574] I have made free use of Dieterici's excellent work entitled +_Mutanabbi und Seifuddaula aus der Edelperle des Tsaâlibi_ (Leipzig, +1847), which contains on pp. 49-74 an abstract of Tha`álibí's criticism +in the fifth chapter of the First Part of the _Yatíma_. + +[575] Mutanabbí, ed. by Dieterici, p. 182, vv. 3-9, omitting v. 5. + +[576] The author of these lines, which are quoted by Ibn Khallikán in +his article on Mutanabbí, is Abu ´l-Qásim b. al-Mu[z.]affar b. `Alí +al-[T.]abasí. + +[577] Mutanabbí, ed. by Dieterici, p. 581, v. 27. + +[578] _Ibid._, p. 472, v. 5. + +[579] Mutanabbí, ed. by Dieterici, p. 341, v. 8. + +[580] Margoliouth's Introduction to the _Letters of Abu ´l-`Alá_, p. +xxii. + +[581] _Ibid._, p. xxvii seq. + +[582] _Luzúmiyyát_ (Cairo, 1891), vol. i, p. 201. + +[583] _I.e._, his predecessors of the modern school. Like Mutanabbí, he +ridicules the conventional types (_asálíb_) in which the old poetry is +cast _Cf._ Goldziher, _Abhand. zur Arab. Philologie_, Part I, p. 146 seq. + +[584] The proper title is _Luzúmu má lá yalzam_, referring to a +technical difficulty which the poet unnecessarily imposed on himself +with regard to the rhyme. + +[585] _Abulfedæ Annales Muslemici_, ed. by Adler (1789-1794), vol. iii, +p. 677. + +[586] _Literaturgesch. der Araber_, vol. vi, p. 900 sqq. + +[587] _Sitzungsberichte der Philosophisch-Historischen Classe der +Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften_, vol. cxvii, 6th Abhandlung +(Vienna, 1889). Select passages admirably rendered by Von Kremer into +German verse will be found in the _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 29, pp. 304-312; vol. +30, pp. 40-52; vol. 31, pp. 471-483; vol. 38, pp. 499-529. + +[588] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 38, p. 507; Margoliouth, _op. cit._, p. 131, l. +15 of the Arabic text. + +[589] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 29, p. 308. + +[590] Margoliouth, _op. cit._, p. 133 of the Arabic text. + +[591] This passage occurs in Abu ´l-`Alá's _Risálatu ´l-Ghufrán_ (see +_infra_), _J.R.A.S._ for 1902, p. 351. _Cf._ the verses translated by +Von Kremer in his essay on Abu ´l-`Alá, p. 23. + +[592] For the term '[H.]aníf' see p. 149 _supra_. Here it is synonymous +with 'Muslim.' + +[593] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 38, p. 513. + +[594] This work, of which only two copies exist in Europe--one at +Constantinople and another in my collection--has been described and +partially translated in the _J.R.A.S._ for 1900, pp. 637-720, and for +1902, pp. 75-101, 337-362, and 813-847. + +[595] Margoliouth, _op. cit._, p. 132, last line of the Arabic text. + +[596] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 31, p. 483. + +[597] De Gobineau, _Les religions et les philosophies dans l'Asie +centrale_, p. 11 seq. + +[598] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 31, p. 477. + +[599] _Ibid._, vol. 29, p. 311. + +[600] _Z.D.M.G._ vol. 38, p. 522. + +[601] According to De Goeje, _Mémoires sur les Carmathes du Bahrain_, p. +197, n. 1, these lines refer to a prophecy made by the Carmathians that +the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, which took place in 1047 A.D. +would herald the final triumph of the Fá[t.]imids over the `Abbásids. + +[602] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 38, p. 504. + +[603] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 31, p. 474. + +[604] _Luzúmiyyát_ (Cairo, 1891), i, 394. + +[605] _Ibid._, i, 312. + +[606] Von Kremer, _op. cit._, p. 38. + +[607] _Safar-náma_, ed. by Schefer, p. 10 seq. = pp. 35-36 of the +translation. + +[608] _Luzúmiyyát_, 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 [T.]ughrá´í in Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 462. + +[611] _Ibid._, vol. iii, p. 355. + +[612] The spirit of fortitude and patience (_[h.]amása_) is exhibited by +both poets, but in a very different manner. Shanfará describes a man of +heroic nature. [T.]ughrá´í wraps himself in his virtue and moralises +like a Mu[h.]ammadan Horace. [S.]afadí, however, says in his commentary +on [T.]ughrá´í's ode (I translate from a MS. copy in my possession): "It +is named _Lámiyyatu ´l-`Ajam_ by way of comparing it with the _Lámiyyatu +´l-`Arab_, because it resembles the latter in its wise sentences and +maxims." + +[613] _I.e._, the native of Abú[s.]ir (Bú[s.]ír), a village in Egypt. + +[614] The _Burda_, ed. by C. A. Ralfs (Vienna, 1860), verse 140; _La +Bordah traduite et commentée par René Basset_ (Paris, 1894), verse 151. + +[615] This appears to be a reminiscence of the fact that Mu[h.]ammad +gave his own mantle as a gift to Ka`b b. Zuhayr, when that poet recited +his famous ode, _Bánat Su`ád_ (see p. 127 _supra_). + +[616] _Maqáma_ (plural, _maqámát_) is properly 'a place of standing'; +hence, an assembly where people stand listening to the speaker, and in +particular, an assembly for literary discussion. At an early period +reports of such conversations and discussions received the name of +_maqámát_ (see Brockelmann, _Gesch. der Arab. Litteratur_, vol. i, p. +94). The word in its literary sense is usually translated by 'assembly,' +or by the French '_séance_.' + +[617] _The Assemblies of al-[H.]arírí_, 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 +_Assemblies_ 27-50) by F. Steingass appeared in 1898. + +[618] A full account of his career will be found in the Preface to +Houtsma's _Recueil de textes relatifs à 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 Hamadhání. + +[620] The above passage is taken, with some modification, from the +version of [H.]arírí 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 Pehleví into Arabic by Ibnu ´l-Muqaffa` (+ +_circa_ 760 A.D.). + +[622] _Al-Fakhrí_, 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-Fidá, ed. by Reiske, vol. iii, p. 332). + +[624] The 48th _Maqáma_ 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 Rückert (_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 +_Assembly_, is given by Chenery, _op. cit._, p. 138. + +[628] _Ibid._, p. 163. + +[629] Two grammatical treatises by [H.]arírí have come down to us. In +one of these, entitled _Durratu ´l-Ghawwá[s.]_ ('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-Khayyámí for `Umar Khayyám. The +spelling Ghazzálí (with a double _z_) was in general use when Ibn +Khallikán wrote his Biographical Dictionary in 1256 A.D. (see De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 80), but according to Sam`ání the name is +derived from Ghazála, a village near [T.]ús; in which case Ghazálí is +the correct form of the _nisba_. I have adopted 'Ghazalí' in deference +to Sam`ání's authority, but those who write 'Ghazzálí' can at least +claim that they err in very good company. + +[633] Shamsu ´l-Dín al-Dhahabí (+ 1348 A.D.). + +[634] `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]ím al-Isnawí (+ 1370 A.D.), author of a +biographical work on the Sháfi`ite doctors. See Brockelmann, _Gesch. der +Arab. Litt._, vol. ii, p. 90. + +[635] Abu ´l-Ma`álí al-Juwayní, a famous theologian of Naysábúr (+ 1085 +A.D.), received this title, which means 'Imám of the Two Sanctuaries,' +because he taught for several years at Mecca and Medína. + +[636] _I.e._, the camp-court of the Seljúq monarch Maliksháh, son of Alp +Arslán. + +[637] According to his own account in the _Munqidh_, Ghazálí on leaving +Baghdád 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-Dín. + +[639] Ghazálí's return to public life took place in 1106 A.D. + +[640] The correct title of Ibn [H.]azm's work is uncertain. In the Cairo +ed. (1321 A.H.) it is called _Kitábu ´l-Fi[s.]al fi ´l-Milal wa ´l-Ahwá +wa ´l-Ni[h.]al_. + +[641] See p. 195 _supra_. + +[642] Kor. ix, 3. The translation runs ("This is a declaration) _that +God is clear of the idolaters, and His Apostle likewise_." With the +reading _rasúlihi_ it means that God 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 Khallikán, 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, _Kitábu ´l-Ma`árif_, p. 269. + +[650] While Abú `Ubayda was notorious for his freethinking +proclivities, A[s.]ma`í 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 _résumé_ of the contents in his _Lit. +Hist. of Persia_, vol. i, p. 387 seq. + +[652] Ed. by Max Grünert (Leyden, 1900). + +[653] Vol. i ed. by C. Brockelmann (Weimar and Strassburg, 1898-1908). + +[654] The epithet _já[h.]i[z.]_ means 'goggle-eyed.' + +[655] See p. 267. + +[656] Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 250. + +[657] One of these, the eleventh of the complete work, has been edited +by Ahlwardt: _Anonyme Arabische Chronik_ (Greifswald, 1883). It covers +part of the reign of the Umayyad Caliph, `Abdu ´l-Malik (685-705 A.D.). + +[658] The French title is _Les Prairies d'Or_. Brockelmann, in his +shorter _Hist. of Arabic Literature_ (Leipzig, 1901), p. 110, states +that the correct translation of _Murúju ´l-Dhahab_ is 'Goldwäschen.' + +[659] Concerning [T.]abarí and his work the reader should consult De +Goeje's Introduction (published in the supplementary volume containing +the Glossary) to the Leyden edition, and his excellent article on +[T.]abarí and early Arab Historians in the _Encyclopædia Britannica_. + +[660] Abu ´l-Ma[h.]ásin, ed. by Juynboll, vol. i, p. 608. + +[661] _Selection from the Annals of Tabarí_, ed. by M. J. de Goeje +(Leyden, 1902), p. xi. + +[662] De Goeje's Introduction to [T.]abarí, p. xxvii. + +[663] Al-Bal`amí, the Vizier of Man[s.]úr I, the Sámánid, made in 963 +A.D. a Persian epitome of which a French translation by Dubeux and +Zotenberg was published in 1867-1874. + +[664] _Murúju ´l-Dhahab_, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. i, p. 5 seq. + +[665] The _Akhbáru ´l-Zamán_ in thirty volumes (one volume is extant at +Vienna) and the _Kitáb al-Awsa[t.]_. + +[666] _Murúju ´l-Dhahab_, p. 9 seq. + +[667] It may be noted as a coincidence that Ibn Khaldún calls Mas`údí +_imáman lil-mu´arrikhín_, "an Imám for all the historians," which +resembles, though it does not exactly correspond to, "the Father of +History." + +[668] Mas`údí gives a summary of the contents of his historical and +religious works in the Preface to the _Tanbíh wa-´l-Ishráf_, ed. by De +Goeje, p. 2 sqq. A translation of this passage by De Sacy will be found +in Barbier de Meynard's edition of the _Murúju ´l-Dhahab_, vol. ix, p. +302 sqq. + +[669] See _Murúj_, vol. i, p. 201, and vol. iii, p. 268. + +[670] _Ibid._, vol. ii, p. 372 sqq. + +[671] De Sacy renders the title by 'Le Livre de l'Indication et de +l'Admonition ou l'Indicateur et le Moniteur'; but see De Goeje's edition +of the text (Leyden, 1894), p. xxvii. + +[672] The full title is _Kitábu ´l-Kámil fi ´l-Ta´ríkh_, or 'The Perfect +Book of Chronicles.' It has been edited by Tornberg in fourteen volumes +(Leyden, 1851-1876). + +[673] Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 289. + +[674] An excellent account of the Arab geographers is given by Guy Le +Strange in the Introduction to his _Palestine under the Moslems_ +(London, 1890). De Goeje has edited the works of Ibn Khurdádbih, +I[s.][t.]akhrí, Ibn [H.]awqal, and Muqaddasí in the _Bibliotheca +Geographorum Arabicorum_ (Leyden, 1870, &c.) + +[675] De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 9 sqq. + +[676] P. 243. + +[677] The translators employed by the Banú Músá were paid at the rate of +about 500 dínárs a month (_ibid._, p. 43, l. 18 sqq.). + +[678] _Ibid._, p. 271; Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. iii, +p. 315. + +[679] A chapter at least would be required in order to set forth +adequately the chief material and intellectual benefits which European +civilisation has derived from the Arabs. The reader may consult Von +Kremer's _Culturgeschichte des Orients_, vol. ii, chapters 7 and 9; +Diercks, _Die Araber im Mittelalter_ (Leipzig, 1882); Sédillot, +_Histoire générale des Arabes_; Schack, _Poesie und Kunst der Araber in +Spanien und Sicilien_; Munk, _Mélanges de Philosophie Juive et Arabe_; +De Lacy O'Leary, _Arabic Thought and its Place in History_ (1922); and +Campbell, _Arabian Medicine and its Influence on the Middle Ages_ +(1926). A volume entitled _The Legacy of the Islamic World_, ed. by Sir +T. W. Arnold and Professor A. Guillaume, is in course of publication. + +[680] Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 440. + +[681] _The Chronology of Ancient Nations_ (London, 1879) and Alberuni's +_India_ (London, 1888). + +[682] P. 384 sqq. + +[683] The passages concerning the [S.]ábians were edited and translated, +with copious annotations, by Chwolsohn in his _Ssabier und Ssabismus_ +(St. Petersburg, 1856), vol. ii, p. 1-365, while Flügel made similar use +of the Manichæan portion in _Mani, seine Lehre und seine Schriften_ +(Leipzig, 1862). + +[684] Wellhausen, _Das Arabische Reich_, p. 350 seq. + +[685] See Goldziher, _Muhamm. Studien_, Part II, p. 53 sqq. + +[686] _Ibid._, p. 70 seq. + +[687] _Fragmenta Historicorum Arabicorum_, ed. by De Goeje and De Jong, +p. 298. + +[688] There are, of course, some partial exceptions to this rule, +_e.g._, Mahdí and Hárún al-Rashíd. + +[689] See p. 163, note. + +[690] Several freethinkers of this period attempted to rival the Koran +with their own compositions. See Goldziher, _Muhamm. Studien_, Part II, +p. 401 seq. + +[691] _Al-Nujúm al-Záhira_, ed. by Juynboll, vol. i, p. 639. + +[692] This is the literal translation of _Ikhwánu ´l-Safá_, but +according to Arabic idiom 'brother of purity' (_akhu ´l-[s.]afá_) simply +means 'one who is pure or sincere,' as has been shown by Goldziher, +_Muhamm. Studien_, Part I, p. 9, note. The term does not imply any sort +of brotherhood. + +[693] Ibnu ´l-Qif[t.]í, _Ta´ ríkhu ´l-[H.]ukamá_ (ed. by Lippert), p. +83, l. 17 sqq. + +[694] _Notice sur un manuscrit de la secte des Assassins_, by P. +Casanova in the _Journal Asiatique_ for 1898, p 151 sqq. + +[695] De Goeje, _Mémoire sur les Carmathes_, p. 172. + +[696] _[S.]âli[h.] b. `Abd al-Quddûs und das Zindî[k.]thum während der +Regierung des Chalifen al-Mahdí in Transactions of the Ninth Congress of +Orientalists_, vol. ii, p. 105 seq. + +[697] [T.]abarí, iii, 522, 1. + +[698] _I.e._ the sacred books of the Manichæans, which were often +splendidly illuminated. See Von Kremer, _Culturgesch. Streifzüge_, p. +39. + +[699] _Cf._ [T.]abarí, iii, 499, 8 sqq. + +[700] _Ibid._, iii, 422, 19 sqq. + +[701] _Cf._ the saying "_A[z.]rafu mina ´l-Zindíq_" (Freytag, _Arabum +Proverbia_, vol. i, p. 214). + +[702] As Professor Bevan points out, it is based solely on the +well-known verse (_Aghání_, iii, 24, l. 11), which has come down to us +without the context:-- + + "_Earth is dark and Fire is bright, + And Fire has been worshipped ever since Fire existed._" + +[703] These popular preachers (_qu[s.][s.]á[s.]_) are admirably +described by Goldziher, _Muhamm. Studien_, Part II, p. 161 sqq. + +[704] The Arabic text of these verses will be found in Goldziher's +monograph, p. 122, ll. 6-7. + +[705] See a passage from the _Kitábu ´l-[H.]ayawán_, cited by Baron V. +Rosen in _Zapiski_, vol. vi, p. 337, and rendered into English in my +_Translations from Eastern Poetry and Prose_, p. 53. Probably these +monks were Manichæans, not Buddhists. + +[706] _Zaddíq_ is an Aramaic word meaning 'righteous.' Its etymological +equivalent in Arabic is _siddíq_, which has a different meaning, namely, +'veracious.' _Zaddíq_ passed into Persian in the form _Zandík_, which +was used by the Persians before Islam, and _Zindíq_ is the Arabicised +form of the latter word. For some of these observations I am indebted to +Professor Bevan. Further details concerning the derivation and meaning +of _Zindíq_ are given in Professor Browne's _Literary Hist. of Persia_ +(vol. i, p. 159 sqq.), where the reader will also find a lucid account +of the Manichæan doctrines. + +[707] Ibnu ´l-Athír, vol. viii, p. 229 seq. (anno 323 A.H. = 934-935 +A.D.). + +[708] _Ibid._, p. 98. + +[709] _Ibid._, p. 230 seq. + +[710] See p. 192. + +[711] _I.e._, he is saved from Hell but excluded from Paradise. + +[712] Ibn Khallikán, ed. by Wüstenfeld, No. 440; De Slane's translation, +vol. ii, p. 228. + +[713] The clearest statement of Ash`arí's doctrine with which I am +acquainted is contained in the Creed published by Spitta, _Zur +Geschichte Abu ´l-[H.]asan al-Ash`arí's_ (Leipzig, 1876), p. 133, l. 9 +sqq.; German translation, p. 95 sqq. It has been translated into English +by D. B. Macdonald in his _Muslim Theology_, p. 293 and foll. + +[714] _Op. cit._, p. 7 seq. + +[715] Schreiner, _Zur Geschichte des Ash`aritenthums_ in the _Proceedings +of the Eighth International Congress of Orientalists_ (1889), p. 5 of +the _tirage à part_. + +[716] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 31, p. 167. + +[717] See Goldziher in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 41, p. 63 seq., whence the +following details are derived. + +[718] See p. 339 seq. + +[719] I have used the Cairo edition of 1309 A.H. A French translation by +Barbier de Meynard was published in the _Journal Asiatique_ (January, +1877), pp. 9-93. + +[720] These are the Ismá`ílís or Bá[t.]inís (including the Carmathians +and Assassins). See p. 271 sqq. + +[721] _A Literary History of Persia_, vol. ii, p. 295 seq. + +[722] _The Life of al-Ghazz[=a]l[=i]_ in the _Journal of the American +Oriental Society_, vol. xx (1899), p. 122 sqq. + +[723] _Herrschende Ideen_, p. 67. + +[724] _Idee und Grundlinien einer allgemeiner Geschichte der Mystik_, an +academic oration delivered on November 22, 1892, and published at +Heidelberg in 1893. + +[725] The following sketch is founded on my paper, _An Historical +Enquiry concerning the Origin and Development of [S.]úfiism_ +(_J.R.A.S._, April, 1906, p. 303 sqq.). + +[726] This, so far as I know, is the oldest extant definition of +[S.]úfiism. + +[727] It is impossible not to recognise the influence of Greek +philosophy in this conception of Truth as Beauty. + +[728] Jámí says (_Nafahátu ´l-Uns_, ed. by Nassau Lees, p. 36): "He is +the head of this sect: they all descend from, and are related to, him." + +[729] See `A[t.][t.]ár's _Tadhkiratu ´l-Awliyá_, ed. by Nicholson, Part +I, p. 114; Jámí's _Nafa[h.]át_, p. 35; Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 291. + +[730] _Murúju ´l-Dhahab_, vol. ii, p. 401 seq. + +[731] The _Influence of Buddhism upon Islam_, by I. Goldziher (Budapest, +1903). As this essay is written in Hungarian, I have not been able to +consult it at first hand, but have used the excellent translation by Mr. +T. Duka, which appeared in the _J.R.A.S._ for January, 1904, pp. +125-141. + +[732] It was recognised by the [S.]úfís themselves that in some points +their doctrine was apparently based on Mu`tazilite principles. See +Sha`rání, _Lawáqi[h.]u ´l-Anwár_ (Cairo, 1299 A.H.), p. 14, l. 21 sqq. + +[733] This definition is by Abu ´l-[H.]usayn al-Núrí (+ 907-908 A.D.). + +[734] See Professor Browne's _Lit. Hist. of Persia_, vol. ii, p. 261 +sqq. + +[735] The _Díwán of `Umar Ibnu ´l-Fári[d.]_, ed. by Rushayyid +al-Da[h.]dá[h.] (Marseilles, 1853). + +[736] _I.e._, New and Old Cairo. + +[737] The _Díwán_, excluding the _Tá´iyyatu ´l-Kubrá_, has been edited +by Rushayyid al-Da[h.]dá[h.] (Marseilles, 1853). + +[738] _Díwán_, p. 219, l. 14 and p. 213, l. 18. + +[739] Ibnu ´l-Fári[d.], like Mutanabbí, shows a marked fondness for +diminutives. As he observes (_Díwán_, p. 552):-- + + _má qultu [h.]ubayyibí mina ´l-ta[h.]qíri + bal ya`dhubu ´smu ´l-shakh[s.]i bi-´l-ta[s.]ghíri._ + + "_Not in contempt I say 'my darling.' No! + By 'diminution' names do sweeter grow._" + +[740] _Dìwàn_, p. 472 sqq. A French rendering will be found at p. 41 of +Grangeret de Lagrange's _Anthologie Arabe_ (Paris, 1828). + +[741] The words of God to Moses (Kor. vii, 139). + +[742] _Díwán_, p. 257 sqq. + +[743] This refers to Kor. vii, 171. God drew forth from the loins of +Adam all future generations of men and addressed them, saying, "_Am not +I your Lord?_" They answered, "_Yes_," and thus, according to the +[S.]úfí interpretation, pledged themselves to love God for evermore. + +[744] _Díwán_, p. 142 sqq. + +[745] See _A Literary History of Persia_, vol. i, p. 428 sqq. But during +the last twenty years a great deal of new light has been thrown upon the +character and doctrines of [H.]alláj. See Appendix. + +[746] The best-known biography of Ibnu ´l-`Arabí occurs in Maqqarí's +_Naf[h.]u ´l-[T.]íb_, ed. by Dozy and others, vol. i, pp. 567-583. Much +additional information is contained in a lengthy article, which I have +extracted from a valuable MS. in my collection, the _Shadharátu +´l-Dhahab_, and published in the _J.R.A.S._ for 1906, pp. 806-824. _Cf._ +also Von Kremer's _Herrschende Ideen_, pp. 102-109. + +[747] Mu[h.]yi ´l-Dín means 'Reviver of Religion.' In the West he was +called Ibnu ´l-`Arabí, but the Moslems of the East left out the definite +article (_al_) in order to distinguish him from the Cadi Abú Bakr Ibnu +´l-`Arabí of Seville (+ 1151 A.D.). + +[748] _Al-Kibrít al-a[h.]mar_ (literally, 'the red sulphur'). + +[749] See Von Kremer, _op. cit._, p. 108 seq. + +[750] The above particulars are derived from an abstract of the +_Futú[h.]át_ made by `Abdu ´l-Wahháb al-Sha`rání (+ 1565 A.D.), of which +Fleischer has given a full description in the _Catalogue of Manuscripts +in the Leipzig Univ. Library_ (1838), pp. 490-495. + +[751] Maqqarí, i, 569, 11. + +[752] A[h.]mad b. [H.]anbal. + +[753] Abú [H.]anífa. + +[754] _Fu[s.]ú[s.]u ´l-[H.]ikam_ (Cairo, A.H. 1321), p. 78. The words +within brackets belong to the commentary of `Abdu ´l-Razzáq al-Káshání +which accompanies the text. + +[755] Ibnu ´l-`Arabí uses the term "Idea of ideas" (_[H.]aqíqatu +´l-[h.]aqá´iq_) as equivalent to [Greek: logos endiathetos], while "the +Idea of Mu[h.]ammad" (_al-[H.]aqíqatu ´l-Mu[h.]ammadiyya_) corresponds +to [Greek: logos prophorikos]. + +[756] The Arabic text of these verses will be found in the collection of +Ibnu ´l-`Arabí's mystical odes, entitled _Tarjumánu ´l-Ashwáq_, which I +have edited (Oriental Translation Fund, New Series, vol. xx, p. 19, vv. +13-15). + +[757] Ibnu ´l-`Arabí has been studied by Asin Palacios, Professor of +Arabic at Madrid, whose books are written in Spanish, and H. S. Nyberg +(_Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-`Arabí_, Leiden, 1919). A general view +may be obtained from my _Studies in Islamic Mysticism_, pp. 77-142 and +pp. 149-161. + +[758] See Asin Palacios, _Islam and the Divine Comedy_, London, 1926. + +[759] Abridged from Ibnu ´l-`Idhárí, _al-Bayán al-Mughrib_, ed. by Dozy, +vol. ii, p. 61 seq. + +[760] Ibn Khallikán, ed. by Wüstenfeld, No. 802; De Slane's translation, +vol. iv, p. 29 sqq. + +[761] Muqaddasí (ed. by De Goeje), p. 236, cited by Goldziher, _Die +Zâhiriten_, p. 114. + +[762] Dozy, _Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne_ (Leyden, 1861), vol. iii, +p. 90 sqq. + +[763] `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán III was the first of his line to assume this +title. + +[764] Maqqarí, vol. i, p. 259. As Maqqarí's work is our principal +authority for the literary history of Moslem Spain, I may conveniently +give some account of it in this place. The author, A[h.]mad b. +Mu[h.]ammad al-Tilimsání al-Maqqarí (+ 1632 A.D.) wrote a biography of +Ibnu ´l-Kha[t.]íb, the famous Vizier of Granada, to which he prefixed a +long and discursive introduction in eight chapters: (1) Description of +Spain; (2) Conquest of Spain by the Arabs; (3) History of the Spanish +dynasties; (4) Cordova; (5) Spanish-Arabian scholars who travelled in +the East; (6) Orientals who visited Spain; (7) Miscellaneous extracts, +anecdotes, poetical citations, &c., bearing on the literary history of +Spain; (8) Reconquest of Spain by the Christians and expulsion of the +Arabs. The whole work is entitled _Naf[h.]u ´l-[T.]íb min ghu[s.]ní +´l-Andalusi ´l-ra[t.]íb wa-dhikri wazírihá Lisáni ´l-Dín Ibni +´l-Kha[t.]íb_. The introduction, which contains a fund of curious and +valuable information--"a library in little"--has been edited by Dozy and +other European Arabists under the title of _Analectes sur l'Histoire et +la Littérature des Arabes d'Espagne_ (Leyden, 1855-1861). + +[765] The name of Slaves (_[S.]aqáliba_) was originally applied to +prisoners of war, belonging to various northern races, who were sold to +the Arabs of Spain, but the term was soon widened so as to include all +foreign slaves serving in the harem or the army, without regard to their +nationality. Like the Mamelukes and Janissaries, they formed a +privileged corps under the patronage of the palace, and since the reign +of `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán III their number and influence had steadily +increased. _Cf._ Dozy, _Hist. des Mus. d'Espagne_, vol. iii, p. 58 sqq. + +[766] Dozy, _op. cit._, vol. ii, p. 103 seq. + +[767] Qazwíní, _Átháru ´l-Bilád_, ed. by Wüstenfeld, p. 364, l. 5 sqq. + +[768] See Schack, _op. cit._, vol. ii, p. 46 sqq. + +[769] The Arabic original occurs in the 11th chapter of the _[H.]albatu +´l-Kumayt_, a collection of poems on wine and drinking by Mu[h.]ammad b. +[H.]asan al-Nawájí (+ 1455 A.D.), and is also printed in the _Anthologie +Arabe_ of Grangeret de Lagrange, p. 202. + +[770] _Al-[H.]ullat al-Siyará_ of Ibnu ´l-Abbár, ed. by Dozy, p. 34. In +the last line instead of "foes" the original has "the sons of `Abbás." +Other verses addressed by `Abdu ´l-Ra[h.]mán to this palm-tree are cited +by Maqqarí, vol. ii, p. 37. + +[771] Full details concerning Ziryáb will be found in Maqqarí, vol. ii, +p. 83 sqq. _Cf._ Dozy, _Hist. des Mus. d'Espagne_, vol. ii, p. 89 sqq. + +[772] Maqqarí, _loc. cit._, p. 87, l. 10 sqq. + +[773] Dozy, _Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne_, vol. iii, p. 107 sqq. + +[774] See the verses cited by Ibnu ´l-Athír, vol. viii, p. 457. + +[775] Ibn Khallikán, No. 697, De Slane's translation, vol. iii, p. 186. + +[776] Ibn Khallikán, _loc. cit._ + +[777] _Loc. cit._, p. 189. For the sake of clearness I have slightly +abridged and otherwise remodelled De Slane's translation of this +passage. + +[778] A somewhat different version of these events is given by Dozy, +_Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne_, vol. iv, p. 189 sqq. + +[779] The term _Mulaththamún_, which means literally 'wearers of the +_lithám_' (a veil covering the lower part of the face), is applied to +the Berber tribes of the Sahara, the so-called Almoravides +(_al-Murábi[t.]ún_), who at this time ruled over Northern Africa. + +[780] Ibnu ´l-Abbár (Dozy, _Loci de Abbadidis_, vol. ii, p. 63). + +[781] _Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne_, vol. iv, p. 287. + +[782] _I.e._, 'holder of the two vizierships'--that of the sword and +that of the pen. See De Slane's translation of Ibn Khallikán, vol. iii, +p. 130, n. 1. + +[783] The Arabic text of this poem, which occurs in the _Qalá´idu +´l-`Iqyán_ of Ibn Kháqán, will be found on pp. 24-25 of Weyers's +_Specimen criticum exhibens locos Ibn Khacanis de Ibn Zeidouno_ (Leyden, +31). + +[784] Cited by Ibn Khallikán in his article on Ibn [H.]azm (De Slane's +translation, vol. ii, p. 268). + +[785] Maqqarí, vol. i, p. 511, l. 21. + +[786] Maqqarí, _loc. cit._ p. 515, l. 5 seq. + +[787] See p. 341, note 1[640]. + +[788] The contents of the _Kitábu ´l-Milal wa-´l-Ni[h.]al_ are fully +summarised by Dozy in the Leyden Catalogue, vol. iv, pp. 230-237. _Cf._ +also _Zur Komposition von Ibn [H.]azm's Milal wa´n-Ni[h.]al_, by Israel +Friedlaender in the _Nöldeke-Festschrift_ (Giessen, 1906), vol. i, p. +267 sqq. + +[789] So far as I am aware, the report that copies are preserved in the +great mosque at Tunis has not been confirmed. + +[790] His Arabic name is Ismá`íl b. Naghdála. See the Introduction to +Dozy's ed. of Ibnu ´l-`Idhárí, p. 84, n. 1. + +[791] An interesting notice of Samuel Ha-Levi is given by Dozy in his +_Hist. des Mus. d'Espagne_, vol. iv, p. 27 sqq. + +[792] _Kámil_ of Ibnu ´l-Athír, ed. by Tornberg, vol. ix, p. 425 sqq. +The following narrative (which has been condensed as far as possible) +differs in some essential particulars from the accounts given by Ibn +Khaldún (_History of the Berbers_, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. +64 sqq.) and by Ibn Abí Zar` (Tornberg, _Annales Regum Mauritaniæ_, p. +100 sqq. of the Latin version). _Cf._ A. Müller, _Der Islam_, vol. ii, +p. 611 sqq. + +[793] See note on p. 423. + +[794] The province of Tunis. + +[795] _Murábi[t.]_ is literally 'one who lives in a _ribá[t.]_,' _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 (_jihád_) against the +unbelievers. The word _murábi[t.]_, 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-Wá[h.]id, _History of the Almohades_, ed. by Dozy, p. +135, l. 1 sqq. + +[798] The Berbers at this time were Sunnite and anti-Fá[t.]imid. + +[799] Almohade is the Spanish form of _al-Muwa[h.][h.]id_. + +[800] Stanley Lane-Poole, _The Mohammadan Dynasties_, p. 46. + +[801] Renan, _Averroës et l'Averroïsme_, p. 12 sqq. + +[802] See a passage from `Abdu ´l-Wáhid's _History of the Almohades_ (p. +201, l. 19 sqq.), which is translated in Goldziher's _[Z.]âhiriten_, p. +174. + +[803] The Arabic text, with a Latin version by E. Pocock, was published +in 1671, and again in 1700, under the title _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 Absál, as in Jámí's celebrated poem. +_Cf._ De Boer, _The History of Philosophy in Islam_, translated by E. R. +Jones, p. 144. + +[805] Jurjí Zaydán, however, is disposed to regard the story as being +not without foundation. See his interesting discussion of the evidence +in his _Ta`ríkhu ´l-Tamaddun al-Islámi_ ('History of Islamic +Civilisation'), Part III, pp. 40-46. + +[806] The life of Ibnu ´l-Kha[t.]ib has been written by his friend and +contemporary, Ibn Khaldún (_Hist. of the Berbers_, translated by De +Slane, vol. iv. p. 390 sqq.), and forms the main subject of Maqqarí's +_Naf[h.]u ´l-[T.]íb_ (vols. iii and iv of the Buláq edition). + +[807] Schack, _op. cit._, vol. i, p. 312 seq. + +[808] Cited in the _Shadharátu ´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 +Quatremère in _Notices et extraits des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque +Impériale_, 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 Khaldún'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 Khaldún 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 Ismál`ílís are the so-called Assassins, the terrible sect +organised by [H.]asan b. [S.]abbá[h.] (see Professor Browne's _Literary +History of Persia_, vol. ii, p. 201 sqq.), and finally exterminated by +Húlágú. They had many fortresses, of which Alamút was the most famous, +in the Jibál province, near Qazwín. + +[820] The reader must be warned that this and the following account of +the treacherous dealings of Ibnu ´l-`Alqamí are entirely contradicted by +Shí`ite historians. For example, the author of _al-Fakhrí_ (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 Dawídár (literally +Inkstand-holder) or Dawádár, as the word is more correctly written, see +Quatremère, _Histoire des Sultans Mamlouks_, vol. i, p. 118, n. 2. + +[822] The MS. writes Yájúnas. + +[823] _Al-kalb_, the Arabic equivalent of the Persian _sag_ (dog), an +animal which Moslems regard as unclean. + +[824] By Shamsu ´l-Dín al-Dhahabí (+ 1348 A.D.). + +[825] Mameluke (Mamlúk) means 'slave.' The term was applied to the +mercenary troops, Turks and Kurds for the most part, who composed the +bodyguard of the Ayyúbid princes. + +[826] There are two Mameluke dynasties, called respectively Ba[h.]rí +(River) Mamelukes and Burjí (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 Buláq (1283 A.H.), pp. 356-366. + +[830] _Ibid._, p. 358. + +[831] These verses are cited in the _[H.]adíqatu ´l-Afrá[h.]_ (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 +God will not wrong any one even the weight of an ant_" (mithqála +dharratin). + +[832] Hartmann, _Das Muwa[vs][vs]a[h.]_ (Weimar, 1897), p. 218. + +[833] Literally, 'The Shaking of the Skull-caps,' in allusion to the +peasants' dance. + +[834] See Vollers, _Beiträge zur Kenntniss der lebenden arabischen +Sprache in Aegypten_, _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 41 (1887), p. 370. + +[835] Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 3. + +[836] It should be pointed out that the _Wafayát_ 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 (_Tábi`ún_), 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 _Wafayát_ was compiled by al-Kutubí (+ 1363 +A.D.) under the title _Fawátu ´l-Wafayát_. + +[837] The Arabic text of the _Wafayát_ has been edited with variants and +indices by Wüstenfeld (Göttingen, 1835-1850). There is an excellent +English translation by Baron MacGuckin de Slane in four volumes +(1842-1871). + +[838] The full title is _al-Mawá`i[z.] wa-´l-l`tibár fí dhikri +´l-Khi[t.]a[t.] wa-´l-Athár_. It was printed at Buláq in 1270 A.H. + +[839] _Al-Sulúk li-ma`rifati Duwali ´l-Mulúk_, a history of the Ayyúbids +and Mamelukes. The portion relating to the latter dynasty is accessible +in the excellent French version by Quatremère (_Histoire des Sultans +Mamlouks de l'Égypte_, Paris, 1845). + +[840] A. R. Guest, _A List of Writers, Books, and other Authorities +mentioned by El Maqrízí in his Khi[t.]a[t.]_, _J.R.A.S._ for 1902, p. +106. + +[841] The _Fakhrí_ has been edited by Ahlwardt (1860) and Derenbourg +(1895). The simplicity of its style and the varied interest of its +contents have made it deservedly popular. Leaving the Koran out of +account, I do not know any book that is better fitted to serve as an +introduction to Arabic literature. + +[842] See p. 413, n. 1. + +[843] _A Biographical Dictionary of Persons who knew Mohammad_, ed. by +Sprenger and others (Calcutta, 1856-1873). + +[844] _Murúju ´l-Dhahab_, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. iv. p. 90. The +names Shírázád and Dínázád are obviously Persian. Probably the former is +a corruption of Chihrázád, meaning 'of noble race,' while Dínázád +signifies 'of noble religion.' My readers will easily recognise the +familiar Scheherazade and Dinarzade. + +[845] Strange as it may seem, this criticism represents the view of +nearly all Moslem scholars who have read the 'Arabian Nights.' + +[846] Many episodes are related on the authority of A[s.]ma`í, Abú +`Ubayda, and Wahb b. Munabbih. + +[847] Those who recite the _Síratu `Antar_ are named _`Anátira_, sing. +_`Antari_. See Lane's _Modern Egyptians_, ch. xxiii. + +[848] That it was extant in some shape before 1150 A.D. seems to be +beyond doubt. _Cf._ the _Journal Asiatique_ for 1838, p. 383; +Wüstenfeld, _Gesch. der Arab. Aerzte_, No. 172. + +[849] _Antar, a Bedoueen Romance_, translated from the Arabic by Terrick +Hamilton (London, 1820), vol. i, p. xxiii seq. See, however, Flügel's +Catalogue of the Kais. Kön. Bibl. at Vienna, vol. ii, p. 6. Further +details concerning the 'Romance of `Antar' will be found in Thorbecke's +_`Antarah_ (Leipzig, 1867), p. 31 sqq. The whole work has been published +at Cairo in thirty-two volumes. + +[850] Sha`rání, _Yawáqít_ (ed. of Cairo, 1277 A.H.), p. 18. + +[851] In 1417 A.D. The reader will find a full and most interesting +account of Nasímí, who is equally remarkable as a Turkish poet and as a +mystic belonging to the sect of the [H.]urúfís, in Mr. E. J. W. Gibb's +_History of Ottoman Poetry_, vol. i, pp. 343-368. It is highly +improbable that the story related here gives the true ground on which he +was condemned: his pantheistic utterances afford a sufficient +explanation, and the Turkish biographer, La[t.]ífí, specifies the verse +which cost him his life. I may add that the author of the _Shadharátu +´l-Dhahab_ calls him Nasímu ´l-Dín of Tabríz (he is generally said to be +a native of Nasím in the district of Baghdád), and observes that he +resided in Aleppo, where his followers were numerous and his heretical +doctrines widely disseminated. + +[852] The 112th chapter of the Koran. See p. 164. + +[853] Founder of the Shádhiliyya Order of Dervishes. He died in 1258 +A.D. + +[854] A distinguished jurist and scholar who received the honorary +title, 'Sultan of the Divines.' He died at Cairo in 1262 A.D. + +[855] An eminent canon lawyer (+ 1370 A.D.). + +[856] It was the custom of the Zoroastrians (and, according to Moslem +belief, of the Christians and other infidels) to wear a girdle round the +waist. + +[857] See _Materials for a History of the Wahabys_, by J. L. Burckhardt, +published in the second volume of his _Notes on the Bedouins and +Wahabys_ (London, 1831). Burckhardt was in Arabia while the Turks were +engaged in re-conquering the [H.]ijáz from the Wahhábís. His graphic and +highly interesting narrative has been summarised by Dozy, _Essai sur +l'histoire de l'Islamisme_, ch. 13. + +[858] Following Burckhardt's example, most European writers call him +simply `Abdu ´l-Wahháb. + +[859] Burckhardt, _op. cit._, vol. ii, p. 96. + +[860] MSS. of Ibn Taymiyya copied by Ibn `Abd al-Wahháb are extant +(Goldziher in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 52, p. 156). + +[861] This is the place usually called Karbalá or Mashhad [H.]usayn. + +[862] _Op. cit._, vol. ii, p. 112. + +[863] _Essai sur l'histoire de l'Islamisme_, p. 416. + +[864] Burckhardt, _loc. laud._, p. 115. + +[865] I cannot enter into details on this subject. A review of modern +Arabic literature is given by Brockelmann, _Gesch. der Arab. Litt._, +vol. ii, pp. 469-511, and by Huart, _Arabic Literature_, pp. 411-443. + +[866] See M. Hartmann, _The Arabic Press of Egypt_ (London, 1899). + +[867] Brockelmann, _loc. cit._, p. 476. + +[868] Translated into Arabic verse by Sulaymán al-Bistání (Cairo, 1904). +See Professor Margoliouth's interesting notice of this work in the +_J.R.A.S._ for 1905, p. 417 sqq. + +[869] H. A. R. Gibb, _Studies in contemporary Arabic literature_, +Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, vol. iv, pt. 4, p. 746; cf. +also vol. v, pt. 2, p. 311 foll. Mr Gibb has given references to the +chief works on the subject, but for the sake of those who do not read +Arabic or Russian it may be hoped that he will continue and complete his +own survey, to which there is nothing _simile aut secundum_ in English. + + + + + +APPENDIX + + +P. xxii, l. 2. Arabic begins to appear in North Arabian inscriptions +in the third century A.D. Perhaps the oldest yet discovered +is one, of which the probable date is 268 A.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 in _Islamic Culture_ (Hyderabad, Deccan), April +1929, vol. iii, No. 2, p. 169, note 2. + +P. 4 foll. Concerning the Sabaeans and the South Arabic inscriptions a +great deal of valuable information will be found in the article _Saba´_ +by J. Tkatsch in the _Encyclopædia 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 the _Shamsu ´l-`Ulúm_ relating +to South Arabia have been edited by Dr `Azímu´ddín A[h.]mad +(E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Series, vol. xxiv). + +P. 26 foll. For contemporary and later Christian accounts of +the martyrdom of the Christians of Najrán, see the fragmentary +_Book 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, entitled _Kitábu +´l-Fákhir_, by Mufa[d.][d.]al 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 the _Aghání_ with 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 [H.]árith, the son of +[H.]árith b. Jabala, and Mundhir IV of [H.]íra about 583 A.D. (Guidi, +_L'Arabie antéislamique_, p. 27). + +P. 127, l. 16. The ode _Bánat Su`ád_ is rendered into English in +my _Translations 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 the +_Mufa[d.][d.]al[=i]y[=a]t_, 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 the _[S.]a[h.]í[h.]_, 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 word _rujz_ is in +all likelihood identical with the Syriac _rugza_, 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 case _dhikrun li ´l-`álamín_ in 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 the _Rivista 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 from _i`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 as _fisq_, 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 [H.]adíth, "No monkery (_rahbániyya_) in Islam," +probably dates from the third century of the Hijra. According +to the usual interpretation of Koran, LVII, 27, the _rahbániyya_ +practised 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 [S.]úfís of the third century A.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 [H.]asan of +Ba[s.]ra, see Massignon, _op. cit._, p. 152 foll. + +P. 228 foll. It can now be stated with certainty that the name "[S.]úfí" +originated in Kúfa in the second century A.H. and was at first confined +to the mystics of `Iráq. Hence the earliest development of [S.]úfiism, +properly so called, took place in a hotbed of Shí`ite and Hellenistic +(Christian and Gnostic) ideas. + +P. 233, l. 4 from foot. In _R[=a]bi`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. 313 foll. The text and translation of 332 extracts from the +_Luzúmiyyát_ will be found in ch. ii of my _Studies 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-Fu[s.]úl 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 the _Risálatu ´l-Ghufrán_ by Shaykh +Ibráhím al-Yáziji was published at Cairo in 1907. + +P. 319, l. 6. The epistle of `Alí b. Man[s.]úr al-[H.]alabí (Ibnu +´l-Qári[h.]), to which the _Risálatu ´l-Ghufrán_ is the reply, has been +published in _Rasá´ilu ´l-Bulaghá_, ed. Mu[h.]ammad Kurd `Alí +(Cairo, 1913). + +P. 332, note 2. For rhymed prose renderings of the 11th and +12th _Maqámas_, see _Translations 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-Khayyá[t.]'s _Kitábu ´l-Inti[s.]ár_ (ed. H. S. +Nyberg, Cairo, 1926), a third (ninth) century polemical work +directed against the Shí`ite freethinker Ibnu ´l-Ráwandí (cf. p. 375 +_supra_). 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 Erbe_ in W. Jaeger's +_Die 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 the +_Ikhwánu ´l-[S.]afá_ requires 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 the _Ikhwán_. + +P. 375, note 2. Professor Schaeder thinks that Middle Persian +_zandík_ has nothing to do with the Aramaic _zaddíq_ (_Z.D.M.G._, +vol. 82, Heft 3-4, p. lxxx). + +Pp. 383-393. During the last twenty years our knowledge of early +[S.]úfiism 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 [S.]úfiism (down to the fourth century +A.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 have +been 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) and _Mystic Treatises by Isaac of Niniveh_ (Amsterdam, +1923). + +P. 384, l. 1. The identity of third-century [S.]úfiism 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 [S.]úfiism into a +monistic philosophy was the work of Ibnu ´l-`Arabí (1165-1240 +A.D.). See p. 402 foll. + +P. 384, l. 5. The so-called "Theology of Aristotle," translated +from Syriac into Arabic about 830 A.D., is mainly an abstract of +the _Enneads_ of 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 [S.]úfís 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 his _Studies 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 Hierotheos_ has 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 Bis[t.]ám, 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 in _Islamica_, vol. ii, fasc. 3, p. 402 foll. + +P. 396, l. 8. See my essay on the Odes of Ibnu ´l-Fári[d.] (_Studies +in Islamic Mysticism_, pp. 162-266), which comprises translations +of the _Khamriyya_ and three-fourths of the _Tá´iyyatu ´l-Kubrá_. + +P. 399, note 1. With [H.]alláj, thanks to the monumental work +of Massignon (_La Passion d'al-[H.]alláj_, 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 +[S.]úfís as well as by Von Kremer and subsequent European writers. +Cf. the summary given by Father Joseph Maréchal, _op. cit._, pp. +249-281, and _The Idea of Personality in [S.]úfism_ (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. +1410 A.D.), a follower of Ibnu ´l-`Arabí, in his famous treatise +entitled _al-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 Ba[t.][t.]ú[t.]a of +Tangier (+ 1377), whose frank and entertaining story of his almost +world-wide travels, entitled _Tu[h.]fatu ´l-Nu[z.][z.]ár_, 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 article _Wahh[=a]b[=i]s_ by Professor D. S. +Margoliouth in Hastings' _Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics_. + +P. 469. _La littérature arabe au xix^e siècle_, 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 the _Risálatu ´l-tau[h.]íd_ +of the great Egyptian divine, Mu[h.]ammad `Abduh (1842-1905), which has +been translated into French by B. Michel and Mustapha `Abd el Razik +(Paris, 1925). + + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS BY +EUROPEAN AUTHORS + + +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 his _Literary +History of Persia_, vol. i, pp. 481-496, and D. B. Macdonald in his +_Development of Muslim Theology, etc._ (London, 1903), pp. 358-367, +while the Appendix to H. A. R. Gibb's _Arabic Literature_ (Oxford +University Press, 1926) contains a well-chosen list of books of +reference and translations. Those who require more detailed +references may consult the _Bibliographie des ouvrages arabes ou +relatifs aux Arabes publ. dans l'Europe chrétienne de 1810 à 1885_, +by V. Chauvin (Liège, 1892-1903), the _Orientalische Bibliographie_, +edited by A. Müller, E. Kuhn, and L. Scherman (Berlin, 1887--), +the _Handbuch der Islam-Litteratur_, by D. G. Pfannmüller (Berlin +and Leipzig, 1923), and the _Catalogue of the Arabic Books in the +British Museum_, by A. G. Ellis, 2 vols. (London, 1894-1902) with +the _Supplementary 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. + + + I + + PHILOLOGY. + + 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 the _Encyclopædia + 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's + _Supplément 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). + + + II + + GENERAL WORKS ON ARABIAN HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, + GEOGRAPHY, LITERATURE, ETC. + + 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 [T.]abarí, traduite sur la version persane de... + Bel`amí_, by H. Zotenberg, 4 vols. (Paris, 1867-74). + + 8. The _Murúju ´l-Dhahab_ of 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 [T.]abarí 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. [H.]ájjí 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). + + + III + + PRE-ISLAMIC HISTORY, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION. + + 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 [T.]abarí, 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 omitted _Mu`allaqas_ are 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). + + + IV + + MU[H.]AMMAD AND THE KORAN. + + 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 Mu[h.]ammad's + Campaigns. + + 45. _Das Leben und die Lehre des Mo[h.]ammad_, 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 in _The 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' Isl[=a]m_, 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 Mu[h.]ammad's + life during the first six years after the Hijra (622-628 + A.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 in _The 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,' in _Sketches from Eastern + History_, pp. 21-59, or his article in the _Encyclopædia + Britannica_ (11th ed.). + + 58. _The Teaching of the Qur´[=a]n_, by H. W. Stanton (London, 1920). + + + V + + THE HISTORY OF THE CALIPHATE. + + 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's _Geschichte 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 century A.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). + + + VI + + THE HISTORY OF MOSLEM CIVILISATION. + + 68. _Prolégomènes d'Ibn Khaldoun_, a French translation of the + _Muqaddima_ or Introduction prefixed by Ibn Khaldún to his + Universal History, by Baron MacGuckin de Slane, 3 vols. (in + _Notices 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 his _Contributions 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's _History 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). + + + VII + + MU[H.]AMMADAN RELIGION, THEOLOGY, JURISPRUDENCE, + PHILOSOPHY, AND MYSTICISM. + + 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). + + 102. _Exposé de la Religion des Druzes_, by Silvestre de Sacy, 2 vols. + (Paris, 1838). + + 103. _The Mystics of Islam_, by R. A. Nicholson (London, 1914). + + 104. _The Religious Attitude and Life in Islam_, by D. B. Macdonald + (Chicago, 1909). + + 105. _Essai sur les origines du lexique technique de la mystique + musulmane_, by L. Massignon (Paris, 1922). + + 106. _La Passion d'al-Halláj_, by L. Massignon, 2 vols. (Paris, 1922). + + 107. _Al-[K.]uschairîs Darstellung des [S.]ûfîtums_, by Richard + Hartmann (Berlin, 1914). + + 108. _Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-`Arab[=i]_, by H. S. Nyberg + (Leiden, 1919). + + 109. _Studies in Islamic Mysticism_, by R. A. Nicholson (Cambridge, + 1921). + + 110. _The Idea of Personality in [S.]úfism_, by R. A. Nicholson + (Cambridge, 1923). + + 111. _The Dervishes or Oriental Spiritualism_, by John P. Brown, + ed. by H. A. Rose (London, 1927). + + 112. _Les Confréries religieuses musulmanes_, by O. Depont and + X. Coppolani (Algiers, 1897). + + + VIII + + THE HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF THE MOORS. + + 113. _Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne jusqu'à la conquête de + l'Andalusie par les Almoravides_ (711-1110 A.D.), by R. Dozy, + 4 vols. (Leyden, 1861). Translated into English under the + title _Spanish Islam_ by F. G. Stokes (London, 1913). + + 114. _History of the Moorish Empire in Europe_, by S. P. Scott, + 3 vols. (New York, 1904). + + 115. _The Moriscos of Spain, their conversion and expulsion_, by + H. C. Lea (Philadelphia, 1901). + + 116. _History of the Mohammedan dynasties of Spain_, translated + from the _Naf[h.] al-[T.]íb_ of Maqqarí by Pascual de Gayangos, 2 + vols. (London, Oriental Translation Fund, 1840-43). + + 117. _The History of the Almohades_, by `Abdu ´l-Wá[h.]id + al-Marrákoshí, translated by E. Fagnan (Algiers, 1893). + + 118. _Recherches sur l'histoire et la littérature de l'Espagne pendant + le moyen âge_, by R. Dozy, 2 vols. (3rd ed., Leyden, 1881). + + 119. _Poesie und Kunst der Araber in Spanien und Sicilien_, by + A. F. von Schack, 2 vols. (2nd ed., Stuttgart, 1877). + + 120. _Moorish remains in Spain_, by A. F. Calvert (London, 1905). + + 121. _Storia dei musulmani di Sicilia_, by M. Amari (Firenze, + 1854-72). A revised edition is in course of publication. + + + + IX + + THE HISTORY OF THE ARABS FROM THE MONGOL + INVASION IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY TO THE + PRESENT DAY. + + 122. _Histoire des Sultans Mamlouks de l'Égypte, écrite en arabe par + Taki-eddin Ahmed Makrizi, traduite en français ... par_ M. + Quatremère, 2 vols. (Oriental Translation Fund, 1845). + + 123. _The Mameluke or Slave dynasty of Egypt_, by Sir W. Muir + (London, 1896). + + 124. _Histoire de Bagdad depuis la domination des Khans mongols + jusqu'au massacre des Mamlouks_, by C. Huart (Paris, 1901). + + 125. _History of the Egyptian revolution from the period of the + Mamelukes to the death of Mohammed Ali_, by A. A. Paton, + 2 vols. (London, 1870). + + 126. _The Shaikhs of Morocco in the XVI^th century_, by T. H. Weir + (Edinburgh, 1904). + + 127. _The Arabic Press of Egypt_, by M. Hartmann (London, 1899). + + 128. _Neuarabische Volkspoesie gesammelt und uebersetzt_, by Enno + Littmann (Berlin, 1902). + + + + +INDEX + +In the following Index it has been found necessary to omit the accents +indicating the long vowels, and the dots which are used in the text to +distinguish letters of similar pronunciation. On the other hand, the +definite article _al_ has been prefixed throughout to those Arabic names +which it properly precedes; it is sometimes written in full, but is +generally denoted by a hyphen, _e.g._ -`Abbas for al-`Abbas. Names of +books, as well as Oriental words and technical terms explained in the +text, are printed in italics. Where a number of references occur under +one heading, the more important are, as a rule, shown by means of +thicker type. + + + A + + Aaron, 215, 273 + + `Abbad, 421 + + `Abbadid dynasty, the, 414, 421-424, 431 + + -`Abbas, 146, 249, 250, 251 + + -`Abbas b. -Ahnaf (poet), 261 + + `Abbasa, 261 + + `Abbasid history, two periods of, 257 + + `Abbasid propaganda, the, 249-251 + + `Abbasids, the, xxviii, xxix, xxx, 65, 181, 182, 193, 194, 220, + +249-253+, +254-284+, 287-291, +365-367+, 373 + + `Abdullah, father of the Prophet, xxvii, 146, 148, 250 + + `Abdullah, brother of Durayd b. -Simma, 83 + + `Abdullah, the Amir (Spanish Umayyad), 411 + + `Abdullah b. -`Abbas, 145, 237, 249 + + `Abdullah b. Hamdan, 269 + + `Abdullah b. Ibad, 211 + + `Abdullah b. Mas`ud, 352 + + `Abdullah b. Maymun al-Qaddah, 271-274, 363 + + `Abdullah. b. Muhammad b. Adham, 423 + + `Abdullah b. -Mu`tazz. See _Ibnu ´l-Mu`tazz_ + + `Abdullah b. Saba, 215, 216 + + `Abdullah b. Tahir, 129 + + `Abdullah b. Ubayy, 172 + + `Abdullah b. Yasin al-Kuzuli, +430+ + + Abdullah b. -Zubayr, 198, 199, 200, 202 + + `Abdu ´l-`Aziz (Marinid), 436 + + `Abdu ´l-`Aziz, brother of `Abdu ´l-Malik, 200 + + `Abdu ´l-`Aziz, son of Muhammad b. Sa`ud, 466 + + `Abdu ´l-Ghani al-Nabulusi, 402 + + `Abdu ´l-Hamid, 267 + + `Abdu ´l-Malik (Umayyad Caliph), +200-202+, 206, 209, 224, 240, 242, + 244, 247, 349, 407 + + `Abd Manaf, 146 + + `Abdu, ´l-Mu´min (Almohade), 432 + + `Abdu ´l-Muttalib, 66-68, 146, 148, 154, 250 + + `Abdu ´l-Qadir al-Baghdadi, 131 + + `Abdu ´l-Qadir al-Jili, 393 + + `Abd al-Qays (tribe), 94 + + `Abdu ´l-Rahman I, the Umayyad, 253, 264, +405-407+, 417, 418 + + `Abdu ´l-Rahman II (Spanish Umayyad), 409, 418 + + `Abdu ´l-Rahman III (Spanish Umayyad), +411-412+, 420, 425 + + `Abdu ´l-Rahman V (Spanish Umayyad), 426 + + `Abdu ´l-Rahman b. `Awf, 186 + + `Abdu ´l-Razzaq-Kashani, 402 + + `Abd Shams, 146 + + `Abd Shams Saba, 14 + + `Abdu ´l-`Uzza, 159 + + `Abdu ´l-Wahhab, founder of the Wahhabite sect. See _Muhammad b. + `Abd al-Wahhab_. + + `Abdu ´l-Wahhab al-Sha`rani. See _-Sha`rani_ + + `Abdu ´l-Wahid of Morocco (historian), 431, 433 + + `Abid b. -Abras (poet), 39, 44, 86, 101 + + `Abid b. Sharya, 13, 19, 247 + + `Abida b. Hilal, 239 + + `Abir, xviii + + `Abla, 115 + + -Ablaq, (name of a castle), 84 + + Ablutions, the ceremonial, incumbent on Moslems, 149 + + -Abna, 29 + + Abraha, 6, 15, +28+, +65-8+ + + Abraham, xviii, 22, 62, 63, 66, 149, 150, 165, 172, 177 + + Abraham, the religion of, 62, 149, 177 + + `Abs (tribe), xix, 61, 88, 114-117 + + Absal, 433 + + Abu ´l-`Abbas (Marinid), 436 + + Abu ´l-`Abbas Ahmad al-Marsi, 327 + + Abu ´l-`Abbas al-Nami (poet), 270 + + Abu ´l-`Abbas-Saffah, 182, 253. + See _-Saffah_ + + Abu `Abdallah Ibnu ´l-Ahmar (Nasrid), 437 + + Abu `Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami, 338 + + Abu Ahmad al-Mihrajani, 370 + + Abu ´l-`Ala al-Ma`arri, 166, 167, 206, 271, 289, 291, 296, 308, + +313-324+, 375, 448 + + Abu `Ali al-Qali, 131, 420 + + Abu `Ali b. Sina, 265. + See _Ibn Sina_ + + Abu `Amir, the Monk, 170 + + Abu `Amr b. al-`Ala, 242, 285, +343+ + + Abu ´l-Aswad al-Du´ili, 342, 343 + + Abu ´l-`Atahiya (poet), 261, 291, +296-303+, 308, 312, 324, 374 + + Abu Ayman (title), 14 + + Abu Bakr (Caliph), xxvii, 142, 153, 175, 180, +183+, 185, 210, 214, + 215, 257, 268, 297 + + Abu Bakr b. Abi ´l-Azhar, 344 + + Abu Bakr Ibnu ´l-`Arabi of Seville, 399 + + Abu Bakr b. Mu`awiya, 420 + + Abu Bakr al-Nabulusi, 460 + + Abu Bakr al-Razi (physician), 265. + See _-Razi_ + + Abu Bakr b. `Umar, 430 + + Abu ´l-Darda, 225 + + Abu Dawud al-Sijistani, 337 + + Abu ´l-Faraj of Isfanan, 32, 123, 131, 270, +347+, 419. + See _Kitabu ´l-Aghani_ + + Abu ´l-Faraj al-Babbagha (poet), 270 + + Abu ´l-Fida (historian), 308, 316, 331, +454+ + + Abu Firas al-Hamdani (poet), 270, 304 + + Abu Ghubshan, 65 + + Abu Hanifa, 222, 284, 402, 408 + + Abu ´l-Hasan `Ali b. Harun al-Zanjani, 370 + + Abu ´l-Hasan al-Ash`ari, 284. + See _-Ash`ari_ + + Abu Hashim, the Imam, 220, 251 + + Abu Hashim, the Sufi, 229 + + Abu Hudhayl -`Allaf, 369 + + Abu ´l-Husayn al-Nuri, 392 + + Abu `Imran al-Fasi, 429 + + Abu Ishaq al-Farisi. See _-Istakhri_ + + Abu Ja`far -Mansur, 258. + See _-Mansur, the Caliph_ + + Abu Jahl, 158 + + Abu Karib, the Tubba`, 12, 19. + See _As`ad Kamil_ + + Abu Lahab, 159, 160 + + Abu ´l-Mahasin b. Taghribirdi (historian), 257, 262, 267, 268, 350, + 369, +454+ + + Abu Marwan Ghaylán, 224 + + Abu Ma`shar, 361 + + Abu Mihjan (poet), 127 + + Abu Mikhnaf, 210 + + Abu Musa al-Ash`ari, 192, 377 + + Abu Muslim, 220, +251-252+, 375 + + Abu Nasr al-Isma`ili, 339 + + Abu Nasr al-Sarraj, 393 + + Abu Nu`aym al-Isfahani, 338 + + Abu Nuwas (poet), 261, 277, +286+, 290, 291, _292-296_, 303, 308, 345, + 375 + + Abu Qabus, _kunya_ of -Nu´man III, 45 + + Abu ´l-Qasim Ahmad. See _-Mustansir_ + + Abu ´l-Qasim Muhammad, the Cadi, 421 + + Abu ´l-Qasim b. -Muzaffar, 312 + + Abu ´l-Qasim al-Zahrawi, 420 + + Abu Qays b. Abi Anas, 170 + + Abu Qurra, 221 + + Abu Sa´id b. Abi ´l-Khayr, 391, 394 + + Abu Salama, 257 + + Abu Salih Mansur b. Ishaq (Samanid), 265 + + Abu ´l-Salt b. Abi Rabi´a, 69 + + Abu Shaduf, 450 + + Abu Shamir the Younger, 50 + + Abu Shamir, _kunya_ of -Harith b. ´Amr Muharriq, 50 + + Abu Shuja´ Buwayh, 266 + + Abu Sufyan, 124, 175, 195 + + Abu Sulayman al-Darani, 384, 386, 388 + + Abu Sulayman Muhammad b. Ma`shar al-Bayusti, 370 + + Abu Talib, uncle of the Prophet, 146, 148, 154, 157, 183, 250 + + Abu Talib al-Makki, 338, 393 + + Abu Tammam, author of the _Hamasa_, 79, _129-130_, 288, 316, 324, 331. + See _-Hamasa_ + + Abu ´Ubayda (philologist), 94, 242, 261, 280, 343, _344_, _345_, 459 + + Abu `Ubayda b. al-Jarrah, 51 + + Abu ´l-Walid al-Baji, 428 + + Abu Yazid al-Bistami, 391. + See _Bayazid of Bistam_ + + Abu Yusuf, the Cadi, 283 + + Abu Zayd of Saruj, 330, 331, 332, 335 + + Abu Zayd Muhammad al-Qurashi, 130 + + Abusir, 326 + + Abyssinia, 53, 155, 156 + + Abyssinians, the, xxi; + in -Yemen, 5, 6, 26-29; + invade the Hijaz, 66-68 + + Academy of Junde-shapur, the, 358 + + Academy of Sabur, the, 267, 314 + + `Ad (people), +1+, +2+, 3 + + _adab_, 283, 346 + + _Adabu ´l-Katib_, 346 + + Adam, xxvi, 62, 63, 244, 398 + + `Adana (river), 15 + + `Adawi dervishes, the, 393 + + Adharbayjan, 17 + + `Adi (tribe), 233 + + `Adi b. `Amr, 94 + + `Adi al-Hakkari, 393 + + `Adi b. Marina, 244 + + `Adi b. Nasr, 35 + + `Adi b. Zayd, 40, +45-48+, 49, +138+, 244 + + `Adiya, 85 + + Adler, 316 + + `Adnán, xviii, xix, xx, 64 + + `Adudu ´l-Dawla (Buwayhid), 266, 307 + + Ælius Gallus, 9 + + Æthiopic language, the, xvi, xxi + + Afghanistan, 268, 275 + + Africa, xv, xvi + + Africa, North, 53, 203, 253, 271, 274, 405, 419, 423, 424, 429, 430, + 434, 437, 439, 442, 443, 468 + + Afshin, 375 + + -Afwah al-Awdi (poet), 83 + + _-Aghani._ See _Kitabu ´l-Agfhani_ + + Aghlabid dynasty, the, 264, 274, 441 + + Aghmat, 424 + + -Ahlaf, at -Hira, 38 + + Ahlu ´l-Kitab, 341 + + Ahlu ´l-Taswiya, 280. + See _Shu`ubites, the_ + + Ahlu ´l-tawhid wa-´l-`adl, a name given to the Mu`tazilites, 224 + + Ahlwardt, W., 76, 101, 125, 128,133, 136, 286, 293, 294, 304, 349, 454 + + Ahmad (Buwayhid), 266 + + Ahmad, brother of Ghazali, 339 + + Ahmad, father of Ibn Hazm, 426 + + Ahmad b. Hanbal, 284, 369, 376, 402 + + Ahmad al-Nahhas, 102 + + Ahmad b. Tulun, 354 + + Ahmar of Thamud, 3 + + Ahnum, 19 + + Ahqafu ´l-Raml (desert), 1 + + _Ahsanu ´l-Taqasim fi ma`rifati ´l-Aqalim_, 357 + + _ahwal_, mystical term, 231, 391 + + -Ahwas (poet), 237 + + -Ahwaz, 271, 293 + + A`isha, 151, 183 + + _`Aja ´ibu ´l-Maqdur_, 454 + + -`Ajam (the non-Arabs), 277. + See _-Mawali_ + + -`Ajjaj (poet), 138 + + _-Ajurrumiyya_, 456 + + Akbar (Mogul Emperor), xxx + + _Akhbaru ´l-Zaman_, 353 + + -Akhtal (poet), 221, 238, +239-242+, 285 + + _akhu ´l-safa_, 370 + + Akilu ´l-Murar (surname), 42 + + -A`lam (philologist), 128 + + Alamut, 445 + + `Ala´u ´l-Din Muhammad Khwarizmshah, 444 + + Albategnius, 361 + + Albucasis, 420 + + Albumaser, 361 + + Alchemists, the, 361, 387 + + Alchemy, works on, translated into Arabic, 358 + + Aleppo, 269, 270, 275, 291, 303, 305, 313, 360, 415, 446, 451, 460, + 461 + + Alexander the Great, 17, 276, 358, 457 + + Alexandria, 340 + + Alexandrian Library, the, 435 + + _Alf Layla wa-Layla_, 456, 459. + See _Thousand Nights and a Night_ and _Arabian Nights_ + + _-Alfiyya_, 456 + + Alfraganus, 361 + + Algeria, 430 + + Algiers, 468 + + Alhambra, the, 435 + + `Ali (Buwayhid), 266 + + `Ali, grandson of `Umar Ibnu ´l-Farid, 394 + + `Ali b. Abi Talib, the Prophet's son-in-law, xxvii, xxviii, 105, 153, + 181, 183, +190-193+, 194, 196, 205, 207-211, +213-218+, 220-222, + 243, 249, 250, 251, 264, 267, 273, 274, 342, 343, 349, 377, 432, 442 + + `Ali b. Abi Talib, public cursing of, 205 + + `Ali b. -Mansur, Shaykh, 319 + + `Ali b. Musa b. Ja`far al-Rida, 262, 385 + + `Alids, the, 258, 259, 337. + See _`Ali b. Abi Talib_ and _Shi`ites, the_ + + Allah, 62, 134, 135, 164, 231, 392 + + Allah, the Muhammadan conception of, 225, 231 + + Almaqa, 18 + + Almeria, 421 + + Almohades, the, 217, 429, +431-434+ + + Almoravides, the, 423, 429-431 + + Alp Arslan (Seljuq), 275, 276, 340, 379 + + Alphabet, the South Arabic, 6, 8, 12 + + Alphonso VI of Castile, 422, 423, 431 + + `Alqama b. `Abada (poet), 121, +125+, 128 + + `Alqama b. Dhi Jadan (poet), 12 + + Alvaro, Bishop of Cordova, 414 + + Amaj, 22 + + -Amali, 420. + See _Kitabu ´l-Amali_ + + -Amaliq (Amalekites), 2, +3+, 63 + + `Amidu ´l-Mulk al-Kunduri, 379 + + -Amin, the Caliph, 255, +262+, 293, 343 + + Amina, mother of the Prophet, 146 + + `Amir b. Sa`sa`a (tribe), 119 + + `Amir b. Uhaymir, 87 + + Amiru ´l-Mu`minin (Commander of the Faithful), 185 + + Amiru ´l-Umara (title), 264 + + `Amr, the Tubba` 25, 26 + + `Amr b. `Adi b. Nasr, 35, 36, 37, 40 + + `Amr b. Amir (tribe), 94 + + `Amr b. `Amir Ma´ al-Sama al-Muzayqiya, 15, 16, 49 + + `Amr b. -`As, 192 + + `Amr b. -Harith (Ghassanid), 50, 54, 122 + + `Amr b. Hind (Lakhmite), 44, 107, 108, 109, 112 + + `Amr b. Kulthum (poet), 44, 82, 102, +109-113+, 128, 269 + + `Amr b. Luhayy, 63, 64 + + `Amr b. Ma`dikarib, 82 + + `Amr b. Mas`ud, 43 + + `Amr b. `Ubayd, 223, 374 + + `Amr b. Zarib, 35 + + Amul, 350 + + Anas, 88 + + _`anatira_, 459 + + `Anaza (tribe), xix + + -Anbar, 38 + + -Anbari (philologist), 128 + + -Anbat, xxv. + See _Nabatæans, the_ + + Ancient Sciences, the, 282 + + -Andarin, 111 + + Angels, the Recording, 161 + + Angora, 104 + + -Ansar (the Helpers), 171, 241 + + _`Antar, the Romance of_, 34, 459 + + `Antara (poet), 76, 109, +114-116+, 128, 459 + + _`antari_, 459 + + Anthologies of Arabic poetry, 128-130, 289, 325, 343, 347, 348, 417 + + Anthropomorphism, 369, 376, 379, 432 + + Antioch, 43 + + Anushirwan (Sasanian king). See _Nushirwan_ + + Anushirwan b. Khalid, 329 + + Aphrodite, 43 + + _-`Aqida_, by `Izzu ´l-Din b. `Abd al-Salam, 461 + + `Aqil, 35 + + Arab horses, the training of, 226 + + Arab singers in the first century A.H., 236 + + _a`rabi_ (Bedouin), 210 + + Arabia, in the `Abbasid period, 276 + + Arabia Felix, xvii, 4. + See _-Yemen_ + + Arabian History, three periods of, xxvi + + _Arabian Nights, the_, 238, 256, 261, 292, 421, +456-459+ + + Arabic language, the, xvi, xvii, xxi-xxv, 6, 77, 201, 203, 239, 265, + 277-280, 336, 342, 344 + + Arabic literature, largely the work of non-Arabs, xxx, xxxi, 276-278 + + Arabic Press, the, 469 + + Arabic writing, 201; + oldest specimens of, xxi, xxii + + Arabs, the Ishmaelite, xviii + + Arabs of Khurasan, the, thoroughly Persianised, 250 + + Arabs, the Northern. See _Arabs, the Ishmaelite_ + + Arabs, the Northern and Southern, racial enmity between, xx, 199, 200, + 252, 405, 406 + + Arabs, the Southern, xvii, xviii, xx, 4. + See _Arabs, the Yemenite_ + + Arabs, the Yemenite, xvii, xviii, xx, 38, 55, 199, 252, 405, 406. + See _Sabæans, the_; + _Himyarites, the_ + + Arabs, the Yoqtanid, xviii. + See _Arabs, the Yemenite_ + + Aramæans, the, xv, xxv + + Aramaic language, the, xvi, xxv, 279, 375 + + -Araqim, 113, 114 + + Arbela, 451 + + Ardashir Babakan, founder of the Sasanian dynasty, 34, 38 + + [Greek: Arethas tou Gabala], 51 + + Arhakim, 11 + + _`arif_ (gnostic), 386 + + `Arifu ´l-Zanadiqa, 373 + + Aristocracy of Islam, the, 188, 190 + + Aristotle, 358, 359, 360 + + -`Arji (poet), 237 + + Armenia, xv, 352 + + Arnaud, Th., 9, 15, 17 + + Arnold. F. A., 105, 107, 109, 111, 113, 114 + + Arnold, T. W., 184, 223, 224, 360, 448 + + Arsacids, the, 21, 38 + + Aryat, 27, 28 + + -`Asa (name of a mare), 36 + + _`asabiyya_, 440 + + Asad (tribe), xix, 104 + + Asad Kamil, the Tubba`, 12, +19-23+, 25, 26, 137 + + Asad b. Musa, 247 + + Asal, 433 + + _asalib_, 289, 315 + + Ascalon, 456 + + Ascension of the Prophet, the, 169, 403 + + Asd (tribe), 19 + + -A`sha (poet), 16, 101, 121, +123-125+, 128, 138, 139 + + -Ash`ari (Abu ´l-Hasan), 284, +376-379+, 431 + + Ash`arites, the, 379, 380, 460 + + _Ash`aru ´l-Hudhaliyyin_, 128 + + -Ashram (surname of Abraha), 28 + + Asia, xv, 275, 352, 414 + + Asia, Central, 255 + + Asia Minor, 269, 399, 434, 446 + + Asia, Western, xvi, xxix, 358, 442, 444, 446 + + Asin Palacios, 404 + + _aslama_, 153 + + -Asma`i (philologist), 261, 343, 344, +345+, 459 + + Assassins, the, 272, 371, 372, 381, 445 + + Assyrian language, the, xvi + + Assyrians, the, xv + + Astrologers and Astronomers, 361 + + Astronomy, 276, 283 + + Aswad b. -Mundhir, 47 + + _-Athar al-Baqiya_, 361 + + _Atharu ´l-Bilad_, 416 + + Athens, 240, 358 + + `Athtar, `Athtor (Sabæan divinity), 11, 18 + + _Atlal_, 286 + + `Attar (Persian mystic). See _Faridu´ddin `Attar_ + + `Atwada, 28 + + Aurelian, 34 + + Aurora, 412 + + Avempace. See _Ibn Bajja_ + + Avenzoar, 434 + + Averroes. See _Ibn Rushd_ + + Avicenna. See _Ibn Sina_ + + _awa´il_ (origins), 247 + + _`Awarifu ´l-Ma`arif_, 230, 338 + + -`Awfi, 370 + + _awliya_ (saints), 393 + + Awrangzib (Mogul Emperor), xxx + + Aws (tribe), 170 + + Aws b. Hajar (poet), 131 + + Awwam Dhú `Iran Alu, 11 + + _a`yan thabita_, 402 + + _ayat_ (verse of the Koran, sign, miracle), 166 + + Ayatu ´l-Kursi (the Throne-verse), 176 + + Aybak, 447 + + -Ayham b. -Harith (Ghassanid), 50 + + `Ayn Jalut, battle of, 446 + + `Ayn Ubagh, battle of, 52 + + _ayyamu ´l-`Arab_, 55, 356 + + Ayyubid dynasty, the, 275, 447, 453 + + Azd (tribe), 79, 374 + + -Azhar, the mosque, 395 + + Azraqites (-Azariqa), the, 208, 239 + + + B + + Baalbec, 111 + + Bab al-Mandab, 5 + + Babak, 258, 375 + + Babur (Mogul Emperor), xxix, 444 + + Babylon, xxv, 38 + + Babylonia, 34, 38, 138, 253, 255, 307. + See _-`Iraq_ + + Babylonian and Assyrian inscriptions, the, xvi, xxv + + Babylonians, the, xv + + Badajoz, 421, 423 + + Badis, 428 + + Badi`u ´l-Zaman ai-Hamadhání, 328, 329, 331 + + Badr, battle of, 158, 174, 175 + + Badr, freedman of `Abdu ´l-Rahman the Umayyad, 405, 406 + + -Baghawi, 337 + + Baghdad, xxviii, xxix, 131, 182, 254, +255-256+, 290-293, 303, 307, + 313, +314+, 315, 326, 338, 340, 345, 346, 347, 350, 351, 352, 355, + 357, 359, 362, 365, 369, 376, 380, 382, 385, 387, 392, 399, 412, + 415, 418, 431, 441, +444-446+, 447, 449, 450, 458, 461, 465, 466 + + Baghdad, history of its eminent men, by -Khatib, 355 + + Baha´u ´l-Dawia (Buwayhid), 267, 314 + + Bahdala (tribe), 87 + + Bahira, the monk, 148 + + Bahman (Sasanian), 457 + + Bahram Gor (Sasanian), 40, 41 + + -Bahrayn (province), 107, 108, 186 + + Bahri Mamelukes, the, 447 + + Baju, 445 + + -Bakharzi, 348 + + Bakil (tribe), 12 + + Bakr (tribe), xix, 55-60, 61, 69, 70, 76, 93, 107, 109, 113, 114, 242 + + -Bakri (geographer), 357, 428 + + Balaam, 73 + + -Baladhuri (historian), 280, 349 + + _-balagh al-akbar_, 371 + + Balak, 73 + + -Bal`ami, 265, 352 + + Balaq (mountain), 17 + + Balkh, 232, 233, 259, 361, 385 + + -Balqa, 63 + + _Banat Su`ad_, the opening words of an ode, 119, 127, 327 + + Banu ´l-Ahrar, 29 + + Banu Hind, 58 + + Banu Khaldun, 437 + + Banu Musa, 359 + + Banu Nahshal, 243 + + Baptists, name given to the early Moslems, 149 + + _baqa_, mystical term, 390 + + Baqqa, 36 + + -Baramika, 259. + See _Barmecides, the_ + + Barbier de Meynard, 13, 15, 37, 195, 259, 350, 352, 353, 380, 457 + + Bardesanes, 364 + + Barmak, 259 + + Barmakites, the. See _Barmecides, the_ + + Barmecides, the, 255, +259-261+, 262, 293 + + Barquq, Sultan (Mameluke), 452 + + Bashama, 119 + + Bashshar b. Burd, 245, 277, 290, +373-374+, 375 + + _-basit_ (metre), 75 + + -Basra, xxiv, 127, 133, 134, 186, +189+, 195, 202, 209, 210, 215, 222, + 223, 225, 226, 233, 242, 243, 246, 273, 281, 293, 294, 329, 331, + 336, 341, 342, +343+, 345, 346, 369, 370, 374, 377, 378 + + Basset, R., 327 + + -Basus, 56 + + -Basus, the War of, +55-60+, 61, 76, 107, 114 + + -Batiniyya (Batinites), 381, 382, 402. + See _Isma`ilis, the_ + + -Battani, 361 + + _-bayan_, 283 + + _-Bayan al-Mughrib_, 407 + + Bayard, 191 + + Bayazid of Bistam, 391, 460. + See _Abu Yazid al-Bistami_ + + Baybars, Sultan (Mameluke), 447, 448 + + -Baydawi, 145, 179 + + _bayt_ (verse), 74, 77 + + Baytu ´l-Hikma, at Baghdad, 359 + + -Bazbaz, 60 + + Bedouin view of life, the, 136 + + Bedouin warfare, character of, 54, 55 + + Bedouin women, Mutanabbi's descriptions of, 310 + + Benu Marthadim, 11 + + Berber insurrection in Africa, 405 + + Berbers, the, 204, 274, 405-409, 413, 420, 423, 424, 429-432, 442, 443 + + Berbers, used as mercenaries, 407 + + Berlin Royal Library, 8, 12 + + Bevan, Prof. A. A., 46, 80, 129, 151, 166, 168, 199, 205, 239, 244, + 253, 356, 373, 374, 375 + + Beyrout, 238, 469 + + _Bibliographical Dictionary_, by Hajji Khalifa, 456 + + _Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum_, 356 + + _Bidpai, the Fables of_, 330, 346 + + Bilqis, 18 + + -Bimaristan al-`Adudi, 266 + + Biographies of poets, 346, 347, 348 + + Birnam Wood, 25 + + -Biruni (Abu Rayhan), 269, 280, +361+ + + Bishr b. Abi Khazim (poet), 86 + + Bishr al-Hafi, 228 + + Bishr b. -Mu`tamir, 369 + + Bistam, 391 + + Blick, J. S., 184, 249, 258 + + Black, the colour of the `Abbasids, 220, 262 + + Black Stone in the Ka`ba, the, 63, 274, 319, 467 + + Blunt, Lady Anne, 88, 101 + + Blunt, Wilfrid, 88, 101 + + Bobastro, 410 + + Boer, T. J. de, 433 + + Bohlen, 308, 312 + + Bokhara, 203, 265, 275, 360 + + _Book of Examples, the_, by Ibn Khaldun, 437 + + _Book of Sibawayhi, the_, 343 + + _Book of the Thousand Tales, the._ See _Hazar Afsan_ + + _Book of Viziers, the_, 458 + + Books, the Six Canonical, 337 + + Boswell, 144, 313, 452 + + Brethren of Purity, the, 370-372 + + British Museum, the, 12, 402 + + Brockelmann, C., 205, 236, 237, 308, 328, 339, 346, 349, 449, 459, + 468, 469 + + Browne, Prof. E. G., 29, 42, 185, 217, 218, 230, 247, 251, 258, 265, + 272, 275, 290, 329, 346, 362, 375, 381, 383, 394, 399, 445 + + Brünnow, R. E., 32, 35, 49, 51, 209, 210 + + Brutus, 252 + + Bu`ath, battle of, 170 + + Buddha, 297, 298 + + Buddhism, 373, 375, 390, 391. + See _Nirvana_ + + -Buhturi (poet), 130, 316, 324 + + Bujayr b. `Amr, 58 + + Bukhara. See _Bokhara_ + + -Bukhari, 144, 146, 151, 337 + + Bulaq, 469 + + Bunyan, 212 + + Burckhardt, 95, 465, 466, 467 + + Burd, 373 + + _-Burda_, 326, 327 + + _-burda_ (the Prophet's mantle), 327, 366 + + Burji Mamelukes, the, 447 + + Burns, Robert, 450 + + _burnus_, the, a mark of asceticism, 210 + + Burton, Sir Richard, 459 + + Busir, 326 + + -Busiri (poet), 326, 327 + + Buthayna, 238 + + Butrites, the, a Shi`ite sect, 297 + + Buwayhid dynasty, the, 264, +266-268+, 271, 275, 303, 338 + + Byzantine Empire, the, 3, 29, 46, 171, 255, 261, 269, 359 + + + C + + Cadiz, 405 + + Cæsar, 252 + + Cætani, Prince, 149, 155, 156, 171 + + Cairo, 275, 350, 394, 395, 437, 447, 448, 451, 452, 453, 454, 455, + 458, 461, 464, 469 + + Caliph, the, must belong to Quraysh, 207 + + Caliph, name of the, mentioned in the Friday sermon, 263, 264; + stamped on the coinage, 264; + title of, assumed by the Fatimids, 271; + by the Umayyads of Spain, 412 + + Caliphs, the, -Mas`udi's account of, 354 + + Caliphs, the `Abbasid. See _`Abbasids, the_ + + Caliphs, the Orthodox, xxiii, xxvii, 181-193 + + Caliphs, the Umayyad. See _Umayyad dynasty, the_ + + Calpe, 204 + + Campbell, D., 360 + + Canaanites, the, 3 + + Canonical Books, the Six, 337 + + Capuchins, the, 228 + + Carmathians, the, 272, +274+, 322, 324, 371, 375, 381, 467. + See _Fatimid dynasty_; _Isma`ilis_ + + Carmona, 437 + + Casanova, P., 371 + + Caspian Sea, the, xxviii, 21, 264, 266, 350, 352, 391 + + Castile, 422, 437 + + Castles of -Yemen, the, 24 + + Catharine of Siena, 233 + + Cathay, xxv + + Caussin de Perceval, 32 + + Cave-dwellers of Khurasan, the, 232 + + Celibacy condemned by Muhammad, 224 + + Cemetery of the Sufis, the, at Damascus, 463 + + Ceuta, 405, 412, 423, 434 + + Ceylon, 352 + + Chagar Beg, 275 + + Charles the Hammer, 204 + + Charter, the, drawn up by Muhammad for the people of Medina, 173 + + Chaucer, 289 + + Chauvin, Victor, 214 + + Chenery, T., 244, 328, 332, 333, 336 + + Chihrazad, 457 + + China, 203, 352, 419, 444 + + Chingiz Khan, 444 + + Christian poets who wrote in Arabic, 138, 139 + + Christianity in Arabia, 117, 137-140; + in Ghassán, 51, 54, 123; + at -Hira, 39, 41, 43, 44, 46, 49, 123, 124, 138; + in Najran, 26, 27, 124, 137; + in Moslem Spain, 407, 411, 412, 413, +414-415+, 431, 435, 441 + + Christianity, influence of, on Muhammadan culture, xxii, 176, 177, + 216, 221, 231, 389, 390 + + Christians, Monophysite, 51 + + Christians, supposed by Moslems to wear a girdle, 461 + + Christians at the Umayyad court, 221, 240, 241 + + _Chronology of Ancient Nations, the_, by -Biruni, 361 + + Church and State, regarded as one by Moslems, 170, 182, 197 + + Chwolsohn, 363 + + Classicism, revolt against, 287-289 + + Cleopatra, 34 + + Coinage, Arabic, introduced by `Abdu ´l-Malik, 201 + + Commercial terms derived from Arabic, 281 + + Companions of the Prophet, biographies of the, 144, 356, 456 + + Confession of faith, the Muhammadan, 403 + + Conquests, the early Muhammadan, work on the, 349 + + Constantinople, xxix, 29, 45, 52, 84, 104, 318, 362, 412 + + Cordova, 131, 341, 347, 406-411, +412+, 413-415, 418, 420-426, 428, + 434, 435 + + Cordova, the University of, 420 + + Courage, Arabian, the nature of, 82 + + Criticism of Ancient and Modern Poets, 283-289 + + Cromwell, 189 + + Crusade, the Third, 275 + + Crusaders, the, 331, 447 + + Cruttenden, 8 + + Ctesiphon, 47, 48, 210. + See _-Mada´in_ + + Cureton, 211, 216, 341 + + + D + + Dabba (tribe), xix + + -Dahab al-`Ijli, 44 + + Dahis (name of a horse), 61 + + Dahis and -Ghabrá, the War of, 61, 62, 114, 116 + + _-dahriyyun_, 381 + + _da`i_ (missionary), 249, 272 + + -Daja`ima, 50 + + -Dajjal (the Antichrist), 216 + + _dakhil_, 95 + + Damascus, xxi, xxviii, 13, 46, 51, 53, 54, 111, 181, 104, 195, 202, + 203, 207, 235, 240, 241, 242, 244, 247, 252, 255, 274, 304, 313, + 335, 340, 374, 386, 399, 408, 451, 462, 463 + + _-Damigh_, 375 + + Daniel, 162 + + Dante, 360, 404 + + _dapir_ (Secretary), 257 + + Daqiqi, Persian poet, 265 + + Daraya, 386 + + Darius, 256 + + Darmesteter, J., 217 + + Daru ´l-Rum (Constantinople), 362 + + Daughters, the birth of, regarded as a misfortune, 91, 156 + + Daughters of Allah, the, 135, 156 + + Davidson, A. B., 82 + + _dawidar_ (_dawadar_), 445 + + Daws Dhu Tha`laban, 27 + + -Daylam, 266 + + Dead Sea, the, 249 + + Decline of the Caliphate, 257, 263 + + Derenbourg, H., 54, 122, 123, 194, 260, 331, 445, 454 + + Dervish orders, the, 393 + + Desecration of the tombs of the Umayyad Caliphs, 205 + + -Dhahabi (Shamsu ´l-Din), historian, 339, 446, 454 + + Dhamar`ali Dhirrih, 10 + + Dhu ´l-Khalasa, name of an idol, 105 + + Dhu ´l-Khursayn (name of a sword), 96 + + Dhu ´l-Majaz, 114 + + Dhu Nafar, 66, 67 + + Dhu ´l-Nun al-Misri, 386-388, 389, 460 + + Dhu ´l-Nusur (surname), 2 + + Dhu Nuwas, 12, +26-27+, 137, 162 + + Dhu Qar, battle of, 69, 70 + + Dhu l-Qarnayn, 17, 18 + + Dhu ´l-Quruh (title), 104 + + Dhu Ru`ayn, 25, 26 + + Dhu ´l-Rumma (poet), 246 + + Dhu ´l-`Umrayn, nickname of Ibnu ´l-Khatib, 436 + + Dhu ´l-Wizaratayn (title), 425 + + Dhubyan (tribe), xix, 61, 62, 116, 117, 121 + + Diacritical points in Arabic script, 201 + + Di`bil (poet), 261, 375 + + Dictionaries, Arabic, 343, 403, 456 + + Didactic poem by Abu ´l-`Atahiya, 300 + + Diercks, 360 + + Dieterici, F., 270, 305, 307, 308, 310, 312, 313, 371 + + _dihqan_, 291 + + Diminutives, 396, 449 + + _din_ (religion), 178, 287 + + Dinarzad, 457 + + Dinarzade, 457 + + -Dinawar, 346 + + -Dinawari (historian), 251, 349 + + Dinazad, 457 + + Diodorus Siculus, 3 + + Dionysius the Areopagite, 387, 389 + + -Dira`iyya, 466 + + Dirge, the Arabian, 126 + + _dithar_, 152 + + _Divan-i Shams-i Tabriz_, 298 + + Divine Right, the Shi`ite theory of, 214, 271 + + _diwan_ (collection of poems), 127, 128 + + Diwan (Register) of `Umar, the, 187, 188 + + _Diwans of the Six Poets, the_, 128 + + _diya_ (blood-wit), 93 + + -Diyárbakri (historian), 445 + + Dog, the, regarded by Moslems as unclean, 445 + + Doughty, E. M., 3 + + Dozy, 214, 399, 407, 410, 411, 413, 414, 415, 420, 422, 424, 428, 429, + 431, 465, 467 + + Drama, the, not cultivated by the Semites, 328 + + Drinking parties described in Pre-islamic poetry, 124, 125, 167 + + Droit du seigneur, le, 4 + + _dubayt_ (a species of verse), 450 + + Dubeux, 352 + + Duka, T., 390 + + Dumas, 272 + + _Dumyatu ´l-Qasr_, 348 + + Duns Scotus, 367 + + Durayd b. -Simma, 83 + + Durayd b. Zayd b. Nahd, 75 + + _Durratu ´l-Ghawwas_, 336 + + _Duwalu ´l-Islam_, 446 + + Dvorak, R., 304 + + Dyke of Ma´rib, the, 2, 5, +14-17+, 50, 63 + + Dynasties of the `Abbasid period, 264-276 + + + E + + Eber, xviii + + Ecbatana, 129, 328. + See _Hamadhan_ + + Ecstasy, 387, 393, 394 + + Edessa, 331, 358 + + Egypt, xxiv, xxix, xxx, 4, 5, 132, 184, 186, 193, 215, 268, 274, 275, + 307, 323, 326, 327, 350, 354, 355, 358, 387-390, 399, 419, 432, + 434, 442, 443, 447, 448, 450, 451, 454, 460, 461, 464, 466, 468 + + Egypt, conquest of, by the Moslems, 184 + + _Egypt, History of_, by Ibn Taghribirdi, 454 + + Eichhorn, xv + + Elegiac poetry, 126, 127 + + _Elephant, the Sura of the_, 68 + + Elephant, the year of the, 28, 66, 146 + + Eloquence, Arabian, 346, 347 + + Emanation, Plotinus's theory of, 393 + + Emessa, 304 + + Emigrants, the. See _-Muhajirun_ + + Encomium of the Umayyad dynasty, by -Akhtal, 242 + + Epic poetry not cultivated by the Arabs, 325 + + Equality of Arabs and non-Arabs maintained by the Shu`ubites, 279, 280 + + Equites Thamudeni, 3 + + Erotic prelude, the. See _nasib_ + + Erpenius, 355 + + Essenes, the, 224 + + Euphrates, the, xv, 33, 36, 37, 38, 41, 53, 110, 113, 186, 189, 192, + 196, 256, 418, 443, 449 + + Euting, Julius, 9 + + + F + + Fables of beasts, considered useful and instructive, 330 + + -Fadl, the Barmecide, 260 + + -Fadl b. al-Rabi`, 293 + + -Fahl (surname), 125 + + Fahm (tribe), 81 + + Fairs, the old Arabian, 135 + + _-Fakhri_, 187, 188, 194, 203, 260, 331, 445, +454+ + + Fakhru ´l-Dawla (Buwayhid), 267 + + Fakhru ´l-Mulk, 340 + + Falcon of Quraysh, the, 407, 417 + + _-falsafa_ (Philosophy), 283 + + _fana_ (dying to self), 233, 390, 391 + + _fanak_, 53 + + _faqih_, 464 + + _faqir_ (fakir), 230, 464 + + _faqr_ (poverty), 230 + + Farab, 360 + + -Farábi (Abu Nasr), 270, +360+, 393 + + -Farazdaq (poet), 196, 238, 239, 240, +242-244+, 245, 246 + + -Farghani, 361 + + Faridu´ddin `Attar, 226, 228, 386 + + -Farqadan (name of two stars), 35 + + -Farra, 343 + + Farrukh-mahan, 45 + + Fars (province), 266 + + Fathers, the Christian, 341 + + _-Fatiha_, 143 + + Fatima, daughter of -Khurshub, 88 + + Fatima, daughter of the Prophet, 183, 218, 250, 251, 258, 267, 274 + + Fatima (mother of Qusayy), 64 + + Fatima, a woman loved by Imru´u ´l-Qays, 106 + + Fatimid dynasty, the, 217, 265, 268, 269, +271-275+, 322, 371, 412 + + -Fatra, 152 + + _Fawatu ´l-Wafayat_, 449, 452 + + Fayiasufu ´l-`Arab (title), 360. + See _-Kindi_ + + Faymiyun (Phemion), 26 + + Ferdinand I of Castile, 422 + + Ferdinand III of Castile, 434 + + Ferdinand V of Castile, 441 + + Fez, 436 + + Fihr (tribe), xix + + _-Fihrist_, 13, 142, 345, 359, +361-364+, 387, 457 + + -Find, 58, 60, 84 + + _-fiqh_ (Jurisprudence), 283; + denoting law and theology, 339, 420, 465 + + Firdawsi, Persian poet, 265, 269 + + Firuz (Firuzan), father of Ma`ruf al-Karkhi, 385 + + Firuz, a Persian slave, 189 + + -Fírúzábádí (Majdu ´l-Din), 403, 456 + + Fleischer, 400, 404 + + Flint, Robert, 441 + + Fluegel, G., 142, 297, 362, 364, 459 + + Folk-songs, Arabic, 238, 416-417, 449-450 + + _Fons Vitæ_, 428 + + Foreigners, Sciences of the, 282, 283 + + Forgery of Apostolic Traditions, 145, 146, 279 + + Forgery of Pre-islamic poems, 133, 134 + + France, 9, 412, 469 + + Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, 434, 441 + + Free schools, founded by Hakam II, 419 + + Free-thought in Islam, 283, 284, 298, 345, 460. + See _Mu`tazilites_ and _Zindiqs_ + + Free-will, the doctrine of, 223, 224 + + Freytag, G. W., 16, 31, 48, 50, 55, 73, 89, 91, 109, 129, 292, 373 + + Friedlaender, I., 428 + + Frothingham, 389 + + -Fudayl b. `Iyad, 232, 233, 385 + + _-fuhul_, 138 + + Fukayha, 89 + + _-funún al-sab`a_ (the seven kinds of poetry), 450 + + Fuqaym (tribe), 28 + + _-Fusul wa-´l-Ghayat_, 318 + + _Fususu ´l-Hikam_, 400, 401, 402 + + _-Futuhat al-Makkiyya_, 400, 464 + + Future life, Pre-islamic notions of the, 166 + + + G + + Gabriel, 63, 141, 150, 267 + + Galen, 358 + + Galland, 458 + + Gallienus, 33 + + Gaulonitis, the, 53 + + Gaza, 5 + + Geber, 361 + + Geiger, 162 + + Genealogy, Muhammadan, xx + + Genealogy, treatise on, by Ibn Durayd, 343 + + _Genesis, Book of_, xv + + Geographers, the Moslem, 356, 357 + + George -Makin, 355 + + Georgians, the, 445 + + Germany, 8, 412 + + Gesenius, 8 + + -Ghabrá (name of a mare), 61 + + -Gharid, 236 + + -Ghariyyan, 43 + + Ghassán, xxii, 33, 37, 38, 42, 43, 121, 122, 138, 139, 158, 332 + + Ghassanid court, the, described by Hassan b. Thabit, 53 + + Ghassanids, the, 33, +49-54+, 122 + + Ghatafan (tribe), xix, 61 + + -Ghawl, 119 + + _ghayba_ (occultation), 216 + + Ghayman (castle), 24 + + Ghayz b. Murra, 117 + + Ghazala, 339 + + -Ghazali, 230, 234, 277, +338-341+, +380-383+, 393, 431, 463 + + Ghazan, 446 + + Ghaziyya (tribe), 83 + + Ghazna, 268-269, 355 + + Ghaznevid dynasty, the, 265, +268-269+, 271, 275 + + _ghiyar_, 461 + + Ghiyathu ´l-Din Mas`ud (Seljuq), 326, 329 + + _-Ghulat_ (the extreme Shi`ites), 216 + + Ghumdán (castle), 24 + + Gibb, E. J. W., 443, 460 + + Gibb, H. A. R., 470 + + Gibbon, 439 + + Gibraltar (Jabal Tariq), 204, 414 + + Glaser, E., 9, 15 + + Gnosis, the Sufi doctrine of, 386, 387 + + Gnosticism, 389, 390 + + Gobineau, Comte de, 320 + + Goeje, M. J. de, 179, 180, 253, 256, 257, 287, 322, 349, 350, 351, + 353, 354, 356, 366, 371, 409 + + Goethe, 97 + + Gog and Magog, 18 + + _Golden Meadows, the._ See _Muruju ´l-Dhahab_ and -Mas`udi + + Goldziher, Ignaz, xx, xxii, 10, 18, 30, 73, 90, 119, 145, 177, 178, + 199, 200, 221, 225, 246, 278, 279, 280, 285, 287, 289, 297, 298, + 315, 344, 345, 366, 368, 370, 372, 374, 379, 390, 409, 431, 433, 466 + + Gospel, the, 165, 171 + + Grammar, Arabic, the origin of, 202, 278, 282, 341-343, 363 + + Grammars, Arabic, 343, 456 + + Granada, 421, 424, 428, 431, 434, +435-437+, 441, 442, 447 + + Gray, T., 77 + + Greece, 131, 296, 361, 434 + + Greece, the influence of, on Muhammadan thought, 220, 221, 229, 266, + +358-361+, 363, 369, 370, 386, 388 + + Greek Philosophers, the, 341, 363 + + Green, the colour of the `Alids, 262 + + Grimme, H., xv, 10 + + Grünert, M., 346 + + Guadalquivir, the, 422 + + Guest, A. R., 453 + + Guillaume, A., 360 + + Guirgass, 251 + + Guyon, Madame, 233 + + + H + + Haarbrücker, 220, 221, 223, 224, 297 + + Habib b. Aws. See _Abu Tammam_ + + _hadarat_, mystical term, 402 + + -Hadi, the Caliph, 260, 373 + + _Hadiqatu ´l-Afrah_, 449 + + _-hadith_ (Traditions of the Prophet), 132, 134, +143-146+, 201, 247, + 258, 348. See _Traditions of the Prophet_ + + Hadramawt (province), 1, 5, 42 + + Hadrian, 137 + + Hafsa, 142 + + Hafsid dynasty, the, 442 + + Hagar. See _Hajar, wife of Abraham_ + + Hajar (in -Bahrayn), 94, 96 + + Hajar, wife of Abraham, xviii, 63 + + -Hajjaj b. Yusuf, 200, +201-203+, 209, 213, 244 + + Hajji Khalifa, 456 + + -Hakam I (Spanish Umayyad), 409 + + -Hakam II (Spanish Umayyad), 412, 419 + + _hakim_ (philosopher), 387 + + _hal_, mystical term, 387 + + _Halbatu ´l-Kumayt_, 417 + + Halévy, Joseph, 9 + + Halila, 56 + + Halima, daughter of -Harith al-A`raj, 50 + + Halima, the battle of, 43, 50, 51, 125 + + Halima, the Prophet's nurse, 147 + + -Hallaj. See _-Husayn b. Mansur_ + + Halle, 8 + + Ham, xv + + _hama_ (owl or wraith), 94, 166 + + Hamadhan (Ecbatana), 129, 292, 328, 333 + + -Hamadhání, 328. + See _Badi`u ´l-Zaman_ + + Hamal b. Badr, 61, 88 + + _-Hamasa_, of Abu Tammam, 55, 57-61, 79, 81, 82, 83, 84, 87, 92, 93, + 98, 100, 126, +129-130+, 136, 137, 199, 213, 324, 331 + + _-Hamasa_, of -Buhturi, 130, 324 + + _hamasa_ (fortitude), 79, 326 + + Hamat, 454 + + -Hamaysa` b. Himyar, 12 + + Hamdan, 19 + + Hamdan Qarmat, 274 + + -Hamdani (geographer), 6, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 20, 24 + + Hamdanid dynasty, the, 268, +269-271+, 291, 303 + + Hamilton, Terrick, 459 + + Hammad al-Rawiya, 103, 113, 128, +132-134+, 344 + + Hammer, J. von, 308, 316, 396, 459 + + Hamza of Isfahan (historian), 14, 280 + + Hanbalites, the, 376, 462 + + _handasa_ (geometry), 283 + + Hani´, a chieftain of Bakr, 69 + + Hanifa (tribe), 183 + + Hanifs, the, 69, +149+, +150+, 170, 318 + + Hanzala of Tayyi´, 44 + + _haqiqat_, mystical term, 392 + + _haqiqatu ´l-haqa´iq_, mystical term, 403 + + _-haqiqatu ´l-Muhammadiyya_, mystical term, 403 + + _-haqq_, mystical term, 392 + + Haram (tribe), 331 + + Harim b. Sinan, 61, 116, 117, 288 + + -Hariri, author of the _Maqamat_, 329-336 + + -Harith al-Akbar. See _-Harith b. `Amr Muharriq_ + + -Harith b. `Amr (Kindite), 42, 44, 103, 104 + + -Harith b. `Amr Muharriq (Ghassanid), 50 + + -Harith al-A`raj (Ghassanid), 43, 50, 54, 125. + See _-Harith b. Jabala_ + + -Harith b. `Awf, 61, 116, 117 + + -Harith b. Hammam, 330, 331, 333 + + -Harith b. Hilliza (poet), 44, 100, 109, 113-114, 128 + + -Harith b. Jabala (Ghassanid), 43, 50, +51+, +52+. + See _-Harith al-A`raj_ + + -Harith al-Ra´ish, 17 + + -Harith b. Surayj, 222 + + -Harith b. `Ubad, 58, 50 + + -Harith the Younger (Ghassanid), 50 + + -Harith b. Zalim, 85 + + _-harj_, 249 + + Harran, 221, 358, 361, 462 + + Harran, the bilingual inscription of, xxii + + Hartmann, M., 450, 468 + + Harun al-Rashid, the Caliph, xxix, 255, 258, 259, +260-261+, 262, 277, + 283, 292, 293, 296, 298, 343, 345, 347, 366, 367, 368, 373, 385, + 388, 458, 459 + + Harura, 208 + + Harwat, 11 + + _hasab_, 100 + + Hasan (Buwayhid), 266 + + -Hasan of -Basra, 208, 222, 223, +225-227+, 230, 243, 244, 294 + + -Hasan b. Ahmad al-Hamdani, 11. + See _-Hamdani_ + + -Hasan b. `Ali, the Nizamu ´l-Mulk, 276. + See _Nizamu ´l-Mulk_ + + -Hasan b. `Ali b. Abi Talib, 216, 297 + + -Hasan al-Burini, 396 + + -Hasan b. -Sabbah, 445 + + Hashid (tribe), 12 + + Hashim, 65, 146, 250 + + -Hashimiyya (Shi`ite sect), 220, 251 + + Hassan b. Thabit (poet), 18, 52, 53, 54, 127 + + Hassan (son of As`ad Kamil), the Tubba`, 19, 23, 25 + + Hatim of Tayyi´, +85-87+, 288 + + Hawazin (tribe), xix + + _Hayy b. Yaqzan_, 433 + + Hayyum, 19 + + _Hazar Afsan_ (_Hazar Afsana_), 363, 457-458 + + -Haziri (Abu ´l-Ma`ali), 348 + + _Hazzu ´l-Quhuf_, 450 + + Hebrew language, the, xvi + + Hebrews, the, xv + + Hellespont, the, xxix + + Helpers, the. See _-Ansar_ + + Hengstenberg, 102 + + Heraclius, 52 + + Heresies of the Caliph -Ma´mun, 262 + + Herodotus, 353 + + Hierotheus, 389 + + hija (satire), 73, 294 + + -Hijaz, xvii, 3, 21, +62+, 63, 64, 69, 137, 149, 150, 215, 340, 395, + 398, 399, 465, 466 + + -Hijr, the inscriptions of, xxi, 3 + + -Hijra (Hegira), xxv, 158, 171 + + -Hilla, 449 + + _Hilyatu ´l-Awliya,_ 338 + + _himaq_ (a species of verse), 450 + + Hims, 304 + + Himyar (person), 14 + + Himyar (people), xxv, 1, 6, 10, 17, 24, 25, 26, 429 + + Himyarite kings, the, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 17-27. + See _Tubba`s, the_ + + Himyarite language, the, xvi, xvii, xxi, 6-11 + + _Himyarite Ode, the_, 12, 13 + + Himyarites, the, xviii, xx, xxi, 4, +5+, +6+, 7, 12, 17, 23, 26 + + Hind, mother of Bakr and Taghlib, 58 + + Hind (a Bedouin woman), 46 + + Hind, daughter of -Nu`man III, 46, 47 + + Hind, wife of -Mundhir III, 44, 45, 110 + + Hinwam (hill), 20 + + -Hira, xxii, xxiii, 29, 33, 34, +37-49+, 51, 52, 53, 54, 60, 69, 70, + 85, 87, 103, 107, 108, 109, 110, 112, 114, 121, 122, 124, 138, + 139, 189, 244, 439 + + Hira, Mount, 150 + + Hirran, 11 + + Hirschfeld, H., 151 + + Hisham (Umayyad Caliph), 200, 206, 224, 243 + + Hisham I (Spanish Umayyad), 347, 409 + + Hisham II (Spanish Umayyad), 412, 421 + + Hisham b. Muhammad al-Kalbi, 38, 39, 40, 348 + + Hisn Ghurab, 8 + + Historians, Arab, +11-14+, 144, 247, +348-356+, 420, 428, 435-440, + +452-454+ + + Historical studies encouraged by the Umayyads, 247 + + History, the true purpose of, 437; + subject to universal laws, 438; + evolution of, 439, 440 + + _History of the Berbers_, by Ibn Khaldun, 429, 435 + + _History of the Caliphs_, by -Suyuti, 455 + + _History of Islamic Civilisation_, by Jurji Zaydan, 435 + + _History of Old and New Cairo_, by -Suyuti, 455 + + Holy Ghost, the, 150 + + Holy War, the, enjoined by the Koran, 174 + + Homer, the Iliad of, translated into Arabic verse, 469 + + Homeritæ, the, 5 + + Hommel, F., xv, 1 + + Honour, Pre-islamic conception of, 82-100 + + Horace, 326 + + Hospitality, the Bedouin ideal of, 85 + + House of the Prophet, the, 250. + See `_Ali b. Abi Talib_; _`Alids_; _Shi`ites_. + + Houtsma, Th., 193, 242, 329, 349 + + Huart, C., 468 + + Hubal (name of an idol), +64+ + + Hubba, 64 + + Hud (prophet), 2 + + Hudhalites (Hudhaylites), 22, 128. + See _Hudhayl_ + + Hudhayla b. Badr, 61 + + Hudhayta b. al-Yaman, 142 + + Hudhayl (tribe), xix, 64, 98, 99, 100 + + Hughes, G., 80 + + Hujr (Kindite), 42 + + Hujr, father of Imru´u ´l-Qays, 104 + + Hulagu, xxix, 182, 444-446 + + Hulayl b. Hubshiyya, 64 + + _-Hullat al-Siyara_, 418 + + Hulton, 8 + + _hulul_ (incarnation), 396, 402 + + Hulwan, 292 + + Humani, 457 + + -Humayma, 249 + + Hunayn b. Ishaq, 359 + + _hur_ (houris), 167 + + Hurmuz (Sasanian), 47 + + Hurufis, the, 460 + + -Husayn, son of `Ali b. Abi Talib, +196+, +197+, 198, 216, 218, 243, + 466 + + -Husayn b. Damdam, 117 + + -Husayn b. Mansur -Hallaj, 363, 375, 399 + + _Husnu ´l-Muhadara_, 455 + + -Hutay´a (poet), 127, 131, 261 + + Huzwa, 398 + + Hypocrites, the. See _-Munafiqun_ + + + I + + Iamblichus, 389 + + `Ibad, the, of -Hira, 38, 39, 138 + + Ibadites (a Kharijite sect), the, 211 + + _-`Ibar_, by -Dhahabi, 339 + + Ibnu ´l-Abbar, 418, 424 + + Ibn `Abdi Rabbihi, 102, +347+, +420+ + + Ibn Abi Du´ad, 376 + + Ibn Abi Usaybi`a, 266, 355 + + Ibn Abi Ya`qub al-Nadim, 362 + + Ibn Abi Zar`, 429 + + Ibnu ´l-Ahmar (Nasrid), 435 + + Ibn `A´isha, 236 + + Ibnu ´l-`Alqami, 445 + + Ibnu ´l-`Amid, 267 + + Ibn `Ammar (poet), 422, 424 + + Ibnu ´l-`Arabi. See _Muhyi ´l-Din Ibnu ´l-`Arabi_ + + Ibnu ´l-`Arabi, the Cadi, of Seville, 399 + + Ibnu ´l-A`rabi (philologist), 128 + + Ibn `Arabshah, 454 + + Ibnu ´l-Athir, 203, 205, 253, +355-356+, 376, 379, 420, 429 + + Ibn Bajja, 361, 434 + + Ibn Bashkuwal, 426, 434 + + Ibn Bassam, 422, 434 + + Ibnu ´l-Baytar, 434 + + Ibn Durayd, 253, 280, +343+ + + Ibnu ´l-Farid. See _`Umar Ibnu ´l-Farid_ + + Ibn Hajar, 456 + + Ibnu ´l-Hanafiyya. See _Muhammad Ibnu ´l-Hanafiyya_ + + Ibn Hani (poet), 419, 420 + + Ibn Hawqal, 356 + + Ibn Hayyan, 428 + + Ibn Hazm, 222, 341, 402, +423-428+ + + Ibn Hisham, 17, 22, 23, 63, 64, 69, +144+, 147, 150, 151, 152, 154, + 156, 158, 166, 170, 173, 175, +349+ + + Ibn Humam, 105 + + Ibnu ´l-`Idhari, 407, 428, 429 + + Ibn Ishaq, 69, +144+, 146, 149, 156, 247, +349+ + + Ibn Jahwar, 424 + + Ibnu ´l-Jawzi, 355 + + Ibn Jubayr, 357, 434 + + Ibn Kabsha, nickname of Muhammad, 166 + + Ibn Khalawayh, 271 + + Ibn Khaldun, 32, 228, 229, 277, 278, 288, 289, 350, 353, 429, 435, + +437-440+, 443, 452 + + Ibn Khallikan, 129, 132, 190, 213, 224, 234, 245, 261, 266, 267, 276, + 288, 295, 308, 312, 326, 343, 344, 346, 348, 355, 357, 359, 360, + 377, 378, 387, 408, 422, 425, 427, +451-452+ + + Ibn Khaqan, 425, 434 + + Ibnu ´l-Khatib, the Vizier, 413, 435, 436, 437 + + Ibn Khidham, 105 + + Ibn Khurdadbih, 356 + + Ibn Maja, 337 + + Ibn Malik of Jaen, 456 + + Ibn Mukarram (Jamalu ´l-Din), 456 + + Ibn Muljam, 193 + + Ibnu ´l-Muqaffa`, 330, +346+, 348, 358 + + Ibnu ´l-Mu`tazz (poet), 325 + + Ibn Nubata (man of letters), 61 + + Ibn Nubata, the preacher, 271, 328 + + Ibnu ´l-Qifti, 355, 370, 387 + + Ibn Qutayba, xviii, 35, 49, 50, 51, 75, 77, 105, 117, 145, 202, 223, + 257, 277, 280, +286+, +287+, 288, 289, 293, 294, 345, +346+ + + Ibnu ´l-Qutiyya, 420 + + Ibn Quzman, 417 + + Ibn Rashiq, 71, 288 + + Ibnu ´l-Rawandi, 375 + + Ibn Rushd, 341, 361, 432, 434 + + Ibn Sab`in, 434 + + Ibn Sa`d, 144, 256, 349 + + Ibnu ´l-Sammak, 261 + + Ibnu ´l-Sikkit, 343 + + Ibn Sina (Avicenna), 265, 266, 341, +360+, +361+, 393 + + Ibn Sirin, 244 + + Ibn Surayj, 236 + + Ibn Taymiyya, 371, +462+, +463+, 465, 466 + + Ibnu ´l-Tiqtaqa, 454 + + Ibn Tufayt, 361, 432, 433, 434 + + Ibn Tumart, 431-432 + + Ibnu ´l-Wahshiyya, xxv + + Ibnu ´l-Wardi, 455 + + Ibn Zaydun (poet), 419, 424-426 + + Ibn Zuhr, 434 + + Ibrahim (Abraham), xviii, 63. + See _Abraham_ + + Ibrahim (`Alid), 258 + + Ibrahim b. Adham, 232 + + Ibrahim b. Hilal al-Sabi, 328 + + Ibrahim of Mosul, 261 + + Idol-worship at Mecca, 62-64 + + Idris, 264 + + -Idrisi (geographer), 357, 434 + + Idrisid dynasty, the, 264 + + _Ihya´u Ulum al-Din_, 230, 234, 338, 340 + + -Iji (Adudu ´l-Din), 456 + + _ijma`_, 460 + + _ikhlas_, 164 + + Ikhmim, 387 + + _-Ikhtiyarat_, 128 + + Ikhwánu ´l-Safa, 370-372, 388 + + _-Iklil_, 6, 12, 13, 24 + + _-ilahiyyun_, 382 + + _Iliad, the_, xxii, 325, 469 + + Il-Khans, the, xxix, 446 + + Il-Makah, 11 + + _`ilmu ´l-hadith_ (Science of Apostolic Tradition), 283 + + _`ilmu ´l-kalam_ (Scholastic Theology), 283 + + _`ilmu ´l-nujum_ (Astronomy), 283 + + _`ilmu ´l-qira´at_ (Koranic Criticism), 283 + + _`ilmu ´l-tafsir_ (Koranic Exegesis), 283 + + _`ilq_, 101 + + `Imadu ´l-Dawla (Buwayhid), 266 + + `Imadu ´l-Din al-Katib al-Isfahani, 348, 355 + + Imam (head of the religious community), 210 + + Imam, the Hidden, 216-217, 371; + the Infallible, 220, 432 + + Imam-Husayn, a town near Baghdad, 466. + See _Karbala_ + + _-imam al-ma`sum_, 432 + + Imamites, the, 251 + + Imams, the Seven, 217, 273 + + Imams, the Shi`ite, 214-220 + + Imams, the Twelve, 217 + + Imamu ´l-Haramayn, 339, 379 + + _iman_ (faith), 222 + + Imru´u ´l-Qays (poet), 42, 84, 85, 101, 102, +103-107+, 128, 136, 246, + 289 + + India, 4, 17, 268, 341, 352, 361, 389 + + +India, History of+, by -Biruni, 361 + + India, the influence of, on Moslem civilisation, 361, 389, 390 + + India, Moslem conquests in, 203, 268 + + Indian religion, described by -Shahrastani, 341 + + Indus, the, xxiv, 203, 264 + + Infanticide, practised by the pagan Arabs, 149, 243 + + Initiation, the Isma`ilite degrees of, 273 + + Inquisition (_mihna_) established by -Ma´mun, 368, 369 + + _-Insan al-Kamil_, the Perfect Man, 402 + + Inscriptions, the Babylonian and Assyrian, xxv, 4 + + Inscriptions, Himyarite. See _Inscriptions, South Arabic_ + + Inscriptions, Nabatæan, xxv, 3 + + Inscriptions, South Arabic, xvi, xxi, xxvi, +6-11+ + + Inspiration, views of the heathen Arabs regarding, 72, 73, 152, 165 + + Intellectual and Philosophical Sciences, the, 282 + + Ionia, the dialect of, xxiii + + _-`Iqd al-Faríd_, 102, 131, +347+, 420 + + Iram, 1 + + -`Iraq, 34, 38, 42, 123, 132, 142, 201, 202, 207, 208, 243, 244, 255, + 262, 266, 273, 303, _350_, 419, 445. See _Babylonia_ + + _-Isaba fi tamyiz al-Sahaba_, 456 + + Isabella of Castile, 441 + + Isaiah, 151 + + Isfahan, 14, 131, 268, 280, 326, 347, 355, 419 + + Isfandiyar, 330, 363 + + Ishaq b. Ibrahim al-Mawsili, 261, 362, 418 + + Ishaq b. Khalaf, 92 + + Ishmael. See _Isma`il_ + + Isidore of Hispalis, 198 + + Islam, meaning of, 153; + cardinal doctrines of, 163-168; + formal and ascetic character of, 168, 224; + derived from Christianity and Judaism, 176, 177; + pagan elements in, 177; + opposed to the ideals of heathendom, 177, 178; + identified with the religion of Abraham, 62, 177; + a world-religion, 184 + + Isma`il (Ishmael), xviii, 63, 64 + + Isma`il (Samanid), 265 + + Isma`il b. `Abbad, 267. + See _-Sahib Isma`il b. `Abbad_ + + Isma`il b. Naghdala, 428 + + Isma`ilis, the, 217, +272-274+, 363, +371+, +372+, 381, 420, 445 + + +isnad+, 144, 278, 352 + + -Isnawi, 339 + + Israel, 73 + + Istakhr, 356 + + -Istakhri, 356 + + _istifa_, 228 + + Italy, 412, 414, 441 + + Ithamara (Sabæan king), 4 + + -Ithna -`ashariyya (the Twelvers), 217 + + I`timad, name of a slave-girl, 422 + + _-Itqan_, 145, 455 + + _ittihad_, 402 + + _`iyar_, 297 + + Iyas b. Qabisa, 53 + + `Izzu ´l-Din b. `Abd al-Salam, 461 + + + J + + Jabal Tariq (Gibraltar), 204 + + Jabala b. -Ayham (Ghassanid), 50, 51, 52, 53, 54 + + -Jabariyya (the Predestinarians), 224 + + Jabir b. Hayyan, 361, 387 + + _jabr_ (compulsion), 224, 297 + + Jacob, G., 74, 76 + + Jadala (tribe), 429 + + Jadhima al-Abrash, 34, 35, 36, 40 + + Jadis (tribe), 4, 25 + + Jaen, 456 + + Ja`far, the Barmecide, 260 + + Ja`far, son of the Caliph -Hadi, 260 + + Jafna, founder of the Ghassanid dynasty, 50 + + Jafnites, the. See _Ghassanids, the_ + + Jaghbub, 468 + + Jahdar b. Dubay`a, 59 + + _-jahiliyya_ (the Age of Barbarism), xxvi, +30+, 31, 34, 71, 90, 158, + 287 + + -Jahiz, 267, 280, +346-347+, 375 + + _jahiz_, 346 + + -Jahiziyya (Mu`tazilite sect), 346 + + _jahl_, meaning 'barbarism', 30 + + Jahm b. Safwan, 222 + + -Jahshiyari (Abu `Abdallah Muhammad b. `Abdus), 458 + + Jalalu ´l-Din Khwarizmshah, 444 + + Jalalu ´l-Din al-Mahalli, 455 + + Jalalu ´l-Din Rumi, Persian poet, 298, 393, 404 + + Jallaban, 293 + + _-Jamhara fi ´l-Lugha_, 343 + + _Jamharatu Ash`ari ´l-`Arab_, 130 + + -Jami (`Abdu ´l-Rahman), Persian poet, 229, 284, 386, 433 + + _-Jami`_, by -Tirmidhi, 337 + + _-Jami`a_, 371 + + Jamil, 238 + + Jandal, 245 + + Janissaries, the, 413 + + -Jannabi, 375 + + -Jaradatan (name of two singing girls), 2 + + Jarir (poet), 205, 238, 239, 240, 242, +244-246+ + + Jassas b. Murra, 56, 57 + + -Jawf, 9 + + Jawhar, 429 + + -Jawlan, 54 + + Jerusalem, 169, 177, 233, 275, 340, 355, 357 + + Jesus, 215, 216 + + Jews, the, 341. + See _Judaism_ + + -Jibal (province), 292, 356, 445 + + Jibril (Gabriel), 150 + + _jihad_, 430 + + Jinn, the, 72, 112, 119, 152, 165 + + _jinni_ (genie), 165 + + Jirjis -Makin (historian), 355 + + John of Damascus, 221 + + John of Ephesus, 52 + + Johnson, Dr., 286, 313 + + Joktan, xviii + + Jones, E. R., 433 + + Jones, Sir William, 102, 452 + + Jong, P. de, 366 + + Jordan, the, 446 + + -Jubba´i, 377, 378 + + Judaism, established in -Yemen, 23, 137; + zealously fostered by Dhu Nuwas, 26; + in Arabia, 137-140, 149, 158, 170-172, 173, 176, 177; + in Spain, 415, 428, 429; + in Sicily, 441 + + Judaism, influence of, on Muhammadan thought, 176, 177, 215, 216 + + _-ju`iyya_ (the Fasters), 232 + + Juliana of Norwich, 233 + + Junayd of Baghdad, 228, 230, 392, 465 + + Junde-shapur, 358 + + Jurhum (tribe), xviii, 63, 117 + + Jurjan, 339 + + Jurji Zaydan, 435 + + Justinian, 43, 51, 104, 358 + + Justinus (Byzantine Emperor), 27, 52 + + -Juwayni (Abu ´l-Ma`ali), 339, 379 + + Juynboll, 257, 262, 268, 350, 369 + + + K + + Ka`b (tribe), 246 + + Ka`b b. Zuhayr (poet), 119, 127, 327 + + -Ka`ba, +63+, +64+, +65+, +67+, 101, 117, 154, 155, 157, 164, 169, + 177, 198, 319, 400, 403, 467 + + Ka`bu ´l-Ahbar, 185 + + -Kadhdhab (title of Musaylima), 183 + + Kafur (Ikhshidite), 306, 307 + + Kahlan, 14 + + -Kalabadhi, 338 + + _-kalam_ (Scholasticism), 363, 378 + + Kalb (tribe), 199, 405 + + _kalb_, 445 + + _Kalila and Dimna, the Book of_, 346, 363 + + -Kamala (title), 88 + + _-kamil_ (metre), 75 + + _-Kamil_ of Ibnu ´l-Athir, 355, 379, 429. + See _Ibnu ´l-Athir_ + + _-Kamil_ of -Mubarrad, 92, 131, 202, 226, 227, 237, 244, 343 + + _kanwakan_ (a species of verse), 450 + + Karbala, 196, 198, 208, 216, 218, 243, 466 + + Kariba´il Watar, 10 + + -Karkh, a quarter of Baghdad, 267, 385 + + _kasb_, 379 + + _Kashfu ´l-Zunun_, 456 + + _-Kashshaf_, 145 + + _katib_ (secretary), 257, 326 + + Kawadh (Sasanian), 42 + + Kerbogha, 446 + + Khadija, 148, 150, 151, 152, 153, 157 + + _-khafif_ (metre), 75 + + Khalaf, 421 + + Khalaf al-Ahmar, 97, 134, 293, 344 + + Khalid b. -Mudallil, 43 + + Khalid b. -Walid, 184 + + Khalid b. Yazid, 358 + + _khalifa_ (Caliph), xxvii, 175 + + -Khalil b. Ahmad, 75, 285, +343+ + + Khamir (village), 19 + + _-Khamriyya_, by Ibnu ´l-Farid, 396 + + _khamriyyat_, 294 + + _khanaqah_ (monastery), 229 + + -Khansa (poetess), 126, 127 + + _Kharidatu ´l-Qasr_, 348 + + _khariji_ (Kharijite), 209 + + Kharijites, the, 193, 207, +208-213+, 221, 222, 239, 248, 259, 428 + + Kharmaythan, 360 + + -Khasib, 373 + + _khatib_, 271 + + -Khatib, of Baghdad, 355 + + -Khatim b.`Adi, 94, 96 + + -Khawarij. See _Kharijites, the_ + + -Khawarnaq (castle), 40, 41 + + -Khaybar, 50 + + -Khayf, 237 + + Khazaza, battle of, 5 + + -Khazraj (tribe), 170 + + Khedivial dynasty, the, 468 + + Khidash b. Zuhayr, 95, 96 + + Khindif, xix + + _-Khitat_, by -Maqrizi, 453 + + Khiva, 361, 444 + + _Khizanatu ´l-Adab_, 131 + + Khuda Bukhsh, S., 279 + + _Khuday-nama_, 348 + + Khulafa al-Rashidun, xxvii. + See _Caliphs, the Orthodox_ + + Khurasan, xxviii, 129, 132, 220, 221, 232, 233, 239, +249+, +250+, + 251, 254, 256, 258, 263, 265, 266, 275, 303, 339, 341, 379, 390, + 391, 419, 444 + + Khurasan, dialect of, 339 + + _khuruj_ (secession), 209 + + Khusraw Parwez. See _Parwez_ + + _khutba_, 263, 328 + + Khuza`a (tribe), 63, 64, 65 + + Khuzayma (tribe), xix + + Khuzistan, 266, 274, 293, 358 + + Khwarizm, 357, 361, 444 + + -Khwarizmi (Abu `Abdallah), 361 + + _-kibrit al-ahmar_, 399 + + Kilab (tribe), 246 + + Kilab b. Murra, 64 + + _-kimiya_ (the Philosophers' Stone), 401 + + _Kimiya´u ´l-Sa`adat_, 340 + + _-kimiya´un_ (the Alchemists), 364 + + Kinana (tribe), xix, 64 + + Kinda (tribe), xviii, 42, 43, 69, 85, 103, 104, 360 + + -Kïndi, 288, 360 + + -Kisa´i (philologist), 261, 343 + + Kisra (title), 45 + + _Kitabu ´l-Aghani_ (the Book of Songs), 19, 26, 31, +32+, 37, 43, 44, + 46, 47, 53, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 94, 102, 104, 109, 110, 123, 124, + 131, 134, 138, 139, 150, 200, 205, 216, 236, 237, 239, 241, 242, + 243, 244, 245, +270+, 279, 291, 292, 297, 345, +347+, 374, +419+ + + _Kitabu ´l-Ahkam al-Sultaniyya_, 338 + + _Kitabu ´l-Akhbar al-Tiwal_, 349 + + _Kitabu ´l-Amali_, 131 + + _Kitabu Ansabi ´l-Ashraf_, 349 + + _-Kitab al-Awsat_, 353 + + _Kitabu ´l-`Ayn_, 343 + + _Kitabu ´l-Badi`_, 325 + + _Kitabu ´l-Bayan wa-´l-Tabyin_, 347 + + _Kitabu ´l-Falahat al-Nabatiyya_, xxv + + _Kitabu Futuhi ´l-Buldan_, 349 + + _Kitabu ´l-Hayawan_, 346, 375 + + _Kitabu ´l-`Ibar_, by Dhahabi, 339 + + _Kitabu ´l-`Ibar_, by Ibn Khaldun, 437 + + _Kitabu, ´l-Ibil_, 345 + + _Kitabu ´l-Ishtiqaq_, 343 + + _Kitabu ´l-Kamil fi ´l-Ta´rikh_, 355. + See _-Kamil of Ibnu ´l-Athir_ + + _Kitabu Khalq al-Insan_, 345 + + _Kitabu ´l-Khayl_, 345 + + _Kitabu ´l-Luma`_, 393 + + _Kitabu ´l-Ma`arif_, xviii, 202, 223, 224, 345, +346+ + + _Kitabu ´l-Maghazi_, by Musa b. `Uqba, 247 + + _Kitabu ´l-Maghazi_, by -Waqidi, 144 + + _-Kitab al-Mansuri_, 265 + + _Kitabu ´l-Masalik wa-´l-Mamalik_, 356 + + _Kitabu ´l-Milal wa-´l-Nihal_, by Ibn Hazm, 341, 427, 428 + + _Kitabu ´l-Milal wa-´l-Nihal_, by -Shahrastani, 341. + See _-Shahrastani_ + + _Kitabu ´l-Muluk wa-akhbar al-Madin_, 13 + + _Kitabu ´l-Shi`r wa-´l-Shu`ara_, 75, 78, 105, 117, 257, 293, 346 + + _Kitabu ´l-Ta`arruf li-Madhhabi ahli ´l-Tasawwuf_, 338 + + _Kitabu ´l-Tabaqat al-Kabir_, 144 + + _Kitabu ´l-Tanbih wa-´l-Ishraf_, 353, 354 + + _-Kitab al-Yamini_, 355 + + _Kitabu ´l-Zuhd_, 247 + + _Koran, the_, xvii, xx, xxii-xxv, xxvi, xxvii, 1, 2, 3, 15, 17, 18, + 27, 68, 74, 91, 102, 119, 132, 134, +141-143+, 144-152, 154-156, + 158, +159-168+, 169, 172, 174, +175+, +176+, 178, 179, 183, 184, + 185, 187, 192, 201, 203, 207-212, 215, 221, 223, 225, 231, 234, + +235+, 237, 247, 249, 273, 277, 278, 279, 282, 284, 287, 294, 318, + 327, 329, 330, 342, 343, 344, 363, 365, 368, 369, 375, 378, 379, + 397, 398, 403, 408, 417, 433, 449, 454, 455, 460, 461, 462, 463, + 467 + + _Koran, the_, derivation of, 159; + collection of, 142; + historical value of, 143; + arrangement of, 143, 161; + style of, 159, 318, 368; + not poetical as a whole, 160; + held by Moslems to be the literal Word of God, 159, 235; + heavenly archetype of, 151, 163, 368; + revelation of, 150-152, 159; + designed for oral recitation, 161; + commentaries on, 144, 145, 351, 455; + imitations of, 318, 368, 375; + dispute as to whether it was created or not, 262, 368, 369 + + Koran-readers (_-qurra_), the, 209, 210, 277 + + Kosegarten, 128 + + Krehl, L., 151, 360 + + Kremer, Alfred von, 13, 14, 18, 19, 23, 24, 101, 139, 140, 220, 221, + 225, 233, 279, 281, 302, 304, 316, 318, 321, 323, 324, 360, 373, + 379, 383, 399, 439 + + -Kufa, xxiv, 38, 70, 127, 133, 134, 186, +189+, 193, 196, 198, 202, + 207-210, 215, 218, 219, 229, 250, 253, 291, 293, 296, 304, 342, + +343+, 344 + + -Kulab, battle of, 253 + + Kulayb (tribe), 244, 245 + + Kulayb b. Rabi`a, 5, 55, 56, 57, 76, 93 + + Kulayb b. Wa´il, 110. + See _Kulayb b. Rabi`a_ + + Kulthum b. Malik, 110 + + -Kumayt (poet), 138 + + _kunya_ (name of honour), 45, 50, 112 + + -Kusa`i, 244 + + Kuthayyir (poet), 216 + + _-kutub al-sitta_ (the Six Books), 337 + + -Kutubi, 449, 452 + + + L + + La Fontaine, 469 + + Labid (poet), 50, 109, +119-121+, 128, 139, 140 + + Lagrange, Grangeret de, 396, 417 + + Lahore, 268 + + Lakhmites, the, of -Hira, 33, 38, +39-49+, 54, 69 + + Lamis (name of a woman), 82 + + _Lamiyyatu ´l-`Ajam_, 326 + + _Lamiyyatu ´l-`Arab_, +79+, +80+, 89, 134, 326 + + Lamta (tribe), 429 + + Lamtuna (tribe), 429 + + Lane, E. W., 53, 164, 448, 459 + + Lane-Poole, Stanley, 264, 275, 371, 432 + + -Lat (goddess), 135, 155 + + _Lata´ifu ´l-Minan_, 464 + + Latifi (Turkish biographer), 460 + + Laus duplex (rhetorical figure), 311 + + Law, Muhammadan, the schools of, 283, 284, 363, 465; + the first corpus of, 337 + + _Lawaqihu ´l-Anwar_, 225, 226, 392 + + -Lawh al-Mahfuz, 163, 378 + + Layla, mother of `Amr b. Kulthum, 44, 109, 110 + + Layla, the beloved of -Majnun, 238 + + Le Strange, G., 256, 356, 357 + + Learning, Moslem enthusiasm for, 281 + + Lees, Nassau, 386 + + Leo the Armenian, 359 + + Letter-writing, the art of, 267 + + Lexicon, the first Arabic, 343 + + Library of Nuh II, the Samanid, 265, 266; + of Hakam II, the Spanish Umayyad, 419 + + Linguistic Sciences, the, 282 + + Lippert, 370 + + _Lisanu ´l-Arab_, 456 + + Lisanu ´l-Din Ibnu ´l-Khatib. See _Ibnu ´l-Khatib_ + + Literary culture despised by the Arabs, 278 + + _litham_, 423 + + Littmann, Enno, 73 + + Logos, the, 403 + + Lollards, the, 374 + + Longland, 450 + + Loth, O., 1 + + Lourdes, 382 + + Love, Divine, the keynote of Sufiism, 231; + two kinds of, 234; + an ineffable mystery, 387; + hymn of, 396; + in Sufi poetry, 234, 397, 398, 402, 403 + + Loyalty, as understood by the heathen Arabs, 83-85 + + Lucian, 319 + + _-lugha_ (Lexicography), 283 + + Luhayy, 63 + + Lull, Raymond, 404 + + Lu´lu´, 304 + + Luqman b. `Ad (king), 2, 14 + + _-Luzumiyyat_, 315, 316, 319, 323, 324 + + _Luzumu ma la yalzam_, 315. + See _-Luzumiyyat_ + + Lyall, Sir Charles, 32, 54, 71, 75, 82, 89, 92, 97, 101, 109, 111, + 112, 113, 114, 115, 117, 118, 120, 121, 125, 129, 139, 140, 149 + + + M + + Ma´ al-Sama (surname), 41 + + Ma´ab, 63 + + _ma`ad_ (place of return), 215 + + Ma`add, xix, xx, 112 + + Ma`arratu ´l-Nu`man, 313, 314, 323 + + -Ma`arri (Abu ´l-`Ala), 448. + See _Abu ´l-`Ala al-Ma`arri_ + + Ma`bad (singer), 236 + + Ma`bad al-Juhani, 224 + + _Macbeth_, Arabian parallel to an incident in, 25 + + Macdonald, D. B., 273, 378, 382, 433 + + Macedonia, 276 + + Machiavelli, 439 + + Macoraba, 5, 62 + + Madagascar, 352 + + -Mada´in (Ctesiphon), 29, 33, 46, 47, 48. + See _Ctesiphon_ + + Mada´in Salih, 3 + + _-madh al-muwajjah_, 311 + + _-madid_ (metre), 98 + + _madih_ (panegyric), 78, 294 + + Madinatu ´l-Salam, 255. + See _Baghdad_ + + Madrid, 420 + + _mafakhir_, 100 + + _maghazi_, 247 + + -Maghrib, 460 + + Magi (Magians), the. See _Zoroastrians, the_ + + Magian fire-temple at Balkh, the, 259 + + Mahaffy, J. P., 82 + + Mahdi, the, +216+, +217+, 248, 249, 274, 431 + + -Mahdi, the Caliph, 103, 128, 257, 258, 296, 343, 367, 373, 374, 418 + + -Mahdiyya, 274 + + Mahmud (Ghaznevid), 268-269, 355 + + Mahra, dialect of, xxi + + Maimonides, 434 + + Majdu ´l-Din al-Fírúzábádí. See _-Fírúzábádí_ + + _-Majmu` al-Mubarak_, 355 + + -Majnun, 238 + + _majnun_, 165 + + Malaga, 410, 421, 428, 434 + + Malik (boon companion of Jadhima), 35 + + Malik (brother of Qays b. Zuhayr), 61 + + Malik the Azdite, 34 + + Malik, the slayer of -Khatim b. `Adi, 94, 95 + + Malik b. Anas, 284, +337+, +366+, 408 + + -Malik al-Dillil (title of Imru´u ´l-Qays), 104 + + -Malik al-Kamil (Ayyubid), 395, 434 + + -Malik al-Salih Najmu´l-Din (Ayyubid), 447 + + Malik Shah (Seljuq), 275, 276, 326, 340 + + -Malik al-Zahir (Ayyubid), 275 + + -Malik al-Zahir Baybars. See _Baybars, Sultan_ + + Malikite books burned by the Almohades, 433 + + Malikite school of Law, the, 408 + + Mameluke dynasty, the, xxix, 442, 446, +447+, +448+, 453, 464 + + Mamelukes, the, 413 + + _mamluk_, 447 + + -Ma´mun, the Caliph, 92, 129, 255, 257, +262+, +283+, 284, 302, 343, + +358-359+, 361, +368+, 369, 373, 388 + + Manat (goddess), 135, 155 + + Mandeville, Sir John, xxv + + Manfred, 441 + + -Manfuha, 124 + + Mani (Manes), 364, 375 + + Manichæans, the, 218, 297, 341, 372-375. + See _Zindiqs, the_ + + -Mansur, the Caliph, 128, 206, 252, 253, 255, 257, +258-259+, 291, + 314, 337, 346, 349, 358, 373, 407 + + Mansur I (Samanid), 265, 352 + + -Mansur Ibn Abi `Amir, 412, 413, 426 + + _Mantle Ode (-Burda), the_, 326, 327 + + _maqama_, 328 + + _-Maqamat_, of Badi`u ´l-Zaman al- Hamadhani, 328, 329 + + _-Maqamat_, of -Hariri, 329-336 + + Maqamu Ibrahim, 63 + + -Maqdisi. See _-Muqaddasi_ + + -Maqqari, 399, 401, +413+, 418, 419, 427, 436, 454 + + -Maqrizi (Taqiyyu ´l-Din), 453 + + _-Maqsura_, 343 + + Marabout, modern form of _murabit_, 430 + + _Marasidu ´l-Ittila`_, 357 + + _marathi_, 294 + + Marathon, battle of, 174 + + Marcion, 364 + + Margoliouth, Prof. D. S., xxiv, 183, 267, 314, 316, 317, 319, 357, 469 + + Mariaba, 5 + + Ma´rib, 2, 5, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 50. + See _Dyke of Ma´rib_ + + Maridin, 449 + + _ma`rifat_ (gnosis), 386 + + Marinid dynasty, the, 442 + + Mariya, mother of -Mundhir III, 41 + + Mariya (name of a handmaiden), 46, 47 + + Mariya of the Ear-rings, 50 + + Marj Rahit, battle of, 199 + + Marr al-Zahran, 95 + + Marriage, a loose form of, prevailing among the Shi`ites, 262 + + Ma`ruf al-Karkhi, 385, 386, 388 + + Marwan I (Umayyad Caliph), 199 + + Marwan II (Umayyad Caliph), 181, 251, 253, 347 + + -Marzuqi (philologist), 128 + + _Masabihu ´l-Sunna_, 337 + + _Masaliku ´l-Mamalik_, 356 + + _-mashaf_, 294 + + Mashhad -Husayn, 466 + + Maslama b. Ahmad, 420 + + Masruq, 28 + + Mas`ud, Sultan, 329. + See _Ghiyathu ´l-Din Mas`ud_ + + -Mas`udi, 13, 15, 37, 195, 203, 205, 206, 259, 260, 267, 349, + +352-354+, 387, 456 + + _Materia Medica_, by Ibnu ´l-Baytar, 434 + + _mathalib_, 100, 280 + + _Mathnawi, the_, by Jalalu ´l-Din Rumi, 404 + + _-Matin_, 428 + + _matla`_, 309 + + _matn_, 144 + + Mauritania, 412 + + _-Mawa`iz wa ´l-I`tibar fi dhikri ´l-Khitat wa ´l-Athar_, 453 + + -Mawali (the Clients), 198, 207, +219+, 222, +248+, 250, +278+, + +279+, 373 + + -Mawali (the Clients), coalesce with the Shi`ites, 198, 219, 220, + 250; + treated with contempt by the Arabs, 219, 248, 278, 279; + their culture, 248; + their influence, 278, 279 + + _mawaliyya_, a species of verse, 450 + + -Mawardi, 337, 338 + + Mawiyya, mother of -Mundhir III, 41 + + Mawiyya, wife of Hatim of Tayyi´, 87 + + -Maydani, 31. + See _Proverbs, Arabic_ + + Maymun b. Qays. See _-A`sha_ + + Maysun, 195 + + Mazdak, 42, 258, 364 + + Mazyar, 375 + + Mecca, xviii, xxiii, xxvi, xxvii, 2, 3, 5, 6, 22, 28, 53, +62+, 63, + 64, 65-68, 101, 102, 114, 117, 146, 150, 154-156, 158, 169, 171, + 174, 175, 196, 198, 202, 236, 249, 274, 319, 339, 340, 395, 396, + 429, 431, 434, 439, 466, 468 + + Mecca, Pre-islamic history of, 62; + attacked by the Abyssinians, 66-69; + submits to the Prophet, 64, 175 + + Mecca, the dialect of, xxiii + + _Meccan Revelations, the_, 464. + See _Futuhat al-Makkiyya_ + + Meccan _Suras_ of the Koran, the, 160-168 + + Media, 356 + + Medina (-Madina), xxvi, xxvii, 3, 21, 22, 49, 50, 52, 62, 71, 84, + 150, 157, 158, 169, 170, 171, 173, 175, 176, 177, 181, 185, 186, + 188, 198, 208, 209, 236, 241, 243, 337, 339, 365, 466, 468 + + Medina, _Suras_ of the Koran revealed at, 175, 176 + + Mediterranean Sea, the, 5, 255, 275, 404, 412, 444 + + Merv, 252, 346 + + Merx, A., 384, 389 + + Mesopotamia, 35, 186, 238, 240, 269, 355, 358, 385, 388, 411, 446 + + Messiah, Moslem beliefs regarding the, 215-217, 248, 249. + See _Mahdi, the_ + + Metempsychosis, the doctrine of, 267 + + Metres, the Arabian, 74, 75 + + Mevlevi dervish order, the, 393 + + _mihna_, 368 + + -Mihras, 124 + + Mihrgan, Persian festival, 250 + + Milton, 212 + + Mina, 119 + + Minæan language, the, xxi + + Minæans, the, 7 + + _minbar_ (pulpit), 199 + + Minqar, 57 + + Miqlab (castle), 24 + + Miracles demanded by the Quraysh from Muhammad, 165; + falsely attributed to Muhammad, 166 + + _-Mi`raj_ (the Ascension of the Prophet), 169, 403 + + _Mir´atu ´l-Zaman_, 355 + + _Mishkatu ´l-Masabih_, 337 + + _Misr_ (Old Cairo), 394 + + _misra`_ (hemistich), 74 + + _-Mishar_, 455. + See _-Muzhir_ + + Moguls, the Great, xxix, 444 + + Moliere, 469 + + Monasticism, alien to Islam, 225 + + Mongol Invasion, the, xxiv, xxix, xxx, 272, 277, 326, 443, +444-446+ + + Mongols, the, 254, 264, 275, 442, 443, 462. + See _Mongol Invasion, the_ + + _Monte Cristo_, 469 + + Montrose, 191 + + Mordtmann, 9 + + Morocco, 264, 341, 423, 424, 430, 431, 442 + + Moses, 165, 172, 185, 215, 273, 397 + + Moslem, meaning of, 153 + + Moslems, the first, 153 + + Moslems, the non-Arabian. See _-Mawali_ + + Mosul (-Mawsil), 261, 269, 281, 326, 355, 362, 399, 445, 454 + + _-Mu`allaqat_, 77, 82, +101-121+, 128, 131, 416, 459 + + Mu`awiya b. Abi Sufyan (Caliph), xxviii, 13, 119, 181, 191, 192, 193, + +194-195+, 196, 206, 207, 208, 213, 214, 222, 256, 377, 407, 426 + + Mu`awiya b. Bakr (Amalekite prince), 2 + + Mu`awiya, brother of -Khansa, 126 + + Mu´ayyidu ´l-Dawla (Buwayhid), 267 + + -Mubarrad (philologist), 92, 131, 202, 226, 237, 244, +343+, +344+ + + Mudar b. Nizar, xix, 252 + + Mudar, the tribes descended from, xix + + _-Mudhhabat, -Mudhahhabat_, 101 + + -Mutaddal al-Dabbi (philologist), +128+, 133, +343+ + + Mufaddal b. Salama, 31 + + _-Mufaddaliyyat_, 90, +128+, 343 + + -Mughammas, 69 + + _muhajat_ (scolding-match), 238 + + -Muhajirun (the Emigrants), 171, 209 + + Muhalhil b. Rabi`a, 58, 76, 109, 110 + + -Muhallab b. Abi Sufra, 239 + + -Muhallabi, the Vizier, 267, 347 + + Muhammad, the Prophet, xxiii, xxvi-xxviii, 3, 10, 15, 18, 27, 30, 51, + 62, 64, 65, 66, 69, 70, 71, 74, 86, 87, 105, 124, 132, 134, 135, + 137, 139, +141-180+, 181-183, 186-188, 190-193, 201, 202, 207-209, + 213-218, 223, 224, 229, 231, 233, +235+, 237, 249, 250, 251, 257, + 258, 267, 273, 274, 277, 278, 279, 280, 318, 327, 330, 341, 342, + 348, 349, 355, 356, 380, 383, 392, 400, 403, 420, 428, 433, 449, + 455, 462, 463, 465, +467+ + + Muhammad, question whether he could read and write, 151; + his attitude towards the heathen poets, 159, 212, 235; + his aim in the Meccan _Suras_, 160; + his death, 175; + his character, 179, 180; + biographies of, 144, 146, 247, 349; + poems in honour of, 124, 127, 326, 327, 449; + mediæval legend of, 327; + identified with the Logos, 403; + pilgrimage to the tomb of, 463; + his tomb demolished by the Wahhabis, 467 + + Muhammad (`Alid), 258 + + Muhammad (Seljuq), 326 + + Muhammad b. `Abd al-Wahhab, 465-467 + + Muhammad b. `Ali (`Abbasid), 251 + + Muhammad `Ali Pasha, 466, 468 + + Muhammad b. `Ali b. -Sanusi, 468 + + Muhammad Ibnu ´l-Hanafiyya, 216, 218, 220 + + Muhammad b. -Hasan, the Imam, 217 + + Muhammad b. Isma`il, the Imam, 217, 272-274 + + Muhammad al-Kalbi, 348 + + Muhammad b. Sa`ud, 466 + + -Muhtadi, the Caliph, 264 + + Muhyi ´l-Din Ibnu ´l-`Arabi, +399-404+, 434, 462 + + Muhyi ´l-Maw´udat (title), 243 + + Muir, Sir W., 142, 143, 146, 156, 184, 197, 338 + + -Mu`izz (Fatimid Caliph), 420 + + Mu`izzu ´l-Dawla (Buwayhid), 266, 267, 347 + + -Mujammi` (title), 65 + + _Mu`jamu ´l-Buldan_, 17, 357 + + _Mu`jamu ´l-Udaba_, 357 + + Mukarrib (title), 10 + + -Mukhadramun (a class of poets), 127 + + -Mukhtar, 198, +218-220+, 250 + + _-Mukhtarat_, 128 + + -Muktafi, the Caliph, 257, 269, 325 + + -Mulaththamun, 423 + + Müller, A., 5, 101, 261, 266, 355, 429 + + Müller, D. H., 9, 10, 12, 13, 17, 18, 24 + + Multan, 203 + + Muluku ´l-Tawa´if (the Party Kings of Spain), 414 + + -Munafiqun (the Hypocrites), 171, 172, 176 + + -Munakhkhal (poet), 49 + + -Mundhir I (Lakhmite), 41 + + -Mundhir III (Lakhmite), +41-44+, 45, 50, 51, 60, 87, 103, 104 + + -Mundhir IV (Lakhmite), 45, 47 + + -Mundhir b. -Harith (Ghassanid), 50, 52 + + -Mundhir b. Ma´ al-sama, 50, 51. + See _-Mundhir III_ + + -Munjibat (title), 88 + + Munk, S., 360 + + _-Munqidh mina ´l-Dalal_, 340, 380 + + _munshi_, 326 + + -Muqaddasi (geographer), 356, 357, 409 + + _-Muqaddima_, of Ibn Khaldun, 32, 229, 278, 289, +437-440+. + See _Ibn Khaldun_ + + -Muqanna`, 258 + + -Muqattam, Mt., 394, 396 + + _-Muqtabis_, 428 + + -Muqtadir, the Caliph, 325, 343, 399 + + _-murabit_, 430 + + -Murabitun, 433. + See _Almoravides, the_ + + _murid_, 392 + + _murji´_ (Murjite), 221 + + Murjites, the, 206, 220, +221-222+, 428 + + Murra, 56, 57, 58 + + Mursiya (Murcia), 399 + + _Muruju ´l-Dhahab_, 13, 15, 37, 195, 203, 205, 206, 259, 260, 267, + +349+, +353+, +354+, 387, 457 + + _muruwwa_ (virtue), 72, 82, 178, 287 + + Musa b. Maymun (Maimonides), 434 + + Musa b. Nusayr, 203, 204, 405 + + Musa b. `Uqba, 247 + + Mus`ab, 199 + + Musaylima, 183 + + _-Mushtarik_, 357 + + Music in Pre-Isiamic Arabia, 236 + + Musicians, Arab, 236 + + _-musiqi_ (Music), 283 + + Muslim (Moslem), meaning of, 153 + + Muslim (author of _-Sahih_), 144, 337 + + Muslim b. `Aqil, 196 + + Muslim b. -Walid (poet), 261 + + _musnad_ (inscriptions), 6 + + -Mustakfi (Spanish Umayyad), 424 + + -Mustakfi, `Abbasid Caliph, 266 + + -Mustansir (`Abbasid), 448 + + -Mustarshid Billah, the Caliph, 329 + + -Musta`sim, the Caliph, 254, 445 + + -Mustawrid b. `Ullifa, 210 + + _-mut`a_, 262 + + -Mu`tadid (`Abbadid), 421, 425 + + -Mu`tadid (`Abbasid Caliph), 325 + + -Mu`tamid (`Abbadid), 421-424 + + -Mutajarrida, 49, 122 + + -Mutalammis (poet), 107, 108, 138 + + Mutammim b. Nuwayra, 127 + + -Mutanabbi (poet), 266, 269, +270+, 289, 290, 291, 292, +304-313+, + 315, 316, 324, 396, 416, 448 + + _mutasawwifa_ (aspirants to Sufiism), 229 + + -Mu`tasim, the Caliph, 129, 257, 263, 369, 375 + + -Mutawakkil, the Caliph, 257, 264, 284, 344, 350, 369, +375+, +376+, + 388 + + _mutawakkil_, 233 + + Mu`tazilites, the, 206, 220, +222-224+, 225, 230, 262, 268, 284, 346, + +367-370+, 376, 377, 378, 392, 409, 428, 431 + + -Mu`tazz, the Caliph, 325 + + -Muti`, the Caliph, 353 + + Muti` b. Iyas (poet), 291, 292 + + _muwahhid_, 432 + + -Muwalladun, 278, 408 + + _muwashshah_, verse-form, 416, 417, 449 + + _-Muwatta´_, 337, 408, 409 + + Muzaffar Qutuz (Mameluke), 446 + + Muzayna (tribe), 116 + + -Muzayqiya (surname), 15 + + _-Muzhir_, 71, 455 + + Mystical poetry of the Arabs, the, 325, 396-398, 403 + + Mysticism. See _Sufiism_ + + + N + + -Nabat, the Nabatæans, xxv, 279 + + Nabatæan, Moslem use of the term, xxv + + _Nabatæan Agriculture, the Book of_, xxv + + Nabatæan inscriptions, xxv, 3 + + -Nabigha al-Dhubyam (poet), 39, 49, 50, +54+, 86, 101, +121-123+, 128, + 139 + + _nadhir_ (warner), 164 + + Nadir (tribe), 170 + + -Nadr b. -Harith, 330 + + _Nafahatu ´l'Uns_, by Jami, 386 + + _Nafhu ´l-Tib_, by -Maqqari, 399, 413, 436 + + Nafi` b. -Azraq, 208 + + -Nafs al-zakiyya (title), 258 + + -Nahhas (philologist), 102 + + -Nahrawan, battle of, 208 + + _-nahw_ (grammar), 283 + + Na´ila, 35 + + -Najaf, 40 + + -Najashi (the Negus), 26, 27, 28 + + Najd, xvii, 62, 107, 466 + + Najda b. `Amir, 209 + + Najdites (a Kharijite sect), the, 208 + + Najran, 26, 27, 105, 124, 136, 137, 162 + + Na`man, 11 + + Namir (tribe), xix + + Napoleon, 468 + + _-Naqa´id_, of -Akhtal and Jarir, 240 + + _-Naqa´id_, of Jarir and -Farazdaq, 239 + + Naqb al-Hajar, 8 + + -Nasafi (Abu ´l-Barakat), 456 + + -Nasa´i, 337 + + Nashwan b. Sa`id al-Himyari, 12, 13 + + _nasib_ (erotic prelude), 77, 310 + + Nasim, a place near Baghdad, 461 + + -Nasimi (the Hurufi poet), 460, 461 + + Nasir-i Khusraw, Persian poet, 323 + + Nasiru ´l-Dawla (Hamdanid), 269, 411 + + Nasr b. Sayyar, 251 + + Nasr II (Samanid), 265 + + Nasrid dynasty of Granada, the, 435, 442 + + _nat`_, 257 + + -Nawaji (Muhammad b. -Hasan), 417 + + Nawar, wife of -Farazdaq, 243, 244 + + Nawar, the beloved of Labid, 121 + + Nawruz, Persian festival, 250 + + Naysabur, 232, 276, 338, 339, 340, 348 + + _Nazmu ´l-Suluk_, 396 + + -Nazzam, 369 + + Neo-platonism, 360, 384, 389, 390 + + Neo-platonist philosophers welcomed by Nushirwan, 358 + + Nero, 325 + + Nessus, 104 + + Nicephorus, 261 + + Niebuhr, Carsten, 7 + + Night journey of Muhammad, the, 169, 403 + + Night of Power, the, 150 + + _Nihayatu ´l-Aráb_, 455 + + Nile, the, xxviii, 264, 354, 455 + + Nirvana, 233, 391 + + -Nizamiyya College, at Baghdad, 276, 340, 380, 431 + + -Nizamiyya College, at Naysabur, 276, 340 + + Nizamu ´l-Mulk, 276, 340, 379 + + Nizar, xix + + Noah, xv, xviii, 165 + + Nöldeke, Th., xv, xx, xxxiii, xxv, 5, 27, 29, 38, 42, 44, 45, 48, 49, + 51, 52, 54, 55, 57-60, 66, 70, 78, 80, 83, 101, 102, 103, 109, 113, + 122, 123, 126, 127, 130, 134, 145, 151, 160, 167, 172, 184, 195, + 228, 237, 238, 249, 252, 258, 288 + + Nomadic life, characteristics of, 439, 440 + + Nominalists, 367 + + Normans, the, 441 + + Nubia, 387 + + Nuh I (Samanid), 265 + + Nuh II (Samanid), 265 + + _-Nujum al-Záhira_, 257, 262, 268, 369, +454+ + + -Nu`man I (Lakhmite), 40, 41, 139 + + -Nu`man III (Lakhmite), +45-49+, 50, 53, 54, 69, 86, 121, 122 + + -Nu`man al-Akbar. See _Nu`man I_ + + -Nu`man al-A`war (Lakhmite). See _-Nu`man I_ + + -Nu`man b. -Mundhir Abu Qabus. See _-Nu`man III_ + + Numayr (tribe), 245, 246 + + -Nuri (Abu ´l-Husayn), 392 + + Nushirwan (Sasanian king), 29, 42, 45, 358 + + -Nuwayri, 15, 455 + + Nyberg, H. S., 404 + + + O + + Occam, 367 + + Ockley, Simon, 433 + + Ode, the Arabian, 76-78. + See _qasida_ + + Odenathus, 33, 35 + + _Odyssey, the_, xxii + + O'Leary, De Lacy, 360 + + Ordeal of fire, the, 23 + + Orthodox Caliphs, the, xxiii, xxvii, 181-193 + + Orthodox Reaction, the, 284, 376. + See _-Ash`ari_ + + Osiander, 9 + + Ottoman Turks, the, xxix, 442, 447, 464-467 + + Oxus, the, xxviii, 341, 444 + + + P + + Pahlavi (Pehlevi) language, the, 214, 330, 346, 348, 358 + + Palermo, 441 + + Palestine, 52, 104, 137, 229 + + Palmer, E. H., 172, 176, 260 + + Palms, the Feast of, 54 + + Palm-tree, verses on the, by `Abd al-Rahman I, 418 + + Palm-trees of Hulwan, the two, 292 + + Palmyra, 33, 53 + + Panegyric, two-sided (rhetorical figure), 311 + + Panjab (Punjaub), the, 203, 268 + + Pantheism, 231, 233, 234, 275, 372, +390+, +391+, 394, +402+, +403+, + 460 + + Paracelsus, 388 + + Paradise, the Muhammadan, burlesqued by Abu´l -`Ala al-Ma`arri, 318, + 319 + + Parthian kings, the, 457 + + Parwez, son of Hurmuz (Sasanian), 48, 69 + + Passion Play, the, 218 + + _Paul and Virginia_, 469 + + Pavet de Courteille, 349 + + Pearl-fishing in the Persian Gulf, 354 + + Pedro of Castile, 437 + + Penitents, the (a name given to certain Shi`ite insurgents), 218 + + Pentateuch, the, 165, 171, 323 + + Perfect Man, doctrine of the, 402 + + Persecution of the early Moslems, 154, 155, 157; + of heretics, 224, 368, 369, 372-375, 376, 436, 460, 461 + + Persepolis, 356 + + Persia, xxiv, xxvii, xxix, 21, 29, 33, 34, 38, 41, 42, 48, 113, 169, + 182, 184, 185, 188, 208, 214, 247, 255, 258, 265, 266, 274, 279, + 328, 348, 349, 390, 394, 404, 444, 446, 454, 457 + + Persia, the Moslem conquest of, 184 + + Persia, the national legend of, 349 + + Persian divines, influence of the, 278 + + Persian Gulf, the, 4, 107, 354, 357 + + Persian influence on Arabic civilisation and literature, xxviii, + xxix, 182, 250, 256, 265, 267, +276-281+, 287, 288, 290, 295, 418 + + Persian influence on the Shi`a, 214, 219 + + _Persian Kings, History of the_, translated by Ibnu ´l-Muqaffa`, 348 + + Persian literature, fostered by the Samanids and Buwayhids, 265, 303 + + Persian Moslems who wrote in Arabic, xxx, xxxi, 276-278 + + Persians, the, rapidly became Arabicised, 280, 281 + + Persians, the, in -Yemen, 29 + + Petra, xxv, 5 + + Petrarch, 425 + + Pharaoh, 162, 403 + + Pharaohs, the, 4, 5 + + Philip III, 441 + + Philistines, the, 3 + + Philologists, the Arab, xxiv, 32, 127, 128, 133, 246, +341-348+ + + Philosophers, the Greeks 341, 363 + + Philosophers, the Moslem, 360, 361, 381, 382, 432-434 + + _Philosophers and scientists, Lives of the_, by Ibnu ´l-Qifti, 355 + + _Philosophus Autodidactus_, 433 + + Phoenician language, the, xvi + + Phoenicians, the, xv + + _Physicians, History of the_, by Ibn Abi Usaybi`a, 266, 355 + + Piers the Plowman, 450 + + Pietists, the, 207, 208 + + Pilgrimage to Mecca, the, 63, 65, 135, 136, 319 + + Pilgrimage, of the Shi`ites, to the tomb of -Husayn at Karbala, 218, + 466 + + _pir_ (Persian word), 392 + + Plato, 204 + + Plutarch, 363 + + Pocock, E., 433 + + _Poems of the Hudhaylites, the_, 128 + + Poems, the Pre-islamic, xxii, xxiii, 30, 31, +71-140+, 282, 285-289, + 290; + chief collections of, 127-131; + the tradition of, 131-134; + first put into writing, 132 + + _Poems, the Suspended._ See _-Mu`allaqat_ + + Poetics, work on, by Ibnu ´l-Mu`tazz, 325 + + Poetry, Arabian, the origins of, 72-75; + the decline of, not due to Muhammad, 235; + in the Umayyad period, 235-246; + in the `Abbasid period, 285-336; + in Spain, 415-417, 425, 426; + after the Mongol Invasion, 448-450 + + Poetry, conventions of the Ancient, criticised, 286, 288, 315 + + Poetry, Muhammadan views regarding the merits of, 308-312; + intimately connected with public life, 436; + seven kinds of, 450 + + Poetry, the oldest written Arabic, 138 + + _Poetry and Poets, Book of_, by Ibn Qutayba. See _Kitabu ´l-Shi`r + wa-´l-Shu`ara_ + + Poets, the Modern, 289-336; + judged on their merits by Ibn Qutayba, 287; + pronounced superior to the Ancients, 288, 289 + + Poets, the Pre-islamic, character and position of, 71-73; + regarded as classical, xxiii, 72, 285, 286 + + Politics, treatise on, by -Mawardi, 337, 338 + + Portugal, 416 + + Postal service, organised by `Abdu ´l-Malik, 201 + + Postmaster, the office of, 45 + + Prætorius, F., 10 + + Prayers, the five daily, 149, 168 + + Predestination, 157, 223, 224, 378, 379 + + Preston, Theodore, 330 + + Prideaux, W. F., 11, 13 + + Primitive races in Arabia, 1-4 + + Proclus, 389 + + Procreation, considered sinful, 317 + + Prophecy, a, made by the Carmathians, 322 + + Prose, Arabic, the beginnings of, 31 + + Proverbs, Arabic, 3, 16, +31+, 50, 84, 91, 109, 244, 292, 373 + + Ptolemies, the, 276 + + Ptolemy (geographer), 3, 358 + + Public recitation of literary works, 314 + + Pyramids, the, 354 + + Pyrenees, the, xxviii, 204 + + Pythagoras, 102 + + + Q + + Qabus (Lakhmite), 44, 45, 52 + + _qadar_ (power), 224 + + -Qadariyya (the upholders of free-will), 224 + + _qaddah_ (oculist), 271 + + _qadí ´l-qudat_ (Chief Justice), 395 + + Qadiri dervish order, the, 393 + + -Qahira, 275, 394. + See _Cairo qahramana_, 457 + + Qahtan, xviii, 12, 14, 18, 200 + + _Qala´idu ´l-`Iqyan_, 425 + + _-Qamus_, 403, 456 + + _-Qanun_, 361 + + _qara´a_, 159 + + -Qarafa cemetery, 396 + + -Qaramita, 274. + See _Carmathians, the_ + + _qarawi_, 138 + + _qarn_, meaning 'ray', 18 + + _qasida_ (ode), 76-78, 105, 288 + + _qasida_ (ode), form of the, 76, 77; + contents and divisions of the, 77, 78; + loose structure of the, 134; + unsuitable to the conditions of urban life, 288 + + _Qasidatu ´l-Burda_. See _-Burda_ + + _Qasidatu ´l-Himyariyya,_ 12 + + Qasir, 36, 37 + + Qasirin, 111 + + Qasiyun, Mt., 399 + + -Qastallani, 455 + + Qatada, 294 + + Qatari b. -Fuia´a, 213 + + -Qayrawan, 264, 429 + + Qays `Aylan (tribe), xix, 199, 293, 405 + + Qays b. -Khatim, 94-97, 137 + + Qays b. Zuhayr, 61, 62 + + Qaysar (title), 45 + + Qazwin, 445 + + -Qazwini (geographer), 416 + + Qift, 355 + + _qiyas_, 297 + + Qoniya, 404 + + Quatremère, M., xxv, 437, 445, 453 + + Qudar the Red, 3 + + Qumis (province), 391 + + _-Qur´an_, 159. + See _Koran, the_ + + Quraysh (tribe), xix, xxiii, xxvii, 22, +64+, 65-68, 117, 124, 134, + 142, 146, 153-158, 164, 165, 170, 174, 175, 183, 207, 216, +237+, + 241, 279, 330, 347, 375, 407, 417 + + Quraysh, the dialect of, xxiii, 142; + regarded as the classical standard, xxiii, 134 + + Qurayza (tribe), 21, 170 + + _qurra_ (Readers of the Koran), 277. + See _Koran-readers, the_ + + Qusayy, 64, 65, 146 + + -Qushayri, 226, 227, 228, 230, +338+, 379 + + Quss b. Sa`ida, 136 + + _qussas_, 374 + + Qusta b. Luqa, 359 + + _Qutu ´l-Qulub_, 338, 393 + + + R + + _rabad_, 409 + + Rabi`, son of Fatima, the daughter of -Khurshub, 88 + + Rabi`a al-`Adawiyya, 227, 232, +233-234+ + + Rabi`a b. Nizar, xix, 5 + + Rabi`a (b. Nizar), the descendants of, xix + + Racine, 469 + + -Radi, the Caliph, 376 + + Radwa, Mount, 216 + + Rafidites, the, 268. + See _Shi`ites, the_ + + Ra`i ´l-ibil (poet), 245, 246 + + _raj`a_ (palingenesis), 215 + + _-rajaz_ (metre), 74, 75, 76, 77 + + Rakhman, 126 + + Rakusians, the, 149 + + Ralfs, C. A., 327 + + Ramadan, the Fast of, 224, 450 + + Ramla, 229 + + Raqqada, 274 + + _Rasa´ilu Ikhwan al-Safa_, 370, 371 + + Rasmussen, 61 + + Rationalism. See _Mu`tazilites_ and _Free-thought_ + + -Rawda, island on the Nile, 455 + + _rawi_ (reciter), 131 + + Rawis, the, 131-134 + + Raydan, 10 + + -Rayy, 258, 259, 268, 333, 350, 361, 420, 445 + + -Rayyan, 120 + + -Razi (Abu Bakr), physician, 361. + See _Abu Bakr al-Razi_ + + -Razi (Abu Bakr), historian, 420 + + Reading and writing despised by the pagan Arabs, 39 + + Realists, 368 + + Red Sea, the, 4, 5, 62 + + Reformation, the, 468 + + Reforms of `Abdu ´l-Malik, 201; + of `Umar b. `Abd al-`Aziz, 205 + + Register of `Umar, the, 187, 188 + + Reiske, 15, 102, 308, 312, 316, 331 + + Religion, conceived as a product of the human mind, 317 + + Religion of the Sabæans and Himyarites, 10, 11; + of the Pagan Arabs, 56, 135-140, 164, 166; + associated with commerce, 135, 154 + + Religions and Sects, Book of, by -Shahrastam, 341; + by Ibn Hazm, 341. + See _Kitabu ´l-Milal wa-´l-Nihal_ + + Religious ideas in Pre-islamic poetry, 117, 119, 123, 124, 135-140 + + Religious literature in the `Abbasid period, 337-341 + + Religious poetry, 298-302 + + Renaissance, the, 443 + + Renan, xv, 432 + + Renegades, the, 408, 415, 426 + + Resurrection, the, 166, 215, 297, 299, 316 + + Revenge, views of the Arabs concerning, 93, 94; + poems relating to, 97 + + Rhages. See _-Rayy_ + + Rhapsodists, the, 131 + + Rhazes, 265, 361. + See _Abu Bakr al-Razi_ + + Rhetoric, treatise on, by -Jahiz, 347 + + Rhinoceros, the, 354 + + Rhymed Prose. See _saj`_ + + Ribah b. Murra, 25 + + _ribat_, 276, 430 + + Richelieu, 195 + + Rifa`i dervish order, the, 393 + + -Rijam, 119 + + _Risalatu ´l-Ghufran_, 166, 167, 206, +318+, +319+, +375+ + + _-Risalat al-Qushayriyya_, 226, 227, 338 + + Roderic, 204, 405 + + Rödiger, Emil, 8 + + Roger II of Sicily, 434 + + Rome, 33, 34, 41, 43, 50, 52, 113, 252, 314. + See _Byzantine Empire, the_ + + Ronda, 410 + + Rosary, use of the, prohibited, 467 + + Rosen, Baron V., 375 + + Rothstein, Dr. G., 37, 53 + + -Rub` al-Khali, xvii + + Rubicon, the, 252 + + Rückert, Friedrich, 93, 97, 104, 292, 332 + + Rudagi, Persian poet, 265 + + Ruhu ´l-Quds (the Holy Ghost), 150 + + _-rujz_, 152 + + Ruknu ´l-Dawla (Buwayhid), 266, 267 + + -Rumaykiyya, 422 + + Rushayyid al-Dahdah, 394, 396 + + Rustam, 330, 363 + + Ruzbih, 346. + See _Ibnu ´l-Muqaffa`_ + + + S + + -Sa`b Dhu ´l-Qarnayn, 17 + + _-Sab` al-Tiwal_ (the Seven Long Poems), 103 + + Saba (Sheba), xxv, 1, +4+, +5+, 6, 10, 16, 17. + See _Sabæans, the_ + + Saba (person), 14 + + Sabæan language, the, xvi. + See _South Arabic language, the_ + + Sabæans, the, xv, xvii, xviii, xx, xxi, 1, +4+, +5+, 7, 14, 17 + + Saba´ites, the, a Shi`ite sect, 215, 216, 217, 219 + + Sabians, the, 149, 341, 354, 358, 363, 364, 388 + + -Sab`iyya (the Seveners), 217 + + Sabota, 5 + + Sabuktagin, 268 + + Sabur I, 33 + + Sabur b. Ardashir, 267, 314 + + Sachau, E., xxii, 361 + + Sacy, Silvestre de, 8, 80, 102, 353, 354 + + Sa`d (client of Jassas b. Murra), 56, 57 + + Sa`d (tribe), 147 + + Sa`d b. Malik b. Dubay`a, 57 + + _sada_ (owl or wraith), 94, 166 + + Sa`d-ilah, 11 + + _sadin_, 259 + + -Sadir (castle), 41 + + Sadru ´l-Din of Qoniya, 404 + + _safa_ (purity), 228, 370 + + Safa, the inscriptions of, xxi + + -Safadi, 326, 456 + + _Safar-Nama_, 324 + + Safawid dynasty, the, xxix + + -Saffah, 253, 254, 257, 259 + + -Saffah b. `Abd Manat, 253 + + -Saffah, meaning of the title, 253 + + -Saffar (title), 265 + + Saffarid dynasty, the, 265 + + _safi_ (pure), 228 + + Safiyyu ´l-Din al-Hilli (poet), 449, 450 + + _sag_ (Persian word), 445 + + -Sahaba (the Companions of the Prophet), 229 + + Sahara, the, 423, 429, 468 + + -Sahib Isma`il b. `Abbad, 267, 347 + + Sahibu ´l-Zanadiqa (title), 373 + + _-Sahih_, of -Bukhari, 144, 146, 337 + + _-Sahih_, of Muslim, 144, 337 + + Sahl b. `Abdallah al-Tustari, 392 + + Sa`id b. -Husayn, 274 + + St. John, the Cathedral of, 203 + + St. Thomas, the Church of, at -Hira, 46 + + Saints, female, 233 + + Saints, the Moslem, 386, 393, 395, 402, 403, 463, 467 + + _saj_ (rhymed prose), 74, 75, 159, 327, 328 + + Sakhr, brother of -Khansa, 126, 127 + + Sal`, 398 + + Saladin, 275, 348, 355 + + Salahu ´l-Din b. Ayyub, 275. + See _Saladin_ + + Salama b. Khalid, 253 + + Salaman, 433 + + Salaman (tribe), 79 + + Salamya, 274 + + Salih (prophet), 3 + + Salih (tribe), 50 + + Salih b. `Abd al-Quddus, 372-375 + + Salim al-Suddi, 204 + + Saltpetre industry, the, at -Basra, 273 + + Sam b. Nuh, xviii. See _Shem, the son of Noah_ + + _sama`_ (oral tradition), 297 + + _sama`_ (religious music), 394 + + Samah`ali Yanuf, 10, 17 + + -Sam`ani 339 + + Samanid dynasty, the, +265+, +266+, 268, 271, 303 + + Samarcand, 203, 268, 447 + + Samarra, 263 + + -Samaw´al b. `Adiya, 84, 85 + + Samuel Ha-Levi, 428, 429 + + San`a, 8, 9, 17, 24, 28, 66, 215 + + _sanad_, 144 + + -Sanhaji, 456 + + Sanjar (Seljuq), 264 + + -Sanusi (Muhammad b. Yusuf), 456 + + Sanusiyya Brotherhood, the, 468 + + -Saqaliba, 413 + + _Saqtu ´l-Zand_, 313, 315 + + Sarabi (name of a she-camel), 56 + + Sargon, King, 4 + + Sari al-Raffa (poet), 270 + + Sari al-Saqati, 386 + + Saruj, 330, 331, 332 + + Sa`sa`a, 242 + + Sasanian dynasty, the, 34, 38, 40, 41, 42, 214, 256, 358, 457 + + Sasanian kings, the, regarded as divine, 214 + + Satire, 73, 200, 245, 246 + + Saturn and Jupiter, conjunction of, 322 + + Sa`ud b. `Abd al-`Aziz b. Muhammad b. Sa`ud, 466 + + Sawa, 333 + + Sayf b. Dhi Yazan, 29 + + -Sayfiyya College, the, in Cairo, 395 + + Sayfu ´l-Dawla (Hamdanid), +269-271+, +303-307+, 311, 313, 360 + + Saylu ´l-`Arim, 14 + + Schack, A. F. von, 360, 416, 436, 441 + + Schefer, C., 324 + + Scheherazade, 457 + + Scholasticism, Muhammadan, 284, 363, 460. + See _-Ash`ari_; _Ash`arites_; _Orthodox Reaction_ + + Schreiner, 379 + + Schulthess, F., 87 + + Sciences, the Foreign, 282, 283, 358-364 + + Sciences, the Moslem, development and classification of, +282+, +283+ + + Scripture, People of the, 341 + + Sea-serpent, the, 354 + + Sédillot, 360 + + Seetzen, Ulrich Jasper, 8 + + Seleucids, the, 276 + + Self, dying to (fana), the Sufi doctrine of, 233 + + Selim I (Ottoman Sultan), 448 + + Seljuq dynasty, the, 264, 265, 268, +275+, +276+, 326, 445 + + Seljuq b. Tuqaq, 275 + + Seljuq Turks, the, 275, 444 + + Sell, Rev. E., 468 + + Semites, the, xv, xvi, 1, 328 + + Semitic languages, the, xv, xvi + + Senegal, 430 + + Seville, 399, 406, 416, 420, 421, 422, 424, 425, 427, 431, 435, 437, + 447 + + Shabib, 209 + + Shabwat, 5 + + Shaddad (king), 1 + + Shaddad b. -Aswad al-Laythi, 166 + + _Shadharatu ´l-Dhahab_, 339, 399, 436, 460 + + -Shadhili (Abu ´l-Hasan), 461 + + Shadhili order of dervishes, 393, 461 + + -Shafi`i, 284, 409 + + Shafi`ite doctors, biographical work on the, 339 + + _Shahnama, the_, by Firdawsi, 265, 325 + + -Shahrastani, 211, 216, 220, 221, 223, 224, 297, +341+, 388 + + Shahrazad, 457 + + _sha`ir_ (poet), 72, 73 + + Shakespeare, 252 + + Shamir b. Dhi ´l-Jawshan, 196, 197, 198 + + Shams (name of a god), 11 + + Shams b. Malik, 81 + + Shamsiyya, Queen of Arabia, 4 + + _Shamsu ´l-`Ulum_, 13 + + -Shanfara, +79-81+, 89, 97, 134, 326 + + Shaqiq (Abu `Ali), of Balkh, 232, 233, 385 + + Sharahil (Sharahbil), 18 + + -Sha`rani, 225, 226, 392, 400, 403, 443, 460, 462, +464-465+ + + _shari`at_, 392 + + -Sharif al-Jurjani, 456 + + -Sharif al-Radi (poet), 314 + + Sharifs, of Morocco, the, 442 + + Sharik b. `Amr, 44 + + Shas, 125 + + Shayban (clan of Bakr), 58 + + -Shaykh al-Akbar, 404. + See _Muhyi ´l-Din Ibnu ´l-`Arabi_ + + Sheba, 4 + + Sheba, the Queen of, 18 + + Shem, the son of Noah, xv, xviii + + _shi`a_ (party), 213 + + Shi`a, the, 213. + See _Shi`ites, the_ + + _-Shifa_, 361 + + Shihabu ´l-Din al-Suhrawardi. See _-Suhrawardi_ + + -Shihr, dialect of, xxi + + Shi`ites, the, xxviii. 207, 208, +213-220+, 222, 248, 249, 250, 262, + 267, 268, 271-275, 297, 379, 409, 428, 432, 445, 466 + + _shikaft_ (Persian word), 232 + + _-shikaftiyya_ (the Cave-dwellers), 232 + + Shilb, 416 + + Shiraz, 266, 307 + + Shirazad, 457 + + -Shirbini, 450 + + _-shurat_ (the Sellers), 209 + + Shu`ubites, the, 279-280, 344, 372 + + Sibawayhi, 343 + + Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi, 355 + + Sicily, xvi, 52, 441 + + _siddiq_, meaning of, 218, 375 + + -Siddiq (title of Abu Bakr), 183 + + Sidi Khalil al-Jundi, 456 + + _Sifatu Jazirat al-`Arab_, 12, 18, 20 + + Siffin, battle of, 192, 208, 377 + + _-sihr wa-´l-kimiya_ (Magic and Alchemy), 283 + + _-Sila fi akhbari a´immati ´l-Andalus_, 426 + + Silves, 416 + + Simak b. `Ubayd, 210 + + Sinbadh the Magian, 258 + + _Sindbad, the Book of_, 363 + + Sinimmar, 40 + + Siqadanj, 252 + + _Siratu `Antar_, 459 + + _Siratu Rasuli ´llah_, 349 + + _siyaha_, 394 + + _Siyaru Muluk al-`Ajam_, 348 + + Slane, Baron MacGuckin de, 32, 104, 129, 132, 136, 190, 213, 224, 229, + 245, 261, 267, 278, 288, 289, 295, 326, 343, 344, 348, 355, 357, + 359, 360, 371, 377, 378, 387, 408, 422, 425, 427, 429, 435, 437, + 438, 440, 451 + + Slaves, the, 413 + + Smith, R. Payne, 52 + + Smith, W. Robertson, 56, 199 + + Snouck Hurgronje, 217 + + Socotra, dialect of, xxi + + Solecisms, work on, by -Hariri, 336 + + Solomon, xvii + + Solomon Ibn Gabirol, 428 + + Soothsayers, Arabian, 72, 74, 152, 159, 165 + + South Arabic inscriptions, the. See _Inscriptions, South Arabic_ + + South Arabic language, the, xvi, xxi, 6-11 + + Spain, xvi, xxx, 199, 203, 204, 253, 264, 276, 399, +405-441+, 442, + 443, 449, 454 + + Spain, the Moslem conquest of, 203, 204, 405 + + Spencer, Herbert, 382 + + Spitta, 378 + + Sprenger, A., 143, 145, 149, 153, 456 + + Steiner, 369 + + Steingass, F., 328 + + Stephen bar Sudaili, 389 + + Stones, the worship of, in pagan Arabia, 56 + + Stories, frivolous, reprobated by strict Moslems, 330 + + Street-preachers, 374 + + Stylistic, manual of, by Ibn Qutayba, 346 + + -Subki (Taju ´l-Din), 461 + + Suetonius, 354 + + _suf_ (wool), 228 + + Sufi, derivation of, 227, 228; + meaning of, 228, 229, 230 + + Sufiism, +227-235+, 382, +383-404+, 460, 462, 463-465 + + Sufiism, Arabic works of reference on, 338 + + Sufiism, origins of, 228-231, 388-389; + distinguished from asceticism, 229, 230, 231; + the keynote of, 231; + argument against the Indian origin of, 233; + composed of many different elements, 389, 390; + different schools of, 390; + foreign sources of, 390; + principles of, 392; + definitions of, 228, 385, 392 + + Sufis, the, 206, 327, 339, 381, 460-465. + See _Sufiism_ + + Sufyan b. `Uyayna, 366 + + Suhaym b. Wathil (poet), 202 + + -Suhrawardi (Shihabu ´l-Din Abu Hafs `Umar), 230, 232, 338, 396 + + -Suhrawardi (Shihabu ´l-Din Yahya), 275 + + -Sukkari, 128, 343 + + -Sulayk b. -Sulaka, 89 + + Sulaym (tribe), xix + + Sulayma, 34 + + Sulayman (Umayyad Caliph), 200, 203 + + Sulayman al-Bistani, 469 + + -Suli, 297 + + _-Suluk li-ma`rifati Duwali ´l-Muluk_, 453 + + -Sumayl b. Hatim, 406 + + Sumayya, 195 + + _-Sunan_, of Abu Dawud al-Sijistani, 337 + + _-Sunan_, of Ibn Maja, 337 + + _-Sunan_, of, -Nasa´i, 337 + + _-sunna_, 144, 234 + + _-sunna_, collections of traditions bearing on, 337 + + Sunnis, the, 207 + + Sunnis and Shi`ites. not between the, 445 + + _sura_, 143, 159 + + _Sura of Abu Lahab, the_, 160 + + _Sura of Coagulated Blood, the_, 151 + + _Sura of the Elephant, the_, 68 + + _Sura of the Enwrapped, the_, 152 + + _Sura of the Morning, the_, 152 + + _Sura, the Opening_, 143, 168 + + _Sura of Purification, the_, 164. + See _Suratu ´l-Ikhlas_ + + _Sura of the Severing, the_, 161 + + _Sura of the Signs, the_, 162 + + _Sura of the Smiting, the_, 163 + + _Sura of the Unbelievers, the_, 163 + + _Suratu ´l-Fatiha_ (the opening chapter of the Koran), 168. + See _Sura, the Opening_ + + _Suratu ´l-Ikhlas_, 461. + See _Sura of Purification, the_ + + _Suratu ´l-Tahrim_, 454 + + Surra-man-ra´a, 263 + + Surushan, 391 + + -Sus, 431 + + Suwayqa, 398 + + Suyut, 454 + + -Suyuti (Jalalu ´l-Din), 55, 71, 145, 403, +454+, +455+ + + Syria, xxiv, xxvii-xxx, 3, 5, 26, 33, 35, 43, 46, 49, 50, 51, 52, 54, + 63, 73, 84, 123, 132, 142, 148, 170, 184, 185, 186, 191, 193, 199, + 207, 215, 232, 240, 247, 255, 262, 268, 269, 271, 274, 275, 303, + 304, 350, 355, 358, 382, 386, 388, 390, 405, 418, 419, 442, 443, + 446, 448, 451, 461, 468 + + Syria, conquest of, by the Moslems, 184 + + + T + + Ta´abbata Sharran (poet), 79, +81+, +97+, 107, 126 + + Tabala, 105 + + _Tabaqatu 'l-Atibba_, 266 + + _Tabaqatu ´l-Sufiyya_, 338 + + Tabaran, 339 + + -Tabari, 1, 27, 35, 37, 38, 41, 42, 44, 45, 48, 49, 66-68, 70, +145+, + 155, 156, 158, 185, 186, 187, 189, 210, 212, 215, 218, 219, 256, + 258, 259, 265, 277, +349+, +352+, 355, 356, 373, 376 + + -Tabari's _Annals_, abridgment of, by -Bal`ami, 265, 352 + + Tabaristan, 350 + + _tabi`iyyun_, 381 + + -Tabi`un (the Successors), 229 + + Table, the Guarded, 163 + + Tabriz, 461 + + Tacitus, 194 + + _Tadhkiratu ´l-Awliya_, by Faridu´ddin `Attar, 226, 228, 387 + + _tadlis_, 145 + + _Tafsiru ´l-Jalalayn_, 455 + + _Tafsiru ´l-Qur`an_, by -Tabari, 1, 145, 351 + + -Taftazani, 456 + + Taghlib (tribe), xix, 44, 55-60, 61, 76, 93, 107, 109, 110, 112, 113, + 240, 253, 269 + + _Tahafutu ´l-Falasifa_, 341 + + Tahir, 262, 263 + + Tahirid dynasty, the, 263, 265 + + _tahrimu ´l-makasib_, 297 + + Ta´if, 158 + + _-Ta´iyyatu ´l-Kubra_, 396, 397, 402 + + _-Taiyyatu ´l-Sughra_, 397 + + _tajrid_, 394 + + Talha, 190 + + Ta`limites, the, 381, 382 + + _Talisman, the_, 469 + + Tamerlane, 437. + See _Timur_ + + Tamim (tribe), xix, 125, 242, 293 + + Tamim al-Dari, 225 + + _tanasukh_ (metempsychosis), 267 + + Tanukh (tribe), xviii, 34, 38 + + _taqlid_, 402 + + Tarafa (poet), 44, 101, +107-109+, 128, 138, 308 + + _tardiyyat_, 294 + + _Ta´rikhu ´l-Hind_, 361 + + _Ta´rikhu ´l-Hukama_, 355, 370 + + _Ta´rikhu ´l-Khamis_, 445 + + _Ta'rikhu ´l-Khulafa_, 455 + + _Ta'rikhu ´l-Rusul wa-´l-Muluk_, 351 + + _Ta'rikhu ´l-Tamaddun al-Islami_, 435 + + Tariq, 204, 405 + + _Tarjumanu ´l-Ashwaq_, 403 + + Tarsus, 361 + + Tartary, 444 + + _tasawwuf_ (Sufiism), 228 + + Tasm (tribe), 4, 25 + + _tawaf_, 117 + + _tawakkut_, 233 + + _tawhid_, 401 + + _ta´wil_ (Interpretation), the doctrine of, 220 + + _-tawil_ (metre), 75, 80 + + -Tawwabun (the Penitents), 218 + + Tayma, 84 + + Tayyi´ (tribe), xviii, 44, 53, 115 + + _ta`ziya_ (Passion Play), 218 + + Teheran, 361 + + Temple, the, at Jerusalem, 169, 177 + + Tennyson, 79 + + Teresa, St., 233 + + Testament, the Old, 161, 179 + + -Tha`alibi, 267, 271, 288, 290, 303, 304, +308-312+, +348+ + + Thabit b. Jabir b. Sutyan, 81, 126. + See _Ta´abbata Sharran_ + + Thabit b. Qurra, 359 + + Thabit Qutna, 221 + + Tha`lab, 344 + + Thales, 363 + + Thamud, x, +3+, 162 + + _thanawi_, 374 + + Thapsus, 274 + + Thaqif (tribe), 69 + + Theodore Abucara, 221 + + Theologians, influence of, in the `Abbasid period, 247, 283, 366, 367 + + Thoma (St. Thomas), 46 + + Thomas Aquinas, 367 + + Thorbecke, H., 55, 90, 114, 129, 336, 459 + + _Thousand and One Nights, the_, 34, 456-459. + See _Arabian Nights, the_ + + _-tibb_ (medicine), 283 + + Tiberius, 194 + + -Tibrizi (commentator), 55, 130 + + Tibullus, 425 + + Tides, a dissertation on, 354 + + Tigris, the, 189, 238, 256, 446 + + -Tihama, 62 + + Tihama, the, of Mecca, 3 + + Tilimsan, 454 + + Timur, xxix, 444, 454. + See _Tamerlane_ + + Timur, biography of, by Ibn `Arabshah, 454 + + _tinnin_, 354 + + -Tirimmah (poet), 138 + + -Tirmidhi (Abu `Isa Muhammad), 337 + + Titus, 137 + + Tobacco, the smoking of, prohibited, 467 + + Toledo, 204, 421-423 + + Toleration, of Moslems towards Zoroastrians, 184; + towards Christians, 184, 414, 441 + + Torah, the, 403. + See _Pentateuch_ + + Tornberg, 203, 205, 253, 355, 429 + + Tours, battle of, 204 + + Trade between India and Arabia, 4, 5 + + Trade, expansion of, in the `Abbasid period, 281 + + Traditional or Religious Sciences, the, 282 + + Traditions, the Apostolic, collections of, 144, 247, 337 + + Traditions of the Prophet, +143-146+, 237, 277, 278, 279, 282, 337, + 356, 378, 462, 463, 464, 465, 467 + + Trajan, xxv + + Translations into Arabic, from Pehlevi, 330, 346, 348, 358; + from Greek, 358, 359, 469; + from Coptic, 358; + from English and French, 469 + + Translators of scientific books into Arabic, the, 358, 359, 363 + + Transoxania, 203, 233, 263, 265, 266, 275, 360, 419, 444 + + Transoxania, conquest of, by the Moslems, 203 + + Tribal constitution, the, 83 + + Tribes, the Arab, xix, xx + + Tripoli, 468 + + Tubba`s, the (Himyarite kings), 5, 14, +17-26+, 42 + + Tudih, 398 + + _tughra_, 326 + + _tughra´i_ (chancellor), 326 + + -Tughra´i (poet), 326 + + Tughril Beg, 264, 275 + + _tului_, 286 + + Tumadir, 126 + + Tunis, 274, 428, 437, 441 + + Turkey, xvi, 169, 394, 404, 448, 466 + + Turkey, the Sultans of, 448 + + Turks, the, 263, 264, 268, 325, 343. + See _Ottoman Turks_; _Seljuq Turks_ + + Tus, 339, 340 + + Tuwayli`, 398 + + Tuways, 236 + + _Twenty Years After_, by Dumas, 272 + + + U + + `Ubaydu´llah, the Mahdi, 274 + + `Ubaydu´llah b. Yahya, 350 + + `Ubaydu´llah b. Ziyad, 196, 198 + + Udhayna (Odenathus), 33, 35 + + Uhud, battle of, 170, 175 + + `Ukaz, the fair of, 101, 102, 135 + + -`Ulama, 320, 367, 460, 461 + + Ultra-Shi`ites, the, 258. + See _-Ghulat_ + + `Uman (province), 4, 62 + + `Umar b. `Abd al-`Aziz (Umayyad Caliph), 200, 203, +204-206+, 283 + + `Umar b. Abi Rabi`a (poet), 237 + + `Umar Ibnu ´l-Farid (poet), +325+, +394-398+, 402, 448, 462 + + `Umar b. Hatsun, 410 + + `Umar b. al-Khattab (Caliph), xxvii, 51, 105, 127, 142, 157, 183, + +185-190+, 204, 210, 214, 215, 242, 254, 268, 297, 435 + + `Umar Khayyam, 339 + + `Umara, 88 + + Umayma (name of a woman), 90, 91, 92 + + Umayya, ancestor of the Umayyads, 65, 146, 181, 190 + + Umayya b. Abi ´l-Salt (poet), 69, +149-150+ + + Umayyad dynasty, the, xxviii, 65, 154, 181, 190, +193-206+, 214, 222, + 264, 273, 274, 278, 279, 282, 283, 347, 358, 366, 373, 408 + + Umayyad literature, 235-247 + + Umayyads (descendants of Umayya), the, 190, 191. + See _Umayyad dynasty, the_ + + Umayyads, Moslem prejudice against the, 154, 193, 194, 197, 207 + + Umayyads of Spain, the, 253, 264, 347, +405-414+ + + _-`Umda_, by Ibn Rashiq, 288 + + Umm `Asim, 204 + + Umm Jamil, 89 + + Unays, 67 + + -`Urayd, 398 + + Urtuqid dynasty, the, 449 + + _Usdu ´l-Ghaba_, 356 + + `Usfan, 22 + + _ustadh_, 392 + + Ustadhsis, 258 + + Usyut, 454 + + `Utba, a slave-girl, 296 + + -`Utbi (historian), 269, 354 + + `Uthman b. `Affan, Caliph, xxvii, 142, 185, +190+, 191, 210, 211, + 213, 214, 215, 221, 236, 297 + + _`Uyunu ´l-Akhbar_, 346 + + _`Uyunu ´l-Anba fi Tabaqat al-Atibba_, 355. + See _Tabaqatu ´l-Atibba_ + + -`Uzza (goddess), 43, 135, 155 + + + V + + Valencia, 421 + + Valerian, 33 + + Van Vloten, 221, 222, 250 + + Vedanta, the, 384 + + Venus, 18 + + Vico, 439 + + Victor Hugo, 312 + + Villon, 243 + + Vizier, the office of, 256, 257. + See _wazir_ + + Viziers of the Buwayhid dynasty, the, 267 + + Vogué, C. J. M. de, xxii + + Vollers, 450 + + Vowel-marks in Arabic script, 201 + + + W + + Wadd, name of a god, 123 + + Wadi ´l-Mustad`afin, 394 + + _Wafayatu ´l-A`yan_, 451, 452. + See _Ibn Khallikan_ + + _-Wafi bi ´l-Wafayat_, 456 + + _-wafir_ (metre), 75 + + Wahb b. Munabbih, 247, 459 + + _wahdatu ´l-wujud_, monism, 402 + + Wahhabis, the, 463, 465-468 + + Wahhabite Reformation, the, 465-468 + + -Wahidi (commentator), 305, 307 + + _-wa`id_, 297 + + Wa´il, xix, 56, 57 + + _wajd_, mystical term, 387, 394 + + Wajra, 398 + + -Walid b. `Abd al-Malik (Umayyad Caliph), 200, +203+, 405 + + -Walid b. Yazid (Umayyad Caliph), 132, +206+, 291, 375 + + Wallada, 424, 425 + + -Waqidi (historian), 144, 261, 349 + + Waraqa b. Nawfal, 149, 150 + + _wasi_ (executor), 215 + + Wasil b. `Ata, 223, 224, 374 + + Wasit, 385, 386 + + Water-diviners, honoured by the pagan Arabs, 73 + + -Wathiq, the Caliph, 257, 369 + + _wazir_, an Arabic word, 256. + See _Vizier_ + + Wellhausen, J., 56, 128, 135, 139, 140, 149, 173, 198, 205, 207, 209, + 210, 215, 218, 219, 222, 250, 365 + + Well-songs, 73 + + Wellsted, J. R., 8 + + West Gothic dynasty in Spain, the, 204 + + Weyers, 425 + + Wine-songs, 124, 125, 138, 206, 325, 417 + + Witches, Ballad of the Three, 19 + + Women famed as poets, 89, 126, 127; + as Sufis, 233 + + Women, position of, in Pre-islamic times, 87-92 + + Woollen garments, a sign of asceticism, 228, 296 + + Wright, W., 202, 226, 343 + + Writing, Arabic, the oldest specimens of, xxi + + Writing, the art of, in Pre-islamic times, xxii, 31, 102, 131, 138 + + Wüstenfeld, F., xviii, 17, 129, 132, 190, 213, 245, 253, 275, 295, + 357, 378, 408, 416, 452, 459 + + + X + + Xerxes, 256 + + Ximenez, Archbishop, 435 + + + Y + + -Yahud (the Jews), 171 + + Yahya b. Abi Mansur, 359 + + Yahya b. Khalid, 259, 260, 451 + + Yahya b. Yahya, the Berber, 408, 409 + + Yaksum, 28 + + -Yamama, 25, 111, 124 + + -Yamama, battle of, xxii, 142 + + Ya`qub b. -Layth, 265 + + Ya`qub al-Mansur (Almohade), 432 + + -Ya`qubi (Ibn Wadih), historian, 193, 194, 349 + + Yaqut, 17, 357 + + Ya`rub, 14 + + Yatha`amar (Sabæan king), 4 + + Yatha`amar Bayyin, 10, 17 + + Yathrib, 62. + See _Medina_ + + Yathrippa, 62 + + _-Yatima._ See _Yatimatu ´l-Dahr_ + + _Yatimatu ´l-Dahr_, 267, 271, 304, +308+, +348+ + + _-Yawaqit_, by -Sha`rani, 403, 460 + + Yazdigird I (Sasanian), 40, 41 + + Yazid b. `Abd al-Malik (Umayyad Caliph), 200 + + Yazid b. Abi Sufyan, 426 + + Yazid b. Mu`awiya (Umayyad Caliph), +195-199+, 208, 241 + + Yazid b. Rabi`a b. Mufarrigh, 19 + + -Yemen (-Yaman), xvii, 2, 5, 7, 11, 12, 15, 17, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, + 28, 29, 42, 49, 65, 68, 87, 99, 103, 137, 215, 247, 252, 274, 405 + + Yoqtan, xviii + + Yoqtanids, the, xviii, 4. + See _Arabs, the Yemenite_ + + Yusuf b. `Abd al-Barr, 428 + + Yusuf b. `Abd al-Mu´min (Almohade), 432 + + Yusuf b. `Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri, 406 + + Yusuf b. Tashifin (Almoravide), 423, 430, 431 + + + Z + + Zab, battle of the, 181, 253 + + Zabad, the trilingual inscription of, xxii + + -Zabba, 35, 36, 37. + See _Zenobia_ + + Zabdai, 34 + + _zaddiq_, 375 + + Zafar (town in -Yemen), 7, 8, 17, 19, 21 + + Zafar (tribe), 94 + + _zahid_ (ascetic), 230 + + Zahirites, the, 402, 427, 433 + + -Zahra, suburb of Cordova, 425 + + _zajal_, verse-form, 416, 417, 449 + + Zallaqa, battle of, 423, 431 + + -Zamakhshari, 145, 280, 336 + + _zandik_, 375 + + -Zanj, 273 + + Zanzibar, 352 + + _Zapiski_, 375 + + Zarifa, 15 + + Zarqa´u ´l-Yamama, 25 + + Zayd, son of `Adi b. Zayd, 48 + + Zayd b. `Ali b. -Husayn, 297 + + Zayd b. `Amr b. Nufayl, 149 + + Zayd b. Hammad, 45 + + Zayd b. Haritha, 153 + + Zayd b. Kilab b. Murra, 64. + See _Qusayy_ + + Zayd b. Rifa`a, 370 + + Zayd b. Thabit, 142 + + Zaydites, the, 297 + + Zaynab (Zenobia), 35, 36 + + Zaynab, an Arab woman, 237 + + Zaynu ´l-`Abidin, 243 + + Zenobia, 33, 34, 35 + + _Zinatu ´l-Dahr_, 348 + + Zindiqs, the, 291, 296, 319, 368, +372-375+, 387, 460 + + Ziryab (musician), 418 + + Ziyad, husband of Fatima, the daughter of -Khurshub, 88 + + Ziyad ibn Abihi, 195, 256, 342 + + Ziyad b. Mu`awiya. See _-Nabigha al-Dhubvani_ + + Ziyanid dynasty, the, 442 + + Zone, the, worn by Zoroastrians, 461 + + Zoroaster, 184, 258 + + Zoroastrians, the, 184, 341, 354, 373, 461 + + Zotenberg, H., 352 + + Zubayda, wife of Harun al-Rashid, 262 + + -Zubayr, 190 + + -Zuhara, 18 + + Zuhayr b. Abi Sulma (poet), 62, +116-119+, 128, 131, 137, 140, 312 + + _zuhd_ (asceticism), 229, 230. 299 + + _zuhdiyyat_, 294 + + Zuhra b. Kilab b. Murra, 64 + + -Zuhri (Muhammad b. Muslim b. Shihab), 153, 247, 258 + + _zunnar_, 461 + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Literary History of the Arabs, by +Reynold Nicholson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LITERARY HISTORY OF THE ARABS *** + +***** This file should be named 37985-8.txt or 37985-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/9/8/37985/ + +Produced by Fritz Ohrenschall, Turgut Dincer, Sania Ali +Mirza and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Literary History of the Arabs + +Author: Reynold Nicholson + +Release Date: November 11, 2011 [EBook #37985] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LITERARY HISTORY OF THE ARABS *** + + + + +Produced by Fritz Ohrenschall, Turgut Dincer, Sania Ali +Mirza and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + ------------------------------------------------------------- + Transcriber's note: + + This e-text includes characters that require UTF-8 + (Unicode) file encoding: + + ⌣, ḥ, á¹¢, Ṭ, Ḥ, ẖ, Ẓ + + If any of these characters do not display properly--in + particular, if the dots do not appear under the letters + make sure your text reader’s “character set†or “file + encoding†is set to Unicode (UTF-8). You may also need to + change the default font. Depending on available fonts, some + tables may not line up vertically. As a last resort, use + the Latin-1 version of the file instead. + + Spelling of the Arabic names is different in the body of + the text, in the References and in the Index, these have + been left as shown in the original text. Bold numbers in + the Index are enclosed between "+" signs. + ------------------------------------------------------------- + + + + +[Illustration: LITIGANTS BEFORE A JUDGE + +From an Arabic manuscript in the British Museum (Or. 1200; No. 1007 in +Rieu's _Arabic Supplement_), dated A.H. 654 = A.D. 1256, which +contains the _Maqámȧt_ of Ḥarìrì illustrated by 81 miniatures in +colours. This one represents a scene in the 8th Maqáma: Abú Zayd and +his son appearing before the Cadi of Ma‘arratu ’l-Nu’mán. The figure +on the left is Ḥárith b. Hammám, whom Ḥarìrì puts forward as the +relater of Abú Zayd's adventures.] + + + A LITERARY + HISTORY OF THE ARABS + + BY + + REYNOLD A. NICHOLSON + + CAMBRIDGE + + AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS + + 1966 + + + PUBLISHED BY + + THE SYNDICS OF THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS + + Bentley House, 200 Euston Road, London, N.W. 1 + American Branch: 32 East 57th Street, New York N.Y. 10022, + West African Office: P.O. Box 33, Ibadan, Nigeria + + First edition (T. Fisher Unwin) 1907, reprinted 1914, 1923 + Reprinted (Cambridge University Press) 1930, 1941, 1953, + 1962, 1966 + + _First printed in Great Britain at the University Press, Cambridge + Reprinted by offset-litho by Latimer Trend & Co. Ltd, Whitstable_ + + + + To + + PROFESSOR A. A. BEVAN + + In grateful recollection of many kindnesses + + + + +PREFACE + + +_A Literary History of the Arabs_, published by T. Fisher Unwin in +1907 and twice re-issued without alteration, now appears under new +auspices, and I wish to thank the Syndics of the Cambridge University +Press for the opportunity they have given me of making it in some +respects more accurate and useful than it has hitherto been. Since the +present edition is printed from the original plates, there could be no +question of revising the book throughout and recasting it where +necessary; but while only a few pages have been rewritten, the +Bibliography has been brought up to date and I have removed several +mistakes from the text and corrected others in an appendix which +includes a certain amount of supplementary matter. As stated in the +preface to the first edition, I hoped "to compile a work which should +serve as a general introduction to the subject, and which should be +neither too popular for students nor too scientific for ordinary +readers. It has been my chief aim to sketch in broad outlines what the +Arabs thought, and to indicate as far as possible the influences which +moulded their thought.... Experience has convinced me that young +students of Arabic, to whom this volume is principally addressed, +often find difficulty in understanding what they read, since they are +not in touch with the political, intellectual, and religious notions +which are presented to them. The pages of almost every Arabic book +abound in allusions to names, events, movements, and ideas of which +Moslems require no explanation, but which puzzle the Western reader +unless he have some general knowledge of Arabian history in the widest +meaning of the word. Such a survey is not to be found, I believe, in +any single European book; and if mine supply the want, however +partially and inadequately, I shall feel that my labour has been amply +rewarded.... As regards the choice of topics, I agree with the author +of a famous anthology who declares that it is harder to select than +compose (_ikhtiyáru ’l-kalám aṣ‘abu min ta’lÃfihi_). Perhaps an +epitomist may be excused for not doing equal justice all round. To me +the literary side of the subject appeals more than the historical, and +I have followed my bent without hesitation; for in order to interest +others a writer must first be interested himself.... Considering the +importance of Arabic poetry as, in the main, a true mirror of Arabian +life, I do not think the space devoted to it is excessive. Other +branches of literature could not receive the same attention. Many an +eminent writer has been dismissed in a few lines, many well-known +names have been passed over. But, as before said, this work is a +sketch of ideas in their historical environment rather than a record +of authors, books, and dates. The exact transliteration of Arabic +words, though superfluous for scholars and for persons entirely +ignorant of the language, is an almost indispensable aid to the class +of readers whom I have especially in view. My system is that +recommended by the Royal Asiatic Society and adopted by Professor +Browne in his _Literary History of Persia_; but I use ẓ for the letter +which he denotes by _dh_. The definite article _al_, which is +frequently omitted at the beginning of proper names, has been restored +in the Index. It may save trouble if I mention here the abbreviations +'b.' for 'ibn' (son of); J.R.A.S. for _Journal of the Royal Asiatic +Society_; Z.D.M.G. for _Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen +Gesellschaft_; and S.B.W.A. for _Sitzungsberichte der Wiener +Akademie_. Finally, it behoves me to make full acknowledgment of my +debt to the learned Orientalists whose works I have studied and freely +'conveyed' into these pages. References could not be given in every +case, but the reader will see for himself how much is derived from Von +Kremer, Goldziher, Nöldeke, and Wellhausen, to mention only a few of +the leading authorities. At the same time I have constantly gone back +to the native sources of information." + +There remains an acknowledgment of a more personal kind. Twenty-two +years ago I wrote--"my warmest thanks are due to my friend and +colleague, Professor A. A. Bevan, who read the proofs throughout and +made a number of valuable remarks which will be found in the footnotes." +Happily the present occasion permits me to renew those ties between us; +and the book which he helped into the world now celebrates its majority +by associating itself with his name. + + REYNOLD A. NICHOLSON + + _November 1, 1929_ + + +Frontispiece + +LITIGANTS BEFORE A JUDGE (British Museum Or. 1200) + + + + + Contents + + PAGE + + PREFACE ix + + INTRODUCTION xv + + CHAPTER + + I. SABA AND ḤIMYAR 1 + + II. THE HISTORY AND LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 30 + + III. PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY, MANNERS, AND RELIGION 71 + + IV. THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 141 + + V. THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE AND THE UMAYYAD + DYNASTY 181 + + VI. THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDÃD 254 + + VII. POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE IN THE ‘ABBÃSID + PERIOD 285 + + VIII. ORTHODOXY, FREE-THOUGHT, AND MYSTICISM 365 + + IX. THE ARABS IN EUROPE 405 + + X. FROM THE MONGOL INVASION TO THE PRESENT DAY 442 + + APPENDIX 471 + + BIBLIOGRAPHY 477 + + INDEX 487 + + + + +Introduction + + +[Sidenote: The Semites.] + +The Arabs belong to the great family of nations which on account of +their supposed descent from Shem, the son of Noah, are commonly known as +the 'Semites.' This term includes the Babylonians and Assyrians, the +Hebrews, the PhÅ“nicians, the Aramæans, the Abyssinians, the Sabæans, and +the Arabs, and although based on a classification that is not +ethnologically precise--the PhÅ“nicians and Sabæans, for example, being +reckoned in Genesis, chap. x, among the descendants of Ham--it was well +chosen by Eichhorn (†1827) to comprehend the closely allied peoples +which have been named. Whether the original home of the undivided +Semitic race was some part of Asia (Arabia, Armenia, or the district of +the Lower Euphrates), or whether, according to a view which has lately +found favour, the Semites crossed into Asia from Africa,[1] is still +uncertain. Long before the epoch when they first appear in history they +had branched off from the parent stock and formed separate +nationalities. The relation of the Semitic languages to each other +cannot be discussed here, but we may arrange them in the chronological +order of the extant literature as follows:--[2] + + 1. Babylonian or Assyrian (3000-500 B.C.). + + 2. Hebrew (from 1500 B.C.). + + 3. South Arabic, otherwise called Sabæan or Ḥimyarite (inscriptions + from 800 B.C.). + + 4. Aramaic (inscriptions from 800 B.C.). + + 5. PhÅ“nician (inscriptions from 700 B.C.). + + 6. Æthiopic (inscriptions from 350 A.D.). + + 7. Arabic (from 500 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: The Arabs as representatives of the Semitic Race.] + +Notwithstanding that Arabic is thus, in a sense, the youngest of the +Semitic languages, it is generally allowed to be nearer akin than any of +them to the original archetype, the 'Ursemitisch,' from which they all +are derived, just as the Arabs, by reason of their geographical +situation and the monotonous uniformity of desert life, have in some +respects preserved the Semitic character more purely and exhibited it +more distinctly than any people of the same family. From the period of +the great Moslem conquests (700 A.D.) to the present day they have +extended their language, religion, and culture over an enormous expanse +of territory, far surpassing that of all the ancient Semitic empires +added together. It is true that the Arabs are no longer what they were +in the Middle Ages, the ruling nation of the world, but loss of temporal +power has only strengthened their spiritual dominion. Islam still reigns +supreme in Western Asia; in Africa it has steadily advanced; even on +European soil it has found in Turkey compensation for its banishment +from Spain and Sicily. While most of the Semitic peoples have vanished, +leaving but a meagre and ambiguous record, so that we cannot hope to +become intimately acquainted with them, we possess in the case of the +Arabs ample materials for studying almost every phase of their +development since the sixth century of the Christian era, and for +writing the whole history of their national life and thought. This book, +I need hardly say, makes no such pretensions. Even were the space at my +disposal unlimited, a long time must elapse before the vast and various +field of Arabic literature can be thoroughly explored and the results +rendered accessible to the historian. + +[Sidenote: Arabs of the North and South.] + +From time immemorial Arabia was divided into North and South, not only +by the trackless desert (_al-Rub‘ al-KhálÃ_, the 'Solitary Quarter') +which stretches across the peninsula and forms a natural barrier to +intercourse, but also by the opposition of two kindred races widely +differing in their character and way of life. Whilst the inhabitants of +the northern province (the Ḥijáz and the great central highland of Najd) +were rude nomads sheltering in 'houses of hair,' and ever shifting to +and fro in search of pasture for their camels, the people of Yemen or +Arabia Felix are first mentioned in history as the inheritors of an +ancient civilisation and as the owners of fabulous wealth--spices, gold +and precious stones--which ministered to the luxury of King Solomon. The +Bedouins of the North spoke Arabic--that is to say, the language of the +Pre-islamic poems and of the Koran--whereas the southerners used a +dialect called by Muḥammadans 'Ḥimyarite' and a peculiar script of which +the examples known to us have been discovered and deciphered in +comparatively recent times. Of these Sabæans--to adopt the designation +given to them by Greek and Roman geographers--more will be said +presently. The period of their bloom was drawing to a close in the early +centuries of our era, and they have faded out of history before 600 +A.D., when their northern neighbours first rise into prominence. + +[Sidenote: Ishmaelites and Yoqá¹Ã¡nids.] + +It was, no doubt, the consciousness of this racial distinction that +caused the view to prevail among Moslem genealogists that the Arabs +followed two separate lines of descent from their common ancestor, Sám +b. Núḥ (Shem, the son of Noah). As regards those of the North, their +derivation from ‘Adnán, a descendant of Ismá‘Ãl (Ishmael) was +universally recognised; those of the South were traced back to Qaḥá¹Ã¡n, +whom most genealogists identified with Yoqá¹Ã¡n (Joktan), the son of ‘Ãbir +(Eber). Under the Yoqá¹Ã¡nids, who are the elder line, we find, together +with the Sabæans and Ḥimyarites, several large and powerful +tribes--_e.g._, Ṭayyi’, Kinda, and Tanúkh--which had settled in North +and Central Arabia long before Islam, and were in no respect +distinguishable from the Bedouins of Ishmaelite origin. As to ‘Adnán, +his exact genealogy is disputed, but all agree that he was of the +posterity of Ismá‘Ãl (Ishmael), the son of IbráhÃm (Abraham) by Hájar +(Hagar). The story runs that on the birth of Ismá‘Ãl God commanded +Abraham to journey to Mecca with Hagar and her son and to leave them +there. They were seen by some Jurhumites, descendants of Yoqá¹Ã¡n, who +took pity on them and resolved to settle beside them. Ismá‘Ãl grew up +with the sons of the strangers, learned to shoot the bow, and spoke +their tongue. Then he asked of them in marriage, and they married him to +one of their women.[3] The tables on the opposite page show the +principal branches of the younger but by far the more important family +of the Arabs which traced its pedigree through ‘Adnán to Ismá‘Ãl. A +dotted line indicates the omission of one or more links in the +genealogical chain.[4] + + + I.[5] + + THE DESCENDENTS OF RABI‘A. + + ‘Adnán. + │ + Ma‘add. + │ + Nizár. + │ + Rabi‘a. + │ + ------------------------------------------------------- + │ │ │ + ‘Anaza. │ │ + Wá’il. Namir. + │ + ┌─────┴─────┠+ │ │ + Bakr. Taghlib. + + + II. + + THE DESCENDANTS OF MUá¸AR. + + ‘Adnán. + │ + Ma‘add. + │ + Nizár. + │ + Muá¸ar. + │ + --------------------------------------------------------- + │ │ . . + │ │ . . . + Qays ‘Aylán │ . . . + . Ḍabba. . Khuzayma. Hudhayl. + . . . . + Ghaá¹afán. . TamÃm. . . + │ . . . + │ ┌─────────┠. . + │ │ │ Asad. Kinána. + │ Sulaym. Hawázin. │ + │ │ + ┌────────┠│ + │ │ │ + Abs. Dhubyán. Fihr (Quraysh). + +[Sidenote: Character of Muḥammadan genealogy.] + +It is undeniable that these lineages are to some extent fictitious. +There was no Pre-islamic science of genealogy, so that the first +Muḥammadan investigators had only confused and scanty traditions to work +on. They were biassed, moreover, by political, religious, and other +considerations.[6] Thus their study of the Koran and of Biblical history +led to the introduction of the patriarchs who stand at the head of their +lists. Nor can we accept the national genealogy beginning with ‘Adnán as +entirely historical, though a great deal of it was actually stored in +the memories of the Arabs at the time when Islam arose, and is +corroborated by the testimony of the Pre-islamic poets.[7] On the other +hand, the alleged descent of every tribe from an eponymous ancestor is +inconsistent with facts established by modern research.[8] It is +probable that many names represent merely a local or accidental union; +and many more, _e.g._, Ma‘add, seem originally to have denoted large +groups or confederations of tribes. The theory of a radical difference +between the Northern Arabs and those of the South, corresponding to the +fierce hostility which has always divided them since the earliest days +of Islam,[9] may hold good if we restrict the term 'Yemenite' (Southern) +to the civilised Sabæans, Ḥimyarites, &c., who dwelt in Yemen and spoke +their own dialect, but can hardly apply to the Arabic-speaking +'Yemenite' Bedouins scattered all over the peninsula. Such criticism, +however, does not affect the value of the genealogical documents +regarded as an index of the popular mind. From this point of view legend +is often superior to fact, and it must be our aim in the following +chapters to set forth what the Arabs believed rather than to examine +whether or no they were justified in believing it. + +'Arabic,' in its widest signification, has two principal dialects:-- + +1. South Arabic, spoken in Yemen and including Sabæan, Ḥimyarite, +Minæan, with the kindred dialects of Mahra and Shiḥr. + +2. Arabic proper, spoken in Arabia generally, exclusive of Yemen. + +[Sidenote: South Arabic.] + +Of the former language, leaving MahrÃ, SocotrÃ, and other living +dialects out of account, we possess nothing beyond the numerous +inscriptions which have been collected by European travellers and which +it will be convenient to discuss in the next chapter, where I shall give +a brief sketch of the legendary history of the Sabæans and Ḥimyarites. +South Arabic resembles Arabic in its grammatical forms, _e.g._, the +broken plural, the sign of the dual, and the manner of denoting +indefiniteness by an affixed _m_ (for which Arabic substitutes _n_) as +well as in its vocabulary; its alphabet, which consists of twenty-nine +letters, _Sin_ and _Samech_ being distinguished as in Hebrew, is more +nearly akin to the Æthiopic. The Ḥimyarite Empire was overthrown by the +Abyssinians in the sixth century after Christ, and by 600 A.D. South +Arabic had become a dead language. From this time forward the dialect of +the North established an almost universal supremacy and won for itself +the title of 'Arabic' _par excellence_.[10] + + +[Sidenote: The oldest specimens of Arabic writing.] + +[Sidenote: The Pre-islamic poems.] + +[Sidenote: The Koran.] + +[Sidenote: Arabic in the Muḥammadan Empire.] + +The oldest monuments of written Arabic are modern in date compared with +the Sabæan inscriptions, some of which take us back 2,500 years or +thereabout. Apart from the inscriptions of Ḥijr in the northern Ḥijáz, +and those of á¹¢afá in the neighbourhood of Damascus (which, although +written by northern Arabs before the Christian era, exhibit a peculiar +character not unlike the Sabæan and cannot be called Arabic in the usual +acceptation of the term), the most ancient examples of Arabic writing +which have hitherto been discovered appear in the trilingual (Syriac, +Greek, and Arabic) inscription of Zabad,[11] south-east of Aleppo, dated +512 or 513 A.D., and the bilingual (Greek and Arabic) of Ḥarrán,[12] +dated 568 A.D. With these documents we need not concern ourselves +further, especially as their interpretation presents great difficulties. +Very few among the Pre-islamic Arabs were able to read or write.[13] +Those who could generally owed their skill to Jewish and Christian +teachers, or to the influence of foreign culture radiating from ḤÃra and +Ghassán. But although the Koran, which was first collected soon after +the battle of Yamáma (633 A.D.), is the oldest Arabic book, the +beginnings of literary composition in the Arabic language can be traced +back to an earlier period. Probably all the Pre-islamic poems which have +come down to us belong to the century preceding Islam (500-622 A.D.), +but their elaborate form and technical perfection forbid the hypothesis +that in them we have "the first sprightly runnings" of Arabian song. It +may be said of these magnificent odes, as of the Iliad and Odyssey, that +"they are works of highly finished art, which could not possibly have +been produced until the poetical art had been practised for a long +time." They were preserved during hundreds of years by oral tradition, +as we shall explain elsewhere, and were committed to writing, for the +most part, by the Moslem scholars of the early ‘Abbásid age, _i.e._, +between 750 and 900 A.D. It is a noteworthy fact that the language of +these poems, the authors of which represent many different tribes and +districts of the peninsula, is one and the same. The dialectical +variations are too trivial to be taken into account. We might conclude +that the poets used an artificial dialect, not such as was commonly +spoken but resembling the epic dialect of Ionia which was borrowed by +Dorian and Æolian bards. When we find, however, that the language in +question is employed not only by the wandering troubadours, who were +often men of some culture, and the Christian Arabs of ḤÃra on the +Euphrates, but also by goat-herds, brigands, and illiterate Bedouins of +every description, there can be no room for doubt that in the poetry of +the sixth century we hear the Arabic language as it was then spoken +throughout the length and breadth of Arabia. The success of Muḥammad and +the conquests made by Islam under the Orthodox Caliphs gave an entirely +new importance to this classical idiom. Arabic became the sacred +language of the whole Moslem world. This was certainly due to the Koran; +but, on the other hand, to regard the dialect of Mecca, in which the +Koran is written, as the source and prototype of the Arabic language, +and to call Arabic 'the dialect of Quraysh,' is utterly to reverse the +true facts of the case. Muḥammad, as Nöldeke has observed, took the +ancient poetry for a model; and in the early age of Islam it was the +authority of the heathen poets (of whom Quraysh had singularly few) that +determined the classical usage and set the standard of correct speech. +Moslems, who held the Koran to be the Word of God and inimitable in +point of style, naturally exalted the dialect of the Prophet's tribe +above all others, even laying down the rule that every tribe spoke less +purely in proportion to its distance from Mecca, but this view will not +commend itself to the unprejudiced student. The Koran, however, +exercised a unique influence on the history of the Arabic language and +literature. We shall see in a subsequent chapter that the necessity of +preserving the text of the Holy Book uncorrupted, and of elucidating its +obscurities, caused the Moslems to invent a science of grammar and +lexicography, and to collect the old Pre-Muḥammadan poetry and +traditions which must otherwise have perished. When the Arabs settled as +conquerors in Syria and Persia and mixed with foreign peoples, the +purity of the classical language could no longer be maintained. While in +Arabia itself, especially among the nomads of the desert, little +difference was felt, in the provincial garrison towns and great centres +of industry like Baá¹£ra and Kúfa, where the population largely consisted +of aliens who had embraced Islam and were rapidly being Arabicised, the +door stood open for all sorts of depravation to creep in. Against this +vulgar Arabic the philologists waged unrelenting war, and it was mainly +through their exertions that the classical idiom triumphed over the +dangers to which it was exposed. Although the language of the pagan +Bedouins did not survive intact--or survived, at any rate, only in the +mouths of pedants and poets--it became, in a modified form, the +universal medium of expression among the upper classes of Muḥammadan +society. During the early Middle Ages it was spoken and written by all +cultivated Moslems, of whatever nationality they might be, from the +Indus to the Atlantic; it was the language of the Court and the Church, +of Law and Commerce, of Diplomacy and Literature and Science. When the +Mongol invasion in the thirteenth century swept away the ‘Abbásid +Caliphate, and therewith the last vestige of political unity in Islam, +classical Arabic ceased to be the κοινή or 'common dialect' of +the Moslem world, and was supplanted in Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and other +Arabic-speaking countries by a vulgar colloquial idiom. In these +countries, however, it is still the language of business, literature, +and education, and we are told on high authority that even now it "is +undergoing a renaissance, and there is every likelihood of its again +becoming a great literary vehicle."[14] And if, for those Moslems who +are not Arabs, it occupies relatively much the same position as Latin +and Greek in modern European culture, we must not forget that the Koran, +its most renowned masterpiece, is learned by every Moslem when he first +goes to school, is repeated in his daily prayers, and influences the +whole course of his life to an extent which the ordinary Christian can +hardly realise. + +[Sidenote: The Nabaá¹Ã¦ans.] + +I hope that I may be excused for ignoring in a work such as this the +information regarding Ancient Arabian history which it is possible to +glean from the Babylonian and Assyrian monuments. Any sketch that might +be drawn of the Arabs, say from 2500 B.C. to the beginning of our era, +would resemble a map of Cathay delineated by Sir John Mandeville. But +amongst the shadowy peoples of the peninsula one, besides Saba and +Ḥimyar, makes something more than a transient impression. The Nabaá¹Ã¦ans +(_Nabaá¹_, pl. _Anbáá¹_) dwelt in towns, drove a flourishing trade long +before the birth of Christ, and founded the kingdom of Petra, which +attained a high degree of prosperity and culture until it was annexed by +Trajan in 105 A.D. These Nabaá¹Ã¦ans were Arabs and spoke Arabic, although +in default of a script of their own they used Aramaic for writing.[15] +Muḥammadan authors identify them with the Aramæans, but careful study of +their inscriptions has shown that this view, which was accepted by +Quatremère,[16] is erroneous. 'The Book of Nabaá¹Ã¦an Agriculture' +(_Kitábu ’l-Faláḥat al-Nabaá¹iyya_), composed in 904 A.D. by the Moslem +Ibnu ’l-Waḥshiyya, who professed to have translated it from the +Chaldæan, is now known to be a forgery. I only mention it here as an +instance of the way in which Moslems apply the term 'Nabaá¹Ã¦an'; for the +title in question does not, of course, refer to Petra but to Babylon. + +[Sidenote: Three periods of Arabian history.] + +From what has been said the reader will perceive that the history of the +Arabs, so far as our knowledge of it is derived from Arabic sources, may +be divided into the following periods:-- + + I. The Sabæan and Ḥimyarite period, from 800 B.C., + the date of the oldest South Arabic inscriptions, to + 500 A.D. + + II. The Pre-islamic period (500-622 A.D.). + + III. The Muḥammadan period, beginning with the Migration + (Hijra, or Hegira, as the word is generally written) + of the Prophet from Mecca to MedÃna in 622 A.D. + and extending to the present day. + +[Sidenote: The Sabæans and Ḥimyarites.] + +For the first period, which is confined to the history of Yemen or South +Arabia, we have no contemporary Arabic sources except the inscriptions. +The valuable but imperfect information which these supply is appreciably +increased by the traditions preserved in the Pre-islamic poems, in the +Koran, and particularly in the later Muḥammadan literature. It is true +that most of this material is legendary and would justly be ignored by +any one engaged in historical research, but I shall nevertheless devote +a good deal of space to it, since my principal object is to make known +the beliefs and opinions of the Arabs themselves. + +[Sidenote: The pagan Arabs.] + +The second period is called by Muḥammadan writers the _Jáhiliyya_, +_i.e._, the Age of Ignorance or Barbarism.[17] Its characteristics are +faithfully and vividly reflected in the songs and odes of the heathen +poets which have come down to us. There was no prose literature at that +time: it was the poet's privilege to sing the history of his own people, +to record their genealogies, to celebrate their feats of arms, and to +extol their virtues. Although an immense quantity of Pre-islamic verse +has been lost for ever, we still possess a considerable remnant, which, +together with the prose narratives compiled by Moslem philologists and +antiquaries, enables us to picture the life of those wild days, in its +larger aspects, accurately enough. + +[Sidenote: The Moslem Arabs.] + +The last and by far the most important of the three periods comprises +the history of the Arabs under Islam. It falls naturally into the +following sections, which are enumerated in this place in order that the +reader may see at a glance the broad political outlines of the complex +and difficult epoch which lies before him. + + +_A._ The Life of Muḥammad. + +[Sidenote: Life of Muḥammad.] + +About the beginning of the seventh century of the Christian era a man +named Muḥammad, son of ‘Abdulláh, of the tribe Quraysh, appeared in +Mecca with a Divine revelation (Koran). He called on his fellow-townsmen +to renounce idolatry and worship the One God. In spite of ridicule and +persecution he continued for several years to preach the religion of +Islam in Mecca, but, making little progress there, he fled in 622 A.D. +to the neighbouring city of MedÃna. From this date his cause prospered +exceedingly. During the next decade the whole of Arabia submitted to his +rule and did lip-service at least to the new Faith. + + +_B._ The Orthodox Caliphate (632-661 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: The Orthodox Caliphs.] + +On the death of the Prophet the Moslems were governed in turn by four of +the most eminent among his Companions--Abú Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmán, and +‘AlÃ--who bore the title of _KhalÃfa_ (Caliph), _i.e._, Vicegerent, and +are commonly described as the Orthodox Caliphs (_al-Khulafá +al-Ráshidún_). Under their guidance Islam was firmly established in the +peninsula and was spread far beyond its borders. Hosts of Bedouins +settled as military colonists in the fertile plains of Syria and Persia. +Soon, however, the recently founded empire was plunged into civil war. +The murder of ‘Uthmán gave the signal for a bloody strife between rival +claimants of the Caliphate. ‘AlÃ, the son-in-law of the Prophet, assumed +the title, but his election was contested by the powerful governor of +Syria, Mu‘áwiya b. Abà Sufyán. + + +_C._ The Umayyad Dynasty (661-750 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: The Umayyad dynasty.] + +‘Alà fell by an assassin's dagger, and Mu‘áwiya succeeded to the +Caliphate, which remained in his family for ninety years. The Umayyads, +with a single exception, were Arabs first and Moslems afterwards. +Religion sat very lightly on them, but they produced some able and +energetic princes, worthy leaders of an imperial race. By 732 A.D. the +Moslem conquests had reached the utmost limit which they ever attained. +The Caliph in Damascus had his lieutenants beyond the Oxus and the +Pyrenees, on the shores of the Caspian and in the valley of the Nile. +Meantime the strength of the dynasty was being sapped by political and +religious dissensions nearer home. The ShÑites, who held that the +Caliphate belonged by Divine right to ‘Alà and his descendants, rose in +revolt again and again. They were joined by the Persian Moslems, who +loathed the Arabs and the oppressive Umayyad government. The ‘Abbásids, +a family closely related to the Prophet, put themselves at the head of +the agitation. It ended in the complete overthrow of the reigning house, +which was almost exterminated. + + +_D._ The ‘Abbásid Dynasty (750-1258 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: The ‘Abbásid dynasty.] + +Hitherto the Arabs had played a dominant rôle in the Moslem community, +and had treated the non-Arab Moslems with exasperating contempt. Now the +tables were turned. We pass from the period of Arabian nationalism to +one of Persian ascendancy and cosmopolitan culture. The flower of the +‘Abbásid troops were Persians from Khurásán; Baghdád, the wonderful +‘Abbásid capital, was built on Persian soil; and Persian nobles filled +the highest offices of state at the ‘Abbásid court. The new dynasty, if +not religious, was at least favourable to religion, and took care to +live in the odour of sanctity. For a time Arabs and Persians forgot +their differences and worked together as good Moslems ought. Piety was +no longer its own reward. Learning enjoyed munificent patronage. This +was the Golden Age of Islam, which culminated in the glorious reign of +Hárún al-RashÃd (786-809 A.D.). On his death peace was broken once more, +and the mighty empire began slowly to collapse. As province after +province cut itself loose from the Caliphate, numerous independent +dynasties sprang up, while the Caliphs became helpless puppets in the +hands of Turkish mercenaries. Their authority was still formally +recognised in most Muḥammadan countries, but since the middle of the +ninth century they had little or no real power. + + +_E._ From the Mongol invasion to the present day (1258 A.D.--). + +[Sidenote: The Post-Mongolian period.] + +The Mongol hordes under Húlágú captured Baghdád in 1258 A.D. and made an +end of the Caliphate. Sweeping onward, they were checked by the Egyptian +Mamelukes and retired into Persia, where, some fifty years afterwards, +they embraced Islam. The successors of Húlágú, the Ãl-kháns, reigned in +Persia until a second wave of barbarians under TÃmúr spread devastation +and anarchy through Western Asia (1380-1405 A.D.). The unity of Islam, +in a political sense, was now destroyed. Out of the chaos three +Muḥammadan empires gradually took shape. In 1358 the Ottoman Turks +crossed the Hellespont, in 1453 they entered Constantinople, and in 1517 +Syria, Egypt, and Arabia were added to their dominions. Persia became an +independent kingdom under the á¹¢afawids (1502-1736); while in India +the empire of the Great Moguls was founded by Bábur, a descendant of +TÃmúr, and gloriously maintained by his successors, Akbar and AwrangzÃb +(1525-1707). + +[Sidenote: Arabian literary history.] + +[Sidenote: Writers who are wholly or partly of foreign extraction.] + +Some of the political events which have been summarised above will be +treated more fully in the body of this work; others will receive no more +than a passing notice. The ideas which reveal themselves in Arabic +literature are so intimately connected with the history of the people, +and so incomprehensible apart from the external circumstances in which +they arose, that I have found myself obliged to dwell at considerable +length on various matters of historical interest, in order to bring out +what is really characteristic and important from our special point of +view. The space devoted to the early periods (500-750 A.D.) will not +appear excessive if they are seen in their true light as the centre and +heart of Arabian history. During the next hundred years Moslem +civilisation reaches its zenith, but the Arabs recede more and more into +the background. The Mongol invasion virtually obliterated their national +life, though in Syria and Egypt they maintained their traditions of +culture under Turkish rule, and in Spain we meet them struggling +desperately against Christendom. Many centuries earlier, in the balmy +days of the ‘Abbásid Empire, the Arabs _pur sang_ contributed only a +comparatively small share to the literature which bears their name. I +have not, however, enforced the test of nationality so strictly as to +exclude all foreigners or men of mixed origin who wrote in Arabic. It +may be said that the work of Persians (who even nowadays are accustomed +to use Arabic when writing on theological and philosophical subjects) +cannot illustrate the history of Arabian thought, but only the influence +exerted upon Arabian thought by Persian ideas, and that consequently it +must stand aside unless admitted for this definite purpose. But what +shall we do in the case of those numerous and celebrated authors who are +neither wholly Arab nor wholly Persian, but unite the blood of both +races? Must we scrutinise their genealogies and try to discover which +strain preponderates? That would be a tedious and unprofitable task. The +truth is that after the Umayyad period no hard-and-fast line can be +drawn between the native and foreign elements in Arabic literature. Each +reacted on the other, and often both are combined indissolubly. Although +they must be distinguished as far as possible, we should be taking a +narrow and pedantic view of literary history if we insisted on regarding +them as mutually exclusive. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +SABA AND ḤIMYAR + + +[Sidenote: Primitive races.] + +[Sidenote: Legend of ‘Ad.] + +With the Sabæans Arabian history in the proper sense may be said to +begin, but as a preliminary step we must take account of certain races +which figure more or less prominently in legend, and are considered by +Moslem chroniclers to have been the original inhabitants of the country. +Among these are the peoples of ‘Ãd and Thamúd, which are constantly held +up in the Koran as terrible examples of the pride that goeth before +destruction. The home of the ‘Ãdites was in Ḥaá¸ramawt, the province +adjoining Yemen, on the borders of the desert named _Aḥqáfu ’l-Raml_. It +is doubtful whether they were Semites, possibly of Aramaic descent, who +were subdued and exterminated by invaders from the north, or, as Hommel +maintains,[18] the representatives of an imposing non-Semitic culture +which survives in the tradition of 'Many-columned Iram,'[19] the Earthly +Paradise built by Shaddád, one of their kings. The story of their +destruction is related as follows:[20] They were a people of gigantic +strength and stature, worshipping idols and committing all manner of +wrong; and when God sent to them a prophet, Húd by name, who should warn +them to repent, they answered: "O Húd, thou hast brought us no evidence, +and we will not abandon our gods for thy saying, nor will we believe in +thee. We say one of our gods hath afflicted thee with madness."[21] Then +a fearful drought fell upon the land of ‘Ãd, so that they sent a number +of their chief men to Mecca to pray for rain. On arriving at Mecca the +envoys were hospitably received by the Amalekite prince, Mu‘áwiya b. +Bakr, who entertained them with wine and music--for he had two famous +singing-girls known as _al-Jarádatán_; which induced them to neglect +their mission for the space of a whole month. At last, however, they got +to business, and their spokesman had scarce finished his prayer when +three clouds appeared, of different colours--white, red, and black--and +a voice cried from heaven, "Choose for thyself and for thy people!" He +chose the black cloud, deeming that it had the greatest store of rain, +whereupon the voice chanted-- + + "Thou hast chosen embers dun | that will spare of ‘Ãd not one | that + will leave nor father nor son | ere him to death they shall have + done." + +Then God drove the cloud until it stood over the land of ‘Ãd, and there +issued from it a roaring wind that consumed the whole people except a +few who had taken the prophet's warning to heart and had renounced +idolatry. + +From these, in course of time, a new people arose, who are called 'the +second ‘Ãd.' They had their settlements in Yemen, in the region of Saba. +The building of the great Dyke of Ma’rib is commonly attributed to their +king, Luqmán b. ‘Ãd, about whom many fables are told. He was surnamed +'The Man of the Vultures' (_Dhu ’l-Nusúr_), because it had been granted +to him that he should live as long as seven vultures, one after the +other. + +[Sidenote: Legend of Thamúd.] + +In North Arabia, between the Ḥijáz and Syria, dwelt the kindred race of +Thamúd, described in the Koran (vii, 72) as inhabiting houses which they +cut for themselves in the rocks. Evidently Muḥammad did not know the +true nature of the hewn chambers which are still to be seen at Ḥijr +(Madá’in Ṣáliḥ), a week's journey northward from MedÃna, and which are +proved by the Nabaá¹Ã¦an inscriptions engraved on them to have been +sepulchral monuments.[22] Thamúd sinned in the same way as ‘Ãd, and +suffered a like fate. They scouted the prophet Ṣáliḥ, refusing to +believe in him unless he should work a miracle. Ṣáliḥ then caused a +she-camel big with young to come forth from a rock, and bade them do her +no hurt, but one of the miscreants, Qudár the Red (al-Aḥmar), hamstrung +and killed her. "Whereupon a great earthquake overtook them with a noise +of thunder, and in the morning they lay dead in their houses, flat upon +their breasts."[23] The author of this catastrophe became a byword: +Arabs say, "More unlucky than the hamstringer of the she-camel," or +"than Aḥmar of Thamúd." It should be pointed out that, unlike the +‘Ãdites, of whom we find no trace in historical times, the Thamúdites +are mentioned as still existing by Diodorus Siculus and Ptolemy; and +they survived down to the fifth century A.D. in the corps of _equites +Thamudeni_ attached to the army of the Byzantine emperors. + +[Sidenote: ‘AmálÃq.] + +[Sidenote: Ṭasm and JadÃs.] + +Besides ‘Ãd and Thamúd, the list of primitive races includes the ‘AmálÃq +(Amalekites)--a purely fictitious term under which the Moslem +antiquaries lumped together several peoples of an age long past,_e.g._, +the Canaanites and the Philistines. We hear of Amalekite settlements in +the Tiháma (Netherland) of Mecca and in other parts of the peninsula. +Finally, mention should be made of Ṭasm and JadÃs, sister tribes of +which nothing is recorded except the fact of their destruction and the +events that brought it about. The legendary narrative in which these are +embodied has some archæological interest as showing the existence in +early Arabian society of a barbarous feudal custom, 'le droit du +seigneur,' but it is time to pass on to the main subject of this +chapter. + +[Sidenote: History of the Yoqá¹Ã¡nids.] + +The Pre-islamic history of the Yoqá¹Ã¡nids, or Southern Arabs, on which we +now enter, is virtually the history of two peoples, the Sabæans and the +Ḥimyarites, who formed the successive heads of a South Arabian empire +extending from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf. + +[Sidenote: The Sabæans.] + +Saba[24] (Sheba of the Old Testament) is often incorrectly used to +denote the whole of Arabia Felix, whereas it was only one, though +doubtless the first in power and importance, of several kingdoms, the +names and capitals of which are set down in the works of Greek and Roman +geographers. However exaggerated may be the glowing accounts that we +find there of Sabæan wealth and magnificence, it is certain that Saba +was a flourishing commercial state many centuries before the birth of +Christ.[25] "Sea-traffic between the ports of East Arabia and India was +very early established, and Indian products, especially spices and rare +animals (apes and peacocks) were conveyed to the coast of ‘Umán. Thence, +apparently even in the tenth century B.C., they went overland to the +Arabian Gulf, where they were shipped to Egypt for the use of the +Pharaohs and grandees.... The difficulty of navigating the Red Sea +caused the land route to be preferred for the traffic between Yemen and +Syria. From Shabwat (Sabota) in Ḥaá¸ramawt the caravan road went to +Ma’rib (Mariaba), the Sabæan capital, then northward to Macoraba (the +later Mecca), and by way of Petra to Gaza on the Mediterranean."[26] The +prosperity of the Sabæans lasted until the Indian trade, instead of +going overland, began to go by sea along the coast of Ḥaá¸ramawt and +through the straits of Báb al-Mandab. In consequence of this change, +which seems to have taken place in the first century A.D., their power +gradually declined, a great part of the population was forced to seek +new homes in the north, their cities became desolate, and their massive +aqueducts crumbled to pieces. We shall see presently that Arabian legend +has crystallised the results of a long period of decay into a single +fact--the bursting of the Dyke of Ma’rib. + +[Sidenote: The Ḥimyarites.] + +The disappearance of the Sabæans left the way open for a younger branch +of the same stock, namely, the Ḥimyarites, or, as they are called by +classical authors, Homeritæ, whose country lay between Saba and the sea. +Under their kings, known as Tubba‘s, they soon became the dominant power +in South Arabia and exercised sway, at least ostensibly, over the +northern tribes down to the end of the fifth century A.D., when the +latter revolted and, led by Kulayb b. RabÑa, shook off the suzerainty +of Yemen in a great battle at Khazázá.[27] The Ḥimyarites never +flourished like the Sabæans. Their maritime situation exposed them more +to attack, while the depopulation of the country had seriously weakened +their military strength. The Abyssinians--originally colonists from +Yemen--made repeated attempts to gain a foothold, and frequently managed +to instal governors who were in turn expelled by native princes. Of +these Abyssinian viceroys the most famous is Abraha, whose unfortunate +expedition against Mecca will be related in due course. Ultimately the +Ḥimyarite Empire was reduced to a Persian dependency. It had ceased to +exist as a political power about a hundred years before the rise of +Islam. + +[Sidenote: Sources of information.] + +The chief Arabian sources of information concerning Saba and Ḥimyar are +(1) the so-called 'Ḥimyarite' inscriptions, and (2) the traditions, +almost entirely of a legendary kind, which are preserved in Muḥammadan +literature. + +[Sidenote: The South Arabic or Sabæan inscriptions.] + +[Sidenote: Objections to the term 'Ḥimyarite.'] + +Although the South Arabic language may have maintained itself +sporadically in certain remote districts down to the Prophet's time or +even later, it had long ago been superseded as a medium of daily +intercourse by the language of the North, the Arabic _par excellence_, +which henceforth reigns without a rival throughout the peninsula. The +dead language, however, did not wholly perish. Already in the sixth +century A.D. the Bedouin rider made his camel kneel down while he +stopped to gaze wonderingly at inscriptions in a strange character +engraved on walls of rock or fragments of hewn stone, and compared the +mysterious, half-obliterated markings to the almost unrecognisable +traces of the camping-ground which for him was fraught with tender +memories. These inscriptions are often mentioned by Muḥammadan authors, +who included them in the term _Musnad_. That some Moslems--probably very +few--could not only read the South Arabic alphabet, but were also +acquainted with the elementary rules of orthography, appears from a +passage in the eighth book of HamdánÃ's _IklÃl_; but though they might +decipher proper names and make out the sense of words here and there, +they had no real knowledge of the language. How the inscriptions were +discovered anew by the enterprise of European travellers, gradually +deciphered and interpreted until they became capable of serving as a +basis for historical research, and what results the study of them has +produced, this I shall now set forth as briefly as possible. Before +doing so it is necessary to explain why instead of 'Ḥimyarite +inscriptions' and 'Ḥimyarite language' I have adopted the less familiar +designations 'South Arabic' or 'Sabæan.' 'Ḥimyarite' is equally +misleading, whether applied to the language of the inscriptions or to +the inscriptions themselves. As regards the language, it was spoken in +one form or another not by the Ḥimyarites alone, but also by the +Sabæans, the Minæans, and all the different peoples of Yemen. +Muḥammadans gave the name of 'Ḥimyarite' to the ancient language of +Yemen for the simple reason that the Ḥimyarites were the most powerful +race in that country during the last centuries preceding Islam. Had all +the inscriptions belonged to the period of Ḥimyarite supremacy, they +might with some justice have been named after the ruling people; but the +fact is that many date from a far earlier age, some going back to the +eighth century B.C., perhaps nearly a thousand years before the +Ḥimyarite Empire was established. The term 'Sabæan' is less open to +objection, for it may fairly be regarded as a national rather than a +political denomination. On the whole, however, I prefer 'South Arabic' +to either. + +[Sidenote: Discovery and decipherment of the South Arabic inscriptions.] + +Among the pioneers of exploration in Yemen the first to interest himself +in the discovery of inscriptions was Carsten Niebuhr, whose +_Beschreibung von Arabien_, published in 1772, conveyed to Europe the +report that inscriptions which, though he had not seen them, he +conjectured to be 'Ḥimyarite,' existed in the ruins of the once famous +city of Ẓafár. On one occasion a Dutchman who had turned Muḥammadan +showed him the copy of an inscription in a completely unknown alphabet, +but "at that time (he says) being very ill with a violent fever, I had +more reason to prepare myself for death than to collect old +inscriptions."[28] Thus the opportunity was lost, but curiosity had been +awakened, and in 1810 Ulrich Jasper Seetzen discovered and copied +several inscriptions in the neighbourhood of Ẓafár. Unfortunately these +copies, which had to be made hastily, were very inexact. He also +purchased an inscription, which he took away with him and copied at +leisure, but his ignorance of the characters led him to mistake the +depressions in the stone for letters, so that the conclusions he came to +were naturally of no value.[29] The first serviceable copies of South +Arabic inscriptions were brought to Europe by English officers employed +on the survey of the southern and western coasts of Arabia. Lieutenant +J. R. Wellsted published the inscriptions of Ḥiá¹£n Ghuráb and Naqb +al-Ḥajar in his _Travels in Arabia_ (1838). + +Meanwhile Emil Rödiger, Professor of Oriental Languages at Halle, with +the help of two manuscripts of the Berlin Royal Library containing +'Ḥimyarite' alphabets, took the first step towards a correct +decipherment by refuting the idea, for which De Sacy's authority had +gained general acceptance, that the South Arabic script ran from left to +right[30]; he showed, moreover, that the end of every word was marked by +a straight perpendicular line.[31] Wellsted's inscriptions, together +with those which Hulton and Cruttenden brought to light at á¹¢an‘á, were +deciphered by Gesenius and Rödiger working independently (1841). +Hitherto England and Germany had shared the credit of discovery, but a +few years later France joined hands with them and was soon leading the +way with characteristic brilliance. In 1843 Th. Arnaud, starting from +á¹¢an‘á, succeeded in discovering the ruins of Ma’rib, the ancient Sabæan +metropolis, and in copying at the risk of his life between fifty and +sixty inscriptions, which were afterwards published in the _Journal +Asiatique_ and found an able interpreter in Osiander.[32] Still more +important were the results of the expedition undertaken in 1870 by the +Jewish scholar, Joseph Halévy, who penetrated into the Jawf, or country +lying east of á¹¢an‘á, which no European had traversed before him since 24 +B.C., when Ælius Gallus led a Roman army by the same route. After +enduring great fatigues and meeting with many perilous adventures, +Halévy brought back copies of nearly seven hundred inscriptions.[33] +During the last twenty-five years much fresh material has been collected +by E. Glaser and Julius Euting, while study of that already existing by +Prætorius, Halévy, D. H. Müller, Mordtmann, and other scholars has +substantially enlarged our knowledge of the language, history, and +religion of South Arabia in the Pre-islamic age. + +[Sidenote: The historical value of the inscriptions.] + +Neither the names of the Ḥimyarite monarchs, as they appear in the lists +drawn up by Muḥammadan historians, nor the order in which these names +are arranged can pretend to accuracy. If they are historical persons at +all they must have reigned in fairly recent times, perhaps a short while +before the rise of Islam, and probably they were unimportant princes +whom the legend has thrown back into the ancient epoch, and has invested +with heroic attributes. Any one who doubts this has only to compare the +modern lists with those which have been made from the material in the +inscriptions.[34] D. H. Müller has collected the names of thirty-three +Minæan kings. Certain names are often repeated--a proof of the existence +of ruling dynasties--and ornamental epithets are usually attached to +them. Thus we find Dhamar‘alà DhirrÃḥ (Glorious), Yatha‘amar Bayyin +(Distinguished), Kariba’Ãl Watár Yuhan‘im (Great, Beneficent), Samah‘alà +Yanúf (Exalted). Moreover, the kings bear different titles corresponding +to three distinct periods of South Arabian history, viz., 'Priest-king +of Saba' (_Mukarrib Saba_),[35] 'King of Saba' (_Malk Saba_), and 'King +of Saba and Raydán.' In this way it is possible to determine +approximately the age of the various buildings and inscriptions, and to +show that they do not belong, as had hitherto been generally supposed, +to the time of Christ, but that in some cases they are at least eight +hundred years older. + +[Sidenote: Votive inscriptions.] + +How widely the peaceful, commerce-loving people of Saba and Ḥimyar +differed in character from the wild Arabs to whom Muḥammad was sent +appears most strikingly in their submissive attitude towards their gods, +which forms, as Goldziher has remarked, the keynote of the South Arabian +monuments.[36] The prince erects a thank-offering to the gods who gave +him victory over his enemies; the priest dedicates his children and all +his possessions; the warrior who has been blessed with "due +man-slayings," or booty, or escape from death records his gratitude, and +piously hopes for a continuance of favour. The dead are conceived as +living happily under divine protection; they are venerated and sometimes +deified.[37] The following inscription, translated by Lieut.-Col. W. F. +Prideaux, is a typical example of its class:-- + + "Sa‘d-iláh and his sons, Benú Marthadim, have endowed Il-Maḳah of + Hirrán with this tablet, because Il-Maḳah, lord of Awwám Dhú-‘Irán + Alú, has favourably heard the prayer addressed to him, and has + consequently heard the Benú Marthadim when they offered the + first-fruits of their fertile lands of Arhaḳim in the presence of + Il-Maḳah of Hirrán, and Il-Maḳah of Hirrán has favourably heard the + prayer addressed to him that he would protect the plains and meadows + and this tribe in their habitations, in consideration of the frequent + gifts throughout the year; and truly his (Sa‘d-iláh's) sons will + descend to Arhaḳim, and they will indeed sacrifice in the two shrines + of ‘Athtor and Shamsim, and there shall be a sacrifice in Hirrán--both + in order that Il-Maḳah may afford protection to those fields of Bin + Marthadim as well as that he may favourably listen--and in the + sanctuary of Il-Maḳah of Ḥarwat, and therefore may he keep them in + safety according to the sign in which Sa‘d-iláh was instructed, the + sign which he saw in the sanctuary of Il-Maḳah of Na‘mán; and as for + Il-Maḳah of Hirrán, he has protected those fertile lands of Arhaḳim + from hail and from all misfortune (_or_, from cold and from all + extreme heat)."[38] + +In concluding this very inadequate account of the South Arabic +inscriptions I must claim the indulgence of my readers, who are aware +how difficult it is to write clearly and accurately upon any subject +without first-hand knowledge, in particular when the results of previous +research are continually being transformed by new workers in the same +field. + +[Sidenote: Literary sources.] + +[Sidenote: Hamdánà (†945 A.D.).] + +Fortunately we possess a considerable literary supplement to these +somewhat austere and meagre remains. Our knowledge of South Arabian +geography, antiquities, and legendary history is largely derived from +the works of two natives of Yemen, who were filled with enthusiasm for +its ancient glories, and whose writings, though different as fact and +fable, are from the present point of view equally instructive--Ḥasan b. +Aḥmad al-Hamdánà and Nashwán b. Sa‘Ãd al-ḤimyarÃ. Besides an excellent +geography of Arabia (_á¹¢ifatu JazÃrat al-‘Arab_), which has been edited +by D. H. Müller, Hamdánà left a great work on the history and +antiquities of Yemen, entitled _al-IklÃl_ ('The Crown'), and divided +into ten books under the following heads:--[39] + + Book I. _Compendium of the beginning and origins of genealogy._ + + Book II. _Genealogy of the descendants of al-Hamaysa‘ b. Ḥimyar._ + + Book III. _Concerning the pre-eminent qualities of Qaḥá¹Ã¡n._ + + Book IV. _Concerning the first period of history down to the reign + of Tubba‘ Abú Karib._ + + Book V. _Concerning the middle period from the accession of As‘ad + Tubba‘ to the reign of Dhú Nuwás._ + + Book VI. _Concerning the last period down to the rise of Islam._ + + Book VII. _Criticism of false traditions and absurd legends._ + + Book VIII. _Concerning the castles, cities, and tombs of the + Ḥimyarites; the extant poetry of ‘Alqama,_[40] + _the elegies, the inscriptions, and other matters._ + + Book IX. _Concerning the proverbs and wisdom of the Ḥimyarites in + the Ḥimyarite language, and concerning the alphabet + of the inscriptions._ + + Book X. _Concerning the genealogy of Ḥáshid and BakÃl_ (the two + principal tribes of Hamdán). + +[Sidenote: Nashwán b. Sa‘Ãd al-Ḥimyarà (†1177 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: ‘AbÃd b. Sharya.] + +[Sidenote: Ḥamza of Iá¹£fahán.] + +The same intense patriotism which caused Hamdánà to devote himself to +scientific research inspired Nashwán b. Sa‘Ãd, who descended on the +father's side from one of the ancient princely families of Yemen, to +recall the legendary past and become the laureate of a long vanished and +well-nigh forgotten empire. In 'The Ḥimyarite Ode' (_al-Qaṣìdatu +’l-Ḥimyariyya_) he sings the might and grandeur of the monarchs who +ruled over his people, and moralises in true Muḥammadan spirit upon the +fleetingness of life and the futility of human ambition.[41] +Accompanying the Ode, which has little value except as a comparatively +unfalsified record of royal names,[42] is a copious historical +commentary either by Nashwán himself, as Von Kremer thinks highly +probable, or by some one who lived about the same time. Those for whom +history represents an aggregate of naked facts would find nothing to the +purpose in this commentary, where threads of truth are almost +inextricably interwoven with fantastic and fabulous embroideries. A +literary form was first given to such legends by the professional +story-tellers of early Islam. One of these, the South Arabian ‘AbÃd b. +Sharya, visited Damascus by command of the Caliph Mu‘áwiya I, who +questioned him "concerning the ancient traditions, the kings of the +Arabs and other races, the cause of the confusion of tongues, and the +history of the dispersion of mankind in the various countries of the +world,"[43] and gave orders that his answers should be put together in +writing and published under his name. This work, of which unfortunately +no copy has come down to us, was entitled 'The Book of the Kings and the +History of the Ancients' (_Kitábu ’l-Mulúk wa-akhbáru ’l-Máá¸Ãn_). +Mas‘údà (†956 A.D.) speaks of it as a well-known book, enjoying a wide +circulation.[44] It was used by the commentator of the Ḥimyarite Ode, +either at first hand or through the medium of HamdánÃ's _IklÃl_. We may +regard it, like the commentary itself, as a historical romance in which +most of the characters and some of the events are real, adorned with +fairy-tales, fictitious verses, and such entertaining matter as a man of +learning and story-teller by trade might naturally be expected to +introduce. Among the few remaining Muḥammadan authors who bestowed +special attention on the Pre-islamic period of South Arabian history, I +shall mention here only Ḥamza of Iá¹£fahán, the eighth book of whose +Annals (finished in 961 A.D.) provides a useful sketch, with brief +chronological details, of the Tubba‘s or Ḥimyarite kings of Yemen. + +[Sidenote: Ya‘rub.] + +[Sidenote: Ḥimyar and Kahlán.] + +Qaḥá¹Ã¡n, the ancestor of the Southern Arabs, was succeeded by his son +Ya‘rub, who is said to have been the first to use the Arabic language, +and the first to receive the salutations with which the Arabs were +accustomed to address their kings, viz., "_In‘im á¹£abáḥan_" ("Good +morning!") and "_Abayta ’l-la‘na_" ("Mayst thou avoid malediction!"). +His grandson, ‘Abd Shams Saba, is named as the founder of Ma’rib and the +builder of the famous Dyke, which, according to others, was constructed +by Luqmán b. ‘Ãd. Saba had two sons, Ḥimyar and Kahlán. Before his death +he deputed the sovereign authority to Ḥimyar, and the task of protecting +the frontiers and making war upon the enemy to Kahlán. Thus Ḥimyar +obtained the lordship, assumed the title Abú Ayman, and abode in the +capital city of the realm, while Kahlán took over the defence of the +borders and the conduct of war.[45] Omitting the long series of mythical +Sabæan kings, of whom the legend has little or nothing to relate, we now +come to an event which fixed itself ineffaceably in the memory of the +Arabs, and which is known in their traditions as _Saylu ’l-‘Arim_, or +the Flood of the Dyke. + +[Sidenote: The Dam of Ma’rib.] + +Some few miles south-west of Ma’rib the mountains draw together leaving +a gap, through which flows the River Adana. During the summer its bed is +often dry, but in the rainy season the water rushes down with such +violence that it becomes impassable. In order to protect the city from +floods, and partly also for purposes of irrigation, the inhabitants +built a dam of solid masonry, which, long after it had fallen into ruin, +struck the imagination of Muḥammad, and was reckoned by Moslems among +the wonders of the world.[46] That their historians have clothed the +bare fact of its destruction in ample robes of legendary circumstance is +not surprising, but renders abridgment necessary.[47] + +[Sidenote: Its destruction announced by portents.] + +Towards the end of the third century of our era, or possibly at an +earlier epoch,[48] the throne of Ma’rib was temporarily occupied by ‘Amr +b. ‘Ãmir Má’ al-Samá, surnamed Muzayqiyá.[49] His wife, ẒarÃfa, was +skilled in the art of divination. She dreamed dreams and saw visions +which announced the impending calamity. "Go to the Dyke," she said to +her husband, who doubted her clairvoyance, "and if thou see a rat +digging holes in the Dyke with its paws and moving huge boulders with +its hind-legs, be assured that the woe hath come upon us." So ‘Amr went +to the Dyke and looked carefully, and lo, there was a rat moving an +enormous rock which fifty men could not have rolled from its place. +Convinced by this and other prodigies that the Dyke would soon burst and +the land be laid waste, he resolved to sell his possessions and depart +with his family; and, lest conduct so extraordinary should arouse +suspicion, he had recourse to the following stratagem. He invited the +chief men of the city to a splendid feast, which, in accordance with a +preconcerted plan, was interrupted by a violent altercation between +himself and his son (or, as others relate, an orphan who had been +brought up in his house). Blows were exchanged, and ‘Amr cried out, "O +shame! on the day of my glory a stripling has insulted me and struck my +face." He swore that he would put his son to death, but the guests +entreated him to show mercy, until at last he gave way. "But by God," he +exclaimed, "I will no longer remain in a city where I have suffered this +indignity. I will sell my lands and my stock." Having successfully got +rid of his encumbrances--for there was no lack of buyers eager to take +him at his word--‘Amr informed the people of the danger with which they +were threatened, and set out from Ma’rib at the head of a great +multitude. Gradually the waters made a breach in the Dyke and swept over +the country, spreading devastation far and wide. Hence the proverb +_Dhahabú_ (or _tafarraqú_) _aydà Saba_, "They departed" (or "dispersed") +"like the people of Saba."[50] + +[Sidenote: Fall of the Sabæan Empire.] + +This deluge marks an epoch in the history of South Arabia. The waters +subside, the land returns to cultivation and prosperity, but Ma’rib lies +desolate, and the Sabæans have disappeared for ever, except "to point a +moral or adorn a tale." Al-A‘shá sang:-- + + ⌣| ⌣| ⌣| + Metre _Mutaqárib_: (⌣ - -|⌣ - -|⌣ - -|⌣ -). + + "Let this warn whoever a warning will take-- + And Ma’rib withal, which the Dam fortified. + Of marble did Ḥimyar construct it, so high, + The waters recoiled when to reach it they tried. + It watered their acres and vineyards, and hour + By hour, did a portion among them divide. + So lived they in fortune and plenty until + Therefrom turned away by a ravaging tide. + Then wandered their princes and noblemen through + Mirage-shrouded deserts that baffle the guide."[51] + +The poet's reference to Ḥimyar is not historically accurate. It was only +after the destruction of the Dyke and the dispersion of the Sabæans who +built it[52] that the Ḥimyarites, with their capital Ẓafár (at a later +period, á¹¢an‘á) became the rulers of Yemen. + +[Sidenote: The Tubba‘s.] + +The first Tubba‘, by which name the Ḥimyarite kings are known to +Muḥammadan writers, was Ḥárith, called al-Rá’ish, _i.e._, the Featherer, +because he 'feathered' his people's nest with the booty which he brought +home as a conqueror from India and Ãdharbayján.[53] Of the Tubba‘s who +come after him some obviously owe their place in the line of Ḥimyar to +genealogists whose respect for the Koran was greater than their critical +acumen. Such a man of straw is á¹¢a‘b Dhu ’l-Qarnayn (á¹¢a‘b the +Two-horned). + +[Sidenote: Dhu ’l-Qarnayn.] + +The following verses show that he is a double of the mysterious Dhu +’l-Qarnayn of Koranic legend, supposed by most commentators to be +identical with Alexander the Great[54]:-- + + "Ours the realm of Dhu ’l-Qarnayn the glorious, + Realm like his was never won by mortal king. + Followed he the Sun to view its setting + When it sank into the sombre ocean-spring; + Up he clomb to see it rise at morning, + From within its mansion when the East it fired; + All day long the horizons led him onward,[55] + All night through he watched the stars and never tired. + Then of iron and of liquid metal + He prepared a rampart not to be o'erpassed, + Gog and Magog there he threw in prison + Till on Judgment Day they shall awake at last."[56] + +[Sidenote: BilqÃs.] + +Similarly, among the Tubba‘s we find the Queen of Sheba, whose +adventures with Solomon are related in the twenty-seventh chapter of the +Koran. Although Muḥammad himself did not mention her name or lineage, +his interpreters were equal to the occasion and revealed her as BilqÃs, +the daughter of SharáḥÃl (SharaḥbÃl). + +[Sidenote: As‘ad Kámil.] + +The national hero of South Arabian legend is the Tubba‘ As‘ad Kámil, or, +as he is sometimes called, Abú Karib. Even at the present day, says Von +Kremer, his memory is kept alive, and still haunts the ruins of his +palace at Ẓafár. "No one who reads the Ballad of his Adventures or the +words of exhortation which he addressed on his deathbed to his son +Ḥassán can escape from the conviction that here we have to do with +genuine folk-poetry--fragments of a South Arabian legendary cycle, the +beginnings of which undoubtedly reach back to a high antiquity."[57] I +translate here the former of these pieces, which may be entitled + + +THE BALLAD OF THE THREE WITCHES.[58] + + "Time brings to pass full many a wonder + Whereof the lesson thou must ponder. + Whilst all to thee seems ordered fair, + Lo, Fate hath wrought confusion there. + Against a thing foredoomed to be + Nor cunning nor caution helpeth thee. + Now a marvellous tale will I recite; + Trust me to know and tell it aright! + + Once on a time was a boy of Asd + Who became the king of the land at last, + Born in Hamdán, a villager; + The name of that village was Khamir. + This lad in the pride of youth defied + His friends, and they with scorn replied. + None guessed his worth till he was grown + Ready to spring. + + One morn, alone + On Hinwam hill he was sore afraid.[59] + (His people knew not where he strayed; + They had seen him only yesternight, + For his youth and wildness they held him light. + The wretches! Him they never missed + Who had been their glory had they wist). + + O the fear that fell on his heart when he + Saw beside him the witches three! + The eldest came with many a brew-- + In some was blood, blood-dark their hue. + 'Give me the cup!' he shouted bold; + 'Hold, hold!' cried she, but he would not hold. + She gave him the cup, nor he did shrink + Tho' he reeled as he drained the magic drink. + + Then the second yelled at him. Her he faced + Like a lion with anger in his breast. + 'These be our steeds, come mount,' she cried, + 'For asses are worst of steeds to ride.' + ''Tis sooth,' he answered, and slipped his flank + O'er a hyena lean and lank, + But the brute so fiercely flung him away, + With deep, deep wounds on the earth he lay. + Then came the youngest and tended him + On a soft bed, while her eyes did swim + In tears; but he averted his face + And sought a rougher resting-place: + Such paramour he deemed too base. + And him thought, in anguish lying there, + That needles underneath him were.[60] + + Now when they had marked his mien so bold, + Victory in all things they foretold. + 'The wars, O As‘ad, waged by thee + Shall heal mankind of misery. + Thy sword and spear the foe shall rue + When his gashes let the daylight through; + And blood shall flow on every hand + What time thou marchest from land to land. + By us be counselled: stay not within + Khamir, but go to Ẓafár and win! + To thee shall dalliance ne'er be dear, + Thy foes shall see thee before they hear. + Desire moved to encounter thee, + Noble prince, us witches three. + Not jest, but earnest on thee we tried, + And well didst thou the proof abide.' + + As‘ad went home and told his folk + What he had seen, but no heed they took. + On the tenth day he set out again + And fared to Ẓafár with thoughts in his brain. + There fortune raised him to high renown: + None swifter to strike ever wore a crown.[61] + + * * * * * + + Thus found we the tale in memory stored, + And Almighty is the Lord. + Praise be to God who liveth aye, + The Glorious to whom all men pray!" + +Legend makes As‘ad the hero of a brilliant expedition to Persia, where +he defeated the general sent against him by the Arsacids, and penetrated +to the Caspian Sea. On his way home he marched through the Ḥijáz, and +having learned that his son, whom he left behind in MedÃna, had been +treacherously murdered, he resolved to take a terrible vengeance on the +people of that city. + + [Sidenote: As‘ad Kámil and the two Rabbins of MedÃna.] + + [Sidenote: As‘ad Kámil at Mecca.] + + [Sidenote: He seeks to establish Judaism in Yemen.] + + [Sidenote: The ordeal of fire.] + + "Now while the Tubba‘ was carrying on war against them, there came to + him two Jewish Rabbins of the Banú Qurayẓa, men deep in knowledge, who + when they heard that he wished to destroy the city and its people, + said to him: 'O King, forbear! Verily, if thou wilt accept nothing + save that which thou desirest, an intervention will be made betwixt + thee and the city, and we are not sure but that sudden chastisement + may befall thee.' 'Why so?' he asked. They answered: ''Tis the place + of refuge of a prophet who in the after time shall go forth from the + sacred territory of Quraysh: it shall be his abode and his home.' So + the king refrained himself, for he saw that those two had a particular + knowledge, and he was pleased with what they told him. On departing + from MedÃna he followed them in their religion.[62]... And he turned + his face towards Mecca, that being his way to Yemen, and when he was + between ‘Usfán and Amaj some Hudhalites came to him and said: 'O King, + shall we not guide thee to a house of ancient treasure which the kings + before thee neglected, wherein are pearls and emeralds and chrysolites + and gold and silver?' He said, 'Yea.' They said: 'It is a temple at + Mecca which those who belong to it worship and in which they pray.' + Now the Hudhalites wished to destroy him thereby, knowing that + destruction awaited the king who should seek to violate its precinct. + So on comprehending what they proposed, he sent to the two Rabbins to + ask them about the affair. They replied: 'These folk intend naught but + to destroy thee and thine army; we wot not of any house in the world + that God hath chosen for Himself, save this. If thou do that to which + they invite thee, thou and those with thee will surely perish + together.' He said: 'What then is it ye bid me do when I come there?' + They said: 'Thou wilt do as its people do--make the circuit thereof, + and magnify and honour it, and shave thy head, and humble thyself + before it, until thou go forth from its precinct.' He said: 'And what + hinders you from doing that yourselves?' 'By God,' said they, 'it is + the temple of our father Abraham, and verily it is even as we told + thee, but we are debarred therefrom by the idols which its people have + set up around it and by the blood-offerings which they make beside it; + for they are vile polytheists,' or words to the same effect. The king + perceived that their advice was good and their tale true. He ordered + the Hudhalites to approach, and cut off their hands and feet. Then he + continued his march to Mecca, where he made the circuit of the temple, + sacrificed camels, and shaved his head. According to what is told, he + stayed six days at Mecca, feasting the inhabitants with the flesh of + camels and letting them drink honey.[63]... Then he moved out with his + troops in the direction of Yemen, the two Rabbins accompanying him; + and on entering Yemen he called on his subjects to adopt the religion + which he himself had embraced, but they refused unless the question + were submitted to the ordeal of fire which at that time existed in + Yemen; for as the Yemenites say, there was in their country a fire + that gave judgment between them in their disputes: it devoured the + wrong-doer but left the injured person unscathed. The Yemenites + therefore came forward with their idols and whatever else they used as + a means of drawing nigh unto God, and the two Rabbins came forward + with their scriptures hung on their necks like necklaces, and both + parties seated themselves at the place from which the fire was wont to + issue. And the fire blazed up, and the Yemenites shrank back from it + as it approached them, and were afraid, but the bystanders urged them + on and bade them take courage. So they held out until the fire + enveloped them and consumed the idols and images and the men of + Ḥimyar, the bearers thereof; but the Rabbins came forth safe and + sound, their brows moist with sweat, and the scriptures were still + hanging on their necks. Thereupon the Ḥimyarites consented to adopt + the king's religion, and this was the cause of Judaism being + established in Yemen."[64] + +[Sidenote: As‘ad's farewell to his son.] + +The poem addressed to his son and successor, Ḥassán, which tradition has +put into his mouth, is a sort of last will and testament, of which the +greater part is taken up with an account of his conquests and with +glorification of his family and himself.[65] Nearly all that we find in +the way of maxims or injunctions suitable to the solemn occasion is +contained in the following verses:-- + + "O Ḥassán, the hour of thy father's death has arrived at last: + Look to thyself ere yet the time for looking is past. + Oft indeed are the mighty abased, and often likewise + Are the base exalted: such is Man who is born and dies. + Bid ye Ḥimyar know that standing erect would I buried be, + And have my wine-skins and Yemen robes in the tomb with me.[66] + And hearken thou to my Sibyl, for surely can she foresay + The truth, and safe in her keeping is castle Ghaymán aye.[67] + +[Sidenote: The castles of Yemen.] + +[Sidenote: Ghumdán.] + +In connection with Ghaymán a few words may be added respecting the +castles in Yemen, of which the ruined skeletons rising from solitary +heights seem still to frown defiance upon the passing traveller. Two +thousand years ago, and probably long before, they were occupied by +powerful barons, more or less independent, who in later times, when the +Ḥimyarite Empire had begun to decline, always elected, and occasionally +deposed, their royal master. Of these castles the geographer Hamdánà has +given a detailed account in the eighth book of his great work on the +history and antiquities of Yemen entitled the _IklÃl_, or 'Crown.'[68] +The oldest and most celebrated was Ghumdán, the citadel of á¹¢an‘á. It is +described as a huge edifice of twenty stories, each story ten cubits +high. The four façades were built with stone of different colours, +white, black, green, and red. On the top story was a chamber which had +windows of marble framed with ebony and planewood. Its roof was a slab +of pellucid marble, so that when the lord of Ghumdán lay on his couch he +saw the birds fly overhead, and could distinguish a raven from a kite. +At each corner stood a brazen lion, and when the wind blew it entered +the hollow interior of the effigies and made a sound like the roaring of +lions. + +[Sidenote: Zarqá’u ’l-Yamáma.] + +The adventure of As‘ad Kámil with the three witches must have recalled +to every reader certain scenes in _Macbeth_. Curiously enough, in the +history of his son Ḥassán an incident is related which offers a striking +parallel to the march of Birnam Wood. Ṭasm and JadÃs have already been +mentioned. On the massacre of the former tribe by the latter, a single +Ṭasmite named Ribáḥ b. Murra made his escape and took refuge with the +Tubba‘ Ḥassán, whom he persuaded to lead an expedition against the +murderers. Now Ribáḥ's sister had married a man of JadÃs. Her name was +Zarqá’u ’l-Yamáma--_i.e._, the Blue-eyed Woman of Yamáma--and she had +such piercing sight that she was able to descry an army thirty miles +away. Ḥassán therefore bade his horsemen hold in front of them leafy +branches which they tore down from the trees. They advanced thus hidden, +and towards evening, when they had come within a day's journey, Zarqá +said to her people: "I see trees marching." No one believed her until it +was too late. Next morning Ḥassán fell upon them and put the whole tribe +to the sword. + +[Sidenote: Ḥassán murdered by his brother.] + +[Sidenote: Dhú Ru‘ayn.] + +The warlike expeditions to which Ḥassán devoted all his energy were felt +as an intolerable burden by the chiefs of Ḥimyar, who formed a plot to +slay him and set his brother ‘Amr on the throne. ‘Amr was at first +unwilling to lend himself to their designs, but ultimately his scruples +were overcome, and he stabbed the Tubba‘ with his own hand. The assassin +suffered a terrible punishment. Sleep deserted him, and in his remorse +he began to execute the conspirators one after another. There was, +however, a single chief called Dhú Ru‘ayn, who had remained loyal and +had done his best to save ‘Amr from the guilt of fratricide. Finding his +efforts fruitless, he requested ‘Amr to take charge of a sealed paper +which he brought with him, and to keep it in a safe place until he +should ask for it. ‘Amr consented and thought no more of the matter. +Afterwards, imagining that Dhú Ru‘ayn had joined in the fatal plot, he +gave orders for his execution. "How!" exclaimed Dhú Ru‘ayn, "did not I +tell thee what the crime involved?" and he asked for the sealed writing, +which was found to contain these verses-- + + "O fool to barter sleep for waking! Blest + Is he alone whose eyelids close in rest. + Hath Ḥimyar practised treason, yet 'tis plain + That God forgiveness owes to Dhú Ru‘ayn.[69]" + +On reading this, ‘Amr recognised that Dhú Ru‘ayn had spoken the truth, +and he spared his life. + +[Sidenote: Dhú Nuwás.] + +[Sidenote: Massacre of the Christians in Najrán (523 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Death of Dhú Nuwás.] + +With ‘Amr the Tubba‘ dynasty comes to an end. The succeeding kings were +elected by eight of the most powerful barons, who in reality were +independent princes, each ruling in his strong castle over as many +vassals and retainers as he could bring into subjection. During this +period the Abyssinians conquered at least some part of the country, and +Christian viceroys were sent by the Najáshà (Negus) to govern it in his +name. At last Dhú Nuwás, a descendant of the Tubba‘ As‘ad Kámil, crushed +the rebellious barons and made himself unquestioned monarch of Yemen. A +fanatical adherent of Judaism, he resolved to stamp out Christianity in +Najrán, where it is said to have been introduced from Syria by a holy +man called Faymiyún (Phemion). The Ḥimyarites flocked to his standard, +not so much from religious motives as from hatred of the Abyssinians. +The pretended murder of two Jewish children gave Dhú Nuwás a plausible +_casus belli_. He marched against Najrán with an overwhelming force, +entered the city, and bade the inhabitants choose between Judaism and +death. Many perished by the sword; the rest were thrown into a trench +which the king ordered to be dug and filled with blazing fire. Nearly a +hundred years later, when Muḥammad was being sorely persecuted, he +consoled and encouraged his followers by the example of the Christians +of Najrán, who suffered "_for no other reason but that they believed in +the mighty, the glorious God_."[70] Dhú Nuwás paid dearly for his +triumph. Daws Dhú Tha‘labán, one of those who escaped from the massacre, +fled to the Byzantine emperor and implored him, as the head of +Christendom, to assist them in obtaining vengeance. Justinus accordingly +wrote a letter to the NajáshÃ, desiring him to take action, and ere long +an Abyssinian army, 70,000 strong, under the command of Aryáá¹, +disembarked in Yemen. Dhú Nuwás could not count on the loyalty of the +Ḥimyarite nobles; his troops melted away. "When he saw the fate that had +befallen himself and his people, he turned to the sea and setting spurs +to his horse, rode through the shallows until he reached the deep water. +Then he plunged into the waves and nothing more of him was seen."[71] + +Thus died, or thus at any rate should have died, the last representative +of the long line of Ḥimyarite kings. Henceforth Yemen appears in +Pre-islamic history only as an Abyssinian dependency or as a Persian +protectorate. The events now to be related form the prologue to a new +drama in which South Arabia, so far from being the centre of interest, +plays an almost insignificant rôle.[72] + + [Sidenote: Yemen under Abyssinian rule.] + + [Sidenote: Abraha and Aryáá¹.] + + [Sidenote: Abraha viceroy of Yemen.] + + On the death of Dhú Nuwás, the Abyssinian general AryáṠcontinued + his march through Yemen. He slaughtered a third part of the males, + laid waste a third part of the land, and sent a third part of the + women and children to the Najáshà as slaves. Having reduced the + Yemenites to submission and re-established order, he held the + position of viceroy for several years. Then mutiny broke out in the + Abyssinian army of occupation, and his authority was disputed by an + officer, named Abraha. When the rivals faced each other, Abraha said + to Aryáá¹: "What will it avail you to engage the Abyssinians in a + civil war that will leave none of them alive? Fight it out with me, + and let the troops follow the victor." His challenge being accepted, + Abraha stepped forth. He was a short, fleshy man, compactly built, a + devout Christian, while AryáṠwas big, tall, and handsome. When + the duel began, AryáṠthrust his spear with the intention of + piercing Abraha's brain, but it glanced off his forehead, slitting + his eyelid, nose, and lip--hence the name, _al-Ashram_, by which + Abraha was afterwards known; and ere he could repeat the blow, a + youth in Abraha's service, called ‘Atwada, who was seated on a + hillock behind his master, sprang forward and dealt him a mortal + wound. Thus Abraha found himself commander-in-chief of the + Abyssinian army, but the Najáshà was enraged and swore not to rest + until he set foot on the soil of Yemen and cut off the rebel's + forelock. On hearing this, Abraha wrote to the NajáshÃ: "O King, + AryáṠwas thy servant even as I am. We quarrelled over thy + command, both of us owing allegiance to thee, but I had more + strength than he to command the Abyssinians and keep discipline and + exert authority. When I heard of the king's oath, I shore my head, + and now I send him a sack of the earth of Yemen that he may put it + under his feet and fulfil his oath." The Najáshà answered this act + of submission by appointing Abraha to be his viceroy.... Then Abraha + built the church (_al-QalÃs_) at San‘á, the like of which was not to + be seen at that time in the whole world, and wrote to the Najáshà + that he would not be content until he had diverted thither every + pilgrim in Arabia. This letter made much talk, and a man of the Banú + Fuqaym, one of those who arranged the calendar, was angered by what + he learned of Abraha's purpose; so he went into the church and + defiled it. When Abraha heard that the author of the outrage + belonged to the people of the Temple in Mecca, and that he meant to + show thereby his scorn and contempt for the new foundation, he waxed + wroth and swore that he would march against the Temple and lay it in + ruins. + +[Sidenote: Sayf b. Dhà Yazan.] + +[Sidenote: The Persians in Yemen (_circa_ 572 A.D.).] + +The disastrous failure of this expedition, which took place in the year +of the Elephant (570 A.D.), did not at once free Yemen from the +Abyssinian yoke. The sons of Abraha, Yaksum and Masrúq, bore heavily on +the Arabs. Seeing no help among his own people, a noble Ḥimyarite named +Sayf b. Dhà Yazan resolved to seek foreign intervention. His choice lay +between the Byzantine and Persian empires, and he first betook himself +to Constantinople. Disappointed there, he induced the Arab king of ḤÃra, +who was under Persian suzerainty, to present him at the court of Madá’in +(Ctesiphon). How he won audience of the Sásánian monarch, NúshÃrwán, +surnamed the Just, and tempted him by an ingenious trick to raise a +force of eight hundred condemned felons, who were set free and shipped +to Yemen under the command of an aged general; how they literally +'burned their boats' and, drawing courage from despair, routed the +Abyssinian host and made Yemen a satrapy of Persia[73]--this forms an +almost epic narrative, which I have omitted here (apart from +considerations of space) because it belongs to Persian rather than to +Arabian literary history, being probably based, as Nöldeke has +suggested, on traditions handed down by the Persian conquerors who +settled in Yemen to their aristocratic descendants whom the Arabs called +_al-Abná_ (the Sons) or _Banu ’l-Aḥrár_ (Sons of the Noble). + +Leaving the once mighty kingdom of Yemen thus pitiably and for ever +fallen from its high estate, we turn northward into the main stream of +Arabian history. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE HISTORY AND LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS + + +[Sidenote: The Age of Barbarism (al-Jáhiliyya).] + +Muḥammadans include the whole period of Arabian history from the +earliest times down to the establishment of Islam in the term +_al-Jáhiliyya_, which was used by Muḥammad in four passages of the Koran +and is generally translated 'the state or ignorance' or simply 'the +Ignorance.' Goldziher, however, has shown conclusively that the meaning +attached to _jahl_ (whence _Jáhiliyya_ is derived) by the Pre-islamic +poets is not so much 'ignorance' as 'wildness,' 'savagery,' and that its +true antithesis is not _‘ilm_ (knowledge), but rather _ḥilm_, which +denotes the moral reasonableness of a civilised man. "When Muḥammadans +say that Islam put an end to the manners and customs of the _Jáhiliyya_, +they have in view those barbarous practices, that savage temper, by +which Arabian heathendom is distinguished from Islam and by the +abolition of which Muḥammad sought to work a moral reformation in his +countrymen: the haughty spirit of the _Jáhiliyya_ (_ḥamiyyatu +’l-Jáhiliyya_), the tribal pride and the endless tribal feuds, the cult +of revenge, the implacability and all the other pagan characteristics +which Islam was destined to overcome."[74] + +Our sources of information regarding this period may be classified as +follows:-- + +[Sidenote: Sources of information concerning the Jáhiliyya.] + +(1) _Poems and fragments of verse_, which though not written down at the +time were preserved by oral tradition and committed to writing, for the +most part, two or three hundred years afterwards. The importance of +this, virtually the sole contemporary record of Pre-islamic history, is +recognised in the well-known saying, "Poetry is the public register of +the Arabs (_al-shi‘ru dÃwánu ’l-‘Arab_); thereby genealogies are kept in +mind and famous actions are made familiar." Some account of the chief +collections of old Arabian poetry will be given in the next chapter. + +(2) _Proverbs._ These are of less value, as they seldom explain +themselves, while the commentary attached to them is the work of +scholars bent on explaining them at all costs, though in many cases +their true meaning could only be conjectured and the circumstances of +their origin had been entirely forgotten. Notwithstanding this very +pardonable excess of zeal, we could ill afford to lose the celebrated +collections of Mufaá¸á¸al b. Salama (†_circa_ 900 A.D.) and Maydánà (†+1124 A.D.),[75] which contain so much curious information throwing light +on every aspect of Pre-islamic life. + +[Sidenote: _The Book of Songs._] + +(3) _Traditions and legends._ Since the art of writing was neither +understood nor practised by the heathen Arabs in general, it was +impossible that Prose, as a literary form, should exist among them. The +germs of Arabic Prose, however, may be traced back to the _Jáhiliyya_. +Besides the proverb (_mathal_) and the oration (_khuá¹ba_) we find +elements of history and romance in the prose narratives used by the +rhapsodists to introduce and set forth plainly the matter of their +songs, and in the legends which recounted the glorious deeds of tribes +and individuals. A vast number of such stories--some unmistakably +genuine, others bearing the stamp of fiction--are preserved in various +literary, historical, and geographical works composed under the ‘Abbásid +Caliphate, especially in the _Kitábu ’l-AghánÃ_ (Book of Songs) by Abu +’l-Faraj of Iá¹£fahán (†967 A.D.), an invaluable compilation based on the +researches of the great Humanists as they have been well named by Sir +Charles Lyall, of the second and third centuries after the Hijra.[76] +The original writings of these early critics and scholars have perished +almost without exception, and beyond the copious citations in the +_AghánÃ_ we possess hardly any specimens of their work. "The _Book of +Songs_," says Ibn Khaldún, "is the Register of the Arabs. It comprises +all that they had achieved in the past of excellence in every kind of +poetry, history, music, _et cetera_. So far as I am aware, no other book +can be put on a level with it in this respect. It is the final resource +of the student of belles-lettres, and leaves him nothing further to +desire."[77] + + +[Sidenote: Scope of this chapter.] + +In the following pages I shall not attempt to set in due order and +connection the confused mass of poetry and legend in which all that we +know of Pre-islamic Arabia lies deeply embedded. This task has already +been performed with admirable skill by Caussin de Perceval in his _Essai +sur l'histoire des Arabes avant l'Islamisme_,[78] and it could serve no +useful purpose to inflict a dry summary of that famous work upon the +reader. The better course, I think, will be to select a few typical and +outstanding features of the time and to present them, wherever possible, +as they have been drawn--largely from imagination--by the Arabs +themselves. If the Arabian traditions are wanting in historical accuracy +they are nevertheless, taken as a whole, true in spirit to the Dark Age +which they call up from the dead and reverently unfold beneath our eyes. + +[Sidenote: The Arab dynasties of ḤÃra and Ghassán.] + +[Sidenote: Odenathus and Zenobia.] + +About the middle of the third century of our era Arabia was enclosed on +the north and north-east by the rival empires of Rome and Persia, to +which the Syrian desert, stretching right across the peninsula, formed a +natural termination. In order to protect themselves from Bedouin +raiders, who poured over the frontier-provinces, and after laying hands +on all the booty within reach vanished as suddenly as they came, both +Powers found it necessary to plant a line of garrisons along the edge of +the wilderness. Thus the tribesmen were partially held in check, but as +force alone seemed an expensive and inefficient remedy it was decided, +in accordance with the well-proved maxim, _divide et impera_, to enlist +a number of the offending tribes in the Imperial service. Regular pay +and the prospect of unlimited plunder--for in those days Rome and Persia +were almost perpetually at war--were inducements that no true Bedouin +could resist. They fought, however, as free allies under their own +chiefs or phylarchs. In this way two Arabian dynasties sprang up--the +Ghassánids in Syria and the Lakhmites at ḤÃra, west of the +Euphrates--military buffer-states, always ready to collide even when +they were not urged on by the suzerain powers behind them. The Arabs +soon showed what they were capable of when trained and disciplined in +arms. On the defeat of Valerian by the Chosroes Sábúr I, an Arab +chieftain in Palmyra, named Udhayna (Odenathus), marched at the head of +a strong force against the conqueror, drove him out of Syria, and +pursued him up to the very walls of Madá’in, the Persian capital (265 +A.D.). His brilliant exploits were duly rewarded by the Emperor +Gallienus, who bestowed on him the title of Augustus. He was, in fact, +the acknowledged master of the Roman legions in the East when, a year +later, he was treacherously murdered. He found a worthy successor in his +wife, the noble and ambitious Zenobia, who set herself the task of +building up a great Oriental Empire. She fared, however, no better than +did Cleopatra in a like enterprise. For a moment the issue was doubtful, +but Aurelian triumphed and the proud 'Queen of the East' was led a +captive before his chariot through the streets of Rome (274 A.D.). + +These events were not forgotten by the Arabs. It flattered their +national pride to recall that once, at any rate, Roman armies had +marched under the flag of an Arabian princess. But the legend, as told +in their traditions, has little in common with reality. Not only are +names and places freely altered--Zenobia herself being confused with her +Syrian general, Zabdai--but the historical setting, though dimly visible +in the background, has been distorted almost beyond recognition: what +remains is one of those romantic adventures which delighted the Arabs of +the _Jáhiliyya_, just as their modern descendants are never tired of +listening to the _Story of ‘Antar_ or to the _Thousand Nights and a +Night_. + +[Sidenote: Málik the Azdite.] + +[Sidenote: JadhÃma al-Abrash.] + +The first king of the Arab settlers in ‘Iráq (Babylonia)[79] is said to +have been Málik the Azdite, who was accidentally shot with an arrow by +his son, Sulayma. Before he expired he uttered a verse which has become +proverbial:-- + + _U‘allimuhu ’l-rimáyata kulla yawmin + falamma ’stadda sá‘iduhú ramánÃ._ + + "I taught him every day the bowman's art, + And when his arm took aim, he pierced my heart." + +Málik's kingdom, if it can properly be described as such, was +consolidated and organised by his son, JadhÃma, surnamed al-Abrash (the +Speckled)--a polite euphemism for al-Abraá¹£ (the Leprous). He reigned as +the vassal of ArdashÃr Bábakán, the founder (226 A.D.) of the Sásánian +dynasty in Persia, which thereafter continued to dominate the Arabs of +‘Iráq during the whole Pre-islamic period. JadhÃma is the hero of many +fables and proverbs. His pride, it is said, was so overweening that he +would suffer no boon-companions except two stars called _al-Farqadán_, +and when he drank wine he used to pour out a cup for each of them. He +had a page, ‘Adà b. Naá¹£r, with whom his sister fell in love; and in a +moment of intoxication he gave his consent to their marriage. Next +morning, furious at the trick which had been played upon him, he +beheaded the unlucky bridegroom and reviled his sister for having +married a slave. Nevertheless, when a son was born, JadhÃma adopted the +boy, and as he grew up regarded him with the utmost affection. One day +the youthful ‘Amr suddenly disappeared. For a long time no trace of him +could be found, but at last he was discovered, running wild and naked, +by two brothers, Málik and ‘AqÃl, who cared for him and clothed him and +presented him to the king. Overjoyed at the sight, JadhÃma promised to +grant them whatever they asked. They chose the honour, which no mortal +had hitherto obtained, of being his boon-companions, and by this title +(_nadmáná JadhÃma_) they are known to fame. + +[Sidenote: The story of Zabbá.] + +JadhÃma was a wise and warlike prince. In one of his expeditions he +defeated and slew ‘Amr b. Ẓarib b. Ḥassán b. Udhayna, an Arab chieftain +who had brought part of Eastern Syria and Mesopotamia under his sway, +and who, as the name Udhayna indicates, is probably identical with +Odenathus, the husband of Zenobia. This opinion is confirmed by the +statement of Ibn Qutayba that "JadhÃma sought in marriage Zabbá, the +daughter of the King of Mesopotamia, who became queen after her +_husband_."[80]--According to the view generally held by Muḥammadan +authors Zabbá[81] was the daughter of ‘Amr b. Ẓarib and was elected to +succeed him when he fell in battle. However this may be, she proved +herself a woman of extraordinary courage and resolution. As a safeguard +against attack she built two strong castles on either bank of the +Euphrates and connected them by a subterranean tunnel; she made one +fortress her own residence, while her sister, Zaynab, occupied the +other. + + Having thus secured her position she determined to take vengeance on + JadhÃma. She wrote to him that the sceptre was slipping from her + feeble grasp, that she found no man worthy of her except himself, + that she desired to unite her kingdom with his by marriage, and + begged him to come and see her. JadhÃma needed no urging. Deaf to + the warnings of his friend and counsellor, Qaá¹£Ãr, he started from + Baqqa, a castle on the Euphrates. When they had travelled some + distance, Qaá¹£Ãr implored him to return. "No," said JadhÃma, "the + affair was decided at Baqqa"--words which passed into a proverb. On + approaching their destination the king saw with alarm squadrons of + cavalry between him and the city, and said to Qaá¹£Ãr, "What is the + prudent course?" "You left prudence at Baqqa," he replied; "if the + cavalry advance and salute you as king and then retire in front of + you, the woman is sincere, but if they cover your flanks and + encompass you, they mean treachery. Mount al-‘Aṣá"--JadhÃma's + favourite mare--"for she cannot be overtaken or outpaced, and rejoin + your troops while there is yet time." JadhÃma refused to follow this + advice. Presently he was surrounded by the cavalry and captured. + Qaá¹£Ãr, however, sprang on the mare's back and galloped thirty miles + without drawing rein. + + When JadhÃma was brought to Zabbá she seated him on a skin of + leather and ordered her maidens to open the veins in his arm, so + that his blood should flow into a golden bowl. "O JadhÃma," said + she, "let not a single drop be lost. I want it as a cure for + madness." The dying man suddenly moved his arm and sprinkled with + his blood one of the marble pillars of the hall--an evil portent for + Zabbá, inasmuch as it had been prophesied by a certain soothsayer + that unless every drop of the king's blood entered the bowl, his + murder would be avenged. + + Now Qaá¹£Ãr came to ‘Amr b. ‘AdÃ, JadhÃma's nephew and son by + adoption, who has been mentioned above, and engaged to win over the + army to his side if he would take vengeance on Zabbá. "But how?" + cried ‘Amr; "for she is more inaccessible than the eagle of the + air." "Only help me," said Qaá¹£Ãr, "and you will be clear of + blame." He cut off his nose and ears and betook himself to Zabbá, + pretending that he had been mutilated by ‘Amr. The queen believed + what she saw, welcomed him, and gave him money to trade on her + behalf. Qaá¹£Ãr hastened to the palace of ‘Amr at ḤÃra, and, + having obtained permission to ransack the royal treasury, he + returned laden with riches. Thus he gradually crept into the + confidence of Zabbá, until one day he said to her: "It behoves every + king and queen to provide themselves with a secret passage wherein + to take refuge in case of danger." Zabbá answered: "I have already + done so," and showed him the tunnel which she had constructed + underneath the Euphrates. His project was now ripe for execution. + With the help of ‘Amr he fitted out a caravan of a thousand camels, + each carrying two armed men concealed in sacks. When they drew near + the city of Zabbá, Qaá¹£Ãr left them and rode forward to announce + their arrival to the queen, who from the walls of her capital viewed + the long train of heavily burdened camels and marvelled at the slow + pace with which they advanced. As the last camel passed through the + gates of the city the janitor pricked one of the sacks with an + ox-goad which he had with him, and hearing a cry of pain, exclaimed, + "By God, there's mischief in the sacks!" But it was too late. ‘Amr + and his men threw themselves upon the garrison and put them to the + sword. Zabbá sought to escape by the tunnel, but Qaá¹£Ãr stood + barring the exit on the further side of the stream. She hurried + back, and there was ‘Amr facing her. Resolved that her enemy should + not taste the sweetness of vengeance, she sucked her seal-ring, + which contained a deadly poison, crying, "By my own hand, not by + ‘Amr's!"[82] + +In the kingdoms of ḤÃra and Ghassán Pre-islamic culture attained its +highest development, and from these centres it diffused itself and made +its influence felt throughout Arabia. Some account, therefore, of their +history and of the circumstances which enabled them to assume a +civilising rôle will not be superfluous.[83] + +[Sidenote: The foundation of ḤÃra.] + +About the beginning of the third century after Christ a number of +Bedouin tribes, wholly or partly of Yemenite origin, who had formed a +confederacy and called themselves collectively Tanúkh, took advantage of +the disorder then prevailing in the Arsacid Empire to invade ‘Iráq +(Babylonia) and plant their settlements in the fertile country west of +the Euphrates. While part of the intruders continued to lead a nomad +life, others engaged in agriculture, and in course of time villages and +towns grew up. The most important of these was ḤÃra (properly, +al-ḤÃra, _i.e._, the Camp), which occupied a favourable and healthy +situation a few miles to the south of Kúfa, in the neighbourhood of +ancient Babylon.[84] According to Hishám b. Muḥammad al-Kalbà (†819 +or 821 A.D.), an excellent authority for the history of the Pre-islamic +period, the inhabitants of ḤÃra during the reign of ArdashÃr Bábakán, +the first Sásánian king of Persia (226-241 A.D.), consisted of three +classes, viz.:-- + +(1) The _Tanúkh_, who dwelt west of the Euphrates between ḤÃra and +Anbár in tents of camel's hair. + +(2) The _‘Ibád_, who lived in houses in ḤÃra. + +(3) The _Aḥláf_ (Clients), who did not belong to either of the +above-mentioned classes, but attached themselves to the people of +ḤÃra and lived among them--blood-guilty fugitives pursued by the +vengeance of their own kin, or needy emigrants seeking to mend their +fortunes. + +[Sidenote: The ‘Ibád.] + +Naturally the townsmen proper formed by far the most influential element +in the population. Hishám, as we have seen, calls them 'the ‘Ibád.' His +use of this term, however, is not strictly accurate. The ‘Ibád are +exclusively the _Christian Arabs of ḤÃra_, and are so called in +virtue of their Christianity; the pagan Arabs, who at the time when +ḤÃra was founded and for long afterwards constituted the bulk of the +citizens, were never comprised in a designation which expresses the very +opposite of paganism. _‘Ibád_ means 'servants,' _i.e._, those who serve +God or Christ. It cannot be determined at what epoch the name was first +used to distinguish the religious community, composed of members of +different tribes, which was dominant in ḤÃra during the sixth +century. Dates are comparatively of little importance; what is really +remarkable is the existence in Pre-islamic times of an Arabian community +that was not based on blood-relationship or descent from a common +ancestor, but on a spiritual principle, namely, the profession of a +common faith. The religion and culture of the ‘Ibád were conveyed by +various channels to the inmost recesses of the peninsula, as will be +shown more fully in a subsequent chapter. They were the schoolmasters of +the heathen Arabs, who could seldom read or write, and who, it must be +owned, so far from desiring to receive instruction, rather gloried in +their ignorance of accomplishments which they regarded as servile. +Nevertheless, the best minds among the Bedouins were irresistibly +attracted to ḤÃra. Poets in those days found favour with princes. A +great number of Pre-islamic bards visited the Lakhmite court, while +some, like Nábigha and ‘AbÃd b. al-Abraá¹£, made it their permanent +residence. + +[Sidenote: The Lakhmites.] + +[Sidenote: Nu‘mán I. (_circa_ 400 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: The Castle of Khawarnaq.] + +[Sidenote: Nu‘mán becomes an anchorite.] + +It is unnecessary to enter into the vexed question as to the origin and +rise of the Lakhmite dynasty at ḤÃra. According to Hishám b. +Muḥammad al-Kalbi, who gives a list of twenty kings, covering a +period of 522 years and eight months, the first Lakhmite ruler was ‘Amr +b. ‘Adà b. Naá¹£r b. RabÑa b. Lakhm, the same who was adopted by +JadhÃma, and afterwards avenged his death on Queen Zabbá. Almost nothing +is known of his successors until we come to Nu‘mán I, surnamed al-A‘war +(the One-eyed), whose reign falls in the first quarter of the fifth +century. Nu‘mán is renowned in legend as the builder of Khawarnaq, a +famous castle near ḤÃra. It was built at the instance of the Sásánian +king, Yazdigird I, who desired a salubrious residence for his son, +Prince Bahrám Gór. On its completion, Nu‘mán ordered the architect, a +'Roman' (_i.e._, Byzantine subject) named Sinimmár, to be cast headlong +from the battlements, either on account of his boast that he could have +constructed a yet more wonderful edifice "which should turn round with +the sun," or for fear that he might reveal the position of a certain +stone, the removal of which would cause the whole building to collapse. +One spring day (so the story is told) Nu‘mán sat with his Vizier in +Khawarnaq, which overlooked the Fen-land (al-Najaf), with its +neighbouring gardens and plantations of palm-trees and canals, to the +west, and the Euphrates to the east. Charmed by the beauty of the +prospect, he exclaimed, "Hast thou ever seen the like of this?" "No," +replied the Vizier, "if it would but last." "And what is lasting?" asked +Nu‘mán. "That which is with God in heaven." "How can one attain to it?" +"By renouncing the world and serving God, and striving after that which +He hath." Nu‘mán, it is said, immediately resolved to abandon his +kingdom; on the same night he clad himself in sackcloth, stole away +unperceived, and became a wandering devotee (_sá’iḥ_). This legend +seems to have grown out of the following verses by ‘Adà b. Zayd, the +‘Ibádite:-- + + "Consider thou Khawarnaq's lord--and oft + Of heavenly guidance cometh vision clear-- + Who once, rejoicing in his ample realm, + Surveyed the broad Euphrates, and SadÃr;[85] + Then sudden terror struck his heart: he cried, + 'Shall Man, who deathward goes, find pleasure here?' + They reigned, they prospered; yet, their glory past, + In yonder tombs they lie this many a year. + At last they were like unto withered leaves + Whirled by the winds away in wild career."[86] + +The opinion of most Arabian authors, that Nu‘mán embraced Christianity, +is probably unfounded, but there is reason to believe that he was well +disposed towards it, and that his Christian subjects--a Bishop of +ḤÃra is mentioned as early as 410 A.D.--enjoyed complete religious +liberty. + +[Sidenote: Mundhir I.] + +[Sidenote: Mundhir III, b. Má’ al-samá.] + +[Sidenote: Rise of Kinda.] + +[Sidenote: Mazdak.] + +[Sidenote: Mundhir expelled from ḤÃra by Ḥárith of Kinda.] + +[Sidenote: Death of Mundhir III.] + +[Sidenote: Mundhir's "Good Day and Evil Day."] + +[Sidenote: Ḥanẓala and SharÃk.] + +Nu‘mán's place was filled by his son Mundhir, an able and energetic +prince. The power of the Lakhmites at this time may be inferred from the +fact that on the death of Yazdigird I Mundhir forcibly intervened in the +dispute as to the Persian succession and procured the election of Bahrám +Gór, whose claims had previously been rejected by the priesthood.[87] In +the war which broke out shortly afterwards between Persia and Rome, +Mundhir proved himself a loyal vassal, but was defeated by the Romans +with great loss (421 A.D.). Passing over several obscure reigns, we +arrive at the beginning of the sixth century, when another Mundhir, the +third and most illustrious of his name, ascended the throne. This is he +whom the Arabs called Mundhir b. Má’ al-samá.[88] He had a long and +brilliant reign, which, however, was temporarily clouded by an event +that cannot be understood without some reference to the general history +of the period. About 480 A.D. the powerful tribe of Kinda, whose princes +appear to have held much the same position under the Tubba‘s of Yemen as +the Lakhmites under the Persian monarchs, had extended their sway over +the greater part of Central and Northern Arabia. The moving spirit in +this conquest was Ḥujr, surnamed Akilu ’l-Murár, an ancestor of the +poet Imru’u ’l-Qays. On his death the Kindite confederacy was broken up, +but towards the year 500 it was re-established for a brief space by his +grandson, Ḥárith b. ‘Amr, and became a formidable rival to the +kingdoms of Ghassán and ḤÃra. Meanwhile, in Persia, the communistic +doctrines of Mazdak had obtained wide popularity among the lower +classes, and were finally adopted by King Kawádh himself.[89] Now, it is +certain that at some date between 505 and 529 Ḥárith b. ‘Amr, the +Kindite, invaded ‘Iráq, and drove Mundhir out of his kingdom; and it +seems not impossible that, as many historians assert, the latter's +downfall was due to his anti-Mazdakite opinions, which would naturally +excite the displeasure of his suzerain. At any rate, whatever the causes +may have been, Mundhir was temporarily supplanted by Ḥárith, and +although he was restored after a short interval, before the accession of +Anúshirwán, who, as Crown Prince, carried out a wholesale massacre of +the followers of Mazdak (528 A.D.), the humiliation which he had +suffered and cruelly avenged was not soon forgotten;[90] the life and +poems of Imru’u ’l-Qays bear witness to the hereditary hatred subsisting +between Lakhm and Kinda. Mundhir's operations against the Romans were +conducted with extraordinary vigour; he devastated Syria as far as +Antioch, and Justinian saw himself obliged to entrust the defence of +these provinces to the Ghassánid Ḥárith b. Jabala (Ḥárith +al-A‘raj), in whom Mundhir at last found more than his match. From this +time onward the kings of ḤÃra and Ghassán are continually raiding and +plundering each other's territory. In one of his expeditions Mundhir +captured a son of Ḥárith, and "immediately sacrificed him to +Aphrodite"--_i.e._, to the Arabian goddess al-‘Uzzá;[91]--but on taking +the field again in 554 he was surprised and slain by stratagem in a +battle which is known proverbially as 'The Day of ḤalÃma.'[92] On the +whole, the Lakhmites were a heathen and barbarous race, and these +epithets are richly deserved by Mundhir III. It is related in the +_AghánÃ_ that he had two boon-companions, Khálid b. al-Muá¸allil and +‘Amr b. Mas‘úd, with whom he used to carouse; and once, being irritated +by words spoken in wine, he gave orders that they should be buried +alive. Next morning he did not recollect what had passed and inquired as +usual for his friends. On learning the truth he was filled with remorse. +He caused two obelisks to be erected over their graves, and two days in +every year he would come and sit beside these obelisks, which were +called _al-Ghariyyán_--_i.e._, the Blood-smeared. One day was the Day of +Good (_yawmu na‘imin_), and whoever first encountered him on that day +received a hundred black camels. The other day was the Day of Evil +(_yawmu bu’sin_), on which he would present the first-comer with the +head of a black polecat (_ẓaribán_), then sacrifice him and smear the +obelisks with his blood.[93] The poet ‘AbÃd b. al-Abraá¹£ is said to +have fallen a victim to this horrible rite. It continued until the doom +fell upon a certain Ḥanẓala of Ṭayyi’, who was granted a year's +grace in order to regulate his affairs, on condition that he should find +a surety. He appealed to one of Mundhir's suite, SharÃk b. ‘Amr, who +straightway rose and said to the king, "My hand for his and my blood for +his if he fail to return at the time appointed." When the day came +Ḥanẓala did not appear, and Mundhir was about to sacrifice SharÃk, +whose mourning-woman had already begun to chant the dirge. Suddenly a +rider was seen approaching, wrapped in a shroud and perfumed for burial. +A mourning-woman accompanied him. It was Ḥanẓala. Mundhir +marvelled at their loyalty, dismissed them with marks of honour, and +abolished the custom which he had instituted.[94] + +[Sidenote: ‘Amr B. Hind (554-569 A.D.).] + +He was succeeded by his son ‘Amr, who is known to contemporary poets and +later historians as ‘Amr, son of Hind.[95] During his reign ḤÃra +became an important literary centre. Most of the famous poets then +living visited his court; we shall see in the next chapter what +relations he had with Ṭarafa, ‘Amr b. Kulthúm, and Ḥárith b. +Ḥilliza. He was a morose, passionate, and tyrannical man. The Arabs +stood in great awe of him, but vented their spite none the less. "At +ḤÃra," said Daháb al-‘IjlÃ, "there are mosquitoes and fever and lions +and ‘Amr b. Hind, who acts unjustly and wrongfully."[96] He was slain by +the chief of Taghlib, ‘Amr b. Kulthúm, in vengeance for an insult +offered to his mother, Laylá. + +[Sidenote: Nu‘mán Abú Qábús.] + +[Sidenote: ‘Adà b. Zayd.] + +It is sufficient to mention the names of Qábús and Mundhir IV, both of +whom were sons of Hind, and occupied the throne for short periods. We +now come to the last Lakhmite king of ḤÃra, and by far the most +celebrated in tradition, Nu‘mán III, son of Mundhir IV, with the _kunya_ +(name of honour) Abú Qábús, who reigned from 580 to 602 or from 585 to +607. He was brought up and educated by a noble Christian family in +ḤÃra, the head of which was Zayd b. Ḥammád, father of the poet +‘Adà b. Zayd. ‘Adà is such an interesting figure, and his fortunes were +so closely and tragically linked with those of Nu‘mán, that some account +of his life and character will be acceptable. Both his father and +grandfather were men of unusual culture, who held high posts in the +civil administration under Mundhir III and his successors. Zayd, +moreover, through the good offices of a _dihqán_, or Persian landed +proprietor, Farrukh-máhán by name, obtained from Khusraw Anúshirwán an +important and confidential appointment--that of Postmaster--ordinarily +reserved for the sons of satraps.[97] When ‘Adà grew up, his father sent +him to be educated with the son of the _dihqán_. He learned to write and +speak Persian with complete facility and Arabic with the utmost +elegance; he versified, and his accomplishments included archery, +horsemanship, and polo. At the Persian court his personal beauty, wit, +and readiness in reply so impressed Anúshirwán that he took him into his +service as secretary and interpreter--Arabic had never before been +written in the Imperial Chancery--and accorded him all the privileges of +a favourite. He was entrusted with a mission to Constantinople, where he +was honourably received; and on his departure the Qayá¹£ar,[98] +following an excellent custom, instructed the officials in charge of the +post-routes to provide horses and every convenience in order that the +ambassador might see for himself the extent and resources of the +Byzantine Empire. ‘Adà passed some time in Syria, especially at +Damascus, where his first poem is said to have appeared. On his father's +death, which happened about this time, he renounced the splendid +position at ḤÃra which he might have had for the asking, and gave +himself up to hunting and to all kinds of amusement and pleasure, only +visiting Madá’in (Ctesiphon) at intervals to perform his secretarial +duties. While staying at ḤÃra he fell in love with Nu‘mán's daughter +Hind, who was then eleven years old. The story as told in the _Book of +Songs_ is too curious to be entirely omitted, though want of space +prevents me from giving it in full.[99] + + [Sidenote: ‘Adà meets the Princess Hind in church.] + + [Sidenote: His marriage to Hind.] + + It is related that Hind, who was one of the fairest women of her + time, went to church on Thursday of Holy Week, three days after Palm + Sunday, to receive the sacrament. ‘Adà had entered the church for + the same purpose. He espied her--she was a big, tall girl--while she + was off her guard, and fixed his gaze upon her before she became + aware of him. Her maidens, who had seen him approaching, said + nothing to their mistress, because one of them called Máriya was + enamoured of ‘Adà and knew no other way of making his acquaintance. + When Hind saw him looking at herself, she was highly displeased and + scolded her handmaidens and beat some of them. ‘Adà had fallen in + love with her, but he kept the matter secret for a whole year. At + the end of that time Máriya, thinking that Hind had forgotten what + passed, described the church of Thómá (St. Thomas) and the nuns + there and the girls who frequented it, and the beauty of the + building and of the lamps, and said to her, "Ask thy mother's leave + to go." As soon as leave was granted, Máriya conveyed the + intelligence to ‘AdÃ, who immediately dressed himself in a + magnificent gold-embroidered Persian tunic (_yalmaq_) and hastened + to the rendezvous, accompanied by several young men of ḤÃra. When + Máriya perceived him, she cried to Hind, "Look at this youth: by + God, he is fairer than the lamps and all things else that thou + seest." "Who is he?" she asked. "‘AdÃ, son of Zayd." "Do you think," + said Hind, "that he will recognise me if I come nearer?" Then she + advanced and watched him as he conversed with his friends, + outshining them all by the beauty of his person, the elegance of his + language, and the splendour of his dress. "Speak to him," said + Máriya to her young mistress, whose countenance betrayed her + feelings. After exchanging a few words the lovers parted. Máriya + went to ‘Adà and promised, if he would first gratify her wishes, to + bring about his union with Hind. She lost no time in warning Nu‘mán + that his daughter was desperately in love with ‘Adà and would either + disgrace herself or die of grief unless he gave her to him. Nu‘mán, + however, was too proud to make overtures to ‘AdÃ, who on his part + feared to anger the prince by proposing an alliance. The ingenious + Máriya found a way out of the difficulty. She suggested that ‘Adà + should invite Nu‘mán and his suite to a banquet, and having well + plied him with wine should ask for the hand of his daughter, which + would not then be refused. So it came to pass. Nu‘mán gave his + consent to the marriage, and after three days Hind was brought home + to her husband.[100] + +[Sidenote: ‘Adà secures the election of Nu‘mán as King of ḤÃra.] + +[Sidenote: He is imprisoned and put to death by Nu‘mán.] + +On the death of Mundhir IV ‘Adà warmly supported the claims of Nu‘mán, +who had formerly been his pupil and was now his father-in-law, to the +throne of ḤÃra. The ruse which he employed on this occasion was +completely successful, but it cost him his life.[101] The partisans of +Aswad b. Mundhir, one of the defeated candidates, resolved on vengeance. +Their intrigues awakened the suspicions of Nu‘mán against the +'King-maker.' ‘Adà was cast into prison, where he languished for a long +time and was finally murdered by Nu‘mán when the Chosroes (Parwéz, son +of Hurmuz) had already intervened to procure his release.[102] + +[Sidenote: The vengeance of Zayd b. ‘AdÃ.] + +[Sidenote: Death of Nu‘mán III.] + +‘Adà left a son named Zayd, who, on the recommendation of Nu‘mán, was +appointed by Khusraw Parwéz to succeed his father as Secretary for +Arabian Affairs at the court of Ctesiphon. Apparently reconciled to +Nu‘mán, he was none the less bent on vengeance, and only waited for an +opportunity. The kings of Persia were connoisseurs in female beauty, and +when they desired to replenish their harems they used to circulate an +advertisement describing with extreme particularity the physical and +moral qualities which were to be sought after;[103] but hitherto they +had neglected Arabia, which, as they supposed, could not furnish any +woman possessed of these perfections. Zayd therefore approached the +Chosroes and said: "I know that Nu‘mán has in his family a number of +women answering to the description. Let me go to him, and send with me +one of thy guardsmen who understands Arabic." The Chosroes complied, and +Zayd set out for ḤÃra. On learning the object of his mission, Nu‘mán +exclaimed with indignation: "What! are not the gazelles of Persia +sufficient for your needs?" The comparison of a beautiful woman to a +gazelle is a commonplace in Arabian poetry, but the officer accompanying +Zayd was ill acquainted with Arabic, and asked the meaning of the word +(_‘Ãn_ or _mahá_) which Nu‘mán had employed. "Cows," said Zayd. When +Parwéz heard from his guardsman that Nu‘mán had said, "Do not the cows +of Persia content him?" he could scarcely suppress his rage. Soon +afterwards he sent for Nu‘mán, threw him into chains, and caused him to +be trampled to pieces by elephants.[104] + +[Sidenote: Character of Nu‘mán III.] + +Nu‘mán III appears in tradition as a tyrannical prince, devoted to wine, +women, and song. He was the patron of many celebrated poets, and +especially of Nábigha DhubyánÃ, who was driven from ḤÃra in +consequence of a false accusation. This episode, as well as another in +which the poet Munakhkhal was concerned, gives us a glimpse into the +private life of Nu‘mán. He had married his step-mother, Mutajarrida, a +great beauty in her time; but though he loved her passionately, she +bestowed her affections elsewhere. Nábigha was suspected on account of a +poem in which he described the charms of the queen with the utmost +minuteness, but Munakhkhal was the real culprit. The lovers were +surprised by Nu‘mán, and from that day Munakhkhal was never seen again. +Hence the proverb, "Until Munakhkhal shall return," or, as we might say, +"Until the coming of the Coqcigrues." + +[Sidenote: Nu‘mán's conversion to Christianity.] + +Although several of the kings of ḤÃra are said to have been +Christians, it is very doubtful whether any except Nu‘mán III deserved +even the name; the Lakhmites, unlike the majority of their subjects, +were thoroughly pagan. Nu‘mán's education would naturally predispose him +to Christianity, and his conversion may have been wrought, as the legend +asserts, by his mentor ‘Adà b. Zayd. + + +[Sidenote: The Ghassánids or Jafnites.] + +According to Muḥammadan genealogists, the Ghassánids, both those +settled in MedÃna and those to whom the name is consecrated by popular +usage--the Ghassánids of Syria--are descended from ‘Amr b. ‘Ãmir +al-Muzayqiyá, who, as was related in the last chapter, sold his +possessions in Yemen and quitted the country, taking with him a great +number of its inhabitants, shortly before the Bursting of the Dyke of +Ma’rib. His son Jafna is generally regarded as the founder of the +dynasty. Of their early history very few authentic facts have been +preserved. At first, we are told, they paid tribute to the á¸ajá‘ima, +a family of the stock of SalÃḥ, who ruled the Syrian borderlands +under Roman protection. A struggle ensued, from which the Ghassánids +emerged victorious, and henceforth we find them established in these +regions as the representatives of Roman authority with the official +titles of Patricius and Phylarch, which they and the Arabs around them +rendered after the simple Oriental fashion by 'King' (_malik_). + + [Sidenote: Ibn Qutayba's account of the Ghassánids.] + + [Sidenote: Ḥárith the Lame.] + + [Sidenote: Jabala b. al-Ayham.] + + The first (says Ibn Qutayba) that reigned in Syria of the family of + Jafna was Ḥárith b. ‘Amr Muḥarriq, who was so called because + he burnt (_ḥarraqa_) the Arabs in their houses. He is Ḥárith + the Elder (al-Akbar), and his name of honour (_kunya_) is Abú + Shamir. After him reigned Ḥárith b. Abà Shamir, known as + Ḥárith the Lame (_al-A‘raj_), whose mother was Máriya of the + Ear-rings. He was the best of their kings, and the most fortunate, + and the craftiest; and in his raids he went the farthest afield. He + led an expedition against Khaybar[105] and carried off a number of + prisoners, but set them free after his return to Syria. When Mundhir + b. Má’ al-samá marched against him with an army 100,000 strong, + Ḥárith sent a hundred men to meet him--among them the poet LabÃd, + who was then a youth--ostensibly to make peace. They surrounded + Mundhir's tent and slew the king and his companions; then they took + horse, and some escaped, while others were slain. The Ghassánid + cavalry attacked the army of Mundhir and put them to flight. + Ḥárith had a daughter named ḤalÃma, who perfumed the hundred + champions on that day and clad them in shrouds of white linen and + coats of mail. She is the heroine of the proverb, "The day of + ḤalÃma is no secret."[106] Ḥárith was succeeded by his son, + Ḥárith the Younger. Among his other sons were ‘Amr b. Ḥárith + (called Abú Shamir the Younger), to whom Nábigha came on leaving + Nu‘mán b. Mundhir; Mundhir b. Ḥárith; and al-Ayham b. Ḥárith. + Jabala, the son of al-Ayham, was the last of the kings of Ghassán. + He was twelve spans in height, and his feet brushed the ground when + he rode on horseback. He reached the Islamic period and became a + Moslem in the Caliphate of ‘Umar b. al-Khaá¹á¹Ã¡b, but afterwards + he turned Christian and went to live in the Byzantine Empire. The + occasion of his turning Christian was this: In passing through the + bazaar of Damascus he let his horse tread upon one of the + bystanders, who sprang up and struck Jabala a blow on the face. The + GhassánÃs seized the fellow and brought him before Abú ‘Ubayda b. + al-Jarráḥ,[107] complaining that he had struck their master. Abú + ‘Ubayda demanded proof. "What use wilt thou make of the proof?" said + Jabala. He answered: "If he has struck thee, thou wilt strike him a + blow in return." "And shall not he be slain?" "No." "Shall not his + hand be cut off?" "No," said Abú ‘Ubayda; "God has ordained + retaliation only--blow for blow." Then Jabala went forth and betook + himself to Roman territory and became a Christian; and he stayed + there all the rest of his life.[108] + +[Sidenote: Ḥárith the Lame.] + +The Arabian traditions respecting the dynasty of Ghassán are hopelessly +confused and supply hardly any material even for the rough historical +sketch which may be pieced together from the scattered notices in +Byzantine authors.[109] It would seem that the first unquestionable +Ghassánid prince was Ḥárith b. Jabala (ἈÏέθας τοῦ Γαβάλα), who +figures in Arabian chronicles as 'Ḥárith the Lame,' and who was +appointed by Justinian (about 529 A.D.) to balance, on the Roman side, +the active and enterprising King of ḤÃra, Mundhir b. Má’ al-samá. +During the greater part of his long reign (529-569 A.D.) he was engaged +in war with this dangerous rival, to whose defeat and death in the +decisive battle of ḤalÃma we have already referred. Like all his +line, Ḥárith was a Christian of the Monophysite Church, which he +defended with equal zeal and success at a time when its very existence +was at stake. The following story illustrates his formidable character. +Towards the end of his life he visited Constantinople to arrange with +the Imperial Government which of his sons should succeed him, and made a +powerful impression on the people of that city, especially on the +Emperor's nephew, Justinus. Many years afterwards, when Justinus had +fallen into dotage, the chamberlains would frighten him, when he began +to rave, with "Hush! Arethas will come and take you."[110] + +[Sidenote: Mundhir b. Ḥárith.] + +Ḥárith was succeeded by his son, Mundhir, who vanquished the new King +of ḤÃra, Qábús b. Hind, on Ascension Day, 570 A.D., in a battle which +is perhaps identical with that celebrated by the Arabs as the Battle of +‘Ayn Ubágh. The refusal of the Emperor Justinus to furnish him with +money may have prevented Mundhir from pursuing his advantage, and was +the beginning of open hostility between them, which culminated about +eleven years later in his being carried off to Constantinople and forced +to reside in Sicily. + +From this time to the Persian conquest of Palestine (614 A.D.) anarchy +prevailed throughout the Ghassánid kingdom. The various tribes elected +their own princes, who sometimes, no doubt, were Jafnites; but the +dynasty had virtually broken up. Possibly it was restored by Heraclius +when he drove the Persians out of Syria (629 A.D.), as the Ghassánians +are repeatedly found fighting for Rome against the Moslems, and +according to the unanimous testimony of Arabian writers, the Jafnite +Jabala b. al-Ayham, who took an active part in the struggle, was the +last king of Ghassán. His accession may be placed about 635 A.D. The +poet Ḥassán b. Thábit, who as a native of MedÃna could claim kinship +with the Ghassánids, and visited their court in his youth, gives a +glowing description of its luxury and magnificence. + + [Sidenote: Ḥassán b. Thábit's picture of the Ghassánid court.] + + "I have seen ten singing-girls, five of them Greeks, singing Greek + songs to the music of lutes, and five from ḤÃra who had been + presented to King Jabala by Iyás b. QabÃá¹£a,[111] chanting + Babylonian airs. Arab singers used to come from Mecca and elsewhere + for his delight; and when he would drink wine he sat on a couch of + myrtle and jasmine and all sorts of sweet-smelling flowers, + surrounded by gold and silver vessels full of ambergris and musk. + During winter aloes-wood was burned in his apartments, while in + summer he cooled himself with snow. Both he and his courtiers wore + light robes, arranged with more regard to comfort than + ceremony,[112] in the hot weather, and white furs, called + _fanak_,[113] or the like, in the cold season; and, by God, I was + never in his company but he gave me the robe which he was wearing on + that day, and many of his friends were thus honoured. He treated the + rude with forbearance; he laughed without reserve and lavished his + gifts before they were sought. He was handsome, and agreeable in + conversation: I never knew him offend in speech or act."[114] + +[Sidenote: Ghassánid civilisation.] + +[Sidenote: Nábigha's encomium.] + +Unlike the rival dynasty on the Euphrates, the Ghassánids had no fixed +residence. They ruled the country round Damascus and Palmyra, but these +places were never in their possession. The capital of their nomad +kingdom was the temporary camp (in Aramaic, _ḥértá_) which followed +them to and fro, but was generally to be found in the Gaulonitis +(al-Jawlán), south of Damascus. Thus under the quickening impulse of +Hellenistic culture the Ghassánids developed a civilisation far superior +to that of the Lakhmites, who, just because of their half-barbarian +character, were more closely in touch with the heathen Arabs, and +exercised a deeper influence upon them. Some aspects of this +civilisation have been indicated in the description of Jabala b. +al-Ayham's court, attributed to the poet Ḥassán. An earlier bard, the +famous Nábigha, having fallen out of favour with Nu‘mán III of HÃra, +fled to Syria, where he composed a splendid eulogy of the Ghassánids in +honour of his patron, King ‘Amr, son of Ḥárith the Lame. After +celebrating their warlike prowess, which he has immortalised in the +oft-quoted verse-- + + "One fault they have: their swords are blunt of edge + Through constant beating on their foemen's mail," + +he concludes in a softer strain: + + "Theirs is a liberal nature that God gave + To no men else; their virtues never fail. + Their home the Holy Land: their faith upright: + They hope to prosper if good deeds avail. + Zoned in fair wise and delicately shod, + They keep the Feast of Palms, when maidens pale, + Whose scarlet silken robes on trestles hang, + Greet them with odorous boughs and bid them hail. + Long lapped in ease tho' bred to war, their limbs + Green-shouldered vestments, white-sleeved, richly veil."[115] + +[Sidenote: Character of Bedouin history.] + +The Pre-islamic history of the Bedouins is mainly a record of wars, or +rather guerillas, in which a great deal of raiding and plundering was +accomplished, as a rule without serious bloodshed. There was no lack of +shouting; volleys of vaunts and satires were exchanged; camels and women +were carried off; many skirmishes took place but few pitched battles: it +was an Homeric kind of warfare that called forth individual exertion in +the highest degree, and gave ample opportunity for single-handed deeds +of heroism. "To write a true history of such Bedouin feuds is well-nigh +impossible. As comparatively trustworthy sources of information we have +only the poems and fragments of verse which have been preserved. +According to Suyúá¹Ã, the Arabian traditionists used to demand from +any Bedouin who related an historical event the citation of some verses +in its support; and, in effect, all such stories that have come down to +us are crystallised round the poems. Unfortunately these crystals are +seldom pure. It appears only too often that the narratives have been +invented, with abundant fancy and with more or less skill, to suit the +contents of the verses."[116] But although what is traditionally related +concerning the Battle-days of the Arabs (_Ayyámu ’l-‘Arab_) is to a +large extent legendary, it describes with sufficient fidelity how tribal +hostilities generally arose and the way in which they were conducted. +The following account of the War of Basús--the most famous of those +waged in Pre-islamic times--will serve to illustrate this important +phase of Bedouin life.[117] + +[Sidenote: War of Basús.] + +Towards the end of the fifth century A.D. Kulayb, son of RabÑa, was +chieftain of the Banú Taghlib, a powerful tribe which divided with their +kinsmen, the Banú Bakr, a vast tract in north-eastern Arabia, extending +from the central highlands to the Syrian desert. His victory at the head +of a confederacy formed by these tribes and others over the Yemenite +Arabs made him the first man in the peninsula, and soon his pride became +no less proverbial than his power.[118] He was married to ḤalÃla, +daughter of Murra, of the Banú Bakr, and dwelt in a 'preserve' +(_ḥimá_), where he claimed the sole right of pasturage for himself +and the sons of Murra. His brother-in-law, Jassás, had an aunt named +Basús. While living under her nephew's protection she was joined by a +certain Sa‘d, a client of her own people, who brought with him a +she-camel called Sarábi. + +[Sidenote: Kulayb b. RabÑa and Jassás b. Murra.] + +[Sidenote: The wounding of Sa‘d's she-camel.] + +Now it happened that Kulayb, seeing a lark's nest as he walked on his +land, said to the bird, which was screaming and fluttering distressfully +over her eggs, "Have no fear! I will protect thee." But a short time +afterwards he observed in that place the track of a strange camel and +found the eggs trodden to pieces. Next morning when he and Jassás +visited the pasture ground, Kulayb noticed the she-camel of Sa‘d among +his brother-in-law's herd, and conjecturing that she had destroyed the +eggs, cried out to Jassás, "Take heed thou! Take heed! I have pondered +something, and were I sure, I would have done it! May this she-camel +never come here again with this herd!" "By God," exclaimed Jassás, "but +she shall come!" and when Kulayb threatened to pierce her udder with an +arrow, Jassás retorted, "By the stones of Wá’il,[119] fix thine arrow in +her udder and I will fix my lance in thy backbone!" Then he drove his +camels forth from the _ḥimá_. Kulayb went home in a passion, and said +to his wife, who sought to discover what ailed him, "Knowest thou any +one who durst defend his client against me?" She answered, "No one +except my brother Jassás, if he has given his word." She did what she +could to prevent the quarrel going further, and for a time nothing worse +than taunts passed between them, until one day Kulayb went to look after +his camels which were being taken to water, and were followed by those +of Jassás. While the latter were waiting their turn to drink, Sa‘d's +she-camel broke loose and ran towards the water. Kulayb imagined that +Jassás had let her go deliberately, and resenting the supposed insult, +he seized his bow and shot her through the udder. The beast lay down, +moaning loudly, before the tent of Basús, who in vehement indignation at +the wrong suffered by her friend, Sa‘d, tore the veil from her head, +beating her face and crying, "O shame, shame!" Then, addressing Sa‘d, +but raising her voice so that Jassás might hear, she spoke these verses, +which are known as 'The Instigators' (_al-Muwaththibát_):-- + +[Sidenote: Verses spoken by Basús.] + + "_O Sa‘d, be not deceived! Protect thyself! + This people for their clients have no care. + Look to my herds, I charge thee, for I doubt + Even my little daughters ill may fare. + By thy life, had I been in Minqar's house, + Thou would'st not have been wronged, my client, there! + But now such folk I dwell among that when + The wolf comes, 'tis my sheep he comes to tear!_"[120] + +[Sidenote: Kulayb murdered by Jassás.] + +Jassás was stung to the quick by the imputation, which no Arab can +endure, that injury and insult might be inflicted upon his guest-friend +with impunity. Some days afterwards, having ascertained that Kulayb had +gone out unarmed, he followed and slew him, and fled in haste to his own +people. Murra, when he heard the news, said to his son, "Thou alone must +answer for thy deed: thou shalt be put in chains that his kinsmen may +slay thee. By the stones of Wá’il, never will Bakr and Taghlib be joined +together in welfare after the death of Kulayb. Verily, an evil thing +hast thou brought upon thy people, O Jassás! Thou hast slain their chief +and severed their union and cast war into their midst." So he put Jassás +in chains and confined him in a tent; then he summoned the elders of the +families and asked them, "What do ye say concerning Jassás? Here he is, +a prisoner, until the avengers demand him and we deliver him unto them." +"No, by God," cried Sa‘d b. Málik b. á¸ubay‘a b. Qays, "we will not +give him up, but will fight for him to the last man!" With these words +he called for a camel to be sacrificed, and when its throat was cut they +swore to one another over the blood. Thereupon Murra said to Jassás:-- + + [Sidenote: Verses of Murra, the father of Jassás.] + + "_If war thou hast wrought and brought on me, + No laggard I with arms outworn. + Whate'er befall, I make to flow + The baneful cups of death at morn._ + + _When spear-points clash, my wounded man + Is forced to drag the spear he stained. + Never I reck, if war must be, + What Destiny hath preordained._ + + _Donning war's harness, I will strive + To fend from me the shame that sears. + Already I thrill and my lust is roused + For the shock of the horsemen against the spears!_"[121] + +[Sidenote: Outbreak of war between Taghlib and Bakr.] + +Thus began the War of Basús between Taghlib on the one side and the clan +of Shaybán, to which Murra belonged, on the other; for at first the +remaining divisions of Bakr held aloof from the struggle, considering +Shaybán to be clearly in the wrong. The latter were reduced to dire +straits, when an event occurred which caused the Bakrites to rise as one +man on behalf of their fellows. Ḥárith b.‘Ubád, a famous knight of +Bakr, had refused to take part in the contest, saying in words which +became proverbial, "I have neither camel nor she-camel in it," _i.e._, +"it is no affair of mine." One day his nephew, Bujayr, encountered +Kulayb's brother, Muhalhil, on whom the mantle of the murdered chief had +fallen; and Muhalhil, struck with admiration for the youth's comeliness, +asked him who he was. "Bujayr," said he, "the son of ‘Amr, the son of +‘Ubád." "And who is thy uncle on the mother's side?" "My mother is a +captive" (for he would not name an uncle of whom he had no honour). Then +Muhalhil slew him, crying, "Pay for Kulayb's shoe-latchet!" On hearing +this, Ḥárith sent a message to Muhalhil in which he declared that if +vengeance were satisfied by the death of Bujayr, he for his part would +gladly acquiesce. But Muhalhil replied, "I have taken satisfaction only +for Kulayb's shoe-latchet." Thereupon Ḥárith sprang up in wrath and +cried:-- + + "_God knows, I kindled not this fire, altho' + I am burned in it to-day. + A lord for a shoe-latchet is too dear: + To horse! To horse! Away!_"[122] + +And al-Find, of the Banú Bakr, said on this occasion:-- + + [Sidenote: Verses by al-Find.] + + "_We spared the Banú Hind[123] and said, 'Our brothers they remain: + It may be Time will make of us one people yet again.'_" + _But when the wrong grew manifest, and naked Ill stood plain, + And naught was left but ruthless hate, we paid them bane with bane! + As lions marched we forth to war in wrath and high disdain: + Our swords brought widowhood and tears and wailing in their train, + Our spears dealt gashes wide whence blood like water spilled amain. + No way but Force to weaken Force and mastery obtain; + 'Tis wooing contumely to meet wild actions with humane: + By evil thou may'st win to peace when good is tried in vain._"[124] + +[Sidenote: The Day of Shearing.] + +The Banú Bakr now prepared for a decisive battle. As their enemy had the +advantage in numbers, they adopted a stratagem devised by Ḥárith. +"Fight them," said he, "with your women. Equip every woman with a small +waterskin and give her a club. Place the whole body of them behind +you--this will make you more resolved in battle--and wear some +distinguishing mark which they will recognise, so that when a woman +passes by one of your wounded she may know him by his mark and give him +water to drink, and raise him from the ground; but when she passes by +one of your foes she will smite him with her club and slay him." So the +Bakrites shaved their heads, devoting themselves to death, and made this +a mark of recognition between themselves and their women, and this day +was called the Day of Shearing. Now Jaḥdar b. á¸ubay‘a was an +ill-favoured, dwarfish man, with fair flowing love-locks, and he said, +"O my people, if ye shave my head ye will disfigure me, so leave my +locks for the first horseman of Taghlib that shall emerge from the +hill-pass on the morrow" (meaning "I will answer for him, if my locks +are spared"). On his request being granted, he exclaimed:-- + + [Sidenote: The vow of Jaḥdar b. á¸ubay‘a.] + + "_To wife and daughter + Henceforth I am dead: + Dust for ointment + On my hair is shed._ + + _Let me close with the horsemen + Who hither ride, + Cut my locks from me + If I stand aside!_ + + _Well wots a mother + If the son she bore + And swaddled on her bosom + And smelt him o'er,_ + + _Whenever warriors + In the mellay meet, + Is a puny weakling + Or a man complete!_"[125] + +He kept his promise but in the course of the fight he fell, severely +wounded. When the women came to him, they saw his love-locks and +imagining that he was an enemy despatched him with their clubs. + +[Sidenote: Women as combatants.] + +The presence of women on the field and the active share they took in the +combat naturally provoked the bitterest feelings. If they were not +engaged in finishing the bloody work of the men, their tongues were busy +inciting them. We are told that a daughter of al-Find bared herself +recklessly and chanted:-- + + "_War! War! War! War! + It has blazed up and scorched us sore. + The highlands are filled with its roar. + Well done, the morning when your heads ye shore!_"[126] + +The mothers were accompanied by their children, whose tender age did not +always protect them from an exasperated foe. It is related that a +horseman of the Banú Taghlib transfixed a young boy and lifted him up on +the point of his spear. He is said to have been urged to this act of +savagery by one al-Bazbáz, who was riding behind him on the crupper. +Their triumph was short; al-Find saw them, and with a single +spear-thrust pinned them to each other--an exploit which his own verses +record. + +On this day the Banú Bakr gained a great victory, and broke the power of +Taghlib. It was the last battle of note in the Forty Years' War, which +was carried on, by raiding and plundering, until the exhaustion of both +tribes and the influence of King Mundhir III of ḤÃra brought it to an +end. + + +[Sidenote: The War of Dáḥis and Ghabrá.] + +Not many years after the conclusion of peace between Bakr and Taghlib, +another war, hardly less famous in tradition than the War of Basús, +broke out in Central Arabia. The combatants were the tribes of ‘Abs and +Dhubyán, the principal stocks of the Banú Ghaá¹afán, and the occasion +of their coming to blows is related as follows:-- + + Qays, son of Zuhayr, was chieftain of ‘Abs. He had a horse called + Dáḥis, renowned for its speed, which he matched against Ghabrá, a + mare belonging to Ḥudhayfa b. Badr, the chief of Dhubyán. It was + agreed that the course should be a hundred bow-shots in length, and + that the victor should receive a hundred camels. When the race began + Ghabrá took the lead, but as they left the firm ground and entered + upon the sand, where the 'going' was heavy, Dáḥis gradually drew + level and passed his antagonist. He was nearing the goal when some + Dhubyánites sprang from an ambuscade prepared beforehand, and drove + him out of his course, thus enabling Ghabrá to defeat him. On being + informed of this foul play Qays naturally claimed that he had won + the wager, but the men of Dhubyán refused to pay even a single + camel. Bitterly resenting their treachery, he waylaid and slew one + of Ḥudhayfa's brothers. Ḥudhayfa sought vengeance, and the + murder of Málik, a brother of Qays, by his horsemen gave the signal + for war. In the fighting which ensued Dhubyán more than held their + own, but neither party could obtain a decisive advantage. Qays slew + the brothers Ḥudhayfa and Ḥamal-- + + "_Ḥamal I slew and eased my heart thereby, + Ḥudhayfa glutted my avenging brand; + But though I slaked my thirst by slaying them, + I would as lief have lost my own right hand._"[127] + + After a long period--forty years according to the traditional + computation--‘Abs and Dhubyán were reconciled by the exertions of + two chieftains of the latter tribe, Ḥárith b. ‘Awf and Harim b. + Sinán, whose generous and patriotic intervention the poet Zuhayr has + celebrated. Qays went into exile. "I will not look," he said, "on + the face of any woman of Dhubyán whose father or brother or husband + or son I have killed." If we may believe the legend, he became a + Christian monk and ended his days in ‘Umán. + +[Sidenote: The Hijáz.] + +Descending westward from the highlands of Najd the traveller gradually +approaches the Red Sea, which is separated from the mountains running +parallel to it by a narrow strip of coast-land, called the Tiháma +(Netherland). The rugged plateau between Najd and the coast forms the +Ḥijáz (Barrier), through which in ancient times the Sabæan caravans +laden with costly merchandise passed on their way to the Mediterranean +ports. Long before the beginning of our era two considerable trading +settlements had sprung up in this region, viz., Macoraba (Mecca) and, +some distance farther north, Yathrippa (Yathrib, the Pre-islamic name of +MedÃna). Of their early inhabitants and history we know nothing except +what is related by Muḥammadan writers, whose information reaches back +to the days of Adam and Abraham. Mecca was the cradle of Islam, and +Islam, according to Muḥammad, is the religion of Abraham, which was +corrupted by succeeding generations until he himself was sent to purify +it and to preach it anew. Consequently the Pre-islamic history of Mecca +has all been, so to speak, 'Islamised.' The Holy City of Islam is made +to appear in the same light thousands of years before the Prophet's +time: here, it is said, the Arabs were united in worship of Allah, hence +they scattered and fell into idolatry, hither they return annually as +pilgrims to a shrine which had been originally dedicated to the One +Supreme Being, but which afterwards became a Pantheon of tribal deities. +This theory lies at the root of the Muḥammadan legend which I shall +now recount as briefly as possible, only touching on the salient points +of interest. + +[Sidenote: Foundation of the Ka‘ba.] + +In the Meccan valley--the primitive home of that portion of the Arab +race which claims descent from Ismá‘Ãl (Ishmael), the son of IbráhÃm +(Abraham) by Hájar (Hagar)--stands an irregular, cube-shaped building of +small dimensions--the Ka‘ba. Legend attributes its foundation to Adam, +who built it by Divine command after a celestial archetype. At the +Deluge it was taken up into heaven, but was rebuilt on its former site +by Abraham and Ishmael. While they were occupied in this work Gabriel +brought the celebrated Black Stone, which is set in the southeast corner +of the building, and he also instructed them in the ceremonies of the +Pilgrimage. When all was finished Abraham stood on a rock known to later +ages as the _Maqámu IbráhÃm_, and, turning to the four quarters of the +sky, made proclamation: "O ye people! The Pilgrimage to the Ancient +House is prescribed unto you. Hearken to your Lord!" And from every part +of the world came the answer: "_Labbayka ’lláhumma, labbayka_"--_i.e._, +"We obey, O God, we obey." + +[Sidenote: Idolatry introduced at Mecca.] + +The descendants of Ishmael multiplied exceedingly, so that the barren +valley could no longer support them, and a great number wandered forth +to other lands. They were succeeded as rulers of the sacred territory by +the tribe of Jurhum, who waxed in pride and evil-doing until the +vengeance of God fell upon them. Mention has frequently been made of the +Bursting of the Dyke of Ma’rib, which caused an extensive movement of +Yemenite stocks to the north. The invaders halted in the Ḥijáz, and, +having almost exterminated the Jurhumites, resumed their journey. One +group, however--the Banú Khuzá‘a, led by their chief Luḥayy--settled +in the neighbourhood of Mecca. ‘Amr, son of Luḥayy, was renowned +among the Arabs for his wealth and generosity. Ibn Hishám says: 'I have +been told by a learned man that ‘Amr b. Luḥayy went from Mecca to +Syria on some business and when he arrived at Má’ab, in the land of +al-Balqá, he found the inhabitants, who were ‘AmálÃq, worshipping idols. +"What are these idols?" he inquired. "They are idols that send us rain +when we ask them for rain, and help us when we ask them for help." "Will +ye not give me one of them," said ‘Amr, "that I may take it to Arabia to +be worshipped there?" So they gave him an idol called Hubal, which he +brought to Mecca and set it up and bade the people worship and venerate +it.'[128] Following his example, the Arabs brought their idols and +installed them round the sanctuary. The triumph of Paganism was +complete. We are told that hundreds of idols were destroyed by +Muḥammad when he entered Mecca at the head of a Moslem army in 8 A.H. += 629 A.D. + +[Sidenote: The Quraysh.] + +To return to the posterity of Ismá‘Ãl through ‘Adnán: the principal of +their descendants who remained in the Ḥijáz were the Hudhayl, the +Kinána, and the Quraysh. The last-named tribe must now engage our +attention almost exclusively. During the century before Muḥammad we +find them in undisputed possession of Mecca and acknowledged guardians +of the Ka‘ba--an office which they administered with a shrewd +appreciation of its commercial value. Their rise to power is related as +follows:-- + + [Sidenote: The story of Quá¹£ayy.] + + [Sidenote: Quá¹£ayy master of Mecca.] + + Kiláb b. Murra, a man of Quraysh, had two sons, Zuhra and Zayd. The + latter was still a young child when his father died, and soon + afterwards his mother, Fáá¹ima, who had married again, left Mecca, + taking Zayd with her, and went to live in her new husband's home + beside the Syrian borders. Zayd grew up far from his native land, + and for this reason he got the name of Quá¹£ayy--_i.e._, 'Little + Far-away.' When he reached man's estate and discovered his true + origin he returned to Mecca, where the hegemony was wholly in the + hands of the Khuzá‘ites under their chieftain, Ḥulayl b. + Ḥubshiyya, with the determination to procure the superintendence + of the Ka‘ba for his own people, the Quraysh, who as pure-blooded + descendants of Ismá‘Ãl had the best right to that honour. By his + marriage with Ḥubbá, the daughter of Ḥulayl, he hoped to + inherit the privileges vested in his father-in-law, but Ḥulayl on + his deathbed committed the keys of the Ka‘ba to a kinsman named Abú + Ghubshán. Not to be baffled, Quá¹£ayy made the keeper drunk and + persuaded him to sell the keys for a skin of wine--hence the + proverbs "A greater fool than Abú Ghubshán" and "Abú Ghubshán's + bargain," denoting a miserable fraud. Naturally the Khuza‘ites did + not acquiesce in the results of this transaction; they took up arms, + but Quá¹£ayy was prepared for the struggle and won a decisive + victory. He was now master of Temple and Town and could proceed to + the work of organisation. His first step was to bring together the + Quraysh, who had previously been dispersed over a wide area, into + the Meccan valley--this earned for him the title of _al-Mujammi‘_ + (the Congregator)--so that each family had its allotted quarter. He + built a House of Assembly (_Dáru ’l-Nadwa_), where matters affecting + the common weal were discussed by the Elders of the tribe. He also + instituted and centred in himself a number of dignities in + connection with the government of the Ka‘ba and the administration + of the Pilgrimage, besides others of a political and military + character. Such was his authority that after his death, no less than + during his life, all these ordinances were regarded by the Quraysh + as sacred and inviolable. + +[Sidenote: Mecca in the sixth century after Christ.] + +The death of Quá¹£ayy may be placed in the latter half of the fifth +century. His descendant, the Prophet Muḥammad, was born about a +hundred years afterwards, in 570 or 571 A.D. With one notable exception, +to be mentioned immediately, the history of Mecca during the period thus +defined is a record of petty factions unbroken by any event of +importance. The Prophet's ancestors fill the stage and assume a +commanding position, which in all likelihood they never possessed; the +historical rivalry of the Umayyads and ‘Abbásids appears in the persons +of their founders, Umayya and Háshim--and so forth. Meanwhile the +influence of the Quraysh was steadily maintained and extended. The Ka‘ba +had become a great national rendezvous, and the crowds of pilgrims which +it attracted from almost every Arabian clan not only raised the credit +of the Quraysh, but also materially contributed to their commercial +prosperity. It has already been related how Abraha, the Abyssinian +viceroy of Yemen, resolved to march against Mecca with the avowed +purpose of avenging upon the Ka‘ba a sacrilege committed by one of the +Quraysh in the church at á¹¢an‘á. Something of that kind may have +served as a pretext, but no doubt his real aim was to conquer Mecca and +to gain control of her trade. + +[Sidenote: The Year of the Elephant.] + +[Sidenote: The Abyssinians at Mecca.] + +This memorable expedition[129] is said by Moslem historians to have +taken place in the year of Muḥammad's birth (about 570 A.D.), usually +known as the Year of the Elephant--a proof that the Arabs were deeply +impressed by the extraordinary spectacle of these huge animals, one or +more of which accompanied the Abyssinian force. The report of Abraha's +preparations filled the tribesmen with dismay. At first they endeavoured +to oppose his march, regarding the defence of the Ka‘ba as a sacred +duty, but they soon lost heart, and Abraha, after defeating Dhú Nafar, a +Ḥimyarite chieftain, encamped in the neighbourhood of Mecca without +further resistance. He sent the following message to ‘Abdu +’l-Muá¹á¹alib, the Prophet's grandfather, who was at that time the +most influential personage in Mecca: "I have not come to wage war on +you, but only to destroy the Temple. Unless you take up arms in its +defence, I have no wish to shed your blood." ‘Abdu ’l-Muá¹á¹alib +replied: "By God, we seek not war, for which we are unable. This is +God's holy House and the House of Abraham, His Friend; it is for Him to +protect His House and Sanctuary; if He abandons it, we cannot defend +it." + + [Sidenote: ‘Abdu ’l-Muá¹á¹alib's interview with Abraha.] + + Then ‘Abdu ’l-Muá¹á¹alib was conducted by the envoy to the + Abyssinian camp, as Abraha had ordered. There he inquired after Dhú + Nafar, who was his friend, and found him a prisoner. "O Dhú Nafar," + said he, "can you do aught in that which has befallen us?" Dhú Nafar + answered, "What can a man do who is a captive in the hands of a + king, expecting day and night to be put to death? I can do nothing + at all in the matter, but Unays, the elephant-driver, is my friend; + I will send to him and press your claims on his consideration and + ask him to procure you an audience with the king. Tell Unays what + you wish: he will plead with the king in your favour if he can." So + Dhú Nafar sent for Unays and said to him, "O Unays, ‘Abdu + ’l-Muá¹á¹alib is lord of Quraysh and master of the caravans of + Mecca. He feeds the people in the plain and the wild creatures on + the mountain-tops. The king has seized two hundred of his camels. + Now get him admitted to the king's presence and help him to the best + of your power." Unays consented, and soon ‘Abdu ’l-Muá¹á¹alib + stood before the king. When Abraha saw him he held him in too high + respect to let him sit in an inferior place, but was unwilling that + the Abyssinians should see the Arab chief, who was a large man and a + comely, seated on a level with himself; he therefore descended from + his throne and sat on his carpet and bade ‘Abdu ’l-Muá¹á¹alib + sit beside him. Then he said to his dragoman, "Ask him what he wants + of me." ‘Abdu ’l-Muá¹á¹alib replied, "I want the king to restore + to me two hundred camels of mine which he has taken away." Abraha + said to the dragoman, "Tell him: You pleased me when I first saw + you, but now that you have spoken to me I hold you cheap. What! do + you speak to me of two hundred camels which I have taken, and omit + to speak of a temple venerated by you and your fathers which I have + come to destroy?" Then said ‘Abdu ’l-Muá¹á¹alib: "The camels are + mine, but the Temple belongs to another, who will defend it," and on + the king exclaiming, "He cannot defend it from me," he said, "That + is your affair; only give me back my camels." + + As it is related in a more credible version, the tribes settled + round Mecca sent ambassadors, of whom ‘Abdu ’l-Muá¹á¹alib was + one, offering to surrender a third part of their possessions to + Abraha on condition that he should spare the Temple, but he refused. + Having recovered his camels, ‘Abdu ’l-Muá¹á¹alib returned to the + Quraysh, told them what had happened, and bade them leave the city + and take shelter in the mountains. Then he went to the Ka‘ba, + accompanied by several of the Quraysh, to pray for help against + Abraha and his army. Grasping the ring of the door, he cried:-- + + "_O God, defend Thy neighbouring folk even as a man his gear[130] + defendeth! + Let not their Cross and guileful plans defeat the plans Thyself + intendeth! + But if Thou make it so, 'tis well: according to Thy will it + endeth._"[131] + + [Sidenote: Rout of the Abyssinians.] + + Next morning, when Abraha prepared to enter Mecca, his elephant + knelt down and would not budge, though they beat its head with an + axe and thrust sharp stakes into its flanks; but when they turned it + in the direction of Yemen, it rose up and trotted with alacrity. + Then God sent from the sea a flock of birds like swallows every one + of which carried three stones as large as a chick-pea or a lentil, + one in its bill and one in each claw, and all who were struck by + those stones perished.[132] The rest fled in disorder, dropping down + as they ran or wherever they halted to quench their thirst. Abraha + himself was smitten with a plague so that his limbs rotted off + piecemeal.[133] + +These details are founded on the 105th chapter of the Koran, entitled +'The Súra of the Elephant,' which may be freely rendered as follows:-- + + "Hast not thou seen the people of the Elephant, how dealt + with them the Lord? + Did not He make their plot to end in ruin abhorred?-- + When He sent against them birds, horde on horde, + And stones of baked clay upon them poured, + And made them as leaves of corn devoured." + +The part played by ‘Abdu ’l-Muá¹á¹alib in the story is, of course, a +pious fiction designed to glorify the Holy City and to claim for the +Prophet's family fifty years before Islam a predominance which they did +not obtain until long afterwards; but equally of course the legend +reflects Muḥammadan belief, and may be studied with advantage as a +characteristic specimen of its class. + +"When God repulsed the Abyssinians from Mecca and smote them with His +vengeance, the Arabs held the Quraysh in high respect and said, 'They +are God's people: God hath fought for them and hath defended them +against their enemy;' and made poems on this matter."[134] The following +verses, according to Ibn Isḥáq, are by Abu ’l-á¹¢alt b. Abà RabÑa +of ThaqÃf; others more reasonably ascribe them to his son Umayya, a +well-known poet and monotheist (ḤanÃf) contemporary with +Muḥammad:-- + + [Sidenote: Verses by Umayya b. Abi ’l-á¹¢alt.] + + "Lo, the signs of our Lord are everlasting, + None disputes them except the unbeliever. + He created Day and Night: unto all men + Is their Reckoning ordained, clear and certain. + Gracious Lord! He illumines the daytime + With a sun widely scattering radiance. + He the Elephant stayed at Mughammas + So that sore it limped as though it were hamstrung, + Cleaving close to its halter, and down dropped, + As one falls from the crag of a mountain. + Gathered round it were princes of Kinda, + Noble heroes, fierce hawks in the mellay. + There they left it: they all fled together, + Every man with his shank-bone broken. + Vain before God is every religion, + When the dead rise, except the ḤanÃfite.[135]" + +[Sidenote: Battle of Dhú Qár (circa 610 A.D.).] + +The patriotic feelings aroused in the Arabs of the Ḥijáz by the +Abyssinian invasion--feelings which must have been shared to some extent +by the Bedouins generally--received a fresh stimulus through events +which occurred about forty years after this time on the other side of +the peninsula. It will be remembered that the Lakhmite dynasty at +ḤÃra came to an end with Nu‘mán III, who was cruelly executed by +Khusraw Parwéz (602 or 607 A.D.).[136] Before his death he had deposited +his arms and other property with Háni’, a chieftain of the Banú Bakr. +These were claimed by Khusraw, and as Háni’ refused to give them up, a +Persian army was sent to Dhú Qár, a place near Kúfa abounding in water +and consequently a favourite resort of the Bakrites during the dry +season. A desperate conflict ensued, in which the Persians were +completely routed.[137] Although the forces engaged were comparatively +small,[138] this victory was justly regarded by the Arabs as marking the +commencement of a new order of things; _e.g._, it is related that +Muḥammad said when the tidings reached him: "This is the first day on +which the Arabs have obtained satisfaction from the Persians." The +desert tribes, hitherto overshadowed by the Sásánian Empire and held in +check by the powerful dynasty of ḤÃra, were now confident and +aggressive. They began to hate and despise the Colossus which they no +longer feared, and which, before many years had elapsed, they trampled +in the dust. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY, MANNERS, AND RELIGION + + +"When there appeared a poet in a family of the Arabs, the other tribes +round about would gather together to that family and wish them joy of +their good luck. Feasts would be got ready, the women of the tribe would +join together in bands, playing upon lutes, as they were wont to do at +bridals, and the men and boys would congratulate one another; for a poet +was a defence to the honour of them all, a weapon to ward off insult +from their good name, and a means of perpetuating their glorious deeds +and of establishing their fame for ever. And they used not to wish one +another joy but for three things--the birth of a boy, the coming to +light of a poet, and the foaling of a noble mare."[139] + +As far as extant literature is concerned--and at this time there was +only a spoken literature, which was preserved by oral tradition, and +first committed to writing long afterwards--the _Jáhiliyya_ or +Pre-islamic Age covers scarcely more than a century, from about 500 +A.D., when the oldest poems of which we have any record were composed, +to the year of Muḥammad's Flight to MedÃna (622 A.D.), which is the +starting-point of a new era in Arabian history. The influence of these +hundred and twenty years was great and lasting. They saw the rise and +incipient decline of a poetry which most Arabic-speaking Moslems have +always regarded as a model of unapproachable excellence; a poetry rooted +in the life of the people, that insensibly moulded their minds and fixed +their character and made them morally and spiritually a nation long +before Muḥammad welded the various conflicting groups into a single +organism, animated, for some time at least, by a common purpose. In +those days poetry was no luxury for the cultured few, but the sole +medium of literary expression. Every tribe had its poets, who freely +uttered what they felt and thought. Their unwritten words "flew across +the desert faster than arrows," and came home to the hearts and bosoms +of all who heard them. Thus in the midst of outward strife and +disintegration a unifying principle was at work. Poetry gave life and +currency to an ideal of Arabian virtue (_muruwwa_), which, though based +on tribal community of blood and insisting that only ties of blood were +sacred, nevertheless became an invisible bond between diverse clans, and +formed, whether consciously or not, the basis of a national community of +sentiment. + +[Sidenote: Origins of Arabian poetry] + +In the following pages I propose to trace the origins of Arabian poetry, +to describe its form, contents, and general features, to give some +account of the most celebrated Pre-islamic poets and collections of +Pre-islamic verse, and finally to show in what manner it was preserved +and handed down. + +By the ancient Arabs the poet (_shá‘ir_, plural _shu‘ará_), as his name +implies, was held to be a person endowed with supernatural knowledge, a +wizard in league with spirits (_jinn_) or satans (_shayáá¹Ãn_) and +dependent on them for the magical powers which he displayed. This view +of his personality, as well as the influential position which he +occupied, are curiously indicated by the story of a certain youth who +was refused the hand of his beloved on the ground that he was neither a +poet nor a soothsayer nor a water-diviner.[140] The idea of poetry as an +art was developed afterwards; the pagan _shá‘ir_ is the oracle of his +tribe, their guide in peace and their champion in war. It was to him +they turned for counsel when they sought new pastures, only at his word +would they pitch or strike their 'houses of hair,' and when the tired +and thirsty wanderers found a well and drank of its water and washed +themselves, led by him they may have raised their voices together and +sung, like Israel-- + + "Spring up, O well, sing ye unto it."[141] + +[Sidenote: Satire.] + +Besides fountain-songs, war-songs, and hymns to idols, other kinds of +poetry must have existed in the earliest times--_e.g._, the love-song +and the dirge. The powers of the _shá‘ir_, however, were chiefly +exhibited in Satire (_hijá_), which in the oldest known form "introduces +and accompanies the tribal feud, and is an element of war just as +important as the actual fighting."[142] The menaces which he hurled +against the foe were believed to be inevitably fatal. His rhymes, often +compared to arrows, had all the effect of a solemn curse spoken by a +divinely inspired prophet or priest,[143] and their pronunciation was +attended with peculiar ceremonies of a symbolic character, such as +anointing the hair on one side of the head, letting the mantle hang down +loosely, and wearing only one sandal.[144] Satire retained something of +these ominous associations at a much later period when the magic +utterance of the _shá‘ir_ had long given place to the lampoon by which +the poet reviles his enemies and holds them up to shame. + +[Sidenote: Saj‘.] + +The obscure beginnings of Arabian poetry, presided over by the magician +and his familiar spirits, have left not a rack behind in the shape of +literature, but the task of reconstruction is comparatively easy where +we are dealing with a people so conservative and tenacious of antiquity +as the Arabs. Thus it may be taken for certain that the oldest form of +poetical speech in Arabia was rhyme without metre (_Saj‘_), or, as we +should say, 'rhymed prose,' although the fact of Muḥammad's +adversaries calling him a poet because he used it in the Koran shows the +light in which it was regarded even after the invention and elaboration +of metre. Later on, as we shall see, _Saj‘_ became a merely rhetorical +ornament, the distinguishing mark of all eloquence whether spoken or +written, but originally it had a deeper, almost religious, significance +as the special form adopted by poets, soothsayers, and the like in their +supernatural revelations and for conveying to the vulgar every kind of +mysterious and esoteric lore. + +[Sidenote: Rajaz.] + +Out of _Saj‘_ was evolved the most ancient of the Arabian metres, which +is known by the name of _Rajaz_.[145] This is an irregular iambic metre +usually consisting of four or six--an Arab would write 'two or +three'--feet to the line; and it is a peculiarity of _Rajaz_, marking +its affinity to _Saj‘_, that all the lines rhyme with each other, +whereas in the more artificial metres only the opening verse[146] is +doubly rhymed. A further characteristic of _Rajaz_ is that it should be +uttered extempore, a few verses at a time--commonly verses expressing +some personal feeling, emotion, or experience, like those of the aged +warrior Durayd b. Zayd b. Nahd when he lay dying:-- + + "The house of death[147] is builded for Durayd to-day. + Could Time be worn out, sure had I worn Time away. + No single foe but I had faced and brought to bay. + The spoils I gathered in, how excellent were they! + The women that I loved, how fine was their array!"[148] + +[Sidenote: Other metres.] + +Here would have been the proper place to give an account of the +principal Arabian metres--the 'Perfect' (_Kámil_), the 'Ample' (_Wáfir_) +the 'Long' (_ṬawÃl_), the 'Wide' (_Basiá¹_), the 'Light' +(_KhafÃf_), and several more--but in order to save valuable space I must +content myself with referring the reader to the extremely lucid +treatment of this subject by Sir Charles Lyall in the Introduction to +his _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, pp. xlv-lii. All the metres are +quantitative, as in Greek and Latin. Their names and laws were unknown +to the Pre-islamic bards: the rules of prosody were first deduced from +the ancient poems and systematised by the grammarian, KhalÃl b. Ahmad (†+791 A.D.), to whom the idea is said to have occurred as he watched a +coppersmith beating time on the anvil with his hammer. + +[Sidenote: The oldest extant poems.] + +We have now to consider the form and matter of the oldest extant poems +in the Arabic language. Between these highly developed productions and +the rude doggerel of _Saj‘_ or _Rajaz_ there lies an interval, the +length of which it is impossible even to conjecture. The first poets are +already consummate masters of the craft. "The number and complexity of +the measures which they use, their established laws of quantity and +rhyme, and the uniform manner in which they introduce the subject of +their poems,[149] notwithstanding the distance which often separated one +composer from another, all point to a long previous study and +cultivation of the art of expression and the capacities of their +language, a study of which no record now remains."[150] + +[Sidenote: Their date.] + +It is not improbable that the dawn of the Golden Age of Arabian Poetry +coincided with the first decade of the sixth century after Christ. About +that time the War of Basús, the chronicle of which has preserved a +considerable amount of contemporary verse, was in full blaze; and the +first Arabian ode was composed, according to tradition, by Muhalhil b. +RabÑa the Taghlibite on the death of his brother, the chieftain Kulayb, +which caused war to break out between Bakr and Taghlib. At any rate, +during the next hundred years in almost every part of the peninsula we +meet with a brilliant succession of singers, all using the same poetical +dialect and strictly adhering to the same rules of composition. The +fashion which they set maintained itself virtually unaltered down to the +end of the Umayyad period (750 A.D.), and though challenged by some +daring spirits under the ‘Abbásid Caliphate, speedily reasserted its +supremacy, which at the present day is almost as absolute as ever. + +[Sidenote: The Qaá¹£Ãda.] + +This fashion centres in the _Qaá¹£Ãda_,[151] or Ode, the only form, or +rather the only finished type of poetry that existed in what, for want +of a better word, may be called the classical period of Arabic +literature. The verses (_abyát_, singular _bayt_) of which it is built +vary in number, but are seldom less than twenty-five or more than a +hundred; and the arrangement of the rhymes is such that, while the two +halves of the first verse rhyme together, the same rhyme is repeated +once in the second, third, and every following verse to the end of the +poem. Blank-verse is alien to the Arabs, who regard rhyme not as a +pleasing ornament or a "troublesome bondage," but as a vital organ of +poetry. The rhymes are usually feminine, _e.g._, sa_khÃná_, tu_lÃná_, +mu_hÃná_; mukh_lidÃ_, _yadÃ_, ‘uw_wadÃ_; ri_jámuhá_, si_lámuhá_, +ḥa_rámuhá_. To surmount the difficulties of the monorhyme demands +great technical skill even in a language of which the peculiar formation +renders the supply of rhymes extraordinarily abundant. The longest of +the _Mu‘allaqát_, the so-called 'Long Poems,' is considerably shorter +than Gray's _Elegy_. An Arabian Homer or Chaucer must have condescended +to prose. With respect to metre the poet may choose any except _Rajaz_, +which is deemed beneath the dignity of the Ode, but his liberty does not +extend either to the choice of subjects or to the method of handling +them: on the contrary, the course of his ideas is determined by rigid +conventions which he durst not overstep. + + [Sidenote: Ibn Qutayba's account of the contents and divisions of + the Ode.] + + "I have heard," says Ibn Qutayba, "from a man of learning that the + composer of Odes began by mentioning the deserted dwelling-places + and the relics and traces of habitation. Then he wept and complained + and addressed the desolate encampment, and begged his companion to + make a halt, in order that he might have occasion to speak of those + who had once lived there and afterwards departed; for the dwellers + in tents were different from townsmen or villagers in respect of + coming and going, because they moved from one water-spring to + another, seeking pasture and searching out the places where rain had + fallen. Then to this he linked the erotic prelude (_nasÃb_), and + bewailed the violence of his love and the anguish of separation from + his mistress and the extremity of his passion and desire, so as to + win the hearts of his hearers and divert their eyes towards him and + invite their ears to listen to him, since the song of love touches + men's souls and takes hold of their hearts, God having put it in the + constitution of His creatures to love dalliance and the society of + women, in such wise that we find very few but are attached thereto + by some tie or have some share therein, whether lawful or + unpermitted. Now, when the poet had assured himself of an attentive + hearing, he followed up his advantage and set forth his claim: thus + he went on to complain of fatigue and want of sleep and travelling + by night and of the noonday heat, and how his camel had been reduced + to leanness. And when, after representing all the discomfort and + danger of his journey, he knew that he had fully justified his hope + and expectation of receiving his due meed from the person to whom + the poem was addressed, he entered upon the panegyric (_madÃḥ_), + and incited him to reward, and kindled his generosity by exalting + him above his peers and pronouncing the greatest dignity, in + comparison with his, to be little."[152] + +Hundreds of Odes answer exactly to this description, which must not, +however, be regarded as the invariable model. The erotic prelude is +often omitted, especially in elegies; or if it does not lead directly to +the main subject, it may be followed by a faithful and minute +delineation of the poet's horse or camel which bears him through the +wilderness with a speed like that of the antelope, the wild ass, or the +ostrich: Bedouin poetry abounds in fine studies of animal life.[153] The +choice of a motive is left open. Panegyric, no doubt, paid better than +any other, and was therefore the favourite; but in Pre-islamic times the +poet could generally please himself. The _qaá¹£Ãda_ is no organic +whole: rather its unity resembles that of a series of pictures by the +same hand or, to employ an Eastern trope, of pearls various in size and +quality threaded on a necklace. + +The ancient poetry may be defined as an illustrative criticism of +Pre-islamic life and thought. Here the Arab has drawn himself at full +length without embellishment or extenuation. + +It is not mere chance that Abú Tammám's famous anthology is called the +_Ḥamása_, _i.e._, 'Fortitude,' from the title of its first chapter, +which occupies nearly a half of the book. 'Ḥamása' denotes the +virtues most highly prized by the Arabs--bravery in battle, patience in +misfortune, persistence in revenge, protection of the weak and defiance +of the strong; the will, as Tennyson has said, + + "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." + +[Sidenote: The Ideal Arab hero.] + +[Sidenote: Shanfará.] + +As types of the ideal Arab hero we may take Shanfará of Azd and his +comrade in foray, Ta’abbaá¹a Sharran. Both were brigands, outlaws, +swift runners, and excellent poets. Of the former + + "it is said that he was captured when a child from his tribe by the + Banú Salámán, and brought up among them: he did not learn his origin + until he had grown up, when he vowed vengeance against his captors, + and returned to his own tribe. His oath was that he would slay a + hundred men of Salámán; he slew ninety-eight, when an ambush of his + enemies succeeded in taking him prisoner. In the struggle one of his + hands was hewn off by a sword stroke, and, taking it in the other, + he flung it in the face of a man of Salámán and killed him, thus + making ninety-nine. Then he was overpowered and slain, with one + still wanting to make up his number. As his skull lay bleaching on + the ground, a man of his enemies passed by that way and kicked it + with his foot; a splinter of bone entered his foot, the wound + mortified, and he died, thus completing the hundred."[154] + +The following passage is translated from Shanfará's splendid Ode named +_Lámiyyatu ’l-‘Arab_ (the poem rhymed in _l_ of the Arabs), in which he +describes his own heroic character and the hardships of a predatory +life:--[155] + + "And somewhere the noble find a refuge afar from scathe, + The outlaw a lonely spot where no kin with hatred burn. + Oh, never a prudent man, night-faring in hope or fear, + Hard pressed on the face of earth, but still he hath room to turn. + + To me now, in your default, are comrades a wolf untired, + A sleek leopard, and a fell hyena with shaggy mane:[156] + True comrades: they ne'er let out the secret in trust with them, + Nor basely forsake their friend because that he brought them bane. + + And each is a gallant heart and ready at honour's call, + Yet I, when the foremost charge, am bravest of all the brave; + But if they with hands outstretched are seizing the booty won, + The slowest am I whenas most quick is the greedy knave. + + By naught save my generous will I reach to the height of worth + Above them, and sure the best is he with the will to give. + Yea, well I am rid of those who pay not a kindness back, + Of whom I have no delight though neighbours to me they live. + + Know are companions three at last: an intrepid soul, + A glittering trenchant blade, a tough bow of ample size, + Loud-twanging, the sides thereof smooth-polished, a handsome bow + Hung down from the shoulder-belt by thongs in a comely wise, + That groans, when the arrow slips away, like a woman crushed + By losses, bereaved of all her children, who wails and cries." + +On quitting his tribe, who cast him out when they were threatened on all +sides by enemies seeking vengeance for the blood that he had spilt, +Shanfará said:-- + + "Bury me not! Me you are forbidden to bury, + But thou, O hyena, soon wilt feast and make merry, + When foes bear away mine head, wherein is the best of me, + And leave on the battle-field for thee all the rest of me. + Here nevermore I hope to live glad--a stranger + Accurst, whose wild deeds have brought his people in danger."[157] + +[Sidenote: Ta’abbaá¹a Sharran.] + +Thábit b. Jábir b. Sufyán of Fahm is said to have got his nickname, +Ta’abbaá¹a Sharran, because one day his mother, who had seen him go +forth from his tent with a sword under his arm, on being asked, "Where +is Thábit?" replied, "I know not: he put a mischief under his arm-pit +(_ta’abbaá¹a sharran_) and departed." According to another version of +the story, the 'mischief' was a Ghoul whom he vanquished and slew and +carried home in this manner. The following lines, which he addressed to +his cousin, Shams b. Málik, may be applied with equal justice to the +poet himself:-- + + "Little he complains of labour that befalls him; much he wills; + Diverse ways attempting, mightily his purpose he fulfils. + Through one desert in the sun's heat, through another in starlight, + Lonely as the wild ass, rides he bare-backed Danger noon and night. + He the foremost wind outpaceth, while in broken gusts it blows, + Speeding onward, never slackening, never staying for repose. + Prompt to dash upon the foeman, every minute watching well-- + Are his eyes in slumber lightly sealed, his heart stands sentinel. + When the first advancing troopers rise to sight, he sets his hand + From the scabbard forth to draw his sharp-edged, finely-mettled brand. + When he shakes it in the breast-bone of a champion of the foe, + How the grinning Fates in open glee their flashing side-teeth show! + Solitude his chosen comrade, on he fares while overhead + By the Mother of the mazy constellations he is led."[158] + +[Sidenote: The old Arabian points of honour.] + +These verses admirably describe the rudimentary Arabian virtues of +courage, hardness, and strength. We must now take a wider survey of the +moral ideas on which pagan society was built, and of which Pre-islamic +poetry is at once the promulgation and the record. There was no written +code, no legal or religious sanction--nothing, in effect, save the +binding force of traditional sentiment and opinion, _i.e._, Honour. +What, then, are the salient points of honour in which Virtue +(_Muruwwa_), as it was understood by the heathen Arabs, consists? + +[Sidenote: Courage.] + +Courage has been already mentioned. Arab courage is like that of the +ancient Greeks, "dependent upon excitement and vanishing quickly before +depression and delay."[159] Hence the Arab hero is defiant and boastful, +as he appears, _e.g._, in the _Mu‘allaqa_ of ‘Amr b. Kulthúm. When there +is little to lose by flight he will ride off unashamed; but he will +fight to the death for his womenfolk, who in serious warfare often +accompanied the tribe and were stationed behind the line of battle.[160] + + "When I saw the hard earth hollowed + By our women's flying footprints, + And LamÃs her face uncovered + Like the full moon of the skies, + Showing forth her hidden beauties-- + Then the matter was grim earnest: + I engaged their chief in combat, + Seeing help no other wise."[161] + +The tribal constitution was a democracy guided by its chief men, who +derived their authority from noble blood, noble character, wealth, +wisdom, and experience. As a Bedouin poet has said in homely language-- + + "A folk that hath no chiefs must soon decay, + And chiefs it hath not when the vulgar sway. + Only with poles the tent is reared at last, + And poles it hath not save the pegs hold fast + But when the pegs and poles are once combined, + Then stands accomplished that which was designed."[162] + +[Sidenote: Loyalty.] + +The chiefs, however, durst not lay commands or penalties on their +fellow-tribesmen. Every man ruled himself, and was free to rebuke +presumption in others. "_If you are our lord_" (_i.e._, if you act +discreetly as a _sayyid_ should), "_you will lord over us, but if you +are a prey to pride, go and be proud!_" (_i.e._, we will have nothing to +do with you).[163] Loyalty in the mouth of a pagan Arab did not mean +allegiance to his superiors, but faithful devotion to his equals; and it +was closely connected with the idea of kinship. The family and the +tribe, which included strangers living in the tribe under a covenant of +protection--to defend these, individually and collectively, was a sacred +duty. Honour required that a man should stand by his own people through +thick and thin. + + "I am of Ghaziyya: if she be in error, then I will err; + And if Ghaziyya be guided right, I go right with her!" + +sang Durayd b. á¹¢imma, who had followed his kin, against his better +judgment, in a foray which cost the life of his brother ‘Abdulláh.[164] +If kinsmen seek help it should be given promptly, without respect to the +merits of the case; if they do wrong it should be suffered as long as +possible before resorting to violence.[165] The utilitarian view of +friendship is often emphasised, as in these verses:-- + + Take for thy brother whom thou wilt in the days of peace, + But know that when fighting comes thy kinsman alone is near. + Thy true friend thy kinsman is, who answers thy call for aid + With good will, when deeply drenched in bloodshed are sword and spear. + Oh, never forsake thy kinsman e'en tho' he do thee wrong, + For what he hath marred he mends thereafter and makes sincere."[166] + +At the same time, notwithstanding their shrewd common sense, nothing is +more characteristic of the Arabs--heathen and Muḥammadan alike--than +the chivalrous devotion and disinterested self-sacrifice of which they +are capable on behalf of their friends. In particular, the ancient +poetry affords proof that they regarded with horror any breach of the +solemn covenant plighted between patron and client or host and guest. +This topic might be illustrated by many striking examples, but one will +suffice:-- + + [Sidenote: The story of Samaw’al b. ‘Adiyá.] + + The Arabs say: "_Awfá mina ’l-Samaw’ali_"--"More loyal than + al-Samaw’al"; or _Wafáun ka-wafá’i ’l-Samaw’ali_"--" A loyalty like + that of al-Samaw’al." These proverbs refer to Samaw’al b. ‘Adiyá, an + Arab of Jewish descent and Jew by religion, who lived in his castle, + called al-Ablaq (The Piebald), at Taymá, some distance north of + MedÃna. There he dug a well of sweet water, and would entertain the + Arabs who used to alight beside it; and they supplied themselves + with provisions from his castle and set up a market. It is related + that the poet Imru’u ’l-Qays, while fleeing, hotly pursued by his + enemies, towards Syria, took refuge with Samaw’al, and before + proceeding on his way left in charge of his host five coats of mail + which had been handed down as heirlooms by the princes of his + family. Then he departed, and in due course arrived at + Constantinople, where he besought the Byzantine emperor to help him + to recover his lost kingdom. His appeal was not unsuccessful, but he + died on the way home. Meanwhile his old enemy, the King of ḤÃra, + sent an army under Ḥárith b. Ẓálim against Samaw’al, demanding + that he should surrender the coats of mail. Samaw’al refused to + betray the trust committed to him, and defended himself in his + castle. The besiegers, however, captured his son, who had gone out + to hunt. Ḥárith asked Samaw’al: "Dost thou know this lad?" "Yes, + he is my son." "Then wilt thou deliver what is in thy possession, or + shall I slay him?" Samaw’al answered: "Do with him as thou wilt. I + will never break my pledge nor give up the property of my + guest-friend." So Ḥárith smote the lad with his sword and clove + him through the middle. Then he raised the siege. And Samaw’al said + thereupon:-- + + "_I was true with the mail-coats of the Kindite,[167] + I am true though many a one is blamed for treason. + Once did ‘Ãdiyá, my father, exhort me: + 'O Samaw’al, ne'er destroy what I have builded.' + For me built ‘Ãdiyá a strong-walled castle + With a well where I draw water at pleasure; + So high, the eagle slipping back is baffled. + When wrong befalls me I endure not tamely._"[168] + +The Bedouin ideal of generosity and hospitality is personified in +Ḥátim of Ṭayyi’, of whom many anecdotes are told. We may learn +from the following one how extravagant are an Arab's notions on this +subject:-- + + [Sidenote: Ḥátim of Ṭayyi’.] + + When Ḥátim's mother was pregnant she dreamed that she was asked, + "Which dost thou prefer?--a generous son called Ḥátim, or ten + like those of other folk, lions in the hour of battle, brave lads + and strong of limb?" and that she answered, "Ḥátim." Now, when + Ḥátim grew up he was wont to take out his food, and if he found + any one to share it he would eat, otherwise he threw it away. His + father, seeing that he wasted his food, gave him a slave-girl and a + mare with her foal and sent him to herd the camels. On reaching the + pasture, Ḥátim began to search for his fellows, but none was in + sight; then he came to the road, but found no one there. While he + was thus engaged he descried a party of riders on the road and went + to meet them. "O youth," said they, "hast thou aught to entertain us + withal?" He answered: "Do ye ask me of entertainment when ye see the + camels?" Now, these riders were ‘AbÃd b. al-Abras and Bishr b. Abà + Kházim and Nábigha al-DhubyánÃ, and they were on their way to King + Nu‘mán.[169] Ḥátim slaughtered three camels for them, whereupon + ‘AbÃd said: "We desired no entertainment save milk, but if thou must + needs charge thyself with something more, a single young she-camel + would have sufficed us." Ḥátim replied: "That I know, but seeing + different faces and diverse fashions I thought ye were not of the + same country, and I wished that each of you should mention what ye + saw, on returning home." So they spoke verses in praise of him and + celebrated his generosity, and Ḥátim said: "I wished to bestow a + kindness upon you, but your bounty is greater than mine. I swear to + God that I will hamstring every camel in the herd unless ye come + forward and divide them among yourselves." The poets did as he + desired, and each man received ninety-nine camels; then they + proceeded on their journey to Nu‘mán. When Ḥátim's father heard + of this he came to him and asked, "Where are the camels?" "O my + father," replied Ḥátim, "by means of them I have conferred on + thee everlasting fame and honour that will cleave to thee like the + ring of the ringdove, and men will always bear in mind some verse of + poetry in which we are praised. This is thy recompense for the + camels." On hearing these words his father said, "Didst thou with my + camels thus?" "Yes." "By God, I will never dwell with thee again." + So he went forth with his family, and Ḥátim was left alone with + his slave-girl and his mare and the mare's foal.[170] + +[Sidenote: Ḥátim's daughter before the Prophet.] + +We are told that Ḥátim's daughter was led as a captive before the +Prophet and thus addressed him: "'O Muḥammad, my sire is dead, and he +who would have come to plead for me is gone. Release me, if it seem good +to thee, and do not let the Arabs rejoice at my misfortune; for I am the +daughter of the chieftain of my people. My father was wont to free the +captive, and protect those near and dear to him, and entertain the +guest, and satisfy the hungry, and console the afflicted, and give food +and greeting to all; and never did he turn away any who sought a boon. I +am Ḥátim's daughter.' The Prophet (on whom be the blessing and peace +of God) answered her: 'O maiden, the true believer is such as thou hast +described. Had thy father been an Islamite, verily we should have said, +"God have mercy upon him!" Let her go,' he continued, 'for her sire +loved noble manners, and God loves them likewise.'"[171] + +Ḥátim was a poet of some repute.[172] The following lines are +addressed to his wife, Máwiyya:-- + + "O daughter of ‘Abdulláh and Málik and him who wore + The two robes of Yemen stuff--the hero that rode the roan, + When thou hast prepared the meal, entreat to partake thereof + A guest--I am not the man to eat, like a churl, alone--: + Some traveller thro' the night, or house-neighbour; for in sooth + I fear the reproachful talk of men after I am gone. + The guest's slave am I, 'tis true, as long as he bides with me, + Although in my nature else no trait of the slave is shown."[173] + +[Sidenote: Position of women.] + +[Sidenote: Arabian heroines.] + +[Sidenote: Fáá¹ima daughter of Khurshub.] + +[Sidenote: Fukayha.] + +Here it will be convenient to make a short digression in order that the +reader may obtain, if not a complete view, at least some glimpses of the +position and influence of women in Pre-islamic society. On the whole, +their position was high and their influence great. They were free to +choose their husbands, and could return, if ill-treated or displeased, +to their own people; in some cases they even offered themselves in +marriage and had the right of divorce. They were regarded not as slaves +and chattels, but as equals and companions. They inspired the poet to +sing and the warrior to fight. The chivalry of the Middle Ages is, +perhaps, ultimately traceable to heathen Arabia. "Knight-errantry, the +riding forth on horseback in search of adventures, the rescue of captive +maidens, the succour rendered everywhere to women in adversity--all +these were essentially Arabian ideas, as was the very name of +_chivalry_, the connection of honourable conduct with the horse-rider, +the man of noble blood, the cavalier."[174] But the nobility of the +women is not only reflected in the heroism and devotion of the men; it +stands recorded in song, in legend, and in history. Fáá¹ima, the +daughter of Khurshub, was one of three noble matrons who bore the title +_al-Munjibát_, 'the Mothers of Heroes.' She had seven sons, three of +whom, viz., RabÑ and ‘Umára and Anas, were called 'the Perfect' +(_al-Kamala_). One day Ḥamal b. Badr the Fazárite raided the Banú +‘Abs, the tribe to which Fáá¹ima belonged, and made her his prisoner. +As he led away the camel on which she was mounted at the time, she +cried: "Man, thy wits are wandering. By God, if thou take me captive, +and if we leave behind us this hill which is now in front of us, surely +there will never be peace between thee and the sons of Ziyád" (Ziyád was +the name of her husband), "because people will say what they please, and +the mere suspicion of evil is enough." "I will carry thee off," said he, +"that thou mayest herd my camels." When Fáá¹ima knew that she was +certainly his prisoner she threw herself headlong from her camel and +died; so did she fear to bring dishonour on her sons.[175] Among the +names which have become proverbial for loyalty we find those of two +women, Fukayha and Umm JamÃl. As to Fukayha, it is related that her +clansmen, having been raided by the brigand Sulayk b. Sulaka, resolved +to attack him; but since he was a famous runner, on the advice of one of +their shaykhs they waited until he had gone down to the water and +quenched his thirst, for they knew that he would then be unable to run. +Sulayk, however, seeing himself caught, made for the nearest tents and +sought refuge with Fukayha. She threw her smock over him, and stood with +drawn sword between him and his pursuers; and as they still pressed on, +she tore the veil from her hair and shouted for help. Then her brothers +came and defended Sulayk, so that his life was saved.[176] Had space +allowed, it would have been a pleasant task to make some further +extracts from the long Legend of Noble Women. I have illustrated their +keen sense of honour and loyalty, but I might equally well have chosen +examples of gracious dignity and quick intelligence and passionate +affection. Many among them had the gift of poetry, which they bestowed +especially on the dead; it is a final proof of the high character and +position of women in Pre-islamic Arabia that the hero's mother and +sisters were deemed most worthy to mourn and praise him. The praise of +living women by their lovers necessarily takes a different tone; the +physical charms of the heroine are fully described, but we seldom find +any appreciation of moral beauty. One notable exception to this rule +occurs at the beginning of an ode by Shanfará. The passage defies +translation. It is, to quote Sir Charles Lyall, with whose faithful and +sympathetic rendering of the ancient poetry every student of Arabic +literature should be acquainted, "the most lovely picture of womanhood +which heathen Arabia has left us, drawn by the same hand that has given +us, in the unrivalled _Lâmîyah_, its highest ideal of heroic hardness +and virile strength."[177] + + + UMAYMA. + + "She charmed me, veiling bashfully her face, + Keeping with quiet looks an even pace; + Some lost thing seem to seek her downcast eyes: + Aside she bends not--softly she replies. + Ere dawn she carries forth her meal--a gift + To hungry wives in days of dearth and thrift. + No breath of blame up to her tent is borne, + While many a neighbour's is the house of scorn. + Her husband fears no gossip fraught with shame, + For pure and holy is Umayma's name. + Joy of his heart, to her he need not say + When evening brings him home--'Where passed the day?' + Slender and full in turn, of perfect height, + A very fay were she, if beauty might + Transform a child of earth into a fairy sprite!"[178] + +Only in the freedom of the desert could the character thus exquisitely +delineated bloom and ripen. These verses, taken by themselves, are a +sufficient answer to any one who would maintain that Islam has increased +the social influence of Arabian women, although in some respects it may +have raised them to a higher level of civilisation.[179] + +[Sidenote: Infanticide.] + +There is, of course, another side to all this. In a land where might was +generally right, and where + + "the simple plan + That he should take who has the power + And he should keep who can," + +was all but universally adopted, it would have been strange if the +weaker sex had not often gone to the wall. The custom which prevailed in +the _Jáhiliyya_ of burying female infants alive, revolting as it appears +to us, was due partly to the frequent famines with which Arabia is +afflicted through lack of rain, and partly to a perverted sense of +honour. Fathers feared lest they should have useless mouths to feed, or +lest they should incur disgrace in consequence of their daughters being +made prisoners of war. Hence the birth of a daughter was reckoned +calamitous, as we read in the Koran: "_They attribute daughters unto +God--far be it from Him!--and for themselves they desire them not. When +a female child is announced to one of them, his face darkens wrathfully: +he hides himself from his people because of the bad news, +thinking--'Shall I keep the child to my disgrace or cover it away in the +dust?'_"[180] It was said proverbially, "The despatch of daughters is a +kindness" and "The burial of daughters is a noble deed."[181] Islam put +an end to this barbarity, which is expressly forbidden by the Koran: +"_Kill not your children in fear of impoverishment: we will provide for +them and for you: verily their killing was a great sin._"[182] Perhaps +the most touching lines in Arabian poetry are those in which a father +struggling with poverty wishes that his daughter may die before him and +thus be saved from the hard mercies of her relatives:-- + + + THE POOR MAN'S DAUGHTER + + "But for Umayma's sake I ne'er had grieved to want nor braved + Night's blackest horror to bring home the morsel that she craved. + Now my desire is length of days because I know too well + The orphan girl's hard lot, with kin unkind enforced to dwell. + I dread that some day poverty will overtake my child, + And shame befall her when exposed to every passion wild.[183] + She wishes me to live, but I must wish her dead, woe's me: + Death is the noblest wooer a helpless maid can see. + I fear an uncle may be harsh, a brother be unkind, + When I would never speak a word that rankled in her mind."[184] + +And another says:-- + + "Were not my little daughters + Like soft chicks huddling by me, + Through earth and all its waters + To win bread would I roam free. + + Our children among us going, + Our very hearts they be; + The wind upon them blowing + Would banish sleep from me."[185] + +[Sidenote: Treatment of enemies.] + +"Odi et amo": these words of the poet might serve as an epitome of +Bedouin ethics. For, if the heathen Arab was, as we have seen, a good +friend to his friends, he had in the same degree an intense and deadly +feeling of hatred towards his enemies. He who did not strike back when +struck was regarded as a coward. No honourable man could forgive an +injury or fail to avenge it. An Arab, smarting under the loss of some +camels driven off by raiders, said of his kin who refused to help him:-- + + "For all their numbers, they are good for naught, + My people, against harm however light: + They pardon wrong by evildoers wrought, + Malice with loving kindness they requite."[186] + +The last verse, which would have been high praise in the mouth of a +Christian or Muḥammadan moralist, conveyed to those who heard it a +shameful reproach. The approved method of dealing with an enemy is set +forth plainly enough in the following lines:-- + + "Humble him who humbles thee, close tho' be your kindredship: + If thou canst not humble him, wait till he is in thy grip. + Friend him while thou must; strike hard when thou hast him on + the hip."[187] + +[Sidenote: Blood-revenge.] + +Above all, blood called for blood. This obligation lay heavy on the +conscience of the pagan Arabs. Vengeance, with them, was "almost a +physical necessity, which if it be not obeyed will deprive its subject +of sleep, of appetite, of health." It was a tormenting thirst which +nothing would quench except blood, a disease of honour which might be +described as madness, although it rarely prevented the sufferer from +going to work with coolness and circumspection. Vengeance was taken upon +the murderer, if possible, or else upon one of his fellow-tribesmen. +Usually this ended the matter, but in some cases it was the beginning of +a regular blood-feud in which the entire kin of both parties were +involved; as, _e.g._, the murder of Kulayb led to the Forty Years' War +between Bakr and Taghlib.[188] The slain man's next of kin might accept +a blood-wit (_diya_), commonly paid in camels--the coin of the +country--as atonement for him. If they did so, however, it was apt to be +cast in their teeth that they preferred milk (_i.e._, she-camels) to +blood.[189] The true Arab feeling is expressed in verses like these:-- + + "With the sword will I wash my shame away, + Let God's doom bring on me what it may!"[190] + +It was believed that until vengeance had been taken for the dead man, +his spirit appeared above his tomb in the shape of an owl (_háma_ or +_á¹£adá_), crying "_IsqúnÃ_" ("Give me to drink"). But pagan ideas of +vengeance were bound up with the Past far more than with the Future. The +shadowy after-life counted for little or nothing beside the +deeply-rooted memories of fatherly affection, filial piety, and +brotherhood in arms. + +Though liable to abuse, the rough-and-ready justice of the vendetta had +a salutary effect in restraining those who would otherwise have indulged +their lawless instincts without fear of punishment. From our point of +view, however, its interest is not so much that of a primitive +institution as of a pervading element in old Arabian life and +literature. Full, or even adequate, illustration of this topic would +carry me far beyond the limits of my plan. I have therefore selected +from the copious material preserved in the _Book of Songs_ a +characteristic story which tells how Qays b. al-Khaá¹Ãm took vengeance +on the murderers of his father and his grandfather.[191] + + [Sidenote: The story of the vengeance of Qays b. al-Khaá¹Ãm.] + + It is related on the authority of Abú ‘Ubayda that ‘Adà b. ‘Amr, the + grandfather of Qays, was slain by a man named Málik belonging to the + Banú ‘Amr b. ‘Ãmir b. RabÑa b. ‘Ãmir b. á¹¢a‘ṣa‘a; and his + father, Khaá¹Ãm b. ‘AdÃ, by one of the Banú ‘Abd al-Qays who were + settled in Hajar. Khaá¹Ãm died before avenging his father, ‘AdÃ, + when Qays was but a young lad. The mother of Qays, fearing that he + would sally forth to seek vengeance for the blood of his father and + his grandfather and perish, went to a mound of dust beside the door + of their dwelling and laid stones on it, and began to say to Qays, + "This is the grave of thy father and thy grandfather;" and Qays + never doubted but that it was so. He grew up strong in the arms, and + one day he had a tussle with a youth of the Banú Ẓafar, who said + to him: "By God, thou would'st do better to turn the strength of + thine arms against the slayers of thy father and grandfather instead + of putting it forth upon me." "And who are their slayers?" "Ask thy + mother, she will tell thee." So Qays took his sword and set its hilt + on the ground and its edge between his two breasts, and said to his + mother: "Who killed my father and my grandfather?" "They died as + people die, and these are their graves in the camping-ground." "By + God, verily thou wilt tell me who slew them or I will bear with my + whole weight upon this sword until it cleaves through my back." Then + she told him, and Qays swore that he would never rest until he had + slain their slayers. "O my son," said she, "Málik, who killed thy + grandfather, is of the same folk as Khidásh b. Zuhayr, and thy + father once bestowed a kindness on Khidásh, for which he is + grateful. Go, then, to him and take counsel with him touching thine + affair and ask him to help thee." So Qays set out immediately, and + when he came to the garden where his water-camel was watering his + date-palms, he smote the cord (of the bucket) with his sword and cut + it, so that the bucket dropped into the well. Then he took hold of + the camel's head, and loaded the beast with two sacks of dates, and + said: "Who will care for this old woman" (meaning his mother) "in my + absence? If I die, let him pay her expenses out of this garden, and + on her death it shall be his own; but if I live, my property will + return to me, and he shall have as many of its dates as he wishes to + eat." One of his folk cried, "I am for it," so Qays gave him the + garden and set forth to inquire concerning Khidásh. He was told to + look for him at Marr al-Ẓahrán, but not finding him in his tent, + he alighted beneath a tree, in the shade of which the guests of + Khidásh used to shelter, and called to the wife of Khidásh, "Is + there any food?" Now, when she came up to him, she admired his + comeliness--for he was exceeding fair of countenance--and said: "By + God, we have no fit entertainment for thee, but only dates." He + replied, "I care not, bring out what thou hast." So she sent to him + dates in a large measure (_qubá‘_), and Qays took a single date and + ate half of it and put back the other half in the _qubá‘_, and gave + orders that the _qubá‘_ should be brought in to the wife of Khidásh; + then he departed on some business. When Khidásh returned and his + wife told him the news of Qays, he said, "This is a man who would + render his person sacred."[192] While he sat there with his wife + eating fresh ripe dates, Qays returned on camel-back; and Khidásh, + when he saw the foot of the approaching rider, said to his wife, "Is + this thy guest?" "Yes." "'Tis as though his foot were the foot of my + good friend, Khaá¹Ãm the Yathribite." Qays drew nigh, and struck + the tent-rope with the point of his spear, and begged leave to come + in. Having obtained permission, he entered to Khidásh and told his + lineage and informed him of what had passed, and asked him to help + and advise him in his affair. Khidásh bade him welcome, and recalled + the kindness which he had of his father, and said, "As to this + affair, truly I have been expecting it of thee for some time. The + slayer of thy grandfather is a cousin of mine, and I will aid thee + against him. When we are assembled in our meeting-place, I will sit + beside him and talk with him, and when I strike his thigh, do thou + spring on him and slay him." Qays himself relates: "Accompanied by + Khidásh, I approached him until I stood over his head when Khidásh + sat with him, and as soon as he struck the man's thigh I smote his + head with a sword named _Dhu ’l-Khurá¹£ayn_" (the Two-ringed). "His + folk rushed on me to slay me, but Khidásh came between us, crying, + 'Let him alone, for, by God, he has slain none but the slayer of his + grandfather.'" Then Khidásh called for one of his camels and mounted + it, and started with Qays to find the ‘Abdite who killed his father. + And when they were near Hajar Khidásh advised him to go and inquire + after this man, and to say to him when he discovered him: "I + encountered a brigand of thy people who robbed me of some articles, + and on asking who was the chieftain of his people I was directed to + thee. Go with me, then, that thou mayest take from him my property. + If," Khidásh continued, "he follow thee unattended, thou wilt gain + thy desire of him; but should he bid the others go with thee, laugh, + and if he ask why thou laughest, say, 'With us, the noble does not + as thou dost, but when he is called to a brigand of his people, he + goes forth alone with his whip, not with his sword; and the brigand + when he sees him gives him everything that he took, in awe of him.' + If he shall dismiss his friends, thy course is clear; but if he + shall refuse to go without them, bring him to me nevertheless, for I + hope that thou wilt slay both him and them." So Khidásh stationed + himself under the shade of a tree, while Qays went to the ‘Abdite + and addressed him as Khidásh had prompted; and the man's sense of + honour was touched to the quick, so that he sent away his friends + and went with Qays. And when Qays came back to Khidásh, the latter + said to him, "Choose, O Qays! Shall I help thee or shall I take thy + place?" Qays answered, "I desire neither of these alternatives, but + if he slay me, let him not slay thee!" Then he rushed upon him and + wounded him in the flank and drove his lance through the other side, + and he fell dead on the spot. When Qays had finished with him, + Khidásh said, "If we flee just now, his folk will pursue us; but let + us go somewhere not far off, for they will never think that thou + hast slain him and stayed in the neighbourhood. No; they will miss + him and follow his track, and when they find him slain they will + start to pursue us in every direction, and will only return when + they have lost hope." So those two entered some hollows of the sand, + and after staying there several days (for it happened exactly as + Khidásh had foretold), they came forth when the pursuit was over, + and did not exchange a word until they reached the abode of Khidásh. + There Qays parted from him and returned to his own people. + +[Sidenote: Song of Vengeance by Ta’abbaá¹a Sharran.] + +The poems relating to blood-revenge show all that is best and much that +is less admirable in the heathen Arab--on the one hand, his courage and +resolution, his contempt of death and fear of dishonour, his +single-minded devotion to the dead as to the living, his deep regard and +tender affection for the men of his own flesh and blood; on the other +hand, his implacable temper, his perfidious cruelty and reckless +ferocity in hunting down the slayers, and his savage, well-nigh inhuman +exultation over the slain. The famous Song or Ballad of Vengeance that I +shall now attempt to render in English verse is usually attributed to +Ta’abbaá¹a Sharran,[193] although some pronounce it to be a forgery by +Khalaf al-Aḥmar, the reputed author of Shanfará's masterpiece, and +beyond doubt a marvellously skilful imitator of the ancient bards. Be +that as it may, the ballad is utterly pagan in tone and feeling. Its +extraordinary merit was detected by Goethe, who, after reading it in a +Latin translation, published a German rendering, with some fine +criticism of the poetry, in his _West-oestlicher Divan_.[194] I have +endeavoured to suggest as far as possible the metre and rhythm of the +original, since to these, in my opinion, its peculiar effect is largely +due. The metre is that known as the 'Tall' (_MadÃd_), viz.:-- + + ⌣ |⌣ | + - ⌣ - -|- ⌣ -|- ⌣ - - + +Thus the first verse runs in Arabic:-- + + _Inna bi’l-shi‘ | bi ’lladhi |‘inda Sal‘in + la-qatÃlan | damuhú | má yuá¹allu._ + +Of course, Arabic prosody differs radically from English, but _mutatis +mutandis_ several couplets in the following version (_e.g._ the third, +eighth, and ninth) will be found to correspond exactly with their model. +As has been said, however, my object was merely to suggest the abrupt +metre and the heavy, emphatic cadences, so that I have been able to give +variety to the verse, and at the same time to retain that artistic +freedom without which the translator of poetry cannot hope to satisfy +either himself or any one else. + +The poet tells how he was summoned to avenge his uncle, slain by the +tribesmen of Hudhayl: he describes the dead man's heroic character, the +foray in which he fell, his former triumphs over the same enemy, and +finally the terrible vengeance taken for him.[195] + + "In the glen there a murdered man is lying-- + Not in vain for vengeance his blood is crying. + He hath left me the load to bear and departed; + I take up the load and bear it true-hearted. + I, his sister's son, the bloodshed inherit, + I whose knot none looses, stubborn of spirit;[196] + Glowering darkly, shame's deadly out-wiper, + Like the serpent spitting venom, the viper. + Hard the tidings that befell us, heart-breaking; + Little seemed thereby the anguish most aching. + Fate hath robbed me--still is Fate fierce and froward-- + Of a hero whose friend ne'er called him coward: + As the warm sun was he in wintry weather, + 'Neath the Dog-star shade and coolness together: + Spare of flank--yet this in him showed not meanness; + Open-handed, full of boldness and keenness: + Firm of purpose, cavalier unaffrighted-- + Courage rode with him and with him alighted: + In his bounty, a bursting cloud of rain-water; + Lion grim when he leaped to the slaughter. + Flowing hair, long robe his folk saw aforetime, + But a lean-haunched wolf was he in war-time. + Savours two he had, untasted by no men: + Honey to his friends and gall to his foemen. + Fear he rode nor recked what should betide him: + Save his deep-notched Yemen blade, none beside him. + + Oh, the warriors girt with swords good for slashing, + Like the levin, when they drew them, outflashing! + Through the noonday heat they fared: then, benighted, + Farther fared, till at dawning they alighted.[197] + Breaths of sleep they sipped; and then, while they nodded, + Thou didst scare them: lo, they scattered and scudded. + Vengeance wreaked we upon them, unforgiving: + Of the two clans scarce was left a soul living.[198] + + Ay, if _they_ bruised his glaive's edge 'twas in token + That by him many a time their own was broken. + Oft he made them kneel down by force and cunning-- + Kneel on jags where the foot is torn with running. + Many a morn in shelter he took them napping; + After killing was the rieving and rapine. + + They have gotten of me a roasting--I tire not + Of desiring them till me they desire not. + First, of foemen's blood my spear deeply drinketh, + Then a second time, deep in, it sinketh. + Lawful now to me is wine, long forbidden: + Sore my struggle ere the ban was o'erridden.[199] + Pour me wine, O son of ‘Amr! I would taste it, + Since with grief for mine uncle I am wasted. + O'er the fallen of Hudhayl stands screaming + The hyena; see the wolf's teeth gleaming! + Dawn will hear the flap of wings, will discover + Vultures treading corpses, too gorged to hover." + +[Sidenote: Honour conferred by noble ancestry.] + +All the virtues which enter into the Arabian conception of Honour were +regarded not as personal qualities inherent or acquired, but as +hereditary possessions which a man derived from his ancestors, and held +in trust that he might transmit them untarnished to his descendants. It +is the desire to uphold and emulate the fame of his forbears, rather +than the hope of winning immortality for himself, that causes the Arab +"to say the say and do the deeds of the noble." Far from sharing the +sentiment of the Scots peasant--"a man's a man for a' that"--he looks +askance at merit and renown unconsecrated by tradition. + + "The glories that have grown up with the grass + Can match not those inherited of old."[200] + +Ancestral renown (_ḥasab_) is sometimes likened to a strong castle +built by sires for their sons, or to a lofty mountain which defies +attack.[201] The poets are full of boastings (_mafákhir_) and revilings +(_mathálib_) in which they loudly proclaim the nobility of their own +ancestors, and try to blacken those of their enemy without any regard to +decorum. + + +It was my intention to add here some general remarks on Arabian poetry +as compared with that of the Hebrews, the Persians, and our own, but +since example is better than precept I will now turn directly to those +celebrated odes which are well known by the title of _Mu‘-allaqát_, or +'Suspended Poems,' to all who take the slightest interest in Arabic +literature.[202] + +[Sidenote: The Mu‘allaqát, or 'Suspended Poems.'] + +_Mu‘allaqa_ (plural, _Mu‘allaqát_) "is most likely derived from the word +_‘ilq_, meaning 'a precious thing or a thing held in high estimation,' +either because one 'hangs on' tenaciously to it, or because it is 'hung +up' in a place of honour, or in a conspicuous place, in a treasury or +storehouse."[203] In course of time the exact signification of +_Mu‘allaqa_ was forgotten, and it became necessary to find a plausible +explanation. Hence arose the legend, which frequent repetition has made +familiar, that the 'Suspended Poems' were so called from having been +hung up in the Ka‘ba on account of their merit; that this distinction +was awarded by the judges at the fair of ‘Ukáẓ, near Mecca, where +poets met in rivalry and recited their choicest productions; and that +the successful compositions, before being affixed to the door of the +Ka‘ba, were transcribed in letters of gold upon pieces of fine Egyptian +linen.[204] Were these statements true, we should expect them to be +confirmed by some allusion in the early literature. But as a matter of +fact nothing of the kind is mentioned in the Koran or in religious +tradition, in the ancient histories of Mecca, or in such works as the +_Kitábu ’l-AghánÃ_, which draw their information from old and +trustworthy sources.[205] Almost the first authority who refers to the +legend is the grammarian Aḥmad al-Naḥḥás (†949 A.D.), and +by him it is stigmatised as entirely groundless. Moreover, although it +was accepted by scholars like Reiske, Sir W. Jones, and even De Sacy, it +is incredible in itself. Hengstenberg, in the Prolegomena to his edition +of the _Mu‘-allaqa_ of Imru’u ’l-Qays (Bonn, 1823) asked some pertinent +questions: Who were the judges, and how were they appointed? Why were +only these seven poems thus distinguished? His further objection, that +the art of writing was at that time a rare accomplishment, does not +carry so much weight as he attached to it, but the story is sufficiently +refuted by what we know of the character and customs of the Arabs in the +sixth century and afterwards. Is it conceivable that the proud sons of +the desert could have submitted a matter so nearly touching their tribal +honour, of which they were jealous above all things, to external +arbitration, or meekly acquiesced in the partial verdict of a court +sitting in the neighbourhood of Mecca, which would certainly have shown +scant consideration for competitors belonging to distant clans?[206] + +[Sidenote: Origin of the collection.] + +However _Mu‘allaqa_ is to be explained, the name is not contemporary +with the poems themselves. In all probability they were so entitled by +the person who first chose them out of innumerable others and embodied +them in a separate collection. This is generally allowed to have been +Ḥammád al-Ráwiya, a famous rhapsodist who flourished in the latter +days of the Umayyad dynasty, and died about 772 A.D., in the reign of +the ‘Abbásid Caliph MahdÃ. What principle guided Ḥammád in his choice +we do not know. Nöldeke conjectures that he was influenced by the fact +that all the _Mu‘allaqát_ are long poems--they are sometimes called 'The +Seven Long Poems' (_al-Sab‘ al-Ṭiwál_)--for in Ḥammád's time +little of the ancient Arabian poetry survived in a state even of +relative completeness. + +[Sidenote: Difficulty of translating the Mu‘allaqát.] + +It must be confessed that no rendering of the _Mu‘allaqát_ can furnish +European readers with a just idea of the originals, a literal version +least of all. They contain much that only a full commentary can make +intelligible, much that to modern taste is absolutely incongruous with +the poetic style. Their finest pictures of Bedouin life and manners +often appear uncouth or grotesque, because without an intimate knowledge +of the land and people it is impossible for us to see what the poet +intended to convey, or to appreciate the truth and beauty of its +expression; while the artificial framework, the narrow range of subject +as well as treatment, and the frank realism of the whole strike us at +once. In the following pages I shall give some account of the +_Mu‘allaqát_ and their authors, and endeavour to bring out the +characteristic qualities of each poem by selecting suitable passages for +translation.[207] + +[Sidenote: Imru’u ’l-Qays.] + +The oldest and most famous of the _Mu‘allaqát_ is that of Imru’u +’l-Qays, who was descended from the ancient kings of Yemen. His +grandfather was King Ḥárith of Kinda, the antagonist of Mundhir III, +King of ḤÃra, by whom he was defeated and slain.[208] On Ḥárith's +death, the confederacy which he had built up split asunder, and his sons +divided among themselves the different tribes of which it was composed. +Ḥujr, the poet's father, ruled for some time over the Banú Asad in +Central Arabia, but finally they revolted and put him to death. "The +duty of avenging his murder fell upon Imru’u ’l-Qays, who is represented +as the only capable prince of his family; and the few historical data +which we have regarding him relate to his adventures while bent upon +this vengeance."[209] They are told at considerable length in the +_Kitábu ’l-AghánÃ_, but need not detain us here. Suffice it to say that +his efforts to punish the rebels, who were aided by Mundhir, the +hereditary foe of his house, met with little success. He then set out +for Constantinople, where he was favourably received by the Emperor +Justinian, who desired to see the power of Kinda re-established as a +thorn in the side of his Persian rivals. The emperor appointed him +Phylarch of Palestine, but on his way thither he died at Angora (about +540 A.D.). He is said to have perished, like Nessus, from putting on a +poisoned robe sent to him as a gift by Justinian, with whose daughter he +had an intrigue. Hence he is sometimes called 'The Man of the Ulcers' +(_Dhu ’l-Qurúḥ_). + +Many fabulous traditions surround the romantic figure of Imru’u +’l-Qays.[210] According to one story, he was banished by his father, who +despised him for being a poet and was enraged by the scandals to which +his love adventures gave rise. Imru’u ’l-Qays left his home and wandered +from tribe to tribe with a company of outcasts like himself, leading a +wild life, which caused him to be known as 'The Vagabond Prince' +(_al-Malik al-á¸illÃl_). When the news of his father's death reached +him he cried, "My father wasted my youth, and now that I am old he has +laid upon me the burden of blood-revenge. Wine to-day, business +to-morrow!" Seven nights he continued the carouse; then he swore not to +eat flesh, nor drink wine, nor use ointment, nor touch woman, nor wash +his head until his vengeance was accomplished. In the valley of Tabála, +north of Najrán, there was an idol called Dhu ’l-Khalaá¹£a much +reverenced by the heathen Arabs. Imru’u ’l-Qays visited this oracle and +consulted it in the ordinary way, by drawing one of three arrows +entitled 'the Commanding,' 'the Forbidding,' and 'the Waiting.' He drew +the second, whereupon he broke the arrows and dashed them on the face of +the idol, exclaiming with a gross imprecation, "If _thy_ father had been +slain, thou would'st not have hindered me!" + +Imru’u ’l-Qays is almost universally reckoned the greatest of the +Pre-islamic poets. Muḥammad described him as 'their leader to +Hell-fire,' while the Caliphs ‘Umar and ‘AlÃ, _odium theologicum_ +notwithstanding, extolled his genius and originality.[211] Coming to the +_Mu‘allaqa_ itself, European critics have vied with each other in +praising its exquisite diction and splendid images, the sweet flow of +the verse, the charm and variety of the painting, and, above all, the +feeling by which it is inspired of the joy and glory of youth. The +passage translated below is taken from the first half of the poem, in +which love is the prevailing theme:--[212] + + "Once, on the hill, she mocked at me and swore, + 'This hour I leave thee to return no more,' + Soft! if farewell is planted in thy mind, + Yet spare me, Fáá¹ima, disdain unkind. + Because my passion slays me, wilt thou part? + Because thy wish is law unto mine heart? + Nay, if thou so mislikest aught in me, + Shake loose my robe and let it fall down free. + But ah, the deadly pair, thy streaming eyes! + They pierce a heart that all in ruin lies. + + How many a noble tent hath oped its treasure + To me, and I have ta'en my fill of pleasure, + Passing the warders who with eager speed + Had slain me, if they might but hush the deed, + What time in heaven the Pleiades unfold + A belt of orient gems distinct with gold. + I entered. By the curtain there stood she, + Clad lightly as for sleep, and looked on me. + 'By God,' she cried, 'what recks thee of the cost? + I see thine ancient madness is not lost.' + I led her forth--she trailing as we go + Her broidered skirt, lest any footprint show-- + Until beyond the tents the valley sank + With curving dunes and many a pilèd bank, + Then with both hands I drew her head to mine, + And lovingly the damsel did incline + Her slender waist and legs more plump than fine;-- + A graceful figure, a complexion bright, + A bosom like a mirror in the light; + A white pale virgin pearl such lustre keeps, + Fed with clear water in untrodden deeps. + Now she bends half away: two cheeks appear, + And such an eye as marks the frighted deer + Beside her fawn; and lo, the shapely neck + Not bare of ornament, else without a fleck; + While from her shoulders in profusion fair, + Like clusters on the palm, hangs down her coal-dark hair." + +In strange contrast with this tender and delicate idyll are the wild, +hard verses almost immediately following, in which the poet roaming +through the barren waste hears the howl of a starved wolf and hails him +as a comrade:-- + + "Each one of us what thing he finds devours: + Lean is the wretch whose living is like ours."[213] + +The noble qualities of his horse and its prowess in the chase are +described, and the poem ends with a magnificent picture of a +thunder-storm among the hills of Najd. + +[Sidenote: Ṭarafa.] + +Ṭarafa b. al-‘Abd was a member of the great tribe of Bakr. The +particular clan to which he belonged was settled in Baḥrayn on the +Persian Gulf. He early developed a talent for satire, which he exercised +upon friend and foe indifferently; and after he had squandered his +patrimony in dissolute pleasures, his family chased him away as though +he were 'a mangy camel.' At length a reconciliation was effected. He +promised to mend his ways, returned to his people, and took part, it is +said, in the War of Basús. In a little while his means were dissipated +once more and he was reduced to tend his brother's herds. His +_Mu‘allaqa_ composed at this time won for him the favour of a rich +kinsman and restored him to temporary independence. On the conclusion of +peace between Bakr and Taghlib the youthful poet turned his eyes in the +direction of ḤÃra, where ‘Amr b. Hind had lately succeeded to the +throne (554 A.D.). He was well received by the king, who attached him, +along with his uncle, the poet Mutalammis, to the service of the +heir-apparent. But Ṭarafa's bitter tongue was destined to cost him +dear. Fatigued and disgusted by the rigid ceremony of the court, he +improvised a satire in which he said-- + + "Would that we had instead of ‘Amr + A milch-ewe bleating round our tent!" + +Shortly afterwards he happened to be seated at table opposite the king's +sister. Struck with her beauty, he exclaimed-- + + "Behold, she has come back to me, + My fair gazelle whose ear-rings shine; + Had not the king been sitting here, + I would have pressed her lips to mine!" + +‘Amr b. Hind was a man of violent and implacable temper. Ṭarafa's +satire had already been reported to him, and this new impertinence added +fuel to his wrath. Sending for Ṭarafa and Mutalammis, he granted them +leave to visit their homes, and gave to each of them a sealed letter +addressed to the governor of Baḥrayn. When they had passed outside +the city the suspicions of Mutalammis were aroused. As neither he nor +his companion could read, he handed his own letter to a boy of +ḤÃra[214] and learned that it contained orders to bury him alive. +Thereupon he flung the treacherous missive into the stream and implored +Ṭarafa to do likewise. Ṭarafa refused to break the royal seal. He +continued his journey to Baḥrayn, where he was thrown into prison and +executed. + +Thus perished miserably in the flower of his youth--according to some +accounts he was not yet twenty--the passionate and eloquent Ṭarafa. +In his _Mu‘allaqa_ he has drawn a spirited portrait of himself. The most +striking feature of the poem, apart from a long and, to us who are not +Bedouins, painfully tedious description of the camel, is its insistence +on sensual enjoyment as the sole business of life:-- + + "Canst thou make me immortal, O thou that blamest me so + For haunting the battle and loving the pleasures that fly? + If thou hast not the power to ward me from Death, let me go + To meet him and scatter the wealth in my hand, ere I die. + + Save only for three things in which noble youth take delight, + I care not how soon rises o'er me the coronach loud: + Wine that foams when the water is poured on it, ruddy, not bright. + Dark wine that I quaff stol'n away from the cavilling crowd; + + "And second, my charge at the cry of distress on a steed + Bow-legged like the wolf you have startled when thirsty he cowers; + And third, the day-long with a lass in her tent of goat's hair + To hear the wild rain and beguile of their slowness the hours."[215] + +Keeping, as far as possible, the chronological order, we have now to +mention two _Mu‘allaqas_ which, though not directly related to each +other,[216] are of the same period--the reign of ‘Amr b. Hind, King of +ḤÃra (554-568 A.D.). Moreover, their strong mutual resemblance and their +difference from the other _Mu‘allaqas_, especially from typical +_qaá¹£Ãdas_ like those of ‘Antara and LabÃd, is a further reason for +linking them together. Their distinguishing mark is the abnormal space +devoted to the main subject, which leaves little room for the +subsidiary motives. + +[Sidenote: ‘Amr b. Kulthúm.] + +‘Amr b. Kulthúm belonged to the tribe of Taghlib. His mother was Laylá, +a daughter of the famous poet and warrior Muhalhil. That she was a woman +of heroic mould appears from the following anecdote, which records a +deed of prompt vengeance on the part of ‘Amr that gave rise to the +proverb, "Bolder in onset than ‘Amr b. Kulthúm"[217]:-- + + [Sidenote: How ’Amr avenged an insult to his mother.] + + One day ‘Amr. b. Hind, the King of ḤÃra, said to his + boon-companions, "Do ye know any Arab whose mother would disdain to + serve mine?" They answered, "Yes, the mother of ‘Amr b. Kulthúm." + "Why so?" asked the king. "Because," said they, "her father is + Muhalhil b. RabÑa and her uncle is Kulayb b. Wá’il, the most + puissant of the Arabs, and her husband is Kulthúm b. Málik, the + knightliest, and her son is ‘Amr, the chieftain of his tribe." Then + the king sent to ‘Amr b. Kulthúm, inviting him to pay a visit to + himself, and asking him to bring his mother, Laylá, to visit his own + mother, Hind. So ‘Amr came to ḤÃra with some men of Taghlib, and + Laylá came attended by a number of their women; and while the king + entertained ‘Amr and his friends in a pavilion which he had caused + to be erected between ḤÃra and the Euphrates, Laylá found + quarters with Hind in a tent adjoining. Now, the king had ordered + his mother, as soon as he should call for dessert, to dismiss the + servants, and cause Laylá to wait upon her. At the pre-arranged + signal she desired to be left alone with her guest, and said, "O + Laylá, hand me that dish." Laylá answered, "Let those who want + anything rise up and serve themselves." Hind repeated her demand, + and would take no denial. "O shame!" cried Laylá. "Help! Taghlib, + help!" When ‘Amr heard his mother's cry the blood flew to his + cheeks. He seized a sword hanging on the wall of the pavilion--the + only weapon there--and with a single blow smote the king dead.[218] + +‘Amr's _Mu‘allaqa_ is the work of a man who united in himself the ideal +qualities of manhood as these were understood by a race which has never +failed to value, even too highly, the display of self-reliant action and +decisive energy. And if in ‘Amr's poem these virtues are displayed with +an exaggerated boastfulness which offends our sense of decency and +proper reserve, it would be a grave error to conclude that all this +sound and fury signifies nothing. The Bedouin poet deems it his bounden +duty to glorify to the utmost himself, his family, and his tribe; the +Bedouin warrior is never tired of proclaiming his unshakable valour and +recounting his brilliant feats of arms: he hurls menaces and vaunts in +the same breath, but it does not follow that he is a _Miles Gloriosus_. +‘Amr certainly was not: his _Mu‘allaqa_ leaves a vivid impression of +conscious and exultant strength. The first eight verses seem to have +been added to the poem at a very early date, for out of them arose the +legend that ‘Amr drank himself to death with unmixed wine. It is likely +that they were included in the original collection of the _Mu‘allaqát_, +and they are worth translating for their own sake:--- + + "Up, maiden! Fetch the morning-drink and spare not + The wine of AndarÃn, + Clear wine that takes a saffron hue when water + Is mingled warm therein. + The lover tasting it forgets his passion, + His heart is eased of pain; + The stingy miser, as he lifts the goblet, + Regardeth not his gain. + + Pass round from left to right! Why let'st thou, maiden, + Me and my comrades thirst? + Yet am I, whom thou wilt not serve this morning, + Of us three not the worst! + Many a cup in Baalbec and Damascus + And QáṣirÃn I drained, + Howbeit we, ordained to death, shall one day + Meet death, to us ordained."[219] + +In the next passage he describes his grief at the departure of his +beloved, whom he sees in imagination arriving at her journey's end in +distant Yamáma:-- + + "And oh, my love and yearning when at nightfall + I saw her camels haste, + Until sharp peaks uptowered like serried sword-blades, + And me Yamáma faced! + Such grief no mother-camel feels, bemoaning + Her young one lost, nor she, + The grey-haired woman whose hard fate hath left her + Of nine sons graves thrice three."[220] + +Now the poet turns abruptly to his main theme. He addresses the King of +ḤÃra, ‘Amr b. Hind, in terms of defiance, and warns the foes of +Taghlib that they will meet more than their match:-- + + "Father of Hind,[221] take heed and ere thou movest + Rashly against us, learn + That still our banners go down white to battle + And home blood-red return. + And many a chief bediademed, the champion + Of the outlaws of the land, + Have we o'erthrown and stripped him, while around him + Fast-reined the horses stand. + Our neighbours lopped like thorn-trees, snarls in terror + Of us the demon-hound;[222] + Never we try our hand-mill on the foemen + But surely they are ground. + We are the heirs of glory, all Ma‘add knows,[223] + Our lances it defend, + And when the tent-pole tumbles in the foray, + Trust us to save our friend![224] + + O ‘Amr, what mean'st thou? Are we, we of Taghlib, + Thy princeling's retinue? + O ‘Amr, what mean'st thou, rating us and hearkening + To tale-bearers untrue? + O ‘Amr, ere thee full many a time our spear-shaft + Has baffled foes to bow;[225] + Nipped in the vice it kicks like a wild camel + That will no touch allow-- + Like a wild camel, so it creaks in bending + And splits the bender's brow!"[226] + +The _Mu‘allaqa_ ends with a eulogy, superb in its extravagance, of the +poet's tribe:-- + + "Well wot, when our tents rise along their valleys, + The men of every clan + That we give death to them that durst attempt us, + To friends what food we can; + That staunchly we maintain a cause we cherish, + Camp where we choose to ride, + Nor will we aught of peace, when we are angered, + Till we be satisfied. + We keep our vassals safe and sound, but rebels + We soon force to their knees; + And if we reach a well, we drink pure water, + Others the muddy lees. + Ours is the earth and all thereon: when _we_ strike, + There needs no second blow; + Kings lay before the new-weaned boy of Taghlib + Their heads in homage low. + We are called oppressors, being none, but shortly + A true name shall it be![227] + We have so filled the earth 'tis narrow for us, + And with our ships the sea![228] + +[Sidenote: Ḥárith b. Ḥilliza.] + +Less interesting is the _Mu‘allaqa_ of Ḥárith b. Ḥilliza of Bakr. +Its inclusion among the _Mu‘allaqát_ is probably due, as Nöldeke +suggested, to the fact that Ḥammád, himself a client of Bakr, wished +to flatter his patrons by selecting a counterpart to the _Mu‘allaqa_ of +‘Amr b. Kulthúm, which immortalised their great rivals, the Banú +Taghlib. Ḥárith's poem, however, has some historical importance, as +it throws light on feuds in Northern Arabia connected with the +antagonism of the Roman and Persian Empires. Its purpose is to complain +of unjust accusations made against the Banú Bakr by a certain group of +the Banú Taghlib known as the Aráqim:-- + + "Our brothers the Aráqim let their tongues + Against us rail unmeasuredly. + The innocent with the guilty they confound: + Of guilt what boots it to be free? + They brand us patrons of the vilest deed, + Our clients in each miscreant see."[229] + +A person whom Ḥárith does not name was 'blackening' the Banú Bakr +before the King of ḤÃra. The poet tells him not to imagine that his +calumnies will have any lasting effect: often had Bakr been slandered by +their foes, but (he finely adds):-- + + "Maugre their hate we stand, by firm-based might + Exalted and by ancestry-- + Might which ere now hath dazzled men's eyes: thence scorn + To yield and haughty spirit have we. + On us the Days beat as on mountain dark + That soars in cloudless majesty, + Compact against the hard calamitous shocks + And buffetings of Destiny."[230] + +He appeals to the offenders not wantonly to break the peace which +ended the War of Basús:-- + + "Leave folly and error! If ye blind yourselves, + Just therein lies the malady. + Recall the oaths of Dhu ’l-Majáz[231] for which + Hostages gave security, + Lest force or guile should break them: can caprice + Annul the parchments utterly?[232] + +[Sidenote: ‘Antara.] + +‘Antara b. Shaddád, whose father belonged to the tribe of ‘Abs, +distinguished himself in the War of Dáḥis.[233] In modern times it is +not as a poet that he is chiefly remembered, but as a hero of +romance--the Bedouin Achilles. Goddess-born, however, he could not be +called by any stretch of imagination. His mother was a black slave, and +he must often have been taunted with his African blood, which showed +itself in a fiery courage that gained the respect of the pure-bred but +generally less valorous Arabs. ‘Antara loved his cousin ‘Abla, and +following the Arabian custom by which cousins have the first right to a +girl's hand, he asked her in marriage. His suit was vain--the son of a +slave mother being regarded as a slave unless acknowledged by his +father--until on one occasion, while the ‘Absites were hotly engaged +with some raiders who had driven off their camels, ‘Antara refused to +join in the mêlée, saying, "A slave does not understand how to fight; +his work is to milk the camels and bind their udders." "Charge!" cried +his father, "thou art free." Though ‘Antara uttered no idle boast when +he sang-- + + "On one side nobly born and of the best + Of ‘Abs am I: my sword makes good the rest!" + +his contemptuous references to 'jabbering barbarians,' and to 'slaves +with their ears cut off, clad in sheepskins,' are characteristic of the +man who had risen to eminence in spite of the stain on his scutcheon. He +died at a great age in a foray against the neighbouring tribe of +Ṭayyi’. His _Mu‘allaqa_ is famous for its stirring battle-scenes, one +of which is translated here:--[234] + + "Learn, Málik's daughter, how + I rush into the fray, + And how I draw back only + At sharing of the prey. + + I never quit the saddle, + My strong steed nimbly bounds; + Warrior after warrior + Have covered him with wounds. + + Full-armed against me stood + One feared of fighting men: + He fled not oversoon + Nor let himself be ta'en. + + With straight hard-shafted spear + I dealt him in his side + A sudden thrust which opened + Two streaming gashes wide, + + Two gashes whence outgurgled + His life-blood: at the sound + Night-roaming ravenous wolves + Flock eagerly around. + + So with my doughty spear + I trussed his coat of mail-- + For truly, when the spear strikes, + The noblest man is frail-- + + And left him low to banquet + The wild beasts gathering there; + They have torn off his fingers, + His wrist and fingers fair!" + +[Sidenote: Zuhayr.] + +While ‘Antara's poem belongs to the final stages of the War of Dáḥis, +the _Mu‘allaqa_ of his contemporary, Zuhayr b. Abà Sulmá, of the tribe +of Muzayna, celebrates an act of private munificence which brought about +the conclusion of peace. By the self-sacrificing intervention of two +chiefs of Dhubyán, Harim b. Sinán and Ḥárith b. ‘Awf, the whole sum +of blood-money to which the ‘Absites were entitled on account of the +greater number of those who had fallen on their side, was paid over to +them. Such an example of generous and disinterested patriotism--for +Harim and Ḥárith had shed no blood themselves--was a fit subject for +one of whom it was said that he never praised men but as they +deserved:-- + + Noble pair of Ghayẓ ibn Murra,[235] well ye laboured to restore + Ties of kindred hewn asunder by the bloody strokes of war. + Witness now mine oath the ancient House in Mecca's hallowed bound,[236] + Which its builders of Quraysh and Jurhum solemnly went round,[237] + That in hard or easy issue never wanting were ye found! + Peace ye gave to ‘Abs and Dhubyán when each fell by other's hand + And the evil fumes they pestled up between them filled the land."[238] + +At the end of his panegyric the poet, turning to the lately reconciled +tribesmen and their confederates, earnestly warns them against nursing +thoughts of vengeance:-- + + "Will ye hide from God the guilt ye dare not unto Him disclose? + Verily, what thing soever ye would hide from God, He knows. + Either it is laid up meantime in a scroll and treasured there + For the day of retribution, or avenged all unaware.[239] + War ye have known and war have tasted: not by hearsay are ye wise. + Raise no more the hideous monster! If ye let her raven, she cries + Ravenously for blood and crushes, like a mill-stone, all below, + And from her twin-conceiving womb she brings forth woe on woe."[240] + +After a somewhat obscure passage concerning the lawless deeds of a +certain Ḥusayn b. á¸amá¸am, which had well-nigh caused a fresh +outbreak of hostilities, Zuhayr proceeds, with a natural and touching +allusion to his venerable age, to enforce the lessons of conduct and +morality suggested by the situation:-- + + "I am weary of life's burden: well a man may weary be + After eighty years, and this much now is manifest to me: + Death is like a night-blind camel stumbling on:--the smitten die + But the others age and wax in weakness whom he passes by. + He that often deals with folk in unkind fashion, underneath + They will trample him and make him feel the sharpness of their teeth. + He that hath enough and over and is niggard with his pelf + Will be hated of his people and left free to praise himself. + He alone who with fair actions ever fortifies his fame + Wins it fully: blame will find him out unless he shrinks from blame. + He that for his cistern's guarding trusts not in his own stout arm + Sees it ruined: he must harm his foe or he must suffer harm. + He that fears the bridge of Death across it finally is driven, + Though he span as with a ladder all the space 'twixt earth and heaven. + He that will not take the lance's butt-end while he has the chance + Must thereafter be contented with the spike-end of the lance. + He that keeps his word is blamed not; he whose heart repaireth straight + To the sanctuary of duty never needs to hesitate. + He that hies abroad to strangers doth account his friends his foes; + He that honours not himself lacks honour wheresoe'er he goes. + Be a man's true nature what it will, that nature is revealed + To his neighbours, let him fancy as he may that 'tis concealed."[241] + +The ripe sententious wisdom and moral earnestness of Zuhayr's poetry are +in keeping with what has been said above concerning his religious ideas +and, from another point of view, with the tradition that he used to +compose a _qaá¹£Ãda_ in four months, correct it for four months, submit +it to the poets of his acquaintance during a like period, and not make +it public until a year had expired. + +Of his life there is little to tell. Probably he died before Islam, +though it is related that when he was a centenarian he met the Prophet, +who cried out on seeing him, "O God, preserve me from his demon!"[242] +The poetical gifts which he inherited from his uncle Basháma he +bequeathed to his son Ka‘b, author of the famous ode, _Bánat Su‘ád_. + +[Sidenote: LabÃd.] + +LabÃd b. RabÑa, of the Banú ‘Ãmir b. á¹¢a‘ṣa‘a, was born in the +latter half of the sixth century, and is said to have died soon after +Mu‘áwiya's accession to the Caliphate, which took place in A.D. 661. He +is thus the youngest of the Seven Poets. On accepting Islam he abjured +poetry, saying, "God has given me the Koran in exchange for it." Like +Zuhayr, he had, even in his heathen days, a strong vein of religious +feeling, as is shown by many passages in his DÃwán. + +LabÃd was a true Bedouin, and his _Mu‘allaqa_, with its charmingly fresh +pictures of desert life and scenery, must be considered one of the +finest examples of the Pre-islamic _qaá¹£Ãda_ that have come down to +us. The poet owes something to his predecessors, but the greater part +seems to be drawn from his own observation. He begins in the +conventional manner by describing the almost unrecognisable vestiges of +the camping-ground of the clan to which his mistress belonged:-- + + "Waste lies the land where once alighted and did wone + The people of Miná: Rijám and Ghawl are lone. + The camp in Rayyán's vale is marked by relics dim + Like weather-beaten script engraved on ancient stone. + Over this ruined scene, since it was desolate, + Whole years with secular and sacred months had flown. + In spring 'twas blest by showers 'neath starry influence shed, + And thunder-clouds bestowed a scant or copious boon. + Pale herbs had shot up, ostriches on either slope + Their chicks had gotten and gazelles their young had thrown; + And large-eyed wild-cows there beside the new-born calves + Reclined, while round them formed a troop the calves half-grown. + Torrents of rain had swept the dusty ruins bare, + Until, as writing freshly charactered, they shone, + Or like to curved tattoo-lines on a woman's arm, + With soot besprinkled so that every line is shown. + I stopped and asked, but what avails it that we ask + Dumb changeless things that speak a language all unknown?"[243] + +After lamenting the departure of his beloved the poet bids himself think +no more about her: he will ride swiftly away from the spot. Naturally, +he must praise his camel, and he introduces by way of comparison two +wonderful pictures of animal life. In the former the onager is described +racing at full speed over the backs of the hills when thirst and hunger +drive him with his mate far from the barren solitudes into which they +usually retire. The second paints a wild-cow, whose young calf has been +devoured by wolves, sleeping among the sand-dunes through a night of +incessant rain. At daybreak "her feet glide over the firm wet soil." For +a whole week she runs to and fro, anxiously seeking her calf, when +suddenly she hears the sound of hunters approaching and makes off in +alarm. Being unable to get within bowshot, the hunters loose their dogs, +but she turns desperately upon them, wounding one with her needle-like +horn and killing another. + +Then, once more addressing his beloved, the poet speaks complacently of +his share in the feasting and revelling, on which a noble Arab plumes +himself hardly less than on his bravery:-- + + "Know'st thou not, O Nawár, that I am wont to tie + The cords of love, yet also snap them without fear? + That I abandon places when I like them not, + Unless Death chain the soul and straiten her career? + Nay, surely, but thou know'st not I have passed in talk + Many a cool night of pleasure and convivial cheer, + And often to a booth, above which hung for sign + A banner, have resorted when old wine was dear. + For no light price I purchased many a dusky skin + Or black clay jar, and broached it that the juice ran clear; + And many a song of shrill-voiced singing-girl I paid, + And her whose fingers made sweet music to mine ear."[244] + +Continuing, he boasts of dangerous service as a spy in the enemy's +country, when he watched all day on the top of a steep crag; of his +fearless demeanour and dignified assertion of his rights in an assembly +at ḤÃra, to which he came as a delegate, and of his liberality to the +poor. The closing verses are devoted, in accordance with custom, to +matters of immediate interest and to a panegyric on the virtues of the +poet's kin. + +Besides the authors of the _Mu‘allaqát_ three poets may be mentioned, of +whom the two first-named are universally acknowledged to rank with the +greatest that Arabia has produced--Nábigha, A‘shá, and ‘Alqama. + +[Sidenote: Nábigha of Dhubyán.] + +Nábigha[245]--his proper name is Ziyád b. Mu‘áwiya, of the tribe +Dhubyán--lived at the courts of Ghassán and ḤÃra during the latter +half of the century before Islam. His chief patron was King Nu‘mán b. +Mundhir Abú Qábús of ḤÃra. For many years he basked in the sunshine +of royal favour, enjoying every privilege that Nu‘mán bestowed on his +most intimate friends. The occasion of their falling out is differently +related. According to one story, the poet described the charms of Queen +Mutajarrida, which Nu‘mán had asked him to celebrate, with such charm +and liveliness as to excite her husband's suspicion; but it is said--and +Nábigha's own words make it probable--that his enemies denounced him as +the author of a scurrilous satire against Nu‘mán which had been forged +by themselves. At any rate he had no choice but to quit ḤÃra with all +speed, and ere long we find him in Ghassán, welcomed and honoured, as +the panegyrist of King ‘Amr b. Ḥárith and the noble house of Jafna. +But his heart was in ḤÃra still. Deeply wounded by the calumnies of +which he was the victim, he never ceased to affirm his innocence and to +lament the misery of exile. The following poem, which he addressed to +Nu‘mán, is at once a justification and an appeal for mercy[246]:-- + + "They brought me word, O King, thou blamedst me; + For this am I o'erwhelmed with grief and care. + I passed a sick man's night: the nurses seemed, + Spreading my couch, to have heaped up briars there. + Now (lest thou cherish in thy mind a doubt) + Invoking our last refuge, God, I swear + That he, whoever told thee I was false, + Is the more lying and faithless of the pair. + Exiled perforce, I found a strip of land + Where I could live and safely take the air: + Kings made me arbiter of their possessions, + And called me to their side and spoke me fair-- + Even as thou dost grace thy favourites + Nor deem'st a fault the gratitude they bear.[247] + O leave thine anger! Else, in view of men + A mangy camel, smeared with pitch, I were. + Seest thou not God hath given thee eminence + Before which monarchs tremble and despair? + All other kings are stars and thou a sun: + When the sun rises, lo, the heavens are bare! + A friend in trouble thou wilt not forsake; + I may have sinned: in sinning all men share. + If I am wronged, thou hast but wronged a slave, + And if thou spar'st, 'tis like thyself to spare." + +It is pleasant to record that Nábigha was finally reconciled to the +prince whom he loved, and that ḤÃra again became his home. The date +of his death is unknown, but it certainly took place before Islam was +promulgated. Had the opportunity been granted to him he might have died +a Moslem: he calls himself 'a religious man' (_dhú ummatin_),[248] and +although the tradition that he was actually a Christian lacks authority, +his long residence in Syria and ‘Iráq must have made him acquainted with +the externals of Christianity and with some, at least, of its leading +ideas. + +[Sidenote: A‘shá.] + +The grave and earnest tone characteristic of Nábigha's poetry seldom +prevails in that of his younger contemporary, Maymún b. Qays, who is +generally known by his surname, al-A‘shá--that is, 'the man of weak +sight.' A professional troubadour, he roamed from one end of Arabia to +the other, harp in hand, singing the praises of those who rewarded him; +and such was his fame as a satirist that few ventured to withhold the +bounty which he asked. By common consent he stands in the very first +rank of Arabian poets. Abu ’l-Faraj, the author of the _Kitábu +’l-AghánÃ_, declares him to be superior to all the rest, adding, +however, "this opinion is not held unanimously as regards A‘shá or any +other." His wandering life brought him into contact with every kind of +culture then existing in Arabia. Although he was not an avowed +Christian, his poetry shows to what an extent he was influenced by the +Bishops of Najrán, with whom he was intimately connected, and by the +Christian merchants of ḤÃra who sold him their wine. He did not rise +above the pagan level of morality. + + It is related that he set out to visit Muḥammad for the purpose + of reciting to him an ode which he had composed in his honour. When + the Quraysh heard of this, they feared lest their adversary's + reputation should be increased by the panegyric of a bard so famous + and popular. Accordingly, they intercepted him on his way, and asked + whither he was bound. "To your kinsman," said he, "that I may accept + Islam." "He will forbid and make unlawful to thee certain practices + of which thou art fond." "What are these?" said A‘shá. + "Fornication," said Abú Sufyán, "I have not abandoned it," he + replied, "but it has abandoned me. What else?" "Gambling." "Perhaps + I shall obtain from him something to compensate me for the loss of + gambling. What else?" "Usury." "I have never borrowed nor lent. What + else?" "Wine." "Oh, in that case I will drink the water I have left + stored at al-Mihrás." Seeing that A‘shá was not to be deterred, Abú + Sufyán offered him a hundred camels on condition that he should + return to his home in Yamáma and await the issue of the struggle + between Muḥammad and the Quraysh. "I agree," said A‘shá. "O ye + Quraysh," cried Abú Sufyán, "this is A‘shá, and by God, if he + becomes a follower of Muḥammad, he will inflame the Arabs against + you by his poetry. Collect, therefore, a hundred camels for + him."[249] + +A‘shá excels in the description of wine and wine-parties. One who +visited Manfúḥa in Yamáma, where the poet was buried, relates that +revellers used to meet at his grave and pour out beside it the last +drops that remained in their cups. As an example of his style in this +_genre_ I translate a few lines from the most celebrated of his poems, +which is included by some critics among the _Mu‘allaqát_:-- + + "Many a time I hastened early to the tavern--while there ran + At my heels a ready cook, a nimble, active serving-man-- + 'Midst a gallant troop, like Indian scimitars, of mettle high; + Well they know that every mortal, shod and bare alike, must die. + Propped at ease I greet them gaily, them with myrtle-boughs I greet, + Pass among them wine that gushes from the jar's mouth bittersweet. + Emptying goblet after goblet--but the source may no man drain-- + Never cease they from carousing save to cry, 'Fill up again!' + Briskly runs the page to serve them: on his ears hang pearls: below, + Tight the girdle draws his doublet as he bustles to and fro. + 'Twas the harp, thou mightest fancy, waked the lute's responsive note, + When the loose-robed chantress touched it and sang shrill with + quavering throat. + Here and there among the party damsels fair superbly glide: + Each her long white skirt lets trail and swings a wine-skin at her + side."[250] + +[Sidenote: ‘Alqama.] + +Very little is known of the life of ‘Alqama b. ‘Abada, who was surnamed +_al-Faḥl_ (the Stallion). His most famous poem is that which he +addressed to the Ghassánid Ḥárith al-A‘raj after the Battle of +ḤalÃma, imploring him to set free some prisoners of TamÃm--the poet's +tribe--among whom was his own brother or nephew, Shás. The following +lines have almost become proverbial:-- + + "Of women do ye ask me? I can spy + Their ailments with a shrewd physician's eye. + The man whose head is grey or small his herds + No favour wins of them but mocking words. + Are riches known, to riches they aspire, + And youthful bloom is still their heart's desire."[251] + +[Sidenote: Elegiac poetry.] + +In view of these slighting verses it is proper to observe that the +poetry of Arabian women of the Pre-islamic period is distinctly +masculine in character. Their songs are seldom of Love, but often of +Death. Elegy (_rithá_ or _marthiya_) was regarded as their special +province. The oldest form of elegy appears in the verses chanted on the +death of Ta’abbaá¹a Sharran by his sister:-- + + "O the good knight ye left low at Rakhmán, + Thábit son of Jábir son of Sufyán! + He filled the cup for friends and ever slew his man."[252] + +"As a rule the Arabian dirge is very simple. The poetess begins with a +description of her grief, of the tears that she cannot quench, and then +she shows how worthy to be deeply mourned was he whom death has taken +away. He is described as a pattern of the two principal Arabian virtues, +bravery and liberality, and the question is anxiously asked, 'Who will +now make high resolves, overthrow the enemy, and in time of want feed +the poor and entertain the stranger?' If the hero of the dirge died a +violent death we find in addition a burning lust of revenge, a thirst +for the slayer's blood, expressed with an intensity of feeling of which +only women are capable."[253] + +[Sidenote: Khansá.] + +Among Arabian women who have excelled in poetry the place of honour is +due to Khansá--her real name was Tumáá¸ir--who flourished in the last +years before Islam. By far the most famous of her elegies are those in +which she bewailed her valiant brothers, Mu‘áwiya and á¹¢akhr, both of +whom were struck down by sword or spear. It is impossible to translate +the poignant and vivid emotion, the energy of passion and noble +simplicity of style which distinguish the poetry of Khansá, but here are +a few verses:-- + + Death's messenger cried aloud the loss of the generous one, + So loud cried he, by my life, that far he was heard and wide. + Then rose I, and scarce my soul could follow to meet the news, + For anguish and sore dismay and horror that á¹¢akhr had died. + In my misery and despair I seemed as a drunken man, + Upstanding awhile--then soon his tottering limbs subside."[254] + + _Yudhakkirunà á¹ulú‘u ’l-shamsi á¹¢akhran + wa-adhkuruhú likulli ghurúbi shamsi._ + + "Sunrise awakes in me the sad remembrance + Of á¹¢akhr, and I recall him at every sunset." + +[Sidenote: The last poets born in the Age of Paganism.] + +To the poets who have been enumerated many might be added--_e.g._, +Ḥassán b. Thábit, who was 'retained' by the Prophet and did useful +work on his behalf; Ka‘b b. Zuhayr, author or the famous panegyric on +Muḥammad beginning "_Bánat Su‘ád_" (Su‘ád has departed); Mutammim b. +Nuwayra, who, like Khansá, mourned the loss of a brother; Abú Miḥjan, +the singer of wine, whose devotion to the forbidden beverage was +punished by the Caliph ‘Umar with imprisonment and exile; and +al-Ḥuá¹ay’a (the Dwarf), who was unrivalled in satire. All these +belonged to the class of _Mukhaá¸ramún_, _i.e._, they were born in the +Pagan Age but died, if not Moslems, at any rate after the proclamation +of Islam. + + +[Sidenote: Collections of ancient poetry.] + +The grammarians of Baá¹£ra and Kúfa, by whom the remains of ancient +Arabian poetry were rescued from oblivion, arranged and collected their +material according to various principles. Either the poems of an +individual or those of a number of individuals belonging to the same +tribe or class were brought together--such a collection was called +_DÃwán_, plural _DawáwÃn_; or, again, the compiler edited a certain +number of _qaá¹£Ãdas_ chosen for their fame or excellence or on other +grounds, or he formed an anthology of shorter pieces or fragments, which +were arranged under different heads according to their subject-matter. + +[Sidenote: DÃwáns.] + +Among _DÃwáns_ mention may be made of _The DÃwáns of the Six Poets_, +viz. Nábigha, ‘Antara, Ṭarafa, Zuhayr, ‘Alqama, and Imru’u ’l-Qays, +edited with a full commentary by the Spanish philologist al-A‘lam +(†1083 A.D.) and published in 1870 by Ahlwardt; and of _The Poems of the +Hudhaylites_ (_Ash‘áru ’l-HudhaliyyÃn_) collected by al-Sukkarà +(†888 A.D.), which have been published by Kosegarten and Wellhausen. + +The chief Anthologies, taken in the order of their composition, are:-- + +[Sidenote: Anthologies. 1. The _Mu‘allaqát_.] + +1. The _Mu‘allaqát_, which is the title given to a collection of seven +odes by Imru’u ’l-Qays, Ṭarafa, Zuhayr, LabÃd, ‘Antara, ‘Amr b. +Kulthúm, and Ḥárith b. Ḥilliza; to these two odes by Nábigha and +A‘shá are sometimes added. The compiler was probably Ḥammád +al-Ráwiya, a famous rhapsodist of Persian descent, who flourished under +the Umayyads and died in the second half of the eighth century of our +era. As the _Mu‘allaqát_ have been discussed above, we may pass on +directly to a much larger, though less celebrated, collection dating +from the same period, viz.:-- + +[Sidenote: 2. The _Mufaá¸á¸aliyyát_.] + +2. The _Mufaá¸á¸aliyyát_,[255] by which title it is generally known +after its compiler, Mufaá¸á¸al al-á¸abbà (†circa 786 A.D.), who +made it at the instance of the Caliph Manṣúr for the instruction of +his son and successor, MahdÃ. It comprises 128 odes and is extant in two +recensions, that of Anbárà (†916 A.D.), which derives from Ibnu +’l-A‘rábÃ, the stepson of Mufaá¸á¸al, and that of Marzúqà (†1030 +A.D.). About a third of the _Mufaá¸á¸aliyyát_ was published in 1885 +by Thorbecke, and Sir Charles Lyall has recently edited the complete +text with Arabic commentary and English translation and notes.[256] + +All students of Arabian poetry are familiar with-- + +[Sidenote: 3. The _Ḥamása_ of Abú Tammám.] + +3. The _Ḥamása_ of Abú Tammám ḤabÃb b. Aws, himself a +distinguished poet, who flourished under the Caliphs Ma’mún and +Mu‘taá¹£im, and died about 850 A.D. Towards the end of his life he +visited ‘Abdulláh b. Ṭáhir, the powerful governor of Khurásán, who +was virtually an independent sovereign. It was on this journey, as Ibn +Khallikán relates, that Abú Tammám composed the _Ḥamása_; for on +arriving at Hamadhán (Ecbatana) the winter had set in, and as the cold +was excessively severe in that country, the snow blocked up the road and +obliged him to stop and await the thaw. During his stay he resided with +one of the most eminent men of the place, who possessed a library in +which were some collections of poems composed by the Arabs of the desert +and other authors. Having then sufficient leisure, he perused those +works and selected from them the passages out of which he formed his +_Ḥamása_.[257] The work is divided into ten sections of unequal +length, the first, from which it received its name, occupying (together +with the commentary) 360 pages in Freytag's edition, while the seventh +and eighth require only thirteen pages between them. These sections or +chapters bear the following titles:-- + + I. The Chapter of Fortitude (_Bábu ’l-Ḥamása_). + II. The Chapter of Dirges (_Bábu ’l-MaráthÃ_). + III. The Chapter of Good Manners (_Bábu ’l-Adab_). + IV. The Chapter of Love-Songs (_Bábu ’l-NasÃb_). + V. The Chapter of Satire (_Bábu ’l-Hijá_). + VI. The Chapter of Guests (Hospitality) and Panegyric (_Bábu + ’l-Aá¸yáf wa ’l-MadÃh_). + VII. The Chapter of Descriptions (_Bábu ’l-á¹¢ifát_). + VIII. The Chapter of Travel and Repose (_Bábu ’l-Sayr wa ’l-Nu‘ás_). + IX. The Chapter of Facetiæ (_Bábu ’l-Mulaḥ_). + X. The Chapter of Vituperation of Women (_Bábu Madhammati + ’l-Nisá_). + +The contents of the _Ḥamása_ include short poems complete in +themselves as well as passages extracted from longer poems; of the poets +represented, some of whom belong to the Pre-islamic and others to the +early Islamic period, comparatively few are celebrated, while many are +anonymous or only known by the verses attached to their names. If the +high level of excellence attained by these obscure singers shows, on the +one hand, that a natural genius for poetry was widely diffused and that +the art was successfully cultivated among all ranks of Arabian society, +we must not forget how much is due to the fine taste of Abú Tammám, who, +as the commentator TibrÃzà has remarked, "is a better poet in his +_Ḥamása_ than in his poetry." + +[Sidenote: 4. The _Ḥamása_ of BuḥturÃ.] + +4. The _Ḥamása_ of Buḥturà (†897 A.D.), a younger contemporary of +Abú Tammám, is inferior to its model.[258] However convenient from a +practical standpoint, the division into a great number of sections, each +illustrating a narrowly defined topic, seriously impairs the artistic +value of the work; moreover, Buḥturà seems to have had a less +catholic appreciation of the beauties of poetry--he admired, it is said, +only what was in harmony with his own style and ideas. + +[Sidenote: 5. The _Jamhara_.] + +5. The _Jamharatu Ash‘ári ’l-‘Arab_, a collection of forty-nine odes, +was put together probably about 1000 A.D. by Abú Zayd Muḥammad +al-QurashÃ, of whom we find no mention elsewhere. + +[Sidenote: Prose sources.] + +Apart from the _DÃwáns_ and anthologies, numerous Pre-islamic verses are +cited in biographical, philological, and other works, _e.g._, the +_Kitábu ’l-AghánÃ_ by Abu ’l-Faraj of Iá¹£fahán (†967 _A.D._), the +_Kitábu ’l-AmálÃ_ by Abú ‘Alà al-Qálà (†967 _A.D._), the _Kámil_ of +Mubarrad (†898 A.D.), and the _Khizánatu ’l-Adab_ of ‘Abdu ’l-Qádir of +Baghdád (†1682 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: The tradition of Pre-islamic poetry.] + +[Sidenote: The RáwÃs.] + +[Sidenote: The Humanists.] + +We have seen that the oldest existing poems date from the beginning of +the sixth century of our era, whereas the art of writing did not come +into general use among the Arabs until some two hundred years +afterwards. Pre-islamic poetry, therefore, was preserved by oral +tradition alone, and the question arises, How was this possible? What +guarantee have we that songs living on men's lips for so long a period +have retained their original form, even approximately? No doubt many +verses, _e.g._, those which glorified the poet's tribe or satirised +their enemies, were constantly being recited by his kin, and in this way +short occasional poems or fragments of longer ones might be perpetuated. +Of whole _qaá¹£Ãdas_ like the _Mu‘allaqát_, however, none or very few +would have reached us if their survival had depended solely on their +popularity. What actually saved them in the first place was an +institution resembling that of the Rhapsodists in Greece. Every +professed poet had his _RáwÃ_ (reciter), who accompanied him everywhere, +committed his poems to memory, and handed them down, as well as the +circumstances connected with them, to others. The characters of poet and +_ráwÃ_ were often combined; thus Zuhayr was the _ráwÃ_ of his stepfather, +Aws b. Ḥajar, while his own _ráwÃ_ was al-Ḥuá¹ay’a. If the +tradition of poetry was at first a labour of love, it afterwards became +a lucrative business, and the _RáwÃs_, instead of being attached to +individual poets, began to form an independent class, carrying in their +memories a prodigious stock of ancient verse and miscellaneous learning. +It is related, for example, that Ḥammád once said to the Caliph WalÃd +b. YazÃd: "I can recite to you, for each letter of the alphabet, one +hundred long poems rhyming in that letter, without taking into count the +short pieces, and all that composed exclusively by poets who lived +before the promulgation of Islamism." He commenced and continued until +the Caliph, having grown fatigued, withdrew, after leaving a person in +his place to verify the assertion and hear him to the last. In that +sitting he recited two thousand nine hundred _qaá¹£Ãdas_ by poets who +flourished before Muḥammad. WalÃd, on being informed of the fact, +ordered him a present of one hundred thousand dirhems.[259] Thus, +towards the end of the first century after the Hijra, _i.e._, about 700 +A.D., when the custom of _writing_ poetry began, there was much of +Pre-islamic origin still in circulation, although it is probable that +far more had already been irretrievably lost. Numbers of _RáwÃs_ +perished in the wars, or passed away in the course of nature, without +leaving any one to continue their tradition. New times had brought new +interests and other ways of life. The great majority of Moslems had no +sympathy whatever with the ancient poetry, which represented in their +eyes the unregenerate spirit of heathendom. They wanted nothing beyond +the Koran and the ḤadÃth. But for reasons which will be stated in +another chapter the language of the Koran and the ḤadÃth was rapidly +becoming obsolete as a spoken idiom outside of the Arabian peninsula: +the 'perspicuous Arabic' on which Muḥammad prided himself had ceased +to be fully intelligible to the Moslems settled in ‘Iráq and Khurásán, +in Syria, and in Egypt. It was essential that the Sacred Text should be +explained, and this necessity gave birth to the sciences of Grammar and +Lexicography. The Philologists, or, as they have been aptly designated, +the Humanists of Baá¹£ra and Kúfa, where these studies were prosecuted +with peculiar zeal, naturally found their best material in the +Pre-islamic poems--a well of Arabic undefiled. At first the ancient +poetry merely formed a basis for philological research, but in process +of time a literary enthusiasm was awakened. The surviving _RáwÃs_ were +eagerly sought out and induced to yield up their stores, the +compositions of famous poets were collected, arranged, and committed to +writing, and as the demand increased, so did the supply.[260] + +[Sidenote: Corrupt tradition of the old poetry.] + +[Sidenote: Ḥammád al-Ráwiya.] + +[Sidenote: Khalaf al-Aḥmar.] + +In these circumstances a certain amount of error was inevitable. Apart +from unconscious failings of memory, there can be no doubt that in many +cases the _RáwÃs_ acted with intent to deceive. The temptation to father +their own verses, or centos which they pieced together from sources +known only to themselves, upon some poet of antiquity was all the +stronger because they ran little risk of detection. In knowledge of +poetry and in poetical talent they were generally far more than a match +for the philologists, who seldom possessed any critical ability, but +readily took whatever came to hand. The stories which are told of Ḥammád +al-Ráwiya, clearly show how unscrupulous he was in his methods, though +we have reason to suppose that he was not a typical example of his +class. His contemporary, Mufaá¸á¸al al-á¸abbÃ, is reported to have said +that the corruption which poetry suffered through Ḥammád could never be +repaired, "for," he added, "Ḥammád is a man skilled in the language and +poesy of the Arabs and in the styles and ideas of the poets, and he is +always making verses in imitation of some one and introducing them into +genuine compositions by the same author, so that the copy passes +everywhere for part of the original, and cannot be distinguished from it +except by critical scholars--and where are such to be found?"[261] This +art of forgery was brought to perfection by Khalaf al-Aḥmar (†about 800 +A.D.), who learned it in the school of Ḥammád. If he really composed the +famous _Lámiyya_ ascribed to Shanfará, his own poetical endowments must +have been of the highest order. In his old age he repented and confessed +that he was the author of several poems which the scholars of Baá¹£ra and +Kúfa had accepted as genuine, but they laughed him to scorn, saying, +"What you said then seems to us more trustworthy than your present +assertion." + +[Sidenote: Other causes of corruption.] + +Besides the corruptions due to the _RáwÃs_, others have been accumulated +by the philologists themselves. As the Koran and the ḤadÃth were, of +course, spoken and afterwards written in the dialect of Quraysh, to whom +Muḥammad belonged, this dialect was regarded as the classical +standard;[262] consequently the variations therefrom which occurred in +the ancient poems were, for the most part, 'emended' and harmonised with +it. Many changes were made under the influence of Islam, _e.g._, 'Allah' +was probably often substituted for the pagan goddess 'al-Lát.' Moreover, +the structure of the _qaá¹£Ãda_, its disconnectedness and want of logical +cohesion, favoured the omission and transposition of whole passages or +single verses. All these modes of depravation might be illustrated in +detail, but from what has been said the reader can judge for himself how +far the poems, as they now stand, are likely to have retained the form +in which they were first uttered to the wild Arabs of the Pre-islamic +Age. + +[Sidenote: Religion.] + +[Sidenote: The Fair of ‘Ukáẓ.] + +Religion had so little influence on the lives of the Pre-islamic Arabs +that we cannot expect to find much trace of it in their poetry. They +believed vaguely in a supreme God, Allah, and more definitely in his +three daughters--al-Lát, Manát, and al-‘Uzzá--who were venerated all +over Arabia and whose intercession was graciously accepted by Allah. +There were also numerous idols enjoying high favour while they continued +to bring good luck to their worshippers. Of real piety the ordinary +Bedouin knew nothing. He felt no call to pray to his gods, although he +often found them convenient to swear by. He might invoke Allah in the +hour of need, as a drowning man will clutch at a straw; but his faith in +superstitious ceremonies was stronger. He did not take his religion too +seriously. Its practical advantages he was quick to appreciate. Not to +mention baser pleasures, it gave him rest and security during the four +sacred months, in which war was forbidden, while the institution of the +Meccan Pilgrimage enabled him to take part in a national fête. Commerce +went hand in hand with religion. Great fairs were held, the most famous +being that of ‘Ukáẓ, which lasted for twenty days. These fairs were in +some sort the centre of old Arabian social, political, and literary +life. It was the only occasion on which free and fearless intercourse +was possible between the members of different clans.[263] + +Plenty of excitement was provided by poetical and oratorical +displays--not by athletic sports, as in ancient Greece and modern +England. Here rival poets declaimed their verses and submitted them to +the judgment of an acknowledged master. Nowhere else had rising talents +such an opportunity of gaining wide reputation: what ‘Ukáẓ said to-day +all Arabia would repeat to-morrow. At ‘Ukáẓ, we are told, the youthful +Muḥammad listened, as though spellbound, to the persuasive eloquence of +Quss b. Sá‘ida, Bishop of Najrán; and he may have contrasted the +discourse of the Christian preacher with the brilliant odes chanted by +heathen bards. + +The Bedouin view of life was thoroughly hedonistic. Love, wine, +gambling, hunting, the pleasures of song and romance, the brief, +pointed, and elegant expression of wit and wisdom--these things he knew +to be good. Beyond them he saw only the grave. + + "Roast meat and wine: the swinging ride + On a camel sure and tried, + Which her master speeds amain + O'er low dale and level plain: + Women marble-white and fair + Trailing gold-fringed raiment rare: + Opulence, luxurious ease, + With the lute's soft melodies-- + Such delights hath our brief span; + Time is Change, Time's fool is Man. + Wealth or want, great store or small, + All is one since Death's are all."[264] + +It would be a mistake to suppose that these men always, or even +generally, passed their lives in the aimless pursuit of pleasure. Some +goal they had--earthly, no doubt--such as the accumulation of wealth or +the winning of glory or the fulfilment of blood-revenge. "_God forbid_" +says one, "_that I should die while a grievous longing, as it were a +mountain, weighs on my breast!_"[265] A deeper chord is touched by +Imru’u ’l-Qays: "_If I strove for a bare livelihood, scanty means would +suffice me and I would seek no more. But I strive for lasting renown, +and 'tis men like me that sometimes attain lasting renown. Never, while +life endures, does a man reach the summit of his ambition or cease from +toil._"[266] + +[Sidenote: Judaism and Christianity in Arabia.] + +[Sidenote: The ‘Ibád of ḤÃra.] + +[Sidenote: ‘Adà b. Zayd.] + +These are noble sentiments nobly expressed. Yet one hears the sigh of +weariness, as if the speaker were struggling against the conviction that +his cause is already lost, and would welcome the final stroke of +destiny. It was a time of wild uproar and confusion. Tribal and family +feuds filled the land, as Zuhayr says, with evil fumes. No wonder that +earnest and thoughtful minds asked themselves--What worth has our life, +what meaning? Whither does it lead? Such questions paganism could not +answer, but Arabia in the century before Muḥammad was not wholly +abandoned to paganism. Jewish colonists had long been settled in the +Ḥijáz. Probably the earliest settlements date from the conquest of +Palestine by Titus or Hadrian. In their new home the refugees, through +contact with a people nearly akin to themselves, became fully +Arabicised, as the few extant specimens of their poetry bear witness. +They remained Jews, however, not only in their cultivation of trade and +various industries, but also in the most vital particular--their +religion. This, and the fact that they lived in isolated communities +among the surrounding population, marked them out as the salt of the +desert. In the Ḥijáz their spiritual predominance was not seriously +challenged. It was otherwise in Yemen. We may leave out of account the +legend according to which Judaism was introduced into that country from +the Ḥijáz by the Tubba‘ As‘ad Kámil. What is certain is that towards the +beginning of the sixth century it was firmly planted there side by side +with Christianity, and that in the person of the Ḥimyarite monarch Dhú +Nuwás, who adopted the Jewish faith, it won a short-lived but sanguinary +triumph over its rival. But in Yemen, except among the highlanders of +Najrán, Christianity does not appear to have flourished as it did in the +extreme north and north-east, where the Roman and Persian frontiers were +guarded by the Arab levies of Ghassán and ḤÃra. We have seen that the +latter city contained a large Christian population who were called +distinctively ‘Ibád, _i.e._, Servants (of God). Through them the Aramaic +culture of Babylonia was transmitted to all parts of the peninsula. They +had learned the art of writing long before it was generally practised in +Arabia, as is shown by the story of Ṭarafa and Mutalammis, and they +produced the oldest _written_ poetry in the Arabic language--a poetry +very different in character from that which forms the main subject of +this chapter. Unfortunately the bulk of it has perished, since the +rhapsodists, to whom we owe the preservation of so much Pre-islamic +verse, were devoted to the traditional models and would not burden their +memories with anything new-fashioned. The most famous of the ‘Ibádà +poets is ‘Adà b. Zayd, whose adventurous career as a politician has been +sketched above. He is not reckoned by Muḥammadan critics among the +_Fuḥúl_ or poets of the first rank, because he was a townsman +(_qarawÃ_). In this connection the following anecdote is instructive. +The poet al-‘Ajjáj (†about 709 A.D.) said of his contemporaries +al-Ṭirimmáḥ and al-Kumayt: "They used to ask me concerning rare +expressions in the language of poetry, and I informed them, but +afterwards I found the same expressions wrongly applied in their poems, +the reason being that they were townsmen who described what they had not +seen and misapplied it, whereas I who am a Bedouin describe what I have +seen and apply it properly."[267] ‘Adà is chiefly remembered for his +wine-songs. Oriental Christianity has always been associated with the +drinking and selling of wine. Christian ideas were carried into the +heart of Arabia by ‘Ibádà wine merchants, who are said to have taught +their religion to the celebrated A‘shá. ‘Adà drank and was merry like +the rest, but the underlying thought, 'for to-morrow we die,' repeatedly +makes itself heard. He walks beside a cemetery, and the voices of the +dead call to him--[268] + + "Thou who seest us unto thyself shalt say, + 'Soon upon me comes the season of decay.' + Can the solid mountains evermore sustain + Time's vicissitudes and all they bring in train? + Many a traveller lighted near us and abode, + Quaffing wine wherein the purest water flowed-- + Strainers on each flagon's mouth to clear the wine, + Noble steeds that paw the earth in trappings fine! + For a while they lived in lap of luxury, + Fearing no misfortune, dallying lazily. + Then, behold, Time swept them all, like chaff, away: + Thus it is men fall to whirling Time a prey. + Thus it is Time keeps the bravest and the best + Night and day still plunged in Pleasure's fatal quest." + +It is said that the recitation of these verses induced Nu‘mán al-Akbar, +one of the mythical pagan kings of ḤÃra, to accept Christianity and +become an anchorite. Although the story involves an absurd anachronism, +it is _ben trovato_ in so far as it records the impression which the +graver sort of Christian poetry was likely to make on heathen minds. + +[Sidenote: Pre-Islamic poetry not exclusively pagan in sentiment.] + +The courts of ḤÃra and Ghassán were well known to the wandering +minstrels of the time before Muḥammad, who flocked thither in eager +search of patronage and remuneration. We may be sure that men like +Nábigha, LabÃd, and A‘shá did not remain unaffected by the culture +around them, even if it seldom entered very deeply into their lives. +That considerable traces of religious feeling are to be found in +Pre-islamic poetry admits of no denial, but the passages in question +were formerly explained as due to interpolation. This view no longer +prevails. Thanks mainly to the arguments of Von Kremer, Sir Charles +Lyall, and Wellhausen, it has come to be recognised (1) that in many +cases the above-mentioned religious feeling is not Islamic in tone; (2) +that the passages in which it occurs are not of Islamic origin; and (3) +that it is the natural and necessary result of the widely spread, though +on the whole superficial, influence of Judaism, and especially of +Christianity.[269] It shows itself not only in frequent allusions, +_e.g._, to the monk in his solitary cell, whose lamp serves to light +belated travellers on their way, and in more significant references, +such as that of Zuhayr already quoted, to the Heavenly Book in which +evil actions are enscrolled for the Day of Reckoning, but also in the +tendency to moralise, to look within, to meditate on death, and to value +the life of the individual rather than the continued existence of the +family. These things are not characteristic of old Arabian poetry, but +the fact that they do appear at times is quite in accord with the other +facts which have been stated, and justifies the conclusion that during +the sixth century religion and culture were imperceptibly extending +their sphere of influence in Arabia, leavening the pagan masses, and +gradually preparing the way for Islam. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN + + +With the appearance of Muḥammad the almost impenetrable veil thrown over +the preceding age is suddenly lifted and we find ourselves on the solid +ground of historical tradition. In order that the reasons for this +change may be understood, it is necessary to give some account of the +principal sources from which our knowledge of the Prophet's life and +teaching is derived. + +[Sidenote: Sources of information: I. The Koran.] + +[Sidenote: How it was preserved.] + +[Sidenote: Value of the Koran as an authority.] + +There is first, of course, the Koran,[270] consisting "exclusively of +the revelations or commands which Muḥammad professed, from time to time, +to receive through Gabriel as a message direct from God; and which, +under an alleged Divine direction, he delivered to those about him. At +the time of pretended inspiration, or shortly after, each passage was +recited by Muḥammad before the Companions or followers who happened to +be present, and was generally committed to writing by some one amongst +them upon palm-leaves, leather, stones, or such other rude material as +conveniently came to hand. These Divine messages continued throughout +the three-and-twenty years of his prophetical life, so that the last +portion did not appear till the year of his death. The canon was then +closed; but the contents were never, during the Prophet's lifetime, +systematically arranged, or even collected together."[271] They were +preserved, however, in fragmentary copies and, especially, by oral +recitation until the sanguinary wars which followed Muḥammad's death had +greatly diminished the number of those who could repeat them by heart. +Accordingly, after the battle of Yamáma (633 A.D.) ‘Umar b. al-Khaá¹á¹Ã¡b +came to Abú Bakr, who was then Caliph, and said: "I fear that slaughter +may wax hot among the Reciters on other battle-fields, and that much of +the Koran may be lost; so in my opinion it should be collected without +delay." Abú Bakr agreed, and entrusted the task to Zayd b. Thábit, one +of the Prophet's amanuenses, who collected the fragments with great +difficulty "from bits of parchment, thin white stones, leafless +palm-branches, and the bosoms of men." The manuscript thus compiled was +deposited with Abú Bakr during the remainder of his life, then with +‘Umar, on whose death it passed to his daughter Ḥafá¹£a. Afterwards, in +the Caliphate of ‘Uthmán, Ḥudhayfa b. al-Yamán, observing that the Koran +as read in Syria was seriously at variance with the text current in +‘Iráq, warned the Caliph to interfere, lest the Sacred Book of the +Moslems should become a subject of dispute, like the Jewish and +Christian scriptures. In the year 651 A.D. ‘Uthmán ordered Zayd b. +Thábit to prepare a Revised Version with the assistance of three +Qurayshites, saying to the latter, "If ye differ from Zayd regarding any +word of the Koran, write it in the dialect of Quraysh; for it was +revealed in their dialect."[272] This has ever since remained the final +and standard recension of the Koran. "Transcripts were multiplied and +forwarded to the chief cities in the empire, and all previously existing +copies were, by the Caliph's command, committed to the flames."[273] In +the text as it has come down to us the various readings are few and +unimportant, and its genuineness is above suspicion. We shall see, +moreover, that the Koran is an exceedingly human document, reflecting +every phase of Muḥammad's personality and standing in close relation to +the outward events of his life, so that here we have materials of unique +and incontestable authority for tracing the origin and early development +of Islam--such materials as do not exist in the case of Buddhism or +Christianity or any other ancient religion. Unfortunately the +arrangement of the Koran can only be described as chaotic. No +chronological sequence is observed in the order of the Súras (chapters), +which is determined simply by their length, the longest being placed +first.[274] Again, the chapters themselves are sometimes made up of +disconnected fragments having nothing in common except the rhyme; whence +it is often impossible to discover the original context of the words +actually spoken by the Prophet, the occasion on which they were +revealed, or the period to which they belong. In these circumstances the +Koran must be supplemented by reference to our second main source of +information, namely, Tradition. + +[Sidenote: 2. Tradition (ḤadÃth).] + +[Sidenote: Biographies of Muḥammad.] + +[Sidenote: General collections.] + +[Sidenote: Commentaries on the Koran.] + +Already in the last years of Muḥammad's life (writes Dr. Sprenger) it +was a pious custom that when two Moslems met, one should ask for news +(_ḥadÃth_) and the other should relate a saying or anecdote of the +Prophet. After his death this custom continued, and the name _ḤadÃth_ +was still applied to sayings and stories which were no longer new.[275] +In the course of time an elaborate system of Tradition was built up, as +the Koran--originally the sole criterion by which Moslems were guided +alike in the greatest and smallest matters of public and private +interest--was found insufficient for the complicated needs of a rapidly +extending empire. Appeal was made to the sayings and practice (_sunna_) +of Muḥammad, which now acquired "the force of law and some of the +authority of inspiration." The Prophet had no Boswell, but almost as +soon as he began to preach he was a marked man whose _obiter dicta_ +could not fail to be treasured by his Companions, and whose actions were +attentively watched. Thus, during the first century of Islam there was a +multitude of living witnesses from whom traditions were collected, +committed to memory, and orally handed down. Every tradition consists of +two parts: the text (_matn_) and the authority (_sanad_, or _isnád_), +_e.g._, the relater says, "I was told by _A_, who was informed by _B_, +who had it from _C_, that the Prophet (God bless him!) and Abú Bakr and +‘Umar used to open prayer with the words 'Praise to God, the Lord of all +creatures.'" Written records and compilations were comparatively rare in +the early period. Ibn Isḥáq (†768 A.D.) composed the oldest extant +Biography of the Prophet, which we do not possess, however, in its +original shape but only in the recension of Ibn Hishám (†833 A.D.). Two +important and excellent works of the same kind are the _Kitábu +’l-MagházÃ_ ('Book of the Wars') by Wáqidà (†822 A.D.) and the _Kitábu +’l-Ṭabaqát al-KabÃr_ ('The Great Book of the Classes,' _i.e._, the +different classes of Muḥammad's Companions and those who came after +them) by Ibn Sa‘d (†844 A.D.). Of miscellaneous traditions intended to +serve the Faithful as a model and rule of life in every particular, and +arranged in chapters according to the subject-matter, the most ancient +and authoritative collections are those of Bukhárà (†870 A.D.) and +Muslim (†874 A.D.), both of which bear the same title, viz., +_al-á¹¢aḥÃḥ_, 'The Genuine.' It only remains to speak of Commentaries on +the Koran. Some passages were explained by Muḥammad himself, but the +real founder of Koranic Exegesis was ‘Abdulláh b. ‘Abbás, the Prophet's +cousin. Although the writings of the early interpreters have entirely +perished, the gist of their researches is embodied in the great +commentary of Ṭabarà (†922 A.D.), a man of encyclopædic learning who +absorbed the whole mass of tradition existing in his time. Subsequent +commentaries are largely based on this colossal work, which has recently +been published at Cairo in thirty volumes. That of Zamakhsharà (†1143 +A.D.), which is entitled the _Kashsháf_, and that of Bayá¸Ã¡wà (†1286 +A.D.) are the best known and most highly esteemed in the Muḥammadan +East. A work of wider scope is the _Itqán_ of Suyúá¹Ã (†1505 A.D.), +which takes a general survey of the Koranic sciences, and may be +regarded as an introduction to the critical study of the Koran. + +[Sidenote: Character of Moslem tradition.] + +While every impartial student will admit the justice of Ibn Qutayba's +claim that no religion has such historical attestations as Islam--_laysa +li-ummatin mina ’l-umami asnádun ka-asnádihim_[276]--he must at the same +time cordially assent to the observation made by another Muḥammadan: "In +nothing do we see pious men more given to falsehood than in Tradition" +(_lam nara ’l-ṣáliḥÃna? fà shayin akdhaba minhum fi ’l-ḥadÃth_).[277] Of +this severe judgment the reader will find ample confirmation in the +Second Part of Goldziher's _Muhammedanische Studien_.[278] During the +first century of Islam the forging of Traditions became a recognised +political and religious weapon, of which all parties availed themselves. +Even men of the strictest piety practised this species of fraud +(_tadlÃs_), and maintained that the end justified the means. Their point +of view is well expressed in the following words which are supposed to +have been spoken by the Prophet: "You must compare the sayings +attributed to me with the Koran; what agrees therewith is from me, +whether I actually said it or no;" and again, "Whatever good saying has +been said, I myself have said it."[279] As the result of such principles +every new doctrine took the form of an Apostolic _ḤadÃth_; every sect +and every system defended itself by an appeal to the authority of +Muḥammad. We may see how enormous was the number of false Traditions in +circulation from the fact that when Bukhárà (†870 A.D.) drew up his +collection entitled 'The Genuine' (_al-á¹¢aḥÃḥ_), he limited it to some +7,000, which he picked out of 600,000. + +The credibility of Tradition, so far as it concerns the life of the +Prophet, cannot be discussed in this place.[280] The oldest and best +biography, that of Ibn Isḥáq, undoubtedly contains a great deal of +fabulous matter, but his narrative appears to be honest and fairly +authentic on the whole. + + +[Sidenote: Birth of Muḥammad.] + +If we accept the traditional chronology, Muḥammad, son of ‘Abdulláh and +Ãmina, of the tribe of Quraysh, was born at Mecca on the 12th of RabÑ +al-Awwal, in the Year of the Elephant (570-571 A.D.). His descent from +Quá¹£ayy is shown by the following table:-- + + Quá¹£ayy. + │ + ‘Abd Manáf. + │ + ┌────────┴───────────┠+ │ │ + ‘Abd Shams. Háshim. + │ │ + Umayya. ‘Abdu ’l-Muá¹á¹alib. + │ + ┌───────────+─────────────┠+ │ │ │ + ‘Abbás. ‘Abdulláh. Abú Ṭálib. + │ + MUḤAMMAD. + +[Sidenote: His childhood.] + +Shortly after his birth he was handed over to a Bedouin nurse--ḤalÃma, a +woman of the Banú Sa‘d--so that until he was five years old he breathed +the pure air and learned to speak the unadulterated language of the +desert. One marvellous event which is said to have happened to him at +this time may perhaps be founded on fact:-- + + [Sidenote: Muḥammad and the two angels.] + + "He and his foster-brother" (so ḤalÃma relates) "were among the + cattle behind our encampment when my son came running to us and + cried, 'My brother, the Qurayshite! two men clad in white took him + and laid him on his side and cleft his belly; and they were stirring + their hands in it.' When my husband and I went out to him we found + him standing with his face turned pale, and on our asking, 'What + ails thee, child?' he answered, 'Two men wearing white garments came + to me and laid me on my side and cleft my belly and groped for + something, I know not what.' We brought him back to our tent, and my + husband said to me, 'O ḤalÃma, I fear this lad has been smitten + (_uá¹£Ãba_); so take him home to his family before it becomes + evident.' When we restored him to his mother she said, 'What has + brought thee, nurse? Thou wert so fond of him and anxious that he + should stay with thee.' I said, 'God has made him grow up, and I + have done my part. I feared that some mischance would befall him, so + I brought him back to thee as thou wishest.' 'Thy case is not thus,' + said she; 'tell me the truth,' and she gave me no peace until I told + her. Then she said, 'Art thou afraid that he is possessed by the + Devil?' I said, 'Yes.' 'Nay, by God,' she replied, 'the Devil cannot + reach him; my son hath a high destiny.'"[281] + +Other versions of the story are more explicit. The angels, it is said, +drew forth Muḥammad's heart, cleansed it, and removed the black +clot--_i.e_., the taint of original sin.[282] If these inventions have +any basis at all beyond the desire to glorify the future Prophet, we +must suppose that they refer to some kind of epileptic fit. At a later +period he was subject to such attacks, which, according to the unanimous +voice of Tradition, often coincided with the revelations sent down from +heaven. + +[Sidenote: His meeting with the monk BaḥÃrá.] + +‘Abdulláh had died before the birth of his son, and when, in his sixth +year, Muḥammad lost his mother also, the charge of the orphan was +undertaken first by his grandfather, the aged ‘Abdu ’l-Muá¹á¹alib, and +then by his uncle, Abú Ṭálib, a poor but honourable man, who nobly +fulfilled the duties of a guardian to the last hour of his life. +Muḥammad's small patrimony was soon spent, and he was reduced to herding +sheep--a despised employment which usually fell to the lot of women or +slaves. In his twelfth year he accompanied Abú Ṭálib on a trading +expedition to Syria, in the course of which he is said to have +encountered a Christian monk called BaḥÃrá, who discovered the Seal of +Prophecy between the boy's shoulders, and hailed him as the promised +apostle. Such anticipations deserve no credit whatever. The truth is +that until Muḥammad assumed the prophetic rôle he was merely an obscure +Qurayshite; and scarcely anything related of him anterior to that event +can be deemed historical except his marriage to KhadÃja, an elderly +widow of considerable fortune, which took place when he was about +twenty-five years of age. + +[Sidenote: The ḤanÃfs.] + +During the next fifteen years of his life Muḥammad was externally a +prosperous citizen, only distinguished from those around him by an +habitual expression of thoughtful melancholy. What was passing in his +mind may be conjectured with some probability from his first utterances +when he came forward as a preacher. It is certain, and he himself has +acknowledged, that he formerly shared the idolatry of his countrymen. +"_Did not He find thee astray and lead thee aright?_" (Kor. xciii, 7). +When and how did the process of conversion begin? These questions cannot +be answered, but it is natural to suppose that the all-important result, +on which Muḥammad's biographers concentrate their attention, was +preceded by a long period of ferment and immaturity. The idea of +monotheism was represented in Arabia by the Jews, who were particularly +numerous in the Ḥijáz, and by several gnostic sects of an ascetic +character--_e.g._, the Ṣábians[283] and the Rakúsians. Furthermore, +"Islamic tradition knows of a number of religious thinkers before +Muḥammad who are described as ḤanÃfs,"[284] and of whom the best known +are Waraqa b. Nawfal of Quraysh; Zayd b. ‘Amr b. Nufayl, also of +Quraysh; and Umayya b. Abi ’l-á¹¢alt of ThaqÃf. They formed no sect, as +Sprenger imagined; and more recent research has demonstrated the +baselessness of the same scholar's theory that there was in Pre-islamic +times a widely-spread religious movement which Muḥammad organised, +directed, and employed for his own ends. His Arabian precursors, if they +may be so called, were merely a few isolated individuals. We are told by +Ibn Isḥáq that Waraqa and Zayd, together with two other Qurayshites, +rejected idolatry and left their homes in order to seek the true +religion of Abraham, but whereas Waraqa is said to have become a +Christian, Zayd remained a pious dissenter unattached either to +Christianity or to Judaism; he abstained from idol-worship, from eating +that which had died of itself, from blood, and from the flesh of animals +offered in sacrifice to idols; he condemned the barbarous custom of +burying female infants alive, and said, "I worship the Lord of +Abraham."[285] As regards Umayya b. Abi ’l-á¹¢alt, according to the notice +of him in the _AghánÃ_, he had inspected and read the Holy Scriptures; +he wore sackcloth as a mark of devotion, held wine to be unlawful, was +inclined to disbelieve in idols, and earnestly sought the true religion. +It is said that he hoped to be sent as a prophet to the Arabs, and +therefore when Muḥammad appeared he envied and bitterly opposed +him.[286] Umayya's verses, some of which have been translated in a +former chapter,[287] are chiefly on religious topics, and show many +points of resemblance with the doctrines set forth in the early Súras of +the Koran. With one exception, all the ḤanÃfs whose names are recorded +belonged to the Ḥijáz and the west of the Arabian peninsula. No doubt +Muḥammad, with whom most of them were contemporary, came under their +influence, and he may have received his first stimulus from this +quarter.[288] While they, however, were concerned only about their own +salvation, Muḥammad, starting from the same position, advanced far +beyond it. His greatness lies not so much in the sublime ideas by which +he was animated as in the tremendous force and enthusiasm of his appeal +to the universal conscience of mankind. + + +[Sidenote: Muḥammad's vision.] + +In his fortieth year, it is said, Muḥammad began to dream dreams and see +visions, and desire solitude above all things else. He withdrew to a +cave on Mount Ḥirá, near Mecca, and engaged in religious austerities +(_taḥannuth_). One night in the month of Ramaá¸Ã¡n[289] the Angel[290] +appeared to him and said, "Read!" (_iqra’_). He answered, "I am no +reader" (_má ana bi-qári’in_).[291] Then the Angel seized him with a +strong grasp, saying, "Read!" and, as Muḥammad still refused to obey, +gripped him once more and spoke as follows:-- + + + THE SÚRA OF COAGULATED BLOOD (XCVI). + + (1) Read in the name of thy Lord[292] who created, + (2) Who created Man of blood coagulated. + (3) Read! Thy Lord is the most beneficent, + (4) Who taught by the Pen,[293] + (5) Taught that which they knew not unto men. + +On hearing these words Muḥammad returned, trembling, to KhadÃja and +cried, "Wrap me up! wrap me up!" and remained covered until the terror +passed away from him.[294] Another tradition relating to the same event +makes it clear that the revelation occurred in a dream.[295] "I awoke," +said the Prophet, "and methought it was written in my heart." If we take +into account the notions prevalent among the Arabs of that time on the +subject of inspiration,[296] it will not appear surprising that Muḥammad +at first believed himself to be possessed, like a poet or soothsayer, by +one of the spirits called collectively _Jinn_. Such was his anguish of +mind that he even meditated suicide, but KhadÃja comforted and reassured +him, and finally he gained the unalterable conviction that he was not a +prey to demoniacal influences, but a prophet divinely inspired. For some +time he received no further revelation.[297] Then suddenly, as he +afterwards related, he saw the Angel seated on a throne between earth +and heaven. Awe-stricken, he ran into his house and bade them wrap his +limbs in a warm garment (_dithár_). While he lay thus the following +verses were revealed:-- + + + THE SÚRA OF THE ENWRAPPED (LXXIV). + + (1) O thou who enwrapped dost lie! + (2) Arise and prophesy,[298] + (3) And thy Lord magnify, + (4) And thy raiment purify, + (5) And the abomination fly![299] + +Muḥammad no longer doubted that he had a divinely ordained mission to +preach in public. His feelings of relief and thankfulness are expressed +in several Súras of this period, _e.g._-- + + + THE SÚRA OF THE MORNING (XCIII). + + (1) By the Morning bright + (2) And the softly falling Night, + (3) Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee, neither art thou hateful in + His sight. + (4) Verily, the Beginning is hard unto thee, but the End shall be + light.[300] + (5) Thou shalt be satisfied, the Lord shall thee requite. + (6) Did not He shelter thee when He found thee in orphan's plight? + (7) Did not He find thee astray and lead thee aright? + (8) Did not He find thee poor and make thee rich by His might? + (9) Wherefore, the orphan betray not, + (10) And the beggar turn away not, + (11) And tell of the bounty of thy Lord. + +[Sidenote: The first Moslems.] + +[Sidenote: Hostility of the Quraysh.] + +[Sidenote: Emigration to Abyssinia.] + +[Sidenote: Temporary reconciliation with the Quraysh.] + +According to his biographers, an interval of three years elapsed between +the sending of Muḥammad and his appearance as a public preacher of the +faith that was in him. Naturally, he would first turn to his own family +and friends, but it is difficult to accept the statement that he made no +proselytes openly during so long a period. The contrary is asserted in +an ancient tradition related by al-Zuhrà (†742 A.D.), where we read +that the Prophet summoned the people to embrace Islam[301] both in +private and public; and that those who responded to his appeal were, for +the most part, young men belonging to the poorer class.[302] He found, +however, some influential adherents. Besides KhadÃja, who was the first +to believe, there were his cousin ‘AlÃ, his adopted son, Zayd b. +Ḥáritha, and, most important of all, Abú Bakr b. Abà Quháfa, a leading +merchant of the Quraysh, universally respected and beloved for his +integrity, wisdom, and kindly disposition. At the outset Muḥammad seems +to have avoided everything calculated to offend the heathens, confining +himself to moral and religious generalities, so that many believed, and +the Meccan aristocrats themselves regarded him with good-humoured +toleration as a harmless oracle-monger. "Look!" they said as he passed +by, "there goes the man of the Banú ‘Abd al-Muá¹á¹alib who tells of +heaven." But no sooner did he begin to emphasise the Unity of God, to +fulminate against idolatry, and to preach the Resurrection of the dead, +than his followers melted away in face of the bitter antagonism which +these doctrines excited amongst the Quraysh, who saw in the Ka‘ba and +its venerable cult the mainspring of their commercial prosperity, and +were irritated by the Prophet's declaration that their ancestors were +burning in hell-fire. The authority of Abú Ṭálib secured the personal +safety of Muḥammad; of the little band who remained faithful some were +protected by the strong family feeling characteristic of old Arabian +society, but many were poor and friendless; and these, especially the +slaves, whom the levelling ideas of Islam had attracted in large +numbers, were subjected to cruel persecution.[303] Nevertheless Muḥammad +continued to preach. "I will not forsake this cause" (thus he is said to +have answered Abú Ṭálib, who informed him of the threatening attitude of +the Quraysh and begged him not to lay on him a greater burden than he +could bear) "until God shall make it prevail or until I shall perish +therein--not though they should set the sun on my right hand and the +moon on my left!"[304] But progress was slow and painful: the Meccans +stood obstinately aloof, deriding both his prophetic authority and the +Divine chastisement with which he sought to terrify them. Moreover, they +used every kind of pressure short of actual violence in order to seduce +his followers, so that many recanted, and in the fifth year of his +mission he saw himself driven to the necessity of commanding a general +emigration to the Christian kingdom of Abyssinia, where the Moslems +would be received with open arms[305] and would be withdrawn from +temptation.[306] About a hundred men and women went into exile, leaving +their Prophet with a small party of staunch and devoted comrades to +persevere in a struggle that was daily becoming more difficult. In a +moment of weakness Muḥammad resolved to attempt a compromise with his +countrymen. One day, it is said, the chief men of Mecca, assembled in a +group beside the Ka‘ba, discussed as was their wont the affairs of the +city, when Muḥammad appeared and, seating himself by them in a friendly +manner, began to recite in their hearing the 53rd Súra of the Koran. +When he came to the verses (19-20)-- + + "Do ye see Al-Lát and Al-‘Uzzá, and Manát, the third and last?" + +Satan prompted him to add:-- + + "These are the most exalted Cranes (or Swans), + And verily their intercession is to be hoped for." + +The Quraysh were surprised and delighted with this acknowledgment of +their deities; and as Muḥammad wound up the Súra with the closing +words-- + + "Wherefore bow down before God and serve Him," + +the whole assembly prostrated themselves with one accord on the ground +and worshipped.[307] But scarcely had Muḥammad returned to his house +when he repented of the sin into which he had fallen. He cancelled the +idolatrous verses and revealed in their place those which now stand in +the Koran-- + + "Shall yours be the male and his the female?[308] + This were then an unjust division! + They are naught but names which ye and your fathers have named." + +[Sidenote: Muḥammad's concession to the idolaters.] + +We can easily comprehend why Ibn Hishám omits all mention of this +episode from his Biography, and why the fact itself is denied by many +Moslem theologians.[309] The Prophet's friends were scandalised, his +enemies laughed him to scorn. It was probably no sudden lapse, as +tradition represents, but a calculated endeavour to come to terms with +the Quraysh; and so far from being immediately annulled, the +reconciliation seems to have lasted long enough for the news of it to +reach the emigrants in Abyssinia and induce some of them to return to +Mecca. While putting the best face on the matter, Muḥammad felt keenly +both his own disgrace and the public discredit. It speaks well for his +sincerity that, as soon as he perceived any compromise with idolatry to +be impossible--to be, in fact, a surrender of the great principle by +which he was inspired--he frankly confessed his error and delusion. +Henceforth he "wages mortal strife with images in every shape"--there is +no god but Allah. + +[Sidenote: Death of KhadÃja and Abú Ṭálib.] + +The further course of events which culminated in Muḥammad's Flight to +MedÃna may be sketched in a few words. Persecution now waxed hotter than +ever, as the Prophet, rising from his temporary vacillation like a giant +refreshed, threw his whole force into the denunciation of idolatry. The +conversion of ‘Umar b. al-Khaá¹á¹Ã¡b, the future Caliph, a man of 'blood +and iron,' gave the signal for open revolt. "The Moslems no longer +concealed their worship within their own dwellings, but with conscious +strength and defiant attitude assembled in companies about the Ka‘ba, +performed their rites of prayer and compassed the Holy House. Their +courage rose. Dread and uneasiness seized the Quraysh." The latter +retaliated by cutting off all relations with the Háshimites, who were +pledged to defend their kinsman, whether they recognised him as a +prophet or no. This ban or boycott secluded them in an outlying quarter +of the city, where for more than two years they endured the utmost +privations, but it only cemented their loyalty to Muḥammad, and +ultimately dissensions among the Quraysh themselves caused it to be +removed. Shortly afterwards the Prophet suffered a double +bereavement--the death of his wife, KhadÃja, was followed by that of the +noble Abú Ṭálib, who, though he never accepted Islam, stood firm to the +last in defence of his brother's son. Left alone to protect himself, +Muḥammad realised that he must take some decisive step. The situation +was critical. Events had shown that he had nothing to hope and +everything to fear from the Meccan aristocracy. He had warned them again +and again of the wrath to come, yet they gave no heed. He was now +convinced that they would not and could not believe, since God in His +inscrutable wisdom had predestined them to eternal damnation. +Consequently he resolved on a bold and, according to Arab ways of +thinking, abominable expedient, namely, to abandon his fellow-tribesmen +and seek aid from strangers.[310] Having vainly appealed to the +inhabitants of Ṭá’if, he turned to MedÃna, where, among a population +largely composed of Jews, the revolutionary ideas of Islam might more +readily take root and flourish than in the Holy City of Arabian +heathendom. This time he was not disappointed. A strong party in MedÃna +hailed him as the true Prophet, eagerly embraced his creed, and swore to +defend him at all hazards. In the spring of the year 622 A.D. the +Moslems of Mecca quietly left their homes and journeyed northward. A few +months later (September, 622) Muḥammad himself, eluding the vigilance of +the Quraysh, entered MedÃna in triumph amidst the crowds and +acclamations due to a conqueror. + +[Sidenote: The _Hijra_ or Migration to Medina (622 A.D.).] + +This is the celebrated Migration or Hegira (properly _Hijra_) which +marks the end of the Barbaric Age (_al-Jáhiliyya_) and the beginning of +the Muḥammadan Era. It also marks a new epoch in the Prophet's history; +but before attempting to indicate the nature of the change it will be +convenient, in order that we may form a juster conception of his +character, to give some account of his early teaching and preaching as +set forth in that portion of the Koran which was revealed at Mecca. + +[Sidenote: The Koran.] + +[Sidenote: Was Muḥammad poet?] + +Koran (Qur’án) is derived from the Arabic root _qara’a_, 'to read,' and +means 'reading aloud' or 'chanting.' This term may be applied either to +a single Revelation or to several recited together or, in its usual +acceptation, to the whole body of Revelations which are thought by +Moslems to be, actually and literally, the Word of God; so that in +quoting from the Koran they say _qála ’lláhu_, _i.e._, 'God said.' Each +Revelation forms a separate _Súra_ (chapter)[311] composed of verses of +varying length which have no metre but are generally rhymed. Thus, as +regards its external features, the style of the Koran is modelled upon +the _Saj‘_,[312] or rhymed prose, of the pagan soothsayers, but with +such freedom that it may fairly be described as original. Since it was +not in Muḥammad's power to create a form that should be absolutely new, +his choice lay between _Saj‘_ and poetry, the only forms of elevated +style then known to the Arabs. He himself declared that he was no +poet,[313] and this is true in the sense that he may have lacked the +technical accomplishment of verse-making. It must, however, be borne in +mind that his disavowal does not refer primarily to the poetic art, but +rather to the person and character of the poets themselves. He, the +divinely inspired Prophet, could have nothing to do with men who owed +their inspiration to demons and gloried in the ideals of paganism which +he was striving to overthrow. "_And the poets do those follow who go +astray! Dost thou not see that they wander distraught in every vale? and +that they say that which they do not?_" (Kor. xxvi, 224-226). Muḥammad +was not of these; although he was not so unlike them as he pretended. +His kinship with the pagan _Shá‘ir_ is clearly shown, for example, in +the 113th and 114th Súras, which are charms against magic and +_diablerie_, as well as in the solemn imprecation calling down +destruction upon the head of his uncle, ‘Abdu ’l-‘Uzzá, nicknamed Abú +Lahab (Father of Flame). + + + THE SÚRA OF ABÚ LAHAB (CXI). + + (1) Perish the hands of Abú Lahab and perish he! + (2) His wealth shall not avail him nor all he hath gotten in fee. + (3) Burned in blazing fire he shall be! + (4) And his wife, the faggot-bearer, also she. + (5) Upon her neck a cord of fibres of the palm-tree. + +If, then, we must allow that Muḥammad's contemporaries had some +justification for bestowing upon him the title of poet against which he +protested so vehemently, still less can his plea be accepted by the +modern critic, whose verdict will be that the Koran is not poetical as a +whole; that it contains many pages of rhetoric and much undeniable +prose; but that, although Muḥammad needed "heaven-sent moments for this +skill," in the early Meccan Súras frequently, and fitfully elsewhere, +his genius proclaims itself by grand lyrical outbursts which could never +have been the work of a mere rhetorician. + + [Sidenote: The Meccan Súras.] + + "Muḥammad's single aim in the Meccan Súras," says Nöldeke, "is to + convert the people, by means of persuasion, from their false gods to + the One God. To whatever point the discourse is directed, this + always remains the ground-thought; but instead of seeking to + convince the reason of his hearers by logical proofs, he employs the + arts of rhetoric to work upon their minds through the imagination. + Thus he glorifies God, describes His working in Nature and History, + and ridicules on the other hand the impotence of the idols. + Especially important are the descriptions of the everlasting bliss + of the pious and the torments of the wicked: these, particularly the + latter, must be regarded as one of the mightiest factors in the + propagation of Islam, through the impression which they make on the + imagination of simple men who have not been hardened, from their + youth up, by similar theological ideas. The Prophet often attacks + his heathen adversaries personally and threatens them with eternal + punishment; but while he is living among heathens alone, he seldom + assails the Jews who stand much nearer to him, and the Christians + scarcely ever."[314] + +The preposterous arrangement of the Koran, to which I have already +adverted, is mainly responsible for the opinion almost unanimously held +by European readers that it is obscure, tiresome, uninteresting; a +farrago of long-winded narratives and prosaic exhortations, quite +unworthy to be named in the same breath with the Prophetical Books of +the Old Testament. One may, indeed, peruse the greater part of the +volume, beginning with the first chapter, and find but a few passages of +genuine enthusiasm to relieve the prevailing dulness. It is in the short +Súras placed at the end of the Koran that we must look for evidence of +Muḥammad's prophetic gift. These are the earliest of all; in these the +flame of inspiration burns purely and its natural force is not abated. +The following versions, like those which have preceded, imitate the +original form as closely, I think, as is possible in English. They +cannot, of course, do more than faintly suggest the striking effect of +the sonorous Arabic when read aloud. The Koran was designed for oral +recitation, and it must be _heard_ in order to be justly appraised. + + + THE SÚRA OF THE SEVERING (LXXXII). + + (1) When the Sky shall be severèd, + (2) And when the Stars shall be shiverèd, + (3) And when the Seas to mingle shall be sufferèd, + (4) And when the Graves shall be uncoverèd-- + (5) A soul shall know that which it hath deferred or deliverèd.[315] + (6) O Man, what beguiled thee against thy gracious Master to rebel, + (7) Who created thee and fashioned thee right and thy frame did fairly + build? + (8) He composed thee in whatever form He willed. + (9) Nay, but ye disbelieve in the Ordeal![316] + (10) Verily over you are Recorders honourable, + (11) Your deeds inscribing without fail:[317] + (12) What ye do they know well. + (13) Surely the pious in delight shall dwell, + (14) And surely the wicked shall be in Hell, + (15) Burning there on the Day of Ordeal; + (16) And evermore Hell-fire they shall feel! + (17) What shall make thee to understand what is the Day of Ordeal? + (18) Again, what shall make thee to understand what is the Day + of Ordeal?-- + (19) A Day when one soul shall not obtain anything for another soul, + but the command on that Day shall be with God alone. + + + THE SÚRA OF THE SIGNS (LXXXV). + + (1) By the Heaven in which Signs are set, + (2) By the Day that is promisèd, + (3) By the Witness and the Witnessèd:-- + (4) Cursèd be the Fellows of the Pit, they that spread + (5) The fire with fuel fed, + (6) When they sate by its head + (7) And saw how their contrivance against the Believers sped;[318] + (8) And they punished them not save that they believed on God, + the Almighty, the Glorified, + (9) To whom is the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth, and He + seeth every thing beside. + (10) Verily, for those who afflict believing men and women and + repent not, the torment of Gehenna and the torment of + burning is prepared. + (11) Verily, for those who believe and work righteousness are + Gardens beneath which rivers flow: this is the great + Reward. + (12) Stern is the vengeance of thy Lord. + (13) He createth the living and reviveth the dead: + (14) He doth pardon and kindly entreat: + (15) The majestic Throne is His seat: + (16) That he willeth He doeth indeed. + (17) Hath not word come to thee of the multitude + (18) Of Pharaoh, and of Thamúd?[319] + (19) Nay, the infidels cease not from falsehood, + (20) But God encompasseth them about. + (21) Surely, it is a Sublime Koran that ye read, + (22) On a Table inviolate.[320] + + + THE SÚRA OF THE SMITING (CI). + + (1) The Smiting! What is the Smiting? + (2) And how shalt thou be made to understand what is the Smiting? + (3) The Day when Men shall be as flies scatterèd, + (4) And the Mountains shall be as shreds of wool tatterèd. + (5) One whose Scales are heavy, a pleasing life he shall spend, + (6) But one whose Scales are light, to the Abyss he shall descend. + (7) What that is, how shalt thou be made to comprehend? + (8) Scorching Fire without end! + + + THE SÚRA OF THE UNBELIEVERS (CIX). + + (1) Say: 'O Unbelievers, + (2) I worship not that which ye worship, + (3) And ye worship not that which I worship. + (4) Neither will I worship that which ye worship, + (5) Nor will ye worship that which I worship. + (6) Ye have your religion and I have my religion.' + +[Sidenote: The teaching of Muḥammad at Mecca.] + +To summarise the cardinal doctrines preached by Muḥammad during the +Meccan period:-- + +1. There is no god but God. + +2. Muḥammad is the Apostle of God, and the Koran is the Word of God +revealed to His Apostle. + +3. The dead shall be raised to life at the Last Judgment, when every one +shall be judged by his actions in the present life. + +4. The pious shall enter Paradise and the wicked shall go down to Hell. + +Taking these doctrines separately, let us consider a little more in +detail how each of them is stated and by what arguments it is enforced. +The time had not yet come for drawing the sword: Muḥammad repeats again +and again that he is only a warner (_nadhÃr_) invested with no authority +to compel where he cannot persuade. + +[Sidenote: The Unity of God.] + +1. The Meccans acknowledged the supreme position of Allah, but in +ordinary circumstances neglected him in favour of their idols, so that, +as Muḥammad complains, "_When danger befalls you on the sea, the gods +whom ye invoke are forgotten except Him alone; yet when He brought you +safe to land, ye turned your backs on Him, for Man is ungrateful._"[321] +They were strongly attached to the cult of the Ka‘ba, not only by +self-interest, but also by the more respectable motives of piety towards +their ancestors and pride in their traditions. Muḥammad himself regarded +Allah as Lord of the Ka‘ba, and called upon the Quraysh to worship him +as such (Kor. cvi, 3). When they refused to do so on the ground that +they were afraid lest the Arabs should rise against them and drive them +forth from the land, he assured them that Allah was the author of all +their prosperity (Kor. xxviii, 57). His main argument, however, is drawn +from the weakness of the idols, which cannot create even a fly, +contrasted with the wondrous manifestations of Divine power and +providence in the creation of the heavens and the earth and all living +things.[322] + +It was probably towards the close of the Meccan period that Muḥammad +summarised his Unitarian ideas in the following emphatic formula:-- + + + THE SÚRA OF PURIFICATION (CXII).[323] + + (1) Say: 'God is One; + (2) God who liveth on; + (3) Without father and without son; + (4) And like to Him there is none!' + +[Sidenote: Muḥammad, the Apostle of God.] + +2. We have seen that when Muḥammad first appeared as a prophet he was +thought by all except a very few to be _majnún_, _i.e._, possessed by a +_jinnÃ_, or genie, if I may use a word which will send the reader back +to his _Arabian Nights_. The heathen Arabs regarded such +persons--soothsayers, diviners, and poets--with a certain respect; and +if Muḥammad's 'madness' had taken a normal course, his claim to +inspiration would have passed unchallenged. What moved the Quraysh to +oppose him was not disbelief in his inspiration--it mattered little to +them whether he was under the spell of Allah or one of the _Jinn_--but +the fact that he preached doctrines which wounded their sentiments, +threatened their institutions, and subverted the most cherished +traditions of old Arabian life. But in order successfully to resist the +propaganda for which he alleged a Divine warrant, they were obliged to +meet him on his own ground and to maintain that he was no prophet at +all, no Apostle of Allah, as he asserted, but "an insolent liar," "a +schooled madman," "an infatuated poet," and so forth; and that his +Koran, which he gave out to be the Word of Allah, was merely "old folks' +tales" (_asáá¹Ãru ’l-awwalÃn_), or the invention of a poet or a sorcerer. +"Is not he," they cried, "a man like ourselves, who wishes to domineer +over us? Let him show us a miracle, that we may believe." Muḥammad could +only reiterate his former assertions and warn the infidels that a +terrible punishment was in store for them either in this world or the +next. Time after time he compares himself to the ancient prophets--Noah, +Abraham, Moses, and their successors--who are represented as employing +exactly the same arguments and receiving the same answers as Muḥammad; +and bids his people hearken to him lest they utterly perish like the +ungodly before them. The truth of the Koran is proved, he says, by the +Pentateuch and the Gospel, all being Revelations of the One God, and +therefore identical in substance. He is no mercenary soothsayer, he +seeks no personal advantage: his mission is solely to preach. The demand +for a miracle he could not satisfy except by pointing to his visions of +the Angel and especially to the Koran itself, every verse of which was a +distinct sign or miracle (_áyat_).[324] If he has forged it, why are his +adversaries unable to produce anything similar? "_Say: 'If men and +genies united to bring the like of this Koran, they could not bring the +like although they should back each other up'_" (Kor. xvii, 90). + +[Sidenote: Resurrection and Retribution.] + +3. Such notions of a future life as were current in Pre-islamic Arabia +never rose beyond vague and barbarous superstition, _e.g._, the fancy +that the dead man's tomb was haunted by his spirit in the shape of a +screeching owl.[325] No wonder, then, that the ideas of Resurrection and +Retribution, which are enforced by threats and arguments on almost every +page of the Koran, appeared to the Meccan idolaters absurdly ridiculous +and incredible. "_Does Ibn Kabsha promise us that we shall live?_" said +one of their poets. "_How can there be life for the á¹£adá and the háma? +Dost thou omit to ward me from death, and wilt thou revive me when my +bones are rotten?_"[326] God provided His Apostle with a ready answer to +these gibes: "_Say: 'He shall revive them who produced them at first, +for He knoweth every creation_" (Kor. xxxvi, 79). This topic is +eloquently illustrated, but Muḥammad's hearers were probably less +impressed by the creative power of God as exhibited in Nature and in Man +than by the awful examples, to which reference has been made, of His +destructive power as manifested in History. To Muḥammad himself, at the +outset of his mission, it seemed an appalling certainty that he must one +day stand before God and render an account; the overmastering sense of +his own responsibility goaded him to preach in the hope of saving his +countrymen, and supplied him, weak and timorous as he was, with strength +to endure calumny and persecution. As Nöldeke has remarked, the grandest +Súras of the whole Koran are those in which Muḥammad describes how all +Nature trembles and quakes at the approach of the Last Judgment. "It is +as though one actually saw the earth heaving, the mountains crumbling to +dust, and the stars hurled hither and thither in wild confusion."[327] +Súras lxxxii and ci, which have been translated above, are specimens of +the true prophetic style.[328] + +[Sidenote: The Muḥammadan Paradise.] + +4. There is nothing spiritual in Muḥammad's pictures of Heaven and Hell. +His Paradise is simply a glorified pleasure-garden, where the pious +repose in cool shades, quaffing spicy wine and diverting themselves with +the Houris (_Ḥúr_), lovely dark-eyed damsels like pearls hidden in their +shells.[329] This was admirably calculated to allure his hearers by +reminding them of one of their chief enjoyments--the gay drinking +parties which occasionally broke the monotony of Arabian life, and which +are often described in Pre-islamic poetry; indeed, it is highly probable +that Muḥammad drew a good deal of his Paradise from this source. The +gross and sensual character of the Muḥammadan Afterworld is commonly +thought to betray a particular weakness of the Prophet or is charged to +the Arabs in general, but as Professor Bevan has pointed out, "the real +explanation seems to be that at first the idea of a future retribution +was absolutely new both to Muḥammad himself and to the public which he +addressed. Paradise and Hell had no traditional associations, and the +Arabic language furnished no religious terminology for the expression of +such ideas; if they were to be made comprehensible at all, it could only +be done by means of precise descriptions, of imagery borrowed from +earthly affairs."[330] + +[Sidenote: Prayer.] + +Muḥammad was no mere visionary. Ritual observances, vigils, and other +austerities entered largely into his religion, endowing it with the +formal and ascetic character which it retains to the present day. Prayer +was introduced soon after the first Revelations: in one of the oldest +(Súra lxxxvii, 14-15) we read, "_Prosperous is he who purifies himself +(or gives alms) and repeats the name of his Lord and prays._" Although +the five daily prayers obligatory upon every true believer are nowhere +mentioned in the Koran, the opening chapter (_Súratu ’l-Fátiḥa_), which +answers to our Lord's Prayer, is constantly recited on these occasions, +and is seldom omitted from any act of public or private devotion. Since +the _Fátiḥa_ probably belongs to the latest Meccan period, it may find a +place here. + + + THE OPENING SÚRA (I). + + (1) In the name of God, the Merciful, who forgiveth aye! + (2) Praise to God, the Lord of all that be, + (3) The Merciful, who forgiveth aye, + (4) The King of Judgment Day! + (5) Thee we worship and for Thine aid we pray. + (6) Lead us in the right way, + (7) The way of those to whom thou hast been gracious, against + whom thou hast not waxed wroth, and who go not + astray! + +[Sidenote: The Night journey and Ascension of Muḥammad.] + +About the same time, shortly before the Migration, Muḥammad dreamed that +he was transported from the Ka‘ba to the Temple at Jerusalem, and thence +up to the seventh heaven. The former part of the vision is indicated in +the Koran (xvii, 1): "_Glory to him who took His servant a journey by +night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, the precinct +whereof we have blessed, to show him of our signs!_" Tradition has +wondrously embellished the _Mi‘ráj_, by which name the Ascension of the +Prophet is generally known throughout the East; while in Persia and +Turkey it has long been a favourite theme for the mystic and the poet. +According to the popular belief, which is also held by the majority of +Moslem divines, Muḥammad was transported in the body to his journey's +end, but he himself never countenanced this literal interpretation, +though it seems to have been current in Mecca, and we are told that it +caused some of his incredulous followers to abandon their faith. + +[Sidenote: Muḥammad at MedÃna.] + +Possessed and inspired by the highest idea of which man is capable, +fearlessly preaching the truth revealed to him, leading almost alone +what long seemed to be a forlorn hope against the impregnable stronghold +of superstition, yet facing these tremendous odds with a calm resolution +which yielded nothing to ridicule or danger, but defied his enemies to +do their worst--Muḥammad in the early part of his career presents a +spectacle of grandeur which cannot fail to win our sympathy and +admiration. At MedÃna, whither we must now return, he appears in a less +favourable light: the days of pure religious enthusiasm have passed away +for ever, and the Prophet is overshadowed by the Statesman. The +Migration was undoubtedly essential to the establishment of Islam. It +was necessary that Muḥammad should cut himself off from his own people +in order that he might found a community in which not blood but religion +formed the sole bond that was recognised. This task he +accomplished with consummate sagacity and skill, though some of the +methods which he employed can only be excused by his conviction that +whatever he did was done in the name of Allah. As the supreme head of +the Moslem theocracy both in spiritual and temporal matters--for Islam +allows no distinction between Church and State--he exercised absolute +authority, and he did not hesitate to justify by Divine mandate acts of +which the heathen Arabs, cruel and treacherous as they were, might have +been ashamed to be guilty. We need not inquire how much was due to +belief in his inspiration and how much to deliberate policy. If it +revolts us to see God Almighty introduced in the rôle of special +pleader, we ought to remember that Muḥammad, being what he was, could +scarcely have considered the question from that point of view. + +[Sidenote: MedÃna predisposed to welcome Muḥammad as Legislator and +Prophet.] + +The conditions prevailing at MedÃna were singularly adapted to his +design. Ever since the famous battle of Bu‘áth (about 615 A.D.), in +which the Banú Aws, with the help of their Jewish allies, the Banú +Qurayẓa and the Banú Naá¸Ãr, inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Banú +Khazraj, the city had been divided into two hostile camps; and if peace +had hitherto been preserved, it was only because both factions were too +exhausted to renew the struggle. Wearied and distracted by earthly +calamities, men's minds willingly admit the consolations of religion. We +find examples of this tendency at MedÃna even before the Migration. Abú +‘Ãmir, whose ascetic life gained for him the title of 'The Monk' +(_al-Ráhib_), is numbered among the _ḤanÃfs_.[331] He fought in the +ranks of the Quraysh at Uḥud, and finally went to Syria, where he died +an outlaw. Another Pre-islamic monotheist of MedÃna, Abú Qays b. Abà +Anas, is said to have turned Moslem in his old age.[332] + + "The inhabitants of MedÃna had no material interest in idol-worship + and no sanctuary to guard. Through uninterrupted contact with the + Jews of the city and neighbourhood, as also with the Christian + tribes settled in the extreme north of Arabia on the confines of the + Byzantine Empire, they had learned, as it were instinctively, to + despise their inherited belief in idols and to respect the far + nobler and purer faith in a single God; and lastly, they had become + accustomed to the idea of a Divine revelation by means of a special + scripture of supernatural origin, like the Pentateuch and the + Gospel. From a religious standpoint paganism in MedÃna offered no + resistance to Islam: as a faith, it was dead before it was attacked; + none defended it, none mourned its disappearance. The pagan + opposition to Muḥammad's work as a reformer was entirely + political, and proceeded from those who wished to preserve the + anarchy of the old heathen life, and who disliked the dictatorial + rule of Muḥammad."[333] + +[Sidenote: Parties in MedÃna.] + +There were in MedÃna four principal parties, consisting of those who +either warmly supported or actively opposed the Prophet, or who adopted +a relatively neutral attitude, viz., the Emigrants (_Muhájirún_), the +Helpers (_Anṣár_), the Hypocrites (_Munáfiqún_), and the Jews (_Yahúd_). + +[Sidenote: The Emigrants.] + +The Emigrants were those Moslems who left their homes at Mecca and +accompanied the Prophet in his Migration (_Hijra_)--whence their name, +_Muhájirún_--to MedÃna in the year 622. Inasmuch as they had lost +everything except the hope of victory and vengeance, he could count upon +their fanatical devotion to himself. + +[Sidenote: The Helpers.] + +The Helpers were those inhabitants of MedÃna who had accepted Islam and +pledged themselves to protect Muḥammad in case of attack. Together with +the Emigrants they constituted a formidable and ever-increasing body of +true believers, the first champions of the Church militant. + + [Sidenote: The Hypocrites.] + + "Many citizens of MedÃna, however, were not so well disposed towards + Muḥammad, and neither acknowledged him as a Prophet nor would + submit to him as their Ruler; but since they durst not come forward + against him openly on account of the multitude of his enthusiastic + adherents, they met him with a passive resistance which more than + once thwarted his plans, their influence was so great that he, on + his part, did not venture to take decisive measures against them, + and sometimes even found it necessary to give way."[334] + +These are the Hypocrites whom Muḥammad describes in the following +verses of the Koran:-- + + + THE SÚRA OF THE HEIFER (II). + + (7) And there are those among men who say, 'We believe in God + and in the Last Day'; but they do not believe. + + (8) They would deceive God and those who do believe; but they + deceive only themselves and they do not perceive. + + (9) In their hearts is a sickness, and God has made them still more + sick, and for them is grievous woe because they lied.[335] + +Their leader, ‘Abdulláh b. Ubayy, an able man but of weak character, was +no match for Muḥammad, whom he and his partisans only irritated, without +ever becoming really dangerous. + +[Sidenote: The Jews.] + +The Jews, on the other hand, gave the Prophet serious trouble. At first +he cherished high hopes that they would accept the new Revelation which +he brought to them, and which he maintained to be the original Word of +God as it was formerly revealed to Abraham and Moses; but when the Jews, +perceiving the absurdity of this idea, plied him with all sorts of +questions and made merry over his ignorance, Muḥammad, keenly alive to +the damaging effect of the criticism to which he had exposed himself, +turned upon his tormentors, and roundly accused them of having falsified +and corrupted their Holy Books. Henceforth he pursued them with a deadly +hatred against which their political disunion rendered them helpless. A +few sought refuge in Islam; the rest were either slaughtered or driven +into exile. + +It is impossible to detail here the successive steps by which Muḥammad +in the course of a few years overcame all opposition and established the +supremacy of Islam from one end of Arabia to the other. I shall notice +the outstanding events very briefly in order to make room for matters +which are more nearly connected with the subject of this History. + + +[Sidenote: Beginnings of the Moslem State.] + +Muḥammad's first care was to reconcile the desperate factions within the +city and to introduce law and order among the heterogeneous elements +which have been described. "He drew up in writing a charter between the +Emigrants and the Helpers, in which charter he embodied a covenant with +the Jews, confirming them in the exercise of their religion and in the +possession of their properties, imposing upon them certain obligations, +and granting to them certain rights."[336] This remarkable document is +extant in Ibn Hishám's _Biography of Muḥammad_, pp. 341-344. Its +contents have been analysed in masterly fashion by Wellhausen,[337] who +observes with justice that it was no solemn covenant, accepted and duly +ratified by representatives of the parties concerned, but merely a +decree of Muḥammad based upon conditions already existing which had +developed since his arrival in MedÃna. At the same time no one can study +it without being impressed by the political genius of its author. +Ostensibly a cautious and tactful reform, it was in reality a +revolution. Muḥammad durst not strike openly at the independence of the +tribes, but he destroyed it, in effect, by shifting the centre of power +from the tribe to the community; and although the community included +Jews and pagans as well as Moslems, he fully recognised, what his +opponents failed to foresee, that the Moslems were the active, and must +soon be the predominant, partners in the newly founded State. + +[Sidenote: Battle of Badr, January, 624 A.D.] + +[Sidenote: Battle of Uḥud, 625 A.D.] + +[Sidenote: Submission of Mecca, 630 A.D.] + +All was now ripe for the inevitable struggle with the Quraysh, and God +revealed to His Apostle several verses of the Koran in which the +Faithful are commanded to wage a Holy War against them: "_Permission is +given to those who fight because they have been wronged,--and verily God +to help them has the might,--who have been driven forth from their homes +undeservedly, only for that they said, 'Our Lord is God'_" (xxii, +40-41). "_Kill them wherever ye find them, and drive them out from +whence they drive you out_" (ii, 187). "_Fight them that there be no +sedition and that the religion may be God's_" (ii, 189). In January, 624 +A.D., the Moslems, some three hundred strong, won a glorious victory at +Badr over a greatly superior force which had marched out from Mecca to +relieve a rich caravan that Muḥammad threatened to cut off. The Quraysh +fought bravely, but were borne down by the irresistible onset of men who +had learned discipline in the mosque and looked upon death as a sure +passport to Paradise. Of the Moslems only fourteen fell; the Quraysh +lost forty-nine killed and about the same number of prisoners. But the +importance of Muḥammad's success cannot be measured by the material +damage which he inflicted. Considering the momentous issues involved, we +must allow that Badr, like Marathon, is one of the greatest and most +memorable battles in all history. Here, at last, was the miracle which +the Prophet's enemies demanded of him: "_Ye have had a sign in the two +parties who met; one party fighting in the way of God, the other +misbelieving; these saw twice the same number as themselves to the +eyesight, for God aids with His help those whom He pleases. Verily in +that is a lesson for those who have perception_" (Kor. iii, 11). And +again, "_Ye slew them not, but God slew them_" (Kor. viii, 17). The +victory of Badr turned all eyes upon Muḥammad. However little the Arabs +cared for his religion, they could not but respect the man who had +humbled the lords of Mecca. He was now a power in the land--"Muḥammad, +King of the Ḥijáz."[338] In MedÃna his cause flourished mightily. The +zealots were confirmed in their faith, the waverers convinced, the +disaffected overawed. He sustained a serious, though temporary, check in +the following year at Uḥud, where a Moslem army was routed by the +Quraysh under Abú Sufyán, but the victors were satisfied with having +taken vengeance for Badr and made no attempt to follow up their +advantage; while Muḥammad, never resting on his laurels, never losing +sight of the goal, proceeded with remorseless calculation to crush his +adversaries one after the other, until in January, 630 A.D., the Meccans +themselves, seeing the futility of further resistance, opened their +gates to the Prophet and acknowledged the omnipotence of Allah. The +submission of the Holy City left Muḥammad without a rival in Arabia. His +work was almost done. Deputations from the Bedouin tribes poured into +MedÃna, offering allegiance to the conqueror of the Quraysh, and +reluctantly subscribing to a religion in which they saw nothing so +agreeable as the prospect of plundering its enemies. + +[Sidenote: Death of Muḥammad, 632 A.D.] + +Muḥammad died, after a brief illness, on the 8th of June, 632 A.D. He +was succeeded as head of the Moslem community by his old friend and +ever-loyal supporter, Abú Bakr, who thus became the first _KhalÃfa_, or +Caliph. It only remains to take up our survey of the Koran, which we +have carried down to the close of the Meccan period, and to indicate the +character and contents of the Revelation during the subsequent decade. + + +[Sidenote: The MedÃna Súras.] + +The MedÃna Súras faithfully reflect the marvellous change in Muḥammad's +fortunes, which began with his flight from Mecca. He was now recognised +as the Prophet and Apostle of God, but this recognition made him an +earthly potentate and turned his religious activity into secular +channels. One who united in himself the parts of prince, legislator, +politician, diplomatist, and general may be excused if he sometimes +neglected the Divine injunction to arise and preach, or at any rate +interpreted it in a sense very different from that which he formerly +attached to it. The Revelations of this time deal, to a large extent, +with matters of legal, social, and political interest; they promulgate +religious ordinances--_e.g._, fasting, alms-giving, and +pilgrimage--expound the laws of marriage and divorce, and comment upon +the news of the day; often they serve as bulletins or manifestoes in +which Muḥammad justifies what he has done, urges the Moslems to fight +and rebukes the laggards, moralises on a victory or defeat, proclaims a +truce, and says, in short, whatever the occasion seems to require. +Instead of the Meccan idolaters, his opponents in MedÃna--the Jews and +Hypocrites--have become the great rocks of offence; the Jews especially +are denounced in long passages as a stiff-necked generation who never +hearkened to their own prophets of old. However valuable historically, +the MedÃna Súras do not attract the literary reader. In their flat and +tedious style they resemble those of the later Meccan period. Now and +again the ashes burst into flame, though such moments of splendour are +increasingly rare, as in the famous 'Throne-verse' (_Ãyatu ’l-KursÃ_):-- + + [Sidenote: The 'Throne-verse.'] + + "God, there is no god but He, the living, the self-subsistent. + Slumber takes Him not, nor sleep. His is what is in the heavens and + what is in the earth. Who is it that intercedes with Him save by His + permission? He knows what is before them and what behind them, and + they comprehend not aught of His knowledge but of what He pleases. + His throne extends over the heavens and the earth, and it tires Him + not to guard them both, for He is high and grand."[339] + +[Sidenote: The nationalisation of Islam.] + +The Islam which Muḥammad brought with him to MedÃna was almost entirely +derived by oral tradition from Christianity and Judaism, and just for +this reason it made little impression on the heathen Arabs, whose +religious ideas were generally of the most primitive kind. +Notwithstanding its foreign character and the absence of anything which +appealed to Arabian national sentiment, it spread rapidly in MedÃna, +where, as we have seen, the soil was already prepared for it; but one +may well doubt whether it could have extended its sway over the +peninsula unless the course of events had determined Muḥammad to +associate the strange doctrines of Islam with the ancient heathen +sanctuary at Mecca, the Ka‘ba, which was held in universal veneration by +the Arabs and formed the centre of a worship that raised no difficulties +in their minds. Before he had lived many months in MedÃna the Prophet +realised that his hope of converting the Jews was doomed to +disappointment. Accordingly he instructed his followers that they should +no longer turn their faces in prayer towards the Temple at Jerusalem, as +they had been accustomed to do since the Flight, but towards the Ka‘ba; +while, a year or two later, he incorporated in Islam the superstitious +ceremonies of the pilgrimage, which were represented as having been +originally prescribed to Abraham, the legendary founder of the Ka‘ba, +whose religion he professed to restore. + +[Sidenote: Antagonism of Islamic and Arabian ideals.] + +These concessions, however, were far from sufficient to reconcile the +free-living and freethinking people of the desert to a religion which +restrained their pleasures, forced them to pay taxes and perform +prayers, and stamped with the name of barbarism all the virtues they +held most dear. The teaching of Islam ran directly counter to the ideals +and traditions of heathendom, and, as Goldziher has remarked, its +originality lies not in its doctrines, which are Jewish and Christian, +but in the fact that it was Muḥammad who first maintained these +doctrines with persistent energy against the Arabian view of life.[340] +While we must refer the reader to Dr. Goldziher's illuminating pages for +a full discussion of the conflict between the new Religion (_DÃn_) and +the old Virtue (_Muruwwa_), it will not be amiss to summarise the chief +points at which they clashed with each other.[341] In the first place, +the fundamental idea of Islam was foreign and unintelligible to the +Bedouins. "It was not the destruction of their idols that they opposed +so much as the spirit of devotion which it was sought to implant in +them: the determination of their whole lives by the thought of God and +of His pre-ordaining and retributive omnipotence, the prayers and fasts, +the renouncement of coveted pleasures, and the sacrifice of money and +property which was demanded of them in God's name." In spite of the +saying, _Lá dÃna illá bi ’l-muruwwati_ ("There is no religion without +virtue"), the Bedouin who accepted Islam had to unlearn the greater part +of his unwritten moral code. As a pious Moslem he must return good for +evil, forgive his enemy, and find balm for his wounded feelings in the +assurance of being admitted to Paradise (Kor. iii, 128). Again, the +social organisation of the heathen Arabs was based on the tribe, whereas +that of Islam rested on the equality and fraternity of all believers. +The religious bond cancelled all distinctions of rank and pedigree; it +did away, theoretically, with clannish feuds, contests for honour, pride +of race--things that lay at the very root of Arabian chivalry. "_Lo_," +cried Muḥammad, "_the noblest of you in the sight of God is he who most +doth fear Him_" (Kor. xlix, 13). Against such doctrine the conservative +and material instincts of the desert people rose in revolt; and although +they became Moslems _en masse_, the majority of them neither believed in +Islam nor knew what it meant. Often their motives were frankly +utilitarian: they expected that Islam would bring them luck; and so long +as they were sound in body, and their mares had fine foals, and their +wives bore well-formed sons, and their wealth and herds multiplied, they +said, "We have been blessed ever since we adopted this religion," and +were content; but if things went ill they blamed Islam and turned their +backs on it.[342] That these men were capable of religious zeal is amply +proved by the triumphs which they won a short time afterwards over the +disciplined armies of two mighty empires; but what chiefly inspired +them, apart from love of booty, was the conviction, born of success, +that Allah was fighting on their side. + + +We have sketched, however barely and imperfectly, the progress of Islam +from Muḥammad's first appearance as a preacher to the day of his death. +In these twenty years the seeds were sown of almost every development +which occurs in the political and intellectual history of the Arabs +during the ages to come. More than any man that has ever lived, Muḥammad +shaped the destinies of his people; and though they left him far behind +as they moved along the path of civilisation, they still looked back to +him for guidance and authority at each step. This is not the place to +attempt an estimate of his character, which has been so diversely +judged. Personally, I feel convinced that he was neither a shameless +impostor nor a neurotic degenerate nor a socialistic reformer, but in +the beginning, at all events, a sincere religious enthusiast, as truly +inspired as any prophet of the Old Testament. + + [Sidenote: Character of Muḥammad.] + + "We find in him," writes De Goeje, "that sober understanding which + distinguished his fellow-tribesmen: dignity, tact, and equilibrium; + qualities which are seldom found in people of morbid constitution: + self-control in no small degree. Circumstances changed him from a + Prophet to a Legislator and a Ruler, but for himself he sought + nothing beyond the acknowledgment that he was Allah's Apostle, since + this acknowledgment includes the whole of Islam. He was excitable, + like every true Arab, and in the spiritual struggle which preceded + his call this quality was stimulated to an extent that alarmed even + himself; but that does not make him a visionary. He defends himself, + by the most solemn asseveration, against the charge that what he had + seen was an illusion of the senses. Why should not we believe + him?"[343] + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE AND THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY + + +The Caliphate--_i.e._, the period of the Caliphs or Successors of +Muḥammad--extends over six centuries and a quarter (632-1258 A.D.), +and falls into three clearly-marked divisions of very unequal length and +diverse character. + +[Sidenote: The Orthodox Caliphate (632-661 A.D.).] + +The first division begins with the election of Abú Bakr, the first +Caliph, in 632, and comes to an end with the assassination of ‘AlÃ, the +Prophet's son-in-law and fourth successor, in 661. These four Caliphs +are known as the Orthodox (_al-Ráshidún_), because they trod faithfully +in the footsteps of the Prophet and ruled after his example in the holy +city of MedÃna, with the assistance of his leading Companions, who +constituted an informal Senate. + +[Sidenote: The Ummayyad Caliphate (661-750 A.D.).] + +The second division includes the Caliphs of the family of Umayya, from +the accession of Mu‘áwiya in 661 to the great battle of the Záb in 750, +when Marwán II, the last of his line, was defeated by the ‘Abbásids, who +claimed the Caliphate as next of kin to the Prophet. According to Moslem +notions the Umayyads were kings by right, Caliphs only by courtesy. They +had, as we shall see, no spiritual title, and little enough religion of +any sort. This dynasty, which had been raised and was upheld by the +Syrian Arabs, transferred the seat of government from MedÃna to +Damascus. + +[Sidenote: The ‘Abbásid Caliphate (750-1258 A.D.).] + +The third division is by far the longest and most important. Starting in +750 with the accession of Abu ’l-‘Abbás al-Saffáh, it presents an +unbroken series of thirty-seven Caliphs of the same House, and +culminates, after the lapse of half a millennium, in the sack of +Baghdád, their magnificent capital, by the Mongol Húlágú (January, +1258). The ‘Abbásids were no less despotic than the Umayyads, but in a +more enlightened fashion; for, while the latter had been purely Arab in +feeling, the ‘Abbásids owed their throne to the Persian nationalists, +and were imbued with Persian ideas, which introduced a new and fruitful +element into Moslem civilisation. + +[Sidenote: Early Islamic literature.] + +From our special point of view the Orthodox and Umayyad Caliphates, +which form the subject of the present chapter, are somewhat barren. The +simple life of the pagan Arabs found full expression in their poetry. +The many-sided life of the Moslems under ‘Abbásid rule may be studied in +a copious literature which exhibits all the characteristics of the age; +but of contemporary documents illustrating the intellectual history of +the early Islamic period comparatively little has been preserved, and +that little, being for the most part anti-Islamic in tendency, gives +only meagre information concerning what excites interest beyond anything +else--the religious movement, the rise of theology, and the origin of +those great parties and sects which emerge, at various stages of +development, in later literature. + +[Sidenote: Unity of Church and State.] + +Since the Moslem Church and State are essentially one, it is impossible +to treat of politics apart from religion, nor can religious phenomena be +understood without continual reference to political events. The +following brief sketch of the Orthodox Caliphate will show how +completely this unity was realised, and what far-reaching consequences +it had. + +[Sidenote: Abú Bakr elected Caliph (June, 632 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Musaylima the Liar.] + +That Muḥammad left no son was perhaps of less moment than his neglect +or refusal to nominate a successor. The Arabs were unfamiliar with the +hereditary descent of kingly power, while the idea had not yet dawned of +a Divine right resident in the Prophet's family. It was thoroughly in +accord with Arabian practice that the Moslem community should elect its +own leader, just as in heathen days the tribe chose its own chief. The +likeliest men--all three belonged to Quraysh--were Abú Bakr, whose +daughter ‘Ã’isha had been Muḥammad's favourite wife, ‘Umar b. +al-Khaá¹á¹Ã¡b, and ‘AlÃ, Abú Ṭálib's son and Fáá¹ima's husband, +who was thus connected with the Prophet by blood as well as by marriage. +Abú Bakr was the eldest, he was supported by ‘Umar, and on him the +choice ultimately fell, though not without an ominous ebullition of +party strife. A man of simple tastes and unassuming demeanour, he had +earned the name _al-á¹¢iddÃq, _i.e._, the True, by his unquestioning +faith in the Prophet; naturally gentle and merciful, he stood firm when +the cause of Islam was at stake, and crushed with iron hand the revolt +which on the news of Muḥammad's death spread like wildfire through +Arabia. False prophets arose, and the Bedouins rallied round them, eager +to throw off the burden of tithes and prayers. In the centre of the +peninsula, the Banú ḤanÃfa were led to battle by Musaylima, who +imitated the early style of the Koran with ludicrous effect, if we may +judge from the sayings ascribed to him, _e.g._, "The elephant, what is +the elephant, and who shall tell you what is the elephant? He has a poor +tail, and a long trunk: and is a trifling part of the creations of thy +God." Moslem tradition calls him the Liar (_al-Kadhdháb_), and +represents him as an obscene miracle-monger, which can hardly be the +whole truth. It is possible that he got some of his doctrines from +Christianity, as Professor Margoliouth has suggested,[344] but we know +too little about them to arrive at any conclusion. After a desperate +struggle Musaylima was defeated and slain by 'the Sword of Allah,' +Khálid b. WalÃd. The Moslem arms were everywhere victorious. Arabia +bowed in sullen submission. + +[Sidenote: Islam a world-religion.] + +[Sidenote: Conquest of Persia and Syria (633-643 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Moslem toleration.] + +Although Muir and other biographers of Muḥammad have argued that +Islam was originally designed for the Arabs alone, and made no claim to +universal acceptance, their assertion is contradicted by the unequivocal +testimony of the Koran itself. In one of the oldest Revelations (lxviii, +51-52), we read: "_It wanteth little but that the unbelievers dash thee +to the ground with their looks_ (of anger) _when they hear the Warning_ +(_i.e._, the Koran); _and they say, 'He is assuredly mad': but it_ (the +Koran) _is no other than a_ WARNING UNTO ALL CREATURES" (_dhikrun li +’l-‘álamÃn_).[345] The time had now come when this splendid dream was to +be, in large measure, fulfilled. The great wars of conquest were +inspired by the Prophet's missionary zeal and justified by his example. +Pious duty coincided with reasons of state. "It was certainly good +policy to turn the recently subdued tribes of the wilderness towards an +external aim in which they might at once satisfy their lust for booty on +a grand scale, maintain their warlike feeling, and strengthen themselves +in their attachment to the new faith."[346] The story of their +achievements cannot be set down here. Suffice it to say that within +twelve years after the Prophet's death the Persian Empire had been +reduced to a tributary province, and Syria, together with Egypt, torn +away from Byzantine rule. It must not be supposed that the followers of +Zoroaster and Christ in these countries were forcibly converted to +Islam. Thousands embraced it of free will, impelled by various motives +which we have no space to enumerate; those who clung to the religion in +which they had been brought up secured protection and toleration by +payment of a capitation-tax (_jizya_).[347] + +[Sidenote: The Caliph ‘Umar (634-644 A.D.).] + +The tide of foreign conquest, which had scarce begun to flow before the +death of Abú Bakr, swept with amazing rapidity over Syria and Persia in +the Caliphate of ‘Umar b. al-Khaá¹á¹Ã¡b (634-644), and continued to +advance, though with diminished fury, under the Prophet's third +successor, ‘Uthmán. We may dwell for a little on the noble figure of +‘Umar, who was regarded by good Moslems in after times as an embodiment +of all the virtues which a Caliph ought to possess. Probably his +character has been idealised, but in any case the anecdotes related of +him give an admirable picture of the man and his age. Here are a few, +taken almost at random from the pages of ṬabarÃ. + + [Sidenote: His simple manners.] + + [Sidenote: His sense of personal responsibility.] + + [Sidenote: The Caliph as a policeman.] + + [Sidenote: His strictness towards his own family.] + + [Sidenote: Instructions to his governors.] + + One said: "I saw ‘Umar coming to the Festival. He walked with bare + feet, using both hands (for he was ambidextrous) to draw round him a + red embroidered cloth. He towered above the people, as though he + were on horseback."[348] A client of (the Caliph) ‘Uthmán b. ‘Affán + relates that he mounted behind his patron and they rode together to + the enclosure for the beasts which were delivered in payment of the + poor-tax. It was an exceedingly hot day and the simoom was blowing + fiercely. They saw a man clad only in a loin-cloth and a short cloak + (_ridá_), in which he had wrapped his head, driving the camels into + the enclosure. ‘Uthmán said to his companion, "Who is this, think + you?" When they came up to him, behold, it was ‘Umar b. + al-Khaá¹á¹Ã¡b. "By God," said ‘Uthmán, "this is _the strong, the + trusty_."[349]--‘Umar used to go round the markets and recite the + Koran and judge between disputants wherever he found them.--When + Ka‘bu ’l-Aḥbár, a well-known Rabbin of MedÃna, asked how he could + obtain access to the Commander of the Faithful,[350] he received + this answer: "There is no door nor curtain to be passed; he performs + the rites of prayer, then he takes his seat, and any one that wishes + may speak to him."[351] ‘Umar said in one of his public orations, + "By Him who sent Muḥammad with the truth, were a single camel to + die of neglect on the bank of the Euphrates, I should fear lest God + should call the family of al-Khaá¹á¹Ã¡b" (meaning himself) "to + account therefor."[352]--"If I live," he is reported to have said on + another occasion, "please God, I will assuredly spend a whole year + in travelling among my subjects, for I know they have wants which + are cut short ere they reach my ears: the governors do not bring the + wants of the people before me, while the people themselves do not + attain to me. So I will journey to Syria and remain there two + months, then to Mesopotamia and remain there two months, then to + Egypt and remain there two months, then to Baḥrayn and remain + there two months, then to Kúfa and remain there two months, then to + Baá¹£ra and remain there two months; and by God, it will be a year + well spent!"[353]--One night he came to the house of ‘Abdu + ’l-Raḥmán b. ‘Awf and knocked at the door, which was opened by + ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán's wife. "Do not enter," said she, "until I go + back and sit in my place;" so he waited. Then she bade him come in, + and on his asking, "Have you anything in the house?" she fetched him + some food. Meanwhile ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán was standing by, engaged in + prayer. "Be quick, man!" cried ‘Umar. ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán immediately + pronounced the final salaam, and turning to the Caliph said: "O + Commander of the Faithful, what has brought you here at this hour?" + ‘Umar replied: "A party of travellers who alighted in the + neighbourhood of the market: I was afraid that the thieves of MedÃna + might fall upon them. Let us go and keep watch." So he set off with + ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán, and when they reached the market-place they + seated themselves on some high ground and began to converse. + Presently they descried, far away, the light of a lamp. "Have not I + forbidden lamps after bedtime?"[354] exclaimed the Caliph. They went + to the spot and found a company drinking wine. "Begone," said ‘Umar + to ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán; "I know him." Next morning he sent for the + culprit and said, addressing him by name, "Last night you were + drinking wine with your friends." "O Commander of the Faithful, how + did you ascertain that?" "I saw it with my own eyes." "Has not God + forbidden you to play the spy?" ‘Umar made no answer and pardoned + his offence.[355]--When ‘Umar ascended the pulpit for the purpose of + warning the people that they must not do something, he gathered his + family and said to them: "I have forbidden the people to do + so-and-so. Now, the people look at you as birds look at flesh, and I + swear by God that if I find any one of you doing this thing, I will + double the penalty against him."[356]--Whenever he appointed a + governor he used to draw up in writing a certificate of investiture, + which he caused to be witnessed by some of the Emigrants or Helpers. + It contained the following instructions: That he must not ride on + horseback, nor eat white bread, nor wear fine clothes, nor set up a + door between himself and those who had aught to ask of him.[357]--It + was ‘Umar's custom to go forth with his governors, on their + appointment, to bid them farewell. "I have not appointed you," he + would say, "over the people of Muḥammad (God bless him and grant + him peace!) that you may drag them by their hair and scourge their + skins, but in order that you may lead them in prayer and judge + between them with right and divide (the public money) amongst them + with equity. I have not made you lords of their skin and hair. Do + not flog the Arabs lest you humiliate them, and do not keep them + long on foreign service lest you tempt them to sedition, and do not + neglect them lest you render them desperate. Confine yourselves to + the Koran, write few Traditions of Muḥammad (God bless him and + grant him peace!), and I am your ally." He used to permit + retaliation against his governors. On receiving a complaint about + any one of them he confronted him with the accuser, and punished him + if his guilt were proved.[358] + +[Sidenote: The Register of ‘Umar.] + +It was ‘Umar who first made a Register (_DÃwán_) of the Arabs in Islam +and entered them therein according to their tribes and assigned to them +their stipends. The following account of its institution is extracted +from the charming history entitled _al-FakhrÃ_:-- + + In the fifteenth year of the Hijra (636 A.D.) ‘Umar, who was then + Caliph, seeing that the conquests proceeded without interruption and + that the treasures of the Persian monarchs had been taken as spoil, + and that load after load was being accumulated of gold and silver + and precious jewels and splendid raiment, resolved to enrich the + Moslems by distributing all this wealth amongst them; but he did not + know how he should manage it. Now there was a Persian satrap + (_marzubán_) at MedÃna who, when he saw ‘Umar's bewilderment, said + to him, "O Commander of the Faithful, the Persian kings have a thing + they call a _DÃwán_, in which is kept the whole of their revenues + and expenditures without exception; and therein those who receive + stipends are arranged in classes, so that no confusion occurs." + ‘Umar's attention was aroused. He bade the satrap describe it, and + on comprehending its nature, he drew up the registers and assigned + the stipends, appointing a specified allowance for every Moslem; and + he allotted fixed sums to the wives of the Apostle (on whom be God's + blessing and peace!) and to his concubines and next-of-kin, until he + exhausted the money in hand. He did not lay up a store in the + treasury. Some one came to him and said: "O Commander of the + Faithful, you should have left something to provide for + contingencies." ‘Umar rebuked him, saying, "The devil has put these + words into your mouth. May God preserve me from their mischief! for + it were a temptation to my successors. Come what may, I will provide + naught except obedience to God and His Apostle. That is our + provision, whereby we have gained that which we have gained." Then, + in respect of the stipends, he deemed it right that precedence + should be according to priority of conversion to Islam and of + service rendered to the Apostle on his fields of battle.[359] + + [Sidenote: The aristocracy of Islam.] + + [Sidenote: "'Tis only noble to be good."] + + Affinity to Muḥammad was also considered. "By God," exclaimed + ‘Umar, "we have not won superiority in this world, nor do we hope + for recompense for our works from God hereafter, save through + Muḥammad (God bless him and grant him peace!). He is our title to + nobility, his tribe are the noblest of the Arabs, and after them + those are the nobler that are nearer to him in blood. Truly, the + Arabs are ennobled by God's Apostle. Peradventure some of them have + many ancestors in common with him, and we ourselves are only removed + by a few forbears from his line of descent, in which we accompany + him back to Adam. Notwithstanding this, if the foreigners bring good + works and we bring none, by God, they are nearer to Muḥammad on + the day of Resurrection than we. Therefore let no man regard + affinity, but let him work for that which is in God's hands to + bestow. He that is retarded by his works will not be sped by his + lineage."[360] + +It may be said of ‘Umar, not less appropriately than of Cromwell, that +he + + "cast the kingdoms old + Into another mould;" + +and he too justified the poet's maxim-- + + "The same arts that did gain + A power, must it maintain." + +[Sidenote: Foundation of Baá¹£ra and Kúfa (638 A.D.).] + +Under the system which he organised Arabia, purged of infidels, became a +vast recruiting-ground for the standing armies of Islam: the Arabs in +the conquered territories formed an exclusive military class, living in +great camps and supported by revenues derived from the non-Muḥammadan +population. Out of such camps arose two cities destined to make their +mark in literary history--Baá¹£ra (Bassora) on the delta of the Tigris and +Euphrates, and Kúfa, which was founded about the same time on the +western branch of the latter stream, not far from ḤÃra. + +[Sidenote: Death of ‘Umar (644 A.D.)] + +‘Umar was murdered by a Persian slave named FÃrúz while leading the +prayers in the Great Mosque. With his death the military theocracy and +the palmy days of the Patriarchal Caliphate draw to a close. The broad +lines of his character appear in the anecdotes translated above, though +many details might be added to complete the picture. Simple and frugal; +doing his duty without fear or favour; energetic even to harshness, yet +capable of tenderness towards the weak; a severe judge of others and +especially of himself, he was a born ruler and every inch a man. Looking +back on the turmoils which followed his death one is inclined to agree +with the opinion of a saintly doctor who said, five centuries +afterwards, that "the good fortune of Islam was shrouded in the +grave-clothes of ‘Umar b. al-Khaá¹á¹Ã¡b."[361] + +[Sidenote: ‘Uthmán elected Caliph (644 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: General disaffection.] + +[Sidenote: ‘Uthmán murdered (656 A.D.).] + +When the Meccan aristocrats accepted Islam, they only yielded to the +inevitable. They were now to have an opportunity of revenging +themselves. ‘Uthmán b. ‘Affán, who succeeded ‘Umar as Caliph, belonged +to a distinguished Meccan family, the Umayyads or descendants of Umayya, +which had always taken a leading part in the opposition to Muḥammad, +though ‘Uthmán himself was among the Prophet's first disciples. He was a +pious, well-meaning old man--an easy tool in the hands of his ambitious +kinsfolk. They soon climbed into all the most lucrative and important +offices and lived on the fat of the land, while too often their ungodly +behaviour gave point to the question whether these converts of the +eleventh hour were not still heathens at heart. Other causes contributed +to excite a general discontent. The rapid growth of luxury and +immorality in the Holy Cities as well as in the new settlements was an +eyesore to devout Moslems. The true Islamic aristocracy, the Companions +of the Prophet, headed by ‘AlÃ, Ṭalḥa, and Zubayr, strove to undermine +the rival nobility which threatened them with destruction. The factious +soldiery were ripe for revolt against Umayyad arrogance and greed. +Rebellion broke out, and finally the aged Caliph, after enduring a siege +of several weeks, was murdered in his own house. This event marks an +epoch in the history of the Arabs. The ensuing civil wars rent the unity +of Islam from top to bottom, and the wound has never healed. + +[Sidenote: ‘Alà elected Caliph (656 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Character of ‘AlÃ.] + +[Sidenote: His apotheosis.] + +‘AlÃ, the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law, who had hitherto remained in +the background, was now made Caliph. Although the suspicion that he was +in league with the murderers may be put aside, he showed culpable +weakness in leaving ‘Uthmán to his fate without an effort to save him. +But ‘Alà had almost every virtue except those of the ruler: energy, +decision, and foresight. He was a gallant warrior, a wise counsellor, a +true friend, and a generous foe. He excelled in poetry and in eloquence; +his verses and sayings are famous throughout the Muḥammadan East, though +few of them can be considered authentic. A fine spirit worthy to be +compared with Montrose and Bayard, he had no talent for the stern +realities of statecraft, and was overmatched by unscrupulous rivals who +knew that "war is a game of deceit." Thus his career was in one sense a +failure: his authority as Caliph was never admitted, while he lived, by +the whole community. On the other hand, he has exerted, down to the +present day, a posthumous influence only second to that of Muḥammad +himself. Within a century of his death he came to be regarded as the +Prophet's successor _jure divino_; as a blessed martyr, sinless and +infallible; and by some even as an incarnation of God. The ‘Alà of +ShÑite legend is not an historical figure glorified: rather does he +symbolise, in purely mythical fashion, the religious aspirations and +political aims of a large section of the Moslem world. + + +[Sidenote: ‘Alà against Mu‘áwiya.] + +[Sidenote: Battle of á¹¢iffÃn (657 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Arbitration.] + +[Sidenote: The award.] + +[Sidenote: The Khárijites revolt against ‘AlÃ.] + +[Sidenote: Alà assassinated (661 A.D.).] + +To return to our narrative. No sooner was ‘Alà proclaimed Caliph by the +victorious rebels than Mu‘áwiya b. Abà Sufyán, the governor of Syria, +raised the cry of vengeance for ‘Uthmán and refused to take the oath of +allegiance. As head of the Umayyad family, Mu‘áwiya might justly demand +that the murderers of his kinsman should be punished, but the contest +between him and ‘Alà was virtually for the Caliphate. A great battle was +fought at á¹¢iffÃn, a village on the Euphrates. ‘Alà had well-nigh gained +the day when Mu‘áwiya bethought him of a stratagem. He ordered his +troops to fix Korans on the points of their lances and to shout, "Here +is the Book of God: let it decide between us!" The miserable trick +succeeded. In ‘AlÃ's army there were many pious fanatics to whom the +proposed arbitration by the Koran appealed with irresistible force. They +now sprang forward clamorously, threatening to betray their leader +unless he would submit his cause to the Book. Vainly did ‘Alà +remonstrate with the mutineers, and warn them of the trap into which +they were driving him, and this too at the moment when victory was +within their grasp. He had no choice but to yield and name as his umpire +a man of doubtful loyalty, Abú Músá al-Ash‘arÃ, one of the oldest +surviving Companions of the Prophet. Mu‘áwiya on his part named ‘Amr b. +al-‘Ãá¹£, whose cunning had prompted the decisive manÅ“uvre. When the +umpires came forth to give judgment, Abú Músá rose and in accordance +with what had been arranged at the preliminary conference pronounced +that both ‘Alà and Mu‘áwiya should be deposed and that the people should +elect a proper Caliph in their stead. "Lo," said he, laying down his +sword, "even thus do I depose ‘Alà b. Abà Ṭálib." Then ‘Amr advanced and +spoke as follows: "O people! ye have heard the judgment of my colleague. +He has called you to witness that he deposes ‘AlÃ. Now I call you to +witness that I confirm Mu‘áwiya, even as I make fast this sword of +mine," and suiting the action to the word, he returned it to its sheath. +It is characteristic of Arabian notions of morality that this impudent +fraud was hailed by Mu‘áwiya's adherents as a diplomatic triumph which +gave him a colourable pretext for assuming the title of Caliph. Both +sides prepared to renew the struggle, but in the meanwhile ‘Alà found +his hands full nearer home. A numerous party among his troops, including +the same zealots who had forced arbitration upon him, now cast him off +because he had accepted it, fell out from the ranks, and raised the +standard of revolt. These 'Outgoers,' or Khárijites, as they were +called, maintained their theocratic principles with desperate courage, +and though often defeated took the field again and again. ‘AlÃ's plans +for recovering Syria were finally abandoned in 660, when he concluded +peace with Mu‘áwiya, and shortly afterwards he was struck down in the +Mosque at Kúfa, which he had made his capital, by Ibn Muljam, a +Khárijite conspirator. + +With ‘AlÃ's fall our sketch of the Orthodox Caliphate may fitly end. It +was necessary to give some account of these years so vital in the +history of Islam, even at the risk of wearying the reader, who will +perhaps wish that less space were devoted to political affairs. + + +[Sidenote: The Umayyad dynasty.] + +[Sidenote: Moslem tradition hostile to the Umayyads.] + +[Sidenote: Mu‘áwiya's clemency.] + +[Sidenote: His hours of study.] + +The Umayyads came into power, but, except in Syria and Egypt, they ruled +solely by the sword. As descendants and representatives of the pagan +aristocracy, which strove with all its might to defeat Muḥammad, they +were usurpers in the eyes of the Moslem community which they claimed to +lead as his successors.[362] We shall see, a little further on, how this +opposition expressed itself in two great parties: the ShÑites or +followers of ‘AlÃ, and the radical sect of the Khárijites, who have been +mentioned above; and how it was gradually reinforced by the non-Arabian +Moslems until it overwhelmed the Umayyad Government and set up the +‘Abbásids in their place. In estimating the character of the Umayyads +one must bear in mind that the epitaph on the fallen dynasty was +composed by their enemies, and can no more be considered historically +truthful than the lurid picture which Tacitus has drawn of the Emperor +Tiberius. Because they kept the revolutionary forces in check with +ruthless severity, the Umayyads pass for bloodthirsty tyrants; whereas +the best of them at any rate were strong and singularly capable rulers, +bad Moslems and good men of the world, seldom cruel, plain livers if not +high thinkers; who upon the whole stand as much above the ‘Abbásids in +morality as below them in culture and intellect. Mu‘áwiya's clemency was +proverbial, though he too could be stern on occasion. When members of +the house of ‘Alà came to visit him at Damascus, which was now the +capital of the Muḥammadan Empire, he gave them honourable lodging and +entertainment and was anxious to do what they asked; but they (relates +the historian approvingly) used to address him in the rudest terms and +affront him in the vilest manner: sometimes he would answer them with a +jest, and another time he would feign not to hear, and he always +dismissed them with splendid presents and ample donations.[363] "I do +not employ my sword," he said, "when my whip suffices me, nor my whip +when my tongue suffices me; and were there but a single hair (of +friendship) between me and my subjects, I would not let it be +snapped."[364] After the business of the day he sought relaxation in +books. "He consecrated a third part of every night to the history of the +Arabs and their famous battles; the history of foreign peoples, their +kings, and their government; the biographies of monarchs, including +their wars and stratagems and methods of rule; and other matters +connected with Ancient History."[365] + +[Sidenote: Ziyád ibn AbÃhi.] + +Mu‘áwiya's chief henchman was Ziyád, the son of Sumayya (Sumayya being +the name of his mother), or, as he is generally called, Ziyád ibn AbÃhi, +_i.e._, 'Ziyád his father's son,' for none knew who was his sire, though +rumour pointed to Abú Sufyán; in which case Ziyád would have been +Mu‘áwiya's half-brother. Mu‘áwiya, instead of disavowing the scandalous +imputation, acknowledged him as such, and made him governor of Baá¹£ra, +where he ruled the Eastern provinces with a rod of iron. + +[Sidenote: YazÃd (680-683 A.D.).] + +Mu‘áwiya was a crafty diplomatist--he has been well compared to +Richelieu--whose profound knowledge of human nature enabled him to gain +over men of moderate opinions in all the parties opposed to him. Events +were soon to prove the hollowness of this outward reconciliation. YazÃd, +who succeeded his father, was the son of Maysún, a Bedouin woman whom +Mu‘áwiya married before he rose to be Caliph. The luxury of Damascus had +no charm for her wild spirit, and she gave utterance to her feeling of +homesickness in melancholy verse:-- + + "A tent with rustling breezes cool + Delights me more than palace high, + And more the cloak of simple wool + Than robes in which I learned to sigh. + + The crust I ate beside my tent + Was more than this fine bread to me; + The wind's voice where the hill-path went + Was more than tambourine can be. + + And more than purr of friendly cat + I love the watch-dog's bark to hear; + And more than any lubbard fat + I love a Bedouin cavalier."[366] + +[Sidenote: Ḥusayn marches on Kúfa.] + +[Sidenote: Massacre of Ḥusayn and his followers at Karbalá (10th +Muḥarram, 61 A.H. = 10th October, 680 A.D.).] + +Mu‘áwiya, annoyed by the contemptuous allusion to himself, took the dame +at her word. She returned to her own family, and YazÃd grew up as a +Bedouin, with the instincts and tastes which belong to the +Bedouins--love of pleasure, hatred of piety, and reckless disregard for +the laws of religion. The beginning of his reign was marked by an event +of which even now few Moslems can speak without a thrill of horror and +dismay. The facts are briefly these: In the autumn of the year 680 +Ḥusayn, the son of ‘AlÃ, claiming to be the rightful Caliph in virtue of +his descent from the Prophet, quitted Mecca with his whole family and a +number of devoted friends, and set out for Kúfa, where he expected the +population, which was almost entirely ShÑite, to rally to his cause. It +was a foolhardy adventure. The poet Farazdaq, who knew the fickle temper +of his fellow-townsmen, told Ḥusayn that although their hearts were with +him, their swords would be with the Umayyads; but his warning was given +in vain. Meanwhile ‘Ubaydulláh b. Ziyád, the governor of Kúfa, having +overawed the insurgents in the city and beheaded their leader, Muslim b. +‘AqÃl, who was a cousin of Ḥusayn, sent a force of cavalry with orders +to bring the arch-rebel to a stand. Retreat was still open to him. But +his followers cried out that the blood of Muslim must be avenged, and +Ḥusayn could not hesitate. Turning northward along the Euphrates, he +encamped at Karbalá with his little band, which, including the women and +children, amounted to some two hundred souls. In this hopeless situation +he offered terms which might have been accepted if Shamir b. Dhi +’l-Jawshan, a name for ever infamous and accursed, had not persuaded +‘Ubaydulláh to insist on unconditional surrender. The demand was +refused, and Ḥusayn drew up his comrades--a handful of men and boys--for +battle against the host which surrounded them. All the harrowing details +invented by grief and passion can scarcely heighten the tragedy of the +closing scene. It would appear that the Umayyad officers themselves +shrank from the odium of a general massacre, and hoped to take the +Prophet's grandson alive. Shamir, however, had no such scruples. Chafing +at delay, he urged his soldiers to the assault. The unequal struggle was +soon over. Ḥusayn fell, pierced by an arrow, and his brave followers +were cut down beside him to the last man. + +[Sidenote: Differing views of Muḥammadan and European writers.] + +[Sidenote: The Umayyads judged by Islam.] + +[Sidenote: Character of YazÃd.] + +Muḥammadan tradition, which with rare exceptions is uniformly hostile to +the Umayyad dynasty, regards Ḥusayn as a martyr and YazÃd as his +murderer; while modern historians, for the most part, agree with Sir W. +Muir, who points out that Ḥusayn, "having yielded himself to a +treasonable, though impotent design upon the throne, was committing an +offence that endangered society and demanded swift suppression." This +was naturally the view of the party in power, and the reader must form +his own conclusion as to how far it justifies the action which they +took. For Moslems the question is decided by the relation of the +Umayyads to Islam. Violators of its laws and spurners of its ideals, +they could never be anything but tyrants; and being tyrants, they had no +right to slay believers who rose in arms against their usurped +authority. The so-called verdict of history, when we come to examine it, +is seen to be the verdict of religion, the judgment of theocratic Islam +on Arabian Imperialism. On this ground the Umayyads are justly +condemned, but it is well to remember that in Moslem eyes the +distinction between Church and State does not exist. YazÃd was a bad +Churchman: therefore he was a wicked tyrant; the one thing involves the +other. From our unprejudiced standpoint, he was an amiable prince who +inherited his mother's poetic talent, and infinitely preferred wine, +music, and sport to the drudgery of public affairs. The Syrian Arabs, +who recognised the Umayyads as legitimate, thought highly of him: +"Jucundissimus," says a Christian writer, "et cunctis nationibus regni +ejus subditis vir gratissime habitus, qui nullam unquam, ut omnibus +moris est, sibi regalis fastigii causa gloriam appetivit, sed communis +cum omnibus civiliter vixit."[367] He deplored the fate of the women and +children of Ḥusayn's family, treated them with every mark of respect, +and sent them to MedÃna, where their account of the tragedy added fresh +fuel to the hatred and indignation with which its authors were generally +regarded. + +The Umayyads had indeed ample cause to rue the day of Karbalá. It gave +the ShÑite faction a rallying-cry--"Vengeance for Ḥusayn!"--which was +taken up on all sides, and especially by the Persian _MawálÃ_, or +Clients, who longed for deliverance from the Arab yoke. Their +amalgamation with the ShÑa--a few years later they flocked in thousands +to the standard of Mukhtár--was an event of the utmost historical +importance, which will be discussed when we come to speak of the +ShÑites in particular. + +[Sidenote: MedÃna and Mecca desecrated (682-3 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Rebellion of Mukhtár (685-6 A.D.).] + +The slaughter of Ḥusayn does not complete the tale of YazÃd's +enormities. MedÃna, the Prophet's city, having expelled its Umayyad +governor, was sacked by a Syrian army, while Mecca itself, where +‘Abdulláh b. Zubayr had set up as rival Caliph, was besieged, and the +Ka‘ba laid in ruins. These outrages, shocking to Moslem sentiment, +kindled a flame of rebellion. Ḥusayn was avenged by Mukhtár, who seized +Kúfa and executed some three hundred of the guilty citizens, including +the miscreant Shamir. His troops defeated and slew ‘Ubaydulláh b. Ziyád, +but he himself was slain, not long afterwards, by Mus‘ab, the brother of +Ibn Zubayr, and seven thousand of his followers were massacred in cold +blood. On YazÃd's death (683) the Umayyad Empire threatened to fall to +pieces. As a contemporary poet sang-- + + "Now loathed of all men is the Fury blind + Which blazeth as a fire blown by the wind. + They are split in sects: each province hath its own + Commander of the Faithful, each its throne."[368] + +[Sidenote: Civil war renewed.] + +[Sidenote: Rivalry of Northern and Southern Arabs.] + +Fierce dissensions broke out among the Syrian Arabs, the backbone of the +dynasty. The great tribal groups of Kalb and Qays, whose coalition had +hitherto maintained the Umayyads in power, fought on opposite sides at +Marj Ráhiá¹ (684), the former for Marwán and the latter for Ibn Zubayr. +Marwán's victory secured the allegiance of Syria, but henceforth Qays +and Kalb were always at daggers drawn.[369] This was essentially a feud +between the Northern and the Southern Arabs--a feud which rapidly +extended and developed into a permanent racial enmity. They carried it +with them to the farthest ends of the world, so that, for example, after +the conquest of Spain precautions had to be taken against civil war by +providing that Northerners and Southerners should not settle in the same +districts. The literary history of this antagonism has been sketched by +Dr. Goldziher with his wonted erudition and acumen.[370] Satire was, of +course, the principal weapon of both sides. Here is a fragment by a +Northern poet which belongs to the Umayyad period:-- + + "Negroes are better, when they name their sires, + Than Qaḥá¹Ã¡n's sons,[371] the uncircumcisèd cowards: + A folk whom thou mayst see, at war's outflame, + More abject than a shoe to tread in baseness; + Their women free to every lecher's lust, + Their clients spoil for cavaliers and footmen."[372] + +Thus the Arab nation was again torn asunder by the old tribal +pretensions which Muḥammad sought to abolish. That they ultimately +proved fatal to the Umayyads is no matter for surprise; the sorely +pressed dynasty was already tottering, its enemies were at its gates. By +good fortune it produced at this crisis an exceptionally able and +vigorous ruler, ‘Abdu ’l-Malik b. Marwán, who not only saved his house +from destruction, but re-established its supremacy and inaugurated a +more brilliant epoch than any that had gone before. + +[Sidenote: ‘Abdu ’l-Malik and his successors.] + +[Sidenote: Reforms of ‘Abdu ’l-Malik.] + +[Sidenote: The writing of Arabic.] + +[Sidenote: Ḥajjáj b. Yúsuf (†714 A.D.).] + +‘Abdu ’l-Malik succeeded his father in 685, but required seven years of +hard fighting to make good his claim to the Caliphate. When his most +formidable rival, Ibn Zubayr, had fallen in battle (692), the eastern +provinces were still overrun by rebels, who offered a desperate +resistance to the governor of ‘Iráq, the iron-handed Ḥajjáj. But +enough of bloodshed. Peace also had her victories during the troubled +reign of ‘Abdu ’l-Malik and the calmer sway of his successors. Four of +the next five Caliphs were his own sons--WalÃd (705-715), Sulaymán +(715-717), YazÃd II (720-724), and Hishám (724-743); the fifth, ‘Umar +II, was the son of his brother, ‘Abdu ’l-‘AzÃz. For the greater part of +this time the Moslem lands enjoyed a well-earned interval of repose and +prosperity, which mitigated, though it could not undo, the frightful +devastation wrought by twenty years of almost continuous civil war. Many +reforms were introduced, some wholly political in character, while +others inspired by the same motives have, none the less, a direct +bearing on literary history. ‘Abdu ’l-Malik organised an excellent +postal service, by means of relays of horses, for the conveyance of +despatches and travellers; he substituted for the Byzantine and Persian +coins, which had hitherto been in general use, new gold and silver +pieces, on which be caused sentences from the Koran to be engraved; and +he made Arabic, instead of Greek or Persian, the official language of +financial administration. Steps were taken, moreover, to improve the +extremely defective Arabic script, and in this way to provide a sound +basis for the study and interpretation of the Koran as well as for the +collection of _ḥadÃths_ or sayings of the Prophet, which form an +indispensable supplement thereto. The Arabic alphabet, as it was then +written, consisted entirely of consonants, so that, to give an +illustration from English, _bnd_ might denote _band_, _bend_, _bind_, or +_bond_; _crt_ might stand for _cart_, _carat_, _curt_, and so on. To an +Arab this ambiguity mattered little; far worse confusion arose from the +circumstance that many of the consonants themselves were exactly alike: +thus, _e.g._, it was possible to read the same combination of three +letters as _bnt_, _nbt_, _byt_, _tnb_, _ntb_, _nyb_, and in various +other ways. Considering the difficulties of the Arabic language, which +are so great that a European aided by scientific grammars and +unequivocal texts will often find himself puzzled even when he has +become tolerably familiar with it, one may imagine that the Koran was +virtually a sealed book to all but a few among the crowds of foreigners +who accepted Islam after the early conquests. ‘Abdu’l-Malik's viceroy +in ‘Iráq, the famous Ḥajjáj, who began life as a schoolmaster, +exerted himself to promote the use of vowel-marks (borrowed from the +Syriac) and of the diacritical points placed above or below similar +consonants. This extraordinary man deserves more than a passing mention. +A stern disciplinarian, who could be counted upon to do his duty without +any regard to public opinion, he was chosen by ‘Abdu ’l-Malik to besiege +Mecca, which Ibn Zubayr was holding as anti-Caliph. Ḥajjáj bombarded +the city, defeated the Pretender, and sent his head to Damascus. Two +years afterwards he became governor of ‘Iráq. Entering the Mosque at +Kúfa, he mounted the pulpit and introduced himself to the assembled +townsmen in these memorable words:-- + +[Sidenote: His service to literature.] + + "I am he who scattereth the darkness and climbeth o'er the summits. + When I lift the turban from my face, ye will know me.[373] + +"O people of Kúfa! I see heads that are ripe for cutting, and I am the +man to do it; and methinks, I see blood between the turbans and +beards."[374] The rest of his speech was in keeping with the +commencement. He used no idle threats, as the malcontents soon found +out. Rebellion, which had been rampant before his arrival, was rapidly +extinguished. "He restored order in ‘Iráq and subdued its people."[375] +For twenty years his despotic rule gave peace and security to the +Eastern world. Cruel he may have been, though the tales of his +bloodthirstiness are beyond doubt grossly exaggerated, but it should be +put to his credit that he established and maintained the settled +conditions which afford leisure for the cultivation of learning. Under +his protection the Koran and Traditions were diligently studied both in +Kúfa and Baá¹£ra, where many Companions of the Prophet had made their +home: hence arose in Baá¹£ra the science of Grammar, with which, as we +shall see in a subsequent page, the name of that city is peculiarly +associated. Ḥajjáj shared the literary tastes of his sovereign; he +admired the old poets and patronised the new; he was a master of terse +eloquence and plumed himself on his elegant Arabic style. The most hated +man of his time, he lives in history as the savage oppressor and butcher +of God-fearing Moslems. He served the Umayyads well and faithfully, and +when he died in 714 A.D. he left behind him nothing but his Koran, his +arms, and a few hundred pieces of silver. + + +[Sidenote: WalÃd (705-715 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Moslem conquests in the East.] + +[Sidenote: Conquest of Spain (711-713 A.D.).] + +It was a common saying at Damascus that under WalÃd people talked of +fine buildings, under Sulaymán of cookery and the fair sex, while in the +reign of ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘AzÃz the Koran and religion formed favourite +topics of conversation.[376] Of WalÃd's passion for architecture we have +a splendid monument in the Great Mosque of Damascus (originally the +Cathedral of St. John), which is the principal sight of the city to this +day. He spoke Arabic very incorrectly, and though his father rebuked +him, observing that "in order to rule the Arabs one must be proficient +in their language," he could never learn to express himself with +propriety.[377] The unbroken peace which now prevailed within the Empire +enabled WalÃd to resume the work of conquest. In the East his armies +invaded Transoxania, captured Bokhárá and Samarcand, and pushed forward +to the Chinese frontier. Another force crossed the Indus and penetrated +as far as Múltán, a renowned centre of pilgrimage in the Southern +Punjaub, which fell into the hands of the Moslems after a prolonged +siege. But the most brilliant advance, and the richest in its results, +was that in the extreme West, which decided the fate of Spain. Although +the Moslems had obtained a footing in Northern Africa some thirty years +before this time, their position was always precarious, until in 709 +Músá b. Nuá¹£ayr completely subjugated the Berbers, and extended not only +the dominion but also the faith of Islam to the Atlantic Ocean. Two +years later his freedman Ṭáriq crossed the straits and took possession +of the commanding height, called by the ancients Calpe, but henceforth +known as Jabal Ṭáriq (Gibraltar). Roderic, the last of the West Gothic +dynasty, gathered an army in defence of his kingdom, but there were +traitors in the camp, and, though he himself fought valiantly, their +defection turned the fortunes of the day. The king fled, and it was +never ascertained what became of him. Ṭáriq, meeting with feeble +resistance, marched rapidly on Toledo, while Músá, whose jealousy was +excited by the triumphal progress of his lieutenant, now joined in the +campaign, and, storming city after city, reached the Pyrenees. The +conquest of Spain, which is told by Moslem historians with many romantic +circumstances, marks the nearest approach that the Arabs ever made to +World-Empire. Their advance on French soil was finally hurled back by +Charles the Hammer's great victory at Tours (732 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘AzÃz (717-720 A.D.).] + +Before taking leave of the Umayyads we must not forget to mention ‘Umar +b. ‘Abd al-‘AzÃz, a ruler who stands out in singular contrast with his +predecessors, and whose brief reign is regarded by many Moslems as the +sole bright spot in a century of godless and bloodstained tyranny. There +had been nothing like it since the days of his illustrious namesake and +kinsman,[378] ‘Umar b. al-Khaá¹á¹Ã¡b, and we shall find nothing like it in +the future history of the Caliphate. Plato desired that every king +should be a philosopher: according to Muḥammadan theory every Caliph +ought to be a saint. ‘Umar satisfied these aspirations. When he came to +the throne the following dialogue is said to have occurred between him +and one of his favourites, Sálim al-SuddÃ:-- + + + ‘Umar: "Are you glad on account of my accession, or sorry?" + + Sálim: "I am glad for the people's sake, but sorry for yours." + + ‘Umar: "I fear that I have brought perdition upon my soul." + + Sálim: "If you are afraid, very good. I only fear that you may + cease to be afraid." + + ‘Umar: "Give me a word of counsel." + + Sálim: "Our father Adam was driven forth from Paradise because + of one sin."[379] + +Poets and orators found no favour at his court, which was thronged by +divines and men of ascetic life.[380] He warned his governors that they +must either deal justly or go. He would not allow political +considerations to interfere with his ideal of righteousness, but, as +Wellhausen points out, he had practical ends in view: his piety made him +anxious for the common weal no less than for his own salvation. Whether +he administered the State successfully is a matter of dispute. It has +been generally supposed that his financial reforms were Utopian in +character and disastrous to the Exchequer.[381] However this may be, he +showed wisdom in seeking to bridge the menacing chasm between Islam and +the Imperial house. Thus, _e.g._, he did away with the custom which had +long prevailed of cursing ‘Alà from the pulpit at Friday prayers. The +policy of conciliation was tried too late, and for too short a space, to +be effective; but it was not entirely fruitless. When, on the overthrow +of the Umayyad dynasty, the tombs of the hated 'tyrants' were defiled +and their bodies disinterred, ‘Umar's grave alone was respected, and +Mas‘údà (†956 A.D.) tells us that in his time it was visited by crowds +of pilgrims. + +[Sidenote: Hishám and WalÃd II.] + +The remaining Umayyads do not call for particular notice. Hishám ranks +as a statesman with Mu‘áwiya and ‘Abdu ’l-Malik: the great ‘Abbásid +Caliph, Manṣúr, is said to have admired and imitated his methods of +government.[382] WalÃd II was an incorrigible libertine, whose songs +celebrating the forbidden delights of wine have much merit. The eminent +poet and freethinker, Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrÃ, quotes these verses by +him[383]:-- + + [Sidenote: Verses by WalÃd II (743-4 A.D.).] + + "The Imám WalÃd am I! In all my glory + Of trailing robes I listen to soft lays. + When proudly I sweep on towards her chamber, + I care not who inveighs. + + There's no true joy but lending ear to music, + Or wine that leaves one sunk in stupor dense. + Houris in Paradise I do not look for: + Does any man of sense?" + + +Let us now turn from the monarchs to their subjects. + +[Sidenote: Political and religious movements of the period.] + +In the first place we shall speak of the political and religious +parties, whose opposition to the Umayyad House gradually undermined its +influence and in the end brought about its fall. Some account will be +given of the ideas for which these parties fought and of the causes of +their discontent with the existing _régime_. Secondly, a few words must +be said of the theological and more purely religious sects--the +Mu‘tazilites, Murjites, and ṢúfÃs; and, lastly, of the extant +literature, which is almost exclusively poetical, and its leading +representatives. + +[Sidenote: The Arabs of ‘Iráq.] + +The opposition to the Umayyads was at first mainly a question of +politics. Mu‘áwiya's accession announced the triumph of Syria over +‘Iráq, and Damascus, instead of Kúfa, became the capital of the Empire. +As Wellhausen observes, "the most powerful risings against the Umayyads +proceeded from ‘Iráq, not from any special party, but from the whole +mass of the Arabs settled there, who were united in resenting the loss +of their independence (_Selbstherrlichkeit_) and in hating those into +whose hands it had passed."[384] At the same time these feelings took a +religious colour and identified themselves with the cause of Islam. The +new government fell lamentably short of the theocratic standard by which +it was judged. Therefore it was evil, and (according to the Moslem's +conception of duty) every right-thinking man must work for its +destruction. + +Among the myriads striving for this consummation, and so far making +common cause with each other, we can distinguish four principal classes. + +[Sidenote: Parties opposed to the Umayyad government.] + +(1) The religious Moslems, or Pietists, in general, who formed a wing of +the Orthodox Party.[385] + +(2) The Khárijites, who may be described as the Puritans and extreme +Radicals of theocracy. + +(3) The ShÑites, or partisans of ‘Alà and his House. + +(4) The Non-Arabian Moslems, who were called _MawálÃ_ (Clients). + +[Sidenote: The Pietists.] + +It is clear that the Pietists--including divines learned in the law, +reciters of the Koran, Companions of the Prophet and their +descendants--could not but abominate the secular authority which they +were now compelled to obey. The conviction that Might, in the shape of +the tyrant and his minions, trampled on Right as represented by the +Koran and the _Sunna_ (custom of Muḥammad) drove many into active +rebellion: five thousand are said to have perished in the sack of MedÃna +alone. Others again, like Ḥasan of Baá¹£ra, filled with profound despair, +shut their eyes on the world, and gave themselves up to asceticism, a +tendency which had important consequences, as we shall see. + + +[Sidenote: The Khárijites.] + +[Sidenote: Battle of Nahrawán (658 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Khárijite risings.] + +When ‘AlÃ, on the field of á¹¢iffÃn, consented that the claims of Mu‘áwiya +and himself to the Caliphate should be decided by arbitration, a large +section of his army accused him of having betrayed his trust. He, the +duly elected Caliph--so they argued--should have maintained the dignity +of his high office inviolate at all costs. On the homeward march the +malcontents, some twelve thousand in number, broke away and encamped by +themselves at Ḥarúrá, a village near Kúfa. Their cry was, "God alone can +decide" (_lá ḥukma illá lilláhi_): in these terms they protested against +the arbitration. ‘Alà endeavoured to win them back, but without any +lasting success. They elected a Caliph from among themselves, and +gathered at Nahrawán, four thousand strong. On the appearance of ‘Alà +with a vastly superior force many of the rebels dispersed, but the +remainder--about half--preferred to die for their faith. Nahrawán was to +the Khárijites what Karbalá afterwards became to the ShÑites, who from +this day were regarded by the former as their chief enemies. Frequent +Khárijite risings took place during the early Umayyad period, but the +movement reached its zenith in the years of confusion which followed +YazÃd's death. The Azraqites, so called after their leader, Náfi‘ b. +al-Azraq, overran ‘Iráq and Southern Persia, while another sect, the +Najdites, led by Najda b. ‘Ãmir, reduced the greater part of Arabia to +submission. The insurgents held their ground for a long time against +‘Abdu ’l-Malik, and did not cease from troubling until the rebellion +headed by ShabÃb was at last stamped out by Ḥajjáj in 697. + +[Sidenote: Meaning of 'Khárijite.'] + +[Sidenote: Their political theories.] + +It has been suggested that the name _KhárijÃ_ (plural, _Khawárij_) +refers to a passage in the Koran (iv, 101) where mention is made of +"those who go forth (_yakhruj_) from their homes as emigrants +(_muhájiran_) to God and His Messenger"; so that 'Khárijite' means 'one +who leaves his home among the unbelievers for God's sake,' and +corresponds to the term _Muhájir_, which was applied to the Meccan +converts who accompanied the Prophet in his migration to MedÃna.[386] +Another name by which they are often designated is likewise Koranic in +origin, viz., _Shurát_ (plural of _Shárin_): literally 'Sellers'--that +is to say, those who sell their lives and goods in return for +Paradise.[387] The Khárijites were mostly drawn from the Bedouin +soldiery who settled in Baá¹£ra and Kúfa after the Persian wars. Civil +life wrought little change in their unruly temper. Far from +acknowledging the peculiar sanctity of a Qurayshite, they desired a +chief of their own blood whom they might obey, in Bedouin fashion, as +long as he did not abuse or exceed the powers conferred upon him.[388] +The mainspring of the movement, however, was pietistic, and can be +traced, as Wellhausen has shown, to the Koran-readers who made it a +matter of conscience that ‘Alà should avow his contrition for the fatal +error which their own temporary and deeply regretted infatuation had +forced him to commit. They cast off ‘Alà for the same reason which led +them to strike at ‘Uthman: in both cases they were maintaining the cause +of God against an unjust Caliph.[389] It is important to remember these +facts in view of the cardinal Khárijite doctrines (1) that every free +Arab was eligible as Caliph,[390] and (2) that an evil-doing Caliph must +be deposed and, if necessary, put to death. Mustawrid b. ‘Ullifa, the +Khárijite 'Commander of the Faithful,' wrote to Simák b. ‘Ubayd, the +governor of Ctesiphon, as follows: "We call you to the Book of God +Almighty and Glorious, and to the _Sunna_ (custom) of the Prophet--on +whom be peace!--and to the administration of Abú Bakr and ‘Umar--may God +be well pleased with them!--and to renounce ‘Uthmán and ‘Alà because +they corrupted the true religion and abandoned the authority of the +Book."[391] From this it appears that the Khárijite programme was simply +the old Islam of equality and fraternity, which had never been fully +realised and was now irretrievably ruined. Theoretically, all devout +Moslems shared in the desire for its restoration and condemned the +existing Government no less cordially than did the Khárijites. What +distinguished the latter party was the remorseless severity with which +they carried their principles into action. To them it was absolutely +vital that the Imám, or head of the community, should rule in the name +and according to the will of God: those who followed any other sealed +their doom in the next world: eternal salvation hung upon the choice of +a successor to the Prophet. Moslems who refused to execrate ‘Uthmán and +‘Alà were the worst of infidels; it was the duty of every true believer +to take part in the Holy War against such, and to kill them, together +with their wives and children. These atrocities recoiled upon the +insurgents, who soon found themselves in danger of extermination. Milder +counsels began to prevail. Thus the Ibáá¸ites (followers of ‘Abdulláh b. +Ibáá¸) held it lawful to live amongst the Moslems and mix with them on +terms of mutual tolerance. But compromise was in truth incompatible with +the _raison d'être_ of the Khárijites, namely, to establish the kingdom +of God upon the earth. This meant virtual anarchy: "their unbending +logic shattered every constitution which it set up." As ‘Alà remarked, +"they say, 'No government' (_lá imára_), but there must be a government, +good or bad."[392] Nevertheless, it was a noble ideal for which they +fought in pure devotion, having, unlike the other political parties, no +worldly interests to serve. + +[Sidenote: Their religion.] + +The same fierce spirit of fanaticism moulded their religious views, +which were gloomy and austere, as befitted the chosen few in an ungodly +world. ShahrastánÃ, speaking of the original twelve thousand who +rebelled against ‘AlÃ, describes them as 'people of fasting and prayer' +(_ahlu á¹£iyámin wa-á¹£alátin_).[393] The Koran ruled their lives and +possessed their imaginations, so that the history of the early Church, +the persecutions, martyrdoms, and triumphs of the Faith became a +veritable drama which was being enacted by themselves. The fear of hell +kindled in them an inquisitorial zeal for righteousness. They +scrupulously examined their own belief as well as that of their +neighbours, and woe to him that was found wanting! A single false step +involved excommunication from the pale of Islam, and though the slip +might be condoned on proof of sincere repentance, any Moslem who had +once committed a mortal sin (_kabÃra_) was held, by the stricter +Khárijites at least, to be inevitably damned with the infidels in +everlasting fire. + + +[Sidenote: Khárijite poetry.] + +Much might be written, if space allowed, concerning the wars of the +Khárijites, their most famous chiefs, the points on which they +quarrelled, and the sects into which they split. Here we can only +attempt to illustrate the general character of the movement. We have +touched on its political and religious aspects, and shall now conclude +with some reference to its literary side. The Khárijites did not produce +a Milton or a Bunyan, but as Arabs of Bedouin stock they had a natural +gift of song, from which they could not be weaned; although, according +to the strict letter of the Koran, poetry is a devilish invention +improper for the pious Moslem to meddle with. But these are poems of a +different order from the pagan odes, and breathe a stern religious +enthusiasm that would have gladdened the Prophet's heart. Take, for +example, the following verses, which were made by a Khárijite in +prison:--[394] + + "'Tis time, O ye Sellers, for one who hath sold himself + To God, that he should arise and saddle amain. + Fools! in the land of miscreants will ye abide, + To be hunted down, every man of you, and to be slain? + O would that I were among you, armèd in mail, + On the back of my stout-ribbed galloping war-horse again! + And would that I were among you, fighting your foes, + That me, first of all, they might give death's beaker to drain! + It grieves me sore that ye are startled and chased + Like beasts, while I cannot draw on the wretches profane + My sword, nor see them scattered by noble knights + Who never yield an inch of the ground they gain, + But where the struggle is hottest, with keen blades hew + Their strenuous way and deem 'twere base to refrain. + Ay, it grieves me sore that ye are oppressed and wronged, + While I must drag in anguish a captive's chain." + +[Sidenote: Qaá¹arà b. al-Fujá’a.] + +Qaá¹arà b. al-Fujá’a, the intrepid Khárijite leader who routed army +after army sent against him by Ḥajjáj, sang almost as well as he +fought. The verses rendered below are included in the _Ḥamása_[395] +and cited by Ibn Khallikán, who declares that they would make a brave +man of the greatest coward in the world. "I know of nothing on the +subject to be compared with them; they could only have proceeded from a +spirit that scorned disgrace and from a truly Arabian sentiment of +valour."[396] + + "I say to my soul dismayed-- + 'Courage! Thou canst not achieve, + With praying, an hour of life + Beyond the appointed term. + Then courage on death's dark field, + Courage! Impossible 'tis + To live for ever and aye. + Life is no hero's robe + Of honour: the dastard vile + Also doffs it at last.'" + +[Sidenote: The ShÑites.] + +[Sidenote: The theory of Divine Right.] + +The murder of ‘Uthmán broke the Moslem community, which had hitherto +been undivided, into two _shÑas_, or parties--one for ‘Alà and the +other for Mu‘áwiya. When the latter became Caliph he was no longer a +party leader, but head of the State, and his _shÑa_ ceased to exist. +Henceforth 'the ShÑa' _par excellence_ was the party of ‘AlÃ, which +regarded the House of the Prophet as the legitimate heirs to the +succession. Not content, however, with upholding ‘AlÃ, as the worthiest +of the Prophet's Companions and the duly elected Caliph, against his +rival, Mu‘áwiya, the bolder spirits took up an idea, which emerged about +this time, that the Caliphate belonged to ‘Alà and his descendants by +Divine right. Such is the distinctive doctrine of the ShÑites to the +present day. It is generally thought to have originated in Persia, where +the Sásánian kings used to assume the title of 'god' (Pahlavà _bagh_) +and were looked upon as successive incarnations of the Divine majesty. + + [Sidenote: Dozy's account of its origin.] + + "Although the ShÑites," says Dozy, "often found themselves under + the direction of Arab leaders, who utilised them in order to gain + some personal end, they were nevertheless a Persian sect at bottom; + and it is precisely here that the difference most clearly showed + itself between the Arab race, which loves liberty, and the Persian + race, accustomed to slavish submission. For the Persians, the + principle of electing the Prophet's successor was something unheard + of and incomprehensible. The only principle which they recognised + was that of inheritance, and since Muḥammad left no sons, they + thought that his son-in-law ‘Alà should have succeeded him, and that + the sovereignty was hereditary in his family. Consequently, all the + Caliphs except ‘AlÃ--_i.e._, Abú Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthmán, as well + as the Umayyads--were in their eyes usurpers to whom no obedience + was due. The hatred which they felt for the Government and for Arab + rule confirmed them in this opinion; at the same time they cast + covetous looks on the wealth of their masters. Habituated, moreover, + to see in their kings the descendants of the inferior divinities, + they transferred this idolatrous veneration to ‘Alà and his + posterity. Absolute obedience to the Imám of ‘AlÃ's House was in + their eyes the most important duty; if that were fulfilled all the + rest might be interpreted allegorically and violated without + scruple. For them the Imám was everything; he was God made man. A + servile submission accompanied by immorality was the basis of their + system."[397] + +[Sidenote: The Saba’ites.] + +[Sidenote: Doctrine of Ibn Sabá.] + +Now, the ShÑite theory of Divine Right certainly harmonised with +Persian ideas, but was it also of Persian origin? On the contrary, it +seems first to have arisen among an obscure Arabian sect, the Saba’ites, +whose founder, ‘Abdulláh b. Sabá (properly, Saba’), was a native of +á¹¢an‘á in Yemen, and is said to have been a Jew.[398] In ‘Uthmán's time +he turned Moslem and became, apparently, a travelling missionary. "He +went from place to place," says the historian, "seeking to lead the +Moslems into error."[399] We hear of him in the Ḥijáz, then in Baá¹£ra and +Kúfa, then in Syria. Finally he settled in Egypt, where he preached the +doctrine of palingenesis (_raj‘a_). "It is strange indeed," he +exclaimed, "that any one should believe in the return of Jesus (as +Messias), and deny the return of Muḥammad, which God has announced (Kor. +xxviii, 85).[400] Furthermore, there are a thousand Prophets, every one +of whom has an executor (_waá¹£Ã_), and the executor of Muḥammad is +‘AlÃ.[401] Muḥammad is the last of the Prophets, and ‘Alà is the last of +the executors." Ibn Sabá, therefore, regarded Abú Bakr, ‘Umar, and +‘Uthmán as usurpers. He set on foot a widespread conspiracy in favour of +‘AlÃ, and carried on a secret correspondence with the disaffected in +various provinces of the Empire.[402] According to ShahrastánÃ, he was +banished by ‘Alà for saying, "Thou art thou" (_anta anta_), _i.e._, +"Thou art God."[403] This refers to the doctrine taught by Ibn Sabá and +the extreme ShÑites (_Ghulát_) who derive from him, that the Divine +Spirit which dwells in every prophet and passes successively from one to +another was transfused, at Muḥammad's death, into ‘AlÃ, and from ‘Alà +into his descendants who succeeded him in the Imámate. The Saba’ites +also held that the Imám might suffer a temporary occultation (_ghayba_), +but that one day he would return and fill the earth with justice. They +believed the millennium to be near at hand, so that the number of Imáms +was at first limited to four. Thus the poet Kuthayyir (†723 A.D.) +says:-- + + "Four complete are the Imáms + ‘Alà and his three good sons, + One was faithful and devout; + One, until with waving flags + Dwells on Mount Raá¸wá, concealed: + of Quraysh, the lords of Right: + each of them a shining light. + Karbalá hid one from sight; + his horsemen he shall lead to fight, + honey he drinks and water bright."[404] + +[Sidenote: The Mahdà or Messiah.] + +The Messianic idea is not peculiar to the ShÑites, but was brought into +Islam at an early period by Jewish and Christian converts, and soon +established itself as a part of Muḥammadan belief. Traditions ascribed +to the Prophet began to circulate, declaring that the approach of the +Last Judgment would be heralded by a time of tumult and confusion, by +the return of Jesus, who would slay the Antichrist (_Dajjál_), and +finally by the coming of the MahdÃ, _i.e._, 'the God-guided one,' who +would fill the earth with justice even as it was then filled with +violence and iniquity. This expectation of a Deliverer descended from +the Prophet runs through the whole history of the ShÑa. As we have +seen, their supreme religious chiefs were the Imáms of ‘AlÃ's House, +each of whom transmitted his authority to his successor. In the course +of time disputes arose as to the succession. One sect acknowledged only +seven legitimate Imáms, while another carried the number to twelve. The +last Imám of the 'Seveners' (_al-Sab‘iyya_), who are commonly called +Ismá‘ÃlÃs, was Muḥammad b. Ismá‘Ãl, and of the 'Twelvers' +(_al-Ithná-‘ashariyya_) Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan.[405] Both those personages +vanished mysteriously about 770 and 870 A.D., and their respective +followers, refusing to believe that they were dead, asserted that their +Imám had withdrawn himself for a season from mortal sight, but that he +would surely return at last as the promised MahdÃ. It would take a long +while to enumerate all the pretenders and fanatics who have claimed this +title.[406] Two of them founded the Fáá¹imid and Almohade dynasties, +which we shall mention elsewhere, but they generally died on the gibbet +or the battle-field. The ideal which they, so to speak, incarnated did +not perish with them. Mahdiism, the faith in a divinely appointed +revolution which will sweep away the powers of evil and usher in a +Golden Age of justice and truth such as the world has never known, is a +present and inspiring fact which deserves to be well weighed by those +who doubt the possibility of an Islamic Reformation. + +[Sidenote: ShÑite gatherings at Karbalá.] + +The ShÑa began as a political faction, but it could not remain so for +any length of time, because in Islam politics always tend to take +religious ground, just as the successful religious reformer invariably +becomes a ruler. The Saba’ites furnished the ShÑite movement with a +theological basis; and the massacre of Ḥusayn, followed by Mukhtár's +rebellion, supplied the indispensable element of enthusiasm. Within a +few years after the death of Ḥusayn his grave at Karbalá was already a +place of pilgrimage for the ShÑites. When the 'Penitents' +(_al-Tawwábún_) revolted in 684 they repaired thither and lifted their +voices simultaneously in a loud wail, and wept, and prayed God that He +would forgive them for having deserted the Prophet's grandson in his +hour of need. "O God!" exclaimed their chief, "have mercy on Ḥusayn, the +Martyr and the son of a Martyr, the Mahdà and the son of a MahdÃ, the +á¹¢iddÃq and the son of a á¹¢iddÃq![407] O God! we bear witness that we +follow their religion and their path, and that we are the foes of their +slayers and the friends of those who love them."[408] Here is the germ +of the _ta‘ziyas_, or Passion Plays, which are acted every year on the +10th of Muḥarram, wherever ShÑites are to be found. + +[Sidenote: Mukhtár.] + +But the Moses of the ShÑa, the man who showed them the way to victory +although he did not lead them to it, is undoubtedly Mukhtár. He came +forward in the name of ‘AlÃ's son, Muḥammad, generally known as Ibnu +’l-Ḥanafiyya after his mother. Thus he gained the support of the Arabian +ShÑites, properly so called, who were devoted to ‘Alà and his House, +and laid no stress upon the circumstance of descent from the Prophet, +whereas the Persian adherents of the ShÑa made it a vital matter, and +held accordingly that only the sons of ‘Alà by his wife Fáá¹ima were +fully qualified Imáms. Raising the cry of vengeance for Ḥusayn, Mukhtár +carried this party also along with him. In 686 he found himself master +of Kúfa. Neither the result of his triumph nor the rapid overthrow of +his power concerns us here, but something must be said about the aims +and character of the movement which he headed. + + [Sidenote: The _MawálÃ_ of Kúfa.] + + "More than half the population of Kúfa was composed of _MawálÃ_ + (Clients), who monopolised handicraft, trade, and commerce. They + were mostly Persians in race and language; they had come to Kúfa as + prisoners of war and had there passed over to Islam: then they were + manumitted by their owners and received as clients into the Arab + tribes, so that they now occupied an ambiguous position + (_Zwitterstellung_), being no longer slaves, but still very + dependent on their patrons; needing their protection, bound to their + service, and forming their retinue in peace and war. In these + _MawálÃ_, who were entitled by virtue of Islam to more than the + 'dominant Arabism' allowed them, the hope now dawned of freeing + themselves from clientship and of rising to full and direct + participation in the Moslem state."[409] + +[Sidenote: Mukhtár and the _MawálÃ_.] + +[Sidenote: Persian influence on the ShÑa.] + +Mukhtár, though himself an Arab of noble family, trusted the _MawálÃ_ +and treated them as equals, a proceeding which was bitterly resented by +the privileged class. "You have taken away our clients who are the booty +which God bestowed upon us together with this country. We emancipated +them, hoping to receive the Divine recompense and reward, but you would +not rest until you made them sharers in our booty."[410] Mukhtár was +only giving the _MawálÃ_ their due--they were Moslems and had the right, +as such, to a share in the revenues. To the haughty Arabs, however, it +appeared a monstrous thing that the despised foreigners should be placed +on the same level with themselves. Thus Mukhtár was thrown into the arms +of the _MawálÃ_, and the movement now became not so much anti-Umayyad as +anti-Arabian. Here is the turning-point in the history of the ShÑa. Its +ranks were swelled by thousands of Persians imbued with the extreme +doctrines of the Saba’ites which have been sketched above, and animated +by the intense hatred of a downtrodden people towards their conquerors +and oppressors. Consequently the ShÑa assumed a religious and +enthusiastic character, and struck out a new path which led it farther +and farther from the orthodox creed. The doctrine of 'Interpretation' +(_Ta’wÃl_) opened the door to all sorts of extravagant ideas. One of the +principal ShÑite sects, the Háshimiyya, held that "there is an esoteric +side to everything external, a spirit to every form, a hidden meaning +(_ta’wÃl_) to every revelation, and to every similitude in this world a +corresponding reality in the other world; that ‘Alà united in his own +person the knowledge of all mysteries and communicated it to his son +Muḥammad Ibnu ’l-Ḥanafiyya, who passed it on to his son Abú Háshim; and +that the possessor of this universal knowledge is the true Imám."[411] +So, without ceasing to be Moslems in name, the ShÑites transmuted Islam +into whatever shape they pleased by virtue of a mystical interpretation +based on the infallible authority of the House of Muḥammad, and out of +the ruins of a political party there gradually arose a great religious +organisation in which men of the most diverse opinions could work +together for deliverance from the Umayyad yoke. The first step towards +this development was made by Mukhtár, a versatile genius who seems to +have combined the parts of political adventurer, social reformer, +prophet, and charlatan. He was crushed and his Persian allies were +decimated, but the seed which he had sown bore an abundant harvest when, +sixty years later, Abú Muslim unfurled the black standard of the +‘Abbásids in Khurásán. + + +[Sidenote: The oldest theological sects.] + +Concerning the origin of the oldest theological sects in Islam, the +Murjites and the Mu‘tazilites, we possess too little contemporary +evidence to make a positive statement. It is probable that the latter at +any rate arose, as Von Kremer has suggested, under the influence of +Greek theologians, especially John of Damascus and his pupil, Theodore +Abucara (Abú Qurra), the Bishop of Ḥarrán.[412] Christians were freely +admitted to the Umayyad court. The Christian al-Akhá¹al was +poet-laureate, while many of his co-religionists held high offices in +the Government. Moslems and Christians exchanged ideas in friendly +discussion or controversially. Armed with the hair-splitting weapons of +Byzantine theology, which they soon learned to use only too well, the +Arabs proceeded to try their edge on the dogmas of Islam. + +[Sidenote: The Murjites.] + +The leading article of the Murjite creed was this, that no one who +professed to believe in the One God could be declared an infidel, +whatever sins he might commit, until God Himself had given judgment +against him.[413] The Murjites were so called because they deferred +(_arja’a_ = to defer) their decision in such cases and left the sinner's +fate in suspense, so long as it was doubtful.[414] This principle they +applied in different ways. For example, they refused to condemn ‘Alà and +‘Uthmán outright, as the Khárijites did. "Both ‘Alà and ‘Uthmán," they +said, "were servants of God, and by God alone must they be judged; it is +not for us to pronounce either of them an infidel, notwithstanding that +they rent the Moslem people asunder."[415] On the other hand, the +Murjites equally rejected the pretensions made by the ShÑites on behalf +of ‘Alà and by the Umayyads on behalf of Mu‘áwiya. For the most part +they maintained a neutral attitude towards the Umayyad Government: they +were passive resisters, content, as Wellhausen puts it, "to stand up for +the impersonal Law." Sometimes, however, they turned the principle of +toleration against their rulers. Thus Ḥárith b. Surayj and other Arabian +Murjites joined the oppressed _MawálÃ_ of Khurásán to whom the +Government denied those rights which they had acquired by +conversion.[416] According to the Murjite view, these Persians, having +professed Islam, should no longer be treated as tax-paying infidels. The +Murjites brought the same tolerant spirit into religion. They set faith +above works, emphasised the love and goodness of God, and held that no +Moslem would be damned everlastingly. Some, like Jahm b. á¹¢afwán, went so +far as to declare that faith (_Ãmán_) was merely an inward conviction: a +man might openly profess Christianity or Judaism or any form of unbelief +without ceasing to be a good Moslem, provided only that he acknowledged +Allah with his heart.[417] The moderate school found their most +illustrious representative in Abú ḤanÃfa (†767 A.D.), and through this +great divine--whose followers to-day are counted by millions--their +liberal doctrines were diffused and perpetuated. + +[Sidenote: The Mu‘tazilites.] + +During the Umayyad period Baá¹£ra was the intellectual capital of Islam, +and in that city we find the first traces of a sect which maintained the +principle that thought must be free in the search for truth. The origin +of the Mu‘tazilites (_al-Mu‘tazila_), as they are generally called, +takes us back to the famous divine and ascetic, Ḥasan of Baá¹£ra (†728 +A.D.). One day he was asked to give his opinion on a point regarding +which the Murjites and the Khárijites held opposite views, namely, +whether those who had committed a great sin should be deemed believers +or unbelievers. While Ḥasan was considering the question, one of his +pupils, Wáṣil b. ‘Aá¹Ã¡ (according to another tradition, ‘Amr b. ‘Ubayd) +replied that such persons were neither believers nor unbelievers, but +should be ranked in an intermediate state. He then turned aside and +began to explain the grounds of his assertion to a group which gathered +about him in a different part of the mosque. Ḥasan said: "Wáṣil has +separated himself from us" (_i‘tazala ‘anná_); and on this account the +followers of Wáṣil were named 'Mu‘tazilites,' _i.e._, Schismatics. +Although the story may not be literally true, it is probably safe to +assume that the new sect originated in Baá¹£ra among the pupils of +Ḥasan,[418] who was the life and soul of the religious movement of the +first century A.H. The Mu‘tazilite heresy, in its earliest form, is +connected with the doctrine of Predestination. On this subject the Koran +speaks with two voices. Muḥammad was anything but a logically exact and +consistent thinker. He was guided by the impulse of the moment, and +neither he nor his hearers perceived, as later Moslems did, that the +language of the Koran is often contradictory. Thus in the present +instance texts which imply the moral responsibility of man for his +actions--_e.g._, "_Every soul is in pledge_ (with God) _for what it hath +wrought_"[419]; "_Whoso does good benefits himself, and whoso does evil +does it against himself_"[420]--stand side by side with others which +declare that God leads men aright or astray, as He pleases; that the +hearts of the wicked are sealed and their ears made deaf to the truth; +and that they are certainly doomed to perdition. This fatalistic view +prevailed in the first century of Islam, and the dogma of Predestination +was almost universally accepted. Ibn Qutayba, however, mentions the +names of twenty-seven persons who held the opinion that men's actions +are free.[421] Two among them, Ma‘bad al-Juhanà and Abú Marwán Ghaylán, +who were put to death by ‘Abdu ’l-Malik and his son Hishám, do not +appear to have been condemned as heretics, but rather as enemies of the +Umayyad Government.[422] The real founder of the Mu‘tazilites was Wáṣil +b. ‘Aá¹Ã¡ (†748 A.D.),[423] who added a second cardinal doctrine to that +of free-will. He denied the existence of the Divine attributes--Power, +Wisdom, Life, &c.--on the ground that such qualities, if conceived as +eternal, would destroy the Unity of God. Hence the Mu‘tazilites called +themselves 'the partisans of Unity and Justice' (_Ahlu’l-tawḥÃd +wa-’l-‘adl_): of Unity for the reason which has been explained, and of +Justice, because they held that God was not the author of evil and that +He would not punish His creatures except for actions within their +control. The further development of these Rationalistic ideas belongs to +the ‘Abbásid period and will be discussed in a subsequent chapter. + + +[Sidenote: Growth of asceticism.] + +[Sidenote: Ḥasan of Baá¹£ra.] + +The founder of Islam had too much human nature and common sense to +demand of his countrymen such mortifying austerities as were practised +by the Jewish Essenes and the Christian monks. His religion was not +without ascetic features, _e.g._, the Fast of Ramaá¸Ã¡n, the prohibition +of wine, and the ordinance of the pilgrimage, but these can scarcely be +called unreasonable. On the other hand Muḥammad condemned celibacy not +only by his personal example but also by precept. "There is no monkery +in Islam," he is reported to have said, and there was in fact nothing of +the kind for more than a century after his death. During this time, +however, asceticism made great strides. It was the inevitable outcome of +the Muḥammadan conception of Allah, in which the attributes of mercy and +love are overshadowed by those of majesty, awe, and vengeance. The +terrors of Judgment Day so powerfully described in the Koran were +realised with an intensity of conviction which it is difficult for us to +imagine. As Goldziher has observed, an exaggerated consciousness of sin +and the dread of Divine punishment gave the first impulse to Moslem +asceticism. Thus we read that TamÃm al-DárÃ, one of the Prophet's +Companions, who was formerly a Christian, passed the whole night until +daybreak, repeating a single verse of the Koran (xlv, 20)--"_Do those +who work evil think that We shall make them even as those who believe +and do good, so that their life and death shall be equal? Ill do they +judge!_"[424] Abu ’l-Dardá, another of the Companions, used to say: "If +ye knew what ye shall see after death, ye would not eat food nor drink +water from appetite, and I wish that I were a tree which is lopped and +then devoured."[425] There were many who shared these views, and their +determination to renounce the world and to live solely for God was +strengthened by their disgust with a tyrannical and impious Government, +and by the almost uninterrupted spectacle of bloodshed, rapine, and +civil war. Ḥasan of Baá¹£ra (†728)--we have already met him in connection +with the Mu‘tazilites--is an outstanding figure in this early ascetic +movement, which proceeded on orthodox lines.[426] Fear of God seized on +him so mightily that, in the words of his biographer, "it seemed as +though Hell-fire had been created for him alone."[427] All who looked on +his face thought that he must have been recently overtaken by some great +calamity.[428] One day a friend saw him weeping and asked him the cause. +"I weep," he replied, "for fear that I have done something unwittingly +and unintentionally, or committed some fault, or spoken some word which +is unpleasing to God: then He may have said, 'Begone, for now thou hast +no more honour in My court, and henceforth I will not receive anything +from thee.'"[429] Al-Mubarrad relates that two monks, coming from Syria, +entered Baá¹£ra and looked at Ḥasan, whereupon one said to the other, "Let +us turn aside to visit this man, whose way of life appears like that of +the Messiah." So they went, and they found him supporting his chin on +the palm of his hand, while he was saying--"How I marvel at those who +have been ordered to lay in a stock of provisions and have been summoned +to set out on a journey, and yet the foremost of them stays for the +hindermost! Would that I knew what they are waiting for!"[430] The +following utterances are characteristic:-- + + "God hath made fasting a hippodrome (place or time of training) for + His servants, that they may race towards obedience to Him.[431] Some + come in first and win the prize, while others are left behind and + return disappointed; and by my life, if the lid were removed, the + well-doer would be diverted by his well-doing, and the evildoer by + his evil-doing, from wearing new garments or from anointing his + hair."[432] + + "You meet one of them with white skin and delicate complexion, + speeding along the path of vanity: he shaketh his hips and clappeth + his sides and saith, 'Here am I, recognise me!' Yes, we recognise + thee, and thou art hateful to God and hateful to good men."[433] + + "The bounties of God are too numerous to be acknowledged unless with + His help, and the sins of Man are too numerous for him to escape + therefrom unless God pardon them."[434] + + "The wonder is not how the lost were lost, but how the saved were + saved."[435] + + "Cleanse ye these hearts (by meditation and remembrance of God), for + they are quick to rust; and restrain ye these souls, for they desire + eagerly, and if ye restrain them not, they will drag you to an evil + end."[436] + +[Sidenote: Ḥasan of Baá¹£ra not a genuine ṢúfÃ.] + +The ṢúfÃs, concerning whom we shall say a few words presently, claim +Ḥasan as one of themselves, and with justice in so far as he attached +importance to spiritual righteousness, and was not satisfied with merely +external acts of devotion. "A grain of genuine piety," he declared, "is +better than a thousandfold weight of fasting and prayer."[437] But +although some of his sayings which are recorded in the later biographies +lend colour to the fiction that he was a full-blown ṢúfÃ, there can be +no doubt that his mysticism--if it deserves that name--was of the most +moderate type, entirely lacking the glow and exaltation which we find in +the saintly woman, Rábi‘a al-‘Adawiyya, with whom legend associates +him.[438] + + +[Sidenote: The derivation of 'ṢúfÃ.'] + +[Sidenote: The beginnings of Ṣúfiism.] + +The origin of the name 'ṢúfÃ' is explained by the ṢúfÃs themselves in +many different ways, but of the derivations which have been proposed +only three possess any claim to consideration, viz., those which connect +it with σοφός (wise) or with _á¹£afá_ (purity) or with _ṣúf_ (wool).[439] +The first two are inadmissible on linguistic grounds, into which +we need not enter, though it may be remarked that the derivation +from _á¹£afá_ is consecrated by the authority of the Ṣúfà Saints, and is +generally accepted in the East.[440] The reason for this preference +appears in such definitions as "The Ṣúfà is he who keeps his heart pure +(_ṣáfÃ_) with God,"[441] "Ṣúfiism is 'the being chosen for purity' +(_iá¹£á¹ifá_): whoever is thus chosen and made pure from all except God is +the true ṢúfÃ."[442] Understood in this sense, the word had a lofty +significance which commended it to the elect. Nevertheless it can be +tracked to a quite humble source. Woollen garments were frequently worn +by men of ascetic life in the early times of Islam in order (as Ibn +Khaldún says) that they might distinguish themselves from those who +affected a more luxurious fashion of dress. Hence the name 'ṢúfÃ,' which +denotes in the first instance an ascetic clad in wool (_ṣúf_), just as +the Capuchins owed their designation to the hood (_cappuccio_) which +they wore. According to QushayrÃ, the term came into common use before +the end of the second century of the Hijra (= 815 A.D.). By this time, +however, the ascetic movement in Islam had to some extent assumed a new +character, and the meaning of 'ṢúfÃ,' if the word already existed, must +have undergone a corresponding change. It seems to me not unlikely that +the epithet in question marks the point of departure from orthodox +asceticism and that, as Jámà states, it was first applied to Abú Háshim +of Kúfa (_ob._ before 800 _A.D._), who founded a monastery (_khánaqáh_) +for ṢúfÃs at Ramla in Palestine. Be that as it may, the distinction +between asceticism (_zuhd_) and Ṣúfiism--a distinction which answers, +broadly speaking, to the _via purgativa_ and the _via illuminativa_ of +Western mediæval mysticism--begins to show itself before the close of +the Umayyad period, and rapidly develops in the early ‘Abbásid age under +the influence of foreign ideas and, in particular, of Greek philosophy. +Leaving this later development to be discussed in a subsequent chapter, +we shall now briefly consider the origin of Ṣúfiism properly so called +and the first manifestation of the peculiar tendencies on which it is +based. + + +As regards its origin, we cannot do better than quote the observations +with which Ibn Khaldún (†1406 A.D.) introduces the chapter on Ṣúfiism +in the Prolegomena to his great historical work:-- + + [Sidenote: Ibn Khaldún's account of the origin of Ṣúfiism.] + + "This is one of the religious sciences which were born in Islam. The + way of the ṢúfÃs was regarded by the ancient Moslems and their + illustrious men--the Companions of the Prophet (_al-á¹¢aḥába_), + the Successors (_al-Tábi‘ún_), and the generation which came after + them--as the way of Truth and Salvation. To be assiduous in piety, + to give up all else for God's sake, to turn away from worldly gauds + and vanities, to renounce pleasure, wealth, and power, which are the + general objects of human ambition, to abandon society and to lead in + seclusion a life devoted solely to the service of God--these were + the fundamental principles of Ṣúfiism which prevailed among the + Companions and the Moslems of old time. When, however, in the second + generation and afterwards worldly tastes became widely spread, and + men no longer shrank from such contamination, those who made piety + their aim were distinguished by the title of _ṢúfÃs_ or + _Mutaá¹£awwifa_ (aspirants to Ṣúfiism).[443] + +[Sidenote: The earliest form of Ṣúfiism.] + +From this it is clear that Ṣúfiism, if not originally identical with +the ascetic revolt of which, as we have seen, Ḥasan of Baá¹£ra was +the most conspicuous representative, at any rate arose out of that +movement. It was not a speculative system, like the Mu‘tazilite heresy, +but a practical religion and rule of life. "We derived Ṣúfiism," said +Junayd, "from fasting and taking leave of the world and breaking +familiar ties and renouncing what men deem good; not from disputation" +(_qÃl wa-qál_).[444] The oldest ṢúfÃs were ascetics and hermits, but +they were also something more. They brought out the spiritual and +mystical element in Islam, or brought it in, if they did not find it +there already. + +[Sidenote: The difference between asceticism and Ṣúfiism.] + +"Ṣúfiism," says SuhrawardÃ,[445] "is neither 'poverty' (_faqr_) nor +asceticism (_zuhd_), but a term which comprehends the ideas of both, +together with something besides. Without these superadded qualities a +man is not a ṢúfÃ, though he may be an ascetic (_záhid_) or a fakÃr +(_faqÃr_). It is said that, notwithstanding the excellence of 'poverty,' +the end thereof is only the beginning of Ṣúfiism." A little further +on he explains the difference thus:-- + + "The fakÃr holds fast to his 'poverty' and is profoundly convinced + of its superior merit. He prefers it to riches because he longs for + the Divine recompense of which his faith assures him ... and whenever + he contemplates the everlasting reward, he abstains from the + fleeting joys of this world and embraces poverty and indigence and + fears that if he should cease to be 'poor' he will lose both the + merit and the prize. Now this is absolutely unsound according to the + doctrine of the ṢúfÃs, because he hopes for recompense and + renounces the world on that account, whereas the Ṣúfà does not + renounce it for the sake of promised rewards but, on the contrary, + for the sake of present 'states,' for he is the 'son of his + time.'...[446] The theory that 'poverty' is the foundation of + Ṣúfiism signifies that the diverse stages of Ṣúfiism are + reached by the road of 'poverty'; it does not imply that the Ṣúfà + is essentially a fakÃr." + +[Sidenote: The early ṢúfÃs.] + +The keynote of Ṣúfiism is disinterested, selfless devotion, in a +word, Love. Though not wholly strange, this idea was very far from being +familiar to pious Muḥammadans, who were more deeply impressed by the +power and vengeance of God than by His goodness and mercy. The Koran +generally represents Allah as a stern, unapproachable despot, requiring +utter submission to His arbitrary will, but infinitely unconcerned with +human feelings and aspirations. Such a Being could not satisfy the +religious instinct, and the whole history of Ṣúfiism is a protest +against the unnatural divorce between God and Man which this conception +involves. Accordingly, I do not think that we need look beyond Islam for +the origin of the Ṣúfà doctrines, although it would be a mistake not +to recognise the part which Christian influence must have had in shaping +their early development. The speculative character with which they +gradually became imbued, and which in the course of time completely +transformed them, was more or less latent during the Umayyad period and +for nearly a century after the accession of the House of ‘Abbás. The +early ṢúfÃs are still on orthodox ground: their relation to Islam is +not unlike that of the mediæval Spanish mystics to the Roman Catholic +Church. They attach extraordinary value to certain points in +Muḥammad's teaching and emphasise them so as to leave the others +almost a dead letter. They do not indulge in profound dialectic, but +confine themselves to matters bearing on practical theology. +Self-abandonment, rigorous self-mortification, fervid piety, and +quietism carried to the verge of apathy form the main features of their +creed. + +[Sidenote: IbráhÃm b. Adham.] + +A full and vivid picture of early Ṣúfiism might be drawn from the +numerous biographies in Arabic and Persian, which supply abundant +details concerning the manner of life of these Muḥammadan Saints, and +faithfully record their austerities, visions, miracles, and sayings. +Here we have only space to add a few lines about the most important +members of the group--IbráhÃm b. Adham, Abú ‘Alà ShaqÃq, Fuá¸ayl b. +‘Iyáá¸, and Rábi‘a--all of whom died between the middle and end of the +second century after the Hijra (767-815 A.D.). IbráhÃm belonged to the +royal family of Balkh. Forty scimitars of gold and forty maces of gold +were borne in front of him and behind. One day, while hunting, he heard +a voice which cried, "Awake! wert thou created for this?" He exchanged +his splendid robes for the humble garb and felt cap of a shepherd, bade +farewell to his kingdom, and lived for nine years in a cave near +Naysábúr.[447] His customary prayer was, "O God, uplift me from the +shame of disobedience to the glory of submission unto Thee!" + + "O God!" he said, "Thou knowest that the Eight Paradises are little + beside the honour which Thou hast done unto me, and beside Thy love, + and beside Thy giving me intimacy with the praise of Thy name, and + beside the peace of mind which Thou hast given me when I meditate on + Thy majesty." And again: "You will not attain to righteousness until + you traverse six passes (_‘aqabát_): the first is that you shut the + door of pleasure and open the door of hardship; the second, that you + shut the door of eminence and open the door of abasement; the third, + that you shut the door of ease and open the door of affliction; the + fourth, that you shut the door of sleep and open the door of + wakefulness; the fifth, that you shut the door of riches and open + the door of poverty; and the sixth, that you shut the door of + expectation and open the door of making yourself ready for death." + +[Sidenote: ShaqÃq of Balkh.] + +[Sidenote: Fuá¸ayl b. ‘Iyáá¸.] + +[Sidenote: Rábi‘a al-‘Adawiyya.] + +ShaqÃq, also of Balkh, laid particular stress on the duty of leaving +one's self entirely in God's hands (_tawakkul_), a term which is +practically synonymous with passivity; _e.g._, the _mutawakkil_ must +make no effort to obtain even the barest livelihood, he must not ask for +anything, nor engage in any trade: his business is with God alone. One +of ShaqÃq's sayings was, "Nine-tenths of devotion consist in flight from +mankind, the remaining tenth in silence." Similarly, Fuá¸ayl b. +‘Iyáá¸, a converted captain of banditti, declared that "to abstain for +men's sake from doing anything is hypocrisy, while to do anything for +men's sake is idolatry." It may be noticed as an argument against the +Indian origin of Ṣúfiism that although the three ṢúfÃs who have +been mentioned were natives of Khurásán or Transoxania, and therefore +presumably in touch with Buddhistic ideas, no trace can be found in +their sayings of the doctrine of dying to self (_faná_), which plays a +great part in subsequent Ṣúfiism, and which Von Kremer and others +have identified with _Nirvána_. We now come to a more interesting +personality, in whom the ascetic and quietistic type of Ṣúfiism is +transfigured by emotion and begins clearly to reveal the direction of +its next advance. Every one knows that women have borne a distinguished +part in the annals of European mysticism: St. Teresa, Madame Guyon, +Catharine of Siena, and Juliana of Norwich, to mention but a few names +at random. And notwithstanding the intellectual death to which the +majority of Moslem women are condemned by their Prophet's ordinance, the +ṢúfÃs, like the Roman Catholics, can boast a goodly number of female +saints. The oldest of these, and by far the most renowned, is Rábi‘a, +who belonged to the tribe of ‘AdÃ, whence she is generally called Rábi‘a +al-‘Adawiyya. She was a native of Baá¹£ra and died at Jerusalem, +probably towards the end of the second century of Islam: her tomb was an +object of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages, as we learn from Ibn Khallikán +(†1282 A.D.). Although the sayings and verses attributed to her by +Ṣúfà writers may be of doubtful authenticity, there is every reason +to suppose that they fairly represent the actual character of her +devotion, which resembled that of all feminine mystics in being inspired +by tender and ardent feeling. She was asked: "Do you love God Almighty?" +"Yes." "Do you hate the Devil?" "My love of God," she replied, "leaves +me no leisure to hate the Devil. I saw the Prophet in a dream. He said, +'O Rábi‘a, do you love me?' I said, 'O Apostle of God, who does not love +thee?--but love of God hath so absorbed me that neither love nor hate of +any other thing remains in my heart.'" Rábi‘a is said to have spoken the +following verses:-- + + "Two ways I love Thee: selfishly, + And next, as worthy is of Thee. + 'Tis selfish love that I do naught + Save think on Thee with every thought; + 'Tis purest love when Thou dost raise + The veil to my adoring gaze. + Not mine the praise in that or this, + Thine is the praise in both, I wis."[448] + +Whether genuine or not, these lines, with their mixture of devotion and +speculation--the author distinguishes the illuminative from the +contemplative life and manifestly regards the latter as the more +excellent way--serve to mark the end of the ascetic school of Ṣúfiism +and the rise of a new theosophy which, under the same name and still +professing to be in full accord with the Koran and the _Sunna_, was +founded to some extent upon ideas of extraneous origin--ideas +irreconcilable with any revealed religion, and directly opposed to the +severe and majestic simplicity of the Muḥammadan articles of faith. + + +[Sidenote: Umayyad literature.] + +[Sidenote: The decline of Arabian poetry not due to Muḥammad.] + +[Sidenote: The Umayyad poets.] + +The opening century of Islam was not favourable to literature. At first +conquest, expansion, and organisation, then civil strife absorbed the +nation's energies; then, under the Umayyads, the old pagan spirit +asserted itself once more. Consequently the literature of this period +consists almost exclusively of poetry, which bears few marks of Islamic +influence. I need scarcely refer to the view which long prevailed in +Europe that Muḥammad corrupted the taste of his countrymen by setting +up the Koran as an incomparable model of poetic style, and by condemning +the admired productions of the heathen bards and the art of poetry +itself; nor remind my readers that in the first place the Koran is not +poetical in form (so that it could not serve as a model of this kind), +and secondly, according to Muḥammadan belief, is the actual Word of +God, therefore _sui generis_ and beyond imitation. Again, the poets whom +the Prophet condemned were his most dangerous opponents: he hated them +not as poets but as propagators and defenders of false ideals, and +because they ridiculed his teaching, while on the contrary he honoured +and rewarded those who employed their talents in the right way. If the +nomad minstrels and cavaliers who lived, as they sang, the free life of +the desert were never equalled by the brilliant laureates of imperial +Damascus and Baghdád, the causes of the decline cannot be traced to +Muḥammad's personal attitude, but are due to various circumstances +for which he is only responsible in so far as he founded a religious and +political system that revolutionised Arabian society. The poets of the +period with which we are now dealing follow slavishly in the footsteps +of the ancients, as though Islam had never been. Instead of celebrating +the splendid victories and heroic deeds of Moslem warriors, the bard +living in a great city still weeps over the relics of his beloved's +encampment in the wilderness, still rides away through the sandy waste +on the peerless camel, whose fine points he particularly describes; and +if he should happen to be addressing the Caliph, it is ten to one that +he will credit that august personage with all the virtues of a Bedouin +Shaykh. "Fortunately the imitation of the antique _qaá¹£Ãda_, at any +rate with the greatest Umayyad poets, is to some extent only accessory +to another form of art that excites our historical interest in a high +degree: namely, the occasional poems (very numerous in almost all these +writers), which are suggested by the mood of the moment and can shed a +vivid light on contemporary history."[449] + + +[Sidenote: Music and song in the Holy Cities.] + +[Sidenote: ‘Umar b. Abà RabÑa.] + +The conquests made by the successors of the Prophet brought enormous +wealth into Mecca and MedÃna, and when the Umayyad aristocracy gained +the upper hand in ‘Uthmán's Caliphate, these towns developed a +voluptuous and dissolute life which broke through every restriction that +Islam had imposed. The increase of luxury produced a corresponding +refinement of the poetic art. Although music was not unknown to the +pagan Arabs, it had hitherto been cultivated chiefly by foreigners, +especially Greek and Persian singing-girls. But in the first century +after the Hijra we hear of several Arab singers,[450] natives of Mecca +and MedÃna, who set favourite passages to music: henceforth the words +and the melody are inseparably united, as we learn from the _Kitábu +’l-AghánÃ_ or 'Book of Songs,' where hundreds of examples are to be +found. Amidst the gay throng of pleasure-seekers women naturally played +a prominent part, and love, which had hitherto formed in most cases +merely the conventional prelude to an ode, now began to be sung for its +own sake. In this Peninsular school, as it may be named in contrast with +the bold and masculine strain of the great Provincial poets whom we are +about to mention, the palm unquestionably belongs to ‘Umar b. Abà RabÑa +(†719 A.D.), the son of a rich Meccan merchant. He passed the best part +of his life in the pursuit of noble dames, who alone inspired him to +sing. His poetry was so seductive that it was regarded by devout Moslems +as "the greatest crime ever committed against God," and so charming +withal that ‘Abdulláh b. ‘Abbás, the Prophet's cousin and a famous +authority on the Koran and the Traditions, could not refrain from +getting by heart some erotic verses which ‘Umar recited to him.[451] The +Arabs said, with truth, that the tribe of Quraysh had won distinction in +every field save poetry, but we must allow that ‘Umar b. Abà RabÑa is a +clear exception to this rule. His diction, like that of Catullus, has +all the unaffected ease of refined conversation. Here are a few lines:-- + + "Blame me no more, O comrades! but to-day + Quietly with me beside the howdahs stay. + Blame not my love for Zaynab, for to her + And hers my heart is pledged a prisoner. + Ah, can I ever think of how we met + Once at al-Khayf, and feel no fond regret? + My song of other women was but jest: + She reigns alone, eclipsing all the rest. + Hers is my love sincere, 'tis she the flame + Of passion kindles--so, a truce to blame!"[452] + +[Sidenote: Love-ballads.] + +We have no space to dwell on the minor poets of the same school, +al-‘Arjà (a kinsman of the Umayyads), al-Aḥwaá¹£, and many others. +It has been pointed out by Dr. C. Brockelmann that the love-poetry of +this epoch is largely of popular origin; _e.g._, the songs attributed to +JamÃl, in which Buthayna is addressed, and to Majnún--the hero of +countless Persian and Turkish romances which celebrate his love for +Laylá--are true folk-songs such as occur in the _Arabian Nights_, and +may be heard in the streets of Beyrout or on the banks of the Tigris at +the present day. Many of them are extremely beautiful. I take the +following verses from a poem which is said to have been composed by +JamÃl:-- + + "Oh, might it flower anew, that youthful prime, + And restore to us, Buthayna, the bygone time! + And might we again be blest as we wont to be, + When thy folk were nigh and grudged what thou gavest me! + + Shall I ever meet Buthayna alone again, + Each of us full of love as a cloud of rain? + Fast in her net was I when a lad, and till + This day my love is growing and waxing still. + + I have spent my lifetime, waiting for her to speak, + And the bloom of youth is faded from off my cheek; + But I will not suffer that she my suit deny, + My love remains undying, though all things die!"[453] + +[Sidenote: Poetry in the provinces.] + +The names of al-Akhá¹al, al-Farazdaq, and JarÃr stand out +pre-eminently in the list of Umayyad poets. They were men of a very +different stamp from the languishing Minnesingers and carpet-knights +who, like JamÃl, refused to battle except on the field of love. It is +noteworthy that all three were born and bred in Mesopotamia. The +motherland was exhausted; her ambitious and enterprising youth poured +into the provinces, which now become the main centres of intellectual +activity. + +[Sidenote: The _Naqá’iá¸_ of JarÃr and Farazdaq.] + +[Sidenote: General interest in poetry.] + +Farazdaq and JarÃr are intimately connected by a peculiar +rivalry--"_Arcades ambo_--_id est_, blackguards both." For many years +they engaged in a public scolding-match (_muháját_), and as neither had +any scruples on the score of decency, the foulest abuse was bandied to +and fro between them--abuse, however, which is redeemed from vulgarity +by its literary excellence, and by the marvellous skill which the +satirists display in manipulating all the vituperative resources of the +Arabic language. Soon these 'Flytings' (_Naqá’iá¸_) were recited +everywhere, and each poet had thousands of enthusiastic partisans who +maintained that he was superior to his rival.[454] One day Muhallab b. +Abà Sufra, the governor of Khurásán, who was marching against the +Azáriqa, a sect of the Khárijites, heard a great clamour and tumult in +the camp. On inquiring its cause, he found that the soldiers had been +fiercely disputing as to the comparative merits of JarÃr and Farazdaq, +and desired to submit the question to his decision. "Would you expose +me," said Muhallab, "to be torn in pieces by these two dogs? I will not +decide between them, but I will point out to you those who care not a +whit for either of them. Go to the Azáriqa! They are Arabs who +understand poetry and judge it aright." Next day, when the armies faced +each other, an Azraqite named ‘AbÃda b. Hilál stepped forth from the +ranks and offered single combat. One of Muhallab's men accepted the +challenge, but before fighting he begged his adversary to inform him +which was the better poet--Farazdaq or JarÃr? "God confound you!" cried +‘AbÃda, "do you ask me about poetry instead of studying the Koran and +the Sacred Law?" Then he quoted a verse by JarÃr and gave judgment in +his favour.[455] This incident affords a striking proof that the taste +for poetry, far from being confined to literary circles, was diffused +throughout the whole nation, and was cultivated even amidst the fatigues +and dangers of war. Parallel instances occur in the history of the +Athenians, the most gifted people of the West, and possibly elsewhere, +but imagine British soldiers discussing questions of that kind over the +camp-fires! + +Akhá¹al joined in the fray. His sympathies were with Farazdaq, and the +_naqá’iá¸_ which he and JarÃr composed against each other have come +down to us. All these poets, like their Post-islamic brethren generally, +were professional encomiasts, greedy, venal, and ready to revile any one +who would not purchase their praise. Some further account of them may be +interesting to the reader, especially as the anecdotes related by their +biographers throw many curious sidelights on the manners of the time. + +[Sidenote: Akhá¹al.] + +The oldest of the trio, Akhá¹al (Ghiyáth b. Ghawth) of Taghlib, was a +Christian, like most of his tribe--they had long been settled in +Mesopotamia--and remained in that faith to the end of his life, though +the Caliph ‘Abdu ’l-Malik is said to have offered him a pension and +10,000 dirhems in cash if he would turn Moslem. His religion, however, +was less a matter of principle than of convenience, and to him the +supreme virtue of Christianity lay in the licence which it gave him to +drink wine as often as he pleased. The stories told of him suggest +grovelling devoutness combined with very easy morals, a phenomenon +familiar to the student of mediæval Catholicism. It is related by one +who was touring in Syria that he found Akhá¹al confined in a church at +Damascus, and pleaded his cause with the priest. The latter stopped +beside Akhá¹al and raising the staff on which he leaned--for he was an +aged man--exclaimed: "O enemy of God, will you again defame people and +satirise them and caluminate chaste women?" while the poet humbled +himself and promised never to repeat the offence. When asked how it was +that he, who was honoured by the Caliph and feared by all, behaved so +submissively to this priest, he answered, "It is religion, it is +religion."[456] On another occasion, seeing the Bishop pass, he cried to +his wife who was then pregnant, "Run after him and touch his robe." The +poor woman only succeeded in touching the tail of the Bishop's ass, but +Akhá¹al consoled her with the remark, "He and the tail of his ass, +there's no difference!"[457] It is characteristic of the anti-Islamic +spirit which appears so strongly in the Umayyads that their chosen +laureate and champion should have been a Christian who was in truth a +lineal descendant of the pagan bards. Pious Moslems might well be +scandalised when he burst unannounced into the Caliph's presence, +sumptuously attired in silk and wearing a cross of gold which was +suspended from his neck by a golden chain, while drops of wine trickled +from his beard,[458] but their protests went unheeded at the court of +Damascus, where nobody cared whether the author of a fine verse was a +Moslem or a Christian, and where a poet was doubly welcome whose +religion enabled him to serve his masters without any regard to +Muḥammadan sentiment; so that, for example, when YazÃd I wished to +take revenge on the people of MedÃna because one of their poets had +addressed amatory verses to his sister, he turned to Akhá¹al, who +branded the _Anṣár_, the men who had brought about the triumph of +Islam, in the famous lines-- + + "Quraysh have borne away all the honour and glory, + And baseness alone is beneath the turbans of the Anṣár."[459] + +We must remember that the poets were leaders of public opinion; their +utterances took the place of political pamphlets or of party oratory for +or against the Government of the day. On hearing Akhá¹al's ode in +praise of the Umayyad dynasty,[460] ‘Abdu ’l-Malik ordered one of his +clients to conduct the author through the streets of Damascus and to cry +out, "Here is the poet of the Commander of the Faithful! Here is the +best poet of the Arabs!"[461] No wonder that he was a favourite at court +and such an eminent personage that the great tribe of Bakr used to +invite him to act as arbitrator whenever any controversy arose among +them.[462] Despite the luxury in which he lived, his wild Bedouin nature +pined for freedom, and he frequently left the capital to visit his home +in the desert, where he not only married and divorced several wives, but +also threw himself with ardour into the feuds of his clan. We have +already noticed the part which he played in the literary duel between +JarÃr and Farazdaq. From his deathbed he sent a final injunction to +Farazdaq not to spare their common enemy. + +Akhá¹al is commended by Arabian critics for the number and excellence +of his long poems, as well as for the purity, polish, and correctness of +his style. Abú ‘Ubayda put him first among the poets of Islam, while the +celebrated collector of Pre-islamic poetry, Abú ‘Amr b. al-‘Alá, +declared that if Akhá¹al had lived a single day in the Pagan Age he +would not have preferred any one to him. His supremacy in panegyric was +acknowledged by Farazdaq, and he himself claims to have surpassed all +competitors in three styles, viz., panegyric, satire, and erotic poetry; +but there is more justification for the boast that his satires might be +recited _virginibus_--he does not add _puerisque_--without causing a +blush.[463] + + +[Sidenote: Farazdaq.] + +Hammám b. Ghálib, generally known as Farazdaq, belonged to the tribe of +TamÃm, and was born at Baá¹£ra towards the end of ‘Umar's Caliphate, +His grandfather, á¹¢a‘ṣa‘a, won renown in Pre-islamic times by +ransoming the lives of female infants whom their parents had condemned +to die (on account of which he received the title, _Muḥyi +’l-Maw’údát_, 'He who brings the buried girls to life'), and his father +was likewise imbued with the old Bedouin traditions of liberality and +honour, which were rapidly growing obsolete among the demoralised +populace of ‘Iráq. Farazdaq was a _mauvais sujet_ of the type +represented by François Villon, reckless, dissolute, and thoroughly +unprincipled: apart from his gift of vituperation, we find nothing in +him to admire save his respect for his father's memory and his constant +devotion to the House of ‘AlÃ, a devotion which he scorned to conceal; +so that he was cast into prison by the Caliph Hishám for reciting in his +presence a glowing panegyric on ‘AlÃ's grandson, Zaynu ’l-‘ÃbidÃn. The +tragic fate of Ḥusayn at Karbalá affected him deeply, and he called +on his compatriots to acquit themselves like men-- + + "If ye avenge not him, the son of the best of you, + Then fling, fling the sword away and naught but the spindle ply."[464] + +While still a young man, he was expelled from his native city in +consequence of the lampoons which he directed against a noble family of +Baá¹£ra, the Banú Nahshal. Thereupon he fled to MedÃna, where he +plunged into gallantry and dissipation until a shameless description of +one of his intrigues again drew upon him the sentence of banishment. His +poems contain many references to his cousin Nawár, whom, by means of a +discreditable trick, he forced to marry him when she was on the point of +giving her hand to another. The pair were ever quarrelling, and at last +Farazdaq consented to an irrevocable divorce, which was witnessed by +Ḥasan of Baá¹£ra, the famous theologian. No sooner was the act +complete than Farazdaq began to wish it undone, and he spoke the +following verses:--[465] + + "I feel repentance like al-Kusa‘Ã,[466] + Now that Nawár has been divorced by me. + She was my Paradise which I have lost, + Like Adam when the Lord's command he crossed. + I am one who wilfully puts out his eyes, + Then dark to him the shining day doth rise!" + +'The repentance of Farazdaq,' signifying bitter regret or +disappointment, passed into a proverb. He died a few months before JarÃr +in 728 A.D., a year also made notable by the deaths of two illustrious +divines, Ḥasan of Baá¹£ra and Ibn SÃrÃn. + + +[Sidenote: JarÃr.] + +JarÃr b. ‘Atiyya belonged to Kulayb, a branch of the same tribe, TamÃm, +which produced Farazdaq. He was the court-poet of Ḥajjáj, the dreaded +governor of ‘Iráq, and eulogised his patron in such extravagant terms as +to arouse the jealousy of the Caliph ‘Abdu ’l-Malik, who consequently +received him, on his appearance at Damascus, with marked coldness and +hauteur. But when, after several repulses, he at length obtained +permission to recite a poem which he had composed in honour of the +prince, and came to the verse-- + + "Are not ye the best of those who on camel ride, + More open-handed than all in the world beside?"-- + +the Caliph sat up erect on his throne and exclaimed: "Let us be praised +like this or in silence!"[467] JarÃr's fame as a satirist stood so high +that to be worsted by him was reckoned a greater distinction than to +vanquish any one else. The blind poet, Bashshár b. Burd (†783 A.D.), +said: "I satirised JarÃr, but he considered me too young for him to +notice. Had he answered me, I should have been the finest poet in the +world."[468] The following anecdote shows that vituperation launched by +a master like JarÃr was a deadly and far-reaching weapon which degraded +its victim in the eyes of his contemporaries, however he might deserve +their esteem, and covered his family and tribe with lasting disgrace. + + There was a poet of repute, well known by the name of Rá‘i ’l-ibil + (Camel-herd), who loudly published his opinion that Farazdaq was + superior to JarÃr, although the latter had lauded his tribe, the + Banú Numayr, whereas Farazdaq had made verses against them. One day + JarÃr met him and expostulated with him but got no reply. Rá‘à was + riding a mule and was accompanied by his son, Jandal, who said to + his father: "Why do you halt before this dog of the Banú Kulayb, as + though you had anything to hope or fear from him?" At the same time + he gave the mule a lash with his whip. The animal started violently + and kicked JarÃr, who was standing by, so that his cap fell to the + ground. Rá‘à took no heed and went on his way. JarÃr picked up the + cap, brushed it, and replaced it on his head. Then he exclaimed in + verse:-- + + "_O Jandal! what will say Numayr of you + When my dishonouring shaft has pierced thy sire?_" + + He returned home full of indignation, and after the evening prayer, + having called for a jar of date-wine and a lamp, he set about his + work. An old woman in the house heard him muttering, and mounted the + stairs to see what ailed him. She found him crawling naked on his + bed, by reason of that which was within him; so she ran down, crying + "He is mad," and described what she had seen to the people of the + house. "Get thee gone," they said, "we know what he is at." By + daybreak JarÃr had composed a satire of eighty verses against the + Banú Numayr. When he finished the poem, he shouted triumphantly, + "_Allah Akbar!_" and rode away to the place where he expected to + find Rá‘à ’l-ibil and Farazdaq and their friends. He did not salute + Rá‘à but immediately began to recite. While he was speaking Farazdaq + and Rá‘à bowed their heads, and the rest of the company sat + listening in silent mortification. When JarÃr uttered the final + words-- + + "_Cast down thine eyes for shame! for thou art of + Numayr--no peer of Ka‘b nor yet Kiláb_"-- + + Rá‘à rose and hastened to his lodging as fast as his mule could + carry him. "Saddle! Saddle!" he cried to his comrades; "you cannot + stay here longer, JarÃr has disgraced you all." They left Baá¹£ra + without delay to rejoin their tribe, who bitterly reproached Rá‘à + for the ignominy which he had brought upon Numayr; and hundreds of + years afterwards his name was still a byword among his people.[469] + +[Sidenote: Dhu ’l-Rumma.] + +Next, but next at a long interval, to the three great poets of this +epoch comes Dhu ’l-Rumma (Ghaylán b. ‘Uqba), who imitated the odes of +the desert Arabs with tiresome and monotonous fidelity. The philologists +of the following age delighted in his antique and difficult style, and +praised him far above his merits. It was said that poetry began with +Imru’u ’l-Qays and ended with Dhu ’l-Rumma; which is true in the sense +that he is the last important representative of the pure Bedouin school. + + +[Sidenote: Prose writers of the Umayyad period.] + +Concerning the prose writers of the period we can make only a few +general observations, inasmuch as their works have almost entirely +perished.[470] In this branch of literature the same secular, +non-Muḥammadan spirit prevailed which has been mentioned as +characteristic of the poets who flourished under the Umayyad dynasty, +and of the dynasty itself. Historical studies were encouraged and +promoted by the court of Damascus. We have referred elsewhere to ‘AbÃd +b. Sharya, a native of Yemen, whose business it was to dress up the old +legends and purvey them in a readable form to the public. Another +Yemenite of Persian descent, Wahb b. Munabbih, is responsible for a +great deal of the fabulous lore belonging to the domain of _Awá’il_ +(Origins) which Moslem chroniclers commonly prefix to their historical +works. There seems to have been an eager demand for narratives of the +Early Wars of Islam (_magházÃ_). It is related that the Caliph ‘Abdu +’l-Malik, seeing one of these books in the hands of his son, ordered it +to be burnt, and enjoined him to study the Koran instead. This anecdote +shows on the part of ‘Abdu ’l-Malik a pious feeling with which he is +seldom credited,[471] but it shows also that histories of a legendary +and popular character preceded those which were based, like the +_MagházÃ_ of Músá b. ‘Uqba (†758 A.D.) and Ibn Isḥáq's _Biography of +the Prophet_, upon religious tradition. No work of the former class has +been preserved. The strong theological influence which asserted itself +in the second century of the Hijra was unfavourable to the development +of an Arabian prose literature on national lines. In the meantime, +however, learned doctors of divinity began to collect and write down the +_ḤadÃths_. We have a solitary relic of this sort in the _Kitábu +’l-Zuhd_ (Book of Asceticism) by Asad b. Músá (†749 A.D.). The most +renowned traditionist of the Umayyad age is Muḥammad b. Muslim b. +Shiháb al-Zuhrà (†742 A.D.), who distinguished himself by accepting +judicial office under the tyrants; an act of complaisance to which his +more stiff-necked and conscientious brethren declined to stoop. + + +[Sidenote: The non-Arabian Moslems.] + +It was the lust of conquest even more than missionary zeal that caused +the Arabs to invade Syria and Persia and to settle on foreign soil, +where they lived as soldiers at the expense of the native population +whom they inevitably regarded as an inferior race. If the latter thought +to win respect by embracing the religion of their conquerors, they found +themselves sadly mistaken. The new converts were attached as clients +(_MawálÃ_, sing. _Mawlá_) to an Arab tribe: they could not become +Moslems on any other footing. Far from obtaining the equal rights which +they coveted, and which, according to the principles of Islam, they +should have enjoyed, the _MawálÃ_ were treated by their aristocratic +patrons with contempt, and had to submit to every kind of social +degradation, while instead of being exempted from the capitation-tax +paid by non-Moslems, they still remained liable to the ever-increasing +exactions of Government officials. And these 'Clients,' be it +remembered, were not ignorant serfs, but men whose culture was +acknowledged by the Arabs themselves--men who formed the backbone of the +influential learned class and ardently prosecuted those studies, +Divinity and Jurisprudence, which were then held in highest esteem. Here +was a situation full of danger. Against ShÑites and Khárijites the +Umayyads might claim with some show of reason to represent the cause of +law and order, if not of Islam; against the bitter cry of the oppressed +_MawálÃ_ they had no argument save the sword. + + +[Sidenote: Presages of the Revolution.] + +We have referred above to the universal belief of Moslems in a Messiah +and to the extraordinary influence of that belief on their religious and +political history. No wonder that in this unhappy epoch thousands of +people, utterly disgusted with life as they found it, should have +indulged in visions of 'a good time coming,' which was expected to +coincide with the end of the first century of the Hijra. Mysterious +predictions, dark sayings attributed to Muḥammad himself, prophecies +of war and deliverance floated to and fro. Men pored over apocryphal +books, and asked whether the days of confusion and slaughter +(_al-harj_), which, it is known, shall herald the appearance of the +MahdÃ, had not actually begun. + +The final struggle was short and decisive. When it closed, the Umayyads +and with them the dominion of the Arabs had passed away. Alike in +politics and literature, the Persian race asserted its supremacy. We +shall now relate the story of this Revolution as briefly as possible, +leaving the results to be considered in a new chapter. + +[Sidenote: The ‘Abbásids.] + +[Sidenote: ‘Abbásid propaganda in Khurásán.] + +While the ShÑite missionaries (_du‘át_, sing. _dá‘Ã_) were actively +engaged in canvassing for their party, which, as we have seen, +recognised in ‘Alà and his descendants the only legitimate successors to +Muḥammad, another branch of the Prophet's family--the ‘Abbásids--had +entered the field with the secret intention of turning the labours of +the ‘Alids to their own advantage. From their ancestor, ‘Abbás, the +Prophet's uncle, they inherited those qualities of caution, duplicity, +and worldly wisdom which ensure success in political intrigue. +‘Abdulláh, the son of ‘Abbás, devoted his talents to theology and +interpretation of the Koran. He "passes for one of the strongest pillars +of religious tradition; but, in the eyes of unprejudiced European +research, he is only a crafty liar." His descendants "lived in deep +retirement in Ḥumayma, a little place to the south of the Dead Sea, +seemingly far withdrawn from the world, but which, on account of its +proximity to the route by which Syrian pilgrims went to Mecca, afforded +opportunities for communication with the remotest lands of Islam. From +this centre they carried on the propaganda in their own behalf with the +utmost skill. They had genius enough to see that the best soil for their +efforts was the distant Khurásán--that is, the extensive north-eastern +provinces of the old Persian Empire."[472] These countries were +inhabited by a brave and high-spirited people who in consequence of +their intolerable sufferings under the Umayyad tyranny, the devastation +of their homes and the almost servile condition to which they had been +reduced, were eager to join in any desperate enterprise that gave them +hope of relief. Moreover, the Arabs in Khurásán were already to a large +extent Persianised: they had Persian wives, wore trousers, drank wine, +and kept the festivals of Nawrúz and Mihrgán; while the Persian language +was generally understood and even spoken among them.[473] Many +interesting details as to the methods of the ‘Abbásid emissaries will be +found in Van Vloten's admirable work.[474] Starting from Kúfa, the +residence of the Grand Master who directed the whole agitation, they +went to and fro in the guise of merchants or pilgrims, cunningly +adapting their doctrine to the intelligence of those whom they sought to +enlist. Like the ShÑites, they canvassed for 'the House of the +Prophet,' an ambiguous expression which might equally well be applied to +the descendants of ‘Alà or of ‘Abbás, as is shown by the following +table:-- + + + HÃSHIM. + │ + ‘Abdu ’l-Muá¹á¹alib. + │ + ---------------------------------------------------- + │ │ │ + ‘Abdulláh. Abú Ṭálib. ‘Abbás. + │ │ + Muḥammad (the Prophet). ‘Alà (married to Fáá¹ima, daughter of + the Prophet). + +[Sidenote: The ShÑites join hands with the ‘Abbásids.] + +It was, of course, absolutely essential to the ‘Abbásids that they +should be able to count on the support of the powerful ShÑite +organisation, which, ever since the abortive rebellion headed by Mukhtár +(see p. 218 _supra_) had drawn vast numbers of Persian _MawálÃ_ into its +ranks. Now, of the two main parties of the ShÑa, viz., the Háshimites +or followers of Muḥammad Ibnu ’l-Ḥanafiyya, and the Imámites, who +pinned their faith to the descendants of the Prophet through his +daughter Fáá¹ima, the former had virtually identified themselves with +the ‘Abbásids, inasmuch as the Imám Abú Háshim, who died in 716 A.D., +bequeathed his hereditary rights to Muḥammad b. ‘AlÃ, the head of the +House of ‘Abbás. It only remained to hoodwink the Imámites. Accordingly +the ‘Abbásid emissaries were instructed to carry on their propaganda in +the name of Háshim, the common ancestor of ‘Abbás and ‘AlÃ. By means of +this ruse they obtained a free hand in Khurásán, and made such progress +that the governor of that province, Naá¹£r b. Sayyár, wrote to the +Umayyad Caliph, Marwán, asking for reinforcements, and informing him +that two hundred thousand men had sworn allegiance to Abú Muslim, the +principal ‘Abbásid agent. At the foot of his letter he added these +lines:-- + + "I see the coal's red glow beneath the embers, + And 'tis about to blaze! + The rubbing of two sticks enkindles fire, + And out of words come frays. + 'Oh! is Umayya's House awake or sleeping?' + I cry in sore amaze."[475] + +We have other verses by this gallant and loyal officer in which he +implores the Arab troops stationed in Khurásán, who were paralysed by +tribal dissensions, to turn their swords against "a mixed rabble without +religion or nobility":-- + + "'Death to the Arabs'--that is all their creed."[476] + +[Sidenote: Declaration of war.] + +[Sidenote: Abú Muslim.] + +These warnings, however, were of no avail, and on June 9th, A.D. 747, +Abú Muslim displayed the black banner of the ‘Abbásids at Siqadanj, near +Merv, which city he occupied a few months later. The triumphant advance +of the armies of the Revolution towards Damascus recalls the celebrated +campaign of Cæsar, when after crossing the Rubicon he marched on Rome. +Nor is Abú Muslim, though a freedman of obscure parentage--he was +certainly no Arab--unworthy to be compared with the great patrician. "He +united," says Nöldeke, "with an agitator's adroitness and perfect +unscrupulosity in the choice of means the energy and clear outlook of a +general and statesman, and even of a monarch."[477] Grim, ruthless, +disdaining the pleasures of ordinary men, he possessed the faculty in +which Cæsar excelled of inspiring blind obedience and enthusiastic +devotion. To complete the parallel, we may mention here that Abú Muslim +was treacherously murdered by Manṣúr, the second Caliph of the House +which he had raised to the throne, from motives exactly resembling those +which Shakespeare has put in the mouth of Brutus-- + + "So Caesar may: + Then, lest he may, prevent. And since the quarrel + Will bear no colour for the thing he is, + Fashion it thus: that what he is, augmented, + Would run to these and these extremities; + And therefore think him as a serpent's egg + Which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous, + And kill him in the shell." + +[Sidenote: Accession of Abu ’l-‘Abbás al-Saffáḥ.] + +The downfall of the Umayyads was hastened by the perfidy and selfishness +of the Arabs on whom they relied: the old feud between Muá¸ar and +Yemen broke out afresh, and while the Northern group remained loyal to +the dynasty, those of Yemenite stock more or less openly threw in their +lot with the Revolution. We need not attempt to trace the course of the +unequal contest. Everywhere the Arabs, disheartened and divided, fell an +easy prey to their adversaries, and all was lost when Marwán, the last +Umayyad Caliph, sustained a crushing defeat on the River Záb in +Babylonia (January, A.D. 750). Meanwhile Abu ’l-‘Abbás, the head of the +rival House, had already received homage as Caliph (November, 749 A.D.). +In the inaugural address which he delivered in the great Mosque of Kúfa, +he called himself _al-Saffáḥ_, _i.e._, 'the Blood-shedder,'[478] and +this title has deservedly stuck to him, though it might have been +assumed with no less justice by his brother Mansúr and other members of +his family. All Umayyads were remorselessly hunted down and massacred in +cold blood--even those who surrendered only on the strength of the most +solemn pledges that they had nothing to fear. A small remnant made their +escape, or managed to find shelter until the storm of fury and +vengeance, which spared neither the dead nor the living,[479] had blown +over. One stripling, named ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán, fled to North Africa, and +after meeting with many perilous adventures founded a new Umayyad +dynasty in Spain. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDÃD + + +The annals of the ‘Abbásid dynasty from the accession of Saffáḥ (A.D. +749) to the death of Musta‘ṣim, and the destruction of Baghdád by the +Mongols (A.D. 1258) make a round sum of five centuries. I propose to +sketch the history of this long period in three chapters, of which the +first will offer a general view of the more important literary and +political developments so far as is possible in the limited space at my +command; the second will be devoted to the great poets, scholars, +historians, philosophers, and scientists who flourished in this, the +Golden Age of Muḥammadan literature; while in the third some account +will be given of the chief religious movements and of the trend of +religious thought. + + +[Sidenote: Political results of the Revolution.] + +The empire founded by the Caliph ‘Umar and administered by the Umayyads +was essentially, as the reader will have gathered, a military +organisation for the benefit of the paramount race. In theory, no doubt, +all Moslems were equal, but in fact the Arabs alone ruled--a privilege +which national pride conspired with personal interest to maintain. We +have seen how the Persian Moslems asserted their right to a share in the +government. The Revolution which enthroned the ‘Abbásids marks the +beginning of a Moslem, as opposed to an Arabian, Empire. The new +dynasty, owing its rise to the people of Persia, and especially of +Khurásán, could exist only by establishing a balance of power between +Persians and Arabs. That this policy was not permanently successful will +surprise no one who considers the widely diverse characteristics of the +two races, but for the next fifty years the rivals worked together in +tolerable harmony, thanks to the genius of Manṣúr and the +conciliatory influence of the Barmecides, by whose overthrow the +alliance was virtually dissolved. In the ensuing civil war between the +sons of Hárún al-RashÃd the Arabs fought on the side of AmÃn while the +Persians supported Ma’mún, and henceforth each race began to follow an +independent path. The process of separation, however, was very gradual, +and long before it was completed the religious and intellectual life of +both nationalities had become inseparably mingled in the full stream of +Moslem civilisation. + + +[Sidenote: The choice of a new capital.] + +[Sidenote: Foundation of Baghdád.] + +The centre of this civilisation was the province of ‘Iráq (Babylonia), +with its renowned metropolis, Baghdád, 'the City of Peace' (_MadÃnatu +’l-Salám_). Only here could the ‘Abbásids feel themselves at home. +"Damascus, peopled by the dependants of the Omayyads, was out of the +question. On the one hand it was too far from Persia, whence the power +of the ‘Abbásids was chiefly derived; on the other hand it was +dangerously near the Greek frontier, and from here, during the troublous +reigns of the last Omayyads, hostile incursions on the part of the +Christians had begun to avenge former defeats. It was also beginning to +be evident that the conquests of Islam would, in the future, lie to the +eastward towards Central Asia, rather than to the westward at the +further expense of the Byzantines. Damascus, on the highland of Syria, +lay, so to speak, dominating the Mediterranean and looking westward, but +the new capital that was to supplant it must face east, be near Persia, +and for the needs of commerce have water communication with the sea. +Hence everything pointed to a site on either the Euphrates or the +Tigris, and the ‘Abbásids were not slow to make their choice."[480] +After carefully examining various sites, the Caliph Manṣúr fixed on a +little Persian village, on the west bank of the Tigris, called Baghdád, +which, being interpreted, means 'given (or 'founded') by God'; and in +A.D. 762 the walls of the new city began to rise. Manṣúr laid the +first brick with his own hand, and the work was pushed forward with +astonishing rapidity under his personal direction by masons, architects, +and surveyors, whom he gathered out of different countries, so that 'the +Round City,' as he planned it, was actually finished within the short +space of four years. + + +[Sidenote: Despotic character of ‘Abbásid rule.] + +[Sidenote: The Vizier.] + +The same circumstances which caused the seat of empire to be transferred +to Baghdád brought about a corresponding change in the whole system of +government. Whereas the Umayyads had been little more than heads of a +turbulent Arabian aristocracy, their successors reverted to the old type +of Oriental despotism with which the Persians had been familiar since +the days of Darius and Xerxes. Surrounded by a strong bodyguard of +troops from Khurásán, on whose devotion they could rely, the ‘Abbásids +ruled with absolute authority over the lives and properties or their +subjects, even as the Sásánian monarchs had ruled before them. Persian +fashions were imitated at the court, which was thronged with the +Caliph's relatives and freedmen (not to mention his womenfolk), besides +a vast array of uniformed and decorated officials. Chief amongst these +latter stood two personages who figure prominently in the _Arabian +Nights_--the Vizier and the Executioner. The office of Vizier is +probably of Persian origin, although in Professor De Goeje's opinion the +word itself is Arabic.[481] The first who bore this title in ‘Abbásid +times was Abú Salama, the minister of Saffáḥ: he was called _WazÃru +Ãli Muḥammadin_, 'the Vizier of Muḥammad's Family.' It was the +duty of the Vizier to act as intermediary between the omnipotent +sovereign and his people, to counsel him in affairs of State, and, above +all, to keep His Majesty in good humour. He wielded enormous power, but +was exposed to every sort of intrigue, and never knew when he might be +interned in a dungeon or despatched in the twinkling of an eye by the +grim functionary presiding over the _naá¹â€˜_, or circular carpet of +leather, which lay beside the throne and served as a scaffold. + + +[Sidenote: Two periods of ‘Abbásid history.] + +We can distinguish two periods in the history of the ‘Abbásid House: one +of brilliant prosperity inaugurated by Manṣúr and including the +reigns of MahdÃ, Hárún al-RashÃd, Ma’mún, Mu‘tasim, and Wáthiq--that is +to say, nearly a hundred years in all (754-847 A.D.); the other, more +than four times as long, commencing with Mutawakkil (847-861 A.D.)--a +period of decline rapidly sinking, after a brief interval which gave +promise of better things, into irremediable decay.[482] + +[Sidenote: Reign of Manṣúr (754-775 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Outbreaks in Persia.] + +Cruel and treacherous, like most of his family, Abú Ja‘far Manṣúr was +perhaps the greatest ruler whom the ‘Abbásids produced.[483] He had to +fight hard for his throne. The ‘Alids, who deemed themselves the true +heirs of the Prophet in virtue of their descent from Fáá¹ima, rose in +rebellion against the usurper, surprised him in an unguarded moment, and +drove him to such straits that during seven weeks he never changed his +dress except for public prayers. But once more the ‘Alids proved +incapable of grasping their opportunity. The leaders, Muḥammad, who +was known as 'The Pure Soul' (_al-Nafs al-zakiyya_), and his brother +IbráhÃm, fell on the battle-field. Under Mahdà and Hárún members of the +House of ‘Alà continued to 'come out,' but with no better success. In +Eastern Persia, where strong national feelings interwove themselves with +Pre-Muḥammadan religious ideas, those of Mazdak and Zoroaster in +particular, the ‘Abbásids encountered a formidable opposition which +proclaimed its vigour and tenacity by the successive revolts of Sinbádh +the Magian (755-756 A.D.), UstádhsÃs (766-768), Muqanna‘, the 'Veiled +Prophet of Khurásán' (780-786), and Bábak the Khurramite (816-838).[484] + +[Sidenote: Manṣúr's advice to MahdÃ.] + +Manṣúr said to his son Mahdi, "O Abú ‘Abdalláh, when you sit in +company, always have divines to converse with you; for Muḥammad b. +Shiháb al-Zuhrà said, 'The word _ḥadÃth_ (Apostolic Tradition) is +masculine: only virile men love it, and only effeminate men dislike it'; +and he spoke the truth."[485] + +[Sidenote: Manṣúr and the poet.] + +On one occasion a poet came to MahdÃ, who was then heir-apparent, at +Rayy, and recited a panegyric in his honour. The prince gave him 20,000 +dirhems. Thereupon the postmaster of Rayy informed Manṣúr, who wrote +to his son reproaching him for such extravagance. "What you should have +done," he said, "was to let him wait a year at your door, and after that +time bestow on him 4,000 dirhems." He then caused the poet to be +arrested and brought into his presence. "You went to a heedless youth +and cajoled him?" "Yes, God save the Commander of the Faithful, I went +to a heedless, generous youth and cajoled him, and he suffered himself +to be cajoled." "Recite your eulogy of him." The poet obeyed, not +forgetting to conclude his verses with a compliment to Manṣúr. +"Bravo!" cried the Caliph, "but they are not worth 20,000 dirhems. Where +is the money?" On its being produced he made him a gift of 4,000 dirhems +and confiscated the remainder.[486] + +[Sidenote: The Barmecides.] + +[Sidenote: Yaḥyá b. Khálid.] + +Notwithstanding irreconcilable parties--‘Alids, Persian extremists, and +(we may add) Khárijites--the policy of _rapprochement_ was on the whole +extraordinarily effective. In carrying it out the Caliphs received +powerful assistance from a noble and ancient Persian family, the +celebrated Barmakites or Barmecides. According to Mas‘údÃ,[487] Barmak +was originally a title borne by the High Priest (_sádin_) of the great +Magian fire-temple at Balkh. Khálid, the son of one of these +dignitaries--whence he and his descendants were called Barmakites +(_Barámika_)--held the most important offices of state under Saffáḥ +and Manṣúr. Yaḥyá, the son of Khálid, was entrusted with the +education of Hárún al-RashÃd, and on the accession of the young prince +he was appointed Grand Vizier. "My dear father!" said the Caliph, "it is +through the blessings and the good fortune which attend you, and through +your excellent management, that I am seated on the throne;[488] so I +commit to you the direction of affairs." He then handed to him his +signet-ring. Yaḥyá was distinguished (says the biographer) for +wisdom, nobleness of mind, and elegance of language.[489] Although he +took a truly Persian delight in philosophical discussion, for which +purpose freethinking scholars and eminent heretics used often to meet +in his house, he was careful to observe the outward forms of piety. It +may be said of the ‘Abbásids generally that, whatever they might do or +think in private, they wore the official badge of Islam ostentatiously +on their sleeves. The following verses which Yaḥyá addressed to his +son Faá¸l are very characteristic:--[490] + + "Seek glory while 'tis day, no effort spare, + And patiently the loved one's absence bear; + But when the shades of night advancing slow + O'er every vice a veil of darkness throw, + Beguile the hours with all thy heart's delight: + The day of prudent men begins at night. + Many there be, esteemed of life austere, + Who nightly enter on a strange career. + Night o'er them keeps her sable curtain drawn, + And merrily they pass from eve to dawn. + Who but a fool his pleasures would expose + To spying rivals and censorious foes?" + +[Sidenote: Fall of the Barmecides (803 A.D.).] + +For seventeen years Yaḥyá and his two sons, Faá¸l and Ja‘far, +remained deep in Hárún's confidence and virtual rulers of the State +until, from motives which have been variously explained, the Caliph +resolved to rid himself of the whole family. The story is too well known +to need repetition.[491] Ja‘far alone was put to death: we may conclude, +therefore, that he had specially excited the Caliph's anger; and those +who ascribe the catastrophe to his romantic love-affair with Hárún's +sister, ‘Abbása, are probably in the right.[492] Hárún himself seems to +have recognised, when it was too late, how much he owed to these great +Persian barons whose tactful administration, unbounded generosity, and +munificent patronage of literature have shed immortal lustre on his +reign. Afterwards, if any persons spoke ill of the Barmecides in his +presence, he would say (quoting the verse of Ḥuá¹ay’a):--[493] + + "O slanderers, be your sire of sire bereft![494] + Give o'er, or fill the gap which they have left." + +[Sidenote: Hárún al-RashÃd (786-809 A.D.).] + +Hárún's orthodoxy, his liberality, his victories over the Byzantine +Emperor Nicephorus, and last but not least the literary brilliance of +his reign have raised him in popular estimation far above all the other +Caliphs: he is the Charlemagne of the East, while the entrancing pages +of the _Thousand and One Nights_ have made his name a household word in +every country of Europe. Students of Moslem history will soon discover +that "the good Haroun Alraschid" was in fact a perfidious and irascible +tyrant, whose fitful amiability and real taste for music and letters +hardly entitle him to be described either as a great monarch or a good +man. We must grant, however, that he thoroughly understood the noble art +of patronage. The poets Abú Nuwás, Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya, Di‘bil, Muslim b. +WalÃd, and ‘Abbás b. Aḥnaf; the musician IbráhÃm of Mosul and his son +Isḥáq; the philologists Abú ‘Ubayda, Aá¹£ma‘Ã, and Kisá’Ã; the +preacher Ibnu ’l-Sammák; and the historian WáqidÃ--these are but a few +names in the galaxy of talent which he gathered around him at Baghdád. + +[Sidenote: AmÃn and Ma’mún (809-833 A.D.).] + +The fall of the Barmecides revived the spirit of racial antagonism which +they had done their best to lay, and an open rupture was rendered +inevitable by the short-sighted policy of Hárún with regard to the +succession. He had two grown-up sons, AmÃn, by his wife and cousin +Zubayda, and Ma’mún, whose mother was a Persian slave. It was arranged +that the Caliphate should pass to AmÃn and after him to his brother, but +that the Empire should be divided between them. AmÃn was to receive +‘Iráq and Syria, Ma’mún the eastern provinces, where the people would +gladly welcome a ruler of their own blood. The struggle for supremacy +which began almost immediately on the death of Hárún was in the main one +of Persians against Arabs, and by Ma’mún's triumph the Barmecides were +amply avenged. + +[Sidenote: Ma’mún's heresies.] + +[Sidenote: Rise of independent dynasties.] + +[Sidenote: Turkish mercenaries introduced.] + +[Sidenote: Decline of the Caliphate.] + +The new Caliph was anything but orthodox. He favoured the ShÑite party +to such an extent that he even nominated the ‘Alid, ‘Alà b. Músá b. +Ja‘far al-Riá¸Ã¡, as heir-apparent--a step which alienated the members +of his own family and led to his being temporarily deposed. He also +adopted the opinions of the Mu‘tazilite sect and established an +Inquisition to enforce them. Hence the Sunnite historian, Abu +’l-Maḥásin, enumerates three principal heresies of which Ma’mún was +guilty: (1) His wearing of the Green (_labsu ’l-Khuá¸ra_)[495] and +courting the ‘Alids and repulsing the ‘Abbásids; (2) his affirming that +the Koran was created (_al-qawl bi-Khalqi ’l-Qur’án_); and (3) his +legalisation of the _mut‘a_, a loose form of marriage prevailing amongst +the ShÑites.[496] We shall see in due course how keenly and with what +fruitful results Ma’mún interested himself in literature and science. +Nevertheless, it cannot escape our attention that in this splendid reign +there appear ominous signs of political decay. In 822 A.D. Ṭáhir, one +of Ma’mún's generals, who had been appointed governor of Khurásán, +omitted the customary mention of the Caliph's name from the Friday +sermon (_khuá¹ba_), thus founding the Ṭahirid dynasty, which, +though professing allegiance to the Caliphs, was practically +independent. Ṭáhir was only the first of a long series of ambitious +governors and bold adventurers who profited by the weakening authority +of the Caliphs to carve out kingdoms for themselves. Moreover, the +Moslems of ‘Iráq had lost their old warlike spirit: they were fine +scholars and merchants, but poor soldiers. So it came about that +Ma’mún's successor, the Caliph Mu‘taá¹£im (833-842 A.D.), took the +fatal step of surrounding himself with a Prætorian Guard chiefly +composed of Turkish recruits from Transoxania. At the same time he +removed his court from Baghdád sixty miles further up the Tigris to +Sámarrá, which suddenly grew into a superb city of palaces and +barracks--an Oriental Versailles.[497] Here we may close our brief +review of the first and flourishing period of the ‘Abbásid Caliphate. +During the next four centuries the Caliphs come and go faster than ever, +but for the most part their authority is precarious, if not purely +nominal. Meanwhile, in the provinces of the Empire petty dynasties +arise, only to eke out an obscure and troubled existence, or powerful +states are formed, which carry on the traditions of Muḥammadan +culture, it may be through many generations, and in some measure restore +the blessings of peace and settled government to an age surfeited with +anarchy and bloodshed. Of these provincial empires we have now +principally to speak, confining our view, for the most part, to the +political outlines, and reserving the literary and religious aspects of +the period for fuller consideration elsewhere. + +[Sidenote: The Second ‘Abbásid Period (847-1258 A.D.).] + +The reigns of Mutawakkil (847-861 A.D.) and his immediate successors +exhibit all the well-known features of Prætorian rule. Enormous sums +were lavished on the Turkish soldiery, who elected and deposed the +Caliph just as they pleased, and enforced their insatiable demands by +mutiny and assassination. For a short time (869-907 A.D.) matters +improved under the able and energetic Muhtadà and the four Caliphs who +followed him; but the Turks soon regained the upper hand. From this date +every vestige of real power is centred in the Generalissimo (_AmÃru +’l-Umará_) who stands at the head of the army, while the once omnipotent +Caliph must needs be satisfied with the empty honour of having his name +stamped on the coinage and celebrated in the public prayers. The +terrorism of the Turkish bodyguard was broken by the Buwayhids, a +Persian dynasty, who ruled in Baghdád from 945 to 1055 A.D. Then the +Seljúq supremacy began with Ṭughril Beg's entry into the capital and +lasted a full century until the death of Sanjar (1157 A.D.). The Mongols +who captured Baghdád in 1258 A.D. brought the pitiable farce of the +Caliphate to an end. + + [Sidenote: Dynasties of the early ‘Abbásid Age.] + + "The empire of the Caliphs at its widest," as Stanley Lane-Poole + observes in his excellent account of the Muḥammadan dynasties, + "extended from the Atlantic to the Indus, and from the Caspian to + the cataracts of the Nile. So vast a dominion could not long be held + together. The first step towards its disintegration began in Spain, + where ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán, a member of the suppressed Umayyad family, + was acknowledged as an independent sovereign in A.D. 755, and the + ‘Abbásid Caliphate was renounced for ever. Thirty years later IdrÃs, + a great-grandson of the Caliph ‘AlÃ, and therefore equally at + variance with ‘Abbásids and Umayyads, founded an ‘Alid dynasty in + Morocco. The rest of the North African coast was practically lost to + the Caliphate when the Aghlabid governor established his authority + at Qayrawán in A.D. 800." + +[Sidenote: Dynasties of the Second Period. 872 A.D.] + +[Sidenote: The Sámánids (874-999 A.D.).] + +Amongst the innumerable kingdoms which supplanted the decaying Caliphate +only a few of the most important can be singled out for special notice +on account of their literary or religious interest.[498] To begin with +Persia: in Khurásán, which was then held by the Ṭáhirids, fell into +the hands of Ya‘qúb b. Layth the Coppersmith (_al-á¹¢affár_), founder +of the á¹¢affárids, who for thirty years stretched their sway over a +great part of Persia, until they were dispossessed by the Sámánids. The +latter dynasty had the seat of its power in Transoxania, but during the +first half of the tenth century practically the whole of Persia +submitted to the authority of Ismá‘Ãl and his famous successors, Naá¹£r +II and Núḥ I. Not only did these princes warmly encourage and foster +the development, which had already begun, of a national literature in +the Persian language--it is enough to recall here the names of RúdagÃ, +the blind minstrel and poet; DaqÃqÃ, whose fragment of a Persian Epic +was afterwards incorporated by Firdawsà in his _Sháhnáma_; and Bal‘amÃ, +the Vizier of Manṣúr I, who composed an abridgment of ṬabarÃ's +great history, which is one of the oldest prose works in Persian that +have come down to us--but they extended the same favour to poets and men +of learning who (though, for the most part, of Persian extraction) +preferred to use the Arabic language. Thus the celebrated Rhazes (Abú +Bakr al-RázÃ) dedicated to the Sámánid prince Abú Ṣáliḥ Manṣúr +b. Isháq a treatise on medicine, which he entitled _al-Kitáb +al-ManṣúrÃ_ (the Book of Manṣúr) in honour of his patron. The +great physician and philosopher, Abú ‘Alà b. SÃná (Avicenna) relates +that, having been summoned to Bukhárá by King Núḥ, the second of that +name (976-997 A.D.), he obtained permission to visit the royal library. +"I found there," he says, "many rooms filled with books which were +arranged in cases row upon row. One room was allotted to works on Arabic +philology and poetry; another to jurisprudence, and so forth, the books +on each particular science having a room to themselves. I inspected the +catalogue of ancient Greek authors and looked for the books which I +required: I saw in this collection books of which few people have heard +even the names, and which I myself have never seen either before or +since."[499] + +[Sidenote: The Buwayhids (932-1055 A.D.).] + +The power of the Sámánids quickly reached its zenith, and about the +middle of the tenth century they were confined to Khurásán and +Transoxania, while in Western Persia their place was taken by the +Buwayhids. Abú Shujá‘ Buwayh, a chieftain of Daylam, the mountainous +province lying along the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, was one of +those soldiers of fortune whom we meet with so frequently in the history +of this period. His three sons, ‘AlÃ, Aḥmad, and Ḥasan, embarked +on the same adventurous career with such energy and success, that in the +course of thirteen years they not only subdued the provinces of Fárs and +Khúzistán, but in 945 A.D. entered Baghdád at the head of their +Daylamite troops and assumed the supreme command, receiving from the +Caliph Mustakfà the honorary titles of ‘Imádu ’l-Dawla, Mu‘izzu +’l-Dawla, and Ruknu ’l-Dawla. Among the princes of this House, who +reigned over Persia and ‘Iráq during the next hundred years, the most +eminent was ‘Aá¸udu ’l-Dawla, of whom it is said by Ibn Khallikán that +none of the Buwayhids, notwithstanding their great power and authority, +possessed so extensive an empire and held sway over so many kings and +kingdoms as he. The chief poets of the day, including MutanabbÃ, visited +his court at ShÃráz and celebrated his praises in magnificent odes. He +also built a great hospital in Baghdád, the BÃmáristán al-‘Aá¸udÃ, +which was long famous as a school of medicine. The Viziers of the +Buwayhid family contributed in a quite unusual degree to its literary +renown. Ibnu ’l-‘AmÃd, the Vizier of Ruknu ’l-Dawla, surpassed in +philology and epistolary composition all his contemporaries; hence he +was called 'the second Jáḥiẓ,' and it was a common saying that +"the art of letter-writing began with ‘Abdu ’l-ḤamÃd and ended with +Ibnu ’l-‘AmÃd."[500] His friend, the Ṣáḥib Ismá‘Ãl b. ‘Abbád, +Vizier to Mu’ayyidu ’l-Dawla and Fakhru ’l-Dawla, was a distinguished +savant, whose learning was only eclipsed by the liberality of his +patronage. In the latter respect Sábúr b. ArdashÃr, the prime minister +of Abú Naá¹£r Bahá’u ’l-Dawla, vied with the illustrious Ṣáḥib. +He had so many encomiasts that Tha‘álibà devotes to them a whole chapter +of the _YatÃma_. The Academy which he founded at Baghdád, in the Karkh +quarter, and generously endowed, was a favourite haunt of literary men, +and its members seem to have enjoyed pretty much the same privileges as +belong to the Fellows of an Oxford or Cambridge College.[501] + +Like most of their countrymen, the Buwayhids were ShÑites in religion. +We read in the Annals of Abu ’l-Maḥásin under the year 341 A.H. = 952 +A.D.:-- + + [Sidenote: Zeal of the Buwayhids for ShÑite principles.] + + "In this year the Vizier al-Muhallabà arrested some persons who held + the doctrine of metempsychosis (_tanásukh_). Among them were a youth + who declared that the spirit of ‘Alà b. Abà Ṭálib had passed into + his body, and a woman who claimed that the spirit of Fáá¹ima was + dwelling in her; while another man pretended to be Gabriel. On being + flogged, they excused themselves by alleging their relationship to + the Family of the Prophet, whereupon Mu‘izzu ’l-Dawla ordered them + to be set free. This he did because of his attachment to ShÑism. It + is well known," says the author in conclusion, "that the Buwayhids + were ShÑites and Ráfiá¸ites."[502] + +[Sidenote: The Ghaznevids (976-1186 A.D.).] + +Three dynasties contemporary with the Buwayhids have still to be +mentioned: the Ghaznevids in Afghanistan, the Ḥamdánids in Syria, and +the Fáá¹imids in Egypt. SabuktagÃn, the founder of the first-named +dynasty, was a Turkish slave. His son, Maḥmúd, who succeeded to the +throne of Ghazna in 998 A.D., made short work of the already tottering +Sámánids, and then sweeping far and wide over Northern India, began a +series of conquests which, before his death in 1030 A.D., reached from +Lahore to Samarcand and Iá¹£fahán. Although the Persian and +Transoxanian provinces of his huge empire were soon torn away by the +Seljúqs, Maḥmúd's invasion of India, which was undertaken with the +object of winning that country for Islam, permanently established +Muḥammadan influence, at any rate in the Panjáb. As regards their +religious views, the Turkish Ghaznevids stand in sharp contrast with the +Persian houses of Sámán and Buwayh. It has been well said that the true +genius of the Turks lies in action, not in speculation. When Islam came +across their path, they saw that it was a simple and practical creed +such as the soldier requires; so they accepted it without further +parley. The Turks have always remained loyal to Islam, the Islam of Abú +Bakr and ‘Umar, which is a very different thing from the Islam of +ShÑite Persia. Maḥmúd proved his orthodoxy by banishing the +Mu‘tazilites of Rayy and burning their books together with the +philosophical and astronomical works that fell into his hands; but on +the same occasion he carried off a hundred camel-loads of presumably +harmless literature to his capital. That he had no deep enthusiasm for +letters is shown, for example, by his shabby treatment of the poet +FirdawsÃ. Nevertheless, he ardently desired the glory and prestige +accruing to a sovereign whose court formed the rallying-point of all +that was best in the literary and scientific culture of the day, and +such was Ghazna in the eleventh century. Besides the brilliant group of +Persian poets, with Firdawsà at their head, we may mention among the +Arabic-writing authors who flourished under this dynasty the historians +al-‘Utbà and al-BÃrúnÃ. + +[Sidenote: The Ḥamdánids (929-1003 A.D.).] + +While the Eastern Empire of Islam was passing into the hands of Persians +and Turks, we find the Arabs still holding their own in Syria and +Mesopotamia down to the end of the tenth century. These Arab and +generally nomadic dynasties were seldom of much account. The +Ḥamdánids of Aleppo alone deserve to be noticed here, and that +chiefly for the sake of the peerless Sayfu ’l-Dawla, a worthy descendant +of the tribe of Taghlib, which in the days of heathendom produced the +poet-warrior, ‘Amr b. Kulthúm. ‘Abdulláh b. Ḥamdán was appointed +governor of Mosul and its dependencies by the Caliph Muktafà in 905 +A.D., and in 942 his sons Ḥasan and ‘Alà received the complimentary +titles of Náṣiru ’l-Dawla (Defender of the State) and Sayfu ’l-Dawla +(Sword of the State). Two years later Sayfu ’l-Dawla captured Aleppo and +brought the whole of Northern Syria under his dominion. During a reign +of twenty-three years he was continuously engaged in harrying the +Byzantines on the frontiers of Asia Minor, but although he gained some +glorious victories, which his laureate Mutanabbà has immortalised, the +fortune of war went in the long run steadily against him, and his +successors were unable to preserve their little kingdom from being +crushed between the Byzantines in the north and the Fáá¹timids in the +south. The Ḥamdánids have an especial claim on our sympathy, because +they revived for a time the fast-decaying and already almost broken +spirit of Arabian nationalism. It is this spirit that speaks with a +powerful voice in Mutanabbà and declares itself, for example, in such +verses as these:--[503] + + "Men from their kings alone their worth derive, + But Arabs ruled by aliens cannot thrive: + Boors without culture, without noble fame, + Who know not loyalty and honour's name. + Go where thou wilt, thou seest in every land + Folk driven like cattle by a servile band." + +[Sidenote: The circle of Sayfu ’l-Dawla.] + +The reputation which Sayfu ’l-Dawla's martial exploits and his repeated +triumphs over the enemies of Islam richly earned for him in the eyes of +his contemporaries was enhanced by the conspicuous energy and +munificence with which he cultivated the arts of peace. Considering the +brevity of his reign and the relatively small extent of his resources, +we may well be astonished to contemplate the unique assemblage of +literary talent then mustered in Aleppo. There was, first of all, +MutanabbÃ, in the opinion of his countrymen the greatest of Moslem +poets; there was Sayfu ’l-Dawla's cousin, the chivalrous Abú Firás, +whose war-songs are relieved by many a touch of tender and true feeling; +there was Abu ’l-Faraj of Iá¹£fahán, who on presenting to Sayfu +’l-Dawla his _Kitábu ’l-AghánÃ_, one of the most celebrated and +important works in all Arabic literature, received one thousand pieces +of gold accompanied with an expression of regret that the prince was +obliged to remunerate him so inadequately; there was also the great +philosopher, Abú Naá¹£r al-FárábÃ, whose modest wants were satisfied by +a daily pension of four dirhems (about two shillings) from the public +treasury. Surely this is a record not easily surpassed even in the +heyday of ‘Abbásid patronage. As for the writers of less note whom Sayfu +’l-Dawla attracted to Aleppo, their name is legion. Space must be found +for the poets Sarà al-Raffá, Abu ’l-‘Abbás al-NámÃ, and Abu ’l-Faraj +al-Babbaghá for the preacher (_khaá¹Ãb_) Ibn Nubáta, who would often +rouse the enthusiasm of his audience while he urged the duty of +zealously prosecuting the Holy War against Christian Byzantium; and for +the philologist Ibn Khálawayh, whose lectures were attended by students +from all parts of the Muḥammadan world. The literary renaissance +which began at this time in Syria was still making its influence felt +when Tha‘álibà wrote his _YatÃma_, about thirty years after the death of +Sayfu ’l-Dawla, and it produced in Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrà (born 973 +A.D.) an original and highly interesting personality, to whom we shall +return on another occasion. + + +[Sidenote: The Fáá¹imids (909-1171 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: The Ismá‘Ãlite propaganda.] + +The dynasties hitherto described were political in their origin, having +generally been founded by ambitious governors or vassals. These upstarts +made no pretensions to the nominal authority, which they left in the +hands of the Caliph even while they forced him at the sword's point to +recognise their political independence. The Sámánids and Buwayhids, +ShÑites as they were, paid the same homage to the Caliph in Baghdád as +did the Sunnite Ghaznevids. But in the beginning of the tenth century +there arose in Africa a great ShÑite power, that of the Fáá¹imids, +who took for themselves the title and prerogatives of the Caliphate, +which they asserted to be theirs by right Divine. This event was only +the climax of a deep-laid and skilfully organised plot--one of the most +extraordinary in all history. It had been put in train half a century +earlier by a certain ‘Abdulláh the son of Maymún, a Persian oculist +(_qaddáḥ_) belonging to Aḥwáz. Filled with a fierce hatred of the +Arabs and with a freethinker's contempt for Islam, ‘Abdulláh b. Maymún +conceived the idea of a vast secret society which should be all things +to all men, and which, by playing on the strongest passions and tempting +the inmost weaknesses of human nature, should unite malcontents of every +description in a conspiracy to overthrow the existing _régime_. Modern +readers may find a parallel for this romantic project in the pages of +Dumas, although the Aramis of _Twenty Years After_ is a simpleton beside +‘Abdulláh. He saw that the movement, in order to succeed, must be +started on a religious basis, and he therefore identified himself with +an obscure ShÑite sect, the Ismá‘ÃlÃs, who were so called because they +regarded Muḥammad, son of Ismá‘Ãl, son of Ja‘far al-Ṣádiq, as the +Seventh Imám. Under ‘Abdulláh the Ismá‘ÃlÃs developed their mystical and +antinomian doctrines, of which an excellent account has been given by +Professor Browne in the first volume of his _Literary History of Persia_ +(p. 405 sqq.). Here we can only refer to the ingenious and fatally +insidious methods which he devised for gaining proselytes on a gigantic +scale, and with such amazing success that from this time until the +Mongol invasion--a period of almost four centuries--the Ismá‘Ãlites +(Fáá¹imids, Carmathians, and Assassins) either ruled or ravaged a +great part of the Muḥammadan Empire. It is unnecessary to discuss the +question whether ‘Abdulláh b. Maymún was, as Professor Browne thinks, +primarily a religious enthusiast, or whether, according to the view +commonly held, his real motives were patriotism and personal ambition. +The history of Islam shows clearly enough that the revolutionist is +nearly always disguised as a religious leader, while, on the other hand, +every founder of a militant sect is potentially the head of a state. +‘Abdulláh may have been a fanatic first and a politician afterwards; +more probably he was both at once from the beginning. His plan of +operations was briefly as follows:-- + + The _dá‘Ã_ or missionary charged with the task of gaining adherents + for the Hidden Imám (see p. 216 seq.), in whose name allegiance was + demanded, would settle in some place, representing himself to be a + merchant, ṢúfÃ, or the like. By renouncing worldly pleasures, + making a show of strict piety, and performing apparent miracles, it + was easy for him to pass as a saint with the common folk. As soon as + he was assured of his neighbours' confidence and respect, he began + to raise doubts in their minds. He would suggest difficult problems + of theology or dwell on the mysterious significance of certain + passages of the Koran. May there not be (he would ask) in religion + itself a deeper meaning than appears on the surface? Then, having + excited the curiosity of his hearers, he suddenly breaks off. When + pressed to continue his explanation, he declares that such mysteries + cannot be communicated save to those who take a binding oath of + secrecy and obedience and consent to pay a fixed sum of money in + token of their good faith. If these conditions were accepted, the + neophyte entered upon the second of the nine degrees of initiation. + He was taught that mere observance of the laws of Islam is not + pleasing to God, unless the true doctrine be received through the + Imáms who have it in keeping. These Imáms (as he next learned) are + seven in number, beginning with ‘AlÃ; the seventh and last is + Muḥammad, son of Ismá‘Ãl. On reaching the fourth degree he + definitely ceased to be a Moslem, for here he was taught the + Ismá‘Ãlite system of theology in which Muḥammad b. Ismá‘Ãl + supersedes the founder of Islam as the greatest and last of all the + Prophets. Comparatively few initiates advanced beyond this grade to + a point where every form of positive religion was allegorised away, + and only philosophy was left. "It is clear what a tremendous weapon, + or rather machine, was thus created. Each man was given the amount + of light which he could bear and which was suited to his prejudices, + and he was made to believe that the end of the whole work would be + the attaining of what he regarded as most desirable."[504] Moreover, + the Imám Muḥammad b. Ismá‘Ãl having disappeared long ago, the + veneration which sought a visible object was naturally transferred + to his successor and representative on earth, viz., ‘Abdulláh b. + Maymún, who filled the same office in relation to him as Aaron to + Moses and ‘Alà to Muḥammad. + +About the middle of the ninth century the state of the Moslem Empire was +worse, if possible, than it had been in the latter days of Umayyad rule. +The peasantry of ‘Iráq were impoverished by the desolation into which +that flourishing province was beginning to fall in consequence of the +frequent and prolonged civil wars. In 869 A.D. the negro slaves (_Zanj_) +employed in the saltpetre industry, for which Baá¹£ra was famous, took +up arms at the call of an ‘Alid Messiah, and during fourteen years +carried fire and sword through Khúzistán and the adjacent territory. We +can imagine that all this misery and discontent was a godsend to the +Ismá‘Ãlites. The old cry, "A deliverer of the Prophet's House," which +served the ‘Abbásids so well against the Umayyads, was now raised with +no less effect against the ‘Abbásids themselves. + +[Sidenote: The Fáá¹imid dynasty founded by the Mahdà ‘Ubaydu’lláh (909 +A.D.).] + +‘Abdulláh b. Maymún died in 875 A.D., but the agitation went on, and +rapidly gathered force. One of the leading spirits was Ḥamdán +Qarmaá¹, who gave his name to the Carmathian branch of the Ismá‘ÃlÃs. +These Carmathians (_Qarámiá¹a_, sing. _Qirmiá¹Ã_) spread over +Southern Persia and Yemen, and in the tenth century they threatened +Baghdád, repeatedly waylaid the pilgrim-caravans, sacked Mecca and bore +away the Black Stone as a trophy; in short, established a veritable +reign of terror. We must return, however, to the main Ismá‘Ãlite faction +headed by the descendants of ‘Abdulláh b. Maymún. Their emissaries +discovered a promising field of work in North Africa among the credulous +and fanatical Berbers. When all was ripe, Sa‘Ãd b. Ḥusayn, the +grandson of ‘Abdulláh b. Maymún, left Salamya in Syria, the centre from +which the wires had hitherto been pulled, and crossing over to Africa +appeared as the long-expected Mahdà under the name of ‘Ubaydu’lláh. He +gave himself out to be a great-grandson of the Imám Muḥammad b. +Ismá‘Ãl and therefore in the direct line of descent from ‘Alà b. Abà +Ṭálib and Fáá¹ima the daughter of the Prophet. We need not stop to +discuss this highly questionable genealogy from which the Fáá¹imid +dynasty derives its name. In 910 A.D. ‘Ubaydu’lláh entered Raqqáda in +triumph and assumed the title of Commander of the Faithful. Tunis, where +the Aghlabites had ruled since 800 A.D., was the cradle of Fáá¹imid +power, and here they built their capital, Mahdiyya, near the ancient +Thapsus. Gradually advancing eastward, they conquered Egypt and Syria as +far as Damascus (969-970 A.D.). At this time the seat of government was +removed to the newly-founded city of Cairo (_al-Qáhira_), which remained +for two centuries the metropolis of the Fáá¹imid Empire.[505] + +[Sidenote: The Ayyúbids (1171-1250 A.D.).] + +The ShÑite Anti-Caliphs maintained themselves in Egypt until 1171 A.D., +when the famous Saladin (á¹¢aláḥu ’l-DÃn b. Ayyúb) took possession +of that country and restored the Sunnite faith. He soon added Syria to +his dominions, and "the fall of Jerusalem (in 1187) roused Europe to +undertake the Third Crusade." The Ayyúbids were strictly orthodox, as +behoved the champions of Islam against Christianity. They built and +endowed many theological colleges. The Ṣúfà pantheist, Shihábu ’l-DÃn +Yaḥyá al-SuhrawardÃ, was executed at Aleppo by order of Saladin's +son, Malik al-Ẓáhir, in 1191 A.D. + + +[Sidenote: The Seljúqs (1037-1300 A.D.).] + +The two centuries preceding the extinction of the ‘Abbásid Caliphate by +the Mongols witnessed the rise and decline of the Seljúq Turks, who +"once more re-united Muḥammadan Asia from the western frontier of +Afghanistan to the Mediterranean under one sovereign." Seljúq b. Tuqáq +was a Turcoman chief. Entering Transoxania, he settled near Bukhárá and +went over with his whole people to Islam. His descendants, Ṭughril +Beg and Chagar Beg, invaded Khurásán, annexed the western provinces of +the Ghaznevid Empire, and finally absorbed the remaining dominions of +the Buwayhids. Baghdád was occupied by Ṭughril Beg in 1055 A.D. It +has been said that the Seljúqs contributed almost nothing to culture, +but this perhaps needs some qualification. Although Alp Arslán, who +succeeded Ṭughril, and his son Malik Sháh devoted their energies in +the first place to military affairs, the latter at least was an +accomplished and enlightened monarch. "He exerted himself to spread the +benefits of civilisation: he dug numerous canals, walled a great number +of cities, built bridges, and constructed _ribáá¹s_ in the desert +places."[506] He was deeply interested in astronomy, and scientific as +well as theological studies received his patronage. Any shortcomings of +Alp Arslán and Malik Sháh in this respect were amply repaired by their +famous minister, Ḥasan b. ‘AlÃ, the Niẓámu ’l-Mulk or 'Constable +of the Empire,' to give him the title which he has made his own. Like so +many great Viziers, he was a Persian, and his achievements must not +detain us here, but it may be mentioned that he founded in Baghdád and +Naysábúr the two celebrated academies which were called in his honour +al-Niẓámiyya. + + +[Sidenote: Arabia and Spain.] + +We have now taken a general, though perforce an extremely curtailed and +disconnected, view of the political conditions which existed during the +‘Abbásid period in most parts of the Muḥammadan Empire except Arabia +and Spain. The motherland of Islam had long sunk to the level of a minor +province: leaving the Holy Cities out of consideration, one might +compare its inglorious destiny under the Caliphate to that of Macedonia +in the empire which Alexander bequeathed to his successors, the +Ptolemies and Seleucids. As regards the political history of Spain a few +words will conveniently be said in a subsequent chapter, where the +literature produced by Spanish Moslems will demand our attention. In the +meantime we shall pass on to the characteristic literary developments of +this period, which correspond more or less closely to the historical +outlines. + + +The first thing that strikes the student of mediæval Arabic literature +is the fact that a very large proportion of the leading writers are +non-Arabs, or at best semi-Arabs, men whose fathers or mothers were of +foreign, and especially Persian, race. They wrote in Arabic, because +down to about 1000 A.D. that language was the sole medium of literary +expression in the Muḥammadan world, a monopoly which it retained in +scientific compositions until the Mongol Invasion of the thirteenth +century. I have already referred to the question whether such men as +Bashshár b. Burd, Abú Nuwás, Ibn Qutayba, ṬabarÃ, GhazálÃ, and +hundreds of others should be included in a literary history of the +Arabs, and have given reasons, which I need not repeat in this place, +for considering their admission to be not only desirable but fully +justified on logical grounds.[507] The absurdity of treating them as +Persians--and there is no alternative, if they are not to be reckoned as +Arabs--appears to me self-evident. + +"It is strange," says Ibn Khaldún, "that most of the learned among the +Moslems who have excelled in the religious or intellectual sciences are +non-Arabs (_‘Ajam_) with rare exceptions; and even those savants who +claimed Arabian descent spoke a foreign language, grew up in foreign +lands, and studied under foreign masters, notwithstanding that the +community to which they belonged was Arabian and the author of its +religion an Arab." The historian proceeds to explain the cause of this +singular circumstance in an interesting passage which may be summarised +as follows:-- + + [Sidenote: Ibn Khaldún's explanation of the fact that learning was + chiefly cultivated by the Persian Moslems.] + + The first Moslems were entirely ignorant of art and science, all + their attention being devoted to the ordinances of the Koran, which + they "carried in their breasts," and to the practice (_sunna_) of + the Prophet. At that time the Arabs knew nothing of the way by which + learning is taught, of the art of composing books, and of the means + whereby knowledge is enregistered. Those, however, who could repeat + the Koran and relate the Traditions of Muḥammad were called + Readers (_qurrá_). This oral transmission continued until the reign + of Hárún al-RashÃd, when the need of securing the Traditions against + corruption or of preventing their total loss caused them to be set + down in writing; and in order to distinguish the genuine Traditions + from the spurious, every _isnád_ (chain of witnesses) was carefully + scrutinised. Meanwhile the purity of the Arabic tongue had gradually + become impaired: hence arose the science of grammar; and the rapid + development of Law and Divinity brought it about that other + sciences, _e.g._, logic and dialectic, were professionally + cultivated in the great cities of the Muḥammadan Empire. The + inhabitants of these cities were chiefly Persians, freedmen and + tradesmen, who had been long accustomed to the arts of civilisation. + Accordingly the most eminent of the early grammarians, + traditionists, and scholastic theologians, as well as of those + learned in the principles of Law and in the interpretation of the + Koran, were Persians by race or education, and the saying of the + Prophet was verified--"_If Knowledge were attached to the ends of + the sky, some amongst the Persians would have reached it._" Amidst + all this intellectual activity the Arabs, who had recently emerged + from a nomadic life, found the exercise of military and + administrative command too engrossing to give them leisure for + literary avocations which have always been disdained by a ruling + caste. They left such studies to the Persians and the mixed race + (_al-muwalladún_), which sprang from intermarriage of the conquerors + with the conquered. They did not entirely look down upon the men of + learning but recognised their services--since after all it was Islam + and the sciences connected with Islam that profited thereby.[508] + +Even in the Umayyad period, as we have seen, the maxim that Knowledge is +Power was strikingly illustrated by the immense social influence which +Persian divines exerted in the Muḥammadan community.[509] +Nevertheless, true Arabs of the old type regarded these _MawálÃ_ and +their learning with undisguised contempt. To the great majority of +Arabs, who prided themselves on their noble lineage and were content to +know nothing beyond the glorious traditions of heathendom and the +virtues practised by their sires, all literary culture seemed petty and +degrading. Their overbearing attitude towards the _MawálÃ_, which is +admirably depicted in the first part of Goldziher's _Muhammedanische +Studien_, met with a vigorous response. Non-Arabs and Moslem pietists +alike appealed to the highest authority--the Koran; and since they +required a more definite and emphatic pronouncement than was forthcoming +from that source, they put in the mouth of the Prophet sayings like +these: "He that speaks Arabic is thereby an Arab"; "whoever of the +people of Persia accepts Islam is (as much an Arab as) one of Quraysh." +This doctrine made no impression upon the Arabian aristocracy, but with +the downfall of the Umayyads the political and social equality of the +_MawálÃ_ became an accomplished fact. Not that the Arabs were at all +disposed to abate their pretensions. They bitterly resented the favour +which the foreigners enjoyed and the influence which they exercised. The +national indignation finds a voice in many poems of the early ‘Abbásid +period, _e.g._:-- + + "See how the asses which they used to ride + They have unsaddled, and sleek mules bestride! + No longer kitchen-herbs they buy and sell,[510] + But in the palace and the court they dwell; + Against us Arabs full of rage and spleen, + Hating the Prophet and the Moslem's _dÃn_."[511] + +[Sidenote: The Shu‘úbites.] + +The side of the non-Arabs in this literary quarrel was vehemently +espoused by a party who called themselves the Shu‘úbites +(_al-Shu‘úbiyya_),[512] while their opponents gave them the name of +Levellers (_Ahlu ’l-Taswiya_), because they contended for the equality +of all Moslems without regard to distinctions of race. I must refer the +reader who seeks information concerning the history of the movement to +Goldziher's masterly study,[513] where the controversial methods adopted +by the Shu‘úbites are set forth in ample detail. He shows how the bolder +spirits among them, not satisfied with claiming an _equal_ position, +argued that the Arabs were absolutely inferior to the Persians and other +peoples. The question was hotly debated, and many eminent writers took +part in the fray. On the Shu‘úbite side Abú ‘Ubayda, BÃrúnÃ, and +Ḥamza of Iá¹£fahán deserve mention. Jáḥiẓ and Ibn Durayd +were the most notable defenders of their own Arabian nationality, but +the 'pro-Arabs' also included several men of Persian origin, such as Ibn +Qutayba, BaládhurÃ, and ZamakhsharÃ. The Shu‘úbites directed their +attacks principally against the racial pride of the Arabs, who were fond +of boasting that they were the noblest of all mankind and spoke the +purest and richest language in the world. Consequently the Persian +genealogists and philologists lost no opportunity of bringing to light +scandalous and discreditable circumstances connected with the history of +the Arab tribes or of particular families. Arabian poetry, especially +the vituperative pieces (_mathálib_), furnished abundant matter of this +sort, which was adduced by the Shu‘úbites as convincing evidence that +the claims of the Arabs to superior nobility were absurd. At the same +time the national view as to the unique and incomparable excellence of +the Arabic language received some rude criticism. + +[Sidenote: Assimilation of Arabs and Persians.] + +[Sidenote: Enthusiasm for learning in the early ‘Abbásid period.] + +So acute and irreconcilable were the racial differences between Arabs +and Persians that one is astonished to see how thoroughly the latter +became Arabicised in the course of a few generations. As clients +affiliated to an Arab tribe, they assumed Arabic names and sought to +disguise their foreign extraction by fair means or foul. Many provided +themselves with fictitious pedigrees, on the strength of which they +passed for Arabs. Such a pretence could have deceived nobody if it had +not been supported by a complete assimilation in language, manners, and +even to some extent in character. On the neutral ground of Muḥammadan +science animosities were laid aside, and men of both races laboured +enthusiastically for the common cause. When at length, after a century +of bloody strife and engrossing political agitation, the great majority +of Moslems found themselves debarred from taking part in public affairs, +it was only natural that thousands of ardent and ambitious souls should +throw their pent-up energies into the pursuit of wealth or learning. We +are not concerned here with the marvellous development of trade under +the first ‘Abbásid Caliphs, of which Von Kremer has given a full and +entertaining description in his _Culturgeschichte des Orients_. It may +be recalled, however, that many commercial terms, _e.g._, tariff, names +of fabrics (muslin, tabby, &c.), occurring in English as well as in most +European languages are of Arabic origin and were brought to Europe by +merchants from Baghdád, Mosul, Baá¹£ra, and other cities of Western +Asia. This material expansion was accompanied by an outburst of +intellectual activity such as the East had never witnessed before. It +seemed as if all the world from the Caliph down to the humblest citizen +suddenly became students, or at least patrons, of literature. In quest +of knowledge men travelled over three continents and returned home, like +bees laden with honey, to impart the precious stores which they had +accumulated to crowds of eager disciples, and to compile with incredible +industry those works of encyclopædic range and erudition from which +modern Science, in the widest sense of the word, has derived far more +than is generally supposed. + +[Sidenote: Development of the Moslem sciences.] + +The Revolution which made the fortune of the ‘Abbásid House was a +triumph for Islam and the party of religious reform. While under the +worldly Umayyads the studies of Law and Tradition met with no public +encouragement and were only kept alive by the pious zeal of oppressed +theologians, the new dynasty drew its strength from the Muḥammadan +ideas which it professed to establish, and skilfully adapted its policy +to satisfying the ever-increasing claims of the Church. Accordingly the +Moslem sciences which arose at this time proceeded in the first instance +from the Koran and the ḤadÃth. The sacred books offered many +difficulties both to provincial Arabs and especially to Persians and +other Moslems of foreign extraction. For their right understanding a +knowledge of Arabic grammar and philology was essential, and this +involved the study of the ancient Pre-islamic poems which supplied the +most authentic models of Arabian speech in its original purity. The +study of these poems entailed researches into genealogy and history, +which in the course of time became independent branches of learning. +Similarly the science of Tradition was systematically developed in order +to provide Moslems with practical rules for the conduct of life in every +conceivable particular, and various schools of Law sprang into +existence. + +[Sidenote: Their classification.] + +Muḥammadan writers usually distinguish the sciences which are +connected with the Koran and those which the Arabs learned from foreign +peoples. In the former class they include the Traditional or Religious +Sciences (_al-‘Ulúm al-Naqliyya awi ’l-Shar‘iyya_) and the Linguistic +Sciences (_‘Ulúmu ’l-Lisáni ’l-‘ArabÃ_); in the latter the Intellectual +or Philosophical Sciences (_al-‘Ulúm al-‘Aqliyya awi ’l-Ḥikmiyya_), +which are sometimes called 'The Sciences of the Foreigners' (_‘Ulúmu +’l-‘Ajam_) or 'The Ancient Sciences' (_al-‘Ulúm al-QadÃma_). + +The general scope of this division may be illustrated by the following +table:-- + + I. THE NATIVE SCIENCES. + + 1. Koranic Exegesis (_‘Ilmu ’l-TafsÃr_). + 2. Koranic Criticism (_‘Ilmu ’l-Qirá’át_). + 3. The Science of Apostolic Tradition (_‘Ilmu ’l-ḤadÃth_). + 4. Jurisprudence (_Fiqh_). + 5. Scholastic Theology (_‘Ilmu ’l-Kalám_). + 6. Grammar (_Naḥw_). + 7. Lexicography (_Lugha_). + 8. Rhetoric (_Bayán_). + 9. Literature (_Adab_). + + + II. THE FOREIGN SCIENCES. + + 1. Philosophy (_Falsafa_).[514] + 2. Geometry (_Handasa_).[515] + 3. Astronomy (_‘Ilmu ’l-Nujúm_). + 4. Music (_MúsÃqÃ_). + 5. Medicine (_Ṭibb_). + 6. Magic and Alchemy (_al-Siḥr wa-’l-KÃmiyá_). + +[Sidenote: The early ‘Abbásid period favourable to free-thought.] + +The religious phenomena of the Period will be discussed in a separate +chapter, and here I can only allude cursorily to their general +character. We have seen that during the whole Umayyad epoch, except in +the brief reign of ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘AzÃz, the professors of religion +were out of sympathy with the court, and that many of them withdrew from +all participation in public affairs. It was otherwise when the ‘Abbásids +established themselves in power. Theology now dwelt in the shadow of the +throne and directed the policy of the Government. Honours were showered +on eminent jurists and divines, who frequently held official posts of +high importance and stood in the most confidential and intimate +relations to the Caliph; a classical example is the friendship of the +Cadi Abú Yúsuf and Hárún al-RashÃd. The century after the Revolution +gave birth to the four great schools of Muhammadan Law, which are still +called by the names of their founders--Málik b. Anas, Abú ḤanÃfa, +Sháfi‘Ã, and Ahmad b. Ḥanbal. At this time the scientific and +intellectual movement had free play. The earlier Caliphs usually +encouraged speculation so long as it threatened no danger to the +existing _régime_. Under Ma’mún and his successors the Mu‘tazilite +Rationalism became the State religion, and Islam seemed to have entered +upon an era of enlightenment. Thus the first ‘Abbásid period (750-847 +A.D.) with its new learning and liberal theology may well be compared to +the European Renaissance; but in the words of a celebrated Persian +poet-- + + _Khil‘atà bas fákhir ámad ‘umr ‘aybash kútahÃst._[516] + + "Life is a very splendid robe: its fault is brevity." + +[Sidenote: The triumph of orthodoxy.] + +The Caliph Mutawakkil (847-861 A.D.) signalised his accession by +declaring the Mu‘tazilite doctrines to be heretical and by returning to +the traditional faith. Stern measures were taken against dissenters. +Henceforth there was little room in Islam for independent thought. The +populace regarded philosophy and natural science as a species of +infidelity. Authors of works on these subjects ran a serious risk unless +they disguised their true opinions and brought the results of their +investigations into apparent conformity with the text of the Koran. +About the middle of the tenth century the reactionary spirit assumed a +dogmatic shape in the system of Abu ’l-Ḥasan al-Ash‘arÃ, the father +of Muḥammadan Scholasticism, which is essentially opposed to +intellectual freedom and has maintained its petrifying influence almost +unimpaired down to the present time. + + +I could wish that this chapter were more worthy of the title which I +have chosen for it, but the foregoing pages will have served their +purpose if they have enabled my readers to form some idea of the +politics of the Period and of the broad features marking the course of +its literary and religious history. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE IN THE ‘ABBÃSID PERIOD + +[Sidenote: The Pre-islamic poets regarded as classical.] + +Pre-Islamic poetry was the natural expression of nomad life. We might +therefore have expected that the new conditions and ideas introduced by +Islam would rapidly work a corresponding revolution in the poetical +literature of the following century. Such, however, was far from being +the case. The Umayyad poets clung tenaciously to the great models of the +Heroic Age and even took credit for their skilful imitation of the +antique odes. The early Muḥammadan critics, who were philologists by +profession, held fast to the principle that Poetry in Pre-islamic times +had reached a perfection which no modern bard could hope to emulate, and +which only the lost ideals of chivalry could inspire.[517] To have been +born after Islam was in itself a proof of poetical inferiority.[518] +Linguistic considerations, of course, entered largely into this +prejudice. The old poems were studied as repositories of the pure +classical tongue and were estimated mainly from a grammarian's +standpoint. + +[Sidenote: Abú Nuwás as a critic.] + +These ideas gained wide acceptance in literary circles and gradually +biassed the popular taste to such an extent that learned pedants could +boast, like KhalÃl b. Ahmad, the inventor of Arabic prosody, that it lay +in their power to make or mar the reputation of a rising poet as they +deemed fit. Originality being condemned in advance, those who desired +the approval of this self-constituted Academy were obliged to waste +their time and talents upon elaborate reproduction of the ancient +masterpieces, and to entertain courtiers and citizens with borrowed +pictures of Bedouin life in which neither they nor their audience took +the slightest interest. Some, it is true, recognised the absurdity of +the thing. Abú Nuwás (†_circa_ 810 A.D.) often ridicules the custom, to +which reference has been made elsewhere, of apostrophising the deserted +encampment (_aá¹lál_ or _á¹ulúl_) in the opening lines of an ode, +and pours contempt on the fashionable glorification of antiquity. In the +passage translated below he gives a description of the desert and its +people which recalls some of Dr. Johnson's sallies at the expense of +Scotland and Scotsmen:-- + + "Let the south-wind moisten with rain the desolate scene + And Time efface what once was so fresh and green! + Make the camel-rider free of a desert space + Where high-bred camels trot with unwearied pace; + Where only mimosas and thistles flourish, and where, + For hunting, wolves and hyenas are nowise rare! + Amongst the Bedouins seek not enjoyment out: + What do they enjoy? They live in hunger and drought. + Let them drink their bowls of milk and leave them alone, + To whom life's finer pleasures are all unknown."[519] + +Ibn Qutayba, who died towards the end of the ninth century A.D., was the +first critic of importance to declare that ancients and moderns should +be judged on their merits without regard to their age. He writes as +follows in the Introduction to his 'Book of Poetry and Poets' (_Kitábu +’l-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará_):--[520] + + [Sidenote: Ibn Qutayba on ancient and modern poets.] + + "In citing extracts from the works of the poets I have been guided + by my own choice and have refused to admire anything merely because + others thought it admirable. I have not regarded any ancient with + veneration on account of his antiquity nor any modern with contempt + on account of his being modern, but I have taken an impartial view + of both sides, giving every one his due and amply acknowledging his + merit. Some of our scholars, as I am aware, pronounce a feeble poem + to be good, because its author was an ancient, and include it among + their chosen pieces, while they call a sterling poem bad though its + only fault is that it was composed in their own time or that they + have seen its author. God, however, did not restrict learning and + poetry and rhetoric to a particular age nor appropriate them to a + particular class, but has always distributed them in common amongst + His servants, and has caused everything old to be new in its own day + and every classic work to be an upstart on its first appearance." + +[Sidenote: Revolt against classicism.] + +The inevitable reaction in favour of the new poetry and of contemporary +literature in general was hastened by various circumstances which +combined to overthrow the prevalent theory that Arabian heathendom and +the characteristic pagan virtues--honour, courage, liberality, &c.--were +alone capable of producing poetical genius. Among the chief currents of +thought tending in this direction, which are lucidly set forth in +Goldziher's essay, pp. 148 sqq., we may note (_a_) the pietistic and +theological spirit fostered by the ‘Abbásid Government, and (_b_) the +influence of foreign, pre-eminently Persian, culture. As to the former, +it is manifest that devout Moslems would not be at all disposed to admit +the exclusive pretensions made on behalf of the _Jáhiliyya_ or to agree +with those who exalted chivalry (_muruwwa_) above religion (_dÃn_). Were +not the language and style of the Koran incomparably excellent? Surely +the Holy Book was a more proper subject for study than heathen verses. +But if Moslems began to call Pre-islamic ideals in question, it was +especially the Persian ascendancy resulting from the triumph of the +‘Abbásid House that shook the old arrogant belief of the Arabs in the +intellectual supremacy of their race. So far from glorying in the +traditions of paganism, many people thought it grossly insulting to +mention an ‘Abbásid Caliph in the same breath with heroes of the past +like Ḥátim of Ṭayyi’ and Harim b. Sinán. The philosopher al-Kindà +(†about 850 A.D.) rebuked a poet for venturing on such odious +comparisons. "Who are these Arabian vagabonds" (_á¹£a‘álÃku ’l-‘Arab_), +he asked, "and what worth have they?"[521] + +[Sidenote: Critics in favour of the modern school.] + +While Ibn Qutayba was content to urge that the modern poets should get a +fair hearing, and should be judged not chronologically or +philologically, but _æsthetically_, some of the greatest literary +critics who came after him do not conceal their opinion that the new +poetry is superior to the old. Tha‘álibà (†1038 A.D.) asserts that in +tenderness and elegance the Pre-islamic bards are surpassed by their +successors, and that both alike have been eclipsed by his +contemporaries. Ibn RashÃq (†_circa_ 1070 A.D.), whose _‘Umda_ on the +Art of Poetry is described by Ibn Khaldún as an epoch-making work, +thought that the superiority of the moderns would be acknowledged if +they discarded the obsolete conventions of the Ode. European readers +cannot but sympathise with him when he bids the poets draw inspiration +from nature and truth instead of relating imaginary journeys on a camel +which they never owned, through deserts which they never saw, to a +patron residing in the same city as themselves. This seems to us a very +reasonable and necessary protest, but it must be remembered that the +Bedouin _qaá¹£Ãda_ was not easily adaptable to the conditions of urban +life, and needed complete remoulding rather than modification in +detail.[522] + +[Sidenote: Popularity of the modern poets.] + +"In the fifth century," says Goldziher--_i.e._, from about 1000 +A.D.--"the dogma of the unattainable perfection of the heathen poets may +be regarded as utterly demolished." Henceforth popular taste ran +strongly in the other direction, as is shown by the immense +preponderance of modern pieces in the anthologies--a favourite and +characteristic branch of Arabic literature--which were compiled during +the ‘Abbásid period and afterwards, and by frequent complaints of the +neglect into which the ancient poetry had fallen. But although, for +Moslems generally, Imru’u ’l-Qays and his fellows came to be more or +less what Chaucer is to the average Englishman, the views first +enunciated by Ibn Qutayba met with bitter opposition from the learned +class, many of whom clung obstinately to the old philological principles +of criticism, and even declined to recognise the writings of Mutanabbà +and Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrà as poetry, on the ground that those authors +did not observe the classical 'types' (_asálÃb_).[523] The result of +such pedantry may be seen at the present day in thousands of +_qaá¹£Ãdas_, abounding in archaisms and allusions to forgotten far-off +things of merely antiquarian interest, but possessing no more claim to +consideration here than the Greek and Latin verses of British scholars +in a literary history of the Victorian Age. + + +[Sidenote: Characteristics of the new poetry.] + +Passing now to the characteristics of the new poetry which followed the +accession of the ‘Abbásids, we have to bear in mind that from first to +last (with very few exceptions) it flourished under the patronage of the +court. There was no organised book trade, no wealthy publishers, so that +poets were usually dependent for their livelihood on the capricious +bounty of the Caliphs and his favourites whom they belauded. Huge sums +were paid for a successful panegyric, and the bards vied with each other +in flattery of the most extravagant description. Even in writers of real +genius this prostitution of their art gave rise to a great deal of the +false glitter and empty bombast which are often erroneously attributed +to Oriental poetry as a whole.[524] These qualities, however, are +absolutely foreign to Arabian poetry of the best period. The old +Bedouins who praised a man only for that which was in him, and drew +their images directly from nature, stand at the opposite pole to +Tha‘álibÃ's contemporaries. Under the Umayyads, as we have seen, little +change took place. It is not until after the enthronement of the +‘Abbásids, when Persians filled the chief offices at court, and when a +goodly number of poets and eminent men of learning had Persian blood in +their veins, that an unmistakably new note makes itself heard. One might +be tempted to surmise that the high-flown, bombastic, and ornate style +of which Mutanabbà is the most illustrious exponent, and which is so +marked a feature in later Muḥammadan poetry, was first introduced by +the Persians and Perso-Arabs who gathered round the Caliph in Baghdád +and celebrated the triumph of their own race in the person of a noble +Barmecide; but this would scarcely be true. The style in question is not +specially Persian; the earliest Arabic-writing poets of Ãránian descent, +like Bashshár b. Burd and Abú Nuwás, are (so far as I can see) without a +trace of it. What the Persians brought into Arabian poetry was not a +grandiose style, but a lively and graceful fancy, elegance of diction, +depth and tenderness of feeling, and a rich store of ideas. + +The process of transformation was aided by other causes besides the +influx of Persian and Hellenistic culture: for example, by the growing +importance of Islam in public life and the diffusion of a strong +religious spirit among the community at large--a spirit which attained +its most perfect expression in the reflective and didactic poetry of Abu +’l-‘Atáhiya. Every change of many-coloured life is depicted in the +brilliant pages of these modern poets, where the reader may find, +according to his mood, the maddest gaiety and the shamefullest +frivolity; strains of lofty meditation mingled with a world-weary +pessimism; delicate sentiment, unforced pathos, and glowing rhetoric; +but seldom the manly self-reliance, the wild, invigorating freedom and +inimitable freshness of Bedouin song. + + +[Sidenote: Five typical poets of the ‘Abbásid period.] + +It is of course impossible to do justice even to the principal ‘Abbásid +poets within the limits of this chapter, but the following five may be +taken as fairly representative: Muá¹Ã‘ b. Iyás, Abú Nuwás, Abu +’l-‘Atáhiya, MutanabbÃ, and Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrÃ. The first three were +in close touch with the court of Baghdád, while Mutanabbà and Abu +’l-‘Alá flourished under the Ḥamdánid dynasty which ruled in Aleppo. + + +[Sidenote: Muá¹Ã‘ b. Iyás.] + +Muá¹Ã‘ b. Iyás only deserves notice here as the earliest poet of the +New School. His father was a native of Palestine, but he himself was +born and educated at Kúfa. He began his career under the Umayyads, and +was devoted to the Caliph WalÃd b. YazÃd, who found in him a fellow +after his own heart, "accomplished, dissolute, an agreeable companion +and excellent wit, reckless in his effrontery and suspected in his +religion."[525] When the ‘Abbásids came into power Muá¹Ã‘ attached +himself to the Caliph Manṣúr. Many stories are told of the debauched +life which he led in the company of _zindÃqs_, or freethinkers, a class +of men whose opinions we shall sketch in another chapter. His songs of +love and wine are distinguished by their lightness and elegance. The +best known is that in which he laments his separation from the daughter +of a _Dihqán_ (Persian landed proprietor), and invokes the two +palm-trees of Ḥulwán, a town situated on the borders of the Jibál +province between Hamadhán and Baghdád. From this poem arose the proverb, +"Faster friends than the two palm-trees of Ḥulwán."[526] + + + THE YEOMAN'S DAUGHTER. + + "O ye two palms, palms of Ḥulwán, + Help me weep Time's bitter dole! + Know that Time for ever parteth + Life from every living soul. + + Had ye tasted parting's anguish, + Ye would weep as I, forlorn. + Help me! Soon must ye asunder + By the same hard fate be torn. + + Many are the friends and loved ones + Whom I lost in days of yore. + Fare thee well, O yeoman's daughter!-- + Never grief like this I bore. + Her, alas, mine eyes behold not, + And on me she looks no more!" + +[Sidenote: Abú Nuwás (†_circa_ 810 A.D.).] + +By Europeans who know him only through the _Thousand and One Nights_ Abú +Nuwás is remembered as the boon-companion and court jester of "the good +Haroun Alraschid," and as the hero of countless droll adventures and +facetious anecdotes--an Oriental Howleglass or Joe Miller. It is often +forgotten that he was a great poet who, in the opinion of those most +competent to judge, takes rank above all his contemporaries and +successors, including even MutanabbÃ, and is not surpassed in poetical +genius by any ancient bard. + +Ḥasan b. Háni’ gained the familiar title of Abú Nuwás (Father of the +lock of hair) from two locks which hung down on his shoulders. He was +born of humble parents, about the middle of the eighth century, in +Aḥwáz, the capital of Khúzistán. That he was not a pure Arab the name +of his mother, Jallabán, clearly indicates, while the following verse +affords sufficient proof that he was not ashamed of his Persian blood:-- + + "Who are TamÃm and Qays and all their kin? + The Arabs in God's sight are nobody."[527] + +He received his education at Baá¹£ra, of which city he calls himself a +native,[528] and at Kúfa, where he studied poetry and philology under +the learned Khalaf al-Aḥmar. After passing a 'Wanderjahr' among the +Arabs of the desert, as was the custom of scholars at that time, he made +his way to Baghdád and soon eclipsed every competitor at the court of +Hárún the Orthodox. A man of the most abandoned character, which he took +no pains to conceal, Abú Nuwás, by his flagrant immorality, drunkenness, +and blasphemy, excited the Caliph's anger to such a pitch that he often +threatened the culprit with death, and actually imprisoned him on +several occasions; but these fits of severity were brief. The poet +survived both Hárún and his son, AmÃn, who succeeded him in the +Caliphate. Age brought repentance--"the Devil was sick, the Devil a monk +would be." He addressed the following lines from prison to Faá¸l b. +al-RabÑ, whom Hárún appointed Grand Vizier after the fall of the +Barmecides:-- + + "Faá¸l, who hast taught and trained me up to goodness + (And goodness is but habit), thee I praise. + Now hath vice fled and virtue me revisits, + And I have turned to chaste and pious ways. + To see me, thou would'st think the saintly Baá¹£rite, + Ḥasan, or else Qatáda, met thy gaze,[529] + So do I deck humility with leanness, + While yellow, locust-like, my cheek o'erlays. + Beads on my arm; and on my breast the Scripture, + Where hung a chain of gold in other days."[530] + +The DÃwán of Abú Nuwás contains poems in many different styles--_e.g._, +panegyric (_madÃḥ), satire (_hijá_), songs of the chase +(á¹ardiyyát_), elegies (_maráthÃ_), and religious poems (_zuhdiyyát_); +but love and wine were the two motives by which his genius was most +brilliantly inspired. His wine-songs (_khamriyyát_) are generally +acknowledged to be incomparable. Here is one of the shortest:-- + + "Thou scolder of the grape and me, + I ne'er shall win thy smile! + Because against thee I rebel, + 'Tis churlish to revile. + + Ah, breathe no more the name of wine + Until thou cease to blame, + For fear that thy foul tongue should smirch + Its fair and lovely name! + + Come, pour it out, ye gentle boys, + A vintage ten years old, + That seems as though 'twere in the cup + A lake of liquid gold. + + And when the water mingles there, + To fancy's eye are set + Pearls over shining pearls close strung + As in a carcanet."[531] + +Another poem begins-- + + "Ho! a cup, and fill it up, and tell me it is wine, + For I will never drink in shade if I can drink in shine! + Curst and poor is every hour that sober I must go, + But rich am I whene'er well drunk I stagger to and fro. + Speak, for shame, the loved one's name, let vain disguise alone: + No good there is in pleasures o'er which a veil is thrown."[532] + +Abú Nuwás practised what he preached, and hypocrisy at any rate cannot +be laid to his charge. The moral and religious sentiments which appear +in some of his poems are not mere cant, but should rather be regarded as +the utterance of sincere though transient emotion. Usually he felt and +avowed that pleasure was the supreme business of his life, and that +religious scruples could not be permitted to stand in the way. He even +urges others not to shrink from any excess, inasmuch as the Divine mercy +is greater than all the sins of which a man is capable:-- + + "Accumulate as many sins thou canst: + The Lord is ready to relax His ire. + When the day comes, forgiveness thou wilt find + Before a mighty King and gracious Sire, + And gnaw thy fingers, all that joy regretting + Which thou didst leave thro' terror of Hell-fire!"[533] + +We must now bid farewell to Abú Nuwás and the licentious poets +(_al-shu‘ará al-mujján_) who reflect so admirably the ideas and manners +prevailing in court circles and in the upper classes of society which +were chiefly influenced by the court. The scenes of luxurious +dissipation and refined debauchery which they describe show us, indeed, +that Persian culture was not an unalloyed blessing to the Arabs any more +than were the arts of Greece to the Romans; but this is only the darker +side of the picture. The works of a contemporary poet furnish evidence +of the indignation which the libertinism fashionable in high places +called forth among the mass of Moslems who had not lost faith in +morality and religion. + + +[Sidenote: Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya (748-828 A.D.).] + +Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya, unlike his great rival, came of Arab stock. He was bred +in Kúfa, and gained his livelihood as a young man by selling +earthenware. His poetical talent, however, promised so well that he set +out to present himself before the Caliph MahdÃ, who richly rewarded him; +and Hárún al-RashÃd afterwards bestowed on him a yearly pension of +50,000 dirhems (about £2,000), in addition to numerous +extraordinary gifts. At Baghdád he fell in love with ‘Utba, a slave-girl +belonging to MahdÃ, but she did not return his passion or take any +notice of the poems in which he celebrated her charms and bewailed the +sufferings that she made him endure. Despair of winning her affection +caused him, it is said, to assume the woollen garb of Muḥammadan +ascetics,[534] and henceforth, instead of writing vain and amatorious +verses, he devoted his powers exclusively to those joyless meditations +on mortality which have struck a deep chord in the hearts of his +countrymen. Like Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrà and others who neglected the +positive precepts of Islam in favour of a moral philosophy based on +experience and reflection, Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya was accused of being a +freethinker (_zindÃq_).[535] It was alleged that in his poems he often +spoke of death but never of the Resurrection and the Judgment--a calumny +which is refuted by many passages in his DÃwán. According to the +literary historian al-Ṣúlà (†946 A.D.), Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya believed in +One God who formed the universe out of two opposite elements which He +created from nothing; and held, further, that everything would be +reduced to these same elements before the final destruction of all +phenomena. Knowledge, he thought, was acquired naturally (_i.e._, +without Divine Revelation) by means of reflection, deduction, and +research.[536] He believed in the threatened retribution (_al-wa‘Ãd_) +and in the command to abstain from commerce with the world (_taḥrÃmu +’l-makásib_).[537] He professed the opinions of the Butrites,[538] a +subdivision of the Zaydites, as that sect of the ShÑa was named which +followed Zayd b. Alà b. Ḥusayn b. ‘Alà b. Abà Ṭálib. He spoke evil +of none, and did not approve of revolt against the Government. He held +the doctrine of predestination (_jabr_).[539] + +Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya may have secretly cherished the Manichæan views ascribed +to him in this passage, but his poems contain little or nothing that +could offend the most orthodox Moslem. The following verse, in which +Goldziher finds an allusion to Buddha,[540] is capable of a different +interpretation. It rather seems to me to exalt the man of ascetic life, +without particular reference to any individual, above all others:-- + + "If thou would'st see the noblest of mankind, + Behold a monarch in a beggar's garb."[541] + +But while the poet avoids positive heresy, it is none the less true that +much of his DÃwán is not strictly religious in the Muḥammadan sense and +may fairly be called 'philosophical.' This was enough to convict him of +infidelity and atheism in the eyes of devout theologians who looked +askance on moral teaching, however pure, that was not cast in the +dogmatic mould. The pretended cause of his imprisonment by Hárún +al-RashÃd--namely, that he refused to make any more love-songs--is +probably, as Goldziher has suggested, a popular version of the fact that +he persisted in writing religious poems which were supposed to have a +dangerous bias in the direction of free-thought. + +His poetry breathes a spirit of profound melancholy and hopeless +pessimism. Death and what comes after death, the frailty and misery of +man, the vanity of worldly pleasures and the duty of renouncing +them--these are the subjects on which he dwells with monotonous +reiteration, exhorting his readers to live the ascetic life and fear God +and lay up a store of good works against the Day of Reckoning. The +simplicity, ease, and naturalness of his style are justly admired. +Religious poetry, as he himself confesses, was not read at court or by +scholars who demanded rare and obscure expressions, but only by pious +folk, traditionists and divines, and especially by the vulgar, "who like +best what they can understand."[542] Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya wrote for 'the man +in the street.' Discarding conventional themes tricked out with +threadbare artifices, he appealed to common feelings and matters of +universal experience. He showed for the first and perhaps for the last +time in the history of classical Arabic literature that it was possible +to use perfectly plain and ordinary language without ceasing to be a +poet. + +Although, as has been said, the bulk of Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya's poetry is +philosophical in character, there remains much specifically Islamic +doctrine, in particular as regards the Resurrection and the Future Life. +This combination may be illustrated by the following ode, which is +considered one of the best that have been written on the subject of +religion, or, more accurately, of asceticism (_zuhd_):-- + + "Get sons for death, build houses for decay! + All, all, ye wend annihilation's way. + For whom build we, who must ourselves return + Into our native element of clay? + O Death, nor violence nor flattery thou + Dost use, but when thou com'st, escape none may. + Methinks, thou art ready to surprise mine age, + As age surprised and made my youth his prey. + What ails me, World, that every place perforce + I lodge thee in, it galleth me to stay? + And, O Time, how do I behold thee run + To spoil me? Thine own gift thou tak'st away! + O Time! inconstant, mutable art thou, + And o'er the realm of ruin is thy sway. + What ails me that no glad result it brings + Whene'er, O World, to milk thee I essay? + And when I court thee, why dost thou raise up + On all sides only trouble and dismay? + Men seek thee every wise, but thou art like + A dream; the shadow of a cloud; the day + Which hath but now departed, nevermore + To dawn again; a glittering vapour gay. + This people thou hast paid in full: their feet + Are on the stirrup--let them not delay! + But those that do good works and labour well + Hereafter shall receive the promised pay. + As if no punishment I had to fear, + A load of sin upon my neck I lay; + And while the world I love, from Truth, alas, + Still my besotted senses go astray. + I shall be asked of all my business here: + What can I plead then? What can I gainsay? + What argument allege, when I am called + To render an account on Reckoning-Day? + Dooms twain in that dread hour shall be revealed, + When I the scroll of these mine acts survey: + Either to dwell in everlasting bliss, + Or suffer torments of the damned for aye!"[543] + +I will now add a few verses culled from the DÃwán which bring the poet's +pessimistic view of life into clearer outline, and also some examples of +those moral precepts and sententious criticisms which crowd his pages +and have contributed in no small degree to his popularity. + + "The world is like a viper soft to touch that venom spits."[544] + + "Men sit like revellers o'er their cups and drink, + From the world's hand, the circling wine of death."[545] + + "Call no man living blest for aught you see + But that for which you blessed call the dead."[546] + + + FALSE FRIENDS. + + "'Tis not the Age that moves my scorn, + But those who in the Age are born. + I cannot count the friends that broke + Their faith, tho' honied words they spoke; + In whom no aid I found, and made + The Devil welcome to their aid. + May I--so best we shall agree-- + Ne'er look on them nor they on me!"[547] + + + "If men should see a prophet begging, they would turn and scout him. + Thy friend is ever thine as long as thou canst do without him; + But he will spew thee forth, if in thy need thou come about him."[548] + + + THE WICKED WORLD. + + "'Tis only on the culprit sin recoils, + The ignorant fool against himself is armed. + Humanity are sunk in wickedness; + The best is he that leaveth us unharmed."[549] + + + "'Twas my despair of Man that gave me hope + God's grace would find me soon, I know not how."[550] + + + LIFE AND DEATH. + + "Man's life is his fair name, and not his length of years; + Man's death is his ill-fame, and not the day that nears. + Then life to thy fair name by deeds of goodness give: + So in this world two lives, O mortal, thou shalt live."[551] + + + MAXIMS AND RULES OF LIFE. + + "Mere falsehood by its face is recognised, + But Truth by parables and admonitions."[552] + + + "I keep the bond of love inviolate + Towards all humankind, for I betray + Myself, if I am false to any man."[553] + + + "Far from the safe path, hop'st thou to be saved? + Ships make no speedy voyage on dry land."[554] + + + "Strip off the world from thee and naked live, + For naked thou didst fall into the world."[555] + + + "Man guards his own and grasps his neighbours' pelf, + And he is angered when they him prevent; + But he that makes the earth his couch will sleep + No worse, if lacking silk he have content."[556] + + + "Men vaunt their noble blood, but I behold + No lineage that can vie with righteous deeds."[557] + + + "If knowledge lies in long experience, + Less than what I have borne suffices me."[558] + + + "Faith is the medicine of every grief, + Doubt only raises up a host of cares."[559] + + + "Blame me or no, 'tis my predestined state: + If I have erred, infallible is Fate."[560] + +Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya found little favour with his contemporaries, who seem to +have regarded him as a miserly hypocrite. He died, an aged man, in the +Caliphate of Ma’mún.[561] Von Kremer thinks that he had a truer genius +for poetry than Abú Nuwás, an opinion in which I am unable to concur. +Both, however, as he points out, are distinctive types of their time. If +Abú Nuwás presents an appalling picture of a corrupt and frivolous +society devoted to pleasure, we learn from Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya something of +the religious feelings and beliefs which pervaded the middle and lower +classes, and which led them to take a more earnest and elevated view of +life. + + +With the rapid decline and disintegration of the ‘Abbásid Empire which +set in towards the middle of the ninth century, numerous petty dynasties +arose, and the hitherto unrivalled splendour of Baghdád was challenged +by more than one provincial court. These independent or semi-independent +princes were sometimes zealous patrons of learning--it is well known, +for example, that a national Persian literature first came into being +under the auspices of the Sámánids in Khurásán and the Buwayhids in +‘Iráq--but as a rule the anxious task of maintaining, or the ambition of +extending, their power left them small leisure to cultivate letters, +even if they wished to do so. None combined the arts of war and peace +more brilliantly than the Ḥamdánid Sayfu ’l-Dawla, who in 944 A.D. made +himself master of Aleppo, and founded an independent kingdom in Northern +Syria. + + [Sidenote: Tha‘álibÃ's eulogy of Sayfu ’l-Dawla.] + + "The Ḥamdánids," says Tha‘álibÃ, "were kings and princes, comely of + countenance and eloquent of tongue, endowed with open-handedness and + gravity of mind. Sayfu ’l-Dawla is famed as the chief amongst them + all and the centre-pearl of their necklace. He was--may God be + pleased with him and grant his desires and make Paradise his + abode!--the brightest star of his age and the pillar of Islam: by + him the frontiers were guarded and the State well governed. His + attacks on the rebellious Arabs checked their fury and blunted their + teeth and tamed their stubbornness and secured his subjects against + their barbarity. His campaigns exacted vengeance from the Emperor of + the Greeks, decisively broke their hostile onset, and had an + excellent effect on Islam. His court was the goal of ambassadors, + the dayspring of liberality, the horizon-point of hope, the end of + journeys, a place where savants assembled and poets competed for the + palm. It is said that after the Caliphs no prince gathered around + him so many masters of poetry and men illustrious in literature as + he did; and to a monarch's hall, as to a market, people bring only + what is in demand. He was an accomplished scholar, a poet himself + and a lover of fine poetry; keenly susceptible to words of + praise."[562] + +Sayfu ’l-Dawla's cousin, Abú Firás al-ḤamdánÃ, was a gallant soldier +and a poet of some mark, who if space permitted would receive fuller +notice here.[563] He, however, though superior to the common herd of +court poets, is overshadowed by one who with all his faults--and they +are not inconsiderable--made an extraordinary impression upon his +contemporaries, and by the commanding influence of his reputation +decided what should henceforth be the standard of poetical taste in the +Muḥammadan world. + +[Sidenote: Mutanabbà (915-965 A.D.).] + +Abu ’l-Ṭayyib Ahmad b. Ḥusayn, known to fame as al-MutanabbÃ, was +born and bred at Kúfa, where his father is said to have been a +water-carrier. Following the admirable custom by which young men of +promise were sent abroad to complete their education, he studied at +Damascus and visited other towns in Syria, but also passed much of his +time among the Bedouins, to whom he owed the singular knowledge and +mastery of Arabic displayed in his poems. Here he came forward as a +prophet (from which circumstance he was afterwards entitled +al-MutanabbÃ, _i.e._, 'the pretender to prophecy'), and induced a great +multitude to believe in him; but ere long he was captured by Lu’lu’, the +governor of Ḥims (Emessa), and thrown into prison. After his release +he wandered to and fro chanting the praises of all and sundry, until +fortune guided him to the court of Sayfu ’l-Dawla at Aleppo. For nine +years (948-957 A.D.) he stood high in the favour of that cultured +prince, whose virtues he celebrated in a series of splendid eulogies, +and with whom he lived as an intimate friend and comrade in arms. The +liberality of Sayfu ’l-Dawla and the ingenious impudence of the poet are +well brought out by the following anecdote:-- + + Mutanabbà on one occasion handed to his patron the copy of an ode + which he had recently composed in his honour, and retired, leaving + Sayfu ’l-Dawla to peruse it at leisure. The prince began to read, + and came to these lines-- + + _Aqil anil aqá¹i‘ iḥmil ‘alli salli a‘id + zid hashshi bashshi tafaá¸á¸al adni surra á¹£ili._[564] + + "_Pardon, bestow, endow, mount, raise, console, restore, + Add, laugh, rejoice, bring nigh, show favour, gladden, give!_" + + Far from being displeased by the poet's arrogance, Sayfu ’l-Dawla + was so charmed with his artful collocation of fourteen imperatives + in a single verse that he granted every request. Under _pardon_ he + wrote 'we pardon thee'; under _bestow_, 'let him receive such and + such a sum of money'; under _endow_, 'we endow thee with an estate,' + which he named (it was beside the gate of Aleppo); under _mount_, + 'let such and such a horse be led to him'; under _raise_, 'we do + so'; under _console_, 'we do so, be at ease'; under _restore_, 'we + restore thee to thy former place in our esteem'; under _add_, 'let + him have such and such in addition'; under _bring nigh_, 'we admit + thee to our intimacy'; under _show favour_, 'we have done so'; under + _gladden_, 'we have made thee glad'[565]; under _give_, 'this we + have already done.' MutanabbÃ's rivals envied his good fortune, and + one of them said to Sayfu ’l-Dawla--"Sire, you have done all that + he asked, but when he uttered the words _laugh_, _rejoice_, why did + not you answer, 'Ha, ha, ha'?" Sayfu ’l-Dawla laughed, and said, + "You too, shall have your wish," and ordered him a donation. + +Mutanabbà was sincerely attached to his generous master, and this +feeling inspired a purer and loftier strain than we find in the fulsome +panegyrics which he afterwards addressed to the negro Káfúr. He seems to +have been occasionally in disgrace, but Sayfu ’l-Dawla could deny +nothing to a poet who paid him such magnificent compliments. Nor was he +deterred by any false modesty from praising himself: he was fully +conscious of his power and, like Arabian bards in general, he bragged +about it. Although the verbal legerdemain which is so conspicuous in his +poetry cannot be reproduced in another language, the lines translated +below may be taken as a favourable and sufficiently characteristic +specimen of his style. + + "How glows mine heart for him whose heart to me is cold, + Who liketh ill my case and me in fault doth hold! + Why should I hide a love that hath worn thin my frame? + To Sayfu ’l-Dawla all the world avows the same. + Tho' love of his high star unites us, would that we + According to our love might so divide the fee! + Him have I visited when sword in sheath was laid, + And I have seen him when in blood swam every blade: + Him, both in peace and war the best of all mankind, + Whose crown of excellence was still his noble mind. + + Do foes by flight escape thine onset, thou dost gain + A chequered victory, half of pleasure, half of pain. + So puissant is the fear thou strik'st them with, it stands + Instead of thee, and works more than thy warriors' hands. + Unfought the field is thine: thou need'st not further strain + To chase them from their holes in mountain or in plain. + What! 'fore thy fierce attack whene'er an army reels, + Must thy ambitious soul press hot upon their heels? + Thy task it is to rout them on the battle-ground; + No shame to thee if they in flight have safety found. + Or thinkest thou perchance that victory is sweet + Only when scimitars and necks each other greet? + + O justest of the just save in thy deeds to me! + _Thou_ art accused and thou, O Sire, must judge the plea. + Look, I implore thee, well! Let not thine eye cajoled + See fat in empty froth, in all that glisters gold![566] + What use and profit reaps a mortal of his sight, + If darkness unto him be indistinct from light? + + My deep poetic art the blind have eyes to see, + My verses ring in ears as deaf as deaf can be. + They wander far abroad while I am unaware, + But men collect them watchfully with toil and care. + Oft hath my laughing mien prolonged the insulter's sport, + Until with claw and mouth I cut his rudeness short. + Ah, when the lion bares his teeth, suspect his guile, + Nor fancy that the lion shows to you a smile. + I have slain the man that sought my heart's blood many a time, + Riding a noble mare whose back none else may climb, + Whose hind and fore-legs seem in galloping as one; + Nor hand nor foot requireth she to urge her on. + And O the days when I have swung my fine-edged glaive + Amidst a sea of death where wave was dashed on wave! + The desert knows me well, the night, the mounted men, + The battle and the sword, the paper and the pen!"[567] + +Finally an estrangement arose between Mutanabbà and Sayfu ’l-Dawla, in +consequence of which he fled to Egypt and attached himself to the +IkhshÃdite Káfúr. Disappointed in his new patron, a negro who had +formerly been a slave, the poet set off for Baghdád, and afterwards +visited the court of the Buwayhid ‘Aá¸udu ’l-Dawla at ShÃráz. While +travelling through Babylonia he was attacked and slain by brigands in +965 A.D. + +The popularity of Mutanabbà is shown by the numerous commentaries[568] +and critical treatises on his _DÃwán_. By his countrymen he is generally +regarded as one of the greatest of Arabian poets, while not a few would +maintain that he ranks absolutely first. Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrÃ, himself +an illustrious poet and man of letters, confessed that he had sometimes +wished to alter a word here and there in MutanabbÃ's verses, but had +never been able to think of any improvement. "As to his poetry," says +Ibn Khallikán, "it is perfection." European scholars, with the exception +of Von Hammer,[569] have been far from sharing this enthusiasm, as may +be seen by referring to what has been said on the subject by +Reiske,[570] De Sacy,[571] Bohlen,[572] Brockelmann,[573] and others. No +doubt, according to our canons of taste, Mutanabbà stands immeasurably +below the famous Pre-islamic bards, and in a later age must yield the +palm to Abú Nuwás and Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya. Lovers of poetry, as the term is +understood in Europe, cannot derive much æsthetic pleasure from his +writings, but, on the contrary, will be disgusted by the beauties hardly +less than by the faults which Arabian critics attribute to him. +Admitting, however, that only a born Oriental is able to appreciate +Mutanabbà at his full worth, let us try to realise the Oriental point of +view and put aside, as far as possible, our preconceptions of what +constitutes good poetry and good taste. Fortunately we possess abundant +materials for such an attempt in the invaluable work of Tha‘álibÃ, which +has been already mentioned.[574] Tha‘álibà (961-1038 A.D.) was nearly +contemporary with MutanabbÃ. He began to write his _YatÃma_ about thirty +years after the poet's death, and while he bears witness to the +unrivalled popularity of the _DÃwán_ amongst all classes of society, he +observes that it was sharply criticised as well as rapturously admired. +Tha‘álibà himself claims to hold the balance even. "Now," he says, "I +will mention the faults and blemishes which critics have found in the +poetry of MutanabbÃ; for is there any one whose qualities give entire +satisfaction?-- + + _Kafa ’l-mar’a faá¸lan an tu‘adda ma‘áyibuh._ + + 'Tis the height of merit in a man that his faults can be numbered. + +Then I will proceed to speak of his beauties and to set forth in due +order the original and incomparable characteristics of his style. + + The radiant stars with beauty strike our eyes + Because midst gloom opaque we see them rise." + +It was deemed of capital importance that the opening couplet +(_maá¹la‘_) of a poem should be perfect in form and meaning, and that +it should not contain anything likely to offend. Tha‘álibà brings +forward many instances in which Mutanabbà has violated this rule by +using words of bad omen, such as 'sickness' or 'death,' or technical +terms of music and arithmetic which only perplex and irritate the hearer +instead of winning his sympathy at the outset. He complains also that +MutanabbÃ's finest thoughts and images are too often followed by low and +trivial ones: "he strings pearls and bricks together" (_jama‘a bayna +’l-durrati wa-’l-ájurrati_). "While he moulds the most splendid +ornament, and threads the loveliest necklace, and weaves the most +exquisite stuff of mingled hues, and paces superbly in a garden of +roses, suddenly he will throw in a verse or two verses disfigured by +far-fetched metaphors, or by obscure language and confused thought, or +by extravagant affectation and excessive profundity, or by unbounded and +absurd exaggeration, or by vulgar and commonplace diction, or by +pedantry and grotesqueness resulting from the use of unfamiliar words." +We need not follow Tha‘álibà in his illustration of these and other +weaknesses with which he justly reproaches MutanabbÃ, since we shall be +able to form a better idea of the prevailing taste from those points +which he singles out for special praise. + +In the first place he calls attention to the poet's skill in handling +the customary erotic prelude (_nasÃb_), and particularly to his +brilliant descriptions of Bedouin women, which were celebrated all over +the East. As an example of this kind he quotes the following piece, +which "is chanted in the salons on account of the extreme beauty of its +diction, the choiceness of its sentiment, and the perfection of its +art":-- + + "Shame hitherto was wont my tears to stay, + But now by shame they will no more be stayed, + So that each bone seems through its skin to sob, + And every vein to swell the sad cascade. + She uncovered: pallor veiled her at farewell: + No veil 'twas, yet her cheeks it cast in shade. + So seemed they, while tears trickled over them, + Gold with a double row of pearls inlaid. + She loosed three sable tresses of her hair, + And thus of night four nights at once she made; + But when she lifted to the moon in heaven + Her face, two moons together I surveyed."[575] + +The critic then enumerates various beautiful and original features of +MutanabbÃ's style, _e.g._-- + +1. His consecutive arrangement of similes in brief symmetrical clauses, +thus:-- + + "She shone forth like a moon, and swayed like a moringa-bough, + And shed fragrance like ambergris, and gazed like a gazelle." + +2. The novelty of his comparisons and images, as when he indicates the +rapidity with which he returned to his patron and the shortness of his +absence in these lines:-- + + "I was merely an arrow in the air, + Which falls back, finding no refuge there." + +3. The _laus duplex_ or 'two-sided panegyric' (_al-madḥ, al-muwajjah_), which may be compared to a garment +having two surfaces of different colours but of equal beauty, as in the +following verse addressed to Sayfu ’l-Dawla:-- + + "Were all the lives thou hast ta'en possessed by thee, + Immortal thou and blest the world would be!" + +Here Sayfu ’l-Dawla is doubly eulogised by the mention of his triumphs +over his enemies as well as of the joy which all his friends felt in the +continuance of his life and fortune. + +4. His manner of extolling his royal patron as though he were speaking +to a friend and comrade, whereby he raises himself from the position of +an ordinary encomiast to the same level with kings. + +5. His division of ideas into parallel sentences:-- + + "We were in gladness, the Greeks in fear, + The land in bustle, the sea in confusion." + +From this summary of Tha‘álibÃ's criticism the reader will easily +perceive that the chief merits of poetry were then considered to lie in +elegant expression, subtle combination of words, fanciful imagery, witty +conceits, and a striking use of rhetorical figures. Such, indeed, are +the views which prevail to this day throughout the whole Muḥammadan +world, and it is unreasonable to denounce them as false simply because +they do not square with ours. Who shall decide when nations disagree? If +Englishmen rightly claim to be the best judges of Shakespeare, and +Italians of Dante, the almost unanimous verdict of MutanabbÃ's +countrymen is surely not less authoritative--a verdict which places him +at the head of all the poets born or made in Islam. And although the +peculiar excellences indicated by Tha‘álibà do not appeal to us, there +are few poets that leave so distinct an impression of greatness. One +might call Mutanabbà the Victor Hugo of the East, for he has the grand +style whether he soars to sublimity or sinks to fustian. In the +masculine vigour of his verse, in the sweep and splendour of his +rhetoric, in the luxuriance and reckless audacity of his imagination we +recognise qualities which inspired the oft-quoted lines of the +elegist:-- + + "Him did his mighty soul supply + With regal pomp and majesty. + A Prophet by his _diction_ known; + But in the _ideas_, all must own, + His miracles were clearly shown."[576] + +One feature of MutanabbÃ's poetry that is praised by Tha‘álibà should +not be left unnoticed, namely, his fondness for sententious moralising +on topics connected with human life; wherefore Reiske has compared him +to Euripides. He is allowed to be a master of that proverbial philosophy +in which Orientals delight and which is characteristic of the modern +school beginning with Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya, though some of the ancients had +already cultivated it with success (cf. the verses of Zuhayr, p. 118 +_supra_). The following examples are among those cited by Bohlen (_op. +cit._, p. 86 sqq.):-- + + "When an old man cries 'Ugh!' he is not tired + Of life, but only tired of feebleness."[577] + + + "He that hath been familiar with the world + A long while, in his eye 'tis turned about + Until he sees how false what looked so fair."[578] + + + "The sage's mind still makes him miserable + In his most happy fortune, but poor fools + Find happiness even in their misery."[579] + +[Sidenote: Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrà (973-1057 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: His visit to Baghdád.] + +The sceptical and pessimistic tendencies of an age of social decay and +political anarchy are unmistakably revealed in the writings of the poet, +philosopher, and man of letters, Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrÃ, who was born in +973 A.D. at Ma‘arratu ’l-Nu‘mán, a Syrian town situated about twenty +miles south of Aleppo on the caravan road to Damascus. While yet a child +he had an attack of small-pox, resulting in partial and eventually in +complete blindness, but this calamity, fatal as it might seem to +literary ambition, was repaired if not entirely made good by his +stupendous powers of memory. After being educated at home under the eye +of his father, a man of some culture and a meritorious poet, he +proceeded to Aleppo, which was still a flourishing centre of the +humanities, though it could no longer boast such a brilliant array of +poets and scholars as were attracted thither in the palmy days of Sayfu +’l-Dawla. Probably Abu ’l-‘Alá did not enter upon the career of a +professional encomiast, to which he seems at first to have inclined: he +declares in the preface to his _Saqá¹u ’l-Zand_ that he never eulogised +any one with the hope of gaining a reward, but only for the sake of +practising his skill. On the termination of his 'Wanderjahre' he +returned in 993 A.D. to Ma‘arra, where he spent the next fifteen years +of his life, with no income beyond a small pension of thirty dÃnárs +(which he shared with a servant), lecturing on Arabic poetry, +antiquities, and philology, the subjects to which his youthful studies +had been chiefly devoted. During this period his reputation was steadily +increasing, and at last, to adapt what Boswell wrote of Dr. Johnson on a +similar occasion, "he thought of trying his fortune in Baghdád, the +great field of genius and exertion, where talents of every kind had the +fullest scope and the highest encouragement." Professor Margoliouth in +the Introduction to his edition of Abu ’l-‘Alá's correspondence supplies +many interesting particulars of the literary society at Baghdád in which +the poet moved. "As in ancient Rome, so in the great Muḥammadan cities +public recitation was the mode whereby men of letters made their talents +known to their contemporaries. From very early times it had been +customary to employ the mosques for this purpose; and in Abu ’l-‘Alá's +time poems were recited in the mosque of al-Manṣúr in Baghdád. Better +accommodation was, however, provided by the Mæcenates who took a pride +in collecting savants and _littérateurs_ in their houses."[580] Such a +Mæcenas was the SharÃf al-Raá¸Ã, himself a celebrated poet, who founded +the Academy called by his name in imitation, probably, of that founded +some years before by Abú Nasr Sábúr b. ArdashÃr, Vizier to the Buwayhid +prince, Bahá’u ’l-Dawla. Here Abu ’l-‘Alá met a number of distinguished +writers and scholars who welcomed him as one of themselves. The capital +of Islam, thronged with travellers and merchants from all parts of the +East, harbouring followers of every creed and sect--Christians and Jews, +Buddhists and Zoroastrians, Ṣábians and ṢúfÃs, Materialists and +Rationalists--must have seemed to the provincial almost like a new +world. It is certain that Abu ’l-‘Alá, a curious observer who set no +bounds to his thirst for knowledge, would make the best use of such an +opportunity. The religious and philosophical ideas with which he was now +first thrown into contact gradually took root and ripened. His stay in +Baghdád, though it lasted only a year and a half (1009-1010 A.D.), +decided the whole bent of his mind for the future. + +Whether his return to Ma‘arra was hastened, as he says, by want of means +and the illness of his mother, whom he tenderly loved, or by an +indignity which he suffered at the hands of an influential patron,[581] +immediately on his arrival he shut himself in his house, adopted a +vegetarian diet and other ascetic practices, and passed the rest of his +long life in comparative seclusion:-- + + "Methinks, I am thrice imprisoned--ask not me + Of news that need no telling-- + By loss of sight, confinement to my house, + And this vile body for my spirit's dwelling."[582] + +We can only conjecture the motives which brought about this sudden +change of habits and disposition. No doubt his mother's death affected +him deeply, and he may have been disappointed by his failure to obtain a +permanent footing in the capital. It is not surprising that the blind +and lonely man, looking back on his faded youth, should have felt weary +of the world and its ways, and found in melancholy contemplation of +earthly vanities ever fresh matter for the application and development +of these philosophical ideas which, as we have seen, were probably +suggested to him by his recent experiences. While in the collection of +early poems, entitled _Saqá¹u ’l-Zand_ or 'The Spark of the Fire-stick' +and mainly composed before his visit to Baghdád, he still treads the +customary path of his predecessors,[583] his poems written after that +time and generally known as the _Luzúmiyyát_[584] arrest attention by +their boldness and originality as well as by the sombre and earnest tone +which pervades them. This, indeed, is not the view of most Oriental +critics, who dislike the poet's irreverence and fail to appreciate the +fact that he stood considerably in advance of his age; but in Europe he +has received full justice and perhaps higher praise than he deserves. +Reiske describes him as 'Arabice callentissimum, vasti, subtilis, +sublimis et audacis ingenii';[585] Von Hammer, who ranks him as a poet +with Abú Tammám, BuḥturÃ, and MutanabbÃ, also mentions him honourably as +a philosopher;[586] and finally Von Kremer, who made an exhaustive study +of the _Luzúmiyyát_ and examined their contents in a masterly +essay,[587] discovered in Abu ’l-‘Alá, one of the greatest moralists of +all time whose profound genius anticipated much that is commonly +attributed to the so-called modern spirit of enlightenment. Here Von +Kremer's enthusiasm may have carried him too far; for the poet, as +Professor Margoliouth says, was unconscious of the value of his +suggestions, unable to follow them out, and unable to adhere to them +consistently. Although he builded better than he knew, the constructive +side of his philosophy was overshadowed by the negative and destructive +side, so that his pure and lofty morality leaves but a faint impression +which soon dies away in louder, continually recurring voices of doubt +and despair. + +Abu ’l-‘Alá is a firm monotheist, but his belief in God amounted, as it +would seem, to little beyond a conviction that all things are governed +by inexorable Fate, whose mysteries none may fathom and from whose +omnipotence there is no escape. He denies the Resurrection of the dead, +_e.g._:-- + + "We laugh, but inept is our laughter; + We should weep and weep sore, + Who are shattered like glass, and thereafter + Re-moulded no more!"[588] + +Since Death is the ultimate goal of mankind, the sage will pray to be +delivered as speedily as possible from the miseries of life and refuse +to inflict upon others what, by no fault of his own, he is doomed to +suffer:-- + + "Amends are richly due from sire to son: + What if thy children rule o'er cities great? + That eminence estranges them the more + From thee, and causes them to wax in hate, + Beholding one who cast them into Life's + Dark labyrinth whence no wit can extricate."[589] + +There are many passages to the same effect, showing that Abu ’l-‘Alá +regarded procreation as a sin and universal annihilation as the best +hope for humanity. He acted in accordance with his opinions, for he +never married, and he is said to have desired that the following verse +should be inscribed on his grave:-- + + "This wrong was by my father done + To me, but ne'er by me to one."[590] + +Hating the present life and weary of its burdens, yet seeing no happier +prospect than that of return to non-existence, Abu ’l-‘Alá can scarcely +have disguised from himself what he might shrink openly to avow--that he +was at heart, not indeed an atheist, but wholly incredulous of any +Divine revelation. Religion, as he conceives it, is a product of the +human mind, in which men believe through force of habit and education, +never stopping to consider whether it is true. + + "Sometimes you may find a man skilful in his trade, perfect in + sagacity and in the use of arguments, but when he comes to religion + he is found obstinate, so does he follow the old groove. Piety is + implanted in human nature; it is deemed a sure refuge. To the + growing child that which falls from his elders' lips is a lesson + that abides with him all his life. Monks in their cloisters and + devotees in the mosques accept their creed just as a story is handed + down from him who tells it, without distinguishing between a true + interpreter and a false. If one of these had found his kin among the + Magians, he would have declared himself a Magian, or among the + Ṣábians, he would have become nearly or quite like _them_."[591] + +Religion, then, is "a fable invented by the ancients," worthless except +to those unscrupulous persons who prey upon human folly and +superstition. Islam is neither better nor worse than any other creed:-- + + "ḤanÃfs are stumbling,[592] Christians all astray, + Jews wildered, Magians far on error's way. + We mortals are composed of two great schools-- + Enlightened knaves or else religious fools."[593] + +Not only does the poet emphatically reject the proud claim of Islam to +possess a monopoly of truth, but he attacks most of its dogmas in +detail. As to the Koran, Abu ’l-‘Alá could not altogether refrain from +doubting if it was really the Word of God, but he thought so well of the +style that he accepted the challenge flung down by Muḥammad and +produced a rival work (_al-Fuṣúl wa-’l-Gháyát_), which appears to +have been a somewhat frivolous parody of the sacred volume, though in +the author's judgment its inferiority was simply due to the fact that it +was not yet polished by the tongues of four centuries of readers. +Another work which must have sorely offended orthodox Muḥammadans is +the _Risálatu ’l-Ghufrán_ (Epistle of Forgiveness).[594] Here the +Paradise of the Faithful becomes a glorified salon tenanted by various +heathen poets who have been forgiven--hence the title--and received +among the Blest. This idea is carried out with much ingenuity and in a +spirit of audacious burlesque that reminds us of Lucian. The poets are +presented in a series of imaginary conversations with a certain Shaykh +‘Alà b. Manṣúr, to whom the work is addressed, reciting and +explaining their verses, quarrelling with one another, and generally +behaving as literary Bohemians. The second part contains a number of +anecdotes relating to the _zindÃqs_ or freethinkers of Islam +interspersed with quotations from their poetry and reflections on the +nature of their belief, which Abu ’l-‘Alá condemns while expressing a +pious hope that they are not so black as they paint themselves. At this +time it may have suited him--he was over sixty--to assume the attitude +of charitable orthodoxy. Like so many wise men of the East, he practised +dissimulation as a fine art-- + + "I lift my voice to utter lies absurd, + But when I speak the truth, my hushed tones scarce are heard."[595] + +In the _Luzúmiyyát_, however, he often unmasks. Thus he describes as +idolatrous relics the two Pillars of the Ka‘ba and the Black Stone, +venerated by every Moslem, and calls the Pilgrimage itself 'a heathen's +journey' (_riḥlatu jáhiliyyin_). The following sentiments do him +honour, but they would have been rank heresy at Mecca:-- + + "Praise God and pray, + Walk seventy times, not seven, the Temple round-- + And impious remain! + Devout is he alone who, when he may + Feast his desires, is found + With courage to abstain."[596] + +It is needless to give further instances of the poet's contempt for the +Muḥammadan articles of faith. Considering that he assailed persons as +well as principles, and lashed with bitter invective the powerful class +of the _‘Ulamá_, the clerical and legal representatives of Islam, we may +wonder that the accusation of heresy brought against him was never +pushed home and had no serious consequences. The question was warmly +argued on both sides, and though Abu ’l-‘Alá was pronounced by the +majority to be a freethinker and materialist, he did not lack defenders +who quoted chapter and verse to prove that he was nothing of the kind. +It must be remembered that his works contain no philosophical system; +that his opinions have to be gathered from the ideas which he scatters +incoherently, and for the most part in guarded language, through a long +succession of rhymes; and that this task, already arduous enough, is +complicated by the not infrequent occurrence of sentiments which are +blamelessly orthodox and entirely contradictory to the rest. A brilliant +writer, familiar with Eastern ways of thinking, has observed that in +general the conscience of an Asiatic is composed of the following +ingredients: (1) an almost bare religious designation; (2) a more or +less lively belief in certain doctrines of the creed which he professes; +(3) a resolute opposition to many of its doctrines, even if they should +be the most essential; (4) a fund of ideas relating to completely alien +theories, which occupies more or less room; (5) a constant tendency to +get rid of these ideas and theories and to replace the old by new.[597] +Such phenomena will account for a great deal of logical inconsistency, +but we should beware of invoking them too confidently in this case. Abu +’l-‘Alá with his keen intellect and unfanatical temperament was not the +man to let himself be mystified. Still lamer is the explanation offered +by some Muḥammadan critics, that his thoughts were decided by the +necessities of the difficult metre in which he wrote. It is conceivable +that he may sometimes have doubted his own doubts and given Islam the +benefit, but Von Kremer's conclusion is probably near the truth, namely, +that where the poet speaks as a good Moslem, his phrases if they are not +purely conventional are introduced of set purpose to foil his pious +antagonists or to throw them off the scent. Although he was not without +religion in the larger sense of the word, unprejudiced students of the +later poems must recognise that from the orthodox standpoint he was +justly branded as an infidel. The following translations will serve to +illustrate the negative side of his philosophy:-- + + "Falsehood hath so corrupted all the world + That wrangling sects each other's gospel chide; + But were not hate Man's natural element, + Churches and mosques had risen side by side."[598] + + + "What is Religion? A maid kept close that no eye may view her; + The price of her wedding-gifts and dowry baffles the wooer. + Of all the goodly doctrine that I from the pulpit heard + My heart has never accepted so much as a single word!"[599] + + + "The pillars of this earth are four, + Which lend to human life a base; + God shaped two vessels, Time and Space, + The world and all its folk to store. + + "That which Time holds, in ignorance + It holds--why vent on it our spite? + Man is no cave-bound eremite, + But still an eager spy on Chance. + + "He trembles to be laid asleep, + Tho' worn and old and weary grown. + We laugh and weep by Fate alone, + Time moves us not to laugh or weep; + + "Yet we accuse it innocent, + Which, could it speak, might us accuse, + Our best and worst, at will to choose, + United in a sinful bent."[600] + + "'The stars' conjunction comes, divinely sent, + And lo, the veil o'er every creed is rent. + No realm is founded that escapes decay, + The firmest structure soon dissolves away.[601] + With sadness deep a thoughtful mind must scan + Religion made to serve the pelf of Man. + Fear thine own children: sparks at random flung + Consume the very tinder whence they sprung. + Evil are all men; I distinguish not + That part or this: the race entire I blot. + Trust none, however near akin, tho' he + A perfect sense of honour show to thee, + Thy self is the worst foe to be withstood: + Be on thy guard in hours of solitude." + + * * * * * + + "Desire a venerable shaykh to cite + Reason for his doctrine, he is gravelled quite. + What! shall I ripen ere a leaf is seen? + The tree bears only when 'tis clad in green."[602] + + + "How have I provoked your enmity? + Christ or Muḥammad, 'tis one to me. + No rays of dawn our path illume, + We are sunk together in ceaseless gloom. + Can blind perceptions lead aright, + Or blear eyes ever have clear sight? + Well may a body racked with pain + Envy mouldering bones in vain; + Yet comes a day when the weary sword + Reposes, to its sheath restored. + Ah, who to me a frame will give + As clod or stone insensitive?-- + For when spirit is joined to flesh, the pair + Anguish of mortal sickness share. + O Wind, be still, if wind thy name, + O Flame, die out, if thou art flame!"[603] + +Pessimist and sceptic as he was, Abu ’l-‘Alá denies more than he +affirms, but although he rejected the dogmas of positive religion, he +did not fall into utter unbelief; for he found within himself a moral +law to which he could not refuse obedience. + + "Take Reason for thy guide and do what she + Approves, the best of counsellors in sooth. + Accept no law the Pentateuch lays down: + Not there is what thou seekest--the plain truth."[604] + +He insists repeatedly that virtue is its own reward. + + "Oh, purge the good thou dost from hope of recompense + Or profit, as if thou wert one that sells his wares."[605] + +His creed is that of a philosopher and ascetic. Slay no living creature, +he says; better spare a flea than give alms. Yet he prefers active +piety, active humanity, to fasting and prayer. "The gist of his moral +teaching is to inculcate as the highest and holiest duty a conscientious +fulfilment of one's obligations with equal warmth and affection towards +all living beings."[606] + +Abu ’l-‘Alá died in 1057 A.D., at the age of eighty-four. About ten +years before this time, the Persian poet and traveller, Náṣir-i +Khusraw, passed through Ma‘arra on his way to Egypt. He describes Abu +’l-‘Alá as the chief man in the town, very rich, revered by the +inhabitants, and surrounded by more than two hundred students who came +from all parts to attend his lectures on literature and poetry.[607] We +may set this trustworthy notice against the doleful account which Abu +’l-‘Alá gives of himself in his letters and other works. If not among +the greatest Muḥammadan poets, he is undoubtedly one of the most +original and attractive. After MutanabbÃ, even after Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya, he +must appear strangely modern to the European reader. It is astonishing +to reflect that a spirit so unconventional, so free from dogmatic +prejudice, so rational in spite of his pessimism and deeply religious +notwithstanding his attacks on revealed religion, should have ended his +life in a Syrian country-town some years before the battle of Senlac. +Although he did not meddle with politics and held aloof from every sect, +he could truly say of himself, "I am the son of my time" (_ghadawtu ’bna +waqtÃ_).[608] His poems leave no aspect of the age untouched, and +present a vivid picture of degeneracy and corruption, in which tyrannous +rulers, venal judges, hypocritical and unscrupulous theologians, +swindling astrologers, roving swarms of dervishes and godless +Carmathians occupy a prominent place.[609] + + +Although the reader may think that too much space has been already +devoted to poetry, I will venture by way of concluding the subject to +mention very briefly a few well-known names which cannot be altogether +omitted from a work of this kind. + +[Sidenote: Abú Tammám and BuḥturÃ.] + +Abú Tammám (ḤabÃb b. Aws) and BuḥturÃ, both of whom flourished in the +ninth century, were distinguished court poets of the same type as +MutanabbÃ, but their reputation rests more securely on the anthologies +which they compiled under the title of _Ḥamása_ (see p. 129 seq.). + +[Sidenote: Ibnu ’l-Mu‘tazz (861-908 A.D.).] + +Abu ’l-‘Abbás ‘Abdulláh, the son of the Caliph al-Mu‘tazz, was a +versatile poet and man of letters, who showed his originality by the +works which he produced in two novel styles of composition. It has often +been remarked that the Arabs have no great epos like the Iliad or the +Persian _Sháhnáma_, but only prose narratives which, though sometimes +epical in tone, are better described as historical romances. Ibnu +’l-Mu‘tazz could not supply the deficiency. He wrote, however, in praise +of his cousin, the Caliph Mu‘taá¸id, a metrical epic in miniature, +commencing with a graphic delineation of the wretched state to which the +Empire had been reduced by the rapacity and tyranny of the Turkish +mercenaries. He composed also, besides an anthology of Bacchanalian +pieces, the first important work on Poetics (_Kitábu ’l-BadÑ_). A sad +destiny was in store for this accomplished prince. On the death of the +Caliph Muktarà he was called to the throne, but a few hours after his +accession he was overpowered by the partisans of Muqtadir, who strangled +him as soon as they discovered his hiding-place. Picturing the scene, +one thinks almost inevitably of Nero's dying words, _Qualis artifex +pereo!_ + + +[Sidenote: ‘Umar Ibnu ’l-FáriḠ(1181-1235 A.D.).] + +The mystical poetry of the Arabs is far inferior, as a whole, to that of +the Persians. Fervour and passion it has in the highest degree, but it +lacks range and substance, not to speak of imaginative and speculative +power. ‘Umar Ibnu ’l-Fáriá¸, though he is undoubtedly the poet of Arabian +mysticism, cannot sustain a comparison with his great Persian +contemporary, Jalálu’l-DÃn Rúmà (†1273 A.D.); he surpasses him only in +the intense glow and exquisite beauty of his diction. It will be +convenient to reserve a further account of Ibnu ’l-FáriḠfor the next +chapter, where we shall discuss the development of Ṣúfiism during this +period. + +Finally two writers claim attention who owe their reputation to single +poems--a by no means rare phenomenon in the history of Arabic +literature. One of these universally celebrated odes is the _Lámiyyatu +’l-‘Ajam_ (the ode rhyming in _l_ of the non-Arabs) composed in the year +1111 A.D. by Ṭughrá’Ã; the other is the _Burda_ (Mantle Ode) of +BúṣÃrÃ, which I take the liberty of mentioning in this chapter, +although its author died some forty years after the Mongol Invasion. + +[Sidenote: Ṭughrá’à (†_circa_ 1120 A.D.).] + +Ḥasan b. ‘Alà al-Ṭughrá’à was of Persian descent and a native of +Iá¹£fahán.[610] He held the offices of _kátib_ (secretary) and _munshÃ_ or +_á¹ughrá’Ã_ (chancellor) under the great Seljúq Sultans, Maliksháh and +Muḥammad, and afterwards became Vizier to the Seljúqid prince Ghiyáthu +’l-DÃn Mas‘úd[611] in Mosul. He derived the title by which he is +generally known from the royal signature (_á¹ughrá_) which it was his +duty to indite on all State papers over the initial _Bismilláh_. The +_Lámiyyatu ’l-‘Ajam_ is so called with reference to Shanfará's renowned +poem, the _Lámiyyatu ’l-‘Arab_ (see p. 79 seq.), which rhymes in the +same letter; otherwise the two odes have only this in common,[612] that +whereas Shanfará depicts the hardships of an outlaw's life in the +desert, Ṭughrá’Ã, writing in Baghdád, laments the evil times on which he +has fallen, and complains that younger rivals, base and servile men, are +preferred to him, while he is left friendless and neglected in his old +age. + +[Sidenote: BúṣÃrà (†_circa_ 1296 A.D.).] + +The _Qaá¹£Ãdatu ’l-Burda_ (Mantle Ode) of al-BúṣÃrÃ[613] is a hymn in +praise of the Prophet. Its author was born in Egypt in 1212 A.D. We know +scarcely anything concerning his life, which, as he himself declares, +was passed in writing poetry and in paying court to the great[614]; but +his biographers tell us that he supported himself by copying +manuscripts, and that he was a disciple of the eminent ṢúfÃ, Abu +’l-‘Abbás Aḥmad al-MarsÃ. It is said that he composed the _Burda_ while +suffering from a stroke which paralysed one half of his body. After +praying God to heal him, he began to recite the poem. Presently he fell +asleep and dreamed that he saw the Prophet, who touched his palsied side +and threw his mantle (_burda_) over him.[615] "Then," said al-BúṣÃrÃ, "I +awoke and found myself able to rise." However this may be, the Mantle +Ode is held in extraordinary veneration by Muḥammadans. Its verses are +often learned by heart and inscribed in golden letters on the walls of +public buildings; and not only is the whole poem regarded as a charm +against evil, but some peculiar magical power is supposed to reside in +each verse separately. Although its poetical merit is no more than +respectable, the _Burda_ may be read with pleasure on account of its +smooth and elegant style, and with interest as setting forth in brief +compass the mediæval legend of the Prophet--a legend full of prodigies +and miracles in which the historical figure of Muḥammad is glorified +almost beyond recognition. + + +[Sidenote: Rhymed prose.] + +Rhymed prose (_saj‘_) long retained the religious associations which it +possessed in Pre-islamic times and which were consecrated, for all +Moslems, by its use in the Koran. About the middle of the ninth century +it began to appear in the public sermons (_khuá¹ab_, sing. +_khuá¹ba_) of the Caliphs and their viceroys, and it was still further +developed by professional preachers, like Ibn Nubáta (†984 A.D.), and +by official secretaries, like IbráhÃm b. Hilál al-Ṣábà (†994 A.D.). +Henceforth rhyme becomes a distinctive and almost indispensable feature +of rhetorical prose. + +[Sidenote: BadÑu ’l-Zamán al-Hamadhánà (†1007 A.D.).] + +The credit of inventing, or at any rate of making popular, a new and +remarkable form of composition in this style belongs to al-Hamadhánà (†+1007 A.D.), on whom posterity conferred the title _BadÑu ’l-Zamán_, +_i.e._, 'the Wonder of the Age.' Born in Hamadhán (Ecbatana), he left +his native town as a young man and travelled through the greater part of +Persia, living by his wits and astonishing all whom he met by his talent +for improvisation. His _Maqámát_ may be called a romance or literary +Bohemianism. In the _maqáma_ we find some approach to the dramatic +style, which has never been cultivated by the Semites.[616] Hamadhánà +imagined as his hero a witty, unscrupulous vagabond journeying from +place to place and supporting himself by the presents which his +impromptu displays of rhetoric, poetry, and learning seldom failed to +draw from an admiring audience. The second character is the _ráwÃ_ or +narrator, "who should be continually meeting with the other, should +relate his adventures, and repeat his excellent compositions."[617] The +_Maqámát_ of Hamadhánà became the model for this kind of writing, and +the types which he created survive unaltered in the more elaborate work +of his successors. Each _maqáma_ forms an independent whole, so that the +complete series may be regarded as a novel consisting of detached +episodes in the hero's life, a medley of prose and verse in which the +story is nothing, the style everything. + +[Sidenote: ḤarÃrà (1054-1122 A.D.).] + +Less original than BadÑu ’l-Zamán, but far beyond him in variety of +learning and copiousness of language, Abú Muḥammad al-Qásim +al-ḤarÃrà of Baá¹£ra produced in his _Maqámát_ a masterpiece which +for eight centuries "has been esteemed as, next to the Koran, the chief +treasure of the Arabic tongue." In the Preface to his work he says that +the composition of _maqámát_ was suggested to him by "one whose +suggestion is a command and whom it is a pleasure to obey." This was the +distinguished Persian statesman, Anúshirwán b. Khálid,[618] who +afterwards served as Vizier under the Caliph Mustarshid Billáh +(1118-1135 A.D.) and Sultán Mas‘úd, the Seljúq (1133-1152 A.D.); but at +the time when he made ḤarÃrÃ's acquaintance he was living in +retirement at Baá¹£ra and devoting himself to literary studies. +ḤarÃrà begged to be excused on the score that his abilities were +unequal to the task, "for the lame steed cannot run like the strong +courser."[619] Finally, however, he yielded to the request of +Anúshirwán, and, to quote his own words-- + + "I composed, in spite of hindrances that I suffered + From dullness of capacity and dimness of intellect, + And dryness of imagination and distressing anxieties, + Fifty Maqámát, which contain serious language and lightsome, + And combine refinement with dignity of style, + And brilliancies with jewels of eloquence, + And beauties of literature with its rarities, + Beside verses of the Koran wherewith I adorned them, + And choice metaphors, and Arab proverbs that I interspersed, + And literary elegancies and grammatical riddles, + And decisions based on the (double) meaning of words, + And original discourses and highly-wrought orations, + And affecting exhortations as well as entertaining jests: + The whole of which I have indited as by the tongue of Abú Zayd + of Sarúj, + The part of narrator being assigned to Harith son of Hammám + of Baá¹£ra."[620] + +ḤarÃrà then proceeds to argue that his _Maqámát_ are not mere frivolous +stories such as strict Moslems are bound to reprobate in accordance with +a well-known passage of the Koran referring to Naá¸r b. Ḥárith, who +mortally offended the Prophet by amusing the Quraysh with the old +Persian legends of Rustam and Isfandiyár (Koran, xxxi, 5-6): "_There is +one that buyeth idle tales that he may seduce men from the way of God, +without knowledge, and make it a laughing-stock: these shall suffer a +shameful punishment. And when Our signs are read to him, he turneth his +back in disdain as though he heard them not, as though there were in his +ears a deafness: give him joy of a grievous punishment!_" ḤarÃrà insists +that the _Assemblies_ have a moral purpose. The ignorant and malicious, +he says, will probably condemn his work, but intelligent readers will +perceive, if they lay prejudice aside, that it is as useful and +instructive as the fables of beasts, &c.,[621] to which no one has ever +objected. That his fears of hostile criticism were not altogether +groundless is shown by the following remarks of the author of the +popular history entitled _al-FakhrÃ_ (†_circa_ 1300 A.D.). This +writer, after claiming that his own book is more useful than the +_Ḥamása_ of Abú Tammám, continues:-- + + [Sidenote: _Maqámát_ criticised as immoral.] + + "And, again, it is more profitable than the _Maqámát_ on which men + have set their hearts, and which they eagerly commit to memory; + because the reader derives no benefit from _Maqámát_ except + familiarity with elegant composition and knowledge of the rules of + verse and prose. Undoubtedly they contain maxims and ingenious + devices and experiences; but all this has a debasing effect on the + mind, for it is founded on begging and sponging and disgraceful + scheming to acquire a few paltry pence. Therefore, if they do good + in one direction, they do harm in another; and this point has been + noticed by some critics of the _Maqámát_ of ḤarÃrà and BadÑu + ’l-Zamán."[622] + +[Sidenote: The character of Abú Zayd.] + +Before pronouncing on the justice of this censure, we must consider for +a moment the character of Abú Zayd, the hero of ḤarÃrÃ's work, whose +adventures are related by a certain Ḥárith b. Hammám, under which +name the author is supposed to signify himself. According to the general +tradition, ḤarÃrà was one day seated with a number of savants in the +mosque of the Banú Ḥarám at Baá¹£ra, when an old man entered, +footsore and travel-stained. On being asked who he was and whence he +came, he answered that his name of honour was Abú Zayd and that he came +from Sarúj.[623] He described in eloquent and moving terms how his +native town had been plundered by the Greeks, who made his daughter a +captive and drove him forth to exile and poverty. ḤarÃrà was so +struck with his wonderful powers of improvisation that on the same +evening he began to compose the _Maqáma of the Banú Ḥarám_,[624] +where Abú Zayd is introduced in his invariable character: "a crafty old +man, full of genius and learning, unscrupulous of the artifices which he +uses to effect his purpose, reckless in spending in forbidden +indulgences the money he has obtained by his wit or deceit, but with +veins of true feeling in him, and ever yielding to unfeigned emotion +when he remembers his devastated home and his captive child."[625] If an +immoral tendency has been attributed to the _Assemblies_ of ḤarÃrà it +is because the author does not conceal his admiration for this +unprincipled and thoroughly disreputable scamp. Abú Zayd, indeed, is +made so fascinating that we can easily pardon his knaveries for the sake +of the pearls of wit and wisdom which he scatters in splendid +profusion--excellent discourses, edifying sermons, and plaintive +lamentations mingled with rollicking ditties and ribald jests. Modern +readers are not likely to agree with the historian quoted above, but +although they may deem his criticism illiberal, they can hardly deny +that it has some justification. + +ḤarÃrÃ's rhymed prose might be freely imitated in English, but the +difficulty of rendering it in rhyme with tolerable fidelity has caused +me to abandon the attempt to produce a version of one of the +_Assemblies_ in the original form.[626] I will translate instead three +poems which are put into the mouth of Abú Zayd. The first is a tender +elegiac strain recalling far-off days of youth and happiness in his +native land:-- + + "Ghassán is my noble kindred, Sarúj is my land of birth, + Where I dwelt in a lofty mansion of sunlike glory and worth, + A Paradise for its sweetness and beauty and pleasant mirth! + + And oh, the life that I led there abounding in all delight! + I trailed my robe on its meadows, while Time flew a careless flight, + Elate in the flower of manhood, no pleasure veiled from my sight. + + Now, if woe could kill, I had died of the troubles that haunt me here, + Or could past joy ever be ransomed, my heart's blood had not been + dear, + Since death is better than living a brute's life year after year. + + Subdued to scorn as a lion whom base hyenas torment. + But Luck is to blame, else no one had failed of his due ascent: + If she were straight, the conditions of men would never be bent."[627] + +The scene of the eleventh _Assembly_ is laid in Sáwa, a city lying +midway between Hamadhán (Ecbatana) and Rayy (Rhages). "Ḥárith, in a +fit of religious zeal, betakes himself to the public burial ground, for +the purpose of contemplation. He finds a funeral in progress, and when +it is over an old man, with his face muffled in a cloak, takes his stand +on a hillock, and pours forth a discourse on the certainty of death and +judgment.... He then rises into poetry and declaims a piece which is one +of the noblest productions of Arabic literature. In lofty morality, in +religious fervour, in beauty of language, in power and grace of metre, +this magnificent hymn is unsurpassed."[628] + + "Pretending sense in vain, how long, O light of brain, wilt thou heap + sin and bane, and compass error's span? + Thy conscious guilt avow! The white hairs on thy brow admonish thee, + and thou hast ears unstopt, O man! + Death's call dost thou not hear? Rings not his voice full clear? Of + parting hast no fear, to make thee sad and wise? + How long sunk in a sea of sloth and vanity wilt thou play heedlessly, + as though Death spared his prize? + Till when, far wandering from virtue, wilt thou cling to evil ways + that bring together vice in brief? + For thy Lord's anger shame thou hast none, but let maim o'ertake thy + cherished aim, then feel'st thou burning grief. + Thou hail'st with eager joy the coin of yellow die, but if a bier pass + by, feigned is thy sorry face; + Perverse and callous wight! thou scornest counsel right to follow + the false light of treachery and disgrace. + Thy pleasure thou dost crave, to sordid gain a slave, forgetting + the dark grave and what remains of dole; + Were thy true weal descried, thy lust would not misguide nor thou + be terrified by words that should console. + Not tears, blood shall thine eyes pour at the great Assize, when thou + hast no allies, no kinsman thee to save; + Straiter thy tomb shall be than needle's cavity: deep, deep thy plunge + I see as diver's 'neath the wave. + There shall thy limbs be laid, a feast for worms arrayed, till utterly + decayed are wood and bones withal, + Nor may thy soul repel that ordeal horrible, when o'er the Bridge of + Hell she must escape or fall. + Astray shall leaders go, and mighty men be low, and sages shall cry, + 'Woe like this was never yet.' + Then haste, my thoughtless friend, what thou hast marred to mend, + for life draws near its end, and still thou art in the net. + Trust not in fortune, nay, though she be soft and gay; for she will + spit one day her venom, if thou dote; + Abate thy haughty pride! lo, Death is at thy side, fastening, whate'er + betide, his fingers on thy throat. + When prosperous, refrain from arrogant disdain, nor give thy tongue + the rein: a modest tongue is best. + Comfort the child of bale and listen to his tale: repair thine actions + frail, and be for ever blest. + Feather the nest once more of those whose little store has vanished: + ne'er deplore the loss nor miser be; + With meanness bravely cope, and teach thine hand to ope, and spurn + the misanthrope, and make thy bounty free. + Lay up provision fair and leave what brings thee care: for sea + the ship prepare and dread the rising storm. + This, friend, is what I preach expressed in lucid speech. Good luck + to all and each who with my creed conform!" + +In the next _Maqáma_--that of Damascus--we find Abú Zayd, gaily attired, +amidst casks and vats of wine, carousing and listening to the music of +lutes and singing-- + + "I ride and I ride through the waste far and wide, and I fling away + pride to be gay as the swallow; + Stem the torrent's fierce speed, tame the mettlesome steed, that + wherever I lead Youth and Pleasure may follow. + I bid gravity pack, and I strip bare my back lest liquor I lack when + the goblet is lifted: + Did I never incline to the quaffing of wine, I had ne'er been with + fine wit and eloquence gifted. + Is it wonderful, pray, that an old man should stay in a well-stored + seray by a cask overflowing? + Wine strengthens the knees, physics every disease, and from sorrow + it frees, the oblivion-bestowing! + Oh, the purest of joys is to live sans disguise unconstrained by + the ties of a grave reputation, + And the sweetest of love that the lover can prove is when fear and + hope move him to utter his passion. + Thy love then proclaim, quench the smouldering flame, for 'twill + spark out thy shame and betray thee to laughter: + Heal the wounds of thine heart and assuage thou the smart by the cups + that impart a delight men seek after; + While to hand thee the bowl damsels wait who cajole and enravish + the soul with eyes tenderly glancing, + And singers whose throats pour such high-mounting notes, when + the melody floats, iron rocks would be dancing! + Obey not the fool who forbids thee to pull beauty's rose when in + full bloom thou'rt free to possess it; + Pursue thine end still, tho' it seem past thy skill; let them say + what they will, take thy pleasure and bless it! + Get thee gone from thy sire, if he thwart thy desire; spread thy + nets nor enquire what the nets are receiving; + But be true to a friend, shun the miser and spend, ways of charity + wend, be unwearied in giving. + He that knocks enters straight at the Merciful's gate, so repent + or e'er Fate call thee forth from the living!" + +The reader may judge from these extracts whether the _Assemblies_ of +ḤarÃrà 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. ḤarÃrà himself was a subtle grammarian, living in +Baá¹£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 illustrate 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, assonances, 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 ḤarÃrÃ's countrymen the _Maqámát_ are prized as +an almost unique monument of their language, antiquities, and culture. +One of the author's contemporaries, the famous ZamakhsharÃ, has +expressed the general verdict in pithy verse-- + + "I swear by God and His marvels, + By the pilgrims' rite and their shrine: + ḤarÃrÃ's _Assemblies_ 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 (_ḤadÃth_) we +must refer the reader to what has been already said. All that can be +attempted here is to take a passing notice of the most eminent writers +and the most celebrated works of this epoch in the field of religion. + +[Sidenote: Málik b. Anas (713-795 A.D.).] + +The place of honour belongs to the Imám Málik b. Anas of MedÃna, whose +_Muwaá¹á¹a’_ is the first great _corpus_ of Muḥammadan Law. He +was a partisan of the ‘Alids, and was flogged by command of the Caliph +Manṣúr in consequence of his declaration that he did not consider the +oath of allegiance to the ‘Abbásid dynasty to have any binding effect. + +[Sidenote: Bukhárà and Muslim.] + +The two principal authorities for Apostolic Tradition are Bukhárà (†870 +A.D.) and Muslim (†875 A.D.), authors of the collections entitled +_á¹¢aḥÃḥ_. Compilations of a narrower range, embracing only those +traditions which bear on the _Sunna_ or custom of the Prophet, are the +_Sunan_ of Abú Dáwúd al-Sijistánà (†889 A.D.), the _Jámi‘_ of Abú ‘Isá +Muḥammad al-Tirmidhà (†892 A.D.), the _Sunan_ of al-Nasá’à (†915 +A.D.), and the _Sunan_ of Ibn Mája (†896 A.D.). These, together with the +_á¹¢aḥÃḥs_ of Bukhárà 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 _MaṣábÃḥu ’l-Sunna_ by al-Baghawà (†+_circa_ 1120 A.D.). A later adaptation called _Mishkátu +’l-MaṣábÃḥ_ has been often printed, and is still extremely +popular. + +[Sidenote: Máwardà (†1058 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Arabic authorities on Ṣúfiism.] + +[Sidenote: Ghazálà (†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-MáwardÃ, a Sháfi‘ite lawyer, who wrote a well-known treatise +on politics--the _Kitábu ’l-Aḥkám al-Sulá¹Ã¡niyya_, 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. Máwardà lived at Baghdád 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 ‘Abbásid dynasty the mystical doctrines of the ṢúfÃs were +systematised and expounded. Some of the most important Arabic works of +reference on Ṣúfiism are the _Qútu ’l-Qulúb_, or 'Food of Hearts,' by +Abú Ṭálib al-Makkà (†996 A.D.); the _Kitábu ’l-Ta‘arruf li-Madhhabi +ahli ’l-Taá¹£awwuf_, or 'Book of Enquiry as to the Religion of the +ṢúfÃs,' by Muḥammad b. Isḥáq al-Kalábádhà (†_circa_ 1000 A.D.); +the _Ṭabaqátu ’l-Ṣúfiyya_, or 'Classes of the ṢúfÃs,' by Abú +‘Abd al-Raḥmán al-Sulamà (†1021 A.D.); the _Ḥilyatu ’l-Awliyá_, +or 'Adornment of the Saints,' by Abú Nu‘aym al-Iá¹£fahánà (†1038 +A.D.); the _Risálatu ’l-Qushayriyya_, or 'Qushayrite Tract,' by Abu +’l-Qásim al-Qushayrà of Naysábúr (†1074 A.D.); the _Iḥyá’u ‘Ulúm +al-DÃn_, or 'Revivification of the Religious Sciences,' by Ghazálà (†+1111 A.D.); and the _‘Awárifu ’l-Ma‘árif_, or 'Bounties of Knowledge,' +by Shihábu ’l-DÃn Abú Ḥafá¹£ ‘Umar al-Suhrawardà (†1234 A.D.)--a +list which might easily be extended. In Dogmatic Theology there is none +to compare with Abú Ḥámid al-GhazálÃ, surnamed 'the Proof of Islam' +(_Ḥujjatu ’l-Islám_). 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 illustrate the history of +Muḥammadan 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 Ghazálà according to the _Shadharátu ’l-Dhahab_.] + + "In this year (505 A.H. = 1111 A.D.) died the Imám, who was the + Ornament of the Faith and the Proof of Islam, Abú Ḥámid + Muḥammad ... of Ṭús, the Sháfi‘ite. His death took place on the + 14th of the Latter Jumádá at Ṭábarán, a village near Ṭús. He + was then fifty-five years of age. Ghazzálà is equivalent to Ghazzál, + like ‘Aá¹á¹Ã¡rà (for ‘Aá¹á¹Ã¡r) and Khabbázà (for Khabbáz), in + the dialect of the people of Khurásán[632]: so it is stated by the + author of the _‘Ibar_.[633] Al-Isnawà says in his + _Ṭabaqát_[634]:--Ghazzálà is an Imám by whose name breasts 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 Ṭús + in the year 450 A.H. = 1058-1059 A.D. His father used to spin wool + (_yaghzilu ’l-ṣúf_) and sell it in his shop. On his deathbed he + committed his two sons, Ghazzálà himself and his brother Aḥmad, + to the care of a pious ṢúfÃ, who taught them writing and educated + them until the money left him by their father was all spent. 'Then,' + says GhazzálÃ, '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 Abú Naá¹£r al-Ismá‘Ãlà in Jurján, then to the + Imámu ’l-Ḥaramayn[635] at Naysábúr, under whom he studied with + such assiduity that he became the best scholastic of his + contemporaries (_ṣára anẓara ahli zamánihi_), and he lectured + _ex cathedrâ_ 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 Niẓámu ’l-Mulk, whose assembly 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 principal doctors, and disputed with his + opponents and rebutted them in spite of their eminence. So the + Niẓámu ’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 professorship in the Niẓámiyya College at + Baghdád, where a splendid reception awaited him. His words reached + far and wide, and his influence soon exceeded that of the EmÃrs 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 Ḥijáz.[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 _Iḥyá_ is said + to be one. Then, after visiting Jerusalem and Alexandria, he + returned to his home at Ṭús, intent on writing and worship 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 Niẓámu ’l-Mulk, came to see him, and urged him by + every means in his power to accept a professorship in the + Niẓámiyya College at Naysábúr.[639] Ghazzálà consented, but after + teaching for a time, resigned the appointment and returned to end + his days in his native town." + +[Sidenote: His principal works.] + +Besides his _magnum opus_, the already-mentioned _Iḥyá_, in which he +expounds theology and the ethics of religion from the standpoint of the +moderate Ṣúfà school, Ghazálà wrote a great number of important +works, such as the _Munqidh mina ’l-á¸alál_, or 'Deliverer from +Error,' a sort of 'Apologia pro Vitâ Suâ'; the _KÃmiyá’u ’l-Sa‘ádat_, or +'Alchemy of Happiness,' which was originally written in Persian; and the +_Taháfutu ’l-Falásifa_, 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: ShahrastánÃ'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 _Kitábu ’l-Milal wa-’l-Niḥal_,[640] +that is to say, 'The Book of Religions and Sects,' by Ibn Ḥazm of +Cordova (†1064 A.D.) and Abu ’l-Fatḥ al-Shahrastánà (†1153 A.D.). +Ibn Ḥazm we shall meet with again in the chapter which deals +specially with the history and literature of the Spanish Moslems. +ShahrastánÃ, as he is named after his birthplace, belonged to the +opposite extremity of the Muḥammadan Empire, being a native of +Khurásán, the huge Eastern province bounded by the Oxus. Cureton, who +edited the Arabic text of the _Kitábu ’l-Milal wa-’l-Niḥal_ (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 Muḥammad, and + likewise of those to whom a true revelation had been made (the _Ahlu + ’l-Kitáb_, or 'People of the Scripture'), that is, Jews and + Christians; and of those who had a doubtful or pretended revelation + (_man lahú shubhatu ’l-Kitáb_), such as the Magi and the Manichæans. + The second division comprises an account of the philosophical + opinions of the Sabæans (Ṣábians), which are mainly set forth in + a very interesting dialogue between a Sabæan and an orthodox + Muḥammadan; of the tenets of various Greek Philosophers and some + of the Fathers of the Christian Church; and also of the + Muḥammadan doctors, more particularly of the system of Ibn SÃná + 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 Baá¹£ra.] + +The science of grammar took its rise in the cities of Baá¹£ra and Kúfa, +which were founded not long after Muḥammad's death, and which +remained the chief centres of Arabian life and thought outside the +peninsula until they were eclipsed by the great ‘Abbásid 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 classical idiom was peculiarly exposed to +corrupting influences. If the pride and delight of the Arabs in their +noble 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 pronunciation 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’ilÃ, +who died at Baá¹£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 ‘Alà b. Abà Ṭálib. It is said +that he never made known any of the principles which he had received +from ‘Alà till Ziyád[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 God. He at first asked to be excused, but on hearing a man +recite the following passage out of the Koran, _anna ’lláha barÃun mina +’l-mushrikÃna wa-rasúluhu_,[642] which last word the reader pronounced +_rasúlihi_, he exclaimed, 'I never thought that things would have come +to this.' He then returned to Ziyád and said, 'I will do what you +ordered.'"[643] The Baá¹£ra school of grammarians which Abu ’l-Aswad is +said to have founded is older than the rival school of Kúfa and +surpassed it in fame. Its most prominent representatives were Abú ‘Amr +b. al-‘Alá (†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; KhalÃl b. Aḥmad, inventor of the +Arabic system of metres and author of the first Arabic lexicon (the +_Kitábu ’l-‘Ayn_), which, however, he did not live to complete; the +Persian SÃbawayhi, whose Grammar, entitled 'The Book of SÃbawayhi,' is +universally celebrated; the great Humanists al-Aá¹£ma‘à and Abú ‘Ubayda +who flourished under Hárún al-Rashid; al-Mubarrad, about a century +later, whose best-known work, the _Kámil_, has been edited by Professor +William Wright; his contemporary al-SukkarÃ, 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 principal works, in addition to the famous ode known +as the _Maqṣúra_, are a voluminous lexicon (_al-Jamhara fi ’l-Lugha_) +and a treatise on the genealogies of the Arab tribes (_Kitábu +’l-Ishtiqáq_). + +[Sidenote: The philogists of Kúfa.] + +Against these names the school of Kúfa can set al-Kisá’Ã, a Persian +savant who was entrusted by Hárún al-RashÃd with the education of his +sons AmÃn and Ma’mún; al-Farrá (†822 A.D.), a pupil and compatriot of +al-Kisá’Ã; al-Mufaá¸á¸al al-á¸abbÃ, a favourite of the Caliph +MahdÃ, for whom he compiled an excellent anthology of Pre-islamic poems +(_al-Mufaá¸á¸aliyyát_), which has already been noticed[644]; Ibnu +’l-SikkÃt, whose outspoken partiality for the House of ‘Alà b. Abà +Ṭálib 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 +Kúfa school in his time (†904 A.D.), of whose rivalry with al-Mubarrad +many stories are told. A contemporary, Abú 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._, Ḥammád al-Ráwiya (†776 A.D.) and his slightly +younger contemporary, Khalaf al-Aḥmar, 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 ‘Abbásids, the +place of honour belongs to Abú ‘Ubayda (†about 825 A.D.) and al-Asma‘à +(†about 830 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: Abú ‘Ubayda.] + +[Sidenote: Aá¹£ma‘Ã.] + +Abú ‘Ubayda Ma‘mar b. al-Muthanná was of Jewish-Persian race, and +maintained in his writings the cause of the Shu‘úbites against the Arab +national party, for which reason he is erroneously described as a +Khárijite.[647] The rare expressions of the Arabic language, the history +of the Arabs and their conflicts were his predominant study--"neither in +heathen nor Muḥammadan 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 _Kitábu ’l-AghánÃ_ and elsewhere. He left +nearly two hundred works, of which a long but incomplete catalogue +occurs in the _Fihrist_ (pp. 53-54). Abú ‘Ubayda was summoned by the +Caliph Hárún al-RashÃd to Baghdád, where he became acquainted with +Aá¹£ma‘Ã. 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-Aá¹£ma‘à was, like his rival, a native of +Baá¹£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 Abú ‘Ubayda was dreaded +for his sharp tongue and sarcastic humour, Aá¹£ma‘à had all the +accomplishments and graces of a courtier. Abú Nuwás, the first great +poet of the ‘Abbásid period, said that Aá¹£ma‘à 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' (_Kitábu ’l-Ibil_), 'The Book of +Horses' (_Kitábu ’l-Khayl_), and 'The Book of the Making of Man' +(_Kitábu Khalqi ’l-Insán_), 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: Jáḥiẓ (†869 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Ibn ‘Abdi Rabbihi (†940 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Abu ’l-Faraj al-Iá¹£fahánà (†967 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Tha‘álibà (†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 Rúzbih, +better known as ‘Abdulláh Ibnu ’l-Muqaffa‘, who was put to death by +order of the Caliph Manṣúr, made several translations from the +Pehlevà or Middle-Persian literature into Arabic. We possess a specimen +of his powers in the famous _Book of KalÃla 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 DÃnawar, and lived +at Baghdád in the latter half of the ninth century. We have more than +once cited his 'Book of General Knowledge' (_Kitábu ’l-Ma‘árif_)[651] +and his 'Book of Poetry and Poets,' (_Kitábu ’l-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará_), +and may add here the _Adabu ’l-Kátib_, or 'Accomplishments of the +Secretary,'[652] a manual of stylistic, dealing with orthography, +orthoepy, lexicography, and the like; and the _‘Uyúnu ’l-Akhbár_, or +'Choice Histories,'[653] a work in ten chapters, each of which is +devoted to a special theme such as Government, War, Nobility, +Friendship, Women, &c. ‘Amr b. Baḥr al-Jáḥiẓ of Baá¹£ra was a +celebrated freethinker, and gave his name to a sect of the Mu‘tazilites +(_al-Jáḥiẓiyya_).[654] He composed numerous books of an anecdotal +and entertaining character. Ibn Khallikán singles out as his finest and +most instructive works the _Kitábu ’l-Ḥayawán_ ('Book of Animals'), +and the _Kitábu ’l-Bayán wa-’l-TabyÃn_ ('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, Hishám b. ‘Abd al-Raḥmán (788-796 A.D.), has left us +a miscellaneous anthology entitled _al-‘Iqd al-FarÃd_, 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 ‘AlÃ, the author of the _Kitábu ’l-AghánÃ_, was born +at Iá¹£fahán, he was an Arab of the Arabs, being a member of the tribe +Quraysh and a lineal descendant of Marwán, the last Umayyad Caliph. +Coming to Baghdád, he bent all his energies to the study of Arabian +antiquity, and towards the end of his life found a generous patron in +al-MuhallabÃ, 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 Hárún al-RashÃd, 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 quantity of historical traditions and anecdotes, +including much ancient and modern verse. It is said that the Ṣáḥib +Ibn ‘Abbád,[655] when travelling, used to take thirty camel-loads of +books about with him, but on receiving the _AghánÃ_ he contented himself +with this one book and dispensed with all the rest.[656] The chief man +of letters of the next generation was Abú Mansúr al-Tha‘álibà (the +Furrier) of Naysábúr. 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 _YatÃmatu ’l-Dahr_, or 'Solitaire of the +Time'--supplies indubitable proof of his fine scholarship and critical +taste. Successive continuations of the _YatÃma_ were written by +al-Bákharzà (†1075 A.D.) in the _Dumyatu ’l-Qaá¹£r_, or 'Statue of the +Palace'; by Abu ’l-Ma‘álà al-ḤaẓÃrà (†1172 A.D.) in the _ZÃnatu +’l-Dahr_, or 'Ornament of the Time'; and by the favourite of Saladin, +‘Imádu ’l-DÃn al-Kátib al-Iá¹£fahánà (†1201 A.D.), in the _KharÃdatu +’l-Qaá¹£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 _ḤadÃth_ 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 Pehlevà _Khudáy-náma_, or 'Book of Kings,' +which Ibnu ’l-Muqaffa‘ turned into Arabic in the eighth century of our +era under the title of _Siyaru Mulúki ’l-‘Ajam_, that is, 'The History +of the Kings of Persia.' + +Under the first head Hishám Ibnu ’l-Kalbà (†819 A.D.) and his father +Muḥammad deserve particular mention as painstaking and trustworthy +recorders. + +[Sidenote: Histories of the Prophet and his Companions.] + +Historical traditions relating to the Prophet were put in writing at an +early date (see p. 247). The first biography of Muḥammad (_SÃratu +Rasúli ’lláh_), compiled by Ibn Isḥáq, who died in the reign of +Manṣúr (768 A.D.), has come down to us only in the recension made by +Ibn Hishám (†834 A.D.). This work as well as those of al-Wáqidà (†823 +A.D.) and Ibn Sa‘d (†845 A.D.) have been already noticed. + +Other celebrated historians of the ‘Abbásid period are the following. + + +[Sidenote: BaládhurÃ.] + +Aḥmad b. Yaḥyá al-Baládhurà (†892 A.D.), a Persian, wrote an +account of the early Muḥammadan conquests (_Kitábu Futúḥi +’l-Buldán_), which has been edited by De Goeje, and an immense chronicle +based on genealogical principles, 'The Book of the Lineages of the +Nobles' (_Kitábu Ansábi ’l-Ashráf_), of which two volumes are +extant.[657] + +[Sidenote: DÃnawarÃ.] + +Abú ḤánÃfa Aḥmad al-DÃnawarà (†895 A.D.) was also of Ãránian +descent. His 'Book of Long Histories' (_Kitábu ’l-Akhbár al-Ṭiwál_) +deals largely with the national legend of Persia, and is written +throughout from the Persian point of view. + +[Sidenote: Ya‘qúbÃ.] + +Ibn Wáá¸iḥ al-Ya‘qúbÃ, a contemporary of DÃnawarÃ, produced an +excellent compendium of universal history, which is specially valuable +because its author, being a follower of the House of ‘AlÃ, has preserved +the ancient and unfalsified ShÑite tradition. His work has been edited +in two volumes by Professor Houtsma (Leyden, 1883). + + +The Annals of ṬabarÃ, edited by De Goeje and other European scholars +(Leyden, 1879-1898), and the Golden Meadows[658] (_Murúju ’l-Dhahab_) of +Mas‘údÃ, which Pavet de Courteille and Barbier de Meynard published with +a French translation (Paris, 1861-1877), have been frequently cited in +the foregoing pages; and since these two authors are not only the +greatest historians of the Muḥammadan East but also (excepting, +possibly, Ibn Khaldún) the most eminent of all who devoted themselves to +this branch of Arabic literature, we must endeavour to make the reader +more closely acquainted with them. + +[Sidenote: Ṭabarà (838-923 A.D.).] + +Abú Ja‘far Muḥammad b. JarÃr was born in 838-839 A.D. at Ãmul in +Ṭabaristán, the mountainous province lying along the south coast of +the Caspian Sea; whence the name, ṬabarÃ, by which he is usually +known.[659] At this time ‘Iráq was still the principal focus of +Muḥammadan culture, so that a poet could say:-- + + "I see a man in whom the secretarial dignity is manifest, + One who displays the brilliant culture of ‘Iráq."[660] + +Thither the young Ṭabarà came to complete his education. He travelled +by way of Rayy to Baghdád, visited other neighbouring towns, and +extended his tour to Syria and Egypt. Although his father sent him a +yearly allowance, it did not always arrive punctually, and he himself +relates that on one occasion he procured bread by selling the sleeves of +his shirt. Fortunately, at Baghdád he was introduced to ‘Ubaydulláh b. +Yaḥyá, the Vizier of Mutawakkil, who engaged him as tutor for his +son. How long he held this post is uncertain, but he was only +twenty-three years of age when his patron went out of office. Fifteen +years later we find him, penniless once more, in Cairo (876-877 A.D.). +He soon, however, returned to Baghdád, where he passed the remainder of +his life in teaching and writing. Modest, unselfish, and simple in his +habits, he diffused his encyclopædic knowledge with an almost superhuman +industry. During forty years, it is said, he wrote forty leaves every +day. His great works are the _Ta’rÃkhu ’l-Rusul wa-’l-Mulúk_, or 'Annals +of the Apostles and the Kings,' and his _TafsÃr_, or 'Commentary on the +Koran.' Both, even in their present shape, are books of enormous extent, +yet it seems likely that both were originally composed on a far larger +scale and were abbreviated by the author for general use. His pupils, we +are told, flatly refused to read the first editions with him, whereupon +he exclaimed: "Enthusiasm for learning is dead!" The History of +ṬabarÃ, from the Creation to the year 302 A.H. = 915 A.D., is +distinguished by "completeness of detail, accuracy, and the truly +stupendous learning of its author that is revealed throughout, and that +makes the Annals a vast storehouse of valuable information for the +historian as well as for the student of Islam."[661] It is arranged +chronologically, the events being tabulated under the year (of the +Muḥammadan era) in which they occurred. Moreover, it has a very +peculiar form. "Each important fact is related, if possible, by an +eye-witness or contemporary, whose account came down through a series of +narrators to the author. If he has obtained more than one account of a +fact, with more or less important modifications, through several series +of narrators, he communicates them all to the reader _in extenso_. Thus +we are enabled to consider the facts from more than one point of view, +and to acquire a vivid and clear notion of them."[662] According to +modern ideas, ṬabarÃ's compilation is not so much a history as a +priceless collection of original documents placed side by side without +any attempt to construct a critical and continuous narrative. At first +sight one can hardly see the wood for the trees, but on closer study the +essential features gradually emerge and stand out in bold relief from +amidst the multitude of insignificant circumstances which lend freshness +and life to the whole. Ṭabarà suffered the common fate of standard +historians. His work was abridged and popularised, the _isnáds_ or +chains of authorities were suppressed, and the various parallel accounts +were combined by subsequent writers into a single version.[663] Of the +Annals, as it left the author's hands, no entire copy exists anywhere, +but many odd volumes are preserved in different parts of the world. The +Leyden edition is based on these scattered MSS., which luckily comprise +the whole work with the exception of a few not very serious lacunæ. + +[Sidenote: Mas‘údà (†956 A.D.).] + +‘Alà b. Ḥusayn, a native of Baghdád, was called Mas‘údà after one of +the Prophet's Companions, ‘Abdulláh b. Mas‘úd, to whom he traced his +descent. Although we possess only a small remnant of his voluminous +writings, no better proof can be desired of the vast and various +erudition which he gathered not from books alone, but likewise from long +travel in almost every part of Asia. Among other places, he visited +Armenia, India, Ceylon, Zanzibar, and Madagascar, and he appears to have +sailed in Chinese waters as well as in the Caspian Sea. "My journey," he +says, "resembles that of the sun, and to me the poet's verse is +applicable:-- + + "'We turn our steps toward each different clime, + Now to the Farthest East, then West once more; + Even as the sun, which stays not his advance + O'er tracts remote that no man durst explore.'"[664] + +He spent the latter years of his life chiefly in Syria and Egypt--for he +had no settled abode--compiling the great historical works,[665] of +which the _Murúju ’l-Dhahab_ is an epitome. As regards the motives which +urged him to write, Mas‘údà declares that he wished to follow the +example of scholars and sages and to leave behind him a praiseworthy +memorial and imperishable monument. He claims to have taken a wider view +than his predecessors. "One who has never quitted his hearth and home, +but is content with the knowledge which he can acquire concerning the +history of his own part of the world, is not on the same level as one +who spends his life in travel and passes his days in restless +wanderings, and draws forth all manner of curious and precious +information from its hidden mine."[666] + +[Sidenote: The _Murúju ’l-Dhahab_.] + +Mas‘údà has been named the 'the Herodotus of the Arabs,' and the +comparison is not unjust.[667] His work, although it lacks the artistic +unity which distinguishes that of the Greek historian, shows the same +eager spirit of enquiry, the same open-mindedness and disposition to +record without prejudice all the marvellous things that he had heard or +seen, the same ripe experience and large outlook on the present as on +the past. It is professedly a universal history beginning with the +Creation and ending at the Caliphate of Muá¹Ã‘, in 947 A.D., but no +description can cover the immense range of topics which are discussed +and the innumerable digressions with which the author delights or +irritates his readers, as the case may be.[668] Thus, to pick a few +examples at random, we find a dissertation on tides (vol. i, p. 244); an +account of the _tinnÃn_ or sea-serpent (_ibid._, p. 267); of +pearl-fishing in the Persian Gulf (_ibid._, p. 328); and of the +rhinoceros (_ibid._, p. 385). Mas‘údà was a keen student and critic of +religious beliefs, on which subject he wrote several books.[669] The +_Murúju ’l-Dhahab_ supplies many valuable details regarding the +Muḥammadan sects, and also regarding the Zoroastrians and Ṣábians. There +is a particularly interesting report of a meeting which took place +between Aḥmad b. Ṭúlún, the governor of Egypt (868-877 A.D.), and an +aged Copt, who, after giving his views as to the source of the Nile and +the construction of the Pyramids, defended his faith (Christianity) on +the ground of its manifest errors and contradictions, arguing that its +acceptance, in spite of these, by so many peoples and kings was decisive +evidence of its truth.[670] Mas‘údÃ's account of the Caliphs is chiefly +remarkable for the characteristic anecdotes in which it abounds. Instead +of putting together a methodical narrative he has thrown off a brilliant +but unequal sketch of public affairs and private manners, of social life +and literary history. Only considerations of space have prevented me +from enriching this volume with not a few pages which are as lively and +picturesque as any in Suetonius. His last work, the _Kitábu ’l-TanbÃh +wa-’l-Ishráf_ ('Book of Admonition and Recension'),[671] was intended to +take a general survey of the field which had been more fully traversed +in his previous compositions, and also to supplement them when it seemed +necessary. + + +[Sidenote: Minor historians.] + +We must pass over the minor historians and biographers of this +period--for example, ‘Utbà (†1036 A.D.), whose _Kitáb al-YamÃnÃ_ +celebrates the glorious reign of Sultan Mahmúd of Ghazna; Khaá¹Ãb of +Baghdád (†1071 A.D.), who composed a history of the eminent men of that +city; ‘Imádu ’l-DÃn of Iá¹£fahán (†1201 A.D.), the biographer of +Saladin; Ibnu ’l-Qiftà (†1248 A.D.), born at Qifá¹ (Coptos) in Upper +Egypt, whose lives of the philosophers and scientists have only come +down to us in a compendium entitled _Ta’rÃkhu ’l-Ḥukamá_; Ibnu +’l-Jawzà (†1200 A.D.), a prolific writer in almost every branch of +literature, and his grandson, Yúsuf (†1257 A.D.)--generally called +Sibá¹ Ibn al-JawzÃ--author of the _Mir’átu ’l-Zamán_, or 'Mirror of +the Time'; Ibn Abà Uá¹£aybi‘a (†1270 A.D.), whose history of +physicians, the _‘Uyúnu ’l-Anbá_, has been edited by A. Müller (1884); +and the Christian, Jirjis (George) al-MakÃn (†1273 A.D.), compiler of a +universal chronicle--named the _Majmú‘ al-Mubárak_--of which the second +part, from Muḥammad to the end of the ‘Abbásid dynasty, was rendered +into Latin by Erpenius in 1625. + + +[Sidenote: Ibnu ’l-AthÃr (†1234 A.D.).] + +A special notice, brief though it must be, is due to ‘Izzu ’l-DÃn Ibnu +’l-AthÃr (†1234 A.D.). He was brought up at Mosul in Mesopotamia, and +after finishing his studies in Baghdád, Jerusalem, and Syria, he +returned home and devoted himself to reading and literary composition. +Ibn Khallikán, who knew him personally, speaks of him in the highest +terms both as a man and as a scholar. "His great work, the _Kámil_,[672] +embracing the history of the world from the earliest period to the year +628 of the Hijra (1230-1231 A.D.), merits its reputation as one of the +best productions of the kind."[673] Down to the year 302 A.H. the author +has merely abridged the Annals of Ṭabarà with occasional additions +from other sources. In the first volume he gives a long account of the +Pre-islamic battles (_Ayyámu ’l-‘Arab_) which is not found in the +present text of ṬabarÃ; but De Goeje, as I learn from Professor +Bevan, thinks that this section was included in ṬabarÃ's original +draft and was subsequently struck out. Ibnu ’l-AthÃr was deeply versed +in the science of Tradition, and his _Usdu ’l-Ghába_ ('Lions of the +Jungle') contains biographies of 7,500 Companions of the Prophet. + + +[Sidenote: Geographers.] + +An immense quantity of information concerning the various countries and +peoples of the ‘Abbásid Empire has been preserved for us by the Moslem +geographers, who in many cases describe what they actually witnessed and +experienced in the course of their travels, although they often help +themselves liberally and without acknowledgment from the works of their +predecessors. The following list, which does not pretend to be +exhaustive, may find a place here.[674] + + +[Sidenote: Ibn Khurdádbih.] + +1. The Persian Ibn Khurdádbih (first half of ninth century) was +postmaster in the province of Jibál, the Media of the ancients. His +_Kitábu ’l-Masálik wa-’l-Mamálik_ ('Book of the Roads and Countries'), +an official guide-book, is the oldest geographical work in Arabic that +has come down to us. + +[Sidenote: Iá¹£á¹akhrà and Ibn Ḥawqal.] + +2. Abú Isḥáq al-Fárisà a native of Persepolis (Iá¹£á¹akhr)--on +this account he is known as Iá¹£á¹akhrÃ--wrote a book called +_Masáliku ’l-Mamálik_ ('Routes of the Provinces'), which was afterwards +revised and enlarged by Ibn Ḥawqal. Both works belong to the second +half of the tenth century and contain "a careful description of each +province in turn of the Muslim Empire, with the chief cities and notable +places." + +[Sidenote: MuqaddasÃ.] + +3. Al-Muqaddasà (or al-MaqdisÃ), _i.e._, 'the native of the Holy City', +was born at Jerusalem in 946 A.D. In his delightful book entitled +_Aḥsanu ’l-TaqásÃm fà ma‘rifati ’l-AqálÃm_ he has gathered up the +fruits of twenty years' travelling through the dominions of the +Caliphate. + +[Sidenote: Yáqút.] + +4. Omitting the Spanish Arabs, BakrÃ, IdrÃsÃ, and Ibn Jubayr, all of +whom flourished in the eleventh century, we come to the greatest of +Moslem geographers, Yáqút b. ‘Abdalláh (1179-1229 A.D.). A Greek by +birth, he was enslaved in his childhood and sold to a merchant of +Baghdád. His master gave him a good education and frequently sent him on +trading expeditions to the Persian Gulf and elsewhere. After being +enfranchised in consequence of a quarrel with his benefactor, he +supported himself by copying and selling manuscripts. In 1219-1220 A.D. +he encountered the Tartars, who had invaded Khwárizm, and "fled as naked +as when he shall be raised from the dust of the grave on the day of the +resurrection." Further details of his adventurous life are recorded in +the interesting notice by Ibn Khallikán.[675] His great Geographical +Dictionary (_Mu‘jamu ’l-Buldán_) has been edited in six volumes by +Wüstenfeld (Leipzig, 1866), and is described by Mr. Le Strange as "a +storehouse of geographical information, the value of which it would be +impossible to over-estimate." We possess a useful epitome of it, made +about a century later, viz., the _Maráṣidu ’l-Iá¹á¹ilá‘_. Among +the few other extant works of Yáqút, attention maybe called to the +_Mushtarik_--a lexicon of places bearing the same name--and the _Mu‘jamu +’l-Udabá_, or 'Dictionary of Littérateurs,' which has been edited by +Professor Margoliouth for the Trustees of the Gibb Memorial Fund. + +[Sidenote: The foreign sciences.] + +[Sidenote: Translations from the Greek.] + +[Sidenote: Ma’mún's encouragement of the New Learning.] + +As regards the philosophical and exact sciences the Moslems naturally +derived their ideas and material from Greek culture, which had +established itself in Egypt, Syria, and Western Asia since the time of +Alexander's conquests. When the Syrian school of Edessa was broken up by +ecclesiastical dissensions towards the end of the fifth century of our +era, the expelled savants took refuge in Persia at the Sásánian court, +and Khusraw Anúshirwán, or NúshÃrwán (531-578 A.D.)--the same monarch +who welcomed the Neo-platonist philosophers banished from Athens by +Justinian--founded an Academy at Jundé-shápúr in Khúzistán, where Greek +medicine and philosophy continued to be taught down to ‘Abbásid days. +Another centre of Hellenism was the city of Ḥarrán in Mesopotamia. +Its inhabitants, Syrian heathens who generally appear in Muḥammadan +history under the name of 'Ṣábians,' spoke Arabic with facility and +contributed in no small degree to the diffusion of Greek wisdom. The +work of translation was done almost entirely by Syrians. In the +monasteries of Syria and Mesopotamia the writings of Aristotle, Galen, +Ptolemy, and other ancient masters were rendered with slavish fidelity, +and these Syriac versions were afterwards retranslated into Arabic. A +beginning was made under the Umayyads, who cared little for Islam but +were by no means indifferent to the claims of literature, art, and +science. An Umayyad prince, Khálid b. YazÃd, procured the translation of +Greek and Coptic works on alchemy, and himself wrote three treatises on +that subject. The accession of the ‘Abbásids gave a great impulse to +such studies, which found an enlightened patron in the Caliph Manṣúr. +Works on logic and medicine were translated from the Pehlevà by Ibnu +’l-Muqaffa‘ (†about 760 A.D.) and others. It is, however, the splendid +reign of Ma’mún (813-833 A.D.) that marks the full vigour of this +Oriental Renaissance. Ma’mún was no ordinary man. Like a true Persian, +he threw himself heart and soul into theological speculations and used +the authority of the Caliphate to enforce a liberal standard of +orthodoxy. His interest in science was no less ardent. According to a +story told in the _Fihrist_,[676] he dreamed that he saw the venerable +figure of Aristotle seated on a throne, and in consequence of this +vision he sent a deputation to the Roman Emperor (Leo the Armenian) to +obtain scientific books for translation into Arabic. The Caliph's +example was followed by private individuals. Three brothers, +Muḥammad, Aḥmad, and Ḥasan, known collectively as the Banú +Músá, "drew translators from distant countries by the offer of ample +rewards[677] and thus made evident the marvels of science. Geometry, +engineering, the movements of the heavenly bodies, music, and astronomy +were the principal subjects to which they turned their attention; but +these were only a small number of their acquirements."[678] Ma’mún +installed them, with Yaḥyá b. Abà Manṣúr and other scientists, in +the House of Wisdom (_Baytu ’l-Ḥikma_) at Baghdád, an institution +which comprised a well-stocked library and an astronomical observatory. +Among the celebrated translators of the ninth century, who were +themselves conspicuous workers in the new field, we can only mention the +Christians Qusá¹Ã¡ b. Lúqá and Ḥunayn b. Isḥáq, and the Ṣábian +Thábit b. Qurra. It does not fall within the scope of this volume to +consider in detail the achievements of the Moslems in science and +philosophy. That in some departments they made valuable additions to +existing knowledge must certainly be granted, but these discoveries +count for little in comparison with the debt which we owe to the Arabs +as pioneers of learning and bringers of light to mediæval Europe.[679] +Meanwhile it is only possible to enumerate a few of the most eminent +philosophers and scientific men who lived during the ‘Abbásid age. The +reader will observe that with rare exceptions they were of foreign +origin. + +The leading spirits in philosophy were:-- + +[Sidenote: KindÃ.] + +1. Ya‘qúb b. Isḥáq al-KindÃ, a descendant of the princely family of +Kinda (see p. 42). He was distinguished by his contemporaries with the +title _Faylasúfu ’l-‘Arab_, 'The Philosopher of the Arabs.' He +flourished in the first half of the ninth century. + +[Sidenote: FárábÃ.] + +2. Abú Naá¹£r al-Fárábà (†950 A.D.), of Turkish race, a native of +Fáráb in Transoxania. The later years of his life were passed at Aleppo +under the patronage of Sayfu ’l-Dawla. He devoted himself to the study +of Aristotle, whom Moslems agree with Dante in regarding as "il maestro +di color che sanno." + +[Sidenote: Ibn SÃná.] + +3. Abú ‘Alà Ibn SÃná (Avicenna), born of Persian parents at Kharmaythan, +near Bukhárá, in the year 980 A.D. As a youth he displayed extraordinary +talents, so that "in the sixteenth year of his age physicians of the +highest eminence came to read medicine with him and to learn those modes +of treatment which he had discovered by his practice."[680] He was no +quiet student, like FárábÃ, but a pleasure-loving, adventurous man of +the world who travelled from court to court, now in favour, now in +disgrace, and always writing indefatigably. His system of philosophy, in +which Aristotelian and Neo-platonic theories are combined with Persian +mysticism, was well suited to the popular taste, and in the East it +still reigns supreme. His chief works are the _Shifá_ (Remedy) on +physics, metaphysics, &c., and a great medical encyclopædia entitled the +_Qánún_ (Canon). Avicenna died in 1037 A.D. + +4. The Spanish philosophers, Ibn Bájja (Avempace), Ibn Ṭufayl, and +Ibn Rushd (Averroes), all of whom flourished in the twelfth century +after Christ. + + +[Sidenote: Medicine, Astronomy, and Mathematics.] + +[Sidenote: BÃrúnà 973-1048 A.D.] + +The most illustrious name beside Avicenna in the history of Arabian +medicine is Abú Bakr al-Rázà (Rhazes), a native of Rayy, near Teheran (†+923 or 932 A.D.). Jábir b. Ḥayyán of Tarsus (†about 780 A.D.)--the +Geber of European writers--won equal renown as an alchemist. Astronomy +went hand in hand with astrology. The reader may recognise al-FarghánÃ, +Abú Ma‘shar of Balkh (†885 A.D.) and al-BattánÃ, a Ṣábian of +Ḥarrán (†929 A.D.), under the names of Alfraganus, Albumaser, and +Albategnius, by which they became known in the West. Abú ‘Abdalláh +al-KhwárizmÃ, who lived in the Caliphate of Ma’mún, was the first of a +long line of mathematicians. In this science, as also in Medicine and +Astronomy, we see the influence of India upon Muḥammadan +civilisation--an influence, however, which, in so far as it depended on +literary sources, was more restricted and infinitely less vital than +that of Greece. Only a passing reference can be made to Abú Rayḥán +al-BÃrúnÃ, a native of Khwárizm (Khiva), whose knowledge of the +sciences, antiquities, and customs of India was such as no Moslem had +ever equalled. His two principal works, the _Ãthár al-Báqiya_, or +'Surviving Monuments,' and the _Ta’rÃkhu ’l-Hind_, or 'History of +India,' have been edited and translated into English by Dr. Sachau.[681] + +[Sidenote: The _Fihrist_.] + +Some conception of the amazing intellectual activity of the Moslems +during the earlier part of the ‘Abbásid period, and also of the enormous +losses which Arabic literature has suffered through the destruction of +thousands of books that are known to us by nothing beyond their titles +and the names of their authors, may be gained from the _Fihrist_, or +'Index' of Muḥammad b. Isḥáq b. Abà Ya‘qúb al-NadÃm al-Warráq +al-Baghdádà (†995 A.D.). Regarding the compiler we have no further +information than is conveyed in the last two epithets attached to his +name: he was a copyist of MSS., and was connected with Baghdád either by +birth or residence; add that, according to his own statement (p. 349, l. +14 sqq.), he was at Constantinople (_Dáru ’l-Rúm_) in 988 A.D., the same +year in which his work was composed. He may possibly have been related +to the famous musician, Isḥáq b. IbráhÃm al-NadÃm of Mosul (†849-850 +A.D.), but this has yet to be proved. At any rate we owe to his industry +a unique conspectus of the literary history of the Arabs to the end of +the fourth century after the Flight. The _Fihrist_ (as the author +explains in his brief Preface) is "an Index of the books of all nations, +Arabs and foreigners alike, which are extant in the Arabic language and +script, on every branch of knowledge; comprising information as to their +compilers and the classes of their authors, together with the +genealogies of those persons, the dates of their birth, the length of +their lives, the times of their death, the places to which they +belonged, their merits and their faults, since the beginning of every +science that has been invented down to the present epoch: namely, the +year 377 of the Hijra." As the contents of the _Fihrist_ (which +considerably exceed the above description) have been analysed in detail +by G. Flügel (_Z.D.M.G._, vol. 13, p. 559 sqq.) and set forth in tabular +form by Professor Browne in the first volume of his _Literary History of +Persia_,[682] I need only indicate the general arrangement and scope of +the work. It is divided into ten discourses (_maqálát_), which are +subdivided into a varying number of sections (_funún_). Ibnu ’l-NadÃm +discusses, in the first place, the languages, scripts, and sacred books +of the Arabs and other peoples, the revelation of the Koran, the order +of its chapters, its collectors, redactors, and commentators. Passing +next to the sciences which, as we have seen, arose from study of the +Koran and primarily served as handmaids to theology, he relates the +origin of Grammar, and gives an account of the different schools of +grammarians with the treatises which they wrote. The third discourse +embraces History, Belles-Lettres, Biography, and Genealogy; the fourth +treats of Poetry, ancient and modern. Scholasticism (_Kalám_) forms the +subject of the following chapter, which contains a valuable notice of +the Ismá‘ÃlÃs and their founder, ‘Abdulláh b. Maymún, as also of the +celebrated mystic, Ḥusayn b. Manṣúr al-Ḥalláj. From these and +many other names redolent of heresy the author returns to the orthodox +schools of Law--the Málikites, Ḥanafites, Sháfi‘ites and +Ẓáhirites; then to the jurisconsults of the ShÑa, &c. The seventh +discourse deals with Philosophy and 'the Ancient Sciences,' under which +head we find some curious speculations concerning their origin and +introduction to the lands of Islam; a list of translators and the books +which they rendered into Arabic; an account of the Greek philosophers +from Thales to Plutarch, with the names of their works that were known +to the Moslems; and finally a literary survey of the remaining sciences, +such as Mathematics, Music, Astronomy, and Medicine. Here, by an abrupt +transition, we enter the enchanted domain of Oriental fable--the _Hazár +Afsán_, or Thousand Tales, KalÃla and Dimna, the Book of Sindbád, and +the legends of Rustam and Isfandiyár; works on sorcery, magic, +conjuring, amulets, talismans, and the like. European savants have long +recognised the importance of the ninth discourse,[683] which is devoted +to the doctrines and writings of the Ṣábians and the Dualistic sects +founded by Manes, Bardesanes, Marcion, Mazdak, and other heresiarchs. +The author concludes his work with a chapter on the Alchemists +(_al-KÃmiyá’ún_). + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +ORTHODOXY, FREE-THOUGHT, AND MYSTICISM + + +[Sidenote: The ‘Abbásids and Islam.] + +[Sidenote: Influence of theologians.] + +We have already given some account of the great political revolution +which took place under the ‘Abbásid dynasty, and we have now to consider +the no less vital influence of the new era in the field of religion. It +will be remembered that the House of ‘Abbás came forward as champions of +Islam and of the oppressed and persecuted Faithful. Their victory was a +triumph for the Muḥammadan over the National idea. "They wished, as +they said, to revive the dead Tradition of the Prophet. They brought the +experts in Sacred Law from MedÃna, which had hitherto been their home, +to Baghdád, and always invited their approbation by taking care that +even political questions should be treated in legal form and decided in +accordance with the Koran and the Sunna. In reality, however, they used +Islam only to serve their own interest. They tamed the divines at their +court and induced them to sanction the most objectionable measures. They +made the pious Opposition harmless by leading it to victory. With the +downfall of the Umayyads it had gained its end and could now rest in +peace."[684] There is much truth in this view of the matter, but +notwithstanding the easy character of their religion, the ‘Abbásid +Caliphs were sincerely devoted to the cause of Islam and zealous to +maintain its principles in public life. They regarded themselves as the +sovereign defenders of the Faith; added the Prophet's mantle +(_al-burda_) to those emblems of Umayyad royalty, the sceptre and the +seal; delighted in the pompous titles which their flatterers conferred +on them, _e.g._, 'Vicegerent of God,' 'Sultan of God upon the Earth,' +'Shadow of God,' &c.; and left no stone unturned to invest themselves +with the attributes of theocracy, and to inspire their subjects with +veneration.[685] Whereas the Umayyad monarchs ignored or crushed +Muḥammadan sentiment, and seldom made any attempt to conciliate the +leading representatives of Islam, the ‘Abbásids, on the other hand, not +only gathered round their throne all the most celebrated theologians of +the day, but also showed them every possible honour, listened +respectfully to their counsel, and allowed them to exert a commanding +influence on the administration of the State.[686] When Málik b. Anas +was summoned by the Caliph Hárún al-RashÃd, who wished to hear him +recite traditions, Málik replied, "People come to seek knowledge." So +Hárún went to Málik's house, and leaned against the wall beside him. +Málik said, "O Prince of the Faithful, whoever honours God, honours +knowledge." Al-RashÃd arose and seated himself at Malik's feet and spoke +to him and heard him relate a number of traditions handed down from the +Apostle of God. Then he sent for Sufyán b. ‘Uyayna, and Sufyán came to +him and sat in his presence and recited traditions to him. Afterwards +al-RashÃd said, "O Málik, we humbled ourselves before thy knowledge, and +profited thereby, but Sufyán's knowledge humbled itself to us, and we +got no good from it."[687] Many instances might be given of the high +favour which theologians enjoyed at this time, and of the lively +interest with which religious topics were debated by the Caliph and his +courtiers. As the Caliphs gradually lost their temporal sovereignty, the +influence of the _‘Ulamá_--the doctors of Divinity and Law--continued to +increase, so that ere long they formed a privileged class, occupying in +Islam a position not unlike that of the priesthood in mediæval +Christendom. + + +It will be convenient to discuss the religious phenomena of the ‘Abbásid +period under the following heads:-- + +I. Rationalism and Free-thought. + +II. The Orthodox Reaction and the rise of Scholastic Theology. + +III. The Ṣúfà Mysticism. + + +[Sidenote: Rationalism and Free-thought.] + +I. The first century of ‘Abbásid rule was marked, as we have seen, by a +great intellectual agitation. All sorts of new ideas were in the air. It +was an age of discovery and awakening. In a marvellously brief space the +diverse studies of Theology, Law, Medicine, Philosophy, Mathematics, +Astronomy, and Natural Science attained their maturity, if not their +highest development. Even if some pious Moslems looked askance at the +foreign learning and its professors, an enlightened spirit generally +prevailed. People took their cue from the court, which patronised, or at +least tolerated,[688] scientific research as well as theological +speculation. + +[Sidenote: The Mu‘tazilites and their opponents.] + +These circumstances enabled the Mu‘tazilites (see p. 222 sqq.) to +propagate their liberal views without hindrance, and finally to carry +their struggle against the orthodox party to a successful issue. It was +the same conflict that divided Nominalists and Realists in the days of +Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and Occam. As often happens when momentous +principles are at stake, the whole controversy between Reason and +Revelation turned on a single question--"Is the Koran created or +uncreated?" In other terms, is it the work of God or the Word of God? +According to orthodox belief, it is uncreated and has existed with God +from all eternity, being in its present form merely a transcript of the +heavenly archetype.[689] Obviously this conception of the Koran as the +direct and literal Word of God left no room for exercise of the +understanding, but required of those who adopted it a dumb faith and a +blind fatalism. There were many to whom the sacrifice did not seem too +great. The Mu‘tazilites, on the contrary, asserted their intellectual +freedom. It was possible, they said, to know God and distinguish good +from evil without any Revelation at all. They admitted that the Koran +was God's work, in the sense that it was produced by a divinely inspired +Prophet, but they flatly rejected its deification. Some went so far as +to criticise the 'inimitable' style, declaring that it could be +surpassed in beauty and eloquence by the art of man.[690] + +[Sidenote: Rationalism adopted and put in force by the Caliph Ma’mún.] + +[Sidenote: Mutawakkil returns to orthodoxy.] + +The Mu‘tazilite controversy became a burning question in the reign of +Ma’mún (813-833 A.D.), a Caliph whose scientific enthusiasm and keen +interest in religious matters we have already mentioned. He did not +inherit the orthodoxy of his father, Hárún al-RashÃd; and it was +believed that he was at heart a _zindÃq_. His liberal tendencies would +have been wholly admirable if they had not been marred by excessive +intolerance towards those who held opposite views to his own. In 833 +A.D., the year of his death, he promulgated a decree which bound all +Moslems to accept the Mu‘tazilite doctrine as to the creation of the +Koran on pain of losing their civil rights, and at the same time he +established an inquisition (_miḥna_) in order to obtain the assent of +the divines, judges, and doctors of law. Those who would not take the +test were flogged and threatened with the sword. After Ma’mún's death +the persecution still went on, although it was conducted in a more +moderate fashion. Popular feeling ran strongly against the Mu‘tazilites. +The most prominent figure in the orthodox camp was the Imám Aḥmad b. +Ḥanbal, who firmly resisted the new dogma from the first. "But for +him," says the Sunnite historian, Abu ’l-Maḥásin, "the beliefs of a +great number would have been corrupted."[691] Neither threats nor +entreaties could shake his resolution, and when he was scourged by +command of the Caliph Mu‘taá¹£im, the palace was in danger of being +wrecked by an angry mob which had assembled outside to hear the result +of the trial. The Mu‘tazilite dogma remained officially in force until +it was abandoned by the Caliph Wáthiq and once more declared heretical +by the cruel and bigoted Mutawakkil (847 A.D.). From that time to this +the victorious party have sternly suppressed every rationalistic +movement in Islam. + +[Sidenote: The end of the Mu‘tazilites.] + +According to Steiner, the original Mu‘tazilite heresy arose in the bosom +of Islam, independently of any foreign influence, but, however that may +be, its later development was largely affected by Greek philosophy. We +need not attempt to follow the recondite speculations of Abú Hudhayl +al-‘Alláf (†about 840 A.D.) of his contemporaries, al-Naẓẓám, +Bishr b. al-Mu‘tamir, and others, and of the philosophical schools of +Baá¹£ra and Baghdád in which the movement died away. Vainly they sought +to replace the Muḥammadan idea of God as will by the Aristotelian +conception of God as law. Their efforts to purge the Koran of +anthropomorphism made no impression on the faithful, who ardently hoped +to see God in Paradise face to face. What they actually achieved was +little enough. Their weapons of logic and dialectic were turned against +them with triumphant success, and scholastic theology was founded on the +ruins of Rationalism. Indirectly, however, the Mu‘tazilite principles +leavened Muḥammadan thought to a considerable extent and cleared the +way for other liberal movements, like the Fraternity of the _Ikhwánu +’l-á¹¢afá_, which endeavoured to harmonise authority with reason, and +to construct a universal system of religious philosophy. + +[Sidenote: The Ikhwánu ’l-á¹¢afá.] + +These 'Brethren of Purity,'[692] as they called themselves, compiled a +great encyclopædic work in fifty tractates (_Rasá’il_). Of the authors, +who flourished at Baá¹£ra towards the end of the tenth century, five +are known to us by name: viz., Abú Sulaymán Muḥammad b. Ma‘shar +al-Bayusti or al-Muqaddasà (MaqdisÃ), Abu ’l-Ḥasan ‘Alà b. Hárún +al-ZanjánÃ, Abú Aḥmad al-MihrajánÃ, al-‘AwfÃ, and Zayd b. Rifá‘a. +"They formed a society for the pursuit of holiness, purity, and truth, +and established amongst themselves a doctrine whereby they hoped to win +the approval of God, maintaining that the Religious Law was defiled by +ignorance and adulterated by errors, and that there was no means of +cleansing and purifying it except philosophy, which united the wisdom of +faith and the profit of research. They held that a perfect result would +be reached if Greek philosophy were combined with Arabian religion. +Accordingly they composed fifty tracts on every branch of philosophy, +theoretical as well as practical, added a separate index, and entitled +them the 'Tracts of the Brethren of Purity' (_Rasá’ilu Ikhwán +al-á¹¢afá_). The authors of this work concealed their names, but +circulated it among the booksellers and gave it to the public. They +filled their pages with devout phraseology, religious parables, +metaphorical expressions, and figurative turns of style."[693] Nearly +all the tracts have been translated into German by Dieterici, who has +also drawn up an epitome of the whole encyclopædia in his _Philosophie +der Araber im X Jahrhundert_. It would take us too long to describe the +system of the _Ikhwán_, but the reader will find an excellent account of +it in Stanley Lane-Poole's _Studies in a Mosque_, 2nd ed., p. 176 sqq. +The view has recently been put forward that the Brethren of Purity were +in some way connected with the Ismá‘Ãlà propaganda, and that their +eclectic idealism represents the highest teaching of the Fátimids, +Carmathians, and Assassins. Strong evidence in support of this theory is +supplied by a MS. of the Bibliothèque Nationale (No. 2309 in De Slane's +Catalogue), which contains, together with fragments of the _Rasá’il_, a +hitherto unknown tract entitled the _Jámi‘a_ or 'Summary.'[694] The +latter purports to be the essence and crown of the fifty _Rasá’il_, it +is manifestly Ismá‘Ãlite in character, and, assuming that it is genuine, +we may, I think, agree with the conclusions which its discoverer, M. P. +Casanova, has stated in the following passage:-- + + [Sidenote: The doctrines of the Brethren of Purity identical with + the esoteric philosophy of the Ismá‘ÃlÃs.] + + "Surtout je crois être dans le vrai en affirmant que les doctrines + philosophiques des Ismaïliens sont contenues tout entières dans les + Epîtres des Frères de la Pureté. Et c'est ce qui explique 'la + séduction extraordinaire que la doctrine exerçait sur des hommes + sérieux.'[695] En y ajoutant la croyance en l'_imám caché_ (_al-imám + al-mastúr_) qui doit apparaître un jour pour établir le bonheur + universel, elle réalisait la fusion de toutes les doctrines + idéalistes, du messianisme et du platonisme. Tant que l'imám restait + caché, il s'y mêlait encore une saveur de mystère qui attachait les + esprits les plus élevés.... En tous cas, on peut affirmer que les + Carmathes et les Assassins ont été profondément calomniés quand ils + ont été accusés par leurs adversaires d'athéisme et de débauche. Le + fetwa d'Ibn Taimiyyah, que j'ai cité plus haut, prétend que leur + dernier degré dans l'initiation (_al-balágh al-akbar_) est la + négation même du Créateur. Mais la _djâmi‘at_ que nous avons + découverte est, comme tout l'indique, le dernier degré de la science + des Frères de la Pureté et des Ismaïliens; il n'y a rien de fondé + dans une telle accusation. La doctrine apparait très pure, très + élevée, très simple même: je repète que c'est une sorte de + panthéisme mécaniste et esthétique qui est absolument opposé au + scepticisme et au matérialisme, car il repose sur l'harmonie + générale de toutes les parties du monde, harmonie voulue par le + Créateur parce qu'elle est la beauté même. + + "Ma conclusion sera que nous avons là un exemple de plus dans + l'histoire d'une doctrine très pure et très élevée en théorie, + devenue, entre les mains des fanatiques et des ambitieux, une source + d'actes monstrueux et méritant l'infamie qui est attachée a ce nom + historique d'Assassins." + +Besides the Mu‘tazilites, we hear much of another class of heretics who +are commonly grouped together under the name of _ZindÃqs_. + +[Sidenote: The _ZindÃqs_.] + +"It is well known," says Goldziher,[696] "that the earliest persecution +was directed against those individuals who managed more or less adroitly +to conceal under the veil of Islam old Persian religious ideas. +Sometimes indeed they did not consider any disguise to be necessary, but +openly set up dualism and other Persian or Manichæan doctrines, and the +practices associated therewith, against the dogma and usage of Islam. +Such persons were called _ZindÃqs_, a term which comprises different +shades of heresy and hardly admits of simple definition. Firstly, there +are the old Persian families incorporated in Islam who, following the +same path as the Shu‘úbites, have a _national interest_ in the revival +of Persian religious ideas and traditions, and from this point of view +react against the _Arabian_ character of the Muḥammadan system. Then, +on the other hand, there are freethinkers, who oppose in particular the +stubborn dogma of Islam, reject _positive religion_, and acknowledge +only the moral law. Amongst the latter there is developed a monkish +asceticism extraneous to Islam and ultimately traceable to Buddhistic +influences." + +[Sidenote: Persecution of _ZindÃqs_.] + +The ‘Abbásid Government, which sought to enforce an official standard of +belief, was far less favourable to religious liberty than the Umayyads +had been. Orthodox and heretic alike fell under its ban. While Ma’mún +harried pious Sunnites, his immediate predecessors raised a hue and cry +against _ZindÃqs_. The Caliph Mahdà distinguished himself by an +organised persecution of these enemies of the faith. He appointed a +Grand Inquisitor (_Ṣáḥibu ’l-Zanádiqa_[697] or _‘ArÃfu +’l-Zanádiqa_) to discover and hunt them down. If they would not recant +when called upon, they were put to death and crucified, and their +books[698] were cut to pieces with knives.[699] MahdÃ's example was +followed by Hádà and Hárún al-RashÃd. Some of the ‘Abbásids, however, +were less severe. Thus Khaá¹£Ãb, Manṣúr's physician, was a _ZindÃq_ +who professed Christianity,[700] and in the reign of Ma’mún it became +the mode to affect Manichæan opinions as a mark of elegance and +refinement.[701] + +[Sidenote: Bashshár b. Burd.] + +The two main types of _zandaqa_ which have been described above are +illustrated in the contemporary poets, Bashshár b. Burd and Ṣáliḥ +b. ‘Abd al-Quddús. Bashshár was born stone-blind. The descendant of a +noble Persian family--though his father, Burd, was a slave--he cherished +strong national sentiments and did not attempt to conceal his sympathy +with the Persian clients (_MawálÃ_), whom he was accused of stirring up +against their Arab lords. He may also have had leanings towards +Zoroastrianism, but Professor Bevan has observed that there is no real +evidence for this statement,[702] though Zoroastrian or Manichæan views +are probably indicated by the fact that he used to dispute with a number +of noted Moslem theologians in Baá¹£ra, _e.g._, with Wáṣil b. +‘Aá¹Ã¡, who started the Mu‘tazilite heresy, and ‘Amr b. ‘Ubayd. He and +Ṣáliḥ b. ‘Abd al-Quddús were put to death by the Caliph Mahdà in +the same year (783 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: Ṣáliḥ b. ‘Abd al-Quddús.] + +This Ṣáliḥ belonged by birth or affiliation to the Arab tribe of +Azd. Of his life we know little beyond the circumstance that he was for +some time a street-preacher at Baá¹£ra, and afterwards at Damascus. It +is possible that his public doctrine was thought dangerous, although the +preachers as a class were hand in glove with the Church and did not, +like the Lollards, denounce religious abuses.[703] His extant poetry +contains nothing heretical, but is wholly moral and didactic in +character. We have seen, however, in the case of Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya, that +Muḥammadan orthodoxy was apt to connect 'the philosophic mind' with +positive unbelief; and Ṣáliḥ appears to have fallen a victim to +this prejudice. He was accused of being a dualist (_thanawÃ_), _i.e._, a +Manichæan. MahdÃ, it is said, conducted his examination in person, and +at first let him go free, but the poet's fate was sealed by his +confession that he was the author of the following verses:-- + + "The greybeard will not leave what in the bone is bred + Until the dark tomb covers him with earth o'erspread; + For, tho' deterred awhile, he soon returns again + To his old folly, as the sick man to his pain."[704] + +[Sidenote: Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrà on the _ZindÃqs_.] + +Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrÃ, himself a bold and derisive critic of +Muḥammadan dogmas, devotes an interesting section of his _Risálatu +’l-Ghufrán_ to the _ZindÃqs_, and says many hard things about them, +which were no doubt intended to throw dust in the eyes of a suspicious +audience. The wide scope of the term is shown by the fact that he +includes under it the pagan chiefs of Quraysh; the Umayyad Caliph WalÃd +b. YazÃd; the poets Di‘bil, Abú Nuwás, Bashshár, and Ṣáliḥ b. ‘Abd +al-Quddús; Abú Muslim, who set up the ‘Abbásid dynasty; the Persian +rebels, Bábak and Mázyár; AfshÃn, who after conquering Bábak was starved +to death by the Caliph Mu‘taá¹£im; the Carmathian leader al-JannábÃ; +Ibnu ’l-RáwandÃ, whose work entitled the _Dámigh_ was designed to +discredit the 'miraculous' style of the Koran; and Ḥusayn b. +Manṣúr al-Ḥalláj, the Ṣúfà martyr. Most of these, one may +admit, fall within Abu ’l-‘Alá’s definition of the _ZindÃqs_: "they +acknowledge neither prophet nor sacred book." The name _ZindÃq_, which +is applied by Jáḥiẓ (†868 A.D.) to certain wandering monks,[705] +seems in the first instance to have been used of Manes (_MánÃ_) and his +followers, and is no doubt derived, as Professor Bevan has suggested, +from the _zaddÃqs_, who formed an elect class in the Manichæan +hierarchy.[706] + +[Sidenote: The Orthodox Reaction.] + +[Sidenote: Abu ’l-Ḥasan al-ash‘arÃ.] + +II. The official recognition of Rationalism as the State religion came +to an end on the accession of Mutawakkil in 847 A.D. The new Caliph, who +owed his throne to the Turkish Prætorians, could not have devised a +surer means of making himself popular than by standing forward as the +avowed champion of the faith of the masses. He persecuted impartially +Jews, Christians, Mu‘tazilites, ShÑites, and ṢúfÃs--every one, in +short, who diverged from the narrowest Sunnite orthodoxy. The Vizier Ibn +Abà Du’ád, who had shown especial zeal in his conduct of the Mu‘tazilite +Inquisition, was disgraced, and the bulk of his wealth was confiscated. +In Baghdád the followers of Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal went from house to +house terrorising the citizens,[707] and such was their fanatical temper +that when ṬabarÃ, the famous divine and historian, died in 923 A.D., +they would not allow his body to receive the ordinary rites of +burial.[708] Finally, in the year 935 A.D., the Caliph Ráá¸Ã issued an +edict denouncing them in these terms: "Ye assert that your ugly, +ill-favoured faces are in the likeness of the Lord of Creation, and that +your vile exterior resembles His, and ye speak of the hand, the fingers, +the feet, the golden shoes, and the curly hair (of God), and of His +going up to Heaven and of His coming down to Earth.... The Commander of +the Faithful swears a binding oath that unless ye refrain from your +detestable practices and perverse tenets he will lay the sword to your +necks and the fire to your dwellings."[709] Evidently the time was ripe +for a system which should reconcile the claims of tradition and reason, +avoiding the gross anthropomorphism of the extreme Ḥanbalites on the +one side and the pure rationalism of the advanced Mu‘tazilites (who were +still a power to be reckoned with) on the other. It is a frequent +experience that great intellectual or religious movements rising slowly +and invisibly, in response, as it were, to some incommunicable want, +suddenly find a distinct interpreter with whose name they are henceforth +associated for ever. The man, in this case, was Abu ’l-Ḥasan +al-Ash‘arÃ. He belonged to a noble and traditionally orthodox family of +Yemenite origin. One of his ancestors was Abú Músá al-Ash‘arÃ, who, as +the reader will recollect, played a somewhat inglorious part in the +arbitration between ‘Alà and Mu‘áwiya after the battle of +á¹¢iffÃn.[710] Born in 873-874 A.D. at Baá¹£ra, a city renowned for +its scientific and intellectual fertility, the young Abu ’l-Ḥasan +deserted the faith of his fathers, attached himself to the freethinking +school, and until his fortieth year was the favourite pupil and intimate +friend of al-Jubbá’à (†915 A.D.), the head of the Mu‘tazilite party at +that time. He is said to have broken with his teacher in consequence of +a dispute as to whether God always does what is best (_aá¹£laḥ_) for +His creatures. The story is related as follows by Ibn Khallikán (De +Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 669 seq.):-- + + [Sidenote: Story of the three brothers.] + + Ash‘arà proposed to Jubbá’à the case of three brothers, one of whom + was a true believer, virtuous and pious; the second an infidel, a + debauchee and a reprobate; and the third an infant: they all died, + and Ash‘arà wished to know what had become of them. To this Jubbá’à + answered: "The virtuous brother holds a high station in Paradise; + the infidel is in the depths of Hell, and the child is among those + who have obtained salvation."[711] "Suppose now," said Ash‘arÃ, + "that the child should wish to ascend to the place occupied by his + virtuous brother, would he be allowed to do so?" "No," replied + Jubbá’Ã, "it would be said to him: 'Thy brother arrived at this + place through his numerous works of obedience towards God, and thou + hast no such works to set forward.'" "Suppose then," said Ash‘arÃ, + "that the child say: 'That is not my fault; you did not let me live + long enough, neither did you give me the means of proving my + obedience.'" "In that case," answered Jubbá’Ã, "the Almighty would + say: 'I knew that if I had allowed thee to live, thou wouldst have + been disobedient and incurred the severe punishment (of Hell); I + therefore acted for thy advantage.'" "Well," said Ash‘arÃ, "and + suppose the infidel brother were to say: 'O God of the universe! + since you knew what awaited him, you must have known what awaited + me; why then did you act for his advantage and not for mine?" + Jubbá’à had not a word to offer in reply. + +[Sidenote: Ash‘arÃ's conversion to orthodoxy.] + +Soon afterwards Ash‘arà made a public recantation. One Friday, while +sitting (as his biographer relates) in the chair from which he taught in +the great mosque of Baá¹£ra, he cried out at the top of his voice: +"They who know me know who I am: as for those who do not know me I will +tell them. I am ‘Alà b. Ismá‘Ãl al-Ash‘arÃ, and I used to hold that the +Koran was created, that the eyes of men shall not see God, and that we +ourselves are the authors of our evil deeds. Now I have returned to the +truth; I renounce these opinions, and I undertake to refute the +Mu‘tazilites and expose their infamy and turpitude."[712] + +[Sidenote: Ash‘arà as the founder of Scholastic Theology.] + +These anecdotes possess little or no historical value, but illustrate +the fact that Ash‘arÃ, having learned all that the Mu‘tazilites could +teach him and having thoroughly mastered their dialectic, turned against +them with deadly force the weapons which they had put in his hands. His +doctrine on the subject of free-will may serve to exemplify the method +of _Kalám_ (Disputation) by which he propped up the orthodox creed.[713] +Here, as in other instances, Ash‘arà took the central path--_medio +tutissimus_--between two extremes. It was the view of the early Moslem +Church--a view justified by the Koran and the Apostolic Traditions--that +everything was determined in advance and inscribed, from all eternity, +on the Guarded Tablet (_al-Lawḥ al-Maḥfúẓ_), so that men had no +choice but to commit the actions decreed by destiny. The Mu‘tazilites, +on the contrary, denied that God could be the author of evil and +insisted that men's actions were free. Ash‘arÃ, on his part, declared +that all actions are created and predestined by God, but that men have a +certain subordinate power which enables them to acquire the actions +previously created, although it produces no effect on the actions +themselves. Human agency, therefore, was confined to this process of +acquisition (_kasb_). With regard to the anthropomorphic passages in the +Koran, Ash‘arà laid down the rule that such expressions as "_The +Merciful has settled himself upon His throne_," "_Both His hands are +spread out_," &c., must be taken in their obvious sense without asking +'How?' (_bilá kayfa_). Spitta saw in the system of Ash‘arà a successful +revolt of the Arabian national spirit against the foreign ideas which +were threatening to overwhelm Islam,[714] a theory which does not agree +with the fact that most of the leading Ash‘arites were Persians.[715] +Von Kremer came nearer the mark when he said "Ash‘arÃ's victory was +simply a clerical triumph,"[716] but it was also, as Schreiner has +observed, "a victory of reflection over unthinking faith." + +The victory, however, was not soon or easily won.[717] Many of the +orthodox disliked the new Scholasticism hardly less than the old +Rationalism. Thus it is not surprising to read in the _Kámil_ of Ibnu +’l-AthÃr under the year 456 A.H. = 1063-4 A.D., that Alp Arslán's +Vizier, ‘AmÃdu ’l-Mulk al-KundurÃ, having obtained his master's +permission to have curses pronounced against the Ráfiá¸ites (ShÑites) +from the pulpits of Khurásán, included the Ash‘arites in the same +malediction, and that the famous Ash‘arite doctors, Abu ’l-Qásim +al-Qushayrà and the Imámu ’l-Ḥaramayn Abu ’l-Ma‘álà al-JuwaynÃ, left +the country in consequence. The great Niẓámu ’l-Mulk exerted himself +on behalf of the Ash‘arites, and the Niẓámiyya College, which he +founded in Baghdád in the year 1067 A.D., was designed to propagate +their system of theology. But the man who stamped it with the impression +of his own powerful genius, fixed its ultimate form, and established it +as the universal creed of orthodox Islam, was Abú Ḥámid al-Ghazálà +(1058-1111 A.D.). We have already sketched the outward course of his +life, and need only recall that he lectured at Baghdád in the +Niẓámiyya College for four years (1091-1095 A.D.).[718] At the end of +that time he retired from the world as a ṢúfÃ, and so brought to a +calm and fortunate close the long spiritual travail which he has himself +described in the _Munqidh mina ’l-á¸alál_, or 'Deliverer from +Error.'[719] We must now attempt to give the reader some notion of this +work, both on account of its singular psychological interest and because +GhazálÃ's search for religious truth exercised, as will shortly appear, +a profound and momentous influence upon the future history of +Muḥammadan thought. It begins with these words:-- + + [Sidenote: GhazálÃ's autobiography.] + + "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Praise be to + God by the praise of whom every written or spoken discourse is + opened! And blessings on Muḥammad, the Elect, the Prophet and + Apostle, as well as on his family and his companions who lead us + forth from error! To proceed: You have asked me, O my brother in + religion, to explain to you the hidden meanings and the ultimate + goal of the sciences, and the secret bane of the different + doctrines, and their inmost depths. You wish me to relate all that I + have endured in seeking to recover the truth from amidst the + confusion of sects with diverse ways and paths, and how I have dared + to raise myself from the abyss of blind belief in authority to the + height of discernment. You desire to know what benefits I have + derived in the first place from Scholastic Theology, and what I have + appropriated, in the second place, from the methods of the + Ta‘lÃmites[720] who think that truth can be attained only by + submission to the authority of an Imám; and thirdly, my reasons for + spurning the systems of philosophy; and, lastly, why I have accepted + the tenets of Ṣúfiism: you are anxious, in short, that I should + impart to you the essential truths which I have learned in my + repeated examination of the (religious) opinions of mankind." + +In a very interesting passage, which has been translated by Professor +Browne, Ghazálà tells how from his youth upward he was possessed with an +intense thirst for knowledge, which impelled him to study every form of +religion and philosophy, and to question all whom he met concerning the +nature and meaning of their belief.[721] But when he tried to +distinguish the true from the false, he found no sure test. He could not +trust the evidence of his senses. The eye sees a shadow and declares it +to be without movement; or a star, and deems it no larger than a piece +of gold. If the senses thus deceive, may not the mind do likewise? +Perhaps our life is a dream full of phantom thoughts which we mistake +for realities--until the awakening comes, either in moments of ecstasy +or at death. "For two months," says GhazálÃ, "I was actually, though not +avowedly, a sceptic." Then God gave him light, so that he regained his +mental balance and was able to think soundly. He resolved that this +faculty must guide him to the truth, since blind faith once lost never +returns. Accordingly, he set himself to examine the foundations of +belief in four classes of men who were devoted to the search for truth, +namely, Scholastic Theologians, Ismá‘ÃlÃs (_Bátiniyya_), Philosophers, +and ṢúfÃs. For a long while he had to be content with wholly negative +results. Scholasticism was, he admitted, an excellent purge against +heresy, but it could not cure the disease from which he was suffering. +As for the philosophers, all of them--Materialists (_Dahriyyún_), +Naturalists (_ṬabÑiyyún_), and Theists (_Iláhiyyún_)--"are branded +with infidelity and impiety." Here, as often in his discussion of the +philosophical schools, GhazálÃ's religious instinct breaks out. We +cannot imagine him worshipping at the shrine of pure reason any more +than we can imagine Herbert Spencer at Lourdes. He next turned to the +Ta‘lÃmites (Doctrinists) or Báá¹inites (Esoterics), who claimed that +they knew the truth, and that its unique source was the infallible Imám. +But when he came to close quarters with these sectaries, he discovered +that they could teach him nothing, and their mysterious Imám vanished +into space. Ṣúfiism, therefore, was his last hope. He carefully +studied the writings of the mystics, and as he read it became clear to +him that now he was on the right path. He saw that the higher stages of +Ṣúfiism could not be learned by study, but must be realised by actual +experience, that is, by rapture, ecstasy, and moral transformation. +After a painful struggle with himself he resolved to cast aside all his +worldly ambition and to live for God alone. In the month of Dhu +’l-Qa‘da, 488 A.H. (November, 1095 A.D.), he left Baghdád and wandered +forth to Syria, where he found in the Ṣúfà discipline of prayer, +praise, and meditation the peace which his soul desired. + +Mr. Duncan B. Macdonald, to whom we owe the best and fullest life of +Ghazálà that has yet been written, sums up his work and influence in +Islam under four heads[722]:-- + +_First_, he led men back from scholastic labours upon theological dogmas +to living contact with, study and exegesis of, the Word and the +Traditions. + +_Second_, in his preaching and moral exhortations he re-introduced the +element of fear. + +_Third_, it was by his influence that Ṣúfiism attained a firm and +assured position within the Church of Islam. + +_Fourth_, he brought philosophy and philosophical theology within the +range of the ordinary mind. + + [Sidenote: GhazálÃ's work and influence.] + + "Of these four phases of al-GhazzÄlÄ«'s work," says Macdonald, + "the first and third are undoubtedly the most important. He made his + mark by leading Islam back to its fundamental and historical facts, + and by giving a place in its system to the emotional religious life. + But it will have been noticed that in none of the four phases was he + a pioneer. He was not a scholar who struck out a new path, but a man + of intense personality who entered on a path already trodden and + made it the common highway. We have here his character. Other men + may have been keener logicians, more learned theologians, more + gifted saints; but he, through his personal experiences, had + attained so overpowering a sense of the divine realities that the + force of his character--once combative and restless, now narrowed + and intense--swept all before it, and the Church of Islam entered on + a new era of its existence." + +[Sidenote: Ṣúfiism in the ‘Abbásid period.] + +III. We have traced the history of Mysticism in Islam from the ascetic +movement of the first century, in which it originated, to a point where +it begins to pass beyond the sphere of Muḥammadan influence and to enter +on a strange track, of which the Prophet assuredly never dreamed, +although the ṢúfÃs constantly pretend that they alone are his true +followers. I do not think it can be maintained that Ṣúfiism of the +theosophical and speculative type, which we have now to consider, is +merely a development of the older asceticism and quietism which have +been described in a former chapter. The difference between them is +essential and must be attributed in part, as Von Kremer saw,[723] to the +intrusion of some extraneous, non-Islamic, element. As to the nature of +this new element there are several conflicting theories, which have been +so clearly and fully stated by Professor Browne in his _Literary History +of Persia_ (vol. i, p. 418 sqq.) that I need not dwell upon them here. +Briefly it is claimed-- + +(_a_) That Ṣúfiism owes its inspiration to Indian philosophy, and +especially to the Vedanta. + +(_b_) That the most characteristic ideas in Ṣúfiism are of Persian +origin. + +(_c_) That these ideas are derived from Neo-platonism. + +Instead of arguing for or against any of the above theories, all of +which, in my opinion, contain a measure of truth, I propose in the +following pages to sketch the historical evolution of the Ṣúfà +doctrine as far as the materials at my disposal will permit. This, it +seems to me, is the only possible method by which we may hope to arrive +at a definite conclusion as to its origin. Since mysticism in all ages +and countries is fundamentally the same, however it may be modified by +its peculiar environment, and by the positive religion to which it +clings for support, we find remote and unrelated systems showing an +extraordinarily close likeness and even coinciding in many features of +verbal expression. Such resemblances can prove little or nothing unless +they are corroborated by evidence based on historical grounds. Many +writers on Ṣúfiism have disregarded this principle; hence the +confusion which long prevailed. The first step in the right direction +was made by Adalbert Merx,[724] who derived valuable results from a +chronological examination of the sayings of the early ṢúfÃs. He did +not, however, carry his researches beyond Abú Sulaymán al-Dáránà (†830 +A.D.), and confined his attention almost entirely to the doctrine, +which, according to my view, should be studied in connection with the +lives, character, and nationality of the men who taught it.[725] No +doubt the origin and growth of mysticism in Islam, as in all other +religions, _ultimately_ depended on general causes and conditions, not +on external circumstances. For example, the political anarchy of the +Umayyad period, the sceptical tendencies of the early ‘Abbásid age, and +particularly the dry formalism of Moslem theology could not fail to +provoke counter-movements towards quietism, spiritual authority, and +emotional faith. But although Ṣúfiism was not called into being by +any impulse from without (this is too obvious to require argument), the +influences of which I am about to speak have largely contributed to make +it what it is, and have coloured it so deeply that no student of the +history of Ṣúfiism can afford to neglect them. + +[Sidenote: Ma‘rúf al-Karkhà (†815 A.D.).] + +Towards the end of the eighth century of our era the influence of new +ideas is discernible in the sayings of Ma‘rúf al-Karkhà (†815 A.D.), a +contemporary of Fuá¸ayl b. ‘IyáḠand ShaqÃq of Balkh. He was born +in the neighbourhood of Wásiá¹, one of the great cities of +Mesopotamia, and the name of his father, FÃrúz, or FÃrúzán, shows that +he had Persian blood in his veins. Ma‘rút was a client (_mawlá_) of the +ShÑite Imám, ‘Alà b. Músá al-Riá¸Ã¡, in whose presence he made +profession of Islam; for he had been brought up as a Christian (such is +the usual account), or, possibly, as a Ṣábian. He lived during the +reign of Hárún al-RashÃd in the Karkh quarter of Baghdád, where he +gained a high reputation for saintliness, so that his tomb in that city +is still an object of veneration. He is described as a God-intoxicated +man, but in this respect he is not to be compared with many who came +after him. Nevertheless, he deserves to stand at the head of the +mystical as opposed to the ascetic school of ṢúfÃs. He defined +Ṣúfiism as "the apprehension of Divine realities and renunciation of +human possessions."[726] Here are a few of his sayings:-- + + "Love is not to be learned from men; it is one of God's gifts and + comes of His grace. + + "The Saints of God are known by three signs: their thought is of + God, their dwelling is with God, and their business is in God. + + "If the gnostic (_‘árif_) has no bliss, yet he himself is in every + bliss. + + "When you desire anything of God, swear to Him by me." + +From these last words, which Ma‘rúf addressed to his pupil Sarà +al-Saqaá¹Ã, it is manifest that he regarded himself as being in the +most intimate communion with God. + +[Sidenote: Abú Sulaymán al-Dáránà (†830 A.D.).] + +Abú Sulaymán (†830 A.D.), the next great name in the Ṣúfà +biographies, was also a native of Wásiá¹, but afterwards emigrated to +Syria and settled at Dárayá (near Damascus), whence he is called +'al-DáránÃ.' He developed the doctrine of gnosis (_ma‘rifat_). Those who +are familiar with the language of European mystics--_illuminatio_, +_oculus cordis_, &c.--will easily interpret such sayings as these:-- + + "None refrains from the lusts of this world save him in whose heart + there is a light that keeps him always busied with the next world. + + "When the gnostic's spiritual eye is opened, his bodily eye is shut: + they see nothing but Him. + + "If Gnosis were to take visible form, all that looked thereon would + die at the sight of its beauty and loveliness and goodness and + grace, and every brightness would become dark beside the splendour + thereof.[727] + + + "Gnosis is nearer to silence than to speech." + +[Sidenote: Dhu ’l-Nún al-Misrà (†860 A.D.).] + +We now come to Dhu ’l-Nún al-Misrà (†860 A.D.), whom the ṢúfÃs +themselves consider to be the primary author of their doctrine.[728] +That he at all events was among the first of those who helped to give it +permanent shape is a fact which is amply attested by the collection of +his sayings preserved in ‘Aá¹á¹Ã¡r's _Memoirs of the Saints_ and in +other works of the same kind.[729] It is clear that the theory of +gnosis, with which he deals at great length, was the central point in +his system; and he seems to have introduced the doctrine that true +knowledge of God is attained only by means of ecstasy (_wajd_). "The man +that knows God best," he said, "is the one most lost in Him." Like +Dionysius, he refused to make any positive statements about the Deity. +"Whatever you imagine, God is the contrary of that." Divine love he +regarded as an ineffable mystery which must not be revealed to the +profane. All this is the very essence of the later Ṣúfiism. It is +therefore desirable to ascertain the real character of Dhu ’l-Nún and +the influences to which he was subjected. The following account gives a +brief summary of what I have been able to discover; fuller details will +be found in the article mentioned above. + +His name was Abu ’l-FayḠThawbán b. IbráhÃm, Dhu ’l-Nún (He of the +Fish) being a sobriquet referring to one of his miracles, and his father +was a native of Nubia, or of IkhmÃm in Upper Egypt. Ibn Khallikán +describes Dhu ’l-Nún as 'the nonpareil of his age' for learning, +devotion, communion with the Divinity (_ḥál_), and acquaintance with +literature (_adab_); adding that he was a philosopher (_ḥakÃm_) and +spoke Arabic with elegance. The people of Egypt, among whom he lived, +looked upon him as a _zindÃq_ (freethinker), and he was brought to +Baghdád to answer this charge, but after his death he was canonised. In +the _Fihrist_ he appears among "the philosophers who discoursed on +alchemy," and Ibnu ’l-Qifá¹Ã brackets him with the famous occultist +Jábir b. Ḥayyán. He used to wander (as we learn from Mas‘údÃ)[730] +amidst the ruined Egyptian monuments, studying the inscriptions and +endeavouring to decipher the mysterious figures which were thought to +hold the key to the lost sciences of antiquity. He also dabbled in +medicine, which, like Paracelsus, he combined with alchemy and magic. + +Let us see what light these facts throw upon the origin of the Ṣúfà +theosophy. Did it come to Egypt from India, Persia, or Greece? + +[Sidenote: The origin of theosophical Ṣúfiism.] + +Considering the time, place, and circumstances in which it arose, and +having regard to the character of the man who bore a chief part in its +development, we cannot hesitate, I think, to assert that it is largely a +product of Greek speculation. Ma‘rúf al-KarkhÃ, Abú Sulaymán al-DáránÃ, +and Dhu ’l-Nún al-Miá¹£rà all three lived and died in the period (786-861 +A.D.) which begins with the accession of Hárún al-RashÃd and is +terminated by the death of Mutawakkil. During these seventy-five years +the stream of Hellenic culture flowed unceasingly into the Moslem world. +Innumerable works of Greek philosophers, physicians, and scientists were +translated and eagerly studied. Thus the Greeks became the teachers of +the Arabs, and the wisdom of ancient Greece formed, as has been shown in +a preceding chapter, the basis of Muḥammadan science and philosophy. The +results are visible in the Mu‘tazilite rationalism as well as in the +system of the _Ikhwánu ’l-á¹¢afá_. But it was not through literature alone +that the Moslems were imbued with Hellenism. In ‘Iráq, Syria, and Egypt +they found themselves on its native soil, which yielded, we may be sure, +a plentiful harvest of ideas--Neo-platonic, Gnostical, Christian, +mystical, pantheistic, and what not? In Mesopotamia, the heart of the +‘Abbásid Empire, dwelt a strange people, who were really Syrian +heathens, but who towards the beginning of the ninth century assumed the +name of Ṣábians in order to protect themselves from the persecution with +which they were threatened by the Caliph Ma’mún. At this time, indeed, +many of them accepted Islam or Christianity, but the majority clung to +their old pagan beliefs, while the educated class continued to profess a +religious philosophy which, as it is described by Shahrastánà and other +Muḥammadan writers, is simply the Neo-platonism of Proclus and +Iamblichus. To return to Dhu ’l-Nún, it is incredible that a mystic and +natural philosopher living in the first half of the ninth century in +Egypt should have derived his doctrine directly from India. There may be +Indian elements in Neo-platonism and Gnosticism, but this possibility +does not affect my contention that the immediate source of the Ṣúfà +theosophy is to be sought in Greek and Syrian speculation. To define its +origin more narrowly is not, I think, practicable in the present state +of our knowledge. Merx, however, would trace it to Dionysius, the +Pseudo-Areopagite, or rather to his master, a certain "Hierotheus," whom +Frothingham has identified with the Syrian mystic, Stephen bar Sudaili +(_circa_ 500 A.D.). Dionysius was of course a Christian Neo-platonist. +His works certainly laid the foundations of mediæval mysticism in +Europe, and they were also popular in the East at the time when Ṣúfiism +arose. + +[Sidenote: Ṣúfiism composed of many different elements.] + +When speaking of the various current theories as to the origin of +Ṣúfiism, I said that in my opinion they all contained a measure of +truth. No single cause will account for a phenomenon so widely spread +and so diverse in its manifestations. Ṣúfiism has always been thoroughly +eclectic, absorbing and transmuting whatever 'broken lights' fell across +its path, and consequently it gained adherents amongst men of the most +opposite views--theists and pantheists, Mu‘tazilites and Scholastics, +philosophers and divines. We have seen what it owed to Greece, but the +Perso-Indian elements are not to be ignored. Although the theory "that +it must be regarded as the reaction of the Aryan mind against a Semitic +religion imposed on it by force" is inadmissible--Dhu ’l-Nún, for +example, was a Copt or Nubian--the fact remains that there was at the +time a powerful anti-Semitic reaction, which expressed itself, more or +less consciously, in ṢúfÃs of Persian race. Again, the literary +influence of India upon Muḥammadan thought before 1000 A.D. was greatly +inferior to that of Greece, as any one can see by turning over the pages +of the _Fihrist_; but Indian religious ideas must have penetrated into +Khurásán and Eastern Persia at a much earlier period. + +These considerations show that the question as to the origin of Ṣúfiism +cannot be answered in a definite and exclusive way. None of the rival +theories is completely true, nor is any of them without a partial +justification. The following words of Dr. Goldziher should be borne in +mind by all who are interested in this subject:-- + + [Sidenote: Goldziher on the character of Ṣúfiism.] + + "Ṣúfiism cannot be looked upon as a regularly organised sect within + Islam. Its dogmas cannot be compiled into a regular system. It + manifests itself in different shapes in different countries. We find + divergent tendencies, according to the spirit of the teaching of + distinguished theosophists who were founders of different schools, + the followers of which may be compared to Christian monastic orders. + The influence of different environments naturally affected the + development of Ṣúfiism. Here we find mysticism, there asceticism the + prevailing thought."[731] + +The four principal foreign sources of Ṣúfiism are undoubtedly +Christianity, Neo-platonism, Gnosticism, and Indian asceticism and +religious philosophy. I shall not attempt in this place to estimate +their comparative importance, but it should be clearly understood that +the speculative and theosophical side of Ṣúfiism, which, as we have +seen, was first elaborated in ‘Iráq, Syria, and Egypt, bears +unmistakable signs of Hellenistic influence. + + +[Sidenote: BáyazÃd of Bisá¹Ã¡m.] + +The early ṢúfÃs are particularly interested in the theory of mystical +union (_faná wa-baqá_) and often use expressions which it is easy to +associate with pantheism, yet none of them can fairly be called a +pantheist in the true sense. The step from theosophy to pantheism was +not, I think, made either by Ḥalláj (†922 A.D.) or by the celebrated +Abú YazÃd, in Persian BáyazÃd (†874-75 A.D.), of Bisá¹Ã¡m, a town in the +province of Qúmis situated near the south-eastern corner of the Caspian +Sea. While his father, Surúshán, was a Zoroastrian, his master in +Ṣúfiism seems to have been connected with Sind (Scinde), where Moslem +governors had been installed since 715 A.D. BáyazÃd carried the +experimental doctrine of _faná_ (dying to self) to its utmost limit, and +his language is tinged with the peculiar poetic imagery which was +afterwards developed by the great Ṣúfà of Khurásán, Abú Sa‘Ãd b. Abi +’l-Khayr (†1049 A.D.). I can give only a few specimens of his sayings. +Their genuineness is not above suspicion, but they serve to show that if +the theosophical basis of Ṣúfiism is distinctively Greek, its mystical +extravagances are no less distinctively Oriental. + + "Creatures are subject to 'states' (_aḥwál_), but the gnostic has no + 'state,' because his vestiges are effaced and his essence is + annihilated by the essence of another, and his traces are lost in + another's traces. + + + "I went from God to God until they cried from me in me, 'O Thou I!' + + + "Nothing is better for Man than to be without aught, having no + asceticism, no theory, no practice. When he is without all, he is + with all. + + + "Verily I am God, there is no God except me, so worship me! + + + "Glory to me! how great is my majesty! + + + "I came forth from BáyazÃd-ness as a snake from its skin. Then I + looked. I saw that lover, beloved, and love are one, for in the + world of unification all can be one. + + + "I am the wine-drinker and the wine and the cup-bearer." + +Thus, in the course of a century, Ṣúfiism, which at first was little +more than asceticism, became in succession mystical and theosophical, +and even ran the risk of being confused with pantheism. Henceforward the +term _Taá¹£awwuf_ unites all these varying shades. As a rule, however, +the great ṢúfÃs of the third century A.H. (815-912 A.D.) keep their +antinomian enthusiasm under control. Most of them agreed with Junayd of +Baghdád (†909 A.D.), the leading theosophist of his time, in preferring +"the path of sobriety," and in seeking to reconcile the Law (_sharÑat_) +with the Truth (_ḥaqÃqat_). "Our principles," said Sahl b. ‘Abdulláh +al-Tustarà (†896 A.D.), "are six: to hold fast by the Book of God, to +model ourselves upon the Apostle (Muḥammad), to eat only what is +lawful, to refrain from hurting people even though they hurt us, to +avoid forbidden things, and to fulfil obligations without delay." To +these articles the strictest Moslem might cheerfully subscribe. +Ṣúfiism in its ascetic, moral, and devotional aspects was a +spiritualised Islam, though it was a very different thing essentially. +While doing lip-service to the established religion, it modified the +dogmas of Islam in such a way as to deprive them of their original +significance. Thus Allah, the God of mercy and wrath, was in a certain +sense depersonalised and worshipped as the One absolutely Real +(_al-Ḥaqq_). Here the ṢúfÃs betray their kinship with the +Mu‘tazilites, but the two sects have little in common except the Greek +philosophy.[732] It must never be forgotten that Ṣúfiism was the +expression of a profound religious feeling--"hatred of the world and +love of the Lord."[733] "_Taá¹£awwuf_," said Junayd, "is this: that God +should make thee die to thyself and should make thee live in Him." + +The further development of Ṣúfiism may be indicated in a few words. + +[Sidenote: The development of Ṣúfiism.] + +What was at first a form of religion adopted by individuals and +communicated to a small circle of companions gradually became a monastic +system, a school for saints, with rules of discipline and devotion which +the novice (_murÃd_) learned from his spiritual director (_pÃr_ or +_ustádh_), to whose guidance he submitted himself absolutely. Already in +the third century after Muḥammad it is increasingly evident that the +typical Ṣúfà adept of the future will no longer be a solitary ascetic +shunning the sight of men, but a great Shaykh and hierophant, who +appears on ceremonial occasions attended by a numerous train of admiring +disciples. Soon the doctrine began to be collected and embodied in +books. Some of the most notable Arabic works of reference on Ṣúfiism +have been mentioned already. Among the oldest are the _Kitábu ’l-Luma‘_, +by Abú Naá¹£r al-Sarráj (†988 A.D.) and the _Qútu ’l-Qulúb_ by Abú +Ṭálib al-Makkà (†996 A.D.). The twelfth century saw the rise of the +Dervish Orders. ‘Adà al-Hakkárà (†1163 A.D.) and ‘Abdu ’l-Qádir al-JÃlà +(†1166 A.D.) founded the fraternities which are called ‘AdawÃs and +QádirÃs, after their respective heads. These were followed in rapid +succession by the Rifá‘Ãs, the ShádhilÃs, and the MevlevÃs, of whom the +last named owe their origin to the Persian poet and mystic, Jalálu +’l-DÃn Rúmà (†1273 A.D.). By this time, mainly through the influence of +GhazálÃ, Ṣúfiism had won for itself a secure and recognised position +in the Muḥammadan Church. Orthodoxy was forced to accept the popular +Saint-worship and to admit the miracles of the _Awliyá_, although many +Moslem puritans raised their voices against the superstitious veneration +which was paid to the tombs of holy men, and against the prayers, +sacrifices, and oblations offered by the pilgrims who assembled. Ghazálà +also gave the Ṣúfà doctrine a metaphysical basis. For this purpose he +availed himself of the terminology, which Fárábà (also a ṢúfÃ) and +Avicenna had already borrowed from the Neo-platonists. From his time +forward we find in Ṣúfà writings constant allusions to the Plotinian +theories of emanation and ecstasy. + + +[Sidenote: ‘Umar Ibnu ’l-Fáriá¸.] + +Mysticism was more congenial to the Persians than to the Arabs, and its +influence on Arabic literature is not to be compared with the +extraordinary spell which it has cast over the Persian mind since the +eleventh century of the Christian era to the present day. With few +exceptions, the great poets of Persia (and, we may add, of Turkey) speak +the allegorical language and use the fantastic imagery of which the +quatrains of the Persian ṢúfÃ, Abú Sa‘Ãd b. Abi ’l-Khayr,[734] afford +almost the first literary example. The Arabs have only one mystical poet +worthy to stand beside the Persian masters. This is Sharafu ’l-DÃn ‘Umar +Ibnu ’l-Fáriá¸, who was born in Cairo (1181 A.D.) and died there in +1235. His _DÃwán_ was edited by his grandson ‘AlÃ, and the following +particulars regarding the poet's life are extracted from the +biographical notice prefixed to this edition[735]:-- + + "The Shaykh ‘Umar Ibnu ’l-FáriḠwas of middle stature; his face + was fair and comely, with a mingling of visible redness; and when he + was under the influence of music (_samá‘_) and rapture (_wajd_), and + overcome by ecstasy, it grew in beauty and brilliancy, and sweat + dropped from his body until it ran on the ground under his feet. I + never saw (so his son relates) among Arabs or foreigners a figure + equal in beauty to his, and I am the likest of all men to him in + form.... And when he walked in the city, the people used to press + round him asking his blessing and trying to kiss his hand, but he + would not allow anyone to do so, but put his hand in theirs.... + ‘Umar Ibnu ’l-FáriḠsaid: 'In the beginning of my detachment + (_tajrÃd_) from the world I used to beg permission of my father and + go up to the Wádi ’l-Mustaá¸â€˜afÃn on the second mountain of + al-Muqaá¹á¹am. Thither I would resort and continue in this + hermit life (_sÃyáḥa_) night and day; then I would return to my + father, as bound in duty to cherish his affection. My father was at + that time Lieutenant of the High Court (_khalÃfatu ’l-ḥukmi + ’l-‘azÃz_) in Qáhira and Miá¹£r,[736] the two guarded cities, and + was one of the men most eminent for learning and affairs. He was + wont to be glad when I returned, and he frequently let me sit with + him in the chambers of the court and in the colleges of law. Then I + would long for "detachment," and beg leave to return to the life of + a wandering devotee, and thus I was doing repeatedly, until my + father was asked to fill the office of Chief Justice (_Qáá¸i + ’l-Quá¸Ã¡t_), but refused, and laid down the post which he held, + and retired from society, and gave himself entirely to God in the + preaching-hall (_qá‘atu ’l-khiá¹Ã¡ba_) of the Mosque al-Azhar. + After his death I resumed my former detachment, and solitary + devotion, and travel in the way of Truth, but no revelation was + vouchsafed to me. One day I came to Cairo and entered the Sayfiyya + College. At the gate I found an old grocer performing an ablution + which was not prescribed. First he washed his hands, then his feet; + then he wiped his head and washed his face. "O Shaykh," I said to + him, "do you, after all these years, stand beside the gate of the + college among the Moslem divines and perform an irregular ablution?" + He looked at me and said, "O ‘Umar, nothing will be vouchsafed to + thee in Egypt, but only in the Ḥijáz, at Mecca (may God exalt + it!); set out thither, for the time of thy illumination hath come." + Then I knew that the man was one of God's saints and that he was + disguising himself by his manner of livelihood and by pretending to + be ignorant of the irregularity of the ablution. I seated myself + before him and said to him, "O my master, how far am I from Mecca! + and I cannot find convoy or companions save in the months of + Pilgrimage." He looked at me and pointed with his hand and said, + "Here is Mecca in front of thee"; and as I looked with him, I saw + Mecca (may God exalt it!); and bidding him farewell, I set off to + seek it, and it was always in front of me until I entered it. At + that moment illumination came to me and continued without any + interruption.... I abode in a valley which was distant from Mecca + ten days' journey for a hard rider, and every day and night I would + come forth to pray the five prayers in the exalted Sanctuary, and + with me was a wild beast of huge size which accompanied me in my + going and returning, and knelt to me as a camel kneels, and said, + "Mount, O my master," but I never did so.'" + +When fifteen years had elapsed, ‘Umar Ibnu ’l-FáriḠreturned to +Cairo. The people venerated him as a saint, and the reigning monarch, +Malik al-Kámil, wished to visit him in person, but ‘Umar declined to see +him, and rejected his bounty. "At most times," says the poet's son, "the +Shaykh was in a state of bewilderment, and his eyes stared fixedly. He +neither heard nor saw any one speaking to him. Now he would stand, now +sit, now repose on his side, now lie on his back wrapped up like a dead +man; and thus would he pass ten consecutive days, more or less, neither +eating nor drinking nor speaking nor stirring." In 1231 A.D. he made the +pilgrimage to Mecca, on which occasion he met his famous contemporary, +Shihábu’ l-DÃn Abú Ḥafá¹£ ‘Umar al-SuhrawardÃ. He died four years +later, and was buried in the Qaráfa cemetery at the foot of Mount +Muqaá¹á¹am. + +[Sidenote: The poetry of Ibnu ’l-Fáriá¸.] + +His _DÃwán_ of mystical odes, which were first collected and published +by his grandson, is small in extent compared with similar works in the +Persian language, but of no unusual brevity when regarded as the +production of an Arabian poet.[737] Concerning its general character +something has been said above (p. 325). The commentator, Ḥasan +al-BúrÃnà (†1615 A.D.), praises the easy flow (_insijà m_) of the +versification, and declares that Ibnu ’l-FáriḠ"is accustomed to play +with ideas in ever-changing forms, and to clothe them with splendid +garments."[738] His style, full of verbal subtleties, betrays the +influence of MutanabbÃ.[739] The longest piece in the _DÃwán_ is a Hymn +of Divine Love, entitled _Naẓmu ’l-Sulúk_ ('Poem on the Mystic's +Progress'), and often called _al-Tá’iyyatu ’l-Kubrá_ ('The Greater Ode +rhyming in _t_'), which has been edited with a German verse-translation +by Hammer-Purgstall (Vienna, 1854). On account of this poem the author +was accused of favouring the doctrine of _ḥulúl_, _i.e._, the +incarnation of God in human beings. Another celebrated ode is the +_Khamriyya_, or Hymn of Wine.[740] + +The following versions will perhaps convey to English readers some faint +impression of the fervid rapture and almost ethereal exaltation which +give the poetry of Ibnu ’l-FáriḠa unique place in Arabic +literature:-- + + "Let passion's swelling tide my senses drown! + Pity love's fuel, this long-smouldering heart, + Nor answer with a frown, + When I would fain behold Thee as Thou art, + '_Thou shall not see Me._'[741] O my soul, keep fast + The pledge thou gav'st: endure unfaltering to the last! + For Love is life, and death in love the Heaven + Where all sins are forgiven. + To those before and after and of this day, + That witnesseth my tribulation, say, + 'By me be taught, me follow, me obey, + And tell my passion's story thro' wide East and West.' + With my Beloved I alone have been + When secrets tenderer than evening airs + Passed, and the Vision blest + Was granted to my prayers, + That crowned me, else obscure, with endless fame, + The while amazed between + His beauty and His majesty + I stood in silent ecstasy, + Revealing that which o'er my spirit went and came. + Lo! in His face commingled + Is every charm and grace; + The whole of Beauty singled + Into a perfect face + Beholding Him would cry, + 'There is no God but He, and He is the most High!'"[742] + +Here are the opening verses of the _Tá’iyyatu ’l-á¹¢ughrá_, or 'The +Lesser Ode rhyming in _t_,' which is so called in order to distinguish +it from the _Tá’iyyatu ’l-Kubrá_:-- + + "Yea, in me the Zephyr kindled longing, O my loves, for you; + Sweetly breathed the balmy Zephyr, scattering odours when it blew; + Whispering to my heart at morning secret tales of those who dwell + (How my fainting heart it gladdened!) nigh the water and the well; + Murmuring in the grassy meadows, garmented with gentleness, + Languid love-sick airs diffusing, healing me of my distress. + When the green slopes wave before thee, Zephyr, in my loved Ḥijáz, + Thou, not wine that mads the others, art my rapture's only cause. + Thou the covenant eternal[743] callest back into my mind, + For but newly thou hast parted from my dear ones, happy Wind! + Driver of the dun-red camels that amidst acacias bide, + Soft and sofa-like thy saddle from the long and weary ride! + Blessings on thee, if descrying far-off Túá¸ih at noonday, + Thou wilt cross the desert hollows where the fawns of Wajra play, + And if from ‘Urayá¸'s sand-hillocks bordering on stony ground + Thou wilt turn aside to Ḥuzwá, driver for Suwayqa bound, + And Ṭuwayli‘'s willows leaving, if to Sal‘ thou thence wilt ride-- + Ask, I pray thee, of a people dwelling on the mountain-side! + Halt among the clan I cherish (so may health attend thee still!) + And deliver there my greeting to the Arabs of the hill. + For the tents are basking yonder, and in one of them is She + That bestows the meeting sparely, but the parting lavishly. + All around her as a rampart edge of sword and point of lance, + Yet my glances stray towards her when on me she deigns to glance. + Girt about with double raiment--soul and heart of mine, no less-- + She is guarded from beholders, veiled by her unveiledness. + Death to me, in giving loose to my desire, she destineth; + Ah, how goodly seems the bargain, and how cheap is Love + for Death![744] + +Ibnu ’l-FáriḠcame of pure Arab stock, and his poetry is thoroughly +Arabian both in form and spirit. This is not the place to speak of the +great Persian ṢúfÃs, but Ḥusayn b. Manṣúr al-Ḥalláj, who was +executed in the Caliphate of Muqtadir (922 A.D.), could not have been +omitted here but for the fact that Professor Browne has already given an +admirable account of him, to which I am unable to add anything of +importance.[745] The Arabs, however, have contributed to the history of +Ṣúfiism another memorable name--Muḥyi’l-DÃn Ibnu ’l-‘ArabÃ, whose +life falls within the final century of the ‘Abbásid period, and will +therefore fitly conclude the present chapter.[746] + +[Sidenote: Ibnu ’l-‘ArabÃ.] + +Muḥyi ’l-DÃn Muḥammad b. ‘Alà Ibnu ’l-‘Arabà (or Ibn ‘ArabÃ)[747] +was born at Mursiya (Murcia) in Spain on the 17th of Ramaá¸Ã¡n, 560 +A.H. = July 29, 1165 A.D. From 1173 to 1202 he resided in Seville. He +then set out for the East, travelling by way of Egypt to the Ḥijáz, +where he stayed a long time, and after visiting Baghdád, Mosul, and Asia +Minor, finally settled at Damascus, in which city he died (638 A.H. = +1240 A.D.). His tomb below Mount Qásiyún was thought to be "a piece of +the gardens of Paradise," and was called the Philosophers' Stone.[748] +It is now enclosed in a mosque which bears the name of Muḥyi ’l-DÃn, +and a cupola rises over it.[749] We know little concerning the events of +his life, which seems to have been passed chiefly in travel and +conversation with ṢúfÃs and in the composition of his voluminous +writings, about three hundred in number according to his own +computation. Two of these works are especially celebrated, and have +caused Ibnu ’l-‘Arabà to be regarded as the greatest of all +Muḥammadan mystics--the _Futúḥát al-Makkiyya_, or 'Meccan +Revelations,' and the _Fuṣúṣú ’l-Ḥikam_, or 'Bezels of +Philosophy.' The _Futúḥát_ is a huge treatise in five hundred and +sixty chapters, containing a complete system of mystical science. The +author relates that he saw Muḥammad in the World of Real Ideas, +seated on a throne amidst angels, prophets, and saints, and received his +command to discourse on the Divine mysteries. At another time, while +circumambulating the Ka‘ba, he met a celestial spirit wearing the form +of a youth engaged in the same holy rite, who showed him the living +esoteric Temple which is concealed under the lifeless exterior, even as +the eternal substance of the Divine Ideas is hidden by the veils of +popular religion--veils through which the lofty mind must penetrate, +until, having reached the splendour within, it partakes of the Divine +nature and beholds what no mortal eye can endure to look upon. Ibnu +’l-‘Arabà immediately fell into a swoon. When he came to himself he was +instructed to contemplate the visionary form and to write down the +mysteries which it would reveal to his gaze. Then the youth entered the +Ka‘ba with Ibnu ’l-‘ArabÃ, and resuming his spiritual aspect, appeared +to him on a three-legged steed, breathed into his breast the knowledge +of all things, and once more bade him describe the heavenly form in +which all mysteries are enshrined.[750] Such is the reputed origin of +the 'Meccan Revelations,' of which the greater portion was written in +the town where inspiration descended on Muḥammad six hundred years +before. The author believed, or pretended to believe, that every word of +them was dictated to him by supernatural means. The _Fúṣúṣ_, a +short work in twenty-seven chapters, each of which is named after one of +the prophets, is no less highly esteemed, and has been the subject of +numerous commentaries in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. + +[Sidenote: The doctrine of the Perfect Man.] + +Curiously enough, Ibnu ’l-‘Arabà combined the most extravagant mysticism +with the straitest orthodoxy. "He was a Ẓáhirite (literalist) in +religion and a Báá¹inite (spiritualist) in his speculative +beliefs."[751] He rejected all authority (_taqlÃd_). "I am not one of +those who say, 'Ibn Ḥazm said so-and-so, Aḥmad[752] said +so-and-so, al-Nu‘mán[753] said so-and-so,'" he declares in one of his +poems. But although he insisted on punctilious adherence to the letter +of the sacred law, we may suspect that his refusal to follow any human +authority, analogy, or opinion was simply the overweening presumption of +the seer who regards himself as divinely illuminated and infallible. +Many theologians were scandalised by the apparently blasphemous +expressions which occur in his writings, and taxed him with holding +heretical doctrines, _e.g._, the incarnation of God in man (_ḥulúl_) +and the identification of man with God (_ittiḥád_). Centuries passed, +but controversy continued to rage over him. He found numerous and +enthusiastic partisans, who urged that the utterances of the saints must +not be interpreted literally nor criticised at all. It was recognised, +however, that such high mysteries were unsuitable for the weaker +brethren, so that many even of those who firmly believed in his sanctity +discouraged the reading of his books. They were read nevertheless, +publicly and privately, from one end of the Muḥammadan world to the +other; people copied them for the sake of obtaining the author's +blessing, and the manuscripts were eagerly bought. Among the +distinguished men who wrote in his defence we can mention here only +Majdu ’l-DÃn al-FÃrúzábádà (†1414 A.D.), the author of the great Arabic +lexicon entitled _al-Qámús_; Jalálu ’l-DÃn al-Suyúá¹Ã (†1445 A.D.); +and ‘Abdu ’l-Wahháb al-Sha‘ránà (†1565 A.D.). The fundamental principle +of his system is the Unity of Being (_waḥdatu ’l-wujúd_). There is no +real difference between the Essence and its attributes or, in other +words, between God and the universe. All created things subsist +eternally as ideas (_a‘yán thábita_) in the knowledge of God, and since +being is identical with knowledge, their "creation" only means His +knowing them, or Himself, under the aspect of actuality; the universe, +in fact, is the concrete sum of the relations of the Essence as subject +to itself as object. This pantheistic monism puts on an Islamic mask in +the doctrine of "the Perfect Man" (_al-Insán al-Kámil_), a phrase which +Ibnu ’l-‘Arabà was the first to associate with it. The Divine +consciousness, evolving through a series of five planes +(_ḥaá¸arát_), attains to complete expression in Man, the +microcosmic being who unites the creative and creaturely attributes of +the Essence and is at once the image of God and the archetype of the +universe. Only through him does God know Himself and make Himself known; +he is the eye of the world whereby God sees His own works. The daring +paradoxes of Ibnu ’l-‘ArabÃ's dialectic are illustrated by such verses +as these:-- + + He praises me (by manifesting my perfections and creating me in + His form), + And I praise Him (by manifesting His perfections and obeying Him). + How can He be independent when I help and aid Him? (because the Divine + attributes derive the possibility of manifestation from their human + correlates). + For that cause God brought me into existence, + And I know Him and bring Him into existence (in my knowledge + and contemplation of Him).[754] + +Thus it is the primary function of Man to reveal and realise his Divine +nature; and the Perfect Men, regarded individually, are the prophets and +saints. Here the doctrine--an amalgam of Manichæan, Gnostic, +Neo-platonic and Christian speculations--attaches itself to Muḥammad, +"the Seal of the prophets." According to Moslem belief, the pre-existent +Spirit or Light of Muḥammad (_Núr MuḥammadÃ_) became incarnate in +Adam and in the whole series of prophets, of whom Muḥammad is the +last. Muḥammad, then, is the Logos,[755] the Mediator, the Vicegerent +of God (_KhalÃfat Allah_), the God-Man who has descended to this earthly +sphere to make manifest the glory of Him who brought the universe into +existence. + +But, of course, Ibnu ’l-‘ArabÃ's philosophy carries him far beyond the +realm of positive religion. If God is the "self" of all things sensible +and intelligible, it follows that He reveals Himself in every form of +belief in a degree proportionate to the pre-determined capacity of the +believer; the mystic alone sees that He is One in all forms, for the +mystic's heart is all-receptive: it assumes whatever form God reveals +Himself in, as wax takes the impression of the seal. + + "My heart is capable of every form, + A cloister for the monk, a fane for idols, + A pasture for gazelles, the pilgrim's Ka‘ba, + The Tables of the Torah, the Koran. + Love is the faith I hold: wherever turn + His camels, still the one true faith is mine."[756] + +The vast bulk of Ibnu ’l-‘ArabÃ's writings, his technical and scholastic +terminology, his recondite modes of thought, and the lack of method in +his exposition have, until recently, deterred European Orientalists from +bestowing on him the attention which he deserves.[757] In the history of +Ṣúfiism his name marks an epoch: it is owing to him that what began +as a profoundly religious personal movement in Islam ends as an eclectic +and definitely pantheistic system of philosophy. The title of "The Grand +Master" (_al-Shaykh al-Akbar_), by which he is commonly designated, +bears witness to his supremacy in the world of Moslem mysticism from the +Mongol Invasion to the present day. In Persia and Turkey his influence +has been enormous, and through his pupil, á¹¢adru ’l-DÃn of Qóniya, he +is linked with the greatest of all Ṣúfà poets, Jalálu ’l-DÃn RúmÃ, +the author of the _MathnawÃ_, who died some thirty years after him. Nor +did all those who borrowed his ideas call themselves Moslems. He +inspired, amongst other mediæval Christian writers, "the Illuminated +Doctor" Raymond Lull, and probably Dante.[758] + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE ARABS IN EUROPE + + +It will be remembered that before the end of the first century of the +Hijra, in the reign of the Umayyad Caliph, WalÃd b. ‘Abd al-Malik +(705-715 A.D.), the Moslems under Ṭáriq and Músá b. Nuá¹£ayr, +crossed the Mediterranean, and having defeated Roderic the Goth in a +great battle near Cadiz, rapidly brought the whole of Spain into +subjection. The fate of the new province was long doubtful. The Berber +insurrection which raged in Africa (734-742 A.D.) spread to Spain and +threatened to exterminate the handful of Arab colonists; and no sooner +was this danger past than the victors began to rekindle the old feuds +and jealousies which they had inherited from their ancestors of Qays and +Kalb. Once more the rival factions of Syria and Yemen flew to arms, and +the land was plunged in anarchy. + +[Sidenote: ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán, the Umayyad.] + +Meanwhile ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán b. Mu‘áwiya, a grandson of the Caliph +Hishám, had escaped from the general massacre with which the ‘Abbásids +celebrated their triumph over the House of Umayya, and after five years +of wandering adventure, accompanied only by his faithful freedman, Badr, +had reached the neighbourhood of Ceuta, where he found a precarious +shelter with the Berber tribes. Young, ambitious, and full of confidence +in his destiny, ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán conceived the bold plan of throwing +himself into Spain and of winning a kingdom with the help of the Arabs, +amongst whom, as he well knew, there were many clients of his own +family. Accordingly in 755 A.D. he sent Badr across the sea on a secret +mission. The envoy accomplished even more than was expected of him. To +gain over the clients was easy, for ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán was their natural +chief, and in the event of his success they would share with him the +prize. Their number, however, was comparatively small. The pretender +could not hope to achieve anything unless he were supported by one of +the great parties, Syrians or Yemenites. At this time the former, led by +the feeble governor, Yúsuf b. ‘Abd al-Raḥmán al-FihrÃ, and his cruel +but capable lieutenant, á¹¢umayl b. Ḥátim, held the reins of power +and were pursuing their adversaries with ruthless ferocity. The +Yemenites, therefore, hastened to range themselves on the side of ‘Abdu +’l-Raḥmán, not that they loved his cause, but inspired solely by the +prospect of taking a bloody vengeance upon the Syrians. These Spanish +Moslems belonged to the true Bedouin stock! + +A few months later ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán landed in Spain, occupied Seville, +and, routing Yúsuf and á¹¢umayl under the walls of Cordova, made +himself master of the capital. On the same evening he presided, as +Governor of Spain, over the citizens assembled for public worship in the +great Mosque (May, 756 A.D.). + +During his long reign of thirty-two years ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán was busily +employed in defending and consolidating the empire which more than once +seemed to be on the point of slipping from his grasp. The task before +him was arduous in the extreme. On the one hand, he was confronted by +the unruly Arab aristocracy, jealous of their independence and regarding +the monarch as their common foe. Between him and them no permanent +compromise was possible, and since they could only be kept in check by +an armed force stronger than themselves, he was compelled to rely on +mercenaries, for the most part Berbers imported from Africa. Thus, by a +fatal necessity the Moslem Empire in the West gradually assumed that +despotic and Prætorian character which we have learned to associate with +the ‘Abbásid Government in the period of its decline, and the results +were in the end hardly less disastrous. The monarchy had also to reckon +with the fanaticism of its Christian subjects and with a formidable +Spanish national party eager to throw off the foreign yoke. +Extraordinary energy and tact were needed to maintain authority over +these explosive elements, and if the dynasty founded by ‘Abdu +’l-Raḥmán not only survived for two centuries and a half but gave to +Spain a more splendid era of prosperity and culture than she had ever +enjoyed, the credit is mainly due to the bold adventurer from whom even +his enemies could not withhold a tribute of admiration. One day, it is +said, the Caliph Manṣúr asked his courtiers, "Who is the Falcon of +Quraysh?" They replied, "O Prince of the Faithful, that title belongs to +you who have vanquished mighty kings and have put an end to civil war." +"No," said the Caliph, "it is not I." "Mu‘áwiya, then, or ‘Abdu +’l-Malik?" "No," said Manṣúr, "the Falcon of Quraysh is ‘Abdu +’l-Raḥmán b. Mu‘áwiya, he who traversed alone the deserts of Asia and +Africa, and without an army to aid him sought his fortune in an unknown +country beyond the sea. With no weapons except judgment and resolution +he subdued his enemies, crushed the rebels, secured his frontiers, and +founded a great empire. Such a feat was never achieved by any one +before."[759] + + +[Sidenote: Islam in Spain.] + +[Sidenote: Yaḥyá b. Yaḥyá.] + +[Sidenote: The Revolt of the Suburb.] + +Of the Moslems in Spain the Arabs formed only a small minority, and +they, moreover, showed all the indifference towards religion and +contempt for the laws of Islam which might be expected from men imbued +with Bedouin traditions whose forbears had been devotedly attached to +the world-loving Umayyads of Damascus. It was otherwise with the Spanish +converts, the so-called 'Renegades' or _Muwalladún_ (Affiliati) living +as clients under protection of the Arab nobility, and with the Berbers. +These races took their adopted religion very seriously, in accordance +with the fervid and sombre temperament which has always distinguished +them. Hence among the mass of Spanish Moslems a rigorous orthodoxy +prevailed. The Berber, Yaḥyá b. Yaḥyá (†849 A.D.), is a typical +figure. At the age of twenty-eight years he travelled to the East and +studied under Málik. b Anas, who dictated to him his celebrated work +known as the _Muwaá¹á¹a’_. Yaḥyá was one day at Málik's lecture +with a number of fellow-students, when some one said, "Here comes the +elephant!" All of them ran out to see the animal, but Yaḥyá did not +stir. "Why," said Málik, "do you not go out and look at it? Such animals +are not to be seen in Spain." To this Yaḥyá replied, "I left my +country for the purpose of seeing you and obtaining knowledge under your +guidance. I did not come here to see the elephant." Málik was so pleased +with this answer that he called him the most intelligent (_‘áqil_) of +the people of Spain. On his return to Spain Yaḥyá exerted himself to +spread the doctrines of his master, and though he obstinately refused, +on religious grounds, to accept any public office, his influence and +reputation were such that, as Ibn Ḥazm says, no Cadi was ever +appointed till Yaḥyá had given his opinion and designated the person +whom he preferred.[760] Thus the Málikite system, based on close +adherence to tradition, became the law of the land. "The Spaniards," it +is observed by a learned writer of the tenth century, "recognise only +the Koran and the _Muwaá¹á¹a’_; if they find a follower of Abú +ḤanÃfa or Sháfi‘Ã, they banish him from Spain, and if they meet with +a Mu‘tazilite or a ShÑite or any one of that sort, they often put him +to death."[761] Arrogant, intensely bigoted, and ambitious of power, the +Muḥammadan clergy were not disposed to play a subordinate rôle in the +State. In Hishám (788-796 A.D.), the successor of ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán, +they had a prince after their own heart, whose piety and devotion to +their interests left nothing to be desired. Ḥakam (796-822 A.D.) was +less complaisant. He honoured and respected the clergy, but at the same +time he let them see that he would not permit them to interfere in +political affairs. The malcontents, headed by the fiery Yaḥyá b. +Yaḥyá, replied with menaces and insults, and called on the populace +of Cordova--especially the 'Renegades' in the southern quarter +(_rabaá¸_) of the city--to rise against the tyrant and his insolent +soldiery. One day in Ramaá¸Ã¡n, 198 A.H. (May, 814 A.D.), Ḥakam +suddenly found himself cut off from the garrison and besieged in his +palace by an infuriated mob, but he did not lose courage, and, thanks to +his coolness and skilful strategy, he came safely out of the peril in +which he stood. The revolutionary suburb was burned to the ground and +those of its inhabitants who escaped massacre, some 60,000 souls, were +driven into exile. The real culprits went unpunished. Ḥakam could not +afford further to exasperate the divines, who on their part began to +perceive that they might obtain from the prince by favour what they had +failed to wring from him by force. Being mostly Arabs or Berbers, they +had a strong claim to his consideration. Their power was soon restored, +and in the reign of ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán II (822-852 A.D.) Yaḥyá +himself, the ringleader of the mutiny, directed ecclesiastical policy +and dispensed judicial patronage as he pleased. + +[Sidenote: ‘Umar b. Ḥafṣún.] + +The Revolt of the Suburb was only an episode in the long and sanguinary +struggle between the Spaniards, Moslem or Christian, on the one hand, +and the monarchy of Cordova on the other--a struggle complicated by the +rival Arab tribes, which sometimes patched up their own feuds in order +to defend themselves against the Spanish patriots, but never in any +circumstances gave their support to the detested Umayyad Government. The +hero of this war of independence was ‘Umar b. Ḥafṣún. He belonged +to a noble family of West-Gothic origin which had gone over to Islam and +settled in the mountainous district north-east of Malaga. Hot-blooded, +quarrelsome, and ready to stab on the slightest provocation, the young +man soon fell into trouble. At first he took shelter in the wild +fastnesses of Ronda, where he lived as a brigand until he was captured +by the police. He then crossed the sea to Africa, but in a short time +returned to his old haunts and put himself at the head of a band of +robbers. Here he held out for two years, when, having been obliged to +surrender, he accepted the proposal of the Sultan of Cordova that he and +his companions should enlist in the Imperial army. But ‘Umar was +destined for greater glory than the Sultan could confer upon him. A few +contemptuous words from a superior officer touched his pride to the +quick, so one fine day he galloped off with all his men in the direction +of Ronda. They found an almost impregnable retreat in the castle of +Bobastro, which had once been a Roman fortress. From this moment, says +Dozy, ‘Umar b. Ḥafṣún was no longer a brigand-chief, but leader of +the whole Spanish race in the south. The lawless and petulant free-lance +was transformed into a high-minded patriot, celebrated for the stern +justice with which he punished the least act of violence, adored by his +soldiers, and regarded by his countrymen as the champion of the national +cause. During the rest of his life (884-917 A.D.) he conducted the +guerilla with untiring energy and made himself a terror to the Arabs, +but fortune deserted him at the last, and he died--_felix opportunitate +mortis_--only a few years before complete ruin overtook his party. The +Moslem Spaniards, whose enthusiasm had been sensibly weakened by their +leader's conversion to Christianity, were the more anxious to make their +peace with the Government, since they saw plainly the hopelessness of +continuing the struggle. + +In 912 A.D. ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán III, the Defender of the Faith +(_al-Náṣir li-dÃnà ’lláh_), succeeded his grandfather, the AmÃr +‘Abdulláh, on the throne of Cordova. The character, genius, and +enterprise of this great monarch are strikingly depicted in the +following passage from the pen of an eloquent historian whose work, +although it was published some fifty years ago, will always be +authoritative[762]:-- + + [Sidenote: ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán III (912-961 A.D).] + + "Amongst the Umayyad sovereigns who have ruled Spain the first place + belongs incontestably to ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán III. What he + accomplished was almost miraculous. He had found the empire + abandoned to anarchy and civil war, rent by factions, parcelled + amongst a multitude of heterogeneous princes, exposed to incessant + attacks from the Christians of the north, and on the eve of being + swallowed up either by the Léonnese or the Africans. In spite of + innumerable obstacles he had saved Spain both from herself and from + the foreign domination. He had endowed her with new life and made + her greater and stronger than she had ever been. He had given her + order and prosperity at home, consideration and respect abroad. The + public treasury, which he had found in a deplorable condition, was + now overflowing. Of the Imperial revenues, which amounted annually + to 6,245,000 pieces of gold, a third sufficed for ordinary expenses; + a third was held in reserve, and ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán devoted the + remainder to his buildings. It was calculated that in the year 951 + he had in his coffers the enormous sum of 20,000,000 pieces of gold, + so that a traveller not without judgment in matters of finance + assures us that ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán and the Ḥamdánid (Náṣiru + ’l-Dawla), who was then reigning over Mesopotamia, were the + wealthiest princes of that epoch. The state of the country was in + keeping with the prosperous condition of the treasury. Agriculture, + industry, commerce, the arts and the sciences, all flourished.... + Cordova, with its half-million inhabitants, its three thousand + mosques, its superb palaces, its hundred and thirteen thousand + houses, its three hundred bagnios, and its twenty-eight suburbs, was + inferior in extent and splendour only to Baghdád, with which city + the Cordovans loved to compare it.... The power of ‘Abdu + ’l-Raḥmán was formidable. A magnificent fleet enabled him to + dispute with the Fáá¹imids the empire of the Mediterranean, and + secured him in the possession of Ceuta, the key of Mauritania. A + numerous and well-disciplined army, perhaps the finest in the world, + gave him superiority over the Christians of the north. The proudest + sovereigns solicited his alliance. The emperor of Constantinople, + the kings of Germany, Italy, and France sent ambassadors to him. + + "Assuredly, these were brilliant results; but what excites our + astonishment and admiration when we study this glorious reign is not + so much the work as the workman: it is the might of that + comprehensive intelligence which nothing escaped, and which showed + itself no less admirable in the minutest details than in the + loftiest conceptions. This subtle and sagacious man, who + centralises, who founds the unity of the nation and of the monarchy, + who by means of his alliances establishes a sort of political + equilibrium, who in his large tolerance calls the professors of + another religion into his councils, is a modern king rather than a + mediæval Caliph."[763] + +[Sidenote: Regency of Manṣúr Ibn Abà ‘Ãmir (976-1002 A.D.).] + +In short, ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán III made the Spanish Moslems one people, +and formed out of Arabs and Spaniards a united Andalusian nation, which, +as we shall presently see, advanced with incredible swiftness to a +height of culture that was the envy of Europe and was not exceeded by +any contemporary State in the Muḥammadan East. With his death, +however, the decline of the Umayyad dynasty began. His son, Ḥakam II +(†976 A.D.), left as heir-apparent a boy eleven years old, Hishám II, +who received the title of Caliph while the government was carried on by +his mother Aurora and the ambitious minister Muḥammad b. Abà ‘Ãmir. +The latter was virtually monarch of Spain, and whatever may be thought +of the means by which he rose to eminence, or of his treatment of the +unfortunate Caliph whose mental faculties he deliberately stunted and +whom he condemned to a life of monkish seclusion, it is impossible to +deny that he ruled well and nobly. He was a great statesman and a great +soldier. No one could accuse him of making an idle boast when he named +himself 'Al-Manṣúr' ('The Victorious'). Twice every year he was +accustomed to lead his army against the Christians, and such was the +panic which he inspired that in the course of more than fifty campaigns +he scarcely ever lost a battle. He died in 1002 A.D. A Christian monk, +recording the event in his chronicle, adds, "he was buried in Hell," but +Moslem hands engraved the following lines upon the tomb of their +champion:-- + + "His story in his relics you may trace, + As tho' he stood before you face to face. + Never will Time bring forth his peer again, + Nor one to guard, like him, the gaps of Spain."[764] + +His demise left the Prætorians masters of the situation. Berbers and +Slaves[765] divided the kingdom between them, and amidst revolution and +civil war the Umayyad dynasty passed away (1031 A.D.). + + +[Sidenote: The Party Kings (_Mulúku ’l-Ṭawá’if_).] + +It has been said with truth that the history of Spain in the eleventh +century bears a close resemblance to that of Italy in the fifteenth. The +splendid empire of ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán III was broken up, and from its +ruins there emerged a fortuitous conglomeration of petty states governed +by successful condottieri. Of these Party Kings (_Mulúku +’l-Ṭawá’if_), as they are called by Muḥammadan writers, the most +powerful were the ‘Abbádids of Seville. Although it was an age of +political decay, the material prosperity of Spain had as yet suffered +little diminution, whilst in point of culture the society of this time +reached a level hitherto unequalled. Here, then, we may pause for a +moment to review the progress of literature and science during the most +fruitful period of the Moslem occupation of European soil. + + +[Sidenote: Influence of Arabic culture on the Spaniards.] + +Whilst in Asia, as we have seen, the Arab conquerors yielded to the +spell of an ancient culture infinitely superior to their own, they no +sooner crossed the Straits of Gibraltar than the rôles were reversed. As +the invaders extended their conquests to every part of the peninsula, +thousands of Christians fell into their hands, who generally continued +to live under Moslem protection. They were well treated by the +Government, enjoyed religious liberty, and often rose to high offices in +the army or at court. Many of them became rapidly imbued with Moslem +civilisation, so that as early as the middle of the ninth century we +find Alvaro, Bishop of Cordova, complaining that his co-religionists +read the poems and romances of the Arabs, and studied the writings of +Muḥammadan theologians and philosophers, not in order to refute them +but to learn how to express themselves in Arabic with correctness and +elegance. "Where," he asks, "can any one meet nowadays with a layman who +reads the Latin commentaries on the Holy Scriptures? Who studies the +Gospels, the Prophets, the Apostles? Alas, all young Christians of +conspicuous talents are acquainted only with the language and writings +of the Arabs; they read and study Arabic books with the utmost zeal, +spend immense sums of money in collecting them for their libraries, and +proclaim everywhere that this literature is admirable. On the other +hand, if you talk with them of Christian books, they reply +contemptuously that these books are not worth their notice. Alas, the +Christians have forgotten their own language, and amongst thousands of +us scarce one is to be found who can write a tolerable Latin letter to a +friend; whereas very many are capable of expressing themselves +exquisitely in Arabic and of composing poems in that tongue with even +greater skill than the Arabs themselves."[766] + +However the good bishop may have exaggerated, it is evident that +Muḥammadan culture had a strong attraction for the Spanish +Christians, and equally, let us add, for the Jews, who made numerous +contributions to poetry, philosophy, and science in their native speech +as well as in the kindred Arabic idiom. The 'Renegades,' or Spanish +converts to Islam, became completely Arabicised in the course of a few +generations; and from this class sprang some of the chief ornaments of +Spanish-Arabian literature. + + +[Sidenote: The poetry of the Spanish Arabs.] + +Considered as a whole, the poetry of the Moslems in Europe shows the +same characteristics which have already been noted in the work of their +Eastern contemporaries. The paralysing conventions from which the +laureates of Baghdád and Aleppo could not emancipate themselves remained +in full force at Cordova and Seville. Yet, just as Arabic poetry in the +East was modified by the influences of Persian culture, in Spain also +the gradual amalgamation of Aryans with Semites introduced new elements +which have left their mark on the literature of both races. Perhaps the +most interesting features of Spanish-Arabian poetry are the tenderly +romantic feeling which not infrequently appears in the love-songs, a +feeling that sometimes anticipates the attitude of mediæval chivalry; +and in the second place an almost modern sensibility to the beauties of +nature. On account of these characteristics the poems in question appeal +to many European readers who do not easily enter into the spirit of the +_Mu‘allaqát_ or the odes of MutanabbÃ, and if space allowed it would be +a pleasant task to translate some of the charming lyric and descriptive +pieces which have been collected by anthologists. The omission, however, +is less grave inasmuch as Von Schack has given us a series of excellent +versions in his _Poesie und Kunst der Araber in Spanien und Sicilien_ +(2nd ed., Stuttgart, 1877). + +[Sidenote: Folk-songs.] + +"One of its marvels," says QazwÃnÃ, referring to the town of Shilb +(Silves) in Portugal, "is the fact, which innumerable persons have +mentioned, that the people living there, with few exceptions, are makers +of verse and devoted to belles-lettres; and if you passed by a labourer +standing behind his plough and asked him to recite some verses, he would +at once improvise on any subject that you might demand."[767] Of such +folk-songs the _zajal_ and _muwashshaḥ_ were favourite types.[768] +Both forms were invented in Spain, and their structure is very similar, +consisting of several stanzas in which the rhymes are so arranged that +the master-rhyme ending each stanza and running through the whole poem +like a refrain is continually interrupted by a various succession of +subordinate rhymes, as is shown in the following scheme:-- + + _aa_ + _bbba_ + _ccca_ + _ddda._ + +Many of these songs and ballads were composed in the vulgar dialect and +without regard to the rules of classical prosody. The troubadour Ibn +Quzmán (†1160 A.D.) first raised the _zajal_ to literary rank. Here is +an example of the _muwashshaḥ_:-- + + "Come, hand the precious cup to me, + And brim it high with a golden sea! + Let the old wine circle from guest to guest, + While the bubbles gleam like pearls on its breast, + So that night is of darkness dispossessed. + How it foams and twinkles in fiery glee! + 'Tis drawn from the Pleiads' cluster, perdie. + + Pass it, to music's melting sound, + Here on this flowery carpet round, + Where gentle dews refresh the ground + And bathe my limbs deliciously + In their cool and balmy fragrancy. + + Alone with me in the garden green + A singing-girl enchants the scene: + Her smile diffuses a radiant sheen. + I cast off shame, for no spy can see, + And 'Hola,' I cry, 'let us merry be!'"[769] + +[Sidenote: Verses by ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán I.] + +True to the traditions of their family, the Spanish Umayyads loved +poetry, music, and polite literature a great deal better than the Koran. +Even the Falcon of Quraysh, ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán I, if the famous verses +on the Palm-tree are really by him, concealed something of the softer +graces under his grim exterior. It is said that in his gardens at +Cordova there was a solitary date-palm, which had been transplanted from +Syria, and that one day ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán, as he gazed upon it, +remembered his native land and felt the bitterness of exile and +exclaimed:-- + + "O Palm, thou art a stranger in the West, + Far from thy Orient home, like me unblest. + Weep! But thou canst not. Dumb, dejected tree, + Thou art not made to sympathise with me. + Ah, thou wouldst weep, if thou hadst tears to pour, + For thy companions on Euphrates' shore; + But yonder tall groves thou rememberest not, + As I, in hating foes, have my old friends forgot."[770] + +[Sidenote: Ziryáb the musician.] + +At the court of ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán II (822-852 A.D.) a Persian musician +was prime favourite. This was Ziryáb, a client of the Caliph Mahdà and a +pupil of the celebrated singer, Isḥáq al-Mawá¹£ilÃ.[771] Isḥáq, +seeing in the young man a dangerous rival to himself, persuaded him to +quit Baghdád and seek his fortune in Spain. ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán received +him with open arms, gave him a magnificent house and princely salary, +and bestowed upon him every mark of honour imaginable. The versatile and +accomplished artist wielded a vast influence. He set the fashion in all +things appertaining to taste and manners; he fixed the toilette, +sanctioned the cuisine, and prescribed what dress should be worn in the +different seasons of the year. The kings of Spain took him as a model, +and his authority was constantly invoked and universally recognised in +that country down to the last days of Moslem rule.[772] Ziryáb was only +one of many talented and learned men who came to Spain from the East, +while the list of Spanish savants who journeyed "in quest of knowledge" +(_fà á¹alabi ’l-‘ilm_) to Africa and Egypt, to the Holy Cities of +Arabia, to the great capitals of Syria and ‘Iráq, to Khurásán, +Transoxania, and in some cases even to China, includes, as may be seen +from the perusal of MaqqarÃ's fifth chapter, nearly all the eminent +scholars and men of letters whom Moslem Spain has produced. Thus a +lively exchange of ideas was continually in movement, and so little +provincialism existed that famous Andalusian poets, like Ibn Hánà and +Ibn Zaydún, are described by admiring Eastern critics as the BuḥturÃs +and MutanabbÃs of the West. + +[Sidenote: The Library of Ḥakam II.] + +The tenth century of the Christian era is a fortunate and illustrious +period in Spanish history. Under ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán III and his +successor, Ḥakam II, the nation, hitherto torn asunder by civil war, +bent its united energies to the advancement of material and intellectual +culture. Ḥakam was an enthusiastic bibliophile. He sent his agents in +every direction to purchase manuscripts, and collected 400,000 volumes +in his palace, which was thronged with librarians, copyists, and +bookbinders. All these books, we are told, he had himself read, and he +annotated most of them with his own hand. His munificence to scholars +knew no bounds. He made a present of 1,000 dÃnárs to Abu ’l-Faraj of +Iá¹£fahán, in order to secure the first copy that was published of the +great 'Book of Songs' (_Kitábu ’l-AghánÃ_), on which the author was then +engaged. Besides honouring and encouraging the learned, Ḥakam took +measures to spread the benefits of education amongst the poorest of his +subjects. With this view he founded twenty-seven free schools in the +capital and paid the teachers out of his private purse. Whilst in +Christian Europe the rudiments of learning were confined to the clergy, +in Spain almost every one could read and write. + + [Sidenote: The University of Cordova.] + + "The University of Cordova was at that time one of the most + celebrated in the world. In the principal Mosque, where the lectures + were held, Abú Bakr b. Mu‘áwiya, the Qurayshite, discussed the + Traditions relating to Muḥammad. Abú ‘Alà al-Qálà of Baghdád + dictated a large and excellent miscellany which contained an immense + quantity of curious information concerning the ancient Arabs, their + proverbs, their language, and their poetry. This collection he + afterwards published under the title of _AmálÃ_, or 'Dictations.' + Grammar was taught by Ibnu ’l-Qúá¹iyya, who, in the opinion of Abú + ‘Ali al-QálÃ, was the leading grammarian of Spain. Other sciences + had representatives no less renowned. Accordingly the students + attending the classes were reckoned by thousands. The majority were + students of what was called _fiqh_, that is to say, theology and + law, for that science then opened the way to the most lucrative + posts."[773] + +Among the notable savants of this epoch we may mention Ibn ‘Abdi Rabbihi +(†940 A.D.), laureate of ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán III and author of a +well-known anthology entitled _al-‘Iqd al-FarÃd_; the poet Ibn Hánà of +Seville (†973 A.D.), an Ismá‘Ãlà convert who addressed blasphemous +panegyrics to the Fáá¹imid Caliph Mu‘izz;[774] the historians of +Spain, Abú Bakr al-Rázà (†937 A.D.), whose family belonged to Rayy in +Persia, and Ibnu ’l-Qúá¹iyya (†977 A.D.), who, as his name indicates, +was the descendant of a Gothic princess; the astronomer and +mathematician Maslama b. Aḥmad of Madrid (†1007 A.D.); and the great +surgeon Abu ’l-Qásim al-Zahráwà of Cordova, who died about the same +time, and who became known to Europe by the name of Albucasis. + + +[Sidenote: The ‘Abbádids (1023-1091 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Mu‘tamid of Seville (1069-1091 A.D.).] + +The fall of the Spanish Umayyads, which took place in the first half of +the eleventh century, left Cordova a republic and a merely provincial +town; and though she might still claim to be regarded as the literary +metropolis of Spain, her ancient glories were overshadowed by the +independent dynasties which now begin to flourish in Seville, Almeria, +Badajoz, Granada, Toledo, Malaga, Valencia, and other cities. Of these +rival princedoms the most formidable in arms and the most brilliant in +its cultivation of the arts was, beyond question, the family of the +‘Abbádids, who reigned in Seville. The foundations of their power were +laid by the Cadi Abu ’l-Qásim Muḥammad. "He acted towards the people +with such justice and moderation as drew on him the attention of every +eye and the love of every heart," so that the office of chief magistrate +was willingly conceded to him. In order to obtain the monarchy which he +coveted, the Cadi employed an audacious ruse. The last Umayyad Caliph, +Hishám II, had vanished mysteriously: it was generally supposed that, +after escaping from Cordova when that city was stormed by the Berbers +(1013 A.D.), he fled to Asia and died unknown; but many believed that he +was still alive. Twenty years after his disappearance there suddenly +arose a pretender, named Khalaf, who gave out that he was the Caliph +Hishám. The likeness between them was strong enough to make the +imposture plausible. At any rate, the Cadi had his own reasons for +abetting it. He called on the people, who were deeply attached to the +Umayyad dynasty, to rally round their legitimate sovereign. Cordova and +several other States recognised the authority of this pseudo-Caliph, +whom Abu ’l-Qásim used as a catspaw. His son ‘Abbád, a treacherous and +bloodthirsty tyrant, but an amateur of belles-lettres, threw off the +mask and reigned under the title of al-Mu‘taá¸id (1042-1069 A.D.). He +in turn was succeeded by his son, al-Mu‘tamid, whose strange and +romantic history reminds one of a sentence frequently occurring in the +_Arabian Nights_: "Were it graven with needle-gravers upon the +eye-corners, it were a warner to whoso would be warned." He is described +as "the most liberal, the most hospitable, the most munificent, and the +most powerful of all the princes who ruled in Spain. His court was the +halting-place of travellers, the rendezvous of poets, the point to which +all hopes were directed, and the haunt of men of talent."[775] Mu‘tamid +himself was a poet of rare distinction. "He left," says Ibn Bassám, +"some pieces of verse beautiful as the bud when it opens to disclose the +flower; and had the like been composed by persons who made of poetry a +profession and a merchandise, they would still have been considered +charming, admirable, and singularly original."[776] Numberless anecdotes +are told of Mu‘tamid's luxurious life at Seville: his evening rambles +along the banks of the Guadalquivir; his parties of pleasure; his +adventures when he sallied forth in disguise, accompanied by his Vizier, +the poet Ibn ‘Ammár, into the streets of the sleeping city; and his +passion for the slave-girl I‘timád, commonly known as Rumaykiyya, whom +he loved all his life with constant devotion. + +Meanwhile, however, a terrible catastrophe was approaching. The causes +which led up to it are related by Ibn Khallikán as follows[777]:-- + + [Sidenote: The Almoravides in Spain.] + + [Sidenote: Battle of Zalláqa (October 23, 1086 A.D.).] + + "At that time Alphonso VI, the son of Ferdinand, the sovereign of + Castile and king of the Spanish Franks, had become so powerful that + the petty Moslem princes were obliged to make peace with him and pay + him tribute. Mu‘tamid Ibn ‘Abbád surpassed all the rest in greatness + of power and extent of empire, yet he also paid tribute to Alphonso. + After capturing Toledo (May 29, 1085 A.D.) the Christian monarch + sent him a threatening message with the demand that he should + surrender his fortresses; on which condition he might retain the + open country as his own. These words provoked Mu‘tamid to such a + degree that he struck the ambassador and put to death all those who + accompanied him.[778] Alphonso, who was marching on Cordova, no + sooner received intelligence of this event than he returned to + Toledo in order to provide machines for the siege of Seville. When + the Shaykhs and doctors of Islam were informed of this project they + assembled and said: 'Behold how the Moslem cities fall into the + hands of the Franks whilst our sovereigns are engaged in warfare + against each other! If things continue in this state the Franks will + subdue the entire country.' They then went to the Cadi (of Cordova), + ‘Abdulláh b. Muḥammad b. Adham, and conferred with him on the + disasters which had befallen the Moslems and on the means by which + they might be remedied. Every person had something to say, but it + was finally resolved that they should write to Abú Ya‘qúb Yúsuf b. + TáshifÃn, the king of the _Mulaththamún_[779] and sovereign of + Morocco, imploring his assistance. The Cadi then waited on Mu‘tamid, + and informed him of what had passed. Mu‘tamid concurred with them on + the expediency of such an application, and told the Cadi to bear the + message himself to Yúsuf b. TáshifÃn. A conference took place at + Ceuta. Yúsuf recalled from the city of Morocco the troops which he + had left there, and when all were mustered he sent them across to + Spain, and followed with a body of 10,000 men. Mu‘tamid, who had + also assembled an army, went to meet him; and the Moslems, on + hearing the news, hastened from every province for the purpose of + combating the infidels. Alphonso, who was then at Toledo, took the + field with 40,000 horse, exclusive of other troops which came to + join him. He wrote a long and threatening letter to Yúsuf b. + TáshifÃn, who inscribed on the back of it these words: '_What will + happen thou shalt see!_' and returned it. On reading the answer + Alphonso was filled with apprehension, and observed that this was a + man of resolution. The two armies met at Zalláqa, near Badajoz. The + Moslems gained the victory, and Alphonso fled with a few others, + after witnessing the complete destruction of his army. This year was + adopted in Spain as the commencement of a new era, and was called + the year of Zalláqa." + +[Sidenote: Captivity and death of Mu‘tamid.] + +Mu‘tamid soon perceived that he had "dug his own grave"--to quote the +words used by himself a few years afterwards--when he sought aid from +the perfidious Almoravide. Yúsuf could not but contrast the beauty, +riches, and magnificent resources of Spain with the barren deserts and +rude civilisation of Africa. He was not content to admire at a distance +the enchanting view which had been dangled before him. In the following +year he returned to Spain and took possession of Granada. He next +proceeded to pick a quarrel with Mu‘tamid. The Berber army laid siege to +Seville, and although Mu‘tamid displayed the utmost bravery, he was +unable to prevent the fall of his capital (September, 1091 A.D.). The +unfortunate prince was thrown into chains and transported to Morocco. +Yúsuf spared his life, but kept him a prisoner at Aghmát, where he died +in 1095 A.D. During his captivity he bewailed in touching poems the +misery of his state, the sufferings which he and his family had to +endure, and the tragic doom which suddenly deprived him of friends, +fortune, and power. "Every one loves Mu‘tamid," wrote an historian of +the thirteenth century, "every one pities him, and even now he is +lamented."[780] He deserved no less, for, as Dozy remarks, he was "the +last Spanish-born king (_le dernier roi indigène_), who represented +worthily, nay, brilliantly, a nationality and culture which succumbed, +or barely survived, under the dominion of barbarian invaders."[781] + +[Sidenote: Ibn Zaydún.] + +The Age of the Tyrants, to borrow from Greek history a designation which +well describes the character of this period, yields to no other in +literary and scientific renown. Poetry was cultivated at every +Andalusian court. If Seville could point with just pride to Mu‘tamid and +his Vizier, Ibn ‘Ammár, Cordova claimed a second pair almost equally +illustrious--Ibn Zaydún (1003-1071 A.D.) and Walláda, a daughter of the +Umayyad Caliph al-MustakfÃ. Ibn Zaydún entered upon a political career +and became the confidential agent of Ibn Jahwar, the chief magistrate of +Cordova, but he fell into disgrace, probably on account of his love for +the beautiful and talented princess, who inspired those tender melodies +which have caused the poet's European biographers to link his name with +Tibullus and Petrarch. In the hope of seeing her, although he durst not +show himself openly, he lingered in al-Zahrá, the royal suburb of +Cordova built by ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán III. At last, after many wanderings, +he found a home at Seville, where he was cordially received by +Mu‘taá¸id, who treated him as an intimate friend and bestowed on him +the title of _Dhu ’l-Wizáratayn_.[782] The following verses, which he +addressed to Walláda, depict the lovely scenery of al-Zahrá and may +serve to illustrate the deep feeling for nature which, as has been said, +is characteristic of Spanish-Arabian poetry in general.[783] + + "To-day my longing thoughts recall thee here; + The landscape glitters, and the sky is clear. + So feebly breathes the gentle zephyr's gale, + In pity of my grief it seems to fail. + The silvery fountains laugh, as from a girl's + Fair throat a broken necklace sheds its pearls. + Oh, 'tis a day like those of our sweet prime, + When, stealing pleasures from indulgent Time, + We played midst flowers of eye-bewitching hue, + That bent their heads beneath the drops of dew. + Alas, they see me now bereaved of sleep; + They share my passion and with me they weep. + Here in her sunny haunt the rose blooms bright, + Adding new lustre to Aurora's light; + And waked by morning beams, yet languid still, + The rival lotus doth his perfume spill. + All stirs in me the memory of that fire + Which in my tortured breast will ne'er expire. + Had death come ere we parted, it had been + The best of all days in the world, I ween; + And this poor heart, where thou art every thing, + Would not be fluttering now on passion's wing. + Ah, might the zephyr waft me tenderly, + Worn out with anguish as I am, to thee! + O treasure mine, if lover e'er possessed + A treasure! O thou dearest, queenliest! + Once, once, we paid the debt of love complete + And ran an equal race with eager feet. + How true, how blameless was the love I bore, + Thou hast forgotten; but I still adore!" + +[Sidenote: Ibn Ḥazm (994-1064 A.D.).] + +The greatest scholar and the most original genius of Moslem Spain is Abú +Muḥammad ‘Alà Ibn Ḥazm, who was born at Cordova in 994 A.D. He +came of a 'Renegade' family, but he was so far from honouring his +Christian ancestors that he pretended to trace his descent to a Persian +freedman of YazÃd b. Abà Sufyán, a brother of the first Umayyad Caliph, +Mu‘áwiya; and his contempt for Christianity was in proportion to his +fanatical zeal on behalf of Islam. His father, Aḥmad, had filled the +office of Vizier under Manṣúr Ibn Abà ‘Ãmir, and Ibn Ḥazm himself +plunged ardently into politics as a client--through his false +pedigree--of the Umayyad House, to which he was devotedly attached. +Before the age of thirty he became prime minister of ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán +V (1023-1024 A.D.), but on the fall of the Umayyad Government he retired +from public life and gave himself wholly to literature. Ibn Bashkuwál, +author of a well-known biographical dictionary of Spanish celebrities +entitled _al-á¹¢ila fà akhbári a’immati ’l-Andalus_, speaks of him in +these terms: "Of all the natives of Spain Ibn Ḥazm was the most +eminent by the universality and the depth of his learning in the +sciences cultivated by the Moslems; add to this his profound +acquaintance with the Arabic tongue, and his vast abilities as an +elegant writer, a poet, a biographer, and an historian; his son +possessed about 400 volumes, containing nearly 80,000 leaves, which Ibn +Ḥazm had composed and written out."[784] It is recorded that he said, +"My only desire in seeking knowledge was to attain a high scientific +rank in this world and the next."[785] He got little encouragement from +his contemporaries. The mere fact that he belonged to the Ẓáhirite +school of theology would not have mattered, but the caustic style in +which he attacked the most venerable religious authorities of Islam +aroused such bitter hostility that he was virtually excommunicated by +the orthodox divines. People were warned against having anything to do +with him, and at Seville his writings were solemnly committed to the +flames. On this occasion he is said to have remarked-- + + "The paper ye may burn, but what the paper holds + Ye cannot burn: 'tis safe within my breast: where I + Remove, it goes with me, alights when I alight, + And in my tomb will lie."[786] + +[Sidenote: 'The Book of Religions and Sects.'] + +After being expelled from several provinces of Spain, Ibn Ḥazm +withdrew to a village, of which he was the owner, and remained there +until his death. Of his numerous writings only a few have escaped +destruction, but fortunately we possess the most valuable of them all, +the 'Book of Religions and Sects' (_Kitábu ’l-Milal +wa-’l-Niḥal_),[787] which was recently printed in Cairo for the first +time. This work treats in controversial fashion (1) of the +non-Muḥammadan religious systems, especially Judaism, Christianity, +and Zoroastrianism, and (2) of Islam and its dogmas, which are of course +regarded from the Ẓáhirite standpoint, and of the four principal +Muḥammadan sects, viz., the Mu‘tazilites, the Murjites, the ShÑites, +and the Khárijites. The author maintains that these sects owed their +rise to the Persians, who sought thus to revenge themselves upon +victorious Islam.[788] + + +[Sidenote: Literature in Spain in the eleventh century.] + +[Sidenote: Samuel Ha-Levi.] + +The following are some of the most distinguished Spanish writers of this +epoch: the historian, Abú Marwán Ibn Ḥayyán of Cordova (†1075 A.D.), +whose chief works are a colossal history of Spain in sixty volumes +entitled _al-MatÃn_ and a smaller chronicle (_al-Muqtabis_), both of which +appear to have been almost entirely lost;[789] the jurisconsult and +poet, Abu ’l-WalÃd al-Bájà (†1081 A.D.); the traditionist Yúsuf Ibn +‘Abd al-Barr (†1071 A.D.); and the geographer al-BakrÃ, a native of +Cordova, where he died in 1094 A.D. Finally, mention should be made of +the famous Jews, Solomon Ibn Gabirol (Avicebron) and Samuel Ha-Levi. The +former, who was born at Malaga about 1020 A.D., wrote two philosophical +works in Arabic, and his _Fons Vitae_ played an important part in the +development of mediæval scholasticism. Samuel Ha-Levi was Vizier to +BádÃs, the sovereign of Granada (1038-1073 A.D.). In their admiration of +his extraordinary accomplishments the Arabs all but forgot that he was a +Jew and a prince (_NaghÃd_) in Israel.[790] Samuel, on his part, when he +wrote letters of State, did not scruple to employ the usual +Muḥammadan formulas, "Praise to Allah!" "May Allah bless our Prophet +Muḥammad!" and to glorify Islam quite in the manner of a good Moslem. +He had a perfect mastery of Hebrew and Arabic; he knew five other +languages, and was profoundly versed in the sciences of the ancients, +particularly in astronomy. With all his learning he was a supple +diplomat and a man of the world. Yet he always preserved a dignified and +unassuming demeanour, although in his days (according to Ibnu +’l-‘IdhárÃ) "the Jews made themselves powerful and behaved arrogantly +towards the Moslems."[791] + + +During the whole of the twelfth, and well into the first half of the +thirteenth, century Spain was ruled by two African dynasties, the +Almoravides and the Almohades, which originated, as their names denote, +in the religious fanaticism of the Berber tribes of the Sahara. The rise +of the Almoravides is related by Ibnu ’l-AthÃr as follows:--[792] + + [Sidenote: Rise of the Almoravides.] + + "In this year (448 A.H. = 1056 A.D.) was the beginning of the power + of the _Mulaththamún_.[793] These were a number of tribes descended + from Ḥimyar, of which the most considerable were Lamtúna, Jadála, + and Lamá¹a.... Now in the above-mentioned year a man of Jadála, + named Jawhar, set out for Africa[794] on his way to the Pilgrimage, + for he loved religion and the people thereof. At Qayrawán he fell in + with a certain divine--Abú ‘Imrán al-FásÃ, as is generally + supposed--and a company of persons who were studying theology under + him. Jawhar was much pleased with what he saw of their piety, and on + his return from Mecca he begged Abú ‘Imrán to send back with him to + the desert a teacher who should instruct the ignorant Berbers in the + laws of Islam. So Abú ‘Imrán sent with him a man called ‘Abdulláh b. + YásÃn al-KuzúlÃ, who was an excellent divine, and they journeyed + together until they came to the tribe of Lamtúna. Then Jawhar + dismounted from his camel and took hold of the bridle of ‘Abdulláh + b. YásÃn's camel, in reverence for the law of Islam; and the men of + Lamtúna approached Jawhar and greeted him and questioned him + concerning his companion. 'This man,' he replied, 'is the bearer of + the Sunna of the Apostle of God: he has come to teach you what is + necessary in the religion of Islam.' So they bade them both welcome, + and said to ‘Abdulláh, 'Tell us the law of Islam,' and he explained + it to them. They answered, 'As to what you have told us of prayer + and alms-giving, that is easy; but when you say, "He that kills + shall be killed, and he that steals shall have his hand cut off, and + he that commits adultery shall be flogged or stoned," that is an + ordinance which we will not lay upon ourselves. Begone + elsewhere!'... And they came to Jadála, Jawhar's own tribe, and + ‘Abdulláh called on them and the neighbouring tribes to fulfil the + law, and some consented while others refused. Then, after a time, + ‘Abdulláh said to his followers, 'Ye must fight the enemies of the + Truth, so appoint a commander over you.' Jawhar answered, 'Thou art + our commander,' but ‘Abdulláh declared that he was only a + missionary, and on his advice the command was offered to Abú Bakr b. + ‘Umar, the chief of Lamtúna, a man of great authority and influence. + Having prevailed upon him to act as leader, ‘Abdulláh began to + preach a holy war, and gave his adherents the name of Almoravides + (_al-Murábitún_)."[795] + +[Sidenote: The Almoravide Empire (1056-1147 A.D.).] + +The little community rapidly increased in numbers and power. Yúsuf b. +TáshifÃn, who succeeded to the command in 1069 A.D., founded the city of +Morocco, and from this centre made new conquests in every direction, so +that ere long the Almoravides ruled over the whole of North-West Africa +from Senegal to Algeria. We have already seen how Yúsuf was invited by +the ‘Abbádids to lead an army into Spain, how he defeated Alphonso VI at +Zalláqa and, returning a few years later, this time not as an ally but +as a conqueror, took possession of Granada and Seville. The rest of +Moslem Spain was subdued without much trouble: laity and clergy alike +hailed in the Berber monarch a zealous reformer of the Faith and a +mighty bulwark against its Christian enemies. The hopeful prospect was +not realised. Spanish civilisation enervated the Berbers, but did not +refine them. Under the narrow bigotry of Yúsuf and his successors free +thought became impossible, culture and science faded away. Meanwhile the +country was afflicted by famine, brigandage, and all the disorders of a +feeble and corrupt administration. + + +[Sidenote: Ibn Túmart.] + +The empire of the Almoravides passed into the hands of another African +dynasty, the Almohades.[796] Their founder, Muḥammad Ibn Túmart, was +a native of the mountainous district of Sús which lies to the south-west +of Morocco. When a youth he made the Pilgrimage to Mecca (about 1108 +A.D.), and also visited Baghdád, where he studied in the Niẓámiyya +College and is said to have met the celebrated GhazálÃ. He returned home +with his head full of theology and ambitious schemes. We need not dwell +upon his career from this point until he finally proclaimed himself as +the Mahdà (1121 A.D.), nor describe the familiar methods--some of them +disreputable enough--by which he induced the Berbers to believe in him. +His doctrines, however, may be briefly stated. "In most questions," says +one of his biographers,[797] "he followed the system of Abu ’l-Ḥasan +al-Ash‘arÃ, but he agreed with the Mu‘tazilites in their denial of the +Divine Attributes and in a few matters besides; and he was at heart +somewhat inclined to ShÑism, although he gave it no countenance in +public."[798] The gist of his teaching is indicated by the name +_Muwaḥḥid_ (Unitarian), which he bestowed on himself, and which +his successors adopted as their dynastic title.[799] Ibn Túmart +emphasised the Unity of God; in other words, he denounced the +anthropomorphic ideas which prevailed in Western Islam and strove to +replace them by a purely spiritual conception of the Deity. To this main +doctrine he added a second, that of the Infallible Imám (_al-Imám +al-Ma‘ṣúm_), and he naturally asserted that the Imám was Muḥammad +Ibn Túmart, a descendant of ‘Alà b. Abà Ṭálib. + + +[Sidenote: The Almohades (1130-1269 A.D.).] + +On the death of the Mahdà (1130 A.D.) the supreme command devolved upon +his trusted lieutenant, ‘Abdu ’l-Mu’min, who carried on the holy war +against the Almoravides with growing success, until in 1158 A.D. he +"united the whole coast from the frontier of Egypt to the Atlantic, +together with Moorish Spain, under his sceptre."[800] The new dynasty +was far more enlightened and favourable to culture than the Almoravides +had been. Yúsuf, the son of ‘Abdu ’l-Mu’min, is described as an +excellent scholar, whose mind was stored with the battles and traditions +and history of the Arabs before and after Islam. But he found his +highest pleasure in the study and patronage of philosophy. The great +Aristotelian, Ibn Ṭufayl, was his Vizier and court physician; and Ibn +Rushd (Averroes) received flattering honours both from him and from his +successor, Ya‘qúb al-Manṣúr, who loved to converse with the +philosopher on scientific topics, although in a fit of orthodoxy he +banished him for a time.[801] This curious mixture of liberality and +intolerance is characteristic of the Almohades. However they might +encourage speculation in its proper place, their law and theology were +cut according to the plain Ẓáhirite pattern. "The Koran and the +Traditions of the Prophet--or else the sword!" is a saying of the +last-mentioned sovereign, who also revived the autos-da-fé, which had +been prohibited by his grandfather, of Málikite and other obnoxious +books.[802] The spirit of the Almohades is admirably reflected in Ibn +Ṭufayl's famous philosophical romance, named after its hero, _Ḥayy +ibn Yaqẓán_, _i.e._, 'Alive, son of Awake,'[803] of which the +following summary is given by Mr. Duncan B. Macdonald in his excellent +_Muslim Theology_ (p. 253):-- + + [Sidenote: The story of Ḥayy b. Yaqẓán.] + + "In it he conceives two islands, the one inhabited and the other + not. On the inhabited island we have conventional people living + conventional lives, and restrained by a conventional religion of + rewards and punishments. Two men there, Salámán and Asál,[804] have + raised themselves to a higher level of self-rule. Salámán adapts + himself externally to the popular religion and rules the people; + Asál, seeking to perfect himself still further in solitude, goes to + the other island. But there he finds a man, Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓán, + who has lived alone from infancy and has gradually, by the innate + and uncorrupted powers of the mind, developed himself to the highest + philosophic level and reached the Vision of the Divine. He has + passed through all the stages of knowledge until the universe lies + clear before him, and now he finds that his philosophy thus reached, + without prophet or revelation, and the purified religion of Asál are + one and the same. The story told by Asál of the people of the other + island sitting in darkness stirs his soul, and he goes forth to them + as a missionary. But he soon learns that the method of Muḥammad + was the true one for the great masses, and that only by sensuous + allegory and concrete things could they be reached and held. He + retires to his island again to live the solitary life." + +[Sidenote: Literature under the Almoravides and Almohades (1100-1250 +A.D.).] + +Of the writers who flourished under the Berber dynasties few are +sufficiently important to deserve mention in a work of this kind. The +philosophers, however, stand in a class by themselves. Ibn Bájja +(Avempace), Ibn Rushd (Averroes), Ibn Ṭufayl, and Músá b. Maymún +(Maimonides) made their influence felt far beyond the borders of Spain: +they belong, in a sense, to Europe. We have noticed elsewhere the great +mystic, Muḥyi ’l-DÃn Ibnu ’l-‘Arabà (†1240 A.D.); his +fellow-townsman, Ibn Sab‘Ãn (†1269 A.D.), a thinker of the same type, +wrote letters on philosophical subjects to Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. +Valuable works on the literary history of Spain were composed by Ibn +Kháqán (†1134 A.D.), Ibn Bassám (†1147 A.D.), and Ibn Bashkuwál (†+1183 A.D.). The geographer IdrÃsà (†1154 A.D.) was born at Ceuta, +studied at Cordova, and found a patron in the Sicilian monarch, Roger +II; Ibn Jubayr published an interesting account of his pilgrimage from +Granada to Mecca and of his journey back to Granada during the years +1183-1185 A.D.; Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar), who became a Vizier under the +Almoravides, was the first of a whole family of eminent physicians; and +Ibnu ’l-Bayá¹Ã¡r of Malaga (†1248 A.D.), after visiting Egypt, Greece, +and Asia Minor in order to extend his knowledge of botany, compiled a +Materia Medica, which he dedicated to the Sultan of Egypt, Malik +al-Kámil. + + +[Sidenote: Reconquest of Spain by Ferdinand III.] + +[Sidenote: The Naá¹£rids of Granada (1232-1492 A.D.).] + +We have now taken a rapid survey of the Moslem empire in Spain from its +rise in the eighth century of our era down to the last days of the +Almohades, which saw the Christian arms everywhere triumphant. By 1230 +A.D. the Almohades had been driven out of the peninsula, although they +continued to rule Africa for about forty years after this date. Amidst +the general wreck one spot remained where the Moors could find shelter. +This was Granada. Here, in 1232 A.D., Muḥammad Ibnu ’l-Aḥmar +assumed the proud title of 'Conqueror by Grace of God' (_Ghálib billáh_) +and founded the Naá¹£rid dynasty, which held the Christians at bay +during two centuries and a half. That the little Moslem kingdom survived +so long was not due to its own strength, but rather to its almost +impregnable situation and to the dissensions of the victors. The latest +bloom of Arabic culture in Europe renewed, if it did not equal, the +glorious memories of Cordova and Seville. In this period arose the +world-renowned Alhambra, _i.e._, 'the Red Palace' (al-Ḥamrá) of the +Naá¹£rid kings, and many other superb monuments of which the ruins are +still visible. We must not, however, be led away into a digression even +upon such a fascinating subject as Moorish architecture. Our information +concerning literary matters is scantier than it might have been, on +account of the vandalism practised by the Christians when they took +Granada. It is no dubious legend (like the reputed burning of the +Alexandrian Library by order of the Caliph ‘Umar),[805] but a +well-ascertained fact that the ruthless Archbishop Ximenez made a +bonfire of all the Arabic manuscripts on which he could lay his hands. +He wished to annihilate the record of seven centuries of Muḥammadan +culture in a single day. + +The names of Ibnu ’l-Khaá¹Ãb and Ibn Khaldún represent the highest +literary accomplishment and historical comprehension of which this age +was capable. The latter, indeed, has no parallel among Oriental +historians. + +[Sidenote: Ibnu ’l-Khaá¹Ãb (1313-1374 A.D.).] + +Lisánu ’l-DÃn Ibnu ’l-Khaá¹Ãb[806] played a great figure in the +politics of his time, and his career affords a conspicuous example of +the intimate way in which Moslem poetry and literature are connected +with public life. "The Arabs did not share the opinion widely spread +nowadays, that poetical talent flourishes best in seclusion from the +tumult of the world, or that it dims the clearness of vision which is +required for the conduct of public affairs. On the contrary, their +princes entrusted the chief offices of State to poets, and poetry often +served as a means to obtain more brilliant results than diplomatic notes +could have procured."[807] A young man like Ibnu ’l-Khaá¹Ãb, who had +mastered the entire field of belles-lettres, who improvised odes and +rhyming epistles with incomparable elegance and facility, was marked out +to be the favourite of kings. He became Vizier at the Naá¹£rid court, a +position which he held, with one brief interval of disgrace, until 1371 +A.D., when the intrigues of his enemies forced him to flee from Granada. +He sought refuge at Fez, and was honourably received by the reigning +Sultan, ‘Abdu ’l-‘AzÃz; but on the accession of Abu ’l-‘Abbás in 1374 +A.D. the exiled minister was incarcerated and brought to trial on the +charge of heresy (_zandaqa_). While the inquisition was proceeding a +fanatical mob broke into the gaol and murdered him. Maqqarà relates that +Ibnu ’l-Khaá¹ib suffered from insomnia, and that most of his works +were composed during the night, for which reason he got the nickname of +_Dhu ’l-‘Umrayn_, or 'The man of two lives.'[808] He was a prolific +writer in various branches of literature, but, like so many of his +countrymen, he excelled in History. His monographs on the sovereigns and +savants of Granada (one of which includes an autobiography) supply +interesting details concerning this obscure period. + +[Sidenote: Ibn Khaldún (1332-1406 A.D.).] + +Some apology may be thought necessary for placing Ibn Khaldún, the +greatest historical thinker of Islam, in the present chapter, as though +he were a Spaniard either by birth or residence. He descended, it is true, +from a family, the Banú Khaldún, which had long been settled in Spain, +first at Carmona and afterwards at Seville; but they migrated to Africa +about the middle of the thirteenth century, and Ibn Khaldún was born at +Tunis. Nearly the whole of his life, moreover, was passed in Africa--a +circumstance due rather to accident than to predilection; for in 1362 +A.D. he entered the service of the Sultan of Granada, Abú ‘Abdalláh Ibnu +’l-Aḥmar, and would probably have made that city his home had not the +jealousy of his former friend, the Vizier Ibnu ’l-Khaá¹Ãb, decided him +to leave Spain behind. We cannot give any account of the agitated and +eventful career which he ended, as Cadi of Cairo, in 1406 A.D. Ibn +Khaldún lived with statesmen and kings: he was an ambassador to the +court of Pedro of Castile, and an honoured guest of the mighty +Tamerlane. The results of his ripe experience are marvellously displayed +in the Prolegomena (_Muqaddima_), which forms the first volume of a huge +general history entitled the _Kitábu ’l-‘Ibar_ ('Book of +Examples').[809] He himself has stated his idea of the historian's +function in the following words:-- + + [Sidenote: Ibn Khaldún as a philosophical historian.] + + "Know that the true purpose of history is to make us acquainted with + human society, _i.e._, with the civilisation of the world, and with + its natural phenomena, such as savage life, the softening of + manners, attachment to the family and the tribe, the various kinds + of superiority which one people gains over another, the kingdoms and + diverse dynasties which arise in this way, the different trades and + laborious occupations to which men devote themselves in order to + earn their livelihood, the sciences and arts; in fine, all the + manifold conditions which naturally occur in the development of + civilisation."[810] + +Ibn Khaldún argues that History, thus conceived, is subject to universal +laws, and in these laws he finds the only sure criterion of historical +truth. + + [Sidenote: His canons of historical criticism.] + + "The rule for distinguishing what is true from what is false in + history is based on its possibility or impossibility: that is to + say, we must examine human society (civilisation) and discriminate + between the characteristics which are essential and inherent in its + nature and those which are accidental and need not be taken into + account, recognising further those which cannot possibly belong to + it. If we do this we have a rule for separating historical truth + from error by means of a demonstrative method that admits of no + doubt.... It is a genuine touchstone whereby historians may verify + whatever they relate."[811] + +Here, indeed, the writer claims too much, and it must be allowed that he +occasionally applied his principles in a pedantic fashion, and was led +by purely _a priori_ considerations to conclusions which are not always +so warrantable as he believed. This is a very trifling matter in +comparison with the value and originality of the principles themselves. +Ibn Khaldún asserts, with justice, that he has discovered a new method +of writing history. No Moslem had ever taken a view at once so +comprehensive and so philosophical; none had attempted to trace the +deeply hidden causes of events, to expose the moral and spiritual forces +at work beneath the surface, or to divine the immutable laws of national +progress and decay. Ibn Khaldún owed little to his predecessors, +although he mentions some of them with respect. He stood far above his +age, and his own countrymen have admired rather than followed him. His +intellectual descendants are the great mediæval and modern historians of +Europe--Machiavelli and Vico and Gibbon. + + +[Sidenote: Ibn Kaldún's theory of historical evolution.] + +It is worth while to sketch briefly the peculiar theory of historical +development which Ibn Khaldún puts forward in his Prolegomena--a theory +founded on the study of actual conditions and events either past or +passing before his eyes.[812] He was struck, in the first place, with +the physical fact that in almost every part of the Muḥammadan Empire +great wastes of sand or stony plateaux, arid and incapable of tillage, +wedge themselves between fertile domains of cultivated land. The former +were inhabited from time immemorial by nomad tribes, the latter by an +agricultural or industrial population; and we have seen, in the case of +Arabia, that cities like Mecca and ḤÃra carried on a lively +intercourse with the Bedouins and exerted a civilising influence upon +them. In Africa the same contrast was strongly marked. It is no wonder, +therefore, that Ibn Khaldún divided the whole of mankind into two +classes--Nomads and Citizens. The nomadic life naturally precedes and +produces the other. Its characteristics are simplicity and purity of +manners, warlike spirit, and, above all, a loyal devotion to the +interests of the family and the tribe. As the nomads become more +civilised they settle down, form states, and make conquests. They have +now reached their highest development. Corrupted by luxury, and losing +the virtues which raised them to power, they are soon swept away by a +ruder people. Such, in bare outline, is the course of history as Ibn +Khaldún regards it; but we must try to give our readers some further +account of the philosophical ideas underlying his conception. He +discerns, in the life of tribes and nations alike, two dominant forces +which mould their destiny. The primitive and cardinal force he calls +_‘aá¹£abiyya_, the _binding_ element in society, the feeling which +unites members of the same family, tribe, nation, or empire, and which +in its widest acceptation is equivalent to the modern term, Patriotism. +It springs up and especially flourishes among nomad peoples, where the +instinct of self-preservation awakens a keen sense of kinship and drives +men to make common cause with each other. This _‘aá¹£abiyya_ is the +vital energy of States: by it they rise and grow; as it weakens they +decline; and its decay is the signal for their fall. The second of the +forces referred to is Religion. Ibn Khaldún hardly ascribes to religion +so much influence as we might have expected from a Moslem. He +recognises, however, that it may be the only means of producing that +solidarity without which no State can exist. Thus in the twenty-seventh +chapter of his _Muqaddima_ he lays down the proposition that "the Arabs +are incapable of founding an empire unless they are imbued with +religious enthusiasm by a prophet or a saint." + +In History he sees an endless cycle of progress and retrogression, +analogous to the phenomena of human life. Kingdoms are born, attain +maturity, and die within a definite period which rarely exceeds three +generations, _i.e._, 120 years.[813] During this time they pass through +five stages of development and decay.[814] It is noteworthy that Ibn +Khaldún admits the moral superiority of the Nomads. For him civilisation +necessarily involves corruption and degeneracy. If he did not believe in +the gradual advance of mankind towards some higher goal, his pessimism +was justified by the lessons of experience and by the mournful plight of +the Muḥammadan world, to which his view was restricted.[815] + +[Sidenote: The fall of Granada (1492 A.D.).] + +In 1492 A.D. the last stronghold of the European Arabs opened its gates +to Ferdinand and Isabella, and "the Cross supplanted the Crescent on the +towers of Granada." The victors showed a barbarous fanaticism that was +the more abominable as it violated their solemn pledges to respect the +religion and property of the Moslems, and as it utterly reversed the +tolerant and liberal treatment which the Christians of Spain had enjoyed +under Muḥammadan rule. Compelled to choose between apostasy and exile, +many preferred the latter alternative. Those who remained were subjected +to a terrible persecution, until in 1609 A.D., by order of Philip III, +the Moors were banished _en masse_ from Spanish soil. + + +[Sidenote: The Arabs in Sicily.] + +Spain was not the sole point whence Moslem culture spread itself over +the Christian lands. Sicily was conquered by the Aghlabids of Tunis +early in the ninth century, and although the island fell into the hands +of the Normans in 1071 A.D., the court of Palermo retained a +semi-Oriental character. Here in the reign of Frederick II of +Hohenstaufen (1194-1250 A.D.) might be seen "astrologers from Baghdád +with long beards and waving robes, Jews who received princely salaries +as translators of Arabic works, Saracen dancers and dancing-girls, and +Moors who blew silver trumpets on festal occasions."[816] Both Frederick +himself and his son Manfred were enthusiastic Arabophiles, and +scandalised Christendom by their assumption of 'heathen' manners as well +as by the attention which they devoted to Moslem philosophy and science. +Under their auspices Arabic learning was communicated to the +neighbouring towns of Lower Italy. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +FROM THE MONGOL INVASION TO THE PRESENT DAY + + +[Sidenote: General characteristics of the period.] + +Before proceeding to speak of the terrible catastrophe which filled the +whole of Western Asia with ruin and desolation, I may offer a few +preliminary remarks concerning the general character of the period which +we shall briefly survey in this final chapter. It forms, one must admit, +a melancholy conclusion to a glorious history. The Caliphate, which +symbolised the supremacy of the Prophet's people, is swept away. +Mongols, Turks, Persians, all in turn build up great Muḥammadan +empires, but the Arabs have lost even the shadow of a leading part and +appear only as subordinate actors on a provincial stage. The chief +centres of Arabian life, such as it is, are henceforth Syria and Egypt, +which were held by the Turkish Mamelukes until 1517 A.D., when they +passed under Ottoman rule. In North Africa the petty Berber dynasties +(Ḥafá¹£ids, Ziyánids, and MarÃnids) gave place in the sixteenth +century to the Ottoman Turks. Only in Spain, where the Naá¹£rids of +Granada survived until 1492 A.D., in Morocco, where the SharÃfs +(descendants of ‘Alà b. Abà Ṭálib) assumed the sovereignty in 1544 +A.D., and to some extent in Arabia itself, did the Arabs preserve their +political independence. In such circumstances it would be vain to look +for any large developments of literature and culture worthy to rank with +those of the past. This is an age of imitation and compilation. Learned +men abound, whose erudition embraces every subject under the sun. The +mass of writing shows no visible diminution, and much of it is valuable +and meritorious work. But with one or two conspicuous exceptions--_e.g._ +the historian Ibn Khaldún and the mystic Sha‘ránÃ--we cannot point to +any new departure, any fruitful ideas, any trace of original and +illuminating thought. The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries "witnessed +the rise and triumph of that wonderful movement known as the +Renaissance,... but no ripple of this great upheaval, which changed the +whole current of intellectual and moral life in the West, reached the +shores of Islam."[817] Until comparatively recent times, when Egypt and +Syria first became open to European civilisation, the Arab retained his +mediæval outlook and habit of mind, and was in no respect more +enlightened than his forefathers who lived under the ‘Abbásid Caliphate. +And since the Mongol Invasion I am afraid we must say that instead of +advancing farther along the old path he was being forced back by the +inevitable pressure of events. East of the Euphrates the Mongols did +their work of destruction so thoroughly that no seeds were left from +which a flourishing civilisation could arise; and, moreover, the Arabic +language was rapidly extinguished by the Persian. In Spain, as we have +seen, the power of the Arabs had already begun to decline; Africa was +dominated by the Berbers, a rude, unlettered race, Egypt and Syria by +the blighting military despotism of the Turks. Nowhere in the history of +this period can we discern either of the two elements which are most +productive of literary greatness: the quickening influence of a higher +culture or the inspiration of a free and vigorous national life.[818] + + +[Sidenote: The Mongol Invasion.] + +Between the middle of the eleventh century and the end of the fourteenth +the nomad tribes dwelling beyond the Oxus burst over Western Asia in +three successive waves. First came the Seljúq Turks, then the Mongols +under ChingÃz Khan and Húlágú, then the hordes, mainly Turkish, of +TÃmúr. Regarding the Seljúqs all that is necessary for our purpose has +been said in a former chapter. The conquests of TÃmúr are a frightful +episode which I may be pardoned for omitting from this history, inasmuch +as their permanent results (apart from the enormous damage which they +inflicted) were inconsiderable; and although the Indian empire of the +Great Moguls, which Bábur, a descendant of TÃmúr, established in the +first half of the sixteenth century, ran a prosperous and brilliant +course, its culture was borrowed almost exclusively from Persian models +and does not come within the scope of the present work. We shall, +therefore, confine our view to the second wave of the vast Asiatic +migration, which bore the Mongols, led by ChingÃz Khan and Húlágú, from +the steppes of China and Tartary to the Mediterranean. + + +[Sidenote: ChingÃz Khan and Húlágú.] + +In 1219 A.D. ChingÃz Khan, having consolidated his power in the Far +East, turned his face westward and suddenly advanced into Transoxania, +which at that time formed a province of the wide dominions of the Sháhs +of Khwárizm (Khiva). The reigning monarch, ‘Alá’u ’l-DÃn Muḥammad, +was unable to make an effective resistance; and notwithstanding that his +son, the gallant Jalálu ’l-DÃn, carried on a desperate guerilla for +twelve years, the invaders swarmed over Khurásán and Persia, massacring +the panic-stricken inhabitants wholesale and leaving a wilderness behind +them. Hitherto Baghdád had not been seriously threatened, but on the +first day of January, 1256 A.D.--an epoch-marking date--Húlágú, the +grandson of ChingÃz Khan, crossed the Oxus, with the intention of +occupying the ‘Abbásid capital. I translate the following narrative from +a manuscript in my possession of the _Ta’rÃkh al-KhamÃs_ by Diyárbakrà +(†1574 A.D.):-- + + [Sidenote: Húlágú before Baghdád (1258 A.D.).] + + [Sidenote: Sack of Baghdád.] + + In the year 654 (A.H. = 1256 A.D.) the stubborn tyrant, Húlágú, the + destroyer of the nations (_MubÃdu ’l-Umam_), set forth and took the + castle of Alamút from the Ismá‘ÃlÃs[819] and slew them and laid + waste the lands of Rayy.... And in the year 655 there broke out at + Baghdád a fearful riot between the SunnÃs and the ShÑites, which + led to great plunder and destruction of property. A number of + ShÑites were killed, and this so incensed and infuriated the Vizier + Ibnu ’l-‘Alqami that he encouraged the Tartars to invade ‘Iráq, by + which means he hoped to take ample vengeance on the SunnÃs.[820] And + in the beginning of the year 656 the tyrant Húlágú b. Túlà b. + ChingÃz Khán, the Moghul, arrived at Baghdád with his army, + including the Georgians (_al-Kurj_) and the troops of Mosul. The + DawÃdár[821] marched out of the city and met Húlágú's vanguard, + which was commanded by Bájú.[822] The Moslems, being few, suffered + defeat; whereupon Bájú advanced and pitched his camp to the west of + Baghdád, while Húlágú took up a position on the eastern side. Then + the Vizier Ibnu ’l-‘Alqamà said to the Caliph Musta‘ṣim Billáh: "I + will go to the Supreme Khán to arrange peace." So the hound[823] + went and obtained security for himself, and on his return said to + the Caliph: "The Khán desires to marry his daughter to your son and + to render homage to you, like the Seljúq kings, and then to depart." + Musta‘ṣim set out, attended by the nobles of his court and the + grandees of his time, in order to witness the contract of marriage. + The whole party were beheaded except the Caliph, who was trampled to + death. The Tartars entered Baghdád and distributed themselves in + bands throughout the city. For thirty-four days the sword was never + sheathed. Few escaped. The slain amounted to 1,800,000 and more. + Then quarter was called.... Thus it is related in the _Duwalu + ’l-Islám_.[824]... And on this wise did the Caliphate pass from + Baghdád. As the poet sings:-- + + "_Khalati ’l-manábiru wa-’l-asirralu minhumú + wa-‘alayhimú hatta ’l-mamáti salámú._" + + "_The pulpits and the thrones are empty of them; + I bid them, till the hour of death, farewell!_" + +[Sidenote: Battle of ‘Ayn Jálút (September, 1260 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Arabic ceases to be the language of the whole Moslem world.] + +It seemed as if all Muḥammadan Asia lay at the feet of the pagan +conqueror. Resuming his advance, Húlágú occupied Mesopotamia and sacked +Aleppo. He then returned to the East, leaving his lieutenant, Ketboghá, +to complete the reduction of Syria. Meanwhile, however, an Egyptian army +under the Mameluke Sultan Muẓaffar Quá¹uz was hastening to oppose +the invaders. On Friday, the 25th of Ramaá¸Ã¡n, 658 A.H., a decisive +battle was fought at ‘Ayn Jálút (Goliath's Spring), west of the Jordan. +The Tartars were routed with immense slaughter, and their subsequent +attempts to wrest Syria from the Mamelukes met with no success. The +submission of Asia Minor was hardly more than nominal, but in Persia the +descendants of Húlágú, the Ãl-Kháns, reigned over a great empire, which +the conversion of one of their number, Gházán (1295-1304 A.D.), restored +to Moslem rule. We are not concerned here with the further history of +the Mongols in Persia nor with that of the Persians themselves. Since +the days of Húlágú the lands east and west of the Tigris are separated +by an ever-widening gulf. The two races--Persians and Arabs--to whose +co-operation the mediæval world, from Samarcand to Seville, for a long +time owed its highest literary and scientific culture, have now finally +dissolved their partnership. It is true that the cleavage began many +centuries earlier, and before the fall of Baghdád the Persian genius had +already expressed itself in a splendid national literature. But from +this date onward the use of Arabic by Persians is practically limited to +theological and philosophical writings. The Persian language has driven +its rival out of the field. Accordingly Egypt and Syria will now demand +the principal share of our attention, more especially as the history of +the Arabs of Granada, which properly belongs to this period, has been +related in the preceding chapter. + + +[Sidenote: The Mamelukes of Egypt (1250-1517 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Sultan Baybars (1260-1277 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: The ‘Abbásid Caliphs of Egypt.] + +The dynasty of the Mameluke[825] Sultans of Egypt was founded in 1250 +A.D. by Aybak, a Turkish slave, who commenced his career in the service +of the Ayyúbid, Malik Ṣáliḥ Najmu ’l-DÃn. His successors[826] held +sway in Egypt and Syria until the conquest of these countries by the +Ottomans. The Mamelukes were rough soldiers, who seldom indulged in any +useless refinement, but they had a royal taste for architecture, as the +visitor to Cairo may still see. Their administration, though disturbed +by frequent mutinies and murders, was tolerably prosperous on the whole, +and their victories over the Mongol hosts, as well as the crushing blows +which they dealt to the Crusaders, gave Islam new prestige. The ablest +of them all was Baybars, who richly deserved his title Malik +al-Ẓáhir, _i.e._, the Victorious King. His name has passed into the +legends of the people, and his warlike exploits into romances written in +the vulgar dialect which are recited by story-tellers to this day.[827] +The violent and brutal acts which he sometimes committed--for he shrank +from no crime when he suspected danger--made him a terror to the +ambitious nobles around him, but did not harm his reputation as a just +ruler. Although he held the throne in virtue of having murdered the late +monarch with his own hand, he sought to give the appearance of +legitimacy to his usurpation. He therefore recognised as Caliph a +certain Abu ’l-Qásim Aḥmad, a pretended scion of the ‘Abbásid house, +invited him to Cairo, and took the oath of allegiance to him in due +form. The Caliph on his part invested the Sultan with sovereignty over +Egypt, Syria, Arabia, and all the provinces that he might obtain by +future conquests. This Aḥmad, entitled al-Mustaná¹£ir, was the first +of a long series of mock Caliphs who were appointed by the Mameluke +Sultans and generally kept under close surveillance in the citadel of +Cairo. There is no authority for the statement, originally made by +Mouradgea d'Ohsson in 1787 and often repeated since, that the last of +the line bequeathed his rights of succession to the Ottoman Sultan SelÃm +I, thus enabling the Sultans of Turkey to claim the title and dignity of +Caliph.[828] + +[Sidenote: Arabic poetry after the Mongol Invasion.] + +[Sidenote: á¹¢afiyyu ’l-DÃn al-ḤillÃ.] + +The poets of this period are almost unknown in Europe, and until they +have been studied with due attention it would be premature to assert +that none of them rises above mediocrity. At the same time my own +impression (based, I confess, on a very desultory and imperfect +acquaintance with their work) is that the best among them are merely +elegant and accomplished artists, playing brilliantly with words and +phrases, but doing little else. No doubt extreme artificiality may +coexist with poetical genius of a high order, provided that it has +behind it MutanabbÃ's power, Ma‘arrÃ's earnestness, or Ibnu +’l-Fáriá¸'s enthusiasm. In the absence of these qualities we must be +content to admire the technical skill with which the old tunes are +varied and revived. Let us take, for example, á¹¢afiyyu ’l-DÃn +al-ḤillÃ, who was born at Ḥilla, a large town on the Euphrates, in +1278 A.D., became laureate of the Urtuqid dynasty at MáridÃn, and died +in Baghdád about 1350. He is described as "the poet of his age +absolutely," and to judge from the extracts in KutubÃ's _Fawátu +’l-Wafayát_[829] he combined subtlety of fancy with remarkable ease and +sweetness of versification. Many of his pieces, however, are _jeux +d'esprit_, like his ode to the Prophet, in which he employs 151 +rhetorical figures, or like another poem where all the nouns are +diminutives.[830] The following specimen of his work is too brief to do +him justice:-- + + "How can I have patience, and thou, mine eye's delight, + All the livelong year not one moment in my sight? + And with what can I rejoice my heart, when thou that art a joy + Unto every human heart, from me hast taken flight? + I swear by Him who made thy form the envy of the sun + (So graciously He clad thee with lovely beams of light): + The day when I behold thy beauty doth appear to me + As tho' it gleamed on Time's dull brow a constellation bright. + O thou scorner of my passion, for whose sake I count as naught + All the woe that I endure, all the injury and despite, + Come, regard the ways of God! for never He at life's last gasp + Suffereth the weight to perish even of one mite!"[831] + +[Sidenote: Popular poetry.] + +We have already referred to the folk-songs (_muwashshaḥ_ and _zajal_) +which originated in Spain. These simple ballads, with their novel metres +and incorrect language, were despised by the classical school, that is +to say, by nearly all Moslems with any pretensions to learning; but +their popularity was such that even the court poets occasionally +condescended to write in this style. To the _zajal_ and _muwashshaḥ_ +we may add the _dúbayt_, the _mawáliyyá_, the _kánwakán_, and the +_ḥimáq_, which together with verse of the regular form made up the +'seven kinds of poetry' (_al-funún al-sab‘a_). á¹¢afiyyu ’l-DÃn +al-ḤillÃ, who wrote a special treatise on the Arabic folk-songs, +mentions two other varieties which, he says, were invented by the people +of Baghdád to be sung in the early dawn of Ramaá¸Ã¡n, the Moslem +Lent.[832] It is interesting to observe that some few literary men +attempted, though in a timid fashion, to free Arabic poetry from the +benumbing academic system by which it was governed and to pour fresh +life into its veins. A notable example of this tendency is the _Hazzu +’l-Quḥúf_[833] by ShirbÃnÃ, who wrote in 1687 A.D. Here we have a +poem in the vulgar dialect of Egypt, but what is still more curious, the +author, while satirising the uncouth manners and rude language of the +peasantry, makes a bitter attack on the learning and morals of the +Muḥammadan divines.[834] For this purpose he introduces a typical +Fellah named Abú Shádúf, whose rôle corresponds to that of Piers the +Plowman in Longland's _Vision_. Down to the end of the nineteenth +century, at any rate, such isolated offshoots had not gone far to found +a living school of popular poetry. Only the future can show whether the +Arabs are capable of producing a genius who will succeed in doing for +the national folk-songs what Burns did for the Scots ballads. + +[Sidenote: Ibn Khallikán (1211-1282 A.D.).] + +Biography and History were cultivated with ardour by the savants of +Egypt and Syria. Among the numerous compositions of this kind we can +have no hesitation in awarding the place of honour to the _Wafayátu +’l-A‘yán_, or 'Obituaries of Eminent Men,' by Shamsu ’l-DÃn Ibn +Khallikán, a work which has often been quoted in the foregoing pages. +The author belonged to a distinguished family descending from Yaḥyá +b. Khálid the Barmecide (see p. 259 seq.), and was born at Arbela in +1211 A.D. He received his education at Aleppo and Damascus (1229-1238) +and then proceeded to Cairo, where he finished the first draft of his +Biographical Dictionary in 1256. Five years later he was appointed by +Sultan Baybars to be Chief Cadi of Syria. He retained this high office +(with a seven years' interval, which he devoted to literary and +biographical studies) until a short time before his death. In the +Preface to the _Wafayát_ Ibn Khallikán observes that he has adopted the +alphabetical order as more convenient than the chronological. As regards +the scope and character of his Dictionary, he says:-- + + [Sidenote: His Biographical Dictionary.] + + "I have not limited my work to the history of any one particular + class of persons, as learned men, princes, emirs, viziers, or poets; + but I have spoken of all those whose names are familiar to the + public, and about whom questions are frequently asked; I have, + however, related the facts I could ascertain respecting them in a + concise manner, lest my work should become too voluminous; I have + fixed with all possible exactness the dates of their birth and + death; I have traced up their genealogy as high as I could; I have + marked the orthography of those names which are liable to be written + incorrectly; and I have cited the traits which may best serve to + characterise each individual, such as noble actions, singular + anecdotes, verses and letters, so that the reader may derive + amusement from my work, and find it not exclusively of such a + uniform cast as would prove tiresome; for the most effectual + inducement to reading a book arises from the variety of its + style."[835] + +Ibn Khallikan might have added that he was the first Muḥammadan +writer to design a Dictionary of National Biography, since none of his +predecessors had thought of comprehending the lives of eminent Moslems +of every class in a single work.[836] The merits of the book have been +fully recognised by the author's countrymen as well as by European +scholars. It is composed in simple and elegant language, it is extremely +accurate, and it contains an astonishing quantity of miscellaneous +historical and literary information, not drily catalogued but conveyed +in the most pleasing fashion by anecdotes and excerpts which illustrate +every department of Moslem life. I am inclined to agree with the opinion +of Sir William Jones, that it is the best general biography ever +written; and allowing for the difference of scale and scope, I think it +will bear comparison with a celebrated English work which it resembles +in many ways--I mean Boswell's _Johnson_.[837] + + +[Sidenote: Historians of the Mameluke period.] + +[Sidenote: MaqrÃzÃ.] + +To give an adequate account of the numerous and talented historians of +the Mameluke period would require far more space than they can +reasonably claim in a review of this kind. Concerning Ibn Khaldún, who +held a professorship as well as the office of Cadi in Cairo under Sultan +Barqúq (1382-1398 A.D.), we have already spoken at some length. This +extraordinary genius discovered principles and methods which might have +been expected to revolutionise historical science, but neither was he +himself capable of carrying them into effect nor, as the event proved, +did they inspire his successors to abandon the path of tradition. I +cannot imagine any more decisive symptom of the intellectual lethargy in +which Islam was now sunk, or any clearer example of the rule that even +the greatest writers struggle in vain against the spirit of their own +times. There were plenty of learned men, however, who compiled local and +universal histories. Considering the precious materials which their +industry has preserved for us, we should rather admire these diligent +and erudite authors than complain of their inability to break away from +the established mode. Perhaps the most famous among them is Taqiyyu +’l-DÃn al-MaqrÃzà (1364-1442 A.D.). A native of Cairo, he devoted +himself to Egyptian history and antiquities, on which subject he +composed several standard works, such as the _Khiá¹aá¹_[838] and the +_Sulúk_.[839] Although he was both unconscientious and uncritical, too +often copying without acknowledgment or comment, and indulging in +wholesale plagiarism when it suited his purpose, these faults which are +characteristic of his age may easily be excused. "He has accumulated and +reduced to a certain amount of order a large quantity of information +that would but for him have passed into oblivion. He is generally +painstaking and accurate, and always resorts to contemporary evidence if +it is available. Also he has a pleasant and lucid style, and writes +without bias and apparently with distinguished impartiality."[840] Other +well-known works belonging to this epoch are the _FakhrÃ_ of Ibnu +’l-Ṭiqá¹aqá, a delightful manual of Muḥammadan politics[841] +which was written at Mosul in 1302 A.D.; the epitome of universal +history by Abu ’l-Fidá, Prince of Ḥamát (†1331); the voluminous +Chronicle of Islam by Dhahabà (†1348); the high-flown Biography of +TÃmúr entitled _‘Ajá’ibu ’l-Maqdúr_, or 'Marvels of Destiny,' by Ibn +‘Arabsháh (†1450); and the _Nujúm al-Záhira_ ('Resplendent Stars') by +Abu ’l-Maḥásin b. TaghrÃbirdà (†1469), which contains the annals of +Egypt under the Moslems. The political and literary history of +Muḥammadan Spain by Maqqarà of Tilimsán (†1632) was mentioned in the +last chapter.[842] + +[Sidenote: Jalálu ’l-DÃn al-Suyúá¹Ã (1445-1505 A.D.).] + +If we were asked to select a single figure who should exhibit as +completely as possible in his own person the literary tendencies of the +Alexandrian age of Arabic civilisation, our choice would assuredly fall +on Jalálu ’l-DÃn al-Suyúá¹Ã, who was born at SuyúṠ(Usyúá¹) in +Upper Egypt in 1445 A.D. His family came originally from Persia, but, +like DhahabÃ, Ibn TaghrÃbirdÃ, and many celebrated writers of this time, +he had, through his mother, an admixture of Turkish blood. At the age of +five years and seven months, when his father died, the precocious boy +had already reached the _Súratu ’l-TaḥrÃm_ (Súra of Forbidding), +which is the sixty-sixth chapter of the Koran, and he knew the whole +volume by heart before he was eight years old. He prosecuted his studies +under the most renowned masters in every branch of Moslem learning, and +on finishing his education held one Professorship after another at Cairo +until 1501, when he was deprived of his post in consequence of +malversation of the bursary monies in his charge. He died four years +later in the islet of Rawá¸a on the Nile, whither he had retired under +the pretence of devoting the rest of his life to God. We possess the +titles of more than five hundred separate works which he composed. This +number would be incredible but for the fact that many of them are brief +pamphlets displaying the author's curious erudition on all sorts of +abstruse subjects--_e.g._, whether the Prophet wore trousers, whether +his turban had a point, and whether his parents are in Hell or Paradise. +Suyúá¹Ã's indefatigable pen travelled over an immense field of +knowledge--Koran, Tradition, Law, Philosophy and History, Philology and +Rhetoric. Like some of the old Alexandrian scholars, he seems to have +taken pride in a reputation for polygraphy, and his enemies declared +that he made free with other men's books, which he used to alter +slightly and then give out as his own. Suyúá¹Ã, on his part, laid +before the Shaykhu ’l-Islám a formal accusation of plagiarism against +Qasá¹allánÃ, an eminent contemporary divine. We are told that his +vanity and arrogance involved him in frequent quarrels, and that he was +'cut' by his learned brethren. Be this as it may, he saw what the public +wanted. His compendious and readable handbooks were famed throughout the +Moslem world, as he himself boasts, from India to Morocco, and did much +to popularise the scientific culture of the day. It will be enough to +mention here the _Itqán_ on Koranic exegesis; the _TafsÃru ’l-Jalálayn_, +or 'Commentary on the Koran by the two Jaláls,' which was begun by +Jalálu ’l-DÃn al-Maḥallà and finished by his namesake, Suyúá¹Ã; the +_Muzhir_ (_Mizhar_), a treatise on philology; the _Ḥusnu +’l-Muḥáá¸ara_, a history of Old and New Cairo; and the _Ta’rÃkhu +’l-Khulafá_, or 'History of the Caliphs.' + + +[Sidenote: Other scholars of the period.] + +To dwell longer on the literature of this period would only be to +emphasise its scholastic and unoriginal character. A passing mention, +however, is due to the encyclopædists Nuwayrà (†1332), author of the +_Niháyatu ’l-Arab_, and Ibnu ’l-Wardà (†1349). á¹¢afadà (†1363) +compiled a gigantic biographical dictionary, the _Wáfà bi ’l-Wafayát_, +in twenty-six volumes, and the learned traditionist, Ibn Ḥajar of +Ascalon (†1449), has left a large number of writings, among which it +will be sufficient to name the _Iṣába fà tamyÃz al-á¹¢aḥába_, or +Lives of the Companions of the Prophet.[843] We shall conclude this part +of our subject by enumerating a few celebrated works which may be +described in modern terms as standard text-books for the Schools and +Universities of Islam. Amidst the host of manuals of Theology and +Jurisprudence, with their endless array of abridgments, commentaries, +and supercommentaries, possibly the best known to European students are +those by Abu ’l-Barakát al-Nasafà (†1310), ‘Aá¸udu ’l-DÃn al-Ãjà (†+1355), SÃdà KhalÃl al-Jundà (†1365), Taftázánà (†1389), SharÃf +al-Jurjánà (†1413), and Muḥammad b. Yúsuf al-Sanúsà (†1486). For +Philology and Lexicography we have the _Alfiyya_, a versified grammar by +Ibn Málik of Jaen (†1273); the _Ãjurrúmiyya_ on the rudiments of +grammar, an exceedingly popular compendium by á¹¢anhájà (†1323); and +two famous Arabic dictionaries, the _Lisánu ’l-‘Arab_ by Jamálu ’l-DÃn +Ibn Mukarram (†1311), and the _Qámús_ by FÃrúzábádà (†1414). Nor, +although he was a Turk, should we leave unnoticed the great +bibliographer Ḥájjà KhalÃfa (†1658), whose _Kashfu ’l-Ẓunún_ +contains the titles, arranged alphabetically, of all the Arabic, +Persian, and Turkish books of which the existence was known to him. + + +[Sidenote: The 'Thousand and One Nights.'] + +The Mameluke period gave final shape to the _Alf Layla wa-Layla_, or +'Thousand and One Nights,' a work which is far more popular in Europe +than the Koran or any other masterpiece of Arabic literature. The modern +title, 'Arabian Nights,' tells only a part of the truth. Mas‘údà (†956 +A.D.) mentions an old Persian book, the _Hazár Afsána_ ('Thousand +Tales') which "is generally called the Thousand and One Nights; it is +the story of the King and his Vizier, and of the Vizier's daughter and +her slave-girl: ShÃrázád and DÃnázád."[844] The author of the _Fihrist_, +writing in 988 A.D., begins his chapter "concerning the Story-Tellers +and the Fabulists and the names of the books which they composed" with +the following passage (p. 304):-- + + [Sidenote: Persian origin of the 'Thousand and One Nights.'] + + [Sidenote: The _Hazár Afsán_.] + + "The first who composed fables and made books of them and put them + by in treasuries and sometimes introduced animals as speaking 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 DÃnárzád, who was in league with the queen. It + is also said that this book was composed for ḤumánÃ, 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, and 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 this + purpose. 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 (_kitábun ghaththun + báridu ’l-hadÃth_).[845] + + Abu ‘Abdalláh Muḥammad b. ‘Abdús al-Jahshiyárà (†942-943 A.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." + +[Sidenote: Different sources of the collection.] + +Evidently, then, the _Hazár Afsán_ was 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 and 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 charming paraphrase, which in some respects is more true +to the spirit of the original than are the scholarly renderings of Lane +and Burton. + +[Sidenote: The 'Romance of ‘Antar.'] + +The 'Romance of ‘Antar' (_SÃratu ‘Antar_) is traditionally ascribed to +the great philologist, Aá¹£ma‘Ã,[846] who flourished in the reign of +Hárún al-RashÃd, but this must be considered as an invention of the +professional reciters who sit in front of Oriental cafés and entertain +the public with their lively declamations.[847] According to +Brockelmann, the work in its present form apparently dates from the time +of the Crusades.[848] Its 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 seven _Mu‘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 the +_Mines de l'Orient_ (1802) was the means of introducing the _SÃratu +‘Antar_ to 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] + + +[Sidenote: Orthodoxy and mysticism.] + +While the decadent state of Arabic literature during all these 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 over Islam and +which manifested itself by the complete victory of the Ash‘arites or +Scholastic Theologians about 1200 A.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 of _ijmá‘_, _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 the _YawáqÃt_ of Sha‘ránÃ. After giving +instances of the persecution to which the ṢúfÃs of old--BáyazÃd, Dhú +’l-Nún, and others--were subjected by their implacable enemies, the +_‘Ulamá_, he goes on to speak of what had happened more recently[850]:-- + + [Sidenote: Persecution of heretics.] + + "They brought the Imám Abú Bakr al-NábulusÃ, notwithstanding his + merit and profound learning and rectitude in religion, from the + Maghrib to Egypt and testified that he was a heretic (_zindÃq_). 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 NasÃmà to be flayed at Aleppo.[851] When he + silenced them by his arguments, they devised a plan for his + destruction, thus: They wrote the _Súratu ’l-Ikhláṣ_[852] on 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 (NasÃmÃ), who put it on, for he knew not. + His adversaries went to the governor of Aleppo and said: 'We have + sure information that NasÃmà 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 NasÃmà was + reciting _muwashshaḥs_ in 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-ShádhilÃ[853] from 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-DÃn b. ‘Abd al-Salám[854] of + infidelity and sat in judgment over him on account of some + expressions in his _‘AqÃda_ (Articles of Faith) and urged the Sultan + to punish him; afterwards, however, he was restored to favour. They + denounced Shaykh Táju ’l-DÃn al-SubkÃ[855] on 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 was now 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-‘Arabà and Ibnu ’l-Fáriá¸, 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-DÃn Ibn +Taymiyya and ‘Abdu ’l-Wahháb al-Sha‘ránÃ. + +[Sidenote: Ibn Taymiyya (1263-1328 A.D.).] + +Ibn Taymiyya was born at Ḥarrán in 1263 A.D. A few years later his +father, fleeing before the Mongols, brought him 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 Islam of 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 ṢúfÃs, 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. + +[Sidenote: Sha‘ránà (†1565 A.D.).] + +Notwithstanding the brilliant effort of Ghazálà 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 of _faqÃh_ +(theologian) and _faqÃr_ (dervish), the one class forming a powerful +official hierarchy in close alliance with the Government, whereas the +ṢúfÃs 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-Wahháb al-Sha‘ránÃ, 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‘ránà contrasts the miserable +lot of the peasantry under the new _régime_ with 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‘ránà 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-DÃn Ibnu +’l-‘ArabÃ, whose _Meccan Revelations_ he studied and epitomised. His +autobiography entitled _Laá¹Ã¡â€™ifu ’l-Minan_ displays 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 recipient _ad majorem Dei gloriam_. We should be treating +Sha‘ránà 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 ummatà raḥmatun_). Like the Arabian ṢúfÃs generally, +Sha‘ránà kept his mysticism within narrow bounds, and declared himself +an adherent of the moderate section which follows Junayd of Baghdád (†+909-910 A.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] + +[Sidenote: Muḥammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahháb and his successors.] + +Muḥammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahháb,[858] from whom its name is derived, was +born about 1720 A.D. in Najd, the Highlands of Arabia. In his youth he +visited the principal cities of the East, "as is much the practice with +his countrymen even now,"[859] and 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,[860] Ibn ‘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 á¸ira‘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 WahhábÃs, under +‘Abdu ’l-‘AzÃz, son of Muḥammad b. Sa‘úd, gained their first great +successes. In 1801 they sacked Imám-Ḥusayn,[861] a town in the +vicinity of Baghdád, massacred five thousand persons, and destroyed the +cupola of Ḥusayn's tomb; the veneration paid by all ShÑites to that +shrine being, as Burckhardt says, a sufficient cause to attract the +Wahhábà fury against it. Two years later they made themselves masters of +the whole Ḥijáz, including Mecca and MedÃna. On the death of ‘Abdu +’l-‘AzÃz, 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 ‘AlÃ, 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 WahhábÃs and took their capital, +á¸ira‘iyya, by storm. The sect, however, still maintains its power in +Central Arabia, and in recent times has acquired political importance. + +[Sidenote: The Wahhábite Reformation.] + +The WahhábÃs were regarded by the Turks as infidels and authors of a new +religion. It was natural that they should 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 MedÃna. 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."[863] In 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] + +[Sidenote: The SanúsÃs in Africa.] + +The Wahhábite movement has been compared with the Protestant 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 Sanúsiyya +Brotherhood, whose influence is supreme in Tripoli, the Sahara, and the +whole North African Hinterland, and whose members are reckoned by +millions. Muḥammad b. ‘Alà b. SanúsÃ, 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 SanúsÃs 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 +MedÃna in the seventh century after Christ. + + +[Sidenote: Islam and modern civilisation.] + +Since Napoleon showed the way by his expedition to Egypt in 1798, the +Moslems in that country, as likewise in Syria and North Africa, have +come more and more under European influence.[865] The above-mentioned +Muḥammad ‘AlÃ, 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 +of many 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.[866] +Besides 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,[867] the fables of La +Fontaine, 'Paul and Virginia,' the 'Talisman,' 'Monte Cristo' (not to +mention scores of minor romances), and even the Iliad of Homer.[868] +Parallel 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 traditional lines 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’rÃkha fà ṣadrihà + Lam yadri ḥulwa ’l-‘ayshi min murrihi + Wa-man wa‘á akhbára man qad maá¸Ã¡ + Aá¸Ã¡fa a‘máran ilá ‘umrihÃ._" + + "He in whose heart no History is enscrolled + Cannot discern in life's alloy the gold. + But he that keeps the records of the Dead + Adds to his life new lives a hundredfold." + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + + +[1] H. Grimme, _Weltgeschichte in Karakterbildern: Mohammed_ (Munich, +1904), p. 6 sqq. + +[2] _Cf._ Nöldeke, _Die Semitischen Sprachen_ (Leipzig, 1899), or the +same scholar's article, 'Semitic Languages,' in the _Encyclopædia +Britannica_, 11th edition. Renan's _Histoire générale des langues +sémitiques_ (1855) is now antiquated. An interesting essay on the +importance of the Semites in the history of civilisation was published +by F. Hommel as an introduction to his _Semitischen Völker und +Sprachen_, vol. i (Leipzig, 1883). The dates in this table are of course +only approximate. + +[3] Ibn Qutayba, _Kitábu ’l-Ma‘árij_, ed. by Wüstenfeld, p. 18. + +[4] Full information concerning the genealogy of the Arabs will be found +in Wüstenfeld's _Genealogische Tabellen der Arabischen Stämme und +Familien_ with its excellent _Register_ (Göttingen, 1852-1853). + +[5] The tribes á¸abba, TamÃm, Khuzayma, Hudhayl, Asad, Kinána, and +Quraysh together formed a group which is known as Khindif, and is often +distinguished from Qays ‘Aylán. + +[6] Goldziher, _Muhammedanische Studien_, Part I, p. 133 sqq., 177 sqq. + +[7] Nöldeke in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 40, p. 177. + +[8] See Margoliouth, _Mohammed and the Rise of Islam_, p. 4. + +[9] Concerning the nature and causes of this antagonism see Goldziher, +_op. cit._, Part I, p. 78 sqq. + +[10] The word 'Arabic' is always to be understood in this sense wherever +it occurs in the following pages. + +[11] First published by Sachau in _Monatsberichte der Kön. Preuss. Akad. +der Wissenschaften zu Berlin_ (February, 1881), p. 169 sqq. + +[12] See De Vogüé, _Syrie Centrale, Inscriptions Sémitiques_, p. 117. +Other references are given in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 35, p. 749. + +[13] On this subject the reader may consult Goldziher. _Muhammedanische +Studien_, Part I, p. 110 sqq. + +[14] Professor Margoliouth in _F.R.A.S._ for 1905, p. 418 + +[15] Nöldeke, _Die Semitischen Sprachen_, p. 36 sqq. and p. 51. + +[16] _Journal Asiatique_ (March, 1835), p. 209 sqq. + +[17] Strictly speaking, the _Jáhiliyya_ includes the whole time between +Adam and Muḥammad, but in a narrower sense it may be used, as here, to +denote the Pre-islamic period of Arabic Literature. + +[18] _Die Namen der Säugethiere bei den Südsemitischen Völkern_, p. 343 +seq. + +[19] _Iramu Dhátu ’l-‘Imád_ (Koran, lxxxix, 6). The sense of these words +is much disputed. See especially ṬabarÃ's explanation in his great +commentary on the Koran (O. Loth in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 35, p. 626 sqq.). + +[20] I have abridged ṬabarÃ, _Annals_, i, 231 sqq. _Cf._ also chapters +vii, xi, xxvi, and xlvi of the Koran. + +[21] Koran, xi, 56-57. + +[22] See Doughty's _Documents Epigraphiques recueillis dans le nord de +l'Arabie_, p. 12 sqq. + +[23] Koran, vii, 76. + +[24] Properly Saba’ with _hamza_, both syllables being short. + +[25] The oldest record of Saba to which a date can be assigned is found +in the Assyrian cuneiform inscriptions. We read in the Annals of King +Sargon (715 B.C.), "I received the tribute of Pharaoh, the King of +Egypt, of Shamsiyya, the Queen of Arabia, of Ithamara the Sabæan--gold, +spices, slaves, horses, and camels." Ithamara is identical with +Yatha‘amar, a name borne by several kings of Saba. + +[26] A. Müller, _Der Islam im Morgen und Abendland_, vol. i, p. 24 seq. + +[27] Nöldeke, however, declares the traditions which represent Kulayb as +leading the RabÑa clans to battle against the combined strength of +Yemen to be entirely unhistorical (_Fünf Mo‘allaqát_, i, 44). + +[28] _Op. cit._, p. 94 seq. An excellent account of the progress made in +discovering and deciphering the South Arabic inscriptions down to the +year 1841 is given by Rödiger, _Excurs ueber himjaritische Inschriften_, +in his German translation of Wellsted's _Travels in Arabia_, vol. ii, p. +368 sqq. + +[29] Seetzen's inscriptions were published in _Fundgruben des Orients_, +vol. ii (Vienna, 1811), p. 282 sqq. The one mentioned above was +afterwards deciphered and explained by Mordtmann in the _Z.D.M.G._, vol. +31, p. 89 seq. + +[30] The oldest inscriptions, however, run from left to right and from +right to left alternately (βουστÏοÏηδόν). + +[31] _Notiz ueber die himjaritische Schrift nebst doppeltem Alphabet +derselben_ in _Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes_, vol. i +(Göttingen, 1837), p. 332 sqq. + +[32] See Arnaud's _Relation d'un voyage à Mareb (Saba) dans l'Arabie +méridionale_ in the _Journal Asiatique_, 4th series, vol. v (1845), p. +211 sqq. and p. 309 sqq. + +[33] See _Rapport sur une mission archéologique dans le Yémen_ in the +_Journal Asiatique_, 6th series, vol. xix (1872), pp. 5-98, 129-266, +489-547. + +[34] See D. H. Müller, _Die Burgen und Schlösser Südarabiens_ in +_S.B.W.A._, vol. 97, p. 981 sqq. + +[35] The title _Mukarrib_ combines the significations of prince and +priest. + +[36] Goldziher, _Muhammedanische Studien_, Part I, p. 3. + +[37] See F. Prætorius, _Unsterblichkeitsglaube und Heiligenverehrung bei +den Himyaren_ in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 27, p. 645. Hubert Grimme has given an +interesting sketch of the religious ideas and customs of the Southern +Arabs in _Weltgeschichte in Karakterbildern: Mohammed_ (Munich, 1904), +p. 29 sqq. + +[38] _Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archæology_, vol. 5, p. +409. + +[39] This table of contents is quoted by D. H. Müller (_Südarabische +Studien_, p. 108, n. 2) from the title-page of the British Museum MS. of +the eighth book of the _IklÃl_. No complete copy of the work is known to +exist, but considerable portions of it are preserved in the British +Museum and in the Berlin Royal Library. + +[40] The poet ‘Alqama b. Dhà Jadan, whose verses are often cited in the +commentary on the 'Ḥimyarite Ode.' + +[41] _Die Himjarische Kasideh_ herausgegeben und übersetzt von Alfred +von Kremer (Leipzig, 1865). _The Lay of the Himyarites_, by W. F. +Prideaux (Sehore, 1879). + +[42] Nashwán was a philologist of some repute. His great dictionary, the +_Shamsu ’l-‘Ulúm_, is a valuable aid to those engaged in the study of +South Arabian antiquities. It has been used by D. H. Müller to fix the +correct spelling of proper names which occur in the Ḥimyarite Ode +(_Z.D.M.G._, vol. 29, p. 620 sqq.; _Südarabische Studien_, p. 143 sqq.). + +[43] _Fihrist_, p. 89, l. 26. + +[44] _Murúju ’l-Dhahab_, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. iv, p. 89. + +[45] Von Kremer, _Die Südarabische Sage_, p. 56. Possibly, as he +suggests (p. 115), the story may be a symbolical expression of the fact +that the Sabæans were divided into two great tribes, Ḥimyar and +Kahlán, the former of which held the chief power. + +[46] _Cf._ Koran xxxiv, 14 sqq. The existing ruins have been described +by Arnaud in the _Journal Asiatique_, 7th series, vol. 3 (1874), p. 3 +sqq. + +[47] I follow Mas‘údÃ, _Murúju ’l-Dhahab_ (ed. by Barbier de Meynard), +vol. iii, p. 378 sqq., and Nuwayrà in Reiske's _Primæ lineæ Historiæ +Rerum Arabicarum_, p. 166 sqq. + +[48] The story of the migration from Ma’rib, as related below, may have +some historical basis, but the Dam itself was not finally destroyed +until long afterwards. Inscriptions carved on the existing ruins show +that it was more or less in working order down to the middle of the +sixth century A.D. The first recorded flood took place in 447-450, and +on another occasion (in 539-542) the Dam was partially reconstructed by +Abraha, the Abyssinian viceroy of Yemen. See E. Glaser, _Zwei +Inschriften über den Dammbruch von Mârib_ (_Mitteilungen der +Vorderastatischen Gesellschaft_, 1897, 6). + +[49] He is said to have gained this sobriquet from his custom of tearing +to pieces (_mazaqa_) every night the robe which he had worn during the +day. + +[50] Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. i, p. 497. + +[51] HamdánÃ, _IklÃl_, bk. viii, edited by D. H. Müller in _S.B.W.A._ +(Vienna, 1881), vol. 97, p. 1037. The verses are quoted with some +textual differences by Yáqút, _Mu‘jam al-Buldán_, ed. by Wüstenfeld, +vol. iv, 387, and Ibn Hishám, p. 9. + +[52] The following inscription is engraved on one of the stone cylinders +described by Arnaud. "Yatha‘amar Bayyin, son of Samah‘alà Yanúf, Prince +of Saba, caused the mountain Balaq to be pierced and erected the +flood-gates (called) Raḥab for convenience of irrigation." I +translate after D. H. Müller, _loc. laud._, p. 965. + +[53] The words _Ḥimyar_ and _Tubba‘_ do not occur at all in the older +inscriptions, and very seldom even in those of a more recent date. + +[54] See Koran, xviii, 82-98. + +[55] Dhu ’l-Qarnayn is described as "the measurer of the earth" +(_Massáḥu ’l-ará¸_) by HamdánÃ, _JazÃratu ’l-‘Arab_, p. 46, l. 10. +If I may step for a moment outside the province of literary history to +discuss the mythology of these verses, it seems to me more than probable +that Dhu ’l-Qarnayn is a personification of the Sabæan divinity ‘Athtar, +who represents "sweet Hesper-Phosphor, double name" (see D. H. Müller in +_S.B.W.A._, vol. 97, p. 973 seq.). The Minæan inscriptions have "‘Athtar +of the setting and ‘Athtar of the rising" (_ibid._, p. 1033). Moreover, +in the older inscriptions ‘Athtar and Almaqa are always mentioned +together; and Almaqa, which according to Hamdánà is the name of Venus +(_al-Zuhara_), was identified by Arabian archæologists with BilqÃs. For +_qarn_ in the sense of 'ray' or 'beam' see Goldziher, _Abhand. zur Arab. +Philologie_, Part I, p. 114. I think there is little doubt that Dhu +’l-Qarnayn and BilqÃs may be added to the examples (_ibid._, p. 111 +sqq.) of that peculiar conversion by which many heathen deities were +enabled to maintain themselves under various disguises within the pale +of Islam. + +[56] The Arabic text will be found in Von Kremer's _Altarabische +Gedichte ueber die Volkssage von Jemen_, p. 15 (No. viii, l. 6 sqq.). +Ḥassán b. Thábit, the author of these lines, was contemporary with +Muḥammad, to whose cause he devoted what poetical talent he possessed. +In the verses immediately preceding those translated above he claims to +be a descendant of Qaḥá¹Ã¡n. + +[57] Von Kremer, _Die Südarabische Sage_, p. vii of the Introduction. + +[58] A prose translation is given by Von Kremer, _ibid._, p. 78 sqq. The +Arabic text which he published afterwards in _Altarabische Gedichte +ueber die Volkssage von Jemen_, p. 18 sqq., is corrupt in some places +and incorrect in others. I have followed Von Kremer's interpretation +except when it seemed to me to be manifestly untenable. The reader will +have no difficulty in believing that this poem was meant to be recited +by a wandering minstrel to the hearers that gathered round him at +nightfall. It may well be the composition of one of those professional +story-tellers who flourished in the first century after the Flight, such +as ‘AbÃd b. Sharya (see p. 13 _supra_), or YazÃd b. RabÑa b. Mufarrigh +(†688 A.D.), who is said to have invented the poems and romances of the +Ḥimyarite kings (_AghánÃ_, xvii, 52). + +[59] Instead of Hinwam the original has Hayyúm, for which Von Kremer +reads Ahnúm. But see HamdánÃ, _JazÃralu ’l-‘Arab_, p. 193, last line and +fol. + +[60] I read _al-jahdi_ for _al-jahli_. + +[61] I omit the following verses, which tell how an old woman of MedÃna +came to King As‘ad, imploring him to avenge her wrongs, and how he +gathered an innumerable army, routed his enemies, and returned to +Ẓafár in triumph. + +[62] Ibn Hishám, p. 13, l. 14 sqq. + +[63] Ibn Hishám, p. 15, l. 1 sqq. + +[64] _Ibid._, p. 17, l. 2 sqq. + +[65] Arabic text in Von Kremer's _Altarabische Gedichte ueber die +Volkssage von Jemen_, p. 20 seq.; prose translation by the same author +in _Die Südarabische Sage_, p. 84 sqq. + +[66] The second half of this verse is corrupt. Von Kremer translates (in +his notes to the Arabic text, p. 26): "And bury with me the camel +stallions (_al-khÃlán_) and the slaves (_al-ruqqán_)." Apart, however, +from the fact that _ruqqán_ (plural of _raqÃq_) is not mentioned by the +lexicographers, it seems highly improbable that the king would have +commanded such a barbarity. I therefore take _khÃlán_ (plural of _khál_) +in the meaning of 'soft stuffs of Yemen,' and read _zuqqán_ (plural of +_ziqq_). + +[67] Ghaymán or Miqláb, a castle near á¹¢an‘á, in which the +Ḥimyarite kings were buried. + +[68] The text and translation of this section of the _IklÃl_ have been +published by D. H. Müller in _S.B.W.A._, vols. 94 and 97 (Vienna, +1879-1880). + +[69] _AghánÃ_, xx, 8, l. 14 seq. + +[70] Koran, lxxxv, 4 sqq. + +[71] ṬabarÃ, i, 927, l. 19 sqq. + +[72] The following narrative is abridged from ṬabarÃ, i, 928, l. 2 +sqq. = Nöldeke, _Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der +Sasaniden_, p. 192 sqq. + +[73] The reader will find a full and excellent account of these matters +in Professor Browne's _Literary History of Persia_, vol. i, pp. 178-181. + +[74] Goldziher, _Muhammedanische Studien_, Part I, p. 225. + +[75] MaydánÃ's collection has been edited, with a Latin translation by +Freytag, in three volumes (_Arabum Proverbia_, Bonn, 1838-1843). + +[76] The _Kitábu ’l-AghánÃ_ has been published at Buláq (1284-1285 A.H.) +in twenty volumes. A volume of biographies not contained in the Buláq +text was edited by R. E. Brünnow (Leiden, 1888). + +[77] _Muqaddima_ of Ibn Khaldún (Beyrout, 1900), p. 554, ll. 8-10; _Les +Prolégomènes d' Ibn Khaldoun traduits par M. de Slane_ (Paris, 1863-68) +vol. iii, p. 331. + +[78] Published at Paris, 1847-1848, in three volumes. + +[79] These are the same Bedouin Arabs of Tanúkh who afterwards formed +part of the population of ḤÃra. See p. 38 _infra_. + +[80] Ibn Qutayba in Brünnow's _Chrestomathy_, p. 29. + +[81] Properly _al-Zabbá_, an epithet meaning 'hairy.' According to +Ṭabarà (i, 757) her name was Ná’ila. It is odd that in the Arabic +version of the story the name Zenobia (Zaynab) should be borne by the +heroine's sister. + +[82] The above narrative is abridged from _AghánÃ_, xiv, 73, l. 20-75, +l. 25. _Cf._ ṬabarÃ, i, 757-766; Mas‘údÃ, _Murúju ’l-Dhahab_ (ed. by +Barbier de Meynard), vol. iii, pp. 189-199. + +[83] Concerning ḤÃra and its history the reader may consult an +admirable monograph by Dr. G. Rothstein, _Die Dynastie der Laẖmiden +in al-ḤÃra_ (Berlin, 1899), where the sources of information are set +forth (p. 5 sqq.). The incidental references to contemporary events in +Syriac and Byzantine writers, who often describe what they saw with +their own eyes, are extremely valuable as a means of fixing the +chronology, which Arabian historians can only supply by conjecture, +owing to the want of a definite era during the Pre-islamic period. +Muḥammadan general histories usually contain sections, more or less +mythical in character, "On the Kings of ḤÃra and Ghassán." Attention +may be called in particular to the account derived from Hishám b. +Muḥammad al-KalbÃ, which is preserved by Ṭabarà and has been +translated with a masterly commentary by Nöldeke in his _Geschichte der +Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden_. Hishám had access to the +archives kept in the churches of ḤÃra, and claims to have extracted +therefrom many genealogical and chronological details relating to the +Lakhmite dynasty (ṬabarÃ, i, 770, 7). + +[84] ḤÃra is the Syriac _ḥértá_ (sacred enclosure, monastery), +which name was applied to the originally mobile camp of the Persian +Arabs and retained as the designation of the garrison town. + +[85] SadÃr was a castle in the vicinity of ḤÃra. + +[86] ṬabarÃ, i, 853, 20 sqq. + +[87] Bahrám was educated at ḤÃra under Nu‘mán and Mundhir. The +Persian grandees complained that he had the manners and appearance of +the Arabs among whom he had grown up (ṬabarÃ, i, 858, 7). + +[88] Má’ al-samá (_i.e._, Water of the sky) is said to have been the +sobriquet of Mundhir's mother, whose proper name was Máriya or Máwiyya. + +[89] For an account of Mazdak and his doctrines the reader may consult +Nöldeke's translation of ṬabarÃ, pp. 140-144, 154, and 455-467, and +Professor Browne's _Literary History of Persia_, vol. i, pp. 168-172. + +[90] Mundhir slaughtered in cold blood some forty or fifty members of +the royal house of Kinda who had fallen into his hands. Ḥárith +himself was defeated and slain by Mundhir in 529. Thereafter the power +of Kinda sank, and they were gradually forced back to their original +settlements in Ḥaá¸ramawt. + +[91] On another occasion he sacrificed four hundred Christian nuns to +the same goddess. + +[92] See p. 50 _infra_. + +[93] _AghánÃ_, xix, 86, l. 16 sqq. + +[94] _AghánÃ_, xix, 87, l. 18 sqq. + +[95] Hind was a princess of Kinda (daughter of the Ḥárith b. ‘Amr +mentioned above), whom Mundhir probably captured in one of his marauding +expeditions. She was a Christian, and founded a monastery at ḤÃra. +See Nöldeke's translation of ṬabarÃ, p. 172, n. 1. + +[96] _AghánÃ_, xxi, 194, l. 22. + +[97] Zayd was actually Regent of ḤÃra after the death of Qábús, and +paved the way for Mundhir IV, whose violence had made him detested by +the people (Nöldeke's translation of ṬabarÃ, p. 346, n. 1). + +[98] The Arabs called the Byzantine emperor '_Qayá¹£ar_,' _i.e._, +Cæsar, and the Persian emperor '_Kisrá_,' _i.e._, Chosroes. + +[99] My friend and colleague, Professor A. A. Bevan, writes to me that +"the story of ‘AdÃ's marriage with the king's daughter is based partly +on a verse in which the poet speaks of himself as connected by marriage +with the royal house (_AghánÃ_, ii, 26, l. 5), and partly on another +verse in which he mentions 'the home of Hind' (_ibid._, ii, 32, l. 1). +But this Hind was evidently a Bedouin woman, not the king's daughter." + +[100] _AghánÃ_, ii, 22, l. 3 sqq. + +[101] When Hurmuz summoned the sons of Mundhir to Ctesiphon that he +might choose a king from among them, ‘Adà said to each one privately, +"If the Chosroes demands whether you can keep the Arabs in order, reply, +'All except Nu‘mán.'" To Nu‘mán, however, he said: "The Chosroes will +ask, 'Can you manage your brothers?' Say to him: 'If I am not strong +enough for them, I am still less able to control other folk!'" Hurmuz +was satisfied with this answer and conferred the crown upon Nu‘mán. + +[102] A full account of these matters is given by ṬabarÃ, i, +1016-1024 = Nöldeke's translation, pp. 314-324. + +[103] A similar description occurs in Freytag's _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. +ii. p. 589 sqq. + +[104] ṬabarÃ, i, 1024-1029 = Nöldeke's translation, pp. 324-331. Ibn +Qutayba in Brünnow's _Chrestomathy_, pp. 32-33. + +[105] A town in Arabia, some distance to the north of MedÃna. + +[106] See Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. ii, p. 611. + +[107] A celebrated Companion of the Prophet. He led the Moslem army to +the conquest of Syria, and died of the plague in 639 A.D. + +[108] Ibn Qutayba in Brünnow's _Chrestomathy_, pp. 26-28. + +[109] The following details are extracted from Nöldeke's monograph: _Die +Ghassânischen Fürsten aus dem Hause Gafna's_, in _Abhand. d. Kön. +Preuss. Akad. d. Wissenschaften_ (Berlin, 1887). + +[110] Nöldeke, _op. cit._, p. 20, refers to John of Ephesus, iii, 2. See +_The Third Part of the Ecclesiastical History of John, Bishop of +Ephesus_, translated by R. Payne Smith, p. 168. + +[111] Iyás b. QabÃá¹£a succeeded Nu‘mán III as ruler of ḤÃra +(602-611 A.D.). He belonged to the tribe of Ṭayyi’. See Rothstein, +_Laẖmiden_, p. 119. + +[112] I read _yatafaá¸á¸alu_ for _yanfaá¹£ilu_. The arrangement +which the former word denotes is explained in Lane's Dictionary as "the +throwing a portion of one's garment over his left shoulder, and drawing +its extremity under his right arm, and tying the two extremities +together in a knot upon his bosom." + +[113] The _fanak_ is properly a kind of white stoat or weasel found in +Abyssinia and northern Africa, but the name is also applied by +Muḥammadans to other furs. + +[114] _AghánÃ_, xvi, 15, ll. 22-30. So far as it purports to proceed +from Ḥassán, the passage is apocryphal, but this does not seriously +affect its value as evidence, if we consider that it is probably +compiled from the poet's _dÃwán_ in which the Ghassánids are often +spoken of. The particular reference to Jabala b. al-Ayham is a mistake. +Ḥassán's acquaintance with the Ghassánids belongs to the pagan period +of his life, and he is known to have accepted Islam many years before +Jabala began to reign. + +[115] Nábigha, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 78; Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 96. +The whole poem has been translated by Sir Charles Lyall in his _Ancient +Arabian Poetry_, p. 95 sqq. + +[116] Thorbecke, _‘Antarah, ein vorislamischer Dichter_, p. 14. + +[117] The following narrative is an abridgment of the history of the War +of Basús as related in TibrÃzÃ's commentary on the _Ḥamása_ (ed. by +Freytag), pp. 420-423 and 251-255. _Cf._ Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 39 sqq. + +[118] See p. 5 _supra_. + +[119] Wá’il is the common ancestor of Bakr and Taghlib. For the use of +stones (anṣáb) in the worship of the Pagan Arabs see Wellhausen, +_Reste Arabischen Heidentums_ (2nd ed.), p. 101 sqq. Robertson Smith, +_Lectures on the Religion of the Semites_ (London, 1894), p. 200 sqq. + +[120] _Ḥamása_, 422, 14 sqq. Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 39, last line and +foll. + +[121] _Ḥamása_, 423, 11 sqq. Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 41, l. 3 sqq. + +[122] _Ḥamása_, 252, 8 seq. Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 44, l. 3 seq. + +[123] Hind is the mother of Bakr and Taghlib. Here the Banú Hind (Sons +of Hind) are the Taghlibites. + +[124] _Ḥamása_, 9, 17 seq. Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 45, l. 10 sqq. + +[125] _Ḥamása_, 252, 14 seq. Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 46, l. 16 sqq. + +[126] _Ḥamása_, 254, 6 seq. Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 47, l. 2 seq. + +[127] _Ḥamása_, 96. Ibn Nubáta, cited by Rasmussen, _Additamenta ad +Historiam Arabum ante Islamismum_, p. 34, remarks that before Qays no +one had ever lamented a foe slain by himself (_wa-huwa awwalu man rathá +maqtúlahu_). + +[128] Ibn Hishám, p. 51, l. 7 sqq. + +[129] In the account of Abraha's invasion given below I have followed +ṬabarÃ, i, 936, 9-945, 19 = Nöldeke's translation, pp. 206-220. + +[130] I read _ḥilálak_. See Glossary to ṬabarÃ. + +[131] ṬabarÃ, i, 940, 13. + +[132] Another version says: "Whenever a man was struck sores and +pustules broke out on that part of his body. This was the first +appearance of the small-pox" (ṬabarÃ, i, 945, 2 sqq.). Here we have +the historical fact--an outbreak of pestilence in the Abyssinian +army--which gave rise to the legend related above. + +[133] There is trustworthy evidence that Abraha continued to rule Yemen +for some time after his defeat. + +[134] Ibn Hishám, p. 38, l. 14 sqq. + +[135] _Ibid._, p. 40, l. 12 sqq. + +[136] See pp. 48-49 _supra_. + +[137] Full details are given by ṬabarÃ, i, 1016-1037 = Nöldeke's +translation, pp. 311-345. + +[138] A poet speaks of three thousand Arabs and two thousand Persians +(ṬabarÃ, i, 1036, 5-6). + +[139] Ibn RashÃq in Suyúá¹Ã's Muzhir (Buláq, 1282 A.H.), Part II, p. +236, l. 22 sqq. I quote the translation of Sir Charles Lyall in the +Introduction to his _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 17, a most admirable +work which should be placed in the hands of every one who is beginning +the study of this difficult subject. + +[140] Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. ii, p. 494. + +[141] Numb. xxi, 17. Such well-songs are still sung in the Syrian desert +(see Enno Littmann, _Neuarabische Volkspoesie_, in _Abhand. der Kön. +Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, Phil.-Hist. Klasse_, Göttingen, 1901), +p. 92. In a specimen cited at p. 81 we find the words _witla yÄ +dlêwÄ“na_--_i.e._, "Rise, O bucket!" several times repeated. + +[142] Goldziher, _Ueber die Vorgeschichte der Higâ-Poesie_ in his +_Abhand. zur Arab. Philologie_, Part I (Leyden, 1896), p. 26. + +[143] _Cf._ the story of Balak and Balaam, with Goldziher's remarks +thereon, _ibid._, p. 42 seq. + +[144] _Ibid._, p. 46 seq. + +[145] _Rajaz_ primarily means "a tremor (which is a symptom of disease) +in the hind-quarters of a camel." This suggested to Dr. G. Jacob his +interesting theory that the Arabian metres arose out of the +camel-driver's song (_ḥidá_) in harmony with the varying paces of the +animal which he rode (_Studien in arabischen Dichtern_, Heft III, p. 179 +sqq.). + +[146] The Arabic verse (_bayt_) consists of two halves or hemistichs +(_miá¹£rá‘_). It is generally convenient to use the word 'line' as a +translation of _miá¹£rá‘_, but the reader must understand that the +'line' is not, as in English poetry, an independent unit. _Rajaz_ is the +sole exception to this rule, there being here no division into +hemistichs, but each line (verse) forming an unbroken whole and rhyming +with that which precedes it. + +[147] In Arabic 'al-bayt,' the tent, which is here used figuratively for +the grave. + +[148] Ibn Qutayba, _Kitábu ’l-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará_, p. 36, l. 3 sqq. + +[149] Already in the sixth century A.D. the poet ‘Antara complains that +his predecessors have left nothing new for him to say (_Mu‘allaqa_, v. +1). + +[150] _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, Introduction, p. xvi. + +[151] _Qaá¹£Ãda_ is explained by Arabian lexicographers to mean a poem +with an artistic purpose, but they differ as to the precise sense in +which 'purpose' is to be understood. Modern critics are equally at +variance. Jacob (_Stud. in Arab. Dichtern_, Heft III, p. 203) would +derive the word from the principal motive of these poems, namely, to +gain a rich reward in return for praise and flattery. Ahlwardt +(_Bemerkungen über die Aechtheit der alten Arab. Gedichte_, p. 24 seq.) +connects it with _qaá¹£ada, to break_, "because it consists of verses, +every one of which is divided into two halves, with a common end-rhyme: +thus the whole poem is _broken_, as it were, into two halves;" while in +the _Rajaz_ verses, as we have seen (p. 74 _supra_), there is no such +break. + +[152] _Kitábu ’l-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará_, p. 14, l. 10 sqq. + +[153] Nöldeke (_Fünf Mo‘allaqát_, i, p. 3 sqq.) makes the curious +observation, which illustrates the highly artificial character of this +poetry, that certain animals well known to the Arabs (_e.g._, the +panther, the jerboa, and the hare) are seldom mentioned and scarcely +ever described, apparently for no reason except that they were not +included in the conventional repertory. + +[154] _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 83. + +[155] Verses 3-13. I have attempted to imitate the 'Long' (_ṬawÃl_) +metre of the original, viz.:-- + + ⌣ | ⌣ | ⌣ | + ⌣ - - | ⌣ - - - | ⌣ - - | ⌣ - ⌣ - + +The Arabic text of the _Lámiyya_, with prose translation and commentary, +is printed in De Sacy's _Chrestomathie Arabe_ (2nd. ed.), vol. iiº, p. +134 sqq., and vol. ii, p. 337 sqq. It has been translated into English +verse by G. Hughes (London, 1896). Other versions are mentioned by +Nöldeke, _Beiträge zur Kenntniss d. Poesie d. alten Araber_, p. 200. + +[156] The poet, apparently, means that his three friends are _like_ the +animals mentioned. Prof. Bevan remarks, however, that this +interpretation is doubtful, since an Arab would scarcely compare his +_friend_ to a hyena. + +[157] _Ḥamása_, 242. + +[158] _Ḥamása_, 41-43. This poem has been rendered in verse by Sir +Charles Lyall, _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 16, and by the late Dr. A. +B. Davidson, _Biblical and Literary Essays_, p. 263. + +[159] Mahaffy, _Social Life in Greece_, p. 21. + +[160] See pp. 59-60 _supra_. + +[161] _Ḥamása_, 82-83. The poet is ‘Amr b. Ma‘dÃkarib, a famous +heathen knight who accepted Islam and afterwards distinguished himself +in the Persian wars. + +[162] Al-Afwah al-Awdà in Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 4, ll. 8-10. The +poles and pegs represent lords and commons. + +[163] _Ḥamása_, 122. + +[164] _Ibid._, 378. + +[165] _Cf._ the verses by al-Find, p. 58 _supra_. + +[166] _Ḥamása_, 327. + +[167] Imru’u ’l-Qays was one of the princes of Kinda, a powerful tribe +in Central Arabia. + +[168] _AghánÃ_, xix, 99. The last two lines are wanting in the poem as +there cited, but appear in the Selection from the Aghánà published at +Beyrout in 1888, vol. ii, p. 18. + +[169] See p. 45 sqq. + +[170] _AghánÃ_, xvi, 98, ll. 5-22. + +[171] _AghánÃ_, xvi, 97, l. 5 sqq. + +[172] His _DÃwán_ has been edited with translation and notes by F. +Schulthess (Leipzig, 1897). + +[173] _Ḥamása_, 729. The hero mentioned in the first verse is ‘Ãmir +b. Uḥaymir of Bahdala. On a certain occasion, when envoys from the +Arabian tribes were assembled at ḤÃra, King Mundhir b. Má’ al-samá +produced two pieces of cloth of Yemen and said, "Let him whose tribe is +noblest rise up and take them." Thereupon ‘Ãmir stood forth, and +wrapping one piece round his waist and the other over his shoulders, +carried off the prize unchallenged. + +[174] Lady Anne and Mr. Wilfrid Blunt, _The Seven Golden Odes of Pagan +Arabia_, Introduction, p. 14. + +[175] _AghánÃ_ xvi, 22, ll. 10-16. + +[176] _AghánÃ_, xviii, 137, ll. 5-10. Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. +ii, p. 834. + +[177] _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 81. + +[178] _Mufaá¸á¸aliyyát_, ed. Thorbecke, p. 23. + +[179] See Goldziher, _Muhammedanische Studien_, Part II, p. 295 sqq. + +[180] Koran, xvi, 59-61. + +[181] Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. i, p. 229. + +[182] Koran, xvii, 33. _Cf._ lxxxi, 8-9 (a description of the Last +Judgment): "_When the girl buried alive shall be asked for what crime +she was killed._" + +[183] Literally: "And tear the veil from (her, as though she were) flesh +on a butcher's board," _i.e._, defenceless, abandoned to the +first-comer. + +[184] _Ḥamása_, 140. Although these verses are not Pre-islamic, and +belong in fact to a comparatively late period of Islam, they are +sufficiently pagan in feeling to be cited in this connection. The +author, Isḥáq b. Khalaf, lived under the Caliph Ma’mún (813-833 A.D.). +He survived his adopted daughter--for Umayma was his sister's child--and +wrote an elegy on her, which is preserved in the _Kámil_ of al-Mubarrad, +p. 715, l. 7 sqq., and has been translated, together with the verses now +in question, by Sir Charles Lyall, _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 26. + +[185] _Ḥamása_, 142. Lyall, _op. cit._, p. 28. + +[186] _Ḥamása_, 7. + +[187] _Ḥamása_, 321. + +[188] See p. 55 sqq. + +[189] _Cf._ Rückert's _Hamâsa_, vol. i, p. 61 seq. + +[190] _Ḥamása_, 30. + +[191] _AghánÃ_, ii, 160, l. 11-162, l. 1 = p. 13 sqq. of the Beyrout +Selection. + +[192] The Bedouins consider that any one who has eaten of their food or +has touched the rope of their tent is entitled to claim their +protection. Such a person is called _dakhÃl_. See Burckhardt, _Notes on +the Bedouins and Wahábys_ (London, 1831), vol. i, p. 160 sqq. and 329 +sqq. + +[193] See p. 81 _supra_. + +[194] Stuttgart, 1819, p. 253 sqq. The other renderings in verse with +which I am acquainted are those of Rückert (_Hamâsa_, vol. i, p. 299) +and Sir Charles Lyall (_Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 48). I have adopted +Sir Charles Lyall's arrangement of the poem, and have closely followed +his masterly interpretation, from which I have also borrowed some turns +of phrase that could not be altered except for the worse. + +[195] The Arabic text will be found in the _Hamása_, p. 382 sqq. + +[196] This and the following verse are generally taken to be a +description not of the poet himself, but of his nephew. The +interpretation given above does no violence to the language, and greatly +enhances the dramatic effect. + +[197] In the original this and the preceding verse are transposed. + +[198] Although the poet's uncle was killed in this onslaught, the +surprised party suffered severely. "The two clans" belonged to the great +tribe of Hudhayl, which is mentioned in the penultimate verse. + +[199] It was customary for the avenger to take a solemn vow that he +would drink no wine before accomplishing his vengeance. + +[200] _Ḥamása_, 679. + +[201] _Cf._ the lines translated below from the _Mu‘allaqa_ of +Ḥárith. + +[202] The best edition of the _Mu‘allaqát_ is Sir Charles Lyall's (_A +Commentary on Ten Ancient Arabic Poems_, Calcutta, 1894), which contains +in addition to the seven _Mu‘allaqát_ three odes by A‘shá, Nábigha, and +‘AbÃd b. al-Abraá¹£. Nöldeke has translated five Mu‘allaqas (omitting +those of Imru’ u’ l-Qays and Ṭarafa) with a German commentary, +_Sitzungsberichte der Kais. Akad. der Wissenschaften in Wien_, +_Phil.-Histor. Klasse_, vols. 140-144 (1899-1901); this is by far the +best translation for students. No satisfactory version in English prose +has hitherto appeared, but I may call attention to the fine and +original, though somewhat free, rendering into English verse by Lady +Anne Blunt and Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (_The Seven Golden Odes of Pagan +Arabia_, London, 1903). + +[203] _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, Introduction, p. xliv. Many other +interpretations have been suggested--_e.g._, 'The Poems written down +from oral dictation' (Von Kremer), 'The richly bejewelled' (Ahlwardt), +'The Pendants,' as though they were pearls strung on a necklace (A. +Müller). + +[204] The belief that the _Mu‘allaqát_ were written in letters of gold +seems to have arisen from a misunderstanding of the name _Mudhhabát_ or +_Mudhahhabát_ (_i.e._, the Gilded Poems) which is sometimes given to +them in token of their excellence, just as the Greeks gave the title +χÏÏσεα ἔπη to a poem falsely attributed to Pythagoras. That some of +the _Mu‘allaqát_ were recited at ‘Ukáẓ is probable enough and is +definitely affirmed in the case of ‘Amr b. Kulthúm (_AghánÃ_, ix, 182). + +[205] The legend first appears in the _‘Iqd al-FarÃd_ (ed. of Cairo, +1293 A.H., vol. iii, p. 116 seq.) of Ibn ‘Abdi Rabbihi, who died in 940 +A.D. + +[206] See the Introduction to Nöldeke's _Beiträge zur Kenntniss der +Poesie der alten Araber_ (Hannover, 1864), p. xvii sqq., and his article +Mo‘allaḳát' in the _Encyclopædia Britannica_. + +[207] It is well known that the order of the verses in the _Mu‘allaqát_, +as they have come down to us, is frequently confused, and that the +number of various readings is very large. I have generally followed the +text and arrangement adopted by Nöldeke in his German translation. + +[208] See p. 42 _supra_. + +[209] _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 105. + +[210] See the account of his life (according to the _Kitábu’ l-AghánÃ_) +in _Le Diwan d'Amro’lkaïs_, edited with translation and notes by Baron +MacGuckin de Slane (Paris, 1837), pp. 1-51; and in _Amrilkais, der +Dichter und König_ by Friedrich Rückert (Stuttgart and Tübingen, 1843). + +[211] That he was not, however, the inventor of the Arabian _qaá¹£Ãda_ +as described above (p. 76 sqq.) appears from the fact that he mentions +in one of his verses a certain Ibn Ḥumám or Ibn Khidhám who +introduced, or at least made fashionable, the prelude with which almost +every ode begins: a lament over the deserted camping-ground (Ibn +Qutayba, _K. al-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará_, p. 52). + +[212] The following lines are translated from Arnold's edition of the +_Mu‘allaqát_ (Leipsic, 1850), p. 9 sqq., vv. 18-35. + +[213] The native commentators are probably right in attributing this and +the three preceding verses (48-51 in Arnold's edition) to the +brigand-poet, Ta’abbaá¹a Sharran. + +[214] We have already (p. 39) referred to the culture of the Christian +Arabs of ḤÃra. + +[215] Vv. 54-59 (Lyall); 56-61 (Arnold). + +[216] See Nöldeke, _Fünf Mu‘allaqát_, i, p. 51 seq. According to the +traditional version (_AghánÃ_, ix, 179), a band of Taghlibites went +raiding, lost their way in the desert, and perished of thirst, having +been refused water by a sept of the Banú Bakr. Thereupon Taghlib +appealed to King ‘Amr to enforce payment of the blood-money which they +claimed, and chose ‘Amr b. Kulthúm to plead their cause at ḤÃra. So +‘Amr recited his _Mu‘allaqa_ before the king, and was answered by +Ḥárith on behalf of Bakr. + +[217] Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. ii, p. 233. + +[218] _AghánÃ_, ix, 182. + +[219] Vv. 1-8 (Arnold); in Lyall's edition the penultimate verse is +omitted. + +[220] Vv. 15-18 (Lyall); 19-22 (Arnold). + +[221] The Arabs use the term _kunya_ to denote this familiar style of +address in which a person is called, not by his own name, but 'father of +So-and-so' (either a son or, as in the present instance, a daughter). + +[222] _I.e._, even the _jinn_ (genies) stand in awe of us. + +[223] Here Ma‘add signifies the Arabs in general. + +[224] Vv. 20-30 (Lyall), omitting vv. 22, 27, 28. + +[225] This is a figurative way of saying that Taghlib has never been +subdued. + +[226] Vv. 46-51 (Lyall), omitting v. 48. + +[227] _I.e._, we will show our enemies that they cannot defy us with +impunity. This verse, the 93rd in Lyall's edition, is omitted by Arnold. + +[228] Vv. 94-104 (Arnold), omitting vv. 100 and 101. If the last words +are anything more than a poetic fiction, 'the sea' must refer to the +River Euphrates. + +[229] Vv. 16-18. + +[230] Vv. 23-26. + +[231] A place in the neighbourhood of Mecca. + +[232] Vv. 40-42 (Lyall); 65-67 (Arnold). + +[233] See _‘Antarah, ein vorislamischer Dichter_, by H. Thorbecke +(Leipzig, 1867). + +[234] I have taken some liberties in this rendering, as the reader may +see by referring to the verses (44 and 47-52 in Lyall's edition) on +which it is based. + +[235] Ghayẓ b. Murra was a descendant of Dhubyán and the ancestor of +Harim and Ḥárith. + +[236] The Ka‘ba. + +[237] This refers to the religious circumambulation (_á¹awáf_). + +[238] Vv. 16-19 (Lyall). + +[239] There is no reason to doubt the genuineness of this passage, which +affords evidence of the diffusion of Jewish and Christian ideas in pagan +Arabia. Ibn Qutayba observes that these verses indicate the poet's +belief in the Resurrection (_K. al-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará_, p. 58, l. 12). + +[240] Vv. 27-31. + +[241] The order of these verses in Lyall's edition is as follows: 56, +57, 54, 50, 55, 53, 49, 47, 48, 52, 58. + +[242] Reference has been made above to the old Arabian belief that poets +owed their inspiration to the _jinn_ (genii), who are sometimes called +_shayátÃn_ (satans). See Goldziher, _Abhand. zur arab. Philologie_, Part +I, pp. 1-14. + +[243] Vv. 1-10 (Lyall), omitting v. 5. + +[244] Vv. 55-60 (Lyall). + +[245] The term _nábigha_ is applied to a poet whose genius is slow in +declaring itself but at last "jets forth vigorously and abundantly" +(_nabagha_). + +[246] _DÃwán_, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 83; Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 96. + +[247] He means to say that Nu‘mán has no reason to feel aggrieved +because he (Nábigha) is grateful to the Ghassánids for their munificent +patronage; since Nu‘mán does not consider that his own favourites, in +showing gratitude to himself, are thereby guilty of treachery towards +their former patrons. + +[248] _Diwán_, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 76, ii, 21. In another place (p. +81, vi, 6) he says, addressing his beloved:-- + + "Wadd give thee greeting! for dalliance with women is lawful to me + no more, + Since Religion has become a serious matter." + +Wadd was a god worshipped by the pagan Arabs. Derenbourg's text has +_rabbÃ_, _i.e._, Allah, but see Nöldeke's remarks in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. +xli (1887), p. 708. + +[249] _AghánÃ_, viii, 85, last line-86, l. 10. + +[250] Lyall, _Ten Ancient Arabic Poems_, p. 146 seq., vv. 25-31. + +[251] Ahlwardt, _The Divans_, p. 106, vv. 8-10. + +[252] _Ḥamása_, p. 382, l. 17. + +[253] Nöldeke, _Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Poesie der alten Araber_, p. +152. + +[254] Nöldeke, _ibid._, p. 175. + +[255] The original title is _al-Mukhtárát_ (The Selected Odes) or +_al-Ikhtiyárát_ (The Selections). + +[256] Oxford, 1918-21. The Indexes of personal and place-names, poetical +quotations, and selected words were prepared by Professor Bevan and +published in 1924 in the E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Series. + +[257] Ibn Khallikán, ed. by Wüstenfeld, No. 350 = De Slane's +translation, vol. ii, p. 51. + +[258] See Nöldeke, _Beiträge_, p. 183 sqq. There would seem to be +comparatively few poems of Pre-islamic date in BuḥturÃ's anthology. + +[259] Ibn Khallikán, ed. by Wüstenfeld, No. 204 = De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 470. + +[260] Many interesting details concerning the tradition of Pre-islamic +poetry by the _RáwÃs_ and the Philologists will be found in Ahlwardt's +_Bemerkungen ueber die Aechtheit der alten Arabischen Gedichte_ +(Greifswald, 1872), which has supplied materials for the present sketch. + +[261] _AghánÃ_, v, 172, l. 16 sqq. + +[262] This view, however, is in accordance neither with the historical +facts nor with the public opinion of the Pre-islamic Arabs (see Nöldeke, +_Die Semitischen Sprachen_, p. 47). + +[263] See Wellhausen, _Reste Arab. Heidentums_ (2nd ed.), p. 88 seq. + +[264] _Ḥamása_, 506. + +[265] _Ibid._, 237. + +[266] _DÃwán_ of Imru’u ’l-Qays, ed. by De Slane, p. 22 of the Arabic +text, l. 17 sqq. = No. 52, ll. 57-59 (p. 154) in Ahlwardt's _Divans of +the Six Poets_. With the last line, however, _cf._ the words of Qays b. +al-Khaá¹Ãm on accomplishing his vengeance: "_When this death comes, +there will not be found any need of my soul that I have not satisfied_" +(_Ḥamása_, 87). + +[267] _AghánÃ_, ii, 18, l. 23 sqq. + +[268] _AghánÃ_, ii, 34, l. 22 sqq. + +[269] See Von Kremer, _Ueber die Gedichte des Labyd_ in _S.B.W.A._, +_Phil.-Hist. Klasse_ (Vienna, 1881), vol. 98, p. 555 sqq. Sir Charles +Lyall, _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, pp. 92 and 119. Wellhausen, _Reste +Arabischen Heidentums_ (2nd ed.), p. 224 sqq. + +[270] I prefer to retain the customary spelling instead of Qur’án, as it +is correctly transliterated by scholars. Arabic words naturalised in +English, like Koran, Caliph, Vizier, &c., require no apology. + +[271] Muir's _Life of Mahomet_, Introduction, p. 2 seq. I may as well +say at once that I entirely disagree with the view suggested in this +passage that Muḥammad did not believe himself to be inspired. + +[272] The above details are taken from the _Fihrist_, ed. by G. Fluegel, +p. 24, l. 14 sqq. + +[273] Muir, _op. cit._, Introduction, p. 14. + +[274] With the exception of the Opening Súra (_al-Fátiḥa_), which is +a short prayer. + +[275] Sprenger, _Ueber das Traditionswesen bei den Arabern_, _Z.D.M.G._, +vol. x, p. 2. + +[276] Quoted by Sprenger, _loc. cit._, p. 1. + +[277] Quoted by Nöldeke in the Introduction to his _Geschichte des +Qorâns_, p 22. + +[278] See especially pp. 28-130. + +[279] _Muhamm. Studien_, Part II, p. 48 seq. + +[280] The reader may consult Muir's Introduction to his _Life of +Mahomet_, pp. 28-87. + +[281] Ibn Hishám, p. 105, l. 9 sqq. + +[282] This legend seems to have arisen out of a literal interpretation +of Koran, xciv, 1, "_Did we not open thy breast?_"--_i.e._, give thee +comfort or enlightenment. + +[283] This name, which may signify 'Baptists,' was applied by the +heathen Arabs to Muḥammad and his followers, probably in consequence +of the ceremonial ablutions which are incumbent upon every Moslem before +the five daily prayers (see Wellhausen, _Reste Arab. Heid._, p. 237). + +[284] Sir Charles Lyall, _The Words 'ḤanÃf' and 'Muslim,'_ _J.R.A.S._ +for 1903, p. 772. The original meaning of _ḥanÃf_ is no longer +traceable, but it may be connected with the Hebrew _ḥánéf_, +'profane.' In the Koran it generally refers to the religion of Abraham, +and sometimes appears to be nearly synonymous with _Muslim_. Further +information concerning the ḤanÃfs will be found in Sir Charles +Lyall's article cited above; Sprenger, _Das Leben und die Lehre des +Moḥammed_, vol. i, pp. 45-134; Wellhausen, _Reste Arab. Heid._, p. +238 sqq.; Caetani, _Annali dell' Islam_, vol. i, pp. 181-192. + +[285] Ibn Hishám, p. 143, l. 6 sqq. + +[286] _AghánÃ_, iii, 187, l. 17 sqq. + +[287] See p. 69 _supra_. + +[288] Tradition associates him especially with Waraqa, who was a cousin +of his first wife, KhadÃja, and is said to have hailed him as a prophet +while Muḥammad himself was still hesitating (Ibn Hishám, p. 153, l. +14 sqq.). + +[289] This is the celebrated 'Night of Power' (_Laylatu ’l-Qadr_) +mentioned in the Koran, xcvii, 1. + +[290] The Holy Ghost (_Rúḥu’l-Quds_), for whom in the MedÃna Súras +Gabriel (JibrÃl) is substituted. + +[291] But another version (Ibn Hishám, p. 152, l. 9 sqq.) represents +Muḥammad as replying to the Angel, "What am I to read?" (_má aqra’u_ +or _má dhá aqra’u_). Professor Bevan has pointed out to me that the +tradition in this form bears a curious resemblance, which can hardly be +accidental, to the words of Isaiah xl. 6: "The voice said, Cry. And he +said, What shall I cry?" The question whether the Prophet could read and +write is discussed by Nöldeke (_Geschichte des Qorâns_, p. 7 sqq.), who +leaves it undecided. According to Nöldeke (_loc. cit._, p. 10), the +epithet _ummÃ_, which is applied to Muḥammad in the Koran, and is +commonly rendered by 'illiterate,' does not signify that he was ignorant +of reading and writing, but only that he was unacquainted with the +ancient Scriptures; _cf._ 'Gentile.' However this may be, it appears +that he wished to pass for illiterate, with the object of confirming the +belief in his inspiration: "_Thou_" (Muḥammad) "_didst not use to +read any book before this_" (the Koran) "_nor to write it with thy right +hand; else the liars would have doubted_" (Koran, xxix, 47). + +[292] The meaning of these words (_iqra’ bismi rabbika_) is disputed. +Others translate, "Preach in the name of thy Lord" (Nöldeke), or +"Proclaim the name of thy Lord" (Hirschfeld). I see no sufficient +grounds for abandoning the traditional interpretation supported by +verses 4 and 5. Muḥammad dreamed that he was commanded to read the +Word of God inscribed in the Heavenly Book which is the source of all +Revelation. + +[293] Others render, "who taught (the use of) the Pen." + +[294] This account of Muḥammad's earliest vision (BukhárÃ, ed. by +Krehl, vol. iii, p. 380, l. 2 sqq.) is derived from ‘A’isha, his +favourite wife, whom he married after the death of KhadÃja. + +[295] Ibn Hishám, p. 152, l. 9 sqq. + +[296] See p. 72 _supra_. + +[297] This interval is known as the Fatra. + +[298] Literally, 'warn.' + +[299] 'The abomination' (_al-rujz_) probably refers to idolatry. + +[300] Literally, "The Last State shall be better for thee than the +First," referring either to Muḥammad's recompense in the next world +or to the ultimate triumph of his cause in this world. + +[301] _Islám_ is a verbal noun formed from _Aslama_, which means 'to +surrender' and, in a religious sense, 'to surrender one's self to the +will of God.' The participle, _Muslim_ (Moslem), denotes one who thus +surrenders himself. + +[302] Sprenger, _Leben des Mohammad_, vol. i, p. 356. + +[303] It must be remembered that this branch of Muḥammadan tradition +derives from the pietists of the first century after the Flight, who +were profoundly dissatisfied with the reigning dynasty (the Umayyads), +and revenged themselves by painting the behaviour of the Meccan +ancestors of the Umayyads towards Muḥammad in the blackest colours +possible. The facts tell another story. It is significant that hardly +any case of real persecution is mentioned in the Koran. Muḥammad was +allowed to remain at Mecca and to carry on, during many years, a +religious propaganda which his fellow-citizens, with few exceptions, +regarded as detestable and dangerous. We may well wonder at the +moderation of the Quraysh, which, however, was not so much deliberate +policy as the result of their indifference to religion and of +Muḥammad's failure to make appreciable headway in Mecca. + +[304] Ibn Hishám, p. 168, l. 9. sqq. + +[305] At this time Muḥammad believed the doctrines of Islam and +Christianity to be essentially the same. + +[306] ṬabarÃ, i, 1180, 8 sqq. _Cf._ Caetani, _Annali dell' Islam_, +vol. i, p. 267 sqq. + +[307] Muir, _Life of Mahomet_, vol. ii, p. 151. + +[308] We have seen (p. 91 _supra_) that the heathen Arabs disliked +female offspring, yet they called their three principal deities the +daughters of Allah. + +[309] It is related by Ibn Isḥáq (ṬabarÃ, i, 1192, 4 sqq.). In his +learned work, _Annali dell' Islam_, of which the first volume appeared +in 1905, Prince Caetani impugns the authenticity of the tradition and +criticises the narrative in detail (p. 279 sqq.), but his arguments do +not touch the main question. As Muir says, "it is hardly possible to +conceive how the tale, if not founded in truth, could ever have been +invented." + +[310] The Meccan view of Muḥammad's action may be gathered from the +words uttered by Abú Jahl on the field of Badr--"O God, bring woe upon +him who more than any of us hath severed the ties of kinship and dealt +dishonourably!" (ṬabarÃ, i, 1322, l. 8 seq.). Alluding to the Moslems +who abandoned their native city and fled with the Prophet to MedÃna, a +Meccan poet exclaims (Ibn Hishám, p. 519, ll. 3-5):-- + + _They_ (the Quraysh slain at Badr) _fell in honour. They + did not sell their kinsmen for strangers living in a far + land and of remote lineage;_ + + _Unlike you, who have made friends of Ghassán_ (the people + of MedÃna), _taking them instead of us--O, what a shameful + deed!_ + + _Tis an impiety and a manifest crime and a cutting of all + ties of blood: your iniquity therein is discerned by men of + judgment and understanding._ + +[311] _Súra_ is properly a row of stones or bricks in a wall. + +[312] See p. 74 _supra_. + +[313] Koran, lxix, 41. + +[314] Nöldeke, _Geschichte des Qorâns_, p. 56. + +[315] _I.e._, what it has done or left undone. + +[316] The Last Judgment. + +[317] Moslems believe that every man is attended by two Recording Angels +who write down his good and evil actions. + +[318] This is generally supposed to refer to the persecution of the +Christians of Najrán by Dhú Nuwás (see p. 26 _supra_). Geiger takes it +as an allusion to the three men who were cast into the fiery furnace +(Daniel, ch. iii). + +[319] See above, p. 3. + +[320] According to Muḥammadan belief, the archetype of the Koran and +of all other Revelations is written on the Guarded Table (_al-Lawḥ +al-Maḥfúẓ_) in heaven. + +[321] Koran, xvii, 69. + +[322] See, for example, the passages translated by Lane in his +_Selections from the Kur-án_ (London, 1843), pp. 100-113. + +[323] _Ikhláṣ_ means 'purifying one's self of belief in any god +except Allah.' + +[324] The Prophet's confession of his inability to perform miracles did +not deter his followers from inventing them after his death. Thus it +was said that he caused the infidels to see "the moon cloven asunder" +(Koran, liv, 1), though, as is plain from the context, these words refer +to one of the signs of the Day of Judgment. + +[325] I take this opportunity of calling the reader's attention to a +most interesting article by my friend and colleague, Professor A. A. +Bevan, entitled _The Beliefs of Early Mohammedans respecting a Future +Existence_ (_Journal of Theological Studies_, October, 1904, p. 20 +sqq.), where the whole subject is fully discussed. + +[326] Shaddád b. al-Aswad al-LaythÃ, quoted in the _Risálatu ’l-Ghufrán_ +of Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrà (see my article in the _J.R.A.S._ for 1902, +pp. 94 and 818); _cf._ Ibn Hishám, p. 530, last line. Ibn (AbÃ) Kabsha +was a nickname derisively applied to Muḥammad. _á¹¢adá_ and _háma_ +refer to the death-bird which was popularly supposed to utter its shriek +from the skull (_háma_) of the dead, and both words may be rendered by +'soul' or 'wraith.' + +[327] Nöldeke, _Geschichte des Qorâns_, p. 78. + +[328] _Cf._ also Koran, xviii, 45-47; xx, 102 sqq.; xxxix, 67 sqq.; +lxix, 13-37. + +[329] The famous freethinker, Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrÃ, has cleverly +satirised Muḥammadan notions on this subject in his _Risálatu +’l-Ghufrán_ (_J.R.A.S._ for October, 1900, p. 637 sqq.). + +[330] _Journal of Theological Studies_ for October, 1904, p. 22. + +[331] Ibn Hishám, p. 411, l. 6 sqq. + +[332] _Ibid._, p. 347. + +[333] L. Caetani, _Annali dell' Islam_, vol. i, p. 389. + +[334] Nöldeke, _Geschichte des Qorâns_, p. 122. + +[335] Translated by E. H. Palmer. + +[336] Ibn Hishám, p. 341, l. 5. + +[337] _Muḥammad's Gemeindeordnung von Medina in Skizzen und +Vorarbeiten_, Heft IV, p. 67 sqq. + +[338] Ibn Hishám, p. 763, l. 12. + +[339] Koran, ii, 256, translated by E. H. Palmer. + +[340] _Muhamm. Studien_, Part I, p. 12. + +[341] See Goldziher's introductory chapter entitled _Muruwwa und Dîn_ +(_ibid._, pp. 1-39). + +[342] Bayá¸Ã¡wà on Koran, xxii, 11. + +[343] _Die Berufung Mohammed's_, by M. J. de Goeje in +_Nöldeke-Festschrift_ (Giessen, 1906), vol. i, p. 5. + +[344] _On the _Origin and Import of the Names Muslim and ḤanÃf_ +(_J.R.A.S._ for 1903, p. 491) + +[345] See T. W. Arnold's _The Preaching of Islam_, p. 23 seq., where +several passages of like import are collected. + +[346] Nöldeke, _Sketches from Eastern History_, translated by J. S. +Black, p. 73. + +[347] See Professor Browne's _Literary History of Persia_, vol. i, p. +200 sqq. + +[348] ṬabarÃ, i, 2729, l. 15 sqq. + +[349] _Ibid._, i, 2736, l. 5 sqq. The words in italics are quoted from +Koran, xxviii, 26, where they are applied to Moses. + +[350] ‘Umar was the first to assume this title (_AmÃru ’l-Mu’minÃn_), by +which the Caliphs after him were generally addressed. + +[351] ṬabarÃ, i, 2738, 7 sqq. + +[352] _Ibid._, i, 2739, 4 sqq. + +[353] _Ibid._, i, 2737, 4 sqq. + +[354] It is explained that ‘Umar prohibited lamps because rats used to +take the lighted wick and set fire to the house-roofs, which at that +time were made of palm-branches. + +[355] ṬabarÃ, i, 2742, 13 sqq. + +[356] _Ibid._, i, 2745, 15 sqq. + +[357] _Ibid._, i, 2747, 7 sqq. + +[358] _Ibid._, i, 2740, last line and foll. + +[359] _Al-FakhrÃ_, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 116, l. 1 to p. 117, l. 3. + +[360] ṬabarÃ, i, 2751, 9 sqq. + +[361] Ibn Khallikán (ed. by Wüstenfeld), No. 68, p. 96, l. 3; De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 152. + +[362] Mu‘áwiya himself said: "I am the first of the kings" (Ya‘qúbÃ, ed. +by Houtsma, vol. ii, p. 276, l. 14). + +[363] _Al-FakhrÃ_, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 145. + +[364] Ya‘qúbÃ, vol. ii, p. 283, l. 8 seq. + +[365] Mas‘údÃ, _Murúju ’l-Dhahab_ (ed. by Barbier de Meynard), vol. v. +p. 77. + +[366] Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 25, l. 3 sqq., omitting l. 8. + +[367] The _Continuatio_ of Isidore of Hispalis, § 27, quoted by +Wellhausen, _Das Arabische Reich und sein Sturz_, p. 105. + +[368] Ḥamása, 226. The word translated 'throne' is in Arabic _mÃnbar_, +_i.e._, the pulpit from which the Caliph conducted the public prayers +and addressed the congregation. + +[369] Kalb was properly one of the Northern tribes (see Robertson +Smith's _Kinship and Marriage_, 2nd ed., p. 8 seq.--a reference which I +owe to Professor Bevan), but there is evidence that the Kalbites were +regarded as 'Yemenite' or 'Southern' Arabs at an early period of Islam. +_Cf._ Goldziher, _Muhammedanische Studien_, Part I, p. 83, l. 3 sqq. + +[370] _Muhammedanische Studien_, i, 78 sqq. + +[371] Qaḥá¹Ã¡n is the legendary ancestor of the Southern Arabs. + +[372] _AghánÃ_, xiii, 51, cited by Goldziher, _ibid._, p. 82. + +[373] A verse of the poet Suḥaym b. WathÃl. + +[374] The _Kámil_ of al-Mubarrad, ed. by W. Wright, p. 215, l. 14 sqq. + +[375] Ibn Qutayba, _Kitábu ’l-Ma‘árif_, p. 202. + +[376] _Al-FakhrÃ_, p. 173; Ibnu ’l-AthÃr, ed. by Tornberg, v, 5. + +[377] _Ibid._, p. 174. _Cf._ Mas‘údi, _Murúju ’l-Dhahab_, v, 412. + +[378] His mother, Umm ‘Ãá¹£im, was a granddaughter of ‘Umar I. + +[379] Mas‘údÃ, _Murúju ’l-Dhahab_, v, 419 seq. + +[380] Ibnu ’l-AthÃr, ed. by Tornberg, v, 46. _Cf._ _AgánÃ_, xx, p. 119, +l. 23. ‘Umar made an exception, as Professor Bevan reminds me, in favour +of the poet JarÃr. See Brockelmann's _Gesch. der Arab. Litteratur_, vol. +i, p. 57. + +[381] The exhaustive researches of Wellhausen, _Das Arabische Reich und +sein Sturz_ (pp. 169-192) have set this complicated subject in a new +light. He contends that ‘Umar's reform was not based on purely ideal +grounds, but was demanded by the necessities of the case, and that, so +far from introducing disorder into the finances, his measures were +designed to remedy the confusion which already existed. + +[382] Mas‘údÃ, _Murúju ’l-Dhahab_, v, 479. + +[383] The Arabic text and literal translation of these verses will be +found in my article on Abu ’l-‘Alá's _Risálatu ’l-Ghufrán_ (_J.R.A.S._ +for 1902, pp. 829 and 342). + +[384] Wellhausen, _Das Arabische Reich und sein Sturz_, p. 38. + +[385] _I.e._, the main body of Moslems--_SunnÃs_, followers of the +_Sunna_, as they were afterwards called--who were neither ShÑites nor +Khárijites, but held (1) that the Caliph must be elected by the Moslem +community, and (2) that he must be a member of Quraysh, the Prophet's +tribe. All these parties arose out of the struggle between ‘Alà and +Mu‘áwiya, and their original difference turned solely on the question of +the Caliphate. + +[386] Brünnow, _Die Charidschiten unter den ersten Omayyaden_ (Leiden, +1884), p. 28. It is by no means certain, however, that the Khárijites +called themselves by this name. In any case, the term implies +_secession_ (_khurúj_) from the Moslem community, and may be rendered by +'Seceder' or 'Nonconformist.' + +[387] _Cf._ Koran, ix, 112. + +[388] Brünnow, _op. cit._, p. 8. + +[389] Wellhausen, _Die religiös-politischen Oppositionsparteien im alten +Islam_ (_Abhandlungen der Königl. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu +Göttingen_, _Phil.-Hist. Klasse_, 1901), p. 8 sqq. The writer argues +against Brünnow that the oldest Khárijites were not true Bedouins +(_A‘rábÃ_), and were, in fact, even further removed than the rest of the +military colonists of Kúfa and Baá¹£ra from their Bedouin traditions. +He points out that the extreme piety of the Readers--their constant +prayers, vigils, and repetitions of the Koran--exactly agrees with what +is related of the Khárijites, and is described in similar language. +Moreover, among the oldest Khárijites we find mention made of a company +clad in long cloaks (_baránis_, pl. of _burnus_), which were at that +time a special mark of asceticism. Finally, the earliest authority (Abú +Mikhnaf in ṬabarÃ, i, 3330, l. 6 sqq.) regards the Khárijites as an +offshoot from the Readers, and names individual Readers who afterwards +became rabid Khárijites. + +[390] Later, when many non-Arab Moslems joined the Khárijite ranks the +field of choice was extended so as to include foreigners and even +slaves. + +[391] ṬabarÃ, ii, 40, 13 sqq. + +[392] ShahrastánÃ, ed. by Cureton, Part I, p. 88. l. 12. + +[393] _Ibid._, p. 86, l. 3 from foot. + +[394] ṬabarÃ, ii, 36, ll. 7, 8, 11-16. + +[395] _Ḥamása_, 44. + +[396] Ibn Khallikán, ed. by Wüstenfeld, No. 555, p. 55, l. 4 seq.; De +Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 523. + +[397] Dozy, _Essai sur l'histoire de l'Islamisme_ (French translation by +Victor Chauvin), p. 219 sqq. + +[398] Wellhausen thinks that the dogmatics of the ShÑites are derived +from Jewish rather than from Persian sources. See his account of the +Saba’ites in his most instructive paper, to which I have already +referred, _Die religiös-politischen Oppositionsparteien im alten Islam_ +(_Abh. der König. Ges. der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen_, _Phil.-Hist. +Klasse_, 1901), p. 89 sqq. + +[399] ṬabarÃ, i, 2942, 2. + +[400] "_Verily, He who hath ordained the Koran for thee_ (_i.e._, for +Muḥammad) _will bring thee back to a place of return_" (_i.e._, to +Mecca). The ambiguity of the word meaning 'place of return' (_ma‘ád_) +gave some colour to Ibn Sabá's contention that it alluded to the return +of Muḥammad at the end of the world. The descent of Jesus on earth is +reckoned by Moslems among the greater signs which will precede the +Resurrection. + +[401] This is a Jewish idea. ‘Alà stands in the same relation to +Muḥammad as Aaron to Moses. + +[402] ṬabarÃ, _loc. cit._ + +[403] ShahrastánÃ, ed. by Cureton, p. 132, l. 15. + +[404] _AghánÃ_, viii, 32, l. 17 sqq. The three sons of ‘Alà are Ḥasan, +Ḥusayn, and Muḥammad Ibnu ’l-Ḥanafiyya. + +[405] Concerning the origin of these sects see Professor Browne's _Lit. +Hist. of Persia_, vol. i, p. 295 seq. + +[406] See Darmesteter's interesting essay, _Le Mahdi depuis les origines +de l'Islam jusqu'à nos jours_ (Paris, 1885). The subject is treated more +scientifically by Snouck Hurgronje in his paper _Der Mahdi_, reprinted +from the _Revue coloniale internationale_ (1886). + +[407] _á¹¢iddÃq_ means 'veracious.' Professor Bevan remarks that in +this root the notion of 'veracity' easily passes into that of +'endurance,' 'fortitude.' + +[408] ṬabarÃ, ii, 546. These 'Penitents' were free Arabs of Kúfa, a +fact which, as Wellhausen has noticed, would seem to indicate that the +_ta‘ziya_ is Semitic in origin. + +[409] Wellhausen, _Die religiös-politischen Oppositionsparteien_, p. 79. + +[410] ṬabarÃ, ii, 650, l. 7 sqq. + +[411] ShahrastánÃ, Haarbrücker's translation, Part I, p. 169. + +[412] Von Kremer, _Culturgeschicht_. _Streifzüge_, p. 2 sqq. + +[413] The best account of the early Murjites that has hitherto appeared +is contained in a paper by Van Vloten, entitled _Irdjâ_ (_Z.D.M.G._, +vol. 45, p. 161 sqq.). The reader may also consult ShahrastánÃ, +Haarbrücker's trans., Part I, p. 156 sqq.; Goldziher, _Muhammedanische +Studien_, Part II, p. 89 sqq.; Van Vloten, _La domination Arabe_, p. 31 +seq. + +[414] Van Vloten thinks that in the name 'Murjite' (_murji’_) there is +an allusion to Koran, ix, 107: "_And others are remanded (murjawna) +until God shall decree; whether He shall punish them or take pity on +them--for God is knowing and wise._" + +[415] _Cf._ the poem of Thábit Quá¹na (_Z.D.M.G._, _loc. cit._, p. +162), which states the whole Murjite doctrine in popular form. The +author, who was himself a Murjite, lived in Khurásán during the latter +half of the first century A.H. + +[416] Van Vloten, _La domination Arabe_, p. 29 sqq. + +[417] Ibn Ḥazm, cited in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 45, p. 169, n. 7. Jahm (†+about 747 A.D.) was a Persian, as might be inferred from the boldness of +his speculations. + +[418] Ḥasan himself inclined for a time to the doctrine of free-will, +but afterwards gave it up (Ibn Qutayba, _Kitábu ’l-Ma‘árif_, p. 225). He +is said to have held that everything happens by fate, except sin +(_Al-Mu‘tazilah_, ed. by T. W. Arnold, p. 12, l. 3 from foot). See, +however, ShahrastánÃ, Haarbrücker's trans., Part I, p. 46. + +[419] Koran, lxxiv, 41. + +[420] _Ibid._, xli, 46. + +[421] _Kitábu ’l-Ma‘árif_, p. 301. Those who held the doctrine of +free-will were called the Qadarites (_al-Qadariyya_), from _qadar_ +(power), which may denote (1) the power of God to determine human +actions, and (2) the power of man to determine his own actions. Their +opponents asserted that men act under compulsion (_jabr_); hence they +were called the Jabarites (_al-Jabariyya_). + +[422] As regards Ghaylán see _Al-Mu‘tazilah_, ed. by T. W. Arnold, p. +15, l. 16 sqq. + +[423] Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. iii, p. 642; +ShahrastánÃ, trans. by Haarbrücker, Part I, p. 44. + +[424] Sha‘ránÃ, _Lawáqihu ’l-Anwár_ (Cairo, 1299 A.H.), p. 31. + +[425] _Ibid._ + +[426] See Von Kremer, _Herrschende Ideen_, p. 52 sqq.; Goldziher, +_Materialien zur Entwickelungsgesch. des Súfismus_ (_Vienna Oriental +Journal_, vol. 13, p. 35 sqq.). + +[427] Sha‘ránÃ, _Lawáqiḥ_, p. 38. + +[428] QushayrÃ's _Risála_ (1287 A.H.), p. 77, l. 10. + +[429] _Tadhkiratu ’l-Awliyá_ of FarÃdu’ddÃn ‘Aá¹á¹Ã¡r, Part I, p. 37, +l. 8 of my edition. + +[430] _Kámil_ (ed. by Wright), p. 57, l. 16. + +[431] The point of this metaphor lies in the fact that Arab horses were +put on short commons during the period of training, which usually began +forty days before the race. + +[432] _Kámil_, p. 57, last line. + +[433] _Kámil_, p. 58, l. 14. + +[434] _Ibid._, p. 67, l. 9. + +[435] _Ibid._, p. 91, l. 14. + +[436] _Ibid._, p. 120, l. 4. + +[437] QushayrÃ's _Risála_, p. 63, last line. + +[438] It is noteworthy that Qushayrà (†1073 A.D.), one of the oldest +authorities on Ṣúfiism, does not include Ḥasan among the Ṣúfà +Shaykhs whose biographies are given in the _Risála_ (pp. 8-35), and +hardly mentions him above half a dozen times in the course of his work. +The sayings of Ḥasan which he cites are of the same character as +those preserved in the _Kámil_. + +[439] See Nöldeke's article, _'ṢūfÄ«_,' in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 48, +p. 45. + +[440] An allusion to _safá_ occurs in thirteen out of the seventy +definitions of Ṣúfà and Ṣúfiism (_Taá¹£awwuf_) which are +contained in the _Tadhkiratu ’l-Awliyá_, or 'Memoirs of the Saints,' of +the well-known Persian mystic, FarÃdu’ddÃn ‘Aá¹á¹Ã¡r (†_circa_ 1230 +A.D.), whereas _ṣúf_ is mentioned only twice. + +[441] Said by Bishr al-Ḥáfà (the bare-footed), who died in 841-842 +A.D. + +[442] Said by Junayd of Baghdád (†909-910 A.D.), one of the most +celebrated Ṣúfà Shaykhs. + +[443] Ibn Khaldún's _Muqaddima_ (Beyrout, 1900), p. 467 = vol. iii, p. +85 seq. of the French translation by De Slane. The same things are said +at greater length by Suhrawardà in his _‘Awárifu ’l-Ma‘árif_ (printed on +the margin of GhazálÃ's _Iḥyá_, Cairo, 1289 A.H.), vol. i, p. 172 _et +seqq._ _Cf._ also the passage from Qushayrà translated by Professor E. +G. Browne on pp. 297-298 of vol. i. of his _Literary History of Persia_. + +[444] SuhrawardÃ, _loc. cit._, p. 136 seq. + +[445] _Loc. cit._, p. 145. + +[446] _I.e._, he yields himself unreservedly to the spiritual 'states' +(_aḥwál_) which pass over him, according as God wills. + +[447] Possibly IbráhÃm was one of the _Shikaftiyya_ or 'Cave-dwellers' +of Khurásán (_shikaft_ means 'cave' in Persian), whom the people of +Syria called _al-Jú‘Ãyya_, _i.e._, 'the Fasters.' See SuhrawardÃ, _loc. +cit._, p. 171. + +[448] GhazálÃ, _Iḥyá_ (Cairo, 1289 A.H.), vol. iv, p. 298. + +[449] Brockelmann, _Gesch. d. Arab. Litteratur_, vol. i, p. 45. + +[450] _E.g._, Ma‘bad, GharÃá¸, Ibn Surayj, Ṭuways, and Ibn ‘Ã’isha. + +[451] _Kámil_ of Mubarrad, p. 570 sqq. + +[452] _AghánÃ_, i, 43, l. 15 sqq.; Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 17, last +line and foll. + +[453] Nöldeke's _Delectus_, p. 9, l. 11 sqq., omitting l. 13. + +[454] An edition of the _Naqá’iá¸_ by Professor A. A. Bevan has been +published at Leyden. + +[455] _AghánÃ_, vii, 55, l. 12 sqq. + +[456] _AghánÃ_, vii, 182, l. 23 sqq. + +[457] _Ibid._, vii, 183, l. 6 sqq. + +[458] _Ibid._, p. 178, l. 1 seq. + +[459] _Ibid._, xiii, 148, l. 23. + +[460] _Encomium Omayadarum_, ed. by Houtsma (Leyden, 1878). + +[461] _AghánÃ_, vii, 172, l. 27 sqq. + +[462] _Ibid._, p. 179, l. 25 sqq. + +[463] _Ibid._, p. 178, l. 26 seq. + +[464] _AghánÃ_, xix, 34, l. 18. + +[465] _Kámil_ of Mubarrad, p. 70, l. 17 sqq. + +[466] Al-Kusa‘à broke an excellent bow which he had made for himself. +See _The Assemblies of ḤarÃrÃ_, trans. by Chenery, p. 351. Professor +Bevan remarks that this half-verse is an almost verbal citation from a +verse ascribed to ‘Adà b. MarÃná of ḤÃra, an enemy of ‘Adà b. Zayd +the poet (_AghánÃ_, ii, 24, l. 5). + +[467] Ibn Khallikán (ed. by Wüstenfeld), No. 129; De Slane's translation +vol. i, p. 298. + +[468] _AghánÃ_, iii, 23, l. 13. + +[469] _AghánÃ_, vii, 49, l. 8 sqq. + +[470] The following account is mainly derived from Goldziher's _Muhamm. +Studien_, Part II, p. 203 sqq. + +[471] _Cf._ Browne's _Lit. Hist. of Persia_, vol. i, p. 230. + +[472] Nöldeke, _Sketches from Eastern History_, tr. by J. S. Black, p. +108 seq. + +[473] Wellhausen, _Das Arabische Reich_, p. 307. + +[474] _Recherches sur la domination Arabe_, p. 46 sqq. + +[475] DÃnawarÃ, ed. by Guirgass, p. 356. + +[476] _Ibid._, p. 360, l. 15. The whole poem has been translated by +Professor Browne in his _Literary History of Persia_, vol. i, p. 242. + +[477] _Sketches from Eastern History_, p. 111. + +[478] Professor Bevan, to whose kindness I owe the following +observations, points out that this translation of _al-Saffáḥ_, +although it has been generally adopted by European scholars, is very +doubtful. According to Professor De Goeje, _al-Saffáḥ_ means 'the +munificent' (literally, 'pouring out' gifts, &c.). In any case it is +important to notice that the name was given to certain Pre-islamic +chieftains. Thus Salama b. Khálid, who commanded the Banú Taghlib at the +first battle of al-Kuláb (Ibnu ’l-AthÃr, ed. by Tornberg, vol. i, p. +406, last line), is said to have been called _al-Saffáḥ_ because he +'emptied out' the skin bottles (_mazád_) of his army before a battle +(Ibn Durayd, ed. by Wüstenfeld, p. 203, l. 16); and we find mention of a +poet named al-Saffáḥ b. ‘Abd Manát (_ibid._, p. 277, penult. line). + +[479] See p. 205. + +[480] G. Le Strange, _Baghdad under the Abbasid Caliphate_, p. 4 seq. + +[481] Professor De Goeje has kindly given me the following +references:--ṬabarÃ, ii, 78, l. 10, where Ziyád is called the _WazÃr_ +of Mu‘áwiya; Ibn Sa‘d, iii, 121, l. 6 (Abú Bakr the _WazÃr_ of the +Prophet). The word occurs in Pre-islamic poetry (Ibn Qutayba, _K. +al-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará_, p. 414, l. 1). Professor De Goeje adds that the +‘Abbásid Caliphs gave the name _WazÃr_ as title to the minister who was +formerly called _Kátib_ (Secretary). Thus it would seem that the Arabic +_WazÃr_ (literally 'burden-bearer'), who was at first merely a 'helper' +or 'henchman,' afterwards became the representative and successor of the +_DapÃr_ (official scribe or secretary) of the Sásánian kings. + +[482] This division is convenient, and may be justified on general +grounds. In a strictly political sense, the period of decline begins +thirty years earlier with the Caliphate of Ma’mún (813-833 A.D.). The +historian Abu ’l-Maḥásin (†1469 A.D.) dates the decline of the +Caliphate from the accession of Muktafà in 902 A.D. (_al-Nujúm +al-Záhira_, ed. by Juynboll, vol. ii, p. 134). + +[483] See Nöldeke's essay, _Caliph Maná¹£ur_, in his _Sketches from +Eastern History_, trans. by J. S. Black, p. 107 sqq. + +[484] Professor Browne has given an interesting account of these +ultra-ShÑite insurgents in his _Lit. Hist. of Persia_, vol. i, ch. ix. + +[485] ṬabarÃ, iii, 404, l. 5 sqq. + +[486] ṬabarÃ, iii, 406, l. 1 sqq. + +[487] _Murúju ’l-Dhahab_, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. iv, p. 47 seq. + +[488] When the Caliph Hádà wished to proclaim his son Ja‘far +heir-apparent instead of Hárún, Yaḥyá pointed out the danger of this +course and dissuaded him (_al-FakhrÃ_, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 281). + +[489] Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 105. + +[490] Mas‘údÃ, _Murúju ’l-Dhahab_, vol. vi, p. 364. + +[491] See, for example, _Haroun Alraschid_, by E. H. Palmer, in the New +Plutarch Series, p. 81 sqq. + +[492] _Cf._ A. Müller, _Der Islam_, vol. i, p. 481 seq. + +[493] Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 112. + +[494] Literally, "No father to your father!" a common form of +imprecation. + +[495] Green was the party colour of the ‘Alids, black of the ‘Abbásids. + +[496] _Al-Nujúm al-Záhira_, ed. by Juynboll, vol. i, p. 631. + +[497] The court remained at Sámarrá for fifty-six years (836-892 A.D.). +The official spelling of Sámarrá was _Surra-man-ra’á_, which may be +freely rendered 'The Spectator's Joy.' + +[498] My account of these dynasties is necessarily of the briefest and +barest character. The reader will find copious details concerning most +of them in Professor Browne's _Literary History of Persia_: á¹¢affárids +and Sámánids in vol. i, p. 346 sqq.; Fáá¹imids in vol. i, pp. 391-400 +and vol. ii, p. 196 sqq.; Ghaznevids in vol. ii, chap. ii; and Seljúqs, +_ibid._, chaps. iii to v. + +[499] Ibn Abà Usaybi‘a, _Ṭabaqátu ’l-Atibbá_, ed. by A. Müller, vol. +ii, p. 4, l. 4 sqq. Avicenna was at this time scarcely eighteen years of +age. + +[500] ‘Abdu ’l-HamÃd flourished in the latter days of the Umayyad +dynasty. See Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 173, +Mas‘údÃ, _Murúju ’l-Dhahab_, vol. vi, p. 81. + +[501] See Professor Margoliouth's Introduction to the _Letters of ‘Abu +’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrÃ_, p. xxiv. + +[502] Abu ’l-Mahásin, _al-Nujúm al-Záhira_, ed. by Juynboll, vol. ii, p. +333. The original Ráfiá¸ites were those schismatics who rejected +(_rafaá¸a_) the Caliphs Abú Bakr and ‘Umar, but the term is generally +used as synonymous with ShÑite. + +[503] MutanabbÃ, ed. by Dieterici, p. 148, last line and foll. + +[504] D. B. Macdonald, _Muslim Theology_, p. 43 seq. + +[505] I regret that lack of space compels me to omit the further history +of the Fáá¹imids. Readers who desire information on this subject may +consult Stanley Lane-Poole's _History of Egypt in the Middle Ages_; +Wüstenfeld's _Geschichte der Faá¹imiden-Chalifen_ (Göttingen, 1881); +and Professor Browne's _Lit. Hist. of Persia_, vol. ii, p. 196 sqq. + +[506] Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 441. + +[507] See the Introduction. + +[508] Ibn Khaldún, _Muqaddima_ (Beyrout, 1900), p. 543 seq.--De Slane, +_Prolegomena_, vol. iii, p. 296 sqq. + +[509] _Cf._ Goldziher, _Muhamm. Studien_, Part I, p. 114 seq. + +[510] Read _mashárátà ’l-buqúl_ (beds of vegetables), not _mushárát_ as +my rendering implies. The change makes little difference to the sense, +but _mashárat_, being an Aramaic word, is peculiarly appropriate here. + +[511] _AghánÃ_, xii, 177, l. 5 sqq; Von Kremer, _Culturgesch. +Streifzüge_, p. 32. These lines are aimed, as has been remarked by S. +Khuda Bukhsh (_Contributions to the History of Islamic Civilisation_, +Calcutta, 1905, p. 92), against Nabatæans who falsely claimed to be +Persians. + +[512] The name is derived from Koran, xlix, 13: "_O Men, We have created +you of a male and a female and have made you into peoples_ (shu‘úban) +_and tribes, that ye might know one another. Verily the noblest of you +in the sight of God are they that do most fear Him._" Thus the +designation 'Shu‘úbite' emphasises the fact that according to +Muḥammad's teaching the Arab Moslems are no better than their +non-Arab brethren. + +[513] _Muhamm. Studien_, Part I, p. 147 sqq. + +[514] The term _Falsafa_ properly includes Logic, Metaphysics, +Mathematics, Medicine, and the Natural Sciences. + +[515] Here we might add the various branches of Mathematics, such as +Arithmetic, Algebra, Mechanics, &c. + +[516] ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥman Jámà (†1492 A.D.). + +[517] I am deeply indebted in the following pages to Goldziher's essay +entitled _Alte und Neue Poesie im Urtheile der Arabischen Kritiker_ in +his _Abhand. zur Arab. Philologie_, Part I, pp. 122-174. + +[518] _Cf._ the remark made by Abú ‘Amr b. al-‘Alá about the poet +Akhá¹al (p. 242 _supra_). + +[519] _Diwan des Abu Nowas, Die Weinlieder_, ed. by Ahlwardt, No. 10, +vv. 1-5. + +[520] Ed. by De Goeje, p. 5, ll. 5-15. + +[521] _Cf._ the story told of Abú Tammám by Ibn Khallikán (De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 350 seq.). + +[522] See Nöldeke, _Beiträge_, p. 4. + +[523] Ibn Khaldún, _Muqaddima_ (Beyrout, 1900), p. 573, l. 21 seq.; +_Prolegomena_ of Ibn K., translated by De Slane, vol. iii, p. 380. + +[524] See Professor Browne's _Literary History of Persia_, vol. ii, p. +14 sqq. + +[525] _AghánÃ_, xii, 80, l. 3. + +[526] Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. i, p. 46 seq., where the reader +will find the Arabic text of the verses translated here. Rückert has +given a German rendering of the same verses in his _Hamâsa_, vol. i, p. +311. A fuller text of the poem occurs in _AghánÃ_, xii, 107 seq. + +[527] _DÃwán_, ed. by Ahlwardt, _Die Weinlieder_, No. 26, v. 4. + +[528] Ibn Qutayba, _K. al-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará_, p. 502, l. 13. + +[529] For the famous ascetic, Ḥasan of Baá¹£ra, see pp. 225-227. +Qatáda was a learned divine, also of Baá¹£ra and contemporary with +Ḥasan. He died in 735 A.D. + +[530] These verses are quoted by Ibn Qutayba, _op. cit._, p. 507 seq. +'The Scripture' (_al-maṣḥaf_) is of course the Koran. + +[531] _Die Weinlieder_, ed. by Ahlwardt, No. 47. + +[532] _Ibid._, No. 29, vv. 1-3. + +[533] Ibn Khallikán, ed. by Wüstenfeld, No. 169, p. 100; De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 393. + +[534] _Cf._ _DÃwán_ (ed. of Beyrout, 1886), p. 279, l. 9, where he +reproaches one of his former friends who deserted him because, in his +own words, "I adopted the garb of a dervish" (_á¹£irtu fi ziyyi +miskÃni_). Others attribute his conversion to disgust with the +immorality and profanity of the court-poets amongst whom he lived. + +[535] Possibly he alludes to these aspersions in the verse (_ibid._, p. +153, l. 10): "_Men have become corrupted, and if they see any one who is +sound in his religion, they call him a heretic_" (_mubtadi‘_). + +[536] Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya declares that knowledge is derived from three +sources, logical reasoning (_qiyás_), examination (_‘iyár_), and oral +tradition (_samá‘_). See his _DÃwán_, p. 158, l. 11. + +[537] _Cf._ _MánÃ, seine Lehre und seine Schriften_, by G. Flügel, p. +281, l. 3 sqq. Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya did not take this extreme view (_DÃwán_, +p. 270, l. 3 seq.). + +[538] See ShahrastánÃ, Haarbrücker's translation, Part I, p. 181 sqq. It +appears highly improbable that Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya was a ShÑite. _Cf._ the +verses (_DÃwán_, p. 104, l. 13 seq.), where, speaking of the prophets +and the holy men of ancient Islam, he says:-- + + "_Reckon first among them Abú Bakr, the veracious, + And exclaim 'O ‘Umar!' in the second place of honour. + And reckon the father of Ḥasan after ‘Uthmán, + For the merit of them both is recited and celebrated._" + +[539] _AghánÃ_, iii, 128, l. 6 sqq. + +[540] _Transactions of the Ninth Congress of Orientalists_, vol. ii. p. +114. + +[541] _DÃwán_, p. 274, l. 10. _Cf._ the verse (p. 199, penultimate +line):-- + + "_When I gained contentment, I did not cease (thereafter) + To be a king, regarding riches as poverty._" + +The ascetic "lives the life of a king" (_ibid._, p. 187, l. 5). +Contented men are the noblest of all (p. 148, l. 2). So the great +Persian mystic, Jalálu ’l-DÃn RúmÃ, says in reference to the perfect +Ṣúfà (_DÃván-i Shams-i TabrÃz_, No. viii, v. 3 in my edition): +_Mard-i khudá sháh buvad zÃr-i dalq_, "the man of God is a king 'neath +dervish-cloak;" and eminent spiritualists are frequently described as +"kings of the (mystic) path." I do not deny, however, that this metaphor +may have been originally suggested by the story of Buddha. + +[542] _DÃwán_, p. 25, l. 3 sqq. Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya took credit to himself +for introducing 'the language of the market-place' into his poetry +(_ibid._ p. 12, l. 3 seq.). + +[543] _DÃwán_ (Beyrout, 1886), p. 23, l. 13 et seqq. + +[544] _Ibid._, p. 51, l. 2. + +[545] _Ibid._, p. 132, l. 3. + +[546] _Ibid._, p. 46, l. 16. + +[547] _DÃwán_, p. 260, l. 11 _et seqq._ + +[548] _Ibid._, p. 295, l. 14 _et seqq._ + +[549] _Ibid._, p. 287, l. 10 seq. + +[550] _Ibid._, p. 119, l. 11. + +[551] _Ibid._, p. 259, penultimate line _et seq._ + +[552] _Ibid._, p. 115, l. 4. + +[553] _DÃwán_, p. 51, l. 10. + +[554] _Ibid._, p. 133, l. 5. + +[555] _Ibid._, p. 74, l. 4. + +[556] _Ibid._, p. 149, l. 12 seq. + +[557] _Ibid._, p. 195, l. 9. _Cf._ p. 243, l. 4 seq. + +[558] _Ibid._, p. 274, l. 6. + +[559] _Ibid._, p. 262, l. 4. + +[560] _Ibid._, p. 346, l. 11. _Cf._ p. 102, l. 11; p. 262, l. 1 seq.; p. +267, l. 7. This verse is taken from Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya's famous didactic +poem composed in rhyming couplets, which is said to have contained 4,000 +sentences of morality. Several of these have been translated by Von +Kremer in his _Culturgeschichte des Orients_, vol. ii, p. 374 sqq. + +[561] In one of his poems (_DÃwán_, p. 160, l. 11), he says that he has +lived ninety years, but if this is not a mere exaggeration, it needs to +be corrected. The words for 'seventy' and 'ninety' are easily confused +in Arabic writing. + +[562] Tha‘álibÃ, _Yatimatu ’l-Dahr_ (Damascus, 1304 A.H.), vol. i, p. 8 +seq. + +[563] See Von Kremer's _Culturgeschichte_, vol. ii, p. 381 sqq.; +Ahlwardt, _Poesie und Poetik der Araber_, p. 37 sqq.; R. Dvorak, _Abú +Firás, ein arabischer Dichter und Held_ (Leyden, 1895). + +[564] MutanabbÃ, ed. by Dieterici, p. 493. Wáḥidà gives the whole +story in his commentary on this verse. + +[565] MutanabbÃ, it is said, explained to Sayfu ’l-Dawla that by _surra_ +(gladden) he meant _surriyya_; whereupon the good-humoured prince +presented him with a slave-girl. + +[566] Literally, "Do not imagine fat in one whose (apparent) fat is +(really) a tumour." + +[567] _DÃwán_, ed. by Dieterici, pp. 481-484. + +[568] The most esteemed commentary is that of Wáḥidà (†1075 A.D.), +which has been published by Fr. Dieterici in his edition of Mutanabbà +(Berlin, 1858-1861). + +[569] _Motenebbi, der grösste arabische Dichter_ (Vienna, 1824). + +[570] _Abulfedæ Annales Muslemici_ (Hafniæ, 1789, &c.), vol. ii, p. 774. +_Cf._ his notes on Ṭarafa's _Mu‘allaqa_, of which he published an +edition in 1742. + +[571] _Chrestomathie Arabe_ (2nd edition), vol. iii, p. 27 sqq. _Journal +des Savans_, January, 1825, p. 24 sqq. + +[572] _Commentatio de Motenabbio_ (Bonn, 1824). + +[573] _Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur_ (Weimar, 1898, &c.), vol. +i, p. 86. + +[574] I have made free use of Dieterici's excellent work entitled +_Mutanabbi und Seifuddaula aus der Edelperle des Tsaâlibi_ (Leipzig, +1847), which contains on pp. 49-74 an abstract of Tha‘álibÃ's criticism +in the fifth chapter of the First Part of the _YatÃma_. + +[575] MutanabbÃ, ed. by Dieterici, p. 182, vv. 3-9, omitting v. 5. + +[576] The author of these lines, which are quoted by Ibn Khallikán in +his article on MutanabbÃ, is Abu ’l-Qásim b. al-Muẓaffar b. ‘Alà +al-ṬabasÃ. + +[577] MutanabbÃ, ed. by Dieterici, p. 581, v. 27. + +[578] _Ibid._, p. 472, v. 5. + +[579] MutanabbÃ, ed. by Dieterici, p. 341, v. 8. + +[580] Margoliouth's Introduction to the _Letters of Abu ’l-‘Alá_, p. +xxii. + +[581] _Ibid._, p. xxvii seq. + +[582] _Luzúmiyyát_ (Cairo, 1891), vol. i, p. 201. + +[583] _I.e._, his predecessors of the modern school. Like MutanabbÃ, he +ridicules the conventional types (_asálÃb_) in which the old poetry is +cast _Cf._ Goldziher, _Abhand. zur Arab. Philologie_, Part I, p. 146 seq. + +[584] The proper title is _Luzúmu má lá yalzam_, referring to a +technical difficulty which the poet unnecessarily imposed on himself +with regard to the rhyme. + +[585] _Abulfedæ Annales Muslemici_, ed. by Adler (1789-1794), vol. iii, +p. 677. + +[586] _Literaturgesch. der Araber_, vol. vi, p. 900 sqq. + +[587] _Sitzungsberichte der Philosophisch-Historischen Classe der +Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften_, vol. cxvii, 6th Abhandlung +(Vienna, 1889). Select passages admirably rendered by Von Kremer into +German verse will be found in the _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 29, pp. 304-312; vol. +30, pp. 40-52; vol. 31, pp. 471-483; vol. 38, pp. 499-529. + +[588] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 38, p. 507; Margoliouth, _op. cit._, p. 131, l. +15 of the Arabic text. + +[589] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 29, p. 308. + +[590] Margoliouth, _op. cit._, p. 133 of the Arabic text. + +[591] This passage occurs in Abu ’l-‘Alá's _Risálatu ’l-Ghufrán_ (see +_infra_), _J.R.A.S._ for 1902, p. 351. _Cf._ the verses translated by +Von Kremer in his essay on Abu ’l-‘Alá, p. 23. + +[592] For the term 'ḤanÃf' see p. 149 _supra_. Here it is synonymous +with 'Muslim.' + +[593] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 38, p. 513. + +[594] This work, of which only two copies exist in Europe--one at +Constantinople and another in my collection--has been described and +partially translated in the _J.R.A.S._ for 1900, pp. 637-720, and for +1902, pp. 75-101, 337-362, and 813-847. + +[595] Margoliouth, _op. cit._, p. 132, last line of the Arabic text. + +[596] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 31, p. 483. + +[597] De Gobineau, _Les religions et les philosophies dans l'Asie +centrale_, p. 11 seq. + +[598] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 31, p. 477. + +[599] _Ibid._, vol. 29, p. 311. + +[600] _Z.D.M.G._ vol. 38, p. 522. + +[601] According to De Goeje, _Mémoires sur les Carmathes du Bahrain_, p. +197, n. 1, these lines refer to a prophecy made by the Carmathians that +the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, which took place in 1047 A.D. +would herald the final triumph of the Fáá¹imids over the ‘Abbásids. + +[602] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 38, p. 504. + +[603] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 31, p. 474. + +[604] _Luzúmiyyát_ (Cairo, 1891), i, 394. + +[605] _Ibid._, i, 312. + +[606] Von Kremer, _op. cit._, p. 38. + +[607] _Safar-náma_, ed. by Schefer, p. 10 seq. = pp. 35-36 of the +translation. + +[608] _Luzúmiyyát_, 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 Ṭughrá’à in Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 462. + +[611] _Ibid._, vol. iii, p. 355. + +[612] The spirit of fortitude and patience (_ḥamása_) is exhibited by +both poets, but in a very different manner. Shanfará describes a man of +heroic nature. Ṭughrá’à wraps himself in his virtue and moralises +like a Muḥammadan Horace. á¹¢afadÃ, however, says in his commentary +on Ṭughrá’Ã's ode (I translate from a MS. copy in my possession): "It +is named _Lámiyyatu ’l-‘Ajam_ by way of comparing it with the _Lámiyyatu +’l-‘Arab_, because it resembles the latter in its wise sentences and +maxims." + +[613] _I.e._, the native of Abúṣir (BúṣÃr), a village in Egypt. + +[614] The _Burda_, ed. by C. A. Ralfs (Vienna, 1860), verse 140; _La +Bordah traduite et commentée par René Basset_ (Paris, 1894), verse 151. + +[615] This appears to be a reminiscence of the fact that Muḥammad +gave his own mantle as a gift to Ka‘b b. Zuhayr, when that poet recited +his famous ode, _Bánat Su‘ád_ (see p. 127 _supra_). + +[616] _Maqáma_ (plural, _maqámát_) is properly 'a place of standing'; +hence, an assembly where people stand listening to the speaker, and in +particular, an assembly for literary discussion. At an early period +reports of such conversations and discussions received the name of +_maqámát_ (see Brockelmann, _Gesch. der Arab. Litteratur_, vol. i, p. +94). The word in its literary sense is usually translated by 'assembly,' +or by the French '_séance_.' + +[617] _The Assemblies of al-ḤarÃrÃ_, 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 +_Assemblies_ 27-50) by F. Steingass appeared in 1898. + +[618] A full account of his career will be found in the Preface to +Houtsma's _Recueil de textes relatifs à 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 HamadhánÃ. + +[620] The above passage is taken, with some modification, from the +version of ḤarÃrà 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 Pehlevà into Arabic by Ibnu ’l-Muqaffa‘ (†+_circa_ 760 A.D.). + +[622] _Al-FakhrÃ_, 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-Fidá, ed. by Reiske, vol. iii, p. 332). + +[624] The 48th _Maqáma_ 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 Rückert (_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 +_Assembly_, is given by Chenery, _op. cit._, p. 138. + +[628] _Ibid._, p. 163. + +[629] Two grammatical treatises by ḤarÃrà have come down to us. In +one of these, entitled _Durratu ’l-Ghawwáṣ_ ('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-Khayyámà for ‘Umar Khayyám. The +spelling Ghazzálà (with a double _z_) was in general use when Ibn +Khallikán wrote his Biographical Dictionary in 1256 A.D. (see De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 80), but according to Sam‘ánà the name is +derived from Ghazála, a village near Ṭús; in which case Ghazálà is +the correct form of the _nisba_. I have adopted 'GhazalÃ' in deference +to Sam‘ánÃ's authority, but those who write 'GhazzálÃ' can at least +claim that they err in very good company. + +[633] Shamsu ’l-DÃn al-Dhahabà (†1348 A.D.). + +[634] ‘Abdu ’l-RaḥÃm al-Isnawà (†1370 A.D.), author of a +biographical work on the Sháfi‘ite doctors. See Brockelmann, _Gesch. der +Arab. Litt._, vol. ii, p. 90. + +[635] Abu ’l-Ma‘álà al-JuwaynÃ, a famous theologian of Naysábúr (†1085 +A.D.), received this title, which means 'Imám of the Two Sanctuaries,' +because he taught for several years at Mecca and MedÃna. + +[636] _I.e._, the camp-court of the Seljúq monarch Maliksháh, son of Alp +Arslán. + +[637] According to his own account in the _Munqidh_, Ghazálà on leaving +Baghdád 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-DÃn. + +[639] GhazálÃ's return to public life took place in 1106 A.D. + +[640] The correct title of Ibn Ḥazm's work is uncertain. In the Cairo +ed. (1321 A.H.) it is called _Kitábu ’l-Fiá¹£al fi ’l-Milal wa ’l-Ahwá +wa ’l-Niḥal_. + +[641] See p. 195 _supra_. + +[642] Kor. ix, 3. The translation runs ("This is a declaration) _that +God is clear of the idolaters, and His Apostle likewise_." With the +reading _rasúlihi_ it means that God 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 Khallikán, 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, _Kitábu ’l-Ma‘árif_, p. 269. + +[650] While Abú ‘Ubayda was notorious for his freethinking +proclivities, Aá¹£ma‘à 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 _résumé_ of the contents in his _Lit. +Hist. of Persia_, vol. i, p. 387 seq. + +[652] Ed. by Max Grünert (Leyden, 1900). + +[653] Vol. i ed. by C. Brockelmann (Weimar and Strassburg, 1898-1908). + +[654] The epithet _jáḥiẓ_ means 'goggle-eyed.' + +[655] See p. 267. + +[656] Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 250. + +[657] One of these, the eleventh of the complete work, has been edited +by Ahlwardt: _Anonyme Arabische Chronik_ (Greifswald, 1883). It covers +part of the reign of the Umayyad Caliph, ‘Abdu ’l-Malik (685-705 A.D.). + +[658] The French title is _Les Prairies d'Or_. Brockelmann, in his +shorter _Hist. of Arabic Literature_ (Leipzig, 1901), p. 110, states +that the correct translation of _Murúju ’l-Dhahab_ is 'Goldwäschen.' + +[659] Concerning Ṭabarà and his work the reader should consult De +Goeje's Introduction (published in the supplementary volume containing +the Glossary) to the Leyden edition, and his excellent article on +Ṭabarà and early Arab Historians in the _Encyclopædia Britannica_. + +[660] Abu ’l-Maḥásin, ed. by Juynboll, vol. i, p. 608. + +[661] _Selection from the Annals of TabarÃ_, ed. by M. J. de Goeje +(Leyden, 1902), p. xi. + +[662] De Goeje's Introduction to ṬabarÃ, p. xxvii. + +[663] Al-Bal‘amÃ, the Vizier of Manṣúr I, the Sámánid, made in 963 +A.D. a Persian epitome of which a French translation by Dubeux and +Zotenberg was published in 1867-1874. + +[664] _Murúju ’l-Dhahab_, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. i, p. 5 seq. + +[665] The _Akhbáru ’l-Zamán_ in thirty volumes (one volume is extant at +Vienna) and the _Kitáb al-Awsaá¹_. + +[666] _Murúju ’l-Dhahab_, p. 9 seq. + +[667] It may be noted as a coincidence that Ibn Khaldún calls Mas‘údà +_imáman lil-mu’arrikhÃn_, "an Imám for all the historians," which +resembles, though it does not exactly correspond to, "the Father of +History." + +[668] Mas‘údà gives a summary of the contents of his historical and +religious works in the Preface to the _TanbÃh wa-’l-Ishráf_, ed. by De +Goeje, p. 2 sqq. A translation of this passage by De Sacy will be found +in Barbier de Meynard's edition of the _Murúju ’l-Dhahab_, vol. ix, p. +302 sqq. + +[669] See _Murúj_, vol. i, p. 201, and vol. iii, p. 268. + +[670] _Ibid._, vol. ii, p. 372 sqq. + +[671] De Sacy renders the title by 'Le Livre de l'Indication et de +l'Admonition ou l'Indicateur et le Moniteur'; but see De Goeje's edition +of the text (Leyden, 1894), p. xxvii. + +[672] The full title is _Kitábu ’l-Kámil fi ’l-Ta’rÃkh_, or 'The Perfect +Book of Chronicles.' It has been edited by Tornberg in fourteen volumes +(Leyden, 1851-1876). + +[673] Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 289. + +[674] An excellent account of the Arab geographers is given by Guy Le +Strange in the Introduction to his _Palestine under the Moslems_ +(London, 1890). De Goeje has edited the works of Ibn Khurdádbih, +Iá¹£á¹akhrÃ, Ibn Ḥawqal, and Muqaddasà in the _Bibliotheca +Geographorum Arabicorum_ (Leyden, 1870, &c.) + +[675] De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 9 sqq. + +[676] P. 243. + +[677] The translators employed by the Banú Músá were paid at the rate of +about 500 dÃnárs a month (_ibid._, p. 43, l. 18 sqq.). + +[678] _Ibid._, p. 271; Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. iii, +p. 315. + +[679] A chapter at least would be required in order to set forth +adequately the chief material and intellectual benefits which European +civilisation has derived from the Arabs. The reader may consult Von +Kremer's _Culturgeschichte des Orients_, vol. ii, chapters 7 and 9; +Diercks, _Die Araber im Mittelalter_ (Leipzig, 1882); Sédillot, +_Histoire générale des Arabes_; Schack, _Poesie und Kunst der Araber in +Spanien und Sicilien_; Munk, _Mélanges de Philosophie Juive et Arabe_; +De Lacy O'Leary, _Arabic Thought and its Place in History_ (1922); and +Campbell, _Arabian Medicine and its Influence on the Middle Ages_ +(1926). A volume entitled _The Legacy of the Islamic World_, ed. by Sir +T. W. Arnold and Professor A. Guillaume, is in course of publication. + +[680] Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 440. + +[681] _The Chronology of Ancient Nations_ (London, 1879) and Alberuni's +_India_ (London, 1888). + +[682] P. 384 sqq. + +[683] The passages concerning the Ṣábians were edited and translated, +with copious annotations, by Chwolsohn in his _Ssabier und Ssabismus_ +(St. Petersburg, 1856), vol. ii, p. 1-365, while Flügel made similar use +of the Manichæan portion in _Mani, seine Lehre und seine Schriften_ +(Leipzig, 1862). + +[684] Wellhausen, _Das Arabische Reich_, p. 350 seq. + +[685] See Goldziher, _Muhamm. Studien_, Part II, p. 53 sqq. + +[686] _Ibid._, p. 70 seq. + +[687] _Fragmenta Historicorum Arabicorum_, ed. by De Goeje and De Jong, +p. 298. + +[688] There are, of course, some partial exceptions to this rule, +_e.g._, Mahdà and Hárún al-RashÃd. + +[689] See p. 163, note. + +[690] Several freethinkers of this period attempted to rival the Koran +with their own compositions. See Goldziher, _Muhamm. Studien_, Part II, +p. 401 seq. + +[691] _Al-Nujúm al-Záhira_, ed. by Juynboll, vol. i, p. 639. + +[692] This is the literal translation of _Ikhwánu ’l-Safá_, but +according to Arabic idiom 'brother of purity' (_akhu ’l-á¹£afá_) simply +means 'one who is pure or sincere,' as has been shown by Goldziher, +_Muhamm. Studien_, Part I, p. 9, note. The term does not imply any sort +of brotherhood. + +[693] Ibnu ’l-Qifá¹Ã, _Ta’ rÃkhu ’l-Ḥukamá_ (ed. by Lippert), p. +83, l. 17 sqq. + +[694] _Notice sur un manuscrit de la secte des Assassins_, by P. +Casanova in the _Journal Asiatique_ for 1898, p 151 sqq. + +[695] De Goeje, _Mémoire sur les Carmathes_, p. 172. + +[696] _Ṣâliḥ b. ‘Abd al-Quddûs und das Zindîḳthum während der +Regierung des Chalifen al-Mahdà in Transactions of the Ninth Congress of +Orientalists_, vol. ii, p. 105 seq. + +[697] ṬabarÃ, iii, 522, 1. + +[698] _I.e._ the sacred books of the Manichæans, which were often +splendidly illuminated. See Von Kremer, _Culturgesch. Streifzüge_, p. +39. + +[699] _Cf._ ṬabarÃ, iii, 499, 8 sqq. + +[700] _Ibid._, iii, 422, 19 sqq. + +[701] _Cf._ the saying "_Aẓrafu mina ’l-ZindÃq_" (Freytag, _Arabum +Proverbia_, vol. i, p. 214). + +[702] As Professor Bevan points out, it is based solely on the +well-known verse (_AghánÃ_, iii, 24, l. 11), which has come down to us +without the context:-- + + "_Earth is dark and Fire is bright, + And Fire has been worshipped ever since Fire existed._" + +[703] These popular preachers (_quṣṣáṣ_) are admirably +described by Goldziher, _Muhamm. Studien_, Part II, p. 161 sqq. + +[704] The Arabic text of these verses will be found in Goldziher's +monograph, p. 122, ll. 6-7. + +[705] See a passage from the _Kitábu ’l-Ḥayawán_, cited by Baron V. +Rosen in _Zapiski_, vol. vi, p. 337, and rendered into English in my +_Translations from Eastern Poetry and Prose_, p. 53. Probably these +monks were Manichæans, not Buddhists. + +[706] _ZaddÃq_ is an Aramaic word meaning 'righteous.' Its etymological +equivalent in Arabic is _siddÃq_, which has a different meaning, namely, +'veracious.' _ZaddÃq_ passed into Persian in the form _ZandÃk_, which +was used by the Persians before Islam, and _ZindÃq_ is the Arabicised +form of the latter word. For some of these observations I am indebted to +Professor Bevan. Further details concerning the derivation and meaning +of _ZindÃq_ are given in Professor Browne's _Literary Hist. of Persia_ +(vol. i, p. 159 sqq.), where the reader will also find a lucid account +of the Manichæan doctrines. + +[707] Ibnu ’l-AthÃr, vol. viii, p. 229 seq. (anno 323 A.H. = 934-935 +A.D.). + +[708] _Ibid._, p. 98. + +[709] _Ibid._, p. 230 seq. + +[710] See p. 192. + +[711] _I.e._, he is saved from Hell but excluded from Paradise. + +[712] Ibn Khallikán, ed. by Wüstenfeld, No. 440; De Slane's translation, +vol. ii, p. 228. + +[713] The clearest statement of Ash‘arÃ's doctrine with which I am +acquainted is contained in the Creed published by Spitta, _Zur +Geschichte Abu ’l-Ḥasan al-Ash‘arÃ's_ (Leipzig, 1876), p. 133, l. 9 +sqq.; German translation, p. 95 sqq. It has been translated into English +by D. B. Macdonald in his _Muslim Theology_, p. 293 and foll. + +[714] _Op. cit._, p. 7 seq. + +[715] Schreiner, _Zur Geschichte des Ash‘aritenthums_ in the _Proceedings +of the Eighth International Congress of Orientalists_ (1889), p. 5 of +the _tirage à part_. + +[716] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 31, p. 167. + +[717] See Goldziher in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 41, p. 63 seq., whence the +following details are derived. + +[718] See p. 339 seq. + +[719] I have used the Cairo edition of 1309 A.H. A French translation by +Barbier de Meynard was published in the _Journal Asiatique_ (January, +1877), pp. 9-93. + +[720] These are the Ismá‘ÃlÃs or Báá¹inÃs (including the Carmathians +and Assassins). See p. 271 sqq. + +[721] _A Literary History of Persia_, vol. ii, p. 295 seq. + +[722] _The Life of al-GhazzÄlÄ«_ in the _Journal of the American +Oriental Society_, vol. xx (1899), p. 122 sqq. + +[723] _Herrschende Ideen_, p. 67. + +[724] _Idee und Grundlinien einer allgemeiner Geschichte der Mystik_, an +academic oration delivered on November 22, 1892, and published at +Heidelberg in 1893. + +[725] The following sketch is founded on my paper, _An Historical +Enquiry concerning the Origin and Development of Ṣúfiism_ +(_J.R.A.S._, April, 1906, p. 303 sqq.). + +[726] This, so far as I know, is the oldest extant definition of +Ṣúfiism. + +[727] It is impossible not to recognise the influence of Greek +philosophy in this conception of Truth as Beauty. + +[728] Jámà says (_Nafahátu ’l-Uns_, ed. by Nassau Lees, p. 36): "He is +the head of this sect: they all descend from, and are related to, him." + +[729] See ‘Aá¹á¹Ã¡r's _Tadhkiratu ’l-Awliyá_, ed. by Nicholson, Part +I, p. 114; JámÃ's _Nafaḥát_, p. 35; Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 291. + +[730] _Murúju ’l-Dhahab_, vol. ii, p. 401 seq. + +[731] The _Influence of Buddhism upon Islam_, by I. Goldziher (Budapest, +1903). As this essay is written in Hungarian, I have not been able to +consult it at first hand, but have used the excellent translation by Mr. +T. Duka, which appeared in the _J.R.A.S._ for January, 1904, pp. +125-141. + +[732] It was recognised by the ṢúfÃs themselves that in some points +their doctrine was apparently based on Mu‘tazilite principles. See +Sha‘ránÃ, _Lawáqiḥu ’l-Anwár_ (Cairo, 1299 A.H.), p. 14, l. 21 sqq. + +[733] This definition is by Abu ’l-Ḥusayn al-Núrà (†907-908 A.D.). + +[734] See Professor Browne's _Lit. Hist. of Persia_, vol. ii, p. 261 +sqq. + +[735] The _DÃwán of ‘Umar Ibnu ’l-Fáriá¸_, ed. by Rushayyid +al-Daḥdáḥ (Marseilles, 1853). + +[736] _I.e._, New and Old Cairo. + +[737] The _DÃwán_, excluding the _Tá’iyyatu ’l-Kubrá_, has been edited +by Rushayyid al-Daḥdáḥ (Marseilles, 1853). + +[738] _DÃwán_, p. 219, l. 14 and p. 213, l. 18. + +[739] Ibnu ’l-Fáriá¸, like MutanabbÃ, shows a marked fondness for +diminutives. As he observes (_DÃwán_, p. 552):-- + + _má qultu ḥubayyibà mina ’l-taḥqÃri + bal ya‘dhubu ’smu ’l-shakhá¹£i bi-’l-taá¹£ghÃri._ + + "_Not in contempt I say 'my darling.' No! + By 'diminution' names do sweeter grow._" + +[740] _Dìwà n_, p. 472 sqq. A French rendering will be found at p. 41 of +Grangeret de Lagrange's _Anthologie Arabe_ (Paris, 1828). + +[741] The words of God to Moses (Kor. vii, 139). + +[742] _DÃwán_, p. 257 sqq. + +[743] This refers to Kor. vii, 171. God drew forth from the loins of +Adam all future generations of men and addressed them, saying, "_Am not +I your Lord?_" They answered, "_Yes_," and thus, according to the +Ṣúfà interpretation, pledged themselves to love God for evermore. + +[744] _DÃwán_, p. 142 sqq. + +[745] See _A Literary History of Persia_, vol. i, p. 428 sqq. But during +the last twenty years a great deal of new light has been thrown upon the +character and doctrines of Ḥalláj. See Appendix. + +[746] The best-known biography of Ibnu ’l-‘Arabà occurs in MaqqarÃ's +_Nafḥu ’l-ṬÃb_, ed. by Dozy and others, vol. i, pp. 567-583. Much +additional information is contained in a lengthy article, which I have +extracted from a valuable MS. in my collection, the _Shadharátu +’l-Dhahab_, and published in the _J.R.A.S._ for 1906, pp. 806-824. _Cf._ +also Von Kremer's _Herrschende Ideen_, pp. 102-109. + +[747] Muḥyi ’l-DÃn means 'Reviver of Religion.' In the West he was +called Ibnu ’l-‘ArabÃ, but the Moslems of the East left out the definite +article (_al_) in order to distinguish him from the Cadi Abú Bakr Ibnu +’l-‘Arabà of Seville (†1151 A.D.). + +[748] _Al-KibrÃt al-aḥmar_ (literally, 'the red sulphur'). + +[749] See Von Kremer, _op. cit._, p. 108 seq. + +[750] The above particulars are derived from an abstract of the +_Futúḥát_ made by ‘Abdu ’l-Wahháb al-Sha‘ránà (†1565 A.D.), of which +Fleischer has given a full description in the _Catalogue of Manuscripts +in the Leipzig Univ. Library_ (1838), pp. 490-495. + +[751] MaqqarÃ, i, 569, 11. + +[752] Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal. + +[753] Abú ḤanÃfa. + +[754] _Fuṣúṣu ’l-Ḥikam_ (Cairo, A.H. 1321), p. 78. The words +within brackets belong to the commentary of ‘Abdu ’l-Razzáq al-Káshánà +which accompanies the text. + +[755] Ibnu ’l-‘Arabà uses the term "Idea of ideas" (_ḤaqÃqatu +’l-ḥaqá’iq_) as equivalent to λόγος á¼Î½Î´Î¹á½±Î¸ÎµÏ„ος, while "the +Idea of Muḥammad" (_al-ḤaqÃqatu ’l-Muḥammadiyya_) corresponds +to λόγος Ï€ÏοφοÏικός. + +[756] The Arabic text of these verses will be found in the collection of +Ibnu ’l-‘ArabÃ's mystical odes, entitled _Tarjumánu ’l-Ashwáq_, which I +have edited (Oriental Translation Fund, New Series, vol. xx, p. 19, vv. +13-15). + +[757] Ibnu ’l-‘Arabà has been studied by Asin Palacios, Professor of +Arabic at Madrid, whose books are written in Spanish, and H. S. Nyberg +(_Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-‘ArabÃ_, Leiden, 1919). A general view +may be obtained from my _Studies in Islamic Mysticism_, pp. 77-142 and +pp. 149-161. + +[758] See Asin Palacios, _Islam and the Divine Comedy_, London, 1926. + +[759] Abridged from Ibnu ’l-‘IdhárÃ, _al-Bayán al-Mughrib_, ed. by Dozy, +vol. ii, p. 61 seq. + +[760] Ibn Khallikán, ed. by Wüstenfeld, No. 802; De Slane's translation, +vol. iv, p. 29 sqq. + +[761] Muqaddasà (ed. by De Goeje), p. 236, cited by Goldziher, _Die +Zâhiriten_, p. 114. + +[762] Dozy, _Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne_ (Leyden, 1861), vol. iii, +p. 90 sqq. + +[763] ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán III was the first of his line to assume this +title. + +[764] MaqqarÃ, vol. i, p. 259. As MaqqarÃ's work is our principal +authority for the literary history of Moslem Spain, I may conveniently +give some account of it in this place. The author, Aḥmad b. +Muḥammad al-Tilimsánà al-Maqqarà (†1632 A.D.) wrote a biography of +Ibnu ’l-Khaá¹Ãb, the famous Vizier of Granada, to which he prefixed a +long and discursive introduction in eight chapters: (1) Description of +Spain; (2) Conquest of Spain by the Arabs; (3) History of the Spanish +dynasties; (4) Cordova; (5) Spanish-Arabian scholars who travelled in +the East; (6) Orientals who visited Spain; (7) Miscellaneous extracts, +anecdotes, poetical citations, &c., bearing on the literary history of +Spain; (8) Reconquest of Spain by the Christians and expulsion of the +Arabs. The whole work is entitled _Nafḥu ’l-ṬÃb min ghuá¹£nà +’l-Andalusi ’l-raá¹Ãb wa-dhikri wazÃrihá Lisáni ’l-DÃn Ibni +’l-Khaá¹Ãb_. The introduction, which contains a fund of curious and +valuable information--"a library in little"--has been edited by Dozy and +other European Arabists under the title of _Analectes sur l'Histoire et +la Littérature des Arabes d'Espagne_ (Leyden, 1855-1861). + +[765] The name of Slaves (_á¹¢aqáliba_) was originally applied to +prisoners of war, belonging to various northern races, who were sold to +the Arabs of Spain, but the term was soon widened so as to include all +foreign slaves serving in the harem or the army, without regard to their +nationality. Like the Mamelukes and Janissaries, they formed a +privileged corps under the patronage of the palace, and since the reign +of ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán III their number and influence had steadily +increased. _Cf._ Dozy, _Hist. des Mus. d'Espagne_, vol. iii, p. 58 sqq. + +[766] Dozy, _op. cit._, vol. ii, p. 103 seq. + +[767] QazwÃnÃ, _Ãtháru ’l-Bilád_, ed. by Wüstenfeld, p. 364, l. 5 sqq. + +[768] See Schack, _op. cit._, vol. ii, p. 46 sqq. + +[769] The Arabic original occurs in the 11th chapter of the _Ḥalbatu +’l-Kumayt_, a collection of poems on wine and drinking by Muḥammad b. +Ḥasan al-Nawájà (†1455 A.D.), and is also printed in the _Anthologie +Arabe_ of Grangeret de Lagrange, p. 202. + +[770] _Al-Ḥullat al-Siyará_ of Ibnu ’l-Abbár, ed. by Dozy, p. 34. In +the last line instead of "foes" the original has "the sons of ‘Abbás." +Other verses addressed by ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán to this palm-tree are cited +by MaqqarÃ, vol. ii, p. 37. + +[771] Full details concerning Ziryáb will be found in MaqqarÃ, vol. ii, +p. 83 sqq. _Cf._ Dozy, _Hist. des Mus. d'Espagne_, vol. ii, p. 89 sqq. + +[772] MaqqarÃ, _loc. cit._, p. 87, l. 10 sqq. + +[773] Dozy, _Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne_, vol. iii, p. 107 sqq. + +[774] See the verses cited by Ibnu ’l-AthÃr, vol. viii, p. 457. + +[775] Ibn Khallikán, No. 697, De Slane's translation, vol. iii, p. 186. + +[776] Ibn Khallikán, _loc. cit._ + +[777] _Loc. cit._, p. 189. For the sake of clearness I have slightly +abridged and otherwise remodelled De Slane's translation of this +passage. + +[778] A somewhat different version of these events is given by Dozy, +_Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne_, vol. iv, p. 189 sqq. + +[779] The term _Mulaththamún_, which means literally 'wearers of the +_lithám_' (a veil covering the lower part of the face), is applied to +the Berber tribes of the Sahara, the so-called Almoravides +(_al-Murábiá¹Ãºn_), who at this time ruled over Northern Africa. + +[780] Ibnu ’l-Abbár (Dozy, _Loci de Abbadidis_, vol. ii, p. 63). + +[781] _Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne_, vol. iv, p. 287. + +[782] _I.e._, 'holder of the two vizierships'--that of the sword and +that of the pen. See De Slane's translation of Ibn Khallikán, vol. iii, +p. 130, n. 1. + +[783] The Arabic text of this poem, which occurs in the _Qalá’idu +’l-‘Iqyán_ of Ibn Kháqán, will be found on pp. 24-25 of Weyers's +_Specimen criticum exhibens locos Ibn Khacanis de Ibn Zeidouno_ (Leyden, +31). + +[784] Cited by Ibn Khallikán in his article on Ibn Ḥazm (De Slane's +translation, vol. ii, p. 268). + +[785] MaqqarÃ, vol. i, p. 511, l. 21. + +[786] MaqqarÃ, _loc. cit._ p. 515, l. 5 seq. + +[787] See p. 341, note 1[640]. + +[788] The contents of the _Kitábu ’l-Milal wa-’l-Niḥal_ are fully +summarised by Dozy in the Leyden Catalogue, vol. iv, pp. 230-237. _Cf._ +also _Zur Komposition von Ibn Ḥazm's Milal wa’n-Niḥal_, by Israel +Friedlaender in the _Nöldeke-Festschrift_ (Giessen, 1906), vol. i, p. +267 sqq. + +[789] So far as I am aware, the report that copies are preserved in the +great mosque at Tunis has not been confirmed. + +[790] His Arabic name is Ismá‘Ãl b. Naghdála. See the Introduction to +Dozy's ed. of Ibnu ’l-‘IdhárÃ, p. 84, n. 1. + +[791] An interesting notice of Samuel Ha-Levi is given by Dozy in his +_Hist. des Mus. d'Espagne_, vol. iv, p. 27 sqq. + +[792] _Kámil_ of Ibnu ’l-AthÃr, ed. by Tornberg, vol. ix, p. 425 sqq. +The following narrative (which has been condensed as far as possible) +differs in some essential particulars from the accounts given by Ibn +Khaldún (_History of the Berbers_, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. +64 sqq.) and by Ibn Abà Zar‘ (Tornberg, _Annales Regum Mauritaniæ_, p. +100 sqq. of the Latin version). _Cf._ A. Müller, _Der Islam_, vol. ii, +p. 611 sqq. + +[793] See note on p. 423. + +[794] The province of Tunis. + +[795] _Murábiá¹_ is literally 'one who lives in a _ribáá¹_,' _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 (_jihád_) against the +unbelievers. The word _murábiá¹_, 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-Wáḥid, _History of the Almohades_, ed. by Dozy, p. +135, l. 1 sqq. + +[798] The Berbers at this time were Sunnite and anti-Fáá¹imid. + +[799] Almohade is the Spanish form of _al-Muwaḥḥid_. + +[800] Stanley Lane-Poole, _The Mohammadan Dynasties_, p. 46. + +[801] Renan, _Averroës et l'Averroïsme_, p. 12 sqq. + +[802] See a passage from ‘Abdu ’l-Wáhid's _History of the Almohades_ (p. +201, l. 19 sqq.), which is translated in Goldziher's _Ẓâhiriten_, p. +174. + +[803] The Arabic text, with a Latin version by E. Pocock, was published +in 1671, and again in 1700, under the title _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 Absál, as in JámÃ's celebrated poem. +_Cf._ De Boer, _The History of Philosophy in Islam_, translated by E. R. +Jones, p. 144. + +[805] Jurjà Zaydán, however, is disposed to regard the story as being +not without foundation. See his interesting discussion of the evidence +in his _Ta‘rÃkhu ’l-Tamaddun al-Islámi_ ('History of Islamic +Civilisation'), Part III, pp. 40-46. + +[806] The life of Ibnu ’l-Khaá¹ib has been written by his friend and +contemporary, Ibn Khaldún (_Hist. of the Berbers_, translated by De +Slane, vol. iv. p. 390 sqq.), and forms the main subject of MaqqarÃ's +_Nafḥu ’l-ṬÃb_ (vols. iii and iv of the Buláq edition). + +[807] Schack, _op. cit._, vol. i, p. 312 seq. + +[808] Cited in the _Shadharátu ’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 +Quatremère in _Notices et extraits des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque +Impériale_, 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 Khaldún'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 Khaldún 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 Ismál‘ÃlÃs are the so-called Assassins, the terrible sect +organised by Ḥasan b. á¹¢abbáḥ (see Professor Browne's _Literary +History of Persia_, vol. ii, p. 201 sqq.), and finally exterminated by +Húlágú. They had many fortresses, of which Alamút was the most famous, +in the Jibál province, near QazwÃn. + +[820] The reader must be warned that this and the following account of +the treacherous dealings of Ibnu ’l-‘Alqamà are entirely contradicted by +ShÑite historians. For example, the author of _al-FakhrÃ_ (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 DawÃdár (literally +Inkstand-holder) or Dawádár, as the word is more correctly written, see +Quatremère, _Histoire des Sultans Mamlouks_, vol. i, p. 118, n. 2. + +[822] The MS. writes Yájúnas. + +[823] _Al-kalb_, the Arabic equivalent of the Persian _sag_ (dog), an +animal which Moslems regard as unclean. + +[824] By Shamsu ’l-DÃn al-Dhahabà (†1348 A.D.). + +[825] Mameluke (Mamlúk) means 'slave.' The term was applied to the +mercenary troops, Turks and Kurds for the most part, who composed the +bodyguard of the Ayyúbid princes. + +[826] There are two Mameluke dynasties, called respectively Baḥrà +(River) Mamelukes and Burjà (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 Buláq (1283 A.H.), pp. 356-366. + +[830] _Ibid._, p. 358. + +[831] These verses are cited in the _ḤadÃqatu ’l-Afráḥ_ (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 +God will not wrong any one even the weight of an ant_" (mithqála +dharratin). + +[832] Hartmann, _Das Muwa[vs][vs]aḥ_ (Weimar, 1897), p. 218. + +[833] Literally, 'The Shaking of the Skull-caps,' in allusion to the +peasants' dance. + +[834] See Vollers, _Beiträge zur Kenntniss der lebenden arabischen +Sprache in Aegypten_, _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 41 (1887), p. 370. + +[835] Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 3. + +[836] It should be pointed out that the _Wafayát_ 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 (_Tábi‘ún_), 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 _Wafayát_ was compiled by al-Kutubà (†1363 +A.D.) under the title _Fawátu ’l-Wafayát_. + +[837] The Arabic text of the _Wafayát_ has been edited with variants and +indices by Wüstenfeld (Göttingen, 1835-1850). There is an excellent +English translation by Baron MacGuckin de Slane in four volumes +(1842-1871). + +[838] The full title is _al-Mawá‘iẓ wa-’l-l‘tibár fà dhikri +’l-Khiá¹aá¹ wa-’l-Athár_. It was printed at Buláq in 1270 A.H. + +[839] _Al-Sulúk li-ma‘rifati Duwali ’l-Mulúk_, a history of the Ayyúbids +and Mamelukes. The portion relating to the latter dynasty is accessible +in the excellent French version by Quatremère (_Histoire des Sultans +Mamlouks de l'Égypte_, Paris, 1845). + +[840] A. R. Guest, _A List of Writers, Books, and other Authorities +mentioned by El MaqrÃzà in his Khiá¹aá¹_, _J.R.A.S._ for 1902, p. +106. + +[841] The _FakhrÃ_ has been edited by Ahlwardt (1860) and Derenbourg +(1895). The simplicity of its style and the varied interest of its +contents have made it deservedly popular. Leaving the Koran out of +account, I do not know any book that is better fitted to serve as an +introduction to Arabic literature. + +[842] See p. 413, n. 1. + +[843] _A Biographical Dictionary of Persons who knew Mohammad_, ed. by +Sprenger and others (Calcutta, 1856-1873). + +[844] _Murúju ’l-Dhahab_, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. iv. p. 90. The +names ShÃrázád and DÃnázád are obviously Persian. Probably the former is +a corruption of Chihrázád, meaning 'of noble race,' while DÃnázád +signifies 'of noble religion.' My readers will easily recognise the +familiar Scheherazade and Dinarzade. + +[845] Strange as it may seem, this criticism represents the view of +nearly all Moslem scholars who have read the 'Arabian Nights.' + +[846] Many episodes are related on the authority of Aá¹£ma‘Ã, Abú +‘Ubayda, and Wahb b. Munabbih. + +[847] Those who recite the _SÃratu ‘Antar_ are named _‘Anátira_, sing. +_‘Antari_. See Lane's _Modern Egyptians_, ch. xxiii. + +[848] That it was extant in some shape before 1150 A.D. seems to be +beyond doubt. _Cf._ the _Journal Asiatique_ for 1838, p. 383; +Wüstenfeld, _Gesch. der Arab. Aerzte_, No. 172. + +[849] _Antar, a Bedoueen Romance_, translated from the Arabic by Terrick +Hamilton (London, 1820), vol. i, p. xxiii seq. See, however, Flügel's +Catalogue of the Kais. Kön. Bibl. at Vienna, vol. ii, p. 6. Further +details concerning the 'Romance of ‘Antar' will be found in Thorbecke's +_‘Antarah_ (Leipzig, 1867), p. 31 sqq. The whole work has been published +at Cairo in thirty-two volumes. + +[850] Sha‘ránÃ, _YawáqÃt_ (ed. of Cairo, 1277 A.H.), p. 18. + +[851] In 1417 A.D. The reader will find a full and most interesting +account of NasÃmÃ, who is equally remarkable as a Turkish poet and as a +mystic belonging to the sect of the ḤurúfÃs, in Mr. E. J. W. Gibb's +_History of Ottoman Poetry_, vol. i, pp. 343-368. It is highly +improbable that the story related here gives the true ground on which he +was condemned: his pantheistic utterances afford a sufficient +explanation, and the Turkish biographer, Laá¹ÃfÃ, specifies the verse +which cost him his life. I may add that the author of the _Shadharátu +’l-Dhahab_ calls him NasÃmu ’l-DÃn of TabrÃz (he is generally said to be +a native of NasÃm in the district of Baghdád), and observes that he +resided in Aleppo, where his followers were numerous and his heretical +doctrines widely disseminated. + +[852] The 112th chapter of the Koran. See p. 164. + +[853] Founder of the Shádhiliyya Order of Dervishes. He died in 1258 +A.D. + +[854] A distinguished jurist and scholar who received the honorary +title, 'Sultan of the Divines.' He died at Cairo in 1262 A.D. + +[855] An eminent canon lawyer (†1370 A.D.). + +[856] It was the custom of the Zoroastrians (and, according to Moslem +belief, of the Christians and other infidels) to wear a girdle round the +waist. + +[857] See _Materials for a History of the Wahabys_, by J. L. Burckhardt, +published in the second volume of his _Notes on the Bedouins and +Wahabys_ (London, 1831). Burckhardt was in Arabia while the Turks were +engaged in re-conquering the Ḥijáz from the WahhábÃs. His graphic and +highly interesting narrative has been summarised by Dozy, _Essai sur +l'histoire de l'Islamisme_, ch. 13. + +[858] Following Burckhardt's example, most European writers call him +simply ‘Abdu ’l-Wahháb. + +[859] Burckhardt, _op. cit._, vol. ii, p. 96. + +[860] MSS. of Ibn Taymiyya copied by Ibn ‘Abd al-Wahháb are extant +(Goldziher in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 52, p. 156). + +[861] This is the place usually called Karbalá or Mashhad Ḥusayn. + +[862] _Op. cit._, vol. ii, p. 112. + +[863] _Essai sur l'histoire de l'Islamisme_, p. 416. + +[864] Burckhardt, _loc. laud._, p. 115. + +[865] I cannot enter into details on this subject. A review of modern +Arabic literature is given by Brockelmann, _Gesch. der Arab. Litt._, +vol. ii, pp. 469-511, and by Huart, _Arabic Literature_, pp. 411-443. + +[866] See M. Hartmann, _The Arabic Press of Egypt_ (London, 1899). + +[867] Brockelmann, _loc. cit._, p. 476. + +[868] Translated into Arabic verse by Sulaymán al-Bistánà (Cairo, 1904). +See Professor Margoliouth's interesting notice of this work in the +_J.R.A.S._ for 1905, p. 417 sqq. + +[869] H. A. R. Gibb, _Studies in contemporary Arabic literature_, +Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, vol. iv, pt. 4, p. 746; cf. +also vol. v, pt. 2, p. 311 foll. Mr Gibb has given references to the +chief works on the subject, but for the sake of those who do not read +Arabic or Russian it may be hoped that he will continue and complete his +own survey, to which there is nothing _simile aut secundum_ in English. + + + + +APPENDIX + + +P. xxii, l. 2. Arabic begins to appear in North Arabian inscriptions +in the third century A.D. Perhaps the oldest yet discovered +is one, of which the probable date is 268 A.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 in _Islamic Culture_ (Hyderabad, Deccan), April +1929, vol. iii, No. 2, p. 169, note 2. + +P. 4 foll. Concerning the Sabaeans and the South Arabic inscriptions a +great deal of valuable information will be found in the article _Saba’_ +by J. Tkatsch in the _Encyclopædia 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 the _Shamsu ’l-‘Ulúm_ relating +to South Arabia have been edited by Dr ‘AzÃmu’ddÃn Aḥmad +(E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Series, vol. xxiv). + +P. 26 foll. For contemporary and later Christian accounts of +the martyrdom of the Christians of Najrán, see the fragmentary +_Book 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, entitled _Kitábu +’l-Fákhir_, by Mufaá¸á¸al 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 the _AghánÃ_ with 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 ḤÃra about 583 A.D. (Guidi, +_L'Arabie antéislamique_, p. 27). + +P. 127, l. 16. The ode _Bánat Su‘ád_ is rendered into English in +my _Translations 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 the +_Mufaá¸á¸alÄ«yÄt_, 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 +Bukhárà in ch. 65 of the _á¹¢aḥÃḥ_, 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 word _rujz_ is in +all likelihood identical with the Syriac _rugza_, 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 case _dhikrun li ’l-‘álamÃn_ in 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 the _Rivista 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‘údà says (_Murúju ’l-Dhahab_, vol. vi, p. 22, and vol. vii, +p. 234), is derived from _i‘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 as _fisq_, impiety) +midway between them and the infidels. According to the Murjites, such a +person was still a true believer, while their opponents, the Wa‘Ãdites, +and also the Khárijites, held him to be an unbeliever. + +P. 225, l. 1. The ḤadÃth, "No monkery (_rahbániyya_) in Islam," +probably dates from the third century of the Hijra. According +to the usual interpretation of Koran, LVII, 27, the _rahbániyya_ +practised 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 ṢúfÃs of the third century A.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 +Baá¹£ra, see Massignon, _op. cit._, p. 152 foll. + +P. 228 foll. It can now be stated with certainty that the name "ṢúfÃ" +originated in Kúfa in the second century A.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 ShÑite and Hellenistic +(Christian and Gnostic) ideas. + +P. 233, l. 4 from foot. In _RÄbi‘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‘Ãl (†135). + +P. 313 foll. The text and translation of 332 extracts from the +_Luzúmiyyát_ will be found in ch. ii of my _Studies 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 the _Risálatu ’l-Ghufrán_ by Shaykh +IbráhÃm al-Yáziji was published at Cairo in 1907. + +P. 319, l. 6. The epistle of ‘Alà b. Manṣúr al-Ḥalabà (Ibnu +’l-Qáriḥ), to which the _Risálatu ’l-Ghufrán_ is the reply, has been +published in _Rasá’ilu ’l-Bulaghá_, ed. Muḥammad Kurd ‘Alà +(Cairo, 1913). + +P. 332, note 2. For rhymed prose renderings of the 11th and +12th _Maqámas_, see _Translations 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-Khayyáá¹'s _Kitábu ’l-Intiṣár_ (ed. H. S. +Nyberg, Cairo, 1926), a third (ninth) century polemical work +directed against the ShÑite freethinker Ibnu ’l-Ráwandà (cf. p. 375 +_supra_). 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 Erbe_ in W. Jaeger's +_Die 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 the +_Ikhwánu ’l-á¹¢afá_ requires 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 the _Ikhwán_. + +P. 375, note 2. Professor Schaeder thinks that Middle Persian +_zandÃk_ has nothing to do with the Aramaic _zaddÃq_ (_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 century +A.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 have +been 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) and _Mystic 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-‘Arabà (1165-1240 +A.D.). See p. 402 foll. + +P. 384, l. 5. The so-called "Theology of Aristotle," translated +from Syriac into Arabic about 830 A.D., is mainly an abstract of +the _Enneads_ of 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 ṢúfÃs 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 his _Studies 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 Hierotheos_ has recently been +edited in Syriac for the first time, with English translation, by +F. S. Marsh (Text and Translation Society, 1927). + +P. 391. For BáyazÃd of Bisá¹Ã¡m, 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 in _Islamica_, vol. ii, fasc. 3, p. 402 foll. + +P. 396, l. 8. See my essay on the Odes of Ibnu ’l-FáriḠ(_Studies +in Islamic Mysticism_, pp. 162-266), which comprises translations +of the _Khamriyya_ and three-fourths of the _Tá’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 +ṢúfÃs as well as by Von Kremer and subsequent European writers. +Cf. the summary given by Father Joseph Maréchal, _op. cit._, pp. +249-281, and _The Idea of Personality in Ṣúfism_ (Cambridge, 1922), +pp. 26-37. + +P. 402, l. 9. For Ibnu ’l-‘ArabÃ'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-KarÃm al-JÃlà (†circ. +1410 A.D.), a follower of Ibnu ’l-‘ArabÃ, in his famous treatise +entitled _al-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 Baá¹á¹Ãºá¹a of +Tangier (†1377), whose frank and entertaining story of his almost +world-wide travels, entitled _Tuḥfatu ’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 WahhábÃs, see the article _WahhÄbÄ«s_ by Professor D. S. +Margoliouth in Hastings' _Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics_. + +P. 469. _La littérature arabe au xix^e siècle_, 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 the _Risálatu ’l-tauḥÃd_ +of the great Egyptian divine, Muḥammad ‘Abduh (1842-1905), which has +been translated into French by B. Michel and Mustapha ‘Abd el Razik +(Paris, 1925). + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS BY +EUROPEAN AUTHORS + + +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 his _Literary +History of Persia_, vol. i, pp. 481-496, and D. B. Macdonald in his +_Development of Muslim Theology, etc._ (London, 1903), pp. 358-367, +while the Appendix to H. A. R. Gibb's _Arabic Literature_ (Oxford +University Press, 1926) contains a well-chosen list of books of +reference and translations. Those who require more detailed +references may consult the _Bibliographie des ouvrages arabes ou +relatifs aux Arabes publ. dans l'Europe chrétienne de 1810 à 1885_, +by V. Chauvin (Liège, 1892-1903), the _Orientalische Bibliographie_, +edited by A. Müller, E. Kuhn, and L. Scherman (Berlin, 1887--), +the _Handbuch der Islam-Litteratur_, by D. G. Pfannmüller (Berlin +and Leipzig, 1923), and the _Catalogue of the Arabic Books in the +British Museum_, by A. G. Ellis, 2 vols. (London, 1894-1902) with +the _Supplementary 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. + + + I + + PHILOLOGY. + + 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 the _Encyclopædia + 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's + _Supplément 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). + + + II + + GENERAL WORKS ON ARABIAN HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, + GEOGRAPHY, LITERATURE, ETC. + + 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 ṬabarÃ, traduite sur la version persane de... + _Bel‘amÃ_, by H. Zotenberg, 4 vols. (Paris, 1867-74). + + 8. The _Murúju ’l-Dhahab_ of Mas‘údà (_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 Ṭabarà and Mas‘údà 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. Ḥájjà KhalÃfa, _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 Firdawsà (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). + + + III + + PRE-ISLAMIC HISTORY, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION. + + 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 ṬabarÃ, 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 omitted _Mu‘allaqas_ are 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). + + + IV + + MUḤAMMAD AND THE KORAN. + + 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 WáqidÃ'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 in _The 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' IslÄm_, 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 (622-628 + A.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 in _The 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,' in _Sketches from Eastern + History_, pp. 21-59, or his article in the _Encyclopædia + Britannica_ (11th ed.). + + 58. _The Teaching of the Qur’Än_, by H. W. Stanton (London, 1920). + + + V + + THE HISTORY OF THE CALIPHATE. + + 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's _Geschichte 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 TabarÃ. + + 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 century A.H. + + 66. _The life and times of ‘Alà b. ‘Ãsá, the Good Vizier_, by H. Bowen + (Cambridge, 1928). + + 67. _Geschichte der Fatimiden-Chalifen, nach arabischen Quellen_, by + F. Wüstenfeld (Göttingen, 1881). + + + VI + + THE HISTORY OF MOSLEM CIVILISATION. + + 68. _Prolégomènes d'Ibn Khaldoun_, a French translation of the + _Muqaddima_ or Introduction prefixed by Ibn Khaldún to his + Universal History, by Baron MacGuckin de Slane, 3 vols. (in + _Notices 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 his _Contributions 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's _History 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). + + + VII + + MUḤAMMADAN RELIGION, THEOLOGY, JURISPRUDENCE, + PHILOSOPHY, AND MYSTICISM. + + 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 + BukhárÃ. + + 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). + + 102. _Exposé de la Religion des Druzes_, by Silvestre de Sacy, 2 vols. + (Paris, 1838). + + 103. _The Mystics of Islam_, by R. A. Nicholson (London, 1914). + + 104. _The Religious Attitude and Life in Islam_, by D. B. Macdonald + (Chicago, 1909). + + 105. _Essai sur les origines du lexique technique de la mystique + musulmane_, by L. Massignon (Paris, 1922). + + 106. _La Passion d'al-Halláj_, by L. Massignon, 2 vols. (Paris, 1922). + + 107. _Al-Ḳuschairîs Darstellung des Ṣûfîtums_, by Richard + Hartmann (Berlin, 1914). + + 108. _Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-‘ArabÄ«_, by H. S. Nyberg + (Leiden, 1919). + + 109. _Studies in Islamic Mysticism_, by R. A. Nicholson (Cambridge, + 1921). + + 110. _The Idea of Personality in Ṣúfism_, by R. A. Nicholson + (Cambridge, 1923). + + 111. _The Dervishes or Oriental Spiritualism_, by John P. Brown, + ed. by H. A. Rose (London, 1927). + + 112. _Les Confréries religieuses musulmanes_, by O. Depont and + X. Coppolani (Algiers, 1897). + + + VIII + + THE HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF THE MOORS. + + 113. _Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne jusqu'à la conquête de + l'Andalusie par les Almoravides_ (711-1110 A.D.), by R. Dozy, + 4 vols. (Leyden, 1861). Translated into English under the + title _Spanish Islam_ by F. G. Stokes (London, 1913). + + 114. _History of the Moorish Empire in Europe_, by S. P. Scott, + 3 vols. (New York, 1904). + + 115. _The Moriscos of Spain, their conversion and expulsion_, by + H. C. Lea (Philadelphia, 1901). + + 116. _History of the Mohammedan dynasties of Spain_, translated + from the _Nafḥ al-ṬÃb_ of Maqqarà by Pascual de Gayangos, 2 + vols. (London, Oriental Translation Fund, 1840-43). + + 117. _The History of the Almohades_, by ‘Abdu ’l-Wáḥid + al-MarrákoshÃ, translated by E. Fagnan (Algiers, 1893). + + 118. _Recherches sur l'histoire et la littérature de l'Espagne pendant + le moyen âge_, by R. Dozy, 2 vols. (3rd ed., Leyden, 1881). + + 119. _Poesie und Kunst der Araber in Spanien und Sicilien_, by + A. F. von Schack, 2 vols. (2nd ed., Stuttgart, 1877). + + 120. _Moorish remains in Spain_, by A. F. Calvert (London, 1905). + + 121. _Storia dei musulmani di Sicilia_, by M. Amari (Firenze, + 1854-72). A revised edition is in course of publication. + + + + IX + + THE HISTORY OF THE ARABS FROM THE MONGOL + INVASION IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY TO THE + PRESENT DAY. + + 122. _Histoire des Sultans Mamlouks de l'Égypte, écrite en arabe par + Taki-eddin Ahmed Makrizi, traduite en français ... par_ M. + Quatremère, 2 vols. (Oriental Translation Fund, 1845). + + 123. _The Mameluke or Slave dynasty of Egypt_, by Sir W. Muir + (London, 1896). + + 124. _Histoire de Bagdad depuis la domination des Khans mongols + jusqu'au massacre des Mamlouks_, by C. Huart (Paris, 1901). + + 125. _History of the Egyptian revolution from the period of the + Mamelukes to the death of Mohammed Ali_, by A. A. Paton, + 2 vols. (London, 1870). + + 126. _The Shaikhs of Morocco in the XVI^h century_, by T. H. Weir + (Edinburgh, 1904). + + 127. _The Arabic Press of Egypt_, by M. Hartmann (London, 1899). + + 128. _Neuarabische Volkspoesie gesammelt und uebersetzt_, by Enno + Littmann (Berlin, 1902). + + + + +INDEX + +In the following Index it has been found necessary to omit the accents +indicating the long vowels, and the dots which are used in the text to +distinguish letters of similar pronunciation. On the other hand, the +definite article _al_ has been prefixed throughout to those Arabic names +which it properly precedes; it is sometimes written in full, but is +generally denoted by a hyphen, _e.g._ -‘Abbas for al-‘Abbas. Names of +books, as well as Oriental words and technical terms explained in the +text, are printed in italics. Where a number of references occur under +one heading, the more important are, as a rule, shown by means of +thicker type. + + + A + + Aaron, 215, 273 + + ‘Abbad, 421 + + ‘Abbadid dynasty, the, 414, 421-424, 431 + + -‘Abbas, 146, 249, 250, 251 + + -‘Abbas b. -Ahnaf (poet), 261 + + ‘Abbása, 261 + + ‘Abbasid history, two periods of, 257 + + ‘Abbasid propaganda, the, 249-251 + + ‘Abbasids, the, xxviii, xxix, xxx, 65, 181, 182, 193, 194, 220, + +249-253+, +254-284+, 287-291, +365-367+, 373 + + ‘Abdullah, father of the Prophet, xxvii, 146, 148, 250 + + ‘Abdullah, brother of Durayd b. -Simma, 83 + + ‘Abdullah, the Amir (Spanish Umayyad), 411 + + ‘Abdullah b. -‘Abbas, 145, 237, 249 + + ‘Abdullah b. Hamdan, 269 + + ‘Abdullah b. Ibad, 211 + + ‘Abdullah b. Mas‘ud, 352 + + ‘Abdullah b. Maymun al-Qaddah, 271-274, 363 + + ‘Abdullah. b. Muhammad b. Adham, 423 + + ‘Abdullah b. -Mu‘tazz. See _Ibnu ’l-Mu‘tazz_ + + ‘Abdullah b. Saba, 215, 216 + + ‘Abdullah b. Tahir, 129 + + ‘Abdullah b. Ubayy, 172 + + ‘Abdullah b. Yasin al-Kuzuli, +430+ + + Abdullah b. -Zubayr, 198, 199, 200, 202 + + ‘Abdu ’l-‘Aziz (Marinid), 436 + + ‘Abdu ’l-‘Aziz, brother of ‘Abdu ’l-Malik, 200 + + ‘Abdu ’l-‘Aziz, son of Muhammad b. Sa‘ud, 466 + + ‘Abdu ’l-Ghani al-Nabulusi, 402 + + ‘Abdu ’l-Hamid, 267 + + ‘Abdu ’l-Malik (Umayyad Caliph), +200-202+, 206, 209, 224, 240, 242, + 244, 247, 349, 407 + + ‘Abd Manaf, 146 + + ‘Abdu, ’l-Mu’min (Almohade), 432 + + ‘Abdu ’l-Muttalib, 66-68, 146, 148, 154, 250 + + ‘Abdu ’l-Qadir al-Baghdadi, 131 + + ‘Abdu ’l-Qadir al-Jili, 393 + + ‘Abd al-Qays (tribe), 94 + + ‘Abdu ’l-Rahman I, the Umayyad, 253, 264, +405-407+, 417, 418 + + ‘Abdu ’l-Rahman II (Spanish Umayyad), 409, 418 + + ‘Abdu ’l-Rahman III (Spanish Umayyad), +411-412+, 420, 425 + + ‘Abdu ’l-Rahman V (Spanish Umayyad), 426 + + ‘Abdu ’l-Rahman b. ‘Awf, 186 + + ‘Abdu ’l-Razzaq-Kashani, 402 + + ‘Abd Shams, 146 + + ‘Abd Shams Saba, 14 + + ‘Abdu ’l-‘Uzza, 159 + + ‘Abdu ’l-Wahhab, founder of the Wahhabite sect. See _Muhammad b. + ‘Abd al-Wahhab_. + + ‘Abdu ’l-Wahhab al-Sha‘rani. See _-Sha‘rani_ + + ‘Abdu ’l-Wahid of Morocco (historian), 431, 433 + + ‘Abid b. -Abras (poet), 39, 44, 86, 101 + + ‘Abid b. Sharya, 13, 19, 247 + + ‘Abida b. Hilal, 239 + + ‘Abir, xviii + + ‘Abla, 115 + + -Ablaq, (name of a castle), 84 + + Ablutions, the ceremonial, incumbent on Moslems, 149 + + -Abna, 29 + + Abraha, 6, 15, +28+, +65-8+ + + Abraham, xviii, 22, 62, 63, 66, 149, 150, 165, 172, 177 + + Abraham, the religion of, 62, 149, 177 + + ‘Abs (tribe), xix, 61, 88, 114-117 + + Absal, 433 + + Abu ’l-‘Abbas (Marinid), 436 + + Abu ’l-‘Abbas Ahmad al-Marsi, 327 + + Abu ’l-‘Abbas al-Nami (poet), 270 + + Abu ’l-‘Abbas-Saffah, 182, 253. + See _-Saffah_ + + Abu ‘Abdallah Ibnu ’l-Ahmar (Nasrid), 437 + + Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami, 338 + + Abu Ahmad al-Mihrajani, 370 + + Abu ’l-‘Ala al-Ma‘arri, 166, 167, 206, 271, 289, 291, 296, 308, + +313-324+, 375, 448 + + Abu ‘Ali al-Qali, 131, 420 + + Abu ‘Ali b. Sina, 265. + See _Ibn Sina_ + + Abu ‘Amir, the Monk, 170 + + Abu ‘Amr b. al-‘Ala, 242, 285, +343+ + + Abu ’l-Aswad al-Du’ili, 342, 343 + + Abu ’l-‘Atahiya (poet), 261, 291, +296-303+, 308, 312, 324, 374 + + Abu Ayman (title), 14 + + Abu Bakr (Caliph), xxvii, 142, 153, 175, 180, +183+, 185, 210, 214, + 215, 257, 268, 297 + + Abu Bakr b. Abi ’l-Azhar, 344 + + Abu Bakr Ibnu ’l-‘Arabi of Seville, 399 + + Abu Bakr b. Mu‘awiya, 420 + + Abu Bakr al-Nabulusi, 460 + + Abu Bakr al-Razi (physician), 265. + See _-Razi_ + + Abu Bakr b. ‘Umar, 430 + + Abu ’l-Darda, 225 + + Abu Dawud al-Sijistani, 337 + + Abu ’l-Faraj of Isfanan, 32, 123, 131, 270, +347+, 419. + See _Kitabu ’l-Aghani_ + + Abu ’l-Faraj al-Babbaghá (poet), 270 + + Abu ’l-Fida (historian), 308, 316, 331, +454+ + + Abu Firas al-Hamdani (poet), 270, 304 + + Abu Ghubshan, 65 + + Abu Hanifa, 222, 284, 402, 408 + + Abu ’l-Hasan ‘Ali b. Harun al-Zanjani, 370 + + Abu ’l-Hasan al-Ash‘ari, 284. + See _-Ash‘ari_ + + Abu Hashim, the Imam, 220, 251 + + Abu Hashim, the Sufi, 229 + + Abu Hudhayl -‘Allaf, 369 + + Abu ’l-Husayn al-Nuri, 392 + + Abu ‘Imran al-Fasi, 429 + + Abu Ishaq al-Farisi. See _-Istakhri_ + + Abu Ja‘far -Mansur, 258. + See _-Mansur, the Caliph_ + + Abu Jahl, 158 + + Abu Karib, the Tubba‘, 12, 19. + See _As‘ad Kamil_ + + Abu Lahab, 159, 160 + + Abu ’l-Mahasin b. Taghribirdi (historian), 257, 262, 267, 268, 350, + 369, +454+ + + Abu Marwan Ghaylán, 224 + + Abu Ma‘shar, 361 + + Abu Mihjan (poet), 127 + + Abu Mikhnaf, 210 + + Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari, 192, 377 + + Abu Muslim, 220, +251-252+, 375 + + Abu Nasr al-Isma‘ili, 339 + + Abu Nasr al-Sarraj, 393 + + Abu Nu‘aym al-Isfahani, 338 + + Abu Nuwas (poet), 261, 277, +286+, 290, 291, _292-296_, 303, 308, 345, + 375 + + Abu Qabus, _kunya_ of -Nu’man III, 45 + + Abu ’l-Qasim Ahmad. See _-Mustansir_ + + Abu ’l-Qasim Muhammad, the Cadi, 421 + + Abu ’l-Qasim b. -Muzaffar, 312 + + Abu ’l-Qasim al-Zahrawi, 420 + + Abu Qays b. Abi Anas, 170 + + Abu Qurra, 221 + + Abu Sa’id b. Abi ’l-Khayr, 391, 394 + + Abu Salama, 257 + + Abu Salih Mansur b. Ishaq (Samanid), 265 + + Abu ’l-Salt b. Abi Rabi’a, 69 + + Abu Shaduf, 450 + + Abu Shamir the Younger, 50 + + Abu Shamir, _kunya_ of -Harith b. ’Amr Muharriq, 50 + + Abu Shuja’ Buwayh, 266 + + Abu Sufyan, 124, 175, 195 + + Abu Sulayman al-Darani, 384, 386, 388 + + Abu Sulayman Muhammad b. Ma‘shar al-Bayusti, 370 + + Abu Talib, uncle of the Prophet, 146, 148, 154, 157, 183, 250 + + Abu Talib al-Makki, 338, 393 + + Abu Tammam, author of the _Hamasa_, 79, _129-130_, 288, 316, 324, 331. + See _-Hamasa_ + + Abu ’Ubayda (philologist), 94, 242, 261, 280, 343, _344_, _345_, 459 + + Abu ‘Ubayda b. al-Jarrah, 51 + + Abu ’l-Walid al-Baji, 428 + + Abu Yazid al-Bistami, 391. + See _Bayazid of Bistam_ + + Abu Yusuf, the Cadi, 283 + + Abu Zayd of Saruj, 330, 331, 332, 335 + + Abu Zayd Muhammad al-Qurashi, 130 + + Abusir, 326 + + Abyssinia, 53, 155, 156 + + Abyssinians, the, xxi; + in -Yemen, 5, 6, 26-29; + invade the Hijaz, 66-68 + + Academy of Junde-shapur, the, 358 + + Academy of Sabur, the, 267, 314 + + ‘Ad (people), +1+, +2+, 3 + + _adab_, 283, 346 + + _Adabu ’l-Katib_, 346 + + Adam, xxvi, 62, 63, 244, 398 + + ‘Adana (river), 15 + + ‘Adawi dervishes, the, 393 + + Adharbayjan, 17 + + ‘Adi (tribe), 233 + + ‘Adi b. ‘Amr, 94 + + ‘Adi al-Hakkari, 393 + + ‘Adi b. Marina, 244 + + ‘Adi b. Nasr, 35 + + ‘Adi b. Zayd, 40, +45-48+, 49, +138+, 244 + + ‘Adiya, 85 + + Adler, 316 + + ‘Adnán, xviii, xix, xx, 64 + + ‘Adudu ’l-Dawla (Buwayhid), 266, 307 + + Ælius Gallus, 9 + + Æthiopic language, the, xvi, xxi + + Afghanistan, 268, 275 + + Africa, xv, xvi + + Africa, North, 53, 203, 253, 271, 274, 405, 419, 423, 424, 429, 430, + 434, 437, 439, 442, 443, 468 + + Afshin, 375 + + -Afwah al-Awdi (poet), 83 + + _-Aghani._ See _Kitabu ’l-Agfhani_ + + Aghlabid dynasty, the, 264, 274, 441 + + Aghmat, 424 + + -Ahlaf, at -Hira, 38 + + Ahlu ’l-Kitab, 341 + + Ahlu ’l-Taswiya, 280. + See _Shu‘ubites, the_ + + Ahlu ’l-tawhid wa-’l-‘adl, a name given to the Mu‘tazilites, 224 + + Ahlwardt, W., 76, 101, 125, 128,133, 136, 286, 293, 294, 304, 349, 454 + + Ahmad (Buwayhid), 266 + + Ahmad, brother of Ghazali, 339 + + Ahmad, father of Ibn Hazm, 426 + + Ahmad b. Hanbal, 284, 369, 376, 402 + + Ahmad al-Nahhas, 102 + + Ahmad b. Tulun, 354 + + Ahmar of Thamud, 3 + + Ahnum, 19 + + Ahqafu ’l-Raml (desert), 1 + + _Ahsanu ’l-Taqasim fi ma‘rifati ’l-Aqalim_, 357 + + _ahwal_, mystical term, 231, 391 + + -Ahwas (poet), 237 + + -Ahwaz, 271, 293 + + A‘isha, 151, 183 + + _‘Aja ’ibu ’l-Maqdur_, 454 + + -‘Ajam (the non-Arabs), 277. + See _-Mawali_ + + -‘Ajjaj (poet), 138 + + _-Ajurrumiyya_, 456 + + Akbar (Mogul Emperor), xxx + + _Akhbaru ’l-Zaman_, 353 + + -Akhtal (poet), 221, 238, +239-242+, 285 + + _akhu ’l-safa_, 370 + + Akilu ’l-Murar (surname), 42 + + -A‘lam (philologist), 128 + + Alamut, 445 + + ‘Ala’u ’l-Din Muhammad Khwarizmshah, 444 + + Albategnius, 361 + + Albucasis, 420 + + Albumaser, 361 + + Alchemists, the, 361, 387 + + Alchemy, works on, translated into Arabic, 358 + + Aleppo, 269, 270, 275, 291, 303, 305, 313, 360, 415, 446, 451, 460, + 461 + + Alexander the Great, 17, 276, 358, 457 + + Alexandria, 340 + + Alexandrian Library, the, 435 + + _Alf Layla wa-Layla_, 456, 459. + See _Thousand Nights and a Night_ and _Arabian Nights_ + + _-Alfiyya_, 456 + + Alfraganus, 361 + + Algeria, 430 + + Algiers, 468 + + Alhambra, the, 435 + + ‘Ali (Buwayhid), 266 + + ‘Ali, grandson of ‘Umar Ibnu ’l-Farid, 394 + + ‘Ali b. Abi Talib, the Prophet's son-in-law, xxvii, xxviii, 105, 153, + 181, 183, +190-193+, 194, 196, 205, 207-211, +213-218+, 220-222, + 243, 249, 250, 251, 264, 267, 273, 274, 342, 343, 349, 377, 432, 442 + + ‘Ali b. Abi Talib, public cursing of, 205 + + ‘Ali b. -Mansur, Shaykh, 319 + + ‘Ali b. Musa b. Ja‘far al-Rida, 262, 385 + + ‘Alids, the, 258, 259, 337. + See _‘Ali b. Abi Talib_ and _Shi‘ites, the_ + + Allah, 62, 134, 135, 164, 231, 392 + + Allah, the Muhammadan conception of, 225, 231 + + Almaqa, 18 + + Almeria, 421 + + Almohades, the, 217, 429, +431-434+ + + Almoravides, the, 423, 429-431 + + Alp Arslan (Seljuq), 275, 276, 340, 379 + + Alphabet, the South Arabic, 6, 8, 12 + + Alphonso VI of Castile, 422, 423, 431 + + ‘Alqama b. ‘Abada (poet), 121, +125+, 128 + + ‘Alqama b. Dhi Jadan (poet), 12 + + Alvaro, Bishop of Cordova, 414 + + Amaj, 22 + + -Amali, 420. + See _Kitabu ’l-Amali_ + + -Amaliq (Amalekites), 2, +3+, 63 + + ‘Amidu ’l-Mulk al-Kunduri, 379 + + -Amin, the Caliph, 255, +262+, 293, 343 + + Amina, mother of the Prophet, 146 + + ‘Amir b. Sa‘sa‘a (tribe), 119 + + ‘Amir b. Uhaymir, 87 + + Amiru ’l-Mu‘minin (Commander of the Faithful), 185 + + Amiru ’l-Umara (title), 264 + + ‘Amr, the Tubba‘ 25, 26 + + ‘Amr b. ‘Adi b. Nasr, 35, 36, 37, 40 + + ‘Amr b. Amir (tribe), 94 + + ‘Amr b. ‘Amir Ma’ al-Sama al-Muzayqiya, 15, 16, 49 + + ‘Amr b. -‘As, 192 + + ‘Amr b. -Harith (Ghassanid), 50, 54, 122 + + ‘Amr b. Hind (Lakhmite), 44, 107, 108, 109, 112 + + ‘Amr b. Kulthum (poet), 44, 82, 102, +109-113+, 128, 269 + + ‘Amr b. Luhayy, 63, 64 + + ‘Amr b. Ma‘dikarib, 82 + + ‘Amr b. Mas‘ud, 43 + + ‘Amr b. ‘Ubayd, 223, 374 + + ‘Amr b. Zarib, 35 + + Amul, 350 + + Anas, 88 + + _‘anatira_, 459 + + ‘Anaza (tribe), xix + + -Anbar, 38 + + -Anbari (philologist), 128 + + -Anbat, xxv. + See _Nabatæans, the_ + + Ancient Sciences, the, 282 + + -Andarin, 111 + + Angels, the Recording, 161 + + Angora, 104 + + -Ansar (the Helpers), 171, 241 + + _‘Antar, the Romance of_, 34, 459 + + ‘Antara (poet), 76, 109, +114-116+, 128, 459 + + _‘antari_, 459 + + Anthologies of Arabic poetry, 128-130, 289, 325, 343, 347, 348, 417 + + Anthropomorphism, 369, 376, 379, 432 + + Antioch, 43 + + Anushirwan (Sasanian king). See _Nushirwan_ + + Anushirwan b. Khalid, 329 + + Aphrodite, 43 + + _-‘Aqida_, by ‘Izzu ’l-Din b. ‘Abd al-Salam, 461 + + ‘Aqil, 35 + + Arab horses, the training of, 226 + + Arab singers in the first century A.H., 236 + + _a‘rabi_ (Bedouin), 210 + + Arabia, in the ‘Abbasid period, 276 + + Arabia Felix, xvii, 4. + See _-Yemen_ + + Arabian History, three periods of, xxvi + + _Arabian Nights, the_, 238, 256, 261, 292, 421, +456-459+ + + Arabic language, the, xvi, xvii, xxi-xxv, 6, 77, 201, 203, 239, 265, + 277-280, 336, 342, 344 + + Arabic literature, largely the work of non-Arabs, xxx, xxxi, 276-278 + + Arabic Press, the, 469 + + Arabic writing, 201; + oldest specimens of, xxi, xxii + + Arabs, the Ishmaelite, xviii + + Arabs of Khurasan, the, thoroughly Persianised, 250 + + Arabs, the Northern. See _Arabs, the Ishmaelite_ + + Arabs, the Northern and Southern, racial enmity between, xx, 199, 200, + 252, 405, 406 + + Arabs, the Southern, xvii, xviii, xx, 4. + See _Arabs, the Yemenite_ + + Arabs, the Yemenite, xvii, xviii, xx, 38, 55, 199, 252, 405, 406. + See _Sabæans, the_; + _Himyarites, the_ + + Arabs, the Yoqtanid, xviii. + See _Arabs, the Yemenite_ + + Aramæans, the, xv, xxv + + Aramaic language, the, xvi, xxv, 279, 375 + + -Araqim, 113, 114 + + Arbela, 451 + + Ardashir Babakan, founder of the Sasanian dynasty, 34, 38 + + ἈÏέθας τοῦ Γαβάλα, 51 + + Arhakim, 11 + + _‘arif_ (gnostic), 386 + + ‘Arifu ’l-Zanadiqa, 373 + + Aristocracy of Islam, the, 188, 190 + + Aristotle, 358, 359, 360 + + -‘Arji (poet), 237 + + Armenia, xv, 352 + + Arnaud, Th., 9, 15, 17 + + Arnold. F. A., 105, 107, 109, 111, 113, 114 + + Arnold, T. W., 184, 223, 224, 360, 448 + + Arsacids, the, 21, 38 + + Aryat, 27, 28 + + -‘Asa (name of a mare), 36 + + _‘asabiyya_, 440 + + Asad (tribe), xix, 104 + + Asad Kamil, the Tubba‘, 12, +19-23+, 25, 26, 137 + + Asad b. Musa, 247 + + Asal, 433 + + _asalib_, 289, 315 + + Ascalon, 456 + + Ascension of the Prophet, the, 169, 403 + + Asd (tribe), 19 + + -A‘sha (poet), 16, 101, 121, +123-125+, 128, 138, 139 + + -Ash‘ari (Abu ’l-Hasan), 284, +376-379+, 431 + + Ash‘arites, the, 379, 380, 460 + + _Ash‘aru ’l-Hudhaliyyin_, 128 + + -Ashram (surname of Abraha), 28 + + Asia, xv, 275, 352, 414 + + Asia, Central, 255 + + Asia Minor, 269, 399, 434, 446 + + Asia, Western, xvi, xxix, 358, 442, 444, 446 + + Asin Palacios, 404 + + _aslama_, 153 + + -Asma‘i (philologist), 261, 343, 344, +345+, 459 + + Assassins, the, 272, 371, 372, 381, 445 + + Assyrian language, the, xvi + + Assyrians, the, xv + + Astrologers and Astronomers, 361 + + Astronomy, 276, 283 + + Aswad b. -Mundhir, 47 + + _-Athar al-Baqiya_, 361 + + _Atharu ’l-Bilad_, 416 + + Athens, 240, 358 + + ‘Athtar, ‘Athtor (Sabæan divinity), 11, 18 + + _Atlal_, 286 + + ‘Attar (Persian mystic). See _Faridu’ddin ‘Attar_ + + ‘Atwada, 28 + + Aurelian, 34 + + Aurora, 412 + + Avempace. See _Ibn Bajja_ + + Avenzoar, 434 + + Averroes. See _Ibn Rushd_ + + Avicenna. See _Ibn Sina_ + + _awa’il_ (origins), 247 + + _‘Awarifu ’l-Ma‘arif_, 230, 338 + + -‘Awfi, 370 + + _awliya_ (saints), 393 + + Awrangzib (Mogul Emperor), xxx + + Aws (tribe), 170 + + Aws b. Hajar (poet), 131 + + Awwam Dhú ‘Iran Alu, 11 + + _a‘yan thabita_, 402 + + _ayat_ (verse of the Koran, sign, miracle), 166 + + Ayatu ’l-Kursi (the Throne-verse), 176 + + Aybak, 447 + + -Ayham b. -Harith (Ghassanid), 50 + + ‘Ayn Jalut, battle of, 446 + + ‘Ayn Ubagh, battle of, 52 + + _ayyamu ’l-‘Arab_, 55, 356 + + Ayyubid dynasty, the, 275, 447, 453 + + Azd (tribe), 79, 374 + + -Azhar, the mosque, 395 + + Azraqites (-Azariqa), the, 208, 239 + + + B + + Baalbec, 111 + + Bab al-Mandab, 5 + + Babak, 258, 375 + + Babur (Mogul Emperor), xxix, 444 + + Babylon, xxv, 38 + + Babylonia, 34, 38, 138, 253, 255, 307. + See _-‘Iraq_ + + Babylonian and Assyrian inscriptions, the, xvi, xxv + + Babylonians, the, xv + + Badajoz, 421, 423 + + Badis, 428 + + Badi‘u ’l-Zaman ai-HamadhánÃ, 328, 329, 331 + + Badr, battle of, 158, 174, 175 + + Badr, freedman of ‘Abdu ’l-Rahman the Umayyad, 405, 406 + + -Baghawi, 337 + + Baghdad, xxviii, xxix, 131, 182, 254, +255-256+, 290-293, 303, 307, + 313, +314+, 315, 326, 338, 340, 345, 346, 347, 350, 351, 352, 355, + 357, 359, 362, 365, 369, 376, 380, 382, 385, 387, 392, 399, 412, + 415, 418, 431, 441, +444-446+, 447, 449, 450, 458, 461, 465, 466 + + Baghdad, history of its eminent men, by -Khatib, 355 + + Baha’u ’l-Dawia (Buwayhid), 267, 314 + + Bahdala (tribe), 87 + + Bahira, the monk, 148 + + Bahman (Sasanian), 457 + + Bahram Gor (Sasanian), 40, 41 + + -Bahrayn (province), 107, 108, 186 + + Bahri Mamelukes, the, 447 + + Baju, 445 + + -Bakharzi, 348 + + Bakil (tribe), 12 + + Bakr (tribe), xix, 55-60, 61, 69, 70, 76, 93, 107, 109, 113, 114, 242 + + -Bakri (geographer), 357, 428 + + Balaam, 73 + + -Baladhuri (historian), 280, 349 + + _-balagh al-akbar_, 371 + + Balak, 73 + + -Bal‘ami, 265, 352 + + Balaq (mountain), 17 + + Balkh, 232, 233, 259, 361, 385 + + -Balqa, 63 + + _Banat Su‘ad_, the opening words of an ode, 119, 127, 327 + + Banu ’l-Ahrar, 29 + + Banu Hind, 58 + + Banu Khaldun, 437 + + Banu Musa, 359 + + Banu Nahshal, 243 + + Baptists, name given to the early Moslems, 149 + + _baqa_, mystical term, 390 + + Baqqa, 36 + + -Baramika, 259. + See _Barmecides, the_ + + Barbier de Meynard, 13, 15, 37, 195, 259, 350, 352, 353, 380, 457 + + Bardesanes, 364 + + Barmak, 259 + + Barmakites, the. See _Barmecides, the_ + + Barmecides, the, 255, +259-261+, 262, 293 + + Barquq, Sultan (Mameluke), 452 + + Bashama, 119 + + Bashshar b. Burd, 245, 277, 290, +373-374+, 375 + + _-basit_ (metre), 75 + + -Basra, xxiv, 127, 133, 134, 186, +189+, 195, 202, 209, 210, 215, 222, + 223, 225, 226, 233, 242, 243, 246, 273, 281, 293, 294, 329, 331, + 336, 341, 342, +343+, 345, 346, 369, 370, 374, 377, 378 + + Basset, R., 327 + + -Basus, 56 + + -Basus, the War of, +55-60+, 61, 76, 107, 114 + + -Batiniyya (Batinites), 381, 382, 402. + See _Isma‘ilis, the_ + + -Battani, 361 + + _-bayan_, 283 + + _-Bayan al-Mughrib_, 407 + + Bayard, 191 + + Bayazid of Bistam, 391, 460. + See _Abu Yazid al-Bistami_ + + Baybars, Sultan (Mameluke), 447, 448 + + -Baydawi, 145, 179 + + _bayt_ (verse), 74, 77 + + Baytu ’l-Hikma, at Baghdad, 359 + + -Bazbaz, 60 + + Bedouin view of life, the, 136 + + Bedouin warfare, character of, 54, 55 + + Bedouin women, Mutanabbi's descriptions of, 310 + + Benu Marthadim, 11 + + Berber insurrection in Africa, 405 + + Berbers, the, 204, 274, 405-409, 413, 420, 423, 424, 429-432, 442, 443 + + Berbers, used as mercenaries, 407 + + Berlin Royal Library, 8, 12 + + Bevan, Prof. A. A., 46, 80, 129, 151, 166, 168, 199, 205, 239, 244, + 253, 356, 373, 374, 375 + + Beyrout, 238, 469 + + _Bibliographical Dictionary_, by Hajji Khalifa, 456 + + _Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum_, 356 + + _Bidpai, the Fables of_, 330, 346 + + Bilqis, 18 + + -Bimaristan al-‘Adudi, 266 + + Biographies of poets, 346, 347, 348 + + Birnam Wood, 25 + + -Biruni (Abu Rayhan), 269, 280, +361+ + + Bishr b. Abi Khazim (poet), 86 + + Bishr al-Hafi, 228 + + Bishr b. -Mu‘tamir, 369 + + Bistam, 391 + + Blick, J. S., 184, 249, 258 + + Black, the colour of the ‘Abbasids, 220, 262 + + Black Stone in the Ka‘ba, the, 63, 274, 319, 467 + + Blunt, Lady Anne, 88, 101 + + Blunt, Wilfrid, 88, 101 + + Bobastro, 410 + + Boer, T. J. de, 433 + + Bohlen, 308, 312 + + Bokhara, 203, 265, 275, 360 + + _Book of Examples, the_, by Ibn Khaldun, 437 + + _Book of Sibawayhi, the_, 343 + + _Book of the Thousand Tales, the._ See _Hazar Afsan_ + + _Book of Viziers, the_, 458 + + Books, the Six Canonical, 337 + + Boswell, 144, 313, 452 + + Brethren of Purity, the, 370-372 + + British Museum, the, 12, 402 + + Brockelmann, C., 205, 236, 237, 308, 328, 339, 346, 349, 449, 459, + 468, 469 + + Browne, Prof. E. G., 29, 42, 185, 217, 218, 230, 247, 251, 258, 265, + 272, 275, 290, 329, 346, 362, 375, 381, 383, 394, 399, 445 + + Brünnow, R. E., 32, 35, 49, 51, 209, 210 + + Brutus, 252 + + Bu‘ath, battle of, 170 + + Buddha, 297, 298 + + Buddhism, 373, 375, 390, 391. + See _Nirvana_ + + -Buhturi (poet), 130, 316, 324 + + Bujayr b. ‘Amr, 58 + + Bukhara. See _Bokhara_ + + -Bukhari, 144, 146, 151, 337 + + Bulaq, 469 + + Bunyan, 212 + + Burckhardt, 95, 465, 466, 467 + + Burd, 373 + + _-Burda_, 326, 327 + + _-burda_ (the Prophet's mantle), 327, 366 + + Burji Mamelukes, the, 447 + + Burns, Robert, 450 + + _burnus_, the, a mark of asceticism, 210 + + Burton, Sir Richard, 459 + + Busir, 326 + + -Busiri (poet), 326, 327 + + Buthayna, 238 + + Butrites, the, a Shi‘ite sect, 297 + + Buwayhid dynasty, the, 264, +266-268+, 271, 275, 303, 338 + + Byzantine Empire, the, 3, 29, 46, 171, 255, 261, 269, 359 + + + C + + Cadiz, 405 + + Cæsar, 252 + + Cætani, Prince, 149, 155, 156, 171 + + Cairo, 275, 350, 394, 395, 437, 447, 448, 451, 452, 453, 454, 455, + 458, 461, 464, 469 + + Caliph, the, must belong to Quraysh, 207 + + Caliph, name of the, mentioned in the Friday sermon, 263, 264; + stamped on the coinage, 264; + title of, assumed by the Fatimids, 271; + by the Umayyads of Spain, 412 + + Caliphs, the, -Mas‘udi's account of, 354 + + Caliphs, the ‘Abbasid. See _‘Abbasids, the_ + + Caliphs, the Orthodox, xxiii, xxvii, 181-193 + + Caliphs, the Umayyad. See _Umayyad dynasty, the_ + + Calpe, 204 + + Campbell, D., 360 + + Canaanites, the, 3 + + Canonical Books, the Six, 337 + + Capuchins, the, 228 + + Carmathians, the, 272, +274+, 322, 324, 371, 375, 381, 467. + See _Fatimid dynasty_; _Isma‘ilis_ + + Carmona, 437 + + Casanova, P., 371 + + Caspian Sea, the, xxviii, 21, 264, 266, 350, 352, 391 + + Castile, 422, 437 + + Castles of -Yemen, the, 24 + + Catharine of Siena, 233 + + Cathay, xxv + + Caussin de Perceval, 32 + + Cave-dwellers of Khurasan, the, 232 + + Celibacy condemned by Muhammad, 224 + + Cemetery of the Sufis, the, at Damascus, 463 + + Ceuta, 405, 412, 423, 434 + + Ceylon, 352 + + Chagar Beg, 275 + + Charles the Hammer, 204 + + Charter, the, drawn up by Muhammad for the people of Medina, 173 + + Chaucer, 289 + + Chauvin, Victor, 214 + + Chenery, T., 244, 328, 332, 333, 336 + + Chihrazad, 457 + + China, 203, 352, 419, 444 + + Chingiz Khan, 444 + + Christian poets who wrote in Arabic, 138, 139 + + Christianity in Arabia, 117, 137-140; + in Ghassán, 51, 54, 123; + at -Hira, 39, 41, 43, 44, 46, 49, 123, 124, 138; + in Najran, 26, 27, 124, 137; + in Moslem Spain, 407, 411, 412, 413, +414-415+, 431, 435, 441 + + Christianity, influence of, on Muhammadan culture, xxii, 176, 177, + 216, 221, 231, 389, 390 + + Christians, Monophysite, 51 + + Christians, supposed by Moslems to wear a girdle, 461 + + Christians at the Umayyad court, 221, 240, 241 + + _Chronology of Ancient Nations, the_, by -Biruni, 361 + + Church and State, regarded as one by Moslems, 170, 182, 197 + + Chwolsohn, 363 + + Classicism, revolt against, 287-289 + + Cleopatra, 34 + + Coinage, Arabic, introduced by ‘Abdu ’l-Malik, 201 + + Commercial terms derived from Arabic, 281 + + Companions of the Prophet, biographies of the, 144, 356, 456 + + Confession of faith, the Muhammadan, 403 + + Conquests, the early Muhammadan, work on the, 349 + + Constantinople, xxix, 29, 45, 52, 84, 104, 318, 362, 412 + + Cordova, 131, 341, 347, 406-411, +412+, 413-415, 418, 420-426, 428, + 434, 435 + + Cordova, the University of, 420 + + Courage, Arabian, the nature of, 82 + + Criticism of Ancient and Modern Poets, 283-289 + + Cromwell, 189 + + Crusade, the Third, 275 + + Crusaders, the, 331, 447 + + Cruttenden, 8 + + Ctesiphon, 47, 48, 210. + See _-Mada’in_ + + Cureton, 211, 216, 341 + + + D + + Dabba (tribe), xix + + -Dahab al-‘Ijli, 44 + + Dahis (name of a horse), 61 + + Dahis and -Ghabrá, the War of, 61, 62, 114, 116 + + _-dahriyyun_, 381 + + _da‘i_ (missionary), 249, 272 + + -Daja‘ima, 50 + + -Dajjal (the Antichrist), 216 + + _dakhil_, 95 + + Damascus, xxi, xxviii, 13, 46, 51, 53, 54, 111, 181, 104, 195, 202, + 203, 207, 235, 240, 241, 242, 244, 247, 252, 255, 274, 304, 313, + 335, 340, 374, 386, 399, 408, 451, 462, 463 + + _-Damigh_, 375 + + Daniel, 162 + + Dante, 360, 404 + + _dapir_ (Secretary), 257 + + Daqiqi, Persian poet, 265 + + Daraya, 386 + + Darius, 256 + + Darmesteter, J., 217 + + Daru ’l-Rum (Constantinople), 362 + + Daughters, the birth of, regarded as a misfortune, 91, 156 + + Daughters of Allah, the, 135, 156 + + Davidson, A. B., 82 + + _dawidar_ (_dawadar_), 445 + + Daws Dhu Tha‘laban, 27 + + -Daylam, 266 + + Dead Sea, the, 249 + + Decline of the Caliphate, 257, 263 + + Derenbourg, H., 54, 122, 123, 194, 260, 331, 445, 454 + + Dervish orders, the, 393 + + Desecration of the tombs of the Umayyad Caliphs, 205 + + -Dhahabi (Shamsu ’l-Din), historian, 339, 446, 454 + + Dhamar‘ali Dhirrih, 10 + + Dhu ’l-Khalasa, name of an idol, 105 + + Dhu ’l-Khursayn (name of a sword), 96 + + Dhu ’l-Majaz, 114 + + Dhu Nafar, 66, 67 + + Dhu ’l-Nun al-Misri, 386-388, 389, 460 + + Dhu ’l-Nusur (surname), 2 + + Dhu Nuwas, 12, +26-27+, 137, 162 + + Dhu Qar, battle of, 69, 70 + + Dhu l-Qarnayn, 17, 18 + + Dhu ’l-Quruh (title), 104 + + Dhu Ru‘ayn, 25, 26 + + Dhu ’l-Rumma (poet), 246 + + Dhu ’l-‘Umrayn, nickname of Ibnu ’l-Khatib, 436 + + Dhu ’l-Wizaratayn (title), 425 + + Dhubyan (tribe), xix, 61, 62, 116, 117, 121 + + Diacritical points in Arabic script, 201 + + Di‘bil (poet), 261, 375 + + Dictionaries, Arabic, 343, 403, 456 + + Didactic poem by Abu ’l-‘Atahiya, 300 + + Diercks, 360 + + Dieterici, F., 270, 305, 307, 308, 310, 312, 313, 371 + + _dihqan_, 291 + + Diminutives, 396, 449 + + _din_ (religion), 178, 287 + + Dinarzad, 457 + + Dinarzade, 457 + + -Dinawar, 346 + + -Dinawari (historian), 251, 349 + + Dinazad, 457 + + Diodorus Siculus, 3 + + Dionysius the Areopagite, 387, 389 + + -Dira‘iyya, 466 + + Dirge, the Arabian, 126 + + _dithar_, 152 + + _Divan-i Shams-i Tabriz_, 298 + + Divine Right, the Shi‘ite theory of, 214, 271 + + _diwan_ (collection of poems), 127, 128 + + Diwan (Register) of ‘Umar, the, 187, 188 + + _Diwans of the Six Poets, the_, 128 + + _diya_ (blood-wit), 93 + + -Diyárbakri (historian), 445 + + Dog, the, regarded by Moslems as unclean, 445 + + Doughty, E. M., 3 + + Dozy, 214, 399, 407, 410, 411, 413, 414, 415, 420, 422, 424, 428, 429, + 431, 465, 467 + + Drama, the, not cultivated by the Semites, 328 + + Drinking parties described in Pre-islamic poetry, 124, 125, 167 + + Droit du seigneur, le, 4 + + _dubayt_ (a species of verse), 450 + + Dubeux, 352 + + Duka, T., 390 + + Dumas, 272 + + _Dumyatu ’l-Qasr_, 348 + + Duns Scotus, 367 + + Durayd b. -Simma, 83 + + Durayd b. Zayd b. Nahd, 75 + + _Durratu ’l-Ghawwas_, 336 + + _Duwalu ’l-Islam_, 446 + + Dvorak, R., 304 + + Dyke of Ma’rib, the, 2, 5, +14-17+, 50, 63 + + Dynasties of the ‘Abbasid period, 264-276 + + + E + + Eber, xviii + + Ecbatana, 129, 328. + See _Hamadhan_ + + Ecstasy, 387, 393, 394 + + Edessa, 331, 358 + + Egypt, xxiv, xxix, xxx, 4, 5, 132, 184, 186, 193, 215, 268, 274, 275, + 307, 323, 326, 327, 350, 354, 355, 358, 387-390, 399, 419, 432, + 434, 442, 443, 447, 448, 450, 451, 454, 460, 461, 464, 466, 468 + + Egypt, conquest of, by the Moslems, 184 + + _Egypt, History of_, by Ibn Taghribirdi, 454 + + Eichhorn, xv + + Elegiac poetry, 126, 127 + + _Elephant, the Sura of the_, 68 + + Elephant, the year of the, 28, 66, 146 + + Eloquence, Arabian, 346, 347 + + Emanation, Plotinus's theory of, 393 + + Emessa, 304 + + Emigrants, the. See _-Muhajirun_ + + Encomium of the Umayyad dynasty, by -Akhtal, 242 + + Epic poetry not cultivated by the Arabs, 325 + + Equality of Arabs and non-Arabs maintained by the Shu‘ubites, 279, 280 + + Equites Thamudeni, 3 + + Erotic prelude, the. See _nasib_ + + Erpenius, 355 + + Essenes, the, 224 + + Euphrates, the, xv, 33, 36, 37, 38, 41, 53, 110, 113, 186, 189, 192, + 196, 256, 418, 443, 449 + + Euting, Julius, 9 + + + F + + Fables of beasts, considered useful and instructive, 330 + + -Fadl, the Barmecide, 260 + + -Fadl b. al-Rabi‘, 293 + + -Fahl (surname), 125 + + Fahm (tribe), 81 + + Fairs, the old Arabian, 135 + + _-Fakhri_, 187, 188, 194, 203, 260, 331, 445, +454+ + + Fakhru ’l-Dawla (Buwayhid), 267 + + Fakhru ’l-Mulk, 340 + + Falcon of Quraysh, the, 407, 417 + + _-falsafa_ (Philosophy), 283 + + _fana_ (dying to self), 233, 390, 391 + + _fanak_, 53 + + _faqih_, 464 + + _faqir_ (fakir), 230, 464 + + _faqr_ (poverty), 230 + + Farab, 360 + + -Farábi (Abu Nasr), 270, +360+, 393 + + -Farazdaq (poet), 196, 238, 239, 240, +242-244+, 245, 246 + + -Farghani, 361 + + Faridu’ddin ‘Attar, 226, 228, 386 + + -Farqadan (name of two stars), 35 + + -Farra, 343 + + Farrukh-mahan, 45 + + Fars (province), 266 + + Fathers, the Christian, 341 + + _-Fatiha_, 143 + + Fatima, daughter of -Khurshub, 88 + + Fatima, daughter of the Prophet, 183, 218, 250, 251, 258, 267, 274 + + Fatima (mother of Qusayy), 64 + + Fatima, a woman loved by Imru’u ’l-Qays, 106 + + Fatimid dynasty, the, 217, 265, 268, 269, +271-275+, 322, 371, 412 + + -Fatra, 152 + + _Fawatu ’l-Wafayat_, 449, 452 + + Fayiasufu ’l-‘Arab (title), 360. + See _-Kindi_ + + Faymiyun (Phemion), 26 + + Ferdinand I of Castile, 422 + + Ferdinand III of Castile, 434 + + Ferdinand V of Castile, 441 + + Fez, 436 + + Fihr (tribe), xix + + _-Fihrist_, 13, 142, 345, 359, +361-364+, 387, 457 + + -Find, 58, 60, 84 + + _-fiqh_ (Jurisprudence), 283; + denoting law and theology, 339, 420, 465 + + Firdawsi, Persian poet, 265, 269 + + Firuz (Firuzan), father of Ma‘ruf al-Karkhi, 385 + + Firuz, a Persian slave, 189 + + -FÃrúzábádà (Majdu ’l-Din), 403, 456 + + Fleischer, 400, 404 + + Flint, Robert, 441 + + Fluegel, G., 142, 297, 362, 364, 459 + + Folk-songs, Arabic, 238, 416-417, 449-450 + + _Fons Vitæ_, 428 + + Foreigners, Sciences of the, 282, 283 + + Forgery of Apostolic Traditions, 145, 146, 279 + + Forgery of Pre-islamic poems, 133, 134 + + France, 9, 412, 469 + + Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, 434, 441 + + Free schools, founded by Hakam II, 419 + + Free-thought in Islam, 283, 284, 298, 345, 460. + See _Mu‘tazilites_ and _Zindiqs_ + + Free-will, the doctrine of, 223, 224 + + Freytag, G. W., 16, 31, 48, 50, 55, 73, 89, 91, 109, 129, 292, 373 + + Friedlaender, I., 428 + + Frothingham, 389 + + -Fudayl b. ‘Iyad, 232, 233, 385 + + _-fuhul_, 138 + + Fukayha, 89 + + _-funún al-sab‘a_ (the seven kinds of poetry), 450 + + Fuqaym (tribe), 28 + + _-Fusul wa-’l-Ghayat_, 318 + + _Fususu ’l-Hikam_, 400, 401, 402 + + _-Futuhat al-Makkiyya_, 400, 464 + + Future life, Pre-islamic notions of the, 166 + + + G + + Gabriel, 63, 141, 150, 267 + + Galen, 358 + + Galland, 458 + + Gallienus, 33 + + Gaulonitis, the, 53 + + Gaza, 5 + + Geber, 361 + + Geiger, 162 + + Genealogy, Muhammadan, xx + + Genealogy, treatise on, by Ibn Durayd, 343 + + _Genesis, Book of_, xv + + Geographers, the Moslem, 356, 357 + + George -Makin, 355 + + Georgians, the, 445 + + Germany, 8, 412 + + Gesenius, 8 + + -Ghabrá (name of a mare), 61 + + -Gharid, 236 + + -Ghariyyan, 43 + + Ghassán, xxii, 33, 37, 38, 42, 43, 121, 122, 138, 139, 158, 332 + + Ghassanid court, the, described by Hassan b. Thabit, 53 + + Ghassanids, the, 33, +49-54+, 122 + + Ghatafan (tribe), xix, 61 + + -Ghawl, 119 + + _ghayba_ (occultation), 216 + + Ghayman (castle), 24 + + Ghayz b. Murra, 117 + + Ghazala, 339 + + -Ghazali, 230, 234, 277, +338-341+, +380-383+, 393, 431, 463 + + Ghazan, 446 + + Ghaziyya (tribe), 83 + + Ghazna, 268-269, 355 + + Ghaznevid dynasty, the, 265, +268-269+, 271, 275 + + _ghiyar_, 461 + + Ghiyathu ’l-Din Mas‘ud (Seljuq), 326, 329 + + _-Ghulat_ (the extreme Shi‘ites), 216 + + Ghumdán (castle), 24 + + Gibb, E. J. W., 443, 460 + + Gibb, H. A. R., 470 + + Gibbon, 439 + + Gibraltar (Jabal Tariq), 204, 414 + + Glaser, E., 9, 15 + + Gnosis, the Sufi doctrine of, 386, 387 + + Gnosticism, 389, 390 + + Gobineau, Comte de, 320 + + Goeje, M. J. de, 179, 180, 253, 256, 257, 287, 322, 349, 350, 351, + 353, 354, 356, 366, 371, 409 + + Goethe, 97 + + Gog and Magog, 18 + + _Golden Meadows, the._ See _Muruju ’l-Dhahab_ and -Mas‘udi + + Goldziher, Ignaz, xx, xxii, 10, 18, 30, 73, 90, 119, 145, 177, 178, + 199, 200, 221, 225, 246, 278, 279, 280, 285, 287, 289, 297, 298, + 315, 344, 345, 366, 368, 370, 372, 374, 379, 390, 409, 431, 433, 466 + + Gospel, the, 165, 171 + + Grammar, Arabic, the origin of, 202, 278, 282, 341-343, 363 + + Grammars, Arabic, 343, 456 + + Granada, 421, 424, 428, 431, 434, +435-437+, 441, 442, 447 + + Gray, T., 77 + + Greece, 131, 296, 361, 434 + + Greece, the influence of, on Muhammadan thought, 220, 221, 229, 266, + +358-361+, 363, 369, 370, 386, 388 + + Greek Philosophers, the, 341, 363 + + Green, the colour of the ‘Alids, 262 + + Grimme, H., xv, 10 + + Grünert, M., 346 + + Guadalquivir, the, 422 + + Guest, A. R., 453 + + Guillaume, A., 360 + + Guirgass, 251 + + Guyon, Madame, 233 + + + H + + Haarbrücker, 220, 221, 223, 224, 297 + + Habib b. Aws. See _Abu Tammam_ + + _hadarat_, mystical term, 402 + + -Hadi, the Caliph, 260, 373 + + _Hadiqatu ’l-Afrah_, 449 + + _-hadith_ (Traditions of the Prophet), 132, 134, +143-146+, 201, 247, + 258, 348. See _Traditions of the Prophet_ + + Hadramawt (province), 1, 5, 42 + + Hadrian, 137 + + Hafsa, 142 + + Hafsid dynasty, the, 442 + + Hagar. See _Hajar, wife of Abraham_ + + Hajar (in -Bahrayn), 94, 96 + + Hajar, wife of Abraham, xviii, 63 + + -Hajjaj b. Yusuf, 200, +201-203+, 209, 213, 244 + + Hajji Khalifa, 456 + + -Hakam I (Spanish Umayyad), 409 + + -Hakam II (Spanish Umayyad), 412, 419 + + _hakim_ (philosopher), 387 + + _hal_, mystical term, 387 + + _Halbatu ’l-Kumayt_, 417 + + Halévy, Joseph, 9 + + Halila, 56 + + Halima, daughter of -Harith al-A‘raj, 50 + + Halima, the battle of, 43, 50, 51, 125 + + Halima, the Prophet's nurse, 147 + + -Hallaj. See _-Husayn b. Mansur_ + + Halle, 8 + + Ham, xv + + _hama_ (owl or wraith), 94, 166 + + Hamadhan (Ecbatana), 129, 292, 328, 333 + + -HamadhánÃ, 328. + See _Badi‘u ’l-Zaman_ + + Hamal b. Badr, 61, 88 + + _-Hamasa_, of Abu Tammam, 55, 57-61, 79, 81, 82, 83, 84, 87, 92, 93, + 98, 100, 126, +129-130+, 136, 137, 199, 213, 324, 331 + + _-Hamasa_, of -Buhturi, 130, 324 + + _hamasa_ (fortitude), 79, 326 + + Hamat, 454 + + -Hamaysa‘ b. Himyar, 12 + + Hamdan, 19 + + Hamdan Qarmat, 274 + + -Hamdani (geographer), 6, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 20, 24 + + Hamdanid dynasty, the, 268, +269-271+, 291, 303 + + Hamilton, Terrick, 459 + + Hammad al-Rawiya, 103, 113, 128, +132-134+, 344 + + Hammer, J. von, 308, 316, 396, 459 + + Hamza of Isfahan (historian), 14, 280 + + Hanbalites, the, 376, 462 + + _handasa_ (geometry), 283 + + Hani’, a chieftain of Bakr, 69 + + Hanifa (tribe), 183 + + Hanifs, the, 69, +149+, +150+, 170, 318 + + Hanzala of Tayyi’, 44 + + _haqiqat_, mystical term, 392 + + _haqiqatu ’l-haqa’iq_, mystical term, 403 + + _-haqiqatu ’l-Muhammadiyya_, mystical term, 403 + + _-haqq_, mystical term, 392 + + Haram (tribe), 331 + + Harim b. Sinan, 61, 116, 117, 288 + + -Hariri, author of the _Maqamat_, 329-336 + + -Harith al-Akbar. See _-Harith b. ‘Amr Muharriq_ + + -Harith b. ‘Amr (Kindite), 42, 44, 103, 104 + + -Harith b. ‘Amr Muharriq (Ghassanid), 50 + + -Harith al-A‘raj (Ghassanid), 43, 50, 54, 125. + See _-Harith b. Jabala_ + + -Harith b. ‘Awf, 61, 116, 117 + + -Harith b. Hammam, 330, 331, 333 + + -Harith b. Hilliza (poet), 44, 100, 109, 113-114, 128 + + -Harith b. Jabala (Ghassanid), 43, 50, +51+, +52+. + See _-Harith al-A‘raj_ + + -Harith al-Ra’ish, 17 + + -Harith b. Surayj, 222 + + -Harith b. ‘Ubad, 58, 50 + + -Harith the Younger (Ghassanid), 50 + + -Harith b. Zalim, 85 + + _-harj_, 249 + + Harran, 221, 358, 361, 462 + + Harran, the bilingual inscription of, xxii + + Hartmann, M., 450, 468 + + Harun al-Rashid, the Caliph, xxix, 255, 258, 259, +260-261+, 262, 277, + 283, 292, 293, 296, 298, 343, 345, 347, 366, 367, 368, 373, 385, + 388, 458, 459 + + Harura, 208 + + Harwat, 11 + + _hasab_, 100 + + Hasan (Buwayhid), 266 + + -Hasan of -Basra, 208, 222, 223, +225-227+, 230, 243, 244, 294 + + -Hasan b. Ahmad al-Hamdani, 11. + See _-Hamdani_ + + -Hasan b. ‘Ali, the Nizamu ’l-Mulk, 276. + See _Nizamu ’l-Mulk_ + + -Hasan b. ‘Ali b. Abi Talib, 216, 297 + + -Hasan al-Burini, 396 + + -Hasan b. -Sabbah, 445 + + Hashid (tribe), 12 + + Hashim, 65, 146, 250 + + -Hashimiyya (Shi‘ite sect), 220, 251 + + Hassan b. Thabit (poet), 18, 52, 53, 54, 127 + + Hassan (son of As‘ad Kamil), the Tubba‘, 19, 23, 25 + + Hatim of Tayyi’, +85-87+, 288 + + Hawazin (tribe), xix + + _Hayy b. Yaqzan_, 433 + + Hayyum, 19 + + _Hazar Afsan_ (_Hazar Afsana_), 363, 457-458 + + -Haziri (Abu ’l-Ma‘ali), 348 + + _Hazzu ’l-Quhuf_, 450 + + Hebrew language, the, xvi + + Hebrews, the, xv + + Hellespont, the, xxix + + Helpers, the. See _-Ansar_ + + Hengstenberg, 102 + + Heraclius, 52 + + Heresies of the Caliph -Ma’mun, 262 + + Herodotus, 353 + + Hierotheus, 389 + + hija (satire), 73, 294 + + -Hijaz, xvii, 3, 21, +62+, 63, 64, 69, 137, 149, 150, 215, 340, 395, + 398, 399, 465, 466 + + -Hijr, the inscriptions of, xxi, 3 + + -Hijra (Hegira), xxv, 158, 171 + + -Hilla, 449 + + _Hilyatu ’l-Awliya,_ 338 + + _himaq_ (a species of verse), 450 + + Hims, 304 + + Himyar (person), 14 + + Himyar (people), xxv, 1, 6, 10, 17, 24, 25, 26, 429 + + Himyarite kings, the, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 17-27. + See _Tubba‘s, the_ + + Himyarite language, the, xvi, xvii, xxi, 6-11 + + _Himyarite Ode, the_, 12, 13 + + Himyarites, the, xviii, xx, xxi, 4, +5+, +6+, 7, 12, 17, 23, 26 + + Hind, mother of Bakr and Taghlib, 58 + + Hind (a Bedouin woman), 46 + + Hind, daughter of -Nu‘man III, 46, 47 + + Hind, wife of -Mundhir III, 44, 45, 110 + + Hinwam (hill), 20 + + -Hira, xxii, xxiii, 29, 33, 34, +37-49+, 51, 52, 53, 54, 60, 69, 70, + 85, 87, 103, 107, 108, 109, 110, 112, 114, 121, 122, 124, 138, + 139, 189, 244, 439 + + Hira, Mount, 150 + + Hirran, 11 + + Hirschfeld, H., 151 + + Hisham (Umayyad Caliph), 200, 206, 224, 243 + + Hisham I (Spanish Umayyad), 347, 409 + + Hisham II (Spanish Umayyad), 412, 421 + + Hisham b. Muhammad al-Kalbi, 38, 39, 40, 348 + + Hisn Ghurab, 8 + + Historians, Arab, +11-14+, 144, 247, +348-356+, 420, 428, 435-440, + +452-454+ + + Historical studies encouraged by the Umayyads, 247 + + History, the true purpose of, 437; + subject to universal laws, 438; + evolution of, 439, 440 + + _History of the Berbers_, by Ibn Khaldun, 429, 435 + + _History of the Caliphs_, by -Suyuti, 455 + + _History of Islamic Civilisation_, by Jurji Zaydan, 435 + + _History of Old and New Cairo_, by -Suyuti, 455 + + Holy Ghost, the, 150 + + Holy War, the, enjoined by the Koran, 174 + + Homer, the Iliad of, translated into Arabic verse, 469 + + Homeritæ, the, 5 + + Hommel, F., xv, 1 + + Honour, Pre-islamic conception of, 82-100 + + Horace, 326 + + Hospitality, the Bedouin ideal of, 85 + + House of the Prophet, the, 250. + See ‘_Ali b. Abi Talib_; _‘Alids_; _Shi‘ites_. + + Houtsma, Th., 193, 242, 329, 349 + + Huart, C., 468 + + Hubal (name of an idol), +64+ + + Hubba, 64 + + Hud (prophet), 2 + + Hudhalites (Hudhaylites), 22, 128. + See _Hudhayl_ + + Hudhayla b. Badr, 61 + + Hudhayta b. al-Yaman, 142 + + Hudhayl (tribe), xix, 64, 98, 99, 100 + + Hughes, G., 80 + + Hujr (Kindite), 42 + + Hujr, father of Imru’u ’l-Qays, 104 + + Hulagu, xxix, 182, 444-446 + + Hulayl b. Hubshiyya, 64 + + _-Hullat al-Siyara_, 418 + + Hulton, 8 + + _hulul_ (incarnation), 396, 402 + + Hulwan, 292 + + Humani, 457 + + -Humayma, 249 + + Hunayn b. Ishaq, 359 + + _hur_ (houris), 167 + + Hurmuz (Sasanian), 47 + + Hurufis, the, 460 + + -Husayn, son of ‘Ali b. Abi Talib, +196+, +197+, 198, 216, 218, 243, + 466 + + -Husayn b. Damdam, 117 + + -Husayn b. Mansur -Hallaj, 363, 375, 399 + + _Husnu ’l-Muhadara_, 455 + + -Hutay’a (poet), 127, 131, 261 + + Huzwa, 398 + + Hypocrites, the. See _-Munafiqun_ + + + I + + Iamblichus, 389 + + ‘Ibad, the, of -Hira, 38, 39, 138 + + Ibadites (a Kharijite sect), the, 211 + + _-‘Ibar_, by -Dhahabi, 339 + + Ibnu ’l-Abbar, 418, 424 + + Ibn ‘Abdi Rabbihi, 102, +347+, +420+ + + Ibn Abi Du’ad, 376 + + Ibn Abi Usaybi‘a, 266, 355 + + Ibn Abi Ya‘qub al-Nadim, 362 + + Ibn Abi Zar‘, 429 + + Ibnu ’l-Ahmar (Nasrid), 435 + + Ibn ‘A’isha, 236 + + Ibnu ’l-‘Alqami, 445 + + Ibnu ’l-‘Amid, 267 + + Ibn ‘Ammar (poet), 422, 424 + + Ibnu ’l-‘Arabi. See _Muhyi ’l-Din Ibnu ’l-‘Arabi_ + + Ibnu ’l-‘Arabi, the Cadi, of Seville, 399 + + Ibnu ’l-A‘rabi (philologist), 128 + + Ibn ‘Arabshah, 454 + + Ibnu ’l-Athir, 203, 205, 253, +355-356+, 376, 379, 420, 429 + + Ibn Bajja, 361, 434 + + Ibn Bashkuwal, 426, 434 + + Ibn Bassam, 422, 434 + + Ibnu ’l-Baytar, 434 + + Ibn Durayd, 253, 280, +343+ + + Ibnu ’l-Farid. See _‘Umar Ibnu ’l-Farid_ + + Ibn Hajar, 456 + + Ibnu ’l-Hanafiyya. See _Muhammad Ibnu ’l-Hanafiyya_ + + Ibn Hani (poet), 419, 420 + + Ibn Hawqal, 356 + + Ibn Hayyan, 428 + + Ibn Hazm, 222, 341, 402, +423-428+ + + Ibn Hisham, 17, 22, 23, 63, 64, 69, +144+, 147, 150, 151, 152, 154, + 156, 158, 166, 170, 173, 175, +349+ + + Ibn Humam, 105 + + Ibnu ’l-‘Idhari, 407, 428, 429 + + Ibn Ishaq, 69, +144+, 146, 149, 156, 247, +349+ + + Ibn Jahwar, 424 + + Ibnu ’l-Jawzi, 355 + + Ibn Jubayr, 357, 434 + + Ibn Kabsha, nickname of Muhammad, 166 + + Ibn Khalawayh, 271 + + Ibn Khaldun, 32, 228, 229, 277, 278, 288, 289, 350, 353, 429, 435, + +437-440+, 443, 452 + + Ibn Khallikan, 129, 132, 190, 213, 224, 234, 245, 261, 266, 267, 276, + 288, 295, 308, 312, 326, 343, 344, 346, 348, 355, 357, 359, 360, + 377, 378, 387, 408, 422, 425, 427, +451-452+ + + Ibn Khaqan, 425, 434 + + Ibnu ’l-Khatib, the Vizier, 413, 435, 436, 437 + + Ibn Khidham, 105 + + Ibn Khurdadbih, 356 + + Ibn Maja, 337 + + Ibn Malik of Jaen, 456 + + Ibn Mukarram (Jamalu ’l-Din), 456 + + Ibn Muljam, 193 + + Ibnu ’l-Muqaffa‘, 330, +346+, 348, 358 + + Ibnu ’l-Mu‘tazz (poet), 325 + + Ibn Nubata (man of letters), 61 + + Ibn Nubata, the preacher, 271, 328 + + Ibnu ’l-Qifti, 355, 370, 387 + + Ibn Qutayba, xviii, 35, 49, 50, 51, 75, 77, 105, 117, 145, 202, 223, + 257, 277, 280, +286+, +287+, 288, 289, 293, 294, 345, +346+ + + Ibnu ’l-Qutiyya, 420 + + Ibn Quzman, 417 + + Ibn Rashiq, 71, 288 + + Ibnu ’l-Rawandi, 375 + + Ibn Rushd, 341, 361, 432, 434 + + Ibn Sab‘in, 434 + + Ibn Sa‘d, 144, 256, 349 + + Ibnu ’l-Sammak, 261 + + Ibnu ’l-Sikkit, 343 + + Ibn Sina (Avicenna), 265, 266, 341, +360+, +361+, 393 + + Ibn Sirin, 244 + + Ibn Surayj, 236 + + Ibn Taymiyya, 371, +462+, +463+, 465, 466 + + Ibnu ’l-Tiqtaqa, 454 + + Ibn Tufayt, 361, 432, 433, 434 + + Ibn Tumart, 431-432 + + Ibnu ’l-Wahshiyya, xxv + + Ibnu ’l-Wardi, 455 + + Ibn Zaydun (poet), 419, 424-426 + + Ibn Zuhr, 434 + + Ibrahim (Abraham), xviii, 63. + See _Abraham_ + + Ibrahim (‘Alid), 258 + + Ibrahim b. Adham, 232 + + Ibrahim b. Hilal al-Sabi, 328 + + Ibrahim of Mosul, 261 + + Idol-worship at Mecca, 62-64 + + Idris, 264 + + -Idrisi (geographer), 357, 434 + + Idrisid dynasty, the, 264 + + _Ihya’u Ulum al-Din_, 230, 234, 338, 340 + + -Iji (Adudu ’l-Din), 456 + + _ijma‘_, 460 + + _ikhlas_, 164 + + Ikhmim, 387 + + _-Ikhtiyarat_, 128 + + Ikhwánu ’l-Safa, 370-372, 388 + + _-Iklil_, 6, 12, 13, 24 + + _-ilahiyyun_, 382 + + _Iliad, the_, xxii, 325, 469 + + Il-Khans, the, xxix, 446 + + Il-Makah, 11 + + _‘ilmu ’l-hadith_ (Science of Apostolic Tradition), 283 + + _‘ilmu ’l-kalam_ (Scholastic Theology), 283 + + _‘ilmu ’l-nujum_ (Astronomy), 283 + + _‘ilmu ’l-qira’at_ (Koranic Criticism), 283 + + _‘ilmu ’l-tafsir_ (Koranic Exegesis), 283 + + _‘ilq_, 101 + + ‘Imadu ’l-Dawla (Buwayhid), 266 + + ‘Imadu ’l-Din al-Katib al-Isfahani, 348, 355 + + Imam (head of the religious community), 210 + + Imam, the Hidden, 216-217, 371; + the Infallible, 220, 432 + + Imam-Husayn, a town near Baghdad, 466. + See _Karbala_ + + _-imam al-ma‘sum_, 432 + + Imamites, the, 251 + + Imams, the Seven, 217, 273 + + Imams, the Shi‘ite, 214-220 + + Imams, the Twelve, 217 + + Imamu ’l-Haramayn, 339, 379 + + _iman_ (faith), 222 + + Imru’u ’l-Qays (poet), 42, 84, 85, 101, 102, +103-107+, 128, 136, 246, + 289 + + India, 4, 17, 268, 341, 352, 361, 389 + + +India, History of+, by -Biruni, 361 + + India, the influence of, on Moslem civilisation, 361, 389, 390 + + India, Moslem conquests in, 203, 268 + + Indian religion, described by -Shahrastani, 341 + + Indus, the, xxiv, 203, 264 + + Infanticide, practised by the pagan Arabs, 149, 243 + + Initiation, the Isma‘ilite degrees of, 273 + + Inquisition (_mihna_) established by -Ma’mun, 368, 369 + + _-Insan al-Kamil_, the Perfect Man, 402 + + Inscriptions, the Babylonian and Assyrian, xxv, 4 + + Inscriptions, Himyarite. See _Inscriptions, South Arabic_ + + Inscriptions, Nabatæan, xxv, 3 + + Inscriptions, South Arabic, xvi, xxi, xxvi, +6-11+ + + Inspiration, views of the heathen Arabs regarding, 72, 73, 152, 165 + + Intellectual and Philosophical Sciences, the, 282 + + Ionia, the dialect of, xxiii + + _-‘Iqd al-FarÃd_, 102, 131, +347+, 420 + + Iram, 1 + + -‘Iraq, 34, 38, 42, 123, 132, 142, 201, 202, 207, 208, 243, 244, 255, + 262, 266, 273, 303, _350_, 419, 445. See _Babylonia_ + + _-Isaba fi tamyiz al-Sahaba_, 456 + + Isabella of Castile, 441 + + Isaiah, 151 + + Isfahan, 14, 131, 268, 280, 326, 347, 355, 419 + + Isfandiyar, 330, 363 + + Ishaq b. Ibrahim al-Mawsili, 261, 362, 418 + + Ishaq b. Khalaf, 92 + + Ishmael. See _Isma‘il_ + + Isidore of Hispalis, 198 + + Islam, meaning of, 153; + cardinal doctrines of, 163-168; + formal and ascetic character of, 168, 224; + derived from Christianity and Judaism, 176, 177; + pagan elements in, 177; + opposed to the ideals of heathendom, 177, 178; + identified with the religion of Abraham, 62, 177; + a world-religion, 184 + + Isma‘il (Ishmael), xviii, 63, 64 + + Isma‘il (Samanid), 265 + + Isma‘il b. ‘Abbad, 267. + See _-Sahib Isma‘il b. ‘Abbad_ + + Isma‘il b. Naghdala, 428 + + Isma‘ilis, the, 217, +272-274+, 363, +371+, +372+, 381, 420, 445 + + +isnad+, 144, 278, 352 + + -Isnawi, 339 + + Israel, 73 + + Istakhr, 356 + + -Istakhri, 356 + + _istifa_, 228 + + Italy, 412, 414, 441 + + Ithamara (Sabæan king), 4 + + -Ithna -‘ashariyya (the Twelvers), 217 + + I‘timad, name of a slave-girl, 422 + + _-Itqan_, 145, 455 + + _ittihad_, 402 + + _‘iyar_, 297 + + Iyas b. Qabisa, 53 + + ‘Izzu ’l-Din b. ‘Abd al-Salam, 461 + + + J + + Jabal Tariq (Gibraltar), 204 + + Jabala b. -Ayham (Ghassanid), 50, 51, 52, 53, 54 + + -Jabariyya (the Predestinarians), 224 + + Jabir b. Hayyan, 361, 387 + + _jabr_ (compulsion), 224, 297 + + Jacob, G., 74, 76 + + Jadala (tribe), 429 + + Jadhima al-Abrash, 34, 35, 36, 40 + + Jadis (tribe), 4, 25 + + Jaen, 456 + + Ja‘far, the Barmecide, 260 + + Ja‘far, son of the Caliph -Hadi, 260 + + Jafna, founder of the Ghassanid dynasty, 50 + + Jafnites, the. See _Ghassanids, the_ + + Jaghbub, 468 + + Jahdar b. Dubay‘a, 59 + + _-jahiliyya_ (the Age of Barbarism), xxvi, +30+, 31, 34, 71, 90, 158, + 287 + + -Jahiz, 267, 280, +346-347+, 375 + + _jahiz_, 346 + + -Jahiziyya (Mu‘tazilite sect), 346 + + _jahl_, meaning 'barbarism', 30 + + Jahm b. Safwan, 222 + + -Jahshiyari (Abu ‘Abdallah Muhammad b. ‘Abdus), 458 + + Jalalu ’l-Din Khwarizmshah, 444 + + Jalalu ’l-Din al-Mahalli, 455 + + Jalalu ’l-Din Rumi, Persian poet, 298, 393, 404 + + Jallaban, 293 + + _-Jamhara fi ’l-Lugha_, 343 + + _Jamharatu Ash‘ari ’l-‘Arab_, 130 + + -Jami (‘Abdu ’l-Rahman), Persian poet, 229, 284, 386, 433 + + _-Jami‘_, by -Tirmidhi, 337 + + _-Jami‘a_, 371 + + Jamil, 238 + + Jandal, 245 + + Janissaries, the, 413 + + -Jannabi, 375 + + -Jaradatan (name of two singing girls), 2 + + Jarir (poet), 205, 238, 239, 240, 242, +244-246+ + + Jassas b. Murra, 56, 57 + + -Jawf, 9 + + Jawhar, 429 + + -Jawlan, 54 + + Jerusalem, 169, 177, 233, 275, 340, 355, 357 + + Jesus, 215, 216 + + Jews, the, 341. + See _Judaism_ + + -Jibal (province), 292, 356, 445 + + Jibril (Gabriel), 150 + + _jihad_, 430 + + Jinn, the, 72, 112, 119, 152, 165 + + _jinni_ (genie), 165 + + Jirjis -Makin (historian), 355 + + John of Damascus, 221 + + John of Ephesus, 52 + + Johnson, Dr., 286, 313 + + Joktan, xviii + + Jones, E. R., 433 + + Jones, Sir William, 102, 452 + + Jong, P. de, 366 + + Jordan, the, 446 + + -Jubba’i, 377, 378 + + Judaism, established in -Yemen, 23, 137; + zealously fostered by Dhu Nuwas, 26; + in Arabia, 137-140, 149, 158, 170-172, 173, 176, 177; + in Spain, 415, 428, 429; + in Sicily, 441 + + Judaism, influence of, on Muhammadan thought, 176, 177, 215, 216 + + _-ju‘iyya_ (the Fasters), 232 + + Juliana of Norwich, 233 + + Junayd of Baghdad, 228, 230, 392, 465 + + Junde-shapur, 358 + + Jurhum (tribe), xviii, 63, 117 + + Jurjan, 339 + + Jurji Zaydan, 435 + + Justinian, 43, 51, 104, 358 + + Justinus (Byzantine Emperor), 27, 52 + + -Juwayni (Abu ’l-Ma‘ali), 339, 379 + + Juynboll, 257, 262, 268, 350, 369 + + + K + + Ka‘b (tribe), 246 + + Ka‘b b. Zuhayr (poet), 119, 127, 327 + + -Ka‘ba, +63+, +64+, +65+, +67+, 101, 117, 154, 155, 157, 164, 169, + 177, 198, 319, 400, 403, 467 + + Ka‘bu ’l-Ahbar, 185 + + -Kadhdhab (title of Musaylima), 183 + + Kafur (Ikhshidite), 306, 307 + + Kahlan, 14 + + -Kalabadhi, 338 + + _-kalam_ (Scholasticism), 363, 378 + + Kalb (tribe), 199, 405 + + _kalb_, 445 + + _Kalila and Dimna, the Book of_, 346, 363 + + -Kamala (title), 88 + + _-kamil_ (metre), 75 + + _-Kamil_ of Ibnu ’l-Athir, 355, 379, 429. + See _Ibnu ’l-Athir_ + + _-Kamil_ of -Mubarrad, 92, 131, 202, 226, 227, 237, 244, 343 + + _kanwakan_ (a species of verse), 450 + + Karbala, 196, 198, 208, 216, 218, 243, 466 + + Kariba’il Watar, 10 + + -Karkh, a quarter of Baghdad, 267, 385 + + _kasb_, 379 + + _Kashfu ’l-Zunun_, 456 + + _-Kashshaf_, 145 + + _katib_ (secretary), 257, 326 + + Kawadh (Sasanian), 42 + + Kerbogha, 446 + + Khadija, 148, 150, 151, 152, 153, 157 + + _-khafif_ (metre), 75 + + Khalaf, 421 + + Khalaf al-Ahmar, 97, 134, 293, 344 + + Khalid b. -Mudallil, 43 + + Khalid b. -Walid, 184 + + Khalid b. Yazid, 358 + + _khalifa_ (Caliph), xxvii, 175 + + -Khalil b. Ahmad, 75, 285, +343+ + + Khamir (village), 19 + + _-Khamriyya_, by Ibnu ’l-Farid, 396 + + _khamriyyat_, 294 + + _khanaqah_ (monastery), 229 + + -Khansa (poetess), 126, 127 + + _Kharidatu ’l-Qasr_, 348 + + _khariji_ (Kharijite), 209 + + Kharijites, the, 193, 207, +208-213+, 221, 222, 239, 248, 259, 428 + + Kharmaythan, 360 + + -Khasib, 373 + + _khatib_, 271 + + -Khatib, of Baghdad, 355 + + -Khatim b.‘Adi, 94, 96 + + -Khawarij. See _Kharijites, the_ + + -Khawarnaq (castle), 40, 41 + + -Khaybar, 50 + + -Khayf, 237 + + Khazaza, battle of, 5 + + -Khazraj (tribe), 170 + + Khedivial dynasty, the, 468 + + Khidash b. Zuhayr, 95, 96 + + Khindif, xix + + _-Khitat_, by -Maqrizi, 453 + + Khiva, 361, 444 + + _Khizanatu ’l-Adab_, 131 + + Khuda Bukhsh, S., 279 + + _Khuday-nama_, 348 + + Khulafa al-Rashidun, xxvii. + See _Caliphs, the Orthodox_ + + Khurasan, xxviii, 129, 132, 220, 221, 232, 233, 239, +249+, +250+, + 251, 254, 256, 258, 263, 265, 266, 275, 303, 339, 341, 379, 390, + 391, 419, 444 + + Khurasan, dialect of, 339 + + _khuruj_ (secession), 209 + + Khusraw Parwez. See _Parwez_ + + _khutba_, 263, 328 + + Khuza‘a (tribe), 63, 64, 65 + + Khuzayma (tribe), xix + + Khuzistan, 266, 274, 293, 358 + + Khwarizm, 357, 361, 444 + + -Khwarizmi (Abu ‘Abdallah), 361 + + _-kibrit al-ahmar_, 399 + + Kilab (tribe), 246 + + Kilab b. Murra, 64 + + _-kimiya_ (the Philosophers' Stone), 401 + + _Kimiya’u ’l-Sa‘adat_, 340 + + _-kimiya’un_ (the Alchemists), 364 + + Kinana (tribe), xix, 64 + + Kinda (tribe), xviii, 42, 43, 69, 85, 103, 104, 360 + + -Kïndi, 288, 360 + + -Kisa’i (philologist), 261, 343 + + Kisra (title), 45 + + _Kitabu ’l-Aghani_ (the Book of Songs), 19, 26, 31, +32+, 37, 43, 44, + 46, 47, 53, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 94, 102, 104, 109, 110, 123, 124, + 131, 134, 138, 139, 150, 200, 205, 216, 236, 237, 239, 241, 242, + 243, 244, 245, +270+, 279, 291, 292, 297, 345, +347+, 374, +419+ + + Kitabu ’l-Ahkam al-Sultaniyya_, 338 + + Kitabu ’l-Akhbar al-Tiwal_, 349 + + _Kitabu ’l-Amali_, 131 + + _Kitabu Ansabi ’l-Ashraf_, 349 + + _-Kitab al-Awsat_, 353 + + _Kitabu ’l-‘Ayn_, 343 + + _Kitabu ’l-Badi‘_, 325 + + _Kitabu ’l-Bayan wa-’l-Tabyin_, 347 + + _Kitabu ’l-Falahat al-Nabatiyya_, xxv + + _Kitabu Futuhi ’l-Buldan_, 349 + + _Kitabu ’l-Hayawan_, 346, 375 + + _Kitabu ’l-‘Ibar_, by Dhahabi, 339 + + _Kitabu ’l-‘Ibar_, by Ibn Khaldun, 437 + + _Kitabu, ’l-Ibil_, 345 + + _Kitabu ’l-Ishtiqaq_, 343 + + _Kitabu ’l-Kamil fi ’l-Ta’rikh_, 355. + See _-Kamil of Ibnu ’l-Athir_ + + _Kitabu Khalq al-Insan_, 345 + + _Kitabu ’l-Khayl_, 345 + + _Kitabu ’l-Luma‘_, 393 + + _Kitabu ’l-Ma‘arif_, xviii, 202, 223, 224, 345, +346+ + + _Kitabu ’l-Maghazi_, by Musa b. ‘Uqba, 247 + + _Kitabu ’l-Maghazi_, by -Waqidi, 144 + + _-Kitab al-Mansuri_, 265 + + _Kitabu ’l-Masalik wa-’l-Mamalik_, 356 + + _Kitabu ’l-Milal wa-’l-Nihal_, by Ibn Hazm, 341, 427, 428 + + _Kitabu ’l-Milal wa-’l-Nihal_, by -Shahrastani, 341. + See _-Shahrastani_ + + _Kitabu ’l-Muluk wa-akhbar al-Madin_, 13 + + _Kitabu ’l-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ara_, 75, 78, 105, 117, 257, 293, 346 + + _Kitabu ’l-Ta‘arruf li-Madhhabi ahli ’l-Tasawwuf_, 338 + + _Kitabu ’l-Tabaqat al-Kabir_, 144 + + _Kitabu ’l-Tanbih wa-’l-Ishraf_, 353, 354 + + _-Kitab al-Yamini_, 355 + + _Kitabu ’l-Zuhd_, 247 + + _Koran, the_, xvii, xx, xxii-xxv, xxvi, xxvii, 1, 2, 3, 15, 17, 18, + 27, 68, 74, 91, 102, 119, 132, 134, +141-143+, 144-152, 154-156, + 158, +159-168+, 169, 172, 174, +175+, +176+, 178, 179, 183, 184, + 185, 187, 192, 201, 203, 207-212, 215, 221, 223, 225, 231, 234, + +235+, 237, 247, 249, 273, 277, 278, 279, 282, 284, 287, 294, 318, + 327, 329, 330, 342, 343, 344, 363, 365, 368, 369, 375, 378, 379, + 397, 398, 403, 408, 417, 433, 449, 454, 455, 460, 461, 462, 463, + 467 + + _Koran, the_, derivation of, 159; + collection of, 142; + historical value of, 143; + arrangement of, 143, 161; + style of, 159, 318, 368; + not poetical as a whole, 160; + held by Moslems to be the literal Word of God, 159, 235; + heavenly archetype of, 151, 163, 368; + revelation of, 150-152, 159; + designed for oral recitation, 161; + commentaries on, 144, 145, 351, 455; + imitations of, 318, 368, 375; + dispute as to whether it was created or not, 262, 368, 369 + + Koran-readers (_-qurra_), the, 209, 210, 277 + + Kosegarten, 128 + + Krehl, L., 151, 360 + + Kremer, Alfred von, 13, 14, 18, 19, 23, 24, 101, 139, 140, 220, 221, + 225, 233, 279, 281, 302, 304, 316, 318, 321, 323, 324, 360, 373, + 379, 383, 399, 439 + + -Kufa, xxiv, 38, 70, 127, 133, 134, 186, +189+, 193, 196, 198, 202, + 207-210, 215, 218, 219, 229, 250, 253, 291, 293, 296, 304, 342, + +343+, 344 + + -Kulab, battle of, 253 + + Kulayb (tribe), 244, 245 + + Kulayb b. Rabi‘a, 5, 55, 56, 57, 76, 93 + + Kulayb b. Wa’il, 110. + See _Kulayb b. Rabi‘a_ + + Kulthum b. Malik, 110 + + -Kumayt (poet), 138 + + _kunya_ (name of honour), 45, 50, 112 + + -Kusa‘i, 244 + + Kuthayyir (poet), 216 + + _-kutub al-sitta_ (the Six Books), 337 + + -Kutubi, 449, 452 + + + L + + La Fontaine, 469 + + Labid (poet), 50, 109, +119-121+, 128, 139, 140 + + Lagrange, Grangeret de, 396, 417 + + Lahore, 268 + + Lakhmites, the, of -Hira, 33, 38, +39-49+, 54, 69 + + Lamis (name of a woman), 82 + + _Lamiyyatu ’l-‘Ajam_, 326 + + _Lamiyyatu ’l-‘Arab_, +79+, +80+, 89, 134, 326 + + Lamta (tribe), 429 + + Lamtuna (tribe), 429 + + Lane, E. W., 53, 164, 448, 459 + + Lane-Poole, Stanley, 264, 275, 371, 432 + + -Lat (goddess), 135, 155 + + _Lata’ifu ’l-Minan_, 464 + + Latifi (Turkish biographer), 460 + + Laus duplex (rhetorical figure), 311 + + Law, Muhammadan, the schools of, 283, 284, 363, 465; + the first corpus of, 337 + + _Lawaqihu ’l-Anwar_, 225, 226, 392 + + -Lawh al-Mahfuz, 163, 378 + + Layla, mother of ‘Amr b. Kulthum, 44, 109, 110 + + Layla, the beloved of -Majnun, 238 + + Le Strange, G., 256, 356, 357 + + Learning, Moslem enthusiasm for, 281 + + Lees, Nassau, 386 + + Leo the Armenian, 359 + + Letter-writing, the art of, 267 + + Lexicon, the first Arabic, 343 + + Library of Nuh II, the Samanid, 265, 266; + of Hakam II, the Spanish Umayyad, 419 + + Linguistic Sciences, the, 282 + + Lippert, 370 + + _Lisanu ’l-Arab_, 456 + + Lisanu ’l-Din Ibnu ’l-Khatib. See _Ibnu ’l-Khatib_ + + Literary culture despised by the Arabs, 278 + + _litham_, 423 + + Littmann, Enno, 73 + + Logos, the, 403 + + Lollards, the, 374 + + Longland, 450 + + Loth, O., 1 + + Lourdes, 382 + + Love, Divine, the keynote of Sufiism, 231; + two kinds of, 234; + an ineffable mystery, 387; + hymn of, 396; + in Sufi poetry, 234, 397, 398, 402, 403 + + Loyalty, as understood by the heathen Arabs, 83-85 + + Lucian, 319 + + _-lugha_ (Lexicography), 283 + + Luhayy, 63 + + Lull, Raymond, 404 + + Lu’lu’, 304 + + Luqman b. ‘Ad (king), 2, 14 + + _-Luzumiyyat_, 315, 316, 319, 323, 324 + + _Luzumu ma la yalzam_, 315. + See _-Luzumiyyat_ + + Lyall, Sir Charles, 32, 54, 71, 75, 82, 89, 92, 97, 101, 109, 111, + 112, 113, 114, 115, 117, 118, 120, 121, 125, 129, 139, 140, 149 + + + M + + Ma’ al-Sama (surname), 41 + + Ma’ab, 63 + + _ma‘ad_ (place of return), 215 + + Ma‘add, xix, xx, 112 + + Ma‘arratu ’l-Nu‘man, 313, 314, 323 + + -Ma‘arri (Abu ’l-‘Ala), 448. + See _Abu ’l-‘Ala al-Ma‘arri_ + + Ma‘bad (singer), 236 + + Ma‘bad al-Juhani, 224 + + _Macbeth_, Arabian parallel to an incident in, 25 + + Macdonald, D. B., 273, 378, 382, 433 + + Macedonia, 276 + + Machiavelli, 439 + + Macoraba, 5, 62 + + Madagascar, 352 + + -Mada’in (Ctesiphon), 29, 33, 46, 47, 48. + See _Ctesiphon_ + + Mada’in Salih, 3 + + _-madh al-muwajjah_, 311 + + _-madid_ (metre), 98 + + _madih_ (panegyric), 78, 294 + + Madinatu ’l-Salam, 255. + See _Baghdad_ + + Madrid, 420 + + _mafakhir_, 100 + + _maghazi_, 247 + + -Maghrib, 460 + + Magi (Magians), the. See _Zoroastrians, the_ + + Magian fire-temple at Balkh, the, 259 + + Mahaffy, J. P., 82 + + Mahdi, the, +216+, +217+, 248, 249, 274, 431 + + -Mahdi, the Caliph, 103, 128, 257, 258, 296, 343, 367, 373, 374, 418 + + -Mahdiyya, 274 + + Mahmud (Ghaznevid), 268-269, 355 + + Mahra, dialect of, xxi + + Maimonides, 434 + + Majdu ’l-Din al-FÃrúzábádÃ. See _-FÃrúzábádÃ_ + + _-Majmu‘ al-Mubarak_, 355 + + -Majnun, 238 + + _majnun_, 165 + + Malaga, 410, 421, 428, 434 + + Malik (boon companion of Jadhima), 35 + + Malik (brother of Qays b. Zuhayr), 61 + + Malik the Azdite, 34 + + Malik, the slayer of -Khatim b. ‘Adi, 94, 95 + + Malik b. Anas, 284, +337+, +366+, 408 + + -Malik al-Dillil (title of Imru’u ’l-Qays), 104 + + -Malik al-Kamil (Ayyubid), 395, 434 + + -Malik al-Salih Najmu’l-Din (Ayyubid), 447 + + Malik Shah (Seljuq), 275, 276, 326, 340 + + -Malik al-Zahir (Ayyubid), 275 + + -Malik al-Zahir Baybars. See _Baybars, Sultan_ + + Malikite books burned by the Almohades, 433 + + Malikite school of Law, the, 408 + + Mameluke dynasty, the, xxix, 442, 446, +447+, +448+, 453, 464 + + Mamelukes, the, 413 + + _mamluk_, 447 + + -Ma’mun, the Caliph, 92, 129, 255, 257, +262+, +283+, 284, 302, 343, + +358-359+, 361, +368+, 369, 373, 388 + + Manat (goddess), 135, 155 + + Mandeville, Sir John, xxv + + Manfred, 441 + + -Manfuha, 124 + + Mani (Manes), 364, 375 + + Manichæans, the, 218, 297, 341, 372-375. + See _Zindiqs, the_ + + -Mansur, the Caliph, 128, 206, 252, 253, 255, 257, +258-259+, 291, + 314, 337, 346, 349, 358, 373, 407 + + Mansur I (Samanid), 265, 352 + + -Mansur Ibn Abi ‘Amir, 412, 413, 426 + + _Mantle Ode (-Burda), the_, 326, 327 + + _maqama_, 328 + + _-Maqamat_, of Badi‘u ’l-Zaman al- Hamadhani, 328, 329 + + _-Maqamat_, of -Hariri, 329-336 + + Maqamu Ibrahim, 63 + + -Maqdisi. See _-Muqaddasi_ + + -Maqqari, 399, 401, +413+, 418, 419, 427, 436, 454 + + -Maqrizi (Taqiyyu ’l-Din), 453 + + _-Maqsura_, 343 + + Marabout, modern form of _murabit_, 430 + + _Marasidu ’l-Ittila‘_, 357 + + _marathi_, 294 + + Marathon, battle of, 174 + + Marcion, 364 + + Margoliouth, Prof. D. S., xxiv, 183, 267, 314, 316, 317, 319, 357, 469 + + Mariaba, 5 + + Ma’rib, 2, 5, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 50. + See _Dyke of Ma’rib_ + + Maridin, 449 + + _ma‘rifat_ (gnosis), 386 + + Marinid dynasty, the, 442 + + Mariya, mother of -Mundhir III, 41 + + Mariya (name of a handmaiden), 46, 47 + + Mariya of the Ear-rings, 50 + + Marj Rahit, battle of, 199 + + Marr al-Zahran, 95 + + Marriage, a loose form of, prevailing among the Shi‘ites, 262 + + Ma‘ruf al-Karkhi, 385, 386, 388 + + Marwan I (Umayyad Caliph), 199 + + Marwan II (Umayyad Caliph), 181, 251, 253, 347 + + -Marzuqi (philologist), 128 + + _Masabihu ’l-Sunna_, 337 + + _Masaliku ’l-Mamalik_, 356 + + _-mashaf_, 294 + + Mashhad -Husayn, 466 + + Maslama b. Ahmad, 420 + + Masruq, 28 + + Mas‘ud, Sultan, 329. + See _Ghiyathu ’l-Din Mas‘ud_ + + -Mas‘udi, 13, 15, 37, 195, 203, 205, 206, 259, 260, 267, 349, + +352-354+, 387, 456 + + _Materia Medica_, by Ibnu ’l-Baytar, 434 + + _mathalib_, 100, 280 + + _Mathnawi, the_, by Jalalu ’l-Din Rumi, 404 + + _-Matin_, 428 + + _matla‘_, 309 + + _matn_, 144 + + Mauritania, 412 + + _-Mawa‘iz wa ’l-I‘tibar fi dhikri ’l-Khitat wa ’l-Athar_, 453 + + -Mawali (the Clients), 198, 207, +219+, 222, +248+, 250, +278+, + +279+, 373 + + -Mawali (the Clients), coalesce with the Shi‘ites, 198, 219, 220, + 250; + treated with contempt by the Arabs, 219, 248, 278, 279; + their culture, 248; + their influence, 278, 279 + + _mawaliyya_, a species of verse, 450 + + -Mawardi, 337, 338 + + Mawiyya, mother of -Mundhir III, 41 + + Mawiyya, wife of Hatim of Tayyi’, 87 + + -Maydani, 31. + See _Proverbs, Arabic_ + + Maymun b. Qays. See _-A‘sha_ + + Maysun, 195 + + Mazdak, 42, 258, 364 + + Mazyar, 375 + + Mecca, xviii, xxiii, xxvi, xxvii, 2, 3, 5, 6, 22, 28, 53, +62+, 63, + 64, 65-68, 101, 102, 114, 117, 146, 150, 154-156, 158, 169, 171, + 174, 175, 196, 198, 202, 236, 249, 274, 319, 339, 340, 395, 396, + 429, 431, 434, 439, 466, 468 + + Mecca, Pre-islamic history of, 62; + attacked by the Abyssinians, 66-69; + submits to the Prophet, 64, 175 + + Mecca, the dialect of, xxiii + + _Meccan Revelations, the_, 464. + See _Futuhat al-Makkiyya_ + + Meccan _Suras_ of the Koran, the, 160-168 + + Media, 356 + + Medina (-Madina), xxvi, xxvii, 3, 21, 22, 49, 50, 52, 62, 71, 84, + 150, 157, 158, 169, 170, 171, 173, 175, 176, 177, 181, 185, 186, + 188, 198, 208, 209, 236, 241, 243, 337, 339, 365, 466, 468 + + Medina, _Suras_ of the Koran revealed at, 175, 176 + + Mediterranean Sea, the, 5, 255, 275, 404, 412, 444 + + Merv, 252, 346 + + Merx, A., 384, 389 + + Mesopotamia, 35, 186, 238, 240, 269, 355, 358, 385, 388, 411, 446 + + Messiah, Moslem beliefs regarding the, 215-217, 248, 249. + See _Mahdi, the_ + + Metempsychosis, the doctrine of, 267 + + Metres, the Arabian, 74, 75 + + Mevlevi dervish order, the, 393 + + _mihna_, 368 + + -Mihras, 124 + + Mihrgan, Persian festival, 250 + + Milton, 212 + + Mina, 119 + + Minæan language, the, xxi + + Minæans, the, 7 + + _minbar_ (pulpit), 199 + + Minqar, 57 + + Miqlab (castle), 24 + + Miracles demanded by the Quraysh from Muhammad, 165; + falsely attributed to Muhammad, 166 + + _-Mi‘raj_ (the Ascension of the Prophet), 169, 403 + + _Mir’atu ’l-Zaman_, 355 + + _Mishkatu ’l-Masabih_, 337 + + _Misr_ (Old Cairo), 394 + + _misra‘_ (hemistich), 74 + + _-Mishar_, 455. + See _-Muzhir_ + + Moguls, the Great, xxix, 444 + + Moliere, 469 + + Monasticism, alien to Islam, 225 + + Mongol Invasion, the, xxiv, xxix, xxx, 272, 277, 326, 443, +444-446+ + + Mongols, the, 254, 264, 275, 442, 443, 462. + See _Mongol Invasion, the_ + + _Monte Cristo_, 469 + + Montrose, 191 + + Mordtmann, 9 + + Morocco, 264, 341, 423, 424, 430, 431, 442 + + Moses, 165, 172, 185, 215, 273, 397 + + Moslem, meaning of, 153 + + Moslems, the first, 153 + + Moslems, the non-Arabian. See _-Mawali_ + + Mosul (-Mawsil), 261, 269, 281, 326, 355, 362, 399, 445, 454 + + _-Mu‘allaqat_, 77, 82, +101-121+, 128, 131, 416, 459 + + Mu‘awiya b. Abi Sufyan (Caliph), xxviii, 13, 119, 181, 191, 192, 193, + +194-195+, 196, 206, 207, 208, 213, 214, 222, 256, 377, 407, 426 + + Mu‘awiya b. Bakr (Amalekite prince), 2 + + Mu‘awiya, brother of -Khansa, 126 + + Mu’ayyidu ’l-Dawla (Buwayhid), 267 + + -Mubarrad (philologist), 92, 131, 202, 226, 237, 244, +343+, +344+ + + Mudar b. Nizar, xix, 252 + + Mudar, the tribes descended from, xix + + _-Mudhhabat, -Mudhahhabat_, 101 + + -Mutaddal al-Dabbi (philologist), +128+, 133, +343+ + + Mufaddal b. Salama, 31 + + _-Mufaddaliyyat_, 90, +128+, 343 + + -Mughammas, 69 + + _muhajat_ (scolding-match), 238 + + -Muhajirun (the Emigrants), 171, 209 + + Muhalhil b. Rabi‘a, 58, 76, 109, 110 + + -Muhallab b. Abi Sufra, 239 + + -Muhallabi, the Vizier, 267, 347 + + Muhammad, the Prophet, xxiii, xxvi-xxviii, 3, 10, 15, 18, 27, 30, 51, + 62, 64, 65, 66, 69, 70, 71, 74, 86, 87, 105, 124, 132, 134, 135, + 137, 139, +141-180+, 181-183, 186-188, 190-193, 201, 202, 207-209, + 213-218, 223, 224, 229, 231, 233, +235+, 237, 249, 250, 251, 257, + 258, 267, 273, 274, 277, 278, 279, 280, 318, 327, 330, 341, 342, + 348, 349, 355, 356, 380, 383, 392, 400, 403, 420, 428, 433, 449, + 455, 462, 463, 465, +467+ + + Muhammad, question whether he could read and write, 151; + his attitude towards the heathen poets, 159, 212, 235; + his aim in the Meccan _Suras_, 160; + his death, 175; + his character, 179, 180; + biographies of, 144, 146, 247, 349; + poems in honour of, 124, 127, 326, 327, 449; + mediæval legend of, 327; + identified with the Logos, 403; + pilgrimage to the tomb of, 463; + his tomb demolished by the Wahhabis, 467 + + Muhammad (‘Alid), 258 + + Muhammad (Seljuq), 326 + + Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab, 465-467 + + Muhammad b. ‘Ali (‘Abbasid), 251 + + Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha, 466, 468 + + Muhammad b. ‘Ali b. -Sanusi, 468 + + Muhammad Ibnu ’l-Hanafiyya, 216, 218, 220 + + Muhammad b. -Hasan, the Imam, 217 + + Muhammad b. Isma‘il, the Imam, 217, 272-274 + + Muhammad al-Kalbi, 348 + + Muhammad b. Sa‘ud, 466 + + -Muhtadi, the Caliph, 264 + + Muhyi ’l-Din Ibnu ’l-‘Arabi, +399-404+, 434, 462 + + Muhyi ’l-Maw’udat (title), 243 + + Muir, Sir W., 142, 143, 146, 156, 184, 197, 338 + + -Mu‘izz (Fatimid Caliph), 420 + + Mu‘izzu ’l-Dawla (Buwayhid), 266, 267, 347 + + -Mujammi‘ (title), 65 + + _Mu‘jamu ’l-Buldan_, 17, 357 + + _Mu‘jamu ’l-Udaba_, 357 + + Mukarrib (title), 10 + + -Mukhadramun (a class of poets), 127 + + -Mukhtar, 198, +218-220+, 250 + + _-Mukhtarat_, 128 + + -Muktafi, the Caliph, 257, 269, 325 + + -Mulaththamun, 423 + + Müller, A., 5, 101, 261, 266, 355, 429 + + Müller, D. H., 9, 10, 12, 13, 17, 18, 24 + + Multan, 203 + + Muluku ’l-Tawa’if (the Party Kings of Spain), 414 + + -Munafiqun (the Hypocrites), 171, 172, 176 + + -Munakhkhal (poet), 49 + + -Mundhir I (Lakhmite), 41 + + -Mundhir III (Lakhmite), +41-44+, 45, 50, 51, 60, 87, 103, 104 + + -Mundhir IV (Lakhmite), 45, 47 + + -Mundhir b. -Harith (Ghassanid), 50, 52 + + -Mundhir b. Ma’ al-sama, 50, 51. + See _-Mundhir III_ + + -Munjibat (title), 88 + + Munk, S., 360 + + _-Munqidh mina ’l-Dalal_, 340, 380 + + _munshi_, 326 + + -Muqaddasi (geographer), 356, 357, 409 + + _-Muqaddima_, of Ibn Khaldun, 32, 229, 278, 289, +437-440+. + See _Ibn Khaldun_ + + -Muqanna‘, 258 + + -Muqattam, Mt., 394, 396 + + _-Muqtabis_, 428 + + -Muqtadir, the Caliph, 325, 343, 399 + + _-murabit_, 430 + + -Murabitun, 433. + See _Almoravides, the_ + + _murid_, 392 + + _murji’_ (Murjite), 221 + + Murjites, the, 206, 220, +221-222+, 428 + + Murra, 56, 57, 58 + + Mursiya (Murcia), 399 + + _Muruju ’l-Dhahab_, 13, 15, 37, 195, 203, 205, 206, 259, 260, 267, + +349+, +353+, +354+, 387, 457 + + _muruwwa_ (virtue), 72, 82, 178, 287 + + Musa b. Maymun (Maimonides), 434 + + Musa b. Nusayr, 203, 204, 405 + + Musa b. ‘Uqba, 247 + + Mus‘ab, 199 + + Musaylima, 183 + + _-Mushtarik_, 357 + + Music in Pre-Isiamic Arabia, 236 + + Musicians, Arab, 236 + + _-musiqi_ (Music), 283 + + Muslim (Moslem), meaning of, 153 + + Muslim (author of _-Sahih_), 144, 337 + + Muslim b. ‘Aqil, 196 + + Muslim b. -Walid (poet), 261 + + _musnad_ (inscriptions), 6 + + -Mustakfi (Spanish Umayyad), 424 + + -Mustakfi, ‘Abbasid Caliph, 266 + + -Mustansir (‘Abbasid), 448 + + -Mustarshid Billah, the Caliph, 329 + + -Musta‘sim, the Caliph, 254, 445 + + -Mustawrid b. ‘Ullifa, 210 + + _-mut‘a_, 262 + + -Mu‘tadid (‘Abbadid), 421, 425 + + -Mu‘tadid (‘Abbasid Caliph), 325 + + -Mu‘tamid (‘Abbadid), 421-424 + + -Mutajarrida, 49, 122 + + -Mutalammis (poet), 107, 108, 138 + + Mutammim b. Nuwayra, 127 + + -Mutanabbi (poet), 266, 269, +270+, 289, 290, 291, 292, +304-313+, + 315, 316, 324, 396, 416, 448 + + _mutasawwifa_ (aspirants to Sufiism), 229 + + -Mu‘tasim, the Caliph, 129, 257, 263, 369, 375 + + -Mutawakkil, the Caliph, 257, 264, 284, 344, 350, 369, +375+, +376+, + 388 + + _mutawakkil_, 233 + + Mu‘tazilites, the, 206, 220, +222-224+, 225, 230, 262, 268, 284, 346, + +367-370+, 376, 377, 378, 392, 409, 428, 431 + + -Mu‘tazz, the Caliph, 325 + + -Muti‘, the Caliph, 353 + + Muti‘ b. Iyas (poet), 291, 292 + + _muwahhid_, 432 + + -Muwalladun, 278, 408 + + _muwashshah_, verse-form, 416, 417, 449 + + _-Muwatta’_, 337, 408, 409 + + Muzaffar Qutuz (Mameluke), 446 + + Muzayna (tribe), 116 + + -Muzayqiya (surname), 15 + + _-Muzhir_, 71, 455 + + Mystical poetry of the Arabs, the, 325, 396-398, 403 + + Mysticism. See _Sufiism_ + + + N + + -Nabat, the Nabatæans, xxv, 279 + + Nabatæan, Moslem use of the term, xxv + + _Nabatæan Agriculture, the Book of_, xxv + + Nabatæan inscriptions, xxv, 3 + + -Nabigha al-Dhubyam (poet), 39, 49, 50, +54+, 86, 101, +121-123+, 128, + 139 + + _nadhir_ (warner), 164 + + Nadir (tribe), 170 + + -Nadr b. -Harith, 330 + + _Nafahatu ’l'Uns_, by Jami, 386 + + _Nafhu ’l-Tib_, by -Maqqari, 399, 413, 436 + + Nafi‘ b. -Azraq, 208 + + -Nafs al-zakiyya (title), 258 + + -Nahhas (philologist), 102 + + -Nahrawan, battle of, 208 + + _-nahw_ (grammar), 283 + + Na’ila, 35 + + -Najaf, 40 + + -Najashi (the Negus), 26, 27, 28 + + Najd, xvii, 62, 107, 466 + + Najda b. ‘Amir, 209 + + Najdites (a Kharijite sect), the, 208 + + Najran, 26, 27, 105, 124, 136, 137, 162 + + Na‘man, 11 + + Namir (tribe), xix + + Napoleon, 468 + + _-Naqa’id_, of -Akhtal and Jarir, 240 + + _-Naqa’id_, of Jarir and -Farazdaq, 239 + + Naqb al-Hajar, 8 + + -Nasafi (Abu ’l-Barakat), 456 + + -Nasa’i, 337 + + Nashwan b. Sa‘id al-Himyari, 12, 13 + + _nasib_ (erotic prelude), 77, 310 + + Nasim, a place near Baghdad, 461 + + -Nasimi (the Hurufi poet), 460, 461 + + Nasir-i Khusraw, Persian poet, 323 + + Nasiru ’l-Dawla (Hamdanid), 269, 411 + + Nasr b. Sayyar, 251 + + Nasr II (Samanid), 265 + + Nasrid dynasty of Granada, the, 435, 442 + + _nat‘_, 257 + + -Nawaji (Muhammad b. -Hasan), 417 + + Nawar, wife of -Farazdaq, 243, 244 + + Nawar, the beloved of Labid, 121 + + Nawruz, Persian festival, 250 + + Naysabur, 232, 276, 338, 339, 340, 348 + + _Nazmu ’l-Suluk_, 396 + + -Nazzam, 369 + + Neo-platonism, 360, 384, 389, 390 + + Neo-platonist philosophers welcomed by Nushirwan, 358 + + Nero, 325 + + Nessus, 104 + + Nicephorus, 261 + + Niebuhr, Carsten, 7 + + Night journey of Muhammad, the, 169, 403 + + Night of Power, the, 150 + + _Nihayatu ’l-Aráb_, 455 + + Nile, the, xxviii, 264, 354, 455 + + Nirvana, 233, 391 + + -Nizamiyya College, at Baghdad, 276, 340, 380, 431 + + -Nizamiyya College, at Naysabur, 276, 340 + + Nizamu ’l-Mulk, 276, 340, 379 + + Nizar, xix + + Noah, xv, xviii, 165 + + Nöldeke, Th., xv, xx, xxxiii, xxv, 5, 27, 29, 38, 42, 44, 45, 48, 49, + 51, 52, 54, 55, 57-60, 66, 70, 78, 80, 83, 101, 102, 103, 109, 113, + 122, 123, 126, 127, 130, 134, 145, 151, 160, 167, 172, 184, 195, + 228, 237, 238, 249, 252, 258, 288 + + Nomadic life, characteristics of, 439, 440 + + Nominalists, 367 + + Normans, the, 441 + + Nubia, 387 + + Nuh I (Samanid), 265 + + Nuh II (Samanid), 265 + + _-Nujum al-Záhira_, 257, 262, 268, 369, +454+ + + -Nu‘man I (Lakhmite), 40, 41, 139 + + -Nu‘man III (Lakhmite), +45-49+, 50, 53, 54, 69, 86, 121, 122 + + -Nu‘man al-Akbar. See _Nu‘man I_ + + -Nu‘man al-A‘war (Lakhmite). See _-Nu‘man I_ + + -Nu‘man b. -Mundhir Abu Qabus. See _-Nu‘man III_ + + Numayr (tribe), 245, 246 + + -Nuri (Abu ’l-Husayn), 392 + + Nushirwan (Sasanian king), 29, 42, 45, 358 + + -Nuwayri, 15, 455 + + Nyberg, H. S., 404 + + + O + + Occam, 367 + + Ockley, Simon, 433 + + Ode, the Arabian, 76-78. + See _qasida_ + + Odenathus, 33, 35 + + _Odyssey, the_, xxii + + O'Leary, De Lacy, 360 + + Ordeal of fire, the, 23 + + Orthodox Caliphs, the, xxiii, xxvii, 181-193 + + Orthodox Reaction, the, 284, 376. + See _-Ash‘ari_ + + Osiander, 9 + + Ottoman Turks, the, xxix, 442, 447, 464-467 + + Oxus, the, xxviii, 341, 444 + + + P + + Pahlavi (Pehlevi) language, the, 214, 330, 346, 348, 358 + + Palermo, 441 + + Palestine, 52, 104, 137, 229 + + Palmer, E. H., 172, 176, 260 + + Palms, the Feast of, 54 + + Palm-tree, verses on the, by ‘Abd al-Rahman I, 418 + + Palm-trees of Hulwan, the two, 292 + + Palmyra, 33, 53 + + Panegyric, two-sided (rhetorical figure), 311 + + Panjab (Punjaub), the, 203, 268 + + Pantheism, 231, 233, 234, 275, 372, +390+, +391+, 394, +402+, +403+, + 460 + + Paracelsus, 388 + + Paradise, the Muhammadan, burlesqued by Abu’l -‘Ala al-Ma‘arri, 318, + 319 + + Parthian kings, the, 457 + + Parwez, son of Hurmuz (Sasanian), 48, 69 + + Passion Play, the, 218 + + _Paul and Virginia_, 469 + + Pavet de Courteille, 349 + + Pearl-fishing in the Persian Gulf, 354 + + Pedro of Castile, 437 + + Penitents, the (a name given to certain Shi‘ite insurgents), 218 + + Pentateuch, the, 165, 171, 323 + + Perfect Man, doctrine of the, 402 + + Persecution of the early Moslems, 154, 155, 157; + of heretics, 224, 368, 369, 372-375, 376, 436, 460, 461 + + Persepolis, 356 + + Persia, xxiv, xxvii, xxix, 21, 29, 33, 34, 38, 41, 42, 48, 113, 169, + 182, 184, 185, 188, 208, 214, 247, 255, 258, 265, 266, 274, 279, + 328, 348, 349, 390, 394, 404, 444, 446, 454, 457 + + Persia, the Moslem conquest of, 184 + + Persia, the national legend of, 349 + + Persian divines, influence of the, 278 + + Persian Gulf, the, 4, 107, 354, 357 + + Persian influence on Arabic civilisation and literature, xxviii, + xxix, 182, 250, 256, 265, 267, +276-281+, 287, 288, 290, 295, 418 + + Persian influence on the Shi‘a, 214, 219 + + _Persian Kings, History of the_, translated by Ibnu ’l-Muqaffa‘, 348 + + Persian literature, fostered by the Samanids and Buwayhids, 265, 303 + + Persian Moslems who wrote in Arabic, xxx, xxxi, 276-278 + + Persians, the, rapidly became Arabicised, 280, 281 + + Persians, the, in -Yemen, 29 + + Petra, xxv, 5 + + Petrarch, 425 + + Pharaoh, 162, 403 + + Pharaohs, the, 4, 5 + + Philip III, 441 + + Philistines, the, 3 + + Philologists, the Arab, xxiv, 32, 127, 128, 133, 246, +341-348+ + + Philosophers, the Greeks 341, 363 + + Philosophers, the Moslem, 360, 361, 381, 382, 432-434 + + _Philosophers and scientists, Lives of the_, by Ibnu ’l-Qifti, 355 + + _Philosophus Autodidactus_, 433 + + PhÅ“nician language, the, xvi + + PhÅ“nicians, the, xv + + _Physicians, History of the_, by Ibn Abi Usaybi‘a, 266, 355 + + Piers the Plowman, 450 + + Pietists, the, 207, 208 + + Pilgrimage to Mecca, the, 63, 65, 135, 136, 319 + + Pilgrimage, of the Shi‘ites, to the tomb of -Husayn at Karbala, 218, + 466 + + _pir_ (Persian word), 392 + + Plato, 204 + + Plutarch, 363 + + Pocock, E., 433 + + _Poems of the Hudhaylites, the_, 128 + + Poems, the Pre-islamic, xxii, xxiii, 30, 31, +71-140+, 282, 285-289, + 290; + chief collections of, 127-131; + the tradition of, 131-134; + first put into writing, 132 + + _Poems, the Suspended._ See _-Mu‘allaqat_ + + Poetics, work on, by Ibnu ’l-Mu‘tazz, 325 + + Poetry, Arabian, the origins of, 72-75; + the decline of, not due to Muhammad, 235; + in the Umayyad period, 235-246; + in the ‘Abbasid period, 285-336; + in Spain, 415-417, 425, 426; + after the Mongol Invasion, 448-450 + + Poetry, conventions of the Ancient, criticised, 286, 288, 315 + + Poetry, Muhammadan views regarding the merits of, 308-312; + intimately connected with public life, 436; + seven kinds of, 450 + + Poetry, the oldest written Arabic, 138 + + _Poetry and Poets, Book of_, by Ibn Qutayba. See _Kitabu ’l-Shi‘r + wa-’l-Shu‘ara_ + + Poets, the Modern, 289-336; + judged on their merits by Ibn Qutayba, 287; + pronounced superior to the Ancients, 288, 289 + + Poets, the Pre-islamic, character and position of, 71-73; + regarded as classical, xxiii, 72, 285, 286 + + Politics, treatise on, by -Mawardi, 337, 338 + + Portugal, 416 + + Postal service, organised by ‘Abdu ’l-Malik, 201 + + Postmaster, the office of, 45 + + Prætorius, F., 10 + + Prayers, the five daily, 149, 168 + + Predestination, 157, 223, 224, 378, 379 + + Preston, Theodore, 330 + + Prideaux, W. F., 11, 13 + + Primitive races in Arabia, 1-4 + + Proclus, 389 + + Procreation, considered sinful, 317 + + Prophecy, a, made by the Carmathians, 322 + + Prose, Arabic, the beginnings of, 31 + + Proverbs, Arabic, 3, 16, +31+, 50, 84, 91, 109, 244, 292, 373 + + Ptolemies, the, 276 + + Ptolemy (geographer), 3, 358 + + Public recitation of literary works, 314 + + Pyramids, the, 354 + + Pyrenees, the, xxviii, 204 + + Pythagoras, 102 + + + Q + + Qabus (Lakhmite), 44, 45, 52 + + _qadar_ (power), 224 + + -Qadariyya (the upholders of free-will), 224 + + _qaddah_ (oculist), 271 + + _qadà ’l-qudat_ (Chief Justice), 395 + + Qadiri dervish order, the, 393 + + -Qahira, 275, 394. + See _Cairo qahramana_, 457 + + Qahtan, xviii, 12, 14, 18, 200 + + _Qala’idu ’l-‘Iqyan_, 425 + + _-Qamus_, 403, 456 + + _-Qanun_, 361 + + _qara’a_, 159 + + -Qarafa cemetery, 396 + + -Qaramita, 274. + See _Carmathians, the_ + + _qarawi_, 138 + + _qarn_, meaning 'ray', 18 + + _qasida_ (ode), 76-78, 105, 288 + + _qasida_ (ode), form of the, 76, 77; + contents and divisions of the, 77, 78; + loose structure of the, 134; + unsuitable to the conditions of urban life, 288 + + _Qasidatu ’l-Burda_. See _-Burda_ + + _Qasidatu ’l-Himyariyya,_ 12 + + Qasir, 36, 37 + + Qasirin, 111 + + Qasiyun, Mt., 399 + + -Qastallani, 455 + + Qatada, 294 + + Qatari b. -Fuia’a, 213 + + -Qayrawan, 264, 429 + + Qays ‘Aylan (tribe), xix, 199, 293, 405 + + Qays b. -Khatim, 94-97, 137 + + Qays b. Zuhayr, 61, 62 + + Qaysar (title), 45 + + Qazwin, 445 + + -Qazwini (geographer), 416 + + Qift, 355 + + _qiyas_, 297 + + Qoniya, 404 + + Quatremère, M., xxv, 437, 445, 453 + + Qudar the Red, 3 + + Qumis (province), 391 + + _-Qur’an_, 159. + See _Koran, the_ + + Quraysh (tribe), xix, xxiii, xxvii, 22, +64+, 65-68, 117, 124, 134, + 142, 146, 153-158, 164, 165, 170, 174, 175, 183, 207, 216, +237+, + 241, 279, 330, 347, 375, 407, 417 + + Quraysh, the dialect of, xxiii, 142; + regarded as the classical standard, xxiii, 134 + + Qurayza (tribe), 21, 170 + + _qurra_ (Readers of the Koran), 277. + See _Koran-readers, the_ + + Qusayy, 64, 65, 146 + + -Qushayri, 226, 227, 228, 230, +338+, 379 + + Quss b. Sa‘ida, 136 + + _qussas_, 374 + + Qusta b. Luqa, 359 + + _Qutu ’l-Qulub_, 338, 393 + + + R + + _rabad_, 409 + + Rabi‘, son of Fatima, the daughter of -Khurshub, 88 + + Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyya, 227, 232, +233-234+ + + Rabi‘a b. Nizar, xix, 5 + + Rabi‘a (b. Nizar), the descendants of, xix + + Racine, 469 + + -Radi, the Caliph, 376 + + Radwa, Mount, 216 + + Rafidites, the, 268. + See _Shi‘ites, the_ + + Ra‘i ’l-ibil (poet), 245, 246 + + _raj‘a_ (palingenesis), 215 + + _-rajaz_ (metre), 74, 75, 76, 77 + + Rakhman, 126 + + Rakusians, the, 149 + + Ralfs, C. A., 327 + + Ramadan, the Fast of, 224, 450 + + Ramla, 229 + + Raqqada, 274 + + _Rasa’ilu Ikhwan al-Safa_, 370, 371 + + Rasmussen, 61 + + Rationalism. See _Mu‘tazilites_ and _Free-thought_ + + -Rawda, island on the Nile, 455 + + _rawi_ (reciter), 131 + + Rawis, the, 131-134 + + Raydan, 10 + + -Rayy, 258, 259, 268, 333, 350, 361, 420, 445 + + -Rayyan, 120 + + -Razi (Abu Bakr), physician, 361. + See _Abu Bakr al-Razi_ + + -Razi (Abu Bakr), historian, 420 + + Reading and writing despised by the pagan Arabs, 39 + + Realists, 368 + + Red Sea, the, 4, 5, 62 + + Reformation, the, 468 + + Reforms of ‘Abdu ’l-Malik, 201; + of ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, 205 + + Register of ‘Umar, the, 187, 188 + + Reiske, 15, 102, 308, 312, 316, 331 + + Religion, conceived as a product of the human mind, 317 + + Religion of the Sabæans and Himyarites, 10, 11; + of the Pagan Arabs, 56, 135-140, 164, 166; + associated with commerce, 135, 154 + + Religions and Sects, Book of, by -Shahrastam, 341; + by Ibn Hazm, 341. + See _Kitabu ’l-Milal wa-’l-Nihal_ + + Religious ideas in Pre-islamic poetry, 117, 119, 123, 124, 135-140 + + Religious literature in the ‘Abbasid period, 337-341 + + Religious poetry, 298-302 + + Renaissance, the, 443 + + Renan, xv, 432 + + Renegades, the, 408, 415, 426 + + Resurrection, the, 166, 215, 297, 299, 316 + + Revenge, views of the Arabs concerning, 93, 94; + poems relating to, 97 + + Rhages. See _-Rayy_ + + Rhapsodists, the, 131 + + Rhazes, 265, 361. + See _Abu Bakr al-Razi_ + + Rhetoric, treatise on, by -Jahiz, 347 + + Rhinoceros, the, 354 + + Rhymed Prose. See _saj‘_ + + Ribah b. Murra, 25 + + _ribat_, 276, 430 + + Richelieu, 195 + + Rifa‘i dervish order, the, 393 + + -Rijam, 119 + + _Risalatu ’l-Ghufran_, 166, 167, 206, +318+, +319+, +375+ + + _-Risalat al-Qushayriyya_, 226, 227, 338 + + Roderic, 204, 405 + + Rödiger, Emil, 8 + + Roger II of Sicily, 434 + + Rome, 33, 34, 41, 43, 50, 52, 113, 252, 314. + See _Byzantine Empire, the_ + + Ronda, 410 + + Rosary, use of the, prohibited, 467 + + Rosen, Baron V., 375 + + Rothstein, Dr. G., 37, 53 + + -Rub‘ al-Khali, xvii + + Rubicon, the, 252 + + Rückert, Friedrich, 93, 97, 104, 292, 332 + + Rudagi, Persian poet, 265 + + Ruhu ’l-Quds (the Holy Ghost), 150 + + _-rujz_, 152 + + Ruknu ’l-Dawla (Buwayhid), 266, 267 + + -Rumaykiyya, 422 + + Rushayyid al-Dahdah, 394, 396 + + Rustam, 330, 363 + + Ruzbih, 346. + See _Ibnu ’l-Muqaffa‘_ + + + S + + -Sa‘b Dhu ’l-Qarnayn, 17 + + _-Sab‘ al-Tiwal_ (the Seven Long Poems), 103 + + Saba (Sheba), xxv, 1, +4+, +5+, 6, 10, 16, 17. + See _Sabæans, the_ + + Saba (person), 14 + + Sabæan language, the, xvi. + See _South Arabic language, the_ + + Sabæans, the, xv, xvii, xviii, xx, xxi, 1, +4+, +5+, 7, 14, 17 + + Saba’ites, the, a Shi‘ite sect, 215, 216, 217, 219 + + Sabians, the, 149, 341, 354, 358, 363, 364, 388 + + -Sab‘iyya (the Seveners), 217 + + Sabota, 5 + + Sabuktagin, 268 + + Sabur I, 33 + + Sabur b. Ardashir, 267, 314 + + Sachau, E., xxii, 361 + + Sacy, Silvestre de, 8, 80, 102, 353, 354 + + Sa‘d (client of Jassas b. Murra), 56, 57 + + Sa‘d (tribe), 147 + + Sa‘d b. Malik b. Dubay‘a, 57 + + _sada_ (owl or wraith), 94, 166 + + Sa‘d-ilah, 11 + + _sadin_, 259 + + -Sadir (castle), 41 + + Sadru ’l-Din of Qoniya, 404 + + _safa_ (purity), 228, 370 + + Safa, the inscriptions of, xxi + + -Safadi, 326, 456 + + _Safar-Nama_, 324 + + Safawid dynasty, the, xxix + + -Saffah, 253, 254, 257, 259 + + -Saffah b. ‘Abd Manat, 253 + + -Saffah, meaning of the title, 253 + + -Saffar (title), 265 + + Saffarid dynasty, the, 265 + + _safi_ (pure), 228 + + Safiyyu ’l-Din al-Hilli (poet), 449, 450 + + _sag_ (Persian word), 445 + + -Sahaba (the Companions of the Prophet), 229 + + Sahara, the, 423, 429, 468 + + -Sahib Isma‘il b. ‘Abbad, 267, 347 + + Sahibu ’l-Zanadiqa (title), 373 + + _-Sahih_, of -Bukhari, 144, 146, 337 + + _-Sahih_, of Muslim, 144, 337 + + Sahl b. ‘Abdallah al-Tustari, 392 + + Sa‘id b. -Husayn, 274 + + St. John, the Cathedral of, 203 + + St. Thomas, the Church of, at -Hira, 46 + + Saints, female, 233 + + Saints, the Moslem, 386, 393, 395, 402, 403, 463, 467 + + _saj_ (rhymed prose), 74, 75, 159, 327, 328 + + Sakhr, brother of -Khansa, 126, 127 + + Sal‘, 398 + + Saladin, 275, 348, 355 + + Salahu ’l-Din b. Ayyub, 275. + See _Saladin_ + + Salama b. Khalid, 253 + + Salaman, 433 + + Salaman (tribe), 79 + + Salamya, 274 + + Salih (prophet), 3 + + Salih (tribe), 50 + + Salih b. ‘Abd al-Quddus, 372-375 + + Salim al-Suddi, 204 + + Saltpetre industry, the, at -Basra, 273 + + Sam b. Nuh, xviii. See _Shem, the son of Noah_ + + _sama‘_ (oral tradition), 297 + + _sama‘_ (religious music), 394 + + Samah‘ali Yanuf, 10, 17 + + -Sam‘ani 339 + + Samanid dynasty, the, +265+, +266+, 268, 271, 303 + + Samarcand, 203, 268, 447 + + Samarra, 263 + + -Samaw’al b. ‘Adiya, 84, 85 + + Samuel Ha-Levi, 428, 429 + + San‘a, 8, 9, 17, 24, 28, 66, 215 + + _sanad_, 144 + + -Sanhaji, 456 + + Sanjar (Seljuq), 264 + + -Sanusi (Muhammad b. Yusuf), 456 + + Sanusiyya Brotherhood, the, 468 + + -Saqaliba, 413 + + _Saqtu ’l-Zand_, 313, 315 + + Sarabi (name of a she-camel), 56 + + Sargon, King, 4 + + Sari al-Raffa (poet), 270 + + Sari al-Saqati, 386 + + Saruj, 330, 331, 332 + + Sa‘sa‘a, 242 + + Sasanian dynasty, the, 34, 38, 40, 41, 42, 214, 256, 358, 457 + + Sasanian kings, the, regarded as divine, 214 + + Satire, 73, 200, 245, 246 + + Saturn and Jupiter, conjunction of, 322 + + Sa‘ud b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz b. Muhammad b. Sa‘ud, 466 + + Sawa, 333 + + Sayf b. Dhi Yazan, 29 + + -Sayfiyya College, the, in Cairo, 395 + + Sayfu ’l-Dawla (Hamdanid), +269-271+, +303-307+, 311, 313, 360 + + Saylu ’l-‘Arim, 14 + + Schack, A. F. von, 360, 416, 436, 441 + + Schefer, C., 324 + + Scheherazade, 457 + + Scholasticism, Muhammadan, 284, 363, 460. + See _-Ash‘ari_; _Ash‘arites_; _Orthodox Reaction_ + + Schreiner, 379 + + Schulthess, F., 87 + + Sciences, the Foreign, 282, 283, 358-364 + + Sciences, the Moslem, development and classification of, +282+, +283+ + + Scripture, People of the, 341 + + Sea-serpent, the, 354 + + Sédillot, 360 + + Seetzen, Ulrich Jasper, 8 + + Seleucids, the, 276 + + Self, dying to (fana), the Sufi doctrine of, 233 + + Selim I (Ottoman Sultan), 448 + + Seljuq dynasty, the, 264, 265, 268, +275+, +276+, 326, 445 + + Seljuq b. Tuqaq, 275 + + Seljuq Turks, the, 275, 444 + + Sell, Rev. E., 468 + + Semites, the, xv, xvi, 1, 328 + + Semitic languages, the, xv, xvi + + Senegal, 430 + + Seville, 399, 406, 416, 420, 421, 422, 424, 425, 427, 431, 435, 437, + 447 + + Shabib, 209 + + Shabwat, 5 + + Shaddad (king), 1 + + Shaddad b. -Aswad al-Laythi, 166 + + _Shadharatu ’l-Dhahab_, 339, 399, 436, 460 + + -Shadhili (Abu ’l-Hasan), 461 + + Shadhili order of dervishes, 393, 461 + + -Shafi‘i, 284, 409 + + Shafi‘ite doctors, biographical work on the, 339 + + _Shahnama, the_, by Firdawsi, 265, 325 + + -Shahrastani, 211, 216, 220, 221, 223, 224, 297, +341+, 388 + + Shahrazad, 457 + + _sha‘ir_ (poet), 72, 73 + + Shakespeare, 252 + + Shamir b. Dhi ’l-Jawshan, 196, 197, 198 + + Shams (name of a god), 11 + + Shams b. Malik, 81 + + Shamsiyya, Queen of Arabia, 4 + + _Shamsu ’l-‘Ulum_, 13 + + -Shanfara, +79-81+, 89, 97, 134, 326 + + Shaqiq (Abu ‘Ali), of Balkh, 232, 233, 385 + + Sharahil (Sharahbil), 18 + + -Sha‘rani, 225, 226, 392, 400, 403, 443, 460, 462, +464-465+ + + _shari‘at_, 392 + + -Sharif al-Jurjani, 456 + + -Sharif al-Radi (poet), 314 + + Sharifs, of Morocco, the, 442 + + Sharik b. ‘Amr, 44 + + Shas, 125 + + Shayban (clan of Bakr), 58 + + -Shaykh al-Akbar, 404. + See _Muhyi ’l-Din Ibnu ’l-‘Arabi_ + + Sheba, 4 + + Sheba, the Queen of, 18 + + Shem, the son of Noah, xv, xviii + + _shi‘a_ (party), 213 + + Shi‘a, the, 213. + See _Shi‘ites, the_ + + _-Shifa_, 361 + + Shihabu ’l-Din al-Suhrawardi. See _-Suhrawardi_ + + -Shihr, dialect of, xxi + + Shi‘ites, the, xxviii. 207, 208, +213-220+, 222, 248, 249, 250, 262, + 267, 268, 271-275, 297, 379, 409, 428, 432, 445, 466 + + _shikaft_ (Persian word), 232 + + _-shikaftiyya_ (the Cave-dwellers), 232 + + Shilb, 416 + + Shiraz, 266, 307 + + Shirazad, 457 + + -Shirbini, 450 + + _-shurat_ (the Sellers), 209 + + Shu‘ubites, the, 279-280, 344, 372 + + Sibawayhi, 343 + + Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi, 355 + + Sicily, xvi, 52, 441 + + _siddiq_, meaning of, 218, 375 + + -Siddiq (title of Abu Bakr), 183 + + Sidi Khalil al-Jundi, 456 + + _Sifatu Jazirat al-‘Arab_, 12, 18, 20 + + Siffin, battle of, 192, 208, 377 + + _-sihr wa-’l-kimiya_ (Magic and Alchemy), 283 + + _-Sila fi akhbari a’immati ’l-Andalus_, 426 + + Silves, 416 + + Simak b. ‘Ubayd, 210 + + Sinbadh the Magian, 258 + + _Sindbad, the Book of_, 363 + + Sinimmar, 40 + + Siqadanj, 252 + + _Siratu ‘Antar_, 459 + + _Siratu Rasuli ’llah_, 349 + + _siyaha_, 394 + + _Siyaru Muluk al-‘Ajam_, 348 + + Slane, Baron MacGuckin de, 32, 104, 129, 132, 136, 190, 213, 224, 229, + 245, 261, 267, 278, 288, 289, 295, 326, 343, 344, 348, 355, 357, + 359, 360, 371, 377, 378, 387, 408, 422, 425, 427, 429, 435, 437, + 438, 440, 451 + + Slaves, the, 413 + + Smith, R. Payne, 52 + + Smith, W. Robertson, 56, 199 + + Snouck Hurgronje, 217 + + Socotra, dialect of, xxi + + Solecisms, work on, by -Hariri, 336 + + Solomon, xvii + + Solomon Ibn Gabirol, 428 + + Soothsayers, Arabian, 72, 74, 152, 159, 165 + + South Arabic inscriptions, the. See _Inscriptions, South Arabic_ + + South Arabic language, the, xvi, xxi, 6-11 + + Spain, xvi, xxx, 199, 203, 204, 253, 264, 276, 399, +405-441+, 442, + 443, 449, 454 + + Spain, the Moslem conquest of, 203, 204, 405 + + Spencer, Herbert, 382 + + Spitta, 378 + + Sprenger, A., 143, 145, 149, 153, 456 + + Steiner, 369 + + Steingass, F., 328 + + Stephen bar Sudaili, 389 + + Stones, the worship of, in pagan Arabia, 56 + + Stories, frivolous, reprobated by strict Moslems, 330 + + Street-preachers, 374 + + Stylistic, manual of, by Ibn Qutayba, 346 + + -Subki (Taju ’l-Din), 461 + + Suetonius, 354 + + _suf_ (wool), 228 + + Sufi, derivation of, 227, 228; + meaning of, 228, 229, 230 + + Sufiism, +227-235+, 382, +383-404+, 460, 462, 463-465 + + Sufiism, Arabic works of reference on, 338 + + Sufiism, origins of, 228-231, 388-389; + distinguished from asceticism, 229, 230, 231; + the keynote of, 231; + argument against the Indian origin of, 233; + composed of many different elements, 389, 390; + different schools of, 390; + foreign sources of, 390; + principles of, 392; + definitions of, 228, 385, 392 + + Sufis, the, 206, 327, 339, 381, 460-465. + See _Sufiism_ + + Sufyan b. ‘Uyayna, 366 + + Suhaym b. Wathil (poet), 202 + + -Suhrawardi (Shihabu ’l-Din Abu Hafs ‘Umar), 230, 232, 338, 396 + + -Suhrawardi (Shihabu ’l-Din Yahya), 275 + + -Sukkari, 128, 343 + + -Sulayk b. -Sulaka, 89 + + Sulaym (tribe), xix + + Sulayma, 34 + + Sulayman (Umayyad Caliph), 200, 203 + + Sulayman al-Bistani, 469 + + -Suli, 297 + + _-Suluk li-ma‘rifati Duwali ’l-Muluk_, 453 + + -Sumayl b. Hatim, 406 + + Sumayya, 195 + + _-Sunan_, of Abu Dawud al-Sijistani, 337 + + _-Sunan_, of Ibn Maja, 337 + + _-Sunan_, of, -Nasa’i, 337 + + _-sunna_, 144, 234 + + _-sunna_, collections of traditions bearing on, 337 + + Sunnis, the, 207 + + Sunnis and Shi‘ites. not between the, 445 + + _sura_, 143, 159 + + _Sura of Abu Lahab, the_, 160 + + _Sura of Coagulated Blood, the_, 151 + + _Sura of the Elephant, the_, 68 + + _Sura of the Enwrapped, the_, 152 + + _Sura of the Morning, the_, 152 + + _Sura, the Opening_, 143, 168 + + _Sura of Purification, the_, 164. + See _Suratu ’l-Ikhlas_ + + _Sura of the Severing, the_, 161 + + _Sura of the Signs, the_, 162 + + _Sura of the Smiting, the_, 163 + + _Sura of the Unbelievers, the_, 163 + + _Suratu ’l-Fatiha_ (the opening chapter of the Koran), 168. + See _Sura, the Opening_ + + _Suratu ’l-Ikhlas_, 461. + See _Sura of Purification, the_ + + _Suratu ’l-Tahrim_, 454 + + Surra-man-ra’a, 263 + + Surushan, 391 + + -Sus, 431 + + Suwayqa, 398 + + Suyut, 454 + + -Suyuti (Jalalu ’l-Din), 55, 71, 145, 403, +454+, +455+ + + Syria, xxiv, xxvii-xxx, 3, 5, 26, 33, 35, 43, 46, 49, 50, 51, 52, 54, + 63, 73, 84, 123, 132, 142, 148, 170, 184, 185, 186, 191, 193, 199, + 207, 215, 232, 240, 247, 255, 262, 268, 269, 271, 274, 275, 303, + 304, 350, 355, 358, 382, 386, 388, 390, 405, 418, 419, 442, 443, + 446, 448, 451, 461, 468 + + Syria, conquest of, by the Moslems, 184 + + + T + + Ta’abbata Sharran (poet), 79, +81+, +97+, 107, 126 + + Tabala, 105 + + _Tabaqatu 'l-Atibba_, 266 + + _Tabaqatu ’l-Sufiyya_, 338 + + Tabaran, 339 + + -Tabari, 1, 27, 35, 37, 38, 41, 42, 44, 45, 48, 49, 66-68, 70, +145+, + 155, 156, 158, 185, 186, 187, 189, 210, 212, 215, 218, 219, 256, + 258, 259, 265, 277, +349+, +352+, 355, 356, 373, 376 + + -Tabari's _Annals_, abridgment of, by -Bal‘ami, 265, 352 + + Tabaristan, 350 + + _tabi‘iyyun_, 381 + + -Tabi‘un (the Successors), 229 + + Table, the Guarded, 163 + + Tabriz, 461 + + Tacitus, 194 + + _Tadhkiratu ’l-Awliya_, by Faridu’ddin ‘Attar, 226, 228, 387 + + _tadlis_, 145 + + _Tafsiru ’l-Jalalayn_, 455 + + _Tafsiru ’l-Qur‘an_, by -Tabari, 1, 145, 351 + + -Taftazani, 456 + + Taghlib (tribe), xix, 44, 55-60, 61, 76, 93, 107, 109, 110, 112, 113, + 240, 253, 269 + + _Tahafutu ’l-Falasifa_, 341 + + Tahir, 262, 263 + + Tahirid dynasty, the, 263, 265 + + _tahrimu ’l-makasib_, 297 + + Ta’if, 158 + + _-Ta’iyyatu ’l-Kubra_, 396, 397, 402 + + _-Taiyyatu ’l-Sughra_, 397 + + _tajrid_, 394 + + Talha, 190 + + Ta‘limites, the, 381, 382 + + _Talisman, the_, 469 + + Tamerlane, 437. + See _Timur_ + + Tamim (tribe), xix, 125, 242, 293 + + Tamim al-Dari, 225 + + _tanasukh_ (metempsychosis), 267 + + Tanukh (tribe), xviii, 34, 38 + + _taqlid_, 402 + + Tarafa (poet), 44, 101, +107-109+, 128, 138, 308 + + _tardiyyat_, 294 + + _Ta’rikhu ’l-Hind_, 361 + + _Ta’rikhu ’l-Hukama_, 355, 370 + + _Ta’rikhu ’l-Khamis_, 445 + + _Ta'rikhu ’l-Khulafa_, 455 + + _Ta'rikhu ’l-Rusul wa-’l-Muluk_, 351 + + _Ta'rikhu ’l-Tamaddun al-Islami_, 435 + + Tariq, 204, 405 + + _Tarjumanu ’l-Ashwaq_, 403 + + Tarsus, 361 + + Tartary, 444 + + _tasawwuf_ (Sufiism), 228 + + Tasm (tribe), 4, 25 + + _tawaf_, 117 + + _tawakkut_, 233 + + _tawhid_, 401 + + _ta’wil_ (Interpretation), the doctrine of, 220 + + _-tawil_ (metre), 75, 80 + + -Tawwabun (the Penitents), 218 + + Tayma, 84 + + Tayyi’ (tribe), xviii, 44, 53, 115 + + _ta‘ziya_ (Passion Play), 218 + + Teheran, 361 + + Temple, the, at Jerusalem, 169, 177 + + Tennyson, 79 + + Teresa, St., 233 + + Testament, the Old, 161, 179 + + -Tha‘alibi, 267, 271, 288, 290, 303, 304, +308-312+, +348+ + + Thabit b. Jabir b. Sutyan, 81, 126. + See _Ta’abbata Sharran_ + + Thabit b. Qurra, 359 + + Thabit Qutna, 221 + + Tha‘lab, 344 + + Thales, 363 + + Thamud, x, +3+, 162 + + _thanawi_, 374 + + Thapsus, 274 + + Thaqif (tribe), 69 + + Theodore Abucara, 221 + + Theologians, influence of, in the ‘Abbasid period, 247, 283, 366, 367 + + Thoma (St. Thomas), 46 + + Thomas Aquinas, 367 + + Thorbecke, H., 55, 90, 114, 129, 336, 459 + + _Thousand and One Nights, the_, 34, 456-459. + See _Arabian Nights, the_ + + _-tibb_ (medicine), 283 + + Tiberius, 194 + + -Tibrizi (commentator), 55, 130 + + Tibullus, 425 + + Tides, a dissertation on, 354 + + Tigris, the, 189, 238, 256, 446 + + -Tihama, 62 + + Tihama, the, of Mecca, 3 + + Tilimsan, 454 + + Timur, xxix, 444, 454. + See _Tamerlane_ + + Timur, biography of, by Ibn ‘Arabshah, 454 + + _tinnin_, 354 + + -Tirimmah (poet), 138 + + -Tirmidhi (Abu ‘Isa Muhammad), 337 + + Titus, 137 + + Tobacco, the smoking of, prohibited, 467 + + Toledo, 204, 421-423 + + Toleration, of Moslems towards Zoroastrians, 184; + towards Christians, 184, 414, 441 + + Torah, the, 403. + See _Pentateuch_ + + Tornberg, 203, 205, 253, 355, 429 + + Tours, battle of, 204 + + Trade between India and Arabia, 4, 5 + + Trade, expansion of, in the ‘Abbasid period, 281 + + Traditional or Religious Sciences, the, 282 + + Traditions, the Apostolic, collections of, 144, 247, 337 + + Traditions of the Prophet, +143-146+, 237, 277, 278, 279, 282, 337, + 356, 378, 462, 463, 464, 465, 467 + + Trajan, xxv + + Translations into Arabic, from Pehlevi, 330, 346, 348, 358; + from Greek, 358, 359, 469; + from Coptic, 358; + from English and French, 469 + + Translators of scientific books into Arabic, the, 358, 359, 363 + + Transoxania, 203, 233, 263, 265, 266, 275, 360, 419, 444 + + Transoxania, conquest of, by the Moslems, 203 + + Tribal constitution, the, 83 + + Tribes, the Arab, xix, xx + + Tripoli, 468 + + Tubba‘s, the (Himyarite kings), 5, 14, +17-26+, 42 + + Tudih, 398 + + _tughra_, 326 + + _tughra’i_ (chancellor), 326 + + -Tughra’i (poet), 326 + + Tughril Beg, 264, 275 + + _tului_, 286 + + Tumadir, 126 + + Tunis, 274, 428, 437, 441 + + Turkey, xvi, 169, 394, 404, 448, 466 + + Turkey, the Sultans of, 448 + + Turks, the, 263, 264, 268, 325, 343. + See _Ottoman Turks_; _Seljuq Turks_ + + Tus, 339, 340 + + Tuwayli‘, 398 + + Tuways, 236 + + _Twenty Years After_, by Dumas, 272 + + + U + + ‘Ubaydu’llah, the Mahdi, 274 + + ‘Ubaydu’llah b. Yahya, 350 + + ‘Ubaydu’llah b. Ziyad, 196, 198 + + Udhayna (Odenathus), 33, 35 + + Uhud, battle of, 170, 175 + + ‘Ukaz, the fair of, 101, 102, 135 + + -‘Ulama, 320, 367, 460, 461 + + Ultra-Shi‘ites, the, 258. + See _-Ghulat_ + + ‘Uman (province), 4, 62 + + ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (Umayyad Caliph), 200, 203, +204-206+, 283 + + ‘Umar b. Abi Rabi‘a (poet), 237 + + ‘Umar Ibnu ’l-Farid (poet), +325+, +394-398+, 402, 448, 462 + + ‘Umar b. Hatsun, 410 + + ‘Umar b. al-Khattab (Caliph), xxvii, 51, 105, 127, 142, 157, 183, + +185-190+, 204, 210, 214, 215, 242, 254, 268, 297, 435 + + ‘Umar Khayyam, 339 + + ‘Umara, 88 + + Umayma (name of a woman), 90, 91, 92 + + Umayya, ancestor of the Umayyads, 65, 146, 181, 190 + + Umayya b. Abi ’l-Salt (poet), 69, +149-150+ + + Umayyad dynasty, the, xxviii, 65, 154, 181, 190, +193-206+, 214, 222, + 264, 273, 274, 278, 279, 282, 283, 347, 358, 366, 373, 408 + + Umayyad literature, 235-247 + + Umayyads (descendants of Umayya), the, 190, 191. + See _Umayyad dynasty, the_ + + Umayyads, Moslem prejudice against the, 154, 193, 194, 197, 207 + + Umayyads of Spain, the, 253, 264, 347, +405-414+ + + _-‘Umda_, by Ibn Rashiq, 288 + + Umm ‘Asim, 204 + + Umm Jamil, 89 + + Unays, 67 + + -‘Urayd, 398 + + Urtuqid dynasty, the, 449 + + _Usdu ’l-Ghaba_, 356 + + ‘Usfan, 22 + + _ustadh_, 392 + + Ustadhsis, 258 + + Usyut, 454 + + ‘Utba, a slave-girl, 296 + + -‘Utbi (historian), 269, 354 + + ‘Uthman b. ‘Affan, Caliph, xxvii, 142, 185, +190+, 191, 210, 211, + 213, 214, 215, 221, 236, 297 + + _‘Uyunu ’l-Akhbar_, 346 + + _‘Uyunu ’l-Anba fi Tabaqat al-Atibba_, 355. + See _Tabaqatu ’l-Atibba_ + + -‘Uzza (goddess), 43, 135, 155 + + + V + + Valencia, 421 + + Valerian, 33 + + Van Vloten, 221, 222, 250 + + Vedanta, the, 384 + + Venus, 18 + + Vico, 439 + + Victor Hugo, 312 + + Villon, 243 + + Vizier, the office of, 256, 257. + See _wazir_ + + Viziers of the Buwayhid dynasty, the, 267 + + Vogué, C. J. M. de, xxii + + Vollers, 450 + + Vowel-marks in Arabic script, 201 + + + W + + Wadd, name of a god, 123 + + Wadi ’l-Mustad‘afin, 394 + + _Wafayatu ’l-A‘yan_, 451, 452. + See _Ibn Khallikan_ + + _-Wafi bi ’l-Wafayat_, 456 + + _-wafir_ (metre), 75 + + Wahb b. Munabbih, 247, 459 + + _wahdatu ’l-wujud_, monism, 402 + + Wahhabis, the, 463, 465-468 + + Wahhabite Reformation, the, 465-468 + + -Wahidi (commentator), 305, 307 + + _-wa‘id_, 297 + + Wa’il, xix, 56, 57 + + _wajd_, mystical term, 387, 394 + + Wajra, 398 + + -Walid b. ‘Abd al-Malik (Umayyad Caliph), 200, +203+, 405 + + -Walid b. Yazid (Umayyad Caliph), 132, +206+, 291, 375 + + Wallada, 424, 425 + + -Waqidi (historian), 144, 261, 349 + + Waraqa b. Nawfal, 149, 150 + + _wasi_ (executor), 215 + + Wasil b. ‘Ata, 223, 224, 374 + + Wasit, 385, 386 + + Water-diviners, honoured by the pagan Arabs, 73 + + -Wathiq, the Caliph, 257, 369 + + _wazir_, an Arabic word, 256. + See _Vizier_ + + Wellhausen, J., 56, 128, 135, 139, 140, 149, 173, 198, 205, 207, 209, + 210, 215, 218, 219, 222, 250, 365 + + Well-songs, 73 + + Wellsted, J. R., 8 + + West Gothic dynasty in Spain, the, 204 + + Weyers, 425 + + Wine-songs, 124, 125, 138, 206, 325, 417 + + Witches, Ballad of the Three, 19 + + Women famed as poets, 89, 126, 127; + as Sufis, 233 + + Women, position of, in Pre-islamic times, 87-92 + + Woollen garments, a sign of asceticism, 228, 296 + + Wright, W., 202, 226, 343 + + Writing, Arabic, the oldest specimens of, xxi + + Writing, the art of, in Pre-islamic times, xxii, 31, 102, 131, 138 + + Wüstenfeld, F., xviii, 17, 129, 132, 190, 213, 245, 253, 275, 295, + 357, 378, 408, 416, 452, 459 + + + X + + Xerxes, 256 + + Ximenez, Archbishop, 435 + + + Y + + -Yahud (the Jews), 171 + + Yahya b. Abi Mansur, 359 + + Yahya b. Khalid, 259, 260, 451 + + Yahya b. Yahya, the Berber, 408, 409 + + Yaksum, 28 + + -Yamama, 25, 111, 124 + + -Yamama, battle of, xxii, 142 + + Ya‘qub b. -Layth, 265 + + Ya‘qub al-Mansur (Almohade), 432 + + -Ya‘qubi (Ibn Wadih), historian, 193, 194, 349 + + Yaqut, 17, 357 + + Ya‘rub, 14 + + Yatha‘amar (Sabæan king), 4 + + Yatha‘amar Bayyin, 10, 17 + + Yathrib, 62. + See _Medina_ + + Yathrippa, 62 + + _-Yatima._ See _Yatimatu ’l-Dahr_ + + _Yatimatu ’l-Dahr_, 267, 271, 304, +308+, +348+ + + _-Yawaqit_, by -Sha‘rani, 403, 460 + + Yazdigird I (Sasanian), 40, 41 + + Yazid b. ‘Abd al-Malik (Umayyad Caliph), 200 + + Yazid b. Abi Sufyan, 426 + + Yazid b. Mu‘awiya (Umayyad Caliph), +195-199+, 208, 241 + + Yazid b. Rabi‘a b. Mufarrigh, 19 + + -Yemen (-Yaman), xvii, 2, 5, 7, 11, 12, 15, 17, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, + 28, 29, 42, 49, 65, 68, 87, 99, 103, 137, 215, 247, 252, 274, 405 + + Yoqtan, xviii + + Yoqtanids, the, xviii, 4. + See _Arabs, the Yemenite_ + + Yusuf b. ‘Abd al-Barr, 428 + + Yusuf b. ‘Abd al-Mu’min (Almohade), 432 + + Yusuf b. ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri, 406 + + Yusuf b. Tashifin (Almoravide), 423, 430, 431 + + + Z + + Zab, battle of the, 181, 253 + + Zabad, the trilingual inscription of, xxii + + -Zabba, 35, 36, 37. + See _Zenobia_ + + Zabdai, 34 + + _zaddiq_, 375 + + Zafar (town in -Yemen), 7, 8, 17, 19, 21 + + Zafar (tribe), 94 + + _zahid_ (ascetic), 230 + + Zahirites, the, 402, 427, 433 + + -Zahra, suburb of Cordova, 425 + + _zajal_, verse-form, 416, 417, 449 + + Zallaqa, battle of, 423, 431 + + -Zamakhshari, 145, 280, 336 + + _zandik_, 375 + + -Zanj, 273 + + Zanzibar, 352 + + _Zapiski_, 375 + + Zarifa, 15 + + Zarqa’u ’l-Yamama, 25 + + Zayd, son of ‘Adi b. Zayd, 48 + + Zayd b. ‘Ali b. -Husayn, 297 + + Zayd b. ‘Amr b. Nufayl, 149 + + Zayd b. Hammad, 45 + + Zayd b. Haritha, 153 + + Zayd b. Kilab b. Murra, 64. + See _Qusayy_ + + Zayd b. Rifa‘a, 370 + + Zayd b. Thabit, 142 + + Zaydites, the, 297 + + Zaynab (Zenobia), 35, 36 + + Zaynab, an Arab woman, 237 + + Zaynu ’l-‘Abidin, 243 + + Zenobia, 33, 34, 35 + + _Zinatu ’l-Dahr_, 348 + + Zindiqs, the, 291, 296, 319, 368, +372-375+, 387, 460 + + Ziryab (musician), 418 + + Ziyad, husband of Fatima, the daughter of -Khurshub, 88 + + Ziyad ibn Abihi, 195, 256, 342 + + Ziyad b. Mu‘awiya. See _-Nabigha al-Dhubvani_ + + Ziyanid dynasty, the, 442 + + Zone, the, worn by Zoroastrians, 461 + + Zoroaster, 184, 258 + + Zoroastrians, the, 184, 341, 354, 373, 461 + + Zotenberg, H., 352 + + Zubayda, wife of Harun al-Rashid, 262 + + -Zubayr, 190 + + -Zuhara, 18 + + Zuhayr b. Abi Sulma (poet), 62, +116-119+, 128, 131, 137, 140, 312 + + _zuhd_ (asceticism), 229, 230. 299 + + _zuhdiyyat_, 294 + + Zuhra b. Kilab b. Murra, 64 + + -Zuhri (Muhammad b. Muslim b. Shihab), 153, 247, 258 + + _zunnár_, 461 + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Literary History of the Arabs, by +Reynold Nicholson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LITERARY HISTORY OF THE ARABS *** + +***** This file should be named 37985-0.txt or 37985-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/9/8/37985/ + +Produced by Fritz Ohrenschall, Turgut Dincer, Sania Ali +Mirza and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Literary History of the Arabs + +Author: Reynold Nicholson + +Release Date: November 11, 2011 [EBook #37985] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LITERARY HISTORY OF THE ARABS *** + + + + +Produced by Fritz Ohrenschall, Turgut Dincer, Sania Ali +Mirza and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="box"> +<p>Transcriber's note:<br /> +Spelling of the Arabic names is different in the body of +the text, in the References and in the Index, +these have been left as shown in the original text. +Page references in the Index are sometimes related to the footnotes in +these pages which can be found using the footnote links in these +pages, not necessarily in the page itself. Page titles are +displayed when the mouse hovers over page numbers.</p> +</div> + +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="500" height="352" alt= +"Litigants before a Judge (British Museum Or. 1200)" title="" /></div> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Litigants before a Judge</span></h4> + +<div class="center"> +<p><small>From an Arabic manuscript in the British Museum (Or. 1200; No. 1007 in Rieu's +<i>Arabic Supplement</i>), dated A.H. 654 = A.D. 1256, which contains the <i>Maqámȧt</i> +of Ḥarìrì illustrated by 81 miniatures in colours. This one represents a scene in +the 8th Maqáma: Abú Zayd and his son appearing before the Cadi of Ma‘arratu +’l-Nu’mán. The figure on the left is Ḥárith b. Hammám, whom Ḥarìrì puts +forward as the relater of Abú Zayd's adventures.</small></p> +</div> + +<p> </p> + +<h2>A LITERARY<br /> + +HISTORY OF THE ARABS</h2> + +<h5>BY</h5> + +<h4>REYNOLD A. NICHOLSON</h4> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 100px;"><img src="images/seal75.png" width="75" height="83" alt= +"Seal" title="" /></div> + +<h4>CAMBRIDGE<br /> + +AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS<br /> + +1966</h4> + +<hr /> + +<h5>PUBLISHED BY<br /> + +THE SYNDICS OF THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS</h5> + +<h6>Bentley House, 200 Euston Road, London, N.W. 1<br /> +American Branch: 32 East 57th Street, New York N.Y. 10022,<br /> +West African Office: P.O. Box 33, Ibadan, Nigeria</h6> + +<h6>First edition (T. Fisher Unwin) 1907, reprinted 1914, 1923<br /> +Reprinted (Cambridge University Press) 1930, 1941, 1953,<br /> +1962, 1966</h6> + +<h6><i>First printed in Great Britain at the University Press, Cambridge<br /> +Reprinted by offset-litho by Latimer Trend & Co. Ltd, Whitstable</i></h6> + +<hr /> + +<h4><i>To</i><br /> + +<span class="smcap">Professor A. A. BEVAN</span><br /> + +<small>In grateful recollection of many kindnesses</small></h4> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">ix</a></span></p> + +<h3><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h3> + +<p><i>A Literary History of the Arabs</i>, published by T. Fisher Unwin +in 1907 and twice re-issued without alteration, now appears +under new auspices, and I wish to thank the Syndics of the +Cambridge University Press for the opportunity they have given +me of making it in some respects more accurate and useful than +it has hitherto been. Since the present edition is printed from +the original plates, there could be no question of revising the +book throughout and recasting it where necessary; but while +only a few pages have been rewritten, the Bibliography has been +brought up to date and I have removed several mistakes from +the text and corrected others in an appendix which includes a +certain amount of supplementary matter. As stated in the +preface to the first edition, I hoped "to compile a work which +should serve as a general introduction to the subject, and which +should be neither too popular for students nor too scientific for +ordinary readers. It has been my chief aim to sketch in broad +outlines what the Arabs thought, and to indicate as far as possible +the influences which moulded their thought.... Experience has +convinced me that young students of Arabic, to whom this +volume is principally addressed, often find difficulty in understanding +what they read, since they are not in touch with the +political, intellectual, and religious notions which are presented +to them. The pages of almost every Arabic book abound in +allusions to names, events, movements, and ideas of which +Moslems require no explanation, but which puzzle the Western +reader unless he have some general knowledge of Arabian +history in the widest meaning of the word. Such a survey is +not to be found, I believe, in any single European book; and if +mine supply the want, however partially and inadequately, I +<span class='pagenum'>x</span> +shall feel that my labour has been amply rewarded.... As regards +the choice of topics, I agree with the author of a famous +anthology who declares that it is harder to select than compose +(<i>ikhtiyáru ’l-kalám aṣ‘abu min ta’lífihi</i>). Perhaps an epitomist +may be excused for not doing equal justice all round. To me +the literary side of the subject appeals more than the historical, +and I have followed my bent without hesitation; for in order to +interest others a writer must first be interested himself.... Considering +the importance of Arabic poetry as, in the main, +a true mirror of Arabian life, I do not think the space devoted +to it is excessive. Other branches of literature could not receive +the same attention. Many an eminent writer has been dismissed +in a few lines, many well-known names have been passed over. +But, as before said, this work is a sketch of ideas in their historical +environment rather than a record of authors, books, and dates. +The exact transliteration of Arabic words, though superfluous for +scholars and for persons entirely ignorant of the language, is an +almost indispensable aid to the class of readers whom I have +especially in view. My system is that recommended by the +Royal Asiatic Society and adopted by Professor Browne in his +<i>Literary History of Persia</i>; but I use ẓ for the letter which he +denotes by <i>dh</i>. The definite article <i>al</i>, which is frequently +omitted at the beginning of proper names, has been restored in +the Index. It may save trouble if I mention here the abbreviations +'b.' for 'ibn' (son of); J.R.A.S. for <i>Journal of the Royal +Asiatic Society</i>; Z.D.M.G. for <i>Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen +Gesellschaft</i>; and S.B.W.A. for <i>Sitzungsberichte der +Wiener Akademie</i>. Finally, it behoves me to make full acknowledgment +of my debt to the learned Orientalists whose works +I have studied and freely 'conveyed' into these pages. References +could not be given in every case, but the reader will see for +himself how much is derived from Von Kremer, Goldziher, +Nöldeke, and Wellhausen, to mention only a few of the leading +authorities. At the same time I have constantly gone back to +the native sources of information."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'>xi</span></p> + +<p>There remains an acknowledgment of a more personal kind. +Twenty-two years ago I wrote—"my warmest thanks are +due to my friend and colleague, Professor A. A. Bevan, who +read the proofs throughout and made a number of valuable +remarks which will be found in the footnotes." Happily the +present occasion permits me to renew those ties between us; +and the book which he helped into the world now celebrates +its majority by associating itself with his name.</p> + +<p><span class="quotsig">REYNOLD A. NICHOLSON</span><br /> + +<i>November 1, 1929</i></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">xii</a></span></p> +<hr /> +<h4>Frontispiece<br /> +<small><span class="smcap">Litigants before a Judge</span> (British Museum Or. 1200)</small></h4> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'>xiii</span></p> + +<h3>Contents</h3> + +<table width="100%" summary="Contents" border="0"> + +<tr> +<td class="t10"> </td> +<td class="t80"> </td> +<td class="t10a"><small>PAGE</small></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="t80" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Preface</span></td> +<td class="t10a"><a href="#Page_ix">ix</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="t80" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td> +<td class="t10a"><a href="#Page_xv">xv</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="t80" colspan="2"><small>CHAPTER</small></td> +<td class="t10a"> </td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="t10">I.</td> +<td class="t80"><span class="smcap">Saba and Ḥimyar</span></td> +<td class="t10a"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="t10">II.</td> +<td class="t80"><span class="smcap">The History and Legends of the Pagan Arabs</span></td> +<td class="t10a"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="t10">III.</td> +<td class="t80"><span class="smcap">Pre-islamic Poetry, Manners, and Religion</span></td> +<td class="t10a"><a href="#Page_71">71</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="t10">IV.</td> +<td class="t80"><span class="smcap">The Prophet and the Koran</span></td> +<td class="t10a"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="t10">V.</td> +<td class="t80"><span class="smcap">The Orthodox Caliphate and the Umayyad Dynasty</span></td> +<td class="t10a"><a href="#Page_181">181</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="t10">VI.</td> +<td class="t80"><span class="smcap">The Caliphs of Baghdád</span></td> +<td class="t10a"><a href="#Page_254">254</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="t10">VII.</td> +<td class="t80"><span class="smcap">Poetry, Literature, and Science in the ‘Abbásid Period</span></td> +<td class="t10a"><a href="#Page_285">285</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="t10">VIII.</td> +<td class="t80"><span class="smcap">Orthodoxy, Free-thought, and Mysticism</span></td> +<td class="t10a"><a href="#Page_365">365</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="t10">IX.</td> +<td class="t80"><span class="smcap">The Arabs in Europe</span></td> +<td class="t10a"><a href="#Page_405">405</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="t10">X.</td> +<td class="t80"><span class="smcap">From the Mongol Invasion to the Present Day</span></td> +<td class="t10a"><a href="#Page_442">442</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="t80" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Appendix</span></td> +<td class="t10a"><a href="#Page_471">471</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="t80" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Bibliography</span></td> +<td class="t10a"><a href="#Page_477">477</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="t80" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Index</span></td> +<td class="t10a"><a href="#Page_487">487</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">xv</a></span></p> + +<h3>Introduction</h3> + +<p>The Arabs belong to the great family of nations which on +account of their supposed descent from Shem, the son of +Noah, are commonly known as the 'Semites.'<span class="sidenote"> The Semites.</span> +This term includes the Babylonians and Assyrians, +the Hebrews, the Phœnicians, the Aramæans, the Abyssinians, +the Sabæans, and the Arabs, and although based on a classification +that is not ethnologically precise—the Phœnicians and +Sabæans, for example, being reckoned in Genesis, chap. x, +among the descendants of Ham—it was well chosen by Eichhorn +(† 1827) to comprehend the closely allied peoples which +have been named. Whether the original home of the undivided +Semitic race was some part of Asia (Arabia, Armenia, or the +district of the Lower Euphrates), or whether, according to a +view which has lately found favour, the Semites crossed +into Asia from Africa,<a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">1</a> is still uncertain. Long before the +epoch when they first appear in history they had branched +off from the parent stock and formed separate nationalities. +The relation of the Semitic languages to each other cannot +be discussed here, but we may arrange them in the chronological +order of the extant literature as follows:—<a name="FNanchor_2" id="FNanchor_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">2</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'>xvi</span></p> + +<p>1. Babylonian or Assyrian (3000-500 <span class="smcap">b.c.</span>).</p> + +<p>2. Hebrew (from 1500 <span class="smcap">b.c.</span>).</p> + +<p>3. South Arabic, otherwise called Sabæan or Ḥimyarite +(inscriptions from 800 <span class="smcap">b.c.</span>).</p> + +<p>4. Aramaic (inscriptions from 800 <span class="smcap">b.c.</span>).</p> + +<p>5. Phœnician (inscriptions from 700 <span class="smcap">b.c.</span>).</p> + +<p>6. Æthiopic (inscriptions from 350 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p> + +<p>7. Arabic (from 500 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding that Arabic is thus, in a sense, the youngest +of the Semitic languages, it is generally allowed to be nearer +akin than any of them to the original archetype, the +'Ursemitisch,' from which they all are derived, just as +the Arabs, by reason of their geographical situation and the +monotonous uniformity of desert life, have in some respects +preserved the Semitic character more purely and exhibited it +more distinctly than any people of the same family. From +the period of the great Moslem conquests (700 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) to the +present day they have extended their language, <span class="sidenote"> The Arabs as +representatives +of the +Semitic Race.</span> +religion, and culture over an enormous expanse +of territory, far surpassing that of all the ancient +Semitic empires added together. It is true that +the Arabs are no longer what they were in the Middle Ages, +the ruling nation of the world, but loss of temporal power +has only strengthened their spiritual dominion. Islam still +reigns supreme in Western Asia; in Africa it has steadily +advanced; even on European soil it has found in Turkey +compensation for its banishment from Spain and Sicily. +While most of the Semitic peoples have vanished, leaving but +a meagre and ambiguous record, so that we cannot hope to +become intimately acquainted with them, we possess in the +<span class='pagenum'>xvii</span>case of the Arabs ample materials for studying almost every +phase of their development since the sixth century of the +Christian era, and for writing the whole history of their +national life and thought. This book, I need hardly say, +makes no such pretensions. Even were the space at +my disposal unlimited, a long time must elapse before +the vast and various field of Arabic literature can be +thoroughly explored and the results rendered accessible to +the historian.</p> + +<p>From time immemorial Arabia was divided into North and +South, not only by the trackless desert (<i>al-Rub‘ al-Khálí</i>, the +'Solitary Quarter') which stretches across the <span class="sidenote"> Arabs of the +North and South.</span> +peninsula and forms a natural barrier to intercourse, +but also by the opposition of two kindred +races widely differing in their character and way of life. +Whilst the inhabitants of the northern province (the Ḥijáz +and the great central highland of Najd) were rude nomads +sheltering in 'houses of hair,' and ever shifting to and fro +in search of pasture for their camels, the people of Yemen +or Arabia Felix are first mentioned in history as the inheritors +of an ancient civilisation and as the owners of fabulous wealth—spices, +gold and precious stones—which ministered to the +luxury of King Solomon. The Bedouins of the North spoke +Arabic—that is to say, the language of the Pre-islamic poems +and of the Koran—whereas the southerners used a dialect +called by Muḥammadans 'Ḥimyarite' and a peculiar script +of which the examples known to us have been discovered and +deciphered in comparatively recent times. Of these Sabæans—to +adopt the designation given to them by Greek and +Roman geographers—more will be said presently. The +period of their bloom was drawing to a close in the early +centuries of our era, and they have faded out of history +before 600 a.d., when their northern neighbours first rise +into prominence.</p> + +<p>It was, no doubt, the consciousness of this racial distinction +<span class="sidenote"> Ishmaelites and Yoqṭánids.</span> +<span class='pagenum'>xviii</span>that caused the view to prevail among Moslem genealogists +that the Arabs followed two separate lines of descent from +their common ancestor, Sám b. Núḥ (Shem, +the son of Noah). As regards those of the +North, their derivation from ‘Adnán, a descendant +of Ismá‘íl (Ishmael) was universally recognised; those +of the South were traced back to Qaḥṭán, whom most +genealogists identified with Yoqṭán (Joktan), the son of ‘Ábir +(Eber). Under the Yoqṭánids, who are the elder line, we +find, together with the Sabæans and Ḥimyarites, several large +and powerful tribes—<i>e.g.</i>, Ṭayyi’, Kinda, and Tanúkh—which +had settled in North and Central Arabia long before +Islam, and were in no respect distinguishable from the +Bedouins of Ishmaelite origin. As to ‘Adnán, his exact +genealogy is disputed, but all agree that he was of the +posterity of Ismá‘íl (Ishmael), the son of Ibráhím (Abraham) +by Hájar (Hagar). The story runs that on the birth of +Ismá‘íl God commanded Abraham to journey to Mecca with +Hagar and her son and to leave them there. They were seen +by some Jurhumites, descendants of Yoqṭán, who took pity +on them and resolved to settle beside them. Ismá‘íl grew up +with the sons of the strangers, learned to shoot the bow, and +spoke their tongue. Then he asked of them in marriage, +and they married him to one of their women.<a name="FNanchor_3" id="FNanchor_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">3</a> The tables +on the opposite page show the principal branches of the +younger but by far the more important family of the Arabs +which traced its pedigree through ‘Adnán to Ismá‘íl. A +dotted line indicates the omission of one or more links in +the genealogical chain.<a name="FNanchor_4" id="FNanchor_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">4</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'>xix</span></p> + +<table width="500px" summary="geneology"> +<tr><td> +<div class="center">I.<a name="FNanchor_5" id="FNanchor_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">5</a></div> +</td></tr> +</table> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><img src="images/xiximage.png" width="500" height="647" alt= +"pedigree through ‘Adnán to Ismá‘í" title="" /></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'>xx</span>It is undeniable that these lineages are to some extent +fictitious. There was no Pre-islamic science of genealogy, +so that the first Muḥammadan investigators had only confused +and scanty traditions to work on. They were biassed, +moreover, by political, religious, and other considerations.<a name="FNanchor_6" id="FNanchor_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">6</a> +Thus their study of the Koran <span class="sidenote"> Character of +Muḥammadan +genealogy.</span> +and of Biblical history led to the introduction +of the patriarchs who stand at the head of their lists. Nor +can we accept the national genealogy beginning with ‘Adnán +as entirely historical, though a great deal of it was actually +stored in the memories of the Arabs at the time when Islam +arose, and is corroborated by the testimony of the Pre-islamic +poets.<a name="FNanchor_7" id="FNanchor_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">7</a> On the other hand, the alleged descent of every +tribe from an eponymous ancestor is inconsistent with facts +established by modern research.<a name="FNanchor_8" id="FNanchor_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">8</a> It is probable that many +names represent merely a local or accidental union; and +many more, <i>e.g.</i>, Ma‘add, seem originally to have denoted +large groups or confederations of tribes. The theory of +a radical difference between the Northern Arabs and those +of the South, corresponding to the fierce hostility which +has always divided them since the earliest days of Islam,<a name="FNanchor_9" id="FNanchor_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">9</a> +may hold good if we restrict the term 'Yemenite' +(Southern) to the civilised Sabæans, Ḥimyarites, &c., who +dwelt in Yemen and spoke their own dialect, but +can hardly apply to the Arabic-speaking 'Yemenite' +Bedouins scattered all over the peninsula. Such criticism, +however, does not affect the value of the genealogical +documents regarded as an index of the popular mind. From +this point of view legend is often superior to fact, and it +must be our aim in the following chapters to set forth what +<span class='pagenum'>xxi</span>the Arabs believed rather than to examine whether or no +they were justified in believing it.</p> + +<p>'Arabic,' in its widest signification, has two principal +dialects:—</p> + +<p>1. South Arabic, spoken in Yemen and including Sabæan, +Ḥimyarite, Minæan, with the kindred dialects of Mahra +and Shiḥr.</p> + +<p>2. Arabic proper, spoken in Arabia generally, exclusive +of Yemen.</p> + +<p>Of the former language, leaving Mahrí, Socotrí, and other +living dialects out of account, we possess nothing beyond the +numerous inscriptions which have been collected <span class="sidenote"> South Arabic.</span> +by European travellers and which it will be convenient +to discuss in the next chapter, where I shall give +a brief sketch of the legendary history of the Sabæans and +Ḥimyarites. South Arabic resembles Arabic in its grammatical +forms, <i>e.g.</i>, the broken plural, the sign of the dual, and +the manner of denoting indefiniteness by an affixed <i>m</i> (for +which Arabic substitutes <i>n</i>) as well as in its vocabulary; its +alphabet, which consists of twenty-nine letters, <i>Sin</i> and <i>Samech</i> +being distinguished as in Hebrew, is more nearly akin to the +Æthiopic. The Ḥimyarite Empire was overthrown by the +Abyssinians in the sixth century after Christ, and by 600 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> +South Arabic had become a dead language. From this time +forward the dialect of the North established an almost +universal supremacy and won for itself the title of 'Arabic' +<i>par excellence</i>.<a name="FNanchor_10" id="FNanchor_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">10</a></p> + +<p>The oldest monuments of written Arabic are modern in +date compared with the Sabæan inscriptions, some of which +take us back 2,500 years or thereabout. Apart <span class="sidenote"> The oldest +specimens of +Arabic writing.</span> +from the inscriptions of Ḥijr in the northern +Ḥijáz, and those of Ṣafá in the neighbourhood of +Damascus (which, although written by northern Arabs before +the Christian era, exhibit a peculiar character not unlike the +<span class='pagenum'>xxii</span>Sabæan and cannot be called Arabic in the usual acceptation +of the term), the most ancient examples of Arabic writing +which have hitherto been discovered appear in the trilingual +(Syriac, Greek, and Arabic) inscription of Zabad,<a name="FNanchor_11" id="FNanchor_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">11</a> south-east of +Aleppo, dated 512 or 513 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, and the bilingual (Greek and +Arabic) of Ḥarrán,<a name="FNanchor_12" id="FNanchor_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">12</a> dated 568 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> With these documents we +need not concern ourselves further, especially as their +interpretation presents great difficulties. Very few among +the Pre-islamic Arabs were able to read or write.<a name="FNanchor_13" id="FNanchor_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">13</a> Those who +could generally owed their skill to Jewish and Christian +teachers, or to the influence of foreign culture radiating +from Ḥíra and Ghassán. But although the Koran, which +was first collected soon after the battle of Yamáma (633 +a.d.), is the oldest Arabic book, the beginnings of literary +composition in the Arabic language can be traced back to +an earlier period. Probably all the Pre-islamic poems which +have come down to us belong to the century preceding +Islam (500-622 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), but their elaborate form and technical +perfection forbid the hypothesis that in them we have "the +first sprightly runnings" of Arabian song. It may be said of +these magnificent odes, as of the Iliad and <span class="sidenote"> The Pre-islamic +poems.</span> +Odyssey, that "they are works of highly finished +art, which could not possibly have been produced +until the poetical art had been practised for a long time." +They were preserved during hundreds of years by oral tradition, +as we shall explain elsewhere, and were committed to writing, +for the most part, by the Moslem scholars of the early +‘Abbásid age, <i>i.e.</i>, between 750 and 900 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> It is a noteworthy +fact that the language of these poems, the authors of +which represent many different tribes and districts of the +<span class='pagenum'>xxiii</span>peninsula, is one and the same. The dialectical variations +are too trivial to be taken into account. We might conclude +that the poets used an artificial dialect, not such as was +commonly spoken but resembling the epic dialect of Ionia +which was borrowed by Dorian and Æolian bards. When +we find, however, that the language in question is employed +not only by the wandering troubadours, who were often men +of some culture, and the Christian Arabs of Ḥíra on the +Euphrates, but also by goat-herds, brigands, and illiterate +Bedouins of every description, there can be no room for doubt +that in the poetry of the sixth century we hear the Arabic +language as it was then spoken throughout the length and +breadth of Arabia. The success of Muḥammad and the +conquests made by Islam under the Orthodox Caliphs gave +an entirely new importance to this classical idiom. Arabic +became the sacred language of the whole Moslem world. +This was certainly due to the Koran; but, on <span class="sidenote"> The Koran.</span> +the other hand, to regard the dialect of Mecca, +in which the Koran is written, as the source and prototype +of the Arabic language, and to call Arabic 'the dialect of +Quraysh,' is utterly to reverse the true facts of the case. +Muḥammad, as Nöldeke has observed, took the ancient poetry +for a model; and in the early age of Islam it was the authority +of the heathen poets (of whom Quraysh had singularly few) +that determined the classical usage and set the standard of +correct speech. Moslems, who held the Koran to be the +Word of God and inimitable in point of style, naturally +exalted the dialect of the Prophet's tribe above all others, even +laying down the rule that every tribe spoke less purely in +proportion to its distance from Mecca, but this view will not +commend itself to the unprejudiced student. The Koran, +however, exercised a unique influence on the history of the +Arabic language and literature. We shall see in a subsequent +chapter that the necessity of preserving the text of the Holy +Book uncorrupted, and of elucidating its obscurities, caused +<span class='pagenum'>xxiv</span>the Moslems to invent a science of grammar and lexicography, +and to collect the old Pre-Muḥammadan poetry and traditions +which must otherwise have perished. When the Arabs +settled as conquerors in Syria and Persia and mixed with +foreign peoples, the purity of the classical language could no +longer be maintained. While in Arabia itself, especially +among the nomads of the desert, little difference was felt, +in the provincial garrison towns and great centres of industry +like Baṣra and Kúfa, where the population largely consisted +of aliens who had embraced Islam and were rapidly being +Arabicised, the door stood open for all sorts of depravation +to creep in. Against this vulgar Arabic the <span class="sidenote"> Arabic in the +Muḥammadan +Empire.</span> +philologists waged unrelenting war, and it was +mainly through their exertions that the classical +idiom triumphed over the dangers to which it was exposed. +Although the language of the pagan Bedouins did not survive +intact—or survived, at any rate, only in the mouths of pedants +and poets—it became, in a modified form, the universal +medium of expression among the upper classes of Muḥammadan +society. During the early Middle Ages it was spoken +and written by all cultivated Moslems, of whatever nationality +they might be, from the Indus to the Atlantic; it was the +language of the Court and the Church, of Law and +Commerce, of Diplomacy and Literature and Science. When +the Mongol invasion in the thirteenth century swept away the +‘Abbásid Caliphate, and therewith the last vestige of political +unity in Islam, classical Arabic ceased to be the κοινή or +'common dialect' of the Moslem world, and was supplanted +in Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and other Arabic-speaking countries +by a vulgar colloquial idiom. In these countries, however, it +is still the language of business, literature, and education, and +we are told on high authority that even now it "is undergoing +a renaissance, and there is every likelihood of its again +becoming a great literary vehicle."<a name="FNanchor_14" id="FNanchor_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">14</a> And if, for those +<span class='pagenum'>xxv</span>Moslems who are not Arabs, it occupies relatively much +the same position as Latin and Greek in modern European +culture, we must not forget that the Koran, its most +renowned masterpiece, is learned by every Moslem when +he first goes to school, is repeated in his daily prayers, and +influences the whole course of his life to an extent which the +ordinary Christian can hardly realise.</p> + +<p>I hope that I may be excused for ignoring in a work +such as this the information regarding Ancient Arabian history +which it is possible to glean from the Babylonian and Assyrian +monuments. Any sketch that might be drawn of the Arabs, say +from 2500 <span class="smcap">b.c.</span> to the beginning of our era, would resemble a +map of Cathay delineated by Sir John Mandeville. But amongst +the shadowy peoples of the peninsula one, besides Saba and +Ḥimyar, makes something more than a transient impression. +The Nabaṭæans (<i>Nabaṭ</i>, pl. <i>Anbáṭ</i>) dwelt in towns, drove a +flourishing trade long before the birth of Christ, and founded +the kingdom of Petra, which attained a high <span class="sidenote"> The Nabaṭæans.</span> +degree of prosperity and culture until it was +annexed by Trajan in 105 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> These Nabaṭæans were +Arabs and spoke Arabic, although in default of a script of their +own they used Aramaic for writing.<a name="FNanchor_15" id="FNanchor_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">15</a> Muḥammadan authors +identify them with the Aramæans, but careful study of their +inscriptions has shown that this view, which was accepted by +Quatremère,<a name="FNanchor_16" id="FNanchor_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">16</a> is erroneous. 'The Book of Nabaṭæan Agriculture' +(<i>Kitábu ’l-Faláḥat al-Nahaṭiyya</i>), composed in 904 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> +by the Moslem Ibnu ’l-Waḥshiyya, who professed to have +translated it from the Chaldæan, is now known to be a forgery. +I only mention it here as an instance of the way in which +Moslems apply the term 'Nabaṭæan'; for the title in question +does not, of course, refer to Petra but to Babylon.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'>xxvi</span>From what has been said the reader will perceive that the +<span class="sidenote"> Three periods of +Arabian history.</span>history of the Arabs, so far as our knowledge of it +is derived from Arabic sources, may be divided +into the following periods:—</p> + +<table class="left" width="100%" summary="periods" border="0"> + +<tr> +<td class="left">I.</td> +<td class="right"><p class="indent4">The Sabæan and Ḥimyarite period, from 800 <span class="smcap">b.c.</span>, +the date of the oldest South Arabic inscriptions, to +500 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span></p></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="left">II.</td> +<td class="right"><p class="indent4">The Pre-islamic period (500-622 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="left">III.</td> +<td class="right"><p class="indent4">The Muḥammadan period, beginning with the Migration +(Hijra, or Hegira, as the word is generally written) +of the Prophet from Mecca to Medína in 622 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> +and extending to the present day.</p></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<p>For the first period, which is confined to the history of Yemen +or South Arabia, we have no contemporary Arabic sources except +the inscriptions. The valuable but imperfect <span class="sidenote"> The Sabæans and +Ḥimyarites.</span> +information which these supply is appreciably +increased by the traditions preserved in the Pre-islamic +poems, in the Koran, and particularly in the later +Muḥammadan literature. It is true that most of this material +is legendary and would justly be ignored by any one engaged +in historical research, but I shall nevertheless devote a +good deal of space to it, since my principal object is to make +known the beliefs and opinions of the Arabs themselves.</p> + +<p>The second period is called by Muḥammadan writers the +<i>Jáhiliyya</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, the Age of Ignorance or Barbarism.<a name="FNanchor_17" id="FNanchor_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">17</a> Its +characteristics are faithfully and vividly reflected +in the songs and odes of the heathen poets which <span class="sidenote"> The pagan +Arabs.</span> +have come down to us. There was no prose +literature at that time: it was the poet's privilege to sing the +history of his own people, to record their genealogies, to celebrate +their feats of arms, and to extol their virtues. Although +an immense quantity of Pre-islamic verse has been lost for ever, +<span class='pagenum'>xxvii</span>we still possess a considerable remnant, which, together with +the prose narratives compiled by Moslem philologists and +antiquaries, enables us to picture the life of those wild days, +in its larger aspects, accurately enough.</p> + +<p>The last and by far the most important of the three periods +comprises the history of the Arabs under Islam. It falls +naturally into the following sections, which are <span class="sidenote"> The Moslem +Arabs.</span> +enumerated in this place in order that the reader +may see at a glance the broad political outlines +of the complex and difficult epoch which lies before him.</p> + +<p class="p1"><i>A.</i> The Life of Muḥammad.</p> + +<p>About the beginning of the seventh century of the Christian +era a man named Muḥammad, son of ‘Abdulláh, of the tribe +Quraysh, appeared in Mecca with a Divine <span class="sidenote"> Life of +Muḥammad.</span> +revelation (Koran). He called on his fellow-townsmen +to renounce idolatry and worship the +One God. In spite of ridicule and persecution he continued +for several years to preach the religion of Islam in Mecca, but, +making little progress there, he fled in 622 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> to the neighbouring +city of Medína. From this date his cause prospered +exceedingly. During the next decade the whole of Arabia +submitted to his rule and did lip-service at least to the new +Faith.</p> + +<p class="p1"><i>B.</i> The Orthodox Caliphate (632-661 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p> + +<p>On the death of the Prophet the Moslems were governed +in turn by four of the most eminent among his Companions—Abú +Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmán, and ‘Alí—who bore <span class="sidenote"> The Orthodox +Caliphs.</span> +the title of <i>Khalífa</i> (Caliph), <i>i.e.</i>, Vicegerent, and +are commonly described as the Orthodox Caliphs +(<i>al-Khulafá al-Ráshidún</i>). Under their guidance Islam was +firmly established in the peninsula and was spread far beyond +its borders. Hosts of Bedouins settled as military colonists in +the fertile plains of Syria and Persia. Soon, however, the +<span class='pagenum'>xxviii</span>recently founded empire was plunged into civil war. The +murder of ‘Uthmán gave the signal for a bloody strife between +rival claimants of the Caliphate. ‘Alí, the son-in-law of the +Prophet, assumed the title, but his election was contested by +the powerful governor of Syria, Mu‘áwiya b. Abí Sufyán.</p> + +<p class="p1"><i>C.</i> The Umayyad Dynasty (661-750 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p> + +<p>‘Alí fell by an assassin's dagger, and Mu‘áwiya succeeded to +the Caliphate, which remained in his family for ninety years. +The Umayyads, with a single exception, were <span class="sidenote"> The Umayyad +dynasty.</span> +Arabs first and Moslems afterwards. Religion +sat very lightly on them, but they produced some +able and energetic princes, worthy leaders of an imperial race. +By 732 a.d. the Moslem conquests had reached the utmost +limit which they ever attained. The Caliph in Damascus had +his lieutenants beyond the Oxus and the Pyrenees, on the shores +of the Caspian and in the valley of the Nile. Meantime the +strength of the dynasty was being sapped by political and +religious dissensions nearer home. The Shí‘ites, who held that +the Caliphate belonged by Divine right to ‘Alí and his descendants, +rose in revolt again and again. They were joined +by the Persian Moslems, who loathed the Arabs and the +oppressive Umayyad government. The ‘Abbásids, a family +closely related to the Prophet, put themselves at the head of +the agitation. It ended in the complete overthrow of the +reigning house, which was almost exterminated.</p> + +<p class="p1"><i>D.</i> The ‘Abbásid Dynasty (750-1258 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p> + +<p>Hitherto the Arabs had played a dominant rôle in the +Moslem community, and had treated the non-Arab Moslems +with exasperating contempt. Now the tables were <span class="sidenote">The ‘Abbásid +dynasty.</span>turned. We pass from the period of Arabian +nationalism to one of Persian ascendancy and +cosmopolitan culture. The flower of the ‘Abbásid troops +were Persians from Khurásán; Baghdád, the wonderful +<span class='pagenum'>xxix</span>‘Abbásid capital, was built on Persian soil; and Persian nobles +filled the highest offices of state at the ‘Abbásid court. The +new dynasty, if not religious, was at least favourable to +religion, and took care to live in the odour of sanctity. For a +time Arabs and Persians forgot their differences and worked +together as good Moslems ought. Piety was no longer its +own reward. Learning enjoyed munificent patronage. This +was the Golden Age of Islam, which culminated in the glorious +reign of Hárún al-Rashíd (786-809 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). On his death +peace was broken once more, and the mighty empire began +slowly to collapse. As province after province cut itself loose +from the Caliphate, numerous independent dynasties sprang up, +while the Caliphs became helpless puppets in the hands of +Turkish mercenaries. Their authority was still formally +recognised in most Muḥammadan countries, but since the +middle of the ninth century they had little or no real +power.</p> + +<p><i>E.</i> From the Mongol invasion to the present day (1258 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>—).</p> + +<p>The Mongol hordes under Húlágú captured Baghdád in +1258 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> and made an end of the Caliphate. Sweeping +onward, they were checked by the Egyptian <span class="sidenote"> The Post-Mongolian +period.</span> +Mamelukes and retired into Persia, where, some +fifty years afterwards, they embraced Islam. The +successors of Húlágú, the Íl-kháns, reigned in Persia until a +second wave of barbarians under Tímúr spread devastation and +anarchy through Western Asia (1380-1405 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). The unity +of Islam, in a political sense, was now destroyed. Out of the +chaos three Muḥammadan empires gradually took shape. In +1358 the Ottoman Turks crossed the Hellespont, in 1453 +they entered Constantinople, and in 1517 Syria, Egypt, and +Arabia were added to their dominions. Persia became an +independent kingdom under the Ṣafawids (1502-1736); while +in India the empire of the Great Moguls was founded by Bábur, +<span class='pagenum'>xxx</span>a descendant of Tímúr, and gloriously maintained by his +successors, Akbar and Awrangzíb (1525-1707).</p> + +<p>Some of the political events which have been summarised +above will be treated more fully in the body of this work; +others will receive no more than a passing notice. +The ideas which reveal themselves in Arabic <span class="sidenote"> Arabian literary +history.</span> +literature are so intimately connected with the +history of the people, and so incomprehensible apart from the +external circumstances in which they arose, that I have found +myself obliged to dwell at considerable length on various +matters of historical interest, in order to bring out what is really +characteristic and important from our special point of view. +The space devoted to the early periods (500-750 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) will not +appear excessive if they are seen in their true light as the +centre and heart of Arabian history. During the next hundred +years Moslem civilisation reaches its zenith, but the Arabs +recede more and more into the background. The Mongol +invasion virtually obliterated their national life, though in +Syria and Egypt they maintained their traditions of culture +under Turkish rule, and in Spain we meet them struggling +desperately against Christendom. Many centuries earlier, in +the palmy days of the ‘Abbásid Empire, the Arabs <i>pur sang</i> contributed +only a comparatively small share to the literature +which bears their name. I have not, however, enforced the +test of nationality so strictly as to exclude all foreigners or +men of mixed origin who wrote in Arabic. It may be said +that the work of Persians (who even nowadays <span class="sidenote"> Writers who are +wholly or partly +of foreign extraction.</span> +are accustomed to use Arabic when writing on +theological and philosophical subjects) cannot +illustrate the history of Arabian thought, but +only the influence exerted upon Arabian thought by Persian +ideas, and that consequently it must stand aside unless admitted +for this definite purpose. But what shall we do in the case of +those numerous and celebrated authors who are neither wholly +<span class='pagenum'>xxxi</span>Arab nor wholly Persian, but unite the blood of both races? +Must we scrutinise their genealogies and try to discover which +strain preponderates? That would be a tedious and unprofitable +task. The truth is that after the Umayyad period no +hard-and-fast line can be drawn between the native and foreign +elements in Arabic literature. Each reacted on the other, and +often both are combined indissolubly. Although they must be +distinguished as far as possible, we should be taking a narrow +and pedantic view of literary history if we insisted on regarding +them as mutually exclusive.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">1</a></span></p> + +<h4>CHAPTER I</h4> + +<h5>SABA AND ḤIMYAR</h5> + +<p>With the Sabæans Arabian history in the proper sense may +be said to begin, but as a preliminary step we must take +account of certain races which figure more or less <span class="sidenote"> Primitive +races.</span> +prominently in legend, and are considered by +Moslem chroniclers to have been the original +inhabitants of the country. Among these are the peoples of +‘Ád and Thamúd, which are constantly held up in the Koran +as terrible examples of the pride that goeth before destruction. +The home of the ‘Ádites was in Ḥaḍramawt, the province +adjoining Yemen, on the borders of the desert named <i>Aḥqáfu +’l'Raml</i>. It is doubtful whether they were Semites, possibly +of Aramaic descent, who were subdued and exterminated by +invaders from the north, or, as Hommel maintains,<a name="FNanchor_18" id="FNanchor_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">18</a> the +representatives of an imposing non-Semitic <span class="sidenote">Legend of ‘Ad.</span>culture which survives in the tradition of +'Many-columned Iram,'<a name="FNanchor_19" id="FNanchor_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">19</a> the Earthly Paradise built by +Shaddád, one of their kings. The story of their destruction +is related as follows:<a name="FNanchor_20" id="FNanchor_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">20</a> They were a people of gigantic +strength and stature, worshipping idols and committing all +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_2" id="Page_2" href="#"><span><i>SABA AND ḤIMYAR</i></span>2</a></span> +manner of wrong; and when God sent to them a prophet, +Húd by name, who should warn them to repent, they +answered: "O Húd, thou hast brought us no evidence, +and we will not abandon our gods for thy saying, nor will we +believe in thee. We say one of our gods hath afflicted thee +with madness."<a name="FNanchor_21" id="FNanchor_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">21</a> Then a fearful drought fell upon the land +of ‘Ád, so that they sent a number of their chief men to +Mecca to pray for rain. On arriving at Mecca the envoys +were hospitably received by the Amalekite prince, Mu‘áwiya +b. Bakr, who entertained them with wine and music—for he +had two famous singing-girls known as <i>al-Jarádatán</i>; which +induced them to neglect their mission for the space of a whole +month. At last, however, they got to business, and their +spokesman had scarce finished his prayer when three clouds +appeared, of different colours—white, red, and black—and a +voice cried from heaven, "Choose for thyself and for thy +people!" He chose the black cloud, deeming that it had the +greatest store of rain, whereupon the voice chanted—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Thou hast chosen embers dun | that will spare of ‘Ád not one | +that will leave nor father nor son | ere him to death they shall have +done."</p></div> + +<p>Then God drove the cloud until it stood over the land of ‘Ád, +and there issued from it a roaring wind that consumed the +whole people except a few who had taken the prophet's +warning to heart and had renounced idolatry.</p> + +<p>From these, in course of time, a new people arose, who are +called 'the second ‘Ád.' They had their settlements in +Yemen, in the region of Saba. The building of the great +Dyke of Ma’rib is commonly attributed to their king, +Luqmán b. ‘Ád, about whom many fables are told. He was +surnamed 'The Man of the Vultures' (<i>Dhu ’l-Nusúr</i>), +because it had been granted to him that he should live as +long as seven vultures, one after the other.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_3" id="Page_3" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGEND OF ‘ÁD AND THAMÚD</i></span>3</a></span> + +In North Arabia, between the Ḥijáz and Syria, dwelt the +kindred race of Thamúd, described in the Koran (vii, 72) as +inhabiting houses which they cut for themselves <span class="sidenote">Legend of +Thamúd.</span> +in the rocks. Evidently Muḥammad did not +know the true nature of the hewn chambers +which are still to be seen at Ḥijr (Madá’in Ṣáliḥ), a week's +journey northward from Medína, and which are proved by +the Nabaṭæan inscriptions engraved on them to have been +sepulchral monuments.<a name="FNanchor_22" id="FNanchor_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">22</a> Thamúd sinned in the same way +as ‘Ád, and suffered a like fate. They scouted the prophet +Ṣáliḥ, refusing to believe in him unless he should work a +miracle. Ṣáliḥ then caused a she-camel big with young to come +forth from a rock, and bade them do her no hurt, but one of +the miscreants, Qudár the Red (al-Aḥmar), hamstrung and +killed her. "Whereupon a great earthquake overtook them +with a noise of thunder, and in the morning they lay dead in +their houses, flat upon their breasts."<a name="FNanchor_23" id="FNanchor_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">23</a> The author of this +catastrophe became a byword: Arabs say, "More unlucky +than the hamstringer of the she-camel," or "than Aḥmar of +Thamúd." It should be pointed out that, unlike the ‘Ádites, +of whom we find no trace in historical times, the Thamúdites +are mentioned as still existing by Diodorus Siculus and +Ptolemy; and they survived down to the fifth century a.d. +in the corps of <i>equites Thamudeni</i> attached to the army of the +Byzantine emperors.</p> + +<p>Besides ‘Ád and Thamúd, the list of primitive races +includes the ‘Amálíq (Amalekites)—a purely fictitious term +under which the Moslem antiquaries lumped <span class="sidenote">‘Amálíq.</span>together several peoples of an age long past, +<i>e.g.</i>, the Canaanites and the Philistines. We hear of Amalekite +settlements in the Tiháma (Netherland) of Mecca and +in other parts of the peninsula. Finally, mention should +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_4" id="Page_4" href="#"><span><i>SABA AND ḤIMYAR</i></span>4</a></span>be made of Ṭasm and Jadís, sister tribes of which nothing +is recorded except the fact of their destruction and the +events that brought it about. The legendary <span class="sidenote"> Ṭasm and Jadís.</span> +narrative in which these are embodied has some +archæological interest as showing the existence in early +Arabian society of a barbarous feudal custom, 'le droit du +seigneur,' but it is time to pass on to the main subject of +this chapter.</p> + +<p>The Pre-islamic history of the Yoqṭánids, or Southern +Arabs, on which we now enter, is virtually the history of <span class="sidenote"> History of the +Yoqṭánids.</span> +two peoples, the Sabæans and the Ḥimyarites, +who formed the successive heads of a South +Arabian empire extending from the Red Sea to +the Persian Gulf.</p> + +<p>Saba<a name="FNanchor_24" id="FNanchor_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">24</a> (Sheba of the Old Testament) is often incorrectly +used to denote the whole of Arabia Felix, whereas it was only +one, though doubtless the first in power and <span class="sidenote"> The Sabæans.</span> +importance, of several kingdoms, the names and +capitals of which are set down in the works of Greek +and Roman geographers. However exaggerated may be the +glowing accounts that we find there of Sabæan wealth and +magnificence, it is certain that Saba was a flourishing commercial +state many centuries before the birth of Christ.<a name="FNanchor_25" id="FNanchor_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">25</a> +"Sea-traffic between the ports of East Arabia and India was +very early established, and Indian products, especially spices +and rare animals (apes and peacocks) were conveyed to the +coast of ‘Umán. Thence, apparently even in the tenth century +b.c., they went overland to the Arabian Gulf, where they +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_5" id="Page_5" href="#"><span><i>THE SABÆAN EMPIRE</i></span>5</a></span> +were shipped to Egypt for the use of the Pharaohs and +grandees.... The difficulty of navigating the Red Sea +caused the land route to be preferred for the traffic between +Yemen and Syria. From Shabwat (Sabota) in Ḥaḍramawt +the caravan road went to Ma’rib (Mariaba), the Sabæan +capital, then northward to Macoraba (the later Mecca), and +by way of Petra to Gaza on the Mediterranean."<a name="FNanchor_26" id="FNanchor_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">26</a> The +prosperity of the Sabæans lasted until the Indian trade, +instead of going overland, began to go by sea along the coast +of Ḥaḍramawt and through the straits of Báb al-Mandab. In +consequence of this change, which seems to have taken place +in the first century a.d., their power gradually declined, a +great part of the population was forced to seek new homes in +the north, their cities became desolate, and their massive +aqueducts crumbled to pieces. We shall see presently that +Arabian legend has crystallised the results of a long period of +decay into a single fact—the bursting of the Dyke of Ma’rib.</p> + +<p>The disappearance of the Sabæans left the way open for a +younger branch of the same stock, namely, the Ḥimyarites, +or, as they are called by classical authors, <span class="sidenote"> The Ḥimyarites.</span> +Homeritæ, whose country lay between Saba and +the sea. Under their kings, known as Tubba‘s, they soon +became the dominant power in South Arabia and exercised +sway, at least ostensibly, over the northern tribes down to the +end of the fifth century a.d., when the latter revolted and, led +by Kulayb b. Rabí‘a, shook off the suzerainty of Yemen in a +great battle at Khazázá.<a name="FNanchor_27" id="FNanchor_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">27</a> The Ḥimyarites never flourished like +the Sabæans. Their maritime situation exposed them more to +attack, while the depopulation of the country had seriously +weakened their military strength. The Abyssinians—originally +colonists from Yemen—made repeated attempts to gain a +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_6" id="Page_6" href="#"><span><i>SABA AND ḤIMYAR</i></span>6</a></span>foothold, and frequently managed to instal governors who +were in turn expelled by native princes. Of these Abyssinian +viceroys the most famous is Abraha, whose unfortunate expedition +against Mecca will be related in due course. Ultimately +the Ḥimyarite Empire was reduced to a Persian dependency. +It had ceased to exist as a political power about a hundred +years before the rise of Islam.</p> + +<p>The chief Arabian sources of information concerning Saba +and Ḥimyar are (1) the so-called 'Ḥimyarite' inscriptions, <span class="sidenote"> Sources of +information.</span> +and (2) the traditions, almost entirely of a legendary +kind, which are preserved in Muḥammadan +literature.</p> + +<p>Although the South Arabic language may have maintained +itself sporadically in certain remote districts down to the +Prophet's time or even later, it had long ago been +superseded as a medium of daily intercourse by <span class="sidenote"> The South +Arabic or +Sabæan +inscriptions.</span> +the language of the North, the Arabic <i>par +excellence</i>, which henceforth reigns without a rival +throughout the peninsula. The dead language, however, did +not wholly perish. Already in the sixth century <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> the +Bedouin rider made his camel kneel down while he stopped +to gaze wonderingly at inscriptions in a strange character +engraved on walls of rock or fragments of hewn stone, and +compared the mysterious, half-obliterated markings to the +almost unrecognisable traces of the camping-ground which +for him was fraught with tender memories. These inscriptions +are often mentioned by Muḥammadan authors, who +included them in the term <i>Musnad</i>. That some Moslems—probably +very few—could not only read the South Arabic +alphabet, but were also acquainted with the elementary rules +of orthography, appears from a passage in the eighth book of +Hamdání's <i>Iklíl</i>; but though they might decipher proper +names and make out the sense of words here and there, they +had no real knowledge of the language. How the inscriptions +were discovered anew by the enterprise of European travellers, +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_7" id="Page_7" href="#"><span><i>SOUTH ARABIC INSCRIPTIONS</i></span>7</a></span> +gradually deciphered and interpreted until they became capable +of serving as a basis for historical research, and what results +the study of them has produced, this I shall now set forth as +briefly as possible. Before doing so it is necessary to explain +why instead of 'Ḥimyarite inscriptions' and 'Ḥimyarite +language' I have adopted the less familiar designations 'South +Arabic' or 'Sabæan.' 'Ḥimyarite' is equally misleading, +whether applied to the language of the inscriptions or to the +inscriptions themselves. As regards the language, it was +spoken in one form or another not by the <span class="sidenote"> Objections to +the term +'Ḥimyarite.'</span> +Ḥimyarites alone, but also by the Sabæans, the +Minæans, and all the different peoples of Yemen. +Muḥammadans gave the name of 'Ḥimyarite' to the ancient +language of Yemen for the simple reason that the Ḥimyarites +were the most powerful race in that country during the last +centuries preceding Islam. Had all the inscriptions belonged +to the period of Ḥimyarite supremacy, they might with some +justice have been named after the ruling people; but the fact +is that many date from a far earlier age, some going back to +the eighth century <span class="smcap">b.c.</span>, perhaps nearly a thousand years before +the Ḥimyarite Empire was established. The term 'Sabæan' +is less open to objection, for it may fairly be regarded as a +national rather than a political denomination. On the whole, +however, I prefer 'South Arabic' to either.</p> + +<p>Among the pioneers of exploration in Yemen the first to +interest himself in the discovery of inscriptions was Carsten +Niebuhr, whose <i>Beschreibung von Arabien</i>, published +in 1772, conveyed to Europe the report <span class="sidenote"> Discovery and +decipherment +of the South +Arabic +inscriptions.</span> +that inscriptions which, though he had not seen +them, he conjectured to be 'Ḥimyarite,' existed +in the ruins of the once famous city of Ẓafár. On one +occasion a Dutchman who had turned Muḥammadan showed +him the copy of an inscription in a completely unknown +alphabet, but "at that time (he says) being very ill with a +violent fever, I had more reason to prepare myself for death +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_8" id="Page_8" href="#"><span><i>SABA AND ḤIMYAR</i></span>8</a></span> +than to collect old inscriptions."<a name="FNanchor_28" id="FNanchor_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">28</a> Thus the opportunity was +lost, but curiosity had been awakened, and in 1810 Ulrich +Jasper Seetzen discovered and copied several inscriptions in the +neighbourhood of Ẓafár. Unfortunately these copies, which +had to be made hastily, were very inexact. He also purchased +an inscription, which he took away with him and copied at +leisure, but his ignorance of the characters led him to mistake +the depressions in the stone for letters, so that the conclusions +he came to were naturally of no value.<a name="FNanchor_29" id="FNanchor_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">29</a> The first serviceable +copies of South Arabic inscriptions were brought to Europe by +English officers employed on the survey of the southern and +western coasts of Arabia. Lieutenant J. R. Wellsted published +the inscriptions of Ḥiṣn Ghuráb and Naqb al-Ḥajar in his +<i>Travels in Arabia</i> (1838).</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Emil Rödiger, Professor of Oriental Languages +at Halle, with the help of two manuscripts of the Berlin Royal +Library containing 'Ḥimyarite' alphabets, took the first step +towards a correct decipherment by refuting the idea, for which +De Sacy's authority had gained general acceptance, that the +South Arabic script ran from left to right<a name="FNanchor_30" id="FNanchor_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">30</a>; he showed, moreover, +that the end of every word was marked by a straight perpendicular +line.<a name="FNanchor_31" id="FNanchor_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">31</a> Wellsted's inscriptions, together with those which +Hulton and Cruttenden brought to light at Ṣan‘á, were deciphered +by Gesenius and Rödiger working independently +(1841). Hitherto England and Germany had shared the +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_9" id="Page_9" href="#"><span><i>SOUTH ARABIC INSCRIPTIONS</i></span>9</a></span> +credit of discovery, but a few years later France joined +hands with them and was soon leading the way with +characteristic brilliance. In 1843 Th. Arnaud, starting from +Ṣan‘á, succeeded in discovering the ruins of Ma’rib, the ancient +Sabæan metropolis, and in copying at the risk of his life +between fifty and sixty inscriptions, which were afterwards +published in the <i>Journal Asiatique</i> and found an able interpreter +in Osiander.<a name="FNanchor_32" id="FNanchor_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">32</a> Still more important were the results of the +expedition undertaken in 1870 by the Jewish scholar, Joseph +Halévy, who penetrated into the Jawf, or country lying east +of Ṣan‘á, which no European had traversed before him since +24 <span class="smcap">b.c.</span>, when Ælius Gallus led a Roman army by the same +route. After enduring great fatigues and meeting with many +perilous adventures, Halévy brought back copies of nearly seven +hundred inscriptions.<a name="FNanchor_33" id="FNanchor_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">33</a> During the last twenty-five years much +fresh material has been collected by E. Glaser and Julius +Euting, while study of that already existing by Prætorius, +Halévy, D. H. Müller, Mordtmann, and other scholars has +substantially enlarged our knowledge of the language, history, +and religion of South Arabia in the Pre-islamic age.</p> + +<p>Neither the names of the Ḥimyarite monarchs, as they +appear in the lists drawn up by Muḥammadan historians, nor +the order in which these names are arranged can pretend to +accuracy. If they are historical persons at all they must have +reigned in fairly recent times, perhaps a short while before the +rise of Islam, and probably they were unimportant princes +whom the legend has thrown back into the ancient epoch, and +has invested with heroic attributes. Any one who doubts this +has only to compare the modern lists with those which have +been made from the material in the inscriptions.<a name="FNanchor_34" id="FNanchor_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">34</a> D. H. +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_10" id="Page_10" href="#"><span><i>SABA AND ḤIMYAR</i></span>10</a></span> +Müller has collected the names of thirty-three Minæan kings. +Certain names are often repeated—a proof of the existence of +ruling dynasties—and ornamental epithets are <span class="sidenote"> The historical +value of +the inscriptions.</span> +usually attached to them. Thus we find Dhamar‘alí +Dhirríḥ (Glorious), Yatha‘amar Bayyin (Distinguished), +Kariba’íl Watár Yuhan‘im (Great, Beneficent), +Samah‘alí Yanúf (Exalted). Moreover, the kings bear +different titles corresponding to three distinct periods of South +Arabian history, viz., 'Priest-king of Saba' (<i>Mukarrib Saba</i>),<a name="FNanchor_35" id="FNanchor_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">35</a> +'King of Saba' (<i>Malk Saba</i>), and 'King of Saba and Raydán.' +In this way it is possible to determine approximately the age of +the various buildings and inscriptions, and to show that they +do not belong, as had hitherto been generally supposed, to the +time of Christ, but that in some cases they are at least eight +hundred years older.</p> + +<p>How widely the peaceful, commerce-loving people of Saba +and Ḥimyar differed in character from the wild Arabs to +whom Muḥammad was sent appears most strikingly <span class="sidenote"> Votive +inscriptions.</span> +in their submissive attitude towards their gods, +which forms, as Goldziher has remarked, the keynote +of the South Arabian monuments.<a name="FNanchor_36" id="FNanchor_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">36</a> The prince erects +a thank-offering to the gods who gave him victory over his +enemies; the priest dedicates his children and all his possessions; +the warrior who has been blessed with "due man-slayings," +or booty, or escape from death records his gratitude, +and piously hopes for a continuance of favour. The dead are +conceived as living happily under divine protection; they are +venerated and sometimes deified.<a name="FNanchor_37" id="FNanchor_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">37</a> The following inscription, +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_11" id="Page_11" href="#"><span><i>SOUTH ARABIC INSCRIPTIONS</i></span>11</a></span> +translated by Lieut.-Col. W. F. Prideaux, is a typical example +of its class:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Sa‘d-iláh and his sons, Benú Marthad<sup>im</sup>, have endowed Il-Maḳah +of Hirrán with this tablet, because Il-Maḳah, lord of Awwám Dhú-‘Irán +Alú, has favourably heard the prayer addressed to him, and has +consequently heard the Benú Marthad<sup>im</sup> when they offered the first-fruits +of their fertile lands of Arhaḳim in the presence of Il-Maḳah +of Hirrán, and Il-Maḳah of Hirrán has favourably heard the prayer +addressed to him that he would protect the plains and meadows and +this tribe in their habitations, in consideration of the frequent gifts +throughout the year; and truly his (Sa‘d-iláh's) sons will descend to +Arhaḳim, and they will indeed sacrifice in the two shrines of ‘Athtor +and Shams<sup>im</sup>, and there shall be a sacrifice in Hirrán—both in order +that Il-Maḳah may afford protection to those fields of Bin Marthad<sup>im</sup> +as well as that he may favourably listen—and in the sanctuary of +Il-Maḳah of Ḥarwat, and therefore may he keep them in safety +according to the sign in which Sa‘d-iláh was instructed, the sign +which he saw in the sanctuary of Il-Maḳah of Na‘mán; and as for +Il-Maḳah of Hirrán, he has protected those fertile lands of Arhaḳim +from hail and from all misfortune (<i>or</i>, from cold and from all +extreme heat)."<a name="FNanchor_38" id="FNanchor_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">38</a></p></div> + +<p>In concluding this very inadequate account of the South +Arabic inscriptions I must claim the indulgence of my readers, +who are aware how difficult it is to write clearly and accurately +upon any subject without first-hand knowledge, in particular +when the results of previous research are continually being +transformed by new workers in the same field.</p> + +<p>Fortunately we possess a considerable literary supplement to +these somewhat austere and meagre remains. Our knowledge +of South Arabian geography, antiquities, and <span class="sidenote"> Literary +sources.</span> +legendary history is largely derived from the +works of two natives of Yemen, who were filled +with enthusiasm for its ancient glories, and whose writings, +though different as fact and fable, are from the present point +of view equally instructive—Ḥasan b. Aḥmad al-Hamdání and +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_12" id="Page_12" href="#"><span><i>SABA AND ḤIMYAR</i></span>12</a></span> +Nashwán b. Sa‘íd al-Ḥimyarí. Besides an excellent geography +of Arabia (<i>Ṣifatu Jazírat al-‘Arab</i>), which has been edited by +<span class="sidenote">Hamdání +(† 945 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span>D. H. Müller, Hamdání left a great work on history and antiquities of Yemen, entitled +<i>al-Iklíl</i> ('The Crown'), and divided into ten +books under the following heads:—<a name="FNanchor_39" id="FNanchor_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">39</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="indent2">Book I. <i>Compendium of the beginning and origins of genealogy.</i></p> + +<p class="indent2">Book II. <i>Genealogy of the descendants of al-Hamaysa‘ b. Ḥimyar.</i></p> + +<p class="indent2">Book III. <i>Concerning the pre-eminent qualities of Qaḥṭán.</i></p> + +<p class="indent2">Book IV. <i>Concerning the first period of history down to the reign of +Tubba‘ Abú Karib.</i></p> + +<p class="indent2">Book V. <i>Concerning the middle period from the accession of As‘ad +Tubba‘ to the reign of Dhú Nuwás.</i></p> + +<p class="indent2">Book VI. <i>Concerning the last period down to the rise of Islam.</i></p> + +<p class="indent2">Book VII. <i>Criticism of false traditions and absurd legends.</i></p> + +<p class="indent2">Book VIII. <i>Concerning the castles, cities, and tombs of the Ḥimyarites; +the extant poetry of ‘Alqama,</i><a name="FNanchor_40" id="FNanchor_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">40</a> <i>the elegies, the inscriptions, +and other matters.</i></p> + +<p class="indent2">Book IX. <i>Concerning the proverbs and wisdom of the Ḥimyarites in the +Ḥimyarite language, and concerning the alphabet of the +inscriptions.</i></p> + +<p class="indent2">Book X. <i>Concerning the genealogy of Ḥáshid and Bakíl</i> (the two +principal tribes of Hamdán).</p></div> + +<p>The same intense patriotism which caused Hamdání to devote +himself to scientific research inspired Nashwán b. Sa‘íd, who +descended on the father's side from one of the <span class="sidenote">Nashwán b. +Sa‘íd +al-Ḥimyarí +(† 1177 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +ancient princely families of Yemen, to recall the +legendary past and become the laureate of a +long vanished and well-nigh forgotten empire. +In 'The Ḥimyarite Ode' (<i>al-Qaṣídatu ’l-Ḥimyariyya</i>) he sings +the might and grandeur of the monarchs who ruled over his +people, and moralises in true Muḥammadan spirit upon the +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_13" id="Page_13" href="#"><span><i>LITERARY MATERIALS</i></span>13</a></span> +fleetingness of life and the futility of human ambition.<a name="FNanchor_41" id="FNanchor_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">41</a> +Accompanying the Ode, which has little value except as a +comparatively unfalsified record of royal names,<a name="FNanchor_42" id="FNanchor_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">42</a> is a copious +historical commentary either by Nashwán himself, as Von +Kremer thinks highly probable, or by some one who lived +about the same time. Those for whom history represents an +aggregate of naked facts would find nothing to the purpose in +this commentary, where threads of truth are almost inextricably +interwoven with fantastic and fabulous embroideries. A +literary form was first given to such legends by the professional +story-tellers of early Islam. One of these, the South Arabian +‘Abíd b. Sharya, visited Damascus by command of the Caliph +Mu‘áwiya I, who questioned him "concerning <span class="sidenote">‘Abíd b. Sharya.</span> +the ancient traditions, the kings of the Arabs and +other races, the cause of the confusion of tongues, and the +history of the dispersion of mankind in the various countries of +the world,"<a name="FNanchor_43" id="FNanchor_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">43</a> and gave orders that his answers should be put +together in writing and published under his name. This work, +of which unfortunately no copy has come down to us, was +entitled 'The Book of the Kings and the History of the +Ancients' (<i>Kitábu ’l-Mulúk wa-akhbáru ’l-Máḍín</i>). Mas‘údí +(† 956 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) speaks of it as a well-known book, enjoying a wide +circulation.<a name="FNanchor_44" id="FNanchor_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">44</a> It was used by the commentator of the Ḥimyarite +Ode, either at first hand or through the medium of Hamdání's +<i>Iklíl</i>. We may regard it, like the commentary itself, as a +historical romance in which most of the characters and some of +the events are real, adorned with fairy-tales, fictitious verses, +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_14" id="Page_14" href="#"><span><i>SABA AND ḤIMYAR</i></span>14</a></span> +and such entertaining matter as a man of learning and story-teller +by trade might naturally be expected to introduce. +Among the few remaining Muḥammadan authors who <span class="sidenote"> Ḥamza of Iṣfahán.</span> +bestowed special attention on the Pre-islamic period of +South Arabian history, I shall mention here only +Ḥamza of Iṣfahán, the eighth book of whose +Annals (finished in 961 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) provides a useful +sketch, with brief chronological details, of the Tubba‘s or +Ḥimyarite kings of Yemen.</p> + +<p>Qaḥṭán, the ancestor of the Southern Arabs, was succeeded +by his son Ya‘rub, who is said to have been the first to use the +Arabic language, and the first to receive the salutations +with which the Arabs were accustomed <span class="sidenote">Ya‘rub.</span> +to address their kings, viz., "<i>In‘im ṣabáḥ<sup>an</sup></i>" ("Good morning!") +and "<i>Abayta ’l-la‘na</i>" ("Mayst thou avoid malediction!"). +His grandson, ‘Abd Shams Saba, is named as the +founder of Ma’rib and the builder of the famous Dyke, which, +according to others, was constructed by Luqmán b. ‘Ád. +Saba had two sons, Ḥimyar and Kahlán. Before his +death he deputed the sovereign authority to Ḥimyar, +and the task of protecting the frontiers and making +war upon the enemy to Kahlán. Thus Ḥimyar <span class="sidenote"> Ḥimyar and Kahlán.</span> +obtained the lordship, assumed the title Abú +Ayman, and abode in the capital city of the +realm, while Kahlán took over the defence of the borders +and the conduct of war.<a name="FNanchor_45" id="FNanchor_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">45</a> Omitting the long series of mythical +Sabæan kings, of whom the legend has little or nothing to +relate, we now come to an event which fixed itself ineffaceably +in the memory of the Arabs, and which is known in their +traditions as <i>Saylu ’l-‘Arim</i>, or the Flood of the Dyke.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_15" id="Page_15" href="#"><span><i>THE DYKE OF MA’RIB</i></span>15</a></span> +Some few miles south-west of Ma’rib the mountains draw +together leaving a gap, through which flows the River Adana. +During the summer its bed is often dry, but in the +rainy season the water rushes down with such <span class="sidenote">The Dam of +Ma’rib.</span> +violence that it becomes impassable. In order to +protect the city from floods, and partly also for purposes of +irrigation, the inhabitants built a dam of solid masonry, which, +long after it had fallen into ruin, struck the imagination of +Muḥammad, and was reckoned by Moslems among the wonders +of the world.<a name="FNanchor_46" id="FNanchor_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">46</a> That their historians have clothed the bare fact +of its destruction in ample robes of legendary circumstance is +not surprising, but renders abridgment necessary.<a name="FNanchor_47" id="FNanchor_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">47</a></p> + +<p>Towards the end of the third century of our era, or possibly +at an earlier epoch,<a name="FNanchor_48" id="FNanchor_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">48</a> the throne of Ma’rib was temporarily +occupied by ‘Amr b. ‘Ámir Má’ al-Samá, surnamed <span class="sidenote"> Its destruction +announced by +portents.</span> +Muzayqiyá.<a name="FNanchor_49" id="FNanchor_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">49</a> His wife, Ẓarífa, was skilled +in the art of divination. She dreamed dreams and +saw visions which announced the impending calamity. "Go +to the Dyke," she said to her husband, who doubted her clairvoyance, +"and if thou see a rat digging holes in the Dyke +with its paws and moving huge boulders with its hind-legs, be +assured that the woe hath come upon us." So ‘Amr went to + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_16" id="Page_16" href="#"><span><i>SABA AND ḤIMYAR</i></span>16</a></span> + +the Dyke and looked carefully, and lo, there was a rat moving +an enormous rock which fifty men could not have rolled from +its place. Convinced by this and other prodigies that the +Dyke would soon burst and the land be laid waste, he resolved +to sell his possessions and depart with his family; and, lest +conduct so extraordinary should arouse suspicion, he had recourse +to the following stratagem. He invited the chief men +of the city to a splendid feast, which, in accordance with a +preconcerted plan, was interrupted by a violent altercation +between himself and his son (or, as others relate, an orphan +who had been brought up in his house). Blows were exchanged, +and ‘Amr cried out, "O shame! on the day of my +glory a stripling has insulted me and struck my face." He +swore that he would put his son to death, but the guests +entreated him to show mercy, until at last he gave way. +"But by God," he exclaimed, "I will no longer remain in +a city where I have suffered this indignity. I will sell my +lands and my stock." Having successfully got rid of his +encumbrances—for there was no lack of buyers eager to take +him at his word—‘Amr informed the people of the danger with +which they were threatened, and set out from Ma’rib at the +head of a great multitude. Gradually the waters made a +breach in the Dyke and swept over the country, spreading +devastation far and wide. Hence the proverb <i>Dhahabú</i> (or +<i>tafarraqú</i>) <i>aydí Saba</i>, "They departed" (or "dispersed") "like +the people of Saba."<a name="FNanchor_50" id="FNanchor_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">50</a></p> + +<p>This deluge marks an epoch in the history of South Arabia. +The waters subside, the land returns to cultivation <span class="sidenote"> Fall of the +Sabæan +Empire.</span> +and prosperity, but Ma’rib lies desolate, and the +Sabæans have disappeared for ever, except "to +point a moral or adorn a tale." Al-A‘shá sang:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Metre <i>Mutaqárib</i>: <img class="floatInsert" src="images/054image.png" alt="metre" /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_17" id="Page_17" href="#"><span><i>DESTRUCTION OF THE DYKE</i></span>17</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05">"Let this warn whoever a warning will take—</span> +<span class="i0">And Ma’rib withal, which the Dam fortified.</span> +<span class="i0">Of marble did Ḥimyar construct it, so high,</span> +<span class="i0">The waters recoiled when to reach it they tried.</span> +<span class="i0">It watered their acres and vineyards, and hour</span> +<span class="i0">By hour, did a portion among them divide.</span> +<span class="i0">So lived they in fortune and plenty until</span> +<span class="i0">Therefrom turned away by a ravaging tide.</span> +<span class="i0">Then wandered their princes and noblemen through</span> +<span class="i0">Mirage-shrouded deserts that baffle the guide."<a name="FNanchor_51" id="FNanchor_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51" class="fnanchor">51</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>The poet's reference to Ḥimyar is not historically accurate. +It was only after the destruction of the Dyke and the dispersion +of the Sabæans who built it<a name="FNanchor_52" id="FNanchor_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52" class="fnanchor">52</a> that the Ḥimyarites, with their +capital Ẓafár (at a later period, Ṣan‘á) became the rulers of Yemen.</p> + +<p>The first Tubba‘, by which name the Ḥimyarite kings are +known to Muḥammadan writers, was Ḥárith, called al-Rá’ish, <span class="sidenote">The Tubba‘s.</span> +<i>i.e.</i>, the Featherer, because he 'feathered' his +people's nest with the booty which he brought +home as a conqueror from India and Ádharbayján.<a name="FNanchor_53" id="FNanchor_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">53</a> Of the +Tubba‘s who come after him some obviously owe their place +in the line of Ḥimyar to genealogists whose respect for the +Koran was greater than their critical acumen. Such a man of +straw is Ṣa‘b Dhu ’l-Qarnayn (Ṣa‘b the Two-horned).</p> + +<p>The following verses show <span class="sidenote">Dhu ’l-Qarnayn.</span> that he is a double of the mysterious Dhu +’l-Qarnayn of Koranic legend, supposed by +most commentators to be identical with Alexander the Great<a name="FNanchor_54" id="FNanchor_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54" class="fnanchor">54</a>:—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_18" id="Page_18" href="#"><span><i>SABA AND ḤIMYAR</i></span>18</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05">"Ours the realm of Dhu ’l-Qarnayn the glorious,</span> +<span class="i0">Realm like his was never won by mortal king.</span> +<span class="i0">Followed he the Sun to view its setting</span> +<span class="i0">When it sank into the sombre ocean-spring;</span> +<span class="i0">Up he clomb to see it rise at morning,</span> +<span class="i0">From within its mansion when the East it fired;</span> +<span class="i0">All day long the horizons led him onward,<a name="FNanchor_55" id="FNanchor_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55" class="fnanchor">55</a></span> +<span class="i0">All night through he watched the stars and never tired.</span> +<span class="i0">Then of iron and of liquid metal</span> +<span class="i0">He prepared a rampart not to be o'erpassed,</span> +<span class="i0">Gog and Magog there he threw in prison</span> +<span class="i0">Till on Judgment Day they shall awake at last."<a name="FNanchor_56" id="FNanchor_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56" class="fnanchor">56</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Similarly, among the Tubba‘s we find the Queen of Sheba, +whose adventures with <span class="sidenote"> Bilqís.</span>Solomon are related in the twenty-seventh +chapter of the Koran. Although Muḥammad +himself did not mention her name or +lineage, his interpreters were equal to the occasion and revealed +her as Bilqís, the daughter of Sharáḥíl (Sharaḥbíl).</p> + +<p>The national hero of South Arabian legend is the Tubba‘ + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_19" id="Page_19" href="#"><span><i>THE TUBBA‘ AS‘AD KÁMIL</i></span>19</a></span> + +As‘ad Kámil, or, as he is sometimes called, Abú Karib. Even +at the present day, says Von Kremer, his memory is kept alive, +and still haunts the ruins of his palace at Ẓafár. <span class="sidenote">As‘ad Kámil.</span> +"No one who reads the Ballad of his Adventures +or the words of exhortation which he addressed on his +deathbed to his son Ḥassán can escape from the conviction that +here we have to do with genuine folk-poetry—fragments of a +South Arabian legendary cycle, the beginnings of which undoubtedly +reach back to a high antiquity."<a name="FNanchor_57" id="FNanchor_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57" class="fnanchor">57</a> I translate here +the former of these pieces, which may be entitled</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">THE BALLAD OF THE THREE WITCHES.<a name="FNanchor_58" id="FNanchor_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58" class="fnanchor">58</a></span> +<span class="i0"> </span> +<span class="i05">"Time brings to pass full many a wonder</span> +<span class="i0">Whereof the lesson thou must ponder.</span> +<span class="i0">Whilst all to thee seems ordered fair,</span> +<span class="i0">Lo, Fate hath wrought confusion there.</span> +<span class="i0">Against a thing foredoomed to be</span> +<span class="i0">Nor cunning nor caution helpeth thee.</span> +<span class="i0">Now a marvellous tale will I recite;</span> +<span class="i0">Trust me to know and tell it aright!</span> +<span class="i0"> </span> +<span class="i0">Once on a time was a boy of Asd</span> +<span class="i0">Who became the king of the land at last,</span> +<span class="i0">Born in Hamdán, a villager;</span> +<span class="i0">The name of that village was Khamir.</span> +<span class="i0">This lad in the pride of youth defied</span> +<span class="i0">His friends, and they with scorn replied.</span> +<span class="i0">None guessed his worth till he was grown</span> +<span class="i0">Ready to spring.</span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_20" id="Page_20" href="#"><span><i>SABA AND ḤIMYAR</i></span>20</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i10">One morn, alone</span> +<span class="i0">On Hinwam hill he was sore afraid.<a name="FNanchor_59" id="FNanchor_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59" class="fnanchor">59</a></span> +<span class="i0">(His people knew not where he strayed;</span> +<span class="i0">They had seen him only yesternight,</span> +<span class="i0">For his youth and wildness they held him light.</span> +<span class="i0">The wretches! Him they never missed</span> +<span class="i0">Who had been their glory had they wist).</span> +<span class="i0"> </span> +<span class="i0">O the fear that fell on his heart when he</span> +<span class="i0">Saw beside him the witches three!</span> +<span class="i0">The eldest came with many a brew—</span> +<span class="i0">In some was blood, blood-dark their hue.</span> +<span class="i0">'Give me the cup!' he shouted bold;</span> +<span class="i0">'Hold, hold!' cried she, but he would not hold.</span> +<span class="i0">She gave him the cup, nor he did shrink</span> +<span class="i0">Tho' he reeled as he drained the magic drink.</span> +<span class="i0"> </span> +<span class="i0">Then the second yelled at him. Her he faced</span> +<span class="i0">Like a lion with anger in his breast.</span> +<span class="i0">'These be our steeds, come mount,' she cried,</span> +<span class="i0">'For asses are worst of steeds to ride.'</span> +<span class="i0">''Tis sooth,' he answered, and slipped his flank</span> +<span class="i0">O'er a hyena lean and lank,</span> +<span class="i0">But the brute so fiercely flung him away,</span> +<span class="i0">With deep, deep wounds on the earth he lay.</span> +<span class="i0">Then came the youngest and tended him</span> +<span class="i0">On a soft bed, while her eyes did swim</span> +<span class="i0">In tears; but he averted his face</span> +<span class="i0">And sought a rougher resting-place:</span> +<span class="i0">Such paramour he deemed too base.</span> +<span class="i0">And himthought, in anguish lying there,</span> +<span class="i0">That needles underneath him were.<a name="FNanchor_60" id="FNanchor_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60" class="fnanchor">60</a></span> +<span class="i0"> </span> +<span class="i0">Now when they had marked his mien so bold,</span> +<span class="i0">Victory in all things they foretold.</span> +<span class="i0">'The wars, O As‘ad, waged by thee</span> +<span class="i0">Shall heal mankind of misery.</span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_21" id="Page_21" href="#"><span><i>BALLAD OF THE THREE WITCHES</i></span>21</a></span> + +<span class="i0">Thy sword and spear the foe shall rue</span> +<span class="i0">When his gashes let the daylight through;</span> +<span class="i0">And blood shall flow on every hand</span> +<span class="i0">What time thou marchest from land to land.</span> +<span class="i0">By us be counselled: stay not within</span> +<span class="i0">Khamir, but go to Ẓafár and win!</span> +<span class="i0">To thee shall dalliance ne'er be dear,</span> +<span class="i0">Thy foes shall see thee before they hear.</span> +<span class="i0">Desire moved to encounter thee,</span> +<span class="i0">Noble prince, us witches three.</span> +<span class="i0">Not jest, but earnest on thee we tried,</span> +<span class="i0">And well didst thou the proof abide.'</span> +<span class="i0"> </span> +<span class="i0">As‘ad went home and told his folk</span> +<span class="i0">What he had seen, but no heed they took.</span> +<span class="i0">On the tenth day he set out again</span> +<span class="i0">And fared to Ẓafár with thoughts in his brain.</span> +<span class="i0">There fortune raised him to high renown:</span> +<span class="i0">None swifter to strike ever wore a crown.<a name="FNanchor_61" id="FNanchor_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61" class="fnanchor">61</a></span> +<span class="ia"> * * * + * *<sup> </sup></span> +<span class="i0">Thus found we the tale in memory stored,</span> +<span class="i0">And Almighty is the Lord.</span> +<span class="i0">Praise be to God who liveth aye,</span> +<span class="i0">The Glorious to whom all men pray!"</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Legend makes As‘ad the hero of a brilliant expedition to +Persia, where he defeated the general sent against him by the +Arsacids, and penetrated to the Caspian Sea. On his way +home he marched through the Ḥijáz, and having learned that +his son, whom he left behind in Medína, had been treacherously +murdered, he resolved to take a terrible vengeance on the +people of that city.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Now while the Tubba‘ was carrying on war against them, there +came to him two Jewish Rabbins of the Banú Qurayẓa, men deep in +knowledge, who when they heard that he wished to destroy the + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_22" id="Page_22" href="#"><span><i>SABA AND ḤIMYAR</i></span>22</a></span> + +city and its people, said to him: 'O King, forbear! Verily, if thou +wilt accept nothing save that which thou desirest, an intervention +will be made betwixt thee and the city, and we are <span class="sidenote">As‘ad Kámil +and the +two Rabbins +of Medína.</span> +not sure but that sudden chastisement may befall +thee.' 'Why so?' he asked. They answered: ''Tis +the place of refuge of a prophet who in the after +time shall go forth from the sacred territory of Quraysh: it shall be +his abode and his home.' So the king refrained himself, for he saw +that those two had a particular knowledge, and he was pleased with +what they told him. On departing from Medína he followed them +in their religion.<a name="FNanchor_62" id="FNanchor_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62" class="fnanchor">62</a> ... And he turned his face towards Mecca, that +being his way to Yemen, and when he was between <span class="sidenote">As‘ad Kámil +at Mecca.</span> +‘Usfán and Amaj some Hudhalites came to him and +said: 'O King, shall we not guide thee to a house of +ancient treasure which the kings before thee neglected, wherein +are pearls and emeralds and chrysolites and gold and silver?' He +said, 'Yea.' They said: 'It is a temple at Mecca which those who +belong to it worship and in which they pray.' Now the Hudhalites +wished to destroy him thereby, knowing that destruction awaited +the king who should seek to violate its precinct. So on comprehending +what they proposed, he sent to the two Rabbins to ask +them about the affair. They replied: 'These folk intend naught +but to destroy thee and thine army; we wot not of any house in the +world that God hath chosen for Himself, save this. If thou do that +to which they invite thee, thou and those with thee will surely +perish together.' He said: 'What then is it ye bid me do when I +come there?' They said: 'Thou wilt do as its people do—make +the circuit thereof, and magnify and honour it, and shave thy head, +and humble thyself before it, until thou go forth from its precinct.' +He said: 'And what hinders you from doing that yourselves?' +'By God,' said they, 'it is the temple of our father Abraham, and +verily it is even as we told thee, but we are debarred therefrom by +the idols which its people have set up around it and by the blood-offerings +which they make beside it; for they are vile polytheists,' +or words to the same effect. The king perceived that their advice +was good and their tale true. He ordered the Hudhalites to +approach, and cut off their hands and feet. Then he continued his +march to Mecca, where he made the circuit of the temple, sacrificed +camels, and shaved his head. According to what is told, he stayed +six days at Mecca, feasting the inhabitants with the flesh of camels + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_23" id="Page_23" href="#"><span><i>AS‘AD KÁMIL AND THE RABBINS</i></span>23</a></span> + +and letting them drink honey.<a name="FNanchor_63" id="FNanchor_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63" class="fnanchor">63</a>... Then he moved out with his +troops in the direction of Yemen, the two Rabbins accompanying +him; and on entering Yemen he called on his subjects <span class="sidenote"> He seeks to +establish +Judaism in +Yemen.</span> +to adopt the religion which he himself had embraced, +but they refused unless the question were submitted +to the ordeal of fire which at that time existed in +Yemen; for as the Yemenites say, there was in their country a +fire that gave judgment between them in their disputes: it devoured +the wrong-doer but left the injured person unscathed. +The Yemenites therefore came forward with their <span class="sidenote"> The ordeal of +fire.</span> +idols and whatever else they used as a means of +drawing nigh unto God, and the two Rabbins came forward with +their scriptures hung on their necks like necklaces, and both parties +seated themselves at the place from which the fire was wont to +issue. And the fire blazed up, and the Yemenites shrank back from +it as it approached them, and were afraid, but the bystanders urged +them on and bade them take courage. So they held out until the +fire enveloped them and consumed the idols and images and the +men of Ḥimyar, the bearers thereof; but the Rabbins came forth +safe and sound, their brows moist with sweat, and the scriptures +were still hanging on their necks. Thereupon the Ḥimyarites consented +to adopt the king's religion, and this was the cause of +Judaism being established in Yemen."<a name="FNanchor_64" id="FNanchor_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64" class="fnanchor">64</a></p></div> + +<p>The poem addressed to his son and successor, Ḥassán, which +tradition has put into his mouth, is a sort of last will and +testament, of which the greater part is taken <span class="sidenote">As‘ad's farewell +to his son.</span> +up with an account of his conquests and with +glorification of his family and himself.<a name="FNanchor_65" id="FNanchor_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65" class="fnanchor">65</a> Nearly +all that we find in the way of maxims or injunctions suitable +to the solemn occasion is contained in the following verses:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05">"O Ḥassán, the hour of thy father's death has arrived at last:</span> +<span class="i0">Look to thyself ere yet the time for looking is past.</span> +<span class="i0">Oft indeed are the mighty abased, and often likewise</span> +<span class="i0">Are the base exalted: such is Man who is born and dies.</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_24" id="Page_24" href="#"><span><i>SABA AND ḤIMYAR</i></span>24</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Bid ye Ḥimyar know that standing erect would I buried be,</span> +<span class="i0">And have my wine-skins and Yemen robes in the tomb with me.<a name="FNanchor_66" id="FNanchor_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66" class="fnanchor">66</a></span> +<span class="i0">And hearken thou to my Sibyl, for surely can she foresay</span> +<span class="i0">The truth, and safe in her keeping is castle Ghaymán aye.<a name="FNanchor_67" id="FNanchor_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67" class="fnanchor">67</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>In connection with Ghaymán a few words may be added +respecting the castles in Yemen, of which the ruined skeletons +rising from solitary heights seem still to frown <span class="sidenote"> The castles +of Yemen.</span> +defiance upon the passing traveller. Two thousand +years ago, and probably long before, they +were occupied by powerful barons, more or less independent, +who in later times, when the Ḥimyarite Empire had begun to +decline, always elected, and occasionally deposed, their royal +master. Of these castles the geographer Hamdání has given a +detailed account in the eighth book of his great work on the +history and antiquities of Yemen entitled the <i>Iklíl</i>, or +'Crown.'<a name="FNanchor_68" id="FNanchor_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68" class="fnanchor">68</a> The oldest and most celebrated was Ghumdán, +the citadel of Ṣan‘á. It is described as a huge edifice of +twenty stories, each story ten cubits high. The <span class="sidenote"> Ghumdán.</span> +four façades were built with stone of different +colours, white, black, green, and red. On the top story was +a chamber which had windows of marble framed with ebony +and planewood. Its roof was a slab of pellucid marble, so +that when the lord of Ghumdán lay on his couch he saw the +birds fly overhead, and could distinguish a raven from a kite. +At each corner stood a brazen lion, and when the wind blew + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_25" id="Page_25" href="#"><span><i>ZARQÁ OF YAMÁMA</i></span>25</a></span> + +it entered the hollow interior of the effigies and made a sound +like the roaring of lions.</p> + +<p>The adventure of As‘ad Kámil with the three witches must +have recalled to every reader certain scenes in <i>Macbeth</i>. +Curiously enough, in the history of his son Ḥassán an incident +is related which offers a striking parallel to the march of +Birnam Wood. Ṭasm and Jadís have already been mentioned. +On the massacre of the former tribe by the latter, a +single Ṭasmite named Ribáḥ b. Murra made his escape and +took refuge with the Tubba‘ Ḥassán, whom he persuaded to +lead an expedition against the murderers. Now Ribáḥ's sister +had married a man of Jadís. Her name was <span class="sidenote">Zarqá’u +’l-Yamáma.</span> +Zarqá’u ’l-Yamáma—<i>i.e.</i>, the Blue-eyed Woman +of Yamáma—and she had such piercing sight that +she was able to descry an army thirty miles away. Ḥassán +therefore bade his horsemen hold in front of them leafy +branches which they tore down from the trees. They +advanced thus hidden, and towards evening, when they had +come within a day's journey, Zarqá said to her people: "I +see trees marching." No one believed her until it was too +late. Next morning Ḥassán fell upon them and put the whole +tribe to the sword.</p> + +<p>The warlike expeditions to which Ḥassán devoted all his +energy were felt as an intolerable burden by the chiefs of +Ḥimyar, who formed a plot to slay him and set <span class="sidenote"> Ḥassán +murdered by +his brother.</span> +his brother ‘Amr on the throne. ‘Amr was at +first unwilling to lend himself to their designs, +but ultimately his scruples were overcome, and he +stabbed the Tubba‘ with his own hand. The assassin +suffered a terrible punishment. Sleep deserted him, and in his +remorse he began to execute the conspirators one after another. +There was, however, a single chief called Dhú <span class="sidenote">Dhú Ru‘ayn.</span> +Ru‘ayn, who had remained loyal and had done his +best to save ‘Amr from the guilt of fratricide. Finding his +efforts fruitless, he requested ‘Amr to take charge of a sealed + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_26" id="Page_26" href="#"><span><i>SABA AND ḤIMYAR</i></span>26</a></span> + +paper which he brought with him, and to keep it in a safe +place until he should ask for it. ‘Amr consented and thought +no more of the matter. Afterwards, imagining that Dhú +Ru‘ayn had joined in the fatal plot, he gave orders for his +execution. "How!" exclaimed Dhú Ru‘ayn, "did not I tell +thee what the crime involved?" and he asked for the sealed +writing, which was found to contain these verses—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05">"O fool to barter sleep for waking! Blest</span> +<span class="i0">Is he alone whose eyelids close in rest.</span> +<span class="i0">Hath Ḥimyar practised treason, yet 'tis plain</span> +<span class="i0">That God forgiveness owes to Dhú Ru‘ayn.<a name="FNanchor_69" id="FNanchor_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69" class="fnanchor">69</a>"</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>On reading this, ‘Amr recognised that Dhú Ru‘ayn had +spoken the truth, and he spared his life.</p> + +<p>With ‘Amr the Tubba‘ dynasty comes to an end. The +succeeding kings were elected by eight of the most powerful +barons, who in reality were independent princes, each ruling in +his strong castle over as many vassals and retainers as he could +bring into subjection. During this period the Abyssinians +conquered at least some part of the country, and Christian +viceroys were sent by the Najáshí (Negus) to govern it in his +name. At last Dhú Nuwás, a descendant of the Tubba‘ +As‘ad Kámil, crushed the rebellious barons and made himself +unquestioned monarch of Yemen. A fanatical adherent of +Judaism, he resolved to stamp out Christianity in <span class="sidenote"> Dhú Nuwás.</span> +Najrán, where it is said to have been introduced +from Syria by a holy man called Faymiyún (Phemion). The +Ḥimyarites flocked to his standard, not so much from religious +motives as from hatred of the Abyssinians. The pretended +murder of two Jewish children gave Dhú Nuwás a plausible +<i>casus belli</i>. He marched against Najrán with an overwhelming +force, entered the city, and bade the inhabitants <span class="sidenote">Massacre of the +Christians in +Najrán (523 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +choose between Judaism and death. Many +perished by the sword; the rest were thrown into +a trench which the king ordered to be dug and filled with + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_27" id="Page_27" href="#"><span><i>DHÚ NUWÁS</i></span>27</a></span> + +blazing fire. Nearly a hundred years later, when Muḥammad +was being sorely persecuted, he consoled and encouraged his +followers by the example of the Christians of Najrán, who +suffered "<i>for no other reason but that they believed in the mighty, +the glorious God</i>."<a name="FNanchor_70" id="FNanchor_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70" class="fnanchor">70</a> Dhú Nuwás paid dearly for his triumph. +Daws Dhú Tha‘labán, one of those who escaped from the +massacre, fled to the Byzantine emperor and implored him, as +the head of Christendom, to assist them in obtaining vengeance. +Justinus accordingly wrote a letter to the Najáshí, desiring him +to take action, and ere long an Abyssinian army, 70,000 +strong, under the command of Aryáṭ, disembarked in Yemen. +Dhú Nuwás could not count on the loyalty of the Ḥimyarite +nobles; his troops melted away. "When he saw <span class="sidenote"> Death of +Dhú Nuwás.</span> +the fate that had befallen himself and his people, +he turned to the sea and setting spurs to his horse, +rode through the shallows until he reached the deep water. +Then he plunged into the waves and nothing more of him +was seen."<a name="FNanchor_71" id="FNanchor_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71" class="fnanchor">71</a></p> + +<p>Thus died, or thus at any rate should have died, the last +representative of the long line of Ḥimyarite kings. Henceforth +Yemen appears in Pre-islamic history only as an Abyssinian +dependency or as a Persian protectorate. The events +now to be related form the prologue to a new drama in which +South Arabia, so far from being the centre of interest, plays an +almost insignificant rôle.<a name="FNanchor_72" id="FNanchor_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72" class="fnanchor">72</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>On the death of Dhú Nuwás, the Abyssinian general Aryáṭ +continued his march through Yemen. He slaughtered a third part +of the males, laid waste a third part of the land, and +sent a third part of the women and children to the <span class="sidenote"> Yemen under +Abyssinian rule.</span> +Najáshí as slaves. Having reduced the Yemenites to +submission and re-established order, he held the position of viceroy + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_28" id="Page_28" href="#"><span><i>SABA AND ḤIMYAR</i></span>28</a></span> + +for several years. Then mutiny broke out in the Abyssinian army +of occupation, and his authority was disputed by an officer, named +Abraha. When the rivals faced each other, Abraha said to Aryáṭ: +"What will it avail you to engage the Abyssinians in a civil war that +will leave none of them alive? Fight it out with me, and let the +troops follow the victor." His challenge being accepted, Abraha +stepped forth. He was a short, fleshy man, compactly built, a +devout Christian, while Aryáṭ was big, tall, and handsome. +When the duel began, Aryáṭ thrust his spear <span class="sidenote"> Abraha and +Aryáṭ.</span> +with the intention of piercing Abraha's brain, but it +glanced off his forehead, slitting his eyelid, nose, and lip—hence the +name, <i>al-Ashram</i>, by which Abraha was afterwards known; and ere +he could repeat the blow, a youth in Abraha's service, called +‘Atwada, who was seated on a hillock behind his master, sprang +forward and dealt him a mortal wound. Thus Abraha found +himself commander-in-chief of the Abyssinian army, but the Najáshí +was enraged and swore not to rest until he set foot on the soil of +Yemen and cut off the rebel's forelock. On hearing this, Abraha +wrote to the Najáshí: "O King, Aryáṭ was thy servant even as I am. +We quarrelled over thy command, both of us owing allegiance to +thee, but I had more strength than he to command the Abyssinians +and keep discipline and exert authority. When I heard of the +king's oath, I shore my head, and now I send him a sack of the +earth of Yemen that he may put it under his feet and fulfil his oath." +The Najáshí answered this act of submission by appointing Abraha +to be his viceroy.... Then Abraha built the church +(<i>al-Qalís</i>) at San‘á, the like of which was not to be seen +at that time in the whole world, and wrote to the +Najáshí that he would not be content until he had diverted thither +every pilgrim in Arabia. This letter made much talk, and a man of +the Banú Fuqaym, one of those who arranged the calendar, was +angered by what he learned of Abraha's purpose; so he went into +the church and defiled it. When Abraha heard that the author of +the outrage belonged to the people of the Temple in Mecca, and +that he meant to show thereby his scorn and contempt for the new +foundation, he waxed wroth and swore that he would march against +the Temple and lay it in ruins.</p></div> + +<p>The disastrous failure of this expedition, which took place +in the year of the Elephant (570 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), did not at once free +Yemen from the Abyssinian yoke. The sons of Abraha, +Yaksum and Masrúq, bore heavily on the Arabs. Seeing no + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_29" id="Page_29" href="#"><span><i>THE ABYSSINIANS IN YEMEN</i></span>29</a></span> + +help among his own people, a noble Ḥimyarite named Sayf b. +Dhí Yazan resolved to seek foreign intervention. His choice +lay between the Byzantine and Persian empires, <span class="sidenote"> Sayf b. Dhí +Yazan.</span> +and he first betook himself to Constantinople. +Disappointed there, he induced the Arab king of +Ḥíra, who was under Persian suzerainty, to present him at the +court of Madá’in (Ctesiphon). How he won audience of the +Sásánian monarch, Núshírwán, surnamed the Just, and tempted +him by an ingenious trick to raise a force of eight hundred +condemned felons, who were set free and shipped to Yemen +under the command of an aged general; how they literally +'burned their boats' and, drawing courage from despair, routed +the Abyssinian host and made Yemen a satrapy <span class="sidenote">The Persians in +Yemen +(<i>circa</i> 572 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +of Persia<a name="FNanchor_73" id="FNanchor_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73" class="fnanchor">73</a>—this forms an almost epic narrative, +which I have omitted here (apart from considerations +of space) because it belongs to Persian rather than to +Arabian literary history, being probably based, as Nöldeke has +suggested, on traditions handed down by the Persian conquerors +who settled in Yemen to their aristocratic descendants +whom the Arabs called <i>al-Abná</i> (the Sons) or <i>Banu ’l-Aḥrár</i> +(Sons of the Noble).</p> + +<p>Leaving the once mighty kingdom of Yemen thus pitiably +and for ever fallen from its high estate, we turn northward +into the main stream of Arabian history.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span></p> + +<h4>CHAPTER II</h4> + +<h5>THE HISTORY AND LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</h5> + +<p>Muḥammadans include the whole period of Arabian history +from the earliest times down to the establishment of Islam +in the term <i>al-Jáhiliyya</i>, which was used by <span class="sidenote"> The Age of +Barbarism +(al-Jáhiliyya).</span> +Muḥammad in four passages of the Koran and is +generally translated 'the state or ignorance' or +simply 'the Ignorance.' Goldziher, however, has shown conclusively +that the meaning attached to <i>jahl</i> (whence <i>Jáhiliyya</i> +is derived) by the Pre-islamic poets is not so much 'ignorance' +as 'wildness,' 'savagery,' and that its true antithesis is not +<i>‘ilm</i> (knowledge), but rather <i>ḥilm</i>, which denotes the moral +reasonableness of a civilised man. "When Muḥammadans say +that Islam put an end to the manners and customs of the +<i>Jáhiliyya</i>, they have in view those barbarous practices, that +savage temper, by which Arabian heathendom is distinguished +from Islam and by the abolition of which Muḥammad sought +to work a moral reformation in his countrymen: the haughty +spirit of the <i>Jáhiliyya</i> (<i>ḥamiyyatu ’l-Jáhiliyya</i>), the tribal pride +and the endless tribal feuds, the cult of revenge, the implacability +and all the other pagan characteristics which Islam was +destined to overcome."<a name="FNanchor_74" id="FNanchor_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74" class="fnanchor">74</a></p> + +<p>Our sources of information regarding this period may be +classified as follows:—</p> + +<p>(1) <i>Poems and fragments of verse</i>, which though not written + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_31" id="Page_31" href="#"><span><i>SOURCES OF INFORMATION</i></span>31</a></span> + +down at the time were preserved by oral tradition and committed +to writing, for the most part, two or three hundred +years afterwards. The importance of this, virtually <span class="sidenote"> Sources of +information +concerning the +Jáhiliyya.</span> +the sole contemporary record of Pre-islamic +history, is recognised in the well-known saying, +"Poetry is the public register of the Arabs (<i>al-shi‘ru +díwánu ’l-‘Arab</i>); thereby genealogies are kept in mind +and famous actions are made familiar." Some account of the +chief collections of old Arabian poetry will be given in the +next chapter.</p> + +<p>(2) <i>Proverbs.</i> These are of less value, as they seldom +explain themselves, while the commentary attached to them is +the work of scholars bent on explaining them at all costs, +though in many cases their true meaning could only be conjectured +and the circumstances of their origin had been entirely +forgotten. Notwithstanding this very pardonable excess of +zeal, we could ill afford to lose the celebrated collections +of Mufaḍḍal b. Salama († <i>circa</i> 900 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) and Maydání († 1124 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>),<a name="FNanchor_75" id="FNanchor_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75" class="fnanchor">75</a> which contain so much curious information throwing +light on every aspect of Pre-islamic life.</p> + +<p>(3) <i>Traditions and legends.</i> Since the art of writing was +neither understood nor practised by the heathen Arabs in +general, it was impossible that Prose, as a literary form, should +exist among them. The germs of Arabic Prose, however, may +be traced back to the <i>Jáhiliyya</i>. Besides the proverb (<i>mathal</i>) and +the oration (<i>khuṭba</i>) we find elements of history and romance +in the prose narratives used by the rhapsodists to introduce and +set forth plainly the matter of their songs, and in the legends +which recounted the glorious deeds of tribes and individuals. +A vast number of such stories—some unmistakably genuine, +others bearing the stamp of fiction—are preserved in various +literary, historical, and geographical works composed under the +‘Abbásid Caliphate, especially in the <i>Kitábu ’l-Aghání</i> (Book + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_32" id="Page_32" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</i></span>32</a></span> + +of Songs) by Abu ’l-Faraj of Iṣfahán († 967 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), an invaluable +compilation based on the researches of the great Humanists +as they have been well named by Sir Charles Lyall, of the +second and third centuries after the Hijra.<a name="FNanchor_76" id="FNanchor_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76" class="fnanchor">76</a> The original +writings of these early critics and scholars have <span class="sidenote"><i>The Book of +Songs.</i></span> +perished almost without exception, and beyond the +copious citations in the <i>Aghání</i> we possess hardly +any specimens of their work. "The <i>Book of Songs</i>," says Ibn +Khaldún, "is the Register of the Arabs. It comprises all that +they had achieved in the past of excellence in every kind of +poetry, history, music, <i>et cetera</i>. So far as I am aware, no other +book can be put on a level with it in this respect. It is the +final resource of the student of belles-lettres, and leaves him +nothing further to desire."<a name="FNanchor_77" id="FNanchor_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77" class="fnanchor">77</a></p> + +<p>In the following pages I shall not attempt to set in due +order and connection the confused mass of poetry and legend +in which all that we know of Pre-islamic Arabia <span class="sidenote"> Scope of +this chapter.</span> +lies deeply embedded. This task has already been +performed with admirable skill by Caussin de +Perceval in his <i>Essai sur l'histoire des Arabes avant l'Islamisme</i>,<a name="FNanchor_78" id="FNanchor_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78" class="fnanchor">78</a> +and it could serve no useful purpose to inflict a dry summary +of that famous work upon the reader. The better course, I +think, will be to select a few typical and outstanding features +of the time and to present them, wherever possible, as they +have been drawn—largely from imagination—by the Arabs +themselves. If the Arabian traditions are wanting in historical +accuracy they are nevertheless, taken as a whole, true in spirit +to the Dark Age which they call up from the dead and +reverently unfold beneath our eyes.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_33" id="Page_33" href="#"><span><i>ARAB KINGDOMS</i></span>33</a></span> +About the middle of the third century of our era Arabia +was enclosed on the north and north-east by the rival empires +of Rome and Persia, to which the Syrian desert, stretching +right across the peninsula, formed a natural termination. In +order to protect themselves from Bedouin raiders, who poured +over the frontier-provinces, and after laying hands on all the +booty within reach vanished as suddenly as they came, both +Powers found it necessary to plant a line of garrisons along +the edge of the wilderness. Thus the tribesmen were partially +held in check, but as force alone seemed an expensive and +inefficient remedy it was decided, in accordance with the well-proved +maxim, <i>divide et impera</i>, to enlist a number of the +offending tribes in the Imperial service. Regular pay and the +prospect of unlimited plunder—for in those days Rome and +Persia were almost perpetually at war—were inducements that +no true Bedouin could resist. They fought, however, +as free allies under their own chiefs or <span class="sidenote"> The Arab +dynasties of Ḥíra +and Ghassán.</span> +phylarchs. In this way two Arabian dynasties +sprang up—the Ghassánids in Syria and the Lakhmites at +Ḥíra, west of the Euphrates—military buffer-states, always +ready to collide even when they were not urged on by the +suzerain powers behind them. The Arabs soon showed what +they were capable of when trained and disciplined in arms. +On the defeat of Valerian by the Chosroes Sábúr I, an Arab +chieftain in Palmyra, named Udhayna (Odenathus), marched +at the head of a strong force against the conqueror, drove him +out of Syria, and pursued him up to the very walls of Madá’in, +the Persian capital (265 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). His brilliant exploits were +duly rewarded by the Emperor Gallienus, who bestowed on +him the title of Augustus. He was, in fact, the <span class="sidenote"> Odenathus and +Zenobia.</span> +acknowledged master of the Roman legions in the +East when, a year later, he was treacherously +murdered. He found a worthy successor in his wife, the +noble and ambitious Zenobia, who set herself the task of +building up a great Oriental Empire. She fared, however, no + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_34" id="Page_34" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</i></span>34</a></span> + +better than did Cleopatra in a like enterprise. For a moment +the issue was doubtful, but Aurelian triumphed and the proud +'Queen of the East' was led a captive before his chariot +through the streets of Rome (274 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p> + +<p>These events were not forgotten by the Arabs. It flattered +their national pride to recall that once, at any rate, Roman +armies had marched under the flag of an Arabian princess. +But the legend, as told in their traditions, has little in common +with reality. Not only are names and places freely altered—Zenobia +herself being confused with her Syrian general, Zabdai—but +the historical setting, though dimly visible in the background, +has been distorted almost beyond recognition: what +remains is one of those romantic adventures which delighted +the Arabs of the <i>Jáhiliyya</i>, just as their modern descendants +are never tired of listening to the <i>Story of ‘Antar</i> or to the +<i>Thousand Nights and a Night</i>.</p> + +<p class="tb">The first king of the Arab settlers in ‘Iráq (Babylonia)<a name="FNanchor_79" id="FNanchor_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79" class="fnanchor">79</a> +is said to have been Málik the Azdite, <span class="sidenote"> Málik the Azdite.</span> who was accidentally +shot with an arrow by his son, Sulayma. Before +he expired he uttered a verse which has become +proverbial:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>U‘allimuhu ’l-rimáyata kulla yawm<sup>in</sup></i></span> +<span class="i0"><i>falamma ’stadda sá‘iduhú ramání.</i></span> +<span class="i0"> </span> +<span class="i05">"I taught him every day the bowman's art,</span> +<span class="i0">And when his arm took aim, he pierced my heart."</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Málik's kingdom, if it can properly be described as such, was +consolidated and organised by his son, Jadhíma, surnamed +al-Abrash (the Speckled)—a polite euphemism for <span class="sidenote"> Jadhíma +al-Abrash.</span> +al-Abraṣ (the Leprous). He reigned as the vassal +of Ardashír Bábakán, the founder (226 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) of +the Sásánian dynasty in Persia, which thereafter continued to +dominate the Arabs of ‘Iráq during the whole Pre-islamic + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_35" id="Page_35" href="#"><span><i>JADHÍMA AL-ABRASH</i></span>35</a></span> + +period. Jadhíma is the hero of many fables and proverbs. +His pride, it is said, was so overweening that he would suffer +no boon-companions except two stars called <i>al-Farqadán</i>, and +when he drank wine he used to pour out a cup for each of +them. He had a page, ‘Adí b. Naṣr, with whom his sister fell +in love; and in a moment of intoxication he gave his consent +to their marriage. Next morning, furious at the trick which +had been played upon him, he beheaded the unlucky bridegroom +and reviled his sister for having married a slave. +Nevertheless, when a son was born, Jadhíma adopted the boy, +and as he grew up regarded him with the utmost affection. +One day the youthful ‘Amr suddenly disappeared. For a long +time no trace of him could be found, but at last he was discovered, +running wild and naked, by two brothers, Málik and +‘Aqíl, who cared for him and clothed him and presented him +to the king. Overjoyed at the sight, Jadhíma promised to +grant them whatever they asked. They chose the honour, +which no mortal had hitherto obtained, of being his boon-companions, +and by this title (<i>nadmáná Jadhíma</i>) they are +known to fame.</p> + +<p>Jadhíma was a wise and warlike prince. In one of his +expeditions he defeated and slew ‘Amr b. Ẓarib b. Ḥassán b. +Udhayna, an Arab chieftain who had brought part of Eastern +Syria and Mesopotamia under his sway, and who, as the name +Udhayna indicates, is probably identical with Odenathus, the +husband of Zenobia. This opinion is confirmed by the statement +of Ibn Qutayba that "Jadhíma sought in marriage <span class="sidenote"> The story of +Zabbá.</span> +Zabbá, the daughter of the King of Mesopotamia, +who became queen after her <i>husband</i>."<a name="FNanchor_80" id="FNanchor_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80" class="fnanchor">80</a>—According +to the view generally held by Muḥammadan +authors Zabbá<a name="FNanchor_81" id="FNanchor_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81" class="fnanchor">81</a> was the daughter of ‘Amr b. Ẓarib and was + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_36" id="Page_36" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</i></span>36</a></span> + +elected to succeed him when he fell in battle. However this +may be, she proved herself a woman of extraordinary courage +and resolution. As a safeguard against attack she built two +strong castles on either bank of the Euphrates and connected +them by a subterranean tunnel; she made one fortress her +own residence, while her sister, Zaynab, occupied the other.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Having thus secured her position she determined to take +vengeance on Jadhíma. She wrote to him that the sceptre was +slipping from her feeble grasp, that she found no man worthy of +her except himself, that she desired to unite her kingdom with his +by marriage, and begged him to come and see her. Jadhíma needed +no urging. Deaf to the warnings of his friend and counsellor, +Qaṣír, he started from Baqqa, a castle on the Euphrates. When +they had travelled some distance, Qaṣír implored him to return. +"No," said Jadhíma, "the affair was decided at Baqqa"—words +which passed into a proverb. On approaching their destination the +king saw with alarm squadrons of cavalry between him and the city, +and said to Qaṣír, "What is the prudent course?" "You left +prudence at Baqqa," he replied; "if the cavalry advance and salute +you as king and then retire in front of you, the woman is sincere, +but if they cover your flanks and encompass you, they mean +treachery. Mount al-‘Aṣá"—Jadhíma's favourite mare—"for she +cannot be overtaken or outpaced, and rejoin your troops while +there is yet time." Jadhíma refused to follow this advice. Presently +he was surrounded by the cavalry and captured. Qaṣír, however, +sprang on the mare's back and galloped thirty miles without drawing +rein.</p> + +<p>When Jadhíma was brought to Zabbá she seated him on a skin of +leather and ordered her maidens to open the veins in his arm, so +that his blood should flow into a golden bowl. "O Jadhíma," said +she, "let not a single drop be lost. I want it as a cure for madness." +The dying man suddenly moved his arm and sprinkled with his +blood one of the marble pillars of the hall—an evil portent for +Zabbá, inasmuch as it had been prophesied by a certain soothsayer +that unless every drop of the king's blood entered the bowl, his +murder would be avenged.</p> + +<p>Now Qaṣír came to ‘Amr b. ‘Adí, Jadhíma's nephew and son by adoption, +who has been mentioned above, and engaged to win over the +army to his side if he would take vengeance on Zabbá. "But how?" +cried ‘Amr; " for she is more inaccessible than the eagle of the air." +"Only help me," said Qaṣír, "and you will be clear of blame." He + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_37" id="Page_37" href="#"><span><i>THE STORY OF ZABBÁ</i></span>37</a></span> + +cut off his nose and ears and betook himself to Zabbá, pretending +that he had been mutilated by ‘Amr. The queen believed what she +saw, welcomed him, and gave him money to trade on her behalf. +Qaṣír hastened to the palace of ‘Amr at Ḥíra, and, having obtained +permission to ransack the royal treasury, he returned laden with +riches. Thus he gradually crept into the confidence of Zabbá, until +one day he said to her: "It behoves every king and queen to provide +themselves with a secret passage wherein to take refuge in +case of danger." Zabbá answered: "I have already done so," and +showed him the tunnel which she had constructed underneath the +Euphrates. His project was now ripe for execution. With the +help of ‘Amr he fitted out a caravan of a thousand camels, each +carrying two armed men concealed in sacks. When they drew near +the city of Zabbá, Qaṣír left them and rode forward to announce +their arrival to the queen, who from the walls of her capital viewed +the long train of heavily burdened camels and marvelled at the slow +pace with which they advanced. As the last camel passed through +the gates of the city the janitor pricked one of the sacks with an +ox-goad which he had with him, and hearing a cry of pain, exclaimed, +"By God, there's mischief in the sacks!" But it was too late. +‘Amr and his men threw themselves upon the garrison and put them +to the sword. Zabbá sought to escape by the tunnel, but Qaṣír stood +barring the exit on the further side of the stream. She hurried back, +and there was ‘Amr facing her. Resolved that her enemy should +not taste the sweetness of vengeance, she sucked her seal-ring, +which contained a deadly poison, crying, "By my own hand, not +by ‘Amr's!"<a name="FNanchor_82" id="FNanchor_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82" class="fnanchor">82</a></p></div> + +<p>In the kingdoms of Ḥíra and Ghassán Pre-islamic culture +attained its highest development, and from these centres it +diffused itself and made its influence felt throughout Arabia. +Some account, therefore, of their history and of the circumstances +which enabled them to assume a civilising rôle will +not be superfluous.<a name="FNanchor_83" id="FNanchor_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83" class="fnanchor">83</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_38" id="Page_38" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</i></span>38</a></span> + +About the beginning of the third century after Christ a +number of Bedouin tribes, wholly or partly of Yemenite origin, +who had formed a confederacy and called themselves <span class="sidenote"> The foundation +of Ḥíra.</span> +collectively Tanúkh, took advantage of the +disorder then prevailing in the Arsacid Empire to +invade ‘Iráq (Babylonia) and plant their settlements in the +fertile country west of the Euphrates. While part of the +intruders continued to lead a nomad life, others engaged in +agriculture, and in course of time villages and towns grew up. +The most important of these was Ḥíra (properly, al-Ḥíra, +<i>i.e.</i>, the Camp), which occupied a favourable and healthy +situation a few miles to the south of Kúfa, in the neighbourhood +of ancient Babylon.<a name="FNanchor_84" id="FNanchor_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84" class="fnanchor">84</a> According to Hishám b. +Muḥammad al-Kalbí († 819 or 821 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), an excellent +authority for the history of the Pre-islamic period, the +inhabitants of Ḥíra during the reign of Ardashír Bábakán, +the first Sásánian king of Persia (226-241 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), consisted of +three classes, viz.:—</p> + +<p>(1) The <i>Tanúkh</i>, who dwelt west of the Euphrates between +Ḥíra and Anbár in tents of camel's hair.</p> + +<p>(2) The <i>‘Ibád</i>, who lived in houses in Ḥíra.</p> + +<p>(3) The <i>Aḥláf</i> (Clients), who did not belong to either of +the above-mentioned classes, but attached themselves to the +people of Ḥíra and lived among them—blood-guilty fugitives + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_39" id="Page_39" href="#"><span><i>ḤÍRA AND ITS INHABITANTS</i></span>39</a></span> + +pursued by the vengeance of their own kin, or needy emigrants +seeking to mend their fortunes.</p> + +<p>Naturally the townsmen proper formed by far the most +influential element in the population. Hishám, as we have +seen, calls them 'the ‘Ibád.' His use of this <span class="sidenote">The ‘Ibád.</span> +term, however, is not strictly accurate. The +‘Ibád are exclusively the <i>Christian Arabs of Ḥíra</i>, and are +so called in virtue of their Christianity; the pagan Arabs, +who at the time when Ḥíra was founded and for long +afterwards constituted the bulk of the citizens, were never +comprised in a designation which expresses the very opposite +of paganism. <i>‘Ibád</i> means 'servants,' <i>i.e.</i>, those who serve +God or Christ. It cannot be determined at what epoch the +name was first used to distinguish the religious community, +composed of members of different tribes, which was dominant +in Ḥíra during the sixth century. Dates are comparatively +of little importance; what is really remarkable is the +existence in Pre-islamic times of an Arabian community +that was not based on blood-relationship or descent from a +common ancestor, but on a spiritual principle, namely, the +profession of a common faith. The religion and culture of +the ‘Ibád were conveyed by various channels to the inmost +recesses of the peninsula, as will be shown more fully in a +subsequent chapter. They were the schoolmasters of the +heathen Arabs, who could seldom read or write, and who, it +must be owned, so far from desiring to receive instruction, +rather gloried in their ignorance of accomplishments which +they regarded as servile. Nevertheless, the best minds among +the Bedouins were irresistibly attracted to Ḥíra. Poets in +those days found favour with princes. A great number of +Pre-islamic bards visited the Lakhmite court, while some, +like Nábigha and ‘Abíd b. al-Abraṣ, made it their permanent +residence.</p> + +<p>It is unnecessary to enter into the vexed question as to the +origin and rise of the Lakhmite dynasty at Ḥíra. According + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_40" id="Page_40" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</i></span>40</a></span> + +to Hishám b. Muḥammad al-Kalbi, who gives a list of twenty +kings, covering a period of 522 years and eight months, the +first Lakhmite ruler was ‘Amr b. ‘Adí b. Naṣr <span class="sidenote"> The Lakhmites.</span> +b. Rabí‘a b. Lakhm, the same who was adopted +by Jadhíma, and afterwards avenged his death on Queen +Zabbá. Almost nothing is known of his successors until we +come to Nu‘mán I, surnamed al-A‘war (the One-eyed), <span class="sidenote">Nu‘mán I. +(<i>circa</i> 400 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +whose reign falls in the first quarter of the fifth +century. Nu‘mán is renowned in legend as the +builder of Khawarnaq, a famous castle near Ḥíra. +It was built at the instance of the Sásánian king, Yazdigird I, +who desired a salubrious residence for his son, Prince Bahrám +Gór. On its completion, Nu‘mán ordered the architect, a +'Roman' (<i>i.e.</i>, Byzantine subject) named Sinimmár, to be +cast headlong from the battlements, either on account of his +boast that he could have constructed a yet more <span class="sidenote"> The Castle of +Khawarnaq.</span> +wonderful edifice "which should turn round +with the sun," or for fear that he might reveal +the position of a certain stone, the removal of which would +cause the whole building to collapse. One spring day (so the +story is told) Nu‘mán sat with his Vizier in Khawarnaq, which +overlooked the Fen-land (al-Najaf), with its neighbouring +gardens and plantations of palm-trees and canals, to the west, +and the Euphrates to the east. Charmed by the beauty of the +prospect, he exclaimed, "Hast thou ever seen the like of +this?" "No," replied the Vizier, "if it would <span class="sidenote">Nu‘mán +becomes an +anchorite.</span> +but last." "And what is lasting?" asked +Nu‘mán. "That which is with God in heaven." +"How can one attain to it?" "By renouncing the world +and serving God, and striving after that which He hath." +Nu‘mán, it is said, immediately resolved to abandon his +kingdom; on the same night he clad himself in sackcloth, +stole away unperceived, and became a wandering devotee +(<i>sá’iḥ</i>). This legend seems to have grown out of the +following verses by ‘Adí b. Zayd, the ‘Ibádite:—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_41" id="Page_41" href="#"><span><i>THE LAKHMITE DYNASTY</i></span>41</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Consider thou Khawarnaq's lord—and oft</span> +<span class="i0">Of heavenly guidance cometh vision clear—</span> +<span class="i0">Who once, rejoicing in his ample realm,</span> +<span class="i0">Surveyed the broad Euphrates, and Sadír;<a name="FNanchor_85" id="FNanchor_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85" class="fnanchor">85</a></span> +<span class="i0">Then sudden terror struck his heart: he cried,</span> +<span class="i0">'Shall Man, who deathward goes, find pleasure here?'</span> +<span class="i0">They reigned, they prospered; yet, their glory past,</span> +<span class="i0">In yonder tombs they lie this many a year.</span> +<span class="i0">At last they were like unto withered leaves</span> +<span class="i0">Whirled by the winds away in wild career."<a name="FNanchor_86" id="FNanchor_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86" class="fnanchor">86</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>The opinion of most Arabian authors, that Nu‘mán embraced +Christianity, is probably unfounded, but there is reason to +believe that he was well disposed towards it, and that his +Christian subjects—a Bishop of Ḥíra is mentioned as early as +410 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>—enjoyed complete religious liberty.</p> + +<p>Nu‘mán's place was filled by his son Mundhir, an able and +energetic prince. The power of the Lakhmites at this time +may be inferred from the fact that on the death <span class="sidenote"> Mundhir I.</span> +of Yazdigird I Mundhir forcibly intervened in +the dispute as to the Persian succession and procured the +election of Bahrám Gór, whose claims had previously been +rejected by the priesthood.<a name="FNanchor_87" id="FNanchor_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87" class="fnanchor">87</a> In the war which broke out +shortly afterwards between Persia and Rome, Mundhir proved +himself a loyal vassal, but was defeated by the Romans with +great loss (421 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). Passing over several obscure reigns, we +arrive at the beginning of the sixth century, when another +Mundhir, the third and most illustrious of his <span class="sidenote">Mundhir III, +b. Má’ al-samá.</span> +name, ascended the throne. This is he whom the +Arabs called Mundhir b. Má’ al-samá.<a name="FNanchor_88" id="FNanchor_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88" class="fnanchor">88</a> He had +a long and brilliant reign, which, however, was temporarily + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_42" id="Page_42" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</i></span>42</a></span> + +clouded by an event that cannot be understood without some +reference to the general history of the period. About 480 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> +the powerful tribe of Kinda, whose princes appear to have held +much the same position under the Tubba‘s of Yemen as the +Lakhmites under the Persian monarchs, had extended their +sway over the greater part of Central and Northern Arabia. +The moving spirit in this conquest was Ḥujr, <span class="sidenote"> Rise of Kinda.</span> +surnamed Akilu ’l-Murár, an ancestor of the +poet Imru’u ’l-Qays. On his death the Kindite confederacy +was broken up, but towards the year 500 it was re-established +for a brief space by his grandson, Ḥárith b. ‘Amr, and became +a formidable rival to the kingdoms of Ghassán and Ḥíra. +Meanwhile, in Persia, the communistic doctrines of Mazdak +had obtained wide popularity among the lower <span class="sidenote"> Mazdak.</span> +classes, and were finally adopted by King Kawádh +himself.<a name="FNanchor_89" id="FNanchor_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89" class="fnanchor">89</a> Now, it is certain that at some date between 505 +and 529 Ḥárith b. ‘Amr, the Kindite, invaded ‘Iráq, and drove +Mundhir out of his kingdom; and it seems not impossible +that, as many historians assert, the latter's downfall +was due to his anti-Mazdakite opinions, which <span class="sidenote"> Mundhir +expelled from +Ḥíra by Ḥárith +of Kinda.</span> +would naturally excite the displeasure of his +suzerain. At any rate, whatever the causes may +have been, Mundhir was temporarily supplanted by Ḥárith, +and although he was restored after a short interval, before the +accession of Anúshirwán, who, as Crown Prince, carried out +a wholesale massacre of the followers of Mazdak (528 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), +the humiliation which he had suffered and cruelly avenged was +not soon forgotten;<a name="FNanchor_90" id="FNanchor_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90" class="fnanchor">90</a> the life and poems of Imru’u ’l-Qays + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_43" id="Page_43" href="#"><span><i>MUNDHIR III</i></span>43</a></span> + +bear witness to the hereditary hatred subsisting between +Lakhm and Kinda. Mundhir's operations against the +Romans were conducted with extraordinary vigour; he +devastated Syria as far as Antioch, and Justinian saw himself +obliged to entrust the defence of these provinces to the +Ghassánid Ḥárith b. Jabala (Ḥárith al-A‘raj), in whom +Mundhir at last found more than his match. From this time +onward the kings of Ḥíra and Ghassán are continually raiding +and plundering each other's territory. In one of his expeditions +Mundhir captured a son of Ḥárith, and "immediately +sacrificed him to Aphrodite"—<i>i.e.</i>, to the Arabian goddess +al-‘Uzzá;<a name="FNanchor_91" id="FNanchor_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91" class="fnanchor">91</a>—but on taking the field again in 554 he was +surprised and slain by stratagem in a battle which <span class="sidenote"> Death of +Mundhir III.</span> +is known proverbially as 'The Day of Ḥalíma.'<a name="FNanchor_92" id="FNanchor_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92" class="fnanchor">92</a> +On the whole, the Lakhmites were a heathen and +barbarous race, and these epithets are richly deserved by +Mundhir III. It is related in the <i>Aghání</i> that he had two +boon-companions, Khálid b. al-Muḍallil and ‘Amr b. Mas‘úd, +with whom he used to carouse; and once, being irritated by +words spoken in wine, he gave orders that they should be +buried alive. Next morning he did not recollect what had +passed and inquired as usual for his friends. On learning +the truth he was filled with remorse. He caused two +obelisks to be erected over their graves, and two +days in every year he would come and sit beside <span class="sidenote"> Mundhir's +"Good Day and +Evil Day."</span> +these obelisks, which were called <i>al-Ghariyyán</i>—<i>i.e.</i>, +the Blood-smeared. One day was the Day of Good +(<i>yawmu na‘im<sup>in</sup></i>), and whoever first encountered him on that +day received a hundred black camels. The other day was the +Day of Evil (<i>yawmu bu’s<sup>in</sup></i>), on which he would present the +first-comer with the head of a black polecat (<i>ẓaribán</i>), then +sacrifice him and smear the obelisks with his blood.<a name="FNanchor_93" id="FNanchor_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93" class="fnanchor">93</a> The + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_44" id="Page_44" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</i></span>44</a></span> + +poet ‘Abíd b. al-Abraṣ is said to have fallen a victim to this +horrible rite. It continued until the doom fell upon a certain +Ḥanẓala of Ṭayyi’, who was granted a year's grace in order to +regulate his affairs, on condition that he should find a surety. +He appealed to one of Mundhir's suite, Sharík b. ‘Amr, who +straightway rose and said to the king, "My hand <span class="sidenote"> Ḥanẓala and +Sharík.</span> +for his and my blood for his if he fail to return +at the time appointed." When the day came +Ḥanẓala did not appear, and Mundhir was about to sacrifice +Sharík, whose mourning-woman had already begun to chant +the dirge. Suddenly a rider was seen approaching, wrapped +in a shroud and perfumed for burial. A mourning-woman +accompanied him. It was Ḥanẓala. Mundhir marvelled at +their loyalty, dismissed them with marks of honour, and +abolished the custom which he had instituted.<a name="FNanchor_94" id="FNanchor_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94" class="fnanchor">94</a></p> + +<p>He was succeeded by his son ‘Amr, who is known to +contemporary poets and later historians as ‘Amr, son of Hind.<a name="FNanchor_95" id="FNanchor_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95" class="fnanchor">95</a> +During his reign Ḥíra became an important literary +centre. Most of the famous poets then living <span class="sidenote">‘Amr B. Hind +(554-569 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +visited his court; we shall see in the next chapter +what relations he had with Ṭarafa, ‘Amr b. Kulthúm, +and Ḥárith b. Ḥilliza. He was a morose, passionate, and +tyrannical man. The Arabs stood in great awe of him, but +vented their spite none the less. "At Ḥíra," said Daháb +al-‘Ijlí, "there are mosquitoes and fever and lions and ‘Amr b. +Hind, who acts unjustly and wrongfully."<a name="FNanchor_96" id="FNanchor_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96" class="fnanchor">96</a> He was slain by +the chief of Taghlib, ‘Amr b. Kulthúm, in vengeance for an +insult offered to his mother, Laylá.</p> + +<p>It is sufficient to mention the names of Qábús and + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_45" id="Page_45" href="#"><span><i>NU‘MÁN III ABÚ QÁBÚS</i></span>45</a></span> + +Mundhir IV, both of whom were sons of Hind, and occupied +the throne for short periods. We now come to the +last Lakhmite king of Ḥíra, and by far the <span class="sidenote">Nu‘mán Abú +Qábús.</span> +most celebrated in tradition, Nu‘mán III, son of +Mundhir IV, with the <i>kunya</i> (name of honour) Abú +Qábús, who reigned from 580 to 602 or from 585 to 607. +He was brought up and educated by a noble Christian family +in Ḥíra, the head of which was Zayd b. Ḥammád, father of the +poet ‘Adí b. Zayd. ‘Adí is such an interesting figure, and his +fortunes were so closely and tragically linked with those of +Nu‘mán, that some account of his life and character will be +acceptable. Both his father and grandfather were men of +unusual culture, who held high posts in the civil administration +under Mundhir III and his successors. Zayd, moreover, +through the good offices of a <i>dihqán</i>, or Persian +landed proprietor, Farrukh-máhán by name, <span class="sidenote">‘Adí b. Zayd.</span> +obtained from Khusraw Anúshirwán an important and confidential +appointment—that of Postmaster—ordinarily reserved +for the sons of satraps.<a name="FNanchor_97" id="FNanchor_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97" class="fnanchor">97</a> When ‘Adí grew up, his father sent +him to be educated with the son of the <i>dihqán</i>. He learned +to write and speak Persian with complete facility and Arabic +with the utmost elegance; he versified, and his accomplishments +included archery, horsemanship, and polo. At the +Persian court his personal beauty, wit, and readiness in reply +so impressed Anúshirwán that he took him into his service +as secretary and interpreter—Arabic had never before been +written in the Imperial Chancery—and accorded him all the +privileges of a favourite. He was entrusted with a mission to +Constantinople, where he was honourably received; and on his +departure the Qayṣar,<a name="FNanchor_98" id="FNanchor_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98" class="fnanchor">98</a> following an excellent custom, instructed +the officials in charge of the post-routes to provide horses and + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_46" id="Page_46" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</i></span>46</a></span> + +every convenience in order that the ambassador might see for +himself the extent and resources of the Byzantine Empire. +‘Adí passed some time in Syria, especially at Damascus, where +his first poem is said to have appeared. On his father's death, +which happened about this time, he renounced the splendid +position at Ḥíra which he might have had for the asking, and +gave himself up to hunting and to all kinds of amusement +and pleasure, only visiting Madá’in (Ctesiphon) at intervals to +perform his secretarial duties. While staying at Ḥíra he fell +in love with Nu‘mán's daughter Hind, who was then eleven +years old. The story as told in the <i>Book of Songs</i> is too curious +to be entirely omitted, though want of space prevents me from +giving it in full.<a name="FNanchor_99" id="FNanchor_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99" class="fnanchor">99</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>It is related that Hind, who was one of the fairest women of her +time, went to church on Thursday of Holy Week, three days after +Palm Sunday, to receive the sacrament. ‘Adí had <span class="sidenote">‘Adí meets the +Princess Hind +in church.</span> +entered the church for the same purpose. He espied +her—she was a big, tall girl—while she was off her +guard, and fixed his gaze upon her before she became +aware of him. Her maidens, who had seen him approaching, said +nothing to their mistress, because one of them called Máriya was +enamoured of ‘Adí and knew no other way of making his acquaintance. +When Hind saw him looking at herself, she was highly +displeased and scolded her handmaidens and beat some of them. +‘Adí had fallen in love with her, but he kept the matter secret for a +whole year. At the end of that time Máriya, thinking that Hind had +forgotten what passed, described the church of Thómá (St. Thomas) +and the nuns there and the girls who frequented it, and the beauty +of the building and of the lamps, and said to her, "Ask thy mother's +leave to go." As soon as leave was granted, Máriya conveyed the +intelligence to ‘Adí, who immediately dressed himself in a magnificent + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_47" id="Page_47" href="#"><span><i>ADÍ THE SON OF ZAYD</i></span>47</a></span> + +gold-embroidered Persian tunic (<i>yalmaq</i>) and hastened to the +rendezvous, accompanied by several young men of Ḥíra. When +Máriya perceived him, she cried to Hind, "Look at this youth: by +God, he is fairer than the lamps and all things else that thou seest." +"Who is he?" she asked. "‘Adí, son of Zayd." "Do you think," +said Hind, "that he will recognise me if I come nearer?" Then +she advanced and watched him as he conversed with his friends, +outshining them all by the beauty of his person, the elegance of his +language, and the splendour of his dress. "Speak to him," said +Máriya to her young mistress, whose countenance betrayed her +feelings. After exchanging a few words the lovers parted. Máriya +went to ‘Adí and promised, if he would first gratify her wishes, to +bring about his union with Hind. She lost no time in warning +Nu‘mán that his daughter was desperately in love with ‘Adí and +would either disgrace herself or die of grief unless he gave her to +him. Nu‘mán, however, was too proud to make overtures to ‘Adí, +who on his part feared to anger the prince by proposing an alliance. +The ingenious Máriya found a way out of the difficulty. She suggested +that ‘Adí should invite Nu‘mán and his suite to a banquet, <span class="sidenote"> His marriage to +Hind.</span> +and having well plied him with wine should ask for the hand of his +daughter, which would not then be refused. So it +came to pass. Nu‘mán gave his consent to the marriage, +and after three days Hind was brought home +to her husband.<a name="FNanchor_100" id="FNanchor_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100" class="fnanchor">100</a></p></div> + +<p>On the death of Mundhir IV ‘Adí warmly supported the +claims of Nu‘mán, who had formerly been his pupil and was <span class="sidenote">‘Adí secures the +election of +Nu‘mán as King +of Ḥíra.</span> +now his father-in-law, to the throne of Ḥíra. +The ruse which he employed on this occasion +was completely successful, but it cost him his +life.<a name="FNanchor_101" id="FNanchor_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101" class="fnanchor">101</a> The partisans of Aswad b. Mundhir, one of the defeated +candidates, resolved on vengeance. Their intrigues awakened + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_48" id="Page_48" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</i></span>48</a></span> + +<span class="sidenote">He is imprisoned +and put to death +by Nu‘mán.</span>the suspicions of Nu‘mán against the 'King-maker.' ‘Adí +was cast into prison, where he languished for a +long time and was finally murdered by Nu‘mán +when the Chosroes (Parwéz, son of Hurmuz) had +already intervened to procure his release.<a name="FNanchor_102" id="FNanchor_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102" class="fnanchor">102</a></p> + +<p>‘Adí left a son named Zayd, who, on the recommendation +of Nu‘mán, was appointed by Khusraw Parwéz to succeed his <span class="sidenote">The vengeance +of Zayd b. ‘Adí.</span> +father as Secretary for Arabian Affairs at the court +of Ctesiphon. Apparently reconciled to Nu‘mán, +he was none the less bent on vengeance, and only waited for +an opportunity. The kings of Persia were connoisseurs in +female beauty, and when they desired to replenish their harems +they used to circulate an advertisement describing with extreme +particularity the physical and moral qualities which were to be +sought after;<a name="FNanchor_103" id="FNanchor_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103" class="fnanchor">103</a> but hitherto they had neglected Arabia, which, +as they supposed, could not furnish any woman possessed of +these perfections. Zayd therefore approached the Chosroes +and said: "I know that Nu‘mán has in his family a number +of women answering to the description. Let me go to him, +and send with me one of thy guardsmen who understands +Arabic." The Chosroes complied, and Zayd set out for Ḥíra. +On learning the object of his mission, Nu‘mán exclaimed with +indignation: "What! are not the gazelles of Persia sufficient +for your needs?" The comparison of a beautiful woman to a +gazelle is a commonplace in Arabian poetry, but the officer +accompanying Zayd was ill acquainted with Arabic, and asked +the meaning of the word (<i>‘ín</i> or <i>mahá</i>) which Nu‘mán had +employed. "Cows," said Zayd. When Parwéz heard from <span class="sidenote">Death of +Nu‘mán III.</span> +his guardsman that Nu‘mán had said, "Do not the +cows of Persia content him?" he could scarcely +suppress his rage. Soon afterwards he sent for Nu‘mán, + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_49" id="Page_49" href="#"><span><i>DEATH OF NU‘MÁN III</i></span>49</a></span> + +threw him into chains, and caused him to be trampled to +pieces by elephants.<a name="FNanchor_104" id="FNanchor_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104" class="fnanchor">104</a></p> + +<p>Nu‘mán III appears in tradition as a tyrannical prince, +devoted to wine, women, and song. He was the patron of +many celebrated poets, and especially of Nábigha <span class="sidenote">Character of +Nu‘mán III.</span> +Dhubyání, who was driven from Ḥíra in consequence +of a false accusation. This episode, as well as +another in which the poet Munakhkhal was concerned, gives +us a glimpse into the private life of Nu‘mán. He had married +his step-mother, Mutajarrida, a great beauty in her time; but +though he loved her passionately, she bestowed her affections +elsewhere. Nábigha was suspected on account of a poem in +which he described the charms of the queen with the utmost +minuteness, but Munakhkhal was the real culprit. The lovers +were surprised by Nu‘mán, and from that day Munakhkhal +was never seen again. Hence the proverb, "Until Munakhkhal +shall return," or, as we might say, "Until the coming of +the Coqcigrues."</p> + +<p>Although several of the kings of Ḥíra are said to have been +Christians, it is very doubtful whether any except Nu‘mán III +deserved even the name; the Lakhmites, unlike <span class="sidenote">Nu‘mán's +conversion to +Christianity.</span> +the majority of their subjects, were thoroughly +pagan. Nu‘mán's education would naturally predispose +him to Christianity, and his conversion may have been +wrought, as the legend asserts, by his mentor ‘Adí b. Zayd.</p> + +<p>According to Muḥammadan genealogists, the Ghassánids, +both those settled in Medína and those to whom the name +is consecrated by popular usage—the Ghassánids <span class="sidenote"> The Ghassánids +or Jafnites.</span> +of Syria—are descended from ‘Amr b. ‘Ámir +al-Muzayqiyá, who, as was related in the last chapter, sold his +possessions in Yemen and quitted the country, taking with him +a great number of its inhabitants, shortly before the Bursting of + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_50" id="Page_50" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</i></span>50</a></span> + +the Dyke of Ma’rib. His son Jafna is generally regarded as +the founder of the dynasty. Of their early history very few +authentic facts have been preserved. At first, we are told, +they paid tribute to the Ḍajá‘ima, a family of the stock of +Salíḥ, who ruled the Syrian borderlands under Roman protection. +A struggle ensued, from which the Ghassánids +emerged victorious, and henceforth we find them established +in these regions as the representatives of Roman authority +with the official titles of Patricius and Phylarch, which they +and the Arabs around them rendered after the simple Oriental +fashion by 'King' (<i>malik</i>).</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The first (says Ibn Qutayba) that reigned in Syria of the family +of Jafna was Ḥárith b. ‘Amr Muḥarriq, who was so called because <span class="sidenote"> Ibn Qutayba's +account of the +Ghassánids.</span> +he burnt (<i>ḥarraqa</i>) the Arabs in their houses. He is +Ḥárith the Elder (al-Akbar), and his name of honour +(<i>kunya</i>) is Abú Shamir. After him reigned Ḥárith b. +Abí Shamir, known as Ḥárith the Lame (<i>al-A‘raj</i>), +whose mother was Máriya of the Ear-rings. He was the best of +their kings, and the most fortunate, and the craftiest; and in his +raids he went the farthest afield. He led an expedition against +Khaybar<a name="FNanchor_105" id="FNanchor_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105" class="fnanchor">105</a> and carried off a number of prisoners, but set them free +after his return to Syria. When Mundhir b. Má’ al-samá marched +against him with an army 100,000 strong, Ḥárith sent <span class="sidenote"> Ḥárith the Lame.</span> +a hundred men to meet him—among them the poet +Labíd, who was then a youth—ostensibly to make peace. They +surrounded Mundhir's tent and slew the king and his companions; +then they took horse, and some escaped, while others were slain. +The Ghassánid cavalry attacked the army of Mundhir and put them +to flight. Ḥárith had a daughter named Ḥalíma, who perfumed the +hundred champions on that day and clad them in shrouds of white +linen and coats of mail. She is the heroine of the proverb, "The +day of Ḥalíma is no secret."<a name="FNanchor_106" id="FNanchor_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106" class="fnanchor">106</a> Ḥárith was succeeded by his son, +Ḥárith the Younger. Among his other sons were ‘Amr b. Ḥárith +(called Abú Shamir the Younger), to whom Nábigha came on leaving +Nu‘mán b. Mundhir; Mundhir b. Ḥárith; and al-Ayham b. Ḥárith. +Jabala, the son of al-Ayham, was the last of the kings of Ghassán. + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_51" id="Page_51" href="#"><span><i>THE JAFNITE DYNASTY</i></span>51</a></span> + +He was twelve spans in height, and his feet brushed the ground +when he rode on horseback. He reached the Islamic period and became +a Moslem in the Caliphate of ‘Umar b. al-Khaṭṭáb, <span class="sidenote"> Jabala b. al-Ayham.</span> +but afterwards he turned Christian and went to live in +the Byzantine Empire. The occasion of his turning +Christian was this: In passing through the bazaar of Damascus he +let his horse tread upon one of the bystanders, who sprang up and +struck Jabala a blow on the face. The Ghassánís seized the fellow +and brought him before Abú ‘Ubayda b. al-Jarráḥ,<a name="FNanchor_107" id="FNanchor_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107" class="fnanchor">107</a> complaining that +he had struck their master. Abú ‘Ubayda demanded proof. "What +use wilt thou make of the proof?" said Jabala. He answered: "If +he has struck thee, thou wilt strike him a blow in return." "And +shall not he be slain?" "No." "Shall not his hand be cut off?" +"No," said Abú ‘Ubayda; "God has ordained retaliation only—blow +for blow." Then Jabala went forth and betook himself to +Roman territory and became a Christian; and he stayed there all +the rest of his life.<a name="FNanchor_108" id="FNanchor_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108" class="fnanchor">108</a></p></div> + +<p>The Arabian traditions respecting the dynasty of Ghassán +are hopelessly confused and supply hardly any material even for <span class="sidenote"> Ḥárith the Lame.</span> +the rough historical sketch which may be pieced +together from the scattered notices in Byzantine +authors.<a name="FNanchor_109" id="FNanchor_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109" class="fnanchor">109</a> It would seem that the first unquestionable Ghassánid +prince was Ḥárith b. Jabala (Ἀρέθας τοῦ Γαβάλα), who +figures in Arabian chronicles as 'Ḥárith the Lame,' and who +was appointed by Justinian (about 529 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) to balance, on the +Roman side, the active and enterprising King of Ḥíra, Mundhir +b. Má’ al-samá. During the greater part of his long reign +(529-569 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) he was engaged in war with this dangerous +rival, to whose defeat and death in the decisive battle of +Ḥalíma we have already referred. Like all his line, Ḥárith +was a Christian of the Monophysite Church, which he defended +with equal zeal and success at a time when its very existence + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_52" id="Page_52" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</i></span>52</a></span> + +was at stake. The following story illustrates his formidable +character. Towards the end of his life he visited Constantinople +to arrange with the Imperial Government which of his +sons should succeed him, and made a powerful impression on +the people of that city, especially on the Emperor's nephew, +Justinus. Many years afterwards, when Justinus had fallen +into dotage, the chamberlains would frighten him, when he +began to rave, with "Hush! Arethas will come and take you."<a name="FNanchor_110" id="FNanchor_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_110" class="fnanchor">110</a></p> + +<p>Ḥárith was succeeded by his son, Mundhir, who vanquished +the new King of Ḥíra, Qábús b. Hind, on Ascension Day, +<span class="sidenote"> Mundhir b. +Ḥárith.</span>570 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, in a battle which is perhaps identical +with that celebrated by the Arabs as the Battle of +‘Ayn Ubágh. The refusal of the Emperor Justinus to furnish +him with money may have prevented Mundhir from pursuing +his advantage, and was the beginning of open hostility between +them, which culminated about eleven years later in his being +carried off to Constantinople and forced to reside in Sicily.</p> + +<p>From this time to the Persian conquest of Palestine +(614 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) anarchy prevailed throughout the Ghassánid +kingdom. The various tribes elected their own princes, who +sometimes, no doubt, were Jafnites; but the dynasty had +virtually broken up. Possibly it was restored by Heraclius +when he drove the Persians out of Syria (629 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), as the +Ghassánians are repeatedly found fighting for Rome against +the Moslems, and according to the unanimous testimony of +Arabian writers, the Jafnite Jabala b. al-Ayham, who took an +active part in the struggle, was the last king of Ghassán. +His accession may be placed about 635 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> The poet +Ḥassán b. Thábit, who as a native of Medína could claim +kinship with the Ghassánids, and visited their court in his +youth, gives a glowing description of its luxury and magnificence.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_53" id="Page_53" href="#"><span><i>THE JAFNITE DYNASTY</i></span>53</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I have seen ten singing-girls, five of them Greeks, singing Greek +songs to the music of lutes, and five from Ḥíra who had been presented +to King Jabala by Iyás b. Qabíṣa,<a name="FNanchor_111" id="FNanchor_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_111" class="fnanchor">111</a> chanting <span class="sidenote"> Ḥassán b. +Thábit's picture +of the +Ghassánid +court.</span> +Babylonian airs. Arab singers used to come from +Mecca and elsewhere for his delight; and when he +would drink wine he sat on a couch of myrtle and +jasmine and all sorts of sweet-smelling flowers, surrounded +by gold and silver vessels full of ambergris and musk. +During winter aloes-wood was burned in his apartments, while in +summer he cooled himself with snow. Both he and his courtiers +wore light robes, arranged with more regard to comfort than ceremony,<a name="FNanchor_112" id="FNanchor_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_112" class="fnanchor">112</a> +in the hot weather, and white furs, called <i>fanak</i>,<a name="FNanchor_113" id="FNanchor_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_113" class="fnanchor">113</a> or the like, +in the cold season; and, by God, I was never in his company but +he gave me the robe which he was wearing on that day, and many +of his friends were thus honoured. He treated the rude with forbearance; +he laughed without reserve and lavished his gifts before +they were sought. He was handsome, and agreeable in conversation: +I never knew him offend in speech or act."<a name="FNanchor_114" id="FNanchor_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_114" class="fnanchor">114</a></p></div> + +<p>Unlike the rival dynasty on the Euphrates, the Ghassánids +had no fixed residence. They ruled the country round +Damascus and Palmyra, but these places were never in their +possession. The capital of their nomad kingdom was the +temporary camp (in Aramaic, <i>ḥértá</i>) which followed them to +and fro, but was generally to be found in the Gaulonitis + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_54" id="Page_54" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</i></span>54</a></span> + +(al-Jawlán), south of Damascus. Thus under the quickening +impulse of Hellenistic culture the Ghassánids developed a civilisation +far superior to that of the Lakhmites, who, <span class="sidenote"> Ghassánid +civilisation.</span> +just because of their half-barbarian character, +were more closely in touch with the heathen +Arabs, and exercised a deeper influence upon them. Some +aspects of this civilisation have been indicated in the description +of Jabala b. al-Ayham's court, attributed to the poet +Ḥassán. An earlier bard, the famous Nábigha, having fallen +out of favour with Nu‘mán III of Híra, fled to Syria, where +he composed a splendid eulogy of the Ghassánids <span class="sidenote"> Nábigha's +encomium.</span> +in honour of his patron, King ‘Amr, son of Ḥárith +the Lame. After celebrating their warlike +prowess, which he has immortalised in the oft-quoted verse—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05">"One fault they have: their swords are blunt of edge</span> +<span class="i0">Through constant beating on their foemen's mail,"</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>he concludes in a softer strain:</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05">"Theirs is a liberal nature that God gave</span> +<span class="i0">To no men else; their virtues never fail.</span> +<span class="i0">Their home the Holy Land: their faith upright:</span> +<span class="i0">They hope to prosper if good deeds avail.</span> +<span class="i0">Zoned in fair wise and delicately shod,</span> +<span class="i0">They keep the Feast of Palms, when maidens pale,</span> +<span class="i0">Whose scarlet silken robes on trestles hang,</span> +<span class="i0">Greet them with odorous boughs and bid them hail.</span> +<span class="i0">Long lapped in ease tho' bred to war, their limbs</span> +<span class="i0">Green-shouldered vestments, white-sleeved, richly veil."<a name="FNanchor_115" id="FNanchor_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_115" class="fnanchor">115</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>The Pre-islamic history of the Bedouins is mainly a record +of wars, or rather guerillas, in which a great deal of raiding +and plundering was accomplished, as a rule without serious +bloodshed. There was no lack of shouting; volleys of vaunts + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_55" id="Page_55" href="#"><span><i>HISTORY OF THE BEDOUINS</i></span>55</a></span> + +and satires were exchanged; camels and women were carried +off; many skirmishes took place but few pitched battles: it +was an Homeric kind of warfare that called forth individual +exertion in the highest degree, and gave ample opportunity for +single-handed deeds of heroism. "To write a true history of +such Bedouin feuds is well-nigh impossible. As comparatively +trustworthy sources of information we have only the <span class="sidenote"> Character of +Bedouin +history.</span> +poems and fragments of verse which have been preserved. +According to Suyúṭí, the Arabian traditionists +used to demand from any Bedouin who related +an historical event the citation of some verses in +its support; and, in effect, all such stories that have come +down to us are crystallised round the poems. Unfortunately +these crystals are seldom pure. It appears only too often that +the narratives have been invented, with abundant fancy and +with more or less skill, to suit the contents of the verses."<a name="FNanchor_116" id="FNanchor_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116" class="fnanchor">116</a> +But although what is traditionally related concerning the +Battle-days of the Arabs (<i>Ayyámu ’l-‘Arab</i>) is to a large extent +legendary, it describes with sufficient fidelity how tribal hostilities +generally arose and the way in which they were conducted. +The following account of the War of Basús—the +most famous of those waged in Pre-islamic times—will serve +to illustrate this important phase of Bedouin life.<a name="FNanchor_117" id="FNanchor_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_117" class="fnanchor">117</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Towards the end of the fifth century <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> Kulayb, son of Rabí‘a, +was chieftain of the Banú Taghlib, a powerful tribe which divided +with their kinsmen, the Banú Bakr, a vast tract in <span class="sidenote"> War of +Basús.</span> +north-eastern Arabia, extending from the central +highlands to the Syrian desert. His victory at the +head of a confederacy formed by these tribes and others over the +Yemenite Arabs made him the first man in the peninsula, and soon +his pride became no less proverbial than his power.<a name="FNanchor_118" id="FNanchor_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_118" class="fnanchor">118</a> He was + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_56" id="Page_56" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</i></span>56</a></span> + +married to Ḥalíla, daughter of Murra, of the Banú Bakr, and dwelt +in a 'preserve' (<i>ḥimá</i>), where he claimed the sole right of pasturage +for himself and the sons of Murra. His brother-in-law, Jassás, had +an aunt named Basús. While living under her nephew's protection +she was joined by a certain Sa‘d, a client of her own people, who +brought with him a she-camel called Sarábi.</p></div> + +<p>Now it happened that Kulayb, seeing a lark's nest as he walked +on his land, said to the bird, which was screaming and fluttering <span class="sidenote">Kulayb b. +Rabí‘a and +Jassás b. Murra.</span> +distressfully over her eggs, "Have no fear! I will +protect thee." But a short time afterwards he +observed in that place the track of a strange camel +and found the eggs trodden to pieces. Next morning +when he and Jassás visited the pasture ground, Kulayb noticed the +she-camel of Sa‘d among his brother-in-law's herd, and conjecturing +that she had destroyed the eggs, cried out to Jassás, "Take heed +thou! Take heed! I have pondered something, and were I sure, +I would have done it! May this she-camel never come here again +with this herd!" "By God," exclaimed Jassás, "but she shall +come!" and when Kulayb threatened to pierce her udder with an +arrow, Jassás retorted, "By the stones of Wá’il,<a name="FNanchor_119" id="FNanchor_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_119" class="fnanchor">119</a> fix thine arrow in +her udder and I will fix my lance in thy backbone!" Then he +drove his camels forth from the <i>ḥimá</i>. Kulayb went home in a +passion, and said to his wife, who sought to discover what ailed +him, "Knowest thou any one who durst defend his client against +me?" She answered, "No one except my brother Jassás, if he has +given his word." She did what she could to prevent the quarrel +going further, and for a time nothing worse than taunts passed +between them, until one day Kulayb went to look after his camels +which were being taken to water, and were followed by those of +Jassás. While the latter were waiting their turn to <span class="sidenote">The wounding +of Sa‘d's +she-camel.</span> +drink, Sa‘d's she-camel broke loose and ran towards +the water. Kulayb imagined that Jassás had let her +go deliberately, and resenting the supposed insult, he +seized his bow and shot her through the udder. The beast lay +down, moaning loudly, before the tent of Basús, who in vehement +indignation at the wrong suffered by her friend, Sa‘d, tore the veil +from her head, beating her face and crying, "O shame, shame!" +Then, addressing Sa‘d, but raising her voice so that Jassás might + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_57" id="Page_57" href="#"><span><i>THE WAR OF BASÚS</i></span>57</a></span> + +hear, she spoke these verses, which are known as 'The Instigators' +(<i>al-Muwaththibát</i>):—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">"<i>O Sa‘d, be not deceived! Protect thyself!</i></span> +<span class="i6"><i>This people for their clients have no care.</i></span> + +<span class="sidenote">Verses spoken by Basús.</span> + +<span class="i8"><i>Look to my herds, I charge thee, for I doubt</i></span> +<span class="i8"><i>Even my little daughters ill may fare.</i></span> +<span class="i8"><i>By thy life, had I been in Minqar's house,</i></span> +<span class="i6"><i>Thou would'st not have been wronged, my client, there!</i></span> +<span class="i6"><i>But now such folk I dwell among that when</i></span> +<span class="i6"><i>The wolf comes, 'tis my sheep he comes to tear!</i>"<a name="FNanchor_120" id="FNanchor_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_120" class="fnanchor">120</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Jassás was stung to the quick by the imputation, which no Arab +can endure, that injury and insult might be inflicted upon his guest-friend +with impunity. Some days afterwards, having ascertained +that Kulayb had gone out unarmed, he followed and slew him, and +fled in haste to his own people. Murra, when he heard the news, +said to his son, "Thou alone must answer for thy deed: thou shalt +be put in chains that his kinsmen may slay thee. By the stones of +Wá’il, never will Bakr and Taghlib be joined together <span class="sidenote"> Kulayb +murdered by +Jassás.</span> +in welfare after the death of Kulayb. Verily, an evil +thing hast thou brought upon thy people, O Jassás! +Thou hast slain their chief and severed their union +and cast war into their midst." So he put Jassás in chains and confined +him in a tent; then he summoned the elders of the families +and asked them, "What do ye say concerning Jassás? Here he is, +a prisoner, until the avengers demand him and we deliver him unto +them." "No, by God," cried Sa‘d b. Málik b. Ḍubay‘a b. Qays, "we +will not give him up, but will fight for him to the last man!" With +these words he called for a camel to be sacrificed, and when its +throat was cut they swore to one another over the blood. Thereupon +Murra said to Jassás:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">"<i>If war thou hast wrought and brought on me,</i></span> +<span class="i6"><i>No laggard I with arms outworn.</i></span> + +<span class="sidenote">Verses of Murra, the father of Jassás.</span> + +<span class="i8"><i>Whate'er befall, I make to flow</i></span> +<span class="i8"><i>The baneful cups of death at morn.</i></span> +<span class="i8"> </span> +<span class="i8"><i>When spear-points clash, my wounded man</i></span> +<span class="i6"><i>Is forced to drag the spear he stained.</i></span> +<span class="i6"><i>Never I reck, if war must be,</i></span> +<span class="i6"><i>What Destiny hath preordained.</i></span> + +<span class="i6"> <span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_58" id="Page_58" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</i></span>58</a></span></span> + +<span class="i6"><i>Donning war's harness, I will strive</i></span> +<span class="i6"><i>To fend from me the shame that sears.</i></span> +<span class="i6"><i>Already I thrill and my lust is roused</i></span> +<span class="i6"><i>For the shock of the horsemen against the spears!</i>"<a name="FNanchor_121" id="FNanchor_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_121" class="fnanchor">121</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Thus began the War of Basús between Taghlib on the one side +and the clan of Shaybán, to which Murra belonged, on the other; <span class="sidenote"> Outbreak of +war between +Taghlib and +Bakr.</span> +for at first the remaining divisions of Bakr held aloof +from the struggle, considering Shaybán to be clearly +in the wrong. The latter were reduced to dire straits, +when an event occurred which caused the Bakrites +to rise as one man on behalf of their fellows. Ḥárith b.‘Ubád, +a famous knight of Bakr, had refused to take part in the contest, +saying in words which became proverbial, "I have neither camel +nor she-camel in it," <i>i.e.</i>, "it is no affair of mine." One day his +nephew, Bujayr, encountered Kulayb's brother, Muhalhil, on whom +the mantle of the murdered chief had fallen; and Muhalhil, struck +with admiration for the youth's comeliness, asked him who he was. +"Bujayr," said he, "the son of ‘Amr, the son of ‘Ubád." "And +who is thy uncle on the mother's side?" "My mother is a captive" +(for he would not name an uncle of whom he had no honour). +Then Muhalhil slew him, crying, "Pay for Kulayb's shoe-latchet!" +On hearing this, Ḥárith sent a message to Muhalhil in which he +declared that if vengeance were satisfied by the death of Bujayr, +he for his part would gladly acquiesce. But Muhalhil replied, "I +have taken satisfaction only for Kulayb's shoe-latchet." Thereupon +Ḥárith sprang up in wrath and cried:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05">"<i>God knows, I kindled not this fire, altho'</i></span> +<span class="i2"><i>I am burned in it to-day.</i></span> +<span class="i0"><i>A lord for a shoe-latchet is too dear:</i></span> +<span class="i2"><i>To horse! To horse! Away!</i>"<a name="FNanchor_122" id="FNanchor_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_122" class="fnanchor">122</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>And al-Find, of the Banú Bakr, said on this occasion:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05">"<i>We spared the Banú Hind<a name="FNanchor_123" id="FNanchor_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_123" class="fnanchor">123</a> +and said, 'Our brothers they remain:</i></span> +<span class="i0"><i>It may be Time will make of us one people yet again.'</i>"</span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_59" id="Page_59" href="#"><span><i>THE WAR OF BASÚS</i></span>59</a></span> + +<span class="i0"><i>But when the wrong grew manifest, and naked Ill stood plain,</i></span> + +<span class="sidenote">Verses by<br /> al-Find.</span> + +<span class="i7"><i>And naught was left but ruthless hate, we paid them bane with bane!</i></span> +<span class="i7"><i>As lions marched we forth to war in wrath and high disdain:</i></span> +<span class="i7"><i>Our swords brought widowhood and tears and wailing in their train,</i></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Our spears dealt gashes wide whence blood like water spilled amain.</i></span> +<span class="i0"><i>No way but Force to weaken Force and mastery obtain;</i></span> +<span class="i0"><i>'Tis wooing contumely to meet wild actions with humane:</i></span> +<span class="i0"><i>By evil thou may'st win to peace when good is tried in vain.</i>"<a name="FNanchor_124" id="FNanchor_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_124" class="fnanchor">124</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>The Banú Bakr now prepared for a decisive battle. As their +enemy had the advantage in numbers, they adopted a stratagem +devised by Ḥárith. "Fight them," said he, "with your women. +Equip every woman with a small waterskin and give her a club. +Place the whole body of them behind you—this will make you more +resolved in battle—and wear some distinguishing mark which they +will recognise, so that when a woman passes by one of your +wounded she may know him by his mark and give him water to +drink, and raise him from the ground; but when she passes by one +of your foes she will smite him with her club and slay him." So the +Bakrites shaved their heads, devoting themselves to <span class="sidenote"> The Day of +Shearing.</span> +death, and made this a mark of recognition between +themselves and their women, and this day was called +the Day of Shearing. Now Jaḥdar b. Ḍubay‘a was an ill-favoured, +dwarfish man, with fair flowing love-locks, and he said, "O my +people, if ye shave my head ye will disfigure me, so leave my locks +for the first horseman of Taghlib that shall emerge from the hill-pass +on the morrow" (meaning "I will answer for him, if my locks are +spared"). On his request being granted, he exclaimed:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i9">"<i>To wife and daughter</i></span> +<span class="i10"><i>Henceforth I am dead:</i></span> +<span class="i9"><i>Dust for ointment</i></span> +<span class="i10"><i>On my hair is shed.</i></span> + +</div><div class="stanza"> + +<span class="sidenote">The vow of Jaḥdar b. Ḍubay‘a.</span> + +<span class="i9"><i>Let me close with the horsemen</i></span> +<span class="i10"><i>Who hither ride,</i></span> +<span class="i9"><i>Cut my locks from me</i></span> +<span class="i10"><i>If I stand aside!</i></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_60" id="Page_60" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</i></span>60</a></span> + +<span class="i9"><i>Well wots a mother</i></span> +<span class="i10"><i>If the son she bore</i></span> +<span class="i9"><i>And swaddled on her bosom</i></span> +<span class="i10"><i>And smelt him o'er,</i></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i9"><i>Whenever warriors</i></span> +<span class="i10"><i>In the mellay meet,</i></span> +<span class="i9"><i>Is a puny weakling</i></span> +<span class="i10"><i>Or a man complete!</i>"<a name="FNanchor_125" id="FNanchor_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_125" class="fnanchor">125</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>He kept his promise but in the course of the fight he fell, severely +wounded. When the women came to him, they saw his love-locks +and imagining that he was an enemy despatched him with their +clubs.</p> + +<p>The presence of women on the field and the active share they +<span class="sidenote">Women as +combatants.</span>took in the combat naturally provoked the bitterest feelings. If +they were not engaged in finishing the bloody work of +the men, their tongues were busy inciting them. We +are told that a daughter of al-Find bared herself +recklessly and chanted:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05">"<i>War! War! War! War!</i></span> +<span class="i0"><i>It has blazed up and scorched us sore.</i></span> +<span class="i0"><i>The highlands are filled with its roar.</i></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Well done, the morning when your heads ye shore!</i>"<a name="FNanchor_126" id="FNanchor_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_126" class="fnanchor">126</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>The mothers were accompanied by their children, whose tender +age did not always protect them from an exasperated foe. It is +related that a horseman of the Banú Taghlib transfixed a young boy +and lifted him up on the point of his spear. He is said to have been +urged to this act of savagery by one al-Bazbáz, who was riding +behind him on the crupper. Their triumph was short; al-Find saw +them, and with a single spear-thrust pinned them to each other—an +exploit which his own verses record.</p> + +<p>On this day the Banú Bakr gained a great victory, and broke the +power of Taghlib. It was the last battle of note in the Forty +Years' War, which was carried on, by raiding and plundering, until +the exhaustion of both tribes and the influence of King Mundhir III +of Ḥíra brought it to an end.</p> + +<p>Not many years after the conclusion of peace between + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_61" id="Page_61" href="#"><span><i>THE WAR OF DÁḤIS AND GHABRÁ</i></span>61</a></span> + +Bakr and Taghlib, another war, hardly less famous in tradition <span class="sidenote"> The War of +Dáḥis and +Ghabrá.</span> +than the War of Basús, broke out in Central Arabia. The +combatants were the tribes of ‘Abs and Dhubyán, +the principal stocks of the Banú Ghaṭafán, +and the occasion of their coming to blows is +related as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Qays, son of Zuhayr, was chieftain of ‘Abs. He had a horse +called Dáḥis, renowned for its speed, which he matched against +Ghabrá, a mare belonging to Ḥudhayfa b. Badr, the chief of +Dhubyán. It was agreed that the course should be a hundred +bow-shots in length, and that the victor should receive a hundred +camels. When the race began Ghabrá took the lead, but as they +left the firm ground and entered upon the sand, where the 'going' +was heavy, Dáḥis gradually drew level and passed his antagonist. +He was nearing the goal when some Dhubyánites sprang from an +ambuscade prepared beforehand, and drove him out of his course, +thus enabling Ghabrá to defeat him. On being informed of this +foul play Qays naturally claimed that he had won the wager, but +the men of Dhubyán refused to pay even a single camel. Bitterly +resenting their treachery, he waylaid and slew one of Ḥudhayfa's +brothers. Ḥudhayfa sought vengeance, and the murder of Málik, +a brother of Qays, by his horsemen gave the signal for war. In the +fighting which ensued Dhubyán more than held their own, but +neither party could obtain a decisive advantage. Qays slew the +brothers Ḥudhayfa and Ḥamal—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05">"<i>Ḥamal I slew and eased my heart thereby,</i></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Ḥudhayfa glutted my avenging brand;</i></span> +<span class="i0"><i>But though I slaked my thirst by slaying them,</i></span> +<span class="i0"><i>I would as lief have lost my own right hand.</i>"<a name="FNanchor_127" id="FNanchor_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_127" class="fnanchor">127</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>After a long period—forty years according to the traditional +computation—‘Abs and Dhubyán were reconciled by the exertions +of two chieftains of the latter tribe, Ḥárith b. ‘Awf and Harim b. + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_62" id="Page_62" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</i></span>62</a></span> + +Sinán, whose generous and patriotic intervention the poet Zuhayr +has celebrated. Qays went into exile. "I will not look," he said, +"on the face of any woman of Dhubyán whose father or brother or +husband or son I have killed." If we may believe the legend, he +became a Christian monk and ended his days in ‘Umán.</p></div> + +<p>Descending westward from the highlands of Najd the +traveller gradually approaches the Red Sea, which is separated +from the mountains running parallel to it by a <span class="sidenote"> The Ḥijáz.</span> +narrow strip of coast-land, called the Tiháma +(Netherland). The rugged plateau between Najd and the +coast forms the Ḥijáz (Barrier), through which in ancient +times the Sabæan caravans laden with costly merchandise +passed on their way to the Mediterranean ports. Long before +the beginning of our era two considerable trading settlements +had sprung up in this region, viz., Macoraba (Mecca) and, +some distance farther north, Yathrippa (Yathrib, the Pre-islamic +name of Medína). Of their early inhabitants and +history we know nothing except what is related by Muḥammadan +writers, whose information reaches back to the days of +Adam and Abraham. Mecca was the cradle of Islam, and +Islam, according to Muḥammad, is the religion of Abraham, +which was corrupted by succeeding generations until he himself +was sent to purify it and to preach it anew. Consequently +the Pre-islamic history of Mecca has all been, so to speak, +'Islamised.' The Holy City of Islam is made to appear in +the same light thousands of years before the Prophet's time: +here, it is said, the Arabs were united in worship of Allah, +hence they scattered and fell into idolatry, hither they return +annually as pilgrims to a shrine which had been originally +dedicated to the One Supreme Being, but which afterwards +became a Pantheon of tribal deities. This theory lies at the +root of the Muḥammadan legend which I shall now recount +as briefly as possible, only touching on the salient points of +interest.</p> + +<p>In the Meccan valley—the primitive home of that portion + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_63" id="Page_63" href="#"><span><i>EARLY HISTORY OF MECCA</i></span>63</a></span> + +of the Arab race which claims descent from Ismá‘íl (Ishmael), +the son of Ibráhím (Abraham) by Hájar (Hagar)—stands an +irregular, cube-shaped building of small dimensions—the +Ka‘ba. Legend attributes its foundation <span class="sidenote">Foundation of +the Ka‘ba.</span> +to Adam, who built it by Divine command after +a celestial archetype. At the Deluge it was taken up into +heaven, but was rebuilt on its former site by Abraham and +Ishmael. While they were occupied in this work Gabriel +brought the celebrated Black Stone, which is set in the south-east +corner of the building, and he also instructed them in the +ceremonies of the Pilgrimage. When all was finished Abraham +stood on a rock known to later ages as the <i>Maqámu Ibráhím</i>, +and, turning to the four quarters of the sky, made proclamation: +"O ye people! The Pilgrimage to the Ancient House +is prescribed unto you. Hearken to your Lord!" And +from every part of the world came the answer: "<i>Labbayka +’lláhumma, labbayka</i>"—<i>i.e.</i>, "We obey, O God, we obey."</p> + +<p>The descendants of Ishmael multiplied exceedingly, so that +the barren valley could no longer support them, and a great +number wandered forth to other lands. They were succeeded +as rulers of the sacred territory by the tribe of Jurhum, who +waxed in pride and evil-doing until the vengeance of God fell +upon them. Mention has frequently been made of the Bursting +of the Dyke of Ma’rib, which caused an extensive movement +of Yemenite stocks to the north. The invaders halted +in the Ḥijáz and, having almost exterminated the Jurhumites, +resumed their journey. One group, however—the Banú +Khuzá‘a, led by their chief Luḥayy—settled in the neighbourhood +of Mecca. ‘Amr, son of Luḥayy, was renowned +among the Arabs for his wealth and generosity. Ibn Hishám +says: 'I have been told by a learned man that ‘Amr b. Luḥayy +went from Mecca to Syria on some business <span class="sidenote"> Idolatry introduced +at Mecca.</span> +and when he arrived at Má’ab, in the land +of al-Balqá, he found the inhabitants, who were +‘Amálíq, worshipping idols. "What are these idols?" he inquired. + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_64" id="Page_64" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</i></span>64</a></span> + +"They are idols that send us rain when we ask them +for rain, and help us when we ask them for help." "Will ye +not give me one of them," said ‘Amr, "that I may take it to +Arabia to be worshipped there?" So they gave him an idol +called Hubal, which he brought to Mecca and set it up and +bade the people worship and venerate it.'<a name="FNanchor_128" id="FNanchor_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_128" class="fnanchor">128</a> Following his +example, the Arabs brought their idols and installed them +round the sanctuary. The triumph of Paganism was complete. +We are told that hundreds of idols were destroyed by +Muḥammad when he entered Mecca at the head of a Moslem +army in 8 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span> = 629 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span></p> + +<p>To return to the posterity of Ismá‘íl through ‘Adnán: the +principal of their descendants who remained in the Ḥijáz were <span class="sidenote"> The Quraysh.</span> +the Hudhayl, the Kinána, and the Quraysh. The +last-named tribe must now engage our attention +almost exclusively. During the century before Muḥammad +we find them in undisputed possession of Mecca and acknowledged +guardians of the Ka‘ba—an office which they administered +with a shrewd appreciation of its commercial value. +Their rise to power is related as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Kiláb b. Murra, a man of Quraysh, had two sons, Zuhra and Zayd. +The latter was still a young child when his father died, and soon +afterwards his mother, Fáṭima, who had married again, <span class="sidenote"> The story of +Quṣayy.</span> +left Mecca, taking Zayd with her, and went to live in +her new husband's home beside the Syrian borders. +Zayd grew up far from his native land, and for this reason he got +the name of Quṣayy—<i>i.e.</i>, 'Little Far-away.' When he reached +man's estate and discovered his true origin he returned to Mecca, +where the hegemony was wholly in the hands of the Khuzá‘ites +under their chieftain, Ḥulayl b. Ḥubshiyya, with the determination +to procure the superintendence of the Ka‘ba for his own people, the +Quraysh, who as pure-blooded descendants of Ismá‘íl had the best +right to that honour. By his marriage with Ḥubbá, the daughter of +Ḥulayl, he hoped to inherit the privileges vested in his father-in-law, +but Ḥulayl on his deathbed committed the keys of the Ka‘ba to a + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_65" id="Page_65" href="#"><span><i>THE QURAYSH</i></span>65</a></span> + +kinsman named Abú Ghubshán. Not to be baffled, Quṣayy made +the keeper drunk and persuaded him to sell the keys for a skin of +wine—hence the proverbs "A greater fool than Abú Ghubshán" +and "Abú Ghubshán's bargain," denoting a miserable fraud. +Naturally the Khuza‘ites did not acquiesce in the results of this +transaction; they took up arms, but Quṣayy was prepared for the +struggle and won a decisive victory. He was now master of Temple +and Town and could proceed to the work of organisation. His first +step was to bring together the Quraysh, who had <span class="sidenote"> Quṣayy master +of Mecca.</span> +previously been dispersed over a wide area, into the +Meccan valley—this earned for him the title of <i>al-Mujammi‘</i> +(the Congregator)—so that each family had its allotted +quarter. He built a House of Assembly (<i>Dáru ’l-Nadwa</i>), where +matters affecting the common weal were discussed by the Elders of +the tribe. He also instituted and centred in himself a number of +dignities in connection with the government of the Ka‘ba and the +administration of the Pilgrimage, besides others of a political and +military character. Such was his authority that after his death, no +less than during his life, all these ordinances were regarded by the +Quraysh as sacred and inviolable.</p></div> + +<p>The death of Quṣayy may be placed in the latter half of the +fifth century. His descendant, the Prophet Muḥammad, was <span class="sidenote"> Mecca in the +sixth century +after Christ.</span> +born about a hundred years afterwards, in 570 or +571 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> With one notable exception, to be +mentioned immediately, the history of Mecca +during the period thus defined is a record of petty factions +unbroken by any event of importance. The Prophet's +ancestors fill the stage and assume a commanding position, +which in all likelihood they never possessed; the historical +rivalry of the Umayyads and ‘Abbásids appears in the persons +of their founders, Umayya and Háshim—and so forth. Meanwhile +the influence of the Quraysh was steadily maintained +and extended. The Ka‘ba had become a great national +rendezvous, and the crowds of pilgrims which it attracted +from almost every Arabian clan not only raised the credit of +the Quraysh, but also materially contributed to their commercial +prosperity. It has already been related how Abraha, +the Abyssinian viceroy of Yemen, resolved to march against + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_66" id="Page_66" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</i></span>66</a></span> + +Mecca with the avowed purpose of avenging upon the Ka‘ba +a sacrilege committed by one of the Quraysh in the church +at Ṣan‘á. Something of that kind may have served as a +pretext, but no doubt his real aim was to conquer Mecca and +to gain control of her trade.</p> + +<p>This memorable expedition<a name="FNanchor_129" id="FNanchor_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_129" class="fnanchor">129</a> is said by Moslem historians +to have taken place in the year of Muḥammad's birth (about <span class="sidenote"> The Year of +the Elephant.</span> +570 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), usually known as the Year of the +Elephant—a proof that the Arabs were deeply +impressed by the extraordinary spectacle of these +huge animals, one or more of which accompanied the +Abyssinian force. The report of Abraha's preparations filled +the tribesmen with dismay. At first they endeavoured to +oppose his march, regarding the defence of the Ka‘ba as a +sacred duty, but they soon lost heart, and Abraha, after +defeating Dhú Nafar, a Ḥimyarite chieftain, encamped in the +neighbourhood of Mecca without further resistance. He sent +the following message to ‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib, the <span class="sidenote"> The Abyssinians +at Mecca.</span> +Prophet's grandfather, who was at that time the +most influential personage in Mecca: "I have +not come to wage war on you, but only to destroy the +Temple. Unless you take up arms in its defence, I have +no wish to shed your blood." ‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib replied: +"By God, we seek not war, for which we are unable. This +is God's holy House and the House of Abraham, His Friend; +it is for Him to protect His House and Sanctuary; if He +abandons it, we cannot defend it."</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Then ‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib was conducted by the envoy to the +Abyssinian camp, as Abraha had ordered. There he inquired after +Dhú Nafar, who was his friend, and found him a <span class="sidenote">‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib's +interview +with Abraha.</span> +prisoner. "O Dhú Nafar," said he, "can you do +aught in that which has befallen us?" Dhú Nafar +answered, "What can a man do who is a captive in the hands of a + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_67" id="Page_67" href="#"><span><i>THE ABYSSINIAN INVASION</i></span>67</a></span> + +king, expecting day and night to be put to death? I can do nothing +at all in the matter, but Unays, the elephant-driver, is my friend; I +will send to him and press your claims on his consideration and ask +him to procure you an audience with the king. Tell Unays what +you wish: he will plead with the king in your favour if he can." +So Dhú Nafar sent for Unays and said to him, "O Unays, ‘Abdu +’l-Muṭṭalib is lord of Quraysh and master of the caravans of Mecca. +He feeds the people in the plain and the wild creatures on the +mountain-tops. The king has seized two hundred of his camels. +Now get him admitted to the king's presence and help him to the +best of your power." Unays consented, and soon ‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib +stood before the king. When Abraha saw him he held him in too +high respect to let him sit in an inferior place, but was unwilling +that the Abyssinians should see the Arab chief, who was a large +man and a comely, seated on a level with himself; he therefore +descended from his throne and sat on his carpet and bade ‘Abdu +’l-Muṭṭalib sit beside him. Then he said to his dragoman, "Ask +him what he wants of me." ‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib replied, "I want the +king to restore to me two hundred camels of mine which he has +taken away." Abraha said to the dragoman, "Tell him: You +pleased me when I first saw you, but now that you have spoken to +me I hold you cheap. What! do you speak to me of two hundred +camels which I have taken, and omit to speak of a temple venerated +by you and your fathers which I have come to destroy?" Then said +‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib: "The camels are mine, but the Temple belongs +to another, who will defend it," and on the king exclaiming, "He +cannot defend it from me," he said, "That is your affair; only give +me back my camels."</p> + +<p>As it is related in a more credible version, the tribes settled round +Mecca sent ambassadors, of whom ‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib was one, offering +to surrender a third part of their possessions to Abraha on condition +that he should spare the Temple, but he refused. Having +recovered his camels, ‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib returned to the Quraysh, +told them what had happened, and bade them leave the city and +take shelter in the mountains. Then he went to the Ka‘ba, accompanied +by several of the Quraysh, to pray for help against Abraha +and his army. Grasping the ring of the door, he cried:—</p></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05">"<i>O God, defend Thy neighbouring folk even as a man his gear</i><a name="FNanchor_130" id="FNanchor_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_130" class="fnanchor">130</a> <i>defendeth!</i></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Let not their Cross and guileful plans defeat the plans Thyself intendeth!</i></span> +<span class="i0"><i>But if Thou make it so, 'tis well: according to Thy will it endeth.</i>"<a name="FNanchor_131" id="FNanchor_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_131" class="fnanchor">131</a></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_68" id="Page_68" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</i></span>68</a></span>Next morning, when Abraha prepared to enter Mecca, his +elephant knelt down and would not budge, though they beat its +head with an axe and thrust sharp stakes into its flanks; but when +they turned it in the direction of Yemen, it rose up and trotted with +alacrity. Then God sent from the sea a flock of birds like swallows +every one of which carried three stones as large as a <span class="sidenote"> Rout of the +Abyssinians.</span> +chick-pea or a lentil, one in its bill and one in each +claw, and all who were struck by those stones perished.<a name="FNanchor_132" id="FNanchor_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_132" class="fnanchor">132</a> +The rest fled in disorder, dropping down as they ran or wherever +they halted to quench their thirst. Abraha himself was smitten +with a plague so that his limbs rotted off piecemeal.<a name="FNanchor_133" id="FNanchor_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_133" class="fnanchor">133</a></p></div> + +<p>These details are founded on the 105th chapter of the +Koran, entitled 'The Súra of the Elephant,' which may be +freely rendered as follows:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05">"Hast not thou seen the people of the Elephant, how dealt with them the Lord?</span> +<span class="i0">Did not He make their plot to end in ruin abhorred?—</span> +<span class="i0">When He sent against them birds, horde on horde,</span> +<span class="i0">And stones of baked clay upon them poured,</span> +<span class="i0">And made them as leaves of corn devoured."</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>The part played by ‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib in the story is, of +course, a pious fiction designed to glorify the Holy City and +to claim for the Prophet's family fifty years before Islam a +predominance which they did not obtain until long afterwards; +but equally of course the legend reflects Muḥammadan belief, +and may be studied with advantage as a characteristic specimen +of its class.</p> + +<p>"When God repulsed the Abyssinians from Mecca and +smote them with His vengeance, the Arabs held the Quraysh + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_69" id="Page_69" href="#"><span><i>ROUT OF THE ABYSSINIANS</i></span>69</a></span> + +in high respect and said, 'They are God's people: God hath +fought for them and hath defended them against their enemy;' +and made poems on this matter."<a name="FNanchor_134" id="FNanchor_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_134" class="fnanchor">134</a> The following verses, +according to Ibn Isḥáq, are by Abu ’l-Ṣalt b. Abí Rabí‘a of +Thaqíf; others more reasonably ascribe them to his son +Umayya, a well-known poet and monotheist (Ḥaníf) contemporary +with Muḥammad:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">"Lo, the signs of our Lord are everlasting,</span> +<span class="i6">None disputes them except the unbeliever.</span> +<span class="i6">He created Day and Night: unto all men</span> +<span class="i6">Is their Reckoning ordained, clear and certain.</span> +<span class="i6">Gracious Lord! He illumines the daytime</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Verses by Umayya b. Abi ’l-Ṣalt.</span> + +<span class="i8">With a sun widely scattering radiance.</span> +<span class="i8">He the Elephant stayed at Mughammas</span> +<span class="i8">So that sore it limped as though it were hamstrung,</span> +<span class="i8">Cleaving close to its halter, and down dropped,</span> +<span class="i6">As one falls from the crag of a mountain.</span> +<span class="i6">Gathered round it were princes of Kinda,</span> +<span class="i6">Noble heroes, fierce hawks in the mellay.</span> +<span class="i6">There they left it: they all fled together,</span> +<span class="i6">Every man with his shank-bone broken.</span> +<span class="i6">Vain before God is every religion,</span> +<span class="i6">When the dead rise, except the Ḥanífite.<a name="FNanchor_135" id="FNanchor_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_135" class="fnanchor">135</a>"</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>The patriotic feelings aroused in the Arabs of the Ḥijáz +by the Abyssinian invasion—feelings which must have been +shared to some extent by the Bedouins generally—received a +fresh stimulus through events which occurred about forty years +after this time on the other side of the peninsula. It will be +remembered that the Lakhmite dynasty at Ḥíra came to an +end with Nu‘mán III, who was cruelly executed by Khusraw +Parwéz (602 or 607 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).<a name="FNanchor_136" id="FNanchor_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_136" class="fnanchor">136</a> Before his death he had deposited +his arms and other property with Háni’, a chieftain of the +Banú Bakr. These were claimed by Khusraw, and as Háni’ +refused to give them up, a Persian army was sent to Dhú Qár, + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_70" id="Page_70" href="#"><span><i>THE LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS</i></span>70</a></span> + +a place near Kúfa abounding in water and consequently a +favourite resort of the Bakrites during the dry season. A +desperate conflict ensued, in which the Persians <span class="sidenote">Battle of Dhú +Qár (<i>circa</i> 610 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +were completely routed.<a name="FNanchor_137" id="FNanchor_137"></a><a href="#Footnote_137" class="fnanchor">137</a> Although the forces +engaged were comparatively small,<a name="FNanchor_138" id="FNanchor_138"></a><a href="#Footnote_138" class="fnanchor">138</a> this victory +was justly regarded by the Arabs as marking the commencement +of a new order of things; <i>e.g.</i>, it is related that +Muḥammad said when the tidings reached him: "This is the +first day on which the Arabs have obtained satisfaction from +the Persians." The desert tribes, hitherto overshadowed by +the Sásánian Empire and held in check by the powerful +dynasty of Ḥíra, were now confident and aggressive. They +began to hate and despise the Colossus which they no longer +feared, and which, before many years had elapsed, they trampled +in the dust.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span></p> + +<h4>CHAPTER III</h4> + +<h5>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY, MANNERS, AND RELIGION</h5> + +<p>"When there appeared a poet in a family of the Arabs, the +other tribes round about would gather together to that family +and wish them joy of their good luck. Feasts would be got +ready, the women of the tribe would join together in bands, +playing upon lutes, as they were wont to do at bridals, and the +men and boys would congratulate one another; for a poet was +a defence to the honour of them all, a weapon to ward off +insult from their good name, and a means of perpetuating their +glorious deeds and of establishing their fame for ever. And +they used not to wish one another joy but for three things—the +birth of a boy, the coming to light of a poet, and the +foaling of a noble mare."<a name="FNanchor_139" id="FNanchor_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_139" class="fnanchor">139</a></p> + +<p>As far as extant literature is concerned—and at this time +there was only a spoken literature, which was preserved by +oral tradition, and first committed to writing long afterwards—the +<i>Jáhiliyya</i> or Pre-islamic Age covers scarcely more than +a century, from about 500 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, when the oldest poems of +which we have any record were composed, to the year of +Muḥammad's Flight to Medína (622 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), which is the +starting-point of a new era in Arabian history. The influence +of these hundred and twenty years was great and lasting. + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_72" id="Page_72" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>72</a></span> + +They saw the rise and incipient decline of a poetry which +most Arabic-speaking Moslems have always regarded as a +model of unapproachable excellence; a poetry rooted in the +life of the people, that insensibly moulded their minds and +fixed their character and made them morally and spiritually a +nation long before Muḥammad welded the various conflicting +groups into a single organism, animated, for some time at +least, by a common purpose. In those days poetry was no +luxury for the cultured few, but the sole medium of literary +expression. Every tribe had its poets, who freely uttered what +they felt and thought. Their unwritten words "flew across +the desert faster than arrows," and came home to the hearts +and bosoms of all who heard them. Thus in the midst of +outward strife and disintegration a unifying principle was at +work. Poetry gave life and currency to an ideal of Arabian +virtue (<i>muruwwa</i>), which, though based on tribal community +of blood and insisting that only ties of blood were sacred, +nevertheless became an invisible bond between diverse clans, +and formed, whether consciously or not, the basis of a national +community of sentiment.</p> + +<p>In the following pages I propose to trace the origins of +<span class="sidenote">Origins of Arabian Poetry</span>Arabian poetry, to describe its form, contents, and general +features, to give some account of the most celebrated +Pre-islamic poets and collections of Pre-islamic +verse, and finally to show in what manner +it was preserved and handed down.</p> + +<p>By the ancient Arabs the poet (<i>shá‘ir</i>, plural <i>shu‘ará</i>), as his +name implies, was held to be a person endowed with supernatural +knowledge, a wizard in league with spirits (<i>jinn</i>) or +satans (<i>shayáṭín</i>) and dependent on them for the magical +powers which he displayed. This view of his personality, +as well as the influential position which he occupied, are curiously +indicated by the story of a certain youth who was refused +the hand of his beloved on the ground that he was neither a poet + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_73" id="Page_73" href="#"><span><i>THE POET AS A WIZARD</i></span>73</a></span> + +nor a soothsayer nor a water-diviner.<a name="FNanchor_140" id="FNanchor_140"></a><a href="#Footnote_140" class="fnanchor">140</a> The idea of poetry as +an art was developed afterwards; the pagan <i>shá‘ir</i> is the oracle +of his tribe, their guide in peace and their champion in war. +It was to him they turned for counsel when they sought new +pastures, only at his word would they pitch or strike their 'houses +of hair,' and when the tired and thirsty wanderers found a well +and drank of its water and washed themselves, led by him they +may have raised their voices together and sung, like Israel—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +"Spring up, O well, sing ye unto it."<a name="FNanchor_141" id="FNanchor_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_141" class="fnanchor">141</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Besides fountain-songs, war-songs, and hymns to idols, +other kinds of poetry must have existed in the earliest times—<i>e.g.</i>, +the love-song and the dirge. The powers of the <i>shá‘ir</i>, +however, were chiefly exhibited in Satire (<i>hijá</i>), which in the <span class="sidenote"> Satire.</span> +oldest known form "introduces and accompanies the tribal +feud, and is an element of war just as important +as the actual fighting."<a name="FNanchor_142" id="FNanchor_142"></a><a href="#Footnote_142" class="fnanchor">142</a> The menaces which he +hurled against the foe were believed to be inevitably fatal. +His rhymes, often compared to arrows, had all the effect of a +solemn curse spoken by a divinely inspired prophet or priest,<a name="FNanchor_143" id="FNanchor_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_143" class="fnanchor">143</a> +and their pronunciation was attended with peculiar ceremonies +of a symbolic character, such as anointing the hair on one side +of the head, letting the mantle hang down loosely, and wearing +only one sandal.<a name="FNanchor_144" id="FNanchor_144"></a><a href="#Footnote_144" class="fnanchor">144</a> Satire retained something of these +ominous associations at a much later period when the magic +utterance of the <i>shá‘ir</i> had long given place to the lampoon + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_74" id="Page_74" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>74</a></span> + +by which the poet reviles his enemies and holds them up to +shame.</p> + +<p>The obscure beginnings of Arabian poetry, presided over +by the magician and his familiar spirits, have left not a <span class="sidenote">Saj‘.</span> +rack behind in the shape of literature, but the task +of reconstruction is comparatively easy where we +are dealing with a people so conservative and tenacious of +antiquity as the Arabs. Thus it may be taken for certain +that the oldest form of poetical speech in Arabia was rhyme +without metre (<i>Saj‘</i>), or, as we should say, 'rhymed prose,' +although the fact of Muḥammad's adversaries calling him a +poet because he used it in the Koran shows the light in which +it was regarded even after the invention and elaboration of +metre. Later on, as we shall see, <i>Saj‘</i> became a merely +rhetorical ornament, the distinguishing mark of all eloquence +whether spoken or written, but originally it had a deeper, +almost religious, significance as the special form adopted by +poets, soothsayers, and the like in their supernatural revelations +and for conveying to the vulgar every kind of mysterious and +esoteric lore.</p> + +<p>Out of <i>Saj‘</i> was evolved the most ancient of the Arabian +metres, which is known by the name of <i>Rajaz</i>.<a name="FNanchor_145" id="FNanchor_145"></a><a href="#Footnote_145" class="fnanchor">145</a> This is an +irregular iambic metre usually consisting of four <span class="sidenote"> Rajaz.</span> +or six—an Arab would write 'two or three'—feet +to the line; and it is a peculiarity of <i>Rajaz</i>, marking its +affinity to <i>Saj‘</i>, that all the lines rhyme with each other, +whereas in the more artificial metres only the opening verse<a name="FNanchor_146" id="FNanchor_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_146" class="fnanchor">146</a> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_75" id="Page_75" href="#"><span><i>ARABIAN METRES</i></span>75</a></span> + +is doubly rhymed. A further characteristic of <i>Rajaz</i> is that +it should be uttered extempore, a few verses at a time—commonly +verses expressing some personal feeling, emotion, or +experience, like those of the aged warrior Durayd b. Zayd b. +Nahd when he lay dying:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05">"The house of death<a name="FNanchor_147" id="FNanchor_147"></a><a href="#Footnote_147" class="fnanchor">147</a> is builded for Durayd to-day.</span> +<span class="i0">Could Time be worn out, sure had I worn Time away.</span> +<span class="i0">No single foe but I had faced and brought to bay.</span> +<span class="i0">The spoils I gathered in, how excellent were they!</span> +<span class="i0">The women that I loved, how fine was their array!"<a name="FNanchor_148" id="FNanchor_148"></a><a href="#Footnote_148" class="fnanchor">148</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Here would have been the proper place to give an account +of the principal Arabian metres—the 'Perfect' (<i>Kámil</i>), the +'Ample' (<i>Wáfir</i>) the 'Long' (<i>Ṭawíl</i>), the <span class="sidenote"> Other metres.</span> +'Wide' (<i>Basiṭ</i>), the 'Light' (<i>Khafíf</i>), and +several more—but in order to save valuable space I must +content myself with referring the reader to the extremely +lucid treatment of this subject by Sir Charles Lyall in the +Introduction to his <i>Ancient Arabian Poetry</i>, pp. xlv-lii. All +the metres are quantitative, as in Greek and Latin. Their +names and laws were unknown to the Pre-islamic bards: the +rules of prosody were first deduced from the ancient poems and +systematised by the grammarian, Khalíl b. Ahmad († 791 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), +to whom the idea is said to have occurred as he watched a +coppersmith beating time on the anvil with his hammer.</p> + +<p>We have now to consider the form and matter of the oldest +extant poems in the Arabic language. Between these highly <span class="sidenote"> The oldest +extant poems.</span> +developed productions and the rude doggerel of +<i>Saj‘</i> or <i>Rajaz</i> there lies an interval, the length of +which it is impossible even to conjecture. The +first poets are already consummate masters of the craft. "The +number and complexity of the measures which they use, their +established laws of quantity and rhyme, and the uniform + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_76" id="Page_76" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>76</a></span> + +manner in which they introduce the subject of their poems,<a name="FNanchor_149" id="FNanchor_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_149" class="fnanchor">149</a> +notwithstanding the distance which often separated one composer +from another, all point to a long previous study and +cultivation of the art of expression and the capacities of their +language, a study of which no record now remains."<a name="FNanchor_150" id="FNanchor_150"></a><a href="#Footnote_150" class="fnanchor">150</a></p> + +<p>It is not improbable that the dawn of the Golden Age of +Arabian Poetry coincided with the first decade of the sixth <span class="sidenote"> Their date.</span> +century after Christ. About that time the War +of Basús, the chronicle of which has preserved a +considerable amount of contemporary verse, was in full +blaze; and the first Arabian ode was composed, according +to tradition, by Muhalhil b. Rabí‘a the Taghlibite on the +death of his brother, the chieftain Kulayb, which caused war +to break out between Bakr and Taghlib. At any rate, during +the next hundred years in almost every part of the peninsula +we meet with a brilliant succession of singers, all using the +same poetical dialect and strictly adhering to the same rules of +composition. The fashion which they set maintained itself +virtually unaltered down to the end of the Umayyad period +(750 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), and though challenged by some daring spirits under +the ‘Abbásid Caliphate, speedily reasserted its supremacy, which +at the present day is almost as absolute as ever.</p> + +<p>This fashion centres in the <i>Qaṣída</i>,<a name="FNanchor_151" id="FNanchor_151"></a><a href="#Footnote_151" class="fnanchor">151</a> or Ode, the only +form, or rather the only finished type of poetry that existed + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_77" id="Page_77" href="#"><span><i>THE QAṢÍDA OR ODE</i></span>77</a></span> + +in what, for want of a better word, may be called the classical +period of Arabic literature. The verses (<i>abyát</i>, singular <i>bayt</i>) +of which it is built vary in number, but are seldom <span class="sidenote"> The Qaṣída.</span> +less than twenty-five or more than a hundred; +and the arrangement of the rhymes is such that, while the two +halves of the first verse rhyme together, the same rhyme is +repeated once in the second, third, and every following verse +to the end of the poem. Blank-verse is alien to the Arabs, +who regard rhyme not as a pleasing ornament or a "troublesome +bondage," but as a vital organ of poetry. The rhymes +are usually feminine, <i>e.g.</i>, sa<i>khíná</i>, tu<i>líná</i>, mu<i>híná</i>; mukh<i>lidí</i>, +<i>yadí</i>, ‘uw<i>wadí</i>; ri<i>jámuhá</i>, si<i>lámuhá</i>, ḥa<i>rámuhá</i>. To surmount +the difficulties of the monorhyme demands great technical +skill even in a language of which the peculiar formation +renders the supply of rhymes extraordinarily abundant. The +longest of the <i>Mu‘allaqát</i>, the so-called 'Long Poems,' is +considerably shorter than Gray's <i>Elegy</i>. An Arabian Homer +or Chaucer must have condescended to prose. With respect +to metre the poet may choose any except <i>Rajaz</i>, which is +deemed beneath the dignity of the Ode, but his liberty does +not extend either to the choice of subjects or to the method of +handling them: on the contrary, the course of his ideas is +determined by rigid conventions which he durst not overstep.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I have heard," says Ibn Qutayba, "from a man of learning that +the composer of Odes began by mentioning the deserted dwelling-places +and the relics and traces of habitation. Then <span class="sidenote"> Ibn Qutayba's +account of the +contents and +divisions of the +Ode.</span> +he wept and complained and addressed the desolate +encampment, and begged his companion to make a +halt, in order that he might have occasion to speak +of those who had once lived there and afterwards +departed; for the dwellers in tents were different from townsmen or +villagers in respect of coming and going, because they moved from +one water-spring to another, seeking pasture and searching out the +places where rain had fallen. Then to this he linked the erotic +prelude (<i>nasíb</i>), and bewailed the violence of his love and the +anguish of separation from his mistress and the extremity of his +passion and desire, so as to win the hearts of his hearers and divert + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_78" id="Page_78" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>78</a></span> + +their eyes towards him and invite their ears to listen to him, since +the song of love touches men's souls and takes hold of their hearts, +God having put it in the constitution of His creatures to love dalliance +and the society of women, in such wise that we find very few but +are attached thereto by some tie or have some share therein, whether +lawful or unpermitted. Now, when the poet had assured himself of +an attentive hearing, he followed up his advantage and set forth his +claim: thus he went on to complain of fatigue and want of sleep +and travelling by night and of the noonday heat, and how his camel +had been reduced to leanness. And when, after representing all the +discomfort and danger of his journey, he knew that he had fully +justified his hope and expectation of receiving his due meed from +the person to whom the poem was addressed, he entered upon the +panegyric (<i>madíḥ</i>), and incited him to reward, and kindled his +generosity by exalting him above his peers and pronouncing the +greatest dignity, in comparison with his, to be little."<a name="FNanchor_152" id="FNanchor_152"></a><a href="#Footnote_152" class="fnanchor">152</a></p></div> + +<p>Hundreds of Odes answer exactly to this description, which +must not, however, be regarded as the invariable model. The +erotic prelude is often omitted, especially in elegies; or if it +does not lead directly to the main subject, it may be followed +by a faithful and minute delineation of the poet's horse or +camel which bears him through the wilderness with a speed +like that of the antelope, the wild ass, or the ostrich: Bedouin +poetry abounds in fine studies of animal life.<a name="FNanchor_153" id="FNanchor_153"></a><a href="#Footnote_153" class="fnanchor">153</a> The choice of +a motive is left open. Panegyric, no doubt, paid better than +any other, and was therefore the favourite; but in Pre-islamic +times the poet could generally please himself. The <i>qaṣída</i> +is no organic whole: rather its unity resembles that of a series +of pictures by the same hand or, to employ an Eastern trope, +of pearls various in size and quality threaded on a necklace.</p> + +<p>The ancient poetry may be defined as an illustrative criticism + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_79" id="Page_79" href="#"><span><i>SHANFARÁ</i></span>79</a></span> + +of Pre-islamic life and thought. Here the Arab has +drawn himself at full length without embellishment or extenuation.</p> + +<p>It is not mere chance that Abú Tammám's famous +anthology is called the <i>Ḥamása</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, 'Fortitude,' from the +title of its first chapter, which occupies nearly a half of the +book. 'Ḥamása' denotes the virtues most highly prized by +the Arabs—bravery in battle, patience in misfortune, persistence +in revenge, protection of the weak and defiance of the +strong; the will, as Tennyson has said,</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."</span> +</div></div> + +<p>As types of the ideal Arab hero we may take Shanfará of +<span class="sidenote"> The Ideal Arab +hero.</span>Azd and his comrade in foray, Ta’abbaṭa Sharr<sup>an</sup>. +Both were brigands, outlaws, swift runners, and +excellent poets. Of the former</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"it is said that he was captured when a child from his tribe by the +Banú Salámán, and brought up among them: he did not learn his +origin until he had grown up, when he vowed vengeance against +his captors, and returned to his own tribe. His oath was that he +would slay a hundred men of Salámán; he slew ninety-eight, when +an ambush of his enemies succeeded in taking him prisoner. In <span class="sidenote"> Shanfará.</span> +the struggle one of his hands was hewn off by a sword +stroke, and, taking it in the other, he flung it in the +face of a man of Salámán and killed him, thus making ninety-nine. +Then he was overpowered and slain, with one still wanting to make +up his number. As his skull lay bleaching on the ground, a man +of his enemies passed by that way and kicked it with his foot; a +splinter of bone entered his foot, the wound mortified, and he died, +thus completing the hundred."<a name="FNanchor_154" id="FNanchor_154"></a><a href="#Footnote_154" class="fnanchor">154</a></p></div> + +<p>The following passage is translated from Shanfará's splendid +Ode named <i>Lámiyyatu ’l-‘Arab</i> (the poem rhymed in <i>l</i> of the + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_80" id="Page_80" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>80</a></span> + +Arabs), in which he describes his own heroic character and +the hardships of a predatory life:—<a name="FNanchor_155" id="FNanchor_155"></a><a href="#Footnote_155" class="fnanchor">155</a></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05">"And somewhere the noble find a refuge afar from scathe,</span> +<span class="i0">The outlaw a lonely spot where no kin with hatred burn.</span> +<span class="i0">Oh, never a prudent man, night-faring in hope or fear,</span> +<span class="i0">Hard pressed on the face of earth, but still he hath room to turn.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">To me now, in your default, are comrades a wolf untired,</span> +<span class="i0">A sleek leopard, and a fell hyena with shaggy mane:<a name="FNanchor_156" id="FNanchor_156"></a><a href="#Footnote_156" class="fnanchor">156</a></span> +<span class="i0">True comrades: they ne'er let out the secret in trust with them,</span> +<span class="i0">Nor basely forsake their friend because that he brought them bane.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And each is a gallant heart and ready at honour's call,</span> +<span class="i0">Yet I, when the foremost charge, am bravest of all the brave;</span> +<span class="i0">But if they with hands outstretched are seizing the booty won,</span> +<span class="i0">The slowest am I whenas most quick is the greedy knave.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">By naught save my generous will I reach to the height of worth</span> +<span class="i0">Above them, and sure the best is he with the will to give.</span> +<span class="i0">Yea, well I am rid of those who pay not a kindness back,</span> +<span class="i0">Of whom I have no delight though neighbours to me they live.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Enow are companions three at last: an intrepid soul,</span> +<span class="i0">A glittering trenchant blade, a tough bow of ample size,</span> +<span class="i0">Loud-twanging, the sides thereof smooth-polished, a handsome bow</span> +<span class="i0">Hung down from the shoulder-belt by thongs in a comely wise,</span> +<span class="i0">That groans, when the arrow slips away, like a woman crushed</span> +<span class="i0">By losses, bereaved of all her children, who wails and cries."</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_81" id="Page_81" href="#"><span><i>TA’ABBAṬA SHARR<sup>AN</sup></i></span>81</a></span> + +On quitting his tribe, who cast him out when they were +threatened on all sides by enemies seeking vengeance for the +blood that he had spilt, Shanfará said:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05">"Bury me not! Me you are forbidden to bury,</span> +<span class="i0">But thou, O hyena, soon wilt feast and make merry,</span> +<span class="i0">When foes bear away mine head, wherein is the best of me,</span> +<span class="i0">And leave on the battle-field for thee all the rest of me.</span> +<span class="i0">Here nevermore I hope to live glad—a stranger</span> +<span class="i0">Accurst, whose wild deeds have brought his people in danger."<a name="FNanchor_157" id="FNanchor_157"></a><a href="#Footnote_157" class="fnanchor">157</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Thábit b. Jábir b. Sufyán of Fahm is said to have got his +nickname, Ta’abbaṭa Sharr<sup>an</sup>, because one day his mother, who +had seen him go forth from his tent with a sword <span class="sidenote">Ta’abbaṭa +Sharr<sup>an.</sup></span> +under his arm, on being asked, "Where is +Thábit?" replied, "I know not: he put a +mischief under his arm-pit (<i>ta’abbaṭa sharr<sup>an</sup></i>) and departed." +According to another version of the story, the 'mischief' +was a Ghoul whom he vanquished and slew and carried home +in this manner. The following lines, which he addressed to +his cousin, Shams b. Málik, may be applied with equal justice +to the poet himself:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05">"Little he complains of labour that befalls him; much he wills;</span> +<span class="i0">Diverse ways attempting, mightily his purpose he fulfils.</span> +<span class="i0">Through one desert in the sun's heat, through another in starlight,</span> +<span class="i0">Lonely as the wild ass, rides he bare-backed Danger noon and night.</span> +<span class="i0">He the foremost wind outpaceth, while in broken gusts it blows,</span> +<span class="i0">Speeding onward, never slackening, never staying for repose.</span> +<span class="i0">Prompt to dash upon the foeman, every minute watching well—</span> +<span class="i0">Are his eyes in slumber lightly sealed, his heart stands sentinel.</span> +<span class="i0">When the first advancing troopers rise to sight, he sets his hand</span> +<span class="i0">From the scabbard forth to draw his sharp-edged, finely-mettled brand.</span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_82" id="Page_82" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>82</a></span> + +<span class="i0">When he shakes it in the breast-bone of a champion of the foe,</span> +<span class="i0">How the grinning Fates in open glee their flashing side-teeth show!</span> +<span class="i0">Solitude his chosen comrade, on he fares while overhead</span> +<span class="i0">By the Mother of the mazy constellations he is led."<a name="FNanchor_158" id="FNanchor_158"></a><a href="#Footnote_158" class="fnanchor">158</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>These verses admirably describe the rudimentary Arabian +virtues of courage, hardness, and strength. We must now +take a wider survey of the moral ideas on which pagan society +was built, and of which Pre-islamic poetry is at once the promulgation +and the record. There was no written code, no <span class="sidenote"> The old Arabian +points of +honour.</span> +legal or religious sanction—nothing, in effect, save the binding +force of traditional sentiment and opinion, <i>i.e.</i>, +Honour. What, then, are the salient points of +honour in which Virtue (<i>Muruwwa</i>), as it was +understood by the heathen Arabs, consists?</p> + +<p>Courage has been already mentioned. Arab courage is like +that of the ancient Greeks, "dependent upon excitement and +vanishing quickly before depression and delay."<a name="FNanchor_159" id="FNanchor_159"></a><a href="#Footnote_159" class="fnanchor">159</a> <span class="sidenote"> Courage.</span> +Hence the Arab hero is defiant and boastful, as +he appears, <i>e.g.</i>, in the <i>Mu‘allaqa</i> of ‘Amr b. Kulthúm. +When there is little to lose by flight he will ride off unashamed; +but he will fight to the death for his womenfolk, +who in serious warfare often accompanied the tribe and +were stationed behind the line of battle.<a name="FNanchor_160" id="FNanchor_160"></a><a href="#Footnote_160" class="fnanchor">160</a></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05">"When I saw the hard earth hollowed</span> +<span class="i0">By our women's flying footprints,</span> +<span class="i0">And Lamís her face uncovered</span> +<span class="i0">Like the full moon of the skies,</span> +<span class="i0">Showing forth her hidden beauties—</span> +<span class="i0">Then the matter was grim earnest:</span> +<span class="i0">I engaged their chief in combat,</span> +<span class="i0">Seeing help no other wise."<a name="FNanchor_161" id="FNanchor_161"></a><a href="#Footnote_161" class="fnanchor">161</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_83" id="Page_83" href="#"><span><i>COURAGE AND LOYALTY</i></span>83</a></span> + +The tribal constitution was a democracy guided by its chief +men, who derived their authority from noble blood, noble +character, wealth, wisdom, and experience. As a Bedouin +poet has said in homely language—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"A folk that hath no chiefs must soon decay,</span> +<span class="i0"> +And chiefs it hath not when the vulgar sway.</span> +<span class="i0"> +Only with poles the tent is reared at last,</span> +<span class="i0"> +And poles it hath not save the pegs hold fast</span> +<span class="i0"> +But when the pegs and poles are once combined,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Then stands accomplished that which was designed."<a name="FNanchor_162" id="FNanchor_162"></a><a href="#Footnote_162" class="fnanchor">162</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>The chiefs, however, durst not lay commands or penalties on +their fellow-tribesmen. Every man ruled himself, and was +free to rebuke presumption in others. "<i>If you are our lord</i>" +(<i>i.e.</i>, if you act discreetly as a <i>sayyid</i> should), "<i>you will lord +over us, but if you are a prey to pride, go and be proud!</i>" (<i>i.e.</i>, we +will have nothing to do with you).<a name="FNanchor_163" id="FNanchor_163"></a><a href="#Footnote_163" class="fnanchor">163</a> Loyalty in the mouth of +a pagan Arab did not mean allegiance to his superiors, but +faithful devotion to his equals; and it was closely <span class="sidenote"> Loyalty.</span> +connected with the idea of kinship. The family +and the tribe, which included strangers living in the tribe +under a covenant of protection—to defend these, individually +and collectively, was a sacred duty. Honour required that +a man should stand by his own people through thick and +thin.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"I am of Ghaziyya: if she be in error, then I will err;</span> +<span class="i0"> +And if Ghaziyya be guided right, I go right with her!"</span> +</div> +</div> +<p>sang Durayd b. Ṣimma, who had followed his kin, against his +better judgment, in a foray which cost the life of his brother +‘Abdulláh.<a name="FNanchor_164" id="FNanchor_164"></a><a href="#Footnote_164" class="fnanchor">164</a> If kinsmen seek help it should be given promptly, +without respect to the merits of the case; if they do wrong + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_84" id="Page_84" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>84</a></span> + +it should be suffered as long as possible before resorting to +violence.<a name="FNanchor_165" id="FNanchor_165"></a><a href="#Footnote_165" class="fnanchor">165</a> The utilitarian view of friendship is often emphasised, +as in these verses:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +Take for thy brother whom thou wilt in the days of peace,</span><span class="i0"> +But know that when fighting comes thy kinsman alone is near.</span><span class="i0"> +Thy true friend thy kinsman is, who answers thy call for aid</span><span class="i0"> +With good will, when deeply drenched in bloodshed are sword and spear.</span><span class="i0"> +Oh, never forsake thy kinsman e'en tho' he do thee wrong,</span><span class="i0"> +For what he hath marred he mends thereafter and makes sincere."<a name="FNanchor_166" id="FNanchor_166"></a><a href="#Footnote_166" class="fnanchor">166</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>At the same time, notwithstanding their shrewd common +sense, nothing is more characteristic of the Arabs—heathen +and Muḥammadan alike—than the chivalrous devotion and +disinterested self-sacrifice of which they are capable on behalf +of their friends. In particular, the ancient poetry affords +proof that they regarded with horror any breach of the solemn +covenant plighted between patron and client or host and guest. +This topic might be illustrated by many striking examples, but +one will suffice:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The Arabs say: "<i>Awfá mina ’l-Samaw’ali</i>"—"More loyal than +al-Samaw’al"; or <i>Wafá<sup>un</sup> ka-wafá’i ’l-Samaw’ali</i>"—" A loyalty like +that of al-Samaw’al." These proverbs refer to <span class="sidenote">The story of +Samaw’al b. +‘Adiyá.</span> +Samaw’al b. ‘Adiyá, an Arab of Jewish descent and +Jew by religion, who lived in his castle, called al-Ablaq +(The Piebald), at Taymá, some distance north of +Medína. There he dug a well of sweet water, and would entertain +the Arabs who used to alight beside it; and they supplied themselves +with provisions from his castle and set up a market. It is +related that the poet Imru’u ’l-Qays, while fleeing, hotly pursued by +his enemies, towards Syria, took refuge with Samaw’al, and before +proceeding on his way left in charge of his host five coats of mail +which had been handed down as heirlooms by the princes of his +family. Then he departed, and in due course arrived at Constantinople, +where he besought the Byzantine emperor to help him to + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_85" id="Page_85" href="#"><span><i>SAMAW’AL B. ‘ADIYA</i></span>85</a></span> + +recover his lost kingdom. His appeal was not unsuccessful, but he +died on the way home. Meanwhile his old enemy, the King of Ḥíra, +sent an army under Ḥárith b. Ẓálim against Samaw’al, demanding +that he should surrender the coats of mail. Samaw’al refused to +betray the trust committed to him, and defended himself in his +castle. The besiegers, however, captured his son, who had gone +out to hunt. Ḥárith asked Samaw’al: "Dost thou know this +lad?" "Yes, he is my son." "Then wilt thou deliver what is +in thy possession, or shall I slay him?" Samaw’al answered: "Do +with him as thou wilt. I will never break my pledge nor give up +the property of my guest-friend." So Ḥárith smote the lad with his +sword and clove him through the middle. Then he raised the siege. +And Samaw’al said thereupon:—</p></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +"<i>I was true with the mail-coats of the Kindite</i>,<a name="FNanchor_167" id="FNanchor_167"></a><a href="#Footnote_167" class="fnanchor">167</a></span> +<span class="i0"> +<i>I am true though many a one is blamed for treason.</i></span> +<span class="i0"> +<i>Once did ‘Ádiyá, my father, exhort me:</i></span> +<span class="i0"> +<i>'O Samaw’al, ne'er destroy what I have builded.'</i></span> +<span class="i0"> +<i>For me built ‘Ádiyá a strong-walled castle</i></span> +<span class="i0"> +<i>With a well where I draw water at pleasure;</i></span> +<span class="i0"> +<i>So high, the eagle slipping back is baffled.</i></span> +<span class="i0"> +<i>When wrong befalls me I endure not tamely.</i>"<a name="FNanchor_168" id="FNanchor_168"></a><a href="#Footnote_168" class="fnanchor">168</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>The Bedouin ideal of generosity and hospitality is personified +in Ḥátim of Ṭayyi’, of whom many anecdotes are told. We +may learn from the following one how extravagant are an +Arab's notions on this subject:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>When Ḥátim's mother was pregnant she dreamed that she was +asked, "Which dost thou prefer?—a generous son called Ḥátim, or +ten like those of other folk, lions in the hour of battle, <span class="sidenote">Ḥátim of Ṭayyi’.</span> +brave lads and strong of limb?" and that she answered, +"Ḥátim." Now, when Ḥátim grew up he was wont +to take out his food, and if he found any one to share it he +would eat, otherwise he threw it away. His father, seeing that + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_86" id="Page_86" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>86</a></span> + +he wasted his food, gave him a slave-girl and a mare with her +foal and sent him to herd the camels. On reaching the pasture, +Ḥátim began to search for his fellows, but none was in sight; +then he came to the road, but found no one there. While he +was thus engaged he descried a party of riders on the road and +went to meet them. "O youth," said they, "hast thou aught to +entertain us withal?" He answered: "Do ye ask me of entertainment +when ye see the camels?" Now, these riders were +‘Abíd b. al-Abras and Bishr b. Abí Kházim and Nábigha al-Dhubyání, +and they were on their way to King Nu‘mán.<a name="FNanchor_169" id="FNanchor_169"></a><a href="#Footnote_169" class="fnanchor">169</a> Ḥátim +slaughtered three camels for them, whereupon ‘Abíd said: "We +desired no entertainment save milk, but if thou must needs charge +thyself with something more, a single young she-camel would have +sufficed us." Ḥátim replied: "That I know, but seeing different +faces and diverse fashions I thought ye were not of the same +country, and I wished that each of you should mention what ye +saw, on returning home." So they spoke verses in praise of him +and celebrated his generosity, and Ḥátim said: "I wished to bestow +a kindness upon you, but your bounty is greater than mine. I +swear to God that I will hamstring every camel in the herd unless +ye come forward and divide them among yourselves." The poets +did as he desired, and each man received ninety-nine camels; then +they proceeded on their journey to Nu‘mán. When Ḥátim's father +heard of this he came to him and asked, "Where are the camels?" +"O my father," replied Ḥátim, "by means of them I have conferred +on thee everlasting fame and honour that will cleave to thee like the +ring of the ringdove, and men will always bear in mind some verse +of poetry in which we are praised. This is thy recompense for the +camels." On hearing these words his father said, "Didst thou with +my camels thus?" "Yes." "By God, I will never dwell with thee +again." So he went forth with his family, and Ḥátim was left alone +with his slave-girl and his mare and the mare's foal.<a name="FNanchor_170" id="FNanchor_170"></a><a href="#Footnote_170" class="fnanchor">170</a></p></div> + +<p>We are told that Ḥátim's daughter was led as a captive +before the Prophet and thus addressed him: "'O Muḥammad, +my sire is dead, and he who would have come to plead for me +is gone. Release me, if it seem good to thee, and do not let the +Arabs rejoice at my misfortune; for I am the daughter of +the chieftain of my people. My father was wont to free the +captive, and protect those near and dear to him, and entertain + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_87" id="Page_87" href="#"><span><i>ḤÁTIM OF ṬAYYI’</i></span>87</a></span> + +the guest, and satisfy the hungry, and console the afflicted, and +give food and greeting to all; and never did he turn away +any who sought a boon. I am Ḥátim's daughter.' <span class="sidenote"> Ḥátim's +daughter before +the Prophet.</span> +The Prophet (on whom be the blessing +and peace of God) answered her: 'O maiden, +the true believer is such as thou hast described. Had thy +father been an Islamite, verily we should have said, "God have +mercy upon him!" Let her go,' he continued, 'for her sire +loved noble manners, and God loves them likewise.'"<a name="FNanchor_171" id="FNanchor_171"></a><a href="#Footnote_171" class="fnanchor">171</a></p> + +<p>Ḥátim was a poet of some repute.<a name="FNanchor_172" id="FNanchor_172"></a><a href="#Footnote_172" class="fnanchor">172</a> The following lines are +addressed to his wife, Máwiyya:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"O daughter of ‘Abdulláh and Málik and him who wore</span> +<span class="i0"> +The two robes of Yemen stuff—the hero that rode the roan,</span> +<span class="i0"> +When thou hast prepared the meal, entreat to partake thereof</span> +<span class="i0"> +A guest—I am not the man to eat, like a churl, alone—:</span> +<span class="i0"> +Some traveller thro' the night, or house-neighbour; for in sooth</span> +<span class="i0"> +I fear the reproachful talk of men after I am gone.</span> +<span class="i0"> +The guest's slave am I, 'tis true, as long as he bides with me,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Although in my nature else no trait of the slave is shown."<a name="FNanchor_173" id="FNanchor_173"></a><a href="#Footnote_173" class="fnanchor">173</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Here it will be convenient to make a short digression in +order that the reader may obtain, if not a complete view, at +least some glimpses of the position and influence <span class="sidenote"> Position of +women.</span> +of women in Pre-islamic society. On the whole, +their position was high and their influence great. +They were free to choose their husbands, and could return, if +ill-treated or displeased, to their own people; in some cases + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_88" id="Page_88" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>88</a></span> + +they even offered themselves in marriage and had the right of +divorce. They were regarded not as slaves and chattels, but as +equals and companions. They inspired the poet to sing and +the warrior to fight. The chivalry of the Middle Ages is, +perhaps, ultimately traceable to heathen Arabia. "Knight-errantry, +the riding forth on horseback in search of adventures, +the rescue of captive maidens, the succour rendered everywhere +to women in adversity—all these were essentially Arabian +ideas, as was the very name of <i>chivalry</i>, the connection of +honourable conduct with the horse-rider, the man of noble +blood, the cavalier."<a name="FNanchor_174" id="FNanchor_174"></a><a href="#Footnote_174" class="fnanchor">174</a> But the nobility of the women is not +only reflected in the heroism and devotion of the men; it +stands recorded in song, in legend, and in history. Fáṭima, +the daughter of Khurshub, was one of three noble matrons +who bore the title <i>al-Munjibát</i>, 'the Mothers <span class="sidenote"> Arabian +heroines.</span> +of Heroes.' She had seven sons, three of whom, +viz., Rabí‘ and ‘Umára and Anas, were called +'the Perfect' (<i>al-Kamala</i>). One day Ḥamal b. Badr the +Fazárite raided the Banú ‘Abs, the tribe to which Fáṭima +belonged, and made her his prisoner. As he led away the +camel on which she was mounted at the time, she cried: +"Man, thy wits are wandering. By God, if thou take me +captive, and if we leave behind us this hill which is now +in front of us, surely there will never be peace <span class="sidenote">Fáṭima +daughter of +Khurshub.</span> +between thee and the sons of Ziyád" (Ziyád was +the name of her husband), "because people will +say what they please, and the mere suspicion of evil is +enough." "I will carry thee off," said he, "that thou mayest +herd my camels." When Fáṭima knew that she was certainly +his prisoner she threw herself headlong from her camel and +died; so did she fear to bring dishonour on her sons.<a name="FNanchor_175" id="FNanchor_175"></a><a href="#Footnote_175" class="fnanchor">175</a> Among +the names which have become proverbial for loyalty we find + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_89" id="Page_89" href="#"><span><i>WOMEN OF THE HEROIC AGE</i></span>89</a></span> + +those of two women, Fukayha and Umm Jamíl. As to +Fukayha, it is related that her clansmen, having been raided by +the brigand Sulayk b. Sulaka, resolved to attack <span class="sidenote"> Fukayha.</span> +him; but since he was a famous runner, on the +advice of one of their shaykhs they waited until he had gone +down to the water and quenched his thirst, for they knew that +he would then be unable to run. Sulayk, however, seeing +himself caught, made for the nearest tents and sought refuge +with Fukayha. She threw her smock over him, and stood +with drawn sword between him and his pursuers; and as they +still pressed on, she tore the veil from her hair and shouted for +help. Then her brothers came and defended Sulayk, so that +his life was saved.<a name="FNanchor_176" id="FNanchor_176"></a><a href="#Footnote_176" class="fnanchor">176</a> Had space allowed, it would have been a +pleasant task to make some further extracts from the long +Legend of Noble Women. I have illustrated their keen +sense of honour and loyalty, but I might equally well have +chosen examples of gracious dignity and quick intelligence and +passionate affection. Many among them had the gift of +poetry, which they bestowed especially on the dead; it is +a final proof of the high character and position of women in +Pre-islamic Arabia that the hero's mother and sisters were +deemed most worthy to mourn and praise him. The praise of +living women by their lovers necessarily takes a different tone; +the physical charms of the heroine are fully described, but we +seldom find any appreciation of moral beauty. One notable +exception to this rule occurs at the beginning of an ode by +Shanfará. The passage defies translation. It is, to quote Sir +Charles Lyall, with whose faithful and sympathetic rendering +of the ancient poetry every student of Arabic literature should +be acquainted, "the most lovely picture of womanhood which +heathen Arabia has left us, drawn by the same hand that has +given us, in the unrivalled <i>Lâmîyah</i>, its highest ideal of heroic +hardness and virile strength."<a name="FNanchor_177" id="FNanchor_177"></a><a href="#Footnote_177" class="fnanchor">177</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_90" id="Page_90" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>90</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">UMAYMA.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"She charmed me, veiling bashfully her face,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Keeping with quiet looks an even pace;</span> +<span class="i0"> +Some lost thing seem to seek her downcast eyes:</span> +<span class="i0"> +Aside she bends not—softly she replies.</span> +<span class="i0"> +Ere dawn she carries forth her meal—a gift</span> +<span class="i0"> +To hungry wives in days of dearth and thrift.</span> +<span class="i0"> +No breath of blame up to her tent is borne,</span> +<span class="i0"> +While many a neighbour's is the house of scorn.</span> +<span class="i0"> +Her husband fears no gossip fraught with shame,</span> +<span class="i0"> +For pure and holy is Umayma's name.</span> +<span class="i0"> +Joy of his heart, to her he need not say</span> +<span class="i0"> +When evening brings him home—'Where passed the day?'</span> +<span class="i0"> +Slender and full in turn, of perfect height,</span> +<span class="i0"> +A very fay were she, if beauty might</span> +<span class="i0"> +Transform a child of earth into a fairy sprite!"<a name="FNanchor_178" id="FNanchor_178"></a><a href="#Footnote_178" class="fnanchor">178</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Only in the freedom of the desert could the character thus +exquisitely delineated bloom and ripen. These verses, taken +by themselves, are a sufficient answer to any one who would +maintain that Islam has increased the social influence of +Arabian women, although in some respects it may have raised +them to a higher level of civilisation.<a name="FNanchor_179" id="FNanchor_179"></a><a href="#Footnote_179" class="fnanchor">179</a></p> + +<p>There is, of course, another side to all this. In a land +where might was generally right, and where</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6"> +"the simple plan</span> +<span class="i0"> +That he should take who has the power</span> +<span class="i0"> +And he should keep who can,"</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>was all but universally adopted, it would have been strange if +the weaker sex had not often gone to the wall. The custom +which prevailed in the <i>Jáhiliyya</i> of burying female infants +alive, revolting as it appears to us, was due partly to the +frequent famines with which Arabia is afflicted through lack +of rain, and partly to a perverted sense of honour. Fathers + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_91" id="Page_91" href="#"><span><i>THE CUSTOM OF INFANTICIDE</i></span>91</a></span> + +feared lest they should have useless mouths to feed, or lest +they should incur disgrace in consequence of their daughters +being made prisoners of war. Hence the birth of <span class="sidenote"> Infanticide.</span> +a daughter was reckoned calamitous, as we read +in the Koran: "<i>They attribute daughters unto God—far be +it from Him!—and for themselves they desire them not. When +a female child is announced to one of them, his face darkens +wrathfully: he hides himself from his people because of the bad +news, thinking—'Shall I keep the child to my disgrace or cover +it away in the dust?'</i>"<a name="FNanchor_180" id="FNanchor_180"></a><a href="#Footnote_180" class="fnanchor">180</a> It was said proverbially, "The +despatch of daughters is a kindness" and "The burial of +daughters is a noble deed."<a name="FNanchor_181" id="FNanchor_181"></a><a href="#Footnote_181" class="fnanchor">181</a> Islam put an end to this +barbarity, which is expressly forbidden by the Koran: "<i>Kill +not your children in fear of impoverishment: we will provide for +them and for you: verily their killing was a great sin.</i>"<a name="FNanchor_182" id="FNanchor_182"></a><a href="#Footnote_182" class="fnanchor">182</a> Perhaps +the most touching lines in Arabian poetry are those in which a +father struggling with poverty wishes that his daughter may +die before him and thus be saved from the hard mercies of +her relatives:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">THE POOR MAN'S DAUGHTER</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"But for Umayma's sake I ne'er had grieved to want nor braved</span> +<span class="i0"> +Night's blackest horror to bring home the morsel that she craved.</span> +<span class="i0"> +Now my desire is length of days because I know too well</span> +<span class="i0"> +The orphan girl's hard lot, with kin unkind enforced to dwell.</span> +<span class="i0"> +I dread that some day poverty will overtake my child,</span> +<span class="i0"> +And shame befall her when exposed to every passion wild.<a name="FNanchor_183" id="FNanchor_183"></a><a href="#Footnote_183" class="fnanchor">183</a></span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_92" id="Page_92" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>92</a></span> + +<span class="i0"> +She wishes me to live, but I must wish her dead, woe's me:</span> +<span class="i0"> +Death is the noblest wooer a helpless maid can see.</span> +<span class="i0"> +I fear an uncle may be harsh, a brother be unkind,</span> +<span class="i0"> +When I would never speak a word that rankled in her mind."<a name="FNanchor_184" id="FNanchor_184"></a><a href="#Footnote_184" class="fnanchor">184</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>And another says:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Were not my little daughters</span> +<span class="i0"> +Like soft chicks huddling by me,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Through earth and all its waters</span> +<span class="i0"> +To win bread would I roam free.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +Our children among us going,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Our very hearts they be;</span> +<span class="i0"> +The wind upon them blowing</span> +<span class="i0"> +Would banish sleep from me."<a name="FNanchor_185" id="FNanchor_185"></a><a href="#Footnote_185" class="fnanchor">185</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>"Odi et amo": these words of the poet might serve as an +epitome of Bedouin ethics. For, if the heathen Arab was, as +we have seen, a good friend to his friends, he had +in the same degree an intense and deadly feeling <span class="sidenote"> Treatment of +enemies.</span> +of hatred towards his enemies. He who did not +strike back when struck was regarded as a coward. No +honourable man could forgive an injury or fail to avenge +it. An Arab, smarting under the loss of some camels driven +off by raiders, said of his kin who refused to help him:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"For all their numbers, they are good for naught,</span> +<span class="i0"> +My people, against harm however light:</span> +<span class="i0"> +They pardon wrong by evildoers wrought,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Malice with lovingkindness they requite."<a name="FNanchor_186" id="FNanchor_186"></a><a href="#Footnote_186" class="fnanchor">186</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>The last verse, which would have been high praise in the + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_93" id="Page_93" href="#"><span><i>BLOOD-REVENGE</i></span>93</a></span> + +mouth of a Christian or Muḥammadan moralist, conveyed +to those who heard it a shameful reproach. The approved +method of dealing with an enemy is set forth plainly enough +in the following lines:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Humble him who humbles thee, close tho' be your kindredship:</span> +<span class="i0"> +If thou canst not humble him, wait till he is in thy grip.</span> +<span class="i0"> +Friend him while thou must; strike hard when thou hast him on the hip."<a name="FNanchor_187" id="FNanchor_187"></a><a href="#Footnote_187" class="fnanchor">187</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Above all, blood called for blood. This obligation lay +heavy on the conscience of the pagan Arabs. Vengeance, +with them, was "almost a physical necessity, <span class="sidenote"> Blood-revenge.</span> +which if it be not obeyed will deprive its +subject of sleep, of appetite, of health." It was a tormenting +thirst which nothing would quench except blood, a disease +of honour which might be described as madness, although +it rarely prevented the sufferer from going to work with +coolness and circumspection. Vengeance was taken upon +the murderer, if possible, or else upon one of his fellow-tribesmen. +Usually this ended the matter, but in some cases +it was the beginning of a regular blood-feud in which the +entire kin of both parties were involved; as, <i>e.g.</i>, the murder of +Kulayb led to the Forty Years' War between Bakr and +Taghlib.<a name="FNanchor_188" id="FNanchor_188"></a><a href="#Footnote_188" class="fnanchor">188</a> The slain man's next of kin might accept a +blood-wit (<i>diya</i>), commonly paid in camels—the coin of +the country—as atonement for him. If they did so, however, +it was apt to be cast in their teeth that they preferred milk +(<i>i.e.</i>, she-camels) to blood.<a name="FNanchor_189" id="FNanchor_189"></a><a href="#Footnote_189" class="fnanchor">189</a> The true Arab feeling is +expressed in verses like these:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"With the sword will I wash my shame away,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Let God's doom bring on me what it may!"<a name="FNanchor_190" id="FNanchor_190"></a><a href="#Footnote_190" class="fnanchor">190</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_94" id="Page_94" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>94</a></span> + +It was believed that until vengeance had been taken for +the dead man, his spirit appeared above his tomb in the +shape of an owl (<i>háma</i> or <i>ṣadá</i>), crying "<i>Isqúní</i>" ("Give +me to drink"). But pagan ideas of vengeance were bound up +with the Past far more than with the Future. The shadowy +after-life counted for little or nothing beside the deeply-rooted +memories of fatherly affection, filial piety, and brotherhood +in arms.</p> + +<p>Though liable to abuse, the rough-and-ready justice of +the vendetta had a salutary effect in restraining those who +would otherwise have indulged their lawless instincts without +fear of punishment. From our point of view, however, its +interest is not so much that of a primitive institution as of a +pervading element in old Arabian life and literature. Full, or +even adequate, illustration of this topic would carry me far +beyond the limits of my plan. I have therefore selected from +the copious material preserved in the <i>Book of Songs</i> a characteristic +story which tells how Qays b. al-Khaṭím took vengeance +on the murderers of his father and his grandfather.<a name="FNanchor_191" id="FNanchor_191"></a><a href="#Footnote_191" class="fnanchor">191</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>It is related on the authority of Abú ‘Ubayda that ‘Adí b. ‘Amr, +the grandfather of Qays, was slain by a man named Málik belonging +to the Banú ‘Amr b. ‘Ámir b. Rabí‘a b. ‘Ámir b. <span class="sidenote"> The story of the +vengeance of +Qays b. al-Khaṭím.</span> +Ṣa‘ṣa‘a; and his father, Khaṭím b. ‘Adí, by one of +the Banú ‘Abd al-Qays who were settled in Hajar. +Khaṭím died before avenging his father, ‘Adí, when +Qays was but a young lad. The mother of Qays, fearing that he +would sally forth to seek vengeance for the blood of his father and +his grandfather and perish, went to a mound of dust beside the +door of their dwelling and laid stones on it, and began to say to +Qays, "This is the grave of thy father and thy grandfather;" and +Qays never doubted but that it was so. He grew up strong in +the arms, and one day he had a tussle with a youth of the Banú +Ẓafar, who said to him: "By God, thou would'st do better to +turn the strength of thine arms against the slayers of thy father and +grandfather instead of putting it forth upon me." "And who are +their slayers?" "Ask thy mother, she will tell thee." So Qays + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_95" id="Page_95" href="#"><span><i>QAYS IBN AL-KHAṬÍM</i></span>95</a></span> + +took his sword and set its hilt on the ground and its edge between +his two breasts, and said to his mother: "Who killed my father and +my grandfather?" "They died as people die, and these are their +graves in the camping-ground." "By God, verily thou wilt tell me +who slew them or I will bear with my whole weight upon this sword +until it cleaves through my back." Then she told him, and Qays +swore that he would never rest until he had slain their slayers. "O +my son," said she, "Málik, who killed thy grandfather, is of the +same folk as Khidásh b. Zuhayr, and thy father once bestowed +a kindness on Khidásh, for which he is grateful. Go, then, to him +and take counsel with him touching thine affair and ask him to help +thee." So Qays set out immediately, and when he came to the +garden where his water-camel was watering his date-palms, he +smote the cord (of the bucket) with his sword and cut it, so that the +bucket dropped into the well. Then he took hold of the camel's +head, and loaded the beast with two sacks of dates, and said: +"Who will care for this old woman" (meaning his mother) "in my +absence? If I die, let him pay her expenses out of this garden, and +on her death it shall be his own; but if I live, my property will +return to me, and he shall have as many of its dates as he wishes to +eat." One of his folk cried, "I am for it," so Qays gave him the +garden and set forth to inquire concerning Khidásh. He was told +to look for him at Marr al-Ẓahrán, but not finding him in his tent, he +alighted beneath a tree, in the shade of which the guests of Khidásh +used to shelter, and called to the wife of Khidásh, "Is there any +food?" Now, when she came up to him, she admired his comeliness—for +he was exceeding fair of countenance—and said: "By +God, we have no fit entertainment for thee, but only dates." He +replied, "I care not, bring out what thou hast." So she sent to him +dates in a large measure (<i>qubá‘</i>), and Qays took a single date and +ate half of it and put back the other half in the <i>qubá‘</i>, and gave +orders that the <i>qubá‘</i> should be brought in to the wife of Khidásh; +then he departed on some business. When Khidásh returned and +his wife told him the news of Qays, he said, "This is a man who +would render his person sacred."<a name="FNanchor_192" id="FNanchor_192"></a><a href="#Footnote_192" class="fnanchor">192</a> While he sat there with his wife +eating fresh ripe dates, Qays returned on camel-back; and Khidásh, +when he saw the foot of the approaching rider, said to his wife, "Is +this thy guest?" "Yes." "'Tis as though his foot were the foot of + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_96" id="Page_96" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>96</a></span> + +my good friend, Khaṭím the Yathribite." Qays drew nigh, and struck +the tent-rope with the point of his spear, and begged leave to come +in. Having obtained permission, he entered to Khidásh and told +his lineage and informed him of what had passed, and asked him to +help and advise him in his affair. Khidásh bade him welcome, and +recalled the kindness which he had of his father, and said, "As to +this affair, truly I have been expecting it of thee for some time. +The slayer of thy grandfather is a cousin of mine, and I will +aid thee against him. When we are assembled in our meeting-place, +I will sit beside him and talk with him, and when I strike his +thigh, do thou spring on him and slay him." Qays himself relates: +"Accompanied by Khidásh, I approached him until I stood over his +head when Khidásh sat with him, and as soon as he struck the man's +thigh I smote his head with a sword named <i>Dhu ’l-Khurṣayn</i>" (the +Two-ringed). "His folk rushed on me to slay me, but Khidásh came +between us, crying, 'Let him alone, for, by God, he has slain none +but the slayer of his grandfather.'" Then Khidásh called for one of +his camels and mounted it, and started with Qays to find the +‘Abdite who killed his father. And when they were near Hajar +Khidásh advised him to go and inquire after this man, and to say to +him when he discovered him: "I encountered a brigand of thy +people who robbed me of some articles, and on asking who was the +chieftain of his people I was directed to thee. Go with me, then, +that thou mayest take from him my property. If," Khidásh +continued, "he follow thee unattended, thou wilt gain thy desire of +him; but should he bid the others go with thee, laugh, and if he +ask why thou laughest, say, 'With us, the noble does not as thou +dost, but when he is called to a brigand of his people, he goes forth +alone with his whip, not with his sword; and the brigand when he +sees him gives him everything that he took, in awe of him.' If he +shall dismiss his friends, thy course is clear; but if he shall refuse +to go without them, bring him to me nevertheless, for I hope that +thou wilt slay both him and them." So Khidásh stationed himself +under the shade of a tree, while Qays went to the ‘Abdite and +addressed him as Khidásh had prompted; and the man's sense of +honour was touched to the quick, so that he sent away his friends +and went with Qays. And when Qays came back to Khidásh, the +latter said to him, "Choose, O Qays! Shall I help thee or shall I +take thy place?" Qays answered, "I desire neither of these +alternatives, but if he slay me, let him not slay thee!" Then he +rushed upon him and wounded him in the flank and drove his lance +through the other side, and he fell dead on the spot. When Qays +had finished with him, Khidásh said, "If we flee just now, his folk + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_97" id="Page_97" href="#"><span><i>SONGS OF REVENGE</i></span>97</a></span> + +will pursue us; but let us go somewhere not far off, for they will +never think that thou hast slain him and stayed in the neighbourhood. +No; they will miss him and follow his track, and when they +find him slain they will start to pursue us in every direction, and will +only return when they have lost hope." So those two entered some +hollows of the sand, and after staying there several days (for it +happened exactly as Khidásh had foretold), they came forth when +the pursuit was over, and did not exchange a word until they +reached the abode of Khidásh. There Qays parted from him and +returned to his own people.</p></div> + +<p>The poems relating to blood-revenge show all that is best and +much that is less admirable in the heathen Arab—on the one +hand, his courage and resolution, his contempt of death and +fear of dishonour, his single-minded devotion to the dead as to +the living, his deep regard and tender affection for the men of +his own flesh and blood; on the other hand, his implacable +temper, his perfidious cruelty and reckless ferocity in hunting +down the slayers, and his savage, well-nigh inhuman exultation +over the slain. The famous Song or Ballad of Vengeance that +I shall now attempt to render in English verse is usually attributed +to Ta’abbaṭa Sharr<sup>an</sup>,<a name="FNanchor_193" id="FNanchor_193"></a><a href="#Footnote_193" class="fnanchor">193</a> although some pronounce <span class="sidenote">Song of +Vengeance +by Ta’abbaṭa +Sharran.</span> +it to be a forgery by Khalaf al-Aḥmar, +the reputed author of Shanfará's masterpiece, and +beyond doubt a marvellously skilful imitator of +the ancient bards. Be that as it may, the ballad is utterly +pagan in tone and feeling. Its extraordinary merit was detected +by Goethe, who, after reading it in a Latin translation, +published a German rendering, with some fine criticism of the +poetry, in his <i>West-oestlicher Divan</i>.<a name="FNanchor_194" id="FNanchor_194"></a><a href="#Footnote_194" class="fnanchor">194</a> I have endeavoured to +suggest as far as possible the metre and rhythm of the original, + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_98" id="Page_98" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>98</a></span> + +since to these, in my opinion, its peculiar effect is largely due. +The metre is that known as the 'Tall' (<i>Madíd</i>), viz.:—</p> + +<div class="figcenter2" style="width: 300px;"><img src="images/136image.png" width="300" height="30" alt= +"the metre" title="" /></div> + +<p>Thus the first verse runs in Arabic:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>Inna bi’l-shi‘ | bi ’lladhi |‘inda Sal‘<sup>in</sup></i></span> +<span class="i0"><i>la-qatíl<sup>an</sup> | damuhú | má yuṭallu.</i></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Of course, Arabic prosody differs radically from English, +but <i>mutatis mutandis</i> several couplets in the following version +(<i>e.g.</i> the third, eighth, and ninth) will be found to correspond +exactly with their model. As has been said, however, my +object was merely to suggest the abrupt metre and the heavy, +emphatic cadences, so that I have been able to give variety to +the verse, and at the same time to retain that artistic freedom +without which the translator of poetry cannot hope to satisfy +either himself or any one else.</p> + +<p>The poet tells how he was summoned to avenge his uncle, +slain by the tribesmen of Hudhayl: he describes the dead +man's heroic character, the foray in which he fell, his former +triumphs over the same enemy, and finally the terrible vengeance +taken for him.<a name="FNanchor_195" id="FNanchor_195"></a><a href="#Footnote_195" class="fnanchor">195</a></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05">"In the glen there a murdered man is lying—</span> +<span class="i0">Not in vain for vengeance his blood is crying.</span> +<span class="i0">He hath left me the load to bear and departed;</span> +<span class="i0">I take up the load and bear it true-hearted.</span> +<span class="i0">I, his sister's son, the bloodshed inherit,</span> +<span class="i0">I whose knot none looses, stubborn of spirit;<a name="FNanchor_196" id="FNanchor_196"></a><a href="#Footnote_196" class="fnanchor">196</a></span> +<span class="i0">Glowering darkly, shame's deadly out-wiper,</span> +<span class="i0">Like the serpent spitting venom, the viper.</span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_99" id="Page_99" href="#"><span><i>POEM BY TA’ABBAṬA SHARRAN</i></span>99</a></span> + +<span class="i0">Hard the tidings that befell us, heart-breaking;</span> +<span class="i0">Little seemed thereby the anguish most aching.</span> +<span class="i0">Fate hath robbed me—still is Fate fierce and froward—</span> +<span class="i0">Of a hero whose friend ne'er called him coward:</span> +<span class="i0">As the warm sun was he in wintry weather,</span> +<span class="i0">'Neath the Dog-star shade and coolness together:</span> +<span class="i0">Spare of flank—yet this in him showed not meanness;</span> +<span class="i0">Open-handed, full of boldness and keenness:</span> +<span class="i0">Firm of purpose, cavalier unaffrighted—</span> +<span class="i0">Courage rode with him and with him alighted:</span> +<span class="i0">In his bounty, a bursting cloud of rain-water;</span> +<span class="i0">Lion grim when he leaped to the slaughter.</span> +<span class="i0">Flowing hair, long robe his folk saw aforetime,</span> +<span class="i0">But a lean-haunched wolf was he in war-time.</span> +<span class="i0">Savours two he had, untasted by no men:</span> +<span class="i0">Honey to his friends and gall to his foemen.</span> +<span class="i0">Fear he rode nor recked what should betide him:</span> +<span class="i0">Save his deep-notched Yemen blade, none beside him.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Oh, the warriors girt with swords good for slashing,</span> +<span class="i0">Like the levin, when they drew them, outflashing!</span> +<span class="i0">Through the noonday heat they fared: then, benighted,</span> +<span class="i0">Farther fared, till at dawning they alighted.<a name="FNanchor_197" id="FNanchor_197"></a><a href="#Footnote_197" class="fnanchor">197</a></span> +<span class="i0">Breaths of sleep they sipped; and then, while they nodded,</span> +<span class="i0">Thou didst scare them: lo, they scattered and scudded.</span> +<span class="i0">Vengeance wreaked we upon them, unforgiving:</span> +<span class="i0">Of the two clans scarce was left a soul living.<a name="FNanchor_198" id="FNanchor_198"></a><a href="#Footnote_198" class="fnanchor">198</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Ay, if <i>they</i> bruised his glaive's edge 'twas in token</span> +<span class="i0">That by him many a time their own was broken.</span> +<span class="i0">Oft he made them kneel down by force and cunning—</span> +<span class="i0">Kneel on jags where the foot is torn with running.</span> +<span class="i0">Many a morn in shelter he took them napping;</span> +<span class="i0">After killing was the rieving and rapine.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">They have gotten of me a roasting—I tire not</span> +<span class="i0">Of desiring them till me they desire not.</span> +<span class="i0">First, of foemen's blood my spear deeply drinketh,</span> +<span class="i0">Then a second time, deep in, it sinketh.</span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_100" id="Page_100" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>100</a></span> + +<span class="i0">Lawful now to me is wine, long forbidden:</span> +<span class="i0">Sore my struggle ere the ban was o'erridden.<a name="FNanchor_199" id="FNanchor_199"></a><a href="#Footnote_199" class="fnanchor">199</a></span> +<span class="i0">Pour me wine, O son of ‘Amr! I would taste it,</span> +<span class="i0">Since with grief for mine uncle I am wasted.</span> +<span class="i0">O'er the fallen of Hudhayl stands screaming</span> +<span class="i0">The hyena; see the wolf's teeth gleaming!</span> +<span class="i0">Dawn will hear the flap of wings, will discover</span> +<span class="i0">Vultures treading corpses, too gorged to hover."</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>All the virtues which enter into the Arabian conception +of Honour were regarded not as personal qualities inherent +or acquired, but as hereditary possessions which a <span class="sidenote"> Honour conferred +by +noble ancestry.</span> +man derived from his ancestors, and held in trust +that he might transmit them untarnished to his +descendants. It is the desire to uphold and emulate the +fame of his forbears, rather than the hope of winning +immortality for himself, that causes the Arab "to say the +say and do the deeds of the noble." Far from sharing the +sentiment of the Scots peasant—"a man's a man for a' that"—he +looks askance at merit and renown unconsecrated by +tradition.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"The glories that have grown up with the grass</span><span class="i0"> +Can match not those inherited of old."<a name="FNanchor_200" id="FNanchor_200"></a><a href="#Footnote_200" class="fnanchor">200</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Ancestral renown (<i>ḥasab</i>) is sometimes likened to a strong +castle built by sires for their sons, or to a lofty mountain +which defies attack.<a name="FNanchor_201" id="FNanchor_201"></a><a href="#Footnote_201" class="fnanchor">201</a> The poets are full of boastings +(<i>mafákhir</i>) and revilings (<i>mathálib</i>) in which they loudly proclaim +the nobility of their own ancestors, and try to blacken +those of their enemy without any regard to decorum.</p> + +<p class="tb">It was my intention to add here some general remarks on +Arabian poetry as compared with that of the Hebrews, the + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_101" id="Page_101" href="#"><span><i>THE MU‘ALLAQÁT</i></span>101</a></span> + +Persians, and our own, but since example is better than precept +I will now turn directly to those celebrated odes which are +well known by the title of <i>Mu‘-allaqát</i>, or 'Suspended Poems,' +to all who take the slightest interest in Arabic literature.<a name="FNanchor_202" id="FNanchor_202"></a><a href="#Footnote_202" class="fnanchor">202</a></p> + +<p><i>Mu‘allaqa</i> (plural, <i>Mu‘allaqát</i>) "is most likely derived from +the word <i>‘ilq</i>, meaning 'a precious thing or a thing held in +high estimation,' either because one 'hangs on' tenaciously to +it, or because it is 'hung up' in a place of honour, or in a +conspicuous place, in a treasury or storehouse."<a name="FNanchor_203" id="FNanchor_203"></a><a href="#Footnote_203" class="fnanchor">203</a> In course +of time the exact signification of <i>Mu‘allaqa</i> was forgotten, and +it became necessary to find a plausible explanation. <span class="sidenote">The Mu‘allaqát, +or 'Suspended +Poems.'</span> +Hence arose the legend, which frequent repetition +has made familiar, that the 'Suspended Poems' +were so called from having been hung up in the Ka‘ba on +account of their merit; that this distinction was awarded +by the judges at the fair of ‘Ukáẓ, near Mecca, where +poets met in rivalry and recited their choicest productions; +and that the successful compositions, before being affixed +to the door of the Ka‘ba, were transcribed in letters of +gold upon pieces of fine Egyptian linen.<a name="FNanchor_204" id="FNanchor_204"></a><a href="#Footnote_204" class="fnanchor">204</a> Were these statements + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_102" id="Page_102" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>102</a></span> + +true, we should expect them to be confirmed by some +allusion in the early literature. But as a matter of fact nothing +of the kind is mentioned in the Koran or in religious tradition, +in the ancient histories of Mecca, or in such works as the +<i>Kitábu ’l-Aghání</i>, which draw their information from old and +trustworthy sources.<a name="FNanchor_205" id="FNanchor_205"></a><a href="#Footnote_205" class="fnanchor">205</a> Almost the first authority who refers to +the legend is the grammarian Aḥmad al-Naḥḥás; († 949 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), +and by him it is stigmatised as entirely groundless. Moreover, +although it was accepted by scholars like Reiske, Sir W. Jones, +and even De Sacy, it is incredible in itself. Hengstenberg, in +the Prolegomena to his edition of the <i>Mu‘-allaqa</i> of Imru’u +’l-Qays (Bonn, 1823) asked some pertinent questions: Who +were the judges, and how were they appointed? Why were +only these seven poems thus distinguished? His further +objection, that the art of writing was at that time a rare accomplishment, +does not carry so much weight as he attached to +it, but the story is sufficiently refuted by what we know of +the character and customs of the Arabs in the sixth century +and afterwards. Is it conceivable that the proud sons of the +desert could have submitted a matter so nearly touching their +tribal honour, of which they were jealous above all things, to +external arbitration, or meekly acquiesced in the partial verdict +of a court sitting in the neighbourhood of Mecca, which would +certainly have shown scant consideration for competitors +belonging to distant clans?<a name="FNanchor_206" id="FNanchor_206"></a><a href="#Footnote_206" class="fnanchor">206</a></p> + +<p>However <i>Mu‘allaqa</i> is to be explained, the name is not +contemporary with the poems themselves. In all probability +they were so entitled by the person who first chose them + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_103" id="Page_103" href="#"><span><i>THE MU‘ALLAQÁT</i></span>103</a></span> + +out of innumerable others and embodied them in a separate +collection. This is generally allowed to have been Ḥammád +al-Ráwiya, a famous rhapsodist who flourished in <span class="sidenote"> Origin of the +collection.</span> +the latter days of the Umayyad dynasty, and +died about 772 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, in the reign of the ‘Abbásid +Caliph Mahdí. What principle guided Ḥammád in his choice +we do not know. Nöldeke conjectures that he was influenced +by the fact that all the <i>Mu‘allaqát</i> are long poems—they are +sometimes called 'The Seven Long Poems' (<i>al-Sab‘ al-Ṭiwál</i>)—for +in Ḥammád's time little of the ancient Arabian poetry +survived in a state even of relative completeness.</p> + +<p>It must be confessed that no rendering of the <i>Mu‘allaqát</i> +can furnish European readers with a just idea of the originals, +a literal version least of all. They contain much <span class="sidenote">Difficulty of +translating +the Mu‘allaqát.</span> +that only a full commentary can make intelligible, +much that to modern taste is absolutely incongruous +with the poetic style. Their finest pictures of Bedouin +life and manners often appear uncouth or grotesque, because +without an intimate knowledge of the land and people it is +impossible for us to see what the poet intended to convey, or +to appreciate the truth and beauty of its expression; while the +artificial framework, the narrow range of subject as well as +treatment, and the frank realism of the whole strike us at +once. In the following pages I shall give some account of +the <i>Mu‘allaqát</i> and their authors, and endeavour to bring out +the characteristic qualities of each poem by selecting suitable +passages for translation.<a name="FNanchor_207" id="FNanchor_207"></a><a href="#Footnote_207" class="fnanchor">207</a></p> + +<p>The oldest and most famous of the <i>Mu‘allaqát</i> is that of +Imru’u ’l-Qays, who was descended from the ancient kings of +Yemen. His grandfather was King Ḥárith of Kinda, the +antagonist of Mundhir III, King of Ḥíra, by whom he was + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_104" id="Page_104" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>104</a></span> + +defeated and slain.<a name="FNanchor_208" id="FNanchor_208"></a><a href="#Footnote_208" class="fnanchor">208</a> On Ḥárith's death, the confederacy +which he had built up split asunder, and his sons divided among +themselves the different tribes of which it was <span class="sidenote">Imru’u +’l-Qays.</span> +composed. Ḥujr, the poet's father, ruled for some +time over the Banú Asad in Central Arabia, but +finally they revolted and put him to death. "The duty of +avenging his murder fell upon Imru’u ’l-Qays, who is represented +as the only capable prince of his family; and the +few historical data which we have regarding him relate to his +adventures while bent upon this vengeance."<a name="FNanchor_209" id="FNanchor_209"></a><a href="#Footnote_209" class="fnanchor">209</a> They are told +at considerable length in the <i>Kitábu ’l-Aghání</i>, but need not +detain us here. Suffice it to say that his efforts to punish the +rebels, who were aided by Mundhir, the hereditary foe of his +house, met with little success. He then set out for Constantinople, +where he was favourably received by the Emperor +Justinian, who desired to see the power of Kinda re-established +as a thorn in the side of his Persian rivals. The emperor +appointed him Phylarch of Palestine, but on his way thither he +died at Angora (about 540 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). He is said to have perished, +like Nessus, from putting on a poisoned robe sent to him as a +gift by Justinian, with whose daughter he had an intrigue. +Hence he is sometimes called 'The Man of the Ulcers' +(<i>Dhu ’l-Qurúḥ</i>).</p> + +<p>Many fabulous traditions surround the romantic figure of +Imru’u ’l-Qays.<a name="FNanchor_210" id="FNanchor_210"></a><a href="#Footnote_210" class="fnanchor">210</a> According to one story, he was banished by +his father, who despised him for being a poet and was enraged +by the scandals to which his love adventures gave rise. +Imru’u ’l-Qays left his home and wandered from tribe to tribe +with a company of outcasts like himself, leading a wild life, +which caused him to be known as 'The Vagabond Prince' +(<i>al-Malik al-Ḍillíl</i>). When the news of his father's death + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_105" id="Page_105" href="#"><span><i>IMRU’U ’L-QAYS</i></span>105</a></span> + +reached him he cried, "My father wasted my youth, and now +that I am old he has laid upon me the burden of blood-revenge. +Wine to-day, business to-morrow!" Seven nights he continued +the carouse; then he swore not to eat flesh, nor drink +wine, nor use ointment, nor touch woman, nor wash his +head until his vengeance was accomplished. In the valley +of Tabála, north of Najrán, there was an idol called Dhu +’l-Khalaṣa much reverenced by the heathen Arabs. Imru’u +’l-Qays visited this oracle and consulted it in the ordinary way, +by drawing one of three arrows entitled 'the Commanding,' +'the Forbidding,' and 'the Waiting.' He drew the second, +whereupon he broke the arrows and dashed them on the face +of the idol, exclaiming with a gross imprecation, "If <i>thy</i> +father had been slain, thou would'st not have hindered me!"</p> + +<p>Imru’u ’l-Qays is almost universally reckoned the greatest +of the Pre-islamic poets. Muḥammad described him as 'their +leader to Hell-fire,' while the Caliphs ‘Umar and ‘Alí, +<i>odium theologicum</i> notwithstanding, extolled his genius and originality.<a name="FNanchor_211" id="FNanchor_211"></a><a href="#Footnote_211" class="fnanchor">211</a> +Coming to the <i>Mu‘allaqa</i> itself, European critics have +vied with each other in praising its exquisite diction and +splendid images, the sweet flow of the verse, the charm and +variety of the painting, and, above all, the feeling by which it +is inspired of the joy and glory of youth. The passage translated +below is taken from the first half of the poem, in which +love is the prevailing theme:—<a name="FNanchor_212" id="FNanchor_212"></a><a href="#Footnote_212" class="fnanchor">212</a></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Once, on the hill, she mocked at me and swore,</span> +<span class="i0"> +'This hour I leave thee to return no more,'</span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_106" id="Page_106" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>106</a></span> + +<span class="i0"> +Soft! if farewell is planted in thy mind,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Yet spare me, Fáṭima, disdain unkind.</span> +<span class="i0"> +Because my passion slays me, wilt thou part?</span> +<span class="i0"> +Because thy wish is law unto mine heart?</span> +<span class="i0"> +Nay, if thou so mislikest aught in me,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Shake loose my robe and let it fall down free.</span> +<span class="i0"> +But ah, the deadly pair, thy streaming eyes!</span> +<span class="i0"> +They pierce a heart that all in ruin lies.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +How many a noble tent hath oped its treasure</span> +<span class="i0"> +To me, and I have ta'en my fill of pleasure,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Passing the warders who with eager speed</span> +<span class="i0"> +Had slain me, if they might but hush the deed,</span> +<span class="i0"> +What time in heaven the Pleiades unfold</span> +<span class="i0"> +A belt of orient gems distinct with gold.</span> +<span class="i0"> +I entered. By the curtain there stood she,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Clad lightly as for sleep, and looked on me.</span> +<span class="i0"> +'By God,' she cried, 'what recks thee of the cost?</span> +<span class="i0"> +I see thine ancient madness is not lost.'</span> +<span class="i0"> +I led her forth—she trailing as we go</span> +<span class="i0"> +Her broidered skirt, lest any footprint show—</span> +<span class="i0"> +Until beyond the tents the valley sank</span> +<span class="i0"> +With curving dunes and many a pilèd bank,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Then with both hands I drew her head to mine,</span> +<span class="i0"> +And lovingly the damsel did incline</span> +<span class="i0"> +Her slender waist and legs more plump than fine;—</span> +<span class="i0"> +A graceful figure, a complexion bright,</span> +<span class="i0"> +A bosom like a mirror in the light;</span> +<span class="i0"> +A white pale virgin pearl such lustre keeps,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Fed with clear water in untrodden deeps.</span> +<span class="i0"> +Now she bends half away: two cheeks appear,</span> +<span class="i0"> +And such an eye as marks the frighted deer</span> +<span class="i0"> +Beside her fawn; and lo, the shapely neck</span> +<span class="i0"> +Not bare of ornament, else without a fleck;</span> +<span class="i0"> +While from her shoulders in profusion fair,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Like clusters on the palm, hangs down her coal-dark hair."</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>In strange contrast with this tender and delicate idyll are +the wild, hard verses almost immediately following, in which +the poet roaming through the barren waste hears the howl of a +starved wolf and hails him as a comrade:—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_107" id="Page_107" href="#"><span><i>IMRU’U ’L-QAYS</i></span>107</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Each one of us what thing he finds devours:</span> +<span class="i0"> +Lean is the wretch whose living is like ours."<a name="FNanchor_213" id="FNanchor_213"></a><a href="#Footnote_213" class="fnanchor">213</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>The noble qualities of his horse and its prowess in the +chase are described, and the poem ends with a magnificent +picture of a thunder-storm among the hills of Najd.</p> + +<p class="tb">Ṭarafa b. al-‘Abd was a member of the great tribe of Bakr. +The particular clan to which he belonged was settled in +Baḥrayn on the Persian Gulf. He early developed <span class="sidenote"> Ṭarafa.</span> +a talent for satire, which he exercised upon friend +and foe indifferently; and after he had squandered his +patrimony in dissolute pleasures, his family chased him away +as though he were 'a mangy camel.' At length a reconciliation +was effected. He promised to mend his ways, returned +to his people, and took part, it is said, in the War of +Basús. In a little while his means were dissipated once more +and he was reduced to tend his brother's herds. His <i>Mu‘allaqa</i> +composed at this time won for him the favour of a rich kinsman +and restored him to temporary independence. On the +conclusion of peace between Bakr and Taghlib the youthful +poet turned his eyes in the direction of Ḥíra, where ‘Amr b. +Hind had lately succeeded to the throne (554 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). He was +well received by the king, who attached him, along with his +uncle, the poet Mutalammis, to the service of the heir-apparent. +But Ṭarafa's bitter tongue was destined to cost him dear. +Fatigued and disgusted by the rigid ceremony of the court, he +improvised a satire in which he said—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Would that we had instead of ‘Amr</span> +<span class="i0"> +A milch-ewe bleating round our tent!"</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Shortly afterwards he happened to be seated at table opposite +the king's sister. Struck with her beauty, he exclaimed—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_108" id="Page_108" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>108</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Behold, she has come back to me,</span> +<span class="i0"> +My fair gazelle whose ear-rings shine;</span> +<span class="i0"> +Had not the king been sitting here,</span> +<span class="i0"> +I would have pressed her lips to mine!"</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>‘Amr b. Hind was a man of violent and implacable temper. +Ṭarafa's satire had already been reported to him, and this new +impertinence added fuel to his wrath. Sending for Ṭarafa and +Mutalammis, he granted them leave to visit their homes, and +gave to each of them a sealed letter addressed to the governor +of Baḥrayn. When they had passed outside the city the +suspicions of Mutalammis were aroused. As neither he nor +his companion could read, he handed his own letter to a boy +of Ḥíra<a name="FNanchor_214" id="FNanchor_214"></a><a href="#Footnote_214" class="fnanchor">214</a> and learned that it contained orders to bury him +alive. Thereupon he flung the treacherous missive into the +stream and implored Ṭarafa to do likewise. Ṭarafa refused +to break the royal seal. He continued his journey to Baḥrayn, +where he was thrown into prison and executed.</p> + +<p>Thus perished miserably in the flower of his youth—according +to some accounts he was not yet twenty—the passionate +and eloquent Ṭarafa. In his <i>Mu‘allaqa</i> he has drawn a +spirited portrait of himself. The most striking feature of +the poem, apart from a long and, to us who are not Bedouins, +painfully tedious description of the camel, is its insistence on +sensual enjoyment as the sole business of life:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Canst thou make me immortal, O thou that blamest me so</span> +<span class="i0"> +For haunting the battle and loving the pleasures that fly?</span> +<span class="i0"> +If thou hast not the power to ward me from Death, let me go</span> +<span class="i0"> +To meet him and scatter the wealth in my hand, ere I die.</span> +<span class="i0"> +</span><span class="i0"> +Save only for three things in which noble youth take delight,</span> +<span class="i0"> +I care not how soon rises o'er me the coronach loud:</span> +<span class="i0"> +Wine that foams when the water is poured on it, ruddy, not bright.</span> +<span class="i0"> +Dark wine that I quaff stol'n away from the cavilling crowd;</span> +<span class="i0"> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_109" id="Page_109" href="#"><span><i>ṬARAFA</i></span>109</a></span> + +"And second, my charge at the cry of distress on a steed</span> +<span class="i0"> +Bow-legged like the wolf you have startled when thirsty he cowers;</span> +<span class="i0"> +And third, the day-long with a lass in her tent of goat's hair</span> +<span class="i0"> +To hear the wild rain and beguile of their slowness the hours."<a name="FNanchor_215" id="FNanchor_215"></a><a href="#Footnote_215" class="fnanchor">215</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Keeping, as far as possible, the chronological order, we have +now to mention two <i>Mu‘allaqas</i> which, though not directly +related to each other,<a name="FNanchor_216" id="FNanchor_216"></a><a href="#Footnote_216" class="fnanchor">216</a> are of the same period—the reign of +‘Amr b. Hind, King of Ḥíra (554-568 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). Moreover, +their strong mutual resemblance and their difference from the +other <i>Mu‘allaqas</i>, especially from typical <i>qaṣídas</i> like those of +‘Antara and Labíd, is a further reason for linking them +together. Their distinguishing mark is the abnormal space +devoted to the main subject, which leaves little room for +the subsidiary motives.</p> + +<p>‘Amr b. Kulthúm belonged to the tribe of Taghlib. His +mother was Laylá, a daughter of the famous poet and warrior +Muhalhil. That she was a woman of heroic <span class="sidenote">‘Amr b. +Kulthúm.</span> +mould appears from the following anecdote, which +records a deed of prompt vengeance on the part +of ‘Amr that gave rise to the proverb, "Bolder in onset than +‘Amr b. Kulthúm"<a name="FNanchor_217" id="FNanchor_217"></a><a href="#Footnote_217" class="fnanchor">217</a>:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>One day ‘Amr. b. Hind, the King of Ḥíra, said to his boon-companions, +"Do ye know any Arab whose mother would disdain to +serve mine?" They answered, "Yes, the mother of ‘Amr b. + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_110" id="Page_110" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>110</a></span> + +Kulthúm." "Why so?" asked the king. "Because," said they, "her +father is Muhalhil b. Rabí‘a and her uncle is Kulayb b. Wá’il, the +most puissant of the Arabs, and her husband is <span class="sidenote">How ’Amr +avenged an +insult to his +mother.</span> +Kulthúm b. Málik, the knightliest, and her son is ‘Amr, +the chieftain of his tribe." Then the king sent to ‘Amr +b. Kulthúm, inviting him to pay a visit to himself, and +asking him to bring his mother, Laylá, to visit his own mother, +Hind. So ‘Amr came to Ḥíra with some men of Taghlib, and +Laylá came attended by a number of their women; and while +the king entertained ‘Amr and his friends in a pavilion which he +had caused to be erected between Ḥíra and the Euphrates, Laylá +found quarters with Hind in a tent adjoining. Now, the king had +ordered his mother, as soon as he should call for dessert, to dismiss +the servants, and cause Laylá to wait upon her. At the pre-arranged +signal she desired to be left alone with her guest, and said, "O Laylá, +hand me that dish." Laylá answered, "Let those who want anything +rise up and serve themselves." Hind repeated her demand, and +would take no denial. "O shame!" cried Laylá. "Help! Taghlib, +help!" When ‘Amr heard his mother's cry the blood flew to his +cheeks. He seized a sword hanging on the wall of the pavilion—the +only weapon there—and with a single blow smote the king +dead.<a name="FNanchor_218" id="FNanchor_218"></a><a href="#Footnote_218" class="fnanchor">218</a></p></div> + +<p>‘Amr's <i>Mu‘allaqa</i> is the work of a man who united in +himself the ideal qualities of manhood as these were understood +by a race which has never failed to value, even too +highly, the display of self-reliant action and decisive energy. +And if in ‘Amr's poem these virtues are displayed with an +exaggerated boastfulness which offends our sense of decency +and proper reserve, it would be a grave error to conclude that +all this sound and fury signifies nothing. The Bedouin poet +deems it his bounden duty to glorify to the utmost himself, his +family, and his tribe; the Bedouin warrior is never tired of +proclaiming his unshakable valour and recounting his brilliant +feats of arms: he hurls menaces and vaunts in the same breath, +but it does not follow that he is a <i>Miles Gloriosus</i>. ‘Amr +certainly was not: his <i>Mu‘allaqa</i> leaves a vivid impression of +conscious and exultant strength. The first eight verses seem + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_111" id="Page_111" href="#"><span><i>‘AMR IBN KULTHÚM</i></span>111</a></span> + +to have been added to the poem at a very early date, for out of +them arose the legend that ‘Amr drank himself to death with +unmixed wine. It is likely that they were included in the +original collection of the <i>Mu‘allaqát</i>, and they are worth +translating for their own sake:—-</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Up, maiden! Fetch the morning-drink and spare not</span> +<span class="i4"> +The wine of Andarín,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Clear wine that takes a saffron hue when water</span> +<span class="i4"> +Is mingled warm therein.</span> +<span class="i0"> +The lover tasting it forgets his passion,</span> +<span class="i4"> +His heart is eased of pain;</span> +<span class="i0"> +The stingy miser, as he lifts the goblet,</span> +<span class="i4"> +Regardeth not his gain.</span> +<span class="i0"> +</span><span class="i0"> +Pass round from left to right! Why let'st thou, maiden,</span> +<span class="i4"> +Me and my comrades thirst?</span> +<span class="i0"> +Yet am I, whom thou wilt not serve this morning,</span> +<span class="i4"> +Of us three not the worst!</span> +<span class="i0"> +Many a cup in Baalbec and Damascus</span> +<span class="i4"> +And Qáṣirín I drained,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Howbeit we, ordained to death, shall one day</span> +<span class="i4"> +Meet death, to us ordained."<a name="FNanchor_219" id="FNanchor_219"></a><a href="#Footnote_219" class="fnanchor">219</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>In the next passage he describes his grief at the departure +of his beloved, whom he sees in imagination arriving at her +journey's end in distant Yamáma:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"And oh, my love and yearning when at nightfall</span> +<span class="i4"> +I saw her camels haste,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Until sharp peaks uptowered like serried sword-blades,</span> +<span class="i4"> +And me Yamáma faced!</span> +<span class="i0"> +Such grief no mother-camel feels, bemoaning</span> +<span class="i4"> +Her young one lost, nor she,</span> +<span class="i0"> +The grey-haired woman whose hard fate hath left her</span> +<span class="i4"> +Of nine sons graves thrice three."<a name="FNanchor_220" id="FNanchor_220"></a><a href="#Footnote_220" class="fnanchor">220</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Now the poet turns abruptly to his main theme. He + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_112" id="Page_112" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>112</a></span> + +addresses the King of Ḥíra, ‘Amr b. Hind, in terms of defiance, +and warns the foes of Taghlib that they will meet more than +their match:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05">"Father of Hind,<a name="FNanchor_221" id="FNanchor_221"></a><a href="#Footnote_221" class="fnanchor">221</a> take heed and ere thou movest</span> +<span class="i4">Rashly against us, learn</span> +<span class="i0">That still our banners go down white to battle</span> +<span class="i4">And home blood-red return.</span> +<span class="i0">And many a chief bediademed, the champion</span> +<span class="i4">Of the outlaws of the land,</span> +<span class="i0">Have we o'erthrown and stripped him, while around him</span> +<span class="i4">Fast-reined the horses stand.</span> +<span class="i0">Our neighbours lopped like thorn-trees, snarls in terror</span> +<span class="i4">Of us the demon-hound;<a name="FNanchor_222" id="FNanchor_222"></a><a href="#Footnote_222" class="fnanchor">222</a></span> +<span class="i0">Never we try our hand-mill on the foemen</span> +<span class="i4">But surely they are ground.</span> +<span class="i0">We are the heirs of glory, all Ma‘add knows,<a name="FNanchor_223" id="FNanchor_223"></a><a href="#Footnote_223" class="fnanchor">223</a></span> +<span class="i4">Our lances it defend,</span> +<span class="i0">And when the tent-pole tumbles in the foray,</span> +<span class="i4">Trust us to save our friend!<a name="FNanchor_224" id="FNanchor_224"></a><a href="#Footnote_224" class="fnanchor">224</a></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O ‘Amr, what mean'st thou? Are we, we of Taghlib,</span> +<span class="i4">Thy princeling's retinue?</span> +<span class="i0">O ‘Amr, what mean'st thou, rating us and hearkening</span> +<span class="i4">To tale-bearers untrue?</span> +<span class="i0">O ‘Amr, ere thee full many a time our spear-shaft</span> +<span class="i4">Has baffled foes to bow;<a name="FNanchor_225" id="FNanchor_225"></a><a href="#Footnote_225" class="fnanchor">225</a></span> +<span class="i0">Nipped in the vice it kicks like a wild camel</span> +<span class="i4">That will no touch allow—</span> +<span class="i0">Like a wild camel, so it creaks in bending</span> +<span class="i4">And splits the bender's brow!"<a name="FNanchor_226" id="FNanchor_226"></a><a href="#Footnote_226" class="fnanchor">226</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>The <i>Mu‘allaqa</i> ends with a eulogy, superb in its extravagance, +of the poet's tribe:—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_113" id="Page_113" href="#"><span><i>‘AMR IBN KULTHÚM</i></span>113</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05">"Well wot, when our tents rise along their valleys,</span> +<span class="i4">The men of every clan</span> +<span class="i0">That we give death to them that durst attempt us,</span> +<span class="i4">To friends what food we can;</span> +<span class="i0">That staunchly we maintain a cause we cherish,</span> +<span class="i4">Camp where we choose to ride,</span> +<span class="i0">Nor will we aught of peace, when we are angered,</span> +<span class="i4">Till we be satisfied.</span> +<span class="i0">We keep our vassals safe and sound, but rebels</span> +<span class="i4">We soon force to their knees;</span> +<span class="i0">And if we reach a well, we drink pure water,</span> +<span class="i4">Others the muddy lees.</span> +<span class="i0">Ours is the earth and all thereon: when <i>we</i> strike,</span> +<span class="i4">There needs no second blow;</span> +<span class="i0">Kings lay before the new-weaned boy of Taghlib</span> +<span class="i4">Their heads in homage low.</span> +<span class="i0">We are called oppressors, being none, but shortly</span> +<span class="i4">A true name shall it be!<a name="FNanchor_227" id="FNanchor_227"></a><a href="#Footnote_227" class="fnanchor">227</a></span> +<span class="i0">We have so filled the earth 'tis narrow for us,</span> +<span class="i4">And with our ships the sea!<a name="FNanchor_228" id="FNanchor_228"></a><a href="#Footnote_228" class="fnanchor">228</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Less interesting is the <i>Mu‘allaqa</i> of Ḥárith b. Ḥilliza of +Bakr. Its inclusion among the <i>Mu‘allaqát</i> is probably due, as +Nöldeke suggested, to the fact that Ḥammád, <span class="sidenote"> Ḥárith b. Ḥilliza.</span> +himself a client of Bakr, wished to flatter his +patrons by selecting a counterpart to the <i>Mu‘allaqa</i> of ‘Amr +b. Kulthúm, which immortalised their great rivals, the Banú +Taghlib. Ḥárith's poem, however, has some historical importance, +as it throws light on feuds in Northern Arabia +connected with the antagonism of the Roman and Persian +Empires. Its purpose is to complain of unjust accusations +made against the Banú Bakr by a certain group of the Banú +Taghlib known as the Aráqim:—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_114" id="Page_114" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>114</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Our brothers the Aráqim let their tongues</span> +<span class="i4"> +Against us rail unmeasuredly.</span> +<span class="i0"> +The innocent with the guilty they confound:</span> +<span class="i4"> +Of guilt what boots it to be free?</span> +<span class="i0"> +They brand us patrons of the vilest deed,</span> +<span class="i4"> +Our clients in each miscreant see."<a name="FNanchor_229" id="FNanchor_229"></a><a href="#Footnote_229" class="fnanchor">229</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>A person whom Ḥárith does not name was 'blackening' +the Banú Bakr before the King of Ḥíra. The poet tells him +not to imagine that his calumnies will have any lasting effect: +often had Bakr been slandered by their foes, but (he finely +adds):—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Maugre their hate we stand, by firm-based might</span> +<span class="i4"> +Exalted and by ancestry—</span> +<span class="i0"> +Might which ere now hath dazzled men's eyes: thence scorn</span> +<span class="i4"> +To yield and haughty spirit have we.</span> +<span class="i0"> +On us the Days beat as on mountain dark</span> +<span class="i4"> +That soars in cloudless majesty,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Compact against the hard calamitous shocks</span> +<span class="i4"> +And buffetings of Destiny."<a name="FNanchor_230" id="FNanchor_230"></a><a href="#Footnote_230" class="fnanchor">230</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>He appeals to the offenders not wantonly to break the peace +which ended the War of Basús:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Leave folly and error! If ye blind yourselves,</span> +<span class="i4"> +Just therein lies the malady.</span> +<span class="i0"> +Recall the oaths of Dhu ’l-Majáz<a name="FNanchor_231" id="FNanchor_231"></a><a href="#Footnote_231" class="fnanchor">231</a> for which</span> +<span class="i4"> +Hostages gave security,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Lest force or guile should break them: can caprice</span> +<span class="i4"> +Annul the parchments utterly?<a name="FNanchor_232" id="FNanchor_232"></a><a href="#Footnote_232" class="fnanchor">232</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>‘Antara b. Shaddád, whose father belonged to the tribe of +‘Abs, distinguished himself in the War of Dáḥis.<a name="FNanchor_233" id="FNanchor_233"></a><a href="#Footnote_233" class="fnanchor">233</a> In modern +times it is not as a poet that he is chiefly remembered, +but as a hero of romance—the Bedouin <span class="sidenote">‘Antara.</span> +Achilles. Goddess-born, however, he could not be called by + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_115" id="Page_115" href="#"><span><i>ḤÁRITH AND ‘ANTARA</i></span>115</a></span> + +any stretch of imagination. His mother was a black slave, +and he must often have been taunted with his African blood, +which showed itself in a fiery courage that gained the respect +of the pure-bred but generally less valorous Arabs. ‘Antara +loved his cousin ‘Abla, and following the Arabian custom by +which cousins have the first right to a girl's hand, he asked +her in marriage. His suit was vain—the son of a slave mother +being regarded as a slave unless acknowledged by his father—until +on one occasion, while the ‘Absites were hotly engaged +with some raiders who had driven off their camels, ‘Antara +refused to join in the mêlée, saying, "A slave does not understand +how to fight; his work is to milk the camels and bind +their udders." "Charge!" cried his father, "thou art free." +Though ‘Antara uttered no idle boast when he sang—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"On one side nobly born and of the best</span> +<span class="i0"> +Of ‘Abs am I: my sword makes good the rest!"</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>his contemptuous references to 'jabbering barbarians,' and to +'slaves with their ears cut off, clad in sheepskins,' are characteristic +of the man who had risen to eminence in spite of the +stain on his scutcheon. He died at a great age in a foray +against the neighbouring tribe of Ṭayyi’. His <i>Mu‘allaqa</i> is +famous for its stirring battle-scenes, one of which is translated +here:—<a name="FNanchor_234" id="FNanchor_234"></a><a href="#Footnote_234" class="fnanchor">234</a></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Learn, Málik's daughter, how</span> +<span class="i1"> +I rush into the fray,</span> +<span class="i0"> +And how I draw back only</span> +<span class="i1"> +At sharing of the prey.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +I never quit the saddle,</span> +<span class="i1"> +My strong steed nimbly bounds;</span> +<span class="i0"> +Warrior after warrior</span> +<span class="i1"> +Have covered him with wounds.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_116" id="Page_116" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>116</a></span> + +<span class="i0"> +Full-armed against me stood</span> +<span class="i1"> +One feared of fighting men:</span> +<span class="i0"> +He fled not oversoon</span> +<span class="i1"> +Nor let himself be ta'en.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +With straight hard-shafted spear</span> +<span class="i1"> +I dealt him in his side</span> +<span class="i0"> +A sudden thrust which opened</span> +<span class="i1"> +Two streaming gashes wide,</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +Two gashes whence outgurgled</span> +<span class="i1"> +His life-blood: at the sound</span> +<span class="i0"> +Night-roaming ravenous wolves</span> +<span class="i1"> +Flock eagerly around.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +So with my doughty spear</span> +<span class="i1"> +I trussed his coat of mail—</span> +<span class="i0"> +For truly, when the spear strikes,</span> +<span class="i1"> +The noblest man is frail—</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +And left him low to banquet</span> +<span class="i1"> +The wild beasts gathering there;</span> +<span class="i0"> +They have torn off his fingers,</span> +<span class="i1"> +His wrist and fingers fair!"</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>While ‘Antara's poem belongs to the final stages of the +War of Dáḥis, the <i>Mu‘allaqa</i> of his contemporary, Zuhayr b. +Abí Sulmá, of the tribe of Muzayna, celebrates <span class="sidenote"> Zuhayr.</span> +an act of private munificence which brought +about the conclusion of peace. By the self-sacrificing intervention +of two chiefs of Dhubyán, Harim b. Sinán and +Ḥárith b. ‘Awf, the whole sum of blood-money to which +the ‘Absites were entitled on account of the greater number +of those who had fallen on their side, was paid over to them. +Such an example of generous and disinterested patriotism—for +Harim and Ḥárith had shed no blood themselves—was a fit +subject for one of whom it was said that he never praised men +but as they deserved:—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_117" id="Page_117" href="#"><span><i>ZUHAYR</i></span>117</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +Noble pair of Ghayẓ ibn Murra,<a name="FNanchor_235" id="FNanchor_235"></a><a href="#Footnote_235" class="fnanchor">235</a> well ye laboured to restore</span> +<span class="i0"> +Ties of kindred hewn asunder by the bloody strokes of war.</span> +<span class="i0"> +Witness now mine oath the ancient House in Mecca's hallowed bound,<a name="FNanchor_236" id="FNanchor_236"></a><a href="#Footnote_236" class="fnanchor">236</a></span> +<span class="i0"> +Which its builders of Quraysh and Jurhum solemnly went round,<a name="FNanchor_237" id="FNanchor_237"></a><a href="#Footnote_237" class="fnanchor">237</a></span> +<span class="i0"> +That in hard or easy issue never wanting were ye found!</span> +<span class="i0"> +Peace ye gave to ‘Abs and Dhubyán when each fell by other's hand</span> +<span class="i0"> +And the evil fumes they pestled up between them filled the land."<a name="FNanchor_238" id="FNanchor_238"></a><a href="#Footnote_238" class="fnanchor">238</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>At the end of his panegyric the poet, turning to the lately +reconciled tribesmen and their confederates, earnestly warns +them against nursing thoughts of vengeance:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Will ye hide from God the guilt ye dare not unto Him disclose?</span> +<span class="i0"> +Verily, what thing soever ye would hide from God, He knows.</span> +<span class="i0"> +Either it is laid up meantime in a scroll and treasured there</span> +<span class="i0"> +For the day of retribution, or avenged all unaware.<a name="FNanchor_239" id="FNanchor_239"></a><a href="#Footnote_239" class="fnanchor">239</a></span> +<span class="i0"> +War ye have known and war have tasted: not by hearsay are ye wise.</span> +<span class="i0"> +Raise no more the hideous monster! If ye let her raven, she cries</span> +<span class="i0"> +Ravenously for blood and crushes, like a mill-stone, all below,</span> +<span class="i0"> +And from her twin-conceiving womb she brings forth woe on woe."<a name="FNanchor_240" id="FNanchor_240"></a><a href="#Footnote_240" class="fnanchor">240</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>After a somewhat obscure passage concerning the lawless +deeds of a certain Ḥusayn b. Ḍamḍam, which had well-nigh + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_118" id="Page_118" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>118</a></span> + +caused a fresh outbreak of hostilities, Zuhayr proceeds, with a +natural and touching allusion to his venerable age, to enforce +the lessons of conduct and morality suggested by the +situation:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"I am weary of life's burden: well a man may weary be</span> +<span class="i0"> +After eighty years, and this much now is manifest to me:</span> +<span class="i0"> +Death is like a night-blind camel stumbling on:—the smitten die</span> +<span class="i0"> +But the others age and wax in weakness whom he passes by.</span> +<span class="i0"> +He that often deals with folk in unkind fashion, underneath</span> +<span class="i0"> +They will trample him and make him feel the sharpness of their teeth.</span> +<span class="i0"> +He that hath enough and over and is niggard with his pelf</span> +<span class="i0"> +Will be hated of his people and left free to praise himself.</span> +<span class="i0"> +He alone who with fair actions ever fortifies his fame</span> +<span class="i0"> +Wins it fully: blame will find him out unless he shrinks from blame.</span> +<span class="i0"> +He that for his cistern's guarding trusts not in his own stout arm</span> +<span class="i0"> +Sees it ruined: he must harm his foe or he must suffer harm.</span> +<span class="i0"> +He that fears the bridge of Death across it finally is driven,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Though he span as with a ladder all the space 'twixt earth and heaven.</span> +<span class="i0"> +He that will not take the lance's butt-end while he has the chance</span> +<span class="i0"> +Must thereafter be contented with the spike-end of the lance.</span> +<span class="i0"> +He that keeps his word is blamed not; he whose heart repaireth straight</span> +<span class="i0"> +To the sanctuary of duty never needs to hesitate.</span> +<span class="i0"> +He that hies abroad to strangers doth account his friends his foes;</span> +<span class="i0"> +He that honours not himself lacks honour wheresoe'er he goes.</span> +<span class="i0"> +Be a man's true nature what it will, that nature is revealed</span> +<span class="i0"> +To his neighbours, let him fancy as he may that 'tis concealed."<a name="FNanchor_241" id="FNanchor_241"></a><a href="#Footnote_241" class="fnanchor">241</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>The ripe sententious wisdom and moral earnestness of +Zuhayr's poetry are in keeping with what has been said + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_119" id="Page_119" href="#"><span><i>ZUHAYR</i></span>119</a></span> + +above concerning his religious ideas and, from another point +of view, with the tradition that he used to compose a <i>qaṣída</i> +in four months, correct it for four months, submit it to the +poets of his acquaintance during a like period, and not +make it public until a year had expired.</p> + +<p>Of his life there is little to tell. Probably he died before +Islam, though it is related that when he was a centenarian he +met the Prophet, who cried out on seeing him, "O God, +preserve me from his demon!"<a name="FNanchor_242" id="FNanchor_242"></a><a href="#Footnote_242" class="fnanchor">242</a> The poetical gifts which +he inherited from his uncle Basháma he bequeathed to his +son Ka‘b, author of the famous ode, <i>Bánat Su‘ád</i>.</p> + +<p>Labíd b. Rabí‘a, of the Banú ‘Ámir b. Ṣa‘ṣa‘a, was born in the +latter half of the sixth century, and is said to have died soon +after Mu‘áwiya's accession to the Caliphate, which <span class="sidenote"> Labíd.</span> +took place in <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 661. He is thus the youngest +of the Seven Poets. On accepting Islam he abjured poetry, +saying, "God has given me the Koran in exchange for it." +Like Zuhayr, he had, even in his heathen days, a strong vein +of religious feeling, as is shown by many passages in his +Díwán.</p> + +<p>Labíd was a true Bedouin, and his <i>Mu‘allaqa</i>, with its +charmingly fresh pictures of desert life and scenery, must be +considered one of the finest examples of the Pre-islamic <i>qaṣída</i> +that have come down to us. The poet owes something to his +predecessors, but the greater part seems to be drawn from his +own observation. He begins in the conventional manner by +describing the almost unrecognisable vestiges of the camping-ground +of the clan to which his mistress belonged:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Waste lies the land where once alighted and did wone</span><span class="i0"> +The people of Miná: Rijám and Ghawl are lone.</span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_120" id="Page_120" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>120</a></span> + +<span class="i0"> +The camp in Rayyán's vale is marked by relics dim</span><span class="i0"> +Like weather-beaten script engraved on ancient stone.</span><span class="i0"> +Over this ruined scene, since it was desolate,</span><span class="i0"> +Whole years with secular and sacred months had flown.</span><span class="i0"> +In spring 'twas blest by showers 'neath starry influence shed,</span><span class="i0"> +And thunder-clouds bestowed a scant or copious boon.</span><span class="i0"> +Pale herbs had shot up, ostriches on either slope</span><span class="i0"> +Their chicks had gotten and gazelles their young had thrown;</span><span class="i0"> +And large-eyed wild-cows there beside the new-born calves</span><span class="i0"> +Reclined, while round them formed a troop the calves half-grown.</span><span class="i0"> +Torrents of rain had swept the dusty ruins bare,</span><span class="i0"> +Until, as writing freshly charactered, they shone,</span><span class="i0"> +Or like to curved tattoo-lines on a woman's arm,</span><span class="i0"> +With soot besprinkled so that every line is shown.</span><span class="i0"> +I stopped and asked, but what avails it that we ask</span><span class="i0"> +Dumb changeless things that speak a language all unknown?"<a name="FNanchor_243" id="FNanchor_243"></a><a href="#Footnote_243" class="fnanchor">243</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>After lamenting the departure of his beloved the poet bids +himself think no more about her: he will ride swiftly away +from the spot. Naturally, he must praise his camel, and he +introduces by way of comparison two wonderful pictures of +animal life. In the former the onager is described racing at +full speed over the backs of the hills when thirst and hunger +drive him with his mate far from the barren solitudes into +which they usually retire. The second paints a wild-cow, +whose young calf has been devoured by wolves, sleeping +among the sand-dunes through a night of incessant rain. At +daybreak "her feet glide over the firm wet soil." For a +whole week she runs to and fro, anxiously seeking her calf, +when suddenly she hears the sound of hunters approaching and +makes off in alarm. Being unable to get within bowshot, the +hunters loose their dogs, but she turns desperately upon them, +wounding one with her needle-like horn and killing another.</p> + +<p>Then, once more addressing his beloved, the poet speaks +complacently of his share in the feasting and revelling, on +which a noble Arab plumes himself hardly less than on his +bravery:—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_121" id="Page_121" href="#"><span><i>LABÍD</i></span>121</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Know'st thou not, O Nawár, that I am wont to tie</span><span class="i0"> +The cords of love, yet also snap them without fear?</span><span class="i0"> +That I abandon places when I like them not,</span><span class="i0"> +Unless Death chain the soul and straiten her career?</span><span class="i0"> +Nay, surely, but thou know'st not I have passed in talk</span><span class="i0"> +Many a cool night of pleasure and convivial cheer,</span><span class="i0"> +And often to a booth, above which hung for sign</span><span class="i0"> +A banner, have resorted when old wine was dear.</span><span class="i0"> +For no light price I purchased many a dusky skin</span><span class="i0"> +Or black clay jar, and broached it that the juice ran clear;</span><span class="i0"> +And many a song of shrill-voiced singing-girl I paid,</span><span class="i0"> +And her whose fingers made sweet music to mine ear."<a name="FNanchor_244" id="FNanchor_244"></a><a href="#Footnote_244" class="fnanchor">244</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Continuing, he boasts of dangerous service as a spy in the +enemy's country, when he watched all day on the top of +a steep crag; of his fearless demeanour and dignified assertion +of his rights in an assembly at Ḥíra, to which he came as +a delegate, and of his liberality to the poor. The closing +verses are devoted, in accordance with custom, to matters +of immediate interest and to a panegyric on the virtues of the +poet's kin.</p> + +<p class="tb">Besides the authors of the <i>Mu‘allaqát</i> three poets may be +mentioned, of whom the two first-named are universally +acknowledged to rank with the greatest that Arabia has +produced—Nábigha, A‘shá, and ‘Alqama.</p> + +<p>Nábigha<a name="FNanchor_245" id="FNanchor_245"></a><a href="#Footnote_245" class="fnanchor">245</a>—his proper name is Ziyád b. Mu‘áwiya, of the +tribe Dhubyán—lived at the courts of Ghassán and Ḥíra <span class="sidenote"> Nábigha of +Dhubyán.</span> +during the latter half of the century before +Islam. His chief patron was King Nu‘mán b. +Mundhir Abú Qábús of Ḥíra. For many years +he basked in the sunshine of royal favour, enjoying every +privilege that Nu‘mán bestowed on his most intimate friends. +The occasion of their falling out is differently related. +According to one story, the poet described the charms of + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_122" id="Page_122" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>122</a></span> + +Queen Mutajarrida, which Nu‘mán had asked him to +celebrate, with such charm and liveliness as to excite her +husband's suspicion; but it is said—and Nábigha's own words +make it probable—that his enemies denounced him as the +author of a scurrilous satire against Nu‘mán which had been +forged by themselves. At any rate he had no choice but to +quit Ḥíra with all speed, and ere long we find him in Ghassán, +welcomed and honoured, as the panegyrist of King ‘Amr b. +Ḥárith and the noble house of Jafna. But his heart was in +Ḥíra still. Deeply wounded by the calumnies of which he +was the victim, he never ceased to affirm his innocence and to +lament the misery of exile. The following poem, which he +addressed to Nu‘mán, is at once a justification and an appeal +for mercy<a name="FNanchor_246" id="FNanchor_246"></a><a href="#Footnote_246" class="fnanchor">246</a>:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"They brought me word, O King, thou blamedst me;</span><span class="i0"> +For this am I o'erwhelmed with grief and care.</span><span class="i0"> +I passed a sick man's night: the nurses seemed,</span><span class="i0"> +Spreading my couch, to have heaped up briars there.</span><span class="i0"> +Now (lest thou cherish in thy mind a doubt)</span><span class="i0"> +Invoking our last refuge, God, I swear</span><span class="i0"> +That he, whoever told thee I was false,</span><span class="i0"> +Is the more lying and faithless of the pair.</span><span class="i0"> +Exiled perforce, I found a strip of land</span><span class="i0"> +Where I could live and safely take the air:</span><span class="i0"> +Kings made me arbiter of their possessions,</span><span class="i0"> +And called me to their side and spoke me fair—</span><span class="i0"> +Even as thou dost grace thy favourites</span><span class="i0"> +Nor deem'st a fault the gratitude they bear.<a name="FNanchor_247" id="FNanchor_247"></a><a href="#Footnote_247" class="fnanchor">247</a></span><span class="i0"> +O leave thine anger! Else, in view of men</span><span class="i0"> +A mangy camel, smeared with pitch, I were.</span><span class="i0"> +Seest thou not God hath given thee eminence</span><span class="i0"> +Before which monarchs tremble and despair?</span><span class="i0"> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_123" id="Page_123" href="#"><span><i>NÁBIGHA OF DHUBYÁN</i></span>123</a></span> + +All other kings are stars and thou a sun:</span><span class="i0"> +When the sun rises, lo, the heavens are bare!</span><span class="i0"> +A friend in trouble thou wilt not forsake;</span><span class="i0"> +I may have sinned: in sinning all men share.</span><span class="i0"> +If I am wronged, thou hast but wronged a slave,</span><span class="i0"> +And if thou spar'st, 'tis like thyself to spare."</span> +</div></div> + +<p>It is pleasant to record that Nábigha was finally reconciled +to the prince whom he loved, and that Ḥíra again became his +home. The date of his death is unknown, but it certainly +took place before Islam was promulgated. Had the opportunity +been granted to him he might have died a Moslem: he +calls himself 'a religious man' (<i>dhú ummat<sup>in</sup></i>),<a name="FNanchor_248" id="FNanchor_248"></a><a href="#Footnote_248" class="fnanchor">248</a> and although +the tradition that he was actually a Christian lacks authority, +his long residence in Syria and ‘Iráq must have made him +acquainted with the externals of Christianity and with some, +at least, of its leading ideas.</p> + +<p>The grave and earnest tone characteristic of Nábigha's poetry +seldom prevails in that of his younger contemporary, Maymún <span class="sidenote">A‘shá.</span> +b. Qays, who is generally known by his surname, +al-A‘shá—that is, 'the man of weak sight.' A +professional troubadour, he roamed from one end of Arabia to +the other, harp in hand, singing the praises of those who +rewarded him; and such was his fame as a satirist that few +ventured to withhold the bounty which he asked. By common +consent he stands in the very first rank of Arabian poets. +Abu ’l-Faraj, the author of the <i>Kitábu ’l-Aghání</i>, declares him +to be superior to all the rest, adding, however, "this opinion is +not held unanimously as regards A‘shá or any other." His + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_124" id="Page_124" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>124</a></span> + +wandering life brought him into contact with every kind of +culture then existing in Arabia. Although he was not an +avowed Christian, his poetry shows to what an extent he was +influenced by the Bishops of Najrán, with whom he was +intimately connected, and by the Christian merchants of +Ḥíra who sold him their wine. He did not rise above +the pagan level of morality.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>It is related that he set out to visit Muḥammad for the purpose +of reciting to him an ode which he had composed in his honour. +When the Quraysh heard of this, they feared lest their adversary's +reputation should be increased by the panegyric of a bard so famous +and popular. Accordingly, they intercepted him on his way, and +asked whither he was bound. "To your kinsman," said he, "that I +may accept Islam." "He will forbid and make unlawful to thee +certain practices of which thou art fond." "What are these?" said +A‘shá. "Fornication," said Abú Sufyán, "I have not abandoned it," +he replied, "but it has abandoned me. What else?" "Gambling." +"Perhaps I shall obtain from him something to compensate me for +the loss of gambling. What else?" "Usury." "I have never +borrowed nor lent. What else?" "Wine." "Oh, in that case I will +drink the water I have left stored at al-Mihrás." Seeing that A‘shá +was not to be deterred, Abú Sufyán offered him a hundred camels +on condition that he should return to his home in Yamáma +and await the issue of the struggle between Muḥammad and +the Quraysh. "I agree," said A‘shá. "O ye Quraysh," cried Abú +Sufyán, "this is A‘shá, and by God, if he becomes a follower of +Muḥammad, he will inflame the Arabs against you by his poetry. +Collect, therefore, a hundred camels for him."<a name="FNanchor_249" id="FNanchor_249"></a><a href="#Footnote_249" class="fnanchor">249</a></p></div> + +<p>A‘shá excels in the description of wine and wine-parties. +One who visited Manfúḥa in Yamáma, where the poet was +buried, relates that revellers used to meet at his grave and pour +out beside it the last drops that remained in their cups. As an +example of his style in this <i>genre</i> I translate a few lines from +the most celebrated of his poems, which is included by some +critics among the <i>Mu‘allaqát</i>:—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_125" id="Page_125" href="#"><span><i>A‘SHÁ AND ‘ALQAMA</i></span>125</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Many a time I hastened early to the tavern—while there ran</span><span class="i0"> +At my heels a ready cook, a nimble, active serving-man—</span><span class="i0"> +'Midst a gallant troop, like Indian scimitars, of mettle high;</span><span class="i0"> +Well they know that every mortal, shod and bare alike, must die.</span><span class="i0"> +Propped at ease I greet them gaily, them with myrtle-boughs I greet,</span><span class="i0"> +Pass among them wine that gushes from the jar's mouth bittersweet.</span><span class="i0"> +Emptying goblet after goblet—but the source may no man drain—</span><span class="i0"> +Never cease they from carousing save to cry, 'Fill up again!'</span><span class="i0"> +Briskly runs the page to serve them: on his ears hang pearls: below,</span><span class="i0"> +Tight the girdle draws his doublet as he bustles to and fro.</span><span class="i0"> +'Twas the harp, thou mightest fancy, waked the lute's responsive note,</span><span class="i0"> +When the loose-robed chantress touched it and sang shrill with quavering throat.</span><span class="i0"> +Here and there among the party damsels fair superbly glide:</span><span class="i0"> +Each her long white skirt lets trail and swings a wine-skin at her side."<a name="FNanchor_250" id="FNanchor_250"></a><a href="#Footnote_250" class="fnanchor">250</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Very little is known of the life of ‘Alqama b. ‘Abada, who +was surnamed <i>al-Faḥl</i> (the Stallion). His most famous poem <span class="sidenote">‘Alqama.</span> +is that which he addressed to the Ghassánid Ḥárith +al-A‘raj after the Battle of Ḥalíma, imploring him +to set free some prisoners of Tamím—the poet's tribe—among +whom was his own brother or nephew, Shás. The +following lines have almost become proverbial:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Of women do ye ask me? I can spy</span><span class="i0"> +Their ailments with a shrewd physician's eye.</span><span class="i0"> +The man whose head is grey or small his herds</span><span class="i0"> +No favour wins of them but mocking words.</span><span class="i0"> +Are riches known, to riches they aspire,</span><span class="i0"> +And youthful bloom is still their heart's desire."<a name="FNanchor_251" id="FNanchor_251"></a><a href="#Footnote_251" class="fnanchor">251</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_126" id="Page_126" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>126</a></span></p> + +<p>In view of these slighting verses it is proper to observe that +the poetry of Arabian women of the Pre-islamic period is distinctly <span class="sidenote"> Elegiac poetry.</span> +masculine in character. Their songs are +seldom of Love, but often of Death. Elegy +(<i>rithá</i> or <i>marthiya</i>) was regarded as their special province. +The oldest form of elegy appears in the verses chanted on +the death of Ta’abbaṭa Sharr<sup>an</sup> by his sister:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"O the good knight ye left low at Rakhmán,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Thábit son of Jábir son of Sufyán!</span> +<span class="i0"> +He filled the cup for friends and ever slew his man."<a name="FNanchor_252" id="FNanchor_252"></a><a href="#Footnote_252" class="fnanchor">252</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>"As a rule the Arabian dirge is very simple. The poetess +begins with a description of her grief, of the tears that she +cannot quench, and then she shows how worthy to be deeply +mourned was he whom death has taken away. He is described +as a pattern of the two principal Arabian virtues, bravery and +liberality, and the question is anxiously asked, 'Who will now +make high resolves, overthrow the enemy, and in time of want +feed the poor and entertain the stranger?' If the hero of the +dirge died a violent death we find in addition a burning lust of +revenge, a thirst for the slayer's blood, expressed with an +intensity of feeling of which only women are capable."<a name="FNanchor_253" id="FNanchor_253"></a><a href="#Footnote_253" class="fnanchor">253</a></p> + +<p>Among Arabian women who have excelled in poetry the +place of honour is due to Khansá—her real name was <span class="sidenote"> Khansá.</span> +Tumáḍir—who flourished in the last years before +Islam. By far the most famous of her elegies +are those in which she bewailed her valiant brothers, Mu‘áwiya +and Ṣakhr, both of whom were struck down by sword or +spear. It is impossible to translate the poignant and vivid +emotion, the energy of passion and noble simplicity of style +which distinguish the poetry of Khansá, but here are a +few verses:—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_127" id="Page_127" href="#"><span><i>WOMEN AS ELEGISTS</i></span>127</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +Death's messenger cried aloud the loss of the generous one,</span><span class="i0"> +So loud cried he, by my life, that far he was heard and wide.</span><span class="i0"> +Then rose I, and scarce my soul could follow to meet the news,</span><span class="i0"> +For anguish and sore dismay and horror that Ṣakhr had died.</span><span class="i0"> +In my misery and despair I seemed as a drunken man,</span><span class="i0"> +Upstanding awhile—then soon his tottering limbs subside."<a name="FNanchor_254" id="FNanchor_254"></a><a href="#Footnote_254" class="fnanchor">254</a></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +<i>Yudhakkiruní ṭulú‘u ’l-shamsi Ṣakhr<sup>an</sup></i></span> +<span class="i0"> +<i>wa-adhkuruhú likulli ghurúbi shamsi.</i></span> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Sunrise awakes in me the sad remembrance</span> +<span class="i0"> +Of Ṣakhr, and I recall him at every sunset."</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>To the poets who have been enumerated many might be +added—<i>e.g.</i>, Ḥassán b. Thábit, who was 'retained' by the <span class="sidenote"> The last poets +born in the Age +of Paganism.</span> +Prophet and did useful work on his behalf; Ka‘b +b. Zuhayr, author or the famous panegyric on +Muḥammad beginning "<i>Bánat Su‘ád</i>" (Su‘ád has +departed); Mutammim b. Nuwayra, who, like Khansá, +mourned the loss of a brother; Abú Miḥjan, the singer of +wine, whose devotion to the forbidden beverage was punished +by the Caliph ‘Umar with imprisonment and exile; and +al-Ḥuṭay’a (the Dwarf), who was unrivalled in satire. All +these belonged to the class of <i>Mukhaḍramún</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, they were +born in the Pagan Age but died, if not Moslems, at any rate +after the proclamation of Islam.</p> + +<p class="tb">The grammarians of Baṣra and Kúfa, by whom the remains +of ancient Arabian poetry were rescued from oblivion, arranged <span class="sidenote"> Collections of +ancient poetry.</span> +and collected their material according to various +principles. Either the poems of an individual or +those of a number of individuals belonging to the +same tribe or class were brought together—such a collection +was called <i>Díwán</i>, plural <i>Dawáwín</i>; or, again, the compiler +edited a certain number of <i>qaṣídas</i> chosen for their fame or + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_128" id="Page_128" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>128</a></span> + +excellence or on other grounds, or he formed an anthology of +shorter pieces or fragments, which were arranged under different +heads according to their subject-matter.</p> + +<p>Among <i>Díwáns</i> mention may be made of <i>The Díwáns of +the Six Poets</i>, viz. Nábigha, ‘Antara, Ṭarafa, Zuhayr, ‘Alqama, <span class="sidenote"> Díwáns.</span> +and Imru’u ’l-Qays, edited with a full commentary +by the Spanish philologist al-A‘lam +(† 1083 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) and published in 1870 by Ahlwardt; and of +<i>The Poems of the Hudhaylites</i> (<i>Ash‘áru ’l-Hudhaliyyín</i>) collected +by al-Sukkarí († 888 a.d.), which have been published by +Kosegarten and Wellhausen.</p> + +<p>The chief Anthologies, taken in the order of their composition, +are:—</p> + +<p>1. The <i>Mu‘allaqát</i>, which is the title given to a collection +of seven odes by Imru’u ’l-Qays, Ṭarafa, Zuhayr, Labíd, <span class="sidenote">Anthologies. +1. The <i>Mu‘allaqát</i>.</span> +‘Antara, ‘Amr b. Kulthúm, and Ḥárith b. Ḥilliza; +to these two odes by Nábigha and A‘shá are +sometimes added. The compiler was probably +Ḥammád al-Ráwiya, a famous rhapsodist of Persian descent, +who flourished under the Umayyads and died in the second +half of the eighth century of our era. As the <i>Mu‘allaqát</i> have +been discussed above, we may pass on directly to a much +larger, though less celebrated, collection dating from the same +period, viz.:—</p> + +<p>2. The <i>Mufaḍḍaliyyát</i>,<a name="FNanchor_255" id="FNanchor_255"></a><a href="#Footnote_255" class="fnanchor">255</a> by which title it is generally known +after its compiler, Mufaḍḍal al-Ḍabbí († <i>circa</i> 786 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), who <span class="sidenote">2. The <i>Mufaḍḍaliyyát</i>.</span> +made it at the instance of the Caliph Manṣúr for +the instruction of his son and successor, Mahdí. +It comprises 128 odes and is extant in two +recensions, that of Anbárí († 916 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), which derives from +Ibnu ’l-A‘rábí, the stepson of Mufaḍḍal, and that of Marzúqí +(† 1030 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). About a third of the <i>Mufaḍḍaliyyát</i> was published + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_129" id="Page_129" href="#"><span><i>THE PRINCIPAL COLLECTIONS</i></span>129</a></span> + +in 1885 by Thorbecke, and Sir Charles Lyall has recently +edited the complete text with Arabic commentary and English +translation and notes.<a name="FNanchor_256" id="FNanchor_256"></a><a href="#Footnote_256" class="fnanchor">256</a></p> + +<p>All students of Arabian poetry are familiar with—</p> + +<p>3. The <i>Ḥamása</i> of Abú Tammám Ḥabíb b. Aws, himself a +distinguished poet, who flourished under the Caliphs Ma’mún <span class="sidenote">3. The <i>Ḥamása</i> +of Abú Tammám.</span> +and Mu‘taṣim, and died about 850 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> Towards +the end of his life he visited ‘Abdulláh b. Ṭáhir, the +powerful governor of Khurásán, who was virtually +an independent sovereign. It was on this journey, as Ibn +Khallikán relates, that Abú Tammám composed the <i>Ḥamása</i>; +for on arriving at Hamadhán (Ecbatana) the winter had set in, +and as the cold was excessively severe in that country, the +snow blocked up the road and obliged him to stop and await +the thaw. During his stay he resided with one of the most +eminent men of the place, who possessed a library in which +were some collections of poems composed by the Arabs of the +desert and other authors. Having then sufficient leisure, he +perused those works and selected from them the passages out of +which he formed his <i>Ḥamása</i>.<a name="FNanchor_257" id="FNanchor_257"></a><a href="#Footnote_257" class="fnanchor">257</a> The work is divided into ten +sections of unequal length, the first, from which it received its +name, occupying (together with the commentary) 360 pages +in Freytag's edition, while the seventh and eighth require only +thirteen pages between them. These sections or chapters +bear the following titles:—</p> + +<table width="100%" summary="chapters" border="0"> +<tr> +<td class="left">I.</td><td class="right"><p class="indent4">The Chapter of Fortitude (<i>Bábu ’l-Ḥamása</i>).</p></td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="left">II.</td><td class="right"><p class="indent4">The Chapter of Dirges (<i>Bábu ’l-Maráthí</i>).</p></td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="left">III.</td><td class="right"><p class="indent4">The Chapter of Good Manners (<i>Bábu ’l-Adab</i>).</p></td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="left">IV.</td><td class="right"><p class="indent4">The Chapter of Love-Songs (<i>Bábu ’l-Nasíb</i>).</p></td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="left">V.</td><td class="right"><p class="indent4">The Chapter of Satire (<i>Bábu ’l-Hijá</i>).</p></td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="left">VI.</td><td class="right"><p class="indent4">The Chapter of Guests (Hospitality) and Panegyric (<i>Bábu</i> +<i>’l-Aḍyáf wa ’l-Madíh</i>).</p></td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="left"><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_130" id="Page_130" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>130</a></span> +VII.</td><td class="right"><p class="indent4">The Chapter of Descriptions (<i>Bábu ’l-Ṣifát</i>).</p></td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="left">VIII.</td><td class="right"><p class="indent4">The Chapter of Travel and Repose (<i>Bábu ’l-Sayr wa ’l-Nu‘ás</i>.</p></td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="left">IX.</td><td class="right"><p class="indent4">The Chapter of Facetiæ (<i>Bábu ’l-Mulaḥ</i>).</p></td> +</tr><tr> +<td class="left">X.</td><td class="right"><p class="indent4">The Chapter of Vituperation of Women (<i>Bábu Madhammati ’l-Nisá</i>).</p></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<p>The contents of the <i>Ḥamása</i> include short poems complete +in themselves as well as passages extracted from longer poems; +of the poets represented, some of whom belong to the Pre-islamic +and others to the early Islamic period, comparatively +few are celebrated, while many are anonymous or only known +by the verses attached to their names. If the high level of +excellence attained by these obscure singers shows, on the one +hand, that a natural genius for poetry was widely diffused and +that the art was successfully cultivated among all ranks of +Arabian society, we must not forget how much is due to the +fine taste of Abú Tammám, who, as the commentator +Tibrízí has remarked, "is a better poet in his <i>Ḥamása</i> than +in his poetry."</p> + +<p>4. The <i>Ḥamása</i> of Buḥturí († 897 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), a younger contemporary +<span class="sidenote">4. The <i>Ḥamása</i> +of Buḥturí.</span> +of Abú Tammám, is inferior to its model.<a name="FNanchor_258" id="FNanchor_258"></a><a href="#Footnote_258" class="fnanchor">258</a> However +convenient from a practical standpoint, the +division into a great number of sections, each +illustrating a narrowly defined topic, seriously +impairs the artistic value of the work; moreover, Buḥturí +seems to have had a less catholic appreciation of the beauties +of poetry—he admired, it is said, only what was in harmony +with his own style and ideas.</p> + +<p>5. The <i>Jamharatu Ash‘ári ’l-‘Arab</i>, a collection of forty-nine +<span class="sidenote">5. The <i>Jamhara</i>.</span> +odes, was put together probably about +1000 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> by Abú Zayd Muḥammad al-Qurashí, +of whom we find no mention elsewhere.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_131" id="Page_131" href="#"><span><i>ORAL TRADITION</i></span>131</a></span></p> + +<p>Apart from the <i>Díwáns</i> and anthologies, numerous Pre-islamic +<span class="sidenote"> Prose sources.</span> +verses are cited in biographical, philological, and other +works, <i>e.g.</i>, the <i>Kitábu ’l-Aghání</i> by Abu ’l-Faraj +of Iṣfahán († 967<span class="smcap"> a.d.</span>), the <i>Kitábu ’l-Amálí</i> by +Abú ‘Alí al-Qálí († 967<span class="smcap"> a.d.</span>), the <i>Kámil</i> of Mubarrad († 898 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), and the <i>Khizánatu ’l-Adab</i> of ‘Abdu ’l-Qádir of Baghdád +(† 1682 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p> + +<p class="tb">We have seen that the oldest existing poems date from the +beginning of the sixth century of our era, whereas the art of +writing did not come into general use among the <span class="sidenote"> The tradition +of Pre-islamic +poetry.</span> +Arabs until some two hundred years afterwards. +Pre-islamic poetry, therefore, was preserved by +oral tradition alone, and the question arises, How was this +possible? What guarantee have we that songs living on +men's lips for so long a period have retained their original +form, even approximately? No doubt many verses, <i>e.g.</i>, those +which glorified the poet's tribe or satirised their enemies, +were constantly being recited by his kin, and in this way +short occasional poems or fragments of longer ones might be +perpetuated. Of whole <i>qaṣídas</i> like the <i>Mu‘allaqát</i>, however, +none or very few would have reached us if their survival +had depended solely on their popularity. What actually saved +them in the first place was an institution resembling that of +the Rhapsodists in Greece. Every professed poet<span class="sidenote"> The Ráwís.</span> +had his <i>Ráwí</i> (reciter), who accompanied him +everywhere, committed his poems to memory, and handed +them down, as well as the circumstances connected with +them, to others. The characters of poet and <i>ráwí</i> were +often combined; thus Zuhayr was the <i>ráwí</i> of his stepfather, +Aws b. Ḥajar, while his own <i>ráwí</i> was al-Ḥuṭay’a. +If the tradition of poetry was at first a labour of love, it +afterwards became a lucrative business, and the <i>Ráwís</i>, +instead of being attached to individual poets, began to form +an independent class, carrying in their memories a prodigious + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_132" id="Page_132" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>132</a></span> + +stock of ancient verse and miscellaneous learning. It is +related, for example, that Ḥammád once said to the Caliph +Walíd b. Yazíd: "I can recite to you, for each letter of +the alphabet, one hundred long poems rhyming in that +letter, without taking into count the short pieces, and all +that composed exclusively by poets who lived before the +promulgation of Islamism." He commenced and continued +until the Caliph, having grown fatigued, withdrew, after +leaving a person in his place to verify the assertion and +hear him to the last. In that sitting he recited two +thousand nine hundred <i>qaṣídas</i> by poets who flourished +before Muḥammad. Walíd, on being informed of the fact, +ordered him a present of one hundred thousand dirhems.<a name="FNanchor_259" id="FNanchor_259"></a><a href="#Footnote_259" class="fnanchor">259</a> +Thus, towards the end of the first century after the Hijra, +<i>i.e.</i>, about 700<span class="smcap"> a.d.</span>, when the custom of <i>writing</i> poetry +began, there was much of Pre-islamic origin still in circulation, +although it is probable that far more had already been +irretrievably lost. Numbers of <i>Ráwís</i> perished in the wars, +or passed away in the course of nature, without leaving any +one to continue their tradition. New times had brought +new interests and other ways of life. The great majority +of Moslems had no sympathy whatever with the ancient +poetry, which represented in their eyes the unregenerate +spirit of heathendom. They wanted nothing beyond the +Koran and the Ḥadíth. But for reasons which will be +stated in another chapter the language of the Koran and +the Ḥadíth was rapidly becoming obsolete as a spoken +idiom outside of the Arabian peninsula: the 'perspicuous +Arabic' on which Muḥammad prided himself had ceased +to be fully intelligible to the Moslems settled in ‘Iráq +and Khurásán, in Syria, and in Egypt. It was essential +that the Sacred Text should be explained, and this +necessity gave birth to the sciences of Grammar and Lexicography. + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_133" id="Page_133" href="#"><span><i>THE RÁWÍS OR RHAPSODISTS</i></span>133</a></span> + +The Philologists, or, as they have been aptly +designated, the Humanists of Baṣra and Kúfa, where these +studies were prosecuted with peculiar zeal, naturally +found their best material in the Pre-islamic <span class="sidenote"> The Humanists.</span> +poems—a well of Arabic undefiled. At first the ancient +poetry merely formed a basis for philological research, but +in process of time a literary enthusiasm was awakened. The +surviving <i>Ráwís</i> were eagerly sought out and induced to +yield up their stores, the compositions of famous poets were +collected, arranged, and committed to writing, and as the +demand increased, so did the supply.<a name="FNanchor_260" id="FNanchor_260"></a><a href="#Footnote_260" class="fnanchor">260</a></p> + +<p class="tb">In these circumstances a certain amount of error was inevitable. +Apart from unconscious failings of memory, there <span class="sidenote">Corrupt +tradition of the +old poetry.</span> +can be no doubt that in many cases the <i>Ráwís</i> +acted with intent to deceive. The temptation +to father their own verses, or centos which +they pieced together from sources known only to themselves, +upon some poet of antiquity was all the stronger +because they ran little risk of detection. In knowledge of +poetry and in poetical talent they were generally far more +than a match for the philologists, who seldom possessed any +critical ability, but readily took whatever came to hand. The +stories which are told of Ḥammád al-Ráwiya, <span class="sidenote"> Ḥammád +al-Ráwiya.</span> +clearly show how unscrupulous he was in his +methods, though we have reason to suppose that +he was not a typical example of his class. His contemporary, +Mufaḍḍal al-Ḍabbí, is reported to have said that the corruption +which poetry suffered through Ḥammád could never be +repaired, "for," he added, "Ḥammád is a man skilled in the +language and poesy of the Arabs and in the styles and ideas of +the poets, and he is always making verses in imitation of some + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_134" id="Page_134" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>134</a></span> + +one and introducing them into genuine compositions by the +same author, so that the copy passes everywhere for part of the +original, and cannot be distinguished from it except by critical +scholars—and where are such to be found?"<a name="FNanchor_261" id="FNanchor_261"></a><a href="#Footnote_261" class="fnanchor">261</a> This art +of forgery was brought to perfection by Khalaf <span class="sidenote"> Khalaf +al-Aḥmar.</span> +al-Aḥmar († about 800 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), who learned it in +the school of Ḥammád. If he really composed +the famous <i>Lámiyya</i> ascribed to Shanfará, his own poetical +endowments must have been of the highest order. In his +old age he repented and confessed that he was the author +of several poems which the scholars of Baṣra and Kúfa had +accepted as genuine, but they laughed him to scorn, saying, +"What you said then seems to us more trustworthy than +your present assertion."</p> + +<p>Besides the corruptions due to the <i>Ráwís</i>, others have been +accumulated by the philologists themselves. As the Koran +and the Ḥadíth were, of course, spoken and <span class="sidenote"> Other causes of +corruption.</span> +afterwards written in the dialect of Quraysh, to +whom Muḥammad belonged, this dialect was +regarded as the classical standard;<a name="FNanchor_262" id="FNanchor_262"></a><a href="#Footnote_262" class="fnanchor">262</a> consequently the variations +therefrom which occurred in the ancient poems were, +for the most part, 'emended' and harmonised with it. +Many changes were made under the influence of Islam, +<i>e.g.</i>, 'Allah' was probably often substituted for the pagan +goddess 'al-Lát.' Moreover, the structure of the <i>qaṣída</i>, +its disconnectedness and want of logical cohesion, favoured +the omission and transposition of whole passages or single +verses. All these modes of depravation might be illustrated +in detail, but from what has been said the reader +can judge for himself how far the poems, as they now +stand, are likely to have retained the form in which they +were first uttered to the wild Arabs of the Pre-islamic Age.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_135" id="Page_135" href="#"><span><i>INFLUENCE OF RELIGION</i></span>135</a></span></p> + +<p>Religion had so little influence on the lives of the Pre-islamic +Arabs that we cannot expect to find much trace <span class="sidenote"> Religion.</span> +of it in their poetry. They believed vaguely +in a supreme God, Allah, and more definitely +in his three daughters—al-Lát, Manát, and al-‘Uzzá—who +were venerated all over Arabia and whose intercession was +graciously accepted by Allah. There were also numerous +idols enjoying high favour while they continued to bring +good luck to their worshippers. Of real piety the ordinary +Bedouin knew nothing. He felt no call to pray to his +gods, although he often found them convenient to swear +by. He might invoke Allah in the hour of need, as a +drowning man will clutch at a straw; but his faith in +superstitious ceremonies was stronger. He did not take his +religion too seriously. Its practical advantages he was quick +to appreciate. Not to mention baser pleasures, it gave him +rest and security during the four sacred months, in which +war was forbidden, while the institution of the Meccan +Pilgrimage enabled him to take part in a national fête. +<span class="sidenote">The Fair of +‘Ukáẓ.</span>Commerce went hand in hand with religion. +Great fairs were held, the most famous being +that of ‘Ukáẓ, which lasted for twenty days. +These fairs were in some sort the centre of old Arabian +social, political, and literary life. It was the only occasion +on which free and fearless intercourse was possible between +the members of different clans.<a name="FNanchor_263" id="FNanchor_263"></a><a href="#Footnote_263" class="fnanchor">263</a></p> + +<p>Plenty of excitement was provided by poetical and oratorical +displays—not by athletic sports, as in ancient Greece and +modern England. Here rival poets declaimed their verses +and submitted them to the judgment of an acknowledged +master. Nowhere else had rising talents such an opportunity +of gaining wide reputation: what ‘Ukáẓ said to-day +all Arabia would repeat to-morrow. At ‘Ukáẓ, we are told, +the youthful Muḥammad listened, as though spellbound, to + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_136" id="Page_136" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>136</a></span> + +the persuasive eloquence of Quss b. Sá‘ida, Bishop of Najrán; +and he may have contrasted the discourse of the Christian +preacher with the brilliant odes chanted by heathen bards.</p> + +<p class="tb">The Bedouin view of life was thoroughly hedonistic. Love, +wine, gambling, hunting, the pleasures of song and romance, +the brief, pointed, and elegant expression of wit and wisdom—these +things he knew to be good. Beyond them he saw only +the grave.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Roast meat and wine: the swinging ride</span><span class="i0"> +On a camel sure and tried,</span><span class="i0"> +Which her master speeds amain</span><span class="i0"> +O'er low dale and level plain:</span><span class="i0"> +Women marble-white and fair</span><span class="i0"> +Trailing gold-fringed raiment rare:</span><span class="i0"> +Opulence, luxurious ease,</span><span class="i0"> +With the lute's soft melodies—</span><span class="i0"> +Such delights hath our brief span;</span><span class="i0"> +Time is Change, Time's fool is Man.</span><span class="i0"> +Wealth or want, great store or small,</span><span class="i0"> +All is one since Death's are all."<a name="FNanchor_264" id="FNanchor_264"></a><a href="#Footnote_264" class="fnanchor">264</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It would be a mistake to suppose that these men always, +or even generally, passed their lives in the aimless pursuit +of pleasure. Some goal they had—earthly, no doubt—such as +the accumulation of wealth or the winning of glory or the fulfilment +of blood-revenge. "<i>God forbid</i>" says one, "<i>that I +should die while a grievous longing, as it were a mountain, +weighs on my breast!</i>"<a name="FNanchor_265" id="FNanchor_265"></a><a href="#Footnote_265" class="fnanchor">265</a> A deeper chord is touched by +Imru’u ’l-Qays: "<i>If I strove for a bare livelihood, scanty +means would suffice me and I would seek no more. But I +strive for lasting renown, and 'tis men like me that sometimes +attain lasting renown. Never, while life endures, does +a man reach the summit of his ambition or cease from toil.</i>"<a name="FNanchor_266" id="FNanchor_266"></a><a href="#Footnote_266" class="fnanchor">266</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_137" id="Page_137" href="#"><span><i>JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY</i></span>137</a></span></p> + +<p>These are noble sentiments nobly expressed. Yet one hears +the sigh of weariness, as if the speaker were struggling against +the conviction that his cause is already lost, and would welcome +the final stroke of destiny. It was a time of wild uproar and +confusion. Tribal and family feuds filled the land, as Zuhayr +says, with evil fumes. No wonder that earnest and thoughtful +minds asked themselves—What worth has our life, what meaning? +Whither does it lead? Such questions paganism could +not answer, but Arabia in the century before Muḥammad was +not wholly abandoned to paganism. Jewish colonists had long +been settled in the Ḥijáz. Probably the earliest settlements +date from the conquest of Palestine by Titus or Hadrian. In +their new home the refugees, through contact <span class="sidenote"> Judaism and +Christianity in +Arabia.</span> +with a people nearly akin to themselves, became +fully Arabicised, as the few extant specimens of +their poetry bear witness. They remained Jews, however, +not only in their cultivation of trade and various industries, but +also in the most vital particular—their religion. This, and +the fact that they lived in isolated communities among the +surrounding population, marked them out as the salt of the +desert. In the Ḥijáz their spiritual predominance was not +seriously challenged. It was otherwise in Yemen. We may +leave out of account the legend according to which Judaism +was introduced into that country from the Ḥijáz by the +Tubba‘ As‘ad Kámil. What is certain is that towards the +beginning of the sixth century it was firmly planted there +side by side with Christianity, and that in the person of +the Ḥimyarite monarch Dhú Nuwás, who adopted the Jewish +faith, it won a short-lived but sanguinary triumph over its +rival. But in Yemen, except among the highlanders of +Najrán, Christianity does not appear to have flourished as it +did in the extreme north and north-east, where the Roman and + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_138" id="Page_138" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>138</a></span> + +Persian frontiers were guarded by the Arab levies of Ghassán +and Ḥíra. We have seen that the latter city contained a large +Christian population who were called distinctively <span class="sidenote">The ‘Ibád +of Ḥíra.</span> +‘Ibád, <i>i.e.</i>, Servants (of God). Through them +the Aramaic culture of Babylonia was transmitted +to all parts of the peninsula. They had learned the art of +writing long before it was generally practised in Arabia, as is +shown by the story of Ṭarafa and Mutalammis, and they produced +the oldest <i>written</i> poetry in the Arabic language—a +poetry very different in character from that which forms +the main subject of this chapter. Unfortunately the bulk +of it has perished, since the rhapsodists, to whom we owe +the preservation of so much Pre-islamic verse, were devoted to +the traditional models and would not burden their memories +with anything new-fashioned. The most famous of the ‘Ibádí +poets is ‘Adí b. Zayd, whose adventurous career as a politician +has been sketched above. He is not reckoned by Muḥammadan +critics among the <i>Fuḥúl</i> or poets of the first rank, because +he was a townsman (<i>qarawí</i>). In this connection <span class="sidenote">‘Adí b. Zayd.</span> +the following anecdote is instructive. The +poet al-‘Ajjáj († about 709 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) said of his contemporaries +al-Ṭirimmáḥ and al-Kumayt: "They used to ask me concerning +rare expressions in the language of poetry, and I informed +them, but afterwards I found the same expressions wrongly +applied in their poems, the reason being that they were +townsmen who described what they had not seen and misapplied +it, whereas I who am a Bedouin describe what I +have seen and apply it properly."<a name="FNanchor_267" id="FNanchor_267"></a><a href="#Footnote_267" class="fnanchor">267</a> ‘Adí is chiefly remembered +for his wine-songs. Oriental Christianity has always been +associated with the drinking and selling of wine. Christian +ideas were carried into the heart of Arabia by ‘Ibádí wine +merchants, who are said to have taught their religion to the +celebrated A‘shá. ‘Adí drank and was merry like the rest, but +the underlying thought, 'for to-morrow we die,' repeatedly + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_139" id="Page_139" href="#"><span><i>RELIGIOUS IDEAS</i></span>139</a></span> + +makes itself heard. He walks beside a cemetery, and the +voices of the dead call to him—<a name="FNanchor_268" id="FNanchor_268"></a><a href="#Footnote_268" class="fnanchor">268</a></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Thou who seest us unto thyself shalt say,</span><span class="i0"> +'Soon upon me comes the season of decay.'</span><span class="i0"> +Can the solid mountains evermore sustain</span><span class="i0"> +Time's vicissitudes and all they bring in train?</span><span class="i0"> +Many a traveller lighted near us and abode,</span><span class="i0"> +Quaffing wine wherein the purest water flowed—</span><span class="i0"> +Strainers on each flagon's mouth to clear the wine,</span><span class="i0"> +Noble steeds that paw the earth in trappings fine!</span><span class="i0"> +For a while they lived in lap of luxury,</span><span class="i0"> +Fearing no misfortune, dallying lazily.</span><span class="i0"> +Then, behold, Time swept them all, like chaff, away:</span><span class="i0"> +Thus it is men fall to whirling Time a prey.</span><span class="i0"> +Thus it is Time keeps the bravest and the best</span><span class="i0"> +Night and day still plunged in Pleasure's fatal quest."</span> +</div></div> + +<p>It is said that the recitation of these verses induced Nu‘mán +al-Akbar, one of the mythical pagan kings of Ḥíra, to accept +Christianity and become an anchorite. Although the story +involves an absurd anachronism, it is <i>ben trovato</i> in so far as it +records the impression which the graver sort of Christian +poetry was likely to make on heathen minds.</p> + +<p>The courts of Ḥíra and Ghassán were well known to the +wandering minstrels of the time before Muḥammad, who +flocked thither in eager search of patronage and remuneration. +We may be sure that men like Nábigha, Labíd, and A‘shá did +not remain unaffected by the culture around them, even if it +seldom entered very deeply into their lives. That considerable +traces of religious feeling are to be found in Pre-islamic poetry +admits of no denial, but the passages in question were formerly +explained as due to interpolation. This view no longer prevails. +Thanks mainly to the arguments of Von <span class="sidenote"> Pre-Islamic +poetry not exclusively +pagan +in sentiment.</span> +Kremer, Sir Charles Lyall, and Wellhausen, it +has come to be recognised (1) that in many cases +the above-mentioned religious feeling is not +Islamic in tone; (2) that the passages in which it occurs + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_140" id="Page_140" href="#"><span><i>PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY</i></span>140</a></span> + +are not of Islamic origin; and (3) that it is the natural and +necessary result of the widely spread, though on the whole +superficial, influence of Judaism, and especially of Christianity.<a name="FNanchor_269" id="FNanchor_269"></a><a href="#Footnote_269" class="fnanchor">269</a> +It shows itself not only in frequent allusions, <i>e.g.</i>, to the monk +in his solitary cell, whose lamp serves to light belated travellers +on their way, and in more significant references, such as that +of Zuhayr already quoted, to the Heavenly Book in which evil +actions are enscrolled for the Day of Reckoning, but also in +the tendency to moralise, to look within, to meditate on death, +and to value the life of the individual rather than the continued +existence of the family. These things are not characteristic +of old Arabian poetry, but the fact that they do appear at +times is quite in accord with the other facts which have been +stated, and justifies the conclusion that during the sixth century +religion and culture were imperceptibly extending their sphere +of influence in Arabia, leavening the pagan masses, and +gradually preparing the way for Islam.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span></p> + +<h4>CHAPTER IV</h4> + +<h5>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</h5> + +<p>With the appearance of Muḥammad the almost impenetrable +veil thrown over the preceding age is suddenly lifted and we +find ourselves on the solid ground of historical tradition. In +order that the reasons for this change may be understood, it is +necessary to give some account of the principal sources from +which our knowledge of the Prophet's life and teaching is +derived.</p> + +<p>There is first, of course, the Koran,<a name="FNanchor_270" id="FNanchor_270"></a><a href="#Footnote_270" class="fnanchor">270</a> consisting "exclusively +<span class="sidenote">Sources of information: +I. The +Koran.</span> +of the revelations or commands which Muḥammad professed, +from time to time, to receive through Gabriel as +a message direct from God; and which, under an +alleged Divine direction, he delivered to those +about him. At the time of pretended inspiration, or shortly +after, each passage was recited by Muḥammad before the +Companions or followers who happened to be present, and was +generally committed to writing by some one amongst them +upon palm-leaves, leather, stones, or such other rude material +as conveniently came to hand. These Divine messages continued +throughout the three-and-twenty years of his prophetical +life, so that the last portion did not appear till the year of his +death. The canon was then closed; but the contents were + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_142" id="Page_142" href="#"><span><i>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</i></span>142</a></span> + +never, during the Prophet's lifetime, systematically arranged, +or even collected together."<a name="FNanchor_271" id="FNanchor_271"></a><a href="#Footnote_271" class="fnanchor">271</a> They were preserved, however, +in fragmentary copies and, especially, by oral <span class="sidenote"> How it was +preserved.</span> +recitation until the sanguinary wars which followed +Muḥammad's death had greatly diminished +the number of those who could repeat them by heart. +Accordingly, after the battle of Yamáma (633 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) ‘Umar +b. al-Khaṭṭáb came to Abú Bakr, who was then Caliph, and +said: "I fear that slaughter may wax hot among the +Reciters on other battle-fields, and that much of the Koran +may be lost; so in my opinion it should be collected without +delay." Abú Bakr agreed, and entrusted the task to Zayd +b. Thábit, one of the Prophet's amanuenses, who collected +the fragments with great difficulty "from bits of parchment, +thin white stones, leafless palm-branches, and the bosoms of +men." The manuscript thus compiled was deposited with +Abú Bakr during the remainder of his life, then with ‘Umar, +on whose death it passed to his daughter Ḥafṣa. Afterwards, +in the Caliphate of ‘Uthmán, Ḥudhayfa b. al-Yamán, observing +that the Koran as read in Syria was seriously at variance +with the text current in ‘Iráq, warned the Caliph to interfere, +lest the Sacred Book of the Moslems should become a subject +of dispute, like the Jewish and Christian scriptures. In the +year 651 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> ‘Uthmán ordered Zayd b. Thábit to prepare a +Revised Version with the assistance of three Qurayshites, +saying to the latter, "If ye differ from Zayd regarding any +word of the Koran, write it in the dialect of Quraysh; for it +was revealed in their dialect."<a name="FNanchor_272" id="FNanchor_272"></a><a href="#Footnote_272" class="fnanchor">272</a> This has ever since remained +the final and standard recension of the Koran. "Transcripts +were multiplied and forwarded to the chief cities in the empire, +and all previously existing copies were, by the Caliph's command, + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_143" id="Page_143" href="#"><span><i>HISTORICAL VALUE OF THE KORAN</i></span>143</a></span> + +committed to the flames."<a name="FNanchor_273" id="FNanchor_273"></a><a href="#Footnote_273" class="fnanchor">273</a> In the text as it has come +down to us the various readings are few and unimportant, and +its genuineness is above suspicion. We shall see, <span class="sidenote"> Value of the +Koran as an +authority.</span> +moreover, that the Koran is an exceedingly +human document, reflecting every phase of +Muḥammad's personality and standing in close relation to the +outward events of his life, so that here we have materials of +unique and incontestable authority for tracing the origin and +early development of Islam—such materials as do not exist in +the case of Buddhism or Christianity or any other ancient +religion. Unfortunately the arrangement of the Koran can +only be described as chaotic. No chronological sequence is +observed in the order of the Súras (chapters), which is determined +simply by their length, the longest being placed first.<a name="FNanchor_274" id="FNanchor_274"></a><a href="#Footnote_274" class="fnanchor">274</a> +Again, the chapters themselves are sometimes made up of +disconnected fragments having nothing in common except the +rhyme; whence it is often impossible to discover the original +context of the words actually spoken by the Prophet, the +occasion on which they were revealed, or the period to which +they belong. In these circumstances the Koran must be +supplemented by reference to our second main source of information, +namely, Tradition.</p> + +<p>Already in the last years of Muḥammad's life (writes Dr. +Sprenger) it was a pious custom that when two Moslems met, +<span class="sidenote"> 2. Tradition +(Ḥadíth).</span> +one should ask for news (<i>ḥadíth</i>) and the other +should relate a saying or anecdote of the Prophet. +After his death this custom continued, and the +name <i>Ḥadíth</i> was still applied to sayings and stories which +were no longer new.<a name="FNanchor_275" id="FNanchor_275"></a><a href="#Footnote_275" class="fnanchor">275</a> In the course of time an elaborate +system of Tradition was built up, as the Koran—originally the +sole criterion by which Moslems were guided alike in the + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_144" id="Page_144" href="#"><span><i>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</i></span>144</a></span> + +greatest and smallest matters of public and private interest—was +found insufficient for the complicated needs of a rapidly +extending empire. Appeal was made to the sayings and +practice (<i>sunna</i>) of Muḥammad, which now acquired "the +force of law and some of the authority of inspiration." The +Prophet had no Boswell, but almost as soon as he began to +preach he was a marked man whose <i>obiter dicta</i> could not fail +to be treasured by his Companions, and whose actions were +attentively watched. Thus, during the first century of Islam +there was a multitude of living witnesses from whom traditions +were collected, committed to memory, and orally handed down. +Every tradition consists of two parts: the text (<i>matn</i>) and the +authority (<i>sanad</i>, or <i>isnád</i>), <i>e.g.</i>, the relater says, "I was told +by <i>A</i>, who was informed by <i>B</i>, who had it from <i>C</i>, that the +Prophet (God bless him!) and Abú Bakr and ‘Umar used to <span class="sidenote"> General collections.</span> +open prayer with the words 'Praise to God, the Lord of all +creatures.'" Written records and compilations were comparatively +rare in the early period. Ibn Isḥáq († 768 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) +composed the oldest extant Biography of the Prophet, which +we do not possess, however, in its original shape <span class="sidenote"> Biographies of +Muḥammad.</span> +but only in the recension of Ibn Hishám +(† 833 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). Two important and excellent +works of the same kind are the <i>Kitábu ’l-Maghází</i> ('Book of +the Wars') by Wáqidí († 822 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) and the <i>Kitábu ’l-Ṭabaqát +al-Kabír</i> ('The Great Book of the Classes,' <i>i.e.</i>, the different +classes of Muḥammad's Companions and those who came after +them) by Ibn Sa‘d († 844 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). Of miscellaneous traditions +intended to serve the Faithful as a model and rule of life in +every particular, and arranged in chapters according to the +subject-matter, the most ancient and authoritative +collections are those of Bukhárí († 870 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) and +Muslim († 874 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), both of which bear the +same title, viz., <i>al-Ṣaḥíḥ</i>, 'The Genuine.' It only remains to +speak of Commentaries on the Koran. Some passages were +explained by Muḥammad himself, but the real founder of + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_145" id="Page_145" href="#"><span><i>THE TRADITIONS OF MUḤAMMAD</i></span>145</a></span> + +Koranic Exegesis was ‘Abdulláh b. ‘Abbás, the Prophet's +cousin. Although the writings of the early interpreters have +entirely perished, the gist of their researches is <span class="sidenote"> Commentaries +on the Koran.</span> +embodied in the great commentary of Ṭabarí († 922 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), a man of encyclopædic learning who +absorbed the whole mass of tradition existing in his time. +Subsequent commentaries are largely based on this colossal +work, which has recently been published at Cairo in thirty +volumes. That of Zamakhsharí († 1143 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), which is +entitled the <i>Kashsháf</i>, and that of Bayḍáwí († 1286 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) are +the best known and most highly esteemed in the Muḥammadan +East. A work of wider scope is the <i>Itqán</i> of Suyúṭí († 1505 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), which takes a general survey of the Koranic sciences, +and may be regarded as an introduction to the critical study +of the Koran.</p> + +<p>While every impartial student will admit the justice of +Ibn Qutayba's claim that no religion has such historical attestations +<span class="sidenote"> Character of +Moslem tradition.</span> +as Islam—<i>laysa li-ummat<sup>in</sup> mina ’l-umami</i> +<i>asnád<sup>un</sup> ka-asnádihim</i><a name="FNanchor_276" id="FNanchor_276"></a><a href="#Footnote_276" class="fnanchor">276</a>—he must at the same +time cordially assent to the observation made by +another Muḥammadan: "In nothing do we see pious men +more given to falsehood than in Tradition" (<i>lam nara +’l-ṣáliḥína fí shay’<sup>in</sup> akdhaba minhum fi ’l-ḥadíth</i>).<a name="FNanchor_277" id="FNanchor_277"></a><a href="#Footnote_277" class="fnanchor">277</a> Of this +severe judgment the reader will find ample confirmation in the +Second Part of Goldziher's <i>Muhammedanische Studien</i>.<a name="FNanchor_278" id="FNanchor_278"></a><a href="#Footnote_278" class="fnanchor">278</a> During +the first century of Islam the forging of Traditions became a +recognised political and religious weapon, of which all parties +availed themselves. Even men of the strictest piety practised +this species of fraud (<i>tadlís</i>), and maintained that the end +justified the means. Their point of view is well expressed in +the following words which are supposed to have been spoken +by the Prophet: "You must compare the sayings attributed + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_146" id="Page_146" href="#"><span><i>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</i></span>146</a></span> + +to me with the Koran; what agrees therewith is from me, +whether I actually said it or no;" and again, " Whatever +good saying has been said, I myself have said it."<a name="FNanchor_279" id="FNanchor_279"></a><a href="#Footnote_279" class="fnanchor">279</a> As the +result of such principles every new doctrine took the form of +an Apostolic <i>Ḥadíth</i>; every sect and every system defended +itself by an appeal to the authority of Muḥammad. We may +see how enormous was the number of false Traditions in circulation +from the fact that when Bukhárí († 870 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) drew up +his collection entitled 'The Genuine' (<i>al-Ṣaḥíḥ</i>), he limited +it to some 7,000, which he picked out of 600,000.</p> + +<p>The credibility of Tradition, so far as it concerns the life of +the Prophet, cannot be discussed in this place.<a name="FNanchor_280" id="FNanchor_280"></a><a href="#Footnote_280" class="fnanchor">280</a> The oldest +and best biography, that of Ibn Isḥáq, undoubtedly contains a +great deal of fabulous matter, but his narrative appears to be +honest and fairly authentic on the whole.</p> + +<p class="tb">If we accept the traditional chronology, Muḥammad, son of +‘Abdulláh and Ámina, of the tribe of Quraysh, was born at +Mecca on the 12th of Rabí‘ al-Awwal, in the <span class="sidenote"> Birth of +Muḥammad.</span> +Year of the Elephant (570-571 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). His +descent from Quṣayy is shown by the following +table:—</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><img src="images/184image.png" width="500" height="235" alt= +"Muḥammad's descent from Quṣayy" title="" /></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_147" id="Page_147" href="#"><span><i>MUḤAMMAD'S BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD</i></span>147</a></span></p> + +<p>Shortly after his birth he was handed over to a Bedouin +nurse—Ḥalíma, a woman of the Banú Sa‘d—so that until he +<span class="sidenote"> His childhood.</span> +was five years old he breathed the pure air and +learned to speak the unadulterated language of +the desert. One marvellous event which is said to have +happened to him at this time may perhaps be founded on +fact:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"He and his foster-brother" (so Ḥalíma relates) "were among the +cattle behind our encampment when my son came running to us +and cried, 'My brother, the Qurayshite! two men clad <span class="sidenote"> Muḥammad +and the +two angels.</span> +in white took him and laid him on his side and cleft +his belly; and they were stirring their hands in it.' +When my husband and I went out to him we found him standing +with his face turned pale, and on our asking, 'What ails thee, child?' +he answered, 'Two men wearing white garments came to me and +laid me on my side and cleft my belly and groped for something, +I know not what.' We brought him back to our tent, and my +husband said to me, 'O Ḥalíma, I fear this lad has been smitten +(<i>uṣíba</i>); so take him home to his family before it becomes evident.' +When we restored him to his mother she said, 'What has brought +thee, nurse? Thou wert so fond of him and anxious that he should +stay with thee.' I said, 'God has made him grow up, and I have +done my part. I feared that some mischance would befall him, so +I brought him back to thee as thou wishest.' 'Thy case is not thus,' +said she; 'tell me the truth,' and she gave me no peace until I told +her. Then she said, 'Art thou afraid that he is possessed by the +Devil?' I said, 'Yes.' 'Nay, by God,' she replied, 'the Devil +cannot reach him; my son hath a high destiny.'"<a name="FNanchor_281" id="FNanchor_281"></a><a href="#Footnote_281" class="fnanchor">281</a></p></div> + +<p>Other versions of the story are more explicit. The angels, +it is said, drew forth Muḥammad's heart, cleansed it, and +removed the black clot—<i>i.e</i>., the taint of original sin.<a name="FNanchor_282" id="FNanchor_282"></a><a href="#Footnote_282" class="fnanchor">282</a> If +these inventions have any basis at all beyond the desire to +glorify the future Prophet, we must suppose that they refer + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_148" id="Page_148" href="#"><span><i>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</i></span>148</a></span> + +to some kind of epileptic fit. At a later period he was +subject to such attacks, which, according to the unanimous +voice of Tradition, often coincided with the revelations sent +down from heaven.</p> + +<p>‘Abdulláh had died before the birth of his son, and when, in +his sixth year, Muḥammad lost his mother also, the charge of +the orphan was undertaken first by his grandfather, the aged +‘Abdu ’l-Muṭṭalib, and then by his uncle, Abú Ṭálib, a poor +but honourable man, who nobly fulfilled the duties of a +guardian to the last hour of his life. Muḥammad's small +patrimony was soon spent, and he was reduced to herding +sheep—a despised employment which usually fell to the lot +of women or slaves. In his twelfth year he accompanied +Abú Ṭálib on a trading expedition to Syria, in the course of +which he is said to have encountered a Christian <span class="sidenote"> His meeting +with the +monk Baḥírá.</span> +monk called Baḥírá, who discovered the Seal of +Prophecy between the boy's shoulders, and hailed +him as the promised apostle. Such anticipations deserve no +credit whatever. The truth is that until Muḥammad assumed +the prophetic rôle he was merely an obscure Qurayshite; and +scarcely anything related of him anterior to that event can be +deemed historical except his marriage to Khadíja, an elderly +widow of considerable fortune, which took place when he was +about twenty-five years of age.</p> + +<p>During the next fifteen years of his life Muḥammad was +externally a prosperous citizen, only distinguished from those +around him by an habitual expression of thoughtful melancholy. +What was passing in his mind may be conjectured +with some probability from his first utterances when he came +forward as a preacher. It is certain, and he himself has +acknowledged, that he formerly shared the idolatry of his +countrymen. "<i>Did not He find thee astray and lead thee +aright?</i>" (Kor. xciii, 7). When and how did the process of +conversion begin? These questions cannot be answered, but +it is natural to suppose that the all-important result, on which + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_149" id="Page_149" href="#"><span><i>THE ḤANÍFS</i></span>149</a></span> + +Muḥammad's biographers concentrate their attention, was preceded +by a long period of ferment and immaturity. The +idea of monotheism was represented in Arabia by the Jews, +who were particularly numerous in the Ḥijáz, and by several +gnostic sects of an ascetic character—<i>e.g.</i>, the Ṣábians<a name="FNanchor_283" id="FNanchor_283"></a><a href="#Footnote_283" class="fnanchor">283</a> and +the Rakúsians. Furthermore, "Islamic tradition knows of +a number of religious thinkers before Muḥammad who are +described as Ḥanífs,"<a name="FNanchor_284" id="FNanchor_284"></a><a href="#Footnote_284" class="fnanchor">284</a> and of whom the best known are +Waraqa b. Nawfal of Quraysh; Zayd b. ‘Amr <span class="sidenote"> The Ḥanífs.</span> +b. Nufayl, also of Quraysh; and Umayya b. Abi +’l-Ṣalt of Thaqíf. They formed no sect, as Sprenger imagined; +and more recent research has demonstrated the baselessness of +the same scholar's theory that there was in Pre-islamic times a +widely-spread religious movement which Muḥammad organised, +directed, and employed for his own ends. His Arabian precursors, +if they may be so called, were merely a few isolated +individuals. We are told by Ibn Isḥáq that Waraqa and +Zayd, together with two other Qurayshites, rejected idolatry +and left their homes in order to seek the true religion of +Abraham, but whereas Waraqa is said to have become a Christian, +Zayd remained a pious dissenter unattached either to Christianity +or to Judaism; he abstained from idol-worship, from eating +that which had died of itself, from blood, and from the flesh +of animals offered in sacrifice to idols; he condemned the +barbarous custom of burying female infants alive, and said, + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_150" id="Page_150" href="#"><span><i>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</i></span>150</a></span> + +"I worship the Lord of Abraham."<a name="FNanchor_285" id="FNanchor_285"></a><a href="#Footnote_285" class="fnanchor">285</a> As regards Umayya b. +Abi ’l-Ṣalt, according to the notice of him in the <i>Aghání</i>, he +had inspected and read the Holy Scriptures; he wore sackcloth +as a mark of devotion, held wine to be unlawful, was +inclined to disbelieve in idols, and earnestly sought the true +religion. It is said that he hoped to be sent as a prophet to +the Arabs, and therefore when Muḥammad appeared he +envied and bitterly opposed him.<a name="FNanchor_286" id="FNanchor_286"></a><a href="#Footnote_286" class="fnanchor">286</a> Umayya's verses, some +of which have been translated in a former chapter,<a name="FNanchor_287" id="FNanchor_287"></a><a href="#Footnote_287" class="fnanchor">287</a> are +chiefly on religious topics, and show many points of resemblance +with the doctrines set forth in the early Súras of the +Koran. With one exception, all the Ḥanífs whose names are +recorded belonged to the Ḥijáz and the west of the Arabian +peninsula. No doubt Muḥammad, with whom most of them +were contemporary, came under their influence, and he may +have received his first stimulus from this quarter.<a name="FNanchor_288" id="FNanchor_288"></a><a href="#Footnote_288" class="fnanchor">288</a> While +they, however, were concerned only about their own salvation, +Muḥammad, starting from the same position, advanced far +beyond it. His greatness lies not so much in the sublime ideas +by which he was animated as in the tremendous force and +enthusiasm of his appeal to the universal conscience of mankind.</p> + +<p class="tb">In his fortieth year, it is said, Muḥammad began to dream +dreams and see visions, and desire solitude above all things else. +He withdrew to a cave on Mount Ḥirá, near <span class="sidenote"> Muḥammad's +vision.</span> +Mecca, and engaged in religious austerities (<i>taḥannuth</i>). +One night in the month of Ramaḍán<a name="FNanchor_289" id="FNanchor_289"></a><a href="#Footnote_289" class="fnanchor">289</a> +the Angel<a name="FNanchor_290" id="FNanchor_290"></a><a href="#Footnote_290" class="fnanchor">290</a> appeared to him and said, "Read!" (<i>iqra’</i>). He + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_151" id="Page_151" href="#"><span><i>THE FIRST REVELATION</i></span>151</a></span> + +answered, "I am no reader" (<i>má ana bi-qári’<sup>in</sup></i>).<a name="FNanchor_291" id="FNanchor_291"></a><a href="#Footnote_291" class="fnanchor">291</a> Then the +Angel seized him with a strong grasp, saying, "Read!" and, +as Muḥammad still refused to obey, gripped him once more +and spoke as follows:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="it"> +THE SÚRA OF COAGULATED BLOOD (XCVI).</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +(1) Read in the name of thy Lord<a name="FNanchor_292" id="FNanchor_292"></a><a href="#Footnote_292" class="fnanchor">292</a> who created,</span><span class="i0"> +(2) Who created Man of blood coagulated.</span><span class="i0"> +(3) Read! Thy Lord is the most beneficent,</span><span class="i0"> +(4) Who taught by the Pen,<a name="FNanchor_293" id="FNanchor_293"></a><a href="#Footnote_293" class="fnanchor">293</a></span><span class="i0"> +(5) Taught that which they knew not unto men.</span> +</div></div> + +<p>On hearing these words Muḥammad returned, trembling, +to Khadíja and cried, "Wrap me up! wrap me up!" and +remained covered until the terror passed away from him.<a name="FNanchor_294" id="FNanchor_294"></a><a href="#Footnote_294" class="fnanchor">294</a> +Another tradition relating to the same event makes it clear + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_152" id="Page_152" href="#"><span><i>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</i></span>152</a></span> + +that the revelation occurred in a dream.<a name="FNanchor_295" id="FNanchor_295"></a><a href="#Footnote_295" class="fnanchor">295</a> "I awoke," said +the Prophet, "and methought it was written in my heart." +If we take into account the notions prevalent among the +Arabs of that time on the subject of inspiration,<a name="FNanchor_296" id="FNanchor_296"></a><a href="#Footnote_296" class="fnanchor">296</a> it will not +appear surprising that Muḥammad at first believed himself to +be possessed, like a poet or soothsayer, by one of the spirits +called collectively <i>Jinn</i>. Such was his anguish of mind that +he even meditated suicide, but Khadíja comforted and +reassured him, and finally he gained the unalterable conviction +that he was not a prey to demoniacal influences, but a +prophet divinely inspired. For some time he received no +further revelation.<a name="FNanchor_297" id="FNanchor_297"></a><a href="#Footnote_297" class="fnanchor">297</a> Then suddenly, as he afterwards related, +he saw the Angel seated on a throne between earth and +heaven. Awe-stricken, he ran into his house and bade them +wrap his limbs in a warm garment (<i>dithár</i>). While he lay +thus the following verses were revealed:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="it"> +THE SÚRA OF THE ENWRAPPED (LXXIV).</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +(1) O thou who enwrapped dost lie!</span><span class="i0"> +(2) Arise and prophesy,<a name="FNanchor_298" id="FNanchor_298"></a><a href="#Footnote_298" class="fnanchor">298</a></span><span class="i0"> +(3) And thy Lord magnify,</span><span class="i0"> +(4) And thy raiment purify,</span><span class="i0"> +(5) And the abomination fly!<a name="FNanchor_299" id="FNanchor_299"></a><a href="#Footnote_299" class="fnanchor">299</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Muḥammad no longer doubted that he had a divinely +ordained mission to preach in public. His feelings of relief +and thankfulness are expressed in several Súras of this period, +<i>e.g.</i>—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"> +THE SÚRA OF THE MORNING (XCIII).</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +(1) By the Morning bright</span><span class="i0"> +(2) And the softly falling Night,</span><span class="i0"> +(3) Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee, neither art thou hateful in His sight.</span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_153" id="Page_153" href="#"><span><i>EARLY CONVERTS</i></span>153</a></span> + +<span class="i0"> +(4) Verily, the Beginning is hard unto thee, but the End shall be light.<a name="FNanchor_300" id="FNanchor_300"></a><a href="#Footnote_300" class="fnanchor">300</a></span><span class="i0"> +(5) Thou shalt be satisfied, the Lord shall thee requite.</span><span class="i0"> +(6) Did not He shelter thee when He found thee in orphan's plight?</span><span class="i0"> +(7) Did not He find thee astray and lead thee aright?</span><span class="i0"> +(8) Did not He find thee poor and make thee rich by His might?</span><span class="i0"> +(9) Wherefore, the orphan betray not,</span><span class="i0"> +(10) And the beggar turn away not,</span><span class="i0"> +(11) And tell of the bounty of thy Lord.</span> +</div></div> + +<p>According to his biographers, an interval of three years +elapsed between the sending of Muḥammad and his appearance +as a public preacher of the faith that was in him. Naturally, +he would first turn to his own family and friends, but it is +difficult to accept the statement that he made no proselytes +openly during so long a period. The contrary is asserted in an +ancient tradition related by al-Zuhrí († 742 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), where +we read that the Prophet summoned the people to embrace +Islam<a name="FNanchor_301" id="FNanchor_301"></a><a href="#Footnote_301" class="fnanchor">301</a> both in private and public; and that those who +responded to his appeal were, for the most part, young men +belonging to the poorer class.<a name="FNanchor_302" id="FNanchor_302"></a><a href="#Footnote_302" class="fnanchor">302</a> He found, however, some +influential adherents. Besides Khadíja, who was <span class="sidenote"> The first +Moslems.</span> +the first to believe, there were his cousin ‘Alí, +his adopted son, Zayd b. Ḥáritha, and, most important +of all, Abú Bakr b. Abí Quháfa, a leading merchant of +the Quraysh, universally respected and beloved for his integrity, +wisdom, and kindly disposition. At the outset Muḥammad +seems to have avoided everything calculated to offend the +heathens, confining himself to moral and religious generalities, + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_154" id="Page_154" href="#"><span><i>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</i></span>154</a></span> + +so that many believed, and the Meccan aristocrats themselves +regarded him with good-humoured toleration as a harmless +oracle-monger. "Look!" they said as he passed by, "there +goes the man of the Banú ‘Abd al-Muṭṭalib who tells of +heaven." But no sooner did he begin to emphasise the Unity +of God, to fulminate against idolatry, and to preach <span class="sidenote"> Hostility of the +Quraysh.</span> +the Resurrection of the dead, than his followers +melted away in face of the bitter antagonism +which these doctrines excited amongst the Quraysh, who saw +in the Ka‘ba and its venerable cult the mainspring of their +commercial prosperity, and were irritated by the Prophet's +declaration that their ancestors were burning in hell-fire. +The authority of Abú Ṭálib secured the personal safety of +Muḥammad; of the little band who remained faithful some +were protected by the strong family feeling characteristic of old +Arabian society, but many were poor and friendless; and these, +especially the slaves, whom the levelling ideas of Islam had +attracted in large numbers, were subjected to cruel persecution.<a name="FNanchor_303" id="FNanchor_303"></a><a href="#Footnote_303" class="fnanchor">303</a> +Nevertheless Muḥammad continued to preach. "I will not +forsake this cause" (thus he is said to have answered Abú +Ṭálib, who informed him of the threatening attitude of the +Quraysh and begged him not to lay on him a greater burden +than he could bear) "until God shall make it prevail or until +I shall perish therein—not though they should set the sun on +my right hand and the moon on my left!"<a name="FNanchor_304" id="FNanchor_304"></a><a href="#Footnote_304" class="fnanchor">304</a> But progress + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_155" id="Page_155" href="#"><span><i>FAILURE OF THE MISSION AT MECCA</i></span>155</a></span> + +was slow and painful: the Meccans stood obstinately aloof, +deriding both his prophetic authority and the Divine chastisement +with which he sought to terrify them. Moreover, they +used every kind of pressure short of actual violence in order to +seduce his followers, so that many recanted, and in the fifth +year of his mission he saw himself driven to the necessity of +commanding a general emigration to the Christian <span class="sidenote"> Emigration to +Abyssinia.</span> +kingdom of Abyssinia, where the Moslems would +be received with open arms<a name="FNanchor_305" id="FNanchor_305"></a><a href="#Footnote_305" class="fnanchor">305</a> and would be withdrawn +from temptation.<a name="FNanchor_306" id="FNanchor_306"></a><a href="#Footnote_306" class="fnanchor">306</a> About a hundred men and women +went into exile, leaving their Prophet with a small party of +staunch and devoted comrades to persevere in a struggle that +was daily becoming more difficult. In a moment of weakness +Muḥammad resolved to attempt a compromise <span class="sidenote"> Temporary +reconciliation +with the +Quraysh.</span> +with his countrymen. One day, it is said, the +chief men of Mecca, assembled in a group beside +the Ka‘ba, discussed as was their wont the affairs of the city, +when Muḥammad appeared and, seating himself by them in +a friendly manner, began to recite in their hearing the 53rd +Súra of the Koran. When he came to the verses (19-20)—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Do ye see Al-Lát and Al-‘Uzzá, and Manát, the third and last?"</span> +</div></div> + +<p>Satan prompted him to add:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"These are the most exalted Cranes (or Swans),</span><span class="i0"> +And verily their intercession is to be hoped for."</span> +</div></div> + +<p>The Quraysh were surprised and delighted with this +acknowledgment of their deities; and as Muḥammad wound +up the Súra with the closing words—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Wherefore bow down before God and serve Him,"</span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_156" id="Page_156" href="#"><span><i>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</i></span>156</a></span></p> + +<p>the whole assembly prostrated themselves with one accord +on the ground and worshipped.<a name="FNanchor_307" id="FNanchor_307"></a><a href="#Footnote_307" class="fnanchor">307</a> But scarcely had Muḥammad +returned to his house when he repented of the sin into +which he had fallen. He cancelled the idolatrous verses +and revealed in their place those which now stand in the +Koran—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Shall yours be the male and his the female?<a name="FNanchor_308" id="FNanchor_308"></a><a href="#Footnote_308" class="fnanchor">308</a></span><span class="i0"> +This were then an unjust division!</span><span class="i0"> +They are naught but names which ye and your fathers have named."</span> +</div></div> + +<p>We can easily comprehend why Ibn Hishám omits all +mention of this episode from his Biography, and why the fact +<span class="sidenote">Muḥammad's +concession to +the idolaters.</span> +itself is denied by many Moslem theologians.<a name="FNanchor_309" id="FNanchor_309"></a><a href="#Footnote_309" class="fnanchor">309</a> +The Prophet's friends were scandalised, his +enemies laughed him to scorn. It was probably +no sudden lapse, as tradition represents, but a calculated +endeavour to come to terms with the Quraysh; and so far +from being immediately annulled, the reconciliation seems +to have lasted long enough for the news of it to reach the +emigrants in Abyssinia and induce some of them to return to +Mecca. While putting the best face on the matter, +Muḥammad felt keenly both his own disgrace and the public +discredit. It speaks well for his sincerity that, as soon as +he perceived any compromise with idolatry to be impossible—to +be, in fact, a surrender of the great principle by which he +was inspired—he frankly confessed his error and delusion. + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_157" id="Page_157" href="#"><span><i>BACKSLIDING AND REPENTANCE</i></span>157</a></span> + +Henceforth he "wages mortal strife with images in every +shape"—there is no god but Allah.</p> + +<p>The further course of events which culminated in +Muḥammad's Flight to Medína may be sketched in a few +words. Persecution now waxed hotter than ever, as the +Prophet, rising from his temporary vacillation like a giant +refreshed, threw his whole force into the denunciation of +idolatry. The conversion of ‘Umar b. al-Khaṭṭáb, the future +Caliph, a man of 'blood and iron,' gave the signal for open +revolt. "The Moslems no longer concealed their worship +within their own dwellings, but with conscious strength and +defiant attitude assembled in companies about the Ka‘ba, performed +their rites of prayer and compassed the Holy House. +Their courage rose. Dread and uneasiness seized the +Quraysh." The latter retaliated by cutting off all relations +with the Háshimites, who were pledged to defend their kinsman, +whether they recognised him as a prophet or no. This +ban or boycott secluded them in an outlying quarter of the city, +where for more than two years they endured the utmost +privations, but it only cemented their loyalty to Muḥammad, +and ultimately dissensions among the Quraysh themselves caused +it to be removed. Shortly afterwards the Prophet suffered +a double bereavement—the death of his wife, <span class="sidenote"> Death of +of Khadíja and +Abú Ṭálib.</span> +Khadíja, was followed by that of the noble Abú +Ṭálib, who, though he never accepted Islam, +stood firm to the last in defence of his brother's son. Left +alone to protect himself, Muḥammad realised that he must take +some decisive step. The situation was critical. Events had +shown that he had nothing to hope and everything to fear from +the Meccan aristocracy. He had warned them again and +again of the wrath to come, yet they gave no heed. He was +now convinced that they would not and could not believe, +since God in His inscrutable wisdom had predestined them to +eternal damnation. Consequently he resolved on a bold and, +according to Arab ways of thinking, abominable expedient, + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_158" id="Page_158" href="#"><span><i>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</i></span>158</a></span> + +namely, to abandon his fellow-tribesmen and seek aid from +strangers.<a name="FNanchor_310" id="FNanchor_310"></a><a href="#Footnote_310" class="fnanchor">310</a> Having vainly appealed to the inhabitants of +Ṭá’if, he turned to Medína, where, among a population +largely composed of Jews, the revolutionary ideas of Islam +might more readily take root and flourish than in the +Holy City of Arabian heathendom. This time he was not +disappointed. A strong party in Medína hailed him as the +true Prophet, eagerly embraced his creed, and swore to defend +him at all hazards. In the spring of the year 622 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> the +Moslems of Mecca quietly left their homes and journeyed +northward. A few months later (September, 622) Muḥammad +himself, eluding the vigilance of the Quraysh, entered Medína +in triumph amidst the crowds and acclamations due to a +conqueror.</p> + +<p>This is the celebrated Migration or Hegira (properly <i>Hijra</i>) +which marks the end of the Barbaric Age (<i>al-Jáhiliyya</i>) and +<span class="sidenote">The <i>Hijra</i> or +Migration to +Medina +(622 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +the beginning of the Muḥammadan Era. It also +marks a new epoch in the Prophet's history; but +before attempting to indicate the nature of the +change it will be convenient, in order that we may form +a juster conception of his character, to give some account of +his early teaching and preaching as set forth in that portion of +the Koran which was revealed at Mecca.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_159" id="Page_159" href="#"><span><i>THE FLIGHT TO MEDINA</i></span>159</a></span> + +Koran (Qur’án) is derived from the Arabic root <i>qara’a</i>, +'to read,' and means 'reading aloud' or 'chanting.' This +<span class="sidenote"> The Koran.</span> +term may be applied either to a single Revelation +or to several recited together or, in its usual acceptation, +to the whole body of Revelations which are thought +by Moslems to be, actually and literally, the Word of God; so +that in quoting from the Koran they say <i>qála ’lláhu</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, +'God said.' Each Revelation forms a separate <i>Súra</i> +(chapter)<a name="FNanchor_311" id="FNanchor_311"></a><a href="#Footnote_311" class="fnanchor">311</a> composed of verses of varying length which have +no metre but are generally rhymed. Thus, as regards its +external features, the style of the Koran is modelled upon the +<i>Saj‘</i>,<a name="FNanchor_312" id="FNanchor_312"></a><a href="#Footnote_312" class="fnanchor">312</a> or rhymed prose, of the pagan soothsayers, but with such +freedom that it may fairly be described as original. Since it +was not in Muḥammad's power to create a form that should +be absolutely new, his choice lay between <i>Saj‘</i> and poetry, the +only forms of elevated style then known to the Arabs. He +himself declared that he was no poet,<a name="FNanchor_313" id="FNanchor_313"></a><a href="#Footnote_313" class="fnanchor">313</a> and this is true in the +sense that he may have lacked the technical accomplishment of +verse-making. It must, however, be borne in <span class="sidenote"> Was Muḥammad +poet?</span> +mind that his disavowal does not refer primarily +to the poetic art, but rather to the person and +character of the poets themselves. He, the divinely inspired +Prophet, could have nothing to do with men who owed their +inspiration to demons and gloried in the ideals of paganism +which he was striving to overthrow. "<i>And the poets do +those follow who go astray! Dost thou not see that they +wander distraught in every vale? and that they say that which +they do not?</i>" (Kor. xxvi, 224-226). Muḥammad was not +of these; although he was not so unlike them as he pretended. +His kinship with the pagan <i>Shá‘ir</i> is clearly shown, for example, +in the 113th and 114th Súras, which are charms against magic +and <i>diablerie</i>, as well as in the solemn imprecation calling down +destruction upon the head of his uncle, ‘Abdu ’l-‘Uzzá, nicknamed +Abú Lahab (Father of Flame).</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_160" id="Page_160" href="#"><span><i>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</i></span>160</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3">THE SÚRA OF ABÚ LAHAB (CXI).</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +(1) Perish the hands of Abú Lahab and perish he!</span> +<span class="i0"> +(2) His wealth shall not avail him nor all he hath gotten in fee.</span> +<span class="i0"> +(3) Burned in blazing fire he shall be!</span> +<span class="i0"> +(4) And his wife, the faggot-bearer, also she.</span> +<span class="i0"> +(5) Upon her neck a cord of fibres of the palm-tree.</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>If, then, we must allow that Muḥammad's contemporaries had +some justification for bestowing upon him the title of poet +against which he protested so vehemently, still less can his plea +be accepted by the modern critic, whose verdict will be that +the Koran is not poetical as a whole; that it contains many +pages of rhetoric and much undeniable prose; but that, +although Muḥammad needed "heaven-sent moments for this +skill," in the early Meccan Súras frequently, and fitfully elsewhere, +his genius proclaims itself by grand lyrical outbursts +which could never have been the work of a mere rhetorician.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Muḥammad's single aim in the Meccan Súras," says Nöldeke, "is to +convert the people, by means of persuasion, from their false gods to +<span class="sidenote"> The Meccan +Súras.</span> +the One God. To whatever point the discourse is +directed, this always remains the ground-thought; but +instead of seeking to convince the reason of his +hearers by logical proofs, he employs the arts of rhetoric to +work upon their minds through the imagination. Thus he glorifies +God, describes His working in Nature and History, and ridicules +on the other hand the impotence of the idols. Especially +important are the descriptions of the everlasting bliss of the pious +and the torments of the wicked: these, particularly the latter, must +be regarded as one of the mightiest factors in the propagation of +Islam, through the impression which they make on the imagination +of simple men who have not been hardened, from their youth up, by +similar theological ideas. The Prophet often attacks his heathen +adversaries personally and threatens them with eternal punishment; +but while he is living among heathens alone, he seldom assails the +Jews who stand much nearer to him, and the Christians scarcely +ever."<a name="FNanchor_314" id="FNanchor_314"></a><a href="#Footnote_314" class="fnanchor">314</a></p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_161" id="Page_161" href="#"><span><i>THE MECCAN SÚRAS</i></span>161</a></span> + +The preposterous arrangement of the Koran, to which I have +already adverted, is mainly responsible for the opinion almost +unanimously held by European readers that it is obscure, tiresome, +uninteresting; a farrago of long-winded narratives and +prosaic exhortations, quite unworthy to be named in the same +breath with the Prophetical Books of the Old Testament. +One may, indeed, peruse the greater part of the volume, +beginning with the first chapter, and find but a few passages of +genuine enthusiasm to relieve the prevailing dulness. It is in +the short Súras placed at the end of the Koran that we must +look for evidence of Muḥammad's prophetic gift. These are the +earliest of all; in these the flame of inspiration burns purely +and its natural force is not abated. The following versions, +like those which have preceded, imitate the original form as +closely, I think, as is possible in English. They cannot, of +course, do more than faintly suggest the striking effect of the +sonorous Arabic when read aloud. The Koran was designed +for oral recitation, and it must be <i>heard</i> in order to be justly +appraised.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3"> +THE SÚRA OF THE SEVERING (LXXXII).</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +(1) When the Sky shall be severèd,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(2) And when the Stars shall be shiverèd,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(3) And when the Seas to mingle shall be sufferèd,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(4) And when the Graves shall be uncoverèd—</span> +<span class="i0"> +(5) A soul shall know that which it hath deferred or deliverèd.<a name="FNanchor_315" id="FNanchor_315"></a><a href="#Footnote_315" class="fnanchor">315</a></span> +<span class="i0"> +(6) O Man, what beguiled thee against thy gracious Master to rebel,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(7) Who created thee and fashioned thee right and thy frame did fairly build?</span> +<span class="i0"> +(8) He composed thee in whatever form He willed.</span> +<span class="i0"> +(9) Nay, but ye disbelieve in the Ordeal!<a name="FNanchor_316" id="FNanchor_316"></a><a href="#Footnote_316" class="fnanchor">316</a></span> +<span class="i0"> +(10) Verily over you are Recorders honourable,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(11) Your deeds inscribing without fail:<a name="FNanchor_317" id="FNanchor_317"></a><a href="#Footnote_317" class="fnanchor">317</a></span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_162" id="Page_162" href="#"><span><i>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</i></span>162</a></span> + +<span class="i0"> +(12) What ye do they know well.</span> +<span class="i0"> +(13) Surely the pious in delight shall dwell,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(14) And surely the wicked shall be in Hell,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(15) Burning there on the Day of Ordeal;</span> +<span class="i0"> +(16) And evermore Hell-fire they shall feel!</span> +<span class="i0"> +(17) What shall make thee to understand what is the Day of Ordeal?</span> +<span class="i0"> +(18) Again, what shall make thee to understand what is the Day of Ordeal?—</span> +<span class="i0"> +(19) A Day when one soul shall not obtain anything for another +soul, but the command on that Day shall be with God +alone.</span> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3"> +THE SÚRA OF THE SIGNS (LXXXV).</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +(1) By the Heaven in which Signs are set,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(2) By the Day that is promisèd,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(3) By the Witness and the Witnessèd:—</span> +<span class="i0"> +(4) Cursèd be the Fellows of the Pit, they that spread</span> +<span class="i0"> +(5) The fire with fuel fed,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(6) When they sate by its head</span> +<span class="i0"> +(7) And saw how their contrivance against the Believers sped;<a name="FNanchor_318" id="FNanchor_318"></a><a href="#Footnote_318" class="fnanchor">318</a></span> +<span class="i0"> +(8) And they punished them not save that they believed on God, +the Almighty, the Glorified,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(9) To whom is the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth, and He +seeth every thing beside.</span> +<span class="i0"> +(10) Verily, for those who afflict believing men and women and +repent not, the torment of Gehenna and the torment of +burning is prepared.</span> +<span class="i0"> +(11) Verily, for those who believe and work righteousness are +Gardens beneath which rivers flow: this is the great +Reward.</span> +<span class="i0"> +(12) Stern is the vengeance of thy Lord.</span> +<span class="i0"> +(13) He createth the living and reviveth the dead:</span> +<span class="i0"> +(14) He doth pardon and kindly entreat:</span> +<span class="i0"> +(15) The majestic Throne is His seat:</span> +<span class="i0"> +(16) That he willeth He doeth indeed.</span> +<span class="i0"> +(17) Hath not word come to thee of the multitude</span> +<span class="i0"> +(18) Of Pharaoh, and of Thamúd?<a name="FNanchor_319" id="FNanchor_319"></a><a href="#Footnote_319" class="fnanchor">319</a></span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_163" id="Page_163" href="#"><span><i>THE MECCAN SÚRAS</i></span>163</a></span> + +<span class="i0"> +(19) Nay, the infidels cease not from falsehood,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(20) But God encompasseth them about.</span> +<span class="i0"> +(21) Surely, it is a Sublime Koran that ye read,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(22) On a Table inviolate.<a name="FNanchor_320" id="FNanchor_320"></a><a href="#Footnote_320" class="fnanchor">320</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3"> +THE SÚRA OF THE SMITING (CI).</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +(1) The Smiting! What is the Smiting?</span> +<span class="i0"> +(2) And how shalt thou be made to understand what is the Smiting?</span> +<span class="i0"> +(3) The Day when Men shall be as flies scatterèd,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(4) And the Mountains shall be as shreds of wool tatterèd.</span> +<span class="i0"> +(5) One whose Scales are heavy, a pleasing life he shall spend,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(6) But one whose Scales are light, to the Abyss he shall descend.</span> +<span class="i0"> +(7) What that is, how shalt thou be made to comprehend?</span> +<span class="i0"> +(8) Scorching Fire without end!</span> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1"> +THE SÚRA OF THE UNBELIEVERS (CIX).</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +(1) Say: 'O Unbelievers,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(2) I worship not that which ye worship,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(3) And ye worship not that which I worship.</span> +<span class="i0"> +(4) Neither will I worship that which ye worship,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(5) Nor will ye worship that which I worship.</span> +<span class="i0"> +(6) Ye have your religion and I have my religion.'</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>To summarise the cardinal doctrines preached by Muḥammad +<span class="sidenote">The teaching of +Muḥammad at +Mecca.</span> +during the Meccan period:—</p> + +<p>1. There is no god but God.</p> + +<p>2. Muḥammad is the Apostle of God, and the +Koran is the Word of God revealed to His Apostle.</p> + +<p>3. The dead shall be raised to life at the Last Judgment, +when every one shall be judged by his actions in the present life.</p> + +<p>4. The pious shall enter Paradise and the wicked shall go +down to Hell.</p> + +<p>Taking these doctrines separately, let us consider a little +more in detail how each of them is stated and by what arguments +it is enforced. The time had not yet come for drawing + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_164" id="Page_164" href="#"><span><i>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</i></span>164</a></span> + +the sword: Muḥammad repeats again and again that he is only +a warner (<i>nadhír</i>) invested with no authority to compel where +he cannot persuade.</p> + +<p>1. The Meccans acknowledged the supreme position of +Allah, but in ordinary circumstances neglected him in favour +<span class="sidenote">The Unity of +God.</span> +of their idols, so that, as Muḥammad complains, +"<i>When danger befalls you on the sea, the gods +whom ye invoke are forgotten except Him alone; +yet when He brought you safe to land, ye turned your backs on +Him, for Man is ungrateful.</i>"<a name="FNanchor_321" id="FNanchor_321"></a><a href="#Footnote_321" class="fnanchor">321</a> They were strongly attached +to the cult of the Ka‘ba, not only by self-interest, but also by +the more respectable motives of piety towards their ancestors +and pride in their traditions. Muḥammad himself regarded +Allah as Lord of the Ka‘ba, and called upon the Quraysh +to worship him as such (Kor. cvi, 3). When they refused to +do so on the ground that they were afraid lest the Arabs should +rise against them and drive them forth from the land, he +assured them that Allah was the author of all their prosperity +(Kor. xxviii, 57). His main argument, however, is drawn +from the weakness of the idols, which cannot create even a +fly, contrasted with the wondrous manifestations of Divine +power and providence in the creation of the heavens and the +earth and all living things.<a name="FNanchor_322" id="FNanchor_322"></a><a href="#Footnote_322" class="fnanchor">322</a></p> + +<p>It was probably towards the close of the Meccan period that +Muḥammad summarised his Unitarian ideas in the following +emphatic formula:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="it"> +THE SÚRA OF PURIFICATION (CXII).<a name="FNanchor_323" id="FNanchor_323"></a><a href="#Footnote_323" class="fnanchor">323</a></span> +<span class="i0"> +</span><span class="i0"> +(1) Say: 'God is One;</span> +<span class="i0"> +(2) God who liveth on;</span><span class="i0"> +(3) Without father and without son;</span> +<span class="i0"> +(4) And like to Him there is none!'</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_165" id="Page_165" href="#"><span><i>CARDINAL DOCTRINES</i></span>165</a></span> + +2. We have seen that when Muḥammad first appeared as +a prophet he was thought by all except a very few to +<span class="sidenote"> Muḥammad, the +Apostle of +God.</span> +be <i>majnún</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, possessed by a <i>jinní</i>, or genie, +if I may use a word which will send the reader +back to his <i>Arabian Nights</i>. The heathen Arabs +regarded such persons—soothsayers, diviners, and poets—with +a certain respect; and if Muḥammad's 'madness' had taken a +normal course, his claim to inspiration would have passed +unchallenged. What moved the Quraysh to oppose him was +not disbelief in his inspiration—it mattered little to them +whether he was under the spell of Allah or one of the <i>Jinn</i>—but +the fact that he preached doctrines which wounded their +sentiments, threatened their institutions, and subverted the +most cherished traditions of old Arabian life. But in order +successfully to resist the propaganda for which he alleged a +Divine warrant, they were obliged to meet him on his own +ground and to maintain that he was no prophet at all, no +Apostle of Allah, as he asserted, but "an insolent liar," "a +schooled madman," "an infatuated poet," and so forth; and +that his Koran, which he gave out to be the Word of Allah, +was merely "old folks' tales" (<i>asáṭíru ’l-awwalín</i>), or the +invention of a poet or a sorcerer. "Is not he," they cried, "a +man like ourselves, who wishes to domineer over us? Let +him show us a miracle, that we may believe." Muḥammad +could only reiterate his former assertions and warn the infidels +that a terrible punishment was in store for them either in this +world or the next. Time after time he compares himself to +the ancient prophets—Noah, Abraham, Moses, and their +successors—who are represented as employing exactly the +same arguments and receiving the same answers as Muḥammad; +and bids his people hearken to him lest they utterly +perish like the ungodly before them. The truth of the Koran +is proved, he says, by the Pentateuch and the Gospel, all being +Revelations of the One God, and therefore identical in +substance. He is no mercenary soothsayer, he seeks no + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_166" id="Page_166" href="#"><span><i>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</i></span>166</a></span> + +personal advantage: his mission is solely to preach. The +demand for a miracle he could not satisfy except by pointing +to his visions of the Angel and especially to the Koran itself, +every verse of which was a distinct sign or miracle (<i>áyat</i>).<a name="FNanchor_324" id="FNanchor_324"></a><a href="#Footnote_324" class="fnanchor">324</a> If +he has forged it, why are his adversaries unable to produce anything +similar? "<i>Say: 'If men and genies united to bring the +like of this Koran, they could not bring the like although they +should back each other up'</i>" (Kor. xvii, 90).</p> + +<p>3. Such notions of a future life as were current in Pre-islamic +Arabia never rose beyond vague and barbarous superstition, +<span class="sidenote"> Resurrection +and +Retribution.</span> +<i>e.g.</i>, the fancy that the dead man's tomb +was haunted by his spirit in the shape of a +screeching owl.<a name="FNanchor_325" id="FNanchor_325"></a><a href="#Footnote_325" class="fnanchor">325</a> No wonder, then, that the +ideas of Resurrection and Retribution, which are enforced by +threats and arguments on almost every page of the Koran, +appeared to the Meccan idolaters absurdly ridiculous and +incredible. "<i>Does Ibn Kabsha promise us that we shall live?</i>" +said one of their poets. "<i>How can there be life for the ṣadá +and the háma? Dost thou omit to ward me from death, and wilt +thou revive me when my bones are rotten?</i>"<a name="FNanchor_326" id="FNanchor_326"></a><a href="#Footnote_326" class="fnanchor">326</a> God provided His +Apostle with a ready answer to these gibes: "<i>Say: 'He shall +revive them who produced them at first, for He knoweth every</i> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_167" id="Page_167" href="#"><span><i>CONCEPTIONS OF THE FUTURE LIFE</i></span>167</a></span> + +<i>creation</i>" (Kor. xxxvi, 79). This topic is eloquently illustrated, +but Muḥammad's hearers were probably less impressed by the +creative power of God as exhibited in Nature and in Man +than by the awful examples, to which reference has been +made, of His destructive power as manifested in History. To +Muḥammad himself, at the outset of his mission, it seemed an +appalling certainty that he must one day stand before God and +render an account; the overmastering sense of his own responsibility +goaded him to preach in the hope of saving his +countrymen, and supplied him, weak and timorous as he was, +with strength to endure calumny and persecution. As Nöldeke +has remarked, the grandest Súras of the whole Koran are those +in which Muḥammad describes how all Nature trembles and +quakes at the approach of the Last Judgment. "It is as +though one actually saw the earth heaving, the mountains +crumbling to dust, and the stars hurled hither and thither in +wild confusion."<a name="FNanchor_327" id="FNanchor_327"></a><a href="#Footnote_327" class="fnanchor">327</a> Súras lxxxii and ci, which have been +translated above, are specimens of the true prophetic style.<a name="FNanchor_328" id="FNanchor_328"></a><a href="#Footnote_328" class="fnanchor">328</a></p> + +<p>4. There is nothing spiritual in Muḥammad's pictures of +Heaven and Hell. His Paradise is simply a glorified pleasure-garden, +<span class="sidenote"> The +Muḥammadan +Paradise.</span> +where the pious repose in cool shades, +quaffing spicy wine and diverting themselves with +the Houris (<i>Ḥúr</i>), lovely dark-eyed damsels like +pearls hidden in their shells.<a name="FNanchor_329" id="FNanchor_329"></a><a href="#Footnote_329" class="fnanchor">329</a> This was admirably calculated +to allure his hearers by reminding them of one of their chief +enjoyments—the gay drinking parties which occasionally +broke the monotony of Arabian life, and which are often +described in Pre-islamic poetry; indeed, it is highly probable +that Muḥammad drew a good deal of his Paradise from this +source. The gross and sensual character of the Muḥammadan +Afterworld is commonly thought to betray a particular weakness + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_168" id="Page_168" href="#"><span><i>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</i></span>168</a></span> + +of the Prophet or is charged to the Arabs in general, but +as Professor Bevan has pointed out, "the real explanation +seems to be that at first the idea of a future retribution was +absolutely new both to Muḥammad himself and to the public +which he addressed. Paradise and Hell had no traditional +associations, and the Arabic language furnished no religious +terminology for the expression of such ideas; if they were to +be made comprehensible at all, it could only be done by means +of precise descriptions, of imagery borrowed from earthly +affairs."<a name="FNanchor_330" id="FNanchor_330"></a><a href="#Footnote_330" class="fnanchor">330</a></p> + +<p>Muḥammad was no mere visionary. Ritual observances, +vigils, and other austerities entered largely into his religion, +<span class="sidenote"> Prayer.</span> +endowing it with the formal and ascetic character +which it retains to the present day. Prayer was +introduced soon after the first Revelations: in one of the oldest +(Súra lxxxvii, 14-15) we read, "<i>Prosperous is he who purifies +himself (or gives alms) and repeats the name of his Lord and +prays.</i>" Although the five daily prayers obligatory upon every +true believer are nowhere mentioned in the Koran, the opening +chapter (<i>Súratu ’l-Fátiḥa</i>), which answers to our Lord's +Prayer, is constantly recited on these occasions, and is seldom +omitted from any act of public or private devotion. Since the +<i>Fátiḥa</i> probably belongs to the latest Meccan period, it may +find a place here.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i5"> +THE OPENING SÚRA (I).</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +(1) In the name of God, the Merciful, who forgiveth aye!</span> +<span class="i0"> +(2) Praise to God, the Lord of all that be,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(3) The Merciful, who forgiveth aye,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(4) The King of Judgment Day!</span> +<span class="i0"> +(5) Thee we worship and for Thine aid we pray.</span> +<span class="i0"> +(6) Lead us in the right way,</span> +<span class="i0"> +(7) The way of those to whom thou hast been gracious, against +whom thou hast not waxed wroth, and who go not +astray!</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_169" id="Page_169" href="#"><span><i>MUḤAMMAD'S ASCENSION</i></span>169</a></span> + +About the same time, shortly before the Migration, Muḥammad +dreamed that he was transported from the Ka‘ba to the +<span class="sidenote"> The Night +journey and +Ascension +of Muḥammad.</span> +Temple at Jerusalem, and thence up to the seventh +heaven. The former part of the vision is indicated +in the Koran (xvii, 1): "<i>Glory to him who took His +servant a journey by night from the Sacred Mosque +to the Farthest Mosque, the precinct whereof we have blessed, +to show him of our signs!</i>" Tradition has wondrously embellished +the <i>Mi‘ráj</i>, by which name the Ascension of the +Prophet is generally known throughout the East; while in +Persia and Turkey it has long been a favourite theme for the +mystic and the poet. According to the popular belief, which +is also held by the majority of Moslem divines, Muḥammad +was transported in the body to his journey's end, but he +himself never countenanced this literal interpretation, though +it seems to have been current in Mecca, and we are told that +it caused some of his incredulous followers to abandon their +faith.</p> + +<p>Possessed and inspired by the highest idea of which man +is capable, fearlessly preaching the truth revealed to him, +leading almost alone what long seemed to be a forlorn hope +against the impregnable stronghold of superstition, yet facing +these tremendous odds with a calm resolution which yielded +nothing to ridicule or danger, but defied his enemies to do their +worst—Muḥammad in the early part of his career presents a +spectacle of grandeur which cannot fail to win our sympathy +and admiration. At Medína, whither we must <span class="sidenote"> Muḥammad at +Medína.</span> +now return, he appears in a less favourable light: +the days of pure religious enthusiasm have passed +away for ever, and the Prophet is overshadowed by the +Statesman. The Migration was undoubtedly essential to the +establishment of Islam. It was necessary that Muḥammad +should cut himself off from his own people in order that he +might found a community in which not blood but religion +formed the sole bond that was recognised. This task he + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_170" id="Page_170" href="#"><span><i>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</i></span>170</a></span> + +accomplished with consummate sagacity and skill, though some +of the methods which he employed can only be excused by his +conviction that whatever he did was done in the name of Allah. +As the supreme head of the Moslem theocracy both in spiritual +and temporal matters—for Islam allows no distinction between +Church and State—he exercised absolute authority, and he did +not hesitate to justify by Divine mandate acts of which the +heathen Arabs, cruel and treacherous as they were, might have +been ashamed to be guilty. We need not inquire how much +was due to belief in his inspiration and how much to deliberate +policy. If it revolts us to see God Almighty introduced in the +rôle of special pleader, we ought to remember that Muḥammad, +being what he was, could scarcely have considered the question +from that point of view.</p> + +<p>The conditions prevailing at Medína were singularly adapted +to his design. Ever since the famous battle of Bu‘áth (about +<span class="sidenote"> Medína +predisposed to +welcome +Muḥammad as +Legislator and +Prophet.</span> +615 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), in which the Banú Aws, with the help +of their Jewish allies, the Banú Qurayẓa and the +Banú Naḍír, inflicted a crushing defeat upon the +Banú Khazraj, the city had been divided into two +hostile camps; and if peace had hitherto been +preserved, it was only because both factions were too exhausted +to renew the struggle. Wearied and distracted by earthly +calamities, men's minds willingly admit the consolations of +religion. We find examples of this tendency at Medína even +before the Migration. Abú ‘Ámir, whose ascetic life gained for +him the title of 'The Monk' (<i>al-Ráhib</i>), is numbered among +the <i>Ḥanífs</i>.<a name="FNanchor_331" id="FNanchor_331"></a><a href="#Footnote_331" class="fnanchor">331</a> He fought in the ranks of the Quraysh at Uḥud, +and finally went to Syria, where he died an outlaw. Another +Pre-islamic monotheist of Medína, Abú Qays b. Abí Anas, is +said to have turned Moslem in his old age.<a name="FNanchor_332" id="FNanchor_332"></a><a href="#Footnote_332" class="fnanchor">332</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The inhabitants of Medína had no material interest in idol-worship +and no sanctuary to guard. Through uninterrupted +contact with the Jews of the city and neighbourhood, as also +with the Christian tribes settled in the extreme north of Arabia on + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_171" id="Page_171" href="#"><span><i>FRIENDS AND FOES AT MEDÍNA</i></span>171</a></span> + +the confines of the Byzantine Empire, they had learned, as it were +instinctively, to despise their inherited belief in idols and to respect +the far nobler and purer faith in a single God; and lastly, they had +become accustomed to the idea of a Divine revelation by means of a +special scripture of supernatural origin, like the Pentateuch and the +Gospel. From a religious standpoint paganism in Medína offered +no resistance to Islam: as a faith, it was dead before it was attacked; +none defended it, none mourned its disappearance. The pagan +opposition to Muḥammad's work as a reformer was entirely political, +and proceeded from those who wished to preserve the anarchy of +the old heathen life, and who disliked the dictatorial rule of +Muḥammad."<a name="FNanchor_333" id="FNanchor_333"></a><a href="#Footnote_333" class="fnanchor">333</a></p></div> + +<p>There were in Medína four principal parties, consisting of +those who either warmly supported or actively opposed the +<span class="sidenote"> Parties in +Medína.</span> +Prophet, or who adopted a relatively neutral +attitude, viz., the Emigrants (<i>Muhájirún</i>), the +Helpers (<i>Anṣár</i>), the Hypocrites (<i>Munáfiqún</i>), +and the Jews (<i>Yahúd</i>).</p> + +<p>The Emigrants were those Moslems who left their homes +at Mecca and accompanied the Prophet in his Migration (<i>Hijra</i>)—whence +<span class="sidenote">The Emigrants.</span> +their name, <i>Muhájirún</i>—to Medína in +the year 622. Inasmuch as they had lost everything +except the hope of victory and vengeance, he could +count upon their fanatical devotion to himself.</p> + +<p>The Helpers were those inhabitants of Medína who had +accepted Islam and pledged themselves to protect Muḥammad +<span class="sidenote"> The Helpers.</span> +in case of attack. Together with the Emigrants +they constituted a formidable and ever-increasing +body of true believers, the first champions of the Church +militant.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Many citizens of Medína, however, were not so well disposed +towards Muḥammad, and neither acknowledged him as a Prophet +<span class="sidenote"> The Hypocrites.</span> +nor would submit to him as their Ruler; but since +they durst not come forward against him openly on +account of the multitude of his enthusiastic adherents, they met him +with a passive resistance which more than once thwarted his plans, + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_172" id="Page_172" href="#"><span><i>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</i></span>172</a></span> + +their influence was so great that he, on his part, did not venture to +take decisive measures against them, and sometimes even found it +necessary to give way."<a name="FNanchor_334" id="FNanchor_334"></a><a href="#Footnote_334" class="fnanchor">334</a></p></div> + +<p>These are the Hypocrites whom Muḥammad describes in +the following verses of the Koran:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6"> +THE SÚRA OF THE HEIFER (II).</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +(7) And there are those among men who say, 'We believe in God +and in the Last Day'; but they do not believe.</span> +<span class="i0"> +(8) They would deceive God and those who do believe; but they +deceive only themselves and they do not perceive.</span> +<span class="i0"> +(9) In their hearts is a sickness, and God has made them still more +sick, and for them is grievous woe because they lied.<a name="FNanchor_335" id="FNanchor_335"></a><a href="#Footnote_335" class="fnanchor">335</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Their leader, ‘Abdulláh b. Ubayy, an able man but of weak +character, was no match for Muḥammad, whom he and his +partisans only irritated, without ever becoming really +dangerous.</p> + +<p>The Jews, on the other hand, gave the Prophet serious +trouble. At first he cherished high hopes that they would +<span class="sidenote"> The Jews.</span> +accept the new Revelation which he brought to +them, and which he maintained to be the original +Word of God as it was formerly revealed to Abraham and +Moses; but when the Jews, perceiving the absurdity of this +idea, plied him with all sorts of questions and made merry +over his ignorance, Muḥammad, keenly alive to the damaging +effect of the criticism to which he had exposed himself, turned +upon his tormentors, and roundly accused them of having +falsified and corrupted their Holy Books. Henceforth he +pursued them with a deadly hatred against which their +political disunion rendered them helpless. A few sought +refuge in Islam; the rest were either slaughtered or driven +into exile.</p> + +<p>It is impossible to detail here the successive steps by which + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_173" id="Page_173" href="#"><span><i>MUḤAMMAD AS LEGISLATOR</i></span>173</a></span> + +Muḥammad in the course of a few years overcame all +opposition and established the supremacy of Islam from +one end of Arabia to the other. I shall notice the outstanding +events very briefly in order to make room for +matters which are more nearly connected with the subject +of this History.</p> + +<p class="tb">Muḥammad's first care was to reconcile the desperate +factions within the city and to introduce law and order +<span class="sidenote"> Beginnings of +the Moslem +State.</span> +among the heterogeneous elements which have +been described. "He drew up in writing a +charter between the Emigrants and the Helpers, +in which charter he embodied a covenant with the Jews, +confirming them in the exercise of their religion and in the +possession of their properties, imposing upon them certain +obligations, and granting to them certain rights."<a name="FNanchor_336" id="FNanchor_336"></a><a href="#Footnote_336" class="fnanchor">336</a> This +remarkable document is extant in Ibn Hishám's <i>Biography of +Muḥammad</i>, pp. 341-344. Its contents have been analysed +in masterly fashion by Wellhausen,<a name="FNanchor_337" id="FNanchor_337"></a><a href="#Footnote_337" class="fnanchor">337</a> who observes with justice +that it was no solemn covenant, accepted and duly ratified by +representatives of the parties concerned, but merely a decree +of Muḥammad based upon conditions already existing which +had developed since his arrival in Medína. At the same time +no one can study it without being impressed by the political +genius of its author. Ostensibly a cautious and tactful reform, +it was in reality a revolution. Muḥammad durst not strike +openly at the independence of the tribes, but he destroyed it, +in effect, by shifting the centre of power from the tribe to the +community; and although the community included Jews and +pagans as well as Moslems, he fully recognised, what his +opponents failed to foresee, that the Moslems were the active, +and must soon be the predominant, partners in the newly +founded State.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_174" id="Page_174" href="#"><span><i>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</i></span>174</a></span> + +All was now ripe for the inevitable struggle with the +Quraysh, and God revealed to His Apostle several verses of +the Koran in which the Faithful are commanded to wage a +Holy War against them: "<i>Permission is given to those who +fight because they have been wronged,—and verily God to help +them has the might,—who have been driven forth from their +homes undeservedly, only for that they said, 'Our Lord is +God'</i>" (xxii, 40-41). "<i>Kill them wherever ye find them, +and drive them out from whence they drive you out</i>" (ii, 187). +"<i>Fight them that there be no sedition and that the religion +may be God's</i>" (ii, 189). In January, 624 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, the Moslems, +some three hundred strong, won a glorious victory at Badr +over a greatly superior force which had marched <span class="sidenote">Battle of Badr, +January, 624 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span></span> +out from Mecca to relieve a rich caravan that +Muḥammad threatened to cut off. The Quraysh +fought bravely, but were borne down by the irresistible onset +of men who had learned discipline in the mosque and looked +upon death as a sure passport to Paradise. Of the Moslems +only fourteen fell; the Quraysh lost forty-nine killed and +about the same number of prisoners. But the importance of +Muḥammad's success cannot be measured by the material +damage which he inflicted. Considering the momentous issues +involved, we must allow that Badr, like Marathon, is one of +the greatest and most memorable battles in all history. Here, +at last, was the miracle which the Prophet's enemies demanded +of him: "<i>Ye have had a sign in the two parties who met; +one party fighting in the way of God, the other misbelieving; +these saw twice the same number as themselves to the eyesight, +for God aids with His help those whom He pleases. +Verily in that is a lesson for those who have perception</i>" +(Kor. iii, 11). And again, "<i>Ye slew them not, but God slew +them</i>" (Kor. viii, 17). The victory of Badr turned all eyes +upon Muḥammad. However little the Arabs cared for his +religion, they could not but respect the man who had humbled +the lords of Mecca. He was now a power in the land— + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_175" id="Page_175" href="#"><span><i>TRIUMPH OF THE PROPHET</i></span>175</a></span> + +"Muḥammad, King of the Ḥijáz."<a name="FNanchor_338" id="FNanchor_338"></a><a href="#Footnote_338" class="fnanchor">338</a> In Medína his cause +flourished mightily. The zealots were confirmed in their +faith, the waverers convinced, the disaffected overawed. He +sustained a serious, though temporary, check in the following +year at Uḥud, where a Moslem army was routed <span class="sidenote">Battle of Uḥud, +625 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span></span> +by the Quraysh under Abú Sufyán, but the +victors were satisfied with having taken vengeance +for Badr and made no attempt to follow up their advantage; +while Muḥammad, never resting on his laurels, never losing +sight of the goal, proceeded with remorseless calculation to +crush his adversaries one after the other, until in January, +630 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, the Meccans themselves, seeing the futility of +further resistance, opened their gates to the <span class="sidenote">Submission of +Mecca, 630 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span></span> +Prophet and acknowledged the omnipotence of +Allah. The submission of the Holy City left +Muḥammad without a rival in Arabia. His work was almost +done. Deputations from the Bedouin tribes poured into +Medína, offering allegiance to the conqueror of the Quraysh, +and reluctantly subscribing to a religion in which they saw +nothing so agreeable as the prospect of plundering its enemies.</p> + +<p>Muḥammad died, after a brief illness, on the 8th of June, +632 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> He was succeeded as head of the Moslem community +<span class="sidenote">Death of +Muḥammad, +632 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span></span> +by his old friend and ever-loyal supporter, +Abú Bakr, who thus became the first <i>Khalífa</i>, or +Caliph. It only remains to take up our survey of +the Koran, which we have carried down to the close of the +Meccan period, and to indicate the character and contents of +the Revelation during the subsequent decade.</p> + +<p class="tb">The Medína Súras faithfully reflect the marvellous change +in Muḥammad's fortunes, which began with his flight from +Mecca. He was now recognised as the Prophet and Apostle +of God, but this recognition made him an earthly potentate +and turned his religious activity into secular channels. One + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_176" id="Page_176" href="#"><span><i>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</i></span>176</a></span> + +who united in himself the parts of prince, legislator, politician, +diplomatist, and general may be excused if he sometimes neglected +the Divine injunction to arise and preach, <span class="sidenote"> The Medína +Súras.</span> +or at any rate interpreted it in a sense very different +from that which he formerly attached to it. +The Revelations of this time deal, to a large extent, with +matters of legal, social, and political interest; they promulgate +religious ordinances—<i>e.g.</i>, fasting, alms-giving, and pilgrimage—expound +the laws of marriage and divorce, and comment upon +the news of the day; often they serve as bulletins or manifestoes +in which Muḥammad justifies what he has done, urges +the Moslems to fight and rebukes the laggards, moralises on a +victory or defeat, proclaims a truce, and says, in short, whatever +the occasion seems to require. Instead of the Meccan idolaters, +his opponents in Medína—the Jews and Hypocrites—have +become the great rocks of offence; the Jews especially are +denounced in long passages as a stiff-necked generation who +never hearkened to their own prophets of old. However +valuable historically, the Medína Súras do not attract the +literary reader. In their flat and tedious style they resemble +those of the later Meccan period. Now and again the ashes +burst into flame, though such moments of splendour are +increasingly rare, as in the famous 'Throne-verse' (<i>Áyatu +’l-Kursí</i>):—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"God, there is no god but He, the living, the self-subsistent. +Slumber takes Him not, nor sleep. His is what is in the heavens +<span class="sidenote"> The 'Throne-verse.'</span> +and what is in the earth. Who is it that intercedes +with Him save by His permission? He knows what +is before them and what behind them, and they comprehend +not aught of His knowledge but of what He pleases. His +throne extends over the heavens and the earth, and it tires Him not +to guard them both, for He is high and grand."<a name="FNanchor_339" id="FNanchor_339"></a><a href="#Footnote_339" class="fnanchor">339</a></p></div> + +<p>The Islam which Muḥammad brought with him to Medína +was almost entirely derived by oral tradition from Christianity + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_177" id="Page_177" href="#"><span><i>THE MEDÍNA SÚRAS</i></span>177</a></span> + +and Judaism, and just for this reason it made little impression +on the heathen Arabs, whose religious ideas were generally +of the most primitive kind. Notwithstanding its foreign +character and the absence of anything which appealed to +Arabian national sentiment, it spread rapidly in Medína, +where, as we have seen, the soil was already prepared for it; +but one may well doubt whether it could have extended its +sway over the peninsula unless the course of events had determined +Muḥammad to associate the strange doctrines of Islam +with the ancient heathen sanctuary at Mecca, the Ka‘ba, +which was held in universal veneration by the Arabs and +formed the centre of a worship that raised no difficulties in +their minds. Before he had lived many months <span class="sidenote"> The nationalisation +of Islam.</span> +in Medína the Prophet realised that his hope of +converting the Jews was doomed to disappointment. +Accordingly he instructed his followers that they +should no longer turn their faces in prayer towards the +Temple at Jerusalem, as they had been accustomed to do +since the Flight, but towards the Ka‘ba; while, a year or two +later, he incorporated in Islam the superstitious ceremonies of +the pilgrimage, which were represented as having been originally +prescribed to Abraham, the legendary founder of the +Ka‘ba, whose religion he professed to restore.</p> + +<p>These concessions, however, were far from sufficient to +reconcile the free-living and freethinking people of the +desert to a religion which restrained their pleasures, forced +them to pay taxes and perform prayers, and stamped with the +name of barbarism all the virtues they held most dear. The +teaching of Islam ran directly counter to the ideals and +traditions of heathendom, and, as Goldziher has remarked, +its originality lies not in its doctrines, which are Jewish and +Christian, but in the fact that it was Muḥammad who first +maintained these doctrines with persistent energy against the +Arabian view of life.<a name="FNanchor_340" id="FNanchor_340"></a><a href="#Footnote_340" class="fnanchor">340</a> While we must refer the reader to Dr. + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_178" id="Page_178" href="#"><span><i>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</i></span>178</a></span> + +Goldziher's illuminating pages for a full discussion of the conflict +between the new Religion (<i>Dín</i>) and the old Virtue +(<i>Muruwwa</i>), it will not be amiss to summarise the +chief points at which they clashed with each <span class="sidenote"> Antagonism of +Islamic and +Arabian ideals.</span> +other.<a name="FNanchor_341" id="FNanchor_341"></a><a href="#Footnote_341" class="fnanchor">341</a> In the first place, the fundamental idea of +Islam was foreign and unintelligible to the Bedouins. "It +was not the destruction of their idols that they opposed so +much as the spirit of devotion which it was sought to implant +in them: the determination of their whole lives by the +thought of God and of His pre-ordaining and retributive +omnipotence, the prayers and fasts, the renouncement of +coveted pleasures, and the sacrifice of money and property +which was demanded of them in God's name." In spite of +the saying, <i>Lá dína illá bi ’l-muruwwati</i> ("There is no +religion without virtue"), the Bedouin who accepted Islam +had to unlearn the greater part of his unwritten moral code. +As a pious Moslem he must return good for evil, forgive his +enemy, and find balm for his wounded feelings in the assurance +of being admitted to Paradise (Kor. iii, 128). Again, the +social organisation of the heathen Arabs was based on the +tribe, whereas that of Islam rested on the equality and +fraternity of all believers. The religious bond cancelled all +distinctions of rank and pedigree; it did away, theoretically, +with clannish feuds, contests for honour, pride of race—things +that lay at the very root of Arabian chivalry. "<i>Lo</i>," cried +Muḥammad, "<i>the noblest of you in the sight of God is he who +most doth fear Him</i>" (Kor. xlix, 13). Against such doctrine +the conservative and material instincts of the desert people +rose in revolt; and although they became Moslems <i>en masse</i>, +the majority of them neither believed in Islam nor knew what +it meant. Often their motives were frankly utilitarian: they +expected that Islam would bring them luck; and so long as +they were sound in body, and their mares had fine foals, and + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_179" id="Page_179" href="#"><span><i>THE ARABS AND ISLAM</i></span>179</a></span> + +their wives bore well-formed sons, and their wealth and herds +multiplied, they said, "We have been blessed ever since we +adopted this religion," and were content; but if things +went ill they blamed Islam and turned their backs on it.<a name="FNanchor_342" id="FNanchor_342"></a><a href="#Footnote_342" class="fnanchor">342</a> +That these men were capable of religious zeal is amply +proved by the triumphs which they won a short time afterwards +over the disciplined armies of two mighty empires; but +what chiefly inspired them, apart from love of booty, was +the conviction, born of success, that Allah was fighting on +their side.</p> + +<p class="tb">We have sketched, however barely and imperfectly, the +progress of Islam from Muḥammad's first appearance as a +preacher to the day of his death. In these twenty years the +seeds were sown of almost every development which occurs +in the political and intellectual history of the Arabs during the +ages to come. More than any man that has ever lived, +Muḥammad shaped the destinies of his people; and though +they left him far behind as they moved along the path of civilisation, +they still looked back to him for guidance and authority +at each step. This is not the place to attempt an estimate +of his character, which has been so diversely judged. Personally, +I feel convinced that he was neither a shameless +impostor nor a neurotic degenerate nor a socialistic reformer, +but in the beginning, at all events, a sincere religious enthusiast, +as truly inspired as any prophet of the Old Testament.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We find in him," writes De Goeje, "that sober understanding +which distinguished his fellow-tribesmen: dignity, tact, and equilibrium; +<span class="sidenote"> Character of +Muḥammad.</span> +qualities which are seldom found in people +of morbid constitution: self-control in no small +degree. Circumstances changed him from a Prophet +to a Legislator and a Ruler, but for himself he sought nothing beyond +the acknowledgment that he was Allah's Apostle, since this acknowledgment + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_180" id="Page_180" href="#"><span><i>THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN</i></span>180</a></span> + +includes the whole of Islam. He was excitable, like +every true Arab, and in the spiritual struggle which preceded his +call this quality was stimulated to an extent that alarmed even himself; +but that does not make him a visionary. He defends himself, +by the most solemn asseveration, against the charge that what +he had seen was an illusion of the senses. Why should not we +believe him?"<a name="FNanchor_343" id="FNanchor_343"></a><a href="#Footnote_343" class="fnanchor">343</a></p></div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span></p> + +<h4>CHAPTER V</h4> + +<h5>THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE AND THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</h5> + +<p>The Caliphate—<i>i.e.</i>, the period of the Caliphs or Successors of +Muḥammad—extends over six centuries and a quarter (632-1258 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), and falls into three clearly-marked divisions of +very unequal length and diverse character.</p> + +<p>The first division begins with the election of Abú Bakr, the +first Caliph, in 632, and comes to an end with the assassination +<span class="sidenote">The Orthodox +Caliphate (632-661 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +of ‘Alí, the Prophet's son-in-law and fourth +successor, in 661. These four Caliphs are known +as the Orthodox (<i>al-Ráshidún</i>), because they trod +faithfully in the footsteps of the Prophet and ruled after his +example in the holy city of Medína, with the assistance of his +leading Companions, who constituted an informal Senate.</p> + +<p>The second division includes the Caliphs of the family of +Umayya, from the accession of Mu‘áwiya in 661 to the great +<span class="sidenote">The Ummayyad +Caliphate (661-750 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +battle of the Záb in 750, when Marwán II, the +last of his line, was defeated by the ‘Abbásids, +who claimed the Caliphate as next of kin to the +Prophet. According to Moslem notions the Umayyads were +kings by right, Caliphs only by courtesy. They had, as we +shall see, no spiritual title, and little enough religion of any +sort. This dynasty, which had been raised and was upheld by +the Syrian Arabs, transferred the seat of government from +Medína to Damascus.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_182" id="Page_182" href="#"><span><i>THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE</i></span>182</a></span> + +The third division is by far the longest and most important. +Starting in 750 with the accession of Abu ’l-‘Abbás al-Saffáh, +<span class="sidenote">The ‘Abbásid +Caliphate (750-1258 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +it presents an unbroken series of thirty-seven +Caliphs of the same House, and culminates, after +the lapse of half a millennium, in the sack of +Baghdád, their magnificent capital, by the Mongol Húlágú +(January, 1258). The ‘Abbásids were no less despotic than +the Umayyads, but in a more enlightened fashion; for, while +the latter had been purely Arab in feeling, the ‘Abbásids +owed their throne to the Persian nationalists, and were +imbued with Persian ideas, which introduced a new and +fruitful element into Moslem civilisation.</p> + +<p>From our special point of view the Orthodox and Umayyad +Caliphates, which form the subject of the present chapter, are +somewhat barren. The simple life of the pagan Arabs found +full expression in their poetry. The many-sided life of the +Moslems under ‘Abbásid rule may be studied in a copious +literature which exhibits all the characteristics of the age; but +of contemporary documents illustrating the intellectual +history of the early Islamic period comparatively <span class="sidenote"> Early Islamic +literature.</span> +little has been preserved, and that little, +being for the most part anti-Islamic in tendency, gives only +meagre information concerning what excites interest beyond +anything else—the religious movement, the rise of theology, +and the origin of those great parties and sects which emerge, +at various stages of development, in later literature.</p> + +<p>Since the Moslem Church and State are essentially one, +it is impossible to treat of politics apart from religion, nor can +<span class="sidenote"> Unity of Church +and State.</span> +religious phenomena be understood without continual +reference to political events. The following +brief sketch of the Orthodox Caliphate will +show how completely this unity was realised, and what far-reaching +consequences it had.</p> + +<p>That Muḥammad left no son was perhaps of less moment +than his neglect or refusal to nominate a successor. The + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_183" id="Page_183" href="#"><span><i>ABÚ BAKR</i></span>183</a></span> + +Arabs were unfamiliar with the hereditary descent of kingly +power, while the idea had not yet dawned of a Divine right +resident in the Prophet's family. It was thoroughly in accord +with Arabian practice that the Moslem community should +elect its own leader, just as in heathen days the tribe chose its +own chief. The likeliest men—all three belonged to Quraysh—were +Abú Bakr, whose daughter ‘Á’isha +had been Muḥammad's +favourite wife, ‘Umar b. al-Khaṭṭáb, and ‘Alí, Abú +Ṭálib's son and Fáṭima's husband, who was thus connected +with the Prophet by blood as well as by marriage. Abú Bakr +was the eldest, he was supported by ‘Umar, and <span class="sidenote">Abú Bakr +elected Caliph +(June, 632 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +on him the choice ultimately fell, though not +without an ominous ebullition of party strife. A +man of simple tastes and unassuming demeanour, he had earned +the name <i>al-Ṣiddíq</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, the True, by his unquestioning faith +in the Prophet; naturally gentle and merciful, he stood firm +when the cause of Islam was at stake, and crushed with iron +hand the revolt which on the news of Muḥammad's death +spread like wildfire through Arabia. False prophets arose, and +the Bedouins rallied round them, eager to throw off the burden +of tithes and prayers. In the centre of the peninsula, +the Banú Ḥanífa were led to battle by <span class="sidenote"> Musaylima the +Liar.</span> +Musaylima, who imitated the early style of the +Koran with ludicrous effect, if we may judge from the sayings +ascribed to him, <i>e.g.</i>, "The elephant, what is the elephant, and +who shall tell you what is the elephant? He has a poor tail, +and a long trunk: and is a trifling part of the creations of thy +God." Moslem tradition calls him the Liar (<i>al-Kadhdháb</i>), and +represents him as an obscene miracle-monger, which can hardly +be the whole truth. It is possible that he got some of his +doctrines from Christianity, as Professor Margoliouth has suggested,<a name="FNanchor_344" id="FNanchor_344"></a><a href="#Footnote_344" class="fnanchor">344</a> +but we know too little about them to arrive at any +conclusion. After a desperate struggle Musaylima was defeated + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_184" id="Page_184" href="#"><span><i>THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE</i></span>184</a></span> + +and slain by 'the Sword of Allah,' Khálid b. Walíd. The +Moslem arms were everywhere victorious. Arabia bowed +in sullen submission.</p> + +<p>Although Muir and other biographers of Muḥammad have +argued that Islam was originally designed for the Arabs alone, +<span class="sidenote"> Islam a world-religion.</span> +and made no claim to universal acceptance, their +assertion is contradicted by the unequivocal testimony +of the Koran itself. In one of the oldest +Revelations (lxviii, 51-52), we read: "<i>It wanteth little but that +the unbelievers dash thee to the ground with their looks</i> (of anger) +<i>when they hear the Warning</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, the Koran); <i>and they say, +'He is assuredly mad': but it</i> (the Koran) <i>is no other than a</i> +<span class="smcap">Warning unto all creatures</span>" (<i>dhikr<sup>un</sup> li ’l-‘álamín</i>).<a name="FNanchor_345" id="FNanchor_345"></a><a href="#Footnote_345" class="fnanchor">345</a> The +time had now come when this splendid dream was to be, in +large measure, fulfilled. The great wars of <span class="sidenote">Conquest of +Persia and Syria +(633-643 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +conquest were inspired by the Prophet's missionary +zeal and justified by his example. Pious +duty coincided with reasons of state. "It was certainly good +policy to turn the recently subdued tribes of the wilderness +towards an external aim in which they might at once satisfy +their lust for booty on a grand scale, maintain their warlike +feeling, and strengthen themselves in their attachment to the +new faith."<a name="FNanchor_346" id="FNanchor_346"></a><a href="#Footnote_346" class="fnanchor">346</a> The story of their achievements cannot be set +down here. Suffice it to say that within twelve years after +the Prophet's death the Persian Empire had been reduced to a +tributary province, and Syria, together with Egypt, torn away +from Byzantine rule. It must not be supposed that the followers +of Zoroaster and Christ in these countries <span class="sidenote"> Moslem toleration.</span> +were forcibly converted to Islam. Thousands +embraced it of free will, impelled by various +motives which we have no space to enumerate; those who +clung to the religion in which they had been brought up + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_185" id="Page_185" href="#"><span><i>MOSLEM CONQUESTS</i></span>185</a></span> + +secured protection and toleration by payment of a capitation-tax +(<i>jizya</i>).<a name="FNanchor_347" id="FNanchor_347"></a><a href="#Footnote_347" class="fnanchor">347</a></p> + +<p>The tide of foreign conquest, which had scarce begun to +flow before the death of Abú Bakr, swept with amazing +<span class="sidenote">The Caliph +‘Umar (634-644 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +rapidity over Syria and Persia in the Caliphate of +‘Umar b. al-Khaṭṭáb (634-644), and continued to +advance, though with diminished fury, under the +Prophet's third successor, ‘Uthmán. We may dwell for a little +on the noble figure of ‘Umar, who was regarded by good +Moslems in after times as an embodiment of all the virtues +which a Caliph ought to possess. Probably his character has +been idealised, but in any case the anecdotes related of him +give an admirable picture of the man and his age. Here are +a few, taken almost at random from the pages of Ṭabarí.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>One said: "I saw ‘Umar coming to the Festival. He walked +with bare feet, using both hands (for he was ambidextrous) to draw +round him a red embroidered cloth. He towered above the people, +as though he were on horseback."<a name="FNanchor_348" id="FNanchor_348"></a><a href="#Footnote_348" class="fnanchor">348</a> A client of (the Caliph) +‘Uthmán b. ‘Affán relates that he mounted behind his patron and +they rode together to the enclosure for the beasts which were +delivered in payment of the poor-tax. It was an <span class="sidenote"> His simple +manners.</span> +exceedingly hot day and the simoom was blowing +fiercely. They saw a man clad only in a loin-cloth +and a short cloak (<i>ridá</i>), in which he had wrapped his head, +driving the camels into the enclosure. ‘Uthmán said to his +companion, "Who is this, think you?" When they came up +to him, behold, it was ‘Umar b. al-Khaṭṭáb. "By God," said +‘Uthmán, "this is <i>the strong, the trusty</i>."<a name="FNanchor_349" id="FNanchor_349"></a><a href="#Footnote_349" class="fnanchor">349</a>—‘Umar used to go +round the markets and recite the Koran and judge between +disputants wherever he found them.—When Ka‘bu ’l-Aḥbár, a +well-known Rabbin of Medína, asked how he could obtain access +to the Commander of the Faithful,<a name="FNanchor_350" id="FNanchor_350"></a><a href="#Footnote_350" class="fnanchor">350</a> he received this answer: "There + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_186" id="Page_186" href="#"><span><i>THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE</i></span>186</a></span> + +is no door nor curtain to be passed; he performs the rites of prayer, +then he takes his seat, and any one that wishes may speak to him."<a name="FNanchor_351" id="FNanchor_351"></a><a href="#Footnote_351" class="fnanchor">351</a> +‘Umar said in one of his public orations, "By Him who sent +Muḥammad with the truth, were a single camel to die <span class="sidenote"> His sense of +personal +responsibility.</span> +of neglect on the bank of the Euphrates, I should fear +lest God should call the family of al-Khaṭṭáb" (meaning +himself) "to account therefor."<a name="FNanchor_352" id="FNanchor_352"></a><a href="#Footnote_352" class="fnanchor">352</a>—"If I live," he is reported to have +said on another occasion, "please God, I will assuredly spend a +whole year in travelling among my subjects, for I know they have +wants which are cut short ere they reach my ears: the governors +do not bring the wants of the people before me, while the +people themselves do not attain to me. So I will journey +to Syria and remain there two months, then to Mesopotamia and +remain there two months, then to Egypt and remain there two +months, then to Baḥrayn and remain there two months, then to +Kúfa and remain there two months, then to Baṣra and remain there +two months; and by God, it will be a year well spent!"<a name="FNanchor_353" id="FNanchor_353"></a><a href="#Footnote_353" class="fnanchor">353</a>—One +night he came to the house of ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán b. ‘Awf and knocked +at the door, which was opened by ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán's wife. "Do +not enter," said she, "until I go back and sit in my place;" so he +waited. Then she bade him come in, and on his asking, "Have +you anything in the house?" she fetched him some food. Meanwhile +‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán was standing by, engaged in prayer. "Be +quick, man!" cried ‘Umar. ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán immediately pronounced +the final salaam, and turning to the Caliph said: "O Commander +of the Faithful, what has brought you here at this hour?" +‘Umar replied: "A party of travellers who alighted in the neighbourhood +of the market: I was afraid that the thieves <span class="sidenote"> The Caliph as a +policeman.</span> +of Medína might fall upon them. Let us go and keep +watch." So he set off with ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán, and +when they reached the market-place they seated themselves on +some high ground and began to converse. Presently they descried, +far away, the light of a lamp. "Have not I forbidden lamps after +bedtime?"<a name="FNanchor_354" id="FNanchor_354"></a><a href="#Footnote_354" class="fnanchor">354</a> exclaimed the Caliph. They went to the spot and +found a company drinking wine. "Begone," said ‘Umar to ‘Abdu +’l-Raḥmán; "I know him." Next morning he sent for the culprit +and said, addressing him by name, "Last night you were drinking +wine with your friends." "O Commander of the Faithful, how did + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_187" id="Page_187" href="#"><span><i>‘UMAR IBNU ’L-KHAṬṬÁB</i></span>187</a></span> + +you ascertain that?" "I saw it with my own eyes." "Has not God +forbidden you to play the spy?" ‘Umar made no answer and +pardoned his offence.<a name="FNanchor_355" id="FNanchor_355"></a><a href="#Footnote_355" class="fnanchor">355</a>—When ‘Umar ascended the pulpit for the +purpose of warning the people that they must not do something, he +gathered his family and said to them: "I have forbidden <span class="sidenote">Instructions to +his governors.</span> +the people to do so-and-so. Now, the people +look at you as birds look at flesh, and I swear +by God that if I find any one of you doing this thing, I will +double the penalty against him."<a name="FNanchor_356" id="FNanchor_356"></a><a href="#Footnote_356" class="fnanchor">356</a>—Whenever he appointed a +governor he used to draw up in writing a certificate of investiture, +which he caused to be witnessed by some of the <span class="sidenote"> His strictness +towards his own +family.</span> +Emigrants or Helpers. It contained the following +instructions: That he must not ride on horseback, nor +eat white bread, nor wear fine clothes, nor set up a door between +himself and those who had aught to ask of him.<a name="FNanchor_357" id="FNanchor_357"></a><a href="#Footnote_357" class="fnanchor">357</a>—It was ‘Umar's +custom to go forth with his governors, on their appointment, to bid +them farewell. "I have not appointed you," he would say, "over +the people of Muḥammad (God bless him and grant him peace!) +that you may drag them by their hair and scourge their skins, but +in order that you may lead them in prayer and judge between them +with right and divide (the public money) amongst them with equity. +I have not made you lords of their skin and hair. Do not flog the +Arabs lest you humiliate them, and do not keep them long on foreign +service lest you tempt them to sedition, and do not neglect them +lest you render them desperate. Confine yourselves to the Koran, +write few Traditions of Muḥammad (God bless him and grant him +peace!), and I am your ally." He used to permit retaliation against +his governors. On receiving a complaint about any one of them he +confronted him with the accuser, and punished him if his guilt were +proved.<a name="FNanchor_358" id="FNanchor_358"></a><a href="#Footnote_358" class="fnanchor">358</a></p></div> + +<p>It was ‘Umar who first made a Register (<i>Díwán</i>) of the +<span class="sidenote">The Register of +‘Umar.</span> +Arabs in Islam and entered them therein according +to their tribes and assigned to them their +stipends. The following account of its institution is extracted +from the charming history entitled <i>al-Fakhrí</i>:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>In the fifteenth year of the Hijra (636 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) ‘Umar, who was then +Caliph, seeing that the conquests proceeded without interruption + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_188" id="Page_188" href="#"><span><i>THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE</i></span>188</a></span> + +and that the treasures of the Persian monarchs had been taken as +spoil, and that load after load was being accumulated of gold and +silver and precious jewels and splendid raiment, resolved to enrich +the Moslems by distributing all this wealth amongst them; but he +did not know how he should manage it. Now there was a Persian +satrap (<i>marzubán</i>) at Medína who, when he saw ‘Umar's bewilderment, +said to him, "O Commander of the Faithful, the Persian kings +have a thing they call a <i>Díwán</i>, in which is kept the whole of their +revenues and expenditures without exception; and therein those +who receive stipends are arranged in classes, so that no confusion +occurs." ‘Umar's attention was aroused. He bade the satrap +describe it, and on comprehending its nature, he drew up the +registers and assigned the stipends, appointing a specified allowance +for every Moslem; and he allotted fixed sums to the wives of +the Apostle (on whom be God's blessing and peace!) and to his +concubines and next-of-kin, until he exhausted the money in hand. +He did not lay up a store in the treasury. Some one came to him +and said: "O Commander of the Faithful, you should have left +something to provide for contingencies." ‘Umar rebuked him, saying, +"The devil has put these words into your mouth. May God +preserve me from their mischief! for it were a temptation to my +successors. Come what may, I will provide naught except obedience +to God and His Apostle. That is our provision, whereby we have +gained that which we have gained." Then, in respect of the +stipends, he deemed it right that precedence should be according +to priority of conversion to Islam and of service rendered to the +Apostle on his fields of battle.<a name="FNanchor_359" id="FNanchor_359"></a><a href="#Footnote_359" class="fnanchor">359</a></p> + +<p>Affinity to Muḥammad was also considered. "By God," +exclaimed ‘Umar, "we have not won superiority in this world, +<span class="sidenote"> The aristocracy +of Islam.</span> +nor do we hope for recompense for our works from +God hereafter, save through Muḥammad (God bless +him and grant him peace!). He is our title to +nobility, his tribe are the noblest of the Arabs, and after them +those are the nobler that are nearer to him in blood. Truly, +the Arabs are ennobled by God's Apostle. Peradventure some +of them have many ancestors in common with him, and we +ourselves are only removed by a few forbears from his line of +descent, in which we accompany him back to Adam. Notwithstanding +<span class="sidenote"> "'Tis only noble +to be good."</span> +this, if the foreigners bring good works and +we bring none, by God, they are nearer to Muḥammad +on the day of Resurrection than we. Therefore let no +man regard affinity, but let him work for that which is in God's + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_189" id="Page_189" href="#"><span><i>‘UMAR IBNU ’L-KHAṬṬÁB</i></span>189</a></span> + +hands to bestow. He that is retarded by his works will not be sped +by his lineage."<a name="FNanchor_360" id="FNanchor_360"></a><a href="#Footnote_360" class="fnanchor">360</a></p></div> + +<p>It may be said of ‘Umar, not less appropriately than of +Cromwell, that he</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1"> +"cast the kingdoms old</span><span class="i0"> +Into another mould;"</span> +</div></div> + +<p>and he too justified the poet's maxim—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"The same arts that did gain</span><span class="i0"> +A power, must it maintain."</span> +</div></div> + +<p>Under the system which he organised Arabia, purged of +infidels, became a vast recruiting-ground for the standing +armies of Islam: the Arabs in the conquered territories formed +an exclusive military class, living in great camps and supported +by revenues derived from the non-Muḥammadan population. +Out of such camps arose two cities destined to make their +<span class="sidenote">Foundation of +Baṣra and Kúfa +(638 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +mark in literary history—Baṣra (Bassora) on the +delta of the Tigris and Euphrates, and Kúfa, +which was founded about the same time on the +western branch of the latter stream, not far from Ḥíra.</p> + +<p>‘Umar was murdered by a Persian slave named Fírúz while +leading the prayers in the Great Mosque. With <span class="sidenote">Death of ‘Umar +(644 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +his death the military theocracy and the palmy +days of the Patriarchal Caliphate draw to a close. The broad +lines of his character appear in the anecdotes translated above, +though many details might be added to complete the picture. +Simple and frugal; doing his duty without fear or favour; +energetic even to harshness, yet capable of tenderness towards +the weak; a severe judge of others and especially of himself, +he was a born ruler and every inch a man. Looking back on + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_190" id="Page_190" href="#"><span><i>THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE</i></span>190</a></span> + +the turmoils which followed his death one is inclined to agree +with the opinion of a saintly doctor who said, five centuries +afterwards, that "the good fortune of Islam was shrouded in +the grave-clothes of ‘Umar b. al-Khaṭṭáb."<a name="FNanchor_361" id="FNanchor_361"></a><a href="#Footnote_361" class="fnanchor">361</a></p> + +<p>When the Meccan aristocrats accepted Islam, they only +yielded to the inevitable. They were now to have an opportunity +<span class="sidenote">‘Uthmán elected +Caliph (644 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +of revenging themselves. ‘Uthmán b. +‘Affán, who succeeded ‘Umar as Caliph, belonged +to a distinguished Meccan family, the Umayyads or +descendants of Umayya, which had always taken a leading part +in the opposition to Muḥammad, though ‘Uthmán himself was +among the Prophet's first disciples. He was a pious, well-meaning +old man—an easy tool in the hands of his ambitious +kinsfolk. They soon climbed into all the most lucrative and +important offices and lived on the fat of the land, while too +often their ungodly behaviour gave point to the question whether +these converts of the eleventh hour were not still heathens at +heart. Other causes contributed to excite a general <span class="sidenote"> General disaffection.</span> +discontent. The rapid growth of luxury and +immorality in the Holy Cities as well as in the +new settlements was an eyesore to devout Moslems. The +true Islamic aristocracy, the Companions of the Prophet, headed +by ‘Alí, Ṭalḥa, and Zubayr, strove to undermine the rival +nobility which threatened them with destruction. The +factious soldiery were ripe for revolt against Umayyad arrogance +<span class="sidenote">‘Uthmán murdered +(656 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +and greed. Rebellion broke out, and finally the +aged Caliph, after enduring a siege of several +weeks, was murdered in his own house. This event marks an +epoch in the history of the Arabs. The ensuing civil wars +rent the unity of Islam from top to bottom, and the wound +has never healed.</p> + +<p class="tb">‘Alí, the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law, who had hitherto + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_191" id="Page_191" href="#"><span><i>‘UTHMÁN AND ‘ALÍ</i></span>191</a></span> + +remained in the background, was now made Caliph. Although +<span class="sidenote">‘Alí elected +Caliph (656 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +the suspicion that he was in league with the +murderers may be put aside, he showed culpable +weakness in leaving ‘Uthmán to his fate +without an effort to save him. But ‘Alí had +almost every virtue except those of the ruler: energy, +decision, and foresight. He was a gallant warrior, a wise +counsellor, a true friend, and a generous foe. <span class="sidenote">Character of +‘Alí.</span> +He excelled in poetry and in eloquence; his +verses and sayings are famous throughout the +Muḥammadan East, though few of them can be considered +authentic. A fine spirit worthy to be compared with +Montrose and Bayard, he had no talent for the stern +realities of statecraft, and was overmatched by unscrupulous +rivals who knew that "war is a game of deceit." Thus +his career was in one sense a failure: his authority as +Caliph was never admitted, while he lived, by the whole +community. On the other hand, he has exerted, down to +the present day, a posthumous influence only <span class="sidenote"> His apotheosis.</span> +second to that of Muḥammad himself. Within +a century of his death he came to be regarded as the +Prophet's successor <i>jure divino</i>; as a blessed martyr, sinless +and infallible; and by some even as an incarnation of God. +The ‘Alí of Shí‘ite legend is not an historical figure glorified: +rather does he symbolise, in purely mythical fashion, +the religious aspirations and political aims of a large section +of the Moslem world.</p> + +<p class="tb">To return to our narrative. No sooner was ‘Alí proclaimed +Caliph by the victorious rebels than Mu‘áwiya b. +<span class="sidenote">‘Alí against +Mu‘áwiya.</span> +Abí Sufyán, the governor of Syria, raised the +cry of vengeance for ‘Uthmán and refused to +take the oath of allegiance. As head of the +Umayyad family, Mu‘áwiya might justly demand that the +murderers of his kinsman should be punished, but the contest + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_192" id="Page_192" href="#"><span><i>THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE</i></span>192</a></span> + +between him and ‘Alí was virtually for the Caliphate. +A great battle was fought at Ṣiffín, a village on the +Euphrates. ‘Alí had well-nigh gained the day <span class="sidenote">Battle of Ṣiffín +(657 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +when Mu‘áwiya bethought him of a stratagem. +He ordered his troops to fix Korans on the +points of their lances and to shout, "Here is the Book of +God: let it decide between us!" The miserable trick +succeeded. In ‘Alí's army there were many pious fanatics +to whom the proposed arbitration by the Koran appealed +with irresistible force. They now sprang forward +clamorously, threatening to betray their leader unless he +would submit his cause to the Book. Vainly did ‘Alí +remonstrate with the mutineers, and warn them of the +trap into which they were driving him, and this too at +the moment when victory was within their grasp. He <span class="sidenote"> Arbitration.</span> +had no choice but to yield and name as his +umpire a man of doubtful loyalty, Abú Músá +al-Ash‘arí, one of the oldest surviving Companions of the +Prophet. Mu‘áwiya on his part named ‘Amr b. al-‘Áṣ, +whose cunning had prompted the decisive manœuvre. +When the umpires came forth to give judgment, Abú +Músá rose and in accordance with what had been arranged +at the preliminary conference pronounced that both ‘Alí +and Mu‘áwiya should be deposed and that the <span class="sidenote"> The award.</span> +people should elect a proper Caliph in their +stead. "Lo," said he, laying down his sword, "even thus +do I depose ‘Alí b. Abí Ṭálib." Then ‘Amr advanced and +spoke as follows: "O people! ye have heard the judgment +of my colleague. He has called you to witness that he +deposes ‘Alí. Now I call you to witness that I confirm +Mu‘áwiya, even as I make fast this sword of mine," and +suiting the action to the word, he returned it to its sheath. +It is characteristic of Arabian notions of morality that this +impudent fraud was hailed by Mu‘áwiya's adherents as a +diplomatic triumph which gave him a colourable pretext + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_193" id="Page_193" href="#"><span><i>CIVIL WAR</i></span>193</a></span> + +for assuming the title of Caliph. Both sides prepared to +renew the struggle, but in the meanwhile ‘Alí found his +hands full nearer home. A numerous party among his +troops, including the same zealots who had forced arbitration +upon him, now cast him off because he had accepted <span class="sidenote">The Khárijites +revolt against +‘Alí.</span> +it, fell out from the ranks, and raised the +standard of revolt. These 'Outgoers,' or +Khárijites, as they were called, maintained +their theocratic principles with desperate courage, and +though often defeated took the field again and again. +‘Alí's plans for recovering Syria were finally abandoned +<span class="sidenote">Alí assassinated +(661 <span class="smcap"> a.d.</span>).</span> +in 660, when he concluded peace with +Mu‘áwiya, and shortly afterwards he was struck +down in the Mosque at Kúfa, which he had +made his capital, by Ibn Muljam, a Khárijite conspirator.</p> + +<p>With ‘Alí's fall our sketch of the Orthodox Caliphate +may fitly end. It was necessary to give some account of +these years so vital in the history of Islam, even at the +risk of wearying the reader, who will perhaps wish that +less space were devoted to political affairs.</p> + +<p class="tb">The Umayyads came into power, but, except in Syria and +Egypt, they ruled solely by the sword. As descendants and +representatives of the pagan aristocracy, which <span class="sidenote"> The Umayyad +dynasty.</span> +strove with all its might to defeat Muḥammad, +they were usurpers in the eyes of the Moslem +community which they claimed to lead as his successors.<a name="FNanchor_362" id="FNanchor_362"></a><a href="#Footnote_362" class="fnanchor">362</a> +We shall see, a little further on, how this opposition expressed +itself in two great parties: the Shí‘ites or followers +of ‘Alí, and the radical sect of the Khárijites, who have +been mentioned above; and how it was gradually reinforced +by the non-Arabian Moslems until it overwhelmed + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_194" id="Page_194" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>194</a></span> + +the Umayyad Government and set up the ‘Abbásids in their +place. In estimating the character of the Umayyads one +must bear in mind that the epitaph on the fallen <span class="sidenote"> Moslem tradition +hostile to +the Umayyads.</span> +dynasty was composed by their enemies, and can +no more be considered historically truthful than +the lurid picture which Tacitus has drawn of the Emperor +Tiberius. Because they kept the revolutionary forces in +check with ruthless severity, the Umayyads pass for bloodthirsty +tyrants; whereas the best of them at any rate were +strong and singularly capable rulers, bad Moslems and good +men of the world, seldom cruel, plain livers if not high +thinkers; who upon the whole stand as much above the +‘Abbásids in morality as below them in culture and intellect. +Mu‘áwiya's clemency was proverbial, though he too +could be stern on occasion. When members of the house +of ‘Alí came to visit him at Damascus, which was now +the capital of the Muḥammadan Empire, he gave them +honourable lodging and entertainment and was anxious to +do what they asked; but they (relates the historian <span class="sidenote">Mu‘áwiya's +clemency.</span> +approvingly) used to address him in the +rudest terms and affront him in the vilest +manner: sometimes he would answer them with a jest, and +another time he would feign not to hear, and he always +dismissed them with splendid presents and ample donations.<a name="FNanchor_363" id="FNanchor_363"></a><a href="#Footnote_363" class="fnanchor">363</a> +"I do not employ my sword," he said, "when my whip +suffices me, nor my whip when my tongue suffices me; and +were there but a single hair (of friendship) between me and +my subjects, I would not let it be snapped."<a name="FNanchor_364" id="FNanchor_364"></a><a href="#Footnote_364" class="fnanchor">364</a> After the +business of the day he sought relaxation in books. <span class="sidenote"> His hours of +study.</span> +"He consecrated a third part of every night to +the history of the Arabs and their famous battles; +the history of foreign peoples, their kings, and their government; +the biographies of monarchs, including their wars + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_195" id="Page_195" href="#"><span><i>MU‘ÁWIYA</i></span>195</a></span> + +and stratagems and methods of rule; and other matters +connected with Ancient History."<a name="FNanchor_365" id="FNanchor_365"></a><a href="#Footnote_365" class="fnanchor">365</a></p> + +<p>Mu‘áwiya's chief henchman was Ziyád, the son of Sumayya +(Sumayya being the name of his mother), or, as he is generally +<span class="sidenote"> Ziyád ibn +Abíhi.</span> +called, Ziyád ibn Abíhi, <i>i.e.</i>, 'Ziyád his father's +son,' for none knew who was his sire, though +rumour pointed to Abú Sufyán; in which case +Ziyád would have been Mu‘áwiya's half-brother. Mu‘áwiya, +instead of disavowing the scandalous imputation, acknowledged +him as such, and made him governor of Baṣra, where he ruled +the Eastern provinces with a rod of iron.</p> + +<p>Mu‘áwiya was a crafty diplomatist—he has been well compared +to Richelieu—whose profound knowledge of human +nature enabled him to gain over men of moderate opinions in +all the parties opposed to him. Events were soon to prove the +hollowness of this outward reconciliation. Yazíd, who succeeded +his father, was the son of Maysún, a <span class="sidenote">Yazíd +(680-683 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +Bedouin woman whom Mu‘áwiya married before he +rose to be Caliph. The luxury of Damascus had +no charm for her wild spirit, and she gave utterance to her +feeling of homesickness in melancholy verse:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"A tent with rustling breezes cool</span><span class="i0"> +Delights me more than palace high,</span><span class="i0"> +And more the cloak of simple wool</span><span class="i0"> +Than robes in which I learned to sigh.</span><span class="i0"> + </span><span class="i0"> +The crust I ate beside my tent</span><span class="i0"> +Was more than this fine bread to me;</span><span class="i0"> +The wind's voice where the hill-path went</span><span class="i0"> +Was more than tambourine can be.</span><span class="i0"> + </span><span class="i0"> +And more than purr of friendly cat</span><span class="i0"> +I love the watch-dog's bark to hear;</span><span class="i0"> +And more than any lubbard fat</span><span class="i0"> +I love a Bedouin cavalier."<a name="FNanchor_366" id="FNanchor_366"></a><a href="#Footnote_366" class="fnanchor">366</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_196" id="Page_196" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>196</a></span> + +Mu‘áwiya, annoyed by the contemptuous allusion to himself, +took the dame at her word. She returned to her own +family, and Yazíd grew up as a Bedouin, with the instincts +and tastes which belong to the Bedouins—love of pleasure, +hatred of piety, and reckless disregard for the laws of religion. +The beginning of his reign was marked by an event of +which even now few Moslems can speak without a thrill +of horror and dismay. The facts are briefly these: In the +autumn of the year 680 Ḥusayn, the son of ‘Alí, claiming +to be the rightful Caliph in virtue of his descent from the +Prophet, quitted Mecca with his whole family and a number +of devoted friends, and set out for Kúfa, where he expected +the population, which was almost entirely Shí‘ite, to rally +to his cause. It was a foolhardy adventure. <span class="sidenote"> Ḥusayn +marches on +Kúfa.</span> +The poet Farazdaq, who knew the fickle temper +of his fellow-townsmen, told Ḥusayn that +although their hearts were with him, their swords would be +with the Umayyads; but his warning was given in vain. +Meanwhile ‘Ubaydulláh b. Ziyád, the governor of Kúfa, +having overawed the insurgents in the city and beheaded +their leader, Muslim b. ‘Aqíl, who was a cousin of Ḥusayn, +sent a force of cavalry with orders to bring the arch-rebel +to a stand. Retreat was still open to him. But his followers +cried out that the blood of Muslim must be avenged, and +Ḥusayn could not hesitate. Turning northward along the +Euphrates, he encamped at Karbalá with his little band, +which, including the women and children, amounted to +some two hundred souls. In this hopeless situation he +offered terms which might have been accepted if Shamir b. +Dhi ’l-Jawshan, a name for ever infamous and accursed, had +not persuaded ‘Ubaydulláh to insist on unconditional surrender. +The demand was refused, and Ḥusayn drew up +his comrades—a handful of men and boys—for battle +against the host which surrounded them. All the harrowing +details invented by grief and passion can scarcely + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_197" id="Page_197" href="#"><span><i>BATTLE OF KARBALA</i></span>197</a></span> +<span class="sidenote">Massacre of +Ḥusayn and his +followers at +Karbalá (10th +Muḥarram, +61 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span> = 10th +October, 680 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +heighten the tragedy of the closing scene. It would appear +that the Umayyad officers themselves shrank from the +odium of a general massacre, and hoped to +take the Prophet's grandson alive. Shamir, +however, had no such scruples. Chafing at +delay, he urged his soldiers to the assault. The +unequal struggle was soon over. Ḥusayn fell, +pierced by an arrow, and his brave followers +were cut down beside him to the last man.</p> + +<p>Muḥammadan tradition, which with rare exceptions is +uniformly hostile to the Umayyad dynasty, regards Ḥusayn +<span class="sidenote"> Differing views +of Muḥammadan +and European +writers.</span> +as a martyr and Yazíd as his murderer; while +modern historians, for the most part, agree with +Sir W. Muir, who points out that Ḥusayn, +"having yielded himself to a treasonable, though +impotent design upon the throne, was committing an +offence that endangered society and demanded swift suppression." +This was naturally the view of the party in power, +and the reader must form his own conclusion as to how +far it justifies the action which they took. For Moslems +the question is decided by the relation of the Umayyads to +Islam. Violators of its laws and spurners of its <span class="sidenote"> The Umayyads +judged +by Islam.</span> +ideals, they could never be anything but tyrants; +and being tyrants, they had no right to slay +believers who rose in arms against their usurped authority. +The so-called verdict of history, when we come to examine +it, is seen to be the verdict of religion, the judgment of +theocratic Islam on Arabian Imperialism. On this ground +the Umayyads are justly condemned, but it is well to remember +that in Moslem eyes the distinction between <span class="sidenote"> Character of +Yazíd.</span> +Church and State does not exist. Yazíd was a +bad Churchman: therefore he was a wicked +tyrant; the one thing involves the other. +From our unprejudiced standpoint, he was an amiable +prince who inherited his mother's poetic talent, and infinitely + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_198" id="Page_198" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>198</a></span> + +preferred wine, music, and sport to the drudgery +of public affairs. The Syrian Arabs, who recognised the +Umayyads as legitimate, thought highly of him: "Jucundissimus," +says a Christian writer, "et cunctis nationibus +regni ejus subditis vir gratissime habitus, qui nullam unquam, +ut omnibus moris est, sibi regalis fastigii causa gloriam +appetivit, sed communis cum omnibus civiliter vixit."<a name="FNanchor_367" id="FNanchor_367"></a><a href="#Footnote_367" class="fnanchor">367</a> He +deplored the fate of the women and children of Ḥusayn's +family, treated them with every mark of respect, and sent +them to Medína, where their account of the tragedy added +fresh fuel to the hatred and indignation with which its +authors were generally regarded.</p> + +<p>The Umayyads had indeed ample cause to rue the day +of Karbalá. It gave the Shí‘ite faction a rallying-cry—"Vengeance +for Ḥusayn!"—which was taken up on all +sides, and especially by the Persian <i>Mawálí</i>, or Clients, who +longed for deliverance from the Arab yoke. Their amalgamation +with the Shí‘a—a few years later they flocked in +thousands to the standard of Mukhtár—was an event of +the utmost historical importance, which will be discussed +when we come to speak of the Shí‘ites in particular.</p> + +<p class="tb">The slaughter of Ḥusayn does not complete the tale of +Yazíd's enormities. Medína, the Prophet's city, having +<span class="sidenote">Medína and +Mecca +desecrated +(682-3 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +expelled its Umayyad governor, was sacked by +a Syrian army, while Mecca itself, where +‘Abdulláh b. Zubayr had set up as rival Caliph, +was besieged, and the Ka‘ba laid in ruins. These +outrages, shocking to Moslem sentiment, kindled a flame of +rebellion. Ḥusayn was avenged by Mukhtár, <span class="sidenote">Rebellion of +Mukhtár +(685-6 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +who seized Kúfa and executed some three hundred +of the guilty citizens, including the miscreant +Shamir. His troops defeated and slew ‘Ubaydulláh b. +Ziyád, but he himself was slain, not long afterwards, by + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_199" id="Page_199" href="#"><span><i>YAZÍD</i></span>199</a></span> + +Mus‘ab, the brother of Ibn Zubayr, and seven thousand of +his followers were massacred in cold blood. On Yazíd's +death (683) the Umayyad Empire threatened to fall to +pieces. As a contemporary poet sang—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Now loathed of all men is the Fury blind</span><span class="i0"> +Which blazeth as a fire blown by the wind.</span><span class="i0"> +They are split in sects: each province hath its own</span><span class="i0"> +Commander of the Faithful, each its throne."<a name="FNanchor_368" id="FNanchor_368"></a><a href="#Footnote_368" class="fnanchor">368</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Fierce dissensions broke out among the Syrian Arabs, the +backbone of the dynasty. The great tribal groups of Kalb and +<span class="sidenote"> Civil war +renewed.</span> +Qays, whose coalition had hitherto maintained +the Umayyads in power, fought on opposite sides +at Marj Ráhiṭ (684), the former for Marwán and +the latter for Ibn Zubayr. Marwán's victory secured the +allegiance of Syria, but henceforth Qays and Kalb were +always at daggers drawn.<a name="FNanchor_369" id="FNanchor_369"></a><a href="#Footnote_369" class="fnanchor">369</a> This was essentially a feud between +the Northern and the Southern Arabs—a feud which rapidly +extended and developed into a permanent racial enmity. +They carried it with them to the farthest ends <span class="sidenote"> Rivalry of +Northern and +Southern Arabs.</span> +of the world, so that, for example, after the +conquest of Spain precautions had to be taken +against civil war by providing that Northerners and Southerners +should not settle in the same districts. The literary history of +this antagonism has been sketched by Dr. Goldziher with his +wonted erudition and acumen.<a name="FNanchor_370" id="FNanchor_370"></a><a href="#Footnote_370" class="fnanchor">370</a> Satire was, of course, the + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_200" id="Page_200" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>200</a></span> + +principal weapon of both sides. Here is a fragment by a +Northern poet which belongs to the Umayyad period:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Negroes are better, when they name their sires,</span><span class="i0"> +Than Qaḥṭán's sons,<a name="FNanchor_371" id="FNanchor_371"></a><a href="#Footnote_371" class="fnanchor">371</a> the uncircumcisèd cowards:</span><span class="i0"> +A folk whom thou mayst see, at war's outflame,</span><span class="i0"> +More abject than a shoe to tread in baseness;</span><span class="i0"> +Their women free to every lecher's lust,</span><span class="i0"> +Their clients spoil for cavaliers and footmen."<a name="FNanchor_372" id="FNanchor_372"></a><a href="#Footnote_372" class="fnanchor">372</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Thus the Arab nation was again torn asunder by the old +tribal pretensions which Muḥammad sought to abolish. That +they ultimately proved fatal to the Umayyads is no matter for +surprise; the sorely pressed dynasty was already tottering, its +enemies were at its gates. By good fortune it produced at +this crisis an exceptionally able and vigorous ruler, ‘Abdu +’l-Malik b. Marwán, who not only saved his house from +destruction, but re-established its supremacy and inaugurated +a more brilliant epoch than any that had gone before.</p> + +<p>‘Abdu ’l-Malik succeeded his father in 685, but required +seven years of hard fighting to make good his claim to the +<span class="sidenote">‘Abdu ’l-Malik +and his +successors.</span> +Caliphate. When his most formidable rival, Ibn +Zubayr, had fallen in battle (692), the eastern +provinces were still overrun by rebels, who offered +a desperate resistance to the governor of ‘Iráq, the iron-handed +Ḥajjáj. But enough of bloodshed. Peace also had +her victories during the troubled reign of ‘Abdu ’l-Malik and +the calmer sway of his successors. Four of the next five +Caliphs were his own sons—Walíd (705-715), Sulaymán +(715-717), Yazíd II (720-724), and Hishám (724-743); +the fifth, ‘Umar II, was the son of his brother, ‘Abdu ’l-‘Azíz. +For the greater part of this time the Moslem lands enjoyed a +well-earned interval of repose and prosperity, which mitigated, +though it could not undo, the frightful devastation wrought by + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_201" id="Page_201" href="#"><span><i>‘ABDU ’L-MALIK</i></span>201</a></span> + +twenty years of almost continuous civil war. Many reforms +were introduced, some wholly political in character, while +others inspired by the same motives have, none the less, a +direct bearing on literary history. ‘Abdu ’l-Malik <span class="sidenote">Reforms of +‘Abdu ’l-Malik.</span> +organised an excellent postal service, by means of +relays of horses, for the conveyance of despatches +and travellers; he substituted for the Byzantine and Persian +coins, which had hitherto been in general use, new gold and +silver pieces, on which be caused sentences from the Koran +to be engraved; and he made Arabic, instead of Greek or +Persian, the official language of financial administration. +Steps were taken, moreover, to improve the extremely +defective Arabic script, and in this way to provide a sound +basis for the study and interpretation of the Koran as well +as for the collection of <i>ḥadíths</i> or sayings of the Prophet, +which form an indispensable supplement thereto. The Arabic +alphabet, as it was then written, consisted entirely <span class="sidenote"> The writing of +Arabic.</span> +of consonants, so that, to give an illustration from +English, <i>bnd</i> might denote <i>band</i>, <i>bend</i>, <i>bind</i>, or +<i>bond</i>; <i>crt</i> might stand for <i>cart</i>, <i>carat</i>, <i>curt</i>, and so on. To +an Arab this ambiguity mattered little; far worse confusion +arose from the circumstance that many of the consonants +themselves were exactly alike: thus, <i>e.g.</i>, it was possible to +read the same combination of three letters as <i>bnt</i>, <i>nbt</i>, <i>byt</i>, <i>tnb</i>, +<i>ntb</i>, <i>nyb</i>, and in various other ways. Considering the difficulties +of the Arabic language, which are so great that a European +aided by scientific grammars and unequivocal texts will often +find himself puzzled even when he has become tolerably +familiar with it, one may imagine that the Koran was virtually +a sealed book to all but a few among the crowds of foreigners +who accepted Islam after the early conquests. ‘Abdu’l-Malik's +viceroy in ‘Iráq, the famous Ḥajjáj, who began life as a schoolmaster, +exerted himself to promote the use of vowel-marks +(borrowed from the Syriac) and of the diacritical points placed +above or below similar consonants. This extraordinary man + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_202" id="Page_202" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>202</a></span> + +deserves more than a passing mention. A stern disciplinarian, +who could be counted upon to do his duty without any regard +to public opinion, he was chosen by ‘Abdu ’l-Malik +to besiege Mecca, which Ibn Zubayr was holding <span class="sidenote">Ḥajjáj b. Yúsuf +(† 714 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +as anti-Caliph. Ḥajjáj bombarded the city, defeated +the Pretender, and sent his head to Damascus. Two years +afterwards he became governor of ‘Iráq. Entering the +Mosque at Kúfa, he mounted the pulpit and introduced +himself to the assembled townsmen in these memorable +words:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"I am he who scattereth the darkness and climbeth o'er the summits.</span><span class="i0"> +When I lift the turban from my face, ye will know me.<a name="FNanchor_373" id="FNanchor_373"></a><a href="#Footnote_373" class="fnanchor">373</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"O people of Kúfa! I see heads that are ripe for cutting, +and I am the man to do it; and methinks, I see blood between +the turbans and beards."<a name="FNanchor_374" id="FNanchor_374"></a><a href="#Footnote_374" class="fnanchor">374</a> The rest of his speech was in +keeping with the commencement. He used no idle threats, +as the malcontents soon found out. Rebellion, which had +been rampant before his arrival, was rapidly extinguished. +"He restored order in ‘Iráq and subdued its people."<a name="FNanchor_375" id="FNanchor_375"></a><a href="#Footnote_375" class="fnanchor">375</a> For +twenty years his despotic rule gave peace and security to +the Eastern world. Cruel he may have been, though the +tales of his bloodthirstiness are beyond doubt grossly exaggerated, +but it should be put to his credit that he established +and maintained the settled conditions which <span class="sidenote"> His service to +literature.</span> +afford leisure for the cultivation of learning. +Under his protection the Koran and Traditions were diligently +studied both in Kúfa and Baṣra, where many Companions of +the Prophet had made their home: hence arose in Baṣra the +science of Grammar, with which, as we shall see in a subsequent +page, the name of that city is peculiarly associated. + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_203" id="Page_203" href="#"><span><i>ḤAJJÁJ IBN YÚSUF</i></span>203</a></span> + +Ḥajjáj shared the literary tastes of his sovereign; he admired +the old poets and patronised the new; he was a master of +terse eloquence and plumed himself on his elegant Arabic +style. The most hated man of his time, he lives in history as +the savage oppressor and butcher of God-fearing Moslems. +He served the Umayyads well and faithfully, and when he +died in 714 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> he left behind him nothing but his Koran, his +arms, and a few hundred pieces of silver.</p> + +<p class="tb">It was a common saying at Damascus that under Walíd +people talked of fine buildings, under Sulaymán of cookery +<span class="sidenote">Walíd +(705-715 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +and the fair sex, while in the reign of ‘Umar b. +‘Abd al-‘Azíz the Koran and religion formed +favourite topics of conversation.<a name="FNanchor_376" id="FNanchor_376"></a><a href="#Footnote_376" class="fnanchor">376</a> Of Walíd's +passion for architecture we have a splendid monument in the +Great Mosque of Damascus (originally the Cathedral of +St. John), which is the principal sight of the city to this +day. He spoke Arabic very incorrectly, and though his +father rebuked him, observing that "in order to rule the +Arabs one must be proficient in their language," he could +never learn to express himself with propriety.<a name="FNanchor_377" id="FNanchor_377"></a><a href="#Footnote_377" class="fnanchor">377</a> The unbroken +peace which now prevailed within the Empire enabled Walíd +to resume the work of conquest. In the East his armies +invaded Transoxania, captured Bokhárá and Samarcand, and +pushed forward to the Chinese frontier. Another <span class="sidenote"> Moslem +conquests in the +East.</span> +force crossed the Indus and penetrated as far as +Múltán, a renowned centre of pilgrimage in the +Southern Punjaub, which fell into the hands of the Moslems +after a prolonged siege. But the most brilliant advance, and +the richest in its results, was that in the extreme West, which +decided the fate of Spain. Although the Moslems had obtained +a footing in Northern Africa some thirty years before this +time, their position was always precarious, until in 709 Músá + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_204" id="Page_204" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>204</a></span> + +b. Nuṣayr completely subjugated the Berbers, and extended not +only the dominion but also the faith of Islam to the Atlantic +Ocean. Two years later his freedman Ṭáriq <span class="sidenote">Conquest of +Spain +(711-713 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +crossed the straits and took possession of the +commanding height, called by the ancients Calpe, +but henceforth known as Jabal Ṭáriq (Gibraltar). Roderic, +the last of the West Gothic dynasty, gathered an army in +defence of his kingdom, but there were traitors in the camp, +and, though he himself fought valiantly, their defection turned +the fortunes of the day. The king fled, and it was never +ascertained what became of him. Ṭáriq, meeting with feeble +resistance, marched rapidly on Toledo, while Músá, whose +jealousy was excited by the triumphal progress of his lieutenant, +now joined in the campaign, and, storming city after +city, reached the Pyrenees. The conquest of Spain, which is +told by Moslem historians with many romantic circumstances, +marks the nearest approach that the Arabs ever made to +World-Empire. Their advance on French soil was finally +hurled back by Charles the Hammer's great victory at Tours +(732 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p> + +<p>Before taking leave of the Umayyads we must not forget to +mention ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Azíz, a ruler who stands out in +<span class="sidenote">‘Umar b. ‘Abd +al-‘Azíz +(717-720 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +singular contrast with his predecessors, and whose +brief reign is regarded by many Moslems as the +sole bright spot in a century of godless and bloodstained +tyranny. There had been nothing like it since the +days of his illustrious namesake and kinsman,<a name="FNanchor_378" id="FNanchor_378"></a><a href="#Footnote_378" class="fnanchor">378</a> ‘Umar b. +al-Khaṭṭáb, and we shall find nothing like it in the future +history of the Caliphate. Plato desired that every king should +be a philosopher: according to Muḥammadan theory every +Caliph ought to be a saint. ‘Umar satisfied these aspirations. +When he came to the throne the following dialogue is said to +have occurred between him and one of his favourites, Sálim +al-Suddí:—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_205" id="Page_205" href="#"><span><i>‘UMAR B. ‘ABD AL‘AZÍZ</i></span>205</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>‘Umar: "Are you glad on account of my accession, or sorry?"<br /> + +Sálim: "I am glad for the people's sake, but sorry for yours."<br /> + +‘Umar: "I fear that I have brought perdition upon my soul."<br /> + +Sálim: "If you are afraid, very good. I only fear that you may +cease to be afraid."<br /> + +‘Umar: "Give me a word of counsel."<br /> + +Sálim: "Our father Adam was driven forth from Paradise because +of one sin."<a name="FNanchor_379" id="FNanchor_379"></a><a href="#Footnote_379" class="fnanchor">379</a></p></div> + +<p>Poets and orators found no favour at his court, which was +thronged by divines and men of ascetic life.<a name="FNanchor_380" id="FNanchor_380"></a><a href="#Footnote_380" class="fnanchor">380</a> He warned his +governors that they must either deal justly or go. He would +not allow political considerations to interfere with his ideal of +righteousness, but, as Wellhausen points out, he had practical +ends in view: his piety made him anxious for the common +weal no less than for his own salvation. Whether he +administered the State successfully is a matter of dispute. +It has been generally supposed that his financial reforms +were Utopian in character and disastrous to the Exchequer.<a name="FNanchor_381" id="FNanchor_381"></a><a href="#Footnote_381" class="fnanchor">381</a> +However this may be, he showed wisdom in seeking to bridge +the menacing chasm between Islam and the Imperial house. +Thus, <i>e.g.</i>, he did away with the custom which had long +prevailed of cursing ‘Alí from the pulpit at Friday prayers. +The policy of conciliation was tried too late, and for too short +a space, to be effective; but it was not entirely fruitless. +When, on the overthrow of the Umayyad dynasty, the tombs +of the hated 'tyrants' were defiled and their bodies disinterred, +‘Umar's grave alone was respected, and Mas‘údí + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_206" id="Page_206" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>206</a></span> + +(† 956 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) tells us that in his time it was visited by +crowds of pilgrims.</p> + +<p>The remaining Umayyads do not call for particular notice. +Hishám ranks as a statesman with Mu‘áwiya and ‘Abdu +<span class="sidenote"> Hishám and +Walíd II.</span> +’l-Malik: the great ‘Abbásid Caliph, Manṣúr, is +said to have admired and imitated his methods +of government.<a name="FNanchor_382" id="FNanchor_382"></a><a href="#Footnote_382" class="fnanchor">382</a> Walíd II was an incorrigible +libertine, whose songs celebrating the forbidden delights of +wine have much merit. The eminent poet and freethinker, +Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrí, quotes these verses by him<a name="FNanchor_383" id="FNanchor_383"></a><a href="#Footnote_383" class="fnanchor">383</a>:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i505">"The Imám Walíd am I! In all my glory</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Verses by Walíd II (743-4 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> + +<span class="i8">Of trailing robes I listen to soft lays.</span> +<span class="i8">When proudly I sweep on towards her chamber,</span> +<span class="i8">I care not who inveighs.</span> +<span class="i6"> </span> +<span class="i6">There's no true joy but lending ear to music,</span> +<span class="i6">Or wine that leaves one sunk in stupor dense.</span> +<span class="i6">Houris in Paradise I do not look for:</span> +<span class="i6">Does any man of sense?"</span> +</div></div> + +<p>Let us now turn from the monarchs to their subjects.</p> + +<p>In the first place we shall speak of the political and religious +parties, whose opposition to the Umayyad House gradually +<span class="sidenote"> Political and +religious movements +of the +period.</span> +undermined its influence and in the end brought +about its fall. Some account will be given of the +ideas for which these parties fought and of the +causes of their discontent with the existing +<i>régime</i>. Secondly, a few words must be said of the theological +and more purely religious sects—the Mu‘tazilites, Murjites, and +Ṣúfís; and, lastly, of the extant literature, which is almost +exclusively poetical, and its leading representatives.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_207" id="Page_207" href="#"><span><i>OPPOSITION PARTIES</i></span>207</a></span> + +The opposition to the Umayyads was at first mainly a +question of politics. Mu‘áwiya's accession announced the +<span class="sidenote">The Arabs of +‘Iráq.</span> +triumph of Syria over ‘Iráq, and Damascus, +instead of Kúfa, became the capital of the +Empire. As Wellhausen observes, "the most +powerful risings against the Umayyads proceeded from +‘Iráq, not from any special party, but from the whole mass +of the Arabs settled there, who were united in resenting the +loss of their independence (<i>Selbstherrlichkeit</i>) and in hating +those into whose hands it had passed."<a name="FNanchor_384" id="FNanchor_384"></a><a href="#Footnote_384" class="fnanchor">384</a> At the same time +these feelings took a religious colour and identified themselves +with the cause of Islam. The new government fell +lamentably short of the theocratic standard by which it was +judged. Therefore it was evil, and (according to the +Moslem's conception of duty) every right-thinking man +must work for its destruction.</p> + +<p>Among the myriads striving for this consummation, and so +far making common cause with each other, we can distinguish +<span class="sidenote"> Parties opposed +to the Umayyad +government.</span> +four principal classes.</p> + +<p>(1) The religious Moslems, or Pietists, in +general, who formed a wing of the Orthodox +Party.<a name="FNanchor_385" id="FNanchor_385"></a><a href="#Footnote_385" class="fnanchor">385</a></p> + +<p>(2) The Khárijites, who may be described as the Puritans +and extreme Radicals of theocracy.</p> + +<p>(3) The Shí‘ites, or partisans of ‘Alí and his House.</p> + +<p>(4) The Non-Arabian Moslems, who were called <i>Mawálí</i> +(Clients).</p> + +<p>It is clear that the Pietists—including divines learned in the +law, reciters of the Koran, Companions of the Prophet and + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_208" id="Page_208" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>208</a></span> + +their descendants—could not but abominate the secular authority +which they were now compelled to obey. The conviction +<span class="sidenote"> The Pietists.</span> +that Might, in the shape of the tyrant and +his minions, trampled on Right as represented by +the Koran and the <i>Sunna</i> (custom of Muḥammad) drove many +into active rebellion: five thousand are said to have perished +in the sack of Medína alone. Others again, like Ḥasan of +Baṣra, filled with profound despair, shut their eyes on the +world, and gave themselves up to asceticism, a tendency +which had important consequences, as we shall see.</p> + +<p class="tb">When ‘Alí, on the field of Ṣiffin, consented that the claims +of Mu‘áwiya and himself to the Caliphate should be decided +<span class="sidenote"> The Khárijites.</span> +by arbitration, a large section of his army accused +him of having betrayed his trust. He, the duly +elected Caliph—so they argued—should have maintained the +dignity of his high office inviolate at all costs. On the homeward +march the malcontents, some twelve thousand in number, +broke away and encamped by themselves at Ḥarúrá, a village +near Kúfa. Their cry was, "God alone can decide" (<i>lá +ḥukma illá lilláhi</i>): in these terms they protested against the +arbitration. ‘Alí endeavoured to win them back, but without +any lasting success. They elected a Caliph from among themselves, +and gathered at Nahrawán, four thousand <span class="sidenote">Battle of Nahrawán +(658 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +strong. On the appearance of ‘Alí with a vastly +superior force many of the rebels dispersed, but +the remainder—about half—preferred to die for their faith. +Nahrawán was to the Khárijites what Karbalá afterwards +became to the Shí‘ites, who from this day were regarded by +the former as their chief enemies. Frequent Khárijite risings +took place during the early Umayyad period, but <span class="sidenote"> Khárijite risings.</span> +the movement reached its zenith in the years of +confusion which followed Yazíd's death. The Azraqites, so +called after their leader, Náfi‘ b. al-Azraq, overran ‘Iráq and +Southern Persia, while another sect, the Najdites, led by + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_209" id="Page_209" href="#"><span><i>THE KHÁRIJITES</i></span>209</a></span> + +Najda b. ‘Ámir, reduced the greater part of Arabia to submission. +The insurgents held their ground for a long time +against ‘Abdu ’l-Malik, and did not cease from troubling until +the rebellion headed by Shabíb was at last stamped out by +Ḥajjáj in 697.</p> + +<p>It has been suggested that the name <i>Khárijí</i> (plural, <i>Khawárij</i>) +refers to a passage in the Koran (iv, 101) where mention is made +<span class="sidenote"> Meaning of +'Khárijite.'</span> +of "those who go forth (<i>yakhruj</i>) from their homes +as emigrants (<i>muhájir<sup>an</sup></i>) to God and His Messenger"; +so that 'Khárijite' means 'one who +leaves his home among the unbelievers for God's sake,' and +corresponds to the term <i>Muhájir</i>, which was applied to the +Meccan converts who accompanied the Prophet in his migration +to Medína.<a name="FNanchor_386" id="FNanchor_386"></a><a href="#Footnote_386" class="fnanchor">386</a> Another name by which they are often designated +is likewise Koranic in origin, viz., <i>Shurát</i> (plural of +<i>Shár<sup>in</sup></i>): literally 'Sellers'—that is to say, those who sell +their lives and goods in return for Paradise.<a name="FNanchor_387" id="FNanchor_387"></a><a href="#Footnote_387" class="fnanchor">387</a> The Khárijites +were mostly drawn from the Bedouin soldiery who settled in +Baṣra and Kúfa after the Persian wars. Civil life wrought +little change in their unruly temper. Far from <span class="sidenote"> Their political +theories.</span> +acknowledging the peculiar sanctity of a +Qurayshite, they desired a chief of their own +blood whom they might obey, in Bedouin fashion, as long +as he did not abuse or exceed the powers conferred upon +him.<a name="FNanchor_388" id="FNanchor_388"></a><a href="#Footnote_388" class="fnanchor">388</a> The mainspring of the movement, however, was +pietistic, and can be traced, as Wellhausen has shown, to +the Koran-readers who made it a matter of conscience +that ‘Alí should avow his contrition for the fatal error +which their own temporary and deeply regretted infatuation +had forced him to commit. They cast off ‘Alí for the same + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_210" id="Page_210" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>210</a></span> + +reason which led them to strike at ‘Uthman: in both cases +they were maintaining the cause of God against an unjust +Caliph.<a name="FNanchor_389" id="FNanchor_389"></a><a href="#Footnote_389" class="fnanchor">389</a> It is important to remember these facts in view of +the cardinal Khárijite doctrines (1) that every free Arab was +eligible as Caliph,<a name="FNanchor_390" id="FNanchor_390"></a><a href="#Footnote_390" class="fnanchor">390</a> and (2) that an evil-doing Caliph must be +deposed and, if necessary, put to death. Mustawrid b. ‘Ullifa, +the Khárijite 'Commander of the Faithful,' wrote to Simák +b. ‘Ubayd, the governor of Ctesiphon, as follows: "We call +you to the Book of God Almighty and Glorious, and to the +<i>Sunna</i> (custom) of the Prophet—on whom be peace!—and to +the administration of Abú Bakr and ‘Umar—may God be +well pleased with them!—and to renounce ‘Uthmán and +‘Alí because they corrupted the true religion and abandoned +the authority of the Book."<a name="FNanchor_391" id="FNanchor_391"></a><a href="#Footnote_391" class="fnanchor">391</a> From this it appears that the +Khárijite programme was simply the old Islam of equality and +fraternity, which had never been fully realised and was now +irretrievably ruined. Theoretically, all devout Moslems shared +in the desire for its restoration and condemned the existing +Government no less cordially than did the Khárijites. What +distinguished the latter party was the remorseless severity with +which they carried their principles into action. To them it +was absolutely vital that the Imám, or head of the community, + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_211" id="Page_211" href="#"><span><i>THE KHÁRIJITES</i></span>211</a></span> + +should rule in the name and according to the will +of God: those who followed any other sealed their doom in +the next world: eternal salvation hung upon the choice of +a successor to the Prophet. Moslems who refused to execrate +‘Uthmán and ‘Alí were the worst of infidels; it was the duty +of every true believer to take part in the Holy War against +such, and to kill them, together with their wives and children. +These atrocities recoiled upon the insurgents, who soon found +themselves in danger of extermination. Milder counsels began +to prevail. Thus the Ibáḍites (followers of ‘Abdulláh b. Ibáḍ) +held it lawful to live amongst the Moslems and mix with +them on terms of mutual tolerance. But compromise was +in truth incompatible with the <i>raison d'être</i> of the Khárijites, +namely, to establish the kingdom of God upon the earth. +This meant virtual anarchy: "their unbending logic shattered +every constitution which it set up." As ‘Alí remarked, "they +say, 'No government' (<i>lá imára</i>), but there must be a government, +good or bad."<a name="FNanchor_392" id="FNanchor_392"></a><a href="#Footnote_392" class="fnanchor">392</a> Nevertheless, it was a noble ideal for +which they fought in pure devotion, having, unlike the other +political parties, no worldly interests to serve.</p> + +<p>The same fierce spirit of fanaticism moulded their religious +views, which were gloomy and austere, as befitted the chosen +<span class="sidenote"> Their religion.</span> +few in an ungodly world. Shahrastání, speaking +of the original twelve thousand who rebelled +against ‘Alí, describes them as 'people of fasting and +prayer' (<i>ahlu ṣiyám<sup>in</sup> wa-ṣalát<sup>in</sup></i>).<a name="FNanchor_393" id="FNanchor_393"></a><a href="#Footnote_393" class="fnanchor">393</a> The Koran ruled their +lives and possessed their imaginations, so that the history +of the early Church, the persecutions, martyrdoms, and +triumphs of the Faith became a veritable drama which was +being enacted by themselves. The fear of hell kindled in +them an inquisitorial zeal for righteousness. They scrupulously +examined their own belief as well as that of their +neighbours, and woe to him that was found wanting! A + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_212" id="Page_212" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>212</a></span> + +single false step involved excommunication from the pale of +Islam, and though the slip might be condoned on proof of +sincere repentance, any Moslem who had once committed a +mortal sin (<i>kabíra</i>) was held, by the stricter Khárijites at +least, to be inevitably damned with the infidels in everlasting +fire.</p> + +<p class="tb">Much might be written, if space allowed, concerning the +wars of the Khárijites, their most famous chiefs, the points on +which they quarrelled, and the sects into which they split. +Here we can only attempt to illustrate the general character of +the movement. We have touched on its political and religious +aspects, and shall now conclude with some reference to its +literary side. The Khárijites did not produce a Milton or +a Bunyan, but as Arabs of Bedouin stock they had a natural +gift of song, from which they could not be <span class="sidenote"> Khárijite +poetry.</span> +weaned; although, according to the strict letter +of the Koran, poetry is a devilish invention +improper for the pious Moslem to meddle with. But these +are poems of a different order from the pagan odes, and +breathe a stern religious enthusiasm that would have +gladdened the Prophet's heart. Take, for example, the following +verses, which were made by a Khárijite in prison:—<a name="FNanchor_394" id="FNanchor_394"></a><a href="#Footnote_394" class="fnanchor">394</a></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"'Tis time, O ye Sellers, for one who hath sold himself</span> +<span class="i0"> +To God, that he should arise and saddle amain.</span> +<span class="i0"> +Fools! in the land of miscreants will ye abide,</span> +<span class="i0"> +To be hunted down, every man of you, and to be slain?</span> +<span class="i0"> +O would that I were among you, armèd in mail,</span> +<span class="i0"> +On the back of my stout-ribbed galloping war-horse again!</span> +<span class="i0"> +And would that I were among you, fighting your foes,</span> +<span class="i0"> +That me, first of all, they might give death's beaker to drain!</span> +<span class="i0"> +It grieves me sore that ye are startled and chased</span> +<span class="i0"> +Like beasts, while I cannot draw on the wretches profane</span> +<span class="i0"> +My sword, nor see them scattered by noble knights</span> +<span class="i0"> +Who never yield an inch of the ground they gain,</span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_213" id="Page_213" href="#"><span><i>THE KHÁRIJITES</i></span>213</a></span> + +<span class="i0"> +But where the struggle is hottest, with keen blades hew</span> +<span class="i0"> +Their strenuous way and deem 'twere base to refrain.</span> +<span class="i0"> +Ay, it grieves me sore that ye are oppressed and wronged,</span> +<span class="i0"> +While I must drag in anguish a captive's chain."</span> + +</div> +</div> +<p>Qaṭarí b. al-Fujá’a, the intrepid Khárijite leader who routed +army after army sent against him by Ḥajjáj, sang almost as +<span class="sidenote">Qaṭarí b. +al-Fujá’a.</span> +well as he fought. The verses rendered below +are included in the <i>Ḥamása</i><a name="FNanchor_395" id="FNanchor_395"></a><a href="#Footnote_395" class="fnanchor">395</a> and cited by Ibn +Khallikán, who declares that they would make +a brave man of the greatest coward in the world. "I +know of nothing on the subject to be compared with them; +they could only have proceeded from a spirit that scorned +disgrace and from a truly Arabian sentiment of valour."<a name="FNanchor_396" id="FNanchor_396"></a><a href="#Footnote_396" class="fnanchor">396</a></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"I say to my soul dismayed—</span><span class="i0"> +'Courage! Thou canst not achieve,</span><span class="i0"> +With praying, an hour of life</span><span class="i0"> +Beyond the appointed term.</span><span class="i0"> +Then courage on death's dark field,</span><span class="i0"> +Courage! Impossible 'tis</span><span class="i0"> +To live for ever and aye.</span><span class="i0"> +Life is no hero's robe</span><span class="i0"> +Of honour: the dastard vile</span><span class="i0"> +Also doffs it at last.'"</span> +</div></div> + +<p>The murder of ‘Uthmán broke the Moslem community, +which had hitherto been undivided, into two <i>shí‘as</i>, or parties—one +<span class="sidenote">The Shí‘ites.</span> +for ‘Alí and the other for Mu‘áwiya. When +the latter became Caliph he was no longer a party +leader, but head of the State, and his <i>shí‘a</i> ceased to exist. +Henceforth 'the Shí‘a' <i>par excellence</i> was the party of ‘Alí, +which regarded the House of the Prophet as the legitimate +heirs to the succession. Not content, however, with upholding + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_214" id="Page_214" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>214</a></span> + +‘Alí, as the worthiest of the Prophet's Companions and the +duly elected Caliph, against his rival, Mu‘áwiya, the bolder +spirits took up an idea, which emerged about <span class="sidenote"> The theory of +Divine Right.</span> +this time, that the Caliphate belonged to ‘Alí +and his descendants by Divine right. Such is +the distinctive doctrine of the Shí‘ites to the present day. It +is generally thought to have originated in Persia, where the +Sásánian kings used to assume the title of 'god' (Pahlaví +<i>bagh</i>) and were looked upon as successive incarnations of the +Divine majesty.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Although the Shí‘ites," says Dozy, "often found themselves +under the direction of Arab leaders, who utilised them in order +<span class="sidenote"> Dozy's account +of its origin.</span> +to gain some personal end, they were nevertheless a +Persian sect at bottom; and it is precisely here that +the difference most clearly showed itself between the +Arab race, which loves liberty, and the Persian race, accustomed +to slavish submission. For the Persians, the principle of electing +the Prophet's successor was something unheard of and incomprehensible. +The only principle which they recognised was that of +inheritance, and since Muḥammad left no sons, they thought that +his son-in-law ‘Alí should have succeeded him, and that the +sovereignty was hereditary in his family. Consequently, all the +Caliphs except ‘Alí—<i>i.e.</i>, Abú Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthmán, as well +as the Umayyads—were in their eyes usurpers to whom no +obedience was due. The hatred which they felt for the Government +and for Arab rule confirmed them in this opinion; at the +same time they cast covetous looks on the wealth of their masters. +Habituated, moreover, to see in their kings the descendants of the +inferior divinities, they transferred this idolatrous veneration to ‘Alí +and his posterity. Absolute obedience to the Imám of ‘Alí's House +was in their eyes the most important duty; if that were fulfilled all +the rest might be interpreted allegorically and violated without +scruple. For them the Imám was everything; he was God made +man. A servile submission accompanied by immorality was the +basis of their system."<a name="FNanchor_397" id="FNanchor_397"></a><a href="#Footnote_397" class="fnanchor">397</a></p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_215" id="Page_215" href="#"><span><i>THE SHÍ‘ITES</i></span>215</a></span> + +Now, the Shí‘ite theory of Divine Right certainly harmonised +with Persian ideas, but was it also of Persian <span class="sidenote">The Saba’ites.</span> +origin? On the contrary, it seems first to have +arisen among an obscure Arabian sect, the +Saba’ites, whose founder, ‘Abdulláh b. Sabá (properly, Saba’), +was a native of Ṣan‘á in Yemen, and is said to have been a +Jew.<a name="FNanchor_398" id="FNanchor_398"></a><a href="#Footnote_398" class="fnanchor">398</a> In ‘Uthmán's time he turned Moslem and became, +apparently, a travelling missionary. "He went from place to +place," says the historian, "seeking to lead the Moslems into +error."<a name="FNanchor_399" id="FNanchor_399"></a><a href="#Footnote_399" class="fnanchor">399</a> We hear of him in the Ḥijáz, then in Baṣra and Kúfa, +then in Syria. Finally he settled in Egypt, where he preached +the doctrine of palingenesis (<i>raj‘a</i>). "It is strange indeed," he +exclaimed, "that any one should believe in the <span class="sidenote"> Doctrine of +Ibn Sabá.</span> +return of Jesus (as Messias), and deny the return +of Muḥammad, which God has announced +(Kor. xxviii, 85).<a name="FNanchor_400" id="FNanchor_400"></a><a href="#Footnote_400" class="fnanchor">400</a> Furthermore, there are a thousand +Prophets, every one of whom has an executor (<i>waṣí</i>), and +the executor of Muḥammad is ‘Alí.<a name="FNanchor_401" id="FNanchor_401"></a><a href="#Footnote_401" class="fnanchor">401</a> Muḥammad is the last +of the Prophets, and ‘Alí is the last of the executors." Ibn +Sabá, therefore, regarded Abú Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthmán as +usurpers. He set on foot a widespread conspiracy in favour +of ‘Alí, and carried on a secret correspondence with the +disaffected in various provinces of the Empire.<a name="FNanchor_402" id="FNanchor_402"></a><a href="#Footnote_402" class="fnanchor">402</a> According + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_216" id="Page_216" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>216</a></span> + +to Shahrastání, he was banished by ‘Alí for saying, "Thou +art thou" (<i>anta anta</i>), <i>i.e.</i>, "Thou art God."<a name="FNanchor_403" id="FNanchor_403"></a><a href="#Footnote_403" class="fnanchor">403</a> This refers +to the doctrine taught by Ibn Sabá and the extreme Shí‘ites +(<i>Ghulát</i>) who derive from him, that the Divine Spirit which +dwells in every prophet and passes successively from one to +another was transfused, at Muḥammad's death, into ‘Alí, and +from ‘Alí into his descendants who succeeded him in the +Imámate. The Saba’ites also held that the Imám might suffer +a temporary occultation (<i>ghayba</i>), but that one day he would +return and fill the earth with justice. They believed the +millennium to be near at hand, so that the number of Imáms +was at first limited to four. Thus the poet Kuthayyir +(† 723 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) says:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Four complete are the Imáms</span><span class="i0"> +of Quraysh, the lords of Right:</span><span class="i0"> +‘Alí and his three good sons,</span><span class="i0"> +each of them a shining light.</span><span class="i0"> +One was faithful and devout;</span><span class="i0"> +Karbalá hid one from sight;</span><span class="i0"> +One, until with waving flags</span><span class="i0"> +his horsemen he shall lead to fight,</span><span class="i0"> +Dwells on Mount Raḍwá, concealed:</span><span class="i0"> +honey he drinks and water bright."<a name="FNanchor_404" id="FNanchor_404"></a><a href="#Footnote_404" class="fnanchor">404</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The Messianic idea is not peculiar to the Shí‘ites, but was +brought into Islam at an early period by Jewish and Christian +converts, and soon established itself as a part of Muḥammadan +belief. Traditions ascribed to the Prophet began to circulate, +declaring that the approach of the Last Judgment would be +heralded by a time of tumult and confusion, by the return of +Jesus, who would slay the Antichrist (<i>al-Dajjál</i>), <span class="sidenote"> The Mahdí +or Messiah.</span> +and finally by the coming of the Mahdí, <i>i.e.</i>, +'the God-guided one,' who would fill the earth +with justice even as it was then filled with violence and +iniquity. This expectation of a Deliverer descended from the + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_217" id="Page_217" href="#"><span><i>THE SHÍ‘ITES</i></span>217</a></span> + +Prophet runs through the whole history of the Shí‘a. As +we have seen, their supreme religious chiefs were the Imáms of +‘Alí's House, each of whom transmitted his authority to his +successor. In the course of time disputes arose as to the +succession. One sect acknowledged only seven legitimate +Imáms, while another carried the number to twelve. The +last Imám of the 'Seveners' (<i>al-Sab‘iyya</i>), who are commonly +called Ismá‘ílís, was Muḥammad b. Ismá‘íl, and of the +'Twelvers' (<i>al-Ithná-‘ashariyya</i>) Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan.<a name="FNanchor_405" id="FNanchor_405"></a><a href="#Footnote_405" class="fnanchor">405</a> +Both those personages vanished mysteriously about 770 and +870 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, and their respective followers, refusing to believe +that they were dead, asserted that their Imám had withdrawn +himself for a season from mortal sight, but that he would +surely return at last as the promised Mahdí. It would take a +long while to enumerate all the pretenders and fanatics who +have claimed this title.<a name="FNanchor_406" id="FNanchor_406"></a><a href="#Footnote_406" class="fnanchor">406</a> Two of them founded the Fáṭimid +and Almohade dynasties, which we shall mention elsewhere, +but they generally died on the gibbet or the battle-field. The +ideal which they, so to speak, incarnated did not perish with +them. Mahdiism, the faith in a divinely appointed revolution +which will sweep away the powers of evil and usher in a +Golden Age of justice and truth such as the world has never +known, is a present and inspiring fact which deserves to be well +weighed by those who doubt the possibility of an Islamic +Reformation.</p> + +<p>The Shí‘a began as a political faction, but it could not +remain so for any length of time, because in Islam politics +always tend to take religious ground, just as the successful +religious reformer invariably becomes a ruler. The Saba’ites +furnished the Shí‘ite movement with a theological basis; and + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_218" id="Page_218" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>218</a></span> + +the massacre of Ḥusayn, followed by Mukhtár's rebellion, +supplied the indispensable element of enthusiasm. Within a +few years after the death of Ḥusayn his grave at <span class="sidenote">Shí‘ite +gatherings at +Karbalá.</span> +Karbalá was already a place of pilgrimage for the +Shí‘ites. When the 'Penitents' (<i>al-Tawwábún</i>) +revolted in 684 they repaired thither and lifted their voices +simultaneously in a loud wail, and wept, and prayed God that +He would forgive them for having deserted the Prophet's +grandson in his hour of need. "O God!" exclaimed their +chief, "have mercy on Ḥusayn, the Martyr and the son of a +Martyr, the Mahdí and the son of a Mahdí, the Ṣiddíq and +the son of a Ṣiddíq!<a name="FNanchor_407" id="FNanchor_407"></a><a href="#Footnote_407" class="fnanchor">407</a> O God! we bear witness that we follow +their religion and their path, and that we are the foes of their +slayers and the friends of those who love them."<a name="FNanchor_408" id="FNanchor_408"></a><a href="#Footnote_408" class="fnanchor">408</a> Here is the +germ of the <i>ta‘ziyas</i>, or Passion Plays, which are acted every +year on the 10th of Muḥarram, wherever Shí‘ites are to be +found.</p> + +<p>But the Moses of the Shí‘a, the man who showed them the +way to victory although he did not lead them to it, is undoubtedly +<span class="sidenote"> Mukhtár.</span> +Mukhtár. He came forward in the +name of ‘Alí's son, Muḥammad, generally known +as Ibnu ’l-Ḥanafiyya after his mother. Thus he gained the +support of the Arabian Shí‘ites, properly so called, who were +devoted to ‘Alí and his House, and laid no stress upon the +circumstance of descent from the Prophet, whereas the +Persian adherents of the Shí‘a made it a vital matter, and held +accordingly that only the sons of ‘Alí by his wife Fáṭima were +fully qualified Imáms. Raising the cry of vengeance for +Ḥusayn, Mukhtár carried this party also along with him. In +686 he found himself master of Kúfa. Neither the result of +his triumph nor the rapid overthrow of his power concerns us + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_219" id="Page_219" href="#"><span><i>THE SHI‘ITES</i></span>219</a></span> + +here, but something must be said about the aims and character +of the movement which he headed.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"More than half the population of Kúfa was composed of <i>Mawálí</i> +(Clients), who monopolised handicraft, trade, and commerce. They +<span class="sidenote">The <i>Mawálí</i> +of Kúfa.</span> +were mostly Persians in race and language; they +had come to Kúfa as prisoners of war and had there +passed over to Islam: then they were manumitted by +their owners and received as clients into the Arab tribes, so that +they now occupied an ambiguous position (<i>Zwitterstellung</i>), being +no longer slaves, but still very dependent on their patrons; needing +their protection, bound to their service, and forming their retinue in +peace and war. In these <i>Mawálí</i>, who were entitled by virtue of +Islam to more than the 'dominant Arabism' allowed them, the hope +now dawned of freeing themselves from clientship and of rising to +full and direct participation in the Moslem state."<a name="FNanchor_409" id="FNanchor_409"></a><a href="#Footnote_409" class="fnanchor">409</a></p></div> + +<p class="tb">Mukhtár, though himself an Arab of noble family, trusted +the <i>Mawálí</i> and treated them as equals, a proceeding which +<span class="sidenote">Mukhtár and +the <i>Mawálí</i>.</span> +was bitterly resented by the privileged class. +"You have taken away our clients who are the +booty which God bestowed upon us together with +this country. We emancipated them, hoping to receive the +Divine recompense and reward, but you would not rest until +you made them sharers in our booty."<a name="FNanchor_410" id="FNanchor_410"></a><a href="#Footnote_410" class="fnanchor">410</a> Mukhtár was only +giving the <i>Mawálí</i> their due—they were Moslems and had +the right, as such, to a share in the revenues. To the haughty +Arabs, however, it appeared a monstrous thing that the +despised foreigners should be placed on the same level with +themselves. Thus Mukhtár was thrown into the arms of the +<i>Mawálí</i>, and the movement now became not so <span class="sidenote">Persian influence +on the Shí‘a.</span> +much anti-Umayyad as anti-Arabian. Here is +the turning-point in the history of the Shí‘a. Its +ranks were swelled by thousands of Persians imbued with +the extreme doctrines of the Saba’ites which have been + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_220" id="Page_220" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>220</a></span> + +sketched above, and animated by the intense hatred of a downtrodden +people towards their conquerors and oppressors. +Consequently the Shí‘a assumed a religious and enthusiastic +character, and struck out a new path which led it farther and +farther from the orthodox creed. The doctrine of 'Interpretation' +(<i>Ta’wíl</i>) opened the door to all sorts of extravagant +ideas. One of the principal Shí‘ite sects, the Háshimiyya, held +that "there is an esoteric side to everything external, a spirit +to every form, a hidden meaning (<i>ta’wíl</i>) to every revelation, +and to every similitude in this world a corresponding reality in +the other world; that ‘Alí united in his own person the +knowledge of all mysteries and communicated it to his son +Muḥammad Ibnu ’l-Ḥanafiyya, who passed it on to his son +Abú Háshim; and that the possessor of this universal knowledge +is the true Imám."<a name="FNanchor_411" id="FNanchor_411"></a><a href="#Footnote_411" class="fnanchor">411</a> So, without ceasing to be Moslems +in name, the Shí‘ites transmuted Islam into whatever shape +they pleased by virtue of a mystical interpretation based on the +infallible authority of the House of Muḥammad, and out of the +ruins of a political party there gradually arose a great religious +organisation in which men of the most diverse opinions could +work together for deliverance from the Umayyad yoke. The +first step towards this development was made by Mukhtár, a +versatile genius who seems to have combined the parts of +political adventurer, social reformer, prophet, and charlatan. +He was crushed and his Persian allies were decimated, but the +seed which he had sown bore an abundant harvest when, sixty +years later, Abú Muslim unfurled the black standard of the +‘Abbásids in Khurásán.</p> + +<p class="tb">Concerning the origin of the oldest theological sects in +Islam, the Murjites and the Mu‘tazilites, we possess too little +contemporary evidence to make a positive statement. It is +probable that the latter at any rate arose, as Von Kremer +has suggested, under the influence of Greek theologians, + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_221" id="Page_221" href="#"><span><i>THE MURJITES</i></span>221</a></span> + +especially John of Damascus and his pupil, Theodore Abucara +(Abú Qurra), the Bishop of Ḥarrán.<a name="FNanchor_412" id="FNanchor_412"></a><a href="#Footnote_412" class="fnanchor">412</a> Christians were freely +admitted to the Umayyad court. The Christian <span class="sidenote"> The oldest +theological sects.</span> +al-Akhṭal was poet-laureate, while many of his +co-religionists held high offices in the Government. +Moslems and Christians exchanged ideas in friendly discussion +or controversially. Armed with the hair-splitting weapons of +Byzantine theology, which they soon learned to use only too +well, the Arabs proceeded to try their edge on the dogmas of +Islam.</p> + +<p>The leading article of the Murjite creed was this, that no +one who professed to believe in the One God could be +<span class="sidenote"> The Murjites.</span> +declared an infidel, whatever sins he might +commit, until God Himself had given judgment +against him.<a name="FNanchor_413" id="FNanchor_413"></a><a href="#Footnote_413" class="fnanchor">413</a> The Murjites were so called because they +deferred (<i>arja’a</i> = to defer) their decision in such cases and +left the sinner's fate in suspense, so long as it was doubtful.<a name="FNanchor_414" id="FNanchor_414"></a><a href="#Footnote_414" class="fnanchor">414</a> +This principle they applied in different ways. For example, +they refused to condemn ‘Alí and ‘Uthmán outright, as the +Khárijites did. "Both ‘Alí and ‘Uthmán," they said, "were +servants of God, and by God alone must they be judged; it is +not for us to pronounce either of them an infidel, notwithstanding +that they rent the Moslem people asunder."<a name="FNanchor_415" id="FNanchor_415"></a><a href="#Footnote_415" class="fnanchor">415</a> On +the other hand, the Murjites equally rejected the pretensions + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_222" id="Page_222" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>222</a></span> + +made by the Shí‘ites on behalf of ‘Alí and by the Umayyads +on behalf of Mu‘áwiya. For the most part they maintained +a neutral attitude towards the Umayyad Government: they +were passive resisters, content, as Wellhausen puts it, "to +stand up for the impersonal Law." Sometimes, however, they +turned the principle of toleration against their rulers. Thus +Ḥárith b. Surayj and other Arabian Murjites joined the +oppressed <i>Mawálí</i> of Khurásán to whom the Government +denied those rights which they had acquired by conversion.<a name="FNanchor_416" id="FNanchor_416"></a><a href="#Footnote_416" class="fnanchor">416</a> +According to the Murjite view, these Persians, +having professed Islam, should no longer be treated as tax-paying +infidels. The Murjites brought the same tolerant +spirit into religion. They set faith above works, emphasised +the love and goodness of God, and held that no Moslem would +be damned everlastingly. Some, like Jahm b. Ṣafwán, went so +far as to declare that faith (<i>ímán</i>) was merely an inward conviction: +a man might openly profess Christianity or Judaism +or any form of unbelief without ceasing to be a good Moslem, +provided only that he acknowledged Allah with his heart.<a name="FNanchor_417" id="FNanchor_417"></a><a href="#Footnote_417" class="fnanchor">417</a> +The moderate school found their most illustrious representative +in Abú Ḥanífa († 767 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), and through this great divine—whose +followers to-day are counted by millions—their liberal +doctrines were diffused and perpetuated.</p> + +<p>During the Umayyad period Baṣra was the intellectual +capital of Islam, and in that city we find the first traces of a +<span class="sidenote">The Mu‘tazilites.</span> +sect which maintained the principle that thought +must be free in the search for truth. The origin +of the Mu‘tazilites (<i>al-Mu‘tazila</i>), as they are generally called, +takes us back to the famous divine and ascetic, Ḥasan of +Baṣra (†728 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). One day he was asked to give his opinion +on a point regarding which the Murjites and the Khárijites +held opposite views, namely, whether those who had committed + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_223" id="Page_223" href="#"><span><i>THE MU‘TAZILITES</i></span>223</a></span> + +a great sin should be deemed believers or unbelievers. While +Ḥasan was considering the question, one of his pupils, Wáṣil b. +‘Aṭá (according to another tradition, ‘Amr b. ‘Ubayd) replied +that such persons were neither believers nor unbelievers, but +should be ranked in an intermediate state. He then turned +aside and began to explain the grounds of his assertion to a +group which gathered about him in a different part of the +mosque. Ḥasan said: "Wáṣil has separated himself from us" +(<i>i‘tazala ‘anná</i>); and on this account the followers of Wáṣil +were named 'Mu‘tazilites,' <i>i.e.</i>, Schismatics. Although the +story may not be literally true, it is probably safe to assume +that the new sect originated in Baṣra among the pupils of +Ḥasan,<a name="FNanchor_418" id="FNanchor_418"></a><a href="#Footnote_418" class="fnanchor">418</a> who was the life and soul of the religious movement +of the first century <span class="smcap">a.h.</span> The Mu‘tazilite heresy, in its +earliest form, is connected with the doctrine of Predestination. +On this subject the Koran speaks with two voices. Muḥammad +was anything but a logically exact and consistent thinker. +He was guided by the impulse of the moment, and neither he +nor his hearers perceived, as later Moslems did, that the language +of the Koran is often contradictory. Thus in the +present instance texts which imply the moral responsibility of +man for his actions—<i>e.g.</i>, "<i>Every soul is in pledge</i> (with +God) <i>for what it hath wrought</i>"<a name="FNanchor_419" id="FNanchor_419"></a><a href="#Footnote_419" class="fnanchor">419</a>; "<i>Whoso does good +benefits himself, and whoso does evil does it against himself</i>"<a name="FNanchor_420" id="FNanchor_420"></a><a href="#Footnote_420" class="fnanchor">420</a>—stand +side by side with others which declare that God leads men +aright or astray, as He pleases; that the hearts of the wicked +are sealed and their ears made deaf to the truth; and that +they are certainly doomed to perdition. This fatalistic view +prevailed in the first century of Islam, and the dogma of Predestination +was almost universally accepted. Ibn Qutayba, +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_224" id="Page_224" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>224</a></span> +however, mentions the names of twenty-seven persons who held +the opinion that men's actions are free.<a name="FNanchor_421" id="FNanchor_421"></a><a href="#Footnote_421" class="fnanchor">421</a> Two among them, +Ma‘bad al-Juhaní and Abú Marwán Ghaylán, who were put to +death by ‘Abdu ’l-Malik and his son Hishám, do not appear to +have been condemned as heretics, but rather as enemies of the +Umayyad Government.<a name="FNanchor_422" id="FNanchor_422"></a><a href="#Footnote_422" class="fnanchor">422</a> The real founder of the Mu‘tazilites +was Wáṣil b. ‘Aṭá († 748 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>),<a name="FNanchor_423" id="FNanchor_423"></a><a href="#Footnote_423" class="fnanchor">423</a> who added a second cardinal +doctrine to that of free-will. He denied the existence of the +Divine attributes—Power, Wisdom, Life, &c.—on the ground +that such qualities, if conceived as eternal, would destroy the +Unity of God. Hence the Mu‘tazilites called themselves +'the partisans of Unity and Justice' (<i>Ahlu’l-tawḥíd wa-’l-‘adl</i>): +of Unity for the reason which has been explained, and of +Justice, because they held that God was not the author of evil +and that He would not punish His creatures except for actions +within their control. The further development of these +Rationalistic ideas belongs to the ‘Abbásid period and will be +discussed in a subsequent chapter.</p> + +<p class="tb">The founder of Islam had too much human nature and +common sense to demand of his countrymen such mortifying +<span class="sidenote"> Growth of +asceticism.</span> +austerities as were practised by the Jewish Essenes +and the Christian monks. His religion was not +without ascetic features, <i>e.g.</i>, the Fast of Ramaḍán, +the prohibition of wine, and the ordinance of the pilgrimage, +but these can scarcely be called unreasonable. On the other +hand Muḥammad condemned celibacy not only by his personal + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_225" id="Page_225" href="#"><span><i>THE ASCETIC MOVEMENT</i></span>225</a></span> + +example but also by precept. "There is no monkery in +Islam," he is reported to have said, and there was in fact +nothing of the kind for more than a century after his death. +During this time, however, asceticism made great strides. It +was the inevitable outcome of the Muḥammadan conception +of Allah, in which the attributes of mercy and love are overshadowed +by those of majesty, awe, and vengeance. The +terrors of Judgment Day so powerfully described in the Koran +were realised with an intensity of conviction which it is +difficult for us to imagine. As Goldziher has observed, an +exaggerated consciousness of sin and the dread of Divine punishment +gave the first impulse to Moslem asceticism. Thus we +read that Tamím al-Dárí, one of the Prophet's Companions, +who was formerly a Christian, passed the whole night until +daybreak, repeating a single verse of the Koran (xlv, 20)—"<i>Do +those who work evil think that We shall make them even +as those who believe and do good, so that their life and death +shall be equal? Ill do they judge!</i>"<a name="FNanchor_424" id="FNanchor_424"></a><a href="#Footnote_424" class="fnanchor">424</a> Abu ’l-Dardá, another +of the Companions, used to say: "If ye knew what ye shall +see after death, ye would not eat food nor drink water from +appetite, and I wish that I were a tree which is lopped and +then devoured."<a name="FNanchor_425" id="FNanchor_425"></a><a href="#Footnote_425" class="fnanchor">425</a> There were many who shared these views, +and their determination to renounce the world and to live +solely for God was strengthened by their disgust with a +tyrannical and impious Government, and by the almost uninterrupted +spectacle of bloodshed, rapine, and civil war. Ḥasan <span class="sidenote"> Ḥasan of Baṣra.</span> +of Baṣra († 728)—we have already met him in +connection with the Mu‘tazilites—is an outstanding +figure in this early ascetic movement, which +proceeded on orthodox lines.<a name="FNanchor_426" id="FNanchor_426"></a><a href="#Footnote_426" class="fnanchor">426</a> Fear of God seized on him +so mightily that, in the words of his biographer, "it seemed + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_226" id="Page_226" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>226</a></span> + +as though Hell-fire had been created for him alone."<a name="FNanchor_427" id="FNanchor_427"></a><a href="#Footnote_427" class="fnanchor">427</a> All who +looked on his face thought that he must have been recently +overtaken by some great calamity.<a name="FNanchor_428" id="FNanchor_428"></a><a href="#Footnote_428" class="fnanchor">428</a> One day a friend saw him +weeping and asked him the cause. "I weep," he replied, +"for fear that I have done something unwittingly and +unintentionally, or committed some fault, or spoken some +word which is unpleasing to God: then He may have said, +'Begone, for now thou hast no more honour in My court, +and henceforth I will not receive anything from thee.'"<a name="FNanchor_429" id="FNanchor_429"></a><a href="#Footnote_429" class="fnanchor">429</a> +Al-Mubarrad relates that two monks, coming from Syria, +entered Baṣra and looked at Ḥasan, whereupon one said to the +other, "Let us turn aside to visit this man, whose way of life +appears like that of the Messiah." So they went, and they +found him supporting his chin on the palm of his hand, while +he was saying—"How I marvel at those who have been +ordered to lay in a stock of provisions and have been +summoned to set out on a journey, and yet the foremost of +them stays for the hindermost! Would that I knew what +they are waiting for!"<a name="FNanchor_430" id="FNanchor_430"></a><a href="#Footnote_430" class="fnanchor">430</a> The following utterances are +characteristic:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"God hath made fasting a hippodrome (place or time of training) +for His servants, that they may race towards obedience to Him.<a name="FNanchor_431" id="FNanchor_431"></a><a href="#Footnote_431" class="fnanchor">431</a> +Some come in first and win the prize, while others are left behind +and return disappointed; and by my life, if the lid were removed, +the well-doer would be diverted by his well-doing, and the evildoer +by his evil-doing, from wearing new garments or from anointing +his hair."<a name="FNanchor_432" id="FNanchor_432"></a><a href="#Footnote_432" class="fnanchor">432</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_227" id="Page_227" href="#"><span><i>ḤASAN OF BAṢRA</i></span>227</a></span></p> + +<p>"You meet one of them with white skin and delicate complexion, +speeding along the path of vanity: he shaketh his hips and clappeth +his sides and saith, 'Here am I, recognise me!' Yes, we recognise +thee, and thou art hateful to God and hateful to good men."<a name="FNanchor_433" id="FNanchor_433"></a><a href="#Footnote_433" class="fnanchor">433</a></p> + +<p>"The bounties of God are too numerous to be acknowledged +unless with His help, and the sins of Man are too numerous for him +to escape therefrom unless God pardon them."<a name="FNanchor_434" id="FNanchor_434"></a><a href="#Footnote_434" class="fnanchor">434</a></p> + +<p>"The wonder is not how the lost were lost, but how the saved +were saved."<a name="FNanchor_435" id="FNanchor_435"></a><a href="#Footnote_435" class="fnanchor">435</a></p> + +<p>"Cleanse ye these hearts (by meditation and remembrance of +God), for they are quick to rust; and restrain ye these souls, for +they desire eagerly, and if ye restrain them not, they will drag you +to an evil end."<a name="FNanchor_436" id="FNanchor_436"></a><a href="#Footnote_436" class="fnanchor">436</a></p></div> + +<p>The Ṣúfís, concerning whom we shall say a few words +presently, claim Ḥasan as one of themselves, and with justice +<span class="sidenote"> Ḥasan of Baṣra +not a genuine +Ṣúfí.</span> +in so far as he attached importance to spiritual +righteousness, and was not satisfied with merely +external acts of devotion. "A grain of genuine +piety," he declared, "is better than a thousandfold weight of +fasting and prayer."<a name="FNanchor_437" id="FNanchor_437"></a><a href="#Footnote_437" class="fnanchor">437</a> But although some of his sayings which +are recorded in the later biographies lend colour to the fiction +that he was a full-blown Ṣúfí, there can be no doubt that his +mysticism—if it deserves that name—was of the most moderate +type, entirely lacking the glow and exaltation which we find +in the saintly woman, Rábi‘a al-‘Adawiyya, with whom legend +associates him.<a name="FNanchor_438" id="FNanchor_438"></a><a href="#Footnote_438" class="fnanchor">438</a></p> + +<p class="tb">The origin of the name 'Ṣúfí' is explained by the Ṣúfís +themselves in many different ways, but of the derivations + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_228" id="Page_228" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>228</a></span> + +which have been proposed only three possess any claim to consideration, +viz., those which connect it with σοφός (wise) or +with <i>ṣafá</i> (purity) or with <i>ṣúf</i> (wool).<a name="FNanchor_439" id="FNanchor_439"></a><a href="#Footnote_439" class="fnanchor">439</a> The +first two are inadmissible on linguistic grounds, <span class="sidenote"> The derivation +of 'Ṣúfí.'</span> +into which we need not enter, though it may be +remarked that the derivation from <i>ṣafá</i> is consecrated by the +authority of the Ṣúfí Saints, and is generally accepted in the +East.<a name="FNanchor_440" id="FNanchor_440"></a><a href="#Footnote_440" class="fnanchor">440</a> The reason for this preference appears in such definitions +as "The Ṣúfí is he who keeps his heart pure (<i>ṣáfí</i>) with +God,"<a name="FNanchor_441" id="FNanchor_441"></a><a href="#Footnote_441" class="fnanchor">441</a> "Ṣúfiism is 'the being chosen for purity' (<i>iṣṭifá</i>): +whoever is thus chosen and made pure from all except God +is the true Ṣúfí."<a name="FNanchor_442" id="FNanchor_442"></a><a href="#Footnote_442" class="fnanchor">442</a> Understood in this sense, the word had a +lofty significance which commended it to the elect. Nevertheless +it can be tracked to a quite humble source. Woollen +garments were frequently worn by men of ascetic life in the +early times of Islam in order (as Ibn Khaldún says) that they +might distinguish themselves from those who affected a more +luxurious fashion of dress. Hence the name 'Ṣúfí,' which +denotes in the first instance an ascetic clad in wool (<i>ṣúf</i>), just +as the Capuchins owed their designation to the hood (<i>cappuccio</i>) +which they wore. According to Qushayrí, the term came +into common use before the end of the second century of the +Hijra ( = 815 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). By this time, however, the ascetic movement +in Islam had to some extent assumed a new character, +and the meaning of 'Ṣúfí,' if the word already existed, must +have undergone a corresponding change. It seems to me not +unlikely that the epithet in question marks the point of + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_229" id="Page_229" href="#"><span><i>EARLY ṢÚFIISM</i></span>229</a></span> + +departure from orthodox asceticism and that, as Jámí states, +it was first applied to Abú Háshim of Kúfa (<i>ob.</i> before 800<span class="smcap"> a.d.</span>), +who founded a monastery (<i>khánaqáh</i>) for Ṣúfís at <span class="sidenote"> The beginnings +of Ṣúfiism.</span> +Ramla in Palestine. Be that as it may, the distinction +between asceticism (<i>zuhd</i>) and Ṣúfiism—a +distinction which answers, broadly speaking, to the <i>via purgativa</i> +and the <i>via illuminativa</i> of Western mediæval mysticism—begins +to show itself before the close of the Umayyad period, and +rapidly develops in the early ‘Abbásid age under the influence of +foreign ideas and, in particular, of Greek philosophy. Leaving +this later development to be discussed in a subsequent chapter, +we shall now briefly consider the origin of Ṣúfiism properly so +called and the first manifestation of the peculiar tendencies on +which it is based.</p> + +<p class="tb">As regards its origin, we cannot do better than quote the +observations with which Ibn Khaldún († 1406 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) introduces +the chapter on Ṣúfiism in the Prolegomena to his great +historical work:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This is one of the religious sciences which were born in Islam. +The way of the Ṣúfís was regarded by the ancient Moslems and +<span class="sidenote"> Ibn Khaldún's +account of the +origin of Ṣúfiism.</span> +their illustrious men—the Companions of the Prophet +(<i>al-Ṣaḥába</i>), the Successors (<i>al-Tábi‘ún</i>), and the +generation which came after them—as the way of +Truth and Salvation. To be assiduous in piety, to give up all else +for God's sake, to turn away from worldly gauds and vanities, to +renounce pleasure, wealth, and power, which are the general +objects of human ambition, to abandon society and to lead in +seclusion a life devoted solely to the service of God—these were the +fundamental principles of Ṣúfiism which prevailed among the +Companions and the Moslems of old time. When, however, in +the second generation and afterwards worldly tastes became widely +spread, and men no longer shrank from such contamination, those +who made piety their aim were distinguished by the title of <i>Ṣúfís</i> +or <i>Mutaṣawwifa</i> (aspirants to Ṣúfiism).<a name="FNanchor_443" id="FNanchor_443"></a><a href="#Footnote_443" class="fnanchor">443</a></p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_230" id="Page_230" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>230</a></span></p> + +<p>From this it is clear that Ṣúfiism, if not originally identical +with the ascetic revolt of which, as we have seen, Ḥasan of +<span class="sidenote"> The earliest form +of Ṣúfiism.</span> +Baṣra was the most conspicuous representative, +at any rate arose out of that movement. It was +not a speculative system, like the Mu‘tazilite +heresy, but a practical religion and rule of life. "We derived +Ṣúfiism," said Junayd, "from fasting and taking leave of the +world and breaking familiar ties and renouncing what men +deem good; not from disputation" (<i>qíl wa-qál</i>).<a name="FNanchor_444" id="FNanchor_444"></a><a href="#Footnote_444" class="fnanchor">444</a> The oldest +Ṣúfís were ascetics and hermits, but they were also something +more. They brought out the spiritual and mystical element in +Islam, or brought it in, if they did not find it there already.</p> + +<p>"Ṣúfiism," says Suhrawardí,<a name="FNanchor_445" id="FNanchor_445"></a><a href="#Footnote_445" class="fnanchor">445</a> "is neither 'poverty' (<i>faqr</i>) +nor asceticism (<i>zuhd</i>), but a term which comprehends the ideas +<span class="sidenote"> The difference +between +asceticism +and Ṣúfiism.</span> +of both, together with something besides. Without +these superadded qualities a man is not a Ṣúfí, +though he may be an ascetic (<i>záhid</i>) or a fakír +(<i>faqír</i>). It is said that, notwithstanding the excellence +of 'poverty,' the end thereof is only the beginning +of Ṣúfiism." A little further on he explains the difference +thus:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The fakír holds fast to his 'poverty' and is profoundly convinced +of its superior merit. He prefers it to riches because he +longs for the Divine recompense of which his faith assures him ... +and whenever he contemplates the everlasting reward, he abstains +from the fleeting joys of this world and embraces poverty and +indigence and fears that if he should cease to be 'poor' he will lose +both the merit and the prize. Now this is absolutely unsound +according to the doctrine of the Ṣúfís, because he hopes for recompense +and renounces the world on that account, whereas the Ṣúfí does +not renounce it for the sake of promised rewards but, on the contrary, + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_231" id="Page_231" href="#"><span><i>EARLY ṢÚFIISM</i></span>231</a></span> + +for the sake of present 'states,' for he is the 'son of his time.'...<a name="FNanchor_446" id="FNanchor_446"></a><a href="#Footnote_446" class="fnanchor">446</a> +The theory that 'poverty' is the foundation of Ṣúfiism signifies that +the diverse stages of Ṣúfiism are reached by the road of 'poverty'; +it does not imply that the Ṣúfí is essentially a fakír."</p></div> + +<p>The keynote of Ṣúfiism is disinterested, selfless devotion, +in a word, Love. Though not wholly strange, this idea +was very far from being familiar to pious Muḥammadans, +who were more deeply impressed by the power and vengeance +of God than by His goodness and mercy. The +Koran generally represents Allah as a stern, unapproachable +despot, requiring utter submission to His arbitrary will, +but infinitely unconcerned with human feelings and aspirations. +Such a Being could not satisfy the religious instinct, +and the whole history of Ṣúfiism is a protest against the +unnatural divorce between God and Man which this conception +involves. Accordingly, I do not think that we need look +beyond Islam for the origin of the Ṣúfí doctrines, although it +would be a mistake not to recognise the part which Christian +influence must have had in shaping their early development. +The speculative character with which they gradually became +imbued, and which in the course of time completely transformed +them, was more or less latent during the Umayyad period +and for nearly a century after the accession of the House of +‘Abbás. The early Ṣúfís are still on orthodox ground: their +relation to Islam is not unlike that of the <span class="sidenote"> The early Ṣúfís.</span> +mediæval Spanish mystics to the Roman Catholic +Church. They attach extraordinary value to certain points +in Muḥammad's teaching and emphasise them so as to leave +the others almost a dead letter. They do not indulge in +profound dialectic, but confine themselves to matters bearing +on practical theology. Self-abandonment, rigorous self-mortification, +fervid piety, and quietism carried to the verge of apathy +form the main features of their creed.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_232" id="Page_232" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>232</a></span> + +A full and vivid picture of early Ṣúfiism might be drawn +from the numerous biographies in Arabic and Persian, which +<span class="sidenote"> Ibráhím b. +Adham.</span> +supply abundant details concerning the manner +of life of these Muḥammadan Saints, and faithfully +record their austerities, visions, miracles, +and sayings. Here we have only space to add a few lines +about the most important members of the group—Ibráhím +b. Adham, Abú ‘Alí Shaqíq, Fuḍayl b. ‘Iyáḍ, and Rábi‘a—all +of whom died between the middle and end of the second +century after the Hijra (767-815 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). Ibráhím belonged +to the royal family of Balkh. Forty scimitars of gold and +forty maces of gold were borne in front of him and behind. +One day, while hunting, he heard a voice which cried, +"Awake! wert thou created for this?" He exchanged +his splendid robes for the humble garb and felt cap of a +shepherd, bade farewell to his kingdom, and lived for nine +years in a cave near Naysábúr.<a name="FNanchor_447" id="FNanchor_447"></a><a href="#Footnote_447" class="fnanchor">447</a> His customary prayer +was, "O God, uplift me from the shame of disobedience +to the glory of submission unto Thee!"</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"O God!" he said, "Thou knowest that the Eight Paradises are +little beside the honour which Thou hast done unto me, and beside +Thy love, and beside Thy giving me intimacy with the praise of Thy +name, and beside the peace of mind which Thou hast given me +when I meditate on Thy majesty." And again: "You will not +attain to righteousness until you traverse six passes (<i>‘aqabát</i>): the +first is that you shut the door of pleasure and open the door of +hardship; the second, that you shut the door of eminence and open +the door of abasement; the third, that you shut the door of ease and +open the door of affliction; the fourth, that you shut the door of +sleep and open the door of wakefulness; the fifth, that you shut the +door of riches and open the door of poverty; and the sixth, that +you shut the door of expectation and open the door of making yourself +ready for death."</p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_233" id="Page_233" href="#"><span><i>THE OLDEST ṢÚFÍS</i></span>233</a></span> + +Shaqíq, also of Balkh, laid particular stress on the duty +of leaving one's self entirely in God's hands (<i>tawakkul</i>), a +<span class="sidenote"> Shaqíq +of Balkh.</span> +term which is practically synonymous with +passivity; <i>e.g.</i>, the <i>mutawakkil</i> must make no +effort to obtain even the barest livelihood, he +must not ask for anything, nor engage in any trade: his +business is with God alone. One of Shaqíq's sayings was, +"Nine-tenths of devotion consist in flight from mankind, +the remaining tenth in silence." Similarly, <span class="sidenote">Fuḍayl b. ‘Iyáḍ.</span> +Fuḍayl b. ‘Iyáḍ, a converted captain of banditti, +declared that "to abstain for men's sake from doing anything +is hypocrisy, while to do anything for men's sake +is idolatry." It may be noticed as an argument against +the Indian origin of Ṣúfiism that although the three +Ṣúfís who have been mentioned were natives of Khurásán +or Transoxania, and therefore presumably in touch with +Buddhistic ideas, no trace can be found in their sayings of +the doctrine of dying to self (<i>faná</i>), which plays a great part +in subsequent Ṣúfiism, and which Von Kremer and others +have identified with <i>Nirvána</i>. We now come to a more +interesting personality, in whom the ascetic and quietistic +type of Ṣúfiism is transfigured by emotion and begins clearly +to reveal the direction of its next advance. Every one +knows that women have borne a distinguished part in the +annals of European mysticism: St. Teresa, Madame Guyon, +Catharine of Siena, and Juliana of Norwich, to mention +but a few names at random. And notwithstanding +the intellectual death to which the majority of Moslem +women are condemned by their Prophet's ordinance, the +Ṣúfís, like the Roman Catholics, can boast a goodly number +of female saints. The oldest of these, and by <span class="sidenote">Rábi‘a +al-‘Adawiyya.</span> +far the most renowned, is Rábi‘a, who belonged +to the tribe of ‘Adí, whence she is generally +called Rábi‘a al-‘Adawiyya. She was a native of Baṣra +and died at Jerusalem, probably towards the end of the + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_234" id="Page_234" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>234</a></span> + +second century of Islam: her tomb was an object of +pilgrimage in the Middle Ages, as we learn from Ibn +Khallikán († 1282 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). Although the sayings and verses +attributed to her by Ṣúfí writers may be of doubtful +authenticity, there is every reason to suppose that they +fairly represent the actual character of her devotion, which +resembled that of all feminine mystics in being inspired by +tender and ardent feeling. She was asked: "Do you love +God Almighty?" "Yes." "Do you hate the Devil?" +"My love of God," she replied, "leaves me no leisure to +hate the Devil. I saw the Prophet in a dream. He said, +'O Rábi‘a, do you love me?' I said, 'O Apostle of God, +who does not love thee?—but love of God hath so absorbed +me that neither love nor hate of any other thing remains +in my heart.'" Rábi‘a is said to have spoken the following +verses:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Two ways I love Thee: selfishly,</span><span class="i0"> +And next, as worthy is of Thee.</span><span class="i0"> +'Tis selfish love that I do naught</span><span class="i0"> +Save think on Thee with every thought;</span><span class="i0"> +'Tis purest love when Thou dost raise</span><span class="i0"> +The veil to my adoring gaze.</span><span class="i0"> +Not mine the praise in that or this,</span><span class="i0"> +Thine is the praise in both, I wis."<a name="FNanchor_448" id="FNanchor_448"></a><a href="#Footnote_448" class="fnanchor">448</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Whether genuine or not, these lines, with their mixture +of devotion and speculation—the author distinguishes the +illuminative from the contemplative life and manifestly +regards the latter as the more excellent way—serve to +mark the end of the ascetic school of Ṣúfiism and the rise of +a new theosophy which, under the same name and still +professing to be in full accord with the Koran and the +<i>Sunna</i>, was founded to some extent upon ideas of extraneous +origin—ideas irreconcilable with any revealed religion, and + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_235" id="Page_235" href="#"><span><i>MUḤAMMADAN POETRY</i></span>235</a></span> + +directly opposed to the severe and majestic simplicity of the +Muḥammadan articles of faith.</p> + +<p class="tb">The opening century of Islam was not favourable to literature. +At first conquest, expansion, and organisation, then +<span class="sidenote"> Umayyad +literature.</span> +civil strife absorbed the nation's energies; then, +under the Umayyads, the old pagan spirit +asserted itself once more. Consequently the +literature of this period consists almost exclusively of poetry, +which bears few marks of Islamic influence. I need scarcely +refer to the view which long prevailed in Europe that +Muḥammad corrupted the taste of his countrymen by setting +up the Koran as an incomparable model of poetic style, +and by condemning the admired productions of the heathen +bards and the art of poetry itself; nor remind my readers +that in the first place the Koran is not poetical in form (so +that it could not serve as a model of this <span class="sidenote"> The decline of +Arabian poetry +not due to +Muḥammad.</span> +kind), and secondly, according to Muḥammadan +belief, is the actual Word of God, therefore <i>sui +generis</i> and beyond imitation. Again, the poets +whom the Prophet condemned were his most dangerous +opponents: he hated them not as poets but as propagators +and defenders of false ideals, and because they ridiculed his +teaching, while on the contrary he honoured and rewarded +those who employed their talents in the right way. If the +nomad minstrels and cavaliers who lived, as they sang, the +free life of the desert were never equalled by the brilliant +laureates of imperial Damascus and Baghdád, the causes of +the decline cannot be traced to Muḥammad's personal attitude, +but are due to various circumstances for which he is +only responsible in so far as he founded a religious and +political system that revolutionised Arabian society. The +poets of the period with which we are now dealing follow +slavishly in the footsteps of the ancients, as though Islam +had never been. Instead of celebrating the splendid victories + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_236" id="Page_236" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>236</a></span> + +and heroic deeds of Moslem warriors, the bard living in a +great city still weeps over the relics of his beloved's encampment +in the wilderness, still rides away through <span class="sidenote"> The Umayyad +poets.</span> +the sandy waste on the peerless camel, whose +fine points he particularly describes; and if he +should happen to be addressing the Caliph, it is ten to +one that he will credit that august personage with all the +virtues of a Bedouin Shaykh. "Fortunately the imitation +of the antique <i>qaṣída</i>, at any rate with the greatest Umayyad +poets, is to some extent only accessory to another form +of art that excites our historical interest in a high degree: +namely, the occasional poems (very numerous in almost +all these writers), which are suggested by the mood of +the moment and can shed a vivid light on contemporary +history."<a name="FNanchor_449" id="FNanchor_449"></a><a href="#Footnote_449" class="fnanchor">449</a></p> + +<p class="tb">The conquests made by the successors of the Prophet +brought enormous wealth into Mecca and Medína, and +<span class="sidenote"> Music and song +in the +Holy Cities.</span> +when the Umayyad aristocracy gained the +upper hand in ‘Uthmán's Caliphate, these towns +developed a voluptuous and dissolute life which +broke through every restriction that Islam had imposed. +The increase of luxury produced a corresponding refinement +of the poetic art. Although music was not unknown +to the pagan Arabs, it had hitherto been cultivated chiefly +by foreigners, especially Greek and Persian singing-girls. +But in the first century after the Hijra we hear of several +Arab singers,<a name="FNanchor_450" id="FNanchor_450"></a><a href="#Footnote_450" class="fnanchor">450</a> natives of Mecca and Medína, who set favourite +passages to music: henceforth the words and the melody +are inseparably united, as we learn from the <i>Kitábu ’l-Aghání</i> +or 'Book of Songs,' where hundreds of examples are to be +found. Amidst the gay throng of pleasure-seekers women +naturally played a prominent part, and love, which had + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_237" id="Page_237" href="#"><span><i>‘UMAR IBN ABÍ RABÍ‘A</i></span>237</a></span> + +hitherto formed in most cases merely the conventional prelude +to an ode, now began to be sung for its own sake. +In this Peninsular school, as it may be named in contrast +with the bold and masculine strain of the great Provincial +poets whom we are about to mention, the palm unquestionably +belongs to ‘Umar b. Abí Rabí‘a († 719 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), <span class="sidenote">‘Umar b. Abí +Rabí‘a.</span> +the son of a rich Meccan merchant. He passed +the best part of his life in the pursuit of noble +dames, who alone inspired him to sing. His poetry was so +seductive that it was regarded by devout Moslems as "the +greatest crime ever committed against God," and so charming +withal that ‘Abdulláh b. ‘Abbás, the Prophet's cousin and +a famous authority on the Koran and the Traditions, could +not refrain from getting by heart some erotic verses which +‘Umar recited to him.<a name="FNanchor_451" id="FNanchor_451"></a><a href="#Footnote_451" class="fnanchor">451</a> The Arabs said, with truth, that +the tribe of Quraysh had won distinction in every field +save poetry, but we must allow that ‘Umar b. Abí Rabí‘a +is a clear exception to this rule. His diction, like that of +Catullus, has all the unaffected ease of refined conversation. +Here are a few lines:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Blame me no more, O comrades! but to-day</span><span class="i0"> +Quietly with me beside the howdahs stay.</span><span class="i0"> +Blame not my love for Zaynab, for to her</span><span class="i0"> +And hers my heart is pledged a prisoner.</span><span class="i0"> +Ah, can I ever think of how we met</span><span class="i0"> +Once at al-Khayf, and feel no fond regret?</span><span class="i0"> +My song of other women was but jest:</span><span class="i0"> +She reigns alone, eclipsing all the rest.</span><span class="i0"> +Hers is my love sincere, 'tis she the flame</span><span class="i0"> +Of passion kindles—so, a truce to blame!"<a name="FNanchor_452" id="FNanchor_452"></a><a href="#Footnote_452" class="fnanchor">452</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>We have no space to dwell on the minor poets of the same +school, al-‘Arjí (a kinsman of the Umayyads), al-Aḥwaṣ, and +many others. It has been pointed out by Dr. C. Brockelmann + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_238" id="Page_238" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>238</a></span> + +that the love-poetry of this epoch is largely of popular origin; +<i>e.g.</i>, the songs attributed to Jamíl, in which Buthayna is +addressed, and to Majnún—the hero of countless <span class="sidenote"> Love-ballads.</span> +Persian and Turkish romances which celebrate +his love for Laylá—are true folk-songs such as occur in the +<i>Arabian Nights</i>, and may be heard in the streets of Beyrout +or on the banks of the Tigris at the present day. Many +of them are extremely beautiful. I take the following +verses from a poem which is said to have been composed +by Jamíl:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Oh, might it flower anew, that youthful prime,</span><span class="i0"> +And restore to us, Buthayna, the bygone time!</span><span class="i0"> +And might we again be blest as we wont to be,</span><span class="i0"> +When thy folk were nigh and grudged what thou gavest me!</span><span class="i0"> + </span><span class="i0"> +Shall I ever meet Buthayna alone again,</span><span class="i0"> +Each of us full of love as a cloud of rain?</span><span class="i0"> +Fast in her net was I when a lad, and till</span><span class="i0"> +This day my love is growing and waxing still.</span><span class="i0"> + </span><span class="i0"> +I have spent my lifetime, waiting for her to speak,</span><span class="i0"> +And the bloom of youth is faded from off my cheek;</span><span class="i0"> +But I will not suffer that she my suit deny,</span><span class="i0"> +My love remains undying, though all things die!"<a name="FNanchor_453" id="FNanchor_453"></a><a href="#Footnote_453" class="fnanchor">453</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The names of al-Akhṭal, al-Farazdaq, and Jarír stand out +pre-eminently in the list of Umayyad poets. They were men +<span class="sidenote"> Poetry in the +provinces.</span> +of a very different stamp from the languishing +Minnesingers and carpet-knights who, like Jamíl, +refused to battle except on the field of love. It is +noteworthy that all three were born and bred in Mesopotamia. +The motherland was exhausted; her ambitious and enterprising +youth poured into the provinces, which now become +the main centres of intellectual activity.</p> + +<p>Farazdaq and Jarír are intimately connected by a peculiar +rivalry—"<i>Arcades ambo</i>—<i>id est</i>, blackguards both." For many +years they engaged in a public scolding-match (<i>muháját</i>), and + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_239" id="Page_239" href="#"><span><i>THE NAQÁ’IḌ</i></span>239</a></span> + +as neither had any scruples on the score of decency, the foulest +abuse was bandied to and fro between them—abuse, however, +which is redeemed from vulgarity by its literary excellence, +and by the marvellous skill which the satirists display in +manipulating all the vituperative resources of the Arabic +language. Soon these 'Flytings' (<i>Naqá’iḍ</i>) <span class="sidenote">The <i>Naqá’iḍ</i> of +Jarír and +Farazdaq.</span> +were recited everywhere, and each poet had +thousands of enthusiastic partisans who maintained +that he was superior to his rival.<a name="FNanchor_454" id="FNanchor_454"></a><a href="#Footnote_454" class="fnanchor">454</a> One day +Muhallab b. Abí Sufra, the governor of Khurásán, who +was marching against the Azáriqa, a sect of the Khárijites, +heard a great clamour and tumult in the camp. On +inquiring its cause, he found that the soldiers had been +fiercely disputing as to the comparative merits of Jarír and +Farazdaq, and desired to submit the question to his decision. +"Would you expose me," said Muhallab, "to be torn in +pieces by these two dogs? I will not decide between them, +but I will point out to you those who care not a whit for +either of them. Go to the Azáriqa! They are Arabs <span class="sidenote"> General interest +in poetry.</span> +who understand poetry and judge it aright." +Next day, when the armies faced each other, +an Azraqite named ‘Abída b. Hilál stepped +forth from the ranks and offered single combat. One of +Muhallab's men accepted the challenge, but before fighting +he begged his adversary to inform him which was the +better poet—Farazdaq or Jarír? "God confound you!" +cried ‘Abída, "do you ask me about poetry instead of +studying the Koran and the Sacred Law?" Then he +quoted a verse by Jarír and gave judgment in his favour.<a name="FNanchor_455" id="FNanchor_455"></a><a href="#Footnote_455" class="fnanchor">455</a> +This incident affords a striking proof that the taste for +poetry, far from being confined to literary circles, was +diffused throughout the whole nation, and was cultivated +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_240" id="Page_240" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>240</a></span> +even amidst the fatigues and dangers of war. Parallel +instances occur in the history of the Athenians, the most +gifted people of the West, and possibly elsewhere, but imagine +British soldiers discussing questions of that kind over the +camp-fires!</p> + +<p>Akhṭal joined in the fray. His sympathies were with +Farazdaq, and the <i>naqá’iḍ</i> which he and Jarír composed +against each other have come down to us. All these poets, +like their Post-islamic brethren generally, were professional +encomiasts, greedy, venal, and ready to revile any one who +would not purchase their praise. Some further account of +them may be interesting to the reader, especially as the +anecdotes related by their biographers throw many curious +sidelights on the manners of the time.</p> + +<p>The oldest of the trio, Akhṭal (Ghiyáth b. Ghawth) of +Taghlib, was a Christian, like most of his tribe—they had +<span class="sidenote"> Akhṭal.</span> +long been settled in Mesopotamia—and remained +in that faith to the end of his life, though the +Caliph ‘Abdu ’l-Malik is said to have offered him a pension +and 10,000 dirhems in cash if he would turn Moslem. His +religion, however, was less a matter of principle than of +convenience, and to him the supreme virtue of Christianity +lay in the licence which it gave him to drink wine as often +as he pleased. The stories told of him suggest grovelling +devoutness combined with very easy morals, a phenomenon +familiar to the student of mediæval Catholicism. It is +related by one who was touring in Syria that he found +Akhṭal confined in a church at Damascus, and pleaded his +cause with the priest. The latter stopped beside Akhṭal and +raising the staff on which he leaned—for he was an aged man—exclaimed: +"O enemy of God, will you again defame +people and satirise them and caluminate chaste women?" +while the poet humbled himself and promised never to repeat +the offence. When asked how it was that he, who was +honoured by the Caliph and feared by all, behaved so + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_241" id="Page_241" href="#"><span><i>AKHṬAL</i></span>241</a></span> + +submissively to this priest, he answered, "It is religion, it +is religion."<a name="FNanchor_456" id="FNanchor_456"></a><a href="#Footnote_456" class="fnanchor">456</a> On another occasion, seeing the Bishop pass, +he cried to his wife who was then pregnant, "Run after +him and touch his robe." The poor woman only succeeded +in touching the tail of the Bishop's ass, but Akhṭal consoled +her with the remark, "He and the tail of his ass, there's +no difference!"<a name="FNanchor_457" id="FNanchor_457"></a><a href="#Footnote_457" class="fnanchor">457</a> It is characteristic of the anti-Islamic +spirit which appears so strongly in the Umayyads that their +chosen laureate and champion should have been a Christian +who was in truth a lineal descendant of the pagan bards. +Pious Moslems might well be scandalised when he burst +unannounced into the Caliph's presence, sumptuously attired +in silk and wearing a cross of gold which was suspended +from his neck by a golden chain, while drops of +wine trickled from his beard,<a name="FNanchor_458" id="FNanchor_458"></a><a href="#Footnote_458" class="fnanchor">458</a> but their protests went +unheeded at the court of Damascus, where nobody cared +whether the author of a fine verse was a Moslem or a +Christian, and where a poet was doubly welcome whose +religion enabled him to serve his masters without any +regard to Muḥammadan sentiment; so that, for example, +when Yazíd I wished to take revenge on the people of +Medína because one of their poets had addressed amatory +verses to his sister, he turned to Akhṭal, who branded the +<i>Anṣár</i>, the men who had brought about the triumph of +Islam, in the famous lines—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Quraysh have borne away all the honour and glory,</span><span class="i0"> +And baseness alone is beneath the turbans of the Anṣár."<a name="FNanchor_459" id="FNanchor_459"></a><a href="#Footnote_459" class="fnanchor">459</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>We must remember that the poets were leaders of public +opinion; their utterances took the place of political pamphlets +or of party oratory for or against the Government of the day. + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_242" id="Page_242" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>242</a></span> + +On hearing Akhṭal's ode in praise of the Umayyad dynasty,<a name="FNanchor_460" id="FNanchor_460"></a><a href="#Footnote_460" class="fnanchor">460</a> +‘Abdu ’l-Malik ordered one of his clients to conduct the +author through the streets of Damascus and to cry out, +"Here is the poet of the Commander of the Faithful! Here +is the best poet of the Arabs!"<a name="FNanchor_461" id="FNanchor_461"></a><a href="#Footnote_461" class="fnanchor">461</a> No wonder that he was +a favourite at court and such an eminent personage that +the great tribe of Bakr used to invite him to act as arbitrator +whenever any controversy arose among them.<a name="FNanchor_462" id="FNanchor_462"></a><a href="#Footnote_462" class="fnanchor">462</a> Despite the +luxury in which he lived, his wild Bedouin nature pined +for freedom, and he frequently left the capital to visit his +home in the desert, where he not only married and divorced +several wives, but also threw himself with ardour into the +feuds of his clan. We have already noticed the part which +he played in the literary duel between Jarír and Farazdaq. +From his deathbed he sent a final injunction to Farazdaq +not to spare their common enemy.</p> + +<p>Akhṭal is commended by Arabian critics for the number and +excellence of his long poems, as well as for the purity, polish, +and correctness of his style. Abú ‘Ubayda put him first among +the poets of Islam, while the celebrated collector of Pre-islamic +poetry, Abú ‘Amr b. al-‘Alá, declared that if Akhṭal +had lived a single day in the Pagan Age he would not have +preferred any one to him. His supremacy in panegyric was +acknowledged by Farazdaq, and he himself claims to have +surpassed all competitors in three styles, viz., panegyric, +satire, and erotic poetry; but there is more justification for +the boast that his satires might be recited <i>virginibus</i>—he +does not add <i>puerisque</i>—without causing a blush.<a name="FNanchor_463" id="FNanchor_463"></a><a href="#Footnote_463" class="fnanchor">463</a></p> + +<p class="tb">Hammám b. Ghálib, generally known as Farazdaq, belonged +to the tribe of Tamím, and was born at Baṣra towards the end +of ‘Umar's Caliphate, His grandfather, Ṣa‘ṣa‘a, won renown + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_243" id="Page_243" href="#"><span><i>FARAZDAQ</i></span>243</a></span> + +in Pre-islamic times by ransoming the lives of female infants +whom their parents had condemned to die (on account of <span class="sidenote"> Farazdaq.</span> +which he received the title, <i>Muḥyi ’l-Maw’údát</i>, +'He who brings the buried girls to life'), and +his father was likewise imbued with the old Bedouin traditions +of liberality and honour, which were rapidly growing obsolete +among the demoralised populace of ‘Iráq. Farazdaq was a +<i>mauvais sujet</i> of the type represented by François Villon, +reckless, dissolute, and thoroughly unprincipled: apart from +his gift of vituperation, we find nothing in him to admire +save his respect for his father's memory and his constant +devotion to the House of ‘Alí, a devotion which he scorned +to conceal; so that he was cast into prison by the Caliph +Hishám for reciting in his presence a glowing panegyric on +‘Alí's grandson, Zaynu ’l-‘Ábidín. The tragic fate of Ḥusayn +at Karbalá affected him deeply, and he called on his compatriots +to acquit themselves like men—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"If ye avenge not him, the son of the best of you,</span><span class="i0"> +Then fling, fling the sword away and naught but the spindle ply."<a name="FNanchor_464" id="FNanchor_464"></a><a href="#Footnote_464" class="fnanchor">464</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>While still a young man, he was expelled from his native +city in consequence of the lampoons which he directed against +a noble family of Baṣra, the Banú Nahshal. Thereupon he +fled to Medína, where he plunged into gallantry and dissipation +until a shameless description of one of his intrigues +again drew upon him the sentence of banishment. His +poems contain many references to his cousin Nawár, whom, +by means of a discreditable trick, he forced to marry him +when she was on the point of giving her hand to another. +The pair were ever quarrelling, and at last Farazdaq consented +to an irrevocable divorce, which was witnessed by +Ḥasan of Baṣra, the famous theologian. No sooner was + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_244" id="Page_244" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>244</a></span> + +the act complete than Farazdaq began to wish it undone, +and he spoke the following verses:—<a name="FNanchor_465" id="FNanchor_465"></a><a href="#Footnote_465" class="fnanchor">465</a></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"I feel repentance like al-Kusa‘í,<a name="FNanchor_466" id="FNanchor_466"></a><a href="#Footnote_466" class="fnanchor">466</a></span><span class="i0"> +Now that Nawár has been divorced by me.</span><span class="i0"> +She was my Paradise which I have lost,</span><span class="i0"> +Like Adam when the Lord's command he crossed.</span><span class="i0"> +I am one who wilfully puts out his eyes,</span><span class="i0"> +Then dark to him the shining day doth rise!"</span> +</div></div> + +<p>'The repentance of Farazdaq,' signifying bitter regret or +disappointment, passed into a proverb. He died a few +months before Jarír in 728 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, a year also made notable +by the deaths of two illustrious divines, Ḥasan of Baṣra and +Ibn Sírín.</p> + +<p class="tb">Jarír b. ‘Atiyya belonged to Kulayb, a branch of the same +tribe, Tamím, which produced Farazdaq. He was the court-poet +<span class="sidenote"> Jarír.</span> +of Ḥajjáj, the dreaded governor of ‘Iráq, and +eulogised his patron in such extravagant terms as +to arouse the jealousy of the Caliph ‘Abdu ’l-Malik, who +consequently received him, on his appearance at Damascus, +with marked coldness and hauteur. But when, after several +repulses, he at length obtained permission to recite a poem +which he had composed in honour of the prince, and came +to the verse—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Are not ye the best of those who on camel ride,</span><span class="i0"> +More open-handed than all in the world beside?"—</span> +</div></div> + +<p>the Caliph sat up erect on his throne and exclaimed: "Let + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_245" id="Page_245" href="#"><span><i>JARÍR</i></span>245</a></span> + +us be praised like this or in silence!"<a name="FNanchor_467" id="FNanchor_467"></a><a href="#Footnote_467" class="fnanchor">467</a> Jarír's fame as a +satirist stood so high that to be worsted by him was reckoned +a greater distinction than to vanquish any one else. The +blind poet, Bashshár b. Burd († 783 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), said: "I satirised +Jarír, but he considered me too young for him to notice. +Had he answered me, I should have been the finest poet +in the world."<a name="FNanchor_468" id="FNanchor_468"></a><a href="#Footnote_468" class="fnanchor">468</a> The following anecdote shows that +vituperation launched by a master like Jarír was a deadly +and far-reaching weapon which degraded its victim in the +eyes of his contemporaries, however he might deserve their +esteem, and covered his family and tribe with lasting +disgrace.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>There was a poet of repute, well known by the name of Rá‘i ’l-ibil +(Camel-herd), who loudly published his opinion that Farazdaq was +superior to Jarír, although the latter had lauded his tribe, the Banú +Numayr, whereas Farazdaq had made verses against them. One +day Jarír met him and expostulated with him but got no reply. +Rá‘í was riding a mule and was accompanied by his son, Jandal, +who said to his father: "Why do you halt before this dog of the +Banú Kulayb, as though you had anything to hope or fear from +him?" At the same time he gave the mule a lash with his whip. +The animal started violently and kicked Jarír, who was standing by, +so that his cap fell to the ground. Rá‘í took no heed and went on +his way. Jarír picked up the cap, brushed it, and replaced it on his +head. Then he exclaimed in verse:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"<i>O Jandal! what will say Numayr of you</i></span><span class="i0"> +<i>When my dishonouring shaft has pierced thy sire?</i>"</span> +</div></div> + +<p>He returned home full of indignation, and after the evening prayer, +having called for a jar of date-wine and a lamp, he set about his +work. An old woman in the house heard him muttering, and +mounted the stairs to see what ailed him. She found him crawling +naked on his bed, by reason of that which was within him; so she +ran down, crying "He is mad," and described what she had seen to +the people of the house. "Get thee gone," they said, "we know + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_246" id="Page_246" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>246</a></span> + +what he is at." By daybreak Jarír had composed a satire of eighty +verses against the Banú Numayr. When he finished the poem, he +shouted triumphantly, "<i>Allah Akbar!</i>" and rode away to the place +where he expected to find Rá‘í ’l-ibil and Farazdaq and their friends. +He did not salute Rá‘í but immediately began to recite. While he +was speaking Farazdaq and Rá‘í bowed their heads, and the rest of +the company sat listening in silent mortification. When Jarír uttered +the final words—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"<i>Cast down thine eyes for shame! for thou art of</i></span><span class="i0"> +<i>Numayr—no peer of Ka‘b nor yet Kiláb</i>"—</span> +</div></div> + +<p>Rá‘í rose and hastened to his lodging as fast as his mule could carry +him. "Saddle! Saddle!" he cried to his comrades; "you cannot +stay here longer, Jarír has disgraced you all." They left Baṣra without +delay to rejoin their tribe, who bitterly reproached Rá‘í for the +ignominy which he had brought upon Numayr; and hundreds of +years afterwards his name was still a byword among his people.<a name="FNanchor_469" id="FNanchor_469"></a><a href="#Footnote_469" class="fnanchor">469</a></p></div> + +<p>Next, but next at a long interval, to the three great poets of +this epoch comes Dhu ’l-Rumma (Ghaylán b. ‘Uqba), who +<span class="sidenote">Dhu ’l-Rumma.</span> +imitated the odes of the desert Arabs with tiresome +and monotonous fidelity. The philologists +of the following age delighted in his antique and difficult +style, and praised him far above his merits. It was said +that poetry began with Imru’u ’l-Qays and ended with +Dhu ’l-Rumma; which is true in the sense that he is the +last important representative of the pure Bedouin school.</p> + +<p class="tb">Concerning the prose writers of the period we can make +only a few general observations, inasmuch as their works +<span class="sidenote">Prose writers of +the Umayyad +period.</span> +have almost entirely perished.<a name="FNanchor_470" id="FNanchor_470"></a><a href="#Footnote_470" class="fnanchor">470</a> In this branch +of literature the same secular, non-Muḥammadan +spirit prevailed which has been mentioned as +characteristic of the poets who flourished under the Umayyad +dynasty, and of the dynasty itself. Historical studies + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_247" id="Page_247" href="#"><span><i>PROSE WRITERS</i></span>247</a></span> + +were encouraged and promoted by the court of Damascus. +We have referred elsewhere to ‘Abíd b. Sharya, a native of +Yemen, whose business it was to dress up the old legends +and purvey them in a readable form to the public. Another +Yemenite of Persian descent, Wahb b. Munabbih, is responsible +for a great deal of the fabulous lore belonging to the +domain of <i>Awá’il</i> (Origins) which Moslem chroniclers +commonly prefix to their historical works. There seems to +have been an eager demand for narratives of the Early +Wars of Islam (<i>maghází</i>). It is related that the Caliph +‘Abdu ’l-Malik, seeing one of these books in the hands of +his son, ordered it to be burnt, and enjoined him to study +the Koran instead. This anecdote shows on the part of +‘Abdu ’l-Malik a pious feeling with which he is seldom +credited,<a name="FNanchor_471" id="FNanchor_471"></a><a href="#Footnote_471" class="fnanchor">471</a> but it shows also that histories of a legendary +and popular character preceded those which were based, +like the <i>Maghází</i> of Músá b. ‘Uqba († 758 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) and Ibn +Isḥáq's <i>Biography of the Prophet</i>, upon religious tradition. +No work of the former class has been preserved. The +strong theological influence which asserted itself in the +second century of the Hijra was unfavourable to the development +of an Arabian prose literature on national lines. In +the meantime, however, learned doctors of divinity began +to collect and write down the <i>Ḥadíths</i>. We have a solitary +relic of this sort in the <i>Kitábu ’l-Zuhd</i> (Book of Asceticism) +by Asad b. Músá († 749 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). The most renowned +traditionist of the Umayyad age is Muḥammad b. Muslim +b. Shiháb al-Zuhrí († 742 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), who distinguished himself by +accepting judicial office under the tyrants; an act of complaisance +to which his more stiff-necked and conscientious +brethren declined to stoop.</p> + +<p class="tb">It was the lust of conquest even more than missionary zeal +that caused the Arabs to invade Syria and Persia and to settle + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_248" id="Page_248" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>248</a></span> + +on foreign soil, where they lived as soldiers at the expense of +the native population whom they inevitably regarded as +an inferior race. If the latter thought to win <span class="sidenote"> The non-Arabian +Moslems.</span> +respect by embracing the religion of their conquerors, +they found themselves sadly mistaken. +The new converts were attached as clients (<i>Mawálí</i>, sing. +<i>Mawlá</i>) to an Arab tribe: they could not become Moslems +on any other footing. Far from obtaining the equal rights +which they coveted, and which, according to the principles +of Islam, they should have enjoyed, the <i>Mawálí</i> were treated +by their aristocratic patrons with contempt, and had to submit +to every kind of social degradation, while instead of being +exempted from the capitation-tax paid by non-Moslems, +they still remained liable to the ever-increasing exactions of +Government officials. And these 'Clients,' be it remembered, +were not ignorant serfs, but men whose culture was +acknowledged by the Arabs themselves—men who formed +the backbone of the influential learned class and ardently +prosecuted those studies, Divinity and Jurisprudence, which +were then held in highest esteem. Here was a situation +full of danger. Against Shí‘ites and Khárijites the Umayyads +might claim with some show of reason to represent the cause +of law and order, if not of Islam; against the bitter cry of the +oppressed <i>Mawálí</i> they had no argument save the sword.</p> + +<p class="tb">We have referred above to the universal belief of Moslems +in a Messiah and to the extraordinary influence of that belief +on their religious and political history. No <span class="sidenote"> Presages of the +Revolution.</span> +wonder that in this unhappy epoch thousands +of people, utterly disgusted with life as they +found it, should have indulged in visions of 'a good time +coming,' which was expected to coincide with the end of +the first century of the Hijra. Mysterious predictions, dark +sayings attributed to Muḥammad himself, prophecies of war +and deliverance floated to and fro. Men pored over apocryphal + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_249" id="Page_249" href="#"><span><i>THE MAWÁLÍ OR 'CLIENTS'</i></span>249</a></span> + +books, and asked whether the days of confusion and +slaughter (<i>al-harj</i>), which, it is known, shall herald the +appearance of the Mahdí, had not actually begun.</p> + +<p>The final struggle was short and decisive. When it closed, +the Umayyads and with them the dominion of the Arabs +had passed away. Alike in politics and literature, the Persian +race asserted its supremacy. We shall now relate the story +of this Revolution as briefly as possible, leaving the results +to be considered in a new chapter.</p> + +<p>While the Shí‘ite missionaries (<i>du‘át</i>, sing. <i>dá‘í</i>) were +actively engaged in canvassing for their party, which, as we +<span class="sidenote">The ‘Abbásids.</span> +have seen, recognised in ‘Alí and his descendants +the only legitimate successors to Muḥammad, +another branch of the Prophet's family—the ‘Abbásids—had +entered the field with the secret intention of turning the +labours of the ‘Alids to their own advantage. From their +ancestor, ‘Abbás, the Prophet's uncle, they inherited those +qualities of caution, duplicity, and worldly wisdom which +ensure success in political intrigue. ‘Abdulláh, the son of +‘Abbás, devoted his talents to theology and interpretation +of the Koran. He "passes for one of the strongest pillars +of religious tradition; but, in the eyes of unprejudiced +European research, he is only a crafty liar." His descendants +"lived in deep retirement in Ḥumayma, a little place +to the south of the Dead Sea, seemingly far withdrawn +from the world, but which, on account of its proximity to +the route by which Syrian pilgrims went to Mecca, afforded +opportunities for communication with the remotest lands +of Islam. From this centre they carried on <span class="sidenote">‘Abbásid +propaganda in +Khurásán.</span> +the propaganda in their own behalf with the +utmost skill. They had genius enough to see +that the best soil for their efforts was the distant Khurásán—that +is, the extensive north-eastern provinces of the old +Persian Empire."<a name="FNanchor_472" id="FNanchor_472"></a><a href="#Footnote_472" class="fnanchor">472</a> These countries were inhabited by a + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_250" id="Page_250" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>250</a></span> + +brave and high-spirited people who in consequence of their +intolerable sufferings under the Umayyad tyranny, the +devastation of their homes and the almost servile condition +to which they had been reduced, were eager to join in any +desperate enterprise that gave them hope of relief. Moreover, +the Arabs in Khurásán were already to a large extent +Persianised: they had Persian wives, wore trousers, drank +wine, and kept the festivals of Nawrúz and Mihrgán; +while the Persian language was generally understood and +even spoken among them.<a name="FNanchor_473" id="FNanchor_473"></a><a href="#Footnote_473" class="fnanchor">473</a> Many interesting details as to +the methods of the ‘Abbásid emissaries will be found in +Van Vloten's admirable work.<a name="FNanchor_474" id="FNanchor_474"></a><a href="#Footnote_474" class="fnanchor">474</a> Starting from Kúfa, the +residence of the Grand Master who directed the whole +agitation, they went to and fro in the guise of merchants +or pilgrims, cunningly adapting their doctrine to the intelligence +of those whom they sought to enlist. Like the +Shí‘ites, they canvassed for 'the House of the Prophet,' an +ambiguous expression which might equally well be applied +to the descendants of ‘Alí or of ‘Abbás, as is shown by the +following table:—</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><img src="images/288image.png" width="500" height="164" alt= +"descendants of ‘Alí or of ‘Abbás" title="" /></div> + +<p>It was, of course, absolutely essential to the ‘Abbásids that +they should be able to count on the support of the powerful +Shí‘ite organisation, which, ever since the abortive <span class="sidenote">The Shí‘ites +join hands with +the ‘Abbásids.</span> +rebellion headed by Mukhtár (see p. <a href="#Page_218">218</a> <i>supra</i>) +had drawn vast numbers of Persian <i>Mawálí</i> +into its ranks. Now, of the two main parties of the Shí‘a, + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_251" id="Page_251" href="#"><span><i>THE ‘ABBÁSID PROPAGANDA</i></span>251</a></span> + +viz., the Háshimites or followers of Muḥammad Ibnu +’l-Ḥanafiyya, and the Imámites, who pinned their faith to +the descendants of the Prophet through his daughter Fáṭima, +the former had virtually identified themselves with the +‘Abbásids, inasmuch as the Imám Abú Háshim, who died +in 716 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, bequeathed his hereditary rights to Muḥammad +b. ‘Alí, the head of the House of ‘Abbás. It only remained +to hoodwink the Imámites. Accordingly the ‘Abbásid +emissaries were instructed to carry on their propaganda in +the name of Háshim, the common ancestor of ‘Abbás and +‘Alí. By means of this ruse they obtained a free hand in +Khurásán, and made such progress that the governor of that +province, Naṣr b. Sayyár, wrote to the Umayyad Caliph, +Marwán, asking for reinforcements, and informing him that +two hundred thousand men had sworn allegiance to Abú +Muslim, the principal ‘Abbásid agent. At the foot of his +letter he added these lines:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"I see the coal's red glow beneath the embers,</span><span class="i2"> +And 'tis about to blaze!</span><span class="i0"> +The rubbing of two sticks enkindles fire,</span><span class="i2"> +And out of words come frays.</span><span class="i0"> +'Oh! is Umayya's House awake or sleeping?'</span><span class="i2"> +I cry in sore amaze."<a name="FNanchor_475" id="FNanchor_475"></a><a href="#Footnote_475" class="fnanchor">475</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>We have other verses by this gallant and loyal officer in +which he implores the Arab troops stationed in Khurásán, who +were paralysed by tribal dissensions, to turn their swords +against "a mixed rabble without religion or nobility":—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"'Death to the Arabs'—that is all their creed."<a name="FNanchor_476" id="FNanchor_476"></a><a href="#Footnote_476" class="fnanchor">476</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>These warnings, however, were of no avail, and on +June 9th, <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 747, Abú Muslim displayed the black banner + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_252" id="Page_252" href="#"><span><i>THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY</i></span>252</a></span> + +of the ‘Abbásids at Siqadanj, near Merv, which city he +occupied a few months later. The triumphant advance +of the armies of the Revolution towards <span class="sidenote"> Declaration of +war.</span> +Damascus recalls the celebrated campaign of +Cæsar, when after crossing the Rubicon he +marched on Rome. Nor is Abú Muslim, though a freedman +of obscure parentage—he was certainly no Arab—unworthy +to be compared with the great patrician. "He +united," says Nöldeke, "with an agitator's adroitness and +perfect unscrupulosity in the choice of means the energy +and clear outlook of a general and statesman, <span class="sidenote"> Abú Muslim.</span> +and even of a monarch."<a name="FNanchor_477" id="FNanchor_477"></a><a href="#Footnote_477" class="fnanchor">477</a> Grim, ruthless, +disdaining the pleasures of ordinary men, he possessed the +faculty in which Cæsar excelled of inspiring blind obedience +and enthusiastic devotion. To complete the parallel, we may +mention here that Abú Muslim was treacherously murdered +by Manṣúr, the second Caliph of the House which he had +raised to the throne, from motives exactly resembling those +which Shakespeare has put in the mouth of Brutus—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i10"> +"So Caesar may:</span><span class="i0"> +Then, lest he may, prevent. And since the quarrel</span><span class="i0"> +Will bear no colour for the thing he is,</span><span class="i0"> +Fashion it thus: that what he is, augmented,</span><span class="i0"> +Would run to these and these extremities;</span><span class="i0"> +And therefore think him as a serpent's egg</span><span class="i0"> +Which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous,</span><span class="i0"> +And kill him in the shell."</span> +</div></div> + +<p>The downfall of the Umayyads was hastened by the perfidy +and selfishness of the Arabs on whom they relied: the old +feud between Muḍar and Yemen broke out afresh, and while +the Northern group remained loyal to the dynasty, those of +Yemenite stock more or less openly threw in their lot with +the Revolution. We need not attempt to trace the course + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_253" id="Page_253" href="#"><span><i>ABÚ MUSLIM</i></span>253</a></span> + +of the unequal contest. Everywhere the Arabs, disheartened +and divided, fell an easy prey to their adversaries, and all was +lost when Marwán, the last Umayyad Caliph, sustained a +crushing defeat on the River Záb in Babylonia (January, +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 750). Meanwhile Abu ’l-‘Abbás, the head of the +rival House, had already received homage as Caliph +(November, 749 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). In the inaugural address which he +delivered in the great Mosque of Kúfa, he called <span class="sidenote">Accession of +Abu ’l-‘Abbás +al-Saffáḥ.</span> +himself <i>al-Saffáḥ</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, 'the Blood-shedder,'<a name="FNanchor_478" id="FNanchor_478"></a><a href="#Footnote_478" class="fnanchor">478</a> and +this title has deservedly stuck to him, though +it might have been assumed with no less justice by his +brother Mansúr and other members of his family. All +Umayyads were remorselessly hunted down and massacred +in cold blood—even those who surrendered only on the +strength of the most solemn pledges that they had nothing +to fear. A small remnant made their escape, or managed +to find shelter until the storm of fury and vengeance, +which spared neither the dead nor the living,<a name="FNanchor_479" id="FNanchor_479"></a><a href="#Footnote_479" class="fnanchor">479</a> had blown +over. One stripling, named ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán, fled to North +Africa, and after meeting with many perilous adventures +founded a new Umayyad dynasty in Spain.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">254</a></span></p> + +<h4>CHAPTER VI</h4> + +<h5>THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDÁD</h5> + +<p>The annals of the ‘Abbásid dynasty from the accession of +Saffáḥ (<span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 749) to the death of Musta‘ṣim, and the destruction +of Baghdád by the Mongols (<span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 1258) make a round +sum of five centuries. I propose to sketch the history of this +long period in three chapters, of which the first will offer a +general view of the more important literary and political +developments so far as is possible in the limited space at my +command; the second will be devoted to the great poets, +scholars, historians, philosophers, and scientists who flourished +in this, the Golden Age of Muḥammadan literature; while in +the third some account will be given of the chief religious +movements and of the trend of religious thought.</p> + +<p class="tb">The empire founded by the Caliph ‘Umar and administered +by the Umayyads was essentially, as the reader will have +gathered, a military organisation for the benefit of the +paramount race. In theory, no doubt, all Moslems were +equal, but in fact the Arabs alone ruled—a privilege which +national pride conspired with personal interest to maintain. +We have seen how the Persian Moslems asserted their right +to a share in the government. The Revolution <span class="sidenote"> Political results +of the +Revolution.</span> +which enthroned the ‘Abbásids marks the beginning +of a Moslem, as opposed to an Arabian, +Empire. The new dynasty, owing its rise to the people of +Persia, and especially of Khurásán, could exist only by + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_255" id="Page_255" href="#"><span><i>‘ABBÁSID POLICY</i></span>255</a></span> + +establishing a balance of power between Persians and Arabs. +That this policy was not permanently successful will surprise +no one who considers the widely diverse characteristics of the +two races, but for the next fifty years the rivals worked +together in tolerable harmony, thanks to the genius of +Manṣúr and the conciliatory influence of the Barmecides, +by whose overthrow the alliance was virtually dissolved. In +the ensuing civil war between the sons of Hárún al-Rashíd +the Arabs fought on the side of Amín while the Persians +supported Ma’mún, and henceforth each race began to follow +an independent path. The process of separation, however, +was very gradual, and long before it was completed the +religious and intellectual life of both nationalities had +become inseparably mingled in the full stream of Moslem +civilisation.</p> + +<p class="tb">The centre of this civilisation was the province of ‘Iráq +(Babylonia), with its renowned metropolis, Baghdád, 'the +<span class="sidenote"> The choice of a +new capital.</span> +City of Peace' (<i>Madínatu ’l-Salám</i>). Only here +could the ‘Abbásids feel themselves at home. +"Damascus, peopled by the dependants of the +Omayyads, was out of the question. On the one hand it +was too far from Persia, whence the power of the ‘Abbásids +was chiefly derived; on the other hand it was dangerously +near the Greek frontier, and from here, during the troublous +reigns of the last Omayyads, hostile incursions on the part of +the Christians had begun to avenge former defeats. It was +also beginning to be evident that the conquests of Islam +would, in the future, lie to the eastward towards Central +Asia, rather than to the westward at the further expense of +the Byzantines. Damascus, on the highland of Syria, lay, so +to speak, dominating the Mediterranean and looking westward, +but the new capital that was to supplant it must face +east, be near Persia, and for the needs of commerce have water +communication with the sea. Hence everything pointed to a + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_256" id="Page_256" href="#"><span><i>THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDÁD</i></span>256</a></span> + +site on either the Euphrates or the Tigris, and the ‘Abbásids +were not slow to make their choice."<a name="FNanchor_480" id="FNanchor_480"></a><a href="#Footnote_480" class="fnanchor">480</a> After carefully +examining various sites, the Caliph Manṣúr fixed on a little +Persian village, on the west bank of the Tigris, called +Baghdád, which, being interpreted, means <span class="sidenote"> Foundation of +Baghdád.</span> +'given (or 'founded') by God'; and in +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 762 the walls of the new city began to +rise. Manṣúr laid the first brick with his own hand, and +the work was pushed forward with astonishing rapidity under +his personal direction by masons, architects, and surveyors, +whom he gathered out of different countries, so that 'the +Round City,' as he planned it, was actually finished within +the short space of four years.</p> + +<p class="tb">The same circumstances which caused the seat of empire +to be transferred to Baghdád brought about a corresponding +change in the whole system of government. Whereas the +Umayyads had been little more than heads of a turbulent +Arabian aristocracy, their successors reverted to the old type +of Oriental despotism with which the Persians had been +familiar since the days of Darius and Xerxes. Surrounded +by a strong bodyguard of troops from Khurásán, on whose +devotion they could rely, the ‘Abbásids ruled <span class="sidenote">Despotic +character of +‘Abbásid rule.</span> +with absolute authority over the lives and properties +or their subjects, even as the Sásánian +monarchs had ruled before them. Persian fashions were +imitated at the court, which was thronged with the Caliph's +relatives and freedmen (not to mention his womenfolk), besides +a vast array of uniformed and decorated officials. Chief amongst +these latter stood two personages who figure prominently in +the <i>Arabian Nights</i>—the Vizier and the Executioner. The +office of Vizier is probably of Persian origin, although in Professor +De Goeje's opinion the word itself is Arabic.<a name="FNanchor_481" id="FNanchor_481"></a><a href="#Footnote_481" class="fnanchor">481</a> The first + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_257" id="Page_257" href="#"><span><i>THE NEW GOVERNMENT</i></span>257</a></span> + +who bore this title in ‘Abbásid times was Abú Salama, the +minister of Saffáḥ: he was called <i>Wazíru Áli Muḥammad<sup>in</sup></i>, +'the Vizier of Muḥammad's Family.' It <span class="sidenote"> The Vizier.</span> +was the duty of the Vizier to act as intermediary +between the omnipotent sovereign and his people, +to counsel him in affairs of State, and, above all, to keep His +Majesty in good humour. He wielded enormous power, but +was exposed to every sort of intrigue, and never knew when +he might be interned in a dungeon or despatched in the +twinkling of an eye by the grim functionary presiding over +the <i>naṭ‘</i>, or circular carpet of leather, which lay beside the +throne and served as a scaffold.</p> + +<p class="tb">We can distinguish two periods in the history of the +‘Abbásid House: one of brilliant prosperity inaugurated by +<span class="sidenote">Two periods +of ‘Abbásid +history.</span> +Manṣúr and including the reigns of Mahdí, +Hárún al-Rashíd, Ma’mún, Mu‘tasim, and +Wáthiq—that is to say, nearly a hundred years +in all (754-847 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>); the other, more than four times +as long, commencing with Mutawakkil (847-861 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>)—a +period of decline rapidly sinking, after a brief interval +which gave promise of better things, into irremediable +decay.<a name="FNanchor_482" id="FNanchor_482"></a><a href="#Footnote_482" class="fnanchor">482</a></p> + +<p class="tb"><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_258" id="Page_258" href="#"><span><i>THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDÁD</i></span>258</a></span></p> + +<p>Cruel and treacherous, like most of his family, Abú Ja‘far +Manṣúr was perhaps the greatest ruler whom the ‘Abbásids +<span class="sidenote">Reign of Manṣúr +(754-775 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +produced.<a name="FNanchor_483" id="FNanchor_483"></a><a href="#Footnote_483" class="fnanchor">483</a> He had to fight hard for his throne. +The ‘Alids, who deemed themselves the true +heirs of the Prophet in virtue of their descent +from Fáṭima, rose in rebellion against the usurper, surprised +him in an unguarded moment, and drove him to such straits +that during seven weeks he never changed his dress except for +public prayers. But once more the ‘Alids proved incapable +of grasping their opportunity. The leaders, Muḥammad, who +was known as 'The Pure Soul' (<i>al-Nafs al-zakiyya</i>), and his +brother Ibráhím, fell on the battle-field. Under Mahdí <span class="sidenote"> Outbreaks in +Persia.</span> +and Hárún members of the House of ‘Alí continued to +'come out,' but with no better success. In Eastern Persia, +where strong national feelings interwove themselves with +Pre-Muḥammadan religious ideas, those of Mazdak and +Zoroaster in particular, the ‘Abbásids encountered a formidable +opposition which proclaimed its vigour +and tenacity by the successive revolts of Sinbádh +the Magian (755-756 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), Ustádhsís (766-768), +Muqanna‘, the 'Veiled Prophet of Khurásán' (780-786), +and Bábak the Khurramite (816-838).<a name="FNanchor_484" id="FNanchor_484"></a><a href="#Footnote_484" class="fnanchor">484</a></p> + +<p>Manṣúr said to his son Mahdi, "O Abú ‘Abdalláh, when +you sit in company, always have divines to converse with you; +<span class="sidenote"> Manṣúr's advice +to Mahdí.</span> +for Muḥammad b. Shiháb al-Zuhrí said, 'The +word <i>ḥadíth</i> (Apostolic Tradition) is masculine: +only virile men love it, and only effeminate men +dislike it'; and he spoke the truth."<a name="FNanchor_485" id="FNanchor_485"></a><a href="#Footnote_485" class="fnanchor">485</a></p> + +<p>On one occasion a poet came to Mahdí, who was then +heir-apparent, at Rayy, and recited a panegyric in his honour. + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_259" id="Page_259" href="#"><span><i>MANṢÚR</i></span>259</a></span> + +The prince gave him 20,000 dirhems. Thereupon the +postmaster of Rayy informed Manṣúr, who wrote to his son +<span class="sidenote"> Manṣúr and +the poet.</span> +reproaching him for such extravagance. "What +you should have done," he said, "was to let him +wait a year at your door, and after that time +bestow on him 4,000 dirhems." He then caused the poet +to be arrested and brought into his presence. "You went +to a heedless youth and cajoled him?" "Yes, God save +the Commander of the Faithful, I went to a heedless, +generous youth and cajoled him, and he suffered himself to +be cajoled." "Recite your eulogy of him." The poet +obeyed, not forgetting to conclude his verses with a compliment +to Manṣúr. "Bravo!" cried the Caliph, "but they +are not worth 20,000 dirhems. Where is the money?" On +its being produced he made him a gift of 4,000 dirhems and +confiscated the remainder.<a name="FNanchor_486" id="FNanchor_486"></a><a href="#Footnote_486" class="fnanchor">486</a></p> + +<p>Notwithstanding irreconcilable parties—‘Alids, Persian +extremists, and (we may add) Khárijites—the policy of +<span class="sidenote"> The Barmecides.</span> +<i>rapprochement</i> was on the whole extraordinarily +effective. In carrying it out the Caliphs received +powerful assistance from a noble and ancient Persian +family, the celebrated Barmakites or Barmecides. According +to Mas‘údí,<a name="FNanchor_487" id="FNanchor_487"></a><a href="#Footnote_487" class="fnanchor">487</a> Barmak was originally a title borne by the High +Priest (<i>sádin</i>) of the great Magian fire-temple at Balkh. +Khálid, the son of one of these dignitaries—whence he and +his descendants were called Barmakites (<i>Barámika</i>)—held the +most important offices of state under Saffáḥ and Manṣúr. +Yaḥyá, the son of Khálid, was entrusted with the education +of Hárún al-Rashíd, and on the accession of the young +prince he was appointed Grand Vizier. "My <span class="sidenote"> Yaḥyá b. Khálid.</span> +dear father!" said the Caliph, "it is through +the blessings and the good fortune which attend you, and +through your excellent management, that I am seated on the +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_260" id="Page_260" href="#"><span><i>THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDÁD</i></span>260</a></span> +throne;<a name="FNanchor_488" id="FNanchor_488"></a><a href="#Footnote_488" class="fnanchor">488</a> so I commit to you the direction of affairs." He then +handed to him his signet-ring. Yaḥyá was distinguished (says +the biographer) for wisdom, nobleness of mind, and elegance of +language.<a name="FNanchor_489" id="FNanchor_489"></a><a href="#Footnote_489" class="fnanchor">489</a> Although he took a truly Persian delight in philosophical +discussion, for which purpose freethinking scholars +and eminent heretics used often to meet in his house, he was +careful to observe the outward forms of piety. It may be said +of the ‘Abbásids generally that, whatever they might do or +think in private, they wore the official badge of Islam ostentatiously +on their sleeves. The following verses which Yaḥyá +addressed to his son Faḍl are very characteristic:—<a name="FNanchor_490" id="FNanchor_490"></a><a href="#Footnote_490" class="fnanchor">490</a></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Seek glory while 'tis day, no effort spare,</span><span class="i0"> +And patiently the loved one's absence bear;</span><span class="i0"> +But when the shades of night advancing slow</span><span class="i0"> +O'er every vice a veil of darkness throw,</span><span class="i0"> +Beguile the hours with all thy heart's delight:</span><span class="i0"> +The day of prudent men begins at night.</span><span class="i0"> +Many there be, esteemed of life austere,</span><span class="i0"> +Who nightly enter on a strange career.</span><span class="i0"> +Night o'er them keeps her sable curtain drawn,</span><span class="i0"> +And merrily they pass from eve to dawn.</span><span class="i0"> +Who but a fool his pleasures would expose</span><span class="i0"> +To spying rivals and censorious foes?"</span> +</div></div> + +<p>For seventeen years Yaḥyá and his two sons, Faḍl and +Ja‘far, remained deep in Hárún's confidence and virtual rulers +<span class="sidenote">Fall of the +Barmecides +(803 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +of the State until, from motives which have been +variously explained, the Caliph resolved to rid +himself of the whole family. The story is too +well known to need repetition.<a name="FNanchor_491" id="FNanchor_491"></a><a href="#Footnote_491" class="fnanchor">491</a> Ja‘far alone was put to +death: we may conclude, therefore, that he had specially +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_261" id="Page_261" href="#"><span><i>HÁRÚN AND THE BARMECIDES</i></span>261</a></span> +excited the Caliph's anger; and those who ascribe the +catastrophe to his romantic love-affair with Hárún's sister, +‘Abbása, are probably in the right.<a name="FNanchor_492" id="FNanchor_492"></a><a href="#Footnote_492" class="fnanchor">492</a> Hárún himself seems +to have recognised, when it was too late, how much he +owed to these great Persian barons whose tactful administration, +unbounded generosity, and munificent patronage of +literature have shed immortal lustre on his reign. Afterwards, +if any persons spoke ill of the Barmecides in his presence, he +would say (quoting the verse of Ḥuṭay’a):—<a name="FNanchor_493" id="FNanchor_493"></a><a href="#Footnote_493" class="fnanchor">493</a></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"O slanderers, be your sire of sire bereft!<a name="FNanchor_494" id="FNanchor_494"></a><a href="#Footnote_494" class="fnanchor">494</a></span><span class="i0"> +Give o'er, or fill the gap which they have left."</span> +</div></div> + +<p>Hárún's orthodoxy, his liberality, his victories over the +Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus, and last but not least the +literary brilliance of his reign have raised him in popular +estimation far above all the other Caliphs: he is the Charlemagne +of the East, while the entrancing pages of the <i>Thousand +and One Nights</i> have made his name a household word in every +country of Europe. Students of Moslem history will soon +discover that "the good Haroun Alraschid" was <span class="sidenote">Hárún al-Rashíd +(786-809 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +in fact a perfidious and irascible tyrant, whose +fitful amiability and real taste for music and +letters hardly entitle him to be described either as a great +monarch or a good man. We must grant, however, that he +thoroughly understood the noble art of patronage. The +poets Abú Nuwás, Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya, Di‘bil, Muslim b. Walíd, +and ‘Abbás b. Aḥnaf; the musician Ibráhím of Mosul and +his son Isḥáq; the philologists Abú ‘Ubayda, Aṣma‘í, and +Kisá’í; the preacher Ibnu ’l-Sammák; and the historian +Wáqidí—these are but a few names in the galaxy of talent +which he gathered around him at Baghdád.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_262" id="Page_262" href="#"><span><i>THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDÁD</i></span>262</a></span></p> + +<p>The fall of the Barmecides revived the spirit of racial +antagonism which they had done their best to lay, and an +<span class="sidenote">Amín and +Ma’mún +(809-833 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +open rupture was rendered inevitable by the +short-sighted policy of Hárún with regard to +the succession. He had two grown-up sons, +Amín, by his wife and cousin Zubayda, and Ma’mún, whose +mother was a Persian slave. It was arranged that the +Caliphate should pass to Amín and after him to his brother, +but that the Empire should be divided between them. Amín +was to receive ‘Iráq and Syria, Ma’mún the eastern provinces, +where the people would gladly welcome a ruler of +their own blood. The struggle for supremacy which began +almost immediately on the death of Hárún was in the main +one of Persians against Arabs, and by Ma’mún's triumph the +Barmecides were amply avenged.</p> + +<p>The new Caliph was anything but orthodox. He favoured +the Shí‘ite party to such an extent that he even nominated +the ‘Alid, ‘Alí b. Músá b. Ja‘far al-Riḍá, as heir-apparent—a +step which alienated the members of <span class="sidenote"> Ma’mún's +heresies.</span> +his own family and led to his being temporarily +deposed. He also adopted the opinions of the Mu‘tazilite sect +and established an Inquisition to enforce them. Hence the +Sunnite historian, Abu ’l-Maḥásin, enumerates three principal +heresies of which Ma’mún was guilty: (1) His wearing of the +Green (<i>labsu ’l-Khuḍra</i>)<a name="FNanchor_495" id="FNanchor_495"></a><a href="#Footnote_495" class="fnanchor">495</a> and courting the ‘Alids and repulsing +the ‘Abbásids; (2) his affirming that the Koran was created +(<i>al-qawl bi-Khalqi ’l-Qur’án</i>); and (3) his legalisation of the +<i>mut‘a</i>, a loose form of marriage prevailing amongst the +Shí‘ites.<a name="FNanchor_496" id="FNanchor_496"></a><a href="#Footnote_496" class="fnanchor">496</a> We shall see in due course how keenly and with +what fruitful results Ma’mún interested himself in literature +and science. Nevertheless, it cannot escape our attention +that in this splendid reign there appear ominous signs of political +decay. In 822 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> Ṭáhir, one of Ma’mún's generals, who + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_263" id="Page_263" href="#"><span><i>MA’MÚN</i></span>263</a></span> + +had been appointed governor of Khurásán, omitted the +customary mention of the Caliph's name from the Friday +sermon (<i>khuṭba</i>), thus founding the Ṭahirid <span class="sidenote"> Rise of +independent +dynasties.</span> +dynasty, which, though professing allegiance to +the Caliphs, was practically independent. Ṭáhir +was only the first of a long series of ambitious governors and +bold adventurers who profited by the weakening authority of +the Caliphs to carve out kingdoms for themselves. Moreover, +the Moslems of ‘Iráq had lost their old warlike spirit: they +were fine scholars and merchants, but poor soldiers. So it +came about that Ma’mún's successor, the Caliph Mu‘taṣim +(833-842 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), took the fatal step of surrounding +himself with a Prætorian Guard chiefly<span class="sidenote"> Turkish +mercenaries +introduced.</span> +composed of Turkish recruits from Transoxania. +At the same time he removed his court from Baghdád sixty +miles further up the Tigris to Sámarrá, which suddenly grew +into a superb city of palaces and barracks—an Oriental Versailles.<a name="FNanchor_497" id="FNanchor_497"></a><a href="#Footnote_497" class="fnanchor">497</a> +Here we may close our brief review of the first and +flourishing period of the ‘Abbásid Caliphate. During the +next four centuries the Caliphs come and go faster than +ever, but for the most part their authority is precarious, if +not purely nominal. Meanwhile, in the provinces of the +Empire petty dynasties arise, only to eke out <span class="sidenote"> Decline of the +Caliphate.</span> +an obscure and troubled existence, or powerful +states are formed, which carry on the traditions +of Muḥammadan culture, it may be through many generations, +and in some measure restore the blessings of peace and +settled government to an age surfeited with anarchy and +bloodshed. Of these provincial empires we have now principally +to speak, confining our view, for the most part, to the +political outlines, and reserving the literary and religious +aspects of the period for fuller consideration elsewhere.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_264" id="Page_264" href="#"><span><i>THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDÁD</i></span>264</a></span> + +The reigns of Mutawakkil (847-861 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) and his immediate +successors exhibit all the well-known features of Prætorian rule. +<span class="sidenote">The Second +‘Abbásid Period +(847-1258 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +Enormous sums were lavished on the Turkish +soldiery, who elected and deposed the Caliph just +as they pleased, and enforced their insatiable +demands by mutiny and assassination. For a short time +(869-907 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) matters improved under the able and energetic +Muhtadí and the four Caliphs who followed him; but the +Turks soon regained the upper hand. From this date every +vestige of real power is centred in the Generalissimo (<i>Amíru +’l-Umará</i>) who stands at the head of the army, while the +once omnipotent Caliph must needs be satisfied with the +empty honour of having his name stamped on the coinage +and celebrated in the public prayers. The terrorism of the +Turkish bodyguard was broken by the Buwayhids, a Persian +dynasty, who ruled in Baghdád from 945 to 1055 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> Then +the Seljúq supremacy began with Ṭughril Beg's entry into the +capital and lasted a full century until the death of Sanjar +(1157 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). The Mongols who captured Baghdád in +1258 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> brought the pitiable farce of the Caliphate to +an end.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The empire of the Caliphs at its widest," as Stanley Lane-Poole +observes in his excellent account of the Muḥammadan dynasties, +<span class="sidenote">Dynasties of the +early ‘Abbásid +Age.</span> +"extended from the Atlantic to the Indus, and from +the Caspian to the cataracts of the Nile. So vast a +dominion could not long be held together. The first +step towards its disintegration began in Spain, where ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán, +a member of the suppressed Umayyad family, was acknowledged +as an independent sovereign in <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 755, and the ‘Abbásid +Caliphate was renounced for ever. Thirty years later Idrís, a +great-grandson of the Caliph ‘Alí, and therefore equally at variance +with ‘Abbásids and Umayyads, founded an ‘Alid dynasty in +Morocco. The rest of the North African coast was practically lost +to the Caliphate when the Aghlabid governor established his +authority at Qayrawán in <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 800."</p></div> + +<p>Amongst the innumerable kingdoms which supplanted the + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_265" id="Page_265" href="#"><span><i>DYNASTIES OF THE PERIOD</i></span>265</a></span> + +decaying Caliphate only a few of the most important can be +singled out for special notice on account of their literary or +religious interest.<a name="FNanchor_498" id="FNanchor_498"></a><a href="#Footnote_498" class="fnanchor">498</a> To begin with Persia: in +<span class="sidenote">Dynasties of the Second Period. 872<span class="smcap"> a.d.</span></span> +Khurásán, which was then held by the +Ṭáhirids, fell into the hands of Ya‘qúb b. Layth +the Coppersmith (<i>al-Ṣaffár</i>), founder of the Ṣaffárids, who for +thirty years stretched their sway over a great part of Persia, +until they were dispossessed by the Sámánids. +The latter dynasty had the seat of its power in +Transoxania, but during the first half of the<span class="sidenote">The Sámánids +(874-999 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +tenth century practically the whole of Persia submitted to the +authority of Ismá‘íl and his famous successors, Naṣr II and +Núḥ I. Not only did these princes warmly encourage and +foster the development, which had already begun, of a national +literature in the Persian language—it is enough to recall here +the names of Rúdagí, the blind minstrel and poet; Daqíqí, +whose fragment of a Persian Epic was afterwards incorporated +by Firdawsí in his <i>Sháhnáma</i>; and Bal‘amí, the Vizier of +Manṣúr I, who composed an abridgment of Ṭabarí's great +history, which is one of the oldest prose works in Persian that +have come down to us—but they extended the same favour to +poets and men of learning who (though, for the most part, of +Persian extraction) preferred to use the Arabic language. +Thus the celebrated Rhazes (Abú Bakr al-Rází) dedicated to +the Sámánid prince Abú Ṣáliḥ Manṣúr b. Isháq a treatise on +medicine, which he entitled <i>al-Kitáb al-Manṣúrí</i> (the Book of +Manṣúr) in honour of his patron. The great physician and +philosopher, Abú ‘Alí b. Síná (Avicenna) relates that, having +been summoned to Bukhárá by King Núḥ, the second of that +name (976-997 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), he obtained permission to visit the + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_266" id="Page_266" href="#"><span><i>THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDÁD</i></span>266</a></span> + +royal library. "I found there," he says, "many rooms filled +with books which were arranged in cases row upon row. One +room was allotted to works on Arabic philology and poetry; +another to jurisprudence, and so forth, the books on each particular +science having a room to themselves. I inspected the +catalogue of ancient Greek authors and looked for the books +which I required: I saw in this collection books of which few +people have heard even the names, and which I myself have +never seen either before or since."<a name="FNanchor_499" id="FNanchor_499"></a><a href="#Footnote_499" class="fnanchor">499</a></p> + +<p>The power of the Sámánids quickly reached its zenith, and +about the middle of the tenth century they were confined to +<span class="sidenote">The Buwayhids +(932-1055 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +Khurásán and Transoxania, while in Western +Persia their place was taken by the Buwayhids. +Abú Shujá‘ Buwayh, a chieftain of Daylam, the +mountainous province lying along the southern shores of the +Caspian Sea, was one of those soldiers of fortune whom we +meet with so frequently in the history of this period. His three +sons, ‘Alí, Aḥmad, and Ḥasan, embarked on the same adventurous +career with such energy and success, that in the course +of thirteen years they not only subdued the provinces of Fárs +and Khúzistán, but in 945 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> entered Baghdád at the head +of their Daylamite troops and assumed the supreme command, +receiving from the Caliph Mustakfí the honorary titles of +‘Imádu ’l-Dawla, Mu‘izzu ’l-Dawla, and Ruknu ’l-Dawla. +Among the princes of this House, who reigned over Persia and +‘Iráq during the next hundred years, the most eminent was +‘Aḍudu ’l-Dawla, of whom it is said by Ibn Khallikán that +none of the Buwayhids, notwithstanding their great power +and authority, possessed so extensive an empire and held sway +over so many kings and kingdoms as he. The chief poets +of the day, including Mutanabbí, visited his court at Shíráz +and celebrated his praises in magnificent odes. He also built +a great hospital in Baghdád, the Bímáristán al-‘Aḍudí, which + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_267" id="Page_267" href="#"><span><i>THE BUWAYHIDS</i></span>267</a></span> + +was long famous as a school of medicine. The Viziers of the +Buwayhid family contributed in a quite unusual degree to its +literary renown. Ibnu ’l-‘Amíd, the Vizier of Ruknu ’l-Dawla, +surpassed in philology and epistolary composition all his +contemporaries; hence he was called 'the second Jáḥiẓ,' and +it was a common saying that "the art of letter-writing began +with ‘Abdu ’l-Ḥamíd and ended with Ibnu ’l-‘Amíd."<a name="FNanchor_500" id="FNanchor_500"></a><a href="#Footnote_500" class="fnanchor">500</a> +His friend, the Ṣáḥib Ismá‘íl b. ‘Abbád, Vizier to Mu’ayyidu +’l-Dawla and Fakhru ’l-Dawla, was a distinguished savant, +whose learning was only eclipsed by the liberality of his +patronage. In the latter respect Sábúr b. Ardashír, the prime +minister of Abú Naṣr Bahá’u ’l-Dawla, vied with the illustrious +Ṣáḥib. He had so many encomiasts that Tha‘álibí devotes to +them a whole chapter of the <i>Yatíma</i>. The Academy which +he founded at Baghdád, in the Karkh quarter, and generously +endowed, was a favourite haunt of literary men, and its +members seem to have enjoyed pretty much the same privileges +as belong to the Fellows of an Oxford or Cambridge +College.<a name="FNanchor_501" id="FNanchor_501"></a><a href="#Footnote_501" class="fnanchor">501</a></p> + +<p>Like most of their countrymen, the Buwayhids were +Shí‘ites in religion. We read in the Annals of Abu ’l-Maḥásin +under the year 341 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span> = 952 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In this year the Vizier al-Muhallabí arrested some persons +who held the doctrine of metempsychosis (<i>tanásukh</i>). Among +<span class="sidenote">Zeal of the +Buwayhids for +Shí‘ite principles.</span> +them were a youth who declared that the spirit of +‘Alí b. Abí Ṭálib had passed into his body, and a +woman who claimed that the spirit of Fáṭima was +dwelling in her; while another man pretended to be Gabriel. On +being flogged, they excused themselves by alleging their relationship +to the Family of the Prophet, whereupon Mu‘izzu ’l-Dawla ordered +them to be set free. This he did because of his attachment to + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_268" id="Page_268" href="#"><span><i>THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDÁD</i></span>268</a></span> + +Shí‘ism. It is well known," says the author in conclusion, "that the +Buwayhids were Shí‘ites and Ráfiḍites."<a name="FNanchor_502" id="FNanchor_502"></a><a href="#Footnote_502" class="fnanchor">502</a></p></div> + +<p>Three dynasties contemporary with the Buwayhids have +still to be mentioned: the Ghaznevids in Afghanistan, the +<span class="sidenote">The Ghaznevids +(976-1186 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +Ḥamdánids in Syria, and the Fáṭimids in Egypt. +Sabuktagín, the founder of the first-named +dynasty, was a Turkish slave. His son, Maḥmúd, +who succeeded to the throne of Ghazna in 998 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, made +short work of the already tottering Sámánids, and then sweeping +far and wide over Northern India, began a series of conquests +which, before his death in 1030 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, reached from +Lahore to Samarcand and Iṣfahán. Although the Persian and +Transoxanian provinces of his huge empire were soon torn +away by the Seljúqs, Maḥmúd's invasion of India, which was +undertaken with the object of winning that country for Islam, +permanently established Muḥammadan influence, at any rate +in the Panjáb. As regards their religious views, the Turkish +Ghaznevids stand in sharp contrast with the Persian houses of +Sámán and Buwayh. It has been well said that the true +genius of the Turks lies in action, not in speculation. When +Islam came across their path, they saw that it was a simple +and practical creed such as the soldier requires; so they +accepted it without further parley. The Turks have always +remained loyal to Islam, the Islam of Abú Bakr and ‘Umar, +which is a very different thing from the Islam of Shí‘ite +Persia. Maḥmúd proved his orthodoxy by banishing the +Mu‘tazilites of Rayy and burning their books together with +the philosophical and astronomical works that fell into his +hands; but on the same occasion he carried off a hundred +camel-loads of presumably harmless literature to his capital. +That he had no deep enthusiasm for letters is shown, for + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_269" id="Page_269" href="#"><span><i>GHAZNEVIDS AND ḤAMDÁNIDS</i></span>269</a></span> + +example, by his shabby treatment of the poet Firdawsí. +Nevertheless, he ardently desired the glory and prestige +accruing to a sovereign whose court formed the rallying-point +of all that was best in the literary and scientific culture of the +day, and such was Ghazna in the eleventh century. Besides +the brilliant group of Persian poets, with Firdawsí at their +head, we may mention among the Arabic-writing authors +who flourished under this dynasty the historians al-‘Utbí and +al-Bírúní.</p> + +<p>While the Eastern Empire of Islam was passing into the +hands of Persians and Turks, we find the Arabs still holding +<span class="sidenote">The Ḥamdánids +(929-1003 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +their own in Syria and Mesopotamia down to +the end of the tenth century. These Arab and +generally nomadic dynasties were seldom of much +account. The Ḥamdánids of Aleppo alone deserve to be +noticed here, and that chiefly for the sake of the peerless +Sayfu ’l-Dawla, a worthy descendant of the tribe of Taghlib, +which in the days of heathendom produced the poet-warrior, +‘Amr b. Kulthúm. ‘Abdulláh b. Ḥamdán was appointed +governor of Mosul and its dependencies by the Caliph +Muktafí in 905 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, and in 942 his sons Ḥasan and ‘Alí +received the complimentary titles of Náṣiru ’l-Dawla (Defender +of the State) and Sayfu ’l-Dawla (Sword of the State). +Two years later Sayfu ’l-Dawla captured Aleppo and brought +the whole of Northern Syria under his dominion. During a +reign of twenty-three years he was continuously engaged in +harrying the Byzantines on the frontiers of Asia Minor, but +although he gained some glorious victories, which his laureate +Mutanabbí has immortalised, the fortune of war went in the +long run steadily against him, and his successors were unable +to preserve their little kingdom from being crushed between the +Byzantines in the north and the Fáṭtimids in the south. The +Ḥamdánids have an especial claim on our sympathy, because +they revived for a time the fast-decaying and already almost +broken spirit of Arabian nationalism. It is this spirit that +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_270" id="Page_270" href="#"><span><i>THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDÁD</i></span>270</a></span> +speaks with a powerful voice in Mutanabbí and declares itself, +for example, in such verses as these:—<a name="FNanchor_503" id="FNanchor_503"></a><a href="#Footnote_503" class="fnanchor">503</a></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Men from their kings alone their worth derive,</span><span class="i0"> +But Arabs ruled by aliens cannot thrive:</span><span class="i0"> +Boors without culture, without noble fame,</span><span class="i0"> +Who know not loyalty and honour's name.</span><span class="i0"> +Go where thou wilt, thou seest in every land</span><span class="i0"> +Folk driven like cattle by a servile band."</span> +</div></div> + +<p>The reputation which Sayfu ’l-Dawla's martial exploits and +his repeated triumphs over the enemies of Islam richly earned +<span class="sidenote">The circle of +Sayfu ’l-Dawla.</span> +for him in the eyes of his contemporaries was +enhanced by the conspicuous energy and munificence +with which he cultivated the arts of peace. +Considering the brevity of his reign and the relatively small +extent of his resources, we may well be astonished to contemplate +the unique assemblage of literary talent then +mustered in Aleppo. There was, first of all, Mutanabbí, in +the opinion of his countrymen the greatest of Moslem poets; +there was Sayfu ’l-Dawla's cousin, the chivalrous Abú Firás, +whose war-songs are relieved by many a touch of tender and +true feeling; there was Abu ’l-Faraj of Iṣfahán, who on +presenting to Sayfu ’l-Dawla his <i>Kitábu ’l-Aghání</i>, one of the +most celebrated and important works in all Arabic literature, +received one thousand pieces of gold accompanied with an +expression of regret that the prince was obliged to remunerate +him so inadequately; there was also the great philosopher, +Abú Naṣr al-Fárábí, whose modest wants were satisfied by a +daily pension of four dirhems (about two shillings) from the +public treasury. Surely this is a record not easily surpassed +even in the heyday of ‘Abbásid patronage. As for the writers +of less note whom Sayfu ’l-Dawla attracted to Aleppo, their +name is legion. Space must be found for the poets Sarí al-Raffá, +Abu ’l-‘Abbás al-Námí, and Abu ’l-Faraj al-Babbaghá +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_271" id="Page_271" href="#"><span><i>SAYFU ’L-DAWLA</i></span>271</a></span> +for the preacher (<i>khaṭíb</i>) Ibn Nubáta, who would often rouse +the enthusiasm of his audience while he urged the duty of +zealously prosecuting the Holy War against Christian Byzantium; +and for the philologist Ibn Khálawayh, whose lectures +were attended by students from all parts of the Muḥammadan +world. The literary renaissance which began at this time +in Syria was still making its influence felt when Tha‘álibí +wrote his <i>Yatíma</i>, about thirty years after the death of Sayfu +’l-Dawla, and it produced in Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrí (born +973 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) an original and highly interesting personality, to +whom we shall return on another occasion.</p> + +<p class="tb">The dynasties hitherto described were political in their +origin, having generally been founded by ambitious governors +<span class="sidenote">The Fáṭimids +(909-1171 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +or vassals. These upstarts made no pretensions +to the nominal authority, which they left in +the hands of the Caliph even while they forced +him at the sword's point to recognise their political independence. +The Sámánids and Buwayhids, Shí‘ites as they +were, paid the same homage to the Caliph in Baghdád as +did the Sunnite Ghaznevids. But in the beginning of the +tenth century there arose in Africa a great Shí‘ite power, +that of the Fáṭimids, who took for themselves the title +and prerogatives of the Caliphate, which they asserted to +be theirs by right Divine. This event was only the +climax of a deep-laid and skilfully organised plot—one of +the most extraordinary in all history. It had been put in +train half a century earlier by a certain ‘Abdulláh the son +of Maymún, a Persian oculist (<i>qaddáḥ</i>) belonging to Aḥwáz. +Filled with a fierce hatred of the Arabs and with a freethinker's +contempt for Islam, ‘Abdulláh b. Maymún conceived +the idea of a vast secret society which should be all +things to all men, and which, by playing on the strongest +passions and tempting the inmost weaknesses of human +nature, should unite malcontents of every description in a + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_272" id="Page_272" href="#"><span><i>THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDÁD</i></span>272</a></span> + +conspiracy to overthrow the existing <i>régime</i>. Modern +readers may find a parallel for this romantic project in the +pages of Dumas, although the Aramis of <i>Twenty Years After</i> +is a simpleton beside ‘Abdulláh. He saw that the movement, +in order to succeed, must be started on a religious basis, and +he therefore identified himself with an obscure <span class="sidenote">The Ismá‘ílite +propaganda.</span> +Shí‘ite sect, the Ismá‘ílís, who were so called +because they regarded Muḥammad, son of Ismá‘íl, +son of Ja‘far al-Ṣádiq, as the Seventh Imám. Under ‘Abdulláh +the Ismá‘ílís developed their mystical and antinomian doctrines, +of which an excellent account has been given by +Professor Browne in the first volume of his <i>Literary History of +Persia</i> (p. 405 sqq.). Here we can only refer to the ingenious +and fatally insidious methods which he devised for gaining +proselytes on a gigantic scale, and with such amazing success +that from this time until the Mongol invasion—a period of +almost four centuries—the Ismá‘ílites (Fáṭimids, Carmathians, +and Assassins) either ruled or ravaged a great part of the +Muḥammadan Empire. It is unnecessary to discuss the +question whether ‘Abdulláh b. Maymún was, as Professor +Browne thinks, primarily a religious enthusiast, or whether, +according to the view commonly held, his real motives were +patriotism and personal ambition. The history of Islam +shows clearly enough that the revolutionist is nearly always +disguised as a religious leader, while, on the other hand, +every founder of a militant sect is potentially the head of a +state. ‘Abdulláh may have been a fanatic first and a politician +afterwards; more probably he was both at once from the +beginning. His plan of operations was briefly as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The <i>dá‘í</i> or missionary charged with the task of gaining adherents +for the Hidden Imám (see p. <a href="#Page_216">216</a> seq.), in whose name allegiance was +demanded, would settle in some place, representing himself to be a +merchant, Ṣúfí, or the like. By renouncing worldly pleasures, +making a show of strict piety, and performing apparent miracles, it +was easy for him to pass as a saint with the common folk. As soon + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_273" id="Page_273" href="#"><span><i>THE ISMÁ‘ÍLÍS</i></span>273</a></span> + +as he was assured of his neighbours' confidence and respect, he +began to raise doubts in their minds. He would suggest difficult +problems of theology or dwell on the mysterious significance +of certain passages of the Koran. May there not be (he would ask) +in religion itself a deeper meaning than appears on the surface? +Then, having excited the curiosity of his hearers, he suddenly breaks +off. When pressed to continue his explanation, he declares that +such mysteries cannot be communicated save to those who take a +binding oath of secrecy and obedience and consent to pay a fixed +sum of money in token of their good faith. If these conditions +were accepted, the neophyte entered upon the second of the nine +degrees of initiation. He was taught that mere observance of the +laws of Islam is not pleasing to God, unless the true doctrine be +received through the Imáms who have it in keeping. These Imáms +(as he next learned) are seven in number, beginning with ‘Alí; the +seventh and last is Muḥammad, son of Ismá‘íl. On reaching the +fourth degree he definitely ceased to be a Moslem, for here he was +taught the Ismá‘ílite system of theology in which Muḥammad b. +Ismá‘íl supersedes the founder of Islam as the greatest and last of +all the Prophets. Comparatively few initiates advanced beyond +this grade to a point where every form of positive religion was +allegorised away, and only philosophy was left. "It is clear what +a tremendous weapon, or rather machine, was thus created. Each +man was given the amount of light which he could bear and which +was suited to his prejudices, and he was made to believe that the +end of the whole work would be the attaining of what he regarded +as most desirable."<a name="FNanchor_504" id="FNanchor_504"></a><a href="#Footnote_504" class="fnanchor">504</a> Moreover, the Imám Muḥammad b. Ismá‘íl +having disappeared long ago, the veneration which sought a visible +object was naturally transferred to his successor and representative +on earth, viz., ‘Abdulláh b. Maymún, who filled the same office in +relation to him as Aaron to Moses and ‘Alí to Muḥammad.</p></div> + +<p>About the middle of the ninth century the state of the +Moslem Empire was worse, if possible, than it had been in the +latter days of Umayyad rule. The peasantry of ‘Iráq were +impoverished by the desolation into which that flourishing +province was beginning to fall in consequence of the frequent +and prolonged civil wars. In 869 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> the negro slaves (<i>Zanj</i>) +employed in the saltpetre industry, for which Baṣra was +famous, took up arms at the call of an ‘Alid Messiah, and +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_274" id="Page_274" href="#"><span><i>THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDÁD</i></span>274</a></span> +during fourteen years carried fire and sword through Khúzistán +and the adjacent territory. We can imagine that all this +misery and discontent was a godsend to the Ismá‘ílites. The +old cry, "A deliverer of the Prophet's House," which served +the ‘Abbásids so well against the Umayyads, was now raised +with no less effect against the ‘Abbásids themselves.</p> + +<p>‘Abdulláh b. Maymún died in 875 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, but the agitation +went on, and rapidly gathered force. One of the leading +spirits was Ḥamdán Qarmaṭ, who gave his name to the Carmathian +branch of the Ismá‘ílís. These Carmathians (<i>Qarámiṭa</i>, +sing. <i>Qirmiṭí</i>) spread over Southern Persia and Yemen, and +in the tenth century they threatened Baghdád, repeatedly +waylaid the pilgrim-caravans, sacked Mecca and bore away +the Black Stone as a trophy; in short, established a veritable +reign of terror. We must return, however, to the main +Ismá‘ílite faction headed by the descendants of ‘Abdulláh b. +Maymún. Their emissaries discovered a promising field of +work in North Africa among the credulous and fanatical +Berbers. When all was ripe, Sa‘íd b. Ḥusayn, the grandson of +‘Abdulláh b. Maymún, left Salamya in Syria, the centre +from which the wires had hitherto been pulled, and <span class="sidenote">The Fáṭimid +dynasty founded +by the Mahdí +‘Ubaydu’lláh +(909 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +crossing over to Africa appeared as the long-expected +Mahdí under the name of ‘Ubaydu’lláh. He +gave himself out to be a great-grandson of the +Imám Muḥammad b. Ismá‘íl and therefore in the +direct line of descent from ‘Alí b. Abí Ṭálib and +Fáṭima the daughter of the Prophet. We need not stop to +discuss this highly questionable genealogy from which the +Fáṭimid dynasty derives its name. In 910 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> ‘Ubaydu’lláh +entered Raqqáda in triumph and assumed the title of Commander +of the Faithful. Tunis, where the Aghlabites had +ruled since 800 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, was the cradle of Fáṭimid power, and +here they built their capital, Mahdiyya, near the ancient +Thapsus. Gradually advancing eastward, they conquered +Egypt and Syria as far as Damascus (969-970 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). At this +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_275" id="Page_275" href="#"><span><i>THE FÁṬIMIDS AND THE SELJÚQS</i></span>275</a></span> +time the seat of government was removed to the newly-founded +city of Cairo (<i>al-Qáhira</i>), which remained for two centuries +the metropolis of the Fáṭimid Empire.<a name="FNanchor_505" id="FNanchor_505"></a><a href="#Footnote_505" class="fnanchor">505</a></p> + +<p>The Shí‘ite Anti-Caliphs maintained themselves in Egypt +until 1171 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, when the famous Saladin (Ṣaláḥu ’l-Dín b. +<span class="sidenote">The Ayyúbids +(1171-1250 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +Ayyúb) took possession of that country and +restored the Sunnite faith. He soon added Syria +to his dominions, and "the fall of Jerusalem (in +1187) roused Europe to undertake the Third Crusade." The +Ayyúbids were strictly orthodox, as behoved the champions of +Islam against Christianity. They built and endowed many +theological colleges. The Ṣúfí pantheist, Shihábu ’l-Dín Yaḥyá +al-Suhrawardí, was executed at Aleppo by order of Saladin's +son, Malik al-Ẓáhir, in 1191 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span></p> + +<p class="tb">The two centuries preceding the extinction of the ‘Abbásid +Caliphate by the Mongols witnessed the rise and decline of +<span class="sidenote">The Seljúqs +(1037-1300 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +the Seljúq Turks, who "once more re-united +Muḥammadan Asia from the western frontier +of Afghanistan to the Mediterranean under one +sovereign." Seljúq b. Tuqáq was a Turcoman chief. +Entering Transoxania, he settled near Bukhárá and went +over with his whole people to Islam. His descendants, +Ṭughril Beg and Chagar Beg, invaded Khurásán, annexed +the western provinces of the Ghaznevid Empire, and finally +absorbed the remaining dominions of the Buwayhids. +Baghdád was occupied by Ṭughril Beg in 1055 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> It +has been said that the Seljúqs contributed almost nothing to +culture, but this perhaps needs some qualification. Although +Alp Arslán, who succeeded Ṭughril, and his son Malik Sháh +devoted their energies in the first place to military affairs, the +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_276" id="Page_276" href="#"><span><i>THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDÁD</i></span>276</a></span> +latter at least was an accomplished and enlightened monarch. +"He exerted himself to spread the benefits of civilisation: he +dug numerous canals, walled a great number of cities, built +bridges, and constructed <i>ribáṭs</i> in the desert places."<a name="FNanchor_506" id="FNanchor_506"></a><a href="#Footnote_506" class="fnanchor">506</a> He +was deeply interested in astronomy, and scientific as well as +theological studies received his patronage. Any shortcomings +of Alp Arslán and Malik Sháh in this respect were amply +repaired by their famous minister, Ḥasan b. ‘Alí, the Niẓámu +’l-Mulk or 'Constable of the Empire,' to give him the title +which he has made his own. Like so many great Viziers, he +was a Persian, and his achievements must not detain us here, +but it may be mentioned that he founded in Baghdád and +Naysábúr the two celebrated academies which were called in +his honour al-Niẓámiyya.</p> + +<p class="tb">We have now taken a general, though perforce an extremely +curtailed and disconnected, view of the political conditions +<span class="sidenote"> Arabia +and Spain.</span> +which existed during the ‘Abbásid period in most +parts of the Muḥammadan Empire except Arabia +and Spain. The motherland of Islam had long +sunk to the level of a minor province: leaving the Holy +Cities out of consideration, one might compare its inglorious +destiny under the Caliphate to that of Macedonia in the +empire which Alexander bequeathed to his successors, the +Ptolemies and Seleucids. As regards the political history of +Spain a few words will conveniently be said in a subsequent +chapter, where the literature produced by Spanish Moslems +will demand our attention. In the meantime we shall pass on +to the characteristic literary developments of this period, which +correspond more or less closely to the historical outlines.</p> + +<p class="tb">The first thing that strikes the student of mediæval Arabic +literature is the fact that a very large proportion of the leading +writers are non-Arabs, or at best semi-Arabs, men whose fathers +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_277" id="Page_277" href="#"><span><i>FOREIGNERS WHO WROTE IN ARABIC</i></span>277</a></span> +or mothers were of foreign, and especially Persian, race. They +wrote in Arabic, because down to about 1000 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> that +language was the sole medium of literary expression in the +Muḥammadan world, a monopoly which it retained in +scientific compositions until the Mongol Invasion of the +thirteenth century. I have already referred to the question +whether such men as Bashshár b. Burd, Abú Nuwás, Ibn +Qutayba, Ṭabarí, Ghazálí, and hundreds of others should be +included in a literary history of the Arabs, and have given +reasons, which I need not repeat in this place, for considering +their admission to be not only desirable but fully justified on +logical grounds.<a name="FNanchor_507" id="FNanchor_507"></a><a href="#Footnote_507" class="fnanchor">507</a> The absurdity of treating them as Persians—and +there is no alternative, if they are not to be reckoned as +Arabs—appears to me self-evident.</p> + +<p>"It is strange," says Ibn Khaldún, "that most of the learned +among the Moslems who have excelled in the religious or +intellectual sciences are non-Arabs (<i>‘Ajam</i>) with rare exceptions; +and even those savants who claimed Arabian descent +spoke a foreign language, grew up in foreign lands, and +studied under foreign masters, notwithstanding that the community +to which they belonged was Arabian and the author +of its religion an Arab." The historian proceeds to explain +the cause of this singular circumstance in an interesting +passage which may be summarised as follows:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The first Moslems were entirely ignorant of art and science, all +their attention being devoted to the ordinances of the Koran, which +<span class="sidenote"> Ibn Khaldún's +explanation of +the fact that +learning was +chiefly cultivated +by the Persian +Moslems.</span> +they "carried in their breasts," and to the practice +(<i>sunna</i>) of the Prophet. At that time the Arabs knew +nothing of the way by which learning is taught, of the +art of composing books, and of the means whereby +knowledge is enregistered. Those, however, who +could repeat the Koran and relate the Traditions of +Muḥammad were called Readers (<i>qurrá</i>). This oral transmission +continued until the reign of Hárún al-Rashíd, when the need of + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_278" id="Page_278" href="#"><span><i>THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDÁD</i></span>278</a></span> + +securing the Traditions against corruption or of preventing their +total loss caused them to be set down in writing; and in order to +distinguish the genuine Traditions from the spurious, every <i>isnád</i> +(chain of witnesses) was carefully scrutinised. Meanwhile the +purity of the Arabic tongue had gradually become impaired: hence +arose the science of grammar; and the rapid development of Law +and Divinity brought it about that other sciences, <i>e.g.</i>, logic and +dialectic, were professionally cultivated in the great cities of the +Muḥammadan Empire. The inhabitants of these cities were chiefly +Persians, freedmen and tradesmen, who had been long accustomed +to the arts of civilisation. Accordingly the most eminent of the +early grammarians, traditionists, and scholastic theologians, as +well as of those learned in the principles of Law and in the interpretation +of the Koran, were Persians by race or education, and the +saying of the Prophet was verified—"<i>If Knowledge were attached to +the ends of the sky, some amongst the Persians would have reached it.</i>" +Amidst all this intellectual activity the Arabs, who had recently +emerged from a nomadic life, found the exercise of military and +administrative command too engrossing to give them leisure for +literary avocations which have always been disdained by a ruling +caste. They left such studies to the Persians and the mixed race +(<i>al-muwalladún</i>), which sprang from intermarriage of the conquerors +with the conquered. They did not entirely look down +upon the men of learning but recognised their services—since after +all it was Islam and the sciences connected with Islam that profited +thereby.<a name="FNanchor_508" id="FNanchor_508"></a><a href="#Footnote_508" class="fnanchor">508</a></p></div> + +<p>Even in the Umayyad period, as we have seen, the maxim +that Knowledge is Power was strikingly illustrated by the +immense social influence which Persian divines exerted in the +Muḥammadan community.<a name="FNanchor_509" id="FNanchor_509"></a><a href="#Footnote_509" class="fnanchor">509</a> Nevertheless, true Arabs of the +old type regarded these <i>Mawálí</i> and their learning with +undisguised contempt. To the great majority of Arabs, who +prided themselves on their noble lineage and were content to +know nothing beyond the glorious traditions of heathendom +and the virtues practised by their sires, all literary culture +seemed petty and degrading. Their overbearing attitude + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_279" id="Page_279" href="#"><span><i>ARABS AND NON-ARABS</i></span>279</a></span> + +towards the <i>Mawálí</i>, which is admirably depicted in the first +part of Goldziher's <i>Muhammedanische Studien</i>, met with a +vigorous response. Non-Arabs and Moslem pietists alike +appealed to the highest authority—the Koran; and since they +required a more definite and emphatic pronouncement than +was forthcoming from that source, they put in the mouth of +the Prophet sayings like these: "He that speaks Arabic is +thereby an Arab"; "whoever of the people of Persia accepts +Islam is (as much an Arab as) one of Quraysh." This +doctrine made no impression upon the Arabian aristocracy, but +with the downfall of the Umayyads the political and social +equality of the <i>Mawálí</i> became an accomplished fact. Not +that the Arabs were at all disposed to abate their pretensions. +They bitterly resented the favour which the foreigners enjoyed +and the influence which they exercised. The national indignation +finds a voice in many poems of the early ‘Abbásid +period, <i>e.g.</i>:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"See how the asses which they used to ride</span><span class="i0"> +They have unsaddled, and sleek mules bestride!</span><span class="i0"> +No longer kitchen-herbs they buy and sell,<a name="FNanchor_510" id="FNanchor_510"></a><a href="#Footnote_510" class="fnanchor">510</a></span><span class="i0"> +But in the palace and the court they dwell;</span><span class="i0"> +Against us Arabs full of rage and spleen,</span><span class="i0"> +Hating the Prophet and the Moslem's <i>dín</i>."<a name="FNanchor_511" id="FNanchor_511"></a><a href="#Footnote_511" class="fnanchor">511</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The side of the non-Arabs in this literary quarrel was +vehemently espoused by a party who called themselves the +Shu‘úbites (<i>al-Shu‘úbiyya</i>),<a name="FNanchor_512" id="FNanchor_512"></a><a href="#Footnote_512" class="fnanchor">512</a> while their opponents gave them + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_280" id="Page_280" href="#"><span><i>THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDÁD</i></span>280</a></span> + +the name of Levellers (<i>Ahlu ’l-Taswiya</i>), because they contended +for the equality of all Moslems without regard to distinctions +of race. I must refer the reader who seeks information <span class="sidenote">The Shu‘úbites.</span> +concerning the history of the movement to +Goldziher's masterly study,<a name="FNanchor_513" id="FNanchor_513"></a><a href="#Footnote_513" class="fnanchor">513</a> where the controversial methods +adopted by the Shu‘úbites are set forth in ample detail. He +shows how the bolder spirits among them, not satisfied with +claiming an <i>equal</i> position, argued that the Arabs were absolutely +inferior to the Persians and other peoples. The question +was hotly debated, and many eminent writers took part in the +fray. On the Shu‘úbite side Abú ‘Ubayda, Bírúní, and +Ḥamza of Iṣfahán deserve mention. Jáḥiẓ and Ibn Durayd +were the most notable defenders of their own Arabian +nationality, but the 'pro-Arabs' also included several men +of Persian origin, such as Ibn Qutayba, Baládhurí, and +Zamakhsharí. The Shu‘úbites directed their attacks principally +against the racial pride of the Arabs, who were fond of +boasting that they were the noblest of all mankind and spoke +the purest and richest language in the world. Consequently +the Persian genealogists and philologists lost no opportunity of +bringing to light scandalous and discreditable circumstances +connected with the history of the Arab tribes or of particular +families. Arabian poetry, especially the vituperative pieces +(<i>mathálib</i>), furnished abundant matter of this sort, which was +adduced by the Shu‘úbites as convincing evidence that the +claims of the Arabs to superior nobility were absurd. At the +same time the national view as to the unique and incomparable +excellence of the Arabic language received some rude criticism.</p> + +<p>So acute and irreconcilable were the racial differences +between Arabs and Persians that one is astonished to see how +thoroughly the latter became Arabicised in the course of a + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_281" id="Page_281" href="#"><span><i>THE SHU‘ÚBITES</i></span>281</a></span> + +few generations. As clients affiliated to an Arab tribe, they +assumed Arabic names and sought to disguise their foreign extraction +by fair means or foul. Many provided <span class="sidenote"> Assimilation of +Arabs and +Persians.</span> +themselves with fictitious pedigrees, on the strength +of which they passed for Arabs. Such a pretence +could have deceived nobody if it had not been supported by a +complete assimilation in language, manners, and even to some +extent in character. On the neutral ground of Muḥammadan +science animosities were laid aside, and men of both races +laboured enthusiastically for the common cause. When at +length, after a century of bloody strife and engrossing political +agitation, the great majority of Moslems found themselves +debarred from taking part in public affairs, it was only natural +that thousands of ardent and ambitious souls should throw +their pent-up energies into the pursuit of wealth or learning. +We are not concerned here with the marvellous development +of trade under the first ‘Abbásid Caliphs, of which Von +Kremer has given a full and entertaining description in his +<i>Culturgeschichte des Orients</i>. It may be recalled, however, that +many commercial terms, <i>e.g.</i>, tariff, names of fabrics (muslin, +tabby, &c.), occurring in English as well as in most European +languages are of Arabic origin and were brought to Europe +by merchants from Baghdád, Mosul, Baṣra, and other cities of +Western Asia. This material expansion was accompanied by +an outburst of intellectual activity such as the East <span class="sidenote">Enthusiasm for +learning in the +early ‘Abbásid +period.</span> +had never witnessed before. It seemed as if all +the world from the Caliph down to the humblest +citizen suddenly became students, or at least +patrons, of literature. In quest of knowledge men travelled +over three continents and returned home, like bees laden with +honey, to impart the precious stores which they had accumulated +to crowds of eager disciples, and to compile with +incredible industry those works of encyclopædic range and +erudition from which modern Science, in the widest sense of +the word, has derived far more than is generally supposed.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_282" id="Page_282" href="#"><span><i>THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDÁD</i></span>282</a></span> + +The Revolution which made the fortune of the ‘Abbásid +House was a triumph for Islam and the party of religious +<span class="sidenote"> Development of +the Moslem +sciences.</span> +reform. While under the worldly Umayyads the +studies of Law and Tradition met with no public +encouragement and were only kept alive by the +pious zeal of oppressed theologians, the new dynasty drew its +strength from the Muḥammadan ideas which it professed to +establish, and skilfully adapted its policy to satisfying the ever-increasing +claims of the Church. Accordingly the Moslem +sciences which arose at this time proceeded in the first instance +from the Koran and the Ḥadíth. The sacred books offered +many difficulties both to provincial Arabs and especially to +Persians and other Moslems of foreign extraction. For their +right understanding a knowledge of Arabic grammar and +philology was essential, and this involved the study of the +ancient Pre-islamic poems which supplied the most authentic +models of Arabian speech in its original purity. The study of +these poems entailed researches into genealogy and history, +which in the course of time became independent branches of +learning. Similarly the science of Tradition was systematically +developed in order to provide Moslems with practical +rules for the conduct of life in every conceivable particular, +and various schools of Law sprang into existence.</p> + +<p>Muḥammadan writers usually distinguish the sciences which +are connected with the Koran and those which the Arabs +<span class="sidenote"> Their +classification.</span> +learned from foreign peoples. In the former +class they include the Traditional or Religious +Sciences (<i>al-‘Ulúm al-Naqliyya awi ’l-Shar‘iyya</i>) +and the Linguistic Sciences (<i>‘Ulúmu ’l-Lisáni ’l-‘Arabí</i>); in +the latter the Intellectual or Philosophical Sciences (<i>al-‘Ulúm +al-‘Aqliyya awi ’l-Ḥikmiyya</i>), which are sometimes called 'The +Sciences of the Foreigners' (<i>‘Ulúmu ’l-‘Ajam</i>) or 'The Ancient +Sciences' (<i>al-‘Ulúm al-Qadíma</i>).</p> + +<p>The general scope of this division may be illustrated by the +following table:—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_283" id="Page_283" href="#"><span><i>THE SCIENTIFIC MOVEMENT</i></span>283</a></span></p> + +<div class="center">I. <span class="smcap">The Native Sciences.</span></div> +<p class="indent4"> +1. Koranic Exegesis (<i>‘Ilmu ’l-Tafsír</i>).</p> +<p class="indent4"> +2. Koranic Criticism (<i>‘Ilmu ’l-Qirá’át</i>).</p> +<p class="indent4"> +3. The Science of Apostolic Tradition (<i>‘Ilmu ’l-Ḥadíth</i>).</p> +<p class="indent4"> +4. Jurisprudence (<i>Fiqh</i>).</p> +<p class="indent4"> +5. Scholastic Theology (<i>‘Ilmu ’l-Kalám</i>).</p> +<p class="indent4"> +6. Grammar (<i>Naḥw</i>).</p> +<p class="indent4"> +7. Lexicography (<i>Lugha</i>).</p> +<p class="indent4"> +8. Rhetoric (<i>Bayán</i>).</p> +<p class="indent4"> +9. Literature (<i>Adab</i>).</p> + +<div class="center">II. <span class="smcap">The Foreign Sciences.</span></div> +<p class="indent4"> +1. Philosophy (<i>Falsafa</i>).<a name="FNanchor_514" id="FNanchor_514"></a><a href="#Footnote_514" class="fnanchor">514</a></p> +<p class="indent4"> +2. Geometry (<i>Handasa</i>).<a name="FNanchor_515" id="FNanchor_515"></a><a href="#Footnote_515" class="fnanchor">515</a></p> +<p class="indent4"> +3. Astronomy (<i>‘Ilmu ’l-Nujúm</i>).</p> +<p class="indent4"> +4. Music (<i>Músíqí</i>).</p> +<p class="indent4"> +5. Medicine (<i>Ṭibb</i>).</p> +<p class="indent4"> +6. Magic and Alchemy (<i>al-Siḥr wa-’l-Kímiyá</i>).</p> + +<p>The religious phenomena of the Period will be discussed in +a separate chapter, and here I can only allude cursorily to their +<span class="sidenote">The early +‘Abbásid period +favourable to +free-thought.</span> +general character. We have seen that during the +whole Umayyad epoch, except in the brief reign of +‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Azíz, the professors of religion +were out of sympathy with the court, and that +many of them withdrew from all participation in public affairs. +It was otherwise when the ‘Abbásids established themselves in +power. Theology now dwelt in the shadow of the throne +and directed the policy of the Government. Honours were +showered on eminent jurists and divines, who frequently held +official posts of high importance and stood in the most confidential +and intimate relations to the Caliph; a classical example +is the friendship of the Cadi Abú Yúsuf and Hárún al-Rashíd. +The century after the Revolution gave birth to the four great +schools of Muhammadan Law, which are still called by the +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_284" id="Page_284" href="#"><span><i>THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDÁD</i></span>284</a></span> +names of their founders—Málik b. Anas, Abú Ḥanífa, Sháfi‘í, +and Ahmad b. Ḥanbal. At this time the scientific and intellectual +movement had free play. The earlier Caliphs usually encouraged +speculation so long as it threatened no danger to the +existing <i>régime</i>. Under Ma’mún and his successors the +Mu‘tazilite Rationalism became the State religion, and Islam +seemed to have entered upon an era of enlightenment. Thus +the first ‘Abbásid period (750-847 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) with its new learning +and liberal theology may well be compared to the European +Renaissance; but in the words of a celebrated Persian poet—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +<i>Khil‘atí bas fákhir ámad ‘umr ‘aybash kútahíst.</i><a name="FNanchor_516" id="FNanchor_516"></a><a href="#Footnote_516" class="fnanchor">516</a></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +"Life is a very splendid robe: its fault is brevity."</span> +</div></div> + +<p>The Caliph Mutawakkil (847-861 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) signalised his +accession by declaring the Mu‘tazilite doctrines to be heretical +<span class="sidenote"> The triumph of +orthodoxy.</span> +and by returning to the traditional faith. Stern +measures were taken against dissenters. Henceforth +there was little room in Islam for independent +thought. The populace regarded philosophy and natural +science as a species of infidelity. Authors of works on these +subjects ran a serious risk unless they disguised their true +opinions and brought the results of their investigations into +apparent conformity with the text of the Koran. About the +middle of the tenth century the reactionary spirit assumed a +dogmatic shape in the system of Abu ’l-Ḥasan al-Ash‘arí, the +father of Muḥammadan Scholasticism, which is essentially +opposed to intellectual freedom and has maintained its petrifying +influence almost unimpaired down to the present time.</p> + +<p class="tb">I could wish that this chapter were more worthy of the +title which I have chosen for it, but the foregoing pages will +have served their purpose if they have enabled my readers to +form some idea of the politics of the Period and of the broad +features marking the course of its literary and religious history.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">285</a></span></p> + +<h4>CHAPTER VII</h4> + +<h5>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE IN THE ‘ABBÁSID PERIOD</h5> + +<p>Pre-Islamic poetry was the natural expression of nomad life. +We might therefore have expected that the new conditions +<span class="sidenote"> The Pre-islamic +poets regarded +as classical.</span> +and ideas introduced by Islam would rapidly work a +corresponding revolution in the poetical literature +of the following century. Such, however, was +far from being the case. The Umayyad poets clung tenaciously +to the great models of the Heroic Age and even took +credit for their skilful imitation of the antique odes. The +early Muḥammadan critics, who were philologists by profession, +held fast to the principle that Poetry in Pre-islamic times had +reached a perfection which no modern bard could hope to +emulate, and which only the lost ideals of chivalry could +inspire.<a name="FNanchor_517" id="FNanchor_517"></a><a href="#Footnote_517" class="fnanchor">517</a> To have been born after Islam was in itself a proof +of poetical inferiority.<a name="FNanchor_518" id="FNanchor_518"></a><a href="#Footnote_518" class="fnanchor">518</a> Linguistic considerations, of course, +entered largely into this prejudice. The old poems were +studied as repositories of the pure classical tongue and were +estimated mainly from a grammarian's standpoint.</p> + +<p>These ideas gained wide acceptance in literary circles +and gradually biassed the popular taste to such an extent +that learned pedants could boast, like Khalíl b. Ahmad, +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_286" id="Page_286" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>286</a></span> +the inventor of Arabic prosody, that it lay in their +power to make or mar the reputation of a rising poet +as they deemed fit. Originality being condemned in +advance, those who desired the approval of this self-constituted +Academy were obliged to waste their time and talents +upon elaborate reproduction of the ancient masterpieces, and +to entertain courtiers and citizens with borrowed pictures of +Bedouin life in which neither they nor their audience took the +slightest interest. Some, it is true, recognised the absurdity of +the thing. Abú Nuwás († <i>circa</i> 810 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) often +ridicules the custom, to which reference has <span class="sidenote"> Abú Nuwás +as a critic.</span> +been made elsewhere, of apostrophising the +deserted encampment (<i>aṭlál</i> or <i>ṭulúl</i>) in the opening lines +of an ode, and pours contempt on the fashionable glorification +of antiquity. In the passage translated below he gives +a description of the desert and its people which recalls some +of Dr. Johnson's sallies at the expense of Scotland and +Scotsmen:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Let the south-wind moisten with rain the desolate scene</span><span class="i0"> +And Time efface what once was so fresh and green!</span><span class="i0"> +Make the camel-rider free of a desert space</span><span class="i0"> +Where high-bred camels trot with unwearied pace;</span><span class="i0"> +Where only mimosas and thistles flourish, and where,</span><span class="i0"> +For hunting, wolves and hyenas are nowise rare!</span><span class="i0"> +Amongst the Bedouins seek not enjoyment out:</span><span class="i0"> +What do they enjoy? They live in hunger and drought.</span><span class="i0"> +Let them drink their bowls of milk and leave them alone,</span><span class="i0"> +To whom life's finer pleasures are all unknown."<a name="FNanchor_519" id="FNanchor_519"></a><a href="#Footnote_519" class="fnanchor">519</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Ibn Qutayba, who died towards the end of the ninth +century <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, was the first critic of importance to declare that +ancients and moderns should be judged on their merits without +regard to their age. He writes as follows in the Introduction +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_287" id="Page_287" href="#"><span><i>ANCIENT AND MODERN POETS</i></span>287</a></span> +to his 'Book of Poetry and Poets' (<i>Kitábu ’l-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará</i>):—<a name="FNanchor_520" id="FNanchor_520"></a><a href="#Footnote_520" class="fnanchor">520</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In citing extracts from the works of the poets I have been +guided by my own choice and have refused to admire anything +<span class="sidenote"> Ibn Qutayba on +ancient and +modern poets.</span> +merely because others thought it admirable. I have +not regarded any ancient with veneration on account +of his antiquity nor any modern with contempt on +account of his being modern, but I have taken an impartial view +of both sides, giving every one his due and amply acknowledging +his merit. Some of our scholars, as I am aware, pronounce a feeble +poem to be good, because its author was an ancient, and include +it among their chosen pieces, while they call a sterling poem bad +though its only fault is that it was composed in their own time or +that they have seen its author. God, however, did not restrict +learning and poetry and rhetoric to a particular age nor appropriate +them to a particular class, but has always distributed them in +common amongst His servants, and has caused everything old to be +new in its own day and every classic work to be an upstart on its +first appearance."</p></div> + +<p>The inevitable reaction in favour of the new poetry and of +contemporary literature in general was hastened by various +<span class="sidenote"> Revolt against +classicism.</span> +circumstances which combined to overthrow the +prevalent theory that Arabian heathendom and +the characteristic pagan virtues—honour, courage, +liberality, &c.—were alone capable of producing poetical +genius. Among the chief currents of thought tending in +this direction, which are lucidly set forth in Goldziher's +essay, pp. 148 sqq., we may note (<i>a</i>) the pietistic and theological +spirit fostered by the ‘Abbásid Government, and (<i>b</i>) the +influence of foreign, pre-eminently Persian, culture. As to +the former, it is manifest that devout Moslems would not be +at all disposed to admit the exclusive pretensions made on +behalf of the <i>Jáhiliyya</i> or to agree with those who exalted +chivalry (<i>muruwwa</i>) above religion (<i>dín</i>). Were not the +language and style of the Koran incomparably excellent? +Surely the Holy Book was a more proper subject for study +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_288" id="Page_288" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>288</a></span> +than heathen verses. But if Moslems began to call Pre-islamic +ideals in question, it was especially the Persian +ascendancy resulting from the triumph of the ‘Abbásid +House that shook the old arrogant belief of the Arabs in +the intellectual supremacy of their race. So far from glorying +in the traditions of paganism, many people thought it +grossly insulting to mention an ‘Abbásid Caliph in the same +breath with heroes of the past like Ḥátim of Ṭayyi’ and +Harim b. Sinán. The philosopher al-Kindí († about +850 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) rebuked a poet for venturing on such odious +comparisons. "Who are these Arabian vagabonds" (<i>ṣa‘álíku +’l-‘Arab</i>), he asked, "and what worth have they?"<a name="FNanchor_521" id="FNanchor_521"></a><a href="#Footnote_521" class="fnanchor">521</a></p> + +<p>While Ibn Qutayba was content to urge that the modern +poets should get a fair hearing, and should be judged not +<span class="sidenote"> Critics in favour +of the +modern school.</span> +chronologically or philologically, but <i>æsthetically</i>, +some of the greatest literary critics who +came after him do not conceal their opinion +that the new poetry is superior to the old. Tha‘álibí +(† 1038 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) asserts that in tenderness and elegance the +Pre-islamic bards are surpassed by their successors, and that +both alike have been eclipsed by his contemporaries. Ibn +Rashíq († <i>circa</i> 1070 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), whose <i>‘Umda</i> on the Art of +Poetry is described by Ibn Khaldún as an epoch-making +work, thought that the superiority of the moderns would +be acknowledged if they discarded the obsolete conventions +of the Ode. European readers cannot but sympathise with +him when he bids the poets draw inspiration from nature and +truth instead of relating imaginary journeys on a camel which +they never owned, through deserts which they never saw, to a +patron residing in the same city as themselves. This seems +to us a very reasonable and necessary protest, but it must be +remembered that the Bedouin <i>qaṣída</i> was not easily adaptable +to the conditions of urban life, and needed complete remoulding +rather than modification in detail.<a name="FNanchor_522" id="FNanchor_522"></a><a href="#Footnote_522" class="fnanchor">522</a> +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_289" id="Page_289" href="#"><span><i>THE CLASSICS OUT OF FAVOUR</i></span>289</a></span></p> + +<p>"In the fifth century," says Goldziher—<i>i.e.</i>, from about +1000 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>—"the dogma of the unattainable perfection of +<span class="sidenote"> Popularity of the +modern poets.</span> +the heathen poets may be regarded as utterly +demolished." Henceforth popular taste ran +strongly in the other direction, as is shown by +the immense preponderance of modern pieces in the anthologies—a +favourite and characteristic branch of Arabic +literature—which were compiled during the ‘Abbásid period +and afterwards, and by frequent complaints of the neglect +into which the ancient poetry had fallen. But although, for +Moslems generally, Imru’u ’l-Qays and his fellows came to +be more or less what Chaucer is to the average Englishman, +the views first enunciated by Ibn Qutayba met with bitter +opposition from the learned class, many of whom clung +obstinately to the old philological principles of criticism, +and even declined to recognise the writings of Mutanabbí +and Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrí as poetry, on the ground that +those authors did not observe the classical 'types' (<i>asálíb</i>).<a name="FNanchor_523" id="FNanchor_523"></a><a href="#Footnote_523" class="fnanchor">523</a> +The result of such pedantry may be seen at the present day +in thousands of <i>qaṣídas</i>, abounding in archaisms and allusions +to forgotten far-off things of merely antiquarian interest, +but possessing no more claim to consideration here than the +Greek and Latin verses of British scholars in a literary history +of the Victorian Age.</p> + +<p class="tb">Passing now to the characteristics of the new poetry which +followed the accession of the ‘Abbásids, we have to bear in +<span class="sidenote"> Characteristics +of the +new poetry.</span> +mind that from first to last (with very few exceptions) +it flourished under the patronage of the +court. There was no organised book trade, no +wealthy publishers, so that poets were usually dependent for +their livelihood on the capricious bounty of the Caliphs and +his favourites whom they belauded. Huge sums were paid +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_290" id="Page_290" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>290</a></span> +for a successful panegyric, and the bards vied with each +other in flattery of the most extravagant description. Even +in writers of real genius this prostitution of their art gave rise +to a great deal of the false glitter and empty bombast which +are often erroneously attributed to Oriental poetry as a whole.<a name="FNanchor_524" id="FNanchor_524"></a><a href="#Footnote_524" class="fnanchor">524</a> +These qualities, however, are absolutely foreign to Arabian +poetry of the best period. The old Bedouins who praised a +man only for that which was in him, and drew their images +directly from nature, stand at the opposite pole to Tha‘álibí's +contemporaries. Under the Umayyads, as we have seen, little +change took place. It is not until after the enthronement of +the ‘Abbásids, when Persians filled the chief offices at court, +and when a goodly number of poets and eminent men of +learning had Persian blood in their veins, that an unmistakably +new note makes itself heard. One might be +tempted to surmise that the high-flown, bombastic, and +ornate style of which Mutanabbí is the most illustrious +exponent, and which is so marked a feature in later +Muḥammadan poetry, was first introduced by the Persians and +Perso-Arabs who gathered round the Caliph in Baghdád and +celebrated the triumph of their own race in the person of a +noble Barmecide; but this would scarcely be true. The +style in question is not specially Persian; the earliest Arabic-writing +poets of Íránian descent, like Bashshár b. Burd and +Abú Nuwás, are (so far as I can see) without a trace of it. +What the Persians brought into Arabian poetry was not a +grandiose style, but a lively and graceful fancy, elegance of +diction, depth and tenderness of feeling, and a rich store +of ideas.</p> + +<p>The process of transformation was aided by other causes +besides the influx of Persian and Hellenistic culture: for +example, by the growing importance of Islam in public life +and the diffusion of a strong religious spirit among the community +at large—a spirit which attained its most perfect +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_291" id="Page_291" href="#"><span><i>THE NEW POETRY</i></span>291</a></span> +expression in the reflective and didactic poetry of Abu +’l-‘Atáhiya. Every change of many-coloured life is depicted +in the brilliant pages of these modern poets, where the reader +may find, according to his mood, the maddest gaiety and the +shamefullest frivolity; strains of lofty meditation mingled +with a world-weary pessimism; delicate sentiment, unforced +pathos, and glowing rhetoric; but seldom the manly self-reliance, +the wild, invigorating freedom and inimitable +freshness of Bedouin song.</p> + +<p class="tb">It is of course impossible to do justice even to the principal +‘Abbásid poets within the limits of this chapter, but the following +<span class="sidenote">Five typical +poets of the +‘Abbásid period.</span> +five may be taken as fairly representative: +Muṭí‘ b. Iyás, Abú Nuwás, Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya, +Mutanabbí, and Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrí. The +first three were in close touch with the court of Baghdád, +while Mutanabbí and Abu ’l-‘Alá flourished under the +Ḥamdánid dynasty which ruled in Aleppo.</p> + +<p class="tb">Muṭí‘ b. Iyás only deserves notice here as the earliest poet +of the New School. His father was a native of Palestine, but +<span class="sidenote">Muṭí‘ b. Iyás.</span> +he himself was born and educated at Kúfa. He +began his career under the Umayyads, and was +devoted to the Caliph Walíd b. Yazíd, who found in him a +fellow after his own heart, "accomplished, dissolute, an agreeable +companion and excellent wit, reckless in his effrontery +and suspected in his religion."<a name="FNanchor_525" id="FNanchor_525"></a><a href="#Footnote_525" class="fnanchor">525</a> When the ‘Abbásids came +into power Muṭí‘ attached himself to the Caliph Manṣúr. +Many stories are told of the debauched life which he led +in the company of <i>zindíqs</i>, or freethinkers, a class of men +whose opinions we shall sketch in another chapter. His +songs of love and wine are distinguished by their lightness +and elegance. The best known is that in which he laments +his separation from the daughter of a <i>Dihqán</i> (Persian landed +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_292" id="Page_292" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>292</a></span> +proprietor), and invokes the two palm-trees of Ḥulwán, a +town situated on the borders of the Jibál province between +Hamadhán and Baghdád. From this poem arose the +proverb, "Faster friends than the two palm-trees of +Ḥulwán."<a name="FNanchor_526" id="FNanchor_526"></a><a href="#Footnote_526" class="fnanchor">526</a></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +THE YEOMAN'S DAUGHTER.</span><span class="i0"> + </span><span class="i0"> +"O ye two palms, palms of Ḥulwán,</span><span class="i0"> +Help me weep Time's bitter dole!</span><span class="i0"> +Know that Time for ever parteth</span><span class="i0"> +Life from every living soul.</span><span class="i0"> + </span><span class="i0"> +Had ye tasted parting's anguish,</span><span class="i0"> +Ye would weep as I, forlorn.</span><span class="i0"> +Help me! Soon must ye asunder</span><span class="i0"> +By the same hard fate be torn.</span><span class="i0"> + </span><span class="i0"> +Many are the friends and loved ones</span><span class="i0"> +Whom I lost in days of yore.</span><span class="i0"> +Fare thee well, O yeoman's daughter!—</span><span class="i0"> +Never grief like this I bore.</span><span class="i0"> +Her, alas, mine eyes behold not,</span><span class="i0"> +And on me she looks no more!"</span> +</div></div> + +<p>By Europeans who know him only through the <i>Thousand +and One Nights</i> Abú Nuwás is remembered as the boon-companion +<span class="sidenote">Abú Nuwás +(† <i>circa</i> 810 a.d.).</span> +and court jester of "the good Haroun +Alraschid," and as the hero of countless droll +adventures and facetious anecdotes—an Oriental +Howleglass or Joe Miller. It is often forgotten that he was +a great poet who, in the opinion of those most competent to +judge, takes rank above all his contemporaries and successors, +including even Mutanabbí, and is not surpassed in poetical +genius by any ancient bard.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_293" id="Page_293" href="#"><span><i>ABU NUWÁS</i></span>293</a></span></p> + +<p>Ḥasan b. Háni’ gained the familiar title of Abú Nuwás +(Father of the lock of hair) from two locks which hung +down on his shoulders. He was born of humble parents, +about the middle of the eighth century, in Aḥwáz, the +capital of Khúzistán. That he was not a pure Arab the +name of his mother, Jallabán, clearly indicates, while the following +verse affords sufficient proof that he was not ashamed +of his Persian blood:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Who are Tamím and Qays and all their kin?</span><span class="i0"> +The Arabs in God's sight are nobody."<a name="FNanchor_527" id="FNanchor_527"></a><a href="#Footnote_527" class="fnanchor">527</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>He received his education at Baṣra, of which city he calls +himself a native,<a name="FNanchor_528" id="FNanchor_528"></a><a href="#Footnote_528" class="fnanchor">528</a> and at Kúfa, where he studied poetry and +philology under the learned Khalaf al-Aḥmar. After passing +a 'Wanderjahr' among the Arabs of the desert, as was the +custom of scholars at that time, he made his way to Baghdád +and soon eclipsed every competitor at the court of Hárún the +Orthodox. A man of the most abandoned character, which +he took no pains to conceal, Abú Nuwás, by his flagrant +immorality, drunkenness, and blasphemy, excited the Caliph's +anger to such a pitch that he often threatened the culprit with +death, and actually imprisoned him on several occasions; but +these fits of severity were brief. The poet survived both +Hárún and his son, Amín, who succeeded him in the +Caliphate. Age brought repentance—"the Devil was sick, +the Devil a monk would be." He addressed the following +lines from prison to Faḍl b. al-Rabí‘, whom Hárún appointed +Grand Vizier after the fall of the Barmecides:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Faḍl, who hast taught and trained me up to goodness</span><span class="i0"> +(And goodness is but habit), thee I praise.</span><span class="i0"> +Now hath vice fled and virtue me revisits,</span><span class="i0"> +And I have turned to chaste and pious ways.</span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_294" id="Page_294" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>294</a></span> + +<span class="i0"> +To see me, thou would'st think the saintly Baṣrite,</span><span class="i0"> +Ḥasan, or else Qatáda, met thy gaze,<a name="FNanchor_529" id="FNanchor_529"></a><a href="#Footnote_529" class="fnanchor">529</a></span><span class="i0"> +So do I deck humility with leanness,</span><span class="i0"> +While yellow, locust-like, my cheek o'erlays.</span><span class="i0"> +Beads on my arm; and on my breast the Scripture,</span><span class="i0"> +Where hung a chain of gold in other days."<a name="FNanchor_530" id="FNanchor_530"></a><a href="#Footnote_530" class="fnanchor">530</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The Díwán of Abú Nuwás contains poems in many different +styles—<i>e.g.</i>, panegyric (<i>madíḥ</i>), satire (<i>hijá</i>), songs of +the chase (<i>ṭardiyyát</i>), elegies (<i>maráthí</i>), and religious poems +(<i>zuhdiyyát</i>); but love and wine were the two motives by +which his genius was most brilliantly inspired. His wine-songs +(<i>khamriyyát</i>) are generally acknowledged to be incomparable. +Here is one of the shortest:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Thou scolder of the grape and me,</span><span class="i0"> +I ne'er shall win thy smile!</span><span class="i0"> +Because against thee I rebel,</span><span class="i0"> +'Tis churlish to revile.</span><span class="i0"> + </span><span class="i0"> +Ah, breathe no more the name of wine</span><span class="i0"> +Until thou cease to blame,</span><span class="i0"> +For fear that thy foul tongue should smirch</span><span class="i0"> +Its fair and lovely name!</span><span class="i0"> + </span><span class="i0"> +Come, pour it out, ye gentle boys,</span><span class="i0"> +A vintage ten years old,</span><span class="i0"> +That seems as though 'twere in the cup</span><span class="i0"> +A lake of liquid gold.</span><span class="i0"> + </span><span class="i0"> +And when the water mingles there,</span><span class="i0"> +To fancy's eye are set</span><span class="i0"> +Pearls over shining pearls close strung</span><span class="i0"> +As in a carcanet."<a name="FNanchor_531" id="FNanchor_531"></a><a href="#Footnote_531" class="fnanchor">531</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_295" id="Page_295" href="#"><span><i>ABÚ NUWÁS</i></span>295</a></span></p> + +<p>Another poem begins—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Ho! a cup, and fill it up, and tell me it is wine,</span><span class="i0"> +For I will never drink in shade if I can drink in shine!</span><span class="i0"> +Curst and poor is every hour that sober I must go,</span><span class="i0"> +But rich am I whene'er well drunk I stagger to and fro.</span><span class="i0"> +Speak, for shame, the loved one's name, let vain disguise alone:</span><span class="i0"> +No good there is in pleasures o'er which a veil is thrown."<a name="FNanchor_532" id="FNanchor_532"></a><a href="#Footnote_532" class="fnanchor">532</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Abú Nuwás practised what he preached, and hypocrisy at +any rate cannot be laid to his charge. The moral and +religious sentiments which appear in some of his poems are +not mere cant, but should rather be regarded as the utterance +of sincere though transient emotion. Usually he felt and +avowed that pleasure was the supreme business of his life, +and that religious scruples could not be permitted to stand +in the way. He even urges others not to shrink from any +excess, inasmuch as the Divine mercy is greater than all the +sins of which a man is capable:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +"Accumulate as many sins thou canst:</span><span class="i0"> +The Lord is ready to relax His ire.</span><span class="i0"> +When the day comes, forgiveness thou wilt find</span><span class="i0"> +Before a mighty King and gracious Sire,</span><span class="i0"> +And gnaw thy fingers, all that joy regretting</span><span class="i0"> +Which thou didst leave thro' terror of Hell-fire!"<a name="FNanchor_533" id="FNanchor_533"></a><a href="#Footnote_533" class="fnanchor">533</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>We must now bid farewell to Abú Nuwás and the +licentious poets (<i>al-shu‘ará al-mujján</i>) who reflect so admirably +the ideas and manners prevailing in court circles and +in the upper classes of society which were chiefly influenced +by the court. The scenes of luxurious dissipation and refined +debauchery which they describe show us, indeed, that Persian +culture was not an unalloyed blessing to the Arabs any more + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_296" id="Page_296" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>296</a></span> + +than were the arts of Greece to the Romans; but this is only +the darker side of the picture. The works of a contemporary +poet furnish evidence of the indignation which the +libertinism fashionable in high places called forth among +the mass of Moslems who had not lost faith in morality and +religion.</p> + +<p class="tb">Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya, unlike his great rival, came of Arab stock. +He was bred in Kúfa, and gained his livelihood as a young +<span class="sidenote">Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya +(748-828 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +man by selling earthenware. His poetical talent, +however, promised so well that he set out to +present himself before the Caliph Mahdí, who +richly rewarded him; and Hárún al-Rashíd afterwards bestowed +on him a yearly pension of 50,000 dirhems (about +£2,000), in addition to numerous extraordinary gifts. At +Baghdád he fell in love with ‘Utba, a slave-girl belonging to +Mahdí, but she did not return his passion or take any notice of +the poems in which he celebrated her charms and bewailed the +sufferings that she made him endure. Despair of winning her +affection caused him, it is said, to assume the woollen garb of +Muḥammadan ascetics,<a name="FNanchor_534" id="FNanchor_534"></a><a href="#Footnote_534" class="fnanchor">534</a> and henceforth, instead of writing vain +and amatorious verses, he devoted his powers exclusively to +those joyless meditations on mortality which have struck a deep +chord in the hearts of his countrymen. Like Abu ’l-‘Alá +al-Ma‘arrí and others who neglected the positive precepts of +Islam in favour of a moral philosophy based on experience and +reflection, Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya was accused of being a freethinker +(<i>zindíq</i>).<a name="FNanchor_535" id="FNanchor_535"></a><a href="#Footnote_535" class="fnanchor">535</a> It was alleged that in his poems he often spoke of + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_297" id="Page_297" href="#"><span><i>ABU ’L-‘ATÁHIYA</i></span>297</a></span> + +death but never of the Resurrection and the Judgment—a +calumny which is refuted by many passages in his Díwán. +According to the literary historian al-Ṣúlí († 946 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), Abu +’l-‘Atáhiya believed in One God who formed the universe out of +two opposite elements which He created from nothing; and +held, further, that everything would be reduced to these same +elements before the final destruction of all phenomena. Knowledge, +he thought, was acquired naturally (<i>i.e.</i>, without Divine +Revelation) by means of reflection, deduction, and research.<a name="FNanchor_536" id="FNanchor_536"></a><a href="#Footnote_536" class="fnanchor">536</a> +He believed in the threatened retribution (<i>al-wa‘íd</i>) and in the +command to abstain from commerce with the world (<i>taḥrímu +’l-makásib</i>).<a name="FNanchor_537" id="FNanchor_537"></a><a href="#Footnote_537" class="fnanchor">537</a> He professed the opinions of the Butrites,<a name="FNanchor_538" id="FNanchor_538"></a><a href="#Footnote_538" class="fnanchor">538</a> a +subdivision of the Zaydites, as that sect of the Shí‘a was named +which followed Zayd b. Alí b. Ḥusayn b. ‘Alí b. Abí Ṭálib. +He spoke evil of none, and did not approve of revolt against the +Government. He held the doctrine of predestination (<i>jabr</i>).<a name="FNanchor_539" id="FNanchor_539"></a><a href="#Footnote_539" class="fnanchor">539</a></p> + +<p>Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya may have secretly cherished the Manichæan +views ascribed to him in this passage, but his poems contain +little or nothing that could offend the most orthodox Moslem. +The following verse, in which Goldziher finds an allusion to +Buddha,<a name="FNanchor_540" id="FNanchor_540"></a><a href="#Footnote_540" class="fnanchor">540</a> is capable of a different interpretation. It rather + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_298" id="Page_298" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>298</a></span> + +seems to me to exalt the man of ascetic life, without particular +reference to any individual, above all others:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"If thou would'st see the noblest of mankind,</span><span class="i0"> +Behold a monarch in a beggar's garb."<a name="FNanchor_541" id="FNanchor_541"></a><a href="#Footnote_541" class="fnanchor">541</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>But while the poet avoids positive heresy, it is none the less +true that much of his Díwán is not strictly religious in the +Muḥammadan sense and may fairly be called 'philosophical.' +This was enough to convict him of infidelity and atheism in +the eyes of devout theologians who looked askance on moral +teaching, however pure, that was not cast in the dogmatic +mould. The pretended cause of his imprisonment by Hárún +al-Rashíd—namely, that he refused to make any more love-songs—is +probably, as Goldziher has suggested, a popular version +of the fact that he persisted in writing religious poems which +were supposed to have a dangerous bias in the direction of +free-thought.</p> + +<p>His poetry breathes a spirit of profound melancholy and hopeless +pessimism. Death and what comes after death, the frailty +and misery of man, the vanity of worldly pleasures and the duty +of renouncing them—these are the subjects on which he +dwells with monotonous reiteration, exhorting his readers to live +the ascetic life and fear God and lay up a store of good +works against the Day of Reckoning. The simplicity, ease, +and naturalness of his style are justly admired. Religious + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_299" id="Page_299" href="#"><span><i>ABU ’L-‘ATÁHIYA</i></span>299</a></span> + +poetry, as he himself confesses, was not read at court or by +scholars who demanded rare and obscure expressions, but only +by pious folk, traditionists and divines, and especially by the +vulgar, "who like best what they can understand."<a name="FNanchor_542" id="FNanchor_542"></a><a href="#Footnote_542" class="fnanchor">542</a> +Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya wrote for 'the man in the street.' Discarding +conventional themes tricked out with threadbare artifices, he +appealed to common feelings and matters of universal experience. +He showed for the first and perhaps for the last +time in the history of classical Arabic literature that it was +possible to use perfectly plain and ordinary language without +ceasing to be a poet.</p> + +<p>Although, as has been said, the bulk of Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya's +poetry is philosophical in character, there remains much +specifically Islamic doctrine, in particular as regards the +Resurrection and the Future Life. This combination may +be illustrated by the following ode, which is considered one +of the best that have been written on the subject of religion, +or, more accurately, of asceticism (<i>zuhd</i>):—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Get sons for death, build houses for decay!</span><span class="i0"> +All, all, ye wend annihilation's way.</span><span class="i0"> +For whom build we, who must ourselves return</span><span class="i0"> +Into our native element of clay?</span><span class="i0"> +O Death, nor violence nor flattery thou</span><span class="i0"> +Dost use, but when thou com'st, escape none may.</span><span class="i0"> +Methinks, thou art ready to surprise mine age,</span><span class="i0"> +As age surprised and made my youth his prey.</span><span class="i0"> +What ails me, World, that every place perforce</span><span class="i0"> +I lodge thee in, it galleth me to stay?</span><span class="i0"> +And, O Time, how do I behold thee run</span><span class="i0"> +To spoil me? Thine own gift thou tak'st away!</span><span class="i0"> +O Time! inconstant, mutable art thou,</span><span class="i0"> +And o'er the realm of ruin is thy sway.</span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_300" id="Page_300" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>300</a></span> + +<span class="i0"> +What ails me that no glad result it brings</span><span class="i0"> +Whene'er, O World, to milk thee I essay?</span><span class="i0"> +And when I court thee, why dost thou raise up</span><span class="i0"> +On all sides only trouble and dismay?</span><span class="i0"> +Men seek thee every wise, but thou art like</span><span class="i0"> +A dream; the shadow of a cloud; the day</span><span class="i0"> +Which hath but now departed, nevermore</span><span class="i0"> +To dawn again; a glittering vapour gay.</span><span class="i0"> +This people thou hast paid in full: their feet</span><span class="i0"> +Are on the stirrup—let them not delay!</span><span class="i0"> +But those that do good works and labour well</span><span class="i0"> +Hereafter shall receive the promised pay.</span><span class="i0"> +As if no punishment I had to fear,</span><span class="i0"> +A load of sin upon my neck I lay;</span><span class="i0"> +And while the world I love, from Truth, alas,</span><span class="i0"> +Still my besotted senses go astray.</span><span class="i0"> +I shall be asked of all my business here:</span><span class="i0"> +What can I plead then? What can I gainsay?</span><span class="i0"> +What argument allege, when I am called</span><span class="i0"> +To render an account on Reckoning-Day?</span><span class="i0"> +Dooms twain in that dread hour shall be revealed,</span><span class="i0"> +When I the scroll of these mine acts survey:</span><span class="i0"> +Either to dwell in everlasting bliss,</span><span class="i0"> +Or suffer torments of the damned for aye!"<a name="FNanchor_543" id="FNanchor_543"></a><a href="#Footnote_543" class="fnanchor">543</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>I will now add a few verses culled from the Díwán which +bring the poet's pessimistic view of life into clearer outline, +and also some examples of those moral precepts and sententious +criticisms which crowd his pages and have contributed in no +small degree to his popularity.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"The world is like a viper soft to touch that venom spits."<a name="FNanchor_544" id="FNanchor_544"></a><a href="#Footnote_544" class="fnanchor">544</a></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Men sit like revellers o'er their cups and drink,</span><span class="i0"> +From the world's hand, the circling wine of death."<a name="FNanchor_545" id="FNanchor_545"></a><a href="#Footnote_545" class="fnanchor">545</a></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Call no man living blest for aught you see</span><span class="i0"> +But that for which you blessed call the dead."<a name="FNanchor_546" id="FNanchor_546"></a><a href="#Footnote_546" class="fnanchor">546</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_301" id="Page_301" href="#"><span><i>ABU ’L-‘ATÁHIYA</i></span>301</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i3"> +FALSE FRIENDS.</span><span class="is"> + </span><span class="i0"> +"'Tis not the Age that moves my scorn,</span><span class="i0"> +But those who in the Age are born.</span><span class="i0"> +I cannot count the friends that broke</span><span class="i0"> +Their faith, tho' honied words they spoke;</span><span class="i0"> +In whom no aid I found, and made</span><span class="i0"> +The Devil welcome to their aid.</span><span class="i0"> +May I—so best we shall agree—</span><span class="i0"> +Ne'er look on them nor they on me!"<a name="FNanchor_547" id="FNanchor_547"></a><a href="#Footnote_547" class="fnanchor">547</a></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +"If men should see a prophet begging, they would turn and scout him.</span><span class="i0"> +Thy friend is ever thine as long as thou canst do without him;</span><span class="i0"> +But he will spew thee forth, if in thy need thou come about him."<a name="FNanchor_548" id="FNanchor_548"></a><a href="#Footnote_548" class="fnanchor">548</a></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i2">THE WICKED WORLD.</span><span class="is"> + </span><span class="i0"> +"'Tis only on the culprit sin recoils,</span><span class="i0"> +The ignorant fool against himself is armed.</span><span class="i0"> +Humanity are sunk in wickedness;</span><span class="i0"> +The best is he that leaveth us unharmed."<a name="FNanchor_549" id="FNanchor_549"></a><a href="#Footnote_549" class="fnanchor">549</a></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"'Twas my despair of Man that gave me hope</span><span class="i0"> +God's grace would find me soon, I know not how."<a name="FNanchor_550" id="FNanchor_550"></a><a href="#Footnote_550" class="fnanchor">550</a></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">LIFE AND DEATH.</span><span class="is"> + </span><span class="i0"> +"Man's life is his fair name, and not his length of years;</span><span class="i0"> +Man's death is his ill-fame, and not the day that nears.</span><span class="i0"> +Then life to thy fair name by deeds of goodness give:</span><span class="i0"> +So in this world two lives, O mortal, thou shalt live."<a name="FNanchor_551" id="FNanchor_551"></a><a href="#Footnote_551" class="fnanchor">551</a></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">MAXIMS AND RULES OF LIFE.</span><span class="is"> + </span><span class="i0"> +"Mere falsehood by its face is recognised,</span><span class="i0"> +But Truth by parables and admonitions."<a name="FNanchor_552" id="FNanchor_552"></a><a href="#Footnote_552" class="fnanchor">552</a></span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_302" id="Page_302" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>302</a></span> + +<span class="i0"> +"I keep the bond of love inviolate</span><span class="i0"> +Towards all humankind, for I betray</span><span class="i0"> +Myself, if I am false to any man."<a name="FNanchor_553" id="FNanchor_553"></a><a href="#Footnote_553" class="fnanchor">553</a></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Far from the safe path, hop'st thou to be saved?</span><span class="i0"> +Ships make no speedy voyage on dry land."<a name="FNanchor_554" id="FNanchor_554"></a><a href="#Footnote_554" class="fnanchor">554</a></span><span class="i0"> + </span><span class="i0"> +"Strip off the world from thee and naked live,</span><span class="i0"> +For naked thou didst fall into the world."<a name="FNanchor_555" id="FNanchor_555"></a><a href="#Footnote_555" class="fnanchor">555</a></span><span class="i0"> + </span><span class="i0"> +"Man guards his own and grasps his neighbours' pelf,</span><span class="i0"> +And he is angered when they him prevent;</span><span class="i0"> +But he that makes the earth his couch will sleep</span><span class="i0"> +No worse, if lacking silk he have content."<a name="FNanchor_556" id="FNanchor_556"></a><a href="#Footnote_556" class="fnanchor">556</a></span><span class="i0"> + </span><span class="i0"> +"Men vaunt their noble blood, but I behold</span><span class="i0"> +No lineage that can vie with righteous deeds."<a name="FNanchor_557" id="FNanchor_557"></a><a href="#Footnote_557" class="fnanchor">557</a></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"If knowledge lies in long experience,</span><span class="i0"> +Less than what I have borne suffices me."<a name="FNanchor_558" id="FNanchor_558"></a><a href="#Footnote_558" class="fnanchor">558</a></span><span class="i0"> + </span><span class="i0"> +"Faith is the medicine of every grief,</span><span class="i0"> +Doubt only raises up a host of cares."<a name="FNanchor_559" id="FNanchor_559"></a><a href="#Footnote_559" class="fnanchor">559</a></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Blame me or no, 'tis my predestined state:</span><span class="i0"> +If I have erred, infallible is Fate."<a name="FNanchor_560" id="FNanchor_560"></a><a href="#Footnote_560" class="fnanchor">560</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya found little favour with his contemporaries, +who seem to have regarded him as a miserly hypocrite. He +died, an aged man, in the Caliphate of Ma’mún.<a name="FNanchor_561" id="FNanchor_561"></a><a href="#Footnote_561" class="fnanchor">561</a> Von + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_303" id="Page_303" href="#"><span><i>ABU ’L-‘ATÁHIYA</i></span>303</a></span> + +Kremer thinks that he had a truer genius for poetry than +Abú Nuwás, an opinion in which I am unable to concur. +Both, however, as he points out, are distinctive types of their +time. If Abú Nuwás presents an appalling picture of a corrupt +and frivolous society devoted to pleasure, we learn from Abu +’l-‘Atáhiya something of the religious feelings and beliefs which +pervaded the middle and lower classes, and which led them to +take a more earnest and elevated view of life.</p> + +<p class="tb">With the rapid decline and disintegration of the ‘Abbásid +Empire which set in towards the middle of the ninth century, +numerous petty dynasties arose, and the hitherto unrivalled +splendour of Baghdád was challenged by more than one provincial +court. These independent or semi-independent princes +were sometimes zealous patrons of learning—it is well known, +for example, that a national Persian literature first came into +being under the auspices of the Sámánids in Khurásán and the +Buwayhids in ‘Iráq—but as a rule the anxious task of maintaining, +or the ambition of extending, their power left them +small leisure to cultivate letters, even if they wished to do so. +None combined the arts of war and peace more brilliantly +than the Ḥamdánid Sayfu ’l-Dawla, who in 944 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> made +himself master of Aleppo, and founded an independent kingdom +in Northern Syria.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The Ḥamdánids," says Tha‘álibí, "were kings and princes, +comely of countenance and eloquent of tongue, endowed with +<span class="sidenote">Tha‘álibí's +eulogy of +Sayfu ’l-Dawla.</span> +open-handedness and gravity of mind. Sayfu ’l-Dawla +is famed as the chief amongst them all and the centre-pearl +of their necklace. He was—may God be pleased +with him and grant his desires and make Paradise his +abode!—the brightest star of his age and the pillar of Islam: by +him the frontiers were guarded and the State well governed. His +attacks on the rebellious Arabs checked their fury and blunted +their teeth and tamed their stubbornness and secured his subjects +against their barbarity. His campaigns exacted vengeance from +the Emperor of the Greeks, decisively broke their hostile onset, + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_304" id="Page_304" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATUE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>304</a></span> + +and had an excellent effect on Islam. His court was the goal of +ambassadors, the dayspring of liberality, the horizon-point of hope, +the end of journeys, a place where savants assembled and poets +competed for the palm. It is said that after the Caliphs no prince +gathered around him so many masters of poetry and men illustrious +in literature as he did; and to a monarch's hall, as to a market, +people bring only what is in demand. He was an accomplished +scholar, a poet himself and a lover of fine poetry; keenly susceptible +to words of praise."<a name="FNanchor_562" id="FNanchor_562"></a><a href="#Footnote_562" class="fnanchor">562</a></p></div> + +<p>Sayfu ’l-Dawla's cousin, Abú Firás al-Ḥamdání, was a +gallant soldier and a poet of some mark, who if space permitted +would receive fuller notice here.<a name="FNanchor_563" id="FNanchor_563"></a><a href="#Footnote_563" class="fnanchor">563</a> He, however, +though superior to the common herd of court poets, is +overshadowed by one who with all his faults—and they are +not inconsiderable—made an extraordinary impression upon +his contemporaries, and by the commanding influence of his +reputation decided what should henceforth be the standard of +poetical taste in the Muḥammadan world.</p> + +<p>Abu ’l-Ṭayyib Ahmad b. Ḥusayn, known to fame as +al-Mutanabbí, was born and bred at Kúfa, where his father +<span class="sidenote">Mutanabbí +(915-965 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +is said to have been a water-carrier. Following +the admirable custom by which young men of +promise were sent abroad to complete their +education, he studied at Damascus and visited other towns +in Syria, but also passed much of his time among the +Bedouins, to whom he owed the singular knowledge +and mastery of Arabic displayed in his poems. Here he +came forward as a prophet (from which circumstance he +was afterwards entitled al-Mutanabbí, <i>i.e.</i>, 'the pretender to +prophecy'), and induced a great multitude to believe in him; +but ere long he was captured by Lu’lu’, the governor of Ḥims +(Emessa), and thrown into prison. After his release he + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_305" id="Page_305" href="#"><span><i>MUTANABBÍ</i></span>305</a></span> + +wandered to and fro chanting the praises of all and sundry, +until fortune guided him to the court of Sayfu ’l-Dawla at +Aleppo. For nine years (948-957 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) he stood high in +the favour of that cultured prince, whose virtues he celebrated +in a series of splendid eulogies, and with whom he lived as an +intimate friend and comrade in arms. The liberality of Sayfu +’l-Dawla and the ingenious impudence of the poet are well +brought out by the following anecdote:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Mutanabbí on one occasion handed to his patron the copy of an +ode which he had recently composed in his honour, and retired, +leaving Sayfu ’l-Dawla to peruse it at leisure. The prince began to +read, and came to these lines—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +<i>Aqil anil aqṭi‘ iḥmil ‘alli salli a‘id</i></span><span class="i0"> +<i>zid hashshi bashshi tafaḍḍal adni surra ṣili.</i><a name="FNanchor_564" id="FNanchor_564"></a><a href="#Footnote_564" class="fnanchor">564</a></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +"<i>Pardon, bestow, endow, mount, raise, console, restore,</i></span><span class="i0"> +<i>Add, laugh, rejoice, bring nigh, show favour, gladden, give!</i>"</span> +</div></div> + +<p>Far from being displeased by the poet's arrogance, Sayfu ’l-Dawla +was so charmed with his artful collocation of fourteen imperatives +in a single verse that he granted every request. Under <i>pardon</i> he +wrote 'we pardon thee'; under <i>bestow</i>, 'let him receive such and +such a sum of money'; under <i>endow</i>, 'we endow thee with an +estate,' which he named (it was beside the gate of Aleppo); under +<i>mount</i>, 'let such and such a horse be led to him'; under <i>raise</i>, 'we +do so'; under <i>console</i>, 'we do so, be at ease'; under <i>restore</i>, 'we +restore thee to thy former place in our esteem'; under <i>add</i>, 'let him +have such and such in addition'; under <i>bring nigh</i>, 'we admit thee +to our intimacy'; under <i>show favour</i>, 'we have done so'; under +<i>gladden</i>, 'we have made thee glad'<a name="FNanchor_565" id="FNanchor_565"></a><a href="#Footnote_565" class="fnanchor">565</a>; under <i>give</i>, 'this we have +already done.' Mutanabbí's rivals envied his good fortune, and +one of them said to Sayfu ’l-Dawla—"Sire, you have done all that +he asked, but when he uttered the words <i>laugh</i>, <i>rejoice</i>, why did not +you answer, 'Ha, ha, ha'?" Sayfu ’l-Dawla laughed, and said, "You +too, shall have your wish," and ordered him a donation.</p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_306" id="Page_306" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>306</a></span> + +Mutanabbí was sincerely attached to his generous master, +and this feeling inspired a purer and loftier strain than we +find in the fulsome panegyrics which he afterwards addressed +to the negro Káfúr. He seems to have been occasionally in +disgrace, but Sayfu ’l-Dawla could deny nothing to a poet +who paid him such magnificent compliments. Nor was he +deterred by any false modesty from praising himself: he was +fully conscious of his power and, like Arabian bards in +general, he bragged about it. Although the verbal legerdemain +which is so conspicuous in his poetry cannot be +reproduced in another language, the lines translated below +may be taken as a favourable and sufficiently characteristic +specimen of his style.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +"How glows mine heart for him whose heart to me is cold,</span><span class="i0"> +Who liketh ill my case and me in fault doth hold!</span><span class="i0"> +Why should I hide a love that hath worn thin my frame?</span><span class="i0"> +To Sayfu ’l-Dawla all the world avows the same.</span><span class="i0"> +Tho' love of his high star unites us, would that we</span><span class="i0"> +According to our love might so divide the fee!</span><span class="i0"> +Him have I visited when sword in sheath was laid,</span><span class="i0"> +And I have seen him when in blood swam every blade:</span><span class="i0"> +Him, both in peace and war the best of all mankind,</span><span class="i0"> +Whose crown of excellence was still his noble mind.</span><span class="i0"> + </span><span class="i0"> +Do foes by flight escape thine onset, thou dost gain</span><span class="i0"> +A chequered victory, half of pleasure, half of pain.</span><span class="i0"> +So puissant is the fear thou strik'st them with, it stands</span><span class="i0"> +Instead of thee, and works more than thy warriors' hands.</span><span class="i0"> +Unfought the field is thine: thou need'st not further strain</span><span class="i0"> +To chase them from their holes in mountain or in plain.</span><span class="i0"> +What! 'fore thy fierce attack whene'er an army reels,</span><span class="i0"> +Must thy ambitious soul press hot upon their heels?</span><span class="i0"> +Thy task it is to rout them on the battle-ground;</span><span class="i0"> +No shame to thee if they in flight have safety found.</span><span class="i0"> +Or thinkest thou perchance that victory is sweet</span><span class="i0"> +Only when scimitars and necks each other greet?</span><span class="i0"> + </span><span class="i0"> +O justest of the just save in thy deeds to me!</span><span class="i0"> +<i>Thou</i> art accused and thou, O Sire, must judge the plea.</span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_307" id="Page_307" href="#"><span><i>MUTANABBÍ</i></span>307</a></span> + +<span class="i0"> +Look, I implore thee, well! Let not thine eye cajoled</span><span class="i0"> +See fat in empty froth, in all that glisters gold!<a name="FNanchor_566" id="FNanchor_566"></a><a href="#Footnote_566" class="fnanchor">566</a></span><span class="i0"> +What use and profit reaps a mortal of his sight,</span><span class="i0"> +If darkness unto him be indistinct from light?</span><span class="i0"> + </span><span class="i0"> +My deep poetic art the blind have eyes to see,</span><span class="i0"> +My verses ring in ears as deaf as deaf can be.</span><span class="i0"> +They wander far abroad while I am unaware,</span><span class="i0"> +But men collect them watchfully with toil and care.</span><span class="i0"> +Oft hath my laughing mien prolonged the insulter's sport,</span><span class="i0"> +Until with claw and mouth I cut his rudeness short.</span><span class="i0"> +Ah, when the lion bares his teeth, suspect his guile,</span><span class="i0"> +Nor fancy that the lion shows to you a smile.</span><span class="i0"> +I have slain the man that sought my heart's blood many a time,</span><span class="i0"> +Riding a noble mare whose back none else may climb,</span><span class="i0"> +Whose hind and fore-legs seem in galloping as one;</span><span class="i0"> +Nor hand nor foot requireth she to urge her on.</span><span class="i0"> +And O the days when I have swung my fine-edged glaive</span><span class="i0"> +Amidst a sea of death where wave was dashed on wave!</span><span class="i0"> +The desert knows me well, the night, the mounted men,</span><span class="i0"> +The battle and the sword, the paper and the pen!"<a name="FNanchor_567" id="FNanchor_567"></a><a href="#Footnote_567" class="fnanchor">567</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Finally an estrangement arose between Mutanabbí and +Sayfu ’l-Dawla, in consequence of which he fled to Egypt +and attached himself to the Ikhshídite Káfúr. Disappointed +in his new patron, a negro who had formerly been a slave, the +poet set off for Baghdád, and afterwards visited the court of +the Buwayhid ‘Aḍudu ’l-Dawla at Shíráz. While travelling +through Babylonia he was attacked and slain by brigands in +965 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span></p> + +<p>The popularity of Mutanabbí is shown by the numerous +commentaries<a name="FNanchor_568" id="FNanchor_568"></a><a href="#Footnote_568" class="fnanchor">568</a> and critical treatises on his <i>Díwán</i>. By his +countrymen he is generally regarded as one of the greatest of +Arabian poets, while not a few would maintain that he ranks + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_308" id="Page_308" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>308</a></span> + +absolutely first. Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrí, himself an illustrious +poet and man of letters, confessed that he had sometimes +wished to alter a word here and there in Mutanabbí's verses, +but had never been able to think of any improvement. "As +to his poetry," says Ibn Khallikán, "it is perfection." +European scholars, with the exception of Von Hammer,<a name="FNanchor_569" id="FNanchor_569"></a><a href="#Footnote_569" class="fnanchor">569</a> +have been far from sharing this enthusiasm, as may be seen by +referring to what has been said on the subject by Reiske,<a name="FNanchor_570" id="FNanchor_570"></a><a href="#Footnote_570" class="fnanchor">570</a> De +Sacy,<a name="FNanchor_571" id="FNanchor_571"></a><a href="#Footnote_571" class="fnanchor">571</a> Bohlen,<a name="FNanchor_572" id="FNanchor_572"></a><a href="#Footnote_572" class="fnanchor">572</a> Brockelmann,<a name="FNanchor_573" id="FNanchor_573"></a><a href="#Footnote_573" class="fnanchor">573</a> and others. No doubt, according +to our canons of taste, Mutanabbí stands immeasurably +below the famous Pre-islamic bards, and in a later age must +yield the palm to Abú Nuwás and Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya. Lovers +of poetry, as the term is understood in Europe, cannot derive +much æsthetic pleasure from his writings, but, on the contrary, +will be disgusted by the beauties hardly less than by the faults +which Arabian critics attribute to him. Admitting, however, +that only a born Oriental is able to appreciate Mutanabbí at +his full worth, let us try to realise the Oriental point of view +and put aside, as far as possible, our preconceptions of what +constitutes good poetry and good taste. Fortunately we +possess abundant materials for such an attempt in the invaluable +work of Tha‘álibí, which has been already mentioned.<a name="FNanchor_574" id="FNanchor_574"></a><a href="#Footnote_574" class="fnanchor">574</a> +Tha‘álibí (961-1038 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) was nearly contemporary with +Mutanabbí. He began to write his <i>Yatíma</i> about thirty +years after the poet's death, and while he bears witness to + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_309" id="Page_309" href="#"><span><i>MUTANABBÍ</i></span>309</a></span> + +the unrivalled popularity of the <i>Díwán</i> amongst all classes +of society, he observes that it was sharply criticised as well as +rapturously admired. Tha‘álibí himself claims to hold the +balance even. "Now," he says, "I will mention the faults +and blemishes which critics have found in the poetry of +Mutanabbí; for is there any one whose qualities give entire +satisfaction?—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +<i>Kafa ’l-mar’a faḍl<sup>an</sup> an tu‘adda ma‘áyibuh.</i></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +'Tis the height of merit in a man that his faults can be numbered.</span> +</div></div> + +<p>Then I will proceed to speak of his beauties and to set forth +in due order the original and incomparable characteristics of +his style.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +The radiant stars with beauty strike our eyes</span><span class="i0"> +Because midst gloom opaque we see them rise."</span> +</div></div> + +<p>It was deemed of capital importance that the opening +couplet (<i>maṭla‘</i>) of a poem should be perfect in form and +meaning, and that it should not contain anything likely +to offend. Tha‘álibí brings forward many instances in which +Mutanabbí has violated this rule by using words of bad omen, +such as 'sickness' or 'death,' or technical terms of music +and arithmetic which only perplex and irritate the hearer +instead of winning his sympathy at the outset. He complains +also that Mutanabbí's finest thoughts and images are too often +followed by low and trivial ones: "he strings pearls and +bricks together" (<i>jama‘a bayna ’l-durrati wa-’l-ájurrati</i>). +"While he moulds the most splendid ornament, and threads +the loveliest necklace, and weaves the most exquisite stuff of +mingled hues, and paces superbly in a garden of roses, +suddenly he will throw in a verse or two verses disfigured +by far-fetched metaphors, or by obscure language and confused +thought, or by extravagant affectation and excessive + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_310" id="Page_310" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>310</a></span> + +profundity, or by unbounded and absurd exaggeration, or +by vulgar and commonplace diction, or by pedantry and +grotesqueness resulting from the use of unfamiliar words." +We need not follow Tha‘álibí in his illustration of these +and other weaknesses with which he justly reproaches +Mutanabbí, since we shall be able to form a better idea +of the prevailing taste from those points which he singles +out for special praise.</p> + +<p>In the first place he calls attention to the poet's skill in +handling the customary erotic prelude (<i>nasíb</i>), and particularly +to his brilliant descriptions of Bedouin women, which were +celebrated all over the East. As an example of this kind he +quotes the following piece, which "is chanted in the salons on +account of the extreme beauty of its diction, the choiceness of +its sentiment, and the perfection of its art":—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Shame hitherto was wont my tears to stay,</span><span class="i0"> +But now by shame they will no more be stayed,</span><span class="i0"> +So that each bone seems through its skin to sob,</span><span class="i0"> +And every vein to swell the sad cascade.</span><span class="i0"> +She uncovered: pallor veiled her at farewell:</span><span class="i0"> +No veil 'twas, yet her cheeks it cast in shade.</span><span class="i0"> +So seemed they, while tears trickled over them,</span><span class="i0"> +Gold with a double row of pearls inlaid.</span><span class="i0"> +She loosed three sable tresses of her hair,</span><span class="i0"> +And thus of night four nights at once she made;</span><span class="i0"> +But when she lifted to the moon in heaven</span><span class="i0"> +Her face, two moons together I surveyed."<a name="FNanchor_575" id="FNanchor_575"></a><a href="#Footnote_575" class="fnanchor">575</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The critic then enumerates various beautiful and original +features of Mutanabbí's style, <i>e.g.</i>—</p> + +<p>1. His consecutive arrangement of similes in brief symmetrical +clauses, thus:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"She shone forth like a moon, and swayed like a moringa-bough,</span><span class="i0"> +And shed fragrance like ambergris, and gazed like a gazelle."</span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_311" id="Page_311" href="#"><span><i>MUTANABBÍ</i></span>311</a></span> + +2. The novelty of his comparisons and images, as when he +indicates the rapidity with which he returned to his patron and +the shortness of his absence in these lines:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"I was merely an arrow in the air,</span><span class="i0"> +Which falls back, finding no refuge there."</span> +</div></div> + +<p>3. The <i>laus duplex</i> or 'two-sided panegyric' (<i>al-madḥ +al-muwajjah</i>), which may be compared to a garment having +two surfaces of different colours but of equal beauty, as in +the following verse addressed to Sayfu ’l-Dawla:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Were all the lives thou hast ta'en possessed by thee,</span><span class="i0"> +Immortal thou and blest the world would be!"</span> +</div></div> + +<p>Here Sayfu ’l-Dawla is doubly eulogised by the mention of +his triumphs over his enemies as well as of the joy which all +his friends felt in the continuance of his life and fortune.</p> + +<p>4. His manner of extolling his royal patron as though he +were speaking to a friend and comrade, whereby he raises +himself from the position of an ordinary encomiast to the same +level with kings.</p> + +<p>5. His division of ideas into parallel sentences:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"We were in gladness, the Greeks in fear,</span><span class="i0"> +The land in bustle, the sea in confusion."</span> +</div></div> + +<p>From this summary of Tha‘álibí's criticism the reader will +easily perceive that the chief merits of poetry were then considered +to lie in elegant expression, subtle combination of +words, fanciful imagery, witty conceits, and a striking use of +rhetorical figures. Such, indeed, are the views which prevail +to this day throughout the whole Muḥammadan world, and it +is unreasonable to denounce them as false simply because they +do not square with ours. Who shall decide when nations +disagree? If Englishmen rightly claim to be the best judges +of Shakespeare, and Italians of Dante, the almost unanimous +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_312" id="Page_312" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>312</a></span> +verdict of Mutanabbí's countrymen is surely not less authoritative—a +verdict which places him at the head of all the poets +born or made in Islam. And although the peculiar excellences +indicated by Tha‘álibí do not appeal to us, there are few poets +that leave so distinct an impression of greatness. One might +call Mutanabbí the Victor Hugo of the East, for he has the +grand style whether he soars to sublimity or sinks to fustian. +In the masculine vigour of his verse, in the sweep and +splendour of his rhetoric, in the luxuriance and reckless +audacity of his imagination we recognise qualities which +inspired the oft-quoted lines of the elegist:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Him did his mighty soul supply</span><span class="i0"> +With regal pomp and majesty.</span><span class="i0"> +A Prophet by his <i>diction</i> known;</span><span class="i0"> +But in the <i>ideas</i>, all must own,</span><span class="i0"> +His miracles were clearly shown."<a name="FNanchor_576" id="FNanchor_576"></a><a href="#Footnote_576" class="fnanchor">576</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>One feature of Mutanabbí's poetry that is praised by +Tha‘álibí should not be left unnoticed, namely, his fondness +for sententious moralising on topics connected with human +life; wherefore Reiske has compared him to Euripides. He +is allowed to be a master of that proverbial philosophy in +which Orientals delight and which is characteristic of the +modern school beginning with Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya, though some +of the ancients had already cultivated it with success (cf. +the verses of Zuhayr, p. 118 <i>supra</i>). The following examples +are among those cited by Bohlen (<i>op. cit.</i>, p. 86 sqq.):—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"When an old man cries 'Ugh!' he is not tired</span><span class="i0"> +Of life, but only tired of feebleness."<a name="FNanchor_577" id="FNanchor_577"></a><a href="#Footnote_577" class="fnanchor">577</a></span><span class="i0"> + </span><span class="i05"> +"He that hath been familiar with the world</span><span class="i0"> +A long while, in his eye 'tis turned about</span><span class="i0"> +Until he sees how false what looked so fair."<a name="FNanchor_578" id="FNanchor_578"></a><a href="#Footnote_578" class="fnanchor">578</a></span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_313" id="Page_313" href="#"><span><i>MUTANABBÍ</i></span>313</a></span> +<span class="i0"> +"The sage's mind still makes him miserable</span><span class="i0"> +In his most happy fortune, but poor fools</span><span class="i0"> +Find happiness even in their misery."<a name="FNanchor_579" id="FNanchor_579"></a><a href="#Footnote_579" class="fnanchor">579</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The sceptical and pessimistic tendencies of an age of social +decay and political anarchy are unmistakably revealed in the +<span class="sidenote">Abu ’l-‘Alá +al-Ma‘arrí (973-1057 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +writings of the poet, philosopher, and man of +letters, Abu ‘l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrí, who was born +in 973 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> at Ma‘arratu ’l-Nu‘mán, a Syrian +town situated about twenty miles south of Aleppo on the +caravan road to Damascus. While yet a child he had an +attack of small-pox, resulting in partial and eventually in +complete blindness, but this calamity, fatal as it might seem +to literary ambition, was repaired if not entirely made good +by his stupendous powers of memory. After being educated +at home under the eye of his father, a man of some culture +and a meritorious poet, he proceeded to Aleppo, which was +still a flourishing centre of the humanities, though it could no +longer boast such a brilliant array of poets and scholars as +were attracted thither in the palmy days of Sayfu ’l-Dawla. +Probably Abu ’l-‘Alá did not enter upon the career of a +professional encomiast, to which he seems at first to have +inclined: he declares in the preface to his <i>Saqṭu ’l-Zand</i> that +he never eulogised any one with the hope of gaining a reward, +but only for the sake of practising his skill. On the termination +of his 'Wanderjahre' he returned in 993 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> to +Ma‘arra, where he spent the next fifteen years of his life, +with no income beyond a small pension of thirty dínárs (which +he shared with a servant), lecturing on Arabic poetry, antiquities, +and philology, the subjects to which his youthful studies +had been chiefly devoted. During this period his reputation +was steadily increasing, and at last, to adapt what Boswell +wrote of Dr. Johnson on a similar occasion, "he thought of +trying his fortune in Baghdád, the great field of genius and +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_314" id="Page_314" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>314</a></span> +exertion, where talents of every kind had the fullest scope +and the highest encouragement." Professor Margoliouth in +the Introduction to his edition of Abu ’l-‘Alá's <span class="sidenote"> His visit to +Baghdád.</span> +correspondence supplies many interesting particulars +of the literary society at Baghdád in which the +poet moved. "As in ancient Rome, so in the great Muḥammadan +cities public recitation was the mode whereby men of +letters made their talents known to their contemporaries. +From very early times it had been customary to employ the +mosques for this purpose; and in Abu ’l-‘Alá's time poems +were recited in the mosque of al-Manṣúr in Baghdád. Better +accommodation was, however, provided by the Mæcenates +who took a pride in collecting savants and <i>littérateurs</i> in their +houses."<a name="FNanchor_580" id="FNanchor_580"></a><a href="#Footnote_580" class="fnanchor">580</a> Such a Mæcenas was the Sharíf al-Raḍí, himself +a celebrated poet, who founded the Academy called by his +name in imitation, probably, of that founded some years +before by Abú Nasr Sábúr b. Ardashír, Vizier to the Buwayhid +prince, Bahá’u ’l-Dawla. Here Abu ’l-‘Alá met a number of +distinguished writers and scholars who welcomed him as one +of themselves. The capital of Islam, thronged with travellers +and merchants from all parts of the East, harbouring followers +of every creed and sect—Christians and Jews, Buddhists and +Zoroastrians, Ṣábians and Ṣúfís, Materialists and Rationalists—must +have seemed to the provincial almost like a new world. +It is certain that Abu ’l-‘Alá, a curious observer who set no +bounds to his thirst for knowledge, would make the best use +of such an opportunity. The religious and philosophical ideas +with which he was now first thrown into contact gradually +took root and ripened. His stay in Baghdád, though it lasted +only a year and a half (1009-1010 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), decided the whole +bent of his mind for the future.</p> + +<p>Whether his return to Ma‘arra was hastened, as he says, by +want of means and the illness of his mother, whom he +tenderly loved, or by an indignity which he suffered at the + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_315" id="Page_315" href="#"><span><i>ABU ’L-‘ALÁ AL-MA‘ARRÍ</i></span>315</a></span> + +hands of an influential patron,<a name="FNanchor_581" id="FNanchor_581"></a><a href="#Footnote_581" class="fnanchor">581</a> immediately on his arrival he +shut himself in his house, adopted a vegetarian diet and other +ascetic practices, and passed the rest of his long life in comparative +seclusion:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Methinks, I am thrice imprisoned—ask not me</span><span class="i0"> +Of news that need no telling—</span><span class="i0"> +By loss of sight, confinement to my house,</span><span class="i0"> +And this vile body for my spirit's dwelling."<a name="FNanchor_582" id="FNanchor_582"></a><a href="#Footnote_582" class="fnanchor">582</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>We can only conjecture the motives which brought about this +sudden change of habits and disposition. No doubt his mother's +death affected him deeply, and he may have been disappointed +by his failure to obtain a permanent footing in the capital. It +is not surprising that the blind and lonely man, looking back +on his faded youth, should have felt weary of the world and +its ways, and found in melancholy contemplation of earthly +vanities ever fresh matter for the application and development +of these philosophical ideas which, as we have seen, were +probably suggested to him by his recent experiences. While +in the collection of early poems, entitled <i>Saqṭu ’l-Zand</i> or 'The +Spark of the Fire-stick' and mainly composed before his visit +to Baghdád, he still treads the customary path of his predecessors,<a name="FNanchor_583" id="FNanchor_583"></a><a href="#Footnote_583" class="fnanchor">583</a> +his poems written after that time and generally +known as the <i>Luzúmiyyát</i><a name="FNanchor_584" id="FNanchor_584"></a><a href="#Footnote_584" class="fnanchor">584</a> arrest attention by their boldness +and originality as well as by the sombre and earnest tone which +pervades them. This, indeed, is not the view of most Oriental +critics, who dislike the poet's irreverence and fail to appreciate +the fact that he stood considerably in advance of his age; but +in Europe he has received full justice and perhaps higher +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_316" id="Page_316" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>316</a></span> +praise than he deserves. Reiske describes him as 'Arabice +callentissimum, vasti, subtilis, sublimis et audacis ingenii';<a name="FNanchor_585" id="FNanchor_585"></a><a href="#Footnote_585" class="fnanchor">585</a> +Von Hammer, who ranks him as a poet with Abú Tammám, +Buḥturí, and Mutanabbí, also mentions him honourably as a +philosopher;<a name="FNanchor_586" id="FNanchor_586"></a><a href="#Footnote_586" class="fnanchor">586</a> and finally Von Kremer, who made an exhaustive +study of the <i>Luzúmiyyát</i> and examined their contents in a masterly +essay,<a name="FNanchor_587" id="FNanchor_587"></a><a href="#Footnote_587" class="fnanchor">587</a> discovered in Abu ’l-‘Alá, one of the greatest moralists +of all time whose profound genius anticipated much that is +commonly attributed to the so-called modern spirit of enlightenment. +Here Von Kremer's enthusiasm may have +carried him too far; for the poet, as Professor Margoliouth +says, was unconscious of the value of his suggestions, unable +to follow them out, and unable to adhere to them consistently. +Although he builded better than he knew, the constructive +side of his philosophy was overshadowed by the negative and +destructive side, so that his pure and lofty morality leaves but a +faint impression which soon dies away in louder, continually +recurring voices of doubt and despair.</p> + +<p>Abu ’l-‘Alá is a firm monotheist, but his belief in God +amounted, as it would seem, to little beyond a conviction that +all things are governed by inexorable Fate, whose mysteries +none may fathom and from whose omnipotence there is no +escape. He denies the Resurrection of the dead, <i>e.g.</i>:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"We laugh, but inept is our laughter;</span><span class="i0"> +We should weep and weep sore,</span><span class="i0"> +Who are shattered like glass, and thereafter</span><span class="i0"> +Re-moulded no more!"<a name="FNanchor_588" id="FNanchor_588"></a><a href="#Footnote_588" class="fnanchor">588</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_317" id="Page_317" href="#"><span><i>ABU ’L-‘ALÁ AL-MA‘ARRI</i></span>317</a></span></p> + +<p>Since Death is the ultimate goal of mankind, the sage will +pray to be delivered as speedily as possible from the miseries of +life and refuse to inflict upon others what, by no fault of his +own, he is doomed to suffer:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Amends are richly due from sire to son:</span><span class="i0"> +What if thy children rule o'er cities great?</span><span class="i0"> +That eminence estranges them the more</span><span class="i0"> +From thee, and causes them to wax in hate,</span><span class="i0"> +Beholding one who cast them into Life's</span><span class="i0"> +Dark labyrinth whence no wit can extricate."<a name="FNanchor_589" id="FNanchor_589"></a><a href="#Footnote_589" class="fnanchor">589</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>There are many passages to the same effect, showing that +Abu ’l-‘Alá regarded procreation as a sin and universal annihilation +as the best hope for humanity. He acted in accordance +with his opinions, for he never married, and he is said to +have desired that the following verse should be inscribed on +his grave:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"This wrong was by my father done</span><span class="i0"> +To me, but ne'er by me to one."<a name="FNanchor_590" id="FNanchor_590"></a><a href="#Footnote_590" class="fnanchor">590</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Hating the present life and weary of its burdens, yet seeing +no happier prospect than that of return to non-existence, Abu +’l-‘Alá can scarcely have disguised from himself what he might +shrink openly to avow—that he was at heart, not indeed an +atheist, but wholly incredulous of any Divine revelation. +Religion, as he conceives it, is a product of the human mind, +in which men believe through force of habit and education, +never stopping to consider whether it is true.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Sometimes you may find a man skilful in his trade, perfect in +sagacity and in the use of arguments, but when he comes to +religion he is found obstinate, so does he follow the old groove. +Piety is implanted in human nature; it is deemed a sure refuge. + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_318" id="Page_318" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>318</a></span> + +To the growing child that which falls from his elders' lips is a +lesson that abides with him all his life. Monks in their cloisters and +devotees in the mosques accept their creed just as a story is handed +down from him who tells it, without distinguishing between a true +interpreter and a false. If one of these had found his kin among +the Magians, he would have declared himself a Magian, or among +the Ṣábians, he would have become nearly or quite like <i>them</i>."<a name="FNanchor_591" id="FNanchor_591"></a><a href="#Footnote_591" class="fnanchor">591</a></p></div> + +<p>Religion, then, is "a fable invented by the ancients," +worthless except to those unscrupulous persons who prey upon +human folly and superstition. Islam is neither better nor +worse than any other creed:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Ḥanífs are stumbling,<a name="FNanchor_592" id="FNanchor_592"></a><a href="#Footnote_592" class="fnanchor">592</a> Christians all astray,</span><span class="i0"> +Jews wildered, Magians far on error's way.</span><span class="i0"> +We mortals are composed of two great schools—</span><span class="i0"> +Enlightened knaves or else religious fools."<a name="FNanchor_593" id="FNanchor_593"></a><a href="#Footnote_593" class="fnanchor">593</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Not only does the poet emphatically reject the proud claim +of Islam to possess a monopoly of truth, but he attacks most +of its dogmas in detail. As to the Koran, Abu ’l-‘Alá could +not altogether refrain from doubting if it was really the Word +of God, but he thought so well of the style that he accepted +the challenge flung down by Muḥammad and produced a rival +work (<i>al-Fuṣúl wa-’l-Gháyát</i>), which appears to have been a +somewhat frivolous parody of the sacred volume, though in the +author's judgment its inferiority was simply due to the fact +that it was not yet polished by the tongues of four centuries of +readers. Another work which must have sorely offended +orthodox Muḥammadans is the <i>Risálatu ’l-Ghufrán</i> (Epistle of +Forgiveness).<a name="FNanchor_594" id="FNanchor_594"></a><a href="#Footnote_594" class="fnanchor">594</a> Here the Paradise of the Faithful becomes + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_319" id="Page_319" href="#"><span><i>ABU ’L-‘ALÁ AL-MA‘ARRÍ</i></span>319</a></span> + +a glorified salon tenanted by various heathen poets who have +been forgiven—hence the title—and received among the Blest. +This idea is carried out with much ingenuity and in a spirit +of audacious burlesque that reminds us of Lucian. The poets +are presented in a series of imaginary conversations with a +certain Shaykh ‘Alí b. Manṣúr, to whom the work is addressed, +reciting and explaining their verses, quarrelling with one +another, and generally behaving as literary Bohemians. The +second part contains a number of anecdotes relating to the +<i>zindíqs</i> or freethinkers of Islam interspersed with quotations +from their poetry and reflections on the nature of their belief, +which Abu ’l-‘Alá condemns while expressing a pious hope +that they are not so black as they paint themselves. At this +time it may have suited him—he was over sixty—to assume +the attitude of charitable orthodoxy. Like so many wise men +of the East, he practised dissimulation as a fine art—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"I lift my voice to utter lies absurd,</span><span class="i0"> +But when I speak the truth, my hushed tones scarce are heard."<a name="FNanchor_595" id="FNanchor_595"></a><a href="#Footnote_595" class="fnanchor">595</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In the <i>Luzúmiyyát</i>, however, he often unmasks. Thus he +describes as idolatrous relics the two Pillars of the Ka‘ba and +the Black Stone, venerated by every Moslem, and calls the +Pilgrimage itself 'a heathen's journey' (<i>riḥlatu jáhiliyy<sup>in</sup></i>). +The following sentiments do him honour, but they would +have been rank heresy at Mecca:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Praise God and pray,</span><span class="i0"> +Walk seventy times, not seven, the Temple round—</span><span class="i0"> +And impious remain!</span><span class="i0"> +Devout is he alone who, when he may</span><span class="i0"> +Feast his desires, is found</span><span class="i0"> +With courage to abstain."<a name="FNanchor_596" id="FNanchor_596"></a><a href="#Footnote_596" class="fnanchor">596</a></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_320" id="Page_320" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>320</a></span></p> + +<p>It is needless to give further instances of the poet's contempt +for the Muḥammadan articles of faith. Considering that he +assailed persons as well as principles, and lashed with bitter +invective the powerful class of the <i>‘Ulamá</i>, the clerical and +legal representatives of Islam, we may wonder that the accusation +of heresy brought against him was never pushed home +and had no serious consequences. The question was warmly +argued on both sides, and though Abu ’l-‘Alá was pronounced +by the majority to be a freethinker and materialist, he did not +lack defenders who quoted chapter and verse to prove that he +was nothing of the kind. It must be remembered that his +works contain no philosophical system; that his opinions have +to be gathered from the ideas which he scatters incoherently, +and for the most part in guarded language, through a long +succession of rhymes; and that this task, already arduous +enough, is complicated by the not infrequent occurrence of +sentiments which are blamelessly orthodox and entirely contradictory +to the rest. A brilliant writer, familiar with +Eastern ways of thinking, has observed that in general the +conscience of an Asiatic is composed of the following ingredients: +(1) an almost bare religious designation; (2) a +more or less lively belief in certain doctrines of the creed +which he professes; (3) a resolute opposition to many of its +doctrines, even if they should be the most essential; (4) a +fund of ideas relating to completely alien theories, which +occupies more or less room; (5) a constant tendency to get +rid of these ideas and theories and to replace the old by new.<a name="FNanchor_597" id="FNanchor_597"></a><a href="#Footnote_597" class="fnanchor">597</a> +Such phenomena will account for a great deal of logical inconsistency, +but we should beware of invoking them too confidently +in this case. Abu ’l-‘Alá with his keen intellect and +unfanatical temperament was not the man to let himself be +mystified. Still lamer is the explanation offered by some +Muḥammadan critics, that his thoughts were decided by the + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_321" id="Page_321" href="#"><span><i>ABU ’L-‘ALÁ AL-MA‘ARRÍ</i></span>321</a></span> + +necessities of the difficult metre in which he wrote. It is +conceivable that he may sometimes have doubted his own +doubts and given Islam the benefit, but Von Kremer's conclusion +is probably near the truth, namely, that where the +poet speaks as a good Moslem, his phrases if they are not +purely conventional are introduced of set purpose to foil his +pious antagonists or to throw them off the scent. Although +he was not without religion in the larger sense of the word, +unprejudiced students of the later poems must recognise that +from the orthodox standpoint he was justly branded as an +infidel. The following translations will serve to illustrate the +negative side of his philosophy:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +"Falsehood hath so corrupted all the world</span><span class="i0"> +That wrangling sects each other's gospel chide;</span><span class="i0"> +But were not hate Man's natural element,</span><span class="i0"> +Churches and mosques had risen side by side."<a name="FNanchor_598" id="FNanchor_598"></a><a href="#Footnote_598" class="fnanchor">598</a></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +"What is Religion? A maid kept close that no eye may view her;</span><span class="i0"> +The price of her wedding-gifts and dowry baffles the wooer.</span><span class="i0"> +Of all the goodly doctrine that I from the pulpit heard</span><span class="i0"> +My heart has never accepted so much as a single word !"<a name="FNanchor_599" id="FNanchor_599"></a><a href="#Footnote_599" class="fnanchor">599</a></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +"The pillars of this earth are four,</span><span class="i0"> +Which lend to human life a base;</span><span class="i0"> +God shaped two vessels, Time and Space,</span><span class="i0"> +The world and all its folk to store.</span><span class="is"> + </span><span class="i0"> +That which Time holds, in ignorance</span><span class="i0"> +It holds—why vent on it our spite?</span><span class="i0"> +Man is no cave-bound eremite,</span><span class="i0"> +But still an eager spy on Chance.</span><span class="is"> + </span><span class="i0"> +He trembles to be laid asleep,</span><span class="i0"> +Tho' worn and old and weary grown.</span><span class="i0"> +We laugh and weep by Fate alone,</span><span class="i0"> +Time moves us not to laugh or weep;</span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_322" id="Page_322" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>322</a></span> + +<span class="i0"> +Yet we accuse it innocent,</span><span class="i0"> +Which, could it speak, might us accuse,</span><span class="i0"> +Our best and worst, at will to choose,</span><span class="i0"> +United in a sinful bent.<a name="FNanchor_600" id="FNanchor_600"></a><a href="#Footnote_600" class="fnanchor">600</a></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +"'The stars' conjunction comes, divinely sent,</span><span class="i0"> +And lo, the veil o'er every creed is rent.</span><span class="i0"> +No realm is founded that escapes decay,</span><span class="i0"> +The firmest structure soon dissolves away.'<a name="FNanchor_601" id="FNanchor_601"></a><a href="#Footnote_601" class="fnanchor">601</a></span><span class="i0"> +With sadness deep a thoughtful mind must scan</span><span class="i0"> +Religion made to serve the pelf of Man.</span><span class="i0"> +Fear thine own children: sparks at random flung</span><span class="i0"> +Consume the very tinder whence they sprung.</span><span class="i0"> +Evil are all men; I distinguish not</span><span class="i0"> +That part or this: the race entire I blot.</span><span class="i0"> +Trust none, however near akin, tho' he</span><span class="i0"> +A perfect sense of honour show to thee,</span><span class="i0"> +Thy self is the worst foe to be withstood:</span><span class="i0"> +Be on thy guard in hours of solitude.</span><span class="ia"> + * * * + * *<sup> </sup></span> +<span class="i0"> +Desire a venerable shaykh to cite</span><span class="i0"> +Reason for his doctrine, he is gravelled quite.</span><span class="i0"> +What! shall I ripen ere a leaf is seen?</span><span class="i0"> +The tree bears only when 'tis clad in green.'<a name="FNanchor_602" id="FNanchor_602"></a><a href="#Footnote_602" class="fnanchor">602</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +"How have I provoked your enmity?</span><span class="i0"> +Christ or Muḥammad, 'tis one to me.</span><span class="i0"> +No rays of dawn our path illume,</span><span class="i0"> +We are sunk together in ceaseless gloom.</span><span class="i0"> +Can blind perceptions lead aright,</span><span class="i0"> +Or blear eyes ever have clear sight?</span><span class="i0"> +Well may a body racked with pain</span><span class="i0"> +Envy mouldering bones in vain;</span><span class="i0"> +Yet comes a day when the weary sword</span><span class="i0"> +Reposes, to its sheath restored.</span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_323" id="Page_323" href="#"><span><i>ABU ’L-‘ALÁ AL-MA‘ARRÍ</i></span>323</a></span> + +<span class="i0"> +Ah, who to me a frame will give</span><span class="i0"> +As clod or stone insensitive?—</span><span class="i0"> +For when spirit is joined to flesh, the pair</span><span class="i0"> +Anguish of mortal sickness share.</span><span class="i0"> +O Wind, be still, if wind thy name,</span><span class="i0"> +O Flame, die out, if thou art flame!"<a name="FNanchor_603" id="FNanchor_603"></a><a href="#Footnote_603" class="fnanchor">603</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Pessimist and sceptic as he was, Abu ’l-‘Alá denies more +than he affirms, but although he rejected the dogmas of +positive religion, he did not fall into utter unbelief; for he +found within himself a moral law to which he could not +refuse obedience.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Take Reason for thy guide and do what she</span><span class="i0"> +Approves, the best of counsellors in sooth.</span><span class="i0"> +Accept no law the Pentateuch lays down:</span><span class="i0"> +Not there is what thou seekest—the plain truth."<a name="FNanchor_604" id="FNanchor_604"></a><a href="#Footnote_604" class="fnanchor">604</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>He insists repeatedly that virtue is its own reward.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +"Oh, purge the good thou dost from hope of recompense</span><span class="i0"> +Or profit, as if thou wert one that sells his wares."<a name="FNanchor_605" id="FNanchor_605"></a><a href="#Footnote_605" class="fnanchor">605</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>His creed is that of a philosopher and ascetic. Slay no +living creature, he says; better spare a flea than give alms. +Yet he prefers active piety, active humanity, to fasting and +prayer. "The gist of his moral teaching is to inculcate as +the highest and holiest duty a conscientious fulfilment of +one's obligations with equal warmth and affection towards +all living beings."<a name="FNanchor_606" id="FNanchor_606"></a><a href="#Footnote_606" class="fnanchor">606</a></p> + +<p>Abu ’l-‘Alá died in 1057 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, at the age of eighty-four. +About ten years before this time, the Persian poet and +traveller, Náṣir-i Khusraw, passed through Ma‘arra on his +way to Egypt. He describes Abu ’l-‘Alá as the chief +man in the town, very rich, revered by the inhabitants, +and surrounded by more than two hundred students who +came from all parts to attend his lectures on literature and + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_324" id="Page_324" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>324</a></span> + +poetry.<a name="FNanchor_607" id="FNanchor_607"></a><a href="#Footnote_607" class="fnanchor">607</a> We may set this trustworthy notice against the +doleful account which Abu ’l-‘Alá gives of himself in his +letters and other works. If not among the greatest Muḥammadan +poets, he is undoubtedly one of the most original +and attractive. After Mutanabbí, even after Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya, +he must appear strangely modern to the European reader. +It is astonishing to reflect that a spirit so unconventional, so +free from dogmatic prejudice, so rational in spite of his +pessimism and deeply religious notwithstanding his attacks +on revealed religion, should have ended his life in a Syrian +country-town some years before the battle of Senlac. Although +he did not meddle with politics and held aloof from +every sect, he could truly say of himself, "I am the son of +my time" (<i>ghadawtu ’bna waqtí</i>).<a name="FNanchor_608" id="FNanchor_608"></a><a href="#Footnote_608" class="fnanchor">608</a> His poems leave no +aspect of the age untouched, and present a vivid picture +of degeneracy and corruption, in which tyrannous rulers, +venal judges, hypocritical and unscrupulous theologians, +swindling astrologers, roving swarms of dervishes and godless +Carmathians occupy a prominent place.<a name="FNanchor_609" id="FNanchor_609"></a><a href="#Footnote_609" class="fnanchor">609</a></p> + +<p class="tb">Although the reader may think that too much space has +been already devoted to poetry, I will venture by way of +concluding the subject to mention very briefly a few well-known +names which cannot be altogether omitted from a +work of this kind.</p> + +<p>Abú Tammám (Ḥabíb b. Aws) and Buḥturí, both of whom +<span class="sidenote"> Abú Tammám +and Buḥturí.</span> +flourished in the ninth century, were distinguished court poets +of the same type as Mutanabbí, but their reputation +rests more securely on the anthologies which +they compiled under the title of <i>Ḥamása</i> (see +p. 129 seq.).</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_325" id="Page_325" href="#"><span><i>IBNU ’L-MU‘TAZZ AND IBNU ’L-FÁRIḌ</i></span>325</a></span> + +Abu ’l-‘Abbás ‘Abdulláh, the son of the Caliph al-Mu‘tazz, +was a versatile poet and man of letters, who showed his +<span class="sidenote">Ibnu ’l-Mu‘tazz +(861-908 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +originality by the works which he produced in +two novel styles of composition. It has often +been remarked that the Arabs have no great +epos like the Iliad or the Persian <i>Sháhnáma</i>, but only prose +narratives which, though sometimes epical in tone, are better +described as historical romances. Ibnu ’l-Mu‘tazz could not +supply the deficiency. He wrote, however, in praise of his +cousin, the Caliph Mu‘taḍid, a metrical epic in miniature, +commencing with a graphic delineation of the wretched state +to which the Empire had been reduced by the rapacity and +tyranny of the Turkish mercenaries. He composed also, +besides an anthology of Bacchanalian pieces, the first important +work on Poetics (<i>Kitábu ’l-Badí‘</i>). A sad destiny was +in store for this accomplished prince. On the death of the +Caliph Muktarí he was called to the throne, but a few hours +after his accession he was overpowered by the partisans of +Muqtadir, who strangled him as soon as they discovered his +hiding-place. Picturing the scene, one thinks almost inevitably +of Nero's dying words, <i>Qualis artifex pereo!</i></p> + +<p class="tb">The mystical poetry of the Arabs is far inferior, as a whole, +to that of the Persians. Fervour and passion it has in the +<span class="sidenote">‘Umar Ibnu +’l-Fáriḍ +(1181-1235 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +highest degree, but it lacks range and substance, +not to speak of imaginative and speculative +power. ‘Umar Ibnu ’l-Fáriḍ, though he is +undoubtedly the poet of Arabian mysticism, cannot sustain a +comparison with his great Persian contemporary, Jalálu’l-Dín +Rúmí († 1273 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>); he surpasses him only in the intense +glow and exquisite beauty of his diction. It will be convenient +to reserve a further account of Ibnu ’l-Fáriḍ for the +next chapter, where we shall discuss the development of +Ṣúfiism during this period.</p> + +<p>Finally two writers claim attention who owe their reputation +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_326" id="Page_326" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>326</a></span> +to single poems—a by no means rare phenomenon in +the history of Arabic literature. One of these universally +celebrated odes is the <i>Lámiyyatu ’l-‘Ajam</i> (the ode rhyming +in <i>l</i> of the non-Arabs) composed in the year 1111 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> by +Ṭughrá’í; the other is the <i>Burda</i> (Mantle Ode) of Búṣírí, +which I take the liberty of mentioning in this chapter, +although its author died some forty years after the Mongol +Invasion.</p> + +<p>Ḥasan b. ‘Alí al-Ṭughrá’í was of Persian descent and a +native of Iṣfahán.<a name="FNanchor_610" id="FNanchor_610"></a><a href="#Footnote_610" class="fnanchor">610</a> +<span class="sidenote">Ṭughrá’í +(† <i>circa</i> 1120 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +He held the offices of <i>kátib</i> (secretary) +and <i>munshí</i> or <i>ṭughrá’í</i> (chancellor) under the +great Seljúq Sultans, Maliksháh and Muḥammad, +and afterwards became Vizier to the +Seljúqid prince Ghiyáthu ’l-Dín Mas‘úd<a name="FNanchor_611" id="FNanchor_611"></a><a href="#Footnote_611" class="fnanchor">611</a> in Mosul. He +derived the title by which he is generally known from the +royal signature (<i>ṭughrá</i>) which it was his duty to indite on +all State papers over the initial <i>Bismilláh</i>. The <i>Lámiyyatu +’l-‘Ajam</i> is so called with reference to Shanfará's renowned +poem, the <i>Lámiyyatu ’l-‘Arab</i> (see p. <a href="#Page_79">79</a> seq.), which rhymes +in the same letter; otherwise the two odes have only this +in common,<a name="FNanchor_612" id="FNanchor_612"></a><a href="#Footnote_612" class="fnanchor">612</a> that whereas Shanfará depicts the hardships of +an outlaw's life in the desert, Ṭughrá’í, writing in Baghdád, +laments the evil times on which he has fallen, and complains +that younger rivals, base and servile men, are preferred to +him, while he is left friendless and neglected in his old age.</p> + +<p>The <i>Qaṣídatu ’l-Burda</i> (Mantle Ode) of al-Búṣírí<a name="FNanchor_613" id="FNanchor_613"></a><a href="#Footnote_613" class="fnanchor">613</a> is a + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_327" id="Page_327" href="#"><span><i>ṬUGHRÁ’Í AND BÚṢÍRÍ</i></span>327</a></span> + +hymn in praise of the Prophet. Its author was born in +<span class="sidenote">Búṣírí († <i>circa</i> +1296 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +Egypt in 1212 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> We know scarcely anything concerning +his life, which, as he himself declares, +was passed in writing poetry and in paying court +to the great<a name="FNanchor_614" id="FNanchor_614"></a><a href="#Footnote_614" class="fnanchor">614</a>; but his biographers tell us that +he supported himself by copying manuscripts, and that he +was a disciple of the eminent Ṣúfí, Abu ’l-‘Abbás Aḥmad +al-Marsí. It is said that he composed the <i>Burda</i> while +suffering from a stroke which paralysed one half of his +body. After praying God to heal him, he began to recite +the poem. Presently he fell asleep and dreamed that he +saw the Prophet, who touched his palsied side and threw his +mantle (<i>burda</i>) over him.<a name="FNanchor_615" id="FNanchor_615"></a><a href="#Footnote_615" class="fnanchor">615</a> "Then," said al-Búṣírí, "I awoke +and found myself able to rise." However this may be, the +Mantle Ode is held in extraordinary veneration by Muḥammadans. +Its verses are often learned by heart and inscribed +in golden letters on the walls of public buildings; and not +only is the whole poem regarded as a charm against evil, +but some peculiar magical power is supposed to reside in +each verse separately. Although its poetical merit is no more +than respectable, the <i>Burda</i> may be read with pleasure on +account of its smooth and elegant style, and with interest as +setting forth in brief compass the mediæval legend of the +Prophet—a legend full of prodigies and miracles in which +the historical figure of Muḥammad is glorified almost beyond +recognition.</p> + +<p class="tb">Rhymed prose (<i>saj‘</i>) long retained the religious associations +which it possessed in Pre-islamic times and which were +consecrated, for all Moslems, by its use in the Koran. +About the middle of the ninth century it began to appear + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_328" id="Page_328" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>328</a></span> + +in the public sermons (<i>khuṭab</i>, sing. <i>khuṭba</i>) of the Caliphs +and their viceroys, and it was still further developed by professional +<span class="sidenote"> Rhymed prose.</span> +preachers, like Ibn Nubáta († 984 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), +and by official secretaries, like Ibráhím b. Hilál +al-Ṣábí († 994 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). Henceforth rhyme becomes a distinctive +and almost indispensable feature of rhetorical prose.</p> + +<p>The credit of inventing, or at any rate of making popular, a +new and remarkable form of composition in this style belongs +<span class="sidenote">Badí‘u ’l-Zamán +al-Hamadhání +(† 1007 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +to al-Hamadhání († 1007 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), on whom posterity +conferred the title <i>Badí‘u ’l-Zamán</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, +'the Wonder of the Age.' Born in Hamadhán +(Ecbatana), he left his native town as a young man and +travelled through the greater part of Persia, living by his +wits and astonishing all whom he met by his talent for +improvisation. His <i>Maqámát</i> may be called a romance or +literary Bohemianism. In the <i>maqáma</i> we find some approach +to the dramatic style, which has never been cultivated +by the Semites.<a name="FNanchor_616" id="FNanchor_616"></a><a href="#Footnote_616" class="fnanchor">616</a> Hamadhání imagined as his hero a +witty, unscrupulous vagabond journeying from place to place +and supporting himself by the presents which his impromptu +displays of rhetoric, poetry, and learning seldom failed to +draw from an admiring audience. The second character is +the <i>ráwí</i> or narrator, "who should be continually meeting +with the other, should relate his adventures, and repeat his +excellent compositions."<a name="FNanchor_617" id="FNanchor_617"></a><a href="#Footnote_617" class="fnanchor">617</a> The <i>Maqámát</i> of Hamadhání + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_329" id="Page_329" href="#"><span><i>BADÍ‘U ’L-ZAMÁN AL-HAMADHÁNÍ</i></span>329</a></span> + +became the model for this kind of writing, and the types +which he created survive unaltered in the more elaborate +work of his successors. Each <i>maqáma</i> forms an independent +whole, so that the complete series may be regarded as a +novel consisting of detached episodes in the hero's life, a +medley of prose and verse in which the story is nothing, +the style everything.</p> + +<p>Less original than Badí‘u ’l-Zamán, but far beyond him in +variety of learning and copiousness of language, Abú +<span class="sidenote">Ḥarírí +(1054-1122 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +Muḥammad al-Qásim al-Ḥarírí of Baṣra produced +in his <i>Maqámát</i> a masterpiece which for +eight centuries "has been esteemed as, next to +the Koran, the chief treasure of the Arabic tongue." In the +Preface to his work he says that the composition of <i>maqámát</i> +was suggested to him by "one whose suggestion is a command +and whom it is a pleasure to obey." This was the distinguished +Persian statesman, Anúshirwán b. Khálid,<a name="FNanchor_618" id="FNanchor_618"></a><a href="#Footnote_618" class="fnanchor">618</a> who +afterwards served as Vizier under the Caliph Mustarshid +Billáh (1118-1135 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) and Sultán Mas‘úd, the Seljúq +(1133-1152 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>); but at the time when he made Ḥarírí's +acquaintance he was living in retirement at Baṣra and devoting +himself to literary studies. Ḥarírí begged to be excused +on the score that his abilities were unequal to the task, "for +the lame steed cannot run like the strong courser."<a name="FNanchor_619" id="FNanchor_619"></a><a href="#Footnote_619" class="fnanchor">619</a> Finally, +however, he yielded to the request of Anúshirwán, and, to +quote his own words—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"I composed, in spite of hindrances that I suffered</span><span class="i0"> +From dullness of capacity and dimness of intellect,</span><span class="i0"> +And dryness of imagination and distressing anxieties,</span><span class="i0"> +Fifty Maqámát, which contain serious language and lightsome,</span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_330" id="Page_330" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>330</a></span> + +<span class="i0"> +And combine refinement with dignity of style,</span><span class="i0"> +And brilliancies with jewels of eloquence,</span><span class="i0"> +And beauties of literature with its rarities,</span><span class="i0"> +Beside verses of the Koran wherewith I adorned them,</span><span class="i0"> +And choice metaphors, and Arab proverbs that I interspersed,</span><span class="i0"> +And literary elegancies and grammatical riddles,</span><span class="i0"> +And decisions based on the (double) meaning of words,</span><span class="i0"> +And original discourses and highly-wrought orations,</span><span class="i0"> +And affecting exhortations as well as entertaining jests:</span><span class="i0"> +The whole of which I have indited as by the tongue of Abú Zayd of Sarúj,</span><span class="i0"> +The part of narrator being assigned to Harith son of Hammám of Baṣra."<a name="FNanchor_620" id="FNanchor_620"></a><a href="#Footnote_620" class="fnanchor">620</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Ḥarírí then proceeds to argue that his <i>Maqámát</i> are not +mere frivolous stories such as strict Moslems are bound to +reprobate in accordance with a well-known passage of the +Koran referring to Naḍr b. Ḥárith, who mortally offended +the Prophet by amusing the Quraysh with the old Persian +legends of Rustam and Isfandiyár (Koran, xxxi, 5-6): +"<i>There is one that buyeth idle tales that he may seduce men +from the way of God, without knowledge, and make it a laughing-stock: +these shall suffer a shameful punishment. And when Our +signs are read to him, he turneth his back in disdain as though he +heard them not, as though there were in his ears a deafness: +give him joy of a grievous punishment!</i>" Ḥarírí insists that +the <i>Assemblies</i> have a moral purpose. The ignorant and +malicious, he says, will probably condemn his work, but +intelligent readers will perceive, if they lay prejudice aside, +that it is as useful and instructive as the fables of beasts, &c.,<a name="FNanchor_621" id="FNanchor_621"></a><a href="#Footnote_621" class="fnanchor">621</a> +to which no one has ever objected. That his fears of hostile +criticism were not altogether groundless is shown by the + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_331" id="Page_331" href="#"><span><i>ḤARÍRÍ</i></span>331</a></span> + +following remarks of the author of the popular history +entitled <i>al-Fakhrí</i> († <i>circa</i> 1300 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). This writer, after +claiming that his own book is more useful than the <i>Ḥamása</i> +of Abú Tammám, continues:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"And, again, it is more profitable than the <i>Maqámát</i> on which +men have set their hearts, and which they eagerly commit to +<span class="sidenote"><i>Maqámát</i> +criticised as +immoral.</span> +memory; because the reader derives no benefit from +<i>Maqámát</i> except familiarity with elegant composition +and knowledge of the rules of verse and prose. Undoubtedly +they contain maxims and ingenious devices and experiences; +but all this has a debasing effect on the mind, for it is +founded on begging and sponging and disgraceful scheming to +acquire a few paltry pence. Therefore, if they do good in one +direction, they do harm in another; and this point has been +noticed by some critics of the <i>Maqámát</i> of Ḥarírí and Badí‘u +’l-Zamán."<a name="FNanchor_622" id="FNanchor_622"></a><a href="#Footnote_622" class="fnanchor">622</a></p></div> + +<p>Before pronouncing on the justice of this censure, we must +consider for a moment the character of Abú Zayd, the hero +<span class="sidenote"> The character of +Abú Zayd.</span> +of Ḥarírí's work, whose adventures are related by +a certain Ḥárith b. Hammám, under which name +the author is supposed to signify himself. According +to the general tradition, Ḥarírí was one day seated with a +number of savants in the mosque of the Banú Ḥarám at Baṣra, +when an old man entered, footsore and travel-stained. On +being asked who he was and whence he came, he answered +that his name of honour was Abú Zayd and that he came +from Sarúj.<a name="FNanchor_623" id="FNanchor_623"></a><a href="#Footnote_623" class="fnanchor">623</a> He described in eloquent and moving terms +how his native town had been plundered by the Greeks, +who made his daughter a captive and drove him forth to +exile and poverty. Ḥarírí was so struck with his wonderful +powers of improvisation that on the same evening he began to +compose the <i>Maqáma of the Banú Ḥarám</i>,<a name="FNanchor_624" id="FNanchor_624"></a><a href="#Footnote_624" class="fnanchor">624</a> where Abú Zayd + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_332" id="Page_332" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>332</a></span> + +is introduced in his invariable character: "a crafty old man, +full of genius and learning, unscrupulous of the artifices which +he uses to effect his purpose, reckless in spending in forbidden +indulgences the money he has obtained by his wit or deceit, +but with veins of true feeling in him, and ever yielding to +unfeigned emotion when he remembers his devastated home +and his captive child."<a name="FNanchor_625" id="FNanchor_625"></a><a href="#Footnote_625" class="fnanchor">625</a> If an immoral tendency has been +attributed to the <i>Assemblies</i> of Ḥarírí it is because the author +does not conceal his admiration for this unprincipled and +thoroughly disreputable scamp. Abú Zayd, indeed, is made +so fascinating that we can easily pardon his knaveries for the +sake of the pearls of wit and wisdom which he scatters in +splendid profusion—excellent discourses, edifying sermons, +and plaintive lamentations mingled with rollicking ditties +and ribald jests. Modern readers are not likely to agree +with the historian quoted above, but although they may +deem his criticism illiberal, they can hardly deny that it has +some justification.</p> + +<p>Ḥarírí's rhymed prose might be freely imitated in English, +but the difficulty of rendering it in rhyme with tolerable +fidelity has caused me to abandon the attempt to produce +a version of one of the <i>Assemblies</i> in the original form.<a name="FNanchor_626" id="FNanchor_626"></a><a href="#Footnote_626" class="fnanchor">626</a> I +will translate instead three poems which are put into the +mouth of Abú Zayd. The first is a tender elegiac strain +recalling far-off days of youth and happiness in his native +land:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Ghassán is my noble kindred, Sarúj is my land of birth,</span><span class="i0"> +Where I dwelt in a lofty mansion of sunlike glory and worth,</span><span class="i0"> +A Paradise for its sweetness and beauty and pleasant mirth!</span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_333" id="Page_333" href="#"><span><i>ḤARÍRÍ</i></span>333</a></span> + +<span class="i0"> +And oh, the life that I led there abounding in all delight!</span><span class="i0"> +I trailed my robe on its meadows, while Time flew a careless flight,</span><span class="i0"> +Elate in the flower of manhood, no pleasure veiled from my sight.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +Now, if woe could kill, I had died of the troubles that haunt me here,</span><span class="i0"> +Or could past joy ever be ransomed, my heart's blood had not been dear,</span><span class="i0"> +Since death is better than living a brute's life year after year,</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +Subdued to scorn as a lion whom base hyenas torment.</span><span class="i0"> +But Luck is to blame, else no one had failed of his due ascent:</span><span class="i0"> +If she were straight, the conditions of men would never be bent."<a name="FNanchor_627" id="FNanchor_627"></a><a href="#Footnote_627" class="fnanchor">627</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>The scene of the eleventh <i>Assembly</i> is laid in Sáwa, a +city lying midway between Hamadhán (Ecbatana) and +Rayy (Rhages). "Ḥárith, in a fit of religious zeal, betakes +himself to the public burial ground, for the purpose of contemplation. +He finds a funeral in progress, and when it is +over an old man, with his face muffled in a cloak, takes his +stand on a hillock, and pours forth a discourse on the certainty +of death and judgment.... He then rises into poetry and +declaims a piece which is one of the noblest productions of +Arabic literature. In lofty morality, in religious fervour, in +beauty of language, in power and grace of metre, this +magnificent hymn is unsurpassed."<a name="FNanchor_628" id="FNanchor_628"></a><a href="#Footnote_628" class="fnanchor">628</a></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Pretending sense in vain, how long, O light of brain, wilt thou heap sin and bane, and compass error's span?</span> +<span class="i0"> +Thy conscious guilt avow! The white hairs on thy brow admonish thee, and thou hast ears unstopt, O man!</span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_334" id="Page_334" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>334</a></span> + +<span class="i0"> +Death's call dost thou not hear? Rings not his voice full clear? Of parting hast no fear, to make thee sad and wise?</span> +<span class="i0"> +How long sunk in a sea of sloth and vanity wilt thou play heedlessly, as though Death spared his prize?</span> +<span class="i0"> +Till when, far wandering from virtue, wilt thou cling to evil ways that bring together vice in brief?</span> +<span class="i0"> +For thy Lord's anger shame thou hast none, but let maim o'ertake thy cherished aim, then feel'st thou burning grief.</span> +<span class="i0"> +Thou hail'st with eager joy the coin of yellow die, but if a bier pass by, feigned is thy sorry face;</span> +<span class="i0"> +Perverse and callous wight! thou scornest counsel right to follow the false light of treachery and disgrace.</span> +<span class="i0"> +Thy pleasure thou dost crave, to sordid gain a slave, forgetting the dark grave and what remains of dole;</span> +<span class="i0"> +Were thy true weal descried, thy lust would not misguide nor thou be terrified by words that should console.</span> +<span class="i0"> +Not tears, blood shall thine eyes pour at the great Assize, when thou hast no allies, no kinsman thee to save;</span> +<span class="i0"> +Straiter thy tomb shall be than needle's cavity: deep, deep thy plunge I see as diver's 'neath the wave.</span> +<span class="i0"> +There shall thy limbs be laid, a feast for worms arrayed, till utterly decayed are wood and bones withal,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Nor may thy soul repel that ordeal horrible, when o'er the Bridge of Hell she must escape or fall.</span><span class="i0"> +Astray shall leaders go, and mighty men be low, and sages shall cry, 'Woe like this was never yet.'</span><span class="i0"> +Then haste, my thoughtless friend, what thou hast marred to mend, for life draws near its end, and still thou art in the net.</span><span class="i0"> +Trust not in fortune, nay, though she be soft and gay; for she will spit one day her venom, if thou dote;</span><span class="i0"> +Abate thy haughty pride! lo, Death is at thy side, fastening, whate'er betide, his fingers on thy throat.</span><span class="i0"> +When prosperous, refrain from arrogant disdain, nor give thy tongue the rein: a modest tongue is best.</span><span class="i0"> +Comfort the child of bale and listen to his tale: repair thine actions frail, and be for ever blest.</span><span class="i0"> +Feather the nest once more of those whose little store has vanished: ne'er deplore the loss nor miser be;</span><span class="i0"> +With meanness bravely cope, and teach thine hand to ope, and spurn the misanthrope, and make thy bounty free.</span><span class="i0"> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_335" id="Page_335" href="#"><span><i>ḤARÍRÍ</i></span>335</a></span></span><span class="i0"> + +Lay up provision fair and leave what brings thee care: for sea the ship prepare and dread the rising storm.</span><span class="i0"> +This, friend, is what I preach expressed in lucid speech. Good luck to all and each who with my creed conform!"</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>In the next <i>Maqáma</i>—that of Damascus—we find Abú +Zayd, gaily attired, amidst casks and vats of wine, carousing +and listening to the music of lutes and singing—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"I ride and I ride through the waste far and wide, and I fling away pride to be gay as the swallow;</span><span class="i0"> +Stem the torrent's fierce speed, tame the mettlesome steed, that wherever I lead Youth and Pleasure may follow.</span><span class="i0"> +I bid gravity pack, and I strip bare my back lest liquor I lack when the goblet is lifted:</span><span class="i0"> +Did I never incline to the quaffing of wine, I had ne'er been with fine wit and eloquence gifted.</span><span class="i0"> +Is it wonderful, pray, that an old man should stay in a well-stored seray by a cask overflowing?</span><span class="i0"> +Wine strengthens the knees, physics every disease, and from sorrow it frees, the oblivion-bestowing!</span><span class="i0"> +Oh, the purest of joys is to live sans disguise unconstrained by the ties of a grave reputation,</span><span class="i0"> +And the sweetest of love that the lover can prove is when fear and hope move him to utter his passion.</span><span class="i0"> +Thy love then proclaim, quench the smouldering flame, for 'twill spark out thy shame and betray thee to laughter:</span><span class="i0"> +Heal the wounds of thine heart and assuage thou the smart by the cups that impart a delight men seek after;</span><span class="i0"> +While to hand thee the bowl damsels wait who cajole and enravish the soul with eyes tenderly glancing,</span><span class="i0"> +And singers whose throats pour such high-mounting notes, when the melody floats, iron rocks would be dancing!</span><span class="i0"> +Obey not the fool who forbids thee to pull beauty's rose when in full bloom thou'rt free to possess it;</span><span class="i0"> +Pursue thine end still, tho' it seem past thy skill; let them say what they will, take thy pleasure and bless it!</span><span class="i0"> +Get thee gone from thy sire, if he thwart thy desire; spread thy nets nor enquire what the nets are receiving;</span><span class="i0"> +But be true to a friend, shun the miser and spend, ways of charity wend, be unwearied in giving.</span><span class="i0"> +He that knocks enters straight at the Merciful's gate, so repent or e'er Fate call thee forth from the living!"</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_336" id="Page_336" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>336</a></span> + +The reader may judge from these extracts whether the +<i>Assemblies</i> of Ḥarírí 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. +Ḥarírí himself was a subtle grammarian, living in Baṣra, the +home of philological science;<a name="FNanchor_629" id="FNanchor_629"></a><a href="#Footnote_629" class="fnanchor">629</a> and though he wrote to please +rather than to instruct, he seems to have resolved that his +work should illustrate 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, +assonances, alliterations, &c.—with which his pages are +thickly studded, as in <i>tours de force</i> 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,<a name="FNanchor_630" id="FNanchor_630"></a><a href="#Footnote_630" class="fnanchor">630</a> +and therefore stand on a very different footing from those +euphuistic extravagances which appear, for example, in +English literature of the Elizabethan age. By Ḥarírí's +countrymen the <i>Maqámát</i> are prized as an almost unique +monument of their language, antiquities, and culture. One +of the author's contemporaries, the famous Zamakhsharí, has +expressed the general verdict in pithy verse—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"I swear by God and His marvels,</span><span class="i0"> +By the pilgrims' rite and their shrine:</span><span class="i0"> +Ḥarírí's <i>Assemblies</i> are worthy</span><span class="i0"> +To be written in gold each line."</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_337" id="Page_337" href="#"><span><i>THE CANONICAL BOOKS</i></span>337</a></span> + +Concerning some of the specifically religious sciences, such +as Dogmatic Theology and Mysticism, we shall have more to say +<span class="sidenote"> The religious +literature of the +period.</span> +in the following chapter, while as to the science +of Apostolic Tradition (<i>Ḥadíth</i>) we must refer the +reader to what has been already said. All that +can be attempted here is to take a passing notice of the most +eminent writers and the most celebrated works of this epoch in +the field of religion.</p> + +<p>The place of honour belongs to the Imám Málik b. Anas +of Medína, whose <i>Muwaṭṭa’</i> is the first great <i>corpus</i> of +<span class="sidenote">Málik b. Anas +(713-795 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +Muḥammadan Law. He was a partisan of the +‘Alids, and was flogged by command of the +Caliph Manṣúr in consequence of his declaration +that he did not consider the oath of allegiance to the ‘Abbásid +dynasty to have any binding effect.</p> + +<p>The two principal authorities for Apostolic Tradition are +Bukhárí († 870 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) and Muslim († 875 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), authors of the +collections entitled <i>Ṣaḥíḥ</i>. Compilations of a <span class="sidenote"> Bukhárí and +Muslim.</span> +narrower range, embracing only those traditions +which bear on the <i>Sunna</i> or custom of the Prophet, +are the <i>Sunan</i> of Abú Dáwúd al-Sijistání († 889 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), +the <i>Jámi‘</i> of Abú ‘Isá Muḥammad al-Tirmidhí +(† 892 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), the <i>Sunan</i> of al-Nasá’í († 915 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), +and the <i>Sunan</i> of Ibn Mája († 896 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). These, together +with the <i>Ṣaḥíḥs</i> of Bukhárí and Muslim, form the Six Canonical +Books (<i>al-kutub al-sitta</i>), 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 +<i>Maṣábíḥu ’l-Sunna</i> by al-Baghawí († <i>circa</i> 1120 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). A +later adaptation called <i>Mishkátu ’l-Maṣábíḥ</i> has been often +printed, and is still extremely popular.</p> + +<p>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-Máwardí, a +Sháfi‘ite lawyer, who wrote a well-known treatise on politics—the + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_338" id="Page_338" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>338</a></span> + +<i>Kitábu ’l-Aḥkám al-Sulṭániyya</i>, or 'Book of the Principles +of Government.' His standpoint is purely theoretical. +Thus he lays down that the Caliph should be <span class="sidenote">Máwardí +† 1058 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +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. Máwardí lived at Baghdád 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."<a name="FNanchor_631" id="FNanchor_631"></a><a href="#Footnote_631" class="fnanchor">631</a> Under the +‘Abbásid dynasty the mystical doctrines of the Ṣúfís were +systematised and expounded. Some of the most important +Arabic works of reference on Ṣúfiism are the <i>Qútu ’l-Qulúb</i>, or +'Food of Hearts,' by Abú Ṭálib al-Makkí <span class="sidenote"> Arabic authorities +on Ṣúfiism.</span> +(† 996 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>); the <i>Kitábu ’l-Ta‘arruf li-Madhhabi +ahli ’l-Taṣawwuf</i>, or 'Book of Enquiry as to the +Religion of the Súfís,' by Muḥammad b. Isḥáq al-Kalábádhí +(† <i>circa</i> 1000 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>); the <i>Ṭabaqátu ’l-Ṣúfiyya</i>, or 'Classes of the +Ṣúfís,' by Abú ‘Abd al-Raḥmán al-Sulamí († 1021 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>); the +<i>Ḥilyatu ’l-Awliyá</i>, or 'Adornment of the Saints,' by Abú +Nu‘aym al-Iṣfahání († 1038 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>); the <i>Risálatu ’l-Qushayriyya</i>, +or 'Qushayrite Tract,' by Abu ’l-Qásim al-Qushayrí of +Naysábúr († 1074 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>); the <i>Iḥyá’u ‘Ulúm al-Dín</i>, or 'Revivification +of the Religious Sciences,' by Ghazálí († 1111 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>); +and the <i>‘Awárifu ’l-Ma‘árif</i>, or 'Bounties of Knowledge,' by +Shihábu ’l-Dín Abú Ḥafṣ ‘Umar al-Suhrawardí († 1234 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>)—a +list which might easily be extended. In Dogmatic <span class="sidenote">Ghazálí +(† 1111 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +Theology there is none to compare with +Abú Ḥámid al-Ghazálí, surnamed 'the Proof +of Islam' (<i>Ḥujjatu ’l-Islám</i>). 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, + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_339" id="Page_339" href="#"><span><i>GHAZÁLÍ</i></span>339</a></span> + +which professes to illustrate the history of Muḥammadan +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.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In this year (505 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span> = 1111 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) died the Imám, who was the +Ornament of the Faith and the Proof of Islam, Abú Ḥámid +<span class="sidenote">Life of Ghazálí +according to the +<i>Shadharátu +’l-Dhahab</i>.</span> +Muḥammad ... of Ṭús, the Sháfi‘ite. His death +took place on the 14th of the Latter Jumádá at Ṭábarán, +a village near Ṭús. He was then fifty-five +years of age. Ghazzálí is equivalent to Ghazzál, like +‘Aṭṭárí (for ‘Aṭṭár) and Khabbází (for Khabbáz), in the dialect of the +people of Khurásán<a name="FNanchor_632" id="FNanchor_632"></a><a href="#Footnote_632" class="fnanchor">632</a>: so it is stated by the author of the <i>‘Ibar</i>.<a name="FNanchor_633" id="FNanchor_633"></a><a href="#Footnote_633" class="fnanchor">633</a> +Al-Isnawí says in his <i>Ṭabaqát</i><a name="FNanchor_634" id="FNanchor_634"></a><a href="#Footnote_634" class="fnanchor">634</a>:—Ghazzálí is an Imám by whose +name breasts 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 Ṭús in the year 450 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span> = 1058-1059 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> His father +used to spin wool (<i>yaghzilu ’l-ṣúf</i>) and sell it in his shop. On his deathbed +he committed his two sons, Ghazzálí himself and his brother +Aḥmad, to the care of a pious Ṣúfí, who taught them writing and +educated them until the money left him by their father was all spent. +'Then,' says Ghazzálí, 'we went to the college to learn divinity +(<i>fiqh</i>) so that we might gain our livelihood.' After studying there +for some time he journeyed to Abú Naṣr al-Ismá‘ílí in Jurján, then +to the Imámu ’l-Ḥaramayn<a name="FNanchor_635" id="FNanchor_635"></a><a href="#Footnote_635" class="fnanchor">635</a> at Naysábúr, under whom he studied +with such assiduity that he became the best scholastic of his +contemporaries (<i>ṣára anẓara ahli zamánihi</i>), and he lectured <i>ex</i> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_340" id="Page_340" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>340</a></span> + +<i>cathedrâ</i> in his master's lifetime, and wrote books.... And on the +death of his master he set out for the Camp<a name="FNanchor_636" id="FNanchor_636"></a><a href="#Footnote_636" class="fnanchor">636</a> and presented himself +to the Niẓámu ’l-Mulk, whose assembly 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 +principal doctors, and disputed with his opponents and rebutted +them in spite of their eminence. So the Niẓámu ’l-Mulk inclined to +him and showed him great honour, and his name flew through the +world. Then, in the year '84 (1091 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) he was called to a professorship +in the Niẓámiyya College at Baghdád, where a splendid +reception awaited him. His words reached far and wide, and his +influence soon exceeded that of the Emírs 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 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), +for the Ḥijáz.<a name="FNanchor_637" id="FNanchor_637"></a><a href="#Footnote_637" class="fnanchor">637</a> 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>Iḥyá</i> is said to be one. Then, after visiting Jerusalem and +Alexandria, he returned to his home at Ṭús, intent on writing and +worship and constant recitation of the Koran and dissemination of +knowledge and avoidance of intercourse with men. The Vizier +Fakhru ’l-Mulk,<a name="FNanchor_638" id="FNanchor_638"></a><a href="#Footnote_638" class="fnanchor">638</a> son of the Niẓámu ’l-Mulk, came to see him, and +urged him by every means in his power to accept a professorship in +the Niẓámiyya College at Naysábúr.<a name="FNanchor_639" id="FNanchor_639"></a><a href="#Footnote_639" class="fnanchor">639</a> Ghazzálí consented, but after +teaching for a time, resigned the appointment and returned to end +his days in his native town."</p></div> + +<p>Besides his <i>magnum opus</i>, the already-mentioned <i>Iḥyá</i>, in +which he expounds theology and the ethics of religion from +<span class="sidenote">His principal +works.</span> +the standpoint of the moderate Ṣúfí school, +Ghazálí wrote a great number of important +works, such as the <i>Munqidh mina ’l-Ḍalál</i>, or +'Deliverer from Error,' a sort of 'Apologia pro Vitâ Suâ'; the +<i>Kímiyá’u ’l-Sa‘ádat</i>, or 'Alchemy of Happiness,' which was + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_341" id="Page_341" href="#"><span><i>SHAHRASTÁNÍ</i></span>341</a></span> + +originally written in Persian; and the <i>Taháfutu ’l-Falásifa</i>, 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 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span></p> + +<p>Here we may notice two valuable works on the history of +religion, both of which are generally known as <i>Kitábu ’l-Milal +wa-’l-Niḥal</i>,<a name="FNanchor_640" id="FNanchor_640"></a><a href="#Footnote_640" class="fnanchor">640</a> that is to say, 'The Book of Religions +and Sects,' by Ibn Ḥazm of Cordova († 1064 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) +and Abu ’l-Fatḥ al-Shahrastání († 1153 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). <span class="sidenote"> Shahrastání's +'Book of Religions +and Sects.'</span> +Ibn Ḥazm we shall meet with again in the chapter which +deals specially with the history and literature of the Spanish +Moslems. Shahrastání, as he is named after his birthplace, +belonged to the opposite extremity of the Muḥammadan +Empire, being a native of Khurásán, the huge Eastern +province bounded by the Oxus. Cureton, who edited the +Arabic text of the <i>Kitábu ’l-Milal wa-’l-Niḥal</i> (London, 1842-1846), +gives the following outline of its contents:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>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 Muḥammad, and +likewise of those to whom a true revelation had been made (the +<i>Ahlu ’l-Kitáb</i>, or 'People of the Scripture'), that is, Jews and +Christians; and of those who had a doubtful or pretended revelation +(<i>man lahú shubhatu ’l-Kitáb</i>), such as the Magi and the Manichæans. +The second division comprises an account of the philosophical +opinions of the Sabæans (Ṣábians), which are mainly set forth in a +very interesting dialogue between a Sabæan and an orthodox +Muḥammadan; of the tenets of various Greek Philosophers and +some of the Fathers of the Christian Church; and also of the +Muḥammadan doctors, more particularly of the system of Ibn Síná +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.</p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_342" id="Page_342" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>342</a></span> + +The science of grammar took its rise in the cities of Baṣra +and Kúfa, which were founded not long after Muḥammad's +death, and which remained the chief centres of Arabian life +<span class="sidenote"> Grammar and +philology.</span> +and thought outside the peninsula until they +were eclipsed by the great ‘Abbásid 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 classical idiom was peculiarly exposed to corrupting +influences. If the pride and delight of the Arabs in their +noble 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 pronunciation 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’ilí, who +died at Baṣra during the Umayyad period. "Abu <span class="sidenote"> The invention +of Arabic +grammar.</span> +’l-Aswad, having been asked where he had +acquired the science of grammar, answered that +he had learned the rudiments of it from ‘Alí b. Abí Ṭálib. It +is said that he never made known any of the principles which +he had received from ‘Alí till Ziyád<a name="FNanchor_641" id="FNanchor_641"></a><a href="#Footnote_641" class="fnanchor">641</a> 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 God. He +at first asked to be excused, but on hearing a man recite the +following passage out of the Koran, <i>anna ’lláha barí<sup>un</sup> mina +´l-mushrikína wa-rasúluhu</i>,<a name="FNanchor_642" id="FNanchor_642"></a><a href="#Footnote_642" class="fnanchor">642</a> which last word the reader pronounced +<i>rasúlihi</i>, he exclaimed, 'I never thought that things +would have come to this.' He then returned to Ziyád and +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_343" id="Page_343" href="#"><span><i>THE ARAB GRAMMARIANS</i></span>343</a></span> +said, 'I will do what you ordered.'"<a name="FNanchor_643" id="FNanchor_643"></a><a href="#Footnote_643" class="fnanchor">643</a> The Baṣra school of +grammarians which Abu ’l-Aswad is said to have founded is +older than the rival school of Kúfa and surpassed it +in fame. Its most prominent representatives were <span class="sidenote"> The philogists +of Baṣra.</span> +Abú ‘Amr b. al-‘Alá († 770 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), 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; Khalíl b. Aḥmad, inventor of the Arabic +system of metres and author of the first Arabic lexicon (the +<i>Kitábu ’l-‘Ayn</i>), which, however, he did not live to complete; +the Persian Síbawayhi, whose Grammar, entitled 'The Book +of Síbawayhi,' is universally celebrated; the great Humanists +al-Aṣma‘í and Abú ‘Ubayda who flourished under Hárún +al-Rashid; al-Mubarrad, about a century later, whose best-known +work, the <i>Kámil</i>, has been edited by Professor William +Wright; his contemporary al-Sukkarí, a renowned collector +and critic of old Arabian poetry; and Ibn Durayd († 934 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), +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 principal works, +in addition to the famous ode known as the <i>Maqṣúra</i>, are a +voluminous lexicon (<i>al-Jamhara fi ’l-Lugha</i>) and a treatise on +the genealogies of the Arab tribes (<i>Kitábu ’l-Ishtiqáq</i>).</p> + +<p>Against these names the school of Kúfa can set al-Kisá’í, +a Persian savant who was entrusted by Hárún al-Rashíd +<span class="sidenote"> The philogists +of Kúfa.</span> +with the education of his sons Amín and +Ma’mún; al-Farrá († 822 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), a pupil and +compatriot of al-Kisá’í; al-Mufaḍḍal al-Ḍabbí, +a favourite of the Caliph Mahdí, for whom he compiled an +excellent anthology of Pre-islamic poems (<i>al-Mufaḍḍaliyyát</i>), +which has already been noticed<a name="FNanchor_644" id="FNanchor_644"></a><a href="#Footnote_644" class="fnanchor">644</a>; Ibnu ’l-Sikkít, whose outspoken +partiality for the House of ‘Alí b. Abí Ṭálib caused +him to be brutally trampled to death by the Turkish + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_344" id="Page_344" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>344</a></span> + +guards of the tyrant Mutawakkil (858 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>); and Tha‘lab, +head of the Kúfa school in his time († 904 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), of whose +rivalry with al-Mubarrad many stories are told. A contemporary, +Abú Bakr b. Abi ’l-Azhar, said in one of his +poems:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Turn to Mubarrad or to Tha‘lab, thou</span><span class="i0"> +That seek'st with learning to improve thy mind!</span><span class="i0"> +Be not a fool, like mangy camel shunned:</span><span class="i0"> +All human knowledge thou with them wilt find.</span><span class="i0"> +The science of the whole world, East and West,</span><span class="i0"> +In these two single doctors is combined."<a name="FNanchor_645" id="FNanchor_645"></a><a href="#Footnote_645" class="fnanchor">645</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Reference has been made in a former chapter to some of +the earliest Humanists, <i>e.g.</i>, Ḥammád al-Ráwiya († 776 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) +and his slightly younger contemporary, Khalaf al-Aḥmar, to +their inestimable labours in rescuing the old poetry from +oblivion, and to the unscrupulous methods which they sometimes +employed.<a name="FNanchor_646" id="FNanchor_646"></a><a href="#Footnote_646" class="fnanchor">646</a> Among their successors, who flourished in +the Golden Age of Islam, under the first ‘Abbásids, the place +of honour belongs to Abú ‘Ubayda († about 825 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) and +al-Asma‘í († about 830<span class="smcap"> a.d.</span>).</p> + +<p>Abú ‘Ubayda Ma‘mar b. al-Muthanná was of Jewish-Persian +race, and maintained in his writings the cause of the +<span class="sidenote">Abú ‘Ubayda.</span> +Shu‘úbites against the Arab national party, for +which reason he is erroneously described as a +Khárijite.<a name="FNanchor_647" id="FNanchor_647"></a><a href="#Footnote_647" class="fnanchor">647</a> The rare expressions of the Arabic language, the +history of the Arabs and their conflicts were his predominant +study—"neither in heathen nor Muḥammadan times," he +once boasted, "have two horses met in battle but that I +possess information about them and their riders"<a name="FNanchor_648" id="FNanchor_648"></a><a href="#Footnote_648" class="fnanchor">648</a>; 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 + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_345" id="Page_345" href="#"><span><i>ABÚ UBAYDA AND AṢMA‘Í</i></span>345</a></span> + +before his eyes, he made mistakes.<a name="FNanchor_649" id="FNanchor_649"></a><a href="#Footnote_649" class="fnanchor">649</a> Our knowledge of +Arabian antiquity is drawn, to a large extent, from the +traditions collected by him which are preserved in the <i>Kitábu +’l-Aghání</i> and elsewhere. He left nearly two hundred works, +of which a long but incomplete catalogue occurs in the <i>Fihrist</i> +(pp. 53-54). Abú ‘Ubayda was summoned by the Caliph <span class="sidenote">Aṣma‘í.</span> +Hárún al-Rashíd to Baghdád, where he became acquainted +with Aṣma‘í. There was a standing feud between +them, due in part to difference of character<a name="FNanchor_650" id="FNanchor_650"></a><a href="#Footnote_650" class="fnanchor">650</a> +and in part to personal jealousies. ‘Abdu ’l-Malik b. Qurayb +al-Aṣma‘í was, like his rival, a native of Baṣra. 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 Abú ‘Ubayda was +dreaded for his sharp tongue and sarcastic humour, Aṣma‘í +had all the accomplishments and graces of a courtier. Abú +Nuwás, the first great poet of the ‘Abbásid period, said that +Aṣma‘í 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, <i>e.g.</i>, 'The Book +of Camels' (<i>Kitábu ’l-Ibil</i>), 'The Book of Horses' (<i>Kitábu +’l-Khayl</i>), and 'The Book of the Making of Man' (<i>Kitábu +Khalqi ’l-Insán</i>), 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.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_346" id="Page_346" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>346</a></span> + +Belles-lettres (<i>Adab</i>) and literary history are represented by +a whole series of valuable works. Only a few of the most +<span class="sidenote">Ibnu ’l-Muqaffa‘ +(† <i>circa</i> 760 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +important can be mentioned here, and that in a +very summary manner. The Persian Rúzbih, +better known as ‘Abdulláh Ibnu ’l-Muqaffa‘, who +was put to death by order of the Caliph Manṣúr, made several +translations from the Pehleví or Middle-Persian literature into +Arabic. We possess a specimen of his powers in the famous +<i>Book of Kalíla and Dimna</i>, which is ultimately derived from +the Sanscrit <i>Fables of Bidpai</i>. 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 <span class="sidenote">Ibn Qutayba +(† 899 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +Qutayba, whose family came from Merv, held for +a time the office of Cadi at Dínawar, and lived at +Baghdád in the latter half of the ninth century. We have more +than once cited his 'Book of General Knowledge' (<i>Kitábu +’l-Ma‘árif</i>)<a name="FNanchor_651" id="FNanchor_651"></a><a href="#Footnote_651" class="fnanchor">651</a> and his 'Book of Poetry and Poets,' (<i>Kitábu +’l-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará</i>), and may add here the <i>Adabu ’l-Kátib</i>, or +'Accomplishments of the Secretary,'<a name="FNanchor_652" id="FNanchor_652"></a><a href="#Footnote_652" class="fnanchor">652</a> a manual of stylistic, +dealing with orthography, orthoepy, lexicography, and the +like; and the <i>‘Uyúnu ’l-Akhbár</i>, or 'Choice Histories,'<a name="FNanchor_653" id="FNanchor_653"></a><a href="#Footnote_653" class="fnanchor">653</a> a work +in ten chapters, each of which is devoted to a special theme +such as Government, War, Nobility, Friendship, Women, &c. +‘Amr b. Baḥr al-Jáḥiẓ of Baṣra was a celebrated <span class="sidenote">Jáḥiẓ +(† 869 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +freethinker, and gave his name to a sect of the +Mu‘tazilites (<i>al-Jáḥiẓiyya</i>).<a name="FNanchor_654" id="FNanchor_654"></a><a href="#Footnote_654" class="fnanchor">654</a> He composed +numerous books of an anecdotal and entertaining character. +Ibn Khallikán singles out as his finest and most instructive +works the <i>Kitábu ’l-Ḥayawán</i> ('Book of Animals'), and the +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_347" id="Page_347" href="#"><span><i>BELLES-LETTRES</i></span>347</a></span> +<i>Kitábu ’l-Bayán wa-’l-Tabyín</i> ('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 <span class="sidenote">Ibn ‘Abdi Rabbihi +(† 940 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +Umayyad House. Ibn ‘Abdi Rabbihi of Cordova, +who was descended from an enfranchised slave of +the Spanish Umayyad Caliph, Hishám b. ‘Abd +al-Raḥmán (788-796 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), has left us a miscellaneous +anthology entitled <i>al-‘Iqd al-Faríd</i>, 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 ‘Alí, the <span class="sidenote">Abu ’l-Faraj al-Iṣfahání +(† 967 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +author of the <i>Kitábu ’l-Aghání</i>, was born at +Iṣfahán, he was an Arab of the Arabs, being a +member of the tribe Quraysh and a lineal descendant of +Marwán, the last Umayyad Caliph. Coming to Baghdád, +he bent all his energies to the study of Arabian antiquity, +and towards the end of his life found a generous patron in +al-Muhallabí, 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 Hárún al-Rashíd, +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 +quantity of historical traditions and anecdotes, including much +ancient and modern verse. It is said that the Ṣáḥib Ibn +‘Abbád,<a name="FNanchor_655" id="FNanchor_655"></a><a href="#Footnote_655" class="fnanchor">655</a> when travelling, used to take thirty camel-loads of +books about with him, but on receiving the <i>Aghání</i> he contented +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_348" id="Page_348" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>348</a></span> +himself with this one book and dispensed with all the +rest.<a name="FNanchor_656" id="FNanchor_656"></a><a href="#Footnote_656" class="fnanchor">656</a> The chief man of letters of the next generation was +Abú Mansúr al-Tha‘álibí (the Furrier) of Naysábúr. <span class="sidenote">Tha‘álibí +(† 1037 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +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 <i>Yatímatu +’l-Dahr</i>, or 'Solitaire of the Time'—supplies indubitable +proof of his fine scholarship and critical taste. Successive +continuations of the <i>Yatíma</i> were written by al-Bákharzí +(† 1075 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) in the <i>Dumyatu ’l-Qaṣr</i>, or 'Statue of the +Palace'; by Abu ’l-Ma‘álí al-Ḥaẓírí († 1172 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) in the +<i>Zínatu ’l-Dahr</i>, or 'Ornament of the Time'; and by the +favourite of Saladin, ‘Imádu ’l-Dín al-Kátib al-Iṣfahání +(† 1201 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), in the <i>Kharídatu ’l-Qaṣr</i>, 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.</p> + +<p class="tb">The elements of History are found (1) in Pre-islamic traditions +and (2) in the <i>Ḥadíth</i> of the Prophet, but the idea of +<span class="sidenote">History.</span> +historical composition on a grand scale was probably +suggested to the Arabs by Persian models +such as the Pehleví <i>Khudáy-náma</i>, or 'Book of Kings,' which +Ibnu ’l-Muqaffa‘ turned into Arabic in the eighth century +of our era under the title of <i>Siyaru Mulúki ’l-‘Ajam</i>, that is, +'The History of the Kings of Persia.'</p> + +<p>Under the first head Hishám Ibnu ’l-Kalbí († 819 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) +and his father Muḥammad deserve particular mention as painstaking +and trustworthy recorders.</p> + +<p>Historical traditions relating to the Prophet were put in + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_349" id="Page_349" href="#"><span><i>BIOGRAPHERS AND HISTORIANS</i></span>349</a></span> + +writing at an early date (see p. <a href="#Page_247">247</a>). The first biography of +Muḥammad (<i>Síratu Rasúli ’lláh</i>), compiled by Ibn Isḥáq, +<span class="sidenote"> Histories of the +Prophet and his +Companions.</span> +who died in the reign of Manṣúr (768 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), +has come down to us only in the recension +made by Ibn Hishám († 834 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). This work +as well as those of al-Wáqidí († 823 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) and Ibn Sa‘d +(† 845 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) have been already noticed.</p> + +<p>Other celebrated historians of the ‘Abbásid period are the +following.</p> + +<p class="tb">Aḥmad b. Yaḥyá al-Baládhurí († 892 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), a Persian, wrote +an account of the early Muḥammadan conquests (<i>Kitábu +<span class="sidenote"> Baládhurí.</span> +Futúḥi ´l-Buldán</i>), which has been edited by +De Goeje, and an immense chronicle based on +genealogical principles, 'The Book of the Lineages of the +Nobles' (<i>Kitábu Ansábi ’l-Ashráf</i>), of which two volumes are +extant.<a name="FNanchor_657" id="FNanchor_657"></a><a href="#Footnote_657" class="fnanchor">657</a></p> + +<p>Abú Ḥánífa Aḥmad al-Dínawarí († 895 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) was also of +Íránian descent. His 'Book of Long Histories' (<i>Kitábu +<span class="sidenote"> Dínawarí.</span> +’l-Akhbár al-Ṭiwál</i>) deals largely with the +national legend of Persia, and is written throughout +from the Persian point of view.</p> + +<p>Ibn Wáḍiḥ al-Ya‘qúbí, a contemporary of Dínawarí, produced +an excellent compendium of universal history, which +<span class="sidenote">Ya‘qúbí.</span> +is specially valuable because its author, being a +follower of the House of ‘Alí, has preserved the +ancient and unfalsified Shí‘ite tradition. His work has been +edited in two volumes by Professor Houtsma (Leyden, 1883).</p> + +<p class="tb">The Annals of Ṭabarí, edited by De Goeje and other +European scholars (Leyden, 1879-1898), and the Golden +Meadows<a name="FNanchor_658" id="FNanchor_658"></a><a href="#Footnote_658" class="fnanchor">658</a> (<i>Murúju ’l-Dhahab</i>) of Mas‘údí, which Pavet de +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_350" id="Page_350" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>350</a></span> +Courteille and Barbier de Meynard published with a French +translation (Paris, 1861-1877), have been frequently cited in +the foregoing pages; and since these two authors are not only +the greatest historians of the Muḥammadan East but also +(excepting, possibly, Ibn Khaldún) the most eminent of all +who devoted themselves to this branch of Arabic literature, +we must endeavour to make the reader more closely acquainted +with them.</p> + +<p>Abú Ja‘far Muḥammad b. Jarír was born in 838-839 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> at +Ámul in Ṭabaristán, the mountainous province lying along +<span class="sidenote">Ṭabarí (838-923 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +the south coast of the Caspian Sea; whence the +name, Ṭabarí, by which he is usually known.<a name="FNanchor_659" id="FNanchor_659"></a><a href="#Footnote_659" class="fnanchor">659</a> +At this time ‘Iráq was still the principal focus of +Muḥammadan culture, so that a poet could say:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"I see a man in whom the secretarial dignity is manifest,</span><span class="i0"> +One who displays the brilliant culture of ‘Iráq."<a name="FNanchor_660" id="FNanchor_660"></a><a href="#Footnote_660" class="fnanchor">660</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Thither the young Ṭabarí came to complete his education. +He travelled by way of Rayy to Baghdád, visited other +neighbouring towns, and extended his tour to Syria and +Egypt. Although his father sent him a yearly allowance, it did +not always arrive punctually, and he himself relates that on one +occasion he procured bread by selling the sleeves of his shirt. +Fortunately, at Baghdád he was introduced to ‘Ubaydulláh b. +Yaḥyá, the Vizier of Mutawakkil, who engaged him as tutor for +his son. How long he held this post is uncertain, but he was only +twenty-three years of age when his patron went out of office. +Fifteen years later we find him, penniless once more, in Cairo +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_351" id="Page_351" href="#"><span><i>ṬABARÍ</i></span>351</a></span> +(876-877 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). He soon, however, returned to Baghdád, +where he passed the remainder of his life in teaching and +writing. Modest, unselfish, and simple in his habits, he diffused +his encyclopædic knowledge with an almost superhuman +industry. During forty years, it is said, he wrote forty leaves +every day. His great works are the <i>Ta’ríkhu ´l-Rusul wa-’l-Mulúk</i>, +or 'Annals of the Apostles and the Kings,' and his +<i>Tafsír</i>, or 'Commentary on the Koran.' Both, even in their +present shape, are books of enormous extent, yet it seems +likely that both were originally composed on a far larger +scale and were abbreviated by the author for general use. His +pupils, we are told, flatly refused to read the first editions with +him, whereupon he exclaimed: "Enthusiasm for learning is +dead!" The History of Ṭabarí, from the Creation to the +year 302 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span> = 915 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, is distinguished by "completeness of +detail, accuracy, and the truly stupendous learning of its author +that is revealed throughout, and that makes the Annals a vast +storehouse of valuable information for the historian as well as +for the student of Islam."<a name="FNanchor_661" id="FNanchor_661"></a><a href="#Footnote_661" class="fnanchor">661</a> It is arranged chronologically, +the events being tabulated under the year (of the Muḥammadan +era) in which they occurred. Moreover, it has a very peculiar +form. "Each important fact is related, if possible, by an +eye-witness or contemporary, whose account came down +through a series of narrators to the author. If he has obtained +more than one account of a fact, with more or less important +modifications, through several series of narrators, he communicates +them all to the reader <i>in extenso</i>. Thus we are +enabled to consider the facts from more than one point of +view, and to acquire a vivid and clear notion of them."<a name="FNanchor_662" id="FNanchor_662"></a><a href="#Footnote_662" class="fnanchor">662</a> +According to modern ideas, Ṭabarí's compilation is not so +much a history as a priceless collection of original documents +placed side by side without any attempt to construct a critical +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_352" id="Page_352" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>352</a></span> +and continuous narrative. At first sight one can hardly see the +wood for the trees, but on closer study the essential features +gradually emerge and stand out in bold relief from amidst the +multitude of insignificant circumstances which lend freshness +and life to the whole. Ṭabarí suffered the common fate of +standard historians. His work was abridged and popularised, +the <i>isnáds</i> or chains of authorities were suppressed, and the +various parallel accounts were combined by subsequent writers +into a single version.<a name="FNanchor_663" id="FNanchor_663"></a><a href="#Footnote_663" class="fnanchor">663</a> Of the Annals, as it left the author's +hands, no entire copy exists anywhere, but many odd volumes +are preserved in different parts of the world. The Leyden +edition is based on these scattered MSS., which luckily comprise +the whole work with the exception of a few not very +serious lacunæ.</p> + +<p>‘Alí b. Ḥusayn, a native of Baghdád, was called Mas‘údí +after one of the Prophet's Companions, ‘Abdulláh b. Mas‘úd, +<span class="sidenote">Mas‘údí +(† 956 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +to whom he traced his descent. Although we +possess only a small remnant of his voluminous +writings, no better proof can be desired of the +vast and various erudition which he gathered not from books +alone, but likewise from long travel in almost every part of +Asia. Among other places, he visited Armenia, India, Ceylon, +Zanzibar, and Madagascar, and he appears to have sailed in +Chinese waters as well as in the Caspian Sea. "My journey," +he says, "resembles that of the sun, and to me the poet's verse +is applicable:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"'We turn our steps toward each different clime,</span><span class="i0"> +Now to the Farthest East, then West once more;</span><span class="i0"> +Even as the sun, which stays not his advance</span><span class="i0"> +O'er tracts remote that no man durst explore.'"<a name="FNanchor_664" id="FNanchor_664"></a><a href="#Footnote_664" class="fnanchor">664</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_353" id="Page_353" href="#"><span><i>MAS‘ÚDÍ</i></span>353</a></span> + +He spent the latter years of his life chiefly in Syria and Egypt—for +he had no settled abode—compiling the great historical +works,<a name="FNanchor_665" id="FNanchor_665"></a><a href="#Footnote_665" class="fnanchor">665</a> of which the <i>Murúju ’l-Dhahab</i> is an epitome. As +regards the motives which urged him to write, Mas‘údí +declares that he wished to follow the example of scholars and +sages and to leave behind him a praiseworthy memorial and +imperishable monument. He claims to have taken a wider +view than his predecessors. "One who has never quitted his +hearth and home, but is content with the knowledge which +he can acquire concerning the history of his own part of the +world, is not on the same level as one who spends his life in +travel and passes his days in restless wanderings, and draws +forth all manner of curious and precious information from its +hidden mine."<a name="FNanchor_666" id="FNanchor_666"></a><a href="#Footnote_666" class="fnanchor">666</a></p> + +<p>Mas‘údí has been named the 'the Herodotus of the Arabs,' +and the comparison is not unjust.<a name="FNanchor_667" id="FNanchor_667"></a><a href="#Footnote_667" class="fnanchor">667</a> +<span class="sidenote">The <i>Murúju +’l-Dhahab</i>.</span> +His work, although it +lacks the artistic unity which distinguishes that of +the Greek historian, shows the same eager +spirit of enquiry, the same open-mindedness and +disposition to record without prejudice all the marvellous things +that he had heard or seen, the same ripe experience and large +outlook on the present as on the past. It is professedly a +universal history beginning with the Creation and ending at +the Caliphate of Muṭí‘, in 947 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, but no description can +cover the immense range of topics which are discussed and +the innumerable digressions with which the author delights +or irritates his readers, as the case may be.<a name="FNanchor_668" id="FNanchor_668"></a><a href="#Footnote_668" class="fnanchor">668</a> Thus, to pick + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_354" id="Page_354" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>354</a></span> + +a few examples at random, we find a dissertation on tides +(vol. i, p. 244); an account of the <i>tinnín</i> or sea-serpent (<i>ibid.</i>, +p. 267); of pearl-fishing in the Persian Gulf (<i>ibid.</i>, p. 328); +and of the rhinoceros (<i>ibid.</i>, p. 385). Mas‘údí was a keen +student and critic of religious beliefs, on which subject he +wrote several books.<a name="FNanchor_669" id="FNanchor_669"></a><a href="#Footnote_669" class="fnanchor">669</a> The <i>Murúju ’l-Dhahab</i> supplies many +valuable details regarding the Muḥammadan sects, and also +regarding the Zoroastrians and Ṣábians. There is a particularly +interesting report of a meeting which took place between +Aḥmad b. Ṭúlún, the governor of Egypt (868-877 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), +and an aged Copt, who, after giving his views as to the source +of the Nile and the construction of the Pyramids, defended his +faith (Christianity) on the ground of its manifest errors and contradictions, +arguing that its acceptance, in spite of these, by +so many peoples and kings was decisive evidence of its truth.<a name="FNanchor_670" id="FNanchor_670"></a><a href="#Footnote_670" class="fnanchor">670</a> +Mas‘údí's account of the Caliphs is chiefly remarkable for +the characteristic anecdotes in which it abounds. Instead +of putting together a methodical narrative he has thrown off +a brilliant but unequal sketch of public affairs and private +manners, of social life and literary history. Only considerations +of space have prevented me from enriching this volume with +not a few pages which are as lively and picturesque as any in +Suetonius. His last work, the <i>Kitábu ’l-Tanbíh wa-’l-Ishráf</i> +('Book of Admonition and Recension'),<a name="FNanchor_671" id="FNanchor_671"></a><a href="#Footnote_671" class="fnanchor">671</a> was intended to take +a general survey of the field which had been more fully +traversed in his previous compositions, and also to supplement +them when it seemed necessary.</p> + +<p class="tb">We must pass over the minor historians and biographers +of this period—for example, ‘Utbí († 1036 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), whose +<span class="sidenote"> Minor +historians.</span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_355" id="Page_355" href="#"><span><i>OTHER HISTORICAL WRITERS</i></span>355</a></span> + +<i>Kitáb al-Yamíní</i> celebrates the glorious reign of Sultan +Mahmúd of Ghazna; Khaṭíb of Baghdád († 1071 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), +who composed a history of the eminent men of +that city; ‘Imádu ’l-Dín of Iṣfahán († 1201 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), the biographer of Saladin; Ibnu ’l-Qiftí +(† 1248 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), born at Qifṭ (Coptos) in Upper Egypt, whose +lives of the philosophers and scientists have only come down +to us in a compendium entitled <i>Ta’ríkhu ’l-Ḥukamá</i>; Ibnu +’l-Jawzí († 1200 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), a prolific writer in almost every branch +of literature, and his grandson, Yúsuf († 1257 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>)—generally +called Sibṭ Ibn al-Jawzí—author of the <i>Mir’átu ’l-Zamán</i>, or +'Mirror of the Time'; Ibn Abí Uṣaybi‘a († 1270 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), +whose history of physicians, the <i>‘Uyúnu ’l-Anbá</i>, has been +edited by A. Müller (1884); and the Christian, Jirjis (George) +al-Makín († 1273 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), compiler of a universal chronicle—named +the <i>Majmú‘ al-Mubárak</i>—of which the second part, +from Muḥammad to the end of the ‘Abbásid dynasty, was +rendered into Latin by Erpenius in 1625.</p> + +<p class="tb">A special notice, brief though it must be, is due to ‘Izzu +’l-Dín Ibnu ’l-Athír († 1234 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). +<span class="sidenote">Ibnu ’l-Athír +(† 1234 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +He was brought up at +Mosul in Mesopotamia, and after finishing his +studies in Baghdád, Jerusalem, and Syria, he +returned home and devoted himself to reading +and literary composition. Ibn Khallikán, who knew him +personally, speaks of him in the highest terms both as a man +and as a scholar. "His great work, the <i>Kámil</i>,<a name="FNanchor_672" id="FNanchor_672"></a><a href="#Footnote_672" class="fnanchor">672</a> embracing +the history of the world from the earliest period to the year +628 of the Hijra (1230-1231 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), merits its reputation as +one of the best productions of the kind."<a name="FNanchor_673" id="FNanchor_673"></a><a href="#Footnote_673" class="fnanchor">673</a> Down to the +year 302 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span> the author has merely abridged the Annals +of Ṭabarí with occasional additions from other sources. In +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_356" id="Page_356" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>356</a></span> +the first volume he gives a long account of the Pre-islamic +battles (<i>Ayyámu ’l-‘Arab</i>) which is not found in the present +text of Ṭabarí; but De Goeje, as I learn from Professor +Bevan, thinks that this section was included in Ṭabarí's +original draft and was subsequently struck out. Ibnu ’l-Athír +was deeply versed in the science of Tradition, and his <i>Usdu +’l-Ghába</i> ('Lions of the Jungle') contains biographies of 7,500 +Companions of the Prophet.</p> + +<p class="tb">An immense quantity of information concerning the various +countries and peoples of the ‘Abbásid Empire has been preserved +<span class="sidenote">Geographers.</span> +for us by the Moslem geographers, who +in many cases describe what they actually witnessed +and experienced in the course of their travels, +although they often help themselves liberally and without +acknowledgment from the works of their predecessors. +The following list, which does not pretend to be exhaustive, +may find a place here.<a name="FNanchor_674" id="FNanchor_674"></a><a href="#Footnote_674" class="fnanchor">674</a></p> + +<p class="tb">1. The Persian Ibn Khurdádbih (first half of ninth century) +was postmaster in the province of Jibál, the Media of +<span class="sidenote"> Ibn Khurdádbih.</span> +the ancients. His <i>Kitábu ’l-Masálik wa-’l-Mamálik</i> +('Book of the Roads and Countries'), an official +guide-book, is the oldest geographical work in Arabic that +has come down to us.</p> + +<p>2. Abú Isḥáq al-Fárisí a native of Persepolis (Iṣṭakhr)—on +this account he is known as Iṣṭakhrí—wrote a book called +<span class="sidenote"> Iṣṭakhrí and +Ibn Ḥawqal.</span> +<i>Masáliku ’l-Mamálik</i> ('Routes of the Provinces'), +which was afterwards revised and enlarged by +Ibn Ḥawqal. Both works belong to the second +half of the tenth century and contain "a careful description +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_357" id="Page_357" href="#"><span><i>THE MOSLEM GEOGRAPHERS</i></span>357</a></span> +of each province in turn of the Muslim Empire, with the +chief cities and notable places."</p> + +<p>3. Al-Muqaddasí (or al-Maqdisí), <i>i.e.</i>, 'the native of the +Holy City', was born at Jerusalem in 946 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span> In his +delightful book entitled <i>Aḥsanu ’l-Taqásím fí <span class="sidenote"> Muqaddasí.</span> +ma‘rifati ’l-Aqálím</i> he has gathered up the fruits +of twenty years' travelling through the dominions of the +Caliphate.</p> + +<p>4. Omitting the Spanish Arabs, Bakrí, Idrísí, and Ibn +Jubayr, all of whom flourished in the eleventh century, +<span class="sidenote"> Yáqút.</span> +we come to the greatest of Moslem geographers, +Yáqút b. ‘Abdalláh (1179-1229 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). A Greek +by birth, he was enslaved in his childhood and sold to +a merchant of Baghdád. His master gave him a good +education and frequently sent him on trading expeditions +to the Persian Gulf and elsewhere. After being enfranchised +in consequence of a quarrel with his benefactor, he supported +himself by copying and selling manuscripts. In 1219-1220 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> +he encountered the Tartars, who had invaded Khwárizm, and +"fled as naked as when he shall be raised from the dust of +the grave on the day of the resurrection." Further details of +his adventurous life are recorded in the interesting notice +by Ibn Khallikán.<a name="FNanchor_675" id="FNanchor_675"></a><a href="#Footnote_675" class="fnanchor">675</a> His great Geographical Dictionary +(<i>Mu‘jamu ’l-Buldán</i>) has been edited in six volumes by +Wüstenfeld (Leipzig, 1866), and is described by Mr. Le +Strange as "a storehouse of geographical information, the +value of which it would be impossible to over-estimate." We +possess a useful epitome of it, made about a century later, viz., +the <i>Maráṣidu ’l-Iṭṭilá‘</i>. Among the few other extant works +of Yáqút, attention maybe called to the <i>Mushtarik</i>—a lexicon +of places bearing the same name—and the <i>Mu‘jamu ’l-Udabá</i>, +or 'Dictionary of Littérateurs,' which has been edited by Professor +Margoliouth for the Trustees of the Gibb Memorial +Fund.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_358" id="Page_358" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>358</a></span> + +As regards the philosophical and exact sciences the Moslems +naturally derived their ideas and material from Greek culture, +<span class="sidenote"> The foreign +sciences.</span> +which had established itself in Egypt, Syria, and +Western Asia since the time of Alexander's +conquests. When the Syrian school of Edessa +was broken up by ecclesiastical dissensions towards the end +of the fifth century of our era, the expelled savants took refuge +in Persia at the Sásánian court, and Khusraw Anúshirwán, or +Núshírwán (531-578 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>)—the same monarch who welcomed +the Neo-platonist philosophers banished from Athens by Justinian—founded +an Academy at Jundé-shápúr in Khúzistán, +where Greek medicine and philosophy continued to be taught +down to ‘Abbásid days. Another centre of Hellenism was the +city of Ḥarrán in Mesopotamia. Its inhabitants, Syrian heathens +who generally appear in Muḥammadan history under the name +of 'Ṣabians,' spoke Arabic with facility and contributed in +no small degree to the diffusion of Greek wisdom. The work +of translation was done almost entirely by Syrians. In the +monasteries of Syria and Mesopotamia the <span class="sidenote"> Translations +from the +Greek.</span> +writings of Aristotle, Galen, Ptolemy, and other +ancient masters were rendered with slavish fidelity, +and these Syriac versions were afterwards retranslated +into Arabic. A beginning was made under the Umayyads, +who cared little for Islam but were by no means indifferent +to the claims of literature, art, and science. An +Umayyad prince, Khálid b. Yazíd, procured the translation +of Greek and Coptic works on alchemy, and himself wrote +three treatises on that subject. The accession of the ‘Abbásids +gave a great impulse to such studies, which found an enlightened +patron in the Caliph Manṣúr. Works on logic and +medicine were translated from the Pehleví by Ibnu ’l-Muqaffa‘ +(† about 760 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) and others. It is, however, the splendid +reign of Ma’mún (813-833 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) that marks the full vigour +of this Oriental Renaissance. Ma’mún was no ordinary man. +Like a true Persian, he threw himself heart and soul into +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_359" id="Page_359" href="#"><span><i>TRANSLATIONS OF SCIENTIFIC WORKS</i></span>359</a></span> +theological speculations and used the authority of the Caliphate +to enforce a liberal standard of orthodoxy. His interest in +science was no less ardent. According to a story told in the +<i>Fihrist</i>,<a name="FNanchor_676" id="FNanchor_676"></a><a href="#Footnote_676" class="fnanchor">676</a> he dreamed that he saw the venerable figure of +Aristotle seated on a throne, and in consequence <span class="sidenote">Ma’mún's +encouragement +of the New Learning.</span> +of this vision he sent a deputation to the Roman +Emperor (Leo the Armenian) to obtain scientific +books for translation into Arabic. The Caliph's +example was followed by private individuals. Three brothers, +Muḥammad, Aḥmad, and Ḥasan, known collectively as the +Banú Músá, "drew translators from distant countries by the +offer of ample rewards<a name="FNanchor_677" id="FNanchor_677"></a><a href="#Footnote_677" class="fnanchor">677</a> and thus made evident the marvels +of science. Geometry, engineering, the movements of the +heavenly bodies, music, and astronomy were the principal +subjects to which they turned their attention; but these were +only a small number of their acquirements."<a name="FNanchor_678" id="FNanchor_678"></a><a href="#Footnote_678" class="fnanchor">678</a> Ma’mún installed +them, with Yaḥyá b. Abí Manṣúr and other scientists, +in the House of Wisdom (<i>Baytu ’l-Ḥikma</i>) at Baghdád, an +institution which comprised a well-stocked library and an +astronomical observatory. Among the celebrated translators +of the ninth century, who were themselves conspicuous workers +in the new field, we can only mention the Christians Qusṭá b. +Lúqá and Ḥunayn b. Isḥáq, and the Ṣábian Thábit b. Qurra. +It does not fall within the scope of this volume to consider +in detail the achievements of the Moslems in science and +philosophy. That in some departments they made valuable +additions to existing knowledge must certainly be granted, +but these discoveries count for little in comparison with the +debt which we owe to the Arabs as pioneers of learning and +bringers of light to mediæval Europe.<a name="FNanchor_679" id="FNanchor_679"></a><a href="#Footnote_679" class="fnanchor">679</a> Meanwhile it is only +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_360" id="Page_360" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>360</a></span> +possible to enumerate a few of the most eminent philosophers +and scientific men who lived during the ‘Abbásid age. The +reader will observe that with rare exceptions they were of +foreign origin.</p> + +<p>The leading spirits in philosophy were:—</p> + +<p>1. Ya‘qúb b. Isḥáq al-Kindí, a descendant of the princely +family of Kinda (see p. <a href="#Page_42">42</a>). He was distinguished by his +<span class="sidenote"> Kindí.</span> +contemporaries with the title <i>Faylasúfu ’l-‘Arab</i>, +'The Philosopher of the Arabs.' He flourished +in the first half of the ninth century.</p> + +<p>2. Abú Naṣr al-Fárábí († 950 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), of Turkish race, a +native of Fáráb in Transoxania. The later years of his life +<span class="sidenote"> Fárábí.</span> +were passed at Aleppo under the patronage of +Sayfu ’l-Dawla. He devoted himself to the study +of Aristotle, whom Moslems agree with Dante in regarding +as "il maestro di color che sanno."</p> + +<p>3. Abú ‘Alí Ibn Síná (Avicenna), born of Persian parents +at Kharmaythan, near Bukhárá, in the year 980 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> As +<span class="sidenote"> Ibn Síná.</span> +a youth he displayed extraordinary talents, so +that "in the sixteenth year of his age physicians +of the highest eminence came to read medicine with him +and to learn those modes of treatment which he had +discovered by his practice."<a name="FNanchor_680" id="FNanchor_680"></a><a href="#Footnote_680" class="fnanchor">680</a> He was no quiet student, +like Fárábí, but a pleasure-loving, adventurous man of the +world who travelled from court to court, now in favour, now +in disgrace, and always writing indefatigably. His system +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_361" id="Page_361" href="#"><span><i>PHILOSOPHERS AND SCIENTISTS</i></span>361</a></span> +of philosophy, in which Aristotelian and Neo-platonic theories +are combined with Persian mysticism, was well suited to +the popular taste, and in the East it still reigns supreme. His +chief works are the <i>Shifá</i> (Remedy) on physics, metaphysics, +&c., and a great medical encyclopædia entitled the +<i>Qánún</i> (Canon). Avicenna died in 1037 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span></p> + +<p>4. The Spanish philosophers, Ibn Bájja (Avempace), Ibn +Ṭufayl, and Ibn Rushd (Averroes), all of whom flourished in +the twelfth century after Christ.</p> + +<p class="tb">The most illustrious name beside Avicenna in the history +of Arabian medicine is Abú Bakr al-Rází (Rhazes), a native of +<span class="sidenote">Medicine, +Astronomy, +and Mathematics.</span> +Rayy, near Teheran († 923 or 932 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). Jábir +b. Ḥayyán of Tarsus († about 780 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>)—the +Geber of European writers—won equal renown +as an alchemist. Astronomy went hand in hand with astrology. +The reader may recognise al-Farghání, Abú Ma‘shar of Balkh +(† 885 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) and al-Battání, a Ṣábian of Ḥarrán († 929 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), +under the names of Alfraganus, Albumaser, and Albategnius, +by which they became known in the West. Abú ‘Abdalláh +al-Khwárizmí, who lived in the Caliphate of Ma’mún, was +the first of a long line of mathematicians. In this science, as +also in Medicine and Astronomy, we see the influence of +India upon Muḥammadan civilisation—an influence, however, +which, in so far as it depended on literary sources, was more +restricted and infinitely less vital than that of Greece. Only +a passing reference can be made to Abú Rayḥán al-Bírúní, a +native of Khwárizm (Khiva), whose knowledge of the <span class="sidenote">Bírúní 973-1048 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span></span> +sciences, antiquities, and customs of India was +such as no Moslem had ever equalled. His two +principal works, the <i>Áthár al-Báqiya</i>, or 'Surviving +Monuments,' and the <i>Ta’ríkhu ’l-Hind</i>, or 'History of India,' +have been edited and translated into English by Dr. Sachau.<a name="FNanchor_681" id="FNanchor_681"></a><a href="#Footnote_681" class="fnanchor">681</a></p> + +<p>Some conception of the amazing intellectual activity of the +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_362" id="Page_362" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>362</a></span> +Moslems during the earlier part of the ‘Abbásid period, and +also of the enormous losses which Arabic literature has suffered +through the destruction of thousands of books that are +known to us by nothing beyond their titles and the names of +their authors, may be gained from the <i>Fihrist</i>, <span class="sidenote">The <i>Fihrist</i>.</span> +or 'Index' of Muḥammad b. Isḥáq b. Abí Ya‘qúb +al-Nadím al-Warráq al-Baghdádí († 995 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). Regarding +the compiler we have no further information than is conveyed +in the last two epithets attached to his name: he was +a copyist of MSS., and was connected with Baghdád either +by birth or residence; add that, according to his own statement +(p. 349, l. 14 sqq.), he was at Constantinople (<i>Dáru +’l-Rúm</i>) in 988<span class="smcap"> a.d.</span>, the same year in which his work was +composed. He may possibly have been related to the famous +musician, Isḥáq b. Ibráhím al-Nadím of Mosul († 849-850 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), +but this has yet to be proved. At any rate we owe to his +industry a unique conspectus of the literary history of the +Arabs to the end of the fourth century after the Flight. The +<i>Fihrist</i> (as the author explains in his brief Preface) is "an +Index of the books of all nations, Arabs and foreigners alike, +which are extant in the Arabic language and script, on every +branch of knowledge; comprising information as to their +compilers and the classes of their authors, together with the +genealogies of those persons, the dates of their birth, the length +of their lives, the times of their death, the places to which +they belonged, their merits and their faults, since the beginning +of every science that has been invented down to the +present epoch: namely, the year 377 of the Hijra." As the +contents of the <i>Fihrist</i> (which considerably exceed the above +description) have been analysed in detail by G. Flügel +(<i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 13, p. 559 sqq.) and set forth in tabular +form by Professor Browne in the first volume of his <i>Literary +History of Persia</i>,<a name="FNanchor_682" id="FNanchor_682"></a><a href="#Footnote_682" class="fnanchor">682</a> I need only indicate the general arrangement +and scope of the work. It is divided into ten +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_363" id="Page_363" href="#"><span><i>THE FIHRIST</i></span>363</a></span> +discourses (<i>maqálát</i>), which are subdivided into a varying +number of sections (<i>funún</i>). Ibnu ’l-Nadím discusses, in +the first place, the languages, scripts, and sacred books of +the Arabs and other peoples, the revelation of the Koran, the +order of its chapters, its collectors, redactors, and commentators. +Passing next to the sciences which, as we have seen, +arose from study of the Koran and primarily served as handmaids +to theology, he relates the origin of Grammar, and +gives an account of the different schools of grammarians with +the treatises which they wrote. The third discourse embraces +History, Belles-Lettres, Biography, and Genealogy; the fourth +treats of Poetry, ancient and modern. Scholasticism (<i>Kalám</i>) +forms the subject of the following chapter, which contains +a valuable notice of the Ismá‘ílís and their founder, ‘Abdulláh +b. Maymún, as also of the celebrated mystic, Ḥusayn b. +Manṣúr al-Ḥalláj. From these and many other names redolent +of heresy the author returns to the orthodox schools of +Law—the Málikites, Ḥanafites, Sháfi‘ites and Ẓáhirites; then +to the jurisconsults of the Shí‘a, &c. The seventh discourse +deals with Philosophy and 'the Ancient Sciences,' under which +head we find some curious speculations concerning their +origin and introduction to the lands of Islam; a list of translators +and the books which they rendered into Arabic; an +account of the Greek philosophers from Thales to Plutarch, +with the names of their works that were known to the Moslems; +and finally a literary survey of the remaining sciences, +such as Mathematics, Music, Astronomy, and Medicine. +Here, by an abrupt transition, we enter the enchanted domain +of Oriental fable—the <i>Hazár Afsán</i>, or Thousand Tales, +Kalíla and Dimna, the Book of Sindbád, and the legends of +Rustam and Isfandiyár; works on sorcery, magic, conjuring, +amulets, talismans, and the like. European savants have long +recognised the importance of the ninth discourse,<a name="FNanchor_683" id="FNanchor_683"></a><a href="#Footnote_683" class="fnanchor">683</a> which is +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_364" id="Page_364" href="#"><span><i>POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE</i></span>364</a></span> +devoted to the doctrines and writings of the Ṣábians and the +Dualistic sects founded by Manes, Bardesanes, Marcion, Mazdak, +and other heresiarchs. The author concludes his work +with a chapter on the Alchemists (<i>al-Kímiyá’ún</i>).</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">365</a></span></p> + +<h4>CHAPTER VIII</h4> + +<h5>ORTHODOXY, FREE-THOUGHT, AND MYSTICISM</h5> + +<p>We have already given some account of the great political +revolution which took place under the ‘Abbásid dynasty, and +we have now to consider the no less vital influence <span class="sidenote">The ‘Abbásids +and Islam.</span> +of the new era in the field of religion. It will be +remembered that the House of ‘Abbás came +forward as champions of Islam and of the oppressed and +persecuted Faithful. Their victory was a triumph for the +Muḥammadan over the National idea. "They wished, as +they said, to revive the dead Tradition of the Prophet. They +brought the experts in Sacred Law from Medína, which had +hitherto been their home, to Baghdád, and always invited +their approbation by taking care that even political questions +should be treated in legal form and decided in accordance with +the Koran and the Sunna. In reality, however, they used Islam +only to serve their own interest. They tamed the divines at +their court and induced them to sanction the most objectionable +measures. They made the pious Opposition harmless by +leading it to victory. With the downfall of the Umayyads it +had gained its end and could now rest in peace."<a name="FNanchor_684" id="FNanchor_684"></a><a href="#Footnote_684" class="fnanchor">684</a> There +is much truth in this view of the matter, but notwithstanding +the easy character of their religion, the ‘Abbásid Caliphs were +sincerely devoted to the cause of Islam and zealous to maintain +its principles in public life. They regarded themselves as the +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_366" id="Page_366" href="#"><span><i>ORTHODOXY AND FREE-THOUGHT</i></span>366</a></span> +sovereign defenders of the Faith; added the Prophet's mantle +(<i>al-burda</i>) to those emblems of Umayyad royalty, the sceptre +and the seal; delighted in the pompous titles which their +flatterers conferred on them, <i>e.g.</i>, 'Vicegerent of God,' +'Sultan of God upon the Earth,' 'Shadow of God,' &c.; +and left no stone unturned to invest themselves with the +attributes of theocracy, and to inspire their subjects with +veneration.<a name="FNanchor_685" id="FNanchor_685"></a><a href="#Footnote_685" class="fnanchor">685</a> Whereas the Umayyad monarchs ignored or +crushed Muḥammadan sentiment, and seldom made any <span class="sidenote"> Influence of +theologians.</span> +attempt to conciliate the leading representatives +of Islam, the ‘Abbásids, on the other hand, not +only gathered round their throne all the most +celebrated theologians of the day, but also showed them every +possible honour, listened respectfully to their counsel, and +allowed them to exert a commanding influence on the administration +of the State.<a name="FNanchor_686" id="FNanchor_686"></a><a href="#Footnote_686" class="fnanchor">686</a> When Málik b. Anas was summoned +by the Caliph Hárún al-Rashíd, who wished to hear him +recite traditions, Málik replied, "People come to seek knowledge." +So Hárún went to Málik's house, and leaned against +the wall beside him. Málik said, "O Prince of the Faithful, +whoever honours God, honours knowledge." Al-Rashíd arose +and seated himself at Malik's feet and spoke to him and heard +him relate a number of traditions handed down from the +Apostle of God. Then he sent for Sufyán b. ‘Uyayna, and +Sufyán came to him and sat in his presence and recited +traditions to him. Afterwards al-Rashíd said, "O Málik, we +humbled ourselves before thy knowledge, and profited thereby, +but Sufyán's knowledge humbled itself to us, and we got no +good from it."<a name="FNanchor_687" id="FNanchor_687"></a><a href="#Footnote_687" class="fnanchor">687</a> Many instances might be given of the high +favour which theologians enjoyed at this time, and of the +lively interest with which religious topics were debated by the +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_367" id="Page_367" href="#"><span><i>THE DIVINES AND THE GOVERNMENT</i></span>367</a></span> +Caliph and his courtiers. As the Caliphs gradually lost their +temporal sovereignty, the influence of the <i>‘Ulamá</i>—the +doctors of Divinity and Law—continued to increase, so that +ere long they formed a privileged class, occupying in Islam +a position not unlike that of the priesthood in mediæval +Christendom.</p> + +<p class="tb">It will be convenient to discuss the religious phenomena of +the ‘Abbásid period under the following heads:—</p> + +<p>I. Rationalism and Free-thought.</p> + +<p>II. The Orthodox Reaction and the rise of Scholastic +Theology.</p> + +<p>III. The Ṣúfí Mysticism.</p> + +<p class="tb">I. The first century of ‘Abbásid rule was marked, as we +have seen, by a great intellectual agitation. All sorts of new +<span class="sidenote"> Rationalism and +Free-thought.</span> +ideas were in the air. It was an age of discovery +and awakening. In a marvellously brief space +the diverse studies of Theology, Law, Medicine, +Philosophy, Mathematics, Astronomy, and Natural Science +attained their maturity, if not their highest development. +Even if some pious Moslems looked askance at the foreign +learning and its professors, an enlightened spirit generally +prevailed. People took their cue from the court, which +patronised, or at least tolerated,<a name="FNanchor_688" id="FNanchor_688"></a><a href="#Footnote_688" class="fnanchor">688</a> scientific research as well as +theological speculation.</p> + +<p>These circumstances enabled the Mu‘tazilites (see p. <a href="#Page_222">222</a> sqq.) +to propagate their liberal views without hindrance, and finally +<span class="sidenote">The Mu‘tazilites +and their +opponents.</span> +to carry their struggle against the orthodox party +to a successful issue. It was the same conflict +that divided Nominalists and Realists in the days +of Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and Occam. As often +happens when momentous principles are at stake, the whole + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_368" id="Page_368" href="#"><span><i>ORTHODOXY AND FREE-THOUGHT</i></span>368</a></span> + +controversy between Reason and Revelation turned on a +single question—"Is the Koran created or uncreated?" In +other terms, is it the work of God or the Word of God? +According to orthodox belief, it is uncreated and has existed +with God from all eternity, being in its present form merely +a transcript of the heavenly archetype.<a name="FNanchor_689" id="FNanchor_689"></a><a href="#Footnote_689" class="fnanchor">689</a> Obviously this conception +of the Koran as the direct and literal Word of +God left no room for exercise of the understanding, but +required of those who adopted it a dumb faith and a blind +fatalism. There were many to whom the sacrifice did not +seem too great. The Mu‘tazilites, on the contrary, asserted +their intellectual freedom. It was possible, they said, to know +God and distinguish good from evil without any Revelation at +all. They admitted that the Koran was God's work, in the +sense that it was produced by a divinely inspired Prophet, but +they flatly rejected its deification. Some went so far as to +criticise the 'inimitable' style, declaring that it could be +surpassed in beauty and eloquence by the art of man.<a name="FNanchor_690" id="FNanchor_690"></a><a href="#Footnote_690" class="fnanchor">690</a></p> + +<p>The Mu‘tazilite controversy became a burning question in +the reign of Ma’mún (813-833 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), a Caliph whose scientific +enthusiasm and keen interest in religious matters we have +already mentioned. He did not inherit the orthodoxy of his +father, Hárún al-Rashíd; and it was believed that he +was at heart a <i>zindíq</i>. His liberal tendencies would have been +wholly admirable if they had not been marred by excessive +intolerance towards those who held opposite views to his +own. In 833 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, the year of his death, he promulgated +a decree which bound all Moslems to accept the +Mu‘tazilite doctrine as to the creation of the Koran on pain +of losing their civil rights, and at the same time he established +an inquisition (<i>miḥna</i>) in order to obtain the assent of + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_369" id="Page_369" href="#"><span><i>THE MU‘TAZILITES IN POWER</i></span>369</a></span> + +the divines, judges, and doctors of law. Those who would +not take the test were flogged and threatened with the sword. +After Ma’mún's death the persecution still went on, <span class="sidenote">Rationalism +adopted and put +in force by the +Caliph Ma’mún.</span> +although it was conducted in a more moderate +fashion. Popular feeling ran strongly against the +Mu‘tazilites. The most prominent figure in the +orthodox camp was the Imám Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, who firmly +resisted the new dogma from the first. "But for him," says +the Sunnite historian, Abu ’l-Maḥásin, "the beliefs of a great +number would have been corrupted."<a name="FNanchor_691" id="FNanchor_691"></a><a href="#Footnote_691" class="fnanchor">691</a> Neither threats nor +entreaties could shake his resolution, and when he was +scourged by command of the Caliph Mu‘taṣim, the palace +was in danger of being wrecked by an angry mob which had +assembled outside to hear the result of the trial. The Mu‘tazilite +dogma remained officially in force until it was abandoned +<span class="sidenote"> Mutawakkil +returns to +orthodoxy.</span> +by the Caliph Wáthiq and once more declared +heretical by the cruel and bigoted Mutawakkil +(847 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). From that time to this the victorious +party have sternly suppressed every rationalistic movement in +Islam.</p> + +<p>According to Steiner, the original Mu‘tazilite heresy arose +in the bosom of Islam, independently of any foreign influence, +<span class="sidenote">The end of the +Mu‘tazilites.</span> +but, however that may be, its later development +was largely affected by Greek philosophy. We +need not attempt to follow the recondite speculations +of Abú Hudhayl al-‘Alláf († about 840<span class="smcap"> a.d.</span>) of his +contemporaries, al-Naẓẓám, Bishr b. al-Mu‘tamir, and others, +and of the philosophical schools of Baṣra and Baghdád in which +the movement died away. Vainly they sought to replace the +Muḥammadan idea of God as will by the Aristotelian conception +of God as law. Their efforts to purge the Koran of +anthropomorphism made no impression on the faithful, who +ardently hoped to see God in Paradise face to face. What +they actually achieved was little enough. Their weapons of +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_370" id="Page_370" href="#"><span><i>ORTHODOXY AND FREE-THOUGHT</i></span>370</a></span> +logic and dialectic were turned against them with triumphant +success, and scholastic theology was founded on the ruins of +Rationalism. Indirectly, however, the Mu‘tazilite principles +leavened Muḥammadan thought to a considerable extent and +cleared the way for other liberal movements, like the Fraternity +of the <i>Ikhwánu ’l-Ṣafá</i>, which endeavoured to harmonise +authority with reason, and to construct a universal system of +religious philosophy.</p> + +<p>These 'Brethren of Purity,'<a name="FNanchor_692" id="FNanchor_692"></a><a href="#Footnote_692" class="fnanchor">692</a> as they called themselves, compiled +a great encyclopædic work in fifty tractates (<i>Rasá’il</i>). Of +<span class="sidenote">The Ikhwánu +’l-Ṣafá.</span> +the authors, who flourished at Baṣra towards the +end of the tenth century, five are known to us +by name: viz., Abú Sulaymán Muḥammad b. +Ma‘shar al-Bayusti or al-Muqaddasí (Maqdisí), Abu ’l-Ḥasan +‘Alí b. Hárún al-Zanjání, Abú Aḥmad al-Mihrajání, al-‘Awfí, +and Zayd b. Rifá‘a. "They formed a society for the pursuit +of holiness, purity, and truth, and established amongst themselves +a doctrine whereby they hoped to win the approval of +God, maintaining that the Religious Law was defiled by +ignorance and adulterated by errors, and that there was no +means of cleansing and purifying it except philosophy, which +united the wisdom of faith and the profit of research. They +held that a perfect result would be reached if Greek philosophy +were combined with Arabian religion. Accordingly they composed +fifty tracts on every branch of philosophy, theoretical as +well as practical, added a separate index, and entitled them the +'Tracts of the Brethren of Purity' (<i>Rasá’ilu Ikhwán al-Ṣafá</i>). +The authors of this work concealed their names, but circulated +it among the booksellers and gave it to the public. They +filled their pages with devout phraseology, religious parables, +metaphorical expressions, and figurative turns of style."<a name="FNanchor_693" id="FNanchor_693"></a><a href="#Footnote_693" class="fnanchor">693</a> +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_371" id="Page_371" href="#"><span><i>THE BRETHREN OF PURITY</i></span>371</a></span> +Nearly all the tracts have been translated into German by +Dieterici, who has also drawn up an epitome of the whole +encyclopædia in his <i>Philosophie der Araber im X Jahrhundert</i>. +It would take us too long to describe the system of the <i>Ikhwán</i>, +but the reader will find an excellent account of it in Stanley +Lane-Poole's <i>Studies in a Mosque</i>, 2nd ed., p. 176 sqq. The +view has recently been put forward that the Brethren of Purity +were in some way connected with the Ismá‘ílí propaganda, and +that their eclectic idealism represents the highest teaching of +the Fátimids, Carmathians, and Assassins. Strong evidence in +support of this theory is supplied by a MS. of the Bibliothèque +Nationale (No. 2309 in De Slane's Catalogue), which contains, +together with fragments of the <i>Rasá’il</i>, a hitherto unknown +tract entitled the <i>Jámi‘a</i> or 'Summary.'<a name="FNanchor_694" id="FNanchor_694"></a><a href="#Footnote_694" class="fnanchor">694</a> The latter purports +to be the essence and crown of the fifty <i>Rasá’il</i>, it is manifestly +Ismá‘ílite in character, and, assuming that it is genuine, we +may, I think, agree with the conclusions which its discoverer, +M. P. Casanova, has stated in the following passage:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Surtout je crois être dans le vrai en affirmant que les doctrines +philosophiques des Ismaïliens sont contenues tout entières dans les +<span class="sidenote">The doctrines of +the Brethren of +Purity identical +with the esoteric +philosophy of the +Ismá‘ílís.</span> +Epîtres des Frères de la Pureté. Et c’est ce qui explique 'la séduction extraordinaire que la doctrine +exerçait sur des hommes sérieux.'<a name="FNanchor_695" id="FNanchor_695"></a><a href="#Footnote_695" class="fnanchor">695</a> En y ajoutant la +croyance en l'<i>imám caché</i> (<i>al-imám al-mastúr</i>) qui doit +apparaître un jour pour établir le bonheur universel, +elle réalisait la fusion de toutes les doctrines idéalistes, +du messianisme et du platonisme. Tant que l'imám restait caché, +il s'y mêlait encore une saveur de mystère qui attachait les esprits +les plus élevés. . . . En tous cas, on peut affirmer que les Carmathes +et les Assassins ont été profondément calomniés quand ils out été +accusés par leurs adversaires d'athéisme et de débauche. Le fetwa +d'Ibn Taimiyyah, que j'ai cité plus haut, prétend que leur dernier +degré dans l'initiation (<i>al-balágh al-akbar</i>) est la négation même du +Créateur. Mais la <i>djâmi‘at</i> que nous avons découverte est, comme +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_372" id="Page_372" href="#"><span><i>ORTHODOXY AND FREE-THOUGHT</i></span>372</a></span> +tout l'indique, le dernier degré de la science des Frères de la Pureté +et des Ismaïliens; il n'y a rien de fondé dans une telle accusation. +La doctrine apparait très pure, très élevée, très simple même: je +repète que c'est une sorte de panthéisme mécaniste et esthétique qui +est absolument opposé au scepticisme et au matérialisme, car il repose +sur l'harmonie générale de toutes les parties du monde, harmonie +voulue par le Créateur parce qu'elle est la beauté même.</p> + +<p>"Ma conclusion sera que nous avons là un exemple de plus dans +l’histoire d'une doctrine très pure et très élevée en théorie, devenue, +entre les mains des fanatiques et des ambitieux, une source d'actes +monstrueux et méritant l'infamie qui est attachée a ce nom historique +d'Assassins."</p></div> + +<p>Besides the Mu‘tazilites, we hear much of another class of +heretics who are commonly grouped together under the name +of <i>Zindíqs</i>.</p> + +<p>"It is well known," says Goldziher,<a name="FNanchor_696" id="FNanchor_696"></a><a href="#Footnote_696" class="fnanchor">696</a> "that the earliest +persecution was directed against those individuals who managed +<span class="sidenote">The <i>Zindíqs</i>.</span> +more or less adroitly to conceal under +the veil of Islam old Persian religious ideas. +Sometimes indeed they did not consider any disguise to be +necessary, but openly set up dualism and other Persian or +Manichæan doctrines, and the practices associated therewith, +against the dogma and usage of Islam. Such persons were +called <i>Zindíqs</i>, a term which comprises different shades of +heresy and hardly admits of simple definition. Firstly, there +are the old Persian families incorporated in Islam who, following +the same path as the Shu‘úbites, have a <i>national interest</i> in the +revival of Persian religious ideas and traditions, and from this +point of view react against the <i>Arabian</i> character of the +Muḥammadan system. Then, on the other hand, there are +freethinkers, who oppose in particular the stubborn dogma +of Islam, reject <i>positive religion</i>, and acknowledge only the +moral law. Amongst the latter there is developed a monkish +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_373" id="Page_373" href="#"><span><i>THE ZINDÍQS</i></span>373</a></span> +asceticism extraneous to Islam and ultimately traceable to +Buddhistic influences."</p> + +<p>The ‘Abbásid Government, which sought to enforce an +official standard of belief, was far less favourable to religious +liberty than the Umayyads had been. Orthodox and heretic +alike fell under its ban. While Ma’mún harried pious Sunnites, +his immediate predecessors raised a hue and cry against <i>Zindíqs</i>. +The Caliph Mahdí distinguished himself by an organised persecution +of these enemies of the faith. He appointed a Grand Inquisitor +(<i>Ṣáḥibu ’l-Zanádiqa</i><a name="FNanchor_697" id="FNanchor_697"></a><a href="#Footnote_697" class="fnanchor">697</a> or <i>‘Arífu ’l-Zanádiqa</i>) +to discover and hunt them down. If they would <span class="sidenote">Persecution of +<i>Zindíqs</i>.</span> +not recant when called upon, they were put to +death and crucified, and their books<a name="FNanchor_698" id="FNanchor_698"></a><a href="#Footnote_698" class="fnanchor">698</a> were cut to pieces with +knives.<a name="FNanchor_699" id="FNanchor_699"></a><a href="#Footnote_699" class="fnanchor">699</a> Mahdí's example was followed by Hádí and Hárún +al-Rashíd. Some of the ‘Abbásids, however, were less severe. +Thus Khaṣíb, Manṣúr's physician, was a <i>Zindíq</i> who professed +Christianity,<a name="FNanchor_700" id="FNanchor_700"></a><a href="#Footnote_700" class="fnanchor">700</a> and in the reign of Ma’mún it became the mode +to affect Manichæan opinions as a mark of elegance and refinement.<a name="FNanchor_701" id="FNanchor_701"></a><a href="#Footnote_701" class="fnanchor">701</a></p> + +<p>The two main types of <i>zandaqa</i> which have been described +above are illustrated in the contemporary poets, Bashshár b. +<span class="sidenote"> Bashshár b. +Burd.</span> +Burd and Ṣáliḥ b. ‘Abd al-Quddús. Bashshár +was born stone-blind. The descendant of a noble +Persian family—though his father, Burd, was a +slave—he cherished strong national sentiments and did not +attempt to conceal his sympathy with the Persian clients +(<i>Mawálí</i>), whom he was accused of stirring up against their +Arab lords. He may also have had leanings towards Zoroastrianism, +but Professor Bevan has observed that there is no real +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_374" id="Page_374" href="#"><span><i>ORTHODOXY AND FREE-THOUGHT</i></span>374</a></span> +evidence for this statement,<a name="FNanchor_702" id="FNanchor_702"></a><a href="#Footnote_702" class="fnanchor">702</a> though Zoroastrian or Manichæan +views are probably indicated by the fact that he used to dispute +with a number of noted Moslem theologians in Baṣra, <i>e.g.</i>, with +Wáṣil b. ‘Aṭá, who started the Mu‘tazilite heresy, and ‘Amr +b. ‘Ubayd. He and Ṣáliḥ b. ‘Abd al-Quddús were put to +death by the Caliph Mahdí in the same year (783 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p> + +<p>This Ṣáliḥ belonged by birth or affiliation to the Arab tribe +of Azd. Of his life we know little beyond the circumstance +<span class="sidenote">Ṣáliḥ b. ‘Abd +al-Quddús.</span> +that he was for some time a street-preacher at +Baṣra, and afterwards at Damascus. It is possible +that his public doctrine was thought dangerous, +although the preachers as a class were hand in glove with the +Church and did not, like the Lollards, denounce religious +abuses.<a name="FNanchor_703" id="FNanchor_703"></a><a href="#Footnote_703" class="fnanchor">703</a> His extant poetry contains nothing heretical, but is +wholly moral and didactic in character. We have seen, however, +in the case of Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya, that Muḥammadan +orthodoxy was apt to connect 'the philosophic mind' with +positive unbelief; and Ṣáliḥ appears to have fallen a victim to +this prejudice. He was accused of being a dualist (<i>thanawí</i>), +<i>i.e.</i>, a Manichæan. Mahdí, it is said, conducted his examination +in person, and at first let him go free, but the poet's fate was +sealed by his confession that he was the author of the following +verses:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"The greybeard will not leave what in the bone is bred</span><span class="i0"> +Until the dark tomb covers him with earth o'erspread;</span><span class="i0"> +For, tho' deterred awhile, he soon returns again</span><span class="i0"> +To his old folly, as the sick man to his pain."<a name="FNanchor_704" id="FNanchor_704"></a><a href="#Footnote_704" class="fnanchor">704</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_375" id="Page_375" href="#"><span><i>THE ZINDÍQS</i></span>375</a></span></p> + +<p>Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrí, himself a bold and derisive critic of +Muḥammadan dogmas, devotes an interesting section of his +<i>Risálatu ’l-Ghufrán</i> to the <i>Zindíqs</i>, and says +many hard things about them, which were no <span class="sidenote">Abu ’l-‘Alá +al-Ma‘arrí on the +<i>Zindíqs</i>.</span> +doubt intended to throw dust in the eyes of a +suspicious audience. The wide scope of the term is shown +by the fact that he includes under it the pagan chiefs of +Quraysh; the Umayyad Caliph Walíd b. Yazíd; the poets +Di‘bil, Abú Nuwás, Bashshár, and Ṣáliḥ b. ‘Abd al-Quddús; +Abú Muslim, who set up the ‘Abbásid dynasty; the Persian +rebels, Bábak and Mázyár; Afshín, who after conquering +Bábak was starved to death by the Caliph Mu‘taṣim; the +Carmathian leader al-Jannábí; Ibnu ’l-Ráwandí, whose work +entitled the <i>Dámigh</i> was designed to discredit the 'miraculous' +style of the Koran; and Ḥusayn b. Manṣúr al-Ḥalláj, the Ṣúfí +martyr. Most of these, one may admit, fall within Abu ’l-‘Alá’s +definition of the <i>Zindíqs</i>: "they acknowledge neither prophet +nor sacred book." The name <i>Zindíq</i>, which is applied by Jáḥiẓ +(† 868 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) to certain wandering monks,<a name="FNanchor_705" id="FNanchor_705"></a><a href="#Footnote_705" class="fnanchor">705</a> seems in the first instance +to have been used of Manes (<i>Mání</i>) and his followers, and +is no doubt derived, as Professor Bevan has suggested, from the +<i>zaddíqs</i>, who formed an elect class in the Manichæan hierarchy.<a name="FNanchor_706" id="FNanchor_706"></a><a href="#Footnote_706" class="fnanchor">706</a></p> + +<p>II. The official recognition of Rationalism as the State +religion came to an end on the accession of Mutawakkil +in 847 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> The new Caliph, who owed his throne to the + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_376" id="Page_376" href="#"><span><i>ORTHODOXY AND FREE-THOUGHT</i></span>376</a></span> + +Turkish Prætorians, could not have devised a surer means +of making himself popular than by standing forward as the +<span class="sidenote"> The Orthodox +Reaction.</span> +avowed champion of the faith of the masses. He +persecuted impartially Jews, Christians, Mu‘tazilites, +Shí‘ites, and Ṣúfís—every one, in short, +who diverged from the narrowest Sunnite orthodoxy. The +Vizier Ibn Abí Du’ád, who had shown especial zeal in his +conduct of the Mu‘tazilite Inquisition, was disgraced, and the +bulk of his wealth was confiscated. In Baghdád the followers of +Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal went from house to house terrorising the +citizens,<a name="FNanchor_707" id="FNanchor_707"></a><a href="#Footnote_707" class="fnanchor">707</a> and such was their fanatical temper that when Ṭabarí, +the famous divine and historian, died in 923 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, they would not +allow his body to receive the ordinary rites of burial.<a name="FNanchor_708" id="FNanchor_708"></a><a href="#Footnote_708" class="fnanchor">708</a> Finally, +in the year 935 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, the Caliph Ráḍí issued an edict denouncing +them in these terms: "Ye assert that your ugly, ill-favoured +faces are in the likeness of the Lord of Creation, and that your +vile exterior resembles His, and ye speak of the hand, the fingers, +the feet, the golden shoes, and the curly hair (of God), and of +His going up to Heaven and of His coming down to Earth.... +The Commander of the Faithful swears a binding oath that +unless ye refrain from your detestable practices and perverse +tenets he will lay the sword to your necks and the fire to your +dwellings."<a name="FNanchor_709" id="FNanchor_709"></a><a href="#Footnote_709" class="fnanchor">709</a> Evidently the time was ripe for a system which +should reconcile the claims of tradition and reason, avoiding +the gross anthropomorphism of the extreme Ḥanbalites on the +one side and the pure rationalism of the advanced Mu‘tazilites +(who were still a power to be reckoned with) on the other. +It is a frequent experience that great intellectual or religious +movements rising slowly and invisibly, in response, as it were, +to some incommunicable want, suddenly find a distinct interpreter +with whose name they are henceforth associated for +ever. The man, in this case, was Abu ’l-Ḥasan al-Ash‘arí. +He belonged to a noble and traditionally orthodox family of + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_377" id="Page_377" href="#"><span><i>ABU ’L-ḤASAN AL-ASH‘ARÍ</i></span>377</a></span> + +Yemenite origin. One of his ancestors was Abú Músá +al-Ash‘arí, who, as the reader will recollect, played a somewhat +inglorious part in the arbitration between ‘Alí and <span class="sidenote">Abu ’l-Ḥasan +al-ash‘arí.</span> +Mu‘áwiya after the battle of Ṣiffín.<a name="FNanchor_710" id="FNanchor_710"></a><a href="#Footnote_710" class="fnanchor">710</a> Born in 873-874 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span> at Baṣra, a city renowned for its scientific +and intellectual fertility, the young Abu ’l-Ḥasan deserted the +faith of his fathers, attached himself to the freethinking school, +and until his fortieth year was the favourite pupil and intimate +friend of al-Jubbá’í († 915 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), the head of the Mu‘tazilite +party at that time. He is said to have broken with his teacher +in consequence of a dispute as to whether God always does +what is best (<i>aṣlaḥ</i>) for His creatures. The story is related as +follows by Ibn Khallikán (De Slane's translation, vol. ii, +p. 669 seq.):—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Ash‘arí proposed to Jubbá’í the case of three brothers, one of +whom was a true believer, virtuous and pious; the second an infidel, +a debauchee and a reprobate; and the third an infant: <span class="sidenote"> Story of the +three brothers.</span> +they all died, and Ash‘arí wished to know what had +become of them. To this Jubbá’í answered: "The +virtuous brother holds a high station in Paradise; the infidel +is in the depths of Hell, and the child is among those who +have obtained salvation."<a name="FNanchor_711" id="FNanchor_711"></a><a href="#Footnote_711" class="fnanchor">711</a> "Suppose now," said Ash‘arí, "that +the child should wish to ascend to the place occupied by his virtuous +brother, would he be allowed to do so?" "No," replied Jubbá’í, +"it would be said to him: 'Thy brother arrived at this place through +his numerous works of obedience towards God, and thou hast no +such works to set forward.'" "Suppose then," said Ash‘arí, "that the +child say: 'That is not my fault; you did not let me live long +enough, neither did you give me the means of proving my obedience.'" +"In that case," answered Jubbá’í, "the Almighty would +say: 'I knew that if I had allowed thee to live, thou wouldst have +been disobedient and incurred the severe punishment (of Hell); +I therefore acted for thy advantage.'" "Well," said Ash‘arí, "and +suppose the infidel brother were to say: 'O God of the universe! +since you knew what awaited him, you must have known what + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_378" id="Page_378" href="#"><span><i>ORTHODOXY AND FREE-THOUGHT</i></span>378</a></span> + +awaited me; why then did you act for his advantage and not for +mine?" Jubbá’í had not a word to offer in reply.</p></div> + +<p>Soon afterwards Ash‘arí made a public recantation. One +Friday, while sitting (as his biographer relates) in the chair +<span class="sidenote">Ash‘arí's +conversion to +orthodoxy.</span> +from which he taught in the great mosque of +Baṣra, he cried out at the top of his voice: "They +who know me know who I am: as for those +who do not know me I will tell them. I am ‘Alí b. +Ismá‘íl al-Ash‘arí, and I used to hold that the Koran was +created, that the eyes of men shall not see God, and that we +ourselves are the authors of our evil deeds. Now I have +returned to the truth; I renounce these opinions, and I undertake +to refute the Mu‘tazilites and expose their infamy and +turpitude."<a name="FNanchor_712" id="FNanchor_712"></a><a href="#Footnote_712" class="fnanchor">712</a></p> + +<p>These anecdotes possess little or no historical value, but +illustrate the fact that Ash‘arí, having learned all that the +Mu‘tazilites could teach him and having thoroughly mastered +their dialectic, turned against them with deadly force the +weapons which they had put in his hands. His doctrine on +the subject of free-will may serve to exemplify the method of +<i>Kalám</i> (Disputation) by which he propped up the orthodox +creed.<a name="FNanchor_713" id="FNanchor_713"></a><a href="#Footnote_713" class="fnanchor">713</a> Here, as in other instances, Ash‘arí took <span class="sidenote">Ash‘arí as the +founder of +Scholastic +Theology.</span> +the central path—<i>medio tutissimus</i>—between two +extremes. It was the view of the early Moslem +Church—a view justified by the Koran and the +Apostolic Traditions—that everything was determined in +advance and inscribed, from all eternity, on the Guarded Tablet +(<i>al-Lawḥ al-Maḥfúẓ</i>), so that men had no choice but to commit +the actions decreed by destiny. The Mu‘tazilites, on the +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_379" id="Page_379" href="#"><span><i>MOSLEM SCHOLASTICISM</i></span>379</a></span> +contrary, denied that God could be the author of evil and +insisted that men's actions were free. Ash‘arí, on his part, +declared that all actions are created and predestined by God, +but that men have a certain subordinate power which enables +them to acquire the actions previously created, although it +produces no effect on the actions themselves. Human agency, +therefore, was confined to this process of acquisition (<i>kasb</i>). +With regard to the anthropomorphic passages in the Koran, +Ash‘arí laid down the rule that such expressions as "<i>The +Merciful has settled himself upon His throne</i>," "<i>Both His hands +are spread out</i>," &c., must be taken in their obvious sense without +asking 'How?' (<i>bilá kayfa</i>). Spitta saw in the system of +Ash‘arí a successful revolt of the Arabian national spirit against +the foreign ideas which were threatening to overwhelm Islam,<a name="FNanchor_714" id="FNanchor_714"></a><a href="#Footnote_714" class="fnanchor">714</a> +a theory which does not agree with the fact that most of the +leading Ash‘arites were Persians.<a name="FNanchor_715" id="FNanchor_715"></a><a href="#Footnote_715" class="fnanchor">715</a> Von Kremer came nearer +the mark when he said "Ash‘arí's victory was simply a clerical +triumph,"<a name="FNanchor_716" id="FNanchor_716"></a><a href="#Footnote_716" class="fnanchor">716</a> but it was also, as Schreiner has observed, "a +victory of reflection over unthinking faith."</p> + +<p>The victory, however, was not soon or easily won.<a name="FNanchor_717" id="FNanchor_717"></a><a href="#Footnote_717" class="fnanchor">717</a> Many +of the orthodox disliked the new Scholasticism hardly less than +the old Rationalism. Thus it is not surprising to read in the +<i>Kámil</i> of Ibnu ’l-Athír under the year 456 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span> = 1063-4 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, +that Alp Arslán's Vizier, ‘Amídu ’l-Mulk al-Kundurí, having +obtained his master's permission to have curses pronounced +against the Ráfiḍites (Shí‘ites) from the pulpits of Khurásán, +included the Ash‘arites in the same malediction, and that +the famous Ash‘arite doctors, Abu ’l-Qásim al-Qushayrí +and the Imámu ’l-Ḥaramayn Abu ’l-Ma‘álí al-Juwayní, left +the country in consequence. The great Niẓámu ’l-Mulk +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_380" id="Page_380" href="#"><span><i>ORTHODOXY AND FREE-THOUGHT</i></span>380</a></span> +exerted himself on behalf of the Ash‘arites, and the Niẓámiyya +College, which he founded in Baghdád in the year 1067 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, +was designed to propagate their system of theology. But the +man who stamped it with the impression of his own powerful +genius, fixed its ultimate form, and established it as the +universal creed of orthodox Islam, was Abú Ḥámid al-Ghazálí +(1058-1111 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). We have already sketched the outward +course of his life, and need only recall that he lectured at Baghdád +in the Niẓámiyya College for four years (1091-1095 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).<a name="FNanchor_718" id="FNanchor_718"></a><a href="#Footnote_718" class="fnanchor">718</a> +At the end of that time he retired from the world as a Ṣúfí, and +so brought to a calm and fortunate close the long spiritual +travail which he has himself described in the <i>Munqidh mina +’l-Ḍalál</i>, or 'Deliverer from Error.'<a name="FNanchor_719" id="FNanchor_719"></a><a href="#Footnote_719" class="fnanchor">719</a> We must now attempt +to give the reader some notion of this work, both on account of +its singular psychological interest and because Ghazálí's search +for religious truth exercised, as will shortly appear, a profound +and momentous influence upon the future history of Muḥammadan +thought. It begins with these words:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Praise +be to God by the praise of whom every written or spoken discourse +<span class="sidenote"> Ghazálí's +autobiography.</span> +is opened! And blessings on Muḥammad, the Elect, +the Prophet and Apostle, as well as on his family and +his companions who lead us forth from error! To +proceed: You have asked me, O my brother in religion, to explain +to you the hidden meanings and the ultimate goal of the sciences, +and the secret bane of the different doctrines, and their inmost +depths. You wish me to relate all that I have endured in seeking +to recover the truth from amidst the confusion of sects with diverse +ways and paths, and how I have dared to raise myself from the +abyss of blind belief in authority to the height of discernment. You +desire to know what benefits I have derived in the first place from +Scholastic Theology, and what I have appropriated, in the second + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_381" id="Page_381" href="#"><span><i>GHAZÁLÍ</i></span>381</a></span> + +place, from the methods of the Ta‘límites<a name="FNanchor_720" id="FNanchor_720"></a><a href="#Footnote_720" class="fnanchor">720</a> who think that truth can +be attained only by submission to the authority of an Imám; and +thirdly, my reasons for spurning the systems of philosophy; and, +lastly, why I have accepted the tenets of Ṣúfiism: you are anxious, +in short, that I should impart to you the essential truths which I +have learned in my repeated examination of the (religious) opinions +of mankind."</p></div> + +<p>In a very interesting passage, which has been translated by +Professor Browne, Ghazálí tells how from his youth upward he +was possessed with an intense thirst for knowledge, which +impelled him to study every form of religion and philosophy, +and to question all whom he met concerning the nature and +meaning of their belief.<a name="FNanchor_721" id="FNanchor_721"></a><a href="#Footnote_721" class="fnanchor">721</a> But when he tried to distinguish +the true from the false, he found no sure test. He could not +trust the evidence of his senses. The eye sees a shadow and +declares it to be without movement; or a star, and deems it +no larger than a piece of gold. If the senses thus deceive, +may not the mind do likewise? Perhaps our life is a dream +full of phantom thoughts which we mistake for realities—until +the awakening comes, either in moments of ecstasy or at +death. "For two months," says Ghazálí, "I was actually, +though not avowedly, a sceptic." Then God gave him light, +so that he regained his mental balance and was able to think +soundly. He resolved that this faculty must guide him to the +truth, since blind faith once lost never returns. Accordingly, +he set himself to examine the foundations of belief in four +classes of men who were devoted to the search for truth, +namely, Scholastic Theologians, Ismá‘ílís (<i>Bátiniyya</i>), Philosophers, +and Ṣúfís. For a long while he had to be content +with wholly negative results. Scholasticism was, he admitted, +an excellent purge against heresy, but it could not cure the +disease from which he was suffering. As for the philosophers, +all of them—Materialists (<i>Dahriyyún</i>), Naturalists (<i>Ṭabí‘iyyún</i>), + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_382" id="Page_382" href="#"><span><i>ORTHODOXY AND FREE-THOUGHT</i></span>382</a></span> + +and Theists (<i>Iláhiyyún</i>)—"are branded with infidelity and +impiety." Here, as often in his discussion of the philosophical +schools, Ghazálí's religious instinct breaks out. We cannot +imagine him worshipping at the shrine of pure reason any +more than we can imagine Herbert Spencer at Lourdes. +He next turned to the Ta‘límites (Doctrinists) or Báṭinites +(Esoterics), who claimed that they knew the truth, and that its +unique source was the infallible Imám. But when he came to +close quarters with these sectaries, he discovered that they +could teach him nothing, and their mysterious Imám vanished +into space. Ṣúfiism, therefore, was his last hope. He carefully +studied the writings of the mystics, and as he read it became +clear to him that now he was on the right path. He saw +that the higher stages of Ṣúfiism could not be learned by +study, but must be realised by actual experience, that is, by +rapture, ecstasy, and moral transformation. After a painful +struggle with himself he resolved to cast aside all his worldly +ambition and to live for God alone. In the month of Dhu +’l-Qa‘da, 488 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span> (November, 1095 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), he left Baghdád +and wandered forth to Syria, where he found in the Ṣúfí discipline +of prayer, praise, and meditation the peace which his +soul desired.</p> + +<p>Mr. Duncan B. Macdonald, to whom we owe the best and +fullest life of Ghazálí that has yet been written, sums up his +work and influence in Islam under four heads<a name="FNanchor_722" id="FNanchor_722"></a><a href="#Footnote_722" class="fnanchor">722</a>:—</p> + +<p><i>First</i>, he led men back from scholastic labours upon theological +dogmas to living contact with, study and exegesis of, +the Word and the Traditions.</p> + +<p><i>Second</i>, in his preaching and moral exhortations he re-introduced +the element of fear.</p> + +<p><i>Third</i>, it was by his influence that Ṣúfiism attained a firm +and assured position within the Church of Islam.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_383" id="Page_383" href="#"><span><i>GHAZÁLÍ</i></span>383</a></span> + +<i>Fourth</i>, he brought philosophy and philosophical theology +within the range of the ordinary mind.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Of these four phases of al-Ghazzālī's work," says Macdonald, "the +first and third are undoubtedly the most important. He made his +<span class="sidenote"> Ghazálí's work +and influence.</span> +mark by leading Islam back to its fundamental and historical +facts, and by giving a place in its system to the +emotional religious life. But it will have been noticed +that in none of the four phases was he a pioneer. He was not a +scholar who struck out a new path, but a man of intense personality +who entered on a path already trodden and made it the common +highway. We have here his character. Other men may have +been keener logicians, more learned theologians, more gifted +saints; but he, through his personal experiences, had attained so +overpowering a sense of the divine realities that the force of his +character—once combative and restless, now narrowed and intense—swept +all before it, and the Church of Islam entered on a new era +of its existence."</p></div> + +<p>III. We have traced the history of Mysticism in Islam from +the ascetic movement of the first century, in which it originated, +<span class="sidenote">Ṣúfiism in the +‘Abbásid period.</span> +to a point where it begins to pass beyond the +sphere of Muḥammadan influence and to enter +on a strange track, of which the Prophet assuredly +never dreamed, although the Ṣúfís constantly pretend that they +alone are his true followers. I do not think it can be maintained +that Ṣúfiism of the theosophical and speculative type, +which we have now to consider, is merely a development of the +older asceticism and quietism which have been described in a +former chapter. The difference between them is essential and +must be attributed in part, as Von Kremer saw,<a name="FNanchor_723" id="FNanchor_723"></a><a href="#Footnote_723" class="fnanchor">723</a> to the intrusion +of some extraneous, non-Islamic, element. As to the nature of +this new element there are several conflicting theories, which +have been so clearly and fully stated by Professor Browne in +his <i>Literary History of Persia</i> (vol. i, p. 418 sqq.) that I need +not dwell upon them here. Briefly it is claimed—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_384" id="Page_384" href="#"><span><i>MYSTICISM</i></span>384</a></span></p> + +<p class="indent3">(<i>a</i>) That Ṣúfiism owes its inspiration to Indian philosophy, +and especially to the Vedanta.</p> + +<p class="indent3">(<i>b</i>) That the most characteristic ideas in Ṣúfiism are of +Persian origin.</p> + +<p class="indent3">(<i>c</i>) That these ideas are derived from Neo-platonism.</p> + +<p>Instead of arguing for or against any of the above theories, +all of which, in my opinion, contain a measure of truth, I +propose in the following pages to sketch the historical evolution +of the Ṣúfí doctrine as far as the materials at my disposal will +permit. This, it seems to me, is the only possible method by +which we may hope to arrive at a definite conclusion as to its +origin. Since mysticism in all ages and countries is fundamentally +the same, however it may be modified by its peculiar +environment, and by the positive religion to which it clings +for support, we find remote and unrelated systems showing +an extraordinarily close likeness and even coinciding in many +features of verbal expression. Such resemblances can prove +little or nothing unless they are corroborated by evidence +based on historical grounds. Many writers on Ṣúfiism have +disregarded this principle; hence the confusion which long +prevailed. The first step in the right direction was made by +Adalbert Merx,<a name="FNanchor_724" id="FNanchor_724"></a><a href="#Footnote_724" class="fnanchor">724</a> who derived valuable results from a chronological +examination of the sayings of the early Ṣúfís. He did +not, however, carry his researches beyond Abú Sulaymán +al-Dárání († 830 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), and confined his attention almost +entirely to the doctrine, which, according to my view, should +be studied in connection with the lives, character, and nationality +of the men who taught it.<a name="FNanchor_725" id="FNanchor_725"></a><a href="#Footnote_725" class="fnanchor">725</a> No doubt the origin and +growth of mysticism in Islam, as in all other religions, <i>ultimately</i> +depended on general causes and conditions, not on external +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_385" id="Page_385" href="#"><span><i>PRINCIPLES OF INVESTIGATION</i></span>385</a></span> +circumstances. For example, the political anarchy of the +Umayyad period, the sceptical tendencies of the early ‘Abbásid +age, and particularly the dry formalism of Moslem +theology could not fail to provoke counter-movements towards +quietism, spiritual authority, and emotional faith. But although +Ṣúfiism was not called into being by any impulse from without +(this is too obvious to require argument), the influences of +which I am about to speak have largely contributed to make +it what it is, and have coloured it so deeply that no student of +the history of Ṣúfiism can afford to neglect them.</p> + +<p>Towards the end of the eighth century of our era the +influence of new ideas is discernible in the sayings of Ma‘rúf +<span class="sidenote">Ma‘rúf al-Karkhí +(† 815 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +al-Karkhí († 815 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), a contemporary of Fuḍayl +b. ‘Iyáḍ and Shaqíq of Balkh. He was born in +the neighbourhood of Wásiṭ, one of the great +cities of Mesopotamia, and the name of his father, Fírúz, or +Fírúzán, shows that he had Persian blood in his veins. Ma‘rút +was a client (<i>mawlá</i>) of the Shí‘ite Imám, ‘Alí b. Músá +al-Riḍá, in whose presence he made profession of Islam; for he +had been brought up as a Christian (such is the usual account), +or, possibly, as a Ṣábian. He lived during the reign of Hárún +al-Rashíd in the Karkh quarter of Baghdád, where he gained +a high reputation for saintliness, so that his tomb in that +city is still an object of veneration. He is described as a +God-intoxicated man, but in this respect he is not to be +compared with many who came after him. Nevertheless, he +deserves to stand at the head of the mystical as opposed to the +ascetic school of Ṣúfís. He defined Ṣúfiism as "the apprehension +of Divine realities and renunciation of human possessions."<a name="FNanchor_726" id="FNanchor_726"></a><a href="#Footnote_726" class="fnanchor">726</a> +Here are a few of his sayings:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="indent5">"Love is not to be learned from men; it is one of God's gifts and +comes of His grace.</p> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_386" id="Page_386" href="#"><span><i>MYSTICISM</i></span>386</a></span> + +<p class="indent5">"The Saints of God are known by three signs: their thought is of +God, their dwelling is with God, and their business is in God.</p> + +<p class="indent5">"If the gnostic (<i>‘árif</i>) has no bliss, yet he himself is in every bliss.</p> + +<p class="indent5">"When you desire anything of God, swear to Him by me."</p></div> + +<p>From these last words, which Ma‘rúf addressed to his pupil +Sarí al-Saqaṭí, it is manifest that he regarded himself as being +in the most intimate communion with God.</p> + +<p>Abú Sulaymán († 830 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), the next great name in the +Ṣúfí biographies, was also a native of Wásiṭ, but afterwards +emigrated to Syria and settled at Dárayá (near <span class="sidenote">Abú Sulaymán +al-Dárání +(† 830 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +Damascus), whence he is called 'al-Dárání.' He +developed the doctrine of gnosis (<i>ma‘rifat</i>). Those +who are familiar with the language of European mystics—<i>illuminatio</i>, +<i>oculus cordis</i>, &c.—will easily interpret such sayings +as these:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="indent5">"None refrains from the lusts of this world save him in whose +heart there is a light that keeps him always busied with the next +world.</p> + +<p class="indent5">"When the gnostic's spiritual eye is opened, his bodily eye is shut: +they see nothing but Him.</p> + +<p class="indent5">"If Gnosis were to take visible form, all that looked thereon would +die at the sight of its beauty and loveliness and goodness and grace, +and every brightness would become dark beside the splendour +thereof.<a name="FNanchor_727" id="FNanchor_727"></a><a href="#Footnote_727" class="fnanchor">727</a></p> + +<p class="indent5">"Gnosis is nearer to silence than to speech."</p></div> + +<p>We now come to Dhu ’l-Nún al-Misrí († 860 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), whom +the Ṣúfís themselves consider to be the primary author of their +<span class="sidenote">Dhu ’l-Nún +al-Misrí +(† 860 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +doctrine.<a name="FNanchor_728" id="FNanchor_728"></a><a href="#Footnote_728" class="fnanchor">728</a> That he at all events was among the +first of those who helped to give it permanent +shape is a fact which is amply attested by the +collection of his sayings preserved in ‘Aṭṭár's <i>Memoirs of the</i> +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_387" id="Page_387" href="#"><span><i>DHU ’L-NÚN AL-MIṢRÍ</i></span>387</a></span> +<i>Saints</i> and in other works of the same kind.<a name="FNanchor_729" id="FNanchor_729"></a><a href="#Footnote_729" class="fnanchor">729</a> It is clear that +the theory of gnosis, with which he deals at great length, was +the central point in his system; and he seems to have introduced +the doctrine that true knowledge of God is attained only +by means of ecstasy (<i>wajd</i>). "The man that knows God +best," he said, "is the one most lost in Him." Like Dionysius, +he refused to make any positive statements about the Deity. +"Whatever you imagine, God is the contrary of that." +Divine love he regarded as an ineffable mystery which must +not be revealed to the profane. All this is the very essence +of the later Ṣúfiism. It is therefore desirable to ascertain the +real character of Dhu ’l-Nún and the influences to which he +was subjected. The following account gives a brief summary +of what I have been able to discover; fuller details will be found +in the article mentioned above.</p> + +<p>His name was Abu ’l-Fayḍ Thawbán b. Ibráhím, Dhu +’l-Nún (He of the Fish) being a sobriquet referring to one +of his miracles, and his father was a native of Nubia, or of +Ikhmím in Upper Egypt. Ibn Khallikán describes Dhu +’l-Nún as 'the nonpareil of his age' for learning, devotion, +communion with the Divinity (<i>ḥál</i>), and acquaintance with +literature (<i>adab</i>); adding that he was a philosopher (<i>ḥakím</i>) +and spoke Arabic with elegance. The people of Egypt, +among whom he lived, looked upon him as a <i>zindíq</i> (freethinker), +and he was brought to Baghdád to answer this +charge, but after his death he was canonised. In the <i>Fihrist</i> +he appears among "the philosophers who discoursed on +alchemy," and Ibnu ’l-Qifṭí brackets him with the famous +occultist Jábir b. Ḥayyán. He used to wander (as we learn +from Mas‘údí)<a name="FNanchor_730" id="FNanchor_730"></a><a href="#Footnote_730" class="fnanchor">730</a> amidst the ruined Egyptian monuments, +studying the inscriptions and endeavouring to decipher the +mysterious figures which were thought to hold the key to the +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_388" id="Page_388" href="#"><span><i>MYSTICISM</i></span>388</a></span> +lost sciences of antiquity. He also dabbled in medicine, which, +like Paracelsus, he combined with alchemy and magic.</p> + +<p>Let us see what light these facts throw upon the origin of +the Ṣúfí theosophy. Did it come to Egypt from India, Persia, +or Greece?</p> + +<p>Considering the time, place, and circumstances in which it +arose, and having regard to the character of the man who +<span class="sidenote"> The origin of +theosophical +Ṣúfiism.</span> +bore a chief part in its development, we cannot +hesitate, I think, to assert that it is largely a +product of Greek speculation. Ma‘rúf al-Karkhí, +Abú Sulaymán al-Dárání, and Dhu ’l-Nún al-Miṣrí all three +lived and died in the period (786-861 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) which begins with +the accession of Hárún al-Rashíd and is terminated by the +death of Mutawakkil. During these seventy-five years the +stream of Hellenic culture flowed unceasingly into the Moslem +world. Innumerable works of Greek philosophers, physicians, +and scientists were translated and eagerly studied. Thus the +Greeks became the teachers of the Arabs, and the wisdom of +ancient Greece formed, as has been shown in a preceding +chapter, the basis of Muḥammadan science and philosophy. +The results are visible in the Mu‘tazilite rationalism as well as +in the system of the <i>Ikhwánu ’l-Ṣafá</i>. But it was not through +literature alone that the Moslems were imbued with Hellenism. +In ‘Iráq, Syria, and Egypt they found themselves on its native +soil, which yielded, we may be sure, a plentiful harvest of ideas—Neo-platonic, +Gnostical, Christian, mystical, pantheistic, and +what not? In Mesopotamia, the heart of the ‘Abbásid Empire, +dwelt a strange people, who were really Syrian heathens, but +who towards the beginning of the ninth century assumed the +name of Ṣábians in order to protect themselves from the persecution +with which they were threatened by the Caliph +Ma’mún. At this time, indeed, many of them accepted +Islam or Christianity, but the majority clung to their old +pagan beliefs, while the educated class continued to profess a +religious philosophy which, as it is described by Shahrastání and +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_389" id="Page_389" href="#"><span><i>ORIGIN OF ṢÚFÍ THEOSOPHY</i></span>389</a></span> +other Muḥammadan writers, is simply the Neo-platonism of +Proclus and Iamblichus. To return to Dhu ’l-Nún, it is +incredible that a mystic and natural philosopher living in the +first half of the ninth century in Egypt should have derived his +doctrine directly from India. There may be Indian elements +in Neo-platonism and Gnosticism, but this possibility does not +affect my contention that the immediate source of the Ṣúfí +theosophy is to be sought in Greek and Syrian speculation. +To define its origin more narrowly is not, I think, practicable +in the present state of our knowledge. Merx, however, would +trace it to Dionysius, the Pseudo-Areopagite, or rather to his +master, a certain "Hierotheus," whom Frothingham has +identified with the Syrian mystic, Stephen bar Sudaili (<i>circa</i> +500 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). Dionysius was of course a Christian Neo-platonist. +His works certainly laid the foundations of mediæval mysticism +in Europe, and they were also popular in the East at the time +when Ṣúfiism arose.</p> + +<p>When speaking of the various current theories as to the +origin of Ṣúfiism, I said that in my opinion they all contained +<span class="sidenote"> Ṣúfiism composed +of many +different +elements.</span> +a measure of truth. No single cause will account +for a phenomenon so widely spread and so diverse +in its manifestations. Ṣúfiism has always been +thoroughly eclectic, absorbing and transmuting +whatever 'broken lights' fell across its path, and consequently +it gained adherents amongst men of the most opposite views—theists +and pantheists, Mu‘tazilites and Scholastics, philosophers +and divines. We have seen what it owed to Greece, but the +Perso-Indian elements are not to be ignored. Although the +theory "that it must be regarded as the reaction of the Aryan +mind against a Semitic religion imposed on it by force" +is inadmissible—Dhu ’l-Nún, for example, was a Copt or +Nubian—the fact remains that there was at the time a powerful +anti-Semitic reaction, which expressed itself, more or less +consciously, in Ṣúfís of Persian race. Again, the literary influence +of India upon Muḥammadan thought before 1000 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_390" id="Page_390" href="#"><span><i>MYSTICISM</i></span>390</a></span> +was greatly inferior to that of Greece, as any one can see +by turning over the pages of the <i>Fihrist</i>; but Indian religious +ideas must have penetrated into Khurásán and Eastern Persia +at a much earlier period.</p> + +<p>These considerations show that the question as to the origin +of Ṣúfiism cannot be answered in a definite and exclusive way. +None of the rival theories is completely true, nor is any of +them without a partial justification. The following words of +Dr. Goldziher should be borne in mind by all who are +interested in this subject:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Ṣúfiism cannot be looked upon as a regularly organised sect within +Islam. Its dogmas cannot be compiled into a regular system. It +<span class="sidenote"> Goldziher on the +character of +Ṣúfiism.</span> +manifests itself in different shapes in different +countries. We find divergent tendencies, according +to the spirit of the teaching of distinguished theosophists +who were founders of different schools, the followers of +which may be compared to Christian monastic orders. The influence +of different environments naturally affected the development +of Ṣúfiism. Here we find mysticism, there asceticism the prevailing +thought."<a name="FNanchor_731" id="FNanchor_731"></a><a href="#Footnote_731" class="fnanchor">731</a></p></div> + +<p>The four principal foreign sources of Ṣúfiism are undoubtedly +Christianity, Neo-platonism, Gnosticism, and Indian asceticism +and religious philosophy. I shall not attempt in this place to +estimate their comparative importance, but it should be clearly +understood that the speculative and theosophical side of Ṣúfiism, +which, as we have seen, was first elaborated in ‘Iráq, Syria, and +Egypt, bears unmistakable signs of Hellenistic influence.</p> + +<p class="tb">The early Ṣúfís are particularly interested in the theory of +mystical union (<i>faná wa-baqá</i>) and often use expressions which +it is easy to associate with pantheism, yet none of them can fairly +be called a pantheist in the true sense. The step from theosophy + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_391" id="Page_391" href="#"><span><i>BÁYAZÍD OF BISṬÁM</i></span>391</a></span> + +to pantheism was not, I think, made either by Ḥalláj († 922 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) +or by the celebrated Abú Yazíd, in Persian Báyazíd († 874-75 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), of Bisṭám, a town in the province of Qúmis situated +near the south-eastern corner of the Caspian Sea. <span class="sidenote"> Báyazíd of +Bisṭám.</span> +While his father, Surúshán, was a Zoroastrian, +his master in Ṣúfiism seems to have been connected +with Sind (Scinde), where Moslem governors had been installed +since 715 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> Báyazíd carried the experimental doctrine of +<i>faná</i> (dying to self) to its utmost limit, and his language is +tinged with the peculiar poetic imagery which was afterwards +developed by the great Ṣúfí of Khurásán, Abú Sa‘íd b. Abi +’l-Khayr († 1049 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). I can give only a few specimens of +his sayings. Their genuineness is not above suspicion, but they +serve to show that if the theosophical basis of Ṣúfiism is distinctively +Greek, its mystical extravagances are no less distinctively +Oriental.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Creatures are subject to 'states' (<i>aḥwál</i>), but the gnostic has no +'state,' because his vestiges are effaced and his essence is annihilated +by the essence of another, and his traces are lost in another's traces.</p> + +<p>"I went from God to God until they cried from me in me, 'O +Thou I!'</p> + +<p>"Nothing is better for Man than to be without aught, having no +asceticism, no theory, no practice. When he is without all, he is +with all.</p> + +<p>"Verily I am God, there is no God except me, so worship me!</p> + +<p>"Glory to me! how great is my majesty!</p> + +<p>"I came forth from Báyazíd-ness as a snake from its skin. Then +I looked. I saw that lover, beloved, and love are one, for in the +world of unification all can be one.</p> + +<p>"I am the wine-drinker and the wine and the cup-bearer."</p></div> + +<p>Thus, in the course of a century, Ṣúfiism, which at first +was little more than asceticism, became in succession mystical +and theosophical, and even ran the risk of being confused with +pantheism. Henceforward the term <i>Taṣawwuf</i> unites all these +varying shades. As a rule, however, the great Ṣúfís of the +third century <span class="smcap">a.h.</span> (815-912 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) keep their antinomian +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_392" id="Page_392" href="#"><span><i>MYSTICISM</i></span>392</a></span> +enthusiasm under control. Most of them agreed with Junayd +of Baghdád († 909 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), the leading theosophist of his time, +in preferring "the path of sobriety," and in seeking to reconcile +the Law (<i>sharí‘at</i>) with the Truth (<i>ḥaqíqat</i>). "Our +principles," said Sahl b. ‘Abdulláh al-Tustarí († 896 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), +"are six: to hold fast by the Book of God, to model ourselves +upon the Apostle (Muḥammad), to eat only what is lawful, +to refrain from hurting people even though they hurt us, to +avoid forbidden things, and to fulfil obligations without delay." +To these articles the strictest Moslem might cheerfully subscribe. +Ṣúfiism in its ascetic, moral, and devotional aspects +was a spiritualised Islam, though it was a very different thing +essentially. While doing lip-service to the established religion, +it modified the dogmas of Islam in such a way as to deprive +them of their original significance. Thus Allah, the God of +mercy and wrath, was in a certain sense depersonalised and +worshipped as the One absolutely Real (<i>al-Ḥaqq</i>). Here the +Ṣúfís betray their kinship with the Mu‘tazilites, but the two +sects have little in common except the Greek philosophy.<a name="FNanchor_732" id="FNanchor_732"></a><a href="#Footnote_732" class="fnanchor">732</a> +It must never be forgotten that Ṣúfiism was the expression of +a profound religious feeling—"hatred of the world and love +of the Lord."<a name="FNanchor_733" id="FNanchor_733"></a><a href="#Footnote_733" class="fnanchor">733</a> "<i>Taṣawwuf</i>," said Junayd, "is this: that God +should make thee die to thyself and should make thee live +in Him."</p> + +<p>The further development of Ṣúfiism may be indicated in a +few words.</p> + +<p>What was at first a form of religion adopted by individuals +and communicated to a small circle of companions gradually +became a monastic system, a school for saints, with rules +of discipline and devotion which the novice (<i>muríd</i>) learned +from his spiritual director (<i>pír</i> or <i>ustádh</i>), to whose guidance he +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_393" id="Page_393" href="#"><span><i>DEVELOPMENT OF ṢÚFIISM</i></span>393</a></span> +submitted himself absolutely. Already in the third century after +Muḥammad it is increasingly evident that the typical Ṣúfí adept +of the future will no longer be a solitary ascetic <span class="sidenote"> The development +of Ṣúfiism.</span> +shunning the sight of men, but a great Shaykh and +hierophant, who appears on ceremonial occasions +attended by a numerous train of admiring disciples. Soon the +doctrine began to be collected and embodied in books. Some +of the most notable Arabic works of reference on Ṣúfiism have +been mentioned already. Among the oldest are the <i>Kitábu +’l-Luma‘</i>, by Abú Naṣr al-Sarráj († 988 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) and the <i>Qútu +’l-Qulúb</i> by Abú Ṭálib al-Makkí († 996 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). The twelfth +century saw the rise of the Dervish Orders. ‘Adí al-Hakkárí +(† 1163 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) and ‘Abdu ’l-Qádir al-Jílí († 1166 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) founded +the fraternities which are called ‘Adawís and Qádirís, after +their respective heads. These were followed in rapid succession +by the Rifá‘ís, the Shádhilís, and the Mevlevís, of whom +the last named owe their origin to the Persian poet and mystic, +Jalálu ’l-Dín Rúmí († 1273 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). By this time, mainly +through the influence of Ghazálí, Ṣúfiism had won for itself a +secure and recognised position in the Muḥammadan Church. +Orthodoxy was forced to accept the popular Saint-worship and +to admit the miracles of the <i>Awliyá</i>, although many Moslem +puritans raised their voices against the superstitious veneration +which was paid to the tombs of holy men, and against the +prayers, sacrifices, and oblations offered by the pilgrims who +assembled. Ghazálí also gave the Ṣúfí doctrine a metaphysical +basis. For this purpose he availed himself of the terminology, +which Fárábí (also a Ṣúfí) and Avicenna had already borrowed +from the Neo-platonists. From his time forward we find in +Ṣúfí writings constant allusions to the Plotinian theories of +emanation and ecstasy.</p> + +<p class="tb">Mysticism was more congenial to the Persians than to the +Arabs, and its influence on Arabic literature is not to be +compared with the extraordinary spell which it has cast +over the Persian mind since the eleventh century of the + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_394" id="Page_394" href="#"><span><i>MYSTICISM</i></span>394</a></span> + +Christian era to the present day. With few exceptions, the +great poets of Persia (and, we may add, of Turkey) speak the +allegorical language and use the fantastic imagery of which +the quatrains of the Persian Ṣúfí, Abú Sa‘íd b. Abi ’l-Khayr,<a name="FNanchor_734" id="FNanchor_734"></a><a href="#Footnote_734" class="fnanchor">734</a> +afford almost the first literary example. The Arabs have only +one mystical poet worthy to stand beside the Persian masters. +This is Sharafu ’l-Dín ‘Umar Ibnu ’l-Fáriḍ, who <span class="sidenote">‘Umar Ibnu +’l-Fáriḍ.</span> +was born in Cairo (1181 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) and died there in +1235. His <i>Díwán</i> was edited by his grandson +‘Alí, and the following particulars regarding the poet's life +are extracted from the biographical notice prefixed to this +edition<a name="FNanchor_735" id="FNanchor_735"></a><a href="#Footnote_735" class="fnanchor">735</a>:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The Shaykh ‘Umar Ibnu ’l-Fáriḍ was of middle stature; his face +was fair and comely, with a mingling of visible redness; and +when he was under the influence of music (<i>samá‘</i>) and rapture +(<i>wajd</i>), and overcome by ecstasy, it grew in beauty and brilliancy, +and sweat dropped from his body until it ran on the +ground under his feet. I never saw (so his son relates) +among Arabs or foreigners a figure equal in beauty to his, and +I am the likest of all men to him in form.... And when he +walked in the city, the people used to press round him asking his +blessing and trying to kiss his hand, but he would not allow anyone +to do so, but put his hand in theirs.... ‘Umar Ibnu ’l-Fáriḍ said: +'In the beginning of my detachment (<i>tajríd</i>) from the world I used +to beg permission of my father and go up to the Wádi ’l-Mustaḍ‘afín +on the second mountain of al-Muqaṭṭam. Thither I would resort +and continue in this hermit life (<i>síyáḥa</i>) night and day; then I would +return to my father, as bound in duty to cherish his affection. My +father was at that time Lieutenant of the High Court (<i>khalífatu +’l-ḥukmi ’l-‘azíz</i>) in Qáhira and Miṣr,<a name="FNanchor_736" id="FNanchor_736"></a><a href="#Footnote_736" class="fnanchor">736</a> the two guarded cities, and was +one of the men most eminent for learning and affairs. He was +wont to be glad when I returned, and he frequently let me sit with +him in the chambers of the court and in the colleges of law. Then +I would long for "detachment," and beg leave to return to the life of + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_395" id="Page_395" href="#"><span><i>‘UMAR IBNU ’L-FÁRIḌ</i></span>395</a></span> + +a wandering devotee, and thus I was doing repeatedly, until my +father was asked to fill the office of Chief Justice (<i>Qáḍi ’l-Quḍát</i>), but +refused, and laid down the post which he held, and retired from +society, and gave himself entirely to God in the preaching-hall +(<i>qá‘atu ’l-khiṭába</i>) of the Mosque al-Azhar. After his death I +resumed my former detachment, and solitary devotion, and travel +in the way of Truth, but no revelation was vouchsafed to me. One +day I came to Cairo and entered the Sayfiyya College. At the gate +I found an old grocer performing an ablution which was not +prescribed. First he washed his hands, then his feet; then he wiped +his head and washed his face. "O Shaykh," I said to him, "do you, +after all these years, stand beside the gate of the college among the +Moslem divines and perform an irregular ablution?" He looked at +me and said, "O ‘Umar, nothing will be vouchsafed to thee in Egypt, +but only in the Ḥijáz, at Mecca (may God exalt it!); set out thither, +for the time of thy illumination hath come." Then I knew that the +man was one of God's saints and that he was disguising himself by +his manner of livelihood and by pretending to be ignorant of the +irregularity of the ablution. I seated myself before him and said +to him, "O my master, how far am I from Mecca! and I cannot find +convoy or companions save in the months of Pilgrimage." He looked +at me and pointed with his hand and said, "Here is Mecca in front +of thee"; and as I looked with him, I saw Mecca (may God exalt +it!); and bidding him farewell, I set off to seek it, and it was always +in front of me until I entered it. At that moment illumination came +to me and continued without any interruption.... I abode in a +valley which was distant from Mecca ten days' journey for a hard +rider, and every day and night I would come forth to pray the five +prayers in the exalted Sanctuary, and with me was a wild beast of +huge size which accompanied me in my going and returning, and +knelt to me as a camel kneels, and said, "Mount, O my master," but +I never did so.'"</p></div> + +<p>When fifteen years had elapsed, ‘Umar Ibnu ’l-Fáriḍ +returned to Cairo. The people venerated him as a saint, +and the reigning monarch, Malik al-Kámil, wished to visit +him in person, but ‘Umar declined to see him, and rejected his +bounty. "At most times," says the poet's son, "the Shaykh +was in a state of bewilderment, and his eyes stared fixedly. +He neither heard nor saw any one speaking to him. Now he +would stand, now sit, now repose on his side, now lie on his + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_396" id="Page_396" href="#"><span><i>MYSTICISM</i></span>396</a></span> + +back wrapped up like a dead man; and thus would he pass +ten consecutive days, more or less, neither eating nor drinking +nor speaking nor stirring." In 1231 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> he made the +pilgrimage to Mecca, on which occasion he met his famous +contemporary, Shihábu’ l-Dín Abú Ḥafṣ ‘Umar al-Suhrawardí. +He died four years later, and was buried in the Qaráfa +cemetery at the foot of Mount Muqaṭṭam.</p> + +<p>His <i>Díwán</i> of mystical odes, which were first collected and +published by his grandson, is small in extent compared with +<span class="sidenote">The poetry of +Ibnu ’l-Fáriḍ.</span> +similar works in the Persian language, but of no +unusual brevity when regarded as the production +of an Arabian poet.<a name="FNanchor_737" id="FNanchor_737"></a><a href="#Footnote_737" class="fnanchor">737</a> Concerning its general +character something has been said above (p. 325). The commentator, +Ḥasan al-Búríní († 1615 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), praises the easy +flow (<i>insijàm</i>) of the versification, and declares that Ibnu +’l-Fáriḍ "is accustomed to play with ideas in ever-changing +forms, and to clothe them with splendid garments."<a name="FNanchor_738" id="FNanchor_738"></a><a href="#Footnote_738" class="fnanchor">738</a> His +style, full of verbal subtleties, betrays the influence of +Mutanabbí.<a name="FNanchor_739" id="FNanchor_739"></a><a href="#Footnote_739" class="fnanchor">739</a> The longest piece in the <i>Díwán</i> is a Hymn of +Divine Love, entitled <i>Naẓmu ’l-Sulúk</i> ('Poem on the Mystic's +Progress'), and often called <i>al-Tá’iyyatu ’l-Kubrá</i> ('The Greater +Ode rhyming in <i>t</i>'), which has been edited with a German +verse-translation by Hammer-Purgstall (Vienna, 1854). On +account of this poem the author was accused of favouring the +doctrine of <i>ḥulúl</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, the incarnation of God in human beings. +Another celebrated ode is the <i>Khamriyya</i>, or Hymn of Wine.<a name="FNanchor_740" id="FNanchor_740"></a><a href="#Footnote_740" class="fnanchor">740</a> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_397" id="Page_397" href="#"><span><i>‘UMAR IBNU ’L-FÁRIḌ</i></span>397</a></span> + +The following versions will perhaps convey to English readers +some faint impression of the fervid rapture and almost ethereal +exaltation which give the poetry of Ibnu ’l-Fáriḍ a unique +place in Arabic literature:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Let passion's swelling tide my senses drown!</span><span class="i0"> +Pity love's fuel, this long-smouldering heart,</span><span class="i0"> +Nor answer with a frown,</span><span class="i0"> +When I would fain behold Thee as Thou art,</span><span class="i0"> +'<i>Thou shall not see Me.</i>'<a name="FNanchor_741" id="FNanchor_741"></a><a href="#Footnote_741" class="fnanchor">741</a> O my soul, keep fast</span><span class="i0"> +The pledge thou gav'st: endure unfaltering to the last!</span><span class="i0"> +For Love is life, and death in love the Heaven</span><span class="i0"> +Where all sins are forgiven.</span><span class="i0"> +To those before and after and of this day,</span><span class="i0"> +That witnesseth my tribulation, say,</span><span class="i0"> +'By me be taught, me follow, me obey,</span><span class="i0"> +And tell my passion's story thro' wide East and West.'</span><span class="i0"> +With my Beloved I alone have been</span><span class="i0"> +When secrets tenderer than evening airs</span><span class="i0"> +Passed, and the Vision blest</span><span class="i0"> +Was granted to my prayers,</span><span class="i0"> +That crowned me, else obscure, with endless fame,</span><span class="i0"> +The while amazed between</span><span class="i0"> +His beauty and His majesty</span><span class="i0"> +I stood in silent ecstasy,</span><span class="i0"> +Revealing that which o'er my spirit went and came.</span><span class="i0"> +Lo! in His face commingled</span><span class="i0"> +Is every charm and grace;</span><span class="i0"> +The whole of Beauty singled</span><span class="i0"> +Into a perfect face</span><span class="i0"> +Beholding Him would cry,</span><span class="i0"> +'There is no God but He, and He is the most High!'"<a name="FNanchor_742" id="FNanchor_742"></a><a href="#Footnote_742" class="fnanchor">742</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Here are the opening verses of the <i>Tá’iyyatu ’l-Ṣughrá</i>, or +'The Lesser Ode rhyming in <i>t</i>,' which is so called in order to +distinguish it from the <i>Tá’iyyatu ’l-Kubrá</i>:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Yea, in me the Zephyr kindled longing, O my loves, for you;</span><span class="i0"> +Sweetly breathed the balmy Zephyr, scattering odours when it blew;</span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_398" id="Page_398" href="#"><span><i>MYSTICISM</i></span>398</a></span> + +<span class="i0"> +Whispering to my heart at morning secret tales of those who dwell</span><span class="i0"> +(How my fainting heart it gladdened!) nigh the water and the well;</span><span class="i0"> +Murmuring in the grassy meadows, garmented with gentleness,</span><span class="i0"> +Languid love-sick airs diffusing, healing me of my distress.</span><span class="i0"> +When the green slopes wave before thee, Zephyr, in my loved Ḥijáz,</span><span class="i0"> +Thou, not wine that mads the others, art my rapture's only cause.</span><span class="i0"> +Thou the covenant eternal<a name="FNanchor_743" id="FNanchor_743"></a><a href="#Footnote_743" class="fnanchor">743</a> callest back into my mind,</span><span class="i0"> +For but newly thou hast parted from my dear ones, happy Wind!</span><span class="i0"> +Driver of the dun-red camels that amidst acacias bide,</span><span class="i0"> +Soft and sofa-like thy saddle from the long and weary ride!</span><span class="i0"> +Blessings on thee, if descrying far-off Túḍih at noonday,</span><span class="i0"> +Thou wilt cross the desert hollows where the fawns of Wajra play,</span><span class="i0"> +And if from ‘Urayḍ's sand-hillocks bordering on stony ground</span><span class="i0"> +Thou wilt turn aside to Ḥuzwá, driver for Suwayqa bound,</span><span class="i0"> +And Ṭuwayli‘'s willows leaving, if to Sal‘ thou thence wilt ride—</span><span class="i0"> +Ask, I pray thee, of a people dwelling on the mountain-side!</span><span class="i0"> +Halt among the clan I cherish (so may health attend thee still!)</span><span class="i0"> +And deliver there my greeting to the Arabs of the hill.</span><span class="i0"> +For the tents are basking yonder, and in one of them is She</span><span class="i0"> +That bestows the meeting sparely, but the parting lavishly.</span><span class="i0"> +All around her as a rampart edge of sword and point of lance,</span><span class="i0"> +Yet my glances stray towards her when on me she deigns to glance.</span><span class="i0"> +Girt about with double raiment—soul and heart of mine, no less—</span><span class="i0"> +She is guarded from beholders, veiled by her unveiledness.</span><span class="i0"> +Death to me, in giving loose to my desire, she destineth;</span><span class="i0"> +Ah, how goodly seems the bargain, and how cheap is Love for Death!<a name="FNanchor_744" id="FNanchor_744"></a><a href="#Footnote_744" class="fnanchor">744</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Ibnu ’l-Fáriḍ came of pure Arab stock, and his poetry +is thoroughly Arabian both in form and spirit. This is not + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_399" id="Page_399" href="#"><span><i>MUḤYI ’L-DÍN IBNU ’L-‘ARABÍ</i></span>399</a></span> + +the place to speak of the great Persian Ṣúfís, but Ḥusayn b. +Manṣúr al-Ḥalláj, who was executed in the Caliphate of +Muqtadir (922 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), could not have been omitted here but +for the fact that Professor Browne has already given an admirable +account of him, to which I am unable to add anything +of importance.<a name="FNanchor_745" id="FNanchor_745"></a><a href="#Footnote_745" class="fnanchor">745</a> The Arabs, however, have contributed to the +history of Ṣúfiism another memorable name—Muḥyi’l-Dín Ibnu +’l-‘Arabí, whose life falls within the final century of the ‘Abbásid +period, and will therefore fitly conclude the present chapter.<a name="FNanchor_746" id="FNanchor_746"></a><a href="#Footnote_746" class="fnanchor">746</a></p> + +<p>Muḥyi ’l-Dín Muḥammad b. ‘Alí Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí (or Ibn +‘Arabí)<a name="FNanchor_747" id="FNanchor_747"></a><a href="#Footnote_747" class="fnanchor">747</a> was born at Mursiya (Murcia) in Spain on the 17th +<span class="sidenote">Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí.</span> +of Ramaḍán, 560 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span> = July 29, 1165 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> +From 1173 to 1202 he resided in Seville. He +then set out for the East, travelling by way of Egypt to the +Ḥijáz, where he stayed a long time, and after visiting Baghdád, +Mosul, and Asia Minor, finally settled at Damascus, in which +city he died (638 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span> = 1240 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). His tomb below Mount +Qásiyún was thought to be "a piece of the gardens of Paradise," +and was called the Philosophers' Stone.<a name="FNanchor_748" id="FNanchor_748"></a><a href="#Footnote_748" class="fnanchor">748</a> It is now enclosed +in a mosque which bears the name of Muḥyi ’l-Dín, and a +cupola rises over it.<a name="FNanchor_749" id="FNanchor_749"></a><a href="#Footnote_749" class="fnanchor">749</a> We know little concerning the events +of his life, which seems to have been passed chiefly in travel +and conversation with Ṣúfís and in the composition of his +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_400" id="Page_400" href="#"><span><i>MYSTICISM</i></span>400</a></span> +voluminous writings, about three hundred in number according +to his own computation. Two of these works are +especially celebrated, and have caused Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí to be +regarded as the greatest of all Muḥammadan mystics—the +<i>Futúḥát al-Makkiyya</i>, or 'Meccan Revelations,' and the +<i>Fuṣúṣú ’l-Ḥikam</i>, or 'Bezels of Philosophy.' The <i>Futúḥát</i> is +a huge treatise in five hundred and sixty chapters, containing a +complete system of mystical science. The author relates that +he saw Muḥammad in the World of Real Ideas, seated on a +throne amidst angels, prophets, and saints, and received his +command to discourse on the Divine mysteries. At another +time, while circumambulating the Ka‘ba, he met a celestial +spirit wearing the form of a youth engaged in the same holy +rite, who showed him the living esoteric Temple which is +concealed under the lifeless exterior, even as the eternal +substance of the Divine Ideas is hidden by the veils of popular +religion—veils through which the lofty mind must penetrate, +until, having reached the splendour within, it partakes of the +Divine nature and beholds what no mortal eye can endure +to look upon. Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí immediately fell into a swoon. +When he came to himself he was instructed to contemplate +the visionary form and to write down the mysteries which it +would reveal to his gaze. Then the youth entered the Ka‘ba +with Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí, and resuming his spiritual aspect, appeared +to him on a three-legged steed, breathed into his breast the +knowledge of all things, and once more bade him describe the +heavenly form in which all mysteries are enshrined.<a name="FNanchor_750" id="FNanchor_750"></a><a href="#Footnote_750" class="fnanchor">750</a> Such is +the reputed origin of the 'Meccan Revelations,' of which the +greater portion was written in the town where inspiration +descended on Muḥammad six hundred years before. The +author believed, or pretended to believe, that every word +of them was dictated to him by supernatural means. The + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_401" id="Page_401" href="#"><span><i>MUḤYI ’L-DÍN IBNU ’L-‘ARABÍ</i></span>401</a></span> + +<i>Fúṣúṣ</i>, a short work in twenty-seven chapters, each of which +is named after one of the prophets, is no less highly esteemed, +and has been the subject of numerous commentaries in Arabic, +Persian, and Turkish.</p> + +<p>Curiously enough, Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí combined the most extravagant +mysticism with the straitest orthodoxy. "He was a +Ẓáhirite (literalist) in religion and a Báṭinite (spiritualist) in his +speculative beliefs."<a name="FNanchor_751" id="FNanchor_751"></a><a href="#Footnote_751" class="fnanchor">751</a> He rejected all authority (<i>taqlíd</i>). "I am +not one of those who say, 'Ibn Ḥazm said so-and-so, Aḥmad<a name="FNanchor_752" id="FNanchor_752"></a><a href="#Footnote_752" class="fnanchor">752</a> +said so-and-so, al-Nu‘mán<a name="FNanchor_753" id="FNanchor_753"></a><a href="#Footnote_753" class="fnanchor">753</a> said so-and-so,'" he declares in one +of his poems. But although he insisted on punctilious adherence +to the letter of the sacred law, we may suspect that his +refusal to follow any human authority, analogy, or opinion +was simply the overweening presumption of the seer who +regards himself as divinely illuminated and infallible. Many +theologians were scandalised by the apparently blasphemous +expressions which occur in his writings, and taxed him +with holding heretical doctrines, <i>e.g.</i>, the incarnation of God +in man (<i>ḥulúl</i>) and the identification of man with God +(<i>ittiḥád</i>). Centuries passed, but controversy continued to +rage over him. He found numerous and enthusiastic partisans, +who urged that the utterances of the saints must not be interpreted +literally nor criticised at all. It was recognised, however, +that such high mysteries were unsuitable for the weaker +brethren, so that many even of those who firmly believed in +his sanctity discouraged the reading of his books. They were +read nevertheless, publicly and privately, from one end of the +Muḥammadan world to the other; people copied them for the +sake of obtaining the author's blessing, and the manuscripts +were eagerly bought. Among the distinguished men who +wrote in his defence we can mention here only Majdu ’l-Dín +al-Fírúzábádí († 1414 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), the author of the great Arabic +lexicon entitled <i>al-Qámús</i>; Jalálu ’l-Dín al-Suyúṭí († 1445 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>); +and ‘Abdu ’l-Wahháb al-Sha‘rání († 1565 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). The fundamental + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_402" id="Page_402" href="#"><span><i>MYSTICISM</i></span>402</a></span> + +principle of his system is the Unity of Being (<i>waḥdatu +’l-wujúd</i>). There is no real difference between the Essence +and its attributes or, in other words, between God and the +universe. All created things subsist eternally as ideas (<i>a‘yán +thábita</i>) in the knowledge of God, and since being is identical +with knowledge, their "creation" only means His knowing +them, or Himself, under the aspect of actuality; the universe, +in fact, is the concrete sum of the relations of the Essence as +subject to itself as object. This pantheistic monism puts on +an Islamic mask in the doctrine of "the Perfect Man" (<i>al-Insán +al-Kámil</i>), a phrase which Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí was the first to +associate with it. The Divine consciousness, evolving through +a series of five planes (<i>ḥaḍarát</i>), attains to complete expression +in Man, the microcosmic being who unites the creative and +creaturely attributes of the Essence and is at once <span class="sidenote"> The doctrine of +the Perfect Man.</span> +the image of God and the archetype of the universe. +Only through him does God know Himself and +make Himself known; he is the eye of the world whereby God +sees His own works. The daring paradoxes of Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí's +dialectic are illustrated by such verses as these:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +He praises me (by manifesting my perfections and creating me in His form),</span><span class="i0"> +And I praise Him (by manifesting His perfections and obeying Him).</span><span class="i0"> +How can He be independent when I help and aid Him? (because the Divine attributes derive the possibility of manifestation from their human correlates).</span><span class="i0"> +For that cause God brought me into existence,</span><span class="i0"> +And I know Him and bring Him into existence (in my knowledge and contemplation of Him).<a name="FNanchor_754" id="FNanchor_754"></a><a href="#Footnote_754" class="fnanchor">754</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Thus it is the primary function of Man to reveal and realise +his Divine nature; and the Perfect Men, regarded individually, + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_403" id="Page_403" href="#"><span><i>MUḤYI ’L-DÍN IBNU ’L-‘ARABÍ</i></span>403</a></span> + +are the prophets and saints. Here the doctrine—an amalgam +of Manichæan, Gnostic, Neo-platonic and Christian speculations—attaches +itself to Muḥammad, "the Seal of the prophets." +According to Moslem belief, the pre-existent Spirit or Light +of Muḥammad (<i>Núr Muḥammadí</i>) became incarnate in Adam +and in the whole series of prophets, of whom Muḥammad is +the last. Muḥammad, then, is the Logos,<a name="FNanchor_755" id="FNanchor_755"></a><a href="#Footnote_755" class="fnanchor">755</a> the Mediator, the +Vicegerent of God (<i>Khalífat Allah</i>), the God-Man who has +descended to this earthly sphere to make manifest the glory of +Him who brought the universe into existence.</p> + +<p>But, of course, Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí's philosophy carries him far +beyond the realm of positive religion. If God is the "self" +of all things sensible and intelligible, it follows that He reveals +Himself in every form of belief in a degree proportionate to the +pre-determined capacity of the believer; the mystic alone sees +that He is One in all forms, for the mystic's heart is all-receptive: +it assumes whatever form God reveals Himself in, as wax takes +the impression of the seal.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"My heart is capable of every form,</span><span class="i0"> +A cloister for the monk, a fane for idols,</span><span class="i0"> +A pasture for gazelles, the pilgrim's Ka‘ba,</span><span class="i0"> +The Tables of the Torah, the Koran.</span><span class="i0"> +Love is the faith I hold: wherever turn</span><span class="i0"> +His camels, still the one true faith is mine."<a name="FNanchor_756" id="FNanchor_756"></a><a href="#Footnote_756" class="fnanchor">756</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>The vast bulk of Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí's writings, his technical and +scholastic terminology, his recondite modes of thought, and the +lack of method in his exposition have, until recently, deterred +European Orientalists from bestowing on him the attention + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_404" id="Page_404" href="#"><span><i>MYSTICISM</i></span>404</a></span> + +which he deserves.<a name="FNanchor_757" id="FNanchor_757"></a><a href="#Footnote_757" class="fnanchor">757</a> In the history of Ṣúfiism his name marks +an epoch: it is owing to him that what began as a profoundly +religious personal movement in Islam ends as an eclectic and +definitely pantheistic system of philosophy. The title of "The +Grand Master" (<i>al-Shaykh al-Akbar</i>), by which he is commonly +designated, bears witness to his supremacy in the world of +Moslem mysticism from the Mongol Invasion to the present +day. In Persia and Turkey his influence has been enormous, +and through his pupil, Ṣadru ’l-Dín of Qóniya, he is linked with +the greatest of all Ṣúfí poets, Jalálu ’l-Dín Rúmí, the author of +the <i>Mathnawí</i>, who died some thirty years after him. Nor +did all those who borrowed his ideas call themselves Moslems. +He inspired, amongst other mediæval Christian writers, "the +Illuminated Doctor" Raymond Lull, and probably Dante.<a name="FNanchor_758" id="FNanchor_758"></a><a href="#Footnote_758" class="fnanchor">758</a></p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">405</a></span></p> + +<h4>CHAPTER IX</h4> + +<h5>THE ARABS IN EUROPE</h5> + +<p>It will be remembered that before the end of the first century +of the Hijra, in the reign of the Umayyad Caliph, Walíd b. +‘Abd al-Malik (705-715 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), the Moslems under Ṭáriq +and Músá b. Nuṣayr, crossed the Mediterranean, and having +defeated Roderic the Goth in a great battle near Cadiz, +rapidly brought the whole of Spain into subjection. The +fate of the new province was long doubtful. The Berber +insurrection which raged in Africa (734-742 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) spread to +Spain and threatened to exterminate the handful of Arab +colonists; and no sooner was this danger past than the +victors began to rekindle the old feuds and jealousies which +they had inherited from their ancestors of Qays and Kalb. +Once more the rival factions of Syria and Yemen flew to +arms, and the land was plunged in anarchy.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán b. Mu‘áwiya, a grandson of +the Caliph Hishám, had escaped from the general massacre +<span class="sidenote">‘Abdu +’l-Raḥmán, the +Umayyad.</span> +with which the ‘Abbásids celebrated their triumph +over the House of Umayya, and after five years +of wandering adventure, accompanied only by +his faithful freedman, Badr, had reached the neighbourhood +of Ceuta, where he found a precarious shelter with the +Berber tribes. Young, ambitious, and full of confidence in +his destiny, ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán conceived the bold plan of +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_406" id="Page_406" href="#"><span><i>THE ARABS IN EUROPE</i></span>406</a></span> +throwing himself into Spain and of winning a kingdom +with the help of the Arabs, amongst whom, as he well +knew, there were many clients of his own family. Accordingly +in 755 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> he sent Badr across the sea on a secret +mission. The envoy accomplished even more than was +expected of him. To gain over the clients was easy, for +‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán was their natural chief, and in the event +of his success they would share with him the prize. Their +number, however, was comparatively small. The pretender +could not hope to achieve anything unless he were supported +by one of the great parties, Syrians or Yemenites. At this +time the former, led by the feeble governor, Yúsuf b. +‘Abd al-Raḥmán al-Fihrí, and his cruel but capable lieutenant, +Ṣumayl b. Ḥátim, held the reins of power and were pursuing +their adversaries with ruthless ferocity. The Yemenites, +therefore, hastened to range themselves on the side of ‘Abdu +’l-Raḥmán, not that they loved his cause, but inspired solely +by the prospect of taking a bloody vengeance upon the +Syrians. These Spanish Moslems belonged to the true +Bedouin stock!</p> + +<p>A few months later ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán landed in Spain, +occupied Seville, and, routing Yúsuf and Ṣumayl under the +walls of Cordova, made himself master of the capital. On +the same evening he presided, as Governor of Spain, over +the citizens assembled for public worship in the great Mosque +(May, 756 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p> + +<p>During his long reign of thirty-two years ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán +was busily employed in defending and consolidating the empire +which more than once seemed to be on the point of slipping +from his grasp. The task before him was arduous in the +extreme. On the one hand, he was confronted by the +unruly Arab aristocracy, jealous of their independence and +regarding the monarch as their common foe. Between him +and them no permanent compromise was possible, and since +they could only be kept in check by an armed force stronger + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_407" id="Page_407" href="#"><span><i>‘ABDU ’L-RAḤMÁN THE UMAYYAD</i></span>407</a></span> + +than themselves, he was compelled to rely on mercenaries, +for the most part Berbers imported from Africa. Thus, by +a fatal necessity the Moslem Empire in the West gradually +assumed that despotic and Prætorian character which we have +learned to associate with the ‘Abbásid Government in the +period of its decline, and the results were in the end hardly +less disastrous. The monarchy had also to reckon with the +fanaticism of its Christian subjects and with a formidable +Spanish national party eager to throw off the foreign yoke. +Extraordinary energy and tact were needed to maintain +authority over these explosive elements, and if the dynasty +founded by ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán not only survived for two +centuries and a half but gave to Spain a more splendid era +of prosperity and culture than she had ever enjoyed, the +credit is mainly due to the bold adventurer from whom even +his enemies could not withhold a tribute of admiration. One +day, it is said, the Caliph Manṣúr asked his courtiers, "Who +is the Falcon of Quraysh?" They replied, "O Prince of +the Faithful, that title belongs to you who have vanquished +mighty kings and have put an end to civil war." "No," said +the Caliph, "it is not I." "Mu‘áwiya, then, or ‘Abdu +’l-Malik?" "No," said Manṣúr, "the Falcon of Quraysh is +‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán b. Mu‘áwiya, he who traversed alone the +deserts of Asia and Africa, and without an army to aid him +sought his fortune in an unknown country beyond the sea. +With no weapons except judgment and resolution he subdued +his enemies, crushed the rebels, secured his frontiers, and +founded a great empire. Such a feat was never achieved +by any one before."<a name="FNanchor_759" id="FNanchor_759"></a><a href="#Footnote_759" class="fnanchor">759</a></p> + +<p class="tb">Of the Moslems in Spain the Arabs formed only a small +minority, and they, moreover, showed all the indifference +towards religion and contempt for the laws of Islam +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_408" id="Page_408" href="#"><span><i>THE ARABS IN EUROPE</i></span>408</a></span> +which might be expected from men imbued with Bedouin +traditions whose forbears had been devotedly attached to the +world-loving Umayyads of Damascus. It was otherwise with +the Spanish converts, the so-called 'Renegades' <span class="sidenote"> Islam in +Spain.</span> +or <i>Muwalladún</i> (Affiliati) living as clients under +protection of the Arab nobility, and with the +Berbers. These races took their adopted religion very +seriously, in accordance with the fervid and sombre temperament +which has always distinguished them. Hence among +the mass of Spanish Moslems a rigorous orthodoxy prevailed. +The Berber, Yaḥyá b. Yaḥyá († 849 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), is a typical figure. +At the age of twenty-eight years he travelled to the <span class="sidenote"> Yaḥyá b. Yaḥyá.</span> +East and studied under Málik. b. Anas, who dictated +to him his celebrated work known as the <i>Muwaṭṭa’</i>. Yaḥyá +was one day at Málik's lecture with a number of fellow-students, +when some one said, "Here comes the elephant!" +All of them ran out to see the animal, but Yaḥyá did not stir. +"Why," said Málik, "do you not go out and look at it? +Such animals are not to be seen in Spain." To this Yaḥyá +replied, "I left my country for the purpose of seeing you +and obtaining knowledge under your guidance. I did not +come here to see the elephant." Málik was so pleased +with this answer that he called him the most intelligent +(<i>‘áqil</i>) of the people of Spain. On his return to Spain +Yaḥyá exerted himself to spread the doctrines of his +master, and though he obstinately refused, on religious +grounds, to accept any public office, his influence and +reputation were such that, as Ibn Ḥazm says, no Cadi was ever +appointed till Yaḥyá had given his opinion and designated +the person whom he preferred.<a name="FNanchor_760" id="FNanchor_760"></a><a href="#Footnote_760" class="fnanchor">760</a> Thus the Málikite system, +based on close adherence to tradition, became the law of the +land. "The Spaniards," it is observed by a learned writer of +the tenth century, "recognise only the Koran and the + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_409" id="Page_409" href="#"><span><i>BIGOTRY OF THE MOSLEM CLERGY</i></span>409</a></span> + +<i>Muwaṭṭa’</i>; if they find a follower of Abú Ḥanífa or Sháfi‘í, +they banish him from Spain, and if they meet with a +Mu‘tazilite or a Shí‘ite or any one of that sort, they often put +him to death."<a name="FNanchor_761" id="FNanchor_761"></a><a href="#Footnote_761" class="fnanchor">761</a> Arrogant, intensely bigoted, and ambitious +of power, the Muḥammadan clergy were not disposed to play +a subordinate rôle in the State. In Hishám (788-796 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), +the successor of ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán, they had a prince after their +own heart, whose piety and devotion to their interests left +nothing to be desired. Ḥakam (796-822 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) was less complaisant. +He honoured and respected the clergy, but at the +same time he let them see that he would not permit them to +interfere in political affairs. The malcontents, headed by the +fiery Yaḥyá b. Yaḥyá, replied with menaces and insults, and +called on the populace of Cordova—especially the 'Renegades' +in the southern quarter (<i>rabaḍ</i>) of the city—to rise against +the tyrant and his insolent soldiery. One day in Ramaḍán, +198 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span> (May, 814 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), Ḥakam suddenly found himself cut +off from the garrison and besieged in his palace by an infuriated +mob, but he did not lose courage, and, thanks to his coolness +and skilful strategy, he came safely out of the <span class="sidenote"> The Revolt of +the Suburb.</span> +peril in which he stood. The revolutionary +suburb was burned to the ground and those +of its inhabitants who escaped massacre, some 60,000 souls, +were driven into exile. The real culprits went unpunished. +Ḥakam could not afford further to exasperate the divines, who +on their part began to perceive that they might obtain from +the prince by favour what they had failed to wring from him +by force. Being mostly Arabs or Berbers, they had a strong +claim to his consideration. Their power was soon restored, +and in the reign of ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán II (822-852 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) +Yaḥyá himself, the ringleader of the mutiny, directed +ecclesiastical policy and dispensed judicial patronage as he +pleased.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_410" id="Page_410" href="#"><span><i>THE ARABS IN EUROPE</i></span>410</a></span> + +The Revolt of the Suburb was only an episode in the long +and sanguinary struggle between the Spaniards, Moslem or +Christian, on the one hand, and the monarchy of Cordova on +the other—a struggle complicated by the rival Arab tribes, +which sometimes patched up their own feuds in order to +defend themselves against the Spanish patriots, but never in +any circumstances gave their support to the detested Umayyad +Government. The hero of this war of independence <span class="sidenote">‘Umar b. Ḥafṣún.</span> +was ‘Umar b. Ḥafṣún. He belonged to +a noble family of West-Gothic origin which had +gone over to Islam and settled in the mountainous district +north-east of Malaga. Hot-blooded, quarrelsome, and ready +to stab on the slightest provocation, the young man soon fell +into trouble. At first he took shelter in the wild fastnesses +of Ronda, where he lived as a brigand until he was captured +by the police. He then crossed the sea to Africa, but in +a short time returned to his old haunts and put himself at +the head of a band of robbers. Here he held out for two +years, when, having been obliged to surrender, he accepted the +proposal of the Sultan of Cordova that he and his companions +should enlist in the Imperial army. But ‘Umar was +destined for greater glory than the Sultan could confer upon +him. A few contemptuous words from a superior officer +touched his pride to the quick, so one fine day he galloped +off with all his men in the direction of Ronda. They found +an almost impregnable retreat in the castle of Bobastro, which +had once been a Roman fortress. From this moment, says +Dozy, ‘Umar b. Ḥafṣún was no longer a brigand-chief, but +leader of the whole Spanish race in the south. The lawless +and petulant free-lance was transformed into a high-minded +patriot, celebrated for the stern justice with which he punished +the least act of violence, adored by his soldiers, and regarded +by his countrymen as the champion of the national cause. +During the rest of his life (884-917 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) he conducted the +guerilla with untiring energy and made himself a terror to the + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_411" id="Page_411" href="#"><span><i>ABDU ’L-RAḤMÁN III</i></span>411</a></span> + +Arabs, but fortune deserted him at the last, and he died—<i>felix +opportunitate mortis</i>—only a few years before complete ruin +overtook his party. The Moslem Spaniards, whose enthusiasm +had been sensibly weakened by their leader's conversion to +Christianity, were the more anxious to make their peace with +the Government, since they saw plainly the hopelessness of +continuing the struggle.</p> + +<p>In 912 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán III, the Defender of the +Faith (<i>al-Náṣir li-díní ’lláh</i>), succeeded his grandfather, the +Amír ‘Abdulláh, on the throne of Cordova. The character, +genius, and enterprise of this great monarch are strikingly +depicted in the following passage from the pen of an eloquent +historian whose work, although it was published some fifty +years ago, will always be authoritative<a name="FNanchor_762" id="FNanchor_762"></a><a href="#Footnote_762" class="fnanchor">762</a>:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Amongst the Umayyad sovereigns who have ruled Spain the +first place belongs incontestably to ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán III. What he +<span class="sidenote">‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán +III +(912-961 <span class="smcap">A.D</span>).</span> +accomplished was almost miraculous. He had found +the empire abandoned to anarchy and civil war, rent +by factions, parcelled amongst a multitude of heterogeneous +princes, exposed to incessant attacks from the Christians of +the north, and on the eve of being swallowed up either by the +Léonnese or the Africans. In spite of innumerable obstacles he +had saved Spain both from herself and from the foreign domination. +He had endowed her with new life and made her greater and +stronger than she had ever been. He had given her order and +prosperity at home, consideration and respect abroad. The public +treasury, which he had found in a deplorable condition, was now +overflowing. Of the Imperial revenues, which amounted annually +to 6,245,000 pieces of gold, a third sufficed for ordinary expenses; +a third was held in reserve, and ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán devoted the +remainder to his buildings. It was calculated that in the year 951 +he had in his coffers the enormous sum of 20,000,000 pieces of gold, +so that a traveller not without judgment in matters of finance +assures us that ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán and the Ḥamdánid (Náṣiru +’l-Dawla), who was then reigning over Mesopotamia, were the +wealthiest princes of that epoch. The state of the country was in + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_412" id="Page_412" href="#"><span><i>THE ARABS IN EUROPE</i></span>412</a></span> + +keeping with the prosperous condition of the treasury. Agriculture, +industry, commerce, the arts and the sciences, all flourished.... +Cordova, with its half-million inhabitants, its three thousand mosques, +its superb palaces, its hundred and thirteen thousand houses, its +three hundred bagnios, and its twenty-eight suburbs, was inferior in +extent and splendour only to Baghdád, with which city the Cordovans +loved to compare it.... The power of ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán was +formidable. A magnificent fleet enabled him to dispute with the +Fáṭimids the empire of the Mediterranean, and secured him in the +possession of Ceuta, the key of Mauritania. A numerous and well-disciplined +army, perhaps the finest in the world, gave him superiority +over the Christians of the north. The proudest sovereigns +solicited his alliance. The emperor of Constantinople, the kings of +Germany, Italy, and France sent ambassadors to him.</p> + +<p>"Assuredly, these were brilliant results; but what excites our +astonishment and admiration when we study this glorious reign is +not so much the work as the workman: it is the might of that comprehensive +intelligence which nothing escaped, and which showed +itself no less admirable in the minutest details than in the loftiest +conceptions. This subtle and sagacious man, who centralises, who +founds the unity of the nation and of the monarchy, who by means +of his alliances establishes a sort of political equilibrium, who in his +large tolerance calls the professors of another religion into his +councils, is a modern king rather than a mediæval Caliph."<a name="FNanchor_763" id="FNanchor_763"></a><a href="#Footnote_763" class="fnanchor">763</a></p></div> + +<p>In short, ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán III made the Spanish Moslems +one people, and formed out of Arabs and Spaniards a united +Andalusian nation, which, as we shall presently see, advanced +with incredible swiftness to a height of culture that was the +envy of Europe and was not exceeded by any contemporary +State in the Muḥammadan East. With his death, however, the +decline of the Umayyad dynasty began. His son, Ḥakam II +(† 976 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), left as heir-apparent a boy eleven years old, +Hishám II, who received the title of Caliph while the government +was carried on by his mother Aurora and <span class="sidenote">Regency of +Manṣúr Ibn Abí +‘Ámir +(976-1002 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +the ambitious minister Muḥammad b. Abí ‘Ámir. +The latter was virtually monarch of Spain, and +whatever may be thought of the means by which he rose to +eminence, or of his treatment of the unfortunate Caliph whose + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_413" id="Page_413" href="#"><span><i>MANṢÚR IBN ABÍ ‘ÁMIR</i></span>413</a></span> + +mental faculties he deliberately stunted and whom he condemned +to a life of monkish seclusion, it is impossible to deny +that he ruled well and nobly. He was a great statesman and +a great soldier. No one could accuse him of making an +idle boast when he named himself 'Al-Manṣúr' ('The +Victorious'). Twice every year he was accustomed to lead +his army against the Christians, and such was the panic which +he inspired that in the course of more than fifty campaigns +he scarcely ever lost a battle. He died in 1002 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> A +Christian monk, recording the event in his chronicle, adds, +"he was buried in Hell," but Moslem hands engraved the +following lines upon the tomb of their champion:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"His story in his relics you may trace,</span><span class="i0"> +As tho' he stood before you face to face.</span><span class="i0"> +Never will Time bring forth his peer again,</span><span class="i0"> +Nor one to guard, like him, the gaps of Spain."<a name="FNanchor_764" id="FNanchor_764"></a><a href="#Footnote_764" class="fnanchor">764</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>His demise left the Prætorians masters of the situation. +Berbers and Slaves<a name="FNanchor_765" id="FNanchor_765"></a><a href="#Footnote_765" class="fnanchor">765</a> divided the kingdom between them, and + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_414" id="Page_414" href="#"><span><i>THE ARABS IN EUROPE</i></span>414</a></span> + +amidst revolution and civil war the Umayyad dynasty passed +away (1031 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p> + +<p class="tb">It has been said with truth that the history of Spain in the +eleventh century bears a close resemblance to that of Italy in +the fifteenth. The splendid empire of ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán III +was broken up, and from its ruins there emerged a fortuitous +conglomeration of petty states governed by successful +condottieri. Of these Party Kings (<i>Mulúku <span class="sidenote">The Party Kings +(<i>Mulúku +’l-Ṭawá’if</i>).</span> +’l-Ṭawá’if</i>), as they are called by Muḥammadan +writers, the most powerful were the ‘Abbádids of +Seville. Although it was an age of political decay, the +material prosperity of Spain had as yet suffered little diminution, +whilst in point of culture the society of this time reached +a level hitherto unequalled. Here, then, we may pause for a +moment to review the progress of literature and science +during the most fruitful period of the Moslem occupation +of European soil.</p> + +<p class="tb">Whilst in Asia, as we have seen, the Arab conquerors +yielded to the spell of an ancient culture infinitely superior to +<span class="sidenote">Influence of +Arabic culture +on the +Spaniards.</span> +their own, they no sooner crossed the Straits of +Gibraltar than the rôles were reversed. As the +invaders extended their conquests to every part of +the peninsula, thousands of Christians fell into their +hands, who generally continued to live under Moslem protection. +They were well treated by the Government, enjoyed religious +liberty, and often rose to high offices in the army or at court. +Many of them became rapidly imbued with Moslem civilisation, +so that as early as the middle of the ninth century we find +Alvaro, Bishop of Cordova, complaining that his co-religionists +read the poems and romances of the Arabs, and studied the +writings of Muḥammadan theologians and philosophers, not in +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_415" id="Page_415" href="#"><span><i>INFLUENCE OF ARABIC CULTURE</i></span>415</a></span> +order to refute them but to learn how to express themselves in +Arabic with correctness and elegance. "Where," he asks, +"can any one meet nowadays with a layman who reads the +Latin commentaries on the Holy Scriptures? Who studies +the Gospels, the Prophets, the Apostles? Alas, all young +Christians of conspicuous talents are acquainted only with the +language and writings of the Arabs; they read and study +Arabic books with the utmost zeal, spend immense sums of +money in collecting them for their libraries, and proclaim +everywhere that this literature is admirable. On the other +hand, if you talk with them of Christian books, they reply +contemptuously that these books are not worth their notice. +Alas, the Christians have forgotten their own language, and +amongst thousands of us scarce one is to be found who can +write a tolerable Latin letter to a friend; whereas very many +are capable of expressing themselves exquisitely in Arabic and +of composing poems in that tongue with even greater skill than +the Arabs themselves."<a name="FNanchor_766" id="FNanchor_766"></a><a href="#Footnote_766" class="fnanchor">766</a></p> + +<p>However the good bishop may have exaggerated, it is +evident that Muḥammadan culture had a strong attraction +for the Spanish Christians, and equally, let us add, for the +Jews, who made numerous contributions to poetry, philosophy, +and science in their native speech as well as in the kindred +Arabic idiom. The 'Renegades,' or Spanish converts to +Islam, became completely Arabicised in the course of a few +generations; and from this class sprang some of the chief +ornaments of Spanish-Arabian literature.</p> + +<p class="tb">Considered as a whole, the poetry of the Moslems in +Europe shows the same characteristics which have already +<span class="sidenote"> The poetry +of the +Spanish Arabs.</span> +been noted in the work of their Eastern contemporaries. +The paralysing conventions from which +the laureates of Baghdád and Aleppo could not +emancipate themselves remained in full force at Cordova and +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_416" id="Page_416" href="#"><span><i>THE ARABS IN EUROPE</i></span>416</a></span> +Seville. Yet, just as Arabic poetry in the East was modified +by the influences of Persian culture, in Spain also the gradual +amalgamation of Aryans with Semites introduced new +elements which have left their mark on the literature of both +races. Perhaps the most interesting features of Spanish-Arabian +poetry are the tenderly romantic feeling which not infrequently +appears in the love-songs, a feeling that sometimes +anticipates the attitude of mediæval chivalry; and in the +second place an almost modern sensibility to the beauties of +nature. On account of these characteristics the poems in +question appeal to many European readers who do not easily +enter into the spirit of the <i>Mu‘allaqát</i> or the odes of +Mutanabbí, and if space allowed it would be a pleasant task +to translate some of the charming lyric and descriptive pieces +which have been collected by anthologists. The omission, +however, is less grave inasmuch as Von Schack has given us a +series of excellent versions in his <i>Poesie und Kunst der Araber +in Spanien und Sicilien</i> (2nd ed., Stuttgart, 1877).</p> + +<p>"One of its marvels," says Qazwíní, referring to the town +of Shilb (Silves) in Portugal, "is the fact, which innumerable +persons have mentioned, that the people living there, with few +exceptions, are makers of verse and devoted to belles-lettres; +and if you passed by a labourer standing behind his plough +and asked him to recite some verses, he would at once +improvise on any subject that you might demand."<a name="FNanchor_767" id="FNanchor_767"></a><a href="#Footnote_767" class="fnanchor">767</a> Of <span class="sidenote"> Folk-songs.</span> +such folk-songs the <i>zajal</i> and <i>muwashshaḥ</i> were +favourite types.<a name="FNanchor_768" id="FNanchor_768"></a><a href="#Footnote_768" class="fnanchor">768</a> Both forms were invented in +Spain, and their structure is very similar, consisting of several +stanzas in which the rhymes are so arranged that the master-rhyme +ending each stanza and running through the whole +poem like a refrain is continually interrupted by a various +succession of subordinate rhymes, as is shown in the following +scheme:—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_417" id="Page_417" href="#"><span><i>ANDALUSIAN POETRY</i></span>417</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +<i>aa</i></span><span class="i0"> +<i>bbba</i></span><span class="i0"> +<i>ccca</i></span><span class="i0"> +<i>ddda.</i></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>Many of these songs and ballads were composed in the +vulgar dialect and without regard to the rules of classical +prosody. The troubadour Ibn Quzmán († 1160 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) first +raised the <i>zajal</i> to literary rank. Here is an example of the +<i>muwashshaḥ</i>:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"Come, hand the precious cup to me,</span><span class="i0"> +And brim it high with a golden sea!</span><span class="i0"> +Let the old wine circle from guest to guest,</span><span class="i0"> +While the bubbles gleam like pearls on its breast,</span><span class="i0"> +So that night is of darkness dispossessed.</span><span class="i0"> +How it foams and twinkles in fiery glee!</span><span class="i0"> +'Tis drawn from the Pleiads' cluster, perdie.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +Pass it, to music's melting sound,</span><span class="i0"> +Here on this flowery carpet round,</span><span class="i0"> +Where gentle dews refresh the ground</span><span class="i0"> +And bathe my limbs deliciously</span><span class="i0"> +In their cool and balmy fragrancy.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +Alone with me in the garden green</span><span class="i0"> +A singing-girl enchants the scene:</span><span class="i0"> +Her smile diffuses a radiant sheen.</span><span class="i0"> +I cast off shame, for no spy can see,</span><span class="i0"> +And 'Hola,' I cry, 'let us merry be!'"<a name="FNanchor_769" id="FNanchor_769"></a><a href="#Footnote_769" class="fnanchor">769</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>True to the traditions of their family, the Spanish +Umayyads loved poetry, music, and polite literature a great +deal better than the Koran. Even the Falcon of <span class="sidenote">Verses by ‘Abdu +’l-Raḥmán I.</span> +Quraysh, ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán I, if the famous verses +on the Palm-tree are really by him, concealed +something of the softer graces under his grim exterior. It is +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_418" id="Page_418" href="#"><span><i>THE ARABS IN EUROPE</i></span>418</a></span> +said that in his gardens at Cordova there was a solitary date-palm, +which had been transplanted from Syria, and that one +day ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán, as he gazed upon it, remembered his +native land and felt the bitterness of exile and exclaimed:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"O Palm, thou art a stranger in the West,</span><span class="i0"> +Far from thy Orient home, like me unblest.</span><span class="i0"> +Weep! But thou canst not. Dumb, dejected tree,</span><span class="i0"> +Thou art not made to sympathise with me.</span><span class="i0"> +Ah, thou wouldst weep, if thou hadst tears to pour,</span><span class="i0"> +For thy companions on Euphrates' shore;</span><span class="i0"> +But yonder tall groves thou rememberest not,</span><span class="i0"> +As I, in hating foes, have my old friends forgot."<a name="FNanchor_770" id="FNanchor_770"></a><a href="#Footnote_770" class="fnanchor">770</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>At the court of ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán II (822-852 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) a +Persian musician was prime favourite. This was Ziryáb, a +<span class="sidenote"> Ziryáb the +musician.</span> +client of the Caliph Mahdí and a pupil of the +celebrated singer, Isḥáq al-Mawṣilí.<a name="FNanchor_771" id="FNanchor_771"></a><a href="#Footnote_771" class="fnanchor">771</a> Isḥáq, seeing +in the young man a dangerous rival to himself, +persuaded him to quit Baghdád and seek his fortune in Spain. +‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán received him with open arms, gave him a +magnificent house and princely salary, and bestowed upon him +every mark of honour imaginable. The versatile and accomplished +artist wielded a vast influence. He set the fashion in +all things appertaining to taste and manners; he fixed the +toilette, sanctioned the cuisine, and prescribed what dress +should be worn in the different seasons of the year. The +kings of Spain took him as a model, and his authority was +constantly invoked and universally recognised in that country +down to the last days of Moslem rule.<a name="FNanchor_772" id="FNanchor_772"></a><a href="#Footnote_772" class="fnanchor">772</a> Ziryáb was only one +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_419" id="Page_419" href="#"><span><i>CULTURE AND EDUCATION</i></span>419</a></span> +of many talented and learned men who came to Spain from +the East, while the list of Spanish savants who journeyed "in +quest of knowledge" (<i>fí ṭalabi ’l-‘ilm</i>) to Africa and Egypt, +to the Holy Cities of Arabia, to the great capitals of Syria and +‘Iráq, to Khurásán, Transoxania, and in some cases even to +China, includes, as may be seen from the perusal of Maqqarí's +fifth chapter, nearly all the eminent scholars and men of letters +whom Moslem Spain has produced. Thus a lively exchange +of ideas was continually in movement, and so little provincialism +existed that famous Andalusian poets, like Ibn +Hání and Ibn Zaydún, are described by admiring Eastern +critics as the Buḥturís and Mutanabbís of the West.</p> + +<p>The tenth century of the Christian era is a fortunate +and illustrious period in Spanish history. Under ‘Abdu +’l-Raḥmán III and his successor, Ḥakam II, the nation, +hitherto torn asunder by civil war, bent its united energies +to the advancement of material and intellectual culture. +Ḥakam was an enthusiastic bibliophile. He sent his agents +in every direction to purchase manuscripts, and collected +400,000 volumes in his palace, which was <span class="sidenote"> The Library of +Ḥakam II.</span> +thronged with librarians, copyists, and bookbinders. +All these books, we are told, he had +himself read, and he annotated most of them with his own +hand. His munificence to scholars knew no bounds. He +made a present of 1,000 dínárs to Abu ’l-Faraj of Iṣfahán, +in order to secure the first copy that was published of the +great 'Book of Songs' (<i>Kitábu ’l-Aghání</i>), on which the author +was then engaged. Besides honouring and encouraging the +learned, Ḥakam took measures to spread the benefits of +education amongst the poorest of his subjects. With this +view he founded twenty-seven free schools in the capital +and paid the teachers out of his private purse. Whilst in +Christian Europe the rudiments of learning were confined +to the clergy, in Spain almost every one could read and +write.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_420" id="Page_420" href="#"><span><i>THE ARABS IN EUROPE</i></span>420</a></span> +"The University of Cordova was at that time one of the most +celebrated in the world. In the principal Mosque, where the +<span class="sidenote"> The University +of Cordova.</span> +lectures were held, Abú Bakr b. Mu‘áwiya, the +Qurayshite, discussed the Traditions relating to +Muḥammad. Abú ‘Alí al-Qálí of Baghdád dictated +a large and excellent miscellany which contained an immense +quantity of curious information concerning the ancient Arabs, +their proverbs, their language, and their poetry. This collection +he afterwards published under the title of <i>Amálí</i>, or 'Dictations.' +Grammar was taught by Ibnu ’l-Qúṭiyya, who, in the opinion of Abú +‘Ali al-Qálí, was the leading grammarian of Spain. Other sciences +had representatives no less renowned. Accordingly the students +attending the classes were reckoned by thousands. The majority +were students of what was called <i>fiqh</i>, that is to say, theology and +law, for that science then opened the way to the most lucrative +posts."<a name="FNanchor_773" id="FNanchor_773"></a><a href="#Footnote_773" class="fnanchor">773</a></p></div> + +<p>Among the notable savants of this epoch we may mention +Ibn ‘Abdi Rabbihi († 940 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), laureate of ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán +III and author of a well-known anthology entitled +<i>al-‘Iqd al-Faríd</i>; the poet Ibn Hání of Seville († 973 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), +an Ismá‘ílí convert who addressed blasphemous panegyrics to +the Fáṭimid Caliph Mu‘izz;<a name="FNanchor_774" id="FNanchor_774"></a><a href="#Footnote_774" class="fnanchor">774</a> the historians of Spain, Abú +Bakr al-Rází († 937 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), whose family belonged to Rayy in +Persia, and Ibnu ’l-Qúṭiyya († 977 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), who, as his name +indicates, was the descendant of a Gothic princess; the +astronomer and mathematician Maslama b. Aḥmad of Madrid +(† 1007 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>); and the great surgeon Abu ’l-Qásim al-Zahráwí +of Cordova, who died about the same time, and who +became known to Europe by the name of Albucasis.</p> + +<p class="tb">The fall of the Spanish Umayyads, which took place in the +first half of the eleventh century, left Cordova a republic and +a merely provincial town; and though she might still claim to +be regarded as the literary metropolis of Spain, her ancient +glories were overshadowed by the independent dynasties which + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_421" id="Page_421" href="#"><span><i>THE ‘ABBÁDIDS</i></span>421</a></span> + +now begin to flourish in Seville, Almeria, Badajoz, Granada, +Toledo, Malaga, Valencia, and other cities. Of these rival +princedoms the most formidable in arms and the most brilliant +in its cultivation of the arts was, beyond question, the family +of the ‘Abbádids, who reigned in Seville. The <span class="sidenote">The ‘Abbádids +(1023-1091 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +foundations of their power were laid by the Cadi +Abu ’l-Qásim Muḥammad. "He acted towards +the people with such justice and moderation as drew on him +the attention of every eye and the love of every heart," so that +the office of chief magistrate was willingly conceded to him. +In order to obtain the monarchy which he coveted, the Cadi +employed an audacious ruse. The last Umayyad Caliph, +Hishám II, had vanished mysteriously: it was generally supposed +that, after escaping from Cordova when that city was +stormed by the Berbers (1013 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), he fled to Asia and died +unknown; but many believed that he was still alive. Twenty +years after his disappearance there suddenly arose a pretender, +named Khalaf, who gave out that he was the Caliph Hishám. +The likeness between them was strong enough to make the +imposture plausible. At any rate, the Cadi had his own +reasons for abetting it. He called on the people, who were +deeply attached to the Umayyad dynasty, to rally round their +legitimate sovereign. Cordova and several other States recognised +the authority of this pseudo-Caliph, whom Abu ’l-Qásim +used as a catspaw. His son ‘Abbád, a treacherous and bloodthirsty +tyrant, but an amateur of belles-lettres, threw off the +mask and reigned under the title of al-Mu‘taḍid (1042-1069 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). He in turn was succeeded by his son, al-Mu‘tamid, +whose strange and romantic history reminds one of a sentence +frequently occurring in the <i>Arabian Nights</i>: "Were it graven +with needle-gravers upon the eye-corners, it were a warner to +whoso would be warned." He is described as "the most +liberal, the most hospitable, the most munificent, and the most +powerful of all the princes who ruled in Spain. His +court was the halting-place of travellers, the rendezvous +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_422" id="Page_422" href="#"><span><i>THE ARABS IN EUROPE</i></span>422</a></span> +of poets, the point to which all hopes were directed, and +the haunt of men of talent."<a name="FNanchor_775" id="FNanchor_775"></a><a href="#Footnote_775" class="fnanchor">775</a> Mu‘tamid himself was a +poet of rare distinction. "He left," says Ibn <span class="sidenote">Mu‘tamid of +Seville +(1069-1091 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +Bassám, "some pieces of verse beautiful as the bud +when it opens to disclose the flower; and had the +like been composed by persons who made of poetry a profession +and a merchandise, they would still have been considered +charming, admirable, and singularly original."<a name="FNanchor_776" id="FNanchor_776"></a><a href="#Footnote_776" class="fnanchor">776</a> +Numberless anecdotes are told of Mu‘tamid's luxurious life +at Seville: his evening rambles along the banks of the +Guadalquivir; his parties of pleasure; his adventures when +he sallied forth in disguise, accompanied by his Vizier, the +poet Ibn ‘Ammár, into the streets of the sleeping city; and +his passion for the slave-girl I‘timád, commonly known as +Rumaykiyya, whom he loved all his life with constant +devotion.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, however, a terrible catastrophe was approaching. +The causes which led up to it are related by Ibn +Khallikán as follows<a name="FNanchor_777" id="FNanchor_777"></a><a href="#Footnote_777" class="fnanchor">777</a>:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"At that time Alphonso VI, the son of Ferdinand, the sovereign +of Castile and king of the Spanish Franks, had become so powerful +<span class="sidenote"> The Almoravides +in Spain.</span> +that the petty Moslem princes were obliged to make +peace with him and pay him tribute. Mu‘tamid Ibn +‘Abbád surpassed all the rest in greatness of power +and extent of empire, yet he also paid tribute to Alphonso. After +capturing Toledo (May 29, 1085 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) the Christian monarch sent +him a threatening message with the demand that he should surrender +his fortresses; on which condition he might retain the open +country as his own. These words provoked Mu‘tamid to such a +degree that he struck the ambassador and put to death all those +who accompanied him.<a name="FNanchor_778" id="FNanchor_778"></a><a href="#Footnote_778" class="fnanchor">778</a> Alphonso, who was marching on Cordova, + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_423" id="Page_423" href="#"><span><i>MU‘TAMID OF SEVILLE</i></span>423</a></span> + +no sooner received intelligence of this event than he returned to +Toledo in order to provide machines for the siege of Seville. When +the Shaykhs and doctors of Islam were informed of this project +they assembled and said: 'Behold how the Moslem cities fall into +the hands of the Franks whilst our sovereigns are engaged in warfare +against each other! If things continue in this state the Franks +will subdue the entire country.' They then went to the Cadi (of +Cordova), ‘Abdulláh b. Muḥammad b. Adham, and conferred with +him on the disasters which had befallen the Moslems and on the +means by which they might be remedied. Every person had something +to say, but it was finally resolved that they should write to +Abú Ya‘qúb Yúsuf b. Táshifín, the king of the <i>Mulaththamún</i><a name="FNanchor_779" id="FNanchor_779"></a><a href="#Footnote_779" class="fnanchor">779</a> and +sovereign of Morocco, imploring his assistance. The Cadi then +waited on Mu‘tamid, and informed him of what had passed. +Mu‘tamid concurred with them on the expediency of such an +application, and told the Cadi to bear the message himself to +Yúsuf b. Táshifín. A conference took place at Ceuta. Yúsuf +recalled from the city of Morocco the troops which he had left +there, and when all were mustered he sent them across to Spain, +and followed with a body of 10,000 men. Mu‘tamid, who had also +assembled an army, went to meet him; and the Moslems, on +hearing the news, hastened from every province for the purpose of +combating the infidels. Alphonso, who was then at Toledo, took +the field with 40,000 horse, exclusive of other troops which came to +join him. He wrote a long and threatening letter to Yúsuf b. +Táshifín, who inscribed on the back of it these words: '<i>What will +happen thou shalt see!</i>' and returned it. On reading the answer +Alphonso was filled with apprehension, and observed that this was a +man of resolution. The two armies met at Zalláqa, <span class="sidenote">Battle of Zalláqa +(October 23, +1086 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +near Badajoz. The Moslems gained the victory, and +Alphonso fled with a few others, after witnessing the +complete destruction of his army. This year was +adopted in Spain as the commencement of a new era, and was +called the year of Zalláqa."</p></div> + +<p>Mu‘tamid soon perceived that he had "dug his own grave"—to +quote the words used by himself a few years afterwards—when +he sought aid from the perfidious Almoravide. Yúsuf +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_424" id="Page_424" href="#"><span><i>THE ARABS IN EUROPE</i></span>424</a></span> +could not but contrast the beauty, riches, and magnificent +resources of Spain with the barren deserts and rude civilisation +of Africa. He was not content to admire at a distance the +enchanting view which had been dangled before him. In +the following year he returned to Spain and took possession +of Granada. He next proceeded to pick a quarrel with +Mu‘tamid. The Berber army laid siege to Seville, and +although Mu‘tamid displayed the utmost bravery, he was +unable to prevent the fall of his capital (September, +1091 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). The unfortunate prince was <span class="sidenote">Captivity and +death of +Mu‘tamid.</span> +thrown into chains and transported to Morocco. +Yúsuf spared his life, but kept him a prisoner at Aghmát, +where he died in 1095 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> During his captivity he +bewailed in touching poems the misery of his state, the +sufferings which he and his family had to endure, and the +tragic doom which suddenly deprived him of friends, fortune, +and power. "Every one loves Mu‘tamid," wrote an historian +of the thirteenth century, "every one pities him, and even now +he is lamented."<a name="FNanchor_780" id="FNanchor_780"></a><a href="#Footnote_780" class="fnanchor">780</a> He deserved no less, for, as Dozy remarks, +he was "the last Spanish-born king (<i>le dernier roi indigène</i>), +who represented worthily, nay, brilliantly, a nationality and +culture which succumbed, or barely survived, under the +dominion of barbarian invaders."<a name="FNanchor_781" id="FNanchor_781"></a><a href="#Footnote_781" class="fnanchor">781</a></p> + +<p>The Age of the Tyrants, to borrow from Greek history a +designation which well describes the character of this period, +<span class="sidenote"> Ibn Zaydún.</span> +yields to no other in literary and scientific +renown. Poetry was cultivated at every Andalusian +court. If Seville could point with just pride to +Mu‘tamid and his Vizier, Ibn ‘Ammár, Cordova claimed a +second pair almost equally illustrious—Ibn Zaydún (1003-1071 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) and Walláda, a daughter of the Umayyad Caliph +al-Mustakfí. Ibn Zaydún entered upon a political career +and became the confidential agent of Ibn Jahwar, the chief +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_425" id="Page_425" href="#"><span><i>IBN ZAYDÚN</i></span>425</a></span> +magistrate of Cordova, but he fell into disgrace, probably on +account of his love for the beautiful and talented princess, +who inspired those tender melodies which have caused the +poet's European biographers to link his name with Tibullus +and Petrarch. In the hope of seeing her, although he durst +not show himself openly, he lingered in al-Zahrá, the royal +suburb of Cordova built by ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán III. At last, +after many wanderings, he found a home at Seville, where he +was cordially received by Mu‘taḍid, who treated him as an +intimate friend and bestowed on him the title of <i>Dhu +’l-Wizáratayn</i>.<a name="FNanchor_782" id="FNanchor_782"></a><a href="#Footnote_782" class="fnanchor">782</a> The following verses, which he addressed +to Walláda, depict the lovely scenery of al-Zahrá and may +serve to illustrate the deep feeling for nature which, as has +been said, is characteristic of Spanish-Arabian poetry in +general.<a name="FNanchor_783" id="FNanchor_783"></a><a href="#Footnote_783" class="fnanchor">783</a></p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +"To-day my longing thoughts recall thee here;</span> +<span class="i0"> +The landscape glitters, and the sky is clear.</span> +<span class="i0"> +So feebly breathes the gentle zephyr's gale,</span> +<span class="i0"> +In pity of my grief it seems to fail.</span> +<span class="i0"> +The silvery fountains laugh, as from a girl's</span> +<span class="i0"> +Fair throat a broken necklace sheds its pearls.</span> +<span class="i0"> +Oh, 'tis a day like those of our sweet prime,</span> +<span class="i0"> +When, stealing pleasures from indulgent Time,</span> +<span class="i0"> +We played midst flowers of eye-bewitching hue,</span> +<span class="i0"> +That bent their heads beneath the drops of dew.</span><span class="i0"> +Alas, they see me now bereaved of sleep;</span><span class="i0"> +They share my passion and with me they weep.</span><span class="i0"> +Here in her sunny haunt the rose blooms bright,</span><span class="i0"> +Adding new lustre to Aurora's light;</span><span class="i0"> +And waked by morning beams, yet languid still,</span><span class="i0"> +The rival lotus doth his perfume spill.</span> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_426" id="Page_426" href="#"><span><i>THE ARABS IN EUROPE</i></span>426</a></span> + +<span class="i0"> +All stirs in me the memory of that fire</span><span class="i0"> +Which in my tortured breast will ne'er expire.</span><span class="i0"> +Had death come ere we parted, it had been</span><span class="i0"> +The best of all days in the world, I ween;</span><span class="i0"> +And this poor heart, where thou art every thing,</span><span class="i0"> +Would not be fluttering now on passion's wing.</span><span class="i0"> +Ah, might the zephyr waft me tenderly,</span><span class="i0"> +Worn out with anguish as I am, to thee!</span><span class="i0"> +O treasure mine, if lover e'er possessed</span><span class="i0"> +A treasure! O thou dearest, queenliest!</span><span class="i0"> +Once, once, we paid the debt of love complete</span><span class="i0"> +And ran an equal race with eager feet.</span><span class="i0"> +How true, how blameless was the love I bore,</span><span class="i0"> +Thou hast forgotten; but I still adore!"</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>The greatest scholar and the most original genius of +Moslem Spain is Abú Muḥammad ‘Alí Ibn Ḥazm, who +<span class="sidenote">Ibn Ḥazm +(994-1064 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +was born at Cordova in 994 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> He came +of a 'Renegade' family, but he was so far from +honouring his Christian ancestors that he pretended +to trace his descent to a Persian freedman of Yazíd b. Abí +Sufyán, a brother of the first Umayyad Caliph, Mu‘áwiya; +and his contempt for Christianity was in proportion to his +fanatical zeal on behalf of Islam. His father, Aḥmad, had +filled the office of Vizier under Manṣúr Ibn Abí ‘Ámir, and +Ibn Ḥazm himself plunged ardently into politics as a client—through +his false pedigree—of the Umayyad House, to which +he was devotedly attached. Before the age of thirty he +became prime minister of ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán V (1023-1024 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), but on the fall of the Umayyad Government +he retired from public life and gave himself wholly to literature. +Ibn Bashkuwál, author of a well-known biographical +dictionary of Spanish celebrities entitled <i>al-Ṣila fí akhbári +a’immati ’l-Andalus</i>, speaks of him in these terms: "Of all +the natives of Spain Ibn Ḥazm was the most eminent by +the universality and the depth of his learning in the sciences +cultivated by the Moslems; add to this his profound +acquaintance with the Arabic tongue, and his vast abilities +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_427" id="Page_427" href="#"><span><i>IBN ḤAZM</i></span>427</a></span> +as an elegant writer, a poet, a biographer, and an historian; +his son possessed about 400 volumes, containing nearly 80,000 +leaves, which Ibn Ḥazm had composed and written out."<a name="FNanchor_784" id="FNanchor_784"></a><a href="#Footnote_784" class="fnanchor">784</a> +It is recorded that he said, "My only desire in seeking +knowledge was to attain a high scientific rank in this world +and the next."<a name="FNanchor_785" id="FNanchor_785"></a><a href="#Footnote_785" class="fnanchor">785</a> He got little encouragement from his contemporaries. +The mere fact that he belonged to the +Ẓáhirite school of theology would not have mattered, but +the caustic style in which he attacked the most venerable +religious authorities of Islam aroused such bitter hostility that +he was virtually excommunicated by the orthodox divines. +People were warned against having anything to do with +him, and at Seville his writings were solemnly committed +to the flames. On this occasion he is said to have +remarked—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"The paper ye may burn, but what the paper holds</span> +<span class="i0"> +Ye cannot burn: 'tis safe within my breast: where I</span> +<span class="i0"> +Remove, it goes with me, alights when I alight,</span> +<span class="i0"> +And in my tomb will lie."<a name="FNanchor_786" id="FNanchor_786"></a><a href="#Footnote_786" class="fnanchor">786</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>After being expelled from several provinces of Spain, Ibn +Ḥazm withdrew to a village, of which he was the owner, and +remained there until his death. Of his numerous <span class="sidenote"> 'The Book of +Religions and +Sects.'</span> +writings only a few have escaped destruction, but +fortunately we possess the most valuable of them +all, the 'Book of Religions and Sects' (<i>Kitábu ’l-Milal +wa-’l-Niḥal</i>),<a name="FNanchor_787" id="FNanchor_787"></a><a href="#Footnote_787" class="fnanchor">787</a> which was recently printed in Cairo for the +first time. This work treats in controversial fashion (1) of +the non-Muḥammadan religious systems, especially Judaism, +Christianity, and Zoroastrianism, and (2) of Islam and its +dogmas, which are of course regarded from the Ẓáhirite + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_428" id="Page_428" href="#"><span><i>THE ARABS IN EUROPE</i></span>428</a></span> + +standpoint, and of the four principal Muḥammadan sects, viz., +the Mu‘tazilites, the Murjites, the Shí‘ites, and the Khárijites. +The author maintains that these sects owed their rise +to the Persians, who sought thus to revenge themselves +upon victorious Islam.<a name="FNanchor_788" id="FNanchor_788"></a><a href="#Footnote_788" class="fnanchor">788</a></p> + +<p class="tb">The following are some of the most distinguished Spanish +writers of this epoch: the historian, Abú Marwán Ibn Ḥayyán +<span class="sidenote"> Literature in +Spain in +the eleventh +century.</span> +of Cordova († 1075 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), whose chief works are a +colossal history of Spain in sixty volumes entitled +<i>al-Matín</i> and a smaller chronicle (<i>al-Muqtabis</i>), +both of which appear to have been almost entirely +lost;<a name="FNanchor_789" id="FNanchor_789"></a><a href="#Footnote_789" class="fnanchor">789</a> the jurisconsult and poet, Abu ’l-Walíd al-Bájí +(† 1081 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>); the traditionist Yúsuf Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr +(† 1071 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>); and the geographer al-Bakrí, a native of +Cordova, where he died in 1094 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> Finally, mention +should be made of the famous Jews, Solomon Ibn Gabirol +(Avicebron) and Samuel Ha-Levi. The former, who was +born at Malaga about 1020 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, wrote two philosophical +works in Arabic, and his <i>Fons Vitae</i> played an important +part in the development of mediæval scholasticism. Samuel +Ha-Levi was Vizier to Bádís, the sovereign of <span class="sidenote"> Samuel Ha-Levi.</span> +Granada (1038-1073 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). In their admiration +of his extraordinary accomplishments the Arabs all but +forgot that he was a Jew and a prince (<i>Naghíd</i>) in Israel.<a name="FNanchor_790" id="FNanchor_790"></a><a href="#Footnote_790" class="fnanchor">790</a> +Samuel, on his part, when he wrote letters of State, did not +scruple to employ the usual Muḥammadan formulas, "Praise +to Allah!" "May Allah bless our Prophet Muḥammad!" +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_429" id="Page_429" href="#"><span><i>WRITERS OF THE ELEVENTH CENTURY</i></span>429</a></span> +and to glorify Islam quite in the manner of a good Moslem. +He had a perfect mastery of Hebrew and Arabic; he knew +five other languages, and was profoundly versed in the +sciences of the ancients, particularly in astronomy. With +all his learning he was a supple diplomat and a man of the +world. Yet he always preserved a dignified and unassuming +demeanour, although in his days (according to Ibnu ’l-‘Idhárí) +"the Jews made themselves powerful and behaved arrogantly +towards the Moslems."<a name="FNanchor_791" id="FNanchor_791"></a><a href="#Footnote_791" class="fnanchor">791</a></p> + +<p class="tb">During the whole of the twelfth, and well into the first +half of the thirteenth, century Spain was ruled by two +African dynasties, the Almoravides and the Almohades, +which originated, as their names denote, in the religious +fanaticism of the Berber tribes of the Sahara. The rise +of the Almoravides is related by Ibnu ’l-Athír as follows:—<a name="FNanchor_792" id="FNanchor_792"></a><a href="#Footnote_792" class="fnanchor">792</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In this year (448 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span> = 1056 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) was the beginning of the +power of the <i>Mulaththamún</i>.<a name="FNanchor_793" id="FNanchor_793"></a><a href="#Footnote_793" class="fnanchor">793</a> These were a number of tribes +<span class="sidenote"> Rise of the +Almoravides.</span> +descended from Ḥimyar, of which the most considerable +were Lamtúna, Jadála, and Lamṭa.... Now in +the above-mentioned year a man of Jadála, named +Jawhar, set out for Africa<a name="FNanchor_794" id="FNanchor_794"></a><a href="#Footnote_794" class="fnanchor">794</a> on his way to the Pilgrimage, for he +loved religion and the people thereof. At Qayrawán he fell in +with a certain divine—Abú ‘Imrán al-Fásí, as is generally supposed—and +a company of persons who were studying theology +under him. Jawhar was much pleased with what he saw of their +piety, and on his return from Mecca he begged Abú ‘Imrán to +send back with him to the desert a teacher who should instruct +the ignorant Berbers in the laws of Islam. So Abú ‘Imrán sent + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_430" id="Page_430" href="#"><span><i>THE ARABS IN EUROPE</i></span>430</a></span> + +with him a man called ‘Abdulláh b. Yásín al-Kuzúlí, who was an +excellent divine, and they journeyed together until they came to +the tribe of Lamtúna. Then Jawhar dismounted from his camel +and took hold of the bridle of ‘Abdulláh b. Yásín's camel, in +reverence for the law of Islam; and the men of Lamtúna +approached Jawhar and greeted him and questioned him concerning +his companion. 'This man,' he replied, 'is the bearer +of the Sunna of the Apostle of God: he has come to teach you +what is necessary in the religion of Islam.' So they bade them +both welcome, and said to ‘Abdulláh, 'Tell us the law of Islam,' +and he explained it to them. They answered, 'As to what you +have told us of prayer and alms-giving, that is easy; but when you +say, "He that kills shall be killed, and he that steals shall have his +hand cut off, and he that commits adultery shall be flogged or +stoned," that is an ordinance which we will not lay upon ourselves. +Begone elsewhere!'... And they came to Jadála, +Jawhar's own tribe, and ‘Abdulláh called on them and the neighbouring +tribes to fulfil the law, and some consented while others +refused. Then, after a time, ‘Abdulláh said to his followers, 'Ye +must fight the enemies of the Truth, so appoint a commander over +you.' Jawhar answered, 'Thou art our commander,' but ‘Abdulláh +declared that he was only a missionary, and on his advice the +command was offered to Abú Bakr b. ‘Umar, the chief of Lamtúna, +a man of great authority and influence. Having prevailed upon +him to act as leader, ‘Abdulláh began to preach a holy war, and +gave his adherents the name of Almoravides (<i>al-Murábitún</i>)."<a name="FNanchor_795" id="FNanchor_795"></a><a href="#Footnote_795" class="fnanchor">795</a></p></div> + +<p>The little community rapidly increased in numbers and +power. Yúsuf b. Táshifín, who succeeded to the command +<span class="sidenote">The Almoravide +Empire +(1056-1147 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +in 1069 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, founded the city of Morocco, and +from this centre made new conquests in every +direction, so that ere long the Almoravides ruled +over the whole of North-West Africa from Senegal to +Algeria. We have already seen how Yúsuf was invited by +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_431" id="Page_431" href="#"><span><i>THE ALMORAVIDES</i></span>431</a></span> +the ‘Abbádids to lead an army into Spain, how he defeated +Alphonso VI at Zalláqa and, returning a few years later, +this time not as an ally but as a conqueror, took possession of +Granada and Seville. The rest of Moslem Spain was subdued +without much trouble: laity and clergy alike hailed in the +Berber monarch a zealous reformer of the Faith and a mighty +bulwark against its Christian enemies. The hopeful prospect +was not realised. Spanish civilisation enervated the Berbers, +but did not refine them. Under the narrow bigotry of Yúsuf +and his successors free thought became impossible, culture and +science faded away. Meanwhile the country was afflicted by +famine, brigandage, and all the disorders of a feeble and corrupt +administration.</p> + +<p class="tb">The empire of the Almoravides passed into the hands of +another African dynasty, the Almohades.<a name="FNanchor_796" id="FNanchor_796"></a><a href="#Footnote_796" class="fnanchor">796</a> Their founder, +<span class="sidenote"> Ibn Túmart.</span> +Muḥammad Ibn Túmart, was a native of the mountainous +district of Sús which lies to the south-west +of Morocco. When a youth he made the Pilgrimage to +Mecca (about 1108 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), and also visited Baghdád, where he +studied in the Niẓámiyya College and is said to have met +the celebrated Ghazálí. He returned home with his head +full of theology and ambitious schemes. We need not dwell +upon his career from this point until he finally proclaimed +himself as the Mahdí (1121 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), nor describe the familiar +methods—some of them disreputable enough—by which he +induced the Berbers to believe in him. His doctrines, however, +may be briefly stated. "In most questions," says one +of his biographers,<a name="FNanchor_797" id="FNanchor_797"></a><a href="#Footnote_797" class="fnanchor">797</a> "he followed the system of Abu ’l-Ḥasan +al-Ash‘arí, but he agreed with the Mu‘tazilites in their denial +of the Divine Attributes and in a few matters besides; and he +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_432" id="Page_432" href="#"><span><i>THE ARABS IN EUROPE</i></span>432</a></span> +was at heart somewhat inclined to Shí‘ism, although he gave it +no countenance in public."<a name="FNanchor_798" id="FNanchor_798"></a><a href="#Footnote_798" class="fnanchor">798</a> The gist of his teaching is indicated +by the name <i>Muwaḥḥid</i> (Unitarian), which he bestowed +on himself, and which his successors adopted as their dynastic +title.<a name="FNanchor_799" id="FNanchor_799"></a><a href="#Footnote_799" class="fnanchor">799</a> Ibn Túmart emphasised the Unity of God; in other +words, he denounced the anthropomorphic ideas which prevailed +in Western Islam and strove to replace them by a +purely spiritual conception of the Deity. To this main +doctrine he added a second, that of the Infallible Imám +(<i>al-Imám al-Ma‘ṣúm</i>), and he naturally asserted that the +Imám was Muḥammad Ibn Túmart, a descendant of ‘Alí +b. Abí Ṭálib.</p> + +<p class="tb">On the death of the Mahdí (1130 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) the supreme +command devolved upon his trusted lieutenant, ‘Abdu +<span class="sidenote">The Almohades +(1130-1269 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +’l-Mu’min, who carried on the holy war against +the Almoravides with growing success, until in +1158 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> he "united the whole coast from the +frontier of Egypt to the Atlantic, together with Moorish +Spain, under his sceptre."<a name="FNanchor_800" id="FNanchor_800"></a><a href="#Footnote_800" class="fnanchor">800</a> The new dynasty was far more +enlightened and favourable to culture than the Almoravides +had been. Yúsuf, the son of ‘Abdu ’l-Mu’min, is described +as an excellent scholar, whose mind was stored with the +battles and traditions and history of the Arabs before and +after Islam. But he found his highest pleasure in the study +and patronage of philosophy. The great Aristotelian, Ibn +Ṭufayl, was his Vizier and court physician; and Ibn Rushd +(Averroes) received flattering honours both from him and +from his successor, Ya‘qúb al-Manṣúr, who loved to converse +with the philosopher on scientific topics, although in a fit of +orthodoxy he banished him for a time.<a name="FNanchor_801" id="FNanchor_801"></a><a href="#Footnote_801" class="fnanchor">801</a> This curious mixture +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_433" id="Page_433" href="#"><span><i>THE ALMOHADES</i></span>433</a></span> +of liberality and intolerance is characteristic of the Almohades. +However they might encourage speculation in its proper place, +their law and theology were cut according to the plain Ẓáhirite +pattern. "The Koran and the Traditions of the Prophet—or +else the sword!" is a saying of the last-mentioned sovereign, +who also revived the autos-da-fé, which had been prohibited by +his grandfather, of Málikite and other obnoxious books.<a name="FNanchor_802" id="FNanchor_802"></a><a href="#Footnote_802" class="fnanchor">802</a> The +spirit of the Almohades is admirably reflected in Ibn Ṭufayl's +famous philosophical romance, named after its hero, <i>Ḥayy ibn +Yaqẓán</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, 'Alive, son of Awake,'<a name="FNanchor_803" id="FNanchor_803"></a><a href="#Footnote_803" class="fnanchor">803</a> of which the following +summary is given by Mr. Duncan B. Macdonald in his excellent +<i>Muslim Theology</i> (p. 253):—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"In it he conceives two islands, the one inhabited and the other +not. On the inhabited island we have conventional people living +<span class="sidenote"> The story of +Ḥayy b. Yaqẓán.</span> +conventional lives, and restrained by a conventional +religion of rewards and punishments. Two men there, +Salámán and Asál,<a name="FNanchor_804" id="FNanchor_804"></a><a href="#Footnote_804" class="fnanchor">804</a> have raised themselves to a higher +level of self-rule. Salámán adapts himself externally to the popular +religion and rules the people; Asál, seeking to perfect himself still +further in solitude, goes to the other island. But there he finds +a man, Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓán, who has lived alone from infancy and has +gradually, by the innate and uncorrupted powers of the mind, +developed himself to the highest philosophic level and reached the +Vision of the Divine. He has passed through all the stages of +knowledge until the universe lies clear before him, and now he +finds that his philosophy thus reached, without prophet or revelation, +and the purified religion of Asál are one and the same. The +story told by Asál of the people of the other island sitting in +darkness stirs his soul, and he goes forth to them as a missionary. +But he soon learns that the method of Muḥammad was the true one + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_434" id="Page_434" href="#"><span><i>THE ARABS IN EUROPE</i></span>434</a></span> + +for the great masses, and that only by sensuous allegory and +concrete things could they be reached and held. He retires to his +island again to live the solitary life."</p></div> + +<p>Of the writers who flourished under the Berber dynasties +few are sufficiently important to deserve mention in a work of +<span class="sidenote">Literature under +the Almoravides +and Almohades +(1100-1250 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +this kind. The philosophers, however, stand in +a class by themselves. Ibn Bájja (Avempace), +Ibn Rushd (Averroes), Ibn Ṭufayl, and Músá b. +Maymún (Maimonides) made their influence felt +far beyond the borders of Spain: they belong, in a sense, to +Europe. We have noticed elsewhere the great mystic, +Muḥyi ’l-Dín Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí († 1240 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>); his fellow-townsman, +Ibn Sab‘ín († 1269 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), a thinker of the same +type, wrote letters on philosophical subjects to Frederick II of +Hohenstaufen. Valuable works on the literary history of Spain +were composed by Ibn Kháqán († 1134 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), Ibn Bassám +(† 1147 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), and Ibn Bashkuwál († 1183 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). The +geographer Idrísí († 1154 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) was born at Ceuta, studied +at Cordova, and found a patron in the Sicilian monarch, +Roger II; Ibn Jubayr published an interesting account of +his pilgrimage from Granada to Mecca and of his journey +back to Granada during the years 1183-1185 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>; Ibn +Zuhr (Avenzoar), who became a Vizier under the Almoravides, +was the first of a whole family of eminent physicians; and +Ibnu ’l-Bayṭár of Malaga († 1248 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), after visiting Egypt, +Greece, and Asia Minor in order to extend his knowledge of +botany, compiled a Materia Medica, which he dedicated to the +Sultan of Egypt, Malik al-Kámil.</p> + +<p class="tb">We have now taken a rapid survey of the Moslem empire +in Spain from its rise in the eighth century of our era down +<span class="sidenote"> Reconquest of +Spain by +Ferdinand III.</span> +to the last days of the Almohades, which saw +the Christian arms everywhere triumphant. By +1230 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> the Almohades had been driven out of +the peninsula, although they continued to rule Africa for about +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_435" id="Page_435" href="#"><span><i>THE NAṢRIDS OF GRANADA</i></span>435</a></span> +forty years after this date. Amidst the general wreck one +spot remained where the Moors could find shelter. This was +Granada. Here, in 1232 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, Muḥammad Ibnu ’l-Aḥmar +assumed the proud title of 'Conqueror by Grace of God' +(<i>Ghálib billáh</i>) and founded the Naṣrid dynasty, which held the +Christians at bay during two centuries and a half. <span class="sidenote">The Naṣrids +of Granada +(1232-1492 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +That the little Moslem kingdom survived so long +was not due to its own strength, but rather to its +almost impregnable situation and to the dissensions of the +victors. The latest bloom of Arabic culture in Europe +renewed, if it did not equal, the glorious memories of +Cordova and Seville. In this period arose the world-renowned +Alhambra, <i>i.e.</i>, 'the Red Palace' (al-Ḥamrá) of +the Naṣrid kings, and many other superb monuments of which +the ruins are still visible. We must not, however, be led +away into a digression even upon such a fascinating subject +as Moorish architecture. Our information concerning literary +matters is scantier than it might have been, on account of the +vandalism practised by the Christians when they took Granada. +It is no dubious legend (like the reputed burning of the +Alexandrian Library by order of the Caliph ‘Umar),<a name="FNanchor_805" id="FNanchor_805"></a><a href="#Footnote_805" class="fnanchor">805</a> but a well-ascertained +fact that the ruthless Archbishop Ximenez made a +bonfire of all the Arabic manuscripts on which he could lay +his hands. He wished to annihilate the record of seven +centuries of Muḥammadan culture in a single day.</p> + +<p>The names of Ibnu ’l-Khaṭíb and Ibn Khaldún represent +the highest literary accomplishment and historical comprehension +of which this age was capable. The latter, indeed, has +no parallel among Oriental historians.</p> + +<p>Lisánu ’l-Dín Ibnu ’l-Khaṭíb<a name="FNanchor_806" id="FNanchor_806"></a><a href="#Footnote_806" class="fnanchor">806</a> played a great figure in the +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_436" id="Page_436" href="#"><span><i>THE ARABS IN EUROPE</i></span>436</a></span> +politics of his time, and his career affords a conspicuous +example of the intimate way in which Moslem poetry and +literature are connected with public life. "The Arabs did +not share the opinion widely spread nowadays, that poetical +talent flourishes best in seclusion from the tumult of the +world, or that it dims the clearness of vision which is required +for the conduct of public affairs. On the contrary, their +princes entrusted the chief offices of State to poets, and poetry +often served as a means to obtain more brilliant results than +diplomatic notes could have procured."<a name="FNanchor_807" id="FNanchor_807"></a><a href="#Footnote_807" class="fnanchor">807</a> A young <span class="sidenote">Ibnu ’l-Khaṭíb +(1313-1374 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +man like Ibnu ’l-Khaṭíb, who had mastered the +entire field of belles-lettres, who improvised odes +and rhyming epistles with incomparable elegance and facility, +was marked out to be the favourite of kings. He became +Vizier at the Naṣrid court, a position which he held, with one +brief interval of disgrace, until 1371 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, when the intrigues +of his enemies forced him to flee from Granada. He sought +refuge at Fez, and was honourably received by the reigning +Sultan, ‘Abdu ’l-‘Azíz; but on the accession of Abu ’l-‘Abbás +in 1374 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> the exiled minister was incarcerated and brought to +trial on the charge of heresy (<i>zandaqa</i>). While the inquisition +was proceeding a fanatical mob broke into the gaol and +murdered him. Maqqarí relates that Ibnu ’l-Khaṭib suffered +from insomnia, and that most of his works were composed +during the night, for which reason he got the nickname of +<i>Dhu ’l-‘Umrayn</i>, or 'The man of two lives.'<a name="FNanchor_808" id="FNanchor_808"></a><a href="#Footnote_808" class="fnanchor">808</a> He was +a prolific writer in various branches of literature, but, like so +many of his countrymen, he excelled in History. His monographs +on the sovereigns and savants of Granada (one of +which includes an autobiography) supply interesting details +concerning this obscure period.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_437" id="Page_437" href="#"><span><i>IBNU ’L-KHAṬIB AND IBN KHALDÚN</i></span>437</a></span>Some apology may be thought necessary for placing Ibn +Khaldún, the greatest historical thinker of Islam, in the +<span class="sidenote">Ibn Khaldún +(1332-1406 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span></span> +present chapter, as though he were a Spaniard +either by birth or residence. He descended, it +is true, from a family, the Banú Khaldún, which +had long been settled in Spain, first at Carmona and afterwards +at Seville; but they migrated to Africa about the +middle of the thirteenth century, and Ibn Khaldún was born +at Tunis. Nearly the whole of his life, moreover, was passed +in Africa—a circumstance due rather to accident than to +predilection; for in 1362 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> he entered the service of the +Sultan of Granada, Abú ‘Abdalláh Ibnu ’l-Aḥmar, and would +probably have made that city his home had not the jealousy of +his former friend, the Vizier Ibnu ’l-Khaṭíb, decided him to +leave Spain behind. We cannot give any account of the +agitated and eventful career which he ended, as Cadi of +Cairo, in 1406 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> Ibn Khaldún lived with statesmen and +kings: he was an ambassador to the court of Pedro of Castile, +and an honoured guest of the mighty Tamerlane. The +results of his ripe experience are marvellously displayed in +the Prolegomena (<i>Muqaddima</i>), which forms the first volume +of a huge general history entitled the <i>Kitábu ’l-‘Ibar</i> ('Book of +Examples').<a name="FNanchor_809" id="FNanchor_809"></a><a href="#Footnote_809" class="fnanchor">809</a> He himself has stated his idea of the historian's +function in the following words:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Know that the true purpose of history is to make us acquainted +with human society, <i>i.e.</i>, with the civilisation of the world, and with +<span class="sidenote"> Ibn Khaldún as +a philosophical +historian.</span> +its natural phenomena, such as savage life, the softening +of manners, attachment to the family and the tribe, the +various kinds of superiority which one people gains +over another, the kingdoms and diverse dynasties which arise +in this way, the different trades and laborious occupations to +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_438" id="Page_438" href="#"><span><i>THE ARABS IN EUROPE</i></span>438</a></span> +which men devote themselves in order to earn their livelihood, +the sciences and arts; in fine, all the manifold conditions which +naturally occur in the development of civilisation."<a name="FNanchor_810" id="FNanchor_810"></a><a href="#Footnote_810" class="fnanchor">810</a></p></div> + +<p>Ibn Khaldún argues that History, thus conceived, is subject +to universal laws, and in these laws he finds the only sure +criterion of historical truth.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The rule for distinguishing what is true from what is false in +history is based on its possibility or impossibility: that is to +<span class="sidenote"> His canons +of historical +criticism.</span> +say, we must examine human society (civilisation) +and discriminate between the characteristics which +are essential and inherent in its nature and those +which are accidental and need not be taken into account, +recognising further those which cannot possibly belong to it. If +we do this we have a rule for separating historical truth from error +by means of a demonstrative method that admits of no doubt.... +It is a genuine touchstone whereby historians may verify whatever +they relate."<a name="FNanchor_811" id="FNanchor_811"></a><a href="#Footnote_811" class="fnanchor">811</a></p></div> + +<p>Here, indeed, the writer claims too much, and it must be +allowed that he occasionally applied his principles in a pedantic +fashion, and was led by purely <i>a priori</i> considerations to conclusions +which are not always so warrantable as he believed. +This is a very trifling matter in comparison with the value +and originality of the principles themselves. Ibn Khaldún +asserts, with justice, that he has discovered a new method of +writing history. No Moslem had ever taken a view at once +so comprehensive and so philosophical; none had attempted +to trace the deeply hidden causes of events, to expose the +moral and spiritual forces at work beneath the surface, or to +divine the immutable laws of national progress and decay. +Ibn Khaldún owed little to his predecessors, although he +mentions some of them with respect. He stood far above +his age, and his own countrymen have admired rather than +followed him. His intellectual descendants are the great +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_439" id="Page_439" href="#"><span><i>IBN KHALDÚN</i></span>439</a></span> +mediæval and modern historians of Europe—Machiavelli and +Vico and Gibbon.</p> + +<p class="tb">It is worth while to sketch briefly the peculiar theory of +historical development which Ibn Khaldún puts forward in +<span class="sidenote"> Ibn Kaldún's +theory of historical +evolution.</span> +his Prolegomena—a theory founded on the study +of actual conditions and events either past or +passing before his eyes.<a name="FNanchor_812" id="FNanchor_812"></a><a href="#Footnote_812" class="fnanchor">812</a> He was struck, in the +first place, with the physical fact that in almost every part of +the Muḥammadan Empire great wastes of sand or stony +plateaux, arid and incapable of tillage, wedge themselves +between fertile domains of cultivated land. The former +were inhabited from time immemorial by nomad tribes, the +latter by an agricultural or industrial population; and we have +seen, in the case of Arabia, that cities like Mecca and Ḥíra +carried on a lively intercourse with the Bedouins and exerted +a civilising influence upon them. In Africa the same contrast +was strongly marked. It is no wonder, therefore, that Ibn +Khaldún divided the whole of mankind into two classes—Nomads +and Citizens. The nomadic life naturally precedes +and produces the other. Its characteristics are simplicity and +purity of manners, warlike spirit, and, above all, a loyal +devotion to the interests of the family and the tribe. As +the nomads become more civilised they settle down, form +states, and make conquests. They have now reached their +highest development. Corrupted by luxury, and losing the +virtues which raised them to power, they are soon swept away +by a ruder people. Such, in bare outline, is the course of +history as Ibn Khaldún regards it; but we must try to give +our readers some further account of the philosophical ideas +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_440" id="Page_440" href="#"><span><i>THE ARABS IN EUROPE</i></span>440</a></span> +underlying his conception. He discerns, in the life of tribes +and nations alike, two dominant forces which mould their +destiny. The primitive and cardinal force he calls <i>‘aṣabiyya</i>, +the <i>binding</i> element in society, the feeling which unites +members of the same family, tribe, nation, or empire, and +which in its widest acceptation is equivalent to the modern +term, Patriotism. It springs up and especially flourishes +among nomad peoples, where the instinct of self-preservation +awakens a keen sense of kinship and drives men to make +common cause with each other. This <i>‘aṣabiyya</i> is the vital +energy of States: by it they rise and grow; as it weakens +they decline; and its decay is the signal for their fall. The +second of the forces referred to is Religion. Ibn Khaldún +hardly ascribes to religion so much influence as we might +have expected from a Moslem. He recognises, however, that +it may be the only means of producing that solidarity without +which no State can exist. Thus in the twenty-seventh +chapter of his <i>Muqaddima</i> he lays down the proposition that +"the Arabs are incapable of founding an empire unless they +are imbued with religious enthusiasm by a prophet or a saint."</p> + +<p>In History he sees an endless cycle of progress and +retrogression, analogous to the phenomena of human life. +Kingdoms are born, attain maturity, and die within a definite +period which rarely exceeds three generations, <i>i.e.</i>, 120 years.<a name="FNanchor_813" id="FNanchor_813"></a><a href="#Footnote_813" class="fnanchor">813</a> +During this time they pass through five stages of development +and decay.<a name="FNanchor_814" id="FNanchor_814"></a><a href="#Footnote_814" class="fnanchor">814</a> It is noteworthy that Ibn Khaldún admits the +moral superiority of the Nomads. For him civilisation necessarily +involves corruption and degeneracy. If he did not +believe in the gradual advance of mankind towards some +higher goal, his pessimism was justified by the lessons of +experience and by the mournful plight of the Muḥammadan +world, to which his view was restricted.<a name="FNanchor_815" id="FNanchor_815"></a><a href="#Footnote_815" class="fnanchor">815</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_441" id="Page_441" href="#"><span><i>EXPULSION OF THE MOORS</i></span>441</a></span>In 1492 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> the last stronghold of the European Arabs +opened its gates to Ferdinand and Isabella, and "the Cross +<span class="sidenote">The fall of +Granada +(1492 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +supplanted the Crescent on the towers of +Granada." The victors showed a barbarous +fanaticism that was the more abominable as it +violated their solemn pledges to respect the religion and +property of the Moslems, and as it utterly reversed the +tolerant and liberal treatment which the Christians of Spain +had enjoyed under Muḥammadan rule. Compelled to choose +between apostasy and exile, many preferred the latter alternative. +Those who remained were subjected to a terrible +persecution, until in 1609 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, by order of Philip III, the +Moors were banished <i>en masse</i> from Spanish soil.</p> + +<p class="tb">Spain was not the sole point whence Moslem culture spread +itself over the Christian lands. Sicily was conquered by the +<span class="sidenote"> The Arabs in +Sicily.</span> +Aghlabids of Tunis early in the ninth century, +and although the island fell into the hands of the +Normans in 1071 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, the court of Palermo +retained a semi-Oriental character. Here in the reign of +Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1194-1250 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) might be +seen "astrologers from Baghdád with long beards and waving +robes, Jews who received princely salaries as translators of +Arabic works, Saracen dancers and dancing-girls, and Moors +who blew silver trumpets on festal occasions."<a name="FNanchor_816" id="FNanchor_816"></a><a href="#Footnote_816" class="fnanchor">816</a> Both +Frederick himself and his son Manfred were enthusiastic +Arabophiles, and scandalised Christendom by their assumption +of 'heathen' manners as well as by the attention which they +devoted to Moslem philosophy and science. Under their +auspices Arabic learning was communicated to the neighbouring +towns of Lower Italy.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">442</a></span></p> + +<h4>CHAPTER X</h4> + +<h5>FROM THE MONGOL INVASION TO THE PRESENT DAY</h5> + +<p><span class="smcap">Before</span> proceeding to speak of the terrible catastrophe which +filled the whole of Western Asia with ruin and desolation, +<span class="sidenote"> General characteristics +of the +period.</span> +I may offer a few preliminary remarks concerning +the general character of the period which we +shall briefly survey in this final chapter. It +forms, one must admit, a melancholy conclusion to a glorious +history. The Caliphate, which symbolised the supremacy +of the Prophet's people, is swept away. Mongols, Turks, +Persians, all in turn build up great Muḥammadan empires, +but the Arabs have lost even the shadow of a leading part and +appear only as subordinate actors on a provincial stage. The +chief centres of Arabian life, such as it is, are henceforth +Syria and Egypt, which were held by the Turkish Mamelukes +until 1517 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, when they passed under Ottoman +rule. In North Africa the petty Berber dynasties (Ḥafṣids, +Ziyánids, and Marínids) gave place in the sixteenth century +to the Ottoman Turks. Only in Spain, where the Naṣrids of +Granada survived until 1492 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, in Morocco, where the +Sharífs (descendants of ‘Alí b. Abí Ṭálib) assumed the +sovereignty in 1544 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, and to some extent in Arabia +itself, did the Arabs preserve their political independence. +In such circumstances it would be vain to look for any +large developments of literature and culture worthy to rank +with those of the past. This is an age of imitation and +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_443" id="Page_443" href="#"><span><i>CHARACTER OF THE PERIOD</i></span>443</a></span> +compilation. Learned men abound, whose erudition embraces +every subject under the sun. The mass of writing shows no +visible diminution, and much of it is valuable and meritorious +work. But with one or two conspicuous exceptions—<i>e.g.</i> +the historian Ibn Khaldún and the mystic Sha‘rání—we +cannot point to any new departure, any fruitful ideas, any +trace of original and illuminating thought. The fifteenth and +sixteenth centuries "witnessed the rise and triumph of that +wonderful movement known as the Renaissance,... but +no ripple of this great upheaval, which changed the whole +current of intellectual and moral life in the West, reached the +shores of Islam."<a name="FNanchor_817" id="FNanchor_817"></a><a href="#Footnote_817" class="fnanchor">817</a> Until comparatively recent times, when +Egypt and Syria first became open to European civilisation, +the Arab retained his mediæval outlook and habit of mind, +and was in no respect more enlightened than his forefathers +who lived under the ‘Abbásid Caliphate. And since the +Mongol Invasion I am afraid we must say that instead of +advancing farther along the old path he was being forced back +by the inevitable pressure of events. East of the Euphrates +the Mongols did their work of destruction so thoroughly that +no seeds were left from which a flourishing civilisation could +arise; and, moreover, the Arabic language was rapidly +extinguished by the Persian. In Spain, as we have seen, the +power of the Arabs had already begun to decline; Africa +was dominated by the Berbers, a rude, unlettered race, Egypt +and Syria by the blighting military despotism of the Turks. +Nowhere in the history of this period can we discern either of +the two elements which are most productive of literary +greatness: the quickening influence of a higher culture or the +inspiration of a free and vigorous national life.<a name="FNanchor_818" id="FNanchor_818"></a><a href="#Footnote_818" class="fnanchor">818</a></p> + +<p class="tb">Between the middle of the eleventh century and the end + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_444" id="Page_444" href="#"><span><i>THE MOGUL INVASION AND AFTER</i></span>444</a></span> + +of the fourteenth the nomad tribes dwelling beyond the Oxus +<span class="sidenote"> The Mongol +Invasion.</span> +burst over Western Asia in three successive waves. First +came the Seljúq Turks, then the Mongols +under Chingíz Khan and Húlágú, then the +hordes, mainly Turkish, of Tímúr. Regarding +the Seljúqs all that is necessary for our purpose has been said +in a former chapter. The conquests of Tímúr are a frightful +episode which I may be pardoned for omitting from this +history, inasmuch as their permanent results (apart from the +enormous damage which they inflicted) were inconsiderable; +and although the Indian empire of the Great Moguls, which +Bábur, a descendant of Tímúr, established in the first half of +the sixteenth century, ran a prosperous and brilliant course, its +culture was borrowed almost exclusively from Persian models +and does not come within the scope of the present work. +We shall, therefore, confine our view to the second wave +of the vast Asiatic migration, which bore the Mongols, led by +Chingíz Khan and Húlágú, from the steppes of China and +Tartary to the Mediterranean.</p> + +<p class="tb">In 1219 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> Chingíz Khan, having consolidated his power +in the Far East, turned his face westward and suddenly +<span class="sidenote"> Chingíz Khan +and Húlágú.</span> +advanced into Transoxania, which at that time +formed a province of the wide dominions of the +Sháhs of Khwárizm (Khiva). The reigning +monarch, ‘Alá’u ’l-Dín Muḥammad, was unable to make an +effective resistance; and notwithstanding that his son, the +gallant Jalálu ’l-Dín, carried on a desperate guerilla for twelve +years, the invaders swarmed over Khurásán and Persia, +massacring the panic-stricken inhabitants wholesale and +leaving a wilderness behind them. Hitherto Baghdád had +not been seriously threatened, but on the first day of January, +1256 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>—an epoch-marking date—Húlágú, the grandson +of Chingíz Khan, crossed the Oxus, with the intention of +occupying the ‘Abbásid capital. I translate the following +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_445" id="Page_445" href="#"><span><i>HÚLÁGÚ AT BAGHDÁD</i></span>445</a></span> +narrative from a manuscript in my possession of the <i>Ta’ríkh +al-Khamís</i> by Diyárbakrí († 1574 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>):—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>In the year 654 (<span class="smcap">a.h.</span> = 1256 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) the stubborn tyrant, Húlágú, +the destroyer of the nations (<i>Mubídu ’l-Umam</i>), set forth and took +<span class="sidenote">Húlágú before +Baghdád (1258 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +the castle of Alamút from the Ismá‘ílís<a name="FNanchor_819" id="FNanchor_819"></a><a href="#Footnote_819" class="fnanchor">819</a> and slew +them and laid waste the lands of Rayy.... And +in the year 655 there broke out at Baghdád a fearful +riot between the Sunnís and the Shí‘ites, which led to +great plunder and destruction of property. A number of Shí‘ites +were killed, and this so incensed and infuriated the Vizier Ibnu +’l-‘Alqami that he encouraged the Tartars to invade ‘Iráq, by which +means he hoped to take ample vengeance on the Sunnís.<a name="FNanchor_820" id="FNanchor_820"></a><a href="#Footnote_820" class="fnanchor">820</a> And in +the beginning of the year 656 the tyrant Húlágú b. Túlí b. Chingíz +Khán, the Moghul, arrived at Baghdád with his army, including the +Georgians (<i>al-Kurj</i>) and the troops of Mosul. The Dawídár<a name="FNanchor_821" id="FNanchor_821"></a><a href="#Footnote_821" class="fnanchor">821</a> +marched out of the city and met Húlágú's vanguard, which was +commanded by Bájú.<a name="FNanchor_822" id="FNanchor_822"></a><a href="#Footnote_822" class="fnanchor">822</a> The Moslems, being few, suffered defeat; +whereupon Bájú advanced and pitched his camp to the west of +Baghdád, while Húlágú took up a position on the eastern side. +Then the Vizier Ibnu ’l-‘Alqamí said to the Caliph Musta‘ṣim +Billáh: "I will go to the Supreme Khán to arrange peace." So the +hound<a name="FNanchor_823" id="FNanchor_823"></a><a href="#Footnote_823" class="fnanchor">823</a> went and obtained security for himself, and on his return +said to the Caliph: "The Khán desires to marry his daughter to +your son and to render homage to you, like the Seljúq kings, +and then to depart." Musta‘ṣim set out, attended by the nobles of + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_446" id="Page_446" href="#"><span><i>THE MOGUL INVASION AND AFTER</i></span>446</a></span> + +his court and the grandees of his time, in order to witness the +contract of marriage. The whole party were beheaded except the +Caliph, who was trampled to death. The Tartars <span class="sidenote"> Sack of +Baghdád.</span> +entered Baghdád and distributed themselves in bands +throughout the city. For thirty-four days the sword +was never sheathed. Few escaped. The slain amounted to 1,800,000 +and more. Then quarter was called.... Thus it is related in +the <i>Duwalu ’l-Islám</i>.<a name="FNanchor_824" id="FNanchor_824"></a><a href="#Footnote_824" class="fnanchor">824</a>... And on this wise did the Caliphate pass +from Baghdád. As the poet sings:—</p></div> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"<i>Khalati ’l-manábiru wa-’l-asirralu minhumú</i></span> +<span class="i0"> +<i>wa-‘alayhimú hatta ’l-mamáti salámú.</i>"</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"<i>The pulpits and the thrones are empty of them;</i></span> +<span class="i0"> +<i>I bid them, till the hour of death, farewell!</i>"</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>It seemed as if all Muḥammadan Asia lay at the feet of +the pagan conqueror. Resuming his advance, Húlágú +occupied Mesopotamia and sacked Aleppo. He then +returned to the East, leaving his lieutenant, Ketboghá, to +complete the reduction of Syria. Meanwhile, however, an +Egyptian army under the Mameluke Sultan Muẓaffar Quṭuz +was hastening to oppose the invaders. On Friday, the 25th +of Ramaḍán, 658 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span>, a decisive battle was fought at ‘Ayn +Jálút (Goliath's Spring), west of the Jordan. <span class="sidenote">Battle of ‘Ayn +Jálút (September, +1260 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +The Tartars were routed with immense +slaughter, and their subsequent attempts to +wrest Syria from the Mamelukes met with no success. The +submission of Asia Minor was hardly more than nominal, but +in Persia the descendants of Húlágú, the Íl-Kháns, reigned +over a great empire, which the conversion of one of their +number, Gházán (1295-1304 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), restored to Moslem rule. +We are not concerned here with the further history of the +Mongols in Persia nor with that of the Persians themselves. +Since the days of Húlágú the lands east and west of the Tigris +are separated by an ever-widening gulf. The two races—Persians +and Arabs—to whose co-operation the mediæval +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_447" id="Page_447" href="#"><span><i>THE MAMELUKE DYNASTY</i></span>447</a></span> +world, from Samarcand to Seville, for a long time owed its +highest literary and scientific culture, have now finally dissolved +their partnership. It is true that the <span class="sidenote"> Arabic ceases to +be the language +of the whole +Moslem world.</span> +cleavage began many centuries earlier, and +before the fall of Baghdád the Persian genius had +already expressed itself in a splendid national +literature. But from this date onward the use of Arabic +by Persians is practically limited to theological and philosophical +writings. The Persian language has driven its rival out +of the field. Accordingly Egypt and Syria will now demand +the principal share of our attention, more especially as the +history of the Arabs of Granada, which properly belongs +to this period, has been related in the preceding chapter.</p> + +<p class="tb">The dynasty of the Mameluke<a name="FNanchor_825" id="FNanchor_825"></a><a href="#Footnote_825" class="fnanchor">825</a> Sultans of Egypt was +founded in 1250 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> by Aybak, a Turkish slave, who +<span class="sidenote">The Mamelukes +of Egypt +(1250-1517 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +commenced his career in the service of the +Ayyúbid, Malik Ṣáliḥ Najmu ’l-Dín. His +successors<a name="FNanchor_826" id="FNanchor_826"></a><a href="#Footnote_826" class="fnanchor">826</a> held sway in Egypt and Syria +until the conquest of these countries by the Ottomans. +The Mamelukes were rough soldiers, who seldom indulged +in any useless refinement, but they had a royal taste for +architecture, as the visitor to Cairo may still see. Their +administration, though disturbed by frequent mutinies and +murders, was tolerably prosperous on the whole, and their +victories over the Mongol hosts, as well as the crushing +blows which they dealt to the Crusaders, gave Islam new +prestige. The ablest of them all was Baybars, <span class="sidenote">Sultan Baybars +(1260-1277 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +who richly deserved his title Malik al-Ẓáhir, +<i>i.e.</i>, the Victorious King. His name has passed +into the legends of the people, and his warlike exploits into + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_448" id="Page_448" href="#"><span><i>THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER</i></span>448</a></span> + +story-tellers to this day.<a name="FNanchor_827" id="FNanchor_827"></a><a href="#Footnote_827" class="fnanchor">827</a> The violent and brutal acts which he +sometimes committed—for he shrank from no crime when he +suspected danger—made him a terror to the ambitious nobles +around him, but did not harm his reputation as a just ruler. +Although he held the throne in virtue of having murdered +the late monarch with his own hand, he sought to give the +appearance of legitimacy to his usurpation. He therefore +recognised as Caliph a certain Abu ’l-Qásim Aḥmad, a pretended +scion of the ‘Abbásid house, invited him to Cairo, and took the +oath of allegiance to him in due form. The Caliph on his part +invested the Sultan with sovereignty over Egypt, <span class="sidenote">The ‘Abbásid +Caliphs of Egypt.</span> +Syria, Arabia, and all the provinces that he might +obtain by future conquests. This Aḥmad, entitled +al-Mustanṣir, was the first of a long series of mock Caliphs +who were appointed by the Mameluke Sultans and generally +kept under close surveillance in the citadel of Cairo. There is +no authority for the statement, originally made by Mouradgea +d'Ohsson in 1787 and often repeated since, that the last of the +line bequeathed his rights of succession to the Ottoman Sultan +Selím I, thus enabling the Sultans of Turkey to claim the title +and dignity of Caliph.<a name="FNanchor_828" id="FNanchor_828"></a><a href="#Footnote_828" class="fnanchor">828</a></p> + +<p>The poets of this period are almost unknown in Europe, and +until they have been studied with due attention it would be +<span class="sidenote"> Arabic poetry +after the Mongol +Invasion.</span> +premature to assert that none of them rises above +mediocrity. At the same time my own impression +(based, I confess, on a very desultory and imperfect +acquaintance with their work) is that the best among them are +merely elegant and accomplished artists, playing brilliantly with +words and phrases, but doing little else. No doubt extreme artificiality +may coexist with poetical genius of a high order, provided +that it has behind it Mutanabbí's power, Ma‘arrí's earnestness, +or Ibnu ’l-Fáriḍ's enthusiasm. In the absence of these + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_449" id="Page_449" href="#"><span><i>POETS OF THE PERIOD</i></span>449</a></span> + +qualities we must be content to admire the technical skill +with which the old tunes are varied and revived. Let us +take, for example, Ṣafiyyu ’l-Dín al-Ḥillí, who +was born at Ḥilla, a large town on the <span class="sidenote">Ṣafiyyu ’l-Dín +al-Ḥillí.</span> +Euphrates, in 1278 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, became laureate of +the Urtuqid dynasty at Máridín, and died in Baghdád about +1350. He is described as "the poet of his age absolutely," +and to judge from the extracts in Kutubí's <i>Fawátu +’l-Wafayát</i><a name="FNanchor_829" id="FNanchor_829"></a><a href="#Footnote_829" class="fnanchor">829</a> he combined subtlety of fancy with remarkable +ease and sweetness of versification. Many of his pieces, +however, are <i>jeux d'esprit</i>, like his ode to the Prophet, in +which he employs 151 rhetorical figures, or like another +poem where all the nouns are diminutives.<a name="FNanchor_830" id="FNanchor_830"></a><a href="#Footnote_830" class="fnanchor">830</a> The following +specimen of his work is too brief to do him justice:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"How can I have patience, and thou, mine eye's delight,</span> +<span class="i0"> +All the livelong year not one moment in my sight?</span> +<span class="i0"> +And with what can I rejoice my heart, when thou that art a joy</span> +<span class="i0"> +Unto every human heart, from me hast taken flight?</span> +<span class="i0"> +I swear by Him who made thy form the envy of the sun</span> +<span class="i0"> +(So graciously He clad thee with lovely beams of light):</span> +<span class="i0"> +The day when I behold thy beauty doth appear to me</span> +<span class="i0"> +As tho' it gleamed on Time's dull brow a constellation bright.</span> +<span class="i0"> +O thou scorner of my passion, for whose sake I count as naught</span> +<span class="i0"> +All the woe that I endure, all the injury and despite,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Come, regard the ways of God! for never He at life's last gasp</span> +<span class="i0"> +Suffereth the weight to perish even of one mite!"<a name="FNanchor_831" id="FNanchor_831"></a><a href="#Footnote_831" class="fnanchor">831</a></span> +</div> +</div> + +<p>We have already referred to the folk-songs (<i>muwashshaḥ</i> +and <i>zajal</i>) which originated in Spain. These simple ballads, + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_450" id="Page_450" href="#"><span><i>MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER</i></span>450</a></span> + +<span class="sidenote"> Popular poetry.</span> +with their novel metres and incorrect language, were despised +by the classical school, that is to say, by nearly all Moslems +with any pretensions to learning; but their +popularity was such that even the court poets +occasionally condescended to write in this style. To the +<i>zajal</i> and <i>muwashshaḥ</i> we may add the <i>dúbayt</i>, the <i>mawáliyyá</i>, +the <i>kánwakán</i>, and the <i>ḥimáq</i>, which together with verse +of the regular form made up the 'seven kinds of poetry' +(<i>al-funún al-sab‘a</i>). Ṣafiyyu ’l-Dín al-Ḥillí, who wrote a +special treatise on the Arabic folk-songs, mentions two +other varieties which, he says, were invented by the people +of Baghdád to be sung in the early dawn of Ramaḍán, the +Moslem Lent.<a name="FNanchor_832" id="FNanchor_832"></a><a href="#Footnote_832" class="fnanchor">832</a> It is interesting to observe that some few +literary men attempted, though in a timid fashion, to free +Arabic poetry from the benumbing academic system by +which it was governed and to pour fresh life into its veins. +A notable example of this tendency is the <i>Hazzu ’l-Quḥúf</i><a name="FNanchor_833" id="FNanchor_833"></a><a href="#Footnote_833" class="fnanchor">833</a> +by Shirbíní, who wrote in 1687 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> Here we have a +poem in the vulgar dialect of Egypt, but what is still more +curious, the author, while satirising the uncouth manners +and rude language of the peasantry, makes a bitter attack +on the learning and morals of the Muḥammadan divines.<a name="FNanchor_834" id="FNanchor_834"></a><a href="#Footnote_834" class="fnanchor">834</a> +For this purpose he introduces a typical Fellah named +Abú Shádúf, whose rôle corresponds to that of Piers the +Plowman in Longland's <i>Vision</i>. Down to the end of the +nineteenth century, at any rate, such isolated offshoots had not +gone far to found a living school of popular poetry. Only the +future can show whether the Arabs are capable of producing a +genius who will succeed in doing for the national folk-songs +what Burns did for the Scots ballads.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_451" id="Page_451" href="#"><span><i>IBN KHALLIKÁN</i></span>451</a></span>Biography and History were cultivated with ardour by +the savants of Egypt and Syria. Among the numerous +<span class="sidenote">Ibn Khallikán +(1211-1282 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +compositions of this kind we can have no +hesitation in awarding the place of honour to +the <i>Wafayátu ’l-A‘yán</i>, or 'Obituaries of Eminent +Men,' by Shamsu ’l-Dín Ibn Khallikán, a work which +has often been quoted in the foregoing pages. The author +belonged to a distinguished family descending from Yaḥyá +b. Khálid the Barmecide (see p. <a href="#Page_259">259</a> seq.), and was born at +Arbela in 1211 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> He received his education at Aleppo +and Damascus (1229-1238) and then proceeded to Cairo, +where he finished the first draft of his Biographical +Dictionary in 1256. Five years later he was appointed by +Sultan Baybars to be Chief Cadi of Syria. He retained +this high office (with a seven years' interval, which he +devoted to literary and biographical studies) until a short time +before his death. In the Preface to the <i>Wafayát</i> Ibn Khallikán +observes that he has adopted the alphabetical order as more +convenient than the chronological. As regards the scope and +character of his Dictionary, he says:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I have not limited my work to the history of any one particular +class of persons, as learned men, princes, emirs, viziers, or poets; +<span class="sidenote"> His Biographical +Dictionary.</span> +but I have spoken of all those whose names are +familiar to the public, and about whom questions +are frequently asked; I have, however, related the +facts I could ascertain respecting them in a concise manner, lest +my work should become too voluminous; I have fixed with all +possible exactness the dates of their birth and death; I have +traced up their genealogy as high as I could; I have marked the +orthography of those names which are liable to be written incorrectly; +and I have cited the traits which may best serve to +characterise each individual, such as noble actions, singular anecdotes, +verses and letters, so that the reader may derive amusement +from my work, and find it not exclusively of such a uniform cast +as would prove tiresome; for the most effectual inducement to +reading a book arises from the variety of its style."<a name="FNanchor_835" id="FNanchor_835"></a><a href="#Footnote_835" class="fnanchor">835</a></p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_452" id="Page_452" href="#"><span><i>THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER</i></span>452</a></span></p> + +<p>Ibn Khallikan might have added that he was the first Muḥammadan +writer to design a Dictionary of National Biography, +since none of his predecessors had thought of comprehending +the lives of eminent Moslems of every class in a single work.<a name="FNanchor_836" id="FNanchor_836"></a><a href="#Footnote_836" class="fnanchor">836</a> +The merits of the book have been fully recognised by the +author's countrymen as well as by European scholars. It is +composed in simple and elegant language, it is extremely +accurate, and it contains an astonishing quantity of miscellaneous +historical and literary information, not drily catalogued +but conveyed in the most pleasing fashion by anecdotes and +excerpts which illustrate every department of Moslem life. +I am inclined to agree with the opinion of Sir William +Jones, that it is the best general biography ever written; +and allowing for the difference of scale and scope, I +think it will bear comparison with a celebrated English +work which it resembles in many ways—I mean Boswell's +<i>Johnson</i>.<a name="FNanchor_837" id="FNanchor_837"></a><a href="#Footnote_837" class="fnanchor">837</a></p> + +<p class="tb">To give an adequate account of the numerous and talented +historians of the Mameluke period would require far more +<span class="sidenote"> Historians of +the Mameluke +period.</span> +space than they can reasonably claim in a review +of this kind. Concerning Ibn Khaldún, who +held a professorship as well as the office of Cadi +in Cairo under Sultan Barqúq (1382-1398 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), we have +already spoken at some length. This extraordinary genius +discovered principles and methods which might have been + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_453" id="Page_453" href="#"><span><i>MAQRÍZÍ AND OTHER HISTORIANS</i></span>453</a></span> + +expected to revolutionise historical science, but neither was +he himself capable of carrying them into effect nor, as the +event proved, did they inspire his successors to abandon +the path of tradition. I cannot imagine any more decisive +symptom of the intellectual lethargy in which Islam was +now sunk, or any clearer example of the rule that even +the greatest writers struggle in vain against the spirit of +their own times. There were plenty of learned men, however, +who compiled local and universal histories. Considering +the precious materials which their industry has preserved for +us, we should rather admire these diligent and erudite authors +than complain of their inability to break away from the +established mode. Perhaps the most famous among them +is Taqiyyu ’l-Dín al-Maqrízí (1364-1442 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). A native +of Cairo, he devoted himself to Egyptian history and +antiquities, on which subject he composed several standard +works, such as the <i>Khiṭaṭ</i><a name="FNanchor_838" id="FNanchor_838"></a><a href="#Footnote_838" class="fnanchor">838</a> and the <i>Sulúk</i>.<a name="FNanchor_839" id="FNanchor_839"></a><a href="#Footnote_839" class="fnanchor">839</a> Although he +was both unconscientious and uncritical, too often copying +without acknowledgment or comment, and indulging in +wholesale plagiarism when it suited his purpose, <span class="sidenote"> Maqrízí.</span> +these faults which are characteristic of his age may +easily be excused. "He has accumulated and reduced to a +certain amount of order a large quantity of information that +would but for him have passed into oblivion. He is generally +painstaking and accurate, and always resorts to contemporary +evidence if it is available. Also he has a pleasant and lucid +style, and writes without bias and apparently with distinguished +impartiality."<a name="FNanchor_840" id="FNanchor_840"></a><a href="#Footnote_840" class="fnanchor">840</a> Other well-known works belonging to this + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_454" id="Page_454" href="#"><span><i>THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER</i></span>454</a></span> + +epoch are the <i>Fakhrí</i> of Ibnu ’l-Ṭiqṭaqá, a delightful manual +of Muḥammadan politics<a name="FNanchor_841" id="FNanchor_841"></a><a href="#Footnote_841" class="fnanchor">841</a> which was written at Mosul in +1302 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>; the epitome of universal history by Abu ’l-Fidá, +Prince of Ḥamát († 1331); the voluminous Chronicle of +Islam by Dhahabí († 1348); the high-flown Biography of +Tímúr entitled <i>‘Ajá’ibu ’l-Maqdúr</i>, or 'Marvels of Destiny,' +by Ibn ‘Arabsháh († 1450); and the <i>Nujúm al-Záhira</i> +('Resplendent Stars') by Abu ’l-Maḥásin b. Taghríbirdí +(† 1469), which contains the annals of Egypt under the +Moslems. The political and literary history of Muḥammadan +Spain by Maqqarí of Tilimsán († 1632) was mentioned +in the last chapter.<a name="FNanchor_842" id="FNanchor_842"></a><a href="#Footnote_842" class="fnanchor">842</a></p> + +<p>If we were asked to select a single figure who should exhibit +as completely as possible in his own person the literary +<span class="sidenote">Jalálu ’l-Dín al-Suyúṭí +(1445-1505 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +tendencies of the Alexandrian age of Arabic +civilisation, our choice would assuredly fall on +Jalálu ’l-Dín al-Suyúṭí, who was born at Suyúṭ +(Usyúṭ) in Upper Egypt in 1445 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> His family came +originally from Persia, but, like Dhahabí, Ibn Taghríbirdí, and +many celebrated writers of this time, he had, through his +mother, an admixture of Turkish blood. At the age of five +years and seven months, when his father died, the precocious +boy had already reached the <i>Súratu ’l-Taḥrím</i> (Súra of Forbidding), +which is the sixty-sixth chapter of the Koran, and he +knew the whole volume by heart before he was eight years old. +He prosecuted his studies under the most renowned masters +in every branch of Moslem learning, and on finishing his +education held one Professorship after another at Cairo until +1501, when he was deprived of his post in consequence of +malversation of the bursary monies in his charge. He died + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_455" id="Page_455" href="#"><span><i>JALÁLU ’L-DÍN AL-SUYÚṬÍ</i></span>455</a></span> + +four years later in the islet of Rawḍa on the Nile, whither he +had retired under the pretence of devoting the rest of his life +to God. We possess the titles of more than five hundred +separate works which he composed. This number would be +incredible but for the fact that many of them are brief +pamphlets displaying the author's curious erudition on all sorts +of abstruse subjects—<i>e.g.</i>, whether the Prophet wore trousers, +whether his turban had a point, and whether his parents are in +Hell or Paradise. Suyúṭí's indefatigable pen travelled over +an immense field of knowledge—Koran, Tradition, Law, +Philosophy and History, Philology and Rhetoric. Like some +of the old Alexandrian scholars, he seems to have taken pride +in a reputation for polygraphy, and his enemies declared that +he made free with other men's books, which he used to alter +slightly and then give out as his own. Suyúṭí, on his part, +laid before the Shaykhu ’l-Islám a formal accusation of +plagiarism against Qasṭallání, an eminent contemporary divine. +We are told that his vanity and arrogance involved him in +frequent quarrels, and that he was 'cut' by his learned +brethren. Be this as it may, he saw what the public wanted. +His compendious and readable handbooks were famed +throughout the Moslem world, as he himself boasts, from +India to Morocco, and did much to popularise the scientific +culture of the day. It will be enough to mention here the +<i>Itqán</i> on Koranic exegesis; the <i>Tafsíru ’l-Jalálayn</i>, or 'Commentary +on the Koran by the two Jaláls,' which was begun +by Jalálu ’l-Dín al-Maḥallí and finished by his namesake, +Suyúṭí; the <i>Muzhir</i> (<i>Mizhar</i>), a treatise on philology; the +<i>Ḥusnu ’l-Muḥáḍara</i>, a history of Old and New Cairo; and +the <i>Ta’ríkhu ’l-Khulafá</i>, or 'History of the Caliphs.'</p> + +<p class="tb">To dwell longer on the literature of this period would only +be to emphasise its scholastic and unoriginal character. A +passing mention, however, is due to the encyclopædists Nuwayrí +(† 1332), author of the <i>Niháyatu ’l-Arab</i>, and Ibnu ’l-Wardí + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_456" id="Page_456" href="#"><span><i>THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER</i></span>456</a></span> + +(† 1349). Ṣafadí († 1363) compiled a gigantic biographical +dictionary, the <i>Wáfí bi ’l-Wafayát</i>, in twenty-six volumes, and +the learned traditionist, Ibn Ḥajar of Ascalon <span class="sidenote"> Other scholars +of the period.</span> +(† 1449), has left a large number of writings, +among which it will be sufficient to name the +<i>Iṣába fí tamyíz al-Ṣaḥába</i>, or Lives of the Companions of the +Prophet.<a name="FNanchor_843" id="FNanchor_843"></a><a href="#Footnote_843" class="fnanchor">843</a> We shall conclude this part of our subject by +enumerating a few celebrated works which may be described +in modern terms as standard text-books for the Schools and +Universities of Islam. Amidst the host of manuals of +Theology and Jurisprudence, with their endless array of +abridgments, commentaries, and supercommentaries, possibly +the best known to European students are those by Abu +’l-Barakát al-Nasafí († 1310), ‘Aḍudu ’l-Dín al-Íjí († 1355), +Sídí Khalíl al-Jundí († 1365), Taftázání († 1389), Sharíf +al-Jurjání († 1413), and Muḥammad b. Yúsuf al-Sanúsí († 1486). +For Philology and Lexicography we have the <i>Alfiyya</i>, a +versified grammar by Ibn Málik of Jaen († 1273); the +<i>Ájurrúmiyya</i> on the rudiments of grammar, an exceedingly +popular compendium by Ṣanhájí († 1323); and two famous +Arabic dictionaries, the <i>Lisánu ’l-‘Arab</i> by Jamálu ’l-Dín Ibn +Mukarram († 1311), and the <i>Qámús</i> by Fírúzábádí († 1414). +Nor, although he was a Turk, should we leave unnoticed the +great bibliographer Ḥájjí Khalífa († 1658), whose <i>Kashfu +’l-Ẓunún</i> contains the titles, arranged alphabetically, of all +the Arabic, Persian, and Turkish books of which the +existence was known to him.</p> + +<p class="tb">The Mameluke period gave final shape to the <i>Alf Layla +wa-Layla</i>, or 'Thousand and One Nights,' a work which is +far more popular in Europe than the Koran or any other masterpiece +of Arabic literature. The modern title, 'Arabian Nights,' +tells only a part of the truth. Mas‘údí († 956 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) mentions + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_457" id="Page_457" href="#"><span><i>THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS</i></span>457</a></span> + +an old Persian book, the <i>Hazár Afsána</i> ('Thousand Tales') +which "is generally called the Thousand and One Nights; it +is the story of the King and his Vizier, and of the <span class="sidenote"> The 'Thousand +and One Nights.'</span> +Vizier's daughter and her slave-girl: Shírázád and +Dínázád."<a name="FNanchor_844" id="FNanchor_844"></a><a href="#Footnote_844" class="fnanchor">844</a> The author of the <i>Fihrist</i>, writing +in 988 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, begins his chapter "concerning the Story-Tellers +and the Fabulists and the names of the books which they +composed" with the following passage (p. 304):—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The first who composed fables and made books of them and put +them by in treasuries and sometimes introduced animals as speaking +<span class="sidenote"> Persian origin +of the 'Thousand +and One +Nights.'</span> +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 (<i>Hazár +Afsán</i>), 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 (<i>qahramána</i>) 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, and <span class="sidenote">The <i>Hazár +Afsán</i>.</span> +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' (<i>Hazár Afsán</i>) for this + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_458" id="Page_458" href="#"><span><i>THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER</i></span>458</a></span> + +purpose. 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 (<i>kitáb<sup>un</sup> ghathth<sup>un</sup> +báridu ’l-hadíth</i>).<a name="FNanchor_845" id="FNanchor_845"></a><a href="#Footnote_845" class="fnanchor">845</a></p> + +<p>Abu ‘Abdalláh Muḥammad b. ‘Abdús al-Jahshiyárí (†942-943 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), +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."</p></div> + +<p>Evidently, then, the <i>Hazár Afsán</i> was the kernel of the +'Arabian Nights,' and it is probable that this Persian +archetype included the most finely imaginative +tales in the existing collection, <i>e.g.</i>, the 'Fisherman +and the Genie,' 'Camaralzamán and <span class="sidenote"> Different sources +of the collection.</span> +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 charming + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_459" id="Page_459" href="#"><span><i>THE ROMANCE OF ‘ANTAR</i></span>459</a></span> + +paraphrase, which in some respects is more true to the spirit of +the original than are the scholarly renderings of Lane and +Burton.</p> + +<p>The 'Romance of ‘Antar' (<i>Síratu ‘Antar</i>) is traditionally +ascribed to the great philologist, Aṣma‘í,<a name="FNanchor_846" id="FNanchor_846"></a><a href="#Footnote_846" class="fnanchor">846</a> who flourished in +the reign of Hárún al-Rashíd, but this must be considered +as an invention of the professional reciters <span class="sidenote">The 'Romance +of ‘Antar.'</span> +who sit in front of Oriental cafés and entertain +the public with their lively declamations.<a name="FNanchor_847" id="FNanchor_847"></a><a href="#Footnote_847" class="fnanchor">847</a> According to +Brockelmann, the work in its present form apparently dates +from the time of the Crusades.<a name="FNanchor_848" id="FNanchor_848"></a><a href="#Footnote_848" class="fnanchor">848</a> Its 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 seven +<i>Mu‘allaqát</i>. 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 the <i>Mines de l'Orient</i> (1802) was the means +of introducing the <i>Síratu ‘Antar</i> to 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 (<i>Ḥijáziyya</i>) and the Syrian (<i>Shámiyya</i>), the +latter being very much curtailed.<a name="FNanchor_849" id="FNanchor_849"></a><a href="#Footnote_849" class="fnanchor">849</a></p> + +<p class="tb">While the decadent state of Arabic literature during all + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_460" id="Page_460" href="#"><span><i>THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER</i></span>460</a></span> + +these 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 over <span class="sidenote"> Orthodoxy and +mysticism.</span> +Islam and which manifested itself by the complete +victory of the Ash‘arites or Scholastic Theologians about +1200 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 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 of <i>ijmá‘</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, 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 the +<i>Yawáqít</i> of 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 +<i>‘Ulamá</i>, he goes on to speak of what had happened more +recently<a name="FNanchor_850" id="FNanchor_850"></a><a href="#Footnote_850" class="fnanchor">850</a>:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"They brought the Imám Abú Bakr al-Nábulusí, notwithstanding +his merit and profound learning and rectitude in religion, from the +<span class="sidenote"> Persecution of +heretics.</span> +Maghrib to Egypt and testified that he was a heretic +(<i>zindíq</i>). 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.<a name="FNanchor_851" id="FNanchor_851"></a><a href="#Footnote_851" class="fnanchor">851</a> When he silenced them by + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_461" id="Page_461" href="#"><span><i>SCHOLASTICS AND ṢÚFÍS</i></span>461</a></span> + +his arguments, they devised a plan for his destruction, thus: They +wrote the <i>Súratu ’l-Ikhláṣ</i><a name="FNanchor_852" id="FNanchor_852"></a><a href="#Footnote_852" class="fnanchor">852</a> on 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, <i>Say, God is One</i>, 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 reciting <i>muwashshaḥs</i> in +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-Shádhilí<a name="FNanchor_853" id="FNanchor_853"></a><a href="#Footnote_853" class="fnanchor">853</a> from 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-Salám<a name="FNanchor_854" id="FNanchor_854"></a><a href="#Footnote_854" class="fnanchor">854</a> of infidelity and sat in judgment over him on +account of some expressions in his <i>‘Aqída</i> (Articles of Faith) and +urged the Sultan to punish him; afterwards, however, he was +restored to favour. They denounced Shaykh Táju ’l-Dín al-Subkí<a name="FNanchor_855" id="FNanchor_855"></a><a href="#Footnote_855" class="fnanchor">855</a> +on the same charge, asserting that he held it lawful to drink wine +and that he wore at night the badge (<i>ghiyár</i>) of the unbelievers and +the zone (<i>zunnár</i>)<a name="FNanchor_856" id="FNanchor_856"></a><a href="#Footnote_856" class="fnanchor">856</a>; and they brought him, manacled and in chains, +from Syria to Egypt."</p></div> + +<p>This picture is too highly coloured. It must be admitted +for the credit of the <i>‘Ulamá</i>, that they seldom resorted +to violence. Islam was happily spared the horrors of an +organised Inquisition. On the other hand, their authority was + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_462" id="Page_462" href="#"><span><i>THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER</i></span>462</a></span> + +now 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.</p> + +<p class="tb">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.</p> + +<p>Ibn Taymiyya was born at Ḥarrán in 1263 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> A few +years later his father, fleeing before the Mongols, brought him +<span class="sidenote">Ibn Taymiyya +(1263-1328 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +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 Islam + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_463" id="Page_463" href="#"><span><i>IBN TAYMIYYA</i></span>463</a></span> + +of 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.</p> + +<p class="tb">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> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_464" id="Page_464" href="#"><span><i>THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER</i></span>464</a></span> + +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 of <i>faqíh</i> (theologian) and <i>faqír</i> (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-Wahháb <span class="sidenote">Sha‘rání +† 1565 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</span> +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 new <i>régime</i> with 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, whose <i>Meccan Revelations</i> he studied and +epitomised. His autobiography entitled <i>Laṭá’ifu ’l-Minan</i> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_465" id="Page_465" href="#"><span><i>SHA‘RÁNÍ</i></span>465</a></span> + +displays 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 recipient <i>ad majorem Dei gloriam</i>. 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 (<i>fiqh</i>) 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" (<i>ikhtiláfu ummatí +raḥmat<sup>un</sup></i>). 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 († 909-910 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). For all his extravagant pretensions +and childish belief in the supernatural, he never lost touch with +the Muḥammadan Church.</p> + +<p class="tb">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.<a name="FNanchor_857" id="FNanchor_857"></a><a href="#Footnote_857" class="fnanchor">857</a></p> + +<p>Muḥammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahháb,<a name="FNanchor_858" id="FNanchor_858"></a><a href="#Footnote_858" class="fnanchor">858</a> from whom its name is + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_466" id="Page_466" href="#"><span><i>THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER</i></span>466</a></span> + +Arabia. In his youth he visited the principal cities of the +<span class="sidenote">Muḥammad b. +‘Abd al-Wahháb +and his +successors.</span> +East, "as is much the practice with his countrymen +even now,"<a name="FNanchor_859" id="FNanchor_859"></a><a href="#Footnote_859" class="fnanchor">859</a> and 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,<a name="FNanchor_860" id="FNanchor_860"></a><a href="#Footnote_860" class="fnanchor">860</a> Ibn ‘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,<a name="FNanchor_861" id="FNanchor_861"></a><a href="#Footnote_861" class="fnanchor">861</a> a 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 maintains + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_467" id="Page_467" href="#"><span><i>THE WAHHABITE REFORMATION</i></span>467</a></span> + +its power in Central Arabia, and in recent times has acquired +political importance.</p> + +<p>The Wahhábís were regarded by the Turks as infidels and +authors of a new religion. It was natural that they should +<span class="sidenote"> The Wahhábite +Reformation.</span> +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."<a name="FNanchor_862" id="FNanchor_862"></a><a href="#Footnote_862" class="fnanchor">862</a> "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."<a name="FNanchor_863" id="FNanchor_863"></a><a href="#Footnote_863" class="fnanchor">863</a> In 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."<a name="FNanchor_864" id="FNanchor_864"></a><a href="#Footnote_864" class="fnanchor">864</a></p> + +<p>The Wahhábite movement has been compared with the + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_468" id="Page_468" href="#"><span><i>THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER</i></span>468</a></span> + +Protestant 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 Sanúsiyya +<span class="sidenote"> The Sanúsís in +Africa.</span>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 (<i>Essays +on Islam</i>, 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.</p> + +<p class="tb">Since Napoleon showed the way by his expedition to Egypt in +1798, the Moslems in that country, as likewise in Syria and North +<span class="sidenote"> Islam and +modern civilisation.</span> +Africa, have come more and more under European +influence.<a name="FNanchor_865" id="FNanchor_865"></a><a href="#Footnote_865" class="fnanchor">865</a> The 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 of + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_469" id="Page_469" href="#"><span><i>INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN CULTURE</i></span>469</a></span> + +many 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.<a name="FNanchor_866" id="FNanchor_866"></a><a href="#Footnote_866" class="fnanchor">866</a> Besides 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,<a name="FNanchor_867" id="FNanchor_867"></a><a href="#Footnote_867" class="fnanchor">867</a> the fables of La Fontaine, 'Paul and Virginia,' the +'Talisman,' 'Monte Cristo' (not to mention scores of minor +romances), and even the Iliad of Homer.<a name="FNanchor_868" id="FNanchor_868"></a><a href="#Footnote_868" class="fnanchor">868</a> Parallel 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 traditional + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_470" id="Page_470" href="#"><span><i>THE MONGOL INVASION AND AFTER</i></span>470</a></span> + +lines 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."<a name="FNanchor_869" id="FNanchor_869"></a><a href="#Footnote_869" class="fnanchor">869</a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the Past affords an ample and splendid field of +study.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"<i>Man lam ya‘i ’l-ta’ríkha fí ṣadrihí</i></span> +<span class="i0"> +<i>Lam yadri ḥulwa ’l-‘ayshi min murrihi</i></span> +<span class="i0"> +<i>Wa-man wa‘á akhbára man qad maḍá</i></span> +<span class="i0"> +<i>Aḍáfa a‘már<sup>an</sup> ilá ‘umrihí.</i>"</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"He in whose heart no History is enscrolled</span> +<span class="i0"> +Cannot discern in life's alloy the gold.</span> +<span class="i0"> +But he that keeps the records of the Dead</span> +<span class="i0"> +Adds to his life new lives a hundredfold."</span> +</div> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_471" id="Page_471" href="#"><span> </span>471</a></span></p> + +<h3>APPENDIX</h3> +<div class="blockquot"> +<p><a href="#Page_xxii">P. xxii,</a> l. 2. Arabic begins to appear in North Arabian inscriptions +in the third century <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> Perhaps the oldest yet discovered +is one, of which the probable date is 268 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, published by Jaussen +and Savignac (<i>Mission archéologique en l'Arabie</i>, 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 in <i>Islamic Culture</i> (Hyderabad, <i>Deccan</i>), April +1929, vol. iii, No. 2, p. 169, note 2.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_4">P. 4</a> foll. Concerning the Sabaeans and the South Arabic inscriptions +a great deal of valuable information will be found in +the article <i>Saba’</i> by J. Tkatsch in the <i>Encyclopædia of Islam</i>. +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, +<i>Handbuch der altarabischen Altertumskunde</i>, vol. i (Copenhagen +and Paris, 1927).</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_13">P. 13</a>, note 2. Excerpts from the <i>Shamsu ’l-‘Ulúm</i> relating +to South Arabia have been edited by Dr ‘Azímu’ddín Aḥmad +(E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Series, vol. xxiv).</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_26">P. 26</a> foll. For contemporary and later Christian accounts of +the martyrdom of the Christians of Najrán, see the fragmentary +<i>Book of the Himyarites</i> (Syriac text and English translation), ed. +by A. Moberg in 1924, and cf. Tor Andrae, <i>Der Ursprung des +Islams und das Christentum</i> (Uppsala, 1926), pp. 10-13.</p> + +<p>P. 31. The collection of Arabic proverbs, entitled <i>Kitábu +’l-Fákhir</i>, by Mufaḍḍal b. Salama of Kúfa, is now available in +the excellent edition of Mr C. A. Storey (Leyden, 1915).</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_32">P. 32</a>, note 1. An edition of the <i>Aghání</i> with critical notes is +in course of publication at Cairo.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_52">P. 52</a>, 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 583 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> (Guidi, +<i>L'Arabie antéislamique</i>, p. 27).</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_127">P. 127</a>, l. 16. The ode <i>Bánat Su‘ád</i> is rendered into English in +my <i>Translations of Eastern Poetry and Prose</i>, pp. 19-23.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_133">P. 133</a>. 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 the + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_472" id="Page_472" href="#"><span><i>APPENDIX</i></span>472</a></span> + +<i>Mufaḍḍalīyāt</i>, 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 (<i>The Origins of Arabic Poetry, J.R.A.S.</i>, +1925, p. 417 foll.).</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_145">P. 145</a>, l. 2. The oldest extant commentary on the Koran is +that of Bukhárí in ch. 65 of the <i>Ṣaḥíḥ</i>, ed. Krehl, vol. iii, pp. +193-390.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_146">P. 146</a>, note 2. Recent investigators (Caetani and Lammens) +are far more sceptical. Cf. Snouck Hurgronje, <i>Mohammedanism</i>, +p. 22 foll.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_152">P. 152</a>, note 5. As suggested by Mr Richard Bell (<i>The Origin +of Islam in its Christian environment</i>, p. 88), the word <i>rujz</i> is in +all likelihood identical with the Syriac <i>rugza</i>, wrath, so that this +verse of the Koran means, "Flee from the wrath to come."</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_170">P. 170</a>, 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> + +<p><a href="#Page_184">P. 184</a>, l. 4 foll. Professor Snouck Hurgronje (<i>Mohammedanism</i>, +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 case <i>dhikr<sup>un</sup> li ’l-‘álamín</i> in 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> + +<p><a href="#Page_223">P. 223</a>, l. 9. In an article which appeared in the <i>Rivista degli +studi orientali</i>, 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 (<i>Murúju ’l-Dhahab</i>, vol. vi, +p. 22, and vol. vii, p. 234), is derived from <i>i‘tizál</i>, <i>i.e.</i> the doctrine +that anyone who commits a capital sin has thereby withdrawn +himself (<i>i‘tazala</i>) from the true believers and taken a position +(described as <i>fisq</i>, 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> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_473" id="Page_473" href="#"><span><i>APPENDIX</i></span>473</a></span> + +<a href="#Page_225">P. 225</a>, l. 1. The Ḥadíth, "No monkery (<i>rahbániyya</i>) in Islam," +probably dates from the third century of the Hijra. According +to the usual interpretation of Koran, LVII, 27, the <i>rahbániyya</i> +practised by Christian ascetics is condemned as an innovation +not authorised by divine ordinance; but Professor Massignon +(<i>Essai sur les origines du lexique technique de la mystique musulmane</i>, +p. 123 foll.) shows that by some of the early Moslem commentators +and also by the Ṣúfís of the third century <span class="smcap">a.h.</span> 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> + +<p><a href="#Page_225">P. 225</a>, l. 6 from foot. For the life and doctrines of Ḥasan of +Baṣra, see Massignon, <i>op. cit.</i>, p. 152 foll.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_228">P. 228</a> foll. It can now be stated with certainty that the name +"Ṣúfí" originated in Kúfa in the second century <span class="smcap">a.h.</span> 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> + +<p><a href="#Page_233">P. 233</a>, l. 4 from foot. In <i>Rābi‘a the Mystic</i> (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> + +<p><a href="#Page_313">P. 313</a> foll. The text and translation of 332 extracts from the +Luzúmiyyát will be found in ch. ii of my <i>Studies in Islamic Poetry</i>, +pp. 43-289.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_218">P. 318</a>, l. 12. Since there is no warrant for the antithesis of +"knaves" and "fools," these verses are more faithfully rendered +(<i>op. cit.</i>, p. 167):</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">They all err—Moslems, Christians, Jews, and Magians;</span> +<span class="i0">Two make Humanity's universal sect:</span> +<span class="i0">One man intelligent without religion,</span> +<span class="i0">And one religious without intellect.</span> +</div> +</div> + +<p><a href="#Page_318">P. 318</a>, l. 7 from foot. <i>Al-Fuṣúl wa ’l-Gháyát</i>. No copy of +this work was known before 1919, when the discovery of the first +part of it was announced (<i>J.R.A.S.</i>, 1919, p. 449).</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_318">P. 318</a>, note 2. An edition of the <i>Risálatu ’l-Ghufrán</i> by Shaykh +Ibráhím al-Yáziji was published at Cairo in 1907.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_319">P. 319</a>, l. 6. The epistle of ‘Alí b. Manṣúr al-Ḥalabí (Ibnu +’l-Qáriḥ), to which the <i>Risálatu ’l-Ghufrán</i> is the reply, has been +published in <i>Rasá’ilu ’l-Bulaghá</i>, ed. Muḥammad Kurd ‘Alí +(Cairo, 1913).</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_474" id="Page_474" href="#"><span><i>APPENDIX</i></span>474</a></span></p> + +<p><a href="#Page_332">P. 332</a>, note 2. For rhymed prose renderings of the 11th and +12th <i>Maqámas</i>, see <i>Translations of Eastern Poetry and Prose</i>, +pp. 116-124.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_367">P. 367</a>, 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's <i>Kitábu ’l-Intiṣár</i> (ed. H. S. +Nyberg, Cairo, 1926), a third (ninth) century polemical work +directed against the Shí‘ite freethinker Ibnu ’l-Ráwandí (cf. p. 375 +<i>supra</i>). 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 "<i>zanádiqa</i>" in Persia and especially in ‘Iráq (cf. +I. Guidi, <i>La Lotta tra l'Islam e il Manicheismo</i> (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, <i>Der Orient und die Griechische Erbe</i> in W. Jaeger's +<i>Die Antike</i>, vol. iv, p. 261 foll.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_370">P. 370</a>, 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 the <i>Ikhwánu ’l-Ṣafá</i> requires 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 the <i>Ikhwán</i>.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_375">P. 375</a>, note 2. Professor Schaeder thinks that Middle Persian +<i>zandík</i> has nothing to do with the Aramaic <i>zaddíq</i> (<i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, +vol. 82, Heft 3-4, p. lxxx).</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_383">Pp. 383-393</a>. 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> + +<p><a href="#Page_383">P. 383</a>. Massignon's view is that Ṣúfiism (down to the fourth +century <span class="smcap">a.h.</span>) 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 have + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_475" id="Page_475" href="#"><span><i>APPENDIX</i></span>475</a></span> + +been vitally affected by contact with the ancient Hellenistic +culture of the Sásánian and Byzantine empires on its native +soil. Cf. A. J. Wensinck, <i>The Book of the Dove</i> (Leyden, +1919) and <i>Mystic Treatises by Isaac of Niniveh</i> (Amsterdam, +1923).</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_384">P. 384</a>, l. 1. The identity of third-century Ṣúfiism with the +doctrines of the Vedanta is maintained by M. Horten (<i>Indische +Strömungen in der Islamischen Mystik</i>, Heidelberg, 1927-8). Few, +however, would admit this. The conversion of Ṣúfiism into a +monistic philosophy was the work of Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí (1165-1240 +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). See p. 402 foll.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_384">P. 384</a>, l. 5. The so-called "Theology of Aristotle," translated +from Syriac into Arabic about 830 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, is mainly an abstract of +the <i>Enneads</i> of Plotinus. There is an edition with German translation +by Dieterici.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_385">P. 385</a>, 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 +(<i>Essai</i>, 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 his <i>Studies in the Psychology of the +Mystics</i>, tr. Thorold (1927), pp. 241-9.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_386">P. 386</a>, l. 6 from foot. For Dhu ’l-Nún, see Massignon, <i>op. cit.</i>, +p. 184 foll.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_389">P. 389</a>, l. 12. <i>The Book of the Holy Hierotheos</i> has recently been +edited in Syriac for the first time, with English translation, by +F. S. Marsh (Text and Translation Society, 1927).</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_391">P. 391</a>. For Báyazíd of Bisṭám, see Massignon, <i>op. cit.</i>, p. 243 +foll. The oldest complete Arabic version of his "Ascension" +(<i>Mi‘ráj</i>)—a spiritual dream-experience—has been edited and +translated into English in <i>Islamica</i>, vol. ii, fasc. 3, p. 402 foll.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_396">P. 396</a>, l. 8. See my essay on the Odes of Ibnu ’l-Fáriḍ (<i>Studies +in Islamic Mysticism</i>, pp. 162-266), which comprises translations +of the Khamriyya and three-fourths of the <i>Tá’iyyatu ’l-Kubrá</i>.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_399">P. 399</a>, note 1. With Ḥalláj, thanks to the monumental work +of Massignon (<i>La Passion d'al-Ḥalláj</i>, 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, <i>op. cit.</i>, pp. +249-281, and <i>The Idea of Personality in Ṣúfism</i> (Cambridge, 1922), +pp. 26-37.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_476" id="Page_476" href="#"><span><i>APPENDIX</i></span>476</a></span></p> + +<p><a href="#Page_402">P. 402</a>, l. 9. For Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí's theory of the Perfect Man, +see Tor Andrae, <i>Die Person Muhammeds</i>, p. 339 foll., and for the +same theory as expounded by ‘Abdu ’l-Karím al-Jílí († circ. +1410 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), a follower of Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí, in his famous treatise +entitled <i>al-Insán al-Kámil</i>, cf. <i>Studies in Islamic Mysticism</i>, pp. +77-142.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_456">P. 456</a>, 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, entitled <i>Tuḥfatu ’l-Nuẓẓár</i>, 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> + +<p><a href="#Page_465">P. 465</a>, last line. For a summary of the doctrines and history +of the Wahhábís, see the article <i>Wahhābīs</i> by Professor D. S. +Margoliouth in Hastings' <i>Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics</i>.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_469">P. 469</a>. <i>La littérature arabe au xix<sup>e</sup> siècle</i>, 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 the <i>Risálatu ’l-tauḥíd</i> of 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> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_477" id="Page_477">477</a></span></p> + +<h3>BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS BY<br /> +EUROPEAN AUTHORS</h3> + +<p>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 his <i>Literary +History of Persia</i>, vol. i, pp. 481-496, and D. B. Macdonald in his +<i>Development of Muslim Theology, etc.</i> (London, 1903), pp. 358-367, +while the Appendix to H. A. R. Gibb's <i>Arabic Literature</i> (Oxford +University Press, 1926) contains a well-chosen list of books of +reference and translations. Those who require more detailed +references may consult the <i>Bibliographie des ouvrages arabes ou +relatifs aux Arabes publ. dans l'Europe chrétienne de 1810 à 1885</i>, +by V. Chauvin (Liège, 1892-1903), the <i>Orientalische Bibliographie</i>, +edited by A. Müller, E. Kuhn, and L. Scherman (Berlin, 1887—), +the <i>Handbuch der Islam-Litteratur</i>, by D. G. Pfannmüller (Berlin +and Leipzig, 1923), and the <i>Catalogue of the Arabic Books in the +British Museum</i>, by A. G. Ellis, 2 vols. (London, 1894-1902) with +the <i>Supplementary Catalogue</i>, by A. S. Fulton and A. G. Ellis +(London, 1926).</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<h4>I</h4> + +<h4>PHILOLOGY.</h4> + +<p class="indent">1. <i>Die Semitischen Sprachen</i>, by Th. Nöldeke (2nd ed. Leipzig, +1899).<br /><br /> + +An improved and enlarged reprint of the German original +of his article, 'Semitic Languages,' in the <i>Encyclopædia +Britannica</i> (9th edition).</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_478" id="Page_478" href="#"><span><i>BIBLIOGRAPHY</i></span>478</a></span></p> + +<p class="indent">2. <i>A Grammar of the Arabic Language</i>, by W. Wright, 3rd ed., +revised by W. Robertson Smith and M. J. de Goeje, 2 vols. +(Cambridge, 1896-98).<br /><br /> + +The best Arabic grammar for advanced students. Beginners +may prefer to use the abridgment by F. du Pre +Thornton, <i>Elementary Arabic: a Grammar</i> (Cambridge +University Press, 1905).</p> + +<p class="indent">3. <i>Arabic-English Lexicon</i>, by E. W. Lane, 8 parts (London, +1863-93).<br /><br /> + +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's <i>Supplément aux Dictionnaires arabes</i>, 2 vols. +(Leyden, 1881), deserve special notice. Smaller dictionaries, +sufficient for ordinary purposes, have been compiled by +Belot (<i>Dictionnaire arabe-français</i>, Beyrout, 1928), and +Wortabet and Porter (<i>Arabic-English Dictionary</i>, 3rd ed., +Beyrout, 1913).</p> + +<p class="indent">4. <i>Abhandlungen zur Arabischen Philologie</i>, by Ignaz Goldziher, +Part I (Leyden, 1896).<br /><br /> + +Contains masterly studies on the origins of Arabic Poetry +and other matters connected with literary history.</p> + +<p class="indent">5. <i>Die Rhetorik der Araber</i>, by A. F. Mehren (Copenhagen, 1853).</p> + +<h4>II</h4> + +<h4>GENERAL WORKS ON ARABIAN HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, +GEOGRAPHY, LITERATURE, ETC.</h4> + +<p class="indent">6. <i>The Encyclopædia of Islam</i> (Leyden, 1913—). + +<br /><br />A great number of Orientalists have contributed to this +invaluable work, of which the first half (A-L) is now +completed.</p> + +<p class="indent">7. <i>Chronique de Ṭabarí, traduite sur la version persane de ... +Bel‘amí</i>, by H. Zotenberg, 4 vols. (Paris, 1867-74).</p> + +<p class="indent">8. The <i>Murúju ’l-Dhahab</i> of Mas‘údí (<i>Maçoudi: Les Prairies d'Or</i>), +Arabic text with French translation by Barbier de Meynard +and Pavet de Courteille, 9 vols., (Paris, 1861-77).<br /><br />The works of Ṭabarí and Mas‘údí are the most ancient and +celebrated Universal Histories in the Arabic language.</p> + +<p class="indent">9. <i>Abulfedæ Annales Muslemici arabice et latine</i>, by J. J. Reiske, +5 vols. (Hafniæ, 1789-94).</p> + +<p class="indent">10. <i>Der Islam im Morgen- und Abendland</i>, by August Müller, +2 vols. (Berlin, 1885-87).</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_479" id="Page_479" href="#"><span><i>BIBLIOGRAPHY</i></span>479</a></span></p> + +<p class="indent">11. <i>Histoire des Arabes</i>, by C. Huart, 2 vols. (Paris, 1912).</p> + +<p class="indent">12. <i>A Short History of the Saracens</i>, by Syed Ameer Ali (London, +1921).</p> + +<p class="indent">13. <i>Essai sur l'histoire de l'Islamisme</i>, by R. Dozy, translated from +the Dutch by Victor Chauvin (Leyden and Paris, 1879).</p> + +<p class="indent">14. <i>The Preaching of Islam, a History of the Propagation of the +Muslim Faith</i>, by T. W. Arnold (2nd ed., London, 1913).</p> + +<p class="indent">15. <i>Sketches from Eastern History</i>, by Th. Nöldeke, translated by +J. S. Black (London, 1892).</p> + +<p class="indent">16. <i>The Mohammadan Dynasties</i>, by Stanley Lane-Poole (London, +1894).<br /><br />Indispensable to the student of Moslem history.</p> + +<p class="indent">17. <i>Genealogische Tabellen der Arabischen Stämme und Familien mit +historischen und geographischen Bemerkungen in einem alphabetischen +Register</i>, by F. Wüstenfeld (Göttingen, 1852-53).</p> + +<p class="indent">18. <i>Ibn Khallikán's Biographical Dictionary</i>, translated from the +Arabic by Baron MacGuckin de Slane, 4 vols. (Oriental +Translation Fund, 1842-71).<br /><br />One of the most characteristic, instructive, and interesting +books in Arabic literature.</p> + +<p class="indent">19. <i>Géographie d'Aboulféda, traduite de l'arabe</i>, by Reinaud and +Guyard, 2 vols. (Paris, 1848-83).</p> + +<p class="indent">20. <i>Travels in Arabia Deserta</i>, by C. M. Doughty, 2 vols. (Cambridge, +1888).<br /><br />Gives a true and vivid picture of Bedouin life and manners.</p> + +<p class="indent">21. <i>Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to al-Madinah and Meccah</i>, +by Sir R. F. Burton, 2 vols. (London, 1898).</p> + +<p class="indent">22. <i>The Penetration of Arabia: a record of the development of +Western knowledge concerning the Arabian Peninsula</i>, by +D. G. Hogarth (London, 1905).</p> + +<p class="indent">23. Ḥájjí Khalífa, <i>Lexicon bibliographicum et encyclopædicum</i>, +Arabic text and Latin translation, by G. Flügel, 7 vols. +(Leipzig and London, 1835-58).</p> + +<p class="indent">24. <i>Die Geschichtschreiber der Araber und ihre Werke</i> (aus dem +xxviii. und xxix. Bande der Abhand. d. Königl. Ges. d. +Wiss. zu Göttingen), by F. Wüstenfeld (Göttingen, 1882).</p> + +<p class="indent">25. <i>Litteraturgeschichte der Araber bis zum Ende des 12. Jahrhunderts +der Hidschret</i>, by J. von Hammer-Purgstall, 7 vols. (Vienna, +1850-56).<br /><br />A work of immense extent, but unscientific and extremely +inaccurate.</p> + +<p class="indent">26. <i>Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur</i>, by Carl Brockelmann, +2 vols. (Weimar, 1898-1902).<br /><br />Invaluable for bibliography and biography.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_480" id="Page_480" href="#"><span><i>BIBLIOGRAPHY</i></span>480</a></span></p> + +<p class="indent">27. <i>A Literary History of Persia</i>, by E. G. Browne, vol. i from the +earliest times to Firdawsí (London, 1902), and vol. ii down +to the Mongol Invasion (London, 1906).<br /><br />The first volume in particular of this well-known work +contains much information concerning the literary history +of the Arabs.</p> + +<p class="indent">28. <i>A History of Arabic Literature</i>, by Clement Huart (London, +1903).<br /><br />The student will find this manual useful for purposes of +reference.</p> + +<p class="indent">29. <i>Arabic Literature: an Introduction</i>, by H. A. R. Gibb (London, +1926).<br /><br />A trustworthy outline of the subject.</p> + +<p class="indent">30. <i>Arabum Proverbia</i>, Arabic text with Latin translation, by +G. W. Freytag, 3 vols. (Bonn, 1838-43).</p> + +<p class="indent">31. <i>Arabic Proverbs</i>, by J. L. Burckhardt (2nd ed., London, 1875).</p> + +<h4>III</h4> + +<h4>PRE-ISLAMIC HISTORY, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION.</h4> + +<p>32. <i>Essai sur l'histoire des Arabes avant l'Islamisme</i>, by A. P. +Caussin de Perceval, 3 vols. (Paris, 1847-48).<br /><br />Affords an excellent survey of Pre-islamic legend and +tradition.</p> + +<p class="indent">33. <i>Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden</i>, translated +from the Annals of Ṭabarí, by Th. Nöldeke (Leyden, +1879).<br /><br />The ample commentary accompanying the translation is +valuable and important in the highest degree.</p> + +<p class="indent">34. <i>Fünf Mo‘allaqát übersetzt und erklärt</i>, by Th. Nöldeke (Vienna, +1899-1901).<br /><br />The omitted <i>Mu‘allaqas</i> are those of Imru’u ’l-Qays and +Tarafa.</p> + +<p class="indent">35. <i>The Seven Golden Odes of Pagan Arabia</i>, translated from the +original Arabic by Lady Anne Blunt and done into English +verse by Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (London, 1903).</p> + +<p class="indent">36. <i>Hamâsa oder die ältesten arabischen Volkslieder übersetzt und +erläutert</i>, by Friedrich Rückert, 2 vols. (Stuttgart, 1846).<br /><br />Masterly verse-translations of the old Arabian poetry.</p> + +<p class="indent">37. <i>Translations of ancient Arabian poetry, chiefly Pre-islamic</i>, with +an introduction and notes, by C. J. Lyall (London, 1885).</p> + +<p class="indent">38. <i>Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Poesie der alten Araber</i>, by Th. +Nöldeke (Hannover, 1864).</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_481" id="Page_481" href="#"><span><i>BIBLIOGRAPHY</i></span>481</a></span></p> + +<p class="indent">39. <i>Studien in arabischen Dichtern</i>, Heft iii, <i>Altarabisches Beduinenleben +nach den Quellen geschildert</i>, by G. Jacob (Berlin, 1897).</p> + +<p class="indent">40. <i>Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia</i>, by W. Robertson +Smith (2nd ed., London, 1903).</p> + +<p class="indent">41. <i>Lectures on the Religion of the Semites</i>, First Series, by W. +Robertson Smith, 3rd ed., revised by S. A. Cook (London, +1927).</p> + +<p class="indent">42. <i>Reste Arabischen Heidentums</i>, by J. Wellhausen (2nd ed., +Berlin, 1897).</p> + +<h4>IV</h4> + +<h4>MUḤAMMAD AND THE KORAN.</h4> + +<p class="indent">43. <i>Das Leben Mohammed's</i>, translated from the Arabic biography +of Ibn Hishám by G. Weil, 2 vols. (Stuttgart, 1864).</p> + +<p class="indent">44. <i>Muhammed in Medina</i>, by J. Wellhausen (Berlin, 1882).<br /><br />An abridged translation of Wáqidí's work on Muḥammad's +Campaigns.</p> + +<p class="indent">45. <i>Das Leben und die Lehre des Moḥammad</i>, by A. Sprenger, +3 vols. (Berlin, 1861-65).</p> + +<p class="indent">46. <i>Life of Mahomet</i>, by Sir W. Muir, ed. by T. H. Weir (Edinburgh, +1923).</p> + +<p class="indent">47. <i>Das Leben Muhammed's nach den Quellen populär dargestellt</i>, +by Th. Nöldeke (Hannover, 1863).</p> + +<p class="indent">48. <i>The Spirit of Islam</i>, by Syed Ameer Ali (London, 1922).</p> + +<p class="indent">49. <i>Mohammed</i>, by H. Grimme, 2 vols. (Münster, 1892-95).</p> + +<p class="indent">50. <i>Die weltgeschichtliche Bedeutung Arabiens: Mohammed</i>, by +H. Grimme (Munich, 1904).</p> + +<p class="indent">51. <i>Mohammed and the Rise of Islam</i>, by D. S. Margoliouth in +'Heroes of the Nations' Series (London and New York, +1905).</p> + +<p class="indent">52. <i>Mohammed and Islam</i>, by A. A. Bevan in <i>The Cambridge +Mediæval History</i>, vol. ii, ch. 10 (Cambridge, 1913).</p> + +<p class="indent">53. <i>Die Person Muhammeds in Lehre und Glauben seiner Gemeinde</i>, +by Tor Andrae (Uppsala, 1918).</p> + +<p class="indent">54. <i>The origin of Islam in its Christian environment</i>, by R. Bell +(London, 1926).</p> + +<p class="indent">55. <i>Annali dell' Islām</i>, by Leone Caetani, Principe di Teano, vol. i +(Milan, 1905).<br /><br />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 +(622-628 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_482" id="Page_482" href="#"><span><i>BIBLIOGRAPHY</i></span>482</a></span></p> + +<p class="indent">56. <i>The Koran</i>, translated into English with notes and a preliminary +discourse, by G. Sale (London, 1734).<br /><br />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 in <i>The World's Classics</i>, vol. 328.</p> + +<p class="indent">57. <i>Geschichte des Qorâns</i>, by Th. Nöldeke, 2nd ed., revised by +F. Schwally (Leipzig, 1909-19).<br /><br /><i>Cf.</i> Nöldeke's essay, 'The Koran,' in <i>Sketches from Eastern +History</i>, pp. 21-59, or his article in the <i>Encyclopædia +Britannica</i> (11th ed.).</p> + +<p class="indent">58. <i>The Teaching of the Qur’ān</i>, by H. W. Stanton (London, 1920).</p> + +<h4>V</h4> + +<h4>THE HISTORY OF THE CALIPHATE.</h4> + +<p class="indent">59. <i>The Caliphate</i>, by T. W. Arnold (Oxford, 1924).</p> + +<p class="indent">60. <i>Geschichte der Chalifen</i>, by G. Weil, 3 vols. (Mannheim, +1846-51).<br /><br />Completed by the same author's <i>Geschichte des Abbasiden-Chalifats +in Egypten</i>, 2 vols. (Stuttgart, 1860-62).</p> + +<p class="indent">61. <i>Annals of the Early Caliphate</i>, by Sir W. Muir (London, 1883).</p> + +<p class="indent">62. <i>The Caliphate, its rise, decline, and fall</i>, by Sir W. Muir (2nd ed., +London, 1924).</p> + +<p class="indent">63. <i>The Arab Conquest of Egypt and the last thirty years of Roman +dominion</i>, by A. J. Butler (London, 1902).</p> + +<p class="indent">64. <i>Das Arabische Reich und sein Sturz</i>, by J. Wellhausen (Berlin, +1902).<br /><br />An excellent history of the Umayyad dynasty based on +the Annals of Tabarí.</p> + +<p class="indent">65. <i>The Eclipse of the Abbasid Caliphate</i>, by H. F. Amedroz and +D. S. Margoliouth, 7 vols. (Oxford, 1920-1).<br /><br />Arabic texts and translations valuable for the history of +the fourth century <span class="smcap">a.h.</span></p> + +<p class="indent">66. <i>The life and times of ‘Alí b. ‘Ísá, the Good Vizier</i>, by H. Bowen +(Cambridge, 1928).</p> + +<p class="indent">67. <i>Geschichte der Fatimiden-Chalifen, nach arabischen Quellen</i>, by +F. Wüstenfeld (Göttingen, 1881).</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_483" id="Page_483" href="#"><span><i>BIBLIOGRAPHY</i></span>483</a></span></p> + +<h4>VI</h4> + +<h4>THE HISTORY OF MOSLEM CIVILISATION.</h4> + +<p class="indent">68. <i>Prolégomènes d'Ibn Khaldoun</i>, a French translation of the +<i>Muqaddima</i> or Introduction prefixed by Ibn Khaldún to his +Universal History, by Baron MacGuckin de Slane, 3 vols. +(in <i>Notices et Extraits des Manuscrits de la Bibliothèque +Impériale</i>, vols. xix-xxi, Paris, 1863-68).</p> + +<p class="indent">69. <i>Culturgeschichte des Orients unter den Chalifen</i>, by A. von +Kremer, 2 vols. (Vienna, 1875-77).</p> + +<p class="indent">70. <i>Culturgeschichtliche Streifzüge auf dem Gebiete des Islams</i>, by +A. von Kremer (Leipzig, 1873).<br /><br />This work has been translated into English by S. Khuda +Bukhsh in his <i>Contributions to the History of Islamic Civilization</i> +(Calcutta, 1905; 2nd ed., 1929).</p> + +<p class="indent">71. <i>Geschichte der herrschenden Ideen des Islams</i>, by A. von Kremer +(Leipzig, 1868).<br /><br />A celebrated and most illuminating book.</p> + +<p class="indent">72. <i>La civilisation des Arabes</i>, by G. Le Bon (Paris, 1884).</p> + +<p class="indent">73. <i>Muhammedanische Studien</i>, by Ignaz Goldziher (Halle, +1888-90).<br /><br />This book, which has frequently been cited in the foregoing +pages, should be read by every serious student of +Moslem civilisation.</p> + +<p class="indent">74. <i>Islamstudien</i>, vol. i, by C. H. Becker (Leipzig, 1924).</p> + +<p class="indent">75. <i>Umayyads and ‘Abbásids</i>, being the Fourth Part of Jurji +Zaydán's <i>History of Islamic Civilisation</i>, translated by D. S. +Margoliouth (E. J. W. Gibb Memorial, vol. iv, 1907).</p> + +<p class="indent">76. <i>Die Renaissance des Islams</i>, by A. Mez (Heidelberg, 1922).</p> + +<p class="indent">77. <i>Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate</i>, by G. le Strange +(Oxford, 1900).</p> + +<p class="indent">78. <i>A Baghdad Chronicle</i>, by R. Levy (Cambridge, 1929).</p> + +<p class="indent">79. <i>The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate</i>, by G. le Strange (Cambridge, +1905).</p> + +<p class="indent">80. <i>Palestine under the Moslems</i>, by G. le Strange (London, 1890).</p> + +<p class="indent">81. <i>Painting in Islam</i>, by T. W. Arnold (Oxford, 1928).</p> + +<p class="indent">82. <i>Moslem Architecture</i>, by G. T. Rivoira, translated by G. M. +Rushforth (Oxford, 1919).</p> + +<p class="indent">83. <i>Arabian Society in the Middle Ages</i>, by E. W. Lane, edited by +Stanley Lane-Poole (London, 1883).</p> + +<p class="indent">84. <i>Die Araber im Mittelalter und ihr Einfluss auf die Cultur +Europa's</i>, by G. Diercks (2nd ed., Leipzig, 1882).</p> + +<p class="indent">85. <i>An account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians</i>, +by E. W. Lane (5th ed., London, 1871).</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_484" id="Page_484" href="#"><span><i>BIBLIOGRAPHY</i></span>484</a></span></p> + +<h4>VII</h4> + +<h4>MUḤAMMADAN RELIGION, THEOLOGY, JURISPRUDENCE, +PHILOSOPHY, AND MYSTICISM.</h4> + +<p class="indent">86. <i>Development of Muslim Theology, Jurisprudence, and Constitutional +Theory</i>, by Duncan B. Macdonald (London, 1903).<br /><br />The best general sketch of the subject.</p> + +<p class="indent">87. <i>Asch-Schahrastâni's Religionspartheien und Philosophen-Schulen</i>, +translated by T. Haarbrücker (Halle, 1850-51).</p> + +<p class="indent">88. <i>The Traditions of Islam</i>, by A. Guillaume (Oxford, 1924).<br /><br />See also No. 73, Pt. ii.</p> + +<p class="indent">89. <i>Les traditions islamiques trad. de l'arabe</i>, by O. Houdas and +W. Marçais (Paris, 1903-14).<br /><br />A translation of the celebrated collection of Traditions +by Bukhárí.</p> + +<p class="indent">90. <i>A Handbook of early Muhammadan Tradition</i>, by A. J. +Wensinck (Leyden, 1927).</p> + +<p class="indent">91. <i>Mohammedanism</i>, by C. Snouck Hurgronje (American lectures +on the history of religions, 1916).</p> + +<p class="indent">92. <i>Vorlesungen über den Islam</i>, by I. Goldziher (Heidelberg, +1910; 2nd ed., 1925).</p> + +<p class="indent">93. <i>The Early Development of Mohammedanism</i>, by D. S. Margoliouth +(London, 1914; re-issued, 1927).</p> + +<p class="indent">94. <i>L'Islam, croyances et institutions</i>, by H. Lammens (Beyrout, +1926); translation by E. Denison Ross (London, 1929).</p> + +<p class="indent">95. <i>The Islamic Faith</i>, by T. W. Arnold (Benn's Sixpenny Library, +No. 42).</p> + +<p class="indent">96. <i>The History of Philosophy in Islam</i>, by T. J. de Boer, translated +by E. R. Jones (London, 1903).</p> + +<p class="indent">97. <i>Die Mutaziliten oder die Freidenker im Islam</i>, by H. Steiner +(Leipzig, 1865).</p> + +<p class="indent">98. <i>Die Philosophie der Araber im X. Jahrhundert n. Chr. aus den +Schriften der lautern Brüder herausgegeben</i>, by F. Dieterici +(Berlin and Leipzig, 1861-79).</p> + +<p class="indent">99. <i>Averroes et l'Averroisme</i>, by E. Renan (Paris, 1861).</p> + +<p class="indent">100. <i>Mélanges de Philosophie Juive et Arabe</i>, by S. Munk (Paris, +1859).</p> + +<p class="indent">101. <i>Fragments, relatifs à la doctrine des Ismaélîs</i>, by S. Guyard +(Paris, 1874).</p> + +<p class="indent">102. <i>Exposé de la Religion des Druzes</i>, by Silvestre de Sacy, 2 vols. +(Paris, 1838).</p> + +<p class="indent">103. <i>The Mystics of Islam</i>, by R. A. Nicholson (London, 1914).</p> + +<p class="indent">104. <i>The Religious Attitude and Life in Islam</i>, by D. B. Macdonald +(Chicago, 1909).</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_485" id="Page_485" href="#"><span><i>BIBLIOGRAPHY</i></span>485</a></span></p> + +<p class="indent">105. <i>Essai sur les origines du lexique technique de la mystique +musulmane</i>, by L. Massignon (Paris, 1922).</p> + +<p class="indent">106. <i>La Passion d'al-Halláj</i>, by L. Massignon, 2 vols. (Paris, 1922).</p> + +<p class="indent">107. <i>Al-Ḳuschairîs Darstellung des Ṣûfîtums</i>, by Richard Hartmann +(Berlin, 1914).</p> + +<p class="indent">108. <i>Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-‘Arabī</i>, by H. S. Nyberg (Leiden, +1919).</p> + +<p class="indent">109. <i>Studies in Islamic Mysticism</i>, by R. A. Nicholson (Cambridge, +1921).</p> + +<p class="indent">110. <i>The Idea of Personality in Ṣúfism</i>, by R. A. Nicholson (Cambridge, +1923).</p> + +<p class="indent">111. <i>The Dervishes or Oriental Spiritualism</i>, by John P. Brown, +ed. by H. A. Rose (London, 1927).</p> + +<p class="indent">112. <i>Les Confréries religieuses musulmanes</i>, by O. Depont and +X. Coppolani (Algiers, 1897).</p> + +<h4>VIII</h4> + +<h4>THE HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF THE MOORS.</h4> + +<p class="indent">113. <i>Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne jusqu'à la conquête de +l'Andalusie par les Almoravides</i> (711-1110 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), by R. Dozy, +4 vols. (Leyden, 1861). Translated into English under the +title <i>Spanish Islam</i> by F. G. Stokes (London, 1913).</p> + +<p class="indent">114. <i>History of the Moorish Empire in Europe</i>, by S. P. Scott, +3 vols. (New York, 1904).</p> + +<p class="indent">115. <i>The Moriscos of Spain, their conversion and expulsion</i>, by +H. C. Lea (Philadelphia, 1901).</p> + +<p class="indent">116. <i>History of the Mohammedan dynasties of Spain</i>, translated +from the <i>Nafḥ al-Ṭíb</i> of Maqqarí by Pascual de Gayangos, +2 vols. (London, Oriental Translation Fund, 1840-43).</p> + +<p class="indent">117. <i>The History of the Almohades</i>, by ‘Abdu ’l-Wáḥid al-Marrákoshí, +translated by E. Fagnan (Algiers, 1893).</p> + +<p class="indent">118. <i>Recherches sur l'histoire et la littérature de l'Espagne pendant +le moyen âge</i>, by R. Dozy, 2 vols. (3rd ed., Leyden, 1881).</p> + +<p class="indent">119. <i>Poesie und Kunst der Araber in Spanien und Sicilien</i>, by +A. F. von Schack, 2 vols. (2nd ed., Stuttgart, 1877).</p> + +<p class="indent">120. <i>Moorish remains in Spain</i>, by A. F. Calvert (London, 1905).</p> + +<p class="indent">121. <i>Storia dei musulmani di Sicilia</i>, by M. Amari (Firenze, +1854-72). A revised edition is in course of publication.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_486" id="Page_486" href="#"><span><i>BIBLIOGRAPHY</i></span>486</a></span></p> + +<h4>IX</h4> + +<h4>THE HISTORY OF THE ARABS FROM THE MONGOL +INVASION IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY TO THE +PRESENT DAY.</h4> + +<p class="indent">122. <i>Histoire des Sultans Mamlouks de l'Égypte, écrite en arabe par +Taki-eddin Ahmed Makrizi, traduite en français ... par</i> +M. Quatremère, 2 vols. (Oriental Translation Fund, 1845).</p> + +<p class="indent">123. <i>The Mameluke or Slave dynasty of Egypt</i>, by Sir W. Muir +(London, 1896).</p> + +<p class="indent">124. <i>Histoire de Bagdad depuis la domination des Khans mongols +jusqu'au massacre des Mamlouks</i>, by C. Huart (Paris, 1901).</p> + +<p class="indent">125. <i>History of the Egyptian revolution from the period of the Mamelukes +to the death of Mohammed Ali</i>, by A. A. Paton, 2 vols. +(London, 1870).</p> + +<p class="indent">126. <i>The Shaikhs of Morocco in the XVI<sup>th</sup> century</i>, by T. H. Weir +(Edinburgh, 1904).</p> + +<p class="indent">127. <i>The Arabic Press of Egypt</i>, by M. Hartmann (London, 1899).</p> + +<p class="indent">128. <i>Neuarabische Volkspoesie gesammelt und uebersetzt</i>, by Enno +Littmann (Berlin, 1902).</p> + +<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1"><span class="label">1</span></a> H. Grimme, <i>Weltgeschichte in Karakterbildern: Mohammed</i> (Munich, +1904), p. 6 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2" id="Footnote_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2"><span class="label">2</span></a> <i>Cf.</i> Nöldeke, <i>Die Semitischen Sprachen</i> (Leipzig, 1899), or the same +scholar's article, 'Semitic Languages,' in the <i>Encyclopædia Britannica</i>, +11th edition. Renan's <i>Histoire générale des langues sémitiques</i> (1855) is now +antiquated. An interesting essay on the importance of the Semites in the +history of civilisation was published by F. Hommel as an introduction to +his <i>Semitischen Völker und Sprachen</i>, vol. i (Leipzig, 1883). The dates +in this table are of course only approximate.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3" id="Footnote_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3"><span class="label">3</span></a> Ibn Qutayba, <i>Kitábu ’l-Ma‘árij</i>, ed. by Wüstenfeld, p. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4" id="Footnote_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4"><span class="label">4</span></a> Full information concerning the genealogy of the Arabs will be found +in Wüstenfeld's <i>Genealogische Tabellen der Arabischen Stämme und +Familien</i> with its excellent <i>Register</i> (Göttingen, 1852-1853).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5" id="Footnote_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5"><span class="label">5</span></a> The tribes Ḍabba, Tamím, Khuzayma, Hudhayl, Asad, Kinána, and Quraysh +together formed a group which is known as Khindif, and is often distinguished +from Qays ‘Aylán.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6" id="Footnote_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6"><span class="label">6</span></a> Goldziher, <i>Muhammedanische Studien</i>, Part I, p. 133 sqq., 177 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7" id="Footnote_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7"><span class="label">7</span></a> Nöldeke in <i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 40, p. 177.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8" id="Footnote_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8"><span class="label">8</span></a> See Margoliouth, <i>Mohammed and the Rise of Islam</i>, p. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9" id="Footnote_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9"><span class="label">9</span></a> Concerning the nature and causes of this antagonism see Goldziher, +<i>op. cit.</i>, Part I, p. 78 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10" id="Footnote_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10"><span class="label">10</span></a> The word 'Arabic' is always to be understood in this sense +wherever it occurs in the following pages.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11" id="Footnote_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11"><span class="label">11</span></a> First published by Sachau in <i>Monatsberichte der Kön. Preuss. Akad. +der Wissenschaften zu Berlin</i> (February, 1881), p. 169 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12" id="Footnote_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12"><span class="label">12</span></a> See De Vogüé, <i>Syrie Centrale, Inscriptions Sémitiques</i>, p. 117. Other +references are given in <i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 35, p. 749.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13" id="Footnote_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13"><span class="label">13</span></a> On this subject the reader may consult Goldziher. <i>Muhammedanische +Studien</i>, Part I, p. 110 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14" id="Footnote_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14"><span class="label">14</span></a> Professor Margoliouth in <i>F.R.A.S.</i> for 1905, p. 418</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15" id="Footnote_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15"><span class="label">15</span></a> Nöldeke, <i>Die Semitischen Sprachen</i>, p. 36 sqq. and p. 51.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16" id="Footnote_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16"><span class="label">16</span></a> <i>Journal Asiatique</i> (March, 1835), p. 209 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17" id="Footnote_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17"><span class="label">17</span></a> Strictly speaking, the <i>Jáhiliyya</i> includes the whole time between +Adam and Muḥammad, but in a narrower sense it may be used, as here, +to denote the Pre-islamic period of Arabic Literature.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18" id="Footnote_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18"><span class="label">18</span></a> <i>Die Namen der Säugethiere bei den Südsemitischen Völkern</i>, p. 343 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19" id="Footnote_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19"><span class="label">19</span></a> <i>Iramu Dhátu ’l-‘Imád</i> (Koran, lxxxix, 6). The sense of these words is +much disputed. See especially Ṭabarí's explanation in his great commentary +on the Koran (O. Loth in <i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 35, p. 626 sqq.).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20" id="Footnote_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20"><span class="label">20</span></a> I have abridged Ṭabarí, <i>Annals</i>, i, 231 sqq. <i>Cf.</i> also chapters vii, xi, +xxvi, and xlvi of the Koran.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21" id="Footnote_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21"><span class="label">21</span></a> Koran, xi, 56-57.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22" id="Footnote_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22"><span class="label">22</span></a> See Doughty's <i>Documents Epigraphiques recueillis dans le nord de +l'Arabie</i>, p. 12 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23" id="Footnote_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23"><span class="label">23</span></a> Koran, vii, 76.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24" id="Footnote_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24"><span class="label">24</span></a> Properly Saba’ with <i>hamza</i>, both syllables being short.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25" id="Footnote_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25"><span class="label">25</span></a> The oldest record of Saba to which a date can be assigned is found in +the Assyrian cuneiform inscriptions. We read in the Annals of King +Sargon (715 <span class="smcap">b.c.</span>), "I received the tribute of Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, +of Shamsiyya, the Queen of Arabia, of Ithamara the Sabæan—gold, spices, +slaves, horses, and camels." Ithamara is identical with Yatha‘amar, a +name borne by several kings of Saba.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26" id="Footnote_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26"><span class="label">26</span></a> A. Müller, <i>Der Islam im Morgen und Abendland</i>, vol. i, p. 24 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27" id="Footnote_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27"><span class="label">27</span></a> Nöldeke, however, declares the traditions which represent Kulayb as +leading the Rabí‘a clans to battle against the combined strength of Yemen +to be entirely unhistorical (<i>Fünf Mo‘allaqát</i>, i, 44).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28" id="Footnote_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28"><span class="label">28</span></a> <i>Op. cit.</i>, p. 94 seq. An excellent account of the progress made in discovering +and deciphering the South Arabic inscriptions down to the year +1841 is given by Rödiger, <i>Excurs ueber himjaritische Inschriften</i>, in his +German translation of Wellsted's <i>Travels in Arabia</i>, vol. ii, p. 368 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29" id="Footnote_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29"><span class="label">29</span></a> Seetzen's inscriptions were published in <i>Fundgruben des Orients</i>, +vol. ii (Vienna, 1811), p. 282 sqq. The one mentioned above was afterwards +deciphered and explained by Mordtmann in the <i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 31, +p. 89 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30" id="Footnote_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30"><span class="label">30</span></a> The oldest inscriptions, however, run from left to right and from right +to left alternately (βουστρορηδόν).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31" id="Footnote_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31"><span class="label">31</span></a> <i>Notiz ueber die himjaritische Schrift nebst doppeltem Alphabet derselben</i> +in <i>Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes</i>, vol. i (Göttingen, 1837), +p. 332 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32" id="Footnote_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32"><span class="label">32</span></a> See Arnaud's <i>Relation d'un voyage à Mareb (Saba) dans l'Arabie +méridionale</i> in the <i>Journal Asiatique</i>, 4th series, vol. v (1845), p. 211 sqq. +and p. 309 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33" id="Footnote_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33"><span class="label">33</span></a> See <i>Rapport sur une mission archéologique dans le Yémen</i> in the +<i>Journal Asiatique</i>, 6th series, vol. xix (1872), pp. 5-98, 129-266, 489-547.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34" id="Footnote_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34"><span class="label">34</span></a> See D. H. Müller, <i>Die Burgen und Schlösser Südarabiens</i> in <i>S.B.W.A.</i>, +vol. 97, p. 981 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35" id="Footnote_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35"><span class="label">35</span></a> The title <i>Mukarrib</i> combines the significations of prince and +priest.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36" id="Footnote_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36"><span class="label">36</span></a> Goldziher, <i>Muhammedanische Studien</i>, Part I, p. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37" id="Footnote_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37"><span class="label">37</span></a> See F. Prætorius, <i>Unsterblichkeitsglaube und Heiligenverehrung bei +den Himyaren</i> in <i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 27, p. 645. Hubert Grimme has +given an interesting sketch of the religious ideas and customs of the +Southern Arabs in <i>Weltgeschichte in Karakterbildern: Mohammed</i> (Munich, +1904), p. 29 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38" id="Footnote_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38"><span class="label">38</span></a> <i>Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archæology</i>, vol. 5, p. 409.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39" id="Footnote_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39"><span class="label">39</span></a> This table of contents is quoted by D. H. Müller (<i>Südarabische +Studien</i>, p. 108, n. 2) from the title-page of the British Museum MS. of the +eighth book of the <i>Iklíl</i>. No complete copy of the work is known to +exist, but considerable portions of it are preserved in the British Museum +and in the Berlin Royal Library.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40" id="Footnote_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40"><span class="label">40</span></a> The poet ‘Alqama b. Dhí Jadan, whose verses are often cited in the +commentary on the 'Ḥimyarite Ode.'</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41" id="Footnote_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41"><span class="label">41</span></a> <i>Die Himjarische Kasideh</i> herausgegeben und übersetzt von Alfred von +Kremer (Leipzig, 1865). <i>The Lay of the Himyarites</i>, by W. F. Prideaux +(Sehore, 1879).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42" id="Footnote_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42"><span class="label">42</span></a> Nashwán was a philologist of some repute. His great dictionary, the +<i>Shamsu ’l-‘Ulúm</i>, is a valuable aid to those engaged in the study of South +Arabian antiquities. It has been used by D. H. Müller to fix the correct +spelling of proper names which occur in the Ḥimyarite Ode (<i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, +vol. 29, p. 620 sqq.; <i>Südarabische Studien</i>, p. 143 sqq.).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43" id="Footnote_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43"><span class="label">43</span></a> <i>Fihrist</i>, p. 89, l. 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44" id="Footnote_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44"><span class="label">44</span></a> <i>Murúju ’l-Dhahab</i>, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. iv, p. 89.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45" id="Footnote_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45"><span class="label">45</span></a> Von Kremer, <i>Die Südarabische Sage</i>, p. 56. Possibly, as he suggests +(p. 115), the story may be a symbolical expression of the fact that the +Sabæans were divided into two great tribes, Ḥimyar and Kahlán, the +former of which held the chief power.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46" id="Footnote_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46"><span class="label">46</span></a> <i>Cf.</i> Koran xxxiv, 14 sqq. The existing ruins have been described by +Arnaud in the <i>Journal Asiatique</i>, 7th series, vol. 3 (1874), p. 3 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47" id="Footnote_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47"><span class="label">47</span></a> I follow Mas‘údí, <i>Murúju ’l-Dhahab</i> (ed. by Barbier de Meynard), +vol. iii, p. 378 sqq., and Nuwayrí in Reiske's <i>Primæ lineæ Historiæ Rerum +Arabicarum</i>, p. 166 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48" id="Footnote_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48"><span class="label">48</span></a> The story of the migration from Ma’rib, as related below, may have +some historical basis, but the Dam itself was not finally destroyed until +long afterwards. Inscriptions carved on the existing ruins show that it +was more or less in working order down to the middle of the sixth +century <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> The first recorded flood took place in 447-450, and on +another occasion (in 539-542) the Dam was partially reconstructed by +Abraha, the Abyssinian viceroy of Yemen. See E. Glaser, <i>Zwei Inschriften +über den Dammbruch von Mârib</i> (<i>Mitteilungen der Vorderastatischen +Gesellschaft</i>, 1897, 6).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49" id="Footnote_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49"><span class="label">49</span></a> He is said to have gained this sobriquet from his custom of tearing to +pieces (<i>mazaqa</i>) every night the robe which he had worn during the day.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50" id="Footnote_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50"><span class="label">50</span></a> Freytag, <i>Arabum Proverbia</i>, vol. i, p. 497.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51" id="Footnote_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51"><span class="label">51</span></a> Hamdání, <i>Iklíl</i>, bk. viii, edited by D. H. Müller in <i>S.B.W.A.</i> (Vienna, +1881), vol. 97, p. 1037. The verses are quoted with some textual differences +by Yáqút, <i>Mu‘jam al-Buldán</i>, ed. by Wüstenfeld, vol. iv, 387, and Ibn +Hishám, p. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52" id="Footnote_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52"><span class="label">52</span></a> The following inscription is engraved on one of the stone cylinders +described by Arnaud. "Yatha‘amar Bayyin, son of Samah‘alí Yanúf, +Prince of Saba, caused the mountain Balaq to be pierced and erected the +flood-gates (called) Raḥab for convenience of irrigation." I translate after +D. H. Müller, <i>loc. laud.</i>, p. 965.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53" id="Footnote_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53"><span class="label">53</span></a> The words <i>Ḥimyar</i> and <i>Tubba‘</i> do not occur at all in the older inscriptions, +and very seldom even in those of a more recent date.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54" id="Footnote_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54"><span class="label">54</span></a> See Koran, xviii, 82-98.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55" id="Footnote_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55"><span class="label">55</span></a> Dhu ’l-Qarnayn is described as "the measurer of the earth" (<i>Massáḥu +’l-arḍ</i>) by Hamdání, <i>Jazíratu ’l-‘Arab</i>, p. 46, l. 10. If I may step for a +moment outside the province of literary history to discuss the mythology of +these verses, it seems to me more than probable that Dhu ’l-Qarnayn is a +personification of the Sabæan divinity ‘Athtar, who represents "sweet +Hesper-Phosphor, double name" (see D. H. Müller in <i>S.B.W.A.</i>, vol. 97, +p. 973 seq.). The Minæan inscriptions have "‘Athtar of the setting and +‘Athtar of the rising" (<i>ibid.</i>, p. 1033). Moreover, in the older inscriptions +‘Athtar and Almaqa are always mentioned together; and Almaqa, which +according to Hamdání is the name of Venus (<i>al-Zuhara</i>), was identified by +Arabian archæologists with Bilqís. For <i>qarn</i> in the sense of 'ray' or +'beam' see Goldziher, <i>Abhand. zur Arab. Philologie</i>, Part I, p. 114. I +think there is little doubt that Dhu ’l-Qarnayn and Bilqís may be added to +the examples (<i>ibid.</i>, p. 111 sqq.) of that peculiar conversion by which many +heathen deities were enabled to maintain themselves under various disguises +within the pale of Islam.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56" id="Footnote_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56"><span class="label">56</span></a> The Arabic text will be found in Von Kremer's <i>Altarabische Gedichte +ueber die Volkssage von Jemen</i>, p. 15 (No. viii, l. 6 sqq.). Ḥassán b. Thábit, +the author of these lines, was contemporary with Muḥammad, to whose +cause he devoted what poetical talent he possessed. In the verses immediately +preceding those translated above he claims to be a descendant of +Qaḥṭán.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57" id="Footnote_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57"><span class="label">57</span></a> Von Kremer, <i>Die Südarabische Sage</i>, p. vii of the Introduction.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58" id="Footnote_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58"><span class="label">58</span></a> A prose translation is given by Von Kremer, <i>ibid.</i>, p. 78 sqq. The +Arabic text which he published afterwards in <i>Altarabische Gedichte ueber +die Volkssage von Jemen</i>, p. 18 sqq., is corrupt in some places and incorrect in +others. I have followed Von Kremer's interpretation except when it seemed +to me to be manifestly untenable. The reader will have no difficulty in +believing that this poem was meant to be recited by a wandering minstrel +to the hearers that gathered round him at nightfall. It may well be the +composition of one of those professional story-tellers who flourished in +the first century after the Flight, such as ‘Abíd b. Sharya (see p. <a href="#Page_13">13</a> <i>supra</i>), +or Yazíd b. Rabí‘a b. Mufarrigh († 688 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), who is said to have invented +the poems and romances of the Ḥimyarite kings (<i>Aghání</i>, xvii, 52).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59" id="Footnote_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59"><span class="label">59</span></a> Instead of Hinwam the original has Hayyúm, for which Von Kremer +reads Ahnúm. But see Hamdání, <i>Jazíralu ’l-‘Arab</i>, p. 193, last line and +fol.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60" id="Footnote_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60"><span class="label">60</span></a> I read <i>al-jahdi</i> for <i>al-jahli</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61" id="Footnote_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61"><span class="label">61</span></a> I omit the following verses, which tell how an old woman of Medína +came to King As‘ad, imploring him to avenge her wrongs, and how he +gathered an innumerable army, routed his enemies, and returned to Ẓafár +in triumph.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62" id="Footnote_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62"><span class="label">62</span></a> Ibn Hishám, p. 13, l. 14 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63" id="Footnote_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63"><span class="label">63</span></a> Ibn Hishám, p. 15, l. 1 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64" id="Footnote_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64"><span class="label">64</span></a> Ibid., p. 17, l. 2 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65" id="Footnote_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65"><span class="label">65</span></a> Arabic text in Von Kremer's <i>Altarabische Gedichte ueber die Volkssage +von Jemen</i>, p. 20 seq.; prose translation by the same author in <i>Die +Südarabische Sage</i>, p. 84 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66" id="Footnote_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66"><span class="label">66</span></a> The second half of this verse is corrupt. Von Kremer translates (in +his notes to the Arabic text, p. 26): "And bury with me the camel +stallions (<i>al-khílán</i>) and the slaves (<i>al-ruqqán</i>)." Apart, however, from +the fact that <i>ruqqán</i> (plural of <i>raqíq</i>) is not mentioned by the lexicographers, +it seems highly improbable that the king would have commanded +such a barbarity. I therefore take <i>khílán</i> (plural of <i>khál</i>) in the +meaning of 'soft stuffs of Yemen,' and read <i>zuqqán</i> (plural of <i>ziqq</i>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67" id="Footnote_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67"><span class="label">67</span></a> Ghaymán or Miqláb, a castle near Ṣan‘á, in which the Ḥimyarite kings +were buried.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68" id="Footnote_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68"><span class="label">68</span></a> The text and translation of this section of the <i>Iklíl</i> have been published +by D. H. Müller in <i>S.B.W.A.</i>, vols. 94 and 97 (Vienna, 1879-1880).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69" id="Footnote_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69"><span class="label">69</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, xx, 8, l. 14 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70" id="Footnote_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70"><span class="label">70</span></a> Koran, lxxxv, 4 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71" id="Footnote_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71"><span class="label">71</span></a> Ṭabarí, I, 927, l. 19 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72" id="Footnote_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72"><span class="label">72</span></a> The following narrative is abridged from Ṭabarí, i, 928, l. 2 sqq. += Nöldeke, <i>Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden</i>, +p. 192 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73" id="Footnote_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73"><span class="label">73</span></a> The reader will find a full and excellent account of these matters in +Professor Browne's <i>Literary History of Persia</i>, vol. i, pp. 178-181.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74" id="Footnote_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74"><span class="label">74</span></a> Goldziher, <i>Muhammedanische Studien</i>, Part I, p. 225.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75" id="Footnote_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75"><span class="label">75</span></a> Maydání's collection has been edited, with a Latin translation by +Freytag, in three volumes (<i>Arabum Proverbia</i>, Bonn, 1838-1843).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76" id="Footnote_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76"><span class="label">76</span></a> The <i>Kitábu ’l-Aghání</i> has been published at Buláq (1284-1285 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span>) in +twenty volumes. A volume of biographies not contained in the Buláq +text was edited by R. E. Brünnow (Leiden, 1888).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77" id="Footnote_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77"><span class="label">77</span></a> <i>Muqaddima</i> of Ibn Khaldún (Beyrout, 1900), p. 554, II. 8-10; <i>Les Prolégomènes +d' Ibn Khaldoun traduits par M. de Slane</i> (Paris, 1863-68) +vol. iii, p. 331.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78" id="Footnote_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78"><span class="label">78</span></a> Published at Paris, 1847-1848, in three volumes.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79" id="Footnote_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79"><span class="label">79</span></a> These are the same Bedouin Arabs of Tanúkh who afterwards formed +part of the population of Ḥíra. See p. 38 <i>infra</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80" id="Footnote_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80"><span class="label">80</span></a> Ibn Qutayba in Brünnow's <i>Chrestomathy</i>, p. 29.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81" id="Footnote_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81"><span class="label">81</span></a> Properly <i>al-Zabbá</i>, an epithet meaning 'hairy.' According to Ṭabarí +(i, 757) her name was Ná’ila. It is odd that in the Arabic version of the +story the name Zenobia (Zaynab) should be borne by the heroine's sister.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82" id="Footnote_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82"><span class="label">82</span></a> The above narrative is abridged from <i>Aghání</i>, xiv, 73, l. 20-75, l. 25. +<i>Cf.</i> Ṭabarí, i, 757-766; Mas‘údí, <i>Murúju ’l-Dhahab</i> (ed. by Barbier de +Meynard), vol. iii, pp. 189-199.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83" id="Footnote_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83"><span class="label">83</span></a> Concerning Ḥíra and its history the reader may consult an admirable +monograph by Dr. G. Rothstein, <i>Die Dynastie der Laẖmiden in al-Ḥíra</i> +(Berlin, 1899), where the sources of information are set forth (p. 5 sqq.). +The incidental references to contemporary events in Syriac and Byzantine +writers, who often describe what they saw with their own eyes, are +extremely valuable as a means of fixing the chronology, which Arabian +historians can only supply by conjecture, owing to the want of a definite +era during the Pre-islamic period. Muḥammadan general histories +usually contain sections, more or less mythical in character, "On the +Kings of Ḥíra and Ghassán." Attention may be called in particular to the +account derived from Hishám b. Muḥammad al-Kalbí, which is preserved +by Ṭabarí and has been translated with a masterly commentary by +Nöldeke in his <i>Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden</i>. +Hishám had access to the archives kept in the churches of Ḥíra, and +claims to have extracted therefrom many genealogical and chronological +details relating to the Lakhmite dynasty (Ṭabarí, i, 770, 7).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84" id="Footnote_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84"><span class="label">84</span></a> Ḥíra is the Syriac <i>ḥértá</i> (sacred enclosure, monastery), which name +was applied to the originally mobile camp of the Persian Arabs and +retained as the designation of the garrison town.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85" id="Footnote_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85"><span class="label">85</span></a> Sadír was a castle in the vicinity of Ḥíra.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86" id="Footnote_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86"><span class="label">86</span></a> Ṭabarí, i, 853, 20 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87" id="Footnote_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87"><span class="label">87</span></a> Bahrám was educated at Ḥíra under Nu‘mán and Mundhir. The +Persian grandees complained that he had the manners and appearance of +the Arabs among whom he had grown up (Ṭabarí, i, 858, 7).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88" id="Footnote_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88"><span class="label">88</span></a> Má’ al-samá (<i>i.e.</i>, Water of the sky) is said to have been the sobriquet +of Mundhir's mother, whose proper name was Máriya or Máwiyya.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89" id="Footnote_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89"><span class="label">89</span></a> For an account of Mazdak and his doctrines the reader may consult +Nöldeke's translation of Ṭabarí, pp. 140-144, 154, and 455-467, and +Professor Browne's <i>Literary History of Persia</i>, vol. i, pp. 168-172.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90" id="Footnote_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90"><span class="label">90</span></a> Mundhir slaughtered in cold blood some forty or fifty members of the +royal house of Kinda who had fallen into his hands. Ḥárith himself was +defeated and slain by Mundhir in 529. Thereafter the power of Kinda +sank, and they were gradually forced back to their original settlements +in Ḥaḍramawt.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91" id="Footnote_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91"><span class="label">91</span></a> On another occasion he sacrificed four hundred Christian nuns to +the same goddess.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92" id="Footnote_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92"><span class="label">92</span></a> See p. 50 <i>infra</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_93" id="Footnote_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93"><span class="label">93</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, xix, 86, l. 16 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_94" id="Footnote_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94"><span class="label">94</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, xix, 87, l. 18 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_95" id="Footnote_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95"><span class="label">95</span></a> Hind was a princess of Kinda (daughter of the Ḥárith b. ‘Amr mentioned +above), whom Mundhir probably captured in one of his marauding +expeditions. She was a Christian, and founded a monastery at Ḥíra. +See Nöldeke's translation of Ṭabarí, p. 172, n. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_96" id="Footnote_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96"><span class="label">96</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, xxi, 194, l. 22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_97" id="Footnote_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97"><span class="label">97</span></a> Zayd was actually Regent of Ḥíra after the death of Qábús, and paved +the way for Mundhir IV, whose violence had made him detested by the +people (Nöldeke's translation of Ṭabarí, p. 346, n. 1).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_98" id="Footnote_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98"><span class="label">98</span></a> The Arabs called the Byzantine emperor '<i>'Qayṣar</i>,' <i>i.e.</i>, Cæsar, and the +Persian emperor '<i>Kisrá</i>,' <i>i.e.</i>, Chosroes.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_99" id="Footnote_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99"><span class="label">99</span></a> My friend and colleague, Professor A. A. Bevan, writes to me that "the +story of ‘Adí's marriage with the king's daughter is based partly on a +verse in which the poet speaks of himself as connected by marriage with +the royal house (<i>Aghání</i>, ii, 26, l. 5), and partly on another verse in which +he mentions 'the home of Hind' (<i>ibid.</i>, ii, 32, l. 1). But this Hind was +evidently a Bedouin woman, not the king's daughter."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_100" id="Footnote_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100"><span class="label">100</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, ii, 22, l. 3 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_101" id="Footnote_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101"><span class="label">101</span></a> When Hurmuz summoned the sons of Mundhir to Ctesiphon that he +might choose a king from among them, ‘Adí said to each one privately, +"If the Chosroes demands whether you can keep the Arabs in order, reply, +'All except Nu‘mán.'" To Nu‘mán, however, he said: "The Chosroes +will ask, 'Can you manage your brothers?' Say to him: 'If I am not +strong enough for them, I am still less able to control other folk!'" +Hurmuz was satisfied with this answer and conferred the crown upon +Nu‘mán.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_102" id="Footnote_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102"><span class="label">102</span></a> A full account of these matters is given by Ṭabarí, i, 1016-1024 = +Nöldeke's translation, pp. 314-324.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_103" id="Footnote_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103"><span class="label">103</span></a> A similar description occurs in Freytag's <i>Arabum Proverbia</i>, vol. ii. +p. 589 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_104" id="Footnote_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104"><span class="label">104</span></a> Ṭabarí, i, 1024-1029 = Nöldeke's translation, pp. 324-331. Ibn +Qutayba in Brünnow's <i>Chrestomathy</i>, pp. 32-33.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_105" id="Footnote_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105"><span class="label">105</span></a> A town in Arabia, some distance to the north of Medína.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_106" id="Footnote_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106"><span class="label">106</span></a> See Freytag, <i>Arabum Proverbia</i>, vol. ii, p. 611.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_107" id="Footnote_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107"><span class="label">107</span></a> A celebrated Companion of the Prophet. He led the Moslem army to +the conquest of Syria, and died of the plague in 639 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_108" id="Footnote_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108"><span class="label">108</span></a> Ibn Qutayba in Brünnow's <i>Chrestomathy</i>, pp. 26-28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_109" id="Footnote_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109"><span class="label">109</span></a> The following details are extracted from Nöldeke's monograph: <i>Die +Ghassânischen Fürsten aus dem Hause Gafna's</i>, in <i>Abhand. d. Kön. Preuss. +Akad. d. Wissenschaften</i> (Berlin, 1887).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_110" id="Footnote_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110"><span class="label">110</span></a> Nöldeke, <i>op. cit.</i>, p. 20, refers to John of Ephesus, iii, 2. See <i>The +Third Part of the Ecclesiastical History of John, Bishop of Ephesus</i>, translated +by R. Payne Smith, p. 168.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_111" id="Footnote_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_111"><span class="label">111</span></a> Iyás b. Qabíṣa succeeded Nu‘mán III as ruler of Ḥíra (602-611 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). +He belonged to the tribe of Ṭayyi’. See Rothstein, <i>Laẖmiden</i>, p. 119.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_112" id="Footnote_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_112"><span class="label">112</span></a> I read <i>yatafaḍḍalu</i> for <i>yanfaṣilu</i>. The arrangement which the +former word denotes is explained in Lane's Dictionary as "the throwing +a portion of one's garment over his left shoulder, and drawing its extremity +under his right arm, and tying the two extremities together in a +knot upon his bosom."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_113" id="Footnote_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_113"><span class="label">113</span></a> The <i>fanak</i> is properly a kind of white stoat or weasel found in +Abyssinia and northern Africa, but the name is also applied by Muḥammadans +to other furs.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_114" id="Footnote_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_114"><span class="label">114</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, xvi, 15, ll. 22-30. So far as it purports to proceed from +Ḥassán, the passage is apocryphal, but this does not seriously affect its +value as evidence, if we consider that it is probably compiled from the +poet's <i>díwán</i> in which the Ghassánids are often spoken of. The particular +reference to Jabala b. al-Ayham is a mistake. Ḥassán's acquaintance +with the Ghassánids belongs to the pagan period of his life, and he +is known to have accepted Islam many years before Jabala began to +reign.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_115" id="Footnote_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_115"><span class="label">115</span></a> Nábigha, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 78; Nöldeke's <i>Delectus</i>, p. 96. The +whole poem has been translated by Sir Charles Lyall in his <i>Ancient +Arabian Poetry</i>, p. 95 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_116" id="Footnote_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_116"><span class="label">116</span></a> Thorbecke, <i>‘Antarah, ein vorislamischer Dichter</i>, p. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_117" id="Footnote_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_117"><span class="label">117</span></a> The following narrative is an abridgment of the history of the War +of Basús as related in Tibrízí's commentary on the <i>Ḥamása</i> (ed. by +Freytag), pp. 420-423 and 251-255. Cf. Nöldeke's <i>Delectus</i>, p. 39 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_118" id="Footnote_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_118"><span class="label">118</span></a> See p. 5 <i>supra</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_119" id="Footnote_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_119"><span class="label">119</span></a> Wá’il is the common ancestor of Bakr and Taghlib. For the use of +stones (anṣáb) in the worship of the Pagan Arabs see Wellhausen, <i>Reste +Arabischen Heidentums</i> (2nd ed.), p. 101 sqq. Robertson Smith, <i>Lectures +on the Religion of the Semites</i> (London, 1894), p. 200 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_120" id="Footnote_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_120"><span class="label">120</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 422, 14 sqq. Nöldeke's <i>Delectus</i>, p. 39, last line and foll.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_121" id="Footnote_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_121"><span class="label">121</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 423, 11 sqq. Nöldeke's <i>Delectus</i>, p. 41, l. 3 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_122" id="Footnote_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122"><span class="label">122</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 252, 8 seq. Nöldeke's <i>Delectus</i>, p. 44, l. 3 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_123" id="Footnote_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_123"><span class="label">123</span></a> Hind is the mother of Bakr and Taghlib. Here the Banú Hind (Sons +of Hind) are the Taghlibites.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_124" id="Footnote_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_124"><span class="label">124</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 9, 17 seq. Nöldeke's <i>Delectus</i>, p. 45, l. 10 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_125" id="Footnote_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_125"><span class="label">125</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 252, 14 seq. Nöldeke's <i>Delectus</i>, p. 46, l. 16 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_126" id="Footnote_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_126"><span class="label">126</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 254, 6 seq. Nöldeke's <i>Delectus</i>, p. 47, l. 2 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_127" id="Footnote_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_127"><span class="label">127</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 96. Ibn Nubáta, cited by Rasmussen, <i>Additamenta ad Historiam +Arabum ante Islamismum</i>, p. 34, remarks that before Qays no one +had ever lamented a foe slain by himself (<i>wa-huwa awwalu man rathá +maqtúlahu</i>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_128" id="Footnote_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_128"><span class="label">128</span></a> Ibn Hishám, p. 51, l. 7 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_129" id="Footnote_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_129"><span class="label">129</span></a> In the account of Abraha's invasion given below I have followed +Ṭabarí, i, 936, 9-945, 19 = Nöldeke's translation, pp. 206-220.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_130" id="Footnote_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_130"><span class="label">130</span></a> I read <i>ḥilálak</i>. See Glossary to Ṭabarí.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_131" id="Footnote_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_131"><span class="label">131</span></a> Ṭabarí, i, 940, 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_132" id="Footnote_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_132"><span class="label">132</span></a> Another version says: "Whenever a man was struck sores and +pustules broke out on that part of his body. This was the first appearance +of the small-pox" (Ṭabarí, i, 945, 2 sqq.). Here we have the historical +fact—an outbreak of pestilence in the Abyssinian army—which gave rise +to the legend related above.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_133" id="Footnote_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_133"><span class="label">133</span></a> There is trustworthy evidence that Abraha continued to rule Yemen +for some time after his defeat.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_134" id="Footnote_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_134"><span class="label">134</span></a> Ibn Hishám, p. 38, l. 14 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_135" id="Footnote_135"></a><a href="#FNanchor_135"><span class="label">135</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 40, l. 12 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_136" id="Footnote_136"></a><a href="#FNanchor_136"><span class="label">136</span></a> See pp. 48-49 <i>supra</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_137" id="Footnote_137"></a><a href="#FNanchor_137"><span class="label">137</span></a> Full details are given by Ṭabarí, <span class="smcap">I</span>, 1016-1037 = Nöldeke's translation, +pp. 311-345.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_138" id="Footnote_138"></a><a href="#FNanchor_138"><span class="label">138</span></a> A poet speaks of three thousand Arabs and two thousand Persians +(Ṭabarí, <span class="smcap">I</span>, 1036, 5-6).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_139" id="Footnote_139"></a><a href="#FNanchor_139"><span class="label">139</span></a> Ibn Rashíq in Suyúṭí's Muzhir (Buláq, 1282 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span>), Part II, p. 236, l. 22 +sqq. I quote the translation of Sir Charles Lyall in the Introduction to his +<i>Ancient Arabian Poetry</i>, p. 17, a most admirable work which should be +placed in the hands of every one who is beginning the study of this +difficult subject.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_140" id="Footnote_140"></a><a href="#FNanchor_140"><span class="label">140</span></a> Freytag, <i>Arabum Proverbia</i>, vol. ii, p. 494.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_141" id="Footnote_141"></a><a href="#FNanchor_141"><span class="label">141</span></a> Numb. xxi, 17. Such well-songs are still sung in the Syrian desert +(see Enno Littmann, <i>Neuarabische Volkspoesie</i>, in <i>Abhand. der Kön. Gesellschaft +der Wissenschaften, Phil.-Hist. Klasse</i>, Göttingen, 1901), p. 92. In +a specimen cited at p. 81 we find the words <i>witla yā dlêwēna</i>—<i>i.e.</i>, "Rise, +O bucket!" several times repeated.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_142" id="Footnote_142"></a><a href="#FNanchor_142"><span class="label">142</span></a> Goldziher, <i>Ueber die Vorgeschichte der Higâ-Poesie</i> in his <i>Abhand. zur +Arab. Philologie</i>, Part I (Leyden, 1896), p. 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_143" id="Footnote_143"></a><a href="#FNanchor_143"><span class="label">143</span></a> <i>Cf.</i> the story of Balak and Balaam, with Goldziher's remarks thereon, +<i>ibid.</i>, p. 42 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_144" id="Footnote_144"></a><a href="#FNanchor_144"><span class="label">144</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 46 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_145" id="Footnote_145"></a><a href="#FNanchor_145"><span class="label">145</span></a> <i>Rajaz</i> primarily means "a tremor (which is a symptom of disease) in +the hind-quarters of a camel." This suggested to Dr. G. Jacob his interesting +theory that the Arabian metres arose out of the camel-driver's song +(<i>ḥidá</i>) in harmony with the varying paces of the animal which he rode +(<i>Studien in arabischen Dichtern</i>, Heft III, p. 179 sqq.).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_146" id="Footnote_146"></a><a href="#FNanchor_146"><span class="label">146</span></a> The Arabic verse (<i>bayt</i>) consists of two halves or hemistichs (<i>miṣrá‘</i>). +It is generally convenient to use the word 'line' as a translation of <i>miṣrá‘</i>, +but the reader must understand that the 'line' is not, as in English +poetry, an independent unit. <i>Rajaz</i> is the sole exception to this rule, there +being here no division into hemistichs, but each line (verse) forming an +unbroken whole and rhyming with that which precedes it.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_147" id="Footnote_147"></a><a href="#FNanchor_147"><span class="label">147</span></a> In Arabic 'al-bayt,' the tent, which is here used figuratively for the +grave.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_148" id="Footnote_148"></a><a href="#FNanchor_148"><span class="label">148</span></a> Ibn Qutayba, <i>Kitábu ’l-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará</i>, p. 36, l. 3 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_149" id="Footnote_149"></a><a href="#FNanchor_149"><span class="label">149</span></a> Already in the sixth century <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> the poet ‘Antara complains that his +predecessors have left nothing new for him to say (<i>Mu‘allaqa</i>, v. 1).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_150" id="Footnote_150"></a><a href="#FNanchor_150"><span class="label">150</span></a> <i>Ancient Arabian Poetry</i>, Introduction, p. xvi.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_151" id="Footnote_151"></a><a href="#FNanchor_151"><span class="label">151</span></a> <i>Qaṣída</i> is explained by Arabian lexicographers to mean a poem with +an artistic purpose, but they differ as to the precise sense in which 'purpose' +is to be understood. Modern critics are equally at variance. Jacob +(<i>Stud. in Arab. Dichtern</i>, Heft III, p. 203) would derive the word from the +principal motive of these poems, namely, to gain a rich reward in return +for praise and flattery. Ahlwardt (<i>Bemerkungen über die Aechtheit der alten +Arab. Gedichte</i>, p. 24 seq.) connects it with <i>qaṣada, to break</i>, "because it +consists of verses, every one of which is divided into two halves, with a +common end-rhyme: thus the whole poem is <i>broken</i>, as it were, into two +halves;" while in the <i>Rajaz</i> verses, as we have seen (p. 74 <i>supra</i>), there +is no such break.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_152" id="Footnote_152"></a><a href="#FNanchor_152"><span class="label">152</span></a> <i>Kitábu ’l-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará</i>, p. 14, l. 10 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_153" id="Footnote_153"></a><a href="#FNanchor_153"><span class="label">153</span></a> Nöldeke (<i>Fūnf Mo‘allaqát</i>, i, p. 3 sqq.) makes the curious observation, +which illustrates the highly artificial character of this poetry, that certain +animals well known to the Arabs (<i>e.g.</i>, the panther, the jerboa, and the +hare) are seldom mentioned and scarcely ever described, apparently for +no reason except that they were not included in the conventional +repertory.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_154" id="Footnote_154"></a><a href="#FNanchor_154"><span class="label">154</span></a> <i>Ancient Arabian Poetry</i>, p. 83.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_155" id="Footnote_155"></a><a href="#FNanchor_155"><span class="label">155</span></a> Verses 3-13. I have attempted to imitate the 'Long' (<i>Ṭawíl</i>) metre of +the original, viz.:— +</p><p> +The Arabic text of the <i>Lámiyya</i>, with prose translation and commentary, +is printed in De Sacy's <i>Chrestomathie Arabe</i> (2nd. ed.), vol. ii<sup>e</sup>, p. 134 sqq., +and vol. ii, p. 337 sqq. It has been translated into English verse by +G. Hughes (London, 1896). Other versions are mentioned by Nöldeke, +<i>Beiträge zur Kenntniss d. Poesie d. alten Araber</i>, p. 200.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_156" id="Footnote_156"></a><a href="#FNanchor_156"><span class="label">156</span></a> The poet, apparently, means that his three friends are <i>like</i> the animals +mentioned. Prof. Bevan remarks, however, that this interpretation is +doubtful, since an Arab would scarcely compare his <i>friend</i> to a hyena.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_157" id="Footnote_157"></a><a href="#FNanchor_157"><span class="label">157</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 242.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_158" id="Footnote_158"></a><a href="#FNanchor_158"><span class="label">158</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 41-43. This poem has been rendered in verse by Sir +Charles Lyall, <i>Ancient Arabian Poetry</i>, p. 16, and by the late Dr. A. B. +Davidson, <i>Biblical and Literary Essays</i>, p. 263.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_159" id="Footnote_159"></a><a href="#FNanchor_159"><span class="label">159</span></a> Mahaffy, <i>Social Life in Greece</i>, p. 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_160" id="Footnote_160"></a><a href="#FNanchor_160"><span class="label">160</span></a> See pp. 59-60 <i>supra</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_161" id="Footnote_161"></a><a href="#FNanchor_161"><span class="label">161</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 82-83. The poet is ‘Amr b. Ma‘díkarib, a famous heathen +knight who accepted Islam and afterwards distinguished himself in the +Persian wars.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_162" id="Footnote_162"></a><a href="#FNanchor_162"><span class="label">162</span></a> Al-Afwah al-Awdí in Nöldeke's <i>Delectus</i>, p. 4, ll. 8-10. The poles and +pegs represent lords and commons.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_163" id="Footnote_163"></a><a href="#FNanchor_163"><span class="label">163</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 122.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_164" id="Footnote_164"></a><a href="#FNanchor_164"><span class="label">164</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, 378.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_165" id="Footnote_165"></a><a href="#FNanchor_165"><span class="label">165</span></a> Cf. the verses by al-Find, p. 58 <i>supra</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_166" id="Footnote_166"></a><a href="#FNanchor_166"><span class="label">166</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 327.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_167" id="Footnote_167"></a><a href="#FNanchor_167"><span class="label">167</span></a> Imru’u ’l-Qays was one of the princes of Kinda, a powerful tribe in +Central Arabia.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_168" id="Footnote_168"></a><a href="#FNanchor_168"><span class="label">168</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, xix, 99. The last two lines are wanting in the poem as there +cited, but appear in the Selection from the Aghání published at Beyrout in +1888, vol. ii, p. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_169" id="Footnote_169"></a><a href="#FNanchor_169"><span class="label">169</span></a> See p. 45 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_170" id="Footnote_170"></a><a href="#FNanchor_170"><span class="label">170</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, xvi, 98, ll. 5-22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_171" id="Footnote_171"></a><a href="#FNanchor_171"><span class="label">171</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, xvi, 97, l. 5 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_172" id="Footnote_172"></a><a href="#FNanchor_172"><span class="label">172</span></a> His <i>Díwán</i> has been edited with translation and notes by F. Schulthess +(Leipzig, 1897).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_173" id="Footnote_173"></a><a href="#FNanchor_173"><span class="label">173</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 729. The hero mentioned in the first verse is ‘Ámir b. +Uḥaymir of Bahdala. On a certain occasion, when envoys from the +Arabian tribes were assembled at Ḥíra, King Mundhir b. Má’ al-samá +produced two pieces of cloth of Yemen and said, "Let him whose tribe +is noblest rise up and take them." Thereupon ‘Ámir stood forth, and +wrapping one piece round his waist and the other over his shoulders, +carried off the prize unchallenged.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_174" id="Footnote_174"></a><a href="#FNanchor_174"><span class="label">174</span></a> Lady Anne and Mr. Wilfrid Blunt, <i>The Seven Golden Odes of Pagan +Arabia</i>, Introduction, p. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_175" id="Footnote_175"></a><a href="#FNanchor_175"><span class="label">175</span></a> <i>Agháni</i> xvi, 22, ll. 10-16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_176" id="Footnote_176"></a><a href="#FNanchor_176"><span class="label">176</span></a> <i>Agháni</i>, xviii, 137, ll. 5-10. Freytag, <i>Arabum Proverbia</i>, vol. ii, p. 834.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_177" id="Footnote_177"></a><a href="#FNanchor_177"><span class="label">177</span></a> <i>Ancient Arabian Poetry</i>, p. 81.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_178" id="Footnote_178"></a><a href="#FNanchor_178"><span class="label">178</span></a> <i>Mufaḍḍaliyyát</i>, ed. Thorbecke, p. 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_179" id="Footnote_179"></a><a href="#FNanchor_179"><span class="label">179</span></a> See Goldziher, <i>Muhammedanische Studien</i>, Part II, p. 295 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_180" id="Footnote_180"></a><a href="#FNanchor_180"><span class="label">180</span></a> Koran, xvi, 59-61.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_181" id="Footnote_181"></a><a href="#FNanchor_181"><span class="label">181</span></a> Freytag, <i>Arabum Proverbia</i>, vol. i, p. 229.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_182" id="Footnote_182"></a><a href="#FNanchor_182"><span class="label">182</span></a> Koran, xvii, 33. Cf. lxxxi, 8-9 (a description of the Last Judgment): +"<i>When the girl buried alive shall be asked for what crime she was killed.</i>"</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_183" id="Footnote_183"></a><a href="#FNanchor_183"><span class="label">183</span></a> Literally: "And tear the veil from (her, as though she were) flesh on +a butcher's board," <i>i.e.</i>, defenceless, abandoned to the first-comer.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_184" id="Footnote_184"></a><a href="#FNanchor_184"><span class="label">184</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 140. Although these verses are not Pre-islamic, and belong +in fact to a comparatively late period of Islam, they are sufficiently pagan +in feeling to be cited in this connection. The author, Isḥáq b. Khalaf, +lived under the Caliph Ma’mún (813-833 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). He survived his adopted +daughter—for Umayma was his sister's child—and wrote an elegy on her, +which is preserved in the <i>Kámil</i> of al-Mubarrad, p. 715, l. 7 sqq., and has +been translated, together with the verses now in question, by Sir Charles +Lyall, <i>Ancient Arabian Poetry</i>, p. 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_185" id="Footnote_185"></a><a href="#FNanchor_185"><span class="label">185</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 142. Lyall, <i>op. cit.</i>, p. 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_186" id="Footnote_186"></a><a href="#FNanchor_186"><span class="label">186</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_187" id="Footnote_187"></a><a href="#FNanchor_187"><span class="label">187</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 321.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_188" id="Footnote_188"></a><a href="#FNanchor_188"><span class="label">188</span></a> See p. 55 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_189" id="Footnote_189"></a><a href="#FNanchor_189"><span class="label">189</span></a> Cf. Rückert's <i>Hamâsa</i>, vol. i, p. 61 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_190" id="Footnote_190"></a><a href="#FNanchor_190"><span class="label">190</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_191" id="Footnote_191"></a><a href="#FNanchor_191"><span class="label">191</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, ii, 160, l. 11-162, l. 1 = p. 13 sqq. of the Beyrout Selection.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_192" id="Footnote_192"></a><a href="#FNanchor_192"><span class="label">192</span></a> The Bedouins consider that any one who has eaten of their food or +has touched the rope of their tent is entitled to claim their protection. +Such a person is called <i>dakhíl</i>. See Burckhardt, <i>Notes on the Bedouins and +Wahábys</i> (London, 1831), vol. i, p. 160 sqq. and 329 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_193" id="Footnote_193"></a><a href="#FNanchor_193"><span class="label">193</span></a> See p. 81 <i>supra</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_194" id="Footnote_194"></a><a href="#FNanchor_194"><span class="label">194</span></a> Stuttgart, 1819, p. 253 sqq. The other renderings in verse with +which I am acquainted are those of Rückert (<i>Hamâsa</i>, vol. i, p. 299) +and Sir Charles Lyall (<i>Ancient Arabian Poetry</i>, p. 48). I have adopted +Sir Charles Lyall's arrangement of the poem, and have closely followed +his masterly interpretation, from which I have also borrowed some turns +of phrase that could not be altered except for the worse.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_195" id="Footnote_195"></a><a href="#FNanchor_195"><span class="label">195</span></a> The Arabic text will be found in the <i>Hamása</i>, p. 382 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_196" id="Footnote_196"></a><a href="#FNanchor_196"><span class="label">196</span></a> This and the following verse are generally taken to be a description +not of the poet himself, but of his nephew. The interpretation given +above does no violence to the language, and greatly enhances the +dramatic effect.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_197" id="Footnote_197"></a><a href="#FNanchor_197"><span class="label">197</span></a> In the original this and the preceding verse are transposed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_198" id="Footnote_198"></a><a href="#FNanchor_198"><span class="label">198</span></a> Although the poet's uncle was killed in this onslaught, the surprised +party suffered severely. "The two clans" belonged to the great tribe of +Hudhayl, which is mentioned in the penultimate verse.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_199" id="Footnote_199"></a><a href="#FNanchor_199"><span class="label">199</span></a> It was customary for the avenger to take a solemn vow that he +would drink no wine before accomplishing his vengeance.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_200" id="Footnote_200"></a><a href="#FNanchor_200"><span class="label">200</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 679.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_201" id="Footnote_201"></a><a href="#FNanchor_201"><span class="label">201</span></a> <i>Cf.</i> the lines translated below from the <i>Mu‘allaqa</i> of Ḥárith.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_202" id="Footnote_202"></a><a href="#FNanchor_202"><span class="label">202</span></a> The best edition of the <i>Mu‘allaqát</i> is Sir Charles Lyall's (<i>A Commentary +on Ten Ancient Arabic Poems</i>, Calcutta, 1894), which contains in addition +to the seven <i>Mu‘allaqát</i> three odes by A‘shá, Nábigha, and ‘Abíd b. al-Abraṣ. +Nöldeke has translated five Mu‘allaqas (omitting those of Imru’ u’ +l-Qays and Ṭarafa) with a German commentary, <i>Sitzungsberichte der +Kais. Akad. der Wissenschaften in Wien</i>, <i>Phil.-Histor. Klasse</i>, vols. 140-144 +(1899-1901); this is by far the best translation for students. No satisfactory +version in English prose has hitherto appeared, but I may call +attention to the fine and original, though somewhat free, rendering into +English verse by Lady Anne Blunt and Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (<i>The Seven +Golden Odes of Pagan Arabia</i>, London, 1903).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_203" id="Footnote_203"></a><a href="#FNanchor_203"><span class="label">203</span></a> <i>Ancient Arabian Poetry</i>, Introduction, p. xliv. Many other interpretations +have been suggested—<i>e.g.</i>, 'The Poems written down from oral +dictation' (Von Kremer), 'The richly bejewelled' (Ahlwardt), 'The +Pendants,' as though they were pearls strung on a necklace (A. Müller).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_204" id="Footnote_204"></a><a href="#FNanchor_204"><span class="label">204</span></a> The belief that the <i>Mu‘allaqát</i> were written in letters of gold seems +to have arisen from a misunderstanding of the name <i>Mudhhabát</i> or +<i>Mudhahhabát</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, the Gilded Poems) which is sometimes given to them +in token of their excellence, just as the Greeks gave the title χρύσεα ἔπη +to a poem falsely attributed to Pythagoras. That some of the <i>Mu‘allaqát</i> +were recited at ‘Ukáẓ is probable enough and is definitely affirmed in the +case of ‘Amr b. Kulthúm (<i>Aghání</i>, ix, 182).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_205" id="Footnote_205"></a><a href="#FNanchor_205"><span class="label">205</span></a> The legend first appears in the <i>‘Iqd al-Faríd</i> (ed. of Cairo, 1293 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span>, +vol. iii, p, 116 seq.) of Ibn ‘Abdi Rabbihi, who died in 940 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_206" id="Footnote_206"></a><a href="#FNanchor_206"><span class="label">206</span></a> See the Introduction to Nöldeke's <i>Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Poesie +der alten Araber</i> (Hannover, 1864), p. xvii sqq., and his article 'Mo‘allaḳḳát' +in the <i>Encyclopædia Britannica</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_207" id="Footnote_207"></a><a href="#FNanchor_207"><span class="label">207</span></a> It is well known that the order of the verses in the <i>Mu‘allaqát</i>, as they +have come down to us, is frequently confused, and that the number of +various readings is very large. I have generally followed the text and +arrangement adopted by Nöldeke in his German translation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_208" id="Footnote_208"></a><a href="#FNanchor_208"><span class="label">208</span></a> See p. 42 <i>supra</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_209" id="Footnote_209"></a><a href="#FNanchor_209"><span class="label">209</span></a> <i>Ancient Arabian Poetry</i>, p. 105.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_210" id="Footnote_210"></a><a href="#FNanchor_210"><span class="label">210</span></a> See the account of his life (according to the <i>Kitábu’ l-Aghání</i>) in +<i>Le Diwan d'Amro’lkaïs</i>, edited with translation and notes by Baron +MacGuckin de Slane (Paris, 1837), pp. 1-51; and in <i>Amrilkais, der Dichter +und König</i> by Friedrich Rückert (Stuttgart and Tübingen, 1843).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_211" id="Footnote_211"></a><a href="#FNanchor_211"><span class="label">211</span></a> That he was not, however, the inventor of the Arabian <i>qaṣída</i> as +described above (p. 76 sqq.) appears from the fact that he mentions in one +of his verses a certain Ibn Ḥumám or Ibn Khidhám who introduced, or at +least made fashionable, the prelude with which almost every ode begins: +a lament over the deserted camping-ground (Ibn Qutayba, <i>K. al-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará</i>, +p. 52).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_212" id="Footnote_212"></a><a href="#FNanchor_212"><span class="label">212</span></a> The following lines are translated from Arnold's edition of the +<i>Mu‘allaqát</i> (Leipsic, 1850), p. 9 sqq., vv. 18-35.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_213" id="Footnote_213"></a><a href="#FNanchor_213"><span class="label">213</span></a> The native commentators are probably right in attributing this and +the three preceding verses (48-51 in Arnold's edition) to the brigand-poet, +Ta’abbaṭa Sharr<sup>an</sup>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_214" id="Footnote_214"></a><a href="#FNanchor_214"><span class="label">214</span></a> We have already (p. 39) referred to the culture of the Christian Arabs +of Ḥíra.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_215" id="Footnote_215"></a><a href="#FNanchor_215"><span class="label">215</span></a> Vv. 54-59 (Lyall); 56-61 (Arnold).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_216" id="Footnote_216"></a><a href="#FNanchor_216"><span class="label">216</span></a> See Nöldeke, <i>Fünf Mu‘allaqát</i>, i, p. 51 seq. According to the +traditional version (<i>Aghání</i>, ix, 179), a band of Taghlibites went raiding, +lost their way in the desert, and perished of thirst, having been refused +water by a sept of the Banú Bakr. Thereupon Taghlib appealed to King +‘Amr to enforce payment of the blood-money which they claimed, and +chose ‘Amr b. Kulthúm to plead their cause at Ḥíra. So ‘Amr recited his +<i>Mu‘allaqa</i> before the king, and was answered by Ḥárith on behalf of +Bakr.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_217" id="Footnote_217"></a><a href="#FNanchor_217"><span class="label">217</span></a> Freytag, <i>Arabum Proverbia</i>, vol. ii, p. 233.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_218" id="Footnote_218"></a><a href="#FNanchor_218"><span class="label">218</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, ix, 182.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_219" id="Footnote_219"></a><a href="#FNanchor_219"><span class="label">219</span></a> Vv. 1-8 (Arnold); in Lyall's edition the penultimate verse is omitted.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_220" id="Footnote_220"></a><a href="#FNanchor_220"><span class="label">220</span></a> Vv. 15-18 (Lyall); 19-22 (Arnold).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_221" id="Footnote_221"></a><a href="#FNanchor_221"><span class="label">221</span></a> The Arabs use the term <i>kunya</i> to denote this familiar style of address +in which a person is called, not by his own name, but 'father of So-and-so' +(either a son or, as in the present instance, a daughter).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_222" id="Footnote_222"></a><a href="#FNanchor_222"><span class="label">222</span></a> <i>I.e.</i>, even the <i>jinn</i> (genies) stand in awe of us.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_223" id="Footnote_223"></a><a href="#FNanchor_223"><span class="label">223</span></a> Here Ma‘add signifies the Arabs in general.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_224" id="Footnote_224"></a><a href="#FNanchor_224"><span class="label">224</span></a> Vv. 20-30 (Lyall), omitting vv. 22, 27, 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_225" id="Footnote_225"></a><a href="#FNanchor_225"><span class="label">225</span></a> This is a figurative way of saying that Taghlib has never been subdued.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_226" id="Footnote_226"></a><a href="#FNanchor_226"><span class="label">226</span></a> Vv. 46-51 (Lyall), omitting v. 48.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_227" id="Footnote_227"></a><a href="#FNanchor_227"><span class="label">227</span></a> <i>I.e.</i>, we will show our enemies that they cannot defy us with impunity. +This verse, the 93rd in Lyall's edition, is omitted by Arnold.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_228" id="Footnote_228"></a><a href="#FNanchor_228"><span class="label">228</span></a> Vv. 94-104 (Arnold), omitting vv. 100 and 101. If the last words are +anything more than a poetic fiction, 'the sea' must refer to the River +Euphrates.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_229" id="Footnote_229"></a><a href="#FNanchor_229"><span class="label">229</span></a> Vv. 16-18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_230" id="Footnote_230"></a><a href="#FNanchor_230"><span class="label">230</span></a> Vv. 23-26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_231" id="Footnote_231"></a><a href="#FNanchor_231"><span class="label">231</span></a> A place in the neighbourhood of Mecca.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_232" id="Footnote_232"></a><a href="#FNanchor_232"><span class="label">232</span></a> Vv. 40-42 (Lyall); 65-67 (Arnold).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_233" id="Footnote_233"></a><a href="#FNanchor_233"><span class="label">233</span></a> See <i>‘Antarah, ein vorislamischer Dichter</i>, by H. Thorbecke (Leipzig, +1867).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_234" id="Footnote_234"></a><a href="#FNanchor_234"><span class="label">234</span></a> I have taken some liberties in this rendering, as the reader may see +by referring to the verses (44 and 47-52 in Lyall's edition) on which it is +based.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_235" id="Footnote_235"></a><a href="#FNanchor_235"><span class="label">235</span></a> Ghayẓ b. Murra was a descendant of Dhubyán and the ancestor of +Harim and Ḥárith.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_236" id="Footnote_236"></a><a href="#FNanchor_236"><span class="label">236</span></a> The Ka‘ba.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_237" id="Footnote_237"></a><a href="#FNanchor_237"><span class="label">237</span></a> This refers to the religious circumambulation (<i>ṭawáf</i>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_238" id="Footnote_238"></a><a href="#FNanchor_238"><span class="label">238</span></a> Vv. 16-19 (Lyall).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_239" id="Footnote_239"></a><a href="#FNanchor_239"><span class="label">239</span></a> There is no reason to doubt the genuineness of this passage, which +affords evidence of the diffusion of Jewish and Christian ideas in pagan +Arabia. Ibn Qutayba observes that these verses indicate the poet's belief +in the Resurrection (<i>K. al-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará</i>, p. 58, l. 12).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_240" id="Footnote_240"></a><a href="#FNanchor_240"><span class="label">240</span></a> Vv. 27-31.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_241" id="Footnote_241"></a><a href="#FNanchor_241"><span class="label">241</span></a> The order of these verses in Lyall's edition is as follows: 56, 57, 54, +50, 55, 53, 49, 47, 48, 52, 58.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_242" id="Footnote_242"></a><a href="#FNanchor_242"><span class="label">242</span></a> Reference has been made above to the old Arabian belief that poets +owed their inspiration to the <i>jinn</i> (genii), who are sometimes called +<i>shayátín</i> (satans). See Goldziher, <i>Abhand. zur arab. Philologie</i>, Part I, +pp. 1-14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_243" id="Footnote_243"></a><a href="#FNanchor_243"><span class="label">243</span></a> Vv. 1-10 (Lyall), omitting v. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_244" id="Footnote_244"></a><a href="#FNanchor_244"><span class="label">244</span></a> Vv. 55-60 (Lyall).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_245" id="Footnote_245"></a><a href="#FNanchor_245"><span class="label">245</span></a> The term <i>nábigha</i> is applied to a poet whose genius is slow in declaring +itself but at last "jets forth vigorously and abundantly" (<i>nabagha</i>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_246" id="Footnote_246"></a><a href="#FNanchor_246"><span class="label">246</span></a> <i>Díwán</i>, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 83; Nöldeke's <i>Delectus</i>, p. 96.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_247" id="Footnote_247"></a><a href="#FNanchor_247"><span class="label">247</span></a> He means to say that Nu‘mán has no reason to feel aggrieved because +he (Nábigha) is grateful to the Ghassánids for their munificent patronage; +since Nu‘mán does not consider that his own favourites, in showing gratitude +to himself, are thereby guilty of treachery towards their former +patrons.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_248" id="Footnote_248"></a><a href="#FNanchor_248"><span class="label">248</span></a> <i>Diwán</i>, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 76, ii, 21. In another place (p. 81, +vi, 6) he says, addressing his beloved:— +</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +"Wadd give thee greeting! for dalliance with women is lawful to me no more,</span> +<span class="i0"> +Since Religion has become a serious matter."</span> +</div> +</div> +<p> +Wadd was a god worshipped by the pagan Arabs. Derenbourg's text +has <i>rabbí</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, Allah, but see Nöldeke's remarks in <i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. xli +(1887), p. 708.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_249" id="Footnote_249"></a><a href="#FNanchor_249"><span class="label">249</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, viii, 85, last line-86, l. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_250" id="Footnote_250"></a><a href="#FNanchor_250"><span class="label">250</span></a> Lyall, <i>Ten Ancient Arabic Poems</i>, p. 146 seq., vv. 25-31.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_251" id="Footnote_251"></a><a href="#FNanchor_251"><span class="label">251</span></a> Ahlwardt, <i>The Divans</i>, p. 106, vv. 8-10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_252" id="Footnote_252"></a><a href="#FNanchor_252"><span class="label">252</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, p. 382, l. 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_253" id="Footnote_253"></a><a href="#FNanchor_253"><span class="label">253</span></a> Nöldeke, <i>Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Poesie der alten Araber</i>, p. 152.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_254" id="Footnote_254"></a><a href="#FNanchor_254"><span class="label">254</span></a> Nöldeke, <i>ibid.</i>, p. 175.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_255" id="Footnote_255"></a><a href="#FNanchor_255"><span class="label">255</span></a> The original title is <i>al-Mukhtárát</i> (The Selected Odes) or <i>al-Ikhtiyárát</i> +(The Selections).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_256" id="Footnote_256"></a><a href="#FNanchor_256"><span class="label">256</span></a> Oxford, 1918-21. The Indexes of personal and place-names, +poetical quotations, and selected words were prepared by Professor +Bevan and published in 1924 in the E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Series.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_257" id="Footnote_257"></a><a href="#FNanchor_257"><span class="label">257</span></a> Ibn Khallikán, ed. by Wüstenfeld, No. 350 = De Slane's translation, +vol. ii, p. 51.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_258" id="Footnote_258"></a><a href="#FNanchor_258"><span class="label">258</span></a> See Nöldeke, <i>Beiträge</i>, p. 183 sqq. There would seem to be comparatively +few poems of Pre-islamic date in Buḥturí's anthology.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_259" id="Footnote_259"></a><a href="#FNanchor_259"><span class="label">259</span></a> Ibn Khallikán, ed. by Wüstenfeld, No. 204 = De Slane's translation, +vol. i, p. 470.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_260" id="Footnote_260"></a><a href="#FNanchor_260"><span class="label">260</span></a> Many interesting details concerning the tradition of Pre-islamic +poetry by the <i>Ráwís</i> and the Philologists will be found in Ahlwardt's +<i>Bemerkungen ueber die Aechtheit der alten Arabischen Gedichte</i> (Greifswald, +1872), which has supplied materials for the present sketch.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_261" id="Footnote_261"></a><a href="#FNanchor_261"><span class="label">261</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, v, 172, l. 16 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_262" id="Footnote_262"></a><a href="#FNanchor_262"><span class="label">262</span></a> This view, however, is in accordance neither with the historical facts +nor with the public opinion of the Pre-islamic Arabs (see Nöldeke, <i>Die +Semitischen Sprachen</i>, p. 47).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_263" id="Footnote_263"></a><a href="#FNanchor_263"><span class="label">263</span></a> See Wellhausen, <i>Reste Arab. Heidentums</i> (2nd ed.), p. 88 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_264" id="Footnote_264"></a><a href="#FNanchor_264"><span class="label">264</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 506.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_265" id="Footnote_265"></a><a href="#FNanchor_265"><span class="label">265</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, 237.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_266" id="Footnote_266"></a><a href="#FNanchor_266"><span class="label">266</span></a> <i>Díwán</i> of Imru’u ’l-Qays, ed. by De Slane, p. 22 of the Arabic text, +l. 17 sqq. = No. 52, ll. 57-59 (p. 154) in Ahlwardt's <i>Divans of the Six Poets</i>. +With the last line, however, <i>cf.</i> the words of Qays b. al-Khaṭím on accomplishing +his vengeance: "<i>When this death comes, there will not be found +any need of my soul that I have not satisfied</i>" (<i>Ḥamása</i>, 87).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_267" id="Footnote_267"></a><a href="#FNanchor_267"><span class="label">267</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, ii, 18, l. 23 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_268" id="Footnote_268"></a><a href="#FNanchor_268"><span class="label">268</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, ii, 34, l. 22 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_269" id="Footnote_269"></a><a href="#FNanchor_269"><span class="label">269</span></a> See Von Kremer, <i>Ueber die Gedichte des Labyd</i> in <i>S.B.W.A.</i>, +<i>Phil.-Hist. Klasse</i> (Vienna, 1881), vol. 98, p. 555 sqq. Sir Charles Lyall, +<i>Ancient Arabian Poetry</i>, pp. 92 and 119. Wellhausen, <i>Reste Arabischen +Heidentums</i> (2nd ed.), p. 224 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_270" id="Footnote_270"></a><a href="#FNanchor_270"><span class="label">270</span></a> I prefer to retain the customary spelling instead of Qur’án, as it is +correctly transliterated by scholars. Arabic words naturalised in English, +like Koran, Caliph, Vizier, &c., require no apology.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_271" id="Footnote_271"></a><a href="#FNanchor_271"><span class="label">271</span></a> Muir's <i>Life of Mahomet</i>, Introduction, p. 2 seq. I may as well say at +once that I entirely disagree with the view suggested in this passage that +Muḥammad did not believe himself to be inspired.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_272" id="Footnote_272"></a><a href="#FNanchor_272"><span class="label">272</span></a> The above details are taken from the <i>Fihrist</i>, ed. by G. Fluegel, p. 24, +l. 14 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_273" id="Footnote_273"></a><a href="#FNanchor_273"><span class="label">273</span></a> Muir, <i>op. cit.</i>, Introduction, p. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_274" id="Footnote_274"></a><a href="#FNanchor_274"><span class="label">274</span></a> With the exception of the Opening Súra (<i>al-Fátiḥa</i>), which is a short +prayer.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_275" id="Footnote_275"></a><a href="#FNanchor_275"><span class="label">275</span></a> Sprenger, <i>Ueber das Traditionswesen bei den Arabern</i>, <i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, +vol. x, p. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_276" id="Footnote_276"></a><a href="#FNanchor_276"><span class="label">276</span></a> Quoted by Sprenger, <i>loc. cit.</i>, p. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_277" id="Footnote_277"></a><a href="#FNanchor_277"><span class="label">277</span></a> Quoted by Nöldeke in the Introduction to his <i>Geschichte des Qorâns</i>, +p 22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_278" id="Footnote_278"></a><a href="#FNanchor_278"><span class="label">278</span></a> See especially pp. 28-130.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_279" id="Footnote_279"></a><a href="#FNanchor_279"><span class="label">279</span></a> <i>Muhamm. Studien</i>, Part II, p. 48 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_280" id="Footnote_280"></a><a href="#FNanchor_280"><span class="label">280</span></a> The reader may consult Muir's Introduction to his <i>Life of Mahomet</i>, +pp. 28-87.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_281" id="Footnote_281"></a><a href="#FNanchor_281"><span class="label">281</span></a> Ibn Hishám, p. 105, l. 9 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_282" id="Footnote_282"></a><a href="#FNanchor_282"><span class="label">282</span></a> This legend seems to have arisen out of a literal interpretation of +Koran, xciv, 1, "<i>Did we not open thy breast?</i>"—<i>i.e.</i>, give thee comfort +or enlightenment.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_283" id="Footnote_283"></a><a href="#FNanchor_283"><span class="label">283</span></a> This name, which may signify 'Baptists,' was applied by the heathen +Arabs to Muḥammad and his followers, probably in consequence of the +ceremonial ablutions which are incumbent upon every Moslem before the +five daily prayers (see Wellhausen, <i>Reste Arab. Heid.</i>, p. 237).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_284" id="Footnote_284"></a><a href="#FNanchor_284"><span class="label">284</span></a> Sir Charles Lyall, <i>The Words 'Ḥaníf' and 'Muslim,'</i> <i>J.R.A.S.</i> for +1903, p. 772. The original meaning of <i>ḥaniacute;f</i> is no longer traceable, but it +may be connected with the Hebrew <i>ḥánéf</i>, 'profane.' In the Koran it +generally refers to the religion of Abraham, and sometimes appears to be +nearly synonymous with <i>Muslim</i>. Further information concerning the +Ḥanífs will be found in Sir Charles Lyall's article cited above; Sprenger, +<i>Das Leben und die Lehre des Moḥammed</i>, vol. i, pp. 45-134; Wellhausen, +<i>Reste Arab. Heid</i>., p. 238 sqq.; Caetani, <i>Annali dell' Islam</i>, vol. i, +pp. 181-192.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_285" id="Footnote_285"></a><a href="#FNanchor_285"><span class="label">285</span></a> Ibn Hishám, p. 143, l. 6 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_286" id="Footnote_286"></a><a href="#FNanchor_286"><span class="label">286</span></a> <i>Agháni</i>, iii, 187, l. 17 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_287" id="Footnote_287"></a><a href="#FNanchor_287"><span class="label">287</span></a> See p. 69 <i>supra</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_288" id="Footnote_288"></a><a href="#FNanchor_288"><span class="label">288</span></a> Tradition associates him especially with Waraqa, who was a cousin +of his first wife, Khadíja, and is said to have hailed him as a prophet +while Muḥammad himself was still hesitating (Ibn Hishám, p. 153, +l. 14 sqq.).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_289" id="Footnote_289"></a><a href="#FNanchor_289"><span class="label">289</span></a> This is the celebrated 'Night of Power' (<i>Laylatu ’l-Qadr</i>) mentioned +in the Koran, xcvii, 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_290" id="Footnote_290"></a><a href="#FNanchor_290"><span class="label">290</span></a> The Holy Ghost (<i>Rúḥu’l-Quds</i>), for whom in the Medína Súras Gabriel +(Jibríl) is substituted.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_291" id="Footnote_291"></a><a href="#FNanchor_291"><span class="label">291</span></a> But another version (Ibn Hishám, p. 152, l. 9 sqq.) represents Muḥammad +as replying to the Angel, "What am I to read?" (<i>má aqra’u or má dhá +aqra’u</i>). Professor Bevan has pointed out to me that the tradition in this +form bears a curious resemblance, which can hardly be accidental, to the +words of Isaiah xl. 6: "The voice said, Cry. And he said, What +shall I cry?" The question whether the Prophet could read and +write is discussed by Nöldeke (<i>Geschichte des Qorâns</i>, p. 7 sqq.), who +leaves it undecided. According to Nöldeke (<i>loc. cit.</i>, p. 10), the +epithet <i>ummí</i>, which is applied to Muḥammad in the Koran, and is +commonly rendered by 'illiterate,' does not signify that he was +ignorant of reading and writing, but only that he was unacquainted with +the ancient Scriptures; <i>cf.</i> 'Gentile.' However this may be, it appears that +he wished to pass for illiterate, with the object of confirming the belief in +his inspiration: "<i>Thou</i>" (Muḥammad) "<i>didst not use to read any book +before this</i>" (the Koran) "<i>nor to write it with thy right hand; else the liars +would have doubted</i> (Koran, xxix, 47).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_292" id="Footnote_292"></a><a href="#FNanchor_292"><span class="label">292</span></a> The meaning of these words (<i>iqra’ bismi rabbika</i>) is disputed. Others +translate, "Preach in the name of thy Lord" (Nöldeke), or "Proclaim the +name of thy Lord" (Hirschfeld). I see no sufficient grounds for abandoning +the traditional interpretation supported by verses 4 and 5. Muḥammad +dreamed that he was commanded to read the Word of God inscribed in +the Heavenly Book which is the source of all Revelation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_293" id="Footnote_293"></a><a href="#FNanchor_293"><span class="label">293</span></a> Others render, "who taught (the use of) the Pen."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_294" id="Footnote_294"></a><a href="#FNanchor_294"><span class="label">294</span></a> This account of Muḥammad's earliest vision (Bukhárí, ed. by Krehl, +vol. iii, p. 380, l. 2 sqq.) is derived from ‘A’isha, his favourite wife, whom +he married after the death of Khadíja.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_295" id="Footnote_295"></a><a href="#FNanchor_295"><span class="label">295</span></a> Ibn Hishám, p. 152, l. 9 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_296" id="Footnote_296"></a><a href="#FNanchor_296"><span class="label">296</span></a> See p. 72 <i>supra</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_297" id="Footnote_297"></a><a href="#FNanchor_297"><span class="label">297</span></a> This interval is known as the Fatra.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_298" id="Footnote_298"></a><a href="#FNanchor_298"><span class="label">298</span></a> Literally, 'warn.'</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_299" id="Footnote_299"></a><a href="#FNanchor_299"><span class="label">299</span></a> 'The abomination' (<i>al-rujz</i>) probably refers to idolatry.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_300" id="Footnote_300"></a><a href="#FNanchor_300"><span class="label">300</span></a> Literally, "The Last State shall be better for thee than the First," +referring either to Muḥammad's recompense in the next world or to the +ultimate triumph of his cause in this world.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_301" id="Footnote_301"></a><a href="#FNanchor_301"><span class="label">301</span></a> <i>Islám</i> is a verbal noun formed from <i>Aslama</i>, which means 'to +surrender' and, in a religious sense, 'to surrender one's self to the will +of God.' The participle, <i>Muslim</i> (Moslem), denotes one who thus surrenders +himself.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_302" id="Footnote_302"></a><a href="#FNanchor_302"><span class="label">302</span></a> Sprenger, <i>Leben des Mohammad</i>, vol. i, p. 356.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_303" id="Footnote_303"></a><a href="#FNanchor_303"><span class="label">303</span></a> It must be remembered that this branch of Muḥammadan tradition +derives from the pietists of the first century after the Flight, who were +profoundly dissatisfied with the reigning dynasty (the Umayyads), and +revenged themselves by painting the behaviour of the Meccan ancestors of +the Umayyads towards Muḥammad in the blackest colours possible. The +facts tell another story. It is significant that hardly any case of real +persecution is mentioned in the Koran. Muḥammad was allowed to +remain at Mecca and to carry on, during many years, a religious +propaganda which his fellow-citizens, with few exceptions, regarded as +detestable and dangerous. We may well wonder at the moderation of +the Quraysh, which, however, was not so much deliberate policy as the +result of their indifference to religion and of Muḥammad's failure to make +appreciable headway in Mecca.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_304" id="Footnote_304"></a><a href="#FNanchor_304"><span class="label">304</span></a> Ibn Hishám, p. 168, l. 9. sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_305" id="Footnote_305"></a><a href="#FNanchor_305"><span class="label">305</span></a> At this time Muḥammad believed the doctrines of Islam and +Christianity to be essentially the same.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_306" id="Footnote_306"></a><a href="#FNanchor_306"><span class="label">306</span></a> Ṭabarí, i, 1180, 8 sqq. <i>Cf.</i> Caetani, <i>Annali dell' Islam</i>, vol. i, +p. 267 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_307" id="Footnote_307"></a><a href="#FNanchor_307"><span class="label">307</span></a> Muir, <i>Life of Mahomet</i>, vol. ii, p. 151.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_308" id="Footnote_308"></a><a href="#FNanchor_308"><span class="label">308</span></a> We have seen (p. 91 <i>supra</i>) that the heathen Arabs disliked female +offspring, yet they called their three principal deities the daughters of +Allah.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_309" id="Footnote_309"></a><a href="#FNanchor_309"><span class="label">309</span></a> It is related by Ibn Isḥáq (Ṭabarí, i, 1192, 4 sqq.). In his learned work, +<i>Annali dell' Islam</i>, of which the first volume appeared in 1905, Prince Caetani +impugns the authenticity of the tradition and criticises the narrative in +detail (p. 279 sqq.), but his arguments do not touch the main question. +As Muir says, "it is hardly possible to conceive how the tale, if not +founded in truth, could ever have been invented."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_310" id="Footnote_310"></a><a href="#FNanchor_310"><span class="label">310</span></a> The Meccan view of Muḥammad's action may be gathered from the +words uttered by Abú Jahl on the field of Badr—"O God, bring woe upon +him who more than any of us hath severed the ties of kinship and +dealt dishonourably!" (Ṭabarí, i, 1322, l. 8 seq.). Alluding to the +Moslems who abandoned their native city and fled with the Prophet to +Medína, a Meccan poet exclaims (Ibn Hishám, p. 519, ll. 3-5):— +</p> +<div class="blockquot"><p class="indent"><i>They</i> (the Quraysh slain at Badr) <i>fell in honour. They did not sell their +kinsmen for strangers living in a far land and of remote lineage;</i> +</p><p class="indent"> +<i>Unlike you, who have made friends of Ghassán</i> (the people of Medína), <i>taking +them instead of us—O, what a shameful deed!</i> +</p><p class="indent"> +<i>Tis an impiety and a manifest crime and a cutting of all ties of blood: +your iniquity therein is discerned by men of judgment and understanding.</i></p></div></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_311" id="Footnote_311"></a><a href="#FNanchor_311"><span class="label">311</span></a> <i>Súra</i> is properly a row of stones or bricks in a wall.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_312" id="Footnote_312"></a><a href="#FNanchor_312"><span class="label">312</span></a> See p. 74 <i>supra</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_313" id="Footnote_313"></a><a href="#FNanchor_313"><span class="label">313</span></a> Koran, lxix, 41.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_314" id="Footnote_314"></a><a href="#FNanchor_314"><span class="label">314</span></a> Nöldeke, <i>Geschichte des Qorâns</i>, p. 56.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_315" id="Footnote_315"></a><a href="#FNanchor_315"><span class="label">315</span></a> <i>I.e.</i>, what it has done or left undone.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_316" id="Footnote_316"></a><a href="#FNanchor_316"><span class="label">316</span></a> The Last Judgment.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_317" id="Footnote_317"></a><a href="#FNanchor_317"><span class="label">317</span></a> Moslems believe that every man is attended by two Recording Angels +who write down his good and evil actions.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_318" id="Footnote_318"></a><a href="#FNanchor_318"><span class="label">318</span></a> This is generally supposed to refer to the persecution of the Christians +of Najrán by Dhú Nuwás (see p. <a href="#Page_26">26</a> <i>supra</i>). Geiger takes it as an allusion +to the three men who were cast into the fiery furnace (Daniel, ch. iii).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_319" id="Footnote_319"></a><a href="#FNanchor_319"><span class="label">319</span></a> See above, p. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_320" id="Footnote_320"></a><a href="#FNanchor_320"><span class="label">320</span></a> According to Muḥammadan belief, the archetype of the Koran and of +all other Revelations is written on the Guarded Table (<i>al-Lawḥ al-Maḥfúẓ</i>) +in heaven.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_321" id="Footnote_321"></a><a href="#FNanchor_321"><span class="label">321</span></a> Koran, xvii, 69.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_322" id="Footnote_322"></a><a href="#FNanchor_322"><span class="label">322</span></a> See, for example, the passages translated by Lane in his <i>Selections +from the Kur-án</i> (London, 1843), pp. 100-113.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_323" id="Footnote_323"></a><a href="#FNanchor_323"><span class="label">323</span></a> <i>Ikhláṣ</i> means 'purifying one's self of belief in any god except Allah.'</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_324" id="Footnote_324"></a><a href="#FNanchor_324"><span class="label">324</span></a> The Prophet's confession of his inability to perform miracles did not +deter his followers from inventing them after his death. Thus it was said +that he caused the infidels to see "the moon cloven asunder" (Koran, +liv, I), though, as is plain from the context, these words refer to one of +the signs of the Day of Judgment.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_325" id="Footnote_325"></a><a href="#FNanchor_325"><span class="label">325</span></a> I take this opportunity of calling the reader's attention to a most +interesting article by my friend and colleague, Professor A. A. Bevan, +entitled <i>The Beliefs of Early Mohammedans respecting a Future Existence</i> +(<i>Journal of Theological Studies</i>, October, 1904, p. 20 sqq.), where the +whole subject is fully discussed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_326" id="Footnote_326"></a><a href="#FNanchor_326"><span class="label">326</span></a> Shaddád b. al-Aswad al-Laythí, quoted in the <i>Risálatu ’l-Ghufrán</i> of +Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrí (see my article in the <i>J.R.A.S.</i> for 1902, pp. 94 and +818); <i>cf.</i> Ibn Hishám, p. 530, last line. Ibn (Abí) Kabsha was a nickname +derisively applied to Muḥammad. <i>Ṣadá</i> and <i>háma</i> refer to the death-bird +which was popularly supposed to utter its shriek from the skull (<i>háma</i>) of +the dead, and both words may be rendered by 'soul' or 'wraith.'</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_327" id="Footnote_327"></a><a href="#FNanchor_327"><span class="label">327</span></a> Nöldeke, <i>Geschichte des Qorâns</i>, p. 78.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_328" id="Footnote_328"></a><a href="#FNanchor_328"><span class="label">328</span></a> <i>Cf.</i> also Koran, xviii, 45-47; xx, 102 sqq.; xxxix, 67 sqq.; lxix, 13-37.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_329" id="Footnote_329"></a><a href="#FNanchor_329"><span class="label">329</span></a> The famous freethinker, Abu ’l-‘Alá al-Ma‘arrí, has cleverly satirised +Muḥammadan notions on this subject in his <i>Risálatu ’l-Ghufrán</i> (<i>J.R.A.S.</i> +for October, 1900, p. 637 sqq.).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_330" id="Footnote_330"></a><a href="#FNanchor_330"><span class="label">330</span></a> <i>Journal of Theological Studies</i> for October, 1904, p. 22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_331" id="Footnote_331"></a><a href="#FNanchor_331"><span class="label">331</span></a> Ibn Hishám, p. 411, l. 6 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_332" id="Footnote_332"></a><a href="#FNanchor_332"><span class="label">332</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 347.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_333" id="Footnote_333"></a><a href="#FNanchor_333"><span class="label">333</span></a> L. Caetani, <i>Annali dell' Islam</i>, vol. 1, p. 389.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_334" id="Footnote_334"></a><a href="#FNanchor_334"><span class="label">334</span></a> Nöldeke, <i>Geschichte des Qorâns</i>, p. 122.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_335" id="Footnote_335"></a><a href="#FNanchor_335"><span class="label">335</span></a> Translated by E. H. Palmer.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_336" id="Footnote_336"></a><a href="#FNanchor_336"><span class="label">336</span></a> Ibn Hishám, p. 341, l. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_337" id="Footnote_337"></a><a href="#FNanchor_337"><span class="label">337</span></a> <i>Muḥammad's Gemeindeordnung von Medina in Skizzen und Vorarbeiten</i>, +Heft IV, p. 67 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_338" id="Footnote_338"></a><a href="#FNanchor_338"><span class="label">338</span></a> Ibn Hishám, p. 763, l. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_339" id="Footnote_339"></a><a href="#FNanchor_339"><span class="label">339</span></a> Koran, ii, 256, translated by E. H. Palmer.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_340" id="Footnote_340"></a><a href="#FNanchor_340"><span class="label">340</span></a> <i>Muhamm. Studien</i>, Part I, p. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_341" id="Footnote_341"></a><a href="#FNanchor_341"><span class="label">341</span></a> See Goldziher's introductory chapter entitled <i>Muruwwa und Dîn</i> +(<i>ibid.</i>, pp. 1-39).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_342" id="Footnote_342"></a><a href="#FNanchor_342"><span class="label">342</span></a> Bayḍáwí on Koran, xxii, 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_343" id="Footnote_343"></a><a href="#FNanchor_343"><span class="label">343</span></a> <i>Die Berufung Mohammed's</i>, by M. J. de Goeje in <i>Nöldeke-Festschrift</i> +(Giessen, 1906), vol. i, p. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_344" id="Footnote_344"></a><a href="#FNanchor_344"><span class="label">344</span></a> On the <i>Origin and Import of the Names Muslim and Ḥaníf</i> (<i>J.R.A.S.</i> +for 1903, p. 491)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_345" id="Footnote_345"></a><a href="#FNanchor_345"><span class="label">345</span></a> See T. W. Arnold's <i>The Preaching of Islam</i>, p. 23 seq., where several +passages of like import are collected.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_346" id="Footnote_346"></a><a href="#FNanchor_346"><span class="label">346</span></a> Nöldeke, <i>Sketches from Eastern History</i>, translated by J. S. Black, +p. 73.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_347" id="Footnote_347"></a><a href="#FNanchor_347"><span class="label">347</span></a> See Professor Browne's <i>Literary History of Persia</i>, vol. i, p. 200 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_348" id="Footnote_348"></a><a href="#FNanchor_348"><span class="label">348</span></a> Ṭabarí, i, 2729, l. 15 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_349" id="Footnote_349"></a><a href="#FNanchor_349"><span class="label">349</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, i, 2736, l. 5 sqq. The words in italics are quoted from Koran, +xxviii, 26, where they are applied to Moses.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_350" id="Footnote_350"></a><a href="#FNanchor_350"><span class="label">350</span></a> ‘Umar was the first to assume this title (<i>Amíru ’l-Mu’minín</i>), by which +the Caliphs after him were generally addressed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_351" id="Footnote_351"></a><a href="#FNanchor_351"><span class="label">351</span></a> Ṭabarí, i, 2738, 7 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_352" id="Footnote_352"></a><a href="#FNanchor_352"><span class="label">352</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, i, 2739, 4 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_353" id="Footnote_353"></a><a href="#FNanchor_353"><span class="label">353</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, i, 2737, 4 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_354" id="Footnote_354"></a><a href="#FNanchor_354"><span class="label">354</span></a> It is explained that ‘Umar prohibited lamps because rats used to take +the lighted wick and set fire to the house-roofs, which at that time were +made of palm-branches.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_355" id="Footnote_355"></a><a href="#FNanchor_355"><span class="label">355</span></a> Ṭabarí, i, 2742, 13 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_356" id="Footnote_356"></a><a href="#FNanchor_356"><span class="label">356</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, i, 2745, 15 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_357" id="Footnote_357"></a><a href="#FNanchor_357"><span class="label">357</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, i, 2747, 7 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_358" id="Footnote_358"></a><a href="#FNanchor_358"><span class="label">358</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, i, 2740, last line and foll.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_359" id="Footnote_359"></a><a href="#FNanchor_359"><span class="label">359</span></a> <i>Al-Fakhrí</i>, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 116, l. 1 to p. 117, l. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_360" id="Footnote_360"></a><a href="#FNanchor_360"><span class="label">360</span></a> Ṭabarí, i, 2751, 9 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_361" id="Footnote_361"></a><a href="#FNanchor_361"><span class="label">361</span></a> Ibn Khallikán (ed. by Wüstenfeld), No. 68, p. 96, l. 3; De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 152.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_362" id="Footnote_362"></a><a href="#FNanchor_362"><span class="label">362</span></a> Mu‘áwiya himself said: "I am the first of the kings" (Ya‘qúbí, ed. by +Houtsma, vol. ii, p. 276, l. 14).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_363" id="Footnote_363"></a><a href="#FNanchor_363"><span class="label">363</span></a> <i>Al-Fakhrí</i>, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 145.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_364" id="Footnote_364"></a><a href="#FNanchor_364"><span class="label">364</span></a> Ya‘qúbí, vol. ii, p. 283, l. 8 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_365" id="Footnote_365"></a><a href="#FNanchor_365"><span class="label">365</span></a> <i>Mas‘údí, Murúju ’l-Dhahab</i> (ed. by Barbier de Meynard), vol. v. p. 77.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_366" id="Footnote_366"></a><a href="#FNanchor_366"><span class="label">366</span></a> Nöldeke's <i>Delectus</i>, p. 25, l. 3 sqq., omitting l. 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_367" id="Footnote_367"></a><a href="#FNanchor_367"><span class="label">367</span></a> The <i>Continuatio</i> of Isidore of Hispalis, § 27, quoted by Wellhausen, +<i>Das Arabische Reich und sein Sturz</i>, p. 105.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_368" id="Footnote_368"></a><a href="#FNanchor_368"><span class="label">368</span></a> Ḥamása, 226. The word translated 'throne' is in Arabic <i>minbar</i>, +<i>i.e.</i>, the pulpit from which the Caliph conducted the public prayers and +addressed the congregation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_369" id="Footnote_369"></a><a href="#FNanchor_369"><span class="label">369</span></a> Kalb was properly one of the Northern tribes (see Robertson Smith's +<i>Kinship and Marriage</i>, 2nd ed., p. 8 seq.—a reference which I owe to +Professor Bevan), but there is evidence that the Kalbites were regarded +as 'Yemenite' or 'Southern' Arabs at an early period of Islam. <i>Cf.</i> +Goldziher, <i>Muhammedanische Studien</i>, Part I, p. 83, l. 3 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_370" id="Footnote_370"></a><a href="#FNanchor_370"><span class="label">370</span></a> <i>Muhammedanische Studien</i>, i, 78 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_371" id="Footnote_371"></a><a href="#FNanchor_371"><span class="label">371</span></a> Qaḥṭán is the legendary ancestor of the Southern Arabs.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_372" id="Footnote_372"></a><a href="#FNanchor_372"><span class="label">372</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, xiii, 51, cited by Goldziher, <i>ibid.</i>, p. 82.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_373" id="Footnote_373"></a><a href="#FNanchor_373"><span class="label">373</span></a> A verse of the poet Suḥaym b. Wathíl.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_374" id="Footnote_374"></a><a href="#FNanchor_374"><span class="label">374</span></a> The <i>Kámil</i> of al-Mubarrad, ed. by W. Wright, p. 215, l. 14 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_375" id="Footnote_375"></a><a href="#FNanchor_375"><span class="label">375</span></a> Ibn Qutayba, <i>Kitábu ‘l-Ma‘árif</i>, p. 202.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_376" id="Footnote_376"></a><a href="#FNanchor_376"><span class="label">376</span></a> <i>Al-Fakhrí</i>, p. 173; Ibnu ’l-Athír, ed. by Tornberg, v, 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_377" id="Footnote_377"></a><a href="#FNanchor_377"><span class="label">377</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 174. <i>Cf.</i> Mas‘údi, <i>Murúju ’l-Dhahab</i>, v, 412.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_378" id="Footnote_378"></a><a href="#FNanchor_378"><span class="label">378</span></a> His mother, Umm ‘Áṣim, was a granddaughter of ‘Umar I.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_379" id="Footnote_379"></a><a href="#FNanchor_379"><span class="label">379</span></a> Mas‘údí, <i>Murúju ’l-Dhahab</i>, v, 419 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_380" id="Footnote_380"></a><a href="#FNanchor_380"><span class="label">380</span></a> Ibnu ’l-Athír, ed. by Tornberg, v, 46. <i>Cf.</i> <i>Agání</i>, xx, p. 119, l. 23. +‘Umar made an exception, as Professor Bevan reminds me, in favour of +the poet Jarír. See Brockelmann's <i>Gesch. der Arab. Litteratur</i>, vol. i, p. 57.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_381" id="Footnote_381"></a><a href="#FNanchor_381"><span class="label">381</span></a> The exhaustive researches of Wellhausen, <i>Das Arabische Reich und +sein Sturz</i> (pp. 169-192) have set this complicated subject in a new light. +He contends that ‘Umar's reform was not based on purely ideal grounds, +but was demanded by the necessities of the case, and that, so far from +introducing disorder into the finances, his measures were designed to +remedy the confusion which already existed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_382" id="Footnote_382"></a><a href="#FNanchor_382"><span class="label">382</span></a> Mas‘údí, <i>Murúju ’l-Dhahab</i>, v, 479.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_383" id="Footnote_383"></a><a href="#FNanchor_383"><span class="label">383</span></a> The Arabic text and literal translation of these verses will be found in +my article on Abu ’l-‘Alá's <i>Risálatu ’l-Ghufrán</i> (<i>J.R.A.S.</i> for 1902, pp. 829 +and 342).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_384" id="Footnote_384"></a><a href="#FNanchor_384"><span class="label">384</span></a> Wellhausen, <i>Das Arabische Reich und sein Sturz</i>, p. 38.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_385" id="Footnote_385"></a><a href="#FNanchor_385"><span class="label">385</span></a> <i>I.e.</i>, the main body of Moslems—<i>Sunnís</i>, followers of the <i>Sunna</i>, as +they were afterwards called—who were neither Shí‘ites nor Khárijites, +but held (1) that the Caliph must be elected by the Moslem community, +and (2) that he must be a member of Quraysh, the Prophet's tribe. All +these parties arose out of the struggle between ‘Alí and Mu‘áwiya, and +their original difference turned solely of the question of the Caliphate.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_386" id="Footnote_386"></a><a href="#FNanchor_386"><span class="label">386</span></a> Brünnow, <i>Die Charidschiten unter den ersten Omayyaden</i> (Leiden, +1884), p. 28. It is by no means certain, however, that the Khárijites +called themselves by this name. In any case, the term implies <i>secession</i> +(<i>khurúj</i>) from the Moslem community, and may be rendered by +'Seceder' or 'Nonconformist.'</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_387" id="Footnote_387"></a><a href="#FNanchor_387"><span class="label">387</span></a> <i>Cf.</i> Koran, ix, 112.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_388" id="Footnote_388"></a><a href="#FNanchor_388"><span class="label">388</span></a> Brünnow, <i>op. cit.</i>, p. 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_389" id="Footnote_389"></a><a href="#FNanchor_389"><span class="label">389</span></a> Wellhausen, <i>Die religiös-politischen Oppositionsparteien im alten Islam</i> +(<i>Abhandlungen der Königl. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen</i>, +<i>Phil.-Hist. Klasse</i>, 1901), p. 8 sqq. The writer argues against Brünnow +that the oldest Khárijites were not true Bedouins (<i>A‘rábí</i>), and were, in +fact, even further removed than the rest of the military colonists of Kúfa +and Baṣra from their Bedouin traditions. He points out that the extreme +piety of the Readers—their constant prayers, vigils, and repetitions of the +Koran—exactly agrees with what is related of the Khárijites, and is +described in similar language. Moreover, among the oldest Khárijites +we find mention made of a company clad in long cloaks (<i>baránis</i>, pl. of +<i>burnus</i>), which were at that time a special mark of asceticism. Finally, +the earliest authority (Abú Mikhnaf in Ṭabarí, i, 3330, l. 6 sqq.) regards +the Khárijites as an offshoot from the Readers, and names individual +Readers who afterwards became rabid Khárijites.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_390" id="Footnote_390"></a><a href="#FNanchor_390"><span class="label">390</span></a> Later, when many non-Arab Moslems joined the Khárijite ranks the +field of choice was extended so as to include foreigners and even slaves.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_391" id="Footnote_391"></a><a href="#FNanchor_391"><span class="label">391</span></a> Ṭabarí, ii, 40, 13 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_392" id="Footnote_392"></a><a href="#FNanchor_392"><span class="label">392</span></a> Shahrastání, ed. by Cureton, Part I, p. 88. l. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_393" id="Footnote_393"></a><a href="#FNanchor_393"><span class="label">393</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 86, l. 3 from foot.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_394" id="Footnote_394"></a><a href="#FNanchor_394"><span class="label">394</span></a> Ṭabarí, ii, 36, ll. 7, 8, 11-16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_395" id="Footnote_395"></a><a href="#FNanchor_395"><span class="label">395</span></a> <i>Ḥamása</i>, 44.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_396" id="Footnote_396"></a><a href="#FNanchor_396"><span class="label">396</span></a> Ibn Khallikán, ed. by Wüstenfeld, No. 555, p. 55, l. 4 seq.; De Slane's +translation, vol. ii, p. 523.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_397" id="Footnote_397"></a><a href="#FNanchor_397"><span class="label">397</span></a> Dozy, <i>Essai sur l'histoire de l'Islamisme</i> (French translation by Victor +Chauvin), p. 219 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_398" id="Footnote_398"></a><a href="#FNanchor_398"><span class="label">398</span></a> Wellhausen thinks that the dogmatics of the Shí‘ites are derived from +Jewish rather than from Persian sources. See his account of the Saba’ites +in his most instructive paper, to which I have already referred, <i>Die +religiös-politischen Oppositionsparteien im alten Islam</i> (<i>Abh. der König. +Ges. der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen</i>, <i>Phil.-Hist. Klasse</i>, 1901), p. 89 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_399" id="Footnote_399"></a><a href="#FNanchor_399"><span class="label">399</span></a> Ṭabarí, i, 2942, 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_400" id="Footnote_400"></a><a href="#FNanchor_400"><span class="label">400</span></a> "<i>Verily, He who hath ordained the Koran for thee</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, for +Muḥammad) <i>will bring thee back to a place of return</i>" (<i>i.e.</i>, to Mecca). +The ambiguity of the word meaning 'place of return' (<i>ma‘ád</i>) gave +some colour to Ibn Sabá's contention that it alluded to the return of +Muḥammad at the end of the world. The descent of Jesus on earth is +reckoned by Moslems among the greater signs which will precede the +Resurrection.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_401" id="Footnote_401"></a><a href="#FNanchor_401"><span class="label">401</span></a> This is a Jewish idea. ‘Alí stands in the same relation to Muḥammad +as Aaron to Moses.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_402" id="Footnote_402"></a><a href="#FNanchor_402"><span class="label">402</span></a> Ṭabarí, <i>loc. cit.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_403" id="Footnote_403"></a><a href="#FNanchor_403"><span class="label">403</span></a> Shahrastání, ed. by Cureton, p. 132, l. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_404" id="Footnote_404"></a><a href="#FNanchor_404"><span class="label">404</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, viii, 32, l. 17 sqq. The three sons of ‘Alí are Ḥasan, Ḥusayn, +and Muḥammad Ibnu ’l-Ḥanafiyya.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_405" id="Footnote_405"></a><a href="#FNanchor_405"><span class="label">405</span></a> Concerning the origin of these sects see Professor Browne's <i>Lit. Hist. +of Persia</i>, vol. i, p. 295 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_406" id="Footnote_406"></a><a href="#FNanchor_406"><span class="label">406</span></a> See Darmesteter's interesting essay, <i>Le Mahdi depuis les origines de +l'Islam jusqu’à nos jours</i> (Paris, 1885). The subject is treated more scientifically +by Snouck Hurgronje in his paper <i>Der Mahdi</i>, reprinted from the +<i>Revue coloniale internationale</i> (1886).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_407" id="Footnote_407"></a><a href="#FNanchor_407"><span class="label">407</span></a> <i>Ṣiddíq</i> means 'veracious.' Professor Bevan remarks that in this root +the notion of 'veracity' easily passes into that of 'endurance,' 'fortitude.'</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_408" id="Footnote_408"></a><a href="#FNanchor_408"><span class="label">408</span></a> Ṭabarí, ii, 546. These 'Penitents' were free Arabs of Kúfa, a fact +which, as Wellhausen has noticed, would seem to indicate that the +<i>ta‘ziya</i> is Semitic in origin.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_409" id="Footnote_409"></a><a href="#FNanchor_409"><span class="label">409</span></a> Wellhausen, <i>Die religiös-politischen Oppositionsparteien</i>, p. 79.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_410" id="Footnote_410"></a><a href="#FNanchor_410"><span class="label">410</span></a> Ṭabarí, ii, 650, l. 7 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_411" id="Footnote_411"></a><a href="#FNanchor_411"><span class="label">411</span></a> Shahrastání, Haarbrücker's translation, Part I, p. 169.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_412" id="Footnote_412"></a><a href="#FNanchor_412"><span class="label">412</span></a> Von Kremer, <i>Culturgeschicht</i>. <i>Streifzüge</i>, p. 2 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_413" id="Footnote_413"></a><a href="#FNanchor_413"><span class="label">413</span></a> The best account of the early Murjites that has hitherto appeared is +contained in a paper by Van Vloten, entitled <i>Irdjâ</i> (<i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 45, +p. 161 sqq.). The reader may also consult Shahrastání, Haarbrücker's +trans., Part I, p. 156 sqq.; Goldziher, <i>Muhammedanische Studien</i>, Part II, +p. 89 sqq.; Van Vloten, <i>La domination Arabe</i>, p. 31 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_414" id="Footnote_414"></a><a href="#FNanchor_414"><span class="label">414</span></a> Van Vloten thinks that in the name 'Murjite' (<i>murji’</i>) there is an +allusion to Koran, ix, 107: "<i>And others are remanded (murjawna) until +God shall decree; whether He shall punish them or take pity on them—for +God is knowing and wise.</i>"</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_415" id="Footnote_415"></a><a href="#FNanchor_415"><span class="label">415</span></a> <i>Cf.</i> the poem of Thábit Quṭna (<i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, <i>loc. cit.</i>, p. 162), which states +the whole Murjite doctrine in popular form. The author, who was +himself a Murjite, lived in Khurásán during the latter half of the first +century <span class="smcap">a.h.</span></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_416" id="Footnote_416"></a><a href="#FNanchor_416"><span class="label">416</span></a> Van Vloten, <i>La domination Arabe</i>, p. 29 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_417" id="Footnote_417"></a><a href="#FNanchor_417"><span class="label">417</span></a> Ibn Ḥazm, cited in <i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 45, p. 169, n. 7. Jahm († about +747 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) was a Persian, as might be inferred from the boldness of his +speculations.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_418" id="Footnote_418"></a><a href="#FNanchor_418"><span class="label">418</span></a> Ḥasan himself inclined for a time to the doctrine of free-will, but afterwards +gave it up (Ibn Qutayba, <i>Kitábu ’l-Ma‘árif</i>, p. 225). He is said to +have held that everything happens by fate, except sin (<i>Al-Mu‘tazilah</i>, ed. +by T. W. Arnold, p. 12, l. 3 from foot). See, however, Shahrastání, Haarbrücker's +trans., Part I, p. 46.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_419" id="Footnote_419"></a><a href="#FNanchor_419"><span class="label">419</span></a> Koran, lxxiv, 41.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_420" id="Footnote_420"></a><a href="#FNanchor_420"><span class="label">420</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, xli, 46.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_421" id="Footnote_421"></a><a href="#FNanchor_421"><span class="label">421</span></a> <i>Kitábu ’l-Ma‘árif</i>, p. 301. Those who held the doctrine of free-will +were called the Qadarites (<i>al-Qadariyya</i>), from <i>qadar</i> (power), which may +denote (1) the power of God to determine human actions, and (2) the +power of man to determine his own actions. Their opponents asserted +that men act under compulsion (<i>jabr</i>); hence they were called the +Jabarites (<i>al-Jabariyya</i>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_422" id="Footnote_422"></a><a href="#FNanchor_422"><span class="label">422</span></a> As regards Ghaylán see <i>Al-Mu‘tazilah</i>, ed. by T. W. Arnold, p. 15, +l. 16 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_423" id="Footnote_423"></a><a href="#FNanchor_423"><span class="label">423</span></a> Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. iii, p. 642; Shahrastání, +trans. by Haarbrücker, Part I, p. 44.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_424" id="Footnote_424"></a><a href="#FNanchor_424"><span class="label">424</span></a> Sha‘rání, <i>Lawáqihu ’l-Anwár</i> (Cairo, 1299 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span>), p. 31.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_425" id="Footnote_425"></a><a href="#FNanchor_425"><span class="label">425</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_426" id="Footnote_426"></a><a href="#FNanchor_426"><span class="label">426</span></a> See Von Kremer, <i>Herrschende Ideen</i>, p. 52 sqq.; Goldziher, <i>Materialien +zur Entwickelungsgesch. des Súfismus</i> (<i>Vienna Oriental Journal</i>, vol. 13, +p. 35 sqq.).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_427" id="Footnote_427"></a><a href="#FNanchor_427"><span class="label">427</span></a> Sha‘rání, <i>Lawáqiḥ</i>, p. 38.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_428" id="Footnote_428"></a><a href="#FNanchor_428"><span class="label">428</span></a> Qushayrí's <i>Risála</i> (1287 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span>), p. 77, l. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_429" id="Footnote_429"></a><a href="#FNanchor_429"><span class="label">429</span></a> <i>Tadhkiratu ’l-Awliyá</i> of Farídu’ddín ‘Aṭṭár, Part I, p. 37, l. 8 of my +edition.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_430" id="Footnote_430"></a><a href="#FNanchor_430"><span class="label">430</span></a> <i>Kámil</i> (ed. by Wright), p. 57, l. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_431" id="Footnote_431"></a><a href="#FNanchor_431"><span class="label">431</span></a> The point of this metaphor lies in the fact that Arab horses were put +on short commons during the period of training, which usually began +forty days before the race.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_432" id="Footnote_432"></a><a href="#FNanchor_432"><span class="label">432</span></a> <i>Kámil</i>, p. 57, last line.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_433" id="Footnote_433"></a><a href="#FNanchor_433"><span class="label">433</span></a> <i>Kámil</i>, p. 58, l. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_434" id="Footnote_434"></a><a href="#FNanchor_434"><span class="label">434</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 67, l. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_435" id="Footnote_435"></a><a href="#FNanchor_435"><span class="label">435</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 91, l. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_436" id="Footnote_436"></a><a href="#FNanchor_436"><span class="label">436</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 120, l. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_437" id="Footnote_437"></a><a href="#FNanchor_437"><span class="label">437</span></a> Qushayrí's <i>Risála</i>, p. 63, last line.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_438" id="Footnote_438"></a><a href="#FNanchor_438"><span class="label">438</span></a> It is noteworthy that Qushayrí († 1073 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), one of the oldest authorities +on Ṣúfiism, does not include Ḥasan among the Ṣúfí Shaykhs whose +biographies are given in the <i>Risála</i> (pp. 8-35), and hardly mentions him +above half a dozen times in the course of his work. The sayings of +Ḥasan which he cites are of the same character as those preserved in the +<i>Kámil</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_439" id="Footnote_439"></a><a href="#FNanchor_439"><span class="label">439</span></a> See Nöldeke's article, <i>'Ṣūfī</i>,' in <i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 48, p. 45.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_440" id="Footnote_440"></a><a href="#FNanchor_440"><span class="label">440</span></a> An allusion to <i>ṣafá</i> occurs in thirteen out of the seventy definitions of +Ṣúfí and Ṣúfiism (<i>Taṣawwuf</i>) which are contained in the <i>Tadhkiratu +’l-Awliyá</i>, or 'Memoirs of the Saints,' of the well-known Persian mystic, +Farídu’ddín ‘Aṭṭár († <i>circa</i> 1230 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), whereas <i>ṣúf</i> is mentioned only +twice.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_441" id="Footnote_441"></a><a href="#FNanchor_441"><span class="label">441</span></a> Said by Bishr al-Ḥáfí (the bare-footed), who died in 841-842 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_442" id="Footnote_442"></a><a href="#FNanchor_442"><span class="label">442</span></a> Said by Junayd of Baghdád († 909-910 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), one of the most celebrated +Ṣúfí Shaykhs.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_443" id="Footnote_443"></a><a href="#FNanchor_443"><span class="label">443</span></a> Ibn Khaldún's <i>Muqaddima</i> (Beyrout, 1900), p. 467 = vol. iii, p. 85 seq. +of the French translation by De Slane. The same things are said at greater +length by Suhrawardí in his <i>‘Awárifu ’l-Ma‘árif</i> (printed on the margin +of Ghazálí's <i>Iḥyá</i>, Cairo, 1289 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span>), vol. i, p. 172 <i>et seqq.</i> <i>Cf.</i> also the +passage from Qushayrí translated by Professor E. G. Browne on +pp. 297-298 of vol. i. of his <i>Literary History of Persia</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_444" id="Footnote_444"></a><a href="#FNanchor_444"><span class="label">444</span></a> Suhrawardí, <i>loc. cit.</i>, p. 136 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_445" id="Footnote_445"></a><a href="#FNanchor_445"><span class="label">445</span></a> <i>Loc. cit.</i>, p. 145.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_446" id="Footnote_446"></a><a href="#FNanchor_446"><span class="label">446</span></a> <i>I.e.</i>, he yields himself unreservedly to the spiritual 'state' (<i>aḥwál</i>) +which pass over him, according as God wills.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_447" id="Footnote_447"></a><a href="#FNanchor_447"><span class="label">447</span></a> Possibly Ibráhím was one of the <i>Shikaftiyya</i> or 'Cave-dwellers' of +Khurásán (<i>shikaft</i> means 'cave' in Persian), whom the people of Syria +called <i>al-Jú‘íyya</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, 'the Fasters.' See Suhrawardí, <i>loc. cit.</i>, p. 171.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_448" id="Footnote_448"></a><a href="#FNanchor_448"><span class="label">448</span></a> Ghazálí, <i>Iḥyá</i> (Cairo, 1289 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span>), vol. iv, p. 298.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_449" id="Footnote_449"></a><a href="#FNanchor_449"><span class="label">449</span></a> Brockelmann, <i>Gesch. d. Arab. Litteratur</i>, vol. i, p. 45.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_450" id="Footnote_450"></a><a href="#FNanchor_450"><span class="label">450</span></a> <i>E.g.</i>, Ma‘bad, Gharíḍ, Ibn Surayj, Ṭuways, and Ibn ‘Á’isha.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_451" id="Footnote_451"></a><a href="#FNanchor_451"><span class="label">451</span></a> <i>Kámil</i> of Mubarrad, p. 570 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_452" id="Footnote_452"></a><a href="#FNanchor_452"><span class="label">452</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, i, 43, l. 15 sqq.; Nöldeke's <i>Delectus</i>, p. 17, last line and foll.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_453" id="Footnote_453"></a><a href="#FNanchor_453"><span class="label">453</span></a> Nöldeke's <i>Delectus</i>, p. 9, l. 11 sqq., omitting l. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_454" id="Footnote_454"></a><a href="#FNanchor_454"><span class="label">454</span></a> An edition of the <i>Naqá’iḍ</i> by Professor A. A. Bevan has been +published at Leyden.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_455" id="Footnote_455"></a><a href="#FNanchor_455"><span class="label">455</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, vii, 55, l. 12 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_456" id="Footnote_456"></a><a href="#FNanchor_456"><span class="label">456</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, vii, 182, l. 23 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_457" id="Footnote_457"></a><a href="#FNanchor_457"><span class="label">457</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, vii, 183, l. 6 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_458" id="Footnote_458"></a><a href="#FNanchor_458"><span class="label">458</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 178, l. 1 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_459" id="Footnote_459"></a><a href="#FNanchor_459"><span class="label">459</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, xiii, 148, l. 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_460" id="Footnote_460"></a><a href="#FNanchor_460"><span class="label">460</span></a> <i>Encomium Omayadarum</i>, ed. by Houtsma (Leyden, 1878).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_461" id="Footnote_461"></a><a href="#FNanchor_461"><span class="label">461</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, vii, 172, l. 27 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_462" id="Footnote_462"></a><a href="#FNanchor_462"><span class="label">462</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 179, l. 25 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_463" id="Footnote_463"></a><a href="#FNanchor_463"><span class="label">463</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 178, l. 26 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_464" id="Footnote_464"></a><a href="#FNanchor_464"><span class="label">464</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, xix, 34, l. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_465" id="Footnote_465"></a><a href="#FNanchor_465"><span class="label">465</span></a> <i>Kámil</i> of Mubarrad. p. 70, l. 17 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_466" id="Footnote_466"></a><a href="#FNanchor_466"><span class="label">466</span></a> Al-Kusa‘í broke an excellent bow which he had made for himself. +See <i>The Assemblies of Ḥarírí</i>, trans. by Chenery, p. 351. Professor Bevan +remarks that this half-verse is an almost verbal citation from a verse +ascribed to ‘Adí b. Maríná of Ḥíra, an enemy of ‘Adí b. Zayd the poet +(<i>Aghání</i>, ii, 24, l. 5).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_467" id="Footnote_467"></a><a href="#FNanchor_467"><span class="label">467</span></a> Ibn Khallikán (ed. by Wüstenfeld), No. 129; De Slane's translation +vol. i, p. 298.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_468" id="Footnote_468"></a><a href="#FNanchor_468"><span class="label">468</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, iii, 23, l. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_469" id="Footnote_469"></a><a href="#FNanchor_469"><span class="label">469</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, vii, 49, l. 8 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_470" id="Footnote_470"></a><a href="#FNanchor_470"><span class="label">470</span></a> The following account is mainly derived from Goldziher's <i>Muhamm. +Studien</i>, Part II, p. 203 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_471" id="Footnote_471"></a><a href="#FNanchor_471"><span class="label">471</span></a> Cf. Browne's <i>Lit. Hist. of Persia</i>, vol. i, p. 230.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_472" id="Footnote_472"></a><a href="#FNanchor_472"><span class="label">472</span></a> Nöldeke, <i>Sketches from Eastern History</i>, tr. by J. S. Black, p. 108 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_473" id="Footnote_473"></a><a href="#FNanchor_473"><span class="label">473</span></a> Wellhausen, <i>Das Arabische Reich</i>, p. 307.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_474" id="Footnote_474"></a><a href="#FNanchor_474"><span class="label">474</span></a> <i>Recherches sur la domination Arabe</i>, p. 46 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_475" id="Footnote_475"></a><a href="#FNanchor_475"><span class="label">475</span></a> Dínawarí, ed. by Guirgass, p. 356.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_476" id="Footnote_476"></a><a href="#FNanchor_476"><span class="label">476</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 360, l. 15. The whole poem has been translated by Professor +Browne in his <i>Literary History of Persia</i>, vol. i, p. 242.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_477" id="Footnote_477"></a><a href="#FNanchor_477"><span class="label">477</span></a> <i>Sketches from Eastern History</i>, p. 111.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_478" id="Footnote_478"></a><a href="#FNanchor_478"><span class="label">478</span></a> Professor Bevan, to whose kindness I owe the following observations, +points out that this translation of <i>al-Saffáḥ</i>, although it has been generally +adopted by European scholars, is very doubtful. According to Professor +De Goeje, <i>al-Saffáḥ</i> means 'the munificent' (literally, 'pouring out' gifts, +&c.). In any case it is important to notice that the name was given to +certain Pre-islamic chieftains. Thus Salama b. Khálid, who commanded +the Banú Taghlib at the first battle of al-Kuláb (Ibnu ’l-Athír, ed. by +Tornberg, vol. i, p. 406, last line), is said to have been called <i>al-Saffáḥ</i> +because he 'emptied out' the skin bottles (<i>mazád</i>) of his army before a +battle (Ibn Durayd, ed. by Wüstenfeld, p. 203, l. 16); and we find mention +of a poet named al-Saffáḥ b. ‘Abd Manát (<i>ibid.</i>, p. 277, penult. line).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_479" id="Footnote_479"></a><a href="#FNanchor_479"><span class="label">479</span></a> See p. 205.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_480" id="Footnote_480"></a><a href="#FNanchor_480"><span class="label">480</span></a> G. Le Strange, <i>Baghdad under the Abbasid Caliphate</i>, p. 4 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_481" id="Footnote_481"></a><a href="#FNanchor_481"><span class="label">481</span></a> Professor De Goeje has kindly given me the following references :—Ṭabarí, +ii, 78, l. 10, where Ziyád is called the <i>Wazír</i> of Mu‘áwiya; Ibn +Sa‘d, iii, 121, l. 6 (Abú Bakr the <i>Wazír</i> of the Prophet). The word occurs +in Pre-islamic poetry (Ibu Qutayba, <i>K. al-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará</i>, p. 414, l. 1). +Professor De Goeje adds that the ‘Abbásid Caliphs gave the name <i>Wazír</i> +as title to the minister who was formerly called <i>Kátib</i> (Secretary). Thus +it would seem that the Arabic <i>Wazír</i> (literally 'burden-bearer'), who was +at first merely a 'helper' or 'henchman,' afterwards became the representative +and successor of the <i>Dapír</i> (official scribe or secretary) of the +Sásánian kings.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_482" id="Footnote_482"></a><a href="#FNanchor_482"><span class="label">482</span></a> This division is convenient, and may be justified on general grounds. +In a strictly political sense, the period of decline begins thirty years +earlier with the Caliphate of Ma’mún (813-833 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). The historian +Abu ’l-Maḥásin († 1469 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) dates the decline of the Caliphate from the +accession of Muktafí in 902 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> (<i>al-Nujúm al-Záhira</i>, ed. by Juynboll, +vol. ii, p. 134).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_483" id="Footnote_483"></a><a href="#FNanchor_483"><span class="label">483</span></a> See Nöldeke's essay, <i>Caliph Manṣur</i>, in his <i>Sketches from Eastern +History</i>, trans. by J. S. Black, p. 107 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_484" id="Footnote_484"></a><a href="#FNanchor_484"><span class="label">484</span></a> Professor Browne has given an interesting account of these ultra-Shí‘ite +insurgents in his <i>Lit. Hist. of Persia</i>, vol. i, ch. ix.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_485" id="Footnote_485"></a><a href="#FNanchor_485"><span class="label">485</span></a> Ṭabarí, iii, 404, l. 5 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_486" id="Footnote_486"></a><a href="#FNanchor_486"><span class="label">486</span></a> Ṭabarí, iii, 406, l. 1 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_487" id="Footnote_487"></a><a href="#FNanchor_487"><span class="label">487</span></a> <i>Murúju ‘l-Dhahab</i>, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. iv, p. 47 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_488" id="Footnote_488"></a><a href="#FNanchor_488"><span class="label">488</span></a> When the Caliph Hádí wished to proclaim his son Ja‘far heir-apparent +instead of Hárún, Yaḥyá pointed out the danger of this course and dissuaded +him (<i>al-Fakhrí</i>, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 281).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_489" id="Footnote_489"></a><a href="#FNanchor_489"><span class="label">489</span></a> Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 105.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_490" id="Footnote_490"></a><a href="#FNanchor_490"><span class="label">490</span></a> Mas‘údí, <i>Murúju ’l-Dhahab</i>, vol. vi, p. 364.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_491" id="Footnote_491"></a><a href="#FNanchor_491"><span class="label">491</span></a> See, for example, <i>Haroun Alraschid</i>, by E. H. Palmer, in the New +Plutarch Series, p. 81 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_492" id="Footnote_492"></a><a href="#FNanchor_492"><span class="label">492</span></a> Cf. A. Müller, <i>Der Islam</i>, vol. i, p. 481 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_493" id="Footnote_493"></a><a href="#FNanchor_493"><span class="label">493</span></a> Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 112.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_494" id="Footnote_494"></a><a href="#FNanchor_494"><span class="label">494</span></a> Literally, "No father to your father!" a common form of imprecation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_495" id="Footnote_495"></a><a href="#FNanchor_495"><span class="label">495</span></a> Green was the party colour of the ‘Alids, black of the ‘Abbásids.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_496" id="Footnote_496"></a><a href="#FNanchor_496"><span class="label">496</span></a> <i>Al-Nujúm al-Záhira</i>, ed. by Juynboll, vol. i, p. 631.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_497" id="Footnote_497"></a><a href="#FNanchor_497"><span class="label">497</span></a> The court remained at Sámarrá for fifty-six years (836-892 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>). The +official spelling of Sámarrá was <i>Surra-man-ra’á</i>, which may be freely +rendered 'The Spectator's Joy.'</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_498" id="Footnote_498"></a><a href="#FNanchor_498"><span class="label">498</span></a> My account of these dynasties is necessarily of the briefest and barest +character. The reader will find copious details concerning most of them +in Professor Browne's <i>Literary History of Persia</i>: Ṣaffárids and Sámánids +in vol. i, p. 346 sqq.; Fáṭimids in vol. i, pp. 391-400 and vol. ii, p. 196 +sqq.; Ghaznevids in vol. ii, chap. ii; and Seljúqs, <i>ibid.</i>, chaps, iii to v.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_499" id="Footnote_499"></a><a href="#FNanchor_499"><span class="label">499</span></a> Ibn Abí Usaybi‘a, <i>Ṭabaqátu ’l-Atibbá</i>, ed. by A. Müller, vol. ii, p. 4, +l. 4 sqq. Avicenna was at this time scarcely eighteen years of age.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_500" id="Footnote_500"></a><a href="#FNanchor_500"><span class="label">500</span></a> ‘Abdu ’l-Hamíd flourished in the latter days of the Umayyad dynasty. +See Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 173, Mas‘údí, <i>Murúju +’l-Dhahab</i>, vol. vi, p. 81.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_501" id="Footnote_501"></a><a href="#FNanchor_501"><span class="label">501</span></a> See Professor Margoliouth's Introduction to the <i>Letters of ‘Abu ’l-‘Alá +al-Ma‘arrí</i>, p. xxiv.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_502" id="Footnote_502"></a><a href="#FNanchor_502"><span class="label">502</span></a> Abu ’l-Mahásin, <i>al-Nujúm al-Záhira</i>, ed. by Juynboll, vol. ii, p. 333. +The original Ráfiḍites were those schismatics who rejected (<i>rafaḍa</i>) the +Caliphs Abú Bakr and ‘Umar, but the term is generally used as synonymous +with Shí‘ite.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_503" id="Footnote_503"></a><a href="#FNanchor_503"><span class="label">503</span></a> Mutanabbí, ed. by Dieterici, p. 148, last line and foll.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_504" id="Footnote_504"></a><a href="#FNanchor_504"><span class="label">504</span></a> D. B. Macdonald, <i>Muslim Theology</i>, p. 43 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_505" id="Footnote_505"></a><a href="#FNanchor_505"><span class="label">505</span></a> I regret that lack of space compels me to omit the further history of +the Fáṭimids. Readers who desire information on this subject may +consult Stanley Lane-Poole's <i>History of Egypt in the Middle Ages</i>; +Wüstenfeld's <i>Geschichte der Faṭimiden-Chalifen</i> (Göttingen, 1881); and +Professor Browne's <i>Lit. Hist. of Persia</i>, vol. ii, p. 196 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_506" id="Footnote_506"></a><a href="#FNanchor_506"><span class="label">506</span></a> Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 441.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_507" id="Footnote_507"></a><a href="#FNanchor_507"><span class="label">507</span></a> See the Introduction.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_508" id="Footnote_508"></a><a href="#FNanchor_508"><span class="label">508</span></a> Ibn Khaldún, <i>Muqaddima</i> (Beyrout, 1900), p. 543 seq.—De Slane, +<i>Prolegomena</i>, vol. iii, p. 296 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_509" id="Footnote_509"></a><a href="#FNanchor_509"><span class="label">509</span></a> <i>Cf.</i> Goldziher, <i>Muhamm. Studien</i>, Part I, p. 114 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_510" id="Footnote_510"></a><a href="#FNanchor_510"><span class="label">510</span></a> Read <i>mashárátí ’l-buqúl</i> (beds of vegetables), not <i>mushárát</i> as my +rendering implies. The change makes little difference to the sense, but +<i>mashárat</i>, being an Aramaic word, is peculiarly appropriate here.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_511" id="Footnote_511"></a><a href="#FNanchor_511"><span class="label">511</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, xii, 177, l. 5 sqq; Von Kremer, <i>Culturgesch. Streifzüge</i>, p. 32. +These lines are aimed, as has been remarked by S. Khuda Bukhsh +(<i>Contributions to the History of Islamic Civilisation</i>, Calcutta, 1905, p. 92), +against Nabatæans who falsely claimed to be Persians.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_512" id="Footnote_512"></a><a href="#FNanchor_512"><span class="label">512</span></a> The name is derived from Koran, xlix, 13: "<i>O Men, We have created +you of a male and a female and have made you into peoples</i> (shu‘úb<sup>an</sup>) +<i>and tribes, that ye might know one another. Verily the noblest of you in</i> +<i>the sight of God are they that do most fear Him.</i>" Thus the designation +'Shu‘úbite' emphasises the fact that according to Muḥammad's teaching +the Arab Moslems are no better than their non-Arab brethren.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_513" id="Footnote_513"></a><a href="#FNanchor_513"><span class="label">513</span></a> <i>Muhamm. Studien</i>, Part I, p. 147 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_514" id="Footnote_514"></a><a href="#FNanchor_514"><span class="label">514</span></a> The term <i>Falsafa</i> properly includes Logic, Metaphysics, Mathematics +Medicine, and the Natural Sciences.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_515" id="Footnote_515"></a><a href="#FNanchor_515"><span class="label">515</span></a> Here we might add the various branches of Mathematics, such as +Arithmetic, Algebra, Mechanics, &c.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_516" id="Footnote_516"></a><a href="#FNanchor_516"><span class="label">516</span></a> ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥman Jámí († 1492 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_517" id="Footnote_517"></a><a href="#FNanchor_517"><span class="label">517</span></a> I am deeply indebted in the following pages to Goldziher's essay +entitled <i>Alte und Neue Poesie im Urtheile der Arabischen Kritiker</i> in his +<i>Abhand. zur Arab. Philologie</i>, Part I, pp. 122-174.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_518" id="Footnote_518"></a><a href="#FNanchor_518"><span class="label">518</span></a> <i>Cf.</i> the remark made by Abú ‘Amr b. al-‘Alá about the poet Akhṭal +(p. 242 <i>supra</i>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_519" id="Footnote_519"></a><a href="#FNanchor_519"><span class="label">519</span></a> <i>Diwan des Abu Nowas, Die Weinlieder</i>, ed. by Ahlwardt, No. 10, +vv. 1-5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_520" id="Footnote_520"></a><a href="#FNanchor_520"><span class="label">520</span></a> Ed. by De Goeje, p. 5, ll. 5-15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_521" id="Footnote_521"></a><a href="#FNanchor_521"><span class="label">521</span></a> <i>Cf.</i> the story told of Abú Tammám by Ibn Khallikán (De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 350 seq.).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_522" id="Footnote_522"></a><a href="#FNanchor_522"><span class="label">522</span></a> See Nöldeke, <i>Beiträge</i>, p. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_523" id="Footnote_523"></a><a href="#FNanchor_523"><span class="label">523</span></a> Ibn Khaldún, <i>Muqaddima</i> (Beyrout, 1900), p. 573, l. 21 seq.; <i>Prolegomena</i> +of Ibn K., translated by De Slane, vol. iii, p. 380.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_524" id="Footnote_524"></a><a href="#FNanchor_524"><span class="label">524</span></a> See Professor Browne's <i>Literary History of Persia</i>, vol. ii, p. 14 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_525" id="Footnote_525"></a><a href="#FNanchor_525"><span class="label">525</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, xii, 80, l. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_526" id="Footnote_526"></a><a href="#FNanchor_526"><span class="label">526</span></a> Freytag, <i>Arabum Proverbia</i>, vol. i, p. 46 seq., where the reader will +find the Arabic text of the verses translated here. Rückert has given a +German rendering of the same verses in his <i>Hamâsa</i>, vol. i, p. 311. A +fuller text of the poem occurs in <i>Agháni</i>, xii, 107 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_527" id="Footnote_527"></a><a href="#FNanchor_527"><span class="label">527</span></a> <i>Díwán</i>, ed. by Ahlwardt, <i>Die Weinlieder</i>, No. 26, v. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_528" id="Footnote_528"></a><a href="#FNanchor_528"><span class="label">528</span></a> Ibn Qutayba, <i>K. al-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará</i>, p. 502, l. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_529" id="Footnote_529"></a><a href="#FNanchor_529"><span class="label">529</span></a> For the famous ascetic, Ḥasan of Baṣra, see pp. 225-227. Qatáda was +a learned divine, also of Baṣra and contemporary with Ḥasan. He died +in 735 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_530" id="Footnote_530"></a><a href="#FNanchor_530"><span class="label">530</span></a> These verses are quoted by Ibn Qutayba, <i>op. cit.</i>, p. 507 seq. 'The +Scripture' (<i>al-maṣḥaf</i>) is of course the Koran.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_531" id="Footnote_531"></a><a href="#FNanchor_531"><span class="label">531</span></a> <i>Die Weinlieder</i>, ed. by Ahlwardt, No. 47.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_532" id="Footnote_532"></a><a href="#FNanchor_532"><span class="label">532</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, No. 29, vv. 1-3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_533" id="Footnote_533"></a><a href="#FNanchor_533"><span class="label">533</span></a> Ibn Khallikán, ed. by Wüstenfeld, No. 169, p. 100; De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 393.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_534" id="Footnote_534"></a><a href="#FNanchor_534"><span class="label">534</span></a> <i>Cf.</i> <i>Díwán</i> (ed. of Beyrout, 1886), p. 279, l. 9, where he reproaches one +of his former friends who deserted him because, in his own words, "I +adopted the garb of a dervish" (<i>ṣirtu fi ziyyi miskíni</i>). Others attribute +his conversion to disgust with the immorality and profanity of the court-poets +amongst whom he lived.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_535" id="Footnote_535"></a><a href="#FNanchor_535"><span class="label">535</span></a> Possibly he alludes to these aspersions in the verse (<i>ibid.</i>, p. 153, l. 10): +"<i>Men have become corrupted, and if they see any one who is sound in +his religion, they call him a heretic</i>" (<i>mubtadi‘</i>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_536" id="Footnote_536"></a><a href="#FNanchor_536"><span class="label">536</span></a> Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya declares that knowledge is derived from three sources, +logical reasoning (<i>qiyás</i>), examination (<i>‘iyár</i>), and oral tradition (<i>samá‘</i>). +See his <i>Díwán</i>, p. 158, l. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_537" id="Footnote_537"></a><a href="#FNanchor_537"><span class="label">537</span></a> <i>Cf.</i> <i>Mání, seine Lehre und seine Schriften</i>, by G. Flügel, p. 281, l. 3 sqq. +Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya did not take this extreme view (<i>Díwán</i>, p. 270, l. 3 seq.).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_538" id="Footnote_538"></a><a href="#FNanchor_538"><span class="label">538</span></a> See Shahrastání, Haarbrücker's translation, Part I, p. 181 sqq. It +appears highly improbable that Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya was a Shí‘ite. <i>Cf.</i> the +verses (<i>Díwán</i>, p. 104, l. 13 seq.), where, speaking of the prophets and the +holy men of ancient Islam, he says:— +</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"<i>Reckon first among them Abú Bakr, the veracious,</i></span> +<span class="i0"> +<i>And exclaim 'O ‘Umar!' in the second place of honour.</i></span> +<span class="i0"> +<i>And reckon the father of Ḥasan after ‘Uthmán,</i></span> +<span class="i0"> +<i>For the merit of them both is recited and celebrated.</i>"</span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_539" id="Footnote_539"></a><a href="#FNanchor_539"><span class="label">539</span></a> <i>Aghání</i>, iii, 128, l. 6 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_540" id="Footnote_540"></a><a href="#FNanchor_540"><span class="label">540</span></a> <i>Transactions of the Ninth Congress of Orientalists</i>, vol. ii. p. 114.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_541" id="Footnote_541"></a><a href="#FNanchor_541"><span class="label">541</span></a> <i>Díwán</i>, p. 274, l. 10. <i>Cf.</i> the verse (p. 199, penultimate line):— +</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"<i>When I gained contentment, I did not cease (thereafter)</i></span> +<span class="i0"> +<i>To be a king, regarding riches as poverty.</i>"</span> +</div> +</div> +<p> +The ascetic "lives the life of a king" (<i>ibid.</i>, p. 187, l. 5). Contented men +are the noblest of all (p. 148, l. 2). So the great Persian mystic, Jalálu +’l-Dín Rúmí, says in reference to the perfect Ṣúfí (<i>Díván-i Shams-i Tabríz</i>, +No. viii, v. 3 in my edition): <i>Mard-i khudá sháh buvad zír-i dalq</i>, "the +man of God is a king 'neath dervish-cloak;" and eminent spiritualists +are frequently described as "kings of the (mystic) path." I do not deny, +however, that this metaphor may have been originally suggested by the +story of Buddha.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_542" id="Footnote_542"></a><a href="#FNanchor_542"><span class="label">542</span></a> <i>Díwán</i>, p. 25, l. 3 sqq. Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya took credit to himself for +introducing 'the language of the market-place' into his poetry (<i>ibid.</i> +p. 12, l. 3 seq.).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_543" id="Footnote_543"></a><a href="#FNanchor_543"><span class="label">543</span></a> <i>Díwán</i> (Beyrout, 1886), p. 23, l. 13 et seqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_544" id="Footnote_544"></a><a href="#FNanchor_544"><span class="label">544</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 51, l. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_545" id="Footnote_545"></a><a href="#FNanchor_545"><span class="label">545</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 132, l. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_546" id="Footnote_546"></a><a href="#FNanchor_546"><span class="label">546</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 46, l. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_547" id="Footnote_547"></a><a href="#FNanchor_547"><span class="label">547</span></a> <i>Díwán</i>, p. 260, l. 11 <i>et seqq.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_548" id="Footnote_548"></a><a href="#FNanchor_548"><span class="label">548</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 295, l. 14 <i>et seqq.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_549" id="Footnote_549"></a><a href="#FNanchor_549"><span class="label">549</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 287, l. 10 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_550" id="Footnote_550"></a><a href="#FNanchor_550"><span class="label">550</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 119, l. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_551" id="Footnote_551"></a><a href="#FNanchor_551"><span class="label">551</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 259, penultimate line <i>et seq.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_552" id="Footnote_552"></a><a href="#FNanchor_552"><span class="label">552</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 115, l. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_553" id="Footnote_553"></a><a href="#FNanchor_553"><span class="label">553</span></a> <i>Díwán</i>, p. 51, l. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_554" id="Footnote_554"></a><a href="#FNanchor_554"><span class="label">554</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 133, l. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_555" id="Footnote_555"></a><a href="#FNanchor_555"><span class="label">555</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 74, l. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_556" id="Footnote_556"></a><a href="#FNanchor_556"><span class="label">556</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 149, l. 12 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_557" id="Footnote_557"></a><a href="#FNanchor_557"><span class="label">557</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 195, l. 9. <i>Cf.</i> p. 243, l. 4 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_558" id="Footnote_558"></a><a href="#FNanchor_558"><span class="label">558</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 274, l. 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_559" id="Footnote_559"></a><a href="#FNanchor_559"><span class="label">559</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 262, l. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_560" id="Footnote_560"></a><a href="#FNanchor_560"><span class="label">560</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 346, l. 11. <i>Cf.</i> p. 102, l. 11; p. 262, l. 1 seq.; p. 267, l. 7. This +verse is taken from Abu ’l-‘Atáhiya's famous didactic poem composed in +rhyming couplets, which is said to have contained 4,000 sentences of +morality. Several of these have been translated by Von Kremer in his +<i>Culturgeschichte des Orients</i>, vol. ii, p. 374 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_561" id="Footnote_561"></a><a href="#FNanchor_561"><span class="label">561</span></a> In one of his poems (<i>Díwán</i>, p. 160, l. 11), he says that he has lived +ninety years, but if this is not a mere exaggeration, it needs to be +corrected. The words for 'seventy' and 'ninety' are easily confused in +Arabic writing.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_562" id="Footnote_562"></a><a href="#FNanchor_562"><span class="label">562</span></a> Tha‘álibí, <i>Yatimatu ’l-Dahr</i> (Damascus, 1304 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span>), vol. i, p. 8 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_563" id="Footnote_563"></a><a href="#FNanchor_563"><span class="label">563</span></a> See Von Kremer's <i>Culturgeschichte</i>, vol. ii, p. 381 sqq.; Ahlwardt, +<i>Poesie und Poetik der Araber</i>, p. 37 sqq.; R. Dvorak, <i>Abú Firás, ein +arabischer Dichter und Held</i> (Leyden, 1895).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_564" id="Footnote_564"></a><a href="#FNanchor_564"><span class="label">564</span></a> Mutanabbí, ed. by Dieterici, p. 493. Wáḥidí gives the whole story in +his commentary on this verse.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_565" id="Footnote_565"></a><a href="#FNanchor_565"><span class="label">565</span></a> Mutanabbí, it is said, explained to Sayfu ’l-Dawla that by <i>surra</i> +(gladden) he meant <i>surriyya</i>; whereupon the good-humoured prince +presented him with a slave-girl.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_566" id="Footnote_566"></a><a href="#FNanchor_566"><span class="label">566</span></a> Literally, "Do not imagine fat in one whose (apparent) fat is (really) a +tumour."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_567" id="Footnote_567"></a><a href="#FNanchor_567"><span class="label">567</span></a> <i>Díwán</i>, ed. by Dieterici, pp. 481-484.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_568" id="Footnote_568"></a><a href="#FNanchor_568"><span class="label">568</span></a> The most esteemed commentary is that of Wáḥidí († 1075 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), which +has been published by Fr. Dieterici in his edition of Mutanabbí (Berlin, +1858-1861).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_569" id="Footnote_569"></a><a href="#FNanchor_569"><span class="label">569</span></a> <i>Motenebbi, der grösste arabische Dichter</i> (Vienna, 1824).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_570" id="Footnote_570"></a><a href="#FNanchor_570"><span class="label">570</span></a> <i>Abulfedæ Annales Muslemici</i> (Hafniæ, 1789, &c.), vol. ii, p. 774. <i>Cf.</i> +his notes on Ṭarafa's <i>Mu‘allaqa</i>, of which he published an edition in +1742.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_571" id="Footnote_571"></a><a href="#FNanchor_571"><span class="label">571</span></a> <i>Chrestomathie Arabe</i> (2nd edition), vol. iii, p. 27 sqq. <i>Journal des +Savans</i>, January, 1825, p. 24 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_572" id="Footnote_572"></a><a href="#FNanchor_572"><span class="label">572</span></a> <i>Commentatio de Motenabbio</i> (Bonn, 1824).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_573" id="Footnote_573"></a><a href="#FNanchor_573"><span class="label">573</span></a> <i>Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur</i> (Weimar, 1898, &c.), vol. i, p. 86.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_574" id="Footnote_574"></a><a href="#FNanchor_574"><span class="label">574</span></a> I have made free use of Dieterici's excellent work entitled <i>Mutanabbi +und Seifuddaula aus der Edelperle des Tsaâlibi</i> (Leipzig, 1847), which +contains on pp. 49-74 an abstract of Tha‘álibí's criticism in the fifth +chapter of the First Part of the <i>Yatíma</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_575" id="Footnote_575"></a><a href="#FNanchor_575"><span class="label">575</span></a> Mutanabbí, ed. by Dieterici, p. 182, vv. 3-9, omitting v. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_576" id="Footnote_576"></a><a href="#FNanchor_576"><span class="label">576</span></a> The author of these lines, which are quoted by Ibn Khallikán in his +article on Mutanabbí, is Abu ’l-Qásim b. al-Muẓaffar b. ‘Alí al-Ṭabasí.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_577" id="Footnote_577"></a><a href="#FNanchor_577"><span class="label">577</span></a> Mutanabbí, ed. by Dieterici, p. 581, v. 27.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_578" id="Footnote_578"></a><a href="#FNanchor_578"><span class="label">578</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 472, v. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_579" id="Footnote_579"></a><a href="#FNanchor_579"><span class="label">579</span></a> Mutanabbí, ed. by Dieterici, p. 341, v. 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_580" id="Footnote_580"></a><a href="#FNanchor_580"><span class="label">580</span></a> Margoliouth's Introduction to the <i>Letters of Abu ’l-‘Alá</i>, p. xxii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_581" id="Footnote_581"></a><a href="#FNanchor_581"><span class="label">581</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. xxvii seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_582" id="Footnote_582"></a><a href="#FNanchor_582"><span class="label">582</span></a> <i>Luzúmiyyát</i> (Cairo, 1891), vol. i, p. 201.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_583" id="Footnote_583"></a><a href="#FNanchor_583"><span class="label">583</span></a> <i>I.e.</i>, his predecessors of the modern school. Like Mutanabbí, he +ridicules the conventional types (<i>asálíb</i>) in which the old poetry is cast +Cf. Goldziher, <i>Abhand. zur Arab. Philologie</i>, Part 1, p. 146 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_584" id="Footnote_584"></a><a href="#FNanchor_584"><span class="label">584</span></a> The proper title is <i>Luzúmu má lá yalzam</i>, referring to a technical +difficulty which the poet unnecessarily imposed on himself with regard +to the rhyme.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_585" id="Footnote_585"></a><a href="#FNanchor_585"><span class="label">585</span></a> <i>Abulfedæ Annales Muslemici</i>, ed. by Adler (1789-1794), vol. iii, p. 677.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_586" id="Footnote_586"></a><a href="#FNanchor_586"><span class="label">586</span></a> <i>Literaturgesch. der Araber</i>, vol. vi, p. 900 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_587" id="Footnote_587"></a><a href="#FNanchor_587"><span class="label">587</span></a> <i>Sitzungsberichte der Philosophisch-Historischen Classe der Kaiserlichen +Akademie der Wissenschaften</i>, vol. cxvii, 6th Abhandlung (Vienna, 1889). +Select passages admirably rendered by Von Kremer into German verse +will be found in the <i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 29, pp. 304-312; vol. 30, pp. 40-52; +vol. 31, pp. 471-483; vol. 38, pp. 499-529.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_588" id="Footnote_588"></a><a href="#FNanchor_588"><span class="label">588</span></a> <i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 38, p. 507; Margoliouth, <i>op. cit.</i>, p. 131, l. 15 of the +Arabic text.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_589" id="Footnote_589"></a><a href="#FNanchor_589"><span class="label">589</span></a> <i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 29, p. 308.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_590" id="Footnote_590"></a><a href="#FNanchor_590"><span class="label">590</span></a> Margoliouth, <i>op. cit.</i>, p. 133 of the Arabic text.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_591" id="Footnote_591"></a><a href="#FNanchor_591"><span class="label">591</span></a> This passage occurs in Abu ’l-‘Alá's <i>Risálatu ’l-Ghufrán</i> (see <i>infra</i>), +<i>J.R.A.S.</i> for 1902, p. 351. <i>Cf.</i> the verses translated by Von Kremer in +his essay on Abu ’l-‘Alá, p. 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_592" id="Footnote_592"></a><a href="#FNanchor_592"><span class="label">592</span></a> For the term 'Ḥaníf' see p. <a href="#Page_149">149</a> <i>supra</i>. Here it is synonymous with +'Muslim.'</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_593" id="Footnote_593"></a><a href="#FNanchor_593"><span class="label">593</span></a> <i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 38, p. 513.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_594" id="Footnote_594"></a><a href="#FNanchor_594"><span class="label">594</span></a> This work, of which only two copies exist in Europe—one at Constantinople +and another in my collection—has been described and partially +translated in the <i>J.R.A.S.</i> for 1900, pp. 637-720, and for 1902, pp. 75-101, +337-362, and 813-847.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_595" id="Footnote_595"></a><a href="#FNanchor_595"><span class="label">595</span></a> Margoliouth, <i>op. cit.</i>, p. 132, last line of the Arabic text.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_596" id="Footnote_596"></a><a href="#FNanchor_596"><span class="label">596</span></a> <i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 31, p. 483.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_597" id="Footnote_597"></a><a href="#FNanchor_597"><span class="label">597</span></a> De Gobineau, <i>Les religions et les philosophies dans l'Asie centrale</i>, +p. 11 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_598" id="Footnote_598"></a><a href="#FNanchor_598"><span class="label">598</span></a> <i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 31, p. 477.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_599" id="Footnote_599"></a><a href="#FNanchor_599"><span class="label">599</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, vol. 29, p. 311.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_600" id="Footnote_600"></a><a href="#FNanchor_600"><span class="label">600</span></a> <i>Z.D.M.G.</i> vol. 38, p. 522.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_601" id="Footnote_601"></a><a href="#FNanchor_601"><span class="label">601</span></a> According to De Goeje, <i>Mémoires sur les Carmathes du Bahrain</i>, +p. 197, n. 1, these lines refer to a prophecy made by the Carmathians +that the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, which took place in 1047 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> +would herald the final triumph of the Fáṭimids over the ‘Abbásids.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_602" id="Footnote_602"></a><a href="#FNanchor_602"><span class="label">602</span></a> <i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 38, p. 504.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_603" id="Footnote_603"></a><a href="#FNanchor_603"><span class="label">603</span></a> <i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 31, p. 474.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_604" id="Footnote_604"></a><a href="#FNanchor_604"><span class="label">604</span></a> <i>Luzúmiyyát</i> (Cairo, 1891), i, 394.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_605" id="Footnote_605"></a><a href="#FNanchor_605"><span class="label">605</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, i, 312.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_606" id="Footnote_606"></a><a href="#FNanchor_606"><span class="label">606</span></a> Von Kremer, <i>op. cit.</i>, p. 38.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_607" id="Footnote_607"></a><a href="#FNanchor_607"><span class="label">607</span></a> <i>Safar-náma</i>, ed. by Schefer, p. 10 seq. = pp. 35-36 of the translation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_608" id="Footnote_608"></a><a href="#FNanchor_608"><span class="label">608</span></a> <i>Luzúmiyyát</i>, 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_609" id="Footnote_609"></a><a href="#FNanchor_609"><span class="label">609</span></a> See Von Kremer, <i>op. cit.</i>, p. 46 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_610" id="Footnote_610"></a><a href="#FNanchor_610"><span class="label">610</span></a> See the article on Ṭughrá’í in Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, +vol. i, p. 462.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_611" id="Footnote_611"></a><a href="#FNanchor_611"><span class="label">611</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, vol. iii, p. 355.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_612" id="Footnote_612"></a><a href="#FNanchor_612"><span class="label">612</span></a> The spirit of fortitude and patience (<i>ḥamása</i>) is exhibited by both +poets, but in a very different manner. Shanfará describes a man of +heroic nature. Ṭughrá’í wraps himself in his virtue and moralises like +a Muḥammadan Horace. Ṣafadí, however, says in his commentary on +Ṭughrá’í's ode (I translate from a MS. copy in my possession): "It is +named <i>Lámiyyatu ’l-‘Ajam</i> by way of comparing it with the <i>Lámiyyatu +’l-‘Arab</i>, because it resembles the latter in its wise sentences and maxims."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_613" id="Footnote_613"></a><a href="#FNanchor_613"><span class="label">613</span></a> <i>I.e.</i>, the native of Abúṣir (Búṣír), a village in Egypt.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_614" id="Footnote_614"></a><a href="#FNanchor_614"><span class="label">614</span></a> The <i>Burda</i>, ed. by C. A. Ralfs (Vienna, 1860), verse 140; <i>La Bordah +traduite et commentée par René Basset</i> (Paris, 1894), verse 151.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_615" id="Footnote_615"></a><a href="#FNanchor_615"><span class="label">615</span></a> This appears to be a reminiscence of the fact that Muḥammad gave +his own mantle as a gift to Ka‘b b. Zuhayr, when that poet recited his +famous ode, <i>Bánat Su‘ád</i> (see p. <a href="#Page_127">127</a> <i>supra</i>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_616" id="Footnote_616"></a><a href="#FNanchor_616"><span class="label">616</span></a> <i>Maqáma</i> (plural, <i>maqámát</i>) is properly 'a place of standing'; hence, +an assembly where people stand listening to the speaker, and in particular, +an assembly for literary discussion. At an early period reports of such +conversations and discussions received the name of <i>maqámát</i> (see Brockelmann, +<i>Gesch. der Arab. Litteratur</i>, vol. i, p. 94). The word in its literary +sense is usually translated by 'assembly,' or by the French '<i>séance</i>.'</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_617" id="Footnote_617"></a><a href="#FNanchor_617"><span class="label">617</span></a> <i>The Assemblies of al-Ḥarírí</i>, 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 <i>Assemblies</i> 27-50) by F. Steingass +appeared in 1898.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_618" id="Footnote_618"></a><a href="#FNanchor_618"><span class="label">618</span></a> A full account of his career will be found in the Preface to Houtsma's +<i>Recueil de textes relatifs à l'histoire des Seldjoucides</i>, vol. ii. p. 11 sqq. +<i>Cf.</i> Browne's <i>Lit. Hist. of Persia</i>, vol. ii, p. 360.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_619" id="Footnote_619"></a><a href="#FNanchor_619"><span class="label">619</span></a> This is a graceful, but probably insincere, tribute to the superior +genius of Hamadhání.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_620" id="Footnote_620"></a><a href="#FNanchor_620"><span class="label">620</span></a> The above passage is taken, with some modification, from the version +of Ḥarírí published in 1850 by Theodore Preston, Fellow of Trinity +College, Cambridge, who was afterwards Lord Almoner's Professor of +Arabic (1855-1871).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_621" id="Footnote_621"></a><a href="#FNanchor_621"><span class="label">621</span></a> Moslems had long been familiar with the fables of Bidpai, which +were translated from the Pehleví into Arabic by Ibnu ’l-Muqaffa‘ († <i>circa</i> +760 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_622" id="Footnote_622"></a><a href="#FNanchor_622"><span class="label">622</span></a> <i>Al-Fakhrí</i>, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 18, l. 4 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_623" id="Footnote_623"></a><a href="#FNanchor_623"><span class="label">623</span></a> A town in Mesopotamia, not far from Edessa. It was taken by the +Crusaders in 1101 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> (Abu ’l-Fidá, ed. by Reiske, vol. iii, p. 332).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_624" id="Footnote_624"></a><a href="#FNanchor_624"><span class="label">624</span></a> The 48th <i>Maqáma</i> of the series as finally arranged.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_625" id="Footnote_625"></a><a href="#FNanchor_625"><span class="label">625</span></a> Chenery, <i>op. cit.</i>, p. 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_626" id="Footnote_626"></a><a href="#FNanchor_626"><span class="label">626</span></a> This has been done with extraordinary skill by the German poet, +Friedrich Rückert (<i>Die Verwandlungen des Abu Seid von Serug</i>, 2nd ed. +1837), whose work, however, is not in any sense a translation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_627" id="Footnote_627"></a><a href="#FNanchor_627"><span class="label">627</span></a> A literal translation of these verses, which occur in the sixth <i>Assembly</i>, +is given by Chenery, <i>op. cit.</i>, p. 138.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_628" id="Footnote_628"></a><a href="#FNanchor_628"><span class="label">628</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 163.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_629" id="Footnote_629"></a><a href="#FNanchor_629"><span class="label">629</span></a> Two grammatical treatises by Ḥarírí have come down to us. In one +of these, entitled <i>Durratu ’l-Ghawwáṣ</i> ('The Pearl of the Diver') and +edited by Thorbecke (Leipzig, 1871), he discusses the solecisms which +people of education are wont to commit.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_630" id="Footnote_630"></a><a href="#FNanchor_630"><span class="label">630</span></a> See Chenery, <i>op. cit.</i>, pp. 83-97.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_631" id="Footnote_631"></a><a href="#FNanchor_631"><span class="label">631</span></a> <i>The Caliphate, its Rise, Decline, and Fall</i>, p. 573.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_632" id="Footnote_632"></a><a href="#FNanchor_632"><span class="label">632</span></a> Another example is ‘Umar al-Khayyámí for ‘Umar Khayyám. The +spelling Ghazzálí (with a double <i>z</i>) was in general use when Ibn +Khallikán wrote his Biographical Dictionary in 1256 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> (see De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 80), but according to Sam‘ání the name is derived +from Ghazála, a village near Ṭús; in which case Ghazálí is the correct +form of the <i>nisba</i>. I have adopted 'Ghazalí' in deference to Sam‘ání's +authority, but those who write 'Ghazzálí' can at least claim that they err +in very good company.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_633" id="Footnote_633"></a><a href="#FNanchor_633"><span class="label">633</span></a> Shamsu ’l-Dín al-Dhahabí († 1348 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_634" id="Footnote_634"></a><a href="#FNanchor_634"><span class="label">634</span></a> ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥím al-Isnawí († 1370 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), author of a biographical +work on the Sháfi‘ite doctors. See Brockelmann, <i>Gesch. der Arab. Litt.</i>, +vol. ii, p. 90.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_635" id="Footnote_635"></a><a href="#FNanchor_635"><span class="label">635</span></a> Abu ’l-Ma‘álí al-Juwayní, a famous theologian of Naysábúr († 1085 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), +received this title, which means 'Imám of the Two Sanctuaries,' because +he taught for several years at Mecca and Medína.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_636" id="Footnote_636"></a><a href="#FNanchor_636"><span class="label">636</span></a> <i>I.e.</i>, the camp-court of the Seljúq monarch Maliksháh, son of +Alp Arslán.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_637" id="Footnote_637"></a><a href="#FNanchor_637"><span class="label">637</span></a> According to his own account in the <i>Munqidh</i>, Ghazálí on leaving +Baghdád went first to Damascus, then to Jerusalem, and then to Mecca. +The statement that he remained ten years at Damascus is inaccurate.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_638" id="Footnote_638"></a><a href="#FNanchor_638"><span class="label">638</span></a> The MS. has Fakhru ’l-Dín.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_639" id="Footnote_639"></a><a href="#FNanchor_639"><span class="label">639</span></a> Ghazálí's return to public life took place in 1106 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_640" id="Footnote_640"></a><a href="#FNanchor_640"><span class="label">640</span></a> The correct title of Ibn Ḥazm's work is uncertain. In the Cairo ed. +(1321 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span>) it is called <i>Kitábu ’l-Fiṣal fi ’l-Milal wa ’l-Ahwá wa ’l-Niḥal</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_641" id="Footnote_641"></a><a href="#FNanchor_641"><span class="label">641</span></a> See p. 195 <i>supra</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_642" id="Footnote_642"></a><a href="#FNanchor_642"><span class="label">642</span></a> Kor. ix, 3. The translation runs ("This is a declaration) <i>that God is +clear of the idolaters, and His Apostle likewise</i>." With the reading +<i>rasúlihi</i> it means that God is clear of the idolaters and also of His +Apostle.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_643" id="Footnote_643"></a><a href="#FNanchor_643"><span class="label">643</span></a> Ibn Khallikan, De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 663.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_644" id="Footnote_644"></a><a href="#FNanchor_644"><span class="label">644</span></a> See p. 128.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_645" id="Footnote_645"></a><a href="#FNanchor_645"><span class="label">645</span></a> Ibn Khallikán, No. 608; De Slane's translation, vol. iii, p. 31.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_646" id="Footnote_646"></a><a href="#FNanchor_646"><span class="label">646</span></a> See pp. 131-134, <i>supra</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_647" id="Footnote_647"></a><a href="#FNanchor_647"><span class="label">647</span></a> Goldziher, <i>Muhammedanische Studien</i>, Part I, p. 197.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_648" id="Footnote_648"></a><a href="#FNanchor_648"><span class="label">648</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 195.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_649" id="Footnote_649"></a><a href="#FNanchor_649"><span class="label">649</span></a> Ibn Qutayba, <i>Kitábu ’l-Ma‘árif</i>, p. 269.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_650" id="Footnote_650"></a><a href="#FNanchor_650"><span class="label">650</span></a> While Abú ‘Ubayda was notorious for his freethinking proclivities, +Aṣma‘í had a strong vein of pietism. See Goldziher, <i>loc. cit.</i>, p. 199 +and <i>Abh. zur Arab. Philologie</i>, Part I, p. 136.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_651" id="Footnote_651"></a><a href="#FNanchor_651"><span class="label">651</span></a> Professor Browne has given a <i>résumé</i> of the contents in his <i>Lit. Hist. +of Persia</i>, vol. i, p. 387 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_652" id="Footnote_652"></a><a href="#FNanchor_652"><span class="label">652</span></a> Ed. by Max Grünert (Leyden, 1900).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_653" id="Footnote_653"></a><a href="#FNanchor_653"><span class="label">653</span></a> Vol. i ed. by C. Brockelmann (Weimar and Strassburg, 1898-1908).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_654" id="Footnote_654"></a><a href="#FNanchor_654"><span class="label">654</span></a> The epithet <i>jáḥiẓ</i> means 'goggle-eyed.'</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_655" id="Footnote_655"></a><a href="#FNanchor_655"><span class="label">655</span></a> See p. 267.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_656" id="Footnote_656"></a><a href="#FNanchor_656"><span class="label">656</span></a> Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 250.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_657" id="Footnote_657"></a><a href="#FNanchor_657"><span class="label">657</span></a> One of these, the eleventh of the complete work, has been edited by +Ahlwardt: <i>Anonyme Arabische Chronik</i> (Greifswald, 1883). It covers part +of the reign of the Umayyad Caliph, ‘Abdu ’l-Malik (685-705 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_658" id="Footnote_658"></a><a href="#FNanchor_658"><span class="label">658</span></a> The French title is <i>Les Prairies d'Or</i>. Brockelmann, in his shorter +<i>Hist. of Arabic Literature</i> (Leipzig, 1901), p. 110, states that the correct +translation of <i>Murúju ’l-Dhahab</i> is 'Goldwäschen.'</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_659" id="Footnote_659"></a><a href="#FNanchor_659"><span class="label">659</span></a> Concerning Ṭabarí and his work the reader should consult De Goeje's +Introduction (published in the supplementary volume containing the +Glossary) to the Leyden edition, and his excellent article on Ṭabarí and +early Arab Historians in the <i>Encyclopædia Britannica</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_660" id="Footnote_660"></a><a href="#FNanchor_660"><span class="label">660</span></a> Abu ’l-Maḥásin, ed. by Juynboll, vol. i, p. 608.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_661" id="Footnote_661"></a><a href="#FNanchor_661"><span class="label">661</span></a> <i>Selection from the Annals of Tabarí</i>, ed. by M. J. de Goeje (Leyden, +1902), p. xi.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_662" id="Footnote_662"></a><a href="#FNanchor_662"><span class="label">662</span></a> De Goeje's Introduction to Ṭabarí, p. xxvii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_663" id="Footnote_663"></a><a href="#FNanchor_663"><span class="label">663</span></a> Al-Bal‘amí, the Vizier of Manṣúr I, the Sámánid, made in 963 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> a +Persian epitome of which a French translation by Dubeux and Zotenberg +was published in 1867-1874.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_664" id="Footnote_664"></a><a href="#FNanchor_664"><span class="label">664</span></a> <i>Murúju ’l-Dhahab</i>, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. i, p. 5 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_665" id="Footnote_665"></a><a href="#FNanchor_665"><span class="label">665</span></a> The <i>Akhbáru ’l-Zamán</i> in thirty volumes (one volume is extant at +Vienna) and the <i>Kitáb al-Awsaṭ</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_666" id="Footnote_666"></a><a href="#FNanchor_666"><span class="label">666</span></a> <i>Murúju ’l-Dhahab</i>, p. 9 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_667" id="Footnote_667"></a><a href="#FNanchor_667"><span class="label">667</span></a> It may be noted as a coincidence that Ibn Khaldún calls Mas‘údí +<i>imám<sup>an</sup> lil-mu’arrikhín</i>, "an Imám for all the historians," which +resembles, though it does not exactly correspond to, "the Father of +History."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_668" id="Footnote_668"></a><a href="#FNanchor_668"><span class="label">668</span></a> Mas‘údí gives a summary of the contents of his historical and religious +works in the Preface to the <i>Tanbíh wa-’l-Ishráf</i>, ed. by De Goeje, p. 2 sqq. +A translation of this passage by De Sacy will be found in Barbier de +Meynard's edition of the <i>Murúju ’l-Dhahab</i>, vol. ix, p. 302 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_669" id="Footnote_669"></a><a href="#FNanchor_669"><span class="label">669</span></a> See <i>Murúj</i>, vol. i, p. 201, and vol. iii, p. 268.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_670" id="Footnote_670"></a><a href="#FNanchor_670"><span class="label">670</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, vol. ii, p. 372 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_671" id="Footnote_671"></a><a href="#FNanchor_671"><span class="label">671</span></a> De Sacy renders the title by 'Le Livre de l'Indication et de l'Admonition +ou l'Indicateur et le Moniteur'; but see De Goeje's edition of +the text (Leyden, 1894), p. xxvii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_672" id="Footnote_672"></a><a href="#FNanchor_672"><span class="label">672</span></a> The full title is <i>Kitábu ’l-Kámil fi ’l-Ta’ríkh</i>, or 'The Perfect Book +of Chronicles.' It has been edited by Tornberg in fourteen volumes +(Leyden, 1851-1876).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_673" id="Footnote_673"></a><a href="#FNanchor_673"><span class="label">673</span></a> Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 289.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_674" id="Footnote_674"></a><a href="#FNanchor_674"><span class="label">674</span></a> An excellent account of the Arab geographers is given by Guy Le +Strange in the Introduction to his <i>Palestine under the Moslems</i> (London, +1890). De Goeje has edited the works of Ibn Khurdádbih, Iṣṭakhrí, Ibn +Ḥawqal, and Muqaddasí in the <i>Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum</i> +(Leyden, 1870, &c.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_675" id="Footnote_675"></a><a href="#FNanchor_675"><span class="label">675</span></a> De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 9 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_676" id="Footnote_676"></a><a href="#FNanchor_676"><span class="label">676</span></a> P. 243.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_677" id="Footnote_677"></a><a href="#FNanchor_677"><span class="label">677</span></a> The translators employed by the Banú Músá were paid at the rate +of about 500 dínárs a month (<i>ibid.</i>, p. 43, l. 18 sqq.).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_678" id="Footnote_678"></a><a href="#FNanchor_678"><span class="label">678</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 271; Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. iii, p. 315.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_679" id="Footnote_679"></a><a href="#FNanchor_679"><span class="label">679</span></a> A chapter at least would be required in order to set forth adequately +the chief material and intellectual benefits which European civilisation +has derived from the Arabs. The reader may consult Von Kremer's +<i>Culturgeschichte des Orients</i>, vol. ii, chapters 7 and 9; Diercks, <i>Die Araber +im Mittelalter</i> (Leipzig, 1882); Sédillot, <i>Histoire générale des Arabes</i>; +Schack, <i>Poesie und Kunst der Araber in Spanien und Sicilien</i>; Munk, +<i>Mélanges de Philosophie Juive et Arabe</i>; De Lacy O'Leary, <i>Arabic +Thought and its Place in History</i> (1922); and Campbell, <i>Arabian Medicine +and its Influence on the Middle Ages</i> (1926). A volume entitled <i>The +Legacy of the Islamic World</i>, ed. by Sir T. W. Arnold and Professor +A. Guillaume, is in course of publication.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_680" id="Footnote_680"></a><a href="#FNanchor_680"><span class="label">680</span></a> Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 440.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_681" id="Footnote_681"></a><a href="#FNanchor_681"><span class="label">681</span></a> <i>The Chronology of Ancient Nations</i> (London, 1879) and Alberuni's +<i>India</i> (London, 1888).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_682" id="Footnote_682"></a><a href="#FNanchor_682"><span class="label">682</span></a> P. 384 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_683" id="Footnote_683"></a><a href="#FNanchor_683"><span class="label">683</span></a> The passages concerning the Ṣábians were edited and translated, with +copious annotations, by Chwolsohn in his <i>Ssabier und Ssabismus</i> (St. +Petersburg, 1856), vol. ii, p. 1-365, while Flügel made similar use of the +Manichæan portion in <i>Mani, seine Lehre und seine Schriften</i> (Leipzig, +1862).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_684" id="Footnote_684"></a><a href="#FNanchor_684"><span class="label">684</span></a> Wellhausen, <i>Das Arabische Reich</i>, p. 350 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_685" id="Footnote_685"></a><a href="#FNanchor_685"><span class="label">685</span></a> See Goldziher, <i>Muhamm. Studien</i>, Part II, p. 53 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_686" id="Footnote_686"></a><a href="#FNanchor_686"><span class="label">686</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 70 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_687" id="Footnote_687"></a><a href="#FNanchor_687"><span class="label">687</span></a> <i>Fragmenta Historicorum Arabicorum</i>, ed. by De Goeje and De Jong, +p. 298.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_688" id="Footnote_688"></a><a href="#FNanchor_688"><span class="label">688</span></a> There are, of course, some partial exceptions to this rule, <i>e.g.</i>, Mahdí +and Hárún al-Rashíd.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_689" id="Footnote_689"></a><a href="#FNanchor_689"><span class="label">689</span></a> See p. 163, note.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_690" id="Footnote_690"></a><a href="#FNanchor_690"><span class="label">690</span></a> Several freethinkers of this period attempted to rival the Koran with +their own compositions. See Goldziher, <i>Muhamm. Studien</i>, Part II, +p. 401 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_691" id="Footnote_691"></a><a href="#FNanchor_691"><span class="label">691</span></a> <i>Al-Nujúm al-Záhira</i>, ed. by Juynboll, vol. i, p. 639.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_692" id="Footnote_692"></a><a href="#FNanchor_692"><span class="label">692</span></a> This is the literal translation of <i>Ikhwánu ’l-Safá</i>, but according to +Arabic idiom 'brother of purity' (<i>akhu ’l-ṣafá</i>) simply means 'one who is +pure or sincere,' as has been shown by Goldziher, <i>Muhamm. Studien</i>, +Part I, p. 9, note. The term does not imply any sort of brotherhood.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_693" id="Footnote_693"></a><a href="#FNanchor_693"><span class="label">693</span></a> Ibnu ’l-Qifṭí, <i>Ta’ ríkhu ’l-Ḥukamá</i> (ed. by Lippert), p. 83, l. 17 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_694" id="Footnote_694"></a><a href="#FNanchor_694"><span class="label">694</span></a> <i>Notice sur un manuscrit de la secte des Assassins</i>, by P. Casanova in the +<i>Journal Asiatique</i> for 1898, p 151 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_695" id="Footnote_695"></a><a href="#FNanchor_695"><span class="label">695</span></a> De Goeje, <i>Mémoire sur les Carmathes</i>, p. 172.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_696" id="Footnote_696"></a><a href="#FNanchor_696"><span class="label">696</span></a> <i>Ṣâliḥ b. ‘Abd al-Quddûs und das Zindîḳthum während der Regierung +des Chalifen al-Mahdí in Transactions of the Ninth Congress of Orientalists</i>, +vol. ii, p. 105 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_697" id="Footnote_697"></a><a href="#FNanchor_697"><span class="label">697</span></a> Ṭabarí, iii, 522, 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_698" id="Footnote_698"></a><a href="#FNanchor_698"><span class="label">698</span></a> <i>I.e.</i> the sacred books of the Manichæans, which were often splendidly +illuminated. See Von Kremer, <i>Culturgesch. Streifzüge</i>, p. 39.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_699" id="Footnote_699"></a><a href="#FNanchor_699"><span class="label">699</span></a> <i>Cf.</i> Ṭabarí, iii, 499, 8 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_700" id="Footnote_700"></a><a href="#FNanchor_700"><span class="label">700</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, iii, 422, 19 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_701" id="Footnote_701"></a><a href="#FNanchor_701"><span class="label">701</span></a> <i>Cf.</i> the saying "<i>Aẓrafu mina ’l-Zindíq</i>" (Freytag, <i>Arabum Proverbia</i>, +vol. i, p. 214).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_702" id="Footnote_702"></a><a href="#FNanchor_702"><span class="label">702</span></a> As Professor Bevan points out, it is based solely on the well-known +verse (<i>Aghání</i>, iii, 24, l. 11), which has come down to us without the +context:— +</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"<i>Earth is dark and Fire is bright,</i></span> +<span class="i0"> +<i>And Fire has been worshipped ever since Fire existed.</i>"</span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_703" id="Footnote_703"></a><a href="#FNanchor_703"><span class="label">703</span></a> These popular preachers (<i>quṣṣáṣ</i>) are admirably described by Goldziher, +<i>Muhamm. Studien</i>, Part II, p. 161 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_704" id="Footnote_704"></a><a href="#FNanchor_704"><span class="label">704</span></a> The Arabic text of these verses will be found in Goldziher's monograph, +p. 122, ll. 6-7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_705" id="Footnote_705"></a><a href="#FNanchor_705"><span class="label">705</span></a> See a passage from the <i>Kitábu ’l-Ḥayawán</i>, cited by Baron V. Rosen +in <i>Zapiski</i>, vol. vi, p. 337, and rendered into English in my <i>Translations +from Eastern Poetry and Prose</i>, p. 53. Probably these monks were +Manichæans, not Buddhists.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_706" id="Footnote_706"></a><a href="#FNanchor_706"><span class="label">706</span></a> <i>Zaddíq</i> is an Aramaic word meaning 'righteous.' Its etymological +equivalent in Arabic is <i>siddíq</i>, which has a different meaning, namely, +'veracious.' <i>Zaddíq</i> passed into Persian in the form <i>Zandík</i>, which was +used by the Persians before Islam, and <i>Zindíq</i> is the Arabicised form of +the latter word. For some of these observations I am indebted to Professor +Bevan. Further details concerning the derivation and meaning of <i>Zindíq</i> +are given in Professor Browne's <i>Literary Hist. of Persia</i> (vol. i, p. 159 sqq.), +where the reader will also find a lucid account of the Manichæan doctrines.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_707" id="Footnote_707"></a><a href="#FNanchor_707"><span class="label">707</span></a> Ibnu ’l-Athír, vol. viii, p. 229 seq. (anno 323 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span> = 934-935 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_708" id="Footnote_708"></a><a href="#FNanchor_708"><span class="label">708</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 98.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_709" id="Footnote_709"></a><a href="#FNanchor_709"><span class="label">709</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 230 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_710" id="Footnote_710"></a><a href="#FNanchor_710"><span class="label">710</span></a> See p. 192.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_711" id="Footnote_711"></a><a href="#FNanchor_711"><span class="label">711</span></a> <i>I.e.</i>, he is saved from Hell but excluded from Paradise.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_712" id="Footnote_712"></a><a href="#FNanchor_712"><span class="label">712</span></a> Ibn Khallikán, ed. by Wüstenfeld, No. 440; De Slane's translation, +vol. ii, p. 228.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_713" id="Footnote_713"></a><a href="#FNanchor_713"><span class="label">713</span></a> The clearest statement of Ash‘arí's doctrine with which I am acquainted +is contained in the Creed published by Spitta, <i>Zur Geschichte Abu ’l-Ḥasan +al-Ash‘arí's</i> (Leipzig, 1876), p. 133, l. 9 sqq.; German translation, p. 95 sqq. +It has been translated into English by D. B. Macdonald in his <i>Muslim +Theology</i>, p. 293 and foll.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_714" id="Footnote_714"></a><a href="#FNanchor_714"><span class="label">714</span></a> <i>Op. cit.</i>, p. 7 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_715" id="Footnote_715"></a><a href="#FNanchor_715"><span class="label">715</span></a> Schreiner, <i>Zur Geschichte des Ash‘aritenthums in the Proceedings of the +Eighth International Congress of Orientalists</i> (1889), p. 5 of the <i>tirage à part</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_716" id="Footnote_716"></a><a href="#FNanchor_716"><span class="label">716</span></a> <i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 31, p. 167.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_717" id="Footnote_717"></a><a href="#FNanchor_717"><span class="label">717</span></a> See Goldziher in <i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 41, p. 63 seq., whence the following +details are derived.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_718" id="Footnote_718"></a><a href="#FNanchor_718"><span class="label">718</span></a> See p. 339 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_719" id="Footnote_719"></a><a href="#FNanchor_719"><span class="label">719</span></a> I have used the Cairo edition of 1309 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span> A French translation by +Barbier de Meynard was published in the <i>Journal Asiatique</i> (January, +1877), pp. 9-93.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_720" id="Footnote_720"></a><a href="#FNanchor_720"><span class="label">720</span></a> These are the Ismá‘ílís or Báṭinís (including the Carmathians and +Assassins). See p. 271 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_721" id="Footnote_721"></a><a href="#FNanchor_721"><span class="label">721</span></a> <i>A Literary History of Persia</i>, vol. ii, p. 295 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_722" id="Footnote_722"></a><a href="#FNanchor_722"><span class="label">722</span></a> <i>The Life of al-Ghazzālī</i> in the <i>Journal of the American Oriental +Society</i>, vol. xx (1899), p. 122 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_723" id="Footnote_723"></a><a href="#FNanchor_723"><span class="label">723</span></a> <i>Herrschende Ideen</i>, p. 67.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_724" id="Footnote_724"></a><a href="#FNanchor_724"><span class="label">724</span></a> <i>Idee und Grundlinien einer allgemeiner Geschichte der Mystik</i>, an +academic oration delivered on November 22, 1892, and published at +Heidelberg in 1893.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_725" id="Footnote_725"></a><a href="#FNanchor_725"><span class="label">725</span></a> The following sketch is founded on my paper, <i>An Historical Enquiry +concerning the Origin and Development of Ṣúfiism</i> (<i>J.R.A.S.</i>, April, 1906, +p. 303 sqq.).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_726" id="Footnote_726"></a><a href="#FNanchor_726"><span class="label">726</span></a> This, so far as I know, is the oldest extant definition of Ṣúfiism.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_727" id="Footnote_727"></a><a href="#FNanchor_727"><span class="label">727</span></a> It is impossible not to recognise the influence of Greek philosophy in +this conception of Truth as Beauty.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_728" id="Footnote_728"></a><a href="#FNanchor_728"><span class="label">728</span></a> Jámí says (<i>Nafahátu ’l-Uns</i>, ed. by Nassau Lees, p. 36): "He is the +head of this sect: they all descend from, and are related to, him."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_729" id="Footnote_729"></a><a href="#FNanchor_729"><span class="label">729</span></a> See ‘Aṭṭár's <i>Tadhkiratu ’l-Awliyá</i>, ed. by Nicholson, Part I, p. 114; +Jámí's <i>Nafaḥát</i>, p. 35; Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 291.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_730" id="Footnote_730"></a><a href="#FNanchor_730"><span class="label">730</span></a> <i>Murúju ’l-Dhahab</i>, vol. ii, p. 401 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_731" id="Footnote_731"></a><a href="#FNanchor_731"><span class="label">731</span></a> The <i>Influence of Buddhism upon Islam</i>, by I. Goldziher (Budapest, +1903). As this essay is written in Hungarian, I have not been able to consult +it at first hand, but have used the excellent translation by Mr. T. +Duka, which appeared in the <i>J.R.A.S.</i> for January, 1904, pp. 125-141.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_732" id="Footnote_732"></a><a href="#FNanchor_732"><span class="label">732</span></a> It was recognised by the Ṣúfís themselves that in some points their +doctrine was apparently based on Mu‘tazilite principles. See Sha‘rání, +<i>Lawáqiḥu ’l-Anwár</i> (Cairo, 1299 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span>), p. 14, l. 21 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_733" id="Footnote_733"></a><a href="#FNanchor_733"><span class="label">733</span></a> This definition is by Abu ’l-Ḥusayn al-Núrí († 907-908 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_734" id="Footnote_734"></a><a href="#FNanchor_734"><span class="label">734</span></a> See Professor Browne's <i>Lit. Hist. of Persia</i>, vol. ii, p. 261 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_735" id="Footnote_735"></a><a href="#FNanchor_735"><span class="label">735</span></a> The <i>Díwán of ‘Umar Ibnu ’l-Fáriḍ</i>, ed. by Rushayyid al-Daḥdáḥ +(Marseilles, 1853).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_736" id="Footnote_736"></a><a href="#FNanchor_736"><span class="label">736</span></a> <i>I.e.</i>, New and Old Cairo.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_737" id="Footnote_737"></a><a href="#FNanchor_737"><span class="label">737</span></a> The <i>Díwán</i>, excluding the <i>Tá’iyyatu ’l-Kubrá</i>, has been edited by +Rushayyid al-Daḥdáḥ (Marseilles, 1853).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_738" id="Footnote_738"></a><a href="#FNanchor_738"><span class="label">738</span></a> <i>Díwán</i>, p. 219, l. 14 and p. 213, l. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_739" id="Footnote_739"></a><a href="#FNanchor_739"><span class="label">739</span></a> Ibnu ’l-Fáriḍ, like Mutanabbí, shows a marked fondness for diminutives. +As he observes (<i>Díwán</i>, p. 552):— +</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> +<i>má qultu ḥubayyibí mina ’l-taḥqíri</i></span> +<span class="i0"> +<i>bal ya‘dhubu ’smu ’l-shakhṣi bi-’l-taṣghíri.</i></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i05"> +"<i>Not in contempt I say 'my darling.' No!</i></span> +<span class="i0"> +<i>By 'diminution' names do sweeter grow.</i>"</span> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_740" id="Footnote_740"></a><a href="#FNanchor_740"><span class="label">740</span></a> <i>Dìwàn</i>, p. 472 sqq. A French rendering will be found at p. 41 of +Grangeret de Lagrange's <i>Anthologie Arabe</i> (Paris, 1828).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_741" id="Footnote_741"></a><a href="#FNanchor_741"><span class="label">741</span></a> The words of God to Moses (Kor. vii, 139).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_742" id="Footnote_742"></a><a href="#FNanchor_742"><span class="label">742</span></a> <i>Díwán</i>, p. 257 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_743" id="Footnote_743"></a><a href="#FNanchor_743"><span class="label">743</span></a> This refers to Kor. vii, 171. God drew forth from the loins of Adam +all future generations of men and addressed them, saying, "<i>Am not I your +Lord</i>?" They answered, "<i>Yes</i>," and thus, according to the Ṣúfí interpretation, +pledged themselves to love God for evermore.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_744" id="Footnote_744"></a><a href="#FNanchor_744"><span class="label">744</span></a> <i>Díwán</i>, p. 142 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_745" id="Footnote_745"></a><a href="#FNanchor_745"><span class="label">745</span></a> See <i>A Literary History of Persia</i>, vol. i, p. 428 sqq. But during the +last twenty years a great deal of new light has been thrown upon the +character and doctrines of Ḥalláj. See Appendix.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_746" id="Footnote_746"></a><a href="#FNanchor_746"><span class="label">746</span></a> The best-known biography of Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí occurs in Maqqarí's +<i>Nafḥu ’l-Ṭíb</i>, ed. by Dozy and others, vol. i, pp. 567-583. Much additional +information is contained in a lengthy article, which I have +extracted from a valuable MS. in my collection, the <i>Shadharátu +’l-Dhahab</i>, and published in the <i>J.R.A.S.</i> for 1906, pp. 806-824. <i>Cf.</i> +also Von Kremer's <i>Herrschende Ideen.</i> pp. 102-109.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_747" id="Footnote_747"></a><a href="#FNanchor_747"><span class="label">747</span></a> Muḥyi ’l-Dín means 'Reviver of Religion.' In the West he was +called Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí, but the Moslems of the East left out the definite +article (<i>al</i>) in order to distinguish him from the Cadi Abú Bakr Ibnu +’l-‘Arabí of Seville († 1151 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_748" id="Footnote_748"></a><a href="#FNanchor_748"><span class="label">748</span></a> Al-Kibrít <i>al-aḥmar</i> (literally, 'the red sulphur').</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_749" id="Footnote_749"></a><a href="#FNanchor_749"><span class="label">749</span></a> See Von Kremer, <i>op. cit.</i>, p. 108 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_750" id="Footnote_750"></a><a href="#FNanchor_750"><span class="label">750</span></a> The above particulars are derived from an abstract of the <i>Futúḥát</i> +made by ‘Abdu ’l-Wahháb al-Sha‘rání († 1565 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), of which Fleischer has +given a full description in the <i>Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Leipzig +Univ. Library</i> (1838), pp. 490-495.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_751" id="Footnote_751"></a><a href="#FNanchor_751"><span class="label">751</span></a> Maqqarí, i, 569, II.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_752" id="Footnote_752"></a><a href="#FNanchor_752"><span class="label">752</span></a> Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_753" id="Footnote_753"></a><a href="#FNanchor_753"><span class="label">753</span></a> Abú Ḥanífa.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_754" id="Footnote_754"></a><a href="#FNanchor_754"><span class="label">754</span></a> <i>Fuṣúṣu ’l-Ḥikam</i> (Cairo, <span class="smcap">a.h.</span> 1321), p. 78. The words within +brackets belong to the commentary of ‘Abdu ’l-Razzáq al-Káshání +which accompanies the text.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_755" id="Footnote_755"></a><a href="#FNanchor_755"><span class="label">755</span></a> Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí uses the term "Idea of ideas" (<i>Ḥaqíqatu ’l-ḥaqá’iq</i>) +as equivalent to λόγος ἐνδιάθετος, while "the Idea of Muḥammad" +(<i>al-Ḥaqíqatu ’l-Muḥammadiyya</i>) corresponds to +λόγος ἐνδιάθετος.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_756" id="Footnote_756"></a><a href="#FNanchor_756"><span class="label">756</span></a> The Arabic text of these verses will be found in the collection of +Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí's mystical odes, entitled <i>Tarjumánu ’l-Ashwáq</i>, which I +have edited (Oriental Translation Fund, New Series, vol. xx, p. 19, +vv. 13-15).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_757" id="Footnote_757"></a><a href="#FNanchor_757"><span class="label">757</span></a> Ibnu ’l-‘Arabí has been studied by Asin Palacios, Professor of +Arabic at Madrid, whose books are written in Spanish, and H. S. Nyberg +(<i>Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-‘Arabí</i>, Leiden, 1919). A general view +may be obtained from my <i>Studies in Islamic Mysticism</i>, pp. 77-142 +and pp. 149-161.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_758" id="Footnote_758"></a><a href="#FNanchor_758"><span class="label">758</span></a> See Asin Palacios, <i>Islam and the Divine Comedy</i>, London, 1926.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_759" id="Footnote_759"></a><a href="#FNanchor_759"><span class="label">759</span></a> Abridged from Ibnu ’l-‘Idhárí, <i>al-Bayán al-Mughrib</i>, ed. by Dozy, +vol. ii, p. 61 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_760" id="Footnote_760"></a><a href="#FNanchor_760"><span class="label">760</span></a> Ibn Khallikán, ed. by Wüstenfeld, No. 802; De Slane's translation, +vol. iv, p. 29 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_761" id="Footnote_761"></a><a href="#FNanchor_761"><span class="label">761</span></a> Muqaddasí (ed. by De Goeje), p. 236, cited by Goldziher, <i>Die Zâhiriten</i>, +p. 114.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_762" id="Footnote_762"></a><a href="#FNanchor_762"><span class="label">762</span></a> Dozy, <i>Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne</i> (Leyden, 1861), vol. iii, +p. 90 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_763" id="Footnote_763"></a><a href="#FNanchor_763"><span class="label">763</span></a> ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán III was the first of his line to assume this title.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_764" id="Footnote_764"></a><a href="#FNanchor_764"><span class="label">764</span></a> Maqqarí, vol. i, p. 259. As Maqqarí's work is our principal authority +for the literary history of Moslem Spain, I may conveniently give +some account of it in this place. The author, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad +al-Tilimsání al-Maqqarí († 1632 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) wrote a biography of Ibnu ’l-Khaṭíb, +the famous Vizier of Granada, to which he prefixed a long and discursive +introduction in eight chapters: (1) Description of Spain; (2) Conquest of +Spain by the Arabs; (3) History of the Spanish dynasties; (4) Cordova; +(5) Spanish-Arabian scholars who travelled in the East; (6) Orientals who +visited Spain; (7) Miscellaneous extracts, anecdotes, poetical citations, &c., +bearing on the literary history of Spain; (8) Reconquest of Spain by the +Christians and expulsion of the Arabs. The whole work is entitled +<i>Nafḥu ’l-Ṭíb min ghuṣní ’l-Andalusi ’l-raṭíb wa-dhikri wazírihá Lisáni +’l-Dín Ibni ’l-Khaṭíb</i>. The introduction, which contains a fund of +curious and valuable information—"a library in little"—has been edited +by Dozy and other European Arabists under the title of <i>Analectes sur +l'Histoire et la Littérature des Arabes d'Espagne</i> (Leyden, 1855-1861).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_765" id="Footnote_765"></a><a href="#FNanchor_765"><span class="label">765</span></a> The name of Slaves (<i>Ṣaqáliba</i>) was originally applied to prisoners of +war, belonging to various northern races, who were sold to the Arabs of +Spain, but the term was soon widened so as to include all foreign slaves +serving in the harem or the army, without regard to their nationality. Like +the Mamelukes and Janissaries, they formed a privileged corps under the +patronage of the palace, and since the reign of ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán III their +number and influence had steadily increased. Cf. Dozy, <i>Hist. des Mus. +d'Espagne</i>, vol. iii, p. 58 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_766" id="Footnote_766"></a><a href="#FNanchor_766"><span class="label">766</span></a> Dozy, <i>op. cit.</i>, vol. ii, p. 103 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_767" id="Footnote_767"></a><a href="#FNanchor_767"><span class="label">767</span></a> Qazwíní, <i>Átháru ’l-Bilád</i>, ed. by Wüstenfeld, p. 364, l. 5 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_768" id="Footnote_768"></a><a href="#FNanchor_768"><span class="label">768</span></a> See Schack, <i>op. cit.</i>, vol. ii, p. 46 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_769" id="Footnote_769"></a><a href="#FNanchor_769"><span class="label">769</span></a> The Arabic original occurs in the 11th chapter of the <i>Ḥalbatu ’l-Kumayt</i>, +a collection of poems on wine and drinking by Muḥammad b. Ḥasan +al-Nawájí († 1455 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>), and is also printed in the <i>Anthologie Arabe</i> of +Grangeret de Lagrange, p. 202.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_770" id="Footnote_770"></a><a href="#FNanchor_770"><span class="label">770</span></a> <i>Al-Ḥullat al-Siyará</i> of Ibnu ’l-Abbár, ed. by Dozy, p. 34. In the last +line instead of "foes" the original has "the sons of ‘Abbás." Other verses +addressed by ‘Abdu ’l-Raḥmán to this palm-tree are cited by Maqqarí, +vol. ii, p. 37.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_771" id="Footnote_771"></a><a href="#FNanchor_771"><span class="label">771</span></a> Full details concerning Ziryáb will be found in Maqqarí, vol. ii, p. 83 +sqq. <i>Cf.</i> Dozy, <i>Hist. des Mus. d'Espagne</i>, vol. ii, p. 89 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_772" id="Footnote_772"></a><a href="#FNanchor_772"><span class="label">772</span></a> Maqqarí, <i>loc. cit.</i>, p. 87, l. 10 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_773" id="Footnote_773"></a><a href="#FNanchor_773"><span class="label">773</span></a> Dozy, <i>Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne</i>, vol. iii, p. 107 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_774" id="Footnote_774"></a><a href="#FNanchor_774"><span class="label">774</span></a> See the verses cited by Ibnu ’l-Athír, vol. viii, p. 457.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_775" id="Footnote_775"></a><a href="#FNanchor_775"><span class="label">775</span></a> Ibn Khallikán, No. 697, De Slane's translation, vol. iii, p. 186.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_776" id="Footnote_776"></a><a href="#FNanchor_776"><span class="label">776</span></a> Ibn Khallikán, <i>loc. cit.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_777" id="Footnote_777"></a><a href="#FNanchor_777"><span class="label">777</span></a> <i>Loc. cit.</i>, p. 189. For the sake of clearness I have slightly abridged +and otherwise remodelled De Slane's translation of this passage.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_778" id="Footnote_778"></a><a href="#FNanchor_778"><span class="label">778</span></a> A somewhat different version of these events is given by Dozy, +<i>Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne</i>, vol. iv, p. 189 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_779" id="Footnote_779"></a><a href="#FNanchor_779"><span class="label">779</span></a> The term <i>Mulaththamún</i>, which means literally 'wearers of the +<i>lithám</i>' (a veil covering the lower part of the face), is applied to the +Berber tribes of the Sahara, the so-called Almoravides (<i>al-Murábiṭún</i>), +who at this tune ruled over Northern Africa.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_780" id="Footnote_780"></a><a href="#FNanchor_780"><span class="label">780</span></a> Ibnu ’l-Abbár (Dozy, <i>Loci de Abbadidis</i>, vol. ii, p. 63).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_781" id="Footnote_781"></a><a href="#FNanchor_781"><span class="label">781</span></a> <i>Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne</i>, vol. iv, p. 287.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_782" id="Footnote_782"></a><a href="#FNanchor_782"><span class="label">782</span></a> <i>I.e.</i>, 'holder of the two vizierships'—that of the sword and that of +the pen. See De Slane's translation of Ibn Khallikán, vol. iii, p. 130, +n. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_783" id="Footnote_783"></a><a href="#FNanchor_783"><span class="label">783</span></a> The Arabic text of this poem, which occurs in the <i>Qalá’idu ’l-‘Iqyán</i> +of Ibn Kháqán, will be found on pp. 24-25 of Weyers's <i>Specimen criticum +exhibens locos Ibn Khacanis de Ibn Zeidouno</i> (Leyden, 31).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_784" id="Footnote_784"></a><a href="#FNanchor_784"><span class="label">784</span></a> Cited by Ibn Khallikán in his article on Ibn Ḥazm (De Slane's translation, +vol. ii, p. 268).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_785" id="Footnote_785"></a><a href="#FNanchor_785"><span class="label">785</span></a> Maqqarí, vol. i, p. 511, l. 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_786" id="Footnote_786"></a><a href="#FNanchor_786"><span class="label">786</span></a> Maqqarí, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 515, l. 5 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_787" id="Footnote_787"></a><a href="#FNanchor_787"><span class="label">787</span></a> See p. 341, note 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_788" id="Footnote_788"></a><a href="#FNanchor_788"><span class="label">788</span></a> The contents of the <i>Kitábu ’l-Milal wa-’l-Niḥal</i> are fully summarised +by Dozy in the Leyden Catalogue, vol. iv, pp. 230-237. <i>Cf.</i> also <i>Zur +Komposition von Ibn Ḥazm's Milal wa’n-Niḥal</i>, by Israel Friedlaender in +the <i>Nöldeke-Festschrift</i> (Giessen, 1906), vol. i, p. 267 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_789" id="Footnote_789"></a><a href="#FNanchor_789"><span class="label">789</span></a> So far as I am aware, the report that copies are preserved in the great +mosque at Tunis has not been confirmed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_790" id="Footnote_790"></a><a href="#FNanchor_790"><span class="label">790</span></a> His Arabic name is Ismá‘íl b. Naghdála. See the Introduction to +Dozy's ed. of Ibnu ’l-‘Idhárí, p. 84, n. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_791" id="Footnote_791"></a><a href="#FNanchor_791"><span class="label">791</span></a> An interesting notice of Samuel Ha-Levi is given by Dozy in his +<i>Hist. des Mus. d'Espagne</i>, vol. iv, p. 27 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_792" id="Footnote_792"></a><a href="#FNanchor_792"><span class="label">792</span></a> <i>Kámil</i> of Ibnu ’l-Athír, ed. by Tornberg, vol. ix, p. 425 sqq. The +following narrative (which has been condensed as far as possible) differs +in some essential particulars from the accounts given by Ibn Khaldún +(<i>History of the Berbers</i>, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 64 sqq.) and by +Ibn Abí Zar‘ (Tornberg, <i>Annales Regum Mauritaniæ</i>, p. 100 sqq. of the +Latin version). <i>Cf.</i> A. Müller, <i>Der Islam</i>, vol. ii, p. 611 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_793" id="Footnote_793"></a><a href="#FNanchor_793"><span class="label">793</span></a> See note on p. 423.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_794" id="Footnote_794"></a><a href="#FNanchor_794"><span class="label">794</span></a> The province of Tunis.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_795" id="Footnote_795"></a><a href="#FNanchor_795"><span class="label">795</span></a> <i>Murábiṭ</i> is literally 'one who lives in a <i>ribáṭ</i>,' <i>i.e.</i>, 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 (<i>jihád</i>) against the unbelievers. The +word <i>murábiṭ</i>, therefore, gradually got an exclusively religious signification, +'devotee' or 'saint,' which appears in its modern form, <i>marabout</i>. +As applied to the original Almoravides, it still retains a distinctly military +flavour.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_796" id="Footnote_796"></a><a href="#FNanchor_796"><span class="label">796</span></a> See Goldziher's article <i>Materialien zur Kenntniss der Almohadenbewegung +in Nordafrika</i> (<i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 41, p. 30 sqq.).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_797" id="Footnote_797"></a><a href="#FNanchor_797"><span class="label">797</span></a> ‘Abdu ’l-Wáḥid, <i>History of the Almohades</i>, ed. by Dozy, p. 135, +l. 1 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_798" id="Footnote_798"></a><a href="#FNanchor_798"><span class="label">798</span></a> The Berbers at this time were Sunnite and anti-Fátimid.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_799" id="Footnote_799"></a><a href="#FNanchor_799"><span class="label">799</span></a> Almohade is the Spanish form of <i>al-Muwaḥḥid</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_800" id="Footnote_800"></a><a href="#FNanchor_800"><span class="label">800</span></a> Stanley Lane-Poole, <i>The Mohammadan Dynasties</i>, p. 46.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_801" id="Footnote_801"></a><a href="#FNanchor_801"><span class="label">801</span></a> Renan, <i>Averroes et l'Averroïsme</i>, p. 12 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_802" id="Footnote_802"></a><a href="#FNanchor_802"><span class="label">802</span></a> See a passage from ‘Abdu ’l-Wáhid's <i>History of the Almohades</i> (p. 201, +l. 19 sqq.), which is translated in Goldziher's <i>Ẓâhiriten</i>, p. 174.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_803" id="Footnote_803"></a><a href="#FNanchor_803"><span class="label">803</span></a> The Arabic text, with a Latin version by E. Pocock, was published in +1671, and again in 1700, under the title <i>Philosophus Autodidactus</i>. An +English translation by Simon Ockley appeared in 1708, and has been +several times reprinted.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_804" id="Footnote_804"></a><a href="#FNanchor_804"><span class="label">804</span></a> The true form of this name is Absál, as in Jámí's celebrated poem. +<i>Cf.</i> De Boer, <i>The History of Philosophy in Islam</i>, translated by E. R. +Jones, p. 144.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_805" id="Footnote_805"></a><a href="#FNanchor_805"><span class="label">805</span></a> Jurjí Zaydán, however, is disposed to regard the story as being not +without foundation. See his interesting discussion of the evidence in his +<i>Ta‘ríkhu ’l-Tamaddun al-Islámi</i> ('History of Islamic Civilisation'), +Part III, pp. 40-46.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_806" id="Footnote_806"></a><a href="#FNanchor_806"><span class="label">806</span></a> The life of Ibnu ’l-Khaṭib has been written by his friend and contemporary, +Ibn Khaldún (<i>Hist. of the Berbers</i>, translated by De Slane, vol. iv. +p. 390 sqq.), and forms the main subject of Maqqarí's <i>Nafḥu ’l-Ṭíb</i> +(vols. iii and iv of the Buláq edition).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_807" id="Footnote_807"></a><a href="#FNanchor_807"><span class="label">807</span></a> Schack, <i>op. cit.</i>, vol. i, p. 312 seq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_808" id="Footnote_808"></a><a href="#FNanchor_808"><span class="label">808</span></a> Cited in the <i>Shadharátu ’l-Dhahab</i>, a MS. in my collection. See +<i>J.R.A.S.</i> for 1899, p. 911 seq., and for 1906, p. 797.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_809" id="Footnote_809"></a><a href="#FNanchor_809"><span class="label">809</span></a> The Arabic text of the Prolegomena has been published by Quatremère +in <i>Notices et extraits des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque Impériale</i>, +vols. 16-18, and at Beyrout (1879, 1886, and 1900). A French translation +by De Slane appeared in <i>Not. et Extraits</i>, vols. 19-21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_810" id="Footnote_810"></a><a href="#FNanchor_810"><span class="label">810</span></a> <i>Muqaddima</i> (Beyrout ed. of 1900), p. 35, l. 5 sqq. = Prolegomena translated +by De Slane, vol. i, p. 71.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_811" id="Footnote_811"></a><a href="#FNanchor_811"><span class="label">811</span></a> <i>Muqaddima</i>, p. 37, l. 4 fr. foot = De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 77.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_812" id="Footnote_812"></a><a href="#FNanchor_812"><span class="label">812</span></a> Von Kremer has discussed Ibn Khaldún's ideas more fully than is +possible here in an admirably sympathetic article, <i>Ibn Chaldun und seine +Culturgeschichte der islamischen Reiche</i>, contributed to the <i>Sitz. der Kais. +Akad. der Wissenschaften</i>, 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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_813" id="Footnote_813"></a><a href="#FNanchor_813"><span class="label">813</span></a> <i>Muqaddima</i>, Beyrout ed., p. 170 = De Slane's translation, vol. i, +p. 347 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_814" id="Footnote_814"></a><a href="#FNanchor_814"><span class="label">814</span></a> <i>Muqaddima</i>, p. 175 = De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 356 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_815" id="Footnote_815"></a><a href="#FNanchor_815"><span class="label">815</span></a> An excellent appreciation of Ibn Khaldún as a scientific historian will +be found in Robert Flint's <i>History of the Philosophy of History</i>, vol. i, +pp. 157-171.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_816" id="Footnote_816"></a><a href="#FNanchor_816"><span class="label">816</span></a> Schack, <i>op. cit.</i>, vol. ii, p. 151.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_817" id="Footnote_817"></a><a href="#FNanchor_817"><span class="label">817</span></a> E. J. W. Gibb, <i>A History of Ottoman Poetry</i>, vol. ii, p. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_818" id="Footnote_818"></a><a href="#FNanchor_818"><span class="label">818</span></a> The nineteenth century should have been excepted, so far as the +influence of modern civilisation has reacted on Arabic literature.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_819" id="Footnote_819"></a><a href="#FNanchor_819"><span class="label">819</span></a> These Ismál‘ílís are the so-called Assassins, the terrible sect organised +by Ḥasan b. Ṣabbáḥ (see Professor Browne's <i>Literary History of Persia</i>, +vol. ii, p. 201 sqq.), and finally exterminated by Húlágú. They had many +fortresses, of which Alamút was the most famous, in the Jibál province, +near Qazwín.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_820" id="Footnote_820"></a><a href="#FNanchor_820"><span class="label">820</span></a> The reader must be warned that this and the following account of the +treacherous dealings of Ibnu ’l-‘Alqamí are entirely contradicted by +Shí‘ite historians. For example, the author of <i>al-Fakhri</i> (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.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_821" id="Footnote_821"></a><a href="#FNanchor_821"><span class="label">821</span></a> Concerning the various functions of the Dawídár (literally Inkstand-holder) +or Dawádár, as the word is more correctly written, see +Quatremère, <i>Histoire des Sultans Mamlouks</i>, vol. i, p. 118, n. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_822" id="Footnote_822"></a><a href="#FNanchor_822"><span class="label">822</span></a> The MS. writes Yájúnas.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_823" id="Footnote_823"></a><a href="#FNanchor_823"><span class="label">823</span></a> <i>Al-kalb</i>, the Arabic equivalent of the Persian <i>sag</i> (dog), an animal +which Moslems regard as unclean.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_824" id="Footnote_824"></a><a href="#FNanchor_824"><span class="label">824</span></a> By Shamsu ’l-Dín al-Dhahabí († 1348 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_825" id="Footnote_825"></a><a href="#FNanchor_825"><span class="label">825</span></a> Mameluke (Mamlúk) means 'slave.' The term was applied to the +mercenary troops, Turks and Kurds for the most part, who composed the +bodyguard of the Ayyúbid princes.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_826" id="Footnote_826"></a><a href="#FNanchor_826"><span class="label">826</span></a> There are two Mameluke dynasties, called respectively Baḥrí (River) +Mamelukes and Burjí (Tower) Mamelukes. The former reigned from +1250 to 1390, the latter from 1382 to 1517.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_827" id="Footnote_827"></a><a href="#FNanchor_827"><span class="label">827</span></a> See Lane, <i>The Modern Egyptians</i>, ch. xxii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_828" id="Footnote_828"></a><a href="#FNanchor_828"><span class="label">828</span></a> See Sir T. W. Arnold, <i>The Caliphate</i>, p. 146.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_829" id="Footnote_829"></a><a href="#FNanchor_829"><span class="label">829</span></a> Ed. of Buláq (1283 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span>), pp. 356-366.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_830" id="Footnote_830"></a><a href="#FNanchor_830"><span class="label">830</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 358.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_831" id="Footnote_831"></a><a href="#FNanchor_831"><span class="label">831</span></a> These verses are cited in the <i>Ḥadíqatu ’l-Afráḥ</i> (see Brockelmann's +<i>Gesch. d. Arab. Litt.</i>, ii, 502), Calcutta, 1229 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span>, p. 280. In the final +couplet there is an allusion to Kor. iv, 44: "<i>Verily God will not wrong +any one even the weight of an ant</i>" (mithqála dharrat<sup>in</sup>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_832" id="Footnote_832"></a><a href="#FNanchor_832"><span class="label">832</span></a> Hartmann, <i>Das Muwaššah</i> (Weimar, 1897), p. 218.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_833" id="Footnote_833"></a><a href="#FNanchor_833"><span class="label">833</span></a> Literally, 'The Shaking of the Skull-caps,' in allusion to the peasants' +dance.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_834" id="Footnote_834"></a><a href="#FNanchor_834"><span class="label">834</span></a> See Vollers, <i>Beiträge zur Kenntniss der lebenden arabischen Sprache +in Aegypten, Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 41 (1887), p. 370.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_835" id="Footnote_835"></a><a href="#FNanchor_835"><span class="label">835</span></a> Ibn Khallikán, De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_836" id="Footnote_836"></a><a href="#FNanchor_836"><span class="label">836</span></a> It should be pointed out that the <i>Wafayát</i> 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 +(<i>Tábi‘ún</i>), 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 <i>Wafayát</i> was compiled by al-Kutubí († 1363 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>) +under the title <i>Fawátu ’l-Wafayát</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_837" id="Footnote_837"></a><a href="#FNanchor_837"><span class="label">837</span></a> The Arabic text of the <i>Wafayát</i> has been edited with variants and +indices by Wüstenfeld (Göttingen, 1835-1850). There is an excellent +English translation by Baron MacGuckin de Slane in four volumes +(1842-1871).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_838" id="Footnote_838"></a><a href="#FNanchor_838"><span class="label">838</span></a> The full title is <i>al-Mawá‘iẓ wa-’l-l‘tibár fí dhikri ’l-Khiṭaṭ wa-’l-Athár</i>. +It was printed at Buláq in 1270 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_839" id="Footnote_839"></a><a href="#FNanchor_839"><span class="label">839</span></a> <i>Al-Sulúk li-ma‘rifati Duwali ’l-Mulúk</i>, a history of the Ayyúbids and +Mamelukes. The portion relating to the latter dynasty is accessible in the +excellent French version by Quatremère (<i>Histoire des Sultans Mamlouks +de l'Égypte</i>, Paris, 1845).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_840" id="Footnote_840"></a><a href="#FNanchor_840"><span class="label">840</span></a> A. R. Guest, <i>A List of Writers, Books, and other Authorities mentioned +by El Maqrízí in his Khiṭaṭ</i>, <i>J.R.A.S.</i> for 1902, p. 106.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_841" id="Footnote_841"></a><a href="#FNanchor_841"><span class="label">841</span></a> The <i>Fakhrí</i> has been edited by Ahlwardt (1860) and Derenbourg +(1895). The simplicity of its style and the varied interest of its contents +have made it deservedly popular. Leaving the Koran out of account, I +do not know any book that is better fitted to serve as an introduction to +Arabic literature.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_842" id="Footnote_842"></a><a href="#FNanchor_842"><span class="label">842</span></a> See p. 413, n. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_843" id="Footnote_843"></a><a href="#FNanchor_843"><span class="label">843</span></a> <i>A Biographical Dictionary of Persons who knew Mohammad</i>, ed. by +Sprenger and others (Calcutta, 1856-1873).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_844" id="Footnote_844"></a><a href="#FNanchor_844"><span class="label">844</span></a> <i>Murúju ’l-Dhahab</i>, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. iv. p. 90. The +names Shírázád and Dínázád are obviously Persian. Probably the former +is a corruption of Chihrázád, meaning 'of noble race,' while Dínázád +signifies 'of noble religion.' My readers will easily recognise the +familiar Scheherazade and Dinarzade.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_845" id="Footnote_845"></a><a href="#FNanchor_845"><span class="label">845</span></a> Strange as it may seem, this criticism represents the view of nearly +all Moslem scholars who have read the 'Arabian Nights.'</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_846" id="Footnote_846"></a><a href="#FNanchor_846"><span class="label">846</span></a> Many episodes are related on the authority of Aṣma‘í, Abú ‘Ubayda, +and Wahb b. Munabbih.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_847" id="Footnote_847"></a><a href="#FNanchor_847"><span class="label">847</span></a> Those who recite the <i>Síratu ‘Antar</i> are named <i>‘Anátira</i>, sing. <i>‘Antari</i>. +See Lane's <i>Modern Egyptians</i>, ch. >xxiii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_848" id="Footnote_848"></a><a href="#FNanchor_848"><span class="label">848</span></a> That it was extant in some shape before 1150 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> seems to be beyond +doubt. <i>Cf.</i> the <i>Journal Asiatique</i> for 1838, p. 383; Wüstenfeld, <i>Gesch. +der Arab. Aerzte</i>, No. 172.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_849" id="Footnote_849"></a><a href="#FNanchor_849"><span class="label">849</span></a> <i>Antar, a Bedoueen Romance</i>, translated from the Arabic by Terrick +Hamilton (London, 1820), vol. i, p. >xxiii seq. See, however, Flügel's +Catalogue of the Kais. Kön. Bibl. at Vienna, vol. ii, p. 6. Further details +concerning the 'Romance of ‘Antar' will be found in Thorbecke's +<i>‘Antarah</i> (Leipzig, 1867), p. 31 sqq. The whole work has been published +at Cairo in thirty-two volumes.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_850" id="Footnote_850"></a><a href="#FNanchor_850"><span class="label">850</span></a> Sha‘rání, <i>Yawáqít</i> (ed. of Cairo, 1277 <span class="smcap">a.h.</span>), p. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_851" id="Footnote_851"></a><a href="#FNanchor_851"><span class="label">851</span></a> In 1417 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> The reader will find a full and most interesting account +of Nasímí, who is equally remarkable as a Turkish poet and as a mystic +belonging to the sect of the Ḥurúfís, in Mr. E. J. W. Gibb's <i>History of +Ottoman Poetry</i>, vol. i, pp. 343-368. It is highly improbable that the +story related here gives the true ground on which he was condemned: +his pantheistic utterances afford a sufficient explanation, and the Turkish +biographer, Laṭífí, specifies the verse which cost him his life. I may add +that the author of the <i>Shadharátu ’l-Dhahab</i> calls him Nasímu ’l-Dín of +Tabríz (he is generally said to be a native of Nasím in the district of +Baghdád), and observes that he resided in Aleppo, where his followers +were numerous and his heretical doctrines widely disseminated.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_852" id="Footnote_852"></a><a href="#FNanchor_852"><span class="label">852</span></a> The 112th chapter of the Koran. See p. 164.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_853" id="Footnote_853"></a><a href="#FNanchor_853"><span class="label">853</span></a> Founder of the Shádhiliyya Order of Dervishes. He died in 1258 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_854" id="Footnote_854"></a><a href="#FNanchor_854"><span class="label">854</span></a> A distinguished jurist and scholar who received the honorary title, +'Sultan of the Divines.' He died at Cairo in 1262 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_855" id="Footnote_855"></a><a href="#FNanchor_855"><span class="label">855</span></a> An eminent canon lawyer († 1370 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_856" id="Footnote_856"></a><a href="#FNanchor_856"><span class="label">856</span></a> It was the custom of the Zoroastrians (and, according to Moslem +belief, of the Christians and other infidels) to wear a girdle round the waist.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_857" id="Footnote_857"></a><a href="#FNanchor_857"><span class="label">857</span></a> See <i>Materials for a History of the Wahabys</i>, by J. L. Burckhardt, published +in the second volume of his <i>Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys</i> +(London, 1831). Burckhardt was in Arabia while the Turks were engaged +in re-conquering the Ḥijáz from the Wahhábís. His graphic and highly +interesting narrative has been summarised by Dozy, <i>Essai sur l'histoire +de l'Islamisme</i>, ch. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_858" id="Footnote_858"></a><a href="#FNanchor_858"><span class="label">858</span></a> Following Burckhardt's example, most European writers call him +simply ‘Abdu ’l-Wahháb.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_859" id="Footnote_859"></a><a href="#FNanchor_859"><span class="label">859</span></a> Burckhardt, <i>op. cit.</i>, vol. ii, p. 96.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_860" id="Footnote_860"></a><a href="#FNanchor_860"><span class="label">860</span></a> MSS. of Ibn Taymiyya copied by Ibn ‘Abd al-Wahháb are extant +(Goldziher in <i>Z.D.M.G.</i>, vol. 52, p. 156).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_861" id="Footnote_861"></a><a href="#FNanchor_861"><span class="label">861</span></a> This is the place usually called Karbalá or Mashhad Ḥusayn.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_862" id="Footnote_862"></a><a href="#FNanchor_862"><span class="label">862</span></a> <i>Op. cit.</i>, vol. ii, p. 112.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_863" id="Footnote_863"></a><a href="#FNanchor_863"><span class="label">863</span></a> <i>Essai sur l'histoire de l'Islamisme</i>, p. 416.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_864" id="Footnote_864"></a><a href="#FNanchor_864"><span class="label">864</span></a> Burckhardt, <i>loc. laud.</i>, p. 115.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_865" id="Footnote_865"></a><a href="#FNanchor_865"><span class="label">865</span></a> I cannot enter into details on this subject. A review of modern +Arabic literature is given by Brockelmann, <i>Gesch. der Arab. Litt.</i>, vol. ii, +pp. 469-511, and by Huart, <i>Arabic Literature</i>, pp. 411-443.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_866" id="Footnote_866"></a><a href="#FNanchor_866"><span class="label">866</span></a> See M. Hartmann, <i>The Arabic Press of Egypt</i> (London, 1899).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_867" id="Footnote_867"></a><a href="#FNanchor_867"><span class="label">867</span></a> Brockelmann, <i>loc. cit.</i>, p. 476.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_868" id="Footnote_868"></a><a href="#FNanchor_868"><span class="label">868</span></a> Translated into Arabic verse by Sulaymán al-Bistání (Cairo, 1904). +See Professor Margoliouth's interesting notice of this work in the <i>J.R.A.S.</i> +for 1905, p. 417 sqq.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_869" id="Footnote_869"></a><a href="#FNanchor_869"><span class="label">869</span></a> H. A. R. Gibb, <i>Studies in contemporary Arabic literature</i>, Bulletin of +the School of Oriental Studies, vol. iv, pt. 4, p. 746; cf. also vol. v, pt. 2, +p. 311 foll. Mr Gibb has given references to the chief works on the +subject, but for the sake of those who do not read Arabic or Russian it +may be hoped that he will continue and complete his own survey, to +which there is nothing <i>simile aut secundum</i> in English.</p></div> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_487" id="Page_487" href="#"><span><i> </i></span>487</a></span></p> + +<h3>>INDEX</h3> + +<p><small>In the following Index it has been found necessary to omit the accents indicating the long +vowels, and the dots which are used in the text to distinguish letters of similar pronunciation. +On the other hand, the definite article <i>al</i> has been prefixed throughout to those Arabic names +which it properly precedes; it is sometimes written in full, but is generally denoted by a hyphen, +<i>e.g.</i> -‘Abbas for al-‘Abbas. Names of books, as well as Oriental words and technical terms explained +in the text, are printed in italics. Where a number of references occur under one heading, +the more important are, as a rule, shown by means of thicker type.</small></p> + +<ul class="IX"> +<li><h3>A</h3></li> + +<li> +Aaron, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a> +</li><li> + +‘Abbad, <a href="#Page_421">421</a> +</li><li> + +‘Abbadid dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>-424, <a href="#Page_431">431</a></li><li> + +-‘Abbas, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li><li> + +-‘Abbas b. -Ahnaf (poet), <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li><li> + +‘Abbasa, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li><li> + +‘Abbasid history, two periods of, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li><li> + +‘Abbasid propaganda, the, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>-251</li><li> + +‘Abbasids, the, <a href="#Page_xxviii">xxviii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_xxx">xxx</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <b><a href="#Page_249">249</a>-253</b>, <b><a href="#Page_254">254</a>-284</b>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>-291, <b><a href="#Page_365">365</a>-367</b>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a></li><li> + +‘Abdullah, father of the Prophet, <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li><li> + +‘Abdullah, brother of Durayd b. -Simma, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li><li> + +‘Abdullah, the Amir (Spanish Umayyad), <a href="#Page_411">411</a></li><li> + +‘Abdullah b. -‘Abbas, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li><li> + +‘Abdullah b. Hamdan, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li><li> + +‘Abdullah b. Ibad, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li><li> + +‘Abdullah b. Mas‘ud, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></li><li> + +‘Abdullah b. Maymun al-Qaddah, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>-274, <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li><li> + +‘Abdullah. b. Muhammad b. Adham, <a href="#Page_423">423</a></li><li> + +‘Abdullah b. -Mu‘tazz. See <i>Ibnu ’l-Mu‘tazz</i></li><li> + +‘Abdullah b. Saba, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li><li> + +‘Abdullah b. Tahir, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li><li> + +‘Abdullah b. Ubayy, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li><li> + +‘Abdullah b. Yasin al-Kuzuli, <a href="#Page_430"><b>430</b></a></li><li> + +Abdullah b. -Zubayr, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li><li> + +‘Abdu ’l-‘Aziz (Marinid), <a href="#Page_436">436</a></li><li> + +‘Abdu ’l-‘Aziz, brother of ‘Abdu ’l-Malik, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li><li> + +‘Abdu ’l-‘Aziz, son of Muhammad b. Sa‘ud, <a href="#Page_466">466</a></li><li> + +‘Abdu ’l-Ghani al-Nabulusi, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li><li> + +‘Abdu ’l-Hamid, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li><li> + +‘Abdu ’l-Malik (Umayyad Caliph), <b><a href="#Page_200">200</a>-202</b>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_407">407</a></li><li> + +‘Abd Manaf, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li><li> + +‘Abdu, ’l-Mu’min (Almohade), <a href="#Page_432">432</a></li><li> + +‘Abdu ’l-Muttalib, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>-68, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li><li> + +‘Abdu ’l-Qadir al-Baghdadi, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li><li> + +‘Abdu ’l-Qadir al-Jili, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li><li> + +‘Abd al-Qays (tribe), <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li><li> + +‘Abdu ’l-Rahman I, the Umayyad, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <b><a href="#Page_405">405</a>-407</b>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li><li> + +‘Abdu ’l-Rahman II (Spanish Umayyad), <a href="#Page_409">409</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li><li> + +‘Abdu ’l-Rahman III (Spanish Umayyad), <b><a href="#Page_411">411</a>-412</b>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a></li><li> + +‘Abdu ’l-Rahman V (Spanish Umayyad), <a href="#Page_426">426</a></li><li> + +‘Abdu ’l-Rahman b. ‘Awf, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li><li> + +‘Abdu ’l-Razzaq-Kashani, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li><li> + +‘Abd Shams, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li><li> + +‘Abd Shams Saba, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li><li> + +‘Abdu ’l-‘Uzza, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li><li> + +‘Abdu ’l-Wahhab, founder of the Wahhabite sect. See <i>Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab</i>.</li><li> + +‘Abdu ’l-Wahhab al-Sha‘rani. See <i>-Sha‘rani</i></li><li> + +‘Abdu ’l-Wahid of Morocco (historian), <a href="#Page_431">431</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a></li><li> + +‘Abid b. -Abras (poet), <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li><li> + +‘Abid b. Sharya, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li><li> + +‘Abida b. Hilal, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li><li> + +‘Abir, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a></li><li> + +‘Abla, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li><li> + +-Ablaq, (name of a castle), <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li><li> + +Ablutions, the ceremonial, incumbent on Moslems, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li><li> + +-Abna, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li><li> + +Abraha, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_28"><b>28</b></a>, <b><a href="#Page_65">65</a>-8</b> + +Abraham, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li><li> + +Abraham, the religion of, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li><li> + +‘Abs (tribe), <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>-117</li><li> + +Absal, <a href="#Page_433">433</a></li><li> + +Abu ’l-‘Abbas (Marinid), <a href="#Page_436">436</a></li><li> + +Abu ’l-‘Abbas Ahmad al-Marsi, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li><li> + +Abu ’l-‘Abbas al-Nami (poet), <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li><li> + +Abu ’l-‘Abbas-Saffah, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Saffah</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Abu ‘Abdallah Ibnu ’l-Ahmar (Nasrid), <a href="#Page_437">437</a></li><li> + +Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li><li> + +Abu Ahmad al-Mihrajani, <a href="#Page_370">370</a></li><li> + +Abu ’l-‘Ala al-Ma‘arri, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <b><a href="#Page_313">313</a>-324</b>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a></li><li> + +Abu ‘Ali al-Qali, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li><li> + +Abu ‘Ali b. Sina, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Ibn Sina</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Abu ‘Amir, the Monk, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li><li> + +Abu ‘Amr b. al-‘Ala, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_343"><b>343</b></a> + +Abu ’l-Aswad al-Du’ili, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li><li> + +Abu ’l-‘Atahiya (poet), <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <b><a href="#Page_296">296</a>-303</b>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a></li><li> + +Abu Ayman (title), <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li><li> + +Abu Bakr (Caliph), <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_183"><b>183</b></a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li><li> + +Abu Bakr b. Abi ’l-Azhar, <a href="#Page_344">344</a></li><li> + +Abu Bakr Ibnu ’l-‘Arabi of Seville, <a href="#Page_399">399</a></li><li> + +Abu Bakr b. Mu‘awiya, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li><li> + +Abu Bakr al-Nabulusi, <a href="#Page_460">460</a></li><li> + +Abu Bakr al-Razi (physician), <a href="#Page_265">265</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Razi</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Abu Bakr b. ‘Umar, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li><li> + +Abu ’l-Darda, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li><li> + +Abu Dawud al-Sijistani, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li><li> + +Abu ’l-Faraj of Isfanan, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_347"><b>347</b></a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Kitabu ’l-Aghani</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Abu ’l-Faraj al-Babbagha (poet), <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li><li> + +Abu ’l-Fida (historian), <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_454"><b>454</b></a></li><li> + +Abu Firas al-Hamdani (poet), <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></li><li> + +Abu Ghubshan, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li><li> + +Abu Hanifa, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a></li><li> + +Abu ’l-Hasan ‘Ali b. Harun al-Zanjani, <a href="#Page_370">370</a></li><li> + +Abu ’l-Hasan al-Ash‘ari, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Ash‘ari</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_488" id="Page_488" href="#"><span><i>INDEX</i></span>488</a></span> + +Abu Hashim, the Imam, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li><li> + +Abu Hashim, the Sufi, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li><li> + +Abu Hudhayl -‘Allaf, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li><li> + +Abu ’l-Husayn al-Nuri, <a href="#Page_392">392</a></li><li> + +Abu ‘Imran al-Fasi, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li><li> + +Abu Ishaq al-Farisi. See <i>-Istakhri</i></li><li> + +Abu Ja‘far -Mansur, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Mansur, the Caliph</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Abu Jahl, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li><li> + +Abu Karib, the Tubba‘, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>As‘ad Kamil</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Abu Lahab, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li><li> + +Abu ’l-Mahasin b. Taghribirdi (historian), <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_454"><b>454</b></a></li><li> + +Abu Marwan Ghaylán, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li><li> + +Abu Ma‘shar, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li><li> + +Abu Mihjan (poet), <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li><li> + +Abu Mikhnaf, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li><li> + +Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a></li><li> + +Abu Muslim, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <b><a href="#Page_251">251</a>-252</b>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +Abu Nasr al-Isma‘ili, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li><li> + +Abu Nasr al-Sarraj, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li><li> + +Abu Nu‘aym al-Isfahani, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li><li> + +Abu Nuwas (poet), <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_286"><b>286</b></a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <i><a href="#Page_292">292</a>-296</i>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +Abu Qabus, <i>kunya</i> of -Nu’man III, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li><li> + +Abu ’l-Qasim Ahmad. See <i>-Mustansir</i></li><li> + +Abu ’l-Qasim Muhammad, the Cadi, <a href="#Page_421">421</a></li><li> + +Abu ’l-Qasim b. -Muzaffar, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li><li> + +Abu ’l-Qasim al-Zahrawi, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li><li> + +Abu Qays b. Abi Anas, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li><li> + +Abu Qurra, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li><li> + +Abu Sa’id b. Abi ’l-Khayr, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></li><li> + +Abu Salama, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li><li> + +Abu Salih Mansur b. Ishaq (Samanid), <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li><li> + +Abu ’l-Salt b. Abi Rabi’a, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li><li> + +Abu Shaduf, <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li><li> + +Abu Shamir the Younger, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li><li> + +Abu Shamir, <i>kunya</i> of -Harith b. ’Amr Muharriq, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li><li> + +Abu Shuja’ Buwayh, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li><li> + +Abu Sufyan, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li><li> + +Abu Sulayman al-Darani, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a></li><li> + +Abu Sulayman Muhammad b. Ma‘shar al-Bayusti, <a href="#Page_370">370</a></li><li> + +Abu Talib, uncle of the Prophet, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li><li> + +Abu Talib al-Makki, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li><li> + +Abu Tammam, author of the <i>Hamasa</i>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <i><a href="#Page_129">129</a>-130</i>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Hamasa</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Abu ’Ubayda (philologist), <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <i>344</i>, <i>345</i>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a></li><li> + +Abu ‘Ubayda b. al-Jarrah, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li><li> + +Abu ’l-Walid al-Baji, <a href="#Page_428">428</a></li><li> + +Abu Yazid al-Bistami, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Bayazid of Bistam</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Abu Yusuf, the Cadi, <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li><li> + +Abu Zayd of Saruj, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li><li> + +Abu Zayd Muhammad al-Qurashi, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li><li> + +Abusir, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li><li> + +Abyssinia, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></li><li> + +Abyssinians, the, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a>; +<ul><li>in -Yemen, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>-29; +</li><li>invade the Hijaz, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>-68 +</li></ul></li><li> +Academy of Junde-shapur, the, <a href="#Page_358">358</a></li><li> + +Academy of Sabur, the, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li><li> + +‘Ad (people), <a href="#Page_1"><b>1</b></a>, <a href="#Page_2"><b>2</b></a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li><li> + +<i>adab</i>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li><li> + +<i>Adabu ’l-Katib</i>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li><li> + +Adam, <a href="#Page_xxvi">xxvi</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li><li> + +‘Adana (river), <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li><li> + +‘Adawi dervishes, the, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li><li> + +Adharbayjan, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li><li> + +‘Adi (tribe), <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li><li> + +‘Adi b. ‘Amr, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li><li> + +‘Adi al-Hakkari, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li><li> + +‘Adi b. Marina, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li><li> + +‘Adi b. Nasr, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li><li> + +‘Adi b. Zayd, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <b><a href="#Page_45">45</a>-48</b>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_138"><b>138</b></a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li><li> + +‘Adiya, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li><li> + +Adler, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li><li> + +‘Adnán, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li><li> + +‘Adudu ’l-Dawla (Buwayhid), <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li><li> + +ælius Gallus, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li><li> + +æthiopic language, the, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a>, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a></li><li> + +Afghanistan, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li><li> + +Africa, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a>, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a> + +Africa, North, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li><li> + +Afshin, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +-Afwah al-Awdi (poet), <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li><li> + +<i>-Aghani.</i> See <i>Kitabu ’l-Agfhani</i></li><li> + +Aghlabid dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_441">441</a></li><li> + +Aghmat, <a href="#Page_424">424</a></li><li> + +-Ahlaf, at -Hira, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li><li> + +Ahlu ’l-Kitab, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li><li> + +Ahlu ’l-Taswiya, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Shu‘ubites, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Ahlu ’l-tawhid wa-’l-‘adl, a name given to the Mu‘tazilites, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li><li> + +Ahlwardt, W., <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>,133, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_454">454</a></li><li> + +Ahmad (Buwayhid), <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li><li> + +Ahmad, brother of Ghazali, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li><li> + +Ahmad, father of Ibn Hazm, <a href="#Page_426">426</a></li><li> + +Ahmad b. Hanbal, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li><li> + +Ahmad al-Nahhas, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li><li> + +Ahmad b. Tulun, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li><li> + +Ahmar of Thamud, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li><li> + +Ahnum, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li><li> + +Ahqafu ’l-Raml (desert), <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li><li> + +<i>Ahsanu ’l-Taqasim fi ma‘rifati ’l-Aqalim</i>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></li><li> + +<i>ahwal</i>, mystical term, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a></li><li> + +-Ahwas (poet), <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li><li> + +-Ahwaz, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li><li> + +A‘isha, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li><li> + +<i>‘Aja ’ibu ’l-Maqdur</i>, <a href="#Page_454">454</a></li><li> + +-‘Ajam (the non-Arabs), <a href="#Page_277">277</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Mawali</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +-‘Ajjaj (poet), <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li><li> + +<i>-Ajurrumiyya</i>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +Akbar (Mogul Emperor), <a href="#Page_xxx">xxx</a></li><li> + +<i>Akhbaru ’l-Zaman</i>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a></li><li> + +-Akhtal (poet), <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <b><a href="#Page_239">239</a>-242</b>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li><li> + +<i>akhu ’l-safa</i>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a></li><li> + +Akilu ’l-Murar (surname), <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li><li> + +-A‘lam (philologist), <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li><li> + +Alamut, <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li><li> + +‘Ala’u ’l-Din Muhammad Khwarizmshah, <a href="#Page_444">444</a></li><li> + +Albategnius, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li><li> + +Albucasis, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li><li> + +Albumaser, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li><li> + +Alchemists, the, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li><li> + +Alchemy, works on, translated into Arabic, <a href="#Page_358">358</a></li><li> + +Aleppo, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a></li><li> + +Alexander the Great, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li><li> + +Alexandria, <a href="#Page_340">340</a></li><li> + +Alexandrian Library, the, <a href="#Page_435">435</a></li><li> + +<i>Alf Layla wa-Layla</i>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Thousand Nights and a Night</i> and <i>Arabian Nights</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +<i>-Alfiyya</i>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +Alfraganus, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li><li> + +Algeria, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li><li> + +Algiers, <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li><li> + +Alhambra, the, <a href="#Page_435">435</a></li><li> + +‘Ali (Buwayhid), <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li><li> + +‘Ali, grandson of ‘Umar Ibnu ’l-Farid, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></li><li> + +‘Ali b. Abi Talib, the Prophet's son-in-law, <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxviii">xxviii</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <b><a href="#Page_190">190</a>-193</b>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>-211, <b><a href="#Page_213">213</a>-218</b>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>-222, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a></li><li> + +‘Ali b. Abi Talib, public cursing of, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li><li> + +‘Ali b. -Mansur, Shaykh, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li><li> + +‘Ali b. Musa b. Ja‘far al-Rida, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a></li><li> + +‘Alids, the, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>‘Ali b. Abi Talib</i> and <i>Shi‘ites, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Allah, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a></li><li> + +Allah, the Muhammadan conception of, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li><li> + +Almaqa, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li><li> + +Almeria, <a href="#Page_421">421</a></li><li> + +Almohades, the, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>, <b><a href="#Page_431">431</a>-434</b> + +Almoravides, the, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>-431</li><li> + +Alp Arslan (Seljuq), <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a></li><li> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_489" id="Page_489" href="#"><span><i>INDEX</i></span>489</a></span> + +Alphabet, the South Arabic, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li><li> + +Alphonso VI of Castile, <a href="#Page_422">422</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a></li><li> + +‘Alqama b. ‘Abada (poet), <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_125"><b>125</b></a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li><li> + +‘Alqama b. Dhi Jadan (poet), <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li><li> + +Alvaro, Bishop of Cordova, <a href="#Page_414">414</a></li><li> + +Amaj, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li><li> + +-Amali, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Kitabu ’l-Amali</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +-Amaliq (Amalekites), <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_3"><b>3</b></a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li><li> + +‘Amidu ’l-Mulk al-Kunduri, <a href="#Page_379">379</a></li><li> + +-Amin, the Caliph, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_262"><b>262</b></a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li><li> + +Amina, mother of the Prophet, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li><li> + +‘Amir b. Sa‘sa‘a (tribe), <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li><li> + +‘Amir b. Uhaymir, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li><li> + +Amiru ’l-Mu‘minin (Commander of the Faithful), <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li><li> + +Amiru ’l-Umara (title), <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li><li> + +‘Amr, the Tubba‘ <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li><li> + +‘Amr b. ‘Adi b. Nasr, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li><li> + +‘Amr b. Amir (tribe), <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li><li> + +‘Amr b. ‘Amir Ma’ al-Sama al-Muzayqiya, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li><li> + +‘Amr b. -‘As, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li><li> + +‘Amr b. -Harith (Ghassanid), <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li><li> + +‘Amr b. Hind (Lakhmite), <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li><li> + +‘Amr b. Kulthum (poet), <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <b><a href="#Page_109">109</a>-113</b>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li><li> + +‘Amr b. Luhayy, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li><li> + +‘Amr b. Ma‘dikarib, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li><li> + +‘Amr b. Mas‘ud, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li><li> + +‘Amr b. ‘Ubayd, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a></li><li> + +‘Amr b. Zarib, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li><li> + +Amul, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></li><li> + +Anas, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li><li> + +<i>‘anatira</i>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a></li><li> + +‘Anaza (tribe), <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a> + +-Anbar, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li><li> + +-Anbari (philologist), <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li><li> + +-Anbat, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Nabatæans, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Ancient Sciences, the, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li><li> + +-Andarin, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li><li> + +Angels, the Recording, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li><li> + +Angora, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li><li> + +-Ansar (the Helpers), <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li><li> + +<i>‘Antar, the Romance of</i>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a></li><li> + +‘Antara (poet), <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <b><a href="#Page_114">114</a>-116</b>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a></li><li> + +<i>‘antari</i>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a></li><li> + +Anthologies of Arabic poetry, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>-130, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a></li><li> + +Anthropomorphism, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a></li><li> + +Antioch, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li><li> + +Anushirwan (Sasanian king). See <i>Nushirwan</i></li><li> + +Anushirwan b. Khalid, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li><li> + +Aphrodite, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li><li> + +<i>-‘Aqida</i>, by ‘Izzu ’l-Din b. ‘Abd al-Salam, <a href="#Page_461">461</a></li><li> + +‘Aqil, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li><li> + +Arab horses, the training of, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></li><li> + +Arab singers in the first century <span class="smcap">a.h.</span>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li><li> + +<i>a‘rabi</i> (Bedouin), <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li><li> + +Arabia, in the ‘Abbasid period, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li><li> + +Arabia Felix, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Yemen</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Arabian History, three periods of, <a href="#Page_xxvi">xxvi</a> + +<i>Arabian Nights, the</i>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>, <b><a href="#Page_456">456</a>-459</b></li><li> + +Arabic language, the, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a>, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a>-xxv, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>-280, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a></li><li> + +Arabic literature, largely the work of non-Arabs, <a href="#Page_xxx">xxx</a>, <a href="#Page_xxxi">xxxi</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>-278</li><li> + +Arabic Press, the, <a href="#Page_469">469</a></li><li> + +Arabic writing, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>; +<ul><li>oldest specimens of, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a>, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Arabs, the Ishmaelite, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a></li><li> + +Arabs of Khurasan, the, thoroughly Persianised, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li><li> + +Arabs, the Northern. See <i>Arabs, the Ishmaelite</i></li><li> + +Arabs, the Northern and Southern, racial enmity between, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a>, <a href="#Page_406">406</a></li><li> + +Arabs, the Southern, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Arabs, the Yemenite</i> +</li></ul></li><li> + +Arabs, the Yemenite, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a>, <a href="#Page_406">406</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Sabæans, the</i>; +</li><li><i>Himyarites, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> + +Arabs, the Yoqtanid, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Arabs, the Yemenite</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Aramæans, the, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a>, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a></li><li> + +Aramaic language, the, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a>, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +-Araqim, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li><li> + +Arbela, <a href="#Page_451">451</a></li><li> + +Ardashir Babakan, founder of the Sasanian dynasty, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li><li> + +Ἀρέθας τοῦ Γαβάλα, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li><li> + +Arhakim, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li><li> + +<i>‘arif</i> (gnostic), <a href="#Page_386">386</a></li><li> + +‘Arifu ’l-Zanadiqa, <a href="#Page_373">373</a></li><li> + +Aristocracy of Islam, the, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li><li> + +Aristotle, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a></li><li> + +-‘Arji (poet), <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li><li> + +Armenia, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></li><li> + +Arnaud, Th., <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li><li> + +Arnold. F. A., <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li><li> + +Arnold, T. W., <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a></li><li> + +Arsacids, the, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li><li> + +Aryat, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li><li> + +-‘Asa (name of a mare), <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li><li> + +<i>‘asabiyya</i>, <a href="#Page_440">440</a></li><li> + +Asad (tribe), <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li><li> + +Asad Kamil, the Tubba‘, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <b><a href="#Page_19">19</a>-23</b>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li><li> + +Asad b. Musa, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li><li> + +Asal, <a href="#Page_433">433</a></li><li> + +<i>asalib</i>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a></li><li> + +Ascalon, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +Ascension of the Prophet, the, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a></li><li> + +Asd (tribe), <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li><li> + +-A‘sha (poet), <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <b><a href="#Page_123">123</a>-125</b>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li><li> + +-Ash‘ari (Abu ’l-Hasan), <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <b><a href="#Page_376">376</a>-379</b>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a></li><li> + +Ash‘arites, the, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a></li><li> + +<i>Ash‘aru ’l-Hudhaliyyin</i>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li><li> + +-Ashram (surname of Abraha), <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li><li> + +Asia, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a></li><li> + +Asia, Central, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li><li> + +Asia Minor, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a></li><li> + +Asia, Western, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a>, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a></li><li> + +Asin Palacios, <a href="#Page_404">404</a></li><li> + +<i>aslama</i>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li><li> + +-Asma‘i (philologist), <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_345"><b>345</b></a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a></li><li> + +Assassins, the, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li><li> + +Assyrian language, the, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a> + +Assyrians, the, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a></li><li> + +Astrologers and Astronomers, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li><li> + +Astronomy, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li><li> + +Aswad b. -Mundhir, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li><li> + +<i>-Athar al-Baqiya</i>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li><li> + +<i>Atharu ’l-Bilad</i>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a></li><li> + +Athens, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a></li><li> + +‘Athtar, ‘Athtor (Sabæan divinity), <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li><li> + +<i>Atlal</i>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li><li> + +‘Attar (Persian mystic). See <i>Faridu’ddin ‘Attar</i></li><li> + +‘Atwada, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li><li> + +Aurelian, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li><li> + +Aurora, <a href="#Page_412">412</a></li><li> + +Avempace. See <i>Ibn Bajja</i></li><li> + +Avenzoar, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +Averroes. See <i>Ibn Rushd</i></li><li> + +Avicenna. See <i>Ibn Sina</i></li><li> + +<i>awa’il</i> (origins), <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li><li> + +<i>‘Awarifu ’l-Ma‘arif</i>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li><li> + +-‘Awfi, <a href="#Page_370">370</a></li><li> + +<i>awliya</i> (saints), <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li><li> + +Awrangzib (Mogul Emperor), <a href="#Page_xxx">xxx</a></li><li> + +Aws (tribe), <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li><li> + +Aws b. Hajar (poet), <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li><li> + +Awwam Dhú ‘Iran Alu, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li><li> + +<i>a‘yan thabita</i>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li><li> + +<i>ayat</i> (verse of the Koran, sign, miracle), <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li><li> + +Ayatu ’l-Kursi (the Throne-verse), <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li><li> + +Aybak, <a href="#Page_447">447</a></li><li> + +-Ayham b. -Harith (Ghassanid), <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li><li> + +‘Ayn Jalut, battle of, <a href="#Page_446">446</a></li><li> + +‘Ayn Ubagh, battle of, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li><li> + +<i>ayyamu ’l-‘Arab</i>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></li><li> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_490" id="Page_490" href="#"><span><i>INDEX</i></span>490</a></span> + +Ayyubid dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_447">447</a>, <a href="#Page_453">453</a></li><li> + +Azd (tribe), <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a></li><li> + +-Azhar, the mosque, <a href="#Page_395">395</a></li><li> + +Azraqites (-Azariqa), the, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> + +<li><h3>B</h3></li> +<li> + +Baalbec, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li><li> + +Bab al-Mandab, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li><li> + +Babak, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +Babur (Mogul Emperor), <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a></li><li> + +Babylon, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li><li> + +Babylonia, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-‘Iraq</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Babylonian and Assyrian inscriptions, the, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a>, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a></li><li> + +Babylonians, the, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a></li><li> + +Badajoz, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a></li><li> + +Badis, <a href="#Page_428">428</a></li><li> + +Badi‘u ’l-Zaman ai-Hamadhánú, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></li><li> + +Badr, battle of, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li><li> + +Badr, freedman of ‘Abdu ’l-Rahman the Umayyad, <a href="#Page_405">405</a>, <a href="#Page_406">406</a></li><li> + +-Baghawi, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li><li> + +Baghdad, <a href="#Page_xxviii">xxviii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <b><a href="#Page_255">255</a>-256</b>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>-293, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_314"><b>314</b></a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a>, <a href="#Page_441">441</a>, <b><a href="#Page_444">444</a>-446</b>, <a href="#Page_447">447</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>, <a href="#Page_450">450</a>, <a href="#Page_458">458</a>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a>, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a></li><li> + +Baghdad, history of its eminent men, by -Khatib, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li><li> + +Baha’u ’l-Dawia (Buwayhid), <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li><li> + +Bahdala (tribe), <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li><li> + +Bahira, the monk, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li><li> + +Bahman (Sasanian), <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li><li> + +Bahram Gor (Sasanian), <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li><li> + +-Bahrayn (province), <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li><li> + +Bahri Mamelukes, the, <a href="#Page_447">447</a></li><li> + +Baju, <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li><li> + +-Bakharzi, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li><li> + +Bakil (tribe), <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li><li> + +Bakr (tribe), <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>-60, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li><li> + +-Bakri (geographer), <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a></li><li> + +Balaam, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li><li> + +-Baladhuri (historian), <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li><li> + +<i>-balagh al-akbar</i>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a></li><li> + +Balak, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li><li> + +-Bal‘ami, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></li><li> + +Balaq (mountain), <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li><li> + +Balkh, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a></li><li> + +-Balqa, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li><li> + +<i>Banat Su‘ad</i>, the opening words of an ode, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li><li> + +Banu ’l-Ahrar, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li><li> + +Banu Hind, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li><li> + +Banu Khaldun, <a href="#Page_437">437</a></li><li> + +Banu Musa, <a href="#Page_359">359</a></li><li> + +Banu Nahshal, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li><li> + +Baptists, name given to the early Moslems, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li><li> + +<i>baqa</i>, mystical term, <a href="#Page_390">390</a></li><li> + +Baqqa, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li><li> + +-Baramika, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Barmecides, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Barbier de Meynard, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li><li> + +Bardesanes, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li><li> + +Barmak, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li><li> + +Barmakites, the. See <i>Barmecides, the</i></li><li> + +Barmecides, the, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <b><a href="#Page_259">259</a>-261</b>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li><li> + +Barquq, Sultan (Mameluke), <a href="#Page_452">452</a></li><li> + +Bashama, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li><li> + +Bashshar b. Burd, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <b><a href="#Page_373">373</a>-374</b>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +<i>-basit</i> (metre), <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li><li> + +-Basra, <a href="#Page_xxiv">xxiv</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_189"><b>189</b></a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_343"><b>343</b></a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a></li><li> + +Basset, R., <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li><li> + +-Basus, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li><li> + +-Basus, the War of, <b><a href="#Page_55">55</a>-60</b>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li><li> + +-Batiniyya (Batinites), <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Isma‘ilis, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +-Battani, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li><li> + +<i>-bayan</i>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li><li> + +<i>-Bayan al-Mughrib</i>, <a href="#Page_407">407</a></li><li> + +Bayard, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li><li> + +Bayazid of Bistam, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Abu Yazid al-Bistami</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Baybars, Sultan (Mameluke), <a href="#Page_447">447</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a></li><li> + +-Baydawi, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li><li> + +<i>bayt</i> (verse), <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li><li> + +Baytu ’l-Hikma, at Baghdad, <a href="#Page_359">359</a></li><li> + +-Bazbaz, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li><li> + +Bedouin view of life, the, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li><li> + +Bedouin warfare, character of, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li><li> + +Bedouin women, Mutanabbi's descriptions of, <a href="#Page_310">310</a></li><li> + +Benu Marthad<sup>im</sup>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li><li> + +Berber insurrection in Africa, <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li><li> + +Berbers, the, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a>-409, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>-432, <a href="#Page_442">442</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a></li><li> + +Berbers, used as mercenaries, <a href="#Page_407">407</a></li><li> + +Berlin Royal Library, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li><li> + +Bevan, Prof. A. A., <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +Beyrout, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_469">469</a></li><li> + +<i>Bibliographical Dictionary</i>, by Hajji Khalifa, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +<i>Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum</i>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></li><li> + +<i>Bidpai, the Fables of</i>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li><li> + +Bilqis, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li><li> + +-Bimaristan al-‘Adudi, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li><li> + +Biographies of poets, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li><li> + +Birnam Wood, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li><li> + +-Biruni (Abu Rayhan), <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_361"><b>361</b></a></li><li> + +Bishr b. Abi Khazim (poet), <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li><li> + +Bishr al-Hafi, <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li><li> + +Bishr b. -Mu‘tamir, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li><li> + +Bistam, <a href="#Page_391">391</a></li><li> + +Blick, J. S., <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li><li> + +Black, the colour of the ‘Abbasids, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li><li> + +Black Stone in the Ka‘ba, the, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467</a></li><li> + +Blunt, Lady Anne, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li><li> + +Blunt, Wilfrid, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li><li> + +Bobastro, <a href="#Page_410">410</a></li><li> + +Boer, T. J. de, <a href="#Page_433">433</a></li><li> + +Bohlen, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li><li> + +Bokhara, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a></li><li> + +<i>Book of Examples, the</i>, by Ibn Khaldun, <a href="#Page_437">437</a></li><li> + +<i>Book of Sibawayhi, the</i>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li><li> + +<i>Book of the Thousand Tales, the.</i> See <i>Hazar Afsan</i></li><li> + +<i>Book of Viziers, the</i>, <a href="#Page_458">458</a></li><li> + +Books, the Six Canonical, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li><li> + +Boswell, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_452">452</a></li><li> + +Brethren of Purity, the, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>-372</li><li> + +British Museum, the, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li><li> + +Brockelmann, C., <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a>, <a href="#Page_469">469</a></li><li> + +Browne, Prof. E. G., <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li><li> + +Bruuml;nnow, R. E., <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li><li> + +Brutus, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li><li> + +Bu‘ath, battle of, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li><li> + +Buddha, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li><li> + +Buddhism, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Nirvana</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +-Buhturi (poet), <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li><li> + +Bujayr b. ‘Amr, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li><li> + +Bukhara. See <i>Bokhara</i></li><li> + +-Bukhari, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li><li> + +Bulaq, <a href="#Page_469">469</a></li><li> + +Bunyan, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li><li> + +Burckhardt, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467</a></li><li> + +Burd, <a href="#Page_373">373</a></li><li> + +<i>-Burda</i>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li><li> + +<i>-burda</i> (the Prophet's mantle), <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a></li><li> + +Burji Mamelukes, the, <a href="#Page_447">447</a></li><li> + +Burns, Robert, <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li><li> + +<i>burnus</i>, the, a mark of asceticism, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li><li> + +Burton, Sir Richard, <a href="#Page_459">459</a></li><li> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_491" id="Page_491" href="#"><span><i>INDEX</i></span>491</a></span> + +Busir, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li><li> + +-Busiri (poet), <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li><li> + +Buthayna, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></li><li> + +Butrites, the, a Shi‘ite sect, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li><li> + +Buwayhid dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <b><a href="#Page_266">266</a>-268</b>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li><li> + +Byzantine Empire, the, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a></li> + +<li><h3>C</h3></li> + +<li> +Cadiz, <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li><li> + +Cæsar, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li><li> + +Cætani, Prince, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li><li> + +Cairo, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>, <a href="#Page_447">447</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a>, <a href="#Page_452">452</a>, <a href="#Page_453">453</a>, <a href="#Page_454">454</a>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a>, <a href="#Page_458">458</a>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a>, <a href="#Page_469">469</a></li><li> + +Caliph, the, must belong to Quraysh, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li><li> + +Caliph, name of the, mentioned in the Friday sermon, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>; +<ul><li>stamped on the coinage, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>; +</li><li>title of, assumed by the Fatimids, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>; +</li><li>by the Umayyads of Spain, <a href="#Page_412">412</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Caliphs, the, -Mas‘udi's account of, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li><li> + +Caliphs, the ‘Abbasid. See <i>‘Abbasids, the</i> + +Caliphs, the Orthodox, <a href="#Page_xxiii">xxiii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>-193</li><li> + +Caliphs, the Umayyad. See <i>Umayyad dynasty, the</i></li><li> + +Calpe, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li><li> + +Campbell, D., <a href="#Page_360">360</a></li><li> + +Canaanites, the, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li><li> + +Canonical Books, the Six, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li><li> + +Capuchins, the, <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li><li> + +Carmathians, the, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_274"><b>274</b></a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Fatimid dynasty</i>; <i>Isma‘ilis</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Carmona, <a href="#Page_437">437</a></li><li> + +Casanova, P., <a href="#Page_371">371</a></li><li> + +Caspian Sea, the, <a href="#Page_xxviii">xxviii</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a></li><li> + +Castile, <a href="#Page_422">422</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a></li><li> + +Castles of -Yemen, the, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li><li> + +Catharine of Siena, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li><li> + +Cathay, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a></li><li> + +Caussin de Perceval, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li><li> + +Cave-dwellers of Khurasan, the, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li><li> + +Celibacy condemned by Muhammad, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li><li> + +Cemetery of the Sufis, the, at Damascus, <a href="#Page_463">463</a></li><li> + +Ceuta, <a href="#Page_405">405</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +Ceylon, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></li><li> + +Chagar Beg, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li><li> + +Charles the Hammer, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li><li> + +Charter, the, drawn up by Muhammad for the people of Medina, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li><li> + +Chaucer, <a href="#Page_289">289</a></li><li> + +Chauvin, Victor, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li><li> + +Chenery, T., <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li><li> + +Chihrazad, <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li><li> + +China, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a></li><li> + +Chingiz Khan, <a href="#Page_444">444</a></li><li> + +Christian poets who wrote in Arabic, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li><li> + +Christianity in Arabia, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>-140; +<ul><li>in Ghassán, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>; +</li><li>at -Hira, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>; +</li><li>in Najran, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>; +</li><li>in Moslem Spain, <a href="#Page_407">407</a>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>, <b><a href="#Page_414">414</a>-415</b>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a>, <a href="#Page_441">441</a> +</li></ul></li><li> + +Christianity, influence of, on Muhammadan culture, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a></li><li> + +Christians, Monophysite, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li><li> + +Christians, supposed by Moslems to wear a girdle, <a href="#Page_461">461</a></li><li> + +Christians at the Umayyad court, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li><li> + +<i>Chronology of Ancient Nations, the</i>, by -Biruni, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li><li> + +Church and State, regarded as one by Moslems, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li><li> + +Chwolsohn, <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li><li> + +Classicism, revolt against, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>-289</li><li> + +Cleopatra, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li><li> + +Coinage, Arabic, introduced by ‘Abdu ’l-Malik, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li><li> + +Commercial terms derived from Arabic, <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li><li> + +Companions of the Prophet, biographies of the, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +Confession of faith, the Muhammadan, <a href="#Page_403">403</a></li><li> + +Conquests, the early Muhammadan, work on the, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li><li> + +Constantinople, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412</a></li><li> + +Cordova, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_406">406</a>-411, <a href="#Page_412"><b>412</b></a>, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>-415, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>-426, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a></li><li> + +Cordova, the University of, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li><li> + +Courage, Arabian, the nature of, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li><li> + +Criticism of Ancient and Modern Poets, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>-289</li><li> + +Cromwell, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li><li> + +Crusade, the Third, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li><li> + +Crusaders, the, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_447">447</a></li><li> + +Cruttenden, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li><li> + +Ctesiphon, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Mada’in</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Cureton, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li> + +<li><h3>D</h3></li> +<li> + +Dabba (tribe), <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a> + +-Dahab al-‘Ijli, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li><li> + +Dahis (name of a horse), <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li><li> + +Dahis and -Ghabrá, the War of, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li><li> + +<i>-dahriyyun</i>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a></li><li> + +<i>da‘i</i> (missionary), <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li><li> + +-Daja‘ima, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li><li> + +-Dajjal (the Antichrist), <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li><li> + +<i>dakhil</i>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li><li> + +Damascus, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a>, <a href="#Page_xxviii">xxviii</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a></li><li> + +<i>-Damigh</i>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +Daniel, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li><li> + +Dante, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_404">404</a></li><li> + +<i>dapir</i> (Secretary), <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li><li> + +Daqiqi, Persian poet, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li><li> + +Daraya, <a href="#Page_386">386</a></li><li> + +Darius, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li><li> + +Darmesteter, J., <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li><li> + +Daru ’l-Rum (Constantinople), <a href="#Page_362">362</a></li><li> + +Daughters, the birth of, regarded as a misfortune, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></li><li> + +Daughters of Allah, the, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></li><li> + +Davidson, A. B., <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li><li> + +<i>dawidar</i> (<i>dawadar</i>), <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li><li> + +Daws Dhu Tha‘laban, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li><li> + +-Daylam, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li><li> + +Dead Sea, the, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li><li> + +Decline of the Caliphate, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li><li> + +Derenbourg, H., <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_454">454</a></li><li> + +Dervish orders, the, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li><li> + +Desecration of the tombs of the Umayyad Caliphs, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li><li> + +-Dhahabi (Shamsu ’l-Din), historian, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a>, <a href="#Page_454">454</a></li><li> + +Dhamar‘ali Dhirrih, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li><li> + +Dhu ’l-Khalasa, name of an idol, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li><li> + +Dhu ’l-Khursayn (name of a sword), <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li><li> + +Dhu ’l-Majaz, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li><li> + +Dhu Nafar, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li><li> + +Dhu ’l-Nun al-Misri, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>-388, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a></li><li> + +Dhu ’l-Nusur (surname), <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li><li> + +Dhu Nuwas, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <b><a href="#Page_26">26</a>-27</b>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li><li> + +Dhu Qar, battle of, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li><li> + +Dhu l-Qarnayn, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li><li> + +Dhu ’l-Quruh (title), <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li><li> + +Dhu Ru‘ayn, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li><li> + +Dhu ’l-Rumma (poet), <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li><li> + +Dhu ’l-‘Umrayn, nickname of Ibnu ’l-Khatib, <a href="#Page_436">436</a></li><li> + +Dhu ’l-Wizaratayn (title), <a href="#Page_425">425</a></li><li> + +Dhubyan (tribe), <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li><li> + +Diacritical points in Arabic script, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li><li> + +Di‘bil (poet), <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +Dictionaries, Arabic, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +Didactic poem by Abu ’l-‘Atahiya, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li><li> + +Diercks, <a href="#Page_360">360</a></li><li> + +Dieterici, F., <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a></li><li> + +<i>dihqan</i>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li><li> + +Diminutives, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a></li><li> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_492" id="Page_492" href="#"><span><i>INDEX</i></span>492</a></span> +<i>din</i> (religion), <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li><li> + +Dinarzad, <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li><li> + +Dinarzade, <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li><li> + +-Dinawar, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li><li> + +-Dinawari (historian), <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li><li> + +Dinazad, <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li><li> + +Diodorus Siculus, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li><li> + +Dionysius the Areopagite, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></li><li> + +-Dira‘iyya, <a href="#Page_466">466</a></li><li> + +Dirge, the Arabian, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li><li> + +<i>dithar</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li><li> + +<i>Divan-i Shams-i Tabriz</i>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li><li> + +Divine Right, the Shi‘ite theory of, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li><li> + +<i>diwan</i> (collection of poems), <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li><li> + +Diwan (Register) of ‘Umar, the, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li><li> + +<i>Diwans of the Six Poets, the</i>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li><li> + +<i>diya</i> (blood-wit), <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li><li> + +-Diyárbakri (historian), <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li><li> + +Dog, the, regarded by Moslems as unclean, <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li><li> + +Doughty, E. M., <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li><li> + +Dozy, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_407">407</a>, <a href="#Page_410">410</a>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_422">422</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a>, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467</a></li><li> + +Drama, the, not cultivated by the Semites, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li><li> + +Drinking parties described in Pre-islamic poetry, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li><li> + +Droit du seigneur, le, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li><li> + +<i>dubayt</i> (a species of verse), <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li><li> + +Dubeux, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></li><li> + +Duka, T., <a href="#Page_390">390</a></li><li> + +Dumas, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li><li> + +<i>Dumyatu ’l-Qasr</i>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li><li> + +Duns Scotus, <a href="#Page_367">367</a></li><li> + +Durayd b. -Simma, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li><li> + +Durayd b. Zayd b. Nahd, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li><li> + +<i>Durratu ’l-Ghawwas</i>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li><li> + +<i>Duwalu ’l-Islam</i>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a></li><li> + +Dvorak, R., <a href="#Page_304">304</a></li><li> + +Dyke of Ma’rib, the, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <b><a href="#Page_14">14</a>-17</b>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li><li> + +Dynasties of the ‘Abbasid period, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>-276</li> + +<li><h3>E</h3></li> +<li> + +Eber, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a></li><li> + +Ecbatana, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Hamadhan</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Ecstasy, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></li><li> + +Edessa, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a></li><li> + +Egypt, <a href="#Page_xxiv">xxiv</a>, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_xxx">xxx</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>-390, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_447">447</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a>, <a href="#Page_450">450</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a>, <a href="#Page_454">454</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li><li> + +Egypt, conquest of, by the Moslems, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li><li> + +<i>Egypt, History of</i>, by Ibn Taghribirdi, <a href="#Page_454">454</a></li><li> + +Eichhorn, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a></li><li> + +Elegiac poetry, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li><li> + +<i>Elephant, the Sura of the</i>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li><li> + +Elephant, the year of the, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li><li> + +Eloquence, Arabian, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li><li> + +Emanation, Plotinus's theory of, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li><li> + +Emessa, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></li><li> + +Emigrants, the. See <i>-Muhajirun</i></li><li> + +Encomium of the Umayyad dynasty, by -Akhtal, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li><li> + +Epic poetry not cultivated by the Arabs, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li><li> + +Equality of Arabs and non-Arabs maintained by the Shu‘ubites, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li><li> + +Equites Thamudeni, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li><li> + +Erotic prelude, the. See <i>nasib</i></li><li> + +Erpenius, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li><li> + +Essenes, the, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li><li> + +Euphrates, the, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a></li><li> + +Euting, Julius, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> + +<li><h3>F</h3></li> +<li> + +Fables of beasts, considered useful and instructive, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li><li> + +-Fadl, the Barmecide, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li><li> + +-Fadl b. al-Rabi‘, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li><li> + +-Fahl (surname), <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li><li> + +Fahm (tribe), <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li><li> + +Fairs, the old Arabian, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li><li> + +<i>-Fakhri</i>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_454"><b>454</b></a></li><li> + +Fakhru ’l-Dawla (Buwayhid), <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li><li> + +Fakhru ’l-Mulk, <a href="#Page_340">340</a></li><li> + +Falcon of Quraysh, the, <a href="#Page_407">407</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a></li><li> + +<i>-falsafa</i> (Philosophy), <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li><li> + +<i>fana</i> (dying to self), <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a></li><li> + +<i>fanak</i>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li><li> + +<i>faqih</i>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a></li><li> + +<i>faqir</i> (fakir), <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a></li><li> + +<i>faqr</i> (poverty), <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li><li> + +Farab, <a href="#Page_360">360</a></li><li> + +-Farábi (Abu Nasr), <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_360"><b>360</b></a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li><li> + +-Farazdaq (poet), <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <b><a href="#Page_242">242</a>-244</b>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li><li> + +-Farghani, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li><li> + +Faridu’ddin ‘Attar, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a></li><li> + +-Farqadan (name of two stars), <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li><li> + +-Farra, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li><li> + +Farrukh-mahan, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li><li> + +Fars (province), <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li><li> + +Fathers, the Christian, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li><li> + +<i>-Fatiha</i>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li><li> + +Fatima, daughter of -Khurshub, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li><li> + +Fatima, daughter of the Prophet, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li><li> + +Fatima (mother of Qusayy), <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li><li> + +Fatima, a woman loved by Imru’u ’l-Qays, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li><li> + +Fatimid dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <b><a href="#Page_271">271</a>-275</b>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412</a></li><li> + +-Fatra, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li><li> + +<i>Fawatu ’l-Wafayat</i>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>, <a href="#Page_452">452</a></li><li> + +Fayiasufu ’l-‘Arab (title), <a href="#Page_360">360</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Kindi</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Faymiyun (Phemion), <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li><li> + +Ferdinand I of Castile, <a href="#Page_422">422</a></li><li> + +Ferdinand III of Castile, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +Ferdinand V of Castile, <a href="#Page_441">441</a></li><li> + +Fez, <a href="#Page_436">436</a></li><li> + +Fihr (tribe), <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a></li><li> + +<i>-Fihrist</i>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <b><a href="#Page_361">361</a>-364</b>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li><li> + +-Find, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li><li> + +<i>-fiqh</i> (Jurisprudence), <a href="#Page_283">283</a>; +<ul><li>denoting law and theology, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_465">465</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Firdawsi, Persian poet, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li><li> + +Firuz (Firuzan), father of Ma‘ruf al-Karkhi, <a href="#Page_385">385</a></li><li> + +Firuz, a Persian slave, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li><li> + +-Fúrúzábádí (Majdu ’l-Din), <a href="#Page_403">403</a>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +Fleischer, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>, <a href="#Page_404">404</a></li><li> + +Flint, Robert, <a href="#Page_441">441</a></li><li> + +Fluegel, G., <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a></li><li> + +Folk-songs, Arabic, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>-417, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>-450</li><li> + +<i>Fons Vitæ</i>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a></li><li> + +Foreigners, Sciences of the, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li><li> + +Forgery of Apostolic Traditions, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li><li> + +Forgery of Pre-islamic poems, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li><li> + +France, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>, <a href="#Page_469">469</a></li><li> + +Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>, <a href="#Page_441">441</a></li><li> + +Free schools, founded by Hakam II, <a href="#Page_419">419</a></li><li> + +Free-thought in Islam, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Mu‘tazilites</i> and <i>Zindiqs</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Free-will, the doctrine of, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li><li> + +Freytag, G. W., <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a></li><li> + +Friedlaender, I., <a href="#Page_428">428</a></li><li> + +Frothingham, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></li><li> + +-Fudayl b. ‘Iyad, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a></li><li> + +<i>-fuhul</i>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li><li> + +Fukayha, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li><li> + +<i>-funún al-sab‘a</i> (the seven kinds of poetry), <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li><li> + +Fuqaym (tribe), <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li><li> + +<i>-Fusul wa-’l-Ghayat</i>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li><li> + +<i>Fususu ’l-Hikam</i>, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li><li> + +<i>-Futuhat al-Makkiyya</i>, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a></li><li> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_493" id="Page_493" href="#"><span><i>INDEX</i></span>493</a></span> +Future life, Pre-islamic notions of the, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li> + +<li><h3>G</h3></li> +<li> + +Gabriel, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li><li> + +Galen, <a href="#Page_358">358</a></li><li> + +Galland, <a href="#Page_458">458</a></li><li> + +Gallienus, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li><li> + +Gaulonitis, the, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li><li> + +Gaza, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li><li> + +Geber, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li><li> + +Geiger, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li><li> + +Genealogy, Muhammadan, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a></li><li> + +Genealogy, treatise on, by Ibn Durayd, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li><li> + +<i>Genesis, Book of</i>, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a></li><li> + +Geographers, the Moslem, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></li><li> + +George -Makin, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li><li> + +Georgians, the, <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li><li> + +Germany, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412</a></li><li> + +Gesenius, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li><li> + +-Ghabrá (name of a mare), <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li><li> + +-Gharid, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li><li> + +-Ghariyyan, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li><li> + +Ghassán, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li><li> + +Ghassanid court, the, described by Hassan b. Thabit, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li><li> + +Ghassanids, the, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <b><a href="#Page_49">49</a>-54</b>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li><li> + +Ghatafan (tribe), <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li><li> + +-Ghawl, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li><li> + +<i>ghayba</i> (occultation), <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li><li> + +Ghayman (castle), <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li><li> + +Ghayz b. Murra, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li><li> + +Ghazala, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li><li> + +-Ghazali, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <b><a href="#Page_338">338</a>-341</b>, <b><a href="#Page_380">380</a>-383</b>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a></li><li> + +Ghazan, <a href="#Page_446">446</a></li><li> + +Ghaziyya (tribe), <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li><li> + +Ghazna, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>-269, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li><li> + +Ghaznevid dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <b><a href="#Page_268">268</a>-269</b>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li><li> + +<i>ghiyar</i>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a></li><li> + +Ghiyathu ’l-Din Mas‘ud (Seljuq), <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li><li> + +<i>-Ghulat</i> (the extreme Shi‘ites), <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li><li> + +Ghumdán (castle), <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li><li> + +Gibb, E. J. W., <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a></li><li> + +Gibb, H. A. R., <a href="#Page_470">470</a></li><li> + +Gibbon, <a href="#Page_439">439</a></li><li> + +Gibraltar (Jabal Tariq), <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a></li><li> + +Glaser, E., <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li><li> + +Gnosis, the Sufi doctrine of, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li><li> + +Gnosticism, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a></li><li> + +Gobineau, Comte de, <a href="#Page_320">320</a></li><li> + +Goeje, M. J. de, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a></li><li> + +Goethe, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li><li> + +Gog and Magog, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li><li> + +<i>Golden Meadows, the.</i> See <i>Muruju ’l-Dhahab</i> and -Mas‘udi</li><li> + +Goldziher, Ignaz, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a></li><li> + +Gospel, the, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li><li> + +Grammar, Arabic, the origin of, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>-343, <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li><li> + +Grammars, Arabic, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +Granada, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>, <b><a href="#Page_435">435</a>-437</b>, <a href="#Page_441">441</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a>, <a href="#Page_447">447</a></li><li> + +Gray, T., <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li><li> + +Greece, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +Greece, the influence of, on Muhammadan thought, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <b><a href="#Page_358">358</a>-361</b>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a></li><li> + +Greek Philosophers, the, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li><li> + +Green, the colour of the ‘Alids, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li><li> + +Grimme, H., <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li><li> + +Gruuml;nert, M., <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li><li> + +Guadalquivir, the, <a href="#Page_422">422</a></li><li> + +Guest, A. R., <a href="#Page_453">453</a></li><li> + +Guillaume, A., <a href="#Page_360">360</a></li><li> + +Guirgass, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li><li> + +Guyon, Madame, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> + +<li><h3>H</h3></li> +<li> +Haarbruuml;cker, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li><li> + +Habib b. Aws. See <i>Abu Tammam</i></li><li> + +<i>hadarat</i>, mystical term, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li><li> + +-Hadi, the Caliph, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a></li><li> + +<i>Hadiqatu ’l-Afrah</i>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a></li><li> + +<i>-hadith</i> (Traditions of the Prophet), <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <b><a href="#Page_143">143</a>-146</b>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Traditions of the Prophet</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Hadramawt (province), <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li><li> + +Hadrian, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li><li> + +Hafsa, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li><li> + +Hafsid dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_442">442</a></li><li> + +Hagar. See <i>Hajar, wife of Abraham</i></li><li> + +Hajar (in -Bahrayn), <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li><li> + +Hajar, wife of Abraham, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li><li> + +-Hajjaj b. Yusuf, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <b><a href="#Page_201">201</a>-203</b>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li><li> + +Hajji Khalifa, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +-Hakam I (Spanish Umayyad), <a href="#Page_409">409</a></li><li> + +-Hakam II (Spanish Umayyad), <a href="#Page_412">412</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a></li><li> + +<i>hakim</i> (philosopher), <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li><li> + +<i>hal</i>, mystical term, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li><li> + +<i>Halbatu ’l-Kumayt</i>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a></li><li> + +Halévy, Joseph, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li><li> + +Halila, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li><li> + +Halima, daughter of -Harith al-A‘raj, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li><li> + +Halima, the battle of, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li><li> + +Halima, the Prophet's nurse, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li><li> + +-Hallaj. See <i>-Husayn b. Mansur</i></li><li> + +Halle, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li><li> + +Ham, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a></li><li> + +<i>hama</i> (owl or wraith), <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li><li> + +Hamadhan (Ecbatana), <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li><li> + +-Hamadhánú, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Badi‘u ’l-Zaman</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Hamal b. Badr, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li><li> + +<i>-Hamasa</i>, of Abu Tammam, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>-61, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <b><a href="#Page_129">129</a>-130</b>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></li><li> + +<i>-Hamasa</i>, of -Buhturi, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li><li> + +<i>hamasa</i> (fortitude), <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li><li> + +Hamat, <a href="#Page_454">454</a></li><li> + +-Hamaysa‘ b. Himyar, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li><li> + +Hamdan, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li><li> + +Hamdan Qarmat, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li><li> + +-Hamdani (geographer), <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li><li> + +Hamdanid dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <b><a href="#Page_269">269</a>-271</b>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li><li> + +Hamilton, Terrick, <a href="#Page_459">459</a></li><li> + +Hammad al-Rawiya, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <b><a href="#Page_132">132</a>-134</b>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a></li><li> + +Hammer, J. von, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a></li><li> + +Hamza of Isfahan (historian), <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li><li> + +Hanbalites, the, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a></li><li> + +<i>handasa</i> (geometry), <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li><li> + +Hani’, a chieftain of Bakr, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li><li> + +Hanifa (tribe), <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li><li> + +Hanifs, the, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_149"><b>149</b></a>, <a href="#Page_150"><b>150</b></a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li><li> + +Hanzala of Tayyi’, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li><li> + +<i>haqiqat</i>, mystical term, <a href="#Page_392">392</a></li><li> + +<i>haqiqatu ’l-haqa’iq</i>, mystical term, <a href="#Page_403">403</a></li><li> + +<i>-haqiqatu ’l-Muhammadiyya</i>, mystical term, <a href="#Page_403">403</a></li><li> + +<i>-haqq</i>, mystical term, <a href="#Page_392">392</a></li><li> + +Haram (tribe), <a href="#Page_331">331</a></li><li> + +Harim b. Sinan, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></li><li> + +-Hariri, author of the <i>Maqamat</i>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>-336</li><li> + +-Harith al-Akbar. See <i>-Harith b. ‘Amr Muharriq</i></li><li> + +-Harith b. ‘Amr (Kindite), <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li><li> + +-Harith b. ‘Amr Muharriq (Ghassanid), <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li><li> + +-Harith al-A‘raj (Ghassanid), <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Harith b. Jabala</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +-Harith b. ‘Awf, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li><li> + +-Harith b. Hammam, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li><li> + +-Harith b. Hilliza (poet), <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>-114, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li><li> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_494" id="Page_494" href="#"><span><i>INDEX</i></span>494</a></span> +-Harith b. Jabala (Ghassanid), <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_51"><b>51</b></a>, <a href="#Page_52"><b>52</b></a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Harith al-A‘raj</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +-Harith al-Ra’ish, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li><li> + +-Harith b. Surayj, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li><li> + +-Harith b. ‘Ubad, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li><li> + +-Harith the Younger (Ghassanid), <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li><li> + +-Harith b. Zalim, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li><li> + +<i>-harj</i>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li><li> + +Harran, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a></li><li> + +Harran, the bilingual inscription of, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a> + +Hartmann, M., <a href="#Page_450">450</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li><li> + +Harun al-Rashid, the Caliph, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <b><a href="#Page_260">260</a>-261</b>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_458">458</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a></li><li> + +Harura, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li><li> + +Harwat, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li><li> + +<i>hasab</i>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li><li> + +Hasan (Buwayhid), <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li><li> + +-Hasan of -Basra, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <b><a href="#Page_225">225</a>-227</b>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li><li> + +-Hasan b. Ahmad al-Hamdani, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Hamdani</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +-Hasan b. ‘Ali, the Nizamu ’l-Mulk, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Nizamu ’l-Mulk</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +-Hasan b. ‘Ali b. Abi Talib, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li><li> + +-Hasan al-Burini, <a href="#Page_396">396</a></li><li> + +-Hasan b. -Sabbah, <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li><li> + +Hashid (tribe), <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li><li> + +Hashim, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li><li> + +-Hashimiyya (Shi‘ite sect), <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li><li> + +Hassan b. Thabit (poet), <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li><li> + +Hassan (son of As‘ad Kamil), the Tubba‘, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li><li> + +Hatim of Tayyi’, <b><a href="#Page_85">85</a>-87</b>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></li><li> + +Hawazin (tribe), <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a> + +<i>Hayy b. Yaqzan</i>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a></li><li> + +Hayyum, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li><li> + +<i>Hazar Afsan</i> (<i>Hazar Afsana</i>), <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_457">457</a>-458</li><li> + +-Haziri (Abu ’l-Ma‘ali), <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li><li> + +<i>Hazzu ’l-Quhuf</i>, <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li><li> + +Hebrew language, the, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a></li><li> + +Hebrews, the, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a></li><li> + +Hellespont, the, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a></li><li> + +Helpers, the. See <i>-Ansar</i></li><li> + +Hengstenberg, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li><li> + +Heraclius, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li><li> + +Heresies of the Caliph -Ma’mun, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li><li> + +Herodotus, <a href="#Page_353">353</a></li><li> + +Hierotheus, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></li><li> + +hija (satire), <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li><li> + +-Hijaz, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_62"><b>62</b></a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>, <a href="#Page_398">398</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a></li><li> + +-Hijr, the inscriptions of, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li><li> + +-Hijra (Hegira), <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li><li> + +-Hilla, <a href="#Page_449">449</a></li><li> + +<i>Hilyatu ’l-Awliya,</i> <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li><li> + +<i>himaq</i> (a species of verse), <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li><li> + +Hims, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></li><li> + +Himyar (person), <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li><li> + +Himyar (people), <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a>, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li><li> + +Himyarite kings, the, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>-27. +<ul><li>See <i>Tubba‘s, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Himyarite language, the, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a>, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>-11</li><li> + +<i>Himyarite Ode, the</i>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li><li> + +Himyarites, the, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5"><b>5</b></a>, <a href="#Page_6"><b>6</b></a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li><li> + +Hind, mother of Bakr and Taghlib, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li><li> + +Hind (a Bedouin woman), <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li><li> + +Hind, daughter of -Nu‘man III, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li><li> + +Hind, wife of -Mundhir III, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li><li> + +Hinwam (hill), <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li><li> + +-Hira, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxiii">xxiii</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <b><a href="#Page_37">37</a>-49</b>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a></li><li> + +Hira, Mount, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li><li> + +Hirran, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li><li> + +Hirschfeld, H., <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li><li> + +Hisham (Umayyad Caliph), <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li><li> + +Hisham I (Spanish Umayyad), <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a></li><li> + +Hisham II (Spanish Umayyad), <a href="#Page_412">412</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a></li><li> + +Hisham b. Muhammad al-Kalbi, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li><li> + +Hisn Ghurab, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li><li> + +Historians, Arab, <b><a href="#Page_11">11</a>-14</b>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <b><a href="#Page_348">348</a>-356</b>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a>-440, <b><a href="#Page_452">452</a>-454</b></li><li> + +Historical studies encouraged by the Umayyads, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li><li> + +History, the true purpose of, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>; +<ul><li>subject to universal laws, <a href="#Page_438">438</a>; +</li><li>evolution of, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>, <a href="#Page_440">440</a> +</li></ul></li><li> + +<i>History of the Berbers</i>, by Ibn Khaldun, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a></li><li> + +<i>History of the Caliphs</i>, by -Suyuti, <a href="#Page_455">455</a></li><li> + +<i>History of Islamic Civilisation</i>, by Jurji Zaydan, <a href="#Page_435">435</a></li><li> + +<i>History of Old and New Cairo</i>, by -Suyuti, <a href="#Page_455">455</a></li><li> + +Holy Ghost, the, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li><li> + +Holy War, the, enjoined by the Koran, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li><li> + +Homer, the Iliad of, translated into Arabic verse, <a href="#Page_469">469</a></li><li> + +Homeritæ, the, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li><li> + +Hommel, F., <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a>, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li><li> + +Honour, Pre-islamic conception of, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>-100</li><li> + +Horace, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li><li> + +Hospitality, the Bedouin ideal of, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li><li> + +House of the Prophet, the, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>. +<ul><li>See ‘<i>Ali b. Abi Talib</i>; <i>‘Alids</i>; <i>Shi‘ites</i>. +</li></ul></li><li> +Houtsma, Th., <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li><li> + +Huart, C., <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li><li> + +Hubal (name of an idol), <a href="#Page_64"><b>64</b></a> + +Hubba, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li><li> + +Hud (prophet), <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li><li> + +Hudhalites (Hudhaylites), <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Hudhayl</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Hudhayla b. Badr, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li><li> + +Hudhayta b. al-Yaman, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li><li> + +Hudhayl (tribe), <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li><li> + +Hughes, G., <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li><li> + +Hujr (Kindite), <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li><li> + +Hujr, father of Imru’u ’l-Qays, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li><li> + +Hulagu, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a>-446</li><li> + +Hulayl b. Hubshiyya, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li><li> + +<i>-Hullat al-Siyara</i>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li><li> + +Hulton, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li><li> + +<i>hulul</i> (incarnation), <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li><li> + +Hulwan, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></li><li> + +Humani, <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li><li> + +-Humayma, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li><li> + +Hunayn b. Ishaq, <a href="#Page_359">359</a></li><li> + +<i>hur</i> (houris), <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li><li> + +Hurmuz (Sasanian), <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li><li> + +Hurufis, the, <a href="#Page_460">460</a></li><li> + +-Husayn, son of ‘Ali b. Abi Talib, <a href="#Page_196"><b>196</b></a>, <a href="#Page_197"><b>197</b></a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a></li><li> + +-Husayn b. Damdam, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li><li> + +-Husayn b. Mansur -Hallaj, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a></li><li> + +<i>Husnu ’l-Muhadara</i>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a></li><li> + +-Hutay’a (poet), <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li><li> + +Huzwa, <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li><li> + +Hypocrites, the. See <i>-Munafiqun</i></li> + +<li><h3>I</h3></li> + +<li> +Iamblichus, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></li><li> + +‘Ibad, the, of -Hira, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li><li> + +Ibadites (a Kharijite sect), the, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li><li> + +<i>-‘Ibar</i>, by -Dhahabi, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-Abbar, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a></li><li> + +Ibn ‘Abdi Rabbihi, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_347"><b>347</b></a>, <a href="#Page_420"><b>420</b></a></li><li> + +Ibn Abi Du’ad, <a href="#Page_376">376</a></li><li> + +Ibn Abi Usaybi‘a, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li><li> + +Ibn Abi Ya‘qub al-Nadim, <a href="#Page_362">362</a></li><li> + +Ibn Abi Zar‘, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-Ahmar (Nasrid), <a href="#Page_435">435</a></li><li> + +Ibn ‘A’isha, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-‘Alqami, <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-‘Amid, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li><li> + +Ibn ‘Ammar (poet), <a href="#Page_422">422</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-‘Arabi. See <i>Muhyi ’l-Din Ibnu ’l-‘Arabi</i></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-‘Arabi, the Cadi, of Seville, <a href="#Page_399">399</a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-A‘rabi (philologist), <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li><li> + +Ibn ‘Arabshah, <a href="#Page_454">454</a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-Athir, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <b><a href="#Page_355">355</a>-356</b>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li><li> + +Ibn Bajja, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +Ibn Bashkuwal, <a href="#Page_426">426</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +Ibn Bassam, <a href="#Page_422">422</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-Baytar, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +Ibn Durayd, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_343"><b>343</b></a></li><li> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_495" id="Page_495" href="#"><span><i>INDEX</i></span>495</a></span> +Ibnu ’l-Farid. See <i>‘Umar Ibnu ’l-Farid</i></li><li> + +Ibn Hajar, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-Hanafiyya. See <i>Muhammad Ibnu ’l-Hanafiyya</i></li><li> + +Ibn Hani (poet), <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li><li> + +Ibn Hawqal, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></li><li> + +Ibn Hayyan, <a href="#Page_428">428</a></li><li> + +Ibn Hazm, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>, <b><a href="#Page_423">423</a>-428</b></li><li> + +Ibn Hisham, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_144"><b>144</b></a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_349"><b>349</b></a></li><li> + +Ibn Humam, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-‘Idhari, <a href="#Page_407">407</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li><li> + +Ibn Ishaq, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_144"><b>144</b></a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_349"><b>349</b></a></li><li> + +Ibn Jahwar, <a href="#Page_424">424</a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-Jawzi, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li><li> + +Ibn Jubayr, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +Ibn Kabsha, nickname of Muhammad, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li><li> + +Ibn Khalawayh, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li><li> + +Ibn Khaldun, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a>, <b><a href="#Page_437">437</a>-440</b>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_452">452</a></li><li> + +Ibn Khallikan, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>, <a href="#Page_422">422</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>, <b><a href="#Page_451">451</a>-452</b></li><li> + +Ibn Khaqan, <a href="#Page_425">425</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-Khatib, the Vizier, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a></li><li> + +Ibn Khidham, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li><li> + +Ibn Khurdadbih, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></li><li> + +Ibn Maja, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li><li> + +Ibn Malik of Jaen, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +Ibn Mukarram (Jamalu ’l-Din), <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +Ibn Muljam, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-Muqaffa‘, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_346"><b>346</b></a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-Mu‘tazz (poet), <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li><li> + +Ibn Nubata (man of letters), <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li><li> + +Ibn Nubata, the preacher, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-Qifti, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li><li> + +Ibn Qutayba, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_286"><b>286</b></a>, <a href="#Page_287"><b>287</b></a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_346"><b>346</b></a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-Qutiyya, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li><li> + +Ibn Quzman, <a href="#Page_417">417</a></li><li> + +Ibn Rashiq, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-Rawandi, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +Ibn Rushd, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +Ibn Sab‘in, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +Ibn Sa‘d, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-Sammak, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-Sikkit, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li><li> + +Ibn Sina (Avicenna), <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_360"><b>360</b></a>, <a href="#Page_361"><b>361</b></a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li><li> + +Ibn Sirin, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li><li> + +Ibn Surayj, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li><li> + +Ibn Taymiyya, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>, <a href="#Page_462"><b>462</b></a>, <a href="#Page_463"><b>463</b></a>, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-Tiqtaqa, <a href="#Page_454">454</a></li><li> + +Ibn Tufayt, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +Ibn Tumart, <a href="#Page_431">431</a>-432</li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-Wahshiyya, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a></li><li> + +Ibnu ’l-Wardi, <a href="#Page_455">455</a></li><li> + +Ibn Zaydun (poet), <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>-426</li><li> + +Ibn Zuhr, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +Ibrahim (Abraham), <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Abraham</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Ibrahim (‘Alid), <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li><li> + +Ibrahim b. Adham, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li><li> + +Ibrahim b. Hilal al-Sabi, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li><li> + +Ibrahim of Mosul, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li><li> + +Idol-worship at Mecca, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>-64</li><li> + +Idris, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li><li> + +-Idrisi (geographer), <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +Idrisid dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li><li> + +<i>Ihya’u Ulum al-Din</i>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a></li><li> + +-Iji (Adudu ’l-Din), <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +<i>ijma‘</i>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a></li><li> + +<i>ikhlas</i>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li><li> + +Ikhmim, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li><li> + +<i>-Ikhtiyarat</i>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li><li> + +Ikhwánu ’l-Safa, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>-372, <a href="#Page_388">388</a></li><li> + +<i>-Iklil</i>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li><li> + +<i>-ilahiyyun</i>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a></li><li> + +<i>Iliad, the</i>, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_469">469</a></li><li> + +Il-Khans, the, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a></li><li> + +Il-Makah, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li><li> + +<i>‘ilmu ’l-hadith</i> (Science of Apostolic Tradition), <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li><li> + +<i>‘ilmu ’l-kalam</i> (Scholastic Theology), <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li><li> + +<i>‘ilmu ’l-nujum</i> (Astronomy), <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li><li> + +<i>‘ilmu ’l-qira’at</i> (Koranic Criticism), <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li><li> + +<i>‘ilmu ’l-tafsir</i> (Koranic Exegesis), <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li><li> + +<i>‘ilq</i>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li><li> + +‘Imadu ’l-Dawla (Buwayhid), <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li><li> + +‘Imadu ’l-Din al-Katib al-Isfahani, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li><li> + +Imam (head of the religious community), <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li><li> + +Imam, the Hidden, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>-217, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>; +<ul><li>the Infallible, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Imam-Husayn, a town near Baghdad, <a href="#Page_466">466</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Karbala</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +<i>-imam al-ma‘sum</i>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a></li><li> + +Imamites, the, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li><li> + +Imams, the Seven, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li><li> + +Imams, the Shi‘ite, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>-220</li><li> + +Imams, the Twelve, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li><li> + +Imamu ’l-Haramayn, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a></li><li> + +<i>iman</i> (faith), <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li><li> + +Imru’u ’l-Qays (poet), <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <b><a href="#Page_103">103</a>-107</b>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a></li><li> + +India, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></li><li> + +<b>India, History of</b>, by -Biruni, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li><li> + +India, the influence of, on Moslem civilisation, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a></li><li> + +India, Moslem conquests in, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></li><li> + +Indian religion, described by -Shahrastani, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li><li> + +Indus, the, <a href="#Page_xxiv">xxiv</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li><li> + +Infanticide, practised by the pagan Arabs, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li><li> + +Initiation, the Isma‘ilite degrees of, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li><li> + +Inquisition (<i>mihna</i>) established by -Ma’mun, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li><li> + +<i>-Insan al-Kamil</i>, the Perfect Man, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li><li> + +Inscriptions, the Babylonian and Assyrian, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li><li> + +Inscriptions, Himyarite. See <i>Inscriptions, South Arabic</i></li><li> + +Inscriptions, Nabatæan, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li><li> + +Inscriptions, South Arabic, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a>, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a>, <a href="#Page_xxvi">xxvi</a>, <b><a href="#Page_6">6</a>-11</b></li><li> + +Inspiration, views of the heathen Arabs regarding, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li><li> + +Intellectual and Philosophical Sciences, the, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li><li> + +Ionia, the dialect of, <a href="#Page_xxiii">xxiii</a></li><li> + +<i>-‘Iqd al-Farúd</i>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_347"><b>347</b></a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li><li> + +Iram, <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li><li> + +-‘Iraq, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <i>350</i>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Babylonia</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +<i>-Isaba fi tamyiz al-Sahaba</i>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +Isabella of Castile, <a href="#Page_441">441</a></li><li> + +Isaiah, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li><li> + +Isfahan, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a></li><li> + +Isfandiyar, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li><li> + +Ishaq b. Ibrahim al-Mawsili, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li><li> + +Ishaq b. Khalaf, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li><li> + +Ishmael. See <i>Isma‘il</i></li><li> + +Isidore of Hispalis, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li><li> + +Islam, meaning of, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>; +<ul><li>cardinal doctrines of, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>-168; +</li><li>formal and ascetic character of, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>; +</li><li>derived from Christianity and Judaism, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>; +</li><li>pagan elements in, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>; +</li><li>opposed to the ideals of heathendom, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>; +</li><li>identified with the religion of Abraham, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>; +</li><li>a world-religion, <a href="#Page_184">184</a> +</li></ul></li><li> + +Isma‘il (Ishmael), <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li><li> + +Isma‘il (Samanid), <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li><li> + +Isma‘il b. ‘Abbad, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Sahib Isma‘il b. ‘Abbad</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Isma‘il b. Naghdala, <a href="#Page_428">428</a></li><li> + +Isma‘ilis, the, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <b><a href="#Page_272">272</a>-274</b>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_371"><b>371</b></a>, <a href="#Page_372"><b>372</b></a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li><li> + +<b>isnad</b>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></li><li> + +-Isnawi, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li><li> + +Israel, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li><li> + +Istakhr, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></li><li> + +-Istakhri, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></li><li> + +<i>istifa</i>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li><li> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_496" id="Page_496" href="#"><span><i>INDEX</i></span>496</a></span> + +Italy, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_441">441</a></li><li> + +Ithamara (Sabæan king), <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li><li> + +-Ithna -‘ashariyya (the Twelvers), <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li><li> + +I‘timad, name of a slave-girl, <a href="#Page_422">422</a></li><li> + +<i>-Itqan</i>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a></li><li> + +<i>ittihad</i>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li><li> + +<i>‘iyar</i>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li><li> + +Iyas b. Qabisa, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li><li> + +‘Izzu ’l-Din b. ‘Abd al-Salam, <a href="#Page_461">461</a></li> + +<li><h3>J</h3></li> +<li> +Jabal Tariq (Gibraltar), <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li><li> + +Jabala b. -Ayham (Ghassanid), <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li><li> + +-Jabariyya (the Predestinarians), <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li><li> + +Jabir b. Hayyan, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li><li> + +<i>jabr</i> (compulsion), <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li><li> + +Jacob, G., <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li><li> + +Jadala (tribe), <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li><li> + +Jadhima al-Abrash, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li><li> + +Jadis (tribe), <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li><li> + +Jaen, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +Ja‘far, the Barmecide, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li><li> + +Ja‘far, son of the Caliph -Hadi, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li><li> + +Jafna, founder of the Ghassanid dynasty, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li><li> + +Jafnites, the. See <i>Ghassanids, the</i></li><li> + +Jaghbub, <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li><li> + +Jahdar b. Dubay‘a, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li><li> + +<i>-jahiliyya</i> (the Age of Barbarism), <a href="#Page_xxvi">xxvi</a>, <a href="#Page_30"><b>30</b></a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li><li> + +-Jahiz, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <b><a href="#Page_346">346</a>-347</b>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +<i>jahiz</i>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li><li> + +-Jahiziyya (Mu‘tazilite sect), <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li><li> + +<i>jahl</i>, meaning 'barbarism', <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li><li> + +Jahm b. Safwan, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li><li> + +-Jahshiyari (Abu ‘Abdallah Muhammad b. ‘Abdus), <a href="#Page_458">458</a></li><li> + +Jalalu ’l-Din Khwarizmshah, <a href="#Page_444">444</a></li><li> + +Jalalu ’l-Din al-Mahalli, <a href="#Page_455">455</a></li><li> + +Jalalu ’l-Din Rumi, Persian poet, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>, <a href="#Page_404">404</a></li><li> + +Jallaban, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li><li> + +<i>-Jamhara fi ’l-Lugha</i>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li><li> + +<i>Jamharatu Ash‘ari ’l-‘Arab</i>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li><li> + +-Jami (‘Abdu ’l-Rahman), Persian poet, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a></li><li> + +<i>-Jami‘</i>, by -Tirmidhi, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li><li> + +<i>-Jami‘a</i>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a></li><li> + +Jamil, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></li><li> + +Jandal, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li><li> + +Janissaries, the, <a href="#Page_413">413</a></li><li> + +-Jannabi, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +-Jaradatan (name of two singing girls), <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li><li> + +Jarir (poet), <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <b><a href="#Page_244">244</a>-246</b></li><li> + +Jassas b. Murra, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li><li> + +-Jawf, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li><li> + +Jawhar, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li><li> + +-Jawlan, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li><li> + +Jerusalem, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></li><li> + +Jesus, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li><li> + +Jews, the, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Judaism</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +-Jibal (province), <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li><li> + +Jibril (Gabriel), <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li><li> + +<i>jihad</i>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li><li> + +Jinn, the, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li><li> + +<i>jinni</i> (genie), <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li><li> + +Jirjis -Makin (historian), <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li><li> + +John of Damascus, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li><li> + +John of Ephesus, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li><li> + +Johnson, Dr., <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></li><li> + +Joktan, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a></li><li> + +Jones, E. R., <a href="#Page_433">433</a></li><li> + +Jones, Sir William, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_452">452</a></li><li> + +Jong, P. de, <a href="#Page_366">366</a></li><li> + +Jordan, the, <a href="#Page_446">446</a></li><li> + +-Jubba’i, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a></li><li> + +Judaism, established in -Yemen, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>; +<ul><li>zealously fostered by Dhu Nuwas, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>; +</li><li>in Arabia, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>-140, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>-172, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>; +</li><li>in Spain, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>; +</li><li>in Sicily, <a href="#Page_441">441</a> +</li></ul></li><li> + +Judaism, influence of, on Muhammadan thought, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li><li> + +<i>-ju‘iyya</i> (the Fasters), <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li><li> + +Juliana of Norwich, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li><li> + +Junayd of Baghdad, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a href="#Page_465">465</a></li><li> + +Junde-shapur, <a href="#Page_358">358</a></li><li> + +Jurhum (tribe), <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li><li> + +Jurjan, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li><li> + +Jurji Zaydan, <a href="#Page_435">435</a></li><li> + +Justinian, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a></li><li> + +Justinus (Byzantine Emperor), <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li><li> + +-Juwayni (Abu ’l-Ma‘ali), <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a></li><li> + +Juynboll, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li> + +<li><h3>K</h3></li> +<li> +Ka‘b (tribe), <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li><li> + +Ka‘b b. Zuhayr (poet), <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li><li> + +-Ka‘ba, <a href="#Page_63"><b>63</b></a>, <a href="#Page_64"><b>64</b></a>, <a href="#Page_65"><b>65</b></a>, <a href="#Page_67"><b>67</b></a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467</a></li><li> + +Ka‘bu ’l-Ahbar, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li><li> + +-Kadhdhab (title of Musaylima), <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li><li> + +Kafur (Ikhshidite), <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li><li> + +Kahlan, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li><li> + +-Kalabadhi, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li><li> + +<i>-kalam</i> (Scholasticism), <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a></li><li> + +Kalb (tribe), <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li><li> + +<i>kalb</i>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li><li> + +<i>Kalila and Dimna, the Book of</i>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li><li> + +-Kamala (title), <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li><li> + +<i>-kamil</i> (metre), <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li><li> + +<i>-Kamil</i> of Ibnu ’l-Athir, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Ibnu ’l-Athir</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +<i>-Kamil</i> of -Mubarrad, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li><li> + +<i>kanwakan</i> (a species of verse), <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li><li> + +Karbala, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a></li><li> + +Kariba’il Watar, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li><li> + +-Karkh, a quarter of Baghdad, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a></li><li> + +<i>kasb</i>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a></li><li> + +<i>Kashfu ’l-Zunun</i>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +<i>-Kashshaf</i>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li><li> + +<i>katib</i> (secretary), <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li><li> + +Kawadh (Sasanian), <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li><li> + +Kerbogha, <a href="#Page_446">446</a></li><li> + +Khadija, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li><li> + +<i>-khafif</i> (metre), <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li><li> + +Khalaf, <a href="#Page_421">421</a></li><li> + +Khalaf al-Ahmar, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a></li><li> + +Khalid b. -Mudallil, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li><li> + +Khalid b. -Walid, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li><li> + +Khalid b. Yazid, <a href="#Page_358">358</a></li><li> + +<i>khalifa</i> (Caliph), <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li><li> + +-Khalil b. Ahmad, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_343"><b>343</b></a></li><li> + +Khamir (village), <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li><li> + +<i>-Khamriyya</i>, by Ibnu ’l-Farid, <a href="#Page_396">396</a></li><li> + +<i>khamriyyat</i>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li><li> + +<i>khanaqah</i> (monastery), <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li><li> + +-Khansa (poetess), <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li><li> + +<i>Kharidatu ’l-Qasr</i>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li><li> + +<i>khariji</i> (Kharijite), <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li><li> + +Kharijites, the, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <b><a href="#Page_208">208</a>-213</b>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a></li><li> + +Kharmaythan, <a href="#Page_360">360</a></li><li> + +-Khasib, <a href="#Page_373">373</a></li><li> + +<i>khatib</i>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li><li> + +-Khatib, of Baghdad, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li><li> + +-Khatim b.‘Adi, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li><li> + +-Khawarij. See <i>Kharijites, the</i></li><li> + +-Khawarnaq (castle), <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li><li> + +-Khaybar, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li><li> + +-Khayf, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li><li> + +Khazaza, battle of, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li><li> + +-Khazraj (tribe), <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li><li> + +Khedivial dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li><li> + +Khidash b. Zuhayr, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li><li> + +Khindif, <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a></li><li> + +<i>-Khitat</i>, by -Maqrizi, <a href="#Page_453">453</a></li><li> + +Khiva, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a></li><li> + +<i>Khizanatu ’l-Adab</i>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li><li> + +Khuda Bukhsh, S., <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li><li> + +<i>Khuday-nama</i>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li><li> + +Khulafa al-Rashidun, <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Caliphs, the Orthodox</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Khurasan, <a href="#Page_xxviii">xxviii</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_249"><b>249</b></a>, <a href="#Page_250"><b>250</b></a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a></li><li> + +Khurasan, dialect of, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li><li> + +<i>khuruj</i> (secession), <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li><li> + +Khusraw Parwez. See <i>Parwez</i></li><li> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_497" id="Page_497" href="#"><span><i>INDEX</i></span>497</a></span> + +<i>khutba</i>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li><li> + +Khuza‘a (tribe), <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li><li> + +Khuzayma (tribe), <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a></li><li> + +Khuzistan, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a></li><li> + +Khwarizm, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a></li><li> + +-Khwarizmi (Abu ‘Abdallah), <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li><li> + +<i>-kibrit al-ahmar</i>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a></li><li> + +Kilab (tribe), <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li><li> + +Kilab b. Murra, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li><li> + +<i>-kimiya</i> (the Philosophers' Stone), <a href="#Page_401">401</a></li><li> + +<i>Kimiya’u ’l-Sa‘adat</i>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a></li><li> + +<i>-kimiya’un</i> (the Alchemists), <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li><li> + +Kinana (tribe), <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li><li> + +Kinda (tribe), <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a></li><li> + +-Kïndi, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a></li><li> + +-Kisa’i (philologist), <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li><li> + +Kisra (title), <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Aghani</i> (the Book of Songs), <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_32"><b>32</b></a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_270"><b>270</b></a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_347"><b>347</b></a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_419"><b>419</b></a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Ahkam al-Sultaniyya</i>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Akhbar al-Tiwal</i>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Amali</i>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu Ansabi ’l-Ashraf</i>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li><li> + +<i>-Kitab al-Awsat</i>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-‘Ayn</i>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Badi‘</i>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Bayan wa-’l-Tabyin</i>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Falahat al-Nabatiyya</i>, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a> + +<i>Kitabu Futuhi ’l-Buldan</i>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Hayawan</i>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-‘Ibar</i>, by Dhahabi, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-‘Ibar</i>, by Ibn Khaldun, <a href="#Page_437">437</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu, ’l-Ibil</i>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Ishtiqaq</i>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Kamil fi ’l-Ta’rikh</i>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Kamil of Ibnu ’l-Athir</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +<i>Kitabu Khalq al-Insan</i>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Khayl</i>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Luma‘</i>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Ma‘arif</i>, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_346"><b>346</b></a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Maghazi</i>, by Musa b. ‘Uqba, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Maghazi</i>, by -Waqidi, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li><li> + +<i>-Kitab al-Mansuri</i>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Masalik wa-’l-Mamalik</i>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Milal wa-’l-Nihal</i>, by Ibn Hazm, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Milal wa-’l-Nihal</i>, by -Shahrastani, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Shahrastani</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +<i>Kitabu ’l-Muluk wa-akhbar al-Madin</i>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ara</i>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Ta‘arruf li-Madhhabi ahli ’l-Tasawwuf</i>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Tabaqat al-Kabir</i>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Tanbih wa-’l-Ishraf</i>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li><li> + +<i>-Kitab al-Yamini</i>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li><li> + +<i>Kitabu ’l-Zuhd</i>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li><li> + +<i>Koran, the</i>, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a>-xxv, <a href="#Page_xxvi">xxvi</a>, <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a>, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <b><a href="#Page_141">141</a>-143</b>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>-152, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>-156, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <b><a href="#Page_159">159</a>-168</b>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_175"><b>175</b></a>, <a href="#Page_176"><b>176</b></a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>-212, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_235"><b>235</b></a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_397">397</a>, <a href="#Page_398">398</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>, <a href="#Page_454">454</a>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467</a></li><li> + +<i>Koran, the</i>, derivation of, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>; +<ul><li>collection of, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>; +</li><li>historical value of, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>; +</li><li>arrangement of, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>; +</li><li>style of, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>; +</li><li>not poetical as a whole, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>; +</li><li>held by Moslems to be the literal Word of God, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>; +</li><li>heavenly archetype of, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>; +</li><li>revelation of, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>-152, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>; +</li><li>designed for oral recitation, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>; +</li><li>commentaries on, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a>; +</li><li>imitations of, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>; +</li><li>dispute as to whether it was created or not, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Koran-readers (<i>-qurra</i>), the, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li><li> + +Kosegarten, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li><li> + +Krehl, L., <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a></li><li> + +Kremer, Alfred von, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a></li><li> + +-Kufa, <a href="#Page_xxiv">xxiv</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_189"><b>189</b></a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>-210, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_343"><b>343</b></a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a></li><li> + +-Kulab, battle of, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li><li> + +Kulayb (tribe), <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li><li> + +Kulayb b. Rabi‘a, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li><li> + +Kulayb b. Wa’il, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Kulayb b. Rabi‘a</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Kulthum b. Malik, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li><li> + +-Kumayt (poet), <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li><li> + +<i>kunya</i> (name of honour), <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li><li> + +-Kusa‘i, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li><li> + +Kuthayyir (poet), <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li><li> + +<i>-kutub al-sitta</i> (the Six Books), <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li><li> + +-Kutubi, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>, <a href="#Page_452">452</a></li> + +<li><h3>L</h3></li> +<li> +La Fontaine, <a href="#Page_469">469</a></li><li> + +Labid (poet), <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <b><a href="#Page_119">119</a>-121</b>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li><li> + +Lagrange, Grangeret de, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a></li><li> + +Lahore, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></li><li> + +Lakhmites, the, of -Hira, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <b><a href="#Page_39">39</a>-49</b>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li><li> + +Lamis (name of a woman), <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li><li> + +<i>Lamiyyatu ’l-‘Ajam</i>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li><li> + +<i>Lamiyyatu ’l-‘Arab</i>, <a href="#Page_79"><b>79</b></a>, <a href="#Page_80"><b>80</b></a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li><li> + +Lamta (tribe), <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li><li> + +Lamtuna (tribe), <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li><li> + +Lane, E. W., <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a></li><li> + +Lane-Poole, Stanley, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a></li><li> + +-Lat (goddess), <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li><li> + +<i>Lata’ifu ’l-Minan</i>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a></li><li> + +Latifi (Turkish biographer), <a href="#Page_460">460</a></li><li> + +Laus duplex (rhetorical figure), <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li><li> + +Law, Muhammadan, the schools of, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>; +<ul><li>the first corpus of, <a href="#Page_337">337</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +<i>Lawaqihu ’l-Anwar</i>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a></li><li> + +-Lawh al-Mahfuz, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a></li><li> + +Layla, mother of ‘Amr b. Kulthum, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li><li> + +Layla, the beloved of -Majnun, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></li><li> + +Le Strange, G., <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></li><li> + +Learning, Moslem enthusiasm for, <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li><li> + +Lees, Nassau, <a href="#Page_386">386</a></li><li> + +Leo the Armenian, <a href="#Page_359">359</a></li><li> + +Letter-writing, the art of, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li><li> + +Lexicon, the first Arabic, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li><li> + +Library of Nuh II, the Samanid, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>; +<ul><li>of Hakam II, the Spanish Umayyad, <a href="#Page_419">419</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Linguistic Sciences, the, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li><li> + +Lippert, <a href="#Page_370">370</a></li><li> + +<i>Lisanu ’l-Arab</i>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +Lisanu ’l-Din Ibnu ’l-Khatib. See <i>Ibnu ’l-Khatib</i></li><li> + +Literary culture despised by the Arabs, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li><li> + +<i>litham</i>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a></li><li> + +Littmann, Enno, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li><li> + +Logos, the, <a href="#Page_403">403</a></li><li> + +Lollards, the, <a href="#Page_374">374</a></li><li> + +Longland, <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li><li> + +Loth, O., <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li><li> + +Lourdes, <a href="#Page_382">382</a></li><li> + +Love, Divine, the keynote of Sufiism, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>; +<ul><li>two kinds of, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>; +</li><li>an ineffable mystery, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>; +</li><li>hymn of, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>; +</li><li>in Sufi poetry, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_397">397</a>, <a href="#Page_398">398</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Loyalty, as understood by the heathen Arabs, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>-85</li><li> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_498" id="Page_498" href="#"><span><i>INDEX</i></span>498</a></span> + +Lucian, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li><li> + +<i>-lugha</i> (Lexicography), <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li><li> + +Luhayy, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li><li> + +Lull, Raymond, <a href="#Page_404">404</a></li><li> + +Lu’lu’, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></li><li> + +Luqman b. ‘Ad (king), <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li><li> + +<i>-Luzumiyyat</i>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li><li> + +<i>Luzumu ma la yalzam</i>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Luzumiyyat</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Lyall, Sir Charles, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> + +<li><h3>M</h3></li> +<li> +Ma’ al-Sama (surname), <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li><li> + +Ma’ab, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li><li> + +<i>ma‘ad</i> (place of return), <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li><li> + +Ma‘add, <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li><li> + +Ma‘arratu ’l-Nu‘man, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li><li> + +-Ma‘arri (Abu ’l-‘Ala), <a href="#Page_448">448</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Abu ’l-‘Ala al-Ma‘arri</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Ma‘bad (singer), <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li><li> + +Ma‘bad al-Juhani, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li><li> + +<i>Macbeth</i>, Arabian parallel to an incident in, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li><li> + +Macdonald, D. B., <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a></li><li> + +Macedonia, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li><li> + +Machiavelli, <a href="#Page_439">439</a></li><li> + +Macoraba, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li><li> + +Madagascar, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></li><li> + +-Mada’in (Ctesiphon), <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Ctesiphon</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Mada’in Salih, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li><li> + +<i>-madh al-muwajjah</i>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li><li> + +<i>-madid</i> (metre), <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li><li> + +<i>madih</i> (panegyric), <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li><li> + +Madinatu ’l-Salam, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Baghdad</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Madrid, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li><li> + +<i>mafakhir</i>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li><li> + +<i>maghazi</i>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li><li> + +-Maghrib, <a href="#Page_460">460</a></li><li> + +Magi (Magians), the. See <i>Zoroastrians, the</i></li><li> + +Magian fire-temple at Balkh, the, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li><li> + +Mahaffy, J. P., <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li><li> + +Mahdi, the, <a href="#Page_216"><b>216</b></a>, <a href="#Page_217"><b>217</b></a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a></li><li> + +-Mahdi, the Caliph, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li><li> + +-Mahdiyya, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li><li> + +Mahmud (Ghaznevid), <a href="#Page_268">268</a>-269, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li><li> + +Mahra, dialect of, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a></li><li> + +Maimonides, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +Majdu ’l-Din al-Fúrúzábádú. See <i>-Fúrúzábádú</i> + +<i>-Majmu‘ al-Mubarak</i>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li><li> + +-Majnun, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></li><li> + +<i>majnun</i>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li><li> + +Malaga, <a href="#Page_410">410</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +Malik (boon companion of Jadhima), <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li><li> + +Malik (brother of Qays b. Zuhayr), <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li><li> + +Malik the Azdite, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li><li> + +Malik, the slayer of -Khatim b. ‘Adi, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li><li> + +Malik b. Anas, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_337"><b>337</b></a>, <a href="#Page_366"><b>366</b></a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a></li><li> + +-Malik al-Dillil (title of Imru’u ’l-Qays), <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li><li> + +-Malik al-Kamil (Ayyubid), <a href="#Page_395">395</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +-Malik al-Salih Najmu’l-Din (Ayyubid), <a href="#Page_447">447</a></li><li> + +Malik Shah (Seljuq), <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a></li><li> + +-Malik al-Zahir (Ayyubid), <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li><li> + +-Malik al-Zahir Baybars. See <i>Baybars, Sultan</i></li><li> + +Malikite books burned by the Almohades, <a href="#Page_433">433</a></li><li> + +Malikite school of Law, the, <a href="#Page_408">408</a></li><li> + +Mameluke dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a>, <a href="#Page_447"><b>447</b></a>, <a href="#Page_448"><b>448</b></a>, <a href="#Page_453">453</a>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a></li><li> + +Mamelukes, the, <a href="#Page_413">413</a></li><li> + +<i>mamluk</i>, <a href="#Page_447">447</a></li><li> + +-Ma’mun, the Caliph, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_262"><b>262</b></a>, <a href="#Page_283"><b>283</b></a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <b><a href="#Page_358">358</a>-359</b>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_368"><b>368</b></a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a></li><li> + +Manat (goddess), <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li><li> + +Mandeville, Sir John, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a></li><li> + +Manfred, <a href="#Page_441">441</a></li><li> + +-Manfuha, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li><li> + +Mani (Manes), <a href="#Page_364">364</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +Manichæans, the, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>-375. +<ul><li>See <i>Zindiqs, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +-Mansur, the Caliph, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <b><a href="#Page_258">258</a>-259</b>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_407">407</a></li><li> + +Mansur I (Samanid), <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></li><li> + +-Mansur Ibn Abi ‘Amir, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a></li><li> + +<i>Mantle Ode (-Burda), the</i>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li><li> + +<i>maqama</i>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li><li> + +<i>-Maqamat</i>, of Badi‘u ’l-Zaman al- Hamadhani, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li><li> + +<i>-Maqamat</i>, of -Hariri, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>-336</li><li> + +Maqamu Ibrahim, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li><li> + +-Maqdisi. See <i>-Muqaddasi</i></li><li> + +-Maqqari, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a>, <a href="#Page_413"><b>413</b></a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a>, <a href="#Page_454">454</a></li><li> + +-Maqrizi (Taqiyyu ’l-Din), <a href="#Page_453">453</a></li><li> + +<i>-Maqsura</i>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li><li> + +Marabout, modern form of <i>murabit</i>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li><li> + +<i>Marasidu ’l-Ittila‘</i>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></li><li> + +<i>marathi</i>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li><li> + +Marathon, battle of, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li><li> + +Marcion, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li><li> + +Margoliouth, Prof. D. S., <a href="#Page_xxiv">xxiv</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_469">469</a></li><li> + +Mariaba, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li><li> + +Ma’rib, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Dyke of Ma’rib</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Maridin, <a href="#Page_449">449</a></li><li> + +<i>ma‘rifat</i> (gnosis), <a href="#Page_386">386</a></li><li> + +Marinid dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_442">442</a></li><li> + +Mariya, mother of -Mundhir III, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li><li> + +Mariya (name of a handmaiden), <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li><li> + +Mariya of the Ear-rings, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li><li> + +Marj Rahit, battle of, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li><li> + +Marr al-Zahran, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li><li> + +Marriage, a loose form of, prevailing among the Shi‘ites, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li><li> + +Ma‘ruf al-Karkhi, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a></li><li> + +Marwan I (Umayyad Caliph), <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li><li> + +Marwan II (Umayyad Caliph), <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li><li> + +-Marzuqi (philologist), <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li><li> + +<i>Masabihu ’l-Sunna</i>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li><li> + +<i>Masaliku ’l-Mamalik</i>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></li><li> + +<i>-mashaf</i>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li><li> + +Mashhad -Husayn, <a href="#Page_466">466</a></li><li> + +Maslama b. Ahmad, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li><li> + +Masruq, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li><li> + +Mas‘ud, Sultan, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Ghiyathu ’l-Din Mas‘ud</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +-Mas‘udi, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <b><a href="#Page_352">352</a>-354</b>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +<i>Materia Medica</i>, by Ibnu ’l-Baytar, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +<i>mathalib</i>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li><li> + +<i>Mathnawi, the</i>, by Jalalu ’l-Din Rumi, <a href="#Page_404">404</a></li><li> + +<i>-Matin</i>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a></li><li> + +<i>matla‘</i>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li><li> + +<i>matn</i>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li><li> + +Mauritania, <a href="#Page_412">412</a></li><li> + +<i>-Mawa‘iz wa ’l-I‘tibar fi dhikri ’l-Khitat wa ’l-Athar</i>, <a href="#Page_453">453</a></li><li> + +-Mawali (the Clients), <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_219"><b>219</b></a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_248"><b>248</b></a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_278"><b>278</b></a>, <a href="#Page_279"><b>279</b></a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a></li><li> + +-Mawali (the Clients), coalesce with the Shi‘ites, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>; +<ul><li>treated with contempt by the Arabs, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>; +</li><li>their culture, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>; +</li><li>their influence, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +<i>mawaliyya</i>, a species of verse, <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li><li> + +-Mawardi, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li><li> + +Mawiyya, mother of -Mundhir III, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li><li> + +Mawiyya, wife of Hatim of Tayyi’, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li><li> + +-Maydani, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Proverbs, Arabic</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Maymun b. Qays. See <i>-A‘sha</i> + +Maysun, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li><li> + +Mazdak, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></li><li> + +Mazyar, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +Mecca, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxiii">xxiii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxvi">xxvi</a>, <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a>, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_62"><b>62</b></a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>-68, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>-156, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li><li> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_499" id="Page_499" href="#"><span><i>INDEX</i></span>499</a></span> + +Mecca, Pre-islamic history of, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>; +<ul><li>attacked by the Abyssinians, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>-69; +</li><li>submits to the Prophet, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Mecca, the dialect of, <a href="#Page_xxiii">xxiii</a></li><li> + +<i>Meccan Revelations, the</i>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Futuhat al-Makkiyya</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Meccan <i>Suras</i> of the Koran, the, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>-168</li><li> + +Media, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></li><li> + +Medina (-Madina), <a href="#Page_xxvi">xxvi</a>, <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li><li> + +Medina, <i>Suras</i> of the Koran revealed at, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li><li> + +Mediterranean Sea, the, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_404">404</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a></li><li> + +Merv, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li><li> + +Merx, A., <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></li><li> + +Mesopotamia, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a></li><li> + +Messiah, Moslem beliefs regarding the, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>-217, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Mahdi, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Metempsychosis, the doctrine of, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li><li> + +Metres, the Arabian, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li><li> + +Mevlevi dervish order, the, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li><li> + +<i>mihna</i>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a></li><li> + +-Mihras, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li><li> + +Mihrgan, Persian festival, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li><li> + +Milton, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li><li> + +Mina, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li><li> + +Minæan language, the, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a></li><li> + +Minæans, the, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li><li> + +<i>minbar</i> (pulpit), <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li><li> + +Minqar, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li><li> + +Miqlab (castle), <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li><li> + +Miracles demanded by the Quraysh from Muhammad, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>; +<ul><li>falsely attributed to Muhammad, <a href="#Page_166">166</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +<i>-Mi‘raj</i> (the Ascension of the Prophet), <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a></li><li> + +<i>Mir’atu ’l-Zaman</i>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li><li> + +<i>Mishkatu ’l-Masabih</i>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li><li> + +<i>Misr</i> (Old Cairo), <a href="#Page_394">394</a></li><li> + +<i>misra‘</i> (hemistich), <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li><li> + +<i>-Mishar</i>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Muzhir</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Moguls, the Great, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a></li><li> + +Moliere, <a href="#Page_469">469</a></li><li> + +Monasticism, alien to Islam, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li><li> + +Mongol Invasion, the, <a href="#Page_xxiv">xxiv</a>, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_xxx">xxx</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <b><a href="#Page_444">444</a>-446</b></li><li> + +Mongols, the, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Mongol Invasion, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +<i>Monte Cristo</i>, <a href="#Page_469">469</a></li><li> + +Montrose, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li><li> + +Mordtmann, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li><li> + +Morocco, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a></li><li> + +Moses, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_397">397</a></li><li> + +Moslem, meaning of, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li><li> + +Moslems, the first, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li><li> + +Moslems, the non-Arabian. See <i>-Mawali</i></li><li> + +Mosul (-Mawsil), <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_454">454</a></li><li> + +<i>-Mu‘allaqat</i>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <b><a href="#Page_101">101</a>-121</b>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a></li><li> + +Mu‘awiya b. Abi Sufyan (Caliph), <a href="#Page_xxviii">xxviii</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <b><a href="#Page_194">194</a>-195</b>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>, <a href="#Page_407">407</a>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a></li><li> + +Mu‘awiya b. Bakr (Amalekite prince), <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li><li> + +Mu‘awiya, brother of -Khansa, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li><li> + +Mu’ayyidu ’l-Dawla (Buwayhid), <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li><li> + +-Mubarrad (philologist), <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_343"><b>343</b></a>, <a href="#Page_344"><b>344</b></a></li><li> + +Mudar b. Nizar, <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li><li> + +Mudar, the tribes descended from, <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a></li><li> + +<i>-Mudhhabat, -Mudhahhabat</i>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li><li> + +-Mutaddal al-Dabbi (philologist), <a href="#Page_128"><b>128</b></a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_343"><b>343</b></a></li><li> + +Mufaddal b. Salama, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li><li> + +<i>-Mufaddaliyyat</i>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_128"><b>128</b></a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li><li> + +-Mughammas, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li><li> + +<i>muhajat</i> (scolding-match), <a href="#Page_238">238</a></li><li> + +-Muhajirun (the Emigrants), <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li><li> + +Muhalhil b. Rabi‘a, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li><li> + +-Muhallab b. Abi Sufra, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li><li> + +-Muhallabi, the Vizier, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li><li> + +Muhammad, the Prophet, <a href="#Page_xxiii">xxiii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxvi">xxvi</a>-xxviii, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <b><a href="#Page_141">141</a>-180</b>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>-183, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>-188, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>-193, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>-209, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>-218, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_235"><b>235</b></a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a>, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>, <a href="#Page_467"><b>467</b></a></li><li> + +Muhammad, question whether he could read and write, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>; +<ul><li>his attitude towards the heathen poets, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>; +</li><li>his aim in the Meccan <i>Suras</i>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>; +</li><li>his death, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>; +</li><li>his character, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>; +</li><li>biographies of, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>; +</li><li>poems in honour of, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>; +</li><li>mediæval legend of, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>; +</li><li>identified with the Logos, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>; +</li><li>pilgrimage to the tomb of, <a href="#Page_463">463</a>; +</li><li>his tomb demolished by the Wahhabis, <a href="#Page_467">467</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Muhammad (‘Alid), <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li><li> + +Muhammad (Seljuq), <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li><li> + +Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>-467</li><li> + +Muhammad b. ‘Ali (‘Abbasid), <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li><li> + +Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha, <a href="#Page_466">466</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li><li> + +Muhammad b. ‘Ali b. -Sanusi, <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li><li> + +Muhammad Ibnu ’l-Hanafiyya, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li><li> + +Muhammad b. -Hasan, the Imam, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li><li> + +Muhammad b. Isma‘il, the Imam, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>-274</li><li> + +Muhammad al-Kalbi, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li><li> + +Muhammad b. Sa‘ud, <a href="#Page_466">466</a></li><li> + +-Muhtadi, the Caliph, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li><li> + +Muhyi ’l-Din Ibnu ’l-‘Arabi, <b><a href="#Page_399">399</a>-404</b>, <a href="#Page_434">434</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a></li><li> + +Muhyi ’l-Maw’udat (title), <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li><li> + +Muir, Sir W., <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li><li> + +-Mu‘izz (Fatimid Caliph), <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li><li> + +Mu‘izzu ’l-Dawla (Buwayhid), <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li><li> + +-Mujammi‘ (title), <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li><li> + +<i>Mu‘jamu ’l-Buldan</i>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></li><li> + +<i>Mu‘jamu ’l-Udaba</i>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></li><li> + +Mukarrib (title), <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li><li> + +-Mukhadramun (a class of poets), <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li><li> + +-Mukhtar, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <b><a href="#Page_218">218</a>-220</b>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li><li> + +<i>-Mukhtarat</i>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li><li> + +-Muktafi, the Caliph, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li><li> + +-Mulaththamun, <a href="#Page_423">423</a></li><li> + +Müller, A., <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li><li> + +Muuml;ller, D. H., <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li><li> + +Multan, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li><li> + +Muluku ’l-Tawa’if (the Party Kings of Spain), <a href="#Page_414">414</a></li><li> + +-Munafiqun (the Hypocrites), <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li><li> + +-Munakhkhal (poet), <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li><li> + +-Mundhir I (Lakhmite), <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li><li> + +-Mundhir III (Lakhmite), <b><a href="#Page_41">41</a>-44</b>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li><li> + +-Mundhir IV (Lakhmite), <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li><li> + +-Mundhir b. -Harith (Ghassanid), <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li><li> + +-Mundhir b. Ma’ al-sama, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Mundhir III</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +-Munjibat (title), <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li><li> + +Munk, S., <a href="#Page_360">360</a></li><li> + +<i>-Munqidh mina ’l-Dalal</i>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a></li><li> + +<i>munshi</i>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li><li> + +-Muqaddasi (geographer), <a href="#Page_356">356</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a></li><li> + +<i>-Muqaddima</i>, of Ibn Khaldun, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <b><a href="#Page_437">437</a>-440</b>. +<ul><li>See <i>Ibn Khaldun</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +-Muqanna‘, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li><li> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_500" id="Page_500" href="#"><span><i>INDEX</i></span>500</a></span> + +-Muqattam, Mt., <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a></li><li> + +<i>-Muqtabis</i>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a></li><li> + +-Muqtadir, the Caliph, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a></li><li> + +<i>-murabit</i>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li><li> + +-Murabitun, <a href="#Page_433">433</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Almoravides, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +<i>murid</i>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a></li><li> + +<i>murji’</i> (Murjite), <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li><li> + +Murjites, the, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <b><a href="#Page_221">221</a>-222</b>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a></li><li> + +Murra, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li><li> + +Mursiya (Murcia), <a href="#Page_399">399</a></li><li> + +<i>Muruju ’l-Dhahab</i>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_349"><b>349</b></a>, <a href="#Page_353"><b>353</b></a>, <a href="#Page_354"><b>354</b></a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li><li> + +<i>muruwwa</i> (virtue), <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li><li> + +Musa b. Maymun (Maimonides), <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +Musa b. Nusayr, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li><li> + +Musa b. ‘Uqba, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li><li> + +Mus‘ab, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li><li> + +Musaylima, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li><li> + +<i>-Mushtarik</i>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></li><li> + +Music in Pre-Isiamic Arabia, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li><li> + +Musicians, Arab, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li><li> + +<i>-musiqi</i> (Music), <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li><li> + +Muslim (Moslem), meaning of, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li><li> + +Muslim (author of <i>-Sahih</i>), <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li><li> + +Muslim b. ‘Aqil, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li><li> + +Muslim b. -Walid (poet), <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li><li> + +<i>musnad</i> (inscriptions), <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li><li> + +-Mustakfi (Spanish Umayyad), <a href="#Page_424">424</a></li><li> + +-Mustakfi, ‘Abbasid Caliph, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li><li> + +-Mustansir (‘Abbasid), <a href="#Page_448">448</a></li><li> + +-Mustarshid Billah, the Caliph, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li><li> + +-Musta‘sim, the Caliph, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li><li> + +-Mustawrid b. ‘Ullifa, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li><li> + +<i>-mut‘a</i>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li><li> + +-Mu‘tadid (‘Abbadid), <a href="#Page_421">421</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a></li><li> + +-Mu‘tadid (‘Abbasid Caliph), <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li><li> + +-Mu‘tamid (‘Abbadid), <a href="#Page_421">421</a>-424</li><li> + +-Mutajarrida, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li><li> + +-Mutalammis (poet), <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li><li> + +Mutammim b. Nuwayra, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li><li> + +-Mutanabbi (poet), <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_270"><b>270</b></a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <b><a href="#Page_304">304</a>-313</b>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a></li><li> + +<i>mutasawwifa</i> (aspirants to Sufiism), <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li><li> + +-Mu‘tasim, the Caliph, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +-Mutawakkil, the Caliph, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_375"><b>375</b></a>, <a href="#Page_376"><b>376</b></a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a></li><li> + +<i>mutawakkil</i>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li><li> + +Mu‘tazilites, the, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <b><a href="#Page_222">222</a>-224</b>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <b><a href="#Page_367">367</a>-370</b>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a></li><li> + +-Mu‘tazz, the Caliph, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li><li> + +-Muti‘, the Caliph, <a href="#Page_353">353</a></li><li> + +Muti‘ b. Iyas (poet), <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></li><li> + +<i>muwahhid</i>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a></li><li> + +-Muwalladun, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a></li><li> + +<i>muwashshah</i>, verse-form, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a></li><li> + +<i>-Muwatta’</i>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a></li><li> + +Muzaffar Qutuz (Mameluke), <a href="#Page_446">446</a></li><li> + +Muzayna (tribe), <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li><li> + +-Muzayqiya (surname), <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li><li> + +<i>-Muzhir</i>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a></li><li> + +Mystical poetry of the Arabs, the, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>-398, <a href="#Page_403">403</a></li><li> + +Mysticism. See <i>Sufiism</i></li> + +<li><h3>N</h3></li> +<li> +-Nabat, the Nabatæans, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li><li> + +Nabatæan, Moslem use of the term, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a></li><li> + +<i>Nabatæan Agriculture, the Book of</i>, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a></li><li> + +Nabatæan inscriptions, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li><li> + +-Nabigha al-Dhubyam (poet), <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_54"><b>54</b></a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <b><a href="#Page_121">121</a>-123</b>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li><li> + +<i>nadhir</i> (warner), <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li><li> + +Nadir (tribe), <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li><li> + +-Nadr b. -Harith, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li><li> + +<i>Nafahatu ’l'Uns</i>, by Jami, <a href="#Page_386">386</a></li><li> + +<i>Nafhu ’l-Tib</i>, by -Maqqari, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a></li><li> + +Nafi‘ b. -Azraq, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li><li> + +-Nafs al-zakiyya (title), <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li><li> + +-Nahhas (philologist), <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li><li> + +-Nahrawan, battle of, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li><li> + +<i>-nahw</i> (grammar), <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li><li> + +Na’ila, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li><li> + +-Najaf, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li><li> + +-Najashi (the Negus), <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li><li> + +Najd, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a></li><li> + +Najda b. ‘Amir, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li><li> + +Najdites (a Kharijite sect), the, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li><li> + +Najran, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li><li> + +Na‘man, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li><li> + +Namir (tribe), <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a> + +Napoleon, <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li><li> + +<i>-Naqa’id</i>, of -Akhtal and Jarir, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li><li> + +<i>-Naqa’id</i>, of Jarir and -Farazdaq, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li><li> + +Naqb al-Hajar, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li><li> + +-Nasafi (Abu ’l-Barakat), <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +-Nasa’i, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li><li> + +Nashwan b. Sa‘id al-Himyari, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li><li> + +<i>nasib</i> (erotic prelude), <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a></li><li> + +Nasim, a place near Baghdad, <a href="#Page_461">461</a></li><li> + +-Nasimi (the Hurufi poet), <a href="#Page_460">460</a>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a></li><li> + +Nasir-i Khusraw, Persian poet, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li><li> + +Nasiru ’l-Dawla (Hamdanid), <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a></li><li> + +Nasr b. Sayyar, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li><li> + +Nasr II (Samanid), <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li><li> + +Nasrid dynasty of Granada, the, <a href="#Page_435">435</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a></li><li> + +<i>nat‘</i>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li><li> + +-Nawaji (Muhammad b. -Hasan), <a href="#Page_417">417</a></li><li> + +Nawar, wife of -Farazdaq, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li><li> + +Nawar, the beloved of Labid, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li><li> + +Nawruz, Persian festival, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li><li> + +Naysabur, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li><li> + +<i>Nazmu ’l-Suluk</i>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a></li><li> + +-Nazzam, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li><li> + +Neo-platonism, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a></li><li> + +Neo-platonist philosophers welcomed by Nushirwan, <a href="#Page_358">358</a></li><li> + +Nero, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li><li> + +Nessus, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li><li> + +Nicephorus, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li><li> + +Niebuhr, Carsten, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li><li> + +Night journey of Muhammad, the, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a></li><li> + +Night of Power, the, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li><li> + +<i>Nihayatu ’l-Aráb</i>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a></li><li> + +Nile, the, <a href="#Page_xxviii">xxviii</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a></li><li> + +Nirvana, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_391">391</a></li><li> + +-Nizamiyya College, at Baghdad, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a></li><li> + +-Nizamiyya College, at Naysabur, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a></li><li> + +Nizamu ’l-Mulk, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a></li><li> + +Nizar, <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a></li><li> + +Noah, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a>, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li><li> + +Nöldeke, Th., <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a>, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>, <a href="#Page_xxiii">xxiii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>-60, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></li><li> + +Nomadic life, characteristics of, <a href="#Page_439">439</a>, <a href="#Page_440">440</a></li><li> + +Nominalists, <a href="#Page_367">367</a></li><li> + +Normans, the, <a href="#Page_441">441</a></li><li> + +Nubia, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li><li> + +Nuh I (Samanid), <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li><li> + +Nuh II (Samanid), <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li><li> + +<i>-Nujum al-Záhira</i>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_454"><b>454</b></a></li><li> + +-Nu‘man I (Lakhmite), <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li><li> + +-Nu‘man III (Lakhmite), <b><a href="#Page_45">45</a>-49</b>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li><li> + +-Nu‘man al-Akbar. See <i>Nu‘man I</i></li><li> + +-Nu‘man al-A‘war (Lakhmite). See <i>-Nu‘man I</i></li><li> + +-Nu‘man b. -Mundhir Abu Qabus. See <i>-Nu‘man III</i></li><li> + +Numayr (tribe), <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li><li> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_501" id="Page_501" href="#"><span><i>INDEX</i></span>501</a></span> + +-Nuri (Abu ’l-Husayn), <a href="#Page_392">392</a></li><li> + +Nushirwan (Sasanian king), <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a></li><li> + +-Nuwayri, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a></li><li> + +Nyberg, H. S., <a href="#Page_404">404</a></li> + +<li><h3>O</h3></li> +<li> +Occam, <a href="#Page_367">367</a></li><li> + +Ockley, Simon, <a href="#Page_433">433</a></li><li> + +Ode, the Arabian, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>-78. +<ul><li>See <i>qasida</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Odenathus, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li><li> + +<i>Odyssey, the</i>, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a></li><li> + +O'Leary, De Lacy, <a href="#Page_360">360</a></li><li> + +Ordeal of fire, the, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li><li> + +Orthodox Caliphs, the, <a href="#Page_xxiii">xxiii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>-193</li><li> + +Orthodox Reaction, the, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Ash‘ari</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Osiander, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li><li> + +Ottoman Turks, the, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a>, <a href="#Page_447">447</a>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a>-467</li><li> + +Oxus, the, <a href="#Page_xxviii">xxviii</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a></li> + +<li><h3>P</h3></li> +<li> +Pahlavi (Pehlevi) language, the, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a></li><li> + +Palermo, <a href="#Page_441">441</a></li><li> + +Palestine, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li><li> + +Palmer, E. H., <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li><li> + +Palms, the Feast of, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li><li> + +Palm-tree, verses on the, by ‘Abd al-Rahman I, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li><li> + +Palm-trees of Hulwan, the two, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></li><li> + +Palmyra, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li><li> + +Panegyric, two-sided (rhetorical figure), <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li><li> + +Panjab (Punjaub), the, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></li><li> + +Pantheism, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>, <a href="#Page_390"><b>390</b></a>, <a href="#Page_391"><b>391</b></a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_402"><b>402</b></a>, <a href="#Page_403"><b>403</b></a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a></li><li> + +Paracelsus, <a href="#Page_388">388</a></li><li> + +Paradise, the Muhammadan, burlesqued by Abu’l -‘Ala al-Ma‘arri, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li><li> + +Parthian kings, the, <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li><li> + +Parwez, son of Hurmuz (Sasanian), <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li><li> + +Passion Play, the, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li><li> + +<i>Paul and Virginia</i>, <a href="#Page_469">469</a></li><li> + +Pavet de Courteille, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li><li> + +Pearl-fishing in the Persian Gulf, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li><li> + +Pedro of Castile, <a href="#Page_437">437</a></li><li> + +Penitents, the (a name given to certain Shi‘ite insurgents), <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li><li> + +Pentateuch, the, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li><li> + +Perfect Man, doctrine of the, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li><li> + +Persecution of the early Moslems, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>; +<ul><li>of heretics, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>-375, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Persepolis, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></li><li> + +Persia, <a href="#Page_xxiv">xxiv</a>, <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_404">404</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a>, <a href="#Page_454">454</a>, <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li><li> + +Persia, the Moslem conquest of, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li><li> + +Persia, the national legend of, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li><li> + +Persian divines, influence of the, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li><li> + +Persian Gulf, the, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></li><li> + +Persian influence on Arabic civilisation and literature, <a href="#Page_xxviii">xxviii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <b><a href="#Page_276">276</a>-281</b>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li><li> + +Persian influence on the Shi‘a, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li><li> + +<i>Persian Kings, History of the</i>, translated by Ibnu ’l-Muqaffa‘, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li><li> + +Persian literature, fostered by the Samanids and Buwayhids, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li><li> + +Persian Moslems who wrote in Arabic, <a href="#Page_xxx">xxx</a>, <a href="#Page_xxxi">xxxi</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>-278</li><li> + +Persians, the, rapidly became Arabicised, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li><li> + +Persians, the, in -Yemen, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li><li> + +Petra, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li><li> + +Petrarch, <a href="#Page_425">425</a></li><li> + +Pharaoh, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a></li><li> + +Pharaohs, the, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li><li> + +Philip III, <a href="#Page_441">441</a></li><li> + +Philistines, the, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li><li> + +Philologists, the Arab, <a href="#Page_xxiv">xxiv</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <b><a href="#Page_341">341</a>-348</b> + +Philosophers, the Greeks <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li><li> + +Philosophers, the Moslem, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>-434</li><li> + +<i>Philosophers and scientists, Lives of the</i>, by Ibnu ’l-Qifti, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li><li> + +<i>Philosophus Autodidactus</i>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a></li><li> + +Phœnician language, the, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a></li><li> + +Phœnicians, the, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a></li><li> + +<i>Physicians, History of the</i>, by Ibn Abi Usaybi‘a, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li><li> + +Piers the Plowman, <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li><li> + +Pietists, the, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li><li> + +Pilgrimage to Mecca, the, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li><li> + +Pilgrimage, of the Shi‘ites, to the tomb of -Husayn at Karbala, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a></li><li> + +<i>pir</i> (Persian word), <a href="#Page_392">392</a></li><li> + +Plato, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li><li> + +Plutarch, <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li><li> + +Pocock, E., <a href="#Page_433">433</a></li><li> + +<i>Poems of the Hudhaylites, the</i>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li><li> + +Poems, the Pre-islamic, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxiii">xxiii</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <b><a href="#Page_71">71</a>-140</b>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>-289, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>; +<ul><li>chief collections of, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>-131; +</li><li>the tradition of, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>-134; +</li><li>first put into writing, <a href="#Page_132">132</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +<i>Poems, the Suspended.</i> See <i>-Mu‘allaqat</i></li><li> + +Poetics, work on, by Ibnu ’l-Mu‘tazz, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li><li> + +Poetry, Arabian, the origins of, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>-75; +<ul><li>the decline of, not due to Muhammad, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>; +</li><li>in the Umayyad period, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>-246; +</li><li>in the ‘Abbasid period, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>-336; +</li><li>in Spain, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>-417, <a href="#Page_425">425</a>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a>; +</li><li>after the Mongol Invasion, <a href="#Page_448">448</a>-450 +</li></ul></li><li> +Poetry, conventions of the Ancient, criticised, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a></li><li> + +Poetry, Muhammadan views regarding the merits of, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>-312; +<ul><li>intimately connected with public life, <a href="#Page_436">436</a>; +</li><li>seven kinds of, <a href="#Page_450">450</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Poetry, the oldest written Arabic, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li><li> + +<i>Poetry and Poets, Book of</i>, by Ibn Qutayba. See <i>Kitabu ’l-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ara</i></li><li> + +Poets, the Modern, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>-336; +<ul><li>judged on their merits by Ibn Qutayba, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>; +</li><li>pronounced superior to the Ancients, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Poets, the Pre-islamic, character and position of, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>-73; +<ul><li>regarded as classical, <a href="#Page_xxiii">xxiii</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Politics, treatise on, by -Mawardi, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li><li> + +Portugal, <a href="#Page_416">416</a></li><li> + +Postal service, organised by ‘Abdu ’l-Malik, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li><li> + +Postmaster, the office of, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li><li> + +Prætorius, F., <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li><li> + +Prayers, the five daily, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li><li> + +Predestination, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a></li><li> + +Preston, Theodore, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li><li> + +Prideaux, W. F., <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li><li> + +Primitive races in Arabia, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>-4</li><li> + +Proclus, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></li><li> + +Procreation, considered sinful, <a href="#Page_317">317</a></li><li> + +Prophecy, a, made by the Carmathians, <a href="#Page_322">322</a></li><li> + +Prose, Arabic, the beginnings of, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li><li> + +Proverbs, Arabic, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_31"><b>31</b></a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a></li><li> + +Ptolemies, the, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li><li> + +Ptolemy (geographer), <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a></li><li> + +Public recitation of literary works, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li><li> + +Pyramids, the, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li><li> + +Pyrenees, the, <a href="#Page_xxviii">xxviii</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li><li> + +Pythagoras, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> + +<li><h3>Q</h3></li> +<li> +Qabus (Lakhmite), <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li><li> + +<i>qadar</i> (power), <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li><li> + +-Qadariyya (the upholders of free-will), <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li><li> + +<i>qaddah</i> (oculist), <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li><li> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_502" id="Page_502" href="#"><span><i>INDEX</i></span>502</a></span> + +<i>qadú ’l-qudat</i> (Chief Justice), <a href="#Page_395">395</a></li><li> + +Qadiri dervish order, the, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li><li> + +-Qahira, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Cairo qahramana</i>, <a href="#Page_457">457</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Qahtan, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li><li> + +<i>Qala’idu ’l-‘Iqyan</i>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a></li><li> + +<i>-Qamus</i>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +<i>-Qanun</i>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li><li> + +<i>qara’a</i>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li><li> + +-Qarafa cemetery, <a href="#Page_396">396</a></li><li> + +-Qaramita, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Carmathians, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +<i>qarawi</i>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li><li> + +<i>qarn</i>, meaning 'ray', <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li><li> + +<i>qasida</i> (ode), <a href="#Page_76">76</a>-78, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></li><li> + +<i>qasida</i> (ode), form of the, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>; +<ul><li>contents and divisions of the, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>; +</li><li>loose structure of the, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>; +</li><li>unsuitable to the conditions of urban life, <a href="#Page_288">288</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +<i>Qasidatu ’l-Burda</i>. See <i>-Burda</i> + +<i>Qasidatu ’l-Himyariyya,</i> <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li><li> + +Qasir, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li><li> + +Qasirin, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li><li> + +Qasiyun, Mt., <a href="#Page_399">399</a></li><li> + +-Qastallani, <a href="#Page_455">455</a></li><li> + +Qatada, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li><li> + +Qatari b. -Fuia’a, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li><li> + +-Qayrawan, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li><li> + +Qays ‘Aylan (tribe), <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li><li> + +Qays b. -Khatim, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>-97, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li><li> + +Qays b. Zuhayr, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li><li> + +Qaysar (title), <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li><li> + +Qazwin, <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li><li> + +-Qazwini (geographer), <a href="#Page_416">416</a></li><li> + +Qift, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li><li> + +<i>qiyas</i>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li><li> + +Qoniya, <a href="#Page_404">404</a></li><li> + +Quatremère, M., <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_453">453</a></li><li> + +Qudar the Red, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li><li> + +Qumis (province), <a href="#Page_391">391</a></li><li> + +<i>-Qur’an</i>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Koran, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Quraysh (tribe), <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>, <a href="#Page_xxiii">xxiii</a>, <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_64"><b>64</b></a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>-68, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>-158, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_237"><b>237</b></a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_407">407</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a></li><li> + +Quraysh, the dialect of, <a href="#Page_xxiii">xxiii</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>; +<ul><li>regarded as the classical standard, <a href="#Page_xxiii">xxiii</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Qurayza (tribe), <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li><li> + +<i>qurra</i> (Readers of the Koran), <a href="#Page_277">277</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Koran-readers, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Qusayy, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li><li> + +-Qushayri, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_338"><b>338</b></a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a></li><li> + +Quss b. Sa‘ida, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li><li> + +<i>qussas</i>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a></li><li> + +Qusta b. Luqa, <a href="#Page_359">359</a></li><li> + +<i>Qutu ’l-Qulub</i>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li> + +<li><h3>R</h3></li> +<li> +<i>rabad</i>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a></li><li> + +Rabi‘, son of Fatima, the daughter of -Khurshub, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li><li> + +Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyya, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <b><a href="#Page_233">233</a>-234</b></li><li> + +Rabi‘a b. Nizar, <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li><li> + +Rabi‘a (b. Nizar), the descendants of, <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a></li><li> + +Racine, <a href="#Page_469">469</a></li><li> + +-Radi, the Caliph, <a href="#Page_376">376</a></li><li> + +Radwa, Mount, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li><li> + +Rafidites, the, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Shi‘ites, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Ra‘i ’l-ibil (poet), <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li><li> + +<i>raj‘a</i> (palingenesis), <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li><li> + +<i>-rajaz</i> (metre), <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li><li> + +Rakhman, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li><li> + +Rakusians, the, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li><li> + +Ralfs, C. A., <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li><li> + +Ramadan, the Fast of, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li><li> + +Ramla, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li><li> + +Raqqada, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li><li> + +<i>Rasa’ilu Ikhwan al-Safa</i>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a></li><li> + +Rasmussen, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li><li> + +Rationalism. See <i>Mu‘tazilites</i> and <i>Free-thought</i></li><li> + +-Rawda, island on the Nile, <a href="#Page_455">455</a></li><li> + +<i>rawi</i> (reciter), <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li><li> + +Rawis, the, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>-134</li><li> + +Raydan, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li><li> + +-Rayy, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li><li> + +-Rayyan, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li><li> + +-Razi (Abu Bakr), physician, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Abu Bakr al-Razi</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +-Razi (Abu Bakr), historian, <a href="#Page_420">420</a></li><li> + +Reading and writing despised by the pagan Arabs, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li><li> + +Realists, <a href="#Page_368">368</a></li><li> + +Red Sea, the, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li><li> + +Reformation, the, <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li><li> + +Reforms of ‘Abdu ’l-Malik, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>; +<ul><li>of ‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, <a href="#Page_205">205</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Register of ‘Umar, the, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li><li> + +Reiske, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></li><li> + +Religion, conceived as a product of the human mind, <a href="#Page_317">317</a></li><li> + +Religion of the Sabæans and Himyarites, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>; +<ul><li>of the Pagan Arabs, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>-140, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>; +</li><li>associated with commerce, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Religions and Sects, Book of, by -Shahrastam, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>; +<ul><li>by Ibn Hazm, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>. +</li><li>See <i>Kitabu ’l-Milal wa-’l-Nihal</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Religious ideas in Pre-islamic poetry, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>-140</li><li> + +Religious literature in the ‘Abbasid period, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>-341</li><li> + +Religious poetry, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>-302</li><li> + +Renaissance, the, <a href="#Page_443">443</a></li><li> + +Renan, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a></li><li> + +Renegades, the, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a></li><li> + +Resurrection, the, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li><li> + +Revenge, views of the Arabs concerning, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>; +<ul><li>poems relating to, <a href="#Page_97">97</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Rhages. See <i>-Rayy</i> + +Rhapsodists, the, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li><li> + +Rhazes, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Abu Bakr al-Razi</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Rhetoric, treatise on, by -Jahiz, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li><li> + +Rhinoceros, the, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li><li> + +Rhymed Prose. See <i>saj‘</i></li><li> + +Ribah b. Murra, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li><li> + +<i>ribat</i>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li><li> + +Richelieu, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li><li> + +Rifa‘i dervish order, the, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></li><li> + +-Rijam, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li><li> + +<i>Risalatu ’l-Ghufran</i>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_318"><b>318</b></a>, <a href="#Page_319"><b>319</b></a>, <a href="#Page_375"><b>375</b></a></li><li> + +<i>-Risalat al-Qushayriyya</i>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li><li> + +Roderic, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li><li> + +Rödiger, Emil, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li><li> + +Roger II of Sicily, <a href="#Page_434">434</a></li><li> + +Rome, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Byzantine Empire, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Ronda, <a href="#Page_410">410</a></li><li> + +Rosary, use of the, prohibited, <a href="#Page_467">467</a></li><li> + +Rosen, Baron V., <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +Rothstein, Dr. G., <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li><li> + +-Rub‘ al-Khali, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a> + +Rubicon, the, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li><li> + +Ruuml;ckert, Friedrich, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li><li> + +Rudagi, Persian poet, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li><li> + +Ruhu ’l-Quds (the Holy Ghost), <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li><li> + +<i>-rujz</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li><li> + +Ruknu ’l-Dawla (Buwayhid), <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li><li> + +-Rumaykiyya, <a href="#Page_422">422</a></li><li> + +Rushayyid al-Dahdah, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a></li><li> + +Rustam, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li><li> + +Ruzbih, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Ibnu ’l-Muqaffa‘</i> +</li></ul></li> + +<li><h3>S</h3></li> +<li> +-Sa‘b Dhu ’l-Qarnayn, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li><li> + +<i>-Sab‘ al-Tiwal</i> (the Seven Long Poems), <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li><li> + +Saba (Sheba), <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a>, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_4"><b>4</b></a>, <a href="#Page_5"><b>5</b></a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Sabæans, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Saba (person), <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li><li> + +Sabæan language, the, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>South Arabic language, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Sabæans, the, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a>, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a>, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a>, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_4"><b>4</b></a>, <a href="#Page_5"><b>5</b></a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li><li> + +Saba’ites, the, a Shi‘ite sect, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li><li> + +Sabians, the, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a></li><li> + +-Sab‘iyya (the Seveners), <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li><li> + +Sabota, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li><li> + +Sabuktagin, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></li><li> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_503" id="Page_503" href="#"><span><i>INDEX</i></span>503</a></span> + +Sabur I, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li><li> + +Sabur b. Ardashir, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li><li> + +Sachau, E., <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li><li> + +Sacy, Silvestre de, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li><li> + +Sa‘d (client of Jassas b. Murra), <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li><li> + +Sa‘d (tribe), <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li><li> + +Sa‘d b. Malik b. Dubay‘a, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li><li> + +<i>sada</i> (owl or wraith), <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li><li> + +Sa‘d-ilah, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li><li> + +<i>sadin</i>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li><li> + +-Sadir (castle), <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li><li> + +Sadru ’l-Din of Qoniya, <a href="#Page_404">404</a></li><li> + +<i>safa</i> (purity), <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a></li><li> + +Safa, the inscriptions of, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a></li><li> + +-Safadi, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +<i>Safar-Nama</i>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li><li> + +Safawid dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a></li><li> + +-Saffah, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li><li> + +-Saffah b. ‘Abd Manat, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li><li> + +-Saffah, meaning of the title, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li><li> + +-Saffar (title), <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li><li> + +Saffarid dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li><li> + +<i>safi</i> (pure), <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li><li> + +Safiyyu ’l-Din al-Hilli (poet), <a href="#Page_449">449</a>, <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li><li> + +<i>sag</i> (Persian word), <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li><li> + +-Sahaba (the Companions of the Prophet), <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li><li> + +Sahara, the, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li><li> + +-Sahib Isma‘il b. ‘Abbad, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li><li> + +Sahibu ’l-Zanadiqa (title), <a href="#Page_373">373</a></li><li> + +<i>-Sahih</i>, of -Bukhari, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li><li> + +<i>-Sahih</i>, of Muslim, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li><li> + +Sahl b. ‘Abdallah al-Tustari, <a href="#Page_392">392</a></li><li> + +Sa‘id b. -Husayn, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li><li> + +St. John, the Cathedral of, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li><li> + +St. Thomas, the Church of, at -Hira, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li><li> + +Saints, female, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li><li> + +Saints, the Moslem, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467</a></li><li> + +<i>saj</i> (rhymed prose), <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li><li> + +Sakhr, brother of -Khansa, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li><li> + +Sal‘, <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li><li> + +Saladin, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li><li> + +Salahu ’l-Din b. Ayyub, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Saladin</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Salama b. Khalid, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li><li> + +Salaman, <a href="#Page_433">433</a></li><li> + +Salaman (tribe), <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li><li> + +Salamya, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li><li> + +Salih (prophet), <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li><li> + +Salih (tribe), <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li><li> + +Salih b. ‘Abd al-Quddus, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>-375</li><li> + +Salim al-Suddi, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li><li> + +Saltpetre industry, the, at -Basra, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li><li> + +Sam b. Nuh, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>. See <i>Shem, the son of Noah</i> + +<i>sama‘</i> (oral tradition), <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li><li> + +<i>sama‘</i> (religious music), <a href="#Page_394">394</a></li><li> + +Samah‘ali Yanuf, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li><li> + +-Sam‘ani <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li><li> + +Samanid dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_265"><b>265</b></a>, <a href="#Page_266"><b>266</b></a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li><li> + +Samarcand, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_447">447</a></li><li> + +Samarra, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li><li> + +-Samaw’al b. ‘Adiya, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li><li> + +Samuel Ha-Levi, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li><li> + +San‘a, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li><li> + +<i>sanad</i>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li><li> + +-Sanhaji, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +Sanjar (Seljuq), <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li><li> + +-Sanusi (Muhammad b. Yusuf), <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +Sanusiyya Brotherhood, the, <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li><li> + +-Saqaliba, <a href="#Page_413">413</a></li><li> + +<i>Saqtu ’l-Zand</i>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a></li><li> + +Sarabi (name of a she-camel), <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li><li> + +Sargon, King, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li><li> + +Sari al-Raffa (poet), <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li><li> + +Sari al-Saqati, <a href="#Page_386">386</a></li><li> + +Saruj, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li><li> + +Sa‘sa‘a, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li><li> + +Sasanian dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li><li> + +Sasanian kings, the, regarded as divine, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li><li> + +Satire, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li><li> + +Saturn and Jupiter, conjunction of, <a href="#Page_322">322</a></li><li> + +Sa‘ud b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz b. Muhammad b. Sa‘ud, <a href="#Page_466">466</a></li><li> + +Sawa, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li><li> + +Sayf b. Dhi Yazan, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li><li> + +-Sayfiyya College, the, in Cairo, <a href="#Page_395">395</a></li><li> + +Sayfu ’l-Dawla (Hamdanid), <b><a href="#Page_269">269</a>-271</b>, <b><a href="#Page_303">303</a>-307</b>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a></li><li> + +Saylu ’l-‘Arim, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li><li> + +Schack, A. F. von, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a>, <a href="#Page_441">441</a></li><li> + +Schefer, C., <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li><li> + +Scheherazade, <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li><li> + +Scholasticism, Muhammadan, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Ash‘ari</i>; <i>Ash‘arites</i>; <i>Orthodox Reaction</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Schreiner, <a href="#Page_379">379</a></li><li> + +Schulthess, F., <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li><li> + +Sciences, the Foreign, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>-364</li><li> + +Sciences, the Moslem, development and classification of, <a href="#Page_282"><b>282</b></a>, <a href="#Page_283"><b>283</b></a></li><li> + +Scripture, People of the, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li><li> + +Sea-serpent, the, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li><li> + +Sédillot, <a href="#Page_360">360</a></li><li> + +Seetzen, Ulrich Jasper, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li><li> + +Seleucids, the, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li><li> + +Self, dying to (fana), the Sufi doctrine of, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li><li> + +Selim I (Ottoman Sultan), <a href="#Page_448">448</a></li><li> + +Seljuq dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_275"><b>275</b></a>, <a href="#Page_276"><b>276</b></a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li><li> + +Seljuq b. Tuqaq, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li><li> + +Seljuq Turks, the, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a></li><li> + +Sell, Rev. E., <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li><li> + +Semites, the, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a>, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a>, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li><li> + +Semitic languages, the, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a>, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a> + +Senegal, <a href="#Page_430">430</a></li><li> + +Seville, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_406">406</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>, <a href="#Page_422">422</a>, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>, <a href="#Page_447">447</a></li><li> + +Shabib, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li><li> + +Shabwat, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li><li> + +Shaddad (king), <a href="#Page_1">1</a></li><li> + +Shaddad b. -Aswad al-Laythi, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li><li> + +<i>Shadharatu ’l-Dhahab</i>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_436">436</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a></li><li> + +-Shadhili (Abu ’l-Hasan), <a href="#Page_461">461</a></li><li> + +Shadhili order of dervishes, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a></li><li> + +-Shafi‘i, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a></li><li> + +Shafi‘ite doctors, biographical work on the, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li><li> + +<i>Shahnama, the</i>, by Firdawsi, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li><li> + +-Shahrastani, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_341"><b>341</b></a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a></li><li> + +Shahrazad, <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li><li> + +<i>sha‘ir</i> (poet), <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li><li> + +Shakespeare, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li><li> + +Shamir b. Dhi ’l-Jawshan, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li><li> + +Shams (name of a god), <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li><li> + +Shams b. Malik, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li><li> + +Shamsiyya, Queen of Arabia, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li><li> + +<i>Shamsu ’l-‘Ulum</i>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li><li> + +-Shanfara, <b><a href="#Page_79">79</a>-81</b>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li><li> + +Shaqiq (Abu ‘Ali), of Balkh, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a></li><li> + +Sharahil (Sharahbil), <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li><li> + +-Sha‘rani, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>, <a href="#Page_400">400</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <b><a href="#Page_464">464</a>-465</b></li><li> + +<i>shari‘at</i>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a></li><li> + +-Sharif al-Jurjani, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +-Sharif al-Radi (poet), <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li><li> + +Sharifs, of Morocco, the, <a href="#Page_442">442</a></li><li> + +Sharik b. ‘Amr, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li><li> + +Shas, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li><li> + +Shayban (clan of Bakr), <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li><li> + +-Shaykh al-Akbar, <a href="#Page_404">404</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Muhyi ’l-Din Ibnu ’l-‘Arabi</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Sheba, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li><li> + +Sheba, the Queen of, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li><li> + +Shem, the son of Noah, <a href="#Page_xv">xv</a>, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a></li><li> + +<i>shi‘a</i> (party), <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li><li> + +Shi‘a, the, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Shi‘ites, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +<i>-Shifa</i>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li><li> + +Shihabu ’l-Din al-Suhrawardi. See <i>-Suhrawardi</i></li><li> + +-Shihr, dialect of, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a></li><li> + +Shi‘ites, the, <a href="#Page_xxviii">xxviii</a>. <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <b><a href="#Page_213">213</a>-220</b>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>-275, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_432">432</a>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a></li><li> + +<i>shikaft</i> (Persian word), <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li><li> + +<i>-shikaftiyya</i> (the Cave-dwellers), <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li><li> + +Shilb, <a href="#Page_416">416</a></li><li> + +Shiraz, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li><li> + +Shirazad, <a href="#Page_457">457</a></li><li> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_504" id="Page_504" href="#"><span><i>INDEX</i></span>504</a></span> + +-Shirbini, <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li><li> + +<i>-shurat</i> (the Sellers), <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li><li> + +Shu‘ubites, the, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>-280, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_372">372</a></li><li> + +Sibawayhi, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li><li> + +Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li><li> + +Sicily, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_441">441</a></li><li> + +<i>siddiq</i>, meaning of, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +-Siddiq (title of Abu Bakr), <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li><li> + +Sidi Khalil al-Jundi, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +<i>Sifatu Jazirat al-‘Arab</i>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li><li> + +Siffin, battle of, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a></li><li> + +<i>-sihr wa-’l-kimiya</i> (Magic and Alchemy), <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li><li> + +<i>-Sila fi akhbari a’immati ’l-Andalus</i>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a></li><li> + +Silves, <a href="#Page_416">416</a></li><li> + +Simak b. ‘Ubayd, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li><li> + +Sinbadh the Magian, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li><li> + +<i>Sindbad, the Book of</i>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li><li> + +Sinimmar, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li><li> + +Siqadanj, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li><li> + +<i>Siratu ‘Antar</i>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a></li><li> + +<i>Siratu Rasuli ’llah</i>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li><li> + +<i>siyaha</i>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></li><li> + +<i>Siyaru Muluk al-‘Ajam</i>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li><li> + +Slane, Baron MacGuckin de, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>, <a href="#Page_422">422</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>, <a href="#Page_438">438</a>, <a href="#Page_440">440</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a></li><li> + +Slaves, the, <a href="#Page_413">413</a></li><li> + +Smith, R. Payne, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li><li> + +Smith, W. Robertson, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li><li> + +Snouck Hurgronje, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li><li> + +Socotra, dialect of, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a></li><li> + +Solecisms, work on, by -Hariri, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li><li> + +Solomon, <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a></li><li> + +Solomon Ibn Gabirol, <a href="#Page_428">428</a></li><li> + +Soothsayers, Arabian, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li><li> + +South Arabic inscriptions, the. See <i>Inscriptions, South Arabic</i></li><li> + +South Arabic language, the, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a>, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>-11</li><li> + +Spain, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a>, <a href="#Page_xxx">xxx</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <b><a href="#Page_405">405</a>-441</b>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a>, <a href="#Page_454">454</a></li><li> + +Spain, the Moslem conquest of, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li><li> + +Spencer, Herbert, <a href="#Page_382">382</a></li><li> + +Spitta, <a href="#Page_378">378</a></li><li> + +Sprenger, A., <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +Steiner, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li><li> + +Steingass, F., <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li><li> + +Stephen bar Sudaili, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></li><li> + +Stones, the worship of, in pagan Arabia, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li><li> + +Stories, frivolous, reprobated by strict Moslems, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li><li> + +Street-preachers, <a href="#Page_374">374</a></li><li> + +Stylistic, manual of, by Ibn Qutayba, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li><li> + +-Subki (Taju ’l-Din), <a href="#Page_461">461</a></li><li> + +Suetonius, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li><li> + +<i>suf</i> (wool), <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li><li> + +Sufi, derivation of, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>; +<ul><li>meaning of, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Sufiism, <b><a href="#Page_227">227</a>-235</b>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <b><a href="#Page_383">383</a>-404</b>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a>-465</li><li> + +Sufiism, Arabic works of reference on, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li><li> + +Sufiism, origins of, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>-231, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>-389; +<ul><li>distinguished from asceticism, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>; +</li><li>the keynote of, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>; +</li><li>argument against the Indian origin of, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>; +</li><li>composed of many different elements, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>; +</li><li>different schools of, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>; +</li><li>foreign sources of, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>; +</li><li>principles of, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>; +</li><li>definitions of, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Sufis, the, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a>-465. +<ul><li>See <i>Sufiism</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Sufyan b. ‘Uyayna, <a href="#Page_366">366</a></li><li> + +Suhaym b. Wathil (poet), <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li><li> + +-Suhrawardi (Shihabu ’l-Din Abu Hafs ‘Umar), <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a></li><li> + +-Suhrawardi (Shihabu ’l-Din Yahya), <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li><li> + +-Sukkari, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li><li> + +-Sulayk b. -Sulaka, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li><li> + +Sulaym (tribe), <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a> + +Sulayma, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li><li> + +Sulayman (Umayyad Caliph), <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li><li> + +Sulayman al-Bistani, <a href="#Page_469">469</a></li><li> + +-Suli, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li><li> + +<i>-Suluk li-ma‘rifati Duwali ’l-Muluk</i>, <a href="#Page_453">453</a></li><li> + +-Sumayl b. Hatim, <a href="#Page_406">406</a></li><li> + +Sumayya, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li><li> + +<i>-Sunan</i>, of Abu Dawud al-Sijistani, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li><li> + +<i>-Sunan</i>, of Ibn Maja, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li><li> + +<i>-Sunan</i>, of, -Nasa’i, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li><li> + +<i>-sunna</i>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li><li> + +<i>-sunna</i>, collections of traditions bearing on, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li><li> + +Sunnis, the, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li><li> + +Sunnis and Shi‘ites. not between the, <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li><li> + +<i>sura</i>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li><li> + +<i>Sura of Abu Lahab, the</i>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li><li> + +<i>Sura of Coagulated Blood, the</i>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li><li> + +<i>Sura of the Elephant, the</i>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li><li> + +<i>Sura of the Enwrapped, the</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li><li> + +<i>Sura of the Morning, the</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li><li> + +<i>Sura, the Opening</i>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li><li> + +<i>Sura of Purification, the</i>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Suratu ’l-Ikhlas</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +<i>Sura of the Severing, the</i>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li><li> + +<i>Sura of the Signs, the</i>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li><li> + +<i>Sura of the Smiting, the</i>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></li><li> + +<i>Sura of the Unbelievers, the</i>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></li><li> + +<i>Suratu ’l-Fatiha</i> (the opening chapter of the Koran), <a href="#Page_168">168</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Sura, the Opening</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +<i>Suratu ’l-Ikhlas</i>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Sura of Purification, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +<i>Suratu ’l-Tahrim</i>, <a href="#Page_454">454</a></li><li> + +Surra-man-ra’a, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li><li> + +Surushan, <a href="#Page_391">391</a></li><li> + +-Sus, <a href="#Page_431">431</a></li><li> + +Suwayqa, <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li><li> + +Suyut, <a href="#Page_454">454</a></li><li> + +-Suyuti (Jalalu ’l-Din), <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>, <a href="#Page_454"><b>454</b></a>, <a href="#Page_455"><b>455</b></a> + +Syria, <a href="#Page_xxiv">xxiv</a>, <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a>-xxx, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a>, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a href="#Page_442">442</a>, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a>, <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li><li> + +Syria, conquest of, by the Moslems, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> + +<li><h3>T</h3></li> +<li> +Ta’abbata Sharr<sup>an</sup> (poet), <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_81"><b>81</b></a>, <a href="#Page_97"><b>97</b></a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li><li> + +Tabala, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li><li> + +<i>Tabaqatu 'l-Atibba</i>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li><li> + +<i>Tabaqatu ’l-Sufiyya</i>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li><li> + +Tabaran, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li><li> + +-Tabari, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>-68, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_145"><b>145</b></a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_349"><b>349</b></a>, <a href="#Page_352"><b>352</b></a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a></li><li> + +-Tabari's <i>Annals</i>, abridgment of, by -Bal‘ami, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></li><li> + +Tabaristan, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></li><li> + +<i>tabi‘iyyun</i>, <a href="#Page_381">381</a></li><li> + +-Tabi‘un (the Successors), <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li><li> + +Table, the Guarded, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></li><li> + +Tabriz, <a href="#Page_461">461</a></li><li> + +Tacitus, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li><li> + +<i>Tadhkiratu ’l-Awliya</i>, by Faridu’ddin ‘Attar, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></li><li> + +<i>tadlis</i>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li><li> + +<i>Tafsiru ’l-Jalalayn</i>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a></li><li> + +<i>Tafsiru ’l-Qur‘an</i>, by -Tabari, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li><li> + +-Taftazani, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +Taghlib (tribe), <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>-60, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li><li> + +<i>Tahafutu ’l-Falasifa</i>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li><li> + +Tahir, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li><li> + +Tahirid dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li><li> + +<i>tahrimu ’l-makasib</i>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li><li> + +Ta’if, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li><li> + +<i>-Ta’iyyatu ’l-Kubra</i>, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_397">397</a>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li><li> + +<i>-Taiyyatu ’l-Sughra</i>, <a href="#Page_397">397</a></li><li> + +<i>tajrid</i>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></li><li> + +Talha, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li><li> + +Ta‘limites, the, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>, <a href="#Page_382">382</a></li><li> + +<i>Talisman, the</i>, <a href="#Page_469">469</a></li><li> + +Tamerlane, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Timur</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Tamim (tribe), <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li><li> + +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_505" id="Page_505" href="#"><span><i>INDEX</i></span>505</a></span> + +Tamim al-Dari, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li><li> + +<i>tanasukh</i> (metempsychosis), <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li><li> + +Tanukh (tribe), <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li><li> + +<i>taqlid</i>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li><li> + +Tarafa (poet), <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <b><a href="#Page_107">107</a>-109</b>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li><li> + +<i>tardiyyat</i>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li><li> + +<i>Ta’rikhu ’l-Hind</i>, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li><li> + +<i>Ta’rikhu ’l-Hukama</i>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_370">370</a></li><li> + +<i>Ta’rikhu ’l-Khamis</i>, <a href="#Page_445">445</a></li><li> + +<i>Ta'rikhu ’l-Khulafa</i>, <a href="#Page_455">455</a></li><li> + +<i>Ta'rikhu ’l-Rusul wa-’l-Muluk</i>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li><li> + +<i>Ta'rikhu ’l-Tamaddun al-Islami</i>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a></li><li> + +Tariq, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li><li> + +<i>Tarjumanu ’l-Ashwaq</i>, <a href="#Page_403">403</a></li><li> + +Tarsus, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li><li> + +Tartary, <a href="#Page_444">444</a></li><li> + +<i>tasawwuf</i> (Sufiism), <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li><li> + +Tasm (tribe), <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li><li> + +<i>tawaf</i>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li><li> + +<i>tawakkut</i>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li><li> + +<i>tawhid</i>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a></li><li> + +<i>ta’wil</i> (Interpretation), the doctrine of, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li><li> + +<i>-tawil</i> (metre), <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li><li> + +-Tawwabun (the Penitents), <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li><li> + +Tayma, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li><li> + +Tayyi’ (tribe), <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li><li> + +<i>ta‘ziya</i> (Passion Play), <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li><li> + +Teheran, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></li><li> + +Temple, the, at Jerusalem, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li><li> + +Tennyson, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li><li> + +Teresa, St., <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li><li> + +Testament, the Old, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a></li><li> + +-Tha‘alibi, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <b><a href="#Page_308">308</a>-312</b>, <a href="#Page_348"><b>348</b></a></li><li> + +Thabit b. Jabir b. Sutyan, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Ta’abbata Sharr<sup>an</sup></i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Thabit b. Qurra, <a href="#Page_359">359</a></li><li> + +Thabit Qutna, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li><li> + +Tha‘lab, <a href="#Page_344">344</a></li><li> + +Thales, <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li><li> + +Thamud, <a href="#Page_x">x</a>, <a href="#Page_3"><b>3</b></a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li><li> + +<i>thanawi</i>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a></li><li> + +Thapsus, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li><li> + +Thaqif (tribe), <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li><li> + +Theodore Abucara, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li><li> + +Theologians, influence of, in the ‘Abbasid period, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>, <a href="#Page_367">367</a></li><li> + +Thoma (St. Thomas), <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li><li> + +Thomas Aquinas, <a href="#Page_367">367</a></li><li> + +Thorbecke, H., <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a></li><li> + +<i>Thousand and One Nights, the</i>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a>-459. +<ul><li>See <i>Arabian Nights, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +<i>-tibb</i> (medicine), <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li><li> + +Tiberius, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li><li> + +-Tibrizi (commentator), <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li><li> + +Tibullus, <a href="#Page_425">425</a></li><li> + +Tides, a dissertation on, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li><li> + +Tigris, the, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_446">446</a></li><li> + +-Tihama, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li><li> + +Tihama, the, of Mecca, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li><li> + +Tilimsan, <a href="#Page_454">454</a></li><li> + +Timur, <a href="#Page_xxix">xxix</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a>, <a href="#Page_454">454</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Tamerlane</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Timur, biography of, by Ibn ‘Arabshah, <a href="#Page_454">454</a></li><li> + +<i>tinnin</i>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li><li> + +-Tirimmah (poet), <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li><li> + +-Tirmidhi (Abu ‘Isa Muhammad), <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li><li> + +Titus, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li><li> + +Tobacco, the smoking of, prohibited, <a href="#Page_467">467</a></li><li> + +Toledo, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>-423</li><li> + +Toleration, of Moslems towards Zoroastrians, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>; +<ul><li>towards Christians, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>, <a href="#Page_441">441</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Torah, the, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Pentateuch</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Tornberg, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_429">429</a></li><li> + +Tours, battle of, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li><li> + +Trade between India and Arabia, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li><li> + +Trade, expansion of, in the ‘Abbasid period, <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li><li> + +Traditional or Religious Sciences, the, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li><li> + +Traditions, the Apostolic, collections of, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li><li> + +Traditions of the Prophet, <b><a href="#Page_143">143</a>-146</b>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a>, <a href="#Page_463">463</a>, <a href="#Page_464">464</a>, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>, <a href="#Page_467">467</a></li><li> + +Trajan, <a href="#Page_xxv">xxv</a></li><li> + +Translations into Arabic, from Pehlevi, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>; +<ul><li>from Greek, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_469">469</a>; +</li><li>from Coptic, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>; +</li><li>from English and French, <a href="#Page_469">469</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Translators of scientific books into Arabic, the, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_363">363</a></li><li> + +Transoxania, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>, <a href="#Page_419">419</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a></li><li> + +Transoxania, conquest of, by the Moslems, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li><li> + +Tribal constitution, the, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li><li> + +Tribes, the Arab, <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>, <a href="#Page_xx">xx</a> + +Tripoli, <a href="#Page_468">468</a></li><li> + +Tubba‘s, the (Himyarite kings), <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <b><a href="#Page_17">17</a>-26</b>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li><li> + +Tudih, <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li><li> + +<i>tughra</i>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li><li> + +<i>tughra’i</i> (chancellor), <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li><li> + +-Tughra’i (poet), <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li><li> + +Tughril Beg, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li><li> + +<i>tului</i>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li><li> + +Tumadir, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li><li> + +Tunis, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a>, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>, <a href="#Page_441">441</a></li><li> + +Turkey, <a href="#Page_xvi">xvi</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>, <a href="#Page_404">404</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a></li><li> + +Turkey, the Sultans of, <a href="#Page_448">448</a></li><li> + +Turks, the, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Ottoman Turks</i>; <i>Seljuq Turks</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Tus, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_340">340</a></li><li> + +Tuwayli‘, <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li><li> + +Tuways, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li><li> + +<i>Twenty Years After</i>, by Dumas, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li> + +<li><h3>U</h3></li> +<li> +‘Ubaydu’llah, the Mahdi, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li><li> + +‘Ubaydu’llah b. Yahya, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></li><li> + +‘Ubaydu’llah b. Ziyad, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li><li> + +Udhayna (Odenathus), <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li><li> + +Uhud, battle of, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li><li> + +‘Ukaz, the fair of, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li><li> + +-‘Ulama, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a></li><li> + +Ultra-Shi‘ites, the, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>-Ghulat</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +‘Uman (province), <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li><li> + +‘Umar b. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (Umayyad Caliph), <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <b><a href="#Page_204">204</a>-206</b>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li><li> + +‘Umar b. Abi Rabi‘a (poet), <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li><li> + +‘Umar Ibnu ’l-Farid (poet), <a href="#Page_325"><b>325</b></a>, <b><a href="#Page_394">394</a>-398</b>, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>, <a href="#Page_448">448</a>, <a href="#Page_462">462</a></li><li> + +‘Umar b. Hatsun, <a href="#Page_410">410</a></li><li> + +‘Umar b. al-Khattab (Caliph), <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <b><a href="#Page_185">185</a>-190</b>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_435">435</a></li><li> + +‘Umar Khayyam, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li><li> + +‘Umara, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li><li> + +Umayma (name of a woman), <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li><li> + +Umayya, ancestor of the Umayyads, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li><li> + +Umayya b. Abi ’l-Salt (poet), <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <b><a href="#Page_149">149</a>-150</b></li><li> + +Umayyad dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_xxviii">xxviii</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <b><a href="#Page_193">193</a>-206</b>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a></li><li> + +Umayyad literature, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>-247</li><li> + +Umayyads (descendants of Umayya), the, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Umayyad dynasty, the</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Umayyads, Moslem prejudice against the, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li><li> + +Umayyads of Spain, the, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>, <b><a href="#Page_405">405</a>-414</b></li><li> + +<i>-‘Umda</i>, by Ibn Rashiq, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></li><li> + +Umm ‘Asim, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li><li> + +Umm Jamil, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li><li> + +Unays, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li><li> + +-‘Urayd, <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li><li> + +Urtuqid dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_449">449</a></li><li> + +<i>Usdu ’l-Ghaba</i>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></li><li> + +‘Usfan, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li><li> + +<i>ustadh</i>, <a href="#Page_392">392</a></li><li> + +Ustadhsis, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li><li> + +Usyut, <a href="#Page_454">454</a></li><li> + +‘Utba, a slave-girl, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li><li> + +-‘Utbi (historian), <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a></li><li> + +‘Uthman b. ‘Affan, Caliph, <a href="#Page_xxvii">xxvii</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_190"><b>190</b></a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li><li> + +<i>‘Uyunu ’l-Akhbar</i>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li><li> + +<i>‘Uyunu ’l-Anba fi Tabaqat al-Atibba</i>, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Tabaqatu ’l-Atibba</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +-‘Uzza (goddess), <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> +<li> +<span class='pagenum'><a class="tooltip" name="Page_506" id="Page_506" href="#"><span><i>INDEX</i></span>506</a></span> +</li> +<li><h3>V</h3></li> +<li> +Valencia, <a href="#Page_421">421</a></li><li> + +Valerian, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li><li> + +Van Vloten, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li><li> + +Vedanta, the, <a href="#Page_384">384</a></li><li> + +Venus, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li><li> + +Vico, <a href="#Page_439">439</a></li><li> + +Victor Hugo, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li><li> + +Villon, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li><li> + +Vizier, the office of, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>wazir</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Viziers of the Buwayhid dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li><li> + +Vogué, C. J. M. de, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a></li><li> + +Vollers, <a href="#Page_450">450</a></li><li> + +Vowel-marks in Arabic script, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> + +<li><h3>W</h3></li> +<li> +Wadd, name of a god, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li><li> + +Wadi ’l-Mustad‘afin, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></li><li> + +<i>Wafayatu ’l-A‘yan</i>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a>, <a href="#Page_452">452</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Ibn Khallikan</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +<i>-Wafi bi ’l-Wafayat</i>, <a href="#Page_456">456</a></li><li> + +<i>-wafir</i> (metre), <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li><li> + +Wahb b. Munabbih, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a></li><li> + +<i>wahdatu ’l-wujud</i>, monism, <a href="#Page_402">402</a></li><li> + +Wahhabis, the, <a href="#Page_463">463</a>, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>-468</li><li> + +Wahhabite Reformation, the, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>-468</li><li> + +-Wahidi (commentator), <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li><li> + +<i>-wa‘id</i>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li><li> + +Wa’il, <a href="#Page_xix">xix</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li><li> + +<i>wajd</i>, mystical term, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></li><li> + +Wajra, <a href="#Page_398">398</a></li><li> + +-Walid b. ‘Abd al-Malik (Umayyad Caliph), <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_203"><b>203</b></a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li><li> + +-Walid b. Yazid (Umayyad Caliph), <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_206"><b>206</b></a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +Wallada, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>, <a href="#Page_425">425</a></li><li> + +-Waqidi (historian), <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li><li> + +Waraqa b. Nawfal, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li><li> + +<i>wasi</i> (executor), <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li><li> + +Wasil b. ‘Ata, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_374">374</a></li><li> + +Wasit, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>, <a href="#Page_386">386</a></li><li> + +Water-diviners, honoured by the pagan Arabs, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li><li> + +-Wathiq, the Caliph, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_369">369</a></li><li> + +<i>wazir</i>, an Arabic word, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Vizier</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Wellhausen, J., <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_365">365</a></li><li> + +Well-songs, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li><li> + +Wellsted, J. R., <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li><li> + +West Gothic dynasty in Spain, the, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li><li> + +Weyers, <a href="#Page_425">425</a></li><li> + +Wine-songs, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a></li><li> + +Witches, Ballad of the Three, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li><li> + +Women famed as poets, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>; +<ul><li>as Sufis, <a href="#Page_233">233</a> +</li></ul></li><li> +Women, position of, in Pre-islamic times, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>-92</li><li> + +Woollen garments, a sign of asceticism, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li><li> + +Wright, W., <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></li><li> + +Writing, Arabic, the oldest specimens of, <a href="#Page_xxi">xxi</a></li><li> + +Writing, the art of, in Pre-islamic times, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li><li> + +Wuuml;stenfeld, F., <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>, <a href="#Page_452">452</a>, <a href="#Page_459">459</a></li> + +<li><h3>X</h3></li> +<li> +Xerxes, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li><li> + +Ximenez, Archbishop, <a href="#Page_435">435</a></li> + +<li><h3>Y</h3></li> +<li> +-Yahud (the Jews), <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li><li> + +Yahya b. Abi Mansur, <a href="#Page_359">359</a></li><li> + +Yahya b. Khalid, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_451">451</a></li><li> + +Yahya b. Yahya, the Berber, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a></li><li> + +Yaksum, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li><li> + +-Yamama, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li><li> + +-Yamama, battle of, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li><li> + +Ya‘qub b. -Layth, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li><li> + +Ya‘qub al-Mansur (Almohade), <a href="#Page_432">432</a></li><li> + +-Ya‘qubi (Ibn Wadih), historian, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li><li> + +Yaqut, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></li><li> + +Ya‘rub, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li><li> + +Yatha‘amar (Sabæan king), <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li><li> + +Yatha‘amar Bayyin, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li><li> + +Yathrib, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Medina</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Yathrippa, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li><li> + +<i>-Yatima.</i> See <i>Yatimatu ’l-Dahr</i></li><li> + +<i>Yatimatu ’l-Dahr</i>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_308"><b>308</b></a>, <a href="#Page_348"><b>348</b></a></li><li> + +<i>-Yawaqit</i>, by -Sha‘rani, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a></li><li> + +Yazdigird I (Sasanian), <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li><li> + +Yazid b. ‘Abd al-Malik (Umayyad Caliph), <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li><li> + +Yazid b. Abi Sufyan, <a href="#Page_426">426</a></li><li> + +Yazid b. Mu‘awiya (Umayyad Caliph), <b><a href="#Page_195">195</a>-199</b>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li><li> + +Yazid b. Rabi‘a b. Mufarrigh, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li><li> + +-Yemen (-Yaman), <a href="#Page_xvii">xvii</a>, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_405">405</a></li><li> + +Yoqtan, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a></li><li> + +Yoqtanids, the, <a href="#Page_xviii">xviii</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Arabs, the Yemenite</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Yusuf b. ‘Abd al-Barr, <a href="#Page_428">428</a></li><li> + +Yusuf b. ‘Abd al-Mu’min (Almohade), <a href="#Page_432">432</a></li><li> + +Yusuf b. ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri, <a href="#Page_406">406</a></li><li> + +Yusuf b. Tashifin (Almoravide), <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a></li> + +<li><h3>Z</h3></li> +<li> +Zab, battle of the, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li><li> + +Zabad, the trilingual inscription of, <a href="#Page_xxii">xxii</a></li><li> + +-Zabba, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Zenobia</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Zabdai, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li><li> + +<i>zaddiq</i>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +Zafar (town in -Yemen), <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li><li> + +Zafar (tribe), <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li><li> + +<i>zahid</i> (ascetic), <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li><li> + +Zahirites, the, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>, <a href="#Page_433">433</a></li><li> + +-Zahra, suburb of Cordova, <a href="#Page_425">425</a></li><li> + +<i>zajal</i>, verse-form, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a>, <a href="#Page_449">449</a></li><li> + +Zallaqa, battle of, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>, <a href="#Page_431">431</a></li><li> + +-Zamakhshari, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li><li> + +<i>zandik</i>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +-Zanj, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li><li> + +Zanzibar, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></li><li> + +<i>Zapiski</i>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></li><li> + +Zarifa, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li><li> + +Zarqa’u ’l-Yamama, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li><li> + +Zayd, son of ‘Adi b. Zayd, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li><li> + +Zayd b. ‘Ali b. -Husayn, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li><li> + +Zayd b. ‘Amr b. Nufayl, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li><li> + +Zayd b. Hammad, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li><li> + +Zayd b. Haritha, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li><li> + +Zayd b. Kilab b. Murra, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>. +<ul><li>See <i>Qusayy</i> +</li></ul></li><li> +Zayd b. Rifa‘a, <a href="#Page_370">370</a></li><li> + +Zayd b. Thabit, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li><li> + +Zaydites, the, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li><li> + +Zaynab (Zenobia), <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li><li> + +Zaynab, an Arab woman, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li><li> + +Zaynu ’l-‘Abidin, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li><li> + +Zenobia, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li><li> + +<i>Zinatu ’l-Dahr</i>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li><li> + +Zindiqs, the, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>, <b><a href="#Page_372">372</a>-375</b>, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>, <a href="#Page_460">460</a></li><li> + +Ziryab (musician), <a href="#Page_418">418</a></li><li> + +Ziyad, husband of Fatima, the daughter of -Khurshub, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li><li> + +Ziyad ibn Abihi, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a></li><li> + +Ziyad b. Mu‘awiya. See <i>-Nabigha al-Dhubvani</i></li><li> + +Ziyanid dynasty, the, <a href="#Page_442">442</a></li><li> + +Zone, the, worn by Zoroastrians, <a href="#Page_461">461</a></li><li> + +Zoroaster, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li><li> + +Zoroastrians, the, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a></li><li> + +Zotenberg, H., <a href="#Page_352">352</a></li><li> + +Zubayda, wife of Harun al-Rashid, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li><li> + +-Zubayr, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li><li> + +-Zuhara, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li><li> + +Zuhayr b. Abi Sulma (poet), <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <b><a href="#Page_116">116</a>-119</b>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li><li> + +<i>zuhd</i> (asceticism), <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>. <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li><li> + +<i>zuhdiyyat</i>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li><li> + +Zuhra b. Kilab b. Murra, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li><li> + +-Zuhri (Muhammad b. Muslim b. Shihab), <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li><li> + +<i>zunnar</i>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a></li> +</ul> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Literary History of the Arabs, by +Reynold Nicholson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LITERARY HISTORY OF THE ARABS *** + +***** This file should be named 37985-h.htm or 37985-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/9/8/37985/ + +Produced by Fritz Ohrenschall, Turgut Dincer, Sania Ali +Mirza and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Literary History of the Arabs + +Author: Reynold Nicholson + +Release Date: November 11, 2011 [EBook #37985] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LITERARY HISTORY OF THE ARABS *** + + + + +Produced by Fritz Ohrenschall, Turgut Dincer, Sania Ali +Mirza and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + ------------------------------------------------------------- + Transcriber's note: + + This e-text includes characters that require UTF-8 + (Unicode) file encoding: + + aOEL, a¸Y, a¹c, a¹¬, a¸¤, aº-, aº' + + If any of these characters do not display properly--in + particular, if the dots do not appear under the letters + make sure your text readeraEuro(TM)s aEurooecharacter setaEuro or aEurooefile + encodingaEuro is set to Unicode (UTF-8). You may also need to + change the default font. Depending on available fonts, some + tables may not line up vertically. As a last resort, use + the Latin-1 version of the file instead. + + Spelling of the Arabic names is different in the body of + the text, in the References and in the Index, these have + been left as shown in the original text. Bold numbers in + the Index are enclosed between "+" signs. + ------------------------------------------------------------- + + + + +[Illustration: LITIGANTS BEFORE A JUDGE + +From an Arabic manuscript in the British Museum (Or. 1200; No. 1007 in +Rieu's _Arabic Supplement_), dated A.H. 654 = A.D. 1256, which +contains the _MaqAimESec.t_ of a¸¤arA¬rA¬ illustrated by 81 miniatures in +colours. This one represents a scene in the 8th MaqAima: AbAº Zayd and +his son appearing before the Cadi of MaaEuro~arratu aEuro(TM)l-NuaEuro(TM)mAin. The figure +on the left is a¸¤Airith b. HammAim, whom a¸¤arA¬rA¬ puts forward as the +relater of AbAº Zayd's adventures.] + + + A LITERARY + HISTORY OF THE ARABS + + BY + + REYNOLD A. NICHOLSON + + CAMBRIDGE + + AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS + + 1966 + + + PUBLISHED BY + + THE SYNDICS OF THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS + + Bentley House, 200 Euston Road, London, N.W. 1 + American Branch: 32 East 57th Street, New York N.Y. 10022, + West African Office: P.O. Box 33, Ibadan, Nigeria + + First edition (T. Fisher Unwin) 1907, reprinted 1914, 1923 + Reprinted (Cambridge University Press) 1930, 1941, 1953, + 1962, 1966 + + _First printed in Great Britain at the University Press, Cambridge + Reprinted by offset-litho by Latimer Trend & Co. Ltd, Whitstable_ + + + + To + + PROFESSOR A. A. BEVAN + + In grateful recollection of many kindnesses + + + + +PREFACE + + +_A Literary History of the Arabs_, published by T. Fisher Unwin in +1907 and twice re-issued without alteration, now appears under new +auspices, and I wish to thank the Syndics of the Cambridge University +Press for the opportunity they have given me of making it in some +respects more accurate and useful than it has hitherto been. Since the +present edition is printed from the original plates, there could be no +question of revising the book throughout and recasting it where +necessary; but while only a few pages have been rewritten, the +Bibliography has been brought up to date and I have removed several +mistakes from the text and corrected others in an appendix which +includes a certain amount of supplementary matter. As stated in the +preface to the first edition, I hoped "to compile a work which should +serve as a general introduction to the subject, and which should be +neither too popular for students nor too scientific for ordinary +readers. It has been my chief aim to sketch in broad outlines what the +Arabs thought, and to indicate as far as possible the influences which +moulded their thought.... Experience has convinced me that young +students of Arabic, to whom this volume is principally addressed, +often find difficulty in understanding what they read, since they are +not in touch with the political, intellectual, and religious notions +which are presented to them. The pages of almost every Arabic book +abound in allusions to names, events, movements, and ideas of which +Moslems require no explanation, but which puzzle the Western reader +unless he have some general knowledge of Arabian history in the widest +meaning of the word. Such a survey is not to be found, I believe, in +any single European book; and if mine supply the want, however +partially and inadequately, I shall feel that my labour has been amply +rewarded.... As regards the choice of topics, I agree with the author +of a famous anthology who declares that it is harder to select than +compose (_ikhtiyAiru aEuro(TM)l-kalAim aa¹LaEuro~abu min taaEuro(TM)lA-fihi_). Perhaps an +epitomist may be excused for not doing equal justice all round. To me +the literary side of the subject appeals more than the historical, and +I have followed my bent without hesitation; for in order to interest +others a writer must first be interested himself.... Considering the +importance of Arabic poetry as, in the main, a true mirror of Arabian +life, I do not think the space devoted to it is excessive. Other +branches of literature could not receive the same attention. Many an +eminent writer has been dismissed in a few lines, many well-known +names have been passed over. But, as before said, this work is a +sketch of ideas in their historical environment rather than a record +of authors, books, and dates. The exact transliteration of Arabic +words, though superfluous for scholars and for persons entirely +ignorant of the language, is an almost indispensable aid to the class +of readers whom I have especially in view. My system is that +recommended by the Royal Asiatic Society and adopted by Professor +Browne in his _Literary History of Persia_; but I use aº" for the letter +which he denotes by _dh_. The definite article _al_, which is +frequently omitted at the beginning of proper names, has been restored +in the Index. It may save trouble if I mention here the abbreviations +'b.' for 'ibn' (son of); J.R.A.S. for _Journal of the Royal Asiatic +Society_; Z.D.M.G. for _Zeitschrift der Deutschen MorgenlA¤ndischen +Gesellschaft_; and S.B.W.A. for _Sitzungsberichte der Wiener +Akademie_. Finally, it behoves me to make full acknowledgment of my +debt to the learned Orientalists whose works I have studied and freely +'conveyed' into these pages. References could not be given in every +case, but the reader will see for himself how much is derived from Von +Kremer, Goldziher, NA¶ldeke, and Wellhausen, to mention only a few of +the leading authorities. At the same time I have constantly gone back +to the native sources of information." + +There remains an acknowledgment of a more personal kind. Twenty-two +years ago I wrote--"my warmest thanks are due to my friend and +colleague, Professor A. A. Bevan, who read the proofs throughout and +made a number of valuable remarks which will be found in the footnotes." +Happily the present occasion permits me to renew those ties between us; +and the book which he helped into the world now celebrates its majority +by associating itself with his name. + + REYNOLD A. NICHOLSON + + _November 1, 1929_ + + +Frontispiece + +LITIGANTS BEFORE A JUDGE (British Museum Or. 1200) + + + + + Contents + + PAGE + + PREFACE ix + + INTRODUCTION xv + + CHAPTER + + I. SABA AND a¸¤IMYAR 1 + + II. THE HISTORY AND LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS 30 + + III. PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY, MANNERS, AND RELIGION 71 + + IV. THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN 141 + + V. THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE AND THE UMAYYAD + DYNASTY 181 + + VI. THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDAD 254 + + VII. POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE IN THE aEuro~ABBASID + PERIOD 285 + + VIII. ORTHODOXY, FREE-THOUGHT, AND MYSTICISM 365 + + IX. THE ARABS IN EUROPE 405 + + X. FROM THE MONGOL INVASION TO THE PRESENT DAY 442 + + APPENDIX 471 + + BIBLIOGRAPHY 477 + + INDEX 487 + + + + +Introduction + + +[Sidenote: The Semites.] + +The Arabs belong to the great family of nations which on account of +their supposed descent from Shem, the son of Noah, are commonly known as +the 'Semites.' This term includes the Babylonians and Assyrians, the +Hebrews, the PhA"nicians, the AramA|ans, the Abyssinians, the SabA|ans, and +the Arabs, and although based on a classification that is not +ethnologically precise--the PhA"nicians and SabA|ans, for example, being +reckoned in Genesis, chap. x, among the descendants of Ham--it was well +chosen by Eichhorn (aEuro 1827) to comprehend the closely allied peoples +which have been named. Whether the original home of the undivided +Semitic race was some part of Asia (Arabia, Armenia, or the district of +the Lower Euphrates), or whether, according to a view which has lately +found favour, the Semites crossed into Asia from Africa,[1] is still +uncertain. Long before the epoch when they first appear in history they +had branched off from the parent stock and formed separate +nationalities. The relation of the Semitic languages to each other +cannot be discussed here, but we may arrange them in the chronological +order of the extant literature as follows:--[2] + + 1. Babylonian or Assyrian (3000-500 B.C.). + + 2. Hebrew (from 1500 B.C.). + + 3. South Arabic, otherwise called SabA|an or a¸¤imyarite (inscriptions + from 800 B.C.). + + 4. Aramaic (inscriptions from 800 B.C.). + + 5. PhA"nician (inscriptions from 700 B.C.). + + 6. A†thiopic (inscriptions from 350 A.D.). + + 7. Arabic (from 500 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: The Arabs as representatives of the Semitic Race.] + +Notwithstanding that Arabic is thus, in a sense, the youngest of the +Semitic languages, it is generally allowed to be nearer akin than any of +them to the original archetype, the 'Ursemitisch,' from which they all +are derived, just as the Arabs, by reason of their geographical +situation and the monotonous uniformity of desert life, have in some +respects preserved the Semitic character more purely and exhibited it +more distinctly than any people of the same family. From the period of +the great Moslem conquests (700 A.D.) to the present day they have +extended their language, religion, and culture over an enormous expanse +of territory, far surpassing that of all the ancient Semitic empires +added together. It is true that the Arabs are no longer what they were +in the Middle Ages, the ruling nation of the world, but loss of temporal +power has only strengthened their spiritual dominion. Islam still reigns +supreme in Western Asia; in Africa it has steadily advanced; even on +European soil it has found in Turkey compensation for its banishment +from Spain and Sicily. While most of the Semitic peoples have vanished, +leaving but a meagre and ambiguous record, so that we cannot hope to +become intimately acquainted with them, we possess in the case of the +Arabs ample materials for studying almost every phase of their +development since the sixth century of the Christian era, and for +writing the whole history of their national life and thought. This book, +I need hardly say, makes no such pretensions. Even were the space at my +disposal unlimited, a long time must elapse before the vast and various +field of Arabic literature can be thoroughly explored and the results +rendered accessible to the historian. + +[Sidenote: Arabs of the North and South.] + +From time immemorial Arabia was divided into North and South, not only +by the trackless desert (_al-RubaEuro~ al-KhAilA-_, the 'Solitary Quarter') +which stretches across the peninsula and forms a natural barrier to +intercourse, but also by the opposition of two kindred races widely +differing in their character and way of life. Whilst the inhabitants of +the northern province (the a¸¤ijAiz and the great central highland of Najd) +were rude nomads sheltering in 'houses of hair,' and ever shifting to +and fro in search of pasture for their camels, the people of Yemen or +Arabia Felix are first mentioned in history as the inheritors of an +ancient civilisation and as the owners of fabulous wealth--spices, gold +and precious stones--which ministered to the luxury of King Solomon. The +Bedouins of the North spoke Arabic--that is to say, the language of the +Pre-islamic poems and of the Koran--whereas the southerners used a +dialect called by Mua¸Yammadans 'a¸¤imyarite' and a peculiar script of which +the examples known to us have been discovered and deciphered in +comparatively recent times. Of these SabA|ans--to adopt the designation +given to them by Greek and Roman geographers--more will be said +presently. The period of their bloom was drawing to a close in the early +centuries of our era, and they have faded out of history before 600 +A.D., when their northern neighbours first rise into prominence. + +[Sidenote: Ishmaelites and Yoqa¹-Ainids.] + +It was, no doubt, the consciousness of this racial distinction that +caused the view to prevail among Moslem genealogists that the Arabs +followed two separate lines of descent from their common ancestor, SAim +b. NAºa¸Y (Shem, the son of Noah). As regards those of the North, their +derivation from aEuro~AdnAin, a descendant of IsmAiaEuro~A-l (Ishmael) was +universally recognised; those of the South were traced back to Qaa¸Ya¹-Ain, +whom most genealogists identified with Yoqa¹-Ain (Joktan), the son of aEuro~Abir +(Eber). Under the Yoqa¹-Ainids, who are the elder line, we find, together +with the SabA|ans and a¸¤imyarites, several large and powerful +tribes--_e.g._, a¹¬ayyiaEuro(TM), Kinda, and TanAºkh--which had settled in North +and Central Arabia long before Islam, and were in no respect +distinguishable from the Bedouins of Ishmaelite origin. As to aEuro~AdnAin, +his exact genealogy is disputed, but all agree that he was of the +posterity of IsmAiaEuro~A-l (Ishmael), the son of IbrAihA-m (Abraham) by HAijar +(Hagar). The story runs that on the birth of IsmAiaEuro~A-l God commanded +Abraham to journey to Mecca with Hagar and her son and to leave them +there. They were seen by some Jurhumites, descendants of Yoqa¹-Ain, who +took pity on them and resolved to settle beside them. IsmAiaEuro~A-l grew up +with the sons of the strangers, learned to shoot the bow, and spoke +their tongue. Then he asked of them in marriage, and they married him to +one of their women.[3] The tables on the opposite page show the +principal branches of the younger but by far the more important family +of the Arabs which traced its pedigree through aEuro~AdnAin to IsmAiaEuro~A-l. A +dotted line indicates the omission of one or more links in the +genealogical chain.[4] + + + I.[5] + + THE DESCENDENTS OF RABIaEuro~A. + + aEuro~AdnAin. + a", + MaaEuro~add. + a", + NizAir. + a", + RabiaEuro~a. + a", + ------------------------------------------------------- + a", a", a", + aEuro~Anaza. a", a", + WAiaEuro(TM)il. Namir. + a", + a"OEa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"'a"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa" + a", a", + Bakr. Taghlib. + + + II. + + THE DESCENDANTS OF MUa¸AR. + + aEuro~AdnAin. + a", + MaaEuro~add. + a", + NizAir. + a", + Mua¸ar. + a", + --------------------------------------------------------- + a", a", . . + a", a", . . . + Qays aEuro~AylAin a", . . . + . a¸OEabba. . Khuzayma. Hudhayl. + . . . . + Ghaa¹-afAin. . TamA-m. . . + a", . . . + a", a"OEa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa" . . + a", a", a", Asad. KinAina. + a", Sulaym. HawAizin. a", + a", a", + a"OEa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa" a", + a", a", a", + Abs. DhubyAin. Fihr (Quraysh). + +[Sidenote: Character of Mua¸Yammadan genealogy.] + +It is undeniable that these lineages are to some extent fictitious. +There was no Pre-islamic science of genealogy, so that the first +Mua¸Yammadan investigators had only confused and scanty traditions to work +on. They were biassed, moreover, by political, religious, and other +considerations.[6] Thus their study of the Koran and of Biblical history +led to the introduction of the patriarchs who stand at the head of their +lists. Nor can we accept the national genealogy beginning with aEuro~AdnAin as +entirely historical, though a great deal of it was actually stored in +the memories of the Arabs at the time when Islam arose, and is +corroborated by the testimony of the Pre-islamic poets.[7] On the other +hand, the alleged descent of every tribe from an eponymous ancestor is +inconsistent with facts established by modern research.[8] It is +probable that many names represent merely a local or accidental union; +and many more, _e.g._, MaaEuro~add, seem originally to have denoted large +groups or confederations of tribes. The theory of a radical difference +between the Northern Arabs and those of the South, corresponding to the +fierce hostility which has always divided them since the earliest days +of Islam,[9] may hold good if we restrict the term 'Yemenite' (Southern) +to the civilised SabA|ans, a¸¤imyarites, &c., who dwelt in Yemen and spoke +their own dialect, but can hardly apply to the Arabic-speaking +'Yemenite' Bedouins scattered all over the peninsula. Such criticism, +however, does not affect the value of the genealogical documents +regarded as an index of the popular mind. From this point of view legend +is often superior to fact, and it must be our aim in the following +chapters to set forth what the Arabs believed rather than to examine +whether or no they were justified in believing it. + +'Arabic,' in its widest signification, has two principal dialects:-- + +1. South Arabic, spoken in Yemen and including SabA|an, a¸¤imyarite, +MinA|an, with the kindred dialects of Mahra and Shia¸Yr. + +2. Arabic proper, spoken in Arabia generally, exclusive of Yemen. + +[Sidenote: South Arabic.] + +Of the former language, leaving MahrA-, SocotrA-, and other living +dialects out of account, we possess nothing beyond the numerous +inscriptions which have been collected by European travellers and which +it will be convenient to discuss in the next chapter, where I shall give +a brief sketch of the legendary history of the SabA|ans and a¸¤imyarites. +South Arabic resembles Arabic in its grammatical forms, _e.g._, the +broken plural, the sign of the dual, and the manner of denoting +indefiniteness by an affixed _m_ (for which Arabic substitutes _n_) as +well as in its vocabulary; its alphabet, which consists of twenty-nine +letters, _Sin_ and _Samech_ being distinguished as in Hebrew, is more +nearly akin to the A†thiopic. The a¸¤imyarite Empire was overthrown by the +Abyssinians in the sixth century after Christ, and by 600 A.D. South +Arabic had become a dead language. From this time forward the dialect of +the North established an almost universal supremacy and won for itself +the title of 'Arabic' _par excellence_.[10] + + +[Sidenote: The oldest specimens of Arabic writing.] + +[Sidenote: The Pre-islamic poems.] + +[Sidenote: The Koran.] + +[Sidenote: Arabic in the Mua¸Yammadan Empire.] + +The oldest monuments of written Arabic are modern in date compared with +the SabA|an inscriptions, some of which take us back 2,500 years or +thereabout. Apart from the inscriptions of a¸¤ijr in the northern a¸¤ijAiz, +and those of a¹cafAi in the neighbourhood of Damascus (which, although +written by northern Arabs before the Christian era, exhibit a peculiar +character not unlike the SabA|an and cannot be called Arabic in the usual +acceptation of the term), the most ancient examples of Arabic writing +which have hitherto been discovered appear in the trilingual (Syriac, +Greek, and Arabic) inscription of Zabad,[11] south-east of Aleppo, dated +512 or 513 A.D., and the bilingual (Greek and Arabic) of a¸¤arrAin,[12] +dated 568 A.D. With these documents we need not concern ourselves +further, especially as their interpretation presents great difficulties. +Very few among the Pre-islamic Arabs were able to read or write.[13] +Those who could generally owed their skill to Jewish and Christian +teachers, or to the influence of foreign culture radiating from a¸¤A-ra and +GhassAin. But although the Koran, which was first collected soon after +the battle of YamAima (633 A.D.), is the oldest Arabic book, the +beginnings of literary composition in the Arabic language can be traced +back to an earlier period. Probably all the Pre-islamic poems which have +come down to us belong to the century preceding Islam (500-622 A.D.), +but their elaborate form and technical perfection forbid the hypothesis +that in them we have "the first sprightly runnings" of Arabian song. It +may be said of these magnificent odes, as of the Iliad and Odyssey, that +"they are works of highly finished art, which could not possibly have +been produced until the poetical art had been practised for a long +time." They were preserved during hundreds of years by oral tradition, +as we shall explain elsewhere, and were committed to writing, for the +most part, by the Moslem scholars of the early aEuro~AbbAisid age, _i.e._, +between 750 and 900 A.D. It is a noteworthy fact that the language of +these poems, the authors of which represent many different tribes and +districts of the peninsula, is one and the same. The dialectical +variations are too trivial to be taken into account. We might conclude +that the poets used an artificial dialect, not such as was commonly +spoken but resembling the epic dialect of Ionia which was borrowed by +Dorian and A†olian bards. When we find, however, that the language in +question is employed not only by the wandering troubadours, who were +often men of some culture, and the Christian Arabs of a¸¤A-ra on the +Euphrates, but also by goat-herds, brigands, and illiterate Bedouins of +every description, there can be no room for doubt that in the poetry of +the sixth century we hear the Arabic language as it was then spoken +throughout the length and breadth of Arabia. The success of Mua¸Yammad and +the conquests made by Islam under the Orthodox Caliphs gave an entirely +new importance to this classical idiom. Arabic became the sacred +language of the whole Moslem world. This was certainly due to the Koran; +but, on the other hand, to regard the dialect of Mecca, in which the +Koran is written, as the source and prototype of the Arabic language, +and to call Arabic 'the dialect of Quraysh,' is utterly to reverse the +true facts of the case. Mua¸Yammad, as NA¶ldeke has observed, took the +ancient poetry for a model; and in the early age of Islam it was the +authority of the heathen poets (of whom Quraysh had singularly few) that +determined the classical usage and set the standard of correct speech. +Moslems, who held the Koran to be the Word of God and inimitable in +point of style, naturally exalted the dialect of the Prophet's tribe +above all others, even laying down the rule that every tribe spoke less +purely in proportion to its distance from Mecca, but this view will not +commend itself to the unprejudiced student. The Koran, however, +exercised a unique influence on the history of the Arabic language and +literature. We shall see in a subsequent chapter that the necessity of +preserving the text of the Holy Book uncorrupted, and of elucidating its +obscurities, caused the Moslems to invent a science of grammar and +lexicography, and to collect the old Pre-Mua¸Yammadan poetry and +traditions which must otherwise have perished. When the Arabs settled as +conquerors in Syria and Persia and mixed with foreign peoples, the +purity of the classical language could no longer be maintained. While in +Arabia itself, especially among the nomads of the desert, little +difference was felt, in the provincial garrison towns and great centres +of industry like Baa¹Lra and KAºfa, where the population largely consisted +of aliens who had embraced Islam and were rapidly being Arabicised, the +door stood open for all sorts of depravation to creep in. Against this +vulgar Arabic the philologists waged unrelenting war, and it was mainly +through their exertions that the classical idiom triumphed over the +dangers to which it was exposed. Although the language of the pagan +Bedouins did not survive intact--or survived, at any rate, only in the +mouths of pedants and poets--it became, in a modified form, the +universal medium of expression among the upper classes of Mua¸Yammadan +society. During the early Middle Ages it was spoken and written by all +cultivated Moslems, of whatever nationality they might be, from the +Indus to the Atlantic; it was the language of the Court and the Church, +of Law and Commerce, of Diplomacy and Literature and Science. When the +Mongol invasion in the thirteenth century swept away the aEuro~AbbAisid +Caliphate, and therewith the last vestige of political unity in Islam, +classical Arabic ceased to be the IºI?I¹I1/2I(R) or 'common dialect' of +the Moslem world, and was supplanted in Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and other +Arabic-speaking countries by a vulgar colloquial idiom. In these +countries, however, it is still the language of business, literature, +and education, and we are told on high authority that even now it "is +undergoing a renaissance, and there is every likelihood of its again +becoming a great literary vehicle."[14] And if, for those Moslems who +are not Arabs, it occupies relatively much the same position as Latin +and Greek in modern European culture, we must not forget that the Koran, +its most renowned masterpiece, is learned by every Moslem when he first +goes to school, is repeated in his daily prayers, and influences the +whole course of his life to an extent which the ordinary Christian can +hardly realise. + +[Sidenote: The Nabaa¹-A|ans.] + +I hope that I may be excused for ignoring in a work such as this the +information regarding Ancient Arabian history which it is possible to +glean from the Babylonian and Assyrian monuments. Any sketch that might +be drawn of the Arabs, say from 2500 B.C. to the beginning of our era, +would resemble a map of Cathay delineated by Sir John Mandeville. But +amongst the shadowy peoples of the peninsula one, besides Saba and +a¸¤imyar, makes something more than a transient impression. The Nabaa¹-A|ans +(_Nabaa¹-_, pl. _AnbAia¹-_) dwelt in towns, drove a flourishing trade long +before the birth of Christ, and founded the kingdom of Petra, which +attained a high degree of prosperity and culture until it was annexed by +Trajan in 105 A.D. These Nabaa¹-A|ans were Arabs and spoke Arabic, although +in default of a script of their own they used Aramaic for writing.[15] +Mua¸Yammadan authors identify them with the AramA|ans, but careful study of +their inscriptions has shown that this view, which was accepted by +QuatremA"re,[16] is erroneous. 'The Book of Nabaa¹-A|an Agriculture' +(_KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-FalAia¸Yat al-Nabaa¹-iyya_), composed in 904 A.D. by the Moslem +Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Waa¸Yshiyya, who professed to have translated it from the +ChaldA|an, is now known to be a forgery. I only mention it here as an +instance of the way in which Moslems apply the term 'Nabaa¹-A|an'; for the +title in question does not, of course, refer to Petra but to Babylon. + +[Sidenote: Three periods of Arabian history.] + +From what has been said the reader will perceive that the history of the +Arabs, so far as our knowledge of it is derived from Arabic sources, may +be divided into the following periods:-- + + I. The SabA|an and a¸¤imyarite period, from 800 B.C., + the date of the oldest South Arabic inscriptions, to + 500 A.D. + + II. The Pre-islamic period (500-622 A.D.). + + III. The Mua¸Yammadan period, beginning with the Migration + (Hijra, or Hegira, as the word is generally written) + of the Prophet from Mecca to MedA-na in 622 A.D. + and extending to the present day. + +[Sidenote: The SabA|ans and a¸¤imyarites.] + +For the first period, which is confined to the history of Yemen or South +Arabia, we have no contemporary Arabic sources except the inscriptions. +The valuable but imperfect information which these supply is appreciably +increased by the traditions preserved in the Pre-islamic poems, in the +Koran, and particularly in the later Mua¸Yammadan literature. It is true +that most of this material is legendary and would justly be ignored by +any one engaged in historical research, but I shall nevertheless devote +a good deal of space to it, since my principal object is to make known +the beliefs and opinions of the Arabs themselves. + +[Sidenote: The pagan Arabs.] + +The second period is called by Mua¸Yammadan writers the _JAihiliyya_, +_i.e._, the Age of Ignorance or Barbarism.[17] Its characteristics are +faithfully and vividly reflected in the songs and odes of the heathen +poets which have come down to us. There was no prose literature at that +time: it was the poet's privilege to sing the history of his own people, +to record their genealogies, to celebrate their feats of arms, and to +extol their virtues. Although an immense quantity of Pre-islamic verse +has been lost for ever, we still possess a considerable remnant, which, +together with the prose narratives compiled by Moslem philologists and +antiquaries, enables us to picture the life of those wild days, in its +larger aspects, accurately enough. + +[Sidenote: The Moslem Arabs.] + +The last and by far the most important of the three periods comprises +the history of the Arabs under Islam. It falls naturally into the +following sections, which are enumerated in this place in order that the +reader may see at a glance the broad political outlines of the complex +and difficult epoch which lies before him. + + +_A._ The Life of Mua¸Yammad. + +[Sidenote: Life of Mua¸Yammad.] + +About the beginning of the seventh century of the Christian era a man +named Mua¸Yammad, son of aEuro~AbdullAih, of the tribe Quraysh, appeared in +Mecca with a Divine revelation (Koran). He called on his fellow-townsmen +to renounce idolatry and worship the One God. In spite of ridicule and +persecution he continued for several years to preach the religion of +Islam in Mecca, but, making little progress there, he fled in 622 A.D. +to the neighbouring city of MedA-na. From this date his cause prospered +exceedingly. During the next decade the whole of Arabia submitted to his +rule and did lip-service at least to the new Faith. + + +_B._ The Orthodox Caliphate (632-661 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: The Orthodox Caliphs.] + +On the death of the Prophet the Moslems were governed in turn by four of +the most eminent among his Companions--AbAº Bakr, aEuro~Umar, aEuro~UthmAin, and +aEuro~AlA---who bore the title of _KhalA-fa_ (Caliph), _i.e._, Vicegerent, and +are commonly described as the Orthodox Caliphs (_al-KhulafAi +al-RAishidAºn_). Under their guidance Islam was firmly established in the +peninsula and was spread far beyond its borders. Hosts of Bedouins +settled as military colonists in the fertile plains of Syria and Persia. +Soon, however, the recently founded empire was plunged into civil war. +The murder of aEuro~UthmAin gave the signal for a bloody strife between rival +claimants of the Caliphate. aEuro~AlA-, the son-in-law of the Prophet, assumed +the title, but his election was contested by the powerful governor of +Syria, MuaEuro~Aiwiya b. AbA- SufyAin. + + +_C._ The Umayyad Dynasty (661-750 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: The Umayyad dynasty.] + +aEuro~AlA- fell by an assassin's dagger, and MuaEuro~Aiwiya succeeded to the +Caliphate, which remained in his family for ninety years. The Umayyads, +with a single exception, were Arabs first and Moslems afterwards. +Religion sat very lightly on them, but they produced some able and +energetic princes, worthy leaders of an imperial race. By 732 A.D. the +Moslem conquests had reached the utmost limit which they ever attained. +The Caliph in Damascus had his lieutenants beyond the Oxus and the +Pyrenees, on the shores of the Caspian and in the valley of the Nile. +Meantime the strength of the dynasty was being sapped by political and +religious dissensions nearer home. The ShA-aEuro~ites, who held that the +Caliphate belonged by Divine right to aEuro~AlA- and his descendants, rose in +revolt again and again. They were joined by the Persian Moslems, who +loathed the Arabs and the oppressive Umayyad government. The aEuro~AbbAisids, +a family closely related to the Prophet, put themselves at the head of +the agitation. It ended in the complete overthrow of the reigning house, +which was almost exterminated. + + +_D._ The aEuro~AbbAisid Dynasty (750-1258 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: The aEuro~AbbAisid dynasty.] + +Hitherto the Arabs had played a dominant rA'le in the Moslem community, +and had treated the non-Arab Moslems with exasperating contempt. Now the +tables were turned. We pass from the period of Arabian nationalism to +one of Persian ascendancy and cosmopolitan culture. The flower of the +aEuro~AbbAisid troops were Persians from KhurAisAin; BaghdAid, the wonderful +aEuro~AbbAisid capital, was built on Persian soil; and Persian nobles filled +the highest offices of state at the aEuro~AbbAisid court. The new dynasty, if +not religious, was at least favourable to religion, and took care to +live in the odour of sanctity. For a time Arabs and Persians forgot +their differences and worked together as good Moslems ought. Piety was +no longer its own reward. Learning enjoyed munificent patronage. This +was the Golden Age of Islam, which culminated in the glorious reign of +HAirAºn al-RashA-d (786-809 A.D.). On his death peace was broken once more, +and the mighty empire began slowly to collapse. As province after +province cut itself loose from the Caliphate, numerous independent +dynasties sprang up, while the Caliphs became helpless puppets in the +hands of Turkish mercenaries. Their authority was still formally +recognised in most Mua¸Yammadan countries, but since the middle of the +ninth century they had little or no real power. + + +_E._ From the Mongol invasion to the present day (1258 A.D.--). + +[Sidenote: The Post-Mongolian period.] + +The Mongol hordes under HAºlAigAº captured BaghdAid in 1258 A.D. and made an +end of the Caliphate. Sweeping onward, they were checked by the Egyptian +Mamelukes and retired into Persia, where, some fifty years afterwards, +they embraced Islam. The successors of HAºlAigAº, the Al-khAins, reigned in +Persia until a second wave of barbarians under TA-mAºr spread devastation +and anarchy through Western Asia (1380-1405 A.D.). The unity of Islam, +in a political sense, was now destroyed. Out of the chaos three +Mua¸Yammadan empires gradually took shape. In 1358 the Ottoman Turks +crossed the Hellespont, in 1453 they entered Constantinople, and in 1517 +Syria, Egypt, and Arabia were added to their dominions. Persia became an +independent kingdom under the a¹cafawids (1502-1736); while in India +the empire of the Great Moguls was founded by BAibur, a descendant of +TA-mAºr, and gloriously maintained by his successors, Akbar and AwrangzA-b +(1525-1707). + +[Sidenote: Arabian literary history.] + +[Sidenote: Writers who are wholly or partly of foreign extraction.] + +Some of the political events which have been summarised above will be +treated more fully in the body of this work; others will receive no more +than a passing notice. The ideas which reveal themselves in Arabic +literature are so intimately connected with the history of the people, +and so incomprehensible apart from the external circumstances in which +they arose, that I have found myself obliged to dwell at considerable +length on various matters of historical interest, in order to bring out +what is really characteristic and important from our special point of +view. The space devoted to the early periods (500-750 A.D.) will not +appear excessive if they are seen in their true light as the centre and +heart of Arabian history. During the next hundred years Moslem +civilisation reaches its zenith, but the Arabs recede more and more into +the background. The Mongol invasion virtually obliterated their national +life, though in Syria and Egypt they maintained their traditions of +culture under Turkish rule, and in Spain we meet them struggling +desperately against Christendom. Many centuries earlier, in the balmy +days of the aEuro~AbbAisid Empire, the Arabs _pur sang_ contributed only a +comparatively small share to the literature which bears their name. I +have not, however, enforced the test of nationality so strictly as to +exclude all foreigners or men of mixed origin who wrote in Arabic. It +may be said that the work of Persians (who even nowadays are accustomed +to use Arabic when writing on theological and philosophical subjects) +cannot illustrate the history of Arabian thought, but only the influence +exerted upon Arabian thought by Persian ideas, and that consequently it +must stand aside unless admitted for this definite purpose. But what +shall we do in the case of those numerous and celebrated authors who are +neither wholly Arab nor wholly Persian, but unite the blood of both +races? Must we scrutinise their genealogies and try to discover which +strain preponderates? That would be a tedious and unprofitable task. The +truth is that after the Umayyad period no hard-and-fast line can be +drawn between the native and foreign elements in Arabic literature. Each +reacted on the other, and often both are combined indissolubly. Although +they must be distinguished as far as possible, we should be taking a +narrow and pedantic view of literary history if we insisted on regarding +them as mutually exclusive. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +SABA AND a¸¤IMYAR + + +[Sidenote: Primitive races.] + +[Sidenote: Legend of aEuro~Ad.] + +With the SabA|ans Arabian history in the proper sense may be said to +begin, but as a preliminary step we must take account of certain races +which figure more or less prominently in legend, and are considered by +Moslem chroniclers to have been the original inhabitants of the country. +Among these are the peoples of aEuro~Ad and ThamAºd, which are constantly held +up in the Koran as terrible examples of the pride that goeth before +destruction. The home of the aEuro~Adites was in a¸¤aa¸ramawt, the province +adjoining Yemen, on the borders of the desert named _Aa¸YqAifu aEuro(TM)l-Raml_. It +is doubtful whether they were Semites, possibly of Aramaic descent, who +were subdued and exterminated by invaders from the north, or, as Hommel +maintains,[18] the representatives of an imposing non-Semitic culture +which survives in the tradition of 'Many-columned Iram,'[19] the Earthly +Paradise built by ShaddAid, one of their kings. The story of their +destruction is related as follows:[20] They were a people of gigantic +strength and stature, worshipping idols and committing all manner of +wrong; and when God sent to them a prophet, HAºd by name, who should warn +them to repent, they answered: "O HAºd, thou hast brought us no evidence, +and we will not abandon our gods for thy saying, nor will we believe in +thee. We say one of our gods hath afflicted thee with madness."[21] Then +a fearful drought fell upon the land of aEuro~Ad, so that they sent a number +of their chief men to Mecca to pray for rain. On arriving at Mecca the +envoys were hospitably received by the Amalekite prince, MuaEuro~Aiwiya b. +Bakr, who entertained them with wine and music--for he had two famous +singing-girls known as _al-JarAidatAin_; which induced them to neglect +their mission for the space of a whole month. At last, however, they got +to business, and their spokesman had scarce finished his prayer when +three clouds appeared, of different colours--white, red, and black--and +a voice cried from heaven, "Choose for thyself and for thy people!" He +chose the black cloud, deeming that it had the greatest store of rain, +whereupon the voice chanted-- + + "Thou hast chosen embers dun | that will spare of aEuro~Ad not one | that + will leave nor father nor son | ere him to death they shall have + done." + +Then God drove the cloud until it stood over the land of aEuro~Ad, and there +issued from it a roaring wind that consumed the whole people except a +few who had taken the prophet's warning to heart and had renounced +idolatry. + +From these, in course of time, a new people arose, who are called 'the +second aEuro~Ad.' They had their settlements in Yemen, in the region of Saba. +The building of the great Dyke of MaaEuro(TM)rib is commonly attributed to their +king, LuqmAin b. aEuro~Ad, about whom many fables are told. He was surnamed +'The Man of the Vultures' (_Dhu aEuro(TM)l-NusAºr_), because it had been granted +to him that he should live as long as seven vultures, one after the +other. + +[Sidenote: Legend of ThamAºd.] + +In North Arabia, between the a¸¤ijAiz and Syria, dwelt the kindred race of +ThamAºd, described in the Koran (vii, 72) as inhabiting houses which they +cut for themselves in the rocks. Evidently Mua¸Yammad did not know the +true nature of the hewn chambers which are still to be seen at a¸¤ijr +(MadAiaEuro(TM)in a¹cAilia¸Y), a week's journey northward from MedA-na, and which are +proved by the Nabaa¹-A|an inscriptions engraved on them to have been +sepulchral monuments.[22] ThamAºd sinned in the same way as aEuro~Ad, and +suffered a like fate. They scouted the prophet a¹cAilia¸Y, refusing to +believe in him unless he should work a miracle. a¹cAilia¸Y then caused a +she-camel big with young to come forth from a rock, and bade them do her +no hurt, but one of the miscreants, QudAir the Red (al-Aa¸Ymar), hamstrung +and killed her. "Whereupon a great earthquake overtook them with a noise +of thunder, and in the morning they lay dead in their houses, flat upon +their breasts."[23] The author of this catastrophe became a byword: +Arabs say, "More unlucky than the hamstringer of the she-camel," or +"than Aa¸Ymar of ThamAºd." It should be pointed out that, unlike the +aEuro~Adites, of whom we find no trace in historical times, the ThamAºdites +are mentioned as still existing by Diodorus Siculus and Ptolemy; and +they survived down to the fifth century A.D. in the corps of _equites +Thamudeni_ attached to the army of the Byzantine emperors. + +[Sidenote: aEuro~AmAilA-q.] + +[Sidenote: a¹¬asm and JadA-s.] + +Besides aEuro~Ad and ThamAºd, the list of primitive races includes the aEuro~AmAilA-q +(Amalekites)--a purely fictitious term under which the Moslem +antiquaries lumped together several peoples of an age long past,_e.g._, +the Canaanites and the Philistines. We hear of Amalekite settlements in +the TihAima (Netherland) of Mecca and in other parts of the peninsula. +Finally, mention should be made of a¹¬asm and JadA-s, sister tribes of +which nothing is recorded except the fact of their destruction and the +events that brought it about. The legendary narrative in which these are +embodied has some archA|ological interest as showing the existence in +early Arabian society of a barbarous feudal custom, 'le droit du +seigneur,' but it is time to pass on to the main subject of this +chapter. + +[Sidenote: History of the Yoqa¹-Ainids.] + +The Pre-islamic history of the Yoqa¹-Ainids, or Southern Arabs, on which we +now enter, is virtually the history of two peoples, the SabA|ans and the +a¸¤imyarites, who formed the successive heads of a South Arabian empire +extending from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf. + +[Sidenote: The SabA|ans.] + +Saba[24] (Sheba of the Old Testament) is often incorrectly used to +denote the whole of Arabia Felix, whereas it was only one, though +doubtless the first in power and importance, of several kingdoms, the +names and capitals of which are set down in the works of Greek and Roman +geographers. However exaggerated may be the glowing accounts that we +find there of SabA|an wealth and magnificence, it is certain that Saba +was a flourishing commercial state many centuries before the birth of +Christ.[25] "Sea-traffic between the ports of East Arabia and India was +very early established, and Indian products, especially spices and rare +animals (apes and peacocks) were conveyed to the coast of aEuro~UmAin. Thence, +apparently even in the tenth century B.C., they went overland to the +Arabian Gulf, where they were shipped to Egypt for the use of the +Pharaohs and grandees.... The difficulty of navigating the Red Sea +caused the land route to be preferred for the traffic between Yemen and +Syria. From Shabwat (Sabota) in a¸¤aa¸ramawt the caravan road went to +MaaEuro(TM)rib (Mariaba), the SabA|an capital, then northward to Macoraba (the +later Mecca), and by way of Petra to Gaza on the Mediterranean."[26] The +prosperity of the SabA|ans lasted until the Indian trade, instead of +going overland, began to go by sea along the coast of a¸¤aa¸ramawt and +through the straits of BAib al-Mandab. In consequence of this change, +which seems to have taken place in the first century A.D., their power +gradually declined, a great part of the population was forced to seek +new homes in the north, their cities became desolate, and their massive +aqueducts crumbled to pieces. We shall see presently that Arabian legend +has crystallised the results of a long period of decay into a single +fact--the bursting of the Dyke of MaaEuro(TM)rib. + +[Sidenote: The a¸¤imyarites.] + +The disappearance of the SabA|ans left the way open for a younger branch +of the same stock, namely, the a¸¤imyarites, or, as they are called by +classical authors, HomeritA|, whose country lay between Saba and the sea. +Under their kings, known as TubbaaEuro~s, they soon became the dominant power +in South Arabia and exercised sway, at least ostensibly, over the +northern tribes down to the end of the fifth century A.D., when the +latter revolted and, led by Kulayb b. RabA-aEuro~a, shook off the suzerainty +of Yemen in a great battle at KhazAizAi.[27] The a¸¤imyarites never +flourished like the SabA|ans. Their maritime situation exposed them more +to attack, while the depopulation of the country had seriously weakened +their military strength. The Abyssinians--originally colonists from +Yemen--made repeated attempts to gain a foothold, and frequently managed +to instal governors who were in turn expelled by native princes. Of +these Abyssinian viceroys the most famous is Abraha, whose unfortunate +expedition against Mecca will be related in due course. Ultimately the +a¸¤imyarite Empire was reduced to a Persian dependency. It had ceased to +exist as a political power about a hundred years before the rise of +Islam. + +[Sidenote: Sources of information.] + +The chief Arabian sources of information concerning Saba and a¸¤imyar are +(1) the so-called 'a¸¤imyarite' inscriptions, and (2) the traditions, +almost entirely of a legendary kind, which are preserved in Mua¸Yammadan +literature. + +[Sidenote: The South Arabic or SabA|an inscriptions.] + +[Sidenote: Objections to the term 'a¸¤imyarite.'] + +Although the South Arabic language may have maintained itself +sporadically in certain remote districts down to the Prophet's time or +even later, it had long ago been superseded as a medium of daily +intercourse by the language of the North, the Arabic _par excellence_, +which henceforth reigns without a rival throughout the peninsula. The +dead language, however, did not wholly perish. Already in the sixth +century A.D. the Bedouin rider made his camel kneel down while he +stopped to gaze wonderingly at inscriptions in a strange character +engraved on walls of rock or fragments of hewn stone, and compared the +mysterious, half-obliterated markings to the almost unrecognisable +traces of the camping-ground which for him was fraught with tender +memories. These inscriptions are often mentioned by Mua¸Yammadan authors, +who included them in the term _Musnad_. That some Moslems--probably very +few--could not only read the South Arabic alphabet, but were also +acquainted with the elementary rules of orthography, appears from a +passage in the eighth book of HamdAinA-'s _IklA-l_; but though they might +decipher proper names and make out the sense of words here and there, +they had no real knowledge of the language. How the inscriptions were +discovered anew by the enterprise of European travellers, gradually +deciphered and interpreted until they became capable of serving as a +basis for historical research, and what results the study of them has +produced, this I shall now set forth as briefly as possible. Before +doing so it is necessary to explain why instead of 'a¸¤imyarite +inscriptions' and 'a¸¤imyarite language' I have adopted the less familiar +designations 'South Arabic' or 'SabA|an.' 'a¸¤imyarite' is equally +misleading, whether applied to the language of the inscriptions or to +the inscriptions themselves. As regards the language, it was spoken in +one form or another not by the a¸¤imyarites alone, but also by the +SabA|ans, the MinA|ans, and all the different peoples of Yemen. +Mua¸Yammadans gave the name of 'a¸¤imyarite' to the ancient language of +Yemen for the simple reason that the a¸¤imyarites were the most powerful +race in that country during the last centuries preceding Islam. Had all +the inscriptions belonged to the period of a¸¤imyarite supremacy, they +might with some justice have been named after the ruling people; but the +fact is that many date from a far earlier age, some going back to the +eighth century B.C., perhaps nearly a thousand years before the +a¸¤imyarite Empire was established. The term 'SabA|an' is less open to +objection, for it may fairly be regarded as a national rather than a +political denomination. On the whole, however, I prefer 'South Arabic' +to either. + +[Sidenote: Discovery and decipherment of the South Arabic inscriptions.] + +Among the pioneers of exploration in Yemen the first to interest himself +in the discovery of inscriptions was Carsten Niebuhr, whose +_Beschreibung von Arabien_, published in 1772, conveyed to Europe the +report that inscriptions which, though he had not seen them, he +conjectured to be 'a¸¤imyarite,' existed in the ruins of the once famous +city of aº'afAir. On one occasion a Dutchman who had turned Mua¸Yammadan +showed him the copy of an inscription in a completely unknown alphabet, +but "at that time (he says) being very ill with a violent fever, I had +more reason to prepare myself for death than to collect old +inscriptions."[28] Thus the opportunity was lost, but curiosity had been +awakened, and in 1810 Ulrich Jasper Seetzen discovered and copied +several inscriptions in the neighbourhood of aº'afAir. Unfortunately these +copies, which had to be made hastily, were very inexact. He also +purchased an inscription, which he took away with him and copied at +leisure, but his ignorance of the characters led him to mistake the +depressions in the stone for letters, so that the conclusions he came to +were naturally of no value.[29] The first serviceable copies of South +Arabic inscriptions were brought to Europe by English officers employed +on the survey of the southern and western coasts of Arabia. Lieutenant +J. R. Wellsted published the inscriptions of a¸¤ia¹Ln GhurAib and Naqb +al-a¸¤ajar in his _Travels in Arabia_ (1838). + +Meanwhile Emil RA¶diger, Professor of Oriental Languages at Halle, with +the help of two manuscripts of the Berlin Royal Library containing +'a¸¤imyarite' alphabets, took the first step towards a correct +decipherment by refuting the idea, for which De Sacy's authority had +gained general acceptance, that the South Arabic script ran from left to +right[30]; he showed, moreover, that the end of every word was marked by +a straight perpendicular line.[31] Wellsted's inscriptions, together +with those which Hulton and Cruttenden brought to light at a¹canaEuro~Ai, were +deciphered by Gesenius and RA¶diger working independently (1841). +Hitherto England and Germany had shared the credit of discovery, but a +few years later France joined hands with them and was soon leading the +way with characteristic brilliance. In 1843 Th. Arnaud, starting from +a¹canaEuro~Ai, succeeded in discovering the ruins of MaaEuro(TM)rib, the ancient SabA|an +metropolis, and in copying at the risk of his life between fifty and +sixty inscriptions, which were afterwards published in the _Journal +Asiatique_ and found an able interpreter in Osiander.[32] Still more +important were the results of the expedition undertaken in 1870 by the +Jewish scholar, Joseph HalA(C)vy, who penetrated into the Jawf, or country +lying east of a¹canaEuro~Ai, which no European had traversed before him since 24 +B.C., when A†lius Gallus led a Roman army by the same route. After +enduring great fatigues and meeting with many perilous adventures, +HalA(C)vy brought back copies of nearly seven hundred inscriptions.[33] +During the last twenty-five years much fresh material has been collected +by E. Glaser and Julius Euting, while study of that already existing by +PrA|torius, HalA(C)vy, D. H. MA1/4ller, Mordtmann, and other scholars has +substantially enlarged our knowledge of the language, history, and +religion of South Arabia in the Pre-islamic age. + +[Sidenote: The historical value of the inscriptions.] + +Neither the names of the a¸¤imyarite monarchs, as they appear in the lists +drawn up by Mua¸Yammadan historians, nor the order in which these names +are arranged can pretend to accuracy. If they are historical persons at +all they must have reigned in fairly recent times, perhaps a short while +before the rise of Islam, and probably they were unimportant princes +whom the legend has thrown back into the ancient epoch, and has invested +with heroic attributes. Any one who doubts this has only to compare the +modern lists with those which have been made from the material in the +inscriptions.[34] D. H. MA1/4ller has collected the names of thirty-three +MinA|an kings. Certain names are often repeated--a proof of the existence +of ruling dynasties--and ornamental epithets are usually attached to +them. Thus we find DhamaraEuro~alA- DhirrA-a¸Y (Glorious), YathaaEuro~amar Bayyin +(Distinguished), KaribaaEuro(TM)A-l WatAir YuhanaEuro~im (Great, Beneficent), SamahaEuro~alA- +YanAºf (Exalted). Moreover, the kings bear different titles corresponding +to three distinct periods of South Arabian history, viz., 'Priest-king +of Saba' (_Mukarrib Saba_),[35] 'King of Saba' (_Malk Saba_), and 'King +of Saba and RaydAin.' In this way it is possible to determine +approximately the age of the various buildings and inscriptions, and to +show that they do not belong, as had hitherto been generally supposed, +to the time of Christ, but that in some cases they are at least eight +hundred years older. + +[Sidenote: Votive inscriptions.] + +How widely the peaceful, commerce-loving people of Saba and a¸¤imyar +differed in character from the wild Arabs to whom Mua¸Yammad was sent +appears most strikingly in their submissive attitude towards their gods, +which forms, as Goldziher has remarked, the keynote of the South Arabian +monuments.[36] The prince erects a thank-offering to the gods who gave +him victory over his enemies; the priest dedicates his children and all +his possessions; the warrior who has been blessed with "due +man-slayings," or booty, or escape from death records his gratitude, and +piously hopes for a continuance of favour. The dead are conceived as +living happily under divine protection; they are venerated and sometimes +deified.[37] The following inscription, translated by Lieut.-Col. W. F. +Prideaux, is a typical example of its class:-- + + "SaaEuro~d-ilAih and his sons, BenAº Marthadim, have endowed Il-Maa¸ cubedah of + HirrAin with this tablet, because Il-Maa¸ cubedah, lord of AwwAim DhAº-aEuro~IrAin + AlAº, has favourably heard the prayer addressed to him, and has + consequently heard the BenAº Marthadim when they offered the + first-fruits of their fertile lands of Arhaa¸ cubedim in the presence of + Il-Maa¸ cubedah of HirrAin, and Il-Maa¸ cubedah of HirrAin has favourably heard the + prayer addressed to him that he would protect the plains and meadows + and this tribe in their habitations, in consideration of the frequent + gifts throughout the year; and truly his (SaaEuro~d-ilAih's) sons will + descend to Arhaa¸ cubedim, and they will indeed sacrifice in the two shrines + of aEuro~Athtor and Shamsim, and there shall be a sacrifice in HirrAin--both + in order that Il-Maa¸ cubedah may afford protection to those fields of Bin + Marthadim as well as that he may favourably listen--and in the + sanctuary of Il-Maa¸ cubedah of a¸¤arwat, and therefore may he keep them in + safety according to the sign in which SaaEuro~d-ilAih was instructed, the + sign which he saw in the sanctuary of Il-Maa¸ cubedah of NaaEuro~mAin; and as for + Il-Maa¸ cubedah of HirrAin, he has protected those fertile lands of Arhaa¸ cubedim + from hail and from all misfortune (_or_, from cold and from all + extreme heat)."[38] + +In concluding this very inadequate account of the South Arabic +inscriptions I must claim the indulgence of my readers, who are aware +how difficult it is to write clearly and accurately upon any subject +without first-hand knowledge, in particular when the results of previous +research are continually being transformed by new workers in the same +field. + +[Sidenote: Literary sources.] + +[Sidenote: HamdAinA- (aEuro 945 A.D.).] + +Fortunately we possess a considerable literary supplement to these +somewhat austere and meagre remains. Our knowledge of South Arabian +geography, antiquities, and legendary history is largely derived from +the works of two natives of Yemen, who were filled with enthusiasm for +its ancient glories, and whose writings, though different as fact and +fable, are from the present point of view equally instructive--a¸¤asan b. +Aa¸Ymad al-HamdAinA- and NashwAin b. SaaEuro~A-d al-a¸¤imyarA-. Besides an excellent +geography of Arabia (_a¹cifatu JazA-rat al-aEuro~Arab_), which has been edited +by D. H. MA1/4ller, HamdAinA- left a great work on the history and +antiquities of Yemen, entitled _al-IklA-l_ ('The Crown'), and divided +into ten books under the following heads:--[39] + + Book I. _Compendium of the beginning and origins of genealogy._ + + Book II. _Genealogy of the descendants of al-HamaysaaEuro~ b. a¸¤imyar._ + + Book III. _Concerning the pre-eminent qualities of Qaa¸Ya¹-Ain._ + + Book IV. _Concerning the first period of history down to the reign + of TubbaaEuro~ AbAº Karib._ + + Book V. _Concerning the middle period from the accession of AsaEuro~ad + TubbaaEuro~ to the reign of DhAº NuwAis._ + + Book VI. _Concerning the last period down to the rise of Islam._ + + Book VII. _Criticism of false traditions and absurd legends._ + + Book VIII. _Concerning the castles, cities, and tombs of the + a¸¤imyarites; the extant poetry of aEuro~Alqama,_[40] + _the elegies, the inscriptions, and other matters._ + + Book IX. _Concerning the proverbs and wisdom of the a¸¤imyarites in + the a¸¤imyarite language, and concerning the alphabet + of the inscriptions._ + + Book X. _Concerning the genealogy of a¸¤Aishid and BakA-l_ (the two + principal tribes of HamdAin). + +[Sidenote: NashwAin b. SaaEuro~A-d al-a¸¤imyarA- (aEuro 1177 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: aEuro~AbA-d b. Sharya.] + +[Sidenote: a¸¤amza of Ia¹LfahAin.] + +The same intense patriotism which caused HamdAinA- to devote himself to +scientific research inspired NashwAin b. SaaEuro~A-d, who descended on the +father's side from one of the ancient princely families of Yemen, to +recall the legendary past and become the laureate of a long vanished and +well-nigh forgotten empire. In 'The a¸¤imyarite Ode' (_al-Qaa¹LA¬datu +aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤imyariyya_) he sings the might and grandeur of the monarchs who +ruled over his people, and moralises in true Mua¸Yammadan spirit upon the +fleetingness of life and the futility of human ambition.[41] +Accompanying the Ode, which has little value except as a comparatively +unfalsified record of royal names,[42] is a copious historical +commentary either by NashwAin himself, as Von Kremer thinks highly +probable, or by some one who lived about the same time. Those for whom +history represents an aggregate of naked facts would find nothing to the +purpose in this commentary, where threads of truth are almost +inextricably interwoven with fantastic and fabulous embroideries. A +literary form was first given to such legends by the professional +story-tellers of early Islam. One of these, the South Arabian aEuro~AbA-d b. +Sharya, visited Damascus by command of the Caliph MuaEuro~Aiwiya I, who +questioned him "concerning the ancient traditions, the kings of the +Arabs and other races, the cause of the confusion of tongues, and the +history of the dispersion of mankind in the various countries of the +world,"[43] and gave orders that his answers should be put together in +writing and published under his name. This work, of which unfortunately +no copy has come down to us, was entitled 'The Book of the Kings and the +History of the Ancients' (_KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-MulAºk wa-akhbAiru aEuro(TM)l-MAia¸A-n_). +MasaEuro~AºdA- (aEuro 956 A.D.) speaks of it as a well-known book, enjoying a wide +circulation.[44] It was used by the commentator of the a¸¤imyarite Ode, +either at first hand or through the medium of HamdAinA-'s _IklA-l_. We may +regard it, like the commentary itself, as a historical romance in which +most of the characters and some of the events are real, adorned with +fairy-tales, fictitious verses, and such entertaining matter as a man of +learning and story-teller by trade might naturally be expected to +introduce. Among the few remaining Mua¸Yammadan authors who bestowed +special attention on the Pre-islamic period of South Arabian history, I +shall mention here only a¸¤amza of Ia¹LfahAin, the eighth book of whose +Annals (finished in 961 A.D.) provides a useful sketch, with brief +chronological details, of the TubbaaEuro~s or a¸¤imyarite kings of Yemen. + +[Sidenote: YaaEuro~rub.] + +[Sidenote: a¸¤imyar and KahlAin.] + +Qaa¸Ya¹-Ain, the ancestor of the Southern Arabs, was succeeded by his son +YaaEuro~rub, who is said to have been the first to use the Arabic language, +and the first to receive the salutations with which the Arabs were +accustomed to address their kings, viz., "_InaEuro~im a¹LabAia¸Yan_" ("Good +morning!") and "_Abayta aEuro(TM)l-laaEuro~na_" ("Mayst thou avoid malediction!"). +His grandson, aEuro~Abd Shams Saba, is named as the founder of MaaEuro(TM)rib and the +builder of the famous Dyke, which, according to others, was constructed +by LuqmAin b. aEuro~Ad. Saba had two sons, a¸¤imyar and KahlAin. Before his death +he deputed the sovereign authority to a¸¤imyar, and the task of protecting +the frontiers and making war upon the enemy to KahlAin. Thus a¸¤imyar +obtained the lordship, assumed the title AbAº Ayman, and abode in the +capital city of the realm, while KahlAin took over the defence of the +borders and the conduct of war.[45] Omitting the long series of mythical +SabA|an kings, of whom the legend has little or nothing to relate, we now +come to an event which fixed itself ineffaceably in the memory of the +Arabs, and which is known in their traditions as _Saylu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arim_, or +the Flood of the Dyke. + +[Sidenote: The Dam of MaaEuro(TM)rib.] + +Some few miles south-west of MaaEuro(TM)rib the mountains draw together leaving +a gap, through which flows the River Adana. During the summer its bed is +often dry, but in the rainy season the water rushes down with such +violence that it becomes impassable. In order to protect the city from +floods, and partly also for purposes of irrigation, the inhabitants +built a dam of solid masonry, which, long after it had fallen into ruin, +struck the imagination of Mua¸Yammad, and was reckoned by Moslems among +the wonders of the world.[46] That their historians have clothed the +bare fact of its destruction in ample robes of legendary circumstance is +not surprising, but renders abridgment necessary.[47] + +[Sidenote: Its destruction announced by portents.] + +Towards the end of the third century of our era, or possibly at an +earlier epoch,[48] the throne of MaaEuro(TM)rib was temporarily occupied by aEuro~Amr +b. aEuro~Amir MAiaEuro(TM) al-SamAi, surnamed MuzayqiyAi.[49] His wife, aº'arA-fa, was +skilled in the art of divination. She dreamed dreams and saw visions +which announced the impending calamity. "Go to the Dyke," she said to +her husband, who doubted her clairvoyance, "and if thou see a rat +digging holes in the Dyke with its paws and moving huge boulders with +its hind-legs, be assured that the woe hath come upon us." So aEuro~Amr went +to the Dyke and looked carefully, and lo, there was a rat moving an +enormous rock which fifty men could not have rolled from its place. +Convinced by this and other prodigies that the Dyke would soon burst and +the land be laid waste, he resolved to sell his possessions and depart +with his family; and, lest conduct so extraordinary should arouse +suspicion, he had recourse to the following stratagem. He invited the +chief men of the city to a splendid feast, which, in accordance with a +preconcerted plan, was interrupted by a violent altercation between +himself and his son (or, as others relate, an orphan who had been +brought up in his house). Blows were exchanged, and aEuro~Amr cried out, "O +shame! on the day of my glory a stripling has insulted me and struck my +face." He swore that he would put his son to death, but the guests +entreated him to show mercy, until at last he gave way. "But by God," he +exclaimed, "I will no longer remain in a city where I have suffered this +indignity. I will sell my lands and my stock." Having successfully got +rid of his encumbrances--for there was no lack of buyers eager to take +him at his word--aEuro~Amr informed the people of the danger with which they +were threatened, and set out from MaaEuro(TM)rib at the head of a great +multitude. Gradually the waters made a breach in the Dyke and swept over +the country, spreading devastation far and wide. Hence the proverb +_DhahabAº_ (or _tafarraqAº_) _aydA- Saba_, "They departed" (or "dispersed") +"like the people of Saba."[50] + +[Sidenote: Fall of the SabA|an Empire.] + +This deluge marks an epoch in the history of South Arabia. The waters +subside, the land returns to cultivation and prosperity, but MaaEuro(TM)rib lies +desolate, and the SabA|ans have disappeared for ever, except "to point a +moral or adorn a tale." Al-AaEuro~shAi sang:-- + + aOEL| aOEL| aOEL| + Metre _MutaqAirib_: (aOEL - -|aOEL - -|aOEL - -|aOEL -). + + "Let this warn whoever a warning will take-- + And MaaEuro(TM)rib withal, which the Dam fortified. + Of marble did a¸¤imyar construct it, so high, + The waters recoiled when to reach it they tried. + It watered their acres and vineyards, and hour + By hour, did a portion among them divide. + So lived they in fortune and plenty until + Therefrom turned away by a ravaging tide. + Then wandered their princes and noblemen through + Mirage-shrouded deserts that baffle the guide."[51] + +The poet's reference to a¸¤imyar is not historically accurate. It was only +after the destruction of the Dyke and the dispersion of the SabA|ans who +built it[52] that the a¸¤imyarites, with their capital aº'afAir (at a later +period, a¹canaEuro~Ai) became the rulers of Yemen. + +[Sidenote: The TubbaaEuro~s.] + +The first TubbaaEuro~, by which name the a¸¤imyarite kings are known to +Mua¸Yammadan writers, was a¸¤Airith, called al-RAiaEuro(TM)ish, _i.e._, the Featherer, +because he 'feathered' his people's nest with the booty which he brought +home as a conqueror from India and AdharbayjAin.[53] Of the TubbaaEuro~s who +come after him some obviously owe their place in the line of a¸¤imyar to +genealogists whose respect for the Koran was greater than their critical +acumen. Such a man of straw is a¹caaEuro~b Dhu aEuro(TM)l-Qarnayn (a¹caaEuro~b the +Two-horned). + +[Sidenote: Dhu aEuro(TM)l-Qarnayn.] + +The following verses show that he is a double of the mysterious Dhu +aEuro(TM)l-Qarnayn of Koranic legend, supposed by most commentators to be +identical with Alexander the Great[54]:-- + + "Ours the realm of Dhu aEuro(TM)l-Qarnayn the glorious, + Realm like his was never won by mortal king. + Followed he the Sun to view its setting + When it sank into the sombre ocean-spring; + Up he clomb to see it rise at morning, + From within its mansion when the East it fired; + All day long the horizons led him onward,[55] + All night through he watched the stars and never tired. + Then of iron and of liquid metal + He prepared a rampart not to be o'erpassed, + Gog and Magog there he threw in prison + Till on Judgment Day they shall awake at last."[56] + +[Sidenote: BilqA-s.] + +Similarly, among the TubbaaEuro~s we find the Queen of Sheba, whose +adventures with Solomon are related in the twenty-seventh chapter of the +Koran. Although Mua¸Yammad himself did not mention her name or lineage, +his interpreters were equal to the occasion and revealed her as BilqA-s, +the daughter of SharAia¸YA-l (Sharaa¸YbA-l). + +[Sidenote: AsaEuro~ad KAimil.] + +The national hero of South Arabian legend is the TubbaaEuro~ AsaEuro~ad KAimil, or, +as he is sometimes called, AbAº Karib. Even at the present day, says Von +Kremer, his memory is kept alive, and still haunts the ruins of his +palace at aº'afAir. "No one who reads the Ballad of his Adventures or the +words of exhortation which he addressed on his deathbed to his son +a¸¤assAin can escape from the conviction that here we have to do with +genuine folk-poetry--fragments of a South Arabian legendary cycle, the +beginnings of which undoubtedly reach back to a high antiquity."[57] I +translate here the former of these pieces, which may be entitled + + +THE BALLAD OF THE THREE WITCHES.[58] + + "Time brings to pass full many a wonder + Whereof the lesson thou must ponder. + Whilst all to thee seems ordered fair, + Lo, Fate hath wrought confusion there. + Against a thing foredoomed to be + Nor cunning nor caution helpeth thee. + Now a marvellous tale will I recite; + Trust me to know and tell it aright! + + Once on a time was a boy of Asd + Who became the king of the land at last, + Born in HamdAin, a villager; + The name of that village was Khamir. + This lad in the pride of youth defied + His friends, and they with scorn replied. + None guessed his worth till he was grown + Ready to spring. + + One morn, alone + On Hinwam hill he was sore afraid.[59] + (His people knew not where he strayed; + They had seen him only yesternight, + For his youth and wildness they held him light. + The wretches! Him they never missed + Who had been their glory had they wist). + + O the fear that fell on his heart when he + Saw beside him the witches three! + The eldest came with many a brew-- + In some was blood, blood-dark their hue. + 'Give me the cup!' he shouted bold; + 'Hold, hold!' cried she, but he would not hold. + She gave him the cup, nor he did shrink + Tho' he reeled as he drained the magic drink. + + Then the second yelled at him. Her he faced + Like a lion with anger in his breast. + 'These be our steeds, come mount,' she cried, + 'For asses are worst of steeds to ride.' + ''Tis sooth,' he answered, and slipped his flank + O'er a hyena lean and lank, + But the brute so fiercely flung him away, + With deep, deep wounds on the earth he lay. + Then came the youngest and tended him + On a soft bed, while her eyes did swim + In tears; but he averted his face + And sought a rougher resting-place: + Such paramour he deemed too base. + And him thought, in anguish lying there, + That needles underneath him were.[60] + + Now when they had marked his mien so bold, + Victory in all things they foretold. + 'The wars, O AsaEuro~ad, waged by thee + Shall heal mankind of misery. + Thy sword and spear the foe shall rue + When his gashes let the daylight through; + And blood shall flow on every hand + What time thou marchest from land to land. + By us be counselled: stay not within + Khamir, but go to aº'afAir and win! + To thee shall dalliance ne'er be dear, + Thy foes shall see thee before they hear. + Desire moved to encounter thee, + Noble prince, us witches three. + Not jest, but earnest on thee we tried, + And well didst thou the proof abide.' + + AsaEuro~ad went home and told his folk + What he had seen, but no heed they took. + On the tenth day he set out again + And fared to aº'afAir with thoughts in his brain. + There fortune raised him to high renown: + None swifter to strike ever wore a crown.[61] + + * * * * * + + Thus found we the tale in memory stored, + And Almighty is the Lord. + Praise be to God who liveth aye, + The Glorious to whom all men pray!" + +Legend makes AsaEuro~ad the hero of a brilliant expedition to Persia, where +he defeated the general sent against him by the Arsacids, and penetrated +to the Caspian Sea. On his way home he marched through the a¸¤ijAiz, and +having learned that his son, whom he left behind in MedA-na, had been +treacherously murdered, he resolved to take a terrible vengeance on the +people of that city. + + [Sidenote: AsaEuro~ad KAimil and the two Rabbins of MedA-na.] + + [Sidenote: AsaEuro~ad KAimil at Mecca.] + + [Sidenote: He seeks to establish Judaism in Yemen.] + + [Sidenote: The ordeal of fire.] + + "Now while the TubbaaEuro~ was carrying on war against them, there came to + him two Jewish Rabbins of the BanAº Qurayaº"a, men deep in knowledge, who + when they heard that he wished to destroy the city and its people, + said to him: 'O King, forbear! Verily, if thou wilt accept nothing + save that which thou desirest, an intervention will be made betwixt + thee and the city, and we are not sure but that sudden chastisement + may befall thee.' 'Why so?' he asked. They answered: ''Tis the place + of refuge of a prophet who in the after time shall go forth from the + sacred territory of Quraysh: it shall be his abode and his home.' So + the king refrained himself, for he saw that those two had a particular + knowledge, and he was pleased with what they told him. On departing + from MedA-na he followed them in their religion.[62]... And he turned + his face towards Mecca, that being his way to Yemen, and when he was + between aEuro~UsfAin and Amaj some Hudhalites came to him and said: 'O King, + shall we not guide thee to a house of ancient treasure which the kings + before thee neglected, wherein are pearls and emeralds and chrysolites + and gold and silver?' He said, 'Yea.' They said: 'It is a temple at + Mecca which those who belong to it worship and in which they pray.' + Now the Hudhalites wished to destroy him thereby, knowing that + destruction awaited the king who should seek to violate its precinct. + So on comprehending what they proposed, he sent to the two Rabbins to + ask them about the affair. They replied: 'These folk intend naught but + to destroy thee and thine army; we wot not of any house in the world + that God hath chosen for Himself, save this. If thou do that to which + they invite thee, thou and those with thee will surely perish + together.' He said: 'What then is it ye bid me do when I come there?' + They said: 'Thou wilt do as its people do--make the circuit thereof, + and magnify and honour it, and shave thy head, and humble thyself + before it, until thou go forth from its precinct.' He said: 'And what + hinders you from doing that yourselves?' 'By God,' said they, 'it is + the temple of our father Abraham, and verily it is even as we told + thee, but we are debarred therefrom by the idols which its people have + set up around it and by the blood-offerings which they make beside it; + for they are vile polytheists,' or words to the same effect. The king + perceived that their advice was good and their tale true. He ordered + the Hudhalites to approach, and cut off their hands and feet. Then he + continued his march to Mecca, where he made the circuit of the temple, + sacrificed camels, and shaved his head. According to what is told, he + stayed six days at Mecca, feasting the inhabitants with the flesh of + camels and letting them drink honey.[63]... Then he moved out with his + troops in the direction of Yemen, the two Rabbins accompanying him; + and on entering Yemen he called on his subjects to adopt the religion + which he himself had embraced, but they refused unless the question + were submitted to the ordeal of fire which at that time existed in + Yemen; for as the Yemenites say, there was in their country a fire + that gave judgment between them in their disputes: it devoured the + wrong-doer but left the injured person unscathed. The Yemenites + therefore came forward with their idols and whatever else they used as + a means of drawing nigh unto God, and the two Rabbins came forward + with their scriptures hung on their necks like necklaces, and both + parties seated themselves at the place from which the fire was wont to + issue. And the fire blazed up, and the Yemenites shrank back from it + as it approached them, and were afraid, but the bystanders urged them + on and bade them take courage. So they held out until the fire + enveloped them and consumed the idols and images and the men of + a¸¤imyar, the bearers thereof; but the Rabbins came forth safe and + sound, their brows moist with sweat, and the scriptures were still + hanging on their necks. Thereupon the a¸¤imyarites consented to adopt + the king's religion, and this was the cause of Judaism being + established in Yemen."[64] + +[Sidenote: AsaEuro~ad's farewell to his son.] + +The poem addressed to his son and successor, a¸¤assAin, which tradition has +put into his mouth, is a sort of last will and testament, of which the +greater part is taken up with an account of his conquests and with +glorification of his family and himself.[65] Nearly all that we find in +the way of maxims or injunctions suitable to the solemn occasion is +contained in the following verses:-- + + "O a¸¤assAin, the hour of thy father's death has arrived at last: + Look to thyself ere yet the time for looking is past. + Oft indeed are the mighty abased, and often likewise + Are the base exalted: such is Man who is born and dies. + Bid ye a¸¤imyar know that standing erect would I buried be, + And have my wine-skins and Yemen robes in the tomb with me.[66] + And hearken thou to my Sibyl, for surely can she foresay + The truth, and safe in her keeping is castle GhaymAin aye.[67] + +[Sidenote: The castles of Yemen.] + +[Sidenote: GhumdAin.] + +In connection with GhaymAin a few words may be added respecting the +castles in Yemen, of which the ruined skeletons rising from solitary +heights seem still to frown defiance upon the passing traveller. Two +thousand years ago, and probably long before, they were occupied by +powerful barons, more or less independent, who in later times, when the +a¸¤imyarite Empire had begun to decline, always elected, and occasionally +deposed, their royal master. Of these castles the geographer HamdAinA- has +given a detailed account in the eighth book of his great work on the +history and antiquities of Yemen entitled the _IklA-l_, or 'Crown.'[68] +The oldest and most celebrated was GhumdAin, the citadel of a¹canaEuro~Ai. It is +described as a huge edifice of twenty stories, each story ten cubits +high. The four faASec.ades were built with stone of different colours, +white, black, green, and red. On the top story was a chamber which had +windows of marble framed with ebony and planewood. Its roof was a slab +of pellucid marble, so that when the lord of GhumdAin lay on his couch he +saw the birds fly overhead, and could distinguish a raven from a kite. +At each corner stood a brazen lion, and when the wind blew it entered +the hollow interior of the effigies and made a sound like the roaring of +lions. + +[Sidenote: ZarqAiaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-YamAima.] + +The adventure of AsaEuro~ad KAimil with the three witches must have recalled +to every reader certain scenes in _Macbeth_. Curiously enough, in the +history of his son a¸¤assAin an incident is related which offers a striking +parallel to the march of Birnam Wood. a¹¬asm and JadA-s have already been +mentioned. On the massacre of the former tribe by the latter, a single +a¹¬asmite named RibAia¸Y b. Murra made his escape and took refuge with the +TubbaaEuro~ a¸¤assAin, whom he persuaded to lead an expedition against the +murderers. Now RibAia¸Y's sister had married a man of JadA-s. Her name was +ZarqAiaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-YamAima--_i.e._, the Blue-eyed Woman of YamAima--and she had +such piercing sight that she was able to descry an army thirty miles +away. a¸¤assAin therefore bade his horsemen hold in front of them leafy +branches which they tore down from the trees. They advanced thus hidden, +and towards evening, when they had come within a day's journey, ZarqAi +said to her people: "I see trees marching." No one believed her until it +was too late. Next morning a¸¤assAin fell upon them and put the whole tribe +to the sword. + +[Sidenote: a¸¤assAin murdered by his brother.] + +[Sidenote: DhAº RuaEuro~ayn.] + +The warlike expeditions to which a¸¤assAin devoted all his energy were felt +as an intolerable burden by the chiefs of a¸¤imyar, who formed a plot to +slay him and set his brother aEuro~Amr on the throne. aEuro~Amr was at first +unwilling to lend himself to their designs, but ultimately his scruples +were overcome, and he stabbed the TubbaaEuro~ with his own hand. The assassin +suffered a terrible punishment. Sleep deserted him, and in his remorse +he began to execute the conspirators one after another. There was, +however, a single chief called DhAº RuaEuro~ayn, who had remained loyal and +had done his best to save aEuro~Amr from the guilt of fratricide. Finding his +efforts fruitless, he requested aEuro~Amr to take charge of a sealed paper +which he brought with him, and to keep it in a safe place until he +should ask for it. aEuro~Amr consented and thought no more of the matter. +Afterwards, imagining that DhAº RuaEuro~ayn had joined in the fatal plot, he +gave orders for his execution. "How!" exclaimed DhAº RuaEuro~ayn, "did not I +tell thee what the crime involved?" and he asked for the sealed writing, +which was found to contain these verses-- + + "O fool to barter sleep for waking! Blest + Is he alone whose eyelids close in rest. + Hath a¸¤imyar practised treason, yet 'tis plain + That God forgiveness owes to DhAº RuaEuro~ayn.[69]" + +On reading this, aEuro~Amr recognised that DhAº RuaEuro~ayn had spoken the truth, +and he spared his life. + +[Sidenote: DhAº NuwAis.] + +[Sidenote: Massacre of the Christians in NajrAin (523 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Death of DhAº NuwAis.] + +With aEuro~Amr the TubbaaEuro~ dynasty comes to an end. The succeeding kings were +elected by eight of the most powerful barons, who in reality were +independent princes, each ruling in his strong castle over as many +vassals and retainers as he could bring into subjection. During this +period the Abyssinians conquered at least some part of the country, and +Christian viceroys were sent by the NajAishA- (Negus) to govern it in his +name. At last DhAº NuwAis, a descendant of the TubbaaEuro~ AsaEuro~ad KAimil, crushed +the rebellious barons and made himself unquestioned monarch of Yemen. A +fanatical adherent of Judaism, he resolved to stamp out Christianity in +NajrAin, where it is said to have been introduced from Syria by a holy +man called FaymiyAºn (Phemion). The a¸¤imyarites flocked to his standard, +not so much from religious motives as from hatred of the Abyssinians. +The pretended murder of two Jewish children gave DhAº NuwAis a plausible +_casus belli_. He marched against NajrAin with an overwhelming force, +entered the city, and bade the inhabitants choose between Judaism and +death. Many perished by the sword; the rest were thrown into a trench +which the king ordered to be dug and filled with blazing fire. Nearly a +hundred years later, when Mua¸Yammad was being sorely persecuted, he +consoled and encouraged his followers by the example of the Christians +of NajrAin, who suffered "_for no other reason but that they believed in +the mighty, the glorious God_."[70] DhAº NuwAis paid dearly for his +triumph. Daws DhAº ThaaEuro~labAin, one of those who escaped from the massacre, +fled to the Byzantine emperor and implored him, as the head of +Christendom, to assist them in obtaining vengeance. Justinus accordingly +wrote a letter to the NajAishA-, desiring him to take action, and ere long +an Abyssinian army, 70,000 strong, under the command of AryAia¹-, +disembarked in Yemen. DhAº NuwAis could not count on the loyalty of the +a¸¤imyarite nobles; his troops melted away. "When he saw the fate that had +befallen himself and his people, he turned to the sea and setting spurs +to his horse, rode through the shallows until he reached the deep water. +Then he plunged into the waves and nothing more of him was seen."[71] + +Thus died, or thus at any rate should have died, the last representative +of the long line of a¸¤imyarite kings. Henceforth Yemen appears in +Pre-islamic history only as an Abyssinian dependency or as a Persian +protectorate. The events now to be related form the prologue to a new +drama in which South Arabia, so far from being the centre of interest, +plays an almost insignificant rA'le.[72] + + [Sidenote: Yemen under Abyssinian rule.] + + [Sidenote: Abraha and AryAia¹-.] + + [Sidenote: Abraha viceroy of Yemen.] + + On the death of DhAº NuwAis, the Abyssinian general AryAia¹- continued + his march through Yemen. He slaughtered a third part of the males, + laid waste a third part of the land, and sent a third part of the + women and children to the NajAishA- as slaves. Having reduced the + Yemenites to submission and re-established order, he held the + position of viceroy for several years. Then mutiny broke out in the + Abyssinian army of occupation, and his authority was disputed by an + officer, named Abraha. When the rivals faced each other, Abraha said + to AryAia¹-: "What will it avail you to engage the Abyssinians in a + civil war that will leave none of them alive? Fight it out with me, + and let the troops follow the victor." His challenge being accepted, + Abraha stepped forth. He was a short, fleshy man, compactly built, a + devout Christian, while AryAia¹- was big, tall, and handsome. When + the duel began, AryAia¹- thrust his spear with the intention of + piercing Abraha's brain, but it glanced off his forehead, slitting + his eyelid, nose, and lip--hence the name, _al-Ashram_, by which + Abraha was afterwards known; and ere he could repeat the blow, a + youth in Abraha's service, called aEuro~Atwada, who was seated on a + hillock behind his master, sprang forward and dealt him a mortal + wound. Thus Abraha found himself commander-in-chief of the + Abyssinian army, but the NajAishA- was enraged and swore not to rest + until he set foot on the soil of Yemen and cut off the rebel's + forelock. On hearing this, Abraha wrote to the NajAishA-: "O King, + AryAia¹- was thy servant even as I am. We quarrelled over thy + command, both of us owing allegiance to thee, but I had more + strength than he to command the Abyssinians and keep discipline and + exert authority. When I heard of the king's oath, I shore my head, + and now I send him a sack of the earth of Yemen that he may put it + under his feet and fulfil his oath." The NajAishA- answered this act + of submission by appointing Abraha to be his viceroy.... Then Abraha + built the church (_al-QalA-s_) at SanaEuro~Ai, the like of which was not to + be seen at that time in the whole world, and wrote to the NajAishA- + that he would not be content until he had diverted thither every + pilgrim in Arabia. This letter made much talk, and a man of the BanAº + Fuqaym, one of those who arranged the calendar, was angered by what + he learned of Abraha's purpose; so he went into the church and + defiled it. When Abraha heard that the author of the outrage + belonged to the people of the Temple in Mecca, and that he meant to + show thereby his scorn and contempt for the new foundation, he waxed + wroth and swore that he would march against the Temple and lay it in + ruins. + +[Sidenote: Sayf b. DhA- Yazan.] + +[Sidenote: The Persians in Yemen (_circa_ 572 A.D.).] + +The disastrous failure of this expedition, which took place in the year +of the Elephant (570 A.D.), did not at once free Yemen from the +Abyssinian yoke. The sons of Abraha, Yaksum and MasrAºq, bore heavily on +the Arabs. Seeing no help among his own people, a noble a¸¤imyarite named +Sayf b. DhA- Yazan resolved to seek foreign intervention. His choice lay +between the Byzantine and Persian empires, and he first betook himself +to Constantinople. Disappointed there, he induced the Arab king of a¸¤A-ra, +who was under Persian suzerainty, to present him at the court of MadAiaEuro(TM)in +(Ctesiphon). How he won audience of the SAisAinian monarch, NAºshA-rwAin, +surnamed the Just, and tempted him by an ingenious trick to raise a +force of eight hundred condemned felons, who were set free and shipped +to Yemen under the command of an aged general; how they literally +'burned their boats' and, drawing courage from despair, routed the +Abyssinian host and made Yemen a satrapy of Persia[73]--this forms an +almost epic narrative, which I have omitted here (apart from +considerations of space) because it belongs to Persian rather than to +Arabian literary history, being probably based, as NA¶ldeke has +suggested, on traditions handed down by the Persian conquerors who +settled in Yemen to their aristocratic descendants whom the Arabs called +_al-AbnAi_ (the Sons) or _Banu aEuro(TM)l-Aa¸YrAir_ (Sons of the Noble). + +Leaving the once mighty kingdom of Yemen thus pitiably and for ever +fallen from its high estate, we turn northward into the main stream of +Arabian history. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE HISTORY AND LEGENDS OF THE PAGAN ARABS + + +[Sidenote: The Age of Barbarism (al-JAihiliyya).] + +Mua¸Yammadans include the whole period of Arabian history from the +earliest times down to the establishment of Islam in the term +_al-JAihiliyya_, which was used by Mua¸Yammad in four passages of the Koran +and is generally translated 'the state or ignorance' or simply 'the +Ignorance.' Goldziher, however, has shown conclusively that the meaning +attached to _jahl_ (whence _JAihiliyya_ is derived) by the Pre-islamic +poets is not so much 'ignorance' as 'wildness,' 'savagery,' and that its +true antithesis is not _aEuro~ilm_ (knowledge), but rather _a¸Yilm_, which +denotes the moral reasonableness of a civilised man. "When Mua¸Yammadans +say that Islam put an end to the manners and customs of the _JAihiliyya_, +they have in view those barbarous practices, that savage temper, by +which Arabian heathendom is distinguished from Islam and by the +abolition of which Mua¸Yammad sought to work a moral reformation in his +countrymen: the haughty spirit of the _JAihiliyya_ (_a¸Yamiyyatu +aEuro(TM)l-JAihiliyya_), the tribal pride and the endless tribal feuds, the cult +of revenge, the implacability and all the other pagan characteristics +which Islam was destined to overcome."[74] + +Our sources of information regarding this period may be classified as +follows:-- + +[Sidenote: Sources of information concerning the JAihiliyya.] + +(1) _Poems and fragments of verse_, which though not written down at the +time were preserved by oral tradition and committed to writing, for the +most part, two or three hundred years afterwards. The importance of +this, virtually the sole contemporary record of Pre-islamic history, is +recognised in the well-known saying, "Poetry is the public register of +the Arabs (_al-shiaEuro~ru dA-wAinu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arab_); thereby genealogies are kept in +mind and famous actions are made familiar." Some account of the chief +collections of old Arabian poetry will be given in the next chapter. + +(2) _Proverbs._ These are of less value, as they seldom explain +themselves, while the commentary attached to them is the work of +scholars bent on explaining them at all costs, though in many cases +their true meaning could only be conjectured and the circumstances of +their origin had been entirely forgotten. Notwithstanding this very +pardonable excess of zeal, we could ill afford to lose the celebrated +collections of Mufaa¸a¸al b. Salama (aEuro _circa_ 900 A.D.) and MaydAinA- (aEuro +1124 A.D.),[75] which contain so much curious information throwing light +on every aspect of Pre-islamic life. + +[Sidenote: _The Book of Songs._] + +(3) _Traditions and legends._ Since the art of writing was neither +understood nor practised by the heathen Arabs in general, it was +impossible that Prose, as a literary form, should exist among them. The +germs of Arabic Prose, however, may be traced back to the _JAihiliyya_. +Besides the proverb (_mathal_) and the oration (_khua¹-ba_) we find +elements of history and romance in the prose narratives used by the +rhapsodists to introduce and set forth plainly the matter of their +songs, and in the legends which recounted the glorious deeds of tribes +and individuals. A vast number of such stories--some unmistakably +genuine, others bearing the stamp of fiction--are preserved in various +literary, historical, and geographical works composed under the aEuro~AbbAisid +Caliphate, especially in the _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-AghAinA-_ (Book of Songs) by Abu +aEuro(TM)l-Faraj of Ia¹LfahAin (aEuro 967 A.D.), an invaluable compilation based on the +researches of the great Humanists as they have been well named by Sir +Charles Lyall, of the second and third centuries after the Hijra.[76] +The original writings of these early critics and scholars have perished +almost without exception, and beyond the copious citations in the +_AghAinA-_ we possess hardly any specimens of their work. "The _Book of +Songs_," says Ibn KhaldAºn, "is the Register of the Arabs. It comprises +all that they had achieved in the past of excellence in every kind of +poetry, history, music, _et cetera_. So far as I am aware, no other book +can be put on a level with it in this respect. It is the final resource +of the student of belles-lettres, and leaves him nothing further to +desire."[77] + + +[Sidenote: Scope of this chapter.] + +In the following pages I shall not attempt to set in due order and +connection the confused mass of poetry and legend in which all that we +know of Pre-islamic Arabia lies deeply embedded. This task has already +been performed with admirable skill by Caussin de Perceval in his _Essai +sur l'histoire des Arabes avant l'Islamisme_,[78] and it could serve no +useful purpose to inflict a dry summary of that famous work upon the +reader. The better course, I think, will be to select a few typical and +outstanding features of the time and to present them, wherever possible, +as they have been drawn--largely from imagination--by the Arabs +themselves. If the Arabian traditions are wanting in historical accuracy +they are nevertheless, taken as a whole, true in spirit to the Dark Age +which they call up from the dead and reverently unfold beneath our eyes. + +[Sidenote: The Arab dynasties of a¸¤A-ra and GhassAin.] + +[Sidenote: Odenathus and Zenobia.] + +About the middle of the third century of our era Arabia was enclosed on +the north and north-east by the rival empires of Rome and Persia, to +which the Syrian desert, stretching right across the peninsula, formed a +natural termination. In order to protect themselves from Bedouin +raiders, who poured over the frontier-provinces, and after laying hands +on all the booty within reach vanished as suddenly as they came, both +Powers found it necessary to plant a line of garrisons along the edge of +the wilderness. Thus the tribesmen were partially held in check, but as +force alone seemed an expensive and inefficient remedy it was decided, +in accordance with the well-proved maxim, _divide et impera_, to enlist +a number of the offending tribes in the Imperial service. Regular pay +and the prospect of unlimited plunder--for in those days Rome and Persia +were almost perpetually at war--were inducements that no true Bedouin +could resist. They fought, however, as free allies under their own +chiefs or phylarchs. In this way two Arabian dynasties sprang up--the +GhassAinids in Syria and the Lakhmites at a¸¤A-ra, west of the +Euphrates--military buffer-states, always ready to collide even when +they were not urged on by the suzerain powers behind them. The Arabs +soon showed what they were capable of when trained and disciplined in +arms. On the defeat of Valerian by the Chosroes SAibAºr I, an Arab +chieftain in Palmyra, named Udhayna (Odenathus), marched at the head of +a strong force against the conqueror, drove him out of Syria, and +pursued him up to the very walls of MadAiaEuro(TM)in, the Persian capital (265 +A.D.). His brilliant exploits were duly rewarded by the Emperor +Gallienus, who bestowed on him the title of Augustus. He was, in fact, +the acknowledged master of the Roman legions in the East when, a year +later, he was treacherously murdered. He found a worthy successor in his +wife, the noble and ambitious Zenobia, who set herself the task of +building up a great Oriental Empire. She fared, however, no better than +did Cleopatra in a like enterprise. For a moment the issue was doubtful, +but Aurelian triumphed and the proud 'Queen of the East' was led a +captive before his chariot through the streets of Rome (274 A.D.). + +These events were not forgotten by the Arabs. It flattered their +national pride to recall that once, at any rate, Roman armies had +marched under the flag of an Arabian princess. But the legend, as told +in their traditions, has little in common with reality. Not only are +names and places freely altered--Zenobia herself being confused with her +Syrian general, Zabdai--but the historical setting, though dimly visible +in the background, has been distorted almost beyond recognition: what +remains is one of those romantic adventures which delighted the Arabs of +the _JAihiliyya_, just as their modern descendants are never tired of +listening to the _Story of aEuro~Antar_ or to the _Thousand Nights and a +Night_. + +[Sidenote: MAilik the Azdite.] + +[Sidenote: JadhA-ma al-Abrash.] + +The first king of the Arab settlers in aEuro~IrAiq (Babylonia)[79] is said to +have been MAilik the Azdite, who was accidentally shot with an arrow by +his son, Sulayma. Before he expired he uttered a verse which has become +proverbial:-- + + _UaEuro~allimuhu aEuro(TM)l-rimAiyata kulla yawmin + falamma aEuro(TM)stadda sAiaEuro~iduhAº ramAinA-._ + + "I taught him every day the bowman's art, + And when his arm took aim, he pierced my heart." + +MAilik's kingdom, if it can properly be described as such, was +consolidated and organised by his son, JadhA-ma, surnamed al-Abrash (the +Speckled)--a polite euphemism for al-Abraa¹L (the Leprous). He reigned as +the vassal of ArdashA-r BAibakAin, the founder (226 A.D.) of the SAisAinian +dynasty in Persia, which thereafter continued to dominate the Arabs of +aEuro~IrAiq during the whole Pre-islamic period. JadhA-ma is the hero of many +fables and proverbs. His pride, it is said, was so overweening that he +would suffer no boon-companions except two stars called _al-FarqadAin_, +and when he drank wine he used to pour out a cup for each of them. He +had a page, aEuro~AdA- b. Naa¹Lr, with whom his sister fell in love; and in a +moment of intoxication he gave his consent to their marriage. Next +morning, furious at the trick which had been played upon him, he +beheaded the unlucky bridegroom and reviled his sister for having +married a slave. Nevertheless, when a son was born, JadhA-ma adopted the +boy, and as he grew up regarded him with the utmost affection. One day +the youthful aEuro~Amr suddenly disappeared. For a long time no trace of him +could be found, but at last he was discovered, running wild and naked, +by two brothers, MAilik and aEuro~AqA-l, who cared for him and clothed him and +presented him to the king. Overjoyed at the sight, JadhA-ma promised to +grant them whatever they asked. They chose the honour, which no mortal +had hitherto obtained, of being his boon-companions, and by this title +(_nadmAinAi JadhA-ma_) they are known to fame. + +[Sidenote: The story of ZabbAi.] + +JadhA-ma was a wise and warlike prince. In one of his expeditions he +defeated and slew aEuro~Amr b. aº'arib b. a¸¤assAin b. Udhayna, an Arab chieftain +who had brought part of Eastern Syria and Mesopotamia under his sway, +and who, as the name Udhayna indicates, is probably identical with +Odenathus, the husband of Zenobia. This opinion is confirmed by the +statement of Ibn Qutayba that "JadhA-ma sought in marriage ZabbAi, the +daughter of the King of Mesopotamia, who became queen after her +_husband_."[80]--According to the view generally held by Mua¸Yammadan +authors ZabbAi[81] was the daughter of aEuro~Amr b. aº'arib and was elected to +succeed him when he fell in battle. However this may be, she proved +herself a woman of extraordinary courage and resolution. As a safeguard +against attack she built two strong castles on either bank of the +Euphrates and connected them by a subterranean tunnel; she made one +fortress her own residence, while her sister, Zaynab, occupied the +other. + + Having thus secured her position she determined to take vengeance on + JadhA-ma. She wrote to him that the sceptre was slipping from her + feeble grasp, that she found no man worthy of her except himself, + that she desired to unite her kingdom with his by marriage, and + begged him to come and see her. JadhA-ma needed no urging. Deaf to + the warnings of his friend and counsellor, Qaa¹LA-r, he started from + Baqqa, a castle on the Euphrates. When they had travelled some + distance, Qaa¹LA-r implored him to return. "No," said JadhA-ma, "the + affair was decided at Baqqa"--words which passed into a proverb. On + approaching their destination the king saw with alarm squadrons of + cavalry between him and the city, and said to Qaa¹LA-r, "What is the + prudent course?" "You left prudence at Baqqa," he replied; "if the + cavalry advance and salute you as king and then retire in front of + you, the woman is sincere, but if they cover your flanks and + encompass you, they mean treachery. Mount al-aEuro~Aa¹LAi"--JadhA-ma's + favourite mare--"for she cannot be overtaken or outpaced, and rejoin + your troops while there is yet time." JadhA-ma refused to follow this + advice. Presently he was surrounded by the cavalry and captured. + Qaa¹LA-r, however, sprang on the mare's back and galloped thirty miles + without drawing rein. + + When JadhA-ma was brought to ZabbAi she seated him on a skin of + leather and ordered her maidens to open the veins in his arm, so + that his blood should flow into a golden bowl. "O JadhA-ma," said + she, "let not a single drop be lost. I want it as a cure for + madness." The dying man suddenly moved his arm and sprinkled with + his blood one of the marble pillars of the hall--an evil portent for + ZabbAi, inasmuch as it had been prophesied by a certain soothsayer + that unless every drop of the king's blood entered the bowl, his + murder would be avenged. + + Now Qaa¹LA-r came to aEuro~Amr b. aEuro~AdA-, JadhA-ma's nephew and son by + adoption, who has been mentioned above, and engaged to win over the + army to his side if he would take vengeance on ZabbAi. "But how?" + cried aEuro~Amr; "for she is more inaccessible than the eagle of the + air." "Only help me," said Qaa¹LA-r, "and you will be clear of + blame." He cut off his nose and ears and betook himself to ZabbAi, + pretending that he had been mutilated by aEuro~Amr. The queen believed + what she saw, welcomed him, and gave him money to trade on her + behalf. Qaa¹LA-r hastened to the palace of aEuro~Amr at a¸¤A-ra, and, + having obtained permission to ransack the royal treasury, he + returned laden with riches. Thus he gradually crept into the + confidence of ZabbAi, until one day he said to her: "It behoves every + king and queen to provide themselves with a secret passage wherein + to take refuge in case of danger." ZabbAi answered: "I have already + done so," and showed him the tunnel which she had constructed + underneath the Euphrates. His project was now ripe for execution. + With the help of aEuro~Amr he fitted out a caravan of a thousand camels, + each carrying two armed men concealed in sacks. When they drew near + the city of ZabbAi, Qaa¹LA-r left them and rode forward to announce + their arrival to the queen, who from the walls of her capital viewed + the long train of heavily burdened camels and marvelled at the slow + pace with which they advanced. As the last camel passed through the + gates of the city the janitor pricked one of the sacks with an + ox-goad which he had with him, and hearing a cry of pain, exclaimed, + "By God, there's mischief in the sacks!" But it was too late. aEuro~Amr + and his men threw themselves upon the garrison and put them to the + sword. ZabbAi sought to escape by the tunnel, but Qaa¹LA-r stood + barring the exit on the further side of the stream. She hurried + back, and there was aEuro~Amr facing her. Resolved that her enemy should + not taste the sweetness of vengeance, she sucked her seal-ring, + which contained a deadly poison, crying, "By my own hand, not by + aEuro~Amr's!"[82] + +In the kingdoms of a¸¤A-ra and GhassAin Pre-islamic culture attained its +highest development, and from these centres it diffused itself and made +its influence felt throughout Arabia. Some account, therefore, of their +history and of the circumstances which enabled them to assume a +civilising rA'le will not be superfluous.[83] + +[Sidenote: The foundation of a¸¤A-ra.] + +About the beginning of the third century after Christ a number of +Bedouin tribes, wholly or partly of Yemenite origin, who had formed a +confederacy and called themselves collectively TanAºkh, took advantage of +the disorder then prevailing in the Arsacid Empire to invade aEuro~IrAiq +(Babylonia) and plant their settlements in the fertile country west of +the Euphrates. While part of the intruders continued to lead a nomad +life, others engaged in agriculture, and in course of time villages and +towns grew up. The most important of these was a¸¤A-ra (properly, +al-a¸¤A-ra, _i.e._, the Camp), which occupied a favourable and healthy +situation a few miles to the south of KAºfa, in the neighbourhood of +ancient Babylon.[84] According to HishAim b. Mua¸Yammad al-KalbA- (aEuro 819 +or 821 A.D.), an excellent authority for the history of the Pre-islamic +period, the inhabitants of a¸¤A-ra during the reign of ArdashA-r BAibakAin, +the first SAisAinian king of Persia (226-241 A.D.), consisted of three +classes, viz.:-- + +(1) The _TanAºkh_, who dwelt west of the Euphrates between a¸¤A-ra and +AnbAir in tents of camel's hair. + +(2) The _aEuro~IbAid_, who lived in houses in a¸¤A-ra. + +(3) The _Aa¸YlAif_ (Clients), who did not belong to either of the +above-mentioned classes, but attached themselves to the people of +a¸¤A-ra and lived among them--blood-guilty fugitives pursued by the +vengeance of their own kin, or needy emigrants seeking to mend their +fortunes. + +[Sidenote: The aEuro~IbAid.] + +Naturally the townsmen proper formed by far the most influential element +in the population. HishAim, as we have seen, calls them 'the aEuro~IbAid.' His +use of this term, however, is not strictly accurate. The aEuro~IbAid are +exclusively the _Christian Arabs of a¸¤A-ra_, and are so called in +virtue of their Christianity; the pagan Arabs, who at the time when +a¸¤A-ra was founded and for long afterwards constituted the bulk of the +citizens, were never comprised in a designation which expresses the very +opposite of paganism. _aEuro~IbAid_ means 'servants,' _i.e._, those who serve +God or Christ. It cannot be determined at what epoch the name was first +used to distinguish the religious community, composed of members of +different tribes, which was dominant in a¸¤A-ra during the sixth +century. Dates are comparatively of little importance; what is really +remarkable is the existence in Pre-islamic times of an Arabian community +that was not based on blood-relationship or descent from a common +ancestor, but on a spiritual principle, namely, the profession of a +common faith. The religion and culture of the aEuro~IbAid were conveyed by +various channels to the inmost recesses of the peninsula, as will be +shown more fully in a subsequent chapter. They were the schoolmasters of +the heathen Arabs, who could seldom read or write, and who, it must be +owned, so far from desiring to receive instruction, rather gloried in +their ignorance of accomplishments which they regarded as servile. +Nevertheless, the best minds among the Bedouins were irresistibly +attracted to a¸¤A-ra. Poets in those days found favour with princes. A +great number of Pre-islamic bards visited the Lakhmite court, while +some, like NAibigha and aEuro~AbA-d b. al-Abraa¹L, made it their permanent +residence. + +[Sidenote: The Lakhmites.] + +[Sidenote: NuaEuro~mAin I. (_circa_ 400 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: The Castle of Khawarnaq.] + +[Sidenote: NuaEuro~mAin becomes an anchorite.] + +It is unnecessary to enter into the vexed question as to the origin and +rise of the Lakhmite dynasty at a¸¤A-ra. According to HishAim b. +Mua¸Yammad al-Kalbi, who gives a list of twenty kings, covering a +period of 522 years and eight months, the first Lakhmite ruler was aEuro~Amr +b. aEuro~AdA- b. Naa¹Lr b. RabA-aEuro~a b. Lakhm, the same who was adopted by +JadhA-ma, and afterwards avenged his death on Queen ZabbAi. Almost nothing +is known of his successors until we come to NuaEuro~mAin I, surnamed al-AaEuro~war +(the One-eyed), whose reign falls in the first quarter of the fifth +century. NuaEuro~mAin is renowned in legend as the builder of Khawarnaq, a +famous castle near a¸¤A-ra. It was built at the instance of the SAisAinian +king, Yazdigird I, who desired a salubrious residence for his son, +Prince BahrAim GA cubedr. On its completion, NuaEuro~mAin ordered the architect, a +'Roman' (_i.e._, Byzantine subject) named SinimmAir, to be cast headlong +from the battlements, either on account of his boast that he could have +constructed a yet more wonderful edifice "which should turn round with +the sun," or for fear that he might reveal the position of a certain +stone, the removal of which would cause the whole building to collapse. +One spring day (so the story is told) NuaEuro~mAin sat with his Vizier in +Khawarnaq, which overlooked the Fen-land (al-Najaf), with its +neighbouring gardens and plantations of palm-trees and canals, to the +west, and the Euphrates to the east. Charmed by the beauty of the +prospect, he exclaimed, "Hast thou ever seen the like of this?" "No," +replied the Vizier, "if it would but last." "And what is lasting?" asked +NuaEuro~mAin. "That which is with God in heaven." "How can one attain to it?" +"By renouncing the world and serving God, and striving after that which +He hath." NuaEuro~mAin, it is said, immediately resolved to abandon his +kingdom; on the same night he clad himself in sackcloth, stole away +unperceived, and became a wandering devotee (_sAiaEuro(TM)ia¸Y_). This legend +seems to have grown out of the following verses by aEuro~AdA- b. Zayd, the +aEuro~IbAidite:-- + + "Consider thou Khawarnaq's lord--and oft + Of heavenly guidance cometh vision clear-- + Who once, rejoicing in his ample realm, + Surveyed the broad Euphrates, and SadA-r;[85] + Then sudden terror struck his heart: he cried, + 'Shall Man, who deathward goes, find pleasure here?' + They reigned, they prospered; yet, their glory past, + In yonder tombs they lie this many a year. + At last they were like unto withered leaves + Whirled by the winds away in wild career."[86] + +The opinion of most Arabian authors, that NuaEuro~mAin embraced Christianity, +is probably unfounded, but there is reason to believe that he was well +disposed towards it, and that his Christian subjects--a Bishop of +a¸¤A-ra is mentioned as early as 410 A.D.--enjoyed complete religious +liberty. + +[Sidenote: Mundhir I.] + +[Sidenote: Mundhir III, b. MAiaEuro(TM) al-samAi.] + +[Sidenote: Rise of Kinda.] + +[Sidenote: Mazdak.] + +[Sidenote: Mundhir expelled from a¸¤A-ra by a¸¤Airith of Kinda.] + +[Sidenote: Death of Mundhir III.] + +[Sidenote: Mundhir's "Good Day and Evil Day."] + +[Sidenote: a¸¤anaº"ala and SharA-k.] + +NuaEuro~mAin's place was filled by his son Mundhir, an able and energetic +prince. The power of the Lakhmites at this time may be inferred from the +fact that on the death of Yazdigird I Mundhir forcibly intervened in the +dispute as to the Persian succession and procured the election of BahrAim +GA cubedr, whose claims had previously been rejected by the priesthood.[87] In +the war which broke out shortly afterwards between Persia and Rome, +Mundhir proved himself a loyal vassal, but was defeated by the Romans +with great loss (421 A.D.). Passing over several obscure reigns, we +arrive at the beginning of the sixth century, when another Mundhir, the +third and most illustrious of his name, ascended the throne. This is he +whom the Arabs called Mundhir b. MAiaEuro(TM) al-samAi.[88] He had a long and +brilliant reign, which, however, was temporarily clouded by an event +that cannot be understood without some reference to the general history +of the period. About 480 A.D. the powerful tribe of Kinda, whose princes +appear to have held much the same position under the TubbaaEuro~s of Yemen as +the Lakhmites under the Persian monarchs, had extended their sway over +the greater part of Central and Northern Arabia. The moving spirit in +this conquest was a¸¤ujr, surnamed Akilu aEuro(TM)l-MurAir, an ancestor of the +poet ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Qays. On his death the Kindite confederacy was broken up, +but towards the year 500 it was re-established for a brief space by his +grandson, a¸¤Airith b. aEuro~Amr, and became a formidable rival to the +kingdoms of GhassAin and a¸¤A-ra. Meanwhile, in Persia, the communistic +doctrines of Mazdak had obtained wide popularity among the lower +classes, and were finally adopted by King KawAidh himself.[89] Now, it is +certain that at some date between 505 and 529 a¸¤Airith b. aEuro~Amr, the +Kindite, invaded aEuro~IrAiq, and drove Mundhir out of his kingdom; and it +seems not impossible that, as many historians assert, the latter's +downfall was due to his anti-Mazdakite opinions, which would naturally +excite the displeasure of his suzerain. At any rate, whatever the causes +may have been, Mundhir was temporarily supplanted by a¸¤Airith, and +although he was restored after a short interval, before the accession of +AnAºshirwAin, who, as Crown Prince, carried out a wholesale massacre of +the followers of Mazdak (528 A.D.), the humiliation which he had +suffered and cruelly avenged was not soon forgotten;[90] the life and +poems of ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Qays bear witness to the hereditary hatred subsisting +between Lakhm and Kinda. Mundhir's operations against the Romans were +conducted with extraordinary vigour; he devastated Syria as far as +Antioch, and Justinian saw himself obliged to entrust the defence of +these provinces to the GhassAinid a¸¤Airith b. Jabala (a¸¤Airith +al-AaEuro~raj), in whom Mundhir at last found more than his match. From this +time onward the kings of a¸¤A-ra and GhassAin are continually raiding and +plundering each other's territory. In one of his expeditions Mundhir +captured a son of a¸¤Airith, and "immediately sacrificed him to +Aphrodite"--_i.e._, to the Arabian goddess al-aEuro~UzzAi;[91]--but on taking +the field again in 554 he was surprised and slain by stratagem in a +battle which is known proverbially as 'The Day of a¸¤alA-ma.'[92] On the +whole, the Lakhmites were a heathen and barbarous race, and these +epithets are richly deserved by Mundhir III. It is related in the +_AghAinA-_ that he had two boon-companions, KhAilid b. al-Mua¸allil and +aEuro~Amr b. MasaEuro~Aºd, with whom he used to carouse; and once, being irritated +by words spoken in wine, he gave orders that they should be buried +alive. Next morning he did not recollect what had passed and inquired as +usual for his friends. On learning the truth he was filled with remorse. +He caused two obelisks to be erected over their graves, and two days in +every year he would come and sit beside these obelisks, which were +called _al-GhariyyAin_--_i.e._, the Blood-smeared. One day was the Day of +Good (_yawmu naaEuro~imin_), and whoever first encountered him on that day +received a hundred black camels. The other day was the Day of Evil +(_yawmu buaEuro(TM)sin_), on which he would present the first-comer with the +head of a black polecat (_aº"aribAin_), then sacrifice him and smear the +obelisks with his blood.[93] The poet aEuro~AbA-d b. al-Abraa¹L is said to +have fallen a victim to this horrible rite. It continued until the doom +fell upon a certain a¸¤anaº"ala of a¹¬ayyiaEuro(TM), who was granted a year's +grace in order to regulate his affairs, on condition that he should find +a surety. He appealed to one of Mundhir's suite, SharA-k b. aEuro~Amr, who +straightway rose and said to the king, "My hand for his and my blood for +his if he fail to return at the time appointed." When the day came +a¸¤anaº"ala did not appear, and Mundhir was about to sacrifice SharA-k, +whose mourning-woman had already begun to chant the dirge. Suddenly a +rider was seen approaching, wrapped in a shroud and perfumed for burial. +A mourning-woman accompanied him. It was a¸¤anaº"ala. Mundhir +marvelled at their loyalty, dismissed them with marks of honour, and +abolished the custom which he had instituted.[94] + +[Sidenote: aEuro~Amr B. Hind (554-569 A.D.).] + +He was succeeded by his son aEuro~Amr, who is known to contemporary poets and +later historians as aEuro~Amr, son of Hind.[95] During his reign a¸¤A-ra +became an important literary centre. Most of the famous poets then +living visited his court; we shall see in the next chapter what +relations he had with a¹¬arafa, aEuro~Amr b. KulthAºm, and a¸¤Airith b. +a¸¤illiza. He was a morose, passionate, and tyrannical man. The Arabs +stood in great awe of him, but vented their spite none the less. "At +a¸¤A-ra," said DahAib al-aEuro~IjlA-, "there are mosquitoes and fever and lions +and aEuro~Amr b. Hind, who acts unjustly and wrongfully."[96] He was slain by +the chief of Taghlib, aEuro~Amr b. KulthAºm, in vengeance for an insult +offered to his mother, LaylAi. + +[Sidenote: NuaEuro~mAin AbAº QAibAºs.] + +[Sidenote: aEuro~AdA- b. Zayd.] + +It is sufficient to mention the names of QAibAºs and Mundhir IV, both of +whom were sons of Hind, and occupied the throne for short periods. We +now come to the last Lakhmite king of a¸¤A-ra, and by far the most +celebrated in tradition, NuaEuro~mAin III, son of Mundhir IV, with the _kunya_ +(name of honour) AbAº QAibAºs, who reigned from 580 to 602 or from 585 to +607. He was brought up and educated by a noble Christian family in +a¸¤A-ra, the head of which was Zayd b. a¸¤ammAid, father of the poet +aEuro~AdA- b. Zayd. aEuro~AdA- is such an interesting figure, and his fortunes were +so closely and tragically linked with those of NuaEuro~mAin, that some account +of his life and character will be acceptable. Both his father and +grandfather were men of unusual culture, who held high posts in the +civil administration under Mundhir III and his successors. Zayd, +moreover, through the good offices of a _dihqAin_, or Persian landed +proprietor, Farrukh-mAihAin by name, obtained from Khusraw AnAºshirwAin an +important and confidential appointment--that of Postmaster--ordinarily +reserved for the sons of satraps.[97] When aEuro~AdA- grew up, his father sent +him to be educated with the son of the _dihqAin_. He learned to write and +speak Persian with complete facility and Arabic with the utmost +elegance; he versified, and his accomplishments included archery, +horsemanship, and polo. At the Persian court his personal beauty, wit, +and readiness in reply so impressed AnAºshirwAin that he took him into his +service as secretary and interpreter--Arabic had never before been +written in the Imperial Chancery--and accorded him all the privileges of +a favourite. He was entrusted with a mission to Constantinople, where he +was honourably received; and on his departure the Qaya¹Lar,[98] +following an excellent custom, instructed the officials in charge of the +post-routes to provide horses and every convenience in order that the +ambassador might see for himself the extent and resources of the +Byzantine Empire. aEuro~AdA- passed some time in Syria, especially at +Damascus, where his first poem is said to have appeared. On his father's +death, which happened about this time, he renounced the splendid +position at a¸¤A-ra which he might have had for the asking, and gave +himself up to hunting and to all kinds of amusement and pleasure, only +visiting MadAiaEuro(TM)in (Ctesiphon) at intervals to perform his secretarial +duties. While staying at a¸¤A-ra he fell in love with NuaEuro~mAin's daughter +Hind, who was then eleven years old. The story as told in the _Book of +Songs_ is too curious to be entirely omitted, though want of space +prevents me from giving it in full.[99] + + [Sidenote: aEuro~AdA- meets the Princess Hind in church.] + + [Sidenote: His marriage to Hind.] + + It is related that Hind, who was one of the fairest women of her + time, went to church on Thursday of Holy Week, three days after Palm + Sunday, to receive the sacrament. aEuro~AdA- had entered the church for + the same purpose. He espied her--she was a big, tall girl--while she + was off her guard, and fixed his gaze upon her before she became + aware of him. Her maidens, who had seen him approaching, said + nothing to their mistress, because one of them called MAiriya was + enamoured of aEuro~AdA- and knew no other way of making his acquaintance. + When Hind saw him looking at herself, she was highly displeased and + scolded her handmaidens and beat some of them. aEuro~AdA- had fallen in + love with her, but he kept the matter secret for a whole year. At + the end of that time MAiriya, thinking that Hind had forgotten what + passed, described the church of ThA cubedmAi (St. Thomas) and the nuns + there and the girls who frequented it, and the beauty of the + building and of the lamps, and said to her, "Ask thy mother's leave + to go." As soon as leave was granted, MAiriya conveyed the + intelligence to aEuro~AdA-, who immediately dressed himself in a + magnificent gold-embroidered Persian tunic (_yalmaq_) and hastened + to the rendezvous, accompanied by several young men of a¸¤A-ra. When + MAiriya perceived him, she cried to Hind, "Look at this youth: by + God, he is fairer than the lamps and all things else that thou + seest." "Who is he?" she asked. "aEuro~AdA-, son of Zayd." "Do you think," + said Hind, "that he will recognise me if I come nearer?" Then she + advanced and watched him as he conversed with his friends, + outshining them all by the beauty of his person, the elegance of his + language, and the splendour of his dress. "Speak to him," said + MAiriya to her young mistress, whose countenance betrayed her + feelings. After exchanging a few words the lovers parted. MAiriya + went to aEuro~AdA- and promised, if he would first gratify her wishes, to + bring about his union with Hind. She lost no time in warning NuaEuro~mAin + that his daughter was desperately in love with aEuro~AdA- and would either + disgrace herself or die of grief unless he gave her to him. NuaEuro~mAin, + however, was too proud to make overtures to aEuro~AdA-, who on his part + feared to anger the prince by proposing an alliance. The ingenious + MAiriya found a way out of the difficulty. She suggested that aEuro~AdA- + should invite NuaEuro~mAin and his suite to a banquet, and having well + plied him with wine should ask for the hand of his daughter, which + would not then be refused. So it came to pass. NuaEuro~mAin gave his + consent to the marriage, and after three days Hind was brought home + to her husband.[100] + +[Sidenote: aEuro~AdA- secures the election of NuaEuro~mAin as King of a¸¤A-ra.] + +[Sidenote: He is imprisoned and put to death by NuaEuro~mAin.] + +On the death of Mundhir IV aEuro~AdA- warmly supported the claims of NuaEuro~mAin, +who had formerly been his pupil and was now his father-in-law, to the +throne of a¸¤A-ra. The ruse which he employed on this occasion was +completely successful, but it cost him his life.[101] The partisans of +Aswad b. Mundhir, one of the defeated candidates, resolved on vengeance. +Their intrigues awakened the suspicions of NuaEuro~mAin against the +'King-maker.' aEuro~AdA- was cast into prison, where he languished for a long +time and was finally murdered by NuaEuro~mAin when the Chosroes (ParwA(C)z, son +of Hurmuz) had already intervened to procure his release.[102] + +[Sidenote: The vengeance of Zayd b. aEuro~AdA-.] + +[Sidenote: Death of NuaEuro~mAin III.] + +aEuro~AdA- left a son named Zayd, who, on the recommendation of NuaEuro~mAin, was +appointed by Khusraw ParwA(C)z to succeed his father as Secretary for +Arabian Affairs at the court of Ctesiphon. Apparently reconciled to +NuaEuro~mAin, he was none the less bent on vengeance, and only waited for an +opportunity. The kings of Persia were connoisseurs in female beauty, and +when they desired to replenish their harems they used to circulate an +advertisement describing with extreme particularity the physical and +moral qualities which were to be sought after;[103] but hitherto they +had neglected Arabia, which, as they supposed, could not furnish any +woman possessed of these perfections. Zayd therefore approached the +Chosroes and said: "I know that NuaEuro~mAin has in his family a number of +women answering to the description. Let me go to him, and send with me +one of thy guardsmen who understands Arabic." The Chosroes complied, and +Zayd set out for a¸¤A-ra. On learning the object of his mission, NuaEuro~mAin +exclaimed with indignation: "What! are not the gazelles of Persia +sufficient for your needs?" The comparison of a beautiful woman to a +gazelle is a commonplace in Arabian poetry, but the officer accompanying +Zayd was ill acquainted with Arabic, and asked the meaning of the word +(_aEuro~A-n_ or _mahAi_) which NuaEuro~mAin had employed. "Cows," said Zayd. When +ParwA(C)z heard from his guardsman that NuaEuro~mAin had said, "Do not the cows +of Persia content him?" he could scarcely suppress his rage. Soon +afterwards he sent for NuaEuro~mAin, threw him into chains, and caused him to +be trampled to pieces by elephants.[104] + +[Sidenote: Character of NuaEuro~mAin III.] + +NuaEuro~mAin III appears in tradition as a tyrannical prince, devoted to wine, +women, and song. He was the patron of many celebrated poets, and +especially of NAibigha DhubyAinA-, who was driven from a¸¤A-ra in +consequence of a false accusation. This episode, as well as another in +which the poet Munakhkhal was concerned, gives us a glimpse into the +private life of NuaEuro~mAin. He had married his step-mother, Mutajarrida, a +great beauty in her time; but though he loved her passionately, she +bestowed her affections elsewhere. NAibigha was suspected on account of a +poem in which he described the charms of the queen with the utmost +minuteness, but Munakhkhal was the real culprit. The lovers were +surprised by NuaEuro~mAin, and from that day Munakhkhal was never seen again. +Hence the proverb, "Until Munakhkhal shall return," or, as we might say, +"Until the coming of the Coqcigrues." + +[Sidenote: NuaEuro~mAin's conversion to Christianity.] + +Although several of the kings of a¸¤A-ra are said to have been +Christians, it is very doubtful whether any except NuaEuro~mAin III deserved +even the name; the Lakhmites, unlike the majority of their subjects, +were thoroughly pagan. NuaEuro~mAin's education would naturally predispose him +to Christianity, and his conversion may have been wrought, as the legend +asserts, by his mentor aEuro~AdA- b. Zayd. + + +[Sidenote: The GhassAinids or Jafnites.] + +According to Mua¸Yammadan genealogists, the GhassAinids, both those +settled in MedA-na and those to whom the name is consecrated by popular +usage--the GhassAinids of Syria--are descended from aEuro~Amr b. aEuro~Amir +al-MuzayqiyAi, who, as was related in the last chapter, sold his +possessions in Yemen and quitted the country, taking with him a great +number of its inhabitants, shortly before the Bursting of the Dyke of +MaaEuro(TM)rib. His son Jafna is generally regarded as the founder of the +dynasty. Of their early history very few authentic facts have been +preserved. At first, we are told, they paid tribute to the a¸ajAiaEuro~ima, +a family of the stock of SalA-a¸Y, who ruled the Syrian borderlands +under Roman protection. A struggle ensued, from which the GhassAinids +emerged victorious, and henceforth we find them established in these +regions as the representatives of Roman authority with the official +titles of Patricius and Phylarch, which they and the Arabs around them +rendered after the simple Oriental fashion by 'King' (_malik_). + + [Sidenote: Ibn Qutayba's account of the GhassAinids.] + + [Sidenote: a¸¤Airith the Lame.] + + [Sidenote: Jabala b. al-Ayham.] + + The first (says Ibn Qutayba) that reigned in Syria of the family of + Jafna was a¸¤Airith b. aEuro~Amr Mua¸Yarriq, who was so called because + he burnt (_a¸Yarraqa_) the Arabs in their houses. He is a¸¤Airith + the Elder (al-Akbar), and his name of honour (_kunya_) is AbAº + Shamir. After him reigned a¸¤Airith b. AbA- Shamir, known as + a¸¤Airith the Lame (_al-AaEuro~raj_), whose mother was MAiriya of the + Ear-rings. He was the best of their kings, and the most fortunate, + and the craftiest; and in his raids he went the farthest afield. He + led an expedition against Khaybar[105] and carried off a number of + prisoners, but set them free after his return to Syria. When Mundhir + b. MAiaEuro(TM) al-samAi marched against him with an army 100,000 strong, + a¸¤Airith sent a hundred men to meet him--among them the poet LabA-d, + who was then a youth--ostensibly to make peace. They surrounded + Mundhir's tent and slew the king and his companions; then they took + horse, and some escaped, while others were slain. The GhassAinid + cavalry attacked the army of Mundhir and put them to flight. + a¸¤Airith had a daughter named a¸¤alA-ma, who perfumed the hundred + champions on that day and clad them in shrouds of white linen and + coats of mail. She is the heroine of the proverb, "The day of + a¸¤alA-ma is no secret."[106] a¸¤Airith was succeeded by his son, + a¸¤Airith the Younger. Among his other sons were aEuro~Amr b. a¸¤Airith + (called AbAº Shamir the Younger), to whom NAibigha came on leaving + NuaEuro~mAin b. Mundhir; Mundhir b. a¸¤Airith; and al-Ayham b. a¸¤Airith. + Jabala, the son of al-Ayham, was the last of the kings of GhassAin. + He was twelve spans in height, and his feet brushed the ground when + he rode on horseback. He reached the Islamic period and became a + Moslem in the Caliphate of aEuro~Umar b. al-Khaa¹-a¹-Aib, but afterwards + he turned Christian and went to live in the Byzantine Empire. The + occasion of his turning Christian was this: In passing through the + bazaar of Damascus he let his horse tread upon one of the + bystanders, who sprang up and struck Jabala a blow on the face. The + GhassAinA-s seized the fellow and brought him before AbAº aEuro~Ubayda b. + al-JarrAia¸Y,[107] complaining that he had struck their master. AbAº + aEuro~Ubayda demanded proof. "What use wilt thou make of the proof?" said + Jabala. He answered: "If he has struck thee, thou wilt strike him a + blow in return." "And shall not he be slain?" "No." "Shall not his + hand be cut off?" "No," said AbAº aEuro~Ubayda; "God has ordained + retaliation only--blow for blow." Then Jabala went forth and betook + himself to Roman territory and became a Christian; and he stayed + there all the rest of his life.[108] + +[Sidenote: a¸¤Airith the Lame.] + +The Arabian traditions respecting the dynasty of GhassAin are hopelessly +confused and supply hardly any material even for the rough historical +sketch which may be pieced together from the scattered notices in +Byzantine authors.[109] It would seem that the first unquestionable +GhassAinid prince was a¸¤Airith b. Jabala (a1/4%Ia1/2 cubedI¸I+-I, I"I?a?| I"I+-I squareda1/2+-I"I+-), who +figures in Arabian chronicles as 'a¸¤Airith the Lame,' and who was +appointed by Justinian (about 529 A.D.) to balance, on the Roman side, +the active and enterprising King of a¸¤A-ra, Mundhir b. MAiaEuro(TM) al-samAi. +During the greater part of his long reign (529-569 A.D.) he was engaged +in war with this dangerous rival, to whose defeat and death in the +decisive battle of a¸¤alA-ma we have already referred. Like all his +line, a¸¤Airith was a Christian of the Monophysite Church, which he +defended with equal zeal and success at a time when its very existence +was at stake. The following story illustrates his formidable character. +Towards the end of his life he visited Constantinople to arrange with +the Imperial Government which of his sons should succeed him, and made a +powerful impression on the people of that city, especially on the +Emperor's nephew, Justinus. Many years afterwards, when Justinus had +fallen into dotage, the chamberlains would frighten him, when he began +to rave, with "Hush! Arethas will come and take you."[110] + +[Sidenote: Mundhir b. a¸¤Airith.] + +a¸¤Airith was succeeded by his son, Mundhir, who vanquished the new King +of a¸¤A-ra, QAibAºs b. Hind, on Ascension Day, 570 A.D., in a battle which +is perhaps identical with that celebrated by the Arabs as the Battle of +aEuro~Ayn UbAigh. The refusal of the Emperor Justinus to furnish him with +money may have prevented Mundhir from pursuing his advantage, and was +the beginning of open hostility between them, which culminated about +eleven years later in his being carried off to Constantinople and forced +to reside in Sicily. + +From this time to the Persian conquest of Palestine (614 A.D.) anarchy +prevailed throughout the GhassAinid kingdom. The various tribes elected +their own princes, who sometimes, no doubt, were Jafnites; but the +dynasty had virtually broken up. Possibly it was restored by Heraclius +when he drove the Persians out of Syria (629 A.D.), as the GhassAinians +are repeatedly found fighting for Rome against the Moslems, and +according to the unanimous testimony of Arabian writers, the Jafnite +Jabala b. al-Ayham, who took an active part in the struggle, was the +last king of GhassAin. His accession may be placed about 635 A.D. The +poet a¸¤assAin b. ThAibit, who as a native of MedA-na could claim kinship +with the GhassAinids, and visited their court in his youth, gives a +glowing description of its luxury and magnificence. + + [Sidenote: a¸¤assAin b. ThAibit's picture of the GhassAinid court.] + + "I have seen ten singing-girls, five of them Greeks, singing Greek + songs to the music of lutes, and five from a¸¤A-ra who had been + presented to King Jabala by IyAis b. QabA-a¹La,[111] chanting + Babylonian airs. Arab singers used to come from Mecca and elsewhere + for his delight; and when he would drink wine he sat on a couch of + myrtle and jasmine and all sorts of sweet-smelling flowers, + surrounded by gold and silver vessels full of ambergris and musk. + During winter aloes-wood was burned in his apartments, while in + summer he cooled himself with snow. Both he and his courtiers wore + light robes, arranged with more regard to comfort than + ceremony,[112] in the hot weather, and white furs, called + _fanak_,[113] or the like, in the cold season; and, by God, I was + never in his company but he gave me the robe which he was wearing on + that day, and many of his friends were thus honoured. He treated the + rude with forbearance; he laughed without reserve and lavished his + gifts before they were sought. He was handsome, and agreeable in + conversation: I never knew him offend in speech or act."[114] + +[Sidenote: GhassAinid civilisation.] + +[Sidenote: NAibigha's encomium.] + +Unlike the rival dynasty on the Euphrates, the GhassAinids had no fixed +residence. They ruled the country round Damascus and Palmyra, but these +places were never in their possession. The capital of their nomad +kingdom was the temporary camp (in Aramaic, _a¸YA(C)rtAi_) which followed +them to and fro, but was generally to be found in the Gaulonitis +(al-JawlAin), south of Damascus. Thus under the quickening impulse of +Hellenistic culture the GhassAinids developed a civilisation far superior +to that of the Lakhmites, who, just because of their half-barbarian +character, were more closely in touch with the heathen Arabs, and +exercised a deeper influence upon them. Some aspects of this +civilisation have been indicated in the description of Jabala b. +al-Ayham's court, attributed to the poet a¸¤assAin. An earlier bard, the +famous NAibigha, having fallen out of favour with NuaEuro~mAin III of HA-ra, +fled to Syria, where he composed a splendid eulogy of the GhassAinids in +honour of his patron, King aEuro~Amr, son of a¸¤Airith the Lame. After +celebrating their warlike prowess, which he has immortalised in the +oft-quoted verse-- + + "One fault they have: their swords are blunt of edge + Through constant beating on their foemen's mail," + +he concludes in a softer strain: + + "Theirs is a liberal nature that God gave + To no men else; their virtues never fail. + Their home the Holy Land: their faith upright: + They hope to prosper if good deeds avail. + Zoned in fair wise and delicately shod, + They keep the Feast of Palms, when maidens pale, + Whose scarlet silken robes on trestles hang, + Greet them with odorous boughs and bid them hail. + Long lapped in ease tho' bred to war, their limbs + Green-shouldered vestments, white-sleeved, richly veil."[115] + +[Sidenote: Character of Bedouin history.] + +The Pre-islamic history of the Bedouins is mainly a record of wars, or +rather guerillas, in which a great deal of raiding and plundering was +accomplished, as a rule without serious bloodshed. There was no lack of +shouting; volleys of vaunts and satires were exchanged; camels and women +were carried off; many skirmishes took place but few pitched battles: it +was an Homeric kind of warfare that called forth individual exertion in +the highest degree, and gave ample opportunity for single-handed deeds +of heroism. "To write a true history of such Bedouin feuds is well-nigh +impossible. As comparatively trustworthy sources of information we have +only the poems and fragments of verse which have been preserved. +According to SuyAºa¹-A-, the Arabian traditionists used to demand from +any Bedouin who related an historical event the citation of some verses +in its support; and, in effect, all such stories that have come down to +us are crystallised round the poems. Unfortunately these crystals are +seldom pure. It appears only too often that the narratives have been +invented, with abundant fancy and with more or less skill, to suit the +contents of the verses."[116] But although what is traditionally related +concerning the Battle-days of the Arabs (_AyyAimu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arab_) is to a +large extent legendary, it describes with sufficient fidelity how tribal +hostilities generally arose and the way in which they were conducted. +The following account of the War of BasAºs--the most famous of those +waged in Pre-islamic times--will serve to illustrate this important +phase of Bedouin life.[117] + +[Sidenote: War of BasAºs.] + +Towards the end of the fifth century A.D. Kulayb, son of RabA-aEuro~a, was +chieftain of the BanAº Taghlib, a powerful tribe which divided with their +kinsmen, the BanAº Bakr, a vast tract in north-eastern Arabia, extending +from the central highlands to the Syrian desert. His victory at the head +of a confederacy formed by these tribes and others over the Yemenite +Arabs made him the first man in the peninsula, and soon his pride became +no less proverbial than his power.[118] He was married to a¸¤alA-la, +daughter of Murra, of the BanAº Bakr, and dwelt in a 'preserve' +(_a¸YimAi_), where he claimed the sole right of pasturage for himself +and the sons of Murra. His brother-in-law, JassAis, had an aunt named +BasAºs. While living under her nephew's protection she was joined by a +certain SaaEuro~d, a client of her own people, who brought with him a +she-camel called SarAibi. + +[Sidenote: Kulayb b. RabA-aEuro~a and JassAis b. Murra.] + +[Sidenote: The wounding of SaaEuro~d's she-camel.] + +Now it happened that Kulayb, seeing a lark's nest as he walked on his +land, said to the bird, which was screaming and fluttering distressfully +over her eggs, "Have no fear! I will protect thee." But a short time +afterwards he observed in that place the track of a strange camel and +found the eggs trodden to pieces. Next morning when he and JassAis +visited the pasture ground, Kulayb noticed the she-camel of SaaEuro~d among +his brother-in-law's herd, and conjecturing that she had destroyed the +eggs, cried out to JassAis, "Take heed thou! Take heed! I have pondered +something, and were I sure, I would have done it! May this she-camel +never come here again with this herd!" "By God," exclaimed JassAis, "but +she shall come!" and when Kulayb threatened to pierce her udder with an +arrow, JassAis retorted, "By the stones of WAiaEuro(TM)il,[119] fix thine arrow in +her udder and I will fix my lance in thy backbone!" Then he drove his +camels forth from the _a¸YimAi_. Kulayb went home in a passion, and said +to his wife, who sought to discover what ailed him, "Knowest thou any +one who durst defend his client against me?" She answered, "No one +except my brother JassAis, if he has given his word." She did what she +could to prevent the quarrel going further, and for a time nothing worse +than taunts passed between them, until one day Kulayb went to look after +his camels which were being taken to water, and were followed by those +of JassAis. While the latter were waiting their turn to drink, SaaEuro~d's +she-camel broke loose and ran towards the water. Kulayb imagined that +JassAis had let her go deliberately, and resenting the supposed insult, +he seized his bow and shot her through the udder. The beast lay down, +moaning loudly, before the tent of BasAºs, who in vehement indignation at +the wrong suffered by her friend, SaaEuro~d, tore the veil from her head, +beating her face and crying, "O shame, shame!" Then, addressing SaaEuro~d, +but raising her voice so that JassAis might hear, she spoke these verses, +which are known as 'The Instigators' (_al-MuwaththibAit_):-- + +[Sidenote: Verses spoken by BasAºs.] + + "_O SaaEuro~d, be not deceived! Protect thyself! + This people for their clients have no care. + Look to my herds, I charge thee, for I doubt + Even my little daughters ill may fare. + By thy life, had I been in Minqar's house, + Thou would'st not have been wronged, my client, there! + But now such folk I dwell among that when + The wolf comes, 'tis my sheep he comes to tear!_"[120] + +[Sidenote: Kulayb murdered by JassAis.] + +JassAis was stung to the quick by the imputation, which no Arab can +endure, that injury and insult might be inflicted upon his guest-friend +with impunity. Some days afterwards, having ascertained that Kulayb had +gone out unarmed, he followed and slew him, and fled in haste to his own +people. Murra, when he heard the news, said to his son, "Thou alone must +answer for thy deed: thou shalt be put in chains that his kinsmen may +slay thee. By the stones of WAiaEuro(TM)il, never will Bakr and Taghlib be joined +together in welfare after the death of Kulayb. Verily, an evil thing +hast thou brought upon thy people, O JassAis! Thou hast slain their chief +and severed their union and cast war into their midst." So he put JassAis +in chains and confined him in a tent; then he summoned the elders of the +families and asked them, "What do ye say concerning JassAis? Here he is, +a prisoner, until the avengers demand him and we deliver him unto them." +"No, by God," cried SaaEuro~d b. MAilik b. a¸ubayaEuro~a b. Qays, "we will not +give him up, but will fight for him to the last man!" With these words +he called for a camel to be sacrificed, and when its throat was cut they +swore to one another over the blood. Thereupon Murra said to JassAis:-- + + [Sidenote: Verses of Murra, the father of JassAis.] + + "_If war thou hast wrought and brought on me, + No laggard I with arms outworn. + Whate'er befall, I make to flow + The baneful cups of death at morn._ + + _When spear-points clash, my wounded man + Is forced to drag the spear he stained. + Never I reck, if war must be, + What Destiny hath preordained._ + + _Donning war's harness, I will strive + To fend from me the shame that sears. + Already I thrill and my lust is roused + For the shock of the horsemen against the spears!_"[121] + +[Sidenote: Outbreak of war between Taghlib and Bakr.] + +Thus began the War of BasAºs between Taghlib on the one side and the clan +of ShaybAin, to which Murra belonged, on the other; for at first the +remaining divisions of Bakr held aloof from the struggle, considering +ShaybAin to be clearly in the wrong. The latter were reduced to dire +straits, when an event occurred which caused the Bakrites to rise as one +man on behalf of their fellows. a¸¤Airith b.aEuro~UbAid, a famous knight of +Bakr, had refused to take part in the contest, saying in words which +became proverbial, "I have neither camel nor she-camel in it," _i.e._, +"it is no affair of mine." One day his nephew, Bujayr, encountered +Kulayb's brother, Muhalhil, on whom the mantle of the murdered chief had +fallen; and Muhalhil, struck with admiration for the youth's comeliness, +asked him who he was. "Bujayr," said he, "the son of aEuro~Amr, the son of +aEuro~UbAid." "And who is thy uncle on the mother's side?" "My mother is a +captive" (for he would not name an uncle of whom he had no honour). Then +Muhalhil slew him, crying, "Pay for Kulayb's shoe-latchet!" On hearing +this, a¸¤Airith sent a message to Muhalhil in which he declared that if +vengeance were satisfied by the death of Bujayr, he for his part would +gladly acquiesce. But Muhalhil replied, "I have taken satisfaction only +for Kulayb's shoe-latchet." Thereupon a¸¤Airith sprang up in wrath and +cried:-- + + "_God knows, I kindled not this fire, altho' + I am burned in it to-day. + A lord for a shoe-latchet is too dear: + To horse! To horse! Away!_"[122] + +And al-Find, of the BanAº Bakr, said on this occasion:-- + + [Sidenote: Verses by al-Find.] + + "_We spared the BanAº Hind[123] and said, 'Our brothers they remain: + It may be Time will make of us one people yet again.'_" + _But when the wrong grew manifest, and naked Ill stood plain, + And naught was left but ruthless hate, we paid them bane with bane! + As lions marched we forth to war in wrath and high disdain: + Our swords brought widowhood and tears and wailing in their train, + Our spears dealt gashes wide whence blood like water spilled amain. + No way but Force to weaken Force and mastery obtain; + 'Tis wooing contumely to meet wild actions with humane: + By evil thou may'st win to peace when good is tried in vain._"[124] + +[Sidenote: The Day of Shearing.] + +The BanAº Bakr now prepared for a decisive battle. As their enemy had the +advantage in numbers, they adopted a stratagem devised by a¸¤Airith. +"Fight them," said he, "with your women. Equip every woman with a small +waterskin and give her a club. Place the whole body of them behind +you--this will make you more resolved in battle--and wear some +distinguishing mark which they will recognise, so that when a woman +passes by one of your wounded she may know him by his mark and give him +water to drink, and raise him from the ground; but when she passes by +one of your foes she will smite him with her club and slay him." So the +Bakrites shaved their heads, devoting themselves to death, and made this +a mark of recognition between themselves and their women, and this day +was called the Day of Shearing. Now Jaa¸Ydar b. a¸ubayaEuro~a was an +ill-favoured, dwarfish man, with fair flowing love-locks, and he said, +"O my people, if ye shave my head ye will disfigure me, so leave my +locks for the first horseman of Taghlib that shall emerge from the +hill-pass on the morrow" (meaning "I will answer for him, if my locks +are spared"). On his request being granted, he exclaimed:-- + + [Sidenote: The vow of Jaa¸Ydar b. a¸ubayaEuro~a.] + + "_To wife and daughter + Henceforth I am dead: + Dust for ointment + On my hair is shed._ + + _Let me close with the horsemen + Who hither ride, + Cut my locks from me + If I stand aside!_ + + _Well wots a mother + If the son she bore + And swaddled on her bosom + And smelt him o'er,_ + + _Whenever warriors + In the mellay meet, + Is a puny weakling + Or a man complete!_"[125] + +He kept his promise but in the course of the fight he fell, severely +wounded. When the women came to him, they saw his love-locks and +imagining that he was an enemy despatched him with their clubs. + +[Sidenote: Women as combatants.] + +The presence of women on the field and the active share they took in the +combat naturally provoked the bitterest feelings. If they were not +engaged in finishing the bloody work of the men, their tongues were busy +inciting them. We are told that a daughter of al-Find bared herself +recklessly and chanted:-- + + "_War! War! War! War! + It has blazed up and scorched us sore. + The highlands are filled with its roar. + Well done, the morning when your heads ye shore!_"[126] + +The mothers were accompanied by their children, whose tender age did not +always protect them from an exasperated foe. It is related that a +horseman of the BanAº Taghlib transfixed a young boy and lifted him up on +the point of his spear. He is said to have been urged to this act of +savagery by one al-BazbAiz, who was riding behind him on the crupper. +Their triumph was short; al-Find saw them, and with a single +spear-thrust pinned them to each other--an exploit which his own verses +record. + +On this day the BanAº Bakr gained a great victory, and broke the power of +Taghlib. It was the last battle of note in the Forty Years' War, which +was carried on, by raiding and plundering, until the exhaustion of both +tribes and the influence of King Mundhir III of a¸¤A-ra brought it to an +end. + + +[Sidenote: The War of DAia¸Yis and GhabrAi.] + +Not many years after the conclusion of peace between Bakr and Taghlib, +another war, hardly less famous in tradition than the War of BasAºs, +broke out in Central Arabia. The combatants were the tribes of aEuro~Abs and +DhubyAin, the principal stocks of the BanAº Ghaa¹-afAin, and the occasion +of their coming to blows is related as follows:-- + + Qays, son of Zuhayr, was chieftain of aEuro~Abs. He had a horse called + DAia¸Yis, renowned for its speed, which he matched against GhabrAi, a + mare belonging to a¸¤udhayfa b. Badr, the chief of DhubyAin. It was + agreed that the course should be a hundred bow-shots in length, and + that the victor should receive a hundred camels. When the race began + GhabrAi took the lead, but as they left the firm ground and entered + upon the sand, where the 'going' was heavy, DAia¸Yis gradually drew + level and passed his antagonist. He was nearing the goal when some + DhubyAinites sprang from an ambuscade prepared beforehand, and drove + him out of his course, thus enabling GhabrAi to defeat him. On being + informed of this foul play Qays naturally claimed that he had won + the wager, but the men of DhubyAin refused to pay even a single + camel. Bitterly resenting their treachery, he waylaid and slew one + of a¸¤udhayfa's brothers. a¸¤udhayfa sought vengeance, and the + murder of MAilik, a brother of Qays, by his horsemen gave the signal + for war. In the fighting which ensued DhubyAin more than held their + own, but neither party could obtain a decisive advantage. Qays slew + the brothers a¸¤udhayfa and a¸¤amal-- + + "_a¸¤amal I slew and eased my heart thereby, + a¸¤udhayfa glutted my avenging brand; + But though I slaked my thirst by slaying them, + I would as lief have lost my own right hand._"[127] + + After a long period--forty years according to the traditional + computation--aEuro~Abs and DhubyAin were reconciled by the exertions of + two chieftains of the latter tribe, a¸¤Airith b. aEuro~Awf and Harim b. + SinAin, whose generous and patriotic intervention the poet Zuhayr has + celebrated. Qays went into exile. "I will not look," he said, "on + the face of any woman of DhubyAin whose father or brother or husband + or son I have killed." If we may believe the legend, he became a + Christian monk and ended his days in aEuro~UmAin. + +[Sidenote: The HijAiz.] + +Descending westward from the highlands of Najd the traveller gradually +approaches the Red Sea, which is separated from the mountains running +parallel to it by a narrow strip of coast-land, called the TihAima +(Netherland). The rugged plateau between Najd and the coast forms the +a¸¤ijAiz (Barrier), through which in ancient times the SabA|an caravans +laden with costly merchandise passed on their way to the Mediterranean +ports. Long before the beginning of our era two considerable trading +settlements had sprung up in this region, viz., Macoraba (Mecca) and, +some distance farther north, Yathrippa (Yathrib, the Pre-islamic name of +MedA-na). Of their early inhabitants and history we know nothing except +what is related by Mua¸Yammadan writers, whose information reaches back +to the days of Adam and Abraham. Mecca was the cradle of Islam, and +Islam, according to Mua¸Yammad, is the religion of Abraham, which was +corrupted by succeeding generations until he himself was sent to purify +it and to preach it anew. Consequently the Pre-islamic history of Mecca +has all been, so to speak, 'Islamised.' The Holy City of Islam is made +to appear in the same light thousands of years before the Prophet's +time: here, it is said, the Arabs were united in worship of Allah, hence +they scattered and fell into idolatry, hither they return annually as +pilgrims to a shrine which had been originally dedicated to the One +Supreme Being, but which afterwards became a Pantheon of tribal deities. +This theory lies at the root of the Mua¸Yammadan legend which I shall +now recount as briefly as possible, only touching on the salient points +of interest. + +[Sidenote: Foundation of the KaaEuro~ba.] + +In the Meccan valley--the primitive home of that portion of the Arab +race which claims descent from IsmAiaEuro~A-l (Ishmael), the son of IbrAihA-m +(Abraham) by HAijar (Hagar)--stands an irregular, cube-shaped building of +small dimensions--the KaaEuro~ba. Legend attributes its foundation to Adam, +who built it by Divine command after a celestial archetype. At the +Deluge it was taken up into heaven, but was rebuilt on its former site +by Abraham and Ishmael. While they were occupied in this work Gabriel +brought the celebrated Black Stone, which is set in the southeast corner +of the building, and he also instructed them in the ceremonies of the +Pilgrimage. When all was finished Abraham stood on a rock known to later +ages as the _MaqAimu IbrAihA-m_, and, turning to the four quarters of the +sky, made proclamation: "O ye people! The Pilgrimage to the Ancient +House is prescribed unto you. Hearken to your Lord!" And from every part +of the world came the answer: "_Labbayka aEuro(TM)llAihumma, labbayka_"--_i.e._, +"We obey, O God, we obey." + +[Sidenote: Idolatry introduced at Mecca.] + +The descendants of Ishmael multiplied exceedingly, so that the barren +valley could no longer support them, and a great number wandered forth +to other lands. They were succeeded as rulers of the sacred territory by +the tribe of Jurhum, who waxed in pride and evil-doing until the +vengeance of God fell upon them. Mention has frequently been made of the +Bursting of the Dyke of MaaEuro(TM)rib, which caused an extensive movement of +Yemenite stocks to the north. The invaders halted in the a¸¤ijAiz, and, +having almost exterminated the Jurhumites, resumed their journey. One +group, however--the BanAº KhuzAiaEuro~a, led by their chief Lua¸Yayy--settled +in the neighbourhood of Mecca. aEuro~Amr, son of Lua¸Yayy, was renowned +among the Arabs for his wealth and generosity. Ibn HishAim says: 'I have +been told by a learned man that aEuro~Amr b. Lua¸Yayy went from Mecca to +Syria on some business and when he arrived at MAiaEuro(TM)ab, in the land of +al-BalqAi, he found the inhabitants, who were aEuro~AmAilA-q, worshipping idols. +"What are these idols?" he inquired. "They are idols that send us rain +when we ask them for rain, and help us when we ask them for help." "Will +ye not give me one of them," said aEuro~Amr, "that I may take it to Arabia to +be worshipped there?" So they gave him an idol called Hubal, which he +brought to Mecca and set it up and bade the people worship and venerate +it.'[128] Following his example, the Arabs brought their idols and +installed them round the sanctuary. The triumph of Paganism was +complete. We are told that hundreds of idols were destroyed by +Mua¸Yammad when he entered Mecca at the head of a Moslem army in 8 A.H. += 629 A.D. + +[Sidenote: The Quraysh.] + +To return to the posterity of IsmAiaEuro~A-l through aEuro~AdnAin: the principal of +their descendants who remained in the a¸¤ijAiz were the Hudhayl, the +KinAina, and the Quraysh. The last-named tribe must now engage our +attention almost exclusively. During the century before Mua¸Yammad we +find them in undisputed possession of Mecca and acknowledged guardians +of the KaaEuro~ba--an office which they administered with a shrewd +appreciation of its commercial value. Their rise to power is related as +follows:-- + + [Sidenote: The story of Qua¹Layy.] + + [Sidenote: Qua¹Layy master of Mecca.] + + KilAib b. Murra, a man of Quraysh, had two sons, Zuhra and Zayd. The + latter was still a young child when his father died, and soon + afterwards his mother, FAia¹-ima, who had married again, left Mecca, + taking Zayd with her, and went to live in her new husband's home + beside the Syrian borders. Zayd grew up far from his native land, + and for this reason he got the name of Qua¹Layy--_i.e._, 'Little + Far-away.' When he reached man's estate and discovered his true + origin he returned to Mecca, where the hegemony was wholly in the + hands of the KhuzAiaEuro~ites under their chieftain, a¸¤ulayl b. + a¸¤ubshiyya, with the determination to procure the superintendence + of the KaaEuro~ba for his own people, the Quraysh, who as pure-blooded + descendants of IsmAiaEuro~A-l had the best right to that honour. By his + marriage with a¸¤ubbAi, the daughter of a¸¤ulayl, he hoped to + inherit the privileges vested in his father-in-law, but a¸¤ulayl on + his deathbed committed the keys of the KaaEuro~ba to a kinsman named AbAº + GhubshAin. Not to be baffled, Qua¹Layy made the keeper drunk and + persuaded him to sell the keys for a skin of wine--hence the + proverbs "A greater fool than AbAº GhubshAin" and "AbAº GhubshAin's + bargain," denoting a miserable fraud. Naturally the KhuzaaEuro~ites did + not acquiesce in the results of this transaction; they took up arms, + but Qua¹Layy was prepared for the struggle and won a decisive + victory. He was now master of Temple and Town and could proceed to + the work of organisation. His first step was to bring together the + Quraysh, who had previously been dispersed over a wide area, into + the Meccan valley--this earned for him the title of _al-MujammiaEuro~_ + (the Congregator)--so that each family had its allotted quarter. He + built a House of Assembly (_DAiru aEuro(TM)l-Nadwa_), where matters affecting + the common weal were discussed by the Elders of the tribe. He also + instituted and centred in himself a number of dignities in + connection with the government of the KaaEuro~ba and the administration + of the Pilgrimage, besides others of a political and military + character. Such was his authority that after his death, no less than + during his life, all these ordinances were regarded by the Quraysh + as sacred and inviolable. + +[Sidenote: Mecca in the sixth century after Christ.] + +The death of Qua¹Layy may be placed in the latter half of the fifth +century. His descendant, the Prophet Mua¸Yammad, was born about a +hundred years afterwards, in 570 or 571 A.D. With one notable exception, +to be mentioned immediately, the history of Mecca during the period thus +defined is a record of petty factions unbroken by any event of +importance. The Prophet's ancestors fill the stage and assume a +commanding position, which in all likelihood they never possessed; the +historical rivalry of the Umayyads and aEuro~AbbAisids appears in the persons +of their founders, Umayya and HAishim--and so forth. Meanwhile the +influence of the Quraysh was steadily maintained and extended. The KaaEuro~ba +had become a great national rendezvous, and the crowds of pilgrims which +it attracted from almost every Arabian clan not only raised the credit +of the Quraysh, but also materially contributed to their commercial +prosperity. It has already been related how Abraha, the Abyssinian +viceroy of Yemen, resolved to march against Mecca with the avowed +purpose of avenging upon the KaaEuro~ba a sacrilege committed by one of the +Quraysh in the church at a¹canaEuro~Ai. Something of that kind may have +served as a pretext, but no doubt his real aim was to conquer Mecca and +to gain control of her trade. + +[Sidenote: The Year of the Elephant.] + +[Sidenote: The Abyssinians at Mecca.] + +This memorable expedition[129] is said by Moslem historians to have +taken place in the year of Mua¸Yammad's birth (about 570 A.D.), usually +known as the Year of the Elephant--a proof that the Arabs were deeply +impressed by the extraordinary spectacle of these huge animals, one or +more of which accompanied the Abyssinian force. The report of Abraha's +preparations filled the tribesmen with dismay. At first they endeavoured +to oppose his march, regarding the defence of the KaaEuro~ba as a sacred +duty, but they soon lost heart, and Abraha, after defeating DhAº Nafar, a +a¸¤imyarite chieftain, encamped in the neighbourhood of Mecca without +further resistance. He sent the following message to aEuro~Abdu +aEuro(TM)l-Mua¹-a¹-alib, the Prophet's grandfather, who was at that time the +most influential personage in Mecca: "I have not come to wage war on +you, but only to destroy the Temple. Unless you take up arms in its +defence, I have no wish to shed your blood." aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Mua¹-a¹-alib +replied: "By God, we seek not war, for which we are unable. This is +God's holy House and the House of Abraham, His Friend; it is for Him to +protect His House and Sanctuary; if He abandons it, we cannot defend +it." + + [Sidenote: aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Mua¹-a¹-alib's interview with Abraha.] + + Then aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Mua¹-a¹-alib was conducted by the envoy to the + Abyssinian camp, as Abraha had ordered. There he inquired after DhAº + Nafar, who was his friend, and found him a prisoner. "O DhAº Nafar," + said he, "can you do aught in that which has befallen us?" DhAº Nafar + answered, "What can a man do who is a captive in the hands of a + king, expecting day and night to be put to death? I can do nothing + at all in the matter, but Unays, the elephant-driver, is my friend; + I will send to him and press your claims on his consideration and + ask him to procure you an audience with the king. Tell Unays what + you wish: he will plead with the king in your favour if he can." So + DhAº Nafar sent for Unays and said to him, "O Unays, aEuro~Abdu + aEuro(TM)l-Mua¹-a¹-alib is lord of Quraysh and master of the caravans of + Mecca. He feeds the people in the plain and the wild creatures on + the mountain-tops. The king has seized two hundred of his camels. + Now get him admitted to the king's presence and help him to the best + of your power." Unays consented, and soon aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Mua¹-a¹-alib + stood before the king. When Abraha saw him he held him in too high + respect to let him sit in an inferior place, but was unwilling that + the Abyssinians should see the Arab chief, who was a large man and a + comely, seated on a level with himself; he therefore descended from + his throne and sat on his carpet and bade aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Mua¹-a¹-alib + sit beside him. Then he said to his dragoman, "Ask him what he wants + of me." aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Mua¹-a¹-alib replied, "I want the king to restore + to me two hundred camels of mine which he has taken away." Abraha + said to the dragoman, "Tell him: You pleased me when I first saw + you, but now that you have spoken to me I hold you cheap. What! do + you speak to me of two hundred camels which I have taken, and omit + to speak of a temple venerated by you and your fathers which I have + come to destroy?" Then said aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Mua¹-a¹-alib: "The camels are + mine, but the Temple belongs to another, who will defend it," and on + the king exclaiming, "He cannot defend it from me," he said, "That + is your affair; only give me back my camels." + + As it is related in a more credible version, the tribes settled + round Mecca sent ambassadors, of whom aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Mua¹-a¹-alib was + one, offering to surrender a third part of their possessions to + Abraha on condition that he should spare the Temple, but he refused. + Having recovered his camels, aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Mua¹-a¹-alib returned to the + Quraysh, told them what had happened, and bade them leave the city + and take shelter in the mountains. Then he went to the KaaEuro~ba, + accompanied by several of the Quraysh, to pray for help against + Abraha and his army. Grasping the ring of the door, he cried:-- + + "_O God, defend Thy neighbouring folk even as a man his gear[130] + defendeth! + Let not their Cross and guileful plans defeat the plans Thyself + intendeth! + But if Thou make it so, 'tis well: according to Thy will it + endeth._"[131] + + [Sidenote: Rout of the Abyssinians.] + + Next morning, when Abraha prepared to enter Mecca, his elephant + knelt down and would not budge, though they beat its head with an + axe and thrust sharp stakes into its flanks; but when they turned it + in the direction of Yemen, it rose up and trotted with alacrity. + Then God sent from the sea a flock of birds like swallows every one + of which carried three stones as large as a chick-pea or a lentil, + one in its bill and one in each claw, and all who were struck by + those stones perished.[132] The rest fled in disorder, dropping down + as they ran or wherever they halted to quench their thirst. Abraha + himself was smitten with a plague so that his limbs rotted off + piecemeal.[133] + +These details are founded on the 105th chapter of the Koran, entitled +'The SAºra of the Elephant,' which may be freely rendered as follows:-- + + "Hast not thou seen the people of the Elephant, how dealt + with them the Lord? + Did not He make their plot to end in ruin abhorred?-- + When He sent against them birds, horde on horde, + And stones of baked clay upon them poured, + And made them as leaves of corn devoured." + +The part played by aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Mua¹-a¹-alib in the story is, of course, a +pious fiction designed to glorify the Holy City and to claim for the +Prophet's family fifty years before Islam a predominance which they did +not obtain until long afterwards; but equally of course the legend +reflects Mua¸Yammadan belief, and may be studied with advantage as a +characteristic specimen of its class. + +"When God repulsed the Abyssinians from Mecca and smote them with His +vengeance, the Arabs held the Quraysh in high respect and said, 'They +are God's people: God hath fought for them and hath defended them +against their enemy;' and made poems on this matter."[134] The following +verses, according to Ibn Isa¸YAiq, are by Abu aEuro(TM)l-a¹calt b. AbA- RabA-aEuro~a +of ThaqA-f; others more reasonably ascribe them to his son Umayya, a +well-known poet and monotheist (a¸¤anA-f) contemporary with +Mua¸Yammad:-- + + [Sidenote: Verses by Umayya b. Abi aEuro(TM)l-a¹calt.] + + "Lo, the signs of our Lord are everlasting, + None disputes them except the unbeliever. + He created Day and Night: unto all men + Is their Reckoning ordained, clear and certain. + Gracious Lord! He illumines the daytime + With a sun widely scattering radiance. + He the Elephant stayed at Mughammas + So that sore it limped as though it were hamstrung, + Cleaving close to its halter, and down dropped, + As one falls from the crag of a mountain. + Gathered round it were princes of Kinda, + Noble heroes, fierce hawks in the mellay. + There they left it: they all fled together, + Every man with his shank-bone broken. + Vain before God is every religion, + When the dead rise, except the a¸¤anA-fite.[135]" + +[Sidenote: Battle of DhAº QAir (circa 610 A.D.).] + +The patriotic feelings aroused in the Arabs of the a¸¤ijAiz by the +Abyssinian invasion--feelings which must have been shared to some extent +by the Bedouins generally--received a fresh stimulus through events +which occurred about forty years after this time on the other side of +the peninsula. It will be remembered that the Lakhmite dynasty at +a¸¤A-ra came to an end with NuaEuro~mAin III, who was cruelly executed by +Khusraw ParwA(C)z (602 or 607 A.D.).[136] Before his death he had deposited +his arms and other property with HAiniaEuro(TM), a chieftain of the BanAº Bakr. +These were claimed by Khusraw, and as HAiniaEuro(TM) refused to give them up, a +Persian army was sent to DhAº QAir, a place near KAºfa abounding in water +and consequently a favourite resort of the Bakrites during the dry +season. A desperate conflict ensued, in which the Persians were +completely routed.[137] Although the forces engaged were comparatively +small,[138] this victory was justly regarded by the Arabs as marking the +commencement of a new order of things; _e.g._, it is related that +Mua¸Yammad said when the tidings reached him: "This is the first day on +which the Arabs have obtained satisfaction from the Persians." The +desert tribes, hitherto overshadowed by the SAisAinian Empire and held in +check by the powerful dynasty of a¸¤A-ra, were now confident and +aggressive. They began to hate and despise the Colossus which they no +longer feared, and which, before many years had elapsed, they trampled +in the dust. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +PRE-ISLAMIC POETRY, MANNERS, AND RELIGION + + +"When there appeared a poet in a family of the Arabs, the other tribes +round about would gather together to that family and wish them joy of +their good luck. Feasts would be got ready, the women of the tribe would +join together in bands, playing upon lutes, as they were wont to do at +bridals, and the men and boys would congratulate one another; for a poet +was a defence to the honour of them all, a weapon to ward off insult +from their good name, and a means of perpetuating their glorious deeds +and of establishing their fame for ever. And they used not to wish one +another joy but for three things--the birth of a boy, the coming to +light of a poet, and the foaling of a noble mare."[139] + +As far as extant literature is concerned--and at this time there was +only a spoken literature, which was preserved by oral tradition, and +first committed to writing long afterwards--the _JAihiliyya_ or +Pre-islamic Age covers scarcely more than a century, from about 500 +A.D., when the oldest poems of which we have any record were composed, +to the year of Mua¸Yammad's Flight to MedA-na (622 A.D.), which is the +starting-point of a new era in Arabian history. The influence of these +hundred and twenty years was great and lasting. They saw the rise and +incipient decline of a poetry which most Arabic-speaking Moslems have +always regarded as a model of unapproachable excellence; a poetry rooted +in the life of the people, that insensibly moulded their minds and fixed +their character and made them morally and spiritually a nation long +before Mua¸Yammad welded the various conflicting groups into a single +organism, animated, for some time at least, by a common purpose. In +those days poetry was no luxury for the cultured few, but the sole +medium of literary expression. Every tribe had its poets, who freely +uttered what they felt and thought. Their unwritten words "flew across +the desert faster than arrows," and came home to the hearts and bosoms +of all who heard them. Thus in the midst of outward strife and +disintegration a unifying principle was at work. Poetry gave life and +currency to an ideal of Arabian virtue (_muruwwa_), which, though based +on tribal community of blood and insisting that only ties of blood were +sacred, nevertheless became an invisible bond between diverse clans, and +formed, whether consciously or not, the basis of a national community of +sentiment. + +[Sidenote: Origins of Arabian poetry] + +In the following pages I propose to trace the origins of Arabian poetry, +to describe its form, contents, and general features, to give some +account of the most celebrated Pre-islamic poets and collections of +Pre-islamic verse, and finally to show in what manner it was preserved +and handed down. + +By the ancient Arabs the poet (_shAiaEuro~ir_, plural _shuaEuro~arAi_), as his name +implies, was held to be a person endowed with supernatural knowledge, a +wizard in league with spirits (_jinn_) or satans (_shayAia¹-A-n_) and +dependent on them for the magical powers which he displayed. This view +of his personality, as well as the influential position which he +occupied, are curiously indicated by the story of a certain youth who +was refused the hand of his beloved on the ground that he was neither a +poet nor a soothsayer nor a water-diviner.[140] The idea of poetry as an +art was developed afterwards; the pagan _shAiaEuro~ir_ is the oracle of his +tribe, their guide in peace and their champion in war. It was to him +they turned for counsel when they sought new pastures, only at his word +would they pitch or strike their 'houses of hair,' and when the tired +and thirsty wanderers found a well and drank of its water and washed +themselves, led by him they may have raised their voices together and +sung, like Israel-- + + "Spring up, O well, sing ye unto it."[141] + +[Sidenote: Satire.] + +Besides fountain-songs, war-songs, and hymns to idols, other kinds of +poetry must have existed in the earliest times--_e.g._, the love-song +and the dirge. The powers of the _shAiaEuro~ir_, however, were chiefly +exhibited in Satire (_hijAi_), which in the oldest known form "introduces +and accompanies the tribal feud, and is an element of war just as +important as the actual fighting."[142] The menaces which he hurled +against the foe were believed to be inevitably fatal. His rhymes, often +compared to arrows, had all the effect of a solemn curse spoken by a +divinely inspired prophet or priest,[143] and their pronunciation was +attended with peculiar ceremonies of a symbolic character, such as +anointing the hair on one side of the head, letting the mantle hang down +loosely, and wearing only one sandal.[144] Satire retained something of +these ominous associations at a much later period when the magic +utterance of the _shAiaEuro~ir_ had long given place to the lampoon by which +the poet reviles his enemies and holds them up to shame. + +[Sidenote: SajaEuro~.] + +The obscure beginnings of Arabian poetry, presided over by the magician +and his familiar spirits, have left not a rack behind in the shape of +literature, but the task of reconstruction is comparatively easy where +we are dealing with a people so conservative and tenacious of antiquity +as the Arabs. Thus it may be taken for certain that the oldest form of +poetical speech in Arabia was rhyme without metre (_SajaEuro~_), or, as we +should say, 'rhymed prose,' although the fact of Mua¸Yammad's +adversaries calling him a poet because he used it in the Koran shows the +light in which it was regarded even after the invention and elaboration +of metre. Later on, as we shall see, _SajaEuro~_ became a merely rhetorical +ornament, the distinguishing mark of all eloquence whether spoken or +written, but originally it had a deeper, almost religious, significance +as the special form adopted by poets, soothsayers, and the like in their +supernatural revelations and for conveying to the vulgar every kind of +mysterious and esoteric lore. + +[Sidenote: Rajaz.] + +Out of _SajaEuro~_ was evolved the most ancient of the Arabian metres, which +is known by the name of _Rajaz_.[145] This is an irregular iambic metre +usually consisting of four or six--an Arab would write 'two or +three'--feet to the line; and it is a peculiarity of _Rajaz_, marking +its affinity to _SajaEuro~_, that all the lines rhyme with each other, +whereas in the more artificial metres only the opening verse[146] is +doubly rhymed. A further characteristic of _Rajaz_ is that it should be +uttered extempore, a few verses at a time--commonly verses expressing +some personal feeling, emotion, or experience, like those of the aged +warrior Durayd b. Zayd b. Nahd when he lay dying:-- + + "The house of death[147] is builded for Durayd to-day. + Could Time be worn out, sure had I worn Time away. + No single foe but I had faced and brought to bay. + The spoils I gathered in, how excellent were they! + The women that I loved, how fine was their array!"[148] + +[Sidenote: Other metres.] + +Here would have been the proper place to give an account of the +principal Arabian metres--the 'Perfect' (_KAimil_), the 'Ample' (_WAifir_) +the 'Long' (_a¹¬awA-l_), the 'Wide' (_Basia¹-_), the 'Light' +(_KhafA-f_), and several more--but in order to save valuable space I must +content myself with referring the reader to the extremely lucid +treatment of this subject by Sir Charles Lyall in the Introduction to +his _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, pp. xlv-lii. All the metres are +quantitative, as in Greek and Latin. Their names and laws were unknown +to the Pre-islamic bards: the rules of prosody were first deduced from +the ancient poems and systematised by the grammarian, KhalA-l b. Ahmad (aEuro +791 A.D.), to whom the idea is said to have occurred as he watched a +coppersmith beating time on the anvil with his hammer. + +[Sidenote: The oldest extant poems.] + +We have now to consider the form and matter of the oldest extant poems +in the Arabic language. Between these highly developed productions and +the rude doggerel of _SajaEuro~_ or _Rajaz_ there lies an interval, the +length of which it is impossible even to conjecture. The first poets are +already consummate masters of the craft. "The number and complexity of +the measures which they use, their established laws of quantity and +rhyme, and the uniform manner in which they introduce the subject of +their poems,[149] notwithstanding the distance which often separated one +composer from another, all point to a long previous study and +cultivation of the art of expression and the capacities of their +language, a study of which no record now remains."[150] + +[Sidenote: Their date.] + +It is not improbable that the dawn of the Golden Age of Arabian Poetry +coincided with the first decade of the sixth century after Christ. About +that time the War of BasAºs, the chronicle of which has preserved a +considerable amount of contemporary verse, was in full blaze; and the +first Arabian ode was composed, according to tradition, by Muhalhil b. +RabA-aEuro~a the Taghlibite on the death of his brother, the chieftain Kulayb, +which caused war to break out between Bakr and Taghlib. At any rate, +during the next hundred years in almost every part of the peninsula we +meet with a brilliant succession of singers, all using the same poetical +dialect and strictly adhering to the same rules of composition. The +fashion which they set maintained itself virtually unaltered down to the +end of the Umayyad period (750 A.D.), and though challenged by some +daring spirits under the aEuro~AbbAisid Caliphate, speedily reasserted its +supremacy, which at the present day is almost as absolute as ever. + +[Sidenote: The Qaa¹LA-da.] + +This fashion centres in the _Qaa¹LA-da_,[151] or Ode, the only form, or +rather the only finished type of poetry that existed in what, for want +of a better word, may be called the classical period of Arabic +literature. The verses (_abyAit_, singular _bayt_) of which it is built +vary in number, but are seldom less than twenty-five or more than a +hundred; and the arrangement of the rhymes is such that, while the two +halves of the first verse rhyme together, the same rhyme is repeated +once in the second, third, and every following verse to the end of the +poem. Blank-verse is alien to the Arabs, who regard rhyme not as a +pleasing ornament or a "troublesome bondage," but as a vital organ of +poetry. The rhymes are usually feminine, _e.g._, sa_khA-nAi_, tu_lA-nAi_, +mu_hA-nAi_; mukh_lidA-_, _yadA-_, aEuro~uw_wadA-_; ri_jAimuhAi_, si_lAimuhAi_, +a¸Ya_rAimuhAi_. To surmount the difficulties of the monorhyme demands +great technical skill even in a language of which the peculiar formation +renders the supply of rhymes extraordinarily abundant. The longest of +the _MuaEuro~allaqAit_, the so-called 'Long Poems,' is considerably shorter +than Gray's _Elegy_. An Arabian Homer or Chaucer must have condescended +to prose. With respect to metre the poet may choose any except _Rajaz_, +which is deemed beneath the dignity of the Ode, but his liberty does not +extend either to the choice of subjects or to the method of handling +them: on the contrary, the course of his ideas is determined by rigid +conventions which he durst not overstep. + + [Sidenote: Ibn Qutayba's account of the contents and divisions of + the Ode.] + + "I have heard," says Ibn Qutayba, "from a man of learning that the + composer of Odes began by mentioning the deserted dwelling-places + and the relics and traces of habitation. Then he wept and complained + and addressed the desolate encampment, and begged his companion to + make a halt, in order that he might have occasion to speak of those + who had once lived there and afterwards departed; for the dwellers + in tents were different from townsmen or villagers in respect of + coming and going, because they moved from one water-spring to + another, seeking pasture and searching out the places where rain had + fallen. Then to this he linked the erotic prelude (_nasA-b_), and + bewailed the violence of his love and the anguish of separation from + his mistress and the extremity of his passion and desire, so as to + win the hearts of his hearers and divert their eyes towards him and + invite their ears to listen to him, since the song of love touches + men's souls and takes hold of their hearts, God having put it in the + constitution of His creatures to love dalliance and the society of + women, in such wise that we find very few but are attached thereto + by some tie or have some share therein, whether lawful or + unpermitted. Now, when the poet had assured himself of an attentive + hearing, he followed up his advantage and set forth his claim: thus + he went on to complain of fatigue and want of sleep and travelling + by night and of the noonday heat, and how his camel had been reduced + to leanness. And when, after representing all the discomfort and + danger of his journey, he knew that he had fully justified his hope + and expectation of receiving his due meed from the person to whom + the poem was addressed, he entered upon the panegyric (_madA-a¸Y_), + and incited him to reward, and kindled his generosity by exalting + him above his peers and pronouncing the greatest dignity, in + comparison with his, to be little."[152] + +Hundreds of Odes answer exactly to this description, which must not, +however, be regarded as the invariable model. The erotic prelude is +often omitted, especially in elegies; or if it does not lead directly to +the main subject, it may be followed by a faithful and minute +delineation of the poet's horse or camel which bears him through the +wilderness with a speed like that of the antelope, the wild ass, or the +ostrich: Bedouin poetry abounds in fine studies of animal life.[153] The +choice of a motive is left open. Panegyric, no doubt, paid better than +any other, and was therefore the favourite; but in Pre-islamic times the +poet could generally please himself. The _qaa¹LA-da_ is no organic +whole: rather its unity resembles that of a series of pictures by the +same hand or, to employ an Eastern trope, of pearls various in size and +quality threaded on a necklace. + +The ancient poetry may be defined as an illustrative criticism of +Pre-islamic life and thought. Here the Arab has drawn himself at full +length without embellishment or extenuation. + +It is not mere chance that AbAº TammAim's famous anthology is called the +_a¸¤amAisa_, _i.e._, 'Fortitude,' from the title of its first chapter, +which occupies nearly a half of the book. 'a¸¤amAisa' denotes the +virtues most highly prized by the Arabs--bravery in battle, patience in +misfortune, persistence in revenge, protection of the weak and defiance +of the strong; the will, as Tennyson has said, + + "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." + +[Sidenote: The Ideal Arab hero.] + +[Sidenote: ShanfarAi.] + +As types of the ideal Arab hero we may take ShanfarAi of Azd and his +comrade in foray, TaaEuro(TM)abbaa¹-a Sharran. Both were brigands, outlaws, +swift runners, and excellent poets. Of the former + + "it is said that he was captured when a child from his tribe by the + BanAº SalAimAin, and brought up among them: he did not learn his origin + until he had grown up, when he vowed vengeance against his captors, + and returned to his own tribe. His oath was that he would slay a + hundred men of SalAimAin; he slew ninety-eight, when an ambush of his + enemies succeeded in taking him prisoner. In the struggle one of his + hands was hewn off by a sword stroke, and, taking it in the other, + he flung it in the face of a man of SalAimAin and killed him, thus + making ninety-nine. Then he was overpowered and slain, with one + still wanting to make up his number. As his skull lay bleaching on + the ground, a man of his enemies passed by that way and kicked it + with his foot; a splinter of bone entered his foot, the wound + mortified, and he died, thus completing the hundred."[154] + +The following passage is translated from ShanfarAi's splendid Ode named +_LAimiyyatu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arab_ (the poem rhymed in _l_ of the Arabs), in which he +describes his own heroic character and the hardships of a predatory +life:--[155] + + "And somewhere the noble find a refuge afar from scathe, + The outlaw a lonely spot where no kin with hatred burn. + Oh, never a prudent man, night-faring in hope or fear, + Hard pressed on the face of earth, but still he hath room to turn. + + To me now, in your default, are comrades a wolf untired, + A sleek leopard, and a fell hyena with shaggy mane:[156] + True comrades: they ne'er let out the secret in trust with them, + Nor basely forsake their friend because that he brought them bane. + + And each is a gallant heart and ready at honour's call, + Yet I, when the foremost charge, am bravest of all the brave; + But if they with hands outstretched are seizing the booty won, + The slowest am I whenas most quick is the greedy knave. + + By naught save my generous will I reach to the height of worth + Above them, and sure the best is he with the will to give. + Yea, well I am rid of those who pay not a kindness back, + Of whom I have no delight though neighbours to me they live. + + Know are companions three at last: an intrepid soul, + A glittering trenchant blade, a tough bow of ample size, + Loud-twanging, the sides thereof smooth-polished, a handsome bow + Hung down from the shoulder-belt by thongs in a comely wise, + That groans, when the arrow slips away, like a woman crushed + By losses, bereaved of all her children, who wails and cries." + +On quitting his tribe, who cast him out when they were threatened on all +sides by enemies seeking vengeance for the blood that he had spilt, +ShanfarAi said:-- + + "Bury me not! Me you are forbidden to bury, + But thou, O hyena, soon wilt feast and make merry, + When foes bear away mine head, wherein is the best of me, + And leave on the battle-field for thee all the rest of me. + Here nevermore I hope to live glad--a stranger + Accurst, whose wild deeds have brought his people in danger."[157] + +[Sidenote: TaaEuro(TM)abbaa¹-a Sharran.] + +ThAibit b. JAibir b. SufyAin of Fahm is said to have got his nickname, +TaaEuro(TM)abbaa¹-a Sharran, because one day his mother, who had seen him go +forth from his tent with a sword under his arm, on being asked, "Where +is ThAibit?" replied, "I know not: he put a mischief under his arm-pit +(_taaEuro(TM)abbaa¹-a sharran_) and departed." According to another version of +the story, the 'mischief' was a Ghoul whom he vanquished and slew and +carried home in this manner. The following lines, which he addressed to +his cousin, Shams b. MAilik, may be applied with equal justice to the +poet himself:-- + + "Little he complains of labour that befalls him; much he wills; + Diverse ways attempting, mightily his purpose he fulfils. + Through one desert in the sun's heat, through another in starlight, + Lonely as the wild ass, rides he bare-backed Danger noon and night. + He the foremost wind outpaceth, while in broken gusts it blows, + Speeding onward, never slackening, never staying for repose. + Prompt to dash upon the foeman, every minute watching well-- + Are his eyes in slumber lightly sealed, his heart stands sentinel. + When the first advancing troopers rise to sight, he sets his hand + From the scabbard forth to draw his sharp-edged, finely-mettled brand. + When he shakes it in the breast-bone of a champion of the foe, + How the grinning Fates in open glee their flashing side-teeth show! + Solitude his chosen comrade, on he fares while overhead + By the Mother of the mazy constellations he is led."[158] + +[Sidenote: The old Arabian points of honour.] + +These verses admirably describe the rudimentary Arabian virtues of +courage, hardness, and strength. We must now take a wider survey of the +moral ideas on which pagan society was built, and of which Pre-islamic +poetry is at once the promulgation and the record. There was no written +code, no legal or religious sanction--nothing, in effect, save the +binding force of traditional sentiment and opinion, _i.e._, Honour. +What, then, are the salient points of honour in which Virtue +(_Muruwwa_), as it was understood by the heathen Arabs, consists? + +[Sidenote: Courage.] + +Courage has been already mentioned. Arab courage is like that of the +ancient Greeks, "dependent upon excitement and vanishing quickly before +depression and delay."[159] Hence the Arab hero is defiant and boastful, +as he appears, _e.g._, in the _MuaEuro~allaqa_ of aEuro~Amr b. KulthAºm. When there +is little to lose by flight he will ride off unashamed; but he will +fight to the death for his womenfolk, who in serious warfare often +accompanied the tribe and were stationed behind the line of battle.[160] + + "When I saw the hard earth hollowed + By our women's flying footprints, + And LamA-s her face uncovered + Like the full moon of the skies, + Showing forth her hidden beauties-- + Then the matter was grim earnest: + I engaged their chief in combat, + Seeing help no other wise."[161] + +The tribal constitution was a democracy guided by its chief men, who +derived their authority from noble blood, noble character, wealth, +wisdom, and experience. As a Bedouin poet has said in homely language-- + + "A folk that hath no chiefs must soon decay, + And chiefs it hath not when the vulgar sway. + Only with poles the tent is reared at last, + And poles it hath not save the pegs hold fast + But when the pegs and poles are once combined, + Then stands accomplished that which was designed."[162] + +[Sidenote: Loyalty.] + +The chiefs, however, durst not lay commands or penalties on their +fellow-tribesmen. Every man ruled himself, and was free to rebuke +presumption in others. "_If you are our lord_" (_i.e._, if you act +discreetly as a _sayyid_ should), "_you will lord over us, but if you +are a prey to pride, go and be proud!_" (_i.e._, we will have nothing to +do with you).[163] Loyalty in the mouth of a pagan Arab did not mean +allegiance to his superiors, but faithful devotion to his equals; and it +was closely connected with the idea of kinship. The family and the +tribe, which included strangers living in the tribe under a covenant of +protection--to defend these, individually and collectively, was a sacred +duty. Honour required that a man should stand by his own people through +thick and thin. + + "I am of Ghaziyya: if she be in error, then I will err; + And if Ghaziyya be guided right, I go right with her!" + +sang Durayd b. a¹cimma, who had followed his kin, against his better +judgment, in a foray which cost the life of his brother aEuro~AbdullAih.[164] +If kinsmen seek help it should be given promptly, without respect to the +merits of the case; if they do wrong it should be suffered as long as +possible before resorting to violence.[165] The utilitarian view of +friendship is often emphasised, as in these verses:-- + + Take for thy brother whom thou wilt in the days of peace, + But know that when fighting comes thy kinsman alone is near. + Thy true friend thy kinsman is, who answers thy call for aid + With good will, when deeply drenched in bloodshed are sword and spear. + Oh, never forsake thy kinsman e'en tho' he do thee wrong, + For what he hath marred he mends thereafter and makes sincere."[166] + +At the same time, notwithstanding their shrewd common sense, nothing is +more characteristic of the Arabs--heathen and Mua¸Yammadan alike--than +the chivalrous devotion and disinterested self-sacrifice of which they +are capable on behalf of their friends. In particular, the ancient +poetry affords proof that they regarded with horror any breach of the +solemn covenant plighted between patron and client or host and guest. +This topic might be illustrated by many striking examples, but one will +suffice:-- + + [Sidenote: The story of SamawaEuro(TM)al b. aEuro~AdiyAi.] + + The Arabs say: "_AwfAi mina aEuro(TM)l-SamawaEuro(TM)ali_"--"More loyal than + al-SamawaEuro(TM)al"; or _WafAiun ka-wafAiaEuro(TM)i aEuro(TM)l-SamawaEuro(TM)ali_"--" A loyalty like + that of al-SamawaEuro(TM)al." These proverbs refer to SamawaEuro(TM)al b. aEuro~AdiyAi, an + Arab of Jewish descent and Jew by religion, who lived in his castle, + called al-Ablaq (The Piebald), at TaymAi, some distance north of + MedA-na. There he dug a well of sweet water, and would entertain the + Arabs who used to alight beside it; and they supplied themselves + with provisions from his castle and set up a market. It is related + that the poet ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Qays, while fleeing, hotly pursued by his + enemies, towards Syria, took refuge with SamawaEuro(TM)al, and before + proceeding on his way left in charge of his host five coats of mail + which had been handed down as heirlooms by the princes of his + family. Then he departed, and in due course arrived at + Constantinople, where he besought the Byzantine emperor to help him + to recover his lost kingdom. His appeal was not unsuccessful, but he + died on the way home. Meanwhile his old enemy, the King of a¸¤A-ra, + sent an army under a¸¤Airith b. aº'Ailim against SamawaEuro(TM)al, demanding + that he should surrender the coats of mail. SamawaEuro(TM)al refused to + betray the trust committed to him, and defended himself in his + castle. The besiegers, however, captured his son, who had gone out + to hunt. a¸¤Airith asked SamawaEuro(TM)al: "Dost thou know this lad?" "Yes, + he is my son." "Then wilt thou deliver what is in thy possession, or + shall I slay him?" SamawaEuro(TM)al answered: "Do with him as thou wilt. I + will never break my pledge nor give up the property of my + guest-friend." So a¸¤Airith smote the lad with his sword and clove + him through the middle. Then he raised the siege. And SamawaEuro(TM)al said + thereupon:-- + + "_I was true with the mail-coats of the Kindite,[167] + I am true though many a one is blamed for treason. + Once did aEuro~AdiyAi, my father, exhort me: + 'O SamawaEuro(TM)al, ne'er destroy what I have builded.' + For me built aEuro~AdiyAi a strong-walled castle + With a well where I draw water at pleasure; + So high, the eagle slipping back is baffled. + When wrong befalls me I endure not tamely._"[168] + +The Bedouin ideal of generosity and hospitality is personified in +a¸¤Aitim of a¹¬ayyiaEuro(TM), of whom many anecdotes are told. We may learn +from the following one how extravagant are an Arab's notions on this +subject:-- + + [Sidenote: a¸¤Aitim of a¹¬ayyiaEuro(TM).] + + When a¸¤Aitim's mother was pregnant she dreamed that she was asked, + "Which dost thou prefer?--a generous son called a¸¤Aitim, or ten + like those of other folk, lions in the hour of battle, brave lads + and strong of limb?" and that she answered, "a¸¤Aitim." Now, when + a¸¤Aitim grew up he was wont to take out his food, and if he found + any one to share it he would eat, otherwise he threw it away. His + father, seeing that he wasted his food, gave him a slave-girl and a + mare with her foal and sent him to herd the camels. On reaching the + pasture, a¸¤Aitim began to search for his fellows, but none was in + sight; then he came to the road, but found no one there. While he + was thus engaged he descried a party of riders on the road and went + to meet them. "O youth," said they, "hast thou aught to entertain us + withal?" He answered: "Do ye ask me of entertainment when ye see the + camels?" Now, these riders were aEuro~AbA-d b. al-Abras and Bishr b. AbA- + KhAizim and NAibigha al-DhubyAinA-, and they were on their way to King + NuaEuro~mAin.[169] a¸¤Aitim slaughtered three camels for them, whereupon + aEuro~AbA-d said: "We desired no entertainment save milk, but if thou must + needs charge thyself with something more, a single young she-camel + would have sufficed us." a¸¤Aitim replied: "That I know, but seeing + different faces and diverse fashions I thought ye were not of the + same country, and I wished that each of you should mention what ye + saw, on returning home." So they spoke verses in praise of him and + celebrated his generosity, and a¸¤Aitim said: "I wished to bestow a + kindness upon you, but your bounty is greater than mine. I swear to + God that I will hamstring every camel in the herd unless ye come + forward and divide them among yourselves." The poets did as he + desired, and each man received ninety-nine camels; then they + proceeded on their journey to NuaEuro~mAin. When a¸¤Aitim's father heard + of this he came to him and asked, "Where are the camels?" "O my + father," replied a¸¤Aitim, "by means of them I have conferred on + thee everlasting fame and honour that will cleave to thee like the + ring of the ringdove, and men will always bear in mind some verse of + poetry in which we are praised. This is thy recompense for the + camels." On hearing these words his father said, "Didst thou with my + camels thus?" "Yes." "By God, I will never dwell with thee again." + So he went forth with his family, and a¸¤Aitim was left alone with + his slave-girl and his mare and the mare's foal.[170] + +[Sidenote: a¸¤Aitim's daughter before the Prophet.] + +We are told that a¸¤Aitim's daughter was led as a captive before the +Prophet and thus addressed him: "'O Mua¸Yammad, my sire is dead, and he +who would have come to plead for me is gone. Release me, if it seem good +to thee, and do not let the Arabs rejoice at my misfortune; for I am the +daughter of the chieftain of my people. My father was wont to free the +captive, and protect those near and dear to him, and entertain the +guest, and satisfy the hungry, and console the afflicted, and give food +and greeting to all; and never did he turn away any who sought a boon. I +am a¸¤Aitim's daughter.' The Prophet (on whom be the blessing and peace +of God) answered her: 'O maiden, the true believer is such as thou hast +described. Had thy father been an Islamite, verily we should have said, +"God have mercy upon him!" Let her go,' he continued, 'for her sire +loved noble manners, and God loves them likewise.'"[171] + +a¸¤Aitim was a poet of some repute.[172] The following lines are +addressed to his wife, MAiwiyya:-- + + "O daughter of aEuro~AbdullAih and MAilik and him who wore + The two robes of Yemen stuff--the hero that rode the roan, + When thou hast prepared the meal, entreat to partake thereof + A guest--I am not the man to eat, like a churl, alone--: + Some traveller thro' the night, or house-neighbour; for in sooth + I fear the reproachful talk of men after I am gone. + The guest's slave am I, 'tis true, as long as he bides with me, + Although in my nature else no trait of the slave is shown."[173] + +[Sidenote: Position of women.] + +[Sidenote: Arabian heroines.] + +[Sidenote: FAia¹-ima daughter of Khurshub.] + +[Sidenote: Fukayha.] + +Here it will be convenient to make a short digression in order that the +reader may obtain, if not a complete view, at least some glimpses of the +position and influence of women in Pre-islamic society. On the whole, +their position was high and their influence great. They were free to +choose their husbands, and could return, if ill-treated or displeased, +to their own people; in some cases they even offered themselves in +marriage and had the right of divorce. They were regarded not as slaves +and chattels, but as equals and companions. They inspired the poet to +sing and the warrior to fight. The chivalry of the Middle Ages is, +perhaps, ultimately traceable to heathen Arabia. "Knight-errantry, the +riding forth on horseback in search of adventures, the rescue of captive +maidens, the succour rendered everywhere to women in adversity--all +these were essentially Arabian ideas, as was the very name of +_chivalry_, the connection of honourable conduct with the horse-rider, +the man of noble blood, the cavalier."[174] But the nobility of the +women is not only reflected in the heroism and devotion of the men; it +stands recorded in song, in legend, and in history. FAia¹-ima, the +daughter of Khurshub, was one of three noble matrons who bore the title +_al-MunjibAit_, 'the Mothers of Heroes.' She had seven sons, three of +whom, viz., RabA-aEuro~ and aEuro~UmAira and Anas, were called 'the Perfect' +(_al-Kamala_). One day a¸¤amal b. Badr the FazAirite raided the BanAº +aEuro~Abs, the tribe to which FAia¹-ima belonged, and made her his prisoner. +As he led away the camel on which she was mounted at the time, she +cried: "Man, thy wits are wandering. By God, if thou take me captive, +and if we leave behind us this hill which is now in front of us, surely +there will never be peace between thee and the sons of ZiyAid" (ZiyAid was +the name of her husband), "because people will say what they please, and +the mere suspicion of evil is enough." "I will carry thee off," said he, +"that thou mayest herd my camels." When FAia¹-ima knew that she was +certainly his prisoner she threw herself headlong from her camel and +died; so did she fear to bring dishonour on her sons.[175] Among the +names which have become proverbial for loyalty we find those of two +women, Fukayha and Umm JamA-l. As to Fukayha, it is related that her +clansmen, having been raided by the brigand Sulayk b. Sulaka, resolved +to attack him; but since he was a famous runner, on the advice of one of +their shaykhs they waited until he had gone down to the water and +quenched his thirst, for they knew that he would then be unable to run. +Sulayk, however, seeing himself caught, made for the nearest tents and +sought refuge with Fukayha. She threw her smock over him, and stood with +drawn sword between him and his pursuers; and as they still pressed on, +she tore the veil from her hair and shouted for help. Then her brothers +came and defended Sulayk, so that his life was saved.[176] Had space +allowed, it would have been a pleasant task to make some further +extracts from the long Legend of Noble Women. I have illustrated their +keen sense of honour and loyalty, but I might equally well have chosen +examples of gracious dignity and quick intelligence and passionate +affection. Many among them had the gift of poetry, which they bestowed +especially on the dead; it is a final proof of the high character and +position of women in Pre-islamic Arabia that the hero's mother and +sisters were deemed most worthy to mourn and praise him. The praise of +living women by their lovers necessarily takes a different tone; the +physical charms of the heroine are fully described, but we seldom find +any appreciation of moral beauty. One notable exception to this rule +occurs at the beginning of an ode by ShanfarAi. The passage defies +translation. It is, to quote Sir Charles Lyall, with whose faithful and +sympathetic rendering of the ancient poetry every student of Arabic +literature should be acquainted, "the most lovely picture of womanhood +which heathen Arabia has left us, drawn by the same hand that has given +us, in the unrivalled _LAcmA(R)yah_, its highest ideal of heroic hardness +and virile strength."[177] + + + UMAYMA. + + "She charmed me, veiling bashfully her face, + Keeping with quiet looks an even pace; + Some lost thing seem to seek her downcast eyes: + Aside she bends not--softly she replies. + Ere dawn she carries forth her meal--a gift + To hungry wives in days of dearth and thrift. + No breath of blame up to her tent is borne, + While many a neighbour's is the house of scorn. + Her husband fears no gossip fraught with shame, + For pure and holy is Umayma's name. + Joy of his heart, to her he need not say + When evening brings him home--'Where passed the day?' + Slender and full in turn, of perfect height, + A very fay were she, if beauty might + Transform a child of earth into a fairy sprite!"[178] + +Only in the freedom of the desert could the character thus exquisitely +delineated bloom and ripen. These verses, taken by themselves, are a +sufficient answer to any one who would maintain that Islam has increased +the social influence of Arabian women, although in some respects it may +have raised them to a higher level of civilisation.[179] + +[Sidenote: Infanticide.] + +There is, of course, another side to all this. In a land where might was +generally right, and where + + "the simple plan + That he should take who has the power + And he should keep who can," + +was all but universally adopted, it would have been strange if the +weaker sex had not often gone to the wall. The custom which prevailed in +the _JAihiliyya_ of burying female infants alive, revolting as it appears +to us, was due partly to the frequent famines with which Arabia is +afflicted through lack of rain, and partly to a perverted sense of +honour. Fathers feared lest they should have useless mouths to feed, or +lest they should incur disgrace in consequence of their daughters being +made prisoners of war. Hence the birth of a daughter was reckoned +calamitous, as we read in the Koran: "_They attribute daughters unto +God--far be it from Him!--and for themselves they desire them not. When +a female child is announced to one of them, his face darkens wrathfully: +he hides himself from his people because of the bad news, +thinking--'Shall I keep the child to my disgrace or cover it away in the +dust?'_"[180] It was said proverbially, "The despatch of daughters is a +kindness" and "The burial of daughters is a noble deed."[181] Islam put +an end to this barbarity, which is expressly forbidden by the Koran: +"_Kill not your children in fear of impoverishment: we will provide for +them and for you: verily their killing was a great sin._"[182] Perhaps +the most touching lines in Arabian poetry are those in which a father +struggling with poverty wishes that his daughter may die before him and +thus be saved from the hard mercies of her relatives:-- + + + THE POOR MAN'S DAUGHTER + + "But for Umayma's sake I ne'er had grieved to want nor braved + Night's blackest horror to bring home the morsel that she craved. + Now my desire is length of days because I know too well + The orphan girl's hard lot, with kin unkind enforced to dwell. + I dread that some day poverty will overtake my child, + And shame befall her when exposed to every passion wild.[183] + She wishes me to live, but I must wish her dead, woe's me: + Death is the noblest wooer a helpless maid can see. + I fear an uncle may be harsh, a brother be unkind, + When I would never speak a word that rankled in her mind."[184] + +And another says:-- + + "Were not my little daughters + Like soft chicks huddling by me, + Through earth and all its waters + To win bread would I roam free. + + Our children among us going, + Our very hearts they be; + The wind upon them blowing + Would banish sleep from me."[185] + +[Sidenote: Treatment of enemies.] + +"Odi et amo": these words of the poet might serve as an epitome of +Bedouin ethics. For, if the heathen Arab was, as we have seen, a good +friend to his friends, he had in the same degree an intense and deadly +feeling of hatred towards his enemies. He who did not strike back when +struck was regarded as a coward. No honourable man could forgive an +injury or fail to avenge it. An Arab, smarting under the loss of some +camels driven off by raiders, said of his kin who refused to help him:-- + + "For all their numbers, they are good for naught, + My people, against harm however light: + They pardon wrong by evildoers wrought, + Malice with loving kindness they requite."[186] + +The last verse, which would have been high praise in the mouth of a +Christian or Mua¸Yammadan moralist, conveyed to those who heard it a +shameful reproach. The approved method of dealing with an enemy is set +forth plainly enough in the following lines:-- + + "Humble him who humbles thee, close tho' be your kindredship: + If thou canst not humble him, wait till he is in thy grip. + Friend him while thou must; strike hard when thou hast him on + the hip."[187] + +[Sidenote: Blood-revenge.] + +Above all, blood called for blood. This obligation lay heavy on the +conscience of the pagan Arabs. Vengeance, with them, was "almost a +physical necessity, which if it be not obeyed will deprive its subject +of sleep, of appetite, of health." It was a tormenting thirst which +nothing would quench except blood, a disease of honour which might be +described as madness, although it rarely prevented the sufferer from +going to work with coolness and circumspection. Vengeance was taken upon +the murderer, if possible, or else upon one of his fellow-tribesmen. +Usually this ended the matter, but in some cases it was the beginning of +a regular blood-feud in which the entire kin of both parties were +involved; as, _e.g._, the murder of Kulayb led to the Forty Years' War +between Bakr and Taghlib.[188] The slain man's next of kin might accept +a blood-wit (_diya_), commonly paid in camels--the coin of the +country--as atonement for him. If they did so, however, it was apt to be +cast in their teeth that they preferred milk (_i.e._, she-camels) to +blood.[189] The true Arab feeling is expressed in verses like these:-- + + "With the sword will I wash my shame away, + Let God's doom bring on me what it may!"[190] + +It was believed that until vengeance had been taken for the dead man, +his spirit appeared above his tomb in the shape of an owl (_hAima_ or +_a¹LadAi_), crying "_IsqAºnA-_" ("Give me to drink"). But pagan ideas of +vengeance were bound up with the Past far more than with the Future. The +shadowy after-life counted for little or nothing beside the +deeply-rooted memories of fatherly affection, filial piety, and +brotherhood in arms. + +Though liable to abuse, the rough-and-ready justice of the vendetta had +a salutary effect in restraining those who would otherwise have indulged +their lawless instincts without fear of punishment. From our point of +view, however, its interest is not so much that of a primitive +institution as of a pervading element in old Arabian life and +literature. Full, or even adequate, illustration of this topic would +carry me far beyond the limits of my plan. I have therefore selected +from the copious material preserved in the _Book of Songs_ a +characteristic story which tells how Qays b. al-Khaa¹-A-m took vengeance +on the murderers of his father and his grandfather.[191] + + [Sidenote: The story of the vengeance of Qays b. al-Khaa¹-A-m.] + + It is related on the authority of AbAº aEuro~Ubayda that aEuro~AdA- b. aEuro~Amr, the + grandfather of Qays, was slain by a man named MAilik belonging to the + BanAº aEuro~Amr b. aEuro~Amir b. RabA-aEuro~a b. aEuro~Amir b. a¹caaEuro~a¹LaaEuro~a; and his + father, Khaa¹-A-m b. aEuro~AdA-, by one of the BanAº aEuro~Abd al-Qays who were + settled in Hajar. Khaa¹-A-m died before avenging his father, aEuro~AdA-, + when Qays was but a young lad. The mother of Qays, fearing that he + would sally forth to seek vengeance for the blood of his father and + his grandfather and perish, went to a mound of dust beside the door + of their dwelling and laid stones on it, and began to say to Qays, + "This is the grave of thy father and thy grandfather;" and Qays + never doubted but that it was so. He grew up strong in the arms, and + one day he had a tussle with a youth of the BanAº aº'afar, who said + to him: "By God, thou would'st do better to turn the strength of + thine arms against the slayers of thy father and grandfather instead + of putting it forth upon me." "And who are their slayers?" "Ask thy + mother, she will tell thee." So Qays took his sword and set its hilt + on the ground and its edge between his two breasts, and said to his + mother: "Who killed my father and my grandfather?" "They died as + people die, and these are their graves in the camping-ground." "By + God, verily thou wilt tell me who slew them or I will bear with my + whole weight upon this sword until it cleaves through my back." Then + she told him, and Qays swore that he would never rest until he had + slain their slayers. "O my son," said she, "MAilik, who killed thy + grandfather, is of the same folk as KhidAish b. Zuhayr, and thy + father once bestowed a kindness on KhidAish, for which he is + grateful. Go, then, to him and take counsel with him touching thine + affair and ask him to help thee." So Qays set out immediately, and + when he came to the garden where his water-camel was watering his + date-palms, he smote the cord (of the bucket) with his sword and cut + it, so that the bucket dropped into the well. Then he took hold of + the camel's head, and loaded the beast with two sacks of dates, and + said: "Who will care for this old woman" (meaning his mother) "in my + absence? If I die, let him pay her expenses out of this garden, and + on her death it shall be his own; but if I live, my property will + return to me, and he shall have as many of its dates as he wishes to + eat." One of his folk cried, "I am for it," so Qays gave him the + garden and set forth to inquire concerning KhidAish. He was told to + look for him at Marr al-aº'ahrAin, but not finding him in his tent, + he alighted beneath a tree, in the shade of which the guests of + KhidAish used to shelter, and called to the wife of KhidAish, "Is + there any food?" Now, when she came up to him, she admired his + comeliness--for he was exceeding fair of countenance--and said: "By + God, we have no fit entertainment for thee, but only dates." He + replied, "I care not, bring out what thou hast." So she sent to him + dates in a large measure (_qubAiaEuro~_), and Qays took a single date and + ate half of it and put back the other half in the _qubAiaEuro~_, and gave + orders that the _qubAiaEuro~_ should be brought in to the wife of KhidAish; + then he departed on some business. When KhidAish returned and his + wife told him the news of Qays, he said, "This is a man who would + render his person sacred."[192] While he sat there with his wife + eating fresh ripe dates, Qays returned on camel-back; and KhidAish, + when he saw the foot of the approaching rider, said to his wife, "Is + this thy guest?" "Yes." "'Tis as though his foot were the foot of my + good friend, Khaa¹-A-m the Yathribite." Qays drew nigh, and struck + the tent-rope with the point of his spear, and begged leave to come + in. Having obtained permission, he entered to KhidAish and told his + lineage and informed him of what had passed, and asked him to help + and advise him in his affair. KhidAish bade him welcome, and recalled + the kindness which he had of his father, and said, "As to this + affair, truly I have been expecting it of thee for some time. The + slayer of thy grandfather is a cousin of mine, and I will aid thee + against him. When we are assembled in our meeting-place, I will sit + beside him and talk with him, and when I strike his thigh, do thou + spring on him and slay him." Qays himself relates: "Accompanied by + KhidAish, I approached him until I stood over his head when KhidAish + sat with him, and as soon as he struck the man's thigh I smote his + head with a sword named _Dhu aEuro(TM)l-Khura¹Layn_" (the Two-ringed). "His + folk rushed on me to slay me, but KhidAish came between us, crying, + 'Let him alone, for, by God, he has slain none but the slayer of his + grandfather.'" Then KhidAish called for one of his camels and mounted + it, and started with Qays to find the aEuro~Abdite who killed his father. + And when they were near Hajar KhidAish advised him to go and inquire + after this man, and to say to him when he discovered him: "I + encountered a brigand of thy people who robbed me of some articles, + and on asking who was the chieftain of his people I was directed to + thee. Go with me, then, that thou mayest take from him my property. + If," KhidAish continued, "he follow thee unattended, thou wilt gain + thy desire of him; but should he bid the others go with thee, laugh, + and if he ask why thou laughest, say, 'With us, the noble does not + as thou dost, but when he is called to a brigand of his people, he + goes forth alone with his whip, not with his sword; and the brigand + when he sees him gives him everything that he took, in awe of him.' + If he shall dismiss his friends, thy course is clear; but if he + shall refuse to go without them, bring him to me nevertheless, for I + hope that thou wilt slay both him and them." So KhidAish stationed + himself under the shade of a tree, while Qays went to the aEuro~Abdite + and addressed him as KhidAish had prompted; and the man's sense of + honour was touched to the quick, so that he sent away his friends + and went with Qays. And when Qays came back to KhidAish, the latter + said to him, "Choose, O Qays! Shall I help thee or shall I take thy + place?" Qays answered, "I desire neither of these alternatives, but + if he slay me, let him not slay thee!" Then he rushed upon him and + wounded him in the flank and drove his lance through the other side, + and he fell dead on the spot. When Qays had finished with him, + KhidAish said, "If we flee just now, his folk will pursue us; but let + us go somewhere not far off, for they will never think that thou + hast slain him and stayed in the neighbourhood. No; they will miss + him and follow his track, and when they find him slain they will + start to pursue us in every direction, and will only return when + they have lost hope." So those two entered some hollows of the sand, + and after staying there several days (for it happened exactly as + KhidAish had foretold), they came forth when the pursuit was over, + and did not exchange a word until they reached the abode of KhidAish. + There Qays parted from him and returned to his own people. + +[Sidenote: Song of Vengeance by TaaEuro(TM)abbaa¹-a Sharran.] + +The poems relating to blood-revenge show all that is best and much that +is less admirable in the heathen Arab--on the one hand, his courage and +resolution, his contempt of death and fear of dishonour, his +single-minded devotion to the dead as to the living, his deep regard and +tender affection for the men of his own flesh and blood; on the other +hand, his implacable temper, his perfidious cruelty and reckless +ferocity in hunting down the slayers, and his savage, well-nigh inhuman +exultation over the slain. The famous Song or Ballad of Vengeance that I +shall now attempt to render in English verse is usually attributed to +TaaEuro(TM)abbaa¹-a Sharran,[193] although some pronounce it to be a forgery by +Khalaf al-Aa¸Ymar, the reputed author of ShanfarAi's masterpiece, and +beyond doubt a marvellously skilful imitator of the ancient bards. Be +that as it may, the ballad is utterly pagan in tone and feeling. Its +extraordinary merit was detected by Goethe, who, after reading it in a +Latin translation, published a German rendering, with some fine +criticism of the poetry, in his _West-oestlicher Divan_.[194] I have +endeavoured to suggest as far as possible the metre and rhythm of the +original, since to these, in my opinion, its peculiar effect is largely +due. The metre is that known as the 'Tall' (_MadA-d_), viz.:-- + + aOEL |aOEL | + - aOEL - -|- aOEL -|- aOEL - - + +Thus the first verse runs in Arabic:-- + + _Inna biaEuro(TM)l-shiaEuro~ | bi aEuro(TM)lladhi |aEuro~inda SalaEuro~in + la-qatA-lan | damuhAº | mAi yua¹-allu._ + +Of course, Arabic prosody differs radically from English, but _mutatis +mutandis_ several couplets in the following version (_e.g._ the third, +eighth, and ninth) will be found to correspond exactly with their model. +As has been said, however, my object was merely to suggest the abrupt +metre and the heavy, emphatic cadences, so that I have been able to give +variety to the verse, and at the same time to retain that artistic +freedom without which the translator of poetry cannot hope to satisfy +either himself or any one else. + +The poet tells how he was summoned to avenge his uncle, slain by the +tribesmen of Hudhayl: he describes the dead man's heroic character, the +foray in which he fell, his former triumphs over the same enemy, and +finally the terrible vengeance taken for him.[195] + + "In the glen there a murdered man is lying-- + Not in vain for vengeance his blood is crying. + He hath left me the load to bear and departed; + I take up the load and bear it true-hearted. + I, his sister's son, the bloodshed inherit, + I whose knot none looses, stubborn of spirit;[196] + Glowering darkly, shame's deadly out-wiper, + Like the serpent spitting venom, the viper. + Hard the tidings that befell us, heart-breaking; + Little seemed thereby the anguish most aching. + Fate hath robbed me--still is Fate fierce and froward-- + Of a hero whose friend ne'er called him coward: + As the warm sun was he in wintry weather, + 'Neath the Dog-star shade and coolness together: + Spare of flank--yet this in him showed not meanness; + Open-handed, full of boldness and keenness: + Firm of purpose, cavalier unaffrighted-- + Courage rode with him and with him alighted: + In his bounty, a bursting cloud of rain-water; + Lion grim when he leaped to the slaughter. + Flowing hair, long robe his folk saw aforetime, + But a lean-haunched wolf was he in war-time. + Savours two he had, untasted by no men: + Honey to his friends and gall to his foemen. + Fear he rode nor recked what should betide him: + Save his deep-notched Yemen blade, none beside him. + + Oh, the warriors girt with swords good for slashing, + Like the levin, when they drew them, outflashing! + Through the noonday heat they fared: then, benighted, + Farther fared, till at dawning they alighted.[197] + Breaths of sleep they sipped; and then, while they nodded, + Thou didst scare them: lo, they scattered and scudded. + Vengeance wreaked we upon them, unforgiving: + Of the two clans scarce was left a soul living.[198] + + Ay, if _they_ bruised his glaive's edge 'twas in token + That by him many a time their own was broken. + Oft he made them kneel down by force and cunning-- + Kneel on jags where the foot is torn with running. + Many a morn in shelter he took them napping; + After killing was the rieving and rapine. + + They have gotten of me a roasting--I tire not + Of desiring them till me they desire not. + First, of foemen's blood my spear deeply drinketh, + Then a second time, deep in, it sinketh. + Lawful now to me is wine, long forbidden: + Sore my struggle ere the ban was o'erridden.[199] + Pour me wine, O son of aEuro~Amr! I would taste it, + Since with grief for mine uncle I am wasted. + O'er the fallen of Hudhayl stands screaming + The hyena; see the wolf's teeth gleaming! + Dawn will hear the flap of wings, will discover + Vultures treading corpses, too gorged to hover." + +[Sidenote: Honour conferred by noble ancestry.] + +All the virtues which enter into the Arabian conception of Honour were +regarded not as personal qualities inherent or acquired, but as +hereditary possessions which a man derived from his ancestors, and held +in trust that he might transmit them untarnished to his descendants. It +is the desire to uphold and emulate the fame of his forbears, rather +than the hope of winning immortality for himself, that causes the Arab +"to say the say and do the deeds of the noble." Far from sharing the +sentiment of the Scots peasant--"a man's a man for a' that"--he looks +askance at merit and renown unconsecrated by tradition. + + "The glories that have grown up with the grass + Can match not those inherited of old."[200] + +Ancestral renown (_a¸Yasab_) is sometimes likened to a strong castle +built by sires for their sons, or to a lofty mountain which defies +attack.[201] The poets are full of boastings (_mafAikhir_) and revilings +(_mathAilib_) in which they loudly proclaim the nobility of their own +ancestors, and try to blacken those of their enemy without any regard to +decorum. + + +It was my intention to add here some general remarks on Arabian poetry +as compared with that of the Hebrews, the Persians, and our own, but +since example is better than precept I will now turn directly to those +celebrated odes which are well known by the title of _MuaEuro~-allaqAit_, or +'Suspended Poems,' to all who take the slightest interest in Arabic +literature.[202] + +[Sidenote: The MuaEuro~allaqAit, or 'Suspended Poems.'] + +_MuaEuro~allaqa_ (plural, _MuaEuro~allaqAit_) "is most likely derived from the word +_aEuro~ilq_, meaning 'a precious thing or a thing held in high estimation,' +either because one 'hangs on' tenaciously to it, or because it is 'hung +up' in a place of honour, or in a conspicuous place, in a treasury or +storehouse."[203] In course of time the exact signification of +_MuaEuro~allaqa_ was forgotten, and it became necessary to find a plausible +explanation. Hence arose the legend, which frequent repetition has made +familiar, that the 'Suspended Poems' were so called from having been +hung up in the KaaEuro~ba on account of their merit; that this distinction +was awarded by the judges at the fair of aEuro~UkAiaº", near Mecca, where +poets met in rivalry and recited their choicest productions; and that +the successful compositions, before being affixed to the door of the +KaaEuro~ba, were transcribed in letters of gold upon pieces of fine Egyptian +linen.[204] Were these statements true, we should expect them to be +confirmed by some allusion in the early literature. But as a matter of +fact nothing of the kind is mentioned in the Koran or in religious +tradition, in the ancient histories of Mecca, or in such works as the +_KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-AghAinA-_, which draw their information from old and +trustworthy sources.[205] Almost the first authority who refers to the +legend is the grammarian Aa¸Ymad al-Naa¸Ya¸YAis (aEuro 949 A.D.), and +by him it is stigmatised as entirely groundless. Moreover, although it +was accepted by scholars like Reiske, Sir W. Jones, and even De Sacy, it +is incredible in itself. Hengstenberg, in the Prolegomena to his edition +of the _MuaEuro~-allaqa_ of ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Qays (Bonn, 1823) asked some pertinent +questions: Who were the judges, and how were they appointed? Why were +only these seven poems thus distinguished? His further objection, that +the art of writing was at that time a rare accomplishment, does not +carry so much weight as he attached to it, but the story is sufficiently +refuted by what we know of the character and customs of the Arabs in the +sixth century and afterwards. Is it conceivable that the proud sons of +the desert could have submitted a matter so nearly touching their tribal +honour, of which they were jealous above all things, to external +arbitration, or meekly acquiesced in the partial verdict of a court +sitting in the neighbourhood of Mecca, which would certainly have shown +scant consideration for competitors belonging to distant clans?[206] + +[Sidenote: Origin of the collection.] + +However _MuaEuro~allaqa_ is to be explained, the name is not contemporary +with the poems themselves. In all probability they were so entitled by +the person who first chose them out of innumerable others and embodied +them in a separate collection. This is generally allowed to have been +a¸¤ammAid al-RAiwiya, a famous rhapsodist who flourished in the latter +days of the Umayyad dynasty, and died about 772 A.D., in the reign of +the aEuro~AbbAisid Caliph MahdA-. What principle guided a¸¤ammAid in his choice +we do not know. NA¶ldeke conjectures that he was influenced by the fact +that all the _MuaEuro~allaqAit_ are long poems--they are sometimes called 'The +Seven Long Poems' (_al-SabaEuro~ al-a¹¬iwAil_)--for in a¸¤ammAid's time +little of the ancient Arabian poetry survived in a state even of +relative completeness. + +[Sidenote: Difficulty of translating the MuaEuro~allaqAit.] + +It must be confessed that no rendering of the _MuaEuro~allaqAit_ can furnish +European readers with a just idea of the originals, a literal version +least of all. They contain much that only a full commentary can make +intelligible, much that to modern taste is absolutely incongruous with +the poetic style. Their finest pictures of Bedouin life and manners +often appear uncouth or grotesque, because without an intimate knowledge +of the land and people it is impossible for us to see what the poet +intended to convey, or to appreciate the truth and beauty of its +expression; while the artificial framework, the narrow range of subject +as well as treatment, and the frank realism of the whole strike us at +once. In the following pages I shall give some account of the +_MuaEuro~allaqAit_ and their authors, and endeavour to bring out the +characteristic qualities of each poem by selecting suitable passages for +translation.[207] + +[Sidenote: ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Qays.] + +The oldest and most famous of the _MuaEuro~allaqAit_ is that of ImruaEuro(TM)u +aEuro(TM)l-Qays, who was descended from the ancient kings of Yemen. His +grandfather was King a¸¤Airith of Kinda, the antagonist of Mundhir III, +King of a¸¤A-ra, by whom he was defeated and slain.[208] On a¸¤Airith's +death, the confederacy which he had built up split asunder, and his sons +divided among themselves the different tribes of which it was composed. +a¸¤ujr, the poet's father, ruled for some time over the BanAº Asad in +Central Arabia, but finally they revolted and put him to death. "The +duty of avenging his murder fell upon ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Qays, who is represented +as the only capable prince of his family; and the few historical data +which we have regarding him relate to his adventures while bent upon +this vengeance."[209] They are told at considerable length in the +_KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-AghAinA-_, but need not detain us here. Suffice it to say that +his efforts to punish the rebels, who were aided by Mundhir, the +hereditary foe of his house, met with little success. He then set out +for Constantinople, where he was favourably received by the Emperor +Justinian, who desired to see the power of Kinda re-established as a +thorn in the side of his Persian rivals. The emperor appointed him +Phylarch of Palestine, but on his way thither he died at Angora (about +540 A.D.). He is said to have perished, like Nessus, from putting on a +poisoned robe sent to him as a gift by Justinian, with whose daughter he +had an intrigue. Hence he is sometimes called 'The Man of the Ulcers' +(_Dhu aEuro(TM)l-QurAºa¸Y_). + +Many fabulous traditions surround the romantic figure of ImruaEuro(TM)u +aEuro(TM)l-Qays.[210] According to one story, he was banished by his father, who +despised him for being a poet and was enraged by the scandals to which +his love adventures gave rise. ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Qays left his home and wandered +from tribe to tribe with a company of outcasts like himself, leading a +wild life, which caused him to be known as 'The Vagabond Prince' +(_al-Malik al-a¸illA-l_). When the news of his father's death reached +him he cried, "My father wasted my youth, and now that I am old he has +laid upon me the burden of blood-revenge. Wine to-day, business +to-morrow!" Seven nights he continued the carouse; then he swore not to +eat flesh, nor drink wine, nor use ointment, nor touch woman, nor wash +his head until his vengeance was accomplished. In the valley of TabAila, +north of NajrAin, there was an idol called Dhu aEuro(TM)l-Khalaa¹La much +reverenced by the heathen Arabs. ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Qays visited this oracle and +consulted it in the ordinary way, by drawing one of three arrows +entitled 'the Commanding,' 'the Forbidding,' and 'the Waiting.' He drew +the second, whereupon he broke the arrows and dashed them on the face of +the idol, exclaiming with a gross imprecation, "If _thy_ father had been +slain, thou would'st not have hindered me!" + +ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Qays is almost universally reckoned the greatest of the +Pre-islamic poets. Mua¸Yammad described him as 'their leader to +Hell-fire,' while the Caliphs aEuro~Umar and aEuro~AlA-, _odium theologicum_ +notwithstanding, extolled his genius and originality.[211] Coming to the +_MuaEuro~allaqa_ itself, European critics have vied with each other in +praising its exquisite diction and splendid images, the sweet flow of +the verse, the charm and variety of the painting, and, above all, the +feeling by which it is inspired of the joy and glory of youth. The +passage translated below is taken from the first half of the poem, in +which love is the prevailing theme:--[212] + + "Once, on the hill, she mocked at me and swore, + 'This hour I leave thee to return no more,' + Soft! if farewell is planted in thy mind, + Yet spare me, FAia¹-ima, disdain unkind. + Because my passion slays me, wilt thou part? + Because thy wish is law unto mine heart? + Nay, if thou so mislikest aught in me, + Shake loose my robe and let it fall down free. + But ah, the deadly pair, thy streaming eyes! + They pierce a heart that all in ruin lies. + + How many a noble tent hath oped its treasure + To me, and I have ta'en my fill of pleasure, + Passing the warders who with eager speed + Had slain me, if they might but hush the deed, + What time in heaven the Pleiades unfold + A belt of orient gems distinct with gold. + I entered. By the curtain there stood she, + Clad lightly as for sleep, and looked on me. + 'By God,' she cried, 'what recks thee of the cost? + I see thine ancient madness is not lost.' + I led her forth--she trailing as we go + Her broidered skirt, lest any footprint show-- + Until beyond the tents the valley sank + With curving dunes and many a pilA"d bank, + Then with both hands I drew her head to mine, + And lovingly the damsel did incline + Her slender waist and legs more plump than fine;-- + A graceful figure, a complexion bright, + A bosom like a mirror in the light; + A white pale virgin pearl such lustre keeps, + Fed with clear water in untrodden deeps. + Now she bends half away: two cheeks appear, + And such an eye as marks the frighted deer + Beside her fawn; and lo, the shapely neck + Not bare of ornament, else without a fleck; + While from her shoulders in profusion fair, + Like clusters on the palm, hangs down her coal-dark hair." + +In strange contrast with this tender and delicate idyll are the wild, +hard verses almost immediately following, in which the poet roaming +through the barren waste hears the howl of a starved wolf and hails him +as a comrade:-- + + "Each one of us what thing he finds devours: + Lean is the wretch whose living is like ours."[213] + +The noble qualities of his horse and its prowess in the chase are +described, and the poem ends with a magnificent picture of a +thunder-storm among the hills of Najd. + +[Sidenote: a¹¬arafa.] + +a¹¬arafa b. al-aEuro~Abd was a member of the great tribe of Bakr. The +particular clan to which he belonged was settled in Baa¸Yrayn on the +Persian Gulf. He early developed a talent for satire, which he exercised +upon friend and foe indifferently; and after he had squandered his +patrimony in dissolute pleasures, his family chased him away as though +he were 'a mangy camel.' At length a reconciliation was effected. He +promised to mend his ways, returned to his people, and took part, it is +said, in the War of BasAºs. In a little while his means were dissipated +once more and he was reduced to tend his brother's herds. His +_MuaEuro~allaqa_ composed at this time won for him the favour of a rich +kinsman and restored him to temporary independence. On the conclusion of +peace between Bakr and Taghlib the youthful poet turned his eyes in the +direction of a¸¤A-ra, where aEuro~Amr b. Hind had lately succeeded to the +throne (554 A.D.). He was well received by the king, who attached him, +along with his uncle, the poet Mutalammis, to the service of the +heir-apparent. But a¹¬arafa's bitter tongue was destined to cost him +dear. Fatigued and disgusted by the rigid ceremony of the court, he +improvised a satire in which he said-- + + "Would that we had instead of aEuro~Amr + A milch-ewe bleating round our tent!" + +Shortly afterwards he happened to be seated at table opposite the king's +sister. Struck with her beauty, he exclaimed-- + + "Behold, she has come back to me, + My fair gazelle whose ear-rings shine; + Had not the king been sitting here, + I would have pressed her lips to mine!" + +aEuro~Amr b. Hind was a man of violent and implacable temper. a¹¬arafa's +satire had already been reported to him, and this new impertinence added +fuel to his wrath. Sending for a¹¬arafa and Mutalammis, he granted them +leave to visit their homes, and gave to each of them a sealed letter +addressed to the governor of Baa¸Yrayn. When they had passed outside +the city the suspicions of Mutalammis were aroused. As neither he nor +his companion could read, he handed his own letter to a boy of +a¸¤A-ra[214] and learned that it contained orders to bury him alive. +Thereupon he flung the treacherous missive into the stream and implored +a¹¬arafa to do likewise. a¹¬arafa refused to break the royal seal. He +continued his journey to Baa¸Yrayn, where he was thrown into prison and +executed. + +Thus perished miserably in the flower of his youth--according to some +accounts he was not yet twenty--the passionate and eloquent a¹¬arafa. +In his _MuaEuro~allaqa_ he has drawn a spirited portrait of himself. The most +striking feature of the poem, apart from a long and, to us who are not +Bedouins, painfully tedious description of the camel, is its insistence +on sensual enjoyment as the sole business of life:-- + + "Canst thou make me immortal, O thou that blamest me so + For haunting the battle and loving the pleasures that fly? + If thou hast not the power to ward me from Death, let me go + To meet him and scatter the wealth in my hand, ere I die. + + Save only for three things in which noble youth take delight, + I care not how soon rises o'er me the coronach loud: + Wine that foams when the water is poured on it, ruddy, not bright. + Dark wine that I quaff stol'n away from the cavilling crowd; + + "And second, my charge at the cry of distress on a steed + Bow-legged like the wolf you have startled when thirsty he cowers; + And third, the day-long with a lass in her tent of goat's hair + To hear the wild rain and beguile of their slowness the hours."[215] + +Keeping, as far as possible, the chronological order, we have now to +mention two _MuaEuro~allaqas_ which, though not directly related to each +other,[216] are of the same period--the reign of aEuro~Amr b. Hind, King of +a¸¤A-ra (554-568 A.D.). Moreover, their strong mutual resemblance and their +difference from the other _MuaEuro~allaqas_, especially from typical +_qaa¹LA-das_ like those of aEuro~Antara and LabA-d, is a further reason for +linking them together. Their distinguishing mark is the abnormal space +devoted to the main subject, which leaves little room for the +subsidiary motives. + +[Sidenote: aEuro~Amr b. KulthAºm.] + +aEuro~Amr b. KulthAºm belonged to the tribe of Taghlib. His mother was LaylAi, +a daughter of the famous poet and warrior Muhalhil. That she was a woman +of heroic mould appears from the following anecdote, which records a +deed of prompt vengeance on the part of aEuro~Amr that gave rise to the +proverb, "Bolder in onset than aEuro~Amr b. KulthAºm"[217]:-- + + [Sidenote: How aEuro(TM)Amr avenged an insult to his mother.] + + One day aEuro~Amr. b. Hind, the King of a¸¤A-ra, said to his + boon-companions, "Do ye know any Arab whose mother would disdain to + serve mine?" They answered, "Yes, the mother of aEuro~Amr b. KulthAºm." + "Why so?" asked the king. "Because," said they, "her father is + Muhalhil b. RabA-aEuro~a and her uncle is Kulayb b. WAiaEuro(TM)il, the most + puissant of the Arabs, and her husband is KulthAºm b. MAilik, the + knightliest, and her son is aEuro~Amr, the chieftain of his tribe." Then + the king sent to aEuro~Amr b. KulthAºm, inviting him to pay a visit to + himself, and asking him to bring his mother, LaylAi, to visit his own + mother, Hind. So aEuro~Amr came to a¸¤A-ra with some men of Taghlib, and + LaylAi came attended by a number of their women; and while the king + entertained aEuro~Amr and his friends in a pavilion which he had caused + to be erected between a¸¤A-ra and the Euphrates, LaylAi found + quarters with Hind in a tent adjoining. Now, the king had ordered + his mother, as soon as he should call for dessert, to dismiss the + servants, and cause LaylAi to wait upon her. At the pre-arranged + signal she desired to be left alone with her guest, and said, "O + LaylAi, hand me that dish." LaylAi answered, "Let those who want + anything rise up and serve themselves." Hind repeated her demand, + and would take no denial. "O shame!" cried LaylAi. "Help! Taghlib, + help!" When aEuro~Amr heard his mother's cry the blood flew to his + cheeks. He seized a sword hanging on the wall of the pavilion--the + only weapon there--and with a single blow smote the king dead.[218] + +aEuro~Amr's _MuaEuro~allaqa_ is the work of a man who united in himself the ideal +qualities of manhood as these were understood by a race which has never +failed to value, even too highly, the display of self-reliant action and +decisive energy. And if in aEuro~Amr's poem these virtues are displayed with +an exaggerated boastfulness which offends our sense of decency and +proper reserve, it would be a grave error to conclude that all this +sound and fury signifies nothing. The Bedouin poet deems it his bounden +duty to glorify to the utmost himself, his family, and his tribe; the +Bedouin warrior is never tired of proclaiming his unshakable valour and +recounting his brilliant feats of arms: he hurls menaces and vaunts in +the same breath, but it does not follow that he is a _Miles Gloriosus_. +aEuro~Amr certainly was not: his _MuaEuro~allaqa_ leaves a vivid impression of +conscious and exultant strength. The first eight verses seem to have +been added to the poem at a very early date, for out of them arose the +legend that aEuro~Amr drank himself to death with unmixed wine. It is likely +that they were included in the original collection of the _MuaEuro~allaqAit_, +and they are worth translating for their own sake:--- + + "Up, maiden! Fetch the morning-drink and spare not + The wine of AndarA-n, + Clear wine that takes a saffron hue when water + Is mingled warm therein. + The lover tasting it forgets his passion, + His heart is eased of pain; + The stingy miser, as he lifts the goblet, + Regardeth not his gain. + + Pass round from left to right! Why let'st thou, maiden, + Me and my comrades thirst? + Yet am I, whom thou wilt not serve this morning, + Of us three not the worst! + Many a cup in Baalbec and Damascus + And QAia¹LirA-n I drained, + Howbeit we, ordained to death, shall one day + Meet death, to us ordained."[219] + +In the next passage he describes his grief at the departure of his +beloved, whom he sees in imagination arriving at her journey's end in +distant YamAima:-- + + "And oh, my love and yearning when at nightfall + I saw her camels haste, + Until sharp peaks uptowered like serried sword-blades, + And me YamAima faced! + Such grief no mother-camel feels, bemoaning + Her young one lost, nor she, + The grey-haired woman whose hard fate hath left her + Of nine sons graves thrice three."[220] + +Now the poet turns abruptly to his main theme. He addresses the King of +a¸¤A-ra, aEuro~Amr b. Hind, in terms of defiance, and warns the foes of +Taghlib that they will meet more than their match:-- + + "Father of Hind,[221] take heed and ere thou movest + Rashly against us, learn + That still our banners go down white to battle + And home blood-red return. + And many a chief bediademed, the champion + Of the outlaws of the land, + Have we o'erthrown and stripped him, while around him + Fast-reined the horses stand. + Our neighbours lopped like thorn-trees, snarls in terror + Of us the demon-hound;[222] + Never we try our hand-mill on the foemen + But surely they are ground. + We are the heirs of glory, all MaaEuro~add knows,[223] + Our lances it defend, + And when the tent-pole tumbles in the foray, + Trust us to save our friend![224] + + O aEuro~Amr, what mean'st thou? Are we, we of Taghlib, + Thy princeling's retinue? + O aEuro~Amr, what mean'st thou, rating us and hearkening + To tale-bearers untrue? + O aEuro~Amr, ere thee full many a time our spear-shaft + Has baffled foes to bow;[225] + Nipped in the vice it kicks like a wild camel + That will no touch allow-- + Like a wild camel, so it creaks in bending + And splits the bender's brow!"[226] + +The _MuaEuro~allaqa_ ends with a eulogy, superb in its extravagance, of the +poet's tribe:-- + + "Well wot, when our tents rise along their valleys, + The men of every clan + That we give death to them that durst attempt us, + To friends what food we can; + That staunchly we maintain a cause we cherish, + Camp where we choose to ride, + Nor will we aught of peace, when we are angered, + Till we be satisfied. + We keep our vassals safe and sound, but rebels + We soon force to their knees; + And if we reach a well, we drink pure water, + Others the muddy lees. + Ours is the earth and all thereon: when _we_ strike, + There needs no second blow; + Kings lay before the new-weaned boy of Taghlib + Their heads in homage low. + We are called oppressors, being none, but shortly + A true name shall it be![227] + We have so filled the earth 'tis narrow for us, + And with our ships the sea![228] + +[Sidenote: a¸¤Airith b. a¸¤illiza.] + +Less interesting is the _MuaEuro~allaqa_ of a¸¤Airith b. a¸¤illiza of Bakr. +Its inclusion among the _MuaEuro~allaqAit_ is probably due, as NA¶ldeke +suggested, to the fact that a¸¤ammAid, himself a client of Bakr, wished +to flatter his patrons by selecting a counterpart to the _MuaEuro~allaqa_ of +aEuro~Amr b. KulthAºm, which immortalised their great rivals, the BanAº +Taghlib. a¸¤Airith's poem, however, has some historical importance, as +it throws light on feuds in Northern Arabia connected with the +antagonism of the Roman and Persian Empires. Its purpose is to complain +of unjust accusations made against the BanAº Bakr by a certain group of +the BanAº Taghlib known as the ArAiqim:-- + + "Our brothers the ArAiqim let their tongues + Against us rail unmeasuredly. + The innocent with the guilty they confound: + Of guilt what boots it to be free? + They brand us patrons of the vilest deed, + Our clients in each miscreant see."[229] + +A person whom a¸¤Airith does not name was 'blackening' the BanAº Bakr +before the King of a¸¤A-ra. The poet tells him not to imagine that his +calumnies will have any lasting effect: often had Bakr been slandered by +their foes, but (he finely adds):-- + + "Maugre their hate we stand, by firm-based might + Exalted and by ancestry-- + Might which ere now hath dazzled men's eyes: thence scorn + To yield and haughty spirit have we. + On us the Days beat as on mountain dark + That soars in cloudless majesty, + Compact against the hard calamitous shocks + And buffetings of Destiny."[230] + +He appeals to the offenders not wantonly to break the peace which +ended the War of BasAºs:-- + + "Leave folly and error! If ye blind yourselves, + Just therein lies the malady. + Recall the oaths of Dhu aEuro(TM)l-MajAiz[231] for which + Hostages gave security, + Lest force or guile should break them: can caprice + Annul the parchments utterly?[232] + +[Sidenote: aEuro~Antara.] + +aEuro~Antara b. ShaddAid, whose father belonged to the tribe of aEuro~Abs, +distinguished himself in the War of DAia¸Yis.[233] In modern times it is +not as a poet that he is chiefly remembered, but as a hero of +romance--the Bedouin Achilles. Goddess-born, however, he could not be +called by any stretch of imagination. His mother was a black slave, and +he must often have been taunted with his African blood, which showed +itself in a fiery courage that gained the respect of the pure-bred but +generally less valorous Arabs. aEuro~Antara loved his cousin aEuro~Abla, and +following the Arabian custom by which cousins have the first right to a +girl's hand, he asked her in marriage. His suit was vain--the son of a +slave mother being regarded as a slave unless acknowledged by his +father--until on one occasion, while the aEuro~Absites were hotly engaged +with some raiders who had driven off their camels, aEuro~Antara refused to +join in the mAªlA(C)e, saying, "A slave does not understand how to fight; +his work is to milk the camels and bind their udders." "Charge!" cried +his father, "thou art free." Though aEuro~Antara uttered no idle boast when +he sang-- + + "On one side nobly born and of the best + Of aEuro~Abs am I: my sword makes good the rest!" + +his contemptuous references to 'jabbering barbarians,' and to 'slaves +with their ears cut off, clad in sheepskins,' are characteristic of the +man who had risen to eminence in spite of the stain on his scutcheon. He +died at a great age in a foray against the neighbouring tribe of +a¹¬ayyiaEuro(TM). His _MuaEuro~allaqa_ is famous for its stirring battle-scenes, one +of which is translated here:--[234] + + "Learn, MAilik's daughter, how + I rush into the fray, + And how I draw back only + At sharing of the prey. + + I never quit the saddle, + My strong steed nimbly bounds; + Warrior after warrior + Have covered him with wounds. + + Full-armed against me stood + One feared of fighting men: + He fled not oversoon + Nor let himself be ta'en. + + With straight hard-shafted spear + I dealt him in his side + A sudden thrust which opened + Two streaming gashes wide, + + Two gashes whence outgurgled + His life-blood: at the sound + Night-roaming ravenous wolves + Flock eagerly around. + + So with my doughty spear + I trussed his coat of mail-- + For truly, when the spear strikes, + The noblest man is frail-- + + And left him low to banquet + The wild beasts gathering there; + They have torn off his fingers, + His wrist and fingers fair!" + +[Sidenote: Zuhayr.] + +While aEuro~Antara's poem belongs to the final stages of the War of DAia¸Yis, +the _MuaEuro~allaqa_ of his contemporary, Zuhayr b. AbA- SulmAi, of the tribe +of Muzayna, celebrates an act of private munificence which brought about +the conclusion of peace. By the self-sacrificing intervention of two +chiefs of DhubyAin, Harim b. SinAin and a¸¤Airith b. aEuro~Awf, the whole sum +of blood-money to which the aEuro~Absites were entitled on account of the +greater number of those who had fallen on their side, was paid over to +them. Such an example of generous and disinterested patriotism--for +Harim and a¸¤Airith had shed no blood themselves--was a fit subject for +one of whom it was said that he never praised men but as they +deserved:-- + + Noble pair of Ghayaº" ibn Murra,[235] well ye laboured to restore + Ties of kindred hewn asunder by the bloody strokes of war. + Witness now mine oath the ancient House in Mecca's hallowed bound,[236] + Which its builders of Quraysh and Jurhum solemnly went round,[237] + That in hard or easy issue never wanting were ye found! + Peace ye gave to aEuro~Abs and DhubyAin when each fell by other's hand + And the evil fumes they pestled up between them filled the land."[238] + +At the end of his panegyric the poet, turning to the lately reconciled +tribesmen and their confederates, earnestly warns them against nursing +thoughts of vengeance:-- + + "Will ye hide from God the guilt ye dare not unto Him disclose? + Verily, what thing soever ye would hide from God, He knows. + Either it is laid up meantime in a scroll and treasured there + For the day of retribution, or avenged all unaware.[239] + War ye have known and war have tasted: not by hearsay are ye wise. + Raise no more the hideous monster! If ye let her raven, she cries + Ravenously for blood and crushes, like a mill-stone, all below, + And from her twin-conceiving womb she brings forth woe on woe."[240] + +After a somewhat obscure passage concerning the lawless deeds of a +certain a¸¤usayn b. a¸ama¸am, which had well-nigh caused a fresh +outbreak of hostilities, Zuhayr proceeds, with a natural and touching +allusion to his venerable age, to enforce the lessons of conduct and +morality suggested by the situation:-- + + "I am weary of life's burden: well a man may weary be + After eighty years, and this much now is manifest to me: + Death is like a night-blind camel stumbling on:--the smitten die + But the others age and wax in weakness whom he passes by. + He that often deals with folk in unkind fashion, underneath + They will trample him and make him feel the sharpness of their teeth. + He that hath enough and over and is niggard with his pelf + Will be hated of his people and left free to praise himself. + He alone who with fair actions ever fortifies his fame + Wins it fully: blame will find him out unless he shrinks from blame. + He that for his cistern's guarding trusts not in his own stout arm + Sees it ruined: he must harm his foe or he must suffer harm. + He that fears the bridge of Death across it finally is driven, + Though he span as with a ladder all the space 'twixt earth and heaven. + He that will not take the lance's butt-end while he has the chance + Must thereafter be contented with the spike-end of the lance. + He that keeps his word is blamed not; he whose heart repaireth straight + To the sanctuary of duty never needs to hesitate. + He that hies abroad to strangers doth account his friends his foes; + He that honours not himself lacks honour wheresoe'er he goes. + Be a man's true nature what it will, that nature is revealed + To his neighbours, let him fancy as he may that 'tis concealed."[241] + +The ripe sententious wisdom and moral earnestness of Zuhayr's poetry are +in keeping with what has been said above concerning his religious ideas +and, from another point of view, with the tradition that he used to +compose a _qaa¹LA-da_ in four months, correct it for four months, submit +it to the poets of his acquaintance during a like period, and not make +it public until a year had expired. + +Of his life there is little to tell. Probably he died before Islam, +though it is related that when he was a centenarian he met the Prophet, +who cried out on seeing him, "O God, preserve me from his demon!"[242] +The poetical gifts which he inherited from his uncle BashAima he +bequeathed to his son KaaEuro~b, author of the famous ode, _BAinat SuaEuro~Aid_. + +[Sidenote: LabA-d.] + +LabA-d b. RabA-aEuro~a, of the BanAº aEuro~Amir b. a¹caaEuro~a¹LaaEuro~a, was born in the +latter half of the sixth century, and is said to have died soon after +MuaEuro~Aiwiya's accession to the Caliphate, which took place in A.D. 661. He +is thus the youngest of the Seven Poets. On accepting Islam he abjured +poetry, saying, "God has given me the Koran in exchange for it." Like +Zuhayr, he had, even in his heathen days, a strong vein of religious +feeling, as is shown by many passages in his DA-wAin. + +LabA-d was a true Bedouin, and his _MuaEuro~allaqa_, with its charmingly fresh +pictures of desert life and scenery, must be considered one of the +finest examples of the Pre-islamic _qaa¹LA-da_ that have come down to +us. The poet owes something to his predecessors, but the greater part +seems to be drawn from his own observation. He begins in the +conventional manner by describing the almost unrecognisable vestiges of +the camping-ground of the clan to which his mistress belonged:-- + + "Waste lies the land where once alighted and did wone + The people of MinAi: RijAim and Ghawl are lone. + The camp in RayyAin's vale is marked by relics dim + Like weather-beaten script engraved on ancient stone. + Over this ruined scene, since it was desolate, + Whole years with secular and sacred months had flown. + In spring 'twas blest by showers 'neath starry influence shed, + And thunder-clouds bestowed a scant or copious boon. + Pale herbs had shot up, ostriches on either slope + Their chicks had gotten and gazelles their young had thrown; + And large-eyed wild-cows there beside the new-born calves + Reclined, while round them formed a troop the calves half-grown. + Torrents of rain had swept the dusty ruins bare, + Until, as writing freshly charactered, they shone, + Or like to curved tattoo-lines on a woman's arm, + With soot besprinkled so that every line is shown. + I stopped and asked, but what avails it that we ask + Dumb changeless things that speak a language all unknown?"[243] + +After lamenting the departure of his beloved the poet bids himself think +no more about her: he will ride swiftly away from the spot. Naturally, +he must praise his camel, and he introduces by way of comparison two +wonderful pictures of animal life. In the former the onager is described +racing at full speed over the backs of the hills when thirst and hunger +drive him with his mate far from the barren solitudes into which they +usually retire. The second paints a wild-cow, whose young calf has been +devoured by wolves, sleeping among the sand-dunes through a night of +incessant rain. At daybreak "her feet glide over the firm wet soil." For +a whole week she runs to and fro, anxiously seeking her calf, when +suddenly she hears the sound of hunters approaching and makes off in +alarm. Being unable to get within bowshot, the hunters loose their dogs, +but she turns desperately upon them, wounding one with her needle-like +horn and killing another. + +Then, once more addressing his beloved, the poet speaks complacently of +his share in the feasting and revelling, on which a noble Arab plumes +himself hardly less than on his bravery:-- + + "Know'st thou not, O NawAir, that I am wont to tie + The cords of love, yet also snap them without fear? + That I abandon places when I like them not, + Unless Death chain the soul and straiten her career? + Nay, surely, but thou know'st not I have passed in talk + Many a cool night of pleasure and convivial cheer, + And often to a booth, above which hung for sign + A banner, have resorted when old wine was dear. + For no light price I purchased many a dusky skin + Or black clay jar, and broached it that the juice ran clear; + And many a song of shrill-voiced singing-girl I paid, + And her whose fingers made sweet music to mine ear."[244] + +Continuing, he boasts of dangerous service as a spy in the enemy's +country, when he watched all day on the top of a steep crag; of his +fearless demeanour and dignified assertion of his rights in an assembly +at a¸¤A-ra, to which he came as a delegate, and of his liberality to the +poor. The closing verses are devoted, in accordance with custom, to +matters of immediate interest and to a panegyric on the virtues of the +poet's kin. + +Besides the authors of the _MuaEuro~allaqAit_ three poets may be mentioned, of +whom the two first-named are universally acknowledged to rank with the +greatest that Arabia has produced--NAibigha, AaEuro~shAi, and aEuro~Alqama. + +[Sidenote: NAibigha of DhubyAin.] + +NAibigha[245]--his proper name is ZiyAid b. MuaEuro~Aiwiya, of the tribe +DhubyAin--lived at the courts of GhassAin and a¸¤A-ra during the latter +half of the century before Islam. His chief patron was King NuaEuro~mAin b. +Mundhir AbAº QAibAºs of a¸¤A-ra. For many years he basked in the sunshine +of royal favour, enjoying every privilege that NuaEuro~mAin bestowed on his +most intimate friends. The occasion of their falling out is differently +related. According to one story, the poet described the charms of Queen +Mutajarrida, which NuaEuro~mAin had asked him to celebrate, with such charm +and liveliness as to excite her husband's suspicion; but it is said--and +NAibigha's own words make it probable--that his enemies denounced him as +the author of a scurrilous satire against NuaEuro~mAin which had been forged +by themselves. At any rate he had no choice but to quit a¸¤A-ra with all +speed, and ere long we find him in GhassAin, welcomed and honoured, as +the panegyrist of King aEuro~Amr b. a¸¤Airith and the noble house of Jafna. +But his heart was in a¸¤A-ra still. Deeply wounded by the calumnies of +which he was the victim, he never ceased to affirm his innocence and to +lament the misery of exile. The following poem, which he addressed to +NuaEuro~mAin, is at once a justification and an appeal for mercy[246]:-- + + "They brought me word, O King, thou blamedst me; + For this am I o'erwhelmed with grief and care. + I passed a sick man's night: the nurses seemed, + Spreading my couch, to have heaped up briars there. + Now (lest thou cherish in thy mind a doubt) + Invoking our last refuge, God, I swear + That he, whoever told thee I was false, + Is the more lying and faithless of the pair. + Exiled perforce, I found a strip of land + Where I could live and safely take the air: + Kings made me arbiter of their possessions, + And called me to their side and spoke me fair-- + Even as thou dost grace thy favourites + Nor deem'st a fault the gratitude they bear.[247] + O leave thine anger! Else, in view of men + A mangy camel, smeared with pitch, I were. + Seest thou not God hath given thee eminence + Before which monarchs tremble and despair? + All other kings are stars and thou a sun: + When the sun rises, lo, the heavens are bare! + A friend in trouble thou wilt not forsake; + I may have sinned: in sinning all men share. + If I am wronged, thou hast but wronged a slave, + And if thou spar'st, 'tis like thyself to spare." + +It is pleasant to record that NAibigha was finally reconciled to the +prince whom he loved, and that a¸¤A-ra again became his home. The date +of his death is unknown, but it certainly took place before Islam was +promulgated. Had the opportunity been granted to him he might have died +a Moslem: he calls himself 'a religious man' (_dhAº ummatin_),[248] and +although the tradition that he was actually a Christian lacks authority, +his long residence in Syria and aEuro~IrAiq must have made him acquainted with +the externals of Christianity and with some, at least, of its leading +ideas. + +[Sidenote: AaEuro~shAi.] + +The grave and earnest tone characteristic of NAibigha's poetry seldom +prevails in that of his younger contemporary, MaymAºn b. Qays, who is +generally known by his surname, al-AaEuro~shAi--that is, 'the man of weak +sight.' A professional troubadour, he roamed from one end of Arabia to +the other, harp in hand, singing the praises of those who rewarded him; +and such was his fame as a satirist that few ventured to withhold the +bounty which he asked. By common consent he stands in the very first +rank of Arabian poets. Abu aEuro(TM)l-Faraj, the author of the _KitAibu +aEuro(TM)l-AghAinA-_, declares him to be superior to all the rest, adding, +however, "this opinion is not held unanimously as regards AaEuro~shAi or any +other." His wandering life brought him into contact with every kind of +culture then existing in Arabia. Although he was not an avowed +Christian, his poetry shows to what an extent he was influenced by the +Bishops of NajrAin, with whom he was intimately connected, and by the +Christian merchants of a¸¤A-ra who sold him their wine. He did not rise +above the pagan level of morality. + + It is related that he set out to visit Mua¸Yammad for the purpose + of reciting to him an ode which he had composed in his honour. When + the Quraysh heard of this, they feared lest their adversary's + reputation should be increased by the panegyric of a bard so famous + and popular. Accordingly, they intercepted him on his way, and asked + whither he was bound. "To your kinsman," said he, "that I may accept + Islam." "He will forbid and make unlawful to thee certain practices + of which thou art fond." "What are these?" said AaEuro~shAi. + "Fornication," said AbAº SufyAin, "I have not abandoned it," he + replied, "but it has abandoned me. What else?" "Gambling." "Perhaps + I shall obtain from him something to compensate me for the loss of + gambling. What else?" "Usury." "I have never borrowed nor lent. What + else?" "Wine." "Oh, in that case I will drink the water I have left + stored at al-MihrAis." Seeing that AaEuro~shAi was not to be deterred, AbAº + SufyAin offered him a hundred camels on condition that he should + return to his home in YamAima and await the issue of the struggle + between Mua¸Yammad and the Quraysh. "I agree," said AaEuro~shAi. "O ye + Quraysh," cried AbAº SufyAin, "this is AaEuro~shAi, and by God, if he + becomes a follower of Mua¸Yammad, he will inflame the Arabs against + you by his poetry. Collect, therefore, a hundred camels for + him."[249] + +AaEuro~shAi excels in the description of wine and wine-parties. One who +visited ManfAºa¸Ya in YamAima, where the poet was buried, relates that +revellers used to meet at his grave and pour out beside it the last +drops that remained in their cups. As an example of his style in this +_genre_ I translate a few lines from the most celebrated of his poems, +which is included by some critics among the _MuaEuro~allaqAit_:-- + + "Many a time I hastened early to the tavern--while there ran + At my heels a ready cook, a nimble, active serving-man-- + 'Midst a gallant troop, like Indian scimitars, of mettle high; + Well they know that every mortal, shod and bare alike, must die. + Propped at ease I greet them gaily, them with myrtle-boughs I greet, + Pass among them wine that gushes from the jar's mouth bittersweet. + Emptying goblet after goblet--but the source may no man drain-- + Never cease they from carousing save to cry, 'Fill up again!' + Briskly runs the page to serve them: on his ears hang pearls: below, + Tight the girdle draws his doublet as he bustles to and fro. + 'Twas the harp, thou mightest fancy, waked the lute's responsive note, + When the loose-robed chantress touched it and sang shrill with + quavering throat. + Here and there among the party damsels fair superbly glide: + Each her long white skirt lets trail and swings a wine-skin at her + side."[250] + +[Sidenote: aEuro~Alqama.] + +Very little is known of the life of aEuro~Alqama b. aEuro~Abada, who was surnamed +_al-Faa¸Yl_ (the Stallion). His most famous poem is that which he +addressed to the GhassAinid a¸¤Airith al-AaEuro~raj after the Battle of +a¸¤alA-ma, imploring him to set free some prisoners of TamA-m--the poet's +tribe--among whom was his own brother or nephew, ShAis. The following +lines have almost become proverbial:-- + + "Of women do ye ask me? I can spy + Their ailments with a shrewd physician's eye. + The man whose head is grey or small his herds + No favour wins of them but mocking words. + Are riches known, to riches they aspire, + And youthful bloom is still their heart's desire."[251] + +[Sidenote: Elegiac poetry.] + +In view of these slighting verses it is proper to observe that the +poetry of Arabian women of the Pre-islamic period is distinctly +masculine in character. Their songs are seldom of Love, but often of +Death. Elegy (_rithAi_ or _marthiya_) was regarded as their special +province. The oldest form of elegy appears in the verses chanted on the +death of TaaEuro(TM)abbaa¹-a Sharran by his sister:-- + + "O the good knight ye left low at RakhmAin, + ThAibit son of JAibir son of SufyAin! + He filled the cup for friends and ever slew his man."[252] + +"As a rule the Arabian dirge is very simple. The poetess begins with a +description of her grief, of the tears that she cannot quench, and then +she shows how worthy to be deeply mourned was he whom death has taken +away. He is described as a pattern of the two principal Arabian virtues, +bravery and liberality, and the question is anxiously asked, 'Who will +now make high resolves, overthrow the enemy, and in time of want feed +the poor and entertain the stranger?' If the hero of the dirge died a +violent death we find in addition a burning lust of revenge, a thirst +for the slayer's blood, expressed with an intensity of feeling of which +only women are capable."[253] + +[Sidenote: KhansAi.] + +Among Arabian women who have excelled in poetry the place of honour is +due to KhansAi--her real name was TumAia¸ir--who flourished in the last +years before Islam. By far the most famous of her elegies are those in +which she bewailed her valiant brothers, MuaEuro~Aiwiya and a¹cakhr, both of +whom were struck down by sword or spear. It is impossible to translate +the poignant and vivid emotion, the energy of passion and noble +simplicity of style which distinguish the poetry of KhansAi, but here are +a few verses:-- + + Death's messenger cried aloud the loss of the generous one, + So loud cried he, by my life, that far he was heard and wide. + Then rose I, and scarce my soul could follow to meet the news, + For anguish and sore dismay and horror that a¹cakhr had died. + In my misery and despair I seemed as a drunken man, + Upstanding awhile--then soon his tottering limbs subside."[254] + + _YudhakkirunA- a¹-ulAºaEuro~u aEuro(TM)l-shamsi a¹cakhran + wa-adhkuruhAº likulli ghurAºbi shamsi._ + + "Sunrise awakes in me the sad remembrance + Of a¹cakhr, and I recall him at every sunset." + +[Sidenote: The last poets born in the Age of Paganism.] + +To the poets who have been enumerated many might be added--_e.g._, +a¸¤assAin b. ThAibit, who was 'retained' by the Prophet and did useful +work on his behalf; KaaEuro~b b. Zuhayr, author or the famous panegyric on +Mua¸Yammad beginning "_BAinat SuaEuro~Aid_" (SuaEuro~Aid has departed); Mutammim b. +Nuwayra, who, like KhansAi, mourned the loss of a brother; AbAº Mia¸Yjan, +the singer of wine, whose devotion to the forbidden beverage was +punished by the Caliph aEuro~Umar with imprisonment and exile; and +al-a¸¤ua¹-ayaEuro(TM)a (the Dwarf), who was unrivalled in satire. All these +belonged to the class of _Mukhaa¸ramAºn_, _i.e._, they were born in the +Pagan Age but died, if not Moslems, at any rate after the proclamation +of Islam. + + +[Sidenote: Collections of ancient poetry.] + +The grammarians of Baa¹Lra and KAºfa, by whom the remains of ancient +Arabian poetry were rescued from oblivion, arranged and collected their +material according to various principles. Either the poems of an +individual or those of a number of individuals belonging to the same +tribe or class were brought together--such a collection was called +_DA-wAin_, plural _DawAiwA-n_; or, again, the compiler edited a certain +number of _qaa¹LA-das_ chosen for their fame or excellence or on other +grounds, or he formed an anthology of shorter pieces or fragments, which +were arranged under different heads according to their subject-matter. + +[Sidenote: DA-wAins.] + +Among _DA-wAins_ mention may be made of _The DA-wAins of the Six Poets_, +viz. NAibigha, aEuro~Antara, a¹¬arafa, Zuhayr, aEuro~Alqama, and ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Qays, +edited with a full commentary by the Spanish philologist al-AaEuro~lam +(aEuro 1083 A.D.) and published in 1870 by Ahlwardt; and of _The Poems of the +Hudhaylites_ (_AshaEuro~Airu aEuro(TM)l-HudhaliyyA-n_) collected by al-SukkarA- +(aEuro 888 A.D.), which have been published by Kosegarten and Wellhausen. + +The chief Anthologies, taken in the order of their composition, are:-- + +[Sidenote: Anthologies. 1. The _MuaEuro~allaqAit_.] + +1. The _MuaEuro~allaqAit_, which is the title given to a collection of seven +odes by ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Qays, a¹¬arafa, Zuhayr, LabA-d, aEuro~Antara, aEuro~Amr b. +KulthAºm, and a¸¤Airith b. a¸¤illiza; to these two odes by NAibigha and +AaEuro~shAi are sometimes added. The compiler was probably a¸¤ammAid +al-RAiwiya, a famous rhapsodist of Persian descent, who flourished under +the Umayyads and died in the second half of the eighth century of our +era. As the _MuaEuro~allaqAit_ have been discussed above, we may pass on +directly to a much larger, though less celebrated, collection dating +from the same period, viz.:-- + +[Sidenote: 2. The _Mufaa¸a¸aliyyAit_.] + +2. The _Mufaa¸a¸aliyyAit_,[255] by which title it is generally known +after its compiler, Mufaa¸a¸al al-a¸abbA- (aEuro circa 786 A.D.), who +made it at the instance of the Caliph Mana¹LAºr for the instruction of +his son and successor, MahdA-. It comprises 128 odes and is extant in two +recensions, that of AnbAirA- (aEuro 916 A.D.), which derives from Ibnu +aEuro(TM)l-AaEuro~rAibA-, the stepson of Mufaa¸a¸al, and that of MarzAºqA- (aEuro 1030 +A.D.). About a third of the _Mufaa¸a¸aliyyAit_ was published in 1885 +by Thorbecke, and Sir Charles Lyall has recently edited the complete +text with Arabic commentary and English translation and notes.[256] + +All students of Arabian poetry are familiar with-- + +[Sidenote: 3. The _a¸¤amAisa_ of AbAº TammAim.] + +3. The _a¸¤amAisa_ of AbAº TammAim a¸¤abA-b b. Aws, himself a +distinguished poet, who flourished under the Caliphs MaaEuro(TM)mAºn and +MuaEuro~taa¹Lim, and died about 850 A.D. Towards the end of his life he +visited aEuro~AbdullAih b. a¹¬Aihir, the powerful governor of KhurAisAin, who +was virtually an independent sovereign. It was on this journey, as Ibn +KhallikAin relates, that AbAº TammAim composed the _a¸¤amAisa_; for on +arriving at HamadhAin (Ecbatana) the winter had set in, and as the cold +was excessively severe in that country, the snow blocked up the road and +obliged him to stop and await the thaw. During his stay he resided with +one of the most eminent men of the place, who possessed a library in +which were some collections of poems composed by the Arabs of the desert +and other authors. Having then sufficient leisure, he perused those +works and selected from them the passages out of which he formed his +_a¸¤amAisa_.[257] The work is divided into ten sections of unequal +length, the first, from which it received its name, occupying (together +with the commentary) 360 pages in Freytag's edition, while the seventh +and eighth require only thirteen pages between them. These sections or +chapters bear the following titles:-- + + I. The Chapter of Fortitude (_BAibu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤amAisa_). + II. The Chapter of Dirges (_BAibu aEuro(TM)l-MarAithA-_). + III. The Chapter of Good Manners (_BAibu aEuro(TM)l-Adab_). + IV. The Chapter of Love-Songs (_BAibu aEuro(TM)l-NasA-b_). + V. The Chapter of Satire (_BAibu aEuro(TM)l-HijAi_). + VI. The Chapter of Guests (Hospitality) and Panegyric (_BAibu + aEuro(TM)l-Aa¸yAif wa aEuro(TM)l-MadA-h_). + VII. The Chapter of Descriptions (_BAibu aEuro(TM)l-a¹cifAit_). + VIII. The Chapter of Travel and Repose (_BAibu aEuro(TM)l-Sayr wa aEuro(TM)l-NuaEuro~Ais_). + IX. The Chapter of FacetiA| (_BAibu aEuro(TM)l-Mulaa¸Y_). + X. The Chapter of Vituperation of Women (_BAibu Madhammati + aEuro(TM)l-NisAi_). + +The contents of the _a¸¤amAisa_ include short poems complete in +themselves as well as passages extracted from longer poems; of the poets +represented, some of whom belong to the Pre-islamic and others to the +early Islamic period, comparatively few are celebrated, while many are +anonymous or only known by the verses attached to their names. If the +high level of excellence attained by these obscure singers shows, on the +one hand, that a natural genius for poetry was widely diffused and that +the art was successfully cultivated among all ranks of Arabian society, +we must not forget how much is due to the fine taste of AbAº TammAim, who, +as the commentator TibrA-zA- has remarked, "is a better poet in his +_a¸¤amAisa_ than in his poetry." + +[Sidenote: 4. The _a¸¤amAisa_ of Bua¸YturA-.] + +4. The _a¸¤amAisa_ of Bua¸YturA- (aEuro 897 A.D.), a younger contemporary of +AbAº TammAim, is inferior to its model.[258] However convenient from a +practical standpoint, the division into a great number of sections, each +illustrating a narrowly defined topic, seriously impairs the artistic +value of the work; moreover, Bua¸YturA- seems to have had a less +catholic appreciation of the beauties of poetry--he admired, it is said, +only what was in harmony with his own style and ideas. + +[Sidenote: 5. The _Jamhara_.] + +5. The _Jamharatu AshaEuro~Airi aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arab_, a collection of forty-nine odes, +was put together probably about 1000 A.D. by AbAº Zayd Mua¸Yammad +al-QurashA-, of whom we find no mention elsewhere. + +[Sidenote: Prose sources.] + +Apart from the _DA-wAins_ and anthologies, numerous Pre-islamic verses are +cited in biographical, philological, and other works, _e.g._, the +_KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-AghAinA-_ by Abu aEuro(TM)l-Faraj of Ia¹LfahAin (aEuro 967 _A.D._), the +_KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-AmAilA-_ by AbAº aEuro~AlA- al-QAilA- (aEuro 967 _A.D._), the _KAimil_ of +Mubarrad (aEuro 898 A.D.), and the _KhizAinatu aEuro(TM)l-Adab_ of aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-QAidir of +BaghdAid (aEuro 1682 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: The tradition of Pre-islamic poetry.] + +[Sidenote: The RAiwA-s.] + +[Sidenote: The Humanists.] + +We have seen that the oldest existing poems date from the beginning of +the sixth century of our era, whereas the art of writing did not come +into general use among the Arabs until some two hundred years +afterwards. Pre-islamic poetry, therefore, was preserved by oral +tradition alone, and the question arises, How was this possible? What +guarantee have we that songs living on men's lips for so long a period +have retained their original form, even approximately? No doubt many +verses, _e.g._, those which glorified the poet's tribe or satirised +their enemies, were constantly being recited by his kin, and in this way +short occasional poems or fragments of longer ones might be perpetuated. +Of whole _qaa¹LA-das_ like the _MuaEuro~allaqAit_, however, none or very few +would have reached us if their survival had depended solely on their +popularity. What actually saved them in the first place was an +institution resembling that of the Rhapsodists in Greece. Every +professed poet had his _RAiwA-_ (reciter), who accompanied him everywhere, +committed his poems to memory, and handed them down, as well as the +circumstances connected with them, to others. The characters of poet and +_rAiwA-_ were often combined; thus Zuhayr was the _rAiwA-_ of his stepfather, +Aws b. a¸¤ajar, while his own _rAiwA-_ was al-a¸¤ua¹-ayaEuro(TM)a. If the +tradition of poetry was at first a labour of love, it afterwards became +a lucrative business, and the _RAiwA-s_, instead of being attached to +individual poets, began to form an independent class, carrying in their +memories a prodigious stock of ancient verse and miscellaneous learning. +It is related, for example, that a¸¤ammAid once said to the Caliph WalA-d +b. YazA-d: "I can recite to you, for each letter of the alphabet, one +hundred long poems rhyming in that letter, without taking into count the +short pieces, and all that composed exclusively by poets who lived +before the promulgation of Islamism." He commenced and continued until +the Caliph, having grown fatigued, withdrew, after leaving a person in +his place to verify the assertion and hear him to the last. In that +sitting he recited two thousand nine hundred _qaa¹LA-das_ by poets who +flourished before Mua¸Yammad. WalA-d, on being informed of the fact, +ordered him a present of one hundred thousand dirhems.[259] Thus, +towards the end of the first century after the Hijra, _i.e._, about 700 +A.D., when the custom of _writing_ poetry began, there was much of +Pre-islamic origin still in circulation, although it is probable that +far more had already been irretrievably lost. Numbers of _RAiwA-s_ +perished in the wars, or passed away in the course of nature, without +leaving any one to continue their tradition. New times had brought new +interests and other ways of life. The great majority of Moslems had no +sympathy whatever with the ancient poetry, which represented in their +eyes the unregenerate spirit of heathendom. They wanted nothing beyond +the Koran and the a¸¤adA-th. But for reasons which will be stated in +another chapter the language of the Koran and the a¸¤adA-th was rapidly +becoming obsolete as a spoken idiom outside of the Arabian peninsula: +the 'perspicuous Arabic' on which Mua¸Yammad prided himself had ceased +to be fully intelligible to the Moslems settled in aEuro~IrAiq and KhurAisAin, +in Syria, and in Egypt. It was essential that the Sacred Text should be +explained, and this necessity gave birth to the sciences of Grammar and +Lexicography. The Philologists, or, as they have been aptly designated, +the Humanists of Baa¹Lra and KAºfa, where these studies were prosecuted +with peculiar zeal, naturally found their best material in the +Pre-islamic poems--a well of Arabic undefiled. At first the ancient +poetry merely formed a basis for philological research, but in process +of time a literary enthusiasm was awakened. The surviving _RAiwA-s_ were +eagerly sought out and induced to yield up their stores, the +compositions of famous poets were collected, arranged, and committed to +writing, and as the demand increased, so did the supply.[260] + +[Sidenote: Corrupt tradition of the old poetry.] + +[Sidenote: a¸¤ammAid al-RAiwiya.] + +[Sidenote: Khalaf al-Aa¸Ymar.] + +In these circumstances a certain amount of error was inevitable. Apart +from unconscious failings of memory, there can be no doubt that in many +cases the _RAiwA-s_ acted with intent to deceive. The temptation to father +their own verses, or centos which they pieced together from sources +known only to themselves, upon some poet of antiquity was all the +stronger because they ran little risk of detection. In knowledge of +poetry and in poetical talent they were generally far more than a match +for the philologists, who seldom possessed any critical ability, but +readily took whatever came to hand. The stories which are told of a¸¤ammAid +al-RAiwiya, clearly show how unscrupulous he was in his methods, though +we have reason to suppose that he was not a typical example of his +class. His contemporary, Mufaa¸a¸al al-a¸abbA-, is reported to have said +that the corruption which poetry suffered through a¸¤ammAid could never be +repaired, "for," he added, "a¸¤ammAid is a man skilled in the language and +poesy of the Arabs and in the styles and ideas of the poets, and he is +always making verses in imitation of some one and introducing them into +genuine compositions by the same author, so that the copy passes +everywhere for part of the original, and cannot be distinguished from it +except by critical scholars--and where are such to be found?"[261] This +art of forgery was brought to perfection by Khalaf al-Aa¸Ymar (aEuro about 800 +A.D.), who learned it in the school of a¸¤ammAid. If he really composed the +famous _LAimiyya_ ascribed to ShanfarAi, his own poetical endowments must +have been of the highest order. In his old age he repented and confessed +that he was the author of several poems which the scholars of Baa¹Lra and +KAºfa had accepted as genuine, but they laughed him to scorn, saying, +"What you said then seems to us more trustworthy than your present +assertion." + +[Sidenote: Other causes of corruption.] + +Besides the corruptions due to the _RAiwA-s_, others have been accumulated +by the philologists themselves. As the Koran and the a¸¤adA-th were, of +course, spoken and afterwards written in the dialect of Quraysh, to whom +Mua¸Yammad belonged, this dialect was regarded as the classical +standard;[262] consequently the variations therefrom which occurred in +the ancient poems were, for the most part, 'emended' and harmonised with +it. Many changes were made under the influence of Islam, _e.g._, 'Allah' +was probably often substituted for the pagan goddess 'al-LAit.' Moreover, +the structure of the _qaa¹LA-da_, its disconnectedness and want of logical +cohesion, favoured the omission and transposition of whole passages or +single verses. All these modes of depravation might be illustrated in +detail, but from what has been said the reader can judge for himself how +far the poems, as they now stand, are likely to have retained the form +in which they were first uttered to the wild Arabs of the Pre-islamic +Age. + +[Sidenote: Religion.] + +[Sidenote: The Fair of aEuro~UkAiaº".] + +Religion had so little influence on the lives of the Pre-islamic Arabs +that we cannot expect to find much trace of it in their poetry. They +believed vaguely in a supreme God, Allah, and more definitely in his +three daughters--al-LAit, ManAit, and al-aEuro~UzzAi--who were venerated all +over Arabia and whose intercession was graciously accepted by Allah. +There were also numerous idols enjoying high favour while they continued +to bring good luck to their worshippers. Of real piety the ordinary +Bedouin knew nothing. He felt no call to pray to his gods, although he +often found them convenient to swear by. He might invoke Allah in the +hour of need, as a drowning man will clutch at a straw; but his faith in +superstitious ceremonies was stronger. He did not take his religion too +seriously. Its practical advantages he was quick to appreciate. Not to +mention baser pleasures, it gave him rest and security during the four +sacred months, in which war was forbidden, while the institution of the +Meccan Pilgrimage enabled him to take part in a national fAªte. Commerce +went hand in hand with religion. Great fairs were held, the most famous +being that of aEuro~UkAiaº", which lasted for twenty days. These fairs were in +some sort the centre of old Arabian social, political, and literary +life. It was the only occasion on which free and fearless intercourse +was possible between the members of different clans.[263] + +Plenty of excitement was provided by poetical and oratorical +displays--not by athletic sports, as in ancient Greece and modern +England. Here rival poets declaimed their verses and submitted them to +the judgment of an acknowledged master. Nowhere else had rising talents +such an opportunity of gaining wide reputation: what aEuro~UkAiaº" said to-day +all Arabia would repeat to-morrow. At aEuro~UkAiaº", we are told, the youthful +Mua¸Yammad listened, as though spellbound, to the persuasive eloquence of +Quss b. SAiaEuro~ida, Bishop of NajrAin; and he may have contrasted the +discourse of the Christian preacher with the brilliant odes chanted by +heathen bards. + +The Bedouin view of life was thoroughly hedonistic. Love, wine, +gambling, hunting, the pleasures of song and romance, the brief, +pointed, and elegant expression of wit and wisdom--these things he knew +to be good. Beyond them he saw only the grave. + + "Roast meat and wine: the swinging ride + On a camel sure and tried, + Which her master speeds amain + O'er low dale and level plain: + Women marble-white and fair + Trailing gold-fringed raiment rare: + Opulence, luxurious ease, + With the lute's soft melodies-- + Such delights hath our brief span; + Time is Change, Time's fool is Man. + Wealth or want, great store or small, + All is one since Death's are all."[264] + +It would be a mistake to suppose that these men always, or even +generally, passed their lives in the aimless pursuit of pleasure. Some +goal they had--earthly, no doubt--such as the accumulation of wealth or +the winning of glory or the fulfilment of blood-revenge. "_God forbid_" +says one, "_that I should die while a grievous longing, as it were a +mountain, weighs on my breast!_"[265] A deeper chord is touched by +ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Qays: "_If I strove for a bare livelihood, scanty means would +suffice me and I would seek no more. But I strive for lasting renown, +and 'tis men like me that sometimes attain lasting renown. Never, while +life endures, does a man reach the summit of his ambition or cease from +toil._"[266] + +[Sidenote: Judaism and Christianity in Arabia.] + +[Sidenote: The aEuro~IbAid of a¸¤A-ra.] + +[Sidenote: aEuro~AdA- b. Zayd.] + +These are noble sentiments nobly expressed. Yet one hears the sigh of +weariness, as if the speaker were struggling against the conviction that +his cause is already lost, and would welcome the final stroke of +destiny. It was a time of wild uproar and confusion. Tribal and family +feuds filled the land, as Zuhayr says, with evil fumes. No wonder that +earnest and thoughtful minds asked themselves--What worth has our life, +what meaning? Whither does it lead? Such questions paganism could not +answer, but Arabia in the century before Mua¸Yammad was not wholly +abandoned to paganism. Jewish colonists had long been settled in the +a¸¤ijAiz. Probably the earliest settlements date from the conquest of +Palestine by Titus or Hadrian. In their new home the refugees, through +contact with a people nearly akin to themselves, became fully +Arabicised, as the few extant specimens of their poetry bear witness. +They remained Jews, however, not only in their cultivation of trade and +various industries, but also in the most vital particular--their +religion. This, and the fact that they lived in isolated communities +among the surrounding population, marked them out as the salt of the +desert. In the a¸¤ijAiz their spiritual predominance was not seriously +challenged. It was otherwise in Yemen. We may leave out of account the +legend according to which Judaism was introduced into that country from +the a¸¤ijAiz by the TubbaaEuro~ AsaEuro~ad KAimil. What is certain is that towards the +beginning of the sixth century it was firmly planted there side by side +with Christianity, and that in the person of the a¸¤imyarite monarch DhAº +NuwAis, who adopted the Jewish faith, it won a short-lived but sanguinary +triumph over its rival. But in Yemen, except among the highlanders of +NajrAin, Christianity does not appear to have flourished as it did in the +extreme north and north-east, where the Roman and Persian frontiers were +guarded by the Arab levies of GhassAin and a¸¤A-ra. We have seen that the +latter city contained a large Christian population who were called +distinctively aEuro~IbAid, _i.e._, Servants (of God). Through them the Aramaic +culture of Babylonia was transmitted to all parts of the peninsula. They +had learned the art of writing long before it was generally practised in +Arabia, as is shown by the story of a¹¬arafa and Mutalammis, and they +produced the oldest _written_ poetry in the Arabic language--a poetry +very different in character from that which forms the main subject of +this chapter. Unfortunately the bulk of it has perished, since the +rhapsodists, to whom we owe the preservation of so much Pre-islamic +verse, were devoted to the traditional models and would not burden their +memories with anything new-fashioned. The most famous of the aEuro~IbAidA- +poets is aEuro~AdA- b. Zayd, whose adventurous career as a politician has been +sketched above. He is not reckoned by Mua¸Yammadan critics among the +_Fua¸YAºl_ or poets of the first rank, because he was a townsman +(_qarawA-_). In this connection the following anecdote is instructive. +The poet al-aEuro~AjjAij (aEuro about 709 A.D.) said of his contemporaries +al-a¹¬irimmAia¸Y and al-Kumayt: "They used to ask me concerning rare +expressions in the language of poetry, and I informed them, but +afterwards I found the same expressions wrongly applied in their poems, +the reason being that they were townsmen who described what they had not +seen and misapplied it, whereas I who am a Bedouin describe what I have +seen and apply it properly."[267] aEuro~AdA- is chiefly remembered for his +wine-songs. Oriental Christianity has always been associated with the +drinking and selling of wine. Christian ideas were carried into the +heart of Arabia by aEuro~IbAidA- wine merchants, who are said to have taught +their religion to the celebrated AaEuro~shAi. aEuro~AdA- drank and was merry like +the rest, but the underlying thought, 'for to-morrow we die,' repeatedly +makes itself heard. He walks beside a cemetery, and the voices of the +dead call to him--[268] + + "Thou who seest us unto thyself shalt say, + 'Soon upon me comes the season of decay.' + Can the solid mountains evermore sustain + Time's vicissitudes and all they bring in train? + Many a traveller lighted near us and abode, + Quaffing wine wherein the purest water flowed-- + Strainers on each flagon's mouth to clear the wine, + Noble steeds that paw the earth in trappings fine! + For a while they lived in lap of luxury, + Fearing no misfortune, dallying lazily. + Then, behold, Time swept them all, like chaff, away: + Thus it is men fall to whirling Time a prey. + Thus it is Time keeps the bravest and the best + Night and day still plunged in Pleasure's fatal quest." + +It is said that the recitation of these verses induced NuaEuro~mAin al-Akbar, +one of the mythical pagan kings of a¸¤A-ra, to accept Christianity and +become an anchorite. Although the story involves an absurd anachronism, +it is _ben trovato_ in so far as it records the impression which the +graver sort of Christian poetry was likely to make on heathen minds. + +[Sidenote: Pre-Islamic poetry not exclusively pagan in sentiment.] + +The courts of a¸¤A-ra and GhassAin were well known to the wandering +minstrels of the time before Mua¸Yammad, who flocked thither in eager +search of patronage and remuneration. We may be sure that men like +NAibigha, LabA-d, and AaEuro~shAi did not remain unaffected by the culture +around them, even if it seldom entered very deeply into their lives. +That considerable traces of religious feeling are to be found in +Pre-islamic poetry admits of no denial, but the passages in question +were formerly explained as due to interpolation. This view no longer +prevails. Thanks mainly to the arguments of Von Kremer, Sir Charles +Lyall, and Wellhausen, it has come to be recognised (1) that in many +cases the above-mentioned religious feeling is not Islamic in tone; (2) +that the passages in which it occurs are not of Islamic origin; and (3) +that it is the natural and necessary result of the widely spread, though +on the whole superficial, influence of Judaism, and especially of +Christianity.[269] It shows itself not only in frequent allusions, +_e.g._, to the monk in his solitary cell, whose lamp serves to light +belated travellers on their way, and in more significant references, +such as that of Zuhayr already quoted, to the Heavenly Book in which +evil actions are enscrolled for the Day of Reckoning, but also in the +tendency to moralise, to look within, to meditate on death, and to value +the life of the individual rather than the continued existence of the +family. These things are not characteristic of old Arabian poetry, but +the fact that they do appear at times is quite in accord with the other +facts which have been stated, and justifies the conclusion that during +the sixth century religion and culture were imperceptibly extending +their sphere of influence in Arabia, leavening the pagan masses, and +gradually preparing the way for Islam. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE PROPHET AND THE KORAN + + +With the appearance of Mua¸Yammad the almost impenetrable veil thrown over +the preceding age is suddenly lifted and we find ourselves on the solid +ground of historical tradition. In order that the reasons for this +change may be understood, it is necessary to give some account of the +principal sources from which our knowledge of the Prophet's life and +teaching is derived. + +[Sidenote: Sources of information: I. The Koran.] + +[Sidenote: How it was preserved.] + +[Sidenote: Value of the Koran as an authority.] + +There is first, of course, the Koran,[270] consisting "exclusively of +the revelations or commands which Mua¸Yammad professed, from time to time, +to receive through Gabriel as a message direct from God; and which, +under an alleged Divine direction, he delivered to those about him. At +the time of pretended inspiration, or shortly after, each passage was +recited by Mua¸Yammad before the Companions or followers who happened to +be present, and was generally committed to writing by some one amongst +them upon palm-leaves, leather, stones, or such other rude material as +conveniently came to hand. These Divine messages continued throughout +the three-and-twenty years of his prophetical life, so that the last +portion did not appear till the year of his death. The canon was then +closed; but the contents were never, during the Prophet's lifetime, +systematically arranged, or even collected together."[271] They were +preserved, however, in fragmentary copies and, especially, by oral +recitation until the sanguinary wars which followed Mua¸Yammad's death had +greatly diminished the number of those who could repeat them by heart. +Accordingly, after the battle of YamAima (633 A.D.) aEuro~Umar b. al-Khaa¹-a¹-Aib +came to AbAº Bakr, who was then Caliph, and said: "I fear that slaughter +may wax hot among the Reciters on other battle-fields, and that much of +the Koran may be lost; so in my opinion it should be collected without +delay." AbAº Bakr agreed, and entrusted the task to Zayd b. ThAibit, one +of the Prophet's amanuenses, who collected the fragments with great +difficulty "from bits of parchment, thin white stones, leafless +palm-branches, and the bosoms of men." The manuscript thus compiled was +deposited with AbAº Bakr during the remainder of his life, then with +aEuro~Umar, on whose death it passed to his daughter a¸¤afa¹La. Afterwards, in +the Caliphate of aEuro~UthmAin, a¸¤udhayfa b. al-YamAin, observing that the Koran +as read in Syria was seriously at variance with the text current in +aEuro~IrAiq, warned the Caliph to interfere, lest the Sacred Book of the +Moslems should become a subject of dispute, like the Jewish and +Christian scriptures. In the year 651 A.D. aEuro~UthmAin ordered Zayd b. +ThAibit to prepare a Revised Version with the assistance of three +Qurayshites, saying to the latter, "If ye differ from Zayd regarding any +word of the Koran, write it in the dialect of Quraysh; for it was +revealed in their dialect."[272] This has ever since remained the final +and standard recension of the Koran. "Transcripts were multiplied and +forwarded to the chief cities in the empire, and all previously existing +copies were, by the Caliph's command, committed to the flames."[273] In +the text as it has come down to us the various readings are few and +unimportant, and its genuineness is above suspicion. We shall see, +moreover, that the Koran is an exceedingly human document, reflecting +every phase of Mua¸Yammad's personality and standing in close relation to +the outward events of his life, so that here we have materials of unique +and incontestable authority for tracing the origin and early development +of Islam--such materials as do not exist in the case of Buddhism or +Christianity or any other ancient religion. Unfortunately the +arrangement of the Koran can only be described as chaotic. No +chronological sequence is observed in the order of the SAºras (chapters), +which is determined simply by their length, the longest being placed +first.[274] Again, the chapters themselves are sometimes made up of +disconnected fragments having nothing in common except the rhyme; whence +it is often impossible to discover the original context of the words +actually spoken by the Prophet, the occasion on which they were +revealed, or the period to which they belong. In these circumstances the +Koran must be supplemented by reference to our second main source of +information, namely, Tradition. + +[Sidenote: 2. Tradition (a¸¤adA-th).] + +[Sidenote: Biographies of Mua¸Yammad.] + +[Sidenote: General collections.] + +[Sidenote: Commentaries on the Koran.] + +Already in the last years of Mua¸Yammad's life (writes Dr. Sprenger) it +was a pious custom that when two Moslems met, one should ask for news +(_a¸YadA-th_) and the other should relate a saying or anecdote of the +Prophet. After his death this custom continued, and the name _a¸¤adA-th_ +was still applied to sayings and stories which were no longer new.[275] +In the course of time an elaborate system of Tradition was built up, as +the Koran--originally the sole criterion by which Moslems were guided +alike in the greatest and smallest matters of public and private +interest--was found insufficient for the complicated needs of a rapidly +extending empire. Appeal was made to the sayings and practice (_sunna_) +of Mua¸Yammad, which now acquired "the force of law and some of the +authority of inspiration." The Prophet had no Boswell, but almost as +soon as he began to preach he was a marked man whose _obiter dicta_ +could not fail to be treasured by his Companions, and whose actions were +attentively watched. Thus, during the first century of Islam there was a +multitude of living witnesses from whom traditions were collected, +committed to memory, and orally handed down. Every tradition consists of +two parts: the text (_matn_) and the authority (_sanad_, or _isnAid_), +_e.g._, the relater says, "I was told by _A_, who was informed by _B_, +who had it from _C_, that the Prophet (God bless him!) and AbAº Bakr and +aEuro~Umar used to open prayer with the words 'Praise to God, the Lord of all +creatures.'" Written records and compilations were comparatively rare in +the early period. Ibn Isa¸YAiq (aEuro 768 A.D.) composed the oldest extant +Biography of the Prophet, which we do not possess, however, in its +original shape but only in the recension of Ibn HishAim (aEuro 833 A.D.). Two +important and excellent works of the same kind are the _KitAibu +aEuro(TM)l-MaghAizA-_ ('Book of the Wars') by WAiqidA- (aEuro 822 A.D.) and the _KitAibu +aEuro(TM)l-a¹¬abaqAit al-KabA-r_ ('The Great Book of the Classes,' _i.e._, the +different classes of Mua¸Yammad's Companions and those who came after +them) by Ibn SaaEuro~d (aEuro 844 A.D.). Of miscellaneous traditions intended to +serve the Faithful as a model and rule of life in every particular, and +arranged in chapters according to the subject-matter, the most ancient +and authoritative collections are those of BukhAirA- (aEuro 870 A.D.) and +Muslim (aEuro 874 A.D.), both of which bear the same title, viz., +_al-a¹caa¸YA-a¸Y_, 'The Genuine.' It only remains to speak of Commentaries on +the Koran. Some passages were explained by Mua¸Yammad himself, but the +real founder of Koranic Exegesis was aEuro~AbdullAih b. aEuro~AbbAis, the Prophet's +cousin. Although the writings of the early interpreters have entirely +perished, the gist of their researches is embodied in the great +commentary of a¹¬abarA- (aEuro 922 A.D.), a man of encyclopA|dic learning who +absorbed the whole mass of tradition existing in his time. Subsequent +commentaries are largely based on this colossal work, which has recently +been published at Cairo in thirty volumes. That of ZamakhsharA- (aEuro 1143 +A.D.), which is entitled the _KashshAif_, and that of Baya¸AiwA- (aEuro 1286 +A.D.) are the best known and most highly esteemed in the Mua¸Yammadan +East. A work of wider scope is the _ItqAin_ of SuyAºa¹-A- (aEuro 1505 A.D.), +which takes a general survey of the Koranic sciences, and may be +regarded as an introduction to the critical study of the Koran. + +[Sidenote: Character of Moslem tradition.] + +While every impartial student will admit the justice of Ibn Qutayba's +claim that no religion has such historical attestations as Islam--_laysa +li-ummatin mina aEuro(TM)l-umami asnAidun ka-asnAidihim_[276]--he must at the same +time cordially assent to the observation made by another Mua¸Yammadan: "In +nothing do we see pious men more given to falsehood than in Tradition" +(_lam nara aEuro(TM)l-a¹LAilia¸YA-na? fA- shayin akdhaba minhum fi aEuro(TM)l-a¸YadA-th_).[277] Of +this severe judgment the reader will find ample confirmation in the +Second Part of Goldziher's _Muhammedanische Studien_.[278] During the +first century of Islam the forging of Traditions became a recognised +political and religious weapon, of which all parties availed themselves. +Even men of the strictest piety practised this species of fraud +(_tadlA-s_), and maintained that the end justified the means. Their point +of view is well expressed in the following words which are supposed to +have been spoken by the Prophet: "You must compare the sayings +attributed to me with the Koran; what agrees therewith is from me, +whether I actually said it or no;" and again, "Whatever good saying has +been said, I myself have said it."[279] As the result of such principles +every new doctrine took the form of an Apostolic _a¸¤adA-th_; every sect +and every system defended itself by an appeal to the authority of +Mua¸Yammad. We may see how enormous was the number of false Traditions in +circulation from the fact that when BukhAirA- (aEuro 870 A.D.) drew up his +collection entitled 'The Genuine' (_al-a¹caa¸YA-a¸Y_), he limited it to some +7,000, which he picked out of 600,000. + +The credibility of Tradition, so far as it concerns the life of the +Prophet, cannot be discussed in this place.[280] The oldest and best +biography, that of Ibn Isa¸YAiq, undoubtedly contains a great deal of +fabulous matter, but his narrative appears to be honest and fairly +authentic on the whole. + + +[Sidenote: Birth of Mua¸Yammad.] + +If we accept the traditional chronology, Mua¸Yammad, son of aEuro~AbdullAih and +Amina, of the tribe of Quraysh, was born at Mecca on the 12th of RabA-aEuro~ +al-Awwal, in the Year of the Elephant (570-571 A.D.). His descent from +Qua¹Layy is shown by the following table:-- + + Qua¹Layy. + a", + aEuro~Abd ManAif. + a", + a"OEa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"'a"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa" + a", a", + aEuro~Abd Shams. HAishim. + a", a", + Umayya. aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Mua¹-a¹-alib. + a", + a"OEa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euro+a"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa"Euroa" + a", a", a", + aEuro~AbbAis. aEuro~AbdullAih. AbAº a¹¬Ailib. + a", + MUa¸¤AMMAD. + +[Sidenote: His childhood.] + +Shortly after his birth he was handed over to a Bedouin nurse--a¸¤alA-ma, a +woman of the BanAº SaaEuro~d--so that until he was five years old he breathed +the pure air and learned to speak the unadulterated language of the +desert. One marvellous event which is said to have happened to him at +this time may perhaps be founded on fact:-- + + [Sidenote: Mua¸Yammad and the two angels.] + + "He and his foster-brother" (so a¸¤alA-ma relates) "were among the + cattle behind our encampment when my son came running to us and + cried, 'My brother, the Qurayshite! two men clad in white took him + and laid him on his side and cleft his belly; and they were stirring + their hands in it.' When my husband and I went out to him we found + him standing with his face turned pale, and on our asking, 'What + ails thee, child?' he answered, 'Two men wearing white garments came + to me and laid me on my side and cleft my belly and groped for + something, I know not what.' We brought him back to our tent, and my + husband said to me, 'O a¸¤alA-ma, I fear this lad has been smitten + (_ua¹LA-ba_); so take him home to his family before it becomes + evident.' When we restored him to his mother she said, 'What has + brought thee, nurse? Thou wert so fond of him and anxious that he + should stay with thee.' I said, 'God has made him grow up, and I + have done my part. I feared that some mischance would befall him, so + I brought him back to thee as thou wishest.' 'Thy case is not thus,' + said she; 'tell me the truth,' and she gave me no peace until I told + her. Then she said, 'Art thou afraid that he is possessed by the + Devil?' I said, 'Yes.' 'Nay, by God,' she replied, 'the Devil cannot + reach him; my son hath a high destiny.'"[281] + +Other versions of the story are more explicit. The angels, it is said, +drew forth Mua¸Yammad's heart, cleansed it, and removed the black +clot--_i.e_., the taint of original sin.[282] If these inventions have +any basis at all beyond the desire to glorify the future Prophet, we +must suppose that they refer to some kind of epileptic fit. At a later +period he was subject to such attacks, which, according to the unanimous +voice of Tradition, often coincided with the revelations sent down from +heaven. + +[Sidenote: His meeting with the monk Baa¸YA-rAi.] + +aEuro~AbdullAih had died before the birth of his son, and when, in his sixth +year, Mua¸Yammad lost his mother also, the charge of the orphan was +undertaken first by his grandfather, the aged aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Mua¹-a¹-alib, and +then by his uncle, AbAº a¹¬Ailib, a poor but honourable man, who nobly +fulfilled the duties of a guardian to the last hour of his life. +Mua¸Yammad's small patrimony was soon spent, and he was reduced to herding +sheep--a despised employment which usually fell to the lot of women or +slaves. In his twelfth year he accompanied AbAº a¹¬Ailib on a trading +expedition to Syria, in the course of which he is said to have +encountered a Christian monk called Baa¸YA-rAi, who discovered the Seal of +Prophecy between the boy's shoulders, and hailed him as the promised +apostle. Such anticipations deserve no credit whatever. The truth is +that until Mua¸Yammad assumed the prophetic rA'le he was merely an obscure +Qurayshite; and scarcely anything related of him anterior to that event +can be deemed historical except his marriage to KhadA-ja, an elderly +widow of considerable fortune, which took place when he was about +twenty-five years of age. + +[Sidenote: The a¸¤anA-fs.] + +During the next fifteen years of his life Mua¸Yammad was externally a +prosperous citizen, only distinguished from those around him by an +habitual expression of thoughtful melancholy. What was passing in his +mind may be conjectured with some probability from his first utterances +when he came forward as a preacher. It is certain, and he himself has +acknowledged, that he formerly shared the idolatry of his countrymen. +"_Did not He find thee astray and lead thee aright?_" (Kor. xciii, 7). +When and how did the process of conversion begin? These questions cannot +be answered, but it is natural to suppose that the all-important result, +on which Mua¸Yammad's biographers concentrate their attention, was +preceded by a long period of ferment and immaturity. The idea of +monotheism was represented in Arabia by the Jews, who were particularly +numerous in the a¸¤ijAiz, and by several gnostic sects of an ascetic +character--_e.g._, the a¹cAibians[283] and the RakAºsians. Furthermore, +"Islamic tradition knows of a number of religious thinkers before +Mua¸Yammad who are described as a¸¤anA-fs,"[284] and of whom the best known +are Waraqa b. Nawfal of Quraysh; Zayd b. aEuro~Amr b. Nufayl, also of +Quraysh; and Umayya b. Abi aEuro(TM)l-a¹calt of ThaqA-f. They formed no sect, as +Sprenger imagined; and more recent research has demonstrated the +baselessness of the same scholar's theory that there was in Pre-islamic +times a widely-spread religious movement which Mua¸Yammad organised, +directed, and employed for his own ends. His Arabian precursors, if they +may be so called, were merely a few isolated individuals. We are told by +Ibn Isa¸YAiq that Waraqa and Zayd, together with two other Qurayshites, +rejected idolatry and left their homes in order to seek the true +religion of Abraham, but whereas Waraqa is said to have become a +Christian, Zayd remained a pious dissenter unattached either to +Christianity or to Judaism; he abstained from idol-worship, from eating +that which had died of itself, from blood, and from the flesh of animals +offered in sacrifice to idols; he condemned the barbarous custom of +burying female infants alive, and said, "I worship the Lord of +Abraham."[285] As regards Umayya b. Abi aEuro(TM)l-a¹calt, according to the notice +of him in the _AghAinA-_, he had inspected and read the Holy Scriptures; +he wore sackcloth as a mark of devotion, held wine to be unlawful, was +inclined to disbelieve in idols, and earnestly sought the true religion. +It is said that he hoped to be sent as a prophet to the Arabs, and +therefore when Mua¸Yammad appeared he envied and bitterly opposed +him.[286] Umayya's verses, some of which have been translated in a +former chapter,[287] are chiefly on religious topics, and show many +points of resemblance with the doctrines set forth in the early SAºras of +the Koran. With one exception, all the a¸¤anA-fs whose names are recorded +belonged to the a¸¤ijAiz and the west of the Arabian peninsula. No doubt +Mua¸Yammad, with whom most of them were contemporary, came under their +influence, and he may have received his first stimulus from this +quarter.[288] While they, however, were concerned only about their own +salvation, Mua¸Yammad, starting from the same position, advanced far +beyond it. His greatness lies not so much in the sublime ideas by which +he was animated as in the tremendous force and enthusiasm of his appeal +to the universal conscience of mankind. + + +[Sidenote: Mua¸Yammad's vision.] + +In his fortieth year, it is said, Mua¸Yammad began to dream dreams and see +visions, and desire solitude above all things else. He withdrew to a +cave on Mount a¸¤irAi, near Mecca, and engaged in religious austerities +(_taa¸Yannuth_). One night in the month of Ramaa¸Ain[289] the Angel[290] +appeared to him and said, "Read!" (_iqraaEuro(TM)_). He answered, "I am no +reader" (_mAi ana bi-qAiriaEuro(TM)in_).[291] Then the Angel seized him with a +strong grasp, saying, "Read!" and, as Mua¸Yammad still refused to obey, +gripped him once more and spoke as follows:-- + + + THE SAsRA OF COAGULATED BLOOD (XCVI). + + (1) Read in the name of thy Lord[292] who created, + (2) Who created Man of blood coagulated. + (3) Read! Thy Lord is the most beneficent, + (4) Who taught by the Pen,[293] + (5) Taught that which they knew not unto men. + +On hearing these words Mua¸Yammad returned, trembling, to KhadA-ja and +cried, "Wrap me up! wrap me up!" and remained covered until the terror +passed away from him.[294] Another tradition relating to the same event +makes it clear that the revelation occurred in a dream.[295] "I awoke," +said the Prophet, "and methought it was written in my heart." If we take +into account the notions prevalent among the Arabs of that time on the +subject of inspiration,[296] it will not appear surprising that Mua¸Yammad +at first believed himself to be possessed, like a poet or soothsayer, by +one of the spirits called collectively _Jinn_. Such was his anguish of +mind that he even meditated suicide, but KhadA-ja comforted and reassured +him, and finally he gained the unalterable conviction that he was not a +prey to demoniacal influences, but a prophet divinely inspired. For some +time he received no further revelation.[297] Then suddenly, as he +afterwards related, he saw the Angel seated on a throne between earth +and heaven. Awe-stricken, he ran into his house and bade them wrap his +limbs in a warm garment (_dithAir_). While he lay thus the following +verses were revealed:-- + + + THE SAsRA OF THE ENWRAPPED (LXXIV). + + (1) O thou who enwrapped dost lie! + (2) Arise and prophesy,[298] + (3) And thy Lord magnify, + (4) And thy raiment purify, + (5) And the abomination fly![299] + +Mua¸Yammad no longer doubted that he had a divinely ordained mission to +preach in public. His feelings of relief and thankfulness are expressed +in several SAºras of this period, _e.g._-- + + + THE SAsRA OF THE MORNING (XCIII). + + (1) By the Morning bright + (2) And the softly falling Night, + (3) Thy Lord hath not forsaken thee, neither art thou hateful in + His sight. + (4) Verily, the Beginning is hard unto thee, but the End shall be + light.[300] + (5) Thou shalt be satisfied, the Lord shall thee requite. + (6) Did not He shelter thee when He found thee in orphan's plight? + (7) Did not He find thee astray and lead thee aright? + (8) Did not He find thee poor and make thee rich by His might? + (9) Wherefore, the orphan betray not, + (10) And the beggar turn away not, + (11) And tell of the bounty of thy Lord. + +[Sidenote: The first Moslems.] + +[Sidenote: Hostility of the Quraysh.] + +[Sidenote: Emigration to Abyssinia.] + +[Sidenote: Temporary reconciliation with the Quraysh.] + +According to his biographers, an interval of three years elapsed between +the sending of Mua¸Yammad and his appearance as a public preacher of the +faith that was in him. Naturally, he would first turn to his own family +and friends, but it is difficult to accept the statement that he made no +proselytes openly during so long a period. The contrary is asserted in +an ancient tradition related by al-ZuhrA- (aEuro 742 A.D.), where we read +that the Prophet summoned the people to embrace Islam[301] both in +private and public; and that those who responded to his appeal were, for +the most part, young men belonging to the poorer class.[302] He found, +however, some influential adherents. Besides KhadA-ja, who was the first +to believe, there were his cousin aEuro~AlA-, his adopted son, Zayd b. +a¸¤Airitha, and, most important of all, AbAº Bakr b. AbA- QuhAifa, a leading +merchant of the Quraysh, universally respected and beloved for his +integrity, wisdom, and kindly disposition. At the outset Mua¸Yammad seems +to have avoided everything calculated to offend the heathens, confining +himself to moral and religious generalities, so that many believed, and +the Meccan aristocrats themselves regarded him with good-humoured +toleration as a harmless oracle-monger. "Look!" they said as he passed +by, "there goes the man of the BanAº aEuro~Abd al-Mua¹-a¹-alib who tells of +heaven." But no sooner did he begin to emphasise the Unity of God, to +fulminate against idolatry, and to preach the Resurrection of the dead, +than his followers melted away in face of the bitter antagonism which +these doctrines excited amongst the Quraysh, who saw in the KaaEuro~ba and +its venerable cult the mainspring of their commercial prosperity, and +were irritated by the Prophet's declaration that their ancestors were +burning in hell-fire. The authority of AbAº a¹¬Ailib secured the personal +safety of Mua¸Yammad; of the little band who remained faithful some were +protected by the strong family feeling characteristic of old Arabian +society, but many were poor and friendless; and these, especially the +slaves, whom the levelling ideas of Islam had attracted in large +numbers, were subjected to cruel persecution.[303] Nevertheless Mua¸Yammad +continued to preach. "I will not forsake this cause" (thus he is said to +have answered AbAº a¹¬Ailib, who informed him of the threatening attitude of +the Quraysh and begged him not to lay on him a greater burden than he +could bear) "until God shall make it prevail or until I shall perish +therein--not though they should set the sun on my right hand and the +moon on my left!"[304] But progress was slow and painful: the Meccans +stood obstinately aloof, deriding both his prophetic authority and the +Divine chastisement with which he sought to terrify them. Moreover, they +used every kind of pressure short of actual violence in order to seduce +his followers, so that many recanted, and in the fifth year of his +mission he saw himself driven to the necessity of commanding a general +emigration to the Christian kingdom of Abyssinia, where the Moslems +would be received with open arms[305] and would be withdrawn from +temptation.[306] About a hundred men and women went into exile, leaving +their Prophet with a small party of staunch and devoted comrades to +persevere in a struggle that was daily becoming more difficult. In a +moment of weakness Mua¸Yammad resolved to attempt a compromise with his +countrymen. One day, it is said, the chief men of Mecca, assembled in a +group beside the KaaEuro~ba, discussed as was their wont the affairs of the +city, when Mua¸Yammad appeared and, seating himself by them in a friendly +manner, began to recite in their hearing the 53rd SAºra of the Koran. +When he came to the verses (19-20)-- + + "Do ye see Al-LAit and Al-aEuro~UzzAi, and ManAit, the third and last?" + +Satan prompted him to add:-- + + "These are the most exalted Cranes (or Swans), + And verily their intercession is to be hoped for." + +The Quraysh were surprised and delighted with this acknowledgment of +their deities; and as Mua¸Yammad wound up the SAºra with the closing +words-- + + "Wherefore bow down before God and serve Him," + +the whole assembly prostrated themselves with one accord on the ground +and worshipped.[307] But scarcely had Mua¸Yammad returned to his house +when he repented of the sin into which he had fallen. He cancelled the +idolatrous verses and revealed in their place those which now stand in +the Koran-- + + "Shall yours be the male and his the female?[308] + This were then an unjust division! + They are naught but names which ye and your fathers have named." + +[Sidenote: Mua¸Yammad's concession to the idolaters.] + +We can easily comprehend why Ibn HishAim omits all mention of this +episode from his Biography, and why the fact itself is denied by many +Moslem theologians.[309] The Prophet's friends were scandalised, his +enemies laughed him to scorn. It was probably no sudden lapse, as +tradition represents, but a calculated endeavour to come to terms with +the Quraysh; and so far from being immediately annulled, the +reconciliation seems to have lasted long enough for the news of it to +reach the emigrants in Abyssinia and induce some of them to return to +Mecca. While putting the best face on the matter, Mua¸Yammad felt keenly +both his own disgrace and the public discredit. It speaks well for his +sincerity that, as soon as he perceived any compromise with idolatry to +be impossible--to be, in fact, a surrender of the great principle by +which he was inspired--he frankly confessed his error and delusion. +Henceforth he "wages mortal strife with images in every shape"--there is +no god but Allah. + +[Sidenote: Death of KhadA-ja and AbAº a¹¬Ailib.] + +The further course of events which culminated in Mua¸Yammad's Flight to +MedA-na may be sketched in a few words. Persecution now waxed hotter than +ever, as the Prophet, rising from his temporary vacillation like a giant +refreshed, threw his whole force into the denunciation of idolatry. The +conversion of aEuro~Umar b. al-Khaa¹-a¹-Aib, the future Caliph, a man of 'blood +and iron,' gave the signal for open revolt. "The Moslems no longer +concealed their worship within their own dwellings, but with conscious +strength and defiant attitude assembled in companies about the KaaEuro~ba, +performed their rites of prayer and compassed the Holy House. Their +courage rose. Dread and uneasiness seized the Quraysh." The latter +retaliated by cutting off all relations with the HAishimites, who were +pledged to defend their kinsman, whether they recognised him as a +prophet or no. This ban or boycott secluded them in an outlying quarter +of the city, where for more than two years they endured the utmost +privations, but it only cemented their loyalty to Mua¸Yammad, and +ultimately dissensions among the Quraysh themselves caused it to be +removed. Shortly afterwards the Prophet suffered a double +bereavement--the death of his wife, KhadA-ja, was followed by that of the +noble AbAº a¹¬Ailib, who, though he never accepted Islam, stood firm to the +last in defence of his brother's son. Left alone to protect himself, +Mua¸Yammad realised that he must take some decisive step. The situation +was critical. Events had shown that he had nothing to hope and +everything to fear from the Meccan aristocracy. He had warned them again +and again of the wrath to come, yet they gave no heed. He was now +convinced that they would not and could not believe, since God in His +inscrutable wisdom had predestined them to eternal damnation. +Consequently he resolved on a bold and, according to Arab ways of +thinking, abominable expedient, namely, to abandon his fellow-tribesmen +and seek aid from strangers.[310] Having vainly appealed to the +inhabitants of a¹¬AiaEuro(TM)if, he turned to MedA-na, where, among a population +largely composed of Jews, the revolutionary ideas of Islam might more +readily take root and flourish than in the Holy City of Arabian +heathendom. This time he was not disappointed. A strong party in MedA-na +hailed him as the true Prophet, eagerly embraced his creed, and swore to +defend him at all hazards. In the spring of the year 622 A.D. the +Moslems of Mecca quietly left their homes and journeyed northward. A few +months later (September, 622) Mua¸Yammad himself, eluding the vigilance of +the Quraysh, entered MedA-na in triumph amidst the crowds and +acclamations due to a conqueror. + +[Sidenote: The _Hijra_ or Migration to Medina (622 A.D.).] + +This is the celebrated Migration or Hegira (properly _Hijra_) which +marks the end of the Barbaric Age (_al-JAihiliyya_) and the beginning of +the Mua¸Yammadan Era. It also marks a new epoch in the Prophet's history; +but before attempting to indicate the nature of the change it will be +convenient, in order that we may form a juster conception of his +character, to give some account of his early teaching and preaching as +set forth in that portion of the Koran which was revealed at Mecca. + +[Sidenote: The Koran.] + +[Sidenote: Was Mua¸Yammad poet?] + +Koran (QuraEuro(TM)Ain) is derived from the Arabic root _qaraaEuro(TM)a_, 'to read,' and +means 'reading aloud' or 'chanting.' This term may be applied either to +a single Revelation or to several recited together or, in its usual +acceptation, to the whole body of Revelations which are thought by +Moslems to be, actually and literally, the Word of God; so that in +quoting from the Koran they say _qAila aEuro(TM)llAihu_, _i.e._, 'God said.' Each +Revelation forms a separate _SAºra_ (chapter)[311] composed of verses of +varying length which have no metre but are generally rhymed. Thus, as +regards its external features, the style of the Koran is modelled upon +the _SajaEuro~_,[312] or rhymed prose, of the pagan soothsayers, but with +such freedom that it may fairly be described as original. Since it was +not in Mua¸Yammad's power to create a form that should be absolutely new, +his choice lay between _SajaEuro~_ and poetry, the only forms of elevated +style then known to the Arabs. He himself declared that he was no +poet,[313] and this is true in the sense that he may have lacked the +technical accomplishment of verse-making. It must, however, be borne in +mind that his disavowal does not refer primarily to the poetic art, but +rather to the person and character of the poets themselves. He, the +divinely inspired Prophet, could have nothing to do with men who owed +their inspiration to demons and gloried in the ideals of paganism which +he was striving to overthrow. "_And the poets do those follow who go +astray! Dost thou not see that they wander distraught in every vale? and +that they say that which they do not?_" (Kor. xxvi, 224-226). Mua¸Yammad +was not of these; although he was not so unlike them as he pretended. +His kinship with the pagan _ShAiaEuro~ir_ is clearly shown, for example, in +the 113th and 114th SAºras, which are charms against magic and +_diablerie_, as well as in the solemn imprecation calling down +destruction upon the head of his uncle, aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~UzzAi, nicknamed AbAº +Lahab (Father of Flame). + + + THE SAsRA OF ABAs LAHAB (CXI). + + (1) Perish the hands of AbAº Lahab and perish he! + (2) His wealth shall not avail him nor all he hath gotten in fee. + (3) Burned in blazing fire he shall be! + (4) And his wife, the faggot-bearer, also she. + (5) Upon her neck a cord of fibres of the palm-tree. + +If, then, we must allow that Mua¸Yammad's contemporaries had some +justification for bestowing upon him the title of poet against which he +protested so vehemently, still less can his plea be accepted by the +modern critic, whose verdict will be that the Koran is not poetical as a +whole; that it contains many pages of rhetoric and much undeniable +prose; but that, although Mua¸Yammad needed "heaven-sent moments for this +skill," in the early Meccan SAºras frequently, and fitfully elsewhere, +his genius proclaims itself by grand lyrical outbursts which could never +have been the work of a mere rhetorician. + + [Sidenote: The Meccan SAºras.] + + "Mua¸Yammad's single aim in the Meccan SAºras," says NA¶ldeke, "is to + convert the people, by means of persuasion, from their false gods to + the One God. To whatever point the discourse is directed, this + always remains the ground-thought; but instead of seeking to + convince the reason of his hearers by logical proofs, he employs the + arts of rhetoric to work upon their minds through the imagination. + Thus he glorifies God, describes His working in Nature and History, + and ridicules on the other hand the impotence of the idols. + Especially important are the descriptions of the everlasting bliss + of the pious and the torments of the wicked: these, particularly the + latter, must be regarded as one of the mightiest factors in the + propagation of Islam, through the impression which they make on the + imagination of simple men who have not been hardened, from their + youth up, by similar theological ideas. The Prophet often attacks + his heathen adversaries personally and threatens them with eternal + punishment; but while he is living among heathens alone, he seldom + assails the Jews who stand much nearer to him, and the Christians + scarcely ever."[314] + +The preposterous arrangement of the Koran, to which I have already +adverted, is mainly responsible for the opinion almost unanimously held +by European readers that it is obscure, tiresome, uninteresting; a +farrago of long-winded narratives and prosaic exhortations, quite +unworthy to be named in the same breath with the Prophetical Books of +the Old Testament. One may, indeed, peruse the greater part of the +volume, beginning with the first chapter, and find but a few passages of +genuine enthusiasm to relieve the prevailing dulness. It is in the short +SAºras placed at the end of the Koran that we must look for evidence of +Mua¸Yammad's prophetic gift. These are the earliest of all; in these the +flame of inspiration burns purely and its natural force is not abated. +The following versions, like those which have preceded, imitate the +original form as closely, I think, as is possible in English. They +cannot, of course, do more than faintly suggest the striking effect of +the sonorous Arabic when read aloud. The Koran was designed for oral +recitation, and it must be _heard_ in order to be justly appraised. + + + THE SAsRA OF THE SEVERING (LXXXII). + + (1) When the Sky shall be severA"d, + (2) And when the Stars shall be shiverA"d, + (3) And when the Seas to mingle shall be sufferA"d, + (4) And when the Graves shall be uncoverA"d-- + (5) A soul shall know that which it hath deferred or deliverA"d.[315] + (6) O Man, what beguiled thee against thy gracious Master to rebel, + (7) Who created thee and fashioned thee right and thy frame did fairly + build? + (8) He composed thee in whatever form He willed. + (9) Nay, but ye disbelieve in the Ordeal![316] + (10) Verily over you are Recorders honourable, + (11) Your deeds inscribing without fail:[317] + (12) What ye do they know well. + (13) Surely the pious in delight shall dwell, + (14) And surely the wicked shall be in Hell, + (15) Burning there on the Day of Ordeal; + (16) And evermore Hell-fire they shall feel! + (17) What shall make thee to understand what is the Day of Ordeal? + (18) Again, what shall make thee to understand what is the Day + of Ordeal?-- + (19) A Day when one soul shall not obtain anything for another soul, + but the command on that Day shall be with God alone. + + + THE SAsRA OF THE SIGNS (LXXXV). + + (1) By the Heaven in which Signs are set, + (2) By the Day that is promisA"d, + (3) By the Witness and the WitnessA"d:-- + (4) CursA"d be the Fellows of the Pit, they that spread + (5) The fire with fuel fed, + (6) When they sate by its head + (7) And saw how their contrivance against the Believers sped;[318] + (8) And they punished them not save that they believed on God, + the Almighty, the Glorified, + (9) To whom is the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth, and He + seeth every thing beside. + (10) Verily, for those who afflict believing men and women and + repent not, the torment of Gehenna and the torment of + burning is prepared. + (11) Verily, for those who believe and work righteousness are + Gardens beneath which rivers flow: this is the great + Reward. + (12) Stern is the vengeance of thy Lord. + (13) He createth the living and reviveth the dead: + (14) He doth pardon and kindly entreat: + (15) The majestic Throne is His seat: + (16) That he willeth He doeth indeed. + (17) Hath not word come to thee of the multitude + (18) Of Pharaoh, and of ThamAºd?[319] + (19) Nay, the infidels cease not from falsehood, + (20) But God encompasseth them about. + (21) Surely, it is a Sublime Koran that ye read, + (22) On a Table inviolate.[320] + + + THE SAsRA OF THE SMITING (CI). + + (1) The Smiting! What is the Smiting? + (2) And how shalt thou be made to understand what is the Smiting? + (3) The Day when Men shall be as flies scatterA"d, + (4) And the Mountains shall be as shreds of wool tatterA"d. + (5) One whose Scales are heavy, a pleasing life he shall spend, + (6) But one whose Scales are light, to the Abyss he shall descend. + (7) What that is, how shalt thou be made to comprehend? + (8) Scorching Fire without end! + + + THE SAsRA OF THE UNBELIEVERS (CIX). + + (1) Say: 'O Unbelievers, + (2) I worship not that which ye worship, + (3) And ye worship not that which I worship. + (4) Neither will I worship that which ye worship, + (5) Nor will ye worship that which I worship. + (6) Ye have your religion and I have my religion.' + +[Sidenote: The teaching of Mua¸Yammad at Mecca.] + +To summarise the cardinal doctrines preached by Mua¸Yammad during the +Meccan period:-- + +1. There is no god but God. + +2. Mua¸Yammad is the Apostle of God, and the Koran is the Word of God +revealed to His Apostle. + +3. The dead shall be raised to life at the Last Judgment, when every one +shall be judged by his actions in the present life. + +4. The pious shall enter Paradise and the wicked shall go down to Hell. + +Taking these doctrines separately, let us consider a little more in +detail how each of them is stated and by what arguments it is enforced. +The time had not yet come for drawing the sword: Mua¸Yammad repeats again +and again that he is only a warner (_nadhA-r_) invested with no authority +to compel where he cannot persuade. + +[Sidenote: The Unity of God.] + +1. The Meccans acknowledged the supreme position of Allah, but in +ordinary circumstances neglected him in favour of their idols, so that, +as Mua¸Yammad complains, "_When danger befalls you on the sea, the gods +whom ye invoke are forgotten except Him alone; yet when He brought you +safe to land, ye turned your backs on Him, for Man is ungrateful._"[321] +They were strongly attached to the cult of the KaaEuro~ba, not only by +self-interest, but also by the more respectable motives of piety towards +their ancestors and pride in their traditions. Mua¸Yammad himself regarded +Allah as Lord of the KaaEuro~ba, and called upon the Quraysh to worship him +as such (Kor. cvi, 3). When they refused to do so on the ground that +they were afraid lest the Arabs should rise against them and drive them +forth from the land, he assured them that Allah was the author of all +their prosperity (Kor. xxviii, 57). His main argument, however, is drawn +from the weakness of the idols, which cannot create even a fly, +contrasted with the wondrous manifestations of Divine power and +providence in the creation of the heavens and the earth and all living +things.[322] + +It was probably towards the close of the Meccan period that Mua¸Yammad +summarised his Unitarian ideas in the following emphatic formula:-- + + + THE SAsRA OF PURIFICATION (CXII).[323] + + (1) Say: 'God is One; + (2) God who liveth on; + (3) Without father and without son; + (4) And like to Him there is none!' + +[Sidenote: Mua¸Yammad, the Apostle of God.] + +2. We have seen that when Mua¸Yammad first appeared as a prophet he was +thought by all except a very few to be _majnAºn_, _i.e._, possessed by a +_jinnA-_, or genie, if I may use a word which will send the reader back +to his _Arabian Nights_. The heathen Arabs regarded such +persons--soothsayers, diviners, and poets--with a certain respect; and +if Mua¸Yammad's 'madness' had taken a normal course, his claim to +inspiration would have passed unchallenged. What moved the Quraysh to +oppose him was not disbelief in his inspiration--it mattered little to +them whether he was under the spell of Allah or one of the _Jinn_--but +the fact that he preached doctrines which wounded their sentiments, +threatened their institutions, and subverted the most cherished +traditions of old Arabian life. But in order successfully to resist the +propaganda for which he alleged a Divine warrant, they were obliged to +meet him on his own ground and to maintain that he was no prophet at +all, no Apostle of Allah, as he asserted, but "an insolent liar," "a +schooled madman," "an infatuated poet," and so forth; and that his +Koran, which he gave out to be the Word of Allah, was merely "old folks' +tales" (_asAia¹-A-ru aEuro(TM)l-awwalA-n_), or the invention of a poet or a sorcerer. +"Is not he," they cried, "a man like ourselves, who wishes to domineer +over us? Let him show us a miracle, that we may believe." Mua¸Yammad could +only reiterate his former assertions and warn the infidels that a +terrible punishment was in store for them either in this world or the +next. Time after time he compares himself to the ancient prophets--Noah, +Abraham, Moses, and their successors--who are represented as employing +exactly the same arguments and receiving the same answers as Mua¸Yammad; +and bids his people hearken to him lest they utterly perish like the +ungodly before them. The truth of the Koran is proved, he says, by the +Pentateuch and the Gospel, all being Revelations of the One God, and +therefore identical in substance. He is no mercenary soothsayer, he +seeks no personal advantage: his mission is solely to preach. The demand +for a miracle he could not satisfy except by pointing to his visions of +the Angel and especially to the Koran itself, every verse of which was a +distinct sign or miracle (_Aiyat_).[324] If he has forged it, why are his +adversaries unable to produce anything similar? "_Say: 'If men and +genies united to bring the like of this Koran, they could not bring the +like although they should back each other up'_" (Kor. xvii, 90). + +[Sidenote: Resurrection and Retribution.] + +3. Such notions of a future life as were current in Pre-islamic Arabia +never rose beyond vague and barbarous superstition, _e.g._, the fancy +that the dead man's tomb was haunted by his spirit in the shape of a +screeching owl.[325] No wonder, then, that the ideas of Resurrection and +Retribution, which are enforced by threats and arguments on almost every +page of the Koran, appeared to the Meccan idolaters absurdly ridiculous +and incredible. "_Does Ibn Kabsha promise us that we shall live?_" said +one of their poets. "_How can there be life for the a¹LadAi and the hAima? +Dost thou omit to ward me from death, and wilt thou revive me when my +bones are rotten?_"[326] God provided His Apostle with a ready answer to +these gibes: "_Say: 'He shall revive them who produced them at first, +for He knoweth every creation_" (Kor. xxxvi, 79). This topic is +eloquently illustrated, but Mua¸Yammad's hearers were probably less +impressed by the creative power of God as exhibited in Nature and in Man +than by the awful examples, to which reference has been made, of His +destructive power as manifested in History. To Mua¸Yammad himself, at the +outset of his mission, it seemed an appalling certainty that he must one +day stand before God and render an account; the overmastering sense of +his own responsibility goaded him to preach in the hope of saving his +countrymen, and supplied him, weak and timorous as he was, with strength +to endure calumny and persecution. As NA¶ldeke has remarked, the grandest +SAºras of the whole Koran are those in which Mua¸Yammad describes how all +Nature trembles and quakes at the approach of the Last Judgment. "It is +as though one actually saw the earth heaving, the mountains crumbling to +dust, and the stars hurled hither and thither in wild confusion."[327] +SAºras lxxxii and ci, which have been translated above, are specimens of +the true prophetic style.[328] + +[Sidenote: The Mua¸Yammadan Paradise.] + +4. There is nothing spiritual in Mua¸Yammad's pictures of Heaven and Hell. +His Paradise is simply a glorified pleasure-garden, where the pious +repose in cool shades, quaffing spicy wine and diverting themselves with +the Houris (_a¸¤Aºr_), lovely dark-eyed damsels like pearls hidden in their +shells.[329] This was admirably calculated to allure his hearers by +reminding them of one of their chief enjoyments--the gay drinking +parties which occasionally broke the monotony of Arabian life, and which +are often described in Pre-islamic poetry; indeed, it is highly probable +that Mua¸Yammad drew a good deal of his Paradise from this source. The +gross and sensual character of the Mua¸Yammadan Afterworld is commonly +thought to betray a particular weakness of the Prophet or is charged to +the Arabs in general, but as Professor Bevan has pointed out, "the real +explanation seems to be that at first the idea of a future retribution +was absolutely new both to Mua¸Yammad himself and to the public which he +addressed. Paradise and Hell had no traditional associations, and the +Arabic language furnished no religious terminology for the expression of +such ideas; if they were to be made comprehensible at all, it could only +be done by means of precise descriptions, of imagery borrowed from +earthly affairs."[330] + +[Sidenote: Prayer.] + +Mua¸Yammad was no mere visionary. Ritual observances, vigils, and other +austerities entered largely into his religion, endowing it with the +formal and ascetic character which it retains to the present day. Prayer +was introduced soon after the first Revelations: in one of the oldest +(SAºra lxxxvii, 14-15) we read, "_Prosperous is he who purifies himself +(or gives alms) and repeats the name of his Lord and prays._" Although +the five daily prayers obligatory upon every true believer are nowhere +mentioned in the Koran, the opening chapter (_SAºratu aEuro(TM)l-FAitia¸Ya_), which +answers to our Lord's Prayer, is constantly recited on these occasions, +and is seldom omitted from any act of public or private devotion. Since +the _FAitia¸Ya_ probably belongs to the latest Meccan period, it may find a +place here. + + + THE OPENING SAsRA (I). + + (1) In the name of God, the Merciful, who forgiveth aye! + (2) Praise to God, the Lord of all that be, + (3) The Merciful, who forgiveth aye, + (4) The King of Judgment Day! + (5) Thee we worship and for Thine aid we pray. + (6) Lead us in the right way, + (7) The way of those to whom thou hast been gracious, against + whom thou hast not waxed wroth, and who go not + astray! + +[Sidenote: The Night journey and Ascension of Mua¸Yammad.] + +About the same time, shortly before the Migration, Mua¸Yammad dreamed that +he was transported from the KaaEuro~ba to the Temple at Jerusalem, and thence +up to the seventh heaven. The former part of the vision is indicated in +the Koran (xvii, 1): "_Glory to him who took His servant a journey by +night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, the precinct +whereof we have blessed, to show him of our signs!_" Tradition has +wondrously embellished the _MiaEuro~rAij_, by which name the Ascension of the +Prophet is generally known throughout the East; while in Persia and +Turkey it has long been a favourite theme for the mystic and the poet. +According to the popular belief, which is also held by the majority of +Moslem divines, Mua¸Yammad was transported in the body to his journey's +end, but he himself never countenanced this literal interpretation, +though it seems to have been current in Mecca, and we are told that it +caused some of his incredulous followers to abandon their faith. + +[Sidenote: Mua¸Yammad at MedA-na.] + +Possessed and inspired by the highest idea of which man is capable, +fearlessly preaching the truth revealed to him, leading almost alone +what long seemed to be a forlorn hope against the impregnable stronghold +of superstition, yet facing these tremendous odds with a calm resolution +which yielded nothing to ridicule or danger, but defied his enemies to +do their worst--Mua¸Yammad in the early part of his career presents a +spectacle of grandeur which cannot fail to win our sympathy and +admiration. At MedA-na, whither we must now return, he appears in a less +favourable light: the days of pure religious enthusiasm have passed away +for ever, and the Prophet is overshadowed by the Statesman. The +Migration was undoubtedly essential to the establishment of Islam. It +was necessary that Mua¸Yammad should cut himself off from his own people +in order that he might found a community in which not blood but religion +formed the sole bond that was recognised. This task he +accomplished with consummate sagacity and skill, though some of the +methods which he employed can only be excused by his conviction that +whatever he did was done in the name of Allah. As the supreme head of +the Moslem theocracy both in spiritual and temporal matters--for Islam +allows no distinction between Church and State--he exercised absolute +authority, and he did not hesitate to justify by Divine mandate acts of +which the heathen Arabs, cruel and treacherous as they were, might have +been ashamed to be guilty. We need not inquire how much was due to +belief in his inspiration and how much to deliberate policy. If it +revolts us to see God Almighty introduced in the rA'le of special +pleader, we ought to remember that Mua¸Yammad, being what he was, could +scarcely have considered the question from that point of view. + +[Sidenote: MedA-na predisposed to welcome Mua¸Yammad as Legislator and +Prophet.] + +The conditions prevailing at MedA-na were singularly adapted to his +design. Ever since the famous battle of BuaEuro~Aith (about 615 A.D.), in +which the BanAº Aws, with the help of their Jewish allies, the BanAº +Qurayaº"a and the BanAº Naa¸A-r, inflicted a crushing defeat upon the BanAº +Khazraj, the city had been divided into two hostile camps; and if peace +had hitherto been preserved, it was only because both factions were too +exhausted to renew the struggle. Wearied and distracted by earthly +calamities, men's minds willingly admit the consolations of religion. We +find examples of this tendency at MedA-na even before the Migration. AbAº +aEuro~Amir, whose ascetic life gained for him the title of 'The Monk' +(_al-RAihib_), is numbered among the _a¸¤anA-fs_.[331] He fought in the +ranks of the Quraysh at Ua¸Yud, and finally went to Syria, where he died +an outlaw. Another Pre-islamic monotheist of MedA-na, AbAº Qays b. AbA- +Anas, is said to have turned Moslem in his old age.[332] + + "The inhabitants of MedA-na had no material interest in idol-worship + and no sanctuary to guard. Through uninterrupted contact with the + Jews of the city and neighbourhood, as also with the Christian + tribes settled in the extreme north of Arabia on the confines of the + Byzantine Empire, they had learned, as it were instinctively, to + despise their inherited belief in idols and to respect the far + nobler and purer faith in a single God; and lastly, they had become + accustomed to the idea of a Divine revelation by means of a special + scripture of supernatural origin, like the Pentateuch and the + Gospel. From a religious standpoint paganism in MedA-na offered no + resistance to Islam: as a faith, it was dead before it was attacked; + none defended it, none mourned its disappearance. The pagan + opposition to Mua¸Yammad's work as a reformer was entirely + political, and proceeded from those who wished to preserve the + anarchy of the old heathen life, and who disliked the dictatorial + rule of Mua¸Yammad."[333] + +[Sidenote: Parties in MedA-na.] + +There were in MedA-na four principal parties, consisting of those who +either warmly supported or actively opposed the Prophet, or who adopted +a relatively neutral attitude, viz., the Emigrants (_MuhAijirAºn_), the +Helpers (_Ana¹LAir_), the Hypocrites (_MunAifiqAºn_), and the Jews (_YahAºd_). + +[Sidenote: The Emigrants.] + +The Emigrants were those Moslems who left their homes at Mecca and +accompanied the Prophet in his Migration (_Hijra_)--whence their name, +_MuhAijirAºn_--to MedA-na in the year 622. Inasmuch as they had lost +everything except the hope of victory and vengeance, he could count upon +their fanatical devotion to himself. + +[Sidenote: The Helpers.] + +The Helpers were those inhabitants of MedA-na who had accepted Islam and +pledged themselves to protect Mua¸Yammad in case of attack. Together with +the Emigrants they constituted a formidable and ever-increasing body of +true believers, the first champions of the Church militant. + + [Sidenote: The Hypocrites.] + + "Many citizens of MedA-na, however, were not so well disposed towards + Mua¸Yammad, and neither acknowledged him as a Prophet nor would + submit to him as their Ruler; but since they durst not come forward + against him openly on account of the multitude of his enthusiastic + adherents, they met him with a passive resistance which more than + once thwarted his plans, their influence was so great that he, on + his part, did not venture to take decisive measures against them, + and sometimes even found it necessary to give way."[334] + +These are the Hypocrites whom Mua¸Yammad describes in the following +verses of the Koran:-- + + + THE SAsRA OF THE HEIFER (II). + + (7) And there are those among men who say, 'We believe in God + and in the Last Day'; but they do not believe. + + (8) They would deceive God and those who do believe; but they + deceive only themselves and they do not perceive. + + (9) In their hearts is a sickness, and God has made them still more + sick, and for them is grievous woe because they lied.[335] + +Their leader, aEuro~AbdullAih b. Ubayy, an able man but of weak character, was +no match for Mua¸Yammad, whom he and his partisans only irritated, without +ever becoming really dangerous. + +[Sidenote: The Jews.] + +The Jews, on the other hand, gave the Prophet serious trouble. At first +he cherished high hopes that they would accept the new Revelation which +he brought to them, and which he maintained to be the original Word of +God as it was formerly revealed to Abraham and Moses; but when the Jews, +perceiving the absurdity of this idea, plied him with all sorts of +questions and made merry over his ignorance, Mua¸Yammad, keenly alive to +the damaging effect of the criticism to which he had exposed himself, +turned upon his tormentors, and roundly accused them of having falsified +and corrupted their Holy Books. Henceforth he pursued them with a deadly +hatred against which their political disunion rendered them helpless. A +few sought refuge in Islam; the rest were either slaughtered or driven +into exile. + +It is impossible to detail here the successive steps by which Mua¸Yammad +in the course of a few years overcame all opposition and established the +supremacy of Islam from one end of Arabia to the other. I shall notice +the outstanding events very briefly in order to make room for matters +which are more nearly connected with the subject of this History. + + +[Sidenote: Beginnings of the Moslem State.] + +Mua¸Yammad's first care was to reconcile the desperate factions within the +city and to introduce law and order among the heterogeneous elements +which have been described. "He drew up in writing a charter between the +Emigrants and the Helpers, in which charter he embodied a covenant with +the Jews, confirming them in the exercise of their religion and in the +possession of their properties, imposing upon them certain obligations, +and granting to them certain rights."[336] This remarkable document is +extant in Ibn HishAim's _Biography of Mua¸Yammad_, pp. 341-344. Its +contents have been analysed in masterly fashion by Wellhausen,[337] who +observes with justice that it was no solemn covenant, accepted and duly +ratified by representatives of the parties concerned, but merely a +decree of Mua¸Yammad based upon conditions already existing which had +developed since his arrival in MedA-na. At the same time no one can study +it without being impressed by the political genius of its author. +Ostensibly a cautious and tactful reform, it was in reality a +revolution. Mua¸Yammad durst not strike openly at the independence of the +tribes, but he destroyed it, in effect, by shifting the centre of power +from the tribe to the community; and although the community included +Jews and pagans as well as Moslems, he fully recognised, what his +opponents failed to foresee, that the Moslems were the active, and must +soon be the predominant, partners in the newly founded State. + +[Sidenote: Battle of Badr, January, 624 A.D.] + +[Sidenote: Battle of Ua¸Yud, 625 A.D.] + +[Sidenote: Submission of Mecca, 630 A.D.] + +All was now ripe for the inevitable struggle with the Quraysh, and God +revealed to His Apostle several verses of the Koran in which the +Faithful are commanded to wage a Holy War against them: "_Permission is +given to those who fight because they have been wronged,--and verily God +to help them has the might,--who have been driven forth from their homes +undeservedly, only for that they said, 'Our Lord is God'_" (xxii, +40-41). "_Kill them wherever ye find them, and drive them out from +whence they drive you out_" (ii, 187). "_Fight them that there be no +sedition and that the religion may be God's_" (ii, 189). In January, 624 +A.D., the Moslems, some three hundred strong, won a glorious victory at +Badr over a greatly superior force which had marched out from Mecca to +relieve a rich caravan that Mua¸Yammad threatened to cut off. The Quraysh +fought bravely, but were borne down by the irresistible onset of men who +had learned discipline in the mosque and looked upon death as a sure +passport to Paradise. Of the Moslems only fourteen fell; the Quraysh +lost forty-nine killed and about the same number of prisoners. But the +importance of Mua¸Yammad's success cannot be measured by the material +damage which he inflicted. Considering the momentous issues involved, we +must allow that Badr, like Marathon, is one of the greatest and most +memorable battles in all history. Here, at last, was the miracle which +the Prophet's enemies demanded of him: "_Ye have had a sign in the two +parties who met; one party fighting in the way of God, the other +misbelieving; these saw twice the same number as themselves to the +eyesight, for God aids with His help those whom He pleases. Verily in +that is a lesson for those who have perception_" (Kor. iii, 11). And +again, "_Ye slew them not, but God slew them_" (Kor. viii, 17). The +victory of Badr turned all eyes upon Mua¸Yammad. However little the Arabs +cared for his religion, they could not but respect the man who had +humbled the lords of Mecca. He was now a power in the land--"Mua¸Yammad, +King of the a¸¤ijAiz."[338] In MedA-na his cause flourished mightily. The +zealots were confirmed in their faith, the waverers convinced, the +disaffected overawed. He sustained a serious, though temporary, check in +the following year at Ua¸Yud, where a Moslem army was routed by the +Quraysh under AbAº SufyAin, but the victors were satisfied with having +taken vengeance for Badr and made no attempt to follow up their +advantage; while Mua¸Yammad, never resting on his laurels, never losing +sight of the goal, proceeded with remorseless calculation to crush his +adversaries one after the other, until in January, 630 A.D., the Meccans +themselves, seeing the futility of further resistance, opened their +gates to the Prophet and acknowledged the omnipotence of Allah. The +submission of the Holy City left Mua¸Yammad without a rival in Arabia. His +work was almost done. Deputations from the Bedouin tribes poured into +MedA-na, offering allegiance to the conqueror of the Quraysh, and +reluctantly subscribing to a religion in which they saw nothing so +agreeable as the prospect of plundering its enemies. + +[Sidenote: Death of Mua¸Yammad, 632 A.D.] + +Mua¸Yammad died, after a brief illness, on the 8th of June, 632 A.D. He +was succeeded as head of the Moslem community by his old friend and +ever-loyal supporter, AbAº Bakr, who thus became the first _KhalA-fa_, or +Caliph. It only remains to take up our survey of the Koran, which we +have carried down to the close of the Meccan period, and to indicate the +character and contents of the Revelation during the subsequent decade. + + +[Sidenote: The MedA-na SAºras.] + +The MedA-na SAºras faithfully reflect the marvellous change in Mua¸Yammad's +fortunes, which began with his flight from Mecca. He was now recognised +as the Prophet and Apostle of God, but this recognition made him an +earthly potentate and turned his religious activity into secular +channels. One who united in himself the parts of prince, legislator, +politician, diplomatist, and general may be excused if he sometimes +neglected the Divine injunction to arise and preach, or at any rate +interpreted it in a sense very different from that which he formerly +attached to it. The Revelations of this time deal, to a large extent, +with matters of legal, social, and political interest; they promulgate +religious ordinances--_e.g._, fasting, alms-giving, and +pilgrimage--expound the laws of marriage and divorce, and comment upon +the news of the day; often they serve as bulletins or manifestoes in +which Mua¸Yammad justifies what he has done, urges the Moslems to fight +and rebukes the laggards, moralises on a victory or defeat, proclaims a +truce, and says, in short, whatever the occasion seems to require. +Instead of the Meccan idolaters, his opponents in MedA-na--the Jews and +Hypocrites--have become the great rocks of offence; the Jews especially +are denounced in long passages as a stiff-necked generation who never +hearkened to their own prophets of old. However valuable historically, +the MedA-na SAºras do not attract the literary reader. In their flat and +tedious style they resemble those of the later Meccan period. Now and +again the ashes burst into flame, though such moments of splendour are +increasingly rare, as in the famous 'Throne-verse' (_Ayatu aEuro(TM)l-KursA-_):-- + + [Sidenote: The 'Throne-verse.'] + + "God, there is no god but He, the living, the self-subsistent. + Slumber takes Him not, nor sleep. His is what is in the heavens and + what is in the earth. Who is it that intercedes with Him save by His + permission? He knows what is before them and what behind them, and + they comprehend not aught of His knowledge but of what He pleases. + His throne extends over the heavens and the earth, and it tires Him + not to guard them both, for He is high and grand."[339] + +[Sidenote: The nationalisation of Islam.] + +The Islam which Mua¸Yammad brought with him to MedA-na was almost entirely +derived by oral tradition from Christianity and Judaism, and just for +this reason it made little impression on the heathen Arabs, whose +religious ideas were generally of the most primitive kind. +Notwithstanding its foreign character and the absence of anything which +appealed to Arabian national sentiment, it spread rapidly in MedA-na, +where, as we have seen, the soil was already prepared for it; but one +may well doubt whether it could have extended its sway over the +peninsula unless the course of events had determined Mua¸Yammad to +associate the strange doctrines of Islam with the ancient heathen +sanctuary at Mecca, the KaaEuro~ba, which was held in universal veneration by +the Arabs and formed the centre of a worship that raised no difficulties +in their minds. Before he had lived many months in MedA-na the Prophet +realised that his hope of converting the Jews was doomed to +disappointment. Accordingly he instructed his followers that they should +no longer turn their faces in prayer towards the Temple at Jerusalem, as +they had been accustomed to do since the Flight, but towards the KaaEuro~ba; +while, a year or two later, he incorporated in Islam the superstitious +ceremonies of the pilgrimage, which were represented as having been +originally prescribed to Abraham, the legendary founder of the KaaEuro~ba, +whose religion he professed to restore. + +[Sidenote: Antagonism of Islamic and Arabian ideals.] + +These concessions, however, were far from sufficient to reconcile the +free-living and freethinking people of the desert to a religion which +restrained their pleasures, forced them to pay taxes and perform +prayers, and stamped with the name of barbarism all the virtues they +held most dear. The teaching of Islam ran directly counter to the ideals +and traditions of heathendom, and, as Goldziher has remarked, its +originality lies not in its doctrines, which are Jewish and Christian, +but in the fact that it was Mua¸Yammad who first maintained these +doctrines with persistent energy against the Arabian view of life.[340] +While we must refer the reader to Dr. Goldziher's illuminating pages for +a full discussion of the conflict between the new Religion (_DA-n_) and +the old Virtue (_Muruwwa_), it will not be amiss to summarise the chief +points at which they clashed with each other.[341] In the first place, +the fundamental idea of Islam was foreign and unintelligible to the +Bedouins. "It was not the destruction of their idols that they opposed +so much as the spirit of devotion which it was sought to implant in +them: the determination of their whole lives by the thought of God and +of His pre-ordaining and retributive omnipotence, the prayers and fasts, +the renouncement of coveted pleasures, and the sacrifice of money and +property which was demanded of them in God's name." In spite of the +saying, _LAi dA-na illAi bi aEuro(TM)l-muruwwati_ ("There is no religion without +virtue"), the Bedouin who accepted Islam had to unlearn the greater part +of his unwritten moral code. As a pious Moslem he must return good for +evil, forgive his enemy, and find balm for his wounded feelings in the +assurance of being admitted to Paradise (Kor. iii, 128). Again, the +social organisation of the heathen Arabs was based on the tribe, whereas +that of Islam rested on the equality and fraternity of all believers. +The religious bond cancelled all distinctions of rank and pedigree; it +did away, theoretically, with clannish feuds, contests for honour, pride +of race--things that lay at the very root of Arabian chivalry. "_Lo_," +cried Mua¸Yammad, "_the noblest of you in the sight of God is he who most +doth fear Him_" (Kor. xlix, 13). Against such doctrine the conservative +and material instincts of the desert people rose in revolt; and although +they became Moslems _en masse_, the majority of them neither believed in +Islam nor knew what it meant. Often their motives were frankly +utilitarian: they expected that Islam would bring them luck; and so long +as they were sound in body, and their mares had fine foals, and their +wives bore well-formed sons, and their wealth and herds multiplied, they +said, "We have been blessed ever since we adopted this religion," and +were content; but if things went ill they blamed Islam and turned their +backs on it.[342] That these men were capable of religious zeal is amply +proved by the triumphs which they won a short time afterwards over the +disciplined armies of two mighty empires; but what chiefly inspired +them, apart from love of booty, was the conviction, born of success, +that Allah was fighting on their side. + + +We have sketched, however barely and imperfectly, the progress of Islam +from Mua¸Yammad's first appearance as a preacher to the day of his death. +In these twenty years the seeds were sown of almost every development +which occurs in the political and intellectual history of the Arabs +during the ages to come. More than any man that has ever lived, Mua¸Yammad +shaped the destinies of his people; and though they left him far behind +as they moved along the path of civilisation, they still looked back to +him for guidance and authority at each step. This is not the place to +attempt an estimate of his character, which has been so diversely +judged. Personally, I feel convinced that he was neither a shameless +impostor nor a neurotic degenerate nor a socialistic reformer, but in +the beginning, at all events, a sincere religious enthusiast, as truly +inspired as any prophet of the Old Testament. + + [Sidenote: Character of Mua¸Yammad.] + + "We find in him," writes De Goeje, "that sober understanding which + distinguished his fellow-tribesmen: dignity, tact, and equilibrium; + qualities which are seldom found in people of morbid constitution: + self-control in no small degree. Circumstances changed him from a + Prophet to a Legislator and a Ruler, but for himself he sought + nothing beyond the acknowledgment that he was Allah's Apostle, since + this acknowledgment includes the whole of Islam. He was excitable, + like every true Arab, and in the spiritual struggle which preceded + his call this quality was stimulated to an extent that alarmed even + himself; but that does not make him a visionary. He defends himself, + by the most solemn asseveration, against the charge that what he had + seen was an illusion of the senses. Why should not we believe + him?"[343] + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE ORTHODOX CALIPHATE AND THE UMAYYAD DYNASTY + + +The Caliphate--_i.e._, the period of the Caliphs or Successors of +Mua¸Yammad--extends over six centuries and a quarter (632-1258 A.D.), +and falls into three clearly-marked divisions of very unequal length and +diverse character. + +[Sidenote: The Orthodox Caliphate (632-661 A.D.).] + +The first division begins with the election of AbAº Bakr, the first +Caliph, in 632, and comes to an end with the assassination of aEuro~AlA-, the +Prophet's son-in-law and fourth successor, in 661. These four Caliphs +are known as the Orthodox (_al-RAishidAºn_), because they trod faithfully +in the footsteps of the Prophet and ruled after his example in the holy +city of MedA-na, with the assistance of his leading Companions, who +constituted an informal Senate. + +[Sidenote: The Ummayyad Caliphate (661-750 A.D.).] + +The second division includes the Caliphs of the family of Umayya, from +the accession of MuaEuro~Aiwiya in 661 to the great battle of the ZAib in 750, +when MarwAin II, the last of his line, was defeated by the aEuro~AbbAisids, who +claimed the Caliphate as next of kin to the Prophet. According to Moslem +notions the Umayyads were kings by right, Caliphs only by courtesy. They +had, as we shall see, no spiritual title, and little enough religion of +any sort. This dynasty, which had been raised and was upheld by the +Syrian Arabs, transferred the seat of government from MedA-na to +Damascus. + +[Sidenote: The aEuro~AbbAisid Caliphate (750-1258 A.D.).] + +The third division is by far the longest and most important. Starting in +750 with the accession of Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AbbAis al-SaffAih, it presents an +unbroken series of thirty-seven Caliphs of the same House, and +culminates, after the lapse of half a millennium, in the sack of +BaghdAid, their magnificent capital, by the Mongol HAºlAigAº (January, +1258). The aEuro~AbbAisids were no less despotic than the Umayyads, but in a +more enlightened fashion; for, while the latter had been purely Arab in +feeling, the aEuro~AbbAisids owed their throne to the Persian nationalists, +and were imbued with Persian ideas, which introduced a new and fruitful +element into Moslem civilisation. + +[Sidenote: Early Islamic literature.] + +From our special point of view the Orthodox and Umayyad Caliphates, +which form the subject of the present chapter, are somewhat barren. The +simple life of the pagan Arabs found full expression in their poetry. +The many-sided life of the Moslems under aEuro~AbbAisid rule may be studied in +a copious literature which exhibits all the characteristics of the age; +but of contemporary documents illustrating the intellectual history of +the early Islamic period comparatively little has been preserved, and +that little, being for the most part anti-Islamic in tendency, gives +only meagre information concerning what excites interest beyond anything +else--the religious movement, the rise of theology, and the origin of +those great parties and sects which emerge, at various stages of +development, in later literature. + +[Sidenote: Unity of Church and State.] + +Since the Moslem Church and State are essentially one, it is impossible +to treat of politics apart from religion, nor can religious phenomena be +understood without continual reference to political events. The +following brief sketch of the Orthodox Caliphate will show how +completely this unity was realised, and what far-reaching consequences +it had. + +[Sidenote: AbAº Bakr elected Caliph (June, 632 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Musaylima the Liar.] + +That Mua¸Yammad left no son was perhaps of less moment than his neglect +or refusal to nominate a successor. The Arabs were unfamiliar with the +hereditary descent of kingly power, while the idea had not yet dawned of +a Divine right resident in the Prophet's family. It was thoroughly in +accord with Arabian practice that the Moslem community should elect its +own leader, just as in heathen days the tribe chose its own chief. The +likeliest men--all three belonged to Quraysh--were AbAº Bakr, whose +daughter aEuro~AaEuro(TM)isha had been Mua¸Yammad's favourite wife, aEuro~Umar b. +al-Khaa¹-a¹-Aib, and aEuro~AlA-, AbAº a¹¬Ailib's son and FAia¹-ima's husband, +who was thus connected with the Prophet by blood as well as by marriage. +AbAº Bakr was the eldest, he was supported by aEuro~Umar, and on him the +choice ultimately fell, though not without an ominous ebullition of +party strife. A man of simple tastes and unassuming demeanour, he had +earned the name _al-a¹ciddA-q, _i.e._, the True, by his unquestioning +faith in the Prophet; naturally gentle and merciful, he stood firm when +the cause of Islam was at stake, and crushed with iron hand the revolt +which on the news of Mua¸Yammad's death spread like wildfire through +Arabia. False prophets arose, and the Bedouins rallied round them, eager +to throw off the burden of tithes and prayers. In the centre of the +peninsula, the BanAº a¸¤anA-fa were led to battle by Musaylima, who +imitated the early style of the Koran with ludicrous effect, if we may +judge from the sayings ascribed to him, _e.g._, "The elephant, what is +the elephant, and who shall tell you what is the elephant? He has a poor +tail, and a long trunk: and is a trifling part of the creations of thy +God." Moslem tradition calls him the Liar (_al-KadhdhAib_), and +represents him as an obscene miracle-monger, which can hardly be the +whole truth. It is possible that he got some of his doctrines from +Christianity, as Professor Margoliouth has suggested,[344] but we know +too little about them to arrive at any conclusion. After a desperate +struggle Musaylima was defeated and slain by 'the Sword of Allah,' +KhAilid b. WalA-d. The Moslem arms were everywhere victorious. Arabia +bowed in sullen submission. + +[Sidenote: Islam a world-religion.] + +[Sidenote: Conquest of Persia and Syria (633-643 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Moslem toleration.] + +Although Muir and other biographers of Mua¸Yammad have argued that +Islam was originally designed for the Arabs alone, and made no claim to +universal acceptance, their assertion is contradicted by the unequivocal +testimony of the Koran itself. In one of the oldest Revelations (lxviii, +51-52), we read: "_It wanteth little but that the unbelievers dash thee +to the ground with their looks_ (of anger) _when they hear the Warning_ +(_i.e._, the Koran); _and they say, 'He is assuredly mad': but it_ (the +Koran) _is no other than a_ WARNING UNTO ALL CREATURES" (_dhikrun li +aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AilamA-n_).[345] The time had now come when this splendid dream was to +be, in large measure, fulfilled. The great wars of conquest were +inspired by the Prophet's missionary zeal and justified by his example. +Pious duty coincided with reasons of state. "It was certainly good +policy to turn the recently subdued tribes of the wilderness towards an +external aim in which they might at once satisfy their lust for booty on +a grand scale, maintain their warlike feeling, and strengthen themselves +in their attachment to the new faith."[346] The story of their +achievements cannot be set down here. Suffice it to say that within +twelve years after the Prophet's death the Persian Empire had been +reduced to a tributary province, and Syria, together with Egypt, torn +away from Byzantine rule. It must not be supposed that the followers of +Zoroaster and Christ in these countries were forcibly converted to +Islam. Thousands embraced it of free will, impelled by various motives +which we have no space to enumerate; those who clung to the religion in +which they had been brought up secured protection and toleration by +payment of a capitation-tax (_jizya_).[347] + +[Sidenote: The Caliph aEuro~Umar (634-644 A.D.).] + +The tide of foreign conquest, which had scarce begun to flow before the +death of AbAº Bakr, swept with amazing rapidity over Syria and Persia in +the Caliphate of aEuro~Umar b. al-Khaa¹-a¹-Aib (634-644), and continued to +advance, though with diminished fury, under the Prophet's third +successor, aEuro~UthmAin. We may dwell for a little on the noble figure of +aEuro~Umar, who was regarded by good Moslems in after times as an embodiment +of all the virtues which a Caliph ought to possess. Probably his +character has been idealised, but in any case the anecdotes related of +him give an admirable picture of the man and his age. Here are a few, +taken almost at random from the pages of a¹¬abarA-. + + [Sidenote: His simple manners.] + + [Sidenote: His sense of personal responsibility.] + + [Sidenote: The Caliph as a policeman.] + + [Sidenote: His strictness towards his own family.] + + [Sidenote: Instructions to his governors.] + + One said: "I saw aEuro~Umar coming to the Festival. He walked with bare + feet, using both hands (for he was ambidextrous) to draw round him a + red embroidered cloth. He towered above the people, as though he + were on horseback."[348] A client of (the Caliph) aEuro~UthmAin b. aEuro~AffAin + relates that he mounted behind his patron and they rode together to + the enclosure for the beasts which were delivered in payment of the + poor-tax. It was an exceedingly hot day and the simoom was blowing + fiercely. They saw a man clad only in a loin-cloth and a short cloak + (_ridAi_), in which he had wrapped his head, driving the camels into + the enclosure. aEuro~UthmAin said to his companion, "Who is this, think + you?" When they came up to him, behold, it was aEuro~Umar b. + al-Khaa¹-a¹-Aib. "By God," said aEuro~UthmAin, "this is _the strong, the + trusty_."[349]--aEuro~Umar used to go round the markets and recite the + Koran and judge between disputants wherever he found them.--When + KaaEuro~bu aEuro(TM)l-Aa¸YbAir, a well-known Rabbin of MedA-na, asked how he could + obtain access to the Commander of the Faithful,[350] he received + this answer: "There is no door nor curtain to be passed; he performs + the rites of prayer, then he takes his seat, and any one that wishes + may speak to him."[351] aEuro~Umar said in one of his public orations, + "By Him who sent Mua¸Yammad with the truth, were a single camel to + die of neglect on the bank of the Euphrates, I should fear lest God + should call the family of al-Khaa¹-a¹-Aib" (meaning himself) "to + account therefor."[352]--"If I live," he is reported to have said on + another occasion, "please God, I will assuredly spend a whole year + in travelling among my subjects, for I know they have wants which + are cut short ere they reach my ears: the governors do not bring the + wants of the people before me, while the people themselves do not + attain to me. So I will journey to Syria and remain there two + months, then to Mesopotamia and remain there two months, then to + Egypt and remain there two months, then to Baa¸Yrayn and remain + there two months, then to KAºfa and remain there two months, then to + Baa¹Lra and remain there two months; and by God, it will be a year + well spent!"[353]--One night he came to the house of aEuro~Abdu + aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin b. aEuro~Awf and knocked at the door, which was opened by + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin's wife. "Do not enter," said she, "until I go + back and sit in my place;" so he waited. Then she bade him come in, + and on his asking, "Have you anything in the house?" she fetched him + some food. Meanwhile aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin was standing by, engaged in + prayer. "Be quick, man!" cried aEuro~Umar. aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin immediately + pronounced the final salaam, and turning to the Caliph said: "O + Commander of the Faithful, what has brought you here at this hour?" + aEuro~Umar replied: "A party of travellers who alighted in the + neighbourhood of the market: I was afraid that the thieves of MedA-na + might fall upon them. Let us go and keep watch." So he set off with + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin, and when they reached the market-place they + seated themselves on some high ground and began to converse. + Presently they descried, far away, the light of a lamp. "Have not I + forbidden lamps after bedtime?"[354] exclaimed the Caliph. They went + to the spot and found a company drinking wine. "Begone," said aEuro~Umar + to aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin; "I know him." Next morning he sent for the + culprit and said, addressing him by name, "Last night you were + drinking wine with your friends." "O Commander of the Faithful, how + did you ascertain that?" "I saw it with my own eyes." "Has not God + forbidden you to play the spy?" aEuro~Umar made no answer and pardoned + his offence.[355]--When aEuro~Umar ascended the pulpit for the purpose of + warning the people that they must not do something, he gathered his + family and said to them: "I have forbidden the people to do + so-and-so. Now, the people look at you as birds look at flesh, and I + swear by God that if I find any one of you doing this thing, I will + double the penalty against him."[356]--Whenever he appointed a + governor he used to draw up in writing a certificate of investiture, + which he caused to be witnessed by some of the Emigrants or Helpers. + It contained the following instructions: That he must not ride on + horseback, nor eat white bread, nor wear fine clothes, nor set up a + door between himself and those who had aught to ask of him.[357]--It + was aEuro~Umar's custom to go forth with his governors, on their + appointment, to bid them farewell. "I have not appointed you," he + would say, "over the people of Mua¸Yammad (God bless him and grant + him peace!) that you may drag them by their hair and scourge their + skins, but in order that you may lead them in prayer and judge + between them with right and divide (the public money) amongst them + with equity. I have not made you lords of their skin and hair. Do + not flog the Arabs lest you humiliate them, and do not keep them + long on foreign service lest you tempt them to sedition, and do not + neglect them lest you render them desperate. Confine yourselves to + the Koran, write few Traditions of Mua¸Yammad (God bless him and + grant him peace!), and I am your ally." He used to permit + retaliation against his governors. On receiving a complaint about + any one of them he confronted him with the accuser, and punished him + if his guilt were proved.[358] + +[Sidenote: The Register of aEuro~Umar.] + +It was aEuro~Umar who first made a Register (_DA-wAin_) of the Arabs in Islam +and entered them therein according to their tribes and assigned to them +their stipends. The following account of its institution is extracted +from the charming history entitled _al-FakhrA-_:-- + + In the fifteenth year of the Hijra (636 A.D.) aEuro~Umar, who was then + Caliph, seeing that the conquests proceeded without interruption and + that the treasures of the Persian monarchs had been taken as spoil, + and that load after load was being accumulated of gold and silver + and precious jewels and splendid raiment, resolved to enrich the + Moslems by distributing all this wealth amongst them; but he did not + know how he should manage it. Now there was a Persian satrap + (_marzubAin_) at MedA-na who, when he saw aEuro~Umar's bewilderment, said + to him, "O Commander of the Faithful, the Persian kings have a thing + they call a _DA-wAin_, in which is kept the whole of their revenues + and expenditures without exception; and therein those who receive + stipends are arranged in classes, so that no confusion occurs." + aEuro~Umar's attention was aroused. He bade the satrap describe it, and + on comprehending its nature, he drew up the registers and assigned + the stipends, appointing a specified allowance for every Moslem; and + he allotted fixed sums to the wives of the Apostle (on whom be God's + blessing and peace!) and to his concubines and next-of-kin, until he + exhausted the money in hand. He did not lay up a store in the + treasury. Some one came to him and said: "O Commander of the + Faithful, you should have left something to provide for + contingencies." aEuro~Umar rebuked him, saying, "The devil has put these + words into your mouth. May God preserve me from their mischief! for + it were a temptation to my successors. Come what may, I will provide + naught except obedience to God and His Apostle. That is our + provision, whereby we have gained that which we have gained." Then, + in respect of the stipends, he deemed it right that precedence + should be according to priority of conversion to Islam and of + service rendered to the Apostle on his fields of battle.[359] + + [Sidenote: The aristocracy of Islam.] + + [Sidenote: "'Tis only noble to be good."] + + Affinity to Mua¸Yammad was also considered. "By God," exclaimed + aEuro~Umar, "we have not won superiority in this world, nor do we hope + for recompense for our works from God hereafter, save through + Mua¸Yammad (God bless him and grant him peace!). He is our title to + nobility, his tribe are the noblest of the Arabs, and after them + those are the nobler that are nearer to him in blood. Truly, the + Arabs are ennobled by God's Apostle. Peradventure some of them have + many ancestors in common with him, and we ourselves are only removed + by a few forbears from his line of descent, in which we accompany + him back to Adam. Notwithstanding this, if the foreigners bring good + works and we bring none, by God, they are nearer to Mua¸Yammad on + the day of Resurrection than we. Therefore let no man regard + affinity, but let him work for that which is in God's hands to + bestow. He that is retarded by his works will not be sped by his + lineage."[360] + +It may be said of aEuro~Umar, not less appropriately than of Cromwell, that +he + + "cast the kingdoms old + Into another mould;" + +and he too justified the poet's maxim-- + + "The same arts that did gain + A power, must it maintain." + +[Sidenote: Foundation of Baa¹Lra and KAºfa (638 A.D.).] + +Under the system which he organised Arabia, purged of infidels, became a +vast recruiting-ground for the standing armies of Islam: the Arabs in +the conquered territories formed an exclusive military class, living in +great camps and supported by revenues derived from the non-Mua¸Yammadan +population. Out of such camps arose two cities destined to make their +mark in literary history--Baa¹Lra (Bassora) on the delta of the Tigris and +Euphrates, and KAºfa, which was founded about the same time on the +western branch of the latter stream, not far from a¸¤A-ra. + +[Sidenote: Death of aEuro~Umar (644 A.D.)] + +aEuro~Umar was murdered by a Persian slave named FA-rAºz while leading the +prayers in the Great Mosque. With his death the military theocracy and +the palmy days of the Patriarchal Caliphate draw to a close. The broad +lines of his character appear in the anecdotes translated above, though +many details might be added to complete the picture. Simple and frugal; +doing his duty without fear or favour; energetic even to harshness, yet +capable of tenderness towards the weak; a severe judge of others and +especially of himself, he was a born ruler and every inch a man. Looking +back on the turmoils which followed his death one is inclined to agree +with the opinion of a saintly doctor who said, five centuries +afterwards, that "the good fortune of Islam was shrouded in the +grave-clothes of aEuro~Umar b. al-Khaa¹-a¹-Aib."[361] + +[Sidenote: aEuro~UthmAin elected Caliph (644 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: General disaffection.] + +[Sidenote: aEuro~UthmAin murdered (656 A.D.).] + +When the Meccan aristocrats accepted Islam, they only yielded to the +inevitable. They were now to have an opportunity of revenging +themselves. aEuro~UthmAin b. aEuro~AffAin, who succeeded aEuro~Umar as Caliph, belonged +to a distinguished Meccan family, the Umayyads or descendants of Umayya, +which had always taken a leading part in the opposition to Mua¸Yammad, +though aEuro~UthmAin himself was among the Prophet's first disciples. He was a +pious, well-meaning old man--an easy tool in the hands of his ambitious +kinsfolk. They soon climbed into all the most lucrative and important +offices and lived on the fat of the land, while too often their ungodly +behaviour gave point to the question whether these converts of the +eleventh hour were not still heathens at heart. Other causes contributed +to excite a general discontent. The rapid growth of luxury and +immorality in the Holy Cities as well as in the new settlements was an +eyesore to devout Moslems. The true Islamic aristocracy, the Companions +of the Prophet, headed by aEuro~AlA-, a¹¬ala¸Ya, and Zubayr, strove to undermine +the rival nobility which threatened them with destruction. The factious +soldiery were ripe for revolt against Umayyad arrogance and greed. +Rebellion broke out, and finally the aged Caliph, after enduring a siege +of several weeks, was murdered in his own house. This event marks an +epoch in the history of the Arabs. The ensuing civil wars rent the unity +of Islam from top to bottom, and the wound has never healed. + +[Sidenote: aEuro~AlA- elected Caliph (656 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Character of aEuro~AlA-.] + +[Sidenote: His apotheosis.] + +aEuro~AlA-, the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law, who had hitherto remained in +the background, was now made Caliph. Although the suspicion that he was +in league with the murderers may be put aside, he showed culpable +weakness in leaving aEuro~UthmAin to his fate without an effort to save him. +But aEuro~AlA- had almost every virtue except those of the ruler: energy, +decision, and foresight. He was a gallant warrior, a wise counsellor, a +true friend, and a generous foe. He excelled in poetry and in eloquence; +his verses and sayings are famous throughout the Mua¸Yammadan East, though +few of them can be considered authentic. A fine spirit worthy to be +compared with Montrose and Bayard, he had no talent for the stern +realities of statecraft, and was overmatched by unscrupulous rivals who +knew that "war is a game of deceit." Thus his career was in one sense a +failure: his authority as Caliph was never admitted, while he lived, by +the whole community. On the other hand, he has exerted, down to the +present day, a posthumous influence only second to that of Mua¸Yammad +himself. Within a century of his death he came to be regarded as the +Prophet's successor _jure divino_; as a blessed martyr, sinless and +infallible; and by some even as an incarnation of God. The aEuro~AlA- of +ShA-aEuro~ite legend is not an historical figure glorified: rather does he +symbolise, in purely mythical fashion, the religious aspirations and +political aims of a large section of the Moslem world. + + +[Sidenote: aEuro~AlA- against MuaEuro~Aiwiya.] + +[Sidenote: Battle of a¹ciffA-n (657 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Arbitration.] + +[Sidenote: The award.] + +[Sidenote: The KhAirijites revolt against aEuro~AlA-.] + +[Sidenote: AlA- assassinated (661 A.D.).] + +To return to our narrative. No sooner was aEuro~AlA- proclaimed Caliph by the +victorious rebels than MuaEuro~Aiwiya b. AbA- SufyAin, the governor of Syria, +raised the cry of vengeance for aEuro~UthmAin and refused to take the oath of +allegiance. As head of the Umayyad family, MuaEuro~Aiwiya might justly demand +that the murderers of his kinsman should be punished, but the contest +between him and aEuro~AlA- was virtually for the Caliphate. A great battle was +fought at a¹ciffA-n, a village on the Euphrates. aEuro~AlA- had well-nigh gained +the day when MuaEuro~Aiwiya bethought him of a stratagem. He ordered his +troops to fix Korans on the points of their lances and to shout, "Here +is the Book of God: let it decide between us!" The miserable trick +succeeded. In aEuro~AlA-'s army there were many pious fanatics to whom the +proposed arbitration by the Koran appealed with irresistible force. They +now sprang forward clamorously, threatening to betray their leader +unless he would submit his cause to the Book. Vainly did aEuro~AlA- +remonstrate with the mutineers, and warn them of the trap into which +they were driving him, and this too at the moment when victory was +within their grasp. He had no choice but to yield and name as his umpire +a man of doubtful loyalty, AbAº MAºsAi al-AshaEuro~arA-, one of the oldest +surviving Companions of the Prophet. MuaEuro~Aiwiya on his part named aEuro~Amr b. +al-aEuro~Aa¹L, whose cunning had prompted the decisive manA"uvre. When the +umpires came forth to give judgment, AbAº MAºsAi rose and in accordance +with what had been arranged at the preliminary conference pronounced +that both aEuro~AlA- and MuaEuro~Aiwiya should be deposed and that the people should +elect a proper Caliph in their stead. "Lo," said he, laying down his +sword, "even thus do I depose aEuro~AlA- b. AbA- a¹¬Ailib." Then aEuro~Amr advanced and +spoke as follows: "O people! ye have heard the judgment of my colleague. +He has called you to witness that he deposes aEuro~AlA-. Now I call you to +witness that I confirm MuaEuro~Aiwiya, even as I make fast this sword of +mine," and suiting the action to the word, he returned it to its sheath. +It is characteristic of Arabian notions of morality that this impudent +fraud was hailed by MuaEuro~Aiwiya's adherents as a diplomatic triumph which +gave him a colourable pretext for assuming the title of Caliph. Both +sides prepared to renew the struggle, but in the meanwhile aEuro~AlA- found +his hands full nearer home. A numerous party among his troops, including +the same zealots who had forced arbitration upon him, now cast him off +because he had accepted it, fell out from the ranks, and raised the +standard of revolt. These 'Outgoers,' or KhAirijites, as they were +called, maintained their theocratic principles with desperate courage, +and though often defeated took the field again and again. aEuro~AlA-'s plans +for recovering Syria were finally abandoned in 660, when he concluded +peace with MuaEuro~Aiwiya, and shortly afterwards he was struck down in the +Mosque at KAºfa, which he had made his capital, by Ibn Muljam, a +KhAirijite conspirator. + +With aEuro~AlA-'s fall our sketch of the Orthodox Caliphate may fitly end. It +was necessary to give some account of these years so vital in the +history of Islam, even at the risk of wearying the reader, who will +perhaps wish that less space were devoted to political affairs. + + +[Sidenote: The Umayyad dynasty.] + +[Sidenote: Moslem tradition hostile to the Umayyads.] + +[Sidenote: MuaEuro~Aiwiya's clemency.] + +[Sidenote: His hours of study.] + +The Umayyads came into power, but, except in Syria and Egypt, they ruled +solely by the sword. As descendants and representatives of the pagan +aristocracy, which strove with all its might to defeat Mua¸Yammad, they +were usurpers in the eyes of the Moslem community which they claimed to +lead as his successors.[362] We shall see, a little further on, how this +opposition expressed itself in two great parties: the ShA-aEuro~ites or +followers of aEuro~AlA-, and the radical sect of the KhAirijites, who have been +mentioned above; and how it was gradually reinforced by the non-Arabian +Moslems until it overwhelmed the Umayyad Government and set up the +aEuro~AbbAisids in their place. In estimating the character of the Umayyads +one must bear in mind that the epitaph on the fallen dynasty was +composed by their enemies, and can no more be considered historically +truthful than the lurid picture which Tacitus has drawn of the Emperor +Tiberius. Because they kept the revolutionary forces in check with +ruthless severity, the Umayyads pass for bloodthirsty tyrants; whereas +the best of them at any rate were strong and singularly capable rulers, +bad Moslems and good men of the world, seldom cruel, plain livers if not +high thinkers; who upon the whole stand as much above the aEuro~AbbAisids in +morality as below them in culture and intellect. MuaEuro~Aiwiya's clemency was +proverbial, though he too could be stern on occasion. When members of +the house of aEuro~AlA- came to visit him at Damascus, which was now the +capital of the Mua¸Yammadan Empire, he gave them honourable lodging and +entertainment and was anxious to do what they asked; but they (relates +the historian approvingly) used to address him in the rudest terms and +affront him in the vilest manner: sometimes he would answer them with a +jest, and another time he would feign not to hear, and he always +dismissed them with splendid presents and ample donations.[363] "I do +not employ my sword," he said, "when my whip suffices me, nor my whip +when my tongue suffices me; and were there but a single hair (of +friendship) between me and my subjects, I would not let it be +snapped."[364] After the business of the day he sought relaxation in +books. "He consecrated a third part of every night to the history of the +Arabs and their famous battles; the history of foreign peoples, their +kings, and their government; the biographies of monarchs, including +their wars and stratagems and methods of rule; and other matters +connected with Ancient History."[365] + +[Sidenote: ZiyAid ibn AbA-hi.] + +MuaEuro~Aiwiya's chief henchman was ZiyAid, the son of Sumayya (Sumayya being +the name of his mother), or, as he is generally called, ZiyAid ibn AbA-hi, +_i.e._, 'ZiyAid his father's son,' for none knew who was his sire, though +rumour pointed to AbAº SufyAin; in which case ZiyAid would have been +MuaEuro~Aiwiya's half-brother. MuaEuro~Aiwiya, instead of disavowing the scandalous +imputation, acknowledged him as such, and made him governor of Baa¹Lra, +where he ruled the Eastern provinces with a rod of iron. + +[Sidenote: YazA-d (680-683 A.D.).] + +MuaEuro~Aiwiya was a crafty diplomatist--he has been well compared to +Richelieu--whose profound knowledge of human nature enabled him to gain +over men of moderate opinions in all the parties opposed to him. Events +were soon to prove the hollowness of this outward reconciliation. YazA-d, +who succeeded his father, was the son of MaysAºn, a Bedouin woman whom +MuaEuro~Aiwiya married before he rose to be Caliph. The luxury of Damascus had +no charm for her wild spirit, and she gave utterance to her feeling of +homesickness in melancholy verse:-- + + "A tent with rustling breezes cool + Delights me more than palace high, + And more the cloak of simple wool + Than robes in which I learned to sigh. + + The crust I ate beside my tent + Was more than this fine bread to me; + The wind's voice where the hill-path went + Was more than tambourine can be. + + And more than purr of friendly cat + I love the watch-dog's bark to hear; + And more than any lubbard fat + I love a Bedouin cavalier."[366] + +[Sidenote: a¸¤usayn marches on KAºfa.] + +[Sidenote: Massacre of a¸¤usayn and his followers at KarbalAi (10th +Mua¸Yarram, 61 A.H. = 10th October, 680 A.D.).] + +MuaEuro~Aiwiya, annoyed by the contemptuous allusion to himself, took the dame +at her word. She returned to her own family, and YazA-d grew up as a +Bedouin, with the instincts and tastes which belong to the +Bedouins--love of pleasure, hatred of piety, and reckless disregard for +the laws of religion. The beginning of his reign was marked by an event +of which even now few Moslems can speak without a thrill of horror and +dismay. The facts are briefly these: In the autumn of the year 680 +a¸¤usayn, the son of aEuro~AlA-, claiming to be the rightful Caliph in virtue of +his descent from the Prophet, quitted Mecca with his whole family and a +number of devoted friends, and set out for KAºfa, where he expected the +population, which was almost entirely ShA-aEuro~ite, to rally to his cause. It +was a foolhardy adventure. The poet Farazdaq, who knew the fickle temper +of his fellow-townsmen, told a¸¤usayn that although their hearts were with +him, their swords would be with the Umayyads; but his warning was given +in vain. Meanwhile aEuro~UbaydullAih b. ZiyAid, the governor of KAºfa, having +overawed the insurgents in the city and beheaded their leader, Muslim b. +aEuro~AqA-l, who was a cousin of a¸¤usayn, sent a force of cavalry with orders +to bring the arch-rebel to a stand. Retreat was still open to him. But +his followers cried out that the blood of Muslim must be avenged, and +a¸¤usayn could not hesitate. Turning northward along the Euphrates, he +encamped at KarbalAi with his little band, which, including the women and +children, amounted to some two hundred souls. In this hopeless situation +he offered terms which might have been accepted if Shamir b. Dhi +aEuro(TM)l-Jawshan, a name for ever infamous and accursed, had not persuaded +aEuro~UbaydullAih to insist on unconditional surrender. The demand was +refused, and a¸¤usayn drew up his comrades--a handful of men and boys--for +battle against the host which surrounded them. All the harrowing details +invented by grief and passion can scarcely heighten the tragedy of the +closing scene. It would appear that the Umayyad officers themselves +shrank from the odium of a general massacre, and hoped to take the +Prophet's grandson alive. Shamir, however, had no such scruples. Chafing +at delay, he urged his soldiers to the assault. The unequal struggle was +soon over. a¸¤usayn fell, pierced by an arrow, and his brave followers +were cut down beside him to the last man. + +[Sidenote: Differing views of Mua¸Yammadan and European writers.] + +[Sidenote: The Umayyads judged by Islam.] + +[Sidenote: Character of YazA-d.] + +Mua¸Yammadan tradition, which with rare exceptions is uniformly hostile to +the Umayyad dynasty, regards a¸¤usayn as a martyr and YazA-d as his +murderer; while modern historians, for the most part, agree with Sir W. +Muir, who points out that a¸¤usayn, "having yielded himself to a +treasonable, though impotent design upon the throne, was committing an +offence that endangered society and demanded swift suppression." This +was naturally the view of the party in power, and the reader must form +his own conclusion as to how far it justifies the action which they +took. For Moslems the question is decided by the relation of the +Umayyads to Islam. Violators of its laws and spurners of its ideals, +they could never be anything but tyrants; and being tyrants, they had no +right to slay believers who rose in arms against their usurped +authority. The so-called verdict of history, when we come to examine it, +is seen to be the verdict of religion, the judgment of theocratic Islam +on Arabian Imperialism. On this ground the Umayyads are justly +condemned, but it is well to remember that in Moslem eyes the +distinction between Church and State does not exist. YazA-d was a bad +Churchman: therefore he was a wicked tyrant; the one thing involves the +other. From our unprejudiced standpoint, he was an amiable prince who +inherited his mother's poetic talent, and infinitely preferred wine, +music, and sport to the drudgery of public affairs. The Syrian Arabs, +who recognised the Umayyads as legitimate, thought highly of him: +"Jucundissimus," says a Christian writer, "et cunctis nationibus regni +ejus subditis vir gratissime habitus, qui nullam unquam, ut omnibus +moris est, sibi regalis fastigii causa gloriam appetivit, sed communis +cum omnibus civiliter vixit."[367] He deplored the fate of the women and +children of a¸¤usayn's family, treated them with every mark of respect, +and sent them to MedA-na, where their account of the tragedy added fresh +fuel to the hatred and indignation with which its authors were generally +regarded. + +The Umayyads had indeed ample cause to rue the day of KarbalAi. It gave +the ShA-aEuro~ite faction a rallying-cry--"Vengeance for a¸¤usayn!"--which was +taken up on all sides, and especially by the Persian _MawAilA-_, or +Clients, who longed for deliverance from the Arab yoke. Their +amalgamation with the ShA-aEuro~a--a few years later they flocked in thousands +to the standard of MukhtAir--was an event of the utmost historical +importance, which will be discussed when we come to speak of the +ShA-aEuro~ites in particular. + +[Sidenote: MedA-na and Mecca desecrated (682-3 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Rebellion of MukhtAir (685-6 A.D.).] + +The slaughter of a¸¤usayn does not complete the tale of YazA-d's +enormities. MedA-na, the Prophet's city, having expelled its Umayyad +governor, was sacked by a Syrian army, while Mecca itself, where +aEuro~AbdullAih b. Zubayr had set up as rival Caliph, was besieged, and the +KaaEuro~ba laid in ruins. These outrages, shocking to Moslem sentiment, +kindled a flame of rebellion. a¸¤usayn was avenged by MukhtAir, who seized +KAºfa and executed some three hundred of the guilty citizens, including +the miscreant Shamir. His troops defeated and slew aEuro~UbaydullAih b. ZiyAid, +but he himself was slain, not long afterwards, by MusaEuro~ab, the brother of +Ibn Zubayr, and seven thousand of his followers were massacred in cold +blood. On YazA-d's death (683) the Umayyad Empire threatened to fall to +pieces. As a contemporary poet sang-- + + "Now loathed of all men is the Fury blind + Which blazeth as a fire blown by the wind. + They are split in sects: each province hath its own + Commander of the Faithful, each its throne."[368] + +[Sidenote: Civil war renewed.] + +[Sidenote: Rivalry of Northern and Southern Arabs.] + +Fierce dissensions broke out among the Syrian Arabs, the backbone of the +dynasty. The great tribal groups of Kalb and Qays, whose coalition had +hitherto maintained the Umayyads in power, fought on opposite sides at +Marj RAihia¹- (684), the former for MarwAin and the latter for Ibn Zubayr. +MarwAin's victory secured the allegiance of Syria, but henceforth Qays +and Kalb were always at daggers drawn.[369] This was essentially a feud +between the Northern and the Southern Arabs--a feud which rapidly +extended and developed into a permanent racial enmity. They carried it +with them to the farthest ends of the world, so that, for example, after +the conquest of Spain precautions had to be taken against civil war by +providing that Northerners and Southerners should not settle in the same +districts. The literary history of this antagonism has been sketched by +Dr. Goldziher with his wonted erudition and acumen.[370] Satire was, of +course, the principal weapon of both sides. Here is a fragment by a +Northern poet which belongs to the Umayyad period:-- + + "Negroes are better, when they name their sires, + Than Qaa¸Ya¹-Ain's sons,[371] the uncircumcisA"d cowards: + A folk whom thou mayst see, at war's outflame, + More abject than a shoe to tread in baseness; + Their women free to every lecher's lust, + Their clients spoil for cavaliers and footmen."[372] + +Thus the Arab nation was again torn asunder by the old tribal +pretensions which Mua¸Yammad sought to abolish. That they ultimately +proved fatal to the Umayyads is no matter for surprise; the sorely +pressed dynasty was already tottering, its enemies were at its gates. By +good fortune it produced at this crisis an exceptionally able and +vigorous ruler, aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Malik b. MarwAin, who not only saved his house +from destruction, but re-established its supremacy and inaugurated a +more brilliant epoch than any that had gone before. + +[Sidenote: aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Malik and his successors.] + +[Sidenote: Reforms of aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Malik.] + +[Sidenote: The writing of Arabic.] + +[Sidenote: a¸¤ajjAij b. YAºsuf (aEuro 714 A.D.).] + +aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Malik succeeded his father in 685, but required seven years of +hard fighting to make good his claim to the Caliphate. When his most +formidable rival, Ibn Zubayr, had fallen in battle (692), the eastern +provinces were still overrun by rebels, who offered a desperate +resistance to the governor of aEuro~IrAiq, the iron-handed a¸¤ajjAij. But +enough of bloodshed. Peace also had her victories during the troubled +reign of aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Malik and the calmer sway of his successors. Four of +the next five Caliphs were his own sons--WalA-d (705-715), SulaymAin +(715-717), YazA-d II (720-724), and HishAim (724-743); the fifth, aEuro~Umar +II, was the son of his brother, aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AzA-z. For the greater part of +this time the Moslem lands enjoyed a well-earned interval of repose and +prosperity, which mitigated, though it could not undo, the frightful +devastation wrought by twenty years of almost continuous civil war. Many +reforms were introduced, some wholly political in character, while +others inspired by the same motives have, none the less, a direct +bearing on literary history. aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Malik organised an excellent +postal service, by means of relays of horses, for the conveyance of +despatches and travellers; he substituted for the Byzantine and Persian +coins, which had hitherto been in general use, new gold and silver +pieces, on which be caused sentences from the Koran to be engraved; and +he made Arabic, instead of Greek or Persian, the official language of +financial administration. Steps were taken, moreover, to improve the +extremely defective Arabic script, and in this way to provide a sound +basis for the study and interpretation of the Koran as well as for the +collection of _a¸YadA-ths_ or sayings of the Prophet, which form an +indispensable supplement thereto. The Arabic alphabet, as it was then +written, consisted entirely of consonants, so that, to give an +illustration from English, _bnd_ might denote _band_, _bend_, _bind_, or +_bond_; _crt_ might stand for _cart_, _carat_, _curt_, and so on. To an +Arab this ambiguity mattered little; far worse confusion arose from the +circumstance that many of the consonants themselves were exactly alike: +thus, _e.g._, it was possible to read the same combination of three +letters as _bnt_, _nbt_, _byt_, _tnb_, _ntb_, _nyb_, and in various +other ways. Considering the difficulties of the Arabic language, which +are so great that a European aided by scientific grammars and +unequivocal texts will often find himself puzzled even when he has +become tolerably familiar with it, one may imagine that the Koran was +virtually a sealed book to all but a few among the crowds of foreigners +who accepted Islam after the early conquests. aEuro~AbduaEuro(TM)l-Malik's viceroy +in aEuro~IrAiq, the famous a¸¤ajjAij, who began life as a schoolmaster, +exerted himself to promote the use of vowel-marks (borrowed from the +Syriac) and of the diacritical points placed above or below similar +consonants. This extraordinary man deserves more than a passing mention. +A stern disciplinarian, who could be counted upon to do his duty without +any regard to public opinion, he was chosen by aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Malik to besiege +Mecca, which Ibn Zubayr was holding as anti-Caliph. a¸¤ajjAij bombarded +the city, defeated the Pretender, and sent his head to Damascus. Two +years afterwards he became governor of aEuro~IrAiq. Entering the Mosque at +KAºfa, he mounted the pulpit and introduced himself to the assembled +townsmen in these memorable words:-- + +[Sidenote: His service to literature.] + + "I am he who scattereth the darkness and climbeth o'er the summits. + When I lift the turban from my face, ye will know me.[373] + +"O people of KAºfa! I see heads that are ripe for cutting, and I am the +man to do it; and methinks, I see blood between the turbans and +beards."[374] The rest of his speech was in keeping with the +commencement. He used no idle threats, as the malcontents soon found +out. Rebellion, which had been rampant before his arrival, was rapidly +extinguished. "He restored order in aEuro~IrAiq and subdued its people."[375] +For twenty years his despotic rule gave peace and security to the +Eastern world. Cruel he may have been, though the tales of his +bloodthirstiness are beyond doubt grossly exaggerated, but it should be +put to his credit that he established and maintained the settled +conditions which afford leisure for the cultivation of learning. Under +his protection the Koran and Traditions were diligently studied both in +KAºfa and Baa¹Lra, where many Companions of the Prophet had made their +home: hence arose in Baa¹Lra the science of Grammar, with which, as we +shall see in a subsequent page, the name of that city is peculiarly +associated. a¸¤ajjAij shared the literary tastes of his sovereign; he +admired the old poets and patronised the new; he was a master of terse +eloquence and plumed himself on his elegant Arabic style. The most hated +man of his time, he lives in history as the savage oppressor and butcher +of God-fearing Moslems. He served the Umayyads well and faithfully, and +when he died in 714 A.D. he left behind him nothing but his Koran, his +arms, and a few hundred pieces of silver. + + +[Sidenote: WalA-d (705-715 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Moslem conquests in the East.] + +[Sidenote: Conquest of Spain (711-713 A.D.).] + +It was a common saying at Damascus that under WalA-d people talked of +fine buildings, under SulaymAin of cookery and the fair sex, while in the +reign of aEuro~Umar b. aEuro~Abd al-aEuro~AzA-z the Koran and religion formed favourite +topics of conversation.[376] Of WalA-d's passion for architecture we have +a splendid monument in the Great Mosque of Damascus (originally the +Cathedral of St. John), which is the principal sight of the city to this +day. He spoke Arabic very incorrectly, and though his father rebuked +him, observing that "in order to rule the Arabs one must be proficient +in their language," he could never learn to express himself with +propriety.[377] The unbroken peace which now prevailed within the Empire +enabled WalA-d to resume the work of conquest. In the East his armies +invaded Transoxania, captured BokhAirAi and Samarcand, and pushed forward +to the Chinese frontier. Another force crossed the Indus and penetrated +as far as MAºltAin, a renowned centre of pilgrimage in the Southern +Punjaub, which fell into the hands of the Moslems after a prolonged +siege. But the most brilliant advance, and the richest in its results, +was that in the extreme West, which decided the fate of Spain. Although +the Moslems had obtained a footing in Northern Africa some thirty years +before this time, their position was always precarious, until in 709 +MAºsAi b. Nua¹Layr completely subjugated the Berbers, and extended not only +the dominion but also the faith of Islam to the Atlantic Ocean. Two +years later his freedman a¹¬Airiq crossed the straits and took possession +of the commanding height, called by the ancients Calpe, but henceforth +known as Jabal a¹¬Airiq (Gibraltar). Roderic, the last of the West Gothic +dynasty, gathered an army in defence of his kingdom, but there were +traitors in the camp, and, though he himself fought valiantly, their +defection turned the fortunes of the day. The king fled, and it was +never ascertained what became of him. a¹¬Airiq, meeting with feeble +resistance, marched rapidly on Toledo, while MAºsAi, whose jealousy was +excited by the triumphal progress of his lieutenant, now joined in the +campaign, and, storming city after city, reached the Pyrenees. The +conquest of Spain, which is told by Moslem historians with many romantic +circumstances, marks the nearest approach that the Arabs ever made to +World-Empire. Their advance on French soil was finally hurled back by +Charles the Hammer's great victory at Tours (732 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: aEuro~Umar b. aEuro~Abd al-aEuro~AzA-z (717-720 A.D.).] + +Before taking leave of the Umayyads we must not forget to mention aEuro~Umar +b. aEuro~Abd al-aEuro~AzA-z, a ruler who stands out in singular contrast with his +predecessors, and whose brief reign is regarded by many Moslems as the +sole bright spot in a century of godless and bloodstained tyranny. There +had been nothing like it since the days of his illustrious namesake and +kinsman,[378] aEuro~Umar b. al-Khaa¹-a¹-Aib, and we shall find nothing like it in +the future history of the Caliphate. Plato desired that every king +should be a philosopher: according to Mua¸Yammadan theory every Caliph +ought to be a saint. aEuro~Umar satisfied these aspirations. When he came to +the throne the following dialogue is said to have occurred between him +and one of his favourites, SAilim al-SuddA-:-- + + + aEuro~Umar: "Are you glad on account of my accession, or sorry?" + + SAilim: "I am glad for the people's sake, but sorry for yours." + + aEuro~Umar: "I fear that I have brought perdition upon my soul." + + SAilim: "If you are afraid, very good. I only fear that you may + cease to be afraid." + + aEuro~Umar: "Give me a word of counsel." + + SAilim: "Our father Adam was driven forth from Paradise because + of one sin."[379] + +Poets and orators found no favour at his court, which was thronged by +divines and men of ascetic life.[380] He warned his governors that they +must either deal justly or go. He would not allow political +considerations to interfere with his ideal of righteousness, but, as +Wellhausen points out, he had practical ends in view: his piety made him +anxious for the common weal no less than for his own salvation. Whether +he administered the State successfully is a matter of dispute. It has +been generally supposed that his financial reforms were Utopian in +character and disastrous to the Exchequer.[381] However this may be, he +showed wisdom in seeking to bridge the menacing chasm between Islam and +the Imperial house. Thus, _e.g._, he did away with the custom which had +long prevailed of cursing aEuro~AlA- from the pulpit at Friday prayers. The +policy of conciliation was tried too late, and for too short a space, to +be effective; but it was not entirely fruitless. When, on the overthrow +of the Umayyad dynasty, the tombs of the hated 'tyrants' were defiled +and their bodies disinterred, aEuro~Umar's grave alone was respected, and +MasaEuro~AºdA- (aEuro 956 A.D.) tells us that in his time it was visited by crowds +of pilgrims. + +[Sidenote: HishAim and WalA-d II.] + +The remaining Umayyads do not call for particular notice. HishAim ranks +as a statesman with MuaEuro~Aiwiya and aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Malik: the great aEuro~AbbAisid +Caliph, Mana¹LAºr, is said to have admired and imitated his methods of +government.[382] WalA-d II was an incorrigible libertine, whose songs +celebrating the forbidden delights of wine have much merit. The eminent +poet and freethinker, Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi al-MaaEuro~arrA-, quotes these verses by +him[383]:-- + + [Sidenote: Verses by WalA-d II (743-4 A.D.).] + + "The ImAim WalA-d am I! In all my glory + Of trailing robes I listen to soft lays. + When proudly I sweep on towards her chamber, + I care not who inveighs. + + There's no true joy but lending ear to music, + Or wine that leaves one sunk in stupor dense. + Houris in Paradise I do not look for: + Does any man of sense?" + + +Let us now turn from the monarchs to their subjects. + +[Sidenote: Political and religious movements of the period.] + +In the first place we shall speak of the political and religious +parties, whose opposition to the Umayyad House gradually undermined its +influence and in the end brought about its fall. Some account will be +given of the ideas for which these parties fought and of the causes of +their discontent with the existing _rA(C)gime_. Secondly, a few words must +be said of the theological and more purely religious sects--the +MuaEuro~tazilites, Murjites, and a¹cAºfA-s; and, lastly, of the extant +literature, which is almost exclusively poetical, and its leading +representatives. + +[Sidenote: The Arabs of aEuro~IrAiq.] + +The opposition to the Umayyads was at first mainly a question of +politics. MuaEuro~Aiwiya's accession announced the triumph of Syria over +aEuro~IrAiq, and Damascus, instead of KAºfa, became the capital of the Empire. +As Wellhausen observes, "the most powerful risings against the Umayyads +proceeded from aEuro~IrAiq, not from any special party, but from the whole +mass of the Arabs settled there, who were united in resenting the loss +of their independence (_Selbstherrlichkeit_) and in hating those into +whose hands it had passed."[384] At the same time these feelings took a +religious colour and identified themselves with the cause of Islam. The +new government fell lamentably short of the theocratic standard by which +it was judged. Therefore it was evil, and (according to the Moslem's +conception of duty) every right-thinking man must work for its +destruction. + +Among the myriads striving for this consummation, and so far making +common cause with each other, we can distinguish four principal classes. + +[Sidenote: Parties opposed to the Umayyad government.] + +(1) The religious Moslems, or Pietists, in general, who formed a wing of +the Orthodox Party.[385] + +(2) The KhAirijites, who may be described as the Puritans and extreme +Radicals of theocracy. + +(3) The ShA-aEuro~ites, or partisans of aEuro~AlA- and his House. + +(4) The Non-Arabian Moslems, who were called _MawAilA-_ (Clients). + +[Sidenote: The Pietists.] + +It is clear that the Pietists--including divines learned in the law, +reciters of the Koran, Companions of the Prophet and their +descendants--could not but abominate the secular authority which they +were now compelled to obey. The conviction that Might, in the shape of +the tyrant and his minions, trampled on Right as represented by the +Koran and the _Sunna_ (custom of Mua¸Yammad) drove many into active +rebellion: five thousand are said to have perished in the sack of MedA-na +alone. Others again, like a¸¤asan of Baa¹Lra, filled with profound despair, +shut their eyes on the world, and gave themselves up to asceticism, a +tendency which had important consequences, as we shall see. + + +[Sidenote: The KhAirijites.] + +[Sidenote: Battle of NahrawAin (658 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: KhAirijite risings.] + +When aEuro~AlA-, on the field of a¹ciffA-n, consented that the claims of MuaEuro~Aiwiya +and himself to the Caliphate should be decided by arbitration, a large +section of his army accused him of having betrayed his trust. He, the +duly elected Caliph--so they argued--should have maintained the dignity +of his high office inviolate at all costs. On the homeward march the +malcontents, some twelve thousand in number, broke away and encamped by +themselves at a¸¤arAºrAi, a village near KAºfa. Their cry was, "God alone can +decide" (_lAi a¸Yukma illAi lillAihi_): in these terms they protested against +the arbitration. aEuro~AlA- endeavoured to win them back, but without any +lasting success. They elected a Caliph from among themselves, and +gathered at NahrawAin, four thousand strong. On the appearance of aEuro~AlA- +with a vastly superior force many of the rebels dispersed, but the +remainder--about half--preferred to die for their faith. NahrawAin was to +the KhAirijites what KarbalAi afterwards became to the ShA-aEuro~ites, who from +this day were regarded by the former as their chief enemies. Frequent +KhAirijite risings took place during the early Umayyad period, but the +movement reached its zenith in the years of confusion which followed +YazA-d's death. The Azraqites, so called after their leader, NAifiaEuro~ b. +al-Azraq, overran aEuro~IrAiq and Southern Persia, while another sect, the +Najdites, led by Najda b. aEuro~Amir, reduced the greater part of Arabia to +submission. The insurgents held their ground for a long time against +aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Malik, and did not cease from troubling until the rebellion +headed by ShabA-b was at last stamped out by a¸¤ajjAij in 697. + +[Sidenote: Meaning of 'KhAirijite.'] + +[Sidenote: Their political theories.] + +It has been suggested that the name _KhAirijA-_ (plural, _KhawAirij_) +refers to a passage in the Koran (iv, 101) where mention is made of +"those who go forth (_yakhruj_) from their homes as emigrants +(_muhAijiran_) to God and His Messenger"; so that 'KhAirijite' means 'one +who leaves his home among the unbelievers for God's sake,' and +corresponds to the term _MuhAijir_, which was applied to the Meccan +converts who accompanied the Prophet in his migration to MedA-na.[386] +Another name by which they are often designated is likewise Koranic in +origin, viz., _ShurAit_ (plural of _ShAirin_): literally 'Sellers'--that +is to say, those who sell their lives and goods in return for +Paradise.[387] The KhAirijites were mostly drawn from the Bedouin +soldiery who settled in Baa¹Lra and KAºfa after the Persian wars. Civil +life wrought little change in their unruly temper. Far from +acknowledging the peculiar sanctity of a Qurayshite, they desired a +chief of their own blood whom they might obey, in Bedouin fashion, as +long as he did not abuse or exceed the powers conferred upon him.[388] +The mainspring of the movement, however, was pietistic, and can be +traced, as Wellhausen has shown, to the Koran-readers who made it a +matter of conscience that aEuro~AlA- should avow his contrition for the fatal +error which their own temporary and deeply regretted infatuation had +forced him to commit. They cast off aEuro~AlA- for the same reason which led +them to strike at aEuro~Uthman: in both cases they were maintaining the cause +of God against an unjust Caliph.[389] It is important to remember these +facts in view of the cardinal KhAirijite doctrines (1) that every free +Arab was eligible as Caliph,[390] and (2) that an evil-doing Caliph must +be deposed and, if necessary, put to death. Mustawrid b. aEuro~Ullifa, the +KhAirijite 'Commander of the Faithful,' wrote to SimAik b. aEuro~Ubayd, the +governor of Ctesiphon, as follows: "We call you to the Book of God +Almighty and Glorious, and to the _Sunna_ (custom) of the Prophet--on +whom be peace!--and to the administration of AbAº Bakr and aEuro~Umar--may God +be well pleased with them!--and to renounce aEuro~UthmAin and aEuro~AlA- because +they corrupted the true religion and abandoned the authority of the +Book."[391] From this it appears that the KhAirijite programme was simply +the old Islam of equality and fraternity, which had never been fully +realised and was now irretrievably ruined. Theoretically, all devout +Moslems shared in the desire for its restoration and condemned the +existing Government no less cordially than did the KhAirijites. What +distinguished the latter party was the remorseless severity with which +they carried their principles into action. To them it was absolutely +vital that the ImAim, or head of the community, should rule in the name +and according to the will of God: those who followed any other sealed +their doom in the next world: eternal salvation hung upon the choice of +a successor to the Prophet. Moslems who refused to execrate aEuro~UthmAin and +aEuro~AlA- were the worst of infidels; it was the duty of every true believer +to take part in the Holy War against such, and to kill them, together +with their wives and children. These atrocities recoiled upon the +insurgents, who soon found themselves in danger of extermination. Milder +counsels began to prevail. Thus the IbAia¸ites (followers of aEuro~AbdullAih b. +IbAia¸) held it lawful to live amongst the Moslems and mix with them on +terms of mutual tolerance. But compromise was in truth incompatible with +the _raison d'Aªtre_ of the KhAirijites, namely, to establish the kingdom +of God upon the earth. This meant virtual anarchy: "their unbending +logic shattered every constitution which it set up." As aEuro~AlA- remarked, +"they say, 'No government' (_lAi imAira_), but there must be a government, +good or bad."[392] Nevertheless, it was a noble ideal for which they +fought in pure devotion, having, unlike the other political parties, no +worldly interests to serve. + +[Sidenote: Their religion.] + +The same fierce spirit of fanaticism moulded their religious views, +which were gloomy and austere, as befitted the chosen few in an ungodly +world. ShahrastAinA-, speaking of the original twelve thousand who +rebelled against aEuro~AlA-, describes them as 'people of fasting and prayer' +(_ahlu a¹LiyAimin wa-a¹LalAitin_).[393] The Koran ruled their lives and +possessed their imaginations, so that the history of the early Church, +the persecutions, martyrdoms, and triumphs of the Faith became a +veritable drama which was being enacted by themselves. The fear of hell +kindled in them an inquisitorial zeal for righteousness. They +scrupulously examined their own belief as well as that of their +neighbours, and woe to him that was found wanting! A single false step +involved excommunication from the pale of Islam, and though the slip +might be condoned on proof of sincere repentance, any Moslem who had +once committed a mortal sin (_kabA-ra_) was held, by the stricter +KhAirijites at least, to be inevitably damned with the infidels in +everlasting fire. + + +[Sidenote: KhAirijite poetry.] + +Much might be written, if space allowed, concerning the wars of the +KhAirijites, their most famous chiefs, the points on which they +quarrelled, and the sects into which they split. Here we can only +attempt to illustrate the general character of the movement. We have +touched on its political and religious aspects, and shall now conclude +with some reference to its literary side. The KhAirijites did not produce +a Milton or a Bunyan, but as Arabs of Bedouin stock they had a natural +gift of song, from which they could not be weaned; although, according +to the strict letter of the Koran, poetry is a devilish invention +improper for the pious Moslem to meddle with. But these are poems of a +different order from the pagan odes, and breathe a stern religious +enthusiasm that would have gladdened the Prophet's heart. Take, for +example, the following verses, which were made by a KhAirijite in +prison:--[394] + + "'Tis time, O ye Sellers, for one who hath sold himself + To God, that he should arise and saddle amain. + Fools! in the land of miscreants will ye abide, + To be hunted down, every man of you, and to be slain? + O would that I were among you, armA"d in mail, + On the back of my stout-ribbed galloping war-horse again! + And would that I were among you, fighting your foes, + That me, first of all, they might give death's beaker to drain! + It grieves me sore that ye are startled and chased + Like beasts, while I cannot draw on the wretches profane + My sword, nor see them scattered by noble knights + Who never yield an inch of the ground they gain, + But where the struggle is hottest, with keen blades hew + Their strenuous way and deem 'twere base to refrain. + Ay, it grieves me sore that ye are oppressed and wronged, + While I must drag in anguish a captive's chain." + +[Sidenote: Qaa¹-arA- b. al-FujAiaEuro(TM)a.] + +Qaa¹-arA- b. al-FujAiaEuro(TM)a, the intrepid KhAirijite leader who routed army +after army sent against him by a¸¤ajjAij, sang almost as well as he +fought. The verses rendered below are included in the _a¸¤amAisa_[395] +and cited by Ibn KhallikAin, who declares that they would make a brave +man of the greatest coward in the world. "I know of nothing on the +subject to be compared with them; they could only have proceeded from a +spirit that scorned disgrace and from a truly Arabian sentiment of +valour."[396] + + "I say to my soul dismayed-- + 'Courage! Thou canst not achieve, + With praying, an hour of life + Beyond the appointed term. + Then courage on death's dark field, + Courage! Impossible 'tis + To live for ever and aye. + Life is no hero's robe + Of honour: the dastard vile + Also doffs it at last.'" + +[Sidenote: The ShA-aEuro~ites.] + +[Sidenote: The theory of Divine Right.] + +The murder of aEuro~UthmAin broke the Moslem community, which had hitherto +been undivided, into two _shA-aEuro~as_, or parties--one for aEuro~AlA- and the +other for MuaEuro~Aiwiya. When the latter became Caliph he was no longer a +party leader, but head of the State, and his _shA-aEuro~a_ ceased to exist. +Henceforth 'the ShA-aEuro~a' _par excellence_ was the party of aEuro~AlA-, which +regarded the House of the Prophet as the legitimate heirs to the +succession. Not content, however, with upholding aEuro~AlA-, as the worthiest +of the Prophet's Companions and the duly elected Caliph, against his +rival, MuaEuro~Aiwiya, the bolder spirits took up an idea, which emerged about +this time, that the Caliphate belonged to aEuro~AlA- and his descendants by +Divine right. Such is the distinctive doctrine of the ShA-aEuro~ites to the +present day. It is generally thought to have originated in Persia, where +the SAisAinian kings used to assume the title of 'god' (PahlavA- _bagh_) +and were looked upon as successive incarnations of the Divine majesty. + + [Sidenote: Dozy's account of its origin.] + + "Although the ShA-aEuro~ites," says Dozy, "often found themselves under + the direction of Arab leaders, who utilised them in order to gain + some personal end, they were nevertheless a Persian sect at bottom; + and it is precisely here that the difference most clearly showed + itself between the Arab race, which loves liberty, and the Persian + race, accustomed to slavish submission. For the Persians, the + principle of electing the Prophet's successor was something unheard + of and incomprehensible. The only principle which they recognised + was that of inheritance, and since Mua¸Yammad left no sons, they + thought that his son-in-law aEuro~AlA- should have succeeded him, and that + the sovereignty was hereditary in his family. Consequently, all the + Caliphs except aEuro~AlA---_i.e._, AbAº Bakr, aEuro~Umar, and aEuro~UthmAin, as well + as the Umayyads--were in their eyes usurpers to whom no obedience + was due. The hatred which they felt for the Government and for Arab + rule confirmed them in this opinion; at the same time they cast + covetous looks on the wealth of their masters. Habituated, moreover, + to see in their kings the descendants of the inferior divinities, + they transferred this idolatrous veneration to aEuro~AlA- and his + posterity. Absolute obedience to the ImAim of aEuro~AlA-'s House was in + their eyes the most important duty; if that were fulfilled all the + rest might be interpreted allegorically and violated without + scruple. For them the ImAim was everything; he was God made man. A + servile submission accompanied by immorality was the basis of their + system."[397] + +[Sidenote: The SabaaEuro(TM)ites.] + +[Sidenote: Doctrine of Ibn SabAi.] + +Now, the ShA-aEuro~ite theory of Divine Right certainly harmonised with +Persian ideas, but was it also of Persian origin? On the contrary, it +seems first to have arisen among an obscure Arabian sect, the SabaaEuro(TM)ites, +whose founder, aEuro~AbdullAih b. SabAi (properly, SabaaEuro(TM)), was a native of +a¹canaEuro~Ai in Yemen, and is said to have been a Jew.[398] In aEuro~UthmAin's time +he turned Moslem and became, apparently, a travelling missionary. "He +went from place to place," says the historian, "seeking to lead the +Moslems into error."[399] We hear of him in the a¸¤ijAiz, then in Baa¹Lra and +KAºfa, then in Syria. Finally he settled in Egypt, where he preached the +doctrine of palingenesis (_rajaEuro~a_). "It is strange indeed," he +exclaimed, "that any one should believe in the return of Jesus (as +Messias), and deny the return of Mua¸Yammad, which God has announced (Kor. +xxviii, 85).[400] Furthermore, there are a thousand Prophets, every one +of whom has an executor (_waa¹LA-_), and the executor of Mua¸Yammad is +aEuro~AlA-.[401] Mua¸Yammad is the last of the Prophets, and aEuro~AlA- is the last of +the executors." Ibn SabAi, therefore, regarded AbAº Bakr, aEuro~Umar, and +aEuro~UthmAin as usurpers. He set on foot a widespread conspiracy in favour of +aEuro~AlA-, and carried on a secret correspondence with the disaffected in +various provinces of the Empire.[402] According to ShahrastAinA-, he was +banished by aEuro~AlA- for saying, "Thou art thou" (_anta anta_), _i.e._, +"Thou art God."[403] This refers to the doctrine taught by Ibn SabAi and +the extreme ShA-aEuro~ites (_GhulAit_) who derive from him, that the Divine +Spirit which dwells in every prophet and passes successively from one to +another was transfused, at Mua¸Yammad's death, into aEuro~AlA-, and from aEuro~AlA- +into his descendants who succeeded him in the ImAimate. The SabaaEuro(TM)ites +also held that the ImAim might suffer a temporary occultation (_ghayba_), +but that one day he would return and fill the earth with justice. They +believed the millennium to be near at hand, so that the number of ImAims +was at first limited to four. Thus the poet Kuthayyir (aEuro 723 A.D.) +says:-- + + "Four complete are the ImAims + aEuro~AlA- and his three good sons, + One was faithful and devout; + One, until with waving flags + Dwells on Mount Raa¸wAi, concealed: + of Quraysh, the lords of Right: + each of them a shining light. + KarbalAi hid one from sight; + his horsemen he shall lead to fight, + honey he drinks and water bright."[404] + +[Sidenote: The MahdA- or Messiah.] + +The Messianic idea is not peculiar to the ShA-aEuro~ites, but was brought into +Islam at an early period by Jewish and Christian converts, and soon +established itself as a part of Mua¸Yammadan belief. Traditions ascribed +to the Prophet began to circulate, declaring that the approach of the +Last Judgment would be heralded by a time of tumult and confusion, by +the return of Jesus, who would slay the Antichrist (_DajjAil_), and +finally by the coming of the MahdA-, _i.e._, 'the God-guided one,' who +would fill the earth with justice even as it was then filled with +violence and iniquity. This expectation of a Deliverer descended from +the Prophet runs through the whole history of the ShA-aEuro~a. As we have +seen, their supreme religious chiefs were the ImAims of aEuro~AlA-'s House, +each of whom transmitted his authority to his successor. In the course +of time disputes arose as to the succession. One sect acknowledged only +seven legitimate ImAims, while another carried the number to twelve. The +last ImAim of the 'Seveners' (_al-SabaEuro~iyya_), who are commonly called +IsmAiaEuro~A-lA-s, was Mua¸Yammad b. IsmAiaEuro~A-l, and of the 'Twelvers' +(_al-IthnAi-aEuro~ashariyya_) Mua¸Yammad b. al-a¸¤asan.[405] Both those personages +vanished mysteriously about 770 and 870 A.D., and their respective +followers, refusing to believe that they were dead, asserted that their +ImAim had withdrawn himself for a season from mortal sight, but that he +would surely return at last as the promised MahdA-. It would take a long +while to enumerate all the pretenders and fanatics who have claimed this +title.[406] Two of them founded the FAia¹-imid and Almohade dynasties, +which we shall mention elsewhere, but they generally died on the gibbet +or the battle-field. The ideal which they, so to speak, incarnated did +not perish with them. Mahdiism, the faith in a divinely appointed +revolution which will sweep away the powers of evil and usher in a +Golden Age of justice and truth such as the world has never known, is a +present and inspiring fact which deserves to be well weighed by those +who doubt the possibility of an Islamic Reformation. + +[Sidenote: ShA-aEuro~ite gatherings at KarbalAi.] + +The ShA-aEuro~a began as a political faction, but it could not remain so for +any length of time, because in Islam politics always tend to take +religious ground, just as the successful religious reformer invariably +becomes a ruler. The SabaaEuro(TM)ites furnished the ShA-aEuro~ite movement with a +theological basis; and the massacre of a¸¤usayn, followed by MukhtAir's +rebellion, supplied the indispensable element of enthusiasm. Within a +few years after the death of a¸¤usayn his grave at KarbalAi was already a +place of pilgrimage for the ShA-aEuro~ites. When the 'Penitents' +(_al-TawwAibAºn_) revolted in 684 they repaired thither and lifted their +voices simultaneously in a loud wail, and wept, and prayed God that He +would forgive them for having deserted the Prophet's grandson in his +hour of need. "O God!" exclaimed their chief, "have mercy on a¸¤usayn, the +Martyr and the son of a Martyr, the MahdA- and the son of a MahdA-, the +a¹ciddA-q and the son of a a¹ciddA-q![407] O God! we bear witness that we +follow their religion and their path, and that we are the foes of their +slayers and the friends of those who love them."[408] Here is the germ +of the _taaEuro~ziyas_, or Passion Plays, which are acted every year on the +10th of Mua¸Yarram, wherever ShA-aEuro~ites are to be found. + +[Sidenote: MukhtAir.] + +But the Moses of the ShA-aEuro~a, the man who showed them the way to victory +although he did not lead them to it, is undoubtedly MukhtAir. He came +forward in the name of aEuro~AlA-'s son, Mua¸Yammad, generally known as Ibnu +aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤anafiyya after his mother. Thus he gained the support of the Arabian +ShA-aEuro~ites, properly so called, who were devoted to aEuro~AlA- and his House, +and laid no stress upon the circumstance of descent from the Prophet, +whereas the Persian adherents of the ShA-aEuro~a made it a vital matter, and +held accordingly that only the sons of aEuro~AlA- by his wife FAia¹-ima were +fully qualified ImAims. Raising the cry of vengeance for a¸¤usayn, MukhtAir +carried this party also along with him. In 686 he found himself master +of KAºfa. Neither the result of his triumph nor the rapid overthrow of +his power concerns us here, but something must be said about the aims +and character of the movement which he headed. + + [Sidenote: The _MawAilA-_ of KAºfa.] + + "More than half the population of KAºfa was composed of _MawAilA-_ + (Clients), who monopolised handicraft, trade, and commerce. They + were mostly Persians in race and language; they had come to KAºfa as + prisoners of war and had there passed over to Islam: then they were + manumitted by their owners and received as clients into the Arab + tribes, so that they now occupied an ambiguous position + (_Zwitterstellung_), being no longer slaves, but still very + dependent on their patrons; needing their protection, bound to their + service, and forming their retinue in peace and war. In these + _MawAilA-_, who were entitled by virtue of Islam to more than the + 'dominant Arabism' allowed them, the hope now dawned of freeing + themselves from clientship and of rising to full and direct + participation in the Moslem state."[409] + +[Sidenote: MukhtAir and the _MawAilA-_.] + +[Sidenote: Persian influence on the ShA-aEuro~a.] + +MukhtAir, though himself an Arab of noble family, trusted the _MawAilA-_ +and treated them as equals, a proceeding which was bitterly resented by +the privileged class. "You have taken away our clients who are the booty +which God bestowed upon us together with this country. We emancipated +them, hoping to receive the Divine recompense and reward, but you would +not rest until you made them sharers in our booty."[410] MukhtAir was +only giving the _MawAilA-_ their due--they were Moslems and had the right, +as such, to a share in the revenues. To the haughty Arabs, however, it +appeared a monstrous thing that the despised foreigners should be placed +on the same level with themselves. Thus MukhtAir was thrown into the arms +of the _MawAilA-_, and the movement now became not so much anti-Umayyad as +anti-Arabian. Here is the turning-point in the history of the ShA-aEuro~a. Its +ranks were swelled by thousands of Persians imbued with the extreme +doctrines of the SabaaEuro(TM)ites which have been sketched above, and animated +by the intense hatred of a downtrodden people towards their conquerors +and oppressors. Consequently the ShA-aEuro~a assumed a religious and +enthusiastic character, and struck out a new path which led it farther +and farther from the orthodox creed. The doctrine of 'Interpretation' +(_TaaEuro(TM)wA-l_) opened the door to all sorts of extravagant ideas. One of the +principal ShA-aEuro~ite sects, the HAishimiyya, held that "there is an esoteric +side to everything external, a spirit to every form, a hidden meaning +(_taaEuro(TM)wA-l_) to every revelation, and to every similitude in this world a +corresponding reality in the other world; that aEuro~AlA- united in his own +person the knowledge of all mysteries and communicated it to his son +Mua¸Yammad Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤anafiyya, who passed it on to his son AbAº HAishim; and +that the possessor of this universal knowledge is the true ImAim."[411] +So, without ceasing to be Moslems in name, the ShA-aEuro~ites transmuted Islam +into whatever shape they pleased by virtue of a mystical interpretation +based on the infallible authority of the House of Mua¸Yammad, and out of +the ruins of a political party there gradually arose a great religious +organisation in which men of the most diverse opinions could work +together for deliverance from the Umayyad yoke. The first step towards +this development was made by MukhtAir, a versatile genius who seems to +have combined the parts of political adventurer, social reformer, +prophet, and charlatan. He was crushed and his Persian allies were +decimated, but the seed which he had sown bore an abundant harvest when, +sixty years later, AbAº Muslim unfurled the black standard of the +aEuro~AbbAisids in KhurAisAin. + + +[Sidenote: The oldest theological sects.] + +Concerning the origin of the oldest theological sects in Islam, the +Murjites and the MuaEuro~tazilites, we possess too little contemporary +evidence to make a positive statement. It is probable that the latter at +any rate arose, as Von Kremer has suggested, under the influence of +Greek theologians, especially John of Damascus and his pupil, Theodore +Abucara (AbAº Qurra), the Bishop of a¸¤arrAin.[412] Christians were freely +admitted to the Umayyad court. The Christian al-Akha¹-al was +poet-laureate, while many of his co-religionists held high offices in +the Government. Moslems and Christians exchanged ideas in friendly +discussion or controversially. Armed with the hair-splitting weapons of +Byzantine theology, which they soon learned to use only too well, the +Arabs proceeded to try their edge on the dogmas of Islam. + +[Sidenote: The Murjites.] + +The leading article of the Murjite creed was this, that no one who +professed to believe in the One God could be declared an infidel, +whatever sins he might commit, until God Himself had given judgment +against him.[413] The Murjites were so called because they deferred +(_arjaaEuro(TM)a_ = to defer) their decision in such cases and left the sinner's +fate in suspense, so long as it was doubtful.[414] This principle they +applied in different ways. For example, they refused to condemn aEuro~AlA- and +aEuro~UthmAin outright, as the KhAirijites did. "Both aEuro~AlA- and aEuro~UthmAin," they +said, "were servants of God, and by God alone must they be judged; it is +not for us to pronounce either of them an infidel, notwithstanding that +they rent the Moslem people asunder."[415] On the other hand, the +Murjites equally rejected the pretensions made by the ShA-aEuro~ites on behalf +of aEuro~AlA- and by the Umayyads on behalf of MuaEuro~Aiwiya. For the most part +they maintained a neutral attitude towards the Umayyad Government: they +were passive resisters, content, as Wellhausen puts it, "to stand up for +the impersonal Law." Sometimes, however, they turned the principle of +toleration against their rulers. Thus a¸¤Airith b. Surayj and other Arabian +Murjites joined the oppressed _MawAilA-_ of KhurAisAin to whom the +Government denied those rights which they had acquired by +conversion.[416] According to the Murjite view, these Persians, having +professed Islam, should no longer be treated as tax-paying infidels. The +Murjites brought the same tolerant spirit into religion. They set faith +above works, emphasised the love and goodness of God, and held that no +Moslem would be damned everlastingly. Some, like Jahm b. a¹cafwAin, went so +far as to declare that faith (_A-mAin_) was merely an inward conviction: a +man might openly profess Christianity or Judaism or any form of unbelief +without ceasing to be a good Moslem, provided only that he acknowledged +Allah with his heart.[417] The moderate school found their most +illustrious representative in AbAº a¸¤anA-fa (aEuro 767 A.D.), and through this +great divine--whose followers to-day are counted by millions--their +liberal doctrines were diffused and perpetuated. + +[Sidenote: The MuaEuro~tazilites.] + +During the Umayyad period Baa¹Lra was the intellectual capital of Islam, +and in that city we find the first traces of a sect which maintained the +principle that thought must be free in the search for truth. The origin +of the MuaEuro~tazilites (_al-MuaEuro~tazila_), as they are generally called, +takes us back to the famous divine and ascetic, a¸¤asan of Baa¹Lra (aEuro 728 +A.D.). One day he was asked to give his opinion on a point regarding +which the Murjites and the KhAirijites held opposite views, namely, +whether those who had committed a great sin should be deemed believers +or unbelievers. While a¸¤asan was considering the question, one of his +pupils, WAia¹Lil b. aEuro~Aa¹-Ai (according to another tradition, aEuro~Amr b. aEuro~Ubayd) +replied that such persons were neither believers nor unbelievers, but +should be ranked in an intermediate state. He then turned aside and +began to explain the grounds of his assertion to a group which gathered +about him in a different part of the mosque. a¸¤asan said: "WAia¹Lil has +separated himself from us" (_iaEuro~tazala aEuro~annAi_); and on this account the +followers of WAia¹Lil were named 'MuaEuro~tazilites,' _i.e._, Schismatics. +Although the story may not be literally true, it is probably safe to +assume that the new sect originated in Baa¹Lra among the pupils of +a¸¤asan,[418] who was the life and soul of the religious movement of the +first century A.H. The MuaEuro~tazilite heresy, in its earliest form, is +connected with the doctrine of Predestination. On this subject the Koran +speaks with two voices. Mua¸Yammad was anything but a logically exact and +consistent thinker. He was guided by the impulse of the moment, and +neither he nor his hearers perceived, as later Moslems did, that the +language of the Koran is often contradictory. Thus in the present +instance texts which imply the moral responsibility of man for his +actions--_e.g._, "_Every soul is in pledge_ (with God) _for what it hath +wrought_"[419]; "_Whoso does good benefits himself, and whoso does evil +does it against himself_"[420]--stand side by side with others which +declare that God leads men aright or astray, as He pleases; that the +hearts of the wicked are sealed and their ears made deaf to the truth; +and that they are certainly doomed to perdition. This fatalistic view +prevailed in the first century of Islam, and the dogma of Predestination +was almost universally accepted. Ibn Qutayba, however, mentions the +names of twenty-seven persons who held the opinion that men's actions +are free.[421] Two among them, MaaEuro~bad al-JuhanA- and AbAº MarwAin GhaylAin, +who were put to death by aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Malik and his son HishAim, do not +appear to have been condemned as heretics, but rather as enemies of the +Umayyad Government.[422] The real founder of the MuaEuro~tazilites was WAia¹Lil +b. aEuro~Aa¹-Ai (aEuro 748 A.D.),[423] who added a second cardinal doctrine to that +of free-will. He denied the existence of the Divine attributes--Power, +Wisdom, Life, &c.--on the ground that such qualities, if conceived as +eternal, would destroy the Unity of God. Hence the MuaEuro~tazilites called +themselves 'the partisans of Unity and Justice' (_AhluaEuro(TM)l-tawa¸YA-d +wa-aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~adl_): of Unity for the reason which has been explained, and of +Justice, because they held that God was not the author of evil and that +He would not punish His creatures except for actions within their +control. The further development of these Rationalistic ideas belongs to +the aEuro~AbbAisid period and will be discussed in a subsequent chapter. + + +[Sidenote: Growth of asceticism.] + +[Sidenote: a¸¤asan of Baa¹Lra.] + +The founder of Islam had too much human nature and common sense to +demand of his countrymen such mortifying austerities as were practised +by the Jewish Essenes and the Christian monks. His religion was not +without ascetic features, _e.g._, the Fast of Ramaa¸Ain, the prohibition +of wine, and the ordinance of the pilgrimage, but these can scarcely be +called unreasonable. On the other hand Mua¸Yammad condemned celibacy not +only by his personal example but also by precept. "There is no monkery +in Islam," he is reported to have said, and there was in fact nothing of +the kind for more than a century after his death. During this time, +however, asceticism made great strides. It was the inevitable outcome of +the Mua¸Yammadan conception of Allah, in which the attributes of mercy and +love are overshadowed by those of majesty, awe, and vengeance. The +terrors of Judgment Day so powerfully described in the Koran were +realised with an intensity of conviction which it is difficult for us to +imagine. As Goldziher has observed, an exaggerated consciousness of sin +and the dread of Divine punishment gave the first impulse to Moslem +asceticism. Thus we read that TamA-m al-DAirA-, one of the Prophet's +Companions, who was formerly a Christian, passed the whole night until +daybreak, repeating a single verse of the Koran (xlv, 20)--"_Do those +who work evil think that We shall make them even as those who believe +and do good, so that their life and death shall be equal? Ill do they +judge!_"[424] Abu aEuro(TM)l-DardAi, another of the Companions, used to say: "If +ye knew what ye shall see after death, ye would not eat food nor drink +water from appetite, and I wish that I were a tree which is lopped and +then devoured."[425] There were many who shared these views, and their +determination to renounce the world and to live solely for God was +strengthened by their disgust with a tyrannical and impious Government, +and by the almost uninterrupted spectacle of bloodshed, rapine, and +civil war. a¸¤asan of Baa¹Lra (aEuro 728)--we have already met him in connection +with the MuaEuro~tazilites--is an outstanding figure in this early ascetic +movement, which proceeded on orthodox lines.[426] Fear of God seized on +him so mightily that, in the words of his biographer, "it seemed as +though Hell-fire had been created for him alone."[427] All who looked on +his face thought that he must have been recently overtaken by some great +calamity.[428] One day a friend saw him weeping and asked him the cause. +"I weep," he replied, "for fear that I have done something unwittingly +and unintentionally, or committed some fault, or spoken some word which +is unpleasing to God: then He may have said, 'Begone, for now thou hast +no more honour in My court, and henceforth I will not receive anything +from thee.'"[429] Al-Mubarrad relates that two monks, coming from Syria, +entered Baa¹Lra and looked at a¸¤asan, whereupon one said to the other, "Let +us turn aside to visit this man, whose way of life appears like that of +the Messiah." So they went, and they found him supporting his chin on +the palm of his hand, while he was saying--"How I marvel at those who +have been ordered to lay in a stock of provisions and have been summoned +to set out on a journey, and yet the foremost of them stays for the +hindermost! Would that I knew what they are waiting for!"[430] The +following utterances are characteristic:-- + + "God hath made fasting a hippodrome (place or time of training) for + His servants, that they may race towards obedience to Him.[431] Some + come in first and win the prize, while others are left behind and + return disappointed; and by my life, if the lid were removed, the + well-doer would be diverted by his well-doing, and the evildoer by + his evil-doing, from wearing new garments or from anointing his + hair."[432] + + "You meet one of them with white skin and delicate complexion, + speeding along the path of vanity: he shaketh his hips and clappeth + his sides and saith, 'Here am I, recognise me!' Yes, we recognise + thee, and thou art hateful to God and hateful to good men."[433] + + "The bounties of God are too numerous to be acknowledged unless with + His help, and the sins of Man are too numerous for him to escape + therefrom unless God pardon them."[434] + + "The wonder is not how the lost were lost, but how the saved were + saved."[435] + + "Cleanse ye these hearts (by meditation and remembrance of God), for + they are quick to rust; and restrain ye these souls, for they desire + eagerly, and if ye restrain them not, they will drag you to an evil + end."[436] + +[Sidenote: a¸¤asan of Baa¹Lra not a genuine a¹cAºfA-.] + +The a¹cAºfA-s, concerning whom we shall say a few words presently, claim +a¸¤asan as one of themselves, and with justice in so far as he attached +importance to spiritual righteousness, and was not satisfied with merely +external acts of devotion. "A grain of genuine piety," he declared, "is +better than a thousandfold weight of fasting and prayer."[437] But +although some of his sayings which are recorded in the later biographies +lend colour to the fiction that he was a full-blown a¹cAºfA-, there can be +no doubt that his mysticism--if it deserves that name--was of the most +moderate type, entirely lacking the glow and exaltation which we find in +the saintly woman, RAibiaEuro~a al-aEuro~Adawiyya, with whom legend associates +him.[438] + + +[Sidenote: The derivation of 'a¹cAºfA-.'] + +[Sidenote: The beginnings of a¹cAºfiism.] + +The origin of the name 'a¹cAºfA-' is explained by the a¹cAºfA-s themselves in +many different ways, but of the derivations which have been proposed +only three possess any claim to consideration, viz., those which connect +it with IfI?I†IOEI, (wise) or with _a¹LafAi_ (purity) or with _a¹LAºf_ (wool).[439] +The first two are inadmissible on linguistic grounds, into which +we need not enter, though it may be remarked that the derivation +from _a¹LafAi_ is consecrated by the authority of the a¹cAºfA- Saints, and is +generally accepted in the East.[440] The reason for this preference +appears in such definitions as "The a¹cAºfA- is he who keeps his heart pure +(_a¹LAifA-_) with God,"[441] "a¹cAºfiism is 'the being chosen for purity' +(_ia¹La¹-ifAi_): whoever is thus chosen and made pure from all except God is +the true a¹cAºfA-."[442] Understood in this sense, the word had a lofty +significance which commended it to the elect. Nevertheless it can be +tracked to a quite humble source. Woollen garments were frequently worn +by men of ascetic life in the early times of Islam in order (as Ibn +KhaldAºn says) that they might distinguish themselves from those who +affected a more luxurious fashion of dress. Hence the name 'a¹cAºfA-,' which +denotes in the first instance an ascetic clad in wool (_a¹LAºf_), just as +the Capuchins owed their designation to the hood (_cappuccio_) which +they wore. According to QushayrA-, the term came into common use before +the end of the second century of the Hijra (= 815 A.D.). By this time, +however, the ascetic movement in Islam had to some extent assumed a new +character, and the meaning of 'a¹cAºfA-,' if the word already existed, must +have undergone a corresponding change. It seems to me not unlikely that +the epithet in question marks the point of departure from orthodox +asceticism and that, as JAimA- states, it was first applied to AbAº HAishim +of KAºfa (_ob._ before 800 _A.D._), who founded a monastery (_khAinaqAih_) +for a¹cAºfA-s at Ramla in Palestine. Be that as it may, the distinction +between asceticism (_zuhd_) and a¹cAºfiism--a distinction which answers, +broadly speaking, to the _via purgativa_ and the _via illuminativa_ of +Western mediA|val mysticism--begins to show itself before the close of +the Umayyad period, and rapidly develops in the early aEuro~AbbAisid age under +the influence of foreign ideas and, in particular, of Greek philosophy. +Leaving this later development to be discussed in a subsequent chapter, +we shall now briefly consider the origin of a¹cAºfiism properly so called +and the first manifestation of the peculiar tendencies on which it is +based. + + +As regards its origin, we cannot do better than quote the observations +with which Ibn KhaldAºn (aEuro 1406 A.D.) introduces the chapter on a¹cAºfiism +in the Prolegomena to his great historical work:-- + + [Sidenote: Ibn KhaldAºn's account of the origin of a¹cAºfiism.] + + "This is one of the religious sciences which were born in Islam. The + way of the a¹cAºfA-s was regarded by the ancient Moslems and their + illustrious men--the Companions of the Prophet (_al-a¹caa¸YAiba_), + the Successors (_al-TAibiaEuro~Aºn_), and the generation which came after + them--as the way of Truth and Salvation. To be assiduous in piety, + to give up all else for God's sake, to turn away from worldly gauds + and vanities, to renounce pleasure, wealth, and power, which are the + general objects of human ambition, to abandon society and to lead in + seclusion a life devoted solely to the service of God--these were + the fundamental principles of a¹cAºfiism which prevailed among the + Companions and the Moslems of old time. When, however, in the second + generation and afterwards worldly tastes became widely spread, and + men no longer shrank from such contamination, those who made piety + their aim were distinguished by the title of _a¹cAºfA-s_ or + _Mutaa¹Lawwifa_ (aspirants to a¹cAºfiism).[443] + +[Sidenote: The earliest form of a¹cAºfiism.] + +From this it is clear that a¹cAºfiism, if not originally identical with +the ascetic revolt of which, as we have seen, a¸¤asan of Baa¹Lra was +the most conspicuous representative, at any rate arose out of that +movement. It was not a speculative system, like the MuaEuro~tazilite heresy, +but a practical religion and rule of life. "We derived a¹cAºfiism," said +Junayd, "from fasting and taking leave of the world and breaking +familiar ties and renouncing what men deem good; not from disputation" +(_qA-l wa-qAil_).[444] The oldest a¹cAºfA-s were ascetics and hermits, but +they were also something more. They brought out the spiritual and +mystical element in Islam, or brought it in, if they did not find it +there already. + +[Sidenote: The difference between asceticism and a¹cAºfiism.] + +"a¹cAºfiism," says SuhrawardA-,[445] "is neither 'poverty' (_faqr_) nor +asceticism (_zuhd_), but a term which comprehends the ideas of both, +together with something besides. Without these superadded qualities a +man is not a a¹cAºfA-, though he may be an ascetic (_zAihid_) or a fakA-r +(_faqA-r_). It is said that, notwithstanding the excellence of 'poverty,' +the end thereof is only the beginning of a¹cAºfiism." A little further +on he explains the difference thus:-- + + "The fakA-r holds fast to his 'poverty' and is profoundly convinced + of its superior merit. He prefers it to riches because he longs for + the Divine recompense of which his faith assures him ... and whenever + he contemplates the everlasting reward, he abstains from the + fleeting joys of this world and embraces poverty and indigence and + fears that if he should cease to be 'poor' he will lose both the + merit and the prize. Now this is absolutely unsound according to the + doctrine of the a¹cAºfA-s, because he hopes for recompense and + renounces the world on that account, whereas the a¹cAºfA- does not + renounce it for the sake of promised rewards but, on the contrary, + for the sake of present 'states,' for he is the 'son of his + time.'...[446] The theory that 'poverty' is the foundation of + a¹cAºfiism signifies that the diverse stages of a¹cAºfiism are + reached by the road of 'poverty'; it does not imply that the a¹cAºfA- + is essentially a fakA-r." + +[Sidenote: The early a¹cAºfA-s.] + +The keynote of a¹cAºfiism is disinterested, selfless devotion, in a +word, Love. Though not wholly strange, this idea was very far from being +familiar to pious Mua¸Yammadans, who were more deeply impressed by the +power and vengeance of God than by His goodness and mercy. The Koran +generally represents Allah as a stern, unapproachable despot, requiring +utter submission to His arbitrary will, but infinitely unconcerned with +human feelings and aspirations. Such a Being could not satisfy the +religious instinct, and the whole history of a¹cAºfiism is a protest +against the unnatural divorce between God and Man which this conception +involves. Accordingly, I do not think that we need look beyond Islam for +the origin of the a¹cAºfA- doctrines, although it would be a mistake not +to recognise the part which Christian influence must have had in shaping +their early development. The speculative character with which they +gradually became imbued, and which in the course of time completely +transformed them, was more or less latent during the Umayyad period and +for nearly a century after the accession of the House of aEuro~AbbAis. The +early a¹cAºfA-s are still on orthodox ground: their relation to Islam is +not unlike that of the mediA|val Spanish mystics to the Roman Catholic +Church. They attach extraordinary value to certain points in +Mua¸Yammad's teaching and emphasise them so as to leave the others +almost a dead letter. They do not indulge in profound dialectic, but +confine themselves to matters bearing on practical theology. +Self-abandonment, rigorous self-mortification, fervid piety, and +quietism carried to the verge of apathy form the main features of their +creed. + +[Sidenote: IbrAihA-m b. Adham.] + +A full and vivid picture of early a¹cAºfiism might be drawn from the +numerous biographies in Arabic and Persian, which supply abundant +details concerning the manner of life of these Mua¸Yammadan Saints, and +faithfully record their austerities, visions, miracles, and sayings. +Here we have only space to add a few lines about the most important +members of the group--IbrAihA-m b. Adham, AbAº aEuro~AlA- ShaqA-q, Fua¸ayl b. +aEuro~IyAia¸, and RAibiaEuro~a--all of whom died between the middle and end of the +second century after the Hijra (767-815 A.D.). IbrAihA-m belonged to the +royal family of Balkh. Forty scimitars of gold and forty maces of gold +were borne in front of him and behind. One day, while hunting, he heard +a voice which cried, "Awake! wert thou created for this?" He exchanged +his splendid robes for the humble garb and felt cap of a shepherd, bade +farewell to his kingdom, and lived for nine years in a cave near +NaysAibAºr.[447] His customary prayer was, "O God, uplift me from the +shame of disobedience to the glory of submission unto Thee!" + + "O God!" he said, "Thou knowest that the Eight Paradises are little + beside the honour which Thou hast done unto me, and beside Thy love, + and beside Thy giving me intimacy with the praise of Thy name, and + beside the peace of mind which Thou hast given me when I meditate on + Thy majesty." And again: "You will not attain to righteousness until + you traverse six passes (_aEuro~aqabAit_): the first is that you shut the + door of pleasure and open the door of hardship; the second, that you + shut the door of eminence and open the door of abasement; the third, + that you shut the door of ease and open the door of affliction; the + fourth, that you shut the door of sleep and open the door of + wakefulness; the fifth, that you shut the door of riches and open + the door of poverty; and the sixth, that you shut the door of + expectation and open the door of making yourself ready for death." + +[Sidenote: ShaqA-q of Balkh.] + +[Sidenote: Fua¸ayl b. aEuro~IyAia¸.] + +[Sidenote: RAibiaEuro~a al-aEuro~Adawiyya.] + +ShaqA-q, also of Balkh, laid particular stress on the duty of leaving +one's self entirely in God's hands (_tawakkul_), a term which is +practically synonymous with passivity; _e.g._, the _mutawakkil_ must +make no effort to obtain even the barest livelihood, he must not ask for +anything, nor engage in any trade: his business is with God alone. One +of ShaqA-q's sayings was, "Nine-tenths of devotion consist in flight from +mankind, the remaining tenth in silence." Similarly, Fua¸ayl b. +aEuro~IyAia¸, a converted captain of banditti, declared that "to abstain for +men's sake from doing anything is hypocrisy, while to do anything for +men's sake is idolatry." It may be noticed as an argument against the +Indian origin of a¹cAºfiism that although the three a¹cAºfA-s who have +been mentioned were natives of KhurAisAin or Transoxania, and therefore +presumably in touch with Buddhistic ideas, no trace can be found in +their sayings of the doctrine of dying to self (_fanAi_), which plays a +great part in subsequent a¹cAºfiism, and which Von Kremer and others +have identified with _NirvAina_. We now come to a more interesting +personality, in whom the ascetic and quietistic type of a¹cAºfiism is +transfigured by emotion and begins clearly to reveal the direction of +its next advance. Every one knows that women have borne a distinguished +part in the annals of European mysticism: St. Teresa, Madame Guyon, +Catharine of Siena, and Juliana of Norwich, to mention but a few names +at random. And notwithstanding the intellectual death to which the +majority of Moslem women are condemned by their Prophet's ordinance, the +a¹cAºfA-s, like the Roman Catholics, can boast a goodly number of female +saints. The oldest of these, and by far the most renowned, is RAibiaEuro~a, +who belonged to the tribe of aEuro~AdA-, whence she is generally called RAibiaEuro~a +al-aEuro~Adawiyya. She was a native of Baa¹Lra and died at Jerusalem, +probably towards the end of the second century of Islam: her tomb was an +object of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages, as we learn from Ibn KhallikAin +(aEuro 1282 A.D.). Although the sayings and verses attributed to her by +a¹cAºfA- writers may be of doubtful authenticity, there is every reason +to suppose that they fairly represent the actual character of her +devotion, which resembled that of all feminine mystics in being inspired +by tender and ardent feeling. She was asked: "Do you love God Almighty?" +"Yes." "Do you hate the Devil?" "My love of God," she replied, "leaves +me no leisure to hate the Devil. I saw the Prophet in a dream. He said, +'O RAibiaEuro~a, do you love me?' I said, 'O Apostle of God, who does not love +thee?--but love of God hath so absorbed me that neither love nor hate of +any other thing remains in my heart.'" RAibiaEuro~a is said to have spoken the +following verses:-- + + "Two ways I love Thee: selfishly, + And next, as worthy is of Thee. + 'Tis selfish love that I do naught + Save think on Thee with every thought; + 'Tis purest love when Thou dost raise + The veil to my adoring gaze. + Not mine the praise in that or this, + Thine is the praise in both, I wis."[448] + +Whether genuine or not, these lines, with their mixture of devotion and +speculation--the author distinguishes the illuminative from the +contemplative life and manifestly regards the latter as the more +excellent way--serve to mark the end of the ascetic school of a¹cAºfiism +and the rise of a new theosophy which, under the same name and still +professing to be in full accord with the Koran and the _Sunna_, was +founded to some extent upon ideas of extraneous origin--ideas +irreconcilable with any revealed religion, and directly opposed to the +severe and majestic simplicity of the Mua¸Yammadan articles of faith. + + +[Sidenote: Umayyad literature.] + +[Sidenote: The decline of Arabian poetry not due to Mua¸Yammad.] + +[Sidenote: The Umayyad poets.] + +The opening century of Islam was not favourable to literature. At first +conquest, expansion, and organisation, then civil strife absorbed the +nation's energies; then, under the Umayyads, the old pagan spirit +asserted itself once more. Consequently the literature of this period +consists almost exclusively of poetry, which bears few marks of Islamic +influence. I need scarcely refer to the view which long prevailed in +Europe that Mua¸Yammad corrupted the taste of his countrymen by setting +up the Koran as an incomparable model of poetic style, and by condemning +the admired productions of the heathen bards and the art of poetry +itself; nor remind my readers that in the first place the Koran is not +poetical in form (so that it could not serve as a model of this kind), +and secondly, according to Mua¸Yammadan belief, is the actual Word of +God, therefore _sui generis_ and beyond imitation. Again, the poets whom +the Prophet condemned were his most dangerous opponents: he hated them +not as poets but as propagators and defenders of false ideals, and +because they ridiculed his teaching, while on the contrary he honoured +and rewarded those who employed their talents in the right way. If the +nomad minstrels and cavaliers who lived, as they sang, the free life of +the desert were never equalled by the brilliant laureates of imperial +Damascus and BaghdAid, the causes of the decline cannot be traced to +Mua¸Yammad's personal attitude, but are due to various circumstances +for which he is only responsible in so far as he founded a religious and +political system that revolutionised Arabian society. The poets of the +period with which we are now dealing follow slavishly in the footsteps +of the ancients, as though Islam had never been. Instead of celebrating +the splendid victories and heroic deeds of Moslem warriors, the bard +living in a great city still weeps over the relics of his beloved's +encampment in the wilderness, still rides away through the sandy waste +on the peerless camel, whose fine points he particularly describes; and +if he should happen to be addressing the Caliph, it is ten to one that +he will credit that august personage with all the virtues of a Bedouin +Shaykh. "Fortunately the imitation of the antique _qaa¹LA-da_, at any +rate with the greatest Umayyad poets, is to some extent only accessory +to another form of art that excites our historical interest in a high +degree: namely, the occasional poems (very numerous in almost all these +writers), which are suggested by the mood of the moment and can shed a +vivid light on contemporary history."[449] + + +[Sidenote: Music and song in the Holy Cities.] + +[Sidenote: aEuro~Umar b. AbA- RabA-aEuro~a.] + +The conquests made by the successors of the Prophet brought enormous +wealth into Mecca and MedA-na, and when the Umayyad aristocracy gained +the upper hand in aEuro~UthmAin's Caliphate, these towns developed a +voluptuous and dissolute life which broke through every restriction that +Islam had imposed. The increase of luxury produced a corresponding +refinement of the poetic art. Although music was not unknown to the +pagan Arabs, it had hitherto been cultivated chiefly by foreigners, +especially Greek and Persian singing-girls. But in the first century +after the Hijra we hear of several Arab singers,[450] natives of Mecca +and MedA-na, who set favourite passages to music: henceforth the words +and the melody are inseparably united, as we learn from the _KitAibu +aEuro(TM)l-AghAinA-_ or 'Book of Songs,' where hundreds of examples are to be +found. Amidst the gay throng of pleasure-seekers women naturally played +a prominent part, and love, which had hitherto formed in most cases +merely the conventional prelude to an ode, now began to be sung for its +own sake. In this Peninsular school, as it may be named in contrast with +the bold and masculine strain of the great Provincial poets whom we are +about to mention, the palm unquestionably belongs to aEuro~Umar b. AbA- RabA-aEuro~a +(aEuro 719 A.D.), the son of a rich Meccan merchant. He passed the best part +of his life in the pursuit of noble dames, who alone inspired him to +sing. His poetry was so seductive that it was regarded by devout Moslems +as "the greatest crime ever committed against God," and so charming +withal that aEuro~AbdullAih b. aEuro~AbbAis, the Prophet's cousin and a famous +authority on the Koran and the Traditions, could not refrain from +getting by heart some erotic verses which aEuro~Umar recited to him.[451] The +Arabs said, with truth, that the tribe of Quraysh had won distinction in +every field save poetry, but we must allow that aEuro~Umar b. AbA- RabA-aEuro~a is a +clear exception to this rule. His diction, like that of Catullus, has +all the unaffected ease of refined conversation. Here are a few lines:-- + + "Blame me no more, O comrades! but to-day + Quietly with me beside the howdahs stay. + Blame not my love for Zaynab, for to her + And hers my heart is pledged a prisoner. + Ah, can I ever think of how we met + Once at al-Khayf, and feel no fond regret? + My song of other women was but jest: + She reigns alone, eclipsing all the rest. + Hers is my love sincere, 'tis she the flame + Of passion kindles--so, a truce to blame!"[452] + +[Sidenote: Love-ballads.] + +We have no space to dwell on the minor poets of the same school, +al-aEuro~ArjA- (a kinsman of the Umayyads), al-Aa¸Ywaa¹L, and many others. +It has been pointed out by Dr. C. Brockelmann that the love-poetry of +this epoch is largely of popular origin; _e.g._, the songs attributed to +JamA-l, in which Buthayna is addressed, and to MajnAºn--the hero of +countless Persian and Turkish romances which celebrate his love for +LaylAi--are true folk-songs such as occur in the _Arabian Nights_, and +may be heard in the streets of Beyrout or on the banks of the Tigris at +the present day. Many of them are extremely beautiful. I take the +following verses from a poem which is said to have been composed by +JamA-l:-- + + "Oh, might it flower anew, that youthful prime, + And restore to us, Buthayna, the bygone time! + And might we again be blest as we wont to be, + When thy folk were nigh and grudged what thou gavest me! + + Shall I ever meet Buthayna alone again, + Each of us full of love as a cloud of rain? + Fast in her net was I when a lad, and till + This day my love is growing and waxing still. + + I have spent my lifetime, waiting for her to speak, + And the bloom of youth is faded from off my cheek; + But I will not suffer that she my suit deny, + My love remains undying, though all things die!"[453] + +[Sidenote: Poetry in the provinces.] + +The names of al-Akha¹-al, al-Farazdaq, and JarA-r stand out +pre-eminently in the list of Umayyad poets. They were men of a very +different stamp from the languishing Minnesingers and carpet-knights +who, like JamA-l, refused to battle except on the field of love. It is +noteworthy that all three were born and bred in Mesopotamia. The +motherland was exhausted; her ambitious and enterprising youth poured +into the provinces, which now become the main centres of intellectual +activity. + +[Sidenote: The _NaqAiaEuro(TM)ia¸_ of JarA-r and Farazdaq.] + +[Sidenote: General interest in poetry.] + +Farazdaq and JarA-r are intimately connected by a peculiar +rivalry--"_Arcades ambo_--_id est_, blackguards both." For many years +they engaged in a public scolding-match (_muhAijAit_), and as neither had +any scruples on the score of decency, the foulest abuse was bandied to +and fro between them--abuse, however, which is redeemed from vulgarity +by its literary excellence, and by the marvellous skill which the +satirists display in manipulating all the vituperative resources of the +Arabic language. Soon these 'Flytings' (_NaqAiaEuro(TM)ia¸_) were recited +everywhere, and each poet had thousands of enthusiastic partisans who +maintained that he was superior to his rival.[454] One day Muhallab b. +AbA- Sufra, the governor of KhurAisAin, who was marching against the +AzAiriqa, a sect of the KhAirijites, heard a great clamour and tumult in +the camp. On inquiring its cause, he found that the soldiers had been +fiercely disputing as to the comparative merits of JarA-r and Farazdaq, +and desired to submit the question to his decision. "Would you expose +me," said Muhallab, "to be torn in pieces by these two dogs? I will not +decide between them, but I will point out to you those who care not a +whit for either of them. Go to the AzAiriqa! They are Arabs who +understand poetry and judge it aright." Next day, when the armies faced +each other, an Azraqite named aEuro~AbA-da b. HilAil stepped forth from the +ranks and offered single combat. One of Muhallab's men accepted the +challenge, but before fighting he begged his adversary to inform him +which was the better poet--Farazdaq or JarA-r? "God confound you!" cried +aEuro~AbA-da, "do you ask me about poetry instead of studying the Koran and +the Sacred Law?" Then he quoted a verse by JarA-r and gave judgment in +his favour.[455] This incident affords a striking proof that the taste +for poetry, far from being confined to literary circles, was diffused +throughout the whole nation, and was cultivated even amidst the fatigues +and dangers of war. Parallel instances occur in the history of the +Athenians, the most gifted people of the West, and possibly elsewhere, +but imagine British soldiers discussing questions of that kind over the +camp-fires! + +Akha¹-al joined in the fray. His sympathies were with Farazdaq, and the +_naqAiaEuro(TM)ia¸_ which he and JarA-r composed against each other have come +down to us. All these poets, like their Post-islamic brethren generally, +were professional encomiasts, greedy, venal, and ready to revile any one +who would not purchase their praise. Some further account of them may be +interesting to the reader, especially as the anecdotes related by their +biographers throw many curious sidelights on the manners of the time. + +[Sidenote: Akha¹-al.] + +The oldest of the trio, Akha¹-al (GhiyAith b. Ghawth) of Taghlib, was a +Christian, like most of his tribe--they had long been settled in +Mesopotamia--and remained in that faith to the end of his life, though +the Caliph aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Malik is said to have offered him a pension and +10,000 dirhems in cash if he would turn Moslem. His religion, however, +was less a matter of principle than of convenience, and to him the +supreme virtue of Christianity lay in the licence which it gave him to +drink wine as often as he pleased. The stories told of him suggest +grovelling devoutness combined with very easy morals, a phenomenon +familiar to the student of mediA|val Catholicism. It is related by one +who was touring in Syria that he found Akha¹-al confined in a church at +Damascus, and pleaded his cause with the priest. The latter stopped +beside Akha¹-al and raising the staff on which he leaned--for he was an +aged man--exclaimed: "O enemy of God, will you again defame people and +satirise them and caluminate chaste women?" while the poet humbled +himself and promised never to repeat the offence. When asked how it was +that he, who was honoured by the Caliph and feared by all, behaved so +submissively to this priest, he answered, "It is religion, it is +religion."[456] On another occasion, seeing the Bishop pass, he cried to +his wife who was then pregnant, "Run after him and touch his robe." The +poor woman only succeeded in touching the tail of the Bishop's ass, but +Akha¹-al consoled her with the remark, "He and the tail of his ass, +there's no difference!"[457] It is characteristic of the anti-Islamic +spirit which appears so strongly in the Umayyads that their chosen +laureate and champion should have been a Christian who was in truth a +lineal descendant of the pagan bards. Pious Moslems might well be +scandalised when he burst unannounced into the Caliph's presence, +sumptuously attired in silk and wearing a cross of gold which was +suspended from his neck by a golden chain, while drops of wine trickled +from his beard,[458] but their protests went unheeded at the court of +Damascus, where nobody cared whether the author of a fine verse was a +Moslem or a Christian, and where a poet was doubly welcome whose +religion enabled him to serve his masters without any regard to +Mua¸Yammadan sentiment; so that, for example, when YazA-d I wished to +take revenge on the people of MedA-na because one of their poets had +addressed amatory verses to his sister, he turned to Akha¹-al, who +branded the _Ana¹LAir_, the men who had brought about the triumph of +Islam, in the famous lines-- + + "Quraysh have borne away all the honour and glory, + And baseness alone is beneath the turbans of the Ana¹LAir."[459] + +We must remember that the poets were leaders of public opinion; their +utterances took the place of political pamphlets or of party oratory for +or against the Government of the day. On hearing Akha¹-al's ode in +praise of the Umayyad dynasty,[460] aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Malik ordered one of his +clients to conduct the author through the streets of Damascus and to cry +out, "Here is the poet of the Commander of the Faithful! Here is the +best poet of the Arabs!"[461] No wonder that he was a favourite at court +and such an eminent personage that the great tribe of Bakr used to +invite him to act as arbitrator whenever any controversy arose among +them.[462] Despite the luxury in which he lived, his wild Bedouin nature +pined for freedom, and he frequently left the capital to visit his home +in the desert, where he not only married and divorced several wives, but +also threw himself with ardour into the feuds of his clan. We have +already noticed the part which he played in the literary duel between +JarA-r and Farazdaq. From his deathbed he sent a final injunction to +Farazdaq not to spare their common enemy. + +Akha¹-al is commended by Arabian critics for the number and excellence +of his long poems, as well as for the purity, polish, and correctness of +his style. AbAº aEuro~Ubayda put him first among the poets of Islam, while the +celebrated collector of Pre-islamic poetry, AbAº aEuro~Amr b. al-aEuro~AlAi, +declared that if Akha¹-al had lived a single day in the Pagan Age he +would not have preferred any one to him. His supremacy in panegyric was +acknowledged by Farazdaq, and he himself claims to have surpassed all +competitors in three styles, viz., panegyric, satire, and erotic poetry; +but there is more justification for the boast that his satires might be +recited _virginibus_--he does not add _puerisque_--without causing a +blush.[463] + + +[Sidenote: Farazdaq.] + +HammAim b. GhAilib, generally known as Farazdaq, belonged to the tribe of +TamA-m, and was born at Baa¹Lra towards the end of aEuro~Umar's Caliphate, +His grandfather, a¹caaEuro~a¹LaaEuro~a, won renown in Pre-islamic times by +ransoming the lives of female infants whom their parents had condemned +to die (on account of which he received the title, _Mua¸Yyi +aEuro(TM)l-MawaEuro(TM)AºdAit_, 'He who brings the buried girls to life'), and his father +was likewise imbued with the old Bedouin traditions of liberality and +honour, which were rapidly growing obsolete among the demoralised +populace of aEuro~IrAiq. Farazdaq was a _mauvais sujet_ of the type +represented by FranASec.ois Villon, reckless, dissolute, and thoroughly +unprincipled: apart from his gift of vituperation, we find nothing in +him to admire save his respect for his father's memory and his constant +devotion to the House of aEuro~AlA-, a devotion which he scorned to conceal; +so that he was cast into prison by the Caliph HishAim for reciting in his +presence a glowing panegyric on aEuro~AlA-'s grandson, Zaynu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AbidA-n. The +tragic fate of a¸¤usayn at KarbalAi affected him deeply, and he called +on his compatriots to acquit themselves like men-- + + "If ye avenge not him, the son of the best of you, + Then fling, fling the sword away and naught but the spindle ply."[464] + +While still a young man, he was expelled from his native city in +consequence of the lampoons which he directed against a noble family of +Baa¹Lra, the BanAº Nahshal. Thereupon he fled to MedA-na, where he +plunged into gallantry and dissipation until a shameless description of +one of his intrigues again drew upon him the sentence of banishment. His +poems contain many references to his cousin NawAir, whom, by means of a +discreditable trick, he forced to marry him when she was on the point of +giving her hand to another. The pair were ever quarrelling, and at last +Farazdaq consented to an irrevocable divorce, which was witnessed by +a¸¤asan of Baa¹Lra, the famous theologian. No sooner was the act +complete than Farazdaq began to wish it undone, and he spoke the +following verses:--[465] + + "I feel repentance like al-KusaaEuro~A-,[466] + Now that NawAir has been divorced by me. + She was my Paradise which I have lost, + Like Adam when the Lord's command he crossed. + I am one who wilfully puts out his eyes, + Then dark to him the shining day doth rise!" + +'The repentance of Farazdaq,' signifying bitter regret or +disappointment, passed into a proverb. He died a few months before JarA-r +in 728 A.D., a year also made notable by the deaths of two illustrious +divines, a¸¤asan of Baa¹Lra and Ibn SA-rA-n. + + +[Sidenote: JarA-r.] + +JarA-r b. aEuro~Atiyya belonged to Kulayb, a branch of the same tribe, TamA-m, +which produced Farazdaq. He was the court-poet of a¸¤ajjAij, the dreaded +governor of aEuro~IrAiq, and eulogised his patron in such extravagant terms as +to arouse the jealousy of the Caliph aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Malik, who consequently +received him, on his appearance at Damascus, with marked coldness and +hauteur. But when, after several repulses, he at length obtained +permission to recite a poem which he had composed in honour of the +prince, and came to the verse-- + + "Are not ye the best of those who on camel ride, + More open-handed than all in the world beside?"-- + +the Caliph sat up erect on his throne and exclaimed: "Let us be praised +like this or in silence!"[467] JarA-r's fame as a satirist stood so high +that to be worsted by him was reckoned a greater distinction than to +vanquish any one else. The blind poet, BashshAir b. Burd (aEuro 783 A.D.), +said: "I satirised JarA-r, but he considered me too young for him to +notice. Had he answered me, I should have been the finest poet in the +world."[468] The following anecdote shows that vituperation launched by +a master like JarA-r was a deadly and far-reaching weapon which degraded +its victim in the eyes of his contemporaries, however he might deserve +their esteem, and covered his family and tribe with lasting disgrace. + + There was a poet of repute, well known by the name of RAiaEuro~i aEuro(TM)l-ibil + (Camel-herd), who loudly published his opinion that Farazdaq was + superior to JarA-r, although the latter had lauded his tribe, the + BanAº Numayr, whereas Farazdaq had made verses against them. One day + JarA-r met him and expostulated with him but got no reply. RAiaEuro~A- was + riding a mule and was accompanied by his son, Jandal, who said to + his father: "Why do you halt before this dog of the BanAº Kulayb, as + though you had anything to hope or fear from him?" At the same time + he gave the mule a lash with his whip. The animal started violently + and kicked JarA-r, who was standing by, so that his cap fell to the + ground. RAiaEuro~A- took no heed and went on his way. JarA-r picked up the + cap, brushed it, and replaced it on his head. Then he exclaimed in + verse:-- + + "_O Jandal! what will say Numayr of you + When my dishonouring shaft has pierced thy sire?_" + + He returned home full of indignation, and after the evening prayer, + having called for a jar of date-wine and a lamp, he set about his + work. An old woman in the house heard him muttering, and mounted the + stairs to see what ailed him. She found him crawling naked on his + bed, by reason of that which was within him; so she ran down, crying + "He is mad," and described what she had seen to the people of the + house. "Get thee gone," they said, "we know what he is at." By + daybreak JarA-r had composed a satire of eighty verses against the + BanAº Numayr. When he finished the poem, he shouted triumphantly, + "_Allah Akbar!_" and rode away to the place where he expected to + find RAiaEuro~A- aEuro(TM)l-ibil and Farazdaq and their friends. He did not salute + RAiaEuro~A- but immediately began to recite. While he was speaking Farazdaq + and RAiaEuro~A- bowed their heads, and the rest of the company sat + listening in silent mortification. When JarA-r uttered the final + words-- + + "_Cast down thine eyes for shame! for thou art of + Numayr--no peer of KaaEuro~b nor yet KilAib_"-- + + RAiaEuro~A- rose and hastened to his lodging as fast as his mule could + carry him. "Saddle! Saddle!" he cried to his comrades; "you cannot + stay here longer, JarA-r has disgraced you all." They left Baa¹Lra + without delay to rejoin their tribe, who bitterly reproached RAiaEuro~A- + for the ignominy which he had brought upon Numayr; and hundreds of + years afterwards his name was still a byword among his people.[469] + +[Sidenote: Dhu aEuro(TM)l-Rumma.] + +Next, but next at a long interval, to the three great poets of this +epoch comes Dhu aEuro(TM)l-Rumma (GhaylAin b. aEuro~Uqba), who imitated the odes of +the desert Arabs with tiresome and monotonous fidelity. The philologists +of the following age delighted in his antique and difficult style, and +praised him far above his merits. It was said that poetry began with +ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Qays and ended with Dhu aEuro(TM)l-Rumma; which is true in the sense +that he is the last important representative of the pure Bedouin school. + + +[Sidenote: Prose writers of the Umayyad period.] + +Concerning the prose writers of the period we can make only a few +general observations, inasmuch as their works have almost entirely +perished.[470] In this branch of literature the same secular, +non-Mua¸Yammadan spirit prevailed which has been mentioned as +characteristic of the poets who flourished under the Umayyad dynasty, +and of the dynasty itself. Historical studies were encouraged and +promoted by the court of Damascus. We have referred elsewhere to aEuro~AbA-d +b. Sharya, a native of Yemen, whose business it was to dress up the old +legends and purvey them in a readable form to the public. Another +Yemenite of Persian descent, Wahb b. Munabbih, is responsible for a +great deal of the fabulous lore belonging to the domain of _AwAiaEuro(TM)il_ +(Origins) which Moslem chroniclers commonly prefix to their historical +works. There seems to have been an eager demand for narratives of the +Early Wars of Islam (_maghAizA-_). It is related that the Caliph aEuro~Abdu +aEuro(TM)l-Malik, seeing one of these books in the hands of his son, ordered it +to be burnt, and enjoined him to study the Koran instead. This anecdote +shows on the part of aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Malik a pious feeling with which he is +seldom credited,[471] but it shows also that histories of a legendary +and popular character preceded those which were based, like the +_MaghAizA-_ of MAºsAi b. aEuro~Uqba (aEuro 758 A.D.) and Ibn Isa¸YAiq's _Biography of +the Prophet_, upon religious tradition. No work of the former class has +been preserved. The strong theological influence which asserted itself +in the second century of the Hijra was unfavourable to the development +of an Arabian prose literature on national lines. In the meantime, +however, learned doctors of divinity began to collect and write down the +_a¸¤adA-ths_. We have a solitary relic of this sort in the _KitAibu +aEuro(TM)l-Zuhd_ (Book of Asceticism) by Asad b. MAºsAi (aEuro 749 A.D.). The most +renowned traditionist of the Umayyad age is Mua¸Yammad b. Muslim b. +ShihAib al-ZuhrA- (aEuro 742 A.D.), who distinguished himself by accepting +judicial office under the tyrants; an act of complaisance to which his +more stiff-necked and conscientious brethren declined to stoop. + + +[Sidenote: The non-Arabian Moslems.] + +It was the lust of conquest even more than missionary zeal that caused +the Arabs to invade Syria and Persia and to settle on foreign soil, +where they lived as soldiers at the expense of the native population +whom they inevitably regarded as an inferior race. If the latter thought +to win respect by embracing the religion of their conquerors, they found +themselves sadly mistaken. The new converts were attached as clients +(_MawAilA-_, sing. _MawlAi_) to an Arab tribe: they could not become +Moslems on any other footing. Far from obtaining the equal rights which +they coveted, and which, according to the principles of Islam, they +should have enjoyed, the _MawAilA-_ were treated by their aristocratic +patrons with contempt, and had to submit to every kind of social +degradation, while instead of being exempted from the capitation-tax +paid by non-Moslems, they still remained liable to the ever-increasing +exactions of Government officials. And these 'Clients,' be it +remembered, were not ignorant serfs, but men whose culture was +acknowledged by the Arabs themselves--men who formed the backbone of the +influential learned class and ardently prosecuted those studies, +Divinity and Jurisprudence, which were then held in highest esteem. Here +was a situation full of danger. Against ShA-aEuro~ites and KhAirijites the +Umayyads might claim with some show of reason to represent the cause of +law and order, if not of Islam; against the bitter cry of the oppressed +_MawAilA-_ they had no argument save the sword. + + +[Sidenote: Presages of the Revolution.] + +We have referred above to the universal belief of Moslems in a Messiah +and to the extraordinary influence of that belief on their religious and +political history. No wonder that in this unhappy epoch thousands of +people, utterly disgusted with life as they found it, should have +indulged in visions of 'a good time coming,' which was expected to +coincide with the end of the first century of the Hijra. Mysterious +predictions, dark sayings attributed to Mua¸Yammad himself, prophecies +of war and deliverance floated to and fro. Men pored over apocryphal +books, and asked whether the days of confusion and slaughter +(_al-harj_), which, it is known, shall herald the appearance of the +MahdA-, had not actually begun. + +The final struggle was short and decisive. When it closed, the Umayyads +and with them the dominion of the Arabs had passed away. Alike in +politics and literature, the Persian race asserted its supremacy. We +shall now relate the story of this Revolution as briefly as possible, +leaving the results to be considered in a new chapter. + +[Sidenote: The aEuro~AbbAisids.] + +[Sidenote: aEuro~AbbAisid propaganda in KhurAisAin.] + +While the ShA-aEuro~ite missionaries (_duaEuro~Ait_, sing. _dAiaEuro~A-_) were actively +engaged in canvassing for their party, which, as we have seen, +recognised in aEuro~AlA- and his descendants the only legitimate successors to +Mua¸Yammad, another branch of the Prophet's family--the aEuro~AbbAisids--had +entered the field with the secret intention of turning the labours of +the aEuro~Alids to their own advantage. From their ancestor, aEuro~AbbAis, the +Prophet's uncle, they inherited those qualities of caution, duplicity, +and worldly wisdom which ensure success in political intrigue. +aEuro~AbdullAih, the son of aEuro~AbbAis, devoted his talents to theology and +interpretation of the Koran. He "passes for one of the strongest pillars +of religious tradition; but, in the eyes of unprejudiced European +research, he is only a crafty liar." His descendants "lived in deep +retirement in a¸¤umayma, a little place to the south of the Dead Sea, +seemingly far withdrawn from the world, but which, on account of its +proximity to the route by which Syrian pilgrims went to Mecca, afforded +opportunities for communication with the remotest lands of Islam. From +this centre they carried on the propaganda in their own behalf with the +utmost skill. They had genius enough to see that the best soil for their +efforts was the distant KhurAisAin--that is, the extensive north-eastern +provinces of the old Persian Empire."[472] These countries were +inhabited by a brave and high-spirited people who in consequence of +their intolerable sufferings under the Umayyad tyranny, the devastation +of their homes and the almost servile condition to which they had been +reduced, were eager to join in any desperate enterprise that gave them +hope of relief. Moreover, the Arabs in KhurAisAin were already to a large +extent Persianised: they had Persian wives, wore trousers, drank wine, +and kept the festivals of NawrAºz and MihrgAin; while the Persian language +was generally understood and even spoken among them.[473] Many +interesting details as to the methods of the aEuro~AbbAisid emissaries will be +found in Van Vloten's admirable work.[474] Starting from KAºfa, the +residence of the Grand Master who directed the whole agitation, they +went to and fro in the guise of merchants or pilgrims, cunningly +adapting their doctrine to the intelligence of those whom they sought to +enlist. Like the ShA-aEuro~ites, they canvassed for 'the House of the +Prophet,' an ambiguous expression which might equally well be applied to +the descendants of aEuro~AlA- or of aEuro~AbbAis, as is shown by the following +table:-- + + + HASHIM. + a", + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Mua¹-a¹-alib. + a", + ---------------------------------------------------- + a", a", a", + aEuro~AbdullAih. AbAº a¹¬Ailib. aEuro~AbbAis. + a", a", + Mua¸Yammad (the Prophet). aEuro~AlA- (married to FAia¹-ima, daughter of + the Prophet). + +[Sidenote: The ShA-aEuro~ites join hands with the aEuro~AbbAisids.] + +It was, of course, absolutely essential to the aEuro~AbbAisids that they +should be able to count on the support of the powerful ShA-aEuro~ite +organisation, which, ever since the abortive rebellion headed by MukhtAir +(see p. 218 _supra_) had drawn vast numbers of Persian _MawAilA-_ into its +ranks. Now, of the two main parties of the ShA-aEuro~a, viz., the HAishimites +or followers of Mua¸Yammad Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤anafiyya, and the ImAimites, who +pinned their faith to the descendants of the Prophet through his +daughter FAia¹-ima, the former had virtually identified themselves with +the aEuro~AbbAisids, inasmuch as the ImAim AbAº HAishim, who died in 716 A.D., +bequeathed his hereditary rights to Mua¸Yammad b. aEuro~AlA-, the head of the +House of aEuro~AbbAis. It only remained to hoodwink the ImAimites. Accordingly +the aEuro~AbbAisid emissaries were instructed to carry on their propaganda in +the name of HAishim, the common ancestor of aEuro~AbbAis and aEuro~AlA-. By means of +this ruse they obtained a free hand in KhurAisAin, and made such progress +that the governor of that province, Naa¹Lr b. SayyAir, wrote to the +Umayyad Caliph, MarwAin, asking for reinforcements, and informing him +that two hundred thousand men had sworn allegiance to AbAº Muslim, the +principal aEuro~AbbAisid agent. At the foot of his letter he added these +lines:-- + + "I see the coal's red glow beneath the embers, + And 'tis about to blaze! + The rubbing of two sticks enkindles fire, + And out of words come frays. + 'Oh! is Umayya's House awake or sleeping?' + I cry in sore amaze."[475] + +We have other verses by this gallant and loyal officer in which he +implores the Arab troops stationed in KhurAisAin, who were paralysed by +tribal dissensions, to turn their swords against "a mixed rabble without +religion or nobility":-- + + "'Death to the Arabs'--that is all their creed."[476] + +[Sidenote: Declaration of war.] + +[Sidenote: AbAº Muslim.] + +These warnings, however, were of no avail, and on June 9th, A.D. 747, +AbAº Muslim displayed the black banner of the aEuro~AbbAisids at Siqadanj, near +Merv, which city he occupied a few months later. The triumphant advance +of the armies of the Revolution towards Damascus recalls the celebrated +campaign of CA|sar, when after crossing the Rubicon he marched on Rome. +Nor is AbAº Muslim, though a freedman of obscure parentage--he was +certainly no Arab--unworthy to be compared with the great patrician. "He +united," says NA¶ldeke, "with an agitator's adroitness and perfect +unscrupulosity in the choice of means the energy and clear outlook of a +general and statesman, and even of a monarch."[477] Grim, ruthless, +disdaining the pleasures of ordinary men, he possessed the faculty in +which CA|sar excelled of inspiring blind obedience and enthusiastic +devotion. To complete the parallel, we may mention here that AbAº Muslim +was treacherously murdered by Mana¹LAºr, the second Caliph of the House +which he had raised to the throne, from motives exactly resembling those +which Shakespeare has put in the mouth of Brutus-- + + "So Caesar may: + Then, lest he may, prevent. And since the quarrel + Will bear no colour for the thing he is, + Fashion it thus: that what he is, augmented, + Would run to these and these extremities; + And therefore think him as a serpent's egg + Which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous, + And kill him in the shell." + +[Sidenote: Accession of Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AbbAis al-SaffAia¸Y.] + +The downfall of the Umayyads was hastened by the perfidy and selfishness +of the Arabs on whom they relied: the old feud between Mua¸ar and +Yemen broke out afresh, and while the Northern group remained loyal to +the dynasty, those of Yemenite stock more or less openly threw in their +lot with the Revolution. We need not attempt to trace the course of the +unequal contest. Everywhere the Arabs, disheartened and divided, fell an +easy prey to their adversaries, and all was lost when MarwAin, the last +Umayyad Caliph, sustained a crushing defeat on the River ZAib in +Babylonia (January, A.D. 750). Meanwhile Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AbbAis, the head of the +rival House, had already received homage as Caliph (November, 749 A.D.). +In the inaugural address which he delivered in the great Mosque of KAºfa, +he called himself _al-SaffAia¸Y_, _i.e._, 'the Blood-shedder,'[478] and +this title has deservedly stuck to him, though it might have been +assumed with no less justice by his brother MansAºr and other members of +his family. All Umayyads were remorselessly hunted down and massacred in +cold blood--even those who surrendered only on the strength of the most +solemn pledges that they had nothing to fear. A small remnant made their +escape, or managed to find shelter until the storm of fury and +vengeance, which spared neither the dead nor the living,[479] had blown +over. One stripling, named aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin, fled to North Africa, and +after meeting with many perilous adventures founded a new Umayyad +dynasty in Spain. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE CALIPHS OF BAGHDAD + + +The annals of the aEuro~AbbAisid dynasty from the accession of SaffAia¸Y (A.D. +749) to the death of MustaaEuro~a¹Lim, and the destruction of BaghdAid by the +Mongols (A.D. 1258) make a round sum of five centuries. I propose to +sketch the history of this long period in three chapters, of which the +first will offer a general view of the more important literary and +political developments so far as is possible in the limited space at my +command; the second will be devoted to the great poets, scholars, +historians, philosophers, and scientists who flourished in this, the +Golden Age of Mua¸Yammadan literature; while in the third some account +will be given of the chief religious movements and of the trend of +religious thought. + + +[Sidenote: Political results of the Revolution.] + +The empire founded by the Caliph aEuro~Umar and administered by the Umayyads +was essentially, as the reader will have gathered, a military +organisation for the benefit of the paramount race. In theory, no doubt, +all Moslems were equal, but in fact the Arabs alone ruled--a privilege +which national pride conspired with personal interest to maintain. We +have seen how the Persian Moslems asserted their right to a share in the +government. The Revolution which enthroned the aEuro~AbbAisids marks the +beginning of a Moslem, as opposed to an Arabian, Empire. The new +dynasty, owing its rise to the people of Persia, and especially of +KhurAisAin, could exist only by establishing a balance of power between +Persians and Arabs. That this policy was not permanently successful will +surprise no one who considers the widely diverse characteristics of the +two races, but for the next fifty years the rivals worked together in +tolerable harmony, thanks to the genius of Mana¹LAºr and the +conciliatory influence of the Barmecides, by whose overthrow the +alliance was virtually dissolved. In the ensuing civil war between the +sons of HAirAºn al-RashA-d the Arabs fought on the side of AmA-n while the +Persians supported MaaEuro(TM)mAºn, and henceforth each race began to follow an +independent path. The process of separation, however, was very gradual, +and long before it was completed the religious and intellectual life of +both nationalities had become inseparably mingled in the full stream of +Moslem civilisation. + + +[Sidenote: The choice of a new capital.] + +[Sidenote: Foundation of BaghdAid.] + +The centre of this civilisation was the province of aEuro~IrAiq (Babylonia), +with its renowned metropolis, BaghdAid, 'the City of Peace' (_MadA-natu +aEuro(TM)l-SalAim_). Only here could the aEuro~AbbAisids feel themselves at home. +"Damascus, peopled by the dependants of the Omayyads, was out of the +question. On the one hand it was too far from Persia, whence the power +of the aEuro~AbbAisids was chiefly derived; on the other hand it was +dangerously near the Greek frontier, and from here, during the troublous +reigns of the last Omayyads, hostile incursions on the part of the +Christians had begun to avenge former defeats. It was also beginning to +be evident that the conquests of Islam would, in the future, lie to the +eastward towards Central Asia, rather than to the westward at the +further expense of the Byzantines. Damascus, on the highland of Syria, +lay, so to speak, dominating the Mediterranean and looking westward, but +the new capital that was to supplant it must face east, be near Persia, +and for the needs of commerce have water communication with the sea. +Hence everything pointed to a site on either the Euphrates or the +Tigris, and the aEuro~AbbAisids were not slow to make their choice."[480] +After carefully examining various sites, the Caliph Mana¹LAºr fixed on a +little Persian village, on the west bank of the Tigris, called BaghdAid, +which, being interpreted, means 'given (or 'founded') by God'; and in +A.D. 762 the walls of the new city began to rise. Mana¹LAºr laid the +first brick with his own hand, and the work was pushed forward with +astonishing rapidity under his personal direction by masons, architects, +and surveyors, whom he gathered out of different countries, so that 'the +Round City,' as he planned it, was actually finished within the short +space of four years. + + +[Sidenote: Despotic character of aEuro~AbbAisid rule.] + +[Sidenote: The Vizier.] + +The same circumstances which caused the seat of empire to be transferred +to BaghdAid brought about a corresponding change in the whole system of +government. Whereas the Umayyads had been little more than heads of a +turbulent Arabian aristocracy, their successors reverted to the old type +of Oriental despotism with which the Persians had been familiar since +the days of Darius and Xerxes. Surrounded by a strong bodyguard of +troops from KhurAisAin, on whose devotion they could rely, the aEuro~AbbAisids +ruled with absolute authority over the lives and properties or their +subjects, even as the SAisAinian monarchs had ruled before them. Persian +fashions were imitated at the court, which was thronged with the +Caliph's relatives and freedmen (not to mention his womenfolk), besides +a vast array of uniformed and decorated officials. Chief amongst these +latter stood two personages who figure prominently in the _Arabian +Nights_--the Vizier and the Executioner. The office of Vizier is +probably of Persian origin, although in Professor De Goeje's opinion the +word itself is Arabic.[481] The first who bore this title in aEuro~AbbAisid +times was AbAº Salama, the minister of SaffAia¸Y: he was called _WazA-ru +Ali Mua¸Yammadin_, 'the Vizier of Mua¸Yammad's Family.' It was the +duty of the Vizier to act as intermediary between the omnipotent +sovereign and his people, to counsel him in affairs of State, and, above +all, to keep His Majesty in good humour. He wielded enormous power, but +was exposed to every sort of intrigue, and never knew when he might be +interned in a dungeon or despatched in the twinkling of an eye by the +grim functionary presiding over the _naa¹-aEuro~_, or circular carpet of +leather, which lay beside the throne and served as a scaffold. + + +[Sidenote: Two periods of aEuro~AbbAisid history.] + +We can distinguish two periods in the history of the aEuro~AbbAisid House: one +of brilliant prosperity inaugurated by Mana¹LAºr and including the +reigns of MahdA-, HAirAºn al-RashA-d, MaaEuro(TM)mAºn, MuaEuro~tasim, and WAithiq--that is +to say, nearly a hundred years in all (754-847 A.D.); the other, more +than four times as long, commencing with Mutawakkil (847-861 A.D.)--a +period of decline rapidly sinking, after a brief interval which gave +promise of better things, into irremediable decay.[482] + +[Sidenote: Reign of Mana¹LAºr (754-775 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Outbreaks in Persia.] + +Cruel and treacherous, like most of his family, AbAº JaaEuro~far Mana¹LAºr was +perhaps the greatest ruler whom the aEuro~AbbAisids produced.[483] He had to +fight hard for his throne. The aEuro~Alids, who deemed themselves the true +heirs of the Prophet in virtue of their descent from FAia¹-ima, rose in +rebellion against the usurper, surprised him in an unguarded moment, and +drove him to such straits that during seven weeks he never changed his +dress except for public prayers. But once more the aEuro~Alids proved +incapable of grasping their opportunity. The leaders, Mua¸Yammad, who +was known as 'The Pure Soul' (_al-Nafs al-zakiyya_), and his brother +IbrAihA-m, fell on the battle-field. Under MahdA- and HAirAºn members of the +House of aEuro~AlA- continued to 'come out,' but with no better success. In +Eastern Persia, where strong national feelings interwove themselves with +Pre-Mua¸Yammadan religious ideas, those of Mazdak and Zoroaster in +particular, the aEuro~AbbAisids encountered a formidable opposition which +proclaimed its vigour and tenacity by the successive revolts of SinbAidh +the Magian (755-756 A.D.), UstAidhsA-s (766-768), MuqannaaEuro~, the 'Veiled +Prophet of KhurAisAin' (780-786), and BAibak the Khurramite (816-838).[484] + +[Sidenote: Mana¹LAºr's advice to MahdA-.] + +Mana¹LAºr said to his son Mahdi, "O AbAº aEuro~AbdallAih, when you sit in +company, always have divines to converse with you; for Mua¸Yammad b. +ShihAib al-ZuhrA- said, 'The word _a¸YadA-th_ (Apostolic Tradition) is +masculine: only virile men love it, and only effeminate men dislike it'; +and he spoke the truth."[485] + +[Sidenote: Mana¹LAºr and the poet.] + +On one occasion a poet came to MahdA-, who was then heir-apparent, at +Rayy, and recited a panegyric in his honour. The prince gave him 20,000 +dirhems. Thereupon the postmaster of Rayy informed Mana¹LAºr, who wrote +to his son reproaching him for such extravagance. "What you should have +done," he said, "was to let him wait a year at your door, and after that +time bestow on him 4,000 dirhems." He then caused the poet to be +arrested and brought into his presence. "You went to a heedless youth +and cajoled him?" "Yes, God save the Commander of the Faithful, I went +to a heedless, generous youth and cajoled him, and he suffered himself +to be cajoled." "Recite your eulogy of him." The poet obeyed, not +forgetting to conclude his verses with a compliment to Mana¹LAºr. +"Bravo!" cried the Caliph, "but they are not worth 20,000 dirhems. Where +is the money?" On its being produced he made him a gift of 4,000 dirhems +and confiscated the remainder.[486] + +[Sidenote: The Barmecides.] + +[Sidenote: Yaa¸YyAi b. KhAilid.] + +Notwithstanding irreconcilable parties--aEuro~Alids, Persian extremists, and +(we may add) KhAirijites--the policy of _rapprochement_ was on the whole +extraordinarily effective. In carrying it out the Caliphs received +powerful assistance from a noble and ancient Persian family, the +celebrated Barmakites or Barmecides. According to MasaEuro~AºdA-,[487] Barmak +was originally a title borne by the High Priest (_sAidin_) of the great +Magian fire-temple at Balkh. KhAilid, the son of one of these +dignitaries--whence he and his descendants were called Barmakites +(_BarAimika_)--held the most important offices of state under SaffAia¸Y +and Mana¹LAºr. Yaa¸YyAi, the son of KhAilid, was entrusted with the +education of HAirAºn al-RashA-d, and on the accession of the young prince +he was appointed Grand Vizier. "My dear father!" said the Caliph, "it is +through the blessings and the good fortune which attend you, and through +your excellent management, that I am seated on the throne;[488] so I +commit to you the direction of affairs." He then handed to him his +signet-ring. Yaa¸YyAi was distinguished (says the biographer) for +wisdom, nobleness of mind, and elegance of language.[489] Although he +took a truly Persian delight in philosophical discussion, for which +purpose freethinking scholars and eminent heretics used often to meet +in his house, he was careful to observe the outward forms of piety. It +may be said of the aEuro~AbbAisids generally that, whatever they might do or +think in private, they wore the official badge of Islam ostentatiously +on their sleeves. The following verses which Yaa¸YyAi addressed to his +son Faa¸l are very characteristic:--[490] + + "Seek glory while 'tis day, no effort spare, + And patiently the loved one's absence bear; + But when the shades of night advancing slow + O'er every vice a veil of darkness throw, + Beguile the hours with all thy heart's delight: + The day of prudent men begins at night. + Many there be, esteemed of life austere, + Who nightly enter on a strange career. + Night o'er them keeps her sable curtain drawn, + And merrily they pass from eve to dawn. + Who but a fool his pleasures would expose + To spying rivals and censorious foes?" + +[Sidenote: Fall of the Barmecides (803 A.D.).] + +For seventeen years Yaa¸YyAi and his two sons, Faa¸l and JaaEuro~far, +remained deep in HAirAºn's confidence and virtual rulers of the State +until, from motives which have been variously explained, the Caliph +resolved to rid himself of the whole family. The story is too well known +to need repetition.[491] JaaEuro~far alone was put to death: we may conclude, +therefore, that he had specially excited the Caliph's anger; and those +who ascribe the catastrophe to his romantic love-affair with HAirAºn's +sister, aEuro~AbbAisa, are probably in the right.[492] HAirAºn himself seems to +have recognised, when it was too late, how much he owed to these great +Persian barons whose tactful administration, unbounded generosity, and +munificent patronage of literature have shed immortal lustre on his +reign. Afterwards, if any persons spoke ill of the Barmecides in his +presence, he would say (quoting the verse of a¸¤ua¹-ayaEuro(TM)a):--[493] + + "O slanderers, be your sire of sire bereft![494] + Give o'er, or fill the gap which they have left." + +[Sidenote: HAirAºn al-RashA-d (786-809 A.D.).] + +HAirAºn's orthodoxy, his liberality, his victories over the Byzantine +Emperor Nicephorus, and last but not least the literary brilliance of +his reign have raised him in popular estimation far above all the other +Caliphs: he is the Charlemagne of the East, while the entrancing pages +of the _Thousand and One Nights_ have made his name a household word in +every country of Europe. Students of Moslem history will soon discover +that "the good Haroun Alraschid" was in fact a perfidious and irascible +tyrant, whose fitful amiability and real taste for music and letters +hardly entitle him to be described either as a great monarch or a good +man. We must grant, however, that he thoroughly understood the noble art +of patronage. The poets AbAº NuwAis, Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya, DiaEuro~bil, Muslim b. +WalA-d, and aEuro~AbbAis b. Aa¸Ynaf; the musician IbrAihA-m of Mosul and his son +Isa¸YAiq; the philologists AbAº aEuro~Ubayda, Aa¹LmaaEuro~A-, and KisAiaEuro(TM)A-; the +preacher Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-SammAik; and the historian WAiqidA---these are but a few +names in the galaxy of talent which he gathered around him at BaghdAid. + +[Sidenote: AmA-n and MaaEuro(TM)mAºn (809-833 A.D.).] + +The fall of the Barmecides revived the spirit of racial antagonism which +they had done their best to lay, and an open rupture was rendered +inevitable by the short-sighted policy of HAirAºn with regard to the +succession. He had two grown-up sons, AmA-n, by his wife and cousin +Zubayda, and MaaEuro(TM)mAºn, whose mother was a Persian slave. It was arranged +that the Caliphate should pass to AmA-n and after him to his brother, but +that the Empire should be divided between them. AmA-n was to receive +aEuro~IrAiq and Syria, MaaEuro(TM)mAºn the eastern provinces, where the people would +gladly welcome a ruler of their own blood. The struggle for supremacy +which began almost immediately on the death of HAirAºn was in the main one +of Persians against Arabs, and by MaaEuro(TM)mAºn's triumph the Barmecides were +amply avenged. + +[Sidenote: MaaEuro(TM)mAºn's heresies.] + +[Sidenote: Rise of independent dynasties.] + +[Sidenote: Turkish mercenaries introduced.] + +[Sidenote: Decline of the Caliphate.] + +The new Caliph was anything but orthodox. He favoured the ShA-aEuro~ite party +to such an extent that he even nominated the aEuro~Alid, aEuro~AlA- b. MAºsAi b. +JaaEuro~far al-Ria¸Ai, as heir-apparent--a step which alienated the members +of his own family and led to his being temporarily deposed. He also +adopted the opinions of the MuaEuro~tazilite sect and established an +Inquisition to enforce them. Hence the Sunnite historian, Abu +aEuro(TM)l-Maa¸YAisin, enumerates three principal heresies of which MaaEuro(TM)mAºn was +guilty: (1) His wearing of the Green (_labsu aEuro(TM)l-Khua¸ra_)[495] and +courting the aEuro~Alids and repulsing the aEuro~AbbAisids; (2) his affirming that +the Koran was created (_al-qawl bi-Khalqi aEuro(TM)l-QuraEuro(TM)Ain_); and (3) his +legalisation of the _mutaEuro~a_, a loose form of marriage prevailing amongst +the ShA-aEuro~ites.[496] We shall see in due course how keenly and with what +fruitful results MaaEuro(TM)mAºn interested himself in literature and science. +Nevertheless, it cannot escape our attention that in this splendid reign +there appear ominous signs of political decay. In 822 A.D. a¹¬Aihir, one +of MaaEuro(TM)mAºn's generals, who had been appointed governor of KhurAisAin, +omitted the customary mention of the Caliph's name from the Friday +sermon (_khua¹-ba_), thus founding the a¹¬ahirid dynasty, which, +though professing allegiance to the Caliphs, was practically +independent. a¹¬Aihir was only the first of a long series of ambitious +governors and bold adventurers who profited by the weakening authority +of the Caliphs to carve out kingdoms for themselves. Moreover, the +Moslems of aEuro~IrAiq had lost their old warlike spirit: they were fine +scholars and merchants, but poor soldiers. So it came about that +MaaEuro(TM)mAºn's successor, the Caliph MuaEuro~taa¹Lim (833-842 A.D.), took the +fatal step of surrounding himself with a PrA|torian Guard chiefly +composed of Turkish recruits from Transoxania. At the same time he +removed his court from BaghdAid sixty miles further up the Tigris to +SAimarrAi, which suddenly grew into a superb city of palaces and +barracks--an Oriental Versailles.[497] Here we may close our brief +review of the first and flourishing period of the aEuro~AbbAisid Caliphate. +During the next four centuries the Caliphs come and go faster than ever, +but for the most part their authority is precarious, if not purely +nominal. Meanwhile, in the provinces of the Empire petty dynasties +arise, only to eke out an obscure and troubled existence, or powerful +states are formed, which carry on the traditions of Mua¸Yammadan +culture, it may be through many generations, and in some measure restore +the blessings of peace and settled government to an age surfeited with +anarchy and bloodshed. Of these provincial empires we have now +principally to speak, confining our view, for the most part, to the +political outlines, and reserving the literary and religious aspects of +the period for fuller consideration elsewhere. + +[Sidenote: The Second aEuro~AbbAisid Period (847-1258 A.D.).] + +The reigns of Mutawakkil (847-861 A.D.) and his immediate successors +exhibit all the well-known features of PrA|torian rule. Enormous sums +were lavished on the Turkish soldiery, who elected and deposed the +Caliph just as they pleased, and enforced their insatiable demands by +mutiny and assassination. For a short time (869-907 A.D.) matters +improved under the able and energetic MuhtadA- and the four Caliphs who +followed him; but the Turks soon regained the upper hand. From this date +every vestige of real power is centred in the Generalissimo (_AmA-ru +aEuro(TM)l-UmarAi_) who stands at the head of the army, while the once omnipotent +Caliph must needs be satisfied with the empty honour of having his name +stamped on the coinage and celebrated in the public prayers. The +terrorism of the Turkish bodyguard was broken by the Buwayhids, a +Persian dynasty, who ruled in BaghdAid from 945 to 1055 A.D. Then the +SeljAºq supremacy began with a¹¬ughril Beg's entry into the capital and +lasted a full century until the death of Sanjar (1157 A.D.). The Mongols +who captured BaghdAid in 1258 A.D. brought the pitiable farce of the +Caliphate to an end. + + [Sidenote: Dynasties of the early aEuro~AbbAisid Age.] + + "The empire of the Caliphs at its widest," as Stanley Lane-Poole + observes in his excellent account of the Mua¸Yammadan dynasties, + "extended from the Atlantic to the Indus, and from the Caspian to + the cataracts of the Nile. So vast a dominion could not long be held + together. The first step towards its disintegration began in Spain, + where aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin, a member of the suppressed Umayyad family, + was acknowledged as an independent sovereign in A.D. 755, and the + aEuro~AbbAisid Caliphate was renounced for ever. Thirty years later IdrA-s, + a great-grandson of the Caliph aEuro~AlA-, and therefore equally at + variance with aEuro~AbbAisids and Umayyads, founded an aEuro~Alid dynasty in + Morocco. The rest of the North African coast was practically lost to + the Caliphate when the Aghlabid governor established his authority + at QayrawAin in A.D. 800." + +[Sidenote: Dynasties of the Second Period. 872 A.D.] + +[Sidenote: The SAimAinids (874-999 A.D.).] + +Amongst the innumerable kingdoms which supplanted the decaying Caliphate +only a few of the most important can be singled out for special notice +on account of their literary or religious interest.[498] To begin with +Persia: in KhurAisAin, which was then held by the a¹¬Aihirids, fell into +the hands of YaaEuro~qAºb b. Layth the Coppersmith (_al-a¹caffAir_), founder +of the a¹caffAirids, who for thirty years stretched their sway over a +great part of Persia, until they were dispossessed by the SAimAinids. The +latter dynasty had the seat of its power in Transoxania, but during the +first half of the tenth century practically the whole of Persia +submitted to the authority of IsmAiaEuro~A-l and his famous successors, Naa¹Lr +II and NAºa¸Y I. Not only did these princes warmly encourage and foster +the development, which had already begun, of a national literature in +the Persian language--it is enough to recall here the names of RAºdagA-, +the blind minstrel and poet; DaqA-qA-, whose fragment of a Persian Epic +was afterwards incorporated by FirdawsA- in his _ShAihnAima_; and BalaEuro~amA-, +the Vizier of Mana¹LAºr I, who composed an abridgment of a¹¬abarA-'s +great history, which is one of the oldest prose works in Persian that +have come down to us--but they extended the same favour to poets and men +of learning who (though, for the most part, of Persian extraction) +preferred to use the Arabic language. Thus the celebrated Rhazes (AbAº +Bakr al-RAizA-) dedicated to the SAimAinid prince AbAº a¹cAilia¸Y Mana¹LAºr +b. IshAiq a treatise on medicine, which he entitled _al-KitAib +al-Mana¹LAºrA-_ (the Book of Mana¹LAºr) in honour of his patron. The +great physician and philosopher, AbAº aEuro~AlA- b. SA-nAi (Avicenna) relates +that, having been summoned to BukhAirAi by King NAºa¸Y, the second of that +name (976-997 A.D.), he obtained permission to visit the royal library. +"I found there," he says, "many rooms filled with books which were +arranged in cases row upon row. One room was allotted to works on Arabic +philology and poetry; another to jurisprudence, and so forth, the books +on each particular science having a room to themselves. I inspected the +catalogue of ancient Greek authors and looked for the books which I +required: I saw in this collection books of which few people have heard +even the names, and which I myself have never seen either before or +since."[499] + +[Sidenote: The Buwayhids (932-1055 A.D.).] + +The power of the SAimAinids quickly reached its zenith, and about the +middle of the tenth century they were confined to KhurAisAin and +Transoxania, while in Western Persia their place was taken by the +Buwayhids. AbAº ShujAiaEuro~ Buwayh, a chieftain of Daylam, the mountainous +province lying along the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, was one of +those soldiers of fortune whom we meet with so frequently in the history +of this period. His three sons, aEuro~AlA-, Aa¸Ymad, and a¸¤asan, embarked +on the same adventurous career with such energy and success, that in the +course of thirteen years they not only subdued the provinces of FAirs and +KhAºzistAin, but in 945 A.D. entered BaghdAid at the head of their +Daylamite troops and assumed the supreme command, receiving from the +Caliph MustakfA- the honorary titles of aEuro~ImAidu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla, MuaEuro~izzu +aEuro(TM)l-Dawla, and Ruknu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla. Among the princes of this House, who +reigned over Persia and aEuro~IrAiq during the next hundred years, the most +eminent was aEuro~Aa¸udu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla, of whom it is said by Ibn KhallikAin that +none of the Buwayhids, notwithstanding their great power and authority, +possessed so extensive an empire and held sway over so many kings and +kingdoms as he. The chief poets of the day, including MutanabbA-, visited +his court at ShA-rAiz and celebrated his praises in magnificent odes. He +also built a great hospital in BaghdAid, the BA-mAiristAin al-aEuro~Aa¸udA-, +which was long famous as a school of medicine. The Viziers of the +Buwayhid family contributed in a quite unusual degree to its literary +renown. Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AmA-d, the Vizier of Ruknu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla, surpassed in +philology and epistolary composition all his contemporaries; hence he +was called 'the second JAia¸Yiaº",' and it was a common saying that +"the art of letter-writing began with aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤amA-d and ended with +Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AmA-d."[500] His friend, the a¹cAia¸Yib IsmAiaEuro~A-l b. aEuro~AbbAid, +Vizier to MuaEuro(TM)ayyidu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla and Fakhru aEuro(TM)l-Dawla, was a distinguished +savant, whose learning was only eclipsed by the liberality of his +patronage. In the latter respect SAibAºr b. ArdashA-r, the prime minister +of AbAº Naa¹Lr BahAiaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Dawla, vied with the illustrious a¹cAia¸Yib. +He had so many encomiasts that ThaaEuro~AilibA- devotes to them a whole chapter +of the _YatA-ma_. The Academy which he founded at BaghdAid, in the Karkh +quarter, and generously endowed, was a favourite haunt of literary men, +and its members seem to have enjoyed pretty much the same privileges as +belong to the Fellows of an Oxford or Cambridge College.[501] + +Like most of their countrymen, the Buwayhids were ShA-aEuro~ites in religion. +We read in the Annals of Abu aEuro(TM)l-Maa¸YAisin under the year 341 A.H. = 952 +A.D.:-- + + [Sidenote: Zeal of the Buwayhids for ShA-aEuro~ite principles.] + + "In this year the Vizier al-MuhallabA- arrested some persons who held + the doctrine of metempsychosis (_tanAisukh_). Among them were a youth + who declared that the spirit of aEuro~AlA- b. AbA- a¹¬Ailib had passed into + his body, and a woman who claimed that the spirit of FAia¹-ima was + dwelling in her; while another man pretended to be Gabriel. On being + flogged, they excused themselves by alleging their relationship to + the Family of the Prophet, whereupon MuaEuro~izzu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla ordered them + to be set free. This he did because of his attachment to ShA-aEuro~ism. It + is well known," says the author in conclusion, "that the Buwayhids + were ShA-aEuro~ites and RAifia¸ites."[502] + +[Sidenote: The Ghaznevids (976-1186 A.D.).] + +Three dynasties contemporary with the Buwayhids have still to be +mentioned: the Ghaznevids in Afghanistan, the a¸¤amdAinids in Syria, and +the FAia¹-imids in Egypt. SabuktagA-n, the founder of the first-named +dynasty, was a Turkish slave. His son, Maa¸YmAºd, who succeeded to the +throne of Ghazna in 998 A.D., made short work of the already tottering +SAimAinids, and then sweeping far and wide over Northern India, began a +series of conquests which, before his death in 1030 A.D., reached from +Lahore to Samarcand and Ia¹LfahAin. Although the Persian and +Transoxanian provinces of his huge empire were soon torn away by the +SeljAºqs, Maa¸YmAºd's invasion of India, which was undertaken with the +object of winning that country for Islam, permanently established +Mua¸Yammadan influence, at any rate in the PanjAib. As regards their +religious views, the Turkish Ghaznevids stand in sharp contrast with the +Persian houses of SAimAin and Buwayh. It has been well said that the true +genius of the Turks lies in action, not in speculation. When Islam came +across their path, they saw that it was a simple and practical creed +such as the soldier requires; so they accepted it without further +parley. The Turks have always remained loyal to Islam, the Islam of AbAº +Bakr and aEuro~Umar, which is a very different thing from the Islam of +ShA-aEuro~ite Persia. Maa¸YmAºd proved his orthodoxy by banishing the +MuaEuro~tazilites of Rayy and burning their books together with the +philosophical and astronomical works that fell into his hands; but on +the same occasion he carried off a hundred camel-loads of presumably +harmless literature to his capital. That he had no deep enthusiasm for +letters is shown, for example, by his shabby treatment of the poet +FirdawsA-. Nevertheless, he ardently desired the glory and prestige +accruing to a sovereign whose court formed the rallying-point of all +that was best in the literary and scientific culture of the day, and +such was Ghazna in the eleventh century. Besides the brilliant group of +Persian poets, with FirdawsA- at their head, we may mention among the +Arabic-writing authors who flourished under this dynasty the historians +al-aEuro~UtbA- and al-BA-rAºnA-. + +[Sidenote: The a¸¤amdAinids (929-1003 A.D.).] + +While the Eastern Empire of Islam was passing into the hands of Persians +and Turks, we find the Arabs still holding their own in Syria and +Mesopotamia down to the end of the tenth century. These Arab and +generally nomadic dynasties were seldom of much account. The +a¸¤amdAinids of Aleppo alone deserve to be noticed here, and that +chiefly for the sake of the peerless Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla, a worthy descendant +of the tribe of Taghlib, which in the days of heathendom produced the +poet-warrior, aEuro~Amr b. KulthAºm. aEuro~AbdullAih b. a¸¤amdAin was appointed +governor of Mosul and its dependencies by the Caliph MuktafA- in 905 +A.D., and in 942 his sons a¸¤asan and aEuro~AlA- received the complimentary +titles of NAia¹Liru aEuro(TM)l-Dawla (Defender of the State) and Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla +(Sword of the State). Two years later Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla captured Aleppo and +brought the whole of Northern Syria under his dominion. During a reign +of twenty-three years he was continuously engaged in harrying the +Byzantines on the frontiers of Asia Minor, but although he gained some +glorious victories, which his laureate MutanabbA- has immortalised, the +fortune of war went in the long run steadily against him, and his +successors were unable to preserve their little kingdom from being +crushed between the Byzantines in the north and the FAia¹-timids in the +south. The a¸¤amdAinids have an especial claim on our sympathy, because +they revived for a time the fast-decaying and already almost broken +spirit of Arabian nationalism. It is this spirit that speaks with a +powerful voice in MutanabbA- and declares itself, for example, in such +verses as these:--[503] + + "Men from their kings alone their worth derive, + But Arabs ruled by aliens cannot thrive: + Boors without culture, without noble fame, + Who know not loyalty and honour's name. + Go where thou wilt, thou seest in every land + Folk driven like cattle by a servile band." + +[Sidenote: The circle of Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla.] + +The reputation which Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla's martial exploits and his repeated +triumphs over the enemies of Islam richly earned for him in the eyes of +his contemporaries was enhanced by the conspicuous energy and +munificence with which he cultivated the arts of peace. Considering the +brevity of his reign and the relatively small extent of his resources, +we may well be astonished to contemplate the unique assemblage of +literary talent then mustered in Aleppo. There was, first of all, +MutanabbA-, in the opinion of his countrymen the greatest of Moslem +poets; there was Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla's cousin, the chivalrous AbAº FirAis, +whose war-songs are relieved by many a touch of tender and true feeling; +there was Abu aEuro(TM)l-Faraj of Ia¹LfahAin, who on presenting to Sayfu +aEuro(TM)l-Dawla his _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-AghAinA-_, one of the most celebrated and +important works in all Arabic literature, received one thousand pieces +of gold accompanied with an expression of regret that the prince was +obliged to remunerate him so inadequately; there was also the great +philosopher, AbAº Naa¹Lr al-FAirAibA-, whose modest wants were satisfied by +a daily pension of four dirhems (about two shillings) from the public +treasury. Surely this is a record not easily surpassed even in the +heyday of aEuro~AbbAisid patronage. As for the writers of less note whom Sayfu +aEuro(TM)l-Dawla attracted to Aleppo, their name is legion. Space must be found +for the poets SarA- al-RaffAi, Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AbbAis al-NAimA-, and Abu aEuro(TM)l-Faraj +al-BabbaghAi for the preacher (_khaa¹-A-b_) Ibn NubAita, who would often +rouse the enthusiasm of his audience while he urged the duty of +zealously prosecuting the Holy War against Christian Byzantium; and for +the philologist Ibn KhAilawayh, whose lectures were attended by students +from all parts of the Mua¸Yammadan world. The literary renaissance +which began at this time in Syria was still making its influence felt +when ThaaEuro~AilibA- wrote his _YatA-ma_, about thirty years after the death of +Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla, and it produced in Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi al-MaaEuro~arrA- (born 973 +A.D.) an original and highly interesting personality, to whom we shall +return on another occasion. + + +[Sidenote: The FAia¹-imids (909-1171 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: The IsmAiaEuro~A-lite propaganda.] + +The dynasties hitherto described were political in their origin, having +generally been founded by ambitious governors or vassals. These upstarts +made no pretensions to the nominal authority, which they left in the +hands of the Caliph even while they forced him at the sword's point to +recognise their political independence. The SAimAinids and Buwayhids, +ShA-aEuro~ites as they were, paid the same homage to the Caliph in BaghdAid as +did the Sunnite Ghaznevids. But in the beginning of the tenth century +there arose in Africa a great ShA-aEuro~ite power, that of the FAia¹-imids, +who took for themselves the title and prerogatives of the Caliphate, +which they asserted to be theirs by right Divine. This event was only +the climax of a deep-laid and skilfully organised plot--one of the most +extraordinary in all history. It had been put in train half a century +earlier by a certain aEuro~AbdullAih the son of MaymAºn, a Persian oculist +(_qaddAia¸Y_) belonging to Aa¸YwAiz. Filled with a fierce hatred of the +Arabs and with a freethinker's contempt for Islam, aEuro~AbdullAih b. MaymAºn +conceived the idea of a vast secret society which should be all things +to all men, and which, by playing on the strongest passions and tempting +the inmost weaknesses of human nature, should unite malcontents of every +description in a conspiracy to overthrow the existing _rA(C)gime_. Modern +readers may find a parallel for this romantic project in the pages of +Dumas, although the Aramis of _Twenty Years After_ is a simpleton beside +aEuro~AbdullAih. He saw that the movement, in order to succeed, must be +started on a religious basis, and he therefore identified himself with +an obscure ShA-aEuro~ite sect, the IsmAiaEuro~A-lA-s, who were so called because they +regarded Mua¸Yammad, son of IsmAiaEuro~A-l, son of JaaEuro~far al-a¹cAidiq, as the +Seventh ImAim. Under aEuro~AbdullAih the IsmAiaEuro~A-lA-s developed their mystical and +antinomian doctrines, of which an excellent account has been given by +Professor Browne in the first volume of his _Literary History of Persia_ +(p. 405 sqq.). Here we can only refer to the ingenious and fatally +insidious methods which he devised for gaining proselytes on a gigantic +scale, and with such amazing success that from this time until the +Mongol invasion--a period of almost four centuries--the IsmAiaEuro~A-lites +(FAia¹-imids, Carmathians, and Assassins) either ruled or ravaged a +great part of the Mua¸Yammadan Empire. It is unnecessary to discuss the +question whether aEuro~AbdullAih b. MaymAºn was, as Professor Browne thinks, +primarily a religious enthusiast, or whether, according to the view +commonly held, his real motives were patriotism and personal ambition. +The history of Islam shows clearly enough that the revolutionist is +nearly always disguised as a religious leader, while, on the other hand, +every founder of a militant sect is potentially the head of a state. +aEuro~AbdullAih may have been a fanatic first and a politician afterwards; +more probably he was both at once from the beginning. His plan of +operations was briefly as follows:-- + + The _dAiaEuro~A-_ or missionary charged with the task of gaining adherents + for the Hidden ImAim (see p. 216 seq.), in whose name allegiance was + demanded, would settle in some place, representing himself to be a + merchant, a¹cAºfA-, or the like. By renouncing worldly pleasures, + making a show of strict piety, and performing apparent miracles, it + was easy for him to pass as a saint with the common folk. As soon as + he was assured of his neighbours' confidence and respect, he began + to raise doubts in their minds. He would suggest difficult problems + of theology or dwell on the mysterious significance of certain + passages of the Koran. May there not be (he would ask) in religion + itself a deeper meaning than appears on the surface? Then, having + excited the curiosity of his hearers, he suddenly breaks off. When + pressed to continue his explanation, he declares that such mysteries + cannot be communicated save to those who take a binding oath of + secrecy and obedience and consent to pay a fixed sum of money in + token of their good faith. If these conditions were accepted, the + neophyte entered upon the second of the nine degrees of initiation. + He was taught that mere observance of the laws of Islam is not + pleasing to God, unless the true doctrine be received through the + ImAims who have it in keeping. These ImAims (as he next learned) are + seven in number, beginning with aEuro~AlA-; the seventh and last is + Mua¸Yammad, son of IsmAiaEuro~A-l. On reaching the fourth degree he + definitely ceased to be a Moslem, for here he was taught the + IsmAiaEuro~A-lite system of theology in which Mua¸Yammad b. IsmAiaEuro~A-l + supersedes the founder of Islam as the greatest and last of all the + Prophets. Comparatively few initiates advanced beyond this grade to + a point where every form of positive religion was allegorised away, + and only philosophy was left. "It is clear what a tremendous weapon, + or rather machine, was thus created. Each man was given the amount + of light which he could bear and which was suited to his prejudices, + and he was made to believe that the end of the whole work would be + the attaining of what he regarded as most desirable."[504] Moreover, + the ImAim Mua¸Yammad b. IsmAiaEuro~A-l having disappeared long ago, the + veneration which sought a visible object was naturally transferred + to his successor and representative on earth, viz., aEuro~AbdullAih b. + MaymAºn, who filled the same office in relation to him as Aaron to + Moses and aEuro~AlA- to Mua¸Yammad. + +About the middle of the ninth century the state of the Moslem Empire was +worse, if possible, than it had been in the latter days of Umayyad rule. +The peasantry of aEuro~IrAiq were impoverished by the desolation into which +that flourishing province was beginning to fall in consequence of the +frequent and prolonged civil wars. In 869 A.D. the negro slaves (_Zanj_) +employed in the saltpetre industry, for which Baa¹Lra was famous, took +up arms at the call of an aEuro~Alid Messiah, and during fourteen years +carried fire and sword through KhAºzistAin and the adjacent territory. We +can imagine that all this misery and discontent was a godsend to the +IsmAiaEuro~A-lites. The old cry, "A deliverer of the Prophet's House," which +served the aEuro~AbbAisids so well against the Umayyads, was now raised with +no less effect against the aEuro~AbbAisids themselves. + +[Sidenote: The FAia¹-imid dynasty founded by the MahdA- aEuro~UbayduaEuro(TM)llAih (909 +A.D.).] + +aEuro~AbdullAih b. MaymAºn died in 875 A.D., but the agitation went on, and +rapidly gathered force. One of the leading spirits was a¸¤amdAin +Qarmaa¹-, who gave his name to the Carmathian branch of the IsmAiaEuro~A-lA-s. +These Carmathians (_QarAimia¹-a_, sing. _Qirmia¹-A-_) spread over +Southern Persia and Yemen, and in the tenth century they threatened +BaghdAid, repeatedly waylaid the pilgrim-caravans, sacked Mecca and bore +away the Black Stone as a trophy; in short, established a veritable +reign of terror. We must return, however, to the main IsmAiaEuro~A-lite faction +headed by the descendants of aEuro~AbdullAih b. MaymAºn. Their emissaries +discovered a promising field of work in North Africa among the credulous +and fanatical Berbers. When all was ripe, SaaEuro~A-d b. a¸¤usayn, the +grandson of aEuro~AbdullAih b. MaymAºn, left Salamya in Syria, the centre from +which the wires had hitherto been pulled, and crossing over to Africa +appeared as the long-expected MahdA- under the name of aEuro~UbayduaEuro(TM)llAih. He +gave himself out to be a great-grandson of the ImAim Mua¸Yammad b. +IsmAiaEuro~A-l and therefore in the direct line of descent from aEuro~AlA- b. AbA- +a¹¬Ailib and FAia¹-ima the daughter of the Prophet. We need not stop to +discuss this highly questionable genealogy from which the FAia¹-imid +dynasty derives its name. In 910 A.D. aEuro~UbayduaEuro(TM)llAih entered RaqqAida in +triumph and assumed the title of Commander of the Faithful. Tunis, where +the Aghlabites had ruled since 800 A.D., was the cradle of FAia¹-imid +power, and here they built their capital, Mahdiyya, near the ancient +Thapsus. Gradually advancing eastward, they conquered Egypt and Syria as +far as Damascus (969-970 A.D.). At this time the seat of government was +removed to the newly-founded city of Cairo (_al-QAihira_), which remained +for two centuries the metropolis of the FAia¹-imid Empire.[505] + +[Sidenote: The AyyAºbids (1171-1250 A.D.).] + +The ShA-aEuro~ite Anti-Caliphs maintained themselves in Egypt until 1171 A.D., +when the famous Saladin (a¹calAia¸Yu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n b. AyyAºb) took possession +of that country and restored the Sunnite faith. He soon added Syria to +his dominions, and "the fall of Jerusalem (in 1187) roused Europe to +undertake the Third Crusade." The AyyAºbids were strictly orthodox, as +behoved the champions of Islam against Christianity. They built and +endowed many theological colleges. The a¹cAºfA- pantheist, ShihAibu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n +Yaa¸YyAi al-SuhrawardA-, was executed at Aleppo by order of Saladin's +son, Malik al-aº'Aihir, in 1191 A.D. + + +[Sidenote: The SeljAºqs (1037-1300 A.D.).] + +The two centuries preceding the extinction of the aEuro~AbbAisid Caliphate by +the Mongols witnessed the rise and decline of the SeljAºq Turks, who +"once more re-united Mua¸Yammadan Asia from the western frontier of +Afghanistan to the Mediterranean under one sovereign." SeljAºq b. TuqAiq +was a Turcoman chief. Entering Transoxania, he settled near BukhAirAi and +went over with his whole people to Islam. His descendants, a¹¬ughril +Beg and Chagar Beg, invaded KhurAisAin, annexed the western provinces of +the Ghaznevid Empire, and finally absorbed the remaining dominions of +the Buwayhids. BaghdAid was occupied by a¹¬ughril Beg in 1055 A.D. It +has been said that the SeljAºqs contributed almost nothing to culture, +but this perhaps needs some qualification. Although Alp ArslAin, who +succeeded a¹¬ughril, and his son Malik ShAih devoted their energies in +the first place to military affairs, the latter at least was an +accomplished and enlightened monarch. "He exerted himself to spread the +benefits of civilisation: he dug numerous canals, walled a great number +of cities, built bridges, and constructed _ribAia¹-s_ in the desert +places."[506] He was deeply interested in astronomy, and scientific as +well as theological studies received his patronage. Any shortcomings of +Alp ArslAin and Malik ShAih in this respect were amply repaired by their +famous minister, a¸¤asan b. aEuro~AlA-, the Niaº"Aimu aEuro(TM)l-Mulk or 'Constable +of the Empire,' to give him the title which he has made his own. Like so +many great Viziers, he was a Persian, and his achievements must not +detain us here, but it may be mentioned that he founded in BaghdAid and +NaysAibAºr the two celebrated academies which were called in his honour +al-Niaº"Aimiyya. + + +[Sidenote: Arabia and Spain.] + +We have now taken a general, though perforce an extremely curtailed and +disconnected, view of the political conditions which existed during the +aEuro~AbbAisid period in most parts of the Mua¸Yammadan Empire except Arabia +and Spain. The motherland of Islam had long sunk to the level of a minor +province: leaving the Holy Cities out of consideration, one might +compare its inglorious destiny under the Caliphate to that of Macedonia +in the empire which Alexander bequeathed to his successors, the +Ptolemies and Seleucids. As regards the political history of Spain a few +words will conveniently be said in a subsequent chapter, where the +literature produced by Spanish Moslems will demand our attention. In the +meantime we shall pass on to the characteristic literary developments of +this period, which correspond more or less closely to the historical +outlines. + + +The first thing that strikes the student of mediA|val Arabic literature +is the fact that a very large proportion of the leading writers are +non-Arabs, or at best semi-Arabs, men whose fathers or mothers were of +foreign, and especially Persian, race. They wrote in Arabic, because +down to about 1000 A.D. that language was the sole medium of literary +expression in the Mua¸Yammadan world, a monopoly which it retained in +scientific compositions until the Mongol Invasion of the thirteenth +century. I have already referred to the question whether such men as +BashshAir b. Burd, AbAº NuwAis, Ibn Qutayba, a¹¬abarA-, GhazAilA-, and +hundreds of others should be included in a literary history of the +Arabs, and have given reasons, which I need not repeat in this place, +for considering their admission to be not only desirable but fully +justified on logical grounds.[507] The absurdity of treating them as +Persians--and there is no alternative, if they are not to be reckoned as +Arabs--appears to me self-evident. + +"It is strange," says Ibn KhaldAºn, "that most of the learned among the +Moslems who have excelled in the religious or intellectual sciences are +non-Arabs (_aEuro~Ajam_) with rare exceptions; and even those savants who +claimed Arabian descent spoke a foreign language, grew up in foreign +lands, and studied under foreign masters, notwithstanding that the +community to which they belonged was Arabian and the author of its +religion an Arab." The historian proceeds to explain the cause of this +singular circumstance in an interesting passage which may be summarised +as follows:-- + + [Sidenote: Ibn KhaldAºn's explanation of the fact that learning was + chiefly cultivated by the Persian Moslems.] + + The first Moslems were entirely ignorant of art and science, all + their attention being devoted to the ordinances of the Koran, which + they "carried in their breasts," and to the practice (_sunna_) of + the Prophet. At that time the Arabs knew nothing of the way by which + learning is taught, of the art of composing books, and of the means + whereby knowledge is enregistered. Those, however, who could repeat + the Koran and relate the Traditions of Mua¸Yammad were called + Readers (_qurrAi_). This oral transmission continued until the reign + of HAirAºn al-RashA-d, when the need of securing the Traditions against + corruption or of preventing their total loss caused them to be set + down in writing; and in order to distinguish the genuine Traditions + from the spurious, every _isnAid_ (chain of witnesses) was carefully + scrutinised. Meanwhile the purity of the Arabic tongue had gradually + become impaired: hence arose the science of grammar; and the rapid + development of Law and Divinity brought it about that other + sciences, _e.g._, logic and dialectic, were professionally + cultivated in the great cities of the Mua¸Yammadan Empire. The + inhabitants of these cities were chiefly Persians, freedmen and + tradesmen, who had been long accustomed to the arts of civilisation. + Accordingly the most eminent of the early grammarians, + traditionists, and scholastic theologians, as well as of those + learned in the principles of Law and in the interpretation of the + Koran, were Persians by race or education, and the saying of the + Prophet was verified--"_If Knowledge were attached to the ends of + the sky, some amongst the Persians would have reached it._" Amidst + all this intellectual activity the Arabs, who had recently emerged + from a nomadic life, found the exercise of military and + administrative command too engrossing to give them leisure for + literary avocations which have always been disdained by a ruling + caste. They left such studies to the Persians and the mixed race + (_al-muwalladAºn_), which sprang from intermarriage of the conquerors + with the conquered. They did not entirely look down upon the men of + learning but recognised their services--since after all it was Islam + and the sciences connected with Islam that profited thereby.[508] + +Even in the Umayyad period, as we have seen, the maxim that Knowledge is +Power was strikingly illustrated by the immense social influence which +Persian divines exerted in the Mua¸Yammadan community.[509] +Nevertheless, true Arabs of the old type regarded these _MawAilA-_ and +their learning with undisguised contempt. To the great majority of +Arabs, who prided themselves on their noble lineage and were content to +know nothing beyond the glorious traditions of heathendom and the +virtues practised by their sires, all literary culture seemed petty and +degrading. Their overbearing attitude towards the _MawAilA-_, which is +admirably depicted in the first part of Goldziher's _Muhammedanische +Studien_, met with a vigorous response. Non-Arabs and Moslem pietists +alike appealed to the highest authority--the Koran; and since they +required a more definite and emphatic pronouncement than was forthcoming +from that source, they put in the mouth of the Prophet sayings like +these: "He that speaks Arabic is thereby an Arab"; "whoever of the +people of Persia accepts Islam is (as much an Arab as) one of Quraysh." +This doctrine made no impression upon the Arabian aristocracy, but with +the downfall of the Umayyads the political and social equality of the +_MawAilA-_ became an accomplished fact. Not that the Arabs were at all +disposed to abate their pretensions. They bitterly resented the favour +which the foreigners enjoyed and the influence which they exercised. The +national indignation finds a voice in many poems of the early aEuro~AbbAisid +period, _e.g._:-- + + "See how the asses which they used to ride + They have unsaddled, and sleek mules bestride! + No longer kitchen-herbs they buy and sell,[510] + But in the palace and the court they dwell; + Against us Arabs full of rage and spleen, + Hating the Prophet and the Moslem's _dA-n_."[511] + +[Sidenote: The ShuaEuro~Aºbites.] + +The side of the non-Arabs in this literary quarrel was vehemently +espoused by a party who called themselves the ShuaEuro~Aºbites +(_al-ShuaEuro~Aºbiyya_),[512] while their opponents gave them the name of +Levellers (_Ahlu aEuro(TM)l-Taswiya_), because they contended for the equality +of all Moslems without regard to distinctions of race. I must refer the +reader who seeks information concerning the history of the movement to +Goldziher's masterly study,[513] where the controversial methods adopted +by the ShuaEuro~Aºbites are set forth in ample detail. He shows how the bolder +spirits among them, not satisfied with claiming an _equal_ position, +argued that the Arabs were absolutely inferior to the Persians and other +peoples. The question was hotly debated, and many eminent writers took +part in the fray. On the ShuaEuro~Aºbite side AbAº aEuro~Ubayda, BA-rAºnA-, and +a¸¤amza of Ia¹LfahAin deserve mention. JAia¸Yiaº" and Ibn Durayd +were the most notable defenders of their own Arabian nationality, but +the 'pro-Arabs' also included several men of Persian origin, such as Ibn +Qutayba, BalAidhurA-, and ZamakhsharA-. The ShuaEuro~Aºbites directed their +attacks principally against the racial pride of the Arabs, who were fond +of boasting that they were the noblest of all mankind and spoke the +purest and richest language in the world. Consequently the Persian +genealogists and philologists lost no opportunity of bringing to light +scandalous and discreditable circumstances connected with the history of +the Arab tribes or of particular families. Arabian poetry, especially +the vituperative pieces (_mathAilib_), furnished abundant matter of this +sort, which was adduced by the ShuaEuro~Aºbites as convincing evidence that +the claims of the Arabs to superior nobility were absurd. At the same +time the national view as to the unique and incomparable excellence of +the Arabic language received some rude criticism. + +[Sidenote: Assimilation of Arabs and Persians.] + +[Sidenote: Enthusiasm for learning in the early aEuro~AbbAisid period.] + +So acute and irreconcilable were the racial differences between Arabs +and Persians that one is astonished to see how thoroughly the latter +became Arabicised in the course of a few generations. As clients +affiliated to an Arab tribe, they assumed Arabic names and sought to +disguise their foreign extraction by fair means or foul. Many provided +themselves with fictitious pedigrees, on the strength of which they +passed for Arabs. Such a pretence could have deceived nobody if it had +not been supported by a complete assimilation in language, manners, and +even to some extent in character. On the neutral ground of Mua¸Yammadan +science animosities were laid aside, and men of both races laboured +enthusiastically for the common cause. When at length, after a century +of bloody strife and engrossing political agitation, the great majority +of Moslems found themselves debarred from taking part in public affairs, +it was only natural that thousands of ardent and ambitious souls should +throw their pent-up energies into the pursuit of wealth or learning. We +are not concerned here with the marvellous development of trade under +the first aEuro~AbbAisid Caliphs, of which Von Kremer has given a full and +entertaining description in his _Culturgeschichte des Orients_. It may +be recalled, however, that many commercial terms, _e.g._, tariff, names +of fabrics (muslin, tabby, &c.), occurring in English as well as in most +European languages are of Arabic origin and were brought to Europe by +merchants from BaghdAid, Mosul, Baa¹Lra, and other cities of Western +Asia. This material expansion was accompanied by an outburst of +intellectual activity such as the East had never witnessed before. It +seemed as if all the world from the Caliph down to the humblest citizen +suddenly became students, or at least patrons, of literature. In quest +of knowledge men travelled over three continents and returned home, like +bees laden with honey, to impart the precious stores which they had +accumulated to crowds of eager disciples, and to compile with incredible +industry those works of encyclopA|dic range and erudition from which +modern Science, in the widest sense of the word, has derived far more +than is generally supposed. + +[Sidenote: Development of the Moslem sciences.] + +The Revolution which made the fortune of the aEuro~AbbAisid House was a +triumph for Islam and the party of religious reform. While under the +worldly Umayyads the studies of Law and Tradition met with no public +encouragement and were only kept alive by the pious zeal of oppressed +theologians, the new dynasty drew its strength from the Mua¸Yammadan +ideas which it professed to establish, and skilfully adapted its policy +to satisfying the ever-increasing claims of the Church. Accordingly the +Moslem sciences which arose at this time proceeded in the first instance +from the Koran and the a¸¤adA-th. The sacred books offered many +difficulties both to provincial Arabs and especially to Persians and +other Moslems of foreign extraction. For their right understanding a +knowledge of Arabic grammar and philology was essential, and this +involved the study of the ancient Pre-islamic poems which supplied the +most authentic models of Arabian speech in its original purity. The +study of these poems entailed researches into genealogy and history, +which in the course of time became independent branches of learning. +Similarly the science of Tradition was systematically developed in order +to provide Moslems with practical rules for the conduct of life in every +conceivable particular, and various schools of Law sprang into +existence. + +[Sidenote: Their classification.] + +Mua¸Yammadan writers usually distinguish the sciences which are +connected with the Koran and those which the Arabs learned from foreign +peoples. In the former class they include the Traditional or Religious +Sciences (_al-aEuro~UlAºm al-Naqliyya awi aEuro(TM)l-SharaEuro~iyya_) and the Linguistic +Sciences (_aEuro~UlAºmu aEuro(TM)l-LisAini aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA-_); in the latter the Intellectual +or Philosophical Sciences (_al-aEuro~UlAºm al-aEuro~Aqliyya awi aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤ikmiyya_), +which are sometimes called 'The Sciences of the Foreigners' (_aEuro~UlAºmu +aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Ajam_) or 'The Ancient Sciences' (_al-aEuro~UlAºm al-QadA-ma_). + +The general scope of this division may be illustrated by the following +table:-- + + I. THE NATIVE SCIENCES. + + 1. Koranic Exegesis (_aEuro~Ilmu aEuro(TM)l-TafsA-r_). + 2. Koranic Criticism (_aEuro~Ilmu aEuro(TM)l-QirAiaEuro(TM)Ait_). + 3. The Science of Apostolic Tradition (_aEuro~Ilmu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤adA-th_). + 4. Jurisprudence (_Fiqh_). + 5. Scholastic Theology (_aEuro~Ilmu aEuro(TM)l-KalAim_). + 6. Grammar (_Naa¸Yw_). + 7. Lexicography (_Lugha_). + 8. Rhetoric (_BayAin_). + 9. Literature (_Adab_). + + + II. THE FOREIGN SCIENCES. + + 1. Philosophy (_Falsafa_).[514] + 2. Geometry (_Handasa_).[515] + 3. Astronomy (_aEuro~Ilmu aEuro(TM)l-NujAºm_). + 4. Music (_MAºsA-qA-_). + 5. Medicine (_a¹¬ibb_). + 6. Magic and Alchemy (_al-Sia¸Yr wa-aEuro(TM)l-KA-miyAi_). + +[Sidenote: The early aEuro~AbbAisid period favourable to free-thought.] + +The religious phenomena of the Period will be discussed in a separate +chapter, and here I can only allude cursorily to their general +character. We have seen that during the whole Umayyad epoch, except in +the brief reign of aEuro~Umar b. aEuro~Abd al-aEuro~AzA-z, the professors of religion +were out of sympathy with the court, and that many of them withdrew from +all participation in public affairs. It was otherwise when the aEuro~AbbAisids +established themselves in power. Theology now dwelt in the shadow of the +throne and directed the policy of the Government. Honours were showered +on eminent jurists and divines, who frequently held official posts of +high importance and stood in the most confidential and intimate +relations to the Caliph; a classical example is the friendship of the +Cadi AbAº YAºsuf and HAirAºn al-RashA-d. The century after the Revolution +gave birth to the four great schools of Muhammadan Law, which are still +called by the names of their founders--MAilik b. Anas, AbAº a¸¤anA-fa, +ShAifiaEuro~A-, and Ahmad b. a¸¤anbal. At this time the scientific and +intellectual movement had free play. The earlier Caliphs usually +encouraged speculation so long as it threatened no danger to the +existing _rA(C)gime_. Under MaaEuro(TM)mAºn and his successors the MuaEuro~tazilite +Rationalism became the State religion, and Islam seemed to have entered +upon an era of enlightenment. Thus the first aEuro~AbbAisid period (750-847 +A.D.) with its new learning and liberal theology may well be compared to +the European Renaissance; but in the words of a celebrated Persian +poet-- + + _KhilaEuro~atA- bas fAikhir Aimad aEuro~umr aEuro~aybash kAºtahA-st._[516] + + "Life is a very splendid robe: its fault is brevity." + +[Sidenote: The triumph of orthodoxy.] + +The Caliph Mutawakkil (847-861 A.D.) signalised his accession by +declaring the MuaEuro~tazilite doctrines to be heretical and by returning to +the traditional faith. Stern measures were taken against dissenters. +Henceforth there was little room in Islam for independent thought. The +populace regarded philosophy and natural science as a species of +infidelity. Authors of works on these subjects ran a serious risk unless +they disguised their true opinions and brought the results of their +investigations into apparent conformity with the text of the Koran. +About the middle of the tenth century the reactionary spirit assumed a +dogmatic shape in the system of Abu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤asan al-AshaEuro~arA-, the father +of Mua¸Yammadan Scholasticism, which is essentially opposed to +intellectual freedom and has maintained its petrifying influence almost +unimpaired down to the present time. + + +I could wish that this chapter were more worthy of the title which I +have chosen for it, but the foregoing pages will have served their +purpose if they have enabled my readers to form some idea of the +politics of the Period and of the broad features marking the course of +its literary and religious history. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +POETRY, LITERATURE, AND SCIENCE IN THE aEuro~ABBASID PERIOD + +[Sidenote: The Pre-islamic poets regarded as classical.] + +Pre-Islamic poetry was the natural expression of nomad life. We might +therefore have expected that the new conditions and ideas introduced by +Islam would rapidly work a corresponding revolution in the poetical +literature of the following century. Such, however, was far from being +the case. The Umayyad poets clung tenaciously to the great models of the +Heroic Age and even took credit for their skilful imitation of the +antique odes. The early Mua¸Yammadan critics, who were philologists by +profession, held fast to the principle that Poetry in Pre-islamic times +had reached a perfection which no modern bard could hope to emulate, and +which only the lost ideals of chivalry could inspire.[517] To have been +born after Islam was in itself a proof of poetical inferiority.[518] +Linguistic considerations, of course, entered largely into this +prejudice. The old poems were studied as repositories of the pure +classical tongue and were estimated mainly from a grammarian's +standpoint. + +[Sidenote: AbAº NuwAis as a critic.] + +These ideas gained wide acceptance in literary circles and gradually +biassed the popular taste to such an extent that learned pedants could +boast, like KhalA-l b. Ahmad, the inventor of Arabic prosody, that it lay +in their power to make or mar the reputation of a rising poet as they +deemed fit. Originality being condemned in advance, those who desired +the approval of this self-constituted Academy were obliged to waste +their time and talents upon elaborate reproduction of the ancient +masterpieces, and to entertain courtiers and citizens with borrowed +pictures of Bedouin life in which neither they nor their audience took +the slightest interest. Some, it is true, recognised the absurdity of +the thing. AbAº NuwAis (aEuro _circa_ 810 A.D.) often ridicules the custom, to +which reference has been made elsewhere, of apostrophising the deserted +encampment (_aa¹-lAil_ or _a¹-ulAºl_) in the opening lines of an ode, +and pours contempt on the fashionable glorification of antiquity. In the +passage translated below he gives a description of the desert and its +people which recalls some of Dr. Johnson's sallies at the expense of +Scotland and Scotsmen:-- + + "Let the south-wind moisten with rain the desolate scene + And Time efface what once was so fresh and green! + Make the camel-rider free of a desert space + Where high-bred camels trot with unwearied pace; + Where only mimosas and thistles flourish, and where, + For hunting, wolves and hyenas are nowise rare! + Amongst the Bedouins seek not enjoyment out: + What do they enjoy? They live in hunger and drought. + Let them drink their bowls of milk and leave them alone, + To whom life's finer pleasures are all unknown."[519] + +Ibn Qutayba, who died towards the end of the ninth century A.D., was the +first critic of importance to declare that ancients and moderns should +be judged on their merits without regard to their age. He writes as +follows in the Introduction to his 'Book of Poetry and Poets' (_KitAibu +aEuro(TM)l-ShiaEuro~r wa-aEuro(TM)l-ShuaEuro~arAi_):--[520] + + [Sidenote: Ibn Qutayba on ancient and modern poets.] + + "In citing extracts from the works of the poets I have been guided + by my own choice and have refused to admire anything merely because + others thought it admirable. I have not regarded any ancient with + veneration on account of his antiquity nor any modern with contempt + on account of his being modern, but I have taken an impartial view + of both sides, giving every one his due and amply acknowledging his + merit. Some of our scholars, as I am aware, pronounce a feeble poem + to be good, because its author was an ancient, and include it among + their chosen pieces, while they call a sterling poem bad though its + only fault is that it was composed in their own time or that they + have seen its author. God, however, did not restrict learning and + poetry and rhetoric to a particular age nor appropriate them to a + particular class, but has always distributed them in common amongst + His servants, and has caused everything old to be new in its own day + and every classic work to be an upstart on its first appearance." + +[Sidenote: Revolt against classicism.] + +The inevitable reaction in favour of the new poetry and of contemporary +literature in general was hastened by various circumstances which +combined to overthrow the prevalent theory that Arabian heathendom and +the characteristic pagan virtues--honour, courage, liberality, &c.--were +alone capable of producing poetical genius. Among the chief currents of +thought tending in this direction, which are lucidly set forth in +Goldziher's essay, pp. 148 sqq., we may note (_a_) the pietistic and +theological spirit fostered by the aEuro~AbbAisid Government, and (_b_) the +influence of foreign, pre-eminently Persian, culture. As to the former, +it is manifest that devout Moslems would not be at all disposed to admit +the exclusive pretensions made on behalf of the _JAihiliyya_ or to agree +with those who exalted chivalry (_muruwwa_) above religion (_dA-n_). Were +not the language and style of the Koran incomparably excellent? Surely +the Holy Book was a more proper subject for study than heathen verses. +But if Moslems began to call Pre-islamic ideals in question, it was +especially the Persian ascendancy resulting from the triumph of the +aEuro~AbbAisid House that shook the old arrogant belief of the Arabs in the +intellectual supremacy of their race. So far from glorying in the +traditions of paganism, many people thought it grossly insulting to +mention an aEuro~AbbAisid Caliph in the same breath with heroes of the past +like a¸¤Aitim of a¹¬ayyiaEuro(TM) and Harim b. SinAin. The philosopher al-KindA- +(aEuro about 850 A.D.) rebuked a poet for venturing on such odious +comparisons. "Who are these Arabian vagabonds" (_a¹LaaEuro~AilA-ku aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arab_), +he asked, "and what worth have they?"[521] + +[Sidenote: Critics in favour of the modern school.] + +While Ibn Qutayba was content to urge that the modern poets should get a +fair hearing, and should be judged not chronologically or +philologically, but _A|sthetically_, some of the greatest literary +critics who came after him do not conceal their opinion that the new +poetry is superior to the old. ThaaEuro~AilibA- (aEuro 1038 A.D.) asserts that in +tenderness and elegance the Pre-islamic bards are surpassed by their +successors, and that both alike have been eclipsed by his +contemporaries. Ibn RashA-q (aEuro _circa_ 1070 A.D.), whose _aEuro~Umda_ on the +Art of Poetry is described by Ibn KhaldAºn as an epoch-making work, +thought that the superiority of the moderns would be acknowledged if +they discarded the obsolete conventions of the Ode. European readers +cannot but sympathise with him when he bids the poets draw inspiration +from nature and truth instead of relating imaginary journeys on a camel +which they never owned, through deserts which they never saw, to a +patron residing in the same city as themselves. This seems to us a very +reasonable and necessary protest, but it must be remembered that the +Bedouin _qaa¹LA-da_ was not easily adaptable to the conditions of urban +life, and needed complete remoulding rather than modification in +detail.[522] + +[Sidenote: Popularity of the modern poets.] + +"In the fifth century," says Goldziher--_i.e._, from about 1000 +A.D.--"the dogma of the unattainable perfection of the heathen poets may +be regarded as utterly demolished." Henceforth popular taste ran +strongly in the other direction, as is shown by the immense +preponderance of modern pieces in the anthologies--a favourite and +characteristic branch of Arabic literature--which were compiled during +the aEuro~AbbAisid period and afterwards, and by frequent complaints of the +neglect into which the ancient poetry had fallen. But although, for +Moslems generally, ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Qays and his fellows came to be more or +less what Chaucer is to the average Englishman, the views first +enunciated by Ibn Qutayba met with bitter opposition from the learned +class, many of whom clung obstinately to the old philological principles +of criticism, and even declined to recognise the writings of MutanabbA- +and Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi al-MaaEuro~arrA- as poetry, on the ground that those authors +did not observe the classical 'types' (_asAilA-b_).[523] The result of +such pedantry may be seen at the present day in thousands of +_qaa¹LA-das_, abounding in archaisms and allusions to forgotten far-off +things of merely antiquarian interest, but possessing no more claim to +consideration here than the Greek and Latin verses of British scholars +in a literary history of the Victorian Age. + + +[Sidenote: Characteristics of the new poetry.] + +Passing now to the characteristics of the new poetry which followed the +accession of the aEuro~AbbAisids, we have to bear in mind that from first to +last (with very few exceptions) it flourished under the patronage of the +court. There was no organised book trade, no wealthy publishers, so that +poets were usually dependent for their livelihood on the capricious +bounty of the Caliphs and his favourites whom they belauded. Huge sums +were paid for a successful panegyric, and the bards vied with each other +in flattery of the most extravagant description. Even in writers of real +genius this prostitution of their art gave rise to a great deal of the +false glitter and empty bombast which are often erroneously attributed +to Oriental poetry as a whole.[524] These qualities, however, are +absolutely foreign to Arabian poetry of the best period. The old +Bedouins who praised a man only for that which was in him, and drew +their images directly from nature, stand at the opposite pole to +ThaaEuro~AilibA-'s contemporaries. Under the Umayyads, as we have seen, little +change took place. It is not until after the enthronement of the +aEuro~AbbAisids, when Persians filled the chief offices at court, and when a +goodly number of poets and eminent men of learning had Persian blood in +their veins, that an unmistakably new note makes itself heard. One might +be tempted to surmise that the high-flown, bombastic, and ornate style +of which MutanabbA- is the most illustrious exponent, and which is so +marked a feature in later Mua¸Yammadan poetry, was first introduced by +the Persians and Perso-Arabs who gathered round the Caliph in BaghdAid +and celebrated the triumph of their own race in the person of a noble +Barmecide; but this would scarcely be true. The style in question is not +specially Persian; the earliest Arabic-writing poets of ArAinian descent, +like BashshAir b. Burd and AbAº NuwAis, are (so far as I can see) without a +trace of it. What the Persians brought into Arabian poetry was not a +grandiose style, but a lively and graceful fancy, elegance of diction, +depth and tenderness of feeling, and a rich store of ideas. + +The process of transformation was aided by other causes besides the +influx of Persian and Hellenistic culture: for example, by the growing +importance of Islam in public life and the diffusion of a strong +religious spirit among the community at large--a spirit which attained +its most perfect expression in the reflective and didactic poetry of Abu +aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya. Every change of many-coloured life is depicted in the +brilliant pages of these modern poets, where the reader may find, +according to his mood, the maddest gaiety and the shamefullest +frivolity; strains of lofty meditation mingled with a world-weary +pessimism; delicate sentiment, unforced pathos, and glowing rhetoric; +but seldom the manly self-reliance, the wild, invigorating freedom and +inimitable freshness of Bedouin song. + + +[Sidenote: Five typical poets of the aEuro~AbbAisid period.] + +It is of course impossible to do justice even to the principal aEuro~AbbAisid +poets within the limits of this chapter, but the following five may be +taken as fairly representative: Mua¹-A-aEuro~ b. IyAis, AbAº NuwAis, Abu +aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya, MutanabbA-, and Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi al-MaaEuro~arrA-. The first three were +in close touch with the court of BaghdAid, while MutanabbA- and Abu +aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi flourished under the a¸¤amdAinid dynasty which ruled in Aleppo. + + +[Sidenote: Mua¹-A-aEuro~ b. IyAis.] + +Mua¹-A-aEuro~ b. IyAis only deserves notice here as the earliest poet of the +New School. His father was a native of Palestine, but he himself was +born and educated at KAºfa. He began his career under the Umayyads, and +was devoted to the Caliph WalA-d b. YazA-d, who found in him a fellow +after his own heart, "accomplished, dissolute, an agreeable companion +and excellent wit, reckless in his effrontery and suspected in his +religion."[525] When the aEuro~AbbAisids came into power Mua¹-A-aEuro~ attached +himself to the Caliph Mana¹LAºr. Many stories are told of the debauched +life which he led in the company of _zindA-qs_, or freethinkers, a class +of men whose opinions we shall sketch in another chapter. His songs of +love and wine are distinguished by their lightness and elegance. The +best known is that in which he laments his separation from the daughter +of a _DihqAin_ (Persian landed proprietor), and invokes the two +palm-trees of a¸¤ulwAin, a town situated on the borders of the JibAil +province between HamadhAin and BaghdAid. From this poem arose the proverb, +"Faster friends than the two palm-trees of a¸¤ulwAin."[526] + + + THE YEOMAN'S DAUGHTER. + + "O ye two palms, palms of a¸¤ulwAin, + Help me weep Time's bitter dole! + Know that Time for ever parteth + Life from every living soul. + + Had ye tasted parting's anguish, + Ye would weep as I, forlorn. + Help me! Soon must ye asunder + By the same hard fate be torn. + + Many are the friends and loved ones + Whom I lost in days of yore. + Fare thee well, O yeoman's daughter!-- + Never grief like this I bore. + Her, alas, mine eyes behold not, + And on me she looks no more!" + +[Sidenote: AbAº NuwAis (aEuro _circa_ 810 A.D.).] + +By Europeans who know him only through the _Thousand and One Nights_ AbAº +NuwAis is remembered as the boon-companion and court jester of "the good +Haroun Alraschid," and as the hero of countless droll adventures and +facetious anecdotes--an Oriental Howleglass or Joe Miller. It is often +forgotten that he was a great poet who, in the opinion of those most +competent to judge, takes rank above all his contemporaries and +successors, including even MutanabbA-, and is not surpassed in poetical +genius by any ancient bard. + +a¸¤asan b. HAiniaEuro(TM) gained the familiar title of AbAº NuwAis (Father of the +lock of hair) from two locks which hung down on his shoulders. He was +born of humble parents, about the middle of the eighth century, in +Aa¸YwAiz, the capital of KhAºzistAin. That he was not a pure Arab the name +of his mother, JallabAin, clearly indicates, while the following verse +affords sufficient proof that he was not ashamed of his Persian blood:-- + + "Who are TamA-m and Qays and all their kin? + The Arabs in God's sight are nobody."[527] + +He received his education at Baa¹Lra, of which city he calls himself a +native,[528] and at KAºfa, where he studied poetry and philology under +the learned Khalaf al-Aa¸Ymar. After passing a 'Wanderjahr' among the +Arabs of the desert, as was the custom of scholars at that time, he made +his way to BaghdAid and soon eclipsed every competitor at the court of +HAirAºn the Orthodox. A man of the most abandoned character, which he took +no pains to conceal, AbAº NuwAis, by his flagrant immorality, drunkenness, +and blasphemy, excited the Caliph's anger to such a pitch that he often +threatened the culprit with death, and actually imprisoned him on +several occasions; but these fits of severity were brief. The poet +survived both HAirAºn and his son, AmA-n, who succeeded him in the +Caliphate. Age brought repentance--"the Devil was sick, the Devil a monk +would be." He addressed the following lines from prison to Faa¸l b. +al-RabA-aEuro~, whom HAirAºn appointed Grand Vizier after the fall of the +Barmecides:-- + + "Faa¸l, who hast taught and trained me up to goodness + (And goodness is but habit), thee I praise. + Now hath vice fled and virtue me revisits, + And I have turned to chaste and pious ways. + To see me, thou would'st think the saintly Baa¹Lrite, + a¸¤asan, or else QatAida, met thy gaze,[529] + So do I deck humility with leanness, + While yellow, locust-like, my cheek o'erlays. + Beads on my arm; and on my breast the Scripture, + Where hung a chain of gold in other days."[530] + +The DA-wAin of AbAº NuwAis contains poems in many different styles--_e.g._, +panegyric (_madA-a¸Y), satire (_hijAi_), songs of the chase +(a¹-ardiyyAit_), elegies (_marAithA-_), and religious poems (_zuhdiyyAit_); +but love and wine were the two motives by which his genius was most +brilliantly inspired. His wine-songs (_khamriyyAit_) are generally +acknowledged to be incomparable. Here is one of the shortest:-- + + "Thou scolder of the grape and me, + I ne'er shall win thy smile! + Because against thee I rebel, + 'Tis churlish to revile. + + Ah, breathe no more the name of wine + Until thou cease to blame, + For fear that thy foul tongue should smirch + Its fair and lovely name! + + Come, pour it out, ye gentle boys, + A vintage ten years old, + That seems as though 'twere in the cup + A lake of liquid gold. + + And when the water mingles there, + To fancy's eye are set + Pearls over shining pearls close strung + As in a carcanet."[531] + +Another poem begins-- + + "Ho! a cup, and fill it up, and tell me it is wine, + For I will never drink in shade if I can drink in shine! + Curst and poor is every hour that sober I must go, + But rich am I whene'er well drunk I stagger to and fro. + Speak, for shame, the loved one's name, let vain disguise alone: + No good there is in pleasures o'er which a veil is thrown."[532] + +AbAº NuwAis practised what he preached, and hypocrisy at any rate cannot +be laid to his charge. The moral and religious sentiments which appear +in some of his poems are not mere cant, but should rather be regarded as +the utterance of sincere though transient emotion. Usually he felt and +avowed that pleasure was the supreme business of his life, and that +religious scruples could not be permitted to stand in the way. He even +urges others not to shrink from any excess, inasmuch as the Divine mercy +is greater than all the sins of which a man is capable:-- + + "Accumulate as many sins thou canst: + The Lord is ready to relax His ire. + When the day comes, forgiveness thou wilt find + Before a mighty King and gracious Sire, + And gnaw thy fingers, all that joy regretting + Which thou didst leave thro' terror of Hell-fire!"[533] + +We must now bid farewell to AbAº NuwAis and the licentious poets +(_al-shuaEuro~arAi al-mujjAin_) who reflect so admirably the ideas and manners +prevailing in court circles and in the upper classes of society which +were chiefly influenced by the court. The scenes of luxurious +dissipation and refined debauchery which they describe show us, indeed, +that Persian culture was not an unalloyed blessing to the Arabs any more +than were the arts of Greece to the Romans; but this is only the darker +side of the picture. The works of a contemporary poet furnish evidence +of the indignation which the libertinism fashionable in high places +called forth among the mass of Moslems who had not lost faith in +morality and religion. + + +[Sidenote: Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya (748-828 A.D.).] + +Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya, unlike his great rival, came of Arab stock. He was bred +in KAºfa, and gained his livelihood as a young man by selling +earthenware. His poetical talent, however, promised so well that he set +out to present himself before the Caliph MahdA-, who richly rewarded him; +and HAirAºn al-RashA-d afterwards bestowed on him a yearly pension of +50,000 dirhems (about AL2,000), in addition to numerous +extraordinary gifts. At BaghdAid he fell in love with aEuro~Utba, a slave-girl +belonging to MahdA-, but she did not return his passion or take any +notice of the poems in which he celebrated her charms and bewailed the +sufferings that she made him endure. Despair of winning her affection +caused him, it is said, to assume the woollen garb of Mua¸Yammadan +ascetics,[534] and henceforth, instead of writing vain and amatorious +verses, he devoted his powers exclusively to those joyless meditations +on mortality which have struck a deep chord in the hearts of his +countrymen. Like Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi al-MaaEuro~arrA- and others who neglected the +positive precepts of Islam in favour of a moral philosophy based on +experience and reflection, Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya was accused of being a +freethinker (_zindA-q_).[535] It was alleged that in his poems he often +spoke of death but never of the Resurrection and the Judgment--a calumny +which is refuted by many passages in his DA-wAin. According to the +literary historian al-a¹cAºlA- (aEuro 946 A.D.), Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya believed in +One God who formed the universe out of two opposite elements which He +created from nothing; and held, further, that everything would be +reduced to these same elements before the final destruction of all +phenomena. Knowledge, he thought, was acquired naturally (_i.e._, +without Divine Revelation) by means of reflection, deduction, and +research.[536] He believed in the threatened retribution (_al-waaEuro~A-d_) +and in the command to abstain from commerce with the world (_taa¸YrA-mu +aEuro(TM)l-makAisib_).[537] He professed the opinions of the Butrites,[538] a +subdivision of the Zaydites, as that sect of the ShA-aEuro~a was named which +followed Zayd b. AlA- b. a¸¤usayn b. aEuro~AlA- b. AbA- a¹¬Ailib. He spoke evil +of none, and did not approve of revolt against the Government. He held +the doctrine of predestination (_jabr_).[539] + +Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya may have secretly cherished the ManichA|an views ascribed +to him in this passage, but his poems contain little or nothing that +could offend the most orthodox Moslem. The following verse, in which +Goldziher finds an allusion to Buddha,[540] is capable of a different +interpretation. It rather seems to me to exalt the man of ascetic life, +without particular reference to any individual, above all others:-- + + "If thou would'st see the noblest of mankind, + Behold a monarch in a beggar's garb."[541] + +But while the poet avoids positive heresy, it is none the less true that +much of his DA-wAin is not strictly religious in the Mua¸Yammadan sense and +may fairly be called 'philosophical.' This was enough to convict him of +infidelity and atheism in the eyes of devout theologians who looked +askance on moral teaching, however pure, that was not cast in the +dogmatic mould. The pretended cause of his imprisonment by HAirAºn +al-RashA-d--namely, that he refused to make any more love-songs--is +probably, as Goldziher has suggested, a popular version of the fact that +he persisted in writing religious poems which were supposed to have a +dangerous bias in the direction of free-thought. + +His poetry breathes a spirit of profound melancholy and hopeless +pessimism. Death and what comes after death, the frailty and misery of +man, the vanity of worldly pleasures and the duty of renouncing +them--these are the subjects on which he dwells with monotonous +reiteration, exhorting his readers to live the ascetic life and fear God +and lay up a store of good works against the Day of Reckoning. The +simplicity, ease, and naturalness of his style are justly admired. +Religious poetry, as he himself confesses, was not read at court or by +scholars who demanded rare and obscure expressions, but only by pious +folk, traditionists and divines, and especially by the vulgar, "who like +best what they can understand."[542] Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya wrote for 'the man +in the street.' Discarding conventional themes tricked out with +threadbare artifices, he appealed to common feelings and matters of +universal experience. He showed for the first and perhaps for the last +time in the history of classical Arabic literature that it was possible +to use perfectly plain and ordinary language without ceasing to be a +poet. + +Although, as has been said, the bulk of Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya's poetry is +philosophical in character, there remains much specifically Islamic +doctrine, in particular as regards the Resurrection and the Future Life. +This combination may be illustrated by the following ode, which is +considered one of the best that have been written on the subject of +religion, or, more accurately, of asceticism (_zuhd_):-- + + "Get sons for death, build houses for decay! + All, all, ye wend annihilation's way. + For whom build we, who must ourselves return + Into our native element of clay? + O Death, nor violence nor flattery thou + Dost use, but when thou com'st, escape none may. + Methinks, thou art ready to surprise mine age, + As age surprised and made my youth his prey. + What ails me, World, that every place perforce + I lodge thee in, it galleth me to stay? + And, O Time, how do I behold thee run + To spoil me? Thine own gift thou tak'st away! + O Time! inconstant, mutable art thou, + And o'er the realm of ruin is thy sway. + What ails me that no glad result it brings + Whene'er, O World, to milk thee I essay? + And when I court thee, why dost thou raise up + On all sides only trouble and dismay? + Men seek thee every wise, but thou art like + A dream; the shadow of a cloud; the day + Which hath but now departed, nevermore + To dawn again; a glittering vapour gay. + This people thou hast paid in full: their feet + Are on the stirrup--let them not delay! + But those that do good works and labour well + Hereafter shall receive the promised pay. + As if no punishment I had to fear, + A load of sin upon my neck I lay; + And while the world I love, from Truth, alas, + Still my besotted senses go astray. + I shall be asked of all my business here: + What can I plead then? What can I gainsay? + What argument allege, when I am called + To render an account on Reckoning-Day? + Dooms twain in that dread hour shall be revealed, + When I the scroll of these mine acts survey: + Either to dwell in everlasting bliss, + Or suffer torments of the damned for aye!"[543] + +I will now add a few verses culled from the DA-wAin which bring the poet's +pessimistic view of life into clearer outline, and also some examples of +those moral precepts and sententious criticisms which crowd his pages +and have contributed in no small degree to his popularity. + + "The world is like a viper soft to touch that venom spits."[544] + + "Men sit like revellers o'er their cups and drink, + From the world's hand, the circling wine of death."[545] + + "Call no man living blest for aught you see + But that for which you blessed call the dead."[546] + + + FALSE FRIENDS. + + "'Tis not the Age that moves my scorn, + But those who in the Age are born. + I cannot count the friends that broke + Their faith, tho' honied words they spoke; + In whom no aid I found, and made + The Devil welcome to their aid. + May I--so best we shall agree-- + Ne'er look on them nor they on me!"[547] + + + "If men should see a prophet begging, they would turn and scout him. + Thy friend is ever thine as long as thou canst do without him; + But he will spew thee forth, if in thy need thou come about him."[548] + + + THE WICKED WORLD. + + "'Tis only on the culprit sin recoils, + The ignorant fool against himself is armed. + Humanity are sunk in wickedness; + The best is he that leaveth us unharmed."[549] + + + "'Twas my despair of Man that gave me hope + God's grace would find me soon, I know not how."[550] + + + LIFE AND DEATH. + + "Man's life is his fair name, and not his length of years; + Man's death is his ill-fame, and not the day that nears. + Then life to thy fair name by deeds of goodness give: + So in this world two lives, O mortal, thou shalt live."[551] + + + MAXIMS AND RULES OF LIFE. + + "Mere falsehood by its face is recognised, + But Truth by parables and admonitions."[552] + + + "I keep the bond of love inviolate + Towards all humankind, for I betray + Myself, if I am false to any man."[553] + + + "Far from the safe path, hop'st thou to be saved? + Ships make no speedy voyage on dry land."[554] + + + "Strip off the world from thee and naked live, + For naked thou didst fall into the world."[555] + + + "Man guards his own and grasps his neighbours' pelf, + And he is angered when they him prevent; + But he that makes the earth his couch will sleep + No worse, if lacking silk he have content."[556] + + + "Men vaunt their noble blood, but I behold + No lineage that can vie with righteous deeds."[557] + + + "If knowledge lies in long experience, + Less than what I have borne suffices me."[558] + + + "Faith is the medicine of every grief, + Doubt only raises up a host of cares."[559] + + + "Blame me or no, 'tis my predestined state: + If I have erred, infallible is Fate."[560] + +Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya found little favour with his contemporaries, who seem to +have regarded him as a miserly hypocrite. He died, an aged man, in the +Caliphate of MaaEuro(TM)mAºn.[561] Von Kremer thinks that he had a truer genius +for poetry than AbAº NuwAis, an opinion in which I am unable to concur. +Both, however, as he points out, are distinctive types of their time. If +AbAº NuwAis presents an appalling picture of a corrupt and frivolous +society devoted to pleasure, we learn from Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya something of +the religious feelings and beliefs which pervaded the middle and lower +classes, and which led them to take a more earnest and elevated view of +life. + + +With the rapid decline and disintegration of the aEuro~AbbAisid Empire which +set in towards the middle of the ninth century, numerous petty dynasties +arose, and the hitherto unrivalled splendour of BaghdAid was challenged +by more than one provincial court. These independent or semi-independent +princes were sometimes zealous patrons of learning--it is well known, +for example, that a national Persian literature first came into being +under the auspices of the SAimAinids in KhurAisAin and the Buwayhids in +aEuro~IrAiq--but as a rule the anxious task of maintaining, or the ambition of +extending, their power left them small leisure to cultivate letters, +even if they wished to do so. None combined the arts of war and peace +more brilliantly than the a¸¤amdAinid Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla, who in 944 A.D. made +himself master of Aleppo, and founded an independent kingdom in Northern +Syria. + + [Sidenote: ThaaEuro~AilibA-'s eulogy of Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla.] + + "The a¸¤amdAinids," says ThaaEuro~AilibA-, "were kings and princes, comely of + countenance and eloquent of tongue, endowed with open-handedness and + gravity of mind. Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla is famed as the chief amongst them + all and the centre-pearl of their necklace. He was--may God be + pleased with him and grant his desires and make Paradise his + abode!--the brightest star of his age and the pillar of Islam: by + him the frontiers were guarded and the State well governed. His + attacks on the rebellious Arabs checked their fury and blunted their + teeth and tamed their stubbornness and secured his subjects against + their barbarity. His campaigns exacted vengeance from the Emperor of + the Greeks, decisively broke their hostile onset, and had an + excellent effect on Islam. His court was the goal of ambassadors, + the dayspring of liberality, the horizon-point of hope, the end of + journeys, a place where savants assembled and poets competed for the + palm. It is said that after the Caliphs no prince gathered around + him so many masters of poetry and men illustrious in literature as + he did; and to a monarch's hall, as to a market, people bring only + what is in demand. He was an accomplished scholar, a poet himself + and a lover of fine poetry; keenly susceptible to words of + praise."[562] + +Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla's cousin, AbAº FirAis al-a¸¤amdAinA-, was a gallant soldier +and a poet of some mark, who if space permitted would receive fuller +notice here.[563] He, however, though superior to the common herd of +court poets, is overshadowed by one who with all his faults--and they +are not inconsiderable--made an extraordinary impression upon his +contemporaries, and by the commanding influence of his reputation +decided what should henceforth be the standard of poetical taste in the +Mua¸Yammadan world. + +[Sidenote: MutanabbA- (915-965 A.D.).] + +Abu aEuro(TM)l-a¹¬ayyib Ahmad b. a¸¤usayn, known to fame as al-MutanabbA-, was +born and bred at KAºfa, where his father is said to have been a +water-carrier. Following the admirable custom by which young men of +promise were sent abroad to complete their education, he studied at +Damascus and visited other towns in Syria, but also passed much of his +time among the Bedouins, to whom he owed the singular knowledge and +mastery of Arabic displayed in his poems. Here he came forward as a +prophet (from which circumstance he was afterwards entitled +al-MutanabbA-, _i.e._, 'the pretender to prophecy'), and induced a great +multitude to believe in him; but ere long he was captured by LuaEuro(TM)luaEuro(TM), the +governor of a¸¤ims (Emessa), and thrown into prison. After his release +he wandered to and fro chanting the praises of all and sundry, until +fortune guided him to the court of Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla at Aleppo. For nine +years (948-957 A.D.) he stood high in the favour of that cultured +prince, whose virtues he celebrated in a series of splendid eulogies, +and with whom he lived as an intimate friend and comrade in arms. The +liberality of Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla and the ingenious impudence of the poet are +well brought out by the following anecdote:-- + + MutanabbA- on one occasion handed to his patron the copy of an ode + which he had recently composed in his honour, and retired, leaving + Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla to peruse it at leisure. The prince began to read, + and came to these lines-- + + _Aqil anil aqa¹-iaEuro~ ia¸Ymil aEuro~alli salli aaEuro~id + zid hashshi bashshi tafaa¸a¸al adni surra a¹Lili._[564] + + "_Pardon, bestow, endow, mount, raise, console, restore, + Add, laugh, rejoice, bring nigh, show favour, gladden, give!_" + + Far from being displeased by the poet's arrogance, Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla + was so charmed with his artful collocation of fourteen imperatives + in a single verse that he granted every request. Under _pardon_ he + wrote 'we pardon thee'; under _bestow_, 'let him receive such and + such a sum of money'; under _endow_, 'we endow thee with an estate,' + which he named (it was beside the gate of Aleppo); under _mount_, + 'let such and such a horse be led to him'; under _raise_, 'we do + so'; under _console_, 'we do so, be at ease'; under _restore_, 'we + restore thee to thy former place in our esteem'; under _add_, 'let + him have such and such in addition'; under _bring nigh_, 'we admit + thee to our intimacy'; under _show favour_, 'we have done so'; under + _gladden_, 'we have made thee glad'[565]; under _give_, 'this we + have already done.' MutanabbA-'s rivals envied his good fortune, and + one of them said to Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla--"Sire, you have done all that + he asked, but when he uttered the words _laugh_, _rejoice_, why did + not you answer, 'Ha, ha, ha'?" Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla laughed, and said, + "You too, shall have your wish," and ordered him a donation. + +MutanabbA- was sincerely attached to his generous master, and this +feeling inspired a purer and loftier strain than we find in the fulsome +panegyrics which he afterwards addressed to the negro KAifAºr. He seems to +have been occasionally in disgrace, but Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla could deny +nothing to a poet who paid him such magnificent compliments. Nor was he +deterred by any false modesty from praising himself: he was fully +conscious of his power and, like Arabian bards in general, he bragged +about it. Although the verbal legerdemain which is so conspicuous in his +poetry cannot be reproduced in another language, the lines translated +below may be taken as a favourable and sufficiently characteristic +specimen of his style. + + "How glows mine heart for him whose heart to me is cold, + Who liketh ill my case and me in fault doth hold! + Why should I hide a love that hath worn thin my frame? + To Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla all the world avows the same. + Tho' love of his high star unites us, would that we + According to our love might so divide the fee! + Him have I visited when sword in sheath was laid, + And I have seen him when in blood swam every blade: + Him, both in peace and war the best of all mankind, + Whose crown of excellence was still his noble mind. + + Do foes by flight escape thine onset, thou dost gain + A chequered victory, half of pleasure, half of pain. + So puissant is the fear thou strik'st them with, it stands + Instead of thee, and works more than thy warriors' hands. + Unfought the field is thine: thou need'st not further strain + To chase them from their holes in mountain or in plain. + What! 'fore thy fierce attack whene'er an army reels, + Must thy ambitious soul press hot upon their heels? + Thy task it is to rout them on the battle-ground; + No shame to thee if they in flight have safety found. + Or thinkest thou perchance that victory is sweet + Only when scimitars and necks each other greet? + + O justest of the just save in thy deeds to me! + _Thou_ art accused and thou, O Sire, must judge the plea. + Look, I implore thee, well! Let not thine eye cajoled + See fat in empty froth, in all that glisters gold![566] + What use and profit reaps a mortal of his sight, + If darkness unto him be indistinct from light? + + My deep poetic art the blind have eyes to see, + My verses ring in ears as deaf as deaf can be. + They wander far abroad while I am unaware, + But men collect them watchfully with toil and care. + Oft hath my laughing mien prolonged the insulter's sport, + Until with claw and mouth I cut his rudeness short. + Ah, when the lion bares his teeth, suspect his guile, + Nor fancy that the lion shows to you a smile. + I have slain the man that sought my heart's blood many a time, + Riding a noble mare whose back none else may climb, + Whose hind and fore-legs seem in galloping as one; + Nor hand nor foot requireth she to urge her on. + And O the days when I have swung my fine-edged glaive + Amidst a sea of death where wave was dashed on wave! + The desert knows me well, the night, the mounted men, + The battle and the sword, the paper and the pen!"[567] + +Finally an estrangement arose between MutanabbA- and Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla, in +consequence of which he fled to Egypt and attached himself to the +IkhshA-dite KAifAºr. Disappointed in his new patron, a negro who had +formerly been a slave, the poet set off for BaghdAid, and afterwards +visited the court of the Buwayhid aEuro~Aa¸udu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla at ShA-rAiz. While +travelling through Babylonia he was attacked and slain by brigands in +965 A.D. + +The popularity of MutanabbA- is shown by the numerous commentaries[568] +and critical treatises on his _DA-wAin_. By his countrymen he is generally +regarded as one of the greatest of Arabian poets, while not a few would +maintain that he ranks absolutely first. Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi al-MaaEuro~arrA-, himself +an illustrious poet and man of letters, confessed that he had sometimes +wished to alter a word here and there in MutanabbA-'s verses, but had +never been able to think of any improvement. "As to his poetry," says +Ibn KhallikAin, "it is perfection." European scholars, with the exception +of Von Hammer,[569] have been far from sharing this enthusiasm, as may +be seen by referring to what has been said on the subject by +Reiske,[570] De Sacy,[571] Bohlen,[572] Brockelmann,[573] and others. No +doubt, according to our canons of taste, MutanabbA- stands immeasurably +below the famous Pre-islamic bards, and in a later age must yield the +palm to AbAº NuwAis and Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya. Lovers of poetry, as the term is +understood in Europe, cannot derive much A|sthetic pleasure from his +writings, but, on the contrary, will be disgusted by the beauties hardly +less than by the faults which Arabian critics attribute to him. +Admitting, however, that only a born Oriental is able to appreciate +MutanabbA- at his full worth, let us try to realise the Oriental point of +view and put aside, as far as possible, our preconceptions of what +constitutes good poetry and good taste. Fortunately we possess abundant +materials for such an attempt in the invaluable work of ThaaEuro~AilibA-, which +has been already mentioned.[574] ThaaEuro~AilibA- (961-1038 A.D.) was nearly +contemporary with MutanabbA-. He began to write his _YatA-ma_ about thirty +years after the poet's death, and while he bears witness to the +unrivalled popularity of the _DA-wAin_ amongst all classes of society, he +observes that it was sharply criticised as well as rapturously admired. +ThaaEuro~AilibA- himself claims to hold the balance even. "Now," he says, "I +will mention the faults and blemishes which critics have found in the +poetry of MutanabbA-; for is there any one whose qualities give entire +satisfaction?-- + + _Kafa aEuro(TM)l-maraEuro(TM)a faa¸lan an tuaEuro~adda maaEuro~Aiyibuh._ + + 'Tis the height of merit in a man that his faults can be numbered. + +Then I will proceed to speak of his beauties and to set forth in due +order the original and incomparable characteristics of his style. + + The radiant stars with beauty strike our eyes + Because midst gloom opaque we see them rise." + +It was deemed of capital importance that the opening couplet +(_maa¹-laaEuro~_) of a poem should be perfect in form and meaning, and that +it should not contain anything likely to offend. ThaaEuro~AilibA- brings +forward many instances in which MutanabbA- has violated this rule by +using words of bad omen, such as 'sickness' or 'death,' or technical +terms of music and arithmetic which only perplex and irritate the hearer +instead of winning his sympathy at the outset. He complains also that +MutanabbA-'s finest thoughts and images are too often followed by low and +trivial ones: "he strings pearls and bricks together" (_jamaaEuro~a bayna +aEuro(TM)l-durrati wa-aEuro(TM)l-Aijurrati_). "While he moulds the most splendid +ornament, and threads the loveliest necklace, and weaves the most +exquisite stuff of mingled hues, and paces superbly in a garden of +roses, suddenly he will throw in a verse or two verses disfigured by +far-fetched metaphors, or by obscure language and confused thought, or +by extravagant affectation and excessive profundity, or by unbounded and +absurd exaggeration, or by vulgar and commonplace diction, or by +pedantry and grotesqueness resulting from the use of unfamiliar words." +We need not follow ThaaEuro~AilibA- in his illustration of these and other +weaknesses with which he justly reproaches MutanabbA-, since we shall be +able to form a better idea of the prevailing taste from those points +which he singles out for special praise. + +In the first place he calls attention to the poet's skill in handling +the customary erotic prelude (_nasA-b_), and particularly to his +brilliant descriptions of Bedouin women, which were celebrated all over +the East. As an example of this kind he quotes the following piece, +which "is chanted in the salons on account of the extreme beauty of its +diction, the choiceness of its sentiment, and the perfection of its +art":-- + + "Shame hitherto was wont my tears to stay, + But now by shame they will no more be stayed, + So that each bone seems through its skin to sob, + And every vein to swell the sad cascade. + She uncovered: pallor veiled her at farewell: + No veil 'twas, yet her cheeks it cast in shade. + So seemed they, while tears trickled over them, + Gold with a double row of pearls inlaid. + She loosed three sable tresses of her hair, + And thus of night four nights at once she made; + But when she lifted to the moon in heaven + Her face, two moons together I surveyed."[575] + +The critic then enumerates various beautiful and original features of +MutanabbA-'s style, _e.g._-- + +1. His consecutive arrangement of similes in brief symmetrical clauses, +thus:-- + + "She shone forth like a moon, and swayed like a moringa-bough, + And shed fragrance like ambergris, and gazed like a gazelle." + +2. The novelty of his comparisons and images, as when he indicates the +rapidity with which he returned to his patron and the shortness of his +absence in these lines:-- + + "I was merely an arrow in the air, + Which falls back, finding no refuge there." + +3. The _laus duplex_ or 'two-sided panegyric' (_al-mada¸Y, al-muwajjah_), which may be compared to a garment +having two surfaces of different colours but of equal beauty, as in the +following verse addressed to Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla:-- + + "Were all the lives thou hast ta'en possessed by thee, + Immortal thou and blest the world would be!" + +Here Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla is doubly eulogised by the mention of his triumphs +over his enemies as well as of the joy which all his friends felt in the +continuance of his life and fortune. + +4. His manner of extolling his royal patron as though he were speaking +to a friend and comrade, whereby he raises himself from the position of +an ordinary encomiast to the same level with kings. + +5. His division of ideas into parallel sentences:-- + + "We were in gladness, the Greeks in fear, + The land in bustle, the sea in confusion." + +From this summary of ThaaEuro~AilibA-'s criticism the reader will easily +perceive that the chief merits of poetry were then considered to lie in +elegant expression, subtle combination of words, fanciful imagery, witty +conceits, and a striking use of rhetorical figures. Such, indeed, are +the views which prevail to this day throughout the whole Mua¸Yammadan +world, and it is unreasonable to denounce them as false simply because +they do not square with ours. Who shall decide when nations disagree? If +Englishmen rightly claim to be the best judges of Shakespeare, and +Italians of Dante, the almost unanimous verdict of MutanabbA-'s +countrymen is surely not less authoritative--a verdict which places him +at the head of all the poets born or made in Islam. And although the +peculiar excellences indicated by ThaaEuro~AilibA- do not appeal to us, there +are few poets that leave so distinct an impression of greatness. One +might call MutanabbA- the Victor Hugo of the East, for he has the grand +style whether he soars to sublimity or sinks to fustian. In the +masculine vigour of his verse, in the sweep and splendour of his +rhetoric, in the luxuriance and reckless audacity of his imagination we +recognise qualities which inspired the oft-quoted lines of the +elegist:-- + + "Him did his mighty soul supply + With regal pomp and majesty. + A Prophet by his _diction_ known; + But in the _ideas_, all must own, + His miracles were clearly shown."[576] + +One feature of MutanabbA-'s poetry that is praised by ThaaEuro~AilibA- should +not be left unnoticed, namely, his fondness for sententious moralising +on topics connected with human life; wherefore Reiske has compared him +to Euripides. He is allowed to be a master of that proverbial philosophy +in which Orientals delight and which is characteristic of the modern +school beginning with Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya, though some of the ancients had +already cultivated it with success (cf. the verses of Zuhayr, p. 118 +_supra_). The following examples are among those cited by Bohlen (_op. +cit._, p. 86 sqq.):-- + + "When an old man cries 'Ugh!' he is not tired + Of life, but only tired of feebleness."[577] + + + "He that hath been familiar with the world + A long while, in his eye 'tis turned about + Until he sees how false what looked so fair."[578] + + + "The sage's mind still makes him miserable + In his most happy fortune, but poor fools + Find happiness even in their misery."[579] + +[Sidenote: Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi al-MaaEuro~arrA- (973-1057 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: His visit to BaghdAid.] + +The sceptical and pessimistic tendencies of an age of social decay and +political anarchy are unmistakably revealed in the writings of the poet, +philosopher, and man of letters, Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi al-MaaEuro~arrA-, who was born in +973 A.D. at MaaEuro~arratu aEuro(TM)l-NuaEuro~mAin, a Syrian town situated about twenty +miles south of Aleppo on the caravan road to Damascus. While yet a child +he had an attack of small-pox, resulting in partial and eventually in +complete blindness, but this calamity, fatal as it might seem to +literary ambition, was repaired if not entirely made good by his +stupendous powers of memory. After being educated at home under the eye +of his father, a man of some culture and a meritorious poet, he +proceeded to Aleppo, which was still a flourishing centre of the +humanities, though it could no longer boast such a brilliant array of +poets and scholars as were attracted thither in the palmy days of Sayfu +aEuro(TM)l-Dawla. Probably Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi did not enter upon the career of a +professional encomiast, to which he seems at first to have inclined: he +declares in the preface to his _Saqa¹-u aEuro(TM)l-Zand_ that he never eulogised +any one with the hope of gaining a reward, but only for the sake of +practising his skill. On the termination of his 'Wanderjahre' he +returned in 993 A.D. to MaaEuro~arra, where he spent the next fifteen years +of his life, with no income beyond a small pension of thirty dA-nAirs +(which he shared with a servant), lecturing on Arabic poetry, +antiquities, and philology, the subjects to which his youthful studies +had been chiefly devoted. During this period his reputation was steadily +increasing, and at last, to adapt what Boswell wrote of Dr. Johnson on a +similar occasion, "he thought of trying his fortune in BaghdAid, the +great field of genius and exertion, where talents of every kind had the +fullest scope and the highest encouragement." Professor Margoliouth in +the Introduction to his edition of Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi's correspondence supplies +many interesting particulars of the literary society at BaghdAid in which +the poet moved. "As in ancient Rome, so in the great Mua¸Yammadan cities +public recitation was the mode whereby men of letters made their talents +known to their contemporaries. From very early times it had been +customary to employ the mosques for this purpose; and in Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi's +time poems were recited in the mosque of al-Mana¹LAºr in BaghdAid. Better +accommodation was, however, provided by the MA|cenates who took a pride +in collecting savants and _littA(C)rateurs_ in their houses."[580] Such a +MA|cenas was the SharA-f al-Raa¸A-, himself a celebrated poet, who founded +the Academy called by his name in imitation, probably, of that founded +some years before by AbAº Nasr SAibAºr b. ArdashA-r, Vizier to the Buwayhid +prince, BahAiaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Dawla. Here Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi met a number of distinguished +writers and scholars who welcomed him as one of themselves. The capital +of Islam, thronged with travellers and merchants from all parts of the +East, harbouring followers of every creed and sect--Christians and Jews, +Buddhists and Zoroastrians, a¹cAibians and a¹cAºfA-s, Materialists and +Rationalists--must have seemed to the provincial almost like a new +world. It is certain that Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi, a curious observer who set no +bounds to his thirst for knowledge, would make the best use of such an +opportunity. The religious and philosophical ideas with which he was now +first thrown into contact gradually took root and ripened. His stay in +BaghdAid, though it lasted only a year and a half (1009-1010 A.D.), +decided the whole bent of his mind for the future. + +Whether his return to MaaEuro~arra was hastened, as he says, by want of means +and the illness of his mother, whom he tenderly loved, or by an +indignity which he suffered at the hands of an influential patron,[581] +immediately on his arrival he shut himself in his house, adopted a +vegetarian diet and other ascetic practices, and passed the rest of his +long life in comparative seclusion:-- + + "Methinks, I am thrice imprisoned--ask not me + Of news that need no telling-- + By loss of sight, confinement to my house, + And this vile body for my spirit's dwelling."[582] + +We can only conjecture the motives which brought about this sudden +change of habits and disposition. No doubt his mother's death affected +him deeply, and he may have been disappointed by his failure to obtain a +permanent footing in the capital. It is not surprising that the blind +and lonely man, looking back on his faded youth, should have felt weary +of the world and its ways, and found in melancholy contemplation of +earthly vanities ever fresh matter for the application and development +of these philosophical ideas which, as we have seen, were probably +suggested to him by his recent experiences. While in the collection of +early poems, entitled _Saqa¹-u aEuro(TM)l-Zand_ or 'The Spark of the Fire-stick' +and mainly composed before his visit to BaghdAid, he still treads the +customary path of his predecessors,[583] his poems written after that +time and generally known as the _LuzAºmiyyAit_[584] arrest attention by +their boldness and originality as well as by the sombre and earnest tone +which pervades them. This, indeed, is not the view of most Oriental +critics, who dislike the poet's irreverence and fail to appreciate the +fact that he stood considerably in advance of his age; but in Europe he +has received full justice and perhaps higher praise than he deserves. +Reiske describes him as 'Arabice callentissimum, vasti, subtilis, +sublimis et audacis ingenii';[585] Von Hammer, who ranks him as a poet +with AbAº TammAim, Bua¸YturA-, and MutanabbA-, also mentions him honourably as +a philosopher;[586] and finally Von Kremer, who made an exhaustive study +of the _LuzAºmiyyAit_ and examined their contents in a masterly +essay,[587] discovered in Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi, one of the greatest moralists of +all time whose profound genius anticipated much that is commonly +attributed to the so-called modern spirit of enlightenment. Here Von +Kremer's enthusiasm may have carried him too far; for the poet, as +Professor Margoliouth says, was unconscious of the value of his +suggestions, unable to follow them out, and unable to adhere to them +consistently. Although he builded better than he knew, the constructive +side of his philosophy was overshadowed by the negative and destructive +side, so that his pure and lofty morality leaves but a faint impression +which soon dies away in louder, continually recurring voices of doubt +and despair. + +Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi is a firm monotheist, but his belief in God amounted, as it +would seem, to little beyond a conviction that all things are governed +by inexorable Fate, whose mysteries none may fathom and from whose +omnipotence there is no escape. He denies the Resurrection of the dead, +_e.g._:-- + + "We laugh, but inept is our laughter; + We should weep and weep sore, + Who are shattered like glass, and thereafter + Re-moulded no more!"[588] + +Since Death is the ultimate goal of mankind, the sage will pray to be +delivered as speedily as possible from the miseries of life and refuse +to inflict upon others what, by no fault of his own, he is doomed to +suffer:-- + + "Amends are richly due from sire to son: + What if thy children rule o'er cities great? + That eminence estranges them the more + From thee, and causes them to wax in hate, + Beholding one who cast them into Life's + Dark labyrinth whence no wit can extricate."[589] + +There are many passages to the same effect, showing that Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi +regarded procreation as a sin and universal annihilation as the best +hope for humanity. He acted in accordance with his opinions, for he +never married, and he is said to have desired that the following verse +should be inscribed on his grave:-- + + "This wrong was by my father done + To me, but ne'er by me to one."[590] + +Hating the present life and weary of its burdens, yet seeing no happier +prospect than that of return to non-existence, Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi can scarcely +have disguised from himself what he might shrink openly to avow--that he +was at heart, not indeed an atheist, but wholly incredulous of any +Divine revelation. Religion, as he conceives it, is a product of the +human mind, in which men believe through force of habit and education, +never stopping to consider whether it is true. + + "Sometimes you may find a man skilful in his trade, perfect in + sagacity and in the use of arguments, but when he comes to religion + he is found obstinate, so does he follow the old groove. Piety is + implanted in human nature; it is deemed a sure refuge. To the + growing child that which falls from his elders' lips is a lesson + that abides with him all his life. Monks in their cloisters and + devotees in the mosques accept their creed just as a story is handed + down from him who tells it, without distinguishing between a true + interpreter and a false. If one of these had found his kin among the + Magians, he would have declared himself a Magian, or among the + a¹cAibians, he would have become nearly or quite like _them_."[591] + +Religion, then, is "a fable invented by the ancients," worthless except +to those unscrupulous persons who prey upon human folly and +superstition. Islam is neither better nor worse than any other creed:-- + + "a¸¤anA-fs are stumbling,[592] Christians all astray, + Jews wildered, Magians far on error's way. + We mortals are composed of two great schools-- + Enlightened knaves or else religious fools."[593] + +Not only does the poet emphatically reject the proud claim of Islam to +possess a monopoly of truth, but he attacks most of its dogmas in +detail. As to the Koran, Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi could not altogether refrain from +doubting if it was really the Word of God, but he thought so well of the +style that he accepted the challenge flung down by Mua¸Yammad and +produced a rival work (_al-Fua¹LAºl wa-aEuro(TM)l-GhAiyAit_), which appears to +have been a somewhat frivolous parody of the sacred volume, though in +the author's judgment its inferiority was simply due to the fact that it +was not yet polished by the tongues of four centuries of readers. +Another work which must have sorely offended orthodox Mua¸Yammadans is +the _RisAilatu aEuro(TM)l-GhufrAin_ (Epistle of Forgiveness).[594] Here the +Paradise of the Faithful becomes a glorified salon tenanted by various +heathen poets who have been forgiven--hence the title--and received +among the Blest. This idea is carried out with much ingenuity and in a +spirit of audacious burlesque that reminds us of Lucian. The poets are +presented in a series of imaginary conversations with a certain Shaykh +aEuro~AlA- b. Mana¹LAºr, to whom the work is addressed, reciting and +explaining their verses, quarrelling with one another, and generally +behaving as literary Bohemians. The second part contains a number of +anecdotes relating to the _zindA-qs_ or freethinkers of Islam +interspersed with quotations from their poetry and reflections on the +nature of their belief, which Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi condemns while expressing a +pious hope that they are not so black as they paint themselves. At this +time it may have suited him--he was over sixty--to assume the attitude +of charitable orthodoxy. Like so many wise men of the East, he practised +dissimulation as a fine art-- + + "I lift my voice to utter lies absurd, + But when I speak the truth, my hushed tones scarce are heard."[595] + +In the _LuzAºmiyyAit_, however, he often unmasks. Thus he describes as +idolatrous relics the two Pillars of the KaaEuro~ba and the Black Stone, +venerated by every Moslem, and calls the Pilgrimage itself 'a heathen's +journey' (_ria¸Ylatu jAihiliyyin_). The following sentiments do him +honour, but they would have been rank heresy at Mecca:-- + + "Praise God and pray, + Walk seventy times, not seven, the Temple round-- + And impious remain! + Devout is he alone who, when he may + Feast his desires, is found + With courage to abstain."[596] + +It is needless to give further instances of the poet's contempt for the +Mua¸Yammadan articles of faith. Considering that he assailed persons as +well as principles, and lashed with bitter invective the powerful class +of the _aEuro~UlamAi_, the clerical and legal representatives of Islam, we may +wonder that the accusation of heresy brought against him was never +pushed home and had no serious consequences. The question was warmly +argued on both sides, and though Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi was pronounced by the +majority to be a freethinker and materialist, he did not lack defenders +who quoted chapter and verse to prove that he was nothing of the kind. +It must be remembered that his works contain no philosophical system; +that his opinions have to be gathered from the ideas which he scatters +incoherently, and for the most part in guarded language, through a long +succession of rhymes; and that this task, already arduous enough, is +complicated by the not infrequent occurrence of sentiments which are +blamelessly orthodox and entirely contradictory to the rest. A brilliant +writer, familiar with Eastern ways of thinking, has observed that in +general the conscience of an Asiatic is composed of the following +ingredients: (1) an almost bare religious designation; (2) a more or +less lively belief in certain doctrines of the creed which he professes; +(3) a resolute opposition to many of its doctrines, even if they should +be the most essential; (4) a fund of ideas relating to completely alien +theories, which occupies more or less room; (5) a constant tendency to +get rid of these ideas and theories and to replace the old by new.[597] +Such phenomena will account for a great deal of logical inconsistency, +but we should beware of invoking them too confidently in this case. Abu +aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi with his keen intellect and unfanatical temperament was not the +man to let himself be mystified. Still lamer is the explanation offered +by some Mua¸Yammadan critics, that his thoughts were decided by the +necessities of the difficult metre in which he wrote. It is conceivable +that he may sometimes have doubted his own doubts and given Islam the +benefit, but Von Kremer's conclusion is probably near the truth, namely, +that where the poet speaks as a good Moslem, his phrases if they are not +purely conventional are introduced of set purpose to foil his pious +antagonists or to throw them off the scent. Although he was not without +religion in the larger sense of the word, unprejudiced students of the +later poems must recognise that from the orthodox standpoint he was +justly branded as an infidel. The following translations will serve to +illustrate the negative side of his philosophy:-- + + "Falsehood hath so corrupted all the world + That wrangling sects each other's gospel chide; + But were not hate Man's natural element, + Churches and mosques had risen side by side."[598] + + + "What is Religion? A maid kept close that no eye may view her; + The price of her wedding-gifts and dowry baffles the wooer. + Of all the goodly doctrine that I from the pulpit heard + My heart has never accepted so much as a single word!"[599] + + + "The pillars of this earth are four, + Which lend to human life a base; + God shaped two vessels, Time and Space, + The world and all its folk to store. + + "That which Time holds, in ignorance + It holds--why vent on it our spite? + Man is no cave-bound eremite, + But still an eager spy on Chance. + + "He trembles to be laid asleep, + Tho' worn and old and weary grown. + We laugh and weep by Fate alone, + Time moves us not to laugh or weep; + + "Yet we accuse it innocent, + Which, could it speak, might us accuse, + Our best and worst, at will to choose, + United in a sinful bent."[600] + + "'The stars' conjunction comes, divinely sent, + And lo, the veil o'er every creed is rent. + No realm is founded that escapes decay, + The firmest structure soon dissolves away.[601] + With sadness deep a thoughtful mind must scan + Religion made to serve the pelf of Man. + Fear thine own children: sparks at random flung + Consume the very tinder whence they sprung. + Evil are all men; I distinguish not + That part or this: the race entire I blot. + Trust none, however near akin, tho' he + A perfect sense of honour show to thee, + Thy self is the worst foe to be withstood: + Be on thy guard in hours of solitude." + + * * * * * + + "Desire a venerable shaykh to cite + Reason for his doctrine, he is gravelled quite. + What! shall I ripen ere a leaf is seen? + The tree bears only when 'tis clad in green."[602] + + + "How have I provoked your enmity? + Christ or Mua¸Yammad, 'tis one to me. + No rays of dawn our path illume, + We are sunk together in ceaseless gloom. + Can blind perceptions lead aright, + Or blear eyes ever have clear sight? + Well may a body racked with pain + Envy mouldering bones in vain; + Yet comes a day when the weary sword + Reposes, to its sheath restored. + Ah, who to me a frame will give + As clod or stone insensitive?-- + For when spirit is joined to flesh, the pair + Anguish of mortal sickness share. + O Wind, be still, if wind thy name, + O Flame, die out, if thou art flame!"[603] + +Pessimist and sceptic as he was, Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi denies more than he +affirms, but although he rejected the dogmas of positive religion, he +did not fall into utter unbelief; for he found within himself a moral +law to which he could not refuse obedience. + + "Take Reason for thy guide and do what she + Approves, the best of counsellors in sooth. + Accept no law the Pentateuch lays down: + Not there is what thou seekest--the plain truth."[604] + +He insists repeatedly that virtue is its own reward. + + "Oh, purge the good thou dost from hope of recompense + Or profit, as if thou wert one that sells his wares."[605] + +His creed is that of a philosopher and ascetic. Slay no living creature, +he says; better spare a flea than give alms. Yet he prefers active +piety, active humanity, to fasting and prayer. "The gist of his moral +teaching is to inculcate as the highest and holiest duty a conscientious +fulfilment of one's obligations with equal warmth and affection towards +all living beings."[606] + +Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi died in 1057 A.D., at the age of eighty-four. About ten +years before this time, the Persian poet and traveller, NAia¹Lir-i +Khusraw, passed through MaaEuro~arra on his way to Egypt. He describes Abu +aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi as the chief man in the town, very rich, revered by the +inhabitants, and surrounded by more than two hundred students who came +from all parts to attend his lectures on literature and poetry.[607] We +may set this trustworthy notice against the doleful account which Abu +aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi gives of himself in his letters and other works. If not among +the greatest Mua¸Yammadan poets, he is undoubtedly one of the most +original and attractive. After MutanabbA-, even after Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya, he +must appear strangely modern to the European reader. It is astonishing +to reflect that a spirit so unconventional, so free from dogmatic +prejudice, so rational in spite of his pessimism and deeply religious +notwithstanding his attacks on revealed religion, should have ended his +life in a Syrian country-town some years before the battle of Senlac. +Although he did not meddle with politics and held aloof from every sect, +he could truly say of himself, "I am the son of my time" (_ghadawtu aEuro(TM)bna +waqtA-_).[608] His poems leave no aspect of the age untouched, and +present a vivid picture of degeneracy and corruption, in which tyrannous +rulers, venal judges, hypocritical and unscrupulous theologians, +swindling astrologers, roving swarms of dervishes and godless +Carmathians occupy a prominent place.[609] + + +Although the reader may think that too much space has been already +devoted to poetry, I will venture by way of concluding the subject to +mention very briefly a few well-known names which cannot be altogether +omitted from a work of this kind. + +[Sidenote: AbAº TammAim and Bua¸YturA-.] + +AbAº TammAim (a¸¤abA-b b. Aws) and Bua¸YturA-, both of whom flourished in the +ninth century, were distinguished court poets of the same type as +MutanabbA-, but their reputation rests more securely on the anthologies +which they compiled under the title of _a¸¤amAisa_ (see p. 129 seq.). + +[Sidenote: Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-MuaEuro~tazz (861-908 A.D.).] + +Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AbbAis aEuro~AbdullAih, the son of the Caliph al-MuaEuro~tazz, was a +versatile poet and man of letters, who showed his originality by the +works which he produced in two novel styles of composition. It has often +been remarked that the Arabs have no great epos like the Iliad or the +Persian _ShAihnAima_, but only prose narratives which, though sometimes +epical in tone, are better described as historical romances. Ibnu +aEuro(TM)l-MuaEuro~tazz could not supply the deficiency. He wrote, however, in praise +of his cousin, the Caliph MuaEuro~taa¸id, a metrical epic in miniature, +commencing with a graphic delineation of the wretched state to which the +Empire had been reduced by the rapacity and tyranny of the Turkish +mercenaries. He composed also, besides an anthology of Bacchanalian +pieces, the first important work on Poetics (_KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-BadA-aEuro~_). A sad +destiny was in store for this accomplished prince. On the death of the +Caliph MuktarA- he was called to the throne, but a few hours after his +accession he was overpowered by the partisans of Muqtadir, who strangled +him as soon as they discovered his hiding-place. Picturing the scene, +one thinks almost inevitably of Nero's dying words, _Qualis artifex +pereo!_ + + +[Sidenote: aEuro~Umar Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-FAiria¸ (1181-1235 A.D.).] + +The mystical poetry of the Arabs is far inferior, as a whole, to that of +the Persians. Fervour and passion it has in the highest degree, but it +lacks range and substance, not to speak of imaginative and speculative +power. aEuro~Umar Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-FAiria¸, though he is undoubtedly the poet of Arabian +mysticism, cannot sustain a comparison with his great Persian +contemporary, JalAiluaEuro(TM)l-DA-n RAºmA- (aEuro 1273 A.D.); he surpasses him only in +the intense glow and exquisite beauty of his diction. It will be +convenient to reserve a further account of Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-FAiria¸ for the next +chapter, where we shall discuss the development of a¹cAºfiism during this +period. + +Finally two writers claim attention who owe their reputation to single +poems--a by no means rare phenomenon in the history of Arabic +literature. One of these universally celebrated odes is the _LAimiyyatu +aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Ajam_ (the ode rhyming in _l_ of the non-Arabs) composed in the year +1111 A.D. by a¹¬ughrAiaEuro(TM)A-; the other is the _Burda_ (Mantle Ode) of +BAºa¹LA-rA-, which I take the liberty of mentioning in this chapter, +although its author died some forty years after the Mongol Invasion. + +[Sidenote: a¹¬ughrAiaEuro(TM)A- (aEuro _circa_ 1120 A.D.).] + +a¸¤asan b. aEuro~AlA- al-a¹¬ughrAiaEuro(TM)A- was of Persian descent and a native of +Ia¹LfahAin.[610] He held the offices of _kAitib_ (secretary) and _munshA-_ or +_a¹-ughrAiaEuro(TM)A-_ (chancellor) under the great SeljAºq Sultans, MalikshAih and +Mua¸Yammad, and afterwards became Vizier to the SeljAºqid prince GhiyAithu +aEuro(TM)l-DA-n MasaEuro~Aºd[611] in Mosul. He derived the title by which he is +generally known from the royal signature (_a¹-ughrAi_) which it was his +duty to indite on all State papers over the initial _BismillAih_. The +_LAimiyyatu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Ajam_ is so called with reference to ShanfarAi's renowned +poem, the _LAimiyyatu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arab_ (see p. 79 seq.), which rhymes in the +same letter; otherwise the two odes have only this in common,[612] that +whereas ShanfarAi depicts the hardships of an outlaw's life in the +desert, a¹¬ughrAiaEuro(TM)A-, writing in BaghdAid, laments the evil times on which he +has fallen, and complains that younger rivals, base and servile men, are +preferred to him, while he is left friendless and neglected in his old +age. + +[Sidenote: BAºa¹LA-rA- (aEuro _circa_ 1296 A.D.).] + +The _Qaa¹LA-datu aEuro(TM)l-Burda_ (Mantle Ode) of al-BAºa¹LA-rA-[613] is a hymn in +praise of the Prophet. Its author was born in Egypt in 1212 A.D. We know +scarcely anything concerning his life, which, as he himself declares, +was passed in writing poetry and in paying court to the great[614]; but +his biographers tell us that he supported himself by copying +manuscripts, and that he was a disciple of the eminent a¹cAºfA-, Abu +aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AbbAis Aa¸Ymad al-MarsA-. It is said that he composed the _Burda_ while +suffering from a stroke which paralysed one half of his body. After +praying God to heal him, he began to recite the poem. Presently he fell +asleep and dreamed that he saw the Prophet, who touched his palsied side +and threw his mantle (_burda_) over him.[615] "Then," said al-BAºa¹LA-rA-, "I +awoke and found myself able to rise." However this may be, the Mantle +Ode is held in extraordinary veneration by Mua¸Yammadans. Its verses are +often learned by heart and inscribed in golden letters on the walls of +public buildings; and not only is the whole poem regarded as a charm +against evil, but some peculiar magical power is supposed to reside in +each verse separately. Although its poetical merit is no more than +respectable, the _Burda_ may be read with pleasure on account of its +smooth and elegant style, and with interest as setting forth in brief +compass the mediA|val legend of the Prophet--a legend full of prodigies +and miracles in which the historical figure of Mua¸Yammad is glorified +almost beyond recognition. + + +[Sidenote: Rhymed prose.] + +Rhymed prose (_sajaEuro~_) long retained the religious associations which it +possessed in Pre-islamic times and which were consecrated, for all +Moslems, by its use in the Koran. About the middle of the ninth century +it began to appear in the public sermons (_khua¹-ab_, sing. +_khua¹-ba_) of the Caliphs and their viceroys, and it was still further +developed by professional preachers, like Ibn NubAita (aEuro 984 A.D.), and +by official secretaries, like IbrAihA-m b. HilAil al-a¹cAibA- (aEuro 994 A.D.). +Henceforth rhyme becomes a distinctive and almost indispensable feature +of rhetorical prose. + +[Sidenote: BadA-aEuro~u aEuro(TM)l-ZamAin al-HamadhAinA- (aEuro 1007 A.D.).] + +The credit of inventing, or at any rate of making popular, a new and +remarkable form of composition in this style belongs to al-HamadhAinA- (aEuro +1007 A.D.), on whom posterity conferred the title _BadA-aEuro~u aEuro(TM)l-ZamAin_, +_i.e._, 'the Wonder of the Age.' Born in HamadhAin (Ecbatana), he left +his native town as a young man and travelled through the greater part of +Persia, living by his wits and astonishing all whom he met by his talent +for improvisation. His _MaqAimAit_ may be called a romance or literary +Bohemianism. In the _maqAima_ we find some approach to the dramatic +style, which has never been cultivated by the Semites.[616] HamadhAinA- +imagined as his hero a witty, unscrupulous vagabond journeying from +place to place and supporting himself by the presents which his +impromptu displays of rhetoric, poetry, and learning seldom failed to +draw from an admiring audience. The second character is the _rAiwA-_ or +narrator, "who should be continually meeting with the other, should +relate his adventures, and repeat his excellent compositions."[617] The +_MaqAimAit_ of HamadhAinA- became the model for this kind of writing, and +the types which he created survive unaltered in the more elaborate work +of his successors. Each _maqAima_ forms an independent whole, so that the +complete series may be regarded as a novel consisting of detached +episodes in the hero's life, a medley of prose and verse in which the +story is nothing, the style everything. + +[Sidenote: a¸¤arA-rA- (1054-1122 A.D.).] + +Less original than BadA-aEuro~u aEuro(TM)l-ZamAin, but far beyond him in variety of +learning and copiousness of language, AbAº Mua¸Yammad al-QAisim +al-a¸¤arA-rA- of Baa¹Lra produced in his _MaqAimAit_ a masterpiece which +for eight centuries "has been esteemed as, next to the Koran, the chief +treasure of the Arabic tongue." In the Preface to his work he says that +the composition of _maqAimAit_ was suggested to him by "one whose +suggestion is a command and whom it is a pleasure to obey." This was the +distinguished Persian statesman, AnAºshirwAin b. KhAilid,[618] who +afterwards served as Vizier under the Caliph Mustarshid BillAih +(1118-1135 A.D.) and SultAin MasaEuro~Aºd, the SeljAºq (1133-1152 A.D.); but at +the time when he made a¸¤arA-rA-'s acquaintance he was living in +retirement at Baa¹Lra and devoting himself to literary studies. +a¸¤arA-rA- begged to be excused on the score that his abilities were +unequal to the task, "for the lame steed cannot run like the strong +courser."[619] Finally, however, he yielded to the request of +AnAºshirwAin, and, to quote his own words-- + + "I composed, in spite of hindrances that I suffered + From dullness of capacity and dimness of intellect, + And dryness of imagination and distressing anxieties, + Fifty MaqAimAit, which contain serious language and lightsome, + And combine refinement with dignity of style, + And brilliancies with jewels of eloquence, + And beauties of literature with its rarities, + Beside verses of the Koran wherewith I adorned them, + And choice metaphors, and Arab proverbs that I interspersed, + And literary elegancies and grammatical riddles, + And decisions based on the (double) meaning of words, + And original discourses and highly-wrought orations, + And affecting exhortations as well as entertaining jests: + The whole of which I have indited as by the tongue of AbAº Zayd + of SarAºj, + The part of narrator being assigned to Harith son of HammAim + of Baa¹Lra."[620] + +a¸¤arA-rA- then proceeds to argue that his _MaqAimAit_ are not mere frivolous +stories such as strict Moslems are bound to reprobate in accordance with +a well-known passage of the Koran referring to Naa¸r b. a¸¤Airith, who +mortally offended the Prophet by amusing the Quraysh with the old +Persian legends of Rustam and IsfandiyAir (Koran, xxxi, 5-6): "_There is +one that buyeth idle tales that he may seduce men from the way of God, +without knowledge, and make it a laughing-stock: these shall suffer a +shameful punishment. And when Our signs are read to him, he turneth his +back in disdain as though he heard them not, as though there were in his +ears a deafness: give him joy of a grievous punishment!_" a¸¤arA-rA- insists +that the _Assemblies_ have a moral purpose. The ignorant and malicious, +he says, will probably condemn his work, but intelligent readers will +perceive, if they lay prejudice aside, that it is as useful and +instructive as the fables of beasts, &c.,[621] to which no one has ever +objected. That his fears of hostile criticism were not altogether +groundless is shown by the following remarks of the author of the +popular history entitled _al-FakhrA-_ (aEuro _circa_ 1300 A.D.). This +writer, after claiming that his own book is more useful than the +_a¸¤amAisa_ of AbAº TammAim, continues:-- + + [Sidenote: _MaqAimAit_ criticised as immoral.] + + "And, again, it is more profitable than the _MaqAimAit_ on which men + have set their hearts, and which they eagerly commit to memory; + because the reader derives no benefit from _MaqAimAit_ except + familiarity with elegant composition and knowledge of the rules of + verse and prose. Undoubtedly they contain maxims and ingenious + devices and experiences; but all this has a debasing effect on the + mind, for it is founded on begging and sponging and disgraceful + scheming to acquire a few paltry pence. Therefore, if they do good + in one direction, they do harm in another; and this point has been + noticed by some critics of the _MaqAimAit_ of a¸¤arA-rA- and BadA-aEuro~u + aEuro(TM)l-ZamAin."[622] + +[Sidenote: The character of AbAº Zayd.] + +Before pronouncing on the justice of this censure, we must consider for +a moment the character of AbAº Zayd, the hero of a¸¤arA-rA-'s work, whose +adventures are related by a certain a¸¤Airith b. HammAim, under which +name the author is supposed to signify himself. According to the general +tradition, a¸¤arA-rA- was one day seated with a number of savants in the +mosque of the BanAº a¸¤arAim at Baa¹Lra, when an old man entered, +footsore and travel-stained. On being asked who he was and whence he +came, he answered that his name of honour was AbAº Zayd and that he came +from SarAºj.[623] He described in eloquent and moving terms how his +native town had been plundered by the Greeks, who made his daughter a +captive and drove him forth to exile and poverty. a¸¤arA-rA- was so +struck with his wonderful powers of improvisation that on the same +evening he began to compose the _MaqAima of the BanAº a¸¤arAim_,[624] +where AbAº Zayd is introduced in his invariable character: "a crafty old +man, full of genius and learning, unscrupulous of the artifices which he +uses to effect his purpose, reckless in spending in forbidden +indulgences the money he has obtained by his wit or deceit, but with +veins of true feeling in him, and ever yielding to unfeigned emotion +when he remembers his devastated home and his captive child."[625] If an +immoral tendency has been attributed to the _Assemblies_ of a¸¤arA-rA- it +is because the author does not conceal his admiration for this +unprincipled and thoroughly disreputable scamp. AbAº Zayd, indeed, is +made so fascinating that we can easily pardon his knaveries for the sake +of the pearls of wit and wisdom which he scatters in splendid +profusion--excellent discourses, edifying sermons, and plaintive +lamentations mingled with rollicking ditties and ribald jests. Modern +readers are not likely to agree with the historian quoted above, but +although they may deem his criticism illiberal, they can hardly deny +that it has some justification. + +a¸¤arA-rA-'s rhymed prose might be freely imitated in English, but the +difficulty of rendering it in rhyme with tolerable fidelity has caused +me to abandon the attempt to produce a version of one of the +_Assemblies_ in the original form.[626] I will translate instead three +poems which are put into the mouth of AbAº Zayd. The first is a tender +elegiac strain recalling far-off days of youth and happiness in his +native land:-- + + "GhassAin is my noble kindred, SarAºj is my land of birth, + Where I dwelt in a lofty mansion of sunlike glory and worth, + A Paradise for its sweetness and beauty and pleasant mirth! + + And oh, the life that I led there abounding in all delight! + I trailed my robe on its meadows, while Time flew a careless flight, + Elate in the flower of manhood, no pleasure veiled from my sight. + + Now, if woe could kill, I had died of the troubles that haunt me here, + Or could past joy ever be ransomed, my heart's blood had not been + dear, + Since death is better than living a brute's life year after year. + + Subdued to scorn as a lion whom base hyenas torment. + But Luck is to blame, else no one had failed of his due ascent: + If she were straight, the conditions of men would never be bent."[627] + +The scene of the eleventh _Assembly_ is laid in SAiwa, a city lying +midway between HamadhAin (Ecbatana) and Rayy (Rhages). "a¸¤Airith, in a +fit of religious zeal, betakes himself to the public burial ground, for +the purpose of contemplation. He finds a funeral in progress, and when +it is over an old man, with his face muffled in a cloak, takes his stand +on a hillock, and pours forth a discourse on the certainty of death and +judgment.... He then rises into poetry and declaims a piece which is one +of the noblest productions of Arabic literature. In lofty morality, in +religious fervour, in beauty of language, in power and grace of metre, +this magnificent hymn is unsurpassed."[628] + + "Pretending sense in vain, how long, O light of brain, wilt thou heap + sin and bane, and compass error's span? + Thy conscious guilt avow! The white hairs on thy brow admonish thee, + and thou hast ears unstopt, O man! + Death's call dost thou not hear? Rings not his voice full clear? Of + parting hast no fear, to make thee sad and wise? + How long sunk in a sea of sloth and vanity wilt thou play heedlessly, + as though Death spared his prize? + Till when, far wandering from virtue, wilt thou cling to evil ways + that bring together vice in brief? + For thy Lord's anger shame thou hast none, but let maim o'ertake thy + cherished aim, then feel'st thou burning grief. + Thou hail'st with eager joy the coin of yellow die, but if a bier pass + by, feigned is thy sorry face; + Perverse and callous wight! thou scornest counsel right to follow + the false light of treachery and disgrace. + Thy pleasure thou dost crave, to sordid gain a slave, forgetting + the dark grave and what remains of dole; + Were thy true weal descried, thy lust would not misguide nor thou + be terrified by words that should console. + Not tears, blood shall thine eyes pour at the great Assize, when thou + hast no allies, no kinsman thee to save; + Straiter thy tomb shall be than needle's cavity: deep, deep thy plunge + I see as diver's 'neath the wave. + There shall thy limbs be laid, a feast for worms arrayed, till utterly + decayed are wood and bones withal, + Nor may thy soul repel that ordeal horrible, when o'er the Bridge of + Hell she must escape or fall. + Astray shall leaders go, and mighty men be low, and sages shall cry, + 'Woe like this was never yet.' + Then haste, my thoughtless friend, what thou hast marred to mend, + for life draws near its end, and still thou art in the net. + Trust not in fortune, nay, though she be soft and gay; for she will + spit one day her venom, if thou dote; + Abate thy haughty pride! lo, Death is at thy side, fastening, whate'er + betide, his fingers on thy throat. + When prosperous, refrain from arrogant disdain, nor give thy tongue + the rein: a modest tongue is best. + Comfort the child of bale and listen to his tale: repair thine actions + frail, and be for ever blest. + Feather the nest once more of those whose little store has vanished: + ne'er deplore the loss nor miser be; + With meanness bravely cope, and teach thine hand to ope, and spurn + the misanthrope, and make thy bounty free. + Lay up provision fair and leave what brings thee care: for sea + the ship prepare and dread the rising storm. + This, friend, is what I preach expressed in lucid speech. Good luck + to all and each who with my creed conform!" + +In the next _MaqAima_--that of Damascus--we find AbAº Zayd, gaily attired, +amidst casks and vats of wine, carousing and listening to the music of +lutes and singing-- + + "I ride and I ride through the waste far and wide, and I fling away + pride to be gay as the swallow; + Stem the torrent's fierce speed, tame the mettlesome steed, that + wherever I lead Youth and Pleasure may follow. + I bid gravity pack, and I strip bare my back lest liquor I lack when + the goblet is lifted: + Did I never incline to the quaffing of wine, I had ne'er been with + fine wit and eloquence gifted. + Is it wonderful, pray, that an old man should stay in a well-stored + seray by a cask overflowing? + Wine strengthens the knees, physics every disease, and from sorrow + it frees, the oblivion-bestowing! + Oh, the purest of joys is to live sans disguise unconstrained by + the ties of a grave reputation, + And the sweetest of love that the lover can prove is when fear and + hope move him to utter his passion. + Thy love then proclaim, quench the smouldering flame, for 'twill + spark out thy shame and betray thee to laughter: + Heal the wounds of thine heart and assuage thou the smart by the cups + that impart a delight men seek after; + While to hand thee the bowl damsels wait who cajole and enravish + the soul with eyes tenderly glancing, + And singers whose throats pour such high-mounting notes, when + the melody floats, iron rocks would be dancing! + Obey not the fool who forbids thee to pull beauty's rose when in + full bloom thou'rt free to possess it; + Pursue thine end still, tho' it seem past thy skill; let them say + what they will, take thy pleasure and bless it! + Get thee gone from thy sire, if he thwart thy desire; spread thy + nets nor enquire what the nets are receiving; + But be true to a friend, shun the miser and spend, ways of charity + wend, be unwearied in giving. + He that knocks enters straight at the Merciful's gate, so repent + or e'er Fate call thee forth from the living!" + +The reader may judge from these extracts whether the _Assemblies_ of +a¸¤arA-rA- 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. a¸¤arA-rA- himself was a subtle grammarian, living in +Baa¹Lra, 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 illustrate 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, assonances, 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 a¸¤arA-rA-'s countrymen the _MaqAimAit_ are prized as +an almost unique monument of their language, antiquities, and culture. +One of the author's contemporaries, the famous ZamakhsharA-, has +expressed the general verdict in pithy verse-- + + "I swear by God and His marvels, + By the pilgrims' rite and their shrine: + a¸¤arA-rA-'s _Assemblies_ 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 (_a¸¤adA-th_) we +must refer the reader to what has been already said. All that can be +attempted here is to take a passing notice of the most eminent writers +and the most celebrated works of this epoch in the field of religion. + +[Sidenote: MAilik b. Anas (713-795 A.D.).] + +The place of honour belongs to the ImAim MAilik b. Anas of MedA-na, whose +_Muwaa¹-a¹-aaEuro(TM)_ is the first great _corpus_ of Mua¸Yammadan Law. He +was a partisan of the aEuro~Alids, and was flogged by command of the Caliph +Mana¹LAºr in consequence of his declaration that he did not consider the +oath of allegiance to the aEuro~AbbAisid dynasty to have any binding effect. + +[Sidenote: BukhAirA- and Muslim.] + +The two principal authorities for Apostolic Tradition are BukhAirA- (aEuro 870 +A.D.) and Muslim (aEuro 875 A.D.), authors of the collections entitled +_a¹caa¸YA-a¸Y_. Compilations of a narrower range, embracing only those +traditions which bear on the _Sunna_ or custom of the Prophet, are the +_Sunan_ of AbAº DAiwAºd al-SijistAinA- (aEuro 889 A.D.), the _JAimiaEuro~_ of AbAº aEuro~IsAi +Mua¸Yammad al-TirmidhA- (aEuro 892 A.D.), the _Sunan_ of al-NasAiaEuro(TM)A- (aEuro 915 +A.D.), and the _Sunan_ of Ibn MAija (aEuro 896 A.D.). These, together with the +_a¹caa¸YA-a¸Ys_ of BukhAirA- 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 _Maa¹LAibA-a¸Yu aEuro(TM)l-Sunna_ by al-BaghawA- (aEuro +_circa_ 1120 A.D.). A later adaptation called _MishkAitu +aEuro(TM)l-Maa¹LAibA-a¸Y_ has been often printed, and is still extremely +popular. + +[Sidenote: MAiwardA- (aEuro 1058 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Arabic authorities on a¹cAºfiism.] + +[Sidenote: GhazAilA- (aEuro 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-MAiwardA-, a ShAifiaEuro~ite lawyer, who wrote a well-known treatise +on politics--the _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-Aa¸YkAim al-Sula¹-Ainiyya_, 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. MAiwardA- lived at BaghdAid 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 aEuro~AbbAisid dynasty the mystical doctrines of the a¹cAºfA-s were +systematised and expounded. Some of the most important Arabic works of +reference on a¹cAºfiism are the _QAºtu aEuro(TM)l-QulAºb_, or 'Food of Hearts,' by +AbAº a¹¬Ailib al-MakkA- (aEuro 996 A.D.); the _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-TaaEuro~arruf li-Madhhabi +ahli aEuro(TM)l-Taa¹Lawwuf_, or 'Book of Enquiry as to the Religion of the +a¹cAºfA-s,' by Mua¸Yammad b. Isa¸YAiq al-KalAibAidhA- (aEuro _circa_ 1000 A.D.); +the _a¹¬abaqAitu aEuro(TM)l-a¹cAºfiyya_, or 'Classes of the a¹cAºfA-s,' by AbAº +aEuro~Abd al-Raa¸YmAin al-SulamA- (aEuro 1021 A.D.); the _a¸¤ilyatu aEuro(TM)l-AwliyAi_, +or 'Adornment of the Saints,' by AbAº NuaEuro~aym al-Ia¹LfahAinA- (aEuro 1038 +A.D.); the _RisAilatu aEuro(TM)l-Qushayriyya_, or 'Qushayrite Tract,' by Abu +aEuro(TM)l-QAisim al-QushayrA- of NaysAibAºr (aEuro 1074 A.D.); the _Ia¸YyAiaEuro(TM)u aEuro~UlAºm +al-DA-n_, or 'Revivification of the Religious Sciences,' by GhazAilA- (aEuro +1111 A.D.); and the _aEuro~AwAirifu aEuro(TM)l-MaaEuro~Airif_, or 'Bounties of Knowledge,' +by ShihAibu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n AbAº a¸¤afa¹L aEuro~Umar al-SuhrawardA- (aEuro 1234 A.D.)--a +list which might easily be extended. In Dogmatic Theology there is none +to compare with AbAº a¸¤Aimid al-GhazAilA-, surnamed 'the Proof of Islam' +(_a¸¤ujjatu aEuro(TM)l-IslAim_). 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 illustrate the history of +Mua¸Yammadan 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 GhazAilA- according to the _ShadharAitu aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_.] + + "In this year (505 A.H. = 1111 A.D.) died the ImAim, who was the + Ornament of the Faith and the Proof of Islam, AbAº a¸¤Aimid + Mua¸Yammad ... of a¹¬Aºs, the ShAifiaEuro~ite. His death took place on the + 14th of the Latter JumAidAi at a¹¬AibarAin, a village near a¹¬Aºs. He + was then fifty-five years of age. GhazzAilA- is equivalent to GhazzAil, + like aEuro~Aa¹-a¹-AirA- (for aEuro~Aa¹-a¹-Air) and KhabbAizA- (for KhabbAiz), in + the dialect of the people of KhurAisAin[632]: so it is stated by the + author of the _aEuro~Ibar_.[633] Al-IsnawA- says in his + _a¹¬abaqAit_[634]:--GhazzAilA- is an ImAim by whose name breasts 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 a¹¬Aºs + in the year 450 A.H. = 1058-1059 A.D. His father used to spin wool + (_yaghzilu aEuro(TM)l-a¹LAºf_) and sell it in his shop. On his deathbed he + committed his two sons, GhazzAilA- himself and his brother Aa¸Ymad, + to the care of a pious a¹cAºfA-, who taught them writing and educated + them until the money left him by their father was all spent. 'Then,' + says GhazzAilA-, '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 AbAº Naa¹Lr al-IsmAiaEuro~A-lA- in JurjAin, then to the + ImAimu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤aramayn[635] at NaysAibAºr, under whom he studied with + such assiduity that he became the best scholastic of his + contemporaries (_a¹LAira anaº"ara ahli zamAinihi_), and he lectured + _ex cathedrAc_ 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 Niaº"Aimu aEuro(TM)l-Mulk, whose assembly 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 principal doctors, and disputed with his + opponents and rebutted them in spite of their eminence. So the + Niaº"Aimu aEuro(TM)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 professorship in the Niaº"Aimiyya College at + BaghdAid, where a splendid reception awaited him. His words reached + far and wide, and his influence soon exceeded that of the EmA-rs 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 a¸¤ijAiz.[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 _Ia¸YyAi_ is said + to be one. Then, after visiting Jerusalem and Alexandria, he + returned to his home at a¹¬Aºs, intent on writing and worship and + constant recitation of the Koran and dissemination of knowledge and + avoidance of intercourse with men. The Vizier Fakhru aEuro(TM)l-Mulk,[638] + son of the Niaº"Aimu aEuro(TM)l-Mulk, came to see him, and urged him by + every means in his power to accept a professorship in the + Niaº"Aimiyya College at NaysAibAºr.[639] GhazzAilA- consented, but after + teaching for a time, resigned the appointment and returned to end + his days in his native town." + +[Sidenote: His principal works.] + +Besides his _magnum opus_, the already-mentioned _Ia¸YyAi_, in which he +expounds theology and the ethics of religion from the standpoint of the +moderate a¹cAºfA- school, GhazAilA- wrote a great number of important +works, such as the _Munqidh mina aEuro(TM)l-a¸alAil_, or 'Deliverer from +Error,' a sort of 'Apologia pro VitAc SuAc'; the _KA-miyAiaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-SaaEuro~Aidat_, or +'Alchemy of Happiness,' which was originally written in Persian; and the +_TahAifutu aEuro(TM)l-FalAisifa_, 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: ShahrastAinA-'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 _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-Milal wa-aEuro(TM)l-Nia¸Yal_,[640] +that is to say, 'The Book of Religions and Sects,' by Ibn a¸¤azm of +Cordova (aEuro 1064 A.D.) and Abu aEuro(TM)l-Fata¸Y al-ShahrastAinA- (aEuro 1153 A.D.). +Ibn a¸¤azm we shall meet with again in the chapter which deals +specially with the history and literature of the Spanish Moslems. +ShahrastAinA-, as he is named after his birthplace, belonged to the +opposite extremity of the Mua¸Yammadan Empire, being a native of +KhurAisAin, the huge Eastern province bounded by the Oxus. Cureton, who +edited the Arabic text of the _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-Milal wa-aEuro(TM)l-Nia¸Yal_ (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 Mua¸Yammad, and + likewise of those to whom a true revelation had been made (the _Ahlu + aEuro(TM)l-KitAib_, or 'People of the Scripture'), that is, Jews and + Christians; and of those who had a doubtful or pretended revelation + (_man lahAº shubhatu aEuro(TM)l-KitAib_), such as the Magi and the ManichA|ans. + The second division comprises an account of the philosophical + opinions of the SabA|ans (a¹cAibians), which are mainly set forth in + a very interesting dialogue between a SabA|an and an orthodox + Mua¸Yammadan; of the tenets of various Greek Philosophers and some + of the Fathers of the Christian Church; and also of the + Mua¸Yammadan doctors, more particularly of the system of Ibn SA-nAi + 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 Baa¹Lra.] + +The science of grammar took its rise in the cities of Baa¹Lra and KAºfa, +which were founded not long after Mua¸Yammad's death, and which +remained the chief centres of Arabian life and thought outside the +peninsula until they were eclipsed by the great aEuro~AbbAisid 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 classical idiom was peculiarly exposed to +corrupting influences. If the pride and delight of the Arabs in their +noble 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 pronunciation 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 aEuro(TM)l-Aswad al-DuaEuro(TM)ilA-, +who died at Baa¹Lra during the Umayyad period. "Abu aEuro(TM)l-Aswad, having +been asked where he had acquired the science of grammar, answered that +he had learned the rudiments of it from aEuro~AlA- b. AbA- a¹¬Ailib. It is said +that he never made known any of the principles which he had received +from aEuro~AlA- till ZiyAid[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 God. He at first asked to be excused, but on hearing a man +recite the following passage out of the Koran, _anna aEuro(TM)llAiha barA-un mina +aEuro(TM)l-mushrikA-na wa-rasAºluhu_,[642] which last word the reader pronounced +_rasAºlihi_, he exclaimed, 'I never thought that things would have come +to this.' He then returned to ZiyAid and said, 'I will do what you +ordered.'"[643] The Baa¹Lra school of grammarians which Abu aEuro(TM)l-Aswad is +said to have founded is older than the rival school of KAºfa and +surpassed it in fame. Its most prominent representatives were AbAº aEuro~Amr +b. al-aEuro~AlAi (aEuro 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; KhalA-l b. Aa¸Ymad, inventor of the +Arabic system of metres and author of the first Arabic lexicon (the +_KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Ayn_), which, however, he did not live to complete; the +Persian SA-bawayhi, whose Grammar, entitled 'The Book of SA-bawayhi,' is +universally celebrated; the great Humanists al-Aa¹LmaaEuro~A- and AbAº aEuro~Ubayda +who flourished under HAirAºn al-Rashid; al-Mubarrad, about a century +later, whose best-known work, the _KAimil_, has been edited by Professor +William Wright; his contemporary al-SukkarA-, a renowned collector and +critic of old Arabian poetry; and Ibn Durayd (aEuro 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 principal works, in addition to the famous ode known +as the _Maqa¹LAºra_, are a voluminous lexicon (_al-Jamhara fi aEuro(TM)l-Lugha_) +and a treatise on the genealogies of the Arab tribes (_KitAibu +aEuro(TM)l-IshtiqAiq_). + +[Sidenote: The philogists of KAºfa.] + +Against these names the school of KAºfa can set al-KisAiaEuro(TM)A-, a Persian +savant who was entrusted by HAirAºn al-RashA-d with the education of his +sons AmA-n and MaaEuro(TM)mAºn; al-FarrAi (aEuro 822 A.D.), a pupil and compatriot of +al-KisAiaEuro(TM)A-; al-Mufaa¸a¸al al-a¸abbA-, a favourite of the Caliph +MahdA-, for whom he compiled an excellent anthology of Pre-islamic poems +(_al-Mufaa¸a¸aliyyAit_), which has already been noticed[644]; Ibnu +aEuro(TM)l-SikkA-t, whose outspoken partiality for the House of aEuro~AlA- b. AbA- +a¹¬Ailib caused him to be brutally trampled to death by the Turkish +guards of the tyrant Mutawakkil (858 A.D.); and ThaaEuro~lab, head of the +KAºfa school in his time (aEuro 904 A.D.), of whose rivalry with al-Mubarrad +many stories are told. A contemporary, AbAº Bakr b. Abi aEuro(TM)l-Azhar, said in +one of his poems:-- + + "Turn to Mubarrad or to ThaaEuro~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._, a¸¤ammAid al-RAiwiya (aEuro 776 A.D.) and his slightly +younger contemporary, Khalaf al-Aa¸Ymar, 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 aEuro~AbbAisids, the +place of honour belongs to AbAº aEuro~Ubayda (aEuro about 825 A.D.) and al-AsmaaEuro~A- +(aEuro about 830 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: AbAº aEuro~Ubayda.] + +[Sidenote: Aa¹LmaaEuro~A-.] + +AbAº aEuro~Ubayda MaaEuro~mar b. al-MuthannAi was of Jewish-Persian race, and +maintained in his writings the cause of the ShuaEuro~Aºbites against the Arab +national party, for which reason he is erroneously described as a +KhAirijite.[647] The rare expressions of the Arabic language, the history +of the Arabs and their conflicts were his predominant study--"neither in +heathen nor Mua¸Yammadan 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 _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-AghAinA-_ and elsewhere. He left +nearly two hundred works, of which a long but incomplete catalogue +occurs in the _Fihrist_ (pp. 53-54). AbAº aEuro~Ubayda was summoned by the +Caliph HAirAºn al-RashA-d to BaghdAid, where he became acquainted with +Aa¹LmaaEuro~A-. There was a standing feud between them, due in part to +difference of character[650] and in part to personal jealousies. aEuro~Abdu +aEuro(TM)l-Malik b. Qurayb al-Aa¹LmaaEuro~A- was, like his rival, a native of +Baa¹Lra. 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 AbAº aEuro~Ubayda was dreaded +for his sharp tongue and sarcastic humour, Aa¹LmaaEuro~A- had all the +accomplishments and graces of a courtier. AbAº NuwAis, the first great +poet of the aEuro~AbbAisid period, said that Aa¹LmaaEuro~A- 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' (_KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-Ibil_), 'The Book of +Horses' (_KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-Khayl_), and 'The Book of the Making of Man' +(_KitAibu Khalqi aEuro(TM)l-InsAin_), 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 aEuro(TM)l-MuqaffaaEuro~ (aEuro _circa_ 760 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Ibn Qutayba (aEuro 899 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: JAia¸Yiaº" (aEuro 869 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Ibn aEuro~Abdi Rabbihi (aEuro 940 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Abu aEuro(TM)l-Faraj al-Ia¹LfahAinA- (aEuro 967 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: ThaaEuro~AilibA- (aEuro 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 RAºzbih, +better known as aEuro~AbdullAih Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-MuqaffaaEuro~, who was put to death by +order of the Caliph Mana¹LAºr, made several translations from the +PehlevA- or Middle-Persian literature into Arabic. We possess a specimen +of his powers in the famous _Book of KalA-la 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 DA-nawar, and lived +at BaghdAid in the latter half of the ninth century. We have more than +once cited his 'Book of General Knowledge' (_KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-MaaEuro~Airif_)[651] +and his 'Book of Poetry and Poets,' (_KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-ShiaEuro~r wa-aEuro(TM)l-ShuaEuro~arAi_), +and may add here the _Adabu aEuro(TM)l-KAitib_, or 'Accomplishments of the +Secretary,'[652] a manual of stylistic, dealing with orthography, +orthoepy, lexicography, and the like; and the _aEuro~UyAºnu aEuro(TM)l-AkhbAir_, or +'Choice Histories,'[653] a work in ten chapters, each of which is +devoted to a special theme such as Government, War, Nobility, +Friendship, Women, &c. aEuro~Amr b. Baa¸Yr al-JAia¸Yiaº" of Baa¹Lra was a +celebrated freethinker, and gave his name to a sect of the MuaEuro~tazilites +(_al-JAia¸Yiaº"iyya_).[654] He composed numerous books of an anecdotal +and entertaining character. Ibn KhallikAin singles out as his finest and +most instructive works the _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤ayawAin_ ('Book of Animals'), +and the _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-BayAin wa-aEuro(TM)l-TabyA-n_ ('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 aEuro~Abdi Rabbihi of +Cordova, who was descended from an enfranchised slave of the Spanish +Umayyad Caliph, HishAim b. aEuro~Abd al-Raa¸YmAin (788-796 A.D.), has left us +a miscellaneous anthology entitled _al-aEuro~Iqd al-FarA-d_, 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 aEuro(TM)l-Faraj aEuro~AlA-, the author of the _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-AghAinA-_, was born +at Ia¹LfahAin, he was an Arab of the Arabs, being a member of the tribe +Quraysh and a lineal descendant of MarwAin, the last Umayyad Caliph. +Coming to BaghdAid, he bent all his energies to the study of Arabian +antiquity, and towards the end of his life found a generous patron in +al-MuhallabA-, the Vizier of the Buwayhid sovereign, MuaEuro~izzu aEuro(TM)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 HAirAºn al-RashA-d, but +to these Abu aEuro(TM)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 quantity of historical traditions and anecdotes, +including much ancient and modern verse. It is said that the a¹cAia¸Yib +Ibn aEuro~AbbAid,[655] when travelling, used to take thirty camel-loads of +books about with him, but on receiving the _AghAinA-_ he contented himself +with this one book and dispensed with all the rest.[656] The chief man +of letters of the next generation was AbAº MansAºr al-ThaaEuro~AilibA- (the +Furrier) of NaysAibAºr. 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 _YatA-matu aEuro(TM)l-Dahr_, or 'Solitaire of the +Time'--supplies indubitable proof of his fine scholarship and critical +taste. Successive continuations of the _YatA-ma_ were written by +al-BAikharzA- (aEuro 1075 A.D.) in the _Dumyatu aEuro(TM)l-Qaa¹Lr_, or 'Statue of the +Palace'; by Abu aEuro(TM)l-MaaEuro~AilA- al-a¸¤aaº"A-rA- (aEuro 1172 A.D.) in the _ZA-natu +aEuro(TM)l-Dahr_, or 'Ornament of the Time'; and by the favourite of Saladin, +aEuro~ImAidu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n al-KAitib al-Ia¹LfahAinA- (aEuro 1201 A.D.), in the _KharA-datu +aEuro(TM)l-Qaa¹Lr_, 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 _a¸¤adA-th_ 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 PehlevA- _KhudAiy-nAima_, or 'Book of Kings,' +which Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-MuqaffaaEuro~ turned into Arabic in the eighth century of our +era under the title of _Siyaru MulAºki aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Ajam_, that is, 'The History +of the Kings of Persia.' + +Under the first head HishAim Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-KalbA- (aEuro 819 A.D.) and his father +Mua¸Yammad deserve particular mention as painstaking and trustworthy +recorders. + +[Sidenote: Histories of the Prophet and his Companions.] + +Historical traditions relating to the Prophet were put in writing at an +early date (see p. 247). The first biography of Mua¸Yammad (_SA-ratu +RasAºli aEuro(TM)llAih_), compiled by Ibn Isa¸YAiq, who died in the reign of +Mana¹LAºr (768 A.D.), has come down to us only in the recension made by +Ibn HishAim (aEuro 834 A.D.). This work as well as those of al-WAiqidA- (aEuro 823 +A.D.) and Ibn SaaEuro~d (aEuro 845 A.D.) have been already noticed. + +Other celebrated historians of the aEuro~AbbAisid period are the following. + + +[Sidenote: BalAidhurA-.] + +Aa¸Ymad b. Yaa¸YyAi al-BalAidhurA- (aEuro 892 A.D.), a Persian, wrote an +account of the early Mua¸Yammadan conquests (_KitAibu FutAºa¸Yi +aEuro(TM)l-BuldAin_), which has been edited by De Goeje, and an immense chronicle +based on genealogical principles, 'The Book of the Lineages of the +Nobles' (_KitAibu AnsAibi aEuro(TM)l-AshrAif_), of which two volumes are +extant.[657] + +[Sidenote: DA-nawarA-.] + +AbAº a¸¤AinA-fa Aa¸Ymad al-DA-nawarA- (aEuro 895 A.D.) was also of ArAinian +descent. His 'Book of Long Histories' (_KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-AkhbAir al-a¹¬iwAil_) +deals largely with the national legend of Persia, and is written +throughout from the Persian point of view. + +[Sidenote: YaaEuro~qAºbA-.] + +Ibn WAia¸ia¸Y al-YaaEuro~qAºbA-, a contemporary of DA-nawarA-, produced an +excellent compendium of universal history, which is specially valuable +because its author, being a follower of the House of aEuro~AlA-, has preserved +the ancient and unfalsified ShA-aEuro~ite tradition. His work has been edited +in two volumes by Professor Houtsma (Leyden, 1883). + + +The Annals of a¹¬abarA-, edited by De Goeje and other European scholars +(Leyden, 1879-1898), and the Golden Meadows[658] (_MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_) of +MasaEuro~AºdA-, which Pavet de Courteille and Barbier de Meynard published with +a French translation (Paris, 1861-1877), have been frequently cited in +the foregoing pages; and since these two authors are not only the +greatest historians of the Mua¸Yammadan East but also (excepting, +possibly, Ibn KhaldAºn) the most eminent of all who devoted themselves to +this branch of Arabic literature, we must endeavour to make the reader +more closely acquainted with them. + +[Sidenote: a¹¬abarA- (838-923 A.D.).] + +AbAº JaaEuro~far Mua¸Yammad b. JarA-r was born in 838-839 A.D. at Amul in +a¹¬abaristAin, the mountainous province lying along the south coast of +the Caspian Sea; whence the name, a¹¬abarA-, by which he is usually +known.[659] At this time aEuro~IrAiq was still the principal focus of +Mua¸Yammadan culture, so that a poet could say:-- + + "I see a man in whom the secretarial dignity is manifest, + One who displays the brilliant culture of aEuro~IrAiq."[660] + +Thither the young a¹¬abarA- came to complete his education. He travelled +by way of Rayy to BaghdAid, visited other neighbouring towns, and +extended his tour to Syria and Egypt. Although his father sent him a +yearly allowance, it did not always arrive punctually, and he himself +relates that on one occasion he procured bread by selling the sleeves of +his shirt. Fortunately, at BaghdAid he was introduced to aEuro~UbaydullAih b. +Yaa¸YyAi, the Vizier of Mutawakkil, who engaged him as tutor for his +son. How long he held this post is uncertain, but he was only +twenty-three years of age when his patron went out of office. Fifteen +years later we find him, penniless once more, in Cairo (876-877 A.D.). +He soon, however, returned to BaghdAid, where he passed the remainder of +his life in teaching and writing. Modest, unselfish, and simple in his +habits, he diffused his encyclopA|dic knowledge with an almost superhuman +industry. During forty years, it is said, he wrote forty leaves every +day. His great works are the _TaaEuro(TM)rA-khu aEuro(TM)l-Rusul wa-aEuro(TM)l-MulAºk_, or 'Annals +of the Apostles and the Kings,' and his _TafsA-r_, or 'Commentary on the +Koran.' Both, even in their present shape, are books of enormous extent, +yet it seems likely that both were originally composed on a far larger +scale and were abbreviated by the author for general use. His pupils, we +are told, flatly refused to read the first editions with him, whereupon +he exclaimed: "Enthusiasm for learning is dead!" The History of +a¹¬abarA-, from the Creation to the year 302 A.H. = 915 A.D., is +distinguished by "completeness of detail, accuracy, and the truly +stupendous learning of its author that is revealed throughout, and that +makes the Annals a vast storehouse of valuable information for the +historian as well as for the student of Islam."[661] It is arranged +chronologically, the events being tabulated under the year (of the +Mua¸Yammadan era) in which they occurred. Moreover, it has a very +peculiar form. "Each important fact is related, if possible, by an +eye-witness or contemporary, whose account came down through a series of +narrators to the author. If he has obtained more than one account of a +fact, with more or less important modifications, through several series +of narrators, he communicates them all to the reader _in extenso_. Thus +we are enabled to consider the facts from more than one point of view, +and to acquire a vivid and clear notion of them."[662] According to +modern ideas, a¹¬abarA-'s compilation is not so much a history as a +priceless collection of original documents placed side by side without +any attempt to construct a critical and continuous narrative. At first +sight one can hardly see the wood for the trees, but on closer study the +essential features gradually emerge and stand out in bold relief from +amidst the multitude of insignificant circumstances which lend freshness +and life to the whole. a¹¬abarA- suffered the common fate of standard +historians. His work was abridged and popularised, the _isnAids_ or +chains of authorities were suppressed, and the various parallel accounts +were combined by subsequent writers into a single version.[663] Of the +Annals, as it left the author's hands, no entire copy exists anywhere, +but many odd volumes are preserved in different parts of the world. The +Leyden edition is based on these scattered MSS., which luckily comprise +the whole work with the exception of a few not very serious lacunA|. + +[Sidenote: MasaEuro~AºdA- (aEuro 956 A.D.).] + +aEuro~AlA- b. a¸¤usayn, a native of BaghdAid, was called MasaEuro~AºdA- after one of +the Prophet's Companions, aEuro~AbdullAih b. MasaEuro~Aºd, to whom he traced his +descent. Although we possess only a small remnant of his voluminous +writings, no better proof can be desired of the vast and various +erudition which he gathered not from books alone, but likewise from long +travel in almost every part of Asia. Among other places, he visited +Armenia, India, Ceylon, Zanzibar, and Madagascar, and he appears to have +sailed in Chinese waters as well as in the Caspian Sea. "My journey," he +says, "resembles that of the sun, and to me the poet's verse is +applicable:-- + + "'We turn our steps toward each different clime, + Now to the Farthest East, then West once more; + Even as the sun, which stays not his advance + O'er tracts remote that no man durst explore.'"[664] + +He spent the latter years of his life chiefly in Syria and Egypt--for he +had no settled abode--compiling the great historical works,[665] of +which the _MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_ is an epitome. As regards the motives which +urged him to write, MasaEuro~AºdA- declares that he wished to follow the +example of scholars and sages and to leave behind him a praiseworthy +memorial and imperishable monument. He claims to have taken a wider view +than his predecessors. "One who has never quitted his hearth and home, +but is content with the knowledge which he can acquire concerning the +history of his own part of the world, is not on the same level as one +who spends his life in travel and passes his days in restless +wanderings, and draws forth all manner of curious and precious +information from its hidden mine."[666] + +[Sidenote: The _MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_.] + +MasaEuro~AºdA- has been named the 'the Herodotus of the Arabs,' and the +comparison is not unjust.[667] His work, although it lacks the artistic +unity which distinguishes that of the Greek historian, shows the same +eager spirit of enquiry, the same open-mindedness and disposition to +record without prejudice all the marvellous things that he had heard or +seen, the same ripe experience and large outlook on the present as on +the past. It is professedly a universal history beginning with the +Creation and ending at the Caliphate of Mua¹-A-aEuro~, in 947 A.D., but no +description can cover the immense range of topics which are discussed +and the innumerable digressions with which the author delights or +irritates his readers, as the case may be.[668] Thus, to pick a few +examples at random, we find a dissertation on tides (vol. i, p. 244); an +account of the _tinnA-n_ or sea-serpent (_ibid._, p. 267); of +pearl-fishing in the Persian Gulf (_ibid._, p. 328); and of the +rhinoceros (_ibid._, p. 385). MasaEuro~AºdA- was a keen student and critic of +religious beliefs, on which subject he wrote several books.[669] The +_MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_ supplies many valuable details regarding the +Mua¸Yammadan sects, and also regarding the Zoroastrians and a¹cAibians. There +is a particularly interesting report of a meeting which took place +between Aa¸Ymad b. a¹¬AºlAºn, the governor of Egypt (868-877 A.D.), and an +aged Copt, who, after giving his views as to the source of the Nile and +the construction of the Pyramids, defended his faith (Christianity) on +the ground of its manifest errors and contradictions, arguing that its +acceptance, in spite of these, by so many peoples and kings was decisive +evidence of its truth.[670] MasaEuro~AºdA-'s account of the Caliphs is chiefly +remarkable for the characteristic anecdotes in which it abounds. Instead +of putting together a methodical narrative he has thrown off a brilliant +but unequal sketch of public affairs and private manners, of social life +and literary history. Only considerations of space have prevented me +from enriching this volume with not a few pages which are as lively and +picturesque as any in Suetonius. His last work, the _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-TanbA-h +wa-aEuro(TM)l-IshrAif_ ('Book of Admonition and Recension'),[671] was intended to +take a general survey of the field which had been more fully traversed +in his previous compositions, and also to supplement them when it seemed +necessary. + + +[Sidenote: Minor historians.] + +We must pass over the minor historians and biographers of this +period--for example, aEuro~UtbA- (aEuro 1036 A.D.), whose _KitAib al-YamA-nA-_ +celebrates the glorious reign of Sultan MahmAºd of Ghazna; Khaa¹-A-b of +BaghdAid (aEuro 1071 A.D.), who composed a history of the eminent men of that +city; aEuro~ImAidu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n of Ia¹LfahAin (aEuro 1201 A.D.), the biographer of +Saladin; Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-QiftA- (aEuro 1248 A.D.), born at Qifa¹- (Coptos) in Upper +Egypt, whose lives of the philosophers and scientists have only come +down to us in a compendium entitled _TaaEuro(TM)rA-khu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤ukamAi_; Ibnu +aEuro(TM)l-JawzA- (aEuro 1200 A.D.), a prolific writer in almost every branch of +literature, and his grandson, YAºsuf (aEuro 1257 A.D.)--generally called +Siba¹- Ibn al-JawzA---author of the _MiraEuro(TM)Aitu aEuro(TM)l-ZamAin_, or 'Mirror of +the Time'; Ibn AbA- Ua¹LaybiaEuro~a (aEuro 1270 A.D.), whose history of +physicians, the _aEuro~UyAºnu aEuro(TM)l-AnbAi_, has been edited by A. MA1/4ller (1884); +and the Christian, Jirjis (George) al-MakA-n (aEuro 1273 A.D.), compiler of a +universal chronicle--named the _MajmAºaEuro~ al-MubAirak_--of which the second +part, from Mua¸Yammad to the end of the aEuro~AbbAisid dynasty, was rendered +into Latin by Erpenius in 1625. + + +[Sidenote: Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-AthA-r (aEuro 1234 A.D.).] + +A special notice, brief though it must be, is due to aEuro~Izzu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n Ibnu +aEuro(TM)l-AthA-r (aEuro 1234 A.D.). He was brought up at Mosul in Mesopotamia, and +after finishing his studies in BaghdAid, Jerusalem, and Syria, he +returned home and devoted himself to reading and literary composition. +Ibn KhallikAin, who knew him personally, speaks of him in the highest +terms both as a man and as a scholar. "His great work, the _KAimil_,[672] +embracing the history of the world from the earliest period to the year +628 of the Hijra (1230-1231 A.D.), merits its reputation as one of the +best productions of the kind."[673] Down to the year 302 A.H. the author +has merely abridged the Annals of a¹¬abarA- with occasional additions +from other sources. In the first volume he gives a long account of the +Pre-islamic battles (_AyyAimu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arab_) which is not found in the +present text of a¹¬abarA-; but De Goeje, as I learn from Professor +Bevan, thinks that this section was included in a¹¬abarA-'s original +draft and was subsequently struck out. Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-AthA-r was deeply versed +in the science of Tradition, and his _Usdu aEuro(TM)l-GhAiba_ ('Lions of the +Jungle') contains biographies of 7,500 Companions of the Prophet. + + +[Sidenote: Geographers.] + +An immense quantity of information concerning the various countries and +peoples of the aEuro~AbbAisid Empire has been preserved for us by the Moslem +geographers, who in many cases describe what they actually witnessed and +experienced in the course of their travels, although they often help +themselves liberally and without acknowledgment from the works of their +predecessors. The following list, which does not pretend to be +exhaustive, may find a place here.[674] + + +[Sidenote: Ibn KhurdAidbih.] + +1. The Persian Ibn KhurdAidbih (first half of ninth century) was +postmaster in the province of JibAil, the Media of the ancients. His +_KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-MasAilik wa-aEuro(TM)l-MamAilik_ ('Book of the Roads and Countries'), +an official guide-book, is the oldest geographical work in Arabic that +has come down to us. + +[Sidenote: Ia¹La¹-akhrA- and Ibn a¸¤awqal.] + +2. AbAº Isa¸YAiq al-FAirisA- a native of Persepolis (Ia¹La¹-akhr)--on +this account he is known as Ia¹La¹-akhrA---wrote a book called +_MasAiliku aEuro(TM)l-MamAilik_ ('Routes of the Provinces'), which was afterwards +revised and enlarged by Ibn a¸¤awqal. Both works belong to the second +half of the tenth century and contain "a careful description of each +province in turn of the Muslim Empire, with the chief cities and notable +places." + +[Sidenote: MuqaddasA-.] + +3. Al-MuqaddasA- (or al-MaqdisA-), _i.e._, 'the native of the Holy City', +was born at Jerusalem in 946 A.D. In his delightful book entitled +_Aa¸Ysanu aEuro(TM)l-TaqAisA-m fA- maaEuro~rifati aEuro(TM)l-AqAilA-m_ he has gathered up the +fruits of twenty years' travelling through the dominions of the +Caliphate. + +[Sidenote: YAiqAºt.] + +4. Omitting the Spanish Arabs, BakrA-, IdrA-sA-, and Ibn Jubayr, all of +whom flourished in the eleventh century, we come to the greatest of +Moslem geographers, YAiqAºt b. aEuro~AbdallAih (1179-1229 A.D.). A Greek by +birth, he was enslaved in his childhood and sold to a merchant of +BaghdAid. His master gave him a good education and frequently sent him on +trading expeditions to the Persian Gulf and elsewhere. After being +enfranchised in consequence of a quarrel with his benefactor, he +supported himself by copying and selling manuscripts. In 1219-1220 A.D. +he encountered the Tartars, who had invaded KhwAirizm, and "fled as naked +as when he shall be raised from the dust of the grave on the day of the +resurrection." Further details of his adventurous life are recorded in +the interesting notice by Ibn KhallikAin.[675] His great Geographical +Dictionary (_MuaEuro~jamu aEuro(TM)l-BuldAin_) has been edited in six volumes by +WA1/4stenfeld (Leipzig, 1866), and is described by Mr. Le Strange as "a +storehouse of geographical information, the value of which it would be +impossible to over-estimate." We possess a useful epitome of it, made +about a century later, viz., the _MarAia¹Lidu aEuro(TM)l-Ia¹-a¹-ilAiaEuro~_. Among +the few other extant works of YAiqAºt, attention maybe called to the +_Mushtarik_--a lexicon of places bearing the same name--and the _MuaEuro~jamu +aEuro(TM)l-UdabAi_, or 'Dictionary of LittA(C)rateurs,' which has been edited by +Professor Margoliouth for the Trustees of the Gibb Memorial Fund. + +[Sidenote: The foreign sciences.] + +[Sidenote: Translations from the Greek.] + +[Sidenote: MaaEuro(TM)mAºn's encouragement of the New Learning.] + +As regards the philosophical and exact sciences the Moslems naturally +derived their ideas and material from Greek culture, which had +established itself in Egypt, Syria, and Western Asia since the time of +Alexander's conquests. When the Syrian school of Edessa was broken up by +ecclesiastical dissensions towards the end of the fifth century of our +era, the expelled savants took refuge in Persia at the SAisAinian court, +and Khusraw AnAºshirwAin, or NAºshA-rwAin (531-578 A.D.)--the same monarch +who welcomed the Neo-platonist philosophers banished from Athens by +Justinian--founded an Academy at JundA(C)-shAipAºr in KhAºzistAin, where Greek +medicine and philosophy continued to be taught down to aEuro~AbbAisid days. +Another centre of Hellenism was the city of a¸¤arrAin in Mesopotamia. +Its inhabitants, Syrian heathens who generally appear in Mua¸Yammadan +history under the name of 'a¹cAibians,' spoke Arabic with facility and +contributed in no small degree to the diffusion of Greek wisdom. The +work of translation was done almost entirely by Syrians. In the +monasteries of Syria and Mesopotamia the writings of Aristotle, Galen, +Ptolemy, and other ancient masters were rendered with slavish fidelity, +and these Syriac versions were afterwards retranslated into Arabic. A +beginning was made under the Umayyads, who cared little for Islam but +were by no means indifferent to the claims of literature, art, and +science. An Umayyad prince, KhAilid b. YazA-d, procured the translation of +Greek and Coptic works on alchemy, and himself wrote three treatises on +that subject. The accession of the aEuro~AbbAisids gave a great impulse to +such studies, which found an enlightened patron in the Caliph Mana¹LAºr. +Works on logic and medicine were translated from the PehlevA- by Ibnu +aEuro(TM)l-MuqaffaaEuro~ (aEuro about 760 A.D.) and others. It is, however, the splendid +reign of MaaEuro(TM)mAºn (813-833 A.D.) that marks the full vigour of this +Oriental Renaissance. MaaEuro(TM)mAºn was no ordinary man. Like a true Persian, +he threw himself heart and soul into theological speculations and used +the authority of the Caliphate to enforce a liberal standard of +orthodoxy. His interest in science was no less ardent. According to a +story told in the _Fihrist_,[676] he dreamed that he saw the venerable +figure of Aristotle seated on a throne, and in consequence of this +vision he sent a deputation to the Roman Emperor (Leo the Armenian) to +obtain scientific books for translation into Arabic. The Caliph's +example was followed by private individuals. Three brothers, +Mua¸Yammad, Aa¸Ymad, and a¸¤asan, known collectively as the BanAº +MAºsAi, "drew translators from distant countries by the offer of ample +rewards[677] and thus made evident the marvels of science. Geometry, +engineering, the movements of the heavenly bodies, music, and astronomy +were the principal subjects to which they turned their attention; but +these were only a small number of their acquirements."[678] MaaEuro(TM)mAºn +installed them, with Yaa¸YyAi b. AbA- Mana¹LAºr and other scientists, in +the House of Wisdom (_Baytu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤ikma_) at BaghdAid, an institution +which comprised a well-stocked library and an astronomical observatory. +Among the celebrated translators of the ninth century, who were +themselves conspicuous workers in the new field, we can only mention the +Christians Qusa¹-Ai b. LAºqAi and a¸¤unayn b. Isa¸YAiq, and the a¹cAibian +ThAibit b. Qurra. It does not fall within the scope of this volume to +consider in detail the achievements of the Moslems in science and +philosophy. That in some departments they made valuable additions to +existing knowledge must certainly be granted, but these discoveries +count for little in comparison with the debt which we owe to the Arabs +as pioneers of learning and bringers of light to mediA|val Europe.[679] +Meanwhile it is only possible to enumerate a few of the most eminent +philosophers and scientific men who lived during the aEuro~AbbAisid age. The +reader will observe that with rare exceptions they were of foreign +origin. + +The leading spirits in philosophy were:-- + +[Sidenote: KindA-.] + +1. YaaEuro~qAºb b. Isa¸YAiq al-KindA-, a descendant of the princely family of +Kinda (see p. 42). He was distinguished by his contemporaries with the +title _FaylasAºfu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arab_, 'The Philosopher of the Arabs.' He +flourished in the first half of the ninth century. + +[Sidenote: FAirAibA-.] + +2. AbAº Naa¹Lr al-FAirAibA- (aEuro 950 A.D.), of Turkish race, a native of +FAirAib in Transoxania. The later years of his life were passed at Aleppo +under the patronage of Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla. He devoted himself to the study +of Aristotle, whom Moslems agree with Dante in regarding as "il maestro +di color che sanno." + +[Sidenote: Ibn SA-nAi.] + +3. AbAº aEuro~AlA- Ibn SA-nAi (Avicenna), born of Persian parents at Kharmaythan, +near BukhAirAi, in the year 980 A.D. As a youth he displayed extraordinary +talents, so that "in the sixteenth year of his age physicians of the +highest eminence came to read medicine with him and to learn those modes +of treatment which he had discovered by his practice."[680] He was no +quiet student, like FAirAibA-, but a pleasure-loving, adventurous man of +the world who travelled from court to court, now in favour, now in +disgrace, and always writing indefatigably. His system of philosophy, in +which Aristotelian and Neo-platonic theories are combined with Persian +mysticism, was well suited to the popular taste, and in the East it +still reigns supreme. His chief works are the _ShifAi_ (Remedy) on +physics, metaphysics, &c., and a great medical encyclopA|dia entitled the +_QAinAºn_ (Canon). Avicenna died in 1037 A.D. + +4. The Spanish philosophers, Ibn BAijja (Avempace), Ibn a¹¬ufayl, and +Ibn Rushd (Averroes), all of whom flourished in the twelfth century +after Christ. + + +[Sidenote: Medicine, Astronomy, and Mathematics.] + +[Sidenote: BA-rAºnA- 973-1048 A.D.] + +The most illustrious name beside Avicenna in the history of Arabian +medicine is AbAº Bakr al-RAizA- (Rhazes), a native of Rayy, near Teheran (aEuro +923 or 932 A.D.). JAibir b. a¸¤ayyAin of Tarsus (aEuro about 780 A.D.)--the +Geber of European writers--won equal renown as an alchemist. Astronomy +went hand in hand with astrology. The reader may recognise al-FarghAinA-, +AbAº MaaEuro~shar of Balkh (aEuro 885 A.D.) and al-BattAinA-, a a¹cAibian of +a¸¤arrAin (aEuro 929 A.D.), under the names of Alfraganus, Albumaser, and +Albategnius, by which they became known in the West. AbAº aEuro~AbdallAih +al-KhwAirizmA-, who lived in the Caliphate of MaaEuro(TM)mAºn, was the first of a +long line of mathematicians. In this science, as also in Medicine and +Astronomy, we see the influence of India upon Mua¸Yammadan +civilisation--an influence, however, which, in so far as it depended on +literary sources, was more restricted and infinitely less vital than +that of Greece. Only a passing reference can be made to AbAº Raya¸YAin +al-BA-rAºnA-, a native of KhwAirizm (Khiva), whose knowledge of the +sciences, antiquities, and customs of India was such as no Moslem had +ever equalled. His two principal works, the _AthAir al-BAiqiya_, or +'Surviving Monuments,' and the _TaaEuro(TM)rA-khu aEuro(TM)l-Hind_, or 'History of +India,' have been edited and translated into English by Dr. Sachau.[681] + +[Sidenote: The _Fihrist_.] + +Some conception of the amazing intellectual activity of the Moslems +during the earlier part of the aEuro~AbbAisid period, and also of the enormous +losses which Arabic literature has suffered through the destruction of +thousands of books that are known to us by nothing beyond their titles +and the names of their authors, may be gained from the _Fihrist_, or +'Index' of Mua¸Yammad b. Isa¸YAiq b. AbA- YaaEuro~qAºb al-NadA-m al-WarrAiq +al-BaghdAidA- (aEuro 995 A.D.). Regarding the compiler we have no further +information than is conveyed in the last two epithets attached to his +name: he was a copyist of MSS., and was connected with BaghdAid either by +birth or residence; add that, according to his own statement (p. 349, l. +14 sqq.), he was at Constantinople (_DAiru aEuro(TM)l-RAºm_) in 988 A.D., the same +year in which his work was composed. He may possibly have been related +to the famous musician, Isa¸YAiq b. IbrAihA-m al-NadA-m of Mosul (aEuro 849-850 +A.D.), but this has yet to be proved. At any rate we owe to his industry +a unique conspectus of the literary history of the Arabs to the end of +the fourth century after the Flight. The _Fihrist_ (as the author +explains in his brief Preface) is "an Index of the books of all nations, +Arabs and foreigners alike, which are extant in the Arabic language and +script, on every branch of knowledge; comprising information as to their +compilers and the classes of their authors, together with the +genealogies of those persons, the dates of their birth, the length of +their lives, the times of their death, the places to which they +belonged, their merits and their faults, since the beginning of every +science that has been invented down to the present epoch: namely, the +year 377 of the Hijra." As the contents of the _Fihrist_ (which +considerably exceed the above description) have been analysed in detail +by G. FlA1/4gel (_Z.D.M.G._, vol. 13, p. 559 sqq.) and set forth in tabular +form by Professor Browne in the first volume of his _Literary History of +Persia_,[682] I need only indicate the general arrangement and scope of +the work. It is divided into ten discourses (_maqAilAit_), which are +subdivided into a varying number of sections (_funAºn_). Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-NadA-m +discusses, in the first place, the languages, scripts, and sacred books +of the Arabs and other peoples, the revelation of the Koran, the order +of its chapters, its collectors, redactors, and commentators. Passing +next to the sciences which, as we have seen, arose from study of the +Koran and primarily served as handmaids to theology, he relates the +origin of Grammar, and gives an account of the different schools of +grammarians with the treatises which they wrote. The third discourse +embraces History, Belles-Lettres, Biography, and Genealogy; the fourth +treats of Poetry, ancient and modern. Scholasticism (_KalAim_) forms the +subject of the following chapter, which contains a valuable notice of +the IsmAiaEuro~A-lA-s and their founder, aEuro~AbdullAih b. MaymAºn, as also of the +celebrated mystic, a¸¤usayn b. Mana¹LAºr al-a¸¤allAij. From these and +many other names redolent of heresy the author returns to the orthodox +schools of Law--the MAilikites, a¸¤anafites, ShAifiaEuro~ites and +aº'Aihirites; then to the jurisconsults of the ShA-aEuro~a, &c. The seventh +discourse deals with Philosophy and 'the Ancient Sciences,' under which +head we find some curious speculations concerning their origin and +introduction to the lands of Islam; a list of translators and the books +which they rendered into Arabic; an account of the Greek philosophers +from Thales to Plutarch, with the names of their works that were known +to the Moslems; and finally a literary survey of the remaining sciences, +such as Mathematics, Music, Astronomy, and Medicine. Here, by an abrupt +transition, we enter the enchanted domain of Oriental fable--the _HazAir +AfsAin_, or Thousand Tales, KalA-la and Dimna, the Book of SindbAid, and +the legends of Rustam and IsfandiyAir; works on sorcery, magic, +conjuring, amulets, talismans, and the like. European savants have long +recognised the importance of the ninth discourse,[683] which is devoted +to the doctrines and writings of the a¹cAibians and the Dualistic sects +founded by Manes, Bardesanes, Marcion, Mazdak, and other heresiarchs. +The author concludes his work with a chapter on the Alchemists +(_al-KA-miyAiaEuro(TM)Aºn_). + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +ORTHODOXY, FREE-THOUGHT, AND MYSTICISM + + +[Sidenote: The aEuro~AbbAisids and Islam.] + +[Sidenote: Influence of theologians.] + +We have already given some account of the great political revolution +which took place under the aEuro~AbbAisid dynasty, and we have now to consider +the no less vital influence of the new era in the field of religion. It +will be remembered that the House of aEuro~AbbAis came forward as champions of +Islam and of the oppressed and persecuted Faithful. Their victory was a +triumph for the Mua¸Yammadan over the National idea. "They wished, as +they said, to revive the dead Tradition of the Prophet. They brought the +experts in Sacred Law from MedA-na, which had hitherto been their home, +to BaghdAid, and always invited their approbation by taking care that +even political questions should be treated in legal form and decided in +accordance with the Koran and the Sunna. In reality, however, they used +Islam only to serve their own interest. They tamed the divines at their +court and induced them to sanction the most objectionable measures. They +made the pious Opposition harmless by leading it to victory. With the +downfall of the Umayyads it had gained its end and could now rest in +peace."[684] There is much truth in this view of the matter, but +notwithstanding the easy character of their religion, the aEuro~AbbAisid +Caliphs were sincerely devoted to the cause of Islam and zealous to +maintain its principles in public life. They regarded themselves as the +sovereign defenders of the Faith; added the Prophet's mantle +(_al-burda_) to those emblems of Umayyad royalty, the sceptre and the +seal; delighted in the pompous titles which their flatterers conferred +on them, _e.g._, 'Vicegerent of God,' 'Sultan of God upon the Earth,' +'Shadow of God,' &c.; and left no stone unturned to invest themselves +with the attributes of theocracy, and to inspire their subjects with +veneration.[685] Whereas the Umayyad monarchs ignored or crushed +Mua¸Yammadan sentiment, and seldom made any attempt to conciliate the +leading representatives of Islam, the aEuro~AbbAisids, on the other hand, not +only gathered round their throne all the most celebrated theologians of +the day, but also showed them every possible honour, listened +respectfully to their counsel, and allowed them to exert a commanding +influence on the administration of the State.[686] When MAilik b. Anas +was summoned by the Caliph HAirAºn al-RashA-d, who wished to hear him +recite traditions, MAilik replied, "People come to seek knowledge." So +HAirAºn went to MAilik's house, and leaned against the wall beside him. +MAilik said, "O Prince of the Faithful, whoever honours God, honours +knowledge." Al-RashA-d arose and seated himself at Malik's feet and spoke +to him and heard him relate a number of traditions handed down from the +Apostle of God. Then he sent for SufyAin b. aEuro~Uyayna, and SufyAin came to +him and sat in his presence and recited traditions to him. Afterwards +al-RashA-d said, "O MAilik, we humbled ourselves before thy knowledge, and +profited thereby, but SufyAin's knowledge humbled itself to us, and we +got no good from it."[687] Many instances might be given of the high +favour which theologians enjoyed at this time, and of the lively +interest with which religious topics were debated by the Caliph and his +courtiers. As the Caliphs gradually lost their temporal sovereignty, the +influence of the _aEuro~UlamAi_--the doctors of Divinity and Law--continued to +increase, so that ere long they formed a privileged class, occupying in +Islam a position not unlike that of the priesthood in mediA|val +Christendom. + + +It will be convenient to discuss the religious phenomena of the aEuro~AbbAisid +period under the following heads:-- + +I. Rationalism and Free-thought. + +II. The Orthodox Reaction and the rise of Scholastic Theology. + +III. The a¹cAºfA- Mysticism. + + +[Sidenote: Rationalism and Free-thought.] + +I. The first century of aEuro~AbbAisid rule was marked, as we have seen, by a +great intellectual agitation. All sorts of new ideas were in the air. It +was an age of discovery and awakening. In a marvellously brief space the +diverse studies of Theology, Law, Medicine, Philosophy, Mathematics, +Astronomy, and Natural Science attained their maturity, if not their +highest development. Even if some pious Moslems looked askance at the +foreign learning and its professors, an enlightened spirit generally +prevailed. People took their cue from the court, which patronised, or at +least tolerated,[688] scientific research as well as theological +speculation. + +[Sidenote: The MuaEuro~tazilites and their opponents.] + +These circumstances enabled the MuaEuro~tazilites (see p. 222 sqq.) to +propagate their liberal views without hindrance, and finally to carry +their struggle against the orthodox party to a successful issue. It was +the same conflict that divided Nominalists and Realists in the days of +Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and Occam. As often happens when momentous +principles are at stake, the whole controversy between Reason and +Revelation turned on a single question--"Is the Koran created or +uncreated?" In other terms, is it the work of God or the Word of God? +According to orthodox belief, it is uncreated and has existed with God +from all eternity, being in its present form merely a transcript of the +heavenly archetype.[689] Obviously this conception of the Koran as the +direct and literal Word of God left no room for exercise of the +understanding, but required of those who adopted it a dumb faith and a +blind fatalism. There were many to whom the sacrifice did not seem too +great. The MuaEuro~tazilites, on the contrary, asserted their intellectual +freedom. It was possible, they said, to know God and distinguish good +from evil without any Revelation at all. They admitted that the Koran +was God's work, in the sense that it was produced by a divinely inspired +Prophet, but they flatly rejected its deification. Some went so far as +to criticise the 'inimitable' style, declaring that it could be +surpassed in beauty and eloquence by the art of man.[690] + +[Sidenote: Rationalism adopted and put in force by the Caliph MaaEuro(TM)mAºn.] + +[Sidenote: Mutawakkil returns to orthodoxy.] + +The MuaEuro~tazilite controversy became a burning question in the reign of +MaaEuro(TM)mAºn (813-833 A.D.), a Caliph whose scientific enthusiasm and keen +interest in religious matters we have already mentioned. He did not +inherit the orthodoxy of his father, HAirAºn al-RashA-d; and it was +believed that he was at heart a _zindA-q_. His liberal tendencies would +have been wholly admirable if they had not been marred by excessive +intolerance towards those who held opposite views to his own. In 833 +A.D., the year of his death, he promulgated a decree which bound all +Moslems to accept the MuaEuro~tazilite doctrine as to the creation of the +Koran on pain of losing their civil rights, and at the same time he +established an inquisition (_mia¸Yna_) in order to obtain the assent of +the divines, judges, and doctors of law. Those who would not take the +test were flogged and threatened with the sword. After MaaEuro(TM)mAºn's death +the persecution still went on, although it was conducted in a more +moderate fashion. Popular feeling ran strongly against the MuaEuro~tazilites. +The most prominent figure in the orthodox camp was the ImAim Aa¸Ymad b. +a¸¤anbal, who firmly resisted the new dogma from the first. "But for +him," says the Sunnite historian, Abu aEuro(TM)l-Maa¸YAisin, "the beliefs of a +great number would have been corrupted."[691] Neither threats nor +entreaties could shake his resolution, and when he was scourged by +command of the Caliph MuaEuro~taa¹Lim, the palace was in danger of being +wrecked by an angry mob which had assembled outside to hear the result +of the trial. The MuaEuro~tazilite dogma remained officially in force until +it was abandoned by the Caliph WAithiq and once more declared heretical +by the cruel and bigoted Mutawakkil (847 A.D.). From that time to this +the victorious party have sternly suppressed every rationalistic +movement in Islam. + +[Sidenote: The end of the MuaEuro~tazilites.] + +According to Steiner, the original MuaEuro~tazilite heresy arose in the bosom +of Islam, independently of any foreign influence, but, however that may +be, its later development was largely affected by Greek philosophy. We +need not attempt to follow the recondite speculations of AbAº Hudhayl +al-aEuro~AllAif (aEuro about 840 A.D.) of his contemporaries, al-Naaº"aº"Aim, +Bishr b. al-MuaEuro~tamir, and others, and of the philosophical schools of +Baa¹Lra and BaghdAid in which the movement died away. Vainly they sought +to replace the Mua¸Yammadan idea of God as will by the Aristotelian +conception of God as law. Their efforts to purge the Koran of +anthropomorphism made no impression on the faithful, who ardently hoped +to see God in Paradise face to face. What they actually achieved was +little enough. Their weapons of logic and dialectic were turned against +them with triumphant success, and scholastic theology was founded on the +ruins of Rationalism. Indirectly, however, the MuaEuro~tazilite principles +leavened Mua¸Yammadan thought to a considerable extent and cleared the +way for other liberal movements, like the Fraternity of the _IkhwAinu +aEuro(TM)l-a¹cafAi_, which endeavoured to harmonise authority with reason, and +to construct a universal system of religious philosophy. + +[Sidenote: The IkhwAinu aEuro(TM)l-a¹cafAi.] + +These 'Brethren of Purity,'[692] as they called themselves, compiled a +great encyclopA|dic work in fifty tractates (_RasAiaEuro(TM)il_). Of the authors, +who flourished at Baa¹Lra towards the end of the tenth century, five +are known to us by name: viz., AbAº SulaymAin Mua¸Yammad b. MaaEuro~shar +al-Bayusti or al-MuqaddasA- (MaqdisA-), Abu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤asan aEuro~AlA- b. HAirAºn +al-ZanjAinA-, AbAº Aa¸Ymad al-MihrajAinA-, al-aEuro~AwfA-, and Zayd b. RifAiaEuro~a. +"They formed a society for the pursuit of holiness, purity, and truth, +and established amongst themselves a doctrine whereby they hoped to win +the approval of God, maintaining that the Religious Law was defiled by +ignorance and adulterated by errors, and that there was no means of +cleansing and purifying it except philosophy, which united the wisdom of +faith and the profit of research. They held that a perfect result would +be reached if Greek philosophy were combined with Arabian religion. +Accordingly they composed fifty tracts on every branch of philosophy, +theoretical as well as practical, added a separate index, and entitled +them the 'Tracts of the Brethren of Purity' (_RasAiaEuro(TM)ilu IkhwAin +al-a¹cafAi_). The authors of this work concealed their names, but +circulated it among the booksellers and gave it to the public. They +filled their pages with devout phraseology, religious parables, +metaphorical expressions, and figurative turns of style."[693] Nearly +all the tracts have been translated into German by Dieterici, who has +also drawn up an epitome of the whole encyclopA|dia in his _Philosophie +der Araber im X Jahrhundert_. It would take us too long to describe the +system of the _IkhwAin_, but the reader will find an excellent account of +it in Stanley Lane-Poole's _Studies in a Mosque_, 2nd ed., p. 176 sqq. +The view has recently been put forward that the Brethren of Purity were +in some way connected with the IsmAiaEuro~A-lA- propaganda, and that their +eclectic idealism represents the highest teaching of the FAitimids, +Carmathians, and Assassins. Strong evidence in support of this theory is +supplied by a MS. of the BibliothA"que Nationale (No. 2309 in De Slane's +Catalogue), which contains, together with fragments of the _RasAiaEuro(TM)il_, a +hitherto unknown tract entitled the _JAimiaEuro~a_ or 'Summary.'[694] The +latter purports to be the essence and crown of the fifty _RasAiaEuro(TM)il_, it +is manifestly IsmAiaEuro~A-lite in character, and, assuming that it is genuine, +we may, I think, agree with the conclusions which its discoverer, M. P. +Casanova, has stated in the following passage:-- + + [Sidenote: The doctrines of the Brethren of Purity identical with + the esoteric philosophy of the IsmAiaEuro~A-lA-s.] + + "Surtout je crois Aªtre dans le vrai en affirmant que les doctrines + philosophiques des IsmaA-liens sont contenues tout entiA"res dans les + EpA(R)tres des FrA"res de la PuretA(C). Et c'est ce qui explique 'la + sA(C)duction extraordinaire que la doctrine exerASec.ait sur des hommes + sA(C)rieux.'[695] En y ajoutant la croyance en l'_imAim cachA(C)_ (_al-imAim + al-mastAºr_) qui doit apparaA(R)tre un jour pour A(C)tablir le bonheur + universel, elle rA(C)alisait la fusion de toutes les doctrines + idA(C)alistes, du messianisme et du platonisme. Tant que l'imAim restait + cachA(C), il s'y mAªlait encore une saveur de mystA"re qui attachait les + esprits les plus A(C)levA(C)s.... En tous cas, on peut affirmer que les + Carmathes et les Assassins ont A(C)tA(C) profondA(C)ment calomniA(C)s quand ils + ont A(C)tA(C) accusA(C)s par leurs adversaires d'athA(C)isme et de dA(C)bauche. Le + fetwa d'Ibn Taimiyyah, que j'ai citA(C) plus haut, prA(C)tend que leur + dernier degrA(C) dans l'initiation (_al-balAigh al-akbar_) est la + nA(C)gation mAªme du CrA(C)ateur. Mais la _djAcmiaEuro~at_ que nous avons + dA(C)couverte est, comme tout l'indique, le dernier degrA(C) de la science + des FrA"res de la PuretA(C) et des IsmaA-liens; il n'y a rien de fondA(C) + dans une telle accusation. La doctrine apparait trA"s pure, trA"s + A(C)levA(C)e, trA"s simple mAªme: je repA"te que c'est une sorte de + panthA(C)isme mA(C)caniste et esthA(C)tique qui est absolument opposA(C) au + scepticisme et au matA(C)rialisme, car il repose sur l'harmonie + gA(C)nA(C)rale de toutes les parties du monde, harmonie voulue par le + CrA(C)ateur parce qu'elle est la beautA(C) mAªme. + + "Ma conclusion sera que nous avons lA un exemple de plus dans + l'histoire d'une doctrine trA"s pure et trA"s A(C)levA(C)e en thA(C)orie, + devenue, entre les mains des fanatiques et des ambitieux, une source + d'actes monstrueux et mA(C)ritant l'infamie qui est attachA(C)e a ce nom + historique d'Assassins." + +Besides the MuaEuro~tazilites, we hear much of another class of heretics who +are commonly grouped together under the name of _ZindA-qs_. + +[Sidenote: The _ZindA-qs_.] + +"It is well known," says Goldziher,[696] "that the earliest persecution +was directed against those individuals who managed more or less adroitly +to conceal under the veil of Islam old Persian religious ideas. +Sometimes indeed they did not consider any disguise to be necessary, but +openly set up dualism and other Persian or ManichA|an doctrines, and the +practices associated therewith, against the dogma and usage of Islam. +Such persons were called _ZindA-qs_, a term which comprises different +shades of heresy and hardly admits of simple definition. Firstly, there +are the old Persian families incorporated in Islam who, following the +same path as the ShuaEuro~Aºbites, have a _national interest_ in the revival +of Persian religious ideas and traditions, and from this point of view +react against the _Arabian_ character of the Mua¸Yammadan system. Then, +on the other hand, there are freethinkers, who oppose in particular the +stubborn dogma of Islam, reject _positive religion_, and acknowledge +only the moral law. Amongst the latter there is developed a monkish +asceticism extraneous to Islam and ultimately traceable to Buddhistic +influences." + +[Sidenote: Persecution of _ZindA-qs_.] + +The aEuro~AbbAisid Government, which sought to enforce an official standard of +belief, was far less favourable to religious liberty than the Umayyads +had been. Orthodox and heretic alike fell under its ban. While MaaEuro(TM)mAºn +harried pious Sunnites, his immediate predecessors raised a hue and cry +against _ZindA-qs_. The Caliph MahdA- distinguished himself by an +organised persecution of these enemies of the faith. He appointed a +Grand Inquisitor (_a¹cAia¸Yibu aEuro(TM)l-ZanAidiqa_[697] or _aEuro~ArA-fu +aEuro(TM)l-ZanAidiqa_) to discover and hunt them down. If they would not recant +when called upon, they were put to death and crucified, and their +books[698] were cut to pieces with knives.[699] MahdA-'s example was +followed by HAidA- and HAirAºn al-RashA-d. Some of the aEuro~AbbAisids, however, +were less severe. Thus Khaa¹LA-b, Mana¹LAºr's physician, was a _ZindA-q_ +who professed Christianity,[700] and in the reign of MaaEuro(TM)mAºn it became +the mode to affect ManichA|an opinions as a mark of elegance and +refinement.[701] + +[Sidenote: BashshAir b. Burd.] + +The two main types of _zandaqa_ which have been described above are +illustrated in the contemporary poets, BashshAir b. Burd and a¹cAilia¸Y +b. aEuro~Abd al-QuddAºs. BashshAir was born stone-blind. The descendant of a +noble Persian family--though his father, Burd, was a slave--he cherished +strong national sentiments and did not attempt to conceal his sympathy +with the Persian clients (_MawAilA-_), whom he was accused of stirring up +against their Arab lords. He may also have had leanings towards +Zoroastrianism, but Professor Bevan has observed that there is no real +evidence for this statement,[702] though Zoroastrian or ManichA|an views +are probably indicated by the fact that he used to dispute with a number +of noted Moslem theologians in Baa¹Lra, _e.g._, with WAia¹Lil b. +aEuro~Aa¹-Ai, who started the MuaEuro~tazilite heresy, and aEuro~Amr b. aEuro~Ubayd. He and +a¹cAilia¸Y b. aEuro~Abd al-QuddAºs were put to death by the Caliph MahdA- in +the same year (783 A.D.). + +[Sidenote: a¹cAilia¸Y b. aEuro~Abd al-QuddAºs.] + +This a¹cAilia¸Y belonged by birth or affiliation to the Arab tribe of +Azd. Of his life we know little beyond the circumstance that he was for +some time a street-preacher at Baa¹Lra, and afterwards at Damascus. It +is possible that his public doctrine was thought dangerous, although the +preachers as a class were hand in glove with the Church and did not, +like the Lollards, denounce religious abuses.[703] His extant poetry +contains nothing heretical, but is wholly moral and didactic in +character. We have seen, however, in the case of Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya, that +Mua¸Yammadan orthodoxy was apt to connect 'the philosophic mind' with +positive unbelief; and a¹cAilia¸Y appears to have fallen a victim to +this prejudice. He was accused of being a dualist (_thanawA-_), _i.e._, a +ManichA|an. MahdA-, it is said, conducted his examination in person, and +at first let him go free, but the poet's fate was sealed by his +confession that he was the author of the following verses:-- + + "The greybeard will not leave what in the bone is bred + Until the dark tomb covers him with earth o'erspread; + For, tho' deterred awhile, he soon returns again + To his old folly, as the sick man to his pain."[704] + +[Sidenote: Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi al-MaaEuro~arrA- on the _ZindA-qs_.] + +Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi al-MaaEuro~arrA-, himself a bold and derisive critic of +Mua¸Yammadan dogmas, devotes an interesting section of his _RisAilatu +aEuro(TM)l-GhufrAin_ to the _ZindA-qs_, and says many hard things about them, +which were no doubt intended to throw dust in the eyes of a suspicious +audience. The wide scope of the term is shown by the fact that he +includes under it the pagan chiefs of Quraysh; the Umayyad Caliph WalA-d +b. YazA-d; the poets DiaEuro~bil, AbAº NuwAis, BashshAir, and a¹cAilia¸Y b. aEuro~Abd +al-QuddAºs; AbAº Muslim, who set up the aEuro~AbbAisid dynasty; the Persian +rebels, BAibak and MAizyAir; AfshA-n, who after conquering BAibak was starved +to death by the Caliph MuaEuro~taa¹Lim; the Carmathian leader al-JannAibA-; +Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-RAiwandA-, whose work entitled the _DAimigh_ was designed to +discredit the 'miraculous' style of the Koran; and a¸¤usayn b. +Mana¹LAºr al-a¸¤allAij, the a¹cAºfA- martyr. Most of these, one may +admit, fall within Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAiaEuro(TM)s definition of the _ZindA-qs_: "they +acknowledge neither prophet nor sacred book." The name _ZindA-q_, which +is applied by JAia¸Yiaº" (aEuro 868 A.D.) to certain wandering monks,[705] +seems in the first instance to have been used of Manes (_MAinA-_) and his +followers, and is no doubt derived, as Professor Bevan has suggested, +from the _zaddA-qs_, who formed an elect class in the ManichA|an +hierarchy.[706] + +[Sidenote: The Orthodox Reaction.] + +[Sidenote: Abu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤asan al-ashaEuro~arA-.] + +II. The official recognition of Rationalism as the State religion came +to an end on the accession of Mutawakkil in 847 A.D. The new Caliph, who +owed his throne to the Turkish PrA|torians, could not have devised a +surer means of making himself popular than by standing forward as the +avowed champion of the faith of the masses. He persecuted impartially +Jews, Christians, MuaEuro~tazilites, ShA-aEuro~ites, and a¹cAºfA-s--every one, in +short, who diverged from the narrowest Sunnite orthodoxy. The Vizier Ibn +AbA- DuaEuro(TM)Aid, who had shown especial zeal in his conduct of the MuaEuro~tazilite +Inquisition, was disgraced, and the bulk of his wealth was confiscated. +In BaghdAid the followers of Aa¸Ymad b. a¸¤anbal went from house to +house terrorising the citizens,[707] and such was their fanatical temper +that when a¹¬abarA-, the famous divine and historian, died in 923 A.D., +they would not allow his body to receive the ordinary rites of +burial.[708] Finally, in the year 935 A.D., the Caliph RAia¸A- issued an +edict denouncing them in these terms: "Ye assert that your ugly, +ill-favoured faces are in the likeness of the Lord of Creation, and that +your vile exterior resembles His, and ye speak of the hand, the fingers, +the feet, the golden shoes, and the curly hair (of God), and of His +going up to Heaven and of His coming down to Earth.... The Commander of +the Faithful swears a binding oath that unless ye refrain from your +detestable practices and perverse tenets he will lay the sword to your +necks and the fire to your dwellings."[709] Evidently the time was ripe +for a system which should reconcile the claims of tradition and reason, +avoiding the gross anthropomorphism of the extreme a¸¤anbalites on the +one side and the pure rationalism of the advanced MuaEuro~tazilites (who were +still a power to be reckoned with) on the other. It is a frequent +experience that great intellectual or religious movements rising slowly +and invisibly, in response, as it were, to some incommunicable want, +suddenly find a distinct interpreter with whose name they are henceforth +associated for ever. The man, in this case, was Abu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤asan +al-AshaEuro~arA-. He belonged to a noble and traditionally orthodox family of +Yemenite origin. One of his ancestors was AbAº MAºsAi al-AshaEuro~arA-, who, as +the reader will recollect, played a somewhat inglorious part in the +arbitration between aEuro~AlA- and MuaEuro~Aiwiya after the battle of +a¹ciffA-n.[710] Born in 873-874 A.D. at Baa¹Lra, a city renowned for +its scientific and intellectual fertility, the young Abu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤asan +deserted the faith of his fathers, attached himself to the freethinking +school, and until his fortieth year was the favourite pupil and intimate +friend of al-JubbAiaEuro(TM)A- (aEuro 915 A.D.), the head of the MuaEuro~tazilite party at +that time. He is said to have broken with his teacher in consequence of +a dispute as to whether God always does what is best (_aa¹Llaa¸Y_) for +His creatures. The story is related as follows by Ibn KhallikAin (De +Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 669 seq.):-- + + [Sidenote: Story of the three brothers.] + + AshaEuro~arA- proposed to JubbAiaEuro(TM)A- the case of three brothers, one of whom + was a true believer, virtuous and pious; the second an infidel, a + debauchee and a reprobate; and the third an infant: they all died, + and AshaEuro~arA- wished to know what had become of them. To this JubbAiaEuro(TM)A- + answered: "The virtuous brother holds a high station in Paradise; + the infidel is in the depths of Hell, and the child is among those + who have obtained salvation."[711] "Suppose now," said AshaEuro~arA-, + "that the child should wish to ascend to the place occupied by his + virtuous brother, would he be allowed to do so?" "No," replied + JubbAiaEuro(TM)A-, "it would be said to him: 'Thy brother arrived at this + place through his numerous works of obedience towards God, and thou + hast no such works to set forward.'" "Suppose then," said AshaEuro~arA-, + "that the child say: 'That is not my fault; you did not let me live + long enough, neither did you give me the means of proving my + obedience.'" "In that case," answered JubbAiaEuro(TM)A-, "the Almighty would + say: 'I knew that if I had allowed thee to live, thou wouldst have + been disobedient and incurred the severe punishment (of Hell); I + therefore acted for thy advantage.'" "Well," said AshaEuro~arA-, "and + suppose the infidel brother were to say: 'O God of the universe! + since you knew what awaited him, you must have known what awaited + me; why then did you act for his advantage and not for mine?" + JubbAiaEuro(TM)A- had not a word to offer in reply. + +[Sidenote: AshaEuro~arA-'s conversion to orthodoxy.] + +Soon afterwards AshaEuro~arA- made a public recantation. One Friday, while +sitting (as his biographer relates) in the chair from which he taught in +the great mosque of Baa¹Lra, he cried out at the top of his voice: +"They who know me know who I am: as for those who do not know me I will +tell them. I am aEuro~AlA- b. IsmAiaEuro~A-l al-AshaEuro~arA-, and I used to hold that the +Koran was created, that the eyes of men shall not see God, and that we +ourselves are the authors of our evil deeds. Now I have returned to the +truth; I renounce these opinions, and I undertake to refute the +MuaEuro~tazilites and expose their infamy and turpitude."[712] + +[Sidenote: AshaEuro~arA- as the founder of Scholastic Theology.] + +These anecdotes possess little or no historical value, but illustrate +the fact that AshaEuro~arA-, having learned all that the MuaEuro~tazilites could +teach him and having thoroughly mastered their dialectic, turned against +them with deadly force the weapons which they had put in his hands. His +doctrine on the subject of free-will may serve to exemplify the method +of _KalAim_ (Disputation) by which he propped up the orthodox creed.[713] +Here, as in other instances, AshaEuro~arA- took the central path--_medio +tutissimus_--between two extremes. It was the view of the early Moslem +Church--a view justified by the Koran and the Apostolic Traditions--that +everything was determined in advance and inscribed, from all eternity, +on the Guarded Tablet (_al-Lawa¸Y al-Maa¸YfAºaº"_), so that men had no +choice but to commit the actions decreed by destiny. The MuaEuro~tazilites, +on the contrary, denied that God could be the author of evil and +insisted that men's actions were free. AshaEuro~arA-, on his part, declared +that all actions are created and predestined by God, but that men have a +certain subordinate power which enables them to acquire the actions +previously created, although it produces no effect on the actions +themselves. Human agency, therefore, was confined to this process of +acquisition (_kasb_). With regard to the anthropomorphic passages in the +Koran, AshaEuro~arA- laid down the rule that such expressions as "_The +Merciful has settled himself upon His throne_," "_Both His hands are +spread out_," &c., must be taken in their obvious sense without asking +'How?' (_bilAi kayfa_). Spitta saw in the system of AshaEuro~arA- a successful +revolt of the Arabian national spirit against the foreign ideas which +were threatening to overwhelm Islam,[714] a theory which does not agree +with the fact that most of the leading AshaEuro~arites were Persians.[715] +Von Kremer came nearer the mark when he said "AshaEuro~arA-'s victory was +simply a clerical triumph,"[716] but it was also, as Schreiner has +observed, "a victory of reflection over unthinking faith." + +The victory, however, was not soon or easily won.[717] Many of the +orthodox disliked the new Scholasticism hardly less than the old +Rationalism. Thus it is not surprising to read in the _KAimil_ of Ibnu +aEuro(TM)l-AthA-r under the year 456 A.H. = 1063-4 A.D., that Alp ArslAin's +Vizier, aEuro~AmA-du aEuro(TM)l-Mulk al-KundurA-, having obtained his master's +permission to have curses pronounced against the RAifia¸ites (ShA-aEuro~ites) +from the pulpits of KhurAisAin, included the AshaEuro~arites in the same +malediction, and that the famous AshaEuro~arite doctors, Abu aEuro(TM)l-QAisim +al-QushayrA- and the ImAimu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤aramayn Abu aEuro(TM)l-MaaEuro~AilA- al-JuwaynA-, left +the country in consequence. The great Niaº"Aimu aEuro(TM)l-Mulk exerted himself +on behalf of the AshaEuro~arites, and the Niaº"Aimiyya College, which he +founded in BaghdAid in the year 1067 A.D., was designed to propagate +their system of theology. But the man who stamped it with the impression +of his own powerful genius, fixed its ultimate form, and established it +as the universal creed of orthodox Islam, was AbAº a¸¤Aimid al-GhazAilA- +(1058-1111 A.D.). We have already sketched the outward course of his +life, and need only recall that he lectured at BaghdAid in the +Niaº"Aimiyya College for four years (1091-1095 A.D.).[718] At the end of +that time he retired from the world as a a¹cAºfA-, and so brought to a +calm and fortunate close the long spiritual travail which he has himself +described in the _Munqidh mina aEuro(TM)l-a¸alAil_, or 'Deliverer from +Error.'[719] We must now attempt to give the reader some notion of this +work, both on account of its singular psychological interest and because +GhazAilA-'s search for religious truth exercised, as will shortly appear, +a profound and momentous influence upon the future history of +Mua¸Yammadan thought. It begins with these words:-- + + [Sidenote: GhazAilA-'s autobiography.] + + "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Praise be to + God by the praise of whom every written or spoken discourse is + opened! And blessings on Mua¸Yammad, the Elect, the Prophet and + Apostle, as well as on his family and his companions who lead us + forth from error! To proceed: You have asked me, O my brother in + religion, to explain to you the hidden meanings and the ultimate + goal of the sciences, and the secret bane of the different + doctrines, and their inmost depths. You wish me to relate all that I + have endured in seeking to recover the truth from amidst the + confusion of sects with diverse ways and paths, and how I have dared + to raise myself from the abyss of blind belief in authority to the + height of discernment. You desire to know what benefits I have + derived in the first place from Scholastic Theology, and what I have + appropriated, in the second place, from the methods of the + TaaEuro~lA-mites[720] who think that truth can be attained only by + submission to the authority of an ImAim; and thirdly, my reasons for + spurning the systems of philosophy; and, lastly, why I have accepted + the tenets of a¹cAºfiism: you are anxious, in short, that I should + impart to you the essential truths which I have learned in my + repeated examination of the (religious) opinions of mankind." + +In a very interesting passage, which has been translated by Professor +Browne, GhazAilA- tells how from his youth upward he was possessed with an +intense thirst for knowledge, which impelled him to study every form of +religion and philosophy, and to question all whom he met concerning the +nature and meaning of their belief.[721] But when he tried to +distinguish the true from the false, he found no sure test. He could not +trust the evidence of his senses. The eye sees a shadow and declares it +to be without movement; or a star, and deems it no larger than a piece +of gold. If the senses thus deceive, may not the mind do likewise? +Perhaps our life is a dream full of phantom thoughts which we mistake +for realities--until the awakening comes, either in moments of ecstasy +or at death. "For two months," says GhazAilA-, "I was actually, though not +avowedly, a sceptic." Then God gave him light, so that he regained his +mental balance and was able to think soundly. He resolved that this +faculty must guide him to the truth, since blind faith once lost never +returns. Accordingly, he set himself to examine the foundations of +belief in four classes of men who were devoted to the search for truth, +namely, Scholastic Theologians, IsmAiaEuro~A-lA-s (_BAitiniyya_), Philosophers, +and a¹cAºfA-s. For a long while he had to be content with wholly negative +results. Scholasticism was, he admitted, an excellent purge against +heresy, but it could not cure the disease from which he was suffering. +As for the philosophers, all of them--Materialists (_DahriyyAºn_), +Naturalists (_a¹¬abA-aEuro~iyyAºn_), and Theists (_IlAihiyyAºn_)--"are branded +with infidelity and impiety." Here, as often in his discussion of the +philosophical schools, GhazAilA-'s religious instinct breaks out. We +cannot imagine him worshipping at the shrine of pure reason any more +than we can imagine Herbert Spencer at Lourdes. He next turned to the +TaaEuro~lA-mites (Doctrinists) or BAia¹-inites (Esoterics), who claimed that +they knew the truth, and that its unique source was the infallible ImAim. +But when he came to close quarters with these sectaries, he discovered +that they could teach him nothing, and their mysterious ImAim vanished +into space. a¹cAºfiism, therefore, was his last hope. He carefully +studied the writings of the mystics, and as he read it became clear to +him that now he was on the right path. He saw that the higher stages of +a¹cAºfiism could not be learned by study, but must be realised by actual +experience, that is, by rapture, ecstasy, and moral transformation. +After a painful struggle with himself he resolved to cast aside all his +worldly ambition and to live for God alone. In the month of Dhu +aEuro(TM)l-QaaEuro~da, 488 A.H. (November, 1095 A.D.), he left BaghdAid and wandered +forth to Syria, where he found in the a¹cAºfA- discipline of prayer, +praise, and meditation the peace which his soul desired. + +Mr. Duncan B. Macdonald, to whom we owe the best and fullest life of +GhazAilA- that has yet been written, sums up his work and influence in +Islam under four heads[722]:-- + +_First_, he led men back from scholastic labours upon theological dogmas +to living contact with, study and exegesis of, the Word and the +Traditions. + +_Second_, in his preaching and moral exhortations he re-introduced the +element of fear. + +_Third_, it was by his influence that a¹cAºfiism attained a firm and +assured position within the Church of Islam. + +_Fourth_, he brought philosophy and philosophical theology within the +range of the ordinary mind. + + [Sidenote: GhazAilA-'s work and influence.] + + "Of these four phases of al-GhazzAelAe"'s work," says Macdonald, + "the first and third are undoubtedly the most important. He made his + mark by leading Islam back to its fundamental and historical facts, + and by giving a place in its system to the emotional religious life. + But it will have been noticed that in none of the four phases was he + a pioneer. He was not a scholar who struck out a new path, but a man + of intense personality who entered on a path already trodden and + made it the common highway. We have here his character. Other men + may have been keener logicians, more learned theologians, more + gifted saints; but he, through his personal experiences, had + attained so overpowering a sense of the divine realities that the + force of his character--once combative and restless, now narrowed + and intense--swept all before it, and the Church of Islam entered on + a new era of its existence." + +[Sidenote: a¹cAºfiism in the aEuro~AbbAisid period.] + +III. We have traced the history of Mysticism in Islam from the ascetic +movement of the first century, in which it originated, to a point where +it begins to pass beyond the sphere of Mua¸Yammadan influence and to enter +on a strange track, of which the Prophet assuredly never dreamed, +although the a¹cAºfA-s constantly pretend that they alone are his true +followers. I do not think it can be maintained that a¹cAºfiism of the +theosophical and speculative type, which we have now to consider, is +merely a development of the older asceticism and quietism which have +been described in a former chapter. The difference between them is +essential and must be attributed in part, as Von Kremer saw,[723] to the +intrusion of some extraneous, non-Islamic, element. As to the nature of +this new element there are several conflicting theories, which have been +so clearly and fully stated by Professor Browne in his _Literary History +of Persia_ (vol. i, p. 418 sqq.) that I need not dwell upon them here. +Briefly it is claimed-- + +(_a_) That a¹cAºfiism owes its inspiration to Indian philosophy, and +especially to the Vedanta. + +(_b_) That the most characteristic ideas in a¹cAºfiism are of Persian +origin. + +(_c_) That these ideas are derived from Neo-platonism. + +Instead of arguing for or against any of the above theories, all of +which, in my opinion, contain a measure of truth, I propose in the +following pages to sketch the historical evolution of the a¹cAºfA- +doctrine as far as the materials at my disposal will permit. This, it +seems to me, is the only possible method by which we may hope to arrive +at a definite conclusion as to its origin. Since mysticism in all ages +and countries is fundamentally the same, however it may be modified by +its peculiar environment, and by the positive religion to which it +clings for support, we find remote and unrelated systems showing an +extraordinarily close likeness and even coinciding in many features of +verbal expression. Such resemblances can prove little or nothing unless +they are corroborated by evidence based on historical grounds. Many +writers on a¹cAºfiism have disregarded this principle; hence the +confusion which long prevailed. The first step in the right direction +was made by Adalbert Merx,[724] who derived valuable results from a +chronological examination of the sayings of the early a¹cAºfA-s. He did +not, however, carry his researches beyond AbAº SulaymAin al-DAirAinA- (aEuro 830 +A.D.), and confined his attention almost entirely to the doctrine, +which, according to my view, should be studied in connection with the +lives, character, and nationality of the men who taught it.[725] No +doubt the origin and growth of mysticism in Islam, as in all other +religions, _ultimately_ depended on general causes and conditions, not +on external circumstances. For example, the political anarchy of the +Umayyad period, the sceptical tendencies of the early aEuro~AbbAisid age, and +particularly the dry formalism of Moslem theology could not fail to +provoke counter-movements towards quietism, spiritual authority, and +emotional faith. But although a¹cAºfiism was not called into being by +any impulse from without (this is too obvious to require argument), the +influences of which I am about to speak have largely contributed to make +it what it is, and have coloured it so deeply that no student of the +history of a¹cAºfiism can afford to neglect them. + +[Sidenote: MaaEuro~rAºf al-KarkhA- (aEuro 815 A.D.).] + +Towards the end of the eighth century of our era the influence of new +ideas is discernible in the sayings of MaaEuro~rAºf al-KarkhA- (aEuro 815 A.D.), a +contemporary of Fua¸ayl b. aEuro~IyAia¸ and ShaqA-q of Balkh. He was born +in the neighbourhood of WAisia¹-, one of the great cities of +Mesopotamia, and the name of his father, FA-rAºz, or FA-rAºzAin, shows that +he had Persian blood in his veins. MaaEuro~rAºt was a client (_mawlAi_) of the +ShA-aEuro~ite ImAim, aEuro~AlA- b. MAºsAi al-Ria¸Ai, in whose presence he made +profession of Islam; for he had been brought up as a Christian (such is +the usual account), or, possibly, as a a¹cAibian. He lived during the +reign of HAirAºn al-RashA-d in the Karkh quarter of BaghdAid, where he +gained a high reputation for saintliness, so that his tomb in that city +is still an object of veneration. He is described as a God-intoxicated +man, but in this respect he is not to be compared with many who came +after him. Nevertheless, he deserves to stand at the head of the +mystical as opposed to the ascetic school of a¹cAºfA-s. He defined +a¹cAºfiism as "the apprehension of Divine realities and renunciation of +human possessions."[726] Here are a few of his sayings:-- + + "Love is not to be learned from men; it is one of God's gifts and + comes of His grace. + + "The Saints of God are known by three signs: their thought is of + God, their dwelling is with God, and their business is in God. + + "If the gnostic (_aEuro~Airif_) has no bliss, yet he himself is in every + bliss. + + "When you desire anything of God, swear to Him by me." + +From these last words, which MaaEuro~rAºf addressed to his pupil SarA- +al-Saqaa¹-A-, it is manifest that he regarded himself as being in the +most intimate communion with God. + +[Sidenote: AbAº SulaymAin al-DAirAinA- (aEuro 830 A.D.).] + +AbAº SulaymAin (aEuro 830 A.D.), the next great name in the a¹cAºfA- +biographies, was also a native of WAisia¹-, but afterwards emigrated to +Syria and settled at DAirayAi (near Damascus), whence he is called +'al-DAirAinA-.' He developed the doctrine of gnosis (_maaEuro~rifat_). Those who +are familiar with the language of European mystics--_illuminatio_, +_oculus cordis_, &c.--will easily interpret such sayings as these:-- + + "None refrains from the lusts of this world save him in whose heart + there is a light that keeps him always busied with the next world. + + "When the gnostic's spiritual eye is opened, his bodily eye is shut: + they see nothing but Him. + + "If Gnosis were to take visible form, all that looked thereon would + die at the sight of its beauty and loveliness and goodness and + grace, and every brightness would become dark beside the splendour + thereof.[727] + + + "Gnosis is nearer to silence than to speech." + +[Sidenote: Dhu aEuro(TM)l-NAºn al-MisrA- (aEuro 860 A.D.).] + +We now come to Dhu aEuro(TM)l-NAºn al-MisrA- (aEuro 860 A.D.), whom the a¹cAºfA-s +themselves consider to be the primary author of their doctrine.[728] +That he at all events was among the first of those who helped to give it +permanent shape is a fact which is amply attested by the collection of +his sayings preserved in aEuro~Aa¹-a¹-Air's _Memoirs of the Saints_ and in +other works of the same kind.[729] It is clear that the theory of +gnosis, with which he deals at great length, was the central point in +his system; and he seems to have introduced the doctrine that true +knowledge of God is attained only by means of ecstasy (_wajd_). "The man +that knows God best," he said, "is the one most lost in Him." Like +Dionysius, he refused to make any positive statements about the Deity. +"Whatever you imagine, God is the contrary of that." Divine love he +regarded as an ineffable mystery which must not be revealed to the +profane. All this is the very essence of the later a¹cAºfiism. It is +therefore desirable to ascertain the real character of Dhu aEuro(TM)l-NAºn and +the influences to which he was subjected. The following account gives a +brief summary of what I have been able to discover; fuller details will +be found in the article mentioned above. + +His name was Abu aEuro(TM)l-Faya¸ ThawbAin b. IbrAihA-m, Dhu aEuro(TM)l-NAºn (He of the +Fish) being a sobriquet referring to one of his miracles, and his father +was a native of Nubia, or of IkhmA-m in Upper Egypt. Ibn KhallikAin +describes Dhu aEuro(TM)l-NAºn as 'the nonpareil of his age' for learning, +devotion, communion with the Divinity (_a¸YAil_), and acquaintance with +literature (_adab_); adding that he was a philosopher (_a¸YakA-m_) and +spoke Arabic with elegance. The people of Egypt, among whom he lived, +looked upon him as a _zindA-q_ (freethinker), and he was brought to +BaghdAid to answer this charge, but after his death he was canonised. In +the _Fihrist_ he appears among "the philosophers who discoursed on +alchemy," and Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Qifa¹-A- brackets him with the famous occultist +JAibir b. a¸¤ayyAin. He used to wander (as we learn from MasaEuro~AºdA-)[730] +amidst the ruined Egyptian monuments, studying the inscriptions and +endeavouring to decipher the mysterious figures which were thought to +hold the key to the lost sciences of antiquity. He also dabbled in +medicine, which, like Paracelsus, he combined with alchemy and magic. + +Let us see what light these facts throw upon the origin of the a¹cAºfA- +theosophy. Did it come to Egypt from India, Persia, or Greece? + +[Sidenote: The origin of theosophical a¹cAºfiism.] + +Considering the time, place, and circumstances in which it arose, and +having regard to the character of the man who bore a chief part in its +development, we cannot hesitate, I think, to assert that it is largely a +product of Greek speculation. MaaEuro~rAºf al-KarkhA-, AbAº SulaymAin al-DAirAinA-, +and Dhu aEuro(TM)l-NAºn al-Mia¹LrA- all three lived and died in the period (786-861 +A.D.) which begins with the accession of HAirAºn al-RashA-d and is +terminated by the death of Mutawakkil. During these seventy-five years +the stream of Hellenic culture flowed unceasingly into the Moslem world. +Innumerable works of Greek philosophers, physicians, and scientists were +translated and eagerly studied. Thus the Greeks became the teachers of +the Arabs, and the wisdom of ancient Greece formed, as has been shown in +a preceding chapter, the basis of Mua¸Yammadan science and philosophy. The +results are visible in the MuaEuro~tazilite rationalism as well as in the +system of the _IkhwAinu aEuro(TM)l-a¹cafAi_. But it was not through literature alone +that the Moslems were imbued with Hellenism. In aEuro~IrAiq, Syria, and Egypt +they found themselves on its native soil, which yielded, we may be sure, +a plentiful harvest of ideas--Neo-platonic, Gnostical, Christian, +mystical, pantheistic, and what not? In Mesopotamia, the heart of the +aEuro~AbbAisid Empire, dwelt a strange people, who were really Syrian +heathens, but who towards the beginning of the ninth century assumed the +name of a¹cAibians in order to protect themselves from the persecution with +which they were threatened by the Caliph MaaEuro(TM)mAºn. At this time, indeed, +many of them accepted Islam or Christianity, but the majority clung to +their old pagan beliefs, while the educated class continued to profess a +religious philosophy which, as it is described by ShahrastAinA- and other +Mua¸Yammadan writers, is simply the Neo-platonism of Proclus and +Iamblichus. To return to Dhu aEuro(TM)l-NAºn, it is incredible that a mystic and +natural philosopher living in the first half of the ninth century in +Egypt should have derived his doctrine directly from India. There may be +Indian elements in Neo-platonism and Gnosticism, but this possibility +does not affect my contention that the immediate source of the a¹cAºfA- +theosophy is to be sought in Greek and Syrian speculation. To define its +origin more narrowly is not, I think, practicable in the present state +of our knowledge. Merx, however, would trace it to Dionysius, the +Pseudo-Areopagite, or rather to his master, a certain "Hierotheus," whom +Frothingham has identified with the Syrian mystic, Stephen bar Sudaili +(_circa_ 500 A.D.). Dionysius was of course a Christian Neo-platonist. +His works certainly laid the foundations of mediA|val mysticism in +Europe, and they were also popular in the East at the time when a¹cAºfiism +arose. + +[Sidenote: a¹cAºfiism composed of many different elements.] + +When speaking of the various current theories as to the origin of +a¹cAºfiism, I said that in my opinion they all contained a measure of +truth. No single cause will account for a phenomenon so widely spread +and so diverse in its manifestations. a¹cAºfiism has always been thoroughly +eclectic, absorbing and transmuting whatever 'broken lights' fell across +its path, and consequently it gained adherents amongst men of the most +opposite views--theists and pantheists, MuaEuro~tazilites and Scholastics, +philosophers and divines. We have seen what it owed to Greece, but the +Perso-Indian elements are not to be ignored. Although the theory "that +it must be regarded as the reaction of the Aryan mind against a Semitic +religion imposed on it by force" is inadmissible--Dhu aEuro(TM)l-NAºn, for +example, was a Copt or Nubian--the fact remains that there was at the +time a powerful anti-Semitic reaction, which expressed itself, more or +less consciously, in a¹cAºfA-s of Persian race. Again, the literary +influence of India upon Mua¸Yammadan thought before 1000 A.D. was greatly +inferior to that of Greece, as any one can see by turning over the pages +of the _Fihrist_; but Indian religious ideas must have penetrated into +KhurAisAin and Eastern Persia at a much earlier period. + +These considerations show that the question as to the origin of a¹cAºfiism +cannot be answered in a definite and exclusive way. None of the rival +theories is completely true, nor is any of them without a partial +justification. The following words of Dr. Goldziher should be borne in +mind by all who are interested in this subject:-- + + [Sidenote: Goldziher on the character of a¹cAºfiism.] + + "a¹cAºfiism cannot be looked upon as a regularly organised sect within + Islam. Its dogmas cannot be compiled into a regular system. It + manifests itself in different shapes in different countries. We find + divergent tendencies, according to the spirit of the teaching of + distinguished theosophists who were founders of different schools, + the followers of which may be compared to Christian monastic orders. + The influence of different environments naturally affected the + development of a¹cAºfiism. Here we find mysticism, there asceticism the + prevailing thought."[731] + +The four principal foreign sources of a¹cAºfiism are undoubtedly +Christianity, Neo-platonism, Gnosticism, and Indian asceticism and +religious philosophy. I shall not attempt in this place to estimate +their comparative importance, but it should be clearly understood that +the speculative and theosophical side of a¹cAºfiism, which, as we have +seen, was first elaborated in aEuro~IrAiq, Syria, and Egypt, bears +unmistakable signs of Hellenistic influence. + + +[Sidenote: BAiyazA-d of Bisa¹-Aim.] + +The early a¹cAºfA-s are particularly interested in the theory of mystical +union (_fanAi wa-baqAi_) and often use expressions which it is easy to +associate with pantheism, yet none of them can fairly be called a +pantheist in the true sense. The step from theosophy to pantheism was +not, I think, made either by a¸¤allAij (aEuro 922 A.D.) or by the celebrated +AbAº YazA-d, in Persian BAiyazA-d (aEuro 874-75 A.D.), of Bisa¹-Aim, a town in the +province of QAºmis situated near the south-eastern corner of the Caspian +Sea. While his father, SurAºshAin, was a Zoroastrian, his master in +a¹cAºfiism seems to have been connected with Sind (Scinde), where Moslem +governors had been installed since 715 A.D. BAiyazA-d carried the +experimental doctrine of _fanAi_ (dying to self) to its utmost limit, and +his language is tinged with the peculiar poetic imagery which was +afterwards developed by the great a¹cAºfA- of KhurAisAin, AbAº SaaEuro~A-d b. Abi +aEuro(TM)l-Khayr (aEuro 1049 A.D.). I can give only a few specimens of his sayings. +Their genuineness is not above suspicion, but they serve to show that if +the theosophical basis of a¹cAºfiism is distinctively Greek, its mystical +extravagances are no less distinctively Oriental. + + "Creatures are subject to 'states' (_aa¸YwAil_), but the gnostic has no + 'state,' because his vestiges are effaced and his essence is + annihilated by the essence of another, and his traces are lost in + another's traces. + + + "I went from God to God until they cried from me in me, 'O Thou I!' + + + "Nothing is better for Man than to be without aught, having no + asceticism, no theory, no practice. When he is without all, he is + with all. + + + "Verily I am God, there is no God except me, so worship me! + + + "Glory to me! how great is my majesty! + + + "I came forth from BAiyazA-d-ness as a snake from its skin. Then I + looked. I saw that lover, beloved, and love are one, for in the + world of unification all can be one. + + + "I am the wine-drinker and the wine and the cup-bearer." + +Thus, in the course of a century, a¹cAºfiism, which at first was little +more than asceticism, became in succession mystical and theosophical, +and even ran the risk of being confused with pantheism. Henceforward the +term _Taa¹Lawwuf_ unites all these varying shades. As a rule, however, +the great a¹cAºfA-s of the third century A.H. (815-912 A.D.) keep their +antinomian enthusiasm under control. Most of them agreed with Junayd of +BaghdAid (aEuro 909 A.D.), the leading theosophist of his time, in preferring +"the path of sobriety," and in seeking to reconcile the Law (_sharA-aEuro~at_) +with the Truth (_a¸YaqA-qat_). "Our principles," said Sahl b. aEuro~AbdullAih +al-TustarA- (aEuro 896 A.D.), "are six: to hold fast by the Book of God, to +model ourselves upon the Apostle (Mua¸Yammad), to eat only what is +lawful, to refrain from hurting people even though they hurt us, to +avoid forbidden things, and to fulfil obligations without delay." To +these articles the strictest Moslem might cheerfully subscribe. +a¹cAºfiism in its ascetic, moral, and devotional aspects was a +spiritualised Islam, though it was a very different thing essentially. +While doing lip-service to the established religion, it modified the +dogmas of Islam in such a way as to deprive them of their original +significance. Thus Allah, the God of mercy and wrath, was in a certain +sense depersonalised and worshipped as the One absolutely Real +(_al-a¸¤aqq_). Here the a¹cAºfA-s betray their kinship with the +MuaEuro~tazilites, but the two sects have little in common except the Greek +philosophy.[732] It must never be forgotten that a¹cAºfiism was the +expression of a profound religious feeling--"hatred of the world and +love of the Lord."[733] "_Taa¹Lawwuf_," said Junayd, "is this: that God +should make thee die to thyself and should make thee live in Him." + +The further development of a¹cAºfiism may be indicated in a few words. + +[Sidenote: The development of a¹cAºfiism.] + +What was at first a form of religion adopted by individuals and +communicated to a small circle of companions gradually became a monastic +system, a school for saints, with rules of discipline and devotion which +the novice (_murA-d_) learned from his spiritual director (_pA-r_ or +_ustAidh_), to whose guidance he submitted himself absolutely. Already in +the third century after Mua¸Yammad it is increasingly evident that the +typical a¹cAºfA- adept of the future will no longer be a solitary ascetic +shunning the sight of men, but a great Shaykh and hierophant, who +appears on ceremonial occasions attended by a numerous train of admiring +disciples. Soon the doctrine began to be collected and embodied in +books. Some of the most notable Arabic works of reference on a¹cAºfiism +have been mentioned already. Among the oldest are the _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-LumaaEuro~_, +by AbAº Naa¹Lr al-SarrAij (aEuro 988 A.D.) and the _QAºtu aEuro(TM)l-QulAºb_ by AbAº +a¹¬Ailib al-MakkA- (aEuro 996 A.D.). The twelfth century saw the rise of the +Dervish Orders. aEuro~AdA- al-HakkAirA- (aEuro 1163 A.D.) and aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-QAidir al-JA-lA- +(aEuro 1166 A.D.) founded the fraternities which are called aEuro~AdawA-s and +QAidirA-s, after their respective heads. These were followed in rapid +succession by the RifAiaEuro~A-s, the ShAidhilA-s, and the MevlevA-s, of whom the +last named owe their origin to the Persian poet and mystic, JalAilu +aEuro(TM)l-DA-n RAºmA- (aEuro 1273 A.D.). By this time, mainly through the influence of +GhazAilA-, a¹cAºfiism had won for itself a secure and recognised position +in the Mua¸Yammadan Church. Orthodoxy was forced to accept the popular +Saint-worship and to admit the miracles of the _AwliyAi_, although many +Moslem puritans raised their voices against the superstitious veneration +which was paid to the tombs of holy men, and against the prayers, +sacrifices, and oblations offered by the pilgrims who assembled. GhazAilA- +also gave the a¹cAºfA- doctrine a metaphysical basis. For this purpose he +availed himself of the terminology, which FAirAibA- (also a a¹cAºfA-) and +Avicenna had already borrowed from the Neo-platonists. From his time +forward we find in a¹cAºfA- writings constant allusions to the Plotinian +theories of emanation and ecstasy. + + +[Sidenote: aEuro~Umar Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-FAiria¸.] + +Mysticism was more congenial to the Persians than to the Arabs, and its +influence on Arabic literature is not to be compared with the +extraordinary spell which it has cast over the Persian mind since the +eleventh century of the Christian era to the present day. With few +exceptions, the great poets of Persia (and, we may add, of Turkey) speak +the allegorical language and use the fantastic imagery of which the +quatrains of the Persian a¹cAºfA-, AbAº SaaEuro~A-d b. Abi aEuro(TM)l-Khayr,[734] afford +almost the first literary example. The Arabs have only one mystical poet +worthy to stand beside the Persian masters. This is Sharafu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n aEuro~Umar +Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-FAiria¸, who was born in Cairo (1181 A.D.) and died there in +1235. His _DA-wAin_ was edited by his grandson aEuro~AlA-, and the following +particulars regarding the poet's life are extracted from the +biographical notice prefixed to this edition[735]:-- + + "The Shaykh aEuro~Umar Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-FAiria¸ was of middle stature; his face + was fair and comely, with a mingling of visible redness; and when he + was under the influence of music (_samAiaEuro~_) and rapture (_wajd_), and + overcome by ecstasy, it grew in beauty and brilliancy, and sweat + dropped from his body until it ran on the ground under his feet. I + never saw (so his son relates) among Arabs or foreigners a figure + equal in beauty to his, and I am the likest of all men to him in + form.... And when he walked in the city, the people used to press + round him asking his blessing and trying to kiss his hand, but he + would not allow anyone to do so, but put his hand in theirs.... + aEuro~Umar Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-FAiria¸ said: 'In the beginning of my detachment + (_tajrA-d_) from the world I used to beg permission of my father and + go up to the WAidi aEuro(TM)l-Mustaa¸aEuro~afA-n on the second mountain of + al-Muqaa¹-a¹-am. Thither I would resort and continue in this + hermit life (_sA-yAia¸Ya_) night and day; then I would return to my + father, as bound in duty to cherish his affection. My father was at + that time Lieutenant of the High Court (_khalA-fatu aEuro(TM)l-a¸Yukmi + aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~azA-z_) in QAihira and Mia¹Lr,[736] the two guarded cities, and + was one of the men most eminent for learning and affairs. He was + wont to be glad when I returned, and he frequently let me sit with + him in the chambers of the court and in the colleges of law. Then I + would long for "detachment," and beg leave to return to the life of + a wandering devotee, and thus I was doing repeatedly, until my + father was asked to fill the office of Chief Justice (_QAia¸i + aEuro(TM)l-Qua¸Ait_), but refused, and laid down the post which he held, + and retired from society, and gave himself entirely to God in the + preaching-hall (_qAiaEuro~atu aEuro(TM)l-khia¹-Aiba_) of the Mosque al-Azhar. + After his death I resumed my former detachment, and solitary + devotion, and travel in the way of Truth, but no revelation was + vouchsafed to me. One day I came to Cairo and entered the Sayfiyya + College. At the gate I found an old grocer performing an ablution + which was not prescribed. First he washed his hands, then his feet; + then he wiped his head and washed his face. "O Shaykh," I said to + him, "do you, after all these years, stand beside the gate of the + college among the Moslem divines and perform an irregular ablution?" + He looked at me and said, "O aEuro~Umar, nothing will be vouchsafed to + thee in Egypt, but only in the a¸¤ijAiz, at Mecca (may God exalt + it!); set out thither, for the time of thy illumination hath come." + Then I knew that the man was one of God's saints and that he was + disguising himself by his manner of livelihood and by pretending to + be ignorant of the irregularity of the ablution. I seated myself + before him and said to him, "O my master, how far am I from Mecca! + and I cannot find convoy or companions save in the months of + Pilgrimage." He looked at me and pointed with his hand and said, + "Here is Mecca in front of thee"; and as I looked with him, I saw + Mecca (may God exalt it!); and bidding him farewell, I set off to + seek it, and it was always in front of me until I entered it. At + that moment illumination came to me and continued without any + interruption.... I abode in a valley which was distant from Mecca + ten days' journey for a hard rider, and every day and night I would + come forth to pray the five prayers in the exalted Sanctuary, and + with me was a wild beast of huge size which accompanied me in my + going and returning, and knelt to me as a camel kneels, and said, + "Mount, O my master," but I never did so.'" + +When fifteen years had elapsed, aEuro~Umar Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-FAiria¸ returned to +Cairo. The people venerated him as a saint, and the reigning monarch, +Malik al-KAimil, wished to visit him in person, but aEuro~Umar declined to see +him, and rejected his bounty. "At most times," says the poet's son, "the +Shaykh was in a state of bewilderment, and his eyes stared fixedly. He +neither heard nor saw any one speaking to him. Now he would stand, now +sit, now repose on his side, now lie on his back wrapped up like a dead +man; and thus would he pass ten consecutive days, more or less, neither +eating nor drinking nor speaking nor stirring." In 1231 A.D. he made the +pilgrimage to Mecca, on which occasion he met his famous contemporary, +ShihAibuaEuro(TM) l-DA-n AbAº a¸¤afa¹L aEuro~Umar al-SuhrawardA-. He died four years +later, and was buried in the QarAifa cemetery at the foot of Mount +Muqaa¹-a¹-am. + +[Sidenote: The poetry of Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-FAiria¸.] + +His _DA-wAin_ of mystical odes, which were first collected and published +by his grandson, is small in extent compared with similar works in the +Persian language, but of no unusual brevity when regarded as the +production of an Arabian poet.[737] Concerning its general character +something has been said above (p. 325). The commentator, a¸¤asan +al-BAºrA-nA- (aEuro 1615 A.D.), praises the easy flow (_insijA m_) of the +versification, and declares that Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-FAiria¸ "is accustomed to play +with ideas in ever-changing forms, and to clothe them with splendid +garments."[738] His style, full of verbal subtleties, betrays the +influence of MutanabbA-.[739] The longest piece in the _DA-wAin_ is a Hymn +of Divine Love, entitled _Naaº"mu aEuro(TM)l-SulAºk_ ('Poem on the Mystic's +Progress'), and often called _al-TAiaEuro(TM)iyyatu aEuro(TM)l-KubrAi_ ('The Greater Ode +rhyming in _t_'), which has been edited with a German verse-translation +by Hammer-Purgstall (Vienna, 1854). On account of this poem the author +was accused of favouring the doctrine of _a¸YulAºl_, _i.e._, the +incarnation of God in human beings. Another celebrated ode is the +_Khamriyya_, or Hymn of Wine.[740] + +The following versions will perhaps convey to English readers some faint +impression of the fervid rapture and almost ethereal exaltation which +give the poetry of Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-FAiria¸ a unique place in Arabic +literature:-- + + "Let passion's swelling tide my senses drown! + Pity love's fuel, this long-smouldering heart, + Nor answer with a frown, + When I would fain behold Thee as Thou art, + '_Thou shall not see Me._'[741] O my soul, keep fast + The pledge thou gav'st: endure unfaltering to the last! + For Love is life, and death in love the Heaven + Where all sins are forgiven. + To those before and after and of this day, + That witnesseth my tribulation, say, + 'By me be taught, me follow, me obey, + And tell my passion's story thro' wide East and West.' + With my Beloved I alone have been + When secrets tenderer than evening airs + Passed, and the Vision blest + Was granted to my prayers, + That crowned me, else obscure, with endless fame, + The while amazed between + His beauty and His majesty + I stood in silent ecstasy, + Revealing that which o'er my spirit went and came. + Lo! in His face commingled + Is every charm and grace; + The whole of Beauty singled + Into a perfect face + Beholding Him would cry, + 'There is no God but He, and He is the most High!'"[742] + +Here are the opening verses of the _TAiaEuro(TM)iyyatu aEuro(TM)l-a¹cughrAi_, or 'The +Lesser Ode rhyming in _t_,' which is so called in order to distinguish +it from the _TAiaEuro(TM)iyyatu aEuro(TM)l-KubrAi_:-- + + "Yea, in me the Zephyr kindled longing, O my loves, for you; + Sweetly breathed the balmy Zephyr, scattering odours when it blew; + Whispering to my heart at morning secret tales of those who dwell + (How my fainting heart it gladdened!) nigh the water and the well; + Murmuring in the grassy meadows, garmented with gentleness, + Languid love-sick airs diffusing, healing me of my distress. + When the green slopes wave before thee, Zephyr, in my loved a¸¤ijAiz, + Thou, not wine that mads the others, art my rapture's only cause. + Thou the covenant eternal[743] callest back into my mind, + For but newly thou hast parted from my dear ones, happy Wind! + Driver of the dun-red camels that amidst acacias bide, + Soft and sofa-like thy saddle from the long and weary ride! + Blessings on thee, if descrying far-off TAºa¸ih at noonday, + Thou wilt cross the desert hollows where the fawns of Wajra play, + And if from aEuro~Uraya¸'s sand-hillocks bordering on stony ground + Thou wilt turn aside to a¸¤uzwAi, driver for Suwayqa bound, + And a¹¬uwayliaEuro~'s willows leaving, if to SalaEuro~ thou thence wilt ride-- + Ask, I pray thee, of a people dwelling on the mountain-side! + Halt among the clan I cherish (so may health attend thee still!) + And deliver there my greeting to the Arabs of the hill. + For the tents are basking yonder, and in one of them is She + That bestows the meeting sparely, but the parting lavishly. + All around her as a rampart edge of sword and point of lance, + Yet my glances stray towards her when on me she deigns to glance. + Girt about with double raiment--soul and heart of mine, no less-- + She is guarded from beholders, veiled by her unveiledness. + Death to me, in giving loose to my desire, she destineth; + Ah, how goodly seems the bargain, and how cheap is Love + for Death![744] + +Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-FAiria¸ came of pure Arab stock, and his poetry is thoroughly +Arabian both in form and spirit. This is not the place to speak of the +great Persian a¹cAºfA-s, but a¸¤usayn b. Mana¹LAºr al-a¸¤allAij, who was +executed in the Caliphate of Muqtadir (922 A.D.), could not have been +omitted here but for the fact that Professor Browne has already given an +admirable account of him, to which I am unable to add anything of +importance.[745] The Arabs, however, have contributed to the history of +a¹cAºfiism another memorable name--Mua¸YyiaEuro(TM)l-DA-n Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA-, whose +life falls within the final century of the aEuro~AbbAisid period, and will +therefore fitly conclude the present chapter.[746] + +[Sidenote: Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA-.] + +Mua¸Yyi aEuro(TM)l-DA-n Mua¸Yammad b. aEuro~AlA- Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA- (or Ibn aEuro~ArabA-)[747] +was born at Mursiya (Murcia) in Spain on the 17th of Ramaa¸Ain, 560 +A.H. = July 29, 1165 A.D. From 1173 to 1202 he resided in Seville. He +then set out for the East, travelling by way of Egypt to the a¸¤ijAiz, +where he stayed a long time, and after visiting BaghdAid, Mosul, and Asia +Minor, finally settled at Damascus, in which city he died (638 A.H. = +1240 A.D.). His tomb below Mount QAisiyAºn was thought to be "a piece of +the gardens of Paradise," and was called the Philosophers' Stone.[748] +It is now enclosed in a mosque which bears the name of Mua¸Yyi aEuro(TM)l-DA-n, +and a cupola rises over it.[749] We know little concerning the events of +his life, which seems to have been passed chiefly in travel and +conversation with a¹cAºfA-s and in the composition of his voluminous +writings, about three hundred in number according to his own +computation. Two of these works are especially celebrated, and have +caused Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA- to be regarded as the greatest of all +Mua¸Yammadan mystics--the _FutAºa¸YAit al-Makkiyya_, or 'Meccan +Revelations,' and the _Fua¹LAºa¹LAº aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤ikam_, or 'Bezels of +Philosophy.' The _FutAºa¸YAit_ is a huge treatise in five hundred and +sixty chapters, containing a complete system of mystical science. The +author relates that he saw Mua¸Yammad in the World of Real Ideas, +seated on a throne amidst angels, prophets, and saints, and received his +command to discourse on the Divine mysteries. At another time, while +circumambulating the KaaEuro~ba, he met a celestial spirit wearing the form +of a youth engaged in the same holy rite, who showed him the living +esoteric Temple which is concealed under the lifeless exterior, even as +the eternal substance of the Divine Ideas is hidden by the veils of +popular religion--veils through which the lofty mind must penetrate, +until, having reached the splendour within, it partakes of the Divine +nature and beholds what no mortal eye can endure to look upon. Ibnu +aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA- immediately fell into a swoon. When he came to himself he was +instructed to contemplate the visionary form and to write down the +mysteries which it would reveal to his gaze. Then the youth entered the +KaaEuro~ba with Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA-, and resuming his spiritual aspect, appeared +to him on a three-legged steed, breathed into his breast the knowledge +of all things, and once more bade him describe the heavenly form in +which all mysteries are enshrined.[750] Such is the reputed origin of +the 'Meccan Revelations,' of which the greater portion was written in +the town where inspiration descended on Mua¸Yammad six hundred years +before. The author believed, or pretended to believe, that every word of +them was dictated to him by supernatural means. The _FAºa¹LAºa¹L_, a +short work in twenty-seven chapters, each of which is named after one of +the prophets, is no less highly esteemed, and has been the subject of +numerous commentaries in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. + +[Sidenote: The doctrine of the Perfect Man.] + +Curiously enough, Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA- combined the most extravagant mysticism +with the straitest orthodoxy. "He was a aº'Aihirite (literalist) in +religion and a BAia¹-inite (spiritualist) in his speculative +beliefs."[751] He rejected all authority (_taqlA-d_). "I am not one of +those who say, 'Ibn a¸¤azm said so-and-so, Aa¸Ymad[752] said +so-and-so, al-NuaEuro~mAin[753] said so-and-so,'" he declares in one of his +poems. But although he insisted on punctilious adherence to the letter +of the sacred law, we may suspect that his refusal to follow any human +authority, analogy, or opinion was simply the overweening presumption of +the seer who regards himself as divinely illuminated and infallible. +Many theologians were scandalised by the apparently blasphemous +expressions which occur in his writings, and taxed him with holding +heretical doctrines, _e.g._, the incarnation of God in man (_a¸YulAºl_) +and the identification of man with God (_ittia¸YAid_). Centuries passed, +but controversy continued to rage over him. He found numerous and +enthusiastic partisans, who urged that the utterances of the saints must +not be interpreted literally nor criticised at all. It was recognised, +however, that such high mysteries were unsuitable for the weaker +brethren, so that many even of those who firmly believed in his sanctity +discouraged the reading of his books. They were read nevertheless, +publicly and privately, from one end of the Mua¸Yammadan world to the +other; people copied them for the sake of obtaining the author's +blessing, and the manuscripts were eagerly bought. Among the +distinguished men who wrote in his defence we can mention here only +Majdu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n al-FA-rAºzAibAidA- (aEuro 1414 A.D.), the author of the great Arabic +lexicon entitled _al-QAimAºs_; JalAilu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n al-SuyAºa¹-A- (aEuro 1445 A.D.); +and aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-WahhAib al-ShaaEuro~rAinA- (aEuro 1565 A.D.). The fundamental principle +of his system is the Unity of Being (_waa¸Ydatu aEuro(TM)l-wujAºd_). There is no +real difference between the Essence and its attributes or, in other +words, between God and the universe. All created things subsist +eternally as ideas (_aaEuro~yAin thAibita_) in the knowledge of God, and since +being is identical with knowledge, their "creation" only means His +knowing them, or Himself, under the aspect of actuality; the universe, +in fact, is the concrete sum of the relations of the Essence as subject +to itself as object. This pantheistic monism puts on an Islamic mask in +the doctrine of "the Perfect Man" (_al-InsAin al-KAimil_), a phrase which +Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA- was the first to associate with it. The Divine +consciousness, evolving through a series of five planes +(_a¸Yaa¸arAit_), attains to complete expression in Man, the +microcosmic being who unites the creative and creaturely attributes of +the Essence and is at once the image of God and the archetype of the +universe. Only through him does God know Himself and make Himself known; +he is the eye of the world whereby God sees His own works. The daring +paradoxes of Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA-'s dialectic are illustrated by such verses +as these:-- + + He praises me (by manifesting my perfections and creating me in + His form), + And I praise Him (by manifesting His perfections and obeying Him). + How can He be independent when I help and aid Him? (because the Divine + attributes derive the possibility of manifestation from their human + correlates). + For that cause God brought me into existence, + And I know Him and bring Him into existence (in my knowledge + and contemplation of Him).[754] + +Thus it is the primary function of Man to reveal and realise his Divine +nature; and the Perfect Men, regarded individually, are the prophets and +saints. Here the doctrine--an amalgam of ManichA|an, Gnostic, +Neo-platonic and Christian speculations--attaches itself to Mua¸Yammad, +"the Seal of the prophets." According to Moslem belief, the pre-existent +Spirit or Light of Mua¸Yammad (_NAºr Mua¸YammadA-_) became incarnate in +Adam and in the whole series of prophets, of whom Mua¸Yammad is the +last. Mua¸Yammad, then, is the Logos,[755] the Mediator, the Vicegerent +of God (_KhalA-fat Allah_), the God-Man who has descended to this earthly +sphere to make manifest the glory of Him who brought the universe into +existence. + +But, of course, Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA-'s philosophy carries him far beyond the +realm of positive religion. If God is the "self" of all things sensible +and intelligible, it follows that He reveals Himself in every form of +belief in a degree proportionate to the pre-determined capacity of the +believer; the mystic alone sees that He is One in all forms, for the +mystic's heart is all-receptive: it assumes whatever form God reveals +Himself in, as wax takes the impression of the seal. + + "My heart is capable of every form, + A cloister for the monk, a fane for idols, + A pasture for gazelles, the pilgrim's KaaEuro~ba, + The Tables of the Torah, the Koran. + Love is the faith I hold: wherever turn + His camels, still the one true faith is mine."[756] + +The vast bulk of Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA-'s writings, his technical and scholastic +terminology, his recondite modes of thought, and the lack of method in +his exposition have, until recently, deterred European Orientalists from +bestowing on him the attention which he deserves.[757] In the history of +a¹cAºfiism his name marks an epoch: it is owing to him that what began +as a profoundly religious personal movement in Islam ends as an eclectic +and definitely pantheistic system of philosophy. The title of "The Grand +Master" (_al-Shaykh al-Akbar_), by which he is commonly designated, +bears witness to his supremacy in the world of Moslem mysticism from the +Mongol Invasion to the present day. In Persia and Turkey his influence +has been enormous, and through his pupil, a¹cadru aEuro(TM)l-DA-n of QA cubedniya, he +is linked with the greatest of all a¹cAºfA- poets, JalAilu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n RAºmA-, +the author of the _MathnawA-_, who died some thirty years after him. Nor +did all those who borrowed his ideas call themselves Moslems. He +inspired, amongst other mediA|val Christian writers, "the Illuminated +Doctor" Raymond Lull, and probably Dante.[758] + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE ARABS IN EUROPE + + +It will be remembered that before the end of the first century of the +Hijra, in the reign of the Umayyad Caliph, WalA-d b. aEuro~Abd al-Malik +(705-715 A.D.), the Moslems under a¹¬Airiq and MAºsAi b. Nua¹Layr, +crossed the Mediterranean, and having defeated Roderic the Goth in a +great battle near Cadiz, rapidly brought the whole of Spain into +subjection. The fate of the new province was long doubtful. The Berber +insurrection which raged in Africa (734-742 A.D.) spread to Spain and +threatened to exterminate the handful of Arab colonists; and no sooner +was this danger past than the victors began to rekindle the old feuds +and jealousies which they had inherited from their ancestors of Qays and +Kalb. Once more the rival factions of Syria and Yemen flew to arms, and +the land was plunged in anarchy. + +[Sidenote: aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin, the Umayyad.] + +Meanwhile aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin b. MuaEuro~Aiwiya, a grandson of the Caliph +HishAim, had escaped from the general massacre with which the aEuro~AbbAisids +celebrated their triumph over the House of Umayya, and after five years +of wandering adventure, accompanied only by his faithful freedman, Badr, +had reached the neighbourhood of Ceuta, where he found a precarious +shelter with the Berber tribes. Young, ambitious, and full of confidence +in his destiny, aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin conceived the bold plan of throwing +himself into Spain and of winning a kingdom with the help of the Arabs, +amongst whom, as he well knew, there were many clients of his own +family. Accordingly in 755 A.D. he sent Badr across the sea on a secret +mission. The envoy accomplished even more than was expected of him. To +gain over the clients was easy, for aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin was their natural +chief, and in the event of his success they would share with him the +prize. Their number, however, was comparatively small. The pretender +could not hope to achieve anything unless he were supported by one of +the great parties, Syrians or Yemenites. At this time the former, led by +the feeble governor, YAºsuf b. aEuro~Abd al-Raa¸YmAin al-FihrA-, and his cruel +but capable lieutenant, a¹cumayl b. a¸¤Aitim, held the reins of power +and were pursuing their adversaries with ruthless ferocity. The +Yemenites, therefore, hastened to range themselves on the side of aEuro~Abdu +aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin, not that they loved his cause, but inspired solely by the +prospect of taking a bloody vengeance upon the Syrians. These Spanish +Moslems belonged to the true Bedouin stock! + +A few months later aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin landed in Spain, occupied Seville, +and, routing YAºsuf and a¹cumayl under the walls of Cordova, made +himself master of the capital. On the same evening he presided, as +Governor of Spain, over the citizens assembled for public worship in the +great Mosque (May, 756 A.D.). + +During his long reign of thirty-two years aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin was busily +employed in defending and consolidating the empire which more than once +seemed to be on the point of slipping from his grasp. The task before +him was arduous in the extreme. On the one hand, he was confronted by +the unruly Arab aristocracy, jealous of their independence and regarding +the monarch as their common foe. Between him and them no permanent +compromise was possible, and since they could only be kept in check by +an armed force stronger than themselves, he was compelled to rely on +mercenaries, for the most part Berbers imported from Africa. Thus, by a +fatal necessity the Moslem Empire in the West gradually assumed that +despotic and PrA|torian character which we have learned to associate with +the aEuro~AbbAisid Government in the period of its decline, and the results +were in the end hardly less disastrous. The monarchy had also to reckon +with the fanaticism of its Christian subjects and with a formidable +Spanish national party eager to throw off the foreign yoke. +Extraordinary energy and tact were needed to maintain authority over +these explosive elements, and if the dynasty founded by aEuro~Abdu +aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin not only survived for two centuries and a half but gave to +Spain a more splendid era of prosperity and culture than she had ever +enjoyed, the credit is mainly due to the bold adventurer from whom even +his enemies could not withhold a tribute of admiration. One day, it is +said, the Caliph Mana¹LAºr asked his courtiers, "Who is the Falcon of +Quraysh?" They replied, "O Prince of the Faithful, that title belongs to +you who have vanquished mighty kings and have put an end to civil war." +"No," said the Caliph, "it is not I." "MuaEuro~Aiwiya, then, or aEuro~Abdu +aEuro(TM)l-Malik?" "No," said Mana¹LAºr, "the Falcon of Quraysh is aEuro~Abdu +aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin b. MuaEuro~Aiwiya, he who traversed alone the deserts of Asia and +Africa, and without an army to aid him sought his fortune in an unknown +country beyond the sea. With no weapons except judgment and resolution +he subdued his enemies, crushed the rebels, secured his frontiers, and +founded a great empire. Such a feat was never achieved by any one +before."[759] + + +[Sidenote: Islam in Spain.] + +[Sidenote: Yaa¸YyAi b. Yaa¸YyAi.] + +[Sidenote: The Revolt of the Suburb.] + +Of the Moslems in Spain the Arabs formed only a small minority, and +they, moreover, showed all the indifference towards religion and +contempt for the laws of Islam which might be expected from men imbued +with Bedouin traditions whose forbears had been devotedly attached to +the world-loving Umayyads of Damascus. It was otherwise with the Spanish +converts, the so-called 'Renegades' or _MuwalladAºn_ (Affiliati) living +as clients under protection of the Arab nobility, and with the Berbers. +These races took their adopted religion very seriously, in accordance +with the fervid and sombre temperament which has always distinguished +them. Hence among the mass of Spanish Moslems a rigorous orthodoxy +prevailed. The Berber, Yaa¸YyAi b. Yaa¸YyAi (aEuro 849 A.D.), is a typical +figure. At the age of twenty-eight years he travelled to the East and +studied under MAilik. b Anas, who dictated to him his celebrated work +known as the _Muwaa¹-a¹-aaEuro(TM)_. Yaa¸YyAi was one day at MAilik's lecture +with a number of fellow-students, when some one said, "Here comes the +elephant!" All of them ran out to see the animal, but Yaa¸YyAi did not +stir. "Why," said MAilik, "do you not go out and look at it? Such animals +are not to be seen in Spain." To this Yaa¸YyAi replied, "I left my +country for the purpose of seeing you and obtaining knowledge under your +guidance. I did not come here to see the elephant." MAilik was so pleased +with this answer that he called him the most intelligent (_aEuro~Aiqil_) of +the people of Spain. On his return to Spain Yaa¸YyAi exerted himself to +spread the doctrines of his master, and though he obstinately refused, +on religious grounds, to accept any public office, his influence and +reputation were such that, as Ibn a¸¤azm says, no Cadi was ever +appointed till Yaa¸YyAi had given his opinion and designated the person +whom he preferred.[760] Thus the MAilikite system, based on close +adherence to tradition, became the law of the land. "The Spaniards," it +is observed by a learned writer of the tenth century, "recognise only +the Koran and the _Muwaa¹-a¹-aaEuro(TM)_; if they find a follower of AbAº +a¸¤anA-fa or ShAifiaEuro~A-, they banish him from Spain, and if they meet with +a MuaEuro~tazilite or a ShA-aEuro~ite or any one of that sort, they often put him +to death."[761] Arrogant, intensely bigoted, and ambitious of power, the +Mua¸Yammadan clergy were not disposed to play a subordinate rA'le in the +State. In HishAim (788-796 A.D.), the successor of aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin, +they had a prince after their own heart, whose piety and devotion to +their interests left nothing to be desired. a¸¤akam (796-822 A.D.) was +less complaisant. He honoured and respected the clergy, but at the same +time he let them see that he would not permit them to interfere in +political affairs. The malcontents, headed by the fiery Yaa¸YyAi b. +Yaa¸YyAi, replied with menaces and insults, and called on the populace +of Cordova--especially the 'Renegades' in the southern quarter +(_rabaa¸_) of the city--to rise against the tyrant and his insolent +soldiery. One day in Ramaa¸Ain, 198 A.H. (May, 814 A.D.), a¸¤akam +suddenly found himself cut off from the garrison and besieged in his +palace by an infuriated mob, but he did not lose courage, and, thanks to +his coolness and skilful strategy, he came safely out of the peril in +which he stood. The revolutionary suburb was burned to the ground and +those of its inhabitants who escaped massacre, some 60,000 souls, were +driven into exile. The real culprits went unpunished. a¸¤akam could not +afford further to exasperate the divines, who on their part began to +perceive that they might obtain from the prince by favour what they had +failed to wring from him by force. Being mostly Arabs or Berbers, they +had a strong claim to his consideration. Their power was soon restored, +and in the reign of aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin II (822-852 A.D.) Yaa¸YyAi +himself, the ringleader of the mutiny, directed ecclesiastical policy +and dispensed judicial patronage as he pleased. + +[Sidenote: aEuro~Umar b. a¸¤afa¹LAºn.] + +The Revolt of the Suburb was only an episode in the long and sanguinary +struggle between the Spaniards, Moslem or Christian, on the one hand, +and the monarchy of Cordova on the other--a struggle complicated by the +rival Arab tribes, which sometimes patched up their own feuds in order +to defend themselves against the Spanish patriots, but never in any +circumstances gave their support to the detested Umayyad Government. The +hero of this war of independence was aEuro~Umar b. a¸¤afa¹LAºn. He belonged +to a noble family of West-Gothic origin which had gone over to Islam and +settled in the mountainous district north-east of Malaga. Hot-blooded, +quarrelsome, and ready to stab on the slightest provocation, the young +man soon fell into trouble. At first he took shelter in the wild +fastnesses of Ronda, where he lived as a brigand until he was captured +by the police. He then crossed the sea to Africa, but in a short time +returned to his old haunts and put himself at the head of a band of +robbers. Here he held out for two years, when, having been obliged to +surrender, he accepted the proposal of the Sultan of Cordova that he and +his companions should enlist in the Imperial army. But aEuro~Umar was +destined for greater glory than the Sultan could confer upon him. A few +contemptuous words from a superior officer touched his pride to the +quick, so one fine day he galloped off with all his men in the direction +of Ronda. They found an almost impregnable retreat in the castle of +Bobastro, which had once been a Roman fortress. From this moment, says +Dozy, aEuro~Umar b. a¸¤afa¹LAºn was no longer a brigand-chief, but leader of +the whole Spanish race in the south. The lawless and petulant free-lance +was transformed into a high-minded patriot, celebrated for the stern +justice with which he punished the least act of violence, adored by his +soldiers, and regarded by his countrymen as the champion of the national +cause. During the rest of his life (884-917 A.D.) he conducted the +guerilla with untiring energy and made himself a terror to the Arabs, +but fortune deserted him at the last, and he died--_felix opportunitate +mortis_--only a few years before complete ruin overtook his party. The +Moslem Spaniards, whose enthusiasm had been sensibly weakened by their +leader's conversion to Christianity, were the more anxious to make their +peace with the Government, since they saw plainly the hopelessness of +continuing the struggle. + +In 912 A.D. aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin III, the Defender of the Faith +(_al-NAia¹Lir li-dA-nA- aEuro(TM)llAih_), succeeded his grandfather, the AmA-r +aEuro~AbdullAih, on the throne of Cordova. The character, genius, and +enterprise of this great monarch are strikingly depicted in the +following passage from the pen of an eloquent historian whose work, +although it was published some fifty years ago, will always be +authoritative[762]:-- + + [Sidenote: aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin III (912-961 A.D).] + + "Amongst the Umayyad sovereigns who have ruled Spain the first place + belongs incontestably to aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin III. What he + accomplished was almost miraculous. He had found the empire + abandoned to anarchy and civil war, rent by factions, parcelled + amongst a multitude of heterogeneous princes, exposed to incessant + attacks from the Christians of the north, and on the eve of being + swallowed up either by the LA(C)onnese or the Africans. In spite of + innumerable obstacles he had saved Spain both from herself and from + the foreign domination. He had endowed her with new life and made + her greater and stronger than she had ever been. He had given her + order and prosperity at home, consideration and respect abroad. The + public treasury, which he had found in a deplorable condition, was + now overflowing. Of the Imperial revenues, which amounted annually + to 6,245,000 pieces of gold, a third sufficed for ordinary expenses; + a third was held in reserve, and aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin devoted the + remainder to his buildings. It was calculated that in the year 951 + he had in his coffers the enormous sum of 20,000,000 pieces of gold, + so that a traveller not without judgment in matters of finance + assures us that aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin and the a¸¤amdAinid (NAia¹Liru + aEuro(TM)l-Dawla), who was then reigning over Mesopotamia, were the + wealthiest princes of that epoch. The state of the country was in + keeping with the prosperous condition of the treasury. Agriculture, + industry, commerce, the arts and the sciences, all flourished.... + Cordova, with its half-million inhabitants, its three thousand + mosques, its superb palaces, its hundred and thirteen thousand + houses, its three hundred bagnios, and its twenty-eight suburbs, was + inferior in extent and splendour only to BaghdAid, with which city + the Cordovans loved to compare it.... The power of aEuro~Abdu + aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin was formidable. A magnificent fleet enabled him to + dispute with the FAia¹-imids the empire of the Mediterranean, and + secured him in the possession of Ceuta, the key of Mauritania. A + numerous and well-disciplined army, perhaps the finest in the world, + gave him superiority over the Christians of the north. The proudest + sovereigns solicited his alliance. The emperor of Constantinople, + the kings of Germany, Italy, and France sent ambassadors to him. + + "Assuredly, these were brilliant results; but what excites our + astonishment and admiration when we study this glorious reign is not + so much the work as the workman: it is the might of that + comprehensive intelligence which nothing escaped, and which showed + itself no less admirable in the minutest details than in the + loftiest conceptions. This subtle and sagacious man, who + centralises, who founds the unity of the nation and of the monarchy, + who by means of his alliances establishes a sort of political + equilibrium, who in his large tolerance calls the professors of + another religion into his councils, is a modern king rather than a + mediA|val Caliph."[763] + +[Sidenote: Regency of Mana¹LAºr Ibn AbA- aEuro~Amir (976-1002 A.D.).] + +In short, aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin III made the Spanish Moslems one people, +and formed out of Arabs and Spaniards a united Andalusian nation, which, +as we shall presently see, advanced with incredible swiftness to a +height of culture that was the envy of Europe and was not exceeded by +any contemporary State in the Mua¸Yammadan East. With his death, +however, the decline of the Umayyad dynasty began. His son, a¸¤akam II +(aEuro 976 A.D.), left as heir-apparent a boy eleven years old, HishAim II, +who received the title of Caliph while the government was carried on by +his mother Aurora and the ambitious minister Mua¸Yammad b. AbA- aEuro~Amir. +The latter was virtually monarch of Spain, and whatever may be thought +of the means by which he rose to eminence, or of his treatment of the +unfortunate Caliph whose mental faculties he deliberately stunted and +whom he condemned to a life of monkish seclusion, it is impossible to +deny that he ruled well and nobly. He was a great statesman and a great +soldier. No one could accuse him of making an idle boast when he named +himself 'Al-Mana¹LAºr' ('The Victorious'). Twice every year he was +accustomed to lead his army against the Christians, and such was the +panic which he inspired that in the course of more than fifty campaigns +he scarcely ever lost a battle. He died in 1002 A.D. A Christian monk, +recording the event in his chronicle, adds, "he was buried in Hell," but +Moslem hands engraved the following lines upon the tomb of their +champion:-- + + "His story in his relics you may trace, + As tho' he stood before you face to face. + Never will Time bring forth his peer again, + Nor one to guard, like him, the gaps of Spain."[764] + +His demise left the PrA|torians masters of the situation. Berbers and +Slaves[765] divided the kingdom between them, and amidst revolution and +civil war the Umayyad dynasty passed away (1031 A.D.). + + +[Sidenote: The Party Kings (_MulAºku aEuro(TM)l-a¹¬awAiaEuro(TM)if_).] + +It has been said with truth that the history of Spain in the eleventh +century bears a close resemblance to that of Italy in the fifteenth. The +splendid empire of aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin III was broken up, and from its +ruins there emerged a fortuitous conglomeration of petty states governed +by successful condottieri. Of these Party Kings (_MulAºku +aEuro(TM)l-a¹¬awAiaEuro(TM)if_), as they are called by Mua¸Yammadan writers, the most +powerful were the aEuro~AbbAidids of Seville. Although it was an age of +political decay, the material prosperity of Spain had as yet suffered +little diminution, whilst in point of culture the society of this time +reached a level hitherto unequalled. Here, then, we may pause for a +moment to review the progress of literature and science during the most +fruitful period of the Moslem occupation of European soil. + + +[Sidenote: Influence of Arabic culture on the Spaniards.] + +Whilst in Asia, as we have seen, the Arab conquerors yielded to the +spell of an ancient culture infinitely superior to their own, they no +sooner crossed the Straits of Gibraltar than the rA'les were reversed. As +the invaders extended their conquests to every part of the peninsula, +thousands of Christians fell into their hands, who generally continued +to live under Moslem protection. They were well treated by the +Government, enjoyed religious liberty, and often rose to high offices in +the army or at court. Many of them became rapidly imbued with Moslem +civilisation, so that as early as the middle of the ninth century we +find Alvaro, Bishop of Cordova, complaining that his co-religionists +read the poems and romances of the Arabs, and studied the writings of +Mua¸Yammadan theologians and philosophers, not in order to refute them +but to learn how to express themselves in Arabic with correctness and +elegance. "Where," he asks, "can any one meet nowadays with a layman who +reads the Latin commentaries on the Holy Scriptures? Who studies the +Gospels, the Prophets, the Apostles? Alas, all young Christians of +conspicuous talents are acquainted only with the language and writings +of the Arabs; they read and study Arabic books with the utmost zeal, +spend immense sums of money in collecting them for their libraries, and +proclaim everywhere that this literature is admirable. On the other +hand, if you talk with them of Christian books, they reply +contemptuously that these books are not worth their notice. Alas, the +Christians have forgotten their own language, and amongst thousands of +us scarce one is to be found who can write a tolerable Latin letter to a +friend; whereas very many are capable of expressing themselves +exquisitely in Arabic and of composing poems in that tongue with even +greater skill than the Arabs themselves."[766] + +However the good bishop may have exaggerated, it is evident that +Mua¸Yammadan culture had a strong attraction for the Spanish +Christians, and equally, let us add, for the Jews, who made numerous +contributions to poetry, philosophy, and science in their native speech +as well as in the kindred Arabic idiom. The 'Renegades,' or Spanish +converts to Islam, became completely Arabicised in the course of a few +generations; and from this class sprang some of the chief ornaments of +Spanish-Arabian literature. + + +[Sidenote: The poetry of the Spanish Arabs.] + +Considered as a whole, the poetry of the Moslems in Europe shows the +same characteristics which have already been noted in the work of their +Eastern contemporaries. The paralysing conventions from which the +laureates of BaghdAid and Aleppo could not emancipate themselves remained +in full force at Cordova and Seville. Yet, just as Arabic poetry in the +East was modified by the influences of Persian culture, in Spain also +the gradual amalgamation of Aryans with Semites introduced new elements +which have left their mark on the literature of both races. Perhaps the +most interesting features of Spanish-Arabian poetry are the tenderly +romantic feeling which not infrequently appears in the love-songs, a +feeling that sometimes anticipates the attitude of mediA|val chivalry; +and in the second place an almost modern sensibility to the beauties of +nature. On account of these characteristics the poems in question appeal +to many European readers who do not easily enter into the spirit of the +_MuaEuro~allaqAit_ or the odes of MutanabbA-, and if space allowed it would be +a pleasant task to translate some of the charming lyric and descriptive +pieces which have been collected by anthologists. The omission, however, +is less grave inasmuch as Von Schack has given us a series of excellent +versions in his _Poesie und Kunst der Araber in Spanien und Sicilien_ +(2nd ed., Stuttgart, 1877). + +[Sidenote: Folk-songs.] + +"One of its marvels," says QazwA-nA-, referring to the town of Shilb +(Silves) in Portugal, "is the fact, which innumerable persons have +mentioned, that the people living there, with few exceptions, are makers +of verse and devoted to belles-lettres; and if you passed by a labourer +standing behind his plough and asked him to recite some verses, he would +at once improvise on any subject that you might demand."[767] Of such +folk-songs the _zajal_ and _muwashshaa¸Y_ were favourite types.[768] +Both forms were invented in Spain, and their structure is very similar, +consisting of several stanzas in which the rhymes are so arranged that +the master-rhyme ending each stanza and running through the whole poem +like a refrain is continually interrupted by a various succession of +subordinate rhymes, as is shown in the following scheme:-- + + _aa_ + _bbba_ + _ccca_ + _ddda._ + +Many of these songs and ballads were composed in the vulgar dialect and +without regard to the rules of classical prosody. The troubadour Ibn +QuzmAin (aEuro 1160 A.D.) first raised the _zajal_ to literary rank. Here is +an example of the _muwashshaa¸Y_:-- + + "Come, hand the precious cup to me, + And brim it high with a golden sea! + Let the old wine circle from guest to guest, + While the bubbles gleam like pearls on its breast, + So that night is of darkness dispossessed. + How it foams and twinkles in fiery glee! + 'Tis drawn from the Pleiads' cluster, perdie. + + Pass it, to music's melting sound, + Here on this flowery carpet round, + Where gentle dews refresh the ground + And bathe my limbs deliciously + In their cool and balmy fragrancy. + + Alone with me in the garden green + A singing-girl enchants the scene: + Her smile diffuses a radiant sheen. + I cast off shame, for no spy can see, + And 'Hola,' I cry, 'let us merry be!'"[769] + +[Sidenote: Verses by aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin I.] + +True to the traditions of their family, the Spanish Umayyads loved +poetry, music, and polite literature a great deal better than the Koran. +Even the Falcon of Quraysh, aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin I, if the famous verses +on the Palm-tree are really by him, concealed something of the softer +graces under his grim exterior. It is said that in his gardens at +Cordova there was a solitary date-palm, which had been transplanted from +Syria, and that one day aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin, as he gazed upon it, +remembered his native land and felt the bitterness of exile and +exclaimed:-- + + "O Palm, thou art a stranger in the West, + Far from thy Orient home, like me unblest. + Weep! But thou canst not. Dumb, dejected tree, + Thou art not made to sympathise with me. + Ah, thou wouldst weep, if thou hadst tears to pour, + For thy companions on Euphrates' shore; + But yonder tall groves thou rememberest not, + As I, in hating foes, have my old friends forgot."[770] + +[Sidenote: ZiryAib the musician.] + +At the court of aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin II (822-852 A.D.) a Persian musician +was prime favourite. This was ZiryAib, a client of the Caliph MahdA- and a +pupil of the celebrated singer, Isa¸YAiq al-Mawa¹LilA-.[771] Isa¸YAiq, +seeing in the young man a dangerous rival to himself, persuaded him to +quit BaghdAid and seek his fortune in Spain. aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin received +him with open arms, gave him a magnificent house and princely salary, +and bestowed upon him every mark of honour imaginable. The versatile and +accomplished artist wielded a vast influence. He set the fashion in all +things appertaining to taste and manners; he fixed the toilette, +sanctioned the cuisine, and prescribed what dress should be worn in the +different seasons of the year. The kings of Spain took him as a model, +and his authority was constantly invoked and universally recognised in +that country down to the last days of Moslem rule.[772] ZiryAib was only +one of many talented and learned men who came to Spain from the East, +while the list of Spanish savants who journeyed "in quest of knowledge" +(_fA- a¹-alabi aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ilm_) to Africa and Egypt, to the Holy Cities of +Arabia, to the great capitals of Syria and aEuro~IrAiq, to KhurAisAin, +Transoxania, and in some cases even to China, includes, as may be seen +from the perusal of MaqqarA-'s fifth chapter, nearly all the eminent +scholars and men of letters whom Moslem Spain has produced. Thus a +lively exchange of ideas was continually in movement, and so little +provincialism existed that famous Andalusian poets, like Ibn HAinA- and +Ibn ZaydAºn, are described by admiring Eastern critics as the Bua¸YturA-s +and MutanabbA-s of the West. + +[Sidenote: The Library of a¸¤akam II.] + +The tenth century of the Christian era is a fortunate and illustrious +period in Spanish history. Under aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin III and his +successor, a¸¤akam II, the nation, hitherto torn asunder by civil war, +bent its united energies to the advancement of material and intellectual +culture. a¸¤akam was an enthusiastic bibliophile. He sent his agents in +every direction to purchase manuscripts, and collected 400,000 volumes +in his palace, which was thronged with librarians, copyists, and +bookbinders. All these books, we are told, he had himself read, and he +annotated most of them with his own hand. His munificence to scholars +knew no bounds. He made a present of 1,000 dA-nAirs to Abu aEuro(TM)l-Faraj of +Ia¹LfahAin, in order to secure the first copy that was published of the +great 'Book of Songs' (_KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-AghAinA-_), on which the author was then +engaged. Besides honouring and encouraging the learned, a¸¤akam took +measures to spread the benefits of education amongst the poorest of his +subjects. With this view he founded twenty-seven free schools in the +capital and paid the teachers out of his private purse. Whilst in +Christian Europe the rudiments of learning were confined to the clergy, +in Spain almost every one could read and write. + + [Sidenote: The University of Cordova.] + + "The University of Cordova was at that time one of the most + celebrated in the world. In the principal Mosque, where the lectures + were held, AbAº Bakr b. MuaEuro~Aiwiya, the Qurayshite, discussed the + Traditions relating to Mua¸Yammad. AbAº aEuro~AlA- al-QAilA- of BaghdAid + dictated a large and excellent miscellany which contained an immense + quantity of curious information concerning the ancient Arabs, their + proverbs, their language, and their poetry. This collection he + afterwards published under the title of _AmAilA-_, or 'Dictations.' + Grammar was taught by Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-QAºa¹-iyya, who, in the opinion of AbAº + aEuro~Ali al-QAilA-, was the leading grammarian of Spain. Other sciences + had representatives no less renowned. Accordingly the students + attending the classes were reckoned by thousands. The majority were + students of what was called _fiqh_, that is to say, theology and + law, for that science then opened the way to the most lucrative + posts."[773] + +Among the notable savants of this epoch we may mention Ibn aEuro~Abdi Rabbihi +(aEuro 940 A.D.), laureate of aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin III and author of a +well-known anthology entitled _al-aEuro~Iqd al-FarA-d_; the poet Ibn HAinA- of +Seville (aEuro 973 A.D.), an IsmAiaEuro~A-lA- convert who addressed blasphemous +panegyrics to the FAia¹-imid Caliph MuaEuro~izz;[774] the historians of +Spain, AbAº Bakr al-RAizA- (aEuro 937 A.D.), whose family belonged to Rayy in +Persia, and Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-QAºa¹-iyya (aEuro 977 A.D.), who, as his name indicates, +was the descendant of a Gothic princess; the astronomer and +mathematician Maslama b. Aa¸Ymad of Madrid (aEuro 1007 A.D.); and the great +surgeon Abu aEuro(TM)l-QAisim al-ZahrAiwA- of Cordova, who died about the same +time, and who became known to Europe by the name of Albucasis. + + +[Sidenote: The aEuro~AbbAidids (1023-1091 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: MuaEuro~tamid of Seville (1069-1091 A.D.).] + +The fall of the Spanish Umayyads, which took place in the first half of +the eleventh century, left Cordova a republic and a merely provincial +town; and though she might still claim to be regarded as the literary +metropolis of Spain, her ancient glories were overshadowed by the +independent dynasties which now begin to flourish in Seville, Almeria, +Badajoz, Granada, Toledo, Malaga, Valencia, and other cities. Of these +rival princedoms the most formidable in arms and the most brilliant in +its cultivation of the arts was, beyond question, the family of the +aEuro~AbbAidids, who reigned in Seville. The foundations of their power were +laid by the Cadi Abu aEuro(TM)l-QAisim Mua¸Yammad. "He acted towards the people +with such justice and moderation as drew on him the attention of every +eye and the love of every heart," so that the office of chief magistrate +was willingly conceded to him. In order to obtain the monarchy which he +coveted, the Cadi employed an audacious ruse. The last Umayyad Caliph, +HishAim II, had vanished mysteriously: it was generally supposed that, +after escaping from Cordova when that city was stormed by the Berbers +(1013 A.D.), he fled to Asia and died unknown; but many believed that he +was still alive. Twenty years after his disappearance there suddenly +arose a pretender, named Khalaf, who gave out that he was the Caliph +HishAim. The likeness between them was strong enough to make the +imposture plausible. At any rate, the Cadi had his own reasons for +abetting it. He called on the people, who were deeply attached to the +Umayyad dynasty, to rally round their legitimate sovereign. Cordova and +several other States recognised the authority of this pseudo-Caliph, +whom Abu aEuro(TM)l-QAisim used as a catspaw. His son aEuro~AbbAid, a treacherous and +bloodthirsty tyrant, but an amateur of belles-lettres, threw off the +mask and reigned under the title of al-MuaEuro~taa¸id (1042-1069 A.D.). He +in turn was succeeded by his son, al-MuaEuro~tamid, whose strange and +romantic history reminds one of a sentence frequently occurring in the +_Arabian Nights_: "Were it graven with needle-gravers upon the +eye-corners, it were a warner to whoso would be warned." He is described +as "the most liberal, the most hospitable, the most munificent, and the +most powerful of all the princes who ruled in Spain. His court was the +halting-place of travellers, the rendezvous of poets, the point to which +all hopes were directed, and the haunt of men of talent."[775] MuaEuro~tamid +himself was a poet of rare distinction. "He left," says Ibn BassAim, +"some pieces of verse beautiful as the bud when it opens to disclose the +flower; and had the like been composed by persons who made of poetry a +profession and a merchandise, they would still have been considered +charming, admirable, and singularly original."[776] Numberless anecdotes +are told of MuaEuro~tamid's luxurious life at Seville: his evening rambles +along the banks of the Guadalquivir; his parties of pleasure; his +adventures when he sallied forth in disguise, accompanied by his Vizier, +the poet Ibn aEuro~AmmAir, into the streets of the sleeping city; and his +passion for the slave-girl IaEuro~timAid, commonly known as Rumaykiyya, whom +he loved all his life with constant devotion. + +Meanwhile, however, a terrible catastrophe was approaching. The causes +which led up to it are related by Ibn KhallikAin as follows[777]:-- + + [Sidenote: The Almoravides in Spain.] + + [Sidenote: Battle of ZallAiqa (October 23, 1086 A.D.).] + + "At that time Alphonso VI, the son of Ferdinand, the sovereign of + Castile and king of the Spanish Franks, had become so powerful that + the petty Moslem princes were obliged to make peace with him and pay + him tribute. MuaEuro~tamid Ibn aEuro~AbbAid surpassed all the rest in greatness + of power and extent of empire, yet he also paid tribute to Alphonso. + After capturing Toledo (May 29, 1085 A.D.) the Christian monarch + sent him a threatening message with the demand that he should + surrender his fortresses; on which condition he might retain the + open country as his own. These words provoked MuaEuro~tamid to such a + degree that he struck the ambassador and put to death all those who + accompanied him.[778] Alphonso, who was marching on Cordova, no + sooner received intelligence of this event than he returned to + Toledo in order to provide machines for the siege of Seville. When + the Shaykhs and doctors of Islam were informed of this project they + assembled and said: 'Behold how the Moslem cities fall into the + hands of the Franks whilst our sovereigns are engaged in warfare + against each other! If things continue in this state the Franks will + subdue the entire country.' They then went to the Cadi (of Cordova), + aEuro~AbdullAih b. Mua¸Yammad b. Adham, and conferred with him on the + disasters which had befallen the Moslems and on the means by which + they might be remedied. Every person had something to say, but it + was finally resolved that they should write to AbAº YaaEuro~qAºb YAºsuf b. + TAishifA-n, the king of the _MulaththamAºn_[779] and sovereign of + Morocco, imploring his assistance. The Cadi then waited on MuaEuro~tamid, + and informed him of what had passed. MuaEuro~tamid concurred with them on + the expediency of such an application, and told the Cadi to bear the + message himself to YAºsuf b. TAishifA-n. A conference took place at + Ceuta. YAºsuf recalled from the city of Morocco the troops which he + had left there, and when all were mustered he sent them across to + Spain, and followed with a body of 10,000 men. MuaEuro~tamid, who had + also assembled an army, went to meet him; and the Moslems, on + hearing the news, hastened from every province for the purpose of + combating the infidels. Alphonso, who was then at Toledo, took the + field with 40,000 horse, exclusive of other troops which came to + join him. He wrote a long and threatening letter to YAºsuf b. + TAishifA-n, who inscribed on the back of it these words: '_What will + happen thou shalt see!_' and returned it. On reading the answer + Alphonso was filled with apprehension, and observed that this was a + man of resolution. The two armies met at ZallAiqa, near Badajoz. The + Moslems gained the victory, and Alphonso fled with a few others, + after witnessing the complete destruction of his army. This year was + adopted in Spain as the commencement of a new era, and was called + the year of ZallAiqa." + +[Sidenote: Captivity and death of MuaEuro~tamid.] + +MuaEuro~tamid soon perceived that he had "dug his own grave"--to quote the +words used by himself a few years afterwards--when he sought aid from +the perfidious Almoravide. YAºsuf could not but contrast the beauty, +riches, and magnificent resources of Spain with the barren deserts and +rude civilisation of Africa. He was not content to admire at a distance +the enchanting view which had been dangled before him. In the following +year he returned to Spain and took possession of Granada. He next +proceeded to pick a quarrel with MuaEuro~tamid. The Berber army laid siege to +Seville, and although MuaEuro~tamid displayed the utmost bravery, he was +unable to prevent the fall of his capital (September, 1091 A.D.). The +unfortunate prince was thrown into chains and transported to Morocco. +YAºsuf spared his life, but kept him a prisoner at AghmAit, where he died +in 1095 A.D. During his captivity he bewailed in touching poems the +misery of his state, the sufferings which he and his family had to +endure, and the tragic doom which suddenly deprived him of friends, +fortune, and power. "Every one loves MuaEuro~tamid," wrote an historian of +the thirteenth century, "every one pities him, and even now he is +lamented."[780] He deserved no less, for, as Dozy remarks, he was "the +last Spanish-born king (_le dernier roi indigA"ne_), who represented +worthily, nay, brilliantly, a nationality and culture which succumbed, +or barely survived, under the dominion of barbarian invaders."[781] + +[Sidenote: Ibn ZaydAºn.] + +The Age of the Tyrants, to borrow from Greek history a designation which +well describes the character of this period, yields to no other in +literary and scientific renown. Poetry was cultivated at every +Andalusian court. If Seville could point with just pride to MuaEuro~tamid and +his Vizier, Ibn aEuro~AmmAir, Cordova claimed a second pair almost equally +illustrious--Ibn ZaydAºn (1003-1071 A.D.) and WallAida, a daughter of the +Umayyad Caliph al-MustakfA-. Ibn ZaydAºn entered upon a political career +and became the confidential agent of Ibn Jahwar, the chief magistrate of +Cordova, but he fell into disgrace, probably on account of his love for +the beautiful and talented princess, who inspired those tender melodies +which have caused the poet's European biographers to link his name with +Tibullus and Petrarch. In the hope of seeing her, although he durst not +show himself openly, he lingered in al-ZahrAi, the royal suburb of +Cordova built by aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin III. At last, after many wanderings, +he found a home at Seville, where he was cordially received by +MuaEuro~taa¸id, who treated him as an intimate friend and bestowed on him +the title of _Dhu aEuro(TM)l-WizAiratayn_.[782] The following verses, which he +addressed to WallAida, depict the lovely scenery of al-ZahrAi and may +serve to illustrate the deep feeling for nature which, as has been said, +is characteristic of Spanish-Arabian poetry in general.[783] + + "To-day my longing thoughts recall thee here; + The landscape glitters, and the sky is clear. + So feebly breathes the gentle zephyr's gale, + In pity of my grief it seems to fail. + The silvery fountains laugh, as from a girl's + Fair throat a broken necklace sheds its pearls. + Oh, 'tis a day like those of our sweet prime, + When, stealing pleasures from indulgent Time, + We played midst flowers of eye-bewitching hue, + That bent their heads beneath the drops of dew. + Alas, they see me now bereaved of sleep; + They share my passion and with me they weep. + Here in her sunny haunt the rose blooms bright, + Adding new lustre to Aurora's light; + And waked by morning beams, yet languid still, + The rival lotus doth his perfume spill. + All stirs in me the memory of that fire + Which in my tortured breast will ne'er expire. + Had death come ere we parted, it had been + The best of all days in the world, I ween; + And this poor heart, where thou art every thing, + Would not be fluttering now on passion's wing. + Ah, might the zephyr waft me tenderly, + Worn out with anguish as I am, to thee! + O treasure mine, if lover e'er possessed + A treasure! O thou dearest, queenliest! + Once, once, we paid the debt of love complete + And ran an equal race with eager feet. + How true, how blameless was the love I bore, + Thou hast forgotten; but I still adore!" + +[Sidenote: Ibn a¸¤azm (994-1064 A.D.).] + +The greatest scholar and the most original genius of Moslem Spain is AbAº +Mua¸Yammad aEuro~AlA- Ibn a¸¤azm, who was born at Cordova in 994 A.D. He +came of a 'Renegade' family, but he was so far from honouring his +Christian ancestors that he pretended to trace his descent to a Persian +freedman of YazA-d b. AbA- SufyAin, a brother of the first Umayyad Caliph, +MuaEuro~Aiwiya; and his contempt for Christianity was in proportion to his +fanatical zeal on behalf of Islam. His father, Aa¸Ymad, had filled the +office of Vizier under Mana¹LAºr Ibn AbA- aEuro~Amir, and Ibn a¸¤azm himself +plunged ardently into politics as a client--through his false +pedigree--of the Umayyad House, to which he was devotedly attached. +Before the age of thirty he became prime minister of aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin +V (1023-1024 A.D.), but on the fall of the Umayyad Government he retired +from public life and gave himself wholly to literature. Ibn BashkuwAil, +author of a well-known biographical dictionary of Spanish celebrities +entitled _al-a¹cila fA- akhbAiri aaEuro(TM)immati aEuro(TM)l-Andalus_, speaks of him in +these terms: "Of all the natives of Spain Ibn a¸¤azm was the most +eminent by the universality and the depth of his learning in the +sciences cultivated by the Moslems; add to this his profound +acquaintance with the Arabic tongue, and his vast abilities as an +elegant writer, a poet, a biographer, and an historian; his son +possessed about 400 volumes, containing nearly 80,000 leaves, which Ibn +a¸¤azm had composed and written out."[784] It is recorded that he said, +"My only desire in seeking knowledge was to attain a high scientific +rank in this world and the next."[785] He got little encouragement from +his contemporaries. The mere fact that he belonged to the aº'Aihirite +school of theology would not have mattered, but the caustic style in +which he attacked the most venerable religious authorities of Islam +aroused such bitter hostility that he was virtually excommunicated by +the orthodox divines. People were warned against having anything to do +with him, and at Seville his writings were solemnly committed to the +flames. On this occasion he is said to have remarked-- + + "The paper ye may burn, but what the paper holds + Ye cannot burn: 'tis safe within my breast: where I + Remove, it goes with me, alights when I alight, + And in my tomb will lie."[786] + +[Sidenote: 'The Book of Religions and Sects.'] + +After being expelled from several provinces of Spain, Ibn a¸¤azm +withdrew to a village, of which he was the owner, and remained there +until his death. Of his numerous writings only a few have escaped +destruction, but fortunately we possess the most valuable of them all, +the 'Book of Religions and Sects' (_KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-Milal +wa-aEuro(TM)l-Nia¸Yal_),[787] which was recently printed in Cairo for the first +time. This work treats in controversial fashion (1) of the +non-Mua¸Yammadan religious systems, especially Judaism, Christianity, +and Zoroastrianism, and (2) of Islam and its dogmas, which are of course +regarded from the aº'Aihirite standpoint, and of the four principal +Mua¸Yammadan sects, viz., the MuaEuro~tazilites, the Murjites, the ShA-aEuro~ites, +and the KhAirijites. The author maintains that these sects owed their +rise to the Persians, who sought thus to revenge themselves upon +victorious Islam.[788] + + +[Sidenote: Literature in Spain in the eleventh century.] + +[Sidenote: Samuel Ha-Levi.] + +The following are some of the most distinguished Spanish writers of this +epoch: the historian, AbAº MarwAin Ibn a¸¤ayyAin of Cordova (aEuro 1075 A.D.), +whose chief works are a colossal history of Spain in sixty volumes +entitled _al-MatA-n_ and a smaller chronicle (_al-Muqtabis_), both of which +appear to have been almost entirely lost;[789] the jurisconsult and +poet, Abu aEuro(TM)l-WalA-d al-BAijA- (aEuro 1081 A.D.); the traditionist YAºsuf Ibn +aEuro~Abd al-Barr (aEuro 1071 A.D.); and the geographer al-BakrA-, a native of +Cordova, where he died in 1094 A.D. Finally, mention should be made of +the famous Jews, Solomon Ibn Gabirol (Avicebron) and Samuel Ha-Levi. The +former, who was born at Malaga about 1020 A.D., wrote two philosophical +works in Arabic, and his _Fons Vitae_ played an important part in the +development of mediA|val scholasticism. Samuel Ha-Levi was Vizier to +BAidA-s, the sovereign of Granada (1038-1073 A.D.). In their admiration of +his extraordinary accomplishments the Arabs all but forgot that he was a +Jew and a prince (_NaghA-d_) in Israel.[790] Samuel, on his part, when he +wrote letters of State, did not scruple to employ the usual +Mua¸Yammadan formulas, "Praise to Allah!" "May Allah bless our Prophet +Mua¸Yammad!" and to glorify Islam quite in the manner of a good Moslem. +He had a perfect mastery of Hebrew and Arabic; he knew five other +languages, and was profoundly versed in the sciences of the ancients, +particularly in astronomy. With all his learning he was a supple +diplomat and a man of the world. Yet he always preserved a dignified and +unassuming demeanour, although in his days (according to Ibnu +aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~IdhAirA-) "the Jews made themselves powerful and behaved arrogantly +towards the Moslems."[791] + + +During the whole of the twelfth, and well into the first half of the +thirteenth, century Spain was ruled by two African dynasties, the +Almoravides and the Almohades, which originated, as their names denote, +in the religious fanaticism of the Berber tribes of the Sahara. The rise +of the Almoravides is related by Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-AthA-r as follows:--[792] + + [Sidenote: Rise of the Almoravides.] + + "In this year (448 A.H. = 1056 A.D.) was the beginning of the power + of the _MulaththamAºn_.[793] These were a number of tribes descended + from a¸¤imyar, of which the most considerable were LamtAºna, JadAila, + and Lama¹-a.... Now in the above-mentioned year a man of JadAila, + named Jawhar, set out for Africa[794] on his way to the Pilgrimage, + for he loved religion and the people thereof. At QayrawAin he fell in + with a certain divine--AbAº aEuro~ImrAin al-FAisA-, as is generally + supposed--and a company of persons who were studying theology under + him. Jawhar was much pleased with what he saw of their piety, and on + his return from Mecca he begged AbAº aEuro~ImrAin to send back with him to + the desert a teacher who should instruct the ignorant Berbers in the + laws of Islam. So AbAº aEuro~ImrAin sent with him a man called aEuro~AbdullAih b. + YAisA-n al-KuzAºlA-, who was an excellent divine, and they journeyed + together until they came to the tribe of LamtAºna. Then Jawhar + dismounted from his camel and took hold of the bridle of aEuro~AbdullAih + b. YAisA-n's camel, in reverence for the law of Islam; and the men of + LamtAºna approached Jawhar and greeted him and questioned him + concerning his companion. 'This man,' he replied, 'is the bearer of + the Sunna of the Apostle of God: he has come to teach you what is + necessary in the religion of Islam.' So they bade them both welcome, + and said to aEuro~AbdullAih, 'Tell us the law of Islam,' and he explained + it to them. They answered, 'As to what you have told us of prayer + and alms-giving, that is easy; but when you say, "He that kills + shall be killed, and he that steals shall have his hand cut off, and + he that commits adultery shall be flogged or stoned," that is an + ordinance which we will not lay upon ourselves. Begone + elsewhere!'... And they came to JadAila, Jawhar's own tribe, and + aEuro~AbdullAih called on them and the neighbouring tribes to fulfil the + law, and some consented while others refused. Then, after a time, + aEuro~AbdullAih said to his followers, 'Ye must fight the enemies of the + Truth, so appoint a commander over you.' Jawhar answered, 'Thou art + our commander,' but aEuro~AbdullAih declared that he was only a + missionary, and on his advice the command was offered to AbAº Bakr b. + aEuro~Umar, the chief of LamtAºna, a man of great authority and influence. + Having prevailed upon him to act as leader, aEuro~AbdullAih began to + preach a holy war, and gave his adherents the name of Almoravides + (_al-MurAibitAºn_)."[795] + +[Sidenote: The Almoravide Empire (1056-1147 A.D.).] + +The little community rapidly increased in numbers and power. YAºsuf b. +TAishifA-n, who succeeded to the command in 1069 A.D., founded the city of +Morocco, and from this centre made new conquests in every direction, so +that ere long the Almoravides ruled over the whole of North-West Africa +from Senegal to Algeria. We have already seen how YAºsuf was invited by +the aEuro~AbbAidids to lead an army into Spain, how he defeated Alphonso VI at +ZallAiqa and, returning a few years later, this time not as an ally but +as a conqueror, took possession of Granada and Seville. The rest of +Moslem Spain was subdued without much trouble: laity and clergy alike +hailed in the Berber monarch a zealous reformer of the Faith and a +mighty bulwark against its Christian enemies. The hopeful prospect was +not realised. Spanish civilisation enervated the Berbers, but did not +refine them. Under the narrow bigotry of YAºsuf and his successors free +thought became impossible, culture and science faded away. Meanwhile the +country was afflicted by famine, brigandage, and all the disorders of a +feeble and corrupt administration. + + +[Sidenote: Ibn TAºmart.] + +The empire of the Almoravides passed into the hands of another African +dynasty, the Almohades.[796] Their founder, Mua¸Yammad Ibn TAºmart, was +a native of the mountainous district of SAºs which lies to the south-west +of Morocco. When a youth he made the Pilgrimage to Mecca (about 1108 +A.D.), and also visited BaghdAid, where he studied in the Niaº"Aimiyya +College and is said to have met the celebrated GhazAilA-. He returned home +with his head full of theology and ambitious schemes. We need not dwell +upon his career from this point until he finally proclaimed himself as +the MahdA- (1121 A.D.), nor describe the familiar methods--some of them +disreputable enough--by which he induced the Berbers to believe in him. +His doctrines, however, may be briefly stated. "In most questions," says +one of his biographers,[797] "he followed the system of Abu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤asan +al-AshaEuro~arA-, but he agreed with the MuaEuro~tazilites in their denial of the +Divine Attributes and in a few matters besides; and he was at heart +somewhat inclined to ShA-aEuro~ism, although he gave it no countenance in +public."[798] The gist of his teaching is indicated by the name +_Muwaa¸Ya¸Yid_ (Unitarian), which he bestowed on himself, and which +his successors adopted as their dynastic title.[799] Ibn TAºmart +emphasised the Unity of God; in other words, he denounced the +anthropomorphic ideas which prevailed in Western Islam and strove to +replace them by a purely spiritual conception of the Deity. To this main +doctrine he added a second, that of the Infallible ImAim (_al-ImAim +al-MaaEuro~a¹LAºm_), and he naturally asserted that the ImAim was Mua¸Yammad +Ibn TAºmart, a descendant of aEuro~AlA- b. AbA- a¹¬Ailib. + + +[Sidenote: The Almohades (1130-1269 A.D.).] + +On the death of the MahdA- (1130 A.D.) the supreme command devolved upon +his trusted lieutenant, aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-MuaEuro(TM)min, who carried on the holy war +against the Almoravides with growing success, until in 1158 A.D. he +"united the whole coast from the frontier of Egypt to the Atlantic, +together with Moorish Spain, under his sceptre."[800] The new dynasty +was far more enlightened and favourable to culture than the Almoravides +had been. YAºsuf, the son of aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-MuaEuro(TM)min, is described as an +excellent scholar, whose mind was stored with the battles and traditions +and history of the Arabs before and after Islam. But he found his +highest pleasure in the study and patronage of philosophy. The great +Aristotelian, Ibn a¹¬ufayl, was his Vizier and court physician; and Ibn +Rushd (Averroes) received flattering honours both from him and from his +successor, YaaEuro~qAºb al-Mana¹LAºr, who loved to converse with the +philosopher on scientific topics, although in a fit of orthodoxy he +banished him for a time.[801] This curious mixture of liberality and +intolerance is characteristic of the Almohades. However they might +encourage speculation in its proper place, their law and theology were +cut according to the plain aº'Aihirite pattern. "The Koran and the +Traditions of the Prophet--or else the sword!" is a saying of the +last-mentioned sovereign, who also revived the autos-da-fA(C), which had +been prohibited by his grandfather, of MAilikite and other obnoxious +books.[802] The spirit of the Almohades is admirably reflected in Ibn +a¹¬ufayl's famous philosophical romance, named after its hero, _a¸¤ayy +ibn Yaqaº"Ain_, _i.e._, 'Alive, son of Awake,'[803] of which the +following summary is given by Mr. Duncan B. Macdonald in his excellent +_Muslim Theology_ (p. 253):-- + + [Sidenote: The story of a¸¤ayy b. Yaqaº"Ain.] + + "In it he conceives two islands, the one inhabited and the other + not. On the inhabited island we have conventional people living + conventional lives, and restrained by a conventional religion of + rewards and punishments. Two men there, SalAimAin and AsAil,[804] have + raised themselves to a higher level of self-rule. SalAimAin adapts + himself externally to the popular religion and rules the people; + AsAil, seeking to perfect himself still further in solitude, goes to + the other island. But there he finds a man, a¸¤ayy ibn Yaqaº"Ain, + who has lived alone from infancy and has gradually, by the innate + and uncorrupted powers of the mind, developed himself to the highest + philosophic level and reached the Vision of the Divine. He has + passed through all the stages of knowledge until the universe lies + clear before him, and now he finds that his philosophy thus reached, + without prophet or revelation, and the purified religion of AsAil are + one and the same. The story told by AsAil of the people of the other + island sitting in darkness stirs his soul, and he goes forth to them + as a missionary. But he soon learns that the method of Mua¸Yammad + was the true one for the great masses, and that only by sensuous + allegory and concrete things could they be reached and held. He + retires to his island again to live the solitary life." + +[Sidenote: Literature under the Almoravides and Almohades (1100-1250 +A.D.).] + +Of the writers who flourished under the Berber dynasties few are +sufficiently important to deserve mention in a work of this kind. The +philosophers, however, stand in a class by themselves. Ibn BAijja +(Avempace), Ibn Rushd (Averroes), Ibn a¹¬ufayl, and MAºsAi b. MaymAºn +(Maimonides) made their influence felt far beyond the borders of Spain: +they belong, in a sense, to Europe. We have noticed elsewhere the great +mystic, Mua¸Yyi aEuro(TM)l-DA-n Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA- (aEuro 1240 A.D.); his +fellow-townsman, Ibn SabaEuro~A-n (aEuro 1269 A.D.), a thinker of the same type, +wrote letters on philosophical subjects to Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. +Valuable works on the literary history of Spain were composed by Ibn +KhAiqAin (aEuro 1134 A.D.), Ibn BassAim (aEuro 1147 A.D.), and Ibn BashkuwAil (aEuro +1183 A.D.). The geographer IdrA-sA- (aEuro 1154 A.D.) was born at Ceuta, +studied at Cordova, and found a patron in the Sicilian monarch, Roger +II; Ibn Jubayr published an interesting account of his pilgrimage from +Granada to Mecca and of his journey back to Granada during the years +1183-1185 A.D.; Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar), who became a Vizier under the +Almoravides, was the first of a whole family of eminent physicians; and +Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Baya¹-Air of Malaga (aEuro 1248 A.D.), after visiting Egypt, Greece, +and Asia Minor in order to extend his knowledge of botany, compiled a +Materia Medica, which he dedicated to the Sultan of Egypt, Malik +al-KAimil. + + +[Sidenote: Reconquest of Spain by Ferdinand III.] + +[Sidenote: The Naa¹Lrids of Granada (1232-1492 A.D.).] + +We have now taken a rapid survey of the Moslem empire in Spain from its +rise in the eighth century of our era down to the last days of the +Almohades, which saw the Christian arms everywhere triumphant. By 1230 +A.D. the Almohades had been driven out of the peninsula, although they +continued to rule Africa for about forty years after this date. Amidst +the general wreck one spot remained where the Moors could find shelter. +This was Granada. Here, in 1232 A.D., Mua¸Yammad Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Aa¸Ymar +assumed the proud title of 'Conqueror by Grace of God' (_GhAilib billAih_) +and founded the Naa¹Lrid dynasty, which held the Christians at bay +during two centuries and a half. That the little Moslem kingdom survived +so long was not due to its own strength, but rather to its almost +impregnable situation and to the dissensions of the victors. The latest +bloom of Arabic culture in Europe renewed, if it did not equal, the +glorious memories of Cordova and Seville. In this period arose the +world-renowned Alhambra, _i.e._, 'the Red Palace' (al-a¸¤amrAi) of the +Naa¹Lrid kings, and many other superb monuments of which the ruins are +still visible. We must not, however, be led away into a digression even +upon such a fascinating subject as Moorish architecture. Our information +concerning literary matters is scantier than it might have been, on +account of the vandalism practised by the Christians when they took +Granada. It is no dubious legend (like the reputed burning of the +Alexandrian Library by order of the Caliph aEuro~Umar),[805] but a +well-ascertained fact that the ruthless Archbishop Ximenez made a +bonfire of all the Arabic manuscripts on which he could lay his hands. +He wished to annihilate the record of seven centuries of Mua¸Yammadan +culture in a single day. + +The names of Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Khaa¹-A-b and Ibn KhaldAºn represent the highest +literary accomplishment and historical comprehension of which this age +was capable. The latter, indeed, has no parallel among Oriental +historians. + +[Sidenote: Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Khaa¹-A-b (1313-1374 A.D.).] + +LisAinu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Khaa¹-A-b[806] played a great figure in the +politics of his time, and his career affords a conspicuous example of +the intimate way in which Moslem poetry and literature are connected +with public life. "The Arabs did not share the opinion widely spread +nowadays, that poetical talent flourishes best in seclusion from the +tumult of the world, or that it dims the clearness of vision which is +required for the conduct of public affairs. On the contrary, their +princes entrusted the chief offices of State to poets, and poetry often +served as a means to obtain more brilliant results than diplomatic notes +could have procured."[807] A young man like Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Khaa¹-A-b, who had +mastered the entire field of belles-lettres, who improvised odes and +rhyming epistles with incomparable elegance and facility, was marked out +to be the favourite of kings. He became Vizier at the Naa¹Lrid court, a +position which he held, with one brief interval of disgrace, until 1371 +A.D., when the intrigues of his enemies forced him to flee from Granada. +He sought refuge at Fez, and was honourably received by the reigning +Sultan, aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AzA-z; but on the accession of Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AbbAis in 1374 +A.D. the exiled minister was incarcerated and brought to trial on the +charge of heresy (_zandaqa_). While the inquisition was proceeding a +fanatical mob broke into the gaol and murdered him. MaqqarA- relates that +Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Khaa¹-ib suffered from insomnia, and that most of his works +were composed during the night, for which reason he got the nickname of +_Dhu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Umrayn_, or 'The man of two lives.'[808] He was a prolific +writer in various branches of literature, but, like so many of his +countrymen, he excelled in History. His monographs on the sovereigns and +savants of Granada (one of which includes an autobiography) supply +interesting details concerning this obscure period. + +[Sidenote: Ibn KhaldAºn (1332-1406 A.D.).] + +Some apology may be thought necessary for placing Ibn KhaldAºn, the +greatest historical thinker of Islam, in the present chapter, as though +he were a Spaniard either by birth or residence. He descended, it is true, +from a family, the BanAº KhaldAºn, which had long been settled in Spain, +first at Carmona and afterwards at Seville; but they migrated to Africa +about the middle of the thirteenth century, and Ibn KhaldAºn was born at +Tunis. Nearly the whole of his life, moreover, was passed in Africa--a +circumstance due rather to accident than to predilection; for in 1362 +A.D. he entered the service of the Sultan of Granada, AbAº aEuro~AbdallAih Ibnu +aEuro(TM)l-Aa¸Ymar, and would probably have made that city his home had not the +jealousy of his former friend, the Vizier Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Khaa¹-A-b, decided him +to leave Spain behind. We cannot give any account of the agitated and +eventful career which he ended, as Cadi of Cairo, in 1406 A.D. Ibn +KhaldAºn lived with statesmen and kings: he was an ambassador to the +court of Pedro of Castile, and an honoured guest of the mighty +Tamerlane. The results of his ripe experience are marvellously displayed +in the Prolegomena (_Muqaddima_), which forms the first volume of a huge +general history entitled the _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Ibar_ ('Book of +Examples').[809] He himself has stated his idea of the historian's +function in the following words:-- + + [Sidenote: Ibn KhaldAºn as a philosophical historian.] + + "Know that the true purpose of history is to make us acquainted with + human society, _i.e._, with the civilisation of the world, and with + its natural phenomena, such as savage life, the softening of + manners, attachment to the family and the tribe, the various kinds + of superiority which one people gains over another, the kingdoms and + diverse dynasties which arise in this way, the different trades and + laborious occupations to which men devote themselves in order to + earn their livelihood, the sciences and arts; in fine, all the + manifold conditions which naturally occur in the development of + civilisation."[810] + +Ibn KhaldAºn argues that History, thus conceived, is subject to universal +laws, and in these laws he finds the only sure criterion of historical +truth. + + [Sidenote: His canons of historical criticism.] + + "The rule for distinguishing what is true from what is false in + history is based on its possibility or impossibility: that is to + say, we must examine human society (civilisation) and discriminate + between the characteristics which are essential and inherent in its + nature and those which are accidental and need not be taken into + account, recognising further those which cannot possibly belong to + it. If we do this we have a rule for separating historical truth + from error by means of a demonstrative method that admits of no + doubt.... It is a genuine touchstone whereby historians may verify + whatever they relate."[811] + +Here, indeed, the writer claims too much, and it must be allowed that he +occasionally applied his principles in a pedantic fashion, and was led +by purely _a priori_ considerations to conclusions which are not always +so warrantable as he believed. This is a very trifling matter in +comparison with the value and originality of the principles themselves. +Ibn KhaldAºn asserts, with justice, that he has discovered a new method +of writing history. No Moslem had ever taken a view at once so +comprehensive and so philosophical; none had attempted to trace the +deeply hidden causes of events, to expose the moral and spiritual forces +at work beneath the surface, or to divine the immutable laws of national +progress and decay. Ibn KhaldAºn owed little to his predecessors, +although he mentions some of them with respect. He stood far above his +age, and his own countrymen have admired rather than followed him. His +intellectual descendants are the great mediA|val and modern historians of +Europe--Machiavelli and Vico and Gibbon. + + +[Sidenote: Ibn KaldAºn's theory of historical evolution.] + +It is worth while to sketch briefly the peculiar theory of historical +development which Ibn KhaldAºn puts forward in his Prolegomena--a theory +founded on the study of actual conditions and events either past or +passing before his eyes.[812] He was struck, in the first place, with +the physical fact that in almost every part of the Mua¸Yammadan Empire +great wastes of sand or stony plateaux, arid and incapable of tillage, +wedge themselves between fertile domains of cultivated land. The former +were inhabited from time immemorial by nomad tribes, the latter by an +agricultural or industrial population; and we have seen, in the case of +Arabia, that cities like Mecca and a¸¤A-ra carried on a lively +intercourse with the Bedouins and exerted a civilising influence upon +them. In Africa the same contrast was strongly marked. It is no wonder, +therefore, that Ibn KhaldAºn divided the whole of mankind into two +classes--Nomads and Citizens. The nomadic life naturally precedes and +produces the other. Its characteristics are simplicity and purity of +manners, warlike spirit, and, above all, a loyal devotion to the +interests of the family and the tribe. As the nomads become more +civilised they settle down, form states, and make conquests. They have +now reached their highest development. Corrupted by luxury, and losing +the virtues which raised them to power, they are soon swept away by a +ruder people. Such, in bare outline, is the course of history as Ibn +KhaldAºn regards it; but we must try to give our readers some further +account of the philosophical ideas underlying his conception. He +discerns, in the life of tribes and nations alike, two dominant forces +which mould their destiny. The primitive and cardinal force he calls +_aEuro~aa¹Labiyya_, the _binding_ element in society, the feeling which +unites members of the same family, tribe, nation, or empire, and which +in its widest acceptation is equivalent to the modern term, Patriotism. +It springs up and especially flourishes among nomad peoples, where the +instinct of self-preservation awakens a keen sense of kinship and drives +men to make common cause with each other. This _aEuro~aa¹Labiyya_ is the +vital energy of States: by it they rise and grow; as it weakens they +decline; and its decay is the signal for their fall. The second of the +forces referred to is Religion. Ibn KhaldAºn hardly ascribes to religion +so much influence as we might have expected from a Moslem. He +recognises, however, that it may be the only means of producing that +solidarity without which no State can exist. Thus in the twenty-seventh +chapter of his _Muqaddima_ he lays down the proposition that "the Arabs +are incapable of founding an empire unless they are imbued with +religious enthusiasm by a prophet or a saint." + +In History he sees an endless cycle of progress and retrogression, +analogous to the phenomena of human life. Kingdoms are born, attain +maturity, and die within a definite period which rarely exceeds three +generations, _i.e._, 120 years.[813] During this time they pass through +five stages of development and decay.[814] It is noteworthy that Ibn +KhaldAºn admits the moral superiority of the Nomads. For him civilisation +necessarily involves corruption and degeneracy. If he did not believe in +the gradual advance of mankind towards some higher goal, his pessimism +was justified by the lessons of experience and by the mournful plight of +the Mua¸Yammadan world, to which his view was restricted.[815] + +[Sidenote: The fall of Granada (1492 A.D.).] + +In 1492 A.D. the last stronghold of the European Arabs opened its gates +to Ferdinand and Isabella, and "the Cross supplanted the Crescent on the +towers of Granada." The victors showed a barbarous fanaticism that was +the more abominable as it violated their solemn pledges to respect the +religion and property of the Moslems, and as it utterly reversed the +tolerant and liberal treatment which the Christians of Spain had enjoyed +under Mua¸Yammadan rule. Compelled to choose between apostasy and exile, +many preferred the latter alternative. Those who remained were subjected +to a terrible persecution, until in 1609 A.D., by order of Philip III, +the Moors were banished _en masse_ from Spanish soil. + + +[Sidenote: The Arabs in Sicily.] + +Spain was not the sole point whence Moslem culture spread itself over +the Christian lands. Sicily was conquered by the Aghlabids of Tunis +early in the ninth century, and although the island fell into the hands +of the Normans in 1071 A.D., the court of Palermo retained a +semi-Oriental character. Here in the reign of Frederick II of +Hohenstaufen (1194-1250 A.D.) might be seen "astrologers from BaghdAid +with long beards and waving robes, Jews who received princely salaries +as translators of Arabic works, Saracen dancers and dancing-girls, and +Moors who blew silver trumpets on festal occasions."[816] Both Frederick +himself and his son Manfred were enthusiastic Arabophiles, and +scandalised Christendom by their assumption of 'heathen' manners as well +as by the attention which they devoted to Moslem philosophy and science. +Under their auspices Arabic learning was communicated to the +neighbouring towns of Lower Italy. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +FROM THE MONGOL INVASION TO THE PRESENT DAY + + +[Sidenote: General characteristics of the period.] + +Before proceeding to speak of the terrible catastrophe which filled the +whole of Western Asia with ruin and desolation, I may offer a few +preliminary remarks concerning the general character of the period which +we shall briefly survey in this final chapter. It forms, one must admit, +a melancholy conclusion to a glorious history. The Caliphate, which +symbolised the supremacy of the Prophet's people, is swept away. +Mongols, Turks, Persians, all in turn build up great Mua¸Yammadan +empires, but the Arabs have lost even the shadow of a leading part and +appear only as subordinate actors on a provincial stage. The chief +centres of Arabian life, such as it is, are henceforth Syria and Egypt, +which were held by the Turkish Mamelukes until 1517 A.D., when they +passed under Ottoman rule. In North Africa the petty Berber dynasties +(a¸¤afa¹Lids, ZiyAinids, and MarA-nids) gave place in the sixteenth +century to the Ottoman Turks. Only in Spain, where the Naa¹Lrids of +Granada survived until 1492 A.D., in Morocco, where the SharA-fs +(descendants of aEuro~AlA- b. AbA- a¹¬Ailib) assumed the sovereignty in 1544 +A.D., and to some extent in Arabia itself, did the Arabs preserve their +political independence. In such circumstances it would be vain to look +for any large developments of literature and culture worthy to rank with +those of the past. This is an age of imitation and compilation. Learned +men abound, whose erudition embraces every subject under the sun. The +mass of writing shows no visible diminution, and much of it is valuable +and meritorious work. But with one or two conspicuous exceptions--_e.g._ +the historian Ibn KhaldAºn and the mystic ShaaEuro~rAinA---we cannot point to +any new departure, any fruitful ideas, any trace of original and +illuminating thought. The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries "witnessed +the rise and triumph of that wonderful movement known as the +Renaissance,... but no ripple of this great upheaval, which changed the +whole current of intellectual and moral life in the West, reached the +shores of Islam."[817] Until comparatively recent times, when Egypt and +Syria first became open to European civilisation, the Arab retained his +mediA|val outlook and habit of mind, and was in no respect more +enlightened than his forefathers who lived under the aEuro~AbbAisid Caliphate. +And since the Mongol Invasion I am afraid we must say that instead of +advancing farther along the old path he was being forced back by the +inevitable pressure of events. East of the Euphrates the Mongols did +their work of destruction so thoroughly that no seeds were left from +which a flourishing civilisation could arise; and, moreover, the Arabic +language was rapidly extinguished by the Persian. In Spain, as we have +seen, the power of the Arabs had already begun to decline; Africa was +dominated by the Berbers, a rude, unlettered race, Egypt and Syria by +the blighting military despotism of the Turks. Nowhere in the history of +this period can we discern either of the two elements which are most +productive of literary greatness: the quickening influence of a higher +culture or the inspiration of a free and vigorous national life.[818] + + +[Sidenote: The Mongol Invasion.] + +Between the middle of the eleventh century and the end of the fourteenth +the nomad tribes dwelling beyond the Oxus burst over Western Asia in +three successive waves. First came the SeljAºq Turks, then the Mongols +under ChingA-z Khan and HAºlAigAº, then the hordes, mainly Turkish, of +TA-mAºr. Regarding the SeljAºqs all that is necessary for our purpose has +been said in a former chapter. The conquests of TA-mAºr are a frightful +episode which I may be pardoned for omitting from this history, inasmuch +as their permanent results (apart from the enormous damage which they +inflicted) were inconsiderable; and although the Indian empire of the +Great Moguls, which BAibur, a descendant of TA-mAºr, established in the +first half of the sixteenth century, ran a prosperous and brilliant +course, its culture was borrowed almost exclusively from Persian models +and does not come within the scope of the present work. We shall, +therefore, confine our view to the second wave of the vast Asiatic +migration, which bore the Mongols, led by ChingA-z Khan and HAºlAigAº, from +the steppes of China and Tartary to the Mediterranean. + + +[Sidenote: ChingA-z Khan and HAºlAigAº.] + +In 1219 A.D. ChingA-z Khan, having consolidated his power in the Far +East, turned his face westward and suddenly advanced into Transoxania, +which at that time formed a province of the wide dominions of the ShAihs +of KhwAirizm (Khiva). The reigning monarch, aEuro~AlAiaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-DA-n Mua¸Yammad, +was unable to make an effective resistance; and notwithstanding that his +son, the gallant JalAilu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n, carried on a desperate guerilla for +twelve years, the invaders swarmed over KhurAisAin and Persia, massacring +the panic-stricken inhabitants wholesale and leaving a wilderness behind +them. Hitherto BaghdAid had not been seriously threatened, but on the +first day of January, 1256 A.D.--an epoch-marking date--HAºlAigAº, the +grandson of ChingA-z Khan, crossed the Oxus, with the intention of +occupying the aEuro~AbbAisid capital. I translate the following narrative from +a manuscript in my possession of the _TaaEuro(TM)rA-kh al-KhamA-s_ by DiyAirbakrA- +(aEuro 1574 A.D.):-- + + [Sidenote: HAºlAigAº before BaghdAid (1258 A.D.).] + + [Sidenote: Sack of BaghdAid.] + + In the year 654 (A.H. = 1256 A.D.) the stubborn tyrant, HAºlAigAº, the + destroyer of the nations (_MubA-du aEuro(TM)l-Umam_), set forth and took the + castle of AlamAºt from the IsmAiaEuro~A-lA-s[819] and slew them and laid + waste the lands of Rayy.... And in the year 655 there broke out at + BaghdAid a fearful riot between the SunnA-s and the ShA-aEuro~ites, which + led to great plunder and destruction of property. A number of + ShA-aEuro~ites were killed, and this so incensed and infuriated the Vizier + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Alqami that he encouraged the Tartars to invade aEuro~IrAiq, by + which means he hoped to take ample vengeance on the SunnA-s.[820] And + in the beginning of the year 656 the tyrant HAºlAigAº b. TAºlA- b. + ChingA-z KhAin, the Moghul, arrived at BaghdAid with his army, + including the Georgians (_al-Kurj_) and the troops of Mosul. The + DawA-dAir[821] marched out of the city and met HAºlAigAº's vanguard, + which was commanded by BAijAº.[822] The Moslems, being few, suffered + defeat; whereupon BAijAº advanced and pitched his camp to the west of + BaghdAid, while HAºlAigAº took up a position on the eastern side. Then + the Vizier Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlqamA- said to the Caliph MustaaEuro~a¹Lim BillAih: "I + will go to the Supreme KhAin to arrange peace." So the hound[823] + went and obtained security for himself, and on his return said to + the Caliph: "The KhAin desires to marry his daughter to your son and + to render homage to you, like the SeljAºq kings, and then to depart." + MustaaEuro~a¹Lim set out, attended by the nobles of his court and the + grandees of his time, in order to witness the contract of marriage. + The whole party were beheaded except the Caliph, who was trampled to + death. The Tartars entered BaghdAid and distributed themselves in + bands throughout the city. For thirty-four days the sword was never + sheathed. Few escaped. The slain amounted to 1,800,000 and more. + Then quarter was called.... Thus it is related in the _Duwalu + aEuro(TM)l-IslAim_.[824]... And on this wise did the Caliphate pass from + BaghdAid. As the poet sings:-- + + "_Khalati aEuro(TM)l-manAibiru wa-aEuro(TM)l-asirralu minhumAº + wa-aEuro~alayhimAº hatta aEuro(TM)l-mamAiti salAimAº._" + + "_The pulpits and the thrones are empty of them; + I bid them, till the hour of death, farewell!_" + +[Sidenote: Battle of aEuro~Ayn JAilAºt (September, 1260 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Arabic ceases to be the language of the whole Moslem world.] + +It seemed as if all Mua¸Yammadan Asia lay at the feet of the pagan +conqueror. Resuming his advance, HAºlAigAº occupied Mesopotamia and sacked +Aleppo. He then returned to the East, leaving his lieutenant, KetboghAi, +to complete the reduction of Syria. Meanwhile, however, an Egyptian army +under the Mameluke Sultan Muaº"affar Qua¹-uz was hastening to oppose +the invaders. On Friday, the 25th of Ramaa¸Ain, 658 A.H., a decisive +battle was fought at aEuro~Ayn JAilAºt (Goliath's Spring), west of the Jordan. +The Tartars were routed with immense slaughter, and their subsequent +attempts to wrest Syria from the Mamelukes met with no success. The +submission of Asia Minor was hardly more than nominal, but in Persia the +descendants of HAºlAigAº, the Al-KhAins, reigned over a great empire, which +the conversion of one of their number, GhAizAin (1295-1304 A.D.), restored +to Moslem rule. We are not concerned here with the further history of +the Mongols in Persia nor with that of the Persians themselves. Since +the days of HAºlAigAº the lands east and west of the Tigris are separated +by an ever-widening gulf. The two races--Persians and Arabs--to whose +co-operation the mediA|val world, from Samarcand to Seville, for a long +time owed its highest literary and scientific culture, have now finally +dissolved their partnership. It is true that the cleavage began many +centuries earlier, and before the fall of BaghdAid the Persian genius had +already expressed itself in a splendid national literature. But from +this date onward the use of Arabic by Persians is practically limited to +theological and philosophical writings. The Persian language has driven +its rival out of the field. Accordingly Egypt and Syria will now demand +the principal share of our attention, more especially as the history of +the Arabs of Granada, which properly belongs to this period, has been +related in the preceding chapter. + + +[Sidenote: The Mamelukes of Egypt (1250-1517 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: Sultan Baybars (1260-1277 A.D.).] + +[Sidenote: The aEuro~AbbAisid Caliphs of Egypt.] + +The dynasty of the Mameluke[825] Sultans of Egypt was founded in 1250 +A.D. by Aybak, a Turkish slave, who commenced his career in the service +of the AyyAºbid, Malik a¹cAilia¸Y Najmu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n. His successors[826] held +sway in Egypt and Syria until the conquest of these countries by the +Ottomans. The Mamelukes were rough soldiers, who seldom indulged in any +useless refinement, but they had a royal taste for architecture, as the +visitor to Cairo may still see. Their administration, though disturbed +by frequent mutinies and murders, was tolerably prosperous on the whole, +and their victories over the Mongol hosts, as well as the crushing blows +which they dealt to the Crusaders, gave Islam new prestige. The ablest +of them all was Baybars, who richly deserved his title Malik +al-aº'Aihir, _i.e._, the Victorious King. His name has passed into the +legends of the people, and his warlike exploits into romances written in +the vulgar dialect which are recited by story-tellers to this day.[827] +The violent and brutal acts which he sometimes committed--for he shrank +from no crime when he suspected danger--made him a terror to the +ambitious nobles around him, but did not harm his reputation as a just +ruler. Although he held the throne in virtue of having murdered the late +monarch with his own hand, he sought to give the appearance of +legitimacy to his usurpation. He therefore recognised as Caliph a +certain Abu aEuro(TM)l-QAisim Aa¸Ymad, a pretended scion of the aEuro~AbbAisid house, +invited him to Cairo, and took the oath of allegiance to him in due +form. The Caliph on his part invested the Sultan with sovereignty over +Egypt, Syria, Arabia, and all the provinces that he might obtain by +future conquests. This Aa¸Ymad, entitled al-Mustana¹Lir, was the first +of a long series of mock Caliphs who were appointed by the Mameluke +Sultans and generally kept under close surveillance in the citadel of +Cairo. There is no authority for the statement, originally made by +Mouradgea d'Ohsson in 1787 and often repeated since, that the last of +the line bequeathed his rights of succession to the Ottoman Sultan SelA-m +I, thus enabling the Sultans of Turkey to claim the title and dignity of +Caliph.[828] + +[Sidenote: Arabic poetry after the Mongol Invasion.] + +[Sidenote: a¹cafiyyu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n al-a¸¤illA-.] + +The poets of this period are almost unknown in Europe, and until they +have been studied with due attention it would be premature to assert +that none of them rises above mediocrity. At the same time my own +impression (based, I confess, on a very desultory and imperfect +acquaintance with their work) is that the best among them are merely +elegant and accomplished artists, playing brilliantly with words and +phrases, but doing little else. No doubt extreme artificiality may +coexist with poetical genius of a high order, provided that it has +behind it MutanabbA-'s power, MaaEuro~arrA-'s earnestness, or Ibnu +aEuro(TM)l-FAiria¸'s enthusiasm. In the absence of these qualities we must be +content to admire the technical skill with which the old tunes are +varied and revived. Let us take, for example, a¹cafiyyu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n +al-a¸¤illA-, who was born at a¸¤illa, a large town on the Euphrates, in +1278 A.D., became laureate of the Urtuqid dynasty at MAiridA-n, and died +in BaghdAid about 1350. He is described as "the poet of his age +absolutely," and to judge from the extracts in KutubA-'s _FawAitu +aEuro(TM)l-WafayAit_[829] he combined subtlety of fancy with remarkable ease and +sweetness of versification. Many of his pieces, however, are _jeux +d'esprit_, like his ode to the Prophet, in which he employs 151 +rhetorical figures, or like another poem where all the nouns are +diminutives.[830] The following specimen of his work is too brief to do +him justice:-- + + "How can I have patience, and thou, mine eye's delight, + All the livelong year not one moment in my sight? + And with what can I rejoice my heart, when thou that art a joy + Unto every human heart, from me hast taken flight? + I swear by Him who made thy form the envy of the sun + (So graciously He clad thee with lovely beams of light): + The day when I behold thy beauty doth appear to me + As tho' it gleamed on Time's dull brow a constellation bright. + O thou scorner of my passion, for whose sake I count as naught + All the woe that I endure, all the injury and despite, + Come, regard the ways of God! for never He at life's last gasp + Suffereth the weight to perish even of one mite!"[831] + +[Sidenote: Popular poetry.] + +We have already referred to the folk-songs (_muwashshaa¸Y_ and _zajal_) +which originated in Spain. These simple ballads, with their novel metres +and incorrect language, were despised by the classical school, that is +to say, by nearly all Moslems with any pretensions to learning; but +their popularity was such that even the court poets occasionally +condescended to write in this style. To the _zajal_ and _muwashshaa¸Y_ +we may add the _dAºbayt_, the _mawAiliyyAi_, the _kAinwakAin_, and the +_a¸YimAiq_, which together with verse of the regular form made up the +'seven kinds of poetry' (_al-funAºn al-sabaEuro~a_). a¹cafiyyu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n +al-a¸¤illA-, who wrote a special treatise on the Arabic folk-songs, +mentions two other varieties which, he says, were invented by the people +of BaghdAid to be sung in the early dawn of Ramaa¸Ain, the Moslem +Lent.[832] It is interesting to observe that some few literary men +attempted, though in a timid fashion, to free Arabic poetry from the +benumbing academic system by which it was governed and to pour fresh +life into its veins. A notable example of this tendency is the _Hazzu +aEuro(TM)l-Qua¸YAºf_[833] by ShirbA-nA-, who wrote in 1687 A.D. Here we have a +poem in the vulgar dialect of Egypt, but what is still more curious, the +author, while satirising the uncouth manners and rude language of the +peasantry, makes a bitter attack on the learning and morals of the +Mua¸Yammadan divines.[834] For this purpose he introduces a typical +Fellah named AbAº ShAidAºf, whose rA'le corresponds to that of Piers the +Plowman in Longland's _Vision_. Down to the end of the nineteenth +century, at any rate, such isolated offshoots had not gone far to found +a living school of popular poetry. Only the future can show whether the +Arabs are capable of producing a genius who will succeed in doing for +the national folk-songs what Burns did for the Scots ballads. + +[Sidenote: Ibn KhallikAin (1211-1282 A.D.).] + +Biography and History were cultivated with ardour by the savants of +Egypt and Syria. Among the numerous compositions of this kind we can +have no hesitation in awarding the place of honour to the _WafayAitu +aEuro(TM)l-AaEuro~yAin_, or 'Obituaries of Eminent Men,' by Shamsu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n Ibn +KhallikAin, a work which has often been quoted in the foregoing pages. +The author belonged to a distinguished family descending from Yaa¸YyAi +b. KhAilid the Barmecide (see p. 259 seq.), and was born at Arbela in +1211 A.D. He received his education at Aleppo and Damascus (1229-1238) +and then proceeded to Cairo, where he finished the first draft of his +Biographical Dictionary in 1256. Five years later he was appointed by +Sultan Baybars to be Chief Cadi of Syria. He retained this high office +(with a seven years' interval, which he devoted to literary and +biographical studies) until a short time before his death. In the +Preface to the _WafayAit_ Ibn KhallikAin observes that he has adopted the +alphabetical order as more convenient than the chronological. As regards +the scope and character of his Dictionary, he says:-- + + [Sidenote: His Biographical Dictionary.] + + "I have not limited my work to the history of any one particular + class of persons, as learned men, princes, emirs, viziers, or poets; + but I have spoken of all those whose names are familiar to the + public, and about whom questions are frequently asked; I have, + however, related the facts I could ascertain respecting them in a + concise manner, lest my work should become too voluminous; I have + fixed with all possible exactness the dates of their birth and + death; I have traced up their genealogy as high as I could; I have + marked the orthography of those names which are liable to be written + incorrectly; and I have cited the traits which may best serve to + characterise each individual, such as noble actions, singular + anecdotes, verses and letters, so that the reader may derive + amusement from my work, and find it not exclusively of such a + uniform cast as would prove tiresome; for the most effectual + inducement to reading a book arises from the variety of its + style."[835] + +Ibn Khallikan might have added that he was the first Mua¸Yammadan +writer to design a Dictionary of National Biography, since none of his +predecessors had thought of comprehending the lives of eminent Moslems +of every class in a single work.[836] The merits of the book have been +fully recognised by the author's countrymen as well as by European +scholars. It is composed in simple and elegant language, it is extremely +accurate, and it contains an astonishing quantity of miscellaneous +historical and literary information, not drily catalogued but conveyed +in the most pleasing fashion by anecdotes and excerpts which illustrate +every department of Moslem life. I am inclined to agree with the opinion +of Sir William Jones, that it is the best general biography ever +written; and allowing for the difference of scale and scope, I think it +will bear comparison with a celebrated English work which it resembles +in many ways--I mean Boswell's _Johnson_.[837] + + +[Sidenote: Historians of the Mameluke period.] + +[Sidenote: MaqrA-zA-.] + +To give an adequate account of the numerous and talented historians of +the Mameluke period would require far more space than they can +reasonably claim in a review of this kind. Concerning Ibn KhaldAºn, who +held a professorship as well as the office of Cadi in Cairo under Sultan +BarqAºq (1382-1398 A.D.), we have already spoken at some length. This +extraordinary genius discovered principles and methods which might have +been expected to revolutionise historical science, but neither was he +himself capable of carrying them into effect nor, as the event proved, +did they inspire his successors to abandon the path of tradition. I +cannot imagine any more decisive symptom of the intellectual lethargy in +which Islam was now sunk, or any clearer example of the rule that even +the greatest writers struggle in vain against the spirit of their own +times. There were plenty of learned men, however, who compiled local and +universal histories. Considering the precious materials which their +industry has preserved for us, we should rather admire these diligent +and erudite authors than complain of their inability to break away from +the established mode. Perhaps the most famous among them is Taqiyyu +aEuro(TM)l-DA-n al-MaqrA-zA- (1364-1442 A.D.). A native of Cairo, he devoted +himself to Egyptian history and antiquities, on which subject he +composed several standard works, such as the _Khia¹-aa¹-_[838] and the +_SulAºk_.[839] Although he was both unconscientious and uncritical, too +often copying without acknowledgment or comment, and indulging in +wholesale plagiarism when it suited his purpose, these faults which are +characteristic of his age may easily be excused. "He has accumulated and +reduced to a certain amount of order a large quantity of information +that would but for him have passed into oblivion. He is generally +painstaking and accurate, and always resorts to contemporary evidence if +it is available. Also he has a pleasant and lucid style, and writes +without bias and apparently with distinguished impartiality."[840] Other +well-known works belonging to this epoch are the _FakhrA-_ of Ibnu +aEuro(TM)l-a¹¬iqa¹-aqAi, a delightful manual of Mua¸Yammadan politics[841] +which was written at Mosul in 1302 A.D.; the epitome of universal +history by Abu aEuro(TM)l-FidAi, Prince of a¸¤amAit (aEuro 1331); the voluminous +Chronicle of Islam by DhahabA- (aEuro 1348); the high-flown Biography of +TA-mAºr entitled _aEuro~AjAiaEuro(TM)ibu aEuro(TM)l-MaqdAºr_, or 'Marvels of Destiny,' by Ibn +aEuro~ArabshAih (aEuro 1450); and the _NujAºm al-ZAihira_ ('Resplendent Stars') by +Abu aEuro(TM)l-Maa¸YAisin b. TaghrA-birdA- (aEuro 1469), which contains the annals of +Egypt under the Moslems. The political and literary history of +Mua¸Yammadan Spain by MaqqarA- of TilimsAin (aEuro 1632) was mentioned in the +last chapter.[842] + +[Sidenote: JalAilu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n al-SuyAºa¹-A- (1445-1505 A.D.).] + +If we were asked to select a single figure who should exhibit as +completely as possible in his own person the literary tendencies of the +Alexandrian age of Arabic civilisation, our choice would assuredly fall +on JalAilu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n al-SuyAºa¹-A-, who was born at SuyAºa¹- (UsyAºa¹-) in +Upper Egypt in 1445 A.D. His family came originally from Persia, but, +like DhahabA-, Ibn TaghrA-birdA-, and many celebrated writers of this time, +he had, through his mother, an admixture of Turkish blood. At the age of +five years and seven months, when his father died, the precocious boy +had already reached the _SAºratu aEuro(TM)l-Taa¸YrA-m_ (SAºra of Forbidding), +which is the sixty-sixth chapter of the Koran, and he knew the whole +volume by heart before he was eight years old. He prosecuted his studies +under the most renowned masters in every branch of Moslem learning, and +on finishing his education held one Professorship after another at Cairo +until 1501, when he was deprived of his post in consequence of +malversation of the bursary monies in his charge. He died four years +later in the islet of Rawa¸a on the Nile, whither he had retired under +the pretence of devoting the rest of his life to God. We possess the +titles of more than five hundred separate works which he composed. This +number would be incredible but for the fact that many of them are brief +pamphlets displaying the author's curious erudition on all sorts of +abstruse subjects--_e.g._, whether the Prophet wore trousers, whether +his turban had a point, and whether his parents are in Hell or Paradise. +SuyAºa¹-A-'s indefatigable pen travelled over an immense field of +knowledge--Koran, Tradition, Law, Philosophy and History, Philology and +Rhetoric. Like some of the old Alexandrian scholars, he seems to have +taken pride in a reputation for polygraphy, and his enemies declared +that he made free with other men's books, which he used to alter +slightly and then give out as his own. SuyAºa¹-A-, on his part, laid +before the Shaykhu aEuro(TM)l-IslAim a formal accusation of plagiarism against +Qasa¹-allAinA-, an eminent contemporary divine. We are told that his +vanity and arrogance involved him in frequent quarrels, and that he was +'cut' by his learned brethren. Be this as it may, he saw what the public +wanted. His compendious and readable handbooks were famed throughout the +Moslem world, as he himself boasts, from India to Morocco, and did much +to popularise the scientific culture of the day. It will be enough to +mention here the _ItqAin_ on Koranic exegesis; the _TafsA-ru aEuro(TM)l-JalAilayn_, +or 'Commentary on the Koran by the two JalAils,' which was begun by +JalAilu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n al-Maa¸YallA- and finished by his namesake, SuyAºa¹-A-; the +_Muzhir_ (_Mizhar_), a treatise on philology; the _a¸¤usnu +aEuro(TM)l-Mua¸YAia¸ara_, a history of Old and New Cairo; and the _TaaEuro(TM)rA-khu +aEuro(TM)l-KhulafAi_, or 'History of the Caliphs.' + + +[Sidenote: Other scholars of the period.] + +To dwell longer on the literature of this period would only be to +emphasise its scholastic and unoriginal character. A passing mention, +however, is due to the encyclopA|dists NuwayrA- (aEuro 1332), author of the +_NihAiyatu aEuro(TM)l-Arab_, and Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-WardA- (aEuro 1349). a¹cafadA- (aEuro 1363) +compiled a gigantic biographical dictionary, the _WAifA- bi aEuro(TM)l-WafayAit_, +in twenty-six volumes, and the learned traditionist, Ibn a¸¤ajar of +Ascalon (aEuro 1449), has left a large number of writings, among which it +will be sufficient to name the _Ia¹LAiba fA- tamyA-z al-a¹caa¸YAiba_, or +Lives of the Companions of the Prophet.[843] We shall conclude this part +of our subject by enumerating a few celebrated works which may be +described in modern terms as standard text-books for the Schools and +Universities of Islam. Amidst the host of manuals of Theology and +Jurisprudence, with their endless array of abridgments, commentaries, +and supercommentaries, possibly the best known to European students are +those by Abu aEuro(TM)l-BarakAit al-NasafA- (aEuro 1310), aEuro~Aa¸udu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n al-AjA- (aEuro +1355), SA-dA- KhalA-l al-JundA- (aEuro 1365), TaftAizAinA- (aEuro 1389), SharA-f +al-JurjAinA- (aEuro 1413), and Mua¸Yammad b. YAºsuf al-SanAºsA- (aEuro 1486). For +Philology and Lexicography we have the _Alfiyya_, a versified grammar by +Ibn MAilik of Jaen (aEuro 1273); the _AjurrAºmiyya_ on the rudiments of +grammar, an exceedingly popular compendium by a¹canhAijA- (aEuro 1323); and +two famous Arabic dictionaries, the _LisAinu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arab_ by JamAilu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n +Ibn Mukarram (aEuro 1311), and the _QAimAºs_ by FA-rAºzAibAidA- (aEuro 1414). Nor, +although he was a Turk, should we leave unnoticed the great +bibliographer a¸¤AijjA- KhalA-fa (aEuro 1658), whose _Kashfu aEuro(TM)l-aº'unAºn_ +contains the titles, arranged alphabetically, of all the Arabic, +Persian, and Turkish books of which the existence was known to him. + + +[Sidenote: The 'Thousand and One Nights.'] + +The Mameluke period gave final shape to the _Alf Layla wa-Layla_, or +'Thousand and One Nights,' a work which is far more popular in Europe +than the Koran or any other masterpiece of Arabic literature. The modern +title, 'Arabian Nights,' tells only a part of the truth. MasaEuro~AºdA- (aEuro 956 +A.D.) mentions an old Persian book, the _HazAir AfsAina_ ('Thousand +Tales') which "is generally called the Thousand and One Nights; it is +the story of the King and his Vizier, and of the Vizier's daughter and +her slave-girl: ShA-rAizAid and DA-nAizAid."[844] The author of the _Fihrist_, +writing in 988 A.D., begins his chapter "concerning the Story-Tellers +and the Fabulists and the names of the books which they composed" with +the following passage (p. 304):-- + + [Sidenote: Persian origin of the 'Thousand and One Nights.'] + + [Sidenote: The _HazAir AfsAin_.] + + "The first who composed fables and made books of them and put them + by in treasuries and sometimes introduced animals as speaking 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 SAisAinian 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 (_HazAir AfsAin_), 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 ShahrAizAid, 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 + (_qahramAina_) named DA-nAirzAid, who was in league with the queen. It + is also said that this book was composed for a¸¤umAinA-, 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, and 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' (_HazAir AfsAin_) for this + purpose. 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 (_kitAibun ghaththun + bAiridu aEuro(TM)l-hadA-th_).[845] + + Abu aEuro~AbdallAih Mua¸Yammad b. aEuro~AbdAºs al-JahshiyAirA- (aEuro 942-943 A.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." + +[Sidenote: Different sources of the collection.] + +Evidently, then, the _HazAir AfsAin_ was 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,' 'CamaralzamAin and BudAºr,' 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 BaghdAid 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 charming paraphrase, which in some respects is more true +to the spirit of the original than are the scholarly renderings of Lane +and Burton. + +[Sidenote: The 'Romance of aEuro~Antar.'] + +The 'Romance of aEuro~Antar' (_SA-ratu aEuro~Antar_) is traditionally ascribed to +the great philologist, Aa¹LmaaEuro~A-,[846] who flourished in the reign of +HAirAºn al-RashA-d, but this must be considered as an invention of the +professional reciters who sit in front of Oriental cafA(C)s and entertain +the public with their lively declamations.[847] According to +Brockelmann, the work in its present form apparently dates from the time +of the Crusades.[848] Its hero is the celebrated heathen poet and +warrior, aEuro~Antara b. ShaddAid, of whom we have already given an account as +author of one of the seven _MuaEuro~allaqAit_. 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 the +_Mines de l'Orient_ (1802) was the means of introducing the _SA-ratu +aEuro~Antar_ to 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 (_a¸¤ijAiziyya_) and the Syrian +(_ShAimiyya_), the latter being very much curtailed.[849] + + +[Sidenote: Orthodoxy and mysticism.] + +While the decadent state of Arabic literature during all these 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 over Islam and +which manifested itself by the complete victory of the AshaEuro~arites or +Scholastic Theologians about 1200 A.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 of _ijmAiaEuro~_, _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 the _YawAiqA-t_ of ShaaEuro~rAinA-. After giving +instances of the persecution to which the a¹cAºfA-s of old--BAiyazA-d, DhAº +aEuro(TM)l-NAºn, and others--were subjected by their implacable enemies, the +_aEuro~UlamAi_, he goes on to speak of what had happened more recently[850]:-- + + [Sidenote: Persecution of heretics.] + + "They brought the ImAim AbAº Bakr al-NAibulusA-, notwithstanding his + merit and profound learning and rectitude in religion, from the + Maghrib to Egypt and testified that he was a heretic (_zindA-q_). 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 NasA-mA- to be flayed at Aleppo.[851] When he + silenced them by his arguments, they devised a plan for his + destruction, thus: They wrote the _SAºratu aEuro(TM)l-IkhlAia¹L_[852] on 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 (NasA-mA-), who put it on, for he knew not. + His adversaries went to the governor of Aleppo and said: 'We have + sure information that NasA-mA- 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 NasA-mA- was + reciting _muwashshaa¸Ys_ in 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 + aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤asan al-ShAidhilA-[853] from the West to Egypt and bore + witness that he was a heretic, but God delivered him from their + plots. And they accused Shaykh aEuro~Izzu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n b. aEuro~Abd al-SalAim[854] of + infidelity and sat in judgment over him on account of some + expressions in his _aEuro~AqA-da_ (Articles of Faith) and urged the Sultan + to punish him; afterwards, however, he was restored to favour. They + denounced Shaykh TAiju aEuro(TM)l-DA-n al-SubkA-[855] on the same charge, + asserting that he held it lawful to drink wine and that he wore at + night the badge (_ghiyAir_) of the unbelievers and the zone + (_zunnAir_)[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 _aEuro~UlamAi_, that they seldom resorted to violence. Islam was +happily spared the horrors of an organised Inquisition. On the other +hand, their authority was now so firmly established that all progress +towards moral and intellectual liberty had apparently ceased, or at any +rate only betrayed itself in spasmodic outbursts. a¹cAºfiism 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 aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA- and Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-FAiria¸, 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 aEuro(TM)l-DA-n Ibn +Taymiyya and aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-WahhAib al-ShaaEuro~rAinA-. + +[Sidenote: Ibn Taymiyya (1263-1328 A.D.).] + +Ibn Taymiyya was born at a¸¤arrAin in 1263 A.D. A few years later his +father, fleeing before the Mongols, brought him 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 +a¸¤anbalite 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 Islam of 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 a¹cAºfA-s, 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 WahhAibite movement of the +eighteenth century. + +[Sidenote: ShaaEuro~rAinA- (aEuro 1565 A.D.).] + +Notwithstanding the brilliant effort of GhazAilA- 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 of _faqA-h_ +(theologian) and _faqA-r_ (dervish), the one class forming a powerful +official hierarchy in close alliance with the Government, whereas the +a¹cAºfA-s 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 +Mua¸Yammadan theosophist, aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-WahhAib al-ShaaEuro~rAinA-, 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. ShaaEuro~rAinA- contrasts the miserable +lot of the peasantry under the new _rA(C)gime_ with 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 +ShaaEuro~rAinA- 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, Mua¸Yyi aEuro(TM)l-DA-n Ibnu +aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA-, whose _Meccan Revelations_ he studied and epitomised. His +autobiography entitled _Laa¹-AiaEuro(TM)ifu aEuro(TM)l-Minan_ displays 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 recipient _ad majorem Dei gloriam_. We should be treating +ShaaEuro~rAinA- 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 a¹cAºfiism, 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" +(_ikhtilAifu ummatA- raa¸Ymatun_). Like the Arabian a¹cAºfA-s generally, +ShaaEuro~rAinA- kept his mysticism within narrow bounds, and declared himself +an adherent of the moderate section which follows Junayd of BaghdAid (aEuro +909-910 A.D.). For all his extravagant pretensions and childish belief +in the supernatural, he never lost touch with the Mua¸Yammadan 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 +WahhAibite Reformation.[857] + +[Sidenote: Mua¸Yammad b. aEuro~Abd al-WahhAib and his successors.] + +Mua¸Yammad b. aEuro~Abd al-WahhAib,[858] from whom its name is derived, was +born about 1720 A.D. in Najd, the Highlands of Arabia. In his youth he +visited the principal cities of the East, "as is much the practice with +his countrymen even now,"[859] and 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,[860] Ibn aEuro~Abd al-WahhAib determined to re-establish the pure +religion of Mua¸Yammad in its primitive form. Accordingly he returned +home and retired with his family to a¸iraaEuro~iyya at the time when +Mua¸Yammad b. SaaEuro~Aºd 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 WahhAibA-s, under +aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AzA-z, son of Mua¸Yammad b. SaaEuro~Aºd, gained their first great +successes. In 1801 they sacked ImAim-a¸¤usayn,[861] a town in the +vicinity of BaghdAid, massacred five thousand persons, and destroyed the +cupola of a¸¤usayn's tomb; the veneration paid by all ShA-aEuro~ites to that +shrine being, as Burckhardt says, a sufficient cause to attract the +WahhAibA- fury against it. Two years later they made themselves masters of +the whole a¸¤ijAiz, including Mecca and MedA-na. On the death of aEuro~Abdu +aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AzA-z, who was assassinated in the same year, his eldest son, SaaEuro~Aºd, +continued the work of conquest and brought the greater part of Arabia +under WahhAibite rule. At last, in 1811, Turkey despatched a fleet and +army to recover the Holy Cities. This task was accomplished by +Mua¸Yammad aEuro~AlA-, 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 WahhAibA-s and took their capital, +a¸iraaEuro~iyya, by storm. The sect, however, still maintains its power in +Central Arabia, and in recent times has acquired political importance. + +[Sidenote: The WahhAibite Reformation.] + +The WahhAibA-s were regarded by the Turks as infidels and authors of a new +religion. It was natural that they should 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 KaaEuro~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 WahAib 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 WahhAibites," 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 MedA-na. 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."[863] In 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] + +[Sidenote: The SanAºsA-s in Africa.] + +The WahhAibite movement has been compared with the Protestant 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 SanAºsiyya +Brotherhood, whose influence is supreme in Tripoli, the Sahara, and the +whole North African Hinterland, and whose members are reckoned by +millions. Mua¸Yammad b. aEuro~AlA- b. SanAºsA-, the founder of this vast and +formidable organisation, was born at Algiers in 1791, lived for many +years at Mecca, and died at JaghbAºb in the Libyan desert, midway between +Egypt and Tripoli, in 1859. Concerning the real aims of the SanAºsA-s 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 +MedA-na in the seventh century after Christ. + + +[Sidenote: Islam and modern civilisation.] + +Since Napoleon showed the way by his expedition to Egypt in 1798, the +Moslems in that country, as likewise in Syria and North Africa, have +come more and more under European influence.[865] The above-mentioned +Mua¸Yammad aEuro~AlA-, 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 +of many 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.[866] +Besides these ephemeral sheets, books of all sorts, old and new, have +been multiplied by the native and European presses of Cairo, BAºlAiq, 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 MoliA"re,[867] the fables of La +Fontaine, 'Paul and Virginia,' the 'Talisman,' 'Monte Cristo' (not to +mention scores of minor romances), and even the Iliad of Homer.[868] +Parallel 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 traditional lines 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 Mua¸Yammadans 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 yaaEuro~i aEuro(TM)l-taaEuro(TM)rA-kha fA- a¹LadrihA- + Lam yadri a¸Yulwa aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ayshi min murrihi + Wa-man waaEuro~Ai akhbAira man qad maa¸Ai + Aa¸Aifa aaEuro~mAiran ilAi aEuro~umrihA-._" + + "He in whose heart no History is enscrolled + Cannot discern in life's alloy the gold. + But he that keeps the records of the Dead + Adds to his life new lives a hundredfold." + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + + +[1] H. Grimme, _Weltgeschichte in Karakterbildern: Mohammed_ (Munich, +1904), p. 6 sqq. + +[2] _Cf._ NA¶ldeke, _Die Semitischen Sprachen_ (Leipzig, 1899), or the +same scholar's article, 'Semitic Languages,' in the _EncyclopA|dia +Britannica_, 11th edition. Renan's _Histoire gA(C)nA(C)rale des langues +sA(C)mitiques_ (1855) is now antiquated. An interesting essay on the +importance of the Semites in the history of civilisation was published +by F. Hommel as an introduction to his _Semitischen VA¶lker und +Sprachen_, vol. i (Leipzig, 1883). The dates in this table are of course +only approximate. + +[3] Ibn Qutayba, _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-MaaEuro~Airij_, ed. by WA1/4stenfeld, p. 18. + +[4] Full information concerning the genealogy of the Arabs will be found +in WA1/4stenfeld's _Genealogische Tabellen der Arabischen StA¤mme und +Familien_ with its excellent _Register_ (GA¶ttingen, 1852-1853). + +[5] The tribes a¸abba, TamA-m, Khuzayma, Hudhayl, Asad, KinAina, and +Quraysh together formed a group which is known as Khindif, and is often +distinguished from Qays aEuro~AylAin. + +[6] Goldziher, _Muhammedanische Studien_, Part I, p. 133 sqq., 177 sqq. + +[7] NA¶ldeke in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 40, p. 177. + +[8] See Margoliouth, _Mohammed and the Rise of Islam_, p. 4. + +[9] Concerning the nature and causes of this antagonism see Goldziher, +_op. cit._, Part I, p. 78 sqq. + +[10] The word 'Arabic' is always to be understood in this sense wherever +it occurs in the following pages. + +[11] First published by Sachau in _Monatsberichte der KA¶n. Preuss. Akad. +der Wissenschaften zu Berlin_ (February, 1881), p. 169 sqq. + +[12] See De VogA1/4A(C), _Syrie Centrale, Inscriptions SA(C)mitiques_, p. 117. +Other references are given in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 35, p. 749. + +[13] On this subject the reader may consult Goldziher. _Muhammedanische +Studien_, Part I, p. 110 sqq. + +[14] Professor Margoliouth in _F.R.A.S._ for 1905, p. 418 + +[15] NA¶ldeke, _Die Semitischen Sprachen_, p. 36 sqq. and p. 51. + +[16] _Journal Asiatique_ (March, 1835), p. 209 sqq. + +[17] Strictly speaking, the _JAihiliyya_ includes the whole time between +Adam and Mua¸Yammad, but in a narrower sense it may be used, as here, to +denote the Pre-islamic period of Arabic Literature. + +[18] _Die Namen der SA¤ugethiere bei den SA1/4dsemitischen VA¶lkern_, p. 343 +seq. + +[19] _Iramu DhAitu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ImAid_ (Koran, lxxxix, 6). The sense of these words +is much disputed. See especially a¹¬abarA-'s explanation in his great +commentary on the Koran (O. Loth in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 35, p. 626 sqq.). + +[20] I have abridged a¹¬abarA-, _Annals_, i, 231 sqq. _Cf._ also chapters +vii, xi, xxvi, and xlvi of the Koran. + +[21] Koran, xi, 56-57. + +[22] See Doughty's _Documents Epigraphiques recueillis dans le nord de +l'Arabie_, p. 12 sqq. + +[23] Koran, vii, 76. + +[24] Properly SabaaEuro(TM) with _hamza_, both syllables being short. + +[25] The oldest record of Saba to which a date can be assigned is found +in the Assyrian cuneiform inscriptions. We read in the Annals of King +Sargon (715 B.C.), "I received the tribute of Pharaoh, the King of +Egypt, of Shamsiyya, the Queen of Arabia, of Ithamara the SabA|an--gold, +spices, slaves, horses, and camels." Ithamara is identical with +YathaaEuro~amar, a name borne by several kings of Saba. + +[26] A. MA1/4ller, _Der Islam im Morgen und Abendland_, vol. i, p. 24 seq. + +[27] NA¶ldeke, however, declares the traditions which represent Kulayb as +leading the RabA-aEuro~a clans to battle against the combined strength of +Yemen to be entirely unhistorical (_FA1/4nf MoaEuro~allaqAit_, i, 44). + +[28] _Op. cit._, p. 94 seq. An excellent account of the progress made in +discovering and deciphering the South Arabic inscriptions down to the +year 1841 is given by RA¶diger, _Excurs ueber himjaritische Inschriften_, +in his German translation of Wellsted's _Travels in Arabia_, vol. ii, p. +368 sqq. + +[29] Seetzen's inscriptions were published in _Fundgruben des Orients_, +vol. ii (Vienna, 1811), p. 282 sqq. The one mentioned above was +afterwards deciphered and explained by Mordtmann in the _Z.D.M.G._, vol. +31, p. 89 seq. + +[30] The oldest inscriptions, however, run from left to right and from +right to left alternately (I squaredI?I...IfI"II?II.I'IOEI1/2). + +[31] _Notiz ueber die himjaritische Schrift nebst doppeltem Alphabet +derselben_ in _Zeitschrift fA1/4r die Kunde des Morgenlandes_, vol. i +(GA¶ttingen, 1837), p. 332 sqq. + +[32] See Arnaud's _Relation d'un voyage A Mareb (Saba) dans l'Arabie +mA(C)ridionale_ in the _Journal Asiatique_, 4th series, vol. v (1845), p. +211 sqq. and p. 309 sqq. + +[33] See _Rapport sur une mission archA(C)ologique dans le YA(C)men_ in the +_Journal Asiatique_, 6th series, vol. xix (1872), pp. 5-98, 129-266, +489-547. + +[34] See D. H. MA1/4ller, _Die Burgen und SchlA¶sser SA1/4darabiens_ in +_S.B.W.A._, vol. 97, p. 981 sqq. + +[35] The title _Mukarrib_ combines the significations of prince and +priest. + +[36] Goldziher, _Muhammedanische Studien_, Part I, p. 3. + +[37] See F. PrA|torius, _Unsterblichkeitsglaube und Heiligenverehrung bei +den Himyaren_ in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 27, p. 645. Hubert Grimme has given an +interesting sketch of the religious ideas and customs of the Southern +Arabs in _Weltgeschichte in Karakterbildern: Mohammed_ (Munich, 1904), +p. 29 sqq. + +[38] _Transactions of the Society of Biblical ArchA|ology_, vol. 5, p. +409. + +[39] This table of contents is quoted by D. H. MA1/4ller (_SA1/4darabische +Studien_, p. 108, n. 2) from the title-page of the British Museum MS. of +the eighth book of the _IklA-l_. No complete copy of the work is known to +exist, but considerable portions of it are preserved in the British +Museum and in the Berlin Royal Library. + +[40] The poet aEuro~Alqama b. DhA- Jadan, whose verses are often cited in the +commentary on the 'a¸¤imyarite Ode.' + +[41] _Die Himjarische Kasideh_ herausgegeben und A1/4bersetzt von Alfred +von Kremer (Leipzig, 1865). _The Lay of the Himyarites_, by W. F. +Prideaux (Sehore, 1879). + +[42] NashwAin was a philologist of some repute. His great dictionary, the +_Shamsu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~UlAºm_, is a valuable aid to those engaged in the study of +South Arabian antiquities. It has been used by D. H. MA1/4ller to fix the +correct spelling of proper names which occur in the a¸¤imyarite Ode +(_Z.D.M.G._, vol. 29, p. 620 sqq.; _SA1/4darabische Studien_, p. 143 sqq.). + +[43] _Fihrist_, p. 89, l. 26. + +[44] _MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. iv, p. 89. + +[45] Von Kremer, _Die SA1/4darabische Sage_, p. 56. Possibly, as he +suggests (p. 115), the story may be a symbolical expression of the fact +that the SabA|ans were divided into two great tribes, a¸¤imyar and +KahlAin, the former of which held the chief power. + +[46] _Cf._ Koran xxxiv, 14 sqq. The existing ruins have been described +by Arnaud in the _Journal Asiatique_, 7th series, vol. 3 (1874), p. 3 +sqq. + +[47] I follow MasaEuro~AºdA-, _MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_ (ed. by Barbier de Meynard), +vol. iii, p. 378 sqq., and NuwayrA- in Reiske's _PrimA| lineA| HistoriA| +Rerum Arabicarum_, p. 166 sqq. + +[48] The story of the migration from MaaEuro(TM)rib, as related below, may have +some historical basis, but the Dam itself was not finally destroyed +until long afterwards. Inscriptions carved on the existing ruins show +that it was more or less in working order down to the middle of the +sixth century A.D. The first recorded flood took place in 447-450, and +on another occasion (in 539-542) the Dam was partially reconstructed by +Abraha, the Abyssinian viceroy of Yemen. See E. Glaser, _Zwei +Inschriften A1/4ber den Dammbruch von MAcrib_ (_Mitteilungen der +Vorderastatischen Gesellschaft_, 1897, 6). + +[49] He is said to have gained this sobriquet from his custom of tearing +to pieces (_mazaqa_) every night the robe which he had worn during the +day. + +[50] Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. i, p. 497. + +[51] HamdAinA-, _IklA-l_, bk. viii, edited by D. H. MA1/4ller in _S.B.W.A._ +(Vienna, 1881), vol. 97, p. 1037. The verses are quoted with some +textual differences by YAiqAºt, _MuaEuro~jam al-BuldAin_, ed. by WA1/4stenfeld, +vol. iv, 387, and Ibn HishAim, p. 9. + +[52] The following inscription is engraved on one of the stone cylinders +described by Arnaud. "YathaaEuro~amar Bayyin, son of SamahaEuro~alA- YanAºf, Prince +of Saba, caused the mountain Balaq to be pierced and erected the +flood-gates (called) Raa¸Yab for convenience of irrigation." I +translate after D. H. MA1/4ller, _loc. laud._, p. 965. + +[53] The words _a¸¤imyar_ and _TubbaaEuro~_ do not occur at all in the older +inscriptions, and very seldom even in those of a more recent date. + +[54] See Koran, xviii, 82-98. + +[55] Dhu aEuro(TM)l-Qarnayn is described as "the measurer of the earth" +(_MassAia¸Yu aEuro(TM)l-ara¸_) by HamdAinA-, _JazA-ratu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arab_, p. 46, l. 10. +If I may step for a moment outside the province of literary history to +discuss the mythology of these verses, it seems to me more than probable +that Dhu aEuro(TM)l-Qarnayn is a personification of the SabA|an divinity aEuro~Athtar, +who represents "sweet Hesper-Phosphor, double name" (see D. H. MA1/4ller in +_S.B.W.A._, vol. 97, p. 973 seq.). The MinA|an inscriptions have "aEuro~Athtar +of the setting and aEuro~Athtar of the rising" (_ibid._, p. 1033). Moreover, +in the older inscriptions aEuro~Athtar and Almaqa are always mentioned +together; and Almaqa, which according to HamdAinA- is the name of Venus +(_al-Zuhara_), was identified by Arabian archA|ologists with BilqA-s. For +_qarn_ in the sense of 'ray' or 'beam' see Goldziher, _Abhand. zur Arab. +Philologie_, Part I, p. 114. I think there is little doubt that Dhu +aEuro(TM)l-Qarnayn and BilqA-s may be added to the examples (_ibid._, p. 111 +sqq.) of that peculiar conversion by which many heathen deities were +enabled to maintain themselves under various disguises within the pale +of Islam. + +[56] The Arabic text will be found in Von Kremer's _Altarabische +Gedichte ueber die Volkssage von Jemen_, p. 15 (No. viii, l. 6 sqq.). +a¸¤assAin b. ThAibit, the author of these lines, was contemporary with +Mua¸Yammad, to whose cause he devoted what poetical talent he possessed. +In the verses immediately preceding those translated above he claims to +be a descendant of Qaa¸Ya¹-Ain. + +[57] Von Kremer, _Die SA1/4darabische Sage_, p. vii of the Introduction. + +[58] A prose translation is given by Von Kremer, _ibid._, p. 78 sqq. The +Arabic text which he published afterwards in _Altarabische Gedichte +ueber die Volkssage von Jemen_, p. 18 sqq., is corrupt in some places +and incorrect in others. I have followed Von Kremer's interpretation +except when it seemed to me to be manifestly untenable. The reader will +have no difficulty in believing that this poem was meant to be recited +by a wandering minstrel to the hearers that gathered round him at +nightfall. It may well be the composition of one of those professional +story-tellers who flourished in the first century after the Flight, such +as aEuro~AbA-d b. Sharya (see p. 13 _supra_), or YazA-d b. RabA-aEuro~a b. Mufarrigh +(aEuro 688 A.D.), who is said to have invented the poems and romances of the +a¸¤imyarite kings (_AghAinA-_, xvii, 52). + +[59] Instead of Hinwam the original has HayyAºm, for which Von Kremer +reads AhnAºm. But see HamdAinA-, _JazA-ralu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arab_, p. 193, last line and +fol. + +[60] I read _al-jahdi_ for _al-jahli_. + +[61] I omit the following verses, which tell how an old woman of MedA-na +came to King AsaEuro~ad, imploring him to avenge her wrongs, and how he +gathered an innumerable army, routed his enemies, and returned to +aº'afAir in triumph. + +[62] Ibn HishAim, p. 13, l. 14 sqq. + +[63] Ibn HishAim, p. 15, l. 1 sqq. + +[64] _Ibid._, p. 17, l. 2 sqq. + +[65] Arabic text in Von Kremer's _Altarabische Gedichte ueber die +Volkssage von Jemen_, p. 20 seq.; prose translation by the same author +in _Die SA1/4darabische Sage_, p. 84 sqq. + +[66] The second half of this verse is corrupt. Von Kremer translates (in +his notes to the Arabic text, p. 26): "And bury with me the camel +stallions (_al-khA-lAin_) and the slaves (_al-ruqqAin_)." Apart, however, +from the fact that _ruqqAin_ (plural of _raqA-q_) is not mentioned by the +lexicographers, it seems highly improbable that the king would have +commanded such a barbarity. I therefore take _khA-lAin_ (plural of _khAil_) +in the meaning of 'soft stuffs of Yemen,' and read _zuqqAin_ (plural of +_ziqq_). + +[67] GhaymAin or MiqlAib, a castle near a¹canaEuro~Ai, in which the +a¸¤imyarite kings were buried. + +[68] The text and translation of this section of the _IklA-l_ have been +published by D. H. MA1/4ller in _S.B.W.A._, vols. 94 and 97 (Vienna, +1879-1880). + +[69] _AghAinA-_, xx, 8, l. 14 seq. + +[70] Koran, lxxxv, 4 sqq. + +[71] a¹¬abarA-, i, 927, l. 19 sqq. + +[72] The following narrative is abridged from a¹¬abarA-, i, 928, l. 2 +sqq. = NA¶ldeke, _Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der +Sasaniden_, p. 192 sqq. + +[73] The reader will find a full and excellent account of these matters +in Professor Browne's _Literary History of Persia_, vol. i, pp. 178-181. + +[74] Goldziher, _Muhammedanische Studien_, Part I, p. 225. + +[75] MaydAinA-'s collection has been edited, with a Latin translation by +Freytag, in three volumes (_Arabum Proverbia_, Bonn, 1838-1843). + +[76] The _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-AghAinA-_ has been published at BulAiq (1284-1285 A.H.) +in twenty volumes. A volume of biographies not contained in the BulAiq +text was edited by R. E. BrA1/4nnow (Leiden, 1888). + +[77] _Muqaddima_ of Ibn KhaldAºn (Beyrout, 1900), p. 554, ll. 8-10; _Les +ProlA(C)gomA"nes d' Ibn Khaldoun traduits par M. de Slane_ (Paris, 1863-68) +vol. iii, p. 331. + +[78] Published at Paris, 1847-1848, in three volumes. + +[79] These are the same Bedouin Arabs of TanAºkh who afterwards formed +part of the population of a¸¤A-ra. See p. 38 _infra_. + +[80] Ibn Qutayba in BrA1/4nnow's _Chrestomathy_, p. 29. + +[81] Properly _al-ZabbAi_, an epithet meaning 'hairy.' According to +a¹¬abarA- (i, 757) her name was NAiaEuro(TM)ila. It is odd that in the Arabic +version of the story the name Zenobia (Zaynab) should be borne by the +heroine's sister. + +[82] The above narrative is abridged from _AghAinA-_, xiv, 73, l. 20-75, +l. 25. _Cf._ a¹¬abarA-, i, 757-766; MasaEuro~AºdA-, _MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_ (ed. by +Barbier de Meynard), vol. iii, pp. 189-199. + +[83] Concerning a¸¤A-ra and its history the reader may consult an +admirable monograph by Dr. G. Rothstein, _Die Dynastie der Laaº-miden +in al-a¸¤A-ra_ (Berlin, 1899), where the sources of information are set +forth (p. 5 sqq.). The incidental references to contemporary events in +Syriac and Byzantine writers, who often describe what they saw with +their own eyes, are extremely valuable as a means of fixing the +chronology, which Arabian historians can only supply by conjecture, +owing to the want of a definite era during the Pre-islamic period. +Mua¸Yammadan general histories usually contain sections, more or less +mythical in character, "On the Kings of a¸¤A-ra and GhassAin." Attention +may be called in particular to the account derived from HishAim b. +Mua¸Yammad al-KalbA-, which is preserved by a¹¬abarA- and has been +translated with a masterly commentary by NA¶ldeke in his _Geschichte der +Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden_. HishAim had access to the +archives kept in the churches of a¸¤A-ra, and claims to have extracted +therefrom many genealogical and chronological details relating to the +Lakhmite dynasty (a¹¬abarA-, i, 770, 7). + +[84] a¸¤A-ra is the Syriac _a¸YA(C)rtAi_ (sacred enclosure, monastery), +which name was applied to the originally mobile camp of the Persian +Arabs and retained as the designation of the garrison town. + +[85] SadA-r was a castle in the vicinity of a¸¤A-ra. + +[86] a¹¬abarA-, i, 853, 20 sqq. + +[87] BahrAim was educated at a¸¤A-ra under NuaEuro~mAin and Mundhir. The +Persian grandees complained that he had the manners and appearance of +the Arabs among whom he had grown up (a¹¬abarA-, i, 858, 7). + +[88] MAiaEuro(TM) al-samAi (_i.e._, Water of the sky) is said to have been the +sobriquet of Mundhir's mother, whose proper name was MAiriya or MAiwiyya. + +[89] For an account of Mazdak and his doctrines the reader may consult +NA¶ldeke's translation of a¹¬abarA-, pp. 140-144, 154, and 455-467, and +Professor Browne's _Literary History of Persia_, vol. i, pp. 168-172. + +[90] Mundhir slaughtered in cold blood some forty or fifty members of +the royal house of Kinda who had fallen into his hands. a¸¤Airith +himself was defeated and slain by Mundhir in 529. Thereafter the power +of Kinda sank, and they were gradually forced back to their original +settlements in a¸¤aa¸ramawt. + +[91] On another occasion he sacrificed four hundred Christian nuns to +the same goddess. + +[92] See p. 50 _infra_. + +[93] _AghAinA-_, xix, 86, l. 16 sqq. + +[94] _AghAinA-_, xix, 87, l. 18 sqq. + +[95] Hind was a princess of Kinda (daughter of the a¸¤Airith b. aEuro~Amr +mentioned above), whom Mundhir probably captured in one of his marauding +expeditions. She was a Christian, and founded a monastery at a¸¤A-ra. +See NA¶ldeke's translation of a¹¬abarA-, p. 172, n. 1. + +[96] _AghAinA-_, xxi, 194, l. 22. + +[97] Zayd was actually Regent of a¸¤A-ra after the death of QAibAºs, and +paved the way for Mundhir IV, whose violence had made him detested by +the people (NA¶ldeke's translation of a¹¬abarA-, p. 346, n. 1). + +[98] The Arabs called the Byzantine emperor '_Qaya¹Lar_,' _i.e._, +CA|sar, and the Persian emperor '_KisrAi_,' _i.e._, Chosroes. + +[99] My friend and colleague, Professor A. A. Bevan, writes to me that +"the story of aEuro~AdA-'s marriage with the king's daughter is based partly +on a verse in which the poet speaks of himself as connected by marriage +with the royal house (_AghAinA-_, ii, 26, l. 5), and partly on another +verse in which he mentions 'the home of Hind' (_ibid._, ii, 32, l. 1). +But this Hind was evidently a Bedouin woman, not the king's daughter." + +[100] _AghAinA-_, ii, 22, l. 3 sqq. + +[101] When Hurmuz summoned the sons of Mundhir to Ctesiphon that he +might choose a king from among them, aEuro~AdA- said to each one privately, +"If the Chosroes demands whether you can keep the Arabs in order, reply, +'All except NuaEuro~mAin.'" To NuaEuro~mAin, however, he said: "The Chosroes will +ask, 'Can you manage your brothers?' Say to him: 'If I am not strong +enough for them, I am still less able to control other folk!'" Hurmuz +was satisfied with this answer and conferred the crown upon NuaEuro~mAin. + +[102] A full account of these matters is given by a¹¬abarA-, i, +1016-1024 = NA¶ldeke's translation, pp. 314-324. + +[103] A similar description occurs in Freytag's _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. +ii. p. 589 sqq. + +[104] a¹¬abarA-, i, 1024-1029 = NA¶ldeke's translation, pp. 324-331. Ibn +Qutayba in BrA1/4nnow's _Chrestomathy_, pp. 32-33. + +[105] A town in Arabia, some distance to the north of MedA-na. + +[106] See Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. ii, p. 611. + +[107] A celebrated Companion of the Prophet. He led the Moslem army to +the conquest of Syria, and died of the plague in 639 A.D. + +[108] Ibn Qutayba in BrA1/4nnow's _Chrestomathy_, pp. 26-28. + +[109] The following details are extracted from NA¶ldeke's monograph: _Die +GhassAcnischen FA1/4rsten aus dem Hause Gafna's_, in _Abhand. d. KA¶n. +Preuss. Akad. d. Wissenschaften_ (Berlin, 1887). + +[110] NA¶ldeke, _op. cit._, p. 20, refers to John of Ephesus, iii, 2. See +_The Third Part of the Ecclesiastical History of John, Bishop of +Ephesus_, translated by R. Payne Smith, p. 168. + +[111] IyAis b. QabA-a¹La succeeded NuaEuro~mAin III as ruler of a¸¤A-ra +(602-611 A.D.). He belonged to the tribe of a¹¬ayyiaEuro(TM). See Rothstein, +_Laaº-miden_, p. 119. + +[112] I read _yatafaa¸a¸alu_ for _yanfaa¹Lilu_. The arrangement +which the former word denotes is explained in Lane's Dictionary as "the +throwing a portion of one's garment over his left shoulder, and drawing +its extremity under his right arm, and tying the two extremities +together in a knot upon his bosom." + +[113] The _fanak_ is properly a kind of white stoat or weasel found in +Abyssinia and northern Africa, but the name is also applied by +Mua¸Yammadans to other furs. + +[114] _AghAinA-_, xvi, 15, ll. 22-30. So far as it purports to proceed +from a¸¤assAin, the passage is apocryphal, but this does not seriously +affect its value as evidence, if we consider that it is probably +compiled from the poet's _dA-wAin_ in which the GhassAinids are often +spoken of. The particular reference to Jabala b. al-Ayham is a mistake. +a¸¤assAin's acquaintance with the GhassAinids belongs to the pagan period +of his life, and he is known to have accepted Islam many years before +Jabala began to reign. + +[115] NAibigha, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 78; NA¶ldeke's _Delectus_, p. 96. +The whole poem has been translated by Sir Charles Lyall in his _Ancient +Arabian Poetry_, p. 95 sqq. + +[116] Thorbecke, _aEuro~Antarah, ein vorislamischer Dichter_, p. 14. + +[117] The following narrative is an abridgment of the history of the War +of BasAºs as related in TibrA-zA-'s commentary on the _a¸¤amAisa_ (ed. by +Freytag), pp. 420-423 and 251-255. _Cf._ NA¶ldeke's _Delectus_, p. 39 sqq. + +[118] See p. 5 _supra_. + +[119] WAiaEuro(TM)il is the common ancestor of Bakr and Taghlib. For the use of +stones (ana¹LAib) in the worship of the Pagan Arabs see Wellhausen, +_Reste Arabischen Heidentums_ (2nd ed.), p. 101 sqq. Robertson Smith, +_Lectures on the Religion of the Semites_ (London, 1894), p. 200 sqq. + +[120] _a¸¤amAisa_, 422, 14 sqq. NA¶ldeke's _Delectus_, p. 39, last line and +foll. + +[121] _a¸¤amAisa_, 423, 11 sqq. NA¶ldeke's _Delectus_, p. 41, l. 3 sqq. + +[122] _a¸¤amAisa_, 252, 8 seq. NA¶ldeke's _Delectus_, p. 44, l. 3 seq. + +[123] Hind is the mother of Bakr and Taghlib. Here the BanAº Hind (Sons +of Hind) are the Taghlibites. + +[124] _a¸¤amAisa_, 9, 17 seq. NA¶ldeke's _Delectus_, p. 45, l. 10 sqq. + +[125] _a¸¤amAisa_, 252, 14 seq. NA¶ldeke's _Delectus_, p. 46, l. 16 sqq. + +[126] _a¸¤amAisa_, 254, 6 seq. NA¶ldeke's _Delectus_, p. 47, l. 2 seq. + +[127] _a¸¤amAisa_, 96. Ibn NubAita, cited by Rasmussen, _Additamenta ad +Historiam Arabum ante Islamismum_, p. 34, remarks that before Qays no +one had ever lamented a foe slain by himself (_wa-huwa awwalu man rathAi +maqtAºlahu_). + +[128] Ibn HishAim, p. 51, l. 7 sqq. + +[129] In the account of Abraha's invasion given below I have followed +a¹¬abarA-, i, 936, 9-945, 19 = NA¶ldeke's translation, pp. 206-220. + +[130] I read _a¸YilAilak_. See Glossary to a¹¬abarA-. + +[131] a¹¬abarA-, i, 940, 13. + +[132] Another version says: "Whenever a man was struck sores and +pustules broke out on that part of his body. This was the first +appearance of the small-pox" (a¹¬abarA-, i, 945, 2 sqq.). Here we have +the historical fact--an outbreak of pestilence in the Abyssinian +army--which gave rise to the legend related above. + +[133] There is trustworthy evidence that Abraha continued to rule Yemen +for some time after his defeat. + +[134] Ibn HishAim, p. 38, l. 14 sqq. + +[135] _Ibid._, p. 40, l. 12 sqq. + +[136] See pp. 48-49 _supra_. + +[137] Full details are given by a¹¬abarA-, i, 1016-1037 = NA¶ldeke's +translation, pp. 311-345. + +[138] A poet speaks of three thousand Arabs and two thousand Persians +(a¹¬abarA-, i, 1036, 5-6). + +[139] Ibn RashA-q in SuyAºa¹-A-'s Muzhir (BulAiq, 1282 A.H.), Part II, p. +236, l. 22 sqq. I quote the translation of Sir Charles Lyall in the +Introduction to his _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 17, a most admirable +work which should be placed in the hands of every one who is beginning +the study of this difficult subject. + +[140] Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. ii, p. 494. + +[141] Numb. xxi, 17. Such well-songs are still sung in the Syrian desert +(see Enno Littmann, _Neuarabische Volkspoesie_, in _Abhand. der KA¶n. +Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, Phil.-Hist. Klasse_, GA¶ttingen, 1901), +p. 92. In a specimen cited at p. 81 we find the words _witla yAe +dlAªwAe"na_--_i.e._, "Rise, O bucket!" several times repeated. + +[142] Goldziher, _Ueber die Vorgeschichte der HigAc-Poesie_ in his +_Abhand. zur Arab. Philologie_, Part I (Leyden, 1896), p. 26. + +[143] _Cf._ the story of Balak and Balaam, with Goldziher's remarks +thereon, _ibid._, p. 42 seq. + +[144] _Ibid._, p. 46 seq. + +[145] _Rajaz_ primarily means "a tremor (which is a symptom of disease) +in the hind-quarters of a camel." This suggested to Dr. G. Jacob his +interesting theory that the Arabian metres arose out of the +camel-driver's song (_a¸YidAi_) in harmony with the varying paces of the +animal which he rode (_Studien in arabischen Dichtern_, Heft III, p. 179 +sqq.). + +[146] The Arabic verse (_bayt_) consists of two halves or hemistichs +(_mia¹LrAiaEuro~_). It is generally convenient to use the word 'line' as a +translation of _mia¹LrAiaEuro~_, but the reader must understand that the +'line' is not, as in English poetry, an independent unit. _Rajaz_ is the +sole exception to this rule, there being here no division into +hemistichs, but each line (verse) forming an unbroken whole and rhyming +with that which precedes it. + +[147] In Arabic 'al-bayt,' the tent, which is here used figuratively for +the grave. + +[148] Ibn Qutayba, _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-ShiaEuro~r wa-aEuro(TM)l-ShuaEuro~arAi_, p. 36, l. 3 sqq. + +[149] Already in the sixth century A.D. the poet aEuro~Antara complains that +his predecessors have left nothing new for him to say (_MuaEuro~allaqa_, v. +1). + +[150] _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, Introduction, p. xvi. + +[151] _Qaa¹LA-da_ is explained by Arabian lexicographers to mean a poem +with an artistic purpose, but they differ as to the precise sense in +which 'purpose' is to be understood. Modern critics are equally at +variance. Jacob (_Stud. in Arab. Dichtern_, Heft III, p. 203) would +derive the word from the principal motive of these poems, namely, to +gain a rich reward in return for praise and flattery. Ahlwardt +(_Bemerkungen A1/4ber die Aechtheit der alten Arab. Gedichte_, p. 24 seq.) +connects it with _qaa¹Lada, to break_, "because it consists of verses, +every one of which is divided into two halves, with a common end-rhyme: +thus the whole poem is _broken_, as it were, into two halves;" while in +the _Rajaz_ verses, as we have seen (p. 74 _supra_), there is no such +break. + +[152] _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-ShiaEuro~r wa-aEuro(TM)l-ShuaEuro~arAi_, p. 14, l. 10 sqq. + +[153] NA¶ldeke (_FA1/4nf MoaEuro~allaqAit_, i, p. 3 sqq.) makes the curious +observation, which illustrates the highly artificial character of this +poetry, that certain animals well known to the Arabs (_e.g._, the +panther, the jerboa, and the hare) are seldom mentioned and scarcely +ever described, apparently for no reason except that they were not +included in the conventional repertory. + +[154] _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 83. + +[155] Verses 3-13. I have attempted to imitate the 'Long' (_a¹¬awA-l_) +metre of the original, viz.:-- + + aOEL | aOEL | aOEL | + aOEL - - | aOEL - - - | aOEL - - | aOEL - aOEL - + +The Arabic text of the _LAimiyya_, with prose translation and commentary, +is printed in De Sacy's _Chrestomathie Arabe_ (2nd. ed.), vol. iiAº, p. +134 sqq., and vol. ii, p. 337 sqq. It has been translated into English +verse by G. Hughes (London, 1896). Other versions are mentioned by +NA¶ldeke, _BeitrA¤ge zur Kenntniss d. Poesie d. alten Araber_, p. 200. + +[156] The poet, apparently, means that his three friends are _like_ the +animals mentioned. Prof. Bevan remarks, however, that this +interpretation is doubtful, since an Arab would scarcely compare his +_friend_ to a hyena. + +[157] _a¸¤amAisa_, 242. + +[158] _a¸¤amAisa_, 41-43. This poem has been rendered in verse by Sir +Charles Lyall, _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 16, and by the late Dr. A. +B. Davidson, _Biblical and Literary Essays_, p. 263. + +[159] Mahaffy, _Social Life in Greece_, p. 21. + +[160] See pp. 59-60 _supra_. + +[161] _a¸¤amAisa_, 82-83. The poet is aEuro~Amr b. MaaEuro~dA-karib, a famous +heathen knight who accepted Islam and afterwards distinguished himself +in the Persian wars. + +[162] Al-Afwah al-AwdA- in NA¶ldeke's _Delectus_, p. 4, ll. 8-10. The +poles and pegs represent lords and commons. + +[163] _a¸¤amAisa_, 122. + +[164] _Ibid._, 378. + +[165] _Cf._ the verses by al-Find, p. 58 _supra_. + +[166] _a¸¤amAisa_, 327. + +[167] ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Qays was one of the princes of Kinda, a powerful tribe +in Central Arabia. + +[168] _AghAinA-_, xix, 99. The last two lines are wanting in the poem as +there cited, but appear in the Selection from the AghAinA- published at +Beyrout in 1888, vol. ii, p. 18. + +[169] See p. 45 sqq. + +[170] _AghAinA-_, xvi, 98, ll. 5-22. + +[171] _AghAinA-_, xvi, 97, l. 5 sqq. + +[172] His _DA-wAin_ has been edited with translation and notes by F. +Schulthess (Leipzig, 1897). + +[173] _a¸¤amAisa_, 729. The hero mentioned in the first verse is aEuro~Amir +b. Ua¸Yaymir of Bahdala. On a certain occasion, when envoys from the +Arabian tribes were assembled at a¸¤A-ra, King Mundhir b. MAiaEuro(TM) al-samAi +produced two pieces of cloth of Yemen and said, "Let him whose tribe is +noblest rise up and take them." Thereupon aEuro~Amir stood forth, and +wrapping one piece round his waist and the other over his shoulders, +carried off the prize unchallenged. + +[174] Lady Anne and Mr. Wilfrid Blunt, _The Seven Golden Odes of Pagan +Arabia_, Introduction, p. 14. + +[175] _AghAinA-_ xvi, 22, ll. 10-16. + +[176] _AghAinA-_, xviii, 137, ll. 5-10. Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. +ii, p. 834. + +[177] _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 81. + +[178] _Mufaa¸a¸aliyyAit_, ed. Thorbecke, p. 23. + +[179] See Goldziher, _Muhammedanische Studien_, Part II, p. 295 sqq. + +[180] Koran, xvi, 59-61. + +[181] Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. i, p. 229. + +[182] Koran, xvii, 33. _Cf._ lxxxi, 8-9 (a description of the Last +Judgment): "_When the girl buried alive shall be asked for what crime +she was killed._" + +[183] Literally: "And tear the veil from (her, as though she were) flesh +on a butcher's board," _i.e._, defenceless, abandoned to the +first-comer. + +[184] _a¸¤amAisa_, 140. Although these verses are not Pre-islamic, and +belong in fact to a comparatively late period of Islam, they are +sufficiently pagan in feeling to be cited in this connection. The +author, Isa¸YAiq b. Khalaf, lived under the Caliph MaaEuro(TM)mAºn (813-833 A.D.). +He survived his adopted daughter--for Umayma was his sister's child--and +wrote an elegy on her, which is preserved in the _KAimil_ of al-Mubarrad, +p. 715, l. 7 sqq., and has been translated, together with the verses now +in question, by Sir Charles Lyall, _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 26. + +[185] _a¸¤amAisa_, 142. Lyall, _op. cit._, p. 28. + +[186] _a¸¤amAisa_, 7. + +[187] _a¸¤amAisa_, 321. + +[188] See p. 55 sqq. + +[189] _Cf._ RA1/4ckert's _HamAcsa_, vol. i, p. 61 seq. + +[190] _a¸¤amAisa_, 30. + +[191] _AghAinA-_, ii, 160, l. 11-162, l. 1 = p. 13 sqq. of the Beyrout +Selection. + +[192] The Bedouins consider that any one who has eaten of their food or +has touched the rope of their tent is entitled to claim their +protection. Such a person is called _dakhA-l_. See Burckhardt, _Notes on +the Bedouins and WahAibys_ (London, 1831), vol. i, p. 160 sqq. and 329 +sqq. + +[193] See p. 81 _supra_. + +[194] Stuttgart, 1819, p. 253 sqq. The other renderings in verse with +which I am acquainted are those of RA1/4ckert (_HamAcsa_, vol. i, p. 299) +and Sir Charles Lyall (_Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 48). I have adopted +Sir Charles Lyall's arrangement of the poem, and have closely followed +his masterly interpretation, from which I have also borrowed some turns +of phrase that could not be altered except for the worse. + +[195] The Arabic text will be found in the _HamAisa_, p. 382 sqq. + +[196] This and the following verse are generally taken to be a +description not of the poet himself, but of his nephew. The +interpretation given above does no violence to the language, and greatly +enhances the dramatic effect. + +[197] In the original this and the preceding verse are transposed. + +[198] Although the poet's uncle was killed in this onslaught, the +surprised party suffered severely. "The two clans" belonged to the great +tribe of Hudhayl, which is mentioned in the penultimate verse. + +[199] It was customary for the avenger to take a solemn vow that he +would drink no wine before accomplishing his vengeance. + +[200] _a¸¤amAisa_, 679. + +[201] _Cf._ the lines translated below from the _MuaEuro~allaqa_ of +a¸¤Airith. + +[202] The best edition of the _MuaEuro~allaqAit_ is Sir Charles Lyall's (_A +Commentary on Ten Ancient Arabic Poems_, Calcutta, 1894), which contains +in addition to the seven _MuaEuro~allaqAit_ three odes by AaEuro~shAi, NAibigha, and +aEuro~AbA-d b. al-Abraa¹L. NA¶ldeke has translated five MuaEuro~allaqas (omitting +those of ImruaEuro(TM) uaEuro(TM) l-Qays and a¹¬arafa) with a German commentary, +_Sitzungsberichte der Kais. Akad. der Wissenschaften in Wien_, +_Phil.-Histor. Klasse_, vols. 140-144 (1899-1901); this is by far the +best translation for students. No satisfactory version in English prose +has hitherto appeared, but I may call attention to the fine and +original, though somewhat free, rendering into English verse by Lady +Anne Blunt and Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (_The Seven Golden Odes of Pagan +Arabia_, London, 1903). + +[203] _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, Introduction, p. xliv. Many other +interpretations have been suggested--_e.g._, 'The Poems written down +from oral dictation' (Von Kremer), 'The richly bejewelled' (Ahlwardt), +'The Pendants,' as though they were pearls strung on a necklace (A. +MA1/4ller). + +[204] The belief that the _MuaEuro~allaqAit_ were written in letters of gold +seems to have arisen from a misunderstanding of the name _MudhhabAit_ or +_MudhahhabAit_ (_i.e._, the Gilded Poems) which is sometimes given to +them in token of their excellence, just as the Greeks gave the title +I‡IIIfI muI+- a1/4"IEuroI. to a poem falsely attributed to Pythagoras. That some of +the _MuaEuro~allaqAit_ were recited at aEuro~UkAiaº" is probable enough and is +definitely affirmed in the case of aEuro~Amr b. KulthAºm (_AghAinA-_, ix, 182). + +[205] The legend first appears in the _aEuro~Iqd al-FarA-d_ (ed. of Cairo, +1293 A.H., vol. iii, p. 116 seq.) of Ibn aEuro~Abdi Rabbihi, who died in 940 +A.D. + +[206] See the Introduction to NA¶ldeke's _BeitrA¤ge zur Kenntniss der +Poesie der alten Araber_ (Hannover, 1864), p. xvii sqq., and his article +MoaEuro~allaa¸ cubedAit' in the _EncyclopA|dia Britannica_. + +[207] It is well known that the order of the verses in the _MuaEuro~allaqAit_, +as they have come down to us, is frequently confused, and that the +number of various readings is very large. I have generally followed the +text and arrangement adopted by NA¶ldeke in his German translation. + +[208] See p. 42 _supra_. + +[209] _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, p. 105. + +[210] See the account of his life (according to the _KitAibuaEuro(TM) l-AghAinA-_) +in _Le Diwan d'AmroaEuro(TM)lkaA-s_, edited with translation and notes by Baron +MacGuckin de Slane (Paris, 1837), pp. 1-51; and in _Amrilkais, der +Dichter und KA¶nig_ by Friedrich RA1/4ckert (Stuttgart and TA1/4bingen, 1843). + +[211] That he was not, however, the inventor of the Arabian _qaa¹LA-da_ +as described above (p. 76 sqq.) appears from the fact that he mentions +in one of his verses a certain Ibn a¸¤umAim or Ibn KhidhAim who +introduced, or at least made fashionable, the prelude with which almost +every ode begins: a lament over the deserted camping-ground (Ibn +Qutayba, _K. al-ShiaEuro~r wa-aEuro(TM)l-ShuaEuro~arAi_, p. 52). + +[212] The following lines are translated from Arnold's edition of the +_MuaEuro~allaqAit_ (Leipsic, 1850), p. 9 sqq., vv. 18-35. + +[213] The native commentators are probably right in attributing this and +the three preceding verses (48-51 in Arnold's edition) to the +brigand-poet, TaaEuro(TM)abbaa¹-a Sharran. + +[214] We have already (p. 39) referred to the culture of the Christian +Arabs of a¸¤A-ra. + +[215] Vv. 54-59 (Lyall); 56-61 (Arnold). + +[216] See NA¶ldeke, _FA1/4nf MuaEuro~allaqAit_, i, p. 51 seq. According to the +traditional version (_AghAinA-_, ix, 179), a band of Taghlibites went +raiding, lost their way in the desert, and perished of thirst, having +been refused water by a sept of the BanAº Bakr. Thereupon Taghlib +appealed to King aEuro~Amr to enforce payment of the blood-money which they +claimed, and chose aEuro~Amr b. KulthAºm to plead their cause at a¸¤A-ra. So +aEuro~Amr recited his _MuaEuro~allaqa_ before the king, and was answered by +a¸¤Airith on behalf of Bakr. + +[217] Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. ii, p. 233. + +[218] _AghAinA-_, ix, 182. + +[219] Vv. 1-8 (Arnold); in Lyall's edition the penultimate verse is +omitted. + +[220] Vv. 15-18 (Lyall); 19-22 (Arnold). + +[221] The Arabs use the term _kunya_ to denote this familiar style of +address in which a person is called, not by his own name, but 'father of +So-and-so' (either a son or, as in the present instance, a daughter). + +[222] _I.e._, even the _jinn_ (genies) stand in awe of us. + +[223] Here MaaEuro~add signifies the Arabs in general. + +[224] Vv. 20-30 (Lyall), omitting vv. 22, 27, 28. + +[225] This is a figurative way of saying that Taghlib has never been +subdued. + +[226] Vv. 46-51 (Lyall), omitting v. 48. + +[227] _I.e._, we will show our enemies that they cannot defy us with +impunity. This verse, the 93rd in Lyall's edition, is omitted by Arnold. + +[228] Vv. 94-104 (Arnold), omitting vv. 100 and 101. If the last words +are anything more than a poetic fiction, 'the sea' must refer to the +River Euphrates. + +[229] Vv. 16-18. + +[230] Vv. 23-26. + +[231] A place in the neighbourhood of Mecca. + +[232] Vv. 40-42 (Lyall); 65-67 (Arnold). + +[233] See _aEuro~Antarah, ein vorislamischer Dichter_, by H. Thorbecke +(Leipzig, 1867). + +[234] I have taken some liberties in this rendering, as the reader may +see by referring to the verses (44 and 47-52 in Lyall's edition) on +which it is based. + +[235] Ghayaº" b. Murra was a descendant of DhubyAin and the ancestor of +Harim and a¸¤Airith. + +[236] The KaaEuro~ba. + +[237] This refers to the religious circumambulation (_a¹-awAif_). + +[238] Vv. 16-19 (Lyall). + +[239] There is no reason to doubt the genuineness of this passage, which +affords evidence of the diffusion of Jewish and Christian ideas in pagan +Arabia. Ibn Qutayba observes that these verses indicate the poet's +belief in the Resurrection (_K. al-ShiaEuro~r wa-aEuro(TM)l-ShuaEuro~arAi_, p. 58, l. 12). + +[240] Vv. 27-31. + +[241] The order of these verses in Lyall's edition is as follows: 56, +57, 54, 50, 55, 53, 49, 47, 48, 52, 58. + +[242] Reference has been made above to the old Arabian belief that poets +owed their inspiration to the _jinn_ (genii), who are sometimes called +_shayAitA-n_ (satans). See Goldziher, _Abhand. zur arab. Philologie_, Part +I, pp. 1-14. + +[243] Vv. 1-10 (Lyall), omitting v. 5. + +[244] Vv. 55-60 (Lyall). + +[245] The term _nAibigha_ is applied to a poet whose genius is slow in +declaring itself but at last "jets forth vigorously and abundantly" +(_nabagha_). + +[246] _DA-wAin_, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 83; NA¶ldeke's _Delectus_, p. 96. + +[247] He means to say that NuaEuro~mAin has no reason to feel aggrieved +because he (NAibigha) is grateful to the GhassAinids for their munificent +patronage; since NuaEuro~mAin does not consider that his own favourites, in +showing gratitude to himself, are thereby guilty of treachery towards +their former patrons. + +[248] _DiwAin_, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 76, ii, 21. In another place (p. +81, vi, 6) he says, addressing his beloved:-- + + "Wadd give thee greeting! for dalliance with women is lawful to me + no more, + Since Religion has become a serious matter." + +Wadd was a god worshipped by the pagan Arabs. Derenbourg's text has +_rabbA-_, _i.e._, Allah, but see NA¶ldeke's remarks in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. +xli (1887), p. 708. + +[249] _AghAinA-_, viii, 85, last line-86, l. 10. + +[250] Lyall, _Ten Ancient Arabic Poems_, p. 146 seq., vv. 25-31. + +[251] Ahlwardt, _The Divans_, p. 106, vv. 8-10. + +[252] _a¸¤amAisa_, p. 382, l. 17. + +[253] NA¶ldeke, _BeitrA¤ge zur Kenntniss der Poesie der alten Araber_, p. +152. + +[254] NA¶ldeke, _ibid._, p. 175. + +[255] The original title is _al-MukhtAirAit_ (The Selected Odes) or +_al-IkhtiyAirAit_ (The Selections). + +[256] Oxford, 1918-21. The Indexes of personal and place-names, poetical +quotations, and selected words were prepared by Professor Bevan and +published in 1924 in the E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Series. + +[257] Ibn KhallikAin, ed. by WA1/4stenfeld, No. 350 = De Slane's +translation, vol. ii, p. 51. + +[258] See NA¶ldeke, _BeitrA¤ge_, p. 183 sqq. There would seem to be +comparatively few poems of Pre-islamic date in Bua¸YturA-'s anthology. + +[259] Ibn KhallikAin, ed. by WA1/4stenfeld, No. 204 = De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 470. + +[260] Many interesting details concerning the tradition of Pre-islamic +poetry by the _RAiwA-s_ and the Philologists will be found in Ahlwardt's +_Bemerkungen ueber die Aechtheit der alten Arabischen Gedichte_ +(Greifswald, 1872), which has supplied materials for the present sketch. + +[261] _AghAinA-_, v, 172, l. 16 sqq. + +[262] This view, however, is in accordance neither with the historical +facts nor with the public opinion of the Pre-islamic Arabs (see NA¶ldeke, +_Die Semitischen Sprachen_, p. 47). + +[263] See Wellhausen, _Reste Arab. Heidentums_ (2nd ed.), p. 88 seq. + +[264] _a¸¤amAisa_, 506. + +[265] _Ibid._, 237. + +[266] _DA-wAin_ of ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Qays, ed. by De Slane, p. 22 of the Arabic +text, l. 17 sqq. = No. 52, ll. 57-59 (p. 154) in Ahlwardt's _Divans of +the Six Poets_. With the last line, however, _cf._ the words of Qays b. +al-Khaa¹-A-m on accomplishing his vengeance: "_When this death comes, +there will not be found any need of my soul that I have not satisfied_" +(_a¸¤amAisa_, 87). + +[267] _AghAinA-_, ii, 18, l. 23 sqq. + +[268] _AghAinA-_, ii, 34, l. 22 sqq. + +[269] See Von Kremer, _Ueber die Gedichte des Labyd_ in _S.B.W.A._, +_Phil.-Hist. Klasse_ (Vienna, 1881), vol. 98, p. 555 sqq. Sir Charles +Lyall, _Ancient Arabian Poetry_, pp. 92 and 119. Wellhausen, _Reste +Arabischen Heidentums_ (2nd ed.), p. 224 sqq. + +[270] I prefer to retain the customary spelling instead of QuraEuro(TM)Ain, as it +is correctly transliterated by scholars. Arabic words naturalised in +English, like Koran, Caliph, Vizier, &c., require no apology. + +[271] Muir's _Life of Mahomet_, Introduction, p. 2 seq. I may as well +say at once that I entirely disagree with the view suggested in this +passage that Mua¸Yammad did not believe himself to be inspired. + +[272] The above details are taken from the _Fihrist_, ed. by G. Fluegel, +p. 24, l. 14 sqq. + +[273] Muir, _op. cit._, Introduction, p. 14. + +[274] With the exception of the Opening SAºra (_al-FAitia¸Ya_), which is +a short prayer. + +[275] Sprenger, _Ueber das Traditionswesen bei den Arabern_, _Z.D.M.G._, +vol. x, p. 2. + +[276] Quoted by Sprenger, _loc. cit._, p. 1. + +[277] Quoted by NA¶ldeke in the Introduction to his _Geschichte des +QorAcns_, p 22. + +[278] See especially pp. 28-130. + +[279] _Muhamm. Studien_, Part II, p. 48 seq. + +[280] The reader may consult Muir's Introduction to his _Life of +Mahomet_, pp. 28-87. + +[281] Ibn HishAim, p. 105, l. 9 sqq. + +[282] This legend seems to have arisen out of a literal interpretation +of Koran, xciv, 1, "_Did we not open thy breast?_"--_i.e._, give thee +comfort or enlightenment. + +[283] This name, which may signify 'Baptists,' was applied by the +heathen Arabs to Mua¸Yammad and his followers, probably in consequence +of the ceremonial ablutions which are incumbent upon every Moslem before +the five daily prayers (see Wellhausen, _Reste Arab. Heid._, p. 237). + +[284] Sir Charles Lyall, _The Words 'a¸¤anA-f' and 'Muslim,'_ _J.R.A.S._ +for 1903, p. 772. The original meaning of _a¸YanA-f_ is no longer +traceable, but it may be connected with the Hebrew _a¸YAinA(C)f_, +'profane.' In the Koran it generally refers to the religion of Abraham, +and sometimes appears to be nearly synonymous with _Muslim_. Further +information concerning the a¸¤anA-fs will be found in Sir Charles +Lyall's article cited above; Sprenger, _Das Leben und die Lehre des +Moa¸Yammed_, vol. i, pp. 45-134; Wellhausen, _Reste Arab. Heid._, p. +238 sqq.; Caetani, _Annali dell' Islam_, vol. i, pp. 181-192. + +[285] Ibn HishAim, p. 143, l. 6 sqq. + +[286] _AghAinA-_, iii, 187, l. 17 sqq. + +[287] See p. 69 _supra_. + +[288] Tradition associates him especially with Waraqa, who was a cousin +of his first wife, KhadA-ja, and is said to have hailed him as a prophet +while Mua¸Yammad himself was still hesitating (Ibn HishAim, p. 153, l. +14 sqq.). + +[289] This is the celebrated 'Night of Power' (_Laylatu aEuro(TM)l-Qadr_) +mentioned in the Koran, xcvii, 1. + +[290] The Holy Ghost (_RAºa¸YuaEuro(TM)l-Quds_), for whom in the MedA-na SAºras +Gabriel (JibrA-l) is substituted. + +[291] But another version (Ibn HishAim, p. 152, l. 9 sqq.) represents +Mua¸Yammad as replying to the Angel, "What am I to read?" (_mAi aqraaEuro(TM)u_ +or _mAi dhAi aqraaEuro(TM)u_). Professor Bevan has pointed out to me that the +tradition in this form bears a curious resemblance, which can hardly be +accidental, to the words of Isaiah xl. 6: "The voice said, Cry. And he +said, What shall I cry?" The question whether the Prophet could read and +write is discussed by NA¶ldeke (_Geschichte des QorAcns_, p. 7 sqq.), who +leaves it undecided. According to NA¶ldeke (_loc. cit._, p. 10), the +epithet _ummA-_, which is applied to Mua¸Yammad in the Koran, and is +commonly rendered by 'illiterate,' does not signify that he was ignorant +of reading and writing, but only that he was unacquainted with the +ancient Scriptures; _cf._ 'Gentile.' However this may be, it appears +that he wished to pass for illiterate, with the object of confirming the +belief in his inspiration: "_Thou_" (Mua¸Yammad) "_didst not use to +read any book before this_" (the Koran) "_nor to write it with thy right +hand; else the liars would have doubted_" (Koran, xxix, 47). + +[292] The meaning of these words (_iqraaEuro(TM) bismi rabbika_) is disputed. +Others translate, "Preach in the name of thy Lord" (NA¶ldeke), or +"Proclaim the name of thy Lord" (Hirschfeld). I see no sufficient +grounds for abandoning the traditional interpretation supported by +verses 4 and 5. Mua¸Yammad dreamed that he was commanded to read the +Word of God inscribed in the Heavenly Book which is the source of all +Revelation. + +[293] Others render, "who taught (the use of) the Pen." + +[294] This account of Mua¸Yammad's earliest vision (BukhAirA-, ed. by +Krehl, vol. iii, p. 380, l. 2 sqq.) is derived from aEuro~AaEuro(TM)isha, his +favourite wife, whom he married after the death of KhadA-ja. + +[295] Ibn HishAim, p. 152, l. 9 sqq. + +[296] See p. 72 _supra_. + +[297] This interval is known as the Fatra. + +[298] Literally, 'warn.' + +[299] 'The abomination' (_al-rujz_) probably refers to idolatry. + +[300] Literally, "The Last State shall be better for thee than the +First," referring either to Mua¸Yammad's recompense in the next world +or to the ultimate triumph of his cause in this world. + +[301] _IslAim_ is a verbal noun formed from _Aslama_, which means 'to +surrender' and, in a religious sense, 'to surrender one's self to the +will of God.' The participle, _Muslim_ (Moslem), denotes one who thus +surrenders himself. + +[302] Sprenger, _Leben des Mohammad_, vol. i, p. 356. + +[303] It must be remembered that this branch of Mua¸Yammadan tradition +derives from the pietists of the first century after the Flight, who +were profoundly dissatisfied with the reigning dynasty (the Umayyads), +and revenged themselves by painting the behaviour of the Meccan +ancestors of the Umayyads towards Mua¸Yammad in the blackest colours +possible. The facts tell another story. It is significant that hardly +any case of real persecution is mentioned in the Koran. Mua¸Yammad was +allowed to remain at Mecca and to carry on, during many years, a +religious propaganda which his fellow-citizens, with few exceptions, +regarded as detestable and dangerous. We may well wonder at the +moderation of the Quraysh, which, however, was not so much deliberate +policy as the result of their indifference to religion and of +Mua¸Yammad's failure to make appreciable headway in Mecca. + +[304] Ibn HishAim, p. 168, l. 9. sqq. + +[305] At this time Mua¸Yammad believed the doctrines of Islam and +Christianity to be essentially the same. + +[306] a¹¬abarA-, i, 1180, 8 sqq. _Cf._ Caetani, _Annali dell' Islam_, +vol. i, p. 267 sqq. + +[307] Muir, _Life of Mahomet_, vol. ii, p. 151. + +[308] We have seen (p. 91 _supra_) that the heathen Arabs disliked +female offspring, yet they called their three principal deities the +daughters of Allah. + +[309] It is related by Ibn Isa¸YAiq (a¹¬abarA-, i, 1192, 4 sqq.). In his +learned work, _Annali dell' Islam_, of which the first volume appeared +in 1905, Prince Caetani impugns the authenticity of the tradition and +criticises the narrative in detail (p. 279 sqq.), but his arguments do +not touch the main question. As Muir says, "it is hardly possible to +conceive how the tale, if not founded in truth, could ever have been +invented." + +[310] The Meccan view of Mua¸Yammad's action may be gathered from the +words uttered by AbAº Jahl on the field of Badr--"O God, bring woe upon +him who more than any of us hath severed the ties of kinship and dealt +dishonourably!" (a¹¬abarA-, i, 1322, l. 8 seq.). Alluding to the Moslems +who abandoned their native city and fled with the Prophet to MedA-na, a +Meccan poet exclaims (Ibn HishAim, p. 519, ll. 3-5):-- + + _They_ (the Quraysh slain at Badr) _fell in honour. They + did not sell their kinsmen for strangers living in a far + land and of remote lineage;_ + + _Unlike you, who have made friends of GhassAin_ (the people + of MedA-na), _taking them instead of us--O, what a shameful + deed!_ + + _Tis an impiety and a manifest crime and a cutting of all + ties of blood: your iniquity therein is discerned by men of + judgment and understanding._ + +[311] _SAºra_ is properly a row of stones or bricks in a wall. + +[312] See p. 74 _supra_. + +[313] Koran, lxix, 41. + +[314] NA¶ldeke, _Geschichte des QorAcns_, p. 56. + +[315] _I.e._, what it has done or left undone. + +[316] The Last Judgment. + +[317] Moslems believe that every man is attended by two Recording Angels +who write down his good and evil actions. + +[318] This is generally supposed to refer to the persecution of the +Christians of NajrAin by DhAº NuwAis (see p. 26 _supra_). Geiger takes it +as an allusion to the three men who were cast into the fiery furnace +(Daniel, ch. iii). + +[319] See above, p. 3. + +[320] According to Mua¸Yammadan belief, the archetype of the Koran and +of all other Revelations is written on the Guarded Table (_al-Lawa¸Y +al-Maa¸YfAºaº"_) in heaven. + +[321] Koran, xvii, 69. + +[322] See, for example, the passages translated by Lane in his +_Selections from the Kur-Ain_ (London, 1843), pp. 100-113. + +[323] _IkhlAia¹L_ means 'purifying one's self of belief in any god +except Allah.' + +[324] The Prophet's confession of his inability to perform miracles did +not deter his followers from inventing them after his death. Thus it +was said that he caused the infidels to see "the moon cloven asunder" +(Koran, liv, 1), though, as is plain from the context, these words refer +to one of the signs of the Day of Judgment. + +[325] I take this opportunity of calling the reader's attention to a +most interesting article by my friend and colleague, Professor A. A. +Bevan, entitled _The Beliefs of Early Mohammedans respecting a Future +Existence_ (_Journal of Theological Studies_, October, 1904, p. 20 +sqq.), where the whole subject is fully discussed. + +[326] ShaddAid b. al-Aswad al-LaythA-, quoted in the _RisAilatu aEuro(TM)l-GhufrAin_ +of Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi al-MaaEuro~arrA- (see my article in the _J.R.A.S._ for 1902, +pp. 94 and 818); _cf._ Ibn HishAim, p. 530, last line. Ibn (AbA-) Kabsha +was a nickname derisively applied to Mua¸Yammad. _a¹cadAi_ and _hAima_ +refer to the death-bird which was popularly supposed to utter its shriek +from the skull (_hAima_) of the dead, and both words may be rendered by +'soul' or 'wraith.' + +[327] NA¶ldeke, _Geschichte des QorAcns_, p. 78. + +[328] _Cf._ also Koran, xviii, 45-47; xx, 102 sqq.; xxxix, 67 sqq.; +lxix, 13-37. + +[329] The famous freethinker, Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi al-MaaEuro~arrA-, has cleverly +satirised Mua¸Yammadan notions on this subject in his _RisAilatu +aEuro(TM)l-GhufrAin_ (_J.R.A.S._ for October, 1900, p. 637 sqq.). + +[330] _Journal of Theological Studies_ for October, 1904, p. 22. + +[331] Ibn HishAim, p. 411, l. 6 sqq. + +[332] _Ibid._, p. 347. + +[333] L. Caetani, _Annali dell' Islam_, vol. i, p. 389. + +[334] NA¶ldeke, _Geschichte des QorAcns_, p. 122. + +[335] Translated by E. H. Palmer. + +[336] Ibn HishAim, p. 341, l. 5. + +[337] _Mua¸Yammad's Gemeindeordnung von Medina in Skizzen und +Vorarbeiten_, Heft IV, p. 67 sqq. + +[338] Ibn HishAim, p. 763, l. 12. + +[339] Koran, ii, 256, translated by E. H. Palmer. + +[340] _Muhamm. Studien_, Part I, p. 12. + +[341] See Goldziher's introductory chapter entitled _Muruwwa und DA(R)n_ +(_ibid._, pp. 1-39). + +[342] Baya¸AiwA- on Koran, xxii, 11. + +[343] _Die Berufung Mohammed's_, by M. J. de Goeje in +_NA¶ldeke-Festschrift_ (Giessen, 1906), vol. i, p. 5. + +[344] _On the _Origin and Import of the Names Muslim and a¸¤anA-f_ +(_J.R.A.S._ for 1903, p. 491) + +[345] See T. W. Arnold's _The Preaching of Islam_, p. 23 seq., where +several passages of like import are collected. + +[346] NA¶ldeke, _Sketches from Eastern History_, translated by J. S. +Black, p. 73. + +[347] See Professor Browne's _Literary History of Persia_, vol. i, p. +200 sqq. + +[348] a¹¬abarA-, i, 2729, l. 15 sqq. + +[349] _Ibid._, i, 2736, l. 5 sqq. The words in italics are quoted from +Koran, xxviii, 26, where they are applied to Moses. + +[350] aEuro~Umar was the first to assume this title (_AmA-ru aEuro(TM)l-MuaEuro(TM)minA-n_), by +which the Caliphs after him were generally addressed. + +[351] a¹¬abarA-, i, 2738, 7 sqq. + +[352] _Ibid._, i, 2739, 4 sqq. + +[353] _Ibid._, i, 2737, 4 sqq. + +[354] It is explained that aEuro~Umar prohibited lamps because rats used to +take the lighted wick and set fire to the house-roofs, which at that +time were made of palm-branches. + +[355] a¹¬abarA-, i, 2742, 13 sqq. + +[356] _Ibid._, i, 2745, 15 sqq. + +[357] _Ibid._, i, 2747, 7 sqq. + +[358] _Ibid._, i, 2740, last line and foll. + +[359] _Al-FakhrA-_, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 116, l. 1 to p. 117, l. 3. + +[360] a¹¬abarA-, i, 2751, 9 sqq. + +[361] Ibn KhallikAin (ed. by WA1/4stenfeld), No. 68, p. 96, l. 3; De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 152. + +[362] MuaEuro~Aiwiya himself said: "I am the first of the kings" (YaaEuro~qAºbA-, ed. +by Houtsma, vol. ii, p. 276, l. 14). + +[363] _Al-FakhrA-_, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 145. + +[364] YaaEuro~qAºbA-, vol. ii, p. 283, l. 8 seq. + +[365] MasaEuro~AºdA-, _MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_ (ed. by Barbier de Meynard), vol. v. +p. 77. + +[366] NA¶ldeke's _Delectus_, p. 25, l. 3 sqq., omitting l. 8. + +[367] The _Continuatio_ of Isidore of Hispalis, ASec. 27, quoted by +Wellhausen, _Das Arabische Reich und sein Sturz_, p. 105. + +[368] a¸¤amAisa, 226. The word translated 'throne' is in Arabic _mA-nbar_, +_i.e._, the pulpit from which the Caliph conducted the public prayers +and addressed the congregation. + +[369] Kalb was properly one of the Northern tribes (see Robertson +Smith's _Kinship and Marriage_, 2nd ed., p. 8 seq.--a reference which I +owe to Professor Bevan), but there is evidence that the Kalbites were +regarded as 'Yemenite' or 'Southern' Arabs at an early period of Islam. +_Cf._ Goldziher, _Muhammedanische Studien_, Part I, p. 83, l. 3 sqq. + +[370] _Muhammedanische Studien_, i, 78 sqq. + +[371] Qaa¸Ya¹-Ain is the legendary ancestor of the Southern Arabs. + +[372] _AghAinA-_, xiii, 51, cited by Goldziher, _ibid._, p. 82. + +[373] A verse of the poet Sua¸Yaym b. WathA-l. + +[374] The _KAimil_ of al-Mubarrad, ed. by W. Wright, p. 215, l. 14 sqq. + +[375] Ibn Qutayba, _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-MaaEuro~Airif_, p. 202. + +[376] _Al-FakhrA-_, p. 173; Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-AthA-r, ed. by Tornberg, v, 5. + +[377] _Ibid._, p. 174. _Cf._ MasaEuro~Aºdi, _MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_, v, 412. + +[378] His mother, Umm aEuro~Aa¹Lim, was a granddaughter of aEuro~Umar I. + +[379] MasaEuro~AºdA-, _MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_, v, 419 seq. + +[380] Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-AthA-r, ed. by Tornberg, v, 46. _Cf._ _AgAinA-_, xx, p. 119, +l. 23. aEuro~Umar made an exception, as Professor Bevan reminds me, in favour +of the poet JarA-r. See Brockelmann's _Gesch. der Arab. Litteratur_, vol. +i, p. 57. + +[381] The exhaustive researches of Wellhausen, _Das Arabische Reich und +sein Sturz_ (pp. 169-192) have set this complicated subject in a new +light. He contends that aEuro~Umar's reform was not based on purely ideal +grounds, but was demanded by the necessities of the case, and that, so +far from introducing disorder into the finances, his measures were +designed to remedy the confusion which already existed. + +[382] MasaEuro~AºdA-, _MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_, v, 479. + +[383] The Arabic text and literal translation of these verses will be +found in my article on Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi's _RisAilatu aEuro(TM)l-GhufrAin_ (_J.R.A.S._ +for 1902, pp. 829 and 342). + +[384] Wellhausen, _Das Arabische Reich und sein Sturz_, p. 38. + +[385] _I.e._, the main body of Moslems--_SunnA-s_, followers of the +_Sunna_, as they were afterwards called--who were neither ShA-aEuro~ites nor +KhAirijites, but held (1) that the Caliph must be elected by the Moslem +community, and (2) that he must be a member of Quraysh, the Prophet's +tribe. All these parties arose out of the struggle between aEuro~AlA- and +MuaEuro~Aiwiya, and their original difference turned solely on the question of +the Caliphate. + +[386] BrA1/4nnow, _Die Charidschiten unter den ersten Omayyaden_ (Leiden, +1884), p. 28. It is by no means certain, however, that the KhAirijites +called themselves by this name. In any case, the term implies +_secession_ (_khurAºj_) from the Moslem community, and may be rendered by +'Seceder' or 'Nonconformist.' + +[387] _Cf._ Koran, ix, 112. + +[388] BrA1/4nnow, _op. cit._, p. 8. + +[389] Wellhausen, _Die religiA¶s-politischen Oppositionsparteien im alten +Islam_ (_Abhandlungen der KA¶nigl. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu +GA¶ttingen_, _Phil.-Hist. Klasse_, 1901), p. 8 sqq. The writer argues +against BrA1/4nnow that the oldest KhAirijites were not true Bedouins +(_AaEuro~rAibA-_), and were, in fact, even further removed than the rest of the +military colonists of KAºfa and Baa¹Lra from their Bedouin traditions. +He points out that the extreme piety of the Readers--their constant +prayers, vigils, and repetitions of the Koran--exactly agrees with what +is related of the KhAirijites, and is described in similar language. +Moreover, among the oldest KhAirijites we find mention made of a company +clad in long cloaks (_barAinis_, pl. of _burnus_), which were at that +time a special mark of asceticism. Finally, the earliest authority (AbAº +Mikhnaf in a¹¬abarA-, i, 3330, l. 6 sqq.) regards the KhAirijites as an +offshoot from the Readers, and names individual Readers who afterwards +became rabid KhAirijites. + +[390] Later, when many non-Arab Moslems joined the KhAirijite ranks the +field of choice was extended so as to include foreigners and even +slaves. + +[391] a¹¬abarA-, ii, 40, 13 sqq. + +[392] ShahrastAinA-, ed. by Cureton, Part I, p. 88. l. 12. + +[393] _Ibid._, p. 86, l. 3 from foot. + +[394] a¹¬abarA-, ii, 36, ll. 7, 8, 11-16. + +[395] _a¸¤amAisa_, 44. + +[396] Ibn KhallikAin, ed. by WA1/4stenfeld, No. 555, p. 55, l. 4 seq.; De +Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 523. + +[397] Dozy, _Essai sur l'histoire de l'Islamisme_ (French translation by +Victor Chauvin), p. 219 sqq. + +[398] Wellhausen thinks that the dogmatics of the ShA-aEuro~ites are derived +from Jewish rather than from Persian sources. See his account of the +SabaaEuro(TM)ites in his most instructive paper, to which I have already +referred, _Die religiA¶s-politischen Oppositionsparteien im alten Islam_ +(_Abh. der KA¶nig. Ges. der Wissenschaften zu GA¶ttingen_, _Phil.-Hist. +Klasse_, 1901), p. 89 sqq. + +[399] a¹¬abarA-, i, 2942, 2. + +[400] "_Verily, He who hath ordained the Koran for thee_ (_i.e._, for +Mua¸Yammad) _will bring thee back to a place of return_" (_i.e._, to +Mecca). The ambiguity of the word meaning 'place of return' (_maaEuro~Aid_) +gave some colour to Ibn SabAi's contention that it alluded to the return +of Mua¸Yammad at the end of the world. The descent of Jesus on earth is +reckoned by Moslems among the greater signs which will precede the +Resurrection. + +[401] This is a Jewish idea. aEuro~AlA- stands in the same relation to +Mua¸Yammad as Aaron to Moses. + +[402] a¹¬abarA-, _loc. cit._ + +[403] ShahrastAinA-, ed. by Cureton, p. 132, l. 15. + +[404] _AghAinA-_, viii, 32, l. 17 sqq. The three sons of aEuro~AlA- are a¸¤asan, +a¸¤usayn, and Mua¸Yammad Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤anafiyya. + +[405] Concerning the origin of these sects see Professor Browne's _Lit. +Hist. of Persia_, vol. i, p. 295 seq. + +[406] See Darmesteter's interesting essay, _Le Mahdi depuis les origines +de l'Islam jusqu'A nos jours_ (Paris, 1885). The subject is treated more +scientifically by Snouck Hurgronje in his paper _Der Mahdi_, reprinted +from the _Revue coloniale internationale_ (1886). + +[407] _a¹ciddA-q_ means 'veracious.' Professor Bevan remarks that in +this root the notion of 'veracity' easily passes into that of +'endurance,' 'fortitude.' + +[408] a¹¬abarA-, ii, 546. These 'Penitents' were free Arabs of KAºfa, a +fact which, as Wellhausen has noticed, would seem to indicate that the +_taaEuro~ziya_ is Semitic in origin. + +[409] Wellhausen, _Die religiA¶s-politischen Oppositionsparteien_, p. 79. + +[410] a¹¬abarA-, ii, 650, l. 7 sqq. + +[411] ShahrastAinA-, HaarbrA1/4cker's translation, Part I, p. 169. + +[412] Von Kremer, _Culturgeschicht_. _StreifzA1/4ge_, p. 2 sqq. + +[413] The best account of the early Murjites that has hitherto appeared +is contained in a paper by Van Vloten, entitled _IrdjAc_ (_Z.D.M.G._, +vol. 45, p. 161 sqq.). The reader may also consult ShahrastAinA-, +HaarbrA1/4cker's trans., Part I, p. 156 sqq.; Goldziher, _Muhammedanische +Studien_, Part II, p. 89 sqq.; Van Vloten, _La domination Arabe_, p. 31 +seq. + +[414] Van Vloten thinks that in the name 'Murjite' (_murjiaEuro(TM)_) there is +an allusion to Koran, ix, 107: "_And others are remanded (murjawna) +until God shall decree; whether He shall punish them or take pity on +them--for God is knowing and wise._" + +[415] _Cf._ the poem of ThAibit Qua¹-na (_Z.D.M.G._, _loc. cit._, p. +162), which states the whole Murjite doctrine in popular form. The +author, who was himself a Murjite, lived in KhurAisAin during the latter +half of the first century A.H. + +[416] Van Vloten, _La domination Arabe_, p. 29 sqq. + +[417] Ibn a¸¤azm, cited in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 45, p. 169, n. 7. Jahm (aEuro +about 747 A.D.) was a Persian, as might be inferred from the boldness of +his speculations. + +[418] a¸¤asan himself inclined for a time to the doctrine of free-will, +but afterwards gave it up (Ibn Qutayba, _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-MaaEuro~Airif_, p. 225). He +is said to have held that everything happens by fate, except sin +(_Al-MuaEuro~tazilah_, ed. by T. W. Arnold, p. 12, l. 3 from foot). See, +however, ShahrastAinA-, HaarbrA1/4cker's trans., Part I, p. 46. + +[419] Koran, lxxiv, 41. + +[420] _Ibid._, xli, 46. + +[421] _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-MaaEuro~Airif_, p. 301. Those who held the doctrine of +free-will were called the Qadarites (_al-Qadariyya_), from _qadar_ +(power), which may denote (1) the power of God to determine human +actions, and (2) the power of man to determine his own actions. Their +opponents asserted that men act under compulsion (_jabr_); hence they +were called the Jabarites (_al-Jabariyya_). + +[422] As regards GhaylAin see _Al-MuaEuro~tazilah_, ed. by T. W. Arnold, p. +15, l. 16 sqq. + +[423] Ibn KhallikAin, De Slane's translation, vol. iii, p. 642; +ShahrastAinA-, trans. by HaarbrA1/4cker, Part I, p. 44. + +[424] ShaaEuro~rAinA-, _LawAiqihu aEuro(TM)l-AnwAir_ (Cairo, 1299 A.H.), p. 31. + +[425] _Ibid._ + +[426] See Von Kremer, _Herrschende Ideen_, p. 52 sqq.; Goldziher, +_Materialien zur Entwickelungsgesch. des SAºfismus_ (_Vienna Oriental +Journal_, vol. 13, p. 35 sqq.). + +[427] ShaaEuro~rAinA-, _LawAiqia¸Y_, p. 38. + +[428] QushayrA-'s _RisAila_ (1287 A.H.), p. 77, l. 10. + +[429] _Tadhkiratu aEuro(TM)l-AwliyAi_ of FarA-duaEuro(TM)ddA-n aEuro~Aa¹-a¹-Air, Part I, p. 37, +l. 8 of my edition. + +[430] _KAimil_ (ed. by Wright), p. 57, l. 16. + +[431] The point of this metaphor lies in the fact that Arab horses were +put on short commons during the period of training, which usually began +forty days before the race. + +[432] _KAimil_, p. 57, last line. + +[433] _KAimil_, p. 58, l. 14. + +[434] _Ibid._, p. 67, l. 9. + +[435] _Ibid._, p. 91, l. 14. + +[436] _Ibid._, p. 120, l. 4. + +[437] QushayrA-'s _RisAila_, p. 63, last line. + +[438] It is noteworthy that QushayrA- (aEuro 1073 A.D.), one of the oldest +authorities on a¹cAºfiism, does not include a¸¤asan among the a¹cAºfA- +Shaykhs whose biographies are given in the _RisAila_ (pp. 8-35), and +hardly mentions him above half a dozen times in the course of his work. +The sayings of a¸¤asan which he cites are of the same character as +those preserved in the _KAimil_. + +[439] See NA¶ldeke's article, _'a¹cA"fAe"_,' in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 48, +p. 45. + +[440] An allusion to _safAi_ occurs in thirteen out of the seventy +definitions of a¹cAºfA- and a¹cAºfiism (_Taa¹Lawwuf_) which are +contained in the _Tadhkiratu aEuro(TM)l-AwliyAi_, or 'Memoirs of the Saints,' of +the well-known Persian mystic, FarA-duaEuro(TM)ddA-n aEuro~Aa¹-a¹-Air (aEuro _circa_ 1230 +A.D.), whereas _a¹LAºf_ is mentioned only twice. + +[441] Said by Bishr al-a¸¤AifA- (the bare-footed), who died in 841-842 +A.D. + +[442] Said by Junayd of BaghdAid (aEuro 909-910 A.D.), one of the most +celebrated a¹cAºfA- Shaykhs. + +[443] Ibn KhaldAºn's _Muqaddima_ (Beyrout, 1900), p. 467 = vol. iii, p. +85 seq. of the French translation by De Slane. The same things are said +at greater length by SuhrawardA- in his _aEuro~AwAirifu aEuro(TM)l-MaaEuro~Airif_ (printed on +the margin of GhazAilA-'s _Ia¸YyAi_, Cairo, 1289 A.H.), vol. i, p. 172 _et +seqq._ _Cf._ also the passage from QushayrA- translated by Professor E. +G. Browne on pp. 297-298 of vol. i. of his _Literary History of Persia_. + +[444] SuhrawardA-, _loc. cit._, p. 136 seq. + +[445] _Loc. cit._, p. 145. + +[446] _I.e._, he yields himself unreservedly to the spiritual 'states' +(_aa¸YwAil_) which pass over him, according as God wills. + +[447] Possibly IbrAihA-m was one of the _Shikaftiyya_ or 'Cave-dwellers' +of KhurAisAin (_shikaft_ means 'cave' in Persian), whom the people of +Syria called _al-JAºaEuro~A-yya_, _i.e._, 'the Fasters.' See SuhrawardA-, _loc. +cit._, p. 171. + +[448] GhazAilA-, _Ia¸YyAi_ (Cairo, 1289 A.H.), vol. iv, p. 298. + +[449] Brockelmann, _Gesch. d. Arab. Litteratur_, vol. i, p. 45. + +[450] _E.g._, MaaEuro~bad, GharA-a¸, Ibn Surayj, a¹¬uways, and Ibn aEuro~AaEuro(TM)isha. + +[451] _KAimil_ of Mubarrad, p. 570 sqq. + +[452] _AghAinA-_, i, 43, l. 15 sqq.; NA¶ldeke's _Delectus_, p. 17, last +line and foll. + +[453] NA¶ldeke's _Delectus_, p. 9, l. 11 sqq., omitting l. 13. + +[454] An edition of the _NaqAiaEuro(TM)ia¸_ by Professor A. A. Bevan has been +published at Leyden. + +[455] _AghAinA-_, vii, 55, l. 12 sqq. + +[456] _AghAinA-_, vii, 182, l. 23 sqq. + +[457] _Ibid._, vii, 183, l. 6 sqq. + +[458] _Ibid._, p. 178, l. 1 seq. + +[459] _Ibid._, xiii, 148, l. 23. + +[460] _Encomium Omayadarum_, ed. by Houtsma (Leyden, 1878). + +[461] _AghAinA-_, vii, 172, l. 27 sqq. + +[462] _Ibid._, p. 179, l. 25 sqq. + +[463] _Ibid._, p. 178, l. 26 seq. + +[464] _AghAinA-_, xix, 34, l. 18. + +[465] _KAimil_ of Mubarrad, p. 70, l. 17 sqq. + +[466] Al-KusaaEuro~A- broke an excellent bow which he had made for himself. +See _The Assemblies of a¸¤arA-rA-_, trans. by Chenery, p. 351. Professor +Bevan remarks that this half-verse is an almost verbal citation from a +verse ascribed to aEuro~AdA- b. MarA-nAi of a¸¤A-ra, an enemy of aEuro~AdA- b. Zayd +the poet (_AghAinA-_, ii, 24, l. 5). + +[467] Ibn KhallikAin (ed. by WA1/4stenfeld), No. 129; De Slane's translation +vol. i, p. 298. + +[468] _AghAinA-_, iii, 23, l. 13. + +[469] _AghAinA-_, vii, 49, l. 8 sqq. + +[470] The following account is mainly derived from Goldziher's _Muhamm. +Studien_, Part II, p. 203 sqq. + +[471] _Cf._ Browne's _Lit. Hist. of Persia_, vol. i, p. 230. + +[472] NA¶ldeke, _Sketches from Eastern History_, tr. by J. S. Black, p. +108 seq. + +[473] Wellhausen, _Das Arabische Reich_, p. 307. + +[474] _Recherches sur la domination Arabe_, p. 46 sqq. + +[475] DA-nawarA-, ed. by Guirgass, p. 356. + +[476] _Ibid._, p. 360, l. 15. The whole poem has been translated by +Professor Browne in his _Literary History of Persia_, vol. i, p. 242. + +[477] _Sketches from Eastern History_, p. 111. + +[478] Professor Bevan, to whose kindness I owe the following +observations, points out that this translation of _al-SaffAia¸Y_, +although it has been generally adopted by European scholars, is very +doubtful. According to Professor De Goeje, _al-SaffAia¸Y_ means 'the +munificent' (literally, 'pouring out' gifts, &c.). In any case it is +important to notice that the name was given to certain Pre-islamic +chieftains. Thus Salama b. KhAilid, who commanded the BanAº Taghlib at the +first battle of al-KulAib (Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-AthA-r, ed. by Tornberg, vol. i, p. +406, last line), is said to have been called _al-SaffAia¸Y_ because he +'emptied out' the skin bottles (_mazAid_) of his army before a battle +(Ibn Durayd, ed. by WA1/4stenfeld, p. 203, l. 16); and we find mention of a +poet named al-SaffAia¸Y b. aEuro~Abd ManAit (_ibid._, p. 277, penult. line). + +[479] See p. 205. + +[480] G. Le Strange, _Baghdad under the Abbasid Caliphate_, p. 4 seq. + +[481] Professor De Goeje has kindly given me the following +references:--a¹¬abarA-, ii, 78, l. 10, where ZiyAid is called the _WazA-r_ +of MuaEuro~Aiwiya; Ibn SaaEuro~d, iii, 121, l. 6 (AbAº Bakr the _WazA-r_ of the +Prophet). The word occurs in Pre-islamic poetry (Ibn Qutayba, _K. +al-ShiaEuro~r wa-aEuro(TM)l-ShuaEuro~arAi_, p. 414, l. 1). Professor De Goeje adds that the +aEuro~AbbAisid Caliphs gave the name _WazA-r_ as title to the minister who was +formerly called _KAitib_ (Secretary). Thus it would seem that the Arabic +_WazA-r_ (literally 'burden-bearer'), who was at first merely a 'helper' +or 'henchman,' afterwards became the representative and successor of the +_DapA-r_ (official scribe or secretary) of the SAisAinian kings. + +[482] This division is convenient, and may be justified on general +grounds. In a strictly political sense, the period of decline begins +thirty years earlier with the Caliphate of MaaEuro(TM)mAºn (813-833 A.D.). The +historian Abu aEuro(TM)l-Maa¸YAisin (aEuro 1469 A.D.) dates the decline of the +Caliphate from the accession of MuktafA- in 902 A.D. (_al-NujAºm +al-ZAihira_, ed. by Juynboll, vol. ii, p. 134). + +[483] See NA¶ldeke's essay, _Caliph Mana¹Lur_, in his _Sketches from +Eastern History_, trans. by J. S. Black, p. 107 sqq. + +[484] Professor Browne has given an interesting account of these +ultra-ShA-aEuro~ite insurgents in his _Lit. Hist. of Persia_, vol. i, ch. ix. + +[485] a¹¬abarA-, iii, 404, l. 5 sqq. + +[486] a¹¬abarA-, iii, 406, l. 1 sqq. + +[487] _MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. iv, p. 47 seq. + +[488] When the Caliph HAidA- wished to proclaim his son JaaEuro~far +heir-apparent instead of HAirAºn, Yaa¸YyAi pointed out the danger of this +course and dissuaded him (_al-FakhrA-_, ed. by Derenbourg, p. 281). + +[489] Ibn KhallikAin, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 105. + +[490] MasaEuro~AºdA-, _MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_, vol. vi, p. 364. + +[491] See, for example, _Haroun Alraschid_, by E. H. Palmer, in the New +Plutarch Series, p. 81 sqq. + +[492] _Cf._ A. MA1/4ller, _Der Islam_, vol. i, p. 481 seq. + +[493] Ibn KhallikAin, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 112. + +[494] Literally, "No father to your father!" a common form of +imprecation. + +[495] Green was the party colour of the aEuro~Alids, black of the aEuro~AbbAisids. + +[496] _Al-NujAºm al-ZAihira_, ed. by Juynboll, vol. i, p. 631. + +[497] The court remained at SAimarrAi for fifty-six years (836-892 A.D.). +The official spelling of SAimarrAi was _Surra-man-raaEuro(TM)Ai_, which may be +freely rendered 'The Spectator's Joy.' + +[498] My account of these dynasties is necessarily of the briefest and +barest character. The reader will find copious details concerning most +of them in Professor Browne's _Literary History of Persia_: a¹caffAirids +and SAimAinids in vol. i, p. 346 sqq.; FAia¹-imids in vol. i, pp. 391-400 +and vol. ii, p. 196 sqq.; Ghaznevids in vol. ii, chap. ii; and SeljAºqs, +_ibid._, chaps. iii to v. + +[499] Ibn AbA- UsaybiaEuro~a, _a¹¬abaqAitu aEuro(TM)l-AtibbAi_, ed. by A. MA1/4ller, vol. +ii, p. 4, l. 4 sqq. Avicenna was at this time scarcely eighteen years of +age. + +[500] aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-HamA-d flourished in the latter days of the Umayyad +dynasty. See Ibn KhallikAin, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 173, +MasaEuro~AºdA-, _MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_, vol. vi, p. 81. + +[501] See Professor Margoliouth's Introduction to the _Letters of aEuro~Abu +aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi al-MaaEuro~arrA-_, p. xxiv. + +[502] Abu aEuro(TM)l-MahAisin, _al-NujAºm al-ZAihira_, ed. by Juynboll, vol. ii, p. +333. The original RAifia¸ites were those schismatics who rejected +(_rafaa¸a_) the Caliphs AbAº Bakr and aEuro~Umar, but the term is generally +used as synonymous with ShA-aEuro~ite. + +[503] MutanabbA-, ed. by Dieterici, p. 148, last line and foll. + +[504] D. B. Macdonald, _Muslim Theology_, p. 43 seq. + +[505] I regret that lack of space compels me to omit the further history +of the FAia¹-imids. Readers who desire information on this subject may +consult Stanley Lane-Poole's _History of Egypt in the Middle Ages_; +WA1/4stenfeld's _Geschichte der Faa¹-imiden-Chalifen_ (GA¶ttingen, 1881); +and Professor Browne's _Lit. Hist. of Persia_, vol. ii, p. 196 sqq. + +[506] Ibn KhallikAin, De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 441. + +[507] See the Introduction. + +[508] Ibn KhaldAºn, _Muqaddima_ (Beyrout, 1900), p. 543 seq.--De Slane, +_Prolegomena_, vol. iii, p. 296 sqq. + +[509] _Cf._ Goldziher, _Muhamm. Studien_, Part I, p. 114 seq. + +[510] Read _mashAirAitA- aEuro(TM)l-buqAºl_ (beds of vegetables), not _mushAirAit_ as +my rendering implies. The change makes little difference to the sense, +but _mashAirat_, being an Aramaic word, is peculiarly appropriate here. + +[511] _AghAinA-_, xii, 177, l. 5 sqq; Von Kremer, _Culturgesch. +StreifzA1/4ge_, p. 32. These lines are aimed, as has been remarked by S. +Khuda Bukhsh (_Contributions to the History of Islamic Civilisation_, +Calcutta, 1905, p. 92), against NabatA|ans who falsely claimed to be +Persians. + +[512] The name is derived from Koran, xlix, 13: "_O Men, We have created +you of a male and a female and have made you into peoples_ (shuaEuro~Aºban) +_and tribes, that ye might know one another. Verily the noblest of you +in the sight of God are they that do most fear Him._" Thus the +designation 'ShuaEuro~Aºbite' emphasises the fact that according to +Mua¸Yammad's teaching the Arab Moslems are no better than their +non-Arab brethren. + +[513] _Muhamm. Studien_, Part I, p. 147 sqq. + +[514] The term _Falsafa_ properly includes Logic, Metaphysics, +Mathematics, Medicine, and the Natural Sciences. + +[515] Here we might add the various branches of Mathematics, such as +Arithmetic, Algebra, Mechanics, &c. + +[516] aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸Yman JAimA- (aEuro 1492 A.D.). + +[517] I am deeply indebted in the following pages to Goldziher's essay +entitled _Alte und Neue Poesie im Urtheile der Arabischen Kritiker_ in +his _Abhand. zur Arab. Philologie_, Part I, pp. 122-174. + +[518] _Cf._ the remark made by AbAº aEuro~Amr b. al-aEuro~AlAi about the poet +Akha¹-al (p. 242 _supra_). + +[519] _Diwan des Abu Nowas, Die Weinlieder_, ed. by Ahlwardt, No. 10, +vv. 1-5. + +[520] Ed. by De Goeje, p. 5, ll. 5-15. + +[521] _Cf._ the story told of AbAº TammAim by Ibn KhallikAin (De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 350 seq.). + +[522] See NA¶ldeke, _BeitrA¤ge_, p. 4. + +[523] Ibn KhaldAºn, _Muqaddima_ (Beyrout, 1900), p. 573, l. 21 seq.; +_Prolegomena_ of Ibn K., translated by De Slane, vol. iii, p. 380. + +[524] See Professor Browne's _Literary History of Persia_, vol. ii, p. +14 sqq. + +[525] _AghAinA-_, xii, 80, l. 3. + +[526] Freytag, _Arabum Proverbia_, vol. i, p. 46 seq., where the reader +will find the Arabic text of the verses translated here. RA1/4ckert has +given a German rendering of the same verses in his _HamAcsa_, vol. i, p. +311. A fuller text of the poem occurs in _AghAinA-_, xii, 107 seq. + +[527] _DA-wAin_, ed. by Ahlwardt, _Die Weinlieder_, No. 26, v. 4. + +[528] Ibn Qutayba, _K. al-ShiaEuro~r wa-aEuro(TM)l-ShuaEuro~arAi_, p. 502, l. 13. + +[529] For the famous ascetic, a¸¤asan of Baa¹Lra, see pp. 225-227. +QatAida was a learned divine, also of Baa¹Lra and contemporary with +a¸¤asan. He died in 735 A.D. + +[530] These verses are quoted by Ibn Qutayba, _op. cit._, p. 507 seq. +'The Scripture' (_al-maa¹La¸Yaf_) is of course the Koran. + +[531] _Die Weinlieder_, ed. by Ahlwardt, No. 47. + +[532] _Ibid._, No. 29, vv. 1-3. + +[533] Ibn KhallikAin, ed. by WA1/4stenfeld, No. 169, p. 100; De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 393. + +[534] _Cf._ _DA-wAin_ (ed. of Beyrout, 1886), p. 279, l. 9, where he +reproaches one of his former friends who deserted him because, in his +own words, "I adopted the garb of a dervish" (_a¹Lirtu fi ziyyi +miskA-ni_). Others attribute his conversion to disgust with the +immorality and profanity of the court-poets amongst whom he lived. + +[535] Possibly he alludes to these aspersions in the verse (_ibid._, p. +153, l. 10): "_Men have become corrupted, and if they see any one who is +sound in his religion, they call him a heretic_" (_mubtadiaEuro~_). + +[536] Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya declares that knowledge is derived from three +sources, logical reasoning (_qiyAis_), examination (_aEuro~iyAir_), and oral +tradition (_samAiaEuro~_). See his _DA-wAin_, p. 158, l. 11. + +[537] _Cf._ _MAinA-, seine Lehre und seine Schriften_, by G. FlA1/4gel, p. +281, l. 3 sqq. Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya did not take this extreme view (_DA-wAin_, +p. 270, l. 3 seq.). + +[538] See ShahrastAinA-, HaarbrA1/4cker's translation, Part I, p. 181 sqq. It +appears highly improbable that Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya was a ShA-aEuro~ite. _Cf._ the +verses (_DA-wAin_, p. 104, l. 13 seq.), where, speaking of the prophets +and the holy men of ancient Islam, he says:-- + + "_Reckon first among them AbAº Bakr, the veracious, + And exclaim 'O aEuro~Umar!' in the second place of honour. + And reckon the father of a¸¤asan after aEuro~UthmAin, + For the merit of them both is recited and celebrated._" + +[539] _AghAinA-_, iii, 128, l. 6 sqq. + +[540] _Transactions of the Ninth Congress of Orientalists_, vol. ii. p. +114. + +[541] _DA-wAin_, p. 274, l. 10. _Cf._ the verse (p. 199, penultimate +line):-- + + "_When I gained contentment, I did not cease (thereafter) + To be a king, regarding riches as poverty._" + +The ascetic "lives the life of a king" (_ibid._, p. 187, l. 5). +Contented men are the noblest of all (p. 148, l. 2). So the great +Persian mystic, JalAilu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n RAºmA-, says in reference to the perfect +a¹cAºfA- (_DA-vAin-i Shams-i TabrA-z_, No. viii, v. 3 in my edition): +_Mard-i khudAi shAih buvad zA-r-i dalq_, "the man of God is a king 'neath +dervish-cloak;" and eminent spiritualists are frequently described as +"kings of the (mystic) path." I do not deny, however, that this metaphor +may have been originally suggested by the story of Buddha. + +[542] _DA-wAin_, p. 25, l. 3 sqq. Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya took credit to himself +for introducing 'the language of the market-place' into his poetry +(_ibid._ p. 12, l. 3 seq.). + +[543] _DA-wAin_ (Beyrout, 1886), p. 23, l. 13 et seqq. + +[544] _Ibid._, p. 51, l. 2. + +[545] _Ibid._, p. 132, l. 3. + +[546] _Ibid._, p. 46, l. 16. + +[547] _DA-wAin_, p. 260, l. 11 _et seqq._ + +[548] _Ibid._, p. 295, l. 14 _et seqq._ + +[549] _Ibid._, p. 287, l. 10 seq. + +[550] _Ibid._, p. 119, l. 11. + +[551] _Ibid._, p. 259, penultimate line _et seq._ + +[552] _Ibid._, p. 115, l. 4. + +[553] _DA-wAin_, p. 51, l. 10. + +[554] _Ibid._, p. 133, l. 5. + +[555] _Ibid._, p. 74, l. 4. + +[556] _Ibid._, p. 149, l. 12 seq. + +[557] _Ibid._, p. 195, l. 9. _Cf._ p. 243, l. 4 seq. + +[558] _Ibid._, p. 274, l. 6. + +[559] _Ibid._, p. 262, l. 4. + +[560] _Ibid._, p. 346, l. 11. _Cf._ p. 102, l. 11; p. 262, l. 1 seq.; p. +267, l. 7. This verse is taken from Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AtAihiya's famous didactic +poem composed in rhyming couplets, which is said to have contained 4,000 +sentences of morality. Several of these have been translated by Von +Kremer in his _Culturgeschichte des Orients_, vol. ii, p. 374 sqq. + +[561] In one of his poems (_DA-wAin_, p. 160, l. 11), he says that he has +lived ninety years, but if this is not a mere exaggeration, it needs to +be corrected. The words for 'seventy' and 'ninety' are easily confused +in Arabic writing. + +[562] ThaaEuro~AilibA-, _Yatimatu aEuro(TM)l-Dahr_ (Damascus, 1304 A.H.), vol. i, p. 8 +seq. + +[563] See Von Kremer's _Culturgeschichte_, vol. ii, p. 381 sqq.; +Ahlwardt, _Poesie und Poetik der Araber_, p. 37 sqq.; R. Dvorak, _AbAº +FirAis, ein arabischer Dichter und Held_ (Leyden, 1895). + +[564] MutanabbA-, ed. by Dieterici, p. 493. WAia¸YidA- gives the whole +story in his commentary on this verse. + +[565] MutanabbA-, it is said, explained to Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla that by _surra_ +(gladden) he meant _surriyya_; whereupon the good-humoured prince +presented him with a slave-girl. + +[566] Literally, "Do not imagine fat in one whose (apparent) fat is +(really) a tumour." + +[567] _DA-wAin_, ed. by Dieterici, pp. 481-484. + +[568] The most esteemed commentary is that of WAia¸YidA- (aEuro 1075 A.D.), +which has been published by Fr. Dieterici in his edition of MutanabbA- +(Berlin, 1858-1861). + +[569] _Motenebbi, der grA¶sste arabische Dichter_ (Vienna, 1824). + +[570] _AbulfedA| Annales Muslemici_ (HafniA|, 1789, &c.), vol. ii, p. 774. +_Cf._ his notes on a¹¬arafa's _MuaEuro~allaqa_, of which he published an +edition in 1742. + +[571] _Chrestomathie Arabe_ (2nd edition), vol. iii, p. 27 sqq. _Journal +des Savans_, January, 1825, p. 24 sqq. + +[572] _Commentatio de Motenabbio_ (Bonn, 1824). + +[573] _Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur_ (Weimar, 1898, &c.), vol. +i, p. 86. + +[574] I have made free use of Dieterici's excellent work entitled +_Mutanabbi und Seifuddaula aus der Edelperle des TsaAclibi_ (Leipzig, +1847), which contains on pp. 49-74 an abstract of ThaaEuro~AilibA-'s criticism +in the fifth chapter of the First Part of the _YatA-ma_. + +[575] MutanabbA-, ed. by Dieterici, p. 182, vv. 3-9, omitting v. 5. + +[576] The author of these lines, which are quoted by Ibn KhallikAin in +his article on MutanabbA-, is Abu aEuro(TM)l-QAisim b. al-Muaº"affar b. aEuro~AlA- +al-a¹¬abasA-. + +[577] MutanabbA-, ed. by Dieterici, p. 581, v. 27. + +[578] _Ibid._, p. 472, v. 5. + +[579] MutanabbA-, ed. by Dieterici, p. 341, v. 8. + +[580] Margoliouth's Introduction to the _Letters of Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi_, p. +xxii. + +[581] _Ibid._, p. xxvii seq. + +[582] _LuzAºmiyyAit_ (Cairo, 1891), vol. i, p. 201. + +[583] _I.e._, his predecessors of the modern school. Like MutanabbA-, he +ridicules the conventional types (_asAilA-b_) in which the old poetry is +cast _Cf._ Goldziher, _Abhand. zur Arab. Philologie_, Part I, p. 146 seq. + +[584] The proper title is _LuzAºmu mAi lAi yalzam_, referring to a +technical difficulty which the poet unnecessarily imposed on himself +with regard to the rhyme. + +[585] _AbulfedA| Annales Muslemici_, ed. by Adler (1789-1794), vol. iii, +p. 677. + +[586] _Literaturgesch. der Araber_, vol. vi, p. 900 sqq. + +[587] _Sitzungsberichte der Philosophisch-Historischen Classe der +Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften_, vol. cxvii, 6th Abhandlung +(Vienna, 1889). Select passages admirably rendered by Von Kremer into +German verse will be found in the _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 29, pp. 304-312; vol. +30, pp. 40-52; vol. 31, pp. 471-483; vol. 38, pp. 499-529. + +[588] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 38, p. 507; Margoliouth, _op. cit._, p. 131, l. +15 of the Arabic text. + +[589] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 29, p. 308. + +[590] Margoliouth, _op. cit._, p. 133 of the Arabic text. + +[591] This passage occurs in Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi's _RisAilatu aEuro(TM)l-GhufrAin_ (see +_infra_), _J.R.A.S._ for 1902, p. 351. _Cf._ the verses translated by +Von Kremer in his essay on Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlAi, p. 23. + +[592] For the term 'a¸¤anA-f' see p. 149 _supra_. Here it is synonymous +with 'Muslim.' + +[593] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 38, p. 513. + +[594] This work, of which only two copies exist in Europe--one at +Constantinople and another in my collection--has been described and +partially translated in the _J.R.A.S._ for 1900, pp. 637-720, and for +1902, pp. 75-101, 337-362, and 813-847. + +[595] Margoliouth, _op. cit._, p. 132, last line of the Arabic text. + +[596] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 31, p. 483. + +[597] De Gobineau, _Les religions et les philosophies dans l'Asie +centrale_, p. 11 seq. + +[598] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 31, p. 477. + +[599] _Ibid._, vol. 29, p. 311. + +[600] _Z.D.M.G._ vol. 38, p. 522. + +[601] According to De Goeje, _MA(C)moires sur les Carmathes du Bahrain_, p. +197, n. 1, these lines refer to a prophecy made by the Carmathians that +the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, which took place in 1047 A.D. +would herald the final triumph of the FAia¹-imids over the aEuro~AbbAisids. + +[602] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 38, p. 504. + +[603] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 31, p. 474. + +[604] _LuzAºmiyyAit_ (Cairo, 1891), i, 394. + +[605] _Ibid._, i, 312. + +[606] Von Kremer, _op. cit._, p. 38. + +[607] _Safar-nAima_, ed. by Schefer, p. 10 seq. = pp. 35-36 of the +translation. + +[608] _LuzAºmiyyAit_, 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 a¹¬ughrAiaEuro(TM)A- in Ibn KhallikAin, De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 462. + +[611] _Ibid._, vol. iii, p. 355. + +[612] The spirit of fortitude and patience (_a¸YamAisa_) is exhibited by +both poets, but in a very different manner. ShanfarAi describes a man of +heroic nature. a¹¬ughrAiaEuro(TM)A- wraps himself in his virtue and moralises +like a Mua¸Yammadan Horace. a¹cafadA-, however, says in his commentary +on a¹¬ughrAiaEuro(TM)A-'s ode (I translate from a MS. copy in my possession): "It +is named _LAimiyyatu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Ajam_ by way of comparing it with the _LAimiyyatu +aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arab_, because it resembles the latter in its wise sentences and +maxims." + +[613] _I.e._, the native of AbAºa¹Lir (BAºa¹LA-r), a village in Egypt. + +[614] The _Burda_, ed. by C. A. Ralfs (Vienna, 1860), verse 140; _La +Bordah traduite et commentA(C)e par RenA(C) Basset_ (Paris, 1894), verse 151. + +[615] This appears to be a reminiscence of the fact that Mua¸Yammad +gave his own mantle as a gift to KaaEuro~b b. Zuhayr, when that poet recited +his famous ode, _BAinat SuaEuro~Aid_ (see p. 127 _supra_). + +[616] _MaqAima_ (plural, _maqAimAit_) is properly 'a place of standing'; +hence, an assembly where people stand listening to the speaker, and in +particular, an assembly for literary discussion. At an early period +reports of such conversations and discussions received the name of +_maqAimAit_ (see Brockelmann, _Gesch. der Arab. Litteratur_, vol. i, p. +94). The word in its literary sense is usually translated by 'assembly,' +or by the French '_sA(C)ance_.' + +[617] _The Assemblies of al-a¸¤arA-rA-_, 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 +_Assemblies_ 27-50) by F. Steingass 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 HamadhAinA-. + +[620] The above passage is taken, with some modification, from the +version of a¸¤arA-rA- 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 PehlevA- into Arabic by Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-MuqaffaaEuro~ (aEuro +_circa_ 760 A.D.). + +[622] _Al-FakhrA-_, 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 aEuro(TM)l-FidAi, ed. by Reiske, vol. iii, p. 332). + +[624] The 48th _MaqAima_ 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 RA1/4ckert (_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 +_Assembly_, is given by Chenery, _op. cit._, p. 138. + +[628] _Ibid._, p. 163. + +[629] Two grammatical treatises by a¸¤arA-rA- have come down to us. In +one of these, entitled _Durratu aEuro(TM)l-GhawwAia¹L_ ('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 aEuro~Umar al-KhayyAimA- for aEuro~Umar KhayyAim. The +spelling GhazzAilA- (with a double _z_) was in general use when Ibn +KhallikAin wrote his Biographical Dictionary in 1256 A.D. (see De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 80), but according to SamaEuro~AinA- the name is +derived from GhazAila, a village near a¹¬Aºs; in which case GhazAilA- is +the correct form of the _nisba_. I have adopted 'GhazalA-' in deference +to SamaEuro~AinA-'s authority, but those who write 'GhazzAilA-' can at least +claim that they err in very good company. + +[633] Shamsu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n al-DhahabA- (aEuro 1348 A.D.). + +[634] aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YA-m al-IsnawA- (aEuro 1370 A.D.), author of a +biographical work on the ShAifiaEuro~ite doctors. See Brockelmann, _Gesch. der +Arab. Litt._, vol. ii, p. 90. + +[635] Abu aEuro(TM)l-MaaEuro~AilA- al-JuwaynA-, a famous theologian of NaysAibAºr (aEuro 1085 +A.D.), received this title, which means 'ImAim of the Two Sanctuaries,' +because he taught for several years at Mecca and MedA-na. + +[636] _I.e._, the camp-court of the SeljAºq monarch MalikshAih, son of Alp +ArslAin. + +[637] According to his own account in the _Munqidh_, GhazAilA- on leaving +BaghdAid 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 aEuro(TM)l-DA-n. + +[639] GhazAilA-'s return to public life took place in 1106 A.D. + +[640] The correct title of Ibn a¸¤azm's work is uncertain. In the Cairo +ed. (1321 A.H.) it is called _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-Fia¹Lal fi aEuro(TM)l-Milal wa aEuro(TM)l-AhwAi +wa aEuro(TM)l-Nia¸Yal_. + +[641] See p. 195 _supra_. + +[642] Kor. ix, 3. The translation runs ("This is a declaration) _that +God is clear of the idolaters, and His Apostle likewise_." With the +reading _rasAºlihi_ it means that God 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 KhallikAin, 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, _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-MaaEuro~Airif_, p. 269. + +[650] While AbAº aEuro~Ubayda was notorious for his freethinking +proclivities, Aa¹LmaaEuro~A- 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 _rA(C)sumA(C)_ of the contents in his _Lit. +Hist. of Persia_, vol. i, p. 387 seq. + +[652] Ed. by Max GrA1/4nert (Leyden, 1900). + +[653] Vol. i ed. by C. Brockelmann (Weimar and Strassburg, 1898-1908). + +[654] The epithet _jAia¸Yiaº"_ means 'goggle-eyed.' + +[655] See p. 267. + +[656] Ibn KhallikAin, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 250. + +[657] One of these, the eleventh of the complete work, has been edited +by Ahlwardt: _Anonyme Arabische Chronik_ (Greifswald, 1883). It covers +part of the reign of the Umayyad Caliph, aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Malik (685-705 A.D.). + +[658] The French title is _Les Prairies d'Or_. Brockelmann, in his +shorter _Hist. of Arabic Literature_ (Leipzig, 1901), p. 110, states +that the correct translation of _MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_ is 'GoldwA¤schen.' + +[659] Concerning a¹¬abarA- and his work the reader should consult De +Goeje's Introduction (published in the supplementary volume containing +the Glossary) to the Leyden edition, and his excellent article on +a¹¬abarA- and early Arab Historians in the _EncyclopA|dia Britannica_. + +[660] Abu aEuro(TM)l-Maa¸YAisin, ed. by Juynboll, vol. i, p. 608. + +[661] _Selection from the Annals of TabarA-_, ed. by M. J. de Goeje +(Leyden, 1902), p. xi. + +[662] De Goeje's Introduction to a¹¬abarA-, p. xxvii. + +[663] Al-BalaEuro~amA-, the Vizier of Mana¹LAºr I, the SAimAinid, made in 963 +A.D. a Persian epitome of which a French translation by Dubeux and +Zotenberg was published in 1867-1874. + +[664] _MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. i, p. 5 seq. + +[665] The _AkhbAiru aEuro(TM)l-ZamAin_ in thirty volumes (one volume is extant at +Vienna) and the _KitAib al-Awsaa¹-_. + +[666] _MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_, p. 9 seq. + +[667] It may be noted as a coincidence that Ibn KhaldAºn calls MasaEuro~AºdA- +_imAiman lil-muaEuro(TM)arrikhA-n_, "an ImAim for all the historians," which +resembles, though it does not exactly correspond to, "the Father of +History." + +[668] MasaEuro~AºdA- gives a summary of the contents of his historical and +religious works in the Preface to the _TanbA-h wa-aEuro(TM)l-IshrAif_, ed. by De +Goeje, p. 2 sqq. A translation of this passage by De Sacy will be found +in Barbier de Meynard's edition of the _MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_, vol. ix, p. +302 sqq. + +[669] See _MurAºj_, vol. i, p. 201, and vol. iii, p. 268. + +[670] _Ibid._, vol. ii, p. 372 sqq. + +[671] De Sacy renders the title by 'Le Livre de l'Indication et de +l'Admonition ou l'Indicateur et le Moniteur'; but see De Goeje's edition +of the text (Leyden, 1894), p. xxvii. + +[672] The full title is _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-KAimil fi aEuro(TM)l-TaaEuro(TM)rA-kh_, or 'The Perfect +Book of Chronicles.' It has been edited by Tornberg in fourteen volumes +(Leyden, 1851-1876). + +[673] Ibn KhallikAin, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. 289. + +[674] An excellent account of the Arab geographers is given by Guy Le +Strange in the Introduction to his _Palestine under the Moslems_ +(London, 1890). De Goeje has edited the works of Ibn KhurdAidbih, +Ia¹La¹-akhrA-, Ibn a¸¤awqal, and MuqaddasA- in the _Bibliotheca +Geographorum Arabicorum_ (Leyden, 1870, &c.) + +[675] De Slane's translation, vol. iv, p. 9 sqq. + +[676] P. 243. + +[677] The translators employed by the BanAº MAºsAi were paid at the rate of +about 500 dA-nAirs a month (_ibid._, p. 43, l. 18 sqq.). + +[678] _Ibid._, p. 271; Ibn KhallikAin, De Slane's translation, vol. iii, +p. 315. + +[679] A chapter at least would be required in order to set forth +adequately the chief material and intellectual benefits which European +civilisation has derived from the Arabs. The reader may consult Von +Kremer's _Culturgeschichte des Orients_, vol. ii, chapters 7 and 9; +Diercks, _Die Araber im Mittelalter_ (Leipzig, 1882); SA(C)dillot, +_Histoire gA(C)nA(C)rale des Arabes_; Schack, _Poesie und Kunst der Araber in +Spanien und Sicilien_; Munk, _MA(C)langes de Philosophie Juive et Arabe_; +De Lacy O'Leary, _Arabic Thought and its Place in History_ (1922); and +Campbell, _Arabian Medicine and its Influence on the Middle Ages_ +(1926). A volume entitled _The Legacy of the Islamic World_, ed. by Sir +T. W. Arnold and Professor A. Guillaume, is in course of publication. + +[680] Ibn KhallikAin, De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 440. + +[681] _The Chronology of Ancient Nations_ (London, 1879) and Alberuni's +_India_ (London, 1888). + +[682] P. 384 sqq. + +[683] The passages concerning the a¹cAibians were edited and translated, +with copious annotations, by Chwolsohn in his _Ssabier und Ssabismus_ +(St. Petersburg, 1856), vol. ii, p. 1-365, while FlA1/4gel made similar use +of the ManichA|an portion in _Mani, seine Lehre und seine Schriften_ +(Leipzig, 1862). + +[684] Wellhausen, _Das Arabische Reich_, p. 350 seq. + +[685] See Goldziher, _Muhamm. Studien_, Part II, p. 53 sqq. + +[686] _Ibid._, p. 70 seq. + +[687] _Fragmenta Historicorum Arabicorum_, ed. by De Goeje and De Jong, +p. 298. + +[688] There are, of course, some partial exceptions to this rule, +_e.g._, MahdA- and HAirAºn al-RashA-d. + +[689] See p. 163, note. + +[690] Several freethinkers of this period attempted to rival the Koran +with their own compositions. See Goldziher, _Muhamm. Studien_, Part II, +p. 401 seq. + +[691] _Al-NujAºm al-ZAihira_, ed. by Juynboll, vol. i, p. 639. + +[692] This is the literal translation of _IkhwAinu aEuro(TM)l-SafAi_, but +according to Arabic idiom 'brother of purity' (_akhu aEuro(TM)l-a¹LafAi_) simply +means 'one who is pure or sincere,' as has been shown by Goldziher, +_Muhamm. Studien_, Part I, p. 9, note. The term does not imply any sort +of brotherhood. + +[693] Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Qifa¹-A-, _TaaEuro(TM) rA-khu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤ukamAi_ (ed. by Lippert), p. +83, l. 17 sqq. + +[694] _Notice sur un manuscrit de la secte des Assassins_, by P. +Casanova in the _Journal Asiatique_ for 1898, p 151 sqq. + +[695] De Goeje, _MA(C)moire sur les Carmathes_, p. 172. + +[696] _a¹cAclia¸Y b. aEuro~Abd al-QuddA"s und das ZindA(R)a¸ cubedthum wA¤hrend der +Regierung des Chalifen al-MahdA- in Transactions of the Ninth Congress of +Orientalists_, vol. ii, p. 105 seq. + +[697] a¹¬abarA-, iii, 522, 1. + +[698] _I.e._ the sacred books of the ManichA|ans, which were often +splendidly illuminated. See Von Kremer, _Culturgesch. StreifzA1/4ge_, p. +39. + +[699] _Cf._ a¹¬abarA-, iii, 499, 8 sqq. + +[700] _Ibid._, iii, 422, 19 sqq. + +[701] _Cf._ the saying "_Aaº"rafu mina aEuro(TM)l-ZindA-q_" (Freytag, _Arabum +Proverbia_, vol. i, p. 214). + +[702] As Professor Bevan points out, it is based solely on the +well-known verse (_AghAinA-_, iii, 24, l. 11), which has come down to us +without the context:-- + + "_Earth is dark and Fire is bright, + And Fire has been worshipped ever since Fire existed._" + +[703] These popular preachers (_qua¹La¹LAia¹L_) are admirably +described by Goldziher, _Muhamm. Studien_, Part II, p. 161 sqq. + +[704] The Arabic text of these verses will be found in Goldziher's +monograph, p. 122, ll. 6-7. + +[705] See a passage from the _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤ayawAin_, cited by Baron V. +Rosen in _Zapiski_, vol. vi, p. 337, and rendered into English in my +_Translations from Eastern Poetry and Prose_, p. 53. Probably these +monks were ManichA|ans, not Buddhists. + +[706] _ZaddA-q_ is an Aramaic word meaning 'righteous.' Its etymological +equivalent in Arabic is _siddA-q_, which has a different meaning, namely, +'veracious.' _ZaddA-q_ passed into Persian in the form _ZandA-k_, which +was used by the Persians before Islam, and _ZindA-q_ is the Arabicised +form of the latter word. For some of these observations I am indebted to +Professor Bevan. Further details concerning the derivation and meaning +of _ZindA-q_ are given in Professor Browne's _Literary Hist. of Persia_ +(vol. i, p. 159 sqq.), where the reader will also find a lucid account +of the ManichA|an doctrines. + +[707] Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-AthA-r, vol. viii, p. 229 seq. (anno 323 A.H. = 934-935 +A.D.). + +[708] _Ibid._, p. 98. + +[709] _Ibid._, p. 230 seq. + +[710] See p. 192. + +[711] _I.e._, he is saved from Hell but excluded from Paradise. + +[712] Ibn KhallikAin, ed. by WA1/4stenfeld, No. 440; De Slane's translation, +vol. ii, p. 228. + +[713] The clearest statement of AshaEuro~arA-'s doctrine with which I am +acquainted is contained in the Creed published by Spitta, _Zur +Geschichte Abu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤asan al-AshaEuro~arA-'s_ (Leipzig, 1876), p. 133, l. 9 +sqq.; German translation, p. 95 sqq. It has been translated into English +by D. B. Macdonald in his _Muslim Theology_, p. 293 and foll. + +[714] _Op. cit._, p. 7 seq. + +[715] Schreiner, _Zur Geschichte des AshaEuro~aritenthums_ in the _Proceedings +of the Eighth International Congress of Orientalists_ (1889), p. 5 of +the _tirage A part_. + +[716] _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 31, p. 167. + +[717] See Goldziher in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 41, p. 63 seq., whence the +following details are derived. + +[718] See p. 339 seq. + +[719] I have used the Cairo edition of 1309 A.H. A French translation by +Barbier de Meynard was published in the _Journal Asiatique_ (January, +1877), pp. 9-93. + +[720] These are the IsmAiaEuro~A-lA-s or BAia¹-inA-s (including the Carmathians +and Assassins). See p. 271 sqq. + +[721] _A Literary History of Persia_, vol. ii, p. 295 seq. + +[722] _The Life of al-GhazzAelAe"_ in the _Journal of the American +Oriental Society_, vol. xx (1899), p. 122 sqq. + +[723] _Herrschende Ideen_, p. 67. + +[724] _Idee und Grundlinien einer allgemeiner Geschichte der Mystik_, an +academic oration delivered on November 22, 1892, and published at +Heidelberg in 1893. + +[725] The following sketch is founded on my paper, _An Historical +Enquiry concerning the Origin and Development of a¹cAºfiism_ +(_J.R.A.S._, April, 1906, p. 303 sqq.). + +[726] This, so far as I know, is the oldest extant definition of +a¹cAºfiism. + +[727] It is impossible not to recognise the influence of Greek +philosophy in this conception of Truth as Beauty. + +[728] JAimA- says (_NafahAitu aEuro(TM)l-Uns_, ed. by Nassau Lees, p. 36): "He is +the head of this sect: they all descend from, and are related to, him." + +[729] See aEuro~Aa¹-a¹-Air's _Tadhkiratu aEuro(TM)l-AwliyAi_, ed. by Nicholson, Part +I, p. 114; JAimA-'s _Nafaa¸YAit_, p. 35; Ibn KhallikAin, De Slane's +translation, vol. i, p. 291. + +[730] _MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_, vol. ii, p. 401 seq. + +[731] The _Influence of Buddhism upon Islam_, by I. Goldziher (Budapest, +1903). As this essay is written in Hungarian, I have not been able to +consult it at first hand, but have used the excellent translation by Mr. +T. Duka, which appeared in the _J.R.A.S._ for January, 1904, pp. +125-141. + +[732] It was recognised by the a¹cAºfA-s themselves that in some points +their doctrine was apparently based on MuaEuro~tazilite principles. See +ShaaEuro~rAinA-, _LawAiqia¸Yu aEuro(TM)l-AnwAir_ (Cairo, 1299 A.H.), p. 14, l. 21 sqq. + +[733] This definition is by Abu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤usayn al-NAºrA- (aEuro 907-908 A.D.). + +[734] See Professor Browne's _Lit. Hist. of Persia_, vol. ii, p. 261 +sqq. + +[735] The _DA-wAin of aEuro~Umar Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-FAiria¸_, ed. by Rushayyid +al-Daa¸YdAia¸Y (Marseilles, 1853). + +[736] _I.e._, New and Old Cairo. + +[737] The _DA-wAin_, excluding the _TAiaEuro(TM)iyyatu aEuro(TM)l-KubrAi_, has been edited +by Rushayyid al-Daa¸YdAia¸Y (Marseilles, 1853). + +[738] _DA-wAin_, p. 219, l. 14 and p. 213, l. 18. + +[739] Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-FAiria¸, like MutanabbA-, shows a marked fondness for +diminutives. As he observes (_DA-wAin_, p. 552):-- + + _mAi qultu a¸YubayyibA- mina aEuro(TM)l-taa¸YqA-ri + bal yaaEuro~dhubu aEuro(TM)smu aEuro(TM)l-shakha¹Li bi-aEuro(TM)l-taa¹LghA-ri._ + + "_Not in contempt I say 'my darling.' No! + By 'diminution' names do sweeter grow._" + +[740] _DA¬wA n_, p. 472 sqq. A French rendering will be found at p. 41 of +Grangeret de Lagrange's _Anthologie Arabe_ (Paris, 1828). + +[741] The words of God to Moses (Kor. vii, 139). + +[742] _DA-wAin_, p. 257 sqq. + +[743] This refers to Kor. vii, 171. God drew forth from the loins of +Adam all future generations of men and addressed them, saying, "_Am not +I your Lord?_" They answered, "_Yes_," and thus, according to the +a¹cAºfA- interpretation, pledged themselves to love God for evermore. + +[744] _DA-wAin_, p. 142 sqq. + +[745] See _A Literary History of Persia_, vol. i, p. 428 sqq. But during +the last twenty years a great deal of new light has been thrown upon the +character and doctrines of a¸¤allAij. See Appendix. + +[746] The best-known biography of Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA- occurs in MaqqarA-'s +_Nafa¸Yu aEuro(TM)l-a¹¬A-b_, ed. by Dozy and others, vol. i, pp. 567-583. Much +additional information is contained in a lengthy article, which I have +extracted from a valuable MS. in my collection, the _ShadharAitu +aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_, and published in the _J.R.A.S._ for 1906, pp. 806-824. _Cf._ +also Von Kremer's _Herrschende Ideen_, pp. 102-109. + +[747] Mua¸Yyi aEuro(TM)l-DA-n means 'Reviver of Religion.' In the West he was +called Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA-, but the Moslems of the East left out the definite +article (_al_) in order to distinguish him from the Cadi AbAº Bakr Ibnu +aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA- of Seville (aEuro 1151 A.D.). + +[748] _Al-KibrA-t al-aa¸Ymar_ (literally, 'the red sulphur'). + +[749] See Von Kremer, _op. cit._, p. 108 seq. + +[750] The above particulars are derived from an abstract of the +_FutAºa¸YAit_ made by aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-WahhAib al-ShaaEuro~rAinA- (aEuro 1565 A.D.), of which +Fleischer has given a full description in the _Catalogue of Manuscripts +in the Leipzig Univ. Library_ (1838), pp. 490-495. + +[751] MaqqarA-, i, 569, 11. + +[752] Aa¸Ymad b. a¸¤anbal. + +[753] AbAº a¸¤anA-fa. + +[754] _Fua¹LAºa¹Lu aEuro(TM)l-a¸¤ikam_ (Cairo, A.H. 1321), p. 78. The words +within brackets belong to the commentary of aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-RazzAiq al-KAishAinA- +which accompanies the text. + +[755] Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA- uses the term "Idea of ideas" (_a¸¤aqA-qatu +aEuro(TM)l-a¸YaqAiaEuro(TM)iq_) as equivalent to I"a1/2¹I cubedI?I, I muI1/2I'I¹a1/2+-I¸I muI"I?I,, while "the +Idea of Mua¸Yammad" (_al-a¸¤aqA-qatu aEuro(TM)l-Mua¸Yammadiyya_) corresponds +to I"a1/2¹I cubedI?I, IEuroII?I†I?II¹Iºa1/2¹I,. + +[756] The Arabic text of these verses will be found in the collection of +Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA-'s mystical odes, entitled _TarjumAinu aEuro(TM)l-AshwAiq_, which I +have edited (Oriental Translation Fund, New Series, vol. xx, p. 19, vv. +13-15). + +[757] Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA- has been studied by Asin Palacios, Professor of +Arabic at Madrid, whose books are written in Spanish, and H. S. Nyberg +(_Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-aEuro~ArabA-_, Leiden, 1919). A general view +may be obtained from my _Studies in Islamic Mysticism_, pp. 77-142 and +pp. 149-161. + +[758] See Asin Palacios, _Islam and the Divine Comedy_, London, 1926. + +[759] Abridged from Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~IdhAirA-, _al-BayAin al-Mughrib_, ed. by Dozy, +vol. ii, p. 61 seq. + +[760] Ibn KhallikAin, ed. by WA1/4stenfeld, No. 802; De Slane's translation, +vol. iv, p. 29 sqq. + +[761] MuqaddasA- (ed. by De Goeje), p. 236, cited by Goldziher, _Die +ZAchiriten_, p. 114. + +[762] Dozy, _Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne_ (Leyden, 1861), vol. iii, +p. 90 sqq. + +[763] aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin III was the first of his line to assume this +title. + +[764] MaqqarA-, vol. i, p. 259. As MaqqarA-'s work is our principal +authority for the literary history of Moslem Spain, I may conveniently +give some account of it in this place. The author, Aa¸Ymad b. +Mua¸Yammad al-TilimsAinA- al-MaqqarA- (aEuro 1632 A.D.) wrote a biography of +Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Khaa¹-A-b, the famous Vizier of Granada, to which he prefixed a +long and discursive introduction in eight chapters: (1) Description of +Spain; (2) Conquest of Spain by the Arabs; (3) History of the Spanish +dynasties; (4) Cordova; (5) Spanish-Arabian scholars who travelled in +the East; (6) Orientals who visited Spain; (7) Miscellaneous extracts, +anecdotes, poetical citations, &c., bearing on the literary history of +Spain; (8) Reconquest of Spain by the Christians and expulsion of the +Arabs. The whole work is entitled _Nafa¸Yu aEuro(TM)l-a¹¬A-b min ghua¹LnA- +aEuro(TM)l-Andalusi aEuro(TM)l-raa¹-A-b wa-dhikri wazA-rihAi LisAini aEuro(TM)l-DA-n Ibni +aEuro(TM)l-Khaa¹-A-b_. The introduction, which contains a fund of curious and +valuable information--"a library in little"--has been edited by Dozy and +other European Arabists under the title of _Analectes sur l'Histoire et +la LittA(C)rature des Arabes d'Espagne_ (Leyden, 1855-1861). + +[765] The name of Slaves (_a¹caqAiliba_) was originally applied to +prisoners of war, belonging to various northern races, who were sold to +the Arabs of Spain, but the term was soon widened so as to include all +foreign slaves serving in the harem or the army, without regard to their +nationality. Like the Mamelukes and Janissaries, they formed a +privileged corps under the patronage of the palace, and since the reign +of aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin III their number and influence had steadily +increased. _Cf._ Dozy, _Hist. des Mus. d'Espagne_, vol. iii, p. 58 sqq. + +[766] Dozy, _op. cit._, vol. ii, p. 103 seq. + +[767] QazwA-nA-, _AthAiru aEuro(TM)l-BilAid_, ed. by WA1/4stenfeld, p. 364, l. 5 sqq. + +[768] See Schack, _op. cit._, vol. ii, p. 46 sqq. + +[769] The Arabic original occurs in the 11th chapter of the _a¸¤albatu +aEuro(TM)l-Kumayt_, a collection of poems on wine and drinking by Mua¸Yammad b. +a¸¤asan al-NawAijA- (aEuro 1455 A.D.), and is also printed in the _Anthologie +Arabe_ of Grangeret de Lagrange, p. 202. + +[770] _Al-a¸¤ullat al-SiyarAi_ of Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-AbbAir, ed. by Dozy, p. 34. In +the last line instead of "foes" the original has "the sons of aEuro~AbbAis." +Other verses addressed by aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Raa¸YmAin to this palm-tree are cited +by MaqqarA-, vol. ii, p. 37. + +[771] Full details concerning ZiryAib will be found in MaqqarA-, vol. ii, +p. 83 sqq. _Cf._ Dozy, _Hist. des Mus. d'Espagne_, vol. ii, p. 89 sqq. + +[772] MaqqarA-, _loc. cit._, p. 87, l. 10 sqq. + +[773] Dozy, _Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne_, vol. iii, p. 107 sqq. + +[774] See the verses cited by Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-AthA-r, vol. viii, p. 457. + +[775] Ibn KhallikAin, No. 697, De Slane's translation, vol. iii, p. 186. + +[776] Ibn KhallikAin, _loc. cit._ + +[777] _Loc. cit._, p. 189. For the sake of clearness I have slightly +abridged and otherwise remodelled De Slane's translation of this +passage. + +[778] A somewhat different version of these events is given by Dozy, +_Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne_, vol. iv, p. 189 sqq. + +[779] The term _MulaththamAºn_, which means literally 'wearers of the +_lithAim_' (a veil covering the lower part of the face), is applied to +the Berber tribes of the Sahara, the so-called Almoravides +(_al-MurAibia¹-Aºn_), who at this time ruled over Northern Africa. + +[780] Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-AbbAir (Dozy, _Loci de Abbadidis_, vol. ii, p. 63). + +[781] _Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne_, vol. iv, p. 287. + +[782] _I.e._, 'holder of the two vizierships'--that of the sword and +that of the pen. See De Slane's translation of Ibn KhallikAin, vol. iii, +p. 130, n. 1. + +[783] The Arabic text of this poem, which occurs in the _QalAiaEuro(TM)idu +aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~IqyAin_ of Ibn KhAiqAin, will be found on pp. 24-25 of Weyers's +_Specimen criticum exhibens locos Ibn Khacanis de Ibn Zeidouno_ (Leyden, +31). + +[784] Cited by Ibn KhallikAin in his article on Ibn a¸¤azm (De Slane's +translation, vol. ii, p. 268). + +[785] MaqqarA-, vol. i, p. 511, l. 21. + +[786] MaqqarA-, _loc. cit._ p. 515, l. 5 seq. + +[787] See p. 341, note 1[640]. + +[788] The contents of the _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-Milal wa-aEuro(TM)l-Nia¸Yal_ are fully +summarised by Dozy in the Leyden Catalogue, vol. iv, pp. 230-237. _Cf._ +also _Zur Komposition von Ibn a¸¤azm's Milal waaEuro(TM)n-Nia¸Yal_, by Israel +Friedlaender in the _NA¶ldeke-Festschrift_ (Giessen, 1906), vol. i, p. +267 sqq. + +[789] So far as I am aware, the report that copies are preserved in the +great mosque at Tunis has not been confirmed. + +[790] His Arabic name is IsmAiaEuro~A-l b. NaghdAila. See the Introduction to +Dozy's ed. of Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~IdhAirA-, p. 84, n. 1. + +[791] An interesting notice of Samuel Ha-Levi is given by Dozy in his +_Hist. des Mus. d'Espagne_, vol. iv, p. 27 sqq. + +[792] _KAimil_ of Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-AthA-r, ed. by Tornberg, vol. ix, p. 425 sqq. +The following narrative (which has been condensed as far as possible) +differs in some essential particulars from the accounts given by Ibn +KhaldAºn (_History of the Berbers_, De Slane's translation, vol. ii, p. +64 sqq.) and by Ibn AbA- ZaraEuro~ (Tornberg, _Annales Regum MauritaniA|_, p. +100 sqq. of the Latin version). _Cf._ A. MA1/4ller, _Der Islam_, vol. ii, +p. 611 sqq. + +[793] See note on p. 423. + +[794] The province of Tunis. + +[795] _MurAibia¹-_ is literally 'one who lives in a _ribAia¹-_,' _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 (_jihAid_) against the +unbelievers. The word _murAibia¹-_, 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] aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-WAia¸Yid, _History of the Almohades_, ed. by Dozy, p. +135, l. 1 sqq. + +[798] The Berbers at this time were Sunnite and anti-FAia¹-imid. + +[799] Almohade is the Spanish form of _al-Muwaa¸Ya¸Yid_. + +[800] Stanley Lane-Poole, _The Mohammadan Dynasties_, p. 46. + +[801] Renan, _AverroA"s et l'AverroA-sme_, p. 12 sqq. + +[802] See a passage from aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-WAihid's _History of the Almohades_ (p. +201, l. 19 sqq.), which is translated in Goldziher's _aº'Achiriten_, p. +174. + +[803] The Arabic text, with a Latin version by E. Pocock, was published +in 1671, and again in 1700, under the title _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 AbsAil, as in JAimA-'s celebrated poem. +_Cf._ De Boer, _The History of Philosophy in Islam_, translated by E. R. +Jones, p. 144. + +[805] JurjA- ZaydAin, however, is disposed to regard the story as being +not without foundation. See his interesting discussion of the evidence +in his _TaaEuro~rA-khu aEuro(TM)l-Tamaddun al-IslAimi_ ('History of Islamic +Civilisation'), Part III, pp. 40-46. + +[806] The life of Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Khaa¹-ib has been written by his friend and +contemporary, Ibn KhaldAºn (_Hist. of the Berbers_, translated by De +Slane, vol. iv. p. 390 sqq.), and forms the main subject of MaqqarA-'s +_Nafa¸Yu aEuro(TM)l-a¹¬A-b_ (vols. iii and iv of the BulAiq edition). + +[807] Schack, _op. cit._, vol. i, p. 312 seq. + +[808] Cited in the _ShadharAitu aEuro(TM)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 +QuatremA"re in _Notices et extraits des manuscrits de la BibliothA"que +ImpA(C)riale_, 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 KhaldAºn'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 KhaldAºn 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 IsmAilaEuro~A-lA-s are the so-called Assassins, the terrible sect +organised by a¸¤asan b. a¹cabbAia¸Y (see Professor Browne's _Literary +History of Persia_, vol. ii, p. 201 sqq.), and finally exterminated by +HAºlAigAº. They had many fortresses, of which AlamAºt was the most famous, +in the JibAil province, near QazwA-n. + +[820] The reader must be warned that this and the following account of +the treacherous dealings of Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AlqamA- are entirely contradicted by +ShA-aEuro~ite historians. For example, the author of _al-FakhrA-_ (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 DawA-dAir (literally +Inkstand-holder) or DawAidAir, as the word is more correctly written, see +QuatremA"re, _Histoire des Sultans Mamlouks_, vol. i, p. 118, n. 2. + +[822] The MS. writes YAijAºnas. + +[823] _Al-kalb_, the Arabic equivalent of the Persian _sag_ (dog), an +animal which Moslems regard as unclean. + +[824] By Shamsu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n al-DhahabA- (aEuro 1348 A.D.). + +[825] Mameluke (MamlAºk) means 'slave.' The term was applied to the +mercenary troops, Turks and Kurds for the most part, who composed the +bodyguard of the AyyAºbid princes. + +[826] There are two Mameluke dynasties, called respectively Baa¸YrA- +(River) Mamelukes and BurjA- (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 BulAiq (1283 A.H.), pp. 356-366. + +[830] _Ibid._, p. 358. + +[831] These verses are cited in the _a¸¤adA-qatu aEuro(TM)l-AfrAia¸Y_ (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 +God will not wrong any one even the weight of an ant_" (mithqAila +dharratin). + +[832] Hartmann, _Das Muwa[vs][vs]aa¸Y_ (Weimar, 1897), p. 218. + +[833] Literally, 'The Shaking of the Skull-caps,' in allusion to the +peasants' dance. + +[834] See Vollers, _BeitrA¤ge zur Kenntniss der lebenden arabischen +Sprache in Aegypten_, _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 41 (1887), p. 370. + +[835] Ibn KhallikAin, De Slane's translation, vol. i, p. 3. + +[836] It should be pointed out that the _WafayAit_ 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 (_TAibiaEuro~Aºn_), 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 _WafayAit_ was compiled by al-KutubA- (aEuro 1363 +A.D.) under the title _FawAitu aEuro(TM)l-WafayAit_. + +[837] The Arabic text of the _WafayAit_ has been edited with variants and +indices by WA1/4stenfeld (GA¶ttingen, 1835-1850). There is an excellent +English translation by Baron MacGuckin de Slane in four volumes +(1842-1871). + +[838] The full title is _al-MawAiaEuro~iaº" wa-aEuro(TM)l-laEuro~tibAir fA- dhikri +aEuro(TM)l-Khia¹-aa¹- wa-aEuro(TM)l-AthAir_. It was printed at BulAiq in 1270 A.H. + +[839] _Al-SulAºk li-maaEuro~rifati Duwali aEuro(TM)l-MulAºk_, a history of the AyyAºbids +and Mamelukes. The portion relating to the latter dynasty is accessible +in the excellent French version by QuatremA"re (_Histoire des Sultans +Mamlouks de l'A%gypte_, Paris, 1845). + +[840] A. R. Guest, _A List of Writers, Books, and other Authorities +mentioned by El MaqrA-zA- in his Khia¹-aa¹-_, _J.R.A.S._ for 1902, p. +106. + +[841] The _FakhrA-_ has been edited by Ahlwardt (1860) and Derenbourg +(1895). The simplicity of its style and the varied interest of its +contents have made it deservedly popular. Leaving the Koran out of +account, I do not know any book that is better fitted to serve as an +introduction to Arabic literature. + +[842] See p. 413, n. 1. + +[843] _A Biographical Dictionary of Persons who knew Mohammad_, ed. by +Sprenger and others (Calcutta, 1856-1873). + +[844] _MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_, ed. by Barbier de Meynard, vol. iv. p. 90. The +names ShA-rAizAid and DA-nAizAid are obviously Persian. Probably the former is +a corruption of ChihrAizAid, meaning 'of noble race,' while DA-nAizAid +signifies 'of noble religion.' My readers will easily recognise the +familiar Scheherazade and Dinarzade. + +[845] Strange as it may seem, this criticism represents the view of +nearly all Moslem scholars who have read the 'Arabian Nights.' + +[846] Many episodes are related on the authority of Aa¹LmaaEuro~A-, AbAº +aEuro~Ubayda, and Wahb b. Munabbih. + +[847] Those who recite the _SA-ratu aEuro~Antar_ are named _aEuro~AnAitira_, sing. +_aEuro~Antari_. See Lane's _Modern Egyptians_, ch. xxiii. + +[848] That it was extant in some shape before 1150 A.D. seems to be +beyond doubt. _Cf._ the _Journal Asiatique_ for 1838, p. 383; +WA1/4stenfeld, _Gesch. der Arab. Aerzte_, No. 172. + +[849] _Antar, a Bedoueen Romance_, translated from the Arabic by Terrick +Hamilton (London, 1820), vol. i, p. xxiii seq. See, however, FlA1/4gel's +Catalogue of the Kais. KA¶n. Bibl. at Vienna, vol. ii, p. 6. Further +details concerning the 'Romance of aEuro~Antar' will be found in Thorbecke's +_aEuro~Antarah_ (Leipzig, 1867), p. 31 sqq. The whole work has been published +at Cairo in thirty-two volumes. + +[850] ShaaEuro~rAinA-, _YawAiqA-t_ (ed. of Cairo, 1277 A.H.), p. 18. + +[851] In 1417 A.D. The reader will find a full and most interesting +account of NasA-mA-, who is equally remarkable as a Turkish poet and as a +mystic belonging to the sect of the a¸¤urAºfA-s, in Mr. E. J. W. Gibb's +_History of Ottoman Poetry_, vol. i, pp. 343-368. It is highly +improbable that the story related here gives the true ground on which he +was condemned: his pantheistic utterances afford a sufficient +explanation, and the Turkish biographer, Laa¹-A-fA-, specifies the verse +which cost him his life. I may add that the author of the _ShadharAitu +aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_ calls him NasA-mu aEuro(TM)l-DA-n of TabrA-z (he is generally said to be +a native of NasA-m in the district of BaghdAid), and observes that he +resided in Aleppo, where his followers were numerous and his heretical +doctrines widely disseminated. + +[852] The 112th chapter of the Koran. See p. 164. + +[853] Founder of the ShAidhiliyya Order of Dervishes. He died in 1258 +A.D. + +[854] A distinguished jurist and scholar who received the honorary +title, 'Sultan of the Divines.' He died at Cairo in 1262 A.D. + +[855] An eminent canon lawyer (aEuro 1370 A.D.). + +[856] It was the custom of the Zoroastrians (and, according to Moslem +belief, of the Christians and other infidels) to wear a girdle round the +waist. + +[857] See _Materials for a History of the Wahabys_, by J. L. Burckhardt, +published in the second volume of his _Notes on the Bedouins and +Wahabys_ (London, 1831). Burckhardt was in Arabia while the Turks were +engaged in re-conquering the a¸¤ijAiz from the WahhAibA-s. His graphic and +highly interesting narrative has been summarised by Dozy, _Essai sur +l'histoire de l'Islamisme_, ch. 13. + +[858] Following Burckhardt's example, most European writers call him +simply aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-WahhAib. + +[859] Burckhardt, _op. cit._, vol. ii, p. 96. + +[860] MSS. of Ibn Taymiyya copied by Ibn aEuro~Abd al-WahhAib are extant +(Goldziher in _Z.D.M.G._, vol. 52, p. 156). + +[861] This is the place usually called KarbalAi or Mashhad a¸¤usayn. + +[862] _Op. cit._, vol. ii, p. 112. + +[863] _Essai sur l'histoire de l'Islamisme_, p. 416. + +[864] Burckhardt, _loc. laud._, p. 115. + +[865] I cannot enter into details on this subject. A review of modern +Arabic literature is given by Brockelmann, _Gesch. der Arab. Litt._, +vol. ii, pp. 469-511, and by Huart, _Arabic Literature_, pp. 411-443. + +[866] See M. Hartmann, _The Arabic Press of Egypt_ (London, 1899). + +[867] Brockelmann, _loc. cit._, p. 476. + +[868] Translated into Arabic verse by SulaymAin al-BistAinA- (Cairo, 1904). +See Professor Margoliouth's interesting notice of this work in the +_J.R.A.S._ for 1905, p. 417 sqq. + +[869] H. A. R. Gibb, _Studies in contemporary Arabic literature_, +Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, vol. iv, pt. 4, p. 746; cf. +also vol. v, pt. 2, p. 311 foll. Mr Gibb has given references to the +chief works on the subject, but for the sake of those who do not read +Arabic or Russian it may be hoped that he will continue and complete his +own survey, to which there is nothing _simile aut secundum_ in English. + + + + +APPENDIX + + +P. xxii, l. 2. Arabic begins to appear in North Arabian inscriptions +in the third century A.D. Perhaps the oldest yet discovered +is one, of which the probable date is 268 A.D., published by Jaussen +and Savignac (_Mission archA(C)ologique 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 in _Islamic Culture_ (Hyderabad, Deccan), April +1929, vol. iii, No. 2, p. 169, note 2. + +P. 4 foll. Concerning the Sabaeans and the South Arabic inscriptions a +great deal of valuable information will be found in the article _SabaaEuro(TM)_ +by J. Tkatsch in the _EncyclopA|dia 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 the _Shamsu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~UlAºm_ relating +to South Arabia have been edited by Dr aEuro~AzA-muaEuro(TM)ddA-n Aa¸Ymad +(E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Series, vol. xxiv). + +P. 26 foll. For contemporary and later Christian accounts of +the martyrdom of the Christians of NajrAin, see the fragmentary +_Book 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, entitled _KitAibu +aEuro(TM)l-FAikhir_, by Mufaa¸a¸al b. Salama of KAºfa, is now available in +the excellent edition of Mr C. A. Storey (Leyden, 1915). + +P. 32, note 1. An edition of the _AghAinA-_ with critical notes is +in course of publication at Cairo. + +P. 52, l. 9 foll. The battle mentioned here cannot be the battle +of aEuro~Ayn UbAigh, which took place between a¸¤Airith, the son of +a¸¤Airith b. Jabala, and Mundhir IV of a¸¤A-ra about 583 A.D. (Guidi, +_L'Arabie antA(C)islamique_, p. 27). + +P. 127, l. 16. The ode _BAinat SuaEuro~Aid_ is rendered into English in +my _Translations 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 the +_Mufaa¸a¸alAe"yAet_, 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 +BukhAirA- in ch. 65 of the _a¹caa¸YA-a¸Y_, 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 word _rujz_ is in +all likelihood identical with the Syriac _rugza_, 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 case _dhikrun li aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~AilamA-n_ in the +passage quoted will mean "a warning to all the people (of Mecca +or Arabia)." But similar expressions in SAºras 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 the _Rivista degli studi +orientali_, 1916, p. 429 foll., Professor C. A. Nallino has shown that +this account of the origin of the name "MuaEuro~tazilite" is erroneous. The +word, as MasaEuro~AºdA- says (_MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_, vol. vi, p. 22, and vol. vii, +p. 234), is derived from _iaEuro~tizAil_, _i.e._ the doctrine that anyone who +commits a capital sin has thereby withdrawn himself (_iaEuro~tazala_) from +the true believers and taken a position (described as _fisq_, impiety) +midway between them and the infidels. According to the Murjites, such a +person was still a true believer, while their opponents, the WaaEuro~A-dites, +and also the KhAirijites, held him to be an unbeliever. + +P. 225, l. 1. The a¸¤adA-th, "No monkery (_rahbAiniyya_) in Islam," +probably dates from the third century of the Hijra. According +to the usual interpretation of Koran, LVII, 27, the _rahbAiniyya_ +practised 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 a¹cAºfA-s of the third century A.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 a¸¤asan of +Baa¹Lra, see Massignon, _op. cit._, p. 152 foll. + +P. 228 foll. It can now be stated with certainty that the name "a¹cAºfA-" +originated in KAºfa in the second century A.H. and was at first confined +to the mystics of aEuro~IrAiq. Hence the earliest development of a¹cAºfiism, +properly so called, took place in a hotbed of ShA-aEuro~ite and Hellenistic +(Christian and Gnostic) ideas. + +P. 233, l. 4 from foot. In _RAebiaEuro~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, RAibiaEuro~a bint +IsmAiaEuro~A-l (aEuro 135). + +P. 313 foll. The text and translation of 332 extracts from the +_LuzAºmiyyAit_ will be found in ch. ii of my _Studies 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-Fua¹LAºl wa aEuro(TM)l-GhAiyAit_. 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 the _RisAilatu aEuro(TM)l-GhufrAin_ by Shaykh +IbrAihA-m al-YAiziji was published at Cairo in 1907. + +P. 319, l. 6. The epistle of aEuro~AlA- b. Mana¹LAºr al-a¸¤alabA- (Ibnu +aEuro(TM)l-QAiria¸Y), to which the _RisAilatu aEuro(TM)l-GhufrAin_ is the reply, has been +published in _RasAiaEuro(TM)ilu aEuro(TM)l-BulaghAi_, ed. Mua¸Yammad Kurd aEuro~AlA- +(Cairo, 1913). + +P. 332, note 2. For rhymed prose renderings of the 11th and +12th _MaqAimas_, see _Translations 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 MuaEuro~tazilite movement by the publication +of the MuaEuro~tazilite al-KhayyAia¹-'s _KitAibu aEuro(TM)l-Intia¹LAir_ (ed. H. S. +Nyberg, Cairo, 1926), a third (ninth) century polemical work +directed against the ShA-aEuro~ite freethinker Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-RAiwandA- (cf. p. 375 +_supra_). 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 aEuro~AbbAisid period from the ManichA|ans +and other "_zanAidiqa_" in Persia and especially in aEuro~IrAiq (cf. +I. Guidi, _La Lotta tra l'Islam e il Manicheismo_ (Rome, 1927)). +In order to meet these adversaries on equal terms, the MuaEuro~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 Erbe_ in W. Jaeger's +_Die 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 MuaEuro~tazilites and the +_IkhwAinu aEuro(TM)l-a¹cafAi_ requires considerable modification. Although, in +contrast to their orthodox opponents, the MuaEuro~tazilites may be described +as "rationalists" and "liberal theologians," their principles were +entirely opposed to the anti-Islamic eclecticism of the _IkhwAin_. + +P. 375, note 2. Professor Schaeder thinks that Middle Persian +_zandA-k_ has nothing to do with the Aramaic _zaddA-q_ (_Z.D.M.G._, +vol. 82, Heft 3-4, p. lxxx). + +Pp. 383-393. During the last twenty years our knowledge of early +a¹cAºfiism 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 a¹cAºfiism (down to the fourth century +A.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 have +been vitally affected by contact with the ancient Hellenistic +culture of the SAisAinian and Byzantine empires on its native +soil. Cf. A. J. Wensinck, _The Book of the Dove_ (Leyden, +1919) and _Mystic Treatises by Isaac of Niniveh_ (Amsterdam, +1923). + +P. 384, l. 1. The identity of third-century a¹cAºfiism with the +doctrines of the Vedanta is maintained by M. Horten (_Indische +StrA¶mungen in der Islamischen Mystik_, Heidelberg, 1927-8). Few, +however, would admit this. The conversion of a¹cAºfiism into a +monistic philosophy was the work of Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA- (1165-1240 +A.D.). See p. 402 foll. + +P. 384, l. 5. The so-called "Theology of Aristotle," translated +from Syriac into Arabic about 830 A.D., is mainly an abstract of +the _Enneads_ of 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 a¹cAºfA-s 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 MarA(C)chal in his _Studies in the Psychology of the +Mystics_, tr. Thorold (1927), pp. 241-9. + +P. 386, l. 6 from foot. For Dhu aEuro(TM)l-NAºn, see Massignon, _op. cit._, +p. 184 foll. + +P. 389, l. 12. _The Book of the Holy Hierotheos_ has recently been +edited in Syriac for the first time, with English translation, by +F. S. Marsh (Text and Translation Society, 1927). + +P. 391. For BAiyazA-d of Bisa¹-Aim, see Massignon, _op. cit._, p. 243 +foll. The oldest complete Arabic version of his "Ascension" +(_MiaEuro~rAij_)--a spiritual dream-experience--has been edited and +translated into English in _Islamica_, vol. ii, fasc. 3, p. 402 foll. + +P. 396, l. 8. See my essay on the Odes of Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-FAiria¸ (_Studies +in Islamic Mysticism_, pp. 162-266), which comprises translations +of the _Khamriyya_ and three-fourths of the _TAiaEuro(TM)iyyatu aEuro(TM)l-KubrAi_. + +P. 399, note 1. With a¸¤allAij, thanks to the monumental work +of Massignon (_La Passion d'al-a¸¤allAij_, 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 +a¹cAºfA-s as well as by Von Kremer and subsequent European writers. +Cf. the summary given by Father Joseph MarA(C)chal, _op. cit._, pp. +249-281, and _The Idea of Personality in a¹cAºfism_ (Cambridge, 1922), +pp. 26-37. + +P. 402, l. 9. For Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA-'s theory of the Perfect Man, +see Tor Andrae, _Die Person Muhammeds_, p. 339 foll., and for the +same theory as expounded by aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-KarA-m al-JA-lA- (aEuro circ. +1410 A.D.), a follower of Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~ArabA-, in his famous treatise +entitled _al-InsAin al-KAimil_, 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 Baa¹-a¹-Aºa¹-a of +Tangier (aEuro 1377), whose frank and entertaining story of his almost +world-wide travels, entitled _Tua¸Yfatu aEuro(TM)l-Nuaº"aº"Air_, 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 WahhAibA-s, see the article _WahhAebAe"s_ by Professor D. S. +Margoliouth in Hastings' _EncyclopA|dia of Religion and Ethics_. + +P. 469. _La littA(C)rature arabe au xix^e siA"cle_, 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 the _RisAilatu aEuro(TM)l-taua¸YA-d_ +of the great Egyptian divine, Mua¸Yammad aEuro~Abduh (1842-1905), which has +been translated into French by B. Michel and Mustapha aEuro~Abd el Razik +(Paris, 1925). + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS BY +EUROPEAN AUTHORS + + +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 his _Literary +History of Persia_, vol. i, pp. 481-496, and D. B. Macdonald in his +_Development of Muslim Theology, etc._ (London, 1903), pp. 358-367, +while the Appendix to H. A. R. Gibb's _Arabic Literature_ (Oxford +University Press, 1926) contains a well-chosen list of books of +reference and translations. Those who require more detailed +references may consult the _Bibliographie des ouvrages arabes ou +relatifs aux Arabes publ. dans l'Europe chrA(C)tienne de 1810 A 1885_, +by V. Chauvin (LiA"ge, 1892-1903), the _Orientalische Bibliographie_, +edited by A. MA1/4ller, E. Kuhn, and L. Scherman (Berlin, 1887--), +the _Handbuch der Islam-Litteratur_, by D. G. PfannmA1/4ller (Berlin +and Leipzig, 1923), and the _Catalogue of the Arabic Books in the +British Museum_, by A. G. Ellis, 2 vols. (London, 1894-1902) with +the _Supplementary 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. + + + I + + PHILOLOGY. + + 1. _Die Semitischen Sprachen_, by Th. NA¶ldeke (2nd ed. Leipzig, + 1899). + + An improved and enlarged reprint of the German original + of his article, 'Semitic Languages,' in the _EncyclopA|dia + 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's + _SupplA(C)ment aux Dictionnaires arabes_, 2 vols. (Leyden, 1881), + deserve special notice. Smaller dictionaries, sufficient for + ordinary purposes, have been compiled by Belot (_Dictionnaire + arabe-franASec.ais_, 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). + + + II + + GENERAL WORKS ON ARABIAN HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, + GEOGRAPHY, LITERATURE, ETC. + + 6. _The EncyclopA|dia 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 a¹¬abarA-, traduite sur la version persane de... + _BelaEuro~amA-_, by H. Zotenberg, 4 vols. (Paris, 1867-74). + + 8. The _MurAºju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_ of MasaEuro~AºdA- (_MaASec.oudi: 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 a¹¬abarA- and MasaEuro~AºdA- are the most ancient and + celebrated Universal Histories in the Arabic language. + + 9. _AbulfedA| Annales Muslemici arabice et latine_, by J. J. Reiske, + 5 vols. (HafniA|, 1789-94). + + 10. _Der Islam im Morgen- und Abendland_, by August MA1/4ller, + 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. NA¶ldeke, 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 StA¤mme und Familien mit + historischen und geographischen Bemerkungen in einem + alphabetischen Register_, by F. WA1/4stenfeld (GA¶ttingen, + 1852-53). + + 18. _Ibn KhallikAin'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. _GA(C)ographie d'AboulfA(C)da, 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. a¸¤AijjA- KhalA-fa, _Lexicon bibliographicum et encyclopA|dicum_, + Arabic text and Latin translation, by G. FlA1/4gel, 7 vols. + (Leipzig and London, 1835-58). + + 24. _Die Geschichtschreiber der Araber und ihre Werke_ (aus dem + xxviii. und xxix. Bande der Abhand. d. KA¶nigl. Ges. d. Wiss. + zu GA¶ttingen), by F. WA1/4stenfeld (GA¶ttingen, 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 FirdawsA- (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). + + + III + + PRE-ISLAMIC HISTORY, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION. + + 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 a¹¬abarA-, by Th. NA¶ldeke + (Leyden, 1879). + + The ample commentary accompanying the translation is valuable + and important in the highest degree. + + 34. _FA1/4nf MoaEuro~allaqAit A1/4bersetzt und erklA¤rt_, by Th. NA¶ldeke (Vienna, + 1899-1901). + + The omitted _MuaEuro~allaqas_ are those of ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)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. _HamAcsa oder die A¤ltesten arabischen Volkslieder A1/4bersetzt und + erlA¤utert_, by Friedrich RA1/4ckert, 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. _BeitrA¤ge zur Kenntniss der Poesie der alten Araber_, by Th. + NA¶ldeke (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). + + + IV + + MUa¸¤AMMAD AND THE KORAN. + + 43. _Das Leben Mohammed's_, translated from the Arabic biography + of Ibn HishAim by G. Weil, 2 vols. (Stuttgart, 1864). + + 44. _Muhammed in Medina_, by J. Wellhausen (Berlin, 1882). + + An abridged translation of WAiqidA-'s work on Mua¸Yammad's + Campaigns. + + 45. _Das Leben und die Lehre des Moa¸Yammad_, 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 populA¤r dargestellt_, + by Th. NA¶ldeke (Hannover, 1863). + + 48. _The Spirit of Islam_, by Syed Ameer Ali (London, 1922). + + 49. _Mohammed_, by H. Grimme, 2 vols. (MA1/4nster, 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 in _The Cambridge + MediA|val 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' IslAem_, 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 Mua¸Yammad's + life during the first six years after the Hijra (622-628 + A.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 in _The World's Classics_, vol. 328. + + 57. _Geschichte des QorAcns_, by Th. NA¶ldeke, 2nd ed., revised by + F. Schwally (Leipzig, 1909-19). + + _Cf._ NA¶ldeke's essay, 'The Koran,' in _Sketches from Eastern + History_, pp. 21-59, or his article in the _EncyclopA|dia + Britannica_ (11th ed.). + + 58. _The Teaching of the QuraEuro(TM)Aen_, by H. W. Stanton (London, 1920). + + + V + + THE HISTORY OF THE CALIPHATE. + + 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's _Geschichte 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 TabarA-. + + 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 century A.H. + + 66. _The life and times of aEuro~AlA- b. aEuro~AsAi, the Good Vizier_, by H. Bowen + (Cambridge, 1928). + + 67. _Geschichte der Fatimiden-Chalifen, nach arabischen Quellen_, by + F. WA1/4stenfeld (GA¶ttingen, 1881). + + + VI + + THE HISTORY OF MOSLEM CIVILISATION. + + 68. _ProlA(C)gomA"nes d'Ibn Khaldoun_, a French translation of the + _Muqaddima_ or Introduction prefixed by Ibn KhaldAºn to his + Universal History, by Baron MacGuckin de Slane, 3 vols. (in + _Notices et Extraits des Manuscrits de la BibliothA"que + ImpA(C)riale_, vols. xix-xxi, Paris, 1863-68). + + 69. _Culturgeschichte des Orients unter den Chalifen_, by A. von + Kremer, 2 vols. (Vienna, 1875-77). + + 70. _Culturgeschichtliche StreifzA1/4ge auf dem Gebiete des Islams_, by + A. von Kremer (Leipzig, 1873). + + This work has been translated into English by S. Khuda Bukhsh + in his _Contributions 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 aEuro~AbbAisids_, being the Fourth Part of Jurji + ZaydAin's _History 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). + + + VII + + MUa¸¤AMMADAN RELIGION, THEOLOGY, JURISPRUDENCE, + PHILOSOPHY, AND MYSTICISM. + + 86. _Development of Muslim Theology, Jurisprudence, and Constitutional + Theory_, by Duncan B. Macdonald (London, 1903). + + The best general sketch of the subject. + + 87. _Asch-SchahrastAcni's Religionspartheien und Philosophen-Schulen_, + translated by T. HaarbrA1/4cker (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. MarASec.ais (Paris, 1903-14). + + A translation of the celebrated collection of Traditions by + BukhAirA-. + + 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 A1/4ber 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 BrA1/4der herausgegeben_, by F. Dieterici + (Berlin and Leipzig, 1861-79). + + 99. _Averroes et l'Averroisme_, by E. Renan (Paris, 1861). + + 100. _MA(C)langes de Philosophie Juive et Arabe_, by S. Munk (Paris, + 1859). + + 101. _Fragments, relatifs A la doctrine des IsmaA(C)lA(R)s_, by S. Guyard + (Paris, 1874). + + 102. _ExposA(C) de la Religion des Druzes_, by Silvestre de Sacy, 2 vols. + (Paris, 1838). + + 103. _The Mystics of Islam_, by R. A. Nicholson (London, 1914). + + 104. _The Religious Attitude and Life in Islam_, by D. B. Macdonald + (Chicago, 1909). + + 105. _Essai sur les origines du lexique technique de la mystique + musulmane_, by L. Massignon (Paris, 1922). + + 106. _La Passion d'al-HallAij_, by L. Massignon, 2 vols. (Paris, 1922). + + 107. _Al-a¸ squareduschairA(R)s Darstellung des a¹cA"fA(R)tums_, by Richard + Hartmann (Berlin, 1914). + + 108. _Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-aEuro~ArabAe"_, by H. S. Nyberg + (Leiden, 1919). + + 109. _Studies in Islamic Mysticism_, by R. A. Nicholson (Cambridge, + 1921). + + 110. _The Idea of Personality in a¹cAºfism_, by R. A. Nicholson + (Cambridge, 1923). + + 111. _The Dervishes or Oriental Spiritualism_, by John P. Brown, + ed. by H. A. Rose (London, 1927). + + 112. _Les ConfrA(C)ries religieuses musulmanes_, by O. Depont and + X. Coppolani (Algiers, 1897). + + + VIII + + THE HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF THE MOORS. + + 113. _Histoire des Musulmans d'Espagne jusqu'A la conquAªte de + l'Andalusie par les Almoravides_ (711-1110 A.D.), by R. Dozy, + 4 vols. (Leyden, 1861). Translated into English under the + title _Spanish Islam_ by F. G. Stokes (London, 1913). + + 114. _History of the Moorish Empire in Europe_, by S. P. Scott, + 3 vols. (New York, 1904). + + 115. _The Moriscos of Spain, their conversion and expulsion_, by + H. C. Lea (Philadelphia, 1901). + + 116. _History of the Mohammedan dynasties of Spain_, translated + from the _Nafa¸Y al-a¹¬A-b_ of MaqqarA- by Pascual de Gayangos, 2 + vols. (London, Oriental Translation Fund, 1840-43). + + 117. _The History of the Almohades_, by aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-WAia¸Yid + al-MarrAikoshA-, translated by E. Fagnan (Algiers, 1893). + + 118. _Recherches sur l'histoire et la littA(C)rature de l'Espagne pendant + le moyen Acge_, by R. Dozy, 2 vols. (3rd ed., Leyden, 1881). + + 119. _Poesie und Kunst der Araber in Spanien und Sicilien_, by + A. F. von Schack, 2 vols. (2nd ed., Stuttgart, 1877). + + 120. _Moorish remains in Spain_, by A. F. Calvert (London, 1905). + + 121. _Storia dei musulmani di Sicilia_, by M. Amari (Firenze, + 1854-72). A revised edition is in course of publication. + + + + IX + + THE HISTORY OF THE ARABS FROM THE MONGOL + INVASION IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY TO THE + PRESENT DAY. + + 122. _Histoire des Sultans Mamlouks de l'A%gypte, A(C)crite en arabe par + Taki-eddin Ahmed Makrizi, traduite en franASec.ais ... par_ M. + QuatremA"re, 2 vols. (Oriental Translation Fund, 1845). + + 123. _The Mameluke or Slave dynasty of Egypt_, by Sir W. Muir + (London, 1896). + + 124. _Histoire de Bagdad depuis la domination des Khans mongols + jusqu'au massacre des Mamlouks_, by C. Huart (Paris, 1901). + + 125. _History of the Egyptian revolution from the period of the + Mamelukes to the death of Mohammed Ali_, by A. A. Paton, + 2 vols. (London, 1870). + + 126. _The Shaikhs of Morocco in the XVI^h century_, by T. H. Weir + (Edinburgh, 1904). + + 127. _The Arabic Press of Egypt_, by M. Hartmann (London, 1899). + + 128. _Neuarabische Volkspoesie gesammelt und uebersetzt_, by Enno + Littmann (Berlin, 1902). + + + + +INDEX + +In the following Index it has been found necessary to omit the accents +indicating the long vowels, and the dots which are used in the text to +distinguish letters of similar pronunciation. On the other hand, the +definite article _al_ has been prefixed throughout to those Arabic names +which it properly precedes; it is sometimes written in full, but is +generally denoted by a hyphen, _e.g._ -aEuro~Abbas for al-aEuro~Abbas. Names of +books, as well as Oriental words and technical terms explained in the +text, are printed in italics. Where a number of references occur under +one heading, the more important are, as a rule, shown by means of +thicker type. + + + A + + Aaron, 215, 273 + + aEuro~Abbad, 421 + + aEuro~Abbadid dynasty, the, 414, 421-424, 431 + + -aEuro~Abbas, 146, 249, 250, 251 + + -aEuro~Abbas b. -Ahnaf (poet), 261 + + aEuro~AbbAisa, 261 + + aEuro~Abbasid history, two periods of, 257 + + aEuro~Abbasid propaganda, the, 249-251 + + aEuro~Abbasids, the, xxviii, xxix, xxx, 65, 181, 182, 193, 194, 220, + +249-253+, +254-284+, 287-291, +365-367+, 373 + + aEuro~Abdullah, father of the Prophet, xxvii, 146, 148, 250 + + aEuro~Abdullah, brother of Durayd b. -Simma, 83 + + aEuro~Abdullah, the Amir (Spanish Umayyad), 411 + + aEuro~Abdullah b. -aEuro~Abbas, 145, 237, 249 + + aEuro~Abdullah b. Hamdan, 269 + + aEuro~Abdullah b. Ibad, 211 + + aEuro~Abdullah b. MasaEuro~ud, 352 + + aEuro~Abdullah b. Maymun al-Qaddah, 271-274, 363 + + aEuro~Abdullah. b. Muhammad b. Adham, 423 + + aEuro~Abdullah b. -MuaEuro~tazz. See _Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-MuaEuro~tazz_ + + aEuro~Abdullah b. Saba, 215, 216 + + aEuro~Abdullah b. Tahir, 129 + + aEuro~Abdullah b. Ubayy, 172 + + aEuro~Abdullah b. Yasin al-Kuzuli, +430+ + + Abdullah b. -Zubayr, 198, 199, 200, 202 + + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Aziz (Marinid), 436 + + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Aziz, brother of aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Malik, 200 + + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Aziz, son of Muhammad b. SaaEuro~ud, 466 + + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Ghani al-Nabulusi, 402 + + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Hamid, 267 + + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Malik (Umayyad Caliph), +200-202+, 206, 209, 224, 240, 242, + 244, 247, 349, 407 + + aEuro~Abd Manaf, 146 + + aEuro~Abdu, aEuro(TM)l-MuaEuro(TM)min (Almohade), 432 + + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Muttalib, 66-68, 146, 148, 154, 250 + + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Qadir al-Baghdadi, 131 + + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Qadir al-Jili, 393 + + aEuro~Abd al-Qays (tribe), 94 + + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Rahman I, the Umayyad, 253, 264, +405-407+, 417, 418 + + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Rahman II (Spanish Umayyad), 409, 418 + + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Rahman III (Spanish Umayyad), +411-412+, 420, 425 + + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Rahman V (Spanish Umayyad), 426 + + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Rahman b. aEuro~Awf, 186 + + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Razzaq-Kashani, 402 + + aEuro~Abd Shams, 146 + + aEuro~Abd Shams Saba, 14 + + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Uzza, 159 + + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Wahhab, founder of the Wahhabite sect. See _Muhammad b. + aEuro~Abd al-Wahhab_. + + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Wahhab al-ShaaEuro~rani. See _-ShaaEuro~rani_ + + aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Wahid of Morocco (historian), 431, 433 + + aEuro~Abid b. -Abras (poet), 39, 44, 86, 101 + + aEuro~Abid b. Sharya, 13, 19, 247 + + aEuro~Abida b. Hilal, 239 + + aEuro~Abir, xviii + + aEuro~Abla, 115 + + -Ablaq, (name of a castle), 84 + + Ablutions, the ceremonial, incumbent on Moslems, 149 + + -Abna, 29 + + Abraha, 6, 15, +28+, +65-8+ + + Abraham, xviii, 22, 62, 63, 66, 149, 150, 165, 172, 177 + + Abraham, the religion of, 62, 149, 177 + + aEuro~Abs (tribe), xix, 61, 88, 114-117 + + Absal, 433 + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Abbas (Marinid), 436 + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Abbas Ahmad al-Marsi, 327 + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Abbas al-Nami (poet), 270 + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Abbas-Saffah, 182, 253. + See _-Saffah_ + + Abu aEuro~Abdallah Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Ahmar (Nasrid), 437 + + Abu aEuro~Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami, 338 + + Abu Ahmad al-Mihrajani, 370 + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Ala al-MaaEuro~arri, 166, 167, 206, 271, 289, 291, 296, 308, + +313-324+, 375, 448 + + Abu aEuro~Ali al-Qali, 131, 420 + + Abu aEuro~Ali b. Sina, 265. + See _Ibn Sina_ + + Abu aEuro~Amir, the Monk, 170 + + Abu aEuro~Amr b. al-aEuro~Ala, 242, 285, +343+ + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-Aswad al-DuaEuro(TM)ili, 342, 343 + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Atahiya (poet), 261, 291, +296-303+, 308, 312, 324, 374 + + Abu Ayman (title), 14 + + Abu Bakr (Caliph), xxvii, 142, 153, 175, 180, +183+, 185, 210, 214, + 215, 257, 268, 297 + + Abu Bakr b. Abi aEuro(TM)l-Azhar, 344 + + Abu Bakr Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arabi of Seville, 399 + + Abu Bakr b. MuaEuro~awiya, 420 + + Abu Bakr al-Nabulusi, 460 + + Abu Bakr al-Razi (physician), 265. + See _-Razi_ + + Abu Bakr b. aEuro~Umar, 430 + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-Darda, 225 + + Abu Dawud al-Sijistani, 337 + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-Faraj of Isfanan, 32, 123, 131, 270, +347+, 419. + See _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Aghani_ + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-Faraj al-BabbaghAi (poet), 270 + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-Fida (historian), 308, 316, 331, +454+ + + Abu Firas al-Hamdani (poet), 270, 304 + + Abu Ghubshan, 65 + + Abu Hanifa, 222, 284, 402, 408 + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-Hasan aEuro~Ali b. Harun al-Zanjani, 370 + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-Hasan al-AshaEuro~ari, 284. + See _-AshaEuro~ari_ + + Abu Hashim, the Imam, 220, 251 + + Abu Hashim, the Sufi, 229 + + Abu Hudhayl -aEuro~Allaf, 369 + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-Husayn al-Nuri, 392 + + Abu aEuro~Imran al-Fasi, 429 + + Abu Ishaq al-Farisi. See _-Istakhri_ + + Abu JaaEuro~far -Mansur, 258. + See _-Mansur, the Caliph_ + + Abu Jahl, 158 + + Abu Karib, the TubbaaEuro~, 12, 19. + See _AsaEuro~ad Kamil_ + + Abu Lahab, 159, 160 + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-Mahasin b. Taghribirdi (historian), 257, 262, 267, 268, 350, + 369, +454+ + + Abu Marwan GhaylAin, 224 + + Abu MaaEuro~shar, 361 + + Abu Mihjan (poet), 127 + + Abu Mikhnaf, 210 + + Abu Musa al-AshaEuro~ari, 192, 377 + + Abu Muslim, 220, +251-252+, 375 + + Abu Nasr al-IsmaaEuro~ili, 339 + + Abu Nasr al-Sarraj, 393 + + Abu NuaEuro~aym al-Isfahani, 338 + + Abu Nuwas (poet), 261, 277, +286+, 290, 291, _292-296_, 303, 308, 345, + 375 + + Abu Qabus, _kunya_ of -NuaEuro(TM)man III, 45 + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-Qasim Ahmad. See _-Mustansir_ + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-Qasim Muhammad, the Cadi, 421 + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-Qasim b. -Muzaffar, 312 + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-Qasim al-Zahrawi, 420 + + Abu Qays b. Abi Anas, 170 + + Abu Qurra, 221 + + Abu SaaEuro(TM)id b. Abi aEuro(TM)l-Khayr, 391, 394 + + Abu Salama, 257 + + Abu Salih Mansur b. Ishaq (Samanid), 265 + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-Salt b. Abi RabiaEuro(TM)a, 69 + + Abu Shaduf, 450 + + Abu Shamir the Younger, 50 + + Abu Shamir, _kunya_ of -Harith b. aEuro(TM)Amr Muharriq, 50 + + Abu ShujaaEuro(TM) Buwayh, 266 + + Abu Sufyan, 124, 175, 195 + + Abu Sulayman al-Darani, 384, 386, 388 + + Abu Sulayman Muhammad b. MaaEuro~shar al-Bayusti, 370 + + Abu Talib, uncle of the Prophet, 146, 148, 154, 157, 183, 250 + + Abu Talib al-Makki, 338, 393 + + Abu Tammam, author of the _Hamasa_, 79, _129-130_, 288, 316, 324, 331. + See _-Hamasa_ + + Abu aEuro(TM)Ubayda (philologist), 94, 242, 261, 280, 343, _344_, _345_, 459 + + Abu aEuro~Ubayda b. al-Jarrah, 51 + + Abu aEuro(TM)l-Walid al-Baji, 428 + + Abu Yazid al-Bistami, 391. + See _Bayazid of Bistam_ + + Abu Yusuf, the Cadi, 283 + + Abu Zayd of Saruj, 330, 331, 332, 335 + + Abu Zayd Muhammad al-Qurashi, 130 + + Abusir, 326 + + Abyssinia, 53, 155, 156 + + Abyssinians, the, xxi; + in -Yemen, 5, 6, 26-29; + invade the Hijaz, 66-68 + + Academy of Junde-shapur, the, 358 + + Academy of Sabur, the, 267, 314 + + aEuro~Ad (people), +1+, +2+, 3 + + _adab_, 283, 346 + + _Adabu aEuro(TM)l-Katib_, 346 + + Adam, xxvi, 62, 63, 244, 398 + + aEuro~Adana (river), 15 + + aEuro~Adawi dervishes, the, 393 + + Adharbayjan, 17 + + aEuro~Adi (tribe), 233 + + aEuro~Adi b. aEuro~Amr, 94 + + aEuro~Adi al-Hakkari, 393 + + aEuro~Adi b. Marina, 244 + + aEuro~Adi b. Nasr, 35 + + aEuro~Adi b. Zayd, 40, +45-48+, 49, +138+, 244 + + aEuro~Adiya, 85 + + Adler, 316 + + aEuro~AdnAin, xviii, xix, xx, 64 + + aEuro~Adudu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla (Buwayhid), 266, 307 + + A†lius Gallus, 9 + + A†thiopic language, the, xvi, xxi + + Afghanistan, 268, 275 + + Africa, xv, xvi + + Africa, North, 53, 203, 253, 271, 274, 405, 419, 423, 424, 429, 430, + 434, 437, 439, 442, 443, 468 + + Afshin, 375 + + -Afwah al-Awdi (poet), 83 + + _-Aghani._ See _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Agfhani_ + + Aghlabid dynasty, the, 264, 274, 441 + + Aghmat, 424 + + -Ahlaf, at -Hira, 38 + + Ahlu aEuro(TM)l-Kitab, 341 + + Ahlu aEuro(TM)l-Taswiya, 280. + See _ShuaEuro~ubites, the_ + + Ahlu aEuro(TM)l-tawhid wa-aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~adl, a name given to the MuaEuro~tazilites, 224 + + Ahlwardt, W., 76, 101, 125, 128,133, 136, 286, 293, 294, 304, 349, 454 + + Ahmad (Buwayhid), 266 + + Ahmad, brother of Ghazali, 339 + + Ahmad, father of Ibn Hazm, 426 + + Ahmad b. Hanbal, 284, 369, 376, 402 + + Ahmad al-Nahhas, 102 + + Ahmad b. Tulun, 354 + + Ahmar of Thamud, 3 + + Ahnum, 19 + + Ahqafu aEuro(TM)l-Raml (desert), 1 + + _Ahsanu aEuro(TM)l-Taqasim fi maaEuro~rifati aEuro(TM)l-Aqalim_, 357 + + _ahwal_, mystical term, 231, 391 + + -Ahwas (poet), 237 + + -Ahwaz, 271, 293 + + AaEuro~isha, 151, 183 + + _aEuro~Aja aEuro(TM)ibu aEuro(TM)l-Maqdur_, 454 + + -aEuro~Ajam (the non-Arabs), 277. + See _-Mawali_ + + -aEuro~Ajjaj (poet), 138 + + _-Ajurrumiyya_, 456 + + Akbar (Mogul Emperor), xxx + + _Akhbaru aEuro(TM)l-Zaman_, 353 + + -Akhtal (poet), 221, 238, +239-242+, 285 + + _akhu aEuro(TM)l-safa_, 370 + + Akilu aEuro(TM)l-Murar (surname), 42 + + -AaEuro~lam (philologist), 128 + + Alamut, 445 + + aEuro~AlaaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Din Muhammad Khwarizmshah, 444 + + Albategnius, 361 + + Albucasis, 420 + + Albumaser, 361 + + Alchemists, the, 361, 387 + + Alchemy, works on, translated into Arabic, 358 + + Aleppo, 269, 270, 275, 291, 303, 305, 313, 360, 415, 446, 451, 460, + 461 + + Alexander the Great, 17, 276, 358, 457 + + Alexandria, 340 + + Alexandrian Library, the, 435 + + _Alf Layla wa-Layla_, 456, 459. + See _Thousand Nights and a Night_ and _Arabian Nights_ + + _-Alfiyya_, 456 + + Alfraganus, 361 + + Algeria, 430 + + Algiers, 468 + + Alhambra, the, 435 + + aEuro~Ali (Buwayhid), 266 + + aEuro~Ali, grandson of aEuro~Umar Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Farid, 394 + + aEuro~Ali b. Abi Talib, the Prophet's son-in-law, xxvii, xxviii, 105, 153, + 181, 183, +190-193+, 194, 196, 205, 207-211, +213-218+, 220-222, + 243, 249, 250, 251, 264, 267, 273, 274, 342, 343, 349, 377, 432, 442 + + aEuro~Ali b. Abi Talib, public cursing of, 205 + + aEuro~Ali b. -Mansur, Shaykh, 319 + + aEuro~Ali b. Musa b. JaaEuro~far al-Rida, 262, 385 + + aEuro~Alids, the, 258, 259, 337. + See _aEuro~Ali b. Abi Talib_ and _ShiaEuro~ites, the_ + + Allah, 62, 134, 135, 164, 231, 392 + + Allah, the Muhammadan conception of, 225, 231 + + Almaqa, 18 + + Almeria, 421 + + Almohades, the, 217, 429, +431-434+ + + Almoravides, the, 423, 429-431 + + Alp Arslan (Seljuq), 275, 276, 340, 379 + + Alphabet, the South Arabic, 6, 8, 12 + + Alphonso VI of Castile, 422, 423, 431 + + aEuro~Alqama b. aEuro~Abada (poet), 121, +125+, 128 + + aEuro~Alqama b. Dhi Jadan (poet), 12 + + Alvaro, Bishop of Cordova, 414 + + Amaj, 22 + + -Amali, 420. + See _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Amali_ + + -Amaliq (Amalekites), 2, +3+, 63 + + aEuro~Amidu aEuro(TM)l-Mulk al-Kunduri, 379 + + -Amin, the Caliph, 255, +262+, 293, 343 + + Amina, mother of the Prophet, 146 + + aEuro~Amir b. SaaEuro~saaEuro~a (tribe), 119 + + aEuro~Amir b. Uhaymir, 87 + + Amiru aEuro(TM)l-MuaEuro~minin (Commander of the Faithful), 185 + + Amiru aEuro(TM)l-Umara (title), 264 + + aEuro~Amr, the TubbaaEuro~ 25, 26 + + aEuro~Amr b. aEuro~Adi b. Nasr, 35, 36, 37, 40 + + aEuro~Amr b. Amir (tribe), 94 + + aEuro~Amr b. aEuro~Amir MaaEuro(TM) al-Sama al-Muzayqiya, 15, 16, 49 + + aEuro~Amr b. -aEuro~As, 192 + + aEuro~Amr b. -Harith (Ghassanid), 50, 54, 122 + + aEuro~Amr b. Hind (Lakhmite), 44, 107, 108, 109, 112 + + aEuro~Amr b. Kulthum (poet), 44, 82, 102, +109-113+, 128, 269 + + aEuro~Amr b. Luhayy, 63, 64 + + aEuro~Amr b. MaaEuro~dikarib, 82 + + aEuro~Amr b. MasaEuro~ud, 43 + + aEuro~Amr b. aEuro~Ubayd, 223, 374 + + aEuro~Amr b. Zarib, 35 + + Amul, 350 + + Anas, 88 + + _aEuro~anatira_, 459 + + aEuro~Anaza (tribe), xix + + -Anbar, 38 + + -Anbari (philologist), 128 + + -Anbat, xxv. + See _NabatA|ans, the_ + + Ancient Sciences, the, 282 + + -Andarin, 111 + + Angels, the Recording, 161 + + Angora, 104 + + -Ansar (the Helpers), 171, 241 + + _aEuro~Antar, the Romance of_, 34, 459 + + aEuro~Antara (poet), 76, 109, +114-116+, 128, 459 + + _aEuro~antari_, 459 + + Anthologies of Arabic poetry, 128-130, 289, 325, 343, 347, 348, 417 + + Anthropomorphism, 369, 376, 379, 432 + + Antioch, 43 + + Anushirwan (Sasanian king). See _Nushirwan_ + + Anushirwan b. Khalid, 329 + + Aphrodite, 43 + + _-aEuro~Aqida_, by aEuro~Izzu aEuro(TM)l-Din b. aEuro~Abd al-Salam, 461 + + aEuro~Aqil, 35 + + Arab horses, the training of, 226 + + Arab singers in the first century A.H., 236 + + _aaEuro~rabi_ (Bedouin), 210 + + Arabia, in the aEuro~Abbasid period, 276 + + Arabia Felix, xvii, 4. + See _-Yemen_ + + Arabian History, three periods of, xxvi + + _Arabian Nights, the_, 238, 256, 261, 292, 421, +456-459+ + + Arabic language, the, xvi, xvii, xxi-xxv, 6, 77, 201, 203, 239, 265, + 277-280, 336, 342, 344 + + Arabic literature, largely the work of non-Arabs, xxx, xxxi, 276-278 + + Arabic Press, the, 469 + + Arabic writing, 201; + oldest specimens of, xxi, xxii + + Arabs, the Ishmaelite, xviii + + Arabs of Khurasan, the, thoroughly Persianised, 250 + + Arabs, the Northern. See _Arabs, the Ishmaelite_ + + Arabs, the Northern and Southern, racial enmity between, xx, 199, 200, + 252, 405, 406 + + Arabs, the Southern, xvii, xviii, xx, 4. + See _Arabs, the Yemenite_ + + Arabs, the Yemenite, xvii, xviii, xx, 38, 55, 199, 252, 405, 406. + See _SabA|ans, the_; + _Himyarites, the_ + + Arabs, the Yoqtanid, xviii. + See _Arabs, the Yemenite_ + + AramA|ans, the, xv, xxv + + Aramaic language, the, xvi, xxv, 279, 375 + + -Araqim, 113, 114 + + Arbela, 451 + + Ardashir Babakan, founder of the Sasanian dynasty, 34, 38 + + a1/4^Ia1/2 cubedI¸I+-I, I"I?a?| I"I+-I squareda1/2+-I"I+-, 51 + + Arhakim, 11 + + _aEuro~arif_ (gnostic), 386 + + aEuro~Arifu aEuro(TM)l-Zanadiqa, 373 + + Aristocracy of Islam, the, 188, 190 + + Aristotle, 358, 359, 360 + + -aEuro~Arji (poet), 237 + + Armenia, xv, 352 + + Arnaud, Th., 9, 15, 17 + + Arnold. F. A., 105, 107, 109, 111, 113, 114 + + Arnold, T. W., 184, 223, 224, 360, 448 + + Arsacids, the, 21, 38 + + Aryat, 27, 28 + + -aEuro~Asa (name of a mare), 36 + + _aEuro~asabiyya_, 440 + + Asad (tribe), xix, 104 + + Asad Kamil, the TubbaaEuro~, 12, +19-23+, 25, 26, 137 + + Asad b. Musa, 247 + + Asal, 433 + + _asalib_, 289, 315 + + Ascalon, 456 + + Ascension of the Prophet, the, 169, 403 + + Asd (tribe), 19 + + -AaEuro~sha (poet), 16, 101, 121, +123-125+, 128, 138, 139 + + -AshaEuro~ari (Abu aEuro(TM)l-Hasan), 284, +376-379+, 431 + + AshaEuro~arites, the, 379, 380, 460 + + _AshaEuro~aru aEuro(TM)l-Hudhaliyyin_, 128 + + -Ashram (surname of Abraha), 28 + + Asia, xv, 275, 352, 414 + + Asia, Central, 255 + + Asia Minor, 269, 399, 434, 446 + + Asia, Western, xvi, xxix, 358, 442, 444, 446 + + Asin Palacios, 404 + + _aslama_, 153 + + -AsmaaEuro~i (philologist), 261, 343, 344, +345+, 459 + + Assassins, the, 272, 371, 372, 381, 445 + + Assyrian language, the, xvi + + Assyrians, the, xv + + Astrologers and Astronomers, 361 + + Astronomy, 276, 283 + + Aswad b. -Mundhir, 47 + + _-Athar al-Baqiya_, 361 + + _Atharu aEuro(TM)l-Bilad_, 416 + + Athens, 240, 358 + + aEuro~Athtar, aEuro~Athtor (SabA|an divinity), 11, 18 + + _Atlal_, 286 + + aEuro~Attar (Persian mystic). See _FariduaEuro(TM)ddin aEuro~Attar_ + + aEuro~Atwada, 28 + + Aurelian, 34 + + Aurora, 412 + + Avempace. See _Ibn Bajja_ + + Avenzoar, 434 + + Averroes. See _Ibn Rushd_ + + Avicenna. See _Ibn Sina_ + + _awaaEuro(TM)il_ (origins), 247 + + _aEuro~Awarifu aEuro(TM)l-MaaEuro~arif_, 230, 338 + + -aEuro~Awfi, 370 + + _awliya_ (saints), 393 + + Awrangzib (Mogul Emperor), xxx + + Aws (tribe), 170 + + Aws b. Hajar (poet), 131 + + Awwam DhAº aEuro~Iran Alu, 11 + + _aaEuro~yan thabita_, 402 + + _ayat_ (verse of the Koran, sign, miracle), 166 + + Ayatu aEuro(TM)l-Kursi (the Throne-verse), 176 + + Aybak, 447 + + -Ayham b. -Harith (Ghassanid), 50 + + aEuro~Ayn Jalut, battle of, 446 + + aEuro~Ayn Ubagh, battle of, 52 + + _ayyamu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arab_, 55, 356 + + Ayyubid dynasty, the, 275, 447, 453 + + Azd (tribe), 79, 374 + + -Azhar, the mosque, 395 + + Azraqites (-Azariqa), the, 208, 239 + + + B + + Baalbec, 111 + + Bab al-Mandab, 5 + + Babak, 258, 375 + + Babur (Mogul Emperor), xxix, 444 + + Babylon, xxv, 38 + + Babylonia, 34, 38, 138, 253, 255, 307. + See _-aEuro~Iraq_ + + Babylonian and Assyrian inscriptions, the, xvi, xxv + + Babylonians, the, xv + + Badajoz, 421, 423 + + Badis, 428 + + BadiaEuro~u aEuro(TM)l-Zaman ai-HamadhAinA-, 328, 329, 331 + + Badr, battle of, 158, 174, 175 + + Badr, freedman of aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Rahman the Umayyad, 405, 406 + + -Baghawi, 337 + + Baghdad, xxviii, xxix, 131, 182, 254, +255-256+, 290-293, 303, 307, + 313, +314+, 315, 326, 338, 340, 345, 346, 347, 350, 351, 352, 355, + 357, 359, 362, 365, 369, 376, 380, 382, 385, 387, 392, 399, 412, + 415, 418, 431, 441, +444-446+, 447, 449, 450, 458, 461, 465, 466 + + Baghdad, history of its eminent men, by -Khatib, 355 + + BahaaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Dawia (Buwayhid), 267, 314 + + Bahdala (tribe), 87 + + Bahira, the monk, 148 + + Bahman (Sasanian), 457 + + Bahram Gor (Sasanian), 40, 41 + + -Bahrayn (province), 107, 108, 186 + + Bahri Mamelukes, the, 447 + + Baju, 445 + + -Bakharzi, 348 + + Bakil (tribe), 12 + + Bakr (tribe), xix, 55-60, 61, 69, 70, 76, 93, 107, 109, 113, 114, 242 + + -Bakri (geographer), 357, 428 + + Balaam, 73 + + -Baladhuri (historian), 280, 349 + + _-balagh al-akbar_, 371 + + Balak, 73 + + -BalaEuro~ami, 265, 352 + + Balaq (mountain), 17 + + Balkh, 232, 233, 259, 361, 385 + + -Balqa, 63 + + _Banat SuaEuro~ad_, the opening words of an ode, 119, 127, 327 + + Banu aEuro(TM)l-Ahrar, 29 + + Banu Hind, 58 + + Banu Khaldun, 437 + + Banu Musa, 359 + + Banu Nahshal, 243 + + Baptists, name given to the early Moslems, 149 + + _baqa_, mystical term, 390 + + Baqqa, 36 + + -Baramika, 259. + See _Barmecides, the_ + + Barbier de Meynard, 13, 15, 37, 195, 259, 350, 352, 353, 380, 457 + + Bardesanes, 364 + + Barmak, 259 + + Barmakites, the. See _Barmecides, the_ + + Barmecides, the, 255, +259-261+, 262, 293 + + Barquq, Sultan (Mameluke), 452 + + Bashama, 119 + + Bashshar b. Burd, 245, 277, 290, +373-374+, 375 + + _-basit_ (metre), 75 + + -Basra, xxiv, 127, 133, 134, 186, +189+, 195, 202, 209, 210, 215, 222, + 223, 225, 226, 233, 242, 243, 246, 273, 281, 293, 294, 329, 331, + 336, 341, 342, +343+, 345, 346, 369, 370, 374, 377, 378 + + Basset, R., 327 + + -Basus, 56 + + -Basus, the War of, +55-60+, 61, 76, 107, 114 + + -Batiniyya (Batinites), 381, 382, 402. + See _IsmaaEuro~ilis, the_ + + -Battani, 361 + + _-bayan_, 283 + + _-Bayan al-Mughrib_, 407 + + Bayard, 191 + + Bayazid of Bistam, 391, 460. + See _Abu Yazid al-Bistami_ + + Baybars, Sultan (Mameluke), 447, 448 + + -Baydawi, 145, 179 + + _bayt_ (verse), 74, 77 + + Baytu aEuro(TM)l-Hikma, at Baghdad, 359 + + -Bazbaz, 60 + + Bedouin view of life, the, 136 + + Bedouin warfare, character of, 54, 55 + + Bedouin women, Mutanabbi's descriptions of, 310 + + Benu Marthadim, 11 + + Berber insurrection in Africa, 405 + + Berbers, the, 204, 274, 405-409, 413, 420, 423, 424, 429-432, 442, 443 + + Berbers, used as mercenaries, 407 + + Berlin Royal Library, 8, 12 + + Bevan, Prof. A. A., 46, 80, 129, 151, 166, 168, 199, 205, 239, 244, + 253, 356, 373, 374, 375 + + Beyrout, 238, 469 + + _Bibliographical Dictionary_, by Hajji Khalifa, 456 + + _Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum_, 356 + + _Bidpai, the Fables of_, 330, 346 + + Bilqis, 18 + + -Bimaristan al-aEuro~Adudi, 266 + + Biographies of poets, 346, 347, 348 + + Birnam Wood, 25 + + -Biruni (Abu Rayhan), 269, 280, +361+ + + Bishr b. Abi Khazim (poet), 86 + + Bishr al-Hafi, 228 + + Bishr b. -MuaEuro~tamir, 369 + + Bistam, 391 + + Blick, J. S., 184, 249, 258 + + Black, the colour of the aEuro~Abbasids, 220, 262 + + Black Stone in the KaaEuro~ba, the, 63, 274, 319, 467 + + Blunt, Lady Anne, 88, 101 + + Blunt, Wilfrid, 88, 101 + + Bobastro, 410 + + Boer, T. J. de, 433 + + Bohlen, 308, 312 + + Bokhara, 203, 265, 275, 360 + + _Book of Examples, the_, by Ibn Khaldun, 437 + + _Book of Sibawayhi, the_, 343 + + _Book of the Thousand Tales, the._ See _Hazar Afsan_ + + _Book of Viziers, the_, 458 + + Books, the Six Canonical, 337 + + Boswell, 144, 313, 452 + + Brethren of Purity, the, 370-372 + + British Museum, the, 12, 402 + + Brockelmann, C., 205, 236, 237, 308, 328, 339, 346, 349, 449, 459, + 468, 469 + + Browne, Prof. E. G., 29, 42, 185, 217, 218, 230, 247, 251, 258, 265, + 272, 275, 290, 329, 346, 362, 375, 381, 383, 394, 399, 445 + + BrA1/4nnow, R. E., 32, 35, 49, 51, 209, 210 + + Brutus, 252 + + BuaEuro~ath, battle of, 170 + + Buddha, 297, 298 + + Buddhism, 373, 375, 390, 391. + See _Nirvana_ + + -Buhturi (poet), 130, 316, 324 + + Bujayr b. aEuro~Amr, 58 + + Bukhara. See _Bokhara_ + + -Bukhari, 144, 146, 151, 337 + + Bulaq, 469 + + Bunyan, 212 + + Burckhardt, 95, 465, 466, 467 + + Burd, 373 + + _-Burda_, 326, 327 + + _-burda_ (the Prophet's mantle), 327, 366 + + Burji Mamelukes, the, 447 + + Burns, Robert, 450 + + _burnus_, the, a mark of asceticism, 210 + + Burton, Sir Richard, 459 + + Busir, 326 + + -Busiri (poet), 326, 327 + + Buthayna, 238 + + Butrites, the, a ShiaEuro~ite sect, 297 + + Buwayhid dynasty, the, 264, +266-268+, 271, 275, 303, 338 + + Byzantine Empire, the, 3, 29, 46, 171, 255, 261, 269, 359 + + + C + + Cadiz, 405 + + CA|sar, 252 + + CA|tani, Prince, 149, 155, 156, 171 + + Cairo, 275, 350, 394, 395, 437, 447, 448, 451, 452, 453, 454, 455, + 458, 461, 464, 469 + + Caliph, the, must belong to Quraysh, 207 + + Caliph, name of the, mentioned in the Friday sermon, 263, 264; + stamped on the coinage, 264; + title of, assumed by the Fatimids, 271; + by the Umayyads of Spain, 412 + + Caliphs, the, -MasaEuro~udi's account of, 354 + + Caliphs, the aEuro~Abbasid. See _aEuro~Abbasids, the_ + + Caliphs, the Orthodox, xxiii, xxvii, 181-193 + + Caliphs, the Umayyad. See _Umayyad dynasty, the_ + + Calpe, 204 + + Campbell, D., 360 + + Canaanites, the, 3 + + Canonical Books, the Six, 337 + + Capuchins, the, 228 + + Carmathians, the, 272, +274+, 322, 324, 371, 375, 381, 467. + See _Fatimid dynasty_; _IsmaaEuro~ilis_ + + Carmona, 437 + + Casanova, P., 371 + + Caspian Sea, the, xxviii, 21, 264, 266, 350, 352, 391 + + Castile, 422, 437 + + Castles of -Yemen, the, 24 + + Catharine of Siena, 233 + + Cathay, xxv + + Caussin de Perceval, 32 + + Cave-dwellers of Khurasan, the, 232 + + Celibacy condemned by Muhammad, 224 + + Cemetery of the Sufis, the, at Damascus, 463 + + Ceuta, 405, 412, 423, 434 + + Ceylon, 352 + + Chagar Beg, 275 + + Charles the Hammer, 204 + + Charter, the, drawn up by Muhammad for the people of Medina, 173 + + Chaucer, 289 + + Chauvin, Victor, 214 + + Chenery, T., 244, 328, 332, 333, 336 + + Chihrazad, 457 + + China, 203, 352, 419, 444 + + Chingiz Khan, 444 + + Christian poets who wrote in Arabic, 138, 139 + + Christianity in Arabia, 117, 137-140; + in GhassAin, 51, 54, 123; + at -Hira, 39, 41, 43, 44, 46, 49, 123, 124, 138; + in Najran, 26, 27, 124, 137; + in Moslem Spain, 407, 411, 412, 413, +414-415+, 431, 435, 441 + + Christianity, influence of, on Muhammadan culture, xxii, 176, 177, + 216, 221, 231, 389, 390 + + Christians, Monophysite, 51 + + Christians, supposed by Moslems to wear a girdle, 461 + + Christians at the Umayyad court, 221, 240, 241 + + _Chronology of Ancient Nations, the_, by -Biruni, 361 + + Church and State, regarded as one by Moslems, 170, 182, 197 + + Chwolsohn, 363 + + Classicism, revolt against, 287-289 + + Cleopatra, 34 + + Coinage, Arabic, introduced by aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Malik, 201 + + Commercial terms derived from Arabic, 281 + + Companions of the Prophet, biographies of the, 144, 356, 456 + + Confession of faith, the Muhammadan, 403 + + Conquests, the early Muhammadan, work on the, 349 + + Constantinople, xxix, 29, 45, 52, 84, 104, 318, 362, 412 + + Cordova, 131, 341, 347, 406-411, +412+, 413-415, 418, 420-426, 428, + 434, 435 + + Cordova, the University of, 420 + + Courage, Arabian, the nature of, 82 + + Criticism of Ancient and Modern Poets, 283-289 + + Cromwell, 189 + + Crusade, the Third, 275 + + Crusaders, the, 331, 447 + + Cruttenden, 8 + + Ctesiphon, 47, 48, 210. + See _-MadaaEuro(TM)in_ + + Cureton, 211, 216, 341 + + + D + + Dabba (tribe), xix + + -Dahab al-aEuro~Ijli, 44 + + Dahis (name of a horse), 61 + + Dahis and -GhabrAi, the War of, 61, 62, 114, 116 + + _-dahriyyun_, 381 + + _daaEuro~i_ (missionary), 249, 272 + + -DajaaEuro~ima, 50 + + -Dajjal (the Antichrist), 216 + + _dakhil_, 95 + + Damascus, xxi, xxviii, 13, 46, 51, 53, 54, 111, 181, 104, 195, 202, + 203, 207, 235, 240, 241, 242, 244, 247, 252, 255, 274, 304, 313, + 335, 340, 374, 386, 399, 408, 451, 462, 463 + + _-Damigh_, 375 + + Daniel, 162 + + Dante, 360, 404 + + _dapir_ (Secretary), 257 + + Daqiqi, Persian poet, 265 + + Daraya, 386 + + Darius, 256 + + Darmesteter, J., 217 + + Daru aEuro(TM)l-Rum (Constantinople), 362 + + Daughters, the birth of, regarded as a misfortune, 91, 156 + + Daughters of Allah, the, 135, 156 + + Davidson, A. B., 82 + + _dawidar_ (_dawadar_), 445 + + Daws Dhu ThaaEuro~laban, 27 + + -Daylam, 266 + + Dead Sea, the, 249 + + Decline of the Caliphate, 257, 263 + + Derenbourg, H., 54, 122, 123, 194, 260, 331, 445, 454 + + Dervish orders, the, 393 + + Desecration of the tombs of the Umayyad Caliphs, 205 + + -Dhahabi (Shamsu aEuro(TM)l-Din), historian, 339, 446, 454 + + DhamaraEuro~ali Dhirrih, 10 + + Dhu aEuro(TM)l-Khalasa, name of an idol, 105 + + Dhu aEuro(TM)l-Khursayn (name of a sword), 96 + + Dhu aEuro(TM)l-Majaz, 114 + + Dhu Nafar, 66, 67 + + Dhu aEuro(TM)l-Nun al-Misri, 386-388, 389, 460 + + Dhu aEuro(TM)l-Nusur (surname), 2 + + Dhu Nuwas, 12, +26-27+, 137, 162 + + Dhu Qar, battle of, 69, 70 + + Dhu l-Qarnayn, 17, 18 + + Dhu aEuro(TM)l-Quruh (title), 104 + + Dhu RuaEuro~ayn, 25, 26 + + Dhu aEuro(TM)l-Rumma (poet), 246 + + Dhu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Umrayn, nickname of Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Khatib, 436 + + Dhu aEuro(TM)l-Wizaratayn (title), 425 + + Dhubyan (tribe), xix, 61, 62, 116, 117, 121 + + Diacritical points in Arabic script, 201 + + DiaEuro~bil (poet), 261, 375 + + Dictionaries, Arabic, 343, 403, 456 + + Didactic poem by Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Atahiya, 300 + + Diercks, 360 + + Dieterici, F., 270, 305, 307, 308, 310, 312, 313, 371 + + _dihqan_, 291 + + Diminutives, 396, 449 + + _din_ (religion), 178, 287 + + Dinarzad, 457 + + Dinarzade, 457 + + -Dinawar, 346 + + -Dinawari (historian), 251, 349 + + Dinazad, 457 + + Diodorus Siculus, 3 + + Dionysius the Areopagite, 387, 389 + + -DiraaEuro~iyya, 466 + + Dirge, the Arabian, 126 + + _dithar_, 152 + + _Divan-i Shams-i Tabriz_, 298 + + Divine Right, the ShiaEuro~ite theory of, 214, 271 + + _diwan_ (collection of poems), 127, 128 + + Diwan (Register) of aEuro~Umar, the, 187, 188 + + _Diwans of the Six Poets, the_, 128 + + _diya_ (blood-wit), 93 + + -DiyAirbakri (historian), 445 + + Dog, the, regarded by Moslems as unclean, 445 + + Doughty, E. M., 3 + + Dozy, 214, 399, 407, 410, 411, 413, 414, 415, 420, 422, 424, 428, 429, + 431, 465, 467 + + Drama, the, not cultivated by the Semites, 328 + + Drinking parties described in Pre-islamic poetry, 124, 125, 167 + + Droit du seigneur, le, 4 + + _dubayt_ (a species of verse), 450 + + Dubeux, 352 + + Duka, T., 390 + + Dumas, 272 + + _Dumyatu aEuro(TM)l-Qasr_, 348 + + Duns Scotus, 367 + + Durayd b. -Simma, 83 + + Durayd b. Zayd b. Nahd, 75 + + _Durratu aEuro(TM)l-Ghawwas_, 336 + + _Duwalu aEuro(TM)l-Islam_, 446 + + Dvorak, R., 304 + + Dyke of MaaEuro(TM)rib, the, 2, 5, +14-17+, 50, 63 + + Dynasties of the aEuro~Abbasid period, 264-276 + + + E + + Eber, xviii + + Ecbatana, 129, 328. + See _Hamadhan_ + + Ecstasy, 387, 393, 394 + + Edessa, 331, 358 + + Egypt, xxiv, xxix, xxx, 4, 5, 132, 184, 186, 193, 215, 268, 274, 275, + 307, 323, 326, 327, 350, 354, 355, 358, 387-390, 399, 419, 432, + 434, 442, 443, 447, 448, 450, 451, 454, 460, 461, 464, 466, 468 + + Egypt, conquest of, by the Moslems, 184 + + _Egypt, History of_, by Ibn Taghribirdi, 454 + + Eichhorn, xv + + Elegiac poetry, 126, 127 + + _Elephant, the Sura of the_, 68 + + Elephant, the year of the, 28, 66, 146 + + Eloquence, Arabian, 346, 347 + + Emanation, Plotinus's theory of, 393 + + Emessa, 304 + + Emigrants, the. See _-Muhajirun_ + + Encomium of the Umayyad dynasty, by -Akhtal, 242 + + Epic poetry not cultivated by the Arabs, 325 + + Equality of Arabs and non-Arabs maintained by the ShuaEuro~ubites, 279, 280 + + Equites Thamudeni, 3 + + Erotic prelude, the. See _nasib_ + + Erpenius, 355 + + Essenes, the, 224 + + Euphrates, the, xv, 33, 36, 37, 38, 41, 53, 110, 113, 186, 189, 192, + 196, 256, 418, 443, 449 + + Euting, Julius, 9 + + + F + + Fables of beasts, considered useful and instructive, 330 + + -Fadl, the Barmecide, 260 + + -Fadl b. al-RabiaEuro~, 293 + + -Fahl (surname), 125 + + Fahm (tribe), 81 + + Fairs, the old Arabian, 135 + + _-Fakhri_, 187, 188, 194, 203, 260, 331, 445, +454+ + + Fakhru aEuro(TM)l-Dawla (Buwayhid), 267 + + Fakhru aEuro(TM)l-Mulk, 340 + + Falcon of Quraysh, the, 407, 417 + + _-falsafa_ (Philosophy), 283 + + _fana_ (dying to self), 233, 390, 391 + + _fanak_, 53 + + _faqih_, 464 + + _faqir_ (fakir), 230, 464 + + _faqr_ (poverty), 230 + + Farab, 360 + + -FarAibi (Abu Nasr), 270, +360+, 393 + + -Farazdaq (poet), 196, 238, 239, 240, +242-244+, 245, 246 + + -Farghani, 361 + + FariduaEuro(TM)ddin aEuro~Attar, 226, 228, 386 + + -Farqadan (name of two stars), 35 + + -Farra, 343 + + Farrukh-mahan, 45 + + Fars (province), 266 + + Fathers, the Christian, 341 + + _-Fatiha_, 143 + + Fatima, daughter of -Khurshub, 88 + + Fatima, daughter of the Prophet, 183, 218, 250, 251, 258, 267, 274 + + Fatima (mother of Qusayy), 64 + + Fatima, a woman loved by ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Qays, 106 + + Fatimid dynasty, the, 217, 265, 268, 269, +271-275+, 322, 371, 412 + + -Fatra, 152 + + _Fawatu aEuro(TM)l-Wafayat_, 449, 452 + + Fayiasufu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arab (title), 360. + See _-Kindi_ + + Faymiyun (Phemion), 26 + + Ferdinand I of Castile, 422 + + Ferdinand III of Castile, 434 + + Ferdinand V of Castile, 441 + + Fez, 436 + + Fihr (tribe), xix + + _-Fihrist_, 13, 142, 345, 359, +361-364+, 387, 457 + + -Find, 58, 60, 84 + + _-fiqh_ (Jurisprudence), 283; + denoting law and theology, 339, 420, 465 + + Firdawsi, Persian poet, 265, 269 + + Firuz (Firuzan), father of MaaEuro~ruf al-Karkhi, 385 + + Firuz, a Persian slave, 189 + + -FA-rAºzAibAidA- (Majdu aEuro(TM)l-Din), 403, 456 + + Fleischer, 400, 404 + + Flint, Robert, 441 + + Fluegel, G., 142, 297, 362, 364, 459 + + Folk-songs, Arabic, 238, 416-417, 449-450 + + _Fons VitA|_, 428 + + Foreigners, Sciences of the, 282, 283 + + Forgery of Apostolic Traditions, 145, 146, 279 + + Forgery of Pre-islamic poems, 133, 134 + + France, 9, 412, 469 + + Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, 434, 441 + + Free schools, founded by Hakam II, 419 + + Free-thought in Islam, 283, 284, 298, 345, 460. + See _MuaEuro~tazilites_ and _Zindiqs_ + + Free-will, the doctrine of, 223, 224 + + Freytag, G. W., 16, 31, 48, 50, 55, 73, 89, 91, 109, 129, 292, 373 + + Friedlaender, I., 428 + + Frothingham, 389 + + -Fudayl b. aEuro~Iyad, 232, 233, 385 + + _-fuhul_, 138 + + Fukayha, 89 + + _-funAºn al-sabaEuro~a_ (the seven kinds of poetry), 450 + + Fuqaym (tribe), 28 + + _-Fusul wa-aEuro(TM)l-Ghayat_, 318 + + _Fususu aEuro(TM)l-Hikam_, 400, 401, 402 + + _-Futuhat al-Makkiyya_, 400, 464 + + Future life, Pre-islamic notions of the, 166 + + + G + + Gabriel, 63, 141, 150, 267 + + Galen, 358 + + Galland, 458 + + Gallienus, 33 + + Gaulonitis, the, 53 + + Gaza, 5 + + Geber, 361 + + Geiger, 162 + + Genealogy, Muhammadan, xx + + Genealogy, treatise on, by Ibn Durayd, 343 + + _Genesis, Book of_, xv + + Geographers, the Moslem, 356, 357 + + George -Makin, 355 + + Georgians, the, 445 + + Germany, 8, 412 + + Gesenius, 8 + + -GhabrAi (name of a mare), 61 + + -Gharid, 236 + + -Ghariyyan, 43 + + GhassAin, xxii, 33, 37, 38, 42, 43, 121, 122, 138, 139, 158, 332 + + Ghassanid court, the, described by Hassan b. Thabit, 53 + + Ghassanids, the, 33, +49-54+, 122 + + Ghatafan (tribe), xix, 61 + + -Ghawl, 119 + + _ghayba_ (occultation), 216 + + Ghayman (castle), 24 + + Ghayz b. Murra, 117 + + Ghazala, 339 + + -Ghazali, 230, 234, 277, +338-341+, +380-383+, 393, 431, 463 + + Ghazan, 446 + + Ghaziyya (tribe), 83 + + Ghazna, 268-269, 355 + + Ghaznevid dynasty, the, 265, +268-269+, 271, 275 + + _ghiyar_, 461 + + Ghiyathu aEuro(TM)l-Din MasaEuro~ud (Seljuq), 326, 329 + + _-Ghulat_ (the extreme ShiaEuro~ites), 216 + + GhumdAin (castle), 24 + + Gibb, E. J. W., 443, 460 + + Gibb, H. A. R., 470 + + Gibbon, 439 + + Gibraltar (Jabal Tariq), 204, 414 + + Glaser, E., 9, 15 + + Gnosis, the Sufi doctrine of, 386, 387 + + Gnosticism, 389, 390 + + Gobineau, Comte de, 320 + + Goeje, M. J. de, 179, 180, 253, 256, 257, 287, 322, 349, 350, 351, + 353, 354, 356, 366, 371, 409 + + Goethe, 97 + + Gog and Magog, 18 + + _Golden Meadows, the._ See _Muruju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_ and -MasaEuro~udi + + Goldziher, Ignaz, xx, xxii, 10, 18, 30, 73, 90, 119, 145, 177, 178, + 199, 200, 221, 225, 246, 278, 279, 280, 285, 287, 289, 297, 298, + 315, 344, 345, 366, 368, 370, 372, 374, 379, 390, 409, 431, 433, 466 + + Gospel, the, 165, 171 + + Grammar, Arabic, the origin of, 202, 278, 282, 341-343, 363 + + Grammars, Arabic, 343, 456 + + Granada, 421, 424, 428, 431, 434, +435-437+, 441, 442, 447 + + Gray, T., 77 + + Greece, 131, 296, 361, 434 + + Greece, the influence of, on Muhammadan thought, 220, 221, 229, 266, + +358-361+, 363, 369, 370, 386, 388 + + Greek Philosophers, the, 341, 363 + + Green, the colour of the aEuro~Alids, 262 + + Grimme, H., xv, 10 + + GrA1/4nert, M., 346 + + Guadalquivir, the, 422 + + Guest, A. R., 453 + + Guillaume, A., 360 + + Guirgass, 251 + + Guyon, Madame, 233 + + + H + + HaarbrA1/4cker, 220, 221, 223, 224, 297 + + Habib b. Aws. See _Abu Tammam_ + + _hadarat_, mystical term, 402 + + -Hadi, the Caliph, 260, 373 + + _Hadiqatu aEuro(TM)l-Afrah_, 449 + + _-hadith_ (Traditions of the Prophet), 132, 134, +143-146+, 201, 247, + 258, 348. See _Traditions of the Prophet_ + + Hadramawt (province), 1, 5, 42 + + Hadrian, 137 + + Hafsa, 142 + + Hafsid dynasty, the, 442 + + Hagar. See _Hajar, wife of Abraham_ + + Hajar (in -Bahrayn), 94, 96 + + Hajar, wife of Abraham, xviii, 63 + + -Hajjaj b. Yusuf, 200, +201-203+, 209, 213, 244 + + Hajji Khalifa, 456 + + -Hakam I (Spanish Umayyad), 409 + + -Hakam II (Spanish Umayyad), 412, 419 + + _hakim_ (philosopher), 387 + + _hal_, mystical term, 387 + + _Halbatu aEuro(TM)l-Kumayt_, 417 + + HalA(C)vy, Joseph, 9 + + Halila, 56 + + Halima, daughter of -Harith al-AaEuro~raj, 50 + + Halima, the battle of, 43, 50, 51, 125 + + Halima, the Prophet's nurse, 147 + + -Hallaj. See _-Husayn b. Mansur_ + + Halle, 8 + + Ham, xv + + _hama_ (owl or wraith), 94, 166 + + Hamadhan (Ecbatana), 129, 292, 328, 333 + + -HamadhAinA-, 328. + See _BadiaEuro~u aEuro(TM)l-Zaman_ + + Hamal b. Badr, 61, 88 + + _-Hamasa_, of Abu Tammam, 55, 57-61, 79, 81, 82, 83, 84, 87, 92, 93, + 98, 100, 126, +129-130+, 136, 137, 199, 213, 324, 331 + + _-Hamasa_, of -Buhturi, 130, 324 + + _hamasa_ (fortitude), 79, 326 + + Hamat, 454 + + -HamaysaaEuro~ b. Himyar, 12 + + Hamdan, 19 + + Hamdan Qarmat, 274 + + -Hamdani (geographer), 6, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 20, 24 + + Hamdanid dynasty, the, 268, +269-271+, 291, 303 + + Hamilton, Terrick, 459 + + Hammad al-Rawiya, 103, 113, 128, +132-134+, 344 + + Hammer, J. von, 308, 316, 396, 459 + + Hamza of Isfahan (historian), 14, 280 + + Hanbalites, the, 376, 462 + + _handasa_ (geometry), 283 + + HaniaEuro(TM), a chieftain of Bakr, 69 + + Hanifa (tribe), 183 + + Hanifs, the, 69, +149+, +150+, 170, 318 + + Hanzala of TayyiaEuro(TM), 44 + + _haqiqat_, mystical term, 392 + + _haqiqatu aEuro(TM)l-haqaaEuro(TM)iq_, mystical term, 403 + + _-haqiqatu aEuro(TM)l-Muhammadiyya_, mystical term, 403 + + _-haqq_, mystical term, 392 + + Haram (tribe), 331 + + Harim b. Sinan, 61, 116, 117, 288 + + -Hariri, author of the _Maqamat_, 329-336 + + -Harith al-Akbar. See _-Harith b. aEuro~Amr Muharriq_ + + -Harith b. aEuro~Amr (Kindite), 42, 44, 103, 104 + + -Harith b. aEuro~Amr Muharriq (Ghassanid), 50 + + -Harith al-AaEuro~raj (Ghassanid), 43, 50, 54, 125. + See _-Harith b. Jabala_ + + -Harith b. aEuro~Awf, 61, 116, 117 + + -Harith b. Hammam, 330, 331, 333 + + -Harith b. Hilliza (poet), 44, 100, 109, 113-114, 128 + + -Harith b. Jabala (Ghassanid), 43, 50, +51+, +52+. + See _-Harith al-AaEuro~raj_ + + -Harith al-RaaEuro(TM)ish, 17 + + -Harith b. Surayj, 222 + + -Harith b. aEuro~Ubad, 58, 50 + + -Harith the Younger (Ghassanid), 50 + + -Harith b. Zalim, 85 + + _-harj_, 249 + + Harran, 221, 358, 361, 462 + + Harran, the bilingual inscription of, xxii + + Hartmann, M., 450, 468 + + Harun al-Rashid, the Caliph, xxix, 255, 258, 259, +260-261+, 262, 277, + 283, 292, 293, 296, 298, 343, 345, 347, 366, 367, 368, 373, 385, + 388, 458, 459 + + Harura, 208 + + Harwat, 11 + + _hasab_, 100 + + Hasan (Buwayhid), 266 + + -Hasan of -Basra, 208, 222, 223, +225-227+, 230, 243, 244, 294 + + -Hasan b. Ahmad al-Hamdani, 11. + See _-Hamdani_ + + -Hasan b. aEuro~Ali, the Nizamu aEuro(TM)l-Mulk, 276. + See _Nizamu aEuro(TM)l-Mulk_ + + -Hasan b. aEuro~Ali b. Abi Talib, 216, 297 + + -Hasan al-Burini, 396 + + -Hasan b. -Sabbah, 445 + + Hashid (tribe), 12 + + Hashim, 65, 146, 250 + + -Hashimiyya (ShiaEuro~ite sect), 220, 251 + + Hassan b. Thabit (poet), 18, 52, 53, 54, 127 + + Hassan (son of AsaEuro~ad Kamil), the TubbaaEuro~, 19, 23, 25 + + Hatim of TayyiaEuro(TM), +85-87+, 288 + + Hawazin (tribe), xix + + _Hayy b. Yaqzan_, 433 + + Hayyum, 19 + + _Hazar Afsan_ (_Hazar Afsana_), 363, 457-458 + + -Haziri (Abu aEuro(TM)l-MaaEuro~ali), 348 + + _Hazzu aEuro(TM)l-Quhuf_, 450 + + Hebrew language, the, xvi + + Hebrews, the, xv + + Hellespont, the, xxix + + Helpers, the. See _-Ansar_ + + Hengstenberg, 102 + + Heraclius, 52 + + Heresies of the Caliph -MaaEuro(TM)mun, 262 + + Herodotus, 353 + + Hierotheus, 389 + + hija (satire), 73, 294 + + -Hijaz, xvii, 3, 21, +62+, 63, 64, 69, 137, 149, 150, 215, 340, 395, + 398, 399, 465, 466 + + -Hijr, the inscriptions of, xxi, 3 + + -Hijra (Hegira), xxv, 158, 171 + + -Hilla, 449 + + _Hilyatu aEuro(TM)l-Awliya,_ 338 + + _himaq_ (a species of verse), 450 + + Hims, 304 + + Himyar (person), 14 + + Himyar (people), xxv, 1, 6, 10, 17, 24, 25, 26, 429 + + Himyarite kings, the, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 17-27. + See _TubbaaEuro~s, the_ + + Himyarite language, the, xvi, xvii, xxi, 6-11 + + _Himyarite Ode, the_, 12, 13 + + Himyarites, the, xviii, xx, xxi, 4, +5+, +6+, 7, 12, 17, 23, 26 + + Hind, mother of Bakr and Taghlib, 58 + + Hind (a Bedouin woman), 46 + + Hind, daughter of -NuaEuro~man III, 46, 47 + + Hind, wife of -Mundhir III, 44, 45, 110 + + Hinwam (hill), 20 + + -Hira, xxii, xxiii, 29, 33, 34, +37-49+, 51, 52, 53, 54, 60, 69, 70, + 85, 87, 103, 107, 108, 109, 110, 112, 114, 121, 122, 124, 138, + 139, 189, 244, 439 + + Hira, Mount, 150 + + Hirran, 11 + + Hirschfeld, H., 151 + + Hisham (Umayyad Caliph), 200, 206, 224, 243 + + Hisham I (Spanish Umayyad), 347, 409 + + Hisham II (Spanish Umayyad), 412, 421 + + Hisham b. Muhammad al-Kalbi, 38, 39, 40, 348 + + Hisn Ghurab, 8 + + Historians, Arab, +11-14+, 144, 247, +348-356+, 420, 428, 435-440, + +452-454+ + + Historical studies encouraged by the Umayyads, 247 + + History, the true purpose of, 437; + subject to universal laws, 438; + evolution of, 439, 440 + + _History of the Berbers_, by Ibn Khaldun, 429, 435 + + _History of the Caliphs_, by -Suyuti, 455 + + _History of Islamic Civilisation_, by Jurji Zaydan, 435 + + _History of Old and New Cairo_, by -Suyuti, 455 + + Holy Ghost, the, 150 + + Holy War, the, enjoined by the Koran, 174 + + Homer, the Iliad of, translated into Arabic verse, 469 + + HomeritA|, the, 5 + + Hommel, F., xv, 1 + + Honour, Pre-islamic conception of, 82-100 + + Horace, 326 + + Hospitality, the Bedouin ideal of, 85 + + House of the Prophet, the, 250. + See aEuro~_Ali b. Abi Talib_; _aEuro~Alids_; _ShiaEuro~ites_. + + Houtsma, Th., 193, 242, 329, 349 + + Huart, C., 468 + + Hubal (name of an idol), +64+ + + Hubba, 64 + + Hud (prophet), 2 + + Hudhalites (Hudhaylites), 22, 128. + See _Hudhayl_ + + Hudhayla b. Badr, 61 + + Hudhayta b. al-Yaman, 142 + + Hudhayl (tribe), xix, 64, 98, 99, 100 + + Hughes, G., 80 + + Hujr (Kindite), 42 + + Hujr, father of ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Qays, 104 + + Hulagu, xxix, 182, 444-446 + + Hulayl b. Hubshiyya, 64 + + _-Hullat al-Siyara_, 418 + + Hulton, 8 + + _hulul_ (incarnation), 396, 402 + + Hulwan, 292 + + Humani, 457 + + -Humayma, 249 + + Hunayn b. Ishaq, 359 + + _hur_ (houris), 167 + + Hurmuz (Sasanian), 47 + + Hurufis, the, 460 + + -Husayn, son of aEuro~Ali b. Abi Talib, +196+, +197+, 198, 216, 218, 243, + 466 + + -Husayn b. Damdam, 117 + + -Husayn b. Mansur -Hallaj, 363, 375, 399 + + _Husnu aEuro(TM)l-Muhadara_, 455 + + -HutayaEuro(TM)a (poet), 127, 131, 261 + + Huzwa, 398 + + Hypocrites, the. See _-Munafiqun_ + + + I + + Iamblichus, 389 + + aEuro~Ibad, the, of -Hira, 38, 39, 138 + + Ibadites (a Kharijite sect), the, 211 + + _-aEuro~Ibar_, by -Dhahabi, 339 + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Abbar, 418, 424 + + Ibn aEuro~Abdi Rabbihi, 102, +347+, +420+ + + Ibn Abi DuaEuro(TM)ad, 376 + + Ibn Abi UsaybiaEuro~a, 266, 355 + + Ibn Abi YaaEuro~qub al-Nadim, 362 + + Ibn Abi ZaraEuro~, 429 + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Ahmar (Nasrid), 435 + + Ibn aEuro~AaEuro(TM)isha, 236 + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Alqami, 445 + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Amid, 267 + + Ibn aEuro~Ammar (poet), 422, 424 + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arabi. See _Muhyi aEuro(TM)l-Din Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arabi_ + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arabi, the Cadi, of Seville, 399 + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-AaEuro~rabi (philologist), 128 + + Ibn aEuro~Arabshah, 454 + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Athir, 203, 205, 253, +355-356+, 376, 379, 420, 429 + + Ibn Bajja, 361, 434 + + Ibn Bashkuwal, 426, 434 + + Ibn Bassam, 422, 434 + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Baytar, 434 + + Ibn Durayd, 253, 280, +343+ + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Farid. See _aEuro~Umar Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Farid_ + + Ibn Hajar, 456 + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Hanafiyya. See _Muhammad Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Hanafiyya_ + + Ibn Hani (poet), 419, 420 + + Ibn Hawqal, 356 + + Ibn Hayyan, 428 + + Ibn Hazm, 222, 341, 402, +423-428+ + + Ibn Hisham, 17, 22, 23, 63, 64, 69, +144+, 147, 150, 151, 152, 154, + 156, 158, 166, 170, 173, 175, +349+ + + Ibn Humam, 105 + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Idhari, 407, 428, 429 + + Ibn Ishaq, 69, +144+, 146, 149, 156, 247, +349+ + + Ibn Jahwar, 424 + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Jawzi, 355 + + Ibn Jubayr, 357, 434 + + Ibn Kabsha, nickname of Muhammad, 166 + + Ibn Khalawayh, 271 + + Ibn Khaldun, 32, 228, 229, 277, 278, 288, 289, 350, 353, 429, 435, + +437-440+, 443, 452 + + Ibn Khallikan, 129, 132, 190, 213, 224, 234, 245, 261, 266, 267, 276, + 288, 295, 308, 312, 326, 343, 344, 346, 348, 355, 357, 359, 360, + 377, 378, 387, 408, 422, 425, 427, +451-452+ + + Ibn Khaqan, 425, 434 + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Khatib, the Vizier, 413, 435, 436, 437 + + Ibn Khidham, 105 + + Ibn Khurdadbih, 356 + + Ibn Maja, 337 + + Ibn Malik of Jaen, 456 + + Ibn Mukarram (Jamalu aEuro(TM)l-Din), 456 + + Ibn Muljam, 193 + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-MuqaffaaEuro~, 330, +346+, 348, 358 + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-MuaEuro~tazz (poet), 325 + + Ibn Nubata (man of letters), 61 + + Ibn Nubata, the preacher, 271, 328 + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Qifti, 355, 370, 387 + + Ibn Qutayba, xviii, 35, 49, 50, 51, 75, 77, 105, 117, 145, 202, 223, + 257, 277, 280, +286+, +287+, 288, 289, 293, 294, 345, +346+ + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Qutiyya, 420 + + Ibn Quzman, 417 + + Ibn Rashiq, 71, 288 + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Rawandi, 375 + + Ibn Rushd, 341, 361, 432, 434 + + Ibn SabaEuro~in, 434 + + Ibn SaaEuro~d, 144, 256, 349 + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Sammak, 261 + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Sikkit, 343 + + Ibn Sina (Avicenna), 265, 266, 341, +360+, +361+, 393 + + Ibn Sirin, 244 + + Ibn Surayj, 236 + + Ibn Taymiyya, 371, +462+, +463+, 465, 466 + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Tiqtaqa, 454 + + Ibn Tufayt, 361, 432, 433, 434 + + Ibn Tumart, 431-432 + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Wahshiyya, xxv + + Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Wardi, 455 + + Ibn Zaydun (poet), 419, 424-426 + + Ibn Zuhr, 434 + + Ibrahim (Abraham), xviii, 63. + See _Abraham_ + + Ibrahim (aEuro~Alid), 258 + + Ibrahim b. Adham, 232 + + Ibrahim b. Hilal al-Sabi, 328 + + Ibrahim of Mosul, 261 + + Idol-worship at Mecca, 62-64 + + Idris, 264 + + -Idrisi (geographer), 357, 434 + + Idrisid dynasty, the, 264 + + _IhyaaEuro(TM)u Ulum al-Din_, 230, 234, 338, 340 + + -Iji (Adudu aEuro(TM)l-Din), 456 + + _ijmaaEuro~_, 460 + + _ikhlas_, 164 + + Ikhmim, 387 + + _-Ikhtiyarat_, 128 + + IkhwAinu aEuro(TM)l-Safa, 370-372, 388 + + _-Iklil_, 6, 12, 13, 24 + + _-ilahiyyun_, 382 + + _Iliad, the_, xxii, 325, 469 + + Il-Khans, the, xxix, 446 + + Il-Makah, 11 + + _aEuro~ilmu aEuro(TM)l-hadith_ (Science of Apostolic Tradition), 283 + + _aEuro~ilmu aEuro(TM)l-kalam_ (Scholastic Theology), 283 + + _aEuro~ilmu aEuro(TM)l-nujum_ (Astronomy), 283 + + _aEuro~ilmu aEuro(TM)l-qiraaEuro(TM)at_ (Koranic Criticism), 283 + + _aEuro~ilmu aEuro(TM)l-tafsir_ (Koranic Exegesis), 283 + + _aEuro~ilq_, 101 + + aEuro~Imadu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla (Buwayhid), 266 + + aEuro~Imadu aEuro(TM)l-Din al-Katib al-Isfahani, 348, 355 + + Imam (head of the religious community), 210 + + Imam, the Hidden, 216-217, 371; + the Infallible, 220, 432 + + Imam-Husayn, a town near Baghdad, 466. + See _Karbala_ + + _-imam al-maaEuro~sum_, 432 + + Imamites, the, 251 + + Imams, the Seven, 217, 273 + + Imams, the ShiaEuro~ite, 214-220 + + Imams, the Twelve, 217 + + Imamu aEuro(TM)l-Haramayn, 339, 379 + + _iman_ (faith), 222 + + ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Qays (poet), 42, 84, 85, 101, 102, +103-107+, 128, 136, 246, + 289 + + India, 4, 17, 268, 341, 352, 361, 389 + + +India, History of+, by -Biruni, 361 + + India, the influence of, on Moslem civilisation, 361, 389, 390 + + India, Moslem conquests in, 203, 268 + + Indian religion, described by -Shahrastani, 341 + + Indus, the, xxiv, 203, 264 + + Infanticide, practised by the pagan Arabs, 149, 243 + + Initiation, the IsmaaEuro~ilite degrees of, 273 + + Inquisition (_mihna_) established by -MaaEuro(TM)mun, 368, 369 + + _-Insan al-Kamil_, the Perfect Man, 402 + + Inscriptions, the Babylonian and Assyrian, xxv, 4 + + Inscriptions, Himyarite. See _Inscriptions, South Arabic_ + + Inscriptions, NabatA|an, xxv, 3 + + Inscriptions, South Arabic, xvi, xxi, xxvi, +6-11+ + + Inspiration, views of the heathen Arabs regarding, 72, 73, 152, 165 + + Intellectual and Philosophical Sciences, the, 282 + + Ionia, the dialect of, xxiii + + _-aEuro~Iqd al-FarA-d_, 102, 131, +347+, 420 + + Iram, 1 + + -aEuro~Iraq, 34, 38, 42, 123, 132, 142, 201, 202, 207, 208, 243, 244, 255, + 262, 266, 273, 303, _350_, 419, 445. See _Babylonia_ + + _-Isaba fi tamyiz al-Sahaba_, 456 + + Isabella of Castile, 441 + + Isaiah, 151 + + Isfahan, 14, 131, 268, 280, 326, 347, 355, 419 + + Isfandiyar, 330, 363 + + Ishaq b. Ibrahim al-Mawsili, 261, 362, 418 + + Ishaq b. Khalaf, 92 + + Ishmael. See _IsmaaEuro~il_ + + Isidore of Hispalis, 198 + + Islam, meaning of, 153; + cardinal doctrines of, 163-168; + formal and ascetic character of, 168, 224; + derived from Christianity and Judaism, 176, 177; + pagan elements in, 177; + opposed to the ideals of heathendom, 177, 178; + identified with the religion of Abraham, 62, 177; + a world-religion, 184 + + IsmaaEuro~il (Ishmael), xviii, 63, 64 + + IsmaaEuro~il (Samanid), 265 + + IsmaaEuro~il b. aEuro~Abbad, 267. + See _-Sahib IsmaaEuro~il b. aEuro~Abbad_ + + IsmaaEuro~il b. Naghdala, 428 + + IsmaaEuro~ilis, the, 217, +272-274+, 363, +371+, +372+, 381, 420, 445 + + +isnad+, 144, 278, 352 + + -Isnawi, 339 + + Israel, 73 + + Istakhr, 356 + + -Istakhri, 356 + + _istifa_, 228 + + Italy, 412, 414, 441 + + Ithamara (SabA|an king), 4 + + -Ithna -aEuro~ashariyya (the Twelvers), 217 + + IaEuro~timad, name of a slave-girl, 422 + + _-Itqan_, 145, 455 + + _ittihad_, 402 + + _aEuro~iyar_, 297 + + Iyas b. Qabisa, 53 + + aEuro~Izzu aEuro(TM)l-Din b. aEuro~Abd al-Salam, 461 + + + J + + Jabal Tariq (Gibraltar), 204 + + Jabala b. -Ayham (Ghassanid), 50, 51, 52, 53, 54 + + -Jabariyya (the Predestinarians), 224 + + Jabir b. Hayyan, 361, 387 + + _jabr_ (compulsion), 224, 297 + + Jacob, G., 74, 76 + + Jadala (tribe), 429 + + Jadhima al-Abrash, 34, 35, 36, 40 + + Jadis (tribe), 4, 25 + + Jaen, 456 + + JaaEuro~far, the Barmecide, 260 + + JaaEuro~far, son of the Caliph -Hadi, 260 + + Jafna, founder of the Ghassanid dynasty, 50 + + Jafnites, the. See _Ghassanids, the_ + + Jaghbub, 468 + + Jahdar b. DubayaEuro~a, 59 + + _-jahiliyya_ (the Age of Barbarism), xxvi, +30+, 31, 34, 71, 90, 158, + 287 + + -Jahiz, 267, 280, +346-347+, 375 + + _jahiz_, 346 + + -Jahiziyya (MuaEuro~tazilite sect), 346 + + _jahl_, meaning 'barbarism', 30 + + Jahm b. Safwan, 222 + + -Jahshiyari (Abu aEuro~Abdallah Muhammad b. aEuro~Abdus), 458 + + Jalalu aEuro(TM)l-Din Khwarizmshah, 444 + + Jalalu aEuro(TM)l-Din al-Mahalli, 455 + + Jalalu aEuro(TM)l-Din Rumi, Persian poet, 298, 393, 404 + + Jallaban, 293 + + _-Jamhara fi aEuro(TM)l-Lugha_, 343 + + _Jamharatu AshaEuro~ari aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arab_, 130 + + -Jami (aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Rahman), Persian poet, 229, 284, 386, 433 + + _-JamiaEuro~_, by -Tirmidhi, 337 + + _-JamiaEuro~a_, 371 + + Jamil, 238 + + Jandal, 245 + + Janissaries, the, 413 + + -Jannabi, 375 + + -Jaradatan (name of two singing girls), 2 + + Jarir (poet), 205, 238, 239, 240, 242, +244-246+ + + Jassas b. Murra, 56, 57 + + -Jawf, 9 + + Jawhar, 429 + + -Jawlan, 54 + + Jerusalem, 169, 177, 233, 275, 340, 355, 357 + + Jesus, 215, 216 + + Jews, the, 341. + See _Judaism_ + + -Jibal (province), 292, 356, 445 + + Jibril (Gabriel), 150 + + _jihad_, 430 + + Jinn, the, 72, 112, 119, 152, 165 + + _jinni_ (genie), 165 + + Jirjis -Makin (historian), 355 + + John of Damascus, 221 + + John of Ephesus, 52 + + Johnson, Dr., 286, 313 + + Joktan, xviii + + Jones, E. R., 433 + + Jones, Sir William, 102, 452 + + Jong, P. de, 366 + + Jordan, the, 446 + + -JubbaaEuro(TM)i, 377, 378 + + Judaism, established in -Yemen, 23, 137; + zealously fostered by Dhu Nuwas, 26; + in Arabia, 137-140, 149, 158, 170-172, 173, 176, 177; + in Spain, 415, 428, 429; + in Sicily, 441 + + Judaism, influence of, on Muhammadan thought, 176, 177, 215, 216 + + _-juaEuro~iyya_ (the Fasters), 232 + + Juliana of Norwich, 233 + + Junayd of Baghdad, 228, 230, 392, 465 + + Junde-shapur, 358 + + Jurhum (tribe), xviii, 63, 117 + + Jurjan, 339 + + Jurji Zaydan, 435 + + Justinian, 43, 51, 104, 358 + + Justinus (Byzantine Emperor), 27, 52 + + -Juwayni (Abu aEuro(TM)l-MaaEuro~ali), 339, 379 + + Juynboll, 257, 262, 268, 350, 369 + + + K + + KaaEuro~b (tribe), 246 + + KaaEuro~b b. Zuhayr (poet), 119, 127, 327 + + -KaaEuro~ba, +63+, +64+, +65+, +67+, 101, 117, 154, 155, 157, 164, 169, + 177, 198, 319, 400, 403, 467 + + KaaEuro~bu aEuro(TM)l-Ahbar, 185 + + -Kadhdhab (title of Musaylima), 183 + + Kafur (Ikhshidite), 306, 307 + + Kahlan, 14 + + -Kalabadhi, 338 + + _-kalam_ (Scholasticism), 363, 378 + + Kalb (tribe), 199, 405 + + _kalb_, 445 + + _Kalila and Dimna, the Book of_, 346, 363 + + -Kamala (title), 88 + + _-kamil_ (metre), 75 + + _-Kamil_ of Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Athir, 355, 379, 429. + See _Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Athir_ + + _-Kamil_ of -Mubarrad, 92, 131, 202, 226, 227, 237, 244, 343 + + _kanwakan_ (a species of verse), 450 + + Karbala, 196, 198, 208, 216, 218, 243, 466 + + KaribaaEuro(TM)il Watar, 10 + + -Karkh, a quarter of Baghdad, 267, 385 + + _kasb_, 379 + + _Kashfu aEuro(TM)l-Zunun_, 456 + + _-Kashshaf_, 145 + + _katib_ (secretary), 257, 326 + + Kawadh (Sasanian), 42 + + Kerbogha, 446 + + Khadija, 148, 150, 151, 152, 153, 157 + + _-khafif_ (metre), 75 + + Khalaf, 421 + + Khalaf al-Ahmar, 97, 134, 293, 344 + + Khalid b. -Mudallil, 43 + + Khalid b. -Walid, 184 + + Khalid b. Yazid, 358 + + _khalifa_ (Caliph), xxvii, 175 + + -Khalil b. Ahmad, 75, 285, +343+ + + Khamir (village), 19 + + _-Khamriyya_, by Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Farid, 396 + + _khamriyyat_, 294 + + _khanaqah_ (monastery), 229 + + -Khansa (poetess), 126, 127 + + _Kharidatu aEuro(TM)l-Qasr_, 348 + + _khariji_ (Kharijite), 209 + + Kharijites, the, 193, 207, +208-213+, 221, 222, 239, 248, 259, 428 + + Kharmaythan, 360 + + -Khasib, 373 + + _khatib_, 271 + + -Khatib, of Baghdad, 355 + + -Khatim b.aEuro~Adi, 94, 96 + + -Khawarij. See _Kharijites, the_ + + -Khawarnaq (castle), 40, 41 + + -Khaybar, 50 + + -Khayf, 237 + + Khazaza, battle of, 5 + + -Khazraj (tribe), 170 + + Khedivial dynasty, the, 468 + + Khidash b. Zuhayr, 95, 96 + + Khindif, xix + + _-Khitat_, by -Maqrizi, 453 + + Khiva, 361, 444 + + _Khizanatu aEuro(TM)l-Adab_, 131 + + Khuda Bukhsh, S., 279 + + _Khuday-nama_, 348 + + Khulafa al-Rashidun, xxvii. + See _Caliphs, the Orthodox_ + + Khurasan, xxviii, 129, 132, 220, 221, 232, 233, 239, +249+, +250+, + 251, 254, 256, 258, 263, 265, 266, 275, 303, 339, 341, 379, 390, + 391, 419, 444 + + Khurasan, dialect of, 339 + + _khuruj_ (secession), 209 + + Khusraw Parwez. See _Parwez_ + + _khutba_, 263, 328 + + KhuzaaEuro~a (tribe), 63, 64, 65 + + Khuzayma (tribe), xix + + Khuzistan, 266, 274, 293, 358 + + Khwarizm, 357, 361, 444 + + -Khwarizmi (Abu aEuro~Abdallah), 361 + + _-kibrit al-ahmar_, 399 + + Kilab (tribe), 246 + + Kilab b. Murra, 64 + + _-kimiya_ (the Philosophers' Stone), 401 + + _KimiyaaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-SaaEuro~adat_, 340 + + _-kimiyaaEuro(TM)un_ (the Alchemists), 364 + + Kinana (tribe), xix, 64 + + Kinda (tribe), xviii, 42, 43, 69, 85, 103, 104, 360 + + -KA-ndi, 288, 360 + + -KisaaEuro(TM)i (philologist), 261, 343 + + Kisra (title), 45 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Aghani_ (the Book of Songs), 19, 26, 31, +32+, 37, 43, 44, + 46, 47, 53, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 94, 102, 104, 109, 110, 123, 124, + 131, 134, 138, 139, 150, 200, 205, 216, 236, 237, 239, 241, 242, + 243, 244, 245, +270+, 279, 291, 292, 297, 345, +347+, 374, +419+ + + Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Ahkam al-Sultaniyya_, 338 + + Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Akhbar al-Tiwal_, 349 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Amali_, 131 + + _Kitabu Ansabi aEuro(TM)l-Ashraf_, 349 + + _-Kitab al-Awsat_, 353 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Ayn_, 343 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-BadiaEuro~_, 325 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Bayan wa-aEuro(TM)l-Tabyin_, 347 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Falahat al-Nabatiyya_, xxv + + _Kitabu Futuhi aEuro(TM)l-Buldan_, 349 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Hayawan_, 346, 375 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Ibar_, by Dhahabi, 339 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Ibar_, by Ibn Khaldun, 437 + + _Kitabu, aEuro(TM)l-Ibil_, 345 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Ishtiqaq_, 343 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Kamil fi aEuro(TM)l-TaaEuro(TM)rikh_, 355. + See _-Kamil of Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Athir_ + + _Kitabu Khalq al-Insan_, 345 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Khayl_, 345 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-LumaaEuro~_, 393 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-MaaEuro~arif_, xviii, 202, 223, 224, 345, +346+ + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Maghazi_, by Musa b. aEuro~Uqba, 247 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Maghazi_, by -Waqidi, 144 + + _-Kitab al-Mansuri_, 265 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Masalik wa-aEuro(TM)l-Mamalik_, 356 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Milal wa-aEuro(TM)l-Nihal_, by Ibn Hazm, 341, 427, 428 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Milal wa-aEuro(TM)l-Nihal_, by -Shahrastani, 341. + See _-Shahrastani_ + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Muluk wa-akhbar al-Madin_, 13 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-ShiaEuro~r wa-aEuro(TM)l-ShuaEuro~ara_, 75, 78, 105, 117, 257, 293, 346 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-TaaEuro~arruf li-Madhhabi ahli aEuro(TM)l-Tasawwuf_, 338 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Tabaqat al-Kabir_, 144 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Tanbih wa-aEuro(TM)l-Ishraf_, 353, 354 + + _-Kitab al-Yamini_, 355 + + _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Zuhd_, 247 + + _Koran, the_, xvii, xx, xxii-xxv, xxvi, xxvii, 1, 2, 3, 15, 17, 18, + 27, 68, 74, 91, 102, 119, 132, 134, +141-143+, 144-152, 154-156, + 158, +159-168+, 169, 172, 174, +175+, +176+, 178, 179, 183, 184, + 185, 187, 192, 201, 203, 207-212, 215, 221, 223, 225, 231, 234, + +235+, 237, 247, 249, 273, 277, 278, 279, 282, 284, 287, 294, 318, + 327, 329, 330, 342, 343, 344, 363, 365, 368, 369, 375, 378, 379, + 397, 398, 403, 408, 417, 433, 449, 454, 455, 460, 461, 462, 463, + 467 + + _Koran, the_, derivation of, 159; + collection of, 142; + historical value of, 143; + arrangement of, 143, 161; + style of, 159, 318, 368; + not poetical as a whole, 160; + held by Moslems to be the literal Word of God, 159, 235; + heavenly archetype of, 151, 163, 368; + revelation of, 150-152, 159; + designed for oral recitation, 161; + commentaries on, 144, 145, 351, 455; + imitations of, 318, 368, 375; + dispute as to whether it was created or not, 262, 368, 369 + + Koran-readers (_-qurra_), the, 209, 210, 277 + + Kosegarten, 128 + + Krehl, L., 151, 360 + + Kremer, Alfred von, 13, 14, 18, 19, 23, 24, 101, 139, 140, 220, 221, + 225, 233, 279, 281, 302, 304, 316, 318, 321, 323, 324, 360, 373, + 379, 383, 399, 439 + + -Kufa, xxiv, 38, 70, 127, 133, 134, 186, +189+, 193, 196, 198, 202, + 207-210, 215, 218, 219, 229, 250, 253, 291, 293, 296, 304, 342, + +343+, 344 + + -Kulab, battle of, 253 + + Kulayb (tribe), 244, 245 + + Kulayb b. RabiaEuro~a, 5, 55, 56, 57, 76, 93 + + Kulayb b. WaaEuro(TM)il, 110. + See _Kulayb b. RabiaEuro~a_ + + Kulthum b. Malik, 110 + + -Kumayt (poet), 138 + + _kunya_ (name of honour), 45, 50, 112 + + -KusaaEuro~i, 244 + + Kuthayyir (poet), 216 + + _-kutub al-sitta_ (the Six Books), 337 + + -Kutubi, 449, 452 + + + L + + La Fontaine, 469 + + Labid (poet), 50, 109, +119-121+, 128, 139, 140 + + Lagrange, Grangeret de, 396, 417 + + Lahore, 268 + + Lakhmites, the, of -Hira, 33, 38, +39-49+, 54, 69 + + Lamis (name of a woman), 82 + + _Lamiyyatu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Ajam_, 326 + + _Lamiyyatu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arab_, +79+, +80+, 89, 134, 326 + + Lamta (tribe), 429 + + Lamtuna (tribe), 429 + + Lane, E. W., 53, 164, 448, 459 + + Lane-Poole, Stanley, 264, 275, 371, 432 + + -Lat (goddess), 135, 155 + + _LataaEuro(TM)ifu aEuro(TM)l-Minan_, 464 + + Latifi (Turkish biographer), 460 + + Laus duplex (rhetorical figure), 311 + + Law, Muhammadan, the schools of, 283, 284, 363, 465; + the first corpus of, 337 + + _Lawaqihu aEuro(TM)l-Anwar_, 225, 226, 392 + + -Lawh al-Mahfuz, 163, 378 + + Layla, mother of aEuro~Amr b. Kulthum, 44, 109, 110 + + Layla, the beloved of -Majnun, 238 + + Le Strange, G., 256, 356, 357 + + Learning, Moslem enthusiasm for, 281 + + Lees, Nassau, 386 + + Leo the Armenian, 359 + + Letter-writing, the art of, 267 + + Lexicon, the first Arabic, 343 + + Library of Nuh II, the Samanid, 265, 266; + of Hakam II, the Spanish Umayyad, 419 + + Linguistic Sciences, the, 282 + + Lippert, 370 + + _Lisanu aEuro(TM)l-Arab_, 456 + + Lisanu aEuro(TM)l-Din Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Khatib. See _Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Khatib_ + + Literary culture despised by the Arabs, 278 + + _litham_, 423 + + Littmann, Enno, 73 + + Logos, the, 403 + + Lollards, the, 374 + + Longland, 450 + + Loth, O., 1 + + Lourdes, 382 + + Love, Divine, the keynote of Sufiism, 231; + two kinds of, 234; + an ineffable mystery, 387; + hymn of, 396; + in Sufi poetry, 234, 397, 398, 402, 403 + + Loyalty, as understood by the heathen Arabs, 83-85 + + Lucian, 319 + + _-lugha_ (Lexicography), 283 + + Luhayy, 63 + + Lull, Raymond, 404 + + LuaEuro(TM)luaEuro(TM), 304 + + Luqman b. aEuro~Ad (king), 2, 14 + + _-Luzumiyyat_, 315, 316, 319, 323, 324 + + _Luzumu ma la yalzam_, 315. + See _-Luzumiyyat_ + + Lyall, Sir Charles, 32, 54, 71, 75, 82, 89, 92, 97, 101, 109, 111, + 112, 113, 114, 115, 117, 118, 120, 121, 125, 129, 139, 140, 149 + + + M + + MaaEuro(TM) al-Sama (surname), 41 + + MaaEuro(TM)ab, 63 + + _maaEuro~ad_ (place of return), 215 + + MaaEuro~add, xix, xx, 112 + + MaaEuro~arratu aEuro(TM)l-NuaEuro~man, 313, 314, 323 + + -MaaEuro~arri (Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Ala), 448. + See _Abu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Ala al-MaaEuro~arri_ + + MaaEuro~bad (singer), 236 + + MaaEuro~bad al-Juhani, 224 + + _Macbeth_, Arabian parallel to an incident in, 25 + + Macdonald, D. B., 273, 378, 382, 433 + + Macedonia, 276 + + Machiavelli, 439 + + Macoraba, 5, 62 + + Madagascar, 352 + + -MadaaEuro(TM)in (Ctesiphon), 29, 33, 46, 47, 48. + See _Ctesiphon_ + + MadaaEuro(TM)in Salih, 3 + + _-madh al-muwajjah_, 311 + + _-madid_ (metre), 98 + + _madih_ (panegyric), 78, 294 + + Madinatu aEuro(TM)l-Salam, 255. + See _Baghdad_ + + Madrid, 420 + + _mafakhir_, 100 + + _maghazi_, 247 + + -Maghrib, 460 + + Magi (Magians), the. See _Zoroastrians, the_ + + Magian fire-temple at Balkh, the, 259 + + Mahaffy, J. P., 82 + + Mahdi, the, +216+, +217+, 248, 249, 274, 431 + + -Mahdi, the Caliph, 103, 128, 257, 258, 296, 343, 367, 373, 374, 418 + + -Mahdiyya, 274 + + Mahmud (Ghaznevid), 268-269, 355 + + Mahra, dialect of, xxi + + Maimonides, 434 + + Majdu aEuro(TM)l-Din al-FA-rAºzAibAidA-. See _-FA-rAºzAibAidA-_ + + _-MajmuaEuro~ al-Mubarak_, 355 + + -Majnun, 238 + + _majnun_, 165 + + Malaga, 410, 421, 428, 434 + + Malik (boon companion of Jadhima), 35 + + Malik (brother of Qays b. Zuhayr), 61 + + Malik the Azdite, 34 + + Malik, the slayer of -Khatim b. aEuro~Adi, 94, 95 + + Malik b. Anas, 284, +337+, +366+, 408 + + -Malik al-Dillil (title of ImruaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Qays), 104 + + -Malik al-Kamil (Ayyubid), 395, 434 + + -Malik al-Salih NajmuaEuro(TM)l-Din (Ayyubid), 447 + + Malik Shah (Seljuq), 275, 276, 326, 340 + + -Malik al-Zahir (Ayyubid), 275 + + -Malik al-Zahir Baybars. See _Baybars, Sultan_ + + Malikite books burned by the Almohades, 433 + + Malikite school of Law, the, 408 + + Mameluke dynasty, the, xxix, 442, 446, +447+, +448+, 453, 464 + + Mamelukes, the, 413 + + _mamluk_, 447 + + -MaaEuro(TM)mun, the Caliph, 92, 129, 255, 257, +262+, +283+, 284, 302, 343, + +358-359+, 361, +368+, 369, 373, 388 + + Manat (goddess), 135, 155 + + Mandeville, Sir John, xxv + + Manfred, 441 + + -Manfuha, 124 + + Mani (Manes), 364, 375 + + ManichA|ans, the, 218, 297, 341, 372-375. + See _Zindiqs, the_ + + -Mansur, the Caliph, 128, 206, 252, 253, 255, 257, +258-259+, 291, + 314, 337, 346, 349, 358, 373, 407 + + Mansur I (Samanid), 265, 352 + + -Mansur Ibn Abi aEuro~Amir, 412, 413, 426 + + _Mantle Ode (-Burda), the_, 326, 327 + + _maqama_, 328 + + _-Maqamat_, of BadiaEuro~u aEuro(TM)l-Zaman al- Hamadhani, 328, 329 + + _-Maqamat_, of -Hariri, 329-336 + + Maqamu Ibrahim, 63 + + -Maqdisi. See _-Muqaddasi_ + + -Maqqari, 399, 401, +413+, 418, 419, 427, 436, 454 + + -Maqrizi (Taqiyyu aEuro(TM)l-Din), 453 + + _-Maqsura_, 343 + + Marabout, modern form of _murabit_, 430 + + _Marasidu aEuro(TM)l-IttilaaEuro~_, 357 + + _marathi_, 294 + + Marathon, battle of, 174 + + Marcion, 364 + + Margoliouth, Prof. D. S., xxiv, 183, 267, 314, 316, 317, 319, 357, 469 + + Mariaba, 5 + + MaaEuro(TM)rib, 2, 5, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 50. + See _Dyke of MaaEuro(TM)rib_ + + Maridin, 449 + + _maaEuro~rifat_ (gnosis), 386 + + Marinid dynasty, the, 442 + + Mariya, mother of -Mundhir III, 41 + + Mariya (name of a handmaiden), 46, 47 + + Mariya of the Ear-rings, 50 + + Marj Rahit, battle of, 199 + + Marr al-Zahran, 95 + + Marriage, a loose form of, prevailing among the ShiaEuro~ites, 262 + + MaaEuro~ruf al-Karkhi, 385, 386, 388 + + Marwan I (Umayyad Caliph), 199 + + Marwan II (Umayyad Caliph), 181, 251, 253, 347 + + -Marzuqi (philologist), 128 + + _Masabihu aEuro(TM)l-Sunna_, 337 + + _Masaliku aEuro(TM)l-Mamalik_, 356 + + _-mashaf_, 294 + + Mashhad -Husayn, 466 + + Maslama b. Ahmad, 420 + + Masruq, 28 + + MasaEuro~ud, Sultan, 329. + See _Ghiyathu aEuro(TM)l-Din MasaEuro~ud_ + + -MasaEuro~udi, 13, 15, 37, 195, 203, 205, 206, 259, 260, 267, 349, + +352-354+, 387, 456 + + _Materia Medica_, by Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Baytar, 434 + + _mathalib_, 100, 280 + + _Mathnawi, the_, by Jalalu aEuro(TM)l-Din Rumi, 404 + + _-Matin_, 428 + + _matlaaEuro~_, 309 + + _matn_, 144 + + Mauritania, 412 + + _-MawaaEuro~iz wa aEuro(TM)l-IaEuro~tibar fi dhikri aEuro(TM)l-Khitat wa aEuro(TM)l-Athar_, 453 + + -Mawali (the Clients), 198, 207, +219+, 222, +248+, 250, +278+, + +279+, 373 + + -Mawali (the Clients), coalesce with the ShiaEuro~ites, 198, 219, 220, + 250; + treated with contempt by the Arabs, 219, 248, 278, 279; + their culture, 248; + their influence, 278, 279 + + _mawaliyya_, a species of verse, 450 + + -Mawardi, 337, 338 + + Mawiyya, mother of -Mundhir III, 41 + + Mawiyya, wife of Hatim of TayyiaEuro(TM), 87 + + -Maydani, 31. + See _Proverbs, Arabic_ + + Maymun b. Qays. See _-AaEuro~sha_ + + Maysun, 195 + + Mazdak, 42, 258, 364 + + Mazyar, 375 + + Mecca, xviii, xxiii, xxvi, xxvii, 2, 3, 5, 6, 22, 28, 53, +62+, 63, + 64, 65-68, 101, 102, 114, 117, 146, 150, 154-156, 158, 169, 171, + 174, 175, 196, 198, 202, 236, 249, 274, 319, 339, 340, 395, 396, + 429, 431, 434, 439, 466, 468 + + Mecca, Pre-islamic history of, 62; + attacked by the Abyssinians, 66-69; + submits to the Prophet, 64, 175 + + Mecca, the dialect of, xxiii + + _Meccan Revelations, the_, 464. + See _Futuhat al-Makkiyya_ + + Meccan _Suras_ of the Koran, the, 160-168 + + Media, 356 + + Medina (-Madina), xxvi, xxvii, 3, 21, 22, 49, 50, 52, 62, 71, 84, + 150, 157, 158, 169, 170, 171, 173, 175, 176, 177, 181, 185, 186, + 188, 198, 208, 209, 236, 241, 243, 337, 339, 365, 466, 468 + + Medina, _Suras_ of the Koran revealed at, 175, 176 + + Mediterranean Sea, the, 5, 255, 275, 404, 412, 444 + + Merv, 252, 346 + + Merx, A., 384, 389 + + Mesopotamia, 35, 186, 238, 240, 269, 355, 358, 385, 388, 411, 446 + + Messiah, Moslem beliefs regarding the, 215-217, 248, 249. + See _Mahdi, the_ + + Metempsychosis, the doctrine of, 267 + + Metres, the Arabian, 74, 75 + + Mevlevi dervish order, the, 393 + + _mihna_, 368 + + -Mihras, 124 + + Mihrgan, Persian festival, 250 + + Milton, 212 + + Mina, 119 + + MinA|an language, the, xxi + + MinA|ans, the, 7 + + _minbar_ (pulpit), 199 + + Minqar, 57 + + Miqlab (castle), 24 + + Miracles demanded by the Quraysh from Muhammad, 165; + falsely attributed to Muhammad, 166 + + _-MiaEuro~raj_ (the Ascension of the Prophet), 169, 403 + + _MiraEuro(TM)atu aEuro(TM)l-Zaman_, 355 + + _Mishkatu aEuro(TM)l-Masabih_, 337 + + _Misr_ (Old Cairo), 394 + + _misraaEuro~_ (hemistich), 74 + + _-Mishar_, 455. + See _-Muzhir_ + + Moguls, the Great, xxix, 444 + + Moliere, 469 + + Monasticism, alien to Islam, 225 + + Mongol Invasion, the, xxiv, xxix, xxx, 272, 277, 326, 443, +444-446+ + + Mongols, the, 254, 264, 275, 442, 443, 462. + See _Mongol Invasion, the_ + + _Monte Cristo_, 469 + + Montrose, 191 + + Mordtmann, 9 + + Morocco, 264, 341, 423, 424, 430, 431, 442 + + Moses, 165, 172, 185, 215, 273, 397 + + Moslem, meaning of, 153 + + Moslems, the first, 153 + + Moslems, the non-Arabian. See _-Mawali_ + + Mosul (-Mawsil), 261, 269, 281, 326, 355, 362, 399, 445, 454 + + _-MuaEuro~allaqat_, 77, 82, +101-121+, 128, 131, 416, 459 + + MuaEuro~awiya b. Abi Sufyan (Caliph), xxviii, 13, 119, 181, 191, 192, 193, + +194-195+, 196, 206, 207, 208, 213, 214, 222, 256, 377, 407, 426 + + MuaEuro~awiya b. Bakr (Amalekite prince), 2 + + MuaEuro~awiya, brother of -Khansa, 126 + + MuaEuro(TM)ayyidu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla (Buwayhid), 267 + + -Mubarrad (philologist), 92, 131, 202, 226, 237, 244, +343+, +344+ + + Mudar b. Nizar, xix, 252 + + Mudar, the tribes descended from, xix + + _-Mudhhabat, -Mudhahhabat_, 101 + + -Mutaddal al-Dabbi (philologist), +128+, 133, +343+ + + Mufaddal b. Salama, 31 + + _-Mufaddaliyyat_, 90, +128+, 343 + + -Mughammas, 69 + + _muhajat_ (scolding-match), 238 + + -Muhajirun (the Emigrants), 171, 209 + + Muhalhil b. RabiaEuro~a, 58, 76, 109, 110 + + -Muhallab b. Abi Sufra, 239 + + -Muhallabi, the Vizier, 267, 347 + + Muhammad, the Prophet, xxiii, xxvi-xxviii, 3, 10, 15, 18, 27, 30, 51, + 62, 64, 65, 66, 69, 70, 71, 74, 86, 87, 105, 124, 132, 134, 135, + 137, 139, +141-180+, 181-183, 186-188, 190-193, 201, 202, 207-209, + 213-218, 223, 224, 229, 231, 233, +235+, 237, 249, 250, 251, 257, + 258, 267, 273, 274, 277, 278, 279, 280, 318, 327, 330, 341, 342, + 348, 349, 355, 356, 380, 383, 392, 400, 403, 420, 428, 433, 449, + 455, 462, 463, 465, +467+ + + Muhammad, question whether he could read and write, 151; + his attitude towards the heathen poets, 159, 212, 235; + his aim in the Meccan _Suras_, 160; + his death, 175; + his character, 179, 180; + biographies of, 144, 146, 247, 349; + poems in honour of, 124, 127, 326, 327, 449; + mediA|val legend of, 327; + identified with the Logos, 403; + pilgrimage to the tomb of, 463; + his tomb demolished by the Wahhabis, 467 + + Muhammad (aEuro~Alid), 258 + + Muhammad (Seljuq), 326 + + Muhammad b. aEuro~Abd al-Wahhab, 465-467 + + Muhammad b. aEuro~Ali (aEuro~Abbasid), 251 + + Muhammad aEuro~Ali Pasha, 466, 468 + + Muhammad b. aEuro~Ali b. -Sanusi, 468 + + Muhammad Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Hanafiyya, 216, 218, 220 + + Muhammad b. -Hasan, the Imam, 217 + + Muhammad b. IsmaaEuro~il, the Imam, 217, 272-274 + + Muhammad al-Kalbi, 348 + + Muhammad b. SaaEuro~ud, 466 + + -Muhtadi, the Caliph, 264 + + Muhyi aEuro(TM)l-Din Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arabi, +399-404+, 434, 462 + + Muhyi aEuro(TM)l-MawaEuro(TM)udat (title), 243 + + Muir, Sir W., 142, 143, 146, 156, 184, 197, 338 + + -MuaEuro~izz (Fatimid Caliph), 420 + + MuaEuro~izzu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla (Buwayhid), 266, 267, 347 + + -MujammiaEuro~ (title), 65 + + _MuaEuro~jamu aEuro(TM)l-Buldan_, 17, 357 + + _MuaEuro~jamu aEuro(TM)l-Udaba_, 357 + + Mukarrib (title), 10 + + -Mukhadramun (a class of poets), 127 + + -Mukhtar, 198, +218-220+, 250 + + _-Mukhtarat_, 128 + + -Muktafi, the Caliph, 257, 269, 325 + + -Mulaththamun, 423 + + MA1/4ller, A., 5, 101, 261, 266, 355, 429 + + MA1/4ller, D. H., 9, 10, 12, 13, 17, 18, 24 + + Multan, 203 + + Muluku aEuro(TM)l-TawaaEuro(TM)if (the Party Kings of Spain), 414 + + -Munafiqun (the Hypocrites), 171, 172, 176 + + -Munakhkhal (poet), 49 + + -Mundhir I (Lakhmite), 41 + + -Mundhir III (Lakhmite), +41-44+, 45, 50, 51, 60, 87, 103, 104 + + -Mundhir IV (Lakhmite), 45, 47 + + -Mundhir b. -Harith (Ghassanid), 50, 52 + + -Mundhir b. MaaEuro(TM) al-sama, 50, 51. + See _-Mundhir III_ + + -Munjibat (title), 88 + + Munk, S., 360 + + _-Munqidh mina aEuro(TM)l-Dalal_, 340, 380 + + _munshi_, 326 + + -Muqaddasi (geographer), 356, 357, 409 + + _-Muqaddima_, of Ibn Khaldun, 32, 229, 278, 289, +437-440+. + See _Ibn Khaldun_ + + -MuqannaaEuro~, 258 + + -Muqattam, Mt., 394, 396 + + _-Muqtabis_, 428 + + -Muqtadir, the Caliph, 325, 343, 399 + + _-murabit_, 430 + + -Murabitun, 433. + See _Almoravides, the_ + + _murid_, 392 + + _murjiaEuro(TM)_ (Murjite), 221 + + Murjites, the, 206, 220, +221-222+, 428 + + Murra, 56, 57, 58 + + Mursiya (Murcia), 399 + + _Muruju aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_, 13, 15, 37, 195, 203, 205, 206, 259, 260, 267, + +349+, +353+, +354+, 387, 457 + + _muruwwa_ (virtue), 72, 82, 178, 287 + + Musa b. Maymun (Maimonides), 434 + + Musa b. Nusayr, 203, 204, 405 + + Musa b. aEuro~Uqba, 247 + + MusaEuro~ab, 199 + + Musaylima, 183 + + _-Mushtarik_, 357 + + Music in Pre-Isiamic Arabia, 236 + + Musicians, Arab, 236 + + _-musiqi_ (Music), 283 + + Muslim (Moslem), meaning of, 153 + + Muslim (author of _-Sahih_), 144, 337 + + Muslim b. aEuro~Aqil, 196 + + Muslim b. -Walid (poet), 261 + + _musnad_ (inscriptions), 6 + + -Mustakfi (Spanish Umayyad), 424 + + -Mustakfi, aEuro~Abbasid Caliph, 266 + + -Mustansir (aEuro~Abbasid), 448 + + -Mustarshid Billah, the Caliph, 329 + + -MustaaEuro~sim, the Caliph, 254, 445 + + -Mustawrid b. aEuro~Ullifa, 210 + + _-mutaEuro~a_, 262 + + -MuaEuro~tadid (aEuro~Abbadid), 421, 425 + + -MuaEuro~tadid (aEuro~Abbasid Caliph), 325 + + -MuaEuro~tamid (aEuro~Abbadid), 421-424 + + -Mutajarrida, 49, 122 + + -Mutalammis (poet), 107, 108, 138 + + Mutammim b. Nuwayra, 127 + + -Mutanabbi (poet), 266, 269, +270+, 289, 290, 291, 292, +304-313+, + 315, 316, 324, 396, 416, 448 + + _mutasawwifa_ (aspirants to Sufiism), 229 + + -MuaEuro~tasim, the Caliph, 129, 257, 263, 369, 375 + + -Mutawakkil, the Caliph, 257, 264, 284, 344, 350, 369, +375+, +376+, + 388 + + _mutawakkil_, 233 + + MuaEuro~tazilites, the, 206, 220, +222-224+, 225, 230, 262, 268, 284, 346, + +367-370+, 376, 377, 378, 392, 409, 428, 431 + + -MuaEuro~tazz, the Caliph, 325 + + -MutiaEuro~, the Caliph, 353 + + MutiaEuro~ b. Iyas (poet), 291, 292 + + _muwahhid_, 432 + + -Muwalladun, 278, 408 + + _muwashshah_, verse-form, 416, 417, 449 + + _-MuwattaaEuro(TM)_, 337, 408, 409 + + Muzaffar Qutuz (Mameluke), 446 + + Muzayna (tribe), 116 + + -Muzayqiya (surname), 15 + + _-Muzhir_, 71, 455 + + Mystical poetry of the Arabs, the, 325, 396-398, 403 + + Mysticism. See _Sufiism_ + + + N + + -Nabat, the NabatA|ans, xxv, 279 + + NabatA|an, Moslem use of the term, xxv + + _NabatA|an Agriculture, the Book of_, xxv + + NabatA|an inscriptions, xxv, 3 + + -Nabigha al-Dhubyam (poet), 39, 49, 50, +54+, 86, 101, +121-123+, 128, + 139 + + _nadhir_ (warner), 164 + + Nadir (tribe), 170 + + -Nadr b. -Harith, 330 + + _Nafahatu aEuro(TM)l'Uns_, by Jami, 386 + + _Nafhu aEuro(TM)l-Tib_, by -Maqqari, 399, 413, 436 + + NafiaEuro~ b. -Azraq, 208 + + -Nafs al-zakiyya (title), 258 + + -Nahhas (philologist), 102 + + -Nahrawan, battle of, 208 + + _-nahw_ (grammar), 283 + + NaaEuro(TM)ila, 35 + + -Najaf, 40 + + -Najashi (the Negus), 26, 27, 28 + + Najd, xvii, 62, 107, 466 + + Najda b. aEuro~Amir, 209 + + Najdites (a Kharijite sect), the, 208 + + Najran, 26, 27, 105, 124, 136, 137, 162 + + NaaEuro~man, 11 + + Namir (tribe), xix + + Napoleon, 468 + + _-NaqaaEuro(TM)id_, of -Akhtal and Jarir, 240 + + _-NaqaaEuro(TM)id_, of Jarir and -Farazdaq, 239 + + Naqb al-Hajar, 8 + + -Nasafi (Abu aEuro(TM)l-Barakat), 456 + + -NasaaEuro(TM)i, 337 + + Nashwan b. SaaEuro~id al-Himyari, 12, 13 + + _nasib_ (erotic prelude), 77, 310 + + Nasim, a place near Baghdad, 461 + + -Nasimi (the Hurufi poet), 460, 461 + + Nasir-i Khusraw, Persian poet, 323 + + Nasiru aEuro(TM)l-Dawla (Hamdanid), 269, 411 + + Nasr b. Sayyar, 251 + + Nasr II (Samanid), 265 + + Nasrid dynasty of Granada, the, 435, 442 + + _nataEuro~_, 257 + + -Nawaji (Muhammad b. -Hasan), 417 + + Nawar, wife of -Farazdaq, 243, 244 + + Nawar, the beloved of Labid, 121 + + Nawruz, Persian festival, 250 + + Naysabur, 232, 276, 338, 339, 340, 348 + + _Nazmu aEuro(TM)l-Suluk_, 396 + + -Nazzam, 369 + + Neo-platonism, 360, 384, 389, 390 + + Neo-platonist philosophers welcomed by Nushirwan, 358 + + Nero, 325 + + Nessus, 104 + + Nicephorus, 261 + + Niebuhr, Carsten, 7 + + Night journey of Muhammad, the, 169, 403 + + Night of Power, the, 150 + + _Nihayatu aEuro(TM)l-ArAib_, 455 + + Nile, the, xxviii, 264, 354, 455 + + Nirvana, 233, 391 + + -Nizamiyya College, at Baghdad, 276, 340, 380, 431 + + -Nizamiyya College, at Naysabur, 276, 340 + + Nizamu aEuro(TM)l-Mulk, 276, 340, 379 + + Nizar, xix + + Noah, xv, xviii, 165 + + NA¶ldeke, Th., xv, xx, xxxiii, xxv, 5, 27, 29, 38, 42, 44, 45, 48, 49, + 51, 52, 54, 55, 57-60, 66, 70, 78, 80, 83, 101, 102, 103, 109, 113, + 122, 123, 126, 127, 130, 134, 145, 151, 160, 167, 172, 184, 195, + 228, 237, 238, 249, 252, 258, 288 + + Nomadic life, characteristics of, 439, 440 + + Nominalists, 367 + + Normans, the, 441 + + Nubia, 387 + + Nuh I (Samanid), 265 + + Nuh II (Samanid), 265 + + _-Nujum al-ZAihira_, 257, 262, 268, 369, +454+ + + -NuaEuro~man I (Lakhmite), 40, 41, 139 + + -NuaEuro~man III (Lakhmite), +45-49+, 50, 53, 54, 69, 86, 121, 122 + + -NuaEuro~man al-Akbar. See _NuaEuro~man I_ + + -NuaEuro~man al-AaEuro~war (Lakhmite). See _-NuaEuro~man I_ + + -NuaEuro~man b. -Mundhir Abu Qabus. See _-NuaEuro~man III_ + + Numayr (tribe), 245, 246 + + -Nuri (Abu aEuro(TM)l-Husayn), 392 + + Nushirwan (Sasanian king), 29, 42, 45, 358 + + -Nuwayri, 15, 455 + + Nyberg, H. S., 404 + + + O + + Occam, 367 + + Ockley, Simon, 433 + + Ode, the Arabian, 76-78. + See _qasida_ + + Odenathus, 33, 35 + + _Odyssey, the_, xxii + + O'Leary, De Lacy, 360 + + Ordeal of fire, the, 23 + + Orthodox Caliphs, the, xxiii, xxvii, 181-193 + + Orthodox Reaction, the, 284, 376. + See _-AshaEuro~ari_ + + Osiander, 9 + + Ottoman Turks, the, xxix, 442, 447, 464-467 + + Oxus, the, xxviii, 341, 444 + + + P + + Pahlavi (Pehlevi) language, the, 214, 330, 346, 348, 358 + + Palermo, 441 + + Palestine, 52, 104, 137, 229 + + Palmer, E. H., 172, 176, 260 + + Palms, the Feast of, 54 + + Palm-tree, verses on the, by aEuro~Abd al-Rahman I, 418 + + Palm-trees of Hulwan, the two, 292 + + Palmyra, 33, 53 + + Panegyric, two-sided (rhetorical figure), 311 + + Panjab (Punjaub), the, 203, 268 + + Pantheism, 231, 233, 234, 275, 372, +390+, +391+, 394, +402+, +403+, + 460 + + Paracelsus, 388 + + Paradise, the Muhammadan, burlesqued by AbuaEuro(TM)l -aEuro~Ala al-MaaEuro~arri, 318, + 319 + + Parthian kings, the, 457 + + Parwez, son of Hurmuz (Sasanian), 48, 69 + + Passion Play, the, 218 + + _Paul and Virginia_, 469 + + Pavet de Courteille, 349 + + Pearl-fishing in the Persian Gulf, 354 + + Pedro of Castile, 437 + + Penitents, the (a name given to certain ShiaEuro~ite insurgents), 218 + + Pentateuch, the, 165, 171, 323 + + Perfect Man, doctrine of the, 402 + + Persecution of the early Moslems, 154, 155, 157; + of heretics, 224, 368, 369, 372-375, 376, 436, 460, 461 + + Persepolis, 356 + + Persia, xxiv, xxvii, xxix, 21, 29, 33, 34, 38, 41, 42, 48, 113, 169, + 182, 184, 185, 188, 208, 214, 247, 255, 258, 265, 266, 274, 279, + 328, 348, 349, 390, 394, 404, 444, 446, 454, 457 + + Persia, the Moslem conquest of, 184 + + Persia, the national legend of, 349 + + Persian divines, influence of the, 278 + + Persian Gulf, the, 4, 107, 354, 357 + + Persian influence on Arabic civilisation and literature, xxviii, + xxix, 182, 250, 256, 265, 267, +276-281+, 287, 288, 290, 295, 418 + + Persian influence on the ShiaEuro~a, 214, 219 + + _Persian Kings, History of the_, translated by Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-MuqaffaaEuro~, 348 + + Persian literature, fostered by the Samanids and Buwayhids, 265, 303 + + Persian Moslems who wrote in Arabic, xxx, xxxi, 276-278 + + Persians, the, rapidly became Arabicised, 280, 281 + + Persians, the, in -Yemen, 29 + + Petra, xxv, 5 + + Petrarch, 425 + + Pharaoh, 162, 403 + + Pharaohs, the, 4, 5 + + Philip III, 441 + + Philistines, the, 3 + + Philologists, the Arab, xxiv, 32, 127, 128, 133, 246, +341-348+ + + Philosophers, the Greeks 341, 363 + + Philosophers, the Moslem, 360, 361, 381, 382, 432-434 + + _Philosophers and scientists, Lives of the_, by Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Qifti, 355 + + _Philosophus Autodidactus_, 433 + + PhA"nician language, the, xvi + + PhA"nicians, the, xv + + _Physicians, History of the_, by Ibn Abi UsaybiaEuro~a, 266, 355 + + Piers the Plowman, 450 + + Pietists, the, 207, 208 + + Pilgrimage to Mecca, the, 63, 65, 135, 136, 319 + + Pilgrimage, of the ShiaEuro~ites, to the tomb of -Husayn at Karbala, 218, + 466 + + _pir_ (Persian word), 392 + + Plato, 204 + + Plutarch, 363 + + Pocock, E., 433 + + _Poems of the Hudhaylites, the_, 128 + + Poems, the Pre-islamic, xxii, xxiii, 30, 31, +71-140+, 282, 285-289, + 290; + chief collections of, 127-131; + the tradition of, 131-134; + first put into writing, 132 + + _Poems, the Suspended._ See _-MuaEuro~allaqat_ + + Poetics, work on, by Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-MuaEuro~tazz, 325 + + Poetry, Arabian, the origins of, 72-75; + the decline of, not due to Muhammad, 235; + in the Umayyad period, 235-246; + in the aEuro~Abbasid period, 285-336; + in Spain, 415-417, 425, 426; + after the Mongol Invasion, 448-450 + + Poetry, conventions of the Ancient, criticised, 286, 288, 315 + + Poetry, Muhammadan views regarding the merits of, 308-312; + intimately connected with public life, 436; + seven kinds of, 450 + + Poetry, the oldest written Arabic, 138 + + _Poetry and Poets, Book of_, by Ibn Qutayba. See _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-ShiaEuro~r + wa-aEuro(TM)l-ShuaEuro~ara_ + + Poets, the Modern, 289-336; + judged on their merits by Ibn Qutayba, 287; + pronounced superior to the Ancients, 288, 289 + + Poets, the Pre-islamic, character and position of, 71-73; + regarded as classical, xxiii, 72, 285, 286 + + Politics, treatise on, by -Mawardi, 337, 338 + + Portugal, 416 + + Postal service, organised by aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Malik, 201 + + Postmaster, the office of, 45 + + PrA|torius, F., 10 + + Prayers, the five daily, 149, 168 + + Predestination, 157, 223, 224, 378, 379 + + Preston, Theodore, 330 + + Prideaux, W. F., 11, 13 + + Primitive races in Arabia, 1-4 + + Proclus, 389 + + Procreation, considered sinful, 317 + + Prophecy, a, made by the Carmathians, 322 + + Prose, Arabic, the beginnings of, 31 + + Proverbs, Arabic, 3, 16, +31+, 50, 84, 91, 109, 244, 292, 373 + + Ptolemies, the, 276 + + Ptolemy (geographer), 3, 358 + + Public recitation of literary works, 314 + + Pyramids, the, 354 + + Pyrenees, the, xxviii, 204 + + Pythagoras, 102 + + + Q + + Qabus (Lakhmite), 44, 45, 52 + + _qadar_ (power), 224 + + -Qadariyya (the upholders of free-will), 224 + + _qaddah_ (oculist), 271 + + _qadA- aEuro(TM)l-qudat_ (Chief Justice), 395 + + Qadiri dervish order, the, 393 + + -Qahira, 275, 394. + See _Cairo qahramana_, 457 + + Qahtan, xviii, 12, 14, 18, 200 + + _QalaaEuro(TM)idu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Iqyan_, 425 + + _-Qamus_, 403, 456 + + _-Qanun_, 361 + + _qaraaEuro(TM)a_, 159 + + -Qarafa cemetery, 396 + + -Qaramita, 274. + See _Carmathians, the_ + + _qarawi_, 138 + + _qarn_, meaning 'ray', 18 + + _qasida_ (ode), 76-78, 105, 288 + + _qasida_ (ode), form of the, 76, 77; + contents and divisions of the, 77, 78; + loose structure of the, 134; + unsuitable to the conditions of urban life, 288 + + _Qasidatu aEuro(TM)l-Burda_. See _-Burda_ + + _Qasidatu aEuro(TM)l-Himyariyya,_ 12 + + Qasir, 36, 37 + + Qasirin, 111 + + Qasiyun, Mt., 399 + + -Qastallani, 455 + + Qatada, 294 + + Qatari b. -FuiaaEuro(TM)a, 213 + + -Qayrawan, 264, 429 + + Qays aEuro~Aylan (tribe), xix, 199, 293, 405 + + Qays b. -Khatim, 94-97, 137 + + Qays b. Zuhayr, 61, 62 + + Qaysar (title), 45 + + Qazwin, 445 + + -Qazwini (geographer), 416 + + Qift, 355 + + _qiyas_, 297 + + Qoniya, 404 + + QuatremA"re, M., xxv, 437, 445, 453 + + Qudar the Red, 3 + + Qumis (province), 391 + + _-QuraEuro(TM)an_, 159. + See _Koran, the_ + + Quraysh (tribe), xix, xxiii, xxvii, 22, +64+, 65-68, 117, 124, 134, + 142, 146, 153-158, 164, 165, 170, 174, 175, 183, 207, 216, +237+, + 241, 279, 330, 347, 375, 407, 417 + + Quraysh, the dialect of, xxiii, 142; + regarded as the classical standard, xxiii, 134 + + Qurayza (tribe), 21, 170 + + _qurra_ (Readers of the Koran), 277. + See _Koran-readers, the_ + + Qusayy, 64, 65, 146 + + -Qushayri, 226, 227, 228, 230, +338+, 379 + + Quss b. SaaEuro~ida, 136 + + _qussas_, 374 + + Qusta b. Luqa, 359 + + _Qutu aEuro(TM)l-Qulub_, 338, 393 + + + R + + _rabad_, 409 + + RabiaEuro~, son of Fatima, the daughter of -Khurshub, 88 + + RabiaEuro~a al-aEuro~Adawiyya, 227, 232, +233-234+ + + RabiaEuro~a b. Nizar, xix, 5 + + RabiaEuro~a (b. Nizar), the descendants of, xix + + Racine, 469 + + -Radi, the Caliph, 376 + + Radwa, Mount, 216 + + Rafidites, the, 268. + See _ShiaEuro~ites, the_ + + RaaEuro~i aEuro(TM)l-ibil (poet), 245, 246 + + _rajaEuro~a_ (palingenesis), 215 + + _-rajaz_ (metre), 74, 75, 76, 77 + + Rakhman, 126 + + Rakusians, the, 149 + + Ralfs, C. A., 327 + + Ramadan, the Fast of, 224, 450 + + Ramla, 229 + + Raqqada, 274 + + _RasaaEuro(TM)ilu Ikhwan al-Safa_, 370, 371 + + Rasmussen, 61 + + Rationalism. See _MuaEuro~tazilites_ and _Free-thought_ + + -Rawda, island on the Nile, 455 + + _rawi_ (reciter), 131 + + Rawis, the, 131-134 + + Raydan, 10 + + -Rayy, 258, 259, 268, 333, 350, 361, 420, 445 + + -Rayyan, 120 + + -Razi (Abu Bakr), physician, 361. + See _Abu Bakr al-Razi_ + + -Razi (Abu Bakr), historian, 420 + + Reading and writing despised by the pagan Arabs, 39 + + Realists, 368 + + Red Sea, the, 4, 5, 62 + + Reformation, the, 468 + + Reforms of aEuro~Abdu aEuro(TM)l-Malik, 201; + of aEuro~Umar b. aEuro~Abd al-aEuro~Aziz, 205 + + Register of aEuro~Umar, the, 187, 188 + + Reiske, 15, 102, 308, 312, 316, 331 + + Religion, conceived as a product of the human mind, 317 + + Religion of the SabA|ans and Himyarites, 10, 11; + of the Pagan Arabs, 56, 135-140, 164, 166; + associated with commerce, 135, 154 + + Religions and Sects, Book of, by -Shahrastam, 341; + by Ibn Hazm, 341. + See _Kitabu aEuro(TM)l-Milal wa-aEuro(TM)l-Nihal_ + + Religious ideas in Pre-islamic poetry, 117, 119, 123, 124, 135-140 + + Religious literature in the aEuro~Abbasid period, 337-341 + + Religious poetry, 298-302 + + Renaissance, the, 443 + + Renan, xv, 432 + + Renegades, the, 408, 415, 426 + + Resurrection, the, 166, 215, 297, 299, 316 + + Revenge, views of the Arabs concerning, 93, 94; + poems relating to, 97 + + Rhages. See _-Rayy_ + + Rhapsodists, the, 131 + + Rhazes, 265, 361. + See _Abu Bakr al-Razi_ + + Rhetoric, treatise on, by -Jahiz, 347 + + Rhinoceros, the, 354 + + Rhymed Prose. See _sajaEuro~_ + + Ribah b. Murra, 25 + + _ribat_, 276, 430 + + Richelieu, 195 + + RifaaEuro~i dervish order, the, 393 + + -Rijam, 119 + + _Risalatu aEuro(TM)l-Ghufran_, 166, 167, 206, +318+, +319+, +375+ + + _-Risalat al-Qushayriyya_, 226, 227, 338 + + Roderic, 204, 405 + + RA¶diger, Emil, 8 + + Roger II of Sicily, 434 + + Rome, 33, 34, 41, 43, 50, 52, 113, 252, 314. + See _Byzantine Empire, the_ + + Ronda, 410 + + Rosary, use of the, prohibited, 467 + + Rosen, Baron V., 375 + + Rothstein, Dr. G., 37, 53 + + -RubaEuro~ al-Khali, xvii + + Rubicon, the, 252 + + RA1/4ckert, Friedrich, 93, 97, 104, 292, 332 + + Rudagi, Persian poet, 265 + + Ruhu aEuro(TM)l-Quds (the Holy Ghost), 150 + + _-rujz_, 152 + + Ruknu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla (Buwayhid), 266, 267 + + -Rumaykiyya, 422 + + Rushayyid al-Dahdah, 394, 396 + + Rustam, 330, 363 + + Ruzbih, 346. + See _Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-MuqaffaaEuro~_ + + + S + + -SaaEuro~b Dhu aEuro(TM)l-Qarnayn, 17 + + _-SabaEuro~ al-Tiwal_ (the Seven Long Poems), 103 + + Saba (Sheba), xxv, 1, +4+, +5+, 6, 10, 16, 17. + See _SabA|ans, the_ + + Saba (person), 14 + + SabA|an language, the, xvi. + See _South Arabic language, the_ + + SabA|ans, the, xv, xvii, xviii, xx, xxi, 1, +4+, +5+, 7, 14, 17 + + SabaaEuro(TM)ites, the, a ShiaEuro~ite sect, 215, 216, 217, 219 + + Sabians, the, 149, 341, 354, 358, 363, 364, 388 + + -SabaEuro~iyya (the Seveners), 217 + + Sabota, 5 + + Sabuktagin, 268 + + Sabur I, 33 + + Sabur b. Ardashir, 267, 314 + + Sachau, E., xxii, 361 + + Sacy, Silvestre de, 8, 80, 102, 353, 354 + + SaaEuro~d (client of Jassas b. Murra), 56, 57 + + SaaEuro~d (tribe), 147 + + SaaEuro~d b. Malik b. DubayaEuro~a, 57 + + _sada_ (owl or wraith), 94, 166 + + SaaEuro~d-ilah, 11 + + _sadin_, 259 + + -Sadir (castle), 41 + + Sadru aEuro(TM)l-Din of Qoniya, 404 + + _safa_ (purity), 228, 370 + + Safa, the inscriptions of, xxi + + -Safadi, 326, 456 + + _Safar-Nama_, 324 + + Safawid dynasty, the, xxix + + -Saffah, 253, 254, 257, 259 + + -Saffah b. aEuro~Abd Manat, 253 + + -Saffah, meaning of the title, 253 + + -Saffar (title), 265 + + Saffarid dynasty, the, 265 + + _safi_ (pure), 228 + + Safiyyu aEuro(TM)l-Din al-Hilli (poet), 449, 450 + + _sag_ (Persian word), 445 + + -Sahaba (the Companions of the Prophet), 229 + + Sahara, the, 423, 429, 468 + + -Sahib IsmaaEuro~il b. aEuro~Abbad, 267, 347 + + Sahibu aEuro(TM)l-Zanadiqa (title), 373 + + _-Sahih_, of -Bukhari, 144, 146, 337 + + _-Sahih_, of Muslim, 144, 337 + + Sahl b. aEuro~Abdallah al-Tustari, 392 + + SaaEuro~id b. -Husayn, 274 + + St. John, the Cathedral of, 203 + + St. Thomas, the Church of, at -Hira, 46 + + Saints, female, 233 + + Saints, the Moslem, 386, 393, 395, 402, 403, 463, 467 + + _saj_ (rhymed prose), 74, 75, 159, 327, 328 + + Sakhr, brother of -Khansa, 126, 127 + + SalaEuro~, 398 + + Saladin, 275, 348, 355 + + Salahu aEuro(TM)l-Din b. Ayyub, 275. + See _Saladin_ + + Salama b. Khalid, 253 + + Salaman, 433 + + Salaman (tribe), 79 + + Salamya, 274 + + Salih (prophet), 3 + + Salih (tribe), 50 + + Salih b. aEuro~Abd al-Quddus, 372-375 + + Salim al-Suddi, 204 + + Saltpetre industry, the, at -Basra, 273 + + Sam b. Nuh, xviii. See _Shem, the son of Noah_ + + _samaaEuro~_ (oral tradition), 297 + + _samaaEuro~_ (religious music), 394 + + SamahaEuro~ali Yanuf, 10, 17 + + -SamaEuro~ani 339 + + Samanid dynasty, the, +265+, +266+, 268, 271, 303 + + Samarcand, 203, 268, 447 + + Samarra, 263 + + -SamawaEuro(TM)al b. aEuro~Adiya, 84, 85 + + Samuel Ha-Levi, 428, 429 + + SanaEuro~a, 8, 9, 17, 24, 28, 66, 215 + + _sanad_, 144 + + -Sanhaji, 456 + + Sanjar (Seljuq), 264 + + -Sanusi (Muhammad b. Yusuf), 456 + + Sanusiyya Brotherhood, the, 468 + + -Saqaliba, 413 + + _Saqtu aEuro(TM)l-Zand_, 313, 315 + + Sarabi (name of a she-camel), 56 + + Sargon, King, 4 + + Sari al-Raffa (poet), 270 + + Sari al-Saqati, 386 + + Saruj, 330, 331, 332 + + SaaEuro~saaEuro~a, 242 + + Sasanian dynasty, the, 34, 38, 40, 41, 42, 214, 256, 358, 457 + + Sasanian kings, the, regarded as divine, 214 + + Satire, 73, 200, 245, 246 + + Saturn and Jupiter, conjunction of, 322 + + SaaEuro~ud b. aEuro~Abd al-aEuro~Aziz b. Muhammad b. SaaEuro~ud, 466 + + Sawa, 333 + + Sayf b. Dhi Yazan, 29 + + -Sayfiyya College, the, in Cairo, 395 + + Sayfu aEuro(TM)l-Dawla (Hamdanid), +269-271+, +303-307+, 311, 313, 360 + + Saylu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arim, 14 + + Schack, A. F. von, 360, 416, 436, 441 + + Schefer, C., 324 + + Scheherazade, 457 + + Scholasticism, Muhammadan, 284, 363, 460. + See _-AshaEuro~ari_; _AshaEuro~arites_; _Orthodox Reaction_ + + Schreiner, 379 + + Schulthess, F., 87 + + Sciences, the Foreign, 282, 283, 358-364 + + Sciences, the Moslem, development and classification of, +282+, +283+ + + Scripture, People of the, 341 + + Sea-serpent, the, 354 + + SA(C)dillot, 360 + + Seetzen, Ulrich Jasper, 8 + + Seleucids, the, 276 + + Self, dying to (fana), the Sufi doctrine of, 233 + + Selim I (Ottoman Sultan), 448 + + Seljuq dynasty, the, 264, 265, 268, +275+, +276+, 326, 445 + + Seljuq b. Tuqaq, 275 + + Seljuq Turks, the, 275, 444 + + Sell, Rev. E., 468 + + Semites, the, xv, xvi, 1, 328 + + Semitic languages, the, xv, xvi + + Senegal, 430 + + Seville, 399, 406, 416, 420, 421, 422, 424, 425, 427, 431, 435, 437, + 447 + + Shabib, 209 + + Shabwat, 5 + + Shaddad (king), 1 + + Shaddad b. -Aswad al-Laythi, 166 + + _Shadharatu aEuro(TM)l-Dhahab_, 339, 399, 436, 460 + + -Shadhili (Abu aEuro(TM)l-Hasan), 461 + + Shadhili order of dervishes, 393, 461 + + -ShafiaEuro~i, 284, 409 + + ShafiaEuro~ite doctors, biographical work on the, 339 + + _Shahnama, the_, by Firdawsi, 265, 325 + + -Shahrastani, 211, 216, 220, 221, 223, 224, 297, +341+, 388 + + Shahrazad, 457 + + _shaaEuro~ir_ (poet), 72, 73 + + Shakespeare, 252 + + Shamir b. Dhi aEuro(TM)l-Jawshan, 196, 197, 198 + + Shams (name of a god), 11 + + Shams b. Malik, 81 + + Shamsiyya, Queen of Arabia, 4 + + _Shamsu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Ulum_, 13 + + -Shanfara, +79-81+, 89, 97, 134, 326 + + Shaqiq (Abu aEuro~Ali), of Balkh, 232, 233, 385 + + Sharahil (Sharahbil), 18 + + -ShaaEuro~rani, 225, 226, 392, 400, 403, 443, 460, 462, +464-465+ + + _shariaEuro~at_, 392 + + -Sharif al-Jurjani, 456 + + -Sharif al-Radi (poet), 314 + + Sharifs, of Morocco, the, 442 + + Sharik b. aEuro~Amr, 44 + + Shas, 125 + + Shayban (clan of Bakr), 58 + + -Shaykh al-Akbar, 404. + See _Muhyi aEuro(TM)l-Din Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Arabi_ + + Sheba, 4 + + Sheba, the Queen of, 18 + + Shem, the son of Noah, xv, xviii + + _shiaEuro~a_ (party), 213 + + ShiaEuro~a, the, 213. + See _ShiaEuro~ites, the_ + + _-Shifa_, 361 + + Shihabu aEuro(TM)l-Din al-Suhrawardi. See _-Suhrawardi_ + + -Shihr, dialect of, xxi + + ShiaEuro~ites, the, xxviii. 207, 208, +213-220+, 222, 248, 249, 250, 262, + 267, 268, 271-275, 297, 379, 409, 428, 432, 445, 466 + + _shikaft_ (Persian word), 232 + + _-shikaftiyya_ (the Cave-dwellers), 232 + + Shilb, 416 + + Shiraz, 266, 307 + + Shirazad, 457 + + -Shirbini, 450 + + _-shurat_ (the Sellers), 209 + + ShuaEuro~ubites, the, 279-280, 344, 372 + + Sibawayhi, 343 + + Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi, 355 + + Sicily, xvi, 52, 441 + + _siddiq_, meaning of, 218, 375 + + -Siddiq (title of Abu Bakr), 183 + + Sidi Khalil al-Jundi, 456 + + _Sifatu Jazirat al-aEuro~Arab_, 12, 18, 20 + + Siffin, battle of, 192, 208, 377 + + _-sihr wa-aEuro(TM)l-kimiya_ (Magic and Alchemy), 283 + + _-Sila fi akhbari aaEuro(TM)immati aEuro(TM)l-Andalus_, 426 + + Silves, 416 + + Simak b. aEuro~Ubayd, 210 + + Sinbadh the Magian, 258 + + _Sindbad, the Book of_, 363 + + Sinimmar, 40 + + Siqadanj, 252 + + _Siratu aEuro~Antar_, 459 + + _Siratu Rasuli aEuro(TM)llah_, 349 + + _siyaha_, 394 + + _Siyaru Muluk al-aEuro~Ajam_, 348 + + Slane, Baron MacGuckin de, 32, 104, 129, 132, 136, 190, 213, 224, 229, + 245, 261, 267, 278, 288, 289, 295, 326, 343, 344, 348, 355, 357, + 359, 360, 371, 377, 378, 387, 408, 422, 425, 427, 429, 435, 437, + 438, 440, 451 + + Slaves, the, 413 + + Smith, R. Payne, 52 + + Smith, W. Robertson, 56, 199 + + Snouck Hurgronje, 217 + + Socotra, dialect of, xxi + + Solecisms, work on, by -Hariri, 336 + + Solomon, xvii + + Solomon Ibn Gabirol, 428 + + Soothsayers, Arabian, 72, 74, 152, 159, 165 + + South Arabic inscriptions, the. See _Inscriptions, South Arabic_ + + South Arabic language, the, xvi, xxi, 6-11 + + Spain, xvi, xxx, 199, 203, 204, 253, 264, 276, 399, +405-441+, 442, + 443, 449, 454 + + Spain, the Moslem conquest of, 203, 204, 405 + + Spencer, Herbert, 382 + + Spitta, 378 + + Sprenger, A., 143, 145, 149, 153, 456 + + Steiner, 369 + + Steingass, F., 328 + + Stephen bar Sudaili, 389 + + Stones, the worship of, in pagan Arabia, 56 + + Stories, frivolous, reprobated by strict Moslems, 330 + + Street-preachers, 374 + + Stylistic, manual of, by Ibn Qutayba, 346 + + -Subki (Taju aEuro(TM)l-Din), 461 + + Suetonius, 354 + + _suf_ (wool), 228 + + Sufi, derivation of, 227, 228; + meaning of, 228, 229, 230 + + Sufiism, +227-235+, 382, +383-404+, 460, 462, 463-465 + + Sufiism, Arabic works of reference on, 338 + + Sufiism, origins of, 228-231, 388-389; + distinguished from asceticism, 229, 230, 231; + the keynote of, 231; + argument against the Indian origin of, 233; + composed of many different elements, 389, 390; + different schools of, 390; + foreign sources of, 390; + principles of, 392; + definitions of, 228, 385, 392 + + Sufis, the, 206, 327, 339, 381, 460-465. + See _Sufiism_ + + Sufyan b. aEuro~Uyayna, 366 + + Suhaym b. Wathil (poet), 202 + + -Suhrawardi (Shihabu aEuro(TM)l-Din Abu Hafs aEuro~Umar), 230, 232, 338, 396 + + -Suhrawardi (Shihabu aEuro(TM)l-Din Yahya), 275 + + -Sukkari, 128, 343 + + -Sulayk b. -Sulaka, 89 + + Sulaym (tribe), xix + + Sulayma, 34 + + Sulayman (Umayyad Caliph), 200, 203 + + Sulayman al-Bistani, 469 + + -Suli, 297 + + _-Suluk li-maaEuro~rifati Duwali aEuro(TM)l-Muluk_, 453 + + -Sumayl b. Hatim, 406 + + Sumayya, 195 + + _-Sunan_, of Abu Dawud al-Sijistani, 337 + + _-Sunan_, of Ibn Maja, 337 + + _-Sunan_, of, -NasaaEuro(TM)i, 337 + + _-sunna_, 144, 234 + + _-sunna_, collections of traditions bearing on, 337 + + Sunnis, the, 207 + + Sunnis and ShiaEuro~ites. not between the, 445 + + _sura_, 143, 159 + + _Sura of Abu Lahab, the_, 160 + + _Sura of Coagulated Blood, the_, 151 + + _Sura of the Elephant, the_, 68 + + _Sura of the Enwrapped, the_, 152 + + _Sura of the Morning, the_, 152 + + _Sura, the Opening_, 143, 168 + + _Sura of Purification, the_, 164. + See _Suratu aEuro(TM)l-Ikhlas_ + + _Sura of the Severing, the_, 161 + + _Sura of the Signs, the_, 162 + + _Sura of the Smiting, the_, 163 + + _Sura of the Unbelievers, the_, 163 + + _Suratu aEuro(TM)l-Fatiha_ (the opening chapter of the Koran), 168. + See _Sura, the Opening_ + + _Suratu aEuro(TM)l-Ikhlas_, 461. + See _Sura of Purification, the_ + + _Suratu aEuro(TM)l-Tahrim_, 454 + + Surra-man-raaEuro(TM)a, 263 + + Surushan, 391 + + -Sus, 431 + + Suwayqa, 398 + + Suyut, 454 + + -Suyuti (Jalalu aEuro(TM)l-Din), 55, 71, 145, 403, +454+, +455+ + + Syria, xxiv, xxvii-xxx, 3, 5, 26, 33, 35, 43, 46, 49, 50, 51, 52, 54, + 63, 73, 84, 123, 132, 142, 148, 170, 184, 185, 186, 191, 193, 199, + 207, 215, 232, 240, 247, 255, 262, 268, 269, 271, 274, 275, 303, + 304, 350, 355, 358, 382, 386, 388, 390, 405, 418, 419, 442, 443, + 446, 448, 451, 461, 468 + + Syria, conquest of, by the Moslems, 184 + + + T + + TaaEuro(TM)abbata Sharran (poet), 79, +81+, +97+, 107, 126 + + Tabala, 105 + + _Tabaqatu 'l-Atibba_, 266 + + _Tabaqatu aEuro(TM)l-Sufiyya_, 338 + + Tabaran, 339 + + -Tabari, 1, 27, 35, 37, 38, 41, 42, 44, 45, 48, 49, 66-68, 70, +145+, + 155, 156, 158, 185, 186, 187, 189, 210, 212, 215, 218, 219, 256, + 258, 259, 265, 277, +349+, +352+, 355, 356, 373, 376 + + -Tabari's _Annals_, abridgment of, by -BalaEuro~ami, 265, 352 + + Tabaristan, 350 + + _tabiaEuro~iyyun_, 381 + + -TabiaEuro~un (the Successors), 229 + + Table, the Guarded, 163 + + Tabriz, 461 + + Tacitus, 194 + + _Tadhkiratu aEuro(TM)l-Awliya_, by FariduaEuro(TM)ddin aEuro~Attar, 226, 228, 387 + + _tadlis_, 145 + + _Tafsiru aEuro(TM)l-Jalalayn_, 455 + + _Tafsiru aEuro(TM)l-QuraEuro~an_, by -Tabari, 1, 145, 351 + + -Taftazani, 456 + + Taghlib (tribe), xix, 44, 55-60, 61, 76, 93, 107, 109, 110, 112, 113, + 240, 253, 269 + + _Tahafutu aEuro(TM)l-Falasifa_, 341 + + Tahir, 262, 263 + + Tahirid dynasty, the, 263, 265 + + _tahrimu aEuro(TM)l-makasib_, 297 + + TaaEuro(TM)if, 158 + + _-TaaEuro(TM)iyyatu aEuro(TM)l-Kubra_, 396, 397, 402 + + _-Taiyyatu aEuro(TM)l-Sughra_, 397 + + _tajrid_, 394 + + Talha, 190 + + TaaEuro~limites, the, 381, 382 + + _Talisman, the_, 469 + + Tamerlane, 437. + See _Timur_ + + Tamim (tribe), xix, 125, 242, 293 + + Tamim al-Dari, 225 + + _tanasukh_ (metempsychosis), 267 + + Tanukh (tribe), xviii, 34, 38 + + _taqlid_, 402 + + Tarafa (poet), 44, 101, +107-109+, 128, 138, 308 + + _tardiyyat_, 294 + + _TaaEuro(TM)rikhu aEuro(TM)l-Hind_, 361 + + _TaaEuro(TM)rikhu aEuro(TM)l-Hukama_, 355, 370 + + _TaaEuro(TM)rikhu aEuro(TM)l-Khamis_, 445 + + _Ta'rikhu aEuro(TM)l-Khulafa_, 455 + + _Ta'rikhu aEuro(TM)l-Rusul wa-aEuro(TM)l-Muluk_, 351 + + _Ta'rikhu aEuro(TM)l-Tamaddun al-Islami_, 435 + + Tariq, 204, 405 + + _Tarjumanu aEuro(TM)l-Ashwaq_, 403 + + Tarsus, 361 + + Tartary, 444 + + _tasawwuf_ (Sufiism), 228 + + Tasm (tribe), 4, 25 + + _tawaf_, 117 + + _tawakkut_, 233 + + _tawhid_, 401 + + _taaEuro(TM)wil_ (Interpretation), the doctrine of, 220 + + _-tawil_ (metre), 75, 80 + + -Tawwabun (the Penitents), 218 + + Tayma, 84 + + TayyiaEuro(TM) (tribe), xviii, 44, 53, 115 + + _taaEuro~ziya_ (Passion Play), 218 + + Teheran, 361 + + Temple, the, at Jerusalem, 169, 177 + + Tennyson, 79 + + Teresa, St., 233 + + Testament, the Old, 161, 179 + + -ThaaEuro~alibi, 267, 271, 288, 290, 303, 304, +308-312+, +348+ + + Thabit b. Jabir b. Sutyan, 81, 126. + See _TaaEuro(TM)abbata Sharran_ + + Thabit b. Qurra, 359 + + Thabit Qutna, 221 + + ThaaEuro~lab, 344 + + Thales, 363 + + Thamud, x, +3+, 162 + + _thanawi_, 374 + + Thapsus, 274 + + Thaqif (tribe), 69 + + Theodore Abucara, 221 + + Theologians, influence of, in the aEuro~Abbasid period, 247, 283, 366, 367 + + Thoma (St. Thomas), 46 + + Thomas Aquinas, 367 + + Thorbecke, H., 55, 90, 114, 129, 336, 459 + + _Thousand and One Nights, the_, 34, 456-459. + See _Arabian Nights, the_ + + _-tibb_ (medicine), 283 + + Tiberius, 194 + + -Tibrizi (commentator), 55, 130 + + Tibullus, 425 + + Tides, a dissertation on, 354 + + Tigris, the, 189, 238, 256, 446 + + -Tihama, 62 + + Tihama, the, of Mecca, 3 + + Tilimsan, 454 + + Timur, xxix, 444, 454. + See _Tamerlane_ + + Timur, biography of, by Ibn aEuro~Arabshah, 454 + + _tinnin_, 354 + + -Tirimmah (poet), 138 + + -Tirmidhi (Abu aEuro~Isa Muhammad), 337 + + Titus, 137 + + Tobacco, the smoking of, prohibited, 467 + + Toledo, 204, 421-423 + + Toleration, of Moslems towards Zoroastrians, 184; + towards Christians, 184, 414, 441 + + Torah, the, 403. + See _Pentateuch_ + + Tornberg, 203, 205, 253, 355, 429 + + Tours, battle of, 204 + + Trade between India and Arabia, 4, 5 + + Trade, expansion of, in the aEuro~Abbasid period, 281 + + Traditional or Religious Sciences, the, 282 + + Traditions, the Apostolic, collections of, 144, 247, 337 + + Traditions of the Prophet, +143-146+, 237, 277, 278, 279, 282, 337, + 356, 378, 462, 463, 464, 465, 467 + + Trajan, xxv + + Translations into Arabic, from Pehlevi, 330, 346, 348, 358; + from Greek, 358, 359, 469; + from Coptic, 358; + from English and French, 469 + + Translators of scientific books into Arabic, the, 358, 359, 363 + + Transoxania, 203, 233, 263, 265, 266, 275, 360, 419, 444 + + Transoxania, conquest of, by the Moslems, 203 + + Tribal constitution, the, 83 + + Tribes, the Arab, xix, xx + + Tripoli, 468 + + TubbaaEuro~s, the (Himyarite kings), 5, 14, +17-26+, 42 + + Tudih, 398 + + _tughra_, 326 + + _tughraaEuro(TM)i_ (chancellor), 326 + + -TughraaEuro(TM)i (poet), 326 + + Tughril Beg, 264, 275 + + _tului_, 286 + + Tumadir, 126 + + Tunis, 274, 428, 437, 441 + + Turkey, xvi, 169, 394, 404, 448, 466 + + Turkey, the Sultans of, 448 + + Turks, the, 263, 264, 268, 325, 343. + See _Ottoman Turks_; _Seljuq Turks_ + + Tus, 339, 340 + + TuwayliaEuro~, 398 + + Tuways, 236 + + _Twenty Years After_, by Dumas, 272 + + + U + + aEuro~UbayduaEuro(TM)llah, the Mahdi, 274 + + aEuro~UbayduaEuro(TM)llah b. Yahya, 350 + + aEuro~UbayduaEuro(TM)llah b. Ziyad, 196, 198 + + Udhayna (Odenathus), 33, 35 + + Uhud, battle of, 170, 175 + + aEuro~Ukaz, the fair of, 101, 102, 135 + + -aEuro~Ulama, 320, 367, 460, 461 + + Ultra-ShiaEuro~ites, the, 258. + See _-Ghulat_ + + aEuro~Uman (province), 4, 62 + + aEuro~Umar b. aEuro~Abd al-aEuro~Aziz (Umayyad Caliph), 200, 203, +204-206+, 283 + + aEuro~Umar b. Abi RabiaEuro~a (poet), 237 + + aEuro~Umar Ibnu aEuro(TM)l-Farid (poet), +325+, +394-398+, 402, 448, 462 + + aEuro~Umar b. Hatsun, 410 + + aEuro~Umar b. al-Khattab (Caliph), xxvii, 51, 105, 127, 142, 157, 183, + +185-190+, 204, 210, 214, 215, 242, 254, 268, 297, 435 + + aEuro~Umar Khayyam, 339 + + aEuro~Umara, 88 + + Umayma (name of a woman), 90, 91, 92 + + Umayya, ancestor of the Umayyads, 65, 146, 181, 190 + + Umayya b. Abi aEuro(TM)l-Salt (poet), 69, +149-150+ + + Umayyad dynasty, the, xxviii, 65, 154, 181, 190, +193-206+, 214, 222, + 264, 273, 274, 278, 279, 282, 283, 347, 358, 366, 373, 408 + + Umayyad literature, 235-247 + + Umayyads (descendants of Umayya), the, 190, 191. + See _Umayyad dynasty, the_ + + Umayyads, Moslem prejudice against the, 154, 193, 194, 197, 207 + + Umayyads of Spain, the, 253, 264, 347, +405-414+ + + _-aEuro~Umda_, by Ibn Rashiq, 288 + + Umm aEuro~Asim, 204 + + Umm Jamil, 89 + + Unays, 67 + + -aEuro~Urayd, 398 + + Urtuqid dynasty, the, 449 + + _Usdu aEuro(TM)l-Ghaba_, 356 + + aEuro~Usfan, 22 + + _ustadh_, 392 + + Ustadhsis, 258 + + Usyut, 454 + + aEuro~Utba, a slave-girl, 296 + + -aEuro~Utbi (historian), 269, 354 + + aEuro~Uthman b. aEuro~Affan, Caliph, xxvii, 142, 185, +190+, 191, 210, 211, + 213, 214, 215, 221, 236, 297 + + _aEuro~Uyunu aEuro(TM)l-Akhbar_, 346 + + _aEuro~Uyunu aEuro(TM)l-Anba fi Tabaqat al-Atibba_, 355. + See _Tabaqatu aEuro(TM)l-Atibba_ + + -aEuro~Uzza (goddess), 43, 135, 155 + + + V + + Valencia, 421 + + Valerian, 33 + + Van Vloten, 221, 222, 250 + + Vedanta, the, 384 + + Venus, 18 + + Vico, 439 + + Victor Hugo, 312 + + Villon, 243 + + Vizier, the office of, 256, 257. + See _wazir_ + + Viziers of the Buwayhid dynasty, the, 267 + + VoguA(C), C. J. M. de, xxii + + Vollers, 450 + + Vowel-marks in Arabic script, 201 + + + W + + Wadd, name of a god, 123 + + Wadi aEuro(TM)l-MustadaEuro~afin, 394 + + _Wafayatu aEuro(TM)l-AaEuro~yan_, 451, 452. + See _Ibn Khallikan_ + + _-Wafi bi aEuro(TM)l-Wafayat_, 456 + + _-wafir_ (metre), 75 + + Wahb b. Munabbih, 247, 459 + + _wahdatu aEuro(TM)l-wujud_, monism, 402 + + Wahhabis, the, 463, 465-468 + + Wahhabite Reformation, the, 465-468 + + -Wahidi (commentator), 305, 307 + + _-waaEuro~id_, 297 + + WaaEuro(TM)il, xix, 56, 57 + + _wajd_, mystical term, 387, 394 + + Wajra, 398 + + -Walid b. aEuro~Abd al-Malik (Umayyad Caliph), 200, +203+, 405 + + -Walid b. Yazid (Umayyad Caliph), 132, +206+, 291, 375 + + Wallada, 424, 425 + + -Waqidi (historian), 144, 261, 349 + + Waraqa b. Nawfal, 149, 150 + + _wasi_ (executor), 215 + + Wasil b. aEuro~Ata, 223, 224, 374 + + Wasit, 385, 386 + + Water-diviners, honoured by the pagan Arabs, 73 + + -Wathiq, the Caliph, 257, 369 + + _wazir_, an Arabic word, 256. + See _Vizier_ + + Wellhausen, J., 56, 128, 135, 139, 140, 149, 173, 198, 205, 207, 209, + 210, 215, 218, 219, 222, 250, 365 + + Well-songs, 73 + + Wellsted, J. R., 8 + + West Gothic dynasty in Spain, the, 204 + + Weyers, 425 + + Wine-songs, 124, 125, 138, 206, 325, 417 + + Witches, Ballad of the Three, 19 + + Women famed as poets, 89, 126, 127; + as Sufis, 233 + + Women, position of, in Pre-islamic times, 87-92 + + Woollen garments, a sign of asceticism, 228, 296 + + Wright, W., 202, 226, 343 + + Writing, Arabic, the oldest specimens of, xxi + + Writing, the art of, in Pre-islamic times, xxii, 31, 102, 131, 138 + + WA1/4stenfeld, F., xviii, 17, 129, 132, 190, 213, 245, 253, 275, 295, + 357, 378, 408, 416, 452, 459 + + + X + + Xerxes, 256 + + Ximenez, Archbishop, 435 + + + Y + + -Yahud (the Jews), 171 + + Yahya b. Abi Mansur, 359 + + Yahya b. Khalid, 259, 260, 451 + + Yahya b. Yahya, the Berber, 408, 409 + + Yaksum, 28 + + -Yamama, 25, 111, 124 + + -Yamama, battle of, xxii, 142 + + YaaEuro~qub b. -Layth, 265 + + YaaEuro~qub al-Mansur (Almohade), 432 + + -YaaEuro~qubi (Ibn Wadih), historian, 193, 194, 349 + + Yaqut, 17, 357 + + YaaEuro~rub, 14 + + YathaaEuro~amar (SabA|an king), 4 + + YathaaEuro~amar Bayyin, 10, 17 + + Yathrib, 62. + See _Medina_ + + Yathrippa, 62 + + _-Yatima._ See _Yatimatu aEuro(TM)l-Dahr_ + + _Yatimatu aEuro(TM)l-Dahr_, 267, 271, 304, +308+, +348+ + + _-Yawaqit_, by -ShaaEuro~rani, 403, 460 + + Yazdigird I (Sasanian), 40, 41 + + Yazid b. aEuro~Abd al-Malik (Umayyad Caliph), 200 + + Yazid b. Abi Sufyan, 426 + + Yazid b. MuaEuro~awiya (Umayyad Caliph), +195-199+, 208, 241 + + Yazid b. RabiaEuro~a b. Mufarrigh, 19 + + -Yemen (-Yaman), xvii, 2, 5, 7, 11, 12, 15, 17, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, + 28, 29, 42, 49, 65, 68, 87, 99, 103, 137, 215, 247, 252, 274, 405 + + Yoqtan, xviii + + Yoqtanids, the, xviii, 4. + See _Arabs, the Yemenite_ + + Yusuf b. aEuro~Abd al-Barr, 428 + + Yusuf b. aEuro~Abd al-MuaEuro(TM)min (Almohade), 432 + + Yusuf b. aEuro~Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri, 406 + + Yusuf b. Tashifin (Almoravide), 423, 430, 431 + + + Z + + Zab, battle of the, 181, 253 + + Zabad, the trilingual inscription of, xxii + + -Zabba, 35, 36, 37. + See _Zenobia_ + + Zabdai, 34 + + _zaddiq_, 375 + + Zafar (town in -Yemen), 7, 8, 17, 19, 21 + + Zafar (tribe), 94 + + _zahid_ (ascetic), 230 + + Zahirites, the, 402, 427, 433 + + -Zahra, suburb of Cordova, 425 + + _zajal_, verse-form, 416, 417, 449 + + Zallaqa, battle of, 423, 431 + + -Zamakhshari, 145, 280, 336 + + _zandik_, 375 + + -Zanj, 273 + + Zanzibar, 352 + + _Zapiski_, 375 + + Zarifa, 15 + + ZarqaaEuro(TM)u aEuro(TM)l-Yamama, 25 + + Zayd, son of aEuro~Adi b. Zayd, 48 + + Zayd b. aEuro~Ali b. -Husayn, 297 + + Zayd b. aEuro~Amr b. Nufayl, 149 + + Zayd b. Hammad, 45 + + Zayd b. Haritha, 153 + + Zayd b. Kilab b. Murra, 64. + See _Qusayy_ + + Zayd b. RifaaEuro~a, 370 + + Zayd b. Thabit, 142 + + Zaydites, the, 297 + + Zaynab (Zenobia), 35, 36 + + Zaynab, an Arab woman, 237 + + Zaynu aEuro(TM)l-aEuro~Abidin, 243 + + Zenobia, 33, 34, 35 + + _Zinatu aEuro(TM)l-Dahr_, 348 + + Zindiqs, the, 291, 296, 319, 368, +372-375+, 387, 460 + + Ziryab (musician), 418 + + Ziyad, husband of Fatima, the daughter of -Khurshub, 88 + + Ziyad ibn Abihi, 195, 256, 342 + + Ziyad b. MuaEuro~awiya. See _-Nabigha al-Dhubvani_ + + Ziyanid dynasty, the, 442 + + Zone, the, worn by Zoroastrians, 461 + + Zoroaster, 184, 258 + + Zoroastrians, the, 184, 341, 354, 373, 461 + + Zotenberg, H., 352 + + Zubayda, wife of Harun al-Rashid, 262 + + -Zubayr, 190 + + -Zuhara, 18 + + Zuhayr b. Abi Sulma (poet), 62, +116-119+, 128, 131, 137, 140, 312 + + _zuhd_ (asceticism), 229, 230. 299 + + _zuhdiyyat_, 294 + + Zuhra b. Kilab b. Murra, 64 + + -Zuhri (Muhammad b. Muslim b. Shihab), 153, 247, 258 + + _zunnAir_, 461 + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Literary History of the Arabs, by +Reynold Nicholson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LITERARY HISTORY OF THE ARABS *** + +***** This file should be named 37985.txt or 37985.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/9/8/37985/ + +Produced by Fritz Ohrenschall, Turgut Dincer, Sania Ali +Mirza and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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