A Literary History of the Arabs

by Reynold Alleyne Nicholson

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 'The Book of Religions and Sects.' 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 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]

The following are some of the most distinguished Spanish writers of this epoch: the historian, Abú Marwán Ibn Ḥayyán Literature in Spain in the eleventh century. 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 Samuel Ha-Levi. 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 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-‘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]

"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 Rise of the Almoravides. 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[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]

The little community rapidly increased in numbers and power. Yúsuf b. Táshifín, who succeeded to the command The Almoravide Empire (1056-1147 a.d.). 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.

The empire of the Almoravides passed into the hands of another African dynasty, the Almohades.[796] Their founder, Ibn Túmart. 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 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-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 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 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 ‘Alí b. Abí Ṭálib.

On the death of the Mahdí (1130 a.d.) the supreme command devolved upon his trusted lieutenant, ‘Abdu The Almohades (1130-1269 a.d.). ’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):—

"In it he conceives two islands, the one inhabited and the other not. On the inhabited island we have conventional people living The story of Ḥayy b. Yaqẓán. 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."

Of the writers who flourished under the Berber dynasties few are sufficiently important to deserve mention in a work of Literature under the Almoravides and Almohades (1100-1250 a.d.). 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 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-Bayṭár 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.

We have now taken a rapid survey of the Moslem empire in Spain from its rise in the eighth century of our era down Reconquest of Spain by Ferdinand III. 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 Naṣrid dynasty, which held the Christians at bay during two centuries and a half. The Naṣrids of Granada (1232-1492 a.d.). 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 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),[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.