A Literary History of the Arabs

by Reynold Alleyne Nicholson

To give an adequate account of the numerous and talented historians of the Mameluke period would require far more Historians of the Mameluke period. 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 Khiṭaṭ[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, Maqrízí. 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-Ṭiqṭaqá, 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 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-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.[842]

If we were asked to select a single figure who should exhibit as completely as possible in his own person the literary Jalálu ’l-Dín al-Suyúṭí (1445-1505 a.d.). 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 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-Taḥrím (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 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—e.g., 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 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-Maḥallí and finished by his namesake, Suyúṭí; the Muzhir (Mizhar), a treatise on philology; the Ḥusnu ’l-Muḥáḍara, a history of Old and New Cairo; and the Ta’ríkhu ’l-Khulafá, or 'History of the Caliphs.'

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). Ṣafadí († 1363) compiled a gigantic biographical dictionary, the Wáfí bi ’l-Wafayát, in twenty-six volumes, and the learned traditionist, Ibn Ḥajar of Ascalon Other scholars of the period. († 1449), has left a large number of writings, among which it will be sufficient to name the Iṣába fí tamyíz al-Ṣaḥába, 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), ‘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 Alfiyya, a versified grammar by Ibn Málik of Jaen († 1273); the Ájurrúmiyya on the rudiments of grammar, an exceedingly popular compendium by Ṣanhájí († 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 Ḥájjí Khalífa († 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.

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 The 'Thousand and One Nights.' 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):—

"The first who composed fables and made books of them and put them by in treasuries and sometimes introduced animals as speaking Persian origin of the 'Thousand and One Nights.' 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 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 The Hazár Afsán. 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 (kitáb^un ghathth^un báridu ’l-hadíth).[845]

Abu ‘Abdalláh Muḥammad 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."

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 Different sources of the collection. 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.

The 'Romance of ‘Antar' (Síratu ‘Antar) is traditionally ascribed to the great philologist, Aṣma‘í,[846] who flourished in the reign of Hárún al-Rashíd, but this must be considered as an invention of the professional reciters The 'Romance of ‘Antar.' 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 (Ḥijáziyya) and the Syrian (Shámiyya), the latter being very much curtailed.[849]

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 Orthodoxy and mysticism. 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 Ṣúfís 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]:—

"They brought the Imám Abú Bakr al-Nábulusí, notwithstanding his merit and profound learning and rectitude in religion, from the Persecution of heretics. 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-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 (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 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-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."