Part 1 (1/2)
The Awakening of the Soul.
by Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Malik Ibn Tufail.
NOTE
The object of the Editors of this series is a very definite one. They desire above all things that, in their humble way, these books shall be the amba.s.sadors of good-will and understanding between East and West--the old world of Thought and the new of Action. In this endeavour, and in their own sphere, they are but followers of the highest example in the land. They are confident that a deeper knowledge of the great ideals and lofty philosophy of Oriental thought may help to a revival of that true spirit of Charity which neither despises nor fears the nations of another creed and colour.
L. CRANMER-BYNG.
S. A. KAPADIA.
THE NORTHBROOK SOCIETY, 21, CROMWELL ROAD, KENSINGTON, S.W.
INTRODUCTION
It is to two English scholars, father and son, Edward Poc.o.c.ke, senior and junior, that the world is indebted for the knowledge of one of the most charming productions Arabian philosophy can boast of.
Generally looked upon as a subject of repulsive aridity, in its strange combination of the most heterogeneous philosophical systems, devoid of the grace and charm of attractive style, unbrightened by brilliancy of wit or spirit, Arabian philosophy has, for centuries past, been subject to sad and undeserved neglect.
Yet I cannot imagine a better and more eloquent refutation of this erroneous view than a rendering, in fresh garb, of this romance of Hayy Ibn Yokdhan, simple and ingenuous, yet fragrant with poetry and withal fraught with deep philosophical problems the interest in which I wish to revive.
It was in the year 1671 that there was published by the Oxford University Press, as one of its first issues of Arabic texts, a book called, ”Philosophus autodidactus,” edited by Edward Poc.o.c.ke the son, together with a Latin translation. It had a preface that bore the signature of Edward Poc.o.c.ke, the father, and this fact alone was sufficient to stamp it at once as a work in which vast erudition and thoroughness of investigation had joined hands--for both these _savants_ were men of wide reputation and brilliant attainments.
England, that has put students of Oriental lore under such large obligations, has never given to the world a greater Arabic scholar than Edward Poc.o.c.ke, ”the Glory and Ornament of his Age and Nation,” the famous author of the ”Specimen historiae Arab.u.m”;[1] a veritable store-house of historical, scientific, literary, and religious information, and the equally famous editor of the annals of Eutychius and of the history of Dynasties by Abul faradj.
[1] This book, by the way, was the first book in Arabic type which issued from the Oxford University Press, just as his ”Porta Mosis,” containing the six Prefatory Discourses of Maimonides on the Mishna, was the first Hebrew text (in fact Arabic with Hebrew characters) printed at Oxford.
In the splendid array of famous Arabic scholars the last century has produced there are only two in England that rank with Edward Poc.o.c.ke on the same level--two men whose names stand out in bold relief, namely, Edward William Lane, prince among lexicographers, and William Wright, the brilliant exponent of the theories of the native Arabic grammarians.
The co-operation of Edward Poc.o.c.ke, the father, in the edition of this book, ”Philosophus autodidactus,” was indeed the best recommendation.
To Edward Poc.o.c.ke, the father, is due the honour of having discovered and unearthed this priceless gem of Arabic philosophical literature, whilst the son, ”the worthy son of so great a father,” undertook the task, by no means an easy one, of editing the Arabic text and furnis.h.i.+ng it with a Latin translation.[2] This Latin translation was undoubtedly for that time a praiseworthy performance; yet, considering the enormous strides Oriental science has made during the last centuries, and with all the new material at hand, we are to-day able to put the philological groundwork on a more solid basis.
[2] The value of the book was quickly recognised. In a comparatively short time it quite caught the fancy of the public--in fact it took the world by storm, and for a long time it remained greatly in vogue.
In casting about for the work of an Arabian philosopher for the ”Wisdom of the East” Series, I could not think of anything more engaging, more captivating, than this simple romance.
Unfortunately, for reasons of s.p.a.ce, I could not give a translation in full, but I have given the most interesting parts. On the pa.s.sages, however, which I had to leave out, I have dwelt at greater length in this Introduction. In the translation I have tried to preserve the _cachet_, the archaic flavour and spirit of the book.
The idea underlying the story is, as Ockley puts it, to show how human capacity may, una.s.sisted by any external help, attain to the knowledge of the higher world, and so by degrees find out its dependence upon a superior Being, the immortality of the soul, and other questions of the highest importance. In short, it describes the gradual awakening of the soul, the evolution of an original mind from its first groping in the dark to the most dazzling heights of philosophical speculation.
The great charm of the book lies in its simplicity and ingenuousness; in its entire freedom from affectation of style; in the transparent lucidity of its exposition, which is in pleasant contrast with the ponderous works of other philosophical writers amongst the Arabs.
Yet with all its ingenuousness, what sustained power of thought, what depth of philosophical penetration!
Hayy Ibn Yokdhan--this prototype of Robinson Crusoe--truly a pathetic, yet inspiring figure!
The simple setting of a man, living a solitary life on an Island, entirely given up to meditation and introspection, is used by our author as an arena for the display of his philosophical views, which, in kaleidoscopic transformation, cover the whole range of wisdom of those times--astronomical, geographical, cosmographic, physiological,--and so on, the whole picture touched with the wand of the master.