Part 28 (1/2)

Even in the Umayyad period, as we have seen, the maxim that Knowledge is Power was strikingly ill.u.s.trated by the immense social influence which Persian divines exerted in the Mu?ammadan community.[509]

Nevertheless, true Arabs of the old type regarded these _Mawali_ and their learning with undisguised contempt. To the great majority of Arabs, who prided themselves on their n.o.ble 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 att.i.tude towards the _Mawali_, 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 p.r.o.nouncement 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 _Mawali_ 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 'Abbasid period, _e.g._:--

”See how the a.s.ses 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 _din_.”[511]

[Sidenote: The Shu'ubites.]

The side of the non-Arabs in this literary quarrel was vehemently espoused by a party who called themselves the Shu'ubites (_al-Shu'ubiyya_),[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'ubites 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'ubite side Abu 'Ubayda, Biruni, and ?amza of I?fahan deserve mention. Ja?i? 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, Baladhuri, and Zamakhshari. The Shu'ubites directed their attacks princ.i.p.ally against the racial pride of the Arabs, who were fond of boasting that they were the n.o.blest 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 circ.u.mstances connected with the history of the Arab tribes or of particular families. Arabian poetry, especially the vituperative pieces (_mathalib_), furnished abundant matter of this sort, which was adduced by the Shu'ubites as convincing evidence that the claims of the Arabs to superior n.o.bility 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: a.s.similation of Arabs and Persians.]

[Sidenote: Enthusiasm for learning in the early 'Abbasid 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 a.s.sumed Arabic names and sought to disguise their foreign extraction by fair means or foul. Many provided themselves with fict.i.tious pedigrees, on the strength of which they pa.s.sed for Arabs. Such a pretence could have deceived n.o.body if it had not been supported by a complete a.s.similation in language, manners, and even to some extent in character. On the neutral ground of Mu?ammadan science animosities were laid aside, and men of both races laboured enthusiastically for the common cause. When at length, after a century of b.l.o.o.d.y 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 'Abbasid 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 Baghdad, Mosul, Ba?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 acc.u.mulated to crowds of eager disciples, and to compile with incredible industry those works of encyclopaedic 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 'Abbasid 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?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 ?adith. 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 cla.s.sification.]

Mu?ammadan writers usually distinguish the sciences which are connected with the Koran and those which the Arabs learned from foreign peoples. In the former cla.s.s they include the Traditional or Religious Sciences (_al-'Ulum al-Naqliyya awi 'l-Shar'iyya_) and the Linguistic Sciences (_'Ulumu 'l-Lisani 'l-'Arabi_); in the latter the Intellectual or Philosophical Sciences (_al-'Ulum al-'Aqliyya awi 'l-?ikmiyya_), which are sometimes called 'The Sciences of the Foreigners' (_'Ulumu 'l-'Ajam_) or 'The Ancient Sciences' (_al-'Ulum al-Qadima_).

The general scope of this division may be ill.u.s.trated by the following table:--

I. THE NATIVE SCIENCES.

1. Koranic Exegesis (_'Ilmu 'l-Tafsir_).

2. Koranic Criticism (_'Ilmu 'l-Qira'at_).

3. The Science of Apostolic Tradition (_'Ilmu 'l-?adith_).

4. Jurisprudence (_Fiqh_).

5. Scholastic Theology (_'Ilmu 'l-Kalam_).

6. Grammar (_Na?w_).

7. Lexicography (_Lugha_).

8. Rhetoric (_Bayan_).

9. Literature (_Adab_).

II. THE FOREIGN SCIENCES.

1. Philosophy (_Falsafa_).[514]

2. Geometry (_Handasa_).[515]

3. Astronomy (_'Ilmu 'l-Nujum_).