Part 34 (1/2)
The reader may judge from these extracts whether the _a.s.semblies_ of ?ariri 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. ?ariri himself was a subtle grammarian, living in Ba?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 ill.u.s.trate 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, a.s.sonances, 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 ?ariri's countrymen the _Maqamat_ are prized as an almost unique monument of their language, antiquities, and culture.
One of the author's contemporaries, the famous Zamakhshari, has expressed the general verdict in pithy verse--
”I swear by G.o.d and His marvels, By the pilgrims' rite and their shrine: ?ariri's _a.s.semblies_ 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 (_?adith_) we must refer the reader to what has been already said. All that can be attempted here is to take a pa.s.sing notice of the most eminent writers and the most celebrated works of this epoch in the field of religion.
[Sidenote: Malik b. Anas (713-795 A.D.).]
The place of honour belongs to the Imam Malik b. Anas of Medina, whose _Muwa??a'_ is the first great _corpus_ of Mu?ammadan Law. He was a partisan of the 'Alids, and was flogged by command of the Caliph Man?ur in consequence of his declaration that he did not consider the oath of allegiance to the 'Abbasid dynasty to have any binding effect.
[Sidenote: Bukhari and Muslim.]
The two princ.i.p.al authorities for Apostolic Tradition are Bukhari ( 870 A.D.) and Muslim ( 875 A.D.), authors of the collections ent.i.tled _?a?i?_. Compilations of a narrower range, embracing only those traditions which bear on the _Sunna_ or custom of the Prophet, are the _Sunan_ of Abu Dawud al-Sijistani ( 889 A.D.), the _Jami'_ of Abu 'Isa Mu?ammad al-Tirmidhi ( 892 A.D.), the _Sunan_ of al-Nasa'i ( 915 A.D.), and the _Sunan_ of Ibn Maja ( 896 A.D.). These, together with the _?a?i?s_ of Bukhari 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?abi?u 'l-Sunna_ by al-Baghawi ( _circa_ 1120 A.D.). A later adaptation called _Mishkatu 'l-Ma?abi?_ has been often printed, and is still extremely popular.
[Sidenote: Mawardi ( 1058 A.D.).]
[Sidenote: Arabic authorities on ?ufiism.]
[Sidenote: Ghazali ( 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-Mawardi, a Shafi'ite lawyer, who wrote a well-known treatise on politics--the _Kitabu 'l-A?kam al-Sul?aniyya_, 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. Mawardi lived at Baghdad 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 'Abbasid dynasty the mystical doctrines of the ?ufis were systematised and expounded. Some of the most important Arabic works of reference on ?ufiism are the _Qutu 'l-Qulub_, or 'Food of Hearts,' by Abu ?alib al-Makki ( 996 A.D.); the _Kitabu 'l-Ta'arruf li-Madhhabi ahli 'l-Ta?awwuf_, or 'Book of Enquiry as to the Religion of the ?ufis,' by Mu?ammad b. Is?aq al-Kalabadhi ( _circa_ 1000 A.D.); the _?abaqatu 'l-?ufiyya_, or 'Cla.s.ses of the ?ufis,' by Abu 'Abd al-Ra?man al-Sulami ( 1021 A.D.); the _?ilyatu 'l-Awliya_, or 'Adornment of the Saints,' by Abu Nu'aym al-I?fahani ( 1038 A.D.); the _Risalatu 'l-Qushayriyya_, or 'Qushayrite Tract,' by Abu 'l-Qasim al-Qushayri of Naysabur ( 1074 A.D.); the _I?ya'u 'Ulum al-Din_, or 'Revivification of the Religious Sciences,' by Ghazali ( 1111 A.D.); and the _'Awarifu 'l-Ma'arif_, or 'Bounties of Knowledge,'
by s.h.i.+habu 'l-Din Abu ?af? 'Umar al-Suhrawardi ( 1234 A.D.)--a list which might easily be extended. In Dogmatic Theology there is none to compare with Abu ?amid al-Ghazali, surnamed 'the Proof of Islam'
(_?ujjatu 'l-Islam_). 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 ill.u.s.trate the history of Mu?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 Ghazali according to the _Shadharatu 'l-Dhahab_.]
”In this year (505 A.H. = 1111 A.D.) died the Imam, who was the Ornament of the Faith and the Proof of Islam, Abu ?amid Mu?ammad ... of ?us, the Shafi'ite. His death took place on the 14th of the Latter Jumada at ?abaran, a village near ?us. He was then fifty-five years of age. Ghazzali is equivalent to Ghazzal, like 'A??ari (for 'A??ar) and Khabbazi (for Khabbaz), in the dialect of the people of Khurasan[632]: so it is stated by the author of the _'Ibar_.[633] Al-Isnawi says in his _?abaqat_[634]:--Ghazzali is an Imam by whose name b.r.e.a.s.t.s 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 ?us in the year 450 A.H. = 1058-1059 A.D. His father used to spin wool (_yaghzilu 'l-?uf_) and sell it in his shop. On his deathbed he committed his two sons, Ghazzali himself and his brother A?mad, to the care of a pious ?ufi, who taught them writing and educated them until the money left him by their father was all spent. 'Then,'
says Ghazzali, '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 Abu Na?r al-Isma'ili in Jurjan, then to the Imamu 'l-?aramayn[635] at Naysabur, under whom he studied with such a.s.siduity that he became the best scholastic of his contemporaries (_?ara an?ara ahli zamanihi_), and he lectured _ex cathedra_ 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?amu 'l-Mulk, whose a.s.sembly 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 princ.i.p.al doctors, and disputed with his opponents and reb.u.t.ted them in spite of their eminence. So the Ni?amu '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 professors.h.i.+p in the Ni?amiyya College at Baghdad, where a splendid reception awaited him. His words reached far and wide, and his influence soon exceeded that of the Emirs 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 ?ijaz.[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?ya_ is said to be one. Then, after visiting Jerusalem and Alexandria, he returned to his home at ?us, intent on writing and wors.h.i.+p 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?amu 'l-Mulk, came to see him, and urged him by every means in his power to accept a professors.h.i.+p in the Ni?amiyya College at Naysabur.[639] Ghazzali consented, but after teaching for a time, resigned the appointment and returned to end his days in his native town.”
[Sidenote: His princ.i.p.al works.]
Besides his _magnum opus_, the already-mentioned _I?ya_, in which he expounds theology and the ethics of religion from the standpoint of the moderate ?ufi school, Ghazali wrote a great number of important works, such as the _Munqidh mina 'l-?alal_, or 'Deliverer from Error,' a sort of 'Apologia pro Vita Sua'; the _Kimiya'u 'l-Sa'adat_, or 'Alchemy of Happiness,' which was originally written in Persian; and the _Tahafutu 'l-Falasifa_, 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: Shahrastani'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 _Kitabu 'l-Milal wa-'l-Ni?al_,[640]
that is to say, 'The Book of Religions and Sects,' by Ibn ?azm of Cordova ( 1064 A.D.) and Abu 'l-Fat? al-Shahrastani ( 1153 A.D.).
Ibn ?azm we shall meet with again in the chapter which deals specially with the history and literature of the Spanish Moslems.
Shahrastani, as he is named after his birthplace, belonged to the opposite extremity of the Mu?ammadan Empire, being a native of Khurasan, the huge Eastern province bounded by the Oxus. Cureton, who edited the Arabic text of the _Kitabu 'l-Milal wa-'l-Ni?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?ammad, and likewise of those to whom a true revelation had been made (the _Ahlu 'l-Kitab_, or 'People of the Scripture'), that is, Jews and Christians; and of those who had a doubtful or pretended revelation (_man lahu shubhatu 'l-Kitab_), such as the Magi and the Manichaeans.
The second division comprises an account of the philosophical opinions of the Sabaeans (?abians), which are mainly set forth in a very interesting dialogue between a Sabaean and an orthodox Mu?ammadan; of the tenets of various Greek Philosophers and some of the Fathers of the Christian Church; and also of the Mu?ammadan doctors, more particularly of the system of Ibn Sina 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.]