Part 36 (1/2)
2. Abu Na?r al-Farabi ( 950 A.D.), of Turkish race, a native of Farab in Transoxania. The later years of his life were pa.s.sed at Aleppo under the patronage of Sayfu 'l-Dawla. He devoted himself to the study of Aristotle, whom Moslems agree with Dante in regarding as ”il maestro di color che sanno.”
[Sidenote: Ibn Sina.]
3. Abu 'Ali Ibn Sina (Avicenna), born of Persian parents at Kharmaythan, near Bukhara, in the year 980 A.D. As a youth he displayed extraordinary talents, so that ”in the sixteenth year of his age physicians of the highest eminence came to read medicine with him and to learn those modes of treatment which he had discovered by his practice.”[680] He was no quiet student, like Farabi, but a pleasure-loving, adventurous man of the world who travelled from court to court, now in favour, now in disgrace, and always writing indefatigably. His system of philosophy, in which Aristotelian and Neo-platonic theories are combined with Persian mysticism, was well suited to the popular taste, and in the East it still reigns supreme. His chief works are the _s.h.i.+fa_ (Remedy) on physics, metaphysics, &c., and a great medical encyclopaedia ent.i.tled the _Qanun_ (Canon). Avicenna died in 1037 A.D.
4. The Spanish philosophers, Ibn Bajja (Avempace), Ibn ?ufayl, and Ibn Rushd (Averroes), all of whom flourished in the twelfth century after Christ.
[Sidenote: Medicine, Astronomy, and Mathematics.]
[Sidenote: Biruni 973-1048 A.D.]
The most ill.u.s.trious name beside Avicenna in the history of Arabian medicine is Abu Bakr al-Razi (Rhazes), a native of Rayy, near Teheran ( 923 or 932 A.D.). Jabir b. ?ayyan of Tarsus ( about 780 A.D.)--the Geber of European writers--won equal renown as an alchemist. Astronomy went hand in hand with astrology. The reader may recognise al-Farghani, Abu Ma'shar of Balkh ( 885 A.D.) and al-Battani, a ?abian of ?arran ( 929 A.D.), under the names of Alfraga.n.u.s, Alb.u.maser, and Albategnius, by which they became known in the West. Abu 'Abdallah al-Khwarizmi, who lived in the Caliphate of Ma'mun, was the first of a long line of mathematicians. In this science, as also in Medicine and Astronomy, we see the influence of India upon Mu?ammadan civilisation--an influence, however, which, in so far as it depended on literary sources, was more restricted and infinitely less vital than that of Greece. Only a pa.s.sing reference can be made to Abu Ray?an al-Biruni, a native of Khwarizm (Khiva), whose knowledge of the sciences, antiquities, and customs of India was such as no Moslem had ever equalled. His two princ.i.p.al works, the _athar al-Baqiya_, or 'Surviving Monuments,' and the _Ta'rikhu 'l-Hind_, or 'History of India,' have been edited and translated into English by Dr. Sachau.[681]
[Sidenote: The _Fihrist_.]
Some conception of the amazing intellectual activity of the Moslems during the earlier part of the 'Abbasid period, and also of the enormous losses which Arabic literature has suffered through the destruction of thousands of books that are known to us by nothing beyond their t.i.tles and the names of their authors, may be gained from the _Fihrist_, or 'Index' of Mu?ammad b. Is?aq b. Abi Ya'qub al-Nadim al-Warraq al-Baghdadi ( 995 A.D.). Regarding the compiler we have no further information than is conveyed in the last two epithets attached to his name: he was a copyist of MSS., and was connected with Baghdad either by birth or residence; add that, according to his own statement (p. 349, l.
14 sqq.), he was at Constantinople (_Daru 'l-Rum_) in 988 A.D., the same year in which his work was composed. He may possibly have been related to the famous musician, Is?aq b. Ibrahim al-Nadim of Mosul ( 849-850 A.D.), but this has yet to be proved. At any rate we owe to his industry a unique conspectus of the literary history of the Arabs to the end of the fourth century after the Flight. The _Fihrist_ (as the author explains in his brief Preface) is ”an Index of the books of all nations, Arabs and foreigners alike, which are extant in the Arabic language and script, on every branch of knowledge; comprising information as to their compilers and the cla.s.ses of their authors, together with the genealogies of those persons, the dates of their birth, the length of their lives, the times of their death, the places to which they belonged, their merits and their faults, since the beginning of every science that has been invented down to the present epoch: namely, the year 377 of the Hijra.” As the contents of the _Fihrist_ (which considerably exceed the above description) have been a.n.a.lysed in detail by G. Flugel (_Z.D.M.G._, vol. 13, p. 559 sqq.) and set forth in tabular form by Professor Browne in the first volume of his _Literary History of Persia_,[682] I need only indicate the general arrangement and scope of the work. It is divided into ten discourses (_maqalat_), which are subdivided into a varying number of sections (_funun_). Ibnu 'l-Nadim discusses, in the first place, the languages, scripts, and sacred books of the Arabs and other peoples, the revelation of the Koran, the order of its chapters, its collectors, redactors, and commentators. Pa.s.sing next to the sciences which, as we have seen, arose from study of the Koran and primarily served as handmaids to theology, he relates the origin of Grammar, and gives an account of the different schools of grammarians with the treatises which they wrote. The third discourse embraces History, Belles-Lettres, Biography, and Genealogy; the fourth treats of Poetry, ancient and modern. Scholasticism (_Kalam_) forms the subject of the following chapter, which contains a valuable notice of the Isma'ilis and their founder, 'Abdullah b. Maymun, as also of the celebrated mystic, ?usayn b. Man?ur al-?allaj. From these and many other names redolent of heresy the author returns to the orthodox schools of Law--the Malikites, ?anafites, Shafi'ites and ?ahirites; then to the jurisconsults of the s.h.i.+'a, &c. The seventh discourse deals with Philosophy and 'the Ancient Sciences,' under which head we find some curious speculations concerning their origin and introduction to the lands of Islam; a list of translators and the books which they rendered into Arabic; an account of the Greek philosophers from Thales to Plutarch, with the names of their works that were known to the Moslems; and finally a literary survey of the remaining sciences, such as Mathematics, Music, Astronomy, and Medicine. Here, by an abrupt transition, we enter the enchanted domain of Oriental fable--the _Hazar Afsan_, or Thousand Tales, Kalila and Dimna, the Book of Sindbad, and the legends of Rustam and Isfandiyar; works on sorcery, magic, conjuring, amulets, talismans, and the like. European savants have long recognised the importance of the ninth discourse,[683] which is devoted to the doctrines and writings of the ?abians and the Dualistic sects founded by Manes, Bardesanes, Marcion, Mazdak, and other heresiarchs.
The author concludes his work with a chapter on the Alchemists (_al-Kimiya'un_).
CHAPTER VIII
ORTHODOXY, FREE-THOUGHT, AND MYSTICISM
[Sidenote: The 'Abbasids and Islam.]
[Sidenote: Influence of theologians.]
We have already given some account of the great political revolution which took place under the 'Abbasid dynasty, and we have now to consider the no less vital influence of the new era in the field of religion. It will be remembered that the House of 'Abbas came forward as champions of Islam and of the oppressed and persecuted Faithful. Their victory was a triumph for the Mu?ammadan over the National idea. ”They wished, as they said, to revive the dead Tradition of the Prophet. They brought the experts in Sacred Law from Medina, which had hitherto been their home, to Baghdad, and always invited their approbation by taking care that even political questions should be treated in legal form and decided in accordance with the Koran and the Sunna. In reality, however, they used Islam only to serve their own interest. They tamed the divines at their court and induced them to sanction the most objectionable measures. They made the pious Opposition harmless by leading it to victory. With the downfall of the Umayyads it had gained its end and could now rest in peace.”[684] There is much truth in this view of the matter, but notwithstanding the easy character of their religion, the 'Abbasid Caliphs were sincerely devoted to the cause of Islam and zealous to maintain its principles in public life. They regarded themselves as the sovereign defenders of the Faith; added the Prophet's mantle (_al-burda_) to those emblems of Umayyad royalty, the sceptre and the seal; delighted in the pompous t.i.tles which their flatterers conferred on them, _e.g._, 'Vicegerent of G.o.d,' 'Sultan of G.o.d upon the Earth,'
'Shadow of G.o.d,' &c.; and left no stone unturned to invest themselves with the attributes of theocracy, and to inspire their subjects with veneration.[685] Whereas the Umayyad monarchs ignored or crushed Mu?ammadan sentiment, and seldom made any attempt to conciliate the leading representatives of Islam, the 'Abbasids, on the other hand, not only gathered round their throne all the most celebrated theologians of the day, but also showed them every possible honour, listened respectfully to their counsel, and allowed them to exert a commanding influence on the administration of the State.[686] When Malik b. Anas was summoned by the Caliph Harun al-Ras.h.i.+d, who wished to hear him recite traditions, Malik replied, ”People come to seek knowledge.” So Harun went to Malik's house, and leaned against the wall beside him.
Malik said, ”O Prince of the Faithful, whoever honours G.o.d, honours knowledge.” Al-Ras.h.i.+d arose and seated himself at Malik's feet and spoke to him and heard him relate a number of traditions handed down from the Apostle of G.o.d. Then he sent for Sufyan b. 'Uyayna, and Sufyan came to him and sat in his presence and recited traditions to him. Afterwards al-Ras.h.i.+d said, ”O Malik, we humbled ourselves before thy knowledge, and profited thereby, but Sufyan's knowledge humbled itself to us, and we got no good from it.”[687] Many instances might be given of the high favour which theologians enjoyed at this time, and of the lively interest with which religious topics were debated by the Caliph and his courtiers. As the Caliphs gradually lost their temporal sovereignty, the influence of the _'Ulama_--the doctors of Divinity and Law--continued to increase, so that ere long they formed a privileged cla.s.s, occupying in Islam a position not unlike that of the priesthood in mediaeval Christendom.
It will be convenient to discuss the religious phenomena of the 'Abbasid period under the following heads:--
I. Rationalism and Free-thought.
II. The Orthodox Reaction and the rise of Scholastic Theology.
III. The ?ufi Mysticism.
[Sidenote: Rationalism and Free-thought.]
I. The first century of 'Abbasid rule was marked, as we have seen, by a great intellectual agitation. All sorts of new ideas were in the air. It was an age of discovery and awakening. In a marvellously brief s.p.a.ce the diverse studies of Theology, Law, Medicine, Philosophy, Mathematics, Astronomy, and Natural Science attained their maturity, if not their highest development. Even if some pious Moslems looked askance at the foreign learning and its professors, an enlightened spirit generally prevailed. People took their cue from the court, which patronised, or at least tolerated,[688] scientific research as well as theological speculation.
[Sidenote: The Mu'tazilites and their opponents.]
These circ.u.mstances enabled the Mu'tazilites (see p. 222 sqq.) to propagate their liberal views without hindrance, and finally to carry their struggle against the orthodox party to a successful issue. It was the same conflict that divided Nominalists and Realists in the days of Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and Occam. As often happens when momentous principles are at stake, the whole controversy between Reason and Revelation turned on a single question--”Is the Koran created or uncreated?” In other terms, is it the work of G.o.d or the Word of G.o.d?
According to orthodox belief, it is uncreated and has existed with G.o.d from all eternity, being in its present form merely a transcript of the heavenly archetype.[689] Obviously this conception of the Koran as the direct and literal Word of G.o.d left no room for exercise of the understanding, but required of those who adopted it a dumb faith and a blind fatalism. There were many to whom the sacrifice did not seem too great. The Mu'tazilites, on the contrary, a.s.serted their intellectual freedom. It was possible, they said, to know G.o.d and distinguish good from evil without any Revelation at all. They admitted that the Koran was G.o.d's work, in the sense that it was produced by a divinely inspired Prophet, but they flatly rejected its deification. Some went so far as to criticise the 'inimitable' style, declaring that it could be surpa.s.sed in beauty and eloquence by the art of man.[690]
[Sidenote: Rationalism adopted and put in force by the Caliph Ma'mun.]