A non-printable version of Franz Rosenthal’s The technique and approach of Muslim scholarship,
which appeared in Rome in 1947 (Analecta Orientalia No. 24) was placed on September 18,
2007, in the present website by kind permission of the publisher, the ‘Pontificio Istituto
Biblico’ in Rome.
IIT. THE CTTITICAL APPROACH
t T h e l n d i c a t i o n o f S o u r c e s .
I n L i s l i s b o f l r a r r s l u l i o u s o f G a l e r r ' s r v o l k s [.[unayn intlicttes tlre nrures of the persons for w h o r n l r e r u a t l e t h e i r u l i v i d u t l t r a n s l a t i o n s . I r r certain cases, he sbates thab he spent lnucir e f t b r t r r ; l o n ir u p r o v i r r g t h c q u a l i L y o f t p r u r t i c u l r r r translation, because it n-a,s clone for' & person o f e x c e p t i o n a l i e a r n i r r g a n d c u l t , u r e ( 1 ) .
F.[uaryn's concern with the scholarl;' stuntling of his cutployels sho\\'s that he rnirtle a distinc- tion betrveen schoiarl;' (arrd serni-scholarly) and poprrlar literirture. )[uslirn scholars, irr gener:rl, were eonscious of such qurrlitabive gra,rla,tion of iutellectnal activity. Tlrc mol'e schollrly a l'ork rrrs, tlre grerrter cilrc \\-as exercisetl by sclrollrs in the indicltion l,nti quotation of bheir sources. Olassicl,l olrtl rnodcln literrture has lrcerr subjecb to the same rrrie.
Tlrc lurge varicty of adub u-orks offers an e.,rcellenb fielri for observatiorrs in this respect.
4dol wor'ks rlnge frorn florilegin l'hose only l r u r l ) o s c is t o e u t c r t a i r r t h c r e t d e r ' , b o h i g h l v technical liternry irrvestigations. .\ corresilorrrl- i r r g s c a , l e o f a c c u r a c y i n t h e i n t l i c a t i o n o f sources, r'anging I'roru sloverrliness to pn,instali.
i r r g c a r c , is o b s e r l n b l e i n a d u b I i t r r n t u r c . LiLfle exact docuurentation rras requiretl irr s;'stcrrrafic philosophr'. l'Iorver-er, rrlren Ibn Sini rrrobe tlre IQtAb U{-ii.lri' :lntl was unnble to pro- vitle il rvith all tirc custonrnrl' scholarl.y nppa,- r i r i u s , i . e . , b h o l c c u l u t o i n r l i o r t i o n o f s o u r c e s t r t r i t l r c c u r e f i r l r l i s c r r s s i o n o t ' t h e o l r i n i o n s o f o t h e r s c l r o l r r s , l l e t ' e l b o b l i g e d t o a p o l o g i z e . l I e s t 1 ' s t h a t i t l ' l s o n l y u r t r l e r t l r c p r e s s u r e o f c i r c t t u r s t u n e e s t, h a t h e p u b l i s h e t l l r i s r v o r l i i n t l r i s t i r r r n . I f l u n r r l y b e l i e v c a l - J i r z l j i n i , t h e
( t ) I J u r r l , l ' n . I i i i i l t t t t Nos. 5; ?; 35.
Iiittib o-L,{ifti' rvas cornposed upon the latter's feqnest. \Yhen he aslierl Ir,'n Sinil to courpose
& (( cornmentarl- tt on the n orks of Alistotle, lbn SinA replictl that he l-rrrtl nob crrough [irne t o u n d e r t a l i c a b a s k o f t h i s n r t g n i t n t i e , ( ( l x r t if you rrill be satisfieti u'ith a rvork in rvirich I tnerely set down lnJ' o\yn scietttilic convictiong (md 5al1fua 'ind6\
antl tlo nr.rt take issue rrith thc opinions of other scholars, I shall cornpose suclr a rvork tt (l). Sysbematic theology n,lso conl_tl restrict ibsclf to occnsionrl rcferences to sourc Irl,sic sources (r).
Iledical s-orks u'hicl-r as a rule derlt rvith l'htr,t rvas thouglrt t'o be strientific*lly estlrblished facbs needetl littlo lilelary tlocuutentalion. Thc sarne can be said l'ith regartl bo the othel nat.
rural sciences.
'IlLe scienees of tradition and jurisprurlenct, on the obher Lartrl, tlepenrietl npott the extcb inrlication of sources, which rlits &n integral pn,rt of their subject mrtter (3). Other branches ilf learning l'hiclr \\'ore iubirnatel;- connected
*'ith thosc scieuces shorv fhe inlluerrce of tLei1.
rnet'lror1. Thus, biogullrirical l'orlis, l'hich olig-- iuatetl in bhe service of lndi! antl .1igi. rrrc v e r ' 1 ' r n r r c h c o n c e l n e t l r v i t l t t i r e i t t t l i c r r , l i o r r o f thcil sources; t.lr exccpiion trra,;' be lburrrl iu tlie
(!) Ii\U 2. 5 f.
(t) See ilbove p. 5 a. Ilol'erer, the intluence of' the rncthotls ernplol'etl b.r' tlre scieltccs oi' Iludil tl,nrl ./iql, nat,rtnrlll', rr'rs stroug irr tlreol.
o g y . A ] [ u s l i r n o f t h e n i r t c i c e n t h c e n l t t t ' t ' , n l r o corulliletl ll lit'e ot' Ilul.rirururutl tbr liurlroscs ot' rcligious etlificatiou, courplairrcti about tire t'act thtb the firrrrous oltl rvolks at'e ettcuubcrerl n'ith na,brillil, i. e,, investigutions conceruetl rrith source criticisrn trrrl the riivcrgcnces ltefl'ecu valiorrs rcccnsiorrs. ct'. Al.rurrtrl Drl.rlirn, r\ila/r l.ll, and Ohr. Stroucii Iltuglottje, ,l/cA'l'o !. E1S (Derr Ilaag ISSO).
(t) (-'f., fol iustance, allove p. S n.
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llf. Tho Critical Appronch A r O n . few biographical v;orks rvhich originated in
imitatioa of fl.r'eek rnoriels (r). In his Tdri,ll, ad-Duirabi regrets the facb that scholur.ll' liter- ary activity in Islarn began at a cornparatively late tiate anti, therefore, tl:rba on rnany earl.r- I l u s l i r n s a r e '
i n c o t r r p l e t e o r e n t i r e l l - u n a v a i l . able (?). The great role rlhicir tire knorrletlge o f t l r e l i f e t i n r e o l h a d t ! s c l r o l l l r s p l a . r - e d in t h o s c i e n c e o f t r a d i t i o n c a u s e t l c o n s c i e u t i o u s schol-
* r s t o l e a v e a b l a n l i s p a c e i n their respective r v o r k s f o r t h e l a t e r i n s e r t i o r r o f the tlate of tire
<leatlr of mul.turlcl,ilittt, rr-iro nt bhe bime of u'riting r v e r e s t i l l a l i c e . T i l i o c u s t o r u occasioned bire follou'ing humorous yel'ses bj- ar]-Dalrlbi :
A stutlent of the /tarlil rvho leaves a blank space for the later iusertion oi' tlre tlate of death of soureorrc like rue, Is uot frrir to rne. since I u'tnt him to I i v e , a r r r l i r e s ' a n L s m e to tlie (r).
'Abd al-Latif b. 'Abd al-QAhir as-Suirralr'ar- tli's (rt. 121&4) resporrse to rn iuquiry after the date of his irirth n-ts runch less good-humoretl.
He.-ongrily replietl: ((I tlo uot urrdelstnnd tvhal those {r,arli1 scholaris rraut, thab bhey ask some- otre about the date of his birth. It lo<-rks as if they suspect hirrr (olra,t he fir,lsifies trutlirious antl trrrnsurits them untier. Lhe name of l)ersoDS whoru, in vierv of the tlute of his bilth, he corrltl no6 have liuo\\-t)'tt (1).
Ilistorical l'or.ks, in gcnet'al, aspir.e to gleat eccurac.\' as fur as t,he in(licttion o1'bheir sources is couceruetl. The eltier Sublii, f'or instauce, ati- v i s e s h i s t o l i i r n s [ o i u r l i c a t e blreir.sorrr.ces i r r etcir particulirr instarrce (5).
(r) (if. qt,z 10.6?? (1(|.37).
(t) .\rJ-D,rl,ulri is quotetl b1. Salliiu'i,I'lin, ltit).
(:i) Stl-rrini, J'ftir 109; grrlirtli, ^\irA'l l{ij; lbrr T a g l i b i r t l i 5 . 5 1 , a n , n o 7 4 S ( I ' o p p c r ) .
For thc last hemisticir, ct'. l,lso Ibrr '.\brl al- I t n r r 3 . { 7 ; t .
_ ( t ) I l - r r r I. l i r . j : r r , t r i s r i r a . t . 5 { . O t ' . a l s o S u l - 1 i i l i , I'lrin. 1l i.
Thele tu:r.\', lrowovcr, be otlrer lersrtns fbr c o n c o r r l i t l g t h e r l r r t e o t ' o u e t s b i r t h . ] I u l r l r r r r n r t t i b . ' A b d i t - l n o i a l - . \ r r s r i r i ( t l . l t { 0 . 1 ) ' i u s e t i t o s a ; ' i n l e p l l t t i q r r e s t i o i r s n i o u t , b l e i i l t c o t ' l r i s b i i t h : ] l i n d vc,ur; o r v n b r r s i r r t r s s . N o b o t l r s h o u l t l t e l l t u . r o n e r i ' l r c l h e r v i r s b u r n . I f h e i i \ - o u n g , p e o p l e r r ' i l l tlrink littlc ot' hinr, antl it he is otit, l l e o p l c l ' i l l t h i u l i t h u t h e i s s e r r i l t ' . " , c t ' . I b n l a g r i b i r d i , l r g r i l l i > . 2 8 7 , , c l l o i 3 i ( ( l a i r o ) .
(5) Seo nboi-e p. lll} b, n. li.
In the course of tire centuries, the literary s o u r c e n r r t e li a l i r r c r e i t s e r l t r e n r e u r l o u s l t - . ^ \ t the s i l r n e t i u r e , t l t c t i r n e i r r t e r v a , l betu'een the !ilter s c l i o l a r a r r t l l r i g s o u r c c i n c r e u s e d . It l.as felt t h a t o n l . r ' l h e e x a c t i n r i i c a t i o n of' lris soul.ces c o u l t i s a t ' e g u i r r r l a schoiar ilgainsb the conse- q r r c l l c e s o f a n u r r c r i t i c a l a t t i t u t l e . I t is in this s p i l i t t l r l , t a s - S r r r . f r l i (d , 1 J 0 5 ) everrtuall-v rie.
c l a r e t i l ' i t h g r e a t s a t i s t ' t c t i o r r t l r l t n o p a s s a g e i r r l r i s r r u m e r o u s rv o r k s l - : r s left l.ithout the itccrr- r a t e i n t l i c i r t , i o r r o f i t s lrroveuicnce (1).
, l u t h o r s u - l r o c a r e f u l l y q u o t e d tlLeir sources b e l i e r e d t h a t t h e l ' l - r a d d o n e l h e i r d u t y a n r l t L r t t .tlre respotrsibility ('u,hduh) fcrr. the colr,cctness of their tlata ilutl statenrents nos. resreti rritlr ilreir s o u r c c s . ( e ; F r . e q u e n t l y , t h e t e r s e r n r i s i r u p l e J l - Itih u,'I<r,m \\'lls rro longer.cotrsitlered by scholars t s u f t i c i e r r t l J ' c l e a r e x i r r e s s i o r r o f m e n t a i r e s e r - vatiou. ]Iore rletailetl statements ofteu tooli its p l a c e a l f h o u g i r it nerer Iost iis popular.itr-. The arrtlror ol' the Fihrist, on. tl-re authority of lia.b, q r t o t e s a , s t o r y to the effect that'Adam l'as tho invenbor of hautlrrriting anri usetl baketl clay brlblets for lris rvriting material. ,\t the e n d o f h i s q u o t a t i o n h e exclaims: ..Goti knorvs, I l'oultl rrot strear to the correctness of Ka,.brs storJ' (a,r.d abru,'u, iI& lldhi nt,ht, r1arcl.ilt))1 (t),
At-'1'a'ilibi introtluces a certain clrapter of Iris ^E iqlr a,l-Iu|q,lt, l-ith the remarli that bl_re resporrsiLrilitS. ('iltlalr,) tbr its conterrt rests with his sour,ce.r l.Iaurzah (a).
\\'hcrr Irarllallih al-'Urnar.i ((1. lB{0) rluotes strilngc facts ubout heathen ternples fi.our al- Ilalili's [(itilt al-musilik u.u,-I-muntilil;, he re- frrses io assnrue tire responsibility tbr thc ac- curAo' of the reportetl facts (5).
In lris inbrotiuciion to the ll;mtil Tutfi;-6 ,t1- k'antil Ji, mdrilitt ur-rijtil, llugul{iry }r. t)ilij ( t l , l3 0 l ) r ' e l ' e t ' s t o I h e t n e t l r o t l o f i c p r o t a t i o n u . l r i c h
( t ) S u y i r t i . f [ u , z h i r 2 . 1 6 5 . Of. I]rockeln)t,nn, G:Ll' Suyltlalerrl 9. 17S.
( r ) F o r t s i r r r i l a r u t t i l r r t l e of rvesterrr nle- tiieval schollrs tol-nrrl thr:ir sonr.ces, cf. JIur.ie Scirrrlz, Die Lchre aon, der hifiorischen ,l[ethoclc btti den Gc.schichtsschrcibern des )Iittclulfers {i ff'.
( l 3 e r l i r r - L c i p z i g l 9 t ) 9 . ,l b h . z , ) l i t t l c r e n u. )-euer.en G c s c h , 1 . 1 1 .
*..(3) Filu'i,rl_a (FIiigcl), 0 (Clriro l3tri). Lrf. tlso F i h r t x t l t i t i ( F I i i g e l ) , - ! t i { lUitiro tB{S).
({) Trr,'ililri. L'icth al-Iuinl 3:ri.
(5) lirn Iftr.llalliilr. .l1rr.r.riii/.' l. i; 3lG.
A x O n . 2 1 l. Tho Indicntiorr of Sorrrcos
he employed in lris n'ork. Thc e,xpressiou : . r s o u l e o n e sairl !', inrlicates thnt tlre follorr.ilg quotation was derived li'onr u rvork ot'that partic.
t u l r r r p e r s o n l i n t l r o s e c a s e s in l ' l r i c l r }lugul{ir1' eorrltl not penoually consult tlrat rvork, he in- tlicntes tlre interrnetlitry source tlrrorrgh rrhiolr h e h a d b e e o m e a c q n a i r r t e r i r v i t l r h i s q u o b a t i o l r . IIe urrtlers'eni all tbis trouble. in <-rrtler to be free from the resnonsibilit"r' tbr blre accur:rcy of his sbatement.c (i).
The historian al-llaqrizi (d. l4+2) inrlicates the three kinrls of sotrrces rrhich Ite useti in tlro (r{rntpositiorr ot' }ris lh*criptiott of Egypt, Thoy n r e ( 1 ) l i t e r a n ' r v o r k s , ( 2 ) i l r f b r m r r , t i o n w i r i c h a l - )[rqrizi eliciterl fi'orrr his teaclrers irnd Dronti.
treut conternporaries. rrrti (3) intbrrnaliorr gaiuerl through iris orrn obseryatious rnrl frour his or-n exporietrce (,). fl-llaqrizi then oft'ers tlr.e follon- i u g e . x p l r r n a t i o n o f h i s s c h o l a r l y m e b h o d : . ( A l l quotations from vtrious scholarly rrorks, rrhicjr I have includetl in my 1r'ork, irave been pro.
videti l'ith the irrdication of their source. TLis relieves rne of the responsibility for the accu- racy of the statements madc in the quotations and exeurpts me l'r.orn any shar.e of guilb in tlre t r r i s l r r k e s n - h i c h th e y m i g h t c o n t a i n t ' ( r ) .
The non-intlicatir-rn of sources (1) oceasiorr,rlly lirovokes severe ceosure. The introtluction ol tlrc Kitdb al-/araj ba'i| at{iddulr by at-Tarrfil-ri cr-rutains a noteu'orthy case in point. At_Tn.
nir13i mentious his pretlecessors, al-IIadii.inir Ibn Abi d-dnny.i,, arrd Abfi l-l.Iusa1.u .Uma,r' b. IIullammarl, u'ho had rrriiterr rvorlis eatitled aI-Furaj ba'd nJ-,{iddah- IIe also rneutions the size of their respeotivo works, u.hich had steatl- il.r- grou'n, begirrrriug with the earliest rr.orli.
rrhich cousisteti of rlboub five ot. six lear:es, t,, about twenty, artrl then bo about f.t'by lellves.
u'bile lN-Tanirtri's orrn $'orli still is cousitierubl;
more voluminons. ( IbD Abi tl-tiun1.6, ", aL_'Ia- trirl-ri coubiuues, 6. in his tr-ork relatetl some if
(t) Cf, O. Spies, Bctriige aur arabischen Lite- rutyl'.lcsc.hicltt€
.10S -(Leipzig 1082, ; J,6:.11 19. B).
(') (- t. also Tbrr tstikurr-rrl J-
. ( ' ) ) I a q r i z i , . l l t t t r i ' i 4 l. { , a u t l J [ t n . d c I , f t L s t . . t r . . t l ' u r c h i o l . o r . r l u ( ' t t , i r e : ] 0 . 1 0 l ' . ( l { ) l l ) . Srrl.lriu-i,
TiLr 10:J, hower-e L, lppeflrs to 'be
rirrrler ilre r n l l ) t ' e s s i ( ) n t h r t l l - ) I l q r i z . i c u s t o n n r r i l r oruit- tetl to indicate u.irrt he orr.etl to his h-fitoricai 6()il rccs.
e) 0f. nlso belo\r- p. {6 b.
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very t'err of the stories n-lrich l'ere mentionerl b . v r l l - J l a r l i r ' i r r i . I l o r r e v e r , lre rlid rrot inrlicate t l r e n a m e s o f i n t e r m e r l i a t e trangmilters and mere- 11' sttted (l'hen he quotetl from al-llatlii'irri) : On the autl-rorit;' of al-Ilatlli'ini 1t;. . . . . Abfi I-IJusayn incurporaterl rnost of al-llarlir'ini's rrork in his rvork, llut entir.ely rregler:tetl Ibn Abi d-dnnr.ii. I founrl that rreiilrer Ibn Abi tl-tirrrr.r'ii nor tLe qri(i .\bfr l-{[usayn mentioned the esistence of a booli on tbis subject b1.. al- l f a c l a ' i u i . I t i s s t r a n g e t l r a t tlre;. should not h a v e k n o u ' n i t . I t n - o u k l h r u v e l l e e n e v e n s t r a n g . e r i f t h e y s h o u k l h a v e i n t e r r t i o n a l l y omitietl to mention rl-lfndli'ini's sork, in orcler to in- creiisc the importance of thcir. orrn books anti to suppress t,trab of al-]tadA,'ini. I found (ib likely) bhab both Ibn Abi tl-tlunyA ancl .\bi l-IJusayn (intieperrtlently from each other) chose to borrol- the bitle of al-IIadA'ini's rvork, al- though they fu,iletl to rrrake this facb pert'ectl;, clear. anrl differed iu their mcthod of borrorving.
I bhought that both of tLeru consiclerecl bhem- selves rrell jusbified in using the title of al- llatlii'ini's rrork after they had atlded ne\\. rn&- terial to thab which nl-Ila,df irri hacl collectetl ,.
'Ihis
cr-rnsitleration prorn pted at-'Ilnfrl,ri himsel t to retain tlre title usctl by his pretlccessors, since he hatl broughb togebher ruuch more na- terial thilu t,hey. Ifowevcr, at-Taufil3i cousiri- ered it, necessirry to cretlit his predecessors rvith all thosc storics rrhich be hacl rlerivcd ti'onr their rrorks, in ortler to achievc greater certrintl- anrl relirbility for tlrc rirciyalts nnd to tlistin- gnisir his otvu acltlitions fi,orn thc olrler nrnterial as \\'ell as to rlrau' attention to cspecially in- strlrc[ive llrrssages (e).
When Frrl_rr ad-tiiu ur-lliizi fourrd orrt ilrat in tlre Kittib al.-milal rca-n-nii.rnl, ai-Salrrastiini hatt corrccaletl the sources on rrl-riclr lre harl drarvn, he rellized that ai-Sahrastr"rui's proce- tlure tlistorteri fhe histor.ical perspectir-o of his rvork. Ife, ilrerelbre, ernbarketl upotr a thorough
(t) I. e., Ibn Abi d-duu.r-6, fililed to ruake it clear thirb bhose stories rvere derivetl f'rom u, rrriften rrorlt of al-]Itdi'irri. Il', on the othrrr l-rrrntl. those stol,ies rver.e not tlirectlr- rlerived l'rorn al-Jlirtiii'irri's u'orli bnt Dhrousli intelme- tliate oral transmitters, Ibn .\bi ti-thrur-ri shoultl haye intlica,tetl bheir uitrucs.
(!) Tarrfr[ri, Paraj 1.5-i.
IIL The Criticrl ApproacLr A N O R . 2 4
invesbigttiorr of tlre rel:rbionship of the ,'lljlol t o i t s s o u r c e s ( r ) .
It shoultl, hou-ever, be r.urrarlietl tlrat tr.ith r € g a n l t o l l r e i u r l i c a b i o r r of sources, ]Iusliur scirolarslrip retliue(i illr ilrr-krrtr.tl and unscltol- arly habit: It' the saule sourco \\.os usetl ilr oue l'olk severirl tirnes, e.\l)ress refereuce to it coultl be rrratle {)llco or sevcrirl tirnes, bub ii \\'irs corr- s i t l e r e r l e r r b i r e l v lrcrrrrissible to onrit t proper a c k n o l l e t l g r u e u b iu g o u r e o f t h e i r r s t a l r c e s , e v e r r i f s c h o l i r r s , l i k e a t - ' f t n f r ! i , r e c o r n m e n r l e r l l r n r i p r a c t i c e t i a c o r r s i s l e n I in t l i c a t i o n of repeutetilv rluoietl sorrrces (?). In the manuscript n,ge, this lrabit rvas n'itlespreatl. Ib rr.as assunrctl ilrat the reader rvoukl be a,ble to riistinguislr Llre stt.le o f t b e q u o l a t i r i n f r o r r r t h u t o f the auLlror arrtl that prer-ious rel'elences lrad rrratle Irirn sulli- c i e n t l y l l c r l r r a i n t e t l u ' i t h t l r e u s e t l s o u r c e s . Con- stanb repebitiorr tlf Lhc s:rrrrc refercnce \yas con.
s i d e r e d t e t l i o u s a l r d , c o r r s e q u e n t l y , i u t i i c a i i v e o f an trrthorrs st1'listic iunbiliby.
7. Accuracy in Quoting.
Tlre need for acculacy in quotirrg orrers sources rvas fi'equeutll' sbressetl. In the jntroducbion of iris Gcogralthical Dictiottur.y, yiqfrb sr&res tlrat lrc tcculttely quobetl all his sources. 1l,e- gartlless of the correctness o. io"o,,r.".tuess ot' tlre st*bements nrade in the quotatious, ilreir accu.
rate replotluobion, )liiqirt Eitvs, gu:u.{lutees their ','*lue tbr sclrolarly reserrch, because they ruake the stutlenb acquainted rritlr Nhe opiuious hekl b1' luthoritrtive sclrolars (r). An aubhor nra,.\- express prefcrence for one of his sour,ces, Lrui, evelr iu a, caso rrherc sCatements of lhe holo.
graph :rufobiogr.itph.t' of a sclrolar \\.ete contla- clictetl b;' another source, tlre klttcr rr.as rrot
(t) Ct'. P. Iiraus, Les.t Controlerscst, tle l,ttkltr y1|_!!.in .liri;r:, il Bull de pfn;t. d'ug. |).lE?_21+
(ieii).
(t) .for this relationslrip betn.eeu an author antl
.his Sr)u1'gu, ct., tbr initarrce, IIU antl t|e ruse. he rnntie ot' Sri'iti, faDnqrif.
^(') lnqtil, .lli'jan1, i.g. 'Ttre
uotion of 're
"Jitanrl tler \\-isscrrschatt :t here rerlrs its ugl;, heatl. 0t'. also beiorr- p. bd b.
s i m p l y c o n s i r l e r e t l w o r t l r l e s s . B o t h tlocurrren[s werc t'r,liblrf'ully quoLetl (t).
.\ccortling to a;-girli, Iialinas' rvorli on eolip.
s e s p r e t l i c [ e r l t h e r i c a t h o f t h c Ctliph al-]tut- taqi. .\;-$irli cornments on the L]aiirras passirge.
rvhich he qrrolos,' in bhe fbllorring l.or.ris : ,. I quote thot book liternll,v. IIe rrho loolis up rnv q u o l a t i o n i n t h a t book l'ill fiutl ib therc, arrtl
\ \ - i l l f i n d r n y i n t e r p r e t a l i o r r of it confirrncti ,'(:).
.\;-Sirli's eager.ness to couvince t,he reatler of t l r e a c c u r t c y o f h i s q n o t t t i o n souncls s o r r r c u . l l r I s u s p i c i o u s . I I i s q u o t a t i o n auti intcrlrretir,tion of bhc Btlirriis pitss:rgo rnight rrob havc beerr lls flawltrss ls a;-Sirli clairneti thern to be. ,\ sirn.
ilar suspicion, rrhich, hou.er.er, l-oulti sootn lo be ruore tlifliculi to substautia,le, atlnclres to l l i s k a u ' l r y h ' s a s s e r t i o n that his rluolabiorr frorrr a trarrslation by atl-I)imrriqi of ir Grecli rvork or Ea(ti'il an-naJs \\'as alt accurate one (il).
Quotltious from meurory lr.cre rccognizetl bo be of limitcd itccuracy. This is as-$irli's chur- a c 0 e r i z a t i o n o f t h e b r u s t r r o r t h i l r e s s o f h i s r u c r r r - ' oirs of the Caliph nr-Riir.li: .( Ar-Rlirli urirtle the uttcrances u'hich I havc relateri in t,lrc previorrs pages and s.hich I arn going to relate hereafter, exac0ly as f have relatcti blrem, or in a \r'ay similar to u-hlb I have related, ol ilt)- ploxiurately as I htve relateti thorn. I u.*s ,,ot able 0o retitirr in ury memor)' his actuul rr.onls, altirouglr I riid rcrain their scrrse " (r).
O r n l d i s c u s s i o n s l ' l r i c h r r . e r e l l t e r c o r u r n i t t e t l t o n ' r i t i n g q u i t e n a t u r a l l y corrtairretl (.solne n'ords ulore or less thilu Lad oligillllll. beerr usetl, as n'ell as divergeuces in ilre choice of e x l l r e s s i o L s t t , b u t t h e i r c o u t e r l t \ \ ' i l s a c c u r . a t e l v rcprotlrrcetl (5).
The I'ather of at-Taarilli hatl toltl his sorr r story which tlre lrltter iucorporatetl iu his I'ra.rg
.^ (t) .fiiqir\ fr.{dd 5. 915 (nfurgotiourlr), lJ. 2:13 (Cairo).
(:) $fili, Al.lbir ar-Ri.(i rcu,-l-lhtttaqt 2S3 f.
(3) r)Iis ka*'ayb, T ahlib ?5. - O rr,\bfr -.
U turrin
!"..i,1 t_. Ya!frb atl-DirnnS-r1i, cf'. 13rockelurirrru, GAL Supplenent l. ii69 t-.; L. Leclerc. Ilistoirc d e l a m t i d i c i n e a r a b e 1 . 1 7 0 tl ; i j t ) ( p a l i s lrj70) :
\\'.Tlrom_s_tlr - G. Ju rrge_?he Co ntueniar y oJ' I>ultpus orr llook {^oJ Euclitl's Elelrerrt.r.{._.t t'. (Lirlrnlrrilfoe, lluss., t93(). 11ro'r'ro'd Sarr. ^:-o'. Sj; ,\bir Sri.
I a y r r r i n , ^ S i r c r i n t i r l . 0 S a i I i A A D 2 0 . ' g - T 0glJ).
({) $irli, Allltrir ar-Btirli rca-i-J/rrftaoi lij.
(5) Abfr I.Iiitim ar-liiizi, [itub a'ltifi qil-il,u.
btitcah, in Rirzi, Opera Philosophicu, f . 800.
A I O B . 2 4 3. Frauilulent Litorory Practicoa
ba'd a{-(idtlah. At-T:rnfil-ri lrarl forgrrbten to 6ltke a note of bhe stolv, but ib stuck irr lris l n e m o r . \ ' , i l s g c l r e r a l o n b l i n e s u u c l r a n g e r l , t h o u g l r its rvording rvas not accur:ltely lrrescrved by hiur (r). '\l-IJtfiji rvls not certairr about tlre author of a qu<ltu,bion, bec:rtrse he butl fbrgoitcrr the book from l'hich he harl rlerived ib (e).
Iternuks of Illn Sinir, lboub }lislias'a,y'h u'cre quoted frorn rnernory brv al-QitJi l'ho diti nob retain their exnct rvording arrtl stttotl tlrab . ' t h i s urerelf is t,he terror of Ibn Sin:i's rernarks, beciruse I rvrot,c blre stof) tllrvtr l'roru rneruory tt ('r), Al-llirirui l,tirnirted thab he had tbrgotterr t h c s o u r c e o f a q u o i a l i o n c o r r c e r n i n g t i r e I n t l i a n theory of year cycles ({). \\'hcther irr: quoted frorn rncuorv or rvhether he forgot to talie tlorvrr the exact lefereuce on flrc slip of paper, on l'irich he made his uotes, \\'e rrre not in a positiorr to defertuinc.
Aubhors rrerc, of course, permitted to shorterr a quotatiou, or to inberspersc ib rvith reurarlis of their orvu. acconling to bheir coaveniencc.
Tlre autlror of the Fiht'ist inclurlcs iu his l'ork a siroriened version of a trentise on the revcalerl religions of the past nnd arltled to ib bhe relevant passages of thc Qrur'ti,n antl llnrlff (5). Trvo differ- ent reports abouI a discussion u'hich took pl:r,ce bebl'een ai-SiLn'i anrl Ibn Rithawa5'ir \rere coln.
bined into one by Yiqirb for the sake of brevity' ; horrever, Ynqirt riid not, ftil to. indicabe the source of each partir:uhr sectiou of his quota.
tion (0). Since rccortling to Yriqfrt, &t-I'a'trlibi's Yathnah rvns the besb a,r'aihltle source for the biograplry of ljatli' az-zilmiru nl-IlaruarJjini, hc irrcorporatetl at-T:l'illibi's biogrnpbf in iris os'n work, but oruirteti sorue of its rh.t-urerl lrrose (?).
Slighb diffcreucr's in J^\pression rrhicir exist bebr-e en at-Ttr iilibi aud Yiiqfrt, flppear to be the result of Yiiqirt's ediior.ial actiriby. The end of a sholtened quofaCiorr rnay be intlictr,tecl b1' tlre expression z intahti rnu,la,l.g[o,qan, of rrhicir
(1) Tanirl.ri, l/rr.raj l..l{.
(:) Lrrtfaji' ,'\irr $7.
e) Qiffi 3:t. Ot'., fulther, Yirqt'rt. Iriritttt.SilT f.
(IlargolioutL), 17. ll29 (Orr,iro).
(r) J3irfrni, llrhir. 1?ti, transl. 1. 3J7.
(5) Ffllrist !1 f'. (Fliigel), ll2 (Oair.o'13+E).
. - - ( 6 ) Y A q i r t , l r , l i d 6 . 3 7 6 ( l t r i r g o l i o u r h ) , f 7 . 2 C 3 (0airo).' *
O ' Y n q f r t , T r d t i d l . 9 J ( r l t a r g o l i o u t h ) , 9 . 1 6 8
(Cnilo). -
mu,nf instanceg ula)' brr tbuttti in late l'orl<s, srrclr ns the Ilistory ot' ilrn al-'Irrrirri (t). Tlre art ot' conriensirrg r lrooli or treu,iise came to b e c o r r s i t l c r e d o r r e o f b l r e a c c o r n t r l i s h r n e n t g o t ' truc sclrr.rlilrship (2).
3 . F r a u d u l e n t L i t e r a r y P r a c t i c e s . Ii' s'e rrrir;' belier.e al-Jiil.riz.. he knerr f'rorn b i L t e r e x l l e r i c r r c e t h e t i ' : r n d u l e l i 1n'itctices l ' l r i c h l ' e r e t h e i a s l r i o n a m o u g t h e u ' r i t e r s o f h i s t i u r e . I I e r u r r i r r t l i r r s th a L u r r v i o u s c r i t i c s t o o l i n llar- ticrrlar delight in learing a,1-rarb his bes[ rvorks rvhenever they rvere publishetl untler his narne.
' I l r e i r
t i e s t r u c t i v e c r i t i c i s u r b e c a m e c s p e c i a l l v violent. it' bhose u'orks u-ele tiedicateti to an i n f l u e r r t i t i p e r s o r r a l i t l ' fi ' o u r r r ' h o r r r th e a u t h o r coultl cxllecL to reccive a hautisoute reu'artl, if his rvork proved & success. Occasionall;', ho*'- e v e r , t h e i n t l u e n t i a l p e l s o n a l i t i e s , t o u ' h o m a l - Jii[ri7 aridressed his rvorlis, happeued themselves bo be connoisseurs of gootl literatule and paicl no atLeubiou to those rualicious critics. Iu such cases, thc lufter changeti their iactics. Thel' piltbletl blrr: rvork, rvhich ihey hatl jttst' before tlenouncetl as rvorthless, tiressetl up the loot as iheir orvrr plodnc[, aurl tletlicatecl ii to sorne othel influential pers<lntlitl' of the tirnc, in the hopc of a rel'ard. Ou l,he other banri, ai-Jitllia continues; it sotnebirnes happeueti fhat he conr- llosetl r rvorli rvhich burrretl out to be of a much i n f e r i o r q u a l i b y t h a n u s u a l . I l o t h e n p u b l i s h e d it urrtler blre narnc of sornc fa,tttotts atttiror, such as Ibrr al-lluqafla', al-lJalil, Saltr, Yal.ryfl b.
IJiilicl, al-'Attiibi, or otltels - atttl all those crilics, l'ho used. to abuse u'otks ptblisireri untler al-Jil.riz's o\\'n uirme, heaperi praise upon those infcrior llrorluctions antl cante to colty theru. Since al-JillriT u'as equally reluctant to see his rvorlis become tlre pre;' of his envious colleagues as n'ell as to cede title to his achievc- monts to gomeotre else, he tleclares tha| he ofben llublishetl his l'orlis anon)'mottsly, aud thcir success \\'ils thus assuretl (3).
( t ) C f . , f o r i n s t a n c e , Ib r r a l - ' L u i t l . 1 . l s l i ; 5 . { ; S.193; Narviiji 90; Ibu [Iajar. -Fotl1.
(2) Seo beios' p. 6{ b.
(3) Ai-Jniria, Fu;I ntti bayn ul-'aildrcah tca-I- lusacl, iu JA[ri4, ,Vujntti'10S-C. Ot'. also ]Ias'ircii, Tanbth i6 f.
- 4 5 -
III. Tho Criticll Approach A N O n .
i
Tlre desire- of eertain authors to achieve c e l e b r i t l ' f o r t h e i r u ' o r k s , eveu if tlris rneunb thai tireir narnes huri hr lle concealed antl rc- placed by tlre uame of sonle reoognizerl autlrority, is uutierstaqrlal.rle, anrl tlre rvester.rr u.orld kne$.
of a sirnilar phenornenon (l). iLru.ever, IJunu.r.n g i r e s t l i f f e r e u l reasons tbr tlre existeuce of a ' c o n s i d e m b l e
n u r r r b e r ri f p s e u r l e p i g n r p h s r r n r l e r . t h e n a m e o f G i r l e n . ,\ccorrling to LIunal.rr, b h o s e p s e u t l e p i g r a p h s lr a d their origin irr the r * r r i t y o f m e u s - h o u . i s l r e t i to l)ossess in thcir l i b n r r i e s m o r e s p e c i r n e n s o f t h e L i g h l y v a l u e c l products of ancieno scholarsirilr tlrun aur.one e l s e ( t ) . L u a l t e r u i i r i v e s u g g e s t i o n i s a l s r _ r u r n t l e b y I J u n a . v u : T h o s e p s e u d e p i g r a p l r s m i g l r t o l , e t h e i r e x i s t e n c e t u n u r e r e m i s t a k e l tl r e r r i r r r r e o f i l r e nuthor vlrich appeared iu the l_reginuilrg oi' one work in a manuscril)t \rhich coutuiueti it rrumber of t'liffereut works, ryas mistalrerrly consirlereti also to be the rrame of the author of all the fbllow.
ing works (3). There may be sorne significtnce to the fact that Fuuayn appalently tlid not tliinlr ol the possibility that a real scholar coull irrteutionnlll- aflix the harne of Galen to a n.ork l'hich he knerv lt.as not tLe protlnct of thc grc*t physiciau. Irr spite of al-Jiiiriz,s remar.ks, it rroukl seerrr that the number of pseutleyri- graphs in ]fusiirrr lifelatrrre \ras contparativell, srnall. Pseutiepigraphs u.er.e rnosb rruurerolrs in the fieltls of astrology, alcherny, ancl sirnilar ruragic:rl arts, rrhiclr. as the rnajorit.v of ]Iuslirn scholars realizerl, belongetl to t,be bortleriine betrrcen seience and clrallut:rrrr.r.
I t a p p a r e u b l y a l s o h a p p e n c r l i r r } l u s l i m l i t e r _ ature that eutire rvorks rrerc frtutlulentll, ap.
propriated b5- other persons rvho substitutetl their ou'n names to those of the r.eal authors.
Therefore. rrriters feib corupelled to rnalie srrre thrL their riglits coultl not be disr.egrrrrlerl. A proutl stateruent, rr.hich ctlls to our urind the self-introductiorr of earll- Greek prose s-riters.
was prefisetl b1-'--\li b. al-.IblrAs to his ltccttcul E*cyclopcilio, in ortler io ptove his ruuilrorshill
.. C) Cf., for irrsttrnce. p. Lehnrlnn, Z,scrrdool.
t i A ' c L i t e r a t u r i l e s )t i t t c l a l l , r s !1 (Lcirrzig lg-1 7 . N l r r d i c r r . d e r I ) i b l . I I / ( r b u r 0 1 . l.lro '
r , c t e l s ' t o t h e D u g l i s l _ r r r r a n . \ \ - r r l t c r . l I r r , p . ' 1 r c tt u l l i s c i r i u l i u t n .
- - (:) Cl'. E. Bernlrt'irrr , LelLrbuch d'ar lristot.isclten )[ethode uni lcr (_itschichtxpltilotolthie 301 6. 13r.,
*utl {tL erl.. I.t'ipzig lt)t)j_lj.
(3) IJuuul-u. .)/rrfilair sE t.
a n t l i h e o u t h e n t i c i t y o f tbe u-ork:.,,There aie b l ' o p r o o f s o f t l r e a u t h e u t i c i b ; ' o f tlris boolt as t s'ork of ',\li
b al-'.{.bbirs. (l) Nobotly lras ever before cornposetl a gimillr u-ork. ,\ comparisou t-ith other llrr.rrnri.(s antl books by previous au.
thors *'ill shorr thab there js no book by any prcvious author u'hich co\:ers all llarts of merl.
i c i n e , o r r v h i c h h a s b e e n arra,ngetl sirrrilarlv, o r e x a c b l y l i k e , C h i s u ' o r l i . (2) The author's firsl co1l.r' of this l.ork u.as t.ritten for ilre library of fhc Prince'.{r.lutl ad-tlal.lah. Later.
the n'ork rras publishetl arr<l distributed arnong t h e p u b l i c . B e f o r e t h n t date, uo nl&nuscript oi t h i s , o r a s i m i l a r , w o r k w a s iu existence. This beiug the ca.se, ib is correct to say that lhe aubhor of this rvork is the pLl-sician,r,Ali b.
al-'Abb6,s al-Iftr.jfrsi, the tiisciple of Abir trIirlrir IIirsA, b. as-Sa1-yrir. The auilreuticiby ol this rrork shoultl be s-ell knou.n to scirolars, iu ortler to nrake it irnpossible for ignoraub persorrs to appropriate rsorks of renl scholars. which the.r.
come acl.oss, and to pass theru o{I as their orr.n p r o d u c t i o u s t' ( 1 ) .
Auother instance of an auilrorrs apprehension that he rnight be deprir.ed by sorne literarv pirate of the fruits of his labor, is founcl in the introrlrrction of Llo.e KaKf al-ntulljtib by the Per.sian nrystic, al-IJujrviri. tll-I.Iujs'iri's sttteurent is notes-orth1.on account of the follou.itrg r.ords, w i t h s ' h i c h h e j u s t i l i e s l r i s . attitude: ({....'Ihe coru.pilation antl courpositiorr of books ser\.es one end ouly, namely. tlrtb ilre authorrs rrarno be kept alive antl thtt reatlels antl studeuts p r o n o u u c e n b l e s s i n g ulrorr the aublrorrt{e).
In adrlition to the t.are, rrholesale al)pr.o.
yrriatiorr of entire rrorks, the fi.autlulent ourissiou of Lhe proper. ackuou.letlgrnenb of nateritl tle.
rived frour the u'orlis of other author.s \\,arg llo u n e o r n r n o n p h e n o r n e D o n . I t is. hou.ever, verr- ditilculr antl of'ten irupossible to de[ernrine u.l,e rL permissible litelary usage eutls, antl fra,utl begirrs.
Ib rrray- be reruarked in passing that ilre crten.
sive .\r'abic literature on literar;' t(tlefts " (,sa-
1 t ; ' . \ l i
b . a l - ' A b b l i s L t ? . J J e f o r e hirrr. ..lli b.
l i : r l r l r i r r r a f - ' ! ' r r b r r r i h l r l r . r l l r c s s e r l lris telrl ot-itrrri c o n t e r u p t f i r r I i t e l u r . l . p i n l r e s . .\ l.irlc rlistri.
b u t i o r r o f a b t r o k , l 1 - ' l ' r r b u r . i tlrouglrt. n.orrltl c o u n t e l ' i l c t tl r r r i r n e t ' a r i o r r s u c t i r . i t i e s , - c f . llrr,bari, ,L'irdc rrr li.
(e) ltujrviri, KuiJ' 2.
A - r O n . 2 l 3. Frsudulont Literery Practices
riqdt) does not interest us in this connection, since ii is not coneerned with fraurlulent literlrv p r a c t i c e s t r u t l - i t h l i t e r a r v c r i t i c i s r n , ( l l a s s i c a l literature incl ntles & group of liegi xiorflE rrorks. Thesc *'orks Iargely l'ere the result of investigiltions of the aesthetic rncl phikrlogical chnracter of the great rrorlis of literatnre, espe- c i a l l l ' p o e i q r . \ o t a n g i b l e r e l r r t i o r r s h i p b e l n ' e e n t,he classictl antl Arabic rvorks on litelary { thefts tt can ire traced. Hos'ever. since .( tlre l n o r e s p e c i f i c f a c t s o f i n t e l l e e t . u a l i r r t e r c r i r r r s e g e n e r a l l . v e l u r i e u s ) ' ( r ) , t h e p o s s i l r i l i b r - o f s o r n e k i n d o f c o n u e e t i o n c a u n o t b e e x c l u d e t l . T h c Iluslinr sariqdt literarure ig restrir:tetl to poerry to n ruuch lir,rger degree bhan the Iiegi il.u;ri1E I'orks apperr io hrrve been. Ilut there is a rernarkable sirnilarit.r- irr the geoer':rl approaclr t o t h e s u b j e c t , o f l i t e r a r y " t h e t ' t s : ' 1 r ; .
Accusatious of piagiarism rvouid necessitate an investigatiorr of the claims of both pa,rties.
Uufortunately, in most cflscs, onl.l' the staternent of oue party is available. A;-gtrli stabes thab Abir llirsi, 6l-r,rirrnitl. u-ho used rtrosl viciously to atttck hiru tluriug his lifebirne, appropriatecl much of the iutirruation rrhich ap-$irli irnpurted to his listeucrs in his lectur.es. This fu,cb l-as tliscoveretl bhrough an invesiigation of Abir I\Ifisfl's brnks after his tleath.(:J). l\-hether. rq-
(t) Oir. If. Ifaskins, Tlrc Re.naiss&nce of the T rcel-tlh_ Century,66 (L,umbridge, -I[ass., lfl-.ls;.
(2) Ilor the Greek coucept ot' plagirlrism, ct'.
E. Sfenplinger, -Dtrs Pltgiut itt, tlar griechisclten L i t e r a t u r ( I i e r i i n - L e i p z i g 1 9 1 2 ) . A shorL surve) of the probleru of plrr.gitrisrn irr Jerr.islr litei.
ature rvas recentll' rrrarle by I. Jlaarscu, .FIct plagiaut en zijn ruattlaerin"g iu. dc joodsche lite- rntuu,r, io, Btjttragan utt .l[cdulcel ran, het Genoot- rchap uoor de joolschu ll/etcnschup itt Iedtrlunrl 6 . 1 1 - ? 2 ( A u r s t e r r i a r r r l 0 { ( ) ) . F o r p l a g i a r i s r n i n Iicrraissunce literirburc. cf.. tbr instauce. I{. 0.
\\rtrite. I'Iugirtism anrl Int.ittttirtn tlu,ring tlrc English Reiluis:tailac (Olurbrirlge. )Iass., ll)J5).
A r e c e u b s b u r l l ' o t ' p l : r , g i l r . i s r u i r r , \ r r r b i c l i t e r . ar.r' theory was publishcrl llr- G. D. von Gl'rr nebatrrn, ihe Conicpt oJ' Irlu.lliarisnt in Arabic Tlrcory, io JournLll oj' Xea'i. Eustertr, Ntrrr/jcs 3 . 2 1 1 { - i 3 (1 9 { 1 ) . , \ r r r o h g the grell numller of Aralric tleabruenb.s ol suriqrit, Ct'.. especitllr'. Iirn i t a i i q , ' U t n d u l L l . : 1 5 - ? 0 , r r n r l Ib u a t - . \ t i r . ' . l l u l r r l +06-99. lior. urr enrl)- treatmerrb ot' the ,\r.abic r u r i r l i t t h e o r v irr rr l!rrr.opean l i r r r g r r i r g e , c t ' . , t i ) r r r r s t a n c e . I . F . f l e h r e n . D t c R h e t o r i l ; ie r A r a b e r l 1 ; - 5 I ( C o p e n h a g e n - \ ' i e r r r r a 1 S i l i ) .
(3) $irli, A[btirallti ll'u',rlndrn. ltt t'.
$iili's accusation is true or not, n'e nre not in r position to rlecir'le.
For ilnportant lrracticnl reasons, the science of tra<lition alu'rrs l'as a major fielcl for literarl- thisitications. Fnlsifiers here hari an especially e a s . \ ' t & s k s i n c e th e f i c l i o n o t ' t h e o r a l t r a n s r u i s s i o n of traditiorrs openetl the tloor to all kintls of ti'autls. Fnlsitication of tlocuments, for the ben.
elib, or disarlvautage, of certlin groups, \\'fts also pructiced to ft \'ery corrsitleruble riegree.
- \ [ u s i i r n s c l r o l a r s c o n s i r l e l e r l i r o n e o f t h e i r u l s e n r t a s k s ( r v h i c l r , h r l r v e v e r , t l r e l ' n e v e r q u i t e s r r c . ceederl iu urastering) to estabiish valitl rules t b r b h e tl i s c i o s u r e o f s u c i r f l a u d s ( 1 ) .
The storl' of nl-flntib rl-Brgrliuli's tlisclosure of the rrrriruthenticibl' ol' fire docuurent rvirich granlerl the Jerrs ot' I_Ia1'bal special privileges, ergoyetl lasting aud considerable tarrre (2). It shonltl, horvever, be noteri that iu ihis particular instance al-I,kl(ib did no uror.e bha,n l'as tlone urany times by other ]Iusliur scholars n'l-ro usetl the irisir.rricai tlates which t'ere utenbioued in a cerbain storl', in orcler bo shorr tirat the slory corrltl not have haplleued in the lbrm iil' l'hich ib l'as reported (3).
I
(t) Anl' detailr:tl t,reatrnent of the scieuce ol Ipudil contaius irribrmttiou on this sub.iect. .!n ovaiutrtiou of t,hese etlirrts fi'our the lloinb of vierv of rnodern literary criticisrn is still lacliirrg and ural'. viekl interestirrg results.
Another exarnple of the discovbry of a liter- tr)' t'r'aud tir:'ough the investigatir.rn of tire -l'trc/r.lass of a seholur is coutaineti in Ibu l.la.lar, Lisdn 2. 17. Ibn an-Na.jjrir, the author r.rt' lr sul)[)lerrrent to the Tn'ri[. I]urjdid, ullegetll;' f i r u n r l in t l r e p a p e r s o t ' B a q i ' b . S a k i r ( t t . 1 2 0 - l - J ) , r v h i c h l r e b o t r g l r b u f t e r t , h c li r t t e r t s r l e n t h , u r o r e t ' r l l s i l i c u t i o r r s t l m n o n e r r o u l t i t l r i n k a l i a l c o r r l t l have I'rubricateti.
(t) (-'f., tirt' instance. Ibrr lll-.Iarvzi, )[unta;arn, qrroterl b"v Yiiqfrt, Ir{tid l. !47 t'. (^\Iargolioutlr), 't. lS (Cairo); .)nlhtli, ll'ril'i l. {4 t'.; Stlsirrr-i, l'lin 1 { } t ' . O t . n l s o , \ . } I e z , I l e i l q i s r a n c c l } ' ) l i , r r . { . I l n g l i s l r truusl. 38tj. u. :1. arrtl. especiall-r-, E. L6r.i-L)r'orerr- glirJ. ['es /iistoliars des L'hor.fa:];-rt1'. (1.)llris I:)t:.1).
A t r r i r r r l r e x i l r n l l l e o f r r s i m i l a l c h t , r & e t e r r n r r . l r e r n e t t t i o r r e d l r e r e . I b n I 1 - i i s l J . 1 ( 1 5 , s t r l t e s t l r i r t in $73r l.+sS-9, tr sborre inscliption rrr s lbrrtrtl, in n'lricir, in un oltl lrrrntlrrriting rvithout tlia- c r i t i u r , l p o i n t s . t l L e i r u l l e r r t l i n g n r l i v a l o f t l r c l j i r s t D l r y u - l s lr r r r o n n c e r l . S o r r r e p e o p l e d e c i n r e t l t h e i u s r : r i p t i o u t o b e n f u l s i f i c a t i o n .
(r) Of., tirr irrstrtrrce. belol' ll. iij a. Of. nlso Snlliirvi. I'lin ll it'. Iror tlre \\-eit. cl. I]. T,lSCh.
D a x E r t r a c h e n . u n d r l i e E n t t r i o l ; e l u n r l i l e r h i s t o - ritchctt I{ritil; im. llittalulter 3ir (lJreslnu I S87).
- 4 7 -
lII. The Critical APPronch AxOn. 24
Ae a rule, lfuslim scholars hatl ferv 'antl insufficient means bo expose literary frautls' But their critical spirit had been itrralietrctl at an early date. The translation literature had made them acquainbetl rvith Galents jutliciotts remarks about the tioubtfui genuineness of cer- tain rvorlis which \YeI'e oscribetl to Ilippoclates(1)' The liuguistic chalacber and' especilrllS', tirc con' tentof certtin s-orks l-irich rvenb untler the ntme of Galen provetl to [una."-n's satisftrction that those rvorks *'ere pseutlepigraphs (2)' The case of fhe one-volutne Abrtdgntc:tt of tire Great Book an the Pulse, rvhicir IJunayn hatl foutrtl in a Greek manuscript un(ler the name of Galen' w&s more complicaitd. 'Ihe lvork conhrinerl iu that manuscript t'as a tiefiuitel;' inferior llro' duction. IJunayn. tlrerelore, rvas cotrvittced thtlt it could nob have beeu composed b1 Galen' Horrever, in his lliva! (3), Galen men[ioned titat he had colnposetl such tt \\'ork' {uIrayn, cotr- sequently, suggests that tvhen Glletr uenlioued
tb: Abrid,gtrlent (in conversatiott, or in tltlother' work of his??), he hatl nob yet rvritten it' but plannetl to tvrile ib. Gtlen, $unayn continues' inter abandonetl his plan, but someottc who kniv tbout Galen's early anttouncemetttt com' posetl a short treatise on the pulse anrl ascribed it to Gnl*o. Then he iusertetl the title in the Iliva!, in orcier io insure blte snccess of his fdsificttion. {unayn atltls thu0 the occurrence of the tiblc in the llivrrl turry be explaineti in enothcr lnantrer. Galen ruight actually lttrve composetl tlrc Abritlgrncrlt, s'hiclt rras ltter loslt antl the present supposibibioustre&tise rvls pub- lishetl in its pltce (a). Thele also rvere otL'er rvorks which s'ere asclibed to ancienb author- ities, rrhose genuinencss l'as tloubtetl by IItts' lirn scholars (:'). In ttris cotluecbion, holvever, r\Iusliur scholarship ca,n htlrtlly boa'sL of sttclt a rnsst€rpicce of liLerar.v ttrllysis m St' 'l'lromas Aquirtas' ltroof thtrt thc I'iber de cortsds *'ls
(t) Of., tbr instattce. I.[ttntyn, liisr?lrrl Nos' 9 5 a n r l l 0 l .--
(ij iluuayn, fiisrilol. Nos. 3{ antl 35; )[orliktlt No. 1551i'.
( r ) Gnleu, OPua 19.33 (liiiltn)' it\ IIunnr-n.-ltisrilnir \o. 0{i.
&i it:. for iirstnnce, Birfrni, ,hnnihir' -11 (Aris' t o t l b , D c , L t r p i d i / r r r , r ) I I ' \ U l . { i t } - i ' f l r e ' o p h . r i t s L t t s ,
Categortes); Ibn t-tat.ltr tr, ,llrrqadrlilra/r lllt ('\t'is' totle, I)o/itic.s).
composetl of porbions of Proclust Elements Theology.
Dogmabic cliit'erences u'ithin Isltttn also slrarp' e n e r l t h e c r i t i c a l n i n t l o f ] I u s l i m s c h o l a r s ' S u n n i t l r e o l o g i a n s \r e r e n o b r e t n i s s i n p r o v i n g the spuriortsness of rrorlis tscribetl to 'Ali (1)'
)[uch effort was spent nport tire rliscussion o f t l e a u l h e n t i c i t y o f v e r s e s a s c r i b e d t o l r n c i e n t Arab poers I the argutnents l'lriclr rrere ttserl in tlris corlneclion have lnt'gell' rernn'inetl tlll' ciraugeri to this tlal'.
i
I
4 . T h e C r l t i c a l S P i r i t .
The extct indication of sources sabisfietl tlre rlernrrrtl tbr scholarlv accur'ftc)'. Ii was seltlotlr usetl tirr loother legiiirnate plrrpose. namel;"
f o r e u h a r t c i n g t h e p r e s t i g e o f o n e t s o r v n r v o r k througir the authority of the sources quoted' It is, horrever, obviotrs tlrat tlrc rcspect for scirolarly and literary authority lvtls very great
&mong }lrtslirns. The process of setfing rtp '1 nuthorities tt is a colttinuotls one in hutntn in' tellectual etttleavorsr and, it rvoultl seetn, is in- rlispcnsablc for their successful progrcss. 'r\t the snrrte tinre, it is necessary to tlellose oltl ('uuthorities tt ils soon 1rg nelv nntl better ones have becolne knon'tr. The tlegree of freetiom frorn intcllectual nuthority, 'rvhiclr exists in a p:ubicrtlrrr civilizatiotr, is tletcrrrriuctl b1' the tie' grcc of rvillingtress aud alliliby Lo replilce iltt' thoritics n'hit:h hirve otrtlivetl llreir llseftllness'
Thc critical lpproach of educltetl llrrslirns to the problern of nubhoriby is illuslrttetl, if sourewhlt glolesqtrtrly, b.y ll liltdratetrr of blro l r v r r i t ' t l r , n t t t l l t p h i l t l s o l l h c r o t ' t l r e t h i r t e e l r t l r c e n t r r r ; ' . T h e f r r r r r r e r is ' , \ l i
b . l r l - L l a s l r n S t r ' ma)'rn (1. 1901), rntl the lat,tcr the celcbrttetl I b t r S r t b ' i n ( i . 1 9 7 1 ) .
1 n 1 1 9 ? - 3 , Y i i r l f r t w i r s i t r A n r i t l t u t l v i s i t e t l Sr,nl,r1'*. Ife u'tltrb to his 'sturly in otrc of tlrc citr-ts- Illosqttcs lnti firrtnrl S,trnaytn snt'rotttttlctl l - i t h b o o l i s t l l o f h i s o w n c o t n p o s i l i o l l ' ' \ t t t o t t g lhe tl'o tnen the tbllot'iug collvers&Liotr boolt
(\ Cf.. rviflt regrtrrl to the ){all al-bal(tlnh' II. liaoust, Esscti .riur lcs ioctrin'es sociales et'prt'.
litiu,,.'r rlc Ttl't-i-tlin Alnad D' ?'rainr''i.yrr' l{)S iCo1., l9:t$l,|. 'licch. PrrDl. ic l f nst. Jt. d'archtol' or '
tl'archtol' de philologia el rl'li'st' to)'
o!
A xOr. 24 4. Tho Critical Spirit
place (t): " I tokl Sumaym tt, Yiqfrt says, (rthht the purpose of rny visib rvas to 1trofit frorn ltis k n o u ' l e d g e . I I e a s k e r l u r c : . W l r t t k n o u . l e t l g e f r . I s a i r l : ' A r l a b ' , f l . n t l h e r e p l i c r i : . r V y . a r l a l u,orks
&re numerorls. Tlre scholar.s befrrre mv time c o l l e c t e r l a n r l a r r a n g u l t l r e s n y . i n g s anrl poems o f o t h e r r u e n . E v e r y t h i r r g 1 Lavo is the llrorlucl of my orvn brlrin. I noticed the unanirnous appl*use rvhich grected r certain adcD rr-ork.
So, I riid soue thinking of my o\\.n ilrrtl llro_
rluced a rrrlrk o[ the slme t1-pe, ilterebv corn_
p l e t e l l . o n t s h i u i r r g b h e t i r s t a u t h o r . ( : ) . For in- s t a r r c e , i n h i s H u l l i s a } , I b i r T a m r n A m collecterl
ancient .\rabic l)oetn.s- I rrrade n1t tt lIuntisah frorn rny ou'n products nnrl brain cl_riltireu. (Sn_
mil)'rn then rerilerl rntl insulte(i ,\bfi Ttrnmiirn).
I furbher notieerl tle high appreciartion l-hich the rvine poetr.r of Abfr Nurr-irs enjoyctl ever)a t'here. So, I composed lny orvn book of poeurs on rvine. If ,\bfi l{uuiis u'ere alive totia,y and could hurr those poerus, he n'oultl bc aslrarnerl to mention his poerrrs. I also noticetl the hish appreciafiolr which tlrc AdAresses of Ibn -Su- birtah enjoyetl ever.Swhere. So, f rnyself corn- lrosed r book of Addrexes. Torlay, evelybodv cares orrl;' fur. rn.r' Adilresscsr.
Surua;'rn tlrus set ont to r{ity the ilncienb ru'riters, to declnre the okl urastrtrs to be stu- pid (?) (3) antl ignorant, arrrl ro crll ilrem rlogs.
I l'as amazed, antl asketl Lirrr Lo lcb me hcrn sorne sllecirnerrs fronr lris tlorks, u.hich he hirtl rurerrtiorrcti bct'ore. IIe starterl r.eldilrg to rne tLe intlorlrrct,irrrr of the Dook ttn llrine poctry. 'l'he t'rrllou'ing l)ilsstge has sbucli irr rn"r. lrriud : ( f uoticetl tlrrt, al-fiakarui(1) lrarl prorltrced an orig- irrnl piece of u'orli, but hatl tirunri no snooes- sor, i. e. (5), he hnrl rlivulgerl thc secreb of rrinc anrl ibs qualities. I tLerefrrre chosc to rlevote s o r n e e i l i l r t b o t h r : sanle sulrject. although, Gotl l i u o \ \ ' s , s i r r c e I w:rS il urclilirrg aN rrr\. lnotlrer,s brcast, I have ncvrlr cotumitted bhe sin ol, touch.
irrg rvirre t - or u-ha0er-er it u-as.
, . , ( t ) . I ! . i s o i l r i o u s - t h r t y i r r l f i t grcltll. ernbei- l i s l r c t l t l r e s t o r . v . I I e ernlllirl'eti tl,e ' b r i l l i l . n t style rvhich Le hurl learnetf fruur ilrc gr.e:r6 lrit- l.ric u'r'iters ol' the tenth cerrtrrrr-.
. (e) unrua;-rn's concept of originaiity is indceri stlan ge !
. (") I-c.q i/ir r r a- u u i a h.h ilx : I c A. y usa.llih u, (ya s ttltb u ! y u r !it:' i.t'tr ! 1" u. a- g tij ti ti t t t x-
( t ) I . e . , , \ b r ' r ) i u u r i s (5) Ilrn n,s-Sji'i :4tr,-<!Jil;a.
Surnaym recitetl to me a poem from ilre s a r n e b o o k . . . . I p r n i s e d t h n t p o e m , but he be.
( , a n l e {ulgr.y antl sairl to rue: (Sharne upolr ; . o u I D o y o u n o t k n o r v n r r l ' t h i n g better ilran .lust p r l i s i n g ! t . I said to hinr: .\\'hat slrall I rlo.
S i r ? t, a n t l h e a n s l e r e r l : . This you should rlot - a n d h e s t o o r l u p , unrl darrced and clapperl h i s h a n r l s n n t i l h e t r - n s tireti. Then, ire sat r l o r v n a . g a i n , m u n r b l i n g : , ( llhat shult I tlo? ! I a r n p c s l e r e r l b y n r r i r n a l s rrhich are unable to t l i s t i r r g r r i s h b e t r r e e n p e a r l s an<'l r e f r r s e , r u b i e s a n d p e b b l c s I t I a p r t l o g i z e d , tnd asketl hirrr rrheth- e r h r l w o r r l d n o t r e c i t e to n:e sorne other pas- sage t)'om his l.orks,... aurl he did, but I have l o s t t h c t e x t .
l l y r r e - r t q u e s t i o r r c o n c e r n e r i the famous oltl r v l i t e r s . S u r r r a \ - r n thoughl that norre of thern deserveri any piaise. I mentionetl al-lla.arri, b u t S u r u a v r n u l l b r a i t l e r l ure, sayirrg: . Shiume upon )'ou I IIou' uncivil of , you I To rnenbion that blintl tiog here irr m.\- strrdy !'. I sairl : 6 f nobice, Sir, th:lt I'ou likcr noue of the oltl mas- t e r s ' . I I e r e p l i e r l ; ( I I o w couki f, if they have notiring to offer rvhich night please me'. IIo$.- e v e r , I p e r s i s t e t l : s D i d n o t arryone among thern produce sourething tlrrt u'onltl firrrl ;,our ap.
proval ? t. IIe anss'ered: ( I l.oulct not knos.
rvhat to urention except, of all the poetical pro- tluciion of al-llutanabbi, his laurlator.v l)oenls, Ibn Nubtitrrh)s Atlilressas, antl Ibn al-IJarir,i's n l a q d n u i t , T h e s e l. o r k s a r e acccptable'. I said t o l r i r n : ' I r v o n r l c r , d i r l y o u not corupose il.&- cld.mdt of your ou.n, tr-hioh outsl_rone tjrose of a l - I l a r i r i ? ' . I I i s r e p l y r v a s : ( L c t lre tell you, son, tlrat retraction in the interest oJ trutltlllness is pre.feruble to a,doanee in the ptdh of error (t), Trrice I conrposed ntaEintit, bnt rny u.orli did lrob lllcasc ure, and I tlestro.t'etl it. I n-r.rurlcl rvhellcl Gorl rrright not htve cleateri nre fol tlre s o l e p r r r p o s e o f e r n p h a s i z i n g Ib r r al-I.[arit.irs s n . pelioritl''.
Tiren, Snrnal-ruts talli becarne ecstatic, arrri h e s a i t l : ( ' l h c r v o r l t l o 1 ' e s i s t c r r c o l ; r l o r v s b r r t t r r . o c t ' e u t o l s . T [ e o n e i n lreu'err is Gotl, rntl the o n e u l ) ( ) u e a r . t h is f ! I I e t,urnetl to ure arrrl suid:
(t) )Irrrgoliorrth hns poiutetl oub that this lcgitI rnirxiru il,p_p_ctt's in ttrlrrr.rts
In:ttt.,rctiotts Jor.
Q t k ! i s , c f ' . a l s o ) I l r r g o l i o u t h , i n , / 1 l J N l : l l o . ; i r t t t . Of.,,_tirrthcr., f iqfri, h.*ii l. tilJ (i\lnrgoliorrth), l . 1 5 ; ( ( l r r i r o ) ; '. \ l r r r t r r i { . J .
- 4 9 -
lII. The Critical Approacb
- _ _ ( t ) Y n q i r t , I r i i d i t . 1 3 9 f f . ( ) I u r g o l i o u t h ) , 1 3 . b t f t ' . (Oailo). Of'.- \-nqfit. lr*titt $. r;01'. (tlcrgotiouilr), l : 1 . : 1 0 ? f f . ( U a i r o ) , u ' b e r e a u e a , r ' l i e r r i a t j e 0 f 9 0 l j is intlicateti. A bliet' rdsunrd ol' Iiirrirtti storrl is contained in Ibn tl-.hnirtl r-r.d ff'. I'brr as-Si:i l 5 N f . . q n o t e s t h e s e c t i o t r d e l l l i n g n . i t l r . l b f i Nurviis !rn(l , lut)u,\-n,,s l.1u,mrtyit. Iior Srrura.rnr, c f . , f r r r t h e r , l b r r l i l f i r . l ; . +f .' aniro t;01.
' e ) l | r l l i l r s t l u c e , t l r a t J l i r : z l r ][ r r l r a l n r r u r t l R r i . qir rvLorn Il. G. Brurvuc ticscribes in J )'ear.
ano1lg:t! the Persians l4 (Ol,rnbr.itlgc Ig2T).
(r) L. lIa^ssiguon, Ile'uteil de teil.cs'initlits concernont l'h.ittoire dc la mustique nu,sulmane l:8-31 (l)aris 1l|:)9. Collactiotr,' rle tc.t:le:s irtcdits rcIatiJs i. la. myslirlue en pdys tl, Isltr,ttt l), trrrrsl.
D.v .\lrlssignon. in )ftmoria.l I{. Ilaxset :1. l3J.lJ0 (Paris I $2S. Publ. tle I f ttttittrt dcs l[autes-Et.
]lar. 1E). Cl'. also II. \\'rhitaki, it Islamica.
:s. {;5-90 (tf}3:r).
The comrnon people rrould not tolerate guch &
remark, because they l-oulrl not rrnrierstanrl it.
I c a n n o t c r e a l e a n y t h i n g i r n t r r - o r r l s . These I d o c r e a t c ' . I I e t h e l r t l r r ' e l b u p o n t h e e t r . m o l o g y of the rrord . to createt. I remar.kerl to hirn : ( Sir, I am a created tle ing, anrl creilterl beings neetl autlacity (as a safctl- valve, to give venb t o t h e i r f e e l i n g s ) , o r t h e y . r r o r r l d r l i e florn sut'- focation. Therefrrre, u.ith 1-our, perutission. ma1.
f a s k y o r r a q u e s t i o u ' / t . S u r n a t - r r . r s r n i l e r i it n d s a i t l : ' I r r n d e r s t a r r r l b l r a t J.ou are going to rsli a \rery rlifficult question, So, go rrn antl tell m e w h a , t y o u h a v e o n y o u r r t r i n < l t . I saitl: (\\'lry are you cnllerl Suma,vm ?... ' " (t).
I r r b h e c o n t i n u a t i o r r o f t h i s sttlrl', \-iiqirt tells about Ibu al-I.IajjA.j rvlrtt lrarl asl<erl Surnnvrn r r h y h e h t d u e v e r L r r l r r t l i . r i n r c e l t s u r e a c o n t e r n - potar)' n'r'iter. Sumal'urts reply rr-as: ..f think that none of them is s.ortir anythirrg, antl ib is proper to censure snch persorrs only, ou u-hom it mighb be llossible on another occasion to bestou- llraise t'.
Sumaym rva,s concciierl and cantankerous, antl ' his like may bo fourrtl until this rla5' in ilre East (2) and elsen'here. Ibn Sa,b.in, t,hough a much greater scholnr, u'as not uulilie Suttral'm io bis clraracber. frr sllite of the fact ihat his learniug n'as consiriera,ble, his jutlglrrenC \\.as su- perlicial, ancl his cribicisrn of the great ltuslirn philosophers \\-as not baserl upon a tlcbrdled in- vesbigrr,tion, as l_re cla,irncrl. In Ibrr Sab.iu's Budd al-'rtrif (:t), Ibn ltuitl is rlescribetl as a fbrmer bcliever irr the errors of Theurisbitts, rrho latcr becilure a blintl u,tlhcrent of Aristolle. Ibn
A x O n . 2 4 RuSd either pilfered Aristotle's rvorks, or usetl t h e m a s n n i n s p i r a t i o n for his orrn prodncts.
I I e l - a s s o b l i n r l a believer in Aristotle ilrab it'the latter ,*'oulrl lrrrve rlcclared tirat someone(thing) r v h i c h u ' u s sirrrrling u-ts ab the sanre tinrc sittirrg, I b n R u i r i u - o u l r l h a v e repeatetl that sl:rternerrt a f t e r h i m . I I i s i n t e l l e c t u a l gifts s.ere lirnitcrl.
b u t h e k n e r v h i s l i r n i t s .
Ibn Srb'in hati a higher opinion of al_Fri- riibi. Although al-FArtibi l'as confrrseri ri.ith r e g a r r l t o s e v e r a i p h i l o s o p l r i c a l i s s u e s , h e r . a n k e t l l r i g h e s t a m o n g l t u s l i m p h i l o . s o p L e r s . I I i s k n o l . l . e d g e o f a n c i e n t p h i l o s o p h y u-as rnuch superiol t o t h a t o t ' h i s c o l l e a g u e s . .\t the en<l of his life, he discarrletl his fot'mer. errors.
I b n S i n i , o n t h e o t h e r hantl. rvlrs aiurost com.
p l e t e l y r e j e c t e d by Ibn Sab'irr: (( Ibn Siud is a bluflbl antl sophist. ile has succeerletl in finrlins mrrch attention, bub he is of little use. IIis n.or.ks are'worbhless. IIe thought that he had attainetl knon'ledge of the Oriental Philotoyity. If he tlitl;
ibs sutcll rnay havereachetl birn,l.hile he rr.as... (?).
'llhe rvorks oflPlnto sorvetl as ihe basis for rnosr of his books. Ifis orvn contribution is rvoltir- Iess. IIis orvn strtemetts are unreiiable. IIis urost voluminous u'ork is ilrc Srli'. tt is full nf enors. Aristoble is conbradictetl in it. This, in farct, is meritorious, since Ibn Sini tl_rus ex.
plriined Nhe rlark points in :lristotlers teaclrins.
In blre fieltl of ureba,phl-sics (ildhiytit), lbu Si- ni's lrcst worlis are the Tunbi,lu'lt and Iitirrit, antl lris tllegolictl lloyy b. l.'uq;fitr,, The high qutlity ol' blrese rvor.ks resuibs frour lhe trrct that thel' are baserl upon Plabo's lorr.s arrrl Sirti teachings. I'lato's .Larcs a,nri $ut'i tea,chings \yere n s e t l b y I b n S i n i r . t b r h i s t l e a t r u e n t o f sornetlriug like sociology (politics) antl plrilosophical r.e- seal'ch (togic). (Ifis trertrnelt of) both sub.lects i s u n r e l i a t r l e a u t l u n i r r s t r u c t i v e tt .
Ibrr Sall'in devotes ruucLr space to nl-Gtz.
ziili. Al-(iazziili wils utberl.v confuseri tntl in.
cour prehensible, since he tlirl nob tbllorr, olre parbiculur line. At ,one time, he l-ns a girti, antl at anot,her. tirne, n philosopher. Then, ire
\ras An AS'nr.ite, tLren, a jurisb, antl lguin u s l i e p t i c . I l i s k n o l ' l e t l g , e o f u n c i c n t l e a r u i n g altri o t ' $irfism \\'ils ts Hirrrsl- u s a s p i t l e r r v e b . Sinee lre clrnre t'ronr the rrtnks ot' orlhotlo-r scholirrs, it is urrtlerstlurlrrble thl,b Lis viervs tbout )ri- tisrn wer€ so primitir-e. Ou the contlarl-, the rnere firct that he bccanre a $irli is r.ecoururcntl-
A N O R . 2 4 4. Tho Criticel Spirit
able. IIe heltl Pyilragorean vieu's regardirrg t l r e i r r t . e l l e c t . I I i s p l r i l o s o p l r y u a s r r r i r i u l . f it l e r r - tictl rr-ith the lrhik'sophl' 9f L\e IIrctht u,;-gaJ'tt, and ils Poor as that.
Iloth Iirn Snb'in and Suura-r'rn \rere eccentric p e r s o r r a l i t i e s , i l t t t l tl r e i r a t t i b u r l e m i g h t , t l r e r e f o r e be disregt,nleti lls not being t;'pical. lloreover,
& n d t h i s i s n t n u c h m o r e i m p o r t a n t c o n s i t i e r a - tion, bolh lDen \rere fitfis or irrfluenced by $ir- t i s m . T h e $ i t f i c r e j e c t i o n o f a n t h o r i t y \ \ ' a s e l n o - t , i o r r i r l , t t r t l u o t i n t e l l e c t u a l , a n r l , c o n s e q u e u t l l ' . tliti nob cottfot'ttt to any sounrl scholurl,r- ol' literary apltrotch. Ifbu'ever', be this us it, rnzr,y, t [ e c r i b i c a l s p i r i c t L a t i s l b u u r l i n S u u r a l ' m a n r l Ibn Sab'in \r'its posscssed bv vcrl- rnlrrl' sclroi- ars autl u'riters, though, tbrtunately, as r rttle in a more constructive form.
Iluslirn intellectuals fclt only too keerrly bhe p l e t s u r e o f u s s e t ' t i n g th c i r s u p e r i o l i t l ' o v e r t l r e i l pretlecessols or conteurl)ot'itry livtls. It was truc l'ilh regartl to bhcm, as it hns been at all tiurcs, that " lbe critic (al-nnrtaylfilr) of a rvork has a better eye for its faults tha'n the auilror " (1). On tl-tc othcr hantl, bhe f'ear of criticisnr exercised a health.r' iufluence ulrorr sclrolars antl rrriters antl etltrcatetl therrr tort'artl e.\actness antl carefulness itt thcir statorncnts (2).
Spccial rvorlis rrere rvriltcn, itt ortlcr to le- fute ccrtain books or opiuions. \\'herever fhe)' thoughb il necessar;', schola,rs inscrtetl critical observatious in their n'orl<s. Critioal bibliog- r:rphics contaiued an authorts r:val ua,tion of the l'orlis of his pretlecessors(3). Such bibliog- rllrlries ot'[en atternpt to give thc rerrtlcr au irrrpurtial sruve). of thr: avaihl-rle run.terial. Oc- casionirilr', hol'ever', it is their pul'pose to pror,e the necessiby of the reucrvetl treatmenN of' a p r l t i c u l a r subject.'IIrus, thc bibliographical sttr\'{i)' u'iih rrliich '.\li
b. :ll-',\bbiis inbrotluces lris .llcdiccl Ilncyclolterlirr is intentictt to plove tlrr-' orillinaliti' ot' thirl tvorli. Iccording to the
- (t) Trr'ilibi. I'angil 30; Yiiqrit, .lr.(riri 1. I 1 ) l l l g o l i o u t h ) , 1 . it i ( 0 . r i r o j . C f . - n l s o
I l I , I 1 . { J . - \ c c r l r ( l i n g to Abir Ztyti al-Ilall_ri, nho is ,.ltt"tr:rl b)' \'riqirt, Iriid 6.7S (-\largoliouth), I t i . I I I ( C a i r o ) , r i l - J r r i r i T e x p l u i u e t l ' t l r t t l h e r u i n i i , r t . t h c u ' L i t e r . i s p r . c o c c u p i e d t v h e r e t r s th e m i n ( l o f the crit,ic is tlee.
(:) .\zrii 't. 9S.
1:t) See above plll0 iu.
anthor, iis origittalily lies in its comprehensivc- n e s s . [ [ e t n a i u b a i r r s b h i r , t t h e I 2 l o r i s l l . v o f I I i p - l r o c r a t e s , i n t o r r ' l r i c l r ll r e g r e a t G r e e k 1lh;-siciarr condensed the rrhole scieoce of medicine, trre too brief a,utl too diiliculb to uutierstantl anti require a cotnrnellar.v. Irr spite of the greal i u r p o r t a n c c o f l r i s a c h i e v e n l o t l [ s , ( l : t l e n , ' . \ l l b.
a,l-',\bbas sa.vs, ditl trot pro(luce il'try s ork of tlre type of the J[edicul Encyclolterlia, \\:hile h e t l r u s b r c a b s . f { i p p o c r u t e s u t r t l G a l e n - u i t h r l u e r e s p e c t . o t l r e I i r n c i e r r t In e r l i c i r l \- r i t e r s , s u c l r a s Olibasius anrl Paul of ,\eginl, ale utore severell- c r i b i c i z e t l b y h i m . . \ m o n g o t l r e r d e f e c t s , t l t e i r l'orlis iu parbiculur suffet' front lhe lacll of an aclerluale trea,tmerrt of lhe plrysictrl tbLrndlrbions ot' urctlicine. Accortiing to "\li ll. al-"\bbiis, it is a sirrtilar defect rvhiclr tna.kes ilre rvorlis of the Arabic Christirn an'l lfnslim llhysicirr.ns inferior to his own book. Even or-ltizits tuon' trruental $tircir '.\li
b. al-'.lbbis states' contains insuilicicnt plr.vsical information. It nlso pos- sesses soure otlrer slrortconrings, namelS', tire Iruill< of au anatoruy antl the al'krvarcl arraoge- rnent of the urtrberial, rts rvell as the enotmotts size of bhe rvork. In the opiuiott of '-lli
b. al- 'Abbirs, Lhe lI1,rci is notlriug but a collectinrr of cluotations, rvhiclt ate reprotlncetl rlrr. ea:tenso l u t l n o t w i i h o u t f r e q u e u t r e p e t i t i o n s ( 1 ) ; i n e d - tliliou, ics size rnilkes it too exponsive for all bub bhe very rvealthy to bul (e). Some of tlre lurgurucnts of '.\li b. al-"\bbas rrith respect to t,he flftrt zrre correct, bttl they tlo trot 1lt'ove lris clairrr rhat lris ][edicctl Encyclopedia is sotttrl- tlrirrg en birel.v tliffererrt l't'our ar-Ilii zil s nmg nu'rtt optrs. The use of such irtcotrclusive tlrguuleltts shorvs horr clifticult it s'as for',\li b. al-',\bbA,s to esbabiish the clairn of originaliiy for lLis l-ork, bub also horv grcally he tiesircd fo esbab- l i s h s u c h t c l a i r r . r .
In t,lte beginning of his &l-]fatal as-sii'ir, I b n a l - I t i r s t r e s s c s h i s o r i g i n a l c o n t r i b u t i o n s . tlrx;uglr s-hich lris u-otli tlistinguishes ibsclf fnvorabl.y fi'orn those of his llretleccssot's.
'l'he mnrgiual uotes of a reatler ol'ten eontain tr criiicu,l evilluiltion ot' the opiuiorrs expressetl
O 0f. above p. 7 a.
e) ',\li
b. al-'Abbis 1.3-5. Cf. also L. Le- clelc, Ifiistoirc tle la mitlicine orabe 1..3E3 t'. (Pur- is lti?ti).
- 5 1 -
IlI. The Critical Approach A I O R . 2 {
(1) Itanf instances of strch urargiuul notes are l)reset'vetl in tctuul urarrrrscrinbs, cf.. fbr irr- stance, .I. l'iicli, i\ ZD.ll(j tlo.399 (lgjij), \\.ith regard to the tr'ihrist, or the ,\Is. oi. Isitnbul.
Uruirmi No. -160i. p. lll13, of Jiilirni, .ilrir.
(,r) Clt: lt. \\-iisten feLtl, Die Acadewietr, dcr Aruber _l9;i (Giittingen ISBi). \\.iisbent.elti's source is Ibn Qtrji utrball-r.
(3) Nuruar-ri I l. J?.
( i l S u b h i , f<tbaqit 2.ttt.
( : ) S r r b t t i , fabuiit 5.J6.
. (6)_Sublrj, loc. dii., antl iu otlrer plilces of the fubaEit. Cf.. fdrbher, Suirki, )tuttl t22f., transl. 53 l.; Sul-rrirr.i, -I'Irirl J{i f'.
,_ fl Y.rirlirt, li*id 0.:.]:Jl; 3lij ()ftrrgolionilr), 1".1-19 (C-airo). Tiris passage of'yllqirt"is quotcii
by $at'adi, I?rtrr 2lj3 i'.
b.r' the anthor (1). Il-rrr Jamir,'ah usetl to cover e v e r y b o o k l r e r e a t l n . i t h critical urtr.girritl notes (!). In his cop,r' of Ibrr Sin.r's liittib a,t-rl,tl.
rciyah al-mufradult, un-I'irru-ar-ri fouurl fhe rnar.
ginal note of ' ,( ln (unir_leutifleti) person n-ho m i g l r t h a v e h i t u p o n the cor.recb e r n e u t l a t i o r r o 1 ' a mistake of the ,ioyl,, (Ibrr Sirrii) rr 1;r;. Irr his payl Ta'ri,l3 Bu/1iltirl , lbrr an-iia,jjir ureubions a rliscussir,rn s'hich allegerlly tooli lllace betrr-een 'Abtlnlliih
b. Sa'irl b. Iiull/ib irrrtl trl-Juna1-rl.
This causes ar_l-I]ahabi to rualtr: ilrc lbllol'ing nrarginal eotnn)ent : (. -\ot c,rrrect I Ibn Iiullirb ig knorrn to lrave beeu rl corrteurl)orart. of Al.rmatl b. I.tanbal [d. s,f5]. Iftru-, tlren, coultl he hate h a d a t l i s c u s s i o n li t l r al-Juta1-il [tl. 0tt]ll" e).
Ad-l]ahabi's tlisciple, as-Sublii, tlistpproves ot' his teaclrerts classificutit-rrr ol' liabr ati-tiiu ur- lilizi amorrg tlre .. \r-crlk t1
ftatli! scholl,rs. IIe expresses his tlisapprovili in il rnarginal uotc to ar]-Dalrabi's JIiarirr. al-i'titltil O. ,\lilrough as-Subki consi(lers arJ-Dahabi as (. in general, the greatest and rvisest scholar of his time ", he sccasionall-r- accuses hiut of beiug iufluerrced by his party bias (lo'n,s,srl)('t;. Frank, ilrough respectful, criticisrn of oncts teucher \\-iru l)er,- mitterl. Yiiqirb stabcs bhat his teucher, )Iubilrali b. Ilnbftrak al-\\'n.iilt (tl. lSlt), prof'essor of grarnln&r in the Ni4S,rni.r.ah College, \ras a poor.
te:lcher. Iu clilss he usually toltl s[ories antl rccitecl l)oclns, anti, as a resulb, ilre stutlents did iroC go ou rrith him. \-iiqfrt, hon.ever, tkres uot ftxget lo merrtion that ][rrlrii,r'ak knel. rntuy larrguages aurl rrus broiltl-ruirrrletl enough Lo e x p r e s s h i s t l i s a p p r o v a l of ilre actiou of &
libraria,u u'ho tlesIr'o1-etl il copy of al-]ta.au,i's Criticism of the Qur'&n (t\.
T l r e r v i t l e f i e l d o f l i t e r a r . y criticisnr, u.lriclr ru'a.s largely conccrnerl rvitlr poelry, rirrrgeti firrrrr b l i e f a u t l p o i u l e d s t a t e r r r e n t s , s n , c h i r s a l - I l u l r - t r r r i ' s a l l e g e r l c o m p a r i s o n of his orr.u poetry rrilh bhat of .\bir 'Iamurim: (. IIis gooil verses trre better bhrrrr rny gootl verses. anrl rn,r. barl vel.ses arc bctter than his bttl yer.ses rr (1), to l o n g a u t l e l a b o r a t e investigatious. IJuu.e v e r . t h i s l 1 ' p e o f c r i t i c i s n r u . h i c h tlistirri;.rrishes b e . t s - e e r r g o o t l a n d b a d , h a s l i t t l e or no connectiou u ' i t i r s c h o l a r l y c r i t i c i s m rririch rlistirrguishes be[rreen true aad frrlse. and s'hich lloue inrli.
cates the presence of n tnrc cribicat spirit.
'Ihe
authorify' of prc-Islarnic (antl early Isluunic) poetr;' as the recognizetl ntotlel of. all gootl poetry played & corsi(let'il,ble part in tlre h i s t o r y o f A r a b i c b e l l e s le t t r e s . This autlroriby rvas ntainly upheltl by grir,urrnarirns, rvlrereas all gitbed poels and intelligcnb literar.y critics stt'ovc bo overcorue it, since they sa,r. itr it a barrier bo genrrine pocbical crettivity. Sirrce I. Goltlziher's invest;gutions (2), ihe iristor;, of bhis struggle is rvell-knos'n iu 'its
orrtlirres.
E x c e p t f o r t l r e l u s b f o u r c e n b n r i e s of conrplete Llecu;' before bhe trventieth century, l.hich sal.
the beginning rejuverratiorr of ,\r,abic r)oeu.\..
it rras l generally practicetl rnaxirrr of tttcuteti lloeis autl critics [hab (.
thc gate of the ilrvcntion of ncl' topics rvas ol)on urrbil ilre Drly of ltes- turrectiorrt,, a rrrftxitn of the roligious larv, u.hich Ibn tl-Atir appliecl to literabure (:'). Ilr.orrr the great, nrnouut of the relevanb mater.ial, rve rrra,.t, be pcurritleri to quote here ,t story toltl by ar-Jtiig.ib ll-I;fir,hir,rri. It is a stroug plen for orig.inalitv in p o e t i c a l c o m p o s i b i o r r . Tlris is the stor.y:((,Ihe qt?di Abir l-I.[asau repor.tetl the firllorvirrg srory:
The poeb, at-ft6111i4, said to a per.son rr.16 11tl b o r r o u ' e d s o r n e o f h i s v e r s e s : Son, rvo ate the poerns of poets such ns (.\bir Tn,mrnirn) nq-f i,i aud al-I3ulrt,rrli. They, in turrr, are ilre lroerns ol' an-\ribigah, rvi&h tire result thtt bhe1. excr,eterl snch pocms as the1. rlitl. No.rv, yorr ate ru;.
poeus: \\:hat l'ill yriur excretious lle lilie l r, (a).
O $i'li, Al3bir Abi, Turnmtittt,6T: Aititti lS. l0E.
(2) Abhtr,ndttutgen rln. or&bischcti' I,ltilolortie 1. 192-74 (Leiden llit)ti).
('r) Ibrr'al-A1ir, .ltatat tat7.
e) Riigib,'lfufid(urit:1. 419. Cf. Ietiaurs, t-o.
r.iae llistorfce \IlI, 99: I'u].drov i\i 6 (oytlrirpoq dlgtnlre rdv lriv "Opqgov
oiruv B1ro0r'.", iutE' A;
dli.ouE norrlrdg rd dprqpreop6vc dguolr6vouE.
