Copto-Arabic Literature | 1 COPTO-ARABIC LITERATURE
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Copto-Arabic Literature | 1 COPTO-ARABIC LITERATURE Coptic literature per se, a subject treated elsewhere, is confined to the writings in the Coptic language during the early centuries of medieval Egyptian history when that language was the spoken language of the people as well as their only written instrument. After the ARAB CONQUEST OF EGYPT in the seventh century, the use of Coptic survived in the administrative structure of the government for some decades. Gradually, bilingual documents appeared in which Coptic and Arabic were used in parallel columns, mainly for clarification of administrative affairs to the Arab governors, who did not understand any Coptic. Then in the year A.H. 85/A.D. 705, the Muslim administration of the country decreed that Arabic be exclusively used in all administrative offices and all accounts. This revolutionary decision led ultimately to the establishment of Arabic as the accepted official language in the country—at the expense of Coptic. The state functionaries found it necessary to be proficient in the language of the conquerors in order to retain their positions in the administration as tax collectors and scribes. The Copts were very able linguists and soon mastered Arabic. In time, however, Arabic became preponderant in daily life and Coptic declined steadily, until sometime in the later Middle Ages it became defunct. As early as the tenth century, however, we begin to find works written in Arabic by noted Coptic personalities. Two major works written in classical Arabic appeared in that period. The first was a book of chronicles, Kitab al-Tawarikh, by Sa‘id ibn al-Bitriq (877-940), known as Eutychius, Melchite patriarch of Alexandria. The other was Tarikh Batarikat al- Iskandariyyah al-Qibt, the famous history of the Coptic patriarchs, begun by SAWIRUS IBN AL-MUQAFFA‘, bishop of Ashmunayn. Although the Coptic language was still the spoken language of Egypt at the time, it is obvious from these works that the authors became proficient in their knowledge of classical Arabic, and their works marked the beginnings of a vast Copto-Arabic literature, Downloaded from Coptic-Wiki.org Copto-Arabic Literature | 2 which eventually became an established discipline among the Copts in medieval and modern times. Sa‘id ibn al-Bitriq wrote another book, also in Arabic, entitledAl-Jadal bayn al-Mukhalif wa-al-Nasrani, a polemical treatise in which he defended Christianity against non-Christians and tried to justify his Melchite creed against the predominant non- Chalcedonian orthodoxy of the Coptic people. But his historical work, Kitab al-Tawarikh, which he addressed to his brother ‘Isa, remains his major contribution. He intended thereby to cover the whole span of world history from Adam to his own day. Apparently, he covered the period of Islamic history to the Abbasid caliphate of al-Radi (934-940). From this point his work was continued by Yahya ibn Sa‘id al-Antaki on a more massive scale covering most of the rest of the Abbasid period from the caliphate of al-Muttaqi (940-944) to the caliphate of al-Zahir (1225-1226). We must remember that Yahya spent a great many years in Egypt and that he included in his accounts, beside Islamic episodes, a considerable amount of external history including the Christian patriarchates of the Eastern provinces. His work may be treated here on the periphery of Copto- Arabic letters. On the other hand, the strictly Coptic native product is the HISTORY OF THE PATRIARCHS by Bishop Sawirus ibn al- Muqaffa‘, who was a much more prolific writer in the Arabic language. He is credited by Kamil Salih Nakhlah with the composition of some thirty-eight works. Though many of the works of Sawirus have been lost, others of particular importance have survived. Apart from the monumental biographical history of the patriarchs, he wrote a treatise in refutation of Sa‘id ibn Bitriq’s Melchite attack on Coptic orthodoxy. His work on the ecumenical councils, entitledKitab al-Majami‘, has survived in toto. Most of the other works deal with theological subjects of the highest importance, such as the Incarnation of Jesus, a book on the Downloaded from Coptic-Wiki.org Copto-Arabic Literature | 3 first principles of the Christian faith prepared for the vizier Quzman ibn Mina, commentaries on several biblical texts, traditions and liturgies of the Coptic church, a treatise on heresies, another on fasts and feasts, and a multitude of other works on purely religious and moralistic subjects. On the margin of religious studies, he wrote also in Arabic on such subjects as psychology and psychic medicine, and several brochures on educational matters as well as a discussion of Arabic proverbs. In a word, he seems to have inaugurated a substantial amount of Copto-Arabic literature. It is thought that other, unknown treatises composed by him have been lost. On the whole, the contributions of Sawirus to this field are still open for further inquiry. The compilation executed by Sawirus ended with the biography of his contemporary, Pope SHENUTE I (858-880). He depended on a certain Bidayr al-Damanhuri who later became bishop of Tanis, Buqayrah al- Rashidi, and Yu’annis ibn Zakir, as well as Tidra or Tadrus of Minuf, in assembling his material from original Coptic sources. His work was continued by later compilers, of whom the first was the above-mentioned bishop of Tanis, Anba Mikha’il, who appears to be responsible for the biographies of KHA’IL III (880-907) to SHENUTE II (1032-1046). Afterward, this monumental work was continued by other writers in Arabic. These included Mawhub ibn Mansur ibn Mufarrij for the period 1069 to 1079, followed by Yuhanna ibn Sa‘id ibn Mina al-Qulzumi for the period from 1092 to 1128. The patriarch MARK III (1167-1189) is known to have written about three of his predecessors, from 1131 to 1167. Ma‘ani Abu al-Makarim ibn Barakah ibn Abu al-‘Ala’ covered the period from 1131 to 1167, and Anba Yusab, bishop of Fuwwah, the period from 1224 to 1261. The rest of the work was filled out by anonymous contributors until we reach the modern period, where the name of a Downloaded from Coptic-Wiki.org Copto-Arabic Literature | 4 certain hegumenos, ‘Abd al-Masih, emerges in the seventeenth century. After him, the most famous name in the Arabic literature of the Copts is that of ‘ABD AL-MASIH SALIB AL- MASU‘DI, a monk of Dayr al-Baramus. In subsequent centuries, the Coptic literary heritage in Arabic kept multiplying in all manner of disciplines, sometimes by the pen of Islamized Copts who apostatized in order to retain their high positions in the administration of the country, but mainly by great writers of the highest merit among the Copts themselves who dealt with purely Coptic subjects. One of those who converted to Islam in the twelfth century is the author of a rare text of the highest importance entitledKitab Qawanin al- Dawawin, written in the year 1209. The author, who was a distinguished Copt and a minister of state in the Ayyubid dynasty and who converted to Islam to keep his high position, was al-As‘ad ibn al-Muhadhdhab ibn Zakariyya ibn Qudamah ibn Mina Abu al-Makarim ibn Sa‘id Abu al-Malih. Since his Islamization he has been known as IBN MAMMATI, the Arabic corruption of the Coptic “Mahometi.” He was a Christian native of the city of Asyut. Apparently he descended from a well-known Coptic family, his father being a contemporary of BADR AL-JAMALI and the caliph al-Mustansir Billah (1035-1094), for whom he attained the dignity of chief scribe of the diwan, a position his son al-As‘ad inherited toward the end of Fatimid rule in the caliphate of al-‘Adid (1160-1171). The caliph laid a heavy hand of persecution on the Copts and forced al-As‘ad to apostatize. Consequently he was promoted to an even higher position at the head of the diwan of the army, which he retained under Salah al-Din (Saladin; 1169-1193) and his son al-‘Aziz ‘Uthman (1193-1198). Ibn Mammati presumably wrote his book for the later Sultan al-‘Aziz, mainly as a record of all the provinces and districts of Egypt. He supplemented it with a statement of taxation for each province or Downloaded from Coptic-Wiki.org Copto-Arabic Literature | 5 district in four volumes, of which only one has survived, since all financial statements were regarded as confidential and restricted to the state records. The work as it stands, however, is a tremendous mine of information, not only in the field of the historical geography of Egypt but also on the agricultural calendar of the Nile Valley. The details contained in it are closely associated with the Coptic agricultural reckonings, which indicate the author’s familiarity with the Coptic calendar of the martyrs. Ibn Mammati’s life has been detailed by Ibn Khallikan in his work Wafiyat al-A‘yan, as well as al-‘Ayni’s‘Iqd al-Juman, al- Maqrizi’s Khitat, and Yaqut’s Irshad al-Arib ila Ma‘rifat al-Adib. All seem to be in full agreement about his stature in the administration of Egypt and on his literary excellence. He is known to have written a number of other works besides Qawanin al- Dawawin and to have composed a fair amount of poetry, quoted by his biographers, on literary as well as political subjects. A few lines quoted by al-Maqrizi sound like an appeal by a Muslim on behalf of the Copts and the imposition of restrictions on the type of dress they wear.