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147 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXII N° 1-2, januari-april 2005 148

ARABICA

GALMES DE FUENTES, Álvaro — La Épica romanica y la tradición árabe, Gredos Madrid 2002 (24 cm, 652 pp.). ISBN 84-249-2344-8 This abundantly and beautifully illustrated and well-pro- duced book is one of the last Álvaro Galmes de Fuentes wrote before his death in February 2003. In his preliminary note (31 January 2001), tells us why he wrote this book. The project started with his inaugural lecture for the Oviedo University 1967 academic year about the Aljamiado (Span- ish Muslim) work El libro de las batallas (‘The Book of the Battles’), in which he made a comparison between the Chris- tian and the traditions of chivalry. The booklet con- taining this lecture and other lectures on the subject attracted great interest from other scholars, Spanish as well as Italian, among the latter including Francesco Gabrieli and Enrico Cerulli. Galmes went further along this path, first editing the text of El libro de las batallas and then writing this book on the comparison of chivalric motifs in and Arabic literatures. In two pages, Galmes underlines that the aim of his book is not to depict the origins of the Romance medieval epics, but to study the comparison of the motifs of both literatures, although one cannot deny that it is obvious that Arabic cul- ture, which was superior at the time, may have had some influence on Romance epics. In Chapter 1, Galmes deals amply with epic in the , starting with Dozy’s opinion (p. 15) that did not have epics or narrative , but only lyric and descriptive poetry. According to Dozy, expressed only the poetic side of reality. On the other hand, he emphasized ‘that the Arabic poets describe what they see and what they experience, but they do not invent anything, and when they sometimes do so, their compatriots do not appreciate it.’ Fantastic tales such as Arabian Nights were not considered to be Arabic, but of foreign origin. Dozy had no eye for fantastic or epic Arab because he considered them to be un-Arabic. Galmes then depicts the institution of knighthood and chivalry in the Muslim world. In this respect it is important to know that chivalry had already come into being in pre- Islamic times with the ‘Battle Days’ of the (Ayyam al- ‘Arab), the South Arabian saga such as the Himyaritic qaÒida, and the other chevaleresque narrations found in Arabic liter- ature, such as the Sirat ‘Antar, the ‘Umar al-Nu‘man story as included in the Arabian Nights, the Banu Hilal saga, the leg- ends of Dhat al-Himmah, the Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan stories and the Sirat al-Zahir Baybars. Galmes then discusses the posi- tion of the narrators in Arabic literature and, connected with this, the ‘al-siyar wa-l-maghazi’ genre, that is, literature about legends of heroes and heroic deeds and literature about mil- itary expeditions. He also deals with the role of annuals and chronicles, and with the significance of Firdawsi’s Shahname in the . He mentions the Arabic epics in al- Andalus, and how epic narratives persisted among the Span- ish Moriscos even after the Christian (re)conquest of Spain (p. 43). Chapter 2 is about when influence occurs, on what occa- sions and in what manner (p. 47). Here, of course, the anti- Arabic prejudice plays a role in judging the extent of the influence. But the attraction of Arab science played a major 149 BOEKBESPREKINGEN — ARABICA 150 role. In this respect, the cultural centre of Ripoll is of impor- Another trick in epics is disguise and exchanging clothes to tance, as are the school of translators of Toledo and other escape from prison (p. 253). translation centres. Mozarabic immigration is studied in rela- The other side of treachery in both cultures was the sense tion to the Francs in Spain, along with the importance of the of honour and the consciousness that one had to keep one’s towns of Toledo, Sahagun and Tudela. In this connection, promise and stick to one’s word. In this connection, Galmes Galmes describes the impact of commerce and merchants and discusses the theme of ‘Anseïs de Carthago’, the young ruler the importance of al-Andalus in relation to Roman art in to whom Charlemagne handed over the reins of power in France; further, he discusses jugglers and other causes of lit- Spain, but who lost Spain because of his infidelity towards erary influence and the connection of the Carolingian epics his counsellor; afterwards, Charlemagne restores Christian with the pilgrims’ route to Santiago. He also relates the rule in Spain. In another story, a broken sense of loyalty of French chansons de geste to Spanish and Andalusian themes Rodrigo, King of Toledo, was the that Julian (the gov- and emphasizes the traditionality of the epics and the Arabic ernor of Ceuta and Algeciras) introduced ™ariq (the com- narrative (p.130). mander of the ) into Spain. There are several stories Chapter 3 deals with the themes, motifs and formulas of in Arabic and about this. the Arabic narrative, which are reflected in the Romance In Arabic literature, eloquence and the magic value of the epics (p. 141). Galmes emphasizes that many of the features word are equally as important as bravery, and in Christian of both Arabic and Christian epics are polygenetic, but that epics there are sometimes cases in which eloquence is seen others cannot be explained without supposing a chain of as very important, as appears from descriptions of heroes causality. He then speaks about epic nicknames such as such as the Count of Monfort quoted on page 291 (‘Lo coms Ghalib, Sayyidi al-Battal and mio Cid Campeador. Also de Monfort qui es avinens parlers’, Croisade v. 6876). weapons can have proper names, such as Hauteclaire and Another important feature is the invocation of the hero him- Brumadant in French, and MuÒammim and Dhu-l-Fiqar in self, such as ‘I am ‘’ or ‘I am Rui Díaz’, a kind of self- Arabic. Galmes gives several instances of the hyperbolic praise occurring in both Arabic and Romance poetry. blow during sword fighting (p. 158). One of his quotations Galmes also compares the duel between the champions in goes (here I translate from the Old French La Chanson de both literatures and dwells upon gallantries in the war, such Roland lines 1324-1334, because Galmes quotes the text in as saving lives on the battlefield. The mythical theme of the Old French): ‘Then he bares Durendal, his good sword,/spurs lions is dealt with in Arabic and Romance literature and on his horse, and went to strike Chemuble/it breaks the hel- occurs even in Homer, the lion being a famous symbol of met, [..] slices the cap and shears the locks in two, it slices bravery. According to a legend, El Cid won a battle after his also the eyes and the features,/and his white cuirass whose death against the ‘More’ Búcar; Galmes found a parallel in was close and tight/he cuts through all the body [..] to a story of the Ayyam al-‘Arab. Another important topic is the the saddle, which was beaten with silver and gold. The sword presence of women in the war and of the female warrior, and was a moment arrested upon the horse but then it sliced its the presence of the woman of high descent, who consoles the spine and slaughtered its joints to dead in the field in the thick captives. The counterpart of this is the perfidious recom- grass.’ Other quotations also speak about slicing the body, mendation: this means that the letter which is delivered to cutting off heads and slicing the spines of horses (cf. lines the addressee is not a recommendation for its bearer but 1370-1375). Similar Arabic examples are drawn from rather a malediction against him. Tabari’s and from Maghazi literature. Galmes deals successively with the famous motifs of being The role of the cousin relationship in the Romance epics enamoured by hearing alone; the Holy War; rejoicing and is to a certain extent comparable with that of cousins in the screaming within sight of the enemy; the stealing and shar- social structure of the Arab world. Although the word for ing of the booty; the apparition of the angel Gabriel; the fore- cousin can sometimes mean other familiar connections too, telling dream; the presage of birds; and magic (p. 511). The we come across Roland as a cousin of Charlemagne. Cousins role of musical ‘machines’ to provoke noise in the battle is have an epic meaning also in connection with the honour of discussed. Other elements which are mentioned are extraor- the family. Important in this respect are blood revenge, the dinary signs at the birth of heroic persons, and the prediction accumulation of adjurations, the epic lament and other noisy of fairies. expressions of grief (p. 188). Another facet of the battle is the weeping over the cut-off Galmes then mentions stories of trickery, for instance, the heads, but also examples of chess playing and its dramatic story of the two Jews of Burgos, which refers to a passage in implications as a stratagem of the battle are given in both lit- the epos of El Cid. The hero gives two usurers sacks of sand eratures, for instance as used by Ibn ‘Ammar against King instead of gold, treachery which occurs also in a story in Alphonse. The sacred office of kingship as an institution of Petrus Alphonsi’s Disciplina Clericalis. The theme of the cart divine character is mentioned in both literatures. Galmes then full of merchandise with which the soldiers of William of moves on to the question of lyrics in both Arabic and Orange conquer the city of Nîmes from the Saracens is Romance literature, and discusses lyrical elements proceed- another trickery theme: the soldiers are hidden under the mer- ing from Arabic erotic poetry in Romance epics with such chandise and smuggled into the town of the enemies. Other motifs as the evocation of spring, the theme of the albada tricks, stratagems and deceits of war are dealt with in the fol- and the wind as the bringer of news. lowing passages, for example the ‘tornafuy’ (‘simulating to Other common traits between Arabic narrative and flee’). Other deceits of war were sometimes not accepted by Romance epic are the city as a beloved, beautiful virgin whose Christian chevaliers as they considered them to be contrary hand is desired, the apple as the symbol of the reign and the to their code. Pretending to eat the bodies of their enemies display of luxury before ambassadors. In both literatures, itin- was another stratagem to induce terror — a stratagem the eraries of travels are frequent. Galmes deals with some geo- Muslim general Tariq employed when he landed in Spain. graphical terms which refer to the reign of Charlemagne and 151 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXII N° 1-2, januari-april 2005 152 are perhaps a tracing of the Arabic; the expression ‘ports’ Gerusalemme liberata, Ariosto’s Orlando furioso and, for refers to the Pyrenees (p. 593). Then follow excursus on praise instance, some Hebrew chivalric by Jacob ben and invective in epic literature and on the term ‘nuevas’, which Elaazar (1180-1240) — is not dealt with, as Galmes confines often means the same as the Arabic ‘akhbar’ in the sense of himself to the primordial medieval genre. However, we ‘stories’ (p. 607). should be grateful that the book he finished just two years Finally, Galmes dwells upon the external structure of before his death has reached us in time. Romance epics and features, such as linear narration and direct dialogue. Important here is the minstrel and the way Amsterdam, January 2004 Arie SCHIPPERS he introduces his public to the narration. Galmes then dis- cusses the metrics of the old Castilian epic poetry, the inter- ** nal conditioning of the Arabic epic and its reflection in the * Castilian; its realism and historicity. Both epics contain ideals of tolerance and measure, as well as democratic ideals. WEIPERT, Reinhard — Philology and In his conclusions, Galmes speaks about how traditional Poetry; a Bibliographical Handbook of Important Edi- literary genres propagate in different variants and versions, tions from 1960 to 2000. Handbook of Oriental Studies thus seeing traditional literature as a dynamic production. / Handbuch der Orientalistik I, 63. Brill, Leiden, 2002. One finds in traditional epics both imitation and polygenesis, (24 cm, XIV, 274). ISBN 90 04 12342 3; ISSN 0169- and sometimes also the assimilation of foreign material. 9423. / 59,- / $ 69,-. Galmes gives some examples of influences found in the development of the epic (p. 629). The author of this book, Reinhard Weipert, is professor of There are many black and white plates in the middle of the Semitic philology at the University of Munich. His activities book, as well as some colour plates at the end. The good as a biographer of Arabic literature are well known. He has quality of the paper provides a suitable surface on which to written supplements to vols. II, VIII and IX of Sezgin's reproduce the images. The images are from medieval Euro- Geschichte des Arabischen Schrifttums and to the Grundriss pean Christian illustrations as well as Oriental illuminations der Arabischen Philologie, and he is a contributor for Ara- in Persian and Arabic literature. At the end there is an index bic and Berber to the yearly Bibliographie Linguistique. of the abbreviations used in chivalric literary works in According to the title and subtitle, the present work is a Romance languages; there are even some Latin and German biographical handbook of important editions from 1960 to sources. In total, Galmes has drawn from over 120 works, of 2000 in the domains of classical Arabic philology and poetry. which La chanson de Roland is the most prominent. He used More explicitly, the compiler defines its scope in the intro- the standard editions every medievalist or specialist in duction as follows: medieval Romance literatures knows of. Although for such … recommendable editions or good prints from 1960 scholars these editions need not be further specified, this does onwards of kutub or major rasaˆil (…) written between the not apply to specialists in Arabic literature. The Arab sources 2nd/8th and the 12th/18th century, roughly from to az- have not been listed, probably because Galmes went indis- Zabidi, on lexicography, grammar, poetry, ¨ilm al-¨aru∂ wa-l- criminately through the whole Arabic literature and uses qawafi, balaga and in general, neglecting natural every piece of a source he could grasp in order to establish sciences including medicine, philosophy, etc., purely relig- similarities. He uses historians such as Tabari, geographic ious books (except philology of the Qurˆan and the Ìadi†), authors such as Yaqut, early battle stories such as the Ayyam taÒauwuf, , †abaqat- and historical works (p. x). al-‘Arab, sometimes taken from Ibn ‘Abd Rabbihi’s ‘Iqd al- The book is in four parts (authors of philological works, Farid, the Maghazi literature, and the Kitab al-Aghani. From anonymous or collective philological works, poets, and the Siyar literature dealt with on p. 24 he gives us relatively anonymous or collective poetry with 706, 58, 594 and 53 few quotations, perhaps because this literature is in dialect entries respectively) and a supplement of 39 entries. In addi- and not so easy to render in translation. tion, there are over 50 pages of indices of titles, transmitters Galmes considers it unnecessary to translate the Latin and and commentators, and editors. Romance quotations, many of which are in Old French: his A single entry may refer to several titles. In Part I, for primary readership must comprise medievalists who are instance, the entry ‘al-AÒma¨i’ lists 16 titles, several of which familiar with these kinds of texts but apparently less famil- are represented by two editions, and in one case three, albeit iar with Arabic and with Konrad’s German version of La two by the same editor. Poets in Part III are often represented Chanson de Roland. by more than one edition of their entire work, or several par- The book has no register, which is a pity since one of the tial editions. The total number of text editions mentioned is primary to use this work might be to verify how some said to be in excess of 4,000. Still, this compendium does not motifs are dealt with in both literatures. Nevertheless, we purport to be an exhaustive treatment of the subject, but a list should be grateful that at the end of his scholarly career of those publications which ‘deserve it to be known’ to Arab- Galmes took the trouble to put all this material together. ists working in the field. Although on the whole the book gives the impression of Some help would indeed not come amiss to modern Arab- being a juxtaposition of motifs from both literatures, without ists if the portrayal of recent developments given in the much elaboration, the huge amount of material investigated introduction has any relation with reality. We read that Mid- by Galmes provides us and future researchers a useful tool dle Eastern book production has grown exponentially and that to work with and a treasure to draw from when verifying and it is plagued by a multitude of unreliable editions (in a foot- establishing likenesses between the two medieval literatures. note, one publishing house is singled out for naming and In this book, Galmes limits himself to . shaming in this respect); that Arab M.A. and Ph.D. theses More sophisticated chivalric entertainment — such as Tasso’s and other dirasat are often of ‘modest scholarly value’; and 153 BOEKBESPREKINGEN — ARABICA 154 that the scarce bibliographies compiled by Arab scholars, for Spanish expressions with an Arabic etymon, even when they their part, tend to be rather poor. On top of this, the author are not in use any more, such as the antiquated alfayate for regards modern academe with deep mistrust now that ‘the al-khayya† (tailor) instead of the common sastre. Buyut al- checking of information provided by the Internet sometimes badw (lit: the Bedouins' dwellings) is rendered as las jaymas seems to be esteemed more highly than the patient reading de los beduinos, in which the colourful jayma does in fact not of books and research work in libraries’. Happily, his deep correspond with its etymon khayma (= tent). Proper names are pessimism has not deterred him from embarking upon the upgraded by translation or, as happens in the case of the place giant task of producing this effective tool to put us out of our name al-Salamiyya (rendered as “Zalamea”), they receive a misery. Based on judicious choices this book will indeed be form that shows a conspicuous link with a Spanish concept a reliable guide to texts that matter, leaving out many (in this case Lope de Vega's El alcalde de Zalamea). unneeded items. Also, it will constitute a valuable supple- Ramla becomes Rambla, etc. Even Sobh's own name ment to Brockelmann's Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur (“Dawn”) receives this treatment (on page 1213, at the end and Sezgin's Geschichte des Arabischen Schrifttums. of a discussion on strophic poetry). There will be surely items missing that could have been However, this is not done consistently: the river al-¨AÒi at included. The use of the phrases ‘handbook of important edi- ÎimÒ is not translated as “the Orontes at Homs”. But Sobh tions’ and ‘recommendable editions or good prints’ might be does tell us that al-Mutanabbi went from there in 933 and that construed as a means of conveniently avoiding any criticism the river is “rebellious”, then adding: “just like the poet him- of incompleteness. In his introduction the author suggests self!” Are we to believe that the rebellious al-Mutanabbi there is a positive explanation: ‘As completeness, or anything would not have gone to Homs, had there not been a “rebel- approaching it, can at best be aspired to but never achieved, lious” river? I laid greater store by the accuracy of the data than the Many Arabic concepts and names are thus given in dupli- amount of it. In order to make sure that the material included cate, but not so in all cases. Without mentioning its Arabic was indeed reliable, I checked on every single book and name ™abariyya Sobh describes how al-Mutanabbi reached refrained from consulting any bibliography; I am convinced the historic town of Tiberias (“Jesus walked on the waters of that this is the only way to guarantee the authenticity of the its lake”) in 940. Its ruler at the time belonged to the Asadi information.’ This would seem to be quite a sensible family. The author interrupts his biographic account for a approach, yet it leaves us with a certain grey area of editions moment in order to tell us that a thousand years later, in his that came out between 1960 and 2000 and that are not men- Galilean birthplace of ∑afad, this family was the biggest in tioned in the book. The basis of their absence remains town. unclear. Is it because they were not present in Weipert's per- These examples may show the ambivalent character of this sonal library (his primary source, as stated in the introduc- book. The real story, the history of Arabic literature, is con- tion), or were they duly taken into consideration but subse- stantly interrupted by bits of perhaps intriguing, but interfer- quently judged not to merit the epithet ‘important’ or ing information being dragged in. For a clearer view many ‘recommendable’? It does not alter the fact, however, that details should have been dropped, or referred to footnotes, of this book is a useful tool for the individual and for which there are none in the entire book. It creates the impres- libraries with Arabic collections alike. In any case, Weipert's sion of the author having unbosomed himself to a Dictaphone work has enabled me to suggest a number of corrections to and the text having been subsequently written up without be made in the catalogue of the Leiden University library and much editing. (The result would fit nicely in the tradition of to draw up a long list of desiderata. indigenous amali-works.) In all fairness it must be admitted that there is a general structure (with chapters, paragraphs and Universiteit Leiden, November 2004 Willem STOETZER subparagraphs), but the author's free associations with side issues often cloud the main argument and one regrets the lack of ambition on the part of the author to allow for the reader's ** inability to cope with his largesse. * There are regular references to writers mentioned earlier in the book or still to come. Sobh will say something like SOBH, Mahmud — Historia de la literatura árabe clásica, “we shall come back to this poet” without however specify- Ediciones Cátedra (Grupo Anaya, S.A.), Madrid, 2002. ing where, or limiting himself to a not very precise expres- (24 cm, 1354 p.) ISBN 84-376-1988-2. / 50,-. sion such as “see chapter VI” (considering that this chapter This survey of ten centuries (roughly from 500 until 1500) ranges from p. 741 to 1308). of classical Arabic literature by Mahmud Sobh, professor in The only tool that Sobh offers us for quickly finding data the Universidad Complutense (Madrid), is of an exceptional in his book is the extensive (16 pages) table of contents. If magnitude. It has the merit of offering a wealth of detail and we want to check if his book has anything on, for example, many translated text fragments that are absent from other , this table will lead us to p. 1056-1062. If we overviews. already know that Ibn Bajja is a synonyme, p. 1180 will come The author, born in Palestine in 1936, studied Arabic liter- up as well. The other citations (766, 1049, 1050, 1053, 1195, ature in and Madrid. He is obviously a passionate 1224 and 1225), however, will not come to light, unless we and erudite devotee of Arabic literature, who relishes the chal- are prepared to read the book and make a note of each and lenge of giving us a complete picture of his beloved subject. every instance. Regrettably, there is no index of names. It Many years of involvement with his field have enabled him could have considerably enhanced the usefulness of this to link all sorts of facts through imaginative association. This book. is especially true for relations between the Spanish and Ara- On a more positive note, the book abounds with translated bic cultures. When translating Arabic terms he will prefer fragments, which are very welcome. That some poems have 155 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXII N° 1-2, januari-april 2005 156 not been translated in their entirety, is understandable, but the text is sometimes capricious. The author of al-Manhal al-Òafi absence of omitted lines should have been indicated, espe- is given in the bibliography as Ibn Tagri Birdi (p. 1331) and cially where the succession of translated lines does not cor- as Ibn Tagribirdi (p. 1333), but in the text (p. 1198) as Ibn respond with that of the original. Tagri Baradà and there as the author of al-Manhal al-safi. In many cases the author has opted for a rhyming transla- Al-Maqqari's NafÌ al-™ib occurs three times in the bibliog- tion. As often happens when such a choice is made, the trans- raphy: p. 1320: 1949; p. 1323: Cairo 1960; p. 1324: lator is forced to write down things that are not in the origi- Cairo 1967. In the text (p. 1282), however, the work is quoted nal. A glaring example is on p. 1029, a poem (aa ba ca da) from the Beirut edition by (incidentally, with- in which none of the rhyming elements repentino, ¡cuán out indication of place and year). divino!, su dulce vino, negrino and mezquino have any foun- Scattered throughout the book are many illustrations of dation in the original! monuments and . There is no list of these and the Another example, with the same pattern, has jardín, este captions are generally not very informative (see e.g. p. 1227, rival tan afín, de su jazmín, la liebre que salta por fin, bajo where “Andalusian ” is all there is). su piel de abortín. My literal translation from the Arabic Sobh's discourse is enlivened by frequent references to fig- reads: Indeed, the garden is not happy with our lovers' knot ures from general culture. Usually this is in order to explain / But shows towards us only spite and envy // The stream that the thoughts of the philosopher or the words of the poet does not clap out of joy about our union / The dove sings in question were less innovative than might be thought, as only on account of its own promptings // Do not, therefore, they had been preceded in . Thus, wujud and apply the high esteem that you yourself deserve / For that ¨adam in the works of the Mu¨tazilites foreshadow Sartre's would not be wise in each and every circumstance // I also être and néant and is a Góngora avant la let- do not think the firmament displays its stars / For any reason tre. Alfonso the Wise was prefigured by the caliph al- but that they might spy on us. Maˆmun. Al-Mutanabbi is the Quevedo of the Arabs. Ibn Sobh's version, literally done into English, has: By ™ufayl's Îayy bin YaqÂan has to be seen as the beginning of your life! The garden was not pleased about our meeting / a development culminating in Gabriel García Márquez' One But this rival, so similar, displayed every bit of jealousy and hundred years of solitude. These are just a few examples cho- bitter feelings // Nor did the river, happy about being near its sen at random. banks, applaud / Nor did the turtledove sing other than for Sobh's book provides the Spanish-speaking world with a having been abandoned by its jasmine // Do not show trust, very interesting introduction to its subject matter. It has some although you deserve it completely / Since it is not smart to weak points, but it is a mine of information which can pro- trust the hare that jumps at last // I think however that the vide a useful entrée to the Arab world and its monumental sky does not show us its beautiful stars / For any reason other literature. It will certainly stimulate student and layman alike. than to spy on us when we are under its abortín [= skin of Professor Sobh is to be thanked for his enormous efforts. the prematurely born lamb]. The italic words do not derive from the poet, but have been thought up by Sobh. The fatal Universiteit Leiden, November 2004 Willem STOETZER disadvantage of this expansive translation approach is the complete loss of conciseness that characterises the original. ** Sobh must be deaf to conciseness. * The bibliography of 30 pages follows the division into six chapters of the book: 1) the pre-Islamic period (480-610); 2) LINDSAY, J.E. — Ibn {Asakir and Early Islamic History. until the Umayyad (570-662); 3) the The Darwin Press, Inc., Princeton, 2001. (24 cm, XII, Umayyads (661-750); 4) the Abbasids (750-1055); 5) the 157). ISBN 0-87850-120-7. $ 27,50. period of decline, from the Saljuqs until the modern age (1058-1453); 6) Andalusia (711-1492), followed by spe- This elegant volume contains six contributions on the cialised on Eastern literature in general, historic Ta’rikh madinat Dimashq (hereafter TMD) by Ibn ‘Asakir (d. works and encyclopedias, geographical literature, and writ- 571/1176). This is not, as its title suggests, a straightforward ings on science. The user should be prepared to find addi- history of Damascus, which chronicles events from day to tional biographies in the middle of the book, whose titles are day, or year to year. It is, in fact, a vast biographical dictio- not repeated at the end, e.g. one on Al-JaÌi (p. 648-652), a nary of historical persons with some relation to Damascus. list of works on strophic poetry (p. 1200-1208), a list of stud- TMD’s size is daunting, with 10,226 entries in nineteen size- ies on Ibn al-Kha†ib (p. 1295), and individual bibliographic able manuscript volumes. notes scattered throughout the book. Ibn ‘Asakir was a scion of the Banu ‘Asakir family, which The bibliography at the end of the book comprises an esti- produced Shafi‘i scholars and judges in Damascus for almost mated thousand items (or perhaps more), of which, however, two centuries. The fact that the home in which he grew up only about 1% appeared in the two decades preceding the was ardently Sunni explains why the author was hostile to publication date of this book (1983-2002). Apart from Ver- the Isma‘ili Fatimid caliphate in Cairo, as well as to the net's Lo que Europa debe al Islam de España of 1999 (a new Assassins, who were active in at the time. At the age edition of a 1978 work) there are no items from 1988 or later. of six Ibn ‘Asakir reportedly commenced his study of All important monograph studies on Arabic literature that with his father, al-Hasan b. Hibat (d. 519/1125) and appeared in or after 1983 are absent. The last volume of the elder brother, Hibat Allah b. al-Hasan (d. 563/1167). Later five mentioned of the French edition of the Encyclopaedia of he studied with some of the leading Damascene scholars of Islam dates from 1986. Of Sezgin's GAS only volume VIII his day. Ibn ‘Asakir devoted his life to religious knowledge, (on lexicography) is mentioned, not volume II on poetry. and travelled extensively for his studies. In 1126 his first trip, The relationship between the bibliography and the body with his elder brother, took him to , where he stud- 157 BOEKBESPREKINGEN — ARABICA 158 ied fiqh with the Shafi‘i shaykh As‘ad al-Mihani (d. to want to hurry on to the articles that follow. 527/1132), and philosophy with Ibn Barhan (d. 520/1126), a Suleiman A. Mourad’s article focuses on Ibn ‘Asakir’s student of al-Ghazali. A year later he performed the pilgrim- of Jesus, of which Mourad also published a sepa- age to and , where he gathered . After rate edition. It is a fascinating analysis of a rather unortho- his return to Baghdad he resumed his studies at the Nizamiya. dox version of the life of Jesus. The article discusses five In 525/1130 Ibn ‘Asakir returned to Damascus via , aspects of his biography: 1) Jesus as a Muslim prophet; 2) where he studied for some time with the scholars residing his second coming; 3) Jesus as the Mahdi, the rightly guided there. saviour; 4) his close associations with ; and 5) His second journey took him to the Islamic East, to his ascetism. If Jesus was not included in TMD merely to pro- Khurasan, Isfahan, Transoxania, Marw, Nishapur and Herat. mote the merits of Damascus, as Mourad argues, then what During these travels he met and became friends with ‘Abd were the author’s reasons for including him? al-Karim al-Sam‘ani (d. 562/1166), the author of more than Mourad argues that Jesus’ biography was reshaped at least 40 works, including an important biographical dictionary of partly in response to the Crusaders’ proximity. The view that eastern scholars, the Kitab al-ansab. In the course of his trav- Jesus had announced the prophethood of Muhammad — els Ibn ‘Asakir reportedly studied with some 1,300 shaykhs which is denied by the Christians — is accepted by most and about 80 female scholars. He collected a great number Muslims, and Ibn ‘Asakir was no exception. The section on of hadiths and other material for TMD. In 1141 he finally Jesus’ second coming offers an investigation of one particu- returned to Damascus, staying there for the rest of his life. lar hadith that linked this event to the arrival of the Crusaders. His vast knowledge of religious learning commanded great Mourad traces elements of this report in older works, and respect among his fellow scholars and friends. shows how Ibn ‘Asakir edited them, by adding, for example, Ibn ‘Asakir was not only a scholar and a poet, he was the names of Acre and Tyre, clearly associated with the Cru- active in Damascene politics, too. When Nur al-Din occupied sades, where other sources are not specific. Also interesting Damascus in 549/1154, the Banu ‘Asakir had long been a for a more general readership than just historians of early powerful family, holding important positions in the city for Islam is Mourad’s discussion of Ibn ‘Asakir’s views on the years. For this reason Nur al-Din chose Ibn ‘Asakir as an ally, special relationship between Jesus and Muhammad. For both intellectually and religiously. As a fervent defender of example, Ibn ‘Asakir cites a hadith according to which Jesus the Sunni creed, Ibn ‘Asakir was a good advocate of Nur al- should be mentioned in the , despite the fact that al- Din’s against the external enemies in Syria, be they Bukhari, his source for this tradition, did not accept it as Shi‘i or Crusader. As part of his policy Nur al-Din established authentic. The author’s political agenda, the propagation of a Dar al-hadith in Damascus, of which Ibn ‘Asakir became jihad against (in this case) the Crusaders, evidently was more director. In order to promote Sunni Islam Ibn ‘Asakir com- important to him than the reliability of his sources. Ibn posed a collection of forty hadiths exalting the virtues of ‘Asakir, Mourad convincingly argues, was “preoccupied with jihad, which in the context of his time meant the struggle the challenge of the , and thus he wanted to make a against any enemy of Nur al-Din’s rule. He also composed a distinction between Jesus’ true followers [i.e. the Muslims] work on the virtues of Ashkelon, a city that had been cap- and his historical followers” (p. 42). tured by the Crusaders in 548/1153. The work was clearly The article by Fred Donner also investigates Ibn ‘Asakir’s meant to exhort the Muslims — i.e. the Sunnis — to recap- hidden agenda, here of a religious nature. Donner is particu- ture it. The most important work he finished during the reign larly interested in the author’s strategies of compilation, which of Nur al-Din was TMD, the completion of which the ruler he examines predominantly on the basis of the biography of had encouraged greatly. ‘ ibn ‘Affan, the third, and most controversial, of the Ibn ‘Asakir lived just long enough to witness the entry into four rightly-guided caliphs. By strategies of compilation Don- Damascus of Salah al-Din (Saladin) in October 1175, after ner refers to the selection, placement, repetition and manipu- Nur al-Din had died in 570/1174. A few months later, on 11 lation of received texts by adding, deleting, or otherwise chang- Rajab 571/25 January 1176, Ibn ‘Asakir died and was buried ing the wording. His central questions are: 1) did Ibn ‘Asakir in Damascus. place special emphasis on accounts about the that The first article in this volume, by the editor, James E. were directly linked to Syria? 2) Does the author’s treatment Lindsay, serves as an introduction to both the topic itself, and of the rightly-guided caliphs suggest that he held a particular the other articles in the volume. It addresses three issues: 1) political or sectarian attitude toward each caliph? The answer Ibn ‘Asakir’s life and the environment in which he compiled to the first question Donner gives by examining Ibn ‘Asakir’s TMD; 2) the structure and content of this work; and 3) its strategy of selection. He shows that the author clearly favoured usefulness for understanding early Islamic history. Lindsay information relating to Damascus at the expense of other areas. identifies six features that distinguish TMD from its princi- At the same time, this geographical bias was not the only selec- pal model, the Ta’rikh Baghdad by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi: tion criterion. Donner argues that Ibn ‘Asakir also aimed to a) its massive bulk; b) Ibn ‘Asakir’s vision of Syrian history provide “insight on the temperament and morality of the sub- and of Syria as the sacred scene for God working in history; ject” of each biography (p. 49). The second question — as c) Ibn ‘Asakir’s rigorous use of full isnads; d) the fact that Donner himself also indicates, “more interesting by far” (p. about one-third of the biographies in TMD can be dated to 51) — he answers with “yes”, Ibn ‘Asakir did have a partic- the Rashidun and Umayyad periods; e) the variety in length ular political or sectarian attitude towards the Rashidun caliphs. of the entries in TMD; and f) Ibn ‘Asakir’s discussion of 226 The author emphasized the legitimacy of ‘Uthman’s caliphate women (e.g. Bilqis, the Queen of Sheba, Hagar, Eve, and by citing numerous hadiths, and leaving out unfavourable Tra- Mary), which he placed together at the very end of the last ditions that other historians, like al-Tabari, did include. More- volume. This article is particularly useful as an introduction, over, Ibn ‘Asakir cites hadiths according to which ‘Ali, too, because it whets the reader’s appetite, revealing just enough had recognized him as the legitimate caliph and honoured him 159 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXII N° 1-2, januari-april 2005 160 as a virtuous man. Here Ibn ‘Asakir clearly selected his sources history of Syria in the ‘Abbasid period. Cobb soon identifies to disprove Shi‘i claims that ‘Ali had considered ‘Uthman’s two elite groups within Syrian society, the ‘Abbasid provin- reign a usurpation of his own claim to rule. At the same time, cial governors and Syria’s local notables, on which Ibn ‘Asakir however, Ibn ‘Asakir emphasizes the moral qualities of ‘Ali, is a valuable source. The article consists of three parts, the first who, the author asserts, had never supported rebellion against discussing the general historiographical problem of ‘Abbasid ‘Uthman — which strengthens Donner’s argument that it was Syria; the second focusing on the use of prosopographical Ibn ‘Asakir’s intention to show the temperament and morality material as one possible solution; the third offering a case of the people he discussed. study of the revolt, in 177/793, of the tribal notable Abu l- Marianne Engle Cameron’s contribution to this volume Haytham al-Murri. The chronicle of al-Tabari is the most examines the use of Sayf ibn ‘Umar’s (d. c. 180/796) Kitab important source for ‘Abbasid history, but it leaves much to al-ridda wa-l-futuh, of which no complete recensions are be desired in its discussion of Syria in this period. Al-Tabari extant, by Ibn ‘Asakir and al-Tabari. She raises two ques- was linked to the ‘Abbasid dynasty, so even when he discusses tions: 1) Were these two authors working with the same the Syrian-based Umayyads there his focus is on mounting recension of Sayf? 2) How to account for the textual varia- opposition to them elsewhere. Many historians who came after tions between the Sayf accounts in Ibn ‘Asakir and al-Tabari? al-Tabari also display this lack of attention to Syria in the This article is different from the previous ones in the sense ‘Abbasid period. This situation, Cobb argues, is the result of that its focus is not on Ibn ‘Asakir’s text, but on that of Sayf. Islamic “salvation history” — a history composed to proclaim Cameron first carefully analyses the chains of transmission the ultimate verity of Islam — coupled with ‘Abbasid imper- (isnads) of Sayf’s text, parts of which have survived only in ial history, which is biased against the Umayyads in particu- the works of al-Tabari and Ibn ‘Asakir. This leads to the iden- lar and Syria in general. Prosopography offers possibilities to tification of ibn Sayf as a key transmitter of at least redress this imbalance to some extent, and Ibn ‘Asakir pro- three known versions of Sayf’s text. Not only did he trans- vides a host of material for such an endeavour. TMD includes mit the text, Cameron argues, but he also redacted it. A com- extensive lists of important officials in ‘Abbasid Syria and parison of al-Tabari’s text with that of Ibn ‘Asakir reveals additional material Cobb, following Patricia Crone, character- that the authors worked with the same recension of Sayf. The izes as “gossip”. At the same time Cobb points out that Ibn fact that they are different in places, nevertheless, is due to ‘Asakir’s organizing principle(s) for his work still remain(s) a changes made by al-Tabari, Cameron argues. For the textual mystery, which makes it difficult to assess the significance of history of Sayf ibn ‘Umar the text of Ibn ‘Asakir she thus omissions that attract the attention of modern scholars. His considers more reliable than that of al-Tabari. concluding case study is an attempt to trace some of the mech- The article by Steven C. Judd assesses the value of TMD anisms of composition used by Ibn ‘Asakir. Cobb comes to as a source for Umayyad history. Judd has selected eight the conclusion that, although Ibn ‘Asakir appears to have biographies of prominent figures during the late Umayyad transmitted most of his sources without altering them, he did period, all residents of Damascus, who died after the year have a vision of early Islamic history of his own. It is in his 100/718. These individuals he classifies under two categories, placement of materials — a criterion introduced by Donner — those of scholars and caliphs. Each of these figures was and the structuring of the entries that Ibn ‘Asakir reveals his prominent enough to be mentioned in other sources as well, own interpretation. The fact that he had such a vision does not which allowed Judd to compare Ibn ‘Asakir’s texts with those make it any less useful as a source on ‘Abbasid history, Cobb of other historians. On the basis of their entries in TMD, Judd argues, as long as the reader remains aware of its complexity discusses Ibn ‘Asakir’s use of the works of Abu Zur‘a al- as a literary source, which is no more “objective” than other Dimashqi, Khalifa ibn Khayyat, al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Ibn historical writings of this type. Sa‘d, Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi, Abu Nu‘aym al-Isbahani, al- The volume ends with five appendices, all compiled by Bukhari, and al-Tabari. Judd also points out differences in Mourad: A on the publication history of TMD; B on studies the structure of the biographies in TMD. Those of the schol- addressing it; C identifying major lacunae in this work; D ars contain all the information found in the sources used by providing a list of pre-Islamic sacred biographies in TMD; Ibn ‘Asakir, but not in the order in which he found them. and E listing Muhammad, the Rashidun and the Umayyad Judd shows that our author carefully distributed fragments of caliphs in TMD. Finally this collection of articles also has a older sources to fit his own scheme for these entries. Inter- general index. estingly, the entries on caliphs examined here point to a dif- The contributions to this volume are remarkably cohesive ferent methodology. In these biographies Ibn ‘Asakir pre- without being repetitious. They bring to light both the com- dominantly based his narrative on one given source. His plexities of working with a source like Ibn ‘Asakir’s Ta’rikh biography of Marwan, for example, relied heavily on Khal- madinat Dimashq, while at the same time showing some of ifa, while that of al-Walid derives mostly from al-Tabari. the fruits of this labour. This volume solidly puts Ibn ‘Asakir Judd concludes that Ibn ‘Asakir manipulated the biographies back on the map of Islamic historiography and by offering of caliphs less than those of scholars, although his bias viable methodologies as well as some valuable indices to towards Syrian sources probably also influenced his account TMD (the Appendices) will undoubtedly stimulate the use of of these rulers. The structure of his entries was based on those this source by future students of early Islamic history. of “the Khatib” (as he is referred to in this volume), but Ibn ‘Asakir greatly improved it, thus becoming an example for Leiden University, Maurits H. VAN DEN BOOGERT later biographical dictionaries. The question of whether Ibn February 2005 ‘Asakir’s work is a reliable source for Umayyad history Judd finally answers with a resounding “yes”. ** The final article in this volume, by Paul M. Cobb, exam- * ines how useful Ibn ‘Asakir’s work is for the study of the 161 BOEKBESPREKINGEN — ARABICA 162

SMITSHUIJZEN ABIFARES, H. — Arabic Typography. A where the design focus, if any, is on the technology to make Comprehensive Sourcebook. Saqi Books, London, 2001. this possible. All the great Arabic typographers in the West (26 cm, 264). ISBN 0-86356-347-3. £ 22,50. (Granjon, Erpenius) and in the East (Müteferrika, Mühendis- oglu) followed this principle. Computer technology today still The reviewed book presents aspects of Arabic typography: has to catch up with the accomplishments of Middle Eastern its relation to , the various technical approaches typographers of the first half of the 20th century. The second to Arabic typography and the role of the Arab designer. In approach emerged out of the need to deal with machines built the introductory part of the book (sections 1 – 3) the author for Latin script: the focus is on graphic design to reshape traces from its alphabetic origins, sums up the Arabic script within mechanical constraints and culturally variety of calligraphic styles and catalogues early European alien models. Examples are the original Linotype type library and Middle Eastern printing developments. A brief overview for Arabic or the IBM “letter ball” fonts (§4.1.3.3). Graphic of the — mainly politically inspired — attempts to simplify design can also become ideologically driven, e.g., to make or redesign Arabic script is also included. The introduction the script easier for the illiterates or to “move the Arab (section 3) concludes with a sketch of the Arabic character Nations into the third millennium” (§1.3): the subjective set (the graphemes) and the contextual variants (allographs). approach to design. The title of this book refers to the fourth and final section Arabic Typography is written strictly from the point of that deals with typography. This part discusses technologies view of graphic, subjective design and takes matters techni- and concepts designed for Latin script and how they apply to cal for granted. Sweeping statements illustrate this: “It is Arabic script. An appendix contains samples of recent com- highly tempting with the technological possibilities available puter fonts for Arabic. today, to keep on copying the past and to ignore issues of The book was received with much acclaim — an indica- modernising Arabic type” (§1.3) and “with the advent of dig- tion that a treatise on Arabic typography, its past, present and ital technology … The design possibilities are practically end- future, is desperately needed. Arabic Typography, a compre- less, the only limit being the type designer’s imagination and hensive sourcebook can be credited with making a coura- know-how” (§2.4.3.7). Such uncritical faith in Digital geous attempt to fill a gap. However, the fact that no com- Omnipotence is characteristic of the uninitiated. And indeed, alternative exists, should not lead one to overrate it, in §4.7.4 the author presents a list of computer type design as some did: ‘Astonishing … a masterwork … offers a thor- tools without remarking — and probably without even know- ough foundation in Arabic typography and type design.’ (Ken ing — that none of these programs can generate a working Friedman, Design Research News, quoted by the publisher). Arabic computer font for any system. Fontographer (discon- The chapter on calligraphic styles, e.g., has many flaws tinued before the introduction of OpenType) and RoboFog, that no reviewer or reader so far has pointed out. The most still the greatest tools for drawing shapes in mathematical serious of them is in §2.3.4.6., The Ruqaa style, where the outlines, cannot access the internal switches necessary for the author combines the 19th century riq{ah and the 12th century Windows System to recognize a font as Arabic, neither can riqa{ styles in a single, and quasi early style (9th cen- FontMonger. FontStudio was also discontinued before the tury!). Just imagine a musicologist classifying the works of introduction of Unicode and OpenType — the least one needs Bach and Bacharach collectively as Gregorian. One would to produce non-Latin fonts. FontLab remains as the only pop- wish it was just an unfortunate blunder, but in an article in ular tool for building Unicode-based Arabic fonts in Open- the Dutch design magazine ITEMS (November 2004), the same Type format, but support for Arabic was not available until author presents a sample of 19th century riq{ah (also known well after the publication of this book. as ruq{ah) script again as “Ruqaa” (for a full Apart from the extreme technical difficulties involved in analysis of the chapter on calligraphic styles, see the Com- “copying the past”, there is the practical problem that ments on script identification by the master calligrapher and designing accurate digital presentation of traditional script authority on the history of Mohamed requires more than admiration for Islamic calligraphy. Out- Zakariya below). This is certainly not a sourcebook for Ara- side a small group of connoisseurs and calligraphers who bic calligraphy. study the principles established by the Ottoman letter artists The author holds degrees in graphic design from Yale Uni- (designers avant la lettre!), surprisingly little is understood versity School of Art and Rhode Island School of Design. of the efficiency and subtlety of the elaborate system of That may explain the opening sneer in §1.3: “Most players assimilation and dissimilation between adjacent letters. This in the Arabic type design field today are a curious mix of book, too, follows the approach found in elementary West- craftsmen (calligraphers and computer engineers) and intel- ern teaching materials that offer beginners in Arabic script lectuals (historians and ) with little design back- a maximally simplified scheme (§3.2, ‘anatomy of letter- ground, and with no established design framework to consult forms’). While this simplification is totally sound from a for pragmatic and/or qualitative reference.” pedagogical perspective, it provides too narrow a basis for Computer engineers with little design background? Engi- the development of professional typography. Arabic Typog- neering is all about design, be it not necessarily graphic raphy is written without the notion of rules governing the design. And why should the author frown on the activities of joining of letters. Like practically all works in this field, the intellectuals in the field of Arabic type design? Typesetting, author mentions the calligraphic standardization of individ- and consequently type design, has always been a craft par ual letters by Ibn Muqlah (Baghdad, 885 – 940AD), but excellence by intellectuals for intellectuals. without realizing that elaborate proportions of isolated let- Here it should be pointed out that there are basically two ters shed no light on the equally elaborate contextual assim- approaches to Arabic typography. The first and the older one ilation and dissimilation that is essential for sophisticated is to find ways to reproduce Arabic script as it is attested Arabic script. A random selection of historically correct let- without unduly distorting it. This is the objective approach, ter groups — the product of the design process set in motion 163 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXII N° 1-2, januari-april 2005 164 by the same Ibn Muqlah — is mentioned cursorily in Re. ill. 2.3.3.3. “The Sudani style”: §4.2.3.3, ‘the shapes of the characters’. As usual, they are First, there is nothing kufi about this writing. Second, there presented to the reader as ‘ligatures’ and ‘artistic expres- is nothing sudani about this writing either — unless the sions’ without so much as a hint at the strict allographic Arab innovators of this term simply meant “Black-peo- rules underlying them. With such a fundamental lack of ples-of-Africa style”, which would be deplorable. It is in analysis and knowledge, “copying the past” is not even an fact a widespread sub-family of maghribi written with dif- option for the school this book represents. ferent principles, yet still within the family. It is used from One final quote: “It is high time for Arab typographers to South, generally strong among followers of the collectively assume the responsibility for shaping and pro- maliki branch of fiqh. moting their script in a way that is suitable for modern design Re. ill. 2.3.4.1. “The style”: applications and communication technologies”. Seen in this This is an example of Sheikh Hamdullah’s thulth script, he light, the reviewed publication, Arabic Typography, a com- was founder of the Ottoman School of calligraphy. Unfor- prehensive sourcebook becomes itself an icon of the “alarm- tunately this example is not too characteristic of the qual- ing schism between craft and technological developments” ities that make thulth script the major script in the art of (§1.3) — this is a beautiful book, amply illustrated, written Islamic Calligraphy. in English and made to the highest standards of … Western Re. ill. 2.3.4.2. “The style”: design. While this is indeed naskh, it is a very early example and The author missed an opportunity to appeal to Arab typog- not characteristic of the script as it developed in the hands raphers in their own language and for setting an example by of Mamluk, Persian and Ottoman calligraphers, nor of the demonstrating her skills in Arabic typography. script as was it originally perfected by Ibn al-Bawwab and Thomas Milo Yaqut al-Musta{Òimi and their followers. Re. ill. 2.3.4.3. “The style”: Comments on script identification This is muÌaqqaq, a fine example by the 14th century Egyptian calligrapher Ibn aÒ-∑ayigh, but poorly repro- Re. ill. 2.3.1 “The cursive Naskh style”: duced. Naskh is naskh. There is no “cursive” naskh. Naskh comes Re. ill. 2.3.4.4. “The Rayhani style”: in many styles (or schools) over the ages, and from dif- RayÌani is a specific style. It is basically a small ferent cultural zones, e.g., Mamluk naskh, Persianate muÌaqqaq with the vowels written with the same pen as naskh, Ottoman naskh. But I must emphasize — they all the script body. Unlike thulth and muÌaqqaq it is thusly a follow the rules of that script. “one pen script” like naskh. Re. ill. 2.3.2 “The old Kufi style”: It is an old kufi style, one of many. The example, like those of many others in this study, is Re. ill. 2.3.1.1. “The archaic Ma’il style”: taken from Y.H. Safadi’s Islamic Calligraphy, a source book It is way too soon to absolutely identify this kind of writ- of misinformation on Islamic calligraphy. In this case it is an ing as a style (naw{), and much less to identify it as ma}il. example taken from a Qur}an, written in gold and “filled in” Re. ill. 2.3.1.2. “The archaic style”: with black by the books art director? The script is one-hun- This certainly is not the mashq style mentioned in the lit- dred percent muÌaqqaq. erature. RayÌani dates at least from the work of Ibn al-Bawwab, Re. ill. 2.3.1.3. “The archaic Naskh style”: who wrote his famous Qur}an, (in the Chester Beatty Col- This is the old layyin way of writing — informal script of lection) in this script and not as is claimed in naskh. great importance. It probably has no known appellation. Re. ill. 2.3.1.4. “The archaic Kufi style”: Re. ill. 2.3.4.5. “The Tawqii style”: A famous script of many permutations. Its original name This is the { script, but a very late example. To see it is unknown still, so we should simply call it kufi or at its best, one should look for this ancient script in the Koranic script. work of Ibn al-Bawwab, Yaqut al-Musta{Òimi and their fol- Re. ill. 2.3.2.1. “The ornamental archaic Kufi style without lowers, and the Mamluk masters. It had lost its fluidity by diacritic dots”: the Mid-Ottoman period. This, too, is only one of many ornamental kufi styles. Re. ill. 2.3.4.6. “The Ruqaa style”: Re. ill. 2.3.2.2. “The Eastern Kufi style”: What the author meant here is the riqa{ script, which is This is the “new style” of François Déroche, very wide- essentially a small tawqi{. The example shown in the book spread and important — we still can’t put an original name is ruq{ah (often spelled riq{ah, Turkish rık’a) which is of on it. much later, Ottoman provenance. The text also confuses Re. ill. 2.3.3.1. “The Western Kufi style”: the issue, assuming they are from a single origin. It is yet to be conclusively demonstrated that these scripts are actually of North African provenance. Why is it that Arab writers cannot give Turkish words Re. ill. 2.3.3.2. “The Maghrebi Kufi style, a hybrid of Fasi their spelling — “Mumtaz Beik”, a common misconstruc- and Andalusian styles”: tion in Arab media. The word was originally beg which This type of script is the first — probably — fully realized modified to the pronunciation bey, as is well established, maghribi script. It was widespread and ubiquitous and has while retaining the ancient Turkish spelling ∂H. In any case, all the characteristics found in the later wide family of the Mumtaz under consideration is Mümtaz Efendi (d. these scripts. The Andalusian family of scripts derives 1872). from it. 165 BOEKBESPREKINGEN — PERSICA 166

Prof. M. Ugur Derman, in his book Sakıp Sabancı Müzesi It is not my intention to be a snob in the matter of script Hat kolleksiyonundan Seçmeler ( 2002) says about identification, or to be a cruel critic of the author, but only to this confusion “Although the name rık’a (ruq{ah) bears sim- be a guide. The author has passed along mistakes made by ilarity to the 6th style of the famous calligraphy group The others. So it is, if one does not adhere to original sources. Six Styles, rika (riqa{), there is no shape resemblance There is a vast literature that is quite open and accessible in between them whatsoever. Arabic, Persian, Ottoman and Modern Turkish. It should be used and understood, so that such unfortunate misconceptions such as these will not be repeated.

Amsterdam, T. MILO and M. ZAKARIYA January 2005

Figure 1 — riqa{ (calligraphy by M. Zakariya, in: The art of the Pen, Nabil F. Safwat, OUP 1996)

Figure 2 — The same text in ruq{ah

Re. ill. 2.3.5. “The Non-Arab styles”: It is a chauvinistic device to refer to the scripts as being somehow owned by various ethnic groups. The fact that certain scripts originated at the hands of Arab, Turkish, Persian, Kurdish, Spanish, Indian, Chinese etc. calligra- phers doesn’t give them dominion over them, especially as they, in the way of their times, were accepted across national and ethnic borders. To say “there are two major Turkish styles” is silly, since the whole (Turkish divani) family, regular, celi, kırma, etc., rik’a, the Ottoman School of ta’lik and celi ta’- lik, and siyakat must be considered Ottoman innovations. Re. ill. 2.3.5.1. “The Diwani style”: While it is an example of diwani, it is an exceptionally inept one. Re. ill. 2.3.5.2. “The Diwani Al- style”: It is more correct to call it in Arabic ad-Diwani al-Jali, or Jali ad-Diwani. The example is inept. Re. ill. 2.3.5.3. “The Taaliq style”: This is an example of Persian (especially since the mid 19th century) nasta{liq. In Ottoman usage, the nasta{liq script was known as ta{liq (Turkish talik), perhaps this is the origin of the confusion. Re. ill. 2.3.5.4. “The Nastaaliq style”: This is shikasteh script — pure and simple, although an inept example. Re. ill. 2.3.5.5. “The Shikasteh style”: This example is in fact the much older Persian ta{liq style. It is probably the original basis of the Ottoman diwani styles. The example, while representative, does not give a fair and clear picture of this beautiful script. Re. ill. 2.3.5.6 “The Behari style”: This is correct.

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