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Searching for the Islamic Episteme: the Status of Historical Information in Medieval Middle-Eastern Anthological Writing

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Searching for the Islamic Episteme: the Status of Historical Information in Medieval Middle-Eastern Anthological Writing SEARCHING FOR THE ISLAMIC EPISTEME: THE STATUS OF HISTORICAL INFORMATION IN MEDIEVAL MIDDLE-EASTERN ANTHOLOGICAL WRITING Dagmar A. Riedel Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Indiana University August 2004 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Accepted by the Graduate Faculty, Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. V \W\ \ Jamshtejl K. Choksy, Ph.D., Chairman -^S alm an al-Ani, Ph.D. Doctoral Committee Richard W. Bulliet, Ph.D. (Columbia University) Paul E. Losei 20 August 2004 with distinction Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. © 2004 Dagmar A. Riedel ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. p. iii Dagmar A. Riedel Searching for the Islam ic Epistem e: The Status of H istorical Inform ation in M edieval M iddle-Eastern Anthological W riting This is a study of two compilations that originated in western Iran before the Mongol conquest. The research contributes to the ongoing discussion of the organization and preservation of knowledge in literate societies. The Muhadarat al-udaba’ wa-muhawarat al-shucara‘ wa-l-bulagha* (Conversations among Men of Letters and Debates between Men of Poetry and Rhetoric) is a major anthology of literary Arabic, ascribed to the lexicographer and philosopher Abu al-Qasim al-Raghib al-Isfahani (d. before 1050?). The Rahat al-sudur wa-ayat al-surur (Comfort of Hearts and Wonder of Delights) is a Persian miscellany about the Great Seljuq sultanate that Muhammad al-Rawandl (d. after 1209), an obscure calligrapher and theologian, compiled in the first decade of the thirteenth century in Hamadan to petition the Rum Seljuq sultan Kay Khusrau (ruled 1192-1197 and 1205-1211) in Konya. Both works are single­ subject encyclopedias, designed as comprehensive textbooks. The circulation of manuscripts and imprints provides a diachronic perspective on the diffusion of knowledge. These textbooks circulated largely between Isfahan and Istanbul. Raghib’s anthology is a propaedeutic work for a general audience, and is still in print in contemporary Middle Eastern societies. In contrast, RawandT’s miscellany is a personalized curriculum of Great Seljuq politics and courtly etiquette, and thus became obsolete in the sixteenth century. The biographical data on their authors offer the complementary synchronic perspective on the geography of knowledge in pre-Mongol Iran. The contents of the Muhadarat and the Rahat illustrate how their authors utilized well- established conventions of transmitting knowledge to compile an anthology of literary Arabic and a miscellany about the Great Seljuq sultanate. The arrangement of their contents is the most original aspect of these textbooks. On the macro-level, the sequence of parts, chapters, and sections follows a principle of associative order of topics and disciplines. The textbooks are witnesses to societal dependence on literacy. The oral transmission of knowledge had lost its monopoly, yet writing was less a replacement than a supplement to the oral tradition. The contents and structure of the Muhadarat and the Rahat document the continued prestige and use of oral practices within a literate society. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table o f Contents Acknowledgments p. vi Tables p. vii Transliteration and Translation p. viii Notation of Historical Dates Abbreviations p. ix i. Calendars ii. Catalogues iii. Dictionaries I Introduction '. Textbooks of medieval Islamic societies p. 1 I. a. Manuscripts and imprints I. b. Middle-Eastern anthologies I. c. Encyclopedias in western and non-western literatures I. d. Analyzing composite sources I. e. Contextualizing textbooks II Circulation and uses of textbooks: Quality and quantity p. 25 II. a. The many manuscripts of the Muhadarat II. b. Imprints and critical editions II. c. The Muhadarat between Tehran and Istanbul II. d. Professional responses to the Muhadarat II. e. The unique manuscript of the Rahat II. f. Selective readings of theRahat II. g. Audiences and languages III Biographies of textbook writers: Authority and authorship p. 97 III. a. The emergence of Ragib’s oeuvre III. b. References to popular works and their obscure author from western Iran III. c. The creation of a biographical sketch III. d. The quest for functional data about Ragib’s contemporaries in Buyid Iran III. e. Dogma versus patronage III. f. A Persian plea for patronage III. g. Qualifications III. h. Work sample III. i. Choice of patron III. j . Nothing but the truth III. k. Geography of knowledge Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. p. V IV Contents of textbooks: The spoken and the written word p. 197 IV. a. How to arrange the contents: Parataxis IV. b. How to inform the reader about the contents: The introduction’s ordinatio IV. c. How to make sense of parataxis: Or do rerum and ordo artium IV. d. The spoken word: Arabic and the umma IV. e. The written word: Persian and an Islamic court IV. f Means for the transmission of knowledge V Conclusion : Education, society, and history p. 269 Bibliography p. 280 i. Manuscripts ii. Imprints of the two textbooks, as well as of sources, excerpts, abridgments, and translations iii. Manuscript catalogues and all other sources of bibliographical information about manuscripts, imprints, and editions of the two textbooks iv. All other published texts Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgments The realization of this dissertation would have been impossible without the great kindness of many people. That the late Albrecht Noth accepted a study of Ragib’s Muhadarat as a dissertation project allowed me to begin this research at the Universitat Hamburg (Germany). A full dissertation scholarship from the Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst e. V. financed the initial stages of my research and my transition to the US. Fedwa Malti-Douglas arranged for my admission to the Ph.D. program in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at Indiana University. After the untimely death of Professor Noth, Jamsheed K. Choksy and Paul E. Losensky helped me to weather the administrative complications that ensued at Indiana University. I am very much indebted to Dr. Choksy, who agreed to chair my research committee, and who convinced Salman al-Ani, Richard W. Bulliet, and Dr. Losensky to join him. I am grateful for the various forms of generous support that I have received from all members of my research committee over the years. The completion of this project was much facilitated by a dissertation award—the Salaroglio Modem Foreign Language Scholarship and College of Arts and Sciences Dissertation Year Research Fellowship—from Indiana University. But the final outcome of every research project depends also on the always undeserved, and thus even more precious, gifts of serendipity. Ulrich Marzolph probably does not remember that he recommended Ragib’s Muhadarat as an interesting and manageable adab anthology. Sheila Lindenbaum introduced me to Anglo-American research on medieval Latin anthologies. On my committee, Dr. Losensky suggested Rawandl’s Rahat as a counter example to the Muhadarat, while Dr. Choksy reminded me of the riches that are to be found in the field of Iranian studies. Without the course on Islamic manuscripts conducted by David Pingree and Adam Gacek, it is very unlikely that I would have ever laid hands on an original Islamic manuscript. Discussions with Dale F. Eickelman directed my attention to the educational uses of compilations. Ann G. Carmichael encouraged me to think about the relationship between the philosophy of history and the history of science. The manuscript research was supported by a Doctoral Student Grant-in-Aid of Research from Indiana University and aBernadotte E. Schmitt Grant for Research in African, Asian, or European History from the American Historical Association. Yet it was the generous hospitality of my friends Nikolaj Serikoff, Vlad Atanasiu, and Bengt Stellingwerf that allowed me to use these funds for library research in London, Paris, and Leiden. In Bloomington, the librarians of the InterLibrary Loan Department, especially Rhonda Long and Ronald Luedemann, never lost their patience over my requests for arcane primary and secondary sources, and performed countless miracles supplying me with indispensable evidence for my research. I am blessed with friends. The vast knowledge and keen insight of Karin Homer has supported this project from beginning to end, and our intense discussions of all matters of medieval Islamic civilization have had an enormous influence on the final form of many arguments. Over the years Nathan Basik has patiently read and corrected the English of innumerable drafts and excerpts. It is due to his tireless efforts if the English of this dissertation is not too hard on the ear. During the last months it was the support of Irma Alarcon, Chris Allgower, Arthur Stein, and Gundula Thuens that otherwise helped me to reach the finish line. The dissertation is dedicated to my parents Magret and Albrecht Riedel, who simply wanted me to get a good education. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Tables 1. Arabic manuscripts of the Muhadarat in west-European libraries. 2. Arabic and Persian manuscripts of the Muhadarat in collections outside western Europe. 3. Imprints of the Muhadarat. 4. Dated manuscripts and imprints of the Muhadarat. 5. Manuscripts of the Muhadarat in collections in Turkey, Syria, Egypt, and Iran. 6. Works ascribed to Ragib. 7. The first autobiographical section of the Rahat. 8. The second autobiographical section of the Rahat. 9. The third autobiographical section of the Rahat. 10. The numbered chapter headings (hudud) as given in theMuhadarat' s introduction.
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