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ARABIC INFLUENCES ON CHAUCER: SPECULATIVE ESSAYS ON A STUDY OF A LITERARY RELATIONSHIP

rI

by Raouf Jamil Halaby

Submitted to the Faculty Qf the Graduate School of East Texas State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of ·DOCTOR OF I N TBE COLLEGE TEACHING OF ENGLISH August, 1973 INFLUENCES ON CHAUCER: SPECULATIVE ESSAYS ON A STUDY OF A LITERARY RELATIONSHIP

Dissertation Approved:

~ =c Disertation~ ' V\ ~ Adviser -

School

ii /iliS'I'RACT

ARABIC INFLUENCES ON CHAUCER: SPECULATIVE ESSAYS ON A STUDY OF A LITERARY RELATIONSHIP

Raouf Jamil Halaby, Ed.D. East Texas State University, 1973

Adviser: Lawrence F. McNamee

Purpose of the Study The purposes of this study were (1) to show how, during the Middle Ages, the bridged the Hellenic achievements in science and phi;J..osophy to the HeGt; (2) to determine the impact of Arab civilization and its contri­ butions to Western science (astrology, mathema_tics, and medicine), , fine and ; (3) to add to the already known Oriental and Eastern influences on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales; (4) to show the relationship and parallels between Ibn Hazm's ideas on Jove and Chaucer's use of courtly love ideas.

Procedure Sev~tal steps were necessary in developing this dissertation: (1) a study of the three bridges between

iv V Europe and the through , Sicily, and the Crusades; (2) a survey of the cultural and intellectual contributions of the Arabs to European thought; (3) a review of the Eastern influence on the development of the framed story; (4) a review of Arabic scientific influences on Chaucer's works; (5) a study of the known Oriental and Eastern influences on Chaucer's tales; (6) a careful study of "The Squire's Tale," "The Pardoner's Tale," "The Friar's Tale," and "The Manciple 's Tale" in light of new perspec­ tives and newly discovered Arabic influences; (7) a close examination of a limited number of tales derived from the Arabian Nights, Kaleela wa Dumna, and the Latin Gesta Romanorwn and their possible influences on Chaucer's four tales; (8) a study of Arabic passionate, platonic, and mystic and its influence on medieval courtly love ideas; (9) the possible influence of Tawg al-Hamama (The Ring of the Dove) on the courtly love ideas in Chaucer's TroJlus and Criseyde and "The Knight's Tale." The trans­ lation for materials from Arabic texts was carried out by the author.

Findings Chaucer employed several features which appeared in the Arabian _Nights, Kaleela wa Dumna; and the Gesta Romanorum: The use of birds, bird and human , and didactic bird plots. concerning faithless lovers and the irrational actions of man, the use of avarice and greed as vi a comment on man's nature, and the theme of evil and its effect on man. The findings revealed that Chaucer's "The Squire's Tale" has analogous qualities to Ibn al-Muqaffa's "Mathal al Hamamata~" ("Exemplum of the Two Pigeons") and the Gesta Romanorum's tale LXII, "The l'ale of the Three Caskets," and "The Tale of Judgement Against Adulterers." Chaucer's "The Pardoner's Tale" has analogous qualities to Ibn al-Muqaffa's "The Exempl\ill1 of the Shrew and the Igno­ ramus II and "The Exemplum of the Discoverer of the Treasure" and also the Arabian Nights' "The Stolen Purse" and "The Merchant and the Two Sharpers." Chaucer's "The Friar's Tale" has striking similarities to Ibn al-Muqaffa's tale of "The Hermit, the Robber and the Devil" and the Arabian Nights' "The Angel of Death with the Proud King and the Devout ·Man''. and "The Angel of Death and the Rich King." In similar fashion, certain similarities surface between Chaucer's "The Manciple's Tale," "King Sinbad and His Falcon" and "The Merchant's Wife and the Parrot" derived from the Arabian Nights, and tale XXXII of the Gesta Romanorum. Other analogous qualities and similar features appear in the treatment of the love conventions as they appear in Ibn Hazm's doctrines on love and Chaucer's. use of love ideas in his Troilus and Criseyde and "The Knight's Tale."

Conclusions The appearance of the similar treatments of plots, motifs, character~zation and the interlacery structure of vii the tales in the Arabic works on the one hand and their recognized and accepted influence on the Gesta Romanorum on the other suggests that Chaucer, who borrowed most of his ideas and plots from Latin works, borrowed these ideas from the Arabs and hence, the existence•i of a literary relationship between Arabic and British . The love doctrin8s which appear in Ibn Hazm and •Chaucer are also too similar to be attributed to mere coincidence.

• 4 PREFACE

The typical daily routine of a Westerner's life is enriched by Middle Eastern contributions. Through Arabic, such terms as (qahwa), sugar (al-sukkar), cotton, assassin (hashash), admiral (amir al-bahr), alcohol, and sofa (suffa) have entered the and are noted in a student's Webster's. Other influences such as the Mesopotamian invention of the wheel, the Phoenician invention of letters, the Arab invention of the clock (the clock first appearing in Europe as a present from Harun al-Rashid to Charlemagne), the Arab introduction of paper into Europe and the use of Arabic numerals have been recognized. Indeed, the is only recently becoming more aware of its indebtedness to the Eastern civilization and its contributions to the world. The , its people and the Islamic , have always held a sense of awe and mystery for the Occidental mind. Most studies of the Arab world have been observations from the Westerner's point of view, a view which had often been distorted either by religious fanaticism or a fear of the unknown. But in actuality it was not an ideological fear; more often it was an historical one which involved a political and military struggle for

viii ix the control of the economics of the Middle East and the . As the twentieth century opened its pages to a new era of international wars, however, this part of the world, under colonial rule, aroused a new interest in scholarship. Not only did Western intellectuals travel to Arab coun­ tries, but they began to delve into the history, the reli­ gion, the culture and the heritage of the Arab Empire that flourished in the middle of the seventh century and sur­ vived till the middle of the fifteenth century when the Arab forces were driven out of Spain in 1492 A.D. With this objective arousal of interest, new historical perspectives were introduced. Scholars and historians realized that the great gap between the Hellenic civilization and the Renaissance of Europe was bridged through another civilization which inherited the legacy of and transmitted it to Europe. Thus the "Crusades" of the twentieth century had different overtones and interests. No longer did the Western world feel the threat of and the Arab world as it did in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries. Not only that, but the weakening of the power of the Christian churches, the Catholic and Greek Orthodox, during the latter part of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries eased the tensions, threats and fears · of any invasions by the Muhamedans and their Koran. As Professor A. J. Arberry has put it, Our forebears were taught to regard Islam as a crude and fanatical creed which propagated itself, to the tragic detriment of , only by the sword; X the Arabs were pictured as uncouth nomads who left in their wake deserts wherever they passed~l It was for this reason that Dante, Voltaire, and Carlyle passed judgement on the Arab1c and Islamic peoples as led"' by an imposter who attempted to instill a dissolute schism into the minds of his followers. My interest in this study began in an Eighteenth Century course and has, since then, been a fasc ¥1ating and challenging one . After I reviewed several history books and corresponded with Dr. Phillip Hitti, Professor Emeritus at Pr.inceton University, the study became more realistic and the necessity of limiting the topic pecame more essential. First and foremost was the necessity of reviewing previous ancient and modern literature on the topic. A review of Dr. Lawrence McNamee's Dissertations in American and European Universities revealed that no disser­ tation had been written on the literary relationship of Arabic and British literatures. '1'his did not mean that no dissertations were written on the relationship of Arabic, Spanish, and Italian literatures, and a review of the latter dissertations was essential in order to trace motifs, genres, and direct influences. Specifically, this study is an attempt to trace Arabic influences on Geoffrey Chaucer. These influences include social, historical, and cultural features which are

1Rom Landau, .Arab Contributio;s to Civilization (San Francisco: The American Academy of Asian Studies, 1958), Preface, p. i. xi directly related to literature and which have been trans­ ported to England through Arabic influences on Italian and Spanish literatures. The sources used in this research are the appro­ priate dissertations and historical books written by Middle Eastern and European historians. Other sources are scientific treatises transi ated from Arabic and histories of Arabic, Spanish, and English literatures. Primary sources include Robinson's collection of Chaucer's work, an Arabic text of Kaleela wa Dumna, Campbell's edition of the Arabian Nights and various anthologies of . The difficulty in such a research lies in the fact that two extremely different cultures are dealt_ with-­ mainly two different . Arabic, belonging to the Semitic family of languages, has features not found in Spani sh or English, wh i ch belong t o the I ndo-European family. My translation of material in Arabic will there­ fore be as close a transliteration as possible. The per­ plexing situation that confronts a student of the Middle East is best seen in the various Latin and Germanic spellings t pat are used to refer to , the Prophet of Islam--Mohamet, Mohamed, Muhammad, Mauhammad, Mehemet, and Mohemet. It should be indicated at this point that Arabic names will be transliterated with all available knowledge and the Western rendition of these names will be given in parentheses. xii Chapter I will summarize the historical backgrounds which are essential for understanding the cultural eras during which the Arabic works were written. It_gives data on military expansions and their outcomes in relation to the interactions between the East and the West. First and foremost will be the study of Arabia and its geographical importance. Islam, the great unifying force which united the Arab tribes and paved the way for these expansions, will be given special treatment. It will consider the establishment of the first Arab in , the establishment of the second Arab in , the establishment of another Fatimiy Arab Dynasty in Spain and another small kingdom in Sicily, and the last part will deal with the Crifsades and their contributions to European thought and culture. Chapter II will summarize the intellectual achieve­ ments of the Arabs and the transmission of the Hellenic culture to the West via Arabic influences. It gi_ves the importance of the old and the new sciences and which were a product of the times and locales where they were able to flourish. This chapter also gives parallels to European t~ought, literature, and culture which will not be used in the research but will be referred to for the sake of establishing a definite relationship. Chapter III will summarize and add to the known Arabic influences on Chaucer. These influences include the narrative technique and the use of the framed story as a xiii device for unifying the tales, the influences of scientific treatises and discoveries, and the study of the Arabian Nights, Kaleela wa Dumna, and the Gesta Romanorum as sources for "The Squire's Tale," "The Pardoner's Tale," "The Friar's Tale," and "The Manciple 's Tale." Chapter IV will discuss the passionate, platonic, and mystic poetry of the Arab East and Arab Spain. It will show the influence of this poetry on the vernacular poetries of Spain, , and Italy and the impact this

1 !:; poetry ( and muwashah) had on and courtly love poetry of medieval Europe. It will then show how under the influence of Eleanor of Aquitaine, this poetry migrated to England. The final part will show the close~ parallels of the courtly love conventions which exist between Ibn Hazm's The Ring of the Dove and Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde and "The Knight's Tale." The conclusion will summarize the study and will give recommendations and suggestions for future studies in the field. A work of this scope could certainly not have been undertaken without any knowledge of Arabic and English . cultures, bpth of which I have been .exposed to. It is to my ,Arab heritage, however, that I give credit for the added insight and perspective. It gives me great pleasure to express my gratitude and appreciation for all the k~nd help which I have received while preparing this work. I cannot too warmly xiv express my appreciation and gratitud~ to Dr. Edna B. Stephens in whose class the idea for this work was con­ ceived, and for her help, valuable corrections, and encouragement. I have also been for-tunate in obtaining aid from Dr. Charles Linck in whose research course the idea germinated and became realistic in scope and essence. To Professors James Lacy, Thomas Perry, Fred Tarpley, and James Wilson, I owe a special debt and thanks. In a more special sense, I owe my major adviser, Dr. Lawrence McNamee, a special debt, for the valuable advice, time, and helpful information he supplied. He was both adviser and friend. To Professor Phillip Hitti, Professor Emeritus at Princeton University, Professors Mamie Hafner and Margaret McClear of the Department of Literature and Languages, I extend my gratitude for their interest and encouragement. To the staff of the Gee Library I express my special thanks for their assistance and especially to Mrs. Diane Sauce, interlibrary loan librarian, for her help in obtaining invaluable sources and for her zest and enthusiasm. My d€epest gratitude, however, goes to my wife Rachel without whose love, help, and encouragement this wor:k would not have been completed and for her help in proofreading and typing the rough manuscript. To my mother, sister, and twin brother, I owe a special debt for their sincere interest and support and for supplying me xv with Arabic texts and information. Finally, to my ~amily, I owe thanks\ \ for their. moral support and constant encouragement. TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE viii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xviii

Chapter

I. THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDS . 1 Arabs in Pre-Islamic Times The Rise of Islam The Influence of Muhammad on Islam Islam and Medieval Europe The Arab Dynasties and Their Impacts The Arabs in Spain The Arabs in Sicily The Crusades The Decline of the Arab Empire and the Aftermath

II. THE CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS AND THEIR INFLUENCE ...... •. 30 The Classification of I.earning Contributions in Ma thematics and Science Contributions in History and Contributions to the Fine Arts Achievements in Literature Arabic Contributions to Western Literature III. ARABIC I NFLUENCES ON . FIVE OF CHAUCER'S CA1'JTSRBURY TALES ...... 53 Chaucer and His Times Chaucer and the Framed Story Arabic Scientific Influences on Chaucer Arabic Analogues in Chaucer's Canterbury 'l'ales "The Squire's Tale" "The Pardoner's Tale" 11 The Friar's Tale" "The Manciple's Tale" xvi xvii Chapter IV. COURTLY LOVE: ITS ORIGINS IN ARABIA AND ITS INFLUENCES ON CHAUCER ...... 95 Arabic Love Poetry: Its Development and Growth Arabic Love Poetry in its Relation to European Literature The Zajal: A New Medium of Expression in Arabic and Spanish Poetry Courtly Love: Origins, Elements and .... Historical Migration to Chaucer's England Arabic Influences: A New Perspective of Viewing Courtly Love Influences on Chaucer V. CONCLUSION 152

.,.. ~ APPENDIX I . 158

APPENDIX II 163

APPENDIX III 172

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 181 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure Page ., 1. DERIVATIONAL OUTLINE OF THE FRAMED STORY 59 ' 2. PROGRESSIVE DEVELOPMENT OF ARABIC LOVE POETRY IN ITS RELATION TO COURTLY LOVE 117 3. SYMBOLIC ATTRIBUTES IN , CHAUCER AND TROEIS ...•...... 121 4. A DERIVATIONAL OUTLINE OF FRAMED STORIES TILL 1450 A.D...... 164

xviii <::HAFTER I

THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDS

The backgrounds of , the study cover the periods in history that start with the middle of the seventh century and lead up to the fourteenth century. During the latter part of the nineteenth century, orientalist societies in Europe and the United States began tracing some eastern influences on particular authors and philosophers: Emerson, Thoreau, Tennyson and Goethe, to name a few. This new interest was concerned with such influences as Zo roastrianism, and the fables of the ancient East and Orient. Throughout the twentieth century, studies dealing with Islamic or Middle Eastern influences on European culture have been written. Among twentieth-century authors who have gone to Islam to study its origins and its impacts on the Western world arc Sir Thomas Arnold, , Gustave Von Grunebaum, Be ard Lewis, Phillip Hitti and

Edward Byng. On the r hand, a host of literary theorists have gone a as establishing a definite literary relationship between the and that of the West. Among these proponents are Miguel Asin

1 2 Palacios, who claimed that Dante's Divine Comedy was greatly influenced by Islamic religion and visionary trips, thus making it a Moslem invention; A. J. Arberry, who saw a definite relationship between Arabic (Andalusian) and Spanish poetry; and Leo Weiner, whose thesis was that there were Arabic influences on Gothic and Anglo-Saxon poetry and literature. The historians and aesthetes previously cited claimed that several Arabian influences have been made on British authors. However, they did not give any definite evidence as to this influence. Thus, this research has narrowed down these influences to particular works. Several dissertations have been written in the United States and England tracing the influences of the Orient or the on British Literature, and we see such titles as The 1Anglo-, Hispano-Arabic Relations to the Works of the Gawain Poet, India and the Near East in English Literature, The Arabian Nights in English Literature to 1900, Traces of Persian Influence Upon English Literature During the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Cen­ turies, and several others dealing with more general ideas. To the author's knowledge, there is only one dissertation on Arabic influences on Chaucer: Middle Eastern Influ­ ences on Chaucer with Special Reference to the Arabs, Kings· College, London, . 1946, which because it offers a similar summary, will be used to corroborate the survey of this chapter. 3 Arabs in Pre-Islamic Times

Long before Greece and Rome rose to their glorious heights and left their imprints on the sands of time, several civilizations had already flourished and died. It was along the banks of the Nile and Euphrates -that the first achievements of man were ever recorded and passed on ( to later civilizations. Thus, the transfer of the Meso­ potamian and the Phoenician civilizations found their way into Asia Minor around the ninth century B.C. After the fall of the Greek and Roman Empires, the groundworks for a new civilization were being fermented in the deserts of Arabia. Arabia Felix, better known as , had a very important role in absorbing the Greco­ Roman cultures and thus preserving the achievements and intellectual contributions of previous civilizations. The people who were responsible for preserving these achieve­ ments were the Nestorian Christians (of Semitic Nabatean, and Arabic origins) who spoke Syriac, Greek, and Arabic. It is to them that the Arabs owe their first knowledge of the West and the knowledge of such philoso­ phers and mathematicians as Plato, Aristotle and Euclid. The Nestorians had lived under Greek and Roman rule during the centuries prior to the birth of Christ. After the and the Byzantines established firm roots in the East, the Nestorians emerged as the torch bearers of the then decadent world. In short, 4 they established centers of intellectual depots which the Arabs later drew upon for growth. In fact, Muhammad came in contact witrr-these people and some authorities claim that it was through them that tne Islamic religion first found its roots. As Rivlin has put it, There is considerable evidence that the Semitic world, which had been brought under Greek rule by Alexander's conquest and subjected to an intense process of Hellenization, was becoming increasingly restless and striving to liberate itself from both Roman political and Greek cultural domination.l Thus historians have pointed out that a new type of nationali$m was arising in Syria and and the Syrians were rebelling and attempting to shake off the yoke of the Byzantine rule. It is for this reason that these people welcomed the new hordes of invaders who had come out of the desert. Near East implies a nearness to a certain focal point. Thus, the Westerner, in referring to this part of the world, sees this area from a European vantage point. This is due to an ethnocentric attitude which developed in Europe and thus made the European view his continent as the center of the vl'Orld. Therefore, the usual image evoked by the Middle East was, and still is, that of barren deserts and primitive peoples living in tribal communes. But in reality, the Middle East was the center of world civili­ zations and the place of birth of three of the world's

1Benjamin Ri.vlin, ed., The Contemporary Middle East Tradition and Innovation (New York: Random House, 1965), p. 90. 5 great . It had, and still has, a strategic geographical location which linked it with the European, the Asian and the African continents, and many of its invaders who have trodden its sands were themselves affected by its religions and cultures. The concept that civilization died with the Hellenics and die not rise again till the Renaissance has now been questioned . Scholars have realized that the gulf between these intervening centuries was bridged by other peoples who were making ~heir scene on world history. ' These people were the Arabs. This onomastic label will therefore be used instead of Islamic, Middle Eastern, or Eastern. The first mention of Arabia or of the Arabs that has appeared i~ writing is to be found in Ptolemy's Geography book. \•lhen Aelius Gallus attempted to invade the t Arabian Peninsu::!.a, his army was defeated because it was not accustomed to the elements and also because the Romans were outsmarted by the who were at home in their own haven--the desert. It is for this reason that Ptolemy described the Arabs and their country, Arabia Felix, as "an arid and inl19spitable country, a Yiolent, cruel land, peopled by inhabitants as violent and cruel as their home." 2 Ptolemy never visited that part of the world and it is possible that he was biased in his observation, for

2Jacques Benoist, Arabian Destiny (London: Elek Books, 1957), p. 4. 6 Ilse Lichtenstadter has remarked that ... in the millennium before Christ, [Arabia had] a highly developed culture, well-organized states with diversified groups that had defined tasks and status in public life .... Southern Arabian civilization reached its climax in a refined attested to by still-surviving temples and secular edifices in which Greek as well as Persian influences can be traced.3 From the time of Horace and Herodotus, the West had reveled in the wonders of the East. Arabia had always been associated with the mystical, the unknown, and the magical. Its spices, weather, steeds, warriors and maidens often evoked sensual imagery in the Western poets. Dante cen­ tered the inhabited world .in Jerusalem and the axis of his inferno is exactly beneath the city. Milton, too, for example, refers to the perfumes of Arabia in these lines f rom Paradise Lost: off at sea north-east winds blow Sabaean odors f om the spicy shore _ Of Araby blest. 4 Even in Pre-Islamic times, through some trade and cultural exchanges, the Arabs came in contact with the Abyssynian civilization to the west of. the Arabian penin­ sula. In fact, in the southeastern part of the peninsula, a great ancient civilization flourished in Hadramut. The importance of this and other such areas grew as the caravan routes became more prevalent and affected the economic life

3Ilse Lichtenstadter, Islam and the Modern Age (New York: Bookman . Associates, 1958), p. 34. 4nouglas Bush, ed ., The Portable Milton (New York: The Viking Press, 1969), p. 316. 7 of the tribes. Often, t hese tribes accompanied the cara­ vans through the desert to guide the merchants and offer them protection from raids. In this nomadic atmosphere arose a distinct oral tradition which culminated in the seven suspended (see Chapter II).

The Rise of Islam

With the birth of Islam, this oral tradition found new roots and directions. Thus from the year 622 A.D., the date of the Hegira (the "migration" of Muhammad from to Medina), the turning point in Arab destiny took place. This period marks the formative years between the Islamic (Arabic) world and the West. This complex entity known as Arab civilization had many ingredients which have culmi­ nated with the expansion of the state along with the reli gion. First was the fact that Islam was diffused as the religion of the state and it therefore governed the political and social aspects of its subjects. Second was the rule of the state by Moslem Arabs for the first century and a half of the history of the emp.ire. Third was the importance of the Arabic language which, as mentioned before, played a very distinct role in uniting the Arabs and finally, the tolerance which was extended to non-Arabs who added to the intellectual and aesthetic achievements of this nation, especially in the latter part of its rule.5

5Rivlin, pp. 91-92. 8 - Guided by the Jahili poets in the m~ifestation of the spirit of poetry, the Arabs took another step to discover another form of national pride--this was their religion. As Rivlin has put it, The focal point of any traditional culture and society is religion .••. To understand Middle Eastern society . . . therefore,, it is essential to focus upon the Islamic religion.b The literal meaning of the term Moslem (Aslam -- Muslim) is "submission" which in the Arabic context means the submission to the will of God. Thus a Moslem is one who has submitted to and recognizes Muhammad as the Apostle of God.

The Influence of Muhammad on Islam

The was greatly influenced by • I one man . This man was Muhammad and his name means "highly praised." He came as the messenger of a new religion which had some affinities with the Nestorian Christian religion and also the Hebraic religion. When Muhammad and his followers fled to Medina in 622 A.D., a new milestone was laid down in the history of mankind. Later on, when Mecca was captured, it added greatly to his prestige. He ... was the messenger of a new religion and . .. like every great reformer and innovator, Muhammad was strongly rooted in the race and in the

6Ibid. , p. 19. 9 tradition from which he emerged, at the same time surpassing it with his genius.7 His great influence is attested to by Rivlin in that ... Few men have influenced history as Muhammad. • He was a unique individual who greatly affected the destinies of millions ...• His instruction was • largely responsible for the establishment of Islam as a world religion, for the Islamic conquests and for the creation of a rich Arab-.8 Prior to the Hegira, Muhammad spent forty days in seclusion in a deserted cave. The angel Gabriel supposedly came down and presented the Prophet with a command from God declaring that he "iqra" (read). As a result, the Koran, the literal meaning of which is to recite, became the final authority which governed the lives of the Moslems. In order for one to becc-me a Moslem, he had to first recognize the presence of God and to recognize Muhammad as His Apostle. Later, he had to fulfill five basic duties. These duties became the "Five Pillars of Faith," and they were the acts of devotion including the profession of faith, the ritual prayer (Ibadat), the fast (Siyam) of Ramadan, almsgiving (Zakat) _and the pilgrimage () to Mecca. Thus, in spite of its inception in the deserts, Islam is more than an ancient religion. It is more than a simple body of ceremonies and a theological system. It is a vigorous and original religion which made itself

7Francesco Gabrieli, The Arabs: A Compact History (New York: Hawthorn Books, I-n-c-.-,----=-1""'9,..,.6'""3'"'),....,-p-.----.3=-:9,,...... _------8Rivlin, p. 87. 10 adaptable to personal needs through its reasonable limits and simplicity allowing one to seek Rushd (guidance) and show him how to live a better life. It therefore became the only majo.r faith to supplant Judaism, Christianity and ,, Buddhism which eventually appealed to people throughout the world. Gustave Von Gruneba~ stated that this new religion introduced three basic questions: 1. How to live correctly, 2. How to think correctly, 3. How to organize correctly .••• In its value of judgements ... ·Islam also indicated na.;vel solutions for three recognized problems .•.. 1. The correct education of the individual, 2. The relative rating of human activities .... The pen holds precedence over the sword, the scholar over the soldier, 3. The rediscovery of himself [man ] .•. [gave] him the key to the next world, and [pointed ] the way to the i ntellectual conquest of the universe.9 Besides the .religious impact of Islam, a new lin­ guistic impact arose as the religion found its way out of the desert. Von Grunebaum has stated that "Muslim civi­ lization's greatest contributions to man's spiritual life were offered on the verbal level. 1110 He further compared the verbal impact of Islam with other religions and cultures in saying that, As to the Hebrew, it was already the language of those prophets . As to the Syriac, never did it cross the frontiers of the country of Syria; neither did Greek

9Gustave Von Grunebaum, Modern Islam: The Search for Cultural Identi t y (Berkeley: Universit y of California Press, 1962), p. 17. lOGustave Von Grunebaum, Medieval Islam: A Study i n Cultural Orientation (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1954), p. 258. 11 cross the country of the Greeks, nor the Persian the city of -Shar, but Arabic reached as far as the spot where dust ends, ... No language can match the dignity of Arabic, the chosen vehicle of God's ultimate message. But it is not only its spiritual rank which transcends the potentialities of the other tongues; its pre-eminence is rooted equally firmly in its objective features--above all, in the unparalleled vastness of its vocabulary. Where Greek frequently has but one word to denote many objects, Arabic offers many words to denote one. Phonetic beauty is added to its stag­ gering richness in synonyms. Precision and concision of expression adorn _Arabic speech. While it is true that thoughts can also be rendered in foreign lan­ guages, Arabic will render them with greater exacti­ tude and more briefly. Arabic is distinguished by its unrivalled possibilities in the use of figurative speech. Its innuendoes, tropes, and figures of speech lift it far above any other human language. There are many stylistic and grammatical peculiarities in Arabic to which no corresponding features can be discovered.11 This, however, does not mean that the religion did not sell itself on its own merits which lie in the simplicity of its dogma, the equal treatment which it gave to its followers (for there were no chosen or predestined ones), and the appeal which it gave to the newly conquered peoples.

Islam and Medieval Europe

How was this new r eligion accepted in the West? If anything was least popular to t~e occidental minds, it was this new religionf which, within a half a century, spread like fire. The Koran and the Prophet were never popular in medieval Christian states. Hitti claimed that this threat was unlike the other eastern ~d oriental religions, for it threatened the Byzantine Empire and established

11Ibid. , p. 37. 12 itself at its expense. He further said that Muhammad was associated with "foul fiends" and pseudo-religious con­ spirators. That is why Dante split him in half and left one segment of the body in the lowest part of hell where he made him the chief of the devils. Voltaire too, in his Nohamet, represented the hero of the tragedy "as a camel dealer who receives from Gabriel' that 'incomprehensible book' whose very page does violence to sober reason." Later on, Carlyle commented on the Koran as "a wearisome confused jumble, crude, incondite, endless iterations, long-wordiness, entanglements; most crude .•• insup­ portable stupidity. 1112 Even Piers Plowman con~igns Muharrunad as the devil in hell, and Dunbar makes him the master of ceremonies in the inferno. In his introduction to the Gesta Romanorum, Wynard Hooper stated that I t was the aim of Christian writers to represent the infidels in the worst light possible. They thought them the most wretched beings in creation; and they might, therefore, artfully pervert their creed and exaggerate their vices.13 ~ The prejudgement is further seen in the variety of descriptions given to the translations of the Koran. Peter the Venerable sponsored the first Latin translation, and he refuted ±he dogmas of the Islamic religion. A second known translation had The Execrable Sect of the Saracens

12Phillip K. Hitti, Makers of Arab History (New York: St. Martin 1 s ·Press, ~968), pp. 18-19. 13wynard Hooper, ed., Gesta Romanorum (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1959), p. xix. 13 as its title and in 1649, the first rewrite of this Latin text appeared in London under the title of The Alcoran of Mahomet, "translated out of Arabique into French ... and newly Englished, for the satisfaction of all that desire to look into Turkish vanities. 1114 Despite these and other such remarks, the Koran is a great literary achievement, ' for it standardized the Arabic language and became the ' linguistic standard of Arabic throughout the world. Not even the King James' version of the Bible was able to achieve this distinction. • The emergence of this new Arab-Islamic -culture paved the way for the new conquests after the death of Muhammad, in 632 A.D. Ten years after the Prophet's death, the Persian Empire had been destroyed and the Byzantines had lost Syria and Egypt to the Arabs. This rapid conquest brought a new Arab-Islamic civilization into existence which stretched from India, Samarkand, Turkistan and Persia to the Pyrenees. The element that helped this invasion was the fact that the Moslems made treatises with the conquered people whether they were Christians or Moslems and these treatises gu~ranteed the people "liberty of religious wor­ ship, local self-, and complete security, 1115

14Phillip K. Hitti, Islam: A Way of Life (Minne­ apolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1970), p. 139, 15Edward J. Byng, The World of the Arabs (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1944), p. 129. 14 thus making the freedom of religion and tolerance exhibited to the conquered the first such freedom in history.16 Before his death, Muhammad "bequeathed to his lieutenants the task of continuing his work 'in carrying the word of God to the utmost limits of the earth. 11117 The leaders succeeding Muhammad were called Khaleefah (follower

( of) which was later changed to Amir al-Mou'mineen (Prince of the Faithful), and out of this order arose three major Dynasties.

The Arab Dynasties and Their Impacts

The first of the dynasties, the Umayyad Dynasty, was r esponsible for the military expansions, and it there­ fore became the golden age of Arab power. It was during this period (632-675) that the Arabs reached India, Nubia, and Spain. Damascus was established as the capital of this new empire, and it served as the cultural and religious center of this dynasty. However, among these first con­ quests, the conquest of Alexandria proved to be the most rewarding, for in capturing the city, _the Arabs laid their hands on the ancient manuscripts in the library of the Ptolemies. The Abbasid Dynasty, named after its leader al- . Abbas, replaced the Umayyad Dynasty in 726 A.D. With this

16Ibid. 17Benoist, p. 19. 15 new rule, the Muslim Empire became more of an Arab Empire since it adopted within its bounds the different ethnic minorities such as the , the Barmakids and the Syriacs. Yet in spite of this, "The religious, scientific and cultural primacy of the Arabic language remained unchallenged, even when Persia exerted its literary influence. 1118 When the capital of the kingdom was moved from Damascus to Baghdad, the Umayyads brought about the flowering of Arab civilization and developments in educa­ tion, a sensitivity to the arts and the classification of sciences to unsurpassed' heights. The reign of Harun al- Rashid and his son al-Ma'moun climaxed the achievements of this civilization, and Baghdad became the center of the then known world. Al-Ma'moun, however, was the one largely respon- sible for the cultural expansion. As a humanist, "He looked for knowledge where it was evident, and thanks to the breadth of his conceptions and the power of his. intelligence, he drew it from places where it was hidden ..•. Scholars held high rank, and the caliph surrounded himself with learned men, legal experts, traditionalist theologians, lexicographers, annalists, metricians, and genealogists." ... People of the West should publicly express their gratitude to the scnolars of the Abbasid period, wpo were known and appreciated in Europe during the Middle Ages. The caliph Mamun was responsible for the translations of Greek works in Arabic. He founded in Baghdad the Academy of Wisdom ..• scholars of all races and

18 Francesco Gabrieli, The Arab Revival (London: Thames and Hudson, 1961.), p. 13. 16 religions were invited to work there. They were concerned with preserving a universal heritage.19 The Caliph al-Ma'moun is also responsible for making Baghdad a unique city and the center of commerce and trade--the sight of Chinese ships was not unfamiliar in the harbors; in fact, there were Chinese and European markets, each trading its specific' merchandise. The city had numerous castles, public baths, centers of learning and leisure. Khatib Baghdadi (d. 1071) said that There is no city in the world equal to Baghdad in the abundance of its riches, the importance of its busi­ ness, the number of its scholars and important people.20 In 1299 Yaqut called the city "the mother of the world, the mistress of countries. 1121 And a Christian historian of a later time said that Baghdad had swallowed the whole world like an insatiable leech.22 At the end of the Umayyad period, a Chinese pris­ oner introduced paper into the empire. Immediately following this discovery, papermaking became very popular and prevalent. As a result of this, books were written and collected in libraries. These libraries were usually adjacent to the ; students lived in the areas around the mosques, .and each had a small cell on the grounds of

19Gaston .Weit, Baghdad: Metropolis of the Abbasid Cali)hate (Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1971, pp. 66, 67, 68. 20Ibid., p. 118. 21 Ibid., p. 146. 22Ibid., p. 166. 17 the . According to Ibn Battuta, the great fourteenth century historian, "The teacher takes his place under a small wooden canopy, in a chair covered with rugs; he sits on this in a grave and quiet attitude, wearing robes of black," and he was the leader of the seminar and had "two assistants on his right and left, who repeat everything that he dictates. 11 ~ 3 This tradition became very popular and it was carried with the Arabs wherever they went. Paper .. was, therefore, of prime importance in the ninth century ... well-stocked bookshops were pften set up around the main mosque. In addition to the public libraries open to everyone, Jean Sauvaget, quoting an Arab source, spoke of "reading rooms where everyone, after paying a fee, could consult the work of his choice. 1124 With this fever and interest .in learning, these books had to be classified and arranged in the deposi­ tories . As a result, bibliographies that included the titles of all the books (in a certain library) became popular. Four famous centers of learning were established during this period: Bayt al Hikma () and the Nizamiyah (theological institute) in Baghdad, Dar al Kutub (House of Books) in Basra, Dar al-Ilm (House of Learning) in (also called the al-Azhar Mosque Library), and several others in Toledo, Palermo, and Seville.

23Ibid. , p. 155 24Ibid. , p • 71. 18 With the accumulation of these books and the of binding and framing, the art of (about the only important art in Arabic culture)25 became very popula½ in addition to the new technique of illustrated books (on science, zoology, math and medicine) and the belle lettres, as is evidenced in the "Seances" and the Bidpai Fables.26 In 993 ,· there were over ten thousand books and autobiographies in Baghdad which were mostly eaten by worms forty years later. Another reason that many of these manuscripts and books are not present in modern times is that fifteen major fires broke out in Baghdad between the years 1000 and 1174, and several floods added to the destruction of many of these works. However. the worst of the cultural destruction was in 1274, suffered at the hands of the Mongols who, under Hulago, stormed the city and looted its castles and burned down its libraries. These invaders used the mosques as stables for their horses and threw the books in the Tigris; it is said the number of these manuscripts was so large that whenever they jammed at the bridges, ~hey became thick enough for people to walk on. This is evidenced also in some of the historical references ~hat state the waters of the river turned black

25rslamic religion forbade the representation of human images in the. form of painting or otherwise. The reason for this was that man could not challenge God in His creation.

26w.ie t , p. 156. 19 because of the decomposition of the ink.27 A diary of the time reveals, The works of the colleges of Baghdad were swallowed up by the river, and the ir pile formed a bridge over which horsemen and foot-soldiers passed, and the water became completely black after having absorbed the ink of the manuscripts.28

Thus, though the Arabs emerge from obscurity in the Middle Ages and establish a gigantic empire that lasted • throughout the thirteenth century, like all civilizations, enemies from within and without were too strong, and though Arab conquests left fading imprints on the pages of history, there was a deeper cultural imprint which bridged to the West in three ways: The Arab influence in Spain, the Arab influence in Sicily, and the counter influence of the crusades in Europe.

The Arabs in Spain

In 711 A.D., Spain was invaded by Tariq ibn Ziad (hence Jabal Tariq or Gibraltar) and a year later he was followed by another wave of Arab invaders. The house of Umayya became the ruling power in this western province, was independent, and had its autonomous government which allowed it t o propagate its distinct Andalusian (Arabic name for Spain) and Mosarabe (a Christian who adopted Arabic ways) culture. As Linton Barrett has described the

27Ibid., pp. 99, 122-124. 28Ibid. 20 fifth to seventh centuries in Spain, it was a time when Spain saw few Goths capable of either mental activity or skilled occupation .... The Visigoth's major con­ tribution to Western civilization, paradoxically enough, is their code of ... they held their subjects by cruel despotism ..• and persecuted all nonconformists ... Many Christians who hated the invaders for their tyranny [and ] ... were persecuted by the violently anti-semitic Visigoths and who felt a kinship with the Moors of North , looked on the Moors for deliveramce .... So the entry of the Moors in-::o Spain in 711 was facilitated by many natives.29 But the later success of the cohabitation of these two peoples was largely due to the ~olerance which these conquerors exhibited to the natives in that they allowed them "to retain both their secular customs and their religion. 1130 Since the Arabs did not bring any women with them (at first), they intermarried. The mothers of the children therefore taught their children their native language, while Arabic, the language of the fathers, was taught in the schools. "Obviously, then, it was a bilingual situation; most people spoke both languages--Arabic for official use and Latin in the family and business. 1131 This bilingualism therefore facilitated the transmission of many lexical terms, "and the list of Arabic terms in Spanish is very long, a veritable index of Spain's debt to 2 Mos lem civi,lization. 11 3 Mr. Barrett further illustrates

29Linton Loma Barrett, Five Centuries of ( New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1965), p. 4. 30ibid. , p .. 5 • 31Ibid. 32Ibid. 21 this in the following: The names of many plants, fruits, vegetables, and the ways to water them; the words of the market, the weights and measures and currencies, are most of them Arabic .... Leather products, jewelry, pins, per­ fumes, and pottery; the parts of the house and many furnishings; ... sewage pipes and the very idea of sewage systems; the police, lawyers, tax collectors, muleteers, and carriers--all these are a part of the Arabic linguistic heritage of Spain. Many other terms attest to the deep cultural influence of the Moslems-­ games, and its instruments, mathematics, astronomy, and alchemy .... If tenth-century Europe was nominally Christian, it could boast little besides warfare and barbarism, while Moslem Spain contained the most advanced learning, culture, and civilized life known to the world at the time.33 The impac~ of this conquest was that it loosened the rule of the Spanish nobility and the clergy on the lower classes. It further allowed a "conciliatory policy towards non---the Jewish community in particular flourished as never before. 1134 'Abd-al-Rahman III allowed the Christians to build new churches and repair the old ones and Cordova, called by an Arab writer "the bride of al-Andalus," and by an Anglo-Saxon nun "Jewel of the world," became the famous center for scholars, musicians, poets, architects, astrologists and scientists.35 According to the Spanish scholar J. Ribena y Tarrago, "the medieval university owed much to the

33Ibid. 34Gustave Von Grunebaum, Classical Islam: A History 600-1258 (Chicago: Aldine Company, 1970) , p . 122 . 35Hitti, Makers of Arab History, p. 170 , ... 22 educational system of the Arabs. 1136 The courts and the mosques in Spain buzzed with students from all over Europe. In fact, some of the Andalusian princes were poets who excelled in rule and poetry. The Zahra (flower) castle of Abd-al-Rahman "patronized scholars" and, ·11 to teach these students, professors, especially from , were invited to occupy distinguished chairs." The library in this castle is said to have had a forty-four-volume catalog which had "four hundred thousand titles : 1137 Other cities such as Granada, Toledo, and Seville also became "Europe's leading centres not only of learning but also in industry and arts." The universities in these cities "attracted Christian scholars from France and Italy, England and " and the most "advanced formulations of philosophy and science were taught at the universities; beautiful medrasas, or college-cum-dormitories .housed armie s of students;" and where "both public and private libraries were crammed with eager readers." These numerous bookshops were filled with "connoisseurs" who "were buying books prized for their contents as much as for their calligraphy. 113El Of _all the European cities of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Cordova held the highest position in the

36Friederich Heer, The Medieval World: Europe 1100-1350 (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1962), p. 190. 37Hitti, Islam: A Way of Life, p. 95. 38Landau, p. 11. 23 link between and the rest of Europe, for its "Caliphs built up a civilization in many ways unique in human annals," and the "dynamic collective urge for self­ expression, self-realization, which is the principal motive power of history," found its desire in "creative outlets in the fields of exact science, the humanities, philosophy, social hygienic reform . • '. and every other branch of civilized life," which "permeated and fertilized the bar­ barian Europe of the Middle Ages. 1139 Thus, the Middle Ages are largely a product of the legacy of Islam.

The Arabs in Sicily

The second bridge between the Arab world and the West was through Sicily. In 902 A.D., the first Arab Emirate was established in Sicily and lasted till 1091 A.D. Although this was a short-lived kingdom in Europe, it did contri bute a lot to the relationship of the East and the West. Roger the Second of Sicily fashioned his court after ,, Islamic styles and later, Frederick ~the Second showed a unique tolerance to the Moslems. Influenced by their rule, he made popular the Islamic intellectual accomplish­ ments and ar ts in Europe during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.40

39 Byng, p. 1 4 9. 40Archibald Lewis, ed., The Islamic World and the West (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1970), p. 62. 24 The city of Palermo in particular had the blend of the Islamic and the European cultures. Frederick the Second was known to have kept a harem and to have worn flowing robes and adorn his head with a which he promoted in his courts. He was "an Arab potentate, patronizing Arab scholars; employing in his various work­ shops Arab artisans. 1141 Byng stated that he had literally hundreds of Arab savants, scholars, merchants, physicians, astrologers, engineers, and philosophers on his payrbll. He further added that it was because of this interaction between Islamic and Sicilian cultures that Moslem culture and civilization were carried from Sicily to every corner of Italy, and to German--y-.----­ They kindled the flame of the spirit in the barbaric North .... The Renaissance is a part of our Arab heritage ... Medieval Sicily offered the world a unique spectacle .... In Sicily, as in Spain, the Arabs introduced a living standard based upon much higher conceptions of , comfort and general culture than those that had previously prevailed.42

The Crusades

The third bridge between the Arab world and the West was the Crusades. By that time., Europe had tasted some Eastern cultural heritage mixed with the Greek and Roman. The trade with the East further paved the way for liberating the Holy Land from the "infidels," and the "hunger for truth and substance, for holy things, made the

41 Landau, p. 12. 42Byng, pp. 185, 186, 187. 25 West a ready market for the treasures of India, Arab and classical romance. 1143 In·' spite of the fact that the religious motive was emphasized in the Crusades, the gory deeds which were committed by the zealous pilgrims have left a deep scar in Middle Eastern minds. The first Crusade showed the lust for monetary gains, and it also left a terrifying fear after the massacre of,- Jerusalem. The "impact of this_ on the Arab world was appalling. The Muslims had been as ;unprepared mentally for the Crusades as the Byzantines, 1144 who later had their capital (Constantinople) looted, ran­ sacked and pillaged for its precious paintings, treasures, and artifacts during the fourth Crusade in 1204. Even during the second Crusade, Richard Coeur de Lion, having given orders to massacre three thousand prisoners, ordered their entrails be searched for more possible gold.45 Such acts of atrocity built wide gulfs between the Eastern civilization and the West. The crusaders lived in the ' Middle East from around 1099 to 1187, when Salah al-Din (Salladin) recaptured­ Jerusalem at the battle of Hattin.46 Some other Crusade duchies and dukedoms continued for about a half a century

43 Heer, p. 100. 44Toid. , pp.. 104-105. 45Ibid. , p. 105. 46 Byng, p. 182. 26 more in northern Syria. The effect of these Crusades was a great impact on European life, for "The Crusaders found a society ••. in many respects more refined and dignified than their 01,,n," and Eastern ways of life began .•. to appeal to these rude adventurers from the West and to temper their fascination .... They went back to Europe with~ more humane and liberal outlook and sharpened minds.47' The assimilation and intermarriage of the Crusaders with the natives greatly enriched the Western culture. Fulcher of Chartres, a chronicler of the first Crusade, remarked that Now we who were westerners have become easterners . He who was Italian or French has in this land become a Galilean .••. He who was a citizen of Rheims .•• is now a Tyrian .•.. We have forgotten our birth­ places . Most of us do not know them or even hear of them. One already owns home and household as if by parental hereditary right, another had taken as wife not a compatriot, but a Syrian .... He who was an alien has become a native .... Every day our rela- tions and friends follow us, willingly abandoning whatever they possessed in the West. For those who are poor there, has God made rich here ..•. he who had not a village there possesses, with God as giver, a whole town here. Why th~n return to the West, when the East suits us so we11748

The Decline of the Arab Empire and the Aftermath

In 1492, the advanced well into Spain to start the ". 11 Seven years later, after the

47Edward Atiya, The Arabs (Edinburgh: Rand R Clark Ltd., 1955), ·p. 66. 48Bernard Lewis, The Arabs in Histor (New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1966), pp. 150-13 2. 27 signing of a peaceful treaty, the Franciscan monk, Ximenez de Cisneros, urged the Archbishop of Toledo to forcibly baptize the Moslems. Many who did not wish to be baptized fled the country to Africa. Through the zeal of this monk "to purge the country of. the 'infidel,' the church and state of Spain managed to burn down and destroy precious manuscripts and private lib;aries. 1149 This zeal was extended to "scientific instruments" which were "heirlooms and navigatio~al instruments .•• and tens of thousands of Arabic manuscripts, of unique cultural value, were collected and publicly burned. 1150 In the words of Gustave Von Grunebaum, the eight­ hundred-year occupation of the Arabs in Spain did much to the Christian world for it "was the classical inheritance in philosophy and science rethought by Islam and formu­ lated in Arabic" that·· made itself available in Latin and later filtered into Europe to become Christian.51 The impact of the Arabs in Spain was so great that a Christian named Alvaro, a citizen of Cordova, regretfully remarked: My fellow-Christians delight in the poems and romances of the Arabs; they study the works of Mohammedan theologians and philosophers, not in order to refute them; but to acquire a correct and elegant Arabic s-tyle. Where today can a layman be found who reads the Latin commentaries on Holy Scriptures? Who is there that studies the Gospels, the Prophets, the Apostles? Alas~ .the young Christians who are most

49 Byng, p. 170. 5oibid., pp. 176-177. 51 · Von Grunebaum, p. 273. 28 conspicuous for their talents have no knowledge of any literature or language save the Arabic; they read and study with avidity Arabian books; they amass whole libraries of them at a vast cost, and they everywhere sing the praises of Arabian lore. On the other hand, at the mention of Christian books they disdainfully protest that such works are unworthy of their notice. The pity of it~ Christians have forgotten their own tongue and scarce one in a thousand can be found able to compose in fair Latin a letter to a friend! But when it comes to Arabic, how many there are who can express themselves in that language with the greatest elegance, and even compose verses which surpass in formal correctness those of the Arabs themselves.52 Centuries later, even Washington Irving was capti­ vated by the sight of the Arab castles and mosques that stand in acknowledgement of Arab civilization in Spain. A century after Irving, Somerset Maugham was so impressed by these same ruins that he said: "The Moors have gone, but still they inhabit the land in spirit and not seldom in a spectral way seem to regain their old dominion. 1153 It stands to reason, then, that such direct inter­ course with the Arab world thro~gh Spain, Stcily and the Crusades, left deep imprints on Western minds. Unfor­ tunately though, the Arabs received very little in return because they were "so far above (their) Latin neighbors in learning, manners, wealth and refinement that there was

52von Grunebaum, Medieval Islam, PR...! 57-58. In support of Professor Von Grunebaum's observation, Bernard Lewis in his The Arabs in History stated that "At about the same time the Archbishop of Seville deemed it neces­ sary to translate and annotate the Bible in Arabic, not for missionary purposes but for his own community" (p. 124). · 53somerset Maugham, Andalusia (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1923), p. 31. 29 little hope of any such mutual benefit. 1154 If anything, they learned to view the West with a suspicious eye. Summing up, the Arabs in the seventh century make their bout in history and spread their religion and culture very rapidly into Spain and Sicily. The Crusades also helped to bridge the culture of the East and that of the West. The achievements of' the Arabs far surpassed the cultural achievements of Europe during the Medieval times, and it was through· Arabic trans­ lations of Plato and Aristotle that the' knowledge of ancient Greece was introduced to the West.55 It was this political and social interaction that set the stage for the intellectual exchange. But the deeper and more lasting effect of the Arab civilization on the West was through the impact of science, philosophy, religion, astrology, medicine, and poetry and other literary genres, in the Arabic tongue, as shall be seen in the next chapter.

541andau, p. 12. 55Rivlin, p. 107. CHAPTER II

THE CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS AND THEIR INFLUENCES

Just as the Greeks and the Romans dominated the era prior to the birth of Christ, so did the Arabs dominate the four centuries prior to the Middle Ages. The military conquests were not the only feats, but along with this expansion came the of the conquered lands which in itself is more significant. Arabic had " • by the eleventh century" become "not only the chief idiom of everyday use from Persia to the Pyrenees, but also the chief instrument of culture , superseding old culture lan­ guages like Coptic, Aramaic, Greek and Latin. 111 1'he inherent power in the is that of the Islamic religion. It governed all aspects of life and kept at the core of its dogma the desire for learning new truths wherever they may be found. One of the adages that has survived to modern times exemplifies this search by saying that one should seek learning even though it be in China. In his book Introduction to the History of

1Bernard Lewis, p. 132.

30 31 Sciences, Professor George Sarton explains how the impetu~ of this new religion was carried out in the West. In his words as cited by Landau, When we try to explain Western culture we may leave out almost completely Hindu and Chinese developments, but we cannot leave out the Arabic one without spoiling the whole story and making it unintelligible ..•• The . Arabs were standing on the shoulders of their Greek forerunners just as the Americans were standing on the shoulders of their European ones .••• Arabic was the international language of science to a degree which had never been equalled by another language (except Greek) and has never been repeated since. It was the language not of one people, one nation, one faith, but of many peoples, many nations, many faiths. The Arabic culture was .•. and to some extent still is, a bridge, the main bridge between East and West ••.• Latin culture was both •.. it was stretched out between the Christianism of the West and the Buddhism of the East and touched both.2 This chapter will therefore mention the Arabic achievements in the fields of science, medicine, mathe­ matics, literature, art, and music and show how these sciences and arts were transported with the Arabs into Europe and how they influenced Western thought and culture during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

The Classification of Learning

At first, three branches of study were established in the Ara~ world. The first and most ancient, the study of poetry, was the most organized and scientific. After the Prophet's death, the thinkers, using Muhammad's words, divided science into two branches. In their words,

2 Landau, p. 9. 32 "science is twofold: that which relates to religion and that which relates to tne body (i.e. medicine). 113 Later on, in 976 A.D., the sixteen individual sciences were divided into three groups: the mundane, the religious, and the philosophic. The vizier Hasan Sahl contended that of all of the sciences which belonged to fine culture (al- adab), "the knowledge of stories' which people put forward in their literary gatherings 114 was most important. It is hard to pigeon-h9le the Arab savants into a specific discipline such as science, philosophy, or litera­ ture. Often, the scholar was a combination of all three, yet he excelled in one branch and thus became best known for it. Aside from poetry and religion, the first great Arab achievement was in the field of science and mathe­ matics. During the latter part of the Umayyad period, the age of translation, which lasted from 750 to 850, was in full swing. Greek and Persian manuscripts were sought in distant places and were then translated into Arabic.5 However, the actual period of translation reached its peak during the reign of the Caliph al-Ma'mun. He "founded dar al-Hikma, a .translation centre with library and observatory" which was flocked by translator.s from as far as Syria and

3Phillip K. Hitti, History of the Arabs (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1940), p. 254. 4von Grunebaum, Medieval Islam, p. 255. 5Hitti, History of the Arabs, p. 310. 33 Alexandria.6 Von Grunebaum also said that the Alexandrine Academy d~d not stop studying Aristotle until it was closed down and that the learning transferred to Antioch and later found its way to Baghdad.7 It was the who "were acquainted with Greek philosophy and sciences in the original or in earlier Syriac translations," who bridged the legacy of Greece with the classical world of the Arabs.8 At the Baghdad Academy, Latin, Greek, Chinese, Syriac, Nabatean, Sanskrit, and Pahlavi manuscripts were translated. The leading translator of the time was a Nestorian Christian, Hunayn , whose reputation soared over the empire; translators and students flocked to learn the art of translation at his hands. He was paid by al-Ma'mun "a weight in gold equal to that of each of the Greek volumes which he succeeded in transcribing. The first translation of Aristotle was paid for its weight in diamonds. 119 It is for this reason that he became known as the dean of translators. The second important translator succeeding Hunayn was Thabit ibn-Qurrah "who translated most of the known works on mathematics and astronomy known to the Greek

6von Grunebaum, Classical Islam, p. 88. 7 Ibid., p. 93. 8 Ibid. 9Benoist, p. 36. 34 world. 1110 The third important translator who became known for his excellence in developing Arab and belles lettres was Ibn-al-Muqaffa. His excellence lies in his translation of the Sanskrit Panchantantra and in his creative works, the Misers and the Book of Animals.11 His translation of the Bidpai ~ables was to become the only Arabic extant which was later translated into over forty languages and "the French fabulist La Fontaine acknowledged 12 his indebtedness" to them. The significance of these translations lies in the fact that it was through Arabic translations of the Greeks that the Europeans were able to study the ancient legacy.

Contributions in Mathematics and Science

In the field of mathematics and science, the Arabs excelled to a great degree. By reviewing the Hindu astro­ nomical work Sindhind, they came upon the numerals and perfected their use which was "undoubtedly the most far­ reaching single contribution to modern science. 1113 The zero, which was an Arab invention, w~s not accepted in Europe for over two hundred and fifty years, for it was said that 11 it lent itself more readily to falsification,

lOYahya Aramajani, Middle East Past and Present (Englewood: Prentice-Hall, Irie., 1970), p. 86. 11Ibid. 12Hitti, Islam: A Way of Life, p. 91. 13Landau, p. 29. 35 especially in keeping accounts. 1114 Khwarizmi (the term logarithms is derived from his name), Omar Khayam and others developed the use of six quadratic equations through which they measured the "length of a terrestial degree" and concluded that the earth was a sphere.15 Along with these mathematical -improvements, a host of terms were invented and in 1654 "Pascal could still complain that it was impossible to formulate a mathematical problem in French. 1116

During the period of translation, scientific and astronomical treatises were translated en masse from Greek, Syriac, Persian and Indian. Ibn-al-Batiq translated the major works of ~ippocrates and Ptolemy's Quadripartitum. Al-Mas'udi translated Euclid's Elements, the Almagest (the article "al" added by him), and Ptolemy's astronomical works. Hunayn Ibn-Ishaq translated Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Categories, Physics and Magua Moralia. Seven of Galen's anatomy books have survived only in Arabic. Other translators worked on Aristotle's Organon, Rhetoric and Poetry, Ptolemy's Geography, Historia Animalu.m, De Causis and several other works.17

14Hitti, Islam: A Way of Life, p. 114. 15 Byng, p. 255. 16von Grunebaum, Classical Islam, p. 94. 17Hitti, History of the Arabs, pp. 311-315. 36 After the period of translations, from about 900 A.D. to 1100 A.D., the Arabs produced 11 .•• imposing encyclopedic works in which the knowledge of former genera­ tions" was carefully "classified and set" in order.18 Al-Razi's (Rhazes) book on Small-pox and Measles was trans­ lated into Latin and English and had forty different editions between 1498 and 1866. His other book, al-Hawi (Comprehensive Book), also enjoyed great popularity and Robert Burton "quotes [ it] freely in his Anatomy of Melancholy. 1119 Other Arabic medical works which were translated into Latin were Haly Abbas' The Whole Medical Art and 's al-Kanoun fi al-Tibb (later corrupted to Cannon). Arnold points out that the operation for the cataract of the eye described by Avicenna was still prac­ ticed in England around 1780 by Percivall Pott and even as late as 1820 in Germany. 20 Others that deserve to be men­ tioned were Geber, the father of chemistry and Alhazen, whose Opticae Thesaurus influenced Leonardo da Vinci and Johann Kepler._21

18Thomas Arnold and Alfred Guillaume, The Legacy of Islam (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 19 8), pp. 322-323. 19Ibid., pp·. 324-326. 20 rbid., p. 353. 21 Ibid., p. 334. 37 Among the terms which were introduced in Latin through Arabic are alum, borax, arsenic, soda, aludcl, alembic, ammonia, antimony and others. Alchemy and the attempt to change base metals into gold made a great impact on Europeans. The study of astronomy was also perfected and incorporated in medicine in the form of physiognomy. ' Some of the Arabic terms that have entered English are zenith, nadir, asimuth, simt, almanac, atlas and talisman. It is for these and other reasons that Professor Briffault stated that "science is the most momentous contribution of Arab civilization to the modern world. 1122

Contributions in History and Geography

History and geography flourished in the Arab world for two reasons. In Pre-Islamic times, the poets took pride in their genealogies and the tribal competitions inspired the remembrance of previous leaders in the oral tradition. The necessity of knowing directions in the desert where there were no landmarks further facilitated t he growth in knowledge of astronomy. After the Islamic invasions of Syria, , and Spain, it became essential to know in which direction Mecca lay (fo£ •in praying, the Moslem had to face the Holy City). The sacred duty of pilgrimage f urther added to the science of geography, for on these religious journeys pilgrims from

22Landau, p. 9. 38 the continent accumulated and recorded information "not only of a geographical nature but also in fields ranging from medicine, to botany, history to the arts. 1123 From these two sources arose the scientific study of history and geography. The Arabs, then, "enriched by the codification of the Pre-Islamic oral historical tradition," soon produced "histories of families, tribes and institutions. 1124 In addition to the collection of traditions and events in monographs, "biographies of transmitt:ers," and "inter­ pretations, of the Koran ... added to the systema- tization. .. History-writing and its twin,.the life histories of important personalities," were added to this field. 25 Examples of the above could be seen in Yaqut's Dictionary of Men of Letters, "Qifti's encyclopedic work, . History of the Philologists [and] Usaibia's Lives of the Physicians. 1126 According to Byng, "the Diderots .•• lived six or eight centuries before their Western brothers! The first Encyclopedia was written in. the thirteenth century. 1127

23Ibid. , p. 38. 24Lewis, The Arabs in History, p. 136. 25von Gruneb,aum, Classical Islam, p. 199. 26Byng, p. 268. 27rbid. 39 At least two dozen geographers have left their mark on Arab civilization . Among these, Mas'udi wrote his Meadows of Gold and Precious Stones which "produced one of the richest first historico-geographical encyclopedias . the richest medieval sources .. of geological and anthropological information. 1128 After travelling through­ out the Far East and Afric~, Idrisi lived at Roger II's court where he dedicated his work Kitab Rujjar (Book of Roger) to the Norman king. He drew two charts in the book which showed that the shape of the universe was elliptical and it was through Idrisi's use of the term "arin," trans­ lated by Roger Bacon and Albertus Magnus, that Cardinal Peter's Imago Mundi came into the hands of Columbus in 1410. Thus Arnold concludes that "Islamic geographical theory may claim a share i n the discovery of the New World. 1129

Contributions to the Fine Arts

In the field of music, the Arabs have also left some influences on medieval Europe. The Arabic term "musiqa" is a transliteration from Greek. Aristotle's Problemata .and De Anima works ascribed to Euelid and Nichornachus were translated into Arabic. The philosophers al-Kindi, al-Farabi, al-Ghazali and the physicians al-Razi

I• 28 Landau, p. 39, 29Arnold and Guillaume, pp. 89-94. 40 and Avicenna also translated Greek musical works and added their share of scientif_ic t erminology to this field. 30 At least fifteen theorists were known in the Arab East and in Andalusia and music schools were established in both places. "Just as the Arabic astronomers corrected Ptolemy and others, so the Arabic musical-theorists improved on their Greek teachers. 1131 Sir Hubert Parry further said that the Arab systematical school produced . 32 "the most perfect -scale ever devised." Thus when the Arabs came to Spain they brought their ~utes, guitars, rebecs (primitive also mentioned in Chaucer), tam­ bourines, jingles, and "the greatest of the benefits which accrued from the Arab contact was undoubtedly the acquisi­ tion of mensural music," which influenced the European minstrels. The term troubadour therefore is a derivative from the Arabic "mutrib" (singer) and "tarrab" (singer). 33 (See Appendix I, A.) In the field of graphic art, calligraphy and the use of illustrated books became very popular. The greatest vi-sual art of the Arabs is to be found in the exquisite architectural designs of their castles and mosques. The use of the ~ecorative calligraphic Koranic verses which

30Hitti, History of the Arabs, pp. 427-428. 31Arnold and Guillaume, p. 367. 32Toid. 33rbid. , p. 37lf. 41 were inscribed on the interiors and exteriors of these edifices, attest to their sense of ornateness, grace, and symmetry. Along with this elegance, the art found its utmost expression in the pointed arch ~hich later influenced Gothic architecture. (See Appendix I, B.)

Achievements in Literature

Because of the association with foreign gods and mythology, the Arabs did not find inter~st in Greek drama or epic · poetry. 34 They therefore turned to Persian and Indian tales, fables, -and plots as well as narratives and motifs which were generated in the oral tradition. This oral tradition started at a place called Oqath, which is some distance from Mecca . There, the Arabs held annual markets and fairs. During these fairs·, which are often likened to the Greek Olympics, the tribes held tournaments, horse and camel races, and bartered their goods. ~e climax of these fairs was the recitation of poetry. These poetry competitions were "veritable tourna­ ments of eloquence," where the prize was given to the poet "who had sung the bravest exploit in the purest lan­ guage.1135 .The poems included elegies, love-ly:rics, and the recitation of Qasidas (Odes). These Qasidas had a stylized form and followed definite guidelines. Since the

34Hitti, Makers of Arab History, p. 92. 35Benoist, p. 11. 42 poet was the bard and the spokesman of his tribe, it was up to him extoll and propagate the eulogies and honors of his tril: -· , praise its leader, and r elate the glory of its past. He therefore became the historian of his tribe, the chronicler, , and public-relations man • . He was also its oracle and champion. He kept the genealogies of his people .... His emergence was one of three most joyou~ occasions, the other two being the bi~th of a boy and the foaling of a purebred mare.3b At the end of the fair the best poet was awarded a laurel and was acclaimed the winner of the competition. Later on, so says the myth, the poet was honored by having his inscribed on the stone of the Kaaba in letters of gold. These poems were called the "Muaalaqat" (the suspended ones) because they were suspended for people to look at and appraise. Only seven of the Jahilia (period of ignorance prior to Muhammad--ignorance of Allah--) poems have survived down to our modern times. In an age when paper had not yet been prevalent and when it was impossible for the nomads to take the time to write, memory and the oral tradition became a very impor­ tant asset to the Arab. As a result, these "Rival masters competed for. preeminence in what was becoming the Arabs' chief source of aestheti9 and creative delight--the use of their language. 1137 Professor Hitti stated that "It was

36Hitti, Islam: A Way of Life, p. 139. 37Atiyah, p. 21. 43 only in the field of verbal expression that Pre-Islamic Arabians distinguished themselves." He further added that How illiterate camel breeders living in scattered tribes, with no political cohesion to unite them, could develop a refined, richl__y worded means of expression remains a mystery. 58 Out of this poetical tradition emerged new trends in the Qasidas (Odes). 39 First was the involvement of the poet in the poem itself, the vainglorious attitude in which he described himself and his honors, the description of the elements and wonders of nature, the solitude of the desert and its almost purgative effect on the poet, the scent of the oases and the changes in the seasons. The second of these was the praise of the tribe in which the poet-knight held a membership and to which he owed his allegiance. The third was the description of his steed and its faithful companionship which is almost human-like (for without it he could not fight his wars nor see his beloved). Some- of these poems were addressed to the steed

38Hitti, Islam: A Way of Life, p. 25.

39 Ibid. On page 139 Hitti summarizes the quali­ ties of t his type of poetry as a "form that typifies this ... 'qasidah,' an ode consisting of following a specific meter. The couplets vary in number from fifteen to a hundred and twenty and end in the same rhyme. The meter in Arabic is measured not by stress but by the number and length of syllables ...• The ode is in fact a monodrama. The actor is the poet and he is, of course, always the hero." (See Appendix I, C.) 44 itself. The last was the description of the beloved and the agitation of not being with her. In this case a day away from her became a year, and these pangs were not requited till the lover finally saw his beloved and recounted his glorious deeds to her. From these traditio~s·arose a very deep and con­ scious awareness of the power of words. In order to recreate the scene of the oasis, the poet had to use images that would suggest water, opulence, and fertility. The moon, the stars and morning lark became harbingers of peace and quiet from the day's heat and weariness. Hence, Oqath, a little distance from Mecca , became a haven for poets and traders. As a result, Mecca grew in cultural and political importance. The leading tribe of Mecca was the tribe Quraysh, the Prophet's tribe, which was lqter to play a significant role in the linguistic and historical achieve­ ments of the Arab Empire. Thus the Qasida became the only cultural asset of the . Just as the "Greek took pride in his archi­ tecture and the Hebrew in his Psalm," so did the Arab take pride in this genre which was continued throughout the Middle Ages. One of their adages states that "The beauty of a lies in her face; the beauty of man in the eloquence of his tongue. 1140 A later saying claimed that "Wisdom, alighted on three: the brain of the Frank, the

4oibid., p. 25. 45 hand of the Chinese, and the tongue of the Arabian. 1141 It was for this reason that Phillip Hitti boldly stated that No people in the world, perhaps, has such enthusiastic admiration for literary expression and is so moved by the word, spoken or written, as the Arabs. Hardly any language seems capable of exercising over the minds of its users such irresistible influence as Arabic. Modern audientes in Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo can be stirred to the highes t degree by the recit al of poems, only vaguely comprehended, and by the delivery of orations in the classical tongue, • The , the rhyme, the music, produce on them the effect of what they call ''lawful magic" (sihr halal) .42 Thus the Qasida was the sole expression of the Jahili Arab for the "study of poetry becomes .•• the greatest of the Arab sciences," and "the beauty of the language culminates in its verse. 1143 But after the appear­ ance of the Koran, literary prose became the norm and was made more popµlar by the use of the Koran'ic sciences and the "" (commentaries) and "" (Prophet's speeches).44

On the other hand, al-Jahiz became the leader of literary prose for he "laid the foundations of humanism" during the Abbasid period. His greatness lies in his subtility and originality which he employed in his Kaleela wa Dumna. 'With his knowledge and background in Persian,

41Ibid. 42Hitti, History of the Arabs, p. 90. 43von Grunebaum, Medieval Islam, p. 38. 44Toid., p. 39. ... 46 he added to this work his genius and irony. The Arabic translation became the one extant of the Bidpai Fables. There are very distinct contributions that were made by the Arabs to European literature. The zajal, a new form of Andalusian poetry, was copied by the Provencal poets in theme and form. The second distinct contribution, the seance or lecture, better known as the , con­ sisted . of a group of sketches whose centra~ character is a jack-of-all-trades, a true confidence man of unparalleled brazenness and diverting extravagance, a skilful scoundrel, and a player of practical jokes Similar literary characters are Scapin and Figaro.45 To Hamadani "belongs the credit of having been the first to create a new form of literature, [for ] by making a value of short stories of the comic adventures of beggars and rogues," he utilized and harmonized the Arabic tongue.46 It should be reiterated that most Greek science and philosophy and the Oriental tales reached Europe via the Arab's through Spain and Sicily. Heer stated that in both of these places Arab writers "were very numerous in all areas of literatures • • . [and] fiction. 1147 He further pointed out that "disputations between theologians of different persuations were quite commonly held at the

45weit, p. 97. 46 Clement Huart,· · A History of Arabic Literature (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1903), p. 133. 47Heer, p. no. 47 courts of the Arab princes. ,,4S The stage was then being set in western Europe during the twelfth century when .•• men's hearts and minds were awakening to a new appreciation of the world .••. This was a germinal time, pregnant with a thousand possibilities, and·the materials and themes treated by the men and women of this age retained a compelling attraction for poets and speculative thinkers right through the Renais­ sancEz;. ... There were immeasurable potentialities in the permeation of philosophical, scientific and mystical thought by ideas of alien origin, classical, Arab, ... and Oriental .... The first task, and it was taken with feverish intensity, was one of­ translation. The chief centres for this activity were Toledo, ... a number of Italian towns, ••• Naples [ and ] Sicily.49

Arabic Contributions to Western Literature

Just as the Arabs were caught in the fervor of translating the Greeks, so did the Westerners start trans­ lating the Arabs. Among these, Roger Bacon was the first to endeavour this study. He learned Arabic at ToledQ and Seville and then went to Palermo. He was known to have recognized the distinction of the Arab philosophers and "Albertus Magnus, the founder of scholasticism, agreed with Bacon on the superiority of the Arab philosophers. 1150 Bernard, too, was .greatly influenced by Arabic writings, especially those of the mystics and theologians. Under the auspices and of Archbishop Raymond (1130-1150), the "Toledo translators" had

48Ibid. 49Ibid. 50Palacios, p. 257. 48 enthusiastically translated and interpreted the wealth of Arab science and, also via the Arabs, the Greek science.51 At this school the "English mathematician and astronomer Robert ... translated Kindi's work." Others were John of Seville, a Christian Mozararabe, Arnold of Villanova, a Spaniard, and the Italian Gerard of Cremona, the best of these translators. 52 Later, at the court of Alfonse the Wise, Arabic scientific and planetary works were translated. The most important among these' is the Tablas Alfonsies which is "based upon the findings of the Arabic astronomer al­ Zarqali.1153 Two other astronomical books, the Libros Saber de Astronomica and the Lapidary, were translattons from Arabic. They dealt with the cataloging and description of the stars, the virtues of stones and the influence of these on people.54 Among the literary works that were translated or that were influenced by Eastern and Oriental works are Kaleela wa Dumna, the Sindibad, The History of Barlaam and Josapfat, the Bocacos de Oro, Poridad de Poridoes, Grand e General Estoria, and the "edifying and popular Arab texts

51Gabrielli, The Arabs A Compact History, p. 155. 52Adams and Keller, p. 25. 53Hitti, Makers of Arab History, p. 199. 54Ibid. 49 like the eschatological Book of the Ladder, the most direct Moslem precursor of Dante's Divina Commedia. 1155 In his notes to the Gesta Romanorum, Wynard Hooper points out that there were Oriental and Eastern influences. Among the works that were cited were the Arabian Nights, Barlaam and Josafat, Kaleela wa Dumna, and the Turkish Tales. The fables further' had social influences and man­ nerisms that were derived from the East. Boccaccio, he claims, used three tales as plots for his works and there were found two influence·s on Chaucer. He further contends that the origins of the fables and many of the legends are from the Orient.56 Miguel Asin Palacios agrees with him and further contends that during "the epoch of flourishing trade in the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean--Islam had produced and given widespread popularity to a whole cycle of legends .• • " which, like "their Christian counterparts, may be grouped, in accordance with the nature of the protagonist?7 Another proponent of this idea is Victor Chauvin who con­ cludes that "the direct or indirect influence of Oriental tales of marvelous voyages is to be seen in several works of medieval fiction. 1158 This; he said, is seen in the

55Gabrielli, Tne Arabs A Compact History, p. 156. :, . 56~ooper, p. xix. 57Palacios, p. 205. 5Sibid., p. 206. 50 "Voyage of St. Brendan" for which "an Islamic origin must be given. 1159 As Von Gruenbaum has stated, "Arabic scholarship as transmitter of ancient thought has been a powerful inspiration for the medieval west. 1160 He further went along with Arnold, Hitti, Guillaume, and Byng who saw Arabic and Eastern influences and sources in some of the early Western literature such as Aucassin et Nicolette and in the "love attitude that characterizes the rninne- . singer," for "there can be little doubt as to the influence of on the songs of the ," and hence in the Western Minnesang .61 Heer also stated that the direct experience with the "noble infidel made a pro­ found and indelible impression on the West; it played an important role in the poetry of the greatest German courtly epic poets, Wolfram von Eschenback," and became stronger with the passage of time.62 Don Juan Manuel also drew his inspiration for Conde Lucanor from Arabic sources, and his prologue "is model ed on the introductions with which all Arabic works are furnished. 1163 The El Cavallero Cifar also shows Arabic

59Ibid., p. 214. 60von Grunebaum, Medieval Islam, p. 340. 61 Ibid . 62 Heer, p. 111. 63Arnold and Guillaume, p. 195. 51 affinities, especially in the picaresque vein. rn addi­ tion, "Muslim cosmogony and legends of the ascent of Muhammad ... have entered into the Divina Comedia either directly or through earlier western legends" which were influenced by the Arabs such as The Legend of Tundal arid St . Patrick's Purgatory.64 Arnold and Guillaume pointed out that 0th.er western rom~ces have either a direct or indirect Eastern influence (Arabic) such as Floire et Blanchefleur, Chaucer's Squire's Tale, the Rolandslied, the Decamerone, Don Quixote, Historica del Abencerrage, Beckford's Vathek, Gulliver's Travels, and Rasselas.65 Another proponent of these ideas, Leo Weiner, has stated that the Spanish-Sicilian poems "Hisperica Famina, 11 the "Lorica" and the "Rubisca" were of distinctly Arabic or Mozarabic origins, for they betray style, values and a considerable number of Arabic and Hebrew terms. Also, by studying the Arabic, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew lexicology and the theme of the Wodan myth, We iner concluded that . the story of Wodan [ compared ] with that of , . we find that both connected the worship with women .... The coincidence of all the characteristics with the name and the total absence of any reference to Wodan in earlier writers, make it absolutely certain that t~g Germanic story owes its origin to the Arabic Ewail . .

64Ibid., pp. 197-198, 65 Ibid., pp. 193, 199, 201. 66Leo Weiner, Contributions Toward a Histor of Arabico-Gothic Culture New Yor: Neale Publishing Co., 1919), II, 15, 23, 71, 141. (See Appendix I, D.) 52 Last but not least, one of the major influences on European poetry was that Arabic poetry ·insisted on "perfect rhyme as an essential element in . . . poetry." Suffice it to say that 11 the first book printed in England, The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers, was a translation from a French version of a Latin recast of an Arabic work," published by Caxton in 1477 A.n. 67 Thus it is possible that Chaucer, who was, at the height of his career in the late thirteen nineties, could have run across this Arabic translation, the title of which is Mukhtasar al-Hikam wa­ Mahsin al-Kalim, and various scientific treatises and tales t hat were translated during that period.

67Arnold and Guillaume, pp. 80, 186. CHAPTER III

ARABIC INFLUENCES ON FOUR OF CHAUCER'S CANTERBURY TALES

The first part of this chapter will give general backgrounds about the poet Chaucer, his age, and the use of the framed story as a literary device. A brief summary of the scientific influences on Chaucer will follow. The latter part of the chapter will add to the already known Oriental and Arabic influences on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

Chaucer and His Times

Geoffrey Chaucer lived in medieval England, a country "which despite its outlying position was bound into the medieval culture of Europe by religion, war, commerce, poetry, philosophy, and science, and by the common institu­ tion of Feudalism. 111 This changing world came in contact with the Near East and the Orient through commerce, travel, and the p ilgrimages.

1Theodore Morrison, ed., The Portable Chaucer ( New York: The Viking Press, 1969), p. 1.

53 54 Living in the hall of Edward III, as a young man, the poet was early influenced by all the splendor, elegance, and sophistication of the household. Brewer contends that here "he learned politeness, good manners, noble behavior and no doubt the scandalous talk" and' funny incidents and tales which he later incorporated in his tales. 2 Mr. Coghill agrees with this opinion and adds that even as a page, Chaucer learned the language of the gentle­ folk, the local peasants, the language of co~rtly love, a knowledge of French, Latin, and church customs.3 While in the service of Edward III and Johrl. of Gaunt, Chaucer is known to have made thirteen trips to

Europe. On these diplomatic trips, he is said to have met with Boccaccio and possibly Petrarch. From his trips to Milan, Genoa and Florence, "which (have) a place in Chaucer's intellectual development comparable to that of the 'Italienische Reise' in Goethe's life," his first acquaintance with Italj_an and other literatures began. L~ Since the critics are undecided about the authenticity of th~ poet's meetings with the Italian masters; it would be safe to assume that it was possible (from the many remarks which he gave in his works) that he met with these poets

2Dereck S. Brewer, Chaucer (London: Longman's, 1960), p. 9. 3Nevill Coghill, The Poet Chaucer (7th ed.; New York: , 1967), pp. 2-3. 4 . F. N. Robinson, ed., The Work.s of Geoffrey Chaucer (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1957), p. xxi. 55 or at least that he had discussed and read their works with his contemporaries. Mr. Robinson points out that there was a one-year period (1387) during which time little is known of the poet's activities. He does point out, however, that during this period Chaucer may have made secret diplomatic trips to Europe. 9 The trade routes between Europe and the Middle East played a significant role in linking the two cultures. Spices, sugar, muslin and numerous other materials were imported into Europe from as far as India and China. The middle man in this exchange of commercial goods was the Arab. This fact is attested to by the recent archeological findings of Arabic coins in southern Russia and as far north as Scandinavia. If, as we know, Chaucer's family was employed in the wine business and Chaucer himself was employed as the Controller of Customs, then it is likely that he came across and dealt with Arab traders who brought their goods from Spanish ports. Wine was produced in France and Spain, and the spices which reached Italy and France were delivered by European as well as Arab merchants. One can therefore deduce that with the commercial exchange came an exchange of ideas--and what better way is there for merchants and sailors to pass the time than by narrating tales on diverse topics?

5Ibid. , pp. xx-xxiii. 56 Since France, Italy, and Spain were the leading countries in the republ~c of letters, it became easy for English writers to seek plots and ideas from them. English authors "sought (them) openly, candidly, consciously. Chaucer for example, started his literary work by trans­ lating a French book, and acknowledged in sundry places ' 6 specific debts to Italian writers." Therefore, if, as had been pointed out in Chapter II, Italian, Spanish, and French poets used several Oriental and Middle Eastern themes and plots in their works, then it is very likely that Chaucer himself came across some of these influences indirectly through these translations or by word of mouth. The first such influence on Chaucer was the use of the boxed or framed story as a literary device for including several tales in a larger frame.

Chaucer and the Framed Story

It is not known when Chaucer first thought of the

I --idea of t he Canterbury Tales, although Professor Carleton Brown suggested that he may have begun writing them as early as 1387. It is significant that the reading public of the pre-Gutenberg Era was very small and most people heard literature rather than read it. Often, when a manu­ script was lent out it did not last very long. The short story also was the "most characteristic form of fourteenth

61aurie Magnus, British Literature in its Foreign Relations (New York: Benjamin Blom, 1968), p. 3. 57 century literature. 117 This type of short story conveyed a variety of literary effects and an audience could remember it better than most types of literature. The earliest known framed stories are to be found in the Westcar Papyrus, "an ancient Egyptian document, which survived in a mutilated condition, 118 the story of King Khufu or Egypt and his' three sons. In it, the author used the framed story as a device to instruct the king's sons through a magician who taught them the wisdom of power and government. A later and better known ancient collection of folk-tales which embodied a moral lecture was featured in the Indian Gesta. These fables are said to have developed in pre-historic times in India. They had a main character, "Badhisalta, 11 whose sole purpose was to give the incidents as they would be suitable to a certain situation. These tales were later developed into the Panchantantra during the Brahminic times. Professor E. A. Baker claimed that some series of these stories filtered into Asia Minor and Europe. These tales have many similarities with the Aesopic Fables.9 Thus, although the framed story was developed i,n several places in Asia Minor and Europe, it

7 Brewer, p. 126. 8Henry B. Hinckley, "The Framing Tale," Modern Language Notes, XLIX (February, 1934), 69. 9E. A. Baker, The History of the English Novel, (London: H.F. and G. Whitherly, 1934), I, 263-264. 58 was only in India that it was "far more finished in [its] execution. 1110 Medieval Europe borrowed the idea of the framed story from the Orient, yet "the 'emboxment' is a technique that seems to be purely Indian1111 (see figure I, p. 59, for.my derivational outline of the framed story). Professor Hinckley has said that although the similarities between these Indian fables and the Aesopic Fables are obvious, they ••• are thickly ~sown and shrawd, and not infrequently with noble proverbs, for the coinage of which the highly reflective mind of the Hindu had a striking aptitude •••• Regarded in themselves the animal­ fables possess very considerable interest. Real art is shown in the presentation of character, and along with much shrewd and painted wisdom in the proverbs there is a truly interesting humor like in the speeches and in the conduct of animal personages.12 Other such ancient tales of importance include the Sanskrit version Seventy Tales by a Parrot in which the incidents are designed to hinder the love-affair of a woman, Fifty-Five Tales by a Vampire, 13 and the adventures of the Arabian sailor Sindbad which are emboxed within the larger frame of the Arabian Nights. In the latter, Schehrazade, the newly married wife of the Sultan, attempts to extend the episodes and tales over a one-thousand-and-

lO~inckJey, p. 70. 11Myrtle D. , "An Indian Source for the Medi- eval Beast Epic: ~ard the Fox as a Derivative of the •. , Panchantantra 11 (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of California at Berkeley, 1966), p. 5. 12Hinckley, p. 70. 13Ibid., p. 72. 59 DER IVATIONAL OUTLINE OF THE FRAl'l!ED STORY

ORIENTAL TALES (Hindi, Sanskrit, Pahlavi)

GREEK --:::::::. ------

FRENCH ---- GERMAN ENGLISHA--

indicates evidence of direct influence

indicates possible evidence of ---- • influences

(Please see Appendix II, A, f or my list of these tales as they appear in each of the above languages.) 60 one-night period at the end of which the king falls in love with her and spares her life. Althoughl ' this work was not translated into the European languages till 1646, many of

its episodes and tales entered Europe )Jy word of mouth. Adams has pointed out that the narrative prose fiction of thirteenth century Spain was ... made up principally of translations from well­ known oriental collections of tales, some having originated in the Near East (Arabic and Syriac) and some in Persian and Indian. These tales, carried westward, eventually were set down in Arabic .•• and it is from this language that they entered Spain. Their entry into Spain was important to western letters, for they brought to Europe many new tales, plots, and themes and in time f9rmed the background of a great part of western story.14 Of all these Indian and Hindu fables and tales employing the boxed story, the Panchantantra was translated into Arabic and Syriac under the title of Kaleela wa Dumna (see Appendix II, B, for the influence of this work on Reynar d the Fox ). Kaleela wa Dumna were two foxes, a male and a female, who represented social, moralistic, and ethical problems in the form of fables and allegories. Thus the Arabic version was translated into Spanish in 1251 and it "brought i nto Spanish some of .the world's great stories and fables and introduced to western readers new techniques ·of telling stories. 1115 The book was also trans­ lated into Greek in 1050 A.D., "and many years afterwards

14Nicholson Adams and John Keller, eds., Spanish Literature (Patterson, New Jersey: Adams and Company, 1962), pp. 70-71. 15Ibid., p. 27. 61 the Greek version was made use of by Italian and other scholars" 16 such as John of Capua who translated it under the title of "Directorium Humanae Vitae" ("Direction of Hwnan Life"). But "the Spanish translation . • • was the first in any modern language."· 17 Adams and Keller a9-ded that the "Disciplina Clericalis" and the "Conde Lucanor" had analogues with eastern and oriental exempla where the dilemma is usually solved by a moral at the end of the narrative frame. nie former of these was printed by Caxton and "did a great deal to shape the subsequent development of fiction in Europe. 1118 The Libro de Enjemplos (Book of Examples) also influenced by various Arabic versions, ... contains an immense number of short tales, mostly religious; and in it may be found the germ of many tales of Boccaccio, the French Fabulists, and Cha~cer, though perhaps ... they come to us through the French and Italian rather than the Spanish version.19 The Arabian Nights includes spicy tales that deal with the wiliness and wickedness of women. These tales are arranged thematically within the narrative framework, a device used by European authors and translators as well. Thus "the Oriental pe_arls of wisdom, easy to learn. and easy to

16Martin Hume, Spanish Influence on English Literature ( New York: Haskell House, 1964), p. 32, 17Baker, p. 264. 18Adams and Keller, p. 16. 19 Ibid. , p . 23 . 1) 62 recollect, became a part of the common knowledge of life possessed by all educ8:ted persons. 1120 In his introductory note to the Arabian Nights, Joseph Campbell has pointed out that the Decameron and the Canterbury Tales have much in common with the Arabian Nights. In his Spanish In~luences on English Literature, Martin Hume has also shown how Don Juan Manuel's book com­ pared with Chaucer's work, for It will be noticed that in each case the presentation is racy and personal, and though the works differ as widely as the personalities of the authors, it is evident throughout that the fashion of the story had reached Chaucer from a source where the influence of Don Manuel had been strong.21 Baker also stated that the framework of "The Nun's Priest's Tale" is taken from Reynard the Fox which in turn is derived from Oriental sources--mainly the Arabic Kaleela wa Dumna. It therefore becomes evident that Chaucer, whose ha~it of borrowing plots (often without acknowledgement) and motifs is well known, had possibly been exposed not only to Giovanni Secrambi's Novelle but also to the other works where the boxed story was used as a framework of the text. This .does not mean, however, that he was not original, for Chaucer added a new dimension to the framed story, one which keeps the narrative frame a knit unit and gives his characters a three-dimensional angle in which

20 Hume, p. 35. 21 Ibid., p. 51. 63 "he combined laughter and tears, the comic and the tragic . and made the ordinary and the normal unique, touching, 4 •\ J funny and memorable. 1122

Arabic Scientific Influences on Chaucer

The importance of ~he Arabs in the field of science can hardly be emphasized enough and the amount of scien­ tific treatises and manuscripts which were translated into Latin and later into English was indeed large enough to have reached Chaucer in translation. In the "Astrolabe," for example, Chaucer gives credit to the Arab masters from whom he received a wealth of information, for he said But natheless suffise to these trewe conclusions in Englissh as wel as sufficith to these noble clerkes Grekes these conclusions in Grek; and to Arabiens in Arabik, and to Jewes in Ebrew, and to the Latyn folk in Latyn; whiche Latyn folk had hem first out othere dyverse langages, and writen hem in her owne tunge, that is to seyn, in Latyn.23 Here, Chaucer is giving credit to the Greeks, Arabs, Jews and Latins (Italians). As mentioned before, the scientific heritage of Greece passed on to the Arabs (during the age of translation) who expounded upon it and added to it the knowledge of Persia and India. After the age of trans­ lation, however, such masters as Avicenna, Averroes, Haly Abbas, al-Razi, and others, added to the ancient scientific knowledge, and they thus became the sole reference from

22coghill, p. 132. 23Robinson, "A Treatise on the Astrolabe," pp. 545- 546. 64 which the Latin works were translated. Most of the trans­ lations from Arabic were done by Jewish physicians and scientists who lived in Spain. Thus, the Arabs were not only the transmitters of an ancient science, but they were originators as well; and as such, Chaucer came across his scientific knowledge indir~ctly through Latin and English translations of Arabic originals. Using Professor W. Taylor's findings on "Arabic Words in English," Dr. Sayegh pointed out that "there are about a thousand words of Arabic origin in English and many thousand derivatives from them, of which two-thirds are obsolete. 1124 She further found that between 1150 and 1350, Arabic made up two percent of the loan words which entered the English language. But during the period of 1350 to 1400, the period of Chaucer's appearance on the panorama, the Arabic loan words had increased to eight percent. In his Canterbury Tales, Chaucer used seventy-nine Arabic loan words, most of which were borrowed from Spanish, Latin, and French (for more direct influences please see Appendix II, C).

Arabjc Analogues in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

The most puzzling and often frustrating problem of tracing direct influences on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

24Eva B. Sa~egh, "Middle Eastern Influences on Chaucer with Special Reference to the Arabs" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, , 1946), p. 194. 65 lies in the fact that medieval Europe suffered from the scarcity of books and parchments. Books were expensive luxuries which only the rich could afford. Chaucer's clerk, for example, had to live parsimoniously so that "he

myghte of his frendes hente, / On books and on lernynge he it spente. 1125 Quite often, while reading an old manuscript, the scribe's handwriting was not legible; or, if the scribe did not understand the material he was copying, he would ·, alter it and thus produce a variant version. Sometimes, old manuscripts would survive in fragments. Thus when a scribe translated a fragmentary work, especially a literary one, he was given to adding popular tales from his own environ­ ment or what had passed down by word of mouth, thus bringing in various plots and folktales which had not been in the original work. Since the framed story and several of the medieval literary works reached Europe via the Arabs, it is more than likely that some of these plots and ideas reached Chaucer by means of France, Italy and Spain. Recent research has shown that "The Squire's Tale," "The Pardoner's 'rale, 11 "The Merchant's Tale" and "The Man of 's Tale" have oriental and eastern analogues. Several critics -are in agreement conce~ning the oriental and eastern influences on Chaucer, but very few acknowledge

25Robinson, p. 18. 66 the measure of this influence and even among those who do, some are reluctant to accept these findings as evidence. This could be attributed to two main reasons: a) two different languages and cultures are juxtaposed; and b) no successful bridging of the two was initiated until the second half of the twentieth century. Since the scholars previously cited are agreed on the theory that Italian, French and Spanish medieval literatures have analogues .and are similar to the oriental and eastern literatures, and since they are agreed on the European influences on Chaucer, then this segment will concentrate on Arabic analogues to Chaucer's tales found mainly in the Arabian Nights and Kaleela wa Dwnna.

The Squire 's Tale

In their Sources and Analogues of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Bryan and Dempster pointed out that the plot and the characterization of "The Squire's Tale" are found in Hindu literature and in the Arabian Nights.26 The story of the enchanted horse, the. magic sword, the magic ring, the magic mirror, the prince who becomes silent and would not speak to anyone except birds, with bird and human language, are all included in many of the tales of the Arabian Nights, especially in the story of "Prince

26w. F. Bryan and Germaine Dempster, eds., Sources and Analogues of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (New York: Humanities Press, 1958), p. 415. 67 Budour" (nights 169-249) and the "Enchanted Horse" '(nigh ts 358-370) • The Arabian Nights and Kaleela wa Dumna have many tales of betrayed lovers who are found by a friend, a prince or a vizier who takes them into his home and helps them recover from their love maladies and the injustices done by faithless partners ~ Along this line are many tales which involve animals, especially doves, falcons, and ducks. Chaucer's Parliament of Fowls has a matching work written by the twelfth century· Arab poet, Farid al­ Din Attar, under the title of "The Bird Parliament" ("The Conference of Birds"). 27 Some similarities in these works are as the following: Chaucer's Parliament Attar's Parliament of Fowls of Birds 1. Conflict of the turtle 1. Conflict of the birds in dove in her choice of a their choice of a leader­ mate . king. 2. The conference is 2. The conference is called called to settle the to .decide on a course of suitor's match . action. 3 , A lengthy description 3. A description of all the of all the fowls and fowls (known to the East) their social status. and their roles. 4. The formel eagl-e takes 4. The Hoopoe takes her the rol,e in mediating pl9ce among the assembled between the three birds and leads the dis­ suitors and the lady on cussion. the one hand, and in keeping peace among the various fowl species on the other.

·"" 27James Kritzeck, ed., Anthology of Islamic Litera- ture (New York: The New American Library, 1964), pp. 218- 222+: 68 5. The formeJ. eagle is the 5. The Hoopoe is the leader l eader because she is because she symbolized the "moste benygne" and "spiritual knowledge" and has good "governaunce. 11 truth. 6. Disagreement among the 6. Disagreement among the birds. birds as to the under­ taking of the voyage. 7. The debates and rebut­ 7. The Hoopoe takes the lead tals among the birds in the question and are settled by the answer sequence and formel eagle. settles disagreements.

The aforementioned table reveals several parallels which become even more ·evident when the two works are scrutinized. The similarities are especially obvious in the roles of the Hoopoe and the turtle dove as they attempt to resolve the conflict in their respective "parliaments." In Chaucer's work, the dilemma is the turtle dove's indecision concerning her choice of a partner which is an allegory of Richard II's marriage to Anne of Bohemia.28 The dilemma in Attar's work lies in the birds' choice of a ruler-king which, allegorically, represents man's search for God. Thus the similarities in the two works are too many to suggest coincidence, for tales employing birds of all k1nds were very popular in Arabic· literature prior to their appearance in medi~val Europe. Coming to "The Squire's Tale," the story of Canacee and the falcon bears .resemblance to "Mathal al-Hamamatayn" ("Exemplwn of the Two Pigeons") in Ibn al-Muqaffa's Kaleela wa Dumna. This tale too, like Chaucer's story of

2¾obinson, p. 309. 69 Canacee and the falcon which is framed within "The Squire's Tale," is framed within the framework -of the story

of "Ilath, Shadirim and Irkhat. 11 In the opening sequence to part II of "The Squire's Tale," Canacee is overcome by sleep. During her deep slumber, she dreamed of her "queynte ryng and hire mirour," upon which she awakens and takes a stroll in the garden accompanied by her waiting woman. There, she comes across th~ bleeding falcon and the ensuing episode of the tragic love affair is narrated. The same opening is used in the Arabic version. • During King Shadirim's sleep, he dreams eight times, waking u·p after each dream. He asks the learned Brahmins in his court to interpret the dreams, but they are afraid to tell him their true meaning lest he should kill them. As it turns out, he has decided to kill his present wife and marry a younger woman. Before·he takes action on his wife's death, he is told the "Exemplum of the Two Pigeons" by one of the Brahmins. 29 Two pigeons, a male and a fem.ale, decide to pool their efforts in building a nest and to supply it with food· (Arabic seeds·, grains). This preparation included a pact which each member had to abide by, in that none of the food should be eaten till the winter season arrived. One day, the male finds that the level of the food had

291ouis Cheikho, ed., Kalilah et Dimnah (Beyrouth: - Imprimerie Catholique, 1927), pp. 238-250. 70 dropped down. Thus, without a question, he kills his mate thinking that she had broken the pact. "When the first winter rains arrive, the seeds absorb the moisture and expand to their previous level. The male pigeon immedi­ ately realizes his error and is punished by spending a lonely winter. 30 Although there are no exact parallels between Chaucer's tale and Ibn 21-Muqaffa's tale, the following similarities are to be found: 1. Both tales· involve birds as mouthpiece~. 2. Both are emboxed within another tale which in turn is emboxed within the larger framework of the major works. 3. Both contain the theme of betrayal, following the making of a pact. 4. While the female falcon is wounded and about to die in Chaucer's tale, the pigeon dies in Ibn al-Muqaffa's. However, the king's wife (in the parent story) does.. not die, but is finally reunited with her husband who realizes · her qualities after he has rejected .her. The Brahmin's lecture -to the king has done its purpose. Fu-rthermore, part III of "The Squire's Tale" has only two lines, yet the Franklin commends the Squire on his "wel yguit / and gentilly. I preise wel thy wit" and he wishes that his_own son "myghte lerne gentilesse

30 J Ibid., pp. 250-251 (paraphrased from Arabic by author). -- 71 _aright.;,3i Tl}e question arises as to why· Cr.iaucer never finished "The Squire's Tale." He probably heard of the story by word of mouth or ·he may have come across some of these fragments wh'ile in Italy and France; such names as Sarray, Tartary, Araby and.Ind were names common to traders and merchants. In a footnote to tale ·txvII of the Gesta Romanorum, Wynard Hooper says that "The interpretation of the language of birds is clearly an oriental fiction; several instances of which are furnished by the Arabian Tales." He further says that these tales were, since their introduction into Europe, "made the vehicle of many instructive fables. 1132 Also, the exemplum "Of Remembering Death, and Forgetting Things Temporal" has an Alphonsine apologue where Pope Gerbert goes to Spain to study astrology and the science of the Saracens as well as "the meaning of the flight and language of birds. 11 33 Three tales from the Gesta Romanorum have been chosen to show their analogous qualities with the Arabic tales on the one hand and the story of Canacee and the falcon on the other. The first tale is about a c·ertain noble soldier ·who had a fair but vicious wife. It happened that her husband having occasion to travel, the lady sent for her gallant. Now, one of her handmaids, it seems, was skillful in interpreting

31Robinson, • pp. 134. 32Hooper, p. 121. 33Ibid., p. 389. 72 the song of birds; and in the court of the castle there were three cocks. During the night, while the gallant was with his mistress, the first cock began to crow. The lady heard it, and said to her servant, "Dear friend, what says yonder cock?" She replied, "That ·you are grossly injuring your husband." "Then," said the lady, "kill the cock without delay." They did so; but soon after the second cock crew, and the lady repeated the question. "Madam," said the handmaid, "he says ' My companion died for reveal1ng the truth, and for the same cause, I am prepa:t;'ed to die.'" "Kill him," cried the lady,--which they did. After this, the third cock crew. "What says he?" asked she again. "Hear, see, and say nothing, if you woulc;l., live in peace." "Oh, oh~" said the lady, "don't kill him." And her orders were obeyed,34 The second tale, "The Tale of the Three Caskets" which is also found in "Giovanni Fiorentino, an Italian novelist, who wrote in 1383, 1135 (about the same time of Chaucer's visit to Italy) is also found in an old English manuscript in the Harley collection which was translated from the Gesta Romanorum. 36 This tale bears close resem­ blance in its plot to the Arabic version of King Shadirim's story. Some time dwelt in Rome a mighty emperor, named Anselm, who had married the king's daughter of Jerusalem, a fair lady, and gracious in the sight of every man, but she was long with the emperor ere she bare him any child; wherefore the nobles of the empire were very sorrowful ... till at last it befell, that Anselm walked after supper, in ari evening, into his garden, and bethought himself that he had no heir, ... Therefore he was sorrowful, and went to his chamber and slept. Then he thought he saw a vision in his sleep, that the morning was more clear than it was wont to be, and that the moon was much paler on the one side than on the other. And after he saw a bird

34Ibid. , pp·. 121-122. 35Ibid., p. xliv. 36Ibid. 73 of two colours, and by that bird stood two beasts, wh ich had fed that little bird with their heat. And after that came more beasts, and bowing their heads toward the bird, went their way: then came there divers birds that sung sweetly and pleasantly, with that the emp eror awakened. In ~he morning early this Anselm remembered his vision, and wondered much what it might signifie; wherefore he called to him his philosophers, and all the states of the empire, and told them his dream; charging them to t ell h im the significance thereof, he promised them good reward. Then said they, "Dear lord , tell us your dream, and we shall declare to you what it betokens." Then the emperor told them from the beginning to the ending, as is aforesaid. When the philosophers heard this, with glad chear they answ~red and said, l!Sir, the vision that you betokeneth good, for the empire shall be clearer than it is." The little bird betokeneth the son shall she bear. The two beasts that fed this bird, the wise and rich men of the empire which shall obey the son .... The bird that sang sweetly to this little bird, betokeneth (those) who shall rejoyce and sing because of his birth.37 The third such tale in the Gesta Romanorum, "The Tale of Judgement Against Adulterers," bears resemblance to the s tory of Canacee and the falcon. In it,

A certain knight had a very beautiful castle, J pon which two storks built their nest. At the foot of this castle was a clear fountain, in which the storks were wont to bat he themselves. It happened that the female stork brought forth young, and the male flew about to procure food. Now, while he was absent, the female admitted a gallant; and before the return of the male went down to the fountain to wash hersel f, in order that the other might perceive -no disorder in her appearance. But the knight, often observing this with wonder, · closed up the fountain, that the stork might no longer wash or bathe herself. In this dilemma, after meeting her lover, sh~ was obliged to return to her nest; and when the male came and saw various signs that she had been unfaithful, he flew away, and brought back with him a great multitude of storks, who put the

37 Ibid. , p • xiv. 74 adulterous bird to death, in the presence of the knight.38 Mr. Hooper has said that Chaucer was familiar with this tale, for in "The Parliament of Fowls" he called the stork the "wrecker of advouterie,:w 39 Thus the fact that

-~ .< : these tales employing birds and\jJ:51.rd language, magical ti elements along with dreams' are found in Arabic tales, in the Gesta Romanorum, and the Alphonsine fables argues that Chaucer, who was evidently aware and familiar with these tales, had run across some fragments either in Italy or France and he thus used them in "The Squire's Tale" but was unable to finish it because his sources were not complete. The following conclusions can be deduced from the four analogous tales and the two tales (mentioned en passant) in the Arabian Nights: 1. Part one of "The Squire's Tale" is very I • • • • obviously derived from Arabic and oriental origins. The description of the court, the magic horse (enchanted horse in Arabian Nights) and the marriage motif bear evidence to this fact. Chaucer thus purposely included this tale in the marriage group and it therefore set the stage for "The Frank],in's Tale," the story of Arveragus and his wife Dorigen who keeps her promise of chastity, even though her husband was absent for seven years.

38Ibid., p. 154.

39Robinson, p. 313. 75 2: Although the European analo~es at hand do not employ oriental and Arabic names, they do employ the bird­ types in a symbolic sense. Chaucer, however, employs such Arabic and oriental names as Araby, Ind, Elpheta, Algarsyf',

C m ai e.n' anacee al_ of whic', acco_ 'ing to Robinso, "are unlikely to have been L11vented by Chaucer." He further stated that Chaucer' had a "tendency to use Italian- 1140 looking forms in -0, which have occurred in a Catalan Chanson, in Ov1d, and Gower's works. Hence, the tale, the plot, and the names appear to have come to Chaucer indi­ rectly through European literatures while the latter (i.e. European) came across these features through Arabic and oriental literatures (the oriental having been translated into Arabic first). 3. The interlacery themes and episodes of devotion and honor in the two parts of "The Squire's Tale" and the succeeding tale in the marriage group thus become analo­ gous to the Arabic, oriental and the Gesta Romanorum interlacery framing device. 4. In part II of "The Squire.'s Tale," the falcon clearly told Canacee to beware men for "men loven of

, propre kynde newefangelnesse / As briddes doon that men in cages fede. 1141 This statement is also seen in King Shadirin's tale and the stork's tale in the Gesta Romanorum which leads to

40rbid., p, 718. 41rbid., p. 134. I 76 5. the moral that Canacee hears and accepts from the falcon's warning, for in her dream, the magic mirror has told her that ..• if any lady bright Hath set hire herte on any maner wight, If he be fals, she shal his tresoun see, His newe love, and all his subtiltee, So openly that there shal no thing hyde.42 This same warning is seen in the other exempla previously cited and they bear the following analogous qualities: a. The dreams of Canacee, King Shadirim, and Emperor Anselm reveal promises or warnings. b. All the tales employ birds and bird lan­ guage, symbolically, in order to get the moral across. c. The moral l esson is resolved by having the guilty individuals either die for breaking the pact or amend their ways. 6. The final and most s ignificant of these analo- c 0 gous qualities is the fact thaf all of these tales are set f within interlacing episodes to solve the conflict of betrayal. Chaucer for example, prior to Canacee's finding of the falcon stated that The knotte why that every tale is toold, If it be taried til that lust be coold Of hem t hat han it after herkned yoore, For fulsomnesse of his prolixitee; And by the same resoun, thynketh me, I sholde to the knotte condescende, And maken of hir walkyng soone an ende.43 This same device (although not as explicitly represented) is employed in the King Shadirim and emperor Anslem's stories, where each has a dream which precedes the

42Ibid., p. 129. 43Ibid., p. 132. 77 presentation of the conflict. The ensuing stories of the birds and their involvement .. as active characters in the tales in order to unlock the knot of betrayal show another similarity, the purpose of which is to give a moral lesson. Thus, the employment of a bird story within the larger work could not be considered as mere coincidence.

The Pardoner's Tale

In their notes on "The Pardoner's Tale," Bryan and Dempster acknowledge the fact that a similar story was widespread in the Orient but because •.• none of the oriental versions has in common with Chaucer any feature that is not also present in several western versions older than Chaucer or at least not dependent on him, and as several striking features found both in Chaucer and in at least one western ver­ sion are lacking in all oriental forms of the story, it is clear that the oriental versions could add nothing to the data on Chaucer's source supplied by the occidental versions. The oriental ver~ions shall, accordingly, be left out of consideration.44 The reader is reminded that research more recent than Bryan and Dempster's has revealed that exempla of this nature have appeared in the Orient prior to their appearance in Europe. Versions of this tale have appeared in ancient Indian, Persian, Arabic, Cashmeric, and Tibetan literatures. Even today, a very close analogue to

Chaucer's version (of oriental origin) is included. in high­ school Arabic literature anthologies throughout the Middle East. Thus the fact that there are "several striking

44Bryan and Dempster,· p. 415. 78 features found in Chaucer and in at least one western version lacking in all oriental forms of the story," does ·not mean that Chaucer came upon the plot of the tale only , through western literatures. Bryan and Dempster agree that the story is found in Italian novellae and German exempla and plays, and they include samples of these analogues in their work. Since these findings do not include the oriental and eastern versions, then the following analogues are added for the reader's scrutiny. The first among these, translated by Farid al-Din Attar (author of "The Bird Parliament") from Indian by way of Persian, appeared in his "The Book of Calamities." Jesus is travelling with a companion and they have three loaves between them. Each eats a loaf and, while Jesus goes to fetch water, the man eats the third loaf and refuses to acknowledge the fact to Jesus. Christ therefore performs many miracles--such as walking with him over water, roasting and eating a roe and then bringing it back to life--in an attempt to make the man confess to his deed. Finally, Jesus turns three mounds of earth into .gold and tells his companion that one mound is for each of them, and the third for the man who ate the third loaf. The man immediately confesses and Jesus leaves him in disgust. Two other people arrive on the scene, and the three at first start quarrelling over the gold but eventually decide to share it. They send one of them to get food from the village where he eats his fill and poisons the rest. On his return, he is killed by the others who, when they have disposed of him, sit down to eat and are. poisoned. Jesus, returning to the spo ~sees what has happened, and turns the gold to dust. 4~ The second such tale is taken from Kaleela wa Dumna where it appears under the title of "The Exemplum of

45sayegh, pp. 100-101. 79 the Shrew and the Ignoramus" (this work is translated from Arabic into English by the author). It is said that two business partners, a shrew and an ignoramus came upon a purse containing one thousand . They decided to return to their place of resi­ dence but upon nearing the town, they sat down to divide their dinars . The ignoramus told the shrew: "Take half and give me half." But the shrew had already decided to take the whole amount, so he said: "Let us not divide it. , You take what you need and I ' ll take what I need for in business one has to be trustful and agreeable. As to the rest of the amount, we ' ll bury it under a tree and when we need it, we ' ll come and take our needs." So the ignoramus said: "Agreed. 11 They took a small amount and buried the rest close to the trunk of a huge oak tree. But the shrew returned to the scene , took the whole amount, and rearranged the surface of the ground as they had previously left it . Months later, the ignoramus said: "We need some spending money; let us go and get enough for our needs . " So they went to the same location but did not find the money . The shrew tore at his hair and beat upon his chest and shouted: "A man cannot even trust his brother and closest friend . You came here and got the money . " But the ignoramus was too dumbfounded to say anything .46 In effect, the shrew decided to take the ignoramus to the Qadi (judge) and request him to ask the tree abou t the thief who had taken the wealth. In the meantime, he had planned to ask his father to hide behind a tree and give the name of the ignoramus when the Qadi asks the question . The father, however, narrates to his son an exemplum th; moral of which is that he who digs a pit f or another falls into it.47 Another tale, "The Exemplum of the Discoverer of the Treasure" (also paraphrased from Kaleela wa Dumna ) , is

46cheiko, pp. 114- 116 . 47Ibid., pp. 116-117. 80 the story of an old man who was attempting to gain knowl­ edge and the reality of existence so he would live a longer life. While seeking this truth, he came upon a hidden treasure in the woods which he did not want to share. Being afraid that moving the tr~asure to his house would spend his energy and deny him the pleasure of enjoying his wealth, he hired porters to move it for him. These porters, knowing how slow the old man was, made their escape with the treasure. When he finally reaches his house, he realizes his mistake and regrets the fact that he had not thought the matter properly.48 Two other versions of this type of story appear in the Arabian Nights . In the tale of "The Stolen Purse" (nights 605 and 606), the following tale is narrated by to Haroun al-Rashid: Four men, with one purse, enter a garden, leaving their purse with the keeper. Deciding to wash their hair, they send one of their number to the keeper for a comb. He asks, instead, for the purse, and she refuses, declaring all four must be present. He calls to his companions, "She will not give it to me~" Supposing he means the- comb, they cry, "Give it to him"; so he takes the purse and goes away. Weary of waiting, the others. return to the keeper, and when they find her without their purse, hail her before the cadi, who condemns her to make good. A child of five, however, tells her what to do,, namely, to declare that all four must be present for the purse's return.49

48rbid., p. 52 (paraphrased from Arabic by author). -- 49Joseph Campbell, ed., The Portable Arabian Nights ( New York: The Viking Press, 1969), p. 466. 81 , The other tale appears under the ·title. of "The Merchruit and the Two Sharpers" and is narrated on night 152: .. Two sharpers, planning to rob a travelling mer­ chant, whom th_ey had joined, poison each other in rivalry. Thus their-treachery recoils on themselves and the merchant, preserved, takes what was theirs.50 In retrospect, Chaucer's "Pardoner's Tale" is lengthier, has mo re details, and its satire is directed to a specific group of the clergy--the pardoners. In the Prologue ·to the tale, the Pardoner reveals all the vices of his creed and thus develops an ironic vein in the tale. He hypocritically states that "Of avarice and of swich cursed­ nesse / Is all my prechyng. 1151 Yet a few lines later he boldly states: "But shortly myn entente I wol devyse; / I preche of no thyng but for coveityse. 1152 After he finishes his tale_ and makes the of avarice and greed very clear, he attempts to sell the veil of "Oure Lady," a fragment of St. Peter's "seyl," and "pigges bones" which he claimed to be the remains of a holy saint. The Koran has many verses which warn the faithful to avoid hypocrisy and not to indulge in covetousness. As a result, many of the Arabic folk and didactic tales are loaded with these warnings. These elements are found in the exempla previously cited and their analogous qualities

5oibid., p· . . 231. 51Robinson, p. 149. 52Ibid. 82 with "The Pardoner's Tale" are as follows:

1. All. of them hinge on the basic idea of how avarice and greed can lead one to his end. Hence, they all become didactic in tone.53 2. This greed is brought about in an individual's attempt to increase his worldly goods at the expense of someone else--even though he be a close friend or brother. 3. All the tales are emboxed within the framework of a larger tale which serves as an added comment for the parent tale. 4. All of them imply that one cannot trust hi;~~ fellow man, for greed overcomes all morals and the world is full of trickery and deceit. 5. All of the tales have the transportation of a treasure of a certain type from one place to another. It is t hrough the conflict of this transportation that reso­ lutions to the conflicts are finally resolved. 6. All of them involve at l east one "good charac­ ter" who is used to bring out the contrast between all the characters. _7 . . Finally, the use of irony, the most important common aspe~t in all of the tales, is employed to give the didactic tone a very distinct quality.

53For more information on such Islamic moral rules see Appendix II, D. 83 Aside from all of these common examples, it would be unfair to leave the-se conclusions without adding a brief note on Chaucer's genius and wit in making this tale a far better one than any of its analogues. This wit is best seen in his employment of more than one type of irony, hence making the tale more realistic. The first of these types of ironies is the verbal irony. In his tale, the Pardoner tells us that gluttony and avarice are vices. But in the Prologue to his tale he lets us know that he likes the best of wines and enjoys spiced foods. Another such irony is seen in his statement concerning the Second Commandment--yet he sells graven images himself. Dramatic irony is seen in the tale where the youngest of the men plans to poison his partners and they plan to kill him. All three fall prey to their ~ scRemes. Irony of situation is seen in the Pardoner himself whose behavior and speech become subtle comments on his character. He is drunk while he is telling his tale and appears to be compelled to confess his sins--thus sum­ moning himself to righteousness. In spite of this great alteration, the fact that all of the' previous tales appeared in one form or another prior to Chaucer, and the fact that they have appeared in Europe only after they had been written in the Middle East and the Orient, seems to suggest some sort of literary relationship that could hardly be traced to chance or coincidence. ,. 84 The Friar's Tale

In the Arabian Nights and many mystical works of the Sufis (mystical sects), stories involving the devil were very frequent . Along with the devil, one occasionally finds the Angel of Death who confronts kings and rulers in the guise of an old beggar. The temporal tales, i.e. the ' entertaining and didactic (very often satiric), are always directed to the kings, rulers, and social leaders. While the clergy were corrupt and controlled the rulers in medieval Europe,' it was the politicians and rulers who controlled the religious leaders in the twelfth and thir­ teenth century East; hence, the reversal of the characters but the same situation. The Moslem (especially the Sufist) looked upon death as a blessing which, had he fulfilled the "Five .. Pillars of Faith," would guarantee him all the blessings and joys of paradise. Thus, the temptations of the devil who might appear in any tempting form are t o be faced with steadfastness , and even today, the saying "Allah yinajina min al shaytan" (God deliver us from · the devil), is a very common saying among Christians and Moslems of the Arab­ speaking world. Arabic poetry offers many examples of this theme as is seen in Zuhair's strophes: "Whoever is in terror of the ways Death may come, Death yet shall slay him/ Though he aspire to mount heaven on the ~ngs of a 85 ladder. 1154 (The Angel of Death and the devil appear in many literary works--see Appendix II, E, for an example .) In "The Friar's Tale," Chaucer is giving the narrator (i.e. the Friar) the chance to reveal the sum­ moner 's vices . On his way to collect the unlawful money from an aged widow, the summoner meets the devil in the guise of a yeoman. The devil reveals himself, and the summoner is not bothered that h~ is accompanied by the latter. Having fruitlessly attempted to extort the money from the virtuous old woman, she curs~d him an~ invoked the devil (not knowing that he was in her presence) to carry him off to hell. The devil, very eager to fall upon his prey, carries his victim (body and soul) to hell, where he is placed on a special shelf among the summoners . Two analogous tales from the Arabian Nights will be cited and one from Kaleela wa Dumna. The first among these , the tale of "The Angel of Death with the Proud King and the Devout Man" may be paraphrased thus: A certain king of the ancients was minded to ride out in state with the officers of his court (all of whom were ordered to wear their finest clothes c1nd best jewelry and the king was) glorying in his pride and magnificence . And came to him and, laying his hand upon his nose, blew into his nostrils the breath of prid'e and conceit, so that he magnified hirnsel:f and said in his heart, 11 ·w110 among men is like unto me?" And he became so puffed up with arrogance and conceit and so taken up with the thought of his own glory and magnificence, that he would not vouch­ safe a glance to any.

54A. J. Arberry, Aspects of Islamic Civilization (New York: A. S. Barnes and Co., Inc., 1964), p. 191. 86 Presently there came up a man clad in tattered clothes and saluted him, but he returned not his greeting, whereupon the s tranger laid hold of his horse 's bridle. "Lift thy hand,." said the king, "thou knowest not whose bridle rein it is whereof thou takest hold ." Quoth the other, · 11 1 have an occasion to thee." "Wait till. I alight," replied the king, "and then name it." "Nay," rejoined the stranger, "it is a secret and I will not tell it but in thine ear." So the king bowed his head to him, and he said, "I am the Angel of Death and I purpose to take thy soul." "Have patience with me a little," said the king, "whilst I return to my house and take leave of my people and children and wife." "Not so," answered the angel; "thou shalt never return nor look on them again, for the term of thy life is past." So saying, he took the soul of the king-­ who fell off his horse's back, dead--and departed thence. Presently he met a devout man, whom God the Most High had accepted, and saluted him, "0 pious man, I have a privy occasion to thee." "Tell it in my ear," said the devotee. Qubth the other, "I am the Angel of Death." "Welcome to t liee ! " replied the man. "Praised be God for thy coming! I am weary of awaiting thee; for indeed long hath been thine abse~e from him who longeth for thee." Quoth the angel, "If thou hast any business, make an ~nd of it." But the other answered, saying, "There is nothing urgent to me as the meeting with my Lord, to whom belong might and majesty!" And the angel said, "How wouldst thou liefer have me take thy soul? I am bidden to take it as thou willest and choosest." "Wait till I make the ablution and pray," replied the devotee; "and when I prostrate myself, then take my soul in the act . 11 Quoth the angel, "Verily, my Lord commanded me not to take thy soul but with thy co~sent and as thou shouldst wish; so I will do thy will ." Then the devout man rose and made the ablution and prayed: and the Angel of Death took his soul in the act of ~doration, and God transported it to the place of mercy and acceptance and forgiveness.55 The second tale, "The Angel of Death and the Rich King," foll'ows the same motif and plot. In it, A king who has amassed great wealth for his old age gives a dinner to celebrate his prosperity. There enters a man in tattered raiment, as if to beg. This is the Angel of Death. Cursing his treasure, the king weeps, but the t reasure bids him curse himself.

55campbell, pp. 389-390. 87 "God," it says, "created me and thee of the dust and appointed me to be in thine hand, that thou mightest provide thee with me for the next world and give alms with me to the poor and sick and needy and endow mosques and hospices and build bridges and aqueducts, so might I be a succour unto .,thee in life to come. But thou didst garner me and hoard me up and bestowedst me on thine own lusts, neither gavest thanks for me, as was due, but wast ungrateful; and now thou must leave me to thine enemies and abide in thy regret and thy repentance." The Angel of Death takes the soul and the king falls dead before tasting a bite.56 The third example is the closest analogue to Chaucer's tale. It is a moralistic tale which appears in Kaleela wa Dumna under the title of "The Hermit, the Robber and the Devil" (translated from Arabic into English by the author): It is said that a hermit was given a milk cow by a certain man; so he proceeded to lead it to his place of residence. A robber, accompanied by a devil in the guise of a human being, followed the old hermit. The robber asked the devil: "Who are you?" He answered, "I am a devil and my desire is to seize this hermit's soul. As soon as the people sleep, I'm going to choke him and make off with his soul." The devil then asked the robber: "Who are you?" He said: "I am a robber and I plan to follow this hermit to his place of residence, so I will steal his cow." So they befriended themselves upon the road which led them to their destination. The hermit, upon reaching his home, tied the cow in a corner of the house, ate, and then went to sleep. The robber, afraid that in the devil's process of seizing his captive's soul, the latter would wake up and call upon the neighbors, thus causing him to lose the cow, said: "Wait till I get the cow out and then help yourself to his soul." But the devil, fearing that the hermit will wake up in the former's attempt, said: "On the contrary, you wait till I get his soul and the cow will surely be yours." In the middle of their argument, the robber called upon the hermit to wake up and warned him that the devil wanted to steal his soul. Upon hearing this

56Ibid. , p. 391. 88 argument, the neighbors woke up and the two rascals ran away, neither obtaining what he had wanted.57 All three tales, along with Chaucer's "Friar's Tale," show the following analogous features: 1. All four tales involve the devil, one "good," and one "bad" character. 2. All four have ~ither greed or arrogance as a central theme--these traits are shown as being "of the devil." 3. The tales present the common assumption that those who are tempted by the devil and follow his ways (such as developing greed and arrogance) shall perish in hell, and those righteous and virtuous persons shall live forever in paradise. 4. Along this line is the theme that those who are virtuous have nothing to fear of death, yet the unrighteous have the fear of perishing. 5. There is another theme in that those who follow the ways of the devil (such as greed and arrogance) value worldly goods (such as the cow, the king's treasure and the widow's frying pan) whereas the righteous place more value in heavenly things. 6. The devil is disguised as a human being and he is not presented as maliciously as he ought to be (as malicious as the characters themselves) in order to bring out the contrast and show the vices of the greedy and

57cheikho, p. 211. 89 arrogant. Chaucer's devil has the body of a man and he is guised as a yeoman. 7. All these tales are emboxed within another tale which has a place in the larger framework of the main works.

The Mpnciple's Tale

The final tale chosen for illustrating a theory of a literary relationship is "The Manciple's Tale." Although there are not too many analogous qualities between this tale and the two tales to be used from the Arabian Nights, the evidence will show that it is possible that Chaucer came across this tale, indirectly, from Arabic originals. Bryan and Dempster have pointed out that oriental and Persian literatures offer parallels to "The Manciple's Tale , " where a "talking bird," instead of being rewarded for his honesty and truthfulness, is killed by his master at a moment of fury. 58 Though they do not name any of these Persian and Hindu tales, they do acknowledge the fact that such tales appeared in the Seven Sages of Rome (which was translated from Arabic into Latin, and Spanish). They claim .thet it was from Ovid that Chaucer was more likely to have picked up the germ of the story. For this reason, the first two tales are presented to show a similarity in theme and plot. The first is the

58Brya~ and Dempster, pp. 699-700. 90 story of "King Sinbad and His Falcon" which is taken from ' the Arabian Nights, and the second is tale XXXII derived from the Gesta Romanorum. These two tales are followed by • another tale, a closer analogue than the above, also obtained from the Arabian Nights. It is said that there was once a king of Persia who delighted in hunting;. and he reared a falcon that left him not day or night, but slept all night long, perched upon his hand. Whenever he went to hunt, he took the falcon with him; and he let make for it a cup of gold to hang around its neck, t~at he might give it to drink therein. One day his chief falconer came in to him and said, 11 0 king, now is the time to go a-hunting." So the king gave orders accordingly and took the falcon on his wrist and set out, accom­ panied by his officers and attendants .•••

Now it was the hour of midday rest, and the place where he was was desert, and the king was athirst and so was his horse. So he searched till he saw a tree, with water dripping slowly, like oil, from its branches .•.• So the king took the cup from the falcon's neck and filled it with the liquid and set it before himself, when behold, the falcon smote the cup and overturned it. The king took it and refilled it with the falling drops and set it before the bird, thinking it was athirst: but it smote it again and overturned it. At this the king was vexed with the falcon and rose and filled the cup a third time and set it before the horse: but the falcon again over­ turned it with its win~. [The king smote the Ialcon in his rage upon which J it erected its head and made signs, as to say, "Look what is -at the top of the tree." The king raised his eyes and saw at the top of the tree a brood of snakes, and this was their venom dripping, which he had taken for water. So he repented him (of his deeds).59 The second tale from the Gesta Romanorum is the story of a certain knight who was fond of hunting and tournaments. He had an only son, for whom three nurses were provided. Next to this

·59 Camp be 11, pp • 84-86 • 91 child he loved his falcon and his greyhound. [He had to leave on a certain trip and left his son in care of the three nurses. A certain serpent which inhabited the castle attempted to kill the child. ] The falcon, perceiving the danger, fluttered with his wings till he woke the dog, who instantly attacked the invader, and after a fierce conflict, in which he was sorely wounded, killed him. [His wife and the nurses think he had killed the child and are afraid to investigate the situation but wait till the knight comes back and they tell him what they thought had happened.] The knight, •.. maddened with fury, rushed forward to the spot. The poor faithful animal made an effort to rise, and welcome his master with~is accustomed fondness; but the enraged knight •ceived him on the point of his sword, and he fell to the ground ...• The knight now perceived what had happened, lamented bitterly over his faithful dog, and blamed himself fo~ having depended too hastily on the words of his wife,bO Mr. Hooper has stated that this tale is very clearly borrowed from The Seven Wise Masters and the Bidpai Fables.61 One can see several similarities between this t ale and the previous one. If, as Bryan and Dempster state, Chaucer's tale had similar versions that were found in The Seven Sages of Rome, and if as Mr. Hooper states, such tales were taken from Persian and oriental sources, then it is very likely that this tale came to Europe through the cultural exchange and translations. It should be reiterated here that the Persian,. Hindu, and oriental translations came to Europe only after they were translated into Arabic and it was these versions which came to Europe, hence, the direct influence of the Arabic sources on Chaucer.

60Hooper, pp. xlii-xliii. 61Ibid. 92

The third ahalogue, the story of 11 The Merchan:t's Wife and the Parrot," narrated in the five-hundred and • 0 seventy-ninth night of the Arabian Nights, is the story of A travelling merchant [who] buys for his wife a parrot that will tell him what happens in his absence. When it betrays her affair with a young , she undertakes to prove that it can only lie. The next time her husband leave9 , she covers the parrot's cage with a piece of leather-, sprinkles water on it, fans briskly, flashes light from a lantern, and grinds the handmill. Her spouse returns. The bird complains of rain, wind, lightning and thunder; the man is persuaded that it can only lie, since the night was fair, and he insists that the parrot be killed. Some days later the man himself sees the Turk, repents of having killed his parrot, slits the wife's throat, throws her body into the river, and vows never to marry again. --Lesson: The malice of women.62 The following conclusions can be drawn in order to show not only the analogous qualities but also a continuity of motif which points to a definite indirect literary relationship: 1. All the tales are a comment on the irrational behavior of men. a. In his rage, the knight kills his faithful hound. b. Similarly, the king kills his pet falcon. c. Next, the merchant kills his parrot. d. Fir.ally, Phoebus, in ·chaucer's tale, plucks the white falcon's feathers, steals away his beautiful voice, and throws him to the devil. Chaucer summarizes this irrational act in the following lines: O trouble wit, o ire recchelees, That unavysed smyteth gilteles! O wantrust, ful offals suspecion,

62Campbell, p. 439. 93 Where was thy wit and thy discrecion? 0 every man, be war rakelnesse! Ne trowe no thyng withouten strong witnesse. Smyt to soone, er that ye witen why, And beeth avysed wel and soberly Er ye doon any execucion. Upon youre ire for suspecion.63 2. Birds are used to: a. (the falcon) warn the dog in the Gesta version. ' b. ~the falcon~ warn the king in the Nights. C • the parrot warn the merchant of his wife's malice. d. (the white crow) warn Phoebus of his wife's dishonesty. 3 . The tales are emboxed within a parent tale which i s a part of the larger framed body and they have a central motif:

a. A central theme of "the malice of women" in two tales. · b. The central theme that many times an animal may be more faithful or trustworthy than another human being. c. In order for the conflict to be resolved, a sacrifice had to be made-- one which resolves the problem and thus gives a moral lesson. In conclusion, the fact that these tales appeared both in Arabic and European literatures on the one hand, and in Chaucer on the other, cannot be attributed to mere coincidence. Chaucer's tales therefore, have been presented along with other tales in the Arabian Nights, the Gesta Romanorum, and Kaleela wa Dumna in order to show the ) analogous qualities and the similarities in plots, motifs,

63Robinson, p. 227. 94 and the didactic tones. Mr. Hooper has shown that Valerius, Maximus, Mac robious, Boethius, and Ovid (all of whom Chaucer mentions as his sources) were influenced by the "oriental, legendary, [and] classical fables," and English poets such as Gower, Chaucer, Lydgate and Occleve were indebted to the Gesta Romanorum as much as they were · indebted to their predecessors.' · 64 Hence, the Oriental i) influences on the Gesta Romanorum are merely Arabic influ- ences on European medieval writers. Thus, . to say that the tales previously cited appeared in Hindu, Persian, Arabic, Italian, Spanish, and Franch literatures on the one hand, and in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales on the other, without acknowledging the indirect literary influences of the Orient and the Near East (Arabic) would not present a complete panoramic view of all the literary influences on Chaucer.

64Hooper, pp. xxxi - xxxii. CHAPTER IV

COURTLY· LOVE: ITS ORIGINS IN ARABIA AND ITS INFLUENCE ON CHAUCER

Before any kind OD intellectual exchange between two cultures can take place, it is necessary that there be a certain willingness and receptivity on both sides to r ecognize and accept certain values common to each group. Thus when a common grpund is established between any two cultures, the means of exchange is facilitated, because of the presence of universally accepted and equally shared experiences. This interest may start out by having one group use themes, motifs, or philosophical ideas which are used by the major culture and are eventually incorporated within the sub-culture to form a set literary theory. The relationship and bond of man to woman is a very ancient motif in literature. Poets, playwrights, and religious leaders have discussed varied aspects of this relationship, and with the passage of time, this relation­ ship became very important to the poets who wrote about all the aspects of the bond--its passions, fears, anguishes, jealousies, hatreds, and betrayals. The first part of this chapter will therefore explore love poetry as it developed in Pre-Islamic Arabia,

95 96 tracing its development from a purely passionate love to a platonic type of love which culminated in the mystical poetry of the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries. The second part of the chapter will show how this poetic influence, which had been at work since the eighth century, was coming to the foreground in the vernacular literatures of Arab Spain, France, and Siciiy and how Arab poets influenced the growth of the troubadour poetry of Provence. This will be followed by the influences of the latter on the courtly love which became very popular during thir­ t eenth and fourteenth century Europe. The chapter will then show the relationship and influences of these courtly love ideas on Chaucer's "Knight's Tale" and Troilus and Criseyde.

Arabic Love Poetry: Its Development and Growth

In Arabic poetry, the poetry of apology and love­ making forms a single group within the four major types of poetry. As has previously been cited, the Qasida was the sole expression of the Bedouin (Pre-islamic) poet, and it was highly conventional and very stylized in form and con­ tent. The t reatment of love was a major part of this ode, and the poet would often give graphic details of his beloved's physical features and the passion he had for her, for she played a prime role in his inspiration. In his attempt to win her favors, he would boast of his prowess in war, his gallantry and chivalric qualities, his esteem 97 for her beauty and wisdom, and the heroic acts that he would undertake to win her love. This , therefore, is called the passionate love poetry of the Arabs, for the treatment of love and passion was candid, frank, coarse, and passionate. (Please see Appendix III, A, for such

~ poems.) As the cities became more populated during the Umayyad period, the second stage in the Arab-Islamic era, the ode gave way to the short lyric which was more personal and emotional, and these lyrics used rhymed couplets as well as quatrains where the first, second, and fourth lines rhymed. The amorous sentiments were refined into "delicate verses in honor of love and woman," and these sentiments were closely bound to music.1 The famous poet Umar Ibn Rabia and the poets Jamil and al-Ahnaf were the leaders of this genre, and they thus set the norm for this poetry which found new roots in the platonic love poetry of the Arab East and Arab West. Arnold points out that The most noteworthy feature of this new lyrical poetry was the emergence of a definite literary scheme of platonic love, combined with a social and ethical theory of love which was the distinctive contribution of Arabia.2 Thvs by the end of the eighth century the Arab poets at the courts in the East and the West were "devoting their muse exclusively to this art of love. 113 This type of

lvon Grunebaum, Medieval Islam, p. 135. 2Arnold and Guillaume, p. 186. 3Ibid., p. 187 98 love was popularized by the tribe of Banou Othri (children of purity) whose members, it is said, died of love because they insisted on the praise and exaltation of chaste love. The tales woven around them found their way into Arabic literature and were popularized in poetry, prose, and word of mouth. Among this tribe, the poet al-Muraqqish's story became very popular, for he ' died of love and all his followers "were so romantic that it was said that 'when they love, they die. 1114 The well-known romances of Majnoon Layla and Sirat Antara were also recited in the Arab world, and they were carried wherever the Arabs went. In fact, they have been recast in different forms such as musicals, operas, and various dramatizations in the past quarter of a century. Several scholars have pointed out that they bear close similarities to El Cid and the Chanson de Roland, both of which appeared and were the result of the di rect Spanish and French contact with the Arabs in Spain around 1088.

During the mj,_ddle of the tenth century, the author ,, Mughutai wrote the Biographical Dictionary of the Martyrs of Love, a collection of tales and stories of love that go as far as In_dia. In it, he shows how lovers died martyrs because of their inability to live without love, and he also gives a list of the sobs, maladies, and agonies of

4 ' P. M. Holt, A. Lambton, and B. Lewis, eds., The Cambrid~e (Cambridge: The University PFess, 970), I, 97. 99 love as they are narrated about the one-hundred-and-one martyrs. 5 In his Book of Venus, Ibn Dawud arranged, classified, and illustrated in verse all the aspects of love, its nature, laws, forms of expression and effects, in the spirit of the ideal put by Islamic tradition into the mouth of the Prophet: "Whoso loves and conceals hi9 love, remains chaste and dies, that one is a martyr. 11 b

In Spain, "al 'Iqd al-Farip." ("The Unique Necklace"), written by Ibn abd-Rabbihi, is a famous work on love which was superseded only by Ibn Hazm's work, Tawg al-Hamamah (The Dove's Necklace). (The latter will be discussed in more detail at a later time.) Thus the Arab poet in the West "developed a sensi­ tiveness to the beauty of nature and treated floral, arboreal, and seasonal themes in a manner unknown in the East." And he also "featured courtly love and [a] tender, romantic sentiment" which was expressed in a far more polished and refined language than that of his eastern compatriot.7 These love lyrics employed the "mukhammas" (five-line ), the _"" (six-line stanzas), and the "muthamman" (eight_-line stanzas). The "muwashah" and the "zajal" were the most common type of Andalusian poetry that was used to describe love, festivity, singing, and the joys of women and wine. This poetry, therefore, the

5otto Spies, ed., Mughutai's Biographical Diction­ ar* of the Martb}s of Love (Stuttgart: Verlag W. Ko ihommer, 193 . 6Arnold and Guillaume, p. 187. 7Hitti, Islam: A Way of Life, p. 149. 100 the "zajal" in particular, is believed to have been the precursor of the courtly love poetry which later became very popular in Provence and southern France. (See Appendix III, B, for examples.) These refined feelings and emotions of platonic love eventually changed to expressions which revealed the inner soul, as is seen in the works of the mystics who had turned to Hindu thought and ascetism, Persian Zoroastrian­ ism, Koranic Tafsir (commentaries), Christianity, and gnosticism. The mystic poets designed their poetry in the form of love-romances describing the pains and longings in their search and union with God. (These poets called themselves "Brethren of Truth and Suffering" and their keynote is devotion and disinterested love.) This atti­ tude is especially revealed in the passion of Zalikha for Joseph and Attar'·s "Bird Parliament" where the search for the ruler-king represents the world of mirrors and the valleys of Search, Love, Knowledge, Detachment, Unity, Bewilderment, and Self-Naughting become stages in man's attempt to find reality and union with God. (See footnote 8 for such parallels in Chaucer's House of Fame.) In

8Parallels of these symbolic images can be found in Chaucer's House of Fame, Attar's works, and the well­ known philosophers al-Gazali (al-Gazel), Ibn Rushd (Averroes), and Ibn Sina's (Avicenna) works. These features include the allegorical visionary love qualities, the removal of a person from the mundane and monotonous routines of daily life, the autobiographical elements, and the individual's search in life for a better and more rewarding experience through faith, self-analysis, fame, 101 reviewing mystical works written by Arab philosophers and poets, Arnold points out that "It would be strange if no influence from this source reached men like Thomas Aquinas, Eckhart, and Dante; for" he adds, " was the common ground where medieval Christianity and Islam tou·ched each other most nearly. 119 In 1235 A.D. Ibn '1-Farid described this mystic experience as a "mystical consciousness ... in which all the senses are unified and exercised simultaneously." Later, Nizami, in The Romance of the Seven Beauties, described the adventures of seven allegorical maidens who were dressed in the colors of the planets. These maidens were visited by a knight in search of Nu'm (God), and they show him various compartments of the soul. His search is rewarded when he finds his Nu'm (literal, bliss or blessing). This, Rougemont concludes, is found in the troubadour's search for the Lady of Thoughts (the trouba­ dour's true self) and also in the garden of love which was a major cornerstone of the visionary medieval courtly love poems.10 (The latter will be 26rrob0rated at a later time love, and devotion. Also see Bustani's "Encounters With God" in Arbe!:_ry's Aspects of Islamic Civilization, p. 218. 9Arnold and Guillaume, p. 211 (see Appendix III, C, for more detail of such influences on Dante and Aquinas). lODenis de Rougemont, Love in the Western World, trans. by Montgomery Belgion (New York: Pantheon Books Inc., 1956), pp. 104-105. 102 with the cult of the dame or the Lady of Vision. See '' Appendix III, D, for · examples of this type of poetry.) Rougemont attributes the influence of the mystical and platonic Arabic poetry to the strong spiritual rise in twelfth century Europe which had taken its rise in Persia, flowed through Asia Minor and the Balkans as far as Italy and France, bearing the esoteric doctrines of Maria Sophia and of love for the Form of Light. On the other hand, a highly refined rhetoric, with its set forms, themes, and characters, its ambiguities invariably recurring in the same places, and indeed its symbolism, pushes out of Irak and the Sufis, who were inclined alike to Platonism and Manichaeism, and reaches Arabic Spain, then, leaping over the Pyrenees, it comes in the South of France upon a society that seems to have awaited its arrival in order to "state" what it had not dared and had not been able to avow either in the clerical tongue or in the common vernacu­ lar. Courtly lyric poetry was the offspring of that encounter. Thus it was that from the final confluence of the "heresies" of the spirrt and those of desire, which had both come from the one East along either shore of the Civilizing Sea, there was born the great western model of the language of passion--love.11

Arabic Love Poetry in its Relation to European Literature

Before going into the Arabic influences on European poetry in general and Spanish poetry in particular, it should be pointed out that between the years 900 A.D. and 1400 A.D., according to Lois Anita Giffen, fifteen major works in book and essay form appeared in the Arabic language--all of which deal with the theories of love and

11Ibid., p. 107. 103 all its aspects.12 One may find such titles as Raudat al Mu.hibbin (The Garden of Lovers), al-Zahra (The Book of the Flower), The Perfumed Garden, "Where the Light Breaks Forth in Men's Hearts," "What Has Not Been Revealed About the Secret of Hidden Love," "Treatise on Passionate Love and Women," and "Malady of Hearts." In studying all of these available Arabic works' on love in the Arab East and Arab Spain, Giffen concludes that they all have "a dis­ cussion of the essence, nature, causes, names and kinds of love and the difference between these kinds" and a descrip­ tion of "the circumstances of the lovers. 1113 The significance of the above is that until 1250 A.D., European love poets relied on a limited number of works which dealt with the theme of love: Boethius, Chretien, Andreas Capellanus, Ovid, and scattered Greek and Roman influences. A study of the output of such works (up till 1375) reveals that Arabic poetry and treatises on love surpassed European works in number, content, and quality. Furthermore, Professor Arnold emphatically states that "Arabic was the first of the we 9tern languages to insist on perfect rhyme as an essential element in its poetry. 1114 . He further states that in Sicily, Arabic poetry

12Lois A. Giffen, A Theory of Profane Love Among the Arabs: The Develo ment of the Genre (New York: New Yor Universi y re.ss, 19 1 , p. 13Ibid., p. 67. 14Arnold and Guillaume, p. 186.

/ 104 culminated at the Norman courts and reached its peak under Frederick the Second's reign, for "Saracen ballerinas and singing-girls were found in Frederick's suite" as well as troubadours and poets. Thus the "cultivation of poetry in the vulgar tongue was due to the example of Arabic poets and the patronage they [Sicilians] enjoyed from Muslim rulers. 1115 Arnold supports this view by citing similarities in the early Italian popular poetry, which has affinities with the popular poetry of Andalusia.16 Professor Palacios agrees with this opinion and states that not only did this interaction of the vulgar tongue lay the foundations for Italian literature but that "Arab troubadours ••• were emulated by the Christians," a proof which "affords an instance of contact between the two literatures. 1117

On the western part of the European continent, namel y Spain, the Arabs possessed a highly developed love lyric for whose influence Von Grunebaum says that There can be little doubt as to the influence of Arabic poetry on the songs of the troubadours. Spanish Arabic lyrics and, before them, the verses addressed by al-'Abbas al-Ahnaf (d. 806) to his fair lady, Fauz, unmistakably show the seeds, and .more than the seeds, of the peculiar love attitude that charac­ terizes the minnesingeT. And it is not merely the spirit ' that crossed the Pyrenees. The Provencal poets adopted many of the complicated prosodical forms of

15Ibid., p. 92. 16Ibid., p. 186. ~ 17Miguel Asin Palacios, Islam and the Divine Comedy (London: John Murray, 1926), p. 242. 105 Spanish Muslims, just as the French prose writer took over the prosimetric form of the Arab narrator when he composed Aucassin and Nicolette, the Arab insp~ration disguised by the very perfection of its assimilation.18 Professors Arnold, Guillaume and Hitti therefore agree with the thesis that the troubadours were influenced by the poems of Spanish Moslems, particularly such poets as Ibn Zaydoon, who was inspired by Princess Wallada, ( daughter of the ruler of Cordova and a poetess in her own right, and Ibn Cuzman, who used popular Arabic (zajal) to describe love, wine, and women in song and poetry. This wandering Cordovan court minstrel, Hitti states, "went from town to town singing the pleasures of love and the praise of the great." And it was he "who raised the form of [the zajal--cheer-giving poetry], till then used only by improvisators and in popular speech, to the dignity of a literary type. 1119

The Zajal: A New Medium of Expression in Arabic and Spanish Poetry

Through the emancipation of Arabic Spanish poetry from the strict rules of the conventional Qasida arose new metrical forms in ballad and love-lyrics which "manifested a tenderly ~omantic feeling which anticipated the attitude of medieval chivalry. 1120 This form of poetry was closely

18von Grunebaum, Medieval Islam, pp. 340-341. 19Hitti, Islam: A Way of Life, p. 150, 20Hitti, History of the Arabs, p. 561. 106 associated with music, and it employed the use of refrains for choruses. Hitti suggests that this poetry "developed into the Castilian popular verse form of Villancio which was extensively used for Christian hymns, including Christmas carols." The sestet (musaddas), he added, "which in its original form presumably rhymed CDE, CDE, was probably suggested by a fo~m of Arabic zajal instanced in the works of the Andalusian poets, 1121 The rulers in Spain, Arab and Spanish alike, com­ peted in this type of poetry with their court poets and poetesses, and they rewarded these troubadour singers and poets with prizes, gifts, and money. Professor Arnold put it very succinctly when he stated that the culture which was developed as a result of the interactions between the Arabic and the Spanish courts produced a new and unique poetic technique: Alongside the epigram and the monorhymed piece, with its verses of equal length and caesura, the Andalusian love-lyric began to show a preference for new forms, with elaborate internal rhymes and complex metrical schemes. Though these metres are still syllabic it seems but a step to the poetry of the troubadours ...• The Spanish genius played a large part in the development of strophic measures, but in return the refinements of technique imposed by Arabic laws of form and metre upon the strophe in its literary ... form ( the ) were reproduced in the popular bilingual ballad (the zajal) and thence found their way into purely romance poetry. The identity of the popular "villancio" with the "zajal" is scarcely open to question, and there is no reason to assume that such interaction was limited to a technique or only to one kind of poetry •••• The medium of transmission was

21Ib__i_.'. d p. 562. 107 thus the iopular "zajal" and its romance equivalent, the "villancio. 11 22 From northern Spain, then, across the Pyrenees and into southern France, this contagion passed as more and more troubadours (from Arabic moutrib, tarab, tarrab, singer, sing) armed with their , rebecs, imaginations, and direct Arabic influencrs, carried with them the art of music and song in which they extolled love and from which arose the "cult of the dame." Thus, "Following the Arabic precedent the cult of the dame suddenly arises in south­ western Europe. 1123 It is the author's contention that the term dame (dompna) is a western corruption of the Arabic dumna (maiden) which passed into European through the Provencal rendition of domnei or donnai. Professor Muhammad Shoubani, in his Rihlat al-adab $ al-Arabi ila Oropa (The Travel of Arabic Literature to Europe), states that Chaucer was indebted to the Arabs in the use of the rhyme scheme especially as it was used in Andalusian Muwashahat by way of the French poets who were ~ in turn influenced by the Andalusians.24 Aside from this influence, he was influenced by the use of the vernacular and the interest "in analyzing human emotions, developing

22Arnold and Guillaume, pp. 188-189. 23ttitti, History of the Arabs, p. 562.

24Muhammad M. Shoubani, The T;avel of Arabic Literature to Europe (Cairo: Dar al-Maarif, 1968), p. 162 (translated from Arabic by author). 108 realistic romantic characters and showing how the environ­ ment and circumstances affected their behavior. 1125

Courtly Love: OriginsC Elements, and Historical Migration to haucer 1s England

Courtly love or the poetry of love which existed in the Middle Ages can, there;ore, be attributed to the con-' ventional treatment of the theme of love as it was for­ malized in the poetry of the troubadours. In order to trace its origins, one has to study the role of women during and prior to the era in which it became very popular. . In Pre-Islamic society, women fought alongside their husbands and composed poetry; their social status was high and their influence great. They were free to choose their husbands, and could return, if ill­ treated or displeased, to their own people; in some cases they even offered themselves in marriage and had the right of divorce. They were regarded not as s laves and chattels, but as e~uals and companions. They inspired the poet to sing and the warrior to fight. The chivalry of the Middle Ages is, perhaps, ultimately traceable to heathen Arabia .•

Many among them had the gift of poetry, which they bestowed especially on the dead; it is a final proof of the high character and position of women in Pre­ Islamic Arabia.2b During the Umayyad and Abbasid periods, women enjoyed the same measure of liberty. In fact, during the

25Ibid. 26Reynold A. Nicholson, A Literar! History of the Arabs (Cambridge: The University Press, ~69), pp. 8'7-89. 109 first part of the Abbasid period they "had a distinct place in society and they exercised influence in the state of affairs." I t ·.,as not uncommon for Arab maidens to go to war and command troops, to compose poetry and compete "with men in literary pursuits," or to enliven "society with their wit, musical talent and vocal accomplish- " ments. 1127 However, their status declined during the period of decadence due to the "excessive concubinage, laxity of sex morality, and indulgence in luxury. 1128

In Spain, Arab women exercised an unparalleled freedom in comparison to their eastern compatriots. They travelled at will and enjoyed the company of courtiers and scholars. Hitti cites the example of princess al-Walladah, who was "renowned alike for personal charm and literary ability." She "was the Sappho of Spain,"". where Arab women seem to have shown a special taste and aptitude for poetry and l iterature." Her home in Cordova: "was the meeting­ place of wits, savants and poets. 1129 Ibn Hazm, in his famous love treatise The Ring of the Dove, states that women were his early teachers. In h:i.s introduction, he says that he has observed women, and got to know their secrets to an extent almost unparalleled; for I was reared in their bosoms, and brought up among them, not knowing any· other society .•.. Women taught me the Koran, they

27Hitti, History of the Arabs, p. 333. 28Ibid. 29 Ibid., p. 560. 110 recited to me much poetry, they trained me in callig­ raphy; my only care and mental exercise, since I begari to understand anything, ... I forget nothing of what I have seen them do.30 Unlike their Arab counterparts, European women lived under the harsh rules of the feudal system. Citing Brunetiere, Arnold states that women in the bourgeois life of the Middle Ages seem to have bowed the head as low as in any age and in any place on earth beneath the law of force and bru- tality.)l They were treated as bartering objects in the nobles' attempts to secure lands and possessions, for "It is well known that the nobles in the twelfth century made of marriage simply a means of enriching themselves . " This was done "either through the annexation of dower estates or through expectations of inheritance." Thus 11 when a 'deal' turned out badly, the wife was repudiated. 1132 One can therefore deduce from the above that Arab women held a much higher social status and it therefore becomes evident that the actual popularization of women in love poetry and the treatment of this convention was a direct influence of the Arabs and their literature. Professor Shoubani states that the Arabs cherished the feelings of love before any other nation. They knew its origins in their religion which refined the manners, controlled their passions, and ennobled their character. Their poetry and prose have the

30Arberry, , p. 165. 31Arnold and Guillaume, p. 185. 32Rougemont, p. 33. 111 privilege of nourishing and prei erving the roots of love and hence spreading it to Europe where it played a major role in the refining and building up process which preceded the Renaissance.33 Heer states that the literary ancestry of the troubadour songs is traced to Spanish Provencal poetry, the prototype of which is found in the courtly lyric of Andalusia.34 According td Rougemont, the actual cause for the rise of courtly love is attributed to four major influences. It began as: (a) a revolt against the cruel and lawless rules of the feudal system, (b) a reaction

against the doctrine of marriage which was exercised by the Christian church, (c) the contempt of marriage, and (d) the influence of Arab mysticism.35 Thus from these causes emerged the tolerant attitudes to the treatment of love in the courtly poems plus the conventionalized treat­ ment of the Provencal poets who found their imagery, form, and l iterary refinement in Arabico-Spanish poetry. The necessary elements for courtly love involved the domnei, which is "the Provencal name for the vassal­ relation set up between a knight-lover and his lady. 1136 Love in that context implied "the ritual of domenei" where ••. the man as much as the woman, [is] depicted physically and psychologically in an entirely

33shoubani, p. 248 (translated from Arabic by Author). 34Heer, p • .140. 35Rougemont, pp. 33, 71, 74, 77. 36rbid., p. 34.

/ 112 conventional and rhetorical manner. He is the "strongest"; she "the most beautifu1~ 11 37 This love had to be conducted by fashionable and estab­ lished codes which demanded different behavior for the knights and their ladies. The lady, who was often married, was the superior of the two, and the recognition of her love spurred the secrecy, 'generosity, initiative, humble­ ness, bravery, decency, and noble behavior of her knight­ errant. In effect, these codes standardized the dress code, behavior, and manners of the well-to-do -classes. Along with the refined feelings that usually (, accompany the prerequisites of courtly love, there is the necessity of having the elevated role of the man and the woman: he is always a knight and she-a lady. According to some, the idea of knighthood is an Arabic introduction into Europe. "Knighthood," says Byng, "is a Moslem invention. 1138 Nicholson, too, agrees that "knight­ errantry, the riding forth on horseback in search of adventures, the rescue of captive maidens, the succour rendered everywhere to women in adversity" are all Arab ideas; even "the very name of chivalry, the connection of honourable conduct with the horse-rider, the man of noble blood, the cavalier" is traced to Pre-Islamic times. 39 The ideas and ideals of knighthood, says Nicholson, came to

37 Ibid. , p • 40. 38 Byng, p. 2 4 5. 39Nicholson, p. 88. 113 Europe through the Arab East, Arab Spain and Sicily, and through the contacts of the Europeans with the Arabs during the Crusades.40 Byng further states that even "the knightly tourna­ ment, including the joust, is an Arab invention.~~' - ~e idea of wearing the lady 1 s ·scarf ,to battle, the wearing of light coats of chain armour, the use of lightweight but sturdy swords made of Toledo steel, the breeding of horses, the art of falconry, the use of the carrier pigeon, and the use of hounds for hunting can all be traced to the Arab East.41 Bowden states that Chaucer's Knight is the per­ sonificati~~ f the ideals of chivalry: "He is one of those exceptional heroes who strive to live according to a great ideal •• (he is) the most important, and--in one sense--the most enduring. 1142 His trips and contact~ with I the East were an amazing feat for Chaucer's contempor~ries who revelled in the mysterious and rich East. During Chaucer's time, Christendom was small .•• and the lands beyond its boundaries were thrillingly mysterious. The chroni­ cles, and tales, the travel books, and the encyclo­ pedias all made for exciting reading, as is shown by the popularity of the works of Froissart, Machaut, Benoit de Sainte-More, Vincent Beauvais, and many others. 0 They all, like the supposed author Mandevelle [sic ] , who wrote the travel book par excellence, encouraged the even escapist belief that extraordinary magnificence and wonder lay outside the humdrum world

40Ibid. 41 Byng, p. 247. 42 Bowden, p. 51. 114 of everyday existence .•• but it was the realms of the East and the Southeast which held the greatest magic. For these lands where flowered silks, pearls and gold and rubies, frankincense and myrrh and sandal­ wood •.• were ever present in splendid profusion, and where golden warmth and light called forth fruits of the earth as if by supernatural force .••• Chaucer's Knignt has been to these strange and wonder- ful countries. 3 . Thus the influences of the Crusades, chivalry, the · French poets, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the direct contact with the Arabs, played a mediatory role in bringing the courtly love ideas to England. These ideas originally found their way into Provence when the Arabs crossed the Pyrenees and invaded southwestern France. They (Arabs) stayed there for almost two centuries during which time they made a deep cultural impact.44 Arnold points out that this cultural exchange and the Crusades inspired the study of oriental languages and that in 1276 "Raymmundus Lullus, a Catalan, founded a college of friars for the study of Arabic." Later, in 1311, at Lullus' instigation, "the Council of Vienne [sic ] resolved on the creation of chairs of oriental languages (in Arabic and"-Tartar) at Paris, Louvain, and Salamanca. 1145 1'4e significance of the interaction through these two mediums inspired the poets to write about the rescue of a Christian knight by a Saracen princess and the ensuing love affair and the motif

43Toid. 44shoubani, · p. 108 (translated from Arabic by author). 45Arnold and Guillaume, pp. 64-65. 115 of the long-gone knight who is taken for dead but returns upon the widow's decision to remarry. 46 Thus it was during the Arabs' stay in Spain that Eleanor of Aquitaine's grandfather, Guillaume the Ninth, the Count of Poitiers and Duke of Aquitaine, first composed his troubadour poetry. In 1094 he went to Spain where he visited his brothers-in-law, the Prince of Aragon and Alphonse the Sixth. In 1101 he went on a crusade to the East and fell captive in the hands of the Arabs. While in Damascus, he was _influenced by Arabic love poetry, and his first three poems were written after Arabic models.47 Shoubani further states that among his eleven existing poems, "his fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and eleventh poems were composed after the Andalusian muwasha­ hat and zajal poems. 11 As for the ninth and tenth poems, "they differ only slightly from all the rest. 1148 Thus it becomes obvious that the influence of Guillaume the Ninth was very instrumental in developing Provencal courtly poetry. But it was only through "his direct contact with . poetry that he learned the real art of composition. 1149 Later, his cele­ brated gr~ddaughter, Eleanor of Aquitaine, became the

46Ibid. , p. 67. 47shoubani, pp. 111- 112 (translated from Arabic by author). 48Ibid., p. 153. 49rbid., pp. 113-114. 116 Queen of France through hereditary rights and the Queen of England by marriage. She too, like her father, went on a voyage to the Holy Land and while at Antioch, she and her husband were amazed and impressed by all the splendour of gold, , and the treasures of Persia and Baghdad. Upon her return she organized her court and fashioned it after the styles that she had seen in the East.50 Thus the ideas of courtly love whose origins are traced to Arabic poetry were carried by Eleanor to northern France and from there, across the channel when she became Queen of England.51 It was at her command that Andreas Capellanus wrote his De Arte Honeste Amandi after the manner of Ovid's Ars Amatoria. She also promoted a new form of courtly behavior and poetic expression which were the direct influence of the doctrines of love that were popularized by the Arabs in Andalusia and Provence.52 In short, ideas of the troubadour lyrics are the basis of the whole courtly system53 (see page 117 for my illustration of this feature). Thus, Shoubani concludes, one can find that a large proportion of Chaucer's work was composed after the manner and influence of the French poets •••• Chaucer is indebted to the Arabs in his knowledge of the rhyme scheme and in its use according to the ~esign of the Andalusian muwashahat ••••

50Heer, pp. 127-128. 51william G. Dodd, Courtly Love in Chaucer and Gower (Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, 1959), p. 1. 52Heer, p. 131. 53Dodd, p. 15. PROGRESSIVE DEVELOPMENTOF ARABIC LOVE POETRY IN ITS RELATION TO COURTLYLOVE

Passionate Platonic Mystic Ishq (passionate love) (self, soul) Nafs Natiqa (reasoning soul) \ •~ Shawq (flame or burning desire) Shahd (martyrdom) Ruh ~(soul) ~ Shaghaf (amorousness) ~ (heart) Aql (mind) dream visions Hiss (sense)

3rd to 6th cent. 6th to 9th cent. 9th to 13th cent. Qasida (Ode) Gazal (love lyric) Ode, lyric, or zajal and muwashah

Troubadour Courtly Love domnah Lady vs. Knight dream vision Dream Vision heart k- Passionate Love soul Amorousness music Love Sickness Heart Self, soul, sense 9th to 12th cent.

I-' I-' 11th to 14th cent. -...J

,.,., 118 Although his writings were to develop into great works at the height of his career, they still had affinities with Arabic poetry in form and content--a debt which cannot be denied .••• He lived in France for a while and was therefore influenced by its customs and people .•.- he spoke and wrote French .••• His first literary output was the translation of The Romance of the Rose and "La Priere de Nostre Dame." In the latter, he used the Arabic BA, BAA, CC rhyme scheme (rime royal) which he was to use later in his "Com­ plaint Unto Pity. 11 54

Arabic Influences: A New Perspective of Viewing Courtly Love Influences on Chaucer

The most common view held among critics and stu­ dents of literature is that Chaucer's use of courtly love conventions is derived from such French poets as Deschamps, Froissart, Gransan, Machaut, and others such as Capellanus, Chretien, Guillaume de Lorris (from whom Chaucer trans­ lated The Romance of the Rose), and Ovid. In the following segment, a new and unconventional approach will be under­ taken to study Chaucer's use of courtly love elements. In his Prologue to "The Legend of Good Women," Chaucer states that only a May day festival can distract him from his books, for books are treasures which contain the keys to all knowledge and remembrance. It is for this reason that he gives "feyth and ful credence [to books], / And in myn herte have hem in reverence." Furthermore, "credence" should be given to those books which contain ancient knowledge and the instruction of the sages of old

54Shoubani, p. 161 (translated from Arabic by author). ,.

,. 119 time who"· .. tellen of these olde appreved stories/ Of holynesse, of regnes, of victories," and "Of love, of hate, of other sondry thynges. 1155 Yet his main reason for giving credence and reverence to old books is because II men shulde autoritees beleve, / There as there lyth non other assay by preve." He further adds-, For myn entent is, or I fro yow fare, The naked text in English to declare Of many a story, or elles of many a geste, As autours seyn; leveth hem if you leste! 56 Taking the above statements literally, mainly that Chaucer's design was to translate the works of the best­ known authorities into English, the following deductions can be made about his works in general and "The Legend of Good Women" en passant: 1. Chaucer names and acknowledges Arab philoso­ phers and scientists in sundry places. The Arabic influ­ ence on courtly love is found in the poetry of the trouba­ dours, hence the Arabic influence on the courtly love poets and Chaucer. 2. The Arab mystic poets wrote love and mystic poems and treatises in which they employed the dream vision as a tool to enhance the mystical ideas where the mind and the soul were unified in the highest spheres, thus bringing one closer to God. Dodd says that this love-vision "came to constitute a distinct literary

55Robinson, "The Legend of Good Women," p. 483. 56 Ibid. 120 style. 1157 Such Arabic in.fluences on Dante and Aquinas have been recognized (see Appendix III, D) and the latter's influence on courtly love poetry is not open for debate. Hence, the use of the dream vision in Chaucer's "The Book of the Duchess," "The House of Fame," "The Parliament of Fowls," and the Prologue to "The Legend of Good Women" is the result of the direct influence of Arab mystical poetry. 3. The similarities in the symbolic attributes (virtues and vices) between Chaucer's "The Parliament of Fowls" and Guillaume de Lorris' The Romance of the Rose include the employment of the dream vision and the use of inscriptions or naming of valleys, gardens, gi tes and heaven ( see the chart on the following page for these similarities) • 4. Chaucer uses the conventional ideas where the lover (at times the poet himself) complains of his misfor­ tune. He laments to his lady, who is frequently the personification of a certain ideal, and he does his duties as they are set according to the conventions. These elements (complaints, laments and personification) are plentiful in the Arabic love lyric, the zajal, and the muwashah. ·Hence, there is a similarity between the Arabic, troubadour and French poems, and Chaucer's "The Complaint Unto Pity," "A Complaint to his Lady," "The Complaint of Mars," "The Complai,nt of Venus," "The Complaint of Chaucer

57Dodd, p. 16. · .,

SYMBOLICATTRIBUTES IN ATTAR, CHAUCERAND TROEIS

Attar's Chaucer's Lorris' The Bird Parliament The Parliament of Fowls The Romance of the Rose Symbolic valleys with Cupid's messengers and the Inscriptions on garden the following names: inscriptions on the gates in gates: the dream-vision garden: Valley -of Quest Craft Courtesey Valley of Love Delyt Beauty Valley of Understanding Fool-hardinesse Simplicity Valley of Independence Youth Franchise Valley of Detachment Desire _ Poverty Valley of Pure Unity Gentleness Envy Valley of Astonishment Lust Avarice Valley of Poverty and Curtesey Villany Nothingness Felony Covetousness

The three works employ the dream-vision and the employment of birds of a kind, allegorically. I-' I\) I-' 122 to his Purse," and "A Balade of Complaint." Chaucer's employment of the complaint therefore gives an added proof to the literary relationship that exists between Arabic and British literatures. 5. In "The Legend of Good Women," the setting for "The Legend of Thisbe of I}abylon" is definitely the Middle East. Chaucer shows an unusual historical knowledge for a man of his age, knowledge which he must have acquired through reading or by word of mouth. Except for Thisbe and Pyramus, such names as and Queen Semiramis, th~ description of the city, the forests, the lioness, and possibly the plot, are all Near Eastern. To the author's knowledge, "The Lovers of the Benou Udreh," narrated on night six-hundred and eighty-nine through night six-hundred and ninety-one of the Arabian Nights, bears close resem­ blances to Chaucer's tale of Thisbe, similarities· which might prove that the Arabic version is the original tale from which Chaucer received the idea. These similarities include: a. The lovers' burning desire for each other. b. The Parents' attempt to separate the lovers. c. The secret meetings of the lovers. d. The decision to elope. e. The killing of one lover (in each story) by a lioness. f. The finding of the bloody garment. g. The ensuing suicide which finally gives the lovers eternal union as they are buried in each other's arms. Because Troilus and Criseyde offers all the elements of courtly love within the framework of its plot, 123 it is presented, along with "The Knight's Tale," to show the close parallels that exist between Ibn Hazm's ideas on love and the medieval concept of courtly love employed by Chaucer. By showing these close parallels in the use of these conventional ideas, the following segment will fur­ ther add to the idea of Arabic influences on Chaucer and hence give an added support to the theory of a literary relationship previously stated.

In "The Knight's Tale," the whole story revolves around the questioh of love; specifically, it seems to ask whether Arcite or Palamon is worthy of his lady-love. Robinson calls this "a typical love-problem ('demande d'amour' or questione d'amore), such as were familiar in French, Provencal and Italian" poetry.58 The tale itself is "a free adaptation of the Teseida of Boccaccio, 1159 and and of all The Canterbury Tales, it is the one that comes closest to conforming to the courtly love ideas. In Boccaccio's Filostrato, Chaucer found his main source for Troilus and Criseyde.60 Yet these courtly love ideas must have come to Chaucer not only from Ovid's erotic writings, but ultimately from Arabic influences and from the scientific' and systematic codification of Ibn Hazm's principles on love which he set forward in his celebrated Tawg al Hamama (The Ring of the Dove).

5¾obinson~ p. 673. 59Ibid., p. 669. 60rbid. , p. 811. 124 Born in 994 A.D. to a vizier of Cordova (his father being a Christian convert to Islam), and early enjoying the advantages of an excellent education, Abu Muhammad Ali Ibn Muhammad ibn Sa'ed Hazm was The greatest scholar and the most original genius of Moslem Spain ••. the most eminent by the univer­ sality and the depth of his learning in the sciences cultivated by Muslims. 6,1 At the time of his death, his son possessed four hundred volumes of his work "containing 80,000 leaves ••• com­ posed and written out" by him.62 He has several political and social treatises but none as popular as The Ring of the Dove in which he follows the steps of Ibn Dawud's The Book of the Flower, an erotic anthology. Yet he excels his master in the psychological observations and the corroboration of his own verse to support his ideas and anecdotes. He "treats his subject systematica11y1163 and ~ his work is one of the few Arabic works which, when translated, is attractive to the Western non-specialist reader . . • • Ibn Hazm is a sharp and witty observer of human scene. In keeping with the Arab tradition of litera­ ture on love, he also portrays the tragedies of lov , including some of the bitter ones of his own life.b4 Von Grunebaum states that "He is at his best when dis­ secting bac~ground and significance of the lover's

61Nicholson, p. 426. 62Ibid. ,63von Grunebaum, Medieval Islam, p. 268. 64Giffen, p. 25. 125 behavior. 1165 These backgrounds that he called upon were the Islamic-Arab traditions, yet he "stripped the oriental Arab tradition of literature on love of its bedouin [sic], and Baghdadi attire and reclothed it in the Cordovan style, 1166 a feature which made his work personal, witty, psychological, delightful and perennial. Thus, Tawg al Hamama, written in 1027 Arab Spain, 67 influenced not only the work of the troubadours but also the great medieval writers whom Chaucer read avidly and copied from Gon­ sciously. The parallel qualities in Ibn Hazm and Chaucer's works are not given in chronological order; rather, they appear in thematic sequence. Only those segments which deal with the conventional love devices in Chaucer's two works are chosen for comparison with the Arabic text, and because the translated material fro~ the latter is in prose form, all materials from Chaucer for this segment are adapted from John Tatlock and Percy Mackaye's para­ phrase of Chaucer's works. The medieval courtly love ideas found in Capellanus, Ovid, and the medieval courtly love poets are not included in the text so as to keep a continuity i n the parallels between Chaucer and Ibn Hazm. They are included, however, in Appendix III, E, for the reader's scrutiny.

65von Grunebaum, Medieval Islam, p. 269 66Giffen, p. 79. 67Arberry, p. 10. 126 The stories of Troilus and Palamon and Arcite are set within walls, castles and courtyards, and they involve characters from the upper social s tratum. As a result, role playing becomes dictated by the character's relation­ ship to his beloved. Ibn Hazm, too, states that "This kind of romance usually takes place between veiled ladies of guarded pala8es and aristocratic households, and their male kinfolk." He cites the celebrated example of a lady of high position and noble birth who falls in love with one of the courtiers and adds that "the love of women is more stable in these cases than that of men. 1168 This also proves to be the case in Criseyde and Emily's relationships with Troilus and Palamon and Arcite respectively. Ibn Hazm shows an aversion to a particular blonde: "In my youth I loved a slave-girl who happened to be a blonde" for whose death he found no consolation.69 Similarly, Troilus is betaken by Criseyde's "wavy hair of sunnish hue, 1170 and Arcite is betaken by the fairness and beauty of Emily.71

68Ali Ibn Ahmad Ibn Hazm, The Ring of the Dove, trans. by A. J. Arberry (London: Luzac and Company, Ltd., 1953), p. 48. 69Ibid., p. 184. 70~eoffrey Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyd~ in The Com lete Poetical Works of Geo ffre Chaucer, ed. by John S. P. Ta oc an Percy MacKaye, BK. IV New York: The Free Press, 1966), 469. (Hereinafter referred to as Troilus and Criseyde.) 71Geoffrey .Chaucer, "The Knight's Tale," in The Com­ plete Poetical Wor~s of Geoffrev Chaucer, ed. by John S. P. Tatlock and Percy MacKaye (New York: The Free Press, 1966) , p. 19 • (Hereinafter referred to as "Knight's Tale.") 127 In Chaucer and Ibn Hazm's ideas on love, one can see similarities in the genera~ escription of love and in the treatment of love as a god. In "The Knight's Tale," for, .example, Chaucer tells us, through the words of Arci te, that love "is a greater law than can be given to any man on earth. And therefore all human law and decrees and such-like are broken every day for love by folk in every station. A man must needs love ..• he cannot flee it though he die. 11 72 At the end of Book III in Troilus and Criseyde, through Troilus, Chaucer states that love "hath the rule of earth and sea, Love that hath set his behests in high heaven, Love, that with a saving bond holdeth the peoples joined as he will, Love that frameth laws for true friendship and maketh wedded couples to dwell in virtue, may he make binding the harrI}ony of which I tell! That the world with eternal fidelity holdeth his diverse times and seasons in con­ cord, that the warring elements observe an ever-during bond. . • • All this is caused by love. 11 73 Similarly, Ibn Hazm considers love as a conjunction between scattered parts of the souls that have become divided in this physical universe, a union effected within the substance of their original sublime element. I do not share the view advanced by Muhammad Ibn Dawud--God have mercy on his soul!--who followed certain philosophers in declaring that spirits are segmented spheres; rather do I suppose an affinity of their vital forces in the supernatural world which is their everlasting home, and a close approximation in the manner of their constitution. We know the secret of commingling and separation in created things to be simply a process of union and disassociation; every form always cries out for its corresponding form; .•. The essential force of the magnet, when in contact with the essential force of the iron, is not so s t rong or so refined as to seek out after the iron, for

72Ibid. , p. 20. 73chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, Bk. III, 455. 128 all that the iron is of the self-same kind and element; it is the force of the iron, by virtue of its nawral · strength, that reaches out after its kind and is drawn towards it. Movement always takes place from the side of the more powerful ••.•

. • • we therefore conclude that ~ave is something within the soul itself •••• t;ri,1e Love is a spiritual approbation, a fusion of souls.74 These metaphysical allusions in the two poets ' become more evident when one observes the manner in which love first starts. Dodd points out that the effects of the quiver and arrows were constant attributes of the power of love.75 However, conceits and images employing the eye as the conveyer of messages can be traced to Pre-Islamic poetry. Later, in their scientific treatises, al-Hazen and Haly Abbas popularized the influence of optics and images on vision and the brain. Thus, having the scientific information at their disposal, the Arab platonic and mystic poets employed these findings in their poetry. It is common knowledge that in medieval courtly love poetry one finds 11 the conceit that through the eyes, beauty enters the heart, and the fancy that, though absent from the loved one, the lover leaves his heart with her. 1176 Robinson states that !!Arabic literature offers many paral­ lels to this" idea, mainly the conceit that through the eye beam a dart or a spear passes from the lady's eyes to the

74 Ibn Hazm, pp. 23-26. 75 . Dodd, p. 17. 76Ibid., p. 13. 129 lover's heart.77 A good example of a scientific treatise on the relationship of the eyes and the heart is best seen in two chapters of Ibn Qayyim's book where he devotes his work to an imaginary dispute between the eye and the heart over the measure of responsibility •••. of the wondering gaze that sm~tes with love ••. the role of the eye, the heart and ' the will in the process of falling in love •.. furnishes plenty of material for the theoretical analysis of this phenomenon.78 In "The Knight's Tale," the two prisoners, Palamon and Arcite, are smitten through the heart when they first behold Emily. Palamon, the first to be affected by this eye beam, grew pale and deathlike: And so befell, by chance or hap, that through a window set thick with many an iron bar, great and square as any beam, he cast his eye upon Emily, and therewith he started and cried "Ah~," as though he were stricken through the heart •... "This prison caused not my groan. I have got but now a wound t hrough mine eye into my heart, that will be my death. The fairness of that lady whom I see yonder in the garden, roaming to and fro, is cause of all my crying. 11 79 Arcite, too, is affected by this eye beam. He is extremely sick because he cannot see Emily: "'Love has shot his fiery dart through my breast. Since I cannot see thee, Emily,, I am but dead; naught can cure me. '" Her eyes affect him just as they affect Palamon for he later

77Robinson, p. 671. 78Giffen, p. 59. 79Chaucer, "Knight's Tale," pp. 18-19. 130 shouts: "-' Thou slayest me with thine eyes, Emily, thou art the cause of my dying. ' 1180 Troiius' first look at Criseyde was also through the eye beam: • and it fell by chance that his eye pierced through a crowd and lighted on Criseyde, and there it stopped. Suddenly astonished, he began to behold her better and more carefuily ••.. Love dwelt within the subtle beams of her eyes, until with her look he seemed suddenly to feel the spirit die in his heart.Bl When Criseyde is slow to return his love, Troilus invokes her to "Cheer [him ] with some friendly look. 1182 While recounting Troilus' plight to Criseyde, Pandarus later repeats the great effect of the eye beam: "'For certes, Lord, so sorely has she .•. wounded me with the looking of her eyes that it sounded my heart's bottom, through which I know that I shall die.' 1183 As if to reinforce the idea, Chaucer, through Troilus, again explains what the eye beam can do: "What I mean, sweet dear heart, goodly blooming noble one?" said Troilus "that you would sometimes look on me kindly with the beams of your clear eyes; and then agree that without hint of evil in any way I may be he always to do you faithful service. 11 84 This conceit is used two more times in Book III. When Troil~s and Criseyde are together, he kisses her eyes

80Ib__i_.'. d pp. 21, 26. 81chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, Bk. I, 382. 82Ibid. , 386. S3Ibid., Bk. II, 405. 84Ibid. , Bk. III, 428. 131 which had that great captivating power on him: full often he kissed her eyes, and saiq "Oh bright eyes, it was ye that wrought me this woe, ye humble nets of my lady dear~ Though there be mercy written in your looks, God knows the text is full hard to read. How were ye able to bind me without cords? 11 85 Later, when Criseyde leaves Troy at her father's orders, Chaucer gives the reader anot her conceit which attests to the impact of the eye beam and its influence on the lover: "Woeful eyes, since_;t4~ pleasure was to see Criseyde's shining eyes, what shall ye do now but lie vainly still and weep out your sight? Since she is quenched that was wont to illumine you, in vain from this time forth have I two eyes, since your virtue is gone. 11 8b The above, therefore, shows Chaucer's conscious employment of this conceit, and just as Chaucer gives lengthy details on the influence of the eye beam and sight on the lover, so does Ton Hazm give lengthy, detailed, descriptive, and anecdotal ideas on this conceit in sundry places, especially in his chapters on "Love at First Sight" and "Hinting With the Eyes": Often it happens that Love fosters itself to the heart as the result of a single glance ~ •

The poets of the scholastics frequently touch on this theme in their compositions, addressing the external object of the vision as though it were an inner con­ cept of t he mind •.•• I myself have treated the topic tn verse which follows: The vision of my outward eye A human shape descries i thee; When inward reason I apply, I know they form is heavenly

85Ibid., 449. 86Ibid. , 462. 132 The eye is the wide gateway of the Soul, the . scrutinizer of its secrets, conveying its most private thoughts, and giving expression to its deepest-hid feelings .•

You should realize that the eye takes place of a messenger, and that with its aid all the beloved's intention can be apprehended. The four senses besides are gateways of the heart, and passages giving admis­ sion to the soul; the 'eye is however the most eloquent; the most expressive, and the most efficient of them all ...• The eye is the loftiest and most sublime of all substances. For the eye possesses the property of light, and by it alone may colours be perceived; no other organ surpasses it in range and extent. The eye is the true outrider and £aithful guide of the soul; it is the soul's well-polished mirror, by which it comprehends all truths, attains all qualities, and understands all sensible phenomena •••• Here, if you will, is a sufficient proof of the eye's power of per­ ception. When the eye's rays encounter some clear, well-polished object •.• those rays of the eye are reflected back, and the observer then beholds himself and obtains an ocular vision of his own person.87 In the same manner, parallels can be seen in Chaucer's presentation of the arrogant and proud attribute of Tr oilus before he was struck by the eye beam, and Ibn Hazm's ideas on this feature. At first, Troilus laughs at his friends who fall in love: "Now Troilus, as he was wont, with his young knights, was going around and about in that broad temple" censuring "whom he would" and "watched k~enly if any knight or squire in his retinue would sigh or let his eyes feed on any woman. 1188 But when he suddenly falls in love, he tries to hide his feelings: How often falls the event contrary to overweening and foul presumption, for caught is the proud ••• this

87rbn Hazm, pp. 29-33, 52, 68-70. 88Chaucer, Troilus ·and Criseyde, Bk. I, 381. 133 ,, Troilus has climbed aloft, and little weens that he must come down ..•• So fared this fierce proud knight, though he were son to a noble king and deemed naught could stir his heart against his will; yet with a look his heart blazed up, so that he who but · now was most lifted up with pride suddenly grew most subjected to Love. Therefore, all ye wise and proud and noble, take example by this man not to scorn Love, that can so soon enthrall to him the freedom of your hearts. For ever it was and ever will be that Love can blind all things, ,and no man can annul the law of nature.89 Later, Pandarus reminds Troilus of his pride when he says: "How often have you prated and said that Love's ser­ vants, for folly, were verily God's apes •••• You were wont to check at Love in scorn and call him 'Saint Idiot, Lord of all fools! 11190 Likewise, Ibn Hazm treats this feature as such: One of the attributes of Love is holding the tongue; the lover will deny everything if interrogated, affect a great show of fortitude, and make it appear that he is extremely continent and a confirmed bachelor •••. Sometimes the reason for such reticence is the lover's desire to avoid branding himself with the mark in the eyes of his fellows; he professes that philandering is a sign of frivolity, and therefore (he says) he flees from love and will have naught of it •••• It i s possible in the early stages to delude those lacking in finer sensibility; once Love has finally established itself, however, that is entirely out of the question ..•• I know a man who was tried in a similar way. Passion had lodged itself in his breast, and he strove to deny it; but in the end the matter became so obviously serious that every one divined it in his behavior. • • • ·

Often and often you will see a man stubborn by disposi­ tion, intractable, jibbing at all control, determined, arrogant, always ready to take umbrage; yet no sooner let him sniff the soft air of Love, plunge into its waves, and swim in its sea, than his stubbornness will

89Ibid. go Ibid., 392. ,,·· 134 have suddenly changed to docility, his intractability to easy going, his arrogance to submission.91 In his notes, Robinson points out that Arabic medical treatises influenced the concept of love sickness common to the medieval romance. The Arabic term "al Ishq," he adds, the sickness due to love, appears in Arabic treatises and the treatment of love in Arabic literature offers as might be expected in view of the references already given to Arabic science, striking parallels in medieval Europe.92 Chaucer for example cites sleeplessness, lack of appetite, loss of flesh and color, weeping and wailing, and a wish to die. Palamon loved Emily dearly, but because he could not talk to her, he wailed, beat his head on the prison walls, and wished for death. Even Arcite, Palamon's rival, ,,··- who escaped from his prison cell came back to Thebes weak, sick, skinny, and tearful because he could not see Emily: And shortly to conclude his woe, so much sorrow had never creature that is or shall be whilst the world shall last. He was bereft of sleep, meat and drink, and waxed lean and dry as a stick; his eyes hollow, grisly to see, his hue sallow, p~le as cold ashes. He was ever solitary, wailing all night and making his moan .••• So feeble and low and changed were his spirits, that none could recognize his speech nor his

91rbn Hazm, pp. 76-77, 87. 92Ro~inson, p. 673. Al-Asmai states that "he asked a bedouin [sic] about ishq and he said, 'It is too sublime to be seen and it is hidden from the eyes of mortals, for it is concealed in the breast like the latent fire in a flint, which when struck produces fire, . • • Some of the Arabs say, 'Ishq is a kind of madness"' (Giffen, p. 64). 135 voice thot.!K_h he heard them .••• He fared [lonely and mad ] • '3""5 Troilus, too, exhibits all the features of love sickness which are his symptoms of love. Immediately following the effect of the eye beam, He knew not what to do for woe, and bade his men go where they would. When he was alone in his chamber, he sat down upon his bed's foot, first sighed and then groaned, and thought s6 constantly on her that, ~she sat there awake, his spirit dreamed he saw her.94 He was so much in love that The fire of love ..• burned him so ever anew .•• that sixty times a day he grew pale. From this time love bereft him of his sleep and made his meat his foe, and his pains so increased that, if ;one noted him well, they showed in his face. Lest men should divine that the fire of love was burning him, he feigned other sickness and said he had fever and it went hard with him.95 ~ As a result, he becomes lonely and sick "as do these lovers, in a trance betwixt hope and dark despair. 1196 In the meantime, Pandarus attempts to help him by arranging a secret meeting with Criseyde. However, in order to evoke her sympathy, Pandarus tells her that he came upon Troilus "'all alone into his chamber and found him lying upon his bed. Never had [he heard] a man groan so sore. 11197 Other signs of this love sickness were his humbleness,

·93Chaucer, . "Knight's Tale, 11 p. 23. 94Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, Bk. I, 383. 95Ibid., 385. 96rbid., Bk. II, 418. 97Toid., 405. 136 submissiveness, crying, trembling, paleness and "his heart began to flutter and his sighs to come short. 1198 Likewise, Ibn Hazm discusses love sickness, its complications, and effects in various parts of his work: Love--may God exalt you~ is in truth a baffling ail­ ment, and its remedy is in strict accord with the degree to which it is treated; it is a delightful malady, a most desirable sickness •..• Of these the first is the brooding gaze ... you will see the lover gazing at the beloved unblinki ngly •••• Other signs of love are that sudden confusion and excitement betrayed by the lover •••• Love for a thing renders you blind and deaf •••. It can happen that a man sincerely affected by Love will start to eat his meal with an excellent appetite; yet the instant the recollection of his loved one is excited, the food sticks in his throat and chokes his gullet •. It is the same if he is drinking, or talking--••• you will notice the change in his manner of speaking, the instantaneous failure of his conversational powers; the sure signs are his long silences, the way he stares at the ground, his extreme taciturnity •••• Sleeplessness too is a common affliction of lovers • . • • weeping is a well-known sign of Love •••• Trepidation ove..rcomes the lover when he hopes to meet the beloved and some obstacle intervenes to prevent it.

I knew a man who lay awake for many nights, endured extreme suffering, and had his heart torn asunder by the deepest emotions •••• I knew a young lady of rank [whose ] passion was so extreme that she became most melancholic, and wellnigh lost her mind entirely.99 . Because the lady is of a superior position, the knight-lover pledges his servitude to her and he swears upon his honor that their love affair is to be kept secret. Although Criseyde's social position is not as high as

98 Ibid., Bk.· III, 427. 99Ibn Hazm, pp. 31-42, 92. 137 Troilus', he tells her th~t he will do her service as his \ \ chief lady in delight, with all his "wit and diligence; and that ·I should have, at your good pleasure and subject to your rod, comfort as great as my pain has been, and death if I break your commands; and that you deign to honor me so much as to lay an order upon me at any hour; and that I may be your true, humble, trusty servant, patient in pains ... ready to receive your every desire with good will. 11 100 In his chapter, "Concealing the Secret," Ibn Hazm states that when a "lover wishes to spare his beloved," he conceals his love and thus gives proof of his loyalty and "true nobility of character." 101 The lover therefore becomes a servant to his lady and be attempts to do every­ thing to please her. Later, Ibn Hazm adds that Love represents as glamorous that which a man formerly disdained, and renders easy for him that which he hitherto found hard; so that it even transforms established temperaments and inborn dispositions.102

Likewise, Troilus is happy when he is assured of Criseyde 1 s love , for he "melted away in his joy, and all his store of sighs took wings at once." He therefore immediately changed his disposition. Even Criseyde notices the change in his "lustiness, his prudent acts, his nobility," and she therefore changes her "established temperaments" as she thanks ,"Love" because "he had bestowed her so well. 11103

lOOChaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, Bk. III, 428. lOlibn Hazm, p. 79. l02Ibid. , p • 31 . 103chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, Bk. III, 432, 452. 138 Another aspect in the change of the character's temperament is that the lover becomes generous, brave, and noble. Ibn Hazm states that A man in love will give prodigally to the limit of his capacity, in a way that formerly he would have refused; as if he were the one receiving the donation, he the one whose happiness is the object in view; all this in order that he may show off his good points, and make himself desirable. How often has the miser opened his purse-strings, the scowler relaxed his frown, the coward leapt heroically into the fray, the clod sud­ denly become sharp-witted, the boor turned into the perfect gentleman, the stinker transformed himself into the elegant dandy, the sloucher smartened up, the-.. · · decrepit recaptured his lost youth, the godly gone wild, the self-res~ecting kicked over the traces--all because of love~l04 Similarly, these gradual changes, because of love, can be seen in Troilus. When Pandarus promises to convey his first message to Criseyde, Troilus' pain is alleviated and· he became the friendliest wight, the gentlest and eke t he most generous, the most prudent, .•. Dead was cr-uel mocking, his high port and haughty manner, and each fault ..• [he ] exchanged for a virtue. Later, Chaucer tells the reader that he became a "wise and worthy second Hector, full of all virtues, fidelity and nobility, prudence, honor, generosity and valor." Criseyde, too, recounting what she had heard, states "that he does so valiantly in arms day by day, and bears himself so gently here at home to every wight, that he has all praise Qf those by whom it were liefest to me to be praised. 11 10:,

104Ton Hazm, p. 35. 105chaucer, Troi lus and Criseyde, Bk. I, 395, 398- 399. 139 . In order to reiterate these qualities, Chaucer chooses two other instances to point out this change in character. The first of these appears at the end of Book II, when Pandarus calls Troilus "'the good, the prudent, the valiant, the lusty, the generous, that mirror of well-doing. 111106 Later, in Book III, Chaucer shows how the result of Troilus' emotional and physical involvement with Criseyde further drove him to do heroic acts: In all that the seige demanded he was foremost, ever the first to clad fu arms, and certainly, unless books err, most dreaded of any wight save Hector, his talk was most of love and virtue, and held all pitiful lowness in scorn, there was no need to beg him to honor the worthy and relieve those in distress.-i07 Further parallels can be observed in the use of· messengers who give good counsel and carry le_tters, and the lovers' bestowing of gifts unto each. other. In "The Knight's Tale," Theseus, the king of Thebes, plays the mediatory role in solving the love question, and he therefore becomes the one to convey the to all parties and to arbitrate on the issue. In Troilus and Criseyde, Pandarus plays the role of the mes­ senger, for he is the one who keeps Troilus, Criseyde, and the reader informed of all the events. Chaucer gives Theseus and Pandarus the ability to judge love situations because of-their previous experience in love and its pains. Theseus, for example, tells Palamon and Arcite:

l06Ibid., Bk. II, 401. lO?Ibid., Bk. III, 456. 140 "I wot it by myself, for in my time, years agone, r. was servant of love. And therefore, since I know of love's pain, as one oft caught in his snare, and how sore it can clutch a man. 11 108 Pandarus also explains that he learned about love and its pains through his errors and experiences: "Though I be foolish yet it often happens that one who through excess has come to grief by good counsel may keep his friend therefrom ...• Eschew that wherein I have gone astray, and learn wisdom in my school, for so will your wit be employed. Then, since so much may be learned from contraries, I, that have so often fared grievously in love, ought to know how to counsel you in your dismay. 11 109 Ibn Hazm describes these qualities of the messenger as •.. the man who has been tried by love long ago, and suffered its misfortunes over, many years, and then, after having known its manifestations very fully, has now detached himself from it: he is therefore desirous in the extreme to protect the person whom he is watching from the calamities of love.110 Chaucer's choice of a messeng·er in Troilus and · Criseyde is very appropriate and again the characteristics of Pandarus coincide with those set up by Ibn Hazm, who says that the messenger should be "a very respectable person to whom no sort of suspicion will attach on account of his show of piety, or because he is of advanced years. 11111 Pandarus is intelligent, perceptive, con­ scientious, and quickminded, and he seems to have had

108chaucer, "Kni ght's Tale, " p. 30. 109Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, Bk. I, 387-388. llOibn Hazm, p. 105. lllibid., p. 73. 141 everything under control. Ibn Hazm's chapter on the messenger also states that The messenger should be presentable, quick-witted, able to take a hint and to read between the lines, possessed of initiative and .the ability to supply out of his own understanding things which may have been overlooked .•. he must also convey to his employer all that he observes with complete accuracy; ••. He needs to be sought pnd chosen with great care ••• to be an energetic man; he is the proof of the lover's intelligence, for in his hands rest the life and death of the lover, his honour and his disgrace.112 All of these features are attributes of Pandarus .which Chaucer consciously employed in order to give him the dis­ tinctive role that he had. Troilus sums up Pandarus' role as a messenger when he tells him: "'You are wise, you know, you have the power, you are my all. All my life and death I lay in your hands. , .. 113 Thus, the role of the messenger is an integral part in Troilus and Criseyde, and Pandarus "was sent to and fro, he fetched letters •••• Never a person bore himself better to help his friend in time of need." 114 In his -chapter "On Correspondence," Ibn Hazm states that lovers "will begin to correspond in writing" after their affair has started. Letter writing is very important in the love relationship because letters "assuredly tell their own tale." As for the style,

112Ibid.

113chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, Bk. I, 394.

114Toid., Bk. III, 434. " '· 142 The letter should be desj_gned after the most elegant pattern, and should be as pretty as can be contrived. For by my life, the letter is sometimes the lover's tongue, either because he is faltering in speech, or bashful, or awe-struck ...• As for watering the ink of the love-letter with one's tears, I know of a man who did this regularly, and his beloved repaid him by watering the ink of her missives with her saliva.115 The first menti6n of a letter in Troilus and

{ Criseyde appears in Book II. Pandarus urges Troilus to write Criseyde a letter immediately: "'God help me so as I should this moment write her a letter with mine own hand in which I should tell her how ill I fared, and beg her pi• t y. I 11 116 Yet Troilus is afraid lest in his simplicity he might anger her, but Pandarus urges him to do so: "I know you will not write haughtily nor too artfully or argue pertinaciously, or compose a letter as if you were a scrivener. And blot it with tears a little. And if xou think of some good tender word, good though it be, repeat it not over-often; for if the best pointed nails, should ever touch one string and ever play one descant, every wight's ears would grow dull to hear his glee and his sounding strokes. Let your matter ha~e always its proper form, and let it ever be alike. rrl.l.'/ · . After writing her a lengthy letter in which he begged her mercy and love, he bathed it with tears and "a thousand times before he left off he kissed the letter." When the letter reached Criseyde, "she considered every line and every word, and found no defect, and thought in truth he knew good manners." 118 Thus the employment of

115Ibn Hazm, pp. 71-72. 116Chaucer; Troilus and Criseyde, Bk. II, 412. 117Ibid., 413. 118Toid. , 415. 143 letters and the style and manner in which they are written and sent show similarities in the two poets. In his chapter "On Contentment," Ibn Hazm states that the exchange of gifts is a means of bringing joy to the lovers: It belongs to contentment that a man will be rejoiced and satisfied to possess some little thing belonging to the beloved: this affects the soul in a most delightful way. He adds that he has never seen "any amorous couple Y{ho did not exchange" any gifts "which serve as a souvenir when they are separated. 11119 In the same manner, Criseyde sends Troilus a ring to ease his pain and at a later time, the lovers exchange rings and Criseyde "gave him a brooch of gold and azure, in which was set a ruby like a heart" which Troilus stuck on his garments.120 Before Criseyde leaves Troy, Troilus gives her his bay steed and a brooch as t okens of his love. Thus, these similarities, ·' the exchange of gifts and the pleasure derived from them, are another p~rallel in the use of love ideas between Ibn Hazm and Chaucer. Tragic love stories most often end in the death of one or two. of the lovers. Prior ~o this death, a parting takes place during which period jealousy develops. In order to portray the tragic end of Troilus, Chaucer makes Criseyde's parting inevitable. Her

ll9Ibn Hazm, pp. 185-186. 120Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, Bk. II, 449. 144 traitorous father arranges for her retrieval against her will and Troilus could do nothing to prevent her departure. He therefore becomes like winter leaves which "drop away one by one till the tree is naked and naught but branch and bark" are left on it. He becomes exceedingly sorrowful and almost loses his mind and wishes death: "As long as I can last alive, I will bewail this cursed fortune in torment and cruel pangs, . • Never will I see it rain or shine, but I will end my woeful life, like Oedipus, in darkness. 11 121 Criseyde, too, is affected by the parting and The salt tears from her two eyes ran out as a shower in April. She beat her white breast, cried a thousand times after death, and held herself for a lost creature, because she must forego him who alone was wont to lighten her woe. She tore her wavy hair of sunnish hue, full cften wrung her long and slender fingers, ... Her pale hue, once so bright, bore witness of her woe and stress.122 In his chapters on "Breaking Off" and "Of Separa­ tion, " Ibn Hazm lists twelve types of parting, their causes, effects, and misfortunes, and he supplies each case with verse and anecdotes. He states that parting is "among the misfortunes of Love," for there is "no calamity. in the world equal to separation. 11123 • And as Chaucer depicts Criseyde's departure from Troy, Ibn Hazm states that Separation can be caused by a journey and a removal of dwellings, when there is little certainty of a return,

121Ibid., Bk. III, 461-462. 122Ibid. , Bk. IV, 469 • 123 Ibn Hazm, pp. 163, 1 66 . 145 and the lovers cannot be sure of ever meeting again. Separation engenders deep regrets, profound emotions, and melancholy recollections.124 · Because the lovers' parents are on opposing sides in the Trojan war, Troilus and Criseyde inwardly know that their separation is a detrimental factor to their rela­ tionship. Yet they refused to accept this fact, and the outcome of their separation was, as Ibn Hazm puts it in this particular situation, a "grievous catastrophe," and "a shocking anxiety" which perpetuates a "frightful" and "stubborn sickness. 11125 During separation, lovers usually find pleasure in objects that remind them of their beloved. Thus while Criseyde is in the Greek camp, Troilus takes out the old letters she had sent him and finds vent for his sorrow in their soothing words. This inspires him •to create Criseyde's beauty and form. within his mind.126 Similarly, Ibn Hazm states that at such times the lover finds con- tentment and satisfaction by creating images and appari­ tions of his beloved which are the "result of a recollec­ tion which never deserts the minds of the faithfu1. 11127 Anether source of pleasure during this period of separation _;i s caused" by the lover's visitation and

124Ibid., p. 166. 125Ibid. 126chaucer,· Troilus and Criseyde, Bk. V, 492. 127 Ibn Hazm, p. 187. 146 association of places and objects which recreate pleasant memories of the beloved and of past pleasures. Troilus asks Pandarus to go with him to visit Criseyde's palace: "For the love of God, let us go see Criseyde's palace since as yet we have no more gaiety, let us at least see her palace!" ... Then he rode up and down, and everything came to his memory as he rode by places in the city where aforetime he had enjoyed Love's pleasantness: "Yonder. I saw my lady dance, and in that temple my sweet lady first caught me with her clear eyes; and yonder I have heard my dear heart laugh full merrily, and yonder she said to me things of joy. 11128 Again, Ibn Hazm's similar treatment is seen in his statement concerning the pleasure which the lover derives "by regarding the walls and viewing the battlements which encompass the object of his affection. 11129 This statement is not only true in Troilus' visit to Criseyde's palace but also in his long and patient stand on the city walls as he surveys the Greek camp where his beloved is. Ibn Hazm also recounts the story of a maiden who kissed the ground in a particular garden, knowing that her lover had pre­ viously stood in that same spot. Thus, the consoling and pleasing refuge to objects which engender and excite hope and love further shows the measure of the similar qualities in the treatment of the love problem in the two poets. When lovers are enthralled in each .other, they seem to become possessive and jealous lest they lose their beloved. In "The Knight's Tale," Pala.men and Arcite become

128Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, Bk. V, 493. 129 Ibn Hazm, p. 191. 147 exceedingly jealous of each other and at one point, "the fire of jealousy blazed up _within" Palamon's breast and "seized him so madly by the heart that he was livid as a box-tree to look upon. 11130 When Criseyde does not come back from the Greek camp in due time, ... the wicked spirit .•. that men call mad Jealousy, crept into Troilus' heavy heart; and his melancholy and his desire to die made him to forsake eating and drinking, and to flee from every com­ pany. 1.31 He accused Criseyde of betrayal and heaped all kinds of accusations on her. To this effect, Ton Hazm says that "Despair has a truly astonishing effect on the soul: it chills the heart's ardour in a remarkable way" and out of this, false accusations are accompanied with reproaches and breaking off.132 There is another type of jealousy which the two poets mention. This type develops as the result of extreme love which drives the lover to want to own his beloved. Troilus accuses Criseyde of faithlessness: "'When she was out at such and such a festival she might at last have looked at him.' 11 Yet Criseyde' s answer reaffirms his faith in her: "'Sweet, even were it so, what harm was that, since I meant no evil? For by the God who made us both, my intent is innocent in all things. 111133

l30Chaucer, "Knight's Tale," p. 22. 131chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, Bk. V, 504. 132Ibn Hazm, pp. 140-141, 216. l33Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, Bk. III, 446. 148 In Ibn Hazm, this is more explicitly stated in his chapters on "The Signs of Love" and "Compliance": It will happen in Love that the lovers have evil thoughts of one another; each suspects every word the partner utters, and misconstrues it wilfully; which is the origin of those reproaches which lovers often level against each other .... You will see the lover, when unsure of the constancy of his loved one's feeling for him, perpetually on his guard in a way that he never troubletl to be before •.••

The beloved heaps unjust accusations on his head; and he is full of apologies for every fault he is supposed to have committed,154 Among the misfortunes of love, Ibn Hazm includes the reproacher who is the "thoroughgoing scolder, who never lets up reprimanding the lover," and the slanderer who desires to part the lovers by bearing false tales.135 Chaucer reveals these traits in Diomede, the young and arrogant Greek warrior, who attempts to dissuade Criseyde and win her love. He tries his best to win her and uses all manner of deceit and lying. Since he does succeed in his attempt, he becomes the villain in the tragedy of Troilus. Ibn Hazm's chapters on "The· Slanderer" and "The Reproacher" also state the traits which Chaucer gives to Diomede. The slanderer, he says, alleges that the love which the lover is protesting _is not true, and that his real purpose is to relieve him­ self and gratify his sensual impulses •••• [He]

134rbn Hazm, pp. 44-45, 88. 135rbid., pp. 96, 107. 149 labours to part the lovers in order that he may enjoy unique possession of the beloved, and have her for · himself. There are no people on earth worse than slanderers and back-biters. Back-biting is a charac­ teristic proving the true to be rotten, and the branch diseased; it shows that the nature itself is corrupt, and that upbringing is also depraved.136 The last of these parallels, and perhaps the most significant, is the two poets' concern with the love and ' relationship of man to his God. Both of them end their works with a didactic tone in which they seem to tell man­ kind that there is a higher type of love, one which makes mankind appreciate and respect God, for it is through him that love binds the world. In his last chapter, Ton Hazm states that The finest quality that a man can display in Love is continence: to abstain from sin and all indecency. For so he will prove himself to be not indifferent to the heavenly reward, that eternal bliss reserved by God for those who dwell in His everlasting kingdom.137 Likewise, at the end of "The Knight's Tale," Theseus, who is often likened to the god of love, links the love of man to God when he says: "When the high First Cause and Mover created the fair chain of love, great was the deed and high His intent; well He knew why, and what He designed therein. For with that fair chain of love He bound, to certain limits that they could not flee, the water and the earth, .the fire and the air .•.. Then may men per­ ceive by this order of things that this same Mover is stable and eternal. Well may a man know, unless he be a simpleton, that every part derives from its whole • . • • Therefore of His wise providence He has so well

136Toid., pp. 109-110.

137rbid., p. 262. 150 ordered His works that species and courses of things shall endure only by succession and not eternally.-i38 In further support to the presence of this feature in the two poets, Ibn Hazm's explicit statement is added: Here, as you will observe, I have expressed myself as content to be combined with my beloved in the Knowledge of God, in which are comprehended the heavens, the spheres~ all the worlds , and every single existing thing.l.J9 Likewise, at the end of Troilus and Criseyde, Chaucer treats this feature in the final lines of Book V: 0 young lusty folks, youths and maids, in whom ever grows up with your age, get you home from worldly vanity~ Cast up the eyes of your heart to that God that made you after His image, and think that all this world is but a market-fair, and passes as soon as the sweet flowers. And love Him who for pure love, to redeem our souls, first died upon the cross, and rose again, and now sits on high heaven. He will fail no creature, of that be sure, who will lean his heart wholly on Him, and since He is most gentle and best to love, what need to seek feigned loves?l40 This final feature also appears in Ibn Hazm's introduction when he says: The noblest sort of Love is that which exists between persons who love each other in God; either because of an identical zeal for the righteous work upon which they engaged, or as the result of in sectarian belief and principles, or by virtue of a common possession of some noble knowledge.141 In retrospect, the parallels which exist between Ibn Hazm's The Ring of the Dove and Chaucer's courtly love

l38chaucer, "Knight's Tale," pp. 49-50. 139 Ibn Hazm,· p. 194 • 140Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, Bk. V, 414. 141 Ibn Hazm, p. 25. 151 ideas in "The Knight's Tale" and Troilus and Criseyde are numerous. Because Ibn Hazm's treatment is systematic and follows a specific design, the reader has all the love elements sequentially arranged and he therefore has quick access to a particular item such as letter-writing, jealousy, parting, or oth~rwise. Chaucer, on the other hand, incorporates these love elements within the frame­ work of his plots, and it therefore becomes significant that the two poets' ideas on love are so similar that one cannot attribute these similarities to mere coincidence. Rather, this is an added support to the theory of a literary relationship between Arabic and British litera­ tures in which continental literatures played a mediatory role. CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

The question posed in the beginning of this study was to determine whether there are any Arabic influences on Geoffrey Chaucer. This question has been answered by the examination o·f the Arabian Nights and Kaleela wa Dumna as sources for four of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and by the similar treatment of courtly love features as they are found in Ibn Hazm's The Ring of the Dove and Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde and "The Knight's Tale." Chapters I and II summarized the historical, intel­ lectual, and cultural achievements of the Arabs. Under Muhammad, the Arabs emerged from the deserts of Arabia as a new and dynamic power. Within a century of the Prophet's death, they established three major dynasties which extended from Samarkand t'o . In Europe, they established two roots, one in Sicily, and the other, sur­ viving for a period of eight hundred years, in Spain. The Crusades added another medium of cultural exchange between the Arab East and the West. Through these interactions, the Arabs reintroduced the Hellenic philosophical and scientific achievements into

152 153 Europe. Along with these contributions, they introduced and exerted a literary influence on European writers, particularly the Spanish. Although the Arabian Nights was not translated into any major European language till the seventeenth century, many of its tales had filtered into European literatures I . by word of mouth. The literary influence of the Arabs is best seen in their introduction of the framed story, the rhyme scheme in poetry, and the popularization of the ver­ nacular in the poetries of Spain and Sicily. The zajal and the muwashah became a ma jor influence on the Provencal poets and the troubadours of the eleventh and twelfth cen­ turies. Chapter III gave overwhelming evidence of Arabic influences on Chaucer's "The Squire's Tale," "The Par­ doner's Tale," "The Friar's Tale," and "The Manciple 's Tale." "The Squire's Tale" has analqgous qualities with "Mathal al Hamamatayn" ("Exemplum of the Two Pigeons") which is found in Ibn al-Muqaffa's Kaleela wa Dumna. This aDd other such Arabic works are recognized to have influ­ enced tale LXVII, "The Tale of the Three Caskets," and "The Tale of Judgement Against Adulterers," all of which are found in the Gesta Romanorum and other Alphonsine and Italian tales -from which Chaucer borrowed the theme and plot for "The Squire's Tale." Tales which employ birds and bird language have been traced to the Orient and the 154 Middle East. The fact that these bird tales are inter­ lacery and are didactic in their message to faithless lovers gives further proof of their literary relationship. "The Pardoner's Tale" also revealed Eastern and Oriental analogues. The findings suggested that "The Exemplum of the Shrew and the Ignoramus" and "The Exemplum < of the Disco·.rerer of the Treasure, rr derived from Kaleela wa Dumna, the tale of "The Stolen Purse" and "The Merchant and the Two Sharpers," derived from the Arabian Nights, have analogous qualities with "The Pardoner's Tale." These analogous qualities in theme, characterization, and the use of irony suggest that these Arabic tales were other sources from which Chaucer borrowed the plot of his tale. The tales, "The Angel of De,ath with the Proud King and the Devout Man" and "The Angel of Death and the Rich King," derived from the Arabian Nights, and the tale of "The Hermit, the Robber and the Devil," traced back to Kaleela wa Dumna, show many analogous qualities to Chaucer's "The Friar's Tale." These similarities include the d1sguise of the devil as a human_ being, the theme of evil, and the employment of good and bad characters for contrastive and didactic purposes. "The Manciple's Tale " has analogous qualities to the story of "King Sinbad and His Falcon," "The Merchant's Wife and the Parrot," derived from the Arabian Nights, and tale X..XXII of the Gesta Romanorum. Again, the employment of birds within the framework of the narrative, along with 155 the didactic comment on the irrational behavior of man, revealed close parallels and analogous qualities between the Arabic and Latin works and Chaucer's tale. From the comparative study of Chaucer's four tales, two significant points emerge. These plots, motifs, moral comments, birds and bird language, and their interlacery features appeared in Arabic and Oriental literatures prior to their appearance in Europe, and their influence on Spanish and Italian literatures has been recognized. These same European works are known to have influenced Chaucer, and therefore the influence of these Arabic tales upon Chaucer cannot be denied. Chapter rv traced the development of love poetry from Pre-Islamic times throughout the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The Qasida (Ode), the only form of Pre--Islamic literature, treated love in a very candid and passionate manner. During Islamic times, the Qasida gave way to the love lyric in which platonic love was popularized. The mystic poetry of the tenth and -eleventh centuries popular­ ized divine and idealistic love, and it employed visionary journeys and personages. The poft~ip.y -of Arab Spain developed new forms in rhyme scheme and riletre, greatly influenced Provencal poets and troubadours, and thus became the main source of courtly love in Europe. The chapter then showed how Arab women held a higher position than their European counterparts and were therefore important in the development of Arabic love 156 poetry. Through Eleanor of Aquitaine, this type of love poetry filtered into England where she introduced Eastern customs and mannerisms into her court. Conclusive evidence has shown the following parallels and similarities between Ibn Hazm's Tawg al Hamama and Chaucer's Troilus and Cri'seyde and "The Knight's Tale": the signs of love, the effect of the eye beam, t:ne messenger, the exchange of gifts, correspondence, love sickness, the parting, jealousy, the association of objects with the beloved, the breaking off, and the superi­ ority of God's love. These features were prevalent in the passionate, platonic, and mystic poetry of the Arabs; these similarities cannot be attributed to mere coinci­ dence. It therefore becomes evident that a strong literary relationship existed between Arabic and British litera­ tures. It is not complete, however, to say that because there are Arabic influences on Chaucer, a literary rela­ tionship exists between Arabic and British literatures as a whole. In order to make this theory valid, the author recommends that similar studies be made of the influences of Hay Ben Yagthan (The Awake Son of the Vigilant) on Robinson Crusoe and the influence of the Arabian Nights on Swift's Gulliver's Travels and Walter Scott's novels. This is not to say that these British works are not unique, rather, that the parallels which exist between them pose a literary relationship. 157 's invasion of Egypt, the colonization of the Arab world by Britain and France, the establishment of missions, and the opening of the Suez Canal had two major bearings on the Middle East: they introduced the into the Arab world and caused a rebirth of cul­ tural and intellectual endeavours. The Arab East, ruled for five CP.nturies by the '11 Sick Man of Europe, 11 the Ottomans, reewakened from the deep slumber imposed upon it and turned to the West for its technological and cul­ tural advancement. This interaction with the West was, therefore, at least partially responsible for the nineteenth century Arab Renaissance in Egypt and . And just as the Western minds were influenced by Arabic contributions during the Middle Ages, so were the Arab minds of the nine­ teenth century influenced by the West. Hence, a study of Brit ish literary influences on early twentieth century Arab writers becomes inevitable.

- APPENDIX I

158 159

A

In an interview with Mr. Carl W. Smith, a doctoral student in the music department, East Texas State Uni­ versity, he stated that Arabic influences on European music can also be seen in the liturgical hymns and songs of the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries. Among these, the Gregorian chants were derived from Arabic influences, mainly from the minaret prayer caller who made his appearance five times daily. In his History of the Arabs, Professor Phillip Hitti stated th~t the Persian music master who was a product of Haroun al-Rashid's court, Ziryab, set the modes of fashion and good behavior in Cordova. Hitherto hair had been worn long and parted on the forehead, now it was trimmed low on the brow; water had been drunk out of metal vessels, now out of glasses; certain dishes, including asparagus, had been unpopu­ l ar, now those same dishes became favourites--all because o! Ziryab's example (p. 515).

B

T"ne illustrated book is an Arabic introduction into Europe. The epic beast fable collection Kaleela wa Dumna is full of ·illustrations. These illustrations were later seen in the Reynard and other European works. It is worth noting that Chaucer's Elsmere manuscripts are illustrated and colored as well. • Along this line, the art of binding books, the use of animal skins for the casings, and the 160 art of decorative designs were in~roduced by the Arabs into Spain and Sicily.

C

Using Professor C. J. Lyall's words, the Arabist

Professor A. J. Arberry us,ed the following excerpt on the Pre-Islamic Ode: "The Arabian ode sets forth before us a series of pictures, drawn with confident skill and first-hand knowledge, of the life its maker lived, of the objects among which he moved, of his horse, his camel, the wild creatures in the wilderness, and of the landscape in the midst of which his life and theirs was set; but all, however loosely they seem to be bound together, are subordinate to one dominant idea, which is the poet's unfolding of himself, his admirations and his hates, his prowess and the freedom of his spirit •••. No poetry better fulfills Mr. Mathew Arnold's defini­ tion of a criticism of life; no race has more com­ pletely succeeded in drawing itself for all time, in its grandeur and its limitations, its best and its worst. It is in this sense that the poetry of the Pagan Arabs is most truly their history" (p. 19).

D

Two more areas that are noteworthy for the study are given by Professor Weiner. The first, the study of ghost words in Gothic, Arabic, Anglo-Saxon, and Hebrew has revealed that Arabic terms entered the Gothic lan­ guage and from there, they made their way into the Germanic languages and the sister languages. He reached this con­ clusion by studying Syrian and Greek texts of the Bible for they show "a bilingual Graeco-Arabic" relationship in relation to "the Sinaitic type (which) was employed by the 161 Goths in the formation of a new Graeco-Latin text and also in creating a vocabular~ for the Gothic language" (p. 327). Weiner concludes this study by saying that while studying Arabic documents, he found words which appeared succes­ sively in England and in the region of the Rhine. Further- more, It has been observed that the early Anglo-Saxon glos­ saries owe their origin to St. Gall. This then explains t he interest in Arabic words which we have already seen in England in the documents of the eighth century. Gothic, itself deriving a considerable vocabulary from the Arabic, transmitted the new learning to Anglo-Saxon learning, as it had already done with Frankish and Old-Saxon (p. 330). In relation to poetry, Weiner has stated that "Virgil was acquainted with Khalil's versification, and with the grammatical, or logical, subdivisions, as they were known in the eighth century" (p. 18). Khalil, the reader is reminded, is the father of Arabic versification whose theories ard rules on poetry were followed by all the Arab poets, except the ones who developed their own form of poetry, the zajal, in Arab Spain. In his words, Virgil received his instruction in the Arabic versifi­ cation through a Jewish medium (p. 18).

It is pe rfectly clear that Virgil had before him an Arabic treatise on metre, from which he chose "all the names of the metres and the versification," without, however, paying the slightest attention to the correct rendering of the Arabic system. He caught perfectly the spirit of the new rules, without bothering himself about the details. The codification of the lu-abic rhyming laws is ascribed to Khalil ben-Ahmed, who was born in 718 and died in 791. He divided all the metres into fifteen classes, • • • tawil "the long," • • • "the extended," 162 .•. medari "the similar." These three Virgil quotes by name, the first two in translation, the third in a Latin transliteration as mederia (pp. 15-16). Thus Weiner concludes, Arabic had a great influ­ ence on European languages and its poetry introduced into European poetry the use of final vowel assonances and the triade rhyme. APPENDIX II

163 164

A

A DERIVATIONAL OUTLINE OF FRAMED STORIES TILL 1450 A.D.

Egyptian Westcar Papyrus -- King Khufu

Oriental Tales (Hindu, S~skrit, Pahlavi) Gesta Panchantantra Brihatkathasagara Seventy Tales by a Parrot Fifty-Five Tales by a Vampire Arthsatra

Syriac Kaleela wa Dumna

Greek Aesopic Fables

Persian Karataka and Momanaka

Arabic Arabian Nights Kaleela wa Dumna Book of Sindbad Book of the Cats The Maqamat The Tales of Jiha

Latin and Italian Decameron Directorium Humanae Vitae Novelle La Moral Filosophia Reinardus The Prince Cotegiano Gesta Romanorum Dis'corsi Degli Animalia

French Roman de Reynard 165 Spanish Disciplina Clericalis Conde Lucanor Libro de Enjemplos Bocados de Oro Poridad de Poridales El Libro de Buenos Proverbios Flores de Filosophia Castigos El Libro de Los Gatos

German Buch der Beispiele Der Al ten We'isen Reinhart Fuchs

English The Morall Philosophie of Doin The Canterbury Tales Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers

B

In her dissertation "An Indian Source for the Medieval Beast Epic: Reynard the Fox as a Derivative of the Panchantantra, 11 University of California at Berkeley, December, 1966, Dr. Myrtle D. Raj concludes that through oral and literary traditions, the Panchantantra reached Europe earlier than the emergence of the Reynard. Further­ more, she states that the •.. appearance of the fox-hero on the European scene .at just about the time of the Panchantantra literature reaching Europe has therefore double significance •••• On the one hand there is the obvious link with the jackal hero of the Panchantantra (the folklore equiva­ lent of the European fox), and on the other hand the hitherto inexplicable shift at this time from the wolf (the central figure in the corpus of European wolf-fox stories) to the fox would be satisfactorily explained.

The comparison of the two works has brought out certain important_lj~enesses which, in conjunction with t .. . 166 the coincidence in dates, would certainly seem to support a theory of derivation (pp. 125-126).

C

Dr. Eva Sayegh's dissertation, "Middle Eastern Influences on Chaucer with Special Reference to the Arabs," University of London, 1946, shows ample conclusions and findings to support the theory of Arabic scientific influ­ ences on Chaucer. Dr. Sayegh divides these into ·three G.ategories : ( a) Arabic influences in relation to astronomy and astrology, (b) influences in relation to alchemy and chemistry, (c) influences in relation to medicine. (a) After giving the backgrounds to the science of astronomy and astrology, Sayegh finds parallels and simi- . larities in the onomastic labeling of the zodiac which have come down from Babylonian into Pahlavi, Persian, Arabic and Latin. Indeed, the naming of the constellation, the eclipt ic divisions and the properties of the twelve houses have much in common with the Latin divisions, their naming, and their properties. She further discusses, in detail, the similarities between the Arabic treatises and their translations and gives ample examples of how Chaucer came across the s~ientific material and how he incorporated it in his description of the characters. Her last segment on this area deals with the Arabic influences · on Chaucer's Astrolabe, the use of a good number of Arabic terms not only in the Astrolabe, but also in several of the Canterbury Tales. 167 (b) Dr. Sayegh is not sure about definite evidence which points out direct influences in chemistry and alchemy. However, she draws upon several descriptive parallels in "The Cannon Yeoman's Tale" and the different chemical processes used by the scientists prior to and during Chaucer's time. In her opinion, this tale best reveals the influence of Arabic loan words, description of chemical processes, description of utensils and the secrecy which shrouded the practice of alchemy. It is worth adding to her findings that Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon were likely sources for Chaucer's knowledge on these technical terms and processes, as well as Gerard of Cremona and Duns Scotus all of whom came in direct contact with the Arabs either in Spain or Sicily (Landau, p. 33). (c) In medicine, Sayegh gave satisfactory evidence of the Arabic impact on Europe. Aside from Hippocrates and Aristotle, Chaucer acknowledged Haly Abbas, al-Razi, John Damascenus, Avicenna, Averroes and Ibn al-Haitham, all of whom were Arab masters. The iink between astrology and medicine, blood-letting, the careful scrutiny of the humors, the lover's maladies, and the impact o"f physiog­ nomy were all traced to Arabic origins. In support of her findings, the reader is referred to Professor Curry'_s book, Chaucer and the Medieval Sciences (1926) in which he gave similar proofs and went further by pointing out concrete cases where Chaucer 168 employed physiognomy in the description of his charas;ters-­ particularly the Wife of Bath, the Pardoner, and the Cook.

~ Forty-four years later, Chauncey Wood, in his Chaucer and · the Country of the Stars, attempted to disprove Curry's assertions of Arabic influences ·on Chaucer. Wood claimed that all of these features were found in Greek scientific lore which came to Chaucer through Greek by way of Rome. I disagree with Mr. Wood's thesis because more recent research has shown ·that after the fall of the Greek Empire, scientific manuscripts were preserved, often in fragments, in Syrian Monasteries and mainly at the Alexandrian library. These works were restored and trans­ lated into Syriac and Arabic and only then did they reach Europe. If, according to Mr. Wood, no Arab scientific influence was exerted on Chaucer, then how did Chaucer know of Avicenna, al-Razi, Averroes, and Haly Abbas, all of whom he mentions as his authorities? This fact alone is a sufficient proof of Chaucer's indebtedness to Arabic scien­ tific influences.

D \

In an interview with Mr. Tahsin Qubbaj, an under­ graduate Moslem student from , he stated that the sins of avarice _and greed are very serious ones in the Islamic religion . . The greedy and avaricious are pun~shed by being sent, along with the hypocrites, to the lowest and worst part of hell. For this reason, such didactic 169 tales became prevalent in the Islamic world. The Koran, .for example, classifies all moral qualities under two categories: (a) Those qualities which make man abstain from inflicting injury to his fellow man and (b) those which enable him to do good to others. The following verses (quoted by Mr. Qubbaj) illus- ' trate the contempt for the treacherous and the greedy: Surely Allah does not love the treacherous ••.• Do not .substitute worthless things for good ones and evaluate every situation thoroughly, for by doing this you will not do any wrong to others, for by doing thus you become corrupt. From the above, one can see that the Holy Koran makes a general statement which includes all types of dishonesty.

E

Like the medieval English morality plays, the theme of death and its personification in the written expression was very popular in Arabic literature, especially the works of the mystics. The following selections are included to show the similarities between the Arabic works and the English morality plays where Death, Good Deeds, and Honesty become active participants in this type of literature. The first example is the story of "The Angel of Death and the King and the Children of Israel" which appears in the Arabian Nights. A King, on his throne, sees a man of terribl~ aspect enter his hall. The being declares he is the Destroyer of Delights and Sunderer of Companies. Trembling, the king begs time-:--one day, one hour--to right his wrongs and seek absolution; the angel, 170 however, will not wait. "Who" asks the king, "will be with me when I am transported to my grave?" "Naught will be with thee," replies the other, "but thy work." "I have no work." "Doubtless, then, thine abiding place will be in the fire and thy departure to the wrath of the Almighty." The king falls from his throne and the people mourn (Campbell, p. 392). The second selection is taken from al-Niffari who is supposedly having a conversation with God. His sayings were publishad under the titles of Mauqifs (Stayings) of which this one is the "Mauqif of Death." He stayed me in death: and I saw the acts, every one of them, to be evil. And I saw fear holding sway over hope; and I saw riches turned to fire and cleaving to the fire; and I saw poverty an adversary adducing proofs; and I saw every thing, that it had no power over any other thing; and I saw this world to be a delusion, and I saw the heavens to be a deception. And I cried out, "0 Knowledge!"; and it answered me not. Then I cried out, "0 gnosis!"; and it answered me not. And I saw everything, that it had fled from me: and I saw in it secret imagination, and the secret part was that which persisted: and naught availed me, save the mercy of my Lord. And He said to me: Where is thy knowledge? And I saw Fire. And He said to me: Where is thy act? And I saw the Fire. And he said to me: Where is thy gnosis? And I saw the Fire. And he unveiled for me gnoses of uniqueness, and the Fire died down. And he said to me: I am thy friend. And I was stablished. And he said to me: I am thy gnosis. And I spoke. And he said to me: I am thy seeker. And I ~ent forth (Arberry, pp. 224-225). From these two examples one can therefore see the similarities in the treatment of morals and man's con­ science. The implication does not mean that medieval morality plays were influenced by Arabic literature, ·but the Hebraic religion on the one hand, and the Christian one 171 on the other, have influenced the Islamic dogma con­ / siderably. Thus it is not surprising that such thematic and imaginative ideas are prevalent in eastern and western literatures. APPENDIX III

172 173

A

The following excerpts, taken from Pre-Islamic passionate poetry, are included for the reader's scrutiny. (Underscoring mine.) Her slender waist and le A graceful figure, a _c~o~m~i:=:-:7::-::-~=~ - A bosom like a mirror in e light; A white pale virgin pearl such lustre keeps, Fed with clear water in untrodden deeps, Now she bends half way: two cheeks appear, And such an eye as marks the frighted deer Beside her fawn; and lo, the shapely neck Not bare of ornament, else without a fleck; While from her shoulders in profusion fair; Like clusters on the palm, hangs down her coal- · dark hair. --Nicholson (p. 106) The following poem reveals the Bedouin's love for hunting, gambling, love and wine (underscoring mine): Roast meat and wine: the swinging ride On a camel sure and tried, Which her master speeds amain O'er low dale and level plain: Women marble-white and fair Trailing gold-fringed raiment rare: Opulence, luxurious ease, With the ' s soft Such delights hath our brief span; Time is Change, Time's fool is man. --Nicholson (p. 136) The following poem reveals the heroics and the recreatioI). of the battle scene: Learn, Malik's daughter, how I rush into the fray, And how I draw back only At sharing the prey. I never quit the saddle, My strong steed nimbly bounds; Warrior after warrior Have covered him with wounds. 174 Full-armed against me stood One feared of fighting men: He fled not oversoon Nor let himself be ta'en. With straight hard-shafted spear .,. I dealt him in his side ·A sudden thrust which opened Two streaming gashes wide, Two gashes whence outgurgled His life-blood: at the sound Night-roaming ravenous wolves Flock eagerly around. So with my doughty spear I trussed his coat of mail For truly, when the spear strikes, The noblest man is frail -- And left him low to banquet The wild beasts gathering there; They have torn off his fingers, His wrist and fingers fair! --Nicholson (p. 116)

B

The following examples are excerpts from the platonic poetry which developed mainly during the Umayyad period (underscoring mine): Blame me no more, 0 comrades~ but to-day Quietly wit:i. me beside the howdahs stay. Blame not my love for Zaynap, for to ,her And hers my heart is pledged a prisoner. Ah, can I ever think of how we met Once at al-Khayf, and feel no fond regret? My song of other women was but jest: She reigns alone, eclipsing all the rest. Hers is my love sincere, 'tis she the flame Of passion kindles -- so, a truce to blame!· --Nicholson (p. 237) . Oh, might it flower anew, that youthful prime, And restore to us, Buthayna, the bygone time! And ~t we again be blest as we wont to be, WJ:ien thy folk were nigh and grudged what thou gavest me! 175 Shall I ever meet Buthyna alone again, Each of us full of love as a cloud of rain? Fast in her net was I when a lad, and till This day my love is growing and waxing still. I have spent my lifetime, waiting for her to speak, And the bloom of youth is faded from off my cheek; But I will not suffer that she my suit deny, M love remains und in thou hall thins die! --Nicholson p. 38

C

Aramajani, Arnold, Attiyah, Heer, Hitti, Lewis and Von Grunebaum all agree on the great influence exerted by such Arab philosophers as al-Gazali (al-Gazel), al-Arabi, ibn Rushd (Averroes), ibn Sina (Avicenna), and al-Razi on medieval theologians, scientists and philosophers. Chaucer mentions all these names in several places, a fact which proves that he was familiar with their works and also a fact which shows that they were still popular three hundred years after their death. St. Augustine's Confessions, for example, follows in composition and pattern the work of al­ Gazali, Savior from Error (Heer, p. 274) . Aquinas' work too has similarities with Ibn Rushd and al-Gazali's works, especially in the attempt "to bring together Christian revelation. and Greek rationalism in harmony" (Aramajani, p. 100). Al-Gazali and Aquinas are in agreement about the contemplation of God (Truth), about the kind of gnosis for the perfect knowledge of this Truth, and they both employ argumentation derived from Moslem scholasticism. Other similarities include the autobiographical and the religious 176 and philosophical status which each had acquired. For just as Aquinas is called the father of the Christian church, so was al-Gazali called the prince of Moslem theologians. With the rise of and the ascetic cults, Moslem legends and visionary trips and voyages were written

in abundance. In these works, the pattern of the mystics' 'o progress was emplqyed in the form of stages or waiting stations through which the pilgrim (the Sufi) travelled to reach his ubudiyya (servanthood), irada (desire), and shawq (yearning), all of which culminated in mahaba (love). Dante's Divina Commedia which employs Arabic astrological lore, color and animal imagery, and a visionary trip in which the poet is pursuing his Beatific vision, has been known to have precursors which the Florentine poet was familiar with before he produced his work.' Professor Miguel Asin Palacios, in his very scholarly and very controversial book, Islam and the Divine Comedy, points out that there were Arabic forerunners which have close parallels to the Divine Comedy. Some of the works he cited were Risalat al-Ghufran (Treatise on Pardon), the Koranic Hadiths (Commentaries), and the "Isra" or "Journey by Night on Earth" and the "Miraj," two of the main visionary trips written in Arabic, as well as the Sufi work which appears under the title of "The Book of the Nocturnal Journey Towards the Majesty of the Most Magnani­ mous." He concludes that all of the similarities are 177 direct influences on Dante, thus making the Arabic version a prototype for the Divina Commedia. !!'he following statements are incorporated from his book t o show the measure of this influence: - As in Dante, Jerusalem ls the starting point in this version of the Moslem myth (p. 8). [ There are] simi­ larities in the torture of the adulterers and the usurers (p. 9) .... It is clear that the seven heavens traversed by Mahomet are identical with those t hat Dante names after the seven stars of the Ptolemaic system (p. 11) .... Beatrice, human indeed, but rendered angelic through the Beatific vision, descends from heaven with divine permission to conduct Dante to the Throne of God ... and likewise Gabriel leads Mahomet .... The prophets in the Moslem heavens are the saints in Dante's poem. The literary artifice in both works is identical, no matter how they differ i n art and spiritual detail (p. 12) ...• The architec­ ture of the Inferno had its counterpart in the religious tales of Islam as far back as the ninth century (p. 15) .... The most striking analogy between the two works is the idealistic tone of the general description of paradise (p. 25) •••. Many of the actual passages are either similar or identical, which still further proves the close relationship between the two legends(~. 26). Dante's conception, (like the mystic al-Arabi) is symbolic of the moral life of man, whom God has placed in the world to work out his destiny and attain supreme bliss, as repre­ sented by the Beatific vision .... Those sublime mansions of paradise, which stand for the theological virtues, can only be reached by the aid of illumina­ tive grace (p. 74). With all due fairness to Professor Palacios' monumental work, I have chosen the words of the well-known Arabist, Alfred Guillaume, to summarize this segment. (, To . the fascinating studies of the late Professo~ Asin of Madrid we owe the discovery of the enormous influence of Ibn 'Arabi on Dante. 1'he Arab first described the infernal region, tne heavens of the astronomers, the Paradise of the blessed, the choirs of angels round the divine light, and the beautiful woman who was the guide. Curiously enough, both Arab and- Florentine were forced to write a commentary on their first works to show that their love-songs had 178 an esoteric and not an amatory significance. The link between the two writers has since been discovered, and the fact of affiliation has now passed into the history of European literature. The significant point is that the narrative is based on the legend of Muhammad's ascent to Paradise (Guillaume, p. 150). I cannot help but notice the deep irony which lies behind the last statement in the previously quoted para­ graph, ' for Dante placed Mupammad in the worst part of hell where he made him the chief of the devils, and the other part he assigned to a stationary place between the skies and the earth (heaven and hell). Hence, "The greatest theologian and the greatest poet of the European Middle Ages are deeply indebted to Islam for inspiration as well as material" (Von Grunebaum, Medieval Islam, p. 343). This therefore adds to our theory of a literary relation­ ship which existed between the Arabs and Europe on the one hand, and the Arabs and Chaucer on the other.

D

The following fragment of a poem by Ibn al-Arabi reveals the mystic's creed and his faith as is revealed through love: My heart can assume every form: The cloister of the monk, a fane of idols, The pasture of gazelles, the votary's Ka'aba, The scrolls of the Thorah, the Koran. Love is the creed I hold; /wherever turn The camels, Love is my creed and faith. --Byng (p. i) The second ·example reveals the common poetic ·device of ennobling love and the request of grace from the Lady 179 (poet's true self--or God): How can I have patience, and thou, mine eye's delight, All the livelong year not one moment in sight? And with what can I rejoice my heart, when thou art a joy Unto every human heart, from me has taken plight? The day when I behold thy beauty doth appear to me , As tho' it gleamed on Time's dull brown a - constellation bright. --Nicholson (p. 324)

E

Because Dodd's Courtly Love in Chaucer and Gower presents all the elements of courtly love, the conventions, the conceits, and poetical devices, it is chosen as a text to present all the elements for the reader's convenience. 1. Courtly love is sensual, .•• 2. Courtly love is illicit and, for the most part, adulterous, 3. A love, sensual and illicit, must needs be secret. . . 4. Love, to meet the requirements of the courtly sys "t:_em,must not be too easily obtained.

Love makes the rude and uncouth excel in every grace; ... it enriches those of low birth with real nobility of character; and .•. it makes the true lover show a becoming complaisance to all •••• No more grievous fault could be committed, no breach of the cannons could be more serious, than for a lover, man or woman, to be unfaithful. It demanded of him [man ] nobility of character and moderation in all his conduct ..•• Her [Lady'sl qualities were doubtless exaggerated, .•. Her perfection is pictured in her · physical beauty, her character, when portrayed, accords with the medieval ideal ..•• His love for her sur­ passes all other things in value; the slightest token from her makes him rich .... The effects of love, ... are described as suffering, or a severe sick­ ness; sleeplessness; confusion and loss of speech in the lady's presence;. trembling and pallor when near the 180 loved one; ... Certain other ideas and conceits, though frequent in the poetry of the troubadours, are important rather because of the elaborate treatment • • . . Three especially are to be mentioned: the idea \ that love is caused by the beauty of the opposite sex; the conceit that through the eyes, beauty enters the · heart, _inflicting a wound which only the lady can heal; and the fancy that, though absent from the loved one, the lover leaves his heart with her .• ; •

All who sang of love, however, agreed as to the ennobling effect of love on the character of the lover. Specifically, because of his love, he becomes courteous, gentle, generous and courageous. . In short, the ideas of the troubadour lyrics are the b~sis of the whole courtly system (pp. 5-15), SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

Aramajani, Yahya. Middle East Past and Present. Engle­ wood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1970. Arberry, A. J. Aspects of Islamic Civilization·. New York:: A. S. Barnes and Co., Inc., 1964. Arnold, Thomas, and Guillaume, Alfred. The Legacy of Islam. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968. Atiya, Edward. The Arabs. Edinburgh: Rand R Clark, Ltd., 1955. Baker, E. A. The History of the English Novel. Vol. I. London: H.F. and G. Whith~rly, 1934. Barret, Loma Linton. Five Centuries of Spanish Literature. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1965. Benoist, Jacques. Arabian Destiny. London: Elek Books, 1957. Brewer, Dereck S. Chaucer. London: Longman's, 1960. Bryan, W. F., and Dempster, Germaine, eds. Sources and Analo es of Chaucer's Canterbur Tales. New York: Hum&.ni ies Press, 19 8. Bush, Douglas, ed. The Portable Milton. New York: The Viking Press, 1969. Byng, Edward J. The World of the Arabs. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1944. Campbell, Joseph, ed. The Portable Arabian Nights. New York: The Viking Press, 1969. Chaucer, Geoffrey . . The Complete Poetical Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Edited by John S. P. Tatlock and Percy Mackaye. New York: The Free Press, 1966. 181 182 Cheikho, Lot.0..s, ed. Kalila et Dimnah. Beyrouth: Imprimerie Catholique, 1927. Coghill, Nevill. The Poet Chaucer. 7th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1967. Dodd, William G. Courtly Love in Chaucer and Gower. Gloucester, Mass .: Peter Smith, 1959. Gabrieli, Francesco. The Arabs A Compact History. New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc., 1963. ( . The Arab Revival. London: Thames and Hudson, ----1961. Giffen, Lois A. A Theory of Profane Love Among the Arabs: The Development of the Genre. New York: New York University Press, 1971. Heer, Friederich. The Medieval World: Eurobe 1100-1350. London: Weidenfeld atid Nicolson, 19 2. Hitti, Phillip K. History of the Arabs. London: Macmillan and Co. , 1940 . . Islam: A Way ~f Life. Minneapolis: University ----of Minnesota Press, 1970. Makers of Arab History. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1968. Holt, P. M.; Lambton, A.; and Lewis, B., eds. The Cam­ bridge History of Islam. Vols. I and II. Cambridge: The University Press, 1970. Hooper, Wynard, ed . Gesta Romanorum. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1959. Huart, Clement. A History of Arabic Literature. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1903. Hume, Martin. Spanish Influence on English Literature. New ' York: Haskell House, 1964. Ibn Hazm, Ali Ibn Ahmad. The Ring of the Dove. Translated by A. J. Arberry. London: Luzac and Company, Ltd. Ltd., 1953. Kritzeck, James, ed. Anthology of Islamic Literature. New York: The New American Library, 1964. Lewis, Archibald, ed. The Islamic World and the West. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1970. 183 Lewis, Bernard. ~ne Arabs in History. New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1966. Lichtenstadter, Ilse. Islam and the Modern Age. New York: Bookman Associates, 1958.

Magnus, Laurie. British Literature in its Foreign Rela­ tions. New York: Benjamin Blom, 1968. Maugham, Somerset. Andalusia. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1923. Mo rrison, Theodore, ed. The Portable Chaucer. New York: The Viking Press, 1969. Nicholson, Adams, and Keller, John, eds. Spanish Litera­ ture. Patterson, N. J.: Adams and Company, 1962. Nicholson, neynold A. A Literary History of the Arabs. Cambridge: The University Press, 1969. Palacios, Miguel Asin. Islam and the Divine Comedy. London: John Murray, 1926. . 9 Rivlin, Benjamin, ed. The Contemporary Middle Ea~ Tradi­ tion and Innovation. New York: Random House, 1965. Robinson, F. N., ed. The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1957. Rougemf:it, Denis de. Love in the Western World. Trans­ lated by Mqntgornery Belgian. New York: Pantheon Books, Inc., 1956. v Shoubani, Muhammad M. The Travel of Arabic Literature to Europe. Cairo:· Dar al-Maarif, 1968. Spies , Ofto, ed. Maghutai's Biographical Dictionary of the -Martyrs of Love. Stuttgart: Verlong W. Kohlhomm.er, 1936 . .. . Von G1;'U11ebaum -, . Gustave·; Classical Islam: A History 600- 1258. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company, 1970. Me dieval Islam: A Study in Cultural Orienta­ tion . Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1954. ____· . Modern ·!slam: The Search for Cultural Ide ~i ty. Berkeley: University of Californ.i a Press, 196 . ·Weiner, Leo. Contributions. Toward a History c·.f Arabico­ GothicCulture:---1Iew York: Neale Publishingl;o:·, 1919. 184 Weit, Gaston. Baghdad: Metropolis of the Abbasid . Norman , Ok.: University of Oklahoma Press, 1971.

ARTICLE

Hinckley, Henry B. "The Framing Tale." ·Modern Language Notes, XLIX (February, 1934), 69-80.

UNPUBLISHED MATERIALS

Raj, Myrtle D. "An Indian Source for the Medieval Beast Epic: Reynard the Fox as a Derivative of the Panchantantra . 11 Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of California at Berkeley, 1966. Sayegh, Eva E. "Middle Eastern Influences on Chaucer with Special Reference to the Arabs." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of London, 1946.

CORRESPONDENCE AND INTERVIEWS

Two letters from Dr. Phillip K. Hitti, former Head of the Ne ar Eastern Studies Department at Princeton University and Professor Emeritus, dated March 12 and March 20 of 1972. A letter from Mr . J. Sanki, Edi to•r in Chief, Dar al-Maaref Egypt (House of Knowledge in Egypt), dated February 12, 1973. An interview with Mr. Carl Smith, doctoral student in the Music department, East Texas State University, dated March 19, 1973. Interview ~ith Mr. Tahsin Qubbaj, a former student of the author at East Texas State University, dated April 27, 1973.

1 Several informal discussions w~th Dr. Margaret McClear, Professor of Spanish, in the Department of Litera­ ture and Languages, East Texas State University. VITA

Raouf Jamil Halaby was born in Jerusalem, , on November 22, 1945, the son of Mrs. Katrina Halaby and the late Jamil Halaby. He graduated with honors from the National Protestant Secondary School in , Lebanon, in 1964. After attending Haigazian College from 1964 to 1965, he transferred to Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in English in .~u,._gl;lst, 1968, and his Master of

Science in Education in May, 1970. In the spring of 1970, he was employed by the Magnet Cove Public School System, Magnet Cove, Arkansas, as a teacher of English, French, and

Speech. In the fall of the same year he enrolled in the Graduate School at East Texas State University, and was employed as an Assistant Instructor in the Department of English from 1970 until 1973. In 1970, he married Rachel Dell Lollar of St. Petersburg, Florida. He is a permanent resident of the United States and will become a naturalized citizen in' 1974.

Permanent address: 219 N. 14th Street Arkadelphia, Arkansas 71923

This dissertation was typed by Mrs . Christine Elliott.

185