Abubakr bin Ṭufayl’s Ḥayy bin Yaqzān and its Reception in Early Modern England by Muhammad I.U. Sid-Ahmad Ismail A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy submitted to the Graduate Department of English University of Toronto © Copyright by Muhammad I.U. Sid-Ahmad (2014) Abubakr bin Ṭufayl’s Ḥayy bin Yaqzān and its Reception in Early Modern England Muhammad I.U. Sid-Ahmad Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of English University of Toronto 2014 Abstract This study of Abubakr bin Ṭufayl’s Ḥayy bin Yaqzān and its reception in early modern England aims to determine the extent and nature of John Milton’s, John Locke’s and Daniel Defoe’s engagement of Ḥayy. I begin with historical research that offers the interpretative contexts upon which my comparative analyses rely. The dissertation begins with a study of seventeenth-century England where Ḥayy was received and twelfth-century Morocco where it was written, correcting misunderstandings in recent studies of the meaning and role of Ḥayy. In Chapter Two, I argue that Milton’s representation of Adam’s awakening in Book VIII of Milton’s Paradise Lost may have been influenced by Ḥayy. I further suggest considering whether Milton had access to other medieval Islamic sources, particularly Islamic stories of ascent. The shared elements suggest considering these stories part of a common cycle. As for John Locke, my analysis corrects earlier suggestions that his Essay Concerning Humane Understanding and Ḥayy are in agreement. I show that Locke in fact disagreed with the claims made in Ḥayy. In Book II of his Essay, Locke closely examines the arguments made in Ḥayy in order to point to epistemological errors. Finally, Chapter Four discusses the importance of Daniel Defoe’s reliance on Ḥayy in conceiving the relationship between Friday and Crusoe in the Crusoe trilogy. Defoe mimics the Ḥayy-Āsāl relationship in Ḥayy to develop the religious or spiritual aspects of Crusoe’s character, whose religiosity is in some ways complicit with the ii colonial project. However, the development of Crusoe’s character through his relationship with Friday allows Defoe to reveal the violence of colonial practice and to critique the moral and political philosophies that underpinned colonialism. The comparative analyses of Milton’s, Locke’s and Defoe’s engagement of Ḥayy rely on viewing these texts as mediating between different historical worlds. The three English writers found Ḥayy attractive because it offered new ways of imagining and thinking. They imitated some of Ḥayy’s major aspects but responded in original ways to their own contemporaneous English world. I conclude by suggesting further research on the extent of seventeenth-century English knowledge of medieval North African history. iii Acknowledgements Work for this dissertation benefited from a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowship; a University of Toronto Fellowship; and a joint Humber College and Ontario Public Service Employees Union Doctoral Completion Scholarship. The idea for the dissertation was born with Prof. Mary Nyquist’s suggestion of a book by Nabil Matar, Islam in Britain. I had taken an early modern colonialism course with Prof. Nyquist at the master’s level in 2002. It is at this time that I wrote and revised essays on Defoe’s Crusoe trilogy and Ibn Tufayl’s Ḥayy, which appear here as Chapter Four. The dissertation would have not taken shape were it not for the serious consideration and feedback offered by Prof. Nyquist, whose role extended well beyond academic supervision, especially at times of personal and family crises during which I had to suspend work on the dissertation for lengthy periods of time. No one could have found better support in these difficult times. Prof. Paul Stevens, with whom I took a graduate course on early modern nationalism, corrected certain misunderstandings I had of Milton. Through his feedback and the activities he engaged us in – the graduate colloquium and the Canada Milton Seminar – Prof. Stevens has been a major influence. Informal chats with Prof. Stevens were the most valuable in boosting morale when confidence was tested. I also took a graduate course with Prof. Suzanne Akbari, whose work had originally attracted me to the University of Toronto’s Department of English. Prof. Akbari is the first person I met when I arrived in Toronto to seek advice on graduate studies and course selection. Her encouragement and insightful comments on Ḥayy helped me appreciate allusions in Ḥayy within an Islamic context and possible ways an early modern English audience would have read Ḥayy. Prof. Daniel White, with whom I audited a course on Romantic Orientalism, offered a research assistantship at the British Library in 2003, where I also did preliminary research locating the manuscripts of Ḥayy’s translations at the British Library. I also thank Prof. Edward Chamberlain for his kindness, support and encouragement. Many people, professors, librarians, friends, family and colleagues, have offered valuable support and encouragement. I thank all. My parents, Uthman Sid-Ahmad Ismail and Amna Hassan M. Ibrahim, taught me to respect and continuously seek knowledge. They passed away in March and August 2011. iv I dedicate this dissertation first and foremost to them; to my siblings Omaima and Ahmad Sid-Ahmad; to my colleague Stella Eyles; to my friends Walaa and Ehab Mohamed; and to my son, Ibrahim Yahya Sid-Ahmad. v Table of Contents Abstract ii Introduction 1 Literary Critics: Methodology Early Modern England and Ḥayy bin Yaqzān Arabic Studies and Ḥayy bin Yaqzān in England Chapters of the Dissertation Chapter 1: Abubakr bin Ṭufayl’s Ḥayy bin Yaqzān 51 Al-Ma’mūn’s Rational Religion and Baghdad’s Resistance Ibn Tūmart and Ghazālī The World of Ḥayy bin Yaqzān The Ḥayy Narrative Chapter 2: Milton’s Adam and Ibn Ṭufayl’s Ḥayy: Some Parallels 94 Milton and the Arabic Interest Adam’s Story: Parallels with Ḥayy bin Yaqzān Vision, Ascent and Angelic Companion Ḥayy, Adam, and Ashwell’s Theologia Ruris Chapter 3: Some Notes Concerning Locke’s Indian Philosopher in The Essay Concerning Humane Understanding 128 Locke’s Essay: Simple and Complex Ideas vs. Substance Ḥayy bin Yaqzān: Accidents & Substance/Essence The Poor Indian Philosopher Chapter 4: Self-Composition and Appropriation: Crusoe, Friday and Ḥayy bin Yaqzān 152 Spiritual and Colonial Self-Composition The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe The Farther Adventures Serious Reflections Conclusion 193 Works Consulted 202 Introduction This study reveals connections between a twelfth-century, Arabic, North African mystical-philosophical tale and three seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century English works. The English works are John Milton’s Paradise Lost, John Locke’s Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, and Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe trilogy. The dissertation argues that the early modern, iconic English writers imitated the twelfth- century Arabic tale, Abubakr bin Ṭufayl’s Ḥayy bin Yaqzān. Yet Ḥayy bin Yaqzān also challenged these English writers. Both imitation and challenge can be attributed to the similarities and differences between the Arabic, Islamic milieu of eleventh- and twelfth- century North Africa and the Protestant, Christian milieu of early modern England. While comparable religious and philosophical ideas can be found in twelfth-century North Africa and seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century England, the emergence of colonial thinking in seventeenth-century England created a unique context for the reception of the earlier text. The challenge posed by Ḥayy bin Yaqzān spurred original responses by our three writers. Ḥayy bin Yaqzān is about the acquisition of divine knowledge by the main character, Ḥayy. The narrative begins with two different births. One is spontaneous generation from the earth – described in scientific terms – on an uninhabited island. The other is the issue of a secret marriage between a princess and a courtier. When the princess bears the child, Ḥayy, she places him in a small container, which she trusts to the seas, praying that God will protect him. Ḥayy arrives at an uninhabited island, where he is suckled by a gazelle. When he is seven years old, Ḥayy begins his inquiry. Through the observation of natural phenomena, his dissection of animals, and his reasoned, logical 1 steps, which are described in detail, Ḥayy concludes that behind creation is a divine agent, God. Once he reaches this conclusion, without the aid of revealed religion, Ḥayy abandons his rational inquiry, as he believes his reason, based as it is on the senses, cannot offer any more satisfactory information on the divine. He embarks instead on meditative exercises that culminate in divine visions. Towards the end of the narrative, two characters are introduced: the pious Salamān and Āsāl, who live in an adjacent city- island state unknown to Ḥayy. Āsāl is troubled by his inability to interpret symbolical passages in his religious law, presented as part of a revealed religion, which could be a reference to Christianity, Judaism or a faith propagated by one of the many prophets mentioned in the Quran and the Bible. Āsāl sails to Ḥayy’s uninhabited island to seek, in solitude, divine guidance on the passages’ meaning. Ḥayy and Āsāl meet and inquire of each other’s condition: while Āsāl recognizes in Ḥayy’s visions the interpretation of difficult verses in the law, Ḥayy accepts Āsāl ’s religion and converts. They decide to take their message to the city-island state, now governed by Salamān. Though they are well received by Salamān and his subjects, Āsāl and Ḥayy realize that civil society’s concerns are not otherworldly and its members are thus unfit to receive higher truths. Ḥayy suggests that city life prevents city folk from the proper knowledge of God: Ḥayy concludes that though their reliance on scripture is sufficient for their salvation, city dwellers’ concern with the accumulation of wealth prevents them from understanding symbolic passages in their religious law or holy book.