|
749 |
Cf.
1:385 ff.,
above. |
750 |
Cf. the well-known works by al-Farabi,
Der Musterstaat, ed. and tr. F. Dieterici (Leiden, 1895-1900), and
by Ibn Bajjah (Avempace),
El rigimen del solitario,
ed. and tr. M. Asin Palacios (Madrid &
Granada, 1946). Cf. also D. M. Dunlop, "Al-Firibi's Aphorisms of the
Statesman," in Iraq, XIV (1952), 93-117. In connection with Ibn
Khaldun, a recent article by E. I. J. Rosenthal, "The Place of
Politics in the Philosophy of Ibn Rushd," Bulletin of the School
of Oriental Studies, XV (1953), 246-78, is illuminating.
|
751 |
The composition of this document must
have fallen into the year 205/6 [821], according to G. Richter, Zur
Geschichte der dlteren arabischen Furstenspiegel (Leipziger
Semitistische Studien, N.F. 3) (Leipzig, 1932), pp. 80 ff.
The oldest available text is found in the
ninth-century History of Baghdad by Ibn Abi Tahir Tayfur. Cf. H.
Keller (ed. and tr.), Sechster Band des Kitab Bagdad (Leipzig,
1908), pp.
36-53 (text); pp. 17-25 (tr.); cf. also idem, Das Kitab Bagdad
(Bern diss.) (Leipzig, 1898), pp. 38
ff,. However, Ibn Khaldun
certainly was not acquainted with Ibn Abi Tahir's work.
The text is further to be found in
at-Tabari, Annales, III, 1046-61, whose source was apparently Ibn
Abi Tahir, and in Ibn al-Athir, Kamil, VI, 149-56, anno
206. The latter's source was at-Tabari.
There are more than the usual number of
divergencies between the versions of this
document given in the earlier and later texts of the
Muqaddimah.
If this seems
strange, since Ibn Khaldun was dealing with a quotation, the explanation
is not difficult to find. Originally, he used Ibn al-Athir's text, and
revised this later with the help of at-Tabari's. He also added a few
conjectures of his own as to the correct text.
The introductory
statement that the text was copied from at-Tabari is not found in Bulaq
or E. C, which has the earlier version and all later corrections in the
margin, shows that the reference to at-Tabari was inserted into the text by a
later hand, apparently the same person who added all the other additions
and corrections.
Furthermore, Ibn
Khaldun breaks off his quotation at the same place as Ibn al-Athir,
while at-Tabari goes on for a few more lines. These lines did not seem
very important and were for that reason not added when Ibn Khaldun
checked his first version against the text of at-Tabari. There are some
passages, noted below, where Ibn Khaldun left the original wording as he
had first copied it from Ibn al-Athir, not bothering to correct all the
minor details in accordance with at-Tabari.
One or two cases
of correction by Ibn Khaldun are found in the margin of C, marked z
(for zann, "conjecture").
They entered the text of the Muqaddimah
through the other
MSS. The following notes mention only the more important of these
variant readings.
|
752 |
Ibn Khaldun read
li-salabihim,
which he
apparently understood to mean: "to make them safe against being
plundered." However, the correct reading
li-subulihim
had to be used for
the translation. |
753 |
Again, this is the original text. Ibn Khaldun's early reading was
wa-tawdqu'uhu.
In C and D we find
wa-tawaqqu'uhu.
Both forms would
yield only a rather
artificial meaning. |
754 |
Qur'an 29.45 (44). |
755 |
Bulaq and E, as well as Ibn al-Athir,
add: "for reward." The word, which at-Tabari does not have, is deleted
in C and no longer found in A, B, or D. |
756 |
Instead of "and your rank," at-Tabari and
Ibn al-Athir read: "and those close to you." The same words seem to be
at the base of the corrupt text in Bulaq and E. |
757 |
The following thirty-odd words (down to
"looking") were originally left out of Ibn Khaldun's text, by
homoeoteleutic omission. They were supplied in the margin of C and are
found in A, B, and D. |
758 |
Like at-Tabari and Ibn al-Athir, C and D
have al-huda in the text. C,
however, notes in the margin that the "manuscript" (kh,
for
nuskhah)
-
may we suppose at-Tabari's, used for
collation? -had
al-'hdy.
This is the reading found in the
other MSS, as well as in Bulaq. |
759 |
The words in parenthesis are in at-Tabari
and Ibn al-Athir. They are necessary for the context. |
760 |
The reading
wa-qabiluhu is
clearly indicated in C. 761 Cf. n. 47 |
761 |
Cf. n. 47
to Ch. II, above. |
762 |
Cf. Qur'an 8.26 (25). |
763 |
At-Tabari and Ibn al-Ateir have the
original text: "who enjoy , .." |
764 |
Li-dahma'ihim,
as all the witnesses of the text have. |
765 |
Cf. Issawi, pp. 89 f. |
766 |
Qablaka
(and not qibalaka) seems to be the
correct reading. The awliyd' are officials (not "friends" or the
like) who are no longer in office when the administration comes in. |
767 |
The original text is aslas. In the
margin of C, the (unnecessary) correction to askan is suggested,
and askan is the reading we find in A, B, and D. |
768 |
Almost the whole textual tradition of the
Muqaddimah has a meaningless haqquka. However, C has in
the margin the apparently correct khashyatuka which is adopted by
A. It also appears in the text of Ibn Abi Tahir. The edition of
at-Tabari reads hisbatuka. |
769 |
Remain useful, that is, in the other
world. |
770 |
This sentence is not found in the earlier
text, or in Ibn al-Athir. It was added from at-Tabari in the margin of
C, and is found in the text of A, B, and D. |
771 |
That is, of others. However, although
tarhabanna is the unanimous reading of all texts, one might suggest
tentatively the reading tuzhiyanna "do not be proud." |
772 |
Safahan is
the reading in C and in at-Tabari. The
other MSS have safhan "a stupid person," and this seems also to
have been the original reading in C. |
773 |
Originally,
Ibn Khaldun had diqqah
here, which in
this context might perhaps mean "pedantic."
Ar-rafh is
a conjecture
proposed in the margin of C and adopted in the texts of B and D. |
774 |
Ibn
Khaldun's original text read with Ibn al-Athir: "Be obliging to your
sincere friends ..." C adds the above text from at-Tabari, in the
margin. Apparently the marginal correction was overlooked in the text
from which D was copied, because D still preserves the earlier text. B,
on the other hand, follows the corrected text. |
775 |
Qur'an 59.9 (9); 64.16 (16). "Avarice" and
"stinginess" are represented by the same
Arabic word in this paragraph. |
776 |
Lit., "Make the
road of generosity smooth and level." The MSS. A, B, C, and D have
al jawr,
instead of
al-jud,
which could hardly
mean anything but "Be really unjust."
The phrase is
repeated a few lines below. This is explained by the fact that Ibn
al-Athir has it later on, whereas at-Tabari has it here. C adds it here,
in the margin, but does not delete it at the later occurrence. In E it
preserves its old position, but Bulaq, remarkably enough, has it here
and omits it later on. The other MSS have it twice.
|
777 |
E still has
ihda 1-baliyatayni
"of the two
temptations (to be either too harsh or too mild)," as in at-Tabari. The
corruption to al-babayn,
which is
easily understandable, appears in the other MSS and also in Bulaq. |
778 |
C and D apparently
indicate the reading al fasl,
and not
al fadl
"excellence,
superiority." The word itself is not found in Bulaq or Ibn al-Athir, and
seems an addition derived from at-Tabari. The text and apparatus of the
Tabari edition is not quite clear in this passage. |
779 |
This sentence
is not found in Bulaq, E, or Ibn al-Athir. It was added in the margin of
C from at-Tabari, and taken over by A, B, and D. |
780 |
an-nataf,
as in the MSS. |
781 |
The same applies to this sentence as to
the one above, n. 779. C clearly indicates that it should be
inserted in this place. However, it was written so closely together with
the earlier addition that the scribe of the archetype from which A and D
were ultimately copied, thought that it belonged with it. Therefore, A
and D have this sentence after "procedure," p. 149 (n. 779), above. |
782 |
Cf. n. 430 to this chapter, above. These are the
Muslim subjects who have agreed to the covenant governing the status of
Christians, Jews, and members of certain other religions. |
783 |
Irtibat,
as in at-Tabari and in Ibn Khaldun's
original text. The word was corrupted to a meaningless
irtiyad,
for which C, in the margin, suggested the
reading irtida'
"satisfaction." This reading was
accepted in A and B, while D still retained
irtiyad. |
784 |
Uddah,
as also in the margin of C. |
785 |
The word "council" is an addition from
at-Tabari, found in A, B, C, and D. |
786 |
Mazlamah
in most MSS, with the exception of C,
where the word is corrected in the text to the original
mazlamatiht. |
787 |
Yastaqbilu,
as in A and C. B and D have
yastaqillu. The text and translation of this sentence seem certain,
though the intended contrast is not quite clear at first glance. In
later Islam, at least, both persons would be considered ideal types.
However, the contrast intended is between the judge or worldly ruler,
who dispenses justice in the interest of both this-worldly and eternal
well-being, and the pious person who devotes himself exclusively to
divine worship. In the writer's opinion the former is the more
meritorious person, with more duties to take care of, as described in
the following sentences. |
|
|