|
454 |
This section was
treated in monograph form in a doctoral dissertation by H. Frank,
Beitrag zur Erkenntniss des Sufismus
nach Ibn Haldun
(Leipzig, 1884).
However, at the time Frank wrote his dissertation, no beginner could be
expected to make any substantial contribution to the subject.
|
455 |
The "bench" refers
to "the people of the bench," ascetics of Muhammad's time whose
gathering place was the benches in the Mosque of Medina.
The "row" refers
to the rows formed by the Muslims in prayer. The Sufis were supposed to
be always in the first row, because of their constant practice of divine
worship. But there are also slightly different explanations. Cf., for
instance, Hujwiri, Kashf al-mahjub,
tr. R.
A. Nicholson, p. 37: "Sufis are those who have 'cleansed' (safat)
their spirits and
thus entered the first 'row'
(saff) before the Truth."
|
456 |
Ibn Khaldun's
rather free quotation is derived from the beginning of the chapter on
tasawwuf
in `Abd-al-Karim
b. Hawizin al-Qushayri, Risalah
(Cairo,
1367/1948), p. 126. His dates are 376-465 [986-10721; cf. GAL, I,
432 ff; Suppl.,
I, 770 ff. For these and other etymologies
of Sufi, cf. L. Massignon in
El, s.v.
"Tapwwuf." Modern
scholarship is inclined to share Ibn Khaldun's opinion that Sufi is
derived from suf "wool." |
457 |
Mawajid is
by no means as
common a term in Sufi literature as Ibn Khaldun's casual use of it
suggests. The form mawajid is
occasionally found in the older sources. At least, this is the form used
in the printed editions at our disposal. Silvestre de Sacy paid no
attention to the difference in form between
mawajid
and
mawajid,
both of which he
knew, and considered mawdjid
a
plural of
wajd.
Cf. Notices et extraits des manuscrits de la Bibliotheque diu Roi, XII
(1831), 299 (n.1),
315 (n. 1). He was followed in this respect by de Slane, in his
translation of the Muqaddimah,
I, 84
(n. 1); III, 86 (n. 4); and by Dozy, in his
Supplement aux dictionnaires arabes, II,
782.
The meaning "ecstatic experience" thus obtained, certainly renders Ibn
Khaldun's understanding of the word accurately. However, Silvestre de
Sacy's suggestion oversimplifies matters too much, and it still remains
to be seen how, precisely, Ibn Khaldun derived
mawajid
from the
many-colored root w -j-d. AlQushayri's use of
mawdjid
seems to suggest
that mawdjid
are the result of
wajd.
Cf.
his
Risalah,
p.
34. As-Suhrawardi,
whose 'Awarif al-ma`aruf
Ibn Khaldun
mentions as another standard work on Sufism, occasionally refers to
mawajid.
In one passage,
mawajid is
paired with
mawahib
"(divine) gifts,"
and both mawajid
and
mawahib,
as "found" and
"given" states of mystical illumination, are contrasted with "acquired"
states. Cf. his 'Awarif
(Cairo,
1352/1933, in the margin of al-Ghazzali,
Ihya'), IV,
249 f. This
presupposes that mawajid is
considered a plural of mawjud,
in the
meaning of "things found." The form
mawajid may
have resulted from
association of the term with mawahib. |
458 |
Sic
B. A, C, and D: "idea." Bulaq: "spirit." |
459 |
Cf., for instance, 2:411, above. |
460 |
Bulaq corrects the text to: "grief
or joy . , ." |
461 |
Cf. 2:36,
above. |
462 |
As a technical term in Sufism, natijah
"result" is identical with "state" or "station."
|
463 |
Lit., "taste," the common mystical term
for mystical experience. For "taste" as a term of literary criticism,
see pp. 358 ff., below. |
464 |
The opposite of "acts of disobedience,"
i.e., sins. Acts of obedience are as positively required as sins are
forbidden. |
465 |
The suggested reading al-ijra' "to
perform" (Bombaci, p. 456) is not supported by MSS. B, C, or D,
which clearly indicate the reading al-ijza'. |
466 |
"In instruction" is added by C in the
margin, and appears in D in the text. |
467 |
Cf. p. 63, above. The Ri'ayah was
edited by Margaret Smith in 1940 as No. 15 of the E. J. W. Gibb Memorial
Series, N.s. A translation has been prepared by K.
Schoonover; cf. Muslim World, XXXIX (1949), 26-35. |
468 |
Umar b. Mubammad, 539-632
[1145-1234/35]. Cf. GAL, l, 440 f.; Suppl., I, 788 ft. Cf. also
A. J. Arberry in Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, XIII
(1950), 359-56. |
469 |
Cf. Issawi, pp. 175 f. |
470 |
Omitted in C and D. |
471 |
The famous Sufi ritual. Cf.
D. B. Macdonald in EI, s.v. "Dhikr." |
472 |
Cf.
p. 102, below. |
473 |
Bulaq adds "'Uthman"! |
474 |
Cf. 1:460,
above; pp. 85 and 102,
below. |
475 |
Min al-'arsh ila t-tashsh.
Bombaci, p. 466,
accepts the ingenious emendation found in
some Egyptian editions of the
Muqaddimah,
of
tashsh
to
farsh
"field, earth." Cf.
ibid.,
(Cairo, 1327/1909), p. 524.
However, the MSS do not support this
emendation. C even explains
(ashsh
in the margin as "light rain."
The book on
riyadat an-nafs
(mystical exercise) in al-Ghazzali's
Ihya', III, 42
ff., does not contain the phrase, nor
have I succeeded in locating the passage elsewhere in the
Ihya'.
|
476 |
Cf. Issawi, p. 176. |
477 |
Used in approximately the sense of
"staunch faith." |
478 |
Cf. 1:198 (n. 277),
above. However, when Ibn Khaldun uses
wijdani
in connection with Sufism, he probably
associates it in his mind with
mawajid,
translated here as "ecstatic
(experience)." Cf. p. 77, above. |
479 |
The following discussion, down to p.
87,
1.
5,
is found on a special inserted slip in C,
and appears incorporated in the text of D. |
479a |
The second meaning of separateness is
discussed on p. 8.5, 11. 12 ff. |
480 |
Hadhihi 1-maqalah'ald hadha t-taqdir:
C and D. |
481 |
Tajsim:
declaring that God is corporeal.
Tashbih: declaring that God is similar (to human beings). |
482 |
Mahall is
especially familiar to Ibn Khaldun as a
legal term. Cf. p. 5
(n. 171),
above, and D. Santillana,
Istituzioni di diritto musulmano malichita, II, 729. |
483 |
C and D read
wa-la mudrik wa-la ma'uf
(D: mas'uf
or ma'suf). Possibly the last
word must be corrected to mean "not perceiving and not unperceiving."
In the above translation mudrik has been corrected to mudirr.
The Paris edition has a completely different text: "not able to
write and not illiterate." |
484 |
'Abdallah b. Muhammad, d. 658
[1260]. Cf.
GAL,
I, 889;
suppl., 1, 672. His work was
not available for checking, so that the exact character and extent of
the quotation could not be ascertained. It probably extends to the end
of the paragraph. |
485 |
Cf.
1:198,
and p. 85,
above. |
486 |
La annahu:
C and D. |
487 |
Only C has "concerning
their imams." |
488 |
The suffix clearly refers to the
immediately preceding "Shi'ah." However, Ibn Khaldun does not speak only of
the Shi'ah, but includes the Sufis who hold similar opinions.
|
489 |
Cf. pp. 90 f., below. |
490 |
Mazhar is
understood by al-Farghani as the "place
where something manifests itself." Cf. also p. 88 (n. 496), below. |
491 |
According to the edition of his
Muntahd al-maddrik ([Istanbul,] 1293/1876), his names were Sa'id-ad-din
Mubammad b. Ahmad. GAL, I, 262; Suppl., I,
463, gives, apparently incorrectly, Sa'id
b. 'Abdallah. He lived ca. 700 [1300]. Ibn Khaldun bravely tries to
compress al-Farghani's highly involved discussion into a few words.
However, he is not quite successful in reproducing the terminology of
his source with complete exactness. |
492 |
The famous Ta'iyah of 'Umar b. al-Faris,
577-632 [1182-1235]. Cf. GAL, I, 262 f.; Suppl., I, 462 tf. |
493 |
Al-Farghani, op. cit., I, 9
ff., says that ahadiyah and wahidiyah result from
wahdah. |
494 |
"As such" refers to revelation. The
masculine pronoun of the Arabic text, unless one wants to correct it to
the feminine, can hardly be taken to refer to "essence": "revelation of
the essence as such." |
495 |
This hadith qudsi
("tradition in
which God appears as the speaker"; cf. 1:193, above) is quoted by al-Farghani,
op. cit.,
I, 5. It appears in Ibn 'Arabi's
Futuhat; cf. M. Asin Palacios, "Ibn Masarra y su escuela," in
Obras Escogidas
(Madrid, 1946), 1, 163 (n. 4).
Jalal-ad-din Rumi quotes it over and over again in his
Mathnawi
Cf. R. A. Nicholson's edition (E. J.
W. Gibb Memorial Series, N.s. No. 4)(London, 1925-40), Bk. 1, V. 2862; Bk. n, v. 364; Bk. iv, vv. 2590
ff., 3029. Cf. also H. S. Nyberg, Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-'Arabi,
p. 139. |
496 |
Cf. al-Farghani, op. cit.,
I, 23.
The expression 'ama'iyah
"nubilous" is based upon the following tradition. "Muhammad was
asked: 'Where was God before the creation?' He replied: 'He was in a
cloud ('amd') above which there was no air and underneath which there
was no air.' " The tradition is also quoted, for instance, in al-Mas'udi,
Akhbdr
az-zaman (Cairo, 1357/ 1938),
p. 5; Ibn Kathir, Bidayah, I, 8. Cf. also A. J. Wensinck, Bar
Hebraeus' Book of the Dove (Leiden, 1919), pp. CIII-CV.
The terms
'ama'iyah
and
haba'iyah
are those of Ibn 'Arabi. Cf. Asin Palacios,
op. cit., I,
97 and 146 f., and the references in the
index to A. E. Affifi, The Mystical Philosophy of Muhyid din-Ibnul 'Arabi
(Cambridge, 1939). Al-Farghani was a pupil of
Sadr-ad-din al-Qonawi, d. 672 [1273]; cf. GAL,
I, 449 f ;
Suppl.,
I, 807 f. The latter, in turn, was a
pupil of Ibn 'Arabi.
The word "presence" (hadrah)
in al-Farghani is nearly synonymous
with 'alam "world," mahall "place," and mazhar
"manifestation." Cf. Asfn Palacios,
op. cit.,
I, 204 ft. ("La teoria de Las 'hadras' de
Ibn 'Arabi y las 'dignitates' de Lulio.")
Cf. also p. 177, below.
|
497 |
For haba'iyah, cf. the preceding note and al-Farghani,
op.
cit., I,
55 ff. Haba' means "dust particle"
and also "atom." Cf. P. Kraus, Jabir Ibn Hayyan (Memoires de
l'Institut d'Egypte, Nos. 44-45)(Cairo, 1942-43), II, 154. |
498 |
Cf. p. 155,
below. 89 |
499 |
Cf. 1:9 [?], above, and p. 138, below. |
500 |
Or Dahhiq, i.e., Ibrahim b. Yusuf Ibn
al-Mar'ah, d. 611 [1214-15]. |
501 |
The vocalization in C, here
and in the following lines, is madrak, not
mudrik,
as one might expect. |
502 |
Bulaq actually has the words
in brackets. |
503 |
Cf. p. 86, above. |
504 |
Al-mulillah,
though A and C read al-muzillah
"gives shade to." |
505 |
The Sufi terms translated here as
"combination" and "differentiation" may be understood literally either
as "combining" and "differentiating," or, more likely, as "where
something (some one). is combined (united) or differentiated
(separated)." For some of the many Sufi interpretations of jam'
and farq (tafriqah), cf., for instance, Hujwiri,
Kashf al-mahjub,
pp. 252
ff. |
506 |
Consequently, even according to Sufi theory itself, particularized
existence is not only possible, but the knowledge of it still more
desirable than that of the oneness of existence.
For
"ravine" as a Sufi term, cf., for instance, al-Qushayri,
Risalah, p.
49, and
al-Ghazzali, Ihya', I,
48,
112. |
507 |
Abdallah b. Muhammad,
ca.
401
[1010/11] to 481 [1089]. Cf.
GAL,
I, 433;
suppl.,
I, 773 f.
The Maqdmdt
are
identical with the work entitled
Manazil as-sa'irin.
Cf. p.
95, below. |
508 |
Cf. 2:187
f., above. |
509 |
Shams-ad-din Muhammad b. 'Afif-ad-din Sulayman b. 'Ali at-Tilimsani,
ca.
658
[1260] to 688 [12891. Cf. GAL,
I,
258;
suppl., I, 458. Or, perhaps, rather his father 'Afif-ad-din
himself, 613-690 [1216/17-1291]. |
510 |
Not the
famous Ibn Sahl (p. 393, below), but Najm-ad-din Ibn Isra'il, 603-677
[1206-1278]. Cf. GAL, I,
257;
Ibn Kathir, Bidayah, XIII,
283 ff. |
511 |
Lit., "to
be a watering place for anybody who comes down to it, . , ."
|
512 |
Cf.
Isharat,
ed.
Forget, p. 207; tr. Goichon, p. 501. |
513 |
The rest
of the paragraph is not found in Bulaq. |
514 |
Abdal
"saints,"
lit., "representatives." Nugaba',
pl
of
nagib,
referring to the 'Alid
nobility. Cf. 2:165 and 187, above. |
515 |
Cf. L.
Massignon, Essai sur les
origines du lexique technique de la mystique musulmane
(Paris, 1922), pp. 108 f. |
516 |
"Asceticism" is added in C and D. |
517 |
This paragraph appears first in C and D, in the margin of the former and in
the text of the latter. |
518 |
MSS. C and D do not have the additional "in the inner (world),"
which appears
in the Paris ed., but is of doubtful correctness. |
519 |
Cf. 2:186
ff., above. |
520 |
Qur'an
10.35 (36); 46.30 (29). |
521 |
The
following quotation extends to p. 98. It is not found in Bulaq. C and D
add: "Additional note." |
522 |
I
have no further information on him. |
523 |
The verses are from the end of al-Harawl's
Mandzil as-sa'irin
(Cairo,
1327/1909), p. 52. Cf. W. Ahlwardt,
Die Handschriften-Verzeichnisse der
Koniglichen Bibliothek zu Berlin: Verzeichniss der arabischen
Handschriften
(Berlin,
1891), III, 12, No.
2826. Cf. also Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyah's lengthy commentary on the verses
in his Madarij as-salikin
(Cairo,
1331-33/191315), III, 332 f.; the brief commentary by Mahmud al-Firkawi,
ed. S. De Laugier de Beaurecueil (Textes et traductions d'auteurs
orientaux, No. 17) (Cairo, 1953), pp. 150 f.; E. Berthels in
Islamica, III
(1927),
12 f.
For the
biography of 'Abdallah al-Anlarl al-Harawi, 396-481 [100610891, cf. GAL,
I, 433;
Suppl.,
1, 773
ff., and S. De Laugier de Beaurecueil in
Melanges de l'Institut Dominicain
d'Etudes Orientales du Caire, II
(
1955), 5
f.
|
524 |
The original text of al-Harawi does not have
tathniyah
"dualism"
but 'ariyah
"loan."
It is a "loan," and not his property but God's property. God's true
oneness, not recognized by the person who speaks about God's attributes,
nullifies and cancels this loan. This is the explanation of Ibn Qayyim
alJawziyah. Tathniyah,
which
was Ibn az-Zayyat's reading, is a simplification. |
525 |
Cf. Ibn
'Arab!, Futuhat, IV,
473:
"Whoever declares the oneness of God is a deviator (heretic), because of
the 'whoever' that requires numerical plurality." |
526 |
Ahmad b.'1sa, d. ca. 286 [899].
Cf. GAL, Suppl., I, 354. The quotation is not contained in al-Kharriz'
Kitab as-sidq, published by A. J. Arberry (Islamic Research
Association, No. 6)(Oxford, 1937). As is quite usual in the case of
Muslim mystics, their published work would hardly make it seem likely
that they made the rather unorthodox statements attributed to them.
A reads: "The Truth is not (ghayr)
that which is manifest, and not (ghayr) that which ..."
|
527 |
Sic MSS. |
528 |
Sic
MSS. |
529 |
Cf. H. S. Nyberg, Kleinere Schriften
des Ibn al-'Arabi, p. 139 (p. 47 of the Arabic text); H. Ritter,
Das Meer der Seele (Leiden, 1955), p. 602. |
530 |
Cf. Labid, Diwan, ed. A. Hubert and C. Brockelmann (Leiden,
1891), No. 41, V. 9. Muhammad's approval of the verse is
noted by al-Bukhari, Sahih, IV, 228. |
531 |
A1-muwahhid huwa al-muwahhad,
as vocalized
in C. The last word is vocalized in the same manner in A, too. |
532 |
Ahmad al-Ghazzali is credited with a very similar statement: "The Truth
is known only through the Truth." Cf. L. Massignon, Recueil de testes
inidits concernant 1'histoire de la mystique en pays d'Islam
(Collection de textes inedits relatifs a la mystique musulmane, No. I)
(Paris, 1929), p. 98. Cf. also
El, s.v.
"Shatb." |
533 |
Shaf'iyah
goes back to the incomprehensible oath,
"by the even and the odd," in Qur'an 89.3 (2); cf. R. Bell's
translation (Edinburgh, 1937-39), II, 654. Ibn 'Arabi, Kitdb al-isra',
in the Rasa'il Ibn al-'Arabi, p. 58, speaks of the "veil of
shaf'." Shaf' is opposed to fard (and wdbid) in Ibn
Arabi, Futuhat, IV, 110 f., 355 f. |
534 |
De Slane reads, with A,
sallama
"accepts
(it)." |
535 |
It might be
possible to translate, "Those who have trouble with
their
reality .
. ." i.e., those whose real being is not safe and sound and fully
prepared for oneness, but who have trouble with it. This, however, seems
much less likely than the translation above. |
536 |
That is, of
the human being whom God loves. |
537 |
Cf. al-Bukhari,
Sahih, IV,
231,
quoted by Ibn 'Arabi, for instance; cf. L. Massignon,
Recueil de testes inedits . . . ,
p.
118. According to Massignon, Essai sur les origines du lexique technique de la mystique musulmane
(Paris,
1922), p. 107, this hadith
qudsi
was
adopted by Ibrahim b. Adham. |
538 |
Mubammad
b. 'Abdallah, 713-776 [1313-1374]. Cf. GAL, II,
260 H.;
Suppl., II, 372 f.,
and
above, 1:xliv. The work quoted was not available for checking. Cf.
GAL, Suppl., II,
973, No.
24.
In a letter
to Ibn Khaldun, dated January 24, 1368, Ibn al-Khatib speaks about the
work he had just written, hoping to surpass the
Diwan as-sababah
of Ibn
Abi Hajalah at-Tilimsini (cf.
GAL, II,
13 f;
suppl.,
II, 5 f.). Cf.
Autobiography, pp.
120 f.,
and also al-Ghazali, Malali'
al-budur
(Cairo,
1299-1300/1881-82),
II,
72
f. |
539 |
Cf. p.
79, above. |
540 |
The
reference is apparently to pp. 81 f. |
541 |
Cf. L. Massignon
in El, s.v. "Shalb." |
542 |
Apparently there is no
separate discussion of point two. |
543 |
Cf. 1:188
ff. and 223, above; pp. 167
and 170,
below. |
544 |
Cf. the preceding section, pp. 55
ff. |
545 |
Cf. p. 79,
above. |
546 |
Cf. pp. 58,
61 and 66, above. |
547 |
The famous
mystic, who died ca.
260
[874]. Cf. GAL, Suppl., l,
353; R.
A. Nicholson in EI, Supplement, s.v.
"al-Bislami." Cf.
also pp.
179 f., below. "Al-Bistimi" is found in C and D. |
548 |
Al-Husayn
b. Manlur, 244-309 [858/59-922]. Cf. GAL, I,
199;
Suppl., I, 355. L. Massignon, "Nouvelle bibliographie Hallagienne,"
in I. Goldziher Memorial Volume
(Budapest, 1948), I, 252-79. |
549 |
Cf.
p. 82,
above. |
550 |
An
illustration is given below, pp. 179 f. Cf.
also
1:222, above, and, for instance, A. Mez,
Die Renaissance des islams
(Heidelberg, 1922), p. 284. |
551 |
Cf.
Bombaci,
p. 456. |
552 |
Cf.
Bombaci, pp. 456 f. |
|
|