Humor in Early Islam

Hurnor in Early Islam

Brill Classics in Islam VOLUME6

The titles published in this series are listed at brilLnljbciL

Hum or in Early Islam by

Franz Rosenthal with an introduction by

Geertjan van Gelder

BRILL LEIDEN ·BOSTON 2011

Cuver illustration: "Wandering musicians and entertainers two of whom are dressed in goat skins." Attributed to Mhz& Mu}_tammad al-~usaycl and dated I( o )22/1613. Freer Gallery of Art, No. 07.157. Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

ISSN 1872-5481 ISBN 978 go 04 21148 3 Copyright 1956 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanica~ photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change.

CONTENTS Foreword ................................................................................................................ vii List of plates ........................................................................................................... ix Introduction ........................................................................................................... xi Geertjan van Gelder I. 11. Ill. IV. V.

Materials for the study of Muslim hum or ................................................ 1 The historical personality of Ash'ab ........................................................ 17 The Ash'ab legend ....................................................................................... 27 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 34 Translation of texts ..................................................................................... 36

Appendix: On laughter ......................................................................................132 Bibliography .........................................................................................................139 Index of selected rare or explained Arabic words .....................................142 Index of proper names ......................................................................................147

FOREWORD This is the grass that grows wherever the land is and the water is. This is the common air that bathes the globe.

The following pages are a further small installment of my studies on significant aspects of Muslim man. Others have already been published in various periodicals. Here, the tremendous mass of material on Muslim humor has been boiled down to its historical essentials. I hope that I have achieved that conciseness of presentation which is all too easily sinned against in the field oflslamic research. I trust that nobody will consider it my fault that the translations take up more space than my own remarks. Arabic works tend to be prolix, and though we are grateful to Arabic authors for their tabors because much valuable information would otherwise be lost, we do not have to vie with them as to the quantity and size ofliterary production. A translation, however, must be complete or at least omit nothing that belongs to the subject and is able to illuminate it. The "chains of transmitters" are particularly obnoxious to anyone who wants to derive true intellectual enjoyment from reading our stories. Nevertheless, they have been retained because they conceal a good deal of crucial information on the early literary history of Muslim hum or, and only an understanding of that history can reveal to us the role that humor played as a leaven in Eastern medieval society. My thanks are due to the libraries which I was privileged to consult, in particular those which permitted me to use their manuscript treasures. In view of the fact that most publications of adab works leave much to be desired, it would have been advisable in many instances to have recourse to manuscripts in order to check the available editions. However, there is a limit to what can be done in this respect by the individual researcher, and I have paid attention mainly to unpublished texts. Readers of this booklet no less than its author are greatly indebted to Dr. Richard Ettinghausen for giving them an opportunity to observe how Muslim humor expressed itself in another medium, that of the

viii

FOREWORD

visual arts. Dr. Ettinghausen kindly supplied me with a number of photographs in which humorous scenes are depicted, occasionally with greater finesse than we find in the spoken and written word A small selection of these pictures has been reproduced here. Permission to do so was generously granted by the present owners of the originals as indicated in the list of plates (p. ix).

LIST OF PLATES I. 'Wandering musicians and entertainers two of whom are dressed in goat skins." Attributed to Mirza Mul;l.ammad al-I:Iusayni and dated 1( o)22/1613Freer Gallery of Art, No. 07.157. Courtesy ofSmithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Paraphrase of an earlier version in the style of and possibly by Mul;l.ammadi (third quarter of the sixteenth century), in the Hermitage Museum, Leningrad, which includes a third goat dancer. Cf. F. R. Martin, The Miniature Painting and Painters of Persia, India and Turkey, vol. 2, pl. 102 A (London 1912). At least two other versions of the drawing by Mul;l.ammadi are known. The Freer miniature is unpublished. The subject was formerly thought to represent dervishes, cf. F. W. Arnold, Painting in Islam 112 f. and pl. XLVII (Oxford 1928).

11. "Contortionist upon a column." Detail of a wooden panel from the Coptic monastery Dayr al-Banat in Old Cairo, now in the Coptic Museum, No. 835Fa.timid period, middle of the eleventh century. A detailed discussion of this object by R. Ettinghausen will appear in the near future. Ill. "A glutton at dinner." From a manuscript oftheMaqamatofal-I:Iaririin the Asiatic Museum of the Academy of Sciences, Leningrad. Undated, but probably written and painted between 1230 and 1240, as the miniatures of the manuscript are related to those in the Ms. ar. 5847 of the Bibliotheque Nationale, which is dated 634{1237 and like the Leningrad manuscript of 'Iraqi origin. Cf. P. W. Schulz, Die persisch-islamische Miniaturmalerei, vol. 2, pl. 9 A (Leipzig 1914). IV. "Two men fighting with each other." Persian tile from about 1300, in the possession of the Waiters Art Gallery, Baltimore, Md. Courtesy of the Waiters Art Gallery. V. "A child dancing on a dais or tightrope." From the same wooden panel as pl. 11.

X

LIST OF PLATES

VI. "A beggar receiving a handout at the garden gate." Detail of a miniature showing "A prince being entertained in a garden pavilion", illustrating Subfwt al-abrar in a manuscript ofjami's Haft Awrang written for Sultan Abu 1-Fatb lbrahim MJ:rza, a nephew of Shah Tahmasp, in Khurasan between 963 and 972/1556-65. Freer Gallery of Art, No. 46.12, fol.179b, unpublished A publication of this manuscript by the Freer Gallery is in preparation. Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art. VII. "Cupping attracts a large audience." From the same manuscript as pi. Ill. Ct: Schulz, op. cit. vol. 2, pi. 6 A; E. Kuhnel, Miniaturmalerei im islamischen Orient, pi. 10 (Berlin 1923). VIII. "Al-Ma'mun being shaved in the I:Iammam." Illustration to Makhzan al-asrar in a Khamseh manuscript ofNi~ami dated 955{1548 and executed in Shiraz. Freer Gallery of Art, No. o8.26L Courtesy ofSmithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art. Ct: G. D. Guest, Shiraz Painting in the Sixteenth Century, especially, pp. 33-35 and pi. 3 (Washington 1949. Freer Gallery of Art Oriental Studies, No. 4 ). IX. "Two drunkards assisting each other to rise." Persian, about 1575. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, No. 51·37·32· Courtesy of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ct: E. Schroeder, Iranian Book Painting. An Introduction, fig. 6 (New York 1940). X. "Street scene with a worn-out horse." Detail from an illustration of a horse market in Silsilat adh-dhahab in the Jami manuscript mentioned in connection with pi. VI. Freer Gallery of Art 46.12, fol. 38b, unpublished Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art. XI. "An acrobat standing upon his head" From the same wooden panel as pi. 11.

INTRODUCTION Geertjan van Gelder

Franz Rosenthal (Berlin, 31 August, 1914-Branford, CT, USA, 8 April, 2003) was one of the most versatile of scholars. He produced important works on the Aramaic language, but his main contribution is to Arabic and Islamic studies. He is the author of standard works on Muslim histonography, epistemology, the Greek tradition in Islam, and the technique of Muslim scholarship. He wrote pioneering books on various aspects of Islamic culture: gambling, hashish, freedom, complaint and hope, and many articles on such diverse topics as autobiography, suicide, sex in Muslim society, being a stranger, the ventilation shaft as a poetic motif, the number nineteen, and Arabic "blurbs",' which means that by rights he should have written this introductory and laudatory essay himself. He made a richly annotated three-volume translation of Ibn Khaldun'sMuqaddimah and contributed two volumes (the opening and the concluding ones) to the translation of al-Tabari's great History. It seems that a few of these many topics had some connections with his life; I have been informed (but have forgotten the isniid, or supporting chain of authoritative transmitters) that he practised gambling, not to win money but for fun, as a regular pastime, kept well under control. As an emigrant to the United States in 1940 (he had left Germany in 1938) he was familiar with being a "stranger". The question whether or not he used hashish he himself answered obliquely by saying that he had written on suicide but without practising it. He was a true man ofletters, who used his great skills as a philologist and his vast erudition to understand and explain cultures in their intellectual, social, and literary aspects. In line with the precept often expressed in mediaeval Arabic literature that a true adib (literate and erudite person) should judiciously mix seriousness and jesting, he also produced a seminal work on Arabic humour, the re-published volume presently in the reader's hand. Again, it seems that the topic was not

• 'Blurbs' (Taqr~) from Fourteenth-Century Egypt", Orlens 27-28 (1981) 177--96. For a bibliography ofhis writings see Oriens 36 (2001), pp. xiii-xxxiv.

xii

INTRODUCTION

wholly detached from the personality of the author: an obituarist speaks ofRosenthal's "dry and sometimes cutting hum or''. • It is well known that for the serious study of humour it helps to be a native speaker of German; a Viennese neurologist, Sigmund Freud (d 1939) wrote a monograph on the joke and its relationship to the unconscious (Der Witz und seine Beziehung zum Unbewussten) and an article "Der Humor"; but this author, perhaps being too obscure, is not quoted by Rosenthal. The tradition has been continued in Arabic studies after Rosenthal, by scholars such as illrich Marzolph, especially in his study and inventory of jokes, Arabia ridens, 3 Kathrin Mtiller in her studies of anecdotes and expressions denoting excessive laughter,4 and Ludwig Ammann, in his study of Islamic attitudes towards laughter.5 Rosenthal, for the great benefit of those many unfortunate people who do not know German, wrote most of his works in English. The introduction ofHumor in Early Islam, first published in 1956, begins with a survey of the "materials for the study ofMuslim humor" and ends with an essay on laughter; but whereas one could imagine both topics (preferably in German) to be the titles offat books, the chapters, though learned, are short and the bulk of the book is devoted to one person: the greedy and stupid Ash'ab, a singer and entertainer who apparently was alive in Medina in the eighth century, and whose fictional, legendary life long survived him. In due course, however, his fame as the focus of jokes was overshadowed by Jul;ta, who, like Ash'ab, is first mentioned by al-J~ (d 255/868-9) but unlike him is alive and well in modem Arabic and even survives in Sicily (once Arab) as Giufa.jokes and anecdotes have a habit ofjumping like fleas, easily attaching themselves from one person to another and many ofthe Ash'ab jokes are found in other contexts, attached to Jul;ta and others. Thus Jul;ta became the prototype for yet another popular figure, Na~r al-Din Khoja or (in his Turkish spelling) Nasreddin Hoca. 6 A careful study of the reports about Ash'ab sheds light ' His colleague Benjamin R Foster, ProfessorofNear Eastern Languages and Civilizations, quoted in an In Memoriam on the website ofYale University, published 15 April2003 (http:// opac.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=3711). ~ Arabia Ridens. Die humoristische Kurzprosa der friihen adab-Literatur im intemationalen Traditionsgejlecht. 2 Bde. Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann, 1992· • "Und der Kalif /o.chte, bis er auf den Rileken fiel''. Ein Beitrag zur Phraseowgle und Stilkunde des klassische Arabisch, Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Philosophisch-historische Klasse I Si tzungsberichte. Jrg. 1993, Heft 2. 5 Vorbild und Vemunft: Die Regelung von Lachen und Scherzen im mittelalterlichen Islam, Hildesheim: GeorgOlms Verlag, 1993. 6 For 666 "true stories' about him, see Ulrich Marzolph's translation,NasreddinHodscha: 666 wahre Geschlchten (2nd ed. Miinchen: Verlag C. H. Beck, 2002).

INTRODUCTION

xiii

on what Hilary Kilpatrick has called "the relativity of fact and fiction" in classical Arabic literary texts.? Reading about jokes is not the same as reading jokes; Rosenthal understood this well and the greater part of the book consists of a translation, thoroughly annotated, of a tenth-century text with jokes and anecdotes about Ash' ab, with some additional material from later periods. The main text is a chapter from the monumental Kitiib al-Aghiint ("The Book of Songs") by Abo. 1-Faraj al-I~fahani (d c. 363/972 ), a vast book about singers and poets. AbO. 1-Faraj was a man of letters and a scholar who took pains to give his sources, in the traditional AraboIslamic manner by providing chains of authorities for every single report, or joke. He does not tell us whether he believes all the reports, nor does he give clear indications that he finds the jokes amusing. His aim is not to crack jokes, but to record information about the life of Ash' ab, who is included because (unusually for a stock figure of jokes and buffoonery) he was a singer. The introductory chain (isniid:) may be as long as the joke itself or even longer. Here is an example (no. 45 in Rosenthal's numbering and translation, with my parentheses): I was informed by Al}.mad [this is Al).mad b. 'Abd al-'Aziz al-jawhart] who said: I was told by Mul}.ammad b. al-Qasim [b. Mihrawayh] who said: We were informed by Al}.mad b. Yal}.ya who said: We were informed by al-Mada'ini as follows: Ash'ab's girl friend said to him: "Give me your ring so that I may remember you by it." He replied: "Rather remember that I refused it to you. I like that better."

This joke is found in many other sources; one may consult the references given by Marzolph in his Arabia ridens ii, 122-23 (no. 487). In a variant, not found in al-Aghiint but in an even older source, the stingy Ash'ab does not want to give his gold ring because (so he claims) "gold" (Arabic dhahab) suggests "going away'' (dhahiib) and he would rather give a piece of aloe wood (1i.d) because it suggests that she will return (ta'ild). 8 Which version is funnier? The latter is more sophisticated and will appeal to those who like puns; it is also more logical than the former, because memories are triggered by concrete things rather than

7 Hilary Kilpatrick, "The 'genuine' Ahs'ab: The relativity of fact and fiction in early adab texts•, in Stefan Leder (ed.), Story-teUing in the.framework ofnon-fictionalArahic literature, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 19gB, pp. 94-117. • lbn 'Abd Rabbih (d. 328/940), al-'Iqd alfarld, ed. Al_Jmad Amin et al., repr. Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-'Arabi, 1983, vi, 213 and see Marzolph, Arabia ridens, ii, 51 (no. 190) for more references.

xiv

INTRODUCTION

by the absence of something. Nevertheless, much though I am fond of word-play, I think the former is funnier, precisely because of the slight absurdity. Appreciating jokes from a culture distant in place and time, in another language, is not always easy, as Rosenthal points out in his introductory chapter. I have sometimes read classical Arabic jokes as "unseen texts" with students. By the time the Arabic. not the easiest of languages, 9 has been unravelled, the punch line has usually lost some ofits force, by the lost-in-translation principle, so it is a great help, even for Arabists, to have a good translation. Even then the jokes are rarely if ever of the side-splitting or thigh-slapping kind (a Dutch idiom). let alone falling over backwards with laughter, as caliphs and others regularly do in classical Arabic~o but many can produce a smile. Among my own favourites is the well-known story about Ash'ab who tells some children, just for fun or to get rid of them, that somebody is distributing money (or dates, or nuts, in other versions); when they run away and do not come back he follows them, thinking it might be true.11 But even when not particularly amusing, most jokes are enlightening and informative in some way or other, about habits, material culture, attitudes, norms, values, and prejudices. This, of course, is why jokes are a serious subject and why a respectable academic publishing house such as E. J. Brill has no qualms about republishing this book on Arabic humour. Quoting jokes has to be justified Mediaeval Arabic writers do this all the time. Al-Jal}.i~. the greatest prose-writer in Arabic, often inserted humorous anecdotes, explaining that this would help to revive the flagging attention of the reader. The stern theologian, historian, preacher, and extremely prolific author Ibn al-Jawzi (597/1201) wrote a work on stupid and gullible people and another on witty and bawdy people, not only to amuse but also to preach and admonish. Today, the scholarly study of Arabic humour is flourishing: in addition to the studies by Germans mentioned above,

9 Being a pedant I point out a rare mistake in Rosenthal's translations: on p. 128 (no. 152), instead of 'What have you got from your greed?'' one should read "How greedy are you?" or "What is the extent of your greed?'' (mli balngha min tama'ika, cf. Ibn I:Iamdiln, al-Tadhkira al-lfamduniyya, Beirut Dar ~adir, 1996, iii, 139). The answer is (in Rosenthal's translation) "You are asking this question only because you have in mind doing me a good turn." His greed is such that he interprets every incident or saying as possibly indicating a windfall for himself. •• See the German title of Muller's book quoted above in note 4· " See in the present work pp. 62-63. no. 46.

INTRODUCTION

XV

one can refer to the recent volume with twenty-two articles in English or German edited by Georges Tamer, asHumor in der arabischenKultur I Humor in Arabic Culture," and a volume that, as I write, is expected to appear soon.'3 All this may help to dispel the opinion held by rather many people in the western world who believe that "Islam" is averse to humour. Apart from the fact that one should never write as if"lslam" were a person, it is unfortunately true that there are many Muslims in the world of today who have a dim view of humour, and who think that especially the mocking of traditional values and beliefs should be condemned and the perpetrators punished. Precisely the same may be said of some Christians, but one must admit that a Muslim counterpart of, for instance, The Life of Brian is unthinkable. Ash'ab's jokes do not mock Islam, although occasionally one finds mild mockery oflslamic institutions and disciplines, or the religious behaviour of Muslims. A popular joke, also found in the present book, is the one in which Ash'ab, who claims to be a specialist in Hadith (the traditions about the Prophet), is invited to tell a tradition. He proceeds to do so, beginning, of course, with the required chain of authorities, mentioning some famous transmitters: I was told by NUt' on the authority of Ibn 'Umar that the Messenger of God said: "A man in whom there are found two qualities belongs to God's chosen friends".

Ash'ab's interlocutor, understandably curious about these qualities, asks what they are, upon which Ash'ab replies, "Nafi' had forgotten one, and I have forgotten the other."14 It goes without saying that the both the tradition and its isniid are spurious (other versions have different names and a different saying attributed to the Prophet) and that the point is the mockery of Hadith scholarship. And, needless to say, the joke itself is introduced with an isniid. Al-Jal:ti~ 15 reports that Ash'ab once drastically shortened his ritual prayer in the mosque, explaining that "it was not mixed with hypocrisy". The obvious implication, that Muslim prayer

" Berlin: Waiter de Gruyter, 2oog. '' Ruse and Wit: The Humorous in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish narrative, ed. By Dominic P. Brookshaw.-It is impossible to give here a fuller survey of studies on Arabic humour. Needless to say, there are also several valuable studies in Arabic. ,. pp.n6-17 (no. n8). 05 al-Ja}_!i~, al-Baytin wa-l-tabyln, ed. 'Abd al-Salam Mu}_!ammad Hariln, Cairo: Maktabat al-Khanji, 1968, ii, 334, and see the present book, p.u6 (no.n7).

xvi

INTRODUCTION

usually contains a large admixture ofhypocrisy, is of course not spelled out, but it is harmless because it is put into the mouth of a buffoon, someone who may say uncomfortable truths with impunity. A common source of jokes, frowned upon by the pious, is quoting the Qur'an in an irreverent way, out of context; an example is no. 74 (p. 81) in the present book. Sometimes the jokes are obscure, such as Ash'ab's saying "I desire, and my mother is certain. Thus, rarely does anything escape us".' 6 I would have been at a loss (and, I suspect, most other readers with me) to make any sense of this, were it not for Rosenthal, who with the help of a slightly less opaque parallel is able to say that "the point of the story is to make fun ofthe legal-theological concept ofcertainty (yaqfn )." He is, after all, the author of a book on Muslim epistemology.'7 I must confess that I still do not quite understand it, but it is gratifying to see that the book contains a joke that illustrates, be it darkly, what is surely one of the main functions of humour: the gentle undermining of certainties.

'6

See the present book, p.n8 (no.122).

'7

Knowl.ed(]e Triumphant: The ConceptofKnowl.edtJe inMedievallslam, Leiden: Brill, 1970,

republished (with an introduction by Dimitri Gutas) in 2007.

PLATE I

Dancers dressed as goats

FIRST CHAPTER

MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF MUSLIM HUMOR Many have been the attempts to define humor. The definition which would appear to be the most plausible one because of its general applicability connects humor with the relief felt at the momentary lifting of one of the many restrictions which the physical and social environment imposes upon man. The distortions and antics of the clown suggest to the observer a certain freedom from the conventional motions to which the human body is ordinarily subjected, and thus exhilarate him. The humor of puns and all the other variations of verbal jokes has its origin in the fact that human linguistic expression moves in quite narrowly circumscribed and usually logical channels. Any deviation from those channels is keenly felt as a release from conventional restrictions and, therefore, is humorous. A great variety of dealings among human beings is immediately clas!>ified as humor if there is any suggestion of a deviation from ordinary reality and the conventions of human society. Every joke, everything that causes laughter, is easily explained in these terms 1 ). Once this definition has been accepted, the much debated question of whether there are national differences in humor or not also is easily answered. There is no basic difference in that which makes human beings laugh, but the social restrictions, and conceivably also the physical restrictions, which are present at a given time and in a given area are often different from those which are present at other times and in other areas. Thus, a predilection for a special type of humorous expression might originate within a certain area and be preserved for a certain length of time. Much more commonly, however, do we find that in spite of the ever present time element and the social differences in 1) Musbm authors offer no defmition of humor, but the ongm and cause of laughter were problems that interested physicians and philosophers and were diScussed by them. A few of their statements, from comparatively early sources, have been collected and translated in an appendix, cf. below, pp. 132-8. A defimtion of jokmg (muzd/J) as m1srepresentmg the true character of something wtth no intention of causing harm IS gtven by al'Askari, al-Furaq al-lughawiyah 212 (Ca1ro 1353).

2

MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF MUSLJ:\1 HUMOR

different civilization!>, many or all types of humor continue to be equally cultivated regardless of national and civilizational borders. But while the humorous element is substantially the same, it!> forms of exprcl>sion have slightly but decisively changed. This explains why the humor of the last decade might no longer be appreciated today and why the humor of a civilizcttion different from ours as a rule does not !>ecm 'humorou!>.' The following pages, I believe, will bear out this statement. They contain examples of the finest, most lastingly human humor which only in very few respect!> are at odds with our own feelings and experience, but it i!> doubtful whether the modern reader could unconsciou!>ly r of humor they present. The linguistic form on which they depend, and the !>ocial conditions and religious knowledge which they pre!>uppose mu!>t be studied and under!>tood in order to appreciate the Arabic !>tories and to recreate for them an atmosphere of living actuality which is e!>sential for humor. Near Eastern humor has !>O far mainly been studied from the folkloristic point of view and in connection with its modern expres!>ions. The name of the 'Hoja' Na!?r-ad-din (Na!>reddin) is widely known in east and west a!> that of the protagonist of the sly humorous tale of 'oriental' inspiration. The !>tandard scholarly treatment of the Hoja stories is that of A. Wesselski, which appeared over forty years ago 1). It was, of course, recognized that tho!>e stories had their predcce!>!>ors in medieval Arabic literature. However, little attention ha!> been paid to ancient Arabic humorists. Only one of them, named Ju\la, is som~·what bett· I known. He !>hares with the Hoja a seeming but non-existent !>imilarity in name and the fact that his storie!> have survived into thr> pre!>ent 2). 1) A. Wesselskt, Der Hodscha Nasreddm (We1mar 1911. Narren, Gaukler und Volkshebhnge 3-4). There ts a good deal of hterature on htm, for mtere1:.t m h1m ha~ been tlmulated by the f,tct that he has contmued to be a famous f1gure m Turk1sh folklore and m modern tJme., hao:; even been adopted and used by Turktsh mtellectuals as a paragon of pomted wtt, cf. F. BaJraktarevu:, m h/, s.v. Na~r al-Din, H. D. Barnham, Tales of Nasr-ed-Dtn Kho7a (London 1923), A. G. Kclsey, Once the Hod7a (New York-Toronto 1943), J. K. B1rge, m Encyclopedta of Ltterature, cd. by J. T. Shipley, 949 (New York 1946). The fmal accol,tde of our .tge has been beo:;towed upon h1m by makmg h1m "the central ftgure of Turkey's f1ro:;t ammated cartoon movte m color" (accordmg to the Turk1sh Information Off1ce m New York, January 29, 1953). 1 ) Cf. below, p. 9 fn. 4·

MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF MUSLIM HUMOR

3

A large number of humorous tales from Arabic literature, including some ot Jul).a, ~ere collected by R. Basset and put down together in a voluminous work 1). Both Wesselski and Basset, as well as other collectors of humorous stories from the modern Near East, approached their task as folklorists. The material they brought together is impressive, but no attempt was made to sift it historically. The unhistorical approach shows itself in the misnomer of 'popular' which they applied to the collectd material. In fact, humorous tales usually are the products of the wittiest literary minds of a given time which only secondarily and by chance catch the fancy of the masses. Literary sources were used by Wessclski and Basset very haphazardly, and no proper hbtorical analysis was undertaken. The usual approach of collecting modern stories and providing them with parallels from medieval literature would anyhow appear to be a lopsided rrocedure. The normal course of investigation should lead first to the attempt of finding the earliest stage that can be reached, and then, the later ramifications might be followed up. It is true that conditions for undertaking a historical analysis are not altogether favorable, since the earliest material on Muslim humor is not directly preserved and later authors who preserved much material for us were not interested in any historical point of view when they wrote their books. There exists a tremendously lar&e amount of jokes and anecdotes in Arabic literature. Much of it is anonymous and ascribed to such stock figures as the clever or dull-witted Bedouin, husbands-and-wives, judges, and members of all the different professions, crafts, and age groups. The contents of adab works is to a large extent made up from those stories which were greatly enjoyed by numerous readers at all times. The otherworldliness of Islam did little to stop the actual enjoyment and literary appreciation of humor. With all his seriousness and the foreboding of impending doom, the Prophet Mul).ammad himselfpos!oessed much cheerful humanity, and hb followers through the centuries have always preserved a good-natured love of jokes and pranks. There were theologians and, in particular, mystics who considered laughter undignified and even sinful. The future piety of a child was considered as showing itself in a natural bent 1) R. Basset, Mtlle et 11n conies, reetts et llgendes arabes (Pan-; 1924 -6).

4

MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF MUSLIM HUMOR

for seriousness and an early disinclination for play and laughter 1). However, the extreme sourness of some well-meaning men fortunately remained an ideal that found no wide acceptance. In the first four centuries of Islam, the representatives of ascetic piety were comparatively few, and their voices were not heeded. On the contrary, there existed a pronounced predilection for humor and gaiety which knew few restrictions. The ninth-century poet al-Bul)turi collected a few verses censuring joking and playfulness. However, those verses aim at the unwholesome 'practical joker' rather than the harmless humorist. It obviously is the practical joker who is meant in a verse 1.uch as the one ascribed to the poet Salil) b. 'Abd-al-Quddus who was killed under al-Mahdi: Many a joke brought about Perdition for its perpetrator 2). Contrasting seriousness and playfulnc~s and the good and bad sides of humor constituted an early topic of Muslim entertaining literature 3 ). In later times, when the occupation with any subject other than the religious science!> required express justification, the collector~ of jokes also had to follow the general custom. Thus, for instance, lbn al-Jawzi (d. 597/1200) marshals at length the arguments for the permissibility of one's occupation with jokes in the introduction of his History of Fools (Akhbdr al-ftamqa). He indicates three reasons for writing his book. Firstly, the stories of fools will move intelligent persons to give thanks to their Creator that they were not made that way. Secondly, they might put some people 1 ) Cunously enough, lbn al- jawzi who states m hts autobiography that he could not remember ever havmg played m the streets as a chdd or havmg laughed very much (cf. F. Rosenthal, Dae arabzsche Autobzographae, in Analecta Oraentalza 14.31, fn. 2, Rome 1937), ts the same author who wrote some collections of jokes. The attitude taken in the autobtography IS that of the theologtan, whereas hts occupation wtth JOkes was an outgrowth of hts actlvtty as a historian. 1 ) Cf. al-Bul).turi, I;lamdsah, ed. by L. Cheikho, 254 f. (Beirut, n.y.); L. Cheikho, in Mashraq 22.823 (1924). 1 ) Al-Jf4lt~. for mstance, wrote a Treatzse on Seraousness and Playfulness, ed. by P. Kraus and M. TA.bl al-l,Ujtri, m Ma7mu• rasd'al al-Jdflzl 61 ff. (Catro 1943). lbn Qutaybah, 'Uy(m 1.315-25, IS concerned wtth showing that many of the ancient Musbms dtd not frown upon an occasional joke, and lbn •Abdrabbth, 'lqd J.J26 f. (Cairo 1305), quotes many authonties, mcludmg Jesus and the Apostles, as favoring humor. Ar-Rlghtb al-It~fahlnl, Mufld(larat 1.177-9 (Catro 1287), has a chapter on the blameworthiness and pratseworthmess of jokes and laughter.

MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF MUSLIM HUMOR

5

on guard against foolishness, though, if they are congenital fools, they are hardly ever able to change their ways. And thirdly, as the most important point, humor serves as a much needed natural relaxation and is approved for this purpose by many statements of MuQammad and the early Muslims. An-Nuwayrl (d. 733/1333). in the beginning of the chapter on jokes that he incorporated in his great encyclopedia, Nihayat alarab 1}, was more succinct. He based himself upon the material which Ibn 'Abdrabbih had used in the tenth century in the introduction to the book of jokes in the 'lqd, the last section of the work. However, the spirit in which an-Nuwayri reported that material was noticeably different. He begins by saying: "This chapter deals with a very attractive subject. It contains material which gives rest to tired and dulled souls, and energy to flagging and bored minds. People cannot work constantly, but they need some change. If they are occasionally treated to anecdotes and jokes, they go back to their serious work with renewed energy and great strength for study. The Messenger of God is reported to have said: 'Refresh your hearts periodically, for if they get dull, they become blind.' 'Ali b. Abi Talib said: 'Rest your hearts and let them partake of wisdom, for they do get bored, just like your bodies do. The soul likes to follow its desire and prefers acting gently. It tends toward playfulness and 'has a hankering for evil (Qur•an 12.53/53).' 'It feels at home with weakness, and seeks rest and shuns work. If one forC'es it, one tires it out, and if one neglects it, one hatms it'.'' 2) An-Nuwayri then refers to the practical jokes which the Prophet is said to have played upon unsuspecting persons 3). Thus, he told an old woman that old women were not admitted into Paradise, and when she was greatly upset by his statement, he quoted Qur•an 56.35-7/34-6 to the effect that all women in Paradise 1) Cf. an-Nuwayrt, NJhdyah 4.1-76 (Cairo 1343/1925). The date of anNuwayrt's death is g1ven by GAL and I. Krachkovsky, m El, s.v. al-NuwayrS, as 732/1332. However, the biographical sources wh1ch I was able to check, mcludmg the TalJ' as-sa'id 46 f. (Cairo 1333/1914) of an-Nuwayri's colleague al-Udfuwi, have 733· •) The correct readmg of the text seems to be: anflaytahd .•• ddhaytahd. a) They are also mentiOned by ar-Ragh1b al-l~;Jfaba.ni, loc. cit; at-Tifashi, Nuzhat al-albdb, introduction, Ms. Army Med1cal L1brary (Cleveland, Oh1o), A 51. Az-Zubayr b. Bakkar wrote a monograph on the subject. RosENTHAL

2

6

MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF MUSLIM HUMOR

would be equally young 1). Or, he tells a woman that her absent husband has a whiteness in his eyes. She fears that he is ill, but when she sees her husband again, he reassures her that the Prophet was right but that that 'whiteness' did not mean anything, since it was the natural state of affairs 2). At the end of this chapter, after having reported numerous tales ascribed to all kinds of people, an-Nuwayri, however, cannot refrain from enumerating briefly the statements that speak out against humor and jokes. Even if later authors at least have some qualms about the legitimacy of wasting one's time upon such light entertainment, adab works continued to be full of jokes. Still, it is difficult to recognize and follow the historical thread in the material. Some monographs on the subject of humor written in the later stages of Mu~lim civilization are available. However, the early development of Muslim humor must be sought in the first two or three centuries of Islam. The third/ninth century was the period in which many monographs on individual humorists were written. They certainly contained old and little contaminated material. However, none of them is preserved in its original form. The Fihrist mentions a number of relevant titles in the lists of writings of individual authors 3). In addition, it contains two rather ]ong lists of anony1) Cf. also Qdbas Ndma, transl. by R. Levy, 68 (New York 1951); T. P. Hughes, A n,ct,onary of Islam 249. s.v. Jok,ng (London I88s). 1 ) The same story 10 a shghtly d1fferent vers1on appears 10 A. Chnstensen, Conies persans en langue popula,re, no. 2 (Copenhagen I9I8. Kgl. Danske V~denskabernes Selbskab, h•stor~sk-fdologisk Meddelelser I, 3). Dr. R. Ett10ghausen kmdly enabled me to consult th1s publication. Cf. also al-Ibshihi, Musta!raf, eh, 75. 2.294 (BiHA.q 1268). How Mul,lammad laughed and what he laughed about 1s often descnbed 10 rehg10us hterature, cf., for mstance, al-Ghazzali, l{lyd' 2.325 (Ca1ro I352); at-Tabarst, Makdrtm al-akhldq 9 f. (Ca1ro I304). 3 ) Practlcally every grammanan mentioned 10 the Fthrtsl wrote a book entitled Anecdotes (nawdd~r). The jokes of grammanans are famous and often quoted, though they always seem far-fetched, like our Greek and Lat10 scholastic jokes. However, the books on nawddtr usually dealt not w1th jokes but w1th remarkable stories and curious illustrations of strange grammatical points. Some of the titles of the Fihrist which are of relevance in connection with the subject of humor will be mentioned later on (cf. below p. I 2, fn. I and 4; p. 13, fn. I; p. 16, fn. 2; p. Bs, fn. 7, p. 9I, fn. I). Others are al-Mada>ini's works on fools (a[lmaq), on those who are accomplished in breaking winds (f/,arrd!), and on the quarrels of noble men (shar£f), cf. F~hrtst 10411 Flugel, correspondmg to p. I 52 of the ed1tion Ca1ro I 348; Ibn Sa 'id al-Qutrubulli's Wdty remarks of eloquent men (Ftqar al-bulaghd>), cf. F~hrist 12310/I8o; Mul,lammad b. •Ali al-l;lukaymi's book on jokes and Pleasantnes (alFukahah wa-d-du'dbah), cf. Fthrist ISI 10/2I6; the works of al-Katanji ( ?)

MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF MUSLIM HUMOR

7

mous monographs dealing with humorists. One of them is entitled: 'Books on buffoons (balltil)' It includes the following names 1): 1) I:Iawshab al-Asadi 2). 4) Abu s-Sa•ib al-Makhzumi 5 ) 2) •urwah b. 'Abdallah 3) 5) Abu 'Umar al-A •raj 6) 3) Al-Ghari, jam• 56; td., Zahr 1.158; ar-Ragh1b al-I\)fahant 1.382 and possibly also 1.365 where the text has al-Gha.ftrt; al-Ghuzdlt, Ma!al~· 2.59 (Ca1ro 1299-1300). 5 ) He occurs quite frequently m Agh., cf. the Index 366 f., and especially, Agh. 20.148, where he 1s descnbed as an excellent and ascetlcally p1ous (nusk) person. Cf. also Ibn al-Jarral_l, Waraqah 68 f. (Catro 1953); Mas'ddi, Muru1 I. I I (Pans 1861-77), quoted by as-Sakhawi, J•lan, cf. F. Rosenthal, A Htstory of Mushm H~stortography 432 (Leiden 1952); al-Marzubani, Muwashsha~. Index (Cairo 1343); as-SarraJ, Ma~drl' al-•ushshdq 266 (Constantmople 1301). Verses by an Abfl s-Sa•Ib who appears in the company of al-Mahdt and might be tdenbcal with this man are found in Bayhaqi, Maflasin 245 f. An Abd s-Sa•1b al-q3.4i 1s quoted m ar-Raghib al-I\)fahani 1.337, 345; 2.44 f. ') Unidentified. 7) He is no doubt identical with the Abfi.J;>am!}am mentioned in the second

8

MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF MUSLIM HUMOR

7) Qalti!i 1) 8) Abti Sikkah 9) Masrtir al-Awsi 10) Abti Ma 'n al-Ghifa.ri II) Ad-DArimi a)

12)

13) 14) IS) 16)

Ibn Al)mar a) 'lqrit ") I:Iutami ad-Dalla.I 6) Abti 1-I:Iurr al-Madini 6) Find/Qand 7)

list, and Abi\ J;>amQam would seem to be the correct form of the name. Cf. J. Horov1tz, m El, s.v. AbU .Pam4am; lbn Qutaybah, •Uyun 2.54 f.; id., Sh,•r, cf. the ed1tlon and translation of Gaudefroy-Demombynes 3 and fn. 8 (Pans 1947) who thmks that there m1ght have been more than one person called Abti l)amQam; ld., Adab al-kat'b 32 f. Grunert (Le1den 1900-1); 'lqd 3.108, 352; Ibn Zdl!q, Akhbar Sibawayh al-M,~ri 16 (Cauo 1352/1933); ar-Ragh1b al-I~fahani 1.247; lbn al-Athir, Usdal-ghabah 5.232 (Ca1ro 128o); lbn I:IaJar, l~abah 4.204-6 (Calcutta 1856-73). Ibn Zi\laq's story corresponds to the one found m <Jqd 3· 108. lbn Qutaybah and one of the two stones of <Jqd 3.352 (wh1ch IS also quoted by the ed1tor of the Akhbar Sibawayh 63) tell about a g1rl who complamed to Abi\ J;>amQam about havmg been k1ssed by a man. Abi\ J;>amQam adv1sed her to k1ss the man m return because "wounds reqmre retaliation (Qur'an 5·45/49)." 1) Th1s and the followmg three persons are umdentif1ed. Qalti~ appears as a female proper name m Agh. 3.83 (Agh. 3 3·273). •) He m1ght be 1dentlcal w1th the famous early Umayyad poet Rabi'ah b. •Am1r, called M1skin ad-Danmi, cf. Agh. 18.68 ff.; Yaqtit, lrshdd 4.204-6 Margohouth; 11.126 ff. (Cairo 1355-7). An anecdote told m the name of ad-Danmi m <Jqd 3.181 14 11 • also appears to refer to the poet. ') He 1s mentioned agam m the second hst. Accordmg to Jal)i~. Bayan 1.18, hlS names were 'Amr b. A}.lmad b. al-•Amarrad al-Bahlli. Cf. also ja}.l1~, Bukhala' 11,136 m the translation of Ch. Pellat who mentions most of the followmg references; Ibn Qutaybah, tshah, whtch m 'lqd leads to a confusmn wtth tshah the wtfe of Mui.tammad. There was a proverb 'Slower than Fmd' and another one, mentioned in connection wtth him, which ironically stated that any 'hurry be damned.' Cf. al-Mufa44al, Fdkhir 154 f.; Agh. 1.156; (Agh. 3 1.393); 4.165 f./5·96 f.; 7·135,139/8.209,217, where he appears m the company of Nawmat-a44ul.ta, Htbatall!h, and many other Medinese smgers and songstresses; 'lqd 3.189; 'Askari, ]amharatal-amthdl 1.176 f.; Jd., Ma'dn£ 1.9; al-l;lariri, Maqdmdt, 47th maqdmah, 550, 562 De Sacy (Pans 1822); Maydant 1.197, 236 Freytag, cf. already H. A. Schultens, M eJdann Proverbiorum arabJCorum pars 36 (Letden 1795). 1) Cf. the preceding note. 1 ) A pupll of Tuways, cf. H. G. Farmer, A HJstory of Arab•an Music sS (London 1929), and the references given there; Jahi~. lfayawan 1.55 (Catro 1323-5); 1.121 (Catro 1366/1947). Nawmat-a4-4ul.ta means 'early morning nap' (cf. 'lqd 3.32631), the pleasant brief period of sleep after the early mormng prayer. 3 ) U mdenttfted. 4 ) Followmg an unidentified work by al- Jal.ti~. lbn Babah (cf. below, p. 11 fn. z) summed up the bttle available pseudo-btographtcal information about Jul.tA. as follows: "Al-JA.Qi~ said that hts name was Nlll.t and his kunyah Abll 1-Ghu~n. He hved over a hundred years. With reference to him, •Umar b. Abt Rabi'ah says: You bewlldered my mind and played with me Untll I became almost as crazy as Jul.ta. He then hved up to the time of al-Man~llr and settled in al-Kilfah." The verse ts not found m the edttion of 'Umar b. Abi Rabi'ah's D£wan. Accordmg to at-Tawl.tidi, Imta' 2.57 (Catro 1939-44), Jul.ta was m contact with Abll Mushm. Ablll-'Atahtyah mentioned htm m hts poetry, cf. GAL, Suppl. 1.61; al-Marzubani, Muwashshafl 259 (Cairo 1343). The proverb "More stuptd than Jul.tA." ts known to the paroemmgraphers. In keepmg with an often observed tradtbon (cf. below, p. 12, fn. I, and p. 12, fn. 4 and also p. 26), lbn al-Jawzi, Akhbdr al-!Jamqd 26, ventured the opmion that the stories going under Jul)a's name were not by him but were attnbuted to htm out of maltce. Cf. Ibn Qulaytah ( ?), Rushd al-labtb, eh. 14, Ms. Topkapusaray, Ahmet Ill 2481, fol. 9ob; al-JA.l.ti~. al-Qawlf£ l-b•ghdl, Ms. Istanbul, Damat lbrahim 949, fol. 202b; Bayhaqt, Ma!JaSJn 4858 11 ., cf. also F. Schwally, in ZDMG 56.237 f. (1902); l;lamzah all~fahant, A mthal, Ms. Istanbul, Damat Ibrahim 943; 'Askari, ] amharat al-amthdl 1.260; ar-RA.ghtb al-I~fahdn£ 1.206; lbn al-Jawzi, Akhbdr al-flamqd 23, 26-8, whose source 1s mdicated as ath-Tha'ahbi, Ghurar an-nawdd", and

IO

MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF MUSLIM HUMOR

2) Abu :J;>amc;lam 1)

3) lbn AI:tmar 4) Sawrah the Bedouin 2 ) 5) Ibn al-Maw!?ili 3)

6) Ibn Ya'qub ') 7) Abu 'Ubayd al-Khurrami ( ?) 8) Abu 'Alqamah 6)

who in turn 1s the source of lbn l;h)jah, Thamardt al-awrdq 1.18o f. (Ca1ro 1287, m the margm of ar-Ragh1b al-I~fahani). Cf., further, the seventeenthcentury Nuzhat al-udabd'; D~e "Nawddar" von el-QalJtlbi, transl. by 0. Rescher, 77 (Stuttgart 1920). In Pers1an hterature, the form of h1s name was d1storted to J ul,lt. cf. A. Chnstensen, ]u{li ~n Pers~an l2terature, m A Volume of Or2ental Stud2es presented to E. G. Browne 129-36 (Cambndge 1922). Cf. also the same, in Acta Or2entaha 3·7 ff. (1924). For the modern Jul,la, cf. the aforementioned work by R. Basset and A. Moulu~ras (above, p. 7. fn. r) and recently pnnted Arable collections of J ul,ll stones. 1) He and the following lbn Al,lmar have already been mentioned in the f1rst hst. •) Umdentif1ed. Whether he is identical w1th AbO. ~awlrah ( ?), cf. <Jqd 3.294; 'Askari, M'a'ani 1.292? 8 ) One of the dynasty of famous htterateurs (GAL, Suppl. 1.223 f.). ') He and the followmg person are umdentif1ed. The form of the msbah al-Khurrami 1s completely uncertam. 1 ) AbQ. 'Alqamah 1s a legendary 'grammarian' of early times. He was ongmally known as a punster and inventor of hngu1stic and grammatical jokes. However, later on, he was actually accepted as a senous grammanan, cf. al-Q1ftt. Inbdh, as quoted in a footnote to AbQ. 'Alqamah's biography in the Egyptian ed1bon of YA.qftt, Irshdd 12.205-15 (Ca1ro 1355-7); 5.72-7 Margohouth; as-Suyftti. Bughyah 325 (Cairo 1326). According to al-Qiftt, AbQ. 'Alqamah was quoted m the Kltdb al-'Ayn of al-Khalil. He was also quoted m al-Jal,ll~. Baydn, according to J. Fuck, Arab~ya 67 (Berhn 1950. Abhandlungen der Sachs~schen Akadem~e der W~ssenschajten zu Le2pz2g, ph2lol.-h2stor. Klasse 45,1). Al-Jal;u~ also is the authority for the famous story that AbQ. 'Alqamah mentioned the name of the wolf who ate the B1bhcal and Qur'lmc Joseph, and when he was told that Joseph was not eaten by a wolf, he sa1d that the name he had ment10ned, then, was the name of the wolf that d1d not eat Joseph, cf. Tha'lhbt, Th~mdr 35, referred to by R. Basset, Mdle et un contes 1.459; Ibn al-Jawzi, Akhbdr al-{lamqd 82, where the same story 1s in addition ascnbed to a certam AbQ. Ka'b the Storyteller (cf. also lbn Qutaybah, 'Uyun 2.46). lbn al-Jawzi here calls AbQ. 'Alqamah, too, a professional storyteller (qd~~) and apparently makes a d1stmct10n between h1m and AbQ. •Alqamah the grammanan whom he quotes m Akhbdr al-{lamqd 79. Further references to AbQ. •Alqamah are found, accordmg to Fuck, in lbn Qutaybah, 'Uyun 2.162-4; 4· 163; Pseudo-jal:11~. Ma{las2n 14 f. (Cairo 1324); 'lqd 1.227. Add, further, Bayhaqi, Ma!Jds2n 470 f.; Ibn al-Marzubln (GAL 1.125, Suppl. 1.189 f.), Thuqald', according to YA.qftt, op. cit.; lbn al-Jawzi, ?urrd/ 76 ff.; Nuwayri, N2hdyah 4·13111 • This AbQ. 'Alqamah probably is a different person from AbQ. 'Alqamah al-Khuza'i who is mentioned in Agh. 8.31 (Agh. 8 9.12). He apparently is alsoddferentfrom Ibn Abi 'Alqamah al-mamrurwho appears in 'lqd 2.121 10 rr. and who, in turn, seems to be 1dentical w1th lbn Abl 'Alqamah al-mdjin

MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF MUSLIM HUMOR

li

9) Sayfawayh 1) Two of the names are duplicates of others found in the first list, and again, some of the persons referred to defy identification. It is not surprising that many of these humorists were soon forgotten, for we know how quickly the fame of the great names of the entertainment world passes. We find another list of humorists written less than a century and a half later in the Capital of the Boon Companion (Ra•s mal an-nadim) by Al)mad b. 'Ali b. Babah 2). It has seven names, but of all the names mentioned in the Fihrist, only Jul)a remains. The last four of the seven are historical personalities of the ninth and tenth centuries. It must, however, be stated that the majority of lbn Babah•s humorists were also known to the author of the Fihrist and mentioned by him individually. And it may also be noted that lbn Babah did not mean to say that there existed, or he knew of, monographs on the men he mentions. His list reads: mentioned in Agh. 19.29, 38, 51; Ibn al-Jawzi, ?urraf 57 (al-majmln). Cf. also lbn Qutaybah, 'Uyun 1.318; 2.204, and the chapter on Abd •Alqamah al-Ba!,lri al-ma'tuh m an-Niabftri, 'Uqala' al-ma1anin. 1 ) Cf. at-Tawl}.idi, Imta' 3.22 (Ca1ro 1939-44), ar-Ra.ghib al-l!,lfaha.nl 1.81,93; lbn al-Jawzi, Akhbar al-[lamqa 81 f., where he figures as a professional storyteller; lbn Khalddn, Muqadd~mah 1.18 Quatremere; Ibn l;lajar, Lzsan 3.132 f., cf. also below, no n8. Older sources that ment10n him seem to have been ath-Tha'ahbi and Ibn al-Marzuban. His name might possibly be read Sifawayh and be etymologically identical with Sibawayh, but thlS man IS, of course, not Identical with the Sibawayh al-Mi~ri mentioned below, p. 14· 1) Cf. GAL, Suppl. 1.586. Brockelmann's data in GAL are based upon the Catalogue of the A rab~c and Perszan M anuscr~pts m the Orzental Pubhc L~brary at Bankzpore 15.111-3 (Calcutta-Patna 1929), where a modern copy of the work lS hsted. The Bankipore catalogue, m turn, depends partly on a!,l~afadi, Nakt al-htmyan 4 (Cairo I329/I9II). The mdications concernmg Ibn Babah and his work which have reached GAL m this way are mostly wrong. The followmg rehable detalls can be gained from the Istanbul manuscnpt, Nuru Osmaniye 3296, which was wntten by a student (or fnend, ~8fizb) of the author, Abi\ Bakr 'Ubaydallah b. Abi Sa'id ash-Sharif a!;l-~aghir who fimshed his work on Saturday, Dhd 1-l;IIjjah 9.539/June 2,II45: The name of the author was Ibn Babah, and not Ibn Banah (cf. a!;l-~afadi, loc. cJt.), as one might easlly thmk smce Ibn Banah iS well known as the name of a famous musician of the ninth century. The second b is clearly indicated on fol. 165a. Ibn Bani, as we fmd it in GAL, is incorrect. Ibn Babah was no longer alive when the manuscript was wntten. According to fol. 164b, he had fmished his work on Shawwal 10, 501/May 23, 1108. In fact, the historical survey mcluded in it does not carry us beyond that date, cf. fols. 146a and 149a. [Accordmg to GAL, seconded., 1.420, V.A. Hamdam has descnbed

12

MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF MUSLIM HUMOR

4) Ahu 1-'Ayna, 3) 1) lbn Abi 'Atiq 1) 2) Ash 'ab aHamma • a) S) Abu 1-'lbar ') 3)

Jul)a

the Istanbul manuscripts of the work in ]RAS 1938.562 f., g1vmg substantially the same mformat10n as 1s g1ven here. Hamdam states that Ms. Yeni Cam1 234. not consulted by me, 1s the author's autograph.] 1) He was 'Abdallah b. Mul;lammad b. 'Abd-ar-Ral;lman b. Abi Bakr, a great-grandson of the f1rst Caliph. Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqat 5.144 (Le1den 1905-40), mentions no anecdotes, but collectiOns of h1s w1tty stones were already made by al-Mada'mi and Abft Ayyftb al-Madini, cf. FJhrJst 101 11 , 1488 Flugel; 148, 212 (Cairo 1348). Al-J al;l1~ feels uneasy about the fact that Irreverent stones are ascnbed to such a man, and therefore states that he was personally clean and chaste but those who heard h1s remarks used to thmk that he was constantly saymg the most mdecent thmgs, cf./fayawan 2.28 (Ca1ro 1323-5); 2.84 (Catro 1366/1947), and above, p. 9, fn. 4· For h1s anecdotes, cf. Abft Tammam,lfam4sah 583 Freytag (Bonn 1828); Pseudo- jal;l1~. Maflas•n 327 f., 332 van Vloten (Le1den 1898); lbn Qutaybah, 'Uyan 1.263; 2.39; 3.132 (below, no. 121); 'lqd 3.183 f. and Shafl''s IndJCes 1.576 f.; Agh., Index 473 f.; ar-Ragh1b al-I!;ifabani 2.372; Nuwayri, Nahayah 4.11-17. The two strands of the trad1t1on come together m Ibn J:laJar, Tahdhib 6.11. Ibn J:lajar knows Ibn Abi 'Atiq as a reliable transm1tter who has a b1ography in Ibn J:11bban's Th•qat, but also quotes two anecdotes as samples of hiS pleasantnes (dt~'abah). 1) He IS the subject of the followmg pages. 8 ) Mul;lammad b. al-QA.s1m (191/8o6-7-283/896), cf. GAL, St~ppl. 1.248 f. Brockelmann's statement m GAL that Abft 1-'AynA.> seems to have mtroduced the bterary genre of the Dummkopf cannot be maintained 1f only in v1ew of the fact that al-Mada'ml already wrote on fools, cf. above, p. 6, fn. 3· Abft 1-'Ayna's anecdotes are also found m 'lqd and Agh., and they are w1dely represented m adab literature. 4 ) AM 1-'Abbas Mul;lammad b. Al;lmad b. 'Abdallah b. 'Abd-aljl-$amad b. 'Ali b. 'Abdallah b. al-'Abba.s al-Hash1mt. He was born around 175/791 and d1ed m 250/864-5. As h1s pedtgree shows, he was related to the ruling 'Abbas1ds. He was a well-known poet and author and wrote, among other thmgs, a collection of tomfoolenes (flamaqat and raqa'at) and a collection of his anecdotes and notes on literature (amali). Cf. F•hrast 152 f. Flugel; 217 f. (Ca1ro 1348); Agh. 20.89-93; ar-Ragh1b al-l!jifahanl 1.72, 258; 2.426; Yaqftt, Irshad 6.271-4 Margollouth; 17.I22-7 (Catro I355-7); Nuwayri, NJhayah 4.Ioo; Kutubi, Fawdt 2.354-6, where reference 1s made to a KJtab BJ'r ad-durr for further anecdotes by Abft 1-'lbar. [Cf. also lbn al-Jarral;t, Waraqah I20 f. (Ca1ro 1953).] In the case of these persons who are known to have been accomplished men m thetr ttmes and to have often held responstble posttions, the h1stoncal sense of Arabtc authors compelled them to attempt an explanation of why they came to be constdered buffoons. Thus, the author of Agh. 20.92, says that Abti 1-'Ibar was a well-educated and excellent man, but he saw that he could gam more from foohshness (al-flamaqah wa-s-suqul) and, therefore pretended to be a fool (taflamaqa). Cf. also above, p. 9, fn. 4, and p. I2 fn. I, and below, p. 13, fn. I, and p. 26. The clever fool who uses hts foohshness to hts advantage also occurs m Graeco-Arab1c translation hterature. Dtogenes told a mu4fl•k that hlS own wisdom made htm a fool

MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF MUSLIM HUMOR

6) Abu 1-'Anbas 1)

7) Ibn al-J~~a.s

13

2)

Al-Qalqashandi who, in the late fourteenth/early fifteenth century, copied lbn BA.bah's list (through some unidentified interwhile the mut!lnk's foobshness turned out to be wisdom. The mudhzk acknowledged the truth of thiS statement, explammg that he gained thr~~gh his foobshness what D1ogenes lost through h1s w1sdom, cf. the chapters on Diogenes m Abd Sulaymii.n as-SIJistii.ni, ~zwdn al-fiakmah, and aPdubashshir, Mukhtdr al-fiakam Themutjfiak'snameisFwrfs (Korax, Kerkops, Korydos? ?) m the ~zwdn, and Ry!s m al-Mubashshir. 1) Mul)ammad b. lsl)ii.q a!ti-$aymari (213/828-275/888). He was active as an astrologer, boon compamon, and author of many works on vanous bterary subjects. Cf. GAL, Suppl. 1.396; Jii.J:u~. Bukhald', transl. by Ch. Pellat, 207, 324, where further references, includmg some to Mas'ddi, Murt2f, and Ta>rfkh Baghddd 1.238, are g1ven; l:lamzah al-I!tifahii.ni, according to E. M1ttwoch, Dze lderarasche Tatzgkelt I;lamza al-l~bahdnis, m M tttellungen des Semznars fur Orzentalzsche Sprachen zu Berltn, W estaszatzsche Studzen 12.126 (1909); ar-Rii.ghib al-I!tifahii.nl 2.423; Ibn al-Jawzi, Akhbdr al-/Jamqd 70, 89, 112, 114. A manuscript of Abd 1-'Anbas, Kttdb al-•Ashzq wa-l-ma•sht2q, IS mentioned by P. Sbath, Al-Fzhru 1.106 f. (Cairo 1938). 'lqd 2.158 reports, m the name of Abd 1-'Anbas, the famous anecdote of the preacher who asked h1s bsteners whether they knew what he was gomg to tell them and, regardless of their reply, was able to get out of preachmg. Th1s anecdote later on came to be attached to the Hoja Nasreddm. The Abd 1-'Anbas m whose name 1t 1s reported hved m Medma. He may have been the ongmal funny character who came to be merged with a!ti-$aymari. The tdentlty of the astrologer and the htterateur can hardly be doubted. The astrological work of Abd 1-'Anbas wh1ch 1s mentioned as no. I of h1s works m GAL, also exists in B1rmmgham, Islam" Arabzc Manuscrzpts, catalogued by H. L. Gottschalk, no. 923 (Birmingham 1950. Catalogue of the Mzngana Collectzon of Manuscnpts IV, 2), and Istanbul, Ham1d1ye 829, fol. 52b. Among his bterary titles, Fzhrast 151 f. Flugel; 217 (Cairo 1348), mentions a HJstory (akhbdr) of Abt2 FJr'awn Kundur b. ]afidar and the Anecdotes of al-1;1-w-~-i. Anecdotes of Abd F1r'awn are known from Bayhaql, Mafidsan 628, and ar-Ragh1b al-l!tifahani 2.164. Cf. also Abd Fir'awn alA •rabi, m Ibn Qutaybah, 'Uyt2n 1.257. Al-Mubarrad, Kdmtl 201 Wnght, quotes an Abd Fir'awn al-'Adawi, who m1ght be a different person? Cf., further, lbn al-Jarrii.l), Waraqah 54 ff. (Cairo 1953); at-Tawl)tdt, Imtd• 2.53; 3·7 f., 34, 70 (Ca1ro 1939-44). Al-1:1-w-!ti-i also seems to be a funny man, but I have been unable to Identify him. 1 ) Abd 'AbdallA.h al-l:lusayn b. 'Abdallah (or Al)mad) al-Jawhari, known as lbn al- Ja!ti!tiA.~. was a very wealthy jeweler with Important connections among the all-powerful wazirs of early tenth-century Baghdad. The confiscation of h1s property m 302/914-5 y1elded an enormous wealth. He d1ed in 315/927-8. Cf. Maskawayh, m H. F. Amedroz and D. S. Margohouth, The Eclipse of the •Abbaszd Calaphate 1.35, and the sources quoted there m a footnote (Oxford 1920); lbn al-Jawzl, MuntQ~am 6.211-4 (Hyderabad 1357 ff.); ad., Akhbdr al-fiamqd 30-8; Kutubl, Fawdt 1.271-5; lbn Kathir, Baddyah 11. 1 56 f. Ibn al-Jawzi quotes an interview that at-Tandkhi (cf. GAL 1.155 f.,

14

MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF MUSLIM HUMOR

mediary) or used a common source, adds another famous name, that of Muzabbid al-Madani 1). A comparison of the lists of the Fihrist and Ibn Babah shows how much of the older material must have been lost with the end of the golden age of the 'Abbasid caliphate. The preserved collections, nothwithstanding their wealth of information and their additions from later periods, bear out the fact of great losses. Only one comparatively old monograph on an individual humorist has been preserved and published. It dates from the tenth century but came too late for inclusion in the Fihrist and, as an Egyptian publication, might anyhow have escaped the attention of the Fihrist'!> author. This is the History (akhbar) of Sibawayh al-Mi~ri by the Egyptian historian Ibn Zulaq who died in 386/996 or 387/997 2). Suppl. I.252 f.) had w1th the son of Ibn al-Ja~~a~ in 356/967. The latter demed that h1s father was the author of certam fnvolous and imp1ous remarks ascnbed to h1m, though he admitted the fact that he had earned a reputation as a decent jester and w1t. He had considered 1t prudent to pretend that he was a person that was not be taken senously, m order to avmd the envy and susp1c1ons wh1ch otherwise would have fallen to the lot of a man w1th h1s mfluenhal connections. 1) Cf. Qalqashandt, $ubfl I .450. Instead of Muzabbid, some authontles read Muzabbad or Muzbid. In the editions of ArabiC texts, the name IS often spelled Mazyad. However, this presumably IS a simple m1stake. There is a comparatively large number of Ash'ab stones which are also ascnbed to him, cf. nos. 29, 89, 96, I35· References to Muzabbid are very frequent, cf. Jal.n?!, Bukhalu.>, transl. by Ch. Pellat, 11, 325; ~d., Qayawan 5.6o, 63 (CairO I323-5); 5.I84, I92 f. (Cairo I366ji947); ~d., Rayan 2.82; Ibn Qutaybah, 'Uyun 1. m, 39. 263; 2.10; 3.277; Bayhaqi, Maflas~n 642; 'lqd 3.26I; Agh. 5·49 (cf. Agh. 3 5.262, where many sources refernng to Muzabb1d are mentioned in a footnote of theed1tors); I3.116 f.; at-Tawl,lidi, Muqdbasdt 55 (Cairo I347/I929); ~d., Imta• I.58; 2.55; 3.7I, 78 (Cairo I939-44); Tha'ahbi, Th,mdr 372 f.; I;Iu~rt.]am• I3 f., I44 f., I 57· 227, 254; ar-Raghib al-Isfahant I.22I, 243, 3I4, 348, 382; 2.I6o, I67, 382, 4I5, 426; (lbn) al-Jawaliqt, Sharfl Adab al-kdhb I5I (Cairo I350); lbn al-Jawzt, Akhbdr al-flamqd 29; ,d., ?urrdf 59 f., 89 (cf. al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Talftl 54, fn. I); ,d., Adhk,yd> 95, 113 (Cairo I34o); Yaqilt, Irshdd 6.70 Margohouth; I6.98 (Cauo I355-7), m the biography of alJal,li?! (quoted by 1;1. as-Sandilbi, A dab al-]afl'~ 64, Cairo I350/I93I); Nuwayri, N'hdyah 4.24 f.; Dhahabi, Mushtab'h 475 De Jong (Leiden I864); Kutubi, Fawdt 2.592-5; Tdt al-'arus 2.361 wh1ch also mforms us that Muzabbid's name was mentioned in the works on homographs and homonyms by •Abd-al-Ghani al-Azdi (cf. GAL I.I67 f., Suppl. 1.28I), Ibn Makilla (cf. GAL 1.354 f., Suppl. 1.6o2), and al-Wazir al-Maghribt (cf. GAL I.353 f., Suppl. 1.6oo f.); al-Ghuzilli, Ma!dl~· 1.62 (Cairo 1299-1300). Cf. also A. Chnstensen, m Acta Or,entaha 3.21 (1924). 1 ) The text was published in Ca1ro in 1352/1933· Later authors who mention Stbawayh al-Ml~rt are Yaqilt, Irshdd 7.110 f.

MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF MUSLIM HUMOR

15

This Sibawayh whose given names were Abu Bakr Mul)ammad b. Musa. and who is said to have lived from 284/897 to Safar 358/ December g68 January g6g, belonged to a type called the 'intelligent insane' ('uqala' al-mafanin). They were not quite identical with the ordinary run of comedians and humorists, and they were also treated in special works 1). Thus, we find that the anecdotes of Sibawayh, though they contain some of the ordinary elements of humor, are on a considerably higher level intellectually than the usual jokes and have a very pointed theological and political significance. The History of Sibawayh, consequently, represents only one particular facet of the history of humor in Islam. Above all, because of its date, it is of no help in explaining its oldest stage. The last mentioned limitation also curtails the usefulness of the information we have about humorists of the 'Abbasid period. This information is ample even if it does not come from special monographs but from quotations in later works. There is, for instance, the early 'Abba.sid poet and wit, Abu Dulamah, whose biography has recently been written 2). However, he, aswellasmany of his colleagues, is known for his achievements as a poet rather than his witticisms, and those men as a rule never came to be marked as comedians as exclusively as the older half-legendary Umayyad funny men and such later figures as Qaraqush 3 ) and the Hoja Nasreddin. It is among the comedians who date back into the Umayyad period that we must seek information on the early history of Muslim humor, and there is nobody for whom there is available Margobouth; 19.61 f. (Cairo 1355-7); Ibn I:lajar, LwJn 5.400; as-Suytitl, Bughyak 108 (Ca1ro 1326); ~d., /fusn al-mu!lafjarak 1.306 (Catro 1299). 1) Cf. F. Rosenthal, A Hlstory of Mushm Hlstonography 355 (Letden 1952); below, p. 85, fn. 7; lbn al-Jawzl, Adkklya' 159-62 (Catro 1340). Ar-Raghtb al-It~fahani is credited w1th a work on the subject m Ms. Landberg 6oo of Yale Umverstty. •) Cf. Mohamed Ben Cheneb, AM Doldma, poete boul/on de la cour des premlers callpkes abbas~des (Algters 1922). Even more famous is Abti Nuwas to whom many anecdotes were ascnbed. Cf. also the humonsts from the 'Abbasid period mentioned by Ibn Babah. a) Ibn MammA.tl (d. 6o6/1209) wrote a monograph on thiS contemporary historical personality in which he held him up to ndicule by making him the author and center of funny stories, cf. GAL 1.335, Suppl. 1.573; P. Casanova Karakoach in M4molres publlls par les membres de la MJsslon arch4ol. franf~i~e d~ Ca,;e 6.447-91 (Pans 1897); J. Horovitz, Spuren griechJscher MJmen im Orient 30, fn. I (Berlin 1905).

16

MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF MUSLIM HUMOR

the same amount of full and early attestation as there is for the figure called Ash'ab the Greedy 1). The evidence extends to both hi!> historical personality and his position as a humorist. No monograph on him is preserved. It is doubtful whether a statement made by the eighteenth-century compiler of the Taj al-'arus (s. rad. sh-'-b) actually indicates that there existed an old monograph collection of Ash'ab's anecdotes. Hovewer, the Fihrist states that az-Zubayr b. Bakk~r wrote a work entitled History (akhbdr) of Ash'ath 2). Since, as we shall often have occasion to notice, the Ash 'ab story is closely connected with the Zubayrids and since az-Zubayr b. Bakk~r. a member of that large clan of the ancient Muslim nobility, plays a considerable part in its transmission, it would seem most appropriate to find in this title a History of Ash'ab. However this may be, the work is not preserved, and we have to rely for information concerning Ash 'ab on the scattered references in Arabic literature. Fortunately, they are very numerous. Among them, there is a long chapter devoted to him in the K itab al-Aghani. In western scholarship 3), his name has occasionally cropped ur ever since J. J. Reiske came across it in Abu 1-Fid~· and Silvestre de Sacy in the Maqamat of al-l;lariri. More recently, D. S. Margoliouth, with his fine feeling for the important aspects of Muslim civilization, wrote a brief article on wit and humor in Arabic authors which also included a passing reference to Ash 'ab. And 0. Reschcr wrestled with the historical personality of Ash'ab in his useful history of Arabic literature. But the lesson which might be learned from the Ash 'ab story lies still buried in the sources. An attempt is here being made to unearth it and present it at least in its 'lutlines. 1 ) Al-!dm••. cf., for mstance, Ta•rikh Baghddd; Ibn al-Athtr; Dhahabl, Duwal, Mizdn, and MushtabJh; lbn Kathtr; Ibn l;lajar, LJsdn, Ibn al-'lmA.d. [Bnef references to authors and works w1th no md1cat1on of volume and page refer to the passages bsted m the b1bbography (below, pp. 139-41) as dealmg wtth Ash 'ab.] AJ-!amJ', cf., for mstance, Agh.; Ta•rikh Baghddd 7.3810, 11 ; l;lu~d. Zahr; Qalqashandi. A!-!amma•, cf., for mstance, Ta•rikh Baghdad 7.42 22, 43u: l;lu~rl. Zahr; l;lu~ri, jam•, Tat al-'ariis. 1 ) FJhnst 1n 13 Flugel; 161 18 (Catro 1348). 8 ) Cf. the b1bbography, below, p. 141.

SECOND CHAPTER

THE HISTORICAL PERSONALITY OF ASH'AB There are obvious elements of legend in the Ash 'ab story. They were already recognized as such by medieval authors 1). There also is much in it that might easily be suspected of being unhistorical. Critical minds might, therefore, wish to declare it completely void of any historicity. But from its internal coherence and the facts of its literary transmission, the Ash 'ab story can be proven to possess a historic-al kernel. The fullest information on Ash'ab is contained in the Kitab alAghti.ni. This means that in the first half of the tenth century, the Ash'ab story was fully developed. Not much later, the alleged date of Ash'ab's death (154/771) appears to have been accepted into historical literature 2 ), after at-Tabari had mentioned Ash'ab only incidentally. Our oldest direct references to Ash 'ab are found in al- Jal:ti~ (d. 255j86g) and Ibn Qutaybah (d. 276/889 or 270/884), who are closely followed in time by Ibn ar-Rumi (221/836-283j8g6). This leads us back into the first half of the ninth century. And if az-Zubayr b. Bakkar wrote a monograph on Ash 'ab, as it would seem to be very likely, a substantial amount of material on him was already available in written form at that time. An analysis of the sources of the Kitab al-Aghan£ points into the same direction. Its article on Ash'ab quite obviously is a composite from various sources which were put together without any noticeable attempt at harmonizing them. Most of them, we can be sure, must at some time have existed in written form, even if they reached the author of Agh. through oral transmission (or he pretends that they reached him orally). References 1) Dhahabt, Mtzan (quoted by Ibn l;lajar, L.san), thus doubts that Ash'ab was born dunng the cahphate of •Uthman and reached the age of 120 years. On the theory of two Ash'abs, cf. below, p. 29. I) Cf. Ta>rikh Baghdad; Ta>rikh n,mashq; lbn al-Athtr; Dhahabl, Duwal and Mizan; Kutubt, Fawdt; Ibn Kathlr; lbn l;lajar, Lss4n; Ibn al-'lmad. It 1s regrettable that the relevant part of Maskawayh's Tatd"b al-umam, which is the earhest preserved large h1Story after at-Tabarl that m1ght have referred to Ash'ab under his supposed date of death, 1s not yet pubhshed. Ibn al- Jawzi's Mtmta~am and adh-Dhahabt's Ta>rikh al-lslam certamly contain b10graph1es of Ash'ab under the year 154·

18

THE HISTORICAL PERSONALITY OF ASH'AB

to the son and grandson of Ash 'ab in the chains of transmitters can hardly be denied authenticity. It further is remarkable that all the famous historians of the early ninth century, such as alMada>ini, Ibn Zabalah, al-Haytham b. 'Adi, 'Umar b. Shabbah, and az-Zubayr b. Bakkar, are quoted as transmitters of information about Ash 'ab. Since it is known how closely az-Zubayr b. Bakkar is identified with the Ash'ab story, we would hardly be justified to consider the use of his and their names as a gratuitous forgery 1). However, we are not in a position to tell whether all of these historians included Ash'ab in their published works 2). Among the written sources which are mentioned in Agh., we may discount as too recent the references to written information derived from Ibn a1-Washsha> {texts, no. 66) and an anonymous work {no. 55) 3 ). The 'book' of al-Qasim b. Yusuf {no. II4) might po~sibly date from the first half of the ninth century, though the author has not yet been identified with any certainty. More useful is the reference to a History of Ibrahim b. al-Mahdi, which was transmitted on lbrahim's authority by Yusuf b. lbrahim called lbn ad-Dayah (no. 65). Yusuf is also quoted elsewhere as a transmitter of oral information from Ibn al-Mahdi (nos. 3 and 87). He had close relations with Ibn al-Mahdi, and he was the father of the famous author, Al)mad b. ad-Dayah, who wrote a History of Ibrahim b. al-Mahdi which presumably was an edition of the material collected by his father. The work referred to in Agh. seems to have been this History of Ibrahim b. al-Mahdi. There is no conceivable reason why the two lbn ad-Dayahs should have introduced the figure of Ash'ab into the history of lbn al-Mahdi if there was no historical basis for it. All the available evidence thus leads one to believe that the Ash 'ab story was fully developed in most details around the year 1) As far as al-A!?ma'i is concerned, the situation might be different. AlA!iima'i's name appears to have been used as that of an f1cbbous authority at a very early date. 1 ) I had no opportumty of perusmg the preserved portions of az-Zubayr b. Bakk!r's works, in order to see whether they contain references to Ash'ab. However, smce a work such as the Nasab Quraysk (Kddb an-Nasab), for instance, was wntten m praise of the Qurashites, It would not be surpriSmg if no mention were made m It of Ash 'ab stones m which some Qurashites cut httle digmf1ed figures. [In fact, Ash'ab 1s not mentioned m Mu!ii'ab's Nasab Quraysk (ed. by E. L~vi-Proven~al, Ca1ro 1953).] 3 ) It 1s possible that Al,lmad b. al-I:IA.nth al-Kharrlz (cf. no. 55) was the author, or rather editor, of the work.

THE HISTORICAL PERSONALITY OF ASHrikh Dimashq apparently is a misprint. 3) The statement that Ash•ab was a Qur>A.n reader-that is, in this case, a person who has the musical ablltty to recite the Qur>an-may be a fact rather than a prop for rehgious jokes. The statement that he was a Mu'tazllah (no. 70) IS difficult to mterpret. In later times, the famous Mu•tazilah scholars were convenient targets for jokes that ndiculed their hairsplitting dialectics. Such jokes would hardly have been poss1ble around 750 or earlier, but a Mu•tazilah tmge possible exists in the Ash'ab story no. 103. Cf. also below, p. 119, fn. 2.

THE HISTORICAL PERSONALITY OF ASH'AB

would have a suitable date for his birth. Later on, his lifetime was stretched out in order to make more room for the Ash 'ab legend, and his birth was placed in the year 9/630-1 (no. 70) 1), or at least in the time of 'Uthman. The figure of his mother, a woman of loose morals and a thoroughly bad character, served merely as a necessary embellishment of the legend, since the usually unfriendly and coarse dealings of fools with their mothers constituted part of the repertory of Mu!>lim je-,ter::.. She is said to have died already in the time of the Prophet, which explains the selection of the year 9/630-1 as the alleged date of Ash'ab's birth, but it is more likely that she was still alive when her son was a favorite of Sukaynah 2). The name of Ash'ab's wife, Bint Wardan, may be historical (no. 10). He certainly had only one wife, unless he became a widower and remarried. At least, monogamy is de rigueur practically throughout the whole Muslim fictional and entertaining literature, since that literature was meant to reflect actual social conditions. The existence of Ash'ab's son 'Ubaydah and his grandson Shu 'ayb seems historically certain. Whether his kunyah Abu 1-'Ala, (also Abu Isl)aq 3 ) and, wrongly, Abu l;lamidah/ l;lumaydah 4)) indicates the existence of other sons is doubtful. The curious assertion that he was a maternal uncle of the historian al-Waqidi 6), and even of al-A~ma'i 8), is certainly wrong but unexplained. His relationship, in his boyhood, with the caliph 'Uthman is clearly unhistorical. On the other hand, the fact that his family were clients of the Zubayrids seems to be amply confirmed by the role which the Zubayrids play in the transmission of Ash'ab stories 7). 1) Ac;h'ab b1mself m1ght have bmlt up the legend of hlS longev1ty since the anecdote no. 7. accordmg to wh1ch he 1s hesitant to reveal h1s age, has a cunously authenbc nng. The famous Arab makrobwz as a rule hke to boast of the1r age. 11) Cf. above, p. 2I, fn. I. Cf. nos. I, 2, 3, 9, 10, 18, 50, 70, and 122. 3 ) Cf. Ta•rtkh Baghdad; Dhahabi, M£zan; Ibn Kathir; lbn I:Iajar, Lzsdn. 4 ) Cf. Ibn Kathir. A legendary daughter of Ash'ab appears m no. 92. 6) Cf. Ta•rtkh Baghdad 1·4o18 , 111 , 41, Dhahabi, M£zdn; lbn I:IaJar, Lzsan. Cf. also below, p. 47. fn. 2. ') Cf. Ta•rtkh Baghdad 1·388 • 7) In addtbon to bemg cons1dered a client of 'Abdalhih b. az-Zubayr, Ash'ab IS also said to have been a client of Sa'id b. al-'A~ (cf. Ta•rikh Baghddd; Ta,rikh Dzmashq); of the caliph •UthmA.n (cf. the works mentioned and Kutubi, Fawdt); of FA.timah bint al-l:lusayn (cf. Ta•rikh Baghdad; Ta•rtkh Dzmashq; Dhahabi, Mizdn; lbn I:Iajar, Ludn); and of 'Abdau:;

THE HISTORICAL PERSONALITY OF ASH'AB

The information about Ash'ab's later life is equally dubious. He spent most of his life in Medina, where he appears to have been born, and in Mecca, but it may be true that he visited at the Umayyad court in Syria 1) and eventually made a trip to the 'Abba.sid court in the 'lr!q. The information that the doorkeeper and wazir ar-Rabi' b. Yunus met him (apparently in BaghdM) in 154/771 (no. 5) 2) and that he died shortly thereafter after his return to Medina, seems unassailable. He might have preserved some of his early prestige as a singer up to the time of his death, even if he was then in his eighties. But it would seem to have been wishful thinking on the part of later authors that made him a pious ascetic (tanassaka) who even undertook the holy war (ghaza) in his declining years 3}. It is a legend but a very appropriate one that he died with a last, feeble joke on his lips (no. 92). b. 'Amr b. 'Uthman b. 'Affan (cf. no. 26). H1s mother appears as a chent of Asma' bmt Abt Bakr (no. 1) and of the father of the cahph Mu'aw1yah (no. 3). Ash'ab is sa1d to have grown up m the house of •A•1shah bint •Uthman, or of the Medmese 'Ahds (no. 1), or of Fatimah hint •Uthman ( ?, cf. 'lqd 3·347)· 1) Though h1s name is most persistently connected Wlth that of the supposedly fnvolous Waltd 11 whose re1gn was very bnef (743-4), Mas'Qdt, Mu,u; 5·476 f., tells us that al-Waltd's predecessor, H1Sham b. 'Abd-alMahk (724-43) already thought of mvitmg Ash'ab to his court, but upon further reflection considered 1t unseemly to do so. That Ash 'ab ever v1s1ted Egypt seems h1ghly uncertain, cf. below, p. 64, fn. I, 1) There also are vague statements that Ash'ab d1ed m the bme of al-Man~Qr (cf. Tabart; Ta'Yzkh Baghdad; Ibn l;laJar, LJsdn) or even later, in the hme of al-Man~Qr's successor al-Mahdt (cf. nos. 19, 70, 161; Ta'Yikh Baghddd, quotmg al-Jal,li~; 'Askart; 'lqd 3·347: l;lu~rt. Jam'; lbn l;lajar, LJsdn). 3 ) Cf. l;lu~rt. Jam' 56 and Zahl'. Th1s was a f1thng end for Ash'ab after he had been accepted as a senous transmitter of trad1bons, but cf. the general tendency to find some savmg grace m the comedians' sinful lives, above, p. 9, fn. 4; p. 12, fn. 1 and 4; p.13, fn. 2.

THIRD CHAPTER

THE ASH'AB LEGEND Ash'ab's life is, indeed, very unimportant as compared to the legend which grew up around him and which in the course of time made him one of the prototypes and central figures of Muslim humor. It is difficult to give an exact description of the historical growth of that legend, considering the indirect way in which it is attested. However, certain traits stand out with some sharpness and permit us to bring a degree of chronological order into a seemingly timeless picture. Ash'ab's connections with many members of the Muslim nobility made it easy to attach to his name stories that had a political slant. It is possible, though impossible to prove, that some of the stories describing the stinginess of the then governor of Mecca and Medina and other nobles were circulated for the purpose of defaming those men 1). There certainly can be little doubt that the stories involving 'Uthman and his descendants were invented in order to discredit the memory of the Calirh and, through it, the ruling Umayyads. 'Uthman's son Aban and AM.n's son Marwan are depicted as entirely undignified and silly persons (nos. 35 and 91). The vivid story of the funeral of an unidentified daughter of all:lusayn b. 'Ali, which reads like the libretto of an ancient mimus or a medieval shadow play (no. 39), makes sense only if one understands it as an attack upon the same Marwan and another grandson of 'Uthman and some other characters of Medinese society. Again, another grandson of 'Uthman, Zayd b. 'Amr, is ridiculed as stingy and henpecked (nos. 106 and II4)· The disparaging reference to an unnamed descendant of 'Uqbah b. Abi Mu 'ayt which on the surface seems to be a harmless parody of a historical event (no. 150), may conceal an anti-'Uthmanid tendency, since 'Uthman's mother, Arwa hint Kurayz, had been married first to 'Uthman's father and then to 'Uqbah, so that there existed a relationship between the two families 11). The peaceful and 1) It may be noted, however, that this includes an appointee of the second •AbbAsid cahph. •) Cf., for mstance, lbn Sa•d, Tabaq4t 8.166; lbn l;lablb, Mu[Jabbar 412 L1chtenstaedter (Hyderabad 1361/1942); •Jqd 3.314; Ibn l;iajar, Tahdhib II.142-4.

THE ASH'AB LEGEND

forgiving attitude which 'UthmAn displayed during the last stormy days of his life is bitingly ridiculed in the story of Ash'ab who i!, depicted as using a conciliatory gesture of 'UthmAn as an opportunity for showing his cowardice and gaining manumission (no. 4). In contrast, the 'Alids appear in a somewhat better light. It is true that in their dealings with Ash 'ab, some of them do not quite behave in a way that would befit future saints (nos. 40, 53, 99, roo), and al-l;lusayn's daughter Sukaynah is no paragon of virtue in the Ash 'ab stories. All this, however, indicates no bias against the 'Alids but rather is a faithful description of society in Medina. But there is one story in which the 'Alids are praised at the expense of the Zubayrid~ (no. 104), and since Ash 'ab was connected with the Zubayrids, such praise coming from him would be high praise indeed. If there is an anti-'UthmAnid and pro-'Alid slant to some Ash 'ab stories, it should be viewed, in the setting of Medinese society, as a social rather than a political phenomenon, and it might be better to label the respective stories not as political but as societal humor. However, the borderline between these two areas of human activity is hard to draw. At any rate, we can be sure that this type of humor belongs to the earliest stories that were attached to the historical figure of Ash 'ab. The political struggles of the day also found their echo in Ash'ab's defense of the superiority of the Arabs over the Zoroastrians (no. ro8) and, if my interpretation is correct, in his ridicule of the orthodox concept of destiny (no. 103). It is impossible to say when these elements entered the Ash 'ab legend, but an early date b not excluded. They are political rather than religious, and they do not belong into the same category as jokes at the expense of orthodox Islam. These latter jokes are very frequent in the Ash 'ab legend. It would be wrong to consider them attacks upon the established religion or expressions of a liberal and sceptical spirit. The very opposite is true. The religious joke~ under Ash'ab's name presuppose the existence of a living and generally accepted religion whose literary expressions and ritualistic practices were so familiar to everybody that a reference to any application of them which deviated from the usual norm to the least degree afforded comic relief.

THE ASHcAB LEGEND

29

One of the most common types of religious jokes in Islam, as well as in Judaism and Christianity, is the misapplication of verses from Scripture 1). The Ash•ab legend includes characteristic examples (nos. 54, 58, 74, 131, 133). They could be multiplied at will from other sources. The Prophetical traditions occupy a conspicuous place in the Ash •ab jokes. The pious formulas used by l;tadith transmitters (nos. 25 and 36) and the strange methods which served them to ascertain the reliability of transmitters (nos. 2, 3, g, 10, 70) are shrewdly exposed. Havoc is played with the true significance and even the lofty moral intent of traditions (nos. 13, 14, 55, 71, 148). Both the pedantry of l;tadith transmitters and the arbitrariness of their forgeries are brilliantly characterized in the immortal story of Ash •ab as a l;tadith transmitter who starts talking about the two outstanding qualities of pious Muslims and then stops and explains that his authority had forgotten one and he himself had forgotten the other (no. n8). It is a joke worthy of an Ash •ab that on the strength of these stories, Ash •ab came to be considered a genuine transmitter of traditions. He was admitted into the biographical collections dealing with the lives of serious l;tadith scholars and transmitters. This seemed rather strange to some Muslim authors. Thus, they thought of the possibility of splitting Ash •ab into two persons, one of them the comedian and the other the transmitter of traditions. However, most scholars rightly rejected this far-fetched solution of the dilemma 2). There are some traditions handed down in Ash•ab's name which seem to be bona fide traditions not turned I) The piety of an •Abbfund cahph causes him draw a. lme at the Qur'an and the prayer at whtch the Irreverence of hts court jester had to stop, cf. Tabari 3·743 f., quoted by Ibn Khaldftn, Muqaddzmah 1.23 Quatremere. 1) Cf. Ta'rikh Baghdad 7.38, followed by Dhahabi, Mizan, and Ibn l;lajar, Lisdn; Ta'rikh Dzmashq 3.76. In the Ta'rikh Dzmashq, the dlScusston runs as follows: "AQ.mad b. Hartin (apparently, al-Bardtjt who dted in or after 301/914 and whose work on names that were each borne by only one religtous scholar is preserved in Istanbul, cf. GAL, Suppl. 1.949) satd: Ash•ab, the chcnt of •Uthman, ts Ash•ab aJ-!am~•. Ad-Daraqutni (cf. GAL 1.165, Suppl. 1.275; he presumably mentioned Ash•ab in his work on homographs and homonyms) satd: Ash•ab are two persons, one of them Ash•ab a!-!am,•, the chent of •Uthman, and the other Ash•ab b. Jubayr whose wit has become proverbial. Al-I;IMI~ (apparently, lbn •Asaktr, the author of the work) said: Thus ad-Daraqutnt, but the truth is that they are one person. Somethmg stmilar

30

THE ASH'AB LEGEND

into jokes (nos. 15, 149, 154). It is advisable, though, to stress the word 'seem' in this connection, for there remains the suspicion, which in one case is almost a certainty (no. 154), that some unrecognized jokes might lurk behind those traditions and their connection with Ash'ab. The institution of the five daily prayers comes in for its share of Ash'ab jokes 1). Ash'ab's famous distortions and grimaces have a great comical effect when db.played during prayer (nos. 32 and 42). A jocose way of threatening someone with putting him into prison was to tell him that he would be appointed prayer leader for the prisoners (nos. 27, 28, 47). And it always came in handy for an irreverent person to be able to excuse his speedy way of getting done with the prayer by quoting Ash'ab's remark that his prayer was so 'light' because it was not encumbered by hypocrisy (no. II7). The jurists' insistence on definite evidence is ridiculed in one of the jokes about Ash'ab's greed (no. 122). Islamic and preIslamic religious history might also be used as a foil for clever remarks (nos. 130, 141, 150). The inappropriate performance of religious acts such as making vows clinging to the curtains of the Ka'bah (no. 18), or the hyperbolic use of religious phrases such as the Qur'Anic 'mother of the Book' and 'carrier of firewood' or the 'downs of the wings of the angels' (nos. 85 and 102) were always good tor a laugh among peopJe who were thoroughly familiar with these acts and phrases. Most of these religious jokes are timeless. However, the group concerned with Prophetic traditions would seem to date from the eighth century. Thereafter, the traditions were canonized and codified, and the science of their transmission came to be one of the most serious occupations of scholars which transposed into law had the most far-reaching effect upon the daily life of every Muslim. At that time, the traditions were no longer suitable subjects for harmless jokes. They might have given rise to sarcasm was said by 'Abd-al-Ghant b. Sa•td (al-Azdl, cf. above, p. I4, fn. I, in his work on homographs and homonyms)." It lS not quite clear from the diSCussion whether al-Bardljl already envis1oned the existence of two Ash'abs, but, at any rate, the possibil1ty was discussed m the begmning of the tenth century, and presumably earlier than that. 1) Similar jokes are very common in many variations, from the innocent to the coarse, cf., for instance, above, p. 29, fn. I, or Agh. 4.63.

THE ASH'AB LEGEND

JI

and bitterness, exactly as a good deal of western medieval wit concerned with the church was extremely bitter, but no bitter or sarcastic religious jokes were tolerated in later Islam, at least not in the written and preserved literature. The state of affairs which we encounter in the good-natured Ash'ab jokes about traditions and the men who transmitted them points to a time before ashShA.fi 'i and the state-supported theological fights of the early ninth century. Next to the 'political' and 'religious' jokes, we have jokes which reflect an urban middle class milieu. The Ash 'ab legend abounds with them. These jokes are largely independent of time and locality. They may very well have existed in the cities of the classical world, and they remain applicable in our time. Their very character indicates that they cannot have originated in the Bedouin society of Arabia or in the aristocratic society of Medina. Rather than in Medina or any other of the insignificant urban developments of the Arabian Peninsula, the home of these jokes must be sought in the parts of the Muslim Empire that possessed a long prelslamic tradition of middle class city life, such as Hellenistic Syria or Graeco-Persian Mesopotamia 1). They certainly existed long before the historical Ash 'ab, but it is most likely that they were attached to his name later than the other types of humor. They might have first been conceived and written down as Ash 'ab jokes by the Muslim wits of early ninth-century 'IrAq. A tenuous connection between the historical Ash 'ab who was so remarkably successful in getting big honoraria, and Ash 'ab the representative of the foibles ot urban middle class life is found in his being stamped as 'greedy.' He became proverbial for his greed a) 1) Many jokes are found in Greek hterature, but m gomg through a number of sources, I dtd not come across any exact counterparts to Ash 'ab stones. Muslims became familiar wtth qutte a few Greek jokes, as well as the names of Greek gel8topolOl, through Greek fionlegta that were translated into Arabic. Rarely, however, do we find an express reference to a muf!!nk, as above, p. 12, fn. 4· Greek fionlegia and Graeco-Perstan fwrstensplegel often contam exhortations against excessive laughter, which is constdered espectally harmful to rulers, as it detracts from their dignity. •) In addttion to the common proverb: "Greedier than Ash 'ab," there also existed a proverb: "Do'nt be Ash'ab and be worn out (14 takun Ash'ab fa-tat'ab)," cf. FtrtizA.b!dl; T4j al-•artis; G. W. Freytag, Lexicon ArabicoLatinum 2. 426a (Halle I8J0-7). The reference appears to be to stories in which Ash'ab is caused by his greed to go to great lengths in his efforts and does not get anythmg out of it,

32

THE ASHcAB LEGEND

and was also depicted as a champion of begging as a way of life and as a member of the parasite class, of those people common in every society who like to live elegantly without working for it. Many of the greed witticisms attached to his name are scurrilous tales answering the question of what constitutes the greatest possible greed, or they describe actions resulting from illogical wishful thinking, such a!> Ash«ab's request to have a tray made larger than originally intended, as this might bring larger gifts (no. 44), or his preparations for receiving a gift of fine food from a neighbor who did not intend to give Ash«ab any of it (no. 124). Most of these witticism have a distinct middle class flavor. There is greedy Ash «ab always imagining at funerals that he will be one of the heirs of the deceased person (no. 139), or thinking that he will receive a gift whenever he hears two people whisper to each other (no. 49), or hoping that every young bride is destined for him (no. 95). Then, there is Ash «ab the stingy lover whom his girl asks for a ring as a token of remembrance and who tries to avoid the expense by saying: "Rather remember that I refused it to you (no. 45, et. also no. 137)." The tragicomic problem of the financial aspects of courtship and marriage appears in the Ash «ab legend on several occasions (nos. 51, 96, 129, 140). He has a wife who in his opinion always spends too much, and a house in which he is not always the master and in which guests and employees might sometimes be treated better than he himself (no. 6o). He has children and, of course, some trouble with them (no. 125). His dealings with his mother, on the other hand, are a standard motif of the stories of fools rather than a description of the attitude of middle class children toward their mothers. Like any other ordinary citizen, Ash «ab felt a secret urge to retain found money, even if his conscience bothered him and did not permit him to choose such an illegal course of action. Therefore, he bought something for the money and advertised it as the found object. Thus, he would calm his conscience and at the same time make sure that nobody would come and claim what he had found (nos. 21-23). Being aware, like any small urban business man, that it is risky to lend money, he reasons himself out of an embarrassing situation by telling a prospective borrower who had asked him for a loan and an extension of the date of repayment, that he was asking him for two good deeds, the loan and the extension,

THE ASH'AB LEGEND

33

and since one good deed was enough, he would give him the extension (no. 126). There were simple people in his environment whom Ash 'ab could easily outwit, such as the girl whom he convinced that a gold coin could give birth to silver coins and 'die' in childbirth (no. 146). But often he outsmarted and deluded himself, as in the worldfamous story de!>cribing how he told some troublesome boys, in order to get rid of them, that someone in some other part of the town was giving away presents, and as soon as they had gone, he ran after them, thinking that his own story might be true (nos. 46 and 59). The silly apprentice certainly was always good for a joke among urban craftsmen (no. 17), and the small merchant relished the use of hyperbole in a story about bargaining (no. 57). A clever word, such as the description of longing glances as glances that could make a girl pregnant (no. 123), was quotable on many occasions, and a boisterous story about a backgammon game (no. 93) could be used to enliven parties at which this forbidden game was played. Sometimes, these jokes show a disconcerting preoccupation with the digestive functions of the human body which among us would seem humorous only to the vulgar and adolescent taste and is not permitted to find expression in literature 1). However, earlier times (which in the west extended well in the eighteenth century) thought differently about it 8). 1) Of course, recent literature, in its effort to reproduce the workmgs of the adolescent and vulgar mind, often has occasion to refer to this type of humor. B) Arabic literature has exceedingly much of it, cf., for instance, 0. Rescher, Vber Wztz und Humor Jn IOOI Nacht, in Der Islam 9.82-7 (1919), or ar-Ragh1b al-ll?fahani 2.164 ff. For Western medieval literature, cf. E. R. Curtius, Europazsche LJteratur und lateinisches Mzttelalter 435 (Bern 1948); English transl. 435 (New York 1953. Bolhngen Se"es 36).

FOURTH CHAPTER

CONCLUSION As the previous brief analysis of Ashcab's life and legend has shown, there was a historical Ash cab who was a singet and entertainer. He made his way to success as a performer of what in his time was considered 'light' music and by dancing and occasional clowning and entertaining his patrons with witty remarks and catering to their playful instincts. Then, there was the legendary Ash cab who became a convenient peg to hang all kinds of jokes on. The jokes which are preserved under Ashcab's name can be divided into three main groups. The 'political' jokes seem to be the earliest ones and, as a rule, to hark back to the historical Ash cab. Then, there came the 'religious' jokes and, finally, the 'urban middle class' jokes. With the early ninth century, the development of the Ashcab legend was largely completed. Time and circumstances then determined its future fate. The historical Ash cab became an empty name. The 'political' jokes lost their identity and lost their appeal as living humor. They were preserved as a subject of literary history and, after the tenth century, were rarely quoted. The 'religious' jokes continued to be quoted but more or less like curiosities. They were occasionally misunderstood and often considered with suspicion. The last group, consisting of the 'urban middle class' jokes, proved to be the hardiest one and continued to grow and to flourish. It mainly was this type of humor which, under many different names and often anonymously, was destined to last to this day and to be cultivated throughout the Muslim world. Political humor, on the other hand, whenever it arose, was destined to die soon, and religious humor never regained any true life. The Ash cab legend, and the history of Muslim humor in general, thus reflects the historical development of Islamic society which passed from its worldly aristocratic stage via a politico-religious to an urban middle class one.

CONCLUSION

35

The Ash'ab legend may not include all manifestations of wit and humor in Islam, but it certainly contains all the characteristic ones. It also may not furnish examples ot all types of wit and humor as analyzed by modern western thinkers. However, it contains material enough to show that ever since the early years of Islam, Near Easterners have responded to the deepseated human experience of the comic similarly to ourselves.

FIFTH CHAPTER

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS The arrangement of the texts was determmed by the des1re of having a complete and continuous translation of the long b1ography of Ash'ab from the K1tdb al-Aghdni 17.82-105. This translation IS g1ven the f1rst place. It covers nos. I-Ioo. It 1s followed by the other Ash'ab passages from Agh. (nos. IOI-115). The remammg texts (nos. n6-161) then follow accordmg to the approximate chronological sequence of the works from which they are denved. A story which occurs in different works has of course been translated only once m this book, on Its first occurrence accordmg to the arrangement just mentioned. References to other works in which the same story 1s found are added m footnotes in the appropriate places. The small variations wh1ch the stones underwent at the hands of successive authors often are quite mterestmg, because they reveal different 1deas as to the best techmque of storytelhng. Th1s, however, 1s a matter wh1ch can be savored only by those who know Arable and wh1ch can rarely be explained through the mediUm of translation. Those variations, therefore, are as a rule not d1scussed here. 1

1).

Another melody: I am calling our neighbors-they should come, And we'll finish the matter or come to an agreement. It is as if there is upon my liver a sore, From being wary of separation, which will not cool.

The words are by Kuthayyir 2), and the music by Ash'ab, who is known as Ash'ab the Greedy. Second thaqtl with the middle finger 3 ). For the second verse, there exists a tune by lbn JA.mi' '), in the first thaqil with the third finger, taken over from l;labash 6). 1) Cf. also Nuwayrt. 2) Cf. Kotayyir-•Azza, Diwdn, ed. by H. Peres, 1.239 (Algiers-Paris

1928-JO). 3) For this kind of musical notatmn, cf. H. G. Farmer, A History of Arabian Mussc 71 f.; sd., Sa'adyah Gaon on the Influence of Mussc 19 ff. (London 1943). The Rtsdlah fi l-m4dqi by Ya~yA. b. 'All b. al-Munajjim (GAL, Suppl. 1.225, ed. by M. B. al-Athari, in Majallat al-Majma• al<Jlmi al-<Jrdqi I.IIJ-24, 1950) is instructive in this connection. ") A musician who lived in the second half of the eighth century, cf. Farmer, op. est. 115 f. He was coauthor with IbrA.him al-Maw~ili of a collection of songs, cf. GAL, Suppl. 1.224. 6 ) He appears quite often in Agh. as a transmitter of songs, but nothing else seems to be known about him.

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

37

Ash'ab's Biography He is Ash'ab b. Jubayr. His given name was Shu'ayb, and his kunyah Abtl. 1-'AI~·. His mother was called Umm al-Khaland~j 1), or rather Umm Jamil. She was a client of Asm~· hint Abi Bakr 2). Her given name was l,Iumaydah 3 ). His father had participated in the revolt of al-MukhtAr b. Abi 'Ubayd. Mu!?'ab had taken him prisoner and beheaded him, saying: "You revolt against me, even though you are my client?" ') Ash 'ab grew up in Medina in the menage 5) of the family of Abu Talib. His education and guardianship were in the hands of •A•ishah hint 'Uthm~n b. 'Aff~n 6). 2 7 ). Ash'ab is reported to have stated that his mother caused quarrels among the wives of the Prophet and that she committed adultery. (Because of her being an adulteress), her hair was cut off, and she was led around (in public. While she was being led around), she was calling out (all the time): "Whoever sees me

1) The form of the name IS uncertam. Agh. has here al-Kh-1-n-d-j. Agh. 6.144 (cf. below, p. 38, fn. r) has Umm al-Khalandaj. Smce the last syllable appears to rhyme there w1th azwa7, the fmal 1 at least would seem to be estabhshed. A form Umm al-Jalandal:l m1ght be suggested on the strength of Luan al-'Arab 3.350, where talandafi 1s hsted as meanmg 'a b1g and fat man.' On the other hand, Luan al-'Arab 3.64 also has fiulundutah meanmg 'strong camels.' 1 ) This daughter of the cahph AbQ Bakr was marned to az-Zubayr and thus connected w1th the Zubaynds to whom so much of the Ash'ab story relates. She was the mother of 'Abdalllh b. az-Zubayr, and she d1ed about the same time as her son, in October 692, cf., for mstance, adh-Dhahabl, Ta'rikh al-Islam 3.133·7 (Ca1ro 1367 ff.); Ibn l;lajar, Tahdhib 12.397. 3 ) Accordmg to Ta•rikh Baghdad, her g1ven name was Ja'dah, and her kunyak was e1ther Umm Hamidah or Umm l;lumaydah. Dhahabi, Mizan, and Ibn l;lajar, Lzsdn, who depend on the Ta'rikh Baghdad, call Ash'ab the son of l;lamidah or Umm l;lumaydah. Cf. below, no. 26. ') Mu~'ab, another son of az-Zubayr and half-brother of 'Uthman b. 'Afftm 8 ): I told Ash'ab that I wanted something from him, and he swore that he would divorce the daughter of Wardan 9} if he did not do whatever I would ask him for. Thus, I said to him: "Tell me how old you are." This question was so unpleasant to him that I actually thought that he would rather divorce his wife than answer it. I therefore said to him: "Take it easy," and I swore that I would not mention his age to anyone while he was alive. He then replied: "Your asking the question is something very unfair to me. As a matter of fact, when your grandfather 'Uthman b. 'AffAn was besieged, I was working 10) in the house." 1 ) Mui:tammad b. al-Qasim b. M1hrawayh is one of the pnnc1pal secondgeneration mformants of the author of Agh. 2 ) He m1ght perhaps be 1denbcal w1th the person mentioned m Ta•rtkh Baghdad 4.25 who was still active as a teacher m 277/890-1. 3 ) 'AbdallAh b. Mui:tammad b. Har~n at-Tawwazi d1ed m 233/847-8, cf. GAL 1.1o8; Hhrzst 57 f. Flugel; 85f. (Ca1ro 1348); as-Suyi\~i. Bughyah 290 (Cruro 1326). ') The famous grammanan and--often f1ctitlous--authonty for all kmds of anecdotlcal mformabon who d1ed sometime between 215/83o and 217/832, cf. GAL I,I04 f., Suppl. 1.163 ff. 6 ) Abi\ z-Zmad 'AbdallA.h b. Dhakwan d1ed, sixty-six years old, between 130 and 132/747-50, cf., for instance, lbn l:lajar, Tahdhib 5.203-5. 'l The great historian and member of the Zubaynd famlly who d1ed m 256/870, cf. GAL 1.141, Suppl. 1.215; cf. also above, p. 16. 7 ) rikh Baghdad 10.173-6. 3 ) Literally: his hazaf melodies. ') Umdentlfied. 6 ) I.e., al-l:lasan b. Mul,lammad al-Umawi, cf. Ta>rikh Baghdad 7·417• He is frequently quoted as an authonty by his nephew. 6 ) 'Abdallah b. 'Amr who was born in 197/812-3 and who died in 274/887, cf. Ta>rikh Baghd4d 10.25 f. 7) Umdentified. 8) I.e., the Zubayrid Wahb b. Wahb who died in 199/814-5 or 200/815-6, cf. Ta>rikh Baghdad 13.481-7; lbn l:lajar, Lisdn 6.231-4, where ar-Rabt' is mentioned as one of his transmitters; F. Wustenfeld, D,e Famd~e el-Zubeir, in Abhandlungen der Kgl. Gesellschaft der W~ssenschaften zu Gothngen, histor.-ph~los. Cl. 23, 1.16 (1878). •) A nephew of -azZanj: "Move over a little to your side!" Khara>-az-Zanj retorted: "You move over to your side." Then, Khara>-az-Zanj ')continued: "Praised be God, the Lord of the worlds! The tame dog has come to push out the wild dog." At this point, Ibn I;Iazm interposed: 1) The above translation presupposes the readmg al-a~ltlq. It would mark Marwan as a glutton who regrets that human throats are not large enough to swallow as much as a glutton would desire. The readmg al-akklaq, meanmg that "only one's character (spmt) could be too narrow", IS also possible. Akkldq 'rags,' as a Iromcally modest reference to Marwan's sumptuous garments, also would make some sense but is not likely to be meant. 1 ) The mckname of this grandson of rikh Baghdad; Maydani; lbn l;lamdQn, eh. 9; Ta>rikh Dtmashq, which contams two versmns of which the second corresponds to no. 59; Mutarr1zt; Sharisht; Dhahabt, Mizan; Kutubi, Fawat; Ibn Kathir; lbn l;lajar, Lisan. Most of the versmns mention no name. Ta>rikh Baghddd (followed by Dhahabt and Ibn l;lajar), as well as Ibn l;lamdQn and the second version of Ta>rikh Dtmashq, has Sahm b. •Abdallah. In the same sources, the object 1)

2) 3)

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

l:tammad b. al-Qasim who said: We were informed by Abu Muslim who said: We were informed by al-Mada•ini as follows: Ash'ab once said to the children: "'Amr b. 'Uthman 1) here distributes money." They went. When they remained away for a long time, he followed them, thinking that what he had said had actually become true. 47 11). We were informed by Al)mad who said: We were told by Mul)ammad b. al-Qasim who said: We were informed by AJ:tmad b. Yal)ya who said: We were informed by al-Mada•ini as follows: Ziyad b. 'Ubaydallah invited Ash'ab to have luncheon with him. During the luncheon, Ash'ab pointed with his hand toward a lamb in front of him. This angered Ziyad because he was one of those stingy with food. Therefore, he asked his servants to tell him whether the people in prison had a prayer leader who prayed with them. Now, Ash'ab was a Qur•an reader. Thus, when the servants said that there was none, Ziyad said: "Then, let Ash'ab go in and be their prayer leader!" Ash'ab interjected: "There may be another alternative." Asked which, he replied: "God bless you! I might swear that I shall never taste lamb (again)." Whereupon Ziya.d let him go. 48 3). We were informed by Al)mad who said: I was told by MuJ:tammad b. al-Qasim who said: We were informed by Abu Muslim who said: We were informed by al-Mada•ini as follows: I saw Ash 'ab in Medina handle much money. I asked him: "Why this terrible greed? May-be, you are wealthier 4) than those from whom you beg." Ash'ab replied: "I have prepared (the opportunity for) begging, and I do not like to let it escape me." which Ash'ab 1magmes IS bemg dtstnbuted 1s dates. It 1s nuts accordmg to the ftrst version of Ta•rikh D~mashq and lbn Kathir. Accordmg to MufaQQal, Bayhaqt, Maydant, Mutarnzt, and Sharisht, the occasion was a weddmg banquet (•urs). Bayhaql adds that there was a mthar, the customary dlstnbubon of money or other presents, connected w1th 1t. Kutubi's version is rather dtfferent. It descnbes the occasion as that of the preparation of harisah 'pottage' by Aban b. •Uthman. 1) This son of the cahph •Uthman (cf. Ibn Sa'd, Tabaq4t s.III f.; lbn I:Iajar, Tahdhtb 8.78 f.) certamly was earher than the htstoncal Ash'ab. H1s appearance in the story is explamed by the role he plays in 1t accordmg to no. 59· •) Cf. also above, no. 27. 3) Cf. below, no. 121. 4) Leg.: aysar.

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

49 1). We were informed by A}:lmad who said: We were told by Ibn al-Qasim who said: We were informed by Abu Muslim who said: We were informed by al-Mada•ini as follows 11): Ash'ab was asked what he had gotten from his greed, and he replied: "I have never seen two persons talk to each other in secret without thinking that they were ordering something to be given to me." so 3). We were informed by A}:lmad who said: We were told by Mu}:lammad b. al-Qasim who said: We were told by Abu Muslim who said: We were informed by al-Mada•ini as follows: Ash'ab said to his mother: "I saw you in my sleep covered with honey, while I was covered with excrements." She said: "You sinner, that is your evil deeds with which God has covered you." "But I saw something else in my dream," Ash'ab continued. "I saw myself licking you, while you were licking me." To this, she had nothing more to say than: "You accursed sinner!"

SI'). We were informed by A}:lmad who said: I was told by Cf. below, no. 139; 'lqd 3.261, 347; Agh. 3.6o; Agh. 3 3.223 1 • 8 ; •Askart; jam• 13; Hu~ri. Zahr 3.42; ar-Ragh1b al-I~fahant 1.395; Maydant; Ibn l:lamd6n, eh. 9; Ta•rikh Dtmashq; Kutubi, Fawdt. Accordmg to Agh. 3.6o, as well as I:Iu~ri and Ta•rikh Dtmashq, Ash'ab's remark was 1m1tated by the famous poet Bashshar b. Burd, who bved about the same time as Ash •ab, m the followmg verse: Secret conversation, whatever 1t m1ght be about, fnghtens him Because he fears that 1t m1ght be about h1mself. •Askari exemphf1es Ash'ab's remark by the followmg story; "Ash'ab came to Yazid b. Hatlm m Egypt ( ~, Yazid was governor of Egypt from 144/762 to 152/769, cf. al-Kmdt, The Governors and Judges of Egypt, ed. by Rh. Guest, 111 ff., Leiden-London 1912, E. ]. W. Gtbb Memonal Sertes 19; as-Suy6ti, l;lusn al-mu[ld4arah 2.10, Cairo 1299) and saw h1m talk m secret to one of h1s servants. Immediately, he bowed over h1s hand and kissed 1t. When Yazid asked h1m for the reason for h1s action, he rephed: 'I saw you talk m secret to your servant and concluded that you were ordering htm to g1ve me somethmg.' Yazid satd: 'I d1d not do that, but I shall.' And he had a gift giVen to htm." 2) The prmted text of Agh. by mistake repeats here the cham of transmitters. 3 ) Cf. ar-Ragh1b al-I~fahant 1.93, where the actors are a boy and his teacher. 4) Cf. also <Jqd 3.202, 264; l:lusri, ] am• 55· In <Jqd, 1t IS not water but a medtcine which the gul offers to Ash'ab. In the f1rst passage, the story ends w1th Ash 'ab rectbng the followmg verses: 1)

I:Iu~ri.

I surely love you, But have no money. If you love me, I have no longer to pay a dowry.

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

Mul_lammad b. al-Qftsim who said: We were informed by Abu Muslim who said: We were informed by al-Madft'ini as follows: Ash 'ab paid frequent visits to a woman in Medina. This fact eventually became known, and the neighbors of that woman said to her one day: "Why do you not ask him for something? He is wealthy." Thus, when Ash'ab came again, she said: "The neighbors are saying: 'He does not give you anything."' Whereupon Ash'ab left her house in a hurry and did not come near her for two months. Then, one day, he came and sat down at the door. She brought a cup full of water out to him and said: "Drink this to calm your fear!" He replied: "Rather drink it yourself to calm your greed!" 52 1). We were informed by Al_lmad b. 'Abd-al-'Aziz who said: I was told by Mul_lammad b. al-QAsim who said: We were informed by Abu Muslim and Al_lmad b. Yal_lyA, with the wording of the story being that of Al_lmad who said: We were informed by alMadA'ini on the authority of Jahm b. Khalaf 2) as follows: Someone told me the following story: I asked Ash 'ab why he did not come for a visit to my home some evening 3). He replied that he was afraid that some bore might drop in. I assured him that there would be no one except him and me. Thus, Ash 'ab said that he would be with me after the noon prayer. He prayed and then came. When the maid served the food, a friend of mine knocked at the door. Ash'ab said: "You see, now you have that unpleasant The last hne (fa-qad flullat lt ~-~aduqah) apparently means that lack of money should be no hmdrance for the marriage of two lovers. The second passage of <Jqd has: Break, if you hke, the promise you gave me And keep me off m every possible way! My heart iS resigned to losmg you. Love whomever you want after me! I swear, I shall never Love her who loves my money. i) Cf. also f.Iu~ri. ]am' 56; f.Iu~rt. Zahr; Ta•rtkh Baghddd. In the last mentioned work, the unwanted visitor iS the httle son of Ash'ab's host who, as the latter assures Ash'ab, never eats together With guests. •) Apparently, Jahm b. Khalaf al-Mlzini, cf. Fshrsst 47 Flilgel; 70 (Cairo 1348); Agh. 9.407 , accordmg to Shaft''s Indsces 1.252b of the 'lqd. a) That is, afternoon, as we also find it m other languages that the word for evening 1S used for afternoon.

66

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

situation (of which I was afraid)." I said: "I know, my friend has ten qualities." When Ash'ab asked what they were, I replied 1) that his first quality was that he did not eat or drink. Whereupon Ash'ab exclaimed: "I leave the other nine to you. Let him come in!" Abu Muslim's version has (after 'ten qualities'): If you dislike just one of them, I shall not let him come in. 53 2). We were informed by Al).mad who said: We were told by Mul).ammad b. al-QAsim who said: We were informed by Abu Muslim who said: We were informed by al-MadA•ini as follows: Ash'ab once came to al-J:Iusayn b. 'Ali 3 ). A Bedouin of ugly looks and a disagreeable countenance (mukhtali/ al-khilqah) was with him. Ash 'ab was quite astonished when he saw him. He said to al-J:Iusayn: "My venerated Sir, do you permit me to evacuate my bowels upon him?" Al-J:Iusayn replied: "Whatever you wish." Now, the Bedouin had a bow and quiver with him. He placed an arrow on the bow and said: "If you do it, it will be the last time you ever evacuate your bowels." Whereupon Ash 'ab said to al-I;lusayn: "Excuse me, but I have gotten the colic." 54· We were informed by Al).mad b. 'Abd-al-'Aziz who said: I was informed by Mul).ammad b. al-QAsim who said: We were informed by al-MadA•ini as follows: Ash'ab mentioned a man in Medina who had an ugly name. He was asked: "Abu l-'AlA• (i.e., Ash'ab), do you know so-and-so?" Ash'ab replied: "This is not one of the names that were presented to Adam for examination.''') 55 6). I found the following story in some book on the authority of Al).mad b. al-J:IArith al-Kharr!z 6 ) on the authority of al1) The Arab1c text has the third person. I) Cf. also Nuwayrf. 3 ) It seems that the grandson of the Prophet is meant here. He lived, of

course, long before the time of the historical Ash 'ab. 4 ) The reference 1s to Qur•an 2.31-3/29-31: "He taught Adam all the names. Then, he presented them for exammation to the angels and sa1d: 'Tell me the1r names, 1f you are truthful .. .' " 6) Cf. also Nuwayri. •) He was the ch1ef transmitter of al-Mada•int's works, and he died in 258/872, although the years 257/871, 259/873. and 256/870 are also given as the date of his death, cf. Hh·nst 104 f. Flugel; 152 f. (Cairo 1348); Ta•rikh Baghd4d 4.122 f.; Yaq6t, Irsh4d 1.407-9 Margobouth; 3·3-8 (Cairo 1355-7).

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

Mad~'ini: Ash'ab undertook the ritual ablution (wu~u') and washed the left foot but not the right one. Asked why he did not wash the right one, he said: "Because the Messenger of God said: 'The ritual ablutions will give my nation white beauty spots on forefront and extremities.' Now, I want to have white beauty spots on the forefront and the three extremities, but have my right free." 1)

56 2). I was informed through the same chain of transmitters that (al-Mad~'ini) said: Ash'ab heard I:Iubba. al-Madiniyah 3 ) say: "0 God, do not let me die before you have forgiven my sins.'' Whereupon Ash'ab remarked to her: "You sinner, what you do is not asking God for forgiveness but asking him for eternal life." He meant to say that God would never forgive her.

57'). We were informed by A:f:imad b. 'Abd-al-'Aziz al-Jawhari who said: I was told by Mu:f:iammad b. al-Q~sim who said: We were informed by al-Mad~'ini on the authority of Fulay:f:i b. Sulaym~n 6 ) as follows: Ash 'ab bargained with a man for an Arab bow, and the man said: "I cannot give it for less than a dinftr." Ash'ab exclaimed: "(I swear that) I would set free all (my) slaves (rather than buy it for this price) 8 ). If one could shoot a bird in Al-Kharrb is the form adopted in the ed1tlon of Ta•rikh Baghdad. Agh. has al-l;lazzb. F'hnst and YaqM have al-Khazzaz. At present, there seems to exist no way to dec1de wh1ch form IS the correct one. 1) For th1s trad1tion, cf. Wensmck and others, Concordance et lnd"es 1.428a17 .,. ; Lis4n al-•Arab 13.153· The spots called mu!Ja11al on the feet of horses were the places where they were fettered. Ash 'ab apparently thinks that fetters on h1s right hand, or the beauty spots as such, might constitute a hand1cap for h1s begging activities in the next bfe. ll) Cf. also Nuwayrt. 3) The ArabiC text has l;luyay, wh1ch usually 1s a male name. Stories about her are found in lbn Qutaybah, •Uyun 3.139 (l;lubba); ar-Raghib al-It~fahani 1.336 (l;lubba); 2.158 (l;layy); at-Tifashi, Nuzhat al-albdb, eh. 4 (l;lubb), Ms. Army Medical Library (Cleveland, Oh10) A 5~; Nuwayd 4.22 (l;lubbA.). She appears to be Identical With the l;lubba mentioned by al-1a}J.i~ • .flayawdn 6.23 (Carro 1323-5); Agh. 21.272-5; Yaqftt, Irshdd 3·199/9.161. ') Cf. also 'lqd 3.261, 347; l;lamzah ai-It~fahA.ni; l;lut~ri. jam• 54; Tha'ahbi, Thimdr; Maydant 1.386 f. (B6laq 1284); Shadsht. The bow is also qualified as 'Arab' m the f1rst version of 'lqd. The second version and Tha 'ahbi simply have 'bow' w1thout any quallf1cat1on. The remaming sources call it qaws bunduq. The 'Arab' bow and its various kinds are d1scussed in the book on archery translated by N. A. Faris and R. P. Elmer, Arab Archery 8 ff. (Princeton 1945). Qaws bunduq appears to be the crossbow, arbalest, cf. Dozy, Supplement aux dichonnaires arabes I.II8. 6) He died in 168/784-5• cf. lbn l;lajar, Tahdhib 8.303-5. ') U•tiqu m4 yumlaku (aml,ku ?) ? The translation is uncertain.

68

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

the air with that bow and it would fall down roasted between two loaves of bread, I still would not buy it for a dinir." 58 1 ). We were informed by AQ.mad who said: We were told by MuQ.ammad b. al-Qisim who said: We were informed by Abu Muslim who said: We were informed by al-Madi>ini as follows: A man from the Banu •Amir b. Lu>ayy brought a dish of sweetmeats to Ismi'il al-A 'raj b. Ja'far b. MuQ.ammad. Ash'ab was present, and Ismi 'il asked him to eat. When he had eaten some of it, he asked him how he found it. Ash'ab replied: "I am a heathen if that dish was not prepared before God brought the revelation to the bees." That is, it was not sweet at all. 59 2). We were informed by AQ.mad who said: We were told by MuQ.ammad b. al-Qisim who said: We were informed by Abu Muslim who said: We were informed by al-Madi>ini as follows: SMim b. 'Abdallih asked Ash 'ab about his greed. Ash 'ab said: I once said to my children: "Salim here has opened the gate of the ~adaqah of 'Amr. 3 ) Therefore, go to him, and he will give you dates." They went and remained away for a long time. Thus, I thought that it actually was as I had said, and followed them. 6o. I was informed by AQ.mad b. 'Abd-al-'Aztz who said: I was told by MuQ.ammad b. al-Qisim who said: We were informed by Abu Muslim who said: I was informed by al-Mada>ini as follows: When Ash 'ab was once having lunch, one of his girls 4 ) entered. Ash 'ab's wife was eating with him. He 6 ) invited the girl to have lunch with them. The girl accepted the invitation and took the hock with the meat around it, which the Medinese call 'hock of the house.' Whereupon Ash 'ab got up and went out. Then, he returned and knocked at the door. His wife asked him: "You 1) Cf. above, no. 29. 2) Cf. above, no. 46. 3) 'Amr ts the son of 'Uthman. His $adaqah ts mentioned again below,

nos. 64 and 77. $adaqah here is the harvest from a ptece of land which was estabbshed as a mortmam foundation by 'Amr wtth the stipulatton that tts crop of dates, etc., be gtven as chanty. It ts used as a synonym of what later on ts generally called waqf. Cf. al-'Askari, A wa'd, Pans ms. ar. 5986, fol. 88a; J. Schacht, Early Doctrmes on Waqf, m Melanges Fuad Koprulu 443-52 (Istanbul 1953). 4) One of the slave gtrls whom Ash'ab was training to become entertamers, as it was the custom of all the artists of the time. 6 ) One would thmk that it was Ash'ab's wtfe who did the mviting.

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

6g

sorry figure, what is the matter with you?" He said: "May I enter?" She said: "You ask for permission to enter, being the master of the house?" He retorted: "If I were the master of the house, that hock would not be in front of the girl." 61 •). I was informed by one of our friends who said: We were told by Al)mad b. Sa 'id ad-Dimashqi 2) who said: We were told by azZubayrwhosaid: I was told byMu!?'abwhosaid: Ibn Kulayb 3 ) told me: I once talked to Ash 'ab in Mill)ah 4). He cried. I asked him why he was crying. He said: "I am like the banana tree. When its daughter is grown, it is cut down. Now, you, a client of mine, are grown up, and I shall have to die. Thus, I am mourning myself." 62. I was informed by Al)mad b. 'Abd-al-'Aziz who said: We were told by Ibn Mihrawayh who said: We were told the following story by az-Zubayr b. BakkAr: Ash'ab the Greedy used to sing. He had several melodies which were performed on his authority. His son 'Ubaydah used to sing them. One of his melodies was the following one: Show me the one who will take my place Whenever the situation becomes unusually grave 5), To whom you will repair when you have heaped Dust upon me with your hands. 63. I was informed by al-l:lasan b. 'Ali aJ-KhaffM 8 ) who said: We were told by Al)mad b. Sa'id ad-Dimashqi who said: We were told by az-Zubayt b. BakkA.r who said: We were told the following story by Shu'ayb b. 'Ubaydah b. Ash 'ab on the authority of his father on the authority of his grandfather: Ash'ab said: Sukaynah hint al-l:lusayn ') Cf. also below, no. 125. The stem of the banana plant dtes after fructtftcatmn. 8 ) The transmitter of az-Zubayr b. Bakkar's Muwalfaqiyat and other works, he dted in 306/918, cf. Ta'J-ikh Baghdad 4.171 f. 3) Umdenbfted. 4 ) A place name seems reqmred here. Cf. MulJ:lah, in al-Muqaddasi, B'bhotheca Geog,aphoJ-um AJ-ab,coJ-um 3.109 (Letden 1877). A place called MIIJ:tah ts hsted by al-Bakri, Mu'1am ma sta'1am 1254 (Catro 1945-51). li) Ltterally: " .... ts too great for dtscusston." The verses are quoted by al-Farazdaq, cf. Agh. 19.44. but are not found m the edtbons of his Diwan by R. Boucher (Pans 1872-5) and J. Hell (Mumch 1900). 8) The man by that name mentioned m Ta'J-ikh Baghdad 7·376 appears to have dted m the ftrst decade of the thtrd century and thus would be too early for being tdenbfied wtth the one above. RosENTHAL

6

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

b. senger of God has said: 'When a beggar comes to you upon a horse, do not refuse him!'" 3 ) He replied: "If we wanted to tell you that he said: 'If he comes upon a horse,' but did not say: 1 ) Cf. Qur>A.n 9.IOoftoi where the three categones of Emigrants from Mecca, Medmese An!?A.r, and "those who follm\ed them m domg good deeds" are descnbed as havmg precedence m Paradtse. Here, they are constdered as havmg pnonty as rec1p1ents of chanty. 2) One of the vanous kmds of people who are entitled to chartty, accordmg to Qur>A.n 9.6o/6o. 3) As far as I could check them, the references in Wensinck and others, Concordance et Indzces 2.245a, refer to the fact that the Prophet never refused a beggar. The reference to hts coming on horseback 1s not contamed m them. There ts a contradiction m the statement of a beggar havmg a horse to nde upon.

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

'comes upon an animal used for irrigation work,' we could do so. However, I do not want to make this reply because I do not need it, for I asked my father 'Umar b. al-Khattab whether I should give something to a beggar who comes to me upon a horse, and he replied: I once asked the Messenger of God concerning this problem, and he said to me: 'Yes, if you do not meet anyone on foot.' Now, my dear man, we are meeting here people on foot. Thus, why should I give anything to you who are riding upon an animal?" I persisted and said: "By your father, the Fan1q! By God! By the Messenger of God! Load it for me with dates!" Whereupon Ibn 'Umar said to me: "I shall load it for you with dates. If you again conjure me by God and His Messenger, I shall surely honor your oath. But if you conjure me by my father and ask for dates in his name, I shall not honor your oath, for I heard my father say that the Messenger of God said: 'Do not stop at any mosque in the hope of a (heavenly) reward except the Masjid al-l:laram in Mecca and my Mosque in Yathrib (Medina). Further, no man should honor anyone's oath when he conjures him, except he conjures him by God and by His Messenger."' 1) Ibn 'Umar then said to the negroes on his property: "Load his animal with dates for him!" Now, when the negroes started stuffing the sacks, I said (to myseJf): "Negroes like music, and if I make music for them, they will stuff my sacks well." Thus, I asked Ibn 'Umar to permit me to make music and sing for him, and he told me that I was welcome to it. I started with the na~b (riders' song) 2 ), and he told me that it was a melody which he had known all the time. Then, I sang for him another melody, by the singer Tuways 3), as follows: 0 my two friends! It is in vain that I conceal my love, When my tear reveals what I said in the morning. Ibn 'Umar exclaimed: "You there, this is something about the subject which I had not known." 1) There 1s a trad1bon wh1ch refers to the three sacred mosques of Islam, cf. Wensmck and others, Concordance et lnd2ees 2.234b. The second part of the alleged trad1bon quoted above does not seem to occur m the canonical collectiOns. •) Cf. above, no. 16. •) The famous and supposedly f1rst Musbm musician of Medina. He lived in the second half of the seventh century up to the year 710, cf. H. G. Farmer, A Htstory of Arabzan Music 52 f.; zd., in El, s.v. Tuwais.

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

Then, I sang for him the following melody by Ibn Surayj

79 1 ):

0 my eye! Be generous with copious tears And weep for the dead of the Quraysh in Mecca's valleys! At this point, Ibn 'Umar exclaimed: "Ash'ab, how sad! This seals the heart." He meant: "sears the heart." He had a speech defect and could not distinguish between r and l 2). Ash'ab continued: Whenever Ibn 'Umar saw me later on, he always asked me to repeat this melody. 72 a). I was informed by al-I:Iarami Ibn Abi 1-'Ala' who said: We were told by az-Zubayr b. Bakkar who said: I was told the following story by my uncle ') : Ash 'ab met a friend of his father who said to him: "How terrible, Ash'ab! Your father had a strong beard, and you have a thin one. After whom did you come?" Ash'ab replied: "After my mother." 73 6). I was informed by ai-I:Iasan b. 'Ali who said: We were informed by Al,lmad b. Abi Khaythamah who said: We were told the following story by Mu~'ab b. 'Abdallah on the authority of Mu~'ab b. 'Uthman 6): Ash'ab met Salim b. 'Abdallah b. 'Umar, and Salim asked him whether he wanted some pottage which had just been prepared for him. Ash 'ab accepted and thanked him very much, and Sc\lim told him to come over to his house. Ash 'ab went home where his wife told him that 'Abdallah b. 'Amr had sent for him. Ash 'ab told her that he could go to 'Abdall!h b. 'Amr whenever he wanted to, but that Sa.Jim invited people all of a sudden and that, therefore, he ought to go to him. When she remarked 7) that 'Abdallah would be angry, he told her that he would go and eat with Salim and then go to 'Abdallah. 1) Another early Medinese smger who studied with Tuways and surv1ved him by a few years, cf. Farmer, op. cd. 79 f. 11) Cf. lbn I;lajar, Lmfn 4.126, and above, p. 46, fn. 5· The example given m the Arable text makes 1t r and y (not l). 3) Cf. also below, no. 94; Nuwayrl; Kutubt, Fawat. ') I.e., Mu!?'ab b. 'AbdallAh. 6) Cf. also Ta•rikh Baghdad, Ta•rikh Dimashq; Nuwayrl; Dhahabl, Mizan; Ibn I;Iajar, L'san. ') He 15 Mu~?'ab b. •Uthman b. Mu~?'ab b. 'Urwah b. az-Zubayr, a repeatedly quoted authonty. H1s full name appears in Agh. 3.108; Agh. 8 3.3306• Cf. also Tabarl, A nnales, Index. 7) Add : qdlat.

8o

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

Thus, he went to S~lim and started eating, but with many excuses 1). SAlim (took the hint and) told him to eat and have what was left sent to his house. Ash'ab said: "This is just what I want. Thank you very much." S~lim accordingly told a servant to carry the rest of the dish to Ash'ab's house. He did, and Ash'ab went with him. When he came with the food to his wife, she said to him: "What a calamity! 'Abdall~h has sworn that he will not talk to you for a month.'' Ash 'ab told her to let him take care of 'Abdall~h and asked her to give him some saffron, which she did. He went to the bath, smeared his face and hands with saffron and sat in the bath until the saffron made him look yellow. Then, he left. Leaning upon a stick and trembling, he went to the house of 'AbdallAh b. 'Amr. When the doorkeeper saw him, he exclaimed: "How terrible! I can see that you have been sick." He went in and informed his master about Ash'ab's presence, and 'Abdallah permitted him to enter. When he went in, there was S~lim b. 'Abdallah there 2). He began to tremble even more and tried to make something like a few steps but had to sit down and was not able to get up by himself. 'AbdallAh said to Ash 'ab that it had been unfair of him to be angry with him. Sa.Iim, however, said to him: "What is the matter with you, you scoundrel? Were you not just with us eating pottage?" Ash'ab retorted: "Do I look like I have eaten anything?" Salim persisted: "You scoundrel, did I not say to you such-and-such things, and you gave me suchand-such replies?" Ash'ab retorted: "You must have had an apparition." Whereupon Salim remarked: "Almighty God! I would not think that even Satan would take on your form. You scoundrel, are you serious?" Ash'ab said: "I'll be damned 3) it I have lett my house for a month." Here, 'Abdall~h interjected: "Go away, you scoundrel! Do you 1) Akla muta'dldm, which may stand for muta'dlhn or rather for muta'alld,n, as below, no. 88. The fifth conjugation of 'll1s generally used for bemg bashful m eatmg. The sixth conjugation often means 'to pretend to be Ill,' and this could very well lead to the additional meamng of bemg bashful m eatmg. Ta'rikh Baghddd (cf. also Ta'rikh D'mashq) has: fa-[Jamaltu 'aid nafsl 'I was forcmg myself,' m the sense of 'stuffmg myself in order to get as much as possible.' •) The Ta'rikh Baghddd adds that the room was dark so that he could not see Sahm at first. 3 ) 'Aiayya wa-'alayya, a fairly frequent idiOm to introduce emphatic statements. It appears again below, no. 86, and has here been translated freely.

PLATE VI

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

81

intend to bluff him, you rogue?" Ash'ab replied: "I only speak the truth." But 'Abdallah continued: "By my life, tell me the truth! You do not have to fear my wrath." And Ash'ab said: "Yes, by your life, he has spoken the truth." Then, he told him the story, and 'Abdallah laughed until he fell flat on his back. And God Most-High knows better 1). 74 2). I was informed by Al)mad 3) who said: We were told the following story by Mu!?'ab b. 'Abdallah rtkh D~mashq; Nuwayri; Kutubi, Fawdt. Ibn Babah and Kutubt add the p1cturesque tra1t that Ash'ab had hired a camel and jumped from the camel upon the wall. An Identical story 1s told about the moth-century !ufaylt Bunan, cf. alKhattb al-Baghdadt, Ta!f£1 57 f.; Ibn al-Jawzt, Adhk~ya> 139 (Carro 1340). For Bunan, cf. Ta!fil 33, 35, 57 f., 67, 70, 81-99. 3 ) Smce Al).mad b. Abt Khaythamah could not be a direct informant of the author of Agh., Al).mad here might be Al).mad b. 'Abd-al-'Aziz. In this case, the cham of transmitters of this story would already be defective m this place. Manuscnpts of Agh. might provide the solution. 4 ) Fulan 'so-and-so' would seem to refer to a locality. 5 ) This IS a quotation from Qur>an 11.79/81. 6) Cf. above, no. 65.

82

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

legal problem, and he came to her. Ash'ab noticed him from a (chicken) house and started to cackle like a hen. Abu z-ZinAd was quite surprised and asked what it was all about. Sukaynah laughed and said: "That bad fellow did some harm to our affairs. Therefore, I have sworn that he should hatch eggs in that house and not leave it until the chickens break through." Abu z-ZinAd showed himself surprised by what she was doing. I was told another recension of the long story of Sukaynah by Mu]:lammad b. Ya]:lyA an-Na]:lwi 1). It is similar to this one. I have mentioned it apart from this biography of Ash'ab, namely in the biography of Sukaynah hint al-l;lusayn in connection with the stories about her and Zayd b. 'Amr b. 'UthmAn b. 'AffAn. 76 2). I was informed by al-l;lasan b. 'Ali who said: We were told by A]:lmad b. Abi Khaythamah who said: We were told by Mu!i'ab who said: I was told the following story by a man from Medina: Ash 'ab had a crack in the door of his house. Through that crack, he put out his hand when he slept, in the hope that someone might come and put something into his hand. He did so because he was so greedy. One of the pranksters of the family of az-Zubayr who used to joke with Ash 'ab sent one of his slaves to empty his bowels into Ash'ab's hand. Ash'ab afterwards never put his hand out again. I was told a similar story by al-Jawhari on the authority of Ibn Mihrawayh on the authority of Mu]:lammad b. al-l;lusayn 3) on the authority of a man from Medina. However, the thing done by the prankster was not mentioned in it.

77

I was informed by A]:lmad b. 'Abd-al-'Aziz al-Jawhari who said: We were told by 'AbdallAh b. Abi Sa 'd who said: I was told by Abu TAhir Mu]:lammad b. Mu]:lammad az-Zubayri ( ?) 6 ) who 4 ).

1) An umdentifted informant of the author of Agh. The passage from the b10graphy of Sukaynah has been quoted above, p. 72, fn. 3· •) Cf. above, no. 34· 8 ) The printed text has al-l:lasan. 4) Cf. also Agh. 15.6915-7o2 ; 'Askari. 'Askari has a greatly abndged vers1on in which only one verse is quoted, namely: They mv1ted pass1on. Then, they shot our hearts Wtth hostile arrows, though they were fnends.

') The printed text has MuJ:tammad b. MuJ:tammad az-Zubayr Abti TA.htr. The above correcbon, wh1ch would make the man another member of the prohftc Zubaynd famlly, 1s uncertam.

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

said: We were told by Yal)ya b. Mul)ammad b. Abi Qutaylah who said: I was told by Isma'il al-A •raj b. Ja'far b. Mul)ammad that Ash 'ab had told him the following story: Some young Qurashite knights came to me and asked me to sing some melody for Sa.Iim b. 'Abdallah b. •umar and then tell them what Salim had said to me about it. They offered me a tempting bribe. Thus, I went to Salim and said: "Abu 'Umar (i.e., Salim), I have company, respect, friendship, and age, and now I am eager to do some crooning (tarannttm)." He asked me what I meant by crooning, and I told him that it was music. He asked me when (such music was performed). I told him that (it was done) when one is alone 1) and together with friends in a pleasant spot. "I want you to hear my song," I said, "and if you do not like it, I shall stop." I sang for him, and he said: "Not bad." I left and informed the young Qurashites about it. They asked me what I had sung. I replied: "I sang the following song: Bring the stable of an-Na •amah close to me! The war of Wa'il which had been barren has now become pregnant." 2) They said that the song was not hot enough and had no tempo and that they did not like it. When I saw that they were pushing me hard and feared that I would not get what they had promised me, I went back to SMim and said to him: "Abu 'Umar, another one." He replied: "I do not want to bother with you," but I did not permit him to regain his speech and just sang. He said: "Not bad." I went to the young Qurashites and informed them about it. They asked me what I had sung. I replied: "I sang the verse: The cham of transmitter found m Agh. 15.69 converges with the above cham only at the following lmk, but 1t 1s mterestmg that in the position of Abd TA.h1r, 1t also has a Zubaynd, that 1s, al-'Ala' b. 'Amr az-Zubayri, a descendant of that •Amr b. az-Zubayr on whom al-MadA.'mi wrote a monograph, cf. Fthrut 101 21 Flugel; 148 (Ca1ro 1348); lbn Sa•d, Tabaq4t 5.137 f.; adh-Dhahabi, Ta'rikh al-Islt!m 3·54-6 (Cairo 1367 ff.). 1) 'Bemg alone' means bemg in restful and entertammg company. 2) The verse 1s by al-I:IA.nth b. •UbA.d, cf. G. L. Della Vida, Les "Lwres des che11aux" de HtU,m lbn al-Kalbi et Mufr,ammad Ibn al-A •rabi 28, 89 (Leiden 1928, Publtcattons de la Fondatton De Goe1e 8), where further references are g1ven. La[Jiqat, of the text of Agh., must be corrected to laqtflat.

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

They were not able to dismount (from their camels and mount horses for combat). We dismounted. The real warrior is he who is able to dismount." 1) Again, they said that the song was no good, and I returned to Salim a third time. He asked me: "What is the matter now?" I replied: "Another one." I did not permit him to regain his composure 2) but sang the ver!>e: Having exhausted their tears, they said to me: What did you get from passion and did we get ? 3 ) Salim exclaimed: "Enough, enough!"') However, I said: "Not unless I get that basket." There were prime dates 6) in it from the ~adaqah of 'Amr 6). He said: "It is yours." All agog, I left with the basket and went to the young Qurashites who asked me: "What is the matter now?" I replied: "I sang for the !>haykh (Sa.Iim): 'Having exhausted their tears, they said to me ... ,' and he was moved and gave me this basket as an honorarium." I lied, for he had given it to me only in order to get rid of me and have me shut up. Ibn Abi Sa 'd said: S -d-a-k is a big basket. F ararf,a li means naqqatant 'gave me my honorarium,' that is, that which people give to singers and which they call n-q-1. 78 7). I was told by al-Jawhari who said: We were told by Mul)ammad b. al-Qasim who said: I was told by Qa 'nab b. alMu}:tarrir on the authority of al-A!?ma 'i who !>aid: I was told the following story by J a 'far b. Sulayman: Ash 'ab came to Baghdad in the days of Abu Ja'far (al-Man!?ftr), and the young Hashimite knights surrounded him and asked him to sing for them, which he did. 1)

2)

to

The verse is facetiously quoted m <Jqd 3·353· Asrah~. hterally, 'hlS strength.' Possibly, asraha should be corrected

amrah~.

3) Th1s 1s a verse by Jarir, Dtwan 2.150 (Ca1ro 1313). Cf. also as-Sarraj, Ma~arz' al-'ushsnaq 82 (Constantinople IJOI), where Abll s-Sa'1b 1s descnbed as greatly affected by th1s verse. 'l The Arabic text has nahlan nahlan, whereas Agh. 15.69 and 'Askari have the ordmary maklan mahlan. 0 ) 'Atwah 1s descnbed as an especially good kmd of dates from Medina. ') Cf. above, no. 59· 7) Cf. also below, no. g8; Tabari; Ta'rikh Baghddd; Ta'rtkh Dzmashq; Dhahabi, M£zdn; lbn I:lajar, Ludn. The Ta'rtkh Baghddd and the sources dependmg on it do not quote the verse.

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

ss

His melodies were moving, and his throat was in top condition 1). Ja'far b. al-Man!?ur 2) asked Ash'ab who the author of the following verse and melody was: Whose is that ruined place at DM.t-al-Jaysh 3 ) That is now completely wiped out? Ash'ab replied: "I took the melody from Marikh Baghddd, contaming two vers1ons; ar-Ragh1b al-I~fahani 1.395; Maydanl; Ibn l:lamdtin, eh. 9; Ta>rikh D~mashq; Mutamzl; Sharishl; Dhahabi, Mizdn; Kutubi, Fawat; lbn Kathir; Ibn l:lajar, L~san. With the exception of I;Iu~ri and the first version of the Ta>rikh Bag1rd4d (which was taken over by Dhahabi and Ibn l:lajar). all sources mentlon Ash'ab's sweeping of the house m preparation for the coveted bnde. 3) He died m 312/924, cf. Ta>rikh Baghddd 14.68. 'l Cf. also Nuwayri. The story is attnbuted to Muzabbid in ar-Raghib al-lsfabani 2.16o. li). He died between 110 and 120/728-38, cf lbn l:lajar, Tahdhib 11.38-40. Cf. also above, no. 39·

100

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

that I would give fodder and not ride? Let her keep away her teeth from eating; then, I shall keep away my penis." 97· (Az-Zubayr b. Bakkar's uncle) also said: A maternal uncle of Ash 'ab complained to Ash 'ab about his wife and that she cheated him in money matters. Ash 'ab remarked: "With all due respect! Never trust a whore, even if she is your mother." His uncle went away, abusing him. 98 1). I was informed by my uncle who said: I was told by 'Abdallah b. Abi Sa 'd who said: I was told the following story by Qa 'nab b. al-Mul,larrir on the authority of al-A!;>ma 'i on the authority of Ja'far b. Sulayman: Ash'ab came to us in the days of Abu Ja'far (al-Man!;>U.r), and the young Hashimite knights surrounded him and asked him to sing for them, which he did. His melodies were moving, and his throat was in top condition. They asked him who the author of the following melody was: Whose is that ruined place at Dhat-al-Jaysh That is now completely wiped out? Ash'ab replied: "It is by ad-Dallal. (The melody) I took from Ma 'bad. Though I had taken the melody from Ma 'bad, h~ said when asked to perform it: 'You have to go to Ash 'ab. He can perform it better than 1."' 99· I was informed by al-~asan b. 'Ali who said: We were told by Mul,lammad b. al-Qasim b. Mihrawayh who said: Az-Zubayr b. Bakkar mentioned the following story on the authority of Shu'ayb b. 'Ubaydah b. Ash'ab on the authority of Shu'ayb's father: al-~asan b. al-~asan b. 'Ali b. Abi Talib 2) used to play the worst pranks on my father (Ash'ab). I often saw him in his prankster mood, being drunk and quarreling with him. He went to him with his sword drawn and gave him the impression that he intended to kill him. Everybody who listened to the altercation went and intervened between the two. My father, therefore, avoided al-~asan for a long time. When he once met him, he asked him why he avoided and cut him 1) Cf. also above, no. 78. 2) The th1rd-generabon l;lasan, who died, s1xty-eight years old, in 145/762-3 (cf. Ibn l;laJar, Tahdhib 2.262 f.), must be meant here, as shown by the later reference to h1s brother •Abdallah. The1r father al-l;lasan b. al-l;lasan d1ed m 97/715-6, cf. Ibn I;Iajar, Tahdhib 2.263.

PLATE

IX

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

IOI

and whether he had forgotten their old friendship. Ash 'ab replied: "Please, if you just would not get your sword when you are in the mood to quarrel, I would not avoid you, but it is no fun with the sword." Al-l;Iasan said: "I shall save you from such a predicament. You shall never see me do it again. Here are ten dinArs, and here you have my donkey on which I am riding-! give it to you. Come to me! Your condition is accepted. You wo'nt see a sword in my house." Ash'ab insisted that he would not come unless al-l;Iasan removed every sword in the house before they sat down to eat. Al-l;Iasan agreed to this condition. Thus, my father went to his house. He gave him the present., he had promised him. He had all swords removed, except one which he left in the house. When the party was in full swing, he went to the particular room in which that sword was, and showed it to the party \\'ithout its scabbard. Then, he said: "Ash'ab, I brought this sword only for some good purpose I have in mind for your benefit." Ash'ab replied: "Please! What good can there come from a sword? Do you not remember our agreement?" Whereupon al-l;Iasan said to him: "Now listen to what I am going to say to you. I shall not hit you with the sword, nor will you suffer anything unpleasant from it. I merely want you to lie on your back while I am ~itting upon your brea~t. Then, I want to take a piece of the skin of your throat with my finger without seizing a vein or nerve or any other vital part and cut that piece off with my sword. Then, I shall get up and give you twenty dinArs." But Ash'ab exclaimed: "For God's sake, 0 son of the Messenger of God! Do not do that to me!," and he began to shout and cry and ask for help. Al-l;Iasan, in turn, did not say anything but swore that he would not kill him or go beyond cutting off his skin. At the same time, he threatened that if he would not submit willingly, he would force him. When the talk between the two had gone back and forth for quite a while and al-I;Iasan had had his fill of joking with Ash 'ab, he gave him the impression that he would pay no further attention to his pleading. He said to him: "Since you do not want to submit voluntarily, I shall come with a rope and bind you," and he went out as if he was going to fetch a rope. Ash'ab used the opportunity and fled. He scaled the wall between al-l;Iasan's house and that of his brother 'AbdallAh b. al-l;Iasan 1), but fell down 1)

He d1ed m 145/762, cf. lbn l:lajar, Tahdhtb 5.186 f.

RosENTHAL

8

102

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

into 'AbdallAh's house. He dislocated his foot and became unconscious. 'Abdallah came out in a hurry and asked Ash 'ab what had happened to him, and he told him. 'AbdallAh laughed and gave orders to give Ash'ab twenty dinars. Ash'ab stayed in 'AbdallAh's house, and 'Abdallah treated and fed him until he recovered. Al-I;Iasan b. al-I;Iasan never saw him again after this episode. I was informed by al-I;Iarami Ibn Abi 1-'Ala' who said: We were told by az-Zubayr b. Bakkar who !>aid: I was told the following story by my uncle: I;Iasan b. I;Iasan b. 'Ali 1) invited Ash•ab to stay with him. One day, he said to Ash'ab: "I want the liver of that lamb" -referring to a lamb that was precious to him and thriving. Ash'ab replied: "Please, let me have it, and I shall slaughter for you the fattest lamb in Medina." But I;Iasan insisted and said: "I am telling you that I want the liver of that lamb, and you say to me: 'The fattest lamb in Medina!' Servant, slaughter that lamb!" The servant slaughtered the lamb and broiled its liver and choicest parts for I;Iasan, and he ate them. The next day, I;Ia!>an said to Ash'ab: "A~h'ab, I want the liver of that fine camel of mine" -referring to a camel in his possession which was worth a thousand dirhams. Ash•ab replied: "My Lord, the value of that beast would supply all my needs. Therefore, give it to me, and I shall get the liver of every camel that is up for slaughtering in Medina for you to eat." I;Iasan, however, said: "I am telling you that I want the liver of that animal, and you want to give me that of some other animal! Servant, kill it!" The servant did so, and lJroiled it!> liver, and the two ate. On the third day, I;Iasan !>aid to Ash•ab: "Ash'ab, I want to eat y.)ur liver." Taken aback, Ash'ab exclaimed: "You eat human liver?!" I;Ia!>an said: "I told you." Whereupon Ash'ab jumped up and threw himself down from the upper floor. In the process, he broke his foot. When he was asked whether he had really thought that I;Iasan would !>laughter him, he said: "If he would have had a desire for my liver or any other liver in the world, he would not have hesitated." In fact, of course, I;Iasan had done what he did with the lamb and the fine camel only in preparation for the prank he wanted to play on Ash'ab. End of Ash'ab's biography 2) 100.

1) Obv10usly, the same th1rd-generat10n l;Iasan 1s meant as m the precedmg story. 1 ) Th1s 1s the end of the b1ography from Agh. 17.82-105.

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

IOJ

I was informed by al-I;Iarami Ibn Abi 1-'Ala, who said: We were told by az-Zubayr b. Bakkar who said: I was informed by Maslamah b. Ibrahim b. Hisha.m 2) as follows: I was in the house of Ayyub b. Maslamah 3 ). Ash'ab was with us. He mentioned the following verses of al-'Arji '): 101 1).

Where is your promise-would that I die before you-, where ? Where is the fulfilment of the contract you made with us? I now fear that you might cut the rope And thus bring about a separation. What do you say to a noble young man who when he falls in love does so With someone who is not attainable, because he is stupid and ill-fated? Thus, appoint between us a fair arbitrator, So that neither you nor he will wrong us! You should know that any judgment requires witnesses Or an oath. Therefore, produce our two witnesse!>l Darling, if I could obtain from you what you Promised me when we met and were alone, I would not consider the shedding of my blood as something forbidden 5), God knows, Even if I had been at I;Iunayn 6 ). From Agk. I.I5619-157s; Agh. 3 I.J92 6 -3934 • 2) F~kr~st 111 18 Flugel, 162 (Ca1ro 1348), mentions him as one of the

1)

authontles of az-Zubayr b. Bakkar. 3 ) Umdent1f1ed. Whether he was the son of Maslamah b. 'Abd-al-Mahk or Maa-13 • In v1ew of Ash'ab's close relations w1th the Zubaynds, 1t xs strange to find a story extollmg the 'Ahds at the expense of the Zubaynds. Cf. above, p. 28. 7) H1s msbah was an-Niishajani, cf. Agh. 6.93 26 ; Agh. 3 6.3451, but he is otherwise umdentlf1ed. In no. 84, the cham of transmitters has no further authonty between al-Kurani and al-'Umari. 8) That 1s, the •Abd was a student, and the Zubayrid gave h1m information (on legal and rehg10us matters).

I06

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

learned something that is more instructive for me than knowing the answer to my problem." A!>ked what it was, he said: "I have found out that Medina has come down to the state described by al-I:Iarith b. Khalid 1) in the verse: Its highest dwellings have become The lowest, and the lowest ones find themselves high up. I have seen a descendant of az-Zubayr sitting in the place of honor, and an 'Alid !>itting in front of him. This was astonishing enough for me. Therefore, I left." I was informed by al-I:Iasan b. 'Ali who said: We were told by Ibn Mihrawayh who said: I was told by Ibn Abi Sa 'd who said: I was told by al-Qatirani, the singer 3 ), on the authority of Mul,lammad b. Jabr on the authority of Ibrahim b. al-Mahdi who said: I was told the following story by the son of Ash 'ab on the authority of his father: The singers were once called to al-Walid b. Yazid. I went down with them and asked the messenger to take me along with them. He replied that he had not been ordered to bring me, but his orders were to bring the singers. and I 'was a buffoon (battal) and no singer. I replied that I was a better singer than they and started to sing. He applauded my performance but said that he was afraid. I said that he had nothing to be afraid of and that I would make him an offer. When he asked what it was, I said that he would get half of whatever I would get. Thereupon, he asked those who were pre~ent to be his witnesses, and they agreed. We then went to al-Walid who was in an ugly mood. 105 2 ).

1 ) A famous poet, he was the grandson of a man killed at Badr f1ghtmg for the Meccans. Under Yazid and 'Abd-al-Mahk, he was governor of Mecca. H1s brother 'lknmah was qmte a well-known transmitter of trad1tlons, cf. lbn Sa 'd, Tabaqat 5·349 f.; Ibn HaJar, Tahdhib 7.258 f. The above story is denved from al-l:lanth's lengthy b1ography m Agh. In 1ts context, the verse actually reads: If her (referrmg to some woman) houses were turned ups1de down, I would still recogmze her residence, cf. Abtl Tammam, I;lamasah 1.565 Freytag. 2) From Agh. 3.II6..o-117ao; Agh. 3 3·348 11.-34918' Cf. also Ta'rikh D~mashq; Nuwayri. The s1tuat1on is the same wh1ch underhes no. 83. a) Both he and h1s authorttY. Ibn Jabr were smgers. They are mentmned agam m Agh. 5.1011' 1819 ; 8.161 30 ; Agh. 9 5·1728 , 1894 ; 9.274111 • but are otherwise umdentlf1ed.

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

1he singers sang all kinds of melodies, light and heavy, but he was not moved nor did he cheer up. Al-Abjar 1), who was wily and diplomatic, went to the lavatory and a~ked the servant what the matter was with al-Walid and why he was so moody. The servant told him that there was a quarrel between al-Walid and his wife because he loved her sister, and she was angry at him. Still, he loved her sister better and intended to divorce his wife. He had !>worn into her face that he would never correspond or talk with her (again). In this condition, he had left her. Now, when al-Abjar had this information, he went back and did not even sit down but at once started singing 2): Go away, for I do not care, and harbor no doubts in your mind As to which way the remainder of my love for you is going! Do you not know that I cannot feel any passion tor My partner if she gets angry for no reason ? Al-Walid was moved and felt more cheerful. He said that alAbjar had hit upon the thing that was on his mind, and he ordered Io,ooo dirhams to be given to him. Then, he drank until he got drunk. Nobody except al-Abjar got anything. When I realized that the party was nearing its end, I jumped up and said: "0 Commander of the Faithful, it is my considered opinion that you should order someone to give me a hundred lashes right now in your presence." Al-Walid laughed and asked what the reason for this request was. I told him the story of the messenger and said: "He started out in the beginning of the day to cause me all this unpleasantness which has now continued to its very end. Therefore, I want to be given a hundred lashes, and then, he will be given the same number of lashes 3 ) after me." Al-Walid exclaimed: "That is clever of you. Give him a hundred dinars, and give the messenger fifty dinars in place of the fifty (lashes) which (AshCoundrel! If you hit upon the thing that is on my mind, you will get this suit of clothes which I have just bought for three hundred dinars." Thus, I sang for him the following verses: My heart feels some twinge of emotion On account of a beloved one whose desire has become identical with ours. Why do I torture myself by keeping away from one who is 1) From Agh. 3· 12511- 29 ; Agh. 3 3.36613-36717 • He occurs occasiOnally m Agh. but 1s otherwise umdenttf1ed. The indexes of transmitters m Agh.a often seem to lump h1m together w1th some namesakes of h1s. 3 ) Ash'ab IS addressed here m the Arab1c text by a-Shu'ayb, that 1s, by h1s giVen name. The ed1tors of Agh.a consider th1s a hypoconsbcon of Ash'ab, cf. Ibn Durayd, ]amharah 1.292b (Hyderabad 1344-51). 1)

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

109

Neither ill disposed nor far away? And why do I keep away from the house of the beloved when eternal Life is no more desirable to me than seeing her? 1) When he heard this, Ibn 'Uthman said: "You have hit exactly upon the thing that is on my mind. Take the suit of clothes!" I took it and returned to Sukaynah and told her the story. She asked me where the suit of clothes was. When I replied that it was right with me, she said: "Now you want to wear a suit of clothe~ belonging to lbn 'Uthman?! That cannot be done under any circumstances." I said that he had given it to me, and asked what she wanted from me. She said that she would buy it from me, and she bought it for three hundred dinars. I was informed by al-I:Iusayn b. Yal)ya on the authority of I:Iamma.d on the authority of l:lamma.d's father on the authority of Ayyiib b. 'Abd.yah as follows: I was told that a son of the poet al-Al)wa!? b. Mul)ammad 3 ) came to a noble lady (Another chain of transmitters and recension of the same story:) I was informed by al-l:larami lbn Abi l-'Ala> who said: We were told by a/.-Zubayr b. Bakkar who said: I was told by lbrahim b. Zayd •) on the authority of 'Anbasah b. Sa'id b. al-'A!? 5) who said: I was informed by Ash'ab b. Jubayr as follows: A noble lady was present when a son of the poet al-Al)wa!? came in. The lady asked him whether he was the transmitter of the following verses of his father: 107 2).

I have two nights, a sweet one In which I meet my beloved under the star of al-As'ad 6 ), And a windy one in which ID)' thoughts oppress me as if I were tied to the star al-Farqad till morn. When he replied that he was transmitting those verses, she asked him whether he knew which night was meant by his father to be 1) The verses are by 'Umar b. Abi Rabi'ah, cf. P. Schwarz, Der Diw4n des •Umar ~bn Ab~ Reb~'a 2, 1.165, no. 235, verses 1, 7, 6. 2) From Agk. 4·55s- 20 ; Agk. 1 4.26o11-261 5 . 3) Cf. GAL 1.48 f., Suppl. 1.89. 4) Umdenbfled. &) A great-grandson of Sa'id b. al-'A:;;, the brother of the conqueror of Egypt, cf. Ibn l:fajar, Takdkib 8.155 f. 8 ) They nse m clear and calm sprmg mghts, cf. Luan al-'Arab 4.189.

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

IIO

the one he spent tied to al-Farqad. When he said: "No," she aid: "The night(s) he spent with your mother." In his version, Ibrahim went on to say: I asked Ash'ab: "0 Abu 1-'Ala', which night did he mean by the sweet night?" Ash'ab replied: "The days will show what you do not know, And one whom you did not ~end out will bring you the news. 1 ) He meant the night of dissipation, and do not ask me what came after it." Isma 'il b. Yasar 3} once recited the following vf'rse of his own composition in a party which included Ash 'ab: 108 2 ).

We (Per!>ians) bring our daughters up, while you (Arabs) In your stupidity bury your daughters in the ground. Ash'ab interrupted him and said: "You are certainly right, 0 Abu Fa'id. Those Arabs wanted their daughters for some other purpose than the one for which you wanted your daughters." Asked what he meant, he said: "Those Arabs buried their daughters because they were afraid of disgrace. You brought your daughters up in order to marry tht'm." Those pre!>ent laughed until they were beside themselves, and hma 'il was !>O ashamed that he would have sunk into the ground if that had been possible.

109 4 ). I was informed by Isma'il b. Yunus ash-Shi'i 6 ) who said: We were told the following story by 'Umar b. Shabbah on the authority of Ishaq (al-Maw~ili): When Ibn Surayj was near 1 ) Th1s 1s the penultimate verse of Tarafah's Mu'allaqah. Its genumeness is suspected by some scholars. Cf. Diwan de Tarafa Ibn al-'Abd al-Bakrt, ed. and transl. by M. Sehg'lohn, no. I, verse 102, and notes, p. ro8 (Pans 1901, B'blwtheque de l'l£cole des Hautes Etudes 128). 2) From Agh. 4.121 7_11 ., Agh 3 4·412 14_ 8 • 3 ) Cf. GAL 1.62, Suppl. 1.95. The pro-Persian poet censures the custom of pre-Islam1c Arabs of burymg the1r newborn daughters, and Ash'ab retorts with a reference to the incestuous marnages of the Zoroastnans. 4 ) From Agh. 4.1544 _ 10 ; Agh. 3 5.6918-7o2 • Cf. also Kutubt, Fawat. 6 ) He died m 323/934-5, cf. Ta•rikh Baghddd 6.299.

TRANSLATION UF TEXTS

Ill

death, he gave his daughter into marriage to the elder Hudhali 1 ). Al-Hudhali learned from her most of the songs of her father. He claimed them for himself, and they constituted the main part of his artistic activity. Ibn Surayj's daughter bore him a son. The adolescent boy once passed by Ash hall express my wish." Al-Walid said: "You just want to go me one better. But (you will not get away with it). I wish (to receive) twice what you wish, whatever it may be." Whereupon I said: "Then, I wish (to have) a double portion of torture." Al-Walid laughed and said: "We shall give it to you in full . III 4).

I was informed by Mul)ammad b al-'Abbas al-Yazidt who said: We were told by Mul)ammad b. Isl)aq al-Ya'qubi (?) 8 ) 112

7 ).

1) Al-Mtzzah near Damascus, a locahty that has remamed well known

to the present day. A monograph on 1t, contammg mformatlon mamly from the thirteenth century, was wntten by Mu~ammad b. T1il1in, alMurikh Baghddd 9.50 f. Mu}}ammad b. al-'Abbil.s al-Yazidi 1s mentioned as one of hlS transmitters, although he was only eighteen years old when.Ibn Abi Shaykb died. 2) He appears as a transmitter on the authonty of 'Awanah (b. al-l:lakam, who died about 147{764-5 or 148/765-6, cf. F. Rosenthal, A H~story of Mushm Htstonography 79) m Agh. 1.176I4 ; 7·5717 : 8.13819 ; Agh. 3 2.257 ; 8.47 2 ; 9.2288 • Perhaps, he IS a much younger brother of 'Awanah ~ ? 3 ) She was a granddaughter of Abt'J Bakr on her mother's Side, and her f1rst husband was a grandson of Abt'J Bakr. When Mu!?'ab was killed, he left her to 'Umar b. 'Ubaydallah b. Ma'mar, cf. Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqat 8.342; Ibn I:IaJar, Tahdhib 12.436 f. The h1Stoncal Ash'ab, of course, d1d not have anythmg to do w1th Mu!?'ab b. az-Zubayr, and It must remam very problematIcal whether he could have known th1s 1shah. ') A noble Qurash1te and Ibn az-Zubayr's governor of al-Ba!?rah. He was born m 643-4 and d1ed m 82{701-2, cf. Ibn al-Athtr, Kdmfl, anno 82; adh-Dhahabi, Ta>rikh al-Islam 3.287-9 (Ca1ro 1367 ff.). Ma'mar IS the vocalization used m the edition of Tabari, Annates, cf. the references m the Index. For Ibn Abi 'Atiq, cf. above, p. 12, fn. I.

II4

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

113 1). I was informed by al-l;Iusayn b. Yal)ya who said: l;Iammad said: I read the following story under the direction of my father: We were told by Ibn Kunasah 2 ) as follows: Ash'ab passed by us while we were having a party. There came a neighbor of us with whom we we were on good terms (~aftib jiwar ?), called Aban b. Sulayman. He was wearing a worn coat. His back showed through it and revealed traces (of a beating). He greeted us, and we returned the greeting. When he left, one of those present said: "A Mcdinese who has been beaten." I think, he heard the remark, or someone who was going with him heard it and reported it to him. At any rate, when he left and came to the end of the 1.alon, he quoted the following verse by al-Al)wa!}: Matar, my greetings are directed to her. They are not for you, Matar. I said to those present: "Indeed, you are rightly compared to Matar." II4 3). Hanin b. az-Zayyat ") said: I found the following story in the book of al-Qasim b. Yusuf 6 ): I was told by al-Haytham b. 1) From Agh. 14.64211-654 • Thts story would be an Ash'ab story only tf the person who quotes the verse was Ash'ab. However, accordiDg to all IDdtcations, tt should have been the offended MediDese, and 1t 1s not clear why Ash'ab's name 1s mentioned here. 2 ) He 1s MutJammad b. 'Abdallah b. 'Abd-al-A •la al-Asadi. Kunasah 1s satd to have been a mckname of etther h1s father or hts grandfather. He was a nephew of the famous saiDt lbrahim b. Adham and enjoyed a great reputation as httcrateur and trano;mttter of trachtions. Born ID 123/740-1, he dted ID 207/823 or, accordmg to some o;cholars, m 209{825, cf. Agh. 12.111-6, Fthnst 70 f. Flugel, 105 (Catro 1348); Ta>rikh Baghdad 5.404-8; as-Sam•ani, Ansab, fol. 487b; Ibn l;laJar, Tahdhib 9.259 f. 3) From Agh. 14.172a-14 . Cf. also Ta>rikh Baghdad; Dhahabt, Mizdn; Ibn l;lajar, Ltsdn. The greatly abndged vers10nof the Ta>r?kh Baghdadruns "Ao;h'ab tsthe person who sa1d to someone when the chtcken of the l,ttter was hot, got cold, wac; heated up, and got cold agaiD 'The chtckens of thts man are hke the people of Pharaoh. They are exposed to the ftre mormng and eveniDg.' Fabmah, the daughter of al-Husayn, gave htm a hundred lashes for th1s remark, but she also gave htm a hundred dinars." 4) Hd.run b. Mul:mmmad b. •Abd-al-M.thk, cf. Hhnst 123 Flugel; 178 (Cmro r 348); Ta>rikh Baghdad 14.26 f. Ht father dted m 233/847-8. There should have been at least one more transmitter between htm and the author of Agh. 6 ) Umdenbfted, unless he 1'> Identical w1th the poet and wnter mentioned m Fzhnst 122 Flugel, 178 (Catro 1348).

PLATE X

Street scene with a worn-out horse

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

IIS

«Ad1 on the authority of Ash«ab as follows: Zayd b. «Amr b. «Uthman b. «Affan married Sukaynah. Zayd was the stingiest Qurashite I have ever seen. He went on the pilgrimage, and Sukaynah went with him. He took along each !:.ingle goose, chicken, egg, and fruit in the house. She gave me one hundred dinars. Thus, she left accompanied by five camels loaded with food. When we came to as-Sayyalah 1), we encamped, and she ordered food to be served. When the trays with food were brought, some An!?ar lads came and greeted Zayd. Seeing them, he cried: "Ouch! My lumbago! In God's name, take the food away and bring the medicine and hot water!" Then, he slowly started to swallow the medicine and the hot water, until the lads went away. We then went in. I was dying of hunger, but I had nothing to eat except what I had bought myself in the market. When I came in the next morning, God only knows how hungry I was. Zayd called for food, and he ordered it heated up. At that moment, some Qurashite shaykhs came and greeted him. When he saw them, he again simulated 2) an attack of lumbago and called for his medicine and hot water. He slowly swallowed it, and had the food taken away. When the shaykhs had gone, he had the food brought back again. It came but had gotten cold again. He asked me whether it was pos~ible to warm the chicken up again. I replied: "Tell me whether these chickens of yours belong to the people of Pharaoh, for 'they are exposed to the fire morning and evening (Qur•an 40.46/49)."' II5 3 ). (I was informed by al-l;lasan b. AQ.mad who) said: AlMada•ini also told me that Ash«ab went on the pilgrimage in the company of Sukaynah. She gave orders that a strong camel be given to him to carry his baggage, but the superintendent gave him a weak one. When Ash«ab came to Sukaynah, she asked him whether they had given him a camel in accordance with her wishes. He replied: "I bet"), that camel could not carry a pack-saddle. How, then, could it carry a load?" 1} Situated twenty-mne mil (about flfty-e1ght km.) from Medma on the road to Mecca. 2) Jrikh Dtmashq; lbn Kathir. 6) The speaker 1s 'Abd-al-'Aziz b. al-Muttahb who was a Judge m Medma, cf. Tabari, Annates 3.159, 198, 226. He hved m the time of al-Mam;nlr and ai-Mahdi and was mentioned m the Kztab an-Nasab of az-Zubayr b. Bakkar cf. Ibn l;lajar, Tahdhib 6.357 f. For h1s father, ai-Muttahb b. 'Abdallah, cf. Tahdhib 10.178 f. Cf. also Mu-:;'ab, Nasab Quravsh 340 ff. (Ca1ro 1953).

126

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

A Mughirah woman 1), whose face gives the appearance of being like the full moon, Cleanly dre~sed, abundant in religiosity, A light-colored, modest woman, she has never been subject to any suspicion, And no poet has ever diverted her from the fear of God. She has a clean reputation and proven honor And some inner voice that keeps her away from anything disagreeable. SAlim asked for more, and Ash 'ab ~ang: She stopped with us 2 ) when the night was dark as if it were The wing of a raven exploring the region. I said to myself: "Did a perfume dealer stop in our caravan ?" But LaylA did not carry anything but was just spreading her own perfume. SAlim thereupon said to Ash 'ab: "If the bards were not commonly reciting these verses, I would certainly have given you a handsome reward, because you have a flair for them." 145 3). A~h'abwas asked: "Have you ever seen anyone greedier than yourself?" He replied: "Yes, a lamb of mine. It went up upon the roof and saw a rainbow. Thinking that it was a bunch of lucernes, (it wanted to grab it). It fell down and broke its neck." We were told the following story by Mu}:lammad Mughiriyatun, belongmg to the sect called Mughidyah? ? Ibn Kathir presents a stmphfted readmg: "They took her away. The moon resembles her face (maljayna bzhd wa-l-badru yushbzhu wa1hahd) •. ." The second and thtrd verses are mterchanged m Ta>rikh Dzmashq. a) The Ta>rikh Dzmashq has bzhi 'at 1t.' 3 ) From Tha'A.hbi, Thzmdr 302. Cf. also Mutarrizt; Shadsht. In Tha 'ahbi, the story 1s followed by eight verses by lbn al-I;Iajj!j (d. 391/1oo1, cf. GAL 1.81 f., Suppl. 1.130; below, no. 157), of which the last one refers to the proverbial 'lamb of Ash 'ab.' ') From Ta>rikh Baghddd. Cf. also Nuwayri; Dhahabi, Mtzdn; Kutubl, Fawdt; lbn I;lajar, Lzsdn. A stmtlar story appears in A. Wesselski, Der Hodscha Nasreddm 1.19, no. 35· Kutubi's version lets the girl make the sad discovery on her fourth visit. 1)

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

127

b. A}:lmad al-l:lasani, a descendant of al-l:lasan b. 'AlP), on the authority of one of his informants: Ash'ab said: My girl 2) brought me a dinar for safekeeping. I put it under the prayer rug in front of me. After some time, she came and asked me to let her have her dinar. I said: "Lift up the prayer rug, and if the dinar has borne children, take the child and leave the dinar!" I had put a dirham together with the dinar. She lifted the prayer rug up and took the dirham. I told her that if she would leave the dinar, it would produce a dirham each Friday. Thus, she left it there and returned the next Friday. Meanwhile, I had taken the dinar away, and she did not see it. She cried and shouted. I asked her why she cried, and she said: "The dinar! You have stolen it." I replied: "The dinar died in childbirth." She continued crying. Thus, I said to her: "You believe in birth, and you do not believe in dying in childbirth!" 147 3 ). We were told the following story by 'Amr b. ac;\l)a}:l}:lak b. Makhlad 4) on the authority of his father: One day, I was going home when I turned around and saw Ash'ab following behind me. I asked him what the matter was with him, and he replied: "Abu •A!?im, I noticed that your hat was leaning over. Therefore, I have followed you, saying (to myself) : 'Perhaps, it will fall down, and then, I shall take it."' Whereupon I took it off and gave it to him, telling him to go away. I heard 'Abdallah b. Hilal al-Bazzaz 6 ) tell the 148 6). following story on the authority of Salimah 1) : I was told by a reliable person that Ash 'ab was once eating dates in the company of Salim b. Abi 1-Ja'd 8). He started eating two at a time, whereupon 1) According to his position ID the chain of transmitters, this 'Ahd hved in the second half of the moth century. 2) Cf. above, no. 6o. 3 ) From Ta•rikh Baghddd. Cf. also Ta•rikh D~mashq; Dhahabt, Mtzdn; lbn Hajar, L~sdn. ') He d1ed ID 242/856-7, cf. Ibn l:lajar, Tahdhib 8.55 f. For his father, Abli •As1m an-Nabil, cf. above, no. 66. 6) Fr~m Ta•rikh Baghddd. Cf. also Dhahabt, Mizdn; Ibn l:lajar, L~sdn. •) Umdentd1ed. 7) Umdenbfled. ') He d1ed between 98 and IOI/717-20, cf. al-BukhA.ri, Ta•rikh 2, 2.1o8; lbn Sa'd, Tabaqat 6.203; lbn l:lajar, Tahdhib 3·342 f.

128

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

Salim said: "The Prophet forbade the combining of dates." 1) Ash'ab retorted: "Be quiet! If the Prophet had seen how bad these dates are, he would surely have permitted us to eat them by the handful"

149 2 ). We were told by 'Uthman b. Fa,id 3 ) on the authority of A!>h 'ab the Greedy on the authority of 'lkrimah on the authority of lbn 'Abbas that the Prophet said labbayka until he performed the !hrowing of pebbles at the Jamrat al-'Aqabah 4 ). (Some day) during the winter, al-I;Iasan b. Abi 1-I;Iasan a descendant of 'Uqbah b. Abi Mu'ayt 7 ). He asked him what made him sit there, and Ash'ab replied: "I am warming myself at his fire" 8 )-referring to the story of 'Uqbah a!>king the Prophet when he commanded 'Ali to behead him: "And who will take care of my children after me ?" The Prophet replied: "The Fire." 150 6 ).

al-Ba~ri8)sawAsh'absittingtogetherwith

151 9 ). Ash'ab used to say: "My dog is a bad dog. He wags his tail for guests and barks at those who bring presents. 152 10). A man asked Ash 'ab: "What have you got from your greed?" Ash 'ab replied: "You are asking this question only because you have in mind doing mt> a good turn."

1) Cf. Wensmck and others, Concordance et Indues 1.281a, Ta>rikh Baghdad 14.51. 2 ) From Ta>ri/1h Baghdad. Cf. also Ta>rtkh Dzmashq; Dhahabi, Mizdn; lbn l:laJar, Lzsan. 3 ) He hac; a b1ography m Ibn I:Iajar, Tahdhib 7.147 f., wh1ch mentions Ash'ab the Greedy as one of h1s authontles, probably on the strength of th1s story. 4 ) The ]amrat al-'Aqabah is (the first of?) the three jamardt at MinA. where the pdgnms throw pebbles on the last day of the pdgnmage. The pomt mtended by connectmg the trad1t1on w1th Ash'ab IS not clear, cf. above, p. 29 f. 6) From Ibn Babah. Cf. also Kutubi, Fawat. 8 ) He d1ed around IIo/728-9, cf. Ibn l:laJar, Tahdhtb 2.263-70. 1) Cf. lbn H1sham, Sirah 458 Wu!>tenfcld (Gottmgen 1858-6o). 8 ) A ~!alt bz-narthi. It may be noted m th1s connection that the phrase la ya~tali bz-ndrzhi l'l used metaphoncally for one who does not expose h1mself to someone clc;e's bad character and actions, cf. 'Askad 2.273. 8 ) From Ibn Babah. Cf. also Nuwayri. A generous man 1s proud 1f h1s dogs wag the1r tads upon notlcmg hiS guests, cf. ar-Ragh1b al-l:?fahant 1.405. 1°) From lbn I:Iamdl'in, eh. g. Cf. also Kutubi, Fawdt. The remark appears anonymously m ar-Ragh1b al-l:?fahani I ·395·

PLATE

XI

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

I29

I53 1). Al-A!lma'i said: Ash'ab told us: "I am 2) the most illfated of men. I was born on the day 'Uthma.n was killed, and I was circumcised on the day al-l:lusayn was killed." Al-l:Ia.fi~ published the following tradition with its chain of transmitters leading up to Ash'ab: Ash'ab said: "I heard the Messenger of God say: 'The person who is in the ifl,ram does not marry and does not give anyone else into marriage."'

I54 3 ).

I55 '). Ash'ab said: I was together with Sa.Iim b. 'Abdalla.h b. 'Umar during the pilgrimage. We took residence in some mansion. There was a storyteller there who was telling stories, and people were gathered around him. I began to sing a tender poem, and his audience left him. He complained about me to Sa.lim. Sa.lim asked me what I wanted from him, and I replied: "The wretch knows his sins."

rs6 6). Sa.Iim used to have fun with Ash'ab in private, and very much so. Sa.lim usually had the two sons of his brother 'Ubaydallah8) with him. One day, they asked Ash'ab to sing for them. He replied: "How can I do this when Salim is around? I am afraid of him." But, Ash 'ab said, they told me to be quiet and said that Sa.lim did not care. Thus, I sang for them, and Salim did not say anything to me. On some other day, one of the two said to me: "Sing for me such-and-such a tune to a verse 7 ) of mine, and you shall get this cloak of mine." I asked him whether he would really give it 1 ) From Ta>rtkh Dzmashq. The Ta>rtkh Dtmashq adds the well-known story of the tU-fated hfe of Tuways. The above story ts strange. Ash'ab would have been twenty-four years old at the death of al-l;lusayn. Moreover, he ts also satd to have been born some years before rtkh Dzmashq himself (cf. above, p. 29, fn. 2) ? 4) From Ta>rtkh Dtmashq. Cf. also above, no. 25. &) From Ta>r£kh Dzmashq. The story seems to be an amphftcation of no. 16 combmed wtth no. 77· 8 ) Cf. Ibn Sa 'd, Tabaqat 5· 149 f.; Ibn I:Iajar, Tahdhtb 7.25. 7 ) The text has: "to a tune of mme ... "

130

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

to me, and he swore 1) again that he would. Thus, I sang for him an even more tender melody than I used to sing. SAlim, hearing it, shouted to me twice: "Here you go, scoundrel!" And I stopped. 157 2). Ibn al-J:Iajjaj said: I certainly like him who calls me by a nickname, exactly as I call him by one. The truth never makes anyone angry. I said: "•Urqub, you have made me greedy (and desirous of being together with you)." And he retorted: "Blame yourself, Ash•ab!" 158 3). Ibn Sharaf said: For wishes to come true as they once promised Is like Ash•ab hoping for a promise made by •urqub. The written decree has proved tardy 4) as far as he is 6} concerned. What, then, could I expect from an unwritten one ? 159 6). Ash•ab noticed a coat which 'AbdallAh b. •umar was wearing. He beseeched him by God to give it to him, and •Abdallah threw it over to him. 1) Wa-fialafa li. 2) From Sharishi and Yaqlit, It-shad 4.14 Margohouth; 9.227 (Ca1ro 1355-7). The f1rst verse, m Sharishi's readmg, m1ght be translated w1th some dlff1culty as follows:

I certamly hke h1m who whenever I call h1m by a mckname (laqqabtuku), by God, [does not get angry. •Urqub, a legendary f1gure located m anc1ent Khaybar, 1s proverbial for h1s dllatonness w1th regard to h1s prom1ses. For Ibn al-l;laJJaJ, cf. also above, p. 126, fn. 3· 3 ) From Sharishi and Yaqlit, It-shad 1·99 Margohouth; 19.43 (Cairo 1355-7). For the poet lbn Sharaf, cf. GAL 1.268, Suppl. 1.473. 4 ) Takkallafa, as m Yaqlit. Shartshi has takkdlafa 'proved contrary ( ?).' li) Yaqlit has bzk4 'they are .. .' 8 ) From Kutubi, Fawat. The story 1s related to no. 36.

TRANSLATION OF TEXTS

IJI

160 1). (The last verse of a poem by Rashid-ad-din 'Abd-arRal)man b. Badr an-Nabulusi, who died in 619/1222-3, reads:)

I am just like Ash 'ab. I am greedy and want whatever comes up But is not attainable. 161 2). Abu 1-Faraj (the author of the Kitab al-Aghani) said: I was informed by al-Jawhari: I was told by an-Nawfali: I heard my father say: I saw Ash'ab when al-Mahdi had sent for him and he was brought to him. He had been alive already in the time of 'Uthman. I saw him contracting himself until he looked like a peach (?)B). He wore a jacket (fubbah) of embroidered material. Someone asked him to give it to him. Ash 'ab replied: "You frosty •) character, you do not really want it. You just want to be called 6) •greedier than Ash 'ab."' 1) From Kutubl, Fawdt 1.533· •) From Ibn l;lajar, L'sdn 4.126 f. lbn l;lajar indicates Agh. as his source, but I do not recall havmg come across any such Ash'ab story in Agh. The cham of transmitters is the same as in no. 38, though Ibn l;lajar om1tted lbn Mthrawayh. 3) The text has m-w-kh; leg. : khawkh "peaches" or "wmdows" ? ? It could hardly be Perstan mukh 'standard, enstgn.' •) Or "you person wtthout a sense of humor (Mrld)," cf. above, no. 87. 6 ) The addtbon of laka seems requtred.

APPENDIX

ON LAUGHTER Laughter is a particularly complex phy~iological and psychological phenomenon. One would assume that it has constantly provoked long and penetrating scientific discussions since the study of man first became the center of human intellectual endeavors. This, however, does not seem to have been the case as far as the early period is concerned. Little on the subject survives from classical Antiquity 1 ). However, in the late Hellenistic period, interest in it apparently was widespread. Thus, scholars living in the early medieval Muslim environment had some specific basis for their own speculations on laughter, in addition to the general data of Greek medicine and philosophy. From this basis, they struck out on their own, and while they did not produce any remarkable and definitive results, they left us a small number of statements as to the causes and origin of laughter which show considerable insight into the problem. When the West witnessed the creation of a rather extensive literature on laughter near the end of the sixteenth and in the early years of the seventeenth century, at least one of these statements was repeatedly quoted. A Christian scholar, Job of Edessa, writing in Syriac and Arabic in the beginning of the ninth century, discussed laughter in his Syriac Book of Treasures 2). It would seem that he tried to explain the phenomenon from purely physiological causes. The published text i~ corrupt but may be tentatively translated as follows: 1) No attention has been pa1d here to the qmte detailed d1scussmns of the eth1cal and moral s1gmf1cance of laughter, as they are represented, for mstance, by the chapter on laughter m Clement of Alexandna's Paedagogus. They have the1r bnefer counterparts m Mushm rehg1ous hterature. Cf. also above, p. 31, fn. 1. 2) Ed1ted and translated by A. Mmgana, 69/337a (Cambndge 1935), cf. also 16/331 f. A bnef def1mt1on of laughter appears m the Synac treatise On Defm~tions, compo~ed, 1t seems, m 1ts preserved form around Soo and ascnbed to a certam M1chael or Bazudh (for the difficult question of 1t'l date and authorship, cf. A. Baumstark, Gesch~chte der synschen L~teratur 129, Bonn 1922). As quoted by G. Hoffmann, De Hermeneuhc~s apud Syros Arzstotelezs 163 (Le1pz1g 1873), the def1mt1on reads: Calefactlo sangumlS quae f1t rebus iucund1s.

ON LAUGHfER

133

"Laughter is a property, an activity resulting from the homogeneousness 1 ) of circular motion, because it results from (some sort of) homogeneousness. Laughing gives pleasure to the body. Whenever the body derives pleasure from moderate titillation 2), the pleasure of laughter is added to the pleasure resulting from titillation, and (laughter) moves the body." The physician 'Ali b. Rabban at-Tabari, who belonged to the following generation, dealt with laughter in his medical encyclopedia, Firdaws al-IJ,ikmah 3 ). He introduced the psychological element of astonishment which recurs in the discus!>ions of other scholars 4 ). According to at-Tabari, "laughter is (the result of) the boiling of the natural blood (which happens) when a human being sees or hears something that diverts him and thus startle!> and moves him. If he then does not employ his ability to think in connection with it, he is seized by laughter." This is followed by a reference to the famous Peripatetic definition of man as a laughing animal (zoion gelast~kon) which had its origin in Aristotle's remark that man alone of all animals is able to laugh (cf. De partibus animalium 673a 8 and 28). At about the same time, the great Kindi included a definition of laughter in his little treatise on definitions 5 ). It runs as follows: "Laughter-An even-tempered purity of the blood of the heart together with an expansion of the soul to a point where its joy becomes visible. It has a physiological origin." A younger contemporary of the afore-mentioned scholars, the physician lsl}.aq b. 'lmran, who wrote in the second half of the ninth century 8 ), discussed excessive laughter as a symptom of insanity in his work On Melancholy. Though the Arabic text of the work is still unpublished, the passage in question has long been known in the We!>t, since it was included by Constantinus Africanus in hi!> compilation on the subject of melancholy 7 ). lbn The Greek equiValent would be homotomereta. Greek gargaltsmos, discussed by Anstotle m connectiOn w1th laughter, cf. De parttbus ammalJum 673a 3 ff. 3) Ed1ted by M. Z. S1dd1ql, 88 (Berlm I928). 4) Cf. also Maskawayh, Tahdhib al-akhlaq I I (Ca1ro IJ22): ... bke the person who laughs excessively at the most ms1gmf1cant pleasant surpnse." 0 ) Ed1ted by Mul)ammad 'Abd-al-Ha.di Ab~ Ridah, m Rasa>tl al-Ktndi al-falsafiyah I.I76 (Ca1ro IJ69/I950). 8 ) Cf. GAL 1.232. 'l Mumch, cod. ar. 805, fols. Iooa-Ioia. For Constantmus Afncanus, cf. the German translation by R. and W. Creutz, m Archw fur Psychtatrte und 1)

2}

RosENTHAL

134

ON LAUGHTER

•Imran briefly refers to the laughter of children and people who are intoxicated, and explains it as the result of "the joy of the soul because of the even temper of their bodies (or: their blood)." Then, as a digression, he add!> a long formal definition of laughter: "Laughter is defined as the astonishment of the soul at (observing) something that it is not in a position to understand clearly (ta'ajjubu n-najsi min shay>in lam yuqaddar lahd cjabtuhu). Palladiu!> 1) defines laughter as something not governed by logic (ad-rfaft,ktt amrun la tudabbiruhu l-kalimatu). I think that my definition i!> much clearer than that of Palladius. Laughter is produced by the rational soul. The organ (addh) producing it is the spleen, according to Palladius who !>ay!> that laughter is (caused) by the spleen, after the imagination ha!:> been put to work 2 ) ; or the liver, as it generates blood and distnbute!> the surplus blood to its proper place!> among the yellow bile and the black bile; or the heart, a!> the blood di!>tributed by it is purer, thinner, and better than the blood of the liver and contains more of the animal Nerven/1rankhetten 97.252 f. (1932). A. Bumm, Dte ldentttat der Abhandlungen des Ishdk lbn Amrdn und des Constantmus Afncanus (Mumch 1902 ?), referred to by R. and W. Creutz, wac; not available. 1 ) The work by Palladms whtch Ibn 'Imr!n mentions m th1s context 1s h1s Commentary on the Aphonsms of Htppocrates. Pallad1us hunself refers to th1s Commentary m other works of h1s, but the Greek ongmal IS lost, and no manuscnpt of the Arable translation (cf Fzhnst 2888 Flugel; 401 8 Catro 1348, quoted by d.l-Qtfti 94R Muller-Ltppert) h.t'i so far been d1scovered. For a quotation m the Contmens of ar-Razi, cf. Gn. (W.) Braeubgam, De lhppocratts Eptdemtarum Ltbn Sextl Commentatonbus 42 f. (Komgsberg 190!!, Dtss. Komgsberg 1907). A recent detailed btography of Palladms 1s that by H. Dlller, m PWRE, s.v. Palladws, no. 8. Hts hfebme IS uncertam, a hkely, 1f entirely unsnbstd.ntlated guess place'> lnm m the second half of the s1xth century. Cf. also R. Walzer, m JRAS 1939, 413 f. Al-kaltmatu certamly IS a translation of Greek logos. However, I must leave 1t to others to dec1de whether "log1c" IS the correct rendermg here, or whether "(ordmary) speech" IS mtended. ll) In the Phystcal Problems and Medtcal Questwns ascnbed to Alexander of Aphrod1s1as I, 136 (ed. by j. L. Ideler, Phystcz et Medtcz Graect Mmores 1.47. Berlm 1841-2), the author dt'icusses the role ascnbed by many to the spleen m generatmg laughter and explams that 1t IS restncted to punfymg the blood, d1stnbuted over the whole body and entermg the bram, the punfted blood causes JOY to body and soul, and w1th 1t laughter. Th1s passage i'i quoted by Elp1dms Berrettanus, m h1s Tractatus de Rtsu 8 f. (Florence 1603), a copy of wh1ch IS m the College of Phys1ctans m Phlladelphta. In addtbon, Berrettanus refers to a passage m Horapollo I, 39, the spleen and laughter and many other thmgs are descnbed there as represented by the same h1eroglyph, and Horapollo explams that true splenebcs cannot laugh, smell, or sneeze. Cf., further, Artemtdoru'i, Onetro-

ON LAUGHTER

135

spirit, and it also is the seat of the innate heat, which is the substance (jawhar) of the animal spirit, and the seat of the animal spirit itself. The matter (mdddah) and gravitational force (thiqal) 1) serving laughter is the pure, even-tempered blood that is distributed all over the body. Its end (tamdm) 2) is the awareness of the soul, when laughing, of the meaning of its laughter by gaining darity about its purpose as either humorous or serious." A famous student of lbn 'lmran, the physician ls}:laq b. Sulayman al-Isra'ili, also produced a definition of laughter. It is found in his Liber elementorum 3). ls}:laq al-Isra•m maintains that sadness, cau~cd by the repre~sion and inertia of the blood and the innate heat, is the opposite of joy, produced by their motion and circulation. He stresses the fact that it is not the opposite of laughter (risibilttas) which "non est nisi dispositio proveniens ridenti ex gaudio et leticia cum consequitur quod vult. Quod si dixerit que est ergo dispositio illa dicemus ei quod est tremor et sonus lacertorum pectoris cum feruet sanguis et elevatur et incedit cum lacertis pectoris propter inquietatem nature motu anime apud delectationem ip!>ius cum eo quod facit ipsam gaudere. Cum ergo provenit ille tremor in lacertis pectoris, auditur illc tremor et cachinnus et sonitus." A French translation of the pa~sage was given by L. joubert, in his Traite du ris 163 (Pari!> 1579) "): "Le ris crlhca I, 44 (p. 42 Hercher), where the spleen IS said to sigmfy "pleasure, laughter, and household furmshmgs." In the Latm and Spamsh vers10ns of the Questlons of the Philosopher Secundus and related texts, the spleen IS defined as "nsus et lebbe capax," cf. L. W. Daly and W. Suchier, Altercatw Hadrzanz Att~ustl et Eptctett Phtlosophl 139, 158 (Urbana, Ill., 1939, Illmols Studles m Language and Lderature 24), H. Knust, Mltthedungen aus dem Eskurtal 505 (Tubmgcn 187q, Blblwthek des Lttteranschen Verems m Stuttgart 1 41). N. de Nancel, De nsu 86a (m his De tmmortalttate ammae, Pans 1587, copy m the New York Academy of Medicme), m d1scussmg the theones concermng the location of laughter m the vanous parts of the body, quoted the "popular verse:" Splen ndere facit, cog1t amare Iecus. 1) The Greek eqmvalent IS baros or barytAs, cf. A.-M. Gmchon, Vocabulatres comparis d'Artstote et d'Ibn Sind 4 (Pans 1939). lbn 'lmran means the substance m which laughter ongmates and which brmgs 1t down and out. 2) Greek telos. 3) Fol. Vlla, col. 1, of the rare ed1tion of the Latm translation of the works of Isaac Iudaeus (Lyon 1515), a copy of which 1s m the New York Academy of Med1cme. •) A copy of the work IS m the College of Phys1c1ans m Philadelphia. Accordmg to M. Chapiro, L'tlluswn comtque 140 (Paris 1940), lsl).aq alIsra 'ili was alc;o quoted by A. L. Pohtien, Dlalogus pulcherrlmus et uttltsstmus de rlsu (Frankfurt 1603).

ON LAUGHTER

et un tramblement & son des muscles de la poitrine, d'un sang boulhant, qui monte an ces parties la par agitacion de nature, concitee d'un mouvemant d'esprit, quand cc que la joye apporte, tombe an l'esprit." Joubert considered Isl}aq al-Isra'ili the first ever to attempt a definition of laughter, as the Greeks, he says, neglected the subject. However, he at once proceeded to call this definition absurd and to mention other superior ones by his contemporaries and by himself. For us, the noteworthy thing concerning Isl}aq al-Isra'ili's description of laughter would seem to be that it differs so greatly from that of his teacher lbn <Jmd.n. A treatment of laughter which is obviously related to that of lbn <Jmran is found in a much later work, the Bustdn al-a#bbd' of lbn J.l-Matran (d. 587/II9I) 1). lbn al-Matran had just quoted Ibn <Jmran's work on melancholy when he embarked upon his discus!:.ion of the physiological and psychological causes of laughter. Whether Ibn al-Matran expanded upon Ibn <Jmran's statement on his own or used some other additional source must remain undecided for the time being. He presents the following highly speculative ideas on the subject: "The reason causing laughter is the rational power, and the reason leading to the joy necessary in a person who procures for himself a blood substance of a good quality, is an even temper of the liver and a spleen able to clean (the blood) of its black bile and an even temper which does not burn (the blood) that comes to it 2). When the blood come~ to it in its most elementary and fine form which does not (however) cause it to be weak and boiling, with its color taking on a brilliant dye and its vapor becoming fine and also brilliant ( ?), this then is a primary, original 3 ) cause of joy, and joy is a primary, ~ub­ stantial of laughter. Those, however, who think that laughter has its primary origin in the mentioned causes affecting the blood are wrong, for after joy, laughter (require~) astonishment of the soul. The formal cause is tittering (qahqahah) 4) and a state of happiness that shows in a pcr!>on's face and indicates joy and, 1) Manuscnpt of the Army Med1cal L1brary (Cleveland, Ohm), no. A 8, fol. 48b. Cf. D. M. Schulhan and F. E. Sommer, A Catalogue of Incunabula and Manuscnpts m the Army Med~cal L~brary 299 (New York, n.y. [1948)). 2 ) The spleen, or rather the hver ? Or could 1t be the person, or the bram ? The same doubt apphes to the followmg occurrence of the pronoun. 3) Greek prokatarkhkon. •) Or rather, guffaw. The Greek equ1valent m1ght be kagchasmos, rather than kzchlssmos.

ON LAUGHTER

137

then, provokes speech. The speech cause (as-sabab al-kalam£) produces a form of astonishment of the soul which speech (as such) is unable to produce, and causes its expression through another quality related to speech 1)-namely, laughter. Thus, tho~e who are unable to express the astonishment they teel are seen to associate (speech) with laughter, in order to supplement the expression of the astonishment they feel with something indicating the feeling in their soul, and this is laughter." Finally, a sensitive philosopher may be given a hearing on what he has to say in connection with the subject. He is Abu J:Iayya.n at-Tawl)idi, of the latter half of the tenth century, who devoted a special brief chapter in his Mttqabasat 2) to laughter. For him, laughter is the result of conflicting emotions generated in the wake of a person's search for the explanation ot a startling phenomenon, and it is related to anger. The text, according to the available unsatbfactory edition, reads: "I asked Abu Sulayman (al-Mantiqi as-Sijistani) 3) to explain what laughter actually was, and he dictated the following reply: Laughter is a power originating in between the powers of reason and animality. This comes about as follows: Laughter is a state 4) of the ~oul resulting from a searching attitude 5) it happens to assume. Thi~ searching attitude is identical with astonishment, and astoni~hment is identical with looking for the reason and cause of things that happen to occur. In this sense, laughter is connected with reason on the one hand. On the other hand, it depends upon the animal power and the (latter's) distribution (over the human body which starts) from the soul. The animal power moves in either an inward or an outward direction 8 ). and does so suddenly, it generates anger; if it does so by degrees, it generates joy and gaiety. On the 1) Al-kh4~~ah an-nu!qtyah. "Rational" could hardly be the meaning of nu!qiyah m thiS context. 2 ) 274 (Cruro 1347/1929). 3) It often IS doubtful whether a reference by at-Taw.f.tldt to hiS revered teacher mtroduces a genume or f1cbtmus quotation. ') l;lal. A readmg flail yields no suitable sense. 6 ) Ish!raq. However, the correct readmg might be utl!r4/ "considenng somethmg remarkable, marvebng." •) Cf. 'Ali b. al-'Abbas al-MaJtisi, al-Kamd 1.216 f. (Btilaq 1294 ), and, in particular, lbn SinA., Qanun 1.47 (Roma 1593), who has a very similar discussion of the motions of the spint (ru/1) but does not mention laughter.

13~

ON LAUGHTER

other hand, if it move!> in an inward direction and doe!> so suddenly, it generate'> fear; if it doe!> so by degree!>, it generate!> unconcern (istzhzal). But if it b pulled once in an inward direction and then again in an outward direction, it generates various !>tate!>. One of them is laughter. It i!> generated when the two power'> arc pulled in different directions in search of the rea!>on (for some phenomenon). At one time, (the person in question) decide!> that the n'a!>on b !>uch-and-!>uch, and then again, that it i!> not !>o. In thb !>tate, the !>pirit moves about until it finally end!> up at anger. For the movement of the two contrary motions produce!> a tittering 1) (appearing) in the face becau!>c of the multiplicity of sensual impressions, but anger then gets the upper hand over them one by one." 1)

Cf. above, p. 136, fn. 4·

BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. REFERENCES TO ASH'AB IN ARABIC LITERATURE 1) AbQ 1-Ftda': Annates 2.30 f. Rmske (Copenhagen 1790), anno 154. Agh.: AM 1-Faraj al-I~fabani, Kttdb al-Aghdni 17.82-105 and 1.116 f., 156f., 163f.; 2.77f., 3.6o, 102, 116f., 125; 4·55. 121,153. 167; 6.114, 123 f., 129, 144; 7.42, 10.54; 13.116; t 4.64 f., 166, 17 1 f.; 15 .69 (Bftlaq 1285). Cf. above, nos. 1-115 and 161. Agh. 3 : refers to the modern edttlon of the Kttdb al-Aghdni (Catro 1354 ff.), of whtch the ftrst eleven volumes were avatlable. Al,lmad b. Kamtl: ts quoted m Ta'rikh Dtmashq 3.8o as source for the date of Ash'ab's death, probably from hts Htstory (cf. GAL Suppl. 1.226). 'Askari: Jamharat al-amthdl2.53 f. (Catro 1301, m the margm of Maydant). Cf. above, nos. 44· 49, 77• 139, 140. 'Askarl, Ma'dni: 1.292 (Catro 1352). Azdi: cf. above. p. 29, fn. 2. Bakri: Stml al-la'dli fi shar!J Amdlt al-Qdlt 958 f. (Cairo 1354/1936). Cf. above, nos. 4-6, 8, 10-12, 14, 20, 70. Bardiji: cf. above p. 29, fn. 2. Bayhaqt: ai-Mafldstn wa-1-masdwi 641 Schwally (Giessen 1902). Cf. above, nos. 46, 120, 124. Dlraqu~nl: cf. above, p. 29, fn. 2. Dhahabt, Duwal: 1.75 (Hyderabad 1364-5), anno 154. Dhahabi, Mizdn: I,to2-4 (Lucknow 1301). Cf. above, nos. 21, 22, 25, 36, 44· 46, 73· 78. 95. 114, 118, 139. 140, 146-149· Dhahabi, Mushtabth: 14 De Jong (Letden 1864). Fthrist: lbn an-Nadim, Fthnst 111 13 Flugel (Letpztg t871-2); 161 18 (Cairo 1348). FirQzabadi: Qdmtas 1.95 (Cairo 1281). l;lamzah al-I~fahanl: Amthdl (Ms. lstanbul-Siileymaniye, Damat Ibrahim 943). Cf. above, nos. 6, 17, 25, 44• 57, 66, 95, 120, 122, 139. l;lariri: Maqdmdt, nos. 21 (al-Wabartyah) and 49 (as-Sdsdniyah). l;lu~ri. Jam': 13, 47. 54-6, 166 (Catro 1353). Cf. above, nos. 6, 17, 20, 44·46. 49. 51, 52, 57· s8. 66, 74· 95. n8, 141-144· l;lu~ri. Zahr: 1.158 f.; 3.42 (Catro 1305, in the margin of 'lqd). Cf. above, nos. 6, 17, 45, 49, 52, 58, 66, 141. lbn al-Athir: Kdmtl 5.289 (Cairo 1301-2), anno 154. Ibn Babah: Ra's mdl an-nadim (Ms. Istanbul, Nuru Osmaniye 3296). Cf. above, nos. 25, 74. 118, 139, 150, 151. Ibn l;lajar, Lisdn: 1.450-4 (Hyderabad 1329-31). Thts work contains the same Ash•ab stories as Dhahabl, Mtzdn, and, in addition, references to nos. 3, 7. 8, 19, 161. 4.125-7. containing the biography of •Ubaydah b. Ash•ab made up largely from excerpts of Agh. Cf. above, nos. 3-5. 63, 70, 71. 1) This btbliography contains only the works in which Ash•ab ts mentioned, together with the abbreviations used in the footnotes. Other sources quoted in this book are usually referred to in full. This explains why certam names sometimes have the article which is omitted in the case of abbreviated references.

140

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib: 7.147 (Hyderabad 1325-7). Cf. above, no. 149, p. 128, fn. J. Ibn I:Iamd(in: Tadhk~rah, eh. 5 near end (Ms. Istanbul-Suleymamye, RCls-el-kuttap 767, fol. 160); eh. 9 (Ms. Istanbul-Topkapusaray, Ahmet Ill 2948, part 3, fols. 100 and 159a-16ob), eh. 33 (Ms. lstanbulSuleymamye, Rets-el-kuttap no. no pagmatlon). Cf. above, nos. 18, 34, 39, 44• 46, 49, 66, 86, 95, IlO, 139, J42, 152. Ibn al-'lmad: Shadhardt adh-dhahab 1.236 (Catro 1350), anno 154. lbn al-Jawzi, ~urrdf. Akhbdr a~-;urrdf 31 f. (Damascus 1347). Cf. above, nos. 17, 22, 118, 13z. lbn Kathir· B~ddyah 10.111 f. (Cairo 1351-8), anno 154. Cf. above, nos. 15, 44· 46, 95. 118, 144· Ibn Qutaybah, Sh~'r. 307 De Goeje (Letden 1904). Cf. above, no. 79· lbn Qutaybc~.h, 'Uyun: 2.55,57 f., J.IJ2, 164, 192, 260 f., 4.84 (Cairo 1343-9/1925-30). Cf. above, nos. 27, 44• 116, 118-123. 131, 133, 135, 137. Ibn ar-Raqiq. Ibrahim b. ar-Raqiq al-Qayrawani (cf. GAL 1.155. St~ppl. 1.229, 252) IS referred to by Kutubi, Fawdt, as havmg quoted Ash'ab m h1s 'book'. lbn ar-Hiimi: Diwan refers to Ar;h'd.b, accordmg to H. Guest, Ltfe and Works oflbn er Rumi 132 (London 1944). The cdttlon of the begmmng of the Diwan (Catro 1335/1917) contams the "ersc m question on p. 360. The poet says that h1s Wl'>hes, though great, are not as tmmoderate as "Ash'ab's greedy des1res." <Jqd 1). lbn 'Abdrabbth, 'lqd 1.171, 319, 2.99, 268f., 271, 3.195, 197, 202, 226 f., 251, 261 f., 264, 347. (Catro 1305). Cf. above, nos. 6, 18, 27, 44· 49. 51, 57. 79. 8J, 84, 117-119, 126-137· 'lyaQ, Madartk: cf. above, p. 47. fn. 2. Jal:u~. Baydn: 2.265 (Catro 1J5I/I932). Cf. above, nos. 116 and li7. jaQ.tz, Bukhald>: 136, 342 (Ca1ro 1948); 216, 330 of the translation by Ch. Pellat (Betrut-Pans 1951). Cf. above, no. 27. Jawhari, $t/Ja(J: 1.67 (Biilaq 1292). al-Khatib al-BaghdMi, Ta!fil· 58 (Damascus 1346). Cf. above, no. 74· Kutubi, Fawat. 1.37-41, 533 (Catro 1951). Cf. above, nos. 10, 11, 17, 18, 25, 27, 44• 46, 49, 66, 68, 72, 74• 95, IOJ, 109, 117, 118, 120, 139, 140, 142, 146. 150, 151, 159· Ltsdn al-'Arab: 1.485; 7.279 f. (Biilaq 1300-8). Cf. above, no. 125. Mas'iidi, Muru7: 5·433 f., 476 f. (Pans I861-77). 2.171, 183 f. (Ca1ro 1346). Cf. above, no. 138. Maydani: Matma' al-amthdl 1.386 f. (Biilaq 1284), 2.50 Freytag (Bonn I8J8-4J).Cf.above,nos.6, 17, 18,25.44·46,57.66,74·95. 120,122,139. Mufa99al, Fakhtr: 85 Storey (Leiden 1915). Cf. above, no. 46. Mutarnzt: Shar/J Maqdmat al-I;larirt (Ms. New York Public L1brary, fol. 11 1). In h1s edttlon of the M aqdmdt, Stlvestre de Sacy added selections from the commentanes of Mutarnzi and Sharishi (Les Seances de Hann 287, Pans 1822). Cf. above, nos. 46, 66, 120, 122, 139, 143 (p. 125, fn. 3), 145. Nuwayri: Nthdyat al-arab 4.z5-36 (Catro 1343/1925). Cf. above, nos. 1-6, 11, 12, 18, 25, 35, 40, 42, 53, 55. 56, 69, 70, 72-74, So, 83, 89, 91, 92, 96, 105, 118, 146, 151. Nuzhat al-udaba>: cf. G. Flugel, m ZDMG 14.538; GAL, Suppl. 2.414.

1) The new Egyptian edition of the work was not available.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Qali: Amali 2.310 f.; 3.176, 189, 216 f. (Ca1ro 1344/1926). Cf. above, nos. 14, 25, 74· 112, 118, 121, 122. Qalqashandi: ~ub/J al-a'sha 1.450, 454 (Ca1ro 1331-38/1913-9). ar-Ragh1b al-I~fahani: Muf!a4arat al-udaba' 1.32, 395, 410, 2.65, 152 (untranslatable), cf. also 1.93, 382, 393; 2.160, 260 (Ca1ro 1287). Cf. above, nos. 17, 27, 29, 49, 50, 95, 96, 117, 123, 127, 152. ar-Raqiq: see lbn ar-Raqiq. Sharishi: Shar!J al-Maqamat 2.51 f. (Ca1ro 1306). Cf. above, nos. 6, 17, 44· 46. 57. 66, 95. 120, 122, 139. 145. 157· 158. Tabart: Annales 3.417 De GoeJe and others (Lmden 1879-1901), anno 158, m the b1ography of al-Man~ur. Cf. above, nos. 78 and 125. Taj al-'arus: 1.321. 4.83 (Bulaq 1307). Cf. above, no. 125. Ta'rikh Baghdad al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Ta'rikh Baghdad 7·37-44 (Ca1ro 1349/1931). Cf. above, nos. 14, 17, 21, 22, 25, 36, 44. 46, 52, 73. 78, 95. 114, 118, 125, 139. 140, 146-149· Ta'rikh Dlmashq: lbn 'Asak1r, Ta'rikh Dlmashq 3·75-So (Damascus 1329 ff.). Cf. above, nos. 14,15, 25, 36, 44• 46, 59, 73. 74• 78, 95, 105, 118, 139. 144, 147· 149. 153-156. Tha'ahbi, Thlmar: 118 f., 302 (Ca1ro 1326j1go8). Cf. above, nos. 6, 25, 44· 57· 95. 120, 139. 143. 145· YA.qut, Irshdd: 4.14; 7·99 Margohouth, E. ]. W. Glbb Memorlal Serzes 6 (London 1907-27); 9.227, 19.43 (Catro 1355-7). Cf. above, nos. 157 and 158. 2. REFERENCES TO ASH: VIII to be burnt up (angry) 55· ~:

VIII to seek a reward 116, fn.

J.

s;

122.

143

INDEXES

~):.,.:> ~:

_ ;·~~ water hole ( ?) 123, fn. 3·

c;

I~

to throw pebbles at someone 61, fn. 4·

~: ~set your own terms 113. Cf. 'Urwah b. l:bza.m, m Agh. 20.115, see Ibn Khaldtin, Muqaddzmah 1. 197 Quatremere; Ibn al-Jarral}., al-Waraqah 11 (Cauo 1953); Tabari 1. S29. Yaqftt, Irshdd 2.207/6.24 and 11.37·

..Jtl:>: &Jl.:> '-~

a.sJ.>

hts throat was m top condttlon (of a smger) S5,

fn. 1; 1oo,

, "',

~: ~

strong camels 37. fn.

1.

~:

VI to pretend to be a fool 12, fn. 4· cf. Ibn ar-Rtimi, Diwan 259 (Catro 1335/1917), of fate; a!?-!?afadt, Nakt al-hzmytJn 226 (Ca~ro 1329/ ~~~

1911); Ylqftt, Irshdd 6.137/I6.2o9 and 7.225/19.245; ,Ji..::>l fool6, fn. 3; 7. fn. 1. ..,._aj L~ j.T to stuff oneself (eating) So, fn. 1; V OS:~ to take somethmg upon oneself for someone else 53·

J.,..:>:

...b_,.:>: 11 I:J~~

811)_,

~~ to budd walls around oneself, to keep

oneself secluded and unapproachable 71.

_r.>:

)4> waiter, cook (someone who makes mar!irah) 50, fn. r. 0

~: ~·

pi.

I!

~I

puddmg 95, fn. 5. cf. also az-Zamakhsharl,

Kashshd/I. 207 (Bftlaq 13IS-9). ~:

V to wear a seal rmg 45· __ ,

w

oJf>!

~:.:.~:.ifj>

.Jj>:

'iljt"

;/>:

w

~JO

ftctlonal stories 7, fn. 1; 'i.i~ (? = l'l..;,s')6, fn.J .

charlatans(?) 6, fn. 3· ...

L~~J~

craftsman who makes trays (baskets, etc.) of bamboo

62, fn. 3· J-,>: I to 'shoot off' (in a competition) 3S, fn. 1. ,J:>: 11 to shorten one's prayer 116, fn. 2.

,J.l.:>: ;-iil d;Jf ~ of a disagreeable countenance 66.

_,.l>: ~ state of being 'alone', that is, in restful and entertaining company S3, fn. 1.

j..:>: ~ fringes, nap (of a qa!ifah) 117, fn. 7·

144

INDEXES

, '-"".s:....>:

i.J~...>

plea..,,mtrH''> 6, fn. 3, 12, fn

I.

e-'

I ~ ~~' to h.tncl '>Offit'Oll(' OVt'T (.t., .tn .tpprl'ntu..e) to (member'! of .t profe'>'>ron, u,tft) 4'i

j...>: s~b m.trn.t~-:e brokl'r, proc:.nn·r 8, fn 'i·

,

.:_-rJu~...>

_,...> (Pcr'>t.tn) l'l~._).

t')~J...I

t"'o om·., (111 .t thee g.tmc·) C)8, fn .z.

hOU'>l'hOJcl, ffiCll)

(for c;tonng) ~ •. -/

'-""l).

-

~)

'j6,

to t,tkc away

C)'j.

fuol7,fn

I,.~..s:.~..!>,

fooll'.,hiH'>'>6,ln.3,I.Z,fn 4·

./

(,).A),...! ~ 1 ) l' 1'-Al 't1

~~ tlw ndt•r.,• "'ong 4 'j, fn. 5·

,..J):

V to t roon, to c;mg (colloqm.tl c·xpre'>'>J<m) 83.

f"j

._,~I...>

~

yo

llntt'c; of J>.tvHI

IO'j,

fn 4.

II 1.

....Ju..,w · 11 ~ to c:.ompt'tc for '>Ometlung 38, fn.

1

L.:a-

I to work (ac; a hou'>l' boy) 40, fn.

..bw,

l to lose• pn '>tl!-:1' 93, l V to c.m'> I.Z, fn. 4·

),....

V to ..call' .t w .tll

~<J.-:

11

~:

...l

~<J.-

.._,~

to

ho.~.vc

I

o I.

,m .tpp.tntmn 8o.

mortmam foundation (waqf) 68, fn. J, 71, 84.

f

~: ~'j

U'>cd for 'pl'm'>' ()o.

I:!L.Jde 70

).A.!: )~~ .meulotc!. 6, fn. ~-

~: ......~ a '>tyll' of !.111~lllg 4 'j, fn 5, 78. _,,.aJ:

~

skmny httll lmd (m 1\ll'dllll''>e

tl'... tgc)

93 .

...blu: ll ~to g1ve .m honor.mum (..6aJ) to 'iOJnmger) 84.

I to bt• worn out (g.trment) 48 ~,.

V .:--; ~.~ to get '>Oilll ''here (m onl'''> tr.tdl• 1 45

'

l'l

~

.I

...>J' l"i a '>peue'> of hug'> 4..1, fn. 7·

~': '-''-...;1 ~~ movmg of th(' door 119

..M_,: 1 to be worn out (g.trml•nt) 48, ha'i ~...MJ-.!\,J

~...\..o_,.l

r.tJ.:'> 48,

117

(\\here the te:ll.t

[ ~J or ~~\..o_,..)

(Per'>lan):

~~...>

or l'll.,).., two one'i (m .l 15hah (see Mul}.ammad b. 1shah) lbn Banah 1 1 Ibn J am1 c 36 Ibn