A Literary History of the Arabs Part 27

[Sidenote: Ma'mun's heresies.]

[Sidenote: Rise of independent dynasties.]

[Sidenote: Turkish mercenaries introduced.]

[Sidenote: Decline of the Caliphate.]

The new Caliph was anything but orthodox. He favoured the Shi'ite party to such an extent that he even nominated the 'Alid, 'Ali b. Musa b.

Ja'far al-Ri?a, as heir-apparent--a step which alienated the members of his own family and led to his being temporarily deposed. He also adopted the opinions of the Mu'tazilite sect and established an Inquisition to enforce them. Hence the Sunnite historian, Abu 'l-Ma?asin, enumerates three princ.i.p.al heresies of which Ma'mun was guilty: (1) His wearing of the Green (_labsu 'l-Khu?ra_)[495] and courting the 'Alids and repulsing the 'Abbasids; (2) his affirming that the Koran was created (_al-qawl bi-Khalqi 'l-Qur'an_); and (3) his legalisation of the _mut'a_, a loose form of marriage prevailing amongst the Shi'ites.[496] We shall see in due course how keenly and with what fruitful results Ma'mun interested himself in literature and science.

Nevertheless, it cannot escape our attention that in this splendid reign there appear ominous signs of political decay. In 822 A.D. ?ahir, one of Ma'mun's generals, who had been appointed governor of Khurasan, omitted the customary mention of the Caliph's name from the Friday sermon (_khu?ba_), thus founding the ?ahirid dynasty, which, though professing allegiance to the Caliphs, was practically independent. ?ahir was only the first of a long series of ambitious governors and bold adventurers who profited by the weakening authority of the Caliphs to carve out kingdoms for themselves. Moreover, the Moslems of 'Iraq had lost their old warlike spirit: they were fine scholars and merchants, but poor soldiers. So it came about that Ma'mun's successor, the Caliph Mu'ta?im (833-842 A.D.), took the fatal step of surrounding himself with a Praetorian Guard chiefly composed of Turkish recruits from Transoxania. At the same time he removed his court from Baghdad sixty miles further up the Tigris to Samarra, which suddenly grew into a superb city of palaces and barracks--an Oriental Versailles.[497] Here we may close our brief review of the first and flourishing period of the 'Abbasid Caliphate.

During the next four centuries the Caliphs come and go faster than ever, but for the most part their authority is precarious, if not purely nominal. Meanwhile, in the provinces of the Empire petty dynasties arise, only to eke out an obscure and troubled existence, or powerful states are formed, which carry on the traditions of Mu?ammadan culture, it may be through many generations, and in some measure restore the blessings of peace and settled government to an age surfeited with anarchy and bloodshed. Of these provincial empires we have now princ.i.p.ally to speak, confining our view, for the most part, to the political outlines, and reserving the literary and religious aspects of the period for fuller consideration elsewhere.

[Sidenote: The Second 'Abbasid Period (847-1258 A.D.).]

The reigns of Mutawakkil (847-861 A.D.) and his immediate successors exhibit all the well-known features of Praetorian rule. Enormous sums were lavished on the Turkish soldiery, who elected and deposed the Caliph just as they pleased, and enforced their insatiable demands by mutiny and a.s.sa.s.sination. For a short time (869-907 A.D.) matters improved under the able and energetic Muhtadi and the four Caliphs who followed him; but the Turks soon regained the upper hand. From this date every vestige of real power is centred in the Generalissimo (_Amiru 'l-Umara_) who stands at the head of the army, while the once omnipotent Caliph must needs be satisfied with the empty honour of having his name stamped on the coinage and celebrated in the public prayers. The terrorism of the Turkish bodyguard was broken by the Buwayhids, a Persian dynasty, who ruled in Baghdad from 945 to 1055 A.D. Then the Seljuq supremacy began with ?ughril Beg's entry into the capital and lasted a full century until the death of Sanjar (1157 A.D.). The Mongols who captured Baghdad in 1258 A.D. brought the pitiable farce of the Caliphate to an end.

[Sidenote: Dynasties of the early 'Abbasid Age.]

"The empire of the Caliphs at its widest," as Stanley Lane-Poole observes in his excellent account of the Mu?ammadan dynasties, "extended from the Atlantic to the Indus, and from the Caspian to the cataracts of the Nile. So vast a dominion could not long be held together. The first step towards its disintegration began in Spain, where 'Abdu 'l-Ra?man, a member of the suppressed Umayyad family, was acknowledged as an independent sovereign in A.D. 755, and the 'Abbasid Caliphate was renounced for ever. Thirty years later Idris, a great-grandson of the Caliph 'Ali, and therefore equally at variance with 'Abbasids and Umayyads, founded an 'Alid dynasty in Morocco. The rest of the North African coast was practically lost to the Caliphate when the Aghlabid governor established his authority at Qayrawan in A.D. 800."

[Sidenote: Dynasties of the Second Period. 872 A.D.]

[Sidenote: The Samanids (874-999 A.D.).]

Amongst the innumerable kingdoms which supplanted the decaying Caliphate only a few of the most important can be singled out for special notice on account of their literary or religious interest.[498] To begin with Persia: in Khurasan, which was then held by the ?ahirids, fell into the hands of Ya'qub b. Layth the Coppersmith (_al-?affar_), founder of the ?affarids, who for thirty years stretched their sway over a great part of Persia, until they were dispossessed by the Samanids. The latter dynasty had the seat of its power in Transoxania, but during the first half of the tenth century practically the whole of Persia submitted to the authority of Isma'il and his famous successors, Na?r II and Nu? I. Not only did these princes warmly encourage and foster the development, which had already begun, of a national literature in the Persian language--it is enough to recall here the names of Rudagi, the blind minstrel and poet; Daqiqi, whose fragment of a Persian Epic was afterwards incorporated by Firdawsi in his _Shahnama_; and Bal'ami, the Vizier of Man?ur I, who composed an abridgment of ?abari's great history, which is one of the oldest prose works in Persian that have come down to us--but they extended the same favour to poets and men of learning who (though, for the most part, of Persian extraction) preferred to use the Arabic language. Thus the celebrated Rhazes (Abu Bakr al-Razi) dedicated to the Samanid prince Abu ?ali? Man?ur b. Ishaq a treatise on medicine, which he ent.i.tled _al-Kitab al-Man?uri_ (the Book of Man?ur) in honour of his patron. The great physician and philosopher, Abu 'Ali b. Sina (Avicenna) relates that, having been summoned to Bukhara by King Nu?, the second of that name (976-997 A.D.), he obtained permission to visit the royal library.

"I found there," he says, "many rooms filled with books which were arranged in cases row upon row. One room was allotted to works on Arabic philology and poetry; another to jurisprudence, and so forth, the books on each particular science having a room to themselves. I inspected the catalogue of ancient Greek authors and looked for the books which I required: I saw in this collection books of which few people have heard even the names, and which I myself have never seen either before or since."[499]

[Sidenote: The Buwayhids (932-1055 A.D.).]

The power of the Samanids quickly reached its zenith, and about the middle of the tenth century they were confined to Khurasan and Transoxania, while in Western Persia their place was taken by the Buwayhids. Abu Shuja' Buwayh, a chieftain of Daylam, the mountainous province lying along the southern sh.o.r.es of the Caspian Sea, was one of those soldiers of fortune whom we meet with so frequently in the history of this period. His three sons, 'Ali, A?mad, and ?asan, embarked on the same adventurous career with such energy and success, that in the course of thirteen years they not only subdued the provinces of Fars and Khuzistan, but in 945 A.D. entered Baghdad at the head of their Daylamite troops and a.s.sumed the supreme command, receiving from the Caliph Mustakfi the honorary t.i.tles of 'Imadu 'l-Dawla, Mu'izzu 'l-Dawla, and Ruknu 'l-Dawla. Among the princes of this House, who reigned over Persia and 'Iraq during the next hundred years, the most eminent was 'A?udu 'l-Dawla, of whom it is said by Ibn Khallikan that none of the Buwayhids, notwithstanding their great power and authority, possessed so extensive an empire and held sway over so many kings and kingdoms as he. The chief poets of the day, including Mutanabbi, visited his court at Shiraz and celebrated his praises in magnificent odes. He also built a great hospital in Baghdad, the Bimaristan al-'A?udi, which was long famous as a school of medicine. The Viziers of the Buwayhid family contributed in a quite unusual degree to its literary renown. Ibnu 'l-'Amid, the Vizier of Ruknu 'l-Dawla, surpa.s.sed in philology and epistolary composition all his contemporaries; hence he was called 'the second Ja?i?,' and it was a common saying that "the art of letter-writing began with 'Abdu 'l-?amid and ended with Ibnu 'l-'Amid."[500] His friend, the ?a?ib Isma'il b. 'Abbad, Vizier to Mu'ayyidu 'l-Dawla and Fakhru 'l-Dawla, was a distinguished savant, whose learning was only eclipsed by the liberality of his patronage. In the latter respect Sabur b. Ardashir, the prime minister of Abu Na?r Baha'u 'l-Dawla, vied with the ill.u.s.trious ?a?ib.

He had so many encomiasts that Tha'alibi devotes to them a whole chapter of the _Yatima_. The Academy which he founded at Baghdad, in the Karkh quarter, and generously endowed, was a favourite haunt of literary men, and its members seem to have enjoyed pretty much the same privileges as belong to the Fellows of an Oxford or Cambridge College.[501]

Like most of their countrymen, the Buwayhids were Shi'ites in religion.

We read in the Annals of Abu 'l-Ma?asin under the year 341 A.H. = 952 A.D.:--

[Sidenote: Zeal of the Buwayhids for Shi'ite principles.]

"In this year the Vizier al-Muhallabi arrested some persons who held the doctrine of metempsychosis (_tanasukh_). Among them were a youth who declared that the spirit of 'Ali b. Abi ?alib had pa.s.sed into his body, and a woman who claimed that the spirit of Fa?ima was dwelling in her; while another man pretended to be Gabriel. On being flogged, they excused themselves by alleging their relationship to the Family of the Prophet, whereupon Mu'izzu 'l-Dawla ordered them to be set free. This he did because of his attachment to Shi'ism. It is well known," says the author in conclusion, "that the Buwayhids were Shi'ites and Rafi?ites."[502]

[Sidenote: The Ghaznevids (976-1186 A.D.).]

Three dynasties contemporary with the Buwayhids have still to be mentioned: the Ghaznevids in Afghanistan, the ?amdanids in Syria, and the Fa?imids in Egypt. Sabuktagin, the founder of the first-named dynasty, was a Turkish slave. His son, Ma?mud, who succeeded to the throne of Ghazna in 998 A.D., made short work of the already tottering Samanids, and then sweeping far and wide over Northern India, began a series of conquests which, before his death in 1030 A.D., reached from Lah.o.r.e to Samarcand and I?fahan. Although the Persian and Transoxanian provinces of his huge empire were soon torn away by the Seljuqs, Ma?mud's invasion of India, which was undertaken with the object of winning that country for Islam, permanently established Mu?ammadan influence, at any rate in the Panjab. As regards their religious views, the Turkish Ghaznevids stand in sharp contrast with the Persian houses of Saman and Buwayh. It has been well said that the true genius of the Turks lies in action, not in speculation. When Islam came across their path, they saw that it was a simple and practical creed such as the soldier requires; so they accepted it without further parley. The Turks have always remained loyal to Islam, the Islam of Abu Bakr and 'Umar, which is a very different thing from the Islam of Shi'ite Persia. Ma?mud proved his orthodoxy by banishing the Mu'tazilites of Rayy and burning their books together with the philosophical and astronomical works that fell into his hands; but on the same occasion he carried off a hundred camel-loads of presumably harmless literature to his capital. That he had no deep enthusiasm for letters is shown, for example, by his shabby treatment of the poet Firdawsi. Nevertheless, he ardently desired the glory and prestige accruing to a sovereign whose court formed the rallying-point of all that was best in the literary and scientific culture of the day, and such was Ghazna in the eleventh century. Besides the brilliant group of Persian poets, with Firdawsi at their head, we may mention among the Arabic-writing authors who flourished under this dynasty the historians al-'Utbi and al-Biruni.

[Sidenote: The ?amdanids (929-1003 A.D.).]

While the Eastern Empire of Islam was pa.s.sing into the hands of Persians and Turks, we find the Arabs still holding their own in Syria and Mesopotamia down to the end of the tenth century. These Arab and generally nomadic dynasties were seldom of much account. The ?amdanids of Aleppo alone deserve to be noticed here, and that chiefly for the sake of the peerless Sayfu 'l-Dawla, a worthy descendant of the tribe of Taghlib, which in the days of heathendom produced the poet-warrior, 'Amr b. Kulthum. 'Abdullah b. ?amdan was appointed governor of Mosul and its dependencies by the Caliph Muktafi in 905 A.D., and in 942 his sons ?asan and 'Ali received the complimentary t.i.tles of Na?iru 'l-Dawla (Defender of the State) and Sayfu 'l-Dawla (Sword of the State). Two years later Sayfu 'l-Dawla captured Aleppo and brought the whole of Northern Syria under his dominion. During a reign of twenty-three years he was continuously engaged in harrying the Byzantines on the frontiers of Asia Minor, but although he gained some glorious victories, which his laureate Mutanabbi has immortalised, the fortune of war went in the long run steadily against him, and his successors were unable to preserve their little kingdom from being crushed between the Byzantines in the north and the Fa?timids in the south. The ?amdanids have an especial claim on our sympathy, because they revived for a time the fast-decaying and already almost broken spirit of Arabian nationalism. It is this spirit that speaks with a powerful voice in Mutanabbi and declares itself, for example, in such verses as these:--[503]

"Men from their kings alone their worth derive, But Arabs ruled by aliens cannot thrive: Boors without culture, without n.o.ble fame, Who know not loyalty and honour's name.

Go where thou wilt, thou seest in every land Folk driven like cattle by a servile band."

[Sidenote: The circle of Sayfu 'l-Dawla.]

The reputation which Sayfu 'l-Dawla's martial exploits and his repeated triumphs over the enemies of Islam richly earned for him in the eyes of his contemporaries was enhanced by the conspicuous energy and munificence with which he cultivated the arts of peace. Considering the brevity of his reign and the relatively small extent of his resources, we may well be astonished to contemplate the unique a.s.semblage of literary talent then mustered in Aleppo. There was, first of all, Mutanabbi, in the opinion of his countrymen the greatest of Moslem poets; there was Sayfu 'l-Dawla's cousin, the chivalrous Abu Firas, whose war-songs are relieved by many a touch of tender and true feeling; there was Abu 'l-Faraj of I?fahan, who on presenting to Sayfu 'l-Dawla his _Kitabu 'l-Aghani_, one of the most celebrated and important works in all Arabic literature, received one thousand pieces of gold accompanied with an expression of regret that the prince was obliged to remunerate him so inadequately; there was also the great philosopher, Abu Na?r al-Farabi, whose modest wants were satisfied by a daily pension of four dirhems (about two shillings) from the public treasury. Surely this is a record not easily surpa.s.sed even in the heyday of 'Abbasid patronage. As for the writers of less note whom Sayfu 'l-Dawla attracted to Aleppo, their name is legion. s.p.a.ce must be found for the poets Sari al-Raffa, Abu 'l-'Abbas al-Nami, and Abu 'l-Faraj al-Babbagha for the preacher (_kha?ib_) Ibn Nubata, who would often rouse the enthusiasm of his audience while he urged the duty of zealously prosecuting the Holy War against Christian Byzantium; and for the philologist Ibn Khalawayh, whose lectures were attended by students from all parts of the Mu?ammadan world. The literary renaissance which began at this time in Syria was still making its influence felt when Tha'alibi wrote his _Yatima_, about thirty years after the death of Sayfu 'l-Dawla, and it produced in Abu 'l-'Ala al-Ma'arri (born 973 A.D.) an original and highly interesting personality, to whom we shall return on another occasion.

[Sidenote: The Fa?imids (909-1171 A.D.).]

[Sidenote: The Isma'ilite propaganda.]

The dynasties. .h.i.therto described were political in their origin, having generally been founded by ambitious governors or va.s.sals. These upstarts made no pretensions to the nominal authority, which they left in the hands of the Caliph even while they forced him at the sword's point to recognise their political independence. The Samanids and Buwayhids, Shi'ites as they were, paid the same homage to the Caliph in Baghdad as did the Sunnite Ghaznevids. But in the beginning of the tenth century there arose in Africa a great Shi'ite power, that of the Fa?imids, who took for themselves the t.i.tle and prerogatives of the Caliphate, which they a.s.serted to be theirs by right Divine. This event was only the climax of a deep-laid and skilfully organised plot--one of the most extraordinary in all history. It had been put in train half a century earlier by a certain 'Abdullah the son of Maymun, a Persian oculist (_qadda?_) belonging to A?waz. Filled with a fierce hatred of the Arabs and with a freethinker's contempt for Islam, 'Abdullah b. Maymun conceived the idea of a vast secret society which should be all things to all men, and which, by playing on the strongest pa.s.sions and tempting the inmost weaknesses of human nature, should unite malcontents of every description in a conspiracy to overthrow the existing _regime_. Modern readers may find a parallel for this romantic project in the pages of Dumas, although the Aramis of _Twenty Years After_ is a simpleton beside 'Abdullah. He saw that the movement, in order to succeed, must be started on a religious basis, and he therefore identified himself with an obscure Shi'ite sect, the Isma'ilis, who were so called because they regarded Mu?ammad, son of Isma'il, son of Ja'far al-?adiq, as the Seventh Imam. Under 'Abdullah the Isma'ilis developed their mystical and antinomian doctrines, of which an excellent account has been given by Professor Browne in the first volume of his _Literary History of Persia_ (p. 405 sqq.). Here we can only refer to the ingenious and fatally insidious methods which he devised for gaining proselytes on a gigantic scale, and with such amazing success that from this time until the Mongol invasion--a period of almost four centuries--the Isma'ilites (Fa?imids, Carmathians, and a.s.sa.s.sins) either ruled or ravaged a great part of the Mu?ammadan Empire. It is unnecessary to discuss the question whether 'Abdullah b. Maymun was, as Professor Browne thinks, primarily a religious enthusiast, or whether, according to the view commonly held, his real motives were patriotism and personal ambition.

The history of Islam shows clearly enough that the revolutionist is nearly always disguised as a religious leader, while, on the other hand, every founder of a militant sect is potentially the head of a state.

'Abdullah may have been a fanatic first and a politician afterwards; more probably he was both at once from the beginning. His plan of operations was briefly as follows:--

The _da'i_ or missionary charged with the task of gaining adherents for the Hidden Imam (see p. 216 seq.), in whose name allegiance was demanded, would settle in some place, representing himself to be a merchant, ?ufi, or the like. By renouncing worldly pleasures, making a show of strict piety, and performing apparent miracles, it was easy for him to pa.s.s as a saint with the common folk. As soon as he was a.s.sured of his neighbours' confidence and respect, he began to raise doubts in their minds. He would suggest difficult problems of theology or dwell on the mysterious significance of certain pa.s.sages of the Koran. May there not be (he would ask) in religion itself a deeper meaning than appears on the surface? Then, having excited the curiosity of his hearers, he suddenly breaks off. When pressed to continue his explanation, he declares that such mysteries cannot be communicated save to those who take a binding oath of secrecy and obedience and consent to pay a fixed sum of money in token of their good faith. If these conditions were accepted, the neophyte entered upon the second of the nine degrees of initiation.

He was taught that mere observance of the laws of Islam is not pleasing to G.o.d, unless the true doctrine be received through the Imams who have it in keeping. These Imams (as he next learned) are seven in number, beginning with 'Ali; the seventh and last is Mu?ammad, son of Isma'il. On reaching the fourth degree he definitely ceased to be a Moslem, for here he was taught the Isma'ilite system of theology in which Mu?ammad b. Isma'il supersedes the founder of Islam as the greatest and last of all the Prophets. Comparatively few initiates advanced beyond this grade to a point where every form of positive religion was allegorised away, and only philosophy was left. "It is clear what a tremendous weapon, or rather machine, was thus created. Each man was given the amount of light which he could bear and which was suited to his prejudices, and he was made to believe that the end of the whole work would be the attaining of what he regarded as most desirable."[504] Moreover, the Imam Mu?ammad b. Isma'il having disappeared long ago, the veneration which sought a visible object was naturally transferred to his successor and representative on earth, viz., 'Abdullah b.

Maymun, who filled the same office in relation to him as Aaron to Moses and 'Ali to Mu?ammad.

About the middle of the ninth century the state of the Moslem Empire was worse, if possible, than it had been in the latter days of Umayyad rule.

The peasantry of 'Iraq were impoverished by the desolation into which that flourishing province was beginning to fall in consequence of the frequent and prolonged civil wars. In 869 A.D. the negro slaves (_Zanj_) employed in the saltpetre industry, for which Ba?ra was famous, took up arms at the call of an 'Alid Messiah, and during fourteen years carried fire and sword through Khuzistan and the adjacent territory. We can imagine that all this misery and discontent was a G.o.dsend to the Isma'ilites. The old cry, "A deliverer of the Prophet's House," which served the 'Abbasids so well against the Umayyads, was now raised with no less effect against the 'Abbasids themselves.

[Sidenote: The Fa?imid dynasty founded by the Mahdi 'Ubaydu'llah (909 A.D.).]

'Abdullah b. Maymun died in 875 A.D., but the agitation went on, and rapidly gathered force. One of the leading spirits was ?amdan Qarma?, who gave his name to the Carmathian branch of the Isma'ilis.

These Carmathians (_Qarami?a_, sing. _Qirmi?i_) spread over Southern Persia and Yemen, and in the tenth century they threatened Baghdad, repeatedly waylaid the pilgrim-caravans, sacked Mecca and bore away the Black Stone as a trophy; in short, established a veritable reign of terror. We must return, however, to the main Isma'ilite faction headed by the descendants of 'Abdullah b. Maymun. Their emissaries discovered a promising field of work in North Africa among the credulous and fanatical Berbers. When all was ripe, Sa'id b. ?usayn, the grandson of 'Abdullah b. Maymun, left Salamya in Syria, the centre from which the wires had hitherto been pulled, and crossing over to Africa appeared as the long-expected Mahdi under the name of 'Ubaydu'llah. He gave himself out to be a great-grandson of the Imam Mu?ammad b.

Isma'il and therefore in the direct line of descent from 'Ali b. Abi ?alib and Fa?ima the daughter of the Prophet. We need not stop to discuss this highly questionable genealogy from which the Fa?imid dynasty derives its name. In 910 A.D. 'Ubaydu'llah entered Raqqada in triumph and a.s.sumed the t.i.tle of Commander of the Faithful. Tunis, where the Aghlabites had ruled since 800 A.D., was the cradle of Fa?imid power, and here they built their capital, Mahdiyya, near the ancient Thapsus. Gradually advancing eastward, they conquered Egypt and Syria as far as Damascus (969-970 A.D.). At this time the seat of government was removed to the newly-founded city of Cairo (_al-Qahira_), which remained for two centuries the metropolis of the Fa?imid Empire.[505]

[Sidenote: The Ayyubids (1171-1250 A.D.).]

The Shi'ite Anti-Caliphs maintained themselves in Egypt until 1171 A.D., when the famous Saladin (?ala?u 'l-Din b. Ayyub) took possession of that country and restored the Sunnite faith. He soon added Syria to his dominions, and "the fall of Jerusalem (in 1187) roused Europe to undertake the Third Crusade." The Ayyubids were strictly orthodox, as behoved the champions of Islam against Christianity. They built and endowed many theological colleges. The ?ufi pantheist, Shihabu 'l-Din Ya?ya al-Suhrawardi, was executed at Aleppo by order of Saladin's son, Malik al-?ahir, in 1191 A.D.

[Sidenote: The Seljuqs (1037-1300 A.D.).]

The two centuries preceding the extinction of the 'Abbasid Caliphate by the Mongols witnessed the rise and decline of the Seljuq Turks, who "once more re-united Mu?ammadan Asia from the western frontier of Afghanistan to the Mediterranean under one sovereign." Seljuq b. Tuqaq was a Turcoman chief. Entering Transoxania, he settled near Bukhara and went over with his whole people to Islam. His descendants, ?ughril Beg and Chagar Beg, invaded Khurasan, annexed the western provinces of the Ghaznevid Empire, and finally absorbed the remaining dominions of the Buwayhids. Baghdad was occupied by ?ughril Beg in 1055 A.D. It has been said that the Seljuqs contributed almost nothing to culture, but this perhaps needs some qualification. Although Alp Arslan, who succeeded ?ughril, and his son Malik Shah devoted their energies in the first place to military affairs, the latter at least was an accomplished and enlightened monarch. "He exerted himself to spread the benefits of civilisation: he dug numerous ca.n.a.ls, walled a great number of cities, built bridges, and constructed _riba?s_ in the desert places."[506] He was deeply interested in astronomy, and scientific as well as theological studies received his patronage. Any shortcomings of Alp Arslan and Malik Shah in this respect were amply repaired by their famous minister, ?asan b. 'Ali, the Ni?amu 'l-Mulk or 'Constable of the Empire,' to give him the t.i.tle which he has made his own. Like so many great Viziers, he was a Persian, and his achievements must not detain us here, but it may be mentioned that he founded in Baghdad and Naysabur the two celebrated academies which were called in his honour al-Ni?amiyya.

[Sidenote: Arabia and Spain.]

We have now taken a general, though perforce an extremely curtailed and disconnected, view of the political conditions which existed during the 'Abbasid period in most parts of the Mu?ammadan Empire except Arabia and Spain. The motherland of Islam had long sunk to the level of a minor province: leaving the Holy Cities out of consideration, one might compare its inglorious destiny under the Caliphate to that of Macedonia in the empire which Alexander bequeathed to his successors, the Ptolemies and Seleucids. As regards the political history of Spain a few words will conveniently be said in a subsequent chapter, where the literature produced by Spanish Moslems will demand our attention. In the meantime we shall pa.s.s on to the characteristic literary developments of this period, which correspond more or less closely to the historical outlines.

The first thing that strikes the student of mediaeval Arabic literature is the fact that a very large proportion of the leading writers are non-Arabs, or at best semi-Arabs, men whose fathers or mothers were of foreign, and especially Persian, race. They wrote in Arabic, because down to about 1000 A.D. that language was the sole medium of literary expression in the Mu?ammadan world, a monopoly which it retained in scientific compositions until the Mongol Invasion of the thirteenth century. I have already referred to the question whether such men as Bashshar b. Burd, Abu Nuwas, Ibn Qutayba, ?abari, Ghazali, and hundreds of others should be included in a literary history of the Arabs, and have given reasons, which I need not repeat in this place, for considering their admission to be not only desirable but fully justified on logical grounds.[507] The absurdity of treating them as Persians--and there is no alternative, if they are not to be reckoned as Arabs--appears to me self-evident.

"It is strange," says Ibn Khaldun, "that most of the learned among the Moslems who have excelled in the religious or intellectual sciences are non-Arabs (_'Ajam_) with rare exceptions; and even those savants who claimed Arabian descent spoke a foreign language, grew up in foreign lands, and studied under foreign masters, notwithstanding that the community to which they belonged was Arabian and the author of its religion an Arab." The historian proceeds to explain the cause of this singular circ.u.mstance in an interesting pa.s.sage which may be summarised as follows:--

[Sidenote: Ibn Khaldun's explanation of the fact that learning was chiefly cultivated by the Persian Moslems.]

The first Moslems were entirely ignorant of art and science, all their attention being devoted to the ordinances of the Koran, which they "carried in their b.r.e.a.s.t.s," and to the practice (_sunna_) of the Prophet. At that time the Arabs knew nothing of the way by which learning is taught, of the art of composing books, and of the means whereby knowledge is enregistered. Those, however, who could repeat the Koran and relate the Traditions of Mu?ammad were called Readers (_qurra_). This oral transmission continued until the reign of Harun al-Rashid, when the need of securing the Traditions against corruption or of preventing their total loss caused them to be set down in writing; and in order to distinguish the genuine Traditions from the spurious, every _isnad_ (chain of witnesses) was carefully scrutinised. Meanwhile the purity of the Arabic tongue had gradually become impaired: hence arose the science of grammar; and the rapid development of Law and Divinity brought it about that other sciences, _e.g._, logic and dialectic, were professionally cultivated in the great cities of the Mu?ammadan Empire. The inhabitants of these cities were chiefly Persians, freedmen and tradesmen, who had been long accustomed to the arts of civilisation.

Accordingly the most eminent of the early grammarians, traditionists, and scholastic theologians, as well as of those learned in the principles of Law and in the interpretation of the Koran, were Persians by race or education, and the saying of the Prophet was verified--"_If Knowledge were attached to the ends of the sky, some amongst the Persians would have reached it._" Amidst all this intellectual activity the Arabs, who had recently emerged from a nomadic life, found the exercise of military and administrative command too engrossing to give them leisure for literary avocations which have always been disdained by a ruling caste. They left such studies to the Persians and the mixed race (_al-muwalladun_), which sprang from intermarriage of the conquerors with the conquered. They did not entirely look down upon the men of learning but recognised their services--since after all it was Islam and the sciences connected with Islam that profited thereby.[508]