Arabian Gulf. See RED SEA.
Arabian Language and Literature.
Regarding the oldest literary culture of the Arabians, we possess but slight information. As far back as Solomon's time, the queen of Sheba (probably Arabia Felix) was noted for her skill in enigmas. The nomadic tribes, living under the patriarchal rule of their sheikhs, possessed everything that was favourable to the growth of a simple and natural poetry. They had quick and vivid feelings, and a rich, glowing fancy, which, operating upon the perils, the hardships, and strange confederate life they led in those barren sand-deserts, and among naked rocks, could hardly fail to call forth a wild and vigorous minstrelsy. Before the time of Mohammed, the Arabians had celebrated poets who sang the feuds of tribes, and the praises of heroes and fair women. During the great fairs at Mecca and Okádh, poetic contests were held before the people as at the Grecian games; and the poems to which the prize was awarded were re-written in golden characters, and suspended in or on the Káaba at Mecca, and are therefore termed Moa'lakát, 'suspended.' They are remarkable for their pathos, soaring conceptions, richness of imagery and phraseology, free and unconstrained spirit, and the glow of their love and hate. Among the famous poets of this early period are Nábegha and others, whose works were translated and published by De Sacy in his Chrestomathie Arabe, and Kaab-ben-Zohair, who lived to celebrate the praises of the prophet Mohammed.
But Arabian literature began a new career with Mohammed, though his Korán contains not one precept favourable to literature or science. During the first eighty years of their conquests, when they had extended their dominion from Egypt to India, and from Lisbon to Samarand, nothing can be said of their culture and refinement. A fanatical desire of conquest prevailed. Gradually, however, the taste for elegant pleasures arose during the repose that followed conquest, and the conquerors served themselves heirs to the civilisation that was perishing around them. With the Abbaside califs, literature, science, and art arose (750 A.D.); when the califate fell (1258), they entered on their decline. They were generously fostered under the splendid sway, first of Almansor (754-75), and afterwards of the celebrated Haroun Al-Raschid (Harún Al-Rashíd, 786-808). Learned men were invited to their courts from many countries, and remunerated for their labours with princely munificence; the works of the best Greek, Syriac, and old Persian writers were translated into Arabic, and spread abroad in numerous copies. The Calif Al-Mamún, who reigned from 813 to 833, offered to the Greek emperor five tons of gold and a perpetual treaty of peace, on condition that the philosopher Leo should be allowed for a time to give him instruction. Under the sway of the same Al-Mamún, excellent schools were founded in Bagdad, Basra, Bokhara, and Kufa; while large libraries were collected at Alexandria, Bagdad, and Cairo. In Spain, the high school of Cordova rivalled the literary fame of Bagdad, and generally, in the 10th century, the Arabs appeared everywhere as the preservers and distributors of knowledge. For this period of Arab glory corresponds exactly to that of Europe's deepest darkness, when Italy had no philosopher but the French pope, Sylvester II. (died 1003), whose learning, obtained from the Arabs of Cordova, earned him the name of necromancer. Pupils from France and other European countries then began to repair to Spain in great numbers, to study mathematics and medicine under the Arabs. There were fourteen academies, with many preparatory and upper schools in Spain, and five very considerable public libraries. When 300 volumes were a great library for a rich monastery, the library of the Calif Hakem II. of Spain (died 977) contained, it is said, more than 600,000 volumes. This state of culture, when compared with that prevalent before Mohammed, shows a rapidity of progress in knowledge almost as remarkable as the career of Arabian conquest.
The Arabs despised the languages of Greece and Rome, abhorred their poets for their heathenism, and disliked their temperate dignity of style; but in science the Arabs were willing learners, and rendered important services. Arabic words still employed in science—such as algebra, alcohol, azimuth, zenith, nadir, with many names of stars, &c.—remain as indications of their influence on the early intellectual culture of Europe. But geography owes most to them during the middle ages. Conquest, widened political connection, trade and the duty of pilgrimage, impelled them to this study. The old Arab treatises on geography, and works of travels in several countries by Ibn Fodhlán (died 921), the fugitive African calif, Edrisi (circa 1153), Ibn Jobair (died 1217), Abulféda, prince of Hamath (died 1331), Ibn Batuta (died 1377), Albiruni the historian, and others, are still interesting and valuable.
Of what happened in the world before Islam, the Arabs cared to know nothing but the lives of the patriarchs and prophets, and a little of Persian history; but the history of the world after Islam arose was studiously cultivated. After the dawn of the 10th century, history became a favourite study of the Arabs. The first that attempted a universal survey of the subject were Masúdi (died 957), in his Golden Meadows; the Persian Tábari (died 923), whose annals, of great bulk and value, were in 1887 in course of publication by De Goeje and others in Leyden; and Eutychius, Christian patriarch of Alexandria (died 950). These were followed by Abulfáraj or Bar Hebræus, philosopher and also theologian, 'the phoenix of his age;' and George Elmakin (flourished in Egypt in the 13th century), both Christians; Abulféda; Nuvairi, who wrote a cyclopædia (circa 1331); Makrizi, who wrote the history of Egypt (died 1441), and others. See Wüstenfeld's Geschichtsschreiber der Araber (1882), and translations by Quatremère.
Arabian theology and jurisprudence are intimately connected, and both founded on the Korán; but are by no means so simple and uniform as is generally supposed. Speculation first began to prevail during the Ommiade dynasty, and the Aristotelian philosophy to be studied by the Arabs. As a consequence, the vague statements of the Korán were soon variously interpreted, and a host of sects gradually arose. Of these, four only are regarded as orthodox, leaving not less than seventy-two heretical, whose discordant tenets are stated in the work of Shahrestani (trans. by Cureton, London, 1842). The four orthodox sects arose in the 8th century, and are: the Hanifites, who do not reject tradition, but subordinate it to reason; the Sháfiites, who entirely refuse the aids of reason and philosophy in their treatment of theology; the Kambalites and the Málechites, who allow speculation on points where there is no tradition. The collection of traditions known as the Sunna gives an account of the sayings and doings of Mohammed, and, though pedantic in its details, is in substance more valuable than the Korán. The interpretation of the Korán constitutes the principal part of education in theological jurisprudence. The most celebrated of the commentators are Zamákshari, rationalistic, and Baidhāwi, orthodox. Consult Tornauw, Das Moslemische Recht (1885).
Arabian philosophy, which was of Greek origin, held the same relation to the Korán as the Scholasticism of the middle ages did to the Christian Scriptures—that is, it was regarded as the servant of faith. The chief study of the Arabs was the writings of Aristotle, who became known in Spain, and subsequently in all Western Europe, through translations from Arabic into Latin; though the Arabs themselves only knew the Greek philosopher in translations made during the time of the Abbasides. Especial attention was paid to logic and metaphysics. The most distinguished of their philosophical writers are: the honoured leader, Alkindi of Basra, who flourished about the beginning of the 9th century; Alfarâbi, who wrote a work on First Principles in 954; Avicenna (died 1036), who combined the study of logic and metaphysics with that of medicine, and made considerable progress in chemistry, nosology, and medical botany; Alghazali (died in Bagdad, 1111); Abubekr-ibn-Tofail (died in Seville, 1190); and his pupil, Averroes, greatly esteemed as an expositor of Aristotle. For an account of these men and their systems, see Sur les Écoles Philosophiques chez les Arabes, by Schmölbers (Paris, 1842); and Renan's Averroës et l'Averroïsme (1850).
Many of these illustrious Arabian philosophers were also physicians. The science of medicine is essentially a creation of the Arabs, to whom the oldest sources of knowledge—that of the Indian physicians—had been early opened. Chemical pharmacy (see ALCHEMY) was created by the Arabs. Pharmacy and materia medica naturally led to botany and chemistry. For three centuries—from the 8th to the 11th—a rich scientific culture prevailed. Schools of philosophy and medicine sprang up at Jondisahur, Bagdad, Ispahan, Firuzabad, Bokhara, Kufa, Basra, Alexandria, Cordova, &c. In all departments of medical science a great advance was made, except in anatomy (the Korân forbidding the dissection of human bodies). The most famous writers on medicine are Râzi of Bagdad (died 922); Alkindi; Avicenna (980–1037), who wrote the Canon of Medicine, for a long time the only handbook on the subject; Abulkasem of Cordova (died 1107); and Averroes (1126–98), who wrote a complete system of medicine.
In mathematics, the Arabs made great advances by the introduction from India of the numerals and mode of notation now in use, of the sine instead of the chord in trigonometry (thanks to Albatâni), and of a more extended application of algebra. While alchemists, searching for the elixir of life and the philosopher's stone, were founding chemistry, astrologers were enriching astronomy, which was zealously studied in the famous schools and observatories of Bagdad and Cordova. Alhazân wrote upon optics. The Almagest or System of Astronomy by Ptolemy was translated into Arabic as early as 812. In the 10th century, Albatâni, the greatest of Arabian astronomers, a Sabæan by religion, and born in Haran (died 929), observed the advance of the line of the apsides in the earth's orbit. Abul-Hassan-Ali wrote on astronomical instruments in the 13th century.
Besides these advances in the solid branches of knowledge, the genius of the Arabs continually flowered into poetry. Numerous poets sprang up in all lands where the children of the desert had carried their irresistible faith. Their verse, however, was not like the rude, simple minstrelsy of a purely patriarchal people; it gradually allied itself to the prevailing culture, and took, especially in the golden epoch of Arabian civilisation, a highly artistic form. None have been more highly esteemed than Motanebbi (killed 965) and Abutemâm (died 845), who compiled the old poems that compose the Hamâsah. Famous, too, are the satirist Abul-Olâ (died 1057), the Egyptian Busiri, whose Bordah is a eulogy of Mohammed, and two Syrians, El-Rûmi (died 896) and the profound Ibn Fârid (died 1235; his Diwân was published at Beyrout, 1874). Hamadâni (died 1007) introduced novels in rhyming prose like that of the Korân, and wrote four hundred of them under the name of Maqâmât. Harîri (died 1121) brought this form of literature to perfection. Azzeddîn (died 1279) wrote an ingenious allegorical poem, 'The Birds and the Flowers.' Besides these, a singularly wild and fantastic prose literature made its appearance, in which the craving for the wonderful and gorgeous, so characteristic of the restless, adventurous Arabs, was richly gratified. Romances and legendary tales abounded. The most famous of these are: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments (q.v.), The Exploits of Antar (pub. Bulâq, 1869), The Exploits of the Champions, and The Exploits of Bibdars. The taste for proverbs, fables, and biography was extensively indulged. In fact, with the exception of the drama, condemned by the Prophet, there was no sort of literature that the Arabs did not attempt. The trouvères of Northern France, the troubadours of Provence, the inspirers of Italy, and the romancers of medieval Europe owed much to the Arabs, whose influence on modern literature still endures. The tales of fays, charms, sorceries, and the whole gorgeous machinery of enchantment, passed into the poetry of the West. During the middle ages of European history, several of the most popular and widely-spread books came from or through the Arabs; such as The Seven Wise Masters, and The Fables of Bidpai (q.v.), though the Arabians themselves borrowed largely from the Persian stories and the Greek fables. See Clouston's Arabic Poetry for English Readers (Glasg. 1881).
All this culture of the early ages of Mohammedanism presents a strong contrast to the ignorance which now prevails among the Arabs. The brutal fanaticism of the Turks nipped the blooming promise of the East; sunk in stupid indolence, the peoples await in apathetic resignation their deliverance and return to higher modes of life. Literature furnishes now nothing worthy of notice. Learning spends itself principally in commentaries and scholia, in scholastic discussions on the subject-matter of dogmatics and jurisprudence, and in tedious grammatical disquisitions concerning the old Arabic speech, generally acute and subtle, but always unprofitable and unenlivening. The swift and mobile genius of the East has departed, and pedantic dullness has usurped its place. There are 'Dryasdusts' even in the desert. A few modern writers have attempted, with more or less success, to imitate European forms of thought and sentiment. Of these may be mentioned Michael Sabbagh of Syria; the Sheikh Refaa of Cairo; Nasîf-Effendi of Beirût, who wrote the critical observations in De Sacy's edition of Harîri (Epistola Critica, Leip. 1848); B. Bistâni in his cyclopædia (Beirût, 1875).
The Arabic also possesses a Christian and Jewish literature, which, however, is chiefly ecclesiastical. Its principal ornaments are Eutychius, Elmakîn, and Abulfârâj. Translations of the Old Testament were made, not from the Hebrew, but from the Septuagint, or from Latin versions. In the middle ages, the Spanish Jews employed Arabic for their learned compositions; and several of the most important works of Moses Maimonides, for example, were originally written in that tongue. Consult on Arabian literature, D'Herbelot's Bibliothèque Orientale; Kremer's Kulturgeschichte des Orients (1875–7); Zenker's Bibliotheca Orientalis (1846–61); and Ibn Ishâq's Kitâb-al-Fihrist, the oldest Arab cyclopædia of literature, of about 1000 A.D., published by Flügel (2 vols. Leip. 1871–2).
The Arabic language, it has been remarked, is at once both rich and poor. It is necessarily destitute of innumerable words describing those ideas and objects which only civilisation can develop or produce; but, on the other hand, the rich and nimble fancy of the Arabians has multi- plied, to an almost incredible extent, the synonyms of their desert-tongue, so that in some cases hundreds of expressions are found for the same thing. The Arabic belongs to the so-called Semitic family of languages, among which it is distinguished for its antiquity and soft flexible grace. Through the Korân, the dialect of an Ishmaelitic tribe, the Koreish, became the predominant language of literature and commerce throughout the whole extent of the Arabian dominions. The Himyaritic from Abyssinia, and closely akin to the ancient Ethiopic, is known as yet only by a few inscriptions, &c. Arab poems till 750 consisted mostly of from two to one hundred and twenty lines of one rhyme. Thereafter was developed an exact and complex prosody. Al-Jauhari, who died in 1009 A.D., drew up a dictionary of the pure Arabic speech, which he entitled Al-Sihah ('Purity'), and which is held in high estimation to this day. Mohammed-ben-Yakûb-al-Fîruzabâdî, who died in 1414, was the author of an Arabic Thesaurus, entitled Al-Kâmûs ('The Ocean'), which is the best lexicon in the language, and has consequently been translated into Persian and Turkish. Jordshani has explained, in alphabetical order, the meaning of the technical terms used in Arabic art and science. His work was published by Flügel (Leip. 1845), under the title of Definitions. Meidâni made a large collection of Arabic 'saws,' apophthegms, &c., which was published by Freytag (Bonn, 1838). Through the conquests of the Arabs in Sicily and Spain, their language became known in Europe; but notwithstanding the numerous traces of its influence in various European tongues, it became forgotten after the expulsion of the Moors from Spain. The first European scholars who earnestly took up the subject were the Dutch, in the 17th century; after them, the Germans, French, and English. The more learned theological students consider it a necessary part of their education. Maltese is an Arabic dialect, akin to the Mozarabic of the Spanish Moors. In Turkish plainly, and even in Malay, the traces of Arabic appear. In Persian every fourth, and in Hindustani every fifth word is Arabic. In recent times the purely negro population of the central and western Sudan have, in receiving Islam, made considerable progress in civilisation and the knowledge of Arabic. The Arabic language is never printed but in the ancient classical form, of which the Korân is regarded as the unapproachable standard. Classical Arabic is spoken in northern Central Arabia, differences increasing with distance. Elsewhere the language has lost, as Hebrew had lost before the oldest books of the Bible were written, the final vowels distinctive of case in nouns, and person in verbs. Egyptian or Syrian Arabic is less pure than the native, but more pure than the Arabic spoken from Tripoli to Morocco. Wright's Arabic Grammar (new edition) is one of the best extant; Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon is a standard work; and Badger's English-Arabic Lexicon (1881) is also excellent. The grammatical and lexicographical works of Caspari, Freytag, Fleischer, and De Sacy, are most important. See SEMITIC LANGUAGES.
Arabic Writing.—Like all Semitic writing, this proceeds from right to left. It is borrowed from the old Syriac, and was probably introduced into Arabia by Christian missionaries about the time of Mohammed. In its oldest form it is called Kufic, from the town of Kufa, on the Euphrates, where the transcription of the Korân was busily carried on. Its characters are rude and coarse, and it has particular symbols for only sixteen of the twenty-eight Arabic consonants. This writing, nevertheless, continued to be employed for 300 years, and for coins and inscriptions even later; but in the 10th century it was displaced for common purposes by a current handwriting, the Neshki, introduced by Ibn Mokla. This is the character still in use, more or less modified, by all nations that have adopted the Mohammedan religion. In it, the consonants which resemble each other are distinguished by points, and the vowels by strokes over and under the line; but in writing and printing, the vowels are commonly omitted.
The following passage, the translation of John iii. 16 as published by the British and Foreign Bible Society, will show the character (see also ALPHABET, p. 188). It may be thus transliterated: Liannahu hakatha ahabb Allah el'alam hatta bathal ibnahu elwahid lkai la yahlik kull man yu'min bihi bal takun lahu elhayyat elabadiyat.
لأنه هكذا أحب الله العالم حتى بذل ابنه
الوحيد لكي لا يهلك كل من يؤمن به بل تكون
له الحياة الابدية.