Review: [untitled] Author(s): Muhsin Mahdi Reviewed work(s): Al-Fārābī: Fuṣūl al- Madanī ("Aphorisms of the Statesman") by D. M.Dunlop Source: Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 23, No. 2, (Apr., 1964), pp. 140-143 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/543683 Accessed: 14/06/2008 07:38 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ucpress. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We enable the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. http://www.jstor.org fols. 280. see Islamic Quarterly. No. Dunlop (who is also the editor and translator of some of al-Farabi's shorter works on logic. Dunlop's edition is based on the collation of these two manuscripts. 93-117. but not with the intention of utilizing it to reconstruct the corrupt portions of the Arabic original or to fill in the missing portions. 102b120a. 3714 (=A). Edited with an English translation. and in a number of cases he actually corrects his text on the basis of that edition. It provides by far the most complete and perfect version of the Aphorisms that is known. The folios are not numbered in the manuscript. M. 91b-109a (=B). relegating the readings of his manuscripts to the notes. Professor Arberry identified a further manuscript copy of the same work in the Chester Beaty MS. which proved that the Bodleian manuscript is defective and incomplete. The Hebrew version appears to have been collated throughout. The editor has recognized this fact and indicated the possibility of missing portions in some of the sections.) On the whole. In general. Dunlop confines himself to referring to the Hebrew variants in certain crucial places where the Arabic original remains defective or doubtful. in Iraq. In addition. Dunlop uses the only available edition (Hyderabad. Apart from making a fuller use of the Hebrew version. Dunlop's text. fols. The present work should be welcomed as the first major text by al-Farabi to be edited in the Anglo-Saxon world and translated into English. 23. 20-21). DUNLOP. Dr. Sections 3." No. although it offers better readings in certain places and fills in a few blanks in Dr. 69b-91a (see pp.H. 155). It contains ninety-six sections. and 40 in the Diyarbekir manuscript are totally missing in . No. Pp. (The available manuscripts of the of the manuscripts of the Aphorisms against the Hyderabad edition. Mich. fols. Dr. the reviewer had the opportunity to examine a large group of manuscripts of al-Farabi's works in the public libraries of Turkey. fols.50. III-V [1956-59]) published an English translation of the Aphorisms on the basis of the Bodleian MS. Dunlop. only the identification of other and superior manuscripts of the Arabic original could provide a more solid basis for "the attempt to recover what al-Farabi wrote" (p. 1961. No. 370. and notes by D. and it is most unfortunate that Dr. 129 and 130. introduction. New York: Cambridge University Press.H. The second manuscript is in Diyarbekir (Umumi. 307. If the text remains defective and incomplete. 1345) to control the manuscripts of the Aphorisms. it offers a list of "variants and readings" from the Hebrew version contained in two Bodleian MSS. and Poc. "University of Cambridge Oriental Publications. Since the publication of this text. 114b-65b). It contains (following Dunlop's enumeration) sections 1-61 and supplementary sections 93-95 (omitting supplementary section 92 with the Hebrew version). In those passages where the Aphorisms contains the same text as the Attainment of Happiness. 208. 34b-68a). Subsequently. 133-52 belong to al-Ghazali's Mizan al-cAmal). and part of section 56 (Dunlop. Hunt. fols. 139:5140:12) is repeated at the end (fol. Feyzullah. It is written by an exceedingly careful and expert hand (Maghribi or Eastern Christian?) before A. numbered consecutively by means of letternumerals. Dr. The first is in Istanbul (Millet Kitiiphanesi. It does not support the division of the text into two Parts. this manuscript presents the same text as the two manuscripts utilized by Dr. 1279. this is primarily Attainment of Happiness confirm the readings due to the fact that the manuscripts available to the editor were defective and incomplete.H. and it excludes supplementary sections 92-95. Dr. A. fols. It is written in careful Maghribi script and bears no date (probably seventh-eighth centuries A.140 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES al-Fdrabi: Fusul al-Madani ("Aphorisms of the Statesman"). Two further manuscripts of the Arabic original of the Aphorisms were identified. 1970.). 15. 681. Dunlop was not in a position to utilize it in his edition. pp. 5. XIV (1952). the editor has worked diligently and produced a serviceable edition. 154 is to be inserted between fols. $14. Quite a few of them are misplaced (fol. 21). discipline. In the same way. The title of al-Farabi's Aphorisms indicates the work's literary character and subject matter. It is true that the reader who does not have access to the Arabic text may not appreciate fully the meaning of a passage like the following: He whose customary deed are in agreement with what is good at first sight in the common opinion of all will not be prevented by his custom from learning the speculative sciences." [p. Dunlop's text. aphoristic medical works written in this form and to al-Farabi's Aphorisms (Paul Kahle. (iltaqattuhd) from Galen's statements." He stresses also what aphoristic works do not attempt to achieve: they are not meant to be "sufficient" or "comprehensive. "Mosis Maimonidis Praefatio et Aphorismorum Excerpta. According to Maimonides. The English translation will have to be revised to conform to the text of the new edition. 148:5) in Dr. an aid to memory as it were. especially in the field of medicine (this is not unrelated to the fact that al- 141 Farabi's Aphorisms made "a wider application to the art of government of the metaphor of medicine. pp. further." and they do not include "all the axioms" needed in a particular He suggests. that an aphoristic work. will benefit from them.." [German translation]. As Dr. aphoristic works being "undoubtedly easy to retain and helpful to the reader in understanding their intentions. since first sight necessitates that he does what is good in reality and obligatory more than that he does what is at first sight uncriticized opinion." in Galeni in Platonis Timaeum Commentarii Fragmenta ["Corpus Medicorum Graecorum I] [Berlin. Dunlop's text. 9]). and section 71 begins with al-mawjiddt in section 66 (p. missing portions of a number of other sections (including some that were suspected by the editor) can now be retrieved." These remarks by Maimonides show that. 77. while "in theory" an aphoristic work on a subject "is a convenient way of treating the salient points of an existing body of . except in those rare cases where they might provide a better reading. Supplementum. at least his own Medical Aphorisms. (P. but that it is meant to serve as an aid to memory for the author himself as well as for the reader: "I do not say that I have composed these aphorisms that I have written down. but rather that I selected them For I picked them (ikhtartuhd).BOOKREVIEWS Dr. and that the lack of an established tradition in this field. he selects them for himself. In addition. conspire to make a first translation a hazardous task. and answers possible objections against including certain passages and not others: "A man does not select such aphorisms for others.. There is little room for doubt that any serious study and interpretation of the Aphorisms will have to await a new edition based on the Diyarbekir manuscript. 91-93 93-96 [Arabic text]). Dunlop points out in his the writing of "aphorisms" introduction. Dunlop's English version is readable and useful to the student who tries to puzzle out a difficult Arabic text without expert help. Dunlop's introduction is the quotation from the introduction of Maimonides' Medical Aphorisms. I selected these aphorisms for myself. nor from his deeds coming to be in agreement with what is good in reality. What in reality is opinion is opinion which has been criticized and confirmed after criticism. is not an altogether original work. Dr. almost individual" ideas. combined with the difficulty of al-Farabi's style. (fusul) was an established tradition prior to al-Farabi's. all those who know as much as I or less.." He then explains how he will identify the statements of Galen and distinguish them from his own. relegating the variants supplied by the other known Arabic manuscripts and by the manuscripts of the Hebrew version to the notes. and first sight necessitates that opinion which has been criticized is truer than first sight. where Maimonides explains the purpose of and refers to earlier works. and perhaps the most interesting passage in Dr.. the aphoristic form is designed especially to meet the reader's need to "retain" a host of "general as well as particular. 1934].) But he ought to remember that the translation of Arabic philosophic texts into English has hardly begun. yet it was responsible for side-tracking Dr. The Aphorisms announces itself as a political work. however. al-Farabi is less explicit about his Aphorisms: the title merely says that nuntazaca) they consist of "extracts" (fuisl that include [not "all. Dr. fols. Dieterici's edition of the Virtuous City is the only edition properly so called. A. which Dr. It thus invites comparison with al-Farabi's other major political works. and on other grounds appears to have been a late work of al-Farabi (p. 22:8. This task presupposes an adequate study of these works. For they preserve the complete text of the "Six Sections..H. The sole basis for this statement is the fact that there are certain passages.H." but "ninety-six" was the number intended this by Ibn Abi Usaibi'ah. p. An examination of the manuscripts of the Virtuous City. since it deals with the same subject as the Madinah Fddilah [Virtuous City] in schematic form. 10)." especially when the extracts in question deal with such crucial matters as the distinction between a "divine" and a "bestial" human being (Dunlop. which is no more proof that the Aphorisms "quotes" the Attainment of Happiness than that the Attainment of Happiness the Aphorisms. it occurs in various forms in the Attainment of Happiness (Hyderabad. Dunlop insists that it must mean "'holy' war") and the second is malik al-sunna ("king [ruling on the basis] of the law"). that are found in both the Attainment of Happiness and the Aphorisms. Maimonides. Also. Kili9 Kiitiphanesi Ali Papa. based on adequate editions. 1345).. Siileymania [Istanbul]. section 11) or the precise meaning of the "afterlife in which man sees his Lord" (Dunlop. Dunlop presents as the next likely candidate (See (pp. He assumes that the Aphorisms was written after the Attainment of Happiness on the ground that the Aphorisms contain "quotations" from the Attainment of Happiness. expecially the Virtuous City.. Of the three.142 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES character of his assumption to such an extent that he is willing to assume that. Therefore one is to what he justified in paying attention chooses to extract and what he leaves unextracted. (Dr." (p. and phrases. in practice its literary character demands as much attention as a work written in epistle (risala) or book (kitdb) form.) We must then examine the "other grounds" upon which Dr. 59:7-8. shows that such an investigation cannot lead anywhere. one may think it worthwhile to pursue this assumption further. No. Fusul al-Madani [Aphorisms] introduces two occur important terms. Dunlop must have been misled by Dieterici's text of the Virtuous the military City.). pp. section 76). one is justified in wondering why he takes the trouble in some of these extracts to remind us again that they represent the opinions or judgments of the "Ancients" or of "a certain group. p." cf. which we do not have. Dunlop attempts to date the Aphorisms. The first of these two terms is jih&d (Dr. sentences. 24:5. 25:3-6. Kilig Ali Paga knowledge" (Dunlop. As for jih&d. 11-13). the Political Regime. He abandons assumption on the ground that "There is no evidence that the original number [of the Aphorisms] was ninety-six" (ibid. 13). If one reads these "Six Sections. Dunlop is impressed by the "natural" . 11). lb-6a. not "six. 337 to show the divisions of the subject matter treated in the Virtuous City: The natural assumption is that the fusufl of which Ibn abi Usaibicah is here speaking are those of the Fusuil al-Madani [Aphorisms] which. Since the Diyarbekir manuscript supplies this evidence." inserted at the beginning of the Virtuous City. regarding function of the First Chief. since all of al-Farabi's aphorisms are "extracts" from the statements of the Ancients. 674. "the "quotes" Finally. may reasonably be supposed to have been written later. but] numerous axioms from the statements of the Ancients. Dunlop into a futile excursus regarding the possible identity of the Aphorisms and the "Six Sections" written by al-Farabi in Egypt in A. and the Attainment of Happiness." he will see that they have nothing whatever to do either with the Aphorisms or with the Political Regime. 103). which apparently nowhere else in his [al-Farabi's] political writings and seem to be new (p. MS. Leiden. 58a:20. let alone an adequate treatment of. 56b: 1-2.50. this aspect of Islamic civilization.) And the term malik al-sunna occurs in the Political Regime. Cairo: The American University of Cairo Press. 101a:5 = (Hyderabad.). noting its "puzzling aspects" and especially the many "technological and problems" it presents.BOOK REVIEWS MS. The work the Siileymania "proposes to do no more than bring to the attention of the scholarly community one more original source-book on the subject of Muslim warfare" (ibid. ELS 3954) at Princeton University. Dunlop. No. Edited and . cf.H. 1279. viii 130 [Arabic text] 1-97. as well as in the Virtuous Religion MS. Dr. Being Tafrij alKurub fi TadbZr al-Hurib by CUmar Ibn Ibrdhim al-Awsi al-Ansdri. 674. 3483. and it is hard to and deny it this merit. No. Pp. 1002. 1961. The terminological choice of this particular work seems to have resulted from the presence of a copy of it in the Yahudah Collection (No. Cod. 123-30). As far as the reviewer is able to judge. and so forth (pp. reads: wa-an takuna lahu maCa dhdlika judatu ta'attin bi-badanihi li-mubdsharati :l-harbi. now in in Istanbul. 65a:12. $4. No. fol. SCANLON. The translation. 51:6. 46b:10-11. 1346) p. which in turn serves as a basis for the assumptions that the work represents "a substantially different point of view" than the "earlier" works. 21) with an account of the literature on Muslim warfare. fol. No. 13 ff.).. p. MS. MUHSIN MAHDI University of Chicago A Muslim Manual of War. which gives the corrupt reading: tilka al-sunna). MUHSIN MAHDI 143 translated by GEORGET. 15). Or. A. Scanlon begins his edition and what he calls "its somewhat problematic translation" (p. Dunlop bases his assumption of the "late" date of the Aphorisms. this the sum of the evidence upon constitutes which Dr. point to the amount and difficulty of the research that has to be done before we could claim to possess an adequate philological foundation for. note also the term hijra in fol. fols. that it has "a contemporary reference" to events in Sayf al-Dawlah's career which "form a framework into which various matin the Fusuil al-Madani ters mentioned [Aphorisms] may easily be fitted". the "Preliminary of especially Glossary Muslim Military Terms" (pp. as attested by the best and most complete manuscript of that work (Feysullah. The edition collates this MS with that of Fatih.