Ibn Tufayl's Hayy Ibn Yaqzān: A Philosophical Tale by Lenn Evan Goodman; Ilse

Lichtenstadter; Ibn Tufayl

Review by: George F. Hourani
Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 93, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1973), p. 364
Published by: American Oriental Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/599479 .
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364 Journal of the American
Ibn Tufayl's Hayy Ibn Yaqzin: a Philosophical Tale.
Translated with Introduction and Notes by LENN
EVAN GOODMAN.(Library of Classical Arabic Lite-
rature, edited by ILSE LICHTENSTADTER,volume 1.)
Pp. ix + 246. New York: TWAYNEPUBLISHERS,
INC. 1972. No price listed.
The publication of a complete translation of Hayy
into modern English is a welcome event, in view of the
wide appeal and philosophical interest of this well known
work. The last complete translation into English was
that of S. Ockley (1708). There have been accurate
modern ones into other western languages, notably those
of A. Gonzalez Palencia (Spanish, 1934) and L. Gauthier
(French, 1936), and a recent one into English by C;.
Atiya (in R. Lerner and M. Mahdi, eds., Medieval Political
Philosophy, 1963), which is accurate but incomplete.
Goodman's translation reads well in a fluent current
idiom, and he does not miss the significance of philosoph-
ical terms, arguments or Arabic syntax. But there is a
certain verbal looseness, displayed most frequently in
the omission of words corresponding to the full Arabic
text. As examples from one page:
GAUTHIER,ARABICP. 5 GOODMAN
Abi Bakr b. as-Sd'igh Ibn Bajja
thasala rutba (omitted)
min 'ibddihi (omitted)
al-'ilm an-nazari wa l-bahth
al-fikri reason
It may well be that nothing essential to understanding
is left out, but readers of a translation are also entitled
to receive as much as can be conveyed of the flavor of
a text, including its apparent redundancies.
The notes to the translation are full and useful, giving
explanations of the background in Islam and Greek
philosophy and allusions to other religions and cultures,
ancient and modern. The translator has commendably
made out all references to Gauthier's second Arabic
edition (Beirut, 1936) as the editio princeps, in his trans-
lation margins, notes and introduction. Much waste of
time would be saved if translators of Arabic texts would
follow this practice wherever possible. Goodman himself
should have done the same in referring to Ghazali's
Munqidh by the pages of Saliba's text, which are given
in the margins of Watt's translation. Book titles in the
notes are reasonably consistent and correct. There is
no index or bibliography, so that it is difficult to track
down a reference. A glossary of philosophical terms,
Arabic and English, would also have been helpful.
The long introduction (88 pages) consists mainly of a
wide ranging comparative essay, relating Ibn Tufayl to
R. Niebuhr, Rousseau, W. Golding, B. Skinner, Thoreau
and others. Much of this is stimulating and lively.
This content downloaded from 195.78.109.164 on Mon, 9 Jun 2014 20:34:05 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Oriental Society 93.3 (1973)
Golding's Lord of the Flies is discussed at some length,
chiefly for the contrast of assumptions about human
nature. H-ere the essay perhaps goes too far afield even
for a valid contrast; for, after all, Ibn Tufayl presents
primarily the development of a man self-taught in solitude,
while Golding's boys face the problems of a self-taught
society. Comparisons with the relevant works of Ibn
Sina, Ibn-an Nafis and Daniel Defoe, while less original,
would have been more suitable to the general aims of
this book and the new series.
Although for purposes of exact scholarship Gauthier's
Arabic text and French translation will remain the basic
resource, Goodman has produced a learned and attractive
book that will be valuable to teachers and students of
civilization courses, as well as to a wider public.
GEORGEF. HOURANI
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
The 'Abbdsid Revolution. By M. A. SHABAN. Pp. xxii +
181, Maps. Cambridge: CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITY
PRESS. 1970. $14.50.
Scholars of the late nineteenth century and of later
generations have generally accepted the idea that one
of the chief causes of the "Abbasid revolution was the
inability of the Arab ruling class to accept neo-Muslims
as equals-with all of the privileges that that status
brought with it-in the Muslim community. Prof. Sha-
ban does not reject this idea; rather, he tries to illuminate
the locale and the personnel of the revolution, for, ac-
cording to him, "... this Revolution took place in
Khurasan, more specifically in Merv, whose colonization,
and the subsequent developments, led to the assimila-
tion of many of the Arab tribesmen in the Merv oasis
into the Iranian population. It was these assimilated
Arabs who had lost their privileges as members of the
Arab ruling class and who were also aggrieved by their
subjection to the non-Muslim aristocracy of Merv, who
were the main support of the 'Abbisid Revolution."
(p. xv.)
of
Simply put, Shaban's book is an exhaustive study
textual evidence supporting this principle conclusion.
and
Beginning with the political geography of Khurasan
the East, he reviews the details of the Arab conquest
and relations of the tribesmen who settled there with the
central government. Several chapters are devoted to
Umayyad policies in Khurasan and Transoxiana, and
the last chapter, to details of the revolution itself.
In addition to the sources one would normally have to
consult for such a work, Prof. Shaban has made use of a
Kitdb
relatively little-known early source, namely, the
of Abfu Muhammad Ahmad ibn A'tham al-
al-futuh