Classical Arabic Wisdom Literature: Nature and Scope

Author(s): Dimitri Gutas

Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society , Jan. - Mar., 1981, Vol. 101, No. 1,
Oriental Wisdom (Jan. - Mar., 1981), pp. 49-86
Published by: American Oriental Society

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/602164

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 CLASSICAL ARABIC WISDOM LITERATURE: NATURE AND SCOPE
DIMITRI GUTAS
YALE UNIVERSITY
I. Introduction.
II. The Word hikma/ maxim in pre- and early
Islamic times.
III. The Age of written wisdom literature in Arabic.
IV. The Sources of Classical Arabic wisdom lit-
erature.
A. Luqman.
B. Arabic sources.
C. Foreign sources.
V. Classical Arabic wisdom literature as a literary
genre.
A. The Place of wisdom literature in the clas-
sification of literary genres.
B. The Typological classification and nomen-
clature of maxims.
VI. The Social function and significance of classical
Arabic wisdom literature.
I. INTRODUCTION.
"MODESTY," THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD is reported
to have said, "can only bring about good." When this
saying was told by 'Imran b. Husayn (d. 52/672), a
Companion of the Prophet, another Companion,
Bugayr b. Ka'b (n.d.), countered with a different
saying from another source: "It is written in the hikma
that 'modesty is partly gravity and partly imperturb-
ability.'" 'Imran replied in irritation, "I am telling you
about the Messenger of God and you are telling me
about your scroll!"'
Many of the issues involved in a study of classical
Arabic wisdom literature are reflected in this report.
First and foremost is the very word hikma: its associa-
tion with 'wisdom' literature (clearly indicated in the
above report), its definition as 'maxim,' and the origins
and development of this definition. Second, and no less
important, is the age of written wisdom literature in
Arabic: oral wisdom literature certainly antedated
Muhammad and the Qur'an, but whether there existed
in his time books containing such literature, as the
above report seems to imply, is still a matter of debate.
49
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Ln . J ) J1
Third is the material out of which the voluminous
Arabic wisdom literature was composed, and its
sources, both Arab and foreign (Bugayr is apparently
drawing here upon material in wide circulation). Fourth
is the place wisdom literature occupies within Arabic
literature as a whole-that is, its literary genre, and its
relation to the other genres. In this connection the
taxonomy developed by the Arabs themselves to ac-
commodate these genres is of particular importance,
especially in view of the fact that early Arabic prose
literature is predominantly apophthegmatic in na-
ture2-like the above report. Fifth, and perhaps most
significant of all in a wider sense, is what one might call
the social dimension of wisdom literature: its produc-
tion, collection, and consumption as a social function,
and its relation, as a social determinant, to religious
literature (a hint of which is provided by the hadit
quoted above).
Surprising as it may seem, especially in comparison
with other Near Eastern traditions, Arabic wisdom
literature has received little scholarly attention. Its
sheer copiousness may be one reason; its ubiquitous-
ness, which derives from the apophthegmatic nature of
Arabic literature, and which tends to blur the focus of
attention, may be another. The few references to, or
discussions of, this literature that exist in secondary
sources are mostly incidental. Serious investigations
into this general field, especially such works as those of
Sellheim (1954), Blachere (1954), and Bloch (1954),
deal primarily with proverbs, which represent but one
aspect of wisdom literature. What is set forth in the
following pages, therefore, is less a survey than a
preliminary investigation and inventory of the issues
enumerated above, issues which I believe ought to be
discussed in association with classical Arabic wisdom
literature. The discussion will necessarily be selective
and restricted-given the constraints of time and
space-as well as tentative. I wish to emphasize this
point here in order to spare the readers and myself
tedious repetition later on. Some of the arguments to
be presented will be more developed than others,
 50 Journal of the American Oriental Society 101.1 (1981)
depending on the relative importance of the issue being
discussed, but in general what follows ought to be
regarded as an outline of the points I consider signifi-
cant. I leave the elaboration and emendation of points
already made, as well as the addition of new ones, to
the future studies I hope it will prompt.
II. THE WORD HIKMA MAXIM IN PRE- AND EARLY
ISLAMIC TIMES.
The Arabic word hikma is not as unequivocal as it
appears at first sight. But both Arab and non-Arab
authorities have been for the most part so consistent in
defining it primarily as 'wisdom'3 that one is apt to
forget that words, as carriers of a culture at a specific
stage of its development, may have different referents
not only when translated from one culture to another,
but also at different stages of the same culture. A
semantic history of the word hikma in Arabic culture
would therefore be highly desirable, but such an
investigation can hardly be undertaken here.4 Ilikma,
however, also means 'maxim," 'wisdom saying,' and,fact that the parallel word, ddab is plural clearly illus-
because of the central position which this signification
occupies in the present discussion, some consideration
of this aspect of the word is clearly warranted. Our
recourse, the Arab lexicographers, prove disap-
pointing. Despite the quantity and breadth of the
available medieval lexica, the term hikma itself, in the
sense of 'maxim,' remained almost totally undefined.
With the sole exception of Ibn Durayd's Jamharat al-
luga, to be mentioned presently, hikma = 'maxim' was
left undefined not only by the standard dictionaries-
from al-Azharl's Tahdib to Ibn Manzur's Lisdn but
also by more specialized lexica. We find, for instance,
neither a reference to it in Zamahsarl's Asts al-baliga,
a dictionary of literal and metaphorical meanings, nor
a comparison between it and, say, ma'rifa or cilm6 in
Abf Hilal al-cAskarl's al-Furaq al-lugawiya, a dic-
tionary of synonyms. This is doubtless due to the
inherent bias of Arabic lexicography in favor of reli-
gious terminology and Bedouin poetic vocabulary, and
to its exclusion of the commonly known (al-macrfif).7
Ibn Durayd's (d. 321/933) Jamhara, however, one of
the earliest extant dictionaries, does define hikma in
this sense, and significantly, only in this sense.8 With
regard to the use of the word hikma in the saying
(habar), "Hikma is the stray camel of the believer [for
which he must search]," Ibn Durayd says: "Every
saying which exhorts you, or urges you, or calls you to
a noble trait or deters you from a disgraceful one is a
hikma or hukm. This is the interpretation of the
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Prophetic saying, 'some poetry is hikma and some
eloquent style is magic.'9
Ibn Durayd's definition is substantiated by the ac-
tual occurrence of the word in our earliest post-
Qur'anic sources, which allows us to be quite specific
about usage. Hikma, the feminine singular noun,
means 'maxim,' and its plural is hikam. Concerning a
verse by Suwayd b. Abi Kahil (active before and after
Islam), al-Asma'i (d. ca. 215/830) says that the Bed-
ouin consider it as one of their maxims (ta'udduhd min
hikamihd).'? The same singular word, however, is
frequently used in a collective sense, meaning 'a collec-
tion of maxims,' or 'maxims [in general].' This usage is
best exemplified by a quotation from Ibn Qutayba
(d. 276/889): "The New Testament says that when Jesus
. . . coined proverbs and maxims for them . . . ((daraba
lahum al-amtdia wa-/-hikmata . . ).""1 The collective
use of hikma is evident here. Similarly, Abf l-Faraj al-
Isfahani (d. 356/967) refers to a verse by al-Afwah
(d. ca. 570 A.D.) as "one of the maxims and precepts of
the Bedouin" (min hikmati l-Arab wa-dddbihdu).'2 The
trates the collective use of hikma. A single saying from
a collection of sayings was frequently, and early, refer-
first red to as kalima min al-hikma or kalimatu hikmatin.
Both Tirmid! (d. 279/892-3) and Ibn Maja (d. 273/887),
for example, refer to the saying quoted above, ",hikma is
the stray camel of the believer," (to which Ibn Durayd
refers as habar,) as al-kalima.'3 Jahiz (d. 255/868-9)
quotes al-Fudayl [b. 'Iyad] as having said, "an ex-
cellent gift is one of the maxims which a man upholds
in order to present it to his friend" (ni'mat al-hadiva
al-kalima min al-hikma 'ahfazuhd l-rajul hattd
yulqiyahd il/ ahihi).'4 Through an extension of the
collective use, hikma also came to designate the genre
of the body of written and oral expressions (i.e.
literature) which contained maxims, and it thus meant
'literature of maxims' or, to use the traditional appel-
lation, 'wisdom literature.' Ibn Durayd himself says
about the famous pre-Islamic sage, Aktam b. Sayfl,
that "Aktam said many sayings belonging to the
literature of maxims" (lahu kalimun katirun fi
/-hikma).15 Similarly, Ishaq b. Ibrahim al-Katib intro-
duces some sayings ascribed to 'Ali with the words,
"some sayings of the Commander of the Faithful
belonging to the literature of maxims" (wa-min kal/mi
amiri /-mu'minina fl l-hikma).'6 Finally, when this
literature of maxims is contained in a book, it is also
referred to as hikma, which then means, 'a book of
maxims. This meaning of the word is most clearly
exhibited in a quotation of Ibn Hisam (d. 218/833)
 GUTAS: Arabic Wisdom Literature: Nature and Scope 51

when he explains the relatively rare (and foreign) term edge of interpreting omens, acted as though he
majallat Luqmnn (Luqman's scroll) with the more had benefited from the hikma of Luqman. Had he been
usual hikmat Luqmdn (Luqman's Book of Maxims).'7 habir (experienced, knowledgeable), he would not have
In the hadit quoted at the beginning of this paper, been in need of Luqman's hikma ('distilled experi-
Bugayr b. Ka'b introduces a saying as having been ence'?). The implication is therefore that hikma, the
"written in a book of maxims" (maktubunfi l-hikma).'8 maxim or admonition, stems from previous experi-
When the author of the collection was (or thought ences. We find a striking confirmation of this implica-
to be) known, his name was appended to it: Jahiz tion in the verse of a later poet, Muhammad b.
prefaces a saying ascribed to David by saying, "it is Munadir (d. 198/814):
written in David's Book of Maxims (maktubun fi
hikmat Ddwad).'9 Tell us . of the marvels of our jahilivva,
The above range of meanings for the word hikma is for they are hikma and [sources of ?] experiences."
thus well attested for post-Qur'anic Arabic to the time
This understanding of hikma seems to be closely
of Ibn Durayd (d. 321/933).20 That these meanings
related, in one instance at least, to the denominative
have been in use since then needs no particular docu-
fac ala form of the root. The lexicographer al-Jawhari
mentation; rather, the question is to determine the
(d. ca. 398/1007) explains the word muhakkam occur-
meaning of the word for Qur'anic and pre-Islamic
ring in a verse by the pre-Islamic poet Tarafa26 as "an
Arabic. With regard to the latter, the problem is quite
old and experienced (mujarrab) man, to whom hikma
intractable: there seem to be virtually no attestations
is attributed."27 Accordingly, a person who is able to
(?awdhid) for the word in pre-Islamic poetry.2' Never-
derive a general truth or rule of conduct (maxim) from
theless, a rapid survey of the most essential available
previous experiences, one who is able therefore to
evidence can be attempted here.
benefit from them and find a way out in a given
In the verse of the pre-Islamic poet Zabban b.
situation, is a hakim. This meaning of hakim is well
Sayyar, where the word hikma itself (and not a deriva-
attested in pre-Islamic sources. A maxim attributed to
tive of the root h-k-m) is used, the meaning 'maxim'fits
Luqman reads, "the person who knows (calim) and is a
the context better and more naturally than the tradi-
hakim calls people to his knowledge through dignified
tional 'wisdom.' The situation which occasioned the
silence; he who knows ('dlim) but is perplexed (ahraqu:
composition of the poem was the following: al-Nabiga
unable to see the proper course, unskilled in com-
and Zabbdn22 were about to set out on a raid when a
municating) repels people from his knowledge through
locust fell on al-Nabiga, who took this as an evil omen
excessive prattle.',28 It is interesting to note that both
and stayed behind. As it turned out, however, Zabban
people are characterized as c'lim. Not knowledge
returned from the raid both safe and enriched, and
itself, therefore, but the ability to do or say (as in the
composed these verses in mild reproof of al-Nabiga's
example that follows) the proper thing makes one a
superstition:
hakim. In a laudatory verse, the pre-Islamic poet al-
A'sa says,
Ziyad [al-Nabiga] consulted his omen about it
to tell him, but he has no experience with omens;
When you speak, you pronounce better maxims than
He stayed [behind], as if Luqman b. cAd
Luqman, since he could not find the right
had been someone beckoning to him with his
23 expressions.29
maxims.

Again, what is contrasted here with Luqman's inability

The parallel drawn here is between two concrete to find the right expression ('avvta) is not knowledge
subjects, the omen Qayr, i.e. the locust) and the but
maxim
the ability to utter pronouncements appropriate to
(hikma), both of which can properly be called signs the occasion. Finally, in a dialogue held in the presence
(as'ra lahu: 'he made signs to him') indicating future of one of the pre-Islamic kings of Himyar, the ques-
conduct. It would be less natural to assume a paral- tion, "who is the best hakim of all people," is answered
lelism between the concrete omen and abstract 'wis- by, "He who is silent and then keeps this in mind, he
dom,' which, in any case, is not a 'sign. 24 who observes and accordingly takes warning, and he
One element in the above verses that requires atten- who is exhorted and accordingly refrains."30 In other
tion concerns the implied association between hikma words, a pre-Islamic hakim is he who can derive
and bablr: al-Nabiga, having no experience or knowl- benefit with regard to his conduct from his own

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 52 Journal of the American Oriental Society 101.1 (1981)

experience (he observes and accordingly takes warn- and moral sayings were mixed with his flesh and
ing), or from the experience of others when so ad- blood. "
monished by their pronouncements (bikam or
mawvv'iz:3 he is exhorted and accordingly refrains). A
very important attendant quality is dignified silence on With regard to the Qur'anic use of the word hikma,
occasions when speaking is inappropriate (cf. al-A'da's the recurring problem of the actual, as opposed to the
verse: hina tantiqu, 'the moment when you do speak'). traditional (both Muslim and non-Muslim), meanings
This brief and necessarily limited survey of the of Qur'anic terms arises again.36 Our earliest extant
meaning of hikma and the related hakim and ahkamu sources dealing with Qur'anic terminology differ
in pre-Islamic Arabic has thus shown the basic agree- widely in their interpretaion of the word. This by itself
ment between the pre- and post-Qur'anic uses of the should alert us to the possibility that the traditional
term. Narrow as the pool of available evidence is, it interpretation might not be accurate. Had 'wisdom'
nevertheless shows that in pre-Islamic Arabic hikma been both the intended and accepted meaning of hikma
most probably referred to a pronouncement (maxim) in the Qur'an from the very beginning, there would
reflecting an admonition for proper conduct, derived have been no need for the great variety of later intepre-
from past experience. The person who had the capacity tations given by Qur'anic commentators. And yet
to derive benefit either from his own experience or TabarT's Tafsir lists the following meanings, some by
from the experience of others as distilled in their Tabari himself, others by earlier authorities: hikma is
pronouncements (maxims), and who could act accord- Prophetic practice (sunna), knowledge of the religion
ingly, was a hakim. A hakim was also the person who (al-ma'rifa bi-l-din, al-fiqh fl i-din), following the
could utter such pronouncements.32 In the Islamic religion (al-ittibd' li-l-din), comprehending the religion
period this meaning of hikma remained essentially (al-'aql fl i-din), something which God puts in the
unaltered, except for what I perceive to be a significant heart to illuminate it;37 it is prophethood (nubawa);38 it
change in the provenance of maxims: instead of (or is correct word and deed (al-isdbafl 1-qawil wa-lfi'l),
perhaps, concurrently with) experience, it is God and the Qur'an and its understanding, knowledge of the
his worship. A Prophetic tradition has it that Muham- religion (al- 'ilm bi-l-din), understanding (fahm), fear
mad said, "No man can devote himself exclusively to of God (ha'yat Allh);39 it is whatever God revealed to
the worship of God for forty days without the springs the prophets other than a recited book;40 it is the
of maxims (yandbT'u l-hikma) arising out of his heart revelation (wahy) of God;4' it is trustworthiness (or
and overwhelming his tongue."33 Al-Hasan al-Basr something committed to somebody's trust: amdna);42 it
(d. 110/728) is reported to have interpreted the is knowledge of the Prophetic traditions ( 'ilm
Qur'anic verse about Moses (28.14), "When he reached al-sunan).43 The early philologists al-Farrad (d. 207/
his full maturity we gave him judiciousness (hukm) and 822) gives yet another meaning (on the authority of
knowledge," as follows: "Whoever worships God well Mujahid) for hikma as it applies to David (38.20): it is
in his youth is granted hikma by God in his old age."34 the vision of God (Cuhad).44
In both these instances it is seen that worship leads to All these meanings are patently forced, as must have
hikma. Finally, the pre-Islamic hakim who maintains a been acknowledged as early as the third century A.H.
dignified silence, speaks only when necessary, and because Ibn Qutayba finds it appropriate to include
heeds or utters maxims based on experience is trans- hikma in his Tafsirgarib al-Qur'an where, echoing one
formed into a Muslim hakim who maintains a digni- of the traditions also preserved by Tabarl, he defines it
fied silence, speaks only when necessary, but is a as follows: ",hikma is knowledge and [corresponding]
storehouse of maxims based on the Qur'an. The action; no one can be called a haki'm unless he
second century A.H. hadit scholar 'Abdallah b. al- combines the two."45 In contradistinction, the word
Mubarak (d. 181/797) eulogizes the great Malik b. does not figure in Ibn Qutayba's Ta'wvil mu~kil
Anas in this way: al-Qur'dn, or, most important, in Abu 'cUbayda's
Ma/az al- Qur'dn,46 or, as mentioned earlier, in
Always silent when silence his people adorned, Zamahgarl's Asds al-balga, a dictionary of literal and
but constantly breaking new ground with virgin metaphorical meanings. The above evidence, together
and untried speech, with the previous discussion of the meaning of hikma as
He was the storehouse of every maxim stored in 'maxim.' thus presents a paradox: on the one hand, the
the Qur'an, literal meaning of the word (i.e., maxim), though well-

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 GUTAS: Arabic Wisdom Literature: Nature and Scope 53

known (it was not included among the muskil mujtanibu l-siba, "I saw that judiciousness counselled
al-Qur'an), was regarded as inappropriate to the me to leave youthful folly."50 Later, in early Islamic
Qur'anic usage, and the word was therefore interpreted
times, as a more abstract literal signification had to be
metaphorically: to this suggestion testify both the long
given to the Qur'anic hikma, the meaning of hukm as
list of interpretations given above and Ibn Qutayba's 'judiciousness' was transferred to hikma. In the inter-
acceptance of the word in his book on the uncommon pretation of Sura 28.14 quoted above (p. 52a), for
(*arfb) meanings in the Qur'an. On the other hand, example, it was seen that al-HIasan al-Basri substituted
however, the word was not included among those with hikma for the Qur'anic hukm. How this transferral
an unambiguous metaphorical (majdz) meaning, nor was grammatically possible is well illustrated by
was it given by the lexicographers a metaphorical defini- Tabari's "etymology" of hikma: "In my opinion,
tion apart from those taken from the tafsfr literature.47 [hikma] derives from hukm in the sense of 'separating
The paradox noted above implies that a sharp (fasl) the true from the false,' just as jilsa and qicda
distinction was made between the secular and religious [are derived] fromrjulus and qu'ucd. 01 In other words,
(Qur'anic) meanings of hikma, each presented as a hikma is seen to be a noun of kind (ismu l-naw'i) of the
reflection of the literal meaning of the word. The pattern fi'la, deriving from the masdar of the verb
secular literal meaning of hikma (maxim) was evi- hakama, hukm, and meaning 'a particular kind of
dently not acceptable Qur'anic usage, and accordingly judging,' that is, 'judging well,' and hence 'judicious-
another meaning, religious ('knowledge and practice of ness.' Hukm was accordingly deprived of this latter
Islam' = 'religious wisdom'), but also considered as meaning and left only (in this context) with the mean-
literal, was put forward; for, had the religious meaning
ing of 'judgment.' This is why the Arab commentator
been presented as metaphorical, literalists would have of al-Musayyab's verse just quoted had to interpret
still insisted that hikma in the Qur'an means 'maxims.' hukm, apparently no longer immediately understood
Now the early Muslim commentators on the Qur'an as 'judiciousness,' by 'aql, and also, very possibly, why
did not acknowledge the applicability of the meaning the variant reading hilm arose to replace hukm which
of 'maxim' to the Qur'anic use of hikma, apparently inwas felt not to fit the context.53
order to avoid according any authority to collections Despite the continous glossing over the literal mean-
of maxims. If God-as the argument in favor of ing of the Qur'anic hikma by lexicographers and
maxims would have run-grants worthy mortals col- exegetes alike, traces of the original meaning (maxim)
lections of maxims, which can be used, as discussed can still be found in their works. Most explicit is the
above, to guide proper conduct, then any collection of report given by al-Ragib al-Isfahan! about the inter-
established respectability, such as that of Luqman, pretation of 33.34 ("[Wives of the Prophet,] bear in
could be considered as God-given and hence equally mind the ayat of God and the hikma which are recited
authoritative with the Qur'an. In fact there are indica-in your houses"): "They [i.e. the dydt and the hikma]
tions that such arguments were used.48 The commen-are the knowledge of His verses and His maxims
tators accordingly had to gloss over the literal meaning (hikamihi)."'54 Tabari also, in one of his own inter-
of hikma and insist that, rather than to pagan pro- pretations, implies that the referent of hikma has the
nouncements on proper conduct, hikma literally re- form and content of maxims: "Hikma refers summarily
ferred to specifically Islamic concepts, like the tradition
to what is licit and illicit, to the commands and pro-
(sunna) of the Prophet, knowledge of Islam, and all the hibitions, to the rules of conduct (ahkdrm), and to the
other interpretations enumerated above. In this way promises and threats which God mentioned in the
they hoped, and mostly succeeded, to direct attention Book."55 This is very close to Ibn Durayd's definition
away from a potential rival to the Qur'an, the collec- of hikma (as given above p. 50a).
tions of maxims. With the above discussion in mind, we can now look
Another argument-though indirect-in favor of at the actual use of hikma in the Qur'an. It occurs
the original meaning of hikma as 'maxim' and of the there twenty times. In half of these, it is coupled with
later development of the meaning 'wisdom' is that in the word kitib, a book which was revealed to one of
pre-Islamic and Qur'anic Arabic the concept 'wisdom' the prophets.56 Horovitz has made an excellent case for
was adequately covered by the word hukm, which understanding hikma in this context as some part of
meant both 'judgment' and 'judiciousness.'49 A verse of
the revealed books;57 we can now assert that, in all
the pre-Islamic poet al-Musayyab b. cAlas provides probability, hikma refers to the section which contains
sufficient testimony to this: fa-ra'aytu anna l-hukma
maxims. In the remaining ten passages, however, the

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54 Journal of the American Oriental Society 101.1 (1981)

meaning of 'maxim' again fits the context much more
naturally and yields a better sense than 'wisdom':
a) Sara 17.29-39 consists of eight maxims (vv. 29, 31-
37; vv. 30 and 38 belong, respectively, with the imme-
diately preceding verse), followed by the explanatory
remark, "Those are some of the maxims (hikma) which
your lord signified58 to you," i.e. the eight maxims that
just preceded. That these maxims are called hikma is
further evident from 17.37, wa-da tamsi fl 1-ardi
preceding bajyindt: it is a clear pronouncement indica-
marahan, a saying repeated verbatim as one of the
maxims of Luqman in 31.18.
b) Precisely the same meaning is intended in 54.4-5:
"Announcements containing a deterrents8a came to
them [scil. those who deny God's signs]: maxims
sufficient [for this purpose], yet warnings are of no
avail." The words anbd' and nudzr in these verses
clearly indicate that hikma is a pronouncement con-
taining an announcement and a warning; 'wisdom'
yields very little sense in this context.59 Similarly, in
from a hakim; a Muslim "man of understanding" is he
33.34, "[Wives of the Prophet,] bear in mind the verses who can remember (and hence apply) the maxims
of God and the maxims which are recited in your
houses," hikma cannot be 'wisdom'; for surely one
cannot "recite"60 'wisdom,' an intellectual faculty.
c) A synonym for hikma is provided in 16.125: "Call
[the people] to the way of your Lord with maxims and
good exhortations (maw'iza); in your disputations
with them use those that are better [than all the
others]." Here hikma and maw'iza are closely related,
much as in the poem of Tarafa mentioned earlier
(n. 27). These maxims are to be used in orations, when
the Prophet is calling people to Islam, and in disputa-
tions, when he is arguing against his more contentious
opponents. That such maxims, when used in speeches
and orations, increase the effectiveness of the speaker
is apparent from 38.20: "We made his [David's] king-
dom strong and gave him [a book of?] maxims and the
ability to make speeches that decide the matter."
About a century after Muhammad, Wahb b. Munab-
bih, the editor of Luqman's sayings, would state this
use of maxims in explicit terms: "People inserted them
[i.e. Luqmdn's maxims] into their speech, made use of
them in their orations and letters, and associated their
eloquence with them."6' As to the maxims which
David received from God (repeated in 2.251: "God
gave him the kingdom and [a book of?] maxims'), it is
not clear to what extent these are to be identified with loan-words;68 there is also some evidence that might
the Zabur. The term Zabar is somewhat ambiguous in
the Qur'dan,62 but in any case, later tradition (starting borrowings, especially of such a general nature as the
at least as early as Whab b. Munabbih) knew of a
collection of sayings attributed to David (Qikmat
, ....., 63
d) In 31.12 God gives [a book of] maxims to
Luqman, followed by extracts from that collection
(vv. 13, 16-19); these verses sufficiently identify the
nature of the hikma given to Luqman. In 43.63 we
read, "When Jesus brought the clear statements
(bavyyindi), he said, 'I have brought you maxims and [I
have come] to make clear to you some of that about
which you differ."' Here hikma is explained by the
ting a way out of a confusing situation, much as in the
pre-Islamic passages discussed above.
e) Finally, Sura 2.269 provides a general statement
about maxims and the admonitions they contain:
"[God] gives maxims/admonitions to whomever He
wishes. Whoever is given maxims/admonitions is truly
given much good, but only those with understanding
remember." A pre-Islamic "man of understanding" is
he who can remember and apply the maxims he heard
revealed by God.64 One certainly cannot remember
abstract 'wisdom' but only specific sayings and ad-
monitions.
Hikma in the Qur'an, therefore, never seems to
mean 'wisdom' in the sense of an intellectual faculty; it
is not an abstract concept-hukm, in the sense of
judiciousness' apparently served that purpose-, but it
refers to something concrete and specific. It means
'maxims' and, when coupled with the word kitdb, it
means that part of a (revealed) book which contains
maxims [in the case of Luqman and even of David,
perhaps, it could be argued that it refers to a book of
maxims]. If hikma in the Qur'an has an abstract
meaning at all, then it must be 'admonition' in the
sense of the advice for conduct which these maxims
include, not 'wisdom.' How the meaning 'wisdom' for
hikma may have subsequently emerged from the ef-
forts of the Qur'dnic commentators,65 or possibly from
theological/doctrinal debates,66 or even from a prob-
able (re-?) entry of the Syriac hekmd into Arabic,67 is a
subject for another investigation.
Also outside the scope of the present paper lies a
discussion of the origins of hikma in pre-Islamic
Arabic. It has been maintained, with some docu-
mentation, that hikma and hakim are Aramaic
conceivably point to a South Arabian origin.69 Cultural
referents of hikma and hakim, are as a rule difficult to
establish incontrovertibly; and when the evidence, as in
the case of hikma and hakim, is by its very nature

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 GUTAS: Arabic Wisdom Literature: Nature and Scope 55

circumstantial and indirect, then the difficulty may be
insurmountable. In all such investigations of origins
the first step should be to establish, to the extent
allowed by the sources, the meaning of a term in
context in a given language or culture. This section
constitutes a preliminary attempt in that direction.
III. THE AGE OF WRITTEN WISDOM LITERATURE IN
ARABIC.
The question of the beginnings of written wisdom
literature among the Arabs is inextricably linked with
that of the extent of their literacy in pre- and early
Islamic times in general,70 and with that of the tradi-
tion of Luqman's maxims among them in particular.
From the available evidence--which must necessarily
come from Islamic sources unless or until archaeo-
logical discoveries provide independent documentation
-it is possible to state the problem as follows: if
written documents (books, scrolls, etc.) of secular"
have been nothing extraordinary in itself.
prose" in Arabic existed prior to the rise of Muham-
2. The practice of employing scribes for this purpose
mad, then more likely than not they were books of
wisdom literature,73 which, in turn, were more likely
than not ascribed to Luqman. Some of the pertinent
evidence bears reexamination and, to a certain degree,
reevaluation.
1. Both books and the act of writing itself were
familiar to the Arabs of the H ijaz at the time of
Muhammad.
a) The Qur'an uses no less than six words to
designate a written document in general (kitab, lawh,
raqq, qirtds, sahifa, ustura [?]), and at least four words
to refer to specific kinds of books (tawrdt, injil, zabiur,In a recension of this poem, there follow two more
hikma [or hukm?]).74
b) Acts of writing are referred to casually in the
Qur-an in connection with everyday activities: Sara
2.282 (contracts for debts), 24.33 (deeds of manumis-
sion). People who copy (religious suhuf) by profession
are the safara (80.15), and it is apparently accepted
practice to employ such scribes for one's personal use.
In 25.5 we read: "They [i.e. those who disbelieve] say:
'[The Qur'an is nothing else but] tales (asdtir)75 of the
ancients which he [i.e. Muhammad] has had copied
for himself (iktatabahd)76 and which are recited to him
(tumid 'alayhi; cf. note 60) morning and evening."'
This verse is doubly significant: not only does it place
beyond a reasonable doubt the later reports that
Muhammad employed secretaries,77 but it also reflects
a conception that must have been common among his
pagan contemporaries,78 namely, that a scribe could be
employed not only in business (debt contracts) and
private (manumission deeds) transactions, but also in
connection with recording essentially literary material
transmitted in the tradition of the society (asdtir al-
awwalin).
c) This assertion is further corroborated by a
report in Ibn Hisam, according to which not only
Muhammad but other Meccans also were in the habit
of commissioning the writing of the "tales of the
ancients." Al-Nadr b. al-Harit, the minstrel and 'rival'
of Muhammad, is reported to have said, "By God,
Muhammad does not tell better stories than I do-his
stories are nothing else but tales of the ancients which
he has had copied for himself just as I have had them
copied for myself."79
In the eyes of the Meccans, therefore, the fact that
Muhammad had a portion of the Qur'an recorded in
writing was quite typical of what people occasionally
did when they wished to have stories of the ancients
recorded. Writing down Luqman's sayings would thus
may perhaps be documented for the Jdhilivi'va also.
Quite some time ago Goldziher drew attention to the
following verses of the Hudall poet Ma'qil b. Huway-
lid, an older contemporary of Muhammad:
As he who dictates the writing on parchment
while the scribe writes, says,
The calm witness who is present sees
what he who is absent cannot see."80
verses, also containing wisdom sayings.8' This led
Goldziher to conclude that "this is an important proof
for the fact that wise sayings were noted down even in
the most ancient days."82 Bloch (1954:222-3), however,
took exception to this interpretation of Ma'qil's poem.
He pointed out that the last two verses of the poem
(not quoted above) do not really belong there. As for
the saying, "The calm witness, etc.," he maintained,
citing Tabari (Ta'rll II.i.401), that it was often used in
correspondence as an excuse when the author of the
letter failed to achieve the results which the addressee
had originally desired. The first verse quoted above,
therefore, does not, according to Bloch, refer to dic-
tating wisdom literature which a scribe would write
down, but to dictating letters.
Bloch's objection is compelling, but Goldziher's
position now finds new support from a passage in Ibn
Qutayba's I U'n. This passage consists of a lengthy

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 56 Journal of the American Oriental Society 101.1 (1981)

quotation from Wahb b. Munabbih's book on Luq- younger contemporary of Buhdri, Ibn Abi l-Dunya
man," in which Luqman advises his son about trav-
(d. 281/ 894). With an isndd going back also to 'Imran
eling. The last sentences read as follows: "If you see a b. Husayn, this version reads as follows: "The Prophet
single person [when you are traveling] do not ask him said, 'Modesty is entirely good.' Somebody said, 'It is
about the way, for it is the single person in the desert partly weakness (dIucf) and partly impotence ('ajz).'
that can give you wrong directions. But also beware of clmran said, 'I am telling you about the Messenger of
two people, unless you see something I don't: for the God, and you are telling me about scrolls (suhuf)!"'88
witness sees what he who is absent cannot see, and The main difference between this version and the one
when the person endowed with reason sees something given by Buhari is that the words 'weakness' and
with his own two eyes, he knows the truth in his 'impotence' replace 'gravity' (waqadr) and 'imperturb-
heart."84 The saying, "The witness sees what he who is ability' (saklna). The purpose of this substitution is
absent cannot see," therefore, is part of the wisdom obvious: to denigrate wisdom literature preserved in
literature ascribed to Luqman and not simply an 'scrolls.' Buhari's version should therefore be con-
independent proverb. In fact, the saying fits the con- sidered original and Ibn Ab! 1-Dunya's derivative, for
text in which it is quoted by Wahb so well that it might were the reverse the case, the two parts of the story
even be assumed that Ma'qil b. Huwaylid was indeed would work at cross purposes: the substitution of
referring to this passage in his poem. Be that as it may,
'gravity' and 'imperturbability' for 'weakness' and 'im-
however, Goldziher's interpretation of Ma'qil's verses potence' would make the maxim say essentially the
now seems at least as probable as, if not more so than same thing as the Prophetic saying and therefore lend
that of Bloch. respectability to wisdom literature, while CImrdn's
3. A case was made above (Section II) that hikma in reply would discredit it. If this story, then, as reported
the Qur'an means that part of the books revealed by by Buhari, is authentic, the existence of suhuf con-
God which contains maxims. If this is so, and the taining maxims in Muhammad's time becomes more
books of maxims given to the other prophets were in difficult to deny.
the language of those prophets, then the book of In this connection it is worth noting that the conflict
maxims given to Luqman and quoted in the Qur'an implied above between hadlot and written wisdom
must have been in Arabic. literature seems to be related, both substantially and
4. Goldziher has referred to a number of passages in temporally, with the controversy about the permis-
early Islamic literature which indicate that books sibility of writing down hadit.89 The dating of the latter
containing maxims in Arabic were in circulation at controversy is precisely the question. The traditional
least as early as the time of the Prophet.85 The most reckoning would place it in the second half of the first
telling of these may be reviewed here. century A.H., during the time of Said b. Jubayr (45-
a) Mucawiya asks his courtier, Habib b. Maslama 95/665-714), a protagonist in this controversy and
al-Fihri, to write down a saying which Mu'awiya had undoubtedly one of the founders of the Islamic
heard from 'Ad! b. Hatim because, he says, "it is a sciences.90 Ibn Sa'd's contradictory reports about
maxim (hikmna)."86 Mu'awiya's request here is per- Sacid's attitude toward recording had4t in writing are
fectly consonant with the earlier practice, mentioned indicative: ";Sacid said: 'Sometimes I would go to Ibn
above, of recording in writing maxims worthy of 'Abbas and write down [hadit] in my sahifa until it was
preservation. full...."' "AbO 'Asim al-Nabil reports on the authority
b) At least two early reports mention books of of 'Abdallah b. Muslim b. Hurmuz who said that Sacid
wisdom sayings competing with the Qur'an and the b. Jubayr used to have an aversion to writing down
hadc't in Muhammad's time. hadit."9' The use of the word sahtfa in this connection
i) In the hadit quoted at the beginning of this is significant. It seems that an aura of authority
study Bugayr b. Kacb cites from a written collection of enveloped material recorded in suhuf,92 which would
maxims (maktubunfl l-hikma). In this form, the story account for the disinclination to record hadit-lest it
is found in Buhari (d. 256/870), Muslim (d. 261/875), jeopardize the position of the Qurdan-and for the
and Ibn Hanbal (d. 241/855); it was therefore in polemics against wisdom literature recorded in suhuf-
circulation no later than the end of the second century lest it be considered more authoritative than the say-
A.H.87 The danger of tracing such reports furtherings backof the Prophet, or indeed, the wisdom sayings
is well-known;87a in this particular case, however, an
included in the Qur'an. Seen in the wider context of
argument can be made in favor of its authenticity. A the existence of written wisdom literature in the first
variant version of the same story is also reported by the century A.H., the traditional dating of the controversy

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 GUTAS: Arabic Wisdom Literature: Nature and Scope 57
about the recording of hadit thus becomes more
probable.
ii) Ibn Higam relates from Ibn Ishaq (d. 151/
768) that an Aws1 kdmil, Suwayd b. Samit, initially
refused to accept Muhammad's call to Islam because
he claimed to have a book which he thought was
better, the Majallat Luqmdn.Y If not authentic, this
report, which could not have originated after the
middle of the second century A.H., should be evaluated
in the light of the controversy between religious texts
(Qur'an, hadit) and wisdom texts discussed in the
preceding paragraph. On the other hand, because the
very presence of Luqman's maxims in the Qur'an
serves to preempt just such an elevation of his wisdom
book into something venerated (viz. by incorporating
parts of the wisdom book of Luqman, the Qur'an
precluded its independent rise to preeminence94), this
report appears much more credible.95
The rivalry implied here between wisdom texts and
the Qur'an occupied a prominent place in the forma-
tion of an orthodox position regarding the status,
authority, and 'inimitability' of the latter. Indicative of
this is the fact that the argument between the de-
tractors and the defenders of the Qur'an often re-
volved around a comparison between it and wisdom
literature. The theologian al-Baqillanl counters the
alleged attempts of Ibn al-Muqaffa', the acknowl-
edged master of adab, to imitate the Qur'an with the
statement that the latter's al-Durra al-yatima (al-Adab
al-kabir) is nothing but "transmitted maxims which
can be found among the sages of any civilized na-
tion."96 Even more telling is the objection to the
Qur'an by Ibn al-Rawandi, the 'heretic': "We find
among the sayings (kaldm) of Aktam b. Sayf! better
things than, 'We have given you the Spring of Paradise
(Kawtar)' [Qur'an 108.1]."97 Aktam is, of course, one
of the great hukamd' al-cArab, renowned for his
maxims.98
To recapitulate: during the time of Muhammad and
immediately before him, writing was used in the Hijaz
not only for commercial and private transactions, but
also for recording material that today would be char-
acterized as literary. Professional scribes employed for
this purpose took down what was dictated to them and
read it out loud when called upon to do so. This
material consisted mainly of pious admonitions and
maxims considered useful in providing proper guid-
ance for personal conduct-which seems to have been
the reason why it was recorded. A large part of this
material, written in Arabic, was ascribed to the leg-
endary sage of the Arabs, Luqman, and commanded
considerable respect. The Qur'an, in competition with
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previously revealed scriptures, set itself apart by point-
ing out that it was a revelation in Arabic; and in order
to avoid competition with Arabic wisdom texts and
especially the Arabic Luqman material, simply in-
corporated parts of it and thereby transferred to itself
the respect accorded to wisdom texts. A perception of
the potential of written wisdom material to challenge
the authority of the Qur'an-a challenge that was, in
fact, leveled at it-seems on the one hand to have
played a role in inhibiting the recording of hadit in the
first century A.H., and on the other to have become
instrumental in the development of the theory of the
inimitability of the Qur'an in subsequent centuries.
IV. THE SOURCES OF CLASSICAL ARABIC WISDOM LIT-
ERATURE.
A. LUQMAN. However the problem of written
literary documents in pre-Islamic Arabia is resolved,
the fact remains that Luqman was known in the
JdhilKvya as a sage of great antiquity under whose
name a considerable number of maxims was in circula-
tion in Arabic.99 We do not know the extent of this pre-
Islamic Luqman material, nor can we easily distinguish
in the wealth of later material-the few sayings ascribed
to Luqman in the Qur'an excepted-what is genuinely
pre-Islamic from what was later adapted, assimilated,
fabricated, or even translated from the available
sources. There seems to be little doubt, however, that
both the tenor and the content of the pre-Islamic
Luqman material derived from the pool of wisdom
literature in Semitic languages, transmitted in the
biblical, apocryphal, and Ahiqar traditions.'00 Perhaps
this is what, more than anything else, the Qur'anic
verse (31.12) signifies: "Indeed, We gave Luqman [the
book of] maxims." By associating Luqman in this
fashion with the other prophets in the biblical tradition
to whom books were given by God, the Qur'an also
points to the source of these sayings: the same biblical
tradition with all its accretions from related Semitic
wisdom material.
The six verses in the Qur'an where Luqman and his
sayings are quoted (31.12-3, 16-9)'?' established Luq-
man once for all as the hakim par excellence in Islamic
tradition.'02 The prominent position accorded to him
in the Qur'an aroused early interest in his person and
his sayings. Accordingly, it was a first century A.H.
scholar, Wahb b. Munabbih (d. 110/728 or 114/732),
who first collected and published the material on
Luqman.'03 In Ibn Qutayba's K. al-Ma'drif, Wahb is
reported to have said that he had read approximately
ten thousand babs of Luqman's hikma.'04 The number
58 Journal of the American Oriental Society 101.1 (1981)
is difficult to interpret. If bdb means here 'chapter'
('Abschnitt' GAS 1.307; 'Kapitel' Khoury [1972: 207];
'chapitres (?)' Lecomte [1965: 208]), then the number is
clearly exaggerated. If it means 'topics,' and to each
topic corresponded a single saying, or if bdb simply
means 'item,' then the figure becomes more probable.
In any case, the significance of the report lies in Wahb's
claim to have found a large number of sayings attri-
buted to Luqman in a written form (qara'tu) in the
first century A.H.
Wahb made his own collections presumably from
this material. Arabic sources ascribe to him various
books on wisdom literature: Hikmat (or Kitdb Zabar)
Ddwad, Hikmat Wahb, Hikmat Luqmdn, Maw'izat
Wahb.'05 These, however, seem to be parts of a single
book rather than separate books: the bibliographer Ibn
Hayr specifically says that the Ilikmat Wahb com-
prised four parts.106 Another book by Wahb, his Kitdb
al-Mubtada' wa-qisas al-anbiyd', also contained a
selection of Luqman's sayings in the chapter devoted to
him.'07 The extent to which the contents of the two
books overlapped, or the specific book from which
quotations were drawn by later authors is unknown at
the present.
Wahb b. Munabbih represents the culmination of a
long process of assimilation and reproduction in Ara-
bic of Semitic wisdom material ascribed to Luqman.
The appropriation of this material in Arabic took place
through oral transmission,'08 and it never assumed the
form of a translation, however free, from the original
sources, the claims that Wahb was a polyglot notwith-
standing.'09 The precise wording in which Wahb cast
this material must be considered to bear to the original
form of these sayings, whatever the mother language,
the same relation as Wahb's "quotations" from David's
Zabtr bear to the Hebrew of the Psalms."0 Wahb's
written collections gave this material a fixed form, and
in this form it became known to subsequent generations
of Muslim scholars. Much of what Wahb collected
from Luqman's sayings is extant in the fragments
preserved in later literature."'
With the advent of the third/ninth century and the
age of translations, we witness a second stage in the
influx into Arabic of wisdom material attributed to
Luqman. The details of the origin and development of
this stage have yet to be studied, but there is little
doubt that this time it was Christians and not Muslims
who attributed features of Aesop (particularly his
blackness) to Luqman, and who attributed to him
sayings from the Ahiqar tradition. The starting point
in this stage is again provided, as in most of the
translated gnomic literature, by Ijunayn b. Ishaq's
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Nawddir al-falsifa, where we find a section devoted to
Luqman's sayings (about 36 sayings)."2 No study has
so far been made of the sources of these sayings; it
would be interesting to determine whether Hunayn
used any of the Wahb b. Munabbih material. It seems,
however, that he did not, and that his sources are
rather the Syriac Ahiqar and related traditions."3 This
is clearly supported by the later, and final, form which
the Luqman material assumed in the second stage of its
development. Al-Mubaggir b. Fatik's Muhtdr al-hikam,
written in 440/1048-9, contains a very full section on
Luqman (pp. 260-277. 1 ), '14 with various reports on
his origins and his exhortations to his son. The name of
the son is given in the MSS as B'r'n''5 and T'r 'n, 116
which is nothing but the name of Ahlqar's nephew
Nadan. "7
Al-Mubaggir's section on Luqman is apparently a
hodgepodge of all the material then available to him.
Future research will have to isolate the different strands
that went into its making. What is striking, however, is
that it also contains some of the Qur'anic sayings of
Luqman without any of the usual pious formulae
preceding and succeeding Qur'anic quotations in Mus-
lim literature. We thus read on page 264.8: " Wa-ruwiya
[sic!] anna Luqmdna qdla li-bnihi. mur bi-l-macrnfi
wa-nha 'ani 1-munkari wa-sbir 'ala md asdbaka,"
which is a verbatim quotation of Sara 31.17.1 1 8
There seems to be little doubt about the Christian
provenance of at least this segment of Mubaffir's
chapter on Luqman.
A small work transmitted in the MS tradition in-
dependently of Mubaggir, but consisting of a different
recension of essentially the same material, is preserved
in certain MSS, also of Christian provenance, under the
title AhbOr Luqmdn al-hakim wa-&ddbuhu."9 A prob-
lem that needs solving in this connection is to deter-
mine whether the AObir Luqmdn was initially extracted
from the text of Mubassir or whether it reflects an
original collection also used by Mubassir.
B. A R A B I C S O U R C E S. If Luqman is the best known
pre-Islamic sage whose sayings were in wide circulation
in Arabic both during the Jdhiliyya and afterwards, he
is by no means the only one. Later sources have
preserved a wealth of material attributed to prominent
pre-Islamic Arabs: tribal chiefs (sdda), arbitrators
(hukkdm),'20 men famed for their longevity (mu'am-
marin),'2' poets, and other individuals'22 cherished in
the collective social memory of the Arabs. With the
advent of Islam, the list of those whose sayings proved
memorable was expanded to include people in all
walks of life, from the Prophet and his Companions to
 GUTAS: Arabic Wisdom Literature: Nature and Scope 59

caliphs and viziers, to qddis and religious personalities, modest size of these collections into volumes con-
to poets and scholars, to jesters'23 and the riffraff.l23a taining not only proverbs of the early Arabs, but
The sayings of these individuals permeated the entire sayings of all sorts, even those of foreign origin. Al-
range of Arabic literature, which has therefore to be Maydani's (d. 518/1124) comprehensive collection,
combed in every instance for source material. Of Ma/ma' al-amtdl, represents the culmination of these
certain genres, however, they constituted an integral
tendencies. '38
part, and it is thus in this context that the source Biography. Early biographical works, such as Ibn
material of Arabic wisdom literature can most fruit- Sa'd's Tabaqdt, as a rule contain gnomic material
fully and concisely be discussed. interspersed with the discrete biographical reports on
Poetry. Maxims and proverbs formed a significant each individual they cover. Later biographies, on the
component of Arabic poetry from the earliest times other hand, such as Bayhaqi's (d. 565/ 1169-70) Ta'rih
onward. 124 Gnomic material was incorporated into al-hukamd'/ Tatimmat Siwdn al-hikma, or Nawawi's
longer poems with varying degrees of appositeness: (d. 676/1278) Tahdlb al-asmd', tend to contain sepa-
Bloch gives examples from pre-Islamic poetry in which rate sections devoted exclusively to the hikam and the
sayings are either quoted incidentally, or belong inte- nawddir of the person concerned.'39 The distinction
grally to the poem, or constitute its major part.'25 may be no more than one of convention; due partly
Although some such sayings were presumably coined perhaps to the influence of such works as the 4th/ 10th
by the poet for a particular occasion,'26 others, perhaps century Siwdn al-hikma,'40 which contained brief biog-
the majority, circulated in prose and were altered raphies of Greek philosophers followed by their say-
slightly by the poet to conform to the meter of the ings, some subsequent Arabic biographies adopted the
poem.'2 Arab philologists were well aware of such practice of grouping the biographical notices and the
versifications of prose maxims: al-Mubarrad expressly sayings separately. In both cases, however, biographies
says that the poet Abf l-'Atahiya found sayings in remain a major source for the sayings of eminent
prose which he changed into verse. 128 In other in- Muslims throughout the ages.
stances an anthologist, such as Ibn Hinduf, would give Adab. The genre of Arabic literature which com-
his own poetic version of a saying he had just quoted,'29bined poetry and proverbs, maxims and anecdotes,
or a poet, such as al-Mutanabbi', would deliber- and sayings of all sorts by all kinds of different people
ately set to verse a collection of sayings, saying by to form edificatory and entertaining anthologies is
saying.'30 Independent verses of gnomic poetry, and adab literature.'4' These anthologies constitute the
especially hemistichs, also gained immense currency, single most comprehensive source for sayings by Arabs
and were, indeed , considered the equivalent of prose and non-Arabs alike.
maxims;'3' they were almost invariably included in Adab collections are either general or specialized,
collections of poetry and in general adab works,'32 depending on the nature of both the audience for
and were collected independently in anthologies en- whose edification and entertainment they were in-
titled al-Abydt al-s'ira. 33 tended and the sources from which they were compiled.
Proverb Literature. Proverbs (amtdl) comprise a General collections, like Ibn Qutayba's 'Uyrln al-aibdr
significant part of Arabic wisdom literature, a part and Ibn 'Abd Rabbihi's al-'Iqd al-farid (to mention
well-defined and studied both by the Arabs themselves perhaps the two most famous ones)'42 are veritable
and modern scholarship.'34 The initial interest of Arab treasure troves of gnomic material culled from all
philologists in compiling collections of proverbs was, sources and addressed to all literate Arabs.'43 Spe-
as in the case of collections of anecdotes (nawddir),'35 a
cialized collections, on the other hand, which are
parallel field of endeavor, largely lexicographical and addressed to a specific audience, draw from sources on
grammatical; it was, however, also ethnographical and a specific subject, or belong to a specific intellectual or
historical. In connection with their interest in the sectarian tradition within Arabic/Islamic civilization.
ayydm al-'Arab, the philologists frequently searched Identifying and describing the different categories of
for aetiological stories (Amtdl-Geschichte)'36 that specialized adab collections as well as providing biblio-
would identify the person connected with a proverb or graphical surveys for each one are mostly tasks for the
explain the allusions it contained.'37 Compilations of future.'44 Here only a synopsis can be offered.
proverbs began early in the Umayyad period and Addressed to Islamic rulers was a special sub-genre
continued apace throughout the centuries. In time, of adab literature, found also in many other literary
however, the scholarly tendency toward comprehen- traditions. The [1] 'Mirrors for Princes' were intended
siveness predominated, and it inflated the originally to provide counsel to rulers, and were essentially, in

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60 Journal of the American Oriental Society 101.1 (1981)

the Islamic tradition, compilations of anecdotes and al-mu'minfn by al-Mufaddal b. 'Umar al-Ju'f i and re-
maxims by Greek, Persian, and Arab sages and cently published by Tamer (1957).62
kings.'45 Closely related to the 'Mirror for Princes' [11] Suff literature is by its very nature replete with
were adab collections intended for government admin- maxims and anecdotes: terse and often paradoxical
istrators: [2] for viziers, such as Jahsiyari's Kitdb sayings are the major means of communication of Sfif!
al-wuzard', [3] for qadis, such as al-Mawardi's Adab ideas. As early as the beginning of the second century
al-Qddi, and for secretaries (kuttwb). For the benefit of A.H., the sayings of al-Hasan al-Basri gave impetus to a
this latter class there were compiled [4] general hand- more introspective, ascetic, and pious way of life;163 in
books bearing the title dddb al-kuttmb,146 and [5]
the following century, the ecstatic sayings (satahdt) of
specialized handbooks on writing and calligraphy.147 Abh Yazld al-Bistami paved the way for al-Hallaj,'64
A number of specialized adab collections dealt with while another eminent Shfi, Sahl al-Tustari (d. 283/
one subject only. Among the subjects whose treatment 896), composed a Risdla fl 1-hikam wa-l-tasawwtf.'65
developed into an independent tradition in Arabic A particularly popular ShfU collection of aphorisms,
adab, the following may be mentioned here: [6] the though, has been the Hikam of the ~adill Ibn 'Atad'allah
noble qualities of character (makdrim al-ahldq),'48 [7] (d. 709/1309). It gave rise to numerous commentaries,
'profane' love,'49 and [8] humor and jokes.'50 and was recently translated into English.'66
Specialized adab collections were also compiled [12] Collections containing philosophical maxims
within certain intellectual or sectarian traditions. To mostly drew upon non-Arabic, especially Greek,
the [9] literary tradition proper belong such works as sources. These will be discussed in the following
the Kitdb al-dddb of Ibn al-Mu'tazzll5 and the al-Ic /z section.
ft l-1/dz of al-Ta'alibi,ls2 which differ from the general
collections in that they were compiled for strictly C. FOREIGN SOURCES. Foreign sayings passed into
literary and literary critical purposes, respectively. The Arabic either through oral or written transmission.
work of Ibn al-Mu'tazz appears to be an elegant Oral transmission, whether in the Jdhiliyvla or the
retelling of sayings from various sources 15 in Islamic
a highly
periods, presents grave problems both of anal-
polished style,154 while that of al-Ta'alibi is a source-
ysis and documentation. With regard to oral transmis-
book of sayings illustrating the brevity and inimi- sion in the Jdhiliyya, the pool of available gnomic
tability of Qur'anic style, the different kinds of material in pre-Islamic poetry may be too narrow to be
rhetorical figures (tasbih, tamattul, isti'dra, mutdbaqa, counted as a representative sample from which valid
ta/nis) used in the sayings of the Prophet, and the general conclusions about transmission may be drawn;
different kinds of sayings (latifa, badica, zarifa) of men our knowledge of pre-Islamic Arab society may be too
of letters in general.'55 fragmentary to allow for the criterion of 'social charac-
[10] In the Sj'j tradition, the anthologies of 'All's teristics' in determining the origin of maxims to be
sayings occupy a prominent place. A small collection applicable; and the possibility of polygenesis may be
of one hundred sayings of 'Ali, ascribed to Jahiz,'56 too real to permit any degree of acceptable certainty in
was in circulation from an early time."' It was later establishing direct affiliation. The most that could be
expanded by al-Amidi (d. ca. 550/1155) to form the accomplished would be to indicate the possibility of
celebrated Curar al-hikam, which in turn provided the transmission in the case of certain individual sayings. 167
basis for subsequent larger compilations and com- As for oral transmission during the Islamic period, the
mentaries.'58 The fundamental source for 'All's say- problems connected with it are equally intractable,
ings, however, remains the Nahj albbaldka by al-Sarif even if they are of a different nature. Foreign gnomic
al-Rad. (d. 969-70/1016)'15 and the series of com- material was introduced into Arabic by the assimila-
mentaries it occasioned. 60 The relationship of the tion into the Arabic mainstream of individuals from
various collections of 'All's sayings to each other and the most diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds
to the NaIj, as well as the authenticity of these sayings,
who learned to express themselves in the new lingua
are issues that are still to be examined.'6' franca of the Middle East, Arabic. This transmission,
In addition to 'All, SiC' tradition has preserved and effected, as it were, by the physical transference of
transmitted sayings attributed to the Imams and other individuals into Arabic/ Islamic culture, is hard to
eminent Si1s. Special mention should be made here of document on a general scale, and may only be indi-
the hikam of Ja'far al-Sadiq, who was perhaps one of cated, again, in specific cases and with specific sayings.
the most beloved and revered Imams. These were Written transmission of sayings from non-Arabic
extracted from a work of his entitled Majdlis sources, on the other hand, is both attested to in the

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 GUTAS: Arabic Wisdom Literature: Nature and Scope 61

Arabic tradition itself and independently subject to
documentation. There are four cultures from which
gnomic material was translated into Arabic: Greek,
Persian, Indian, and Syriac.'68 The details of transmis-
sion and the matter transmitted from these languages
into Arabic, however, have been scarcely examined
and much remains to be done.
1. The bulk of the foreign gnomic material translated
into Arabic was Greek. This Greek material can be
classified into two distinct groups on the basis of its
provenance and subject matter. The first contains
primarily material of a political nature associated with
the literature of 'Mirror for Princes.' Its sources are
6th-7th century A.D. Byzantine manuals on administra-
tion and warfare. This material, with accretions from
older Greek (Classical, Hellenistic, and Hermetic) po-
litical writings and from Sasanian (and Indian?)
sources, was translated, adopted, and adapted under
the supervision of Salim Abfi l-'Ala', the secretary of
the Umayyad caliph Higim b. 'Abd al-Malik (regn.
724-743 A.D.), to form a 'romance cycle' of correspon-
dence between Aristotle and Alexander.'69 The transla-
tion activity associated with this cycle thus represents
the last vestiges of the direct influence of Byzantine
administrative tradition upon Umayyad bureaucracy,
and is qualitatively distinct from the later translations
made by intellectuals (physicians, scientists, and phi-
losophers).'70 The material translated during this period
was incorporated in most subsequent Arabic gno-
mologia and had a pervasive influence on all political
adab.
The second-and larger-group of Greek (both
pagan and Christian) gnomic material translated into
Arabic can be broadly characterized as ethical and had
its sources in the numerous gnomologia compiled
throughout the centuries in the Greek-speaking
world.'7' This material was for the most part translated
from the Greek'72 by Hunayn b. IshIq and other mem-
bers of his school in the 3rd /9th century.'73 It forms the
bulk of the four most comprehensive Arabic collections
of Greek sayings: Hunayn's Nawddir al-faldsifa, the
Siwan al-hikma,'74 Ibn Hindfu's al-Kalim al-rahdniyya,
and Mubaggir b. FRtik's Muhtdr al-hikam.'75 The
Greek sayings thus incorporated into Arabic literature
have had a profound and lasting influence on most
aspects of Arabic culture.'76
2. The Persian gnomic material translated into
Arabic derived from the Pahlavi literature: from ethi-
cal writings such as the andarz (teachings/testaments)
and the pandndmag (book of counsels) and from Arabic falls into three categories: a) biblical,'89
political/ administrative writings such as the kdrndmag
b) Greek,'90 c) relating to Ahiqar.'9' Whether any
(book of royal deeds) and the dyin (regulations for
government administration).177 This material passed
into Arabic in translations made predominantly in the
second and third centuries A.H. by Muslims of Persian
descent in high official positions, prominent among
whom was Ibn al-Muqaffa'.'78 The purpose of these
translations was, as in the case of the Greek 'cycle of
epistolary romances,' mostly practical: the material
translated was intended to provide guidance in govern-
ment administration as well as advice, in the form of
the 'Mirror for Princes,' to Muslim rulers. It was also,
in view of the ?u 'cbiyya movement, "a kind of cultural
propaganda. "',79
The gnomic Pahlavi literature translated into Arabic
still lacks a comprehensive treatment. An idea of what
is available in Arabic can be gained by a brief look at
the contents of Miskawayh's Addb al-'Arab wa-l-Furs
and the Istanbul MS Koprulu 1608. Miskawayh pref-
aces his collection by citing in full a wisdom text
entitled Javiddn Hirad (eternal wisdom) and attrib-
uted to the ancient Peshdadian king H69ang.'80 There
follows a section on the dddb al-Furs which includes:
the exhortations (mawfiiz) of Adarbad; the precepts
(dddb) of Buzurjmihr; 181 the maxims (hikam) of Kisrd
Qubad; the maxims of Kisra Anfigirwan; the maxims
of Bahman the King; then follow sayings by anony-
mous Persian sages. The section of MS Kdprulu 1608
containing Persian wisdom material was edited and
translated by Grignaschi, 1966.182 It includes the fol-
lowing: the testament ('ahd) of Ardagir; 83 the regula-
tions (ryin) of Ardagir; the Kitib al-tdj by Ibn
al-Muqaffa';184 various sayings of Persian kings.185
3. Direct translations of gnomic material from San-
skrit into Arabic were limited, although through the
intermediary of Pahlavi considerable material of a
'Mirror for Princes' nature penetrated into Arabic.'86
What few Sanskrit sayings were translated directly into
Arabic seem to have made the transition in connection
with medical literature, and they are, indeed, attributed
to Indian physicians.187
Arabic gnomologia quote an occasional saying as-
cribed to Indian sages; but the longest continuous
section of maxims attributed to Indians is that by
Miskawayh in his Addb al-'Arab wa-i-Furs (pp. 91-
100). This section consists of sayings enumerating
kinds of people with specific qualities. Because of their
form, these sayings are in all probability of Indian
origin, though a detailed study of these and other
Indian maxims is still needed.
4. Wisdom material translated from Syriac into
gnomic material originally composed in Syriac was

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62 Journal of the American Oriental Society 101.1 (1981)

translated into Arabic has not been investigated yet. It
appears, however, that the role of Syriac in the trans-
mission of wisdom literature into Arabic was largely
intermediary.
V. CLASSICAL ARABIC WISDOM LITERATURE AS A LITERARY
GENRE.
A. THE PLACE OF WISDOM LITERATURE IN THE
CLASSIFICATION OF LITERARY GENRES. Thedevel-
opment and extent of Arab literary theory are still
insufficiently known. Essential texts have yet to be
published, reliable comprehensive histories of the field
are practically non-existent, and monographs on indi-
vidual subjects are all too few.'92 It is therefore quite (maw 'iza) and maxims (hikma).199 Later theory devel-
premature, at this stage, to attempt to enumerate-
much less to assess the Arab theoretical discussions
of hikma as a literary genre. 92a To initiate future
research, however, some general considerations may be
stated here.
With regard to the categorization of literary genres,
Arab literary criticism seems to have developed along
two lines, not always separate, which I would tenta-
tively call horizontal and vertical. The former tended
to categorize literary products primarily according to
theme, while the latter would use the form of the
literary product as its criterion.193 Of these two, it was
the horizontal, that is, the thematic, approach that was
most intensely cultivated, and especially the thematic
categorization of poetry,194 although prose was also so
categorized. 95 The vertical, or formal, categorization,
seems to have been more implicit than explicit in the
minds and writings of the Arab literary critics. It
reflected the feeling that somehow a literary product
could be appreciated (in the literal sense of the term),
and therefore graded, on a descending scale of value,
according to its formal proximity or distance from that
consummate form of expression, a verse of metric
poetry (excluding rajaz). There was accordingly a loose
hierarchy of forms established more by consensus than
by theoretical argumentation. These forms descended
from strictly metric poetry (Qi'r), through loosely
quently attention was first directed to maxims in
metric poetry (rajaz), through rhymed prose (saj'),
through balanced prose (matal), to plain prose (natr),
with additional grades in the scale added by individual
critics.196 To these two lines of approach one might
perhaps add, as a third dimension of the process of
categorization, and running through the first two, the
classification of the figures of speech.'97 The Qur'Dn,p. 50b, 'Some poetry is hikma,' which on the one hand
of course, was considered sui generis, and was accord-
ingly allotted a category all its own, comprising all the
other categories.'98
Within these modes of categorization, maxims
(hikma) were classified, horizontally, as one of the
themes of poetry, and vertically, as one of the forms of
literary (or artful) prose. Theoretical discussions of
literary genres appear to have taken early the thematic
(horizontal) approach, and it was through discussions
along these lines that hikma emerged, as early as the
second century A.H., as one of the themes of poetry.
The famous philologist Abfi Muhammad al-Yazidi
(d. 202/817-8), while discussing the kinds of (reli-
giously) acceptable and reprehensible poetry, inciden-
tally differentiates among them on the basis of theme:
he would listen, he says, to no hi/d, while he himself
composed only poetry containing pious admonitions
oped on the basis of such discussions, and the classical
handbooks of literary theory widely accept hikma as a
theme of poetry. For example: Ishaq b. Ibrahim
(ft. 4th/ 10th century) divides poetry into four them
(asnaf): panegyric (rnadih), satire (hijad'), gnomic
etry (hikma), and entertainment (lahw). Each one of
these has its own subdivisions, the subdivisions of
gnomic poetry being proverbs (amtdl), exhortations to
chastity or asceticism (tazhid), and general exhorta-
tions (mawd'iz).200 The anonymous authorities quoted
by Ibn Ragiq (d. 463/1070-1) divide poetry into two
only, panegyric and satire. Among the sub-themes of
the former they include the improvement of moral
character (tahsin al-ahldq), which contains maxims
(hikam), exhortations (mawc'i-), abstinence from ma-
terial things (al-zuhd fl i-duny d), and contentment
(qindaa) 201
It may not be idle to consider briefly at this point
whence hikma came to be considered as a theme of
poetry. The existence of prose maxims as well as
proverbs in pre-Islamic Arabic has been mentioned
above (Section III). These maxims and proverbs were
frequently incorporated into poetry, and were recog-
nized as being such by the earliest Arab philologists.2
Theoretical formulations about literary theory, how-
ever, were initially focused on poetry, and conse-
poetry, disregarding prose maxims as a literary genre.
This early development-by the end of the second
century A.H., at the latest set a precedent which
conditioned all later discussions. A major factor con-
tributing to this development was also the coining,
presumably by this date, of the hadit mentioned above,
reflected the common feeling that poetry does indeed
contain maxims and proverbs, and on the other in-
tended to neutralize the harsh statements in the Qur'dn

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 GUTAS: Arabic Wisdom Literature: Nature and Scope 63

about poetry and poets. Once this hadit gained cur-
rency (it is included in most of the canonical hadit
collections), literary critics were accordingly con-
strained, in a way, to take account of the "Prophetic"
dictum in their formulations and include hikma among
the themes of poetry.203 Apparently the notion that
hikma is primarily expressed in poetic language be-
came so widespread that the fifth century litterateur,
at-Mdwardi (d. 450/1058) felt compelled to remind his
readers that maxims came in prose, as well, and
introduced one of the sayings which he quotes with the
qualification, "It was said in a prose maxim."204
In the vertical classification, theoretical discussion
about hikma as a form and its place among the other
forms of prose was limited. As a matter of fact, apart
from the likes of such implicit references to this vertical
classification as mentioned previously (note 196), I
know of only one author who devotes any appreciable
space to the subject: Ishaq b. Ibrdhim al-Farabi (d. 350/
961), the maternal uncle of the lexicographer Jawhari,
in his Diwvdn al-adab.205 But even here the discussion of
hikma as a form of prose is incidental because it occurs
in the introduction to his work, which is not a treatise
on literary theory but a limited dictionary serving as a
concordance of fa'ala patterns (abniya) in the Arabic
language. Ishdq al-Fdrdbi says that he is going to take
the examples for his concordance from words occurring
in the Qur'an, hadit (sunna), history (hadit), poetry
(9i'r), rajaz, maxims (hikma), rhymed prose (saC'),
proverbs (matal), and sayings of the elite (nddira). He
then proceeds to define each one of these genres.
Because of the importance of this passage for the
history of Arabic literary theory, it is translated here in
its entirety:
Qur'an: a revelation (wahv) revealed by God to the
Messenger, with the Holy Spirit (rah al-qudus), in
clear (mubin) Arabic language. It is the speech (kaldm)
of God, His utterance (qawi), and what He sent down,
setting forth in it in detail the deeds they should
commit or omit for their good in this world and the
next. There is no way to know the Qur'dn and grasp its
meanings (macdnihi) without a total immersion in the
study of this language.
Sunna is what the Messenger did and sanctioned for defined according to their content or theme (i.e.
his community (umma). Salvation lies in it, and hap-
piness can be attained by understanding it and putting
it in practice.
Hadit is information (habar) about events in thehikma (matal, nadira), according to their application
three times [i.e. past, present, and future]. It is the oneor function (although in the definition of sijr a formal
among the four pillars of speech206 which can be either
true or false.207
Poetry (ji'r) is like all speech (ka/dm): it has its good
and bad parts. The part transmitted by the learned
('ulamd'), though, is good because they scrutinized
[all poetry] with their minds, examined it with the eyes
of their opinions despite its volume, and selected from
it what is most eloquent (ablak), most correct (afsah),
and most sound (asahh). Poetry, therefore, is the
counterpart of proverbs (matal) with regard to excel-
lence [of composition] because in this regard the only
distinction between the two [i.e. poetry and proverbs]
is that the one is in verse (nazm) while the other is in
prose (natr).
Rajaz is something (sav') composed in a meter other
than the meters of poetry. The only difference between
the two [i.e. rajaz and poetry] is the disparity of meters.
A hikma is formed when an artful formulation latent
in an artful composition is extracted and stated in a
pronouncement containing it.- .208
Saj' is a hikma composed in an expression (/afz) one
part of which is balanced (qabila) with the other. The
only difference between poetry and sajc is that the one
has meter while the other does not.
Matal is something about whose form and content
both the masses and the elite reached mutual agree-
ment to the point that they use it as a cliche in their
affairs (hattd btadal/hu fl-md bav nahum) and utter it
in good or bad days. By means of matal they draw
eloquence from what does not allow for eloquence,
they gain [verbal] access to remote things they wish to
express, and they relieve themselves of oppressing
worries. A matal is a most eloquent hikma (min ablagi
/-hikma) because people would not [all] agree upon
anything deficient or remiss in perfection, or some-
thing that does not reach the utmost extent of refine-
ment. [Cf. Sellheim, 1954: 11.]
Nddira is a true hikma which indicates the same
thing as a matal, except that it is not current among the
general public but is only treasured by the elite few.
The only difference between it and matal is the extent
of their respective circulation.
It is interesting to note that in the above passage
three methods of categorization have been employed:
the first three genres (Qur'dn, sunna, hadit) have been
horizontal classification), the next four (9i'r, rajaz,
hikma, saj') according to their form (i.e., vertical
classification), while the last two, the subcategories of
distinction is drawn between it and matal). We are thus
left uninformed about where Qur'dn, sunna, and hadit

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64 Journal of the American Oriental Society 101.1 (1981)

[ALL SPEECH (other than the Qur'an)]

[Artless composition] Artful composition (masniC')

Criteria for -
classification Artful formulation Rhyme Meter B Meter A
(sun') [in prose]

Classification I
according to \
form Iikma ra Zoery

[regular] sad

most eloquent

Classification
according to historiography; matal nddira
function and traditions
application

DIAGRAM I

Classification of literary genres according to Ishaq b. Ibrahim al-Farab^i

would be classified according to their form. But the
criterion by which sicr, rajaz, hikma, and saj' are
classified seems to be the extent and kinds of artful
contrivance or formulation (sunf') present in each
genre-in other words, the range of the scale implicit
above would theoretically run from perfectly plain and
artless composition, unadorned prose, to the most
masterfully contrived composition, poetry. And if we
are allowed to extrapolate on the basis of this scale,
then historiography (hadit) almost certainly, and tradi-
tion writing (sunna) probably, would fall under the
heading of artless composition. The Qur'dn can be
assumed to be sui generis, although strangely enough
Ishaq al-Farabi does not explicitly say so. His classifi-
cation of literary forms could thus be indicated in a
schematic form in Diagram 1.209
In this schema, hikma is centrally located between
totally artless and perfectly composed expressions,
something which brilliantly exposes, in a theoretical
fashion, the perfect blend of informality and formality
which has distinguished the style and form of maxims
in the Arabic language and has made them an integral
part of all discourse, both oral and written, and both
learned and colloquial.
An opportunity to broaden and deepen the theo-
retical discussion of hikma, which could have been
provided by Aristotle's pithy chapter on maxims
(gnomologia: Rhetoric 11.21, 1 394al9-1395b20), was
entirely missed both by Arab philosophers and literary
theorists alike. The fault, however, lies not with them
but partly with the translator of the Rhetoric into
Arabic, partly with Aristotle himself (in a manner of
speaking), and partly with the commentatorial tradi-
tion on the Rhetoric. The translator, first of all,
translated the word gn6me in the definition of the
word and in subsequent occurrences (1394a21ff.) by
ra y, 'opinion,' and not by hikma.210 This is doubly
misleading in Arabic because, in addition to the inac-
curacy of the translation, in a Muslim context-and
especially in jurisprudence-the word ra?'y has a totally
different semantic field than that of gn6me. Secondly,
Aristotle himself discusses gn6me not as a literary
genre, but in the context of enthymemes, which are
unscientific syllogisms, and hence in a context of logic.
The Arab reader, therefore, had neither the literal
meaning of gn6me nor the context to guide him to a
proper understanding of gn6me in the Rhetoric as
hikma. Finally, the Rhetoric itself was seldom the

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 GUTAS: Arabic Wisdom Literature: Nature and Scope 65
object of commentaries in the Aristotelian philosoph-
ical tradition in Athens and Alexandria.21' As a result,
no Greek commentary on the Rhetoric was translated
into Arabic, and Arab readers were denied help from
that quarter also."' A comment by Ibn
(d. 418/1027), the Bagdddi philosopher who knew the
philosophical bibliography very well and to whose
hand-written copy of the Arabic translation of the
Rhetoric we owe its very survival, best summarizes the
situation: "Many of those who devote themselves to
reading the art of logic did not get to studying this
book [i.e. the Rhetoric] or examine it satisfactorily.
For this reason neither a sound copy nor any authenti-
cated (musahhah) interpretation (macnd) of it can be
found."213
Of the three Arabic commentaries on the Rhetoric
that we possess,2l4 al-Farabi's extant notes do not
discuss Chapter 11.21 except for a brief summary
paragraph in the Didascalia, where the Latin consilium
reflects al-Farabi's utilization of, and attachment to,
the word ra' in the Arabic translation. Elsewhere,
al-Farabi identifies proverbial expressions (agvd' ma'-
tura) as parts of rhetorical propositions known before
the time of Aristotle, but this is in the context of the
classification of sciences, not of literary theory.215 Ibn
Sina and Ibn Rusd follow in their commentaries the
Aristotelian text more closely, but themselves victims
of the misleading factors described above, treat of ra'iy
in terms of logic, in the context of enthymemes. When
discussing Aristotle's argument that it is most appro-
priate for old people to use maxims (1395a2-7), they
both come very close to the realization that what is
discussed in the passage is, in fact, maxims or proverbs
-Ibn Rusd even goes so far as to say, "These proverbs
(amtdl) are, in themselves, opinions (drd')" but they
do not advance beyond this point.216 The philosophical
and theoretical discussion about hikma as a genre in
Arabic, whether in general or in the context of rhetoric
alone, thus never benefited from the Aristotelian for-
mulations.2 17
B. THE TYPOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION AND
NOMENCLATURE OF MAXIMS. The different literary
types of maxims, that is, the subcategories of hikma,
were even more poorly defined in Arabic rhetoric and
literary criticism. In Greek rhetoric, and especially in
the school tradition of rhetorical manuals known as
progymnasmata, the discussion of the different literary
types of maxims occupied a prominent place:211 say-
ings were defined according to their form or structure
(e.g. chreia, gn6me, apomnemoneuma), the formal
differences among them were explained (e.g. a gn6me
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is a plain statement, whereas a chreia is often cast in
the form of question and answer; a chreia is short,
while an apomnemoneuma is usually longer, etc.), and
they were further subdivided (e.g. a gn6me can be
al-Samh
either true, or probable, or plain, or compound, or
exaggerated) 219
Although there is some evidence that the gnomic
material, quoted as examples, which these progymnas-
mata contain was excerpted and translated into
Arabic,220 there is nevertheless no indication that the
progymnasmata themselves and their "classificatory
terminology" of sayings were available either in
Arabic22' or in Syriac translation. Syriac literature on
rhetoric, which is still very imperfectly known, seems
to have followed, at least as far as borrowings from the
Greek are concerned, the Aristotelian model of
theoretical exposition222 rather than the method of
practical analysis and application represented by the
progy'mnasmata tradition. The Rhetoric of the monk
Anthony of Tagrit (composed in 825 A.D.), apparently
the only early extant treatise on rhetoric in Syriac
literature,223 is still unpublished; but a cursory exami-
nation of the titles of its chapters224 reveals that its
structure follows that of Aristotle's Rhetoric, and
especially the ps.-Aristotelian Rhetorica ad Alexan-
drum, rather than that of the progvmnasmata. One
would thus expect the definition of the different liter-
ary types of sayings and their classification, as they
appear in the Greek progymnasmata, not to have
found their way into Anthony of Tagrit's Rhetoric, and
hence not to have passed into Arabic through the
intermediary of Syriac, either.225
A survey of the gnomic terminology in Arabic works
actually supports this view. The Arab anthologists who
collected sayings or the authors who included them in
their works used a number of words to describe and
introduce the various types of maxims, but no attempt
seems ever to have been made either to discuss theo-
retically all these words as a genre or to interrelate
them.226 Such words appear for the most part not to
have had rigid semantic boundaries, and where a
semantic distinction was made or implied, it was based
not so much on the literary tjoupe or form of the saying
in question as on its contents and on the person who
uttered it. For example: al-Ta'alibi, in the introduction
to one of his anthologies, says that the examples of the
sayings his book is going to include were selected from
the following categories: "the Qur'an, Tawrdt, Injil,
and Zabzlr; the aphorisms (jawdmi' al-kalim)227 of the
Prophet; the sayings (kaldm) of the prophets before
Muhammad and of his Companions and Followers;
the best proverbs (amtAl) of Arabs and non-Arabs; ...
 66 Journal of the American Oriental Society 101.1 (1981)

the choice sayings (nutaf) of the caliphs;

zurafcB.the epigrams
On the other hand, a mawvciza is clearly a
(fiqar) of kings and ministers; the witticisms (nukat)
saying whose function ofexhort to ethical action, a
is to
ascetics and sages; the sallies (luma') of hadit and fiqh firna is a saying containing an astute remark or
scholars; the maxims (hikam) of philosophers and observation, afid'ida is a useful saying, etc. Still others
physicians; the highlights (kurar) of eloquent men and are words of a general application, gaining the signifi-
poets; the bons mots (mulah; 'Attic salt'?) of jesters cation 'maxim' only in context, as, for instance, qawl
and dandies; and the unusual coinings (turaf) of (saying), lafz (utterance), kalam (sayings). The terms
beggars and the riffraff."228 Al-Mubaggir b. Fatik says
thus actually used to describe maxims in the above
in the introduction to his Muhtar al-hikam that he read
passages fall naturally into three categories, according
books containing the precepts (addb) of the Greek to their application (given with their plurals):
philosophers and the exhortations (mawdciz) of the
ancient scholars, as well as their testaments (wasa^yd), A. GENERIC TERMS: hikma - hikam (maxim); adab -
and that of such his book is going to consist.229 The addb236 (precept); kalima - kalim or kalimat (aphorism).
grammarian 'Abdalldh al-Bagdadi has in his Kitadb al-
kuttab a section containing the elegant dicta and acta B. TERMS OF SPECIFIC APPLICATION (in alphabetical
order):
(;ara'if) of famous secretaries.230 Ibrahim al-Bayhaqi
bases his introductory encomium of books in general
madhaka - maddhik, joke;
and of adab books in particular on the delight the
turfa - turaf, unusual coining;
reader experiences from the variety of genres such
zarifa - zard^i, elegant saying;
books contain: the reader can skip from story to
ma nan - ma adnin, saying on a specific theme;
report, from report to poetry, and then on to anecdotes
gurra - gurar, highlight;
(nawddir), to choice sayings (nutaf), to exhortations
fitna - fitan, astute saying;
(mawdaiz), to jests (mazh), to drolleries (fukdiha), to
fiqra - fiqar, epigram;
bons mots (mulah), to jokes (maddhik), and to fictional
fukaha, drolleries;
stories (burdfa).23' Ibn Durayd says that his book,
fi'ida - fawa'id, useful saying, moral;
al-Multana, will contain, in addition to reports,
lum'a - /uma', sally;
hadit, and poetry, graceful(?) utterances (al-alf@z
matal - amtal, proverb;
al-mustars'aqa), expressions containing grand themes
mazh, jest;
(albma'dnf al-fahma), and the finest maxims (al-hikam
mu/ha - mulah, bon mot;
al-mutandihiya).232 Hunayn b. Ishaiq refers to the
nutfa - nutaf, choice saying;
sayings of Socrates as 'useful sayings' (fawa'id),223 Ibn
nddira - nawUdir, anecdote of or by a member
Qutayba says he will not omit 'astute sayings' (fitna)
of an elite group;
from his 'Uyun,234 and Ibn al-Muqaffa', finally, uses
nukta - nukat, witticism;
the general term 'saying' (qawl) synonymously with
wasiyya- wasaya, testament;
'maxims' (hikam).235
maw 'iza - mawdciz, exhortation.
The import of the above passages is that some of the
words used in them to denote different kinds of sayings
C. TERMS OF GENERAL APPLICATION:
are clearly conditioned by the person who uttered
them, while others refer to the contents and function of qawl - aqwal, saying;
the sayings rather than to their literary type. Thus, a kal/m, sayings;
saying uttered by a $ufif in a moment of ecstasy (cf. lafz - alfdz, utterance.
iatahadt) is a 'sally' or 'scintilla' (lum a) because it is a
flash of illumination; a bon mot uttered by a jester has The above list cannot claim to be complete, but I
the qualities of Attic salt (mulha) because of its believe it includes all the words most frequently used to
pungent wit; one uttered by an ancient sage is a refer to maxims. Their categorization on the basis of
'testament' (wasiyya) because it has been handed down their application also follows the theoretical criterion
from antiquity and its validity is hence well-tested,provided or a by Ishaq al-Farabli, who differentiates be-
hikma because it was said by a hakim (philosopher tween or the only two subcategories of hikma he mentions
physician); and a saying uttered by a secretary is an (nadira and matal) not on the basis of their respective
'elegant saying' (zarifa) because it has been said by one literary form, but on their application (contents and
belonging to that elite group of affectatious literati, the circulation) .237

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 GUTAS: Arabic Wisdom Literature: Nature and Scope 67

VI. THE SOCIAL FUNCTION AND SIGNIFICANCE OF CLAS-

SICAL ARABIC WISDOM LITERATURE.
Hikma referred essentially to proper conduct (Sec-
tion II). As such, it played a decisive role in Arab/
Islamic society, a role which manifested itself in vari-
ous ways.
a) Together with poetry, wisdom literature consti-
tuted the basis of Arab paideia (adab), and was
accordingly an integral part of the upbringing and
intellectual capital of all educated Arabic speaking
members of medieval Islamic civilization. But in the
education and training of no other social group or
profession was it more institutionally integrated than
in that of the administrative secretaries, the kuttab. All
the handbooks on adab al-kuttab written throughout
the centuries from the very first such treatises, 'Abd
al-Hamid's Risala and Ibrahim al-Saybani's (?) al-Risa-
which were produced and consumed by the Muslim
la al- cadrad,238 to Qalqagandi's Subh al-a c' -mention
some part of wisdom literature, proverbs or maxims,
as a requirement in the education of a katib. Jahiz
gives us a fair idea about what this 'course' on wisdom
literature for secretaries comprised, while at the same
time he is quick to point out that a mere knowledge of
maxims and proverbs does not make one a wise
administrator:239 "No sooner can a novice secretary
quote the sayings (amtal) of Buzurjmihr, the testament
('ahd) of Ardagir, the epistles (rasa'il) of 'Abd
al-Hamid, and the adab books of Ibn al-Muqaffa',
and make the book of Mazdak the source of his
knowledge and the collection (daftar) of Kalila and
Dimna the treasure chest of his wisdom (maxims?),
that he thinks he is 'Umar the Great (i.e. the caliph)240
when it comes to administration...."
b) Secretaries put their knowledge of wisdom litera-
ture to practical use: in order to perform their duties
properly and ingratiate themselves to their masters
they had to know how to compose effective and
eloquent prose under the dictates of an aesthetic which
considered the ability to quote appropriate maxims
and proverbs the pinnacle of baldga. For this reason,
parallel with books on adab al-kuttab, handbooks of
ba'van or baldka always included wisdom literature
andas
proverbs were understandably quite prominent,
one of the principles of eloquent expression. Perhaps
the best illustration of this correlation existing between
works on adab al-kuttab and handbooks of rhetoric
(baldga) is provided by the works of a single author,
DiJyaD al-Din b. al-AtIr (d. 637/1239), who wrote on
both subjects at a time when they had long acquired an
established classical format. In his magisterial al-Matal
al-sn 'ir fi adab al-kitib wa-l-!5'ir, a book for secre-
taries, he enumerates eight kinds of tools necessary for
the acquisition of eloquence in style (aldt cilm
al-baydn): grammar, vocabulary, the proverbs! sayings
and history of pre-Islamic Arabs (amtal al-'Arab
wa-ayy muhum wa ... 1-waqa DCi), the writings (ta'lifd
of earlier men of letters, administrative rulings
(al-ahkdm al-sultantya), the Qur'an, hadit, prosody
and rhyme (pp. 9-10). This list is repeated almost
verbatim in his book on rhetoric, al-Jimi' al-kabirfi
sind'at al-manzum min al-kaldm wa-l-mantur (p. 7).
c) Closely associated with the books on secretaries
and rhetoric, and stemming from the same circles, were
the 'Mirrors for Princes' referred to above. The sayings
which these compilations contained both expressed
and in turn helped shape the attitudes and practical
ideology of the Muslim ruling classes. Wisdom litera-
ture was thus one of the major intellectual commodities
rulers, the secretaries of the administrative bureaucracy,
and the court intellectuals.240a
d) Intellectuals of all strata and not only those
associated with government administration both were
reared upon wisdom literature and used it as a profes-
sional tool. Its importance for adab literature in gen-
eral, and hence for the education of all Arabs, hardly
needs repetition. Furthermore, eloquence in expres-
sion, whether written or oral, was not the reserve of the
administrative secretaries only. Baldga was an accom-
plishment much prized and sought after in Arab
society,241 and wisdom literature, together with poetry,
were its principle ancillae: they increased the effective-
ness of speech, improved its aesthetic quality, and lent
to it authority. This function of wisdom literature,
widely acknowledged by Arab authors, is well ex-
pressed by al-Riyadd (d. 365/975) in the introduction to
his anthology of sayings, where he says that in the
'Iraq of his time men of letters (udabd') and secretaries
(kuttab) never spoke on a subject without first intro-
ducing it either with a well-known proverb/saying
(matal mashuir) or an often quoted verse (bayt
madkur) 242
e) In scholarly discourse and argumentation maxims
although in this case it is sometimes hard to distinguish
qualitatively between quotations from wisdom litera-
ture and references to authorities, the ipse dixit syn-
drome to which all scholarly writing is prone. As
mentioned in Section IV. B (pp. 58-60), many an
intellectual or sectarian tradition within Islam-
Sufism, the Shi'a, philosophy had its own collections

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68 Journal of the American Oriental Society 101.1 (1981)
of sayings, from which quotations were drawn at will
in any work belonging to that tradition.
f) Among the general public, educated and unedu-
cated alike, another basic function which wisdom
literature performed was to facilitate self-expression
and thereby ease both personal and social tensions. At
this level, which may be called spontaneous, as op-
posed to the deliberate efforts of the literati to seek out
the appropriate saying or verse for maximum rhetor-
ical effect, maxims and proverbs helped the average
individual to communicate, briefly and appositely, the
incommunicable or the hardly communicable: emo-
tions too complex for words, or something that would
otherwise require a lengthy discourse. Wisdom litera-
ture thus functioned as a shorthand language, culturally
determined, which allowed for rapid communication
of complicated ideas and emotions, and the attendant
relief of anxiety or stress, without the need for individ-
ual self-expression in original terms.243
g) Finally, at the most general and fundamental
level, wisdom literature was entertaining. The form of
maxims a short and elegantly phrased saying con-
taining all the artistic qualities of ornate speech244_
contributed decidedly to their potential for entertain-
ment, which frequently was their sole merit.245 Their
content provided the appropriate counterpart to their
form: the wit, the bon mot, the unexpected repartee,
the moral, the deeply felt general truth. Entertainment
through wit and moral edification was thus the major
quality that made wisdom literature immensely popu-
lar among all strata of medieval Islamic society. 46
All these various functions performed by wisdom
literature, in the final analysis, are essentially reducible
to one: to preserve the distilled experience, observa-
tions, and attitudes of past generations Arab and
non-Arab alike and to project them to contemporary
generations as authoritative and beneficial knowledge
to be assimilated and as an ideal to strive for. This
function rested on two cultural assumptions: a) on the
belief that the pronouncements of the ancients had
validity, relevance, and ultimately, authority, and b) on
the aesthetic premise that concision is eloquence stylized classifications of the sciences of the fourth
(al-iJdzf i l-lyaz). The form in which this authority wasA.H., the literary arts, and hence wisdom
century
transmitted from generation to generation the unit of
authoritative knowledge or information, so to speak
was thus the pithy and eloquent saying, aesthetically
pleasing and easily remembered and reproduced.
Islamic society inherited the form and function of
wisdom literature, with its underlying assumptions of
the authority of the ancients eloquently communi-
cated, from pre-Islamic times. Indeed, the importance
of wisdom literature looms even greater in pre-Islamic
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Arab society as one of its fundamental characteristics:
because literacy was restricted, authoritative knowl-
edge could come only from the ancients and it had to
be communicated orally in a form that would ensure its
survival. The form of wisdom literature was thus quite
essential to its function.
A proper appreciation of these aspects of wisdom
literature in pre-Islamic society may shed light from a
different angle on the nature and method of Muham-
mad's mission. His demand for the allegiance of his
contemporaries certainly rested on his claim to be the
messenger of god; this god, however, was not any god,
but the god to whom testimony was borne by the
authority of the ancients: the tradition of Abraham
(whose maqam was the Ka'ba) and the entire succes-
sion of prophets from Adam to Muhammad.247 As an
expression of the authority of the ancients, therefore,
the call to Islam derives a significant portion of its
validity from the same conceptual framework in pre-
Islamic Arab society as that which lent authority to
wisdom literature. And the form of the Qur'anic call to
Islam follows suit: the unit of revelation is predomi-
nantly the short, eloquent verse, aesthetically pleasing
and easily remembered and reproduced, and having
distinct formal affinities with wisdom literature.248
Hadit literature also derives naturally from this con-
ceptual framework: the hadits, without isnad originally,
are the wisdom sayings of the Prophet.249
This being the case, the controversy over which one
of the ancients, Muhammad or all the others, had the
ultimate authority could not but arise early: this may
account for the traces of the rivalry, mentioned above
(Section III), between the Qur'an and the hadit on the
one hand and wisdom literature on the other. In the
ensuing compromise, ultimate authority was granted
to the Qur'an and the associated religious literature,
while wisdom literature, with its emphasis on the
eloquent formulation of the authority of the ancients
as a guide to proper personal and social conduct, was
relegated to the domain of adab, both in its wider sense
of mores and the restricted one of literature.250 In the
literature, were assigned an instrumental role; and their
function, in relation to the religious sciences, was seen
as propaedeutic:25' they provided the intellectual pre-
disposition and the ideational context within which the
Islamic sciences and the Islamic way of life were to be
pursued. This compromise and its attendant theo-
retical formulation gave literature in general, and
wisdom literature in particular, a secure position from
which it could continue unencumbered to exert its
 GUTAS: Arabic Wisdom Literature: Nature and Scope 69

influence on all phases of medieval Arab/ Islamic have been immortalized in books to such an extent that it has
society. been said on account of their sheer survival that they are
Most of the points touched upon in the above living speech.

discussion in this section had already been made in the
fourth/ tenth century by Abi I-Hasan al-'Amiri, a
subtle author and a keen observer of culture. It is
therefore fitting that the last words be left to him:252
Knowledge is divided into religious and philosophical....
The religious sciences consist of three branches. One of
them relies on sense perception, namely, the science of the
hadit scholars. The second relies on intellection, namely, the
science of the kalam scholars. The third relies on both sense
perception and intellection, namely, the science of the fiqh
scholars. The sciences dealing with language253 are instru-
ments serving all three branches.
The philosophical sciences also consist of three branches.
One of them relies on sense perception, namely, natural
science. The second relies on intellection, namely, meta-
Furthermore, if it observed how they serve to settle quarrels
in company and to remove animosity and antagonism,259 how
they help to gain influence over kings and dignitaries260 and to
adorn one's own observations with the account of their noble
deeds and good remarks,261 it must surely be admitted that
anyone who declares them false dares to despise something
which is really very significant. Exalted spirits who master
such subjects and hand them on to others are thus inspired to
higher things.262 Anyone interested in listening to them is
induced to secure some portion of them for himself, since it
might provide a good subject for conversation one day.",61
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS

physics. The third relies on both sense perception and intellec-

The following list contains in alphabetical order all the works
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three branches....
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2 Cf. Bellamy, 1973: vii-ix.
' A representative sample of such definitions can be read in
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76 Journal of the American Oriential Society 101.1 (1981)

5 I use 'maxim' in its current and common meaning of "a ago, by Goldziher, 1890: 205 n. 4 [1971: 191 n. 1]. For the
general truth, fundamental principle, or rule of conduct, possible translations of the hadit see below, note 255.
especially when expressed in sententious form" (Webster's '0 Agani XI.171 (reference in Goldziher, 1890: 205 n. 3
Third New International Dictionary, 1966). The emphasis is [1971: 190 n. 7], where other passages are also referred to).
added: the practical aspect in particular of the meaning of the " Ibn Qutayba, 'Uyan 11.118.
word should be borne in mind in the following discussion. 12 Agani XI.44 (reference in Goldziher, 1890: 205 n. 3 [1971:
6 This may be yet a further attestation of the inferior 190 n. 7]). Al-Afwah himself was considered as one of the
hukamd' al-'Arab: GAS 11.302.
position, vis-A-vis 'ilm, afforded to hikma in the Muslim scale
of intellectual excellence; cf. Rosenthal, 1970: 37-8, 40. On the 3 Al-Tirmidl, Sunan, 'ilm 19; Ibn Maja, Sunan, zuhd 15.
other hand, there is the very real possibility-to which I am 14 Jahiz, Baydn 1.258. For kalima see also below, note 227.
inclined, as will be shortly argued-that hikma initially 15 Ibn Durayd, Htiqdq 127.17 (reference in Goldziher, 1890:
referred to something much more concrete than 'ilm (and 205 n. 7 [1971: 191 n. 4]).
therefore could not be a rival to it), and that only later it 16 Burhdn 88 [157].
acquired a more abstract signification. 17 For the story and references see below, p. 57a and note 93.
18 Buhari, Sahih IV.139. This was the common expression;
7 The religious bias of the great general dictionaries, like the
Tahdib (al-Azharl, d. 370/981), the Sihdh (al-Jawharl, d. ca. cf., for instance, Jahiz, Baydn I. 265.
398/1007), and the Muhkam (Ibn Sida, d. 458/1066)-and to 19 Jahiz, Baydn 11 .312. Alternate expressions include: "I
a certain extent the Lisdn al-'arab (Ibn Manzfir, d. 711/ 131 found
1) in David's Book of Maxims" (wajadtu fi hikmat
as well-is concretely illustrated when one compares their Ddw2d, Ibn Munabbih as reported by Ibn Qutayba, 'Uyan
entries under the root h-k-m with the corresponding entries in1.279), and "I read among the maxims of Luqman" (qara'tu
the specialized dictionaries of religious terminology by fi hikam Luqmdn, Ibn Qutayba, 'Qyan 11.119).
al-Rigib al-Isfahin! (d. 501/1108; Mufradfit: Qur'anic glos- 20 The examples cited above date for the most part from the
sary) and Majd al-Din Ibn al-Atlir (d. 606/1210; al-Nihfiya: second and third centuries A.H. Reliable evidence for the
vocabulary primarily of the hadit): poetic vocabulary ex- meaning of hikma from the first century A.H. is more difficult
cluded, they contain approximately the same material. This is to come by-as it is for everything else in Arabic studies. For
not to cast aspersions on the efforts of the great lexicographers; references to Wahb b. Munabbih (d. 110/728 or 114/ 732) see
they never intended to cover all the words in the language. above, n. 19, and below, pp. 57-58. For Mu'awiya's use of
"Lexicography (lugha) was initially the study of words which, the term in the meanings given above see below, p. 56a.
though they occurred in the Qur'an, the HadfLh, and pre- 21 Cf. Bloch, 1954: 221: "In der vorislamischen Gnomik fehlt
Islamic poetry, were not known to everyday speech" (Hay- das Wort hikma bezeichnenderweise fast ganz." Cf. also the
wood, 1965: 17; cf. Wild, 1965: 5-6). This is well illustrated, verses referred to by Horovitz, 1926: 133-5, where the word
ia., by Ibn Durayd's use of ma'ruf (well-known) in lieu of a ,hikma appears only once.
definition for a common word in his Jamhara. As a matter of 22 For Zabban see GAS IL.1 Off. The famous al-Nabiga was
fact, he describes the first word under the root h-k-m, in all probability an older contemporary of Muhammad; cf.
al-hukm, as "ma'rtif" (Jamhara II. 186a). All-inclusiveness in
GAS 11.185.
23
lexicography was not a deliberate objective until Ibn Manzuir, Text in Jahiz, Hayawan V.555: tahabbara tayrahu fihd
and even he fell short of it, precisely because he was following Ziyddun li-tuhbirahu wa-md flhd habiru / aqama ka-anna
the traditional material. For the same reason the same Luqmdna bna 'A din a~dra lahu bi-hikmatihi mu~ru. Horovitz,
deficiency is also present in Lane's Lexicon: hikma is nowhere 1926: 133 translates the second verse as follows: "Er verweilte,
defined as 'maxim.' als ware Luqman b. 'Ad ein Berater gewesen, der ihn kraft
8 At least in the recension represented by the printed edition; seiner Weisheit beraten hatte."
cf. Haywood, 1965: 44-5. For the various recensions of the 24 That is, one cannot make signs with abstract wisdom. It is
Jamhara see Krenkow, 1924: 266ff. significant that the expression in the poem is asdra lahu, not
9 Ibn Durayd, Jamhara II. 186b: Kullu kalimatin wa'azatka
a~dra 'alayhi, which would be the proper way to say 'he
aw zajaratka aw dacatka ild makramatin aw nahatka Can advised him,' the translation given by Horovitz ("beraten
qabihin fa-hiva hikmatun wa-hukmun. Wa-huwa ta 'vilu hatte").
qawli l-rasuli slcm, inna min al-sicri la-hikaman wa-inna min 25 Quoted in Ibn 'Abd Rabbihi, 'Iqd II.325: "Irwvifiqhan ...
al-baydni la-sihran. Incidentally, certain sources read the / aw min a'djibi jdhiliyyatind fa-innahd hikmatun
word in this ubiquitous hadit as la-hukman instead of la- wa-muhtabaru." Ibn Munadir himself was considered "als
hikaman. There is no doubt, however, that the correct reading guter Kenner der 'arabiya'' (GAS 11.505-6).
is la-hikaman, as vocalized in the edition of the Jamhara 26 The verse is reproduced in Seligsohn, 1901 (Arabic text
(presumably on the basis of the Mss), and as noted, a long time p. 156, n. XXII): "Lavta l-muhakkama ua-l-mau'uaa sawta-

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 GUTAS: Arabic Wisdom Literature: Nature and Scope 77

Tabari, Tafsir
kuma tahta 1-turfibi idb ma i-bbtilu nka~afU" Trans. 111.86-7 on Sara 2.129.
(p. 84):
"O homme d'experience et homme averti! plit a Dieu que 38 Tabari, Tafsir V.371, on Sara 2.251.
votre voix ftlt sous la terre lorsque l'amour vain m'a quitt6!" 3 Tabari, Tafsir V.576-8, on Sara 2.269.
27 Jawhari, Sih/h V.1902b. The form hakkama would thus 40 Tabari, Tafsir VIII.480, on Sara 4.54.
mean, 'one who admonishes others by telling them maxims,' 41 Tabari, Tafsir (B01aq) XIV.122, on Sara 16.125.
and the corresponding passive participle, 'one who is thus 42 Tabari, Tafsir (Bfilaq) XXI.40, on Sara 31.12.
admonished' and hence as experienced as the person who told 43 Tabari, Tafs r (Bfilaq) XXIII.79, on Sfira 38.20.
the maxims. The later lexicographer al-Saganil, in his Takmila 44 Al-Farrad, Ma'ani 11.401.
to Jawharl's Sihdh (V.618b), disagrees with the latter and 45 Ibn Qutayba, Garib 32, no. 24. With this is to be
reads muhakkim for muhakkam in Tarafa's poem, which he compared Ibn Qutayba's Hanbali definition of iman (faith):
then interprets to mean, 'he who commands one to be wise' "The person who declares true [saddaqa, i.e. the principles of
(alladi ya'muruhu bi-l-hikma). It appears that al-Sagdni was faith] with his tongue and heart, performs his ritual duties,
led to this interpretation because he assumed hikma in this and avoids grave sins is the true believer (mu min haqqan)
context to mean 'wisdom' rather than 'maxim.' There is little who fulfills the conditions of faith (imain);" Muhtalif 2134 (cf.
doubt, however, that muhakkam is the correct reading, and Lecomte, 1962: 190, and 1965: 229-32). Ibn Qutayba's defini-
that its sense is analogous to the parallel word maw'uz. tion of iman echoes that attributed to Ahmad b. Hanbal:
28 Ibn Qutayba, 'Uyan 11.122. Even if this saying is not pre- "Faith is a statement [of faith], works ('amal), intention, and
Islamic, it derives in all probability from Wahb b. Munabbih's holding fast to Prophetic tradition"; Ibn Abi Ya'ld, Tabaqdt
first century A.H. compilation of Luqman's maxims. See 1.24. The Hanbali insistence on knowledge of (and testimony
below, p. 58a. to-for tasdiq = 'ilm see Rosenthal, 1970: 97-108) Islamic
29 Hizana 1.545: "wa-la-anta ahkama hina tantiqu min
belief and corresponding action as the two pillars of faith thus
Luqmana lammd 'ayya bi-l-amri." Cf. the translation in raises an interesting parallel between hikma and iman. A
Horovitz, 1926: 133: "Und du bist, wenn du sprichst, weiser study of the relationship of these two terms at this relatively
als Luqman, da er mit der Sache nicht weiter kam." This verse early stage might provide a clue about the incorporation of
is also attributed to al-A'Wa's uncle, al-Musayyab b. 'Alas, hikma into theological terminology.
where instead of ahkamu the reading is abvanu (Geyer, 1928: 46 Vol. 1 of this work (ed. Fuat Sezgin, Cairo 1954)-the
[Arabic p. 353, poem IX.35]). The variant antaqu is also only portion to have appeared-covers saras 1-18, which
recorded (Geyer, 1928: 333, note to IX.35). Antaqu is clearly include 14 of the 20 times the word hikma occurs in the
impossible; while abyanu ('you have more bayfin,' i.e. 'you Qur'dn, a high enough percentage to permit this gener-
have greater clarity and eloquence of style') seems to be a alization.
gloss on the original ahkamu ('you have better hikam,' i.e. 47 Cf. above, note 7.
'you pronounce better and clearer maxims than Luqman'), 48 See below, pp. 56-57.
manifestly the lectio difficilior. 49 See the discussion in Paret, 1971: 73, where he improves
30 Ibn cAbd Rabbihi, 'Iqd 11.256: "man ahkamu l-ndsi? man upon the arguments of Horovitz, 1926: 72-3.
samata fa-ddakara wa-nazara fa-'tabara wa-wu'iza 50 Lyall, 1918-21: 1.94.2 = Geyer, 1928 (Arabic p. 354, poem
fa-zdajara. XI.6). Also referred to in Horovitz, 1926: 73 n. 1. Lyall, 1918-
3' Maw'iza seems to be very closely related to hikma. The translates, "I saw that wisdom counselled me. . ."
21: 11.30.6
only difference between the two, apparently, is that the former
Bevan, 1924: 111.192, in the glossary of the Mufa4ddaliyj'at,
has a more restricted application (one is exhorted withapparently
regard on the authority of the Arab commentator, who
to a specific thing), whereas the latter is of a more general
explains hukm in this verse by 'aql, defines hukm as 'reason-
nature. Cf. al-muhakkam al-mawc'uz in the verse of Tarafa
ableness.' See further below.
quoted above (notes 26-7), and bi-l-hikma wa-l-maw'iza in 51 Tabarl, Tafsfr 111.87.
the Qur'an 16.125 (see also below, pp. 54a, 66b). 52 Following Tabari's lead and the same logic of 'etymol-
32 Cf. Hamdsa 529.2 = Noldeke 1890: 1.3: "wa-l-amt/luogizing,' al-Ragib al-Isfahanil says that hukm is more general
yadribuha li-di 1-lubbi l-hakimu." (a'ammu) than hikma (Mufradbt 126). Naturally so-once
3 Quoted in Ibn Qutayba, cUvufn 11.119; a slightly variant
hikma is accepted as an ismu 1-naw 'i, it follows by definition
version in Ibn cAbd Rabbihi, cIqd 11.253. that its sense would be more restricted.
34 Ibn Qutayba, cUyun 11.122. See also below, p. 53b. 53 This argument makes hukm the lectio difficilior and hence
3 Ibn cAbd Rabbihi, 'Iqd 11.221. The second hemistich the probable one. On the other hand, it is difficult to establish
literally reads, "he constantly ripped open virgin and tightly chronological boundaries for the disuse of hukm in the sense
sealed speech."
of 'judiciousness.' A verse by a Bedouin in praise of Dawfid b.
36 See the remarks on this subject in Rosenthal, 1953: 67-8.
al-Muhallab says, "he has the judiciousness (bukm) of

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 78 Journal of the American Oriental Society 101.1 (1981)

Lugman, the form (~ara) of Joseph, the power (mu/k)

60 For the of
meaning of tali, 'read out loud,' and its associa-
Solomon, and the justice ('adl) of AbQ Bakr" (Ibn 'Abd tion in the Qur'an with revealed books, see Speyer, 1961: 159-
Rabbihi, 'Iqd 1.257). 61 n. 4.
54 Mufrdddt 127. On this verse see also below, p. 54a. 61Ibn Qutayba, Ma'arif 55.
5 Tabarli, Tqfsir IX.200, on Sara 4.113. 62 Cf. Horovitz, 1926: 73-4.
56 S2ras 2.129, 151, 231; 3.48, 81, 164; 4.54, 113;5.110;62.2. 63 References in Khoury, 1972: 259.
57 Horovitz, 1926: 71-4. Paret, 1971: 68, takes issue with 64 Sara 2.269 ("vu'th [Alldhu] I-hikmata . . . wa-md
Horovitz's interpretation on the basis that hikma in these Jaddakaru illd al1 l-albfibi") is exactly parallel to the
passages refers to the contents of the revealed books. The casegnomic verse from the Hamasa 529.2 quoted above (note 32):
is far from being closed, but in view of the present discussion, "wa-l-amtdlu wadribuhfi li-d I-lubbi l-hakimu." The hikma in
it seems that hikma refers to the contents of the books only in the Qur'anic verse is therefore the amtdl of the poetic verse.
later interpretations, not in the Qur'dnic usage. 65 Cf. the discussion above, pp. 52-53.
58 I use the word in its literal sense, 'to make known by 66 Cf. above, note 45.
means of signs,' to render the Arabic awhd, something which 67 For the theory of the Aramaic origin of pre-Islamic
the word originally meant. (Decisive is the rendition of awha Arabic hikma see the following note. In Islamic times, a
in Sara 19.11 by tukallima . . . ranizan in the variant passage possible route of entry of the Syriac hekmd into Arabic may
of 3.41, both reflecting the Greek dianeu6 in Luke 1.22.)have been the incorporation of New Testament elements into
These signs could be nothing other than written signs in thisthe hadit (cf. Goldziher, 1890: 382-400 [1971: 346-62] and
context, i.e. letters (cf. Horovitz, 1926: 67-8 and the referencesGoldziher, 1902). For example: Matthew 7:6 appears in Ibn
given there). A renewed investigation of this word in connec-Qutayba, 'Uion 11.124, as follows: "Jesus said: 'O Israelites,
tion with the concept 'written revealed books' might provedo not throw pearls to swine, for they will not do anything
helpful. Indeed, in an early exegetical work ascribed to with them, and do not give hikma to whomever does not want
Muqatil b. Sulayman, the Kitdb al-wuuah wa-l-na-d 'ir (Msit, for hikma is better than pearls, and whoever does not want
Istanbul, Beyazit 561), one of the interpretations given to the it is worse than swine.'" This recalls a Prophetic saying, also
word wahia is kirdb, i.e. 'writing,' and Sara 19.11 is quoted as about hikma, reported by Ibn 'Abd Rabbihi, 'IqdII .254: "Do
an example (see Wansbrough, 1977: 209-10). Wansbrough not leave hikma with those who have no use for it lest you
finds the choice of 19.11 as an example for wahy = kitdb wrong it, and do not withhold it from those who could benefit
inappropriate. I would rather tend to think, however, that thefrom it lest you wrong them." Cf. another parallel from the
author of the Kitdb al-wu/ah was simply transmitting thishadit referred to in Goldziher, 1890: 392 [1971: 355].
definition of wal?) from older, philological sources which kept 68 Horovitz, 1926: 72-3; Jeffery, 1938: 111; Bloch, 1954: 221.
alive the pre-Islamic signification of wahV (as reflected, i.a., in
69 Although there is no scholarly consensus on the origins of
the third century A.H. grammarian 'Abdallah al-Bagdadl's Luqman, the man with whose name maxims (hikrna) are most
Kitdb al-kuttib [Sourdel, 1952-4: 133-4] and the fourthreadily associated in pre-Islamic Arabia (see below, Section
century A.H. literary critic Ishaq b. Ibrahim al-Katib's BurhanIV, note 102), the fact remains that in Arabic sources he is
63 [113]), but that he was at a loss to find a Qur'anic exampleheld to be from South Arabia (cf. Heller, 1936: 36a), from the
of wah/; in this sense as applied to God; he therefore chose atribe of 'Ad (cf. Buhl, 1960: 169b). Wahb b. Munabbih, the
theologically neutral verse, one in which the subject of thescholar who collected and edited Luqman's hikma (see below,
verb awhd is not God by Zakariya.
Section IV.A), was from South Arabia. A tradition in Buhari
5 V8uzdajar. Cf. the similar association of hikma and (11.382) quotes the Prophet as saying that hikma comes from
izdijdr in the pre-Islamic definition of ahkamu l-nds above, the Yemen (al-hiknma Yamdnihi'a). Finally, South Arabian
p. 51b, and note 30.
inscriptions have preserved the word hukm as an epithet of
59 It is indicative that Hunayn b. Ishaq, not a Muslim, and the moon god (Nielson, 1912: 592; Huart, 1927: 305b). Cf.
therefore not constrained to follow the Muslim theological also Jeffery, 1938: 111.
interpretations of hikma in the Qur'an, understands the 70 The pioneering statement on writing in pre-Islamic Arabia
literal meaning of hikma, 'maxim,' in the Qur'anic phrase is that by Goldziher, 1889: 110-2 [1967: 106-7]. A useful
hikma bfiliga. In his Nawfidir al-faldsifa he introduces the survey of previous literature is given by Widengren, 1948: 11-
section containing the maxims carved on the philosophers' 34. See also Abbott, 1967: 5ff and Semaan, 1968: 6-9.
signet rings with the following words: "wa-li-kulli wdihidin Recently, the question has been discussed in association with
minhumn [i.e. al-faldsifa] hikmatun bhlikatun cald fassi the status of 'Arabiyya in pre- and early Islamic times. See
hftamihi manqagsatun" (Ms Escorial 760, f. 6'). Rabin, 1960: 566a and Zwettler, 1978: 122-4 and 165.

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 GUTAS: Arabic Wisdom Literature: Nature and Scope 79

71 For religious literature see the discussion in Abbott, 1957: 84 CUIvan 1.135-6.
48ff. and the references cited there. Whether any of the 85 Goldziher, 1890: 205-6 [1971: 190-1].
religious suhuf referred to in pre- and early Islamic sources 86 Ibn cAbd Rabbihi, cIqd IV. 28.15
(Horovitz, 1926: 69) were written in Arabic is precisely the 87 Buhari IV.139; Muslim, Sahih, fman 60, 61; Ibn H anbal,
problem. Nbldeke and others (see the references in Widengren,
Musnad IV.427, 436, 445. Cf. Abbott, 1967: 6 n. 14.
1948: 16 n. 5) have argued for a South Arabian origin of the 87a Cf. now the succinct statement of the problem by
word sahifa, and it is a South Arabian author, Wahb b. Madelung, 1979: 429.
Munabbih, who says that he read 93 out of the 163 suhuf 8 Bellamy, 1973: 16-17 (no. 76).
(according to Ibn Higam's version) which God revealed to the 89 Cf. Abbott, 1967: 7 and the references in n. 25; Goldziher,
prophets (Khoury, 1972: 217). What language(s) were these 1890: 194-202 [1971: 181-8].
suhuf in? 90 Cf. the assessment of Djait, 1976: 180-1, and Abbott,
7 Even some poetry seems to have been written down in this 1967: 156-7. A short biography of Sacid and extensive
period, though apparently not for the purposes of preserva- references to the sources are given by Sayed, 1977: 352-3.
tion. See the references in Krenkow, 1922: 264-6; Grohmann, 9' Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqat VI.179.
1924: 55 n. 3; Al-Asad, 1962: 23-103. 92 Cf. the suggestion of Wansbrough, 1977: 9 n. 2, that suhuf
7 Cf. Gibb, 1960: 585a: "It is probable that judicial maxims
in the Qur'an may refer to 'covenant'.
also were occasionally committed to writing [in pre-Islamic 93 Ibn Hisam, Sira 1. 283-5. For references to the same story
times]. " in other authors see Abbott, 1967: 5 n. 10, and Goldziher,
74 The words qur an and dikr may be added to the above,1890: 206 n. I [1971: 191 n. 6]. For the use of the term majalla
but it is debatable whether they referred to a specific docu- in pre- and early Islamic times see Abbott, 1957: 48; for its
ment existing in writing. These terms are discussed by Aramaic origins see Fraenkel, 1886: 247-8. Ibn Durayd
Horovitz, 1926: 65-75. "It is true that most of these are (Istiqaq 191.5) says, apparently reflecting Ibn Higam's expla-
Arabicized forms of words borrowed from Greek, Aramaic, nation ma/alla = hikma, that a ma/a/la is a sahifa upon which
or Ethiopic, but the fact that they were taken over into Arabic some maxims (hikma) are written.
is evidence that the language needed words concerned with 94 Tabarli uses this report in his Tafsir VII.78 as the occasion
the art of writing" (Semaan, 1968: 8). For a list of other words for the revelation of the Luqman verses.
related to books and writing in early Arabic texts see Semaan, 95 Bloch, 1954: 223, dismisses this and the preceding report
1968: 8 n. 3. (above, paragraph 4.b.i) rather cavalierly: "Was Goldziher
7 For asatir see now Rosenthal, 1980. a.a.O. [i.e. 1890: 205 = 1971: 190-1] anftihrt. bezieht sich wohl
76 See WKAS I.39b. auf die Tatigkeit der spatern Philologen." The above discus-
77As is well known, Muslim tradition is replete with refer-
sion warrants at least a more serious investigation into the
ences to Muhammad's secretaries. A number of these refer- matter.
ences is given in Semaan, 1968: 8-9 n. 4. 96 Baqillani, I/jaz 32.
78 This sara (al-Furqan) is traditionally believed to have
97 Ritter, 1930: 4. For the importance of this and related
been revealed in Mecca; Ndldeke-Schwally, 1909: 133-4, put it
passages for the development of the theory of the i'jaz
in the second Meccan period. Independent of this dating, al-Qur'dn see Kraus, 1934: 126ff.
however, "those who disbelieve" identify themselves as poly- 98 See above, p. 50b, and below, note 120. Cf. also Goldziher,
theists (25.42: "He almost led us away from our gods,") and 1890: 205-6 [1971: 191] and 401-4 [363-5].
are therefore pagan Arabs and not any of the people of the 99 The question of the national origin of Luqman, although
Book among whom having religious books transcribed would irrelevant in the present discussion, remains unresolved.
have been current. Horovitz, 1926: 132-6, and Bloch, 1954: 220-3 express op-
79 Ibn Higam, Sira I.235: "Wa-/lahi ma Muhammadun posing views.
bi-ahsana haditan minni wa-ma hadituhu illa asatiru '00 A detailed investigation into the sources of the Arabic
I-awwalina ktatabaha ka-ma ktatabtuha." Cf. Jeffery, 1938: Luqman material has yet to be undertaken. Here it is
56. sufficient to point to a few similarities between Luqman and
80 Diwan al-Hudalivin III.70.2-3. Ahiqar. Harris (1898: lxxiv, cf. p. 61) finds echoes of the
81 According to Sukkari, garh I.392, these last two verses Syriac Ahiqar No. 8 with Qur'dn 31.19. In a passage attrib-
were found in the riwdva of Salama only. uted to Luqman by Wahb b. Munabbih (Ibn Qutayba, cUiuln
82Goldziher, 1890: 204-5 [1971: 190]. 1.135) Luqman says to his son, "Travel with your sword, your
83 For this book see below, p. 58a. bow, and all your weapons"; to this we may compare the

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 80 Journal of the American Oriental Society 101.1 (1981)

Syriac Ahiqar No. 27 (Harris, 1898: 62), "My son, walk

Therenot
are in
numerous other MSS containing the sayings of
the way unarmed." Luqman (among them, e.g., Paris. Arab. 312, ff. 73ff.; Vienna
'1' Verses 14-5 seem to be a parenthetical aside. Cf. Horo-
A.F. 499 (156) [Flugel no. 1851], f. 1 I; Vienna A. F. 444 (160)
vitz, 1926: 132; Bloch, 1954: 210. [Fliigel no. 1852], ff. 53r-68'); their exact contents and their
102 For Luqman see in general Heller, 1936, and his refer- interrelationships are subjects for future investigations.
ences to earlier literature. See further Bloch, 1954: 210-1 and
120 Preeminent among these two groups are, e.g., the two
220-2; Sellheim, 1954: 23; Blachere, 1966: 748-9; and Paret, Tamimis: the savyid al-Ahnaf b. Qays (see Pellat, 1960) and
1971: 316ff. the hakam Aktam b. Sayf! (see Kister, 1960), the hakim
103 See GAS 1.305-7, and especially Khoury, 1972. The al-'Arab, whose fame rivaled that of Luqman (cf. Abbott,
article in El' (Horovitz, 1934) is still serviceable (cf. the 1967: 6).
statement by Khoury, 1972: 11). 121 See AbQ Hatim al-Sijistani's book on the subject
104 Ma'drif 55: VQara'tu fl hikmatihi nahwan min 'aarati
(Goldziher, 1899).
dhifi bab." 112 A short list of pre-Islamic sages is given by Jahiz, Badan
105 References in Khoury, 1972: 206-7 and 258-69. 1.365. A collection of the maxims of such individuals is a
106 References in Khoury, 1972: 267-8. major desideratum in the study of the birth and development
107 See the reconstruction of the contents of this book inboth of the stories and sayings attached to such persons and
Khoury, 1972: 227-46. For Luqman see p. 242, no. 32. of Arabic prose literature. Cf. Blachere, 1966: 758 n. 3.
08 See below, pp. 60-61. 123 Such as Hamza b. Bid, court jester to the Muhallab
'09 Khoury, 1972: 194. family (Pellat, 1971; sayings in the Agani XV. 15-26), and
"1 See the discussion, with illustrative material, in Khoury, Ag'ab 'the Greedy' (fl. early 2nd century A.H.), whose sayings
1972: 258-63 and 268-9. and anecdotes were collected and translated in Rosenthal,
"' Some references in Abbott, 1967: 6 n. 1, Khoury, 1972: 1956a: 36-131.
242; but most of the adab literature, especially Ibn Qutayba, 123a See the quotation from al-Ta'alibi, below, p. 66a.
must be consulted; see Lecomte, 1965: 207-9. Some of the 124 For the classification of hikma as one of the themes of
sayings of Luqman preserved in Ibn Qutayba's 'Uyfn, Ibnpoetry see below, pp. 62-63.
'Abd Rabbihi's 'Iqd, Ibsihl's al-Mustatraf, and Ta'labi's 12' Bloch, 1954: 182ff. This article is fundamental for the
Qisas al-anbivad' have been collected by Fariha, 1962: 188-96.
study of pre-Islamic gnomic poetry.
A study that would collect Wahb's Luqman fragments would126 Bloch, 1954: 186.
be very useful; such an undertaking would also shed some 127 Cf. for instance, the saying, "The witness sees what he
light on the question of written literature in the first century who is absent cannot see," discussed above, pp. 55-56. A
A.H. (cf. the discussion in Khoury, 1972: 306ff.). saying would frequently appear, worded quite differently, in
112 Mss Munich 651, ff. 130-134r; Escorial 760, ff. 5 v bis-53t; different poems. See Bloch, 1954: 182-4, and Blachere, 1954:
Loewenthal, 1896: 1404. Cf. Nau, 1909: 70-2. 213.
113 Merkle, 1921: 54 n. 24, traced one saying in Hunayn's 128 References in Gutas, 1975: 464-5. See also further
collection to the Syriac Ahiqar. Cf. also Loewenthal, 1896: 19,
Sellheim, 1954: 21.
and his notes on pp. 140-4. 29 Ibn Hindu, Kalim, passim.
114 The sayings in Mubaggir (Muhtdr) from p. 277.12 onward130 References in Gutas, 1975: 465 and n. 2.
belong to 'nysuvs (most likely Athanasius, as in MS Paris. 131 Tawhid! (Imta' 11.146) quotes Ibn al-Marapi as saying
Arab. 310, f. 38', where Athanasius' sayings precede those of that aphorisms (kalimat; see below, n. 227) and hemistichs
Luqman), as in the Istanbul MS III Ahmet 3206, f. 134>. (masdri' abvat al-si'r) provide great help to those who wish to
115 In Sahrazfir's Nuzhat al-arwdh. MS Brit. Mus. 688 and write or speak eloquently.
601 (according to Badawi in Mubaggir, Muhtar, 263 n. 4). 132 See, e.g., the gnomic hemistichs and verses of
116 Ms III Ahmet 3206, f. 127v. al-Mutanabbi' in Yatima 1.214-28, and the gnomic hemistichs
117 Thus in the Arabic translation of the Ahiqar story, quoted anonymously in Tawhidi, Imta' 11.147-153.
Harris, 1898: 1 (Arabic text). 133 See the list in Sellheim, 1954: 21. The philologist Hamza
118 In the independently transmitted Ahbar Luqmdnal-Isfahani (d. before 360/970), in addition to his famous
wa-ddabuhu (see the paragraph immediately following) theKitdb al-amtdl (Sellheim, 1954: 128-38), is also the author of
text simply reads, " Yd bunayya, mur bi-l-ma'raf... astdbaka."
another work entitled al-Amtal al-sadira 'an buv2t[j!Jal-si'r
(Leroy, 1909: 229).
(reference in GAS 1.337) which, as the title indicates, is a
119 In MSS Paris. Arab. 309, ff. 35-52 (15th century) and 310.
collection of proverbs drawn from gnomic verses.
ff. 38'-52' (17th century). The text was published and trans- 134 Fundamental for the study of Arabic proverbs is Sell-
lated, on the basis of the former MS, by Leroy, 1909: 226-55.heim, 1954. Pp. 1-7 provide a concise history of European

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 GUTAS: Arabic Wisdom Literature: Nature and Scope 81

studies on the subject; the rest of the book gives a detailed
account, with full bibliographic references, of all the classical
collections of proverbs. Cf. also Goitein, 1952.
115 Cf. Rosenthal, 1956a: 6 n. 3, and the Nawadir works
1924:
listed in GAS II. 86-9.
136 See Sellheim, 1954: 27-44.
137 For a literary and social analysis of proverbs in the
'archaic' period see Blachere, 1954, where the problem of the
currencY of the proverbs collected is also discussed.
138 Cf. Gutas, 1975: 461, and the Tables of Concordance on
pp. 482-92.
139 For the structure of Arabic biographical works see Gibb,
sayings see GAL 1.44, GALS 1.75; cf. also Merkle, 1921: 29-
1962: 56-7. Cf. F. Rosenthal in OLZ 40: 626-7 (1937).
140 See below, note 174.
141 Cf. Gutas, 1975: 459-60. Perhaps the best statement onindependent collection of 'All's sayings is that by Simon
the nature and function of adab literature is that by Ibn
Qutayba, c Uyzfn 1.11 (in the author's introduction), English
fourth successor, London (B. Lintot) 1717. The most recent
translation by Horovitz, 1930: 174.
142 Two other comprehensive collections which deserve
greater recognition than has been accorded to them so far-
they are both unpublished-are al-Abli's (d. 421/1030) Nair
al-durr (or durar) and Zamahsafi's (d. 538/ 1144) Rabic
al-abrar (GA L 1.292, GA LS 1.512). For the former see
Kratchkovsky, 1924, Owen, 1934, and Boughanmi, 1963.
143 See, for example, the chapter on 'ilm in Ibn Qutayba's
cUiJan II. 117-259, as summarized and analyzed in Rosenthal,
1970: 255-63.
144 See below, notes 147-9.
a'dan min al-hapr" (Gutas, 1975: 172-4; cf. 402-3). Ibn al-
Mu'tazz recasts this into the following form: " Yasflka min al-
hasidi annahu _vagtammu fl wvaqti surarika" (Kratchkovsky,
94).
54 Cf. Kratchkovsky, 1924: 65.
"5 Cf. also al-Ta'alibl's Tamtil which would also fall into
this category.
156 Cf. Pellat. 1956a: 152.
157 A collection of 'Ali's sayings which is ascribed to Ibn
Durayd is preserved in MS Paris. Arab. 3971 (GALS 1.173).
For the numerous MSS and editions of 'All's one hundred
30. The sayings of 'All have enjoyed great popularity in
English as well. The first translation into English of an
Ockley, Sentences of Ali, son-in-law of Mahomet, and his
translation that I can trace is by Mehdi Khan Nakosteen,
Maxims of Ali, Boulder, Colorado (Este Es Press). 1978.
158 Kohlberg, 'al-Amedl,' in Enc yclopaedia Iranica, forth-
coming. I am indebted to Professor Etan Kohlberg for
providing me with a typescript of his article.
159 See Veccia Vaglieri, 1958. The Nahj has recently been
translated into English by Mohammed Askari Jafery, Nahjul
Balagha, Karachi (Khorasan Islamic Centre). 1971.
160 According to Veccia Vaglieri, 1958: 1 n. 2, more than
seventy commentaries were written. Cf. GAL 1.405, GALS
1.705.

145 The most thorough study of Arabic Mirrors for Princes 161 Cf. Veccia Vaglieri, 1958: 2 n. 7. Oman, 1960 has claimed
is still that of Richter, 1932. A useful summary of the genre,that a text in the Nahj represents an authentic document by
with special reference to al-Gazali's Nasihat al-mulik, is given 'All and an early sample from the Mirror for Princes literature
by Bagley, 1964: ix-xvi. The major themes and ideas per- in Arabic.
vading these Mirrors are sketched in Busse, 1968, where 162 Cf. GAS 1.530.
further bibliography is also to be found. 163 See the study of Ritter, 1933: 1-53.
146 Sourdel, 1952-54 provides a useful introduction to the 164 See GAS 1.645. Abfi Yazid's gatahdt were collected by
subject with numerous references. Badawl, 1949.
165 GAS 1.647.
147 A list of such handbooks is given by Abbott, 1941: 85-6;
cf. Rosenthal, 1971: 48-9. 166 See GAL 11.118 and GALS 11.146. English translation,
148 A list of collections bearing this title is found in Faris, with introduction and notes, by Danner, 1973. For a study of
1939: 31-2. Cf. also Bellamy, 1973: 1-4. Ibn 'Atad'allah and the SadilU tariqa see Nwyia, 1972.
149 See Giffen, 1971, and especially Giffen, 1973, where
167a Bloch, 1954: 21 1ff. perhaps said as much as can be
survey of the collections on the subject is provided. It would profitably said on the matter at present.
be desirable to have bibliographic surveys of all the special- 168 It is conceivable that sayings were translated into Arabic
ized adab collections on the pattern provided by Giffen, 1973. from Coptic directly (for Coptic gnomologia see Till, 1934-
150 See Rosenthal, 1956a: 1-16. 37), or from Coptic through a Syriac intermediary (cf. the
15' Kratchkovsky, 1924. remarks by Crum, 1937: 329 about Syriac MSS in the Mingana
152 Valeton, 1844.
collection), although I am not aware of any investigation on
153 An indication of the stylistic technique of Ibn al-Mu'tazz this subject so far. The Ethiopic gnomologium Mashafa
is provided by the following Greek saying as translated, quite falasfb tahibdn, on the other hand, is a translation from the
literally, into Arabic: "Qila [li-Arista]: ma bclu 1-hasadati Arabic (Merkle, 1921: 21).
ayahkzanuna abadan, fa-qala: li-annahum la i'ahzanfina li-mci 169 See Grignaschi, 1975, which revises the conclusions
yanzilu bi-him min al-fiddati faqat bal li-ma yanalu l-nasu reached in his earlier studies (1965-66 and 1967). For all

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 82 Journal of the American Oriental Society 101.1 (1981)

references to sources, MSS, and secondary material these military manuals (references in Grignaschi, 1975: 39). Works
works are to be consulted. of Indian origin, like the Kalila wa-Dimna (cf. Brockelmann,
170 For the periodization of translations of Greek gnomic
1927) and Bilawhar wa-Yfidasaf (cf. Lang, 1960), also passed
material into Arabic see Gutas, 1975: 444-5. into Arabic through a Pahlavi intermediary.
17 See Gutas, 1975: 9-35 for a list of all the published Greek
178 For the translations of Ibn al-Muqaffa' see Gabrieli,
gnomologia and their interrelations. Other Greek sources 1931-2: 198-218. For the other translators from the Pahlavi
which Arabic collections drew upon include Neopythagorean see GALS I. 237-9.
oeconomic literature, paradoxographical literature, hand- 179 Henning, 1956: 76 = Khan, 1961: 242. For a study of a
books of rhetoric, Neoplatonic introductions to philosophy, Persian 'Mirror for Princes' and its Pahlavi antecedents see
biographical literature, doxographic literature (cf. Daiber, Iradj Khalifeh-Soltani, Das Bild des idea/en Herrschers in der
1980: 80-85 and 816-817), and Neoplatonic compendia of Pla- iranischen FEirstenspiegelliteratur dargestellt am Beispiel des
tonic and Aristotelian ethics (Gutas, 1975: 268-75, 328-31, Qabus-Name. Diss. Tubingen 1971.
376-80, and 426-9). See also G. Graf, GCAL 1.380-9, 483-6. 180 A MS of this text which was transmitted independently
172 Some material was also translated from the Syriac. See from Miskawayh's work (Badawi, 1952) was published by
below in this Section, paragraph 4. Arberry, 1963.
173 Gutas, 1975: 444-50. 181 See Christensen, 1930, and Masse, 1960. Cf. Henning,
174 The attribution of the Siwdn al-hikma to AbQ Sulayman1956: 76-7 = Khan, 1961: 241-3.
al-Sijistani has now been challenged by Gimaret, 1978: 154 n. 182 The information on the Koprtilu MS given in Gutas, 1975:
2 and by Wadad al-Qadi in a communication to the Ninth 47 should now be revised according to the indications of
Congress of European Arabists and Islamicists, held in Grignaschi, 1966.
Amsterdam, September 1978 (I am indebted to Professor 183The testament of Ardagir was also edited by 'Abbas,
Manfred Ullmann for a private communication on this 1967: 49-84, on the basis of sources other than those used by
matter; see now Daiber, 1980: 816). Grignaschi, 1966.
175 For bibliographic information on these and other Arabic184 See Gabrieli, 1931-2; 215-6.
collections of Greek sayings see Gutas, 1975: 36-55, and p. 450"' The sayings ascribed to Ardagir in various Arabic sources
for a schematic presentation of their interrelations. Since that
were collected by 'Abbas, 1967: 85-117.
study was completed, the Muntahah Siwdn al-hikma was 186 See above, note 177. For translations of Sanskrit mate-
published twice, by Badawi, 1974, and Dunlop, 1979. rial into Arabic see Steinschneider, 1870, and the references in
Hunayn's Nawddir al-fa/isifa is also extant in two Tehran
Zachariae, 1914: 182-4. More recently, Wikander, 1968,
MSS: Danisgah 2165 and Daniggah 2103 (I am indebted to claimed Indian influence on the Sirr al-asrbr (Secretum
Professor Gerhard Endress for communicating this informa- secretorumn), but the subsequent study of Grignaschi, 1975
tion to me). I am currently in the process of preparing a (especially pp. 36ff.) refutes this claim. Cf. further Grignaschi,
comprehensive edition of the Graeco-Arabic gnomologia as 1975: 277.
outlined in Gutas, 1975: 441-3. 187Ibn al-Nadim's report in the Fihrist was studied long ago
176 Cf. Gutas, 1975: 464-6. For a detailed study of theby Flugel, 1857; Mtiller, 1880 translated the passages in Ibn
influence of Greek sayings in Arabic literature see 'Abbas,
AbM Usaybica's 'cUvn a/-anha6 relating to Indian physicians;
1977. The extent and duration of the diffusion of Greek and Zachariae, 1914, provided parallels from Indian literature
gnomic material in Arabic is poignantly illustrated by a recent to Sanaq's sayings preserved in TurtQi9's Sirdj al-mulak.
column in the Cairo daily al-Ahram (12 November 1978). In 188 Cf. Zachariae, 1914: 196: "Solche Aufzahlungen ... in
the section of the newspaper entitled Sundaq al-dunjd. the der indischen Literatur sehr beliebt sind."
columnist Ahmad Bahgat illustrates the moral that reason '89 The question of the Arabic translations of the Bible
(caql) should rule over desire (ragha) by quoting the anecdote cannot be discussed here. The fact remains, however, that
of Socrates and the king (Gutas, 1975: 90-1, no. 10). In his some biblical wisdom material, translated into Arabic pre-
version, though, the incident occurs between a king and an sumably from the Syriac, did find its way into Arabic
anchorite (faqir, zdhid), not Socrates; Bahgat doubtless collections. Cf. Gutas, 1975: 46 no. XIII, 253-6, 433-4. The
found the story in Arabic literature, where it is widely quoted, relationship of this material, transmitted through direct trans-
and not in any Western source. lation, to that found in earlier sources, apparently transmitted
1 Useful summary in Klima, 1968: 34-58. For recent studies
orally (e.g., Wahb b. Munabbih's Hiknat Ddwaud; see above,
on andarz literature see Shaked, 1970, and Tafazzoli, 1972. pp. 57-58), and their respective sources and diffusion in
The sources of this literature were not, in certain instances, of Arabic literature require further study.
Iranian origin; it has been shown that the existing fragments 190 Baumstark, 1922: 169-70; Levi della Vida, 1910. For
of dcin literature derive from Byzantine administrative and more recent studies see Brock, 1970, and especially the articles

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 GUTAS: Arabic Wisdom Literature: Nature and Scope 83

of Raguse and Lanz in the 1968 Gottinger Arbeitskreis fur (/ahu asnaf min al-ma'dnl) because we know that it contains
syrische Kirchengeschichte, referred to below, note 225. Cf. "proofs and demonstrations; maxims (hikam) and precepts
also Alon, 1976. The extent to which these Syriac gnomologia (adab); passages that excite longing and fear; promises and
were translated into Arabic remains to be investigated. threats; description, comparison, and similitudes (amali);
19' The Arabic Ahiqar was translated from the Syriac: Nau, mention of nations and [past] ages with a narration of their
1909: 87-9. The diffusion of the maxims of Ahiqar in Arabic states, information about what transpired between them and
gnomic literature in post-Qur'anic times (cf. above, p. 57b the prophets, and [other] things which can be neither enumer-
and note 100) and the extent of the association of Ahiqar with ated nor counted," al-Risdla al-safii'a 143.
Luqman (above, p. 58a) have yet to be determined. '99 Reported by Ibn al-Mu'tazz, Tabaqdt al-u'ardD 275;
192 The state of current scholarship and the problems yetquoted
to in Bonebakker, 1970: 100-1.
be solved are discussed in Heinrichs, 1973: 19-33. Heinrichs 200 Ishaq b. Ibrahim al-Katib, Burhan 81 [135]. The same
deals more with poetry than with prose, but this only reflects
text, under the name of CAbd al-Karim, is also given by Ibn
both the medieval and contemporary state of affairs. Much Ragiq, 'Umda 1. 121. See the discussion in Heinrichs, 1973: 42
less attention was devoted by medieval Arab literary critics and Schoeler, 1973: 17.
and theorists to prose than to poetry, primarily for the four 201 Ibn Ragiq, cUmda 1.121.
reasons enumerated by Heinrichs, 1973: 30-2. This has in turn 202 See above, p. 59a.
conditioned modern research. 203 As a matter of fact, Ishaq b. Ibrahim al-Katib quotes this
'92a Outside of Arabic studies, considerable advances in the
had.t twice in the space of four pages: once right after his
structuralist and semiotic analysis of maxims have recentlydefinition of poetry and once just before his division of it into
been made by Meleuc, 1969 and Barthes, 1980, both with the four themes cited above; Burhcn 77, 81 [130, 134]. Closely
reference to the maxims of La Rochefoucauld. Some of the related to this famous hadit and perhaps originating from the
points made by Barthes are strikingly similar to the formula- same tradition that sought to exonerate poetry from the
tions of medieval Arab literary critics discussed below. Qur'anic censure is another alleged statement of the Prophet:
193 An earlier method of categorization, which apparently "The poetry of Hassan b. Tabit, Kacb b. Malik, and cAbdallah
fell into disuse in later times, was applied according to the b. Rawaha is not poetry but maxims (hikma)" (Agdni X1.80).
different states of mind induced by the poem (joy, anger, etc.), The three poets are, of course, Muhammad's "court" poets.
a method called "psycholiterary" by Heinrichs, 1973: 37. What makes their poetry (and by extension, all poetry)
194 A poem was accordingly one of praise, wine, hunting, religiously acceptable is that it is, or contains, maxims. On
etc. See Heinrichs, 1973: 38-43, and especially the more this point see also below, note 258.
comprehensive treatment by Schoeler, 1973. 204 "Wa-qad qila fi mantur al-hikam." Al-Mawardi, Adab
'9' To take Ishaq b. Ibrahim al-Katib's Burhdn 93ff. [150ff.] al-dun'd 232.
as an example, prose is divided into four: oratory (bitdha), 205 For Ishaq al-Farabi see Kopf, 1965: 496a; GAL 1.133,
correspondence (tarassul), argumentation (ihti~d), history GA LS 1.195-6. For the arrangement of the Diwdn al-adab see
(hadit). Krenkow, 1924: 269. The text translated below is in the recent
196 See the discussion in Ullmann, 1966: 1-3, and especially edition of the Diwcin, 1.73-4.
p. 2 n. 8. To Ullmann's references one might add, i.a., the 206I.e. report, command, question, and wish-roughly, in
passing rhetorical question of al-Hattabi (d. 388/998) in his grammatical terms, the four finite moods of the verb: indica-
Baydn FIcjz 35: 'How are people unable to produce the like of tive, imperative, subjunctive, and optative.
the Qur'an, "seeing that they are Arabs skillful in the correct 207 The idea that only habar can be either true or false is also
use of language (fusahd'), capable of dealing with all sorts found i.a. in Ishaq al-Katib, Burhan 45 [94].
(awdiva; 'genres'?) of speech, and knowing both its structured 208 Wa-l-hikmatu an yakuna sun'un kaminun fi masnu'in
forms (nu-tumihi)-qasida, rajaz, saj'-and all its other forms fa-yustanbata fa-luadaca lafzatan tastamilu calayhi; literally,
(funanihi)"?' Cf. further below, cAmiri's statement, p. 69a "A hikma [requires] that there be an artful formulation latent
and note 257.
in an artful composition which is then extracted and stated in
'9' To which were devoted individual treatises; see Hein-
a pronouncement containing it." It is doubtful that by
richs, 1973: 32. Elements from this third classification weremasnuc here Ishaq al-Farabi is referring to masnuc poetry as
also employed in the horizontal classification: we thus find opposed to mathl' poetry (for masnau and mathuc cf.
taghih (comparison), a figure of speech, "included amongHeinrichs, 1969: 52-5 and Ibn Haldun, Muqaddima [Rosen-
what are otherwise quite clearly themes of poetry," Heinrichs,
thal] 111.398-409). Although hikma ua~s considered one of the
1973: 39 and ff. themes of poetry, as discussed above, p. 62b, it is unlikely that
198 CAbd al-Qahir al-Jurjani's views can be taken as represen-Ishaq al-Farabi would claim that hikma could be extracted
tative in this regard. He says that the Qur'an is polythematic from masnhc poetry only and not from inathac, or indeed

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 84 Journal of the American Oriental Society 101.1 (1981)

from any other form of artful composition. It thus appears
that by masnz c he is referring to all artful composition,
presumably both prose and poetry, and including all the
ornaments of style and rhetorical figures, the sunc (artful
formulation) mentioned in the definition. Furthermore, judg-
ing by what is stated in the definition of poetry, the pro-
nouncement which constitutes hikma and which contains this
skeleton is m-s-h-h (but cf. the reading of Georr, 1948: 188,
bi-tashihihii [?]).
214 Ibn al-Samh's own marginal annotations are sporadic
and fragmentary. Cf. Stern, 1956: 41-44.
215 The Didascalia text is in Langhade-Grignaschi, 1971:
246. The asvyd' ma'tura are mentioned in al-Farabi, Alfiz
110.14.

artful formulation would appear to be in prose, since matal, a Ibn Sina, al-!if D, al-Hitdba 173.5-9; Ibn Rugd, Talhis
"most eloquent hikma" (see below), is also in prose. al-hitdba 464.2-3.
209 For the subcategories of hikma and their categorization 217 A rather unusual philosophical/ literary classification of
see further below, pp. 65-66. In the diagram, words in styles is given by the famous logician and philosopher Abfi
square brackets and broken lines indicate my extrapolations, Sulayman al-Sijistani (d. after 377/988) in Tawhidi's al-Imtii'
which are here offered with all due circumspection. The (II.140-3). Abi Sulayman divides eloquent style (balaga) into
question of the formal categorization of religious prose in the following categories: poetry (9i'r), epigraphy (kitdba) [the
general and of hadit in particular is more complicated than editors of the Imta' substitute hatdba for the MS reading,
the diagram would indicate and lies beyond its scope. kitdba, but it is clear from the context that some kind of
ornate
"O Aristotle, al-Hitdba 142. This translation, which is pre-ceremonial prose, such as epigraphy, is meant; cf.
served in the unicus Paris. Arab. 2346, dates from the pre- WKAS s.v. kitdba= 'inscription'], prose (natr), proverbs
Hunayn era and is very poor. A concise report on all the (matal), intellectual argumentation ('aql), impromptu com-
available information on the Arabic translation (and on the position (badiha), and exegesis (taDwil). This is a curious list.
fate of Tkatsch's Nachlass) is given by Kassel, 1971: 88-92. The first four categories are based on the criterion of theform
Further evidence in support of a single, poor translation of of the literary product-and thus represent a variant of the
the Rhetoric is provided by Langhade-Grignaschi, 1971: 133-8. vertical classification discussed above-while the last three
Cf. also Heinrichs, 1969: 51. depend on the psychological faculty which gives rise to these
211 Cf. Kroll, 1940: 1065. styles (they all variously spring from rth) and on the function
212 Ibn Rugd, for one, explicitly states that he couldwhich
find these
no styles perform (understanding through conceptu-
alization, understanding through sudden intuition, and un-
commentary by a reliable commentator (Qarh li-man yurta1dd
min al-mufassirin, Talhis al-hit iba 690). The oblique refer- derstanding hidden meanings through exegesis, respectively).
ences to commentaries on the Rhetoric that Grignaschi finds Hikma, which is not mentioned by Abu Sulayman, would
in al-Farabi's Didascalia (Langhade-Grignaschi, 1971: 138 clearly fall under the category of proverbs (matal).
n. 2) are too vague: as so often with al-Farabi, the referents 218 For the place of gn6mai in Greek rhetoric see Martin,
are in all probability discussions in the Syriac tradition 1974: 122-4.
preserved in the Bagdadi philosophical circles (cf. in general '19 The above examples are taken from the progymnasma of
Zimmermann, 1972), or else discussions in contemporary Hermogenes (fl. 2nd century A.D.), chapters III-IV, Spengel,
Bagdad. Ibn Sina, on his part, refers to 'modern commen- 1854: 11.5-8. Later rhetoricians mostly followed and expanded
tators' (cf. al-gifd', al-Hitdba 21-3). Moreover, the complete
upon his exposition. For a survey of the literary types of
misunderstanding by both Ibn Sina and Ibn Rusd of sayings in Greek rhetoric see Horna, 1935.
Stesichorus' saying to the Locrians that they should not be 220 Gutas, 1975: 242, 261-3, and 261 n. 1. See also below,
insolent lest the cicadae sing on the ground (Rhetoric 1395al; note 225.
commentary by Ibn Sina, al-bifd', al-Hitdba 173.2-4; Ibn 221 It is conceivable that certain Arabic words used to
Rugd, Talhis al-hitcba 461-2) indicates that they could not designate maxims may indeed be translations of Greek terms,
have been using-at least for this chapter of the Rhetoric- as, for example, fd Dida for chreia (see below, note 233), but
any Greek commentaries. If they had, the correct interpreta- these would be individual occurrences only and do not
tion to this 'enigmatic' saying would have been given. represent a wholesale adaptation in Arabic of Greek gnomic
213 Aristotle, al-IHitdba 254. In another publication, Badawi
terminology. Ullmann's assessment of the situation in this
reads sahih for musahhah in the admittedly damaged Paris MS regard is still valid: "Eine ahnliche klassifizierende Termin-
(Badawi, 1959: 14.14 = Badawi, 1955: 14.14). Stern, 1956: 42, ologie hat im Arabischen nicht bestanden.... Ebensowenig
translates the same text as follows: "This book is not very wird es gelingen, die Begriffe hikma und mulha, die in den
useful [?] and has not often been studied, therefore one does
Titeln einschlagiger Werke vorkommen, auf eine der vor-
not find a correct copy or a person interested in its correction," genannten griechischen Gattungen festzulegen" (Ullmann,
apparently reading musahhih for musahhah. Badawi's vocal- 1959: 19 n. 1). Also unrelated to the progvmnasmata literature
ization in his edition of the translation is the correct one, if the is Ibn Durayd's definition of hikma (above, p. 50a), which is

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 GUTAS: Arabic Wisdom Literature: Nature and Scope 85

similar to the definition of gn6me given by Hermogenes 235 Ibn al-Muqaffa', al-Adab al-Kabir 65: min jisdmi hikami
(which, in turn, echoes that of Aristotle, Rhetoric 1394a 21- l-awwalin wa-qawlihim.
25): "Gn6me is a summary saying [couched] in a general 236 See also the examples for the word adab cited above,
statement which deters from something or urges to some- pp. 50-51.

thing" (Spengel, 1854: 11.7). The preceding discussion allows 237 See above, p. 63b, and Diagram I.
238 Cf. Sourdel, 1952-54: 116 n. 2.
for little else than the assumption of polygenesis for the cause
of the similarity here. 239 Jahiz, Damm 42.
222 Cf. Duval, 1907: 299-301. 240 Reading al-Fdraq for al-ffiriq in the text, following
22 Baumstark, 1922: 278. The dating of Anthony, however, Pellat, 1956b: 35.
which depends on a report by Barhebraeus (Chron. EccL. I. 240a For a discussion of the social position and function of
361-4, Abbeloos-Lamy), is far from certain. See Strothmann, the kuttdb see Carter, 1971.
1968: 199-201. 241 "Eloquence is the basis, genius, spirit, and nature of
224 Given by Duval, 1906, according to the Mosul MS. The Arabic speech." Ibn Haldin, Muqaddima (Rosenthal) 11 1.401.
variant readings of the chapter headings from the Harvard MS 242 Text of Talqib al- cuqal according to MS Leiden 380
(Goshen-Gottstein no. 125) are supplied by Sprengling, 1915- (Warner 442), quoted in de Goeje and Houtsma, 1888: 1.213.
6: 174-5. For this work see primarily Strothmann, 1968; cf.For al-Riyadi see Sellheim, 1954: 127. Cf. also the statement
also Rucker, 1930; Rucker, 1934; Raguse, 1968; Lanz, 1968; of Ibn al-Maragi about the help provided by wisdom literature
and Kobert, 1971 (I am indebted to Professor Franz Rosenthal for all speech in Tawhidi, Imtbc 11.146. For an illustration of
for a number of these references). the practice referred to by al-Riyadi see cAmiri's JC/cm, where
225 The final verdict on this matter will have to await the every chapter is introduced by a few sayings "containing the
eventual publication and study of Anthony's Rhetoric. What gist of the author's thinking on the subject under discussion"
needs to be investigated as well is whether the Greek sayings (Rosenthal, 1956b:44). The attitude that maxims help clarity
quoted by Anthony (for the Homeric and Platonic quotations and eloquence of expression is much older than the theories of
in Anthony see Raguse, 1968; Lanz, 1968; and Kbbert, 1971) literary criticism developed in the third and fourth centuries
passed into Arabic. If they did, then the theory that rhetorical A.H.; see Wahb b. Munabbih's statement quoted above,
treatises were used as sources for Greek sayings in Arabic p. 54a.
would be further substantiated; see above, note 220. 243 The psychological dimension of this function of wisdom
226 The poet al-'Attabi (d. ca. 208/823) wrote a book, not literature and its association with that of cliches are perspica-
extant, entitled, Funan al-hikam (GAS 11.541). Is the title to ciously exposed by Ishaq al-Fdrabi in his definition of
be translated, The Types of Maxims, and is it to be assumed proverbs (matal), above, p. 63b.
that the book contained a theoretical discussion, with con- 244 To paraphrase Ish.aq al-Farabi's definition, above, p. 63b.
crete examples, of the literary types of maxims? It seems 245 Cf. Blach&re, 1963: 46, about Jahiz, al-cUtbi, and Ibn
rather doubtful. Qutayba.
227 The word kalima (coll. kalim, p1. kalimdt) by itself means 246 Cf. Gutas, 1975: 459-61.
'aphorism' proper in the sense of a terse saying embodying a 247 Qur'dn 2.124-141, and especially verse 136, are signifi-
general truth, like the kalimit quoted by Tawhidi, Imtdc cant in this connection.
II. 147ff. The expression jawdmi' al-kalim emphasizes to a 248 See, most recently, Wansbrough, 1977: 1-33 (especially
greater degree the twin qualities of pithiness and concision ofpp. 3 and 15-6) and 238-9 for a discussion of such formal
such sayings (cf. Lane, Lexicon I.458b, s.r.j-m- c) and perhaps affinities, although I cannot subscribe to his absolute theoret-
could best be rendered by 'laconism.' ical category of "schemata of monotheistic revelation" (pp. 1
228 Al-Tacalibi, al-Tamtil 5. and 239).
229 Al-Mubaggir, Muhtir 2. 249 Not only did many pre-Islamic sayings enter the corpus
210 Sourdel, 1952-54: 147.
of Prophetic hadit (Blachere, 1966: 736 and n. 3, 768 n. 3), but
231 Al-Bayhaq!, al-Mahdsin 9.
also Muhammad himself, in 'secular garb,' figured promi-
232 Ibn Durayd, al-Muftand 15. nently in a succession of Arab hukama' (Blachere, 1966:
233According to the text of the Muntahab Siwen al-hikma 767-8). Cf. also Sellheim, 1954: 20-1.
(Gutas, 1975: 84.2). In Muhammad b. cAli al-Ansari's recen- 250 In this controversy, when literary sophistication paved
sion of Hunayn's Nawddir al-fa dsifa the text reads hikam for the way for an appreciation of the Qur'an on a par with other
fawbDid (MS Escorial 760, f. 64). Hikam is in all probability an
literature, the theory of its inimitability (ic az) had precisely
editorial gloss, as it seems very likely that fawdD'id reflects thethe effect of placing it beyond the domain of eomparative
Greek chreiai. Cf. Gutas, 1975: 276, 453, and 453 n. 4. literary criticism by declaring it to be sui generis.
I bn Qutayba, ' Uvan 1.12.3. 21 See the passage of cAmiri quoted below.

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86 Journal of the American Oriental Society 101.1 (1981)

258adopted,
252 cAmiri Ic/cm 84-5, 96-7. Translation Al-hikma al-baliga.
with The allusion to the Qur'anic hikma
modifications, from Rosenthal, 1975: 63, 69-70. bdliga is manifest (Sara 54.5; see above, p. 54a). 'Amiri is

253 SincCat al-luka. Judging from what is to follow, in arguing here, in effect (in answer to the objections of the

addition to grammar, syntax, and lexicography, literature is 'pious men': cf. note 254), that what justifies the study of all

also intended. literature and makes it religiously acceptable is that all genres

254 This would be the extreme position of those who would of literature contain maxims which sharpen the mind and

deny any authority to the ancients: if nothing useful can be improve moral character (see the following paragraph in the

gained from literature-i.e. if there is no authority to its text)-all this, it is implied, in preparation for the study of
contents-then it must obviously be indulged in for some religious sciences. He makes maxims, i.e. wisdom literature,

ulterior motive-viz. for its form, which can be used for and tagbih&t, with its double meaning of 'comparison' (figure
personal gain. of speech) and 'parable,' the focus of his argument, and by his
255 Cf. Plessner's (1968: 619a) review of Rosenthal, 1965: allusion to the Qur'anic hikma bcliga he finds scriptural

100. See also above, note 9. Cf. von Grunebaum, 1952: 324, substantiation for it.

for a wider view. 259 Cf. the psychological function of wisdom literature re-

256 Al-wusal iU6 /-kal/m al-muntabic. The reference is doubt- ferred to above, paragraph (f).
less to the matbac, the naturally artistic style, as opposed to 260I.e. wisdom literature as one of the accomplishments of
the masnac, the recherch& style; see above, note 208, and cf. secretaries and courtiers: above, paragraphs (a) and (b).

von Grunebaum, 1952: 323 n. 2, for the inter-cultural context 261I.e. wisdom literature as 'Mirror for Princes': above,
of the matbac / masnac dichotomy. Note that cAmiri is point- paragraph (c).

ing here to the universally acknowledged importance of
eloquence: see above, paragraph (d) in this section.
257 Aqscm, i.e. 'divisions' of speech (kaldm). This is another
instance of vertical, or formal categorization of literary genres
(above, Section V. A.).
262 I.e. wisdom literature as the instrument of the religious
sciences: cf. above, p. 68b.
263I.e. wisdom literature as entertainment: above, para-
graph (g).

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