CC BY
24
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20534/EJLL-17-1-45-48
Damirova Jamila Vagif, Doctoral student of Azerbaijan National Museum after the name of Nizami Ganjavi under NASA E-mail: [email protected]
Considerations in Arabian prose in regard to Shuubiyya
Abstract: The article analyzes some aspects ofArabic prose in the works of Shubiyi. Attention is drawn to the peculiarities of the color of the Arabic language in the work of Shu'ubiyya.
Keywords: Arab, Islam, free thought, others, Shu'ubiyya.
As a movement, high development of shuubiyya dates back to the VIII- X centuries. It was a very important period in the life of Moslems. Namely in these centuries plenty
of nations turned to Islam. Among them there were Persians, Turks, nabatis, Greeks and gypties. Different nations representing various civilizations turning to Islam resulted with establishment of a cosmopolitan society in Islam territories [3; 42]. So, in a Moslem society the representatives of high civilization fell under the rule of Bedouin Arabs which were in much lower cultural level and it caused contradictions in the society, made ideological disputes and accusations inevitable. Its traces can be found both in poetry and prose samples. In poetry samples satire mood prevailed. The poets highlighted shortcomings and shortfalls of the opposite side and made them an obj ect of criticism. The same mood prevailed in prose also. But here emotional accusations were replaced with substantiated considerations. In prose samples scholars- writers worked on each thought until they prove them. They did not remain indifferent to the thoughts of the opposite side and reflected them also, then began a dispute. So, in order to understand the essence of shuubiyya in Islamic society, prose samples are ofgreat importance. Aim ofthis article is to research the thoughts oftwo prominent representatives of classic Arabian literature Amr ibn Bahr al-Jahiz and ibn Abd Rabbihi in regard to shuubiyya. From chronological point of view, although Jahiz had lived earlier than ibn Abd Rabbihi, we begin our research with the work of the second writer. It has two reasons:
1) Unlike Jahiz, Ibn Abd Rabbihi analyses the issue more comprehensively. This analysis allows us to get a full picture of shuubiyya. However, Jahiz describes only separate aspects of shuubiyya. In order to be able to understand his considerations, one should have an idea about shuubiyya, although in a review form and for this purpose Ibn Abd Rabbihi's work will help us.
2) Shuubiyya and its critical motives in Jahiz's works are in a scattered form. But this topic is described in
several paragraphs of concrete chapters named "al-Igd al-Farid", "A rare pearl about virtues of Nasabs and Arabians" of Ibn Abd Rabbihi's book ^ A^iLll M^ MJ*ll m^II. [1, 351]. One of the merits of
the work is its reference to several works which have not survived until our time. Because of it, some parts of al-Iqd al-Farid seem as an anthology related with shuubiyya.
Namely for these reasons, we begin our article about reflection of shuubiyya in prose works with Ibn Abd Rabbihi's work. In the book called "Yetime" in the part called Ajjuall <JaI (sayings of the shuubiis who were for equality) Ibn Abd Rabbihi first of all noted that shuubiis were in favor of equality. He begins his writing with the following thought:
"Jj lsja:s lij jl MJ*ll Ajf^dll (jx aJ^ij a^lj Ajj^ jx ^ilill jlj Ajjuiillj (J^xll
"Shuubiis argue with the Arabs in the following way: We want justice and equality. All the human have been created from the soil, they all are descendants of a single dynasty." Every movement, every sect in the history of Islam tried to substantiate it from the point ofview of Guran and hadithes. Shuubiis also were seeking for proof of their thoughts in Guran and hadithes. They, first of all, referred to the 13th ayah of "Hujurat" surah of Guran. Besides it, their main argument was the words that the Prophet Muhammad said during Farewell Hajj. Ibn Abd Rabbihi writes about it from their own language:
IgJ" a^^ll Ajlt ^fill jjsj
cebVI-J aaUi^Ji aj^j m^i ^ jl '^lill
Vj ^^ Jc- 'mij jx ^jij
[1; 352] ,
We prove our thought with the words of the prophet (s. a.s.): "Hey human, Allah prohibited you swaggering of the period of ignorance and boasting with ancestors. You
all are the descendents ofAdam. And Adam has been created from soil. Advantage of an Arabian over a foreigner can be only piety."
With what can a human be proud of? Arabian fanatics' thoughts about it differ from that of shuubiis. As we see above, Arabians were very close to their ancestors. It is not accidental that they developed the science of genealogy and sometimes counted their ancestors up to Adam. But, however, according to shuubiis, each tribe can be proud of two things:
1) With existence of states;
2) With existence of prophets among the ancestors of the tribe.
The writer states:
jj£j jl 4K jkill Ja j|"
Ul jlj £iltS (L 1 l£L
j AUUsJ^ Ajc-Ijili l$K ^jL» jl*ji" (ix Jx jj^j j' JA aj^bSllj
jA IxjIj ^jjllj jj^llj (j^llj ^jV
(L ^ill (ix jl£ JA iljx
[1, 352] ."IgJjixj ^XL^lll ^l^ix ¿ijj l$i£ ^^jVl
"So, the foreigners tell that if the source of pride is government and prophecy, then all great kings of the world have come out of us: pharaohs, amaliks, sasanis, Roman czars. Have any other tribes had a king like Solomon who had a rule over demons, birds and winds? Or who else has a king like Alexander who occupied great territories from the west till the east reigning on these areas?"
Here the point drawing attention is shuubii supporters' pride in their ancient state-building traditions. The ancient states of Sasanis and Byzantine -Rome Empire have always been the source of pride of anti-Arabian coalition. In this issue they did not forget to unite in a common front. Throughout the history the greatest enemy of sasanis was Byzantine Empire. But shuubiis forgetting this enmity boast with both their sasani and Roman ancestors. Because, if not to take into consideration the states like Saba, Main, Himyar in Yemen, Arabs did not have strong state-building tradition. Gassanis and Lakhmees in the north were vassal states of Byzantium and Sasani empires. Shuubiis while boasting with their state-building traditions, mention ancient Jewish history also. Again a long-term enmity of Romans against Jews is forgotten. Solomon, that Jewish king who is mentioned for several times in Guran is proud of. In fact, every king of non-Arabic origin was the source of pride of shuu-biis. Macedonian Alexander who defeated Persian king
Dara was also among these kings. After it, shuubis state that it is right to be proud of prophets:
"Ux jla Sjjjj Vj jkili jj^j ^ f^x&j jlj ;4-jji lx ^jl jjJ ¿}x aj^us y^i"jxJlj eLnj^l jj.L.^xtl Uxj IjXL^Xj (dx"lj laJl^j IjjA ^jij jliill jlj^aixJl IxAj ^jjj ^jl :yJxll*Jl ^x
Ox p- -^jlj ^jill —J^VI O^jj j^jll
[1, 353] Hil^i"
"If the source of pride is prophets, then except four persons- Hud, Saleh, Ismayil and Muhammad, all selected prophets beginning from Adam have come out of us. Adam and Noah are two major prophets standing on the basis of the humanity. In this case, we are of generation of prophets, we are trunk and you are our brunches."
As you see, shuubiis are so much subjective in their claims that they even consider Adam and Noah theirs. Shuubiis majority of which were Persians easily considered even Jewish prophets their ancestors.
Giving such a sample of negative attitude to the women from Arabian history, shuubiis emphasize their being far away from civilization. Arab's tradition to bury new-born girls alive was also an object of criticism of shuubiis. It is especially widely highlighted in poetry. It is known that Islam was established in a city- Mecca, and then was developed in another city- Medina. These cities were surrounded by Bedouin tribes from all sides and their life, economic-political relations were set up on the relations with these tribes. There were tribal relations in these cities. Therefore, it would not be right to state that Islam was established on a full urban environment. Arabs got acquainted with urbanization after the conquest. S. Savran rightly shows that shuubiis were agitators of urbanization within Islam framework. Representing their high culture as urban culture, they criticized Arabs' desert and nomadic way of life [3, 42].
Shuubiis, while enumerating their sources of pride tried to humiliate Arabs in all ways and overstate their own merits. They even did not forget to claim for Islam which is related with the name of Arabs. Against these accusations of shuubiis, Arabs had their own arguments. They boasted with the fact that the founder of Islam had come out of them, and the holy Guran has been written in Arabian language. According to Arabs, namely for this reason they are superior over other nations. Namely their way of life and culture had to determine the face of Islamic society. They praised desert life and Bedouins over and over again. According to them, although desert life had made Arabs poor, at the same time brought a lot
of high merits to them. Hard conditions of life formed such moral qualities as bravery and generosity in them. Ibn Guteybe and al-Masudi emphasized that it was a desert life which formed moral qualities in Arabs [3, 42-46].
Al-Igd al -Farid's further arguments bear discussion character. The author firstly reflects the thoughts of the opposite side — Ibn Guteyba who was supporter of anti-shuubiiyya and an Arabian fanatic. Then there comes a paragraph where shuubiis deny Ibn Guteyba's claims. Afterwards, Arabs' ways of marriage are criticized. Finally, once again the thoughts of Arabian fanatics are given.
As we have mentioned, one of the advantages of al-Igd al -Farid is, as we have already mentioned, the fragments it contain from several works which have not survived until our time. One of these works is Ibn Guteyba's Mj*ll J^ij — (Tafdil al-arab) "Superiority ofArabs". Ibn Abd Rabbihi bringing samples from this work highlights the views of the representatives of anti-shuubiiyya movement. Ibn Guteyba protests against understanding of the sayings related with the above-shown Guran ayah (Hujurat, 13) and Farewell hajj literally. He states that to claim equality of all the human is superficiality, i. e. to maintain to external meaning of Guran without penetrating to the essence of the ayah. If all the humans were equal, then a prophet
^ja -JJS IJI
would not say "treat with esteem when a respected person of a tribe comes to you".
He said about Geys ibn Asim that he is J^l ^^ l^ jijll — the head of the desert population [1, 356].
Giving such samples Ibn Guteyba shows his opposition against shuubiis' equality (AjjuJ) idea. According to him, the thought that all the human and tribes are equal is wrong. According to Ibn Guteyba, shuubiis' claim that Adam is their ancestor and their pride for it is just a vain idea. This time shuubiis refer to the hadith stated about the prophet:
[1, 357] AJI'uh^ jx A'ui^ Ul Ixila jj^iJ V.
Do not take me superior than him (than Adam-C. D.). I am just one of his merits.
In "al-Igd al-Farid" shuubiis' thoughts criticizing the ways of marriage of Arabs are given. When Arabs were attacking to a tribe, they were taking their women as prisoners and copulated with them, due to it, it was impossible to identify the fathers of the born children [1, 357].
Against these accusations of the foreigners, the author mentions the goodness that Arabs have done toward the foreigners, their making namaz together, inviting them to their dinner and names the shuubiis'
accusations ungratefulness. Some thoughts of shuubiis against Arabs have been noted in al-Jahiz's (775-868) work ULif*llj
Persians did not like Arabs' superiority on the art of word. They tried to claim this art theirs.
It is known that the thought of Arabian-Islamic philosophy has derived from the Greek philosophy. It is also known that Arabs knew well Persian written monuments. Ibn al-Mugaffa translated a number of Persian monuments into Arabian language, opened to Arabian reader the ancient Sanskrit written monument "Kalila and Dimna". In spite of it, in science world Arabian poetry science, as well as the concepts of eloquence and declaration are said to be Arabian products. Ibn al-Mutazz created his M^ (kitab al-badi) on namely pure Arabian basis. The influence of Greek literature speaking about mythical gods was also weak. That is, Arabian literature had traditions which were far away from foreign influences and the representatives of other nations did not understand it. For example, in Jahiz's work his thoughts about shuubiis attitude to Arabs' setting the rhythm with a rod, or by playing with spears and daggers while telling a poem or a sermon is also shown. Usually, shuubiis do not like this peculiarity of Arabs, not seeing any relation between the art of word and rod, spear, etc. According to them, Arabs while making such things tried to distract the people's attention away from their meaningless speech [3, 45]. Jahiz in his work "al-Bayan vat-Tabyin" covered this issue widely. He dedicated quite a long chapter of his work "1>^<*ll m^" to a rod and the issues related with Arabs' art of oratory and reflected shuubiis' critical thoughts also.
We would like to note that archetypes as a rod and an arrow hold an important place in mythical mind of a number of nations. A. Gasimova in her work "Immoral peculiarities of Arabs in the period of ignorance" notes that before Islam Arabian preachers while making forecasts used an arrow [4, 280]. Jahiz in his work while opposing to shuubiis refers to archetype essence of the tools. Against these accusations Jahiz's considerations also seem convincing. The writer justifies Arabs' using the rod in the art of word from religious point of view and referring to the stories about the prophet states that the rod is not just an ordinary stick and that it bears deep symbolic meanings:
J^l jx jj^lx l^axJl Akl jl JLLllj"
'jaUvi i^jl* V
¿•jla.1 L^axJl aaic. jjta jj jLui^i ilAJl
aj^-lll (Jj^lj aj^^ (jj^j ajlxuxj aj^&jxj
jljxt jj ^^jx! ^J ...'.
[2, 30-31] ^IJIAJJII jx pl'e ^i ^31
"My argument is that the origin of the rod is very honorable. Only ignorant people can try to find a defect in its position. Long ago Solomon, David's son, also took a rod when he was speaking and preaching, as well as when he was making namaz. Allah gathered many evident miracles in the rod that he had given to Musa ibn Imran.
Jahiz, knowing religious-mythical thinking, does not forget to associate the rod with a tree archetype. In the mythic mind a world tree uniting different layers of the space has a significant place. Ifthe religions are the history, in the prophets' stories the tree holds a significant place.
So, Jahiz gives deep symbolic meaning to every tradition ofArabs. He masterfully relates the art ofword ofAr-
1. 2.
3.
4.
abs with religious legends and stories about the prophet. In this way, he denies Arabs being known as desert men far away from civilization.
In all these polemics we see both parties' effort to get strengthened from point of view of nobility and culture. Arabian fanatics did not step behind before shuubiis' attack, they emphasized their superior position in the world history by creation of art ofword and Islam. The considerations took place in prose were more severe than in poetry.
Of course, the members of anti-shuubiiyya movement did not get satisfied with self-protection tactics and attacked back to shuubiis. According to them, monarchies that Romans and Persians are proud of did not make the people happy. It was against the equality idea of Islam and separated the society into layers [3, 48]. Comparing Arabian generosity with Persian greediness, they criticized the latters.
References:
(in Arabian) ^^ 376'1983' 4jx1*JI jIj 'Ajjjj '^illiill s-3—l' ' ^'"^jll 'j-xli t^jjill '4jj Ojj
jLi-ll Ajj^x 'SjAlSH '^lljll ^i^xll 'jjjlA 'x^x ^^ull 'Oyfillj jl^jll j^ jJI Oj jxe. jlxV. jjl
(in Arabian) 1998 J. A 379
Scott Savran, Cultural Polemics in the Early Islamic World: Shu'ubiyya Controversy, Journal for the Study of Peace and Conflict, - 2007. ( in English)
Gasimova A., Mental and moral condition of the Arabs of the period of ignorance. - Baku, Science - 2007, - P. 217. (in Azerbaijani)
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20534/EJLL-17-1-48-51
Postnikova Elina, Nationale Metschnikow-Universität Fakultät für Romanistik und Germanistik Deutsche Phylologie E-mail: [email protected]
Die Entwicklung der Großschreibung im Deutschen
Abstract: This article is devoted to examination of some peculiarities in German orthography and precisely to the appearance and historical development of the capital letter. There were given some references on the literary texts, according to which we define the main functions of capital letter at that time. Keywords: capitalization, lowercase, punctuation, exaltation, regulation.
Kurze Inhaltsangabe: In diesem Artikel geht es um die Entstehung und die Entwicklung der Großschreibung in der deutschen Sprache. Die Funktionen und Motiven der Großschreibung wurden auch analysiert.
Stichwörter: die Großschreibung, die Kleinschreibung, die Interpunktion, die Hervorhebung, die Regelung.
Deutsch ist eine der verbreitesten Sprachen der Welt. Wie jede Sprache ist auch Deutsch im Wandel
begriffen und unterliegt ständigen Veränderungen. Die Sprache ist vor allem ein soziales Phänomen und das wichtigste Verständigungsmittel in der Gesellschaft. Die Sprache ist ein dynamisches System. Sie verändert sich und entwickelt sich ständig. Viele Ursachen bewirken den Sprachwandel, sowohl extra-als auch intralinguistische Faktoren. Wie sich im Laufe der letzten zwei Jahrhunderte herausstellte, ist die historisch-vergleichende Methode
