ISLAM AND THE DIVINE COMEDY
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
ISLAM AND THE
DIVINE COMEDY
By MIGUEL ASÍN
Professor of Arabic at the University of Madrid
and Member of the Academia Española
TRANSLATED AND ABRIDGED
By HAROLD SUNDERLAND
NEW YORK
E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY
1926
_Printed in Great Britain by
Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury._
_DEDICATION_
THE AUTHOR AND TRANSLATOR WISH TO RECORD
THEIR GRATITUDE TO THE
DUKE OF BERWICK AND ALBA
TO WHOSE GENEROUS INITIATIVE THE PUBLICATION
OF THIS EDITION IS DUE
_INTRODUCTION_
BY THE DUKE OF ALBA
The Spanish original, of which the present is an abridged translation,
appeared six years ago under the title of _La Escatología musulmana en la
Divina Comedia_ (Madrid, Imprenta de Estanislao Maestre, 1919).
Its author, Miguel Asín y Palacios, a Catholic priest and Professor of
Arabic at the University of Madrid, is the disciple of another Arabic
scholar of Spain, Julián Ribera, by whom he was initiated in Oriental
studies and the methods of historical research. Asín has devoted over
twenty-five years of his life to the investigation of the philosophic
and religious thought of mediæval Islam—the Islam of the Orient as well
as that of Spain—and its influence on the culture of Christian Europe.
His training in Arabic philology and his mastery of mediæval scholastics
had enabled him several years before to make important discoveries
regarding the influence in theology of Averrhoes on St. Thomas Aquinas,
of Ibn Arabi of Murcia on Raymond Lull, and of the _Ikhwan as-safa_ on
Fr. Anselmo de Turmeda, and so forth. His most important discovery,
however, and the one on which his fame is chiefly based, was his
discovery of Islamic models the influence of which on the Divine Comedy
of Dante forms the subject of the present work. From the very date of
its publication in Spanish the book aroused the curiosity of the general
public and caused a great stir among the critics of literary history. The
Italian Dantists particularly could with difficulty bring themselves to
recognise that Moslem sources should have formed the basis for the Divine
Comedy, the poem that symbolises the whole culture of mediæval Christian
Europe. The book at once became the subject of lively and passionate
controversy. Over a hundred articles and pamphlets have been written and
lectures delivered in favour of, or against, the thesis propounded by
Asín Palacios. The principal reviews devoted to literature and literary
history, those both of a general and special character, have published
articles from the pens of Dantists and Romance and Arabic scholars of
note in Europe and America, expounding or criticising the thesis. Asín
has intervened in the controversy to sum up the judgments, favourable,
adverse or doubtful, and finally refute his opponents; this he has done
in different publications,[1] and the present is a translation of the
work containing the original thesis. The balance of opinion is strongly
in his favour. Apart from a score or so of adverse critics, mainly of
Italian nationality, whose attitude is to be accounted for on the grounds
of national or pro-Dante prejudice, an immense majority of critics of
all nations, whose competence, whether as Romance or Arabic scholars and
whose impartiality are beyond all question, has opted in favour of Asín
Palacios’ theory.
Both parties to the controversy have been unanimous and unstinting in
their praise of the book.
Pio Rajna, the chief of the Italian Dantists, writing in _Nuova
Antologia_, admits that the importance of the thesis is so far-reaching
that “if it were true, it would lead to a conception of Dante differing
considerably from that hitherto formed by the Dantists.”
Parodi, another leading figure among the Dantists of Italy, in the
_Bulletino della società dantesca italiana_ confesses that “this book
has had a more than flattering reception, it has roused a feeling of
curiosity mingled with astonishment in all who have read it and has won
the approval and assent of not a few.”
Nallino, Professor of Arabic at the University of Rome, stated in the
_Rivista degli studi orientali_ that the book was “of great value as a
contribution to mediæval studies in general, as proving the hitherto
unsuspected infiltration of Islamic conceptions of the after-life into
the popular beliefs of Western Christendom; and, especially, as one of
the most important works on the religion of Islam that have of late
appeared.”
Bonucci, Professor at the University of Sienna, in the _Rivista di Studi
filosofici e religiosi_, affirms that “a book such as this does more to
advance the history of, and comment on, Dante’s thought than a whole
century of the minutiæ of the Dantists.”
Friedrich Beck, the famous Romance scholar of Germany, writes in the
_Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie_: “No book on Dante of such
importance has appeared for years; we wonder whether the Italians, in
their patriotic pride, can find a work of theirs to equal that of the
learned Spaniard. Asín has given a great impulse to the study of Dante
and has opened up vistas so startlingly new that the students will be
bound to seek new bearings and adopt fresh points of view.”
Söderhjelm, Professor of Romance languages at the University of
Helsingfors, in _Neuphilologische Mitteilungen_, says: “This book is a
revelation and an event; it will doubtless be regarded as one of the most
notable, perhaps the most notable of all, literary productions that have
marked the Jubilee of Dante.”
The review _Analecta Bollandiana_ states: “The author of this book is
universally known. There is scarcely any example of a work on Oriental
philology having attracted so great attention. The audacity of the thesis
could not fail to rouse the most lively interest in all who are initiated
in the problems of literary history. The analogies shown by the author
to exist between the Divine Comedy and Islam are so numerous and of such
a nature as to be disquieting to the mind of the reader, who is forced
to picture to himself the great epic of Christianity as enthroned in the
world of Moslem mysticism, as if in a mosque that were closed to Islam
and consecrated to Christian worship. At all events, there will always
remain to the author of this book the honour of having started one of the
most memorable debates in the history of universal literature.”
Caballera, Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Toulouse, although
disagreeing with the thesis, admits in the _Bulletin de littérature
ecclésiastique_ that “the reader is bewildered by the prodigious learning
of the author, his logic, his talent for argument, which are nothing
less than astounding; the clearness of his statements makes a profound
impression.”
Lastly, the learned Romance scholar Van Tieghem, in the _Revue de
littérature comparée_, states that “this is an honest, objective book,
as clear and well arranged as it is rich in matter, which will remain on
record as one of the most daring and fruitful attempts to open up new
vistas in the history of European literature.”
I need not refer to the flattering opinions this book has earned from
the critics in England and America, as they will be known to the
English-speaking public. Both Romance and Arabic scholars, such as
Arnold, Browning, Cumming, Guillaume, Jordan, Leigh, Macdonald, and Ryan,
have expressed themselves frankly in favour of Asín Palacios.
The almost universal applause which this book has gained, has induced
me to contribute towards its diffusion by making it available to the
English-speaking peoples. The idea was first suggested to me by Lord
Balfour, whose interest in matters of philosophy and literature is
universally known. Animated by his advice, I have now had the book
translated into English, in the hope that it may reach a wider circle
of readers, who, whilst finding difficulty in reading Spanish, may
be curious to know of a problem that is of interest for the study of
literary history in general and particularly of the Divine Comedy
of Dante, who has ever counted so many fervent admirers among the
English-speaking peoples.
The translation has been carefully and faithfully made by Mr. Harold
L. Sunderland, who is at home both in the Spanish language and in the
subject of the book. In order, however, to attain its diffusion among a
wider public, the translator has, in agreement with the author, cut out
the documentary evidence and critical apparatus that goes to swell the
Spanish original—a complete translation of the Spanish original into
French will also be published shortly by Paul Geuthner, of Paris—and is
useful and intelligible to the specialists only. Thus, the Arabic texts
and the tercets of the Divine Comedy that are compared with them, as
well as some of the notes and paragraphs of secondary importance for the
argument are not contained in the present translation. The essence of the
book remains intact, however, with all its dialectic vigour and literary
charm.
If the English reader should concur with my opinion, my aims in promoting
the translation of the Spanish book will have been fully achieved.
[Illustration]
_August, 1925._
_AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE ORIGINAL SPANISH EDITION_
In my recent work on the neo-Platonic mysticism of the Spanish Moslem
philosopher Ibn Masarra,[2] I had already hinted that his doctrines,
filtering through into Christian scholasticism, had not only met with
acceptance at the hands of theologians of the Franciscan or pre-Thomist
school, but had even influenced a philosopher-poet of such universal
renown as Dante Alighieri, whom all critics and historians had hitherto
held to be an Aristotelian and Thomist.[3] After enumerating briefly the
fundamental reasons underlying my vague surmise, I ventured to call the
attention of specialists to the close resemblance that I found between
the general outlines of the ascension of Dante and Beatrice throughout
the spheres of Paradise, and another allegory of the ascension of a
mystic and a philosopher, in the _Futuhat_, written by the great Sufi of
Murcia, Ibn Arabi, who was undoubtedly a follower of Ibn Masarra.[4]
The question so raised was of obvious interest: for if not merely the
neo-Platonic metaphysics of the Cordovan Ibn Masarra and the Murcian Ibn
Arabi, but the allegorical form in which the latter cast his Ascension
may have exercised an influence as models, as they certainly existed as
forerunners, of the most sublime part of the Divine Comedy, Dante’s
conception of Paradise, then Spain may be entitled to claim for her
Moslem thinkers no slight share in the world-wide fame enjoyed by the
immortal work of Dante Alighieri. And again, the absorbing influence
exercised by the latter over our allegorical poets, from the end of the
fourteenth to the sixteenth century, from Villena to Garcilaso, not
to mention Francisco Imperial, Santillana, Mena and Padilla, would be
balanced in a measure by the antecedent influence of our Moslem mystics
in the complex genesis of the Divine Comedy.
Such was the starting-point of my research, but soon the horizon
opened out unexpectedly before me. On closer study of Ibn Arabi’s
quasi-Dantesque allegory I found that it was itself no more than
a mystical adaptation of another ascension, already famous in the
theological literature of Islam: the _Miraj_, or Ascension, of Mahomet
from Jerusalem to the Throne of God. As this _Miraj_ was preceded by an
_Isra_, or Nocturnal Journey, during which Mahomet visited some of the
infernal regions, the Moslem tradition at once struck me as a prototype
of Dante’s conception. A methodical comparison of the general outlines of
the Moslem legend with those of the great poem confirmed my impression
and finally quite convinced me: the similarity had extended to the many
picturesque, descriptive and episodic details of the two narratives, as
well as to what is called the “architecture of the realms,” that is to
say, the topographical conception of the infernal regions and of the
celestial abodes, the plans of which appeared to me as drawn by one and
the same Moslem architect. But on reaching this stage of my research, a
new doubt arose. How if these resemblances between the Divine Comedy and
its hypothetical Moslem model should be due to the fact that both derived
from some common source? In other words, might not the features of Dante
which appeared foreshadowed in Moslem sources, be traced to mediæval
Christian legends that preceded his great work? At this juncture,
therefore, it became imperative, in the first instance, to turn to those
legends, and to make sure that I were not ascribing a Moslem origin
to anything in Dante that might be adequately accounted for by those
Christian legends.
This further process of inquiry and comparison held in store an even more
unexpected conclusion. It not only confirmed that in Moslem sources there
were to be found prototypes of features in the Divine Comedy hitherto
regarded as original because nothing similar to them had been discovered
in the Christian legends, its predecessors; it further revealed the
no less Moslem origin of many of those mediæval legends themselves;
it let in a flood of light upon the whole problem. The Moslem element
thenceforth appeared as a key to much that had already been accounted
for, and to what was still obscure, in the Divine Comedy. The conclusion
was consonant with what students of Dante had hitherto ascribed to the
influence of Christian precursors, and it explained what, as being
inexplicable, they had attributed solely to the creative genius of the
poet himself.
The above is, in outline, my thesis.[5] It will sound to many like
artistic sacrilege, or it may call an ironic smile to the lips of
those—and they are not a few—who still conceive an artist’s inspiration
as something preternatural, owing nothing to any suggestion outside
itself. This is a very common attitude towards works of such universal
renown as the Divine Comedy. Ozanam, in his inquiry into its poetic
sources, had already brought out this point.[6] For a long time—he
says—this poem was considered as a solitary monument, standing in the
midst of the mediæval desert. When, a century ago, Cancellieri pointed to
some passages of Dante’s Inferno and Paradiso as being closely modelled
upon the _Vision of the monk Alberic_, the devotees of Dante rose up
in wrath at the sacrilege of supposing the Master capable of servile
imitation of an obscure monk of the twelfth century: they, who were none
too ready to admit even the undeniable fact of his imitation of classic
models.
But time has passed and the nineteenth century, the age of cold
dispassionate criticism, has peopled the deserts of the Middle Ages
with living realities. Labitte, Ozanam, D’Ancona, Graf, a whole host
of scholars and labourers in research have studied the legends of the
after-life, both classical and Christian, which explain the genesis of
Dante’s poem; and the lovers of Dante no longer resent the more sober and
more scientific view of poetic inspiration which has gained acceptance.
It is now admitted that the essential trait of genius does not lie in
the absolute novelty or originality of the work of art; neither can it
consist in the power—the prerogative of God alone—of creating both Form
and Matter out of nothing.[7]
The greater equanimity of the modern school of Dantophiles encourages me
to hope that they will not be moved to ire by the suggestion of Moslem
influences in the Divine Comedy. D’Ancona, in his inquiry into its
Christian and classical sources,[8] remarks that Dante showed himself
ever keen to study and to learn, with a receptive mind towards the
ideas and sentiments of his age; and surely it will not be denied that
his century was steeped in the learning and art of Islam. In the opinion
of D’Ancona it may always be difficult to affirm specifically that any
one legend was the actual and original model that Dante had in his mind,
the pregnant germ from which his divine poem was to grow. Yet I venture
to think that the difficulty will not be found insuperable, if only the
Moslem originals be considered, to wit: the above-mentioned legends of
the Nocturnal Journey and Ascension of Mahomet, completed and adorned
as they were with a mass of topographical and episodic detail, whether
derived from other Islamic legends of the Life beyond the grave, from
the Apocalyptic scenes of the Day of Judgment, or from the theories
and conceptions of certain of the Moslem mystics in respect of Heaven
and the Beatific Vision, which in spirituality and idealism were not
unworthy of Dante’s own conception of Paradise. To throw into relief
such resemblances and analogy, as conducive to the imitation which they
suggest, is of necessity the main task of the present work. To complete
the demonstration, render the conclusion unavoidable, and forestall
all reasonable objection, it will finally outline and enumerate the
coincidences of the Christian mediæval legends that preceded the Divine
Comedy, with Moslem legends of a remoter date.
MADRID, 1919.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PART I
THE LEGEND OF THE NOCTURNAL JOURNEY AND ASCENSION OF MAHOMET
COMPARED WITH THE DIVINE COMEDY
I. THE ORIGIN OF THE LEGEND:
1. The germ of the legend in the Koran 3
2. Its development in the form of various versions grouped into
three cycles 3
II. FIRST CYCLE—VERSIONS OF THE “ISRA,” OR NOCTURNAL JOURNEY:
1. Common character of the two main versions of this cycle 4
2. Summary of Version A of Cycle I 4
3. Its comparison with the Divine Comedy. Agreement in general
outline 5
4. Similarity of descriptive features 6
5. Summary of Version B of Cycle I 6
6. Its comparison with the Divine Comedy. General features of
resemblance 8
7. Analogies in descriptive detail 8
III. SECOND CYCLE—VERSIONS OF THE “MIRAJ,” OR ASCENSION:
1. Features common to the three versions of this cycle 9
2. Date and author of each version 9
3. Summary of Version A of Cycle II 10
4. Its comparison with the Divine Comedy. Coincidence with
outlines of Dante’s ascension 11
5. Version B. First attempt to link the journey to hell with
the ascension to heaven 12
6. Summary of Version B of Cycle II 12
7. Its comparison with the Divine Comedy 14
8. The architecture of hell the prototype of that of the Inferno 14
9. In both stories the guardians of hell bar the pilgrim’s way 15
10. The City of Dis and the first stage of the Moslem hell 16
11. Resemblance of some of the tortures of hell 17
12. Version C. The Ascension the main theme of this version 17
13. Summary of Version C of Cycle II 18
14. Its comparison with the Divine Comedy. Preliminary remarks 24
15. The description of heaven in terms of light and sound is as
spiritual as the Paradiso 25
16. Similarity in use of expedient: the comparison of the speed
of flight, the inability to describe the sights witnessed,
and the brilliance of the light dazzling the pilgrims 26
17. Identical services rendered by the guides, Gabriel and
Beatrice 28
18. Dante’s picture of the eagle inspired by the vision of the
heavenly cock. Other angelic visions 29
19. The littleness of the created world as seen by both pilgrims
from on high 30
20. Striking likeness of the apotheoses of both ascensions.
God a focus of light, surrounded by nine concentric
circles of angels radiating light and chanting as they
revolve. The Beatific Vision and ecstasy 31
IV. THIRD CYCLE—FUSION OF THE VERSIONS OF THE “ISRA” AND THE “MIRAJ”:
1. Nature and date of the one version of this cycle 32
2. Summary of Sole Version of Cycle III 33
3. Its comparison with the Divine Comedy. A preliminary remark 35
4. The element of moral allegory in this version and in Dante 35
5. The vision, in the Moslem legend and the Purgatorio, of
the old seductress, symbolic of worldly pleasure 36
6. Threefold cleansing of the soul, in the Garden of Abraham
and the Purgatorio 37
V. THEOLOGICAL COMMENTARIES ON THE LEGEND:
1. The Version of Cycle III expanded by theological commentaries.
Their origin and nature 38
2. New episodes in the commentaries, and their comparison with
the Divine Comedy 40
3. The afrite pursuing Mahomet and the demon pursuing Dante 40
4. The heavenly ladder in the Islamic tale and in the Paradiso 41
5. Analogy in wealth of incident and profusion of secondary
characters 41
VI. ADAPTATIONS FROM THE LEGEND, MAINLY MYSTICAL ALLEGORIES:
1. Origin and nature of such works 42
2. General idea of some adaptations 43
3. The ascension of the soul upon leaving the body 43
4. The ascension of the guardian angel with the good deeds of
his ward 44
5. The real or symbolical ascension of the mystic 44
6. Ibn Arabi’s “Book of the Nocturnal Journey” and its analogy
with the Divine Comedy regarded as a work of allegory 45
7. Ibn Arabi’s allegorical ascension of the philosopher and
the theologian. Summary of the ascension 47
8. Its comparison with the Divine Comedy. Agreement in
allegorical meaning 51
9. Resemblance in episode, such as the distribution of the
Blessed on an astrological and moral principle; in
the didactic tendency of both authors; and in their
enigmatical style 52
VII. LITERARY IMITATIONS OF THE LEGEND:
1. General nature of such works 54
2. The “Treatise on Pardon” of Abu-l-Ala al Maarri. Its purpose
both theological and literary 55
3. Summary of the work 56
4. Its comparison with the Divine Comedy. Agreement in realism 61
5. General artifices common to both stories 61
6. Similarity of actual incidents, such as the encounter with
the two heavenly beauties 65
7. The lion and the wolf barring the road to hell 65
8. The discussion with Adam 66
9. The meeting with the beloved of the poet Imru-l-Qays 66
10. Coincidence in intrinsic literary value 67
VIII. SUMMARY OF COMPARISONS:
1. Systematic grouping of the analogies found to exist between
the Divine Comedy and the different versions, adaptations
and imitations of the Moslem legend 67
2. Resemblance of the descriptions of hell 68
3. Resemblance of the descriptions of purgatory 69
4. Resemblance of the descriptions of heaven 70
5. Similarity in allegorical meaning 73
6. Other, secondary, features of resemblance 74
7. Provisional conclusions 75
8. Influence upon the Islamic legend of tales from other faiths 75