literature of anything that might serve to account for this hybrid theory
of a love that is at once earthly and spiritual; this curious and new
form—to quote his own words—of Platonism, which yet is not directly
derived from Plato.[664] There is nothing in the doctrine of the Church,
in Ovid, or in Aristotle, to explain such an idealistic and romantic
conception of woman, so spiritual a love, which, as Vossler says, must
have appeared grotesque to the philosophers and theologians of the Middle
Ages. Vossler’s efforts to find an explanation are more remarkable as
examples of ingenuity and erudition than they are convincing. The ideas
expressed by the Italian poets of the _dolce stil nuovo_ he traces back
through the songs of Provençal troubadours to the chivalry and psychology
of the Germanic race.
7. But Vossler’s argument, based on complicated transformations of social
psychology, is brought to nought by one outstanding fact: far earlier
than the first of those many stages, Islam in the East and in Spain had
furnished works, both of prose and poetry, treating of love in the same
romantic spirit.
The common prejudice—common both by its wide diffusion and the absence
of all logical foundation—denying all idealism to the conception of love
of the Arabs, and Moslems in general, is quite contrary to fact. The
Yemen tribe of the Banu Odhra, or “Children of Chastity,” were famous for
the manner in which they upheld the tradition of their name. “I am of a
race that, when it loves, dies,” said one of them. Jamil, one of their
most celebrated poets, died mad with love for his lady, Butayna, upon
whom he had never dared lay hands. Two other poets of the same tribe,
the lovers Orwa and Afra, died together consumed by the flame of a
lifelong passion, which left them in a state of chastity to the end. The
romanticism that prefers death to the defilement of the chaste union of
the souls is a feature of all the melancholy and beautiful songs of these
poets.[665] The example of abstinence and perpetual chastity set by the
Christian monks of Arabia may well have influenced the Banu Odhra. The
mysticism of the Sufis, directly inherited from the Christian hermits,
also drew its inspiration from the lives and writings of the romantic
poets of Arabia.[666] Regardless of the fact that neither the Koran
nor the life of Mahomet himself furnishes the slightest ground for so
idealistic an interpretation of love, they do not hesitate to attribute
to the Prophet the saying: “He who loves and remains chaste unto death,
dies a martyr.” Ibn Arabi adopts this motto[667]; and the doctrine is
followed by many Sufis who, although married, stand as heroic examples of
perpetual chastity. Thus idealised, the wife is no longer the sexual mate
of the Sufi, but rather his companion or sister in asceticism; and his
love for her is part of his love for God.
This new trend of thought is promptly reflected in the literature both of
the East and the West. Ibn Daud of Ispahan, in his _Book of Venus_ of the
ninth century, analyses and defends romantic love. Ibn Hazm of Cordova,
who lived in the eleventh century, has left us in his book called the
“Necklace of the Dove,” but better known as the “Book of Love,” and in
a smaller work, “Characters and Conduct,” a whole treatise dealing with
the passion of love and breathing the purest romanticism.[668] He regards
the essence of love as consisting not in the commerce of the bodies but
in the union of the souls. Moreover, his “Necklace” abounds in authentic
stories of Spanish Moslems, drawn from all ranks of society, whose love
is Platonic and who render silent homage to their beloved and worship her
with an almost mystical adoration. At times, in his anguish, the lover
writes letters bathed in tears or even written in his blood. Many, in a
paroxysm of despair, meet with a tragic end in madness or death.
But this romantic form of love, as sung by the poets of the Banu Odhra
and described and classified in the books of Ibn Daud and Ibn Hazm is
perhaps rather than ascetic continence an ultra-refinement of an erotic
sensibility that has been worn out by excess. Accordingly, it appears at
three epochs and in three centres that in this respect had reached the
zenith of hyperæsthesia—in the Yemen, where the pre-Islamic poets had
exhausted the theme of sensual love, and at the highly civilised courts
of Baghdad and Cordova, where decadence had begun to set in.
8. We are thus still far from the Platonic conception of woman, idealised
as an angel and a symbol of philosophy. The origin of this strange
conception would seem to be due to an attempt to idealise the sensual
coarseness of the Koranic paradise. The houris of the Koran, although
celestial, are intended solely to be instruments of carnal delight. This
idea was incompatible with the spiritual longings of the later Moslem
mystics, who had been profoundly influenced by the asceticism preached
and practised by the Christian monks. But it was impossible to eliminate
from the Koran the verses proclaiming those sensual joys. The mystics,
therefore, in their legends of the after-life replaced the houris by one
celestial bride, a spiritual being whose love is chaste and whom God
has appointed to each of the blessed.[669] In all those legends, this
heavenly spouse is depicted as a guardian angel, who serves to inspire
her lover with a desire for spiritual perfection and a greater love for
God during his life on earth.
Later, when to the asceticism inherited from the Christian monks the
Sufis applied a pantheistic and neo-Platonic form of metaphysics,
the idealisation of sexual love reached the acme of subtlety and
abstruseness. This has been shown by the erotic poems of Ibn Arabi, in
which the beloved is a mere symbol of Divine wisdom and the passion felt
for her allegorical of the union of the mystic soul with God Himself.
The psychological phenomena attendant upon love he analyses with a
surprising delicacy and penetration, and shows himself far superior,
especially in the _Futuhat_, to any of the Italian poets of the _dolce
stil nuovo_.[670] Not content with distinguishing between the different
degrees of feeling that separate love from sympathy, from affection, from
passion and from desire, he probes into the subconscious states of the
heart and mind, and interprets them in a mystical sense. The sighs, the
tears and mental anguish of the lover; his languor and melancholy; his
bewilderment and his secret grief mingled with jealous anger; his fits
of brooding and dejection, of ecstasy and rapture—the whole gamut of the
psychology of love is closely analysed in the pages of the _Futuhat_,
which is at the same time a metaphysical exegesis of the passion. For,
after admitting a threefold aim in love, viz., the union of the sexes,
the union of the souls, and the spiritual union with God, he has the
sublime audacity to assert that it is God who appears to every lover in
the image of his beloved.[671] In order that we may learn to love Him, He
assumes the form of the fair Zaynab, of Suad, of Hind, of Layla—of all
those beauties of whose charms the poets sing, little suspecting that in
their songs of love they are praising the only Beauty of the World, God,
incorporate in those sensual forms.
9. Let us at this juncture glance backwards and collect the threads of
the argument presented in this last part of our work.
The numerous symptoms of a leaning towards Islamic culture that have
been discovered in the writings of Dante are proof that his mind, far
from being averse from the influence of Moslem models, was rather
inclined towards their assimilation. In a previous chapter it was shown
how likely the transmission of these models from Moslem Spain to Italy
and the Florentine poet was. In the first two parts of this work the
great wealth of Moslem feature in the Divine Comedy was demonstrated
after minute examination. In the third part it was seen how the majority
of pre-Dante Christian legends are also derived from the literature
of Islam. It would seem, therefore, that the chain of reasoning is
complete, and that no serious objection can be raised to the assertion
that imitation did indeed exist, once we have established as facts the
_resemblance_ between the model and the copy, the _priority_ of the
former to the latter, and _communication_ between the two.
Nor is it possible any longer to deny to Islamic literature the place of
honour to which it is entitled in the stately train of the forerunners of
Dante’s poem. For this literature, in itself, furnishes more solutions to
the many riddles that surround the genesis of the poem than all the other
precursory works combined.
But at every step of the long journey we have travelled in the research
into the Islamic models of the Divine Comedy, the figure of one writer
has stood out as the most typical and the most likely to furnish in his
works the key to what is still obscure in Dante. We refer to the figure
of the Spanish mystic and poet Ibn Arabi of Murcia. His works in general,
and particularly his _Futuhat_, may indeed have been the source whence
the Florentine poet drew the general idea of his poem. There also Dante
could have found the geometrical plans of the architecture of hell and
paradise, the general features of the scenery in which the sublime drama
is laid, the vivid picture of the life of glory led by the chosen, the
Beatific Vision of the Divine Light, and the ecstasy of him who beholds
it. Moreover, it would be difficult to find two thinkers whose poetical
and religious temperaments are so alike as those of Dante and Ibn Arabi;
for the resemblance extends not only to their philosophical thought,
derived from the illuministic school of Ibn Masarra, but also to the
images by which their ideas are symbolised and the literary means by
which they are expressed. Nowhere is this seen more clearly than in the
_Convito_ and the _Treasures_. Conceived and composed in the self-same
manner, these works were written with the same personal object; and
both authors follow the same method in the allegorical interpretation of
the amorous theme of their songs. The share due to Ibn Arabi—a Spaniard,
although a Moslem—in the literary glory achieved by Dante Alighieri in
his immortal poem can no longer be ignored.
The gigantic figure of the great Florentine need not thereby lose one
inch of the sublime height it has reached in the eyes of his compatriots
and of all mankind. Blind admiration of genius is not the most
appropriate form of homage. Nor could the worship of his memory, inspired
by a mere spirit of patriotism, satisfy a man who placed above his love
for Italy and the Latin race, the lofty ideals of humanity and religion;
who laid proud claim to the title of a citizen of the world; and who
breathed into the exquisite form of his divine poem an universal and
eternal spirit of morality and mysticism that was the natural expression
of the deepest Christian feelings.
In the end we find that it is that perennial source of poetry and
spirituality, the Divine religion of Christ, that furnishes the real key
to the genesis of Dante’s poem and its precursors, both Christian and
Moslem. For Islam, be it once more said, is but the bastard offspring
of the Gospel and the Mosaic Law, part of whose doctrines on the
after-life it adopted. Lacking the restraining influence of an infallible
authority whereby the fancy of its believers might have been checked, it
assimilated elements from other Eastern sources and thus came to deck and
overlay with all the trappings of Oriental fancy the sober picture of
the life beyond the grave that is outlined in the Gospel. Dante could,
without altering the essence of Christian teaching on that life, draw for
the purposes of his poem on the artistic features furnished by the Moslem
legends. In so doing he was but reclaiming for Christianity property that
was by rights its own, heirlooms that had lain hidden in the religious
lore of the East until restored to the stock of Western culture greatly
enhanced by the imaginative genius of Islam.
FOOTNOTES
[1] ASÍN PALACIOS has published this summary, under the title of
_Historia crítica de una polémica_, simultaneously in four reviews:
_Boletín de la Real Academia Española_ (Madrid, 1924); _Il Giornale
Dantesco_ (Florence, 1924); _Revue de littérature comparée_ (Paris,
1924); _Litteris_ (Lund, Sweden, 1924).
[2] ASÍN, _Abenmasarra_, p. 120. The complete bibliography of all books
consulted will be found in the Appendix.
[3] When making this assertion I was unaware of the works published two
years before in Italian reviews by the erudite Dante critic, Bruno
Nardi, the first and only writer to attribute a neo-Platonic affiliation
to the philosophy of the Florentine poet. We shall refer to the works of
Nardi in Part IV, chap. IV, § 7.
[4] Cf. ASÍN, _Abenmasarra_, p. 163.
[5] When writing the third part of my book, dealing with the Moslem
elements in the pre-Dante Christian legends, I discovered from TORRACA
(_Precursori_, 331) that the influence of the Mahometan ascension over
Dante had previously been suspected by Blochet. But, Blochet, in his
essay, _Les sources orientales de la Divine Comédie_, failed to state
the problem in its real terms and his hypothesis, being unsupported by
documentary evidence, remained a mere surmise. Accordingly, Torraca
easily disposes of it, saying:—
“Egli ragiona così; Dante conobbe le narrazioni occidentali di altri
viaggi al mondo di là; ma queste narrazioni derivano dalla leggenda
orientale (i.e. the _Miraj_); dunque essa è la fonte prima della Divina
Commedia.”
The difference between this argument and the one on which the present
work is based will be readily apparent to the reader.
[6] OZANAM, p. 373.
[7] OZANAM, p. 498 _et seq._
[8] D’ANCONA, _Precursori_, pp. 108 and 113.
[9] Reference to the Divine Comedy will be omitted when the resemblance
is one that affects the whole of a scene spread over several pages. For
such the reader may consult any of the summaries of Dante’s poem.
[10] _Inf._ I; _Purg._ IV.
[11] _Inf._ III, 26, 28.
[12] Of Version B there are four varieties which, to avoid repetition,
are here reduced to one by the elimination of details common to A and B.
[13] _Inf._ V, 4 _et seq._
[14] _Inf._ XXXIV, 114; _Purg._ II, 3.
[15] See Rossi, I, 146, who summarises the _contrapasso_ in the Divine
Comedy, and compare with the tortures described in Versions A and B.
[16] _Inf._ V, 31 _et seq._ It should be added that, at the approach to
this region, Dante, like Mahomet in Version B, hears the cries of the
damned (Ibid. 25 _et seq._).
[17] _Inf._ XII, 46 _et seq._ The coincidence may extend to the crime,
for the Arabic text of Version B reads: “those who ate of usury,” while
Dante says literally (_Inf._ XII, 104) that “Ei son tiranni, che dier nel
sangue e _nell’aver di piglio_.”
[18] _Inf._ XIV and XV.
[19] _Purg._ XXXI, 102. Cf. _Purg._ XXXIII, 138.
[20] Cf. _Koran_, LII, 4.
[21] _Koran_, LIII, 14.
[22] Cf. ROSSI, I, 140, 142, 143; FRATICELLI, 47, n. 8 and PORENA, p. 9.
[23] _Inf._ III, 82-100; V, 4-24.
[24] _Inf._ VII, 1-15.
[25] _Inf._ VIII, 13-24; 82 _et seq._
[26] _Inf._ IX, 79-106.
[27] _Inf._ XII, 11-27.
[28] _Inf._ XXI, 58 _et seq._
[29] _Inf._ III, 133-4.
[30] _Inf._ VIII, 67-75.
[31] _Inf._ IX, 109 _et seq._
[32] _Inf._ VI, 13-33; XXIV, 82 _et seq._; XXV, _passim_.
[33] _Inf._ XXX, 49-57; 81-84; 102; 106-7; 119; 123.
[34] _Inf._ XXIX, 79-87.
[35] _Inf._ XXI, _passim_.
[36] _Inf._ XXVIII, 22-42.
[37] The cock was to some extent revered by the primitive Moslems. Its
crowing at dawn announced the time for prayer, and the more pious among
the masses were wont to set to its notes words exhorting the faithful to
pray. This might have given rise to the belief that the crowing of all
the cocks on earth could only be simultaneous by being the echo of the
crowing of a celestial cock. Some _hadiths_ indeed attribute an angelic
nature to this heavenly cock. Cf. DAMIRI, I, 388-9.
[38] _Koran_, CVIII, 1.
[39] _Koran_, XIII, 28.
[40] See my work, _Abenmasarra_, ch. IV, V and VIII.
[41] Cf. ROSSI, I, 165, 168.
[42] To quote all these passages would be tantamount to writing out the
entire _Paradiso_. See mainly Cantos V, VII, VIII, IX, X, XII, XIII, XIV,
XV, XVIII, XXII, XXIII, and XXVII-XXXIII.
[43] Compare chiefly the following passages of the _Paradiso_: VII,
1-6; X, 139-144; VIII, 28-31; XII, 7-9, 22-30; XIV, 118-126; XX, 73-75,
142-144; XXI, 139-142; XXIV, 112-114; XXV, 97-99, 130-135; XXVI, 67-69;
XXVIII, 94-96; XXXII, 94-99, 133-135.
[44] _Par._ II, 23-24; V, 91-92.
[45] _Par._ VIII, 22-24; XXII, 99.
[46] _Par._ I, 4-9; X, 43-47; XXIII, 55-59; XXX, 19-22; XXXI, 136-138;
XXXIII, 55-56, 106.
[47] _Par._ XXXIII, 90, 121-3, 139, 142.
[48] _Par._ III, 128-9.
[49] _Par._ XIV, 77-8; 82.
[50] _Par._ XXV, 118-121.
[51] The quotations on this and the following pages are from the English
version by the Rev. P. H. WICKSTEED, M.A., “The Temple Classics.” Edit.
J. M. Dent, London.
[52] _Par._ XXIII, 28-33.
[53] _Par._ XXIII, 76-84; 118-9.
[54] _Par._ XXVIII, 16-18; XXIX, 8-9.
[55] _Par._ XXX, 46-51.
[56] _Par._ XXX, 55-60.
[57] _Par._ XXXIII, 52-54; 76-84.
[58] _Par._ X, 52-54. Cf. _Par._ II, 29-30.
[59] _Par._ XXXI, XXXIII.
[60] _Par._ XXXI, 58-60.
[61] _Par._ XXIII, 94 _et seq._
[62] _Par._ XXVIII, 94, 98-101, 118-120.
[63] _Par._ XVIII-XX.
[64] _Par._ XVIII, 100-101; 103-108. XIX, 1-6; 34-35; 37-39; 95-97. XX,
73-74. XVIII, 76-77; 85-86; 91, 93. XIX, 10-12; 20-21.
[65] _Par._ XXXI, 13-15.
[66] _Par._ XXII, 133-135; 148-153.
[67] _Par._ XXVIII, 16-18; 25-34; 89-93. XXX, 100-105.
[68] _Par._ XXXIII, 57-63; 93-94; 97-99.
[69] VOSSLER, II, 216.
[70] _Ibid._, 211.
[71] _Purg._ XIX, 7-36; 55-60.
[72] The fable of Ulysses and the syrens.
[73] Cf. FRATICELLI, 310, n. 7. LANDINO, fol. 269. SCARTAZZINI, 536 and
539.
[74] In Moslem oneirology the vision, seen in a dream, of a woman, a
prostitute with naked arms, is interpreted as a symbol of the world.
[75] _Purg._ I, 94-99; 124-9.
[76] _Purg._ XXXI, 100-103. XXXIII, 127-129; 142-145.
[77] VICTOR CHAUVIN has compiled a complete list of the biographies
of Mahomet in his _Bibliographie des ouvrages arabes ou relatifs aux
Arabes_, IX, _passim_. For the special literature of the _Miraj_ v.
ibidem, X, 206-8.
[78] Cf. BROCKELMANN, I, 196.
[79] Reference to the works quoted by CHAUVIN shows that of the
better-known treatises on the _Miraj_ one is of the 10th century, another
of the 13th, two of the 14th, one of the 15th, four of the 16th, two of
the 17th, four of the 18th, and one of the 19th. As in all literatures,
the more modern drive the older treatises out of circulation. Thus the
treatise on the _Miraj_, now printed in Cairo in preference to all
others, is that of Ghiti (16th century), which is sometimes published
with the glosses of Dardir (18th century). For the purposes of the
present work, in addition to the two printed treatises, others as yet
unedited and contained in the Gayangos Collection have been consulted,
viz. MS 105, fol. 70-93 (16th century), cf. BROCK, II, 304; fol. 94-166
(17th century), cf. BROCK, II, 317; fol. 211-250, dated 1089 Heg.
[80] Indeed, the authors of these works invariably, by the testimony of
the oldest traditionists and companions of the Prophet, seek to establish
the authenticity of these episodes. The author of the first treatise in
MS 105, quoted above (see p. 39, footnote 3), gives in the form of an
appendix (fol. 92, recto) a complete list of the thirty-eight companions
of the Prophet who are supposed to have narrated the _Miraj_ in whole or
in part.
[81] The episodes are taken from the printed and unedited treatises
mentioned above. Reference to the actual passages will be made in each
case.
[82] Cf. GHITI, 41, and DARDIR, 7. Also MS 105, Gayangos Collection, fol.
120.
[83] _Inf._ XXI, 22-33; 58-105.
[84] GHITI, 44, and DARDIR, 14. Likewise MS 105 of the Gayangos
Collection, fol. 123 and 232 vᵒ.
[85] _Par._ XXI, 28-33; 136-7; XXII, 68-9; 100-111.
[86] GHITI, 44 _et seq._; DARDIR, 14 _et seq._
[87] MS 105 Gayangos Coll. fol. 124 vᵒ, line 7.
[88] _Ibid._, fol. 126 vᵒ.
[89] _Ibid._, fol. 127 vᵒ.
[90] _Ibid._, fol. 232 vᵒ.
[91] _Kanz_, VI, 293, No. 5,079.
[92] MS 64 Gayangos Coll. fol. 115 vᵒ.
[93] TABARI, _Tafsir_, XV, 12.
[94] One detail in the description calls for mention. Over the gate of
paradise Mahomet sees an inscription extolling the virtues of almsgiving
and lending free of interest (GHITI, 86, and DARDIR, 20). It will be
remembered that in the version of Cycle 3 Mahomet hears a voice from hell
describing the torments prepared and calling upon God to deliver up the
sinners. In addition, there is the inscription branded on the forehead
of the sodomite and the murderer in the Moslem hell, saying that they
have “despaired of God’s mercy” (_Corra_, 31, and _Kanz_, VII, 2,086, No.
3,173), which is similar to the “Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch’entrate.”
If Dante was indeed acquainted with these features, it would be easy
for him to combine and embody them in his inscription over the gate of
hell; for the spiritual conception of his paradise precluded all idea of
material gates and inscriptions.
[95] Cf. MS 105 of the Gayangos Coll., fols. 216, 218, 223 vᵒ, 225,
245 and 246, in which fragments in rhymed prose and verse are inserted
dealing with the _Miraj_.
[96] _Tadhkira_, 18, and IBN MAKHLUF, I, 51-52. The examination to which
the soul is subjected in each heaven in this legend may be compared with
Dante’s catechism on the three theological virtues in the eighth heaven
(_Par._ XXIV-XXVI). Noteworthy also is the close relation between each
heaven and a corresponding virtue peculiar to the souls that succeed
in ascending to it; this is what characterises the moral structure of
Dante’s paradise. Cf. ROSSI, I, 147.
[97] _Minhaj_ of Algazel, p. 69.
[98] This presumption on the part of the Sufis was regarded as a sin
against the faith. Proof of this is furnished (in _Al-Yawaqit_, II, 174)
by Ash-Sharani’s denunciation of the Murcian Ibn Arabi who claimed to
have visited heaven and hell. Such arrogance may be explained by the Sufi
doctrine which admits of the possibility of the saint’s acquiring the
dignity of a prophet. Cf. ASÍN, _Abenmasarra_, 82.
[99] Cf. _Tafsir_ of QUMMI, XV, 6. Other Sufi interpreters account for
the inclusion of the _Miraj_ in the Divine Scheme by the necessity of
Mahomet’s being able to explain the mysteries of the after-life with the
authority of one who had been an eye-witness. Cf. MS 105 Gayangos Coll.,
fol. 213; also AL-HORAYFISH, 104.
[100] Cf. MS 105, fol. 214, line 2 inf.
[101] Avicenna, in his _Risala at-tayr_, pp. 26-32, adapts the _Miraj_ to
the flight of birds, symbolising the exaltation of the souls of sinners
which, having cast off all worldly ties, fly towards God over eight
mountains towering one above the other.
[102] Cf. ASÍN, _Abenmasarra_, 110-115, where other works by the author
and his master Ribera on the life and system of Ibn Arabi are quoted.
[103] Extant at the Kgl. Bibliothek, Berlin (Nos. 2,901/2) and at Vienna
(No. 1,908), according to BROCKELMANN, I, 443, No. 16. Another copy is
in the possession of the author, to whom it was presented by his learned
friend Hassen Husny Abdul-Wahab, Professor of History at the Khalduniya
of Tunis. The _Book of the Nocturnal Journey_ comprises 108 folios,
of which the greater part is commentary. In the prologue, Ibn Arabi
states that the theme is a _Miraj_ of the soul written both in verse and
prose and in a style combining allegory with literal fact. He begins by
saying: “I set out from the land of Alandalus (Spain) in the direction
of Jerusalem my steed the faith of Islam, with asceticism as my bed and
abnegation as provision for the journey.” He meets a youth of spiritual
nature, sent from on high to act as his guide; but in the Ascension from
Jerusalem is guided by another, “the envoy of Divine Grace,” with whom he
ascends through the celestial spheres into the presence of God.
[104] Similar allegorical and mystical adaptations of the _Miraj_ recur
in several of the lesser works of Ibn Arabi. In the _Futuhat_, III,
447-465, he devotes a whole chapter, No. 367, to this subject of the
_Miraj_. It contains a brief mystical commentary on the legend of the
Prophet; an adaptation of the legend to the Ascensions or spiritual
raptures of the Sufis and saints; and a long _Miraj_, in which the
author, following the same route as Mahomet, is supposed to have risen to
the heavens and to have conversed at length on theological and mystical
subjects with all the prophets.
[105] In his _Epistola a Can Grande della Scala_ (_Opere minori_, III,
epist. XI, No. 7, p. 514).
[106] Cf. _Monarchia_ (_Opere Minori_, II, 404). Likewise FRATICELLI,
pp. 28-31 of Preface to his edition of the Divine Comedy. Also ROSSI, I,
152-157.
[107] _Futuhat_, II, Chap. 167, pp. 356-375. The allegory of the
Ascension proper begins on p. 360.
[108] Note the interest this prologue offers for the allegorical
interpretation of the prologue to the Divine Comedy.
[109] For the value of these symbols in Ibn Arabi’s system, cf. the
author’s _Abenmasarra_, p. 111, _et seq._
[110] The close relation existing between this allegory and that of Ibn
Tufayl in his _Self-taught Philosopher_ or _Epistle of Hayy ibn Yaqzan_
is noteworthy.
[111] ROSSI, I, 151.
[112] ROSSI, I, 147.
[113] Ibn Arabi adheres to the astrological principle much more closely
than Dante, with whom he disagrees on the relationship between each
sphere and its inhabitants.
[114] It is precisely on account of the abstruseness of these discourses
that the analysis of the allegory, which is of extraordinary length,
has been curtailed above. Ideas from all branches of philosophical and
theological lore are developed in them, and allusions are made to the
cabbala of numbers and letters, to magic, astrology, alchemy and other
occult sciences. In short, Ibn Arabi endeavoured to introduce into his
allegory, as Dante did later into his poem, the whole encyclopædia of his
age. A precedent for the literary device of the discourses is provided
by versions of the _Miraj_, in which, as has been seen, theological
discussions are attributed to the prophets and Gabriel.
[115] Abu-l-Ala Ahmed, the son of Abd Allah al-Maarri, was born at
Maarrat Alnoman, a village in Syria lying between Hama and Aleppo, in 973
A.D. At the age of four he lost his eyesight as the result of an attack
of smallpox; nevertheless his powers were so brilliant that under the
sole direction of his father he soon acquired vast learning in the domain
of Arabic philology and literature. By intercourse with philosophers he
added to his culture and sharpened his critical faculties. After residing
only one year at Baghdad, the centre of learning and literature of his
time, he returned at the age of thirty-five to his native village, where
he died in 1057 A.D. Apart from poetry, he wrote mainly critical works
on the Arabic classics. Influenced by Indian philosophical thought, he
certainly appears to have been a free-thinker. Cfr. BROCKELMANN, I, 254.
Also YAQUT’S Dictionary, pp. 162 _et seq._ ASÍN, _Algazel, Dogmática_,
pp. 110 _et seq._
[116] Nicholson described and translated fragments in the JRAS of 1900
to 1902. Cfr. also NICHOLSON, _Hist._ pp. 313-324. The _Risala_ really
consists of two parts; the first, to p. 118, contains the miraculous
journey to the realms beyond the grave; the second is a piece of literary
criticism on the verses and ideas of certain poets who were reputed to be
free-thinkers or atheists.
[117] Abu-l-Hasan Ali, the son of Mansur, known as Ibn al-Qarih, was born
at Aleppo in 962 and died at Mosul sometime after 1030. A professor of
literature in Syria and Egypt, he was also a mediocre poet, cf. YAQUT’S
Dictionary, VI, 5, p. 424. Ibn al-Qarih’s epistle, to which the _Risala_
is a reply, has not been preserved.
[118] For particulars about the writers named in the _Risala_ the general
reader should consult the histories of Arabic literature by NICHOLSON,
BROCKELMANN, or HUART.
[119] One of the poets he consults begs to be excused on the plea that
he lost all memory of his poetry in the fright he received at the time
of Judgment, when he was in imminent danger of falling into hell. The
traveller takes this opportunity to relate his adventures prior to
entering paradise. The story is told with so fine an irony, that the
reader is continually in doubt as to whether it is to be taken seriously
or not. For, after depicting in vivid colours the severity of the Judge
and the terror of the souls condemned to fire, the traveller proceeds to
relate the artful dodges by which he managed to escape his due reward and
enter heaven. After a vain endeavour to suborn the angels at the gates,
he appealed to Hamza, an uncle of Mahomet, who referred him to Ali;
the latter demands the certificate proving his repentance and this the
traveller remembers he must have dropped in the confusion of the judgment
scenes when called upon to intercede in favour of a literary master. In
vain he offers to provide witnesses in place of the missing document,
and he is on the point of being dragged off to hell, when he espies
Fatima, the daughter of Mahomet, approaching in a brilliant procession
accompanied by Khadija, the Prophet’s spouse and his sons, mounted
on steeds of light. Fatima allows him to seize her stirrup and he is
carried to the bridge leading to the celestial mansions; this he crosses
riding on the back of one of her maidens. A final obstacle remains to
be overcome on the other side; the angel janitor refuses to admit him
without a ticket, but one of Mahomet’s sons intervenes and drags him
inside paradise.
[120] Some of the many miracles attributed to Mahomet consist in his
making animals, such as the ass, goat, gazelle and particularly the wolf,
preach his Divine mission to the Arabs.
[121] The main differences may here be briefly stated. Naturalism is
so pronounced a feature of this journey that at times the imitation
sinks to the level of a mere parody of the Mahometan ascension; and,
in this respect it clearly bears no resemblance to the Divine Comedy,
the solemn earnestness of which is only very rarely interrupted by an
introduction of the burlesque element. Nor is there any resemblance in
the architecture of the realms, for Abu-l-Ala’s journey is practically
effected on one plane and, though hell is laid at the bottom of a
volcano, the traveller does not visit its mansions. Other fundamental
differences are that the protagonist is not the author of the story; the
order of the realms is inversed, heaven being described before hell;
and, finally, the story begins _in medias res_, for the incidents of
his entrance into heaven are told by the traveller in the course of
conversation with the poets he meets in paradise.
[122] Cf. ROSSI, I, 163, 164, 166, 167.
[123] _Inf._ XV.
[124] _Purg._ II.
[125] _Purg._ VI-VIII.
[126] _Purg._ XI.
[127] _Purg._ XXI-XXIII.
[128] _Purg._ XXIV.
[129] _Purg._ XXVI.
[130] _Inf._ IV.
[131] _Purg._ I.
[132] _Par._ X.
[133] _Par._ XX. Cf. _Par._ IX, 31-6, where Cunizza, famous rather for
her amorous adventures than her penitence, is placed in heaven.
[134] Cf. ROSSI, I, 163.
[135] _Purg._ V, 133; _Par._ III, 49; IX, 32.
[136] Cf. FRATICELLI, _Della prima e principale allegoria del poema di
Dante_ (in _La Divina Commedia_), pp. 18-27. For the bibliography on this
point see ROSSI, I, 173.
[137] VOSSLER, II, 169, quotes Jeremiah V, 5, in which the lion, wolf,
and leopard are mentioned; but in the story of the Moslem journey the
analogy is more complete, for a wolf and a lion are mentioned as _barring
the pilgrim’s path to hell_.
[138] Cf. FRANÇOIS MARTIN, _Le Livre d’Henoch_; EUGÈNE TISSERANT,
_Ascension d’Isaie_; R. CHARLES, _The Assumption of Moses_; R. CHARLES,
_The Apocalypse of Baruch_. For the Judæo-Christian origin of these
legends Cf. BATIFFOL, _Anciennes Littératures chrétiennes; La Littérature
grecque_, p. 56. HIRSCHFELD, in his _Researches into ... the Qurân_,
p. 67, note 64, quotes a rabbinical legend of a journey through hell
and paradise and points out certain analogies to a _hadith_ of Bukhari.
For the influence of the Persian ascension of Ardâ Virâf, see BLOCHET,
_L’Ascension au ciel du prophète Mohammed_, and prior to BLOCHET,
CLAIR-TISDALL in _The sources of Islam_, 76-81. Cf. MODI, _Dante papers;
Virâf, Adaaman and Dante_, a work I have not been able to consult.
[139] The festivity of the _Miraj_ is celebrated on the 27th day of the
month of _Recheb_, the seventh of the Moslem calendar. At Constantinople
the Sultan attended with his court at the services held at night in the
mosque of the Seraglio. LANE, on p. 430 of his book, _An account of the
manners and customs of the modern Egyptians_, describes the processions
and festivals held in honour of the _Miraj_ at Cairo. Throughout Morocco,
the _Miraj_ is celebrated in the same manner; it is a day of fast and
almsgiving for the stricter Moslems, and the Government offices are
closed.
[140] _Ihia_, IV, 17-23. Cf. _Ithaf_, VIII, 548 _et seq._
[141] Cf. _De Haeresibus_ (_Opera Omnia_), Paris, vol. I, 110-115, No.
100.
[142] Cf. _Qistas_, p. 60: “Should someone say to thee, ‘Say that
there is but one God and that Jesus is His Prophet,’ thy mind would
instinctively reject the statement as being proper to a Christian only.
But that would but be because thou hast not sufficient understanding to
grasp that the statement in itself is true and that _no reproach can be
made to the Christian, for this article of his faith, nor for any of the
other articles_, save only those two—that God is the third of three,
and that Mahomet is not a prophet of God. _Apart from these two all the
other articles (of the Christian faith) are true._” For the influence
of Christianity on Islam, and particularly on Algazel, cf. ASÍN, _La
mystique d’Al-Gazzali_, pp. 67-104, and _Abenmasarra_, pp. 12-16.
[143] _Inf._ IV, 45.
[144] Cf. PETAVIUS, _Dogm. Theolog._ IV (Pars sec.) lib. 3, cap. 18, §
5. The texts DUCANGE refers to in his _Glossarium_ (s.v.) are later than
the twelfth century. St. Thomas in the _Summa theologica_ (pars 3, q. 52)
calls the limbo of the Patriarchs _infernus_ and _sinus Abrahae_, but
in the _Supplementum tertiae partis_ (q. 69) he already adopts the name
_limbus_.
[145] _Inf._ III, 34.
[146] _Inf._ III, 38.
[147] _Inf._ IV, 106, 110, 116.
[148] _Inf._ IV, 28, _et seq._
[149] _Inf._ IV, 28, 42, 45. Cf. _Inf._ II, 52.
[150] _Inf._ II, 53, 75.
[151] Cf. St. Thomas, _Summa Theol._ pars 3, q. 52, and _Supplementum_,
q. 69. PERRONE, in his _Praelectiones theol._, II, 157, says of the
limbo: “Reliqua autem, quae spectant sive ad hunc inferni locum, sive ad
poenarum disparitatem ... fidem nullo modo attingunt, cum nullum de his
Ecclesiae decretum existat.”
[152] _Tacholarus_, VI, 194, s.v. _Ithaf_, VIII, 564. KHAZIN, _Tafsir_,
II, 90. Cf. FREYTAG, _Lexicon_, and LANE, _Lexicon_, s.v.
[153] The theological meaning of the word Al Aaraf may be derived from
the eschatology of St. Ephrem (_id._ 373), who divided the celestial
paradise into the summit, slopes and _border_; in the latter penitent
sinners who have been pardoned dwell until the Day of Judgment, when they
will ascend to the summit. Cf. TIXERONT, _Hist. des dogmes_, II, 220.
[154] Cf. _Futuhat_, I, 416; III, 567, 577. _Tadhkira_, 88.
[155] _Koran_, VII, 44. Cf. _Ithaf_, VIII, 565; _Kanz_, VII, 213, No.
2,312. The Koran here refers to the dwellers in the limbo and not,
as Kasimirski has it on p. 122 of his French translation, to _les
réprouvés._ Cf. KHAZIN, _Tafsir_, II, 91; also _Tafsir_ of AL-NASAFI and
FIRUZABADI in _Tafsir_ of Ibn Abbas, I, 102.
[156] Compare the passages quoted above of the _Ithaf_ and the _Tafsir_
of KHAZIN with _Inf._ II, 52, and IV, 45.
[157] Other less striking features of resemblance might be quoted. Thus
the crowd running behind the flag in the Ante-inferno (_Inf._ III, 52)
is reminiscent of many Moslem tales of the Day of Judgment, which depict
groups led by standard-bearers.
Thus, Moslems will be led by Mahomet bearing the banner of the Glory of
God. The prophet Xoaib with a white banner will lead the blessed that are
blind; Job, with a green banner, the patient lepers; Joseph, likewise
with a green banner, the chaste youths; Aaron, with a yellow banner, the
true friends who loved each other in God; Noah, with a many-coloured
banner, the god-fearing; John, with a yellow banner, the martyrs; Jesus
will be the standard-bearer of the poor in spirit; Solomon, of the rich;
the pre-Islamic poet Imru-l-Qays will be the ensign of the poets in hell;
and the traitor will bear a banner of shame. Cf. IBN MAKHLUF, I, 154, and
II, 8 and 14.
As to the swarms of wasps and flies that plague the inhabitants of the
Ante-inferno, the Moslem hell is depicted as “swarming with insects of
all kinds, except bees.” Cf. _Al-Laali_, II, 245.
[158] Cf. LANDINO, on the 14th page of the preliminary study.
[159] ROSSI, I, 139-140. Cf. D’ANCONA, _Precursori_, 28-31, 36, _and
passim_.
[160] VOSSLER, I, 21.
[161] It is difficult to account for his silence on this point, for
evidently any influence the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians and
Phœnicians may have exercised over the Divine Comedy must have been more
remote; yet he devotes a separate paragraph to each of these peoples and
not a single line to Islam.
[162] Cf. CHANTEPIE, _Hist. des rel._ Reference to the quotations in the
index, s.v. _Enfer_, will show that the Moslem hell is superior to all
others in wealth of descriptive detail.
[163] Cf. KASIMIRSKI’S translation of the Koran, p. 122, footnote and
refer to the index, s.v. _Enfer_.
[164] Cf. _Kanz_, VII, 244, Nos. 2,756 to 2,791.
[165] Cf. ROSSI, I, 140, and see the general plan _Figura universale
della D.C._ in FRATICELLI, p. 402. For the Moslem traditions cf. _Kanz_,
VI, 102, Nos. 1, 538; 1,546 and 1,601; and VII, 277, Nos. 3,076/7. The
belief that the mouth of hell is situated beneath Jerusalem is still held
in Islam, for the Moslems believe that below the subterranean chamber
underneath the present Mosque or dome of the rock (_Qubbat al-sakhra_)
standing in the precincts of the Temple, lies the pit of the souls (_Bir
al-arwah_).
[166] This metaphorical interpretation is not justified on philological
grounds, for the Arabic lexicons only give the following indirect
meanings:—chapter; sum of a calculation; mode, category or condition,
etc. LANE in his _Lexicon_ (I, 272), however, suggests that in Egypt the
word was applied to a sepulchral chamber, or cave in a mountain, and was
derived from the Coptic “bib.”
[167] _Kanz_, VIII, 278, No. 3,079.
[168] Cf. _Kanz_, _ibid._ No. 3,078. Also TABARI, _Tafsir_, XIV, 25, and
KHAZIN, _Tafsir_, III, 96. Cf. also MS 234, Gayangos Coll., fol. 100 vᵒ.
“Ibn Abbas says that hell is formed of seven floors, separated one from
another by a distance of five hundred years.”
In other _hadiths_ the words _gate_, _floor_, and _step_ are replaced by
the word _pit_. Cf. _Kanz_, III, 263, No. 4,235.
[169] A collection of _hadiths_ dealing with this division into seven may
be found in _Qisas_, 4-11; on p. 7 is a _hadith_ by Wahb ibn Munabbih,
which says:—
“Of almost all things there are seven—seven are the heavens, the earths,
the mountains, the seas ... the days of the week, the planets ... the
gates and floors of hell....”
[170] Cf. ROSSI, I, 141.
[171] _Hadith_ of Ibn Jurayj in KHAZIN, _Tafsir_, III, 96-97. Cf. MS 64
Gayangos Coll., fol. 22.
[172] THAALABI, _Qisas_, 4. Cf. _Kanz_, III, 218, No. 3,407. Also _Badai
az-Zohur_, 8-9.
[173] How popular these descriptions of hell were is shown by the fact
that they passed into the Arabian Nights Tales. Thus, Tamim Dari and
Boluqiya each visit hell, where the latter finds seven floors of fire,
containing: (1) impenitent Moslems; (2) polytheists; (3) Gog and Magog;
(4) demons; (5) Moslems forgetful of prayer; (6) Jews and Christians; and
(7) hypocrites. The severity of torture increases with the depth; the
floors are separated by a distance of a thousand years, and in the first
there are hills, valleys, houses, castles and cities to the number of
seventy thousand. Cf. CHAUVIN, _Bibliographie_, VII, 48 and 56.
[174] _Inf._ XXXI, 86.
[175] The _Tadhkira_ of the Cordovan, or Memorial of the Future Life, is
one of the richest of such collections and was popular in the East and
West. It is the one mainly drawn upon for the present purpose.
[176] See the list of such names quoted in the index to Fraticelli’s
edition of the Divine Comedy.
[177] _Tadhkira_, 19, 39, 74. Cf. _Kanz_, III, 76, No. 1,436; V, 217,
Nos. 4,479 and 4,484; VII, 245, Nos. 2,777 and 2,784. _Corra_, 12.
_Al-Laali_, II, 245. TABARI, _Tafsir_, XXIII, 114. Many of the proper
names of the mansions of hell are appellative names taken from the Koran.
[178] _Corra_, 12 and 31. _Al-Laali_, II, 196.
[179] St. Thomas finds no precise topography of hell in Christian
tradition and can only record the probable opinion of the theologians
that “ignis inferni est sub terra,” though formerly he had accepted the
statement of St. Augustine: “In qua parte mundi infernus sit, scire
neminem arbitror” and of St. Gregory, “Hac de re temere definire nihil
audeo” (cf. _Summa Theol._ Supplementum tertiae partis, q. 97, art. 7).
St. Isidore of Seville supposed hell to be “in superficie terrae, ex
parte opposita terrae nostrae habitabili,” but in the thirteenth century
this opinion was no longer common. Thus in a Mapa mundi extant in MS in
the Biblioteca Nacional of Madrid and the Biblioteca Escurialense (cf.
Boletín de la Real Sociedad Geográfica, vol. L, p. 207) and attributed
to St. Isidore though it really belongs to the thirteenth century,
hell is described as lying in the middle of the earth “at the lowest
and bottommost spot.” Curiously enough, unlike Dante’s and the Islamic
picture, hell is here conceived as being narrow at the top and wide at
the bottom; this probably is due to the faulty interpretation of Moslem
documents.
[180] Not in the Vedas. Cf. CHANTEPIE, _Hist. des rel._ 346 and 382.
Also ROESKÉ, _L’enfer cambodgien_ (in _Journal Asiatique_, Nov.-Dec.
1914, 587-606). For the rabbinical hell cf. BUXTORF, _Lexicon chaldaicum_
(Basle, 1639), p. 231 a.
[181] Cf. _supra_, pp. 45-51.
[182] _Futuhat_, I, 387-396; II, 809; III, 8, 557, 575-577. Other
picturesque features might be added to those mentioned above; thus, in
hell there is both heat and cold; the heads of sects suffer special
torture, and Iblis, the Lucifer of Islam, undergoes the severest torture
of all; suffering in hell is of two kinds, physical and moral. As in
Dante (cf. ROSSI, I, 151), the sufferers may not leave the pit to which
they are condemned, but move freely within its limits (_Futuhat_, III,
227). Finally, Ibn Arabi imparts a strong flavour of realism to his
pictures by painting them as if he had actually seen the originals in
visions. Thus, on p. 389 of vol. I, he says:—
“In this vision I saw of the circles of the damned ... such as God was
pleased to show me. And I saw an abode, called the Abode of Darkness, and
descended some five of its several steps and I beheld the tortures in
each one....”
[183] The theme of the symmetry between the hell and heaven of Islam will
be developed further in the discussion of the latter.
[184] Cf. ASÍN, _Abenmasarra_, pp. 111 and 161.
[185] _Futuhat_, I, 388. Cf. _Abenmasarra_, 109. The figure of the
serpent he no doubt derived from Ibn Qasi, a disciple of the Masarri
school and head of the Muridin, who ruled as sovereign in Southern
Portugal until 1151 A.D.
[186] _Futuhat_, III, 557.
[187] It is here reproduced from the Turkish author’s two general plans
of the Cosmos given by CARRA DE VAUX in _Fragments d’Eschatologie
musulmane_, pp. 27 and 33.
[188] Infernal tortures based on this principle were found in several
versions of the _Miraj_, but they recur in far greater number in other
traditions depicting the torments of the sinners or the scenes on the Day
of Judgment.
In them, thieves suffer amputation of both hands; the liar has his lips
torn asunder; the nagging wife and the false witness are shown hanging
by their tongues; unjust judges appear blind; the vain, deaf and dumb;
hired mourners go about barking like dogs; suicides suffer throughout
eternity the torture of their death; the proud are converted into ants
and trampled upon by all the other sinners. Some categories of sinners
are obliged to bear the _corpus delicti_ as a stigma; thus, the drunkard
carries a bottle slung round his neck and a glass or a guitar in his
hand; the tradesman who gave short weight carries scales of fire hanging
from his neck; and the reader of the Koran who was puffed up with pride
at his accomplishment appears with a copy of the holy book nailed to his
neck; and so forth.
Cf. _Corra_, 12-25, 31, 37, 43. _Al-Laali_, II, 195. _Kanz_, VII, 2,086,
No. 3,173. Gayangos Coll. MS 64, fol. 15 vᵒ; MS 172, fol. 33 v°.
[189] _Inf._ XVIII, 21; XXIX, 53; XXXI, 82. The Koranic texts are LVII,
12, and LXVI, 8, glossed by Ibn Arabi in _Futuhat_, I, 412, line 14.
[190] Cf. _Kharida_, 182.
[191] See index of KASIMIRSKI’S translation, s.v. _Ad._ Cf. KHAZIN,
_Tafsir_, II, 104, and _Qisas_, 40.
[192] _Inf._ V, 89: “l’aer perso.” In _Convivio_, IV, 20, Dante himself
gives a definition: “Perso è un colore misto di purpureo e di nero, ma
vince il nero e da lui si denomina.”
[193] Compare _Qisas_, 40, lines 18 and 21; 24; 22; 27 and 33; 32, 34
and 37 with _Inf._ V, 31, 49 and 51; 89; 51; 86; 32, 33, 43 and 49
respectively.
[194] Cf. _supra_, p. 16.
[195] _Corra_, 3 and 20. _Kanz_, VIII, 188, No. 3,288.
[196] _Inf._ XIV, XV and XVI.
[197] _Kanz_, VII, 246, No. 2,800. IBN MAKHLUF, II, 41. Cf. KHAZIN,
_Tafsir_, IV, 348-9.
[198] _Kanz_, V, 213, No. 4,383; 214, No. 4,415; 217, Nos. 4,479 and
4,484. IBN MAKHLUF, II, 37. _Tadhkira_, 74.
[199] Before leaving the circle in which Dante finds Brunetto, Virgil
explains to him the hydrography of hell, the four rivers of which have
their common source in the island of Crete. On Mt. Ida stands a monument,
in the form of a statue of a Great Old Man, composed of gold, silver,
brass, iron and clay; in every part, except the gold, there is a fissure
from which drop tears, which flowing downhill form the rivers (_Inf._
XIV, 94 _et seq._). Whatever be the esoteric meaning of Dante’s allegory
and however evident the analogy with the statue of Daniel is, it is of
interest to note that tales dealing with the common source of the four
rivers of paradise were very popular in Islam. According to these tales,
the Nile, Euphrates, Jihun and Sihun spring from a monument in the form
of a dome, made of gold or emerald, standing on a mountain and having
four mouths or fissures. The obscure origin of the sources of the Nile
gave rise to similar legends, which describe its waters as flowing from
the mouths of eighty-five statues of bronze, or else from a mountain on
which stands the figure of an old man, the mythical Khidr. Cf. _Badai
az-Zohur_, 21-23.
[200] _Corra_, 8; _Al-Laali_, II, 195. Cf. _Inf._ XVIII, 35.
[201] _Inf._ XVIII, 113.
[202] _Al-Laali_, II, 195. _Tadhkira_, 77. _Corra_, 17. IBN MAKHLUF, II,
83. Cf. _Koran_, XXXVIII, 57; LXXVIII, 25.
[203] _Inf._ XIX. _Corra_, 72. Their peculiar posture is also mentioned
in some descriptions of hell attributed to Ibn Abbas. Cf. MS 234,
Gayangos Coll., fol. 105.
[204] _Inf._ XX, 11, 23, 37, 39.
[205] _Koran_, IV, 50.
[206] _Tafsir_, V, 77.
[207] Cf. _Qazwini_, I, 373.
[208] _Tadhkira_, 47, line 10.
[209] _Colección de textos aljamiados_ by Gil, Ribera and Sánchez
(Saragossa, 1888), pp. 69 and 71. ALGAZEL, _Ihia_, IV, 21-22; _Ithaf_,
VIII, 561.
[210] _Inf._ XXIII, 58-72.
[211] _Kanz_, III, 251, No. 4, 013.
[212] _Koran_, XIV, 51. Cf. TABARI, _Tafsir_, XIII, 167-8; _Corra_, 26.
[213] _Inf._ XXIII, 110-126.
[214] MS 234 Gayangos Coll., fol. 100.
[215] _Al-Laali_, II, 195.
[216] _Inf._ XXIV-XXV.
[217] _Corra_, II, 25, 37, 65. _Kanz_, VII, 280, No. 3,087.
[218] _Inf._ XXVIII.
[219] _Corra_, 71.
[220] _Kanz_, VIII, 188, No. 3,288; V, 214, No. 4,415; SUYUTI, _Sudur_,
30 and 121.
[221] _Kanz_, V, 327, No. 5,717. _Corra_, 65.
[222] _Kanz_, VII, 287, No. 3,201. Cf. also Nos. 3,218, 3,220, 3,221,
3,223, 3,224.
[223] _Inf._ XXIX-XXX.
[224] _Kanz_, VII, 247, No. 2,826. MS 172 Gayangos Coll., fol. 34.
_Corra_, 12.
[225] _Inf._ XXXI.
[226] _Tadhkira_, 75. Cf. _Kanz_, VII, 212, No. 2,301; 237, Nos. 2,668,
2,671 and 2,801-2,808. Moreover, the existence of giants in hell was
traditional in Islam, for the dwellers in Ad, who were condemned to
hell by the Koran, were of gigantic stature. In _Qisas_, 39, the head
of one of these giants is compared to the dome of a great building. The
coincidence in stature of the giants of Dante and those of Islam is also
curious. According to the _Tadhkira_ (p. 75, line 4 inf.) the latter
measure 42 fathoms; and Landino, basing his calculations on Dante’s text,
says of Nimrod: “Adunque questo gigante sarebbe braccia quarantatre o
più” (p. 30 of his prologue to the Divine Comedy).
[227] Cf. _supra_, pp. 89-90.
[228] _Ihia_, III, 240, and _Futuhat_, I, 393. Cf. _Al-Laali_, II, 196.
[229] _Inf._ XXXII—XXXIV.
[230] _Futuhat_, I, 387.
[231] _Koran_, LXXVI, 13.
[232] Cf. Gayangos Coll. MS 172, fol. 34, and MS 234, fol. 105.
[233] Jahiz, _Hayawan_ (_Book of Animals_), V, 24. A summary of the life
and writings of Jahiz is given in the author’s _Abenmasarra_, Appendix I,
133-137. According to OSCAR COMETTANT, _Civilisations inconnues_ (quoted
in LAROUSSE, _Dict. Univ._ s.v. _Purgatoire_), torture by cold also
occurs in the Buddhist hell.
[234] _Tadhkira_, 69.
[235] Cf. _Qazwini_, I, 93.
[236] MS 234 Gayangos Coll., fol. 105. Cf. _Inf._ XXXII, 37; XXXIII, 92;
XXXIV, 13.
[237] _Tadhkira_, 82; and _Kanz_, VII, 246, No. 2,810. Cf. _Inf._ XXXII,
34; XXXIV, 11.
[238] MS 172 Gayangos Coll., fol. 34. Cf. _Inf._ XXXIV 15.
[239] _Inf._ XXXIV, 28-139.
[240] GRAF, _Demonologia di Dante_, in _Miti_, II, 79-112.
[241] _Futuhat_, I, 391.
[242] MS 64 Gayangos Coll., fols. 1-27.
[243] _Al-Laali_, II, 196.
[244] _Qazwini_, I, 373, gives a _hadith_, telling of the dealings of
Solomon with genii and demons, that is of interest for the study of the
demonology of Islam, which shows marked resemblance to that of Dante,
particularly in the matter of the names. On this point cf. DAMIRI, I,
237; KHAZIN, _Tafsir_, III, 201; and DHARIR, 188.
[245] _Kanz_, II, 109, No. 2,652; _Tadhkira_, 70; Gayangos Coll., MS 64,
fol. 24, and MS 234, fol. 94.
[246] _Kharida_, 87 and 95.
[247] Cf. Kasimirski’s translation, _Table des matières_, s.v. _Eblis_.
[248] _Qisas_, 26, ch. 7.
[249] _Supra_, p. 88.
[250] _Koran_, XXI, 31.
[251] _Qisas_, 3, line 10 inf. The immediate purpose of this legend was
indeed to explain the stability of the earth in the midst of space, but
the adaptation to other purposes of a picturesque description is a common
feature in literary imitation.
[252] So great is the wealth of picturesque detail in the descriptions
of the Moslem hell that minor features of resemblance to Dante have been
omitted as being open to doubt. Thus the Koran repeatedly mentions a tree
in hell, called _Az-Zaqum_ (cf. KASIMIRSKI, s.v.), the fruit of which is
bitter and repugnant like the heads of demons (cf. KHAZIN, _Tafsir_, IV,
18 and 116; _Tacholarus_, VIII, 326; _Ihia_, IV, 381; _Ithaf_, X, 515).
In itself this tree bears little resemblance to the human trees into
which Dante converts the suicides (_Inf._ XIII), which cry out when their
branches are torn and which Dante admits he copied from Virgil’s episode
of Polydorus (Aeneid, III). In Arabian tales of miraculous journeys to
hell, however, there are frequent descriptions of trees the branches
of which resemble human heads and cry out on being torn (cf. CHAUVIN,
_Bibliographie_, VII, 33 and 56; _Qisas_, 222; also René Basset’s
“Histoire du Roi Sabour et de son fils Abou’n Nazhar” in _Rev. des trad.
popul._, XI, 273, 278, and 280).
[253] Cf. TIXERONT, II, 200, 220, 350, 433 and III, 270, 428.
[254] Cf. PERRONE, II, 122: “Omnia igitur quae spectant ad locum,
durationem, poenarum qualitatem, ad catholicam fidem minime pertinent,
seu definita ab Ecclesia non sunt.”
[255] LANDINO, prologue to _Purg._, fol. 194 vᵒ; also to _Inf._ III,
fols. 25 vᵒ and 26.
[256] Cf. _supra_, p. 80.
[257] _Kanz_, VII, 242, Nos. 2,725 and 2,730; VII, 218, No. 2,376.
[258] Cf. _supra_, p. 9.
[259] _Ithaf_, VIII, 566. The _hadith_, attributed to Ibn Abbas, cannot
date later than the tenth century.
[260] For a collection of these legends cf. _Tadhkira_, 58 _et seq._; IBN
MAKHLUF, II, 25; _Ithaf_, X, 481 _et seq._
[261] It should be borne in mind that Dante’s mount of purgatory rises
above the southern hemisphere, which is entirely covered with water, and
reaches to the ether, the last sphere of the sublunar world, bordering on
heaven; its base stands on the back of hell, the entrance to which is in
the northern hemisphere, near Jerusalem.
[262] _Futuhat_, I, 411. Cf. _Ithaf_, X, 482.
[263] _Futuhat_, III, 573.
[264] IBN MAKHLUF, II, 33. Cf. _Kanz_, VII, 237, No. 2,677.
[265] _Futuhat_, I, 403-406.
[266] Thus, the ten purgatorial mansions serve for the expiation
successively of: (1) acts forbidden by canonical law; (2) the holding of
advanced opinions on questions of faith; (3) disobedience to parents; (4)
failure to comply with one’s duties towards children and subordinates in
the matter of religious education; (5) harsh treatment of servants and
slaves; (6) and (7) non-compliance with duties towards kinsfolk and blood
relations, respectively; (8) the vice of envy; (9) deceitfulness; and
(10) treachery.
[267] _Purg._ IV, 100-135.
[268] Special books were written on this theme, such as the oft-quoted
_Sudur_ by SUYUTI, the _Tadhkira_ of the Cordovan, and the work by IBN
MAKHLUF.
[269] _Sudur_, 121.
[270] _Kanz_, III, 252, No. 4,013; VIII, 175, Nos. 3,054, 3,017, 5,736.
[271] _Al-Laali_, II, 196. Blindness, both physical and moral, is a
common punishment of infidels. Cf. _Koran_, LXXXII, 6, and _Tadhkira_, 73.
[272] _Koran_, XLIV, 9-10.
[273] KHAZIN, _Tafsir_, IV, 112-113, and _Tadhkira_, 131. Cf. _Purg._ XV,
142-145; XVI, 5-7, 35-36.
[274] _Futuhat_, I, 404-406.
[275] _Kanz_, VII, 246, No. 2,809.
[276] _Corra_, 19. Cf. _Purg._ XIX, 71-72, 94, 97, 120, 123.
[277] _Ihia_, IV, 376.
[278] _Tadhkira_, 80.
[279] The natural consequences of this torture, viz. the violent thirst
and bitter weeping of the tortured, are described with true Oriental
hyperbole. Cf. _Corra_, 15. “God will give them such thirst as will burn
their entrails.” Cf. also _Kanz_, VII, 246, No. 2,811: “The wicked will
weep, as they are burnt, until their tears are spent; they will then weep
tears of blood, which will wear furrows in their cheeks.”
[280] Cf. _Tadhkira_, 81, for a description of the purgatorial fire:
The souls raise their voices to Mahomet in lament and pray for his
intercession. God orders his angelic ministers to apportion the torture
to the measure of the sin by preserving from the fire such members of
the sinner’s body as he had used in His service. “And the fire, which is
cognisant of the degree of their guilt, reaches in some to the ankles, in
others to the knees, and in others again, to the breast.” When God has
wreaked his vengeance, He lends ear to the intercession of Mahomet and
the prayers addressed to Him directly by the sinners. Finally Gabriel is
ordered to withdraw the sinners from the fire, and, as he does so, he
immerses their blackened bodies in the River of Life, which flows by the
gate of paradise, and thus completes their purification.
In other tales the intercessor is an ordinary human being.
[281] _Purg._ XXVIII-XXXIII. Cf. ROSSI, I, 150.
[282] GRAF, _Miti_, I, 5.
[283] Ibn Qaim al-Jawziya, of the fourteenth century, in his _Miftah_
(I, 11-34), has left us a record of the various opinions and their chief
exponents both in Eastern and Western Islam.
[284] _Koran_, II, 33, 34.
[285] _Rasail_, II, 151. Cf. BROCKELMANN, I, 213.
[286] Cf. D’HERBELOT, _Bibliothèque Orientale_, s.v. _gennat_, pp. 378,
773, 816.
[287] Cf. DIYARBAKRI, _Tarikh al-Khamis_, I, 61.
[288] The Moslem belief was in its turn based upon a Buddhist myth. Cf.
RECLUS, _Géogr. Univ._ VIII, 581; and especially GRAF, _Miti_, I, 59-61.
GUBERNATIS, in his work _Dante e l’India_, which I have not been able to
obtain, identifies Dante’s Mount of Purgatory with the island of Ceylon.
[289] IBN BATUTAH, IV, 170 _et seq._
[290] The belief that the earthly paradise was situated on Adam’s Peak
endured in Islam until the sixteenth century. It was in that century that
the Oriental mystic Ash-Sharani wrote in his _Mizan_ (II, 193):—
“The paradise in which Adam dwelt is not the supreme paradise ..., but
merely the _intermediate_ paradise, which lies on the summit of the Mount
of the Hyacinth. This is the garden in which Adam ate of the fruit of the
tree. From this paradise he was driven to the earth.... All children of
Adam that die at peace with God return in spirit to that paradise. But
the sinners first pass through the intermediate fire.”
In his _Al-Yawaqit_, II, 172, Ash-Sharani repeats this passage almost
literally and attributes it to a writer, who I infer is the tenth century
mathematician Moslema, of Madrid.
[291] The ancients, however, held that Ceylon lay in the antipodes of the
northern hemisphere. Cf. RECLUS, _Géogr. Univ._, loc. cit.
[292] Cf. GRAF, _Miti_, I, 5: “Che Dante, ponendo il Paradiso terrestre
sulla cima del monte del Purgatorio, fece cosa non caduta in mente a
nessuno dei Padri e Dottori della Chiesa, fu notato già da parecchi.”
[293] _Koran_, VII, 41 and XV, 47: “We shall efface all rancour from
their breasts.”
[294] _Tadhkira_, 99. Cf. IBN MAKHLUF, II, 60, for different versions of
this legend.
[295] IBN MAKHLUF, II, 61. A biography of Shakir ibn Muslim, who lived
about 1136 A.D., is given in _Tecmila_ (Appendix to Codera’s edition,
biogr., No. 2,686).
[296] Thus, as in Dante, the earthly paradise is the final stage of
purgatory. The same position is assigned to it by Ibn Arabi in his
_Futuhat_, III, 573. Cf. _supra_, p. 115.
[297] Observe that angels also guide Dante and Virgil, as they leave
purgatory.
[298] The resemblance between the garden described here and that of Dante
is noteworthy. Cf. the following passages:—
IBN MAKHLUF, II. _Purg._ XXVIII.
P. 61, line 8 inf. Line 7.
P. 62, lines 1, 2, and 12. Lines 120, 14.
[299] Compare the descriptions of the two rivers in IBN MAKHLUF, II, 62,
line 8, and _Purg._ XXVIII, 28, 133, and 144.
[300] It should be noted that, as in Dante’s poem, there are two
ablutions in two rivers, whereas in the Biblical story the earthly
paradise is watered by four rivers. The effects of the double ablution in
the Islamic legend are also similar to those experienced by Dante. Cp.
the following descriptions: IBN MAKHLUF, II, 62, line 13, and _Purg._ I,
95, 128; XXVIII, 128; XXXIII, 129, 138, and 142.
[301] Cp. this detail of the Arabic text (p. 62, line 20) with the words
of Dante (_Purg._ XXXIII, 72) “... ed un chiamar: Sorgi; che fai?” and
(_Purg._ XXXIII, 19). “... Ven più tosto.”
[302] Cp. the descriptions of Beatrice and the bride of the Moslem tale
in IBN MAKHLUF, II, 63, line 8, and _Purg._ XXX, 31; XXXI, 83, 110 and
136; and XXXII, 1, 3 and 10.
[303] Neither Labitte nor D’Ancona found any trace of such a scene in
Christian or classical legend. Ozanam (p. 457) merely quotes the _Vision
of the Shepherd of Hermes_, which tells how a maiden, whom the shepherd
had once wished to marry, appears to him in a dream as descending from
heaven and calling upon him to serve God. According to Batiffol (p. 62),
however, this tale was unknown in Europe before the sixteenth century.
[304] Cf. VOSSLER, I, 199, _et seq._
[305] _La Vita Nuova_, XLIII.
[306] Cf. _infra_, Part IV, ch. V, §§ 6, 7, and 8.
[307] _Corra_, 121. Some phrases are also taken from _Dorar_, 40.
[308] IBN MAKHLUF, II, 129.
[309] From the Arabic text it is not clear whether the heavenly bride is
reproving her lover or his wife on earth. At all events, the analogy in
subject remains very striking. Cf. the words in _Purg._ XXXI, 59: “... o
pargoletta, od altra vanità con sì breve uso.”
[310] _Inf._ II, 52 _et seq._
[311] _Purg._ XXX, 73-145; XXXI, 1-63.
[312] For this and the two following tales cf. _Ihia_, IV, 364; also
_Ithaf_, X, 434.
[313] IBN MAKHLUF, I, 120.
[314] Cf. _Purg._ XXX, 33.
[315] IBN MAKHLUF, I, 113 and 121-2.
[316] Beatrice’s maidens also tell Dante how God has destined them to
serve her. Cf. _Purg._ XXXI, 106.
[317] Just as Dante asks of Matilda (_Purg._ XXXII, 85) “Ov’è Beatrice?”,
so the Moslem bridegroom asks of the handmaidens, “Where is the
large-eyed maiden?” Compare also the promise by the bride, that they will
shortly meet in heaven, with the words of Beatrice to Dante (_Purg._,
XXXII, 100).
[318] For this and the following legend see IBN MAKHLUF, I, 112.
[319] Beyond the general fact that both Beatrice and the Moslem bride are
ushered in by processions, there is no great resemblance. To describe the
procession, Dante availed himself of features in Ezekiel and Revelations,
to which he gave an allegorical meaning that is not always clear. VOSSLER
(II, 171), however, remarks upon the Oriental colour of the description.
Indeed, the maidens and elders that lead in Beatrice are conspicuous
rather by their colouring than by their outline, which is barely traced
(_Purg._ XXIX, 121-154).
[320] _Hadith_ by Muslim in _Tadhkira_, 85. Cf. _Isaiah_, LXIV, 4, and
_First Epistle to Corinthians_, II, 9.
[321] _Tadhkira_, 97. These _hadiths_ were based on two passages in the
Koran (II, 274 and XIII, 22), in which the vision of the face of God by
the blessed is vaguely referred to.
[322] Cf. KHAZIN, _Tafsir_, IV, 335, for a summary of this polemic; also
_Fasl_, III, 2-4.
[323] Cf. ASÍN, _Algazel, Dogmática_, 680, and _Averroismo_, 287.
[324] In _Mizan al-Amal_, p. 5 _et seq._
[325] _Ihia_, IV, 219.
[326] _Futuhat_, II, 809.
[327] _Futuhat_ in ASH-SHARANI, _Al-Yawaqit_, II, 195, and _Al-Kibrit_,
II, 194.
[328] This apocryphal passage from the Gospel can only refer to St. Luke,
XXIII, 43.
[329] Lull, in _Liber de Gentili_ (_Op. Omn._, Mayence Edit., vol. II,
89) is clear on this point:—
“Dixit Sarracenus: Verum est quod inter nos diversi diversimode credant
gloriam Paradisi; nam quidam credunt habere gloriam (secundum quod ego
tibi retuli) et hoc intelligunt secundum litteralem expositionem, quam ab
Alcora accipiunt, in qua nostra lex continetur, et a proverbiis Mahometi,
et etiam a proverbiis et a glosis et expositionibus Sapientum exponentium
nostram legem. Aliae tamen gentes sunt inter nos quae intelligunt gloriam
moraliter, et spiritualiter exponunt eam, dicentes quod Mahometus
metaphorice gentibus absque rationali intellectu et insipientibus
loquebatur; et ut eos ad divinum amorem posset trahere, refferebat eis
supradictam gloriam; et id circo hi tales, qui credunt hujusmodi gloriam,
dicunt quod homo in Paradiso non habebit gloriam comedendi et jacendi cum
mulieribus et habendi alias supradictas res; et hujusmodi sunt naturales
philosophi et magni clerici....”
The following are passages from Martin’s _Explanatio Simboli_ (Edit. of
March, in _Anuari del Institut d’estudis Catalans_, Barcelona, 1910, p.
52):—
“Quoniam vero aliqui sapientes sarracenorum ... ponentes beatitudinem
hominis tantum in anima....” _Ibid._ 53: “Quod autem in errorem induxit
sapientes sarracenorum ... videtur processisse ex Alcorano; quum ibi
contineatur quod post resurrectionem habebunt delectationes corporales,
ut delectatio cibi, potus et coitus; que, in veritate, si in alia vita
essent, intellectum a cogitatione et dilectione summi boni impedirent.
Unde, quia visum est eis hoc esse inconveniens, sicut est in veritate,
negaverunt ..., ponentes tamen beatitudinem hominis in anima.” _Ibid._
53 (in his explanation of the last article of the symbol, “vitam
eternam”): “Preeminentiam autem delectationum spiritualium et divinarum,
ad corporales delectationes, necnon et earum comparationem ad invicem,
ponit Avicenna in libro _de scientia divina_, tractatu IX, capite VII de
promissione divina, loquens de felicitate animae....” _Ibid._ 54: “Item,
Algazel firmat idem in libro _Intentionum physicarum_ (this should be
_philosophicarum_)....” _Ibid._ 54: “Eandem etiam sententiam confirmat
in libro qui dicitur _Vivificatio scientiarum_, in demonstratione quod
gloriosior et excellentior delectationum, cognitio Dei excelsi, et
contemplatio vultus ejus (referring to _Ihia_, IV, 219). Et in libro qui
dicitur _Trutina operum_, in capitulo probationis, quid sit beatitudo
ultima. Hoc idem etiam confirmat Alpharabius in libro _de auditu
naturali_, tractatu II circa finem, et in libro _de intellectu_. Ex
his patet, quod etiam apud philosophos sarracenorum, beatitudo eterna
consistit in cognitione et amore Dei, non in delectatione.”
[330] Cf. D’ANCONA, _Precursori_, 29: “Hanno ... tutte queste leggende
carattere ingenuo, anzi fanciullesco, che di necessità ce le fa porre
fuori della cerchia della vera poesia.” _Ibid._ 31: “Nè più alto e
condegno è il comune concetto della sede celeste....” _Ibid._ 32: “e per
rappresentar le gioie del paradiso abbiano avuto ricorso a raddoppiare
di più che mille milia il coro od il refettorio.” _Ibid._ 88: “Ma questa
corte celeste ... diventa la corte plenaria di un signore feudale.” Cf.
_Ibid._ 104-6.
[331] In Part III, Ch. VI, Moslem precedents will be shown for many of
these materialistic Christian legends.
[332] _Purg._ XVI, 40. The hypothesis is D’Ancona’s, who in note 2 to
page 108 of his _Precursori_ says: “Si potrebbe in Dante vedere giusto
disdegno, anzichè ignoranza dei suoi predecessori.” Cf. ROSSI, I,
140: “Con codesta povera concezione ... non è neppure paragonabile la
concezione dantesca,” and I, 147: “Mentre i precedenti descrittori non
avevano saputo se non trasferire nel soggiorno dei beati i più soavi
diletti della vita terrena, per Dante il premio dei buoni è tutto nel
intimo godimento che loro procurano la visione e la cognizione di Dio.”
[333] Cf. ROSSI, I, 141-2 and 147.
[334] It was also believed in Islam that the blessed meet in the heavenly
mansions to converse together and welcome the newly-arrived souls, whom
they ask for news of their friends and relations on earth. The _hadiths_
on this subject may be found in _Tadhkira_, 17; _Kanz_, VII, 231, Nos.
2,568 and 2,571; and IBN MAKHLUF, II, 143. Dante describes many similar
conversations of his with the blessed on the events and persons of his
time, notably with Piccarda, Cunizza, Costanza, Folcheto, and Cacciaguida.
[335] Cf. VIGOUROUX, _Dict. de la Bible_, s.v. _ciel_.
[336] TIXERONT, s.v. _eschatologie_. Origenes (_Ibid._ I, 303) and St.
Ephrem (II, 221) alone appear to mention the astronomical heavens.
Accordingly PERRONE says (II, 110, n. 2):—
“Non levis inter aliquot ex antiquis Patribus dissensio occurrit, ubi
agitur de statuendo _loco_, in quem justorum animae abscedentes a
corpore deferantur. Alii _coelum_, alii _sinum Abrahae_, isti _locum
quietis_, illi _paradisum_ censent sive appellant. _Paradisus_ ipse apud
aliquos aut ipsum coelorum regnum significat, aut saltem in coelorum
regione situs creditur; apud alios in ignota hujus terrae plaga. Sunt et
paucissimi qui sub terra sive in inferis....”
St. Thomas, in explaining the passage in the Gospel according to St.
Matthew, V, 12, agrees with St. Augustine that “Merces sanctorum non
dicitur esse in corporeis coelis” (_Summa theol._ 1-2ae, q. 4, a. 7, ad
3). Nor is mediæval art any more precise, for in the French cathedrals
Paradise is shown as the bosom of Abraham. Cf. MÂLE, 427.
[337] FRATICELLI, commenting on the passage of _Inf._ XXXIV, 112-115,
says, “Imagina Dante che Gerusalemme sia posta nel mezzo dell’emisfero
boreale”; and to _Par._ XXX, 124-8, he remarks, “E qui vuolsi notare che,
come Gerusalemme (secondo il creder d’allora) è nel mezzo della terra
abitata; così Dante imagina il seggio de’beati, la Gerusalemme celeste,
soprastare a perpendicolo alla terrena.” Cf. Rossi, I, 141: “una stessa
retta ... da Gerusalemme ... prolungata ... sale al centro della mistica
rosa”; and I, 142: “così la Gerusalemme terrestre per una linea diritta
... si congiunge colla Gerusalemme celeste.”
[338] MS 105 Gayangos Collection, fol. 117 rᵒ.
[339] Cf. HAMADHANI, 94-8. Also YAQUT, VIII, 111, s.v. Bayt al-Muqaddas.
[340] MS 105 Gayangos Collection, fol. 101 vᵒ.
[341] _Futuhat_, II, 582.
[342] _Futuhat_, II, 898. On the following page he inserts a geometrical
design, in which, taking the five fundamental precepts of Islam by way
of example, he shows how the grades of hell correspond symmetrically to
the grades of paradise. This design, with a few unimportant omissions, is
reproduced below. The dotted lines indicate the vertical projection of
the grades of heaven above those of hell.
GRADES OF HEAVEN.
+------------+------------+--------------+------------+--------------+
. Reward . Reward . Reward . Reward . Reward .
. of . of . of . of . of .
. faith. . prayer. . almsgiving. . fasting. . pilgrimage. .
+------------+------------+--------------+------------+--------------+
. Punishment . Punishment . Punishment . Punishment . Punishment .
. of . of . of . of . of .
. faith. . prayer. . almsgiving. . fasting. . pilgrimage. .
+------------+------------+--------------+------------+--------------+
GRADES OF HELL.
[343] The actual verses are _Par._ XXX, 100-132; XXXI, 1-54, 112-117;
XXXII, 1-84, and 115-138.
[344] _Tadhkira_, 99. Gayangos Coll., MS 159, fol. 2 vᵒ; MS 64, fol. 25
vᵒ.
[345] _Corra_, 132.
[346] Gayangos Coll., MS 64, fol. 25.
[347] Cf. IBN MAKHLUF, II, 147. Abu Abd Allah Mohamed ibn Ayshun was a
theologian and lawyer who also wrote poetry and compiled several books of
_hadiths_. After being taken captive by the Christians, he was ransomed
and died in his native town, Toledo, in 952 A.D.
[348] Cf. IBN MAKHLUF, II, 151-154.
[349] Cf. IBN MAKHLUF, II, 157.
[350] _Tadhkira_, 85.
[351] IBN MAKHLUF, II, 58. The elaboration of this fantastic picture
of glory was continued, more notably by the Spanish and African sufis
between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, until about the time the
Divine Comedy was produced. Although Ibn Arabi’s is undoubtedly the
one that most nearly approaches the Dantean version, the following
by Izzu’d-Din ibn Abd as-Salam of the fourteenth century, is also of
interest:—
In heaven there are as many grades as there are virtues, and each of
these is again subdivided into the lowest, the intermediate, and the
highest grades. Thus, for example, the martyrs of Islam occupy the
hundred highest grades as a reward for faith; another hundred correspond
to each of the other virtues; then come a hundred grades for just rulers;
then a hundred for sincere witnesses, and so forth. If two of the elect
are equally deserving by reason of faith (whether mystic or theological),
both occupy the same grade; but, if there is any difference in either the
quantity or the quality of their faith, then they are placed apart. And
so it is with the other virtues.
[352] A translation of the principal passages of the _Futuhat_ relating
hereto is given in the author’s _Mohidín_, pp. 7-23.
[353] _Futuhat_, III, 579, and _passim_.
[354] _Futuhat_, I, 416; III, 552 and 567. Cf. _Al-Yawaqit_, II, 197. Cf.
_Par._ XXX, 103, 125, and 130; XXXI, 67 and 115; XXXII, 26 and 36.
[355] There are really only seven, as the first, being dedicated to
Mahomet, must be associated with all the others.
[356] LANDINO, in discussing _Par._ XXXII on fol. 433 of his Commentary,
arrives at the same number of _twelve_ as that of the main degrees in
Dante’s realm of glory: “Onde sono sei differentie e ciascuna ha provetti
e parvuli, che fanno dodeci.” For the number of gradins, cf. _Par._ XXX,
113: “più di mille soglie.”
[357] _Corra_, 118: “And the Prophet said: In heaven is the tree of
happiness whose root is in my dwelling-place and whose branches shelter
all the mansions of heaven; nor is there mansion or dwelling-place which
holds not one of its branches....” (_Ibid._ 119). “Each of the blessed
has his own branch, with his name inscribed upon it.”
[358] A rough sketch of this Islamic tree is to be found in the
illustration from the _Maʿrifet Nameh_, included by Carra de Vaux in
_Fragments d’Eschatologie musulmane_, pp. 27 and 33. An amplified
reproduction is here given (see Fig. 3).
[359] _Par._ XVIII, 28-33, on which Fraticelli comments:—
“Paragona il sistema de’ cieli ad un albero che si fa più spazioso di
grado in grado; e fa che abbia vita dalla cima, in contrario de’ nostri
alberi, che l’anno dalle radici, perchè ei la toglie dall’empireo.”
[360] In GRAF, _Miti_, I, 140, note 35. For particulars about Federigo
Frezzi, who composed his poem in 1394, cf. ROSSI, I, 264.
[361] _Futuhat_, I, 416 and III, 567. Cf. _Par._ XXXII, 20 and 39; XXXI,
97.
[362] _Futuhat_, I, 416 and III, 577. Cf. _Par._ XXXI, 25, 115, and
XXXII, 61.
[363] _Futuhat_, I, 416 and 417. Cf. _Par._ XXX, 109, and XXXI, 121.
[364] _Futuhat_, I, 415. Cf. _Par._ XXXII, 52-60, and Fraticelli’s
comment thereon:—
“In questo così ampio Paradiso non può aver luogo un _punto_, un seggio,
dato a caso.... Poichè _quantunque vidi_, tutto quello che qui vedi,
_è stabilito per eterna legge_ in modo, che ad ogni grado di merito
corrisponde un ugual grado di gloria, a quel modo che _dall’anello al
dito_, al dito corrisponde proporzionato anello.”
[365] Cp. _Futuhat_, I, 414, with _Par._ XXXII, 42-47 and 73-74. Also
_Futuhat_, I, 415, with _Par._ XXX, 131-132.
[366] _Futuhat_, III, 8: “Divine mercy is greater than Divine anger. The
damned, then, are punished for the sins they have committed only, but the
elect enter heaven through grace and experience such bliss as by their
good works alone they would not deserve.” Cf. _Par._ XXXII, 58-66.
[367] _Futuhat_, I, 417; II, 111; and III, 577.
[368] LANDINO, on fol. 432 vᵒ of his Commentary, explains this point very
clearly.
[369] Cp. _Par._ XXXI, 69; XXX, 133 and XXXII, 7; XXXI, 16; XXX, 115 and
132, with the passages of the _Futuhat_ quoted under [367].
[370] In Ibn Arabi, as will shortly be shown, the difference in the
intensity of the Beatific Vision depends, as in Dante, on the nature of
the faith the elect professed on earth.
[371] IBN MAKHLUF, II, 59-60. In Islam Mahomet is regarded as the Prophet
who renewed the teaching of the one true religion as revealed by God to
Abraham; and, just as Abraham is the patriarch of the Old Testament,
so Mahomet may be said to be the patriarch of the new Testament of the
Moslems.
[372] _Par._ XXXII, 19-27.
[373] _Futuhat_, II, 113, and _Par._ XXXII, 118.
[374] _Futuhat_, I, 417-420.
[375] _Futuhat_, II, 111.
[376] _Futuhat_, II, 112-113.
[377] This latter thesis was propounded by Averrhoes and adopted by St.
Thomas. Cf. ASÍN, _Averroismo_, 291 _et seq._
[378] _Futuhat_, III, 578.
[379] _Futuhat_, III, 577.
[380] Before entering on this comparison we may be allowed to point out
a curious coincidence in the chronology of Dante’s ascension and that
assigned in the _hadiths_ to the ascension of the blessed souls to enjoy
the Beatific Vision. Dante undertook his ascension “nel mezzo del camin
di nostra vita” (_Inf._ I, 1) or, according to the commentators, “a
trenta-cinque anni,” or “dell’età di 32 o 33 anni” (Cf. Scartazzini).
A _hadith_ in the Gayangos Coll., MS 105, fol. 140 rᵒ, attributes to
Mahomet the statement that the blessed will enter paradise “at Jesus’
age, or the age of thirty-three.” Further, Dante ascends to heaven on
Good Friday (cf. Fraticelli, pp. 622-3) and the _hadiths_ state that the
Beatific Vision takes place on Friday, the holy day of Islam (cf. _Kanz_,
VII, 232, Nos. 2,572 and 2,641).
[381] Cf. _Par._ XXX, 10, 106, 112, and 115; XXXIII, 76 and 82 with
_Futuhat_, I, 417, last line; 418, line 8.
Further, just as St. Bernard bids Dante be prepared for the Divine light
(_Par._ XXXII, 142, and XXXIII, 31), so does the Prophet, in Ibn Arabi’s
description, warn the elect (_Futuhat_, I, 418, line 12).
[382] _Summa contra Gentes_, lib. III, ch. 53 and 54. Cf. _Summa theol._
part 1, q. 12, a. 5.
[383] _Summa theol._, suppl. part 3, q. 92, a. 1.
[384] _Loc cit._, at the end of the body of the article:—
“Et ideo accipiendus est alius modus, quem etiam quidam philosophi
posuerunt, scilicet Alexander et Averroes (3. _de Anim. comm. 5 et 36_)”
... “Quidquid autem sit de aliis substantiis separatis, tamen istum modum
oportet nos accipere in visione Dei per essentiam.”
[385] TIXERONT, II, 201, 349, 435; III, 431.
[386] _Haeres._, 70, in PETAVIUS, _De Deo_, lib. VII, ch. 8, § 1: “Vi sua
imbecillitatem corroborare dignatus est.”
[387] PETAVIUS, _loc. cit._, § 4: “Quocirca de illo lucis officio et usu,
qui in scholis percrebuit, nihil apud antiquos expressum habetur, nisi
quod vis quaedam naturali superior et auxilium requiri dicitur quo mens
ad tantam contemplationem possit assurgere. Quale autem sit necessarium
illud auxilium, sive lumen gloriae, quo ad Deum videndum natura fulcitur,
nemo liquido demonstravit, minime omnium efficientis quoddam genus esse
causae, ac velut habitum.”
[388] _Ihia_, IV, 222. Cf. _Ithaf_, IX, 581.
[389] _Ihia_, IV, 223, line 14 inf.
[390] _Fasl_, III, 2-4.
[391] _Kitab falsafat_, 53.
[392] Cp. the passages from the _Futuhat_ translated above, on pp.
157-159, with _Par._ XXXI, 27, and XXXIII, 43, 50, 52, 79, and 97.
[393] Cf. ROSSI, I, 147. “Per Dante, il premio dei buoni è ... vario
di grado, secondo la purezza e l’intensità dell’amore divino.” Cf.
_Futuhat_, I, 418, line 7.
[394] _Par._ XXXII, 19, 38, 74. Cf. _Futuhat_, _loc. cit._; also I, 419,
line 9 inf.; II, 111, line 8 inf.; II, 113, line 10 inf.
[395] _Futuhat_, II, 111, line 9 inf. and 1 inf.
[396] _Ihia_, IV, 224, line 15.
[397] _Futuhat_, III, 578, line 2.
[398] ROSSI, I, 147: “Il vario grado di lor beatitudine è appunto
rappresentato dalla varia luminosità e dalla loro distribuzioni pei sette
primi cieli.” Cf. _Par._ XXX, 12, and XXXI, 59; also _Par._ XIV, 43-60.
[399] _Summa theol._, suppl. 3ae part., q. 85, a. 1:
“Ideo melius est ut dicatur quod claritas illa causabitur ex redundantia
gloriae animae in corpus ...; et ideo claritas quae est in anima
spiritualis, recipitur in corpore ut corporalis; et ideo secundum quod
anima erit majoris claritatis secundum majus meritum, ita etiam erit
differentia claritatis in corpore.”
[400] _Corra_, 102, 104, 106, 114, and 117. Cf. _Kanz_, VII, 232, Nos.
2,575, 2,588, 2,608, 2,616, 2,629, and 2,658. In Nos. 2,616 and 2,658,
moreover, the bodies of the women of heaven are said to be “translucent
like crystal or precious stones,” an idea that reappears in _Par._
XXXI, 19, and XXIX, 124. The sufis, and particularly Ibn Arabi, held
that the souls, until the resurrection of their bodies, lived in bodies
of the world beyond the grave, similar in nature to the forms we see
in dreams (cf. ASÍN, _La Psicología_, 45). This theory may have given
rise to Dante’s conception of the spirit-bodies, which cast no shadow.
Cf. _Purg._ III, 16-30. The same property was attributed to the body of
Mahomet in this world. Cf. MS 64 Gayangos Coll., fol. 114.
[401] _Par._ XXX, 40. Cf. _Futuhat_, II, 112, line 11 inf.
[402] _Summa theol._, suppl. 3ae part., q. 95, a. 5.
[403] _Par._ XXXIII, 57 and 94. Cf. _Futuhat_, I, 419, line 7 inf.; III,
578, line 11. See also the comparison _supra_, pp. 31 and 32.
[404] _Futuhat_, III, 577, line 10 inf. This point is frequently brought
out by Moslem theologians and is based on two passages in the Koran (VII,
41, and XV, 47), in which it is said that God will remove all envy and
resentment from the hearts of the blessed.
[405] _Par._ III, 52, 64, 70, and 88. Cf. _Par._ XXXII, 52 and 63.
[406] Cf. _supra_, pp. 31 and 32.
[407] _Futuhat_, III, 574, and I, 402. In III, 556, the apotheosis is
shown graphically, though on account of the difficulty of design the rows
of angels are not represented by circles.
[408] _Par._ XXXIII, 115.
[409] Cf. E. Pistelli, _L’ultimo canto della D.C._ (in Scartazzini,
_Par._ XXXIII, 120):—
“Noi non tenteremo di seguirlo (i.e. Dante) e di rappresentarci
sensibilmente i tre archi di due dei quali, tra le altre cose, neppure
ci ha detto il colore. Che Dio sia fuori delle leggi dello spazio e del
tempo, sta bene; ma noi le leggi dello spazio non consentono di veder
distinti tre cerchi chè in realtà sono uno solo e anche per questa via
ricadiamo nel mistero.”
[410] _Enneades_, VI, 8, 18.
[411] Cf. ASÍN, _Abenmasarra_, _passim_.
[412] His book, _Formation of tables and circles_, is specially devoted
to this subject. Cf. _Futuhat_, III, 523.
[413] _Futuhat_, II, 591. Cf. ASÍN, _La Psicología_, 69.
[414] _Futuhat_, III, 158, 363, and 589. For a translation of the passage
on 363, see ASÍN, _Mohidín_, 7-13.
[415] _Futuhat_, I, 332, translated in ASÍN, _Mohidín_, 13-17.
[416] _Futuhat_, III, 560.
[417] For a fuller exposition, see ASÍN, _La Psicología_, 25-39, and
_Abenmasarra_, _passim_.
[418] The figure is given on p. 553, and explained on pp. 560-2, of vol.
III of the _Futuhat._ It is essentially as represented hereunder, A being
the Spiritual Substance, B the Universal Intellect, and C the Universal
Soul.
[419] Ibn Arabi admits, however, a certain trinity of relations as
essential to Divine unity. The metaphysical reason of his opinion is to
be found in the Pythagorean conception of the number three as being the
origin of odd numbers (cf. _Futuhat_, III, 166, 228, 603). In _Futuhat_,
II, 90, he applies the doctrine to theology and, in order to explain
the origin and existence of the Cosmos, he establishes three Divine
elements: the Essence, the Will, and the Word. In _Dakhair_, 42, he
attempts to establish analogies between the Christian doctrine of the
Trinity of Divine Persons and the trinity of Divine names as taught in
the Koran—God, the Lord, and the Merciful.
[420] Ibn Arabi’s symbol is as difficult to interpret; for besides the
three circles representing God in His three manifestations of spiritual
matter, intellect, and soul, he speaks of the manifestation of God
through three veils, or under three names (_Futuhat_, I, 418). Again, the
manifestations of the Divine names he symbolises by eccentric circles
of diverse radius (_Futuhat_, III, 558). Ibn Arabi does not mention the
colours of these Divine epiphanies, but in the _Corra_, 125, the Divinity
is said to appear to the elect wrapt in a white light with shades of
green, red, and yellow.
[421] Had Vossler known of Ibn Arabi’s plans, he would certainly not have
sought in the symmetry of Dante’s three realms a symbolical application
of the Ptolemaic system to purgatory and hell. Vossler, after lengthy
explanations and subtle interpretations of this theory, exclaims (I,
252):—
“Chi può decidere ove graviti il centro di tali simboli, se nella poesia
o nella scienza?” ... “Noi non conosciamo nella letteratura mondiale
alcun altro laboro artistico, che sia così profondamente penetrato di
filosofia.”
[422] D’ANCONA, 13, 107. Cf. also LABITTE, OZANAM, and GRAF.
[423] D’ANCONA, 9, 25, 26, 27, 38, 70, 84, and _passim_.
[424] D’ANCONA, 42.
[425] GRAF, _Miti_, I, Introduction, XXII.
[426] GRAF, _Miti_, I, 66-67.
[427] Cf. _Sudur_, 96-109 and IBN MAKHLUF, I, 57, and _passim_.
[428] OZANAM, 458; D’ANCONA, 33.
[429] LABITTE, 103; OZANAM, 434; D’ANCONA, 38; GRAF, I, 84.
[430] Cf. _supra_, p. 88.
[431] _Qisas_, 225-232.
[432] _Supra_, pp. 89 and 106.
[433] _Supra_, p. 103.
[434] _Sudur_, 96 and 98. It should be noted that the garden in which
the birds live, lies at the gate of heaven; this explains their request
to God that, in accordance with His promise, He should allow them to
enter the realm of Glory and taste the reward, of which as yet they only
catch glimpses. The same request appears to be made by the human birds of
the Christian legend in their prayer: “Ostende nobis ista quae vidimus,
miracula tua, quoniam ignoramus quid sint.” Cf. _Acta Sanctorum_, X, 563.
[435] _Sudur_, 102, 107, 108, 121, etc.
[436] OZANAM, 399; D’ANCONA, 45; GRAF, I, 245.
[437] Cf. BATIOUCHKOF, _Le débat de l’âme et du corps_, 41-42, 514, 517,
518, 558, 559.
[438] _Supra_, p. 115 _et seq._
[439] _Tadhkira_, 58, line 3 inf.
[440] _Supra_, p. 99.
[441] _Tadhkira_, 74, line 1 inf., and IBN MAKHLUF, II, 37, line 16.
[442] For instance, the graduation of the torture of fire according to
the degree of sin, the sinners appearing immersed in fire up to their
knees, their belly, navel, eyes, etc. Cf. _supra_, p. 107, for the
Islamic parallel to this scene.
[443] _Tadhkira_, 18-19. Cf. _Sudur_, 22.
[444] D’ANCONA, 47; GRAF, I, 245.
[445] GRAF, I, 247.
[446] _Corra_, 92-99.
[447] P. 82. Another similar tale is given in the Gayangos Collection, MS
234, fol. 101:
Gabriel descends to hell and, moved by the prayers of the damned that he
should obtain the intercession of Mahomet on their behalf, returns to
heaven and appeals to the Prophet. The latter intercedes with God and the
sinners are pardoned.
[448] D’ANCONA, 53-59.
[449] Cf. BLOCHET, _Sources_, 111.
[450] _Supra_, p. 109.
[451] _Supra_, p. 83.
[452] Cf. _Tadhkira_, 31-33, which gives _hadiths_ on this subject that,
being vouchsafed for by Bukhari, are at least earlier than the ninth
century of our era.
[453] D’ANCONA, 78, and GRAF, I, 107.
[454] D’ANCONA, 56.
[455] _Supra_, p. 89.
[456] _Tadhkira_, 73, line 16.
[457] D’ANCONA, 57.
[458] _Ihia_, IV, 383. Cf. _Ithaf_, X, 520.
[459] _Ihia_ and _Ithaf_, loc. cit. Cf. _Tadhkira_, 83.
[460] D’ANCONA, 58.
[461] _Corra_, 66. Cf. also IBN MAKHLUF, II, 13, and _Kanz_, III,
250-252, Nos. 3,984-4,020.
[462] D’ANCONA, 59-63; LABITTE, 126.
[463] Cf. _supra_, p. 101.
[464] _Supra_, pp. 106-107. Cf. OZANAM, 394: “un soufle d’un vent
d’hiver.”
[465] Cf. _supra_, pp. 13 and 101.
[466] D’ANCONA, 63-69; LABITTE, 125.
[467] OZANAM, 403. Regarding the antiquity and religious character of the
Edda, cf. CHANTEPIE, _Hist. des relig._, pp. 675 _et seq._, particularly
p. 685.
[468] _Kanz_, VIII, 224, No. 3,552.
[469] D’ANCONA, 68, footnote.
[470] D’ANCONA, 58, footnote; LABITTE, 112.
[471] _Tafsir_, XV, 11. Cf. MS 64 Gayangos Coll., fol. 113.
[472] OZANAM, 445-6.
[473] _Tadhkira_, 58, line 7 inf.
[474] Cf. _supra_, p. 83.
[475] VOSSLER, II, 201.
[476] See _supra_, pp. 85-95.
[477] _Tadhkira_, 70.
[478] _Tadhkira_, 70.
[479] See _supra_, p. 88.
[480] Taking the Arabic name in the form used in vulgar speech, and
changing the feminine into the masculine, e.g. Haguia = Hagu = Ago.
[481] D’ANCONA, 77; LABITTE, 110. The myth of the scales occurs in other,
non-political, visions, such as the Vision of Turcill (D’ANCONA, 69,
footnote). Cf. GRAF, II, 106, note 207.
[482] CHANTEPIE, _Hist. des relig._, 107. Cf. VIREY, _Relig. anc.
Égypte_, 157-162.
[483] CHANTEPIE, 473.
[484] _Tadhkira_, 55, and IBN MAKHLUF, II, 22.
[485] MÂLE, p. 420.
[486] Cp. the offertory of the requiem masses: “Sed signifer Sanctus
Michael representet eas in lucem sanctam....”
[487] INTERIÁN, I, 135. INTERIÁN, one of the founders of the Spanish
Academy, died in 1730.
[488] MÂLE, 416. INTERIÁN, I, 66; II, 168.
[489] _Ihia_, IV, 377; _Ithaf_, X, 485. _Tadhkira_, 61.
[490] Cf. _Ithaf_, X, 491.
[491] INTERIÁN, II, 168-173.
[492] _Tadhkira_, 41. Cf. _Ihia_, IV, 368, and _Ithaf_, X, 454.
[493] _Tadhkira_, 41.
[494] Other picturesque scenes, which Mâle attributes to the working of
the popular mind, may also have had a Moslem origin. Thus, the wicked
are shown being dragged off in chains to hell by demons (Mâle, 422),
just as described in the Koran and the _hadiths_ (_Tadhkira_, 73).
The personification of hell as a monster with open fangs, which Mâle
believes to be an imitation of the Leviathan of the Book of Job, is
surely modelled upon the monster often quoted in the preceding pages. The
avaricious shown in the porches of the cathedrals with their money-bag
hanging from their neck are reminiscent of the sinners described in the
_hadiths_ on the Day of Judgment as likewise burdened with the _corpus
delicti_, for instance, the drunkards, who carry a flagon slung from
their neck, or the fraudulent merchants, who carry a balance (_Corra_, 12
and 41).
[495] See _supra_, pp. 140-141.
[496] GRAF, I, 69: “Il paradiso terrestre alle volte diventa tutt’uno col
celeste.” See _supra_, pp. 134-135.
[497] Cf. Versions A and B of Cycle 1 of the _Miraj_.
[498] D’ANCONA, 104.
[499] Cf. GRAF, I, 19.
[500] GRAF, I, 67. It should be remembered that the legend dates from the
thirteenth century.
[501] See _supra_, p. 10, Version A of Cycle 2. The scene, as told in the
_hadiths_, agrees literally with that in the Christian legend. Cf. also
_Kanz_, VI, 96, No. 1,466.
[502] D’ANCONA, 88.
[503] D’ANCONA, 105.
[504] D’ANCONA, 105.
[505] D’ANCONA, 90, footnote 2.
[506] The versions here summarised are to be found in the _Corra_, 102,
107, and 132; in SUYUTI, _Al-Laali_, I, 28-29, and _Dorar_, 30. Cf.
also MS 159, Gayangos Coll., fol. 2-6, and MS “Junta de Ampliación de
Estudios,” fols. 148-156.
[507] Cp. the text of D’ANCONA, 105, footnote 4, with _Corra_, 115, line
8 inf.; 128, line 5 inf.; 126, line 7 inf.; and _Al-Laali_, 28, line 1
inf.
[508] GRAF, I, 93-126.
[509] CHAUVIN, _Bibliographie_, VII, 1-93.
[510] _Ibid._ 77.
[511] DE GOEJE, _Légende de St. Brandan_. Cf. GRAF, I, 102: “Non si
può escludere la possibilità che alcune di esse (immaginazioni) sieno
orientali di origine.”
[512] The present study of the legend of St. Brandan is based on the
works of GRAF, I, 97-110; DE GOEJE, _loc. cit._; LABITTE, 119-123; and
D’ANCONA, 48-53.
[513] _Qisas_, 225. The episode recurs in the voyages of Abd al-Mutallib
the Wise. Cf. CHAUVIN, VII, 46.
[514] SCHROEDER, _Sanct Brandan_ (Erlangen, 1871), Introduction, XI-XIV.
GRAF, I, 103.
[515] DE GOEJE, 47, and GRAF, I, 105.
[516] Cf. ASÍN, _Abenmasarra_, Appendix I, 133.
[517] According to Schirmer the Latin version is based on tenth or ninth
century texts, and Zimmer even connects the legend with the Celtic
story, _Imram Maelduin_, which on the strength of its archaic language
he assigns to the ninth or eighth century. These hypotheses, which are
not even shared by all Romance scholars, are far from having the positive
value of a dated document such as the book of Al Jahiz.
[518] _Hayawan_, VII, 33-34.
[519] _Ihia_, IV, 318. Cf. _Ithaf_, X, 205.
[520] _Sudur_, 32.
[521] _Sudur_, 108.
[522] DAMIRI, II, 110.
[523] _Kharida_, 93-94.
[524] _Tadhkira_, 87.
[525] _Qisas_, 190.
[526] _Sudur_, 73 and 74. For the nakedness of Judas, whose face alone is
covered with a piece of cloth, cf. _Sudur_, 117, which depicts some of
the damned in hell in the self-same fashion.
[527] _Qisas_, 135-143, contains several legends on Khidr. A richer
collection is that included by Ibn Hijr in his _Isaba_, II, 114-137.
Cf. also _Sudur_, 109, and _Kharida_, 92. Other Arabic legends
represent Elijah and Enoch as praying on a rock or island. Cf. CHAUVIN,
_Bibliographie_, 48, 52, 54, 59, and 63.
[528] See GRAF, I, 37.
[529] LABITTE, 122.
[530] D’ANCONA, 50.
[531] The miraculous lighting of the altar lamps, witnessed by St.
Brandan on the isle of the monks, is, as De Goeje has pointed out (_loc.
cit._ 55), modelled upon the similar miracle performed each Easter Eve in
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. But the author of the tale
need not necessarily have seen the miracle himself, nor heard of it from
an eye-witness, in 1,000 A.D., as De Goeje suggests. The news may have
been transmitted to him through an Arabic medium, for as early as the
eighth century Al Jahiz relates the miracle in his _Hayawan_, IV, 154.
[532] GRAF, I, 95.
[533] _Qisas_, 228.
[534] GRAF, I, 116-118.
[535] _Qisas_, 231.
[536] MS 61 Gayangos Coll., fols. 72-80.
[537] GRAF, I, 87-92.
[538] GRAF, I, 113 and 116.
[539] _Qisas_, 215-216.
[540] _Qisas_, 217.
[541] Guidi, _Sette Dormienti_.
[542] He merely mentions the legend of the Rabbi Joni as somewhat similar
to the story of the monk Felix. GRAF, I, 180, note 31.
[543] _Loc. cit._ 444.
[544] _De gloria martyrum_, ch. 95.
[545] Cf. TIXERONT, II, 199.
[546] GRAF, I, 241-260, _Il riposo dei dannati_.
[547] _Supra_, p. 185.
[548] GRAF, I, 250-251.
[549] See _Sudur_, 76 and 128.
[550] Cf. _Ihia_, IV, 352, and _Ithaf_, X, 366.
[551] Cf. _Tadhkira_, 35.
[552] _Supra_, pp. 181 and 209.
[553] _Sudur_, 97.
[554] _Sudur_, 110.
[555] GRAF, I, 251.
[556] _Sudur_, 111 and 116.
[557] _Sudur_, 111 and 112.
[558] GRAF, I, 255-257.