Ibn al-Muqaffa
In the late 1600’s, Iranian rule came to an end and what remained
were its cultural and political traditions. The heartland of Persian culture
was in the southwest of the Iranian plateau in Fars. Within Fars was the
significant city of Firuzabad, which was built by the early Sasanians around an
artificial hill, southwest of the first Sassanian capital of Istakhr. This is
where the story of Ibn al-Muqaffa potentially begins.
About the year 720, Rozbih was born into a high-class Persian
family. At this time, the first Muslim rulers had left Sasanian administrative
institutions somewhat intact, and Rozbih’s father, Dadoye, had found himself
employed as a tax administrator in the Umayyad state. Rozbih’s father was also
referred to as Mubarak, an Arabic name, although an unlikely name due to the
fact that he had no reason to convert to Islam in his place and time. As Dadoye
and Mubarak acted as unlikely and unfitting names for Rozbih’s father, he found
himself with the name Al-Muqaffa, which translates to ‘the shriveled-handed.’
He acquired this self-given name from apparent torturing he suffered from
superiors suspicious of corruption. This would spark the recognition of the
more widely known individual today, formerly Rozbih, Ibn al-Muqaffa, or “Son of
al-Muqaffa.”
Ibn al-Muqaffa was a translator and essayist who also acted as an
importer of Persian traditions to Islamic culture. He was present in a time
when “revolution was in the air” and Arabic was in its’ very early stages. Ibn Al-Muqaffa
had a mindset to influence the theory and practice of politics, so he spent his
days writing for those who held a higher status than him and held positions of
power. Among writing for those in power, he also held positions as counsellor,
confidant, and glimpses as cabinet secretary. Being born into Persian wealth
and high status, he possessed bureaucratic intelligence. Along with this birthed
knowledge, Ibn al-Muqaffa contained a tremendous ability in Arabic which he
acquired from the southern Iraqi city of Basra. Basra during this period
contained a huge focus for Arabic linguistics. As his father did, he also found
employment in the Umayyad state acquiring great wealth in southeast and
southwest Iran and gaining the reputation of spending it in a flamboyant
manner. Through written and spoken word, specifically orations and letters, was
how secretary’s business was conducted. To thrive as a secretary during this
time period, “one had to put compelling rhetoric in the service of one’s
patron” (Robinson 49). Additionally, to thrive as a secretary, one needed
toughness and composure, which Ibn al-Muqaffa had an excess of in a world of
frequently violent politics. Other characteristics he held were being known as
caustic and abrasive, which in the end led to his harsh demise.
Unlike his father who never grew further than local renown, Ibn
al-Muqaffa escalated to high status within the entire state. Beginning in
eastern Iran, The Abbasid Revolution, which took place in the years of 749-750,
put an end to Umayyad rule. Opportunities arose for those who sided with the
Abbasid ways and Ibn al-Muqaffa did so by finding himself at the side of a very
influential Abbasid individual named ‘Isa b. ‘Ali. Coincidentally, ‘Ali was the
uncle to the soon to be caliph al-Mansur. Speculations exist on whether his
conversion to Islam was influenced by ‘Isa b. ‘Ali and whether he had been
Zoroastrian or Manichaean. Although one story claims that Ibn al-Muqaffa’s “religion
before his conversion to Islam would have been Zoroastrian” (Kristó-Nagy 290). However,
having converted and through his own writings, it was discovered that he was
skeptical and embraced human reasoning.
His works consisted of three original compositions and seven
translations into Arabic from Middle Persian. None, with the exception of one,
in which can be dated to a specific point in his life. One of his most famous
original compositions was called the Greater
Adab. A written project addressed to the “man of ambition.” ‘Adab’ meaning
a distinctly Islamic variety of humanism. Throughout, the reader is “to follow
a life of truthfulness, frugality, industry, and self-examination” (Robinson
50). Al-Muqaffa was more focused on displaying through language rather than
demonstrating through argument. In another one of his works entitled Al-Adab al- Kabir (The Large [treatise]
on Good Conduct), he takes a practical approach rather than a religious or
ethical one, as one can observe with the following excerpt:
“In the matter of preserving
one’s physical wellbeing, the principle is not to burden the body with too much
food, drink, and sexual intercourse. If, after that, you are able to learn
about everything that is beneficial or harmful to the body, and how to make use
of this, then all the better.
In matters of courage, the
principle is not to tell yourself to retreat when your companions are advancing
on the enemy. If, after that, you are able to be the first to attack and the last
to run back, without forsaking due to caution, then all the better.”
-
Ibn al-Muqaffa in Al-Adab al- Kabir – from Classical Arabic Literature: A
Library of Arabic Literature Anthology
Ibn al-Muqaffa also had a collection of animal fables entitled Kalila wa-Dimna. Originally written in
Sanskrit, it stands as one of his most famous translations, for he translated
the work from Middle Persian to Arabic. Al-Tabari, a scholar from the ninth
century explains the significance of the translation, describing it as ‘Persian
advice literature.’ “Intended to edify rulers and rulers-to-be. The frame story
has a philosopher narrating to his king a tale that introduces two jackals
named Kalila and Dimna, who tell stories for the edification of their own king,
a lion” (Robinson 54).
These pieces of work however were not the ones which led to
al-Muqaffa’s demise. It was the composition titled Letter on [Caliphal] Companions where he specifically addressed to
the caliph, Al-Mansur. In this letter, Ibn al-Muqaffa discussed the idea of
moving the center of political gravity from Syria to Iraq. Among this, he
offended Al-Mansur and directed towards gaining an alliance with his uncle
(‘Isa b. ‘Ali) and others for an uprising against the caliph. Ibn al-Muqaffa
was executed by the harshest of means in 756. It is said that he died a very painful
death, by amputation, immolation, strangulation, or burial alive (or some
combination thereof).
It was with these works among his others that Ibn al-Muqaffa
solidified his name in history. He was able to draw from his experiences and
gathered knowledge of the Persian tradition in which he translated and
interpreted for an Arabic audience. It was Ibn al-Muqaffa who deserves the
credit for these translations, because if they hadn’t been, there would have
been countless lost episodes, texts, aphorisms, and apothegms of Sasanian
history.
It is individuals such as Ibn al-Muqaffa in which we should
greatly appreciate their individual work. The importance of translators not
only in this point in time but throughout history is crucial. Without
translations, specific information and knowledge could potentially not be a
part of cultures who fail to decipher the information. The era of Islamic
culture is an undeniably beautiful piece of history in which the greatest
scholars thrived in gaining knowledge and spreading it throughout the rest of
the known world. These scholars dedicated their entire lives on earth,
indulging themselves with the wonders and thoughts that occupied their strong minds
throughout their lifetimes. Translating works of other languages is crucial to
mankind. For example, Abu Bakr al-Razi, a free-thinking physician famous for
his major contributions to the medical world, could easily not have been the
significant figure he was without translations. Not necessarily from al-Muqaffa’s
translations specifically, but other translations that gave al-Razi the
information he needed to educate himself and provided the foundation for him to
succeed as much as he did. Living as an aid for human illnesses, his work was
able save lives in cultures who spoke other languages. Medical knowledge is
just one of the important topics in which translating made a huge impact on,
let alone translating itself having a huge impact also. In conclusion, Ibn-al
Muqaffa was a part of a community that paved the way for knowledge to be spread
across all of humanity; the community of translators. A community that
contributed to help educate millions of scholars across the world, even those
who came later in the era of Islamic culture.
Work Cited
Gelder, Geert Jan van. Classical Arabic Literature: A Library of
Arabic Literature Anthology. N.p.:
Library of Arabic Literature, 2012. Print.
Kristó-Nagy, István T. "Reason, Religion, and Power in Ibn
al-Muqaffa'" Acta Orientalia
Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 62.3 (2009): 285-301. Web. 19 May 2017.
Robinson, Chase F. Islamic Civilization in Thirty Lives.
N.p.: n.p., 2016. Print.
Writer, Joseph A. Kechichian Senior. "Abdullah Ibn Al Muqaffa: Words
of Wisdom for the
Kings." GulfNews. Gulfnews, 17 Oct. 2013. Web. 18 May 2017.
No comments:
Post a Comment