Ibn Khallikan's Biographical Dictionary

begin by making the scholar read it over; then he learns it by heart from the edition of the text received in that country; and he is instructed, at the same time, in its peculiar orthography, the questions to which it gives rise, and the various readings remarked in the systems of those (ancient masters) by whom it was transmitted down. Till this first step be "surmounted, every thing else, such as Traditions, jurisprudence, poetry, and the idiom of the desert Arabs, is excluded. It therefore happens that a failure in this early stage of the pupil's progress puts an entire stop to his career.

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"Such is the mode of instruction followed in the cities of Maghrib and in some Berber towns where the example has been adopted; it applies equally "to to the scholar who has not attained the age of puberty, and to persons more "advanced in years who intend to recommence their studies; the result is, that the Maghribins are more intimately acquainted with the orthography of the Koran, and know it by heart much better than people of other "countries.

"In Spain they proceed otherwise; for, whilst they make it a rule to teach "the reading of the Koran and its orthography as actually used (because

they consider that book as the foundation of learning, the groundwork of "education, and the basis of religion and the sciences), they instruct their children at the same time in poetry, epistolary writing, the principles of 66 grammar, and the art of penmanship. The acquisition of this last accomplishment occupies scholars till the age of puberty, so that whilst youths obtain a knowledge of grammar and an acquaintance with the works of the poets, they become skilful penmen and persevere, nearly all, in the pursuit of learning. But learning subsists by transmission, and, as its trans"mission has been interrupted in the provinces of Spain, the students of that country can only acquire such portions of knowledge as are accessible from the first steps of their education. This is however sufficient for him. "whom God directs, and it gives him the means of reaching other branches of learning.

"In Ifrîkiya (the province of Tunis), they generally instruct their children in the Traditions whilst teaching them the Koran, to which they add the principles of the sciences and some of the questions which they involve;

"but, as their chief object is, to communicate a correct knowledge of the "text and various readings of that book, the art of penmanship is neglected.

In the East instruction is also of a mixed nature, but I do not know to what length it is carried; we have been told however that they pay more attention to the culture of penmanship and of the sciences than to the "study of the Koran.

The people of Ifrîkiya and Maghrib, by confining their application to the Koran, can never attain the faculty of mastering the language. The "reason of this we shall here explain: No peculiar faculty can be developed in the mind by the study of the Koran, because the declaration that it is impossible to produce anything equal to it prevents it from being taken as a model for imitation; so that the student, though he may acquire an ample share of spiritual merit, can neither obtain a good command of Arabic nor a facility of diction. The people of Ifrîkiya are perhaps more "advanced in this last respect than those of Maghrib, because, in studying "the Koran, they learn Traditions and scientific rules; they have therefore a certain command of language, but they do not attain elegance of expression.

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"The habit of teaching pupils, of repeating poems and epistles, and of "studying the rules of grammar is so general in Spain, that the natives of that

country have acquired a complete mastery of the Arabic tongue; but in the “other branches of knowledge their skill is inferior, because they have not paid sufficient attention to the Koran and the Traditions, which are the 'source and basis of the sciences. In grammar, however, and polite lite"rature they excel in a greater or less degree, accordingly as they have "devoted more or less time to these occupations on terminating the studies which engaged their youth.

The kâdi Abu Bakr Ibn al-Arabi (1) has laid down, in his Rihla, a highly curious and original plan of study. He proposes that youths should be first instructed in grammar and the works of the poets, conformably to the Spanish custom, for,' says he, 'language is enregistered in its poetry, and the corruption of the language renders it necessary that you should

(1) The life of Abu Bakr Ibn al-Arabi will be found in the third volume of this work.

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' commence by that and by grammar; you should then pass to arithmetic, and, having acquired an idea of its rules, you may proceed to the study of "the Koran, which, by means of these preparatory labours, will be found much easier than it generally is. You may then commence dogmatic theology (osul ad-din) and the fundamentals of jurisprudence (osûl al-fikh), after which you may proceed to dialectics (djedel), and from that to the "Traditions and the sciences connected with them.' He disapproves of "teaching two sciences simultaneously, unless the pupil be remarkably intelligent. Such are the counsels of the kâdi, and I acknowledge that the plan laid down by him is excellent; but settled custom, that influential "element in the human character, renders it inadmissible. In taking the "Koran for the basis of education, people are actuated by the desire of meriting the divine favour, as, by this means, they protect youth against its "own follies and preserve it from that levity of mind which not only ruins the knowledge already obtained or interrupts its acquisition, but would also prevent the young Moslim from learning the Koran. Indeed, whilst under the guardianship of his family, he may be retained in habitual submission, but, when the age of puberty delivers him from control, the storms of passion may soon cast him away on the coast of folly. They therefore "take advantage of the time during which he is under command, to teach him "the Koran, so that, at a later period, he may not be entirely ignorant of its contents. However, were it certain that the student would persevere in "the pursuit of knowledge and submit to receive instruction, the system "proposed by the kâdi would be the best which the people of the East and the West could adopt; but God ordains what he pleaseth, and no change can be effected in His decisions."

To proceed from this first step so well described by Ibn Khaldûn and follow the young Moslim in his path through the higher departments of study, we must have recourse to the biographical notices on their learned men. The life of Avicenna offers us a transitory glance at his early education, and therefore merits attention, but much fuller information will be obtained from the autobiography of Abd al-Latîf. In this work, he gives us a perfect outline of his own studies under some of the most distinguished masters of the epoch. Were this treatise less known, I should have felt it indispensable to insert an

extract from it here, but it has been rendered fully accessible by two editions, one in Arabic and Latin by Mousley, and the other in Arabic and French by de Sacy; the latter so admirably translated and commented that, were I to undertake a new version of it into English, I feel I should rest far-very far indeed beneath that illustrious orientalist, my deeply venerated master.

Another contribution to the same stock of documents is furnished by Ibn Khaldûn in his autobiography. He informs us that, having learned to read the Koran and got it off by heart, he read it again according to each of the seven readings or editions, and then combined these various readings in a final repetition of the text. During this occupation he went over the Koran twentyone times, and in a twenty-second repetition, he went over all the various readings. He finished by the lecture of the two editions, or systems of readings, taught by Yakûb (1). At this period, two other works occupied his attention: the Lâmiya, a poem of Ibn Firro as-Shâtibi, on the readings of the Koran, and the Râiya, another poem by the same author on the orthography of that book (2). He next studied the Takassi, a treatise composed by Ibn Abd alBarr on the Traditions cited in the Muwatta (4), and a great number of other works, such as the Tashil (5) of Ibn Mâlik and Ibn al-Hadjib's (6) abridgment of jurisprudence, but these last he did not get off by heart. During the same period he cultivated the art of grammar under the tuition of his father and of the first masters. He perused also the Six Poets (7), the Hamâsa, the poems of Abû Tammâm (8), part of al-Mutanabbi's (9) poetical works, and some of the pieces preserved in the Kitâb al-Aghani (10). Under Shams ed

(1) He means Yakub Ibn Ishak al-Hadrami, one of the great readers. His life is given by Ibn Khallikân. (2) See page 499 of this volume. By the Lamiya, Ibn Khaldûn means to designate Ibn Firro's Hirz alAmani.

(3) In a subsequent volume will be found the life of Ibn Abd el-Barr.

(4) See page 549, note (12), of this volume.

(5) This is a treatise on grammar by Ibn Mâlik, the author of the Alfiya, who died A. H. 672 (A.D. 1273-4). See M. de Sacy's Anthologie Grammaticale, pages 203, 215, and Fluegel's Hajji Khalifa, tom. II. page 290. (6) See page 193 of this volume.

(7) The six poets are Amro 'l-Kais, Nâbigha, Alkama, Zohaih, Tarafa, and Antara. See page x of my preface to the Diwan d'Amro 'l-Kais.

(8) See vol. I. page 348.

(9) See vol. I. page 102.

(10) See vol. II. page 249.

dîn al-Kisai, chief traditionist of Tunis, he perused Muslim's collection of Traditions and received a general licence (ijâza). In law he studied the abridgment of the Mudawwana (1) composed by Abû Said al-Baradâi, and the exposition of the doctrines held by the sect of Malik. He followed, besides, a general course of law and learned Mâlik's Muwatta; certificates were also obtained by him authorizing him to teach that book, the Sirat ar-Rasûl (2), the treatise of Ibn Salâh on the Traditions, and many other works. He obtained access to the library of Abd al-Muhaimin al-Hadrami, chief traditionist and grammarian of Morocco, who had accompanied to the city of Tunis Abû 'lHasan, the sovereign of that empire, in the quality of secretary of state. This collection of books consisted of more than three thousand volumes on the Traditions, law, grammar, philology, the intellectual sciences, general literature, and poetry; these manuscripts were all of the highest correctness and their authenticity was guaranteed by certificates annexed to them. Under another master he studied logic, dogmatic theology, jurisprudence, and all the intellectual and philosophical sciences. Whilst pursuing his studies, he followed the public lectures at Tunis, and attended the assemblies held by the first doctors and professors of the place. He finally devoted three years to study under a shaikh called Abû Abd Allah al-Abbali () and then", says he, "I felt that I knew something." Ibn Khaldûn terminated his studies in the twentieth or twenty-first year of his age (3).

(1) See vol. II. page 86.

(2) Vol. II. page 128.

(3) This notice was just terminated, when a large manuscript, containing the biography of the doctor and historian Ahmad Ibn Ali Ibn Hajar al-Askalâni, by the hâfiz Shams ad-din Muhammad as-Sakhåwi, fell into the writer's hands. A chapter of this work is devoted to the history of Ibn Hajar's youth, travels, studies, etc.; but it is drawn up in such a manner that to make an analysis of it would be a very difficult task. We find however that he began by learning the Koran by heart, and proceeded to the study of the Traditions and jurisprudence; following, in fact, the same system which has been already indicated in the introduction of our first volume.

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Ibn Khallikan's Biographical Dictionary, Volume 2