Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī. Volume I : Biography and background

256 Pages·1975·8.42 MB·English

by  E.M. Sartain

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Jalal aI-din al-Suyuti
VOLUME I
Biographyand background
E. M. S ART A IN
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Contents
Prefacevii Acknowledgementsix
PART I
A biographical study ofJaHil aI-din aI-SuyutI
Egypt under the rule of the Circassian Mamliiks
(1382-1517) 1
1. The structure ofthe Mamlukstate I
H. ThepositionofEgyptians underMamlUkrule 9
iiL An outline of the principal historical eventsin
Egypt from 1445 to 1517 I3
2 Thelife ofJaHiIaI-dinaI-Suyiiti 19
i. The Khu~ayrifamily from Assiut 19
n. Al-Suyiitfschildhood 24
Hi.Studies 26
iv. A1-Suyii~f andSiifism 33
v. Travelsand teaching 37
vi. Fameabroad 46
Vii. Academicdisputes 53
vili. Al-Suyiitl'scontroversialclaims 61
ix.Contemporary opinion ofa1-SuyiitI 72
x. Retirementfrom teachingandiftli' 80
xi.The dispute withSultanQaytbay 86
xii. The appointment ofaJ-SuyUtf as qaqf-in-chief 91
xiii. The Baybarsiyyah troubles 94
xiv. Disappointmentand seclusion 102
xv. Recognition afterdeath 109
xvi. Al-SuyuHasapersonandascholar 113
3 Academiclifeinal-Suyii!fs time 117
PART II
"AI-Tabadduth bini'mat allahH
,
JaIal al-dTn al-SuyutT's Autobiography
4 AutobiographicalwritinginclassicalArabic
literature 137
5 Description of the manuscripts used ineditingthe
textofal·Suyii~i'sautobiography 142
6 Explanatory noteson the textoftheauto-
biography 153
Bibliography 218
Explanatory indexofArabic words 229
Indexofsubjectsand propernames 234
Preface
This book is based on my dissertation "AI-Tahadduth bini'mat allah,
the autobiography of Jalalai-din al-SuyutI", which was approved for
the degree ofDoctor ofPhilosophy at the University ofCambridge in
t968. For publication, I have rewritten the dissertation, revising and
rearranging the material in it, and I have attempted to make it more
readable for those whoare not specialistsin Arabicstudies.
In volume two of the present work, I have edited al-Suyuti's
autobiography, al-Ta~taddlith bil1i'mat allah, from an incomplete
manuscript preserved in the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz,
Ttibingen, supplying some of the missing parts from manuscripts of
biographies of al·SuyUfi by two of his students, 'Abdal-Qadir
aI-Shadhilr and Shamsai-din al·Dawudi al-Mlilikf, both of whom rely
extensively on the autobiography and quote passagesfrom it. Asfar asI
kno\v, none ofthese manuscripts has been consultedbefore py anyone
whohaswritten on al-SuyutL
In volume one, I have used the material contained in the
autobiography and in the two biographies, as wellasinformation from
other works by al-Suyuti and from contemporary sources, such as
al-Sakhawi's al-J;>aw'al-lami', to write a study ofal-Suyu~l'slife. This
study is preceded by abriefoutline ofpoliticalandsocialconditionsin
Egypt in the late MamHik period, and is followed by a discussion of
education and academic life ina1-Suyu~i'stime,based onmaterial from
the above-mentioned sources. As this is primarily ahistorical and not
aliterary study, no attempt has been made to evaluate al·Suyiit!'s
works. The proper assessment ofal-Suyutfscontribution asa scholaris
a task which must be left to specialists in each ofthe fields in which
al-Suyutiworked.
The historical value of al.Suyiiti's autobiography should be
emphasized here. One of his principaI aims in this work was to make
known the history of his life, so that his successors might be in
vii
Preface
possession of the correct facts about him. Moreover, the accounts
which al-SuyutI gives of his studies provide important material on
education at that time, and the information about his subsequent
academic career, his teaching, his writing, and his disputes, throws
much light on the cultural scene in general. The lively descriptions of
al-Suyu!Ts disputes with other scholars, which are written in a very
conversational, almost colloqUial, style, are particularly valuable, and
such revealing personal statements as we find here are rare in Arabic
autobiographical writing, of which impersonality is one of the main
characteristics. Hitherto, perhaps insufficient use has beenmade ofthe
historical information contained in this and similar works,for instance
al-Sakhawl's al-l)aw' al-Iami', which also gives much information on
contemporary life, and provides an insight on the rivalries ofscholars.
Acknowledgements
I should like to express my gratitude to all those who have helped
me in the preparation ofthis work, especially Professor R.B.Serjeant,
DrJ.F.P.Hopkins, Fu'ii'd Sayyid and the staff in charge of the manu
scripts in the Egyptian National Library, Shaykh Abo '}-Wafli'of aI
Azhar Library, Rashad 'Abdal-Muttalib,Mu~taraH.iJiizI,andmyhusband
Dr HamdI al-SakkITt. I am also most grateful for the help of the
following libraries, firstly the StiftungPreussischerKulturbesitz, Depot
der Staatsbibliothek, TUbingen, which sent me microfilmsofal-SuyiltT's
autobiography and of al-DiiwudT's Tarjamat al-Suyu(f, and gave me
permission to use this material, and secondly both the Chester Beatty
Collection, Dublin, and the India Office Library, London, which lent
me manuscripts of al-ShlidhiIl'sIJahjat aI-'abidfn bitarjamatlaliilaI-dei!.
E.M.sartain
ix