Medieval Muslim Mirrors for Princes: An Anthology of Arabic, Persian and Turkish Political Advice

397 Pages·2023·3.894 MB·English

by  Louise Marlow

Medieval Muslim Mirrors for Princes
The‘mirrorforprinces’genreofliteratureoffersadvicetoaruler,orruler-
to-be,concerningtheexerciseofroyalpowerandthewell-beingofthebody
politic.Thisanthologypresentsselectionsfromthe‘mirrorliterature’pro-
duced in the Islamic Early Middle Period (roughly the tenth to twelfth
centuries CE), newly translated from the original Arabic and Persian, as
wellasapreviouslytranslatedTurkishexample.Inthesetexts,authorsadvise
onahostofpoliticalissueswhichremaincompellingtoourcontemporary
world:politicallegitimacyandtheruler’sresponsibilities,thelimitsofthe
ruler’spowerandthelimitsofthesubjects’dutyofobedience,themainten-
ance of social stability, causes of unrest, licit and illicit uses of force, the
functionsofgovernmentalofficesandthestatusandrightsofdiversesocial
groups.MedievalMuslimMirrorsforPrincesisauniqueintroductiontothis
importantbodyofliterature,showinghowthesetextsreflectandrespondto
thecircumstancesandconditionsoftheirera,andofours.
louisemarlowisProfessorofReligionatWellesleyCollege.Sheisthe
author of Counsel for Kings: Wisdom and Politics in Tenth-Century Iran
(2016)andHierarchyandEgalitarianisminIslamicThought(1997).Sheis
the editor of The Rhetoric of Biography: Narrating Lives in Persianate
Societies (2011), Dreaming across Boundaries: The Interpretation of Dreams
inIslamicLands(2008)and,withBeatriceGruendler,WritersandRulers:
PerspectivesonTheirRelationshipsfromAbbasidtoSafavidTimes(2004).
Published online by Cambridge University Press
CAMBRIDGE TEXTS IN THE
HISTORY OF POLITICAL THOUGHT
Generaleditor
QUENTIN SKINNER
Queen Mary University of London
Editorialboard
MICHAEL COOK
Princeton University
HANNAH DAWSON
King’s College London
ADOM GETACHEW
University of Chicago
EMMA HUNTER
University of Edinburgh
GABRIEL PAQUETTE
University of Oregon
ANDREW SARTORI
New York University
HILDE DE WEERDT
Leiden University
CambridgeTextsintheHistoryofPoliticalThoughtisfirmlyestablishedas
themajorstudentseriesoftextsinpoliticaltheory.Itaimstomakeavailable
allthemostimportanttextsinthehistoryofpoliticalthought,fromancient
Greecetothetwentiethcentury,fromthroughouttheworldandfromevery
politicaltradition.Allthefamiliarclassictextsareincluded,buttheseries
seeks at the same time to enlarge the conventional canon through aglobal
scope and by incorporating an extensive range of less well-known works,
many of them never before available in a modern English edition, and to
presentthehistoryofpoliticalthoughtinacomparative,internationalcon-
text. Where possible, the texts are published in complete and unabridged
form,andtranslationsarespeciallycommissionedfortheseries.However,
where appropriate, especially for non-western texts, abridged or tightly
focusedandthematiccollectionsareofferedinstead.Eachvolumecontains
a critical introduction together with chronologies, biographical sketches, a
guidetofurtherreadingandanynecessaryglossariesandtextualapparatus.
Overall,theseriesaimstoprovidethereaderwithanoutlineoftheentire
evolutionofinternationalpoliticalthought.
Foralistoftitlespublishedintheseries,pleaseseeendofbook
Published online by Cambridge University Press
Medieval
Muslim Mirrors
for Princes
An Anthology of Arabic, Persian
and Turkish Political Advice
LOUISE MARLOW
WellesleyCollege
Published online by Cambridge University Press
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www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108425650
doi:10.1017/9781108348645
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Sylvia and Christopher
in loving memory
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Contents
ListofFiguresandMaps pagexi
PrefaceandAcknowledgements xiii
Conventions xv
ListofAbbreviations xvii
1
PART I INTRODUCTION
1 The Arabic, Persian and Turkish Mirror Literatures 3
1.1 Development 6
1.2 TheEarlyorFormativePeriod(EighthandNinth
Centuries) 7
1.3 TheEarlyMiddlePeriod(TenthtoTwelfthCenturies) 10
1.4 TheLaterMiddlePeriod(ThirteenthtoFifteenth
Centuries) 12
1.5 TheEarlyModernPeriod(SixteenthandEarly
SeventeenthCenturies) 16
1.6 Reception 18
2 Contexts 24
2.1 TheEarlyMiddlePeriod 25
2.2 ThePolitiesoftheTenthandEleventhCenturies 33
3 Texts and Authors 47
3.1 Pseudo-Aristotle,Kitābal-Siyāsafı̄tadbı̄ral-riyāsa
(Sirral-asrār)(Arabic) 47
3.2 Pseudo-Māwardı̄,Nası̄hatal-mulūk(Arabic) 51
˙˙
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Contents
3.3 Al-Thaʿālibı̄,Ādābal-mulūk(Arabic) 54
3.4 YūsufKhāssHājib,Kutadgubilig(KarakhanidTurkish) 56
˙˙ ˙
3.5 Kaykāʾūsb.Iskandar,Qābūsnāmeh(Andarznāmeh)
(Persian) 59
3.6 Al-Māwardı̄,Tashı̄lal-nazarwa-taʿjı̄lal-zafarfı̄ akhlāq
˙ ˙
al-malikwa-siyāsatal-mulk(Arabic) 61
3.7 Nizāmal-Mulk,Siyaral-mulūk(Persian) 63
˙
3.8 Ghazālı̄,Pseudo-Ghazālı̄,Nası̄hatal-mulūk(Persian) 66
˙˙
3.9 Al-Turtūshı̄,Sirājal-mulūk(Arabic) 70
˙ ˙
4 Editions and Translations 76
4.1 Pseudo-Aristotle,Kitābal-Siyāsafı̄tadbı̄ral-riyāsa
(Sirral-asrār)(Text9) 77
4.2 Pseudo-Māwardı̄,Nası̄hatal-mulūk(Text1) 77
˙˙
4.3 Al-Thaʿālibı̄,Ādābal-mulūk(Texts2and16) 78
4.4 YūsufKhāssHājib,Kutadgubilig(Text6) 78
˙˙ ˙
4.5 ʿUnsural-Maʿālı̄ Kaykāʾūsb.Iskandar,Qābūsnāmeh
˙
(Text8) 78
4.6 Al-Māwardı̄,Tashı̄lal-nazarwa-taʿjı̄lal-zafarfı̄ akhlāq
˙ ˙
al-malikwa-siyāsatal-mulk(Texts3,7,10and13) 79
4.7 Nizāmal-Mulk,Siyaral-mulūk(Texts11,14and17) 79
˙
4.8 Al-Ghazālı̄,Nası̄hatal-mulūk(Text4) 80
˙˙
4.9 Al-Turtūshı̄,Sirājal-mulūk(Texts5,12,15and18) 81
˙ ˙
83
PART II TEXTS
5 The Nature of Sovereignty 85
Text1 Pseudo-Māwardı̄,Nası̄hatal-mulūk.ChapterTwo:
˙˙
OnthePrivilegesofKingsintheMagnificence
ofTheirStations;andtheHabitsThatTheyAre
ObligedtoAdoptinTheirCultivationofVirtue
andAvoidanceofVice 86
Text2 Al-Thaʿālibı̄,Ādābal-mulūk.ChapterOne:
InExplicationoftheExaltedStatusofKings;
thePeople’sInescapableNeedforKings,
andTheirDutytoObey,ExaltandGlorifyThem 109
Text3 Al-Māwardı̄,Tashı̄lal-nazarwa-taʿjı̄lal-zafar.
˙ ˙
OpeningtoPartII 130
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Contents
Text4 Ghazālı̄,Pseudo-Ghazālı̄,Nası̄hatal-mulūk.PartII,
˙˙
ChapterOne:OntheJustice,Governance
andConductofKings 136
Text5 Al-Turtūshı̄,Sirājal-mulūk.ChapterNine:
˙ ˙
ExplicationofthePositionoftheRuler(Sultān)
˙
inRelationtotheSubjects 139
6 The King’s Person and Character 143
Text6 YūsufKhāssHājib,Kutadgubilig.TheQualifications
˙˙ ˙
ofaPrince 144
Text7 Al-Māwardı̄,Tashı̄lal-nazarwa-taʿjı̄lal-zafar.
˙ ˙
PartI,ChapterOne 155
Text8 Kaykāʾūsb.Iskandar,Qābūsnāmeh.Chapter
Twenty-Eight:OnMakingFriends;Chapter
Twenty-Nine:RegardingEnemies 167
7 Foundations of Royal Authority and Principles of
Governance 180
Text9 Pseudo-Aristotle,Sirral-asrār.ThirdDiscourse:
OntheFormofJustice 181
Text10 Al-Māwardı̄,Tashı̄lal-nazarwa-taʿjı̄lal-zafar.
˙ ˙
PartII,Section 186
Text11 Nizāmal-Mulk,Siyaral-mulūk.ChapterThree:
˙
OntheKing’sSittingfortheRedressof
GrievancesandthePracticeofFineConduct 190
Text12 Al-Turtūshı̄,Sirājal-mulūk.ChapterEleven:On
˙ ˙
KnowingtheQualitiesThatConstitutethePillars
oftheRuler’sPower,withoutWhichItHasNo
Stability 203
8 The Practice of Good Governance 216
Text13 Al-Māwardı̄,Tashı̄lal-nazarwa-taʿjı̄lal-zafar.
˙ ˙
PartII,Section 217
Text14 Nizāmal-Mulk,Siyaral-mulūk.ChapterFour:
˙
OntheConditionsandtheContinualMonitoring
ofTax-CollectorsandViziers 234
Text15 Al-Turtūshı̄,Sirājal-mulūk.ChapterTwenty-
˙ ˙
Seven:OnConsultationandCounsel 247
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