BOOK REVIEWS - Islamic manuscripts

BOOK REVIEWS

C-aíalogueof Arabic ManuscripÍs in SS Cyril snd Metho_ The,manuscriptsrepresenta wide scopeof Islamic sci_
dius Naíionul Library, Sojla, Balgaria. I.Iadïth Sciences, enceand literature.Theseare the copiesóf the
Compiled-by Stoyanka Kenderova.London: al_Furqán works on_exegesish,adtth, theology, law, and eur'an and
Islamic Heritage Foundation, lgg5, 4Sgpp., with g pÈilosophy,
Plates.
works-onhistory,geography,literaiureand language,etc.
Many scholarscontributedto the compiling oithe gen_
eral catalogueof the Islamic manuscriptj of SS Cyrit-and
Since last five years Al-Furqán Islamic HeritageFounda_ MethodiusNational Library in Sofia. A Bulgarian scholar
tion proved to have been one of the most effeótivestruc_ Boris Nedkov devotedabout twenty yearsof-his life (from
turesin the world doing a lot to supportcataloguing,resto_ 1942to 1960)to the describingof 45'0Turkish manuscriots
ration, researchand publication ói Islamic manuscripts. representing350 works (unfortunately,his catalogueha,
vOonluemcean"WmoernldtioSnutrhveeysuocf cIesslasmoficthMeapnuubslcicriapttiso,n'(tohfe remainedunpublished).It shouldbe notedthat amongthose
four_ who participatedin the work on the collection was a Rus_
final sian scholarA. Shishmanov,a pupil of the famous arabist
vgfgmeof English edition appearedin l994,the Arabic one I. Yu. Krachkovsky.In l9l3 he described37 Arabic and
will be published in 1996). Following this project the one Persianmanuscriptof the pazvantollu library collec_
Foundation has initiated a program to lring to iigtrt ttre tion.
contents of so far uncataloguedcollections of islamic
manuscripts.Al-Furqán has alreadypublishedhandlistsof 'Adnán Darwïsh from Syria,after his six months,work
the Library of Makkah al-Mukarramàhana severalprivate in the Sofia National Library in 1963, published a two_
librariesin Yemen. The Foundationsupportingactivitiesin ovonldu-meicnat1a9lo7g4u) ceo(tnhteaifnirisntgv1o,l0u2m5ceoidnic1e9s6(e9uarn,àdnt,hetasfseícr,_
this f,reldwere a successin Mali, Mauriiània,Niger, Nigeria works on geography and literature). Furát Muhammad
and Senegalor arenearto be successfullytermiriatóaU| tne Mahdi al-Jawáhiri from lraq made, between 1965 and
publication of the cataloguesand handÍistsof severaíim_ 1967, about 1,830 short card descriptions of nearly
portantpublic and private collections.The expansionof the 900 codices.Another specialistfrom Iraq, y[suf ,lzz aí_
handlisting work with the financial support of the Founda_ Din, publishedin 1967a catalogueof Arábic manuscripts,
tlol is expectedto take place in gènln, Chad, Guinea, which includes 141codiceson history, geographyand^lit_
Guinea-RissauI,vory Coast,Sudan,Togo, the Republic oi erature.The catalogueof Arabic manuscriótswith a de_
South Africa, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Aibania, and paki_ scription of 95 copies of the eur'án was compiled and
L:ti3th1u. aTnl"ia publishedby a BulgarianscholarG. petkova_Boziranovain
full- cataloguesof the collectionsin Byelorussia, 1977.A little earlier,in 1973,the catalogueof the persian
and Tatarstanare being preparednow as well. manuscriptsof the collection was prepàred by Jamshid
Sayyár, who described I l8 munurcript, representing
The work underreview hasalso beendonewithin this im_ 75 works.
portant project.

The collection of the Islamic manuscripts (Arabic,
Persianand Turkish) of the Oriental Departmentof the SS
Cyril and MethodiusNational Library ln Sofiawas formed
s99n aft31th_eLibrary's foundation in lgTg with the acqui_ t.he Hoy9v9r, many years had passedtill the catalogueof
sition of 2,485 manuscriptsand old printed books from the Arabic Manuscriptson hadíth scienceswas published.
Its author,a curatorof the lslamic collectionof ttrà SS Cyrlt
Library of Mehmed Hiisrev pashain Samokov.In lggg the and MethodiusNational Library Dr. S.Kenderova,is well
collection was enrichedwith another650 manuscriptsand
old printed books from the Library of Osman pazvàntoflu known to specialistsfor her contribution to the studiesof
the Ottoman (Turkish) archival documentarymaterialsof
oq_f u.Virieddinin. A significant part of manuscriptshas been ac_ the sameLibrary. In the Catalogueunder ."ui.* sheis me_
the following years from the waqlf hbraries in ticulously following the traditionalpracticeof describingof
Ktistendil and Sofia, from the state and munlcipal institu_
tions of many towns,aswell asfrom privatecollections. Arabic manuscripts.

At the end of 1993the total numberof Orientalmanu_ 1_^24TwhoerkCsawtahliocghueacroempprreisseesr2v4e3d,deeitshcerripctoiomnpsrleepierleysoerntiiing
scriptswas 3,698. The most numerousis the collectionof fragments,in the Library. The material is divided into four
LTrhuebrT: umrkainshusccorilpletsc,twiohnicihnncluumdebserasbmoourte5th0a0nm3,a0n0u0sicterimptss., parts: 1) Usul al-Hadíth; 2)Al-Sihqh at_Sittah (The Six
while the Persian GreatestCollections);3) Other coliections;4) Arba,un
about 140. Hadíthan (Forty Hadíths)Collections.The authoi describes

BOOK REVIEIYS 65

each item in the utmost detailed way. Her standardpattern The book is notableby its high level of production.It is
includeselementsproviding the exhaustiveinformation on
an item, which is arrangedin five basic units: also supplementedwith 15 colour and 4 black-and-white

I. Presentationof the work, the author and the particu- Plates.
lar manuscript as a copy of the work (including obligatory
information about the work/copy and author/copyist, short Dr. StoyankaKenderova(who preparedher PhD thesis
descriptionof the work, copy, its incipit and excipit);
in the St. PetersburgBranch of the Institute of Oriental
II. Physical descriptionof the manuscript(number of
folios/pagest,ext size,text frames); Studiesunder the guidanceof Prof. Oleg Bolshakov) may

Ill.Palaeographic and codicological characteristics be praisedfor the depthand rangeof her scholarshipwhich
(information on paper and watermarks,ink, script, marginal
and interlinearnotes, decorations,binding, vocalisationof enabledher to producean excellentwork. We are glad to
the text, etc.);
note that the Catalogueunder review maintains the high
lV. Provenanceand previousownershipof the copy, its
history (entries,marginal notes,seal impressionsp, urchase standardofthe seriesofrvorks sponsoredand publishedby
and ownership recordings, waqf dedications are men-
tioned); al-Furqán.

V. References. We are alsoglad to point out the growing activitiesof

The Catalogueis roundedoff with twelve indices.They our colleaguesfrom SS Cyril and Methodius National Li-
includethe following:
brary in Sofiain presentingtheir collections'treasureIst.is
L Index of titles (in Latin script).
2. Index of titles (in Arabic script). known that they have recently arrangedthe exhibition of
3. Index of authors,compilersand commentators.
4. lndexofcopyists. tehnetiQtleudr'"áTnhsefrHomolythQe collection (the exhibition catalogue
5. lndex of former owners. ur'án Through Centuries" was also
6. Index of waqlfdedícators.
7. Index of otherpersonsmentionedin manuscripts. sponsoredby Al-Furqán). The publication of two CD-
8. Index ofgeographicalnames.
9. Index of waqf libraries. ROMs, one containing a richly decorated 13thcentury
10.Concordance between the call numbers of the
manuscriptsandtheir descriptionnumbers. Qur'àn and the other - many hundreds of images of
I 1.Tableofdatesofcopying. Greek,Bulgarian, Serbian,Vy'alachianand Moldavian Tet-
12.Indexof incioits.
raevangelia,as well as the l2th-l7th centuriesQur'áns,

shouldbe mentioned,too.

Finally, we cannotbut sharethe expectationsand hopes

of SheikhAhmad ZaklYamánl, the Chairmanof the Board

of Directors,the InternationalAdvisory Council and the

Board of Experts of Al-Furqán Islamic HeritageFounda-

tion, who, in the prefaceto Dr. S. Kenderova'sCatalogue,

notedthat all the works to be publishedin this serieswould

promote a greater awarenessof the collections they de-

scribeandwould be a greatsteptowardsthe more profound

studyof this pricelessmanuscriptheritage.

F. Abdullaeva andE. Rezvun

Manuscripts from the Himalayas und the Indian Subcon- derstandthe achievementsof Oriental culture accumulated
tinent. Catalogue 17. Sam Fogg Rare Books. Catalogue andreflectedin the manuscripts.
by Sam Fogg and Bob Miller. Photography by Matt Pia.
The Catalogueis definitely helpful to the solution of
Typesetting, Page Artwork and Printing by Titus Wil- theseproblems.Its makers- SamFogg and Bob Miller -
son and.Son,Kendal, Cumbria. London: 1996,161pp. publisheda detaileddescriptionof manuscriptsoriginating
from Tibet,NepalandIndia,which may be of someinterest
The publication under review is a special type of a cata-
logue of Oriental manuscriptswhich cameto Europe in the to specialists.
last few yearsthrough private collectors.As a rule, people
travelling in the Eastenjoy buying variousrarities,Oriental 179 items are presentedin the Catalogue,of these 177
manuscripts among them, from local traders. The attention are manuscripts,block-printed books, religious paintings
of non-specialistsis attracted first of all by illuminated "oPnrapyaepreWr ahnedetl"eaxntidleNso, m. 4inl ia"Bfuurdeds,heistct.inTswcoribiteedmbrsaQss.lvoa.s1e3,
manuscripts.Illustrations - drawings, schemes,minia- recordof a religiousdonation") are objectsof materialcul-
tures,arethe only thing which allows this kind of collectors ture. All descriptionsare made by professionals.The most
to estimate the contents of what they are buying. In our prominent expertsfrom Europe and India were invited to
days, when Eastern medicine, philosophy and especially describeand classifumanuscriptsand objectsof art, among
astrology and magic became more popular than the them Dr. Lore Sanderfrom Berlin, a famouspalaeographer,
achievementsof Westernscience,collectors'interestin the one of the authors of the six-volume Catalogue of Sanskrit
subjects enumerated above became even stronger. To Manuscripts from East Turkestan; Prof. Nicholas Sims-
evaluate from the scientific point of view the manuscripts Williams from London, expert in medieval manuscripts
which come to the European market and to provide the from Iran, Afghanistanand CentralAsia, as well as in the
collectorswith right recommendationsis a very important Middle Iranian languagesand scripts; Dr. Ulrich Pagel
task. Suchrecommendationsnot only allow to estimatethe working on the description of Tibetan manuscripts and xy-
real value of many private collections,they help alsoto un- lographsof the British Library; Dr. Jane Singer, specialist
in Sino-Tibetaniconography;Dr. Ian Alsop, expert in the

66 fionuscripto ()cientolio, vol.2 No.2 JLINlE9e6

Nepalesemanuscripttradition and iconography,and several Aívaídstra ("4 Treatise on the Nature and Illnesses of
Horses"). The text is illustratedwith 49 fine miniatures.
other scholars.Due to their participationin the making of They use deep colours with solid contrastingground col-
ours,with detailsaddedin black ink.
the Catalogueevery manuscriptis provided with a strict
No. 40: a manuscripton palm-leaf,datedby the authors
scientific descriptionof its contents,stateof preservation, of the Cataloguesback to the I lth century ("early Bhujiry-
mol calligraphy"). It contains the complete text of the
writing material, script, languageand dating. Besidesthis "Praise of the Great Goddess", the Devímahatmya". It is
almostthe earliestcopy of the compositionvery popular all
factual data the descriptions include vast excursions into over India,which gaveriseto thehuge literature.

history and culture, which help to imagine the manuscripts As for the Muslim manuscriptsof the Catalogue,it
should be noted that the seriesof the Muslim art exhibi-
within the general cultural context of the period and the tions, which have recently taken place in Geneva,Paris,
New York, Berlin, Lugano, Sofia, and Salzburgand were
regionto which they belong. dedicated,wholly or partly, to the Muslim calligraphy and
miniature art, demonstratethe growing interest towards the
The descriptionsof the manuscriptsare arrangedby art heritageof the Muslim civilisation. This interestcon-
tributesconsiderablyto the rise ofprices to the correspond-
regions. Within this regional division the manuscriptsare ing stringsof the leadingauctionhouses.

describedin the chronologicalorder. Sanskritmanuscripts The part of the Catalogue,which presentsthe Mughal
style and many manuscripts from India (Nos. 163-179)
are also classifiedby their subjectsand genres.A special written in Persian,is of a specialinterest.In this connection
we would like to draw readersa' ttentionto a miniaturefrom
place belongsto fragmentswritten in a specialkind of In- the well-known mid-l5th century dispersedmanuscript of
the Khqmsq by Amir Khusraw Dihlawi (other folios can be
dian Bráhmi. They most probably originate from the region found in the museumsof London, Vy'ashingtonM, ontreal,
Los Angeles,Seattle,KansasCity, Worcester,and in some
of Banyan or Gilgit where they were immured in a stupaor private collections) and to a miniature from the
l6th century Babur-ndmamanuscript(from the collection
in some other Buddhist monument.They can be datedbe- of H. Kevorkian).Among most interestingmanuscriptsone
canmention the lTth century copy of Zakariya al-Qazwrni's
tween the lst and 7th centuries.Among other Sanskrit Aja'ib al-Makhlukat from Deccan, which contains 302 mi-
niatures and an interesting world map. The lTth century
manuscriptswe find traditionalancientandmedievalIndian Tashrïh Mansurï ("Anatomy of Mang[r") is also notable.
texts - fragments of the Vedas and comments on them, Threedrawingsof it hasrecentlybeenpublishedin colour
in a very interestingand helpful "Oriental Medicine. An
epic,puraryas,Buddhist sutras, tqntras, treatiseson Yoga, lllustrated Guide to the Asian Arts of Healing", edited
by J.Van Alphen and A. Aris (London, 1995). The Cata-
fragments from the Jaina and Sikh literary tradition. Books logue comprises a description of two other interesting
in New Indian languages- Hindi, Urdu, Panjabi, Orya, manuscripts:a) richly decorated poetic miscellany with
Telugu, Tamil, Cannada,Malayalam,Singalese- are also twelve miniatures by Indian artists (nine lTth century
miniaturesexecutedin the IndianisedIsfahánstyle, as well
present. as the early l9th century Qájár calligraphy and illumina-
tion); b) a very large luxurious Kashmir Qur'án datedby
Finally, the Catalogueunder review includes Islamic 1864and providedwith a beautiful lacquerbinding (one of
the largestso far known) and with a tafsïr by Mullá Husayn
manuscripts in Persian and Arabic: 11 in Persian Wà'iz al-Káshifi. The Qur'án also containsmarginal notes
giving information on a number of verses,words and letters
(Nos.163-165, 767, 168, 170-175) and two in Arabic in eachSira, accordingto five qira'at (l).

( N o s .1 6 9 ,1 7 6 ) . It shouldbe noted that many manuscriptcollectionsof
India, Afghanistan and Iran are rather poorly described,and
Estimating the lists of manuscriptsfrom the point of their treasuresare but vaguely known to scholars.Some
small collectionsin provincial centresand villages, which
view of their contents,it shouldbe mentionedthat they rep- are storedin templesand shrines,have never been sfudied
at all. In this sensethe Catalogueunder review will defi-
resentwell-known works of the ancientand medieval In- nitely servean additionalsourceof our knowledge on such
an extensive field as Oriental manuscripts.Due to the
dian and Tibetan literatures.At the sametime every manu- Cataloguea lot of interestingand rare copies,which came
to Europe during the last few years,are brought to light.
script should be consideredas a unique phenomenonof
Finally, it shouldbe addedthat the polygraphquality of
culture.Among the manuscriptsdescribedin the Catalogue the Catalogueis excellent.

some are exclusively interestingeither fiom the point of M. Vorobyeva-DesyatovskayaandE. Rezvun

view of their palaeographyand early dating, or as samples

of illuminated book-art. Theseare:

No. l: a Dunhuang copy of the Tibetan Aparimitayur-

sutra of the mid-8th century. Similar copiesare presentin

the libraries of England, Franceand Russia,all with colo-

phons containingthe namesof thosewho were involved in

the making of manuscripts.Thesenames,togetherwith the

names mentioned in the 8th-9th centuries businessdocu-

ments,expandour knowledge of the prosopographyof the

region and of its ethnic history (see our review of the

book by L. S. Savitsky in Manuscripta Orientalia, l, 2

( 1 9 9 s p) ,. 6 2 ) .

No. 16: a Nepalesemanuscripton p"Paproecre(tdhuere1to5tAh po-r
early l6th century) containsthe text of

peaseThose Who Seize" (Skr. Badhagraha4a),with 14

miniatures, depicting a graha leaning over and attacking a
patientin a sleeping-bagor quilt. Thesedemonsare closely

connectedwith deitiesof the planetsand constellationsin-
juring the people.

No. l7: a manuscripton palm-leaf,datedfrom the l6th

century. Sanskrit in Newárr script. It contains the devo-

tional miscellanyincludingÍhe Devïmahatmya.MS is inter-

esting becauseof its 32 coloured miniatures depicting a

number ofdeities and goddessesand becauseoftheir floral

ornament.

No.26: a manuscript on paper, dated from the l8th

century, the Sanskrit and Newári languages.It containsthe

BOOK REVIEWS 67

A. H. Aleeva. Puteslrestvie Ismuil aga v Indiiu (Issledo- by G. Sablukov),some unknown copy, now missing, was
vanie iazyko taturskikh putevykh zapisok XVIII v, "Ismsil used. One more (incomplete)publication,which also ap-
aga seyahetnamese").Kazan: 1993, 166 str. pearedin 1862,was made by Russianorientalist I. N. Be-
rezin who basedupon two copies.Then followed other edi-
The Voyage of Ismá'rl Aghà to India. A Study of the tions.The lastone(beforethe publicationby A. H. Aleeva)
Language of the l8th Century Tatar Traveller's Rec- was undertakenin 1989 by the sameauthor as an edition
ords.IsmiÍ'íl Aghíi siyahat-ndmssí Kazan:1993, 166pp. for lay readers,made after the version of the text from the
Manuscript Departmentof the Library of the Kazan Uni-
The publication by A. H. Aleeva includesa facsimile re- versity(No. 3l l).
production of the Arabographictext of the recordswritten
by Ismá'il Bikmuhamedov,a Tatar merchantfrom Oren- The presentpublication is basingupon nine surviving
burg, its translation into Russian and its study from the manuscriptsof the records.Four of them belong to the Li-
point of view of its languageand as a culturalphenomenon. brary of the Kazan University. two are from the Manuscript
This work representsa descriptionof a voyageto India un- Departmentof the St. PetersburgBranch of the Institute of
dertaken by the author in the second half of the Oriental Studies,one - from the Manuscript Department
l8thcentury. It is written in prose and it belongsto the of the lnstitute of Language and Literature named after
popular in the Islamic genre of siyahat-nànra.The most G. Ibragimov, of the Academy of Sciencesof Tatarstan,
noteworthy is that Ismá'rl Aghá travelled to India as a one is preservedin the ManuscriptDepartmentof the Insti-
member of a caravanspecially commissionedby the Rus- tute of Languageand Literature of the Academy of Sci-
sian government. encesofBashkortostan,and one originatesfrom the private
collectionof M. L Ahmetzyanov,a member of the staff of
Unfortunately,the autographof the recordsis missing. the Institute of Language and Literature named after
Its popularity is, however, confirmed by the existenceof G. Ibragimov. This last copy was discoveredby its present
numerous copies. It stands very close to Muhammad owner in the courseof his archaeographicresearchin the
Amrn's Siydhat-namct,a TaÍar writing created in the last city of Kazan.The earliestcopy, that of the Library of the
quarter of the 18th century. Both works, which attracted KazanUniversity(No. 3l l), hasbeenselectedby Aleevato
scholars' attention as early as the 19th century, were first servethe core ofher publication.
published by the typography of the Kazan University
in 1862. The textologicalanalysisundertakenby Aleeva shows
that considerablechangeswere often made while copying
A. H. Aleeva emphasisesthe active part of the Tatars the text. The collationof the copiesdemonstratesnumerous
as intermediariesbetweenRussiaand the countriesof the discrepanciesrelated both to the lexicon and grammar.
East. Many dragomans and interpreters of the Moscow Aleeva presentsthe analysisof the phonetic systemof the
Chamber who draw documents in the Turkish language Tatarlanguage,as it is transmiftedby the Arabic script,and
were the Tatars.A whole group of them servedin the Em- of the morphologicalcharacteristicsof the work. Its gram-
bassyDepartmentin Moscow in the lTth-l8th centuries. matical structure,accordingto Aleeva, revealsfeaturesin-
After the foundationof Orenburgin the 1730sthe centreof herent in the Kypchak and the Oghuz linguistic groups,
internationaltrade betweenRussia and the East gradually with Kypchak elementspredominating.
shifted from Astrakhan to Orenburg. The Tatars from the
Kargalinesloboda (district near Orenburg)began,besides Much attentionis given to the lexicon of the composi-
their main occupationas traders,to serveas interpretersfor tion, its major part beingthe Turkic-Tatarwords.Thereare,
trade caravansgoing with them as far as India. Gradually however, also many Arabic and Persian loan-words
the Tatarsfrom Kazan also becameinvolved in theseac- (27%- Arabic, ll% - Persian).It is noteworthythat
tivities. thereare only threecasesof Russianloan-words.Theseare
words for "sergeant","soldier", and "anchor". At that time,
In the "Travels" by Ismá'rl Aghá he describeshis voy- as Aleeva comments,Russianloan-wordscould be found
age to India in l75l with the trade caravanof 'Abdullá only in official documentsor in letters.Their almost com-
Khayalin. It is evident from the text that the initial aim of plete absencein the text of the recordsmarks its difference
this expeditionwas trade.Later, however,when the caravan from the Tatar documents of the time of Emelyan
reachedBukhara, an order from the Russiangovernmentto Pugachev'srebellion (the end of the 18thcentury), where
reachIndia andto fulfil a diplomaticmissionwas received. the numberof Russianloan-wordsis considerable.
The author describesin detail his route (CentralAsia, Af-
ghanistanl.ran, lraq. India,Arabia,OttomanTurkey),cus- Basingupon her analysisof the Turkic-Tatarlexicon of
toms of the peopleshe encounteredon the way and various the records,Aleeva points out that most of thesewords are
culturalmonuments. still actively used in the modem Tatar literary language,
though someof thesewords appearin the text in the Oghuz
According to Ismà'il Aghá, the caravanstayedin Delhi phoneticvariant.
for nine months. Then the political events in India pre-
ventedthe authorfrom going back home by the usualroute, At the end of her publicationA. H. Aleeva enumerates
so finally he reachedIstanbul. There, with all his money the principal conclusionsbasing upon her thorough lin-
lost, Ismá'il Aghá spent25 yearsof his life beforehe could guistic analysisof the text. Theseconclusionsare of much
come back to Russia.The records are written in the Old importanceto the study of the Tatar language,in particular
Tatar language with much use of colloquial Tatar expres- to the comparativelylittle known stageof its development
sionsaffecting both its lexicon and its grammar. in the secondhalf of the I 8th centurv.

Revealing the history of the text, Aleeva notes that I. Peírosyan
when it was first publishedinKazan in 1862(presumably

68 rlDonuscripto ()cientalio, vor-.2No.2 JUNEle96

KhrestomaÍiiu po Islamu. Perevody s arabskogo, vve- tion but alsogives him somepracticeworking with manu-
deniia i primechaniia. Sostavitel' i otvetstvennyl redak- script texts. In some sensethis last task is quite new, usu-
tor S. M. Prozorov.Moscow: Nauka. 1994.238str. ally textbooksand collectionsof selectedtexts were not re-
quiredto confront it. However,the presencein Russia,first
Islam Resder. Translations from Arabic, introductions of all in St.Petersburg,of large collections of Arabic
and commentaries.Compiled and edited by S. M. Pro- manuscriptsdemandsthe introduction of this kind of train-
zorov. Moscow: Nauka PublishingHouse,1994,238 pp. ing - at leastat the initial stage.

The first part of the Islam Reader I was published in 1994 From this point of view most impressivechapterof the
in Moscow by the publishing house "VostochnayaLitera- book is "The Qur'án and Its Exegesis"by E. Rezvan.It in-
tura" (Oriental Literature). It contains translations (with cludesthe 98thSura of the Qur'án and a representativese-
detailed commentariesand introductory articles) of several lection of 12 tafsírs by different authors. The chapter is
original Arabic texts representingdifferent genresof Mus- provided with the following reproductionsof manuscript
lim religious literature'. The needfor such a collectionof fragments:
texts has long been there, especiallysince textbooks on
Arabic literatureand languageare scarce,and the demand 1. 2 folios of an early Kufic Qur'án manuscriptdated
for young specialistsin the field of Islamic studies is from the 8th-9th centuries(parts of Szras 96-98);
growing. The appearanceof this book should be viewed
thereforeas a prominent event in scholarly life. There is 2. 2folios from a Qur'án written in Maghribi script
practically no experiencewith creating similar text selec- (Sura 98);
tions, neitherin Russia,nor in Westerncountries.It should
be noted that the idea of publishing a similar selectionof 3. 2 folios from the tafsïr by al-Zamakhsharr (com-
texts in English translation i.smuch approved by our col- mentary on Sura 98) written in easily legible naskh;
leaguesfrom other countries'.
4. 2 folios written in middle-size nqskh from the tafsír
Materials included in Islam Reader represent a wide by al-Baydáwl(explanationof Surq 98) containingnumer-
range of problems connectedwith the study of Islam. All ousmarginaladditions.The copy was madein 698112991'
aspectsof traditional Islamic studiesare present:the origin
of Islam (fragments from Sira rasul Allqh by Ibn Hishám, 5. 2 folios of the same type from the tafsïr by al-
etc.),Qur'ánic texts and exegesis(98th Snra and commen- Jalálayn(explanationof Sura 98), manuscriptof 92511519.
tarieson it madeby representativeosfdifferent schoolsand
sects),the Sunnaof the Prophet(passagesfrom lbn Batta The inclusionof similar materialsinto textbooksof this
al-'Uqbari), dogmatic literature(chapterfrom' Usul al-dïn kind, preferably in high quality reproductions,should be
ftth-le-qoalolagmia,nathl-eBabgohodkábdyl;ththee'ASqhíadfaiitoerfa"Cqïrheeadn" dbyAsAhh'amraitde encouraged.
b. Hanbal,the eponymousfounder of the Hanbaliteschool
of law and theology), $lfi literature (chapters from the During a discussionof the book under review in Ber-
classicalKitab alJuma' by Abh Nasr al-Sanáj al-Ttsï), gen in the May of 1995 (in which Efim Rezvan, Joseph
Muslim law (chapters from one of the earliest works on Bellof the University of Bergen,and Dr. Michael G. Carter
rtqh - Kitqb al-Kharaj by Abh Yusuf Ya'qhb). These of New York Universitytook part)the ideaof making a se-
wide and successfullyselectedmaterialsnot only make it ries of similar textbooksdevotedto different genresof me-
possibleto teachstudentshow to work with corresponding dieval Arabic literaturewas considered.However, the sug-
sources,but also give someidea of Islam in generaland its gestedserieswould be different from Islam Reader in being
forms developingin the Muslim world for over a thousand notjust a collectionof textsborrowedfrom differentworks,
years.In this connectionthis publicationmay be interesting but a seriesof publications,eachof them dedicatedto one
not only to studentsbut also to specialistsin such fields as specific genre or to one author. The whole idea was to
history, Orientalstudies,andphilosophy. someextentinspiredby the chapteron the Qur'án and its
exegesis.A separateissue of this chapter (with a slightly
It is noteworthy that not only Arabic printed texts and expanded foreword) could serve as a pattem for the sug-
translations are included, but also fragments of manu- gestedseries.The necessityof producing such a seriesof
scripts.These are pagesrepresentingdifferent manuscript textbooksis evident.Textbooks of this kind are few not
traditions and different genÍes of Islamic religious litera- only in Russiabut also in Westem countries.We invite all
ture: the Qur'án, tafsïr, collections of hadíth, works of S specialistsworking in the field of the Arabic languageand
ufis, etc.). The manuscripts are written in different literatureto take part in this project or in its discussion".
scripts- from comparativelyeasy to read Kufic Qur'áns We are ready to undertakeall preliminary and editorial
and clearnaskhto almostillegible cursivewriting of mar- work. Only the questionof funding remainsopen. The is-
ginal notes.The inclusion of thesematerialsnot only helps suescould be printed either in St. Petersburgor elsewhere,
make the student familiar with the Arab manuscript tradi- original forms would be prepared in St. Petersburg.Our
project offers a very flexible forum for making the results
of research-workavailableto students(aswell as for a wide
range of specialistsin other disciplines).Practically every
Arabist can compile a textbookof this kind on the basisof

'The book had been submittedto printersseveralyearsago, however,its publicationwas detainedby technicaland financial prob-

lems2'OcTofhnenthes.ecttceeodxnwtdbiptàhaortkthsoeofrntehcIesolbnaosmotrkmuccootsinot tcnaoloifnstiheneie-ipyeruexbstselisimnhbAinliignabgbutichseiinsIseflosarsmitnhRcRoeumasdisneiasít..here is Textual Sourcefsor the Study of Islam, ed. and trans.
"[email protected]".pnpayptpoegrte(Mt aannycshuegsgteers,1ti9o8n6sc)o,wnhniecchtgeidvweitshtrtahniss
lationsof the correspo ndingtexts into English. e-mail addressis:
project,which is now in its preliminary stage.Our

BOOK REVIEIYS 69

the sourceshe is studying.The number of issuesis unlim- Let us considernow the conditionswhich textbooksof
ited, if we take into accountthe many genresexisting in this kind shouldmeet.Needlessto say,a thorough selection
Arabic literature and the multitude of works written in the of materialsis required,as well as a high level of editing
Arabic language. andprinting.

I. TnB TEXTBooKS sHouLD TNCLUDETHE FoLLowrNG
OBLIGATORY ELEMENTS

1. Parallel texts since the number of medieval Arabic treatisestranslated
into Europeanlanguagesis not huge, one cannot overesti-
a)Arabic originaltyped in cleareasilylegiblefont, mate the impoÍance of any new publicationsintroducing
preferablywith diacriticmarksin all difficult caseswhich new materials
could be interpretedin severaldifferentways (passives
whicharenot evidentandthelike). 4. Introduction

b) Translationinto Russian(or/and into English). The introductionis expectedto contain information on
Translations houldbe clear,philologicallypreciseand the following aspects:
closeto theoriginal(almostliteral,thoughthegrammatical
rulesof the languageinto which the text is translatedmust a) Genre,its characteristicsin detail and a shorthistory.
berespected)P. araphraseasreinappropriatefor thepurpose Specificgenrefeaturesof the work in question,etc.
of theseriesW. hena translatioonf a poeticor adabworkis
done,it canbepresenteidn a more"artistic"form,butonly b) The author:his life and work; in what historical and
aftertheparallelword-by-wordtranslationof the sametext literary environmenthis works were created(especiallythe
andpreferablyattheendofthe book. woCrconsideredin the textbook).

2. Manuscript text c) Time: information on the historical period consid-
ered in the text in question(this concernsfirst of all works
It is preferableor, from ourpointof view,evenneces- on history, works of the adab genre relating to historical
sary, to include facsimilereproductionsof the Arabic events,and the like). It would be reasonableto give a de-
manuscripttext. Thereis no needto reproducethe whole tailedhistoricalsurveyof the period consideredin works on
textselectedb,ut at leastseverapl agesshouldbepresenitn history.
thebook.Thiswill give thereadersomeideaof the Arab
manuscripttraditionandwill makehim seehowthetextin 5. Vocabularv
questionwasembodiedin materiaflorm.It wouldbeuseful
in thisconnectiotno reproducefoliosfromdifferentmanu- It is preferable,though not obligatory (becausethe
scriptsandto givethe first andthe lastpageof oneof the Arabic text is supplementedwith a parallel translation),to
manuscriptsS.uchreproductionwsill makethe bookmore include a vocabulary.The creationof a complete vocabu-
interestinagndwill introducemorevarietyintotheprocess lary of the text would of coursebe a complicatedand time-
of educationT. hey canhelp the studentfeel the pulseof consumingwork. It is quite possible,however, to make a
reallife. concisevocabularyin the processoftranslating and editing
the text, including the most important and difficult to un-
3. Commentaries derstandgroupsof words:

Commentariesshould be thorough and detailed,giving a) Specialterms- philological, historical,philosophi-
the studenta complete idea of the material he is dealing cal, etc. - with a detailedexplanationof their meaning
with. All notions,terms, namesand place-namesoccurring anduse.
in the text should be commented.Even well-known terms
and nameswhich could be left without comment in an or- b) Rare words which the potential reader(not only a
dinary critical edition of a text must be takeninto account. student)could not be expectedto know. The range of se-
On the other hand, the commentariesshould be more de' lection is wide enough:one can either include only words
tailed than usual- to provide the studentwith positive in- missing in standardArabic dictionaries(for the Russian
formation on the history, language and cultural environ- readerthe dictionaryby Baranov)and presentonly in Ara-
ment of the genrehe is working on. At the sametime com- bic explanatorydictionariesor in largeEuropeandictionar-
mentariesof this kind could be interestingto specialistsin ies (Lane), or just all words which do not occur very fre-
relatedfields, like the history of Medieval Europe,who are quently(or wordsmostprobablyunknownto students).
not so well acquaintedwith the realities of the Oriental
world. Finally, from the point of view of pure scholarship, c) Well-known words which occur in the text in a spe-
cific meaning(if a dozen of meaningsfor some word are
known, but in the text it is presentonly in one rarely used
meaning),words which in this particular context require a
very careful selection of European equivalents, and other
unusualcases.

70 t Y [ o n u s c r i p t o ( ) c i e n t o l i o . v o l . 2 N o . 2J U N E1 9 9 6

II. SnlncuNc TEXTS

The principle quality requiredof the text is its represen- The selectionof tafstrs is also quite representativeI.t
makesit possibleto tracethe developmentboth of the no-
tativeness: tions and conceptscommented,as well as of the genre it-
self, reflecting changesnot only in Muslim theology but
1. The text selectedmust be a characteristicrepresenta- alsoin the societyand in socialconsciousnesisn general.A
number of works representingthe principal stagesof the
tive of the genre in questionto make the reader(student) making of Islamic exegesisand theology are cited (the
tafsir by Muqátil b. Sulaymán standing at the beginning of
familiar with the principal featuresof the genreasa whole. this genre;the work by al-Tabari,the most prominentwork
of this kind, which sums up both the developmentof Is-
2. The author of the text selectedshouldbe one of the lamic exegesisin generaland that of "commentary based
on tradition" in particular;the most popular tafsír of the
principal representativeosf the genrein question.The same
later Middle Ages and of modern times, the Tafsïr al-
concernsthe work itself: it should be an outstandingwork Jalalayn, which is the peak of the development of the
genre,the so-called"Arabic translationof the Qur'án"; and
within the genreas a whole aswell asamongthe works of the works of one of the most prominent Arab reformers
Muhammad 'Abduh and the ideologist of the Muslim
the chosenauthor. Brothers Sayyid Qutb). The whole spectrum of trends
within Islam is represented:purely Sunnite $ahïft by aI-
3. When dealing with a work the length of which Bukhàri and the tafsïr by the Shafiite/akïh and commenta-
makes it impossibleto give the full text - a chronicle,a tor al-Baydáwi; Shiite tafsír by al-Tabarsï and the Mu'tazi-
work on geography,a collectionof adab - the sectionse- lite commentary by al-ZamakhsharÍ; the tafsír of the
prominent Ash'arite al-Rázi, the Sufi commentaryby al-
lected for translationshould be logically complete.It must Tustari(the earliestcompositionof this kind containingal-
legoricexplanationof the Qur'ànic text) and by Ibn 'Arabi.
be a finished narrative, geographicaldescription,philo- The technical aspectof the chapter is also perfect: the
translationis precise,with detailed commentariesand an
sophical essayor descriptionof some historical event or introductioncontaininga surveyof the history of the genre
and an analysisof the principal problemsand notions pres-
period. Even if a seriesof fragmentsis given, they must be ent in the 98th Sura of the Qur'án. There are also introduc-
tory articles dedicatedto eachof the tafsírs. Very important
logically connected,presentingsome aestheticallyconsis- are the reproductionsof pages from several manuscripts
which give someideaof how the Arab manuscripttradition
tentwhole,notjust a book of quotations. developed(and at the same time a good introduction for
studentswho wish to learnto readdifferent scripts).All this
4. The text itself should contain information of some providesa linguistic and theologicalbasisfor future work
with the sourcesof this kind.
value, so that the studentcould not only learn how to read
A collectionof texts from medievalArab geographers
texts of this kind, but also get useful data on the subject along the samelines is being planned by the presentre-
viewer. It will include passagesby different authors de-
matter (historical events, descriptionof lands, cities and scribing some part of the caravanroute from Khorasanto
Baghdad.A seriesof texts describingthe samepart of the
peoples,religious dogma, philosophy, linguistic phenom- route can, on one hand, demonstratethe characteristic fea-
ena, etc.). As for literary texts - qdab and poetry - the tures of medievalArab geographyand, on the other, show
how the principles of selecting and rendering materials
texts selectedshould, on one hand, give some idea of the were developingfrom the early works on geographyby Ibn
K"chlausrdsàicdahlsbcihh,oQoul odfáAmraa,bIbgneoRgursatpah, ayn"rdeparl-eYsae'nqtuebdbi ytosuthceh
different sides of the author's creative activities, on the writers as al-Istakhri, Ibn Hawqal, and al-Muqaddasí.
other- of the genrein question. Readerswill be provided with the necessarymaterials for
them to attempttheir own reconstructionof the trade route
All the abovenotwithstanding,a given issueshouldnot (which makes the learning process more entertaining).
Taking into accountthe specific characterof the contem-
necessarilyinclude only textswritten by the sameauthor.A plated edition, it must include, besidesthe texts, transla-
tions, commentariesa, nd facsimile reproductionsof pages
different principle may be applied,for example,a collec- from different manuscripts, as well as several maps from
medievalworks and a reliablemodern map of the areade-
tion oftexts by different authorspresentinga consistentde- scribed

scriptionof a certainphenomenon.Ten mu'allaqas by dif-

ferent authors also present a consistentwhole (actually,

even a smallernumber would be enoughto illustratethis

particulargenre).

The chapter by Efim Rezvan in Islam Reader meets

practically all the requirementslisted here. It gives a clear

idea of the Qur'án and its place in the Muslim tradition
during more than a thousand years - from its interpreta-

tion in the 8th century (tafstr by Muqátil b. Sulaymán) to

the most recent conceptsof the Muslim Brothers(Fí Zildl

al-Qur'dn" by SayyidQutb). The 98thSura,which Rezvan
uses as an example, is one of the most important and

complicatedparts of the Qur'án (a fact which was noticed
by practicallyall authorsof tafstrs).It is importantnot only

theologicallybut also on practical,political level: the way

of interpreting the awl lo-r d s "ot hf et hpee oQpul er ' áonf relating to non-
Moslems (first of the Book"), has

never beenjust pure theory. Much in the practiceof rela-

tions with non-Muslim statesand with heterodoxcommu-

nities within dar al-Islam dependedupon the way Qur'ánic
sentences(especiallyof the 98th Sura) were interpretedO. n

the other hand, establishedpractice to some extent influ-

encedthe way the Sura was interpreted.This complicated

double-sidedprocesswas developing at different levels:

socialpracticeinfluencedideology and ideologicalinnova-
tions modified socialpractice.

5 It would be best,perhaps,not to usethe most recentmaps showing the landscapeconsiderablychanged,but maps from the begin-
ning of the centurywith no modernfeaturespresent.Many of the roadsin the Middle-East,for instance,were still following the courseof
medieval caÍavantÍacks at the beginning of this century.

BOOK REVIEWS 71

Another example,this time of a text belongingto one principle source,was one of the crucial periods in the his-
author,is a collection I am preparingof passagesfrom Al- tory of the Middle East. The rise of the Seljuk Empire
Kamil fi-l-nrïkhby Ibn al-Athir dedicatedto the history of broughtmany changesin the social,political and economic
Syria, Palestine,al-Jaziraand Iraq in the secondhalf of the life of the whole region. It is impossibleto underestimate
I lth-beginning of the l2th centuries.The materials se- the significanceof thesechanges,no matter how different
lected so as to meet all the requirementslisted above.Ibn the views of scholarson their nature(from "gradual evolu-
al-Athir is a first-rate historian, one of the prominent repre- tion" to "revolutionaryrupture") may be. At the sametime
sentativesof Arab historiography(he canbe comparedonly it was the beginning of the Crusades,a new stage in the
with al-Tabari,if we take into accountthe rangeof materi- history of the MediteÍraneanregion. The appearanceof 1s-
als he recordsand the way he usesthem). Al-KAmil fi-l- lam Readeris a contributionto the developmentof Arabic
tdríkh, moreover,is a characteristicand a very good exam- studiesin generaland to the educationalinfrastructurere-
ple of an Arab chronicle. It is written in clear language quiredto train new specialistsin one of the traditionalfields
characteristicof this genre.Passagesselectedfor the text- of Oriental studies- Arabic manuscripts- in particular.
book refer to a limited period- from the acmeof the Sel- Moreover,asI havetried to point out, it setsan examplefor
juk Empire (the arrival of Tughril Beg in Baghdadin 1055) a numberof usefulprojects.

to its decline and fall and the appearanceof the Crusader A. Mstveev

states.This era, for which the work by Ibn al-Athir is the

RUSSIANACADEMYOF SCIENCES
THE INSTITUTEOF ORIENTALSTUDIES

ST.PETERSBURBGRANCH

rYbolnuscuipti Orientnlio

ilntecnotionol -/ournol for ()vientol (Y$onuscvipt Qeseoveh
Yol.2 No.2 June1996

76eSA

.) t./t etersburg-$ elsinki

I

tl

CONTENTS

TEXTSAND MANUSCRIPTSD..ESCRIPTIONAND RESEARCH. 3
9
V. Livshits. SogdianBuddhistFragmentKR IV/879 No.4263 from the ManuscriptCollectionof the
St.PetersburBgranchof theInstituteof OrientaSl tudies

ValeryPolosin.MuslimBindingswithql-KhqlidiyanDt oubleBorders

TEXTAND ITSCULTURALINTERPRETATION t3
t3
E. Tyomkin. On the Term ltihàsa and the Problem of the Structureof the MqhdbharataText

PRESENTINGTHE COLLECTIONS 19
l9
O. VasilyevaO. rientaMl anuscriptisn theNationaLl ibraryof Russia 36
O. Frolova.SomeNoteson theArabicManuscriptasndCollectionsin theLibraryof theOrientalFacultyof 44

theSt.PetersburUgniversity.
A. Sazykin.The Collectionof MongolianManuscriptasndXylographsin the EthnologicaMl useumof the

Republicof Tuvain Kyzyl

ON EI{TALMANUSCM PTSAND NEWII{FORMATIOI,{TECHNOLOGIES. 50
51
H. Braam, M. Vandamme.A Robustand VersatileSolutionfor the Dieital Publicationof Manuscript
Materials

PRESENTINGTHEMANUSCKIPT 56
56
A. Khalidov.A Uniquel4th CenturyLiteraryAnthologyManuscripftromBaghdad. 62
A. Sazykin. IllustratedManuscriptof "One HundredThousandVerses"in the MongolianFund of the

St.PetersburBgranchof theInstituteof OrientaSl tudies

BOOKREVIEWS 64

Colour plates:

Front cover:
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Back cover:

Platel.The insideof the b?a);ck3c. Qovoermr(furostma(lSekftt.toInrdigiah,t)T: ilb.E. sbrruG-ay(aS-bkty.iBnr)a,"Thmheá,TGirbe.aTtsyhuarni"g,'s-IpríaS),;2u.oBiig5ar
(Skt. Siva, Tib.

(callnumbeKr 24),52.0x 15.5cm.

Plate 2. The insideof the front cover(on ltah")e,Tlehfet)G: IrnegagYtiduam(S",kMt.SA,nvgoal.j4a,(Tciab.llnYuamn-blaegKr-'2by4u),n5g3).;(0oxn the right)
Bagula(Skt.BakulaT, ib.Ba-ku- 15. 5c m .

Plate3. Theinsideof thebackcover(fromleftto right):L Qayanggiru-(aSkt.LohakhadgHaayagilvaT, ib. Rta-
m(Sgkrti.nElckaagmsá-rtáaSl-chai n2D);.eBvei,ijTi Miba. qM-aa--kcaigla(dSpkat.l-AldgahnolrhaaM-mahoá),k"áTlhaeT, ibG.rBeeagt Y-tusme)"3;,.
ÓoyruÓkin tngri
MS, vol.4 (call

numberK24),52.0x 15.5cm.