The 檎庄壊偵鉛温 al-m笛jza al-kfiya f朝 adabA word of many meanings usually connoting courtesy, etiquette, rules and manners, civilisation, culture and literature. 温鉛-糸顎平偵岳 (A Brief and Concise Treatise on the Code of Conduct for the D平朝s) constitutes the only extant work in Ismaili literature that deals with specific practical aspects of the Ismaili 糸温平敬温Lit. ‘summons’, ‘mission’ or invitation to Islam. Amongst Shi’i Muslims, it was the invitation to adopt the cause of the Imamat. It also refers more specifically to the hierarchy of…, an appeal and encouragement to the faith.
Written by the Fatimid author Ahmad b. Ibrahim al-Naysb笛r朝 (11th century CE), it represents a normative guide for the Ismaili 糸偵平朝Lit. ‘summoner,’ a term for missionary amongst various Muslim communities, especially used among the Ismailis before and during the Fatimid period as well as in the Alamut period of Ismaili…s, who functioned as the religious agents and summoners responsible for the leadership, instruction and spiritual and social welfare of the Ismaili community.
Al-Naysb笛r朝s enumeration of the 糸偵平朝s ideal traits and attributes in the 檎庄壊偵鉛温 al-m笛jza belongs to the wider genre of professional adab literature that exclusively addresses groups belonging to certain occupations and instructs them in specific ethical principles and codes of conduct, and which is prevalent in classical Muslim culture. It may also be located in the even older tradition of the Mirror of Princes literature, which dates back to pre-Islamic Persia, and which promoted the ideal practice of rulership.
Indeed, many of the characteristics of the 糸偵平朝 listed in the 檎庄壊偵鉛温 are consistent with the topoi in the Mirror of Princes literature as it relates to the ruler, namely the virtues of piety, chastity, uprightness, mercy, forgiveness, humility and generosity. In this regard, the communal functions of a 糸温i also mirror the duties traditionally ascribed to a responsible ruler that he has to maintain the community, protect the weak, and fight and punish crime, corruption and social disintegration but with the one key distinction that they are, in this instance, always elaborated within the context of the Ismaili dawa.
The present work constitutes a critical edition and translation of the 檎庄壊偵鉛温 al-m笛jza al-kfiya f朝 adab 温鉛-糸顎平偵岳. Al-Naysb笛r朝s treatise is a fascinating testimony to the wide network of a class of individuals charged with proclaiming the 糸温平敬温t al-畍aqqThe true mission’ or ‘the true summons.’ A term used by the Ismailis of the pre-Fatimid and Fatimid periods to refer to their 糸温平敬温 activities. (call to truth) over various frames of time and space. It is thus a valuable resource for students and scholars interested in medieval Islamic literature more generally and the structure and workings of the Fatimid 糸温平敬温 in particular.
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Context, author and work
Transmission of the 檎庄壊偵鉛温 al-m笛jza al-kfiya f朝 adab 温鉛-糸顎平偵岳
Literary tradition
Reflections of history and intertextuality
Structure, contents and style
Manuscripts and editions
The date of the 檎庄壊偵鉛温 al-m笛jza by Paul E. Walker
Translation of al-檎庄壊偵鉛温 al-m笛jza al-kfiya f朝 adab 温鉛-糸顎平偵岳: A Brief and Concise Treatise on the Code of Conduct for the D平朝s
Select Bibliography
English Index
Arabic Index
Arabic Text
Verena Klemm is Professor and Chair of the Institute of Arabic Studies at the University of Leipzig in Germany. A specialist in medieval Muslim history and Arabic literature, Professor Klemm obtained her doctorate in Islamic Studies from the University of T端bingen in 1988 and her habilitation from the University of Hamburg in 1997. Dr Klemm has authored and edited several books including Die Mission des fatimidischen Agenten al-Muayyad Fid-d朝n in iraz (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1989),Literarisches Engagement im arabischen Nahen Osten: Konzepte und Debatten (W端rzburg: Ergon, 1998), Understanding Near Eastern Literatures: A Spectrum of Interdisciplinary Approaches (with Beatrice Gruendler; Wiesbaden: Ludwig Reichart, 2000), and most recently, Memoirs of a Mission: The Ismaili Scholar, Statesman and Poet, al-Mu幣ayyad f朝l-D朝n al-Shirz朝 (London: I. B. Tauris in association with 今叔利, 2003).
An historian of ideas with a focus on Mediaeval Islamic History, Paul E. Walker has taught at McGill University, Columbia University and the University of Michigan. For several years Dr Walker was the Director of the American Research Centre in Egypt, and is currently a Visiting Scholar with the University of Chicago’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies. He has authored and edited many books on Fatimid history and the formative period of Ismaili thought including Early Philosophical 皆鞄庄i壊馨See Shia. (Cambridge University Press, 1993), (University of Utah Press, 1994), Ab笛 Ya平q笛b al-Sijistn朝: Intellectual Missionary (I. B. Tauris in association with 今叔利, 1996), 畍am朝d al-D朝n al-Kirmn朝: Ismaili Thought in the Age of al-畍つkim (I. B. Tauris in association with 今叔利, 1999), with Wilferd Madelung, An Ismaili Heresiography (Brill, 1998) and The Advent of the FatimidsMajor Muslim dynasty of Ismaili caliphs in North Africa (from 909) and later in Egypt (9731171) More: A Contemporary Shi’i Witness (I. B. Tauris in association with 今叔利, 2000). Most recently, Dr Walker is the recipient of the 2001 Guggenheim Fellowship to study the Imam-Caliph al-畍つkim.