STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL BACKGROUND TO THE ARABIAN NIGHTS by NAZIHA MUKHLIS

474 Pages·2017·23.75 MB·English

STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL BACKGROUND
TO THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
by
NAZIHA MUKHLIS
Thesis presented for the degree of Ph.D.
in the University of London.
School of Oriental and African Studies
July 1968
ProQuest Number: 10731608
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ABSTRACT
CHAPTER X
This chapter deals with the history and origin of the ''Nights", and
shows that the development of its contents have taken place in phases.
The non-extant Baghdadi collection of the "Nights " is investigated in the
light of an existing early collection of stories similar to the "Nights" in
contents and background.
CHAPTER II
An attempt is made here to assess the place of the 'Abbasid aristoc­
racy, and to demonstrate striking social changes at the court. Special
attention is given to the historicity of the Caliphs' stories.
CHAPTER III
The background to the Middle-class of the "Nights" is discussed to
show the significant changes in the spheres of commerce and culture.
Special attention is given to trade, travels and business. The conditions
and status of the merchant class are also discussed here.
CHAPTER IV
The economic and social gulf between the upper classes and the
lower class is carefully examined. The chapter discusses in some detail
the craft-guilds and other organisations of the people of the lower-classes.
CHAPTER V
Aspects of the relations between Muslims and non-Muslims are
explored, and special attention is given to martial relations. The social,
economic and cultural standards of the Dhimmis are discussed to assess
their status in Muslim society.
CHAPTER VI
This chapter deals with Islamic institutions and customs and throws
light on the position of women under Islam. The division between free
and slave women is pointed out, and the effects of this division on moral
and social attitudes are discussed. The picture of womenhood in the
"Nights" is correlated with evidence from other Arabic sources. Special
attention is divert to the educated and fictitious women presented in the
"Nights".
4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT 2
NOTES AND ABBREVIATIONS 6
LIST OF FULL TITLES OF THE STORIES 8
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 14
INTRODUCTION 15
CHAPTER I - THE HISTORY AND ORIGIN O f WSE ARABIAN NIGHTS
Introductory Note .2 1
Theories on the Origin of the Nights ^2
The Prologue and the Title of the Nights ^ 5
The Development of the Contents 43
Foreign Elements in the Nights 51
Methods of Development 61
The Theory of Layers 67
Stories outside the Egyptian Recension 75
The Significance of Ritters Ms or 79
al-Hikavat al-'AHba
CHAPTER II - THE ARISTOCRACY
Introductory 89
The Early Arab Aristocracy 93
The New Aristocracy 100
Aspects of Change 103
The Court 108
The Court's Expenditure 113
The Caliphs in the Nights » 115
The Place of Aristocracy and their general 122
qualities
CHAPTER III - THE MIDDLE CLASS
The Educated Middle Class 130
The Merchants 145
The Effects of Wealth on Society 156
Travel and Commerce 169
Kinds of Merchants and Business in the Bazaars 178
The Conditions and Morality of the Merchant class 185
Status of Merchants 195
5
Page
CHAPTER IV - THE LOWER CLASS
General Condition 204
Status and Morality of the Lower Class 219
The Craft-Guilds 233
The Organisations of Thieves 241
Slaves 262.
Rights and Conditions of Slaves 263
The Slave-girls 272
Other kinds of Slaves 281
CHAPTER V - THE NON-MUSLIMS IN THE ARABIAN NIGHTS 288
Conversion to Islam 296
Warfare with Non~ Mu slims 3 02
The Effect of the Wars on the Christian DHaimmis 311
The Religious Basis of the Relations between 318
Dhimmis and Muslims
The Social and Economic Conditions 327
CHAPTER VI - THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN THE ARABIAN NIGHTS 3 43
The Conventional Treatment of Women 346
Women under Islam 350
The Seclusion of Women 361
The two Worlds of Free and Bondwomen 3 69
The Influence of the Hetairae and Concubines 385
The Laws of Marriage 391
The Laws of Divorce and Other Customs 411
Women and Education 424
Old Women 434
Fictitious Women in the Nights 439
CONCLUSION 451
BIBLIOGRAPHY 454
6
NOTES AND ABBREVIATIONS
1 Journals. Series and Miscellanies
b. and bt. I bn and bint.
BGA Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum,
BM British Museum.
C.A.D. Century of the Christian era.
C.A.H. Century of the Islamic era.
CE. Chamber's Encyclopaedia.
Ch. Chapter.
Cal. ed. The Calcutta edition of the Arabian Niahts .
£B. Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Ed. edition.
El. Encyclopaedia of Islam F
Eng.tr. English translation.
ER. Edinburgh Review,
ERE. Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics .
ESS. Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences.
FQR The Foreign Quarterly Review,
IC. Islamic Culture*
JA. Journal Asiatigue.
JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society.
JE. Jewish Encyclopaedia.
JESHO Journal of the Economic and Social History of
the Orient,
JNES. Journal of the Near Eastern Society.
JRAS. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.
The "Nights" stands for The Arabian Niahts or Alf Lavla wa-Iavla
except in the head-title of each chapter.
Magians Maius or Zoroastrians.
MS. MSS. Manuscript. Manuscripts.
Quran The Qur*an.
ZDMG. ZeitSdhrift der deutschen morgenlHndischen
Gesellschaft,
7
Z
2 S-u ras and verses of the Quran are written thus: 4 ; the first figure
indicating the number of the Sura, and the top figure indicating the
number of the verse.
3 Works are referred to by the names of authors. When an author has
more than one work, short or abbreviated titles of his books are
given. In case of modern writers the year of publication is given
instead of an abbreviated title. In most cases the word ibn is
dropped from the abbreviated names of Arab authors, eg. Athii;,
Khaldun and Khatib,
4 Where there are generally accepted English versions for the names
of the protagonists of the stories of the "Nights", these have been
retained. Thus Aladdin, Sindbad and Nuraddin for the Arabic
‘Ala’ al-Din, Sindibad and Nur al-Din respectively.
LIST OF FULL TITLES OF THE STORIES
The following is a list of the main stories of the Arabian Nights
which occur in the present study, and which are taken from the Cairo
or Calcutta editions, together with some of Galland's orphan stories
which are marked in the list by asterisks. The sub-stories included
in the list (and marked with letters) are only those referred to in the
present work.
The Framework story
- The Merchant and the ‘Ifrit
- The Fisherman and the 'Ifrit
a - The story of King Yunan and the Physician
b - The Petrified Prince of the Black Islands
- The Porter and the Three Ladies
a - The story of the First Mendicant
b - The story of the Second Mendicant
c - The story of the Third Mendicant
d - The story of the First Lady of Baghdad
e - The story of the Second Lady of Baghdad
- The Three Apples
a - The story of Nur al-Din and his Brother Shams al-*Din,
Quoted The Two Viziers
- The Hunchback
a - The story of the Christian Broker
b - The story of the Sultan Steward
c - The story of the Jewish Physician
d - The story of the Tailor
e - The story of the Barber and his Five Brothers
- *Ali N ural-Din and Anis al-Jalis. Quoted Anis al-Talis.
- Ghanim b. Ayyub, the distracted lover. Quoted Ghanim.
a - The story of the First Eunuch Bukhayt
b - The story of the Second Eunuch Kafur
King 'Umar al-Nu'man and his Sons Sharkan and Daw^ al-Makan
a * The story of Taj al-Muluk <y- the Princess Dunya. Quoted Taj
b - The story of 'A2iz and 'Aziza
c - The story of the Bedouin Hamm ad
Fables
'All b. Bakkar and Shams al-Nahar
Qamar al-Zaman and Princess Budur. Quoted Qamar.
a - The story of al-As'ad and his Brother al-Amjad
b - The story of Ni'am and Hi’ma
‘Ala1 al-Dln Abu al-Shamat and Zubayda the Luteplayer. Quoted
Abu al-Shamat
The City of Lebta
The Story of Hisham b. 'Abd al-Malik and the Young Bedouin
Ibrahim b. al-Mahdi and the Hajjam
*
Ibn Abi Qilaba and the City of Columns Iram
Ishaq al-Mawsili and al-Mahnun
The great lady and the Slaughter-house Cleaner
Al-Rashid and the False Caliph
■r
‘Ali the Persian and The Kurd Sharper
A1 -Rashid, and the Qadi Abu Yusuf
Khalid al-QasfFand the Young Man who pretended to be a thief
Ja'far al-Barmaki and the Bean-Seller
Abu Muhammad al-Kaslan (the Lazybone)
The Magnanimity of Yahya al-Barmaki towards Mansur
Yahya al-Barmaki and the Letter-Forger
The Caliph al-Ma?mun and the Scholar
'All Shar and Zumurrud
Budur and Jubayr b, ‘Umayr
The Six Slave-girls and their Master
Al-Rashid, the Slave-girl and Abu Nuwas