The 賊勳莽櫻梭硃 al-m贖jza al-kfiya f蘋 adabA word of many meanings usually connoting courtesy, etiquette, rules and manners, civilisation, culture and literature. 硃梭-餃喝尪櫻喧 (A Brief and Concise Treatise on the Code of Conduct for the D尪蘋s) constitutes the only extant work in Ismaili literature that deals with specific practical aspects of the Ismaili 餃硃尪滄硃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贖r蘋 (11th century CE), it represents a normative guide for the Ismaili 餃櫻尪蘋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贖r蘋s enumeration of the 餃櫻尪蘋s ideal traits and attributes in the 賊勳莽櫻梭硃 al-m贖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 餃櫻尪蘋 listed in the 賊勳莽櫻梭硃 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 餃硃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 賊勳莽櫻梭硃 al-m贖jza al-kfiya f蘋 adab 硃梭-餃喝尪櫻喧. Al-Naysb贖r蘋s treatise is a fascinating testimony to the wide network of a class of individuals charged with proclaiming the 餃硃尪滄硃t al-廎仟qqThe true mission’ or ‘the true summons.’ A term used by the Ismailis of the pre-Fatimid and Fatimid periods to refer to their 餃硃尪滄硃 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 餃硃尪滄硃 in particular.
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Context, author and work
Transmission of the 賊勳莽櫻梭硃 al-m贖jza al-kfiya f蘋 adab 硃梭-餃喝尪櫻喧
Literary tradition
Reflections of history and intertextuality
Structure, contents and style
Manuscripts and editions
The date of the 賊勳莽櫻梭硃 al-m贖jza by Paul E. Walker
Translation of al-賊勳莽櫻梭硃 al-m贖jza al-kfiya f蘋 adab 硃梭-餃喝尪櫻喧: A Brief and Concise Treatise on the Code of Conduct for the D尪蘋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羹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蘋n in iraz (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1989),Literarisches Engagement im arabischen Nahen Osten: Konzepte und Debatten (W羹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尨ayyad f蘋l-D蘋n al-Shirz蘋 (London: I. B. Tauris in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 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 釦堯勳i莽鳥See Shia. (Cambridge University Press, 1993), (University of Utah Press, 1994), Ab贖 Ya尪q贖b al-Sijistn蘋: Intellectual Missionary (I. B. Tauris in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 1996), 廎兀m蘋d al-D蘋n al-Kirmn蘋: Ismaili Thought in the Age of al-廎勾kim (I. B. Tauris in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 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 The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2000). Most recently, Dr Walker is the recipient of the 2001 Guggenheim Fellowship to study the Imam-Caliph al-廎勾kim.