The Sword of Ambition: Bureaucratic Rivalry in Medieval Egypt

by ?Uthman ibn Ibrahim al-Nabulusi, Sherman 'Abd al-Hakim Jackson (Foreword by)

Overview

The Sword of Ambition belongs to a genre of religious polemic written for the rulers of Egypt and Syria between the twelfth and the fourteenth centuries. Unlike most medieval Muslim polemic, the concerns of this genre were more social and political than theological. Leaving no rhetorical stone unturned, the book’s author, an unemployed Egyptian scholar and former bureaucrat named 'Uthman ibn Ibrahim al-Nabulusi (d. 660/1262), poured his deep knowledge of history, law, and literature into the work. Now edited in full and translated for the first time, The Sword of Ambition opens a new window onto the fascinating culture of elite rivalry in the late-medieval Islamic Middle East. It contains a wealth of little-known historical anecdotes, unusual religious opinions, obscure and witty poetry, and humorous cultural satire. Above all, it reveals that much of the inter-communal animosity of the era was conditioned by fierce competition for scarce resources that were increasingly mediated by an ideologically committed Sunni Muslim state. This insight reminds us that seemingly timeless and inevitable “religious” conflict must be considered in its broader historical perspective.

The Sword of Ambition is both the earliest and most eclectic of several independent works composed in medieval Egypt against the employment of Coptic and Jewish officials, and is vivid testimony to the gradual integration of Islamic scholarship and state administration that was well underway in its day.

A bilingual Arabic-English edition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781479842575
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	05/10/2016
Series:	Library of Arabic Literature , #38
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	478
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

'Uthman ibn Ibrahim al-Nabulusi (d. 660/1262), of Palestinian origin, was a leading Egyptian bureaucrat in the court of the Ayyubid sultans. In addition to his pivotal work, The Sword of Ambition, he wrote several works on Egyptian administration and government, including A Presentation of the Living, Eternal God's Work in Regulating the Fayyum, the most extensive tax record that survives from the medieval Middle East.

Sherman Jackson is King Faisal Chair in Islamic Thought and Culture and Professor of Religion and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California.
Luke Yarbrough is Assistant Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at UCLA. His research is concerned with the history of the pre-modern Middle East and North Africa, including inter-communal relations, law and prescriptive discourses, Arabic historiography, the oral transmission of knowledge, and comparative history.

Table of Contents

Letter from the General Editor iii

Foreword xii

Abbreviations xv

Acknowledgments xvi

Introduction xviii

A Note on the Text xxxiii

Ayyubid Cairo xxxviii

The Central Near East in the 7th Century xxxix

Notes to the Introduction xl

The Sword of Ambition 1

The First Chapter, On the Reprehensibility of Employing Dhimmis for the Muslims' Jobs, in Fifteen Sections 10

The First Section: The Testimony of the Illustrious Book 10

The Second Section: The Example of the Messenger of God 12

The Third Section: The Testimony of the Ancient Authorities 12

The Fourth Section: The Example of Imam Abu Bakr al-Siddlq, God Be Pleased with Him 14

The Fifth Section: The Example of Imam 'Umar ibn al-Khattab 16

The Sixth Section: The Example of Abd al-Malikibn Marwan 20

The Seventh Section: The Deeds of al-Hajjaj 22

The Eighth Section: The Example of'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, God Be Pleased with Him 22

The Ninth Section: The Events That Took Place in the Days of Caliph al-Mansur 26

The Tenth Section: The Events That Took Place in the Days of Caliph al-Mahdi 30

The Eleventh Section: The Events That Took Place in the Days of Caliph Harun al-Rashid 32

The Twelfth Section: The Events That Took Place in the Days of Caliph al-Ma'mun 34

The Thirteenth Section: The Events That Took Place in the Days of al-Mutawakkil 38

The Fourteenth Section: The Events That Took Place in the Days of Caliph al-Muqtadir Bi-llah 48

The Fifteenth Section: Examples of the Jews' Ignominy, Wickedness, and Trickery 50

The Second Chapter, A Description of the Copts and Their Perfidies, in Fifteen Sections 54

The First Section: A General Description of Them 54

The Second Section: Why the Copts Specialize as Secretaries and Neglect Other Professions 54

The Third Section: Concerning Their Pervasive yet Imperceptible Influence in the Land of Egypt 56

The Fourth Section: How Ahmad ibn Tulun Discovered Their Notorious Malfeasance, and How He Resolved to Act toward Them 58

The Fifth Section: What Befell Them at the Hands of Muhammad ibn Sulayman 60

The Sixth Section: The Events That Took Place in the Days of al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah 62

The Seventh Section: The Events That Took Place in the Days of al-Amir, and the Confiscations Carried Out by the Accursed Monk 66

The Eighth Section: Their Perfidy in the Story of 'Arib the Singer 68

The Ninth Section: Their Scheming in the Days of al-Hafiz, Their Perfidy during His Regime, and the Way in Which They Corrupted Aspects of His Life Which Had Otherwise Been Righteous 70

The Tenth Section: Their Shameless Testimony in Court Cases Involving Muslims 74

The Eleventh Section: Concerning Their Scheming in Carrying Out the Cadastral Survey, and Their Shamelessness in Causing Harm, with No Concern for God, Be He Exalted, No Fear of Scandal from the Discovery of Their Disgrace, and No Regard for Consequences 78

The Twelfth Section: Their Scheming against a Certain Judicial Witness Who Was in Their Company, and How They Cannot Be Restrained from Malfeasance 80

The Thirteenth Section: Concerning a Calculated Stratagem Carried Out by a Christian against His Jewish Associate, a Shocking Act That Only Someone of That Accursed Community Would Dare to Commit 82

The Fourteenth Section: Their Disgraceful Deeds in the Days of al-'Adid, When al-Malik al-Salih Tala'i ibn Ruzzik Was Sultan 84

The Fifteenth Section: Why It Is That When One of Them Converts to Islam Due to Some Predicament or Calamity, He Becomes Even More Miserable and Dishonest than He Had Been Formerly, and Even More Insolent 90

The Third Chapter, A Description of Secretaries and Their Art, in Three Sections 98

The First Section: A Description of the Secretarial Art 98

The Second Section: An Account of Those Men Who May Properly Be Called Secretaries, along with Some of Their Achievements in Prose, Though It Be but a Single Phrase to Demonstrate the Excellence of Each One 98

The Third Section: Examples of the Poetry Produced by the Most Excellent Secretaries, Though It Be but a Single Line Each 136

The Fourth Chapter, An Account of the Ignorant Men Who Have Unworthily Donned the Garments of the Secretaries, in Three Sections 154

The First Section: Poetry Composed about Such Men in Former and More Recent Times 154

The Second Section: Concerning Amusing Aspects of Their Vulgar Expression, and Their Foolishness 160

The Third Section, From Which Our Book Gets Its Title: What Should Be Done with Them, Namely, Taking Back the Property They Have Skimmed for Themselves from Public Funds Rightfully Belonging to the, Muslims 176

A Section with Which I End This Book, Explaining My Reason for Composing It 188

Notes 193

The Fatimid Caliphs in Egypt 210

The Ayyubid Sultans in Egypt 211

Glossary of Names and Terms 212

Bibliography 234

Further Reading 245

Index 247

About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute 262

About the Typefaces 263

Titles Published by the Library of Arabic Literature 264

About the Editor-Translator 266

Editorial Reviews

"Avery reader-friendly modern English version of this mediaeval Arabic text . . .Yarbrough's informative introduction usefully situates the book both in its own time and in terms of the later uses that have been made of it. . .Yarbrough's fine translation allows the contemporary English-speaking reader to hear the full range of its author's wheedling, monomaniacal voice."

al-Ahram

"Luke Yarbrough is to be congratulated for a very fine piece of philological scholarship combining [a] first-class edition with a wonderful translation."

Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies

"An amazing narrative that combines erudition, poetry, belles lettres, history, law, and anecdotal accounts into a compelling work."

Islamic Sciences

"[An] elegant and well-edited bilingual edition."

Times Literary Supplement

"Luke Yarbrough has done the field of medieval Middle Eastern history a service... [An] excellent edition and exemplary translation."

Journal of the American Oriental Society

An amazing narrative that combines erudition, poetry, belles lettres, history, law, and anecdotal accounts into a compelling work.”-Islamic Sciences

"[An] elegant and well-edited bilingual edition."-Times Literary Supplement

"A very reader-friendly modern English version of this mediaeval Arabic text . . . Yarbrough's informative introduction usefully situates the book both in its own time and in terms of the later uses that have been made of it. . . Yarbrough's fine translation allows the contemporary English-speaking reader to hear the full range of its author's wheedling, monomaniacal voice."-al-Ahram

“Luke Yarbrough is to be congratulated for a very fine piece of philological scholarship combining [a] first-class edition with a wonderful translation.”-Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies

From the Publisher