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categories of badl, very appealing, particularlybecause it was not written until the
twelfth century AH. During that period of nine centuries a certain amount of redefining
and modification of the tropes of badf must have taken place. Second, al-Nabulsi's
mystical backgroundcould lead us to the tentative hypothesis that at least some of his
interpretationsof the 180 tropes he discusses in his book were shaded by his beliefs, as
was the case with some mystics who appearto have importedArabic grammaticalterms
and concepts into their mystical teachings. This is a point of considerationthat needs to
be followed up.
Although Cachia's main role in this book was one of translationand organization,
with the occasional comment or addition to enhance clarity of a point or to give more
contextualinformation,this does not detractfrom its value as an importantdocumentof
literaryand culturalhistory. Indeed al-NabulsT'swork was writtenat a time when literary
productivitywas low comparedto the first nine centuriesafter the advent of Islam. That
is partlywhat makes the publicationof manuscriptsof this period and type so absorbing.
The 20 or so pages devoted to 'paronomasia'are just one example of the depth of
materialin this work that presentsitself as an ideal foundationfor a diachronicstudy of
the terminology relating to the field of tropes in general.
Cachia notes in his introductionthat translatingthe terms into English was problem-
atic. The student of verbal artifices might wish to question some of the choices of
translation,many of which have no counterpartin English literaryhistory. But on the
whole Cachia has merely tried to reflect the real function of the concept in the
translation.Thus his choice of 'concomitance'for kinaya or 'assimilation'for isti'ara-
althoughhe does acknowledge the conventionaltranslation-may give cause for further
thought or reaction, but this reviewer respects attemptsto find alternativerenderingsof
such time-honouredterms as 'metaphor' for isti'dra which is in some contexts not
wholly appropriate.Anotherexample of this desire to renderthe concept ratherthan the
literaltranslationcan be found in the category of al-salb wa'l-Tjabwhich Cachiachooses
to translateas 'uniqueness'ratherthan 'negation and affirmation'althoughhe does note
the latter.
This is a neat piece of work. The indexes in both languagesmake it simple to use, and
the numberingsystem presumablydevised by Cachia allows easy cross-referencing.It
will certainlyappealto studentsof this branchof the rhetorical'sciences', but more than
that it will be of great interestand benefit to scholarswho are committedto establishing
the complex historical development of terminology associated with bad'.
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER ADRIAN GULLY

THE CONCLUSIVEARGUMENTFROM GOD: SHAH WALI ALLAH OF DEHLI'S

HUJJAT ALLAH AL-BALIGHA. Edited and translated by MARCIAK. HERMANSEN.
Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science Text and Studies Series. Leiden, E.J. Brill,
1996. xl + 506 pp.

One of the most original and importanteighteenth-centuryMuslim thinkersin the Indian

subcontinent,Shah Wall Allah (1703-1762) is a curious figure, combining the visionary
mysticism of the school of Ibn 'Arab?with a puritanicallegalism of an erudite Sunni
jurisprudent.His austere orthodoxy has inspired the likes of Mawlana Mawdudi (d.
1978) who found in him a precursorof his shari'a-orientedbrandof Islamic reformism.
The first volume of the HujjatAlldh al-Baligha that appearsin this translationis one of
Shah Wall Allah's most importantbooks, being writtenduringthe early period of his life
when he composed his major Sufifworks. Setting off with an informativeintroduction,
accompanied throughout with careful annotation and capped with several excellent
indices, Professor MarciaHermansenhas presentedboth an illuminatingcontributionto
eighteenth-centuryIndo-Muslim Suifi studies and a thoroughgoinganalysis of a major

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 REVIEWS: GENERAL

figure from the period. Given the stiltedly idiosyncratic,complexly recondite natureof
Shah Wall Allah's Arabic prose style, the translator succeeded remarkablywell in
rendering the text into easily readable English with only the occasional lapse into
prolixity and obscurity.
The Saint of God-Wall Allah-presented in this seminal text is revealed as one of
the greatestmystical theosophersof the late classical period. He might best be compared
in spirit and in importance to the Shl'ite Sufi theosopher 'Abd al-Razzaq b. 'AlI b.
Husayn Lahljl (d. 1072/1661-1662), who flourisheda century earlier in Safavid Persia.
Contemporarywith him in the West, we find in the world of Christian mysticism a
similar personality-fusion of eros with nomnos/nousin two of Shah Wall Allah's
Europeancontemporaries,the English mystical theologian William Law (1686-1761),
who was at once an ardent exponent of the hermeneuticesotericism of Jacob Boehme
(d. 1624) and a rigorously uncompromisingAnglican (albeit non-juring)cleric; and the
Swedish scientist-angelologist Swedenborg (1688-1772), who combined the humanist
rationality of the Renaissance with the visionary capacity for converse with angelic
beings, the same supernaturalforces that apparentlyinspired the composition of Shah
Wall Allah's work (see chapter 13).
However, Shah Wall Allah is a bit of a 'split personality'. He blends two seemingly
contradictory characters in one nature: that of the mystic and that of the exoteric
canonical legalist. The mystical characterfeatures a gentle, theosophical voice conver-
sant with angels and seraphimas easily as with vile men, a voice often highly original,
continually offering a fresh badtillinterpretationof old ;dhirl dogma and doctrine, new
slants on Qur'anicverses or hadfthsof the Prophet(the translator'sannotationof which,
incidentally, is exhaustive and truly informative). The sapiental taste (dhawq) of Ibn
'Arabi infuses every page of the first two chapters (pp. 33-111) of this grand work.
Nonetheless, always somewhat pedestrianin realms of flight, he lacks the rapturesof
Europeanmystics who flourished a century before him, such as Boehme (d. 1624) or
Traherne(d. 1674), not to mention the ecstatic transportsof Indo-Muslimmystics, like
Shah 'Abd al-La.tif(1689-1752) or Bullhe Shah (d. 1754), who were contemporarywith
him.
Balanced against this mystic personality is the social theorist. Combining like
al-Ghazall or Muhsin Fayd-i Kashanl (d. 1091/1680) dry theological reasoning with
insightful mystical intuition, he possesses a sobriety comparable in stylistic express-
ion to that of Ibn 'Abbad of Ronda (d. 1390), complemented by a social conscience
and political concerns akin to Ibn Khaldiun(d. 1406). As a social theorist, how-
ever, he is certainly less enlightened than as a mystic. While his theories of
human society, especially as expounded in the third book (pp. 115-144), devoted
to 'The Supports of Civilization (the irtifdqat)', have been compared to Ibn Khalduin,
they have none of the same originality. His attitude to society and government
is dry, uninspiring,outdated and has nothing to contributeto modern political science
or social theory. In the manner of an artisan making the same hackneyed trinket
fashioned by his father, he seconds his ancestral ways, apologizes for the abuses
of contemporarymonarchs,excludes slavery from the charityof his communal irtifdqdt,
justifying this abomination of humanity as part of the natural 'variations' in human
capacity, judging that some people are 'masters by nature' and others, 'foolish and
subordinate,servants by nature, who do whatever they are ordered to do'. Thus, for
this reason, 'The variations in the capacities of human beings requires that among
them are masters by nature, who are the most intelligent, independent in their
livelihood, and who by nature possess strategy and luxury; and there are servants
by nature who are foolish and subordinates who do whatever they are ordered to
do. The livelihood of one can only be achieved through the other, and cooperation
in both the pleasant and the disagreeablecan only occur if they reconcile themselves to
continue this relationship' (p. 125).

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It is interesting that exactly at the same time that this Indian jurisprudent-cum-mystic
was arguing that the livelihood of the slave-master can be achieved only through use of
slaves, Wall Allah's contemporary Samuel Johnson (1709-1775) railed against this same
doctrine.' Contrasting the 'slave mentality' to 'the rights of aristocrats', Wall Allah's
political elitism is exposed in his chapter on 'The Conduct of Kings' (pp. 132-133)
where he states that the king 'must deal with the people as the hunter deals with the wild
beast'. Statements such as these and many others of the same calibre and import offer
little intellectual sustenance for the Muslim masses of today's India and the Middle East
struggling to throw off the yoke of ayatollahs and military dictators, while agonizing
over how to reconcile the precepts of Islam with modern democractic ideals.2
Aristocratic elitism also pervades all his socio-religious theories. 'Islam' should be
forced to prevail by way of the sword over all other religions until the 'universal
caliphate' is established. As an absolute dictator of public morals, the true religious
leader (imam) must impose his own brand of 'Islamic' truth by force. He

must make his religion predominate over all other religions ... he must not leave [i.e.
tolerate] anyone unless religion [i.e. Islam] has gained ascendancy over him, whether he
is a respected notable, or a humble insignificant one. Thus, people are transformed into
three groups: those who submit to the religion [i.e. Islam], outwardly and inwardly; those
who submit outwardly-despite their defiance they cannot deviate from it; and the
despicable unbelievers whom he makes use of in harvesting, threshing, and other works,
as he makes use of animals to plough and carry heavy burdens. A way of curbing them
is necessary, and they pay the jizya tax and are humbled ... He should restrict people so
that they do not publically practise the rituals of those other religions ... that the Muslims
are neither made equal to the unbelievers in punishment and blood-money, nor in
marriages, nor in leadership positions, in order that this will drive these others to the true
faith. (pp. 343-344)3

Wall Allah here falls into the mould of so many mystics whose social and
political views tend, over time, to seem less relevant and more dated than their
theosophical ones. Compared to their theosophical opinions, the social and
political speculations of mystics are often of minor value simply because the
latter tend to mimic blindly the conventional attitudes and wisdom (rasm) of
their day and age, whereas the former are generated from a deeper level of their
being, the result of a direct intuitive vision of Reality, the inspiration of which
is always relevant.
Apropos of this latter-visionary-aspect of Shah Wall Allah's personality,
certain chapters of this work certainly deserve to be featured in any anthology
of the 'spiritual classics' of eighteenth-century Indian Sufi mystical thought.
Among these, chapter XLI, on 'Belief in Predestination', contains one of the
1 When his biographerJames Boswell maintainedthat 'to abolish the tradewould be to shut the gates of mercy
on mankind',and constitute 'robberyto an innumerableclass of our fellow-subjects [i.e. English sugar-traders
andplantationowners]',Johnsonrightfullyinsistedon toastinghis Oxfordcontemporariesto 'thenext insurrection
of the negroes in the West Indias'. Boswell then accused the great English writer of having 'zeal without
knowledge!' James Boswell, The Life of SamuelJohnson (New York: the ModernLibrary,n.d.), p. 749.
2 It is unfortunatethat
things have not changed much since the time of Wall Allah, so that even today most
expositions of human rights in Islam are still seemingly articulatedin a hermeneuticalvacuum, consistently
overlookingthe problemsof slavery,anddiscriminationagainstwomen andnon-Muslims.See 'AbdullahiAhmed
An-Na'im, 'Shari'a and Basic Human Rights Concerns', in C. Kurzman(ed.) Liberal Islam: A Sourcebook
(Oxford:Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 227-234.
3 For a
thoroughstudy of Shah Wall Allah's political theories about the killing of infidels, and descriptionsof
his open hostility to Shi'ites and Hindus, see S.A.A. Rizvi, Shah Walf-Allahand his Times (Canberra:Ma'rifat
Publishing House, 1980), chapter6.

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clearest mystico-theologicaldiscussions of the doctrine of jabr to date, success-

fully integrating Qur'anic dicta, prophetic traditions and original theological
speculation with Wall Allah's own mystical experience. The subtleties of
thought and the originality of his mystical experience exhibited in this chapter
as well as the following eight chapters (XLII-XLIX; pp. 203-231-on such
themes as the inner meanings of ritual ablution, pilgrimmage, fasting, and
prayer)are extremely insightful, making this book indispensablereading for all
those who seriously meditate on the intricacies of Islamic mystical thought.
The fascinating discussion of the reasons behind the specific timing of hours
of prayerin Islam and other religions in chapterLXI on 'The Inner Meaning of
the Appointed Times' may also be mentioned in this context. Prayers are best
performedat their appointedhours because these are 'times at which a spreading
of spiritualenergy takes place on the earthand a force from the World of Images
flows through it. There is no better time for the acceptance of acts of worship
than these times, for then, at the least effort, a great door is opened for the
animalistic to obey the angelic' (pp. 287-288).
Likewise, his chapterLXIII on 'The Inner Meanings of Making Up (Qada')
(for Missed Religious Obligations or Receiving Dispensations (Ruksa) (to
Diminish Them)' raises an important topic neglected by most classical Siufi
mystics: why the mission of the Prophetand the first four caliphs was directed
more at establishing the forms of faith than explicating the inner dimensions of
these forms.
PerhapsWall Allah's most significant contributionto comparativemysticism
lies in his chapterLVII (pp. 262-270), on 'The Causes of the Revelation of the
Divine Laws Relating to One Age Ratherthan Another, and One People Rather
than Another', which approaches the problem of religious diversity from the
perspectiveof Ibn 'Arabi,4and which is particularlyinterestingin its explication
of the role of language and imaginationin the constructionof religious truthand
symbolism. In this regard, the following passage comes to mind:
In those countries where elephants and other animals of ugly appearance are found, the
visitation of the jinn and the frightenings of the devil appear to the (local) inhabitants in
the form of these animals, while this is not so in other countries. In those (countries) in
which certain things are extolled, and in which are found certain fine foods and types of
clothings, blessings, and the joy of angels are represented to their inhabitants in these
forms while it is not so in other countries. Another example is that when an Arabic
speaker is about to do something, or intends to take a certain road, and he hears the word
'the guided' or 'the successful', it is an indication of the auspiciousness of what he is
turning to, but not for the non-Arabic speaker ... Similarly, in the divine laws are
expressed branches of knowledge accumulated among the people and beliefs internalized
by them, and customs which literally flow in their veins. (p. 265)
According to this Indo-Muslim mystic-cum-sociologist, the revelation of the
Sharfa is shaped by the culturalsubstratumof innate and inheritedbeliefs upon
which it is based. A psychological interface appears between the truth of the
three messengers of the Semitic monotheisms and the diversity of religious
culturesto which they are sent, in so far as 'Whatis consideredin the revelation
of the divine laws is not only the branchesof knowledges, [sic.] conditions and
beliefs (which come to be) representedin their hearts, but rather,more greatly
4 On
which, see WilliamChittick'sexcellent study:IimagiodlWorlds:Ibnal-'Ar-abiandthe Problemof Religiolls
Diversity (Albany: SUNY, 1994): also cf. my review of this work in JAOS. CXVIII (2) (1998), pp. 293-295.

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considered than these, and having precedence over them are things which are
innate in their make-up to which their minds are impelled, whether they realize
it or not' (p. 266).
Viewed from his perspective of 'ilm al-batin, there are certain elements in the
Sharla, states the Saint of God, that are tailor-made for the Arab subconscious,
or better said: the Arab subconscious itself shapes the thinking underlying the
formation of the Sharfla. A perspective quite similar to this has been recently
elaborated by the Sudanese philosopher Mahmoud Mohamed Taha (executed by
Numeiri in 1985) in his work entitled The Second Message of Islam.5 Ultimately,
it is this kind of cross-cultural visionary ecumenism, rather than his social
theories, which remains the timeless portion of Shah Wall Allah's thought. From
such a standpoint, we can reconcile-mystically speaking-what Rum1 calls
'diverse religious perspectives (na;argah)' (Mathnawl, III: 1353), as emanations
of one prophetic light of consciousness, perceiving what they have in common
and what makes them distinct from one another. Indeed, as Rizvi stated, 'Shah
Wall-Allah's major contribution to Islam lay in extending the spirit of ihsan to
all aspects of life from which not only Shi'is and Sunnis but the whole of
humanity can benefit'.6
CENTRE OF NEAR AND MIDDLE
EASTERN STUDIES, SOAS LEONARD LEWISOHN

DAS OSMANISCHEREICH IN SEINEN ARCHIVALIENUND CHRONIKEN,NE-

JAT GOJUN(~ ZU EHREN. Edited by KLAUSKREISERand CHRISTOPH
NEUMANN.
Stuttgart,Kommissionbei FranzSteiner Verlag, 1997. xxxiii + 327 pp., BeiruterTexte
und Studien, Band 65, TurkischeWelten, Band 1

One of the joys of scholars studying the history of the OttomanEmpire is that there is
so much to study and that this study in almost all its aspects challenges the intellect and
stimulatesthe imagination.The OttomanEmpire was big and written sources are found
in librariesand archives all over the world, most densely of course in the area it once
covered, from the Balkans to Arabiaand from northAfrica to the Ukraine. Sources less
used or conspicuous are paintings(miniatures)and other artefactssuch as coins. To limit
myself to the writtencategory, the sources contain writings in a spate of languages and
in various alphabetsand scripts, and many of them are difficult to decipher and often
have not been touched since they were filed away. The book underdiscussion gives the
readeran attractiveimpressionof what much of this study-the disclosure and interpret-
ation of difficult documentation-is about. It contains essays by specialists in various
fields of Ottoman studies and all of them present in elaborate detail case studies of
limited scope but deep philological insight of the kind that is needed to decipher and
understandthe multifariousdocumentationavailable. Without such studies no progress
can be made, nor can new ideas and perspectives be explored. They also show, albeit
indirectly, how wrong far too many academic bureaucratshave been who, having
discovered the excitements of glossy advertisingand peaking sales graphs,think, if not
openly proclaim, that philology is 'stuffy' and a thing of the past somehow related to
cigar-smoking professors behind dusty desks, whereas in their opinion universities
5The SecondMessage of Islam.translatedby 'AbdullahiAhmedAn-Na'im(Syracuse:SyracuseUniversityPress,
1987). Unlike Wall Allah, however,Tahaarguesthatslaveryis not an originalpreceptin Islam(ibid,pp. 137-138).
6 Rizvi, SlIihah
Wcli-AllahI..., p. 397.

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