Out of about forty narratives, only one story in Rasa’il Ikhwan Al-Safa has been translated and studied by scholars of Muslim philosophy and literature—the animal fable translated by Lenn E. Goodman and Richard McGregor. Yet the epistles of the Brethren of Purity, a tenth-century neoplatonic sect in Basra, are a goldmine of allegories and tales. This paper discusses the types of narrative used by the Ikhwan, the sources of these narratives and the ways in which they are used in the text. The Ikhwan’s narratives range from the imaginative to the mundane, some spanning many pages and some taking up less than one page. Narratives sometimes appear to be written by the Ikhwan, and in some cases derive from Greek, Christian, Jewish and Buddhist sources. In some places the Ikhwan follow an allegory with an explanation, telling the reader what each character and event represents. In other places they leave the narrative without any reference as to their purpose, or, when they tell more than one story, why they chose to illustrate their point with three tales rather than one. The narratives in the Rasa’il raise many questions, some about larger issues such as whether narratives are used to hide truth or to reveal it to the masses. The stories also raise more specific questions, such as in the story of the sons of Isaac and Nimrod and the hunting garment, where the Ikhwan tell their readers that the story is well known to all Jews because it appears in their sacred text. Yet the story is nowhere to be found in the Torah, the Talmud, the Midrash or even in the Israiliyyat literature. Thus one is left to wonder, why did the Ikhwan attribute this story to the Jews and what does this tell us about their work? I will provide examples of the Ikhwan’s use of Jewish and Buddhist narratives, discussing their sources and the relevance of the narratives' origins. While most of these stories advocate an ascetic lifestyle, they do not always connect directly or obviously to the materials in the chapter in which they appear. The paper then revolves around the question: Does the use of a story from a non-Muslim tradition have some bearing on the meaning of the story and the chapter in which it appears, or does it only further the Ikhwan’s agenda of seeking truth wherever it may be found?

In the midst of thirteenth century debates about how and what one ought to study, the translator and belletrist Abraham Ibn Hasday asserted the pedagogical value of parables. Ibn Hasday did not rely on discursive arguments to assert that truth could be reached through proper training in the interpretation of parables. Rather, he illustrated this epistemology in a literary framework: his Hebrew translation of the popular Arabic tales of the Buddha (Kitab Bilawhar wa-Budasaf). As in the Arabic version, Ibn Hasday’s Book of the Prince and the Ascetic (Sefer ben ha-melekh we ha-nazir) presents a series of parables framed by the story of a prince who yearns for knowledge and the ascetic who guides his philosophical quest. Yet beyond these similarities, Ibn Hasday’s version is anything but a literal translation of the Arabic. By composing the text in the rhymed prose of the maqama genre, adding and adapting parables, and weaving biblical allusions into the narrative, Ibn Hasday reshaped the text to articulate his epistemological perspective. This paper focuses on the literary and pedagogical aspects of the sixth chapter of the Book of the Prince and the Ascetic, in which the prince recognizes the limits of his knowledge, seeks out a teacher, and initiates a course of study. Throughout the chapter, Ibn Hasday emphasizes the moral, political, and spiritual instruction that parables provide. He redefines wisdom as the ability to interpret figurative speech by alluding to the wise youth of Proverbs 1:1-7. He demonstrates the prince’s predisposition toward wisdom by relating his insightful interpretation of the tales of the prophet Joseph and King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. His text depicts parables as conveyors of practical and esoteric knowledge, and offers its readers a model for how to identify the deeper meaning of stories. Scholars such as Ross Brann and David Segal have explored the function of biblical allusion in Jewish belles-lettres in Islamic Spain. This paper extends their contributions by analyzing the flexibility and potency of allusions to biblical wisdom literature in specifically philosophical texts. By treating the Jewish version of a widely attested Muslim work, this paper also addresses literature as a mechanism of adapting Arabic and Islamic thought to varied linguistic and cultural contexts.

Narrative Textures in Ibn `Arab?’s Accounts of Spiritual Ascent Several premodern Muslim philosophers and mystics utilized the narrative structures and themes of the traditional account of the Prophet Mu?ammad’s nocturnal journey (al-mi`r?j) and ascent to heaven (al-isr?’) to create their own versions of spiritual ascent. Such writers have represented and configured this story differently, in accordance with their doctrinal positions and reflecting of their artistic predilections and interests. The Andalusian mystic, Mu?y?’ al-Din ibn Arab? (d. 638/1240), composed three versions of this ascent narrative: Chapter 367 of his magnum opus al-Fut???t al-Makkiyya (Meccan Revelations), Ris?lat al-anw?r (Epistle of Lights), and Kit?b al-isr?’ il? al-maq?m al-asr?’ (Book of Ascent to the Farthest Station), as well as shorter references in other treatises. James W. Morris analyzed these accounts with a partial English translation of the al-Fut???t chapter in his two-part article in JOAS (1987-88) but did not devote much attention to the analysis of style and narrative texture. The focus of my paper is on the diverse ways that Ibn `Arab? uses style, dialogue, autobiographical information, and numerous references to the Qur’an and ?adith to structure and flavor his accounts of spiritual ascent. The version in R. al-anw?r is short and to the point. That of K. al-isr?’ is visionary and hermetic. The al-Fut???t account is the most varied, interspersing narrative, dialogue, Qur’anic and ?ad?th references, and explication. Together these three narratives present an overview of the stylistic palette that this mystic relied on to present and formulate his ideas. There has been little study of style and narrative texture—the use of imagery, metaphor, inter-reference, analogy, parable, etc.—in the study of premodern Arabic literature. Few authors are as variegated and complex in their style as Ibn `Arab?, whose works can be challenging and complex because of the diverse ways that he uses language and multifaceted textural references. Comparison and analysis of the author’s use of language, style, and narrative structure among these three texts illuminates the techniques that he employs in conveying his ideas. It also expands our understanding of what allegorical narrative is and can be since it offers a striking contrast to the use of language in such philosophical narratives as Ibn S?na’s Ris?lat al-?ayr (Epistle of the Bird) or Ibn ?ufayl’s ?ayy ibn Yaqz?n). As such it provides additional perspectives to the study of style and structure in premodern Islamic allegory.

In Avicenna and the Visionary Recital, Henry Corbin argues that no philosophical connection exists between Avicenna’s epistle Hayy ibn Yaqz?n and Ibn Tufayl’s philosophical allegory that bears the same name. This paper will challenge this thesis by showing that both treatises put forward the thesis that true experience of the divine consists in the full actualization of human nature and that the essence of human nature consists in hermeneutics (ta’w?l). The first part of the paper, in line with Henry Corbin’s thesis, suggests that Avicenna metaphorically uses physiognomy to refer to interpretation. In turn, interpretation in this context refers to interpreting the universal forms thought by the intellect in relation to the world of sense of experience. This thesis will be reinforced through a brief examination of the Bird Recital and the Recital of Salm?n and Abs?l. To further underpin this thesis the discussion turns to Avicenna’s argument regarding the connection between physics and metaphysics. As Gutas argues, Avicenna criticized Aristotle’s metaphysics because its arguments were based on the principle of motion, the principle of physics. Proper metaphysics has to be strictly separated from the domain of physics. But there must be a link between physics and metaphysics or the separable and inseparable parts of the soul. The paper argues that this link consists in interpretation (ta‘w?l). Through interpretation humanity is fulfilled by harmonizing the physical and metaphysical dimensions of the soul. The second part of the paper turns to Ibn Tufayl’s version of Hayy ibn Yaqz?n. It first shows how Ibn Tufayl combines both Platonic and Aristotelian motifs in his account of Hayy’s discovery of the necessary existent or God and the possibility of communion with Him. The discussion then poses a question with regards to language. Hayy who emerges in a sequestrated setting on a deserted island arrives at all of these metaphysical truths in the complete absence of language and its logical structure. The argument will thereby be made that Hayy achieved ultimate experience of the necessary existent through the actualization of his essence as a human. Through an examination of the text, it will be shown that this essence is the hermeneutical essence delineated by Avicenna.