753
MUKADlMAH IBN KHALDUN
754
PELBAGAI MACAM ILMU PENGETAHUAN
755
MUKADIMAH IBN KHALDUN
756
PELBAGAI MACAM ILMU PENGETAHUAN
757
MUKADIMAH IBN KHALDUN
151 Dimaksud dengan ilmu al-bayan adalah ilmu-ilmu balaghah yang hni terbahagi
kepada tiga: al-bayan, al-ma'ani, dan al-badi' Dahulu perkataan 'al-bayan'
dinyatakan mencakup ketiga-tiga pembahasan ini secara seluruhnya.
152 b,i dalam bukunya 'Dalail ul-l'jas' dan 'Asrar al-Balaghah'.
153 Di dalaIh ~~gian dari bukunya 'al-Miftah'.
758
PELBAGAI MACAM ILMU PENGETAHUAN
759
MUKADIMAH IBN KHALDUN
760
PELBAGAI MACAM ILMU PENGETAHUAN
761
MUKADIMAH IBN KHALDUN
762
PELBAGAI MACAM ILMU PENGETAHUAN
156 Dipetik: daripada finnan Allah s.w.t: "Dan siapa yang disesat;kan Allah, maka
tidak seorang pun dapat memberi petunjuk b~ginya; dan barang siapa yang
diberi petunjuk oleh Allah, maka tidak seorang pun dapat menyesatkannya".
(Al-Quran, surah 39 atau az-Zumar, ayat 36-37).
763
IBN KHALDUN
THE MUQADDIMAH
An Introduction to HistolY
FRANZ ROSENTHAL
IN THREE VOLUMES
vi
Speech and the Communication of Thought
section for one page, then starts on a left-hand page with this section, which ia\
thus characterized as a later insertion. The section is incorporated in the text
of D. Cr. also pp. 406 f., above.
1112 Or "herrneneutics."
281
Chapter VI: Section 33
from that of (the Muq.ar Arabs). Both have their own general
norms, which are evolved inductively from their (ways of
linguistic) expression, and are different from the norms of the III, 244
other ( group). Those who do not know the habits of (lin-
guistic) expression often are mistaken (about the relation-
ship between the language of the I:Iimyar and that of the
other Arabs).
Another script is the Syrian script. This is the writing of
the N abataeans and Chaldeans. Ignorant people often think
that because the (Nabataeans and Chaldeans) were the most
powerful 1114 nations (in antiquity), and the (Syri2~n script) is
of great antiquity, it is the natural script (whereas all other
scripts are conventional ones). This is a fanciful, vulgar idea.
No action resulting from choice is a natural one. The fact is
simply that (the Syrian script 1115 is) so old and was used for
so long that it became a firmly rooted habit, thought by the
observer to be a natural one. Many simpletons have. the same
idea 1116 about the Arabic language. They say that the Arabs
express themselves in good Arabic and speak (it) by nature.
This is a fanciful (idea) .1117
Another script is the Hebrew script. It is the writing of
the children of Eber, the son of Shelah, who are Israelites,
and of other (people).
Another script is the Latin script, the script of the Latin
Byzantines (Romans). They also have their own language.
Each nation has its own particular form of writing, which
is attributed to it in particular. (This applies,) for instance,
to the Turks, the European Christians, the Indians, and
others. (However,) only three scripts are of interest. First,
Syrian, because of its antiquity, as we have mentioned.
Then, there are Arabic <and Hebrew>,1118 since the Qur'an
1114 C and D: aqdar. This may be the more original text as compared with
aqdam "most ancient," which appears in the Paris edition, but C and D have
unusually many mistakes in this· section.
1115 It may, however, be that Ibn Khaldun is thinking here in general
terms rfther than singling out the example of the "Syrian script."
1116 The MSS. C and D have a meaningless r's kabtr.
1117 Cf. pp. 343 and 359, below.
1118 C and D omit "and Hebrew."
283
Chapter VI: Section 33
and the Torah were revealed in the Arabic and Hebrew scripts
and languages, respectively. These two scripts came to be
(the medium of) communication for the texts (written in
them, that is, the Qur'an and the Torah).1119 There arose very
early an interest in works composed in them, and norms for
expressing oneself in that language 1120 according to its par-
ticular method (uslab) 1121 were set forth, so that the obliga-
tions of the religious law might be properly deduced from
the divine speech of (the Qur'an).
Then, (thirdly) there is Latin, the language of the Byzan-
HI,245 tine (Romans). When they adopted Christianity, which, as
mentioned at the beginning of this book,1122 is entirely based
upon the Torah, they translated the Torah and the books of
the Israelite prophets into their language, in order to be able
to derive the law from (Scripture) as easily as possible. Thus,
they came to be more interested in their own language and
writing than (in) any other.
The other scripts are of no interest. Every people em-
ploys its own particular kind of script.
1122 Cf. 1:476 if., above, or <Ibar, II, 148? C and D have a meaningless
al-kitabah.
1123 According to p. ~87, below, the following statement goes back to
Aristotle. Parallels to it are found quoted in F. Rosenthal, 'The 'Technique and
Approach of Muslim Scholarship (Analecta Orientalia, No. ~4) (Rome, 1947),
pp. 64 if. It may be noted that the statement of al-<Almawl quoted there goes
back to the <Arirjat al-al;wadhl of Abu Bakr b. al-<Arab!, with whose work
Ibn Khaldun was very familiar. (Cf. 1:446, above, and p. 303, below.)
Discussions of this sort can be found as early as the ninth century. Cr. al-
Khuwarizml, Algebra, ed. F. Rosen (London, 1831), p. ~; L. C. Karpinski,
"Robert of Chester's Translation of the Algebra of al-Khowarizmi" in Con-
tributions to the History of Science, p. 46. No explanation seems readily
available for the ascription of the passage to Aristotle. The introductions to
Aristotelian philosophy, which would seem to be the most likely source, do
not discuss the subject.
284
The Seven Aims of Scholarly Authorship
person ought not to do. God "guides to the things that are
most correct.'~ 1132
[ 34 ] 'Ihe great number cif scholarly works (available)
is an obstacle on the path to attaining scholar-
ship.
It should be known that among the things that are harm-
ful to the human quest for knowledge and to the attainment
of a thorough scholarship are the great number of works
(available), the large variety in technical terminology (needed
for purposes) of instruction, and the numerous (different)
methods (used in those works) .1133 The student is required
to have a ready knowledge of (all) that. Only then is he
considered an accomplished scholar.
Thus, the student must know all the (works), or most of
them, and observe the methods used in them.1134 His whole
lifetime would not suffice to know all the literature that
exists in a single discipline, (even) if he were to devote him-
self entirely to it. Thus, he must of necessity fall short of
attaining scholarship.
For the Malikite school of jurisprudence, this (situation)
may be exemplified, for instance, by the Mudawwanah, its
legal commentaries, such as the books of Ibn Y unus, al-
Lakhmi, and Ibn Bashir, and the notes and introductions (to
it).1135 Or (one may take) the sister work of the Mudaw-
wanah, the Utblyah and the work written on it (by Ibn Rushd
t
288