A fascinating story. Author Bernard Lewis gives us all the names. Being American my habit has been to sound them out, which makes the reading slower bA fascinating story. Author Bernard Lewis gives us all the names. Being American my habit has been to sound them out, which makes the reading slower but makes comprehension richer. It was good to learn more about the Muslim faith. The Assassins were Ismaili Shi’ites, and this book extrapolates the particulars of belief that set the Ismailis apart as a sect.
Here’s a key quote. If this doesn’t whet your whistle for the subject matter, nothing will.
“The [ancient] historians tell several stories, the purpose of which is to explain — perhaps to justify — Saladin's tolerance of the Assassins. On one occasion, it is said, the Sultan sent a threatening letter to the Assassin chief. His reply was as follows: 'We have read the gist and details of your letter, and taken note of its threats against us with words and deeds, and by God it is astonishing to find a fly buzzing in an elephant's ear and a gnat biting statues. Others before you have said these things and we destroyed them and none could help them. Will you then annul the truth and give aid to the false? "Those who have done wrong will know to what end they will revert." [Qur'an, xxvi, 228]. If indeed your orders have gone forth to cut off my head and tear my castles from the solid mountains, these are false hopes and vain fantasies, for essentials are not destroyed by accidentals, as souls are not dissolved by diseases. . . . We are oppressed and not oppressors, deprived and not deprivers. When "the truth comes the false vanishes; verily the false is apt to vanish." [Qur'an, xvil, 23]. You know the outward aspect of our affairs and the quality of our men, what they can accomplish in an instant and how they seek the intimacy of death. "Say: - Wish then for death if you speak truth." [Qur’an, ii, 88]. The common proverb says: "Do you threaten a duck with the river?" Prepare means for disaster and don a garment against catastrophe; for I will defeat you from within your own ranks and take vengeance against you at your own place . . . .’” (p. 115)...more
I find it interesting how Marco Polo's description of the Middle East of more than 700 years ago is pretty much a reflection of the way it is today. TI find it interesting how Marco Polo's description of the Middle East of more than 700 years ago is pretty much a reflection of the way it is today. That is to say, in thrall to the same old tribal passions. Sad, that. The text is perhaps most remarkable for its narrator's incuriousness. We know the richness of these regions from the writings of subsequent travelers and historians, but Polo makes them all seem strikingly similar. The narrative is thin and repetitive. The only thing that makes the text special is its provenance. Not without interest, but too repetitive to sustain my own. Stopped reading page 200....more
This book is marketed as a Muslim perspective on the Frankish invasions of the 12 century (i.e. the Crusades). There is certainly much in it about speThis book is marketed as a Muslim perspective on the Frankish invasions of the 12 century (i.e. the Crusades). There is certainly much in it about specific battles against the Christian invaders, but it's very much an "on the ground" perspective. It's no survey text. If you've read Steven Runciman (or Christopher Tyerman) you can distinguish the various battles and periods of advance and retreat, and the writer's engagement with the major players of that time. But the book is much more than just a commentary on the Crusades.
Usama ibn Munqidh led this astonishing life as part of a rich Arab aristocracy. We get not only his view of the battles against the "Franks," as the invading westerners were known, but also the battles he was involved in against his Arab brothers. For this was an era of reigning municipalities reminiscent of the Greek poleis around the time of the Peloponnesian War, and there was frequent conflict.
There's an especially vivid sequence of hunting tales from his youth in and around his hometown Shayzar. I had trepidations when I noticed that the hunting stories were next, but they are in many ways the most fascinating stories in the book. He and his father hunted with hawk, peregrine falcon and cheetah. The tales are deeply moving. Munqidh's father would sleep with the cheetah in his room. That's how close he was to this animal. There are also episodes of lion hunting, or rather extermination, for such an animal close to populated areas was always a threat. There are also these incredibly moving reflections on old age.
Munqidh lived to be over 90. And there are 2 or 3 pages of thoughtful commentary on the loss of vitality and stamina at that age. The book has a non-linear timeline. In one vignette Usama is a lad on his pony following his father on the hunt. In another, in middle-age, he's marching in service to Nur al-Din, one of the great Arab military minds and long-time lord of Damascus. I highly recommend this astonishing book for all readers with an interest in the medieval Middle East (or Near East as it was once called). Like all good stories it holds one to the end....more
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