ASPECTS OF THE FATIM~D PHILOSOPHY

This is the final contribution to a series about the FHtimids. It is hoped that enough can be said in this short article to arouse curiosity about the Fiifimid philosophy, although a large volume would be needed to deal with the subject in a thoroughgoing way. During the early years of Isliim there was no interest in science or metaphysics, as the Muslims believed that knowledge came by means of revelation rather than by philosophical reasoning. This attitude of mind, however, lasted but a short time. Evcn during the Umayyad period one of the princes named KhPlid ibn-Yazid eniployed some Egyptian scholars to translate Coptic and Greek texts about alchemy, medicine and astronomy. 1 Then, during the early years of the [Abbisid rule Al-Bafriq made trial translations of some of the works of Euclid, Hippocrates, Ptolemy and Galen, while Ibn-BakhtisWC and his pupils came to Baghd5d from JundishPpCir to teach Greek medicine. When HPrCin al-Rashid established a hospital (biiiziirist&n) at his capital, it was a great stimulus to medical learning. I n the meantime, al-Faziri translated works on Sanskrit mathematics and astronomy. H e also introduced the Indian numerals and the astrolabe. The fifth section of the seventh chapter of Kit& ul-Fihrist gives the names of so many early translators and scientists that one can appreciate the importance of this intellectual awakening at Baghdfid. The renaissance was given special stimulus when the Caliph alMamiin founded the Bayt al-Hikmah, which served Arab BaghdHd as the Museum served Hellenistic Alexandria. This event took place in A.D. 830, sixteen years after the death of Charlemagne. This Bayt al-Hikmah, or House of Wisdom, included a library, a center for advanced study and a translation bureau. The scientific movement spread from this center to Egypt, where the first hospital was founded at the time of ibn-Tiiliin who was the governor from A.D. 868 to 9 5 . Hunayn ibn-Ishlq, his son and his Nestorian associates took the lead in translating into Arabic many Greek and Roman works on medicine, the natural sciences, mathematics and philosophy. These scholars were followed by Thiibit ibn-Qurrah and a group of Sibian pagans from HarrHn, as well as by a number of Monophysite Christians. By the time that the Fstimids started higher education in their palace and at al-JHmiCal-Azhar in al-QHhirah during the second half of the tenth century, the Muslims were acquainted with most of the
Information for the summary of hlrislim Philosophy has been taken chiefly from : K h i b al-Fikrist. Ihn at-Nadini Gustav Fliigel (Leipzig, 1871); W n f a y d t al-ACydn, Ibn-Khallikln (Maymiiniyyah Press, 1888) and Ibn-Khallikans Biographical Dictionary, Edit. de Slane, (Paris 1843) ; L e s Prnsctrrs d r PIsl&i, Carra de Vaux, (Geuthner 1921);A Literary History of tlzr Arabs, R. A. Nicholson (T. Fisher Unwin 1923); History of the Arabs, Philip K . Hitti (Macmillan 1949) ; F i Adab Mi$r al-F@iniyyah and al-Mnjdlis nl-Mustnn~iriyyah, Mohamed Kame1 uussain, (Dir al-Fikr al-CArabi).
I82

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great scientific works of the Greeks, Romans, Indians and Persians, including the metaphysical theories of the Greek philosophers. The members of the IsmiCilimovement in general and the FfiIimids in particular were greatly interested in these scientific and ph,ilosophical studies. In A.D. 1005 the Fitimid Caliph al-Hikim founded the D i r al-Hikmah at Cairo, to rival the Bayt al-Hikmah at BaghdHd. As two famous astronomers named CAliibn-Yiinus and Ibn-al-Haytham were attached to his court, he also built an observatory on the Muqattam Hills. One of the subjects which greatly appealed to the Muslims was metaphysics, which was often studied with the other sciences. During the first half of the ninth century al-Kindi, who was called the Philosopher of the Arabs, became interested in metaphysics, especially in Neo-Platonic interpretations of Plato and Aristotle. About the same time al-Firibi devoted himself in a particular way to a study of Aristotle and attempted to harmonize his ideas with those of Plato. He also endeavored to coordinate Greek metaphysical ideas with the revelations of Islim. Unfortunately he believed that a NeoPlatonic treatise on the theology of Aristotle was written by the great philosopher himself, so that he had a distorted conception of Aristotles works. The great medical authority al-Rizi also was interested in metaphysics. He asserted the existence of five eternal principles : the Creator, the Soul, Matter, Time and Space. For him the world was not eternal, but created as the result of these principles. T o escape from the world man must use his intelligence. Although the FHfimids were not greatly influenced by the metaphysics of al-Rizi, there is a similarity between some of his ideas and their own. They were also indebted to him because of his brilliant achievements in the realm of medicine. They were probably more directly influenced by Ibn-Sins, who was the son of an IsmHCiliand lived from A.D. g80 to 1037.It was he who brought philosophy to its true fruition at the end of four centuries of Muslim development. His system combined Neo-Platonic and Aristotelian theories with Persian mysticism. H e wrote books on metaphysics in addition to his great medical Qiniin and his works on the other sciences. H e believed that truth must be obtained by intuition, as it cannot be proved. He had a new conception of the finite, or positive being, and of the infinite, necessary being. The finite can exist only in relation to the infinite. Reality becomes known through a process of derivation, as the finite is evolved from the infinite. Ibn-Sin2 believed that the first stage of emanation was the flowing out of the first intelligence from God. But his other steps in creation were SO complicated by mathematical principles that they had little influence on Fitimid reasoning about this particular matter. Muslim thought as a whole was greatly affected by the teachings of al-Ghazziili, but as he lived in I r i n after the golden period of Fifimid

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learning, the important FLlimid scholars in Egypt were not greatly influenced by his ideas. The great philosophers of Andalusia, ibn-Blj jah, ibn-Tufayl, ibnRushd and Maimonides, also lived too late to make important contributions to FLfiniid metaphysics. When the Muslims studied Aristotle they found themselves facing a dilemma. The basic belief in Isl%mis unity, whereas Aristotle fails to give a comprehensive view of the universe which confirms the idea of Oneness. H e thought of matter as eternal and therefore not one with God. How, therefore, could God as pure intelligence create or affect human individuals and the sensory phenomena ? From what has already been said it is clear that many of the Muslim philosophers turned to Neo-Platonism for their answer. Thus they held the theory that, in connection with phenomena apart from God, being is distinct from existence. God is the source of being and from Him the empirical world flows like a stream of being. Plotinus explained these principles to his fellow Neo-Platonists by saying that there emanates from the Original Being the NOUS or Intellect, which is the Idea or archytype of all sensible phenomena. The contact between the Nous and the finite world is made by another emanation called Universal Soul which embraces innumerable individual souls. Thus the universe is a stream of being, emanating from God, the inexhaustible source. Moreover, a law of causation runs through the universe, determining everything potent as soon as it becomes actual. Thus the material human mind gains the power of though.t, and by divine inspiration the mind of the prophet is given exceptional knowledge. Although the Fiitimid philosophers were directly affected by these ideas, they did not accept Plotinus doctrine that the soul must find freedom from matter and return to God by means of mystical ecstasy. One of the most important expressions of these theories was a collection of writings called The Epistles (RascPil) of the Brothers of Purity which became known at the end of the tenth century and summed up the Muslim knowledge of science and philosophy. 2 They were written under the auspices of a society known as Ikhwan a l - S a f 2 wa Klzullnn al-wufa. Some of the IsmPCilitraditions claim that this society was started by Abd-Alllh, the grandson of the sixth ShiCite Imam, as a fraternity for his propaganda agents and that his son, Ahmad, known as al-Wafi, wrote many of the treatises.
Les Penseurs de PIslam, Tome IV, pp.
102; A

Guide to Ismaili Literature,

V. A. Ivanow (Journal of the Royal Asiatic SOC.1933), pp. 3 0 , 3 1 ; Arabic Thought

ASPECTS OF THE FATIMID P H I L O S O P H Y

1 8 5

A leading authority in Cairo thinks that this society may have been formed by IsmHCiliagents who were centered at al-Basrah, with alKirmHni as their leader and the principal author of their treatises. Although we do not really know who the Brothers of Purity were, it seems certain that they had an intimate connection with the IsmScili movement. * Casanova confirmed this fact when he wrote, I believe it to be the truth when I say that the philosophical doctrines of the IsmiCiiiyahare contained in their entirety in the Epistles of the Brothers of Purity. 3 There were fifty-two of these treatises, arranged in four groups and containing a summary of the scientific and philosophical studies, which were current at the time when the Fgfimids were turning al-Azhar and DHr al-Hikmah into centers of learning. A separate composition in two volumes called Al-Risdah al-Jamicah formed an esoteric and philosophical synopsis of the longer work. Although the Brothers of Purity were influenced by mysticism, their aim was to emancipate the soul from matter by means of intellect rather than by ecstasy. They did not do away with the Qurgn, but they realized that it had to be supplemented if it was to win the respect of non-Muslim scholars. As they did not wish to upset simple people by metaphysical discussion, they limited their activities to an intellectual Plite. In the same way the Fiifiinids did not allow their philosophy to interfere with the studies which were based upon the QurHn. They rather built on the conventional Muslim sciences a superstructure of learning for the elite, composed of scientific and metaphysical material. Like the Brothers of Purity they also encouraged the acquisition of knowledge by reason in the place of mystical practices. The following passages from Ivanows writings throw a great deal of light on the Fifimid system. With the Fltimids All mysticism, belief in miracles, wild eschatological, cosmogonical, and other fantasies, are rigorously excluded. The FHfimid theology, in the proper sense of the word, in what is perhaps not very correctly called esoteric doctrine, naturally intended only for the properly educated brains of the community, was a religious philosophy, surprisingly rationalistic and modern in spirit. It was a synthetic system in which Aristotle and Plato, the data of Greek science, and the methods of Greek philosophy were all mobilized to produce a rationalistic basis, interpretation, and justification of the revealed doctrine of IslHm. 4

* (For another interpretation of this theory see article in this issue by IsmHCil RHgi al-Farfiqi. Ed.) Journal Asiatique (1898), pp. 151. The present day IsmHCilis call the Epistles al-RasPil al-Sharifah and The Ladder of Salvation. (See A Guide to Ismaili Literature, pp. 30, 31.) 4 The Alleged Founder of Ismailism, V. A. Ivanow (Thacker, Bombay, 1946), PP. 140, 141.

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Like other Islamic systems the FPifimid metaphysics began with Allih. The first of the doctrines of Almighty God is knowledge of Him. The completion of this knowledge is His oneness. The character of His oneness is incompatible with any attribute. 5 The language of the QurJin is so poetic that it often uses metaphors which seem to imply that AllPh has hands, feet, eyes, ears and other human characteristics. The FPifimids rejected everything of an anthropomorphic character and interpreted these passages in a spiritual way. When, for instance, the Qurin said about God that His throne extendeth over the heavens and the earth, the word throne was interpreted as knowledge and knowledge in turn was identified with an emanation from God. 6 The Fifimid dogma upholds belief in One transcendent Deity, beyond the comprehension of mortals in its substance, which is inexplicable because our definitions based on the experience of the material world are not applicable to It. 7 According to the Qurin, when Allih wills anything, H e has but to say the word Be, and it is. 8 In Fiifimid theory, the Arabic word BE is written with the consonants K and N. The first letter K stood for the first emanation from Allih, which was the Universal Intelligence (nZ-caqZal-awuZ). The second letter N stood for another emanation, which was the Universal Soul (al-nafs). All of the important FPtimid writers agreed that the creation of the finite from the infinite depended upon emanations, although they were not always clear about the nature and number of these outflowings from God. The emanation called Intelligence (aZ-aqZ) was also referred to as the9 Pen (al-qalam) and it resembled the Logos as a creative agent. Another emanation called the (Soul (al-nafs) or the Tablet (al-law&) was similar to the Universal Soul of the Neo-Platonists. According to some writers there were other emanations called Formless Matter (al-hayah), Temperament (d-@bicah), and Substance (al-jasm). Certain scholars stated that all of these emanations flowed forth simultaneously. They were reminiscent of al-RPzis five eternal principles, though actually different. The QurPn itself was not an emanation of Logos, rather the Speech of AlIPh, like Him pre-existent. This system of emanations, which formed a fundamental part of Fiiifimid metaphysics, has been described by OLeary in the following way. God is above all knowledge and above all of the categories of
Al-Sulayhiyyiin, Husayn al-HamdHni, (Al-Risslah Press, Cairo, I955), pp.
4$

Qurdn, I1 - 255 & XX - 5. Brief Survey o f the Evolution of Ismailism, V. A. Ivanow, (Brill, I952),

* QurJdn, I1 - 117. See also Fi Adab MiSr, pp. 10,11. (Al-Nafs was also called Nafs al-Kull and al-CAql al-ThHni.) FJ For al-Qalam see Qurdn, LXVIII - I & XCVI - 4. For al-Lawh, LXXXV - 22.

PP. 45.

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human thought. From God proceeds the aql, or intelligence, a complete spiritual emanation which contains in itself forms of all things, and from the aql proceeds the universal soul, and from the soul comes primal matter, and from that the universe proceeds. The universal soul permeates all matter and is itself sustained by the perpetual emanation of itself from the aql. This universal soul permeating all things yet remains one : but each individual thing has a part-soul having a varying degree of intellectual capacity. The union of soul and matter is temporary; by wisdom and faith the soul tends to be set free from its material fetters, and so to approach nearer to the present spirit or aql. The right aim in life is the emancipation of the soul from matter. 10 The most important treatise on the FStimid theory of emanations is Rdhah aLcaql by Ahmad Hamid al-Din al-KirmSni. The book is divided into seven parts, like the seven celestial spheres, so as to give an impression of universality. Worship has two phases : action and intelligence. This book deals with the phase of intelligence. It gives accounts of metaphysical subjects and weaves FStimid ideology into the philosophical reasoning in a subtle way. As al-Kirmtini knew the writings of Aristotle, Plato and the Neo-Platonists, his work was accepted by his contemporaries as an authoritative statement. I n order to understand the book it is necessary to realize that during the period when the members of the IsmSCili movement were being hunted by the police, they built up an elaborate system of symbolism and allegory. This system developed into a complex and mystic code of metaphysics which was imparted only to an intellectual elite. The contents of Rdhah al-aqE may seem to be fantastic, but we must remember that, instead of thinking in terms of modern astronomy and physics, the Mediaeval peoples thought in terms of concentric spheres to which the stars, planets, sun and moon were affixed. The forces which produce the rotation of the spheres were associated with the different emanations of the Divine Source of Being. 11 The superstitious people thought that not only angels, but also holy ascetics, guard the world and maintain its purity. To go one step further, each type of missionary agent (drici), who served the Fifimids and was a member of their hierarchy, had a symbolic connection with some realm of the physical universe. Thus Rahnh al-aql is an exceedingly complicated book, which can only be understood in connection with Mediaeval ideas and Fatimid ideology. As it was the authoritative statement of one of the leading officers of the F2timid regime, it is one of the most important existing descriptions of the Fitimid metaphysics. According to Rakah al-aql AllSh is not created. H e has no essence
Thought and its Place in History, pp. 165. of the Bombay Branch, Royal Asiatic Soc., (Arthur Pronsthain, London), Vol. 15, 1939, pp. 7, 8 .
lo Arabic l1 Journal

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or breadth. H e has no attribute or body; no thought or feeling; no form or substance. Nothing material emanates directly from Him. H e is not, therefore, knowing or temperamental. Nothing is similar to Him or opposite to Him. All5h is the first principle and out of His nature He turns nothingness into existence. He is A11Z.h and besides Him there is no deity. Non-existence is or Him inconsistent, for if H e were non-existent, phenomena would also be non-existent. The divine existence is therefore liie that of heat or motion, which only have being as they produce tangible effects. Gods existence does not reveal itself, as the philosophers say, by emanation, but rather by origination. Vatikiotis has explained this point by saying, Universal Reason or First Intelligence was created by God voluntarily and ex nihilo, outside of time and space. It was brought into being not through emanation (fay$) but through ibdn: an act of complete creation at once, having no previous similitude to itself . 12 Origination is not like the radiation of light from the sun, which depends upon a material basis, but like intelligence, which is inherent in a non-material and formless existence. According to the author of Rahah al-caql the potency in divine being (ibdfic) was the First Origination (al-mubda aZ-a.wwal), also called the First Intelligence (al-caql al-azerwal). Then there were the two outflowings from the First Origination, which the author explained by means of the following diagram. 13

The First Origination (al-mubdai al-azPrual)

The First Outflowing (d-munbdith UZ-OWU~) Also called the Second Intelligence and the Pen (al-qalum). Like the First Origination this was not contaminated by creation of matter, but denoted action and produced the angels and guardians of the world.

The Second Outflowing (al-munbucith uz-thrznz) Also called the Tablet (al-luwh.). It comprised Form (al-sarah) and Formless Matter (al-hayahi), denoting power; producing the natural firmament.

The spiritual existences and natural phenomena were derived from these two phases of creation.

Rahah al-caql gives a very long and complicated account to explain these processes of creation. It compares the Divine Being with the
The Fatimid Theory of State, P. J. Vatikiotis, (Orientalia, Lahore), pp. 81. The material about emanations is from Kitdb Rahah al-CAql, Ahmad Hamidal-Din al-KirmHni, Edit. Mohamed Kame1 Hussain & Mustafa Hilmy, (Brill 8.1 DHr al-Kutub al-Misri) 1952-1953).
la

ASPECTS OF THE FATIMID PHILOSOPHY

1%

center of a wheel, giving forth power, creation, knowledge, eternal time, unity, perfection, truth and other things. Numerous diagrams are given to illustrate the theories and to relate them to phases of Fiitimid ideology. When, for instance, motion occurred, it was in three aspects: origination, outflowing and happening, none of which existed in time. These gave being to the phenomena which do exist within the limits of time, one after another. Formless Matter (al-Hayala) and Form (aZ-Sfirah) are in essence a unity, but as substance they are multiple, both in the realm of nature and of religion. The realm of natural phenomena is the World of Divine Formation, while the realm of religion is the World of Prophetic Formation. These realms may be compared in accordance with the folowing sequences :

World of Nature
The Celestial Realm Sphere of Forms of Phenomena 3. Sphere of Saturn
I. 2.

World of Religion
Revelation (Quran) al-sharicalz Confession of Faith La i l a h illa Allah Ritual Purity (aZ-taCuzrah) Prayer (aZ-;alnt) Poor Tax (al-zakBt) The Fast ( a l - ; a m ) The Pilgrimage (aZ-hajj) The Holy War (al-jihad) Obedience (al-pZcah) The Lawful (aZ-haZciJ) The Taboo (aZ-harBm) Judgments (d-ahkdm)

4.

, ,
79

5. 6.

,, Jupiter ,, Mars

7.
8.

,, ,,
,I

,, the Sun ,, Venus

9.
10.
11.
12.

,, ,,

,, Fire

,,
,t

,, Air

13.

,,

,, Water ,, Earth

Rahah al-%ql gives long and intricate explanations of the interaction of fire, air, water and earth with minerals, plants and animals. There are also remarks about the intrinsic essence and religious significance of the human and prophetic souls. Mans brain begins as a tabula rasa and slowly develops in a way which suggests modern pragmatism. The relationships of the Prophet Muhammad, h.is son-in-law CAli, the Imiims and their propaganda agents are compared with the interactions of the organs of the body. Other comparisons between the spheres of nature and the FIrimid hierarchy have already been quoted in a previous article of this series. In addition to these metaphysical theories about emanation and creation, the Fiifimids had a doctrine similar to Platos theory of Ideas. In connection with this dogma they may have been influenced by Philo,

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when he conceived of God as a being without quality or movement, having contact with the finite world through an infinite variety of divine forces, which were similar to the Forms or Ideas of Plato. The unity of the individual ideas constituted the Logos or Intelligence, which was the first emanation and the creative force. Whether the FHfimids derived their theory of Ideas directly from Plato or through Philo, it was one of the important dogmas of their metaphysical system. In the QurrTn it is written, We have set forth for the people in this QurJ5n every kind of mathal that they may remember.14 As this word mathal was used in the Qur3in, it served as a basis for philosophical discussion without seeming to deny revelation. Although the word mathal usually means maxim, the Fiiimid scholars used it to stand for an individual, finite thing. The mathal is the phenomenon which is evident (Fbhir), appearing in finite form for all to see. Connecting this mathal with the creative emanations from God, there must be a model (mamthd), which is unseen ( b + ) like the Idea of Plato. When this doctrine was interpreted in an allegorical way, it gave great prestige to the FLiimid movement. The Universal Intelligence was, for instance, an Idea (nzamthzil) which was represented on earth by a mathal, the Prophet Muhammad. Similarly the Universal Soul was an Idea represented by the ImHm CAlias its nzathal. The three angels, IsrHfil, Mikil and Jibril, who served as mediums to pass on the speech of All5h to the Prophet, were also Ideas. Their counterparts on earth were the Ftitimid leaders. Thus cAli was able to say, I and Muhammad, we are from one light, from the light of All& Almighty. 15 And it was this light which the Imims inherited. The Fritimids were not extremists like the members of some of the other branches of the Ism5ciliyyah, for they did not believe in the divinity of the ImHm, or in transmigration, metempsychosis, or annihilation. They did teach, however, that there are certain visible substances like earth, air, fire and water, as well as hidden subleties like the rational spirits. Man is a miniature world of matter in which his body is substance, and at the same time a miniature world of sublety with a soul and a mind. With his body man prays towards the Kacbah, whereas with his mind he prays towards the TmHm. At death the body is returned to clay, while the soul is released as a spirit. The ImLm is not himself a god, but in the world of subtlety his mind is an earthly counterpart ( m a t h i ) of the metaphysical Idea (mmthzlE), of the Universal Mind.
l4 QuPdn, XXXIX - 27. See also Naziriyyah al-Mafhal waJl-Mamthicl (Eleventh Congress of Orientalists, Paris, 1948) ; Diwan al-Mnkyyad fi al-Din, (DSr aLK8tib al-MiSri, 1949) ; Fi Adab Mijr, and Al-Majdir ol-Miisfanjiviyyah, all four books issued by Mohamed Kame1 Hussain. Modern Arab Philosophers use the forms muthul & mithdl for mathal & mawithill. 16 Diwcin al-MuJayyad fz al-Din, pp. 76, g8.

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Thus he possesses all that is involved in the ninety-nine names of Allfih. In other words the ImPm is not divine, but he receives the power to rule from the angels and knowledge from the spiritual forces which control the world. It is only, therefore, from the ImPm that a Muslim can receive a true interpretation of learning. Certain Greek philosophers said that man can see only by the light of the sun. In the same way the Muslim can gain understanding only by means of the knowledge of the Imlni. The Prophet is supposed to have said I am the city of knowledge and li is its gate. Ilihoever seeks the city, let him approach it by the gate. 16 As the successor of Ali, the Inilm of each generation is like [email protected] al-mustaqinz, the straight bridge which leads true believers across hell to paradise. Like all Muslims the Flfiniids had a great respect for Jesus as a prophet. Unlike the orthodox believers they even acknowledged that Jesus was crucified. 1 7 One great scholar likened the Imam CAlito the Messiah. People differed about Christ in three different ways. One group said he was God and the Son of God. They were the Christians. -4no:her group said he was a child of adultery. They were the Jews. Still another group said he was an apcstle of God. It was they who were correct. 18 People also differed about Ali in three similar ways. One group said about him what the Christians said about Christ. They were the GhulPh (who deified Ali). Another group said that he was the brother and appointed heir of the Prophet of God. It was they who were right. Still another group prevented him from receiving his right and inheritance, just as a child of adultery is prevented from receiving his fathers inheritance. These were the opponents. These examples show how the Fitimids used their metaphysics to confirm their special form of ideology and how they interpreted philosophical and religious beliefs to strengthen faith in their ruling Imam or Caliph, as the heir to the sanctity of the Prophet and CAli.Although in a short article it is impossible to deal with the philosophy of the Ffifimids in an adequate way, it is hoped that enough has been said to make a number of points clear. In the first place, when the Muslims translated the Greek books on science and philosophy into Arabic, it caused a:: important intellectual renaissance. Then secondly, this interest in science and philosophy was greatly encouraged by the FZtiniids, as we know from the writings of scholars like al-Kirmiini, the palace lectures ( a l - ~ ~ j d i and s ) the founding of D2r al-Hikmah. In the third place, this interest in scientific study did not prevent the Etiiiiids from encouraging a knowledge of
le

17 lS

Ibid. pp. 83. Information given by a Professor of Cairo University. Diwdn al-Muayyad fi al-Din, pp. 79.

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the conventional subjects related to the Qur'Hn. Fourthly, the FHtimids undoubtedly encouraged all of the classical sciences known in mediaeval times, such as mathematics, astronomy, physics, alchemy, geography, medicine, pharmacy, logic and the natural sciences. But they were especially interested in metaphysics, because it lent itself, as we have seen, to allegorical interpretation, by means of which it was possible to prove the divine right of the Imim. This is the end of a series of articles about the Fitimids. Because Salih al-Din and the Sunnites who followed him did everything in their power to destroy the books and to wreck the infiuence of the Fitimids, comparatively little has been known in the past about their science and culture. With the help of a number of experts, who are studying the Ism5'ili manuscripts in India and al-Yaman, there is reason to hope that schola!-s will gain a clearer understanding of the =timid learning which flourished during an important period of history and may have exerted a considerable influence on the intellectual life of Mediaeval Europe. Princeton, New Jersey

BAYARD DODGE