AL-SQ AL AL-SQ - A

GENERIC

DEFINITION

BY
MATTITYAHU PELED

N
his article
1'auteur et 1'homme Boris Schloezer quotes
Potebnia's
famous saying that a literary work is first of all an event in
the life of the language and adds : il s'ensuivait que 1'etude de 1'aeuvre
devait commencer par celle des particularit6s de son langage. As a
guiding principle this can certainly be considered of universal validity.
But in some cases the peculiarities of language appear to be the essence of
the work and al-Sidiaq's book of al-Fdridq is clearly one of them 2. First
published in Paris in 1855, it was presented by the publisher as a book of
many advantages primarily on account of the abundance of synonyms,
alliterations, metonymies, allusions and other figures and tropes. Not
concealing that some aspects of style were less than orthodox he felt that
on balance it was a book to be liked by readers of high literary taste.
The author himself had less qualms about testing the receptiveness of
his readers. Except for the French title of the book which is strictly
informative, all the preliminaries in Arabic constitute an undisguised
challenge. After describing his book as
ayydm wa guhi7r wa
he immediately

al-'arab

wa-l-aji7m-

goes on to satirize:

ta'lif zayd wa hind fi zamdnika dd

asha ild al-nds min ta'lf sifrayn
wa dars taurayn qad suddd ild qaran
aqnd `wa anfa min tadrts habrayn
1 Les Chemins Actuels de la
Critique, dir. George Poulet, Publications du Centre
Culturel de Cerisy-La-Salle,Union Gnrale d'Editions, 1968,p.128.
2
All referenceswillbe made to the edition of Dar
al-Sqal
al-sq fhua
mal-Friq.
Maktabat al-Hayt,Beirut 1966,prepared by al-ayx Nasb
Wahba
al-Xzin.
3 La Vie et Les Aventures de Fariac Relation de Ses Voyagesavec Ses Observations
Critiques sur Les Arabes et sur Les Autres Peuples par Faris El-Chidiac.
4 The alternative
al-arabetc. meaning the corrupt Arabic
reading would be ajam
spoken by Arabs and others.

32
Days months
others.
The
Is
And
Is

and years concerning

intelligent

people -

Arabs and

writing of Zayd and Hind these days

desired by people more than the writing of two volumes
the threshing of two bulls tied together
better sold and more profitable than the teaching of two clergymen.

This motive is not entirely unfamiliar;

where the author complains:
faqad yaltaddu al-sdmi bikalmfihi
ild qaul fihi al-baldka wa'l bara-'a

in fact we find it in Hazz

al-dahk wa'l scald `a wa/ yamtlu

The listener often finds more pleasure in a tale of laughter and wantonness and favours not talk distinguished by rhetorics and brilliance.

This book of mine, graceful to the witty

unbridled of tongue - and silly to the fool.

there is a difference: Hazz al-quhi7f is supposed to be an

interpretation of a vulgar poem (f?awajadtuhu qasiddn ya lahu min qasid)?'
whereas kitdb a/-friq is presented as a book of history and travel. The
a/-kitb, which is an
incongruity becomes even more glaring in
in verse. Strangely enough this introduction has received
introduction
less critical attention than << TanbThmin al-mu'allif which is the introduction in prose. The latter is often quoted because it announces the
purpose of the book which is twofold' ; displaying the peculiarities of the
the praiseworthy
traits of
language and its rare words and listing
women as well as the blameworthy. While being very clear this introHowever

5 Hazz
al-Jawd
al-irbn.
al-qufar
fqasd
ab df,
by Ysufabd
Regardingits
first publication Jirj
adbal-luga al-arabiyya,
Beirut 1967,V. III, p. 289
Zaydn,Tarr
Tarx
al-dawa
ilal-miyya
wa athruh f
givesthe yeat 1284H (= 1867).NafsaSad,
misr, Alexandria, 1964, p. 240 gives the year 1857 for the first publication and this is
accepted by Gabriel Baer, Fellhand Townsman in Ottoman Egypt, Asia and African
Studies,Jerusalem, V. VIII, no. 3, 1972, p.221.- R.A. Nicholson,however,givesthe year
1687,which is probably the year of al-irbns
death; cf. A Literary History of the Arabs,
Cambridge 1969, p. 450 and H.A.R. Gibb, Arabic Literature, Oxford 1963, p. 156. The
sentencehere quoted, cf. dition of 1308H (= 1890)made by al-mabaa
walmaktaba almamdiyya
bimisr, p. 3.
6
Op. cit., p. 2.
7
al-Sq,p. 65.
8 Ib., p. 67.

33
duction does not indicate how far does the author intend to challenge the
conventions of his time; this is done in the Fdtihat
1 hidd kitabi li'l zartf ?arif
talig al-lisdn wa /i'lsabif sabif
2 auda'tuhu kaliman wa alfazan halat
wahasautuhu nuqatdn zahat wa hurufd
3 wa baddhatdn wa fakhatn wa nazdha
wa xala `tan wa gand `atan wa 'azi7fj
4 ka'ljismi fihi gayru `udwin ta`sigu
al-mastura minhu wa tahmidu al-maksufa
5 faSSaltuhu ldkin 'ald 'aqll fam
miqydsu 'aqlika ki5na ITma'ruf
2 I lodged it with agreeable words and expressions
and stuffed it with radiant details and peculiarities
3 And spontaneity and jesting and decency
as well as wantonness and temperance and abstention
4 Like the body it has more than one member you will love
hidden and (others) you will praise uncovered
5 But I have cut it to the measures of my own mind since
the measures of yours were unknown to me
In a somewhat

more ominous note the author later adds:

10 allaftuhu wa'llaylu aswadu hdlikun

fa liddlik jd'a musaxxaman masjufd
10 I wrote it when the night was pitch dark
therefore it came out blackened and dark.
Thus we find in the introductory
poem a fair warning as to what
should be expected in the book itself. We are faced with a kind of writing
described by Hasan al-Alati in his TarwTh al-nufus wa mudhik al-'abi7s 10
as fann a/-mufraqt. The great writers of this genre, according to al-Ald
ti, are sidna 'auqal bin 'arTn)), << al-gayxibn sudun and << al-ayx... sdhib
hazz al-quhuf, to whom the author proudly adds his own name. Stating
9 Ib., p. 69.
10 al-Sayx Hasan al-lt,
Cairo 1889-1891,
Kitbtarw
al-nufswa mudikal-abs,
Part III, p. 4. The book was published piecemealin tree parts due to the delays in its
completion by writer. The last part was published posthumously. See the publisher's
notices at the end of Parts I and II and the opening notice of Part III.

34
that this genre became fann rabih ji hddi al-zamin suquhu (i.e. an art
of much demand) he goes on to explain that many of those writing is this
genre were not as good as they should have been. Then, boasting of his
own talent, he enumerates where he excells in comparison to others being
<<awsa'uhum fi hadd al-majdl wa akdabuhum ji kull qTl wa qdl wa
wa azkamuhumfl-al-mutdbaqdt
wa ahsanuhum
abda'uhumfi al-mufraqt
ji al-uslab wa adhakuhum li'l-ti7b wa altafuhum fi- al-ta'ltf wa exrafuhum jL
al ... more comprehensive of all is this field, a greater lier then all
others in reporting of the conversations of people, more inventive in
mufraqt, more bedevilling in the use of antitheses, the finest in style,
the funniest in jolly meetings, the most graceful in composing and the
best in inventing fables for literary writing.
So we can see some of the distinctive features of this kind of writing.
R.A. Nicholson and H.A.R. Gibb 11 mention hazz al-quhuf in conjunction with the sporadic attempts of popular poetry to gain recognition
as a living literary genre. But there seems to be no reason to confine our
examination of its significance to the generic field of popular poetry if
only because its prose elements is far more significant than its poetry.
as fann
Al-Alati, who places it in the wider field designated
a
much
wider
within
which all
scope
al-mufdraqdt clearly opens up
the works he alluded to form a coherent genre. Taking the features
enumerated by him of this genre as an indication it would appear that
other works can naturally fall within it. Some of these works are briefly
in Hukm qaraqus 12, such as al-Risala
discussed by 'Abd al-Latif Hamza
ibn
as
well
as ibn Mamati's al-Fdt7 fi ?ukm
al-hazaliya by
Zaydun
and
Rasd'il
al-wahrdnt.
Indeed, Hamza would lump up all the
qardqi7g
satirical writing in Arabic, beginning with Ibn Muqaffa' all the way to
Abu al-'Ald' al-Ma'arr, including a]-Jdhiz and Ibn al-Rumi, in what he
considers satirical genre. Such a sweeping proposal needs, however, a
more detailed examination
to substantiate
it. For the time being it
appears that we do have before us a genre which transcends the confines
of popular poetry though perhaps it does not necessarily encompass all
the satirical writings in Arabic literature.
*

11
Ops. cit., Ibid.
12'Abd
Cairo, 1945,p. 71 et. seq.
al-Laf Hamza,
Hkm qarq,

35
as has been recognized, operates on several levels and is
completely free of any formal conventions. This is probably the reason
why critics have never felt happy about applying (formal) criteria to the
Protean body of satirical literature 13. Perhaps the term used by al-Aldt7i
(fann al-mufdraqat) too is expressive of the feeling that no formal rules
are applicable to Arabic satirical writing. The difficulty, as explained by
R.C. Elliott, is that the word Satire signifies, on one hand, a kind of
literature, and on the other, a spirit or tone which expresses itself in many
literary genres 14. However, there has always been a distinction between
satire of the more limited scope, revolving around the person or persons
of certain individual or individuals - the type of satire termed by
Hodgart as lampoon' and satire embracing the wider scope engaged
in a world vision referred to as travesty. It has been suggested that the
hija' poetry of the Arabs would fall under the lampoon heading 16 and by
the same token a work such as ibn Mamati,
?ukm qardqi7.?,
would also be classified as lampoon. Travesty is seen in such works as
Gulliver's Travels or the Fourth Book of Rabelais 17. Much more
comprehensive in scope, to qualify as satire, a travesty must contain ...
the direct attack on human vice or folly; it must contain lampoons on
individuals or critical and hostile comments on political and social
In short, satire demands, as Northrop Frye has put it a militant
Based on this definition we can undoubtedly
attitude to experience'9.
Hazz
satirical
classivy
travesty and the same would also apply
al-quhuf as
to Kita-b
This, however, is not readily admitted by most writers on al-Sdq 'ald
a/-sq 20. The problem of defining generically this unusual work is faced
with two clearly discernible obstacles. The one is that of tending to define
it formally as a kind of a latter-day maqdma and the other is that of
reading into it al-Sidiaq's own biography.
Satire,

13 Matthew Hodgart, Satire, Weidenfeldand Nicholson, London 1969,p. 13.

14 Cf. Satire in Princeton Encyclopediaof Poetry and Poetics, ed. Alex Preminger,
Princeton 1965,p. 738.
15
Op. cit., p. 14.
16 R.C. Elliott, The Power of Satire, Princeton 1966, pp. 15 et. seq. and Hodgart,
op. cit., p. 19.
17 Hodgart,
op. cit., pp. 24-31.
18Ibid.,
p. 31.
19Northrop Freye, Anatomyof Criticism,Atheneum, New York, 1969,p. 224.
20 Imd
Dral-Nahr,Beirut 1980,p. 179,adduces
al-Sulin AmadFrisal-Sidiq,
the argument that al-Sqal
al-sqis not a satirical book thus refuting a brief remark by
Luis Awad
the inventor of the satirical maqmt
referring to al-idiq
style ;cf. Luis
Cairo 1962,p. 28.
Awad,al-Muattirtal-ajnabiyyafladab al-arab
al-adt,

36
Sawqi Daif discusses, in his book al-M aqmt 21, al-Sdq 'a/ al-sdq
and
among those maqmt written at various times after al-Hamadani
al-Hariri, all of which he lumps together under the heading maqdmdt
muxtalifa. He observes that as a literary work, supposedly modelled
after the classical maqmt, al-Sidiaq's work falls short of successfully
emulating his great predecessors especially when compared to Ndsif
al-Yaziji's Majma'al-bahra?yn which is a far more successful imitation of
the classical models. The possibility of examining this unsuccessful
imitation as a work utterly unrelated to the maqama genre is not even
mentioned by the writer. Such an omission is not readily understandable
since al-Sidiaq went to great length in order to impress upon his readers'
minds that he was not writing another maqdmi7. Of the many statements
leading to that conclusion it should suffice to quote the following two
verses of the <<Fdtihat a/-kitb:
21 gayri min
i da sannafud
ldkinnahum lam yuhsinud al-tasntfd
22 id kdna ma gdluhu mubtadalan wa lam
yataqassa minhum wdsifun maust7fd
21 Others beside me of the writers have written in this manner
But they have not written well
22 For that which they wrote was vulgar
And no writer followed their example
This could hardly be said by a writer aspiring to emulate al-Hariri.
A more penetrating
was attempted much earlier by
explanation
in
to the first edition
his
memorable
Introduction
Mahmud Taymfr
of at-.ayx Sayyid al-'ab(22. According to Taymur all the latter-day
maqdmit were the product of the ambivalence reigning in their authors'
minds regarding the genre they wished to write in. Their innermost
desire, says Taymfr, was to write Western type novels but they dared
not risk their readers' displeasure which they knew would arise when
presented with that foreign genre. They had therefore attempted to
reconcile as best they could between the two genres, the maqm and

21
Cairo 1964.
awq
Daif, al-Maqmt,
22 Mahmd
Cairo 1926,p. 32. Abd
al-MusinTaha
Taymr,al-ayx Sayyid al-ab,
Badr in his Taawwur
al-riwya
al-misriyya,Cairo 1968,p. 67 is repeatingthe same analysis
without acknowledgingTaymr'santecedence.

37
the novel,* by writing the way they did. As a consequence the writer
took refuge in the maqmiit genre ... that is to say, he ended up doing
nothing original**.
Classifying al-Sdq 'ald al-sa-q as a maqma raises a serious difficulty
of a different nature. It is inconceivable that a work meant to be a
maqama would contain so much obscene language. In fact one of the
main objections voiced against this work in particular was that its style
sank sometimes so low as to make its reading an ordeal. As stated by
Ahmad Hasan al-Zayyat 23 there are those who criticise the author
(al-Sidiaq) for his insolence, his excessive bufoonery and his use of words
which are not to be expected from some one like him and are not
'abd al-Gani
Muhammad
becoming in a person of his positions.
a
of
critics
who
would
list
not
forgive al-Sidiaq his
I:Iasan 24 provides
while
he
admiration
for his writing,
himself, though expressing
style
adds: and indeed I am amazed at Sayx Paris al-Sidiaq : how could he
sink so low like that. Even the latest editor of al-Saq 'ald al-sjq, Nasib
Wahiba al-Xazin, who prepared the most recent edition of the book,
apologizes for allowing certain parts to be reprinted25. Evidently we are
witnessing a persistent refusal to see in al-Sdq 'ald al-sdq a satirical work
where, unlike the maqa-ma, obscenity invariably figures as a constant
element26.
*

Certainly, open admiration for this work too can be met with in
abundance. Yfsuf Najm, for example, has no hesitation to declare that
al-Sidiaq was the greatest Arab writer of his time 27. Mrn 'Abd is also
* kdnF4,?i
yurdnal-taufiq mi7amkana bayna al-adab al-garbf wa'l adab al-'arabT.
** lidalik wajadnhu
yalja'u i/ tartqat al-magdmat ... ay innahu lam yafal ay'in
ntubtakaran.

Ta'rx
al-adabal-arab,
Tenth Edition,
23 AhmadHasan al-Zayyt,
al-Risla,
Mabaat
p. 454.
24 Muhammad 'abd al-n
al-arabseries
Hasan, AmadFrisal-idiq,Alm
no. 25, p. 113.
25
Op. cit., p. 30 explains: I had already read this Chapter and believingit to be a
demonstration of its author's erudition and width of linguisticknowledgeI had sent all of it
to the publisher. However, now that the entire book is printed and I am summarizingit
chapter by chapter so that I may lead the reader in its trackless expanses, perilous spots
and serpentines I realize how tastelessare the first six pages of this Chapter.
26 Hodgart, op. cit., p. 27.
27 Ysuf
Beirut 1961,p. 225.
adab al-arab al-hadt,
Najm, al-Qissa f'l

38
a great admirer of al-Sdq. In a book devoted
/ubnn he writes z8 :

to al-idiaq

called Saqr

I do not know why I admire so much this man. When I read his al-Fdridq I cannot
accept that it is an autobiography; for me this is simplya marvelousstory, or rather
the most marvelousstory. For do we write anything other than our own liveswhen we
write the life story of others?
In these words of praise for al-Sidiaq we find an allusion to the
problem already mentioned earlier namely that insofar as this book is
accepted at all as having any merit, such acceptance is based upon the
assumption that it relates in some original manner the life story of its
author. The most recent and the most decisive affirmation of this attitude
is found in the otherwise very valuable study by Tmad al-Sulh, Ahmad
'ali
Oris al-sididq, where the following observation is made29: a/-Sq
al-saq is the author's own biography and al-Fdridq is the main figure of
this biography. And indeed, Tmad al-Sulh quotes freely events and
situations described in al-Sdq to illustrate episodes of the author's life as
if it were a historical document. He replaces fictional names with real
ones and interprets symbolical descriptions as disguised accounts of
events which actually ocurred to the author in real life. Consequently he
attempts to interpret the entire story of al-Fariaq in the light of the
history of al-Sidiaq's own life. He clearly applies historical criticism
thereby missing most of the esthetic value of the book. The alternative
approach is that of the formalist or stylistic criticism which insists that
a literary work should be read primarily as a unique work of art
independently of the circumstances under which the author laboured at
the time of writing it.
The latter approach seems to present exceptional difficulties to many
of al-Sidiaq's critics. Perhaps the reasons for that are related to the very
strong feelings of hostility which are still felt towards him feelings
which are vividly described by Jabur 'abd al-Nur in his introduction to
book 30 :
He (al-gididq) lived to hurt people, to cause them to bleed and to contest them.
Consequentlyhis enemies,their sons and grand-sons and their supporters after them
could not but fight back and take revengefor their forebears by drawing the curtain
of silenceon anything connected with him.

28 Mrn
Beirut 1950,p. 129.
Abd,
Saqr lubnn,
29 Imd
Dral-Nahr,Beirut 1980,p. 171.
Frisal-idiq,
al-Sul,Amad
30
Op. cit., p. 6. See also John A. Haywood, Modern Arabic Literature, Lund
Humphries, London 1971,p. 53 et. seq.

39
Curtain of silence is probably too strong a metaphor since many did
write and many are still writing on al-Sidiaq. But certainly a sober and
impartial evaluation of his artistic achievement is still hard to come by.
The situation is not altogether unfamiliar. The confrontation between
the two schools of criticism mentioned earlier seems to continue unabated whenever the problem of evaluating a controversial writer is
facing the critics. The nature of the difference has been summarized by
Gerard Defaux in his doctoral dissertation submitted to the Sorbonne in
1973 under the title Pantagruel et les Sophistes 31. The greatest exponent
of the stylistic school of criticism is Leo Spitzer who led the campaign
against the historical school of criticism, after the publication of the
the fourth centenary of Rabelais32, in his article
book commemorating
Rabelais et les rabelaisants, published in 196033. In this article Spitzer
what may be considered the basic premise of his
has formulated
school 34 :
Pour lire Rabelais il faut savoir lire, c'est-a-dire refuser les tentations d'une
imagination historique peu disciplir.eepar le gout, savoir ne pas s'appesantir sur la
valeur documentaired'une uvre qui a une valeur en soi: une valeur artistique.
Perhaps it is natural that the dispute between the two schools of
literary criticism has reached its peak in a debate over Rabelais. The
problem the French writer of the sixteenth century posed before his
readers are no different, in essence, than those posed by al-Sidiaq before
his namely, how far ought we to come forward in order to accept a
literary work which transgresses practically all stylistic and conceptual
boundaries. And it is not uncommon in literary criticism to deprive a
literary work of esthetic value by looking upon it rather as a historical
document . This is usually the more convenient reaction to a work that
transgresses all norms beyond that which is conventionally considered
acceptable. When seen as a historical document, relating the personal
adventures of the writer, his bad language and insults can be dismissed as
indications of some personal traits which in turn can explain his strained
Thus reading Kitdb al-fdria-q as an
relations with his contemporaries.
as done by Tmad al-Sulh, is in fact reading it as a
autobiography,
historical document not as a literary work written in the genre of the
novel. Such reading does indeed deny it any esthetic
autobiographical
31Cf. the dissertation at the Sorbonne library, p. 1-2.
32 Franois Rabelais :
Quatrimecentenairede sa mort, Genve, Droz 1953.
33
Reprinted in Leo Spitzer, tudes de style, Gallimard, 1970.
34 Ibid., 135.
p.
35 Cf. R. Wellek and A. Warren, Theoryof Literature, ch. 19.

40
value and in this sense it draws the curtain of silence on the artistic
achievement of al-Sidiaq.
The insistence that al-Saq 'ald al-sdq is an autobiography
can be
its
the
fact
that
main
scheme
is
based
on
events
that
supported by
life.
This
be
real
in
the
author's
can
his
occurred
actually
easily proved by
covering the period of his life paralleling that of al-Siq
autobiography,
Iald al-sdq, that is his book called Kitdb al-rihla al-mausuma bi'l wdsita ild
ma'rifat mdlta wa kasf al-muxabbd 'an funun aiirub (The Book on the
to the Knowing of Malta and the
Journey Branded as Instrumental
of
the
Hidden
The relationship
Uncovering
Aspects of Europe).
needs
Had
between these two books
clarification.
al-Sidiaq really meant
it is not likely that he would have written
al-Sdq to be his autobiography
another autobiography
only ten years later covering the same period. It
is entirely senseless to read the first as if it were merely a first draft of the
second.
But more decisive than this common sense question is the actual
difference between the two works which is revealed not only in the
information given but also in their styles. By way of illustration let us
look at two passages, one from each work, describing the same moment
and
in the lives of the two main figures, al-Sidiaq in his autobiography
in
in
The
moment
is
that
of
the
first
arrival
Paris.
al-Sdq.
al-Fariaq
In Kitab al-rihla we read the following 37 :
*tumma sdfarnd minhdfabalagni brs laylnfadahistu lim ra'aytu fa innf wajadtu
jami al-hawdnttmaftaha Ji-al-sd'a allatt ld yuftah Jihd say' filundragayr handt al-mizr
wa fifinmararna bi'l buljar ra'ayna min al-anwir fi'l diydr min fawq wa fi mahal I
al- 'awji/
al-qaliwamin tahtihd wa fi fawnfsal-turuq min bayn al-a,jjrwafi-favt,C7nTs
md xayyala ITinni fi jannatal-na'fmfa qultufi nafsf
al-wqifa'an al-yamtnwa'! Sim.51
anK'artatafattah fih aA'AKaw
akmam al-ma'nffi riyd4
bax ?jc
?ajc
bax inna hddihi
/!aJ/A!madfnatbahjat wa anwdr
fal'aj'alanna da'bf al-nazm
al-ajkdr wa tanjalt bihd 'ard'is al-qasd'idfi axddr
fiha allayl wa al-nahr wa kullamd irtajja 'alayya say' ji'tu ild al-bulfdr.
36
bi'l wsiamarifat
Originally published separately, Kitbal-rilaal-mawsma
fiTunis 1866,was later attached to the secondpart Kaf al-muxabb
mla,
awl
an funn
and published as one book in Istanbul 1881.
arub,
37
Op. cit., p. 221.
* Then we travelled away and reached Paris at
night. I was amazed at what I saw. I
found all the shops open at an hour in which nothing is open in London except the bars.
When we passed the boulevard we saw lights in the houses above and the coffee shops
below and in the street lanterns among the trees and in the lanterns of the coachesstanding
on the left and on the right. All this made me imaginethat I cameto paradise and I said to
myself: how marvelous! This is indeed a city of lights and delights where the flowers of
ideas open up in the gardens of thoughts and poetic brides becomeunveiledin the boudoirs
of poetry. I shall therefore make it my practiceto writepoetry in it day and night. And each
time something moved my feelingsI came to the Boulevard.

41
The same moment

is described in al-Sag

al-sdq as follows :

wusulalIrfq ili hddihicrl-madinaal-sahiru f dat laylati qabb faknat 'aynhu

mu'masatayn 'an ru'yat md fih min al-xasd'is. falamm ajba/1a axada ya!i7A fi
,?awdri'ihdkalmutafarrigal-mutabaUilfa idd bihd mal'dna min
wa'l-rawmij(a list of another thirty nine words meaningone kind or another of traps
and snares). ja zahura lahu anna qiwmkull say' wa 'atdahu wa malkahuwa qu!bahu
mutawaqqif 'alwujudi'mra'atin.
fi hddihial-'d.Vima
Clearly we are not reading the same story in these passages. The first is
an historical account of an actual event in the life of the autobiographer
while the second is an imaginary story, invented by the writer to form
part of a literary work of art of specific characteristics; nothing will be
account.
gained by reading it as an autobiographical
The difference between historical and artistic writing has engaged the
attention of critics for a long time. The reason we insist on looking upon
Kitdb al-rihla as history is that it has no pretence of being an autobioTo judge by the
graphical novel, which would make a big difference .
we
that
Kitb
may perhaps suggest
passage just quoted
al-rihla can
us
with
an
had
explanation why al-Sidiaq
preferred to write his
provide
al-Sa-q in Paris, but the story told therein is by no means that of his
biography.
In a very valuable article treating of the difference between historical
and artistic writing Michel Jarrety makes the following observation 40:
Mais alors que le romanciertravaille a brouiller les pistes, a faire de son texte la base
d'une lectureinfinimentmultipliepar les lecteurs,l'historientravaillea produire pour
les autres, et aussi pour soi-m8me,un sens unique et que chaque lecteurdevra, dans la
mesure de la russite m6me, retrouver identique. C'est dire que l'imagination du
lecteur d'Histoire n'engage pas la responsabilitede I'auteur, qui n'a pas cherche a lui
donner prise.
The role of the reader's imagination when reading history of imaginative
literature is certainly of prime importance and al-Sidia's consciousness of
it cannot be doubted. In al-Sdq he not only invites the reader to excercise
38 Op. cit., 623.
p.
39 Cf.
Philippe Lejeune,Le pacte autobiographique,Editions du Seuil,Paris 1975,p. 25.
40
Valery: l'histoire, criture d'une fiction, in Poetigueno. 49 (Fevrier 1982/Seuil),
p. 76.
* The arrival of al-Friq
to this famous city occurredin a foggynight and his eyeswere
therefore bleared and could not observeits peculiarities.When he woke up in the morning
he began to walk along the streets like an idle onlooker and he found the city full of snares
and traps ... It appeared to him that the foundation of everythingin this capital city, its
mainstay, its basis, its pivot - all depended on the presenceof a woman.

42
his imagination but he opens up for it limitless possibilities. This, of
But there is another distinction
course, cannot be said of Kitb
which Jarrety is carefully registering, relating to the elements of truth in
historical and artistic writings 41:
Valeryfait donc grief a I'historiende jouer au romancier, quand c'est le romancier qui
joue a l'historien, donnant pour vraie sa fiction, et utilisant la chronologie pour
imposerune logique.Car tout evenement,dans un roman, a une fonction, qu'il s'agisse
d'annoncer tel autre evenementa venir, ou de simplementcreer une atmosphere. Au
contraire, tout evenementn'a en Histoire d'autre fonction que d'etre Id. Et celui dont
la presence est la plus lourdement ressentie est parfois celui qui reste inexpliqueet
qu'on aimerait pouvoir passer peut-8tre sous silence. Car l'historien, s'il revele tel
detail, ce n'est pas pour produire tel effet de verite, mais par simple souci d'honnete
exactitude.Rien n'est gratuit en Histoire,parce que tout a du jouer un role - ne fut-ce
que celui d'avoir lieu; rien n'est gratuit dans un roman parce que tout est 6crit pour
jouer un role. Tout ce qui y est dit est important, mais en Histoire, tout ce qui est
important doit etre dit. C'est ce qui fonde la difference- et la difficulte:Decrire ce
qu'on voit, passeencore,dit LucienFebvre; voir ce qu'il faut d6crire,voila le difficile.
It ought perhaps to be pointed out that the argument of 'Imd al-Sulh
is quite the reverse of that alluded to in the passage quoted: whereas
Valry preferred to consider all historical writing as fiction in our case
the critic tends to read the fictional writing of al-Sidiaq as history. But all
the same, the argument brought by Jarrety to meet the one position is
perfectly applicable to the other. For even if some episodes related in alSaq can be traced to events in the life of the author, the sum total of all
the events told in al-Sa-q is meant to construct a fictitious history to be
judged not by its verity but by its esthetic achievement.
*

A generic definition of al-Sa-q is required in order to enable the reader

to define his own expectations from that work. As Wellek and Warren
have said a genre is some kind of an institution, it is sufficiently flexible
and unbinding to allow a very liberal attitude toward its exigencies 42.
Philippe Lejeune has amplified this definition saying43: Comme les
autres institutions sociales, le systeme des genres est gouvern6 par une
force d'inertie (qui tend a assurer une continuite facilitant la communication), et par une force de changement (une litterature n'tant vivante
que dans la mesure ou elle transforme 1'attente des lecteurs). Yet, due to

41
Op. cit., p. 79.
42
Op. cit., p. 226.
43
Op. cit. p. 311.

43
the particular circumstances in which crl-Sdq was written, both historical
and personal, the lack of a generic definition seems to hinder a proper
of it. It is a fact that
reading and consequently a proper understanding
Arab criticism has defined it, alternately, as a latter-day maqama, as an
unhappy attempt to emulate the Western novel and as a pure autobiography. All of this is probably responsible for the fact that no profound
attempt has been made as yet to probe into this very unique work of art
with the purpose of defining its structure, analyzing its styles, identifying
the component elements of its humour and evaluating its influence on
modern Arabic literature.
For its generic definition it would seem most helpful to search for
other works, not necessarily in Arabic, of similar characteristics and see
how were they defined generically. The remark made by Northrop Frye,
at the conclusion of his discussion of the four genres of continuous forms
of prose, is illuminating 44 : In every period of literature, he claims, there
are many literary works that are neglected only because the categories
to which they belong are unrecognized . This seems to be also the case of
al-Saq. But Frye's proposal of a descriptive definition for a certain kind
of such literary works may well enable us to place al-Sidiaq's great work
within its proper generic field. His categorization of the various types of
prose fiction seems to offer the solution we are seeking. Although Frye's
scheme has been subjected to severe criticism, on account of certain
logical and conceptual inconsistencies, by Tzvetan Todorov45, his basic
classification is generally accepted because it is essentially inductive,
taking into consideration the various types of prose fiction and classifying them in accordance with their common characteristics. Thus he has
arrived to the conclusion that the Menippean satire is a genre which
persists over the centuries though hardly recognized as such. His findings
are based on the analysis of works such as Lucian's The Sale o/ Lives,
Apuleus' The Golden Ass, Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, and of the
works of Rabelais, Swift, Voltaire and others. Summing up the typical
features of all of these works Frye enumerates some eleven of them which
deserve repeating .
The Menippean satire deals mainly with mental attitudes and less with
people as such. It resembles confession (i.e. autobiography) in its ability
is stylized
to handle abstract ideas and theories. Its characterization
44 Northrop Frye, op. cit. 312.
p.
45 Tzvetan Todorov, Introduction la litteraturefantastique, Paris 1970,pp. 7-27.
46
Op. cit. p. 309-312.

44
rather than naturalistic and presents people as mouthpieces of the ideas
they represent. A constant theme in the tradition of this genre is the
ridicule of the philosophu,s gloriosus. The Menippean satirist sees evil and
folly as diseases of intellect rather than social diseases. Its narrative
structure is loose-joined since it is not primarily concerned with the
exploits of heroes but relies on the free play of intellectual fancy and the
kind of humourous
observation that produces caricatures. This also
makes for the digressive narrative so characteristic of the Menippean
satire. The intellectual structure built up from the story makes for the
violent dislocations in the customary logic of narrative. The dialogue in
the Menippean satire focuses the dramatic interest in a conflict of ideas
rather than character. One way used by the Menippean satirist to show
his intellectual exuberance is piling up an enormous mass of erudition
about his theme or in overwhelming
his pedantic targets with an
avalanche of their jargon. An instinct to collect facts in encyclopaedic
dimensions seems to be closely linked to the ability of the writer of a
Menippean satire that makes him a great artist.
Each and every one of these traits are found in al-Sdq which makes it
indeed a typical representative of the Menippean satire. In fact sometimes the similarities with certain of the more prominent works of this
genre seem to be inviting a special examination of the relations between
the Arab work and its Western predecessors. That al-Sidiaq knew some
of the Menippean satires we can deduce from references made to them in
a/-Sq47. The question whether there is internal evidence proving that he
might have been influenced by any of them must wait for further study.
social
At this point it will suffice to show briefly that caracterization,
criticism and dialogues in al-Saq are those of a Menippean satire.
Of the many characters portrayed the one met with most frequently is
that of the qasis (priest or clergyman). He is invariably ignorant,
lascivious and arrogant. Though different in appearances none of the
qasdwisa is pleasant to look at. Described in two line verse this is how
poet48:
they are depicted by an anonymous
md bdl 'aynt ld tara min bayna man
/abisa-a/-sawd min al'ibdd nahifa
ma kana min lahmin wa say' gayrihi
fihim fa'aslab? md yakn vt,aqz7fd
47
Op. cit. Swift is mentioned on p. 584, Rabelais and Sterne on p. 585.
48 Op. cit., 105.
p.

45
How come my eye never observed a thin one among those of
God's creatures who wear black
Of whatever flesh and other parts there are in them
The hardest is that which is erect.
The first qasis we meet turns up in Chapter 5 of Book One in the person
of an official at the court of one whose name rhymes with ba'r
whose task is to look after matters of the world to come (alumur al-ma- 'diyya). In that capacity he took charge of one of his lord's
daughters, an unfortunate
gril who was divorced of her deranged
husband and returned to her father's house. Being very concerned with
her mental and emotional condition the qasis paid special attention to
her wellbeing, always inquiring and ordering her conduct 50 :
And he used to ask her about every laps and slip. He used to say to her: do your
buttocks dangle and do your breasts vibrate when you go upstairs or as you walk?
And does such vibration give you pleasure'?For it has been reported that there was
such a one among the lusty who took pleasurein every kind of vibration. So much so
that he often wishedthat the earth should quake under him and the mountainstremble
above him.
In this manner each character is made to represent an idea or a concept
which the author portrays rather bluntly, very often, but with a unique
capacity for humouristic description.
His criticism of social evils takes always the form of ridiculing that
which he feels should be changed as if it were mere indication of people's
folly. The famous scene in Chapter 5 of Book One 51, where several
notables are enjoying an evening gathering while bragging about their
strong handed treatment of the weaker members of their families - a
slave girl, a wife, a little boy and a young daughter ---- is at once a moving
description of heartless brutality and a denunciation of stupid cruelty.
Bringing out the stupidity of evil customs and habits is al-Sidiaq's
preferred manner of fighting them. In Chapter 2 of Book Three 52 he
attacks the custom of the bastra (demonstrating the virginity blood after
consumation of marriage). The scene, taking place outside the room into
which the newly wed retired, is a masterpiece of ridicule and verbal
49
Op. cit., p. 101.Imd
al-Sulwho is alwayson the search for the historicalsignifis
of all signifiersin the book, reads this name as that of Amr
Haydar.
50
is
Op. cit., p. 50. A second referenceto the same is made on p. 138where al-Friq
attempting to persuade a young monk to forsake a life of falsehoodand becomean honest
private person.
51 Op. cit., p. 101.
52 Op. cit., p. 403.

46
fireworks. But the chief argument, the one that is supposed to point to
the inhuman aspect of the custom, is that brought in Chapter 3 of Book
Three" namely that it is utterly cruel for the rich to tease the beggar
by displaying before his eyes glittering dannr (dinars) while he owns
nothing except his shreds, or for the sated to brandish his broth before
the hungry wretch. The argument that the show proving the maid's
virginity is usually performed before married men who have no reason
to be envious in answered by the counter argument that if indeed such
custom had been natural then the Europeans would have adopted it. But
in fact the Europeans agree that the young groom and his bride should
retire as soon as they can, away from people's eyes, to take their pleasure
in private believing that the happiness of one person need not be the
cause of grief of the many.
Arguments between characters who are mere personification of ideas
necessarily cannot be anything but conflict of ideas. The exchange
never results in persuading the other interlocutor to change his view, the
purpose of the dialogue being to ridicule one or both parties. But even
when there is an apparent change of positions of one party as a result
of the dialogue it is not the one desired by the other party, but an
acceptance of his arguments for the wrong reasons. Thus we see in
Chapter 11 of Book Three"
al-Fariaq explaining to his scandalized
the
custom
of European dancing balls, where men
wife, al-Fariaqiyya,
and women move about holding each other in their arms. By the time
al-Fariaqiyya is persuaded that the custom need not be condemned she
has already developed a passion for the erotic experience involved, but
never changed her view on the nature of the custom. And this, indeed,
is a constant feature in dialogues recorded in al-Sdq : no one is ever
persuaded to alter his or her view because convictions and beliefs never
do change. People may be less adamant but ideas are always firm.
Therefore conflict of ideas can never result in anything except reinforced
adherence to the initial positions, with the fool remaining for ever a fool
and the wise always delighting in ridiculing him. The only person who is
capable of changing his views and develop his character is al-Fariaq who
thus experiences the misfortunes of the bad luck under which he was
born 55.

53 Op. cit., 419-420.

p.
54
Op. cit., p. 455-456.
55
unique horoscope and its effect on his life is one of the main themes of
al-Friq's
he story; cf. Ch. 1 and 18 of Book One.