Bensalem Himmich - The Polymath

“That comment you just made, Hammu,” he remarked, “struck a chord. Now I realize that something I’ve regarded for a long time as being purely secondary is of crucial importance. So here’s the import. If the territory of the Kinana tribe consisted purely of ruler and people and possessed no other subgroups, and yet they were no weaker or more dispirited than any other Maghribi tribe, then one cannot ascribe every calamity to the concept of group solidarity, nor can one generalize the application of the term and use it to either manipulate or constrain the formulation of events. Remind me about this piece of documentation later so that I can make use of it at the appropriate point.

“What’s most on my mind this evening is a hankering I feel to broaden the scope of my perspective to an extent greater than I’ve done before. These new lights are a sound investment, presaging a favorable outcome. But more’s the pity! At my age, the body starts to turn dull and heavy; there’s a tendency for it to blunt the acuity of ideas and make them insipid and uninspired. That’s why you’ll notice that I’m making do with yogurt for my meals, in the hope that the mixture of milk, honey, and bran will protect me from noxious diseases and help me avoid other foods that might provoke my ulcer and upset my stomach. Have some of my yogurt now, then you can thank the person who made it, namely Sha‘ban, and discover how successful he’s been in producing a wonderful medicine. If only I could discover a similar compound in the realms of politics and society that could provide a cure for some of the thornier problems and fissures in life’s path!”

‘Abd al-Rahman finished eating his yogurt, and al-Hihi wished him a long and healthy life. The master wiped his mouth, then started a dictation which was interspersed with sips of coffee made Maghribi-style.

“In terms of my own lifespan,” he said, “I’m now broaching old age. Even so, I still feel a burning fire inside me that stops me from adopting an old man’s retrospective view on the world. To be sure, life needs the freshness of youth, otherwise it’s nothing but chaff and scum in equal measure. That’s why, in spite of my advancing years, I can’t see myself pitching my tent in those domains where all understanding and contemplation of the fate of mankind would be avoided.

“Last time, Hammu, I told you about the flaws involved in the concept of group solidarity. I revealed to you my current inclination to search for the best possible alternative. As I wait for the concept to ripen and for idea and reality to coalesce, that quest is still in process. Even so, I continue to interrogate my own field by making any necessary references to mistakes that I’ve made in criticizing the authors of books on principles of governance and advice to rulers, not to mention philosophers like Plato and al-Farabi in discussing utopias and political ideals. How easy it would be for me to elevate the level of discourse and seal it with all the necessary trappings of history! How simple to stuff the contents with relics and to encrust it with nuanced fragments culled from Persian sages like Buzurzumhur and al-Mubdhan, others from India, wisdom handed down from Daniel and Hermes, or ideas on organization and rulership drawn from the various schools of Hellenistic thought. But that’s not what is needed, most especially since those scholars who have decided to ride the hobbyhorse of this specialization and have taken upon themselves to harangue us about it have gained absolutely nothing from the science of civilization, nor have they managed to use their homilies to change world affairs in any meaningful fashion. Instead they have mouthed off without showing the slightest subtlety; their fantasies have been utterly useless.

“The method to which I aspire involves establishing rules for what needs to be. I do not intend to preach from pulpits of ignorance about what actually is, but rather to make my way through a portal that I’ve traversed before, a procedure that has led me into whole fresh areas of knowledge about the nature of civilization and reality — fields where I’ve spent an entire lifetime and achieved as much as can be by invoking the intellect and the five senses. In so doing I’ve made use, to the extent possible, of my own judgment and insight. As a result, I feel that I can now make use of this experience of mine to concentrate on ways of throwing off the yoke of these perilous times and emerging from the dizzying whirl of ever-recurring tyranny.

“Today I can glean materials from all around me. I see evidence and linkages of all kinds. From such things all I can conclude is that ethics and manners are in a precipitous decline. As a group, city-based peoples are still just as I described them previously, namely that ‘among their prevalent traits are debauchery, malingering, nonsensical ideas, and a determination to earn a living by hook or by crook. As a result, people think about nothing else, and concentrate all their energies on fraud and trickery.’ But we still need to ask whether people are to be blamed when they find themselves utterly exhausted and totally overwhelmed by despair and hopelessness. Those feelings lead them to adapt to their circumstances by using whatever undesirable means may prove necessary; in that sense they are just like animals, motivated purely by the instinct for self-preservation. But from all this I choose to deduce something that is yet more subtle and bitter in that it combines all the factors involved. The conclusion I come to is that within the very structure of today’s rulership there is a relentlessly creeping indolence and abandonment of responsibility. I am referring to those regimes whose sole power comes from the unjustified subjugation of their people, giving human beings free rein in exercising their desires, harassing visiting merchants with fines and outrageous taxes, and other kinds of oppressive behavior, all of it bound to eradicate people’s feelings of hope and contentment. It can all be seen as the harbinger of civilization’s destruction as a curse is once more visited on the corridors of power.

“I’ve already drawn attention to all this, and in considerable detail, in the Introduction to History . All I want to add here are a few bitter appendices concerning the way time is proceeding to our own disadvantage. It’s almost as though it is working actively against us and planning yet more fiascoes and false steps.

“Hammu, just take a look with me at the Hafsi, ‘Abd al-Wadi, and Marini regimes in the Maghrib. Join me in an assessment of the way they compete with one another to see which one can be the most fractious and disorganized. Keep doing it until, like me, you reach a stage at which you start to yearn for the days of the great Almohad empire before al-Nasir’s defeat of al-‘Iqab and its eventual demise in the time of al-Ma’mun. How puny and pathetic the sultans of this era are by comparison, despite their displays of tyranny! They have no competence in public affairs and politics. The only thing they are good at is hatching plots and indulging in intrigue.

“As I contemplate these sultans of today, I might adjust my previous statements by suggesting that tyranny comes in two kinds: the first involves the ruler monopolizing power, then successfully blending the physical and ideational aspects of authority into one; the second sees the ruler losing all sense of self-respect due to personal weakness or else the domineering effect of his own ministers, all of which leads him to treat his people with unadulterated violence. The first type brings beneficial consequences and is normally encountered during formative phases in a dynasty’s course, whereas the second is both futile and deleterious and is a feature of all subsequent phases. In my opinion, Sultan Abu Salim, in whose chancery I used to work and composed some sycophantic verse, can serve as a primary example of what I’ve today termed ‘futile tyranny.’ Once he had recovered his throne thanks to the support of Pedro, king of Castille, he started practicing tyranny in its starkest form: his brothers, cousins, and all male relatives in the larger ruling family were all tossed overboard at sea. He then came under the direct influence of the jurist al-Khatib ibn Marzuq, and began to follow his advice, even though he had hired me as one of his senior secretaries. When he started losing his nerve, he asked Ibn Rudwan to write him a manual, namely The Flashing Meteor Concerning Effective Government . During the reign of Abu Salim, people ‘were so overwhelmed by fines and other exactions that no sowing or planting was possible,’ as my dear colleague. Ibn al-Khatib, put it. Circumstances so willed that it should be this sultan who received a number of gifts from Mansazata, the king of Mali, including a giraffe that astonished everyone and duly impressed the poets of the era. This incident showed me just how prosperous the region of black Africa was in comparison with the collapsing power in the Maghrib. Eventually another minister named Fawdudi succeeded in getting Abu Salim’s head into a basket, thanks to help from the Christian army commander, Garcia ibn Antun. As a result, that minister became the effective ruler of the country in the name of the insane prince, Tashfin, who was followed by a pseudo-prince, Abu Zayyan. The dynasty was only rid of the latter when he was murdered at the hands of Sultan ‘Abd al-‘Aziz who managed to restore authority to the Marini house, if only for a short period.