É. Apor , I. Ormos (ed.): Goldziher Memorial Conference, June 21–22, 2000, Budapest.
SZOMBATHY, Zoltán: Some Notes on the Impact of the Shu übiyya on Arabic Genealogy
ZOLTÁN SZOMBATI IY sense of humour must have sounded extremely insolent for an Arab accustomed to the usual rhapsodies about ancient Arabic genealogy. " At the height of the political tug-of-war between the upstart mawäli class and the older, full-blooded Arab aristocracy, anyone who might have the audacity to mock any manifestations of the ancient Arabian traditions, question any detail of the genealogies of noble Arab families, or portray pre-Islamic Arabs for what they had actually been - that is, rough and illiterate nomads (with a rich and admirable folklore yet no refined material culture to speak of) - was more than likely to be seen as, purely and simply, an enemy of the Arabs, and branded a shu'übi accordingly. The fact that such an arch-s hu'übi as Abü cUbayda is described to have been should nevertheless be the most ardent and dedicated collector and cultivator of the pre-Islamic Arabic folklore 3 4 is, then, neither surprising nor any contradiction, and it ought to serve as a powerful warning against the mechanical, and all too usual, assumption that a shu'übi scholar's primary aim in his activity was to insult and offend the Arabs' cultural heritage and traditions. Accusations of shu'übi leanings might more often than not mirror an intolerable air of flippancy rather than a determined political stance or a real opposition to the Arab heritage. At any rate, it is by no means simple to tell why a particular author has come to pass for a shu'übi, and great caution is advisable before one gives credit to allegations growing out of mediaeval scholarly rivalries. 3 3 An Arab aristocrat (ba'd al-ajillä ') asked the scholar: "You slander other people, so who is your father?" The scholar's reply came: "My father narrated to me on the authority of his father that he had been a Jew living in Bäjarwän..." The nobleman was unable to react to this audacity. See Ibn Khallikän, Wafayät V, 240; also al-Anbäri, Nuzha 64. The story is quoted in Goldziher (1967): I, 186-7. Artists and other individuals known for their lack of respect for traditions and their frivolous manner stood a fair chance of being accused of heresy (zandaqa) too, as happened to a fellow-poet of Abü Nuwäs, Muti° b. Iyäs, as well as their whole circle of friends (" wa-känü janiban vurmawna bi-1-zandaqaj-, see alIsfahäm, Aghäni XIII, 303, 306, 343. It seems that zandaqa, or heresy, was to many people virtually synonymous with esprit and a keen sense of humour; cf. al-Isfahäni, Aghäni XVIII, 187. Even hadith scholarship and its venerable professors were not safe from.the jesting of disrespectful intellectuals, see Goldziher (1981), 334. No wonder then that a lot of scholars regarded a cheerful and witty demeanour as not only harmful to one's prestige and reputation, but even a disqualification from testifying in court. See for instance al-Khatib, Kifaya 139. 3 4 He is described as one of the three greatest experts of ancient Arabian culture: "In that age, there lived three men who were the leading experts, before everyone else, in the field of [Arabic) language, poetry, and the sciences of the Arabs. Neither before nor after them did anyone exist who would come close to their level; and most if not all data that the [learned] people possess originates with them: Abü Zayd, Abü tUbayda, and al-AsmaT." Of the three, Abü cUbayda was commonly judged to be the most knowledgeable in matters historical accounts (akhbär), genealogies ( ansäb ), and pre-Islamic tribal battles (ayyäm). See Abü 1-Tayyib, Marätib 70; al-Anbäri, Nuzha 70; al-Qiftl, Inbäh II, 201. 266
