II. - Schloss Schwetzingen

association of talk and silver is in the Bible in
Psalms 12:7 and Proverbs 10:20. 17
“EINSAMKEIT IST BESSER ALS BOESE
GESELLSCHAFT” (“Solitude is better than bad
company.”)
Variants are in Abû Hilâl al-‘Askarî, Kitâb
Djamharat al-amthâl, I. II. Beirut 1988, II. p
330 no. 1780, and in Burckhardt 1830, no. 77.
Another word split over two lines.
The plaques facing the cloister on the eastern
entrance hall of the mosque read:
“WECHSEL IN DER FREUNDSCHAFT
BRINGT VERDERBEN” (“Change in friendship
leads to disaster.”)
and
“EIN LASTER DES WEISEN GILT FUER
TAUSEND” (“One vice in a wise man counts
for a thousand.”)
In Rostgaard, 1764, p. 90 no. CXC, with
translation, “Crimen prudentis pro mille criminibus
(habetur)”, and note, “Quanto quisque
maiorem prudentiae famam sibi comparavit,
tanto errores eius in oculos magis incurrunt,
nec paratam facile veniam habent.”
Collections of Proverbs and the Image of the
Orient
Considering that most of the sayings do
appear to be based on Arabic originals, we
may ask ourselves whether a particular genre
was chosen.
The study of proverbs in the widest sense is
an important area of Arab language studies.
The aforementioned Kitâb al-amthâl by Abû
‘Ubaid (d. 838) is considered the earliest
collection (in the sense of an original compilation);
the anthology by al-Maidânî (d. 1124) is
the best-known work within a long tradition.
Most of the sayings in the collections belong
to a limited number of preferred topics. One
of them is marked by the opposite poles of
wealth and poverty. The sayings comment
on wastefulness and a wise use of money,
17 Also in Freytag vol 3,1 p. 92, from two 16th -century
manuscripts in Berlin and Paris, with a translation, “Narratio
argentea, silentium vero aureum est.” Cp. Büchmann, Gefl ügelte
Worte, Berlin 1864, p. 32.
The Arabic word for “silver” has one faulty letter; however, in
some dialects this is pronounced the same way as the proper
one. Sukût “silence” is missing its article.
II. Schwetzingen – A Prince Elector’s Eighteenth-Century Summer Residence
diligence and sloth, duties and luxuries,
munifi cence, the renunciation of wealth,
contentment &c. Discourse and silence is
another topic; the proverbs refer to eloquence,
fi tting and convincing speech, the merits and
meaning of silence and so on. 18
There are several types of sayings: a) those
presenting one specifi c case of a regular and
familiar occurrence as representative of all
other cases; b) proverbial sayings, usually
generally known, characterizing a recurring
situation by means of an image or metaphor
that can be used as a part of any sentence; c)
formulaic expressions of a type used in exclamations,
forms of address, prayers and so on;
d) sententious maxims in verse. 19 This form,
also known as gnomic poetry, includes words
of wisdom and advice, mottoes, maxims and
18 Cp. Kassis 1999, pp. 116 ff.
19 Rudolf Sellheim, Die klassisch-arabischen Sprichwörtersammlungen
insbesondere die des Abû ‘Ubaid, ‘s-Gravenhage 1954,
p. 18 quotes examples that could easily join the sayings of the
Schwetzingen mosque: “A secret is a treasure entrusted”, “A
promise is a gift”, “A look may give evidence of hatred” &c.
II.
Fig. 2: Inscription from the
mosque tambour
59