ISLAMIC & WESTERN HISTORIOGRAPHY

430 ISLAMIC STUDIES, 25:4 f1986)
Rosenthal, p. 67 f. Baumstark, p. 248-56. To speak of a large number of wnnect-
ing links of the Philosophical historic$ kind between the older Christian and
Islamic history-writing under reference specially to Isidore of Seville (Richter, p.
16) even considered by what he states on p. 17 is absolutely puzzling. As for the
break which the entry of the Arabs in the Near East meant culturally cf. H.H.
Schaeder. "Der Orient in der Zeitenwende" in Cwona (1936137 pp. 277-304
specially p. 303. Although I would not say that the continuity of the cultures was
broken, on the one hand it was temporarily overshadowed and naturally led to a
new way with its partial reception, but that on the other, things that were oversha-
dowed by Hellenism and Greek thought became again evident finally just through
Islam.
As an exception we can point out here the only case of John of Damascus, the
Oriental Christian (700-749154) with his decisive importance for the fiil formulation
of the orthodox dogmas
Naturally, for the Monophysites and the Nestorians, their own dogmatic develop
ment is the straight continuation of the Biblical old church traditions, and the ideas
of the orthodox church and of the churches of the west, which one soon lost sight
of, were deviations
The influence of the Arabic-Jewish philosophy which arose gradually but quickly
since the 12th century will not be discussed here.
The Crusades began for the Muslims with the capture of Toledo in 1085 A.D.
because they include this reconquest also in the C-uade movement.
Cf. the dissertation of Anneliese Luders, Die Kreuzzuge in Urteil syrischer und
armenischer Qellen (Hamburg Thesis, 195 2).
About the place which the Islamic system of sciences gave to history (a question
which may be of secondary importance for us), Cf. Rosenthal, pp. 28/48. For the
following cf. Richter, Ceschichtsbewusstsein pp. 22/24 and generally Gustav
Richter, "Studien zur Geschichte der alteren arabischen qstenspiegal" in Leipziger
Semitistische Studien, N.F. 3 (Leipzig: 1932).
This task is classically formulated in @bus Namh (belonging to 1080 A.D.) published
by Reuben Levy (London: 1951). p. 118 lines 1-3: (The Courtier) "must
have read much concerning the lives of monarchs to enable him to discourse to his
master of the character of past kings and thus have influenad upon his heart with
beneficial and favourable consequences for Allah's servants."
In view of the little political significance of the ~ hpa the number of historical works
that deal with their history (tit. fate) is very small. Much mord numerous are the
general historical works in Shi'ite tradition. But there are also works that try to
give a milder account of the old controversies due to Iranian causes and try (not
reporting in the correct way) to change (the view of) the events in the sense of an
ideal orthodoxy (the Golden Age of the fust four Caliphs), perhaps in the same
sense as in the Old Testament, the books of the Chronicle stand beside the books of
the Kings.
Compare the Al-Biruni Commemoration Volume: (Calcutta: 195 1).
Edited and published by Karl Jahn as Histoire Universelle I (Histoire des Francs)
Leien: 195 1.
See Roaenthal, op. cit. p. 36.
About the beginning of the European works about Islam through the missionery
route see Ugo Monneret de Vird. Lo studio (See the bibliography given below).
An excellent survey of the whole course upto the nineteenth antury and of the
importance of enlightenment and,philological research for oriental studies is given
by Johannes Wilhelm Fuck, Die arabischen Studien (see Bib.)