Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Jefeth B. Ali's Arabic Commentary on Nahum: With Introduction, Abridged Translation and Notes
There is another, and more important, contrast between J efeth's translations and his commentary. Apart from the ordinary exegesis which endeavours to establish the external meaning of the text (ald zdhz'rihi), he frequently adds internal ('ald bd?m'hi) or allegorical explanations. The latter was not an invention of J efeth, but was borrowed from a Shiite sect, called dl Bd?m'yya,2 which admitted an allegorical explanation to every verse of the Qoran. J efeth's allegorical explanations referred to contemporary history, and for the following reasons. During the whole of the tenth century the Shiite fol lowers of a certain Qarmat caused the gravest disturbances nearly all over the Moslim world, endeavouring to over throw the rule of the Abbaside Caliphs, whom they considered usurpers. In his commentary on Daniel J efeth interprets the terms 'fourth kingdom' (ii. And 'little horn' (vii. 8 and viii. 9) in the direction of the Caliphs of Bagdad under whose government the Jews suffered much Oppression, whilst the 'arms' (xi. 31) stand for the Qarmathians. In his scholia on Dan. Xii. I he says verballyz 'the origin of these troubles is that the arms will seek to take away the kingdom of the Abbasides from Babel as the learned say, and also that they will prevent the pilgrims from praying at Mecca (mm) as they were wont to do, and destroy the memory of the Man of the Spirit (mohammed). Thus the sword will come between them, the arms will be victorious, and will do great slaughter among them.'
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
