Risalat Ibn Gharsiya fi al-Shuubiya wa al-Rudud Alayha - dimn Nawadir al-Makhtutat
- Author died
- 477 AH
- Editions
- Sharikat Maktabat wa-Maṭba‘at Muṣṭafá al-Bābī al-Ḥalabī wa-Awlāduh
Risalat Ibn Gharsiya fi al-Shuubiya wa al-Rudud Alayha ("The Treatise of Ibn Gharsiya on Shu'ubiyya and the Refutations Against It") is an Andalusian polemical epistle composed by Abu 'Amir Ahmad ibn Gharsiya (d. after 477 AH / 1084 CE) in defense of non-Arabs (Ajam), edited and published alongside four historical refutations by Abd al-Salam Harun as part of the third collection of Nawadir al-Makhtutat ("Rare Manuscripts") in Cairo .
Background and Context
The author, Abu 'Amir Ahmad ibn Gharsiya, was of Basque Christian descent from northern Spain who was captured in his youth and educated under Mujahid al-Amiri (d. 436 AH / 1044–1045 CE), the Slavic ruler of Denia and the Balearic Islands . Ibn Gharsiya served as a court secretary in Denia, where the ruling court provided a favorable environment for non-Arab sentiment .
The epistle was written during the reign of Mujahid al-Amiri, between 406 AH and 436 AH, addressed to his friend the poet Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Kharraz (recorded as Abu Abd Allah ibn al-Haddad in the Escorial manuscript) . Ibn Gharsiya reproached him for abandoning the patronage of Mujahid in Denia to praise the Arab dynasty of Banu Sumadih under the ruler of Almería .
Content and Style
The treatise represents the sole surviving primary text of the Shu'ubiyya movement in al-Andalus . In contrast to Eastern Shu'ubi polemics that largely contrasted Arabs with Persians, Ibn Gharsiya extolled the virtues, philosophical heritage, and scientific achievements of the non-Arab nations—specifically the Romans and Europeans (Banu al-Asfar) alongside the Persians—contrasting them with Bedouin traditions . Unlike some Eastern treatises, Ibn Gharsiya affirmed his adherence to Islam, concluding his text with praise and veneration for the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his companions .
Stylistically, the work is characterized by elaborate rhymed prose (saj'), extensive rhetorical devices such as antithesis, punning, and literary quotation, as well as irony and sarcasm directed at Arab cultural tropes .
Refutations in the Collection
Abd al-Salam Harun's edition includes four historical responses preserved in the Escorial manuscript :
- The Refutation of Abu Yahya ibn Mas'ada: The longest and most comprehensive response in the manuscript, authored by an Almohad-era scholar who mentions the Almohad founder Ibn Tumart and Abd al-Mu'min ibn Ali .
- An Anonymous Refutation: Titled in the manuscript as "A Second Treatise in Refutation of Ibn Gharsiya"; Harun argues that it is likely a second piece by Abu Yahya ibn Mas'ada due to substantial stylistic and phrasing correspondences between the two texts .
- The Refutation of Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn al-Dudin al-Balansi: A contemporary of Ibn Bassam, who met him in Lisbon in 477 AH / 1084 CE and dictated his prose and poetry to him .
- The Refutation of Abu al-Tayyib Abd al-Mun'im ibn Minn Allah al-Qarawi (d. 493 AH / 1100 CE): Titled Hadiqat al-Balagha wa-Dawhat al-Bara'a ("The Garden of Eloquence and the Orchard of Excellence"), an abridged excerpt derived from Ibn Bassam's al-Dhakhira .
Manuscript Sources and Publication
Harun based his critical edition primarily on an undated Maghribi manuscript held at the El Escorial Library (MS 538), collating it with the excerpts preserved in Ibn Bassam al-Shantarini's biographical anthology al-Dhakhira fi Mahasin Ahl al-Jazira . Portions of Ibn Gharsiya's text were previously edited and examined by the Orientalist Ignaz Goldziher in 1899 . The full collection of the treatise and its four refutations was later translated into English by James T. Monroe in 1970 .
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