The Reformation of Morals: A Parallel Arabic-English Edition (review)

The Reformation of Morals (Tahdhīb al-akhlāq, that is, "the polishing of moral qualities" in the quest to become a "complete" or "perfect" human being) is one of the best known and best loved texts of the Arabic Christian heritage. Written by the philosopher and Christian apologist Yahyā ibn 'Adī, who for a time in the mid-tenth century was the leader of the Aristotelian school of Baghdad as successor to the great Muslim faylasūf al-Fārābī, the text has been preserved in the manuscript tradition by both Christians and Muslims, and during the past century and a half has been published a score of times in the Middle East. In this handsome little volume Fr. Sidney Griffith presents for the first time in English an elegant translation of the work with a facing critical edition of the Arabic text (sans apparatus) prepared by Fr. Samir Khalil Samir and published a decade ago in Cairo and Beirut. Griffith introduces the work with a richly documented essay in which he presents the author, discusses his contributions as logician and as theologian, weighs the debate as to whether he is better described as a philos-opher or a theologian, and discusses the work at hand.

A variety of students and scholars will be attracted to this volume. For students of Arabic and especially of Arabic Christian literature, it is a delight to be able to approach Yahyā's work through Samir's fully vocalized, carefully punctuated edition of the Arabic text. Griffith's translation avoids any awkwardly mechanical word-for-word rendering and reads exceedingly well in English without any reference to the Arabic. At the same time, it stays close enough to the Arabic text to be a guide for the student who requires some coaching. I know of no other Arabic Christian text for which we have such a fine teaching tool, and I look forward to using it with advanced Arabic students.

Others will be interested in becoming acquainted at first hand with one small fruit of the multi-confessional "enterprise . . . to promote the Greek sciences in the Arabic-speaking world of Islam" (xx), an enterprise of vast importance both to the elaboration of Arabic/Islamic civilization and to the intellectual history of the Latin West. It is worth stressing that Yahyā was a Syrian Orthodox Christian who was a student, colleague, and teacher of Muslims as well as of Christians from all the christological communities of his day. In our own time, we need historical examples demonstrating the possibility of peaceful and fruitful coexistence of people of different faiths. María Rosa Menocal has provided such examples from medieval Andalusía in her recent volume, The Ornament of the World (Boston, 2002). How timely that Griffith now gives us a glimpse into a vibrant Christian-Muslim collaboration in civilization building at the other end of the Islamic world, centered on Baghdad.

Yahyā's tract presents itself as a non-sectarian work of philosophy. There is little specifically religious vocabulary to be found in it. In spite of this, Griffith perceptively suggests that "it is worth wondering if the philosophical life in Yahyā ibn 'Adī's view did not owe as much to the influence of the monastic ideal as it did to the more secular philosophical tradition to which he was an heir" (xlv). This suggests that readers of the Journal of Early Christian Studies might want to read Tahdhīb al-akhlāq as a development in the history of Christian ascetic teaching, but one that is enculturated and secularized in such a way as to provide a guide for the moral aspirations of philosophically-minded laity, a cautious critique of the behavior of rulers, and an apologia for the place (and support!) of ascetics and scholars in society whether they be Christian or Muslim.

A few small matters might be addressed in future volumes of this new and most welcome...