Fuat Sezgin’s Views on the Origins of Ilm al-Badi (In the context of his Dissertation on Ilm al-Badi)
Fatma Nur ŞenerFuat Sezgin, who wrote important studies on Islamic literature, completed his education at the Istanbul University Institute of Oriental Studies with his dissertation titled “Bedî‘ İlminin Tekamülü ve İstanbul Kütüphanelerinde Bulunan Bediiyyelere Ait Yazmalar Kataloğu” in 1947. Sezgin aimed to examine the genre of badîiyyah and to produce a catalog of badîiyyât in Istanbul manuscript libraries. Moreover, he considers it necessary to explain in his work the following: the beginning of rhetoric (al-balagha) with Jahiz (d. 255/869), the sudden increase in rhetorical forms used by Ibn al-Mu‘tazz (d. 296/908), and Qudâma b. Ja’fer’s (d. 337/948) acceptance of himself in this field as the first author. Based on these issues, he has already been involved in debates regarding the origins and development of rhetoric. In the modern period, there has been a debate on the influence of Greek philosophy on the origins of rhetoric, which is accepted as a discipline with the book of Ibn al-Mu‘tazz called Kitab al-Badi. Fuat Sezgin, who divides the history of al-badi into two phases with the examinations he made based on the writing process of Kitab al-Badi, made a distinction between the chapters of Ibn al-Mu‘tazz. Sezgin concluded that İbn al-Mu’tazz was influenced by Aristotle in the second part of the book. He supported this conviction with the detectable Aristotle effect in Qudâma, a contemporary of Ibn al-Mu‘tazz. In this study, Fuat Sezgin’s findings and argumentation about the history of the rhetorical arts will be analyzed.
Fuat Sezgin’in Bedî‘ Ilminin Doğuşu ile Ilgili Görüşleri (Bedî‘ Ilmi ile Ilgili Bitirme Tezi Bağlamında)
Fatma Nur Şenerİslam medeniyetinin kitâbiyatı üzerine önemli çalışmalar kaleme alan Fuat Sezgin, İstanbul Üniversitesi Şarkiyat Araştırmaları Enstitüsü’ndeki eğitimini 1947 yılında Arap ve İran Filolojisi bölümünde hazırladığı “Bedî‘ İlminin Tekamülü ve İstanbul Kütüphanelerinde Bulunan Bedîiyyelere Ait Yazmalar Kataloğu” başlıklı tezi ile tamamlamıştır. Sezgin, teze başlarken bedîiyye türünü incelemeyi ve İstanbul yazma eser kütüphanelerinde yer alan bedîiyyâtın kataloğunu çıkarmayı amaçlamıştır ancak çalışması esnasında izah etmeyi zaruret addettiği; beyân ilminin Câhiz’la (ö. 255/869) başlatılması, İbnü’l-Mu‛tez’in (ö. 296/908) zikrettiği bedî‘ nevilerinde ani bir artışın bulunması, Kudâme b. Ca‛fer’in (ö. 337/948) Nakdü’ş-şiʿr’inde kendisini bu alanda eser telif edenlerin ilki olarak zikretmesi gibi bir takım meselelerle karşılaşmıştır. Bu meselelerden yola çıkarak özelde bedî‘ ilminin genel olarak ise belâgatın doğuşu ve gelişimi hakkında hâlihazırda da canlılığını sürdüren tartışmalara dâhil olmuştur. İbnü’l-Mu‛tez’in Kitabu’l-bedî‘i ile bir disiplin olarak ortaya çıktığı kabul edilen bedî‘ ilminin menşeinde Yunan felsefesinin tesirinin olduğu hususunda modern dönemde tartışmalar cereyan etmiştir. Kitâbu’l-bedî‘nin telif edilme sürecinden yola çıkarak yaptığı tetkiklerle bedî‘ ilminin tarihini iki safhaya ayıran Fuat Sezgin, İbnü’l-Mu‛tez’in kitabının bölümleri arasında bir ayrıma gitmiş ve kitabın ikinci bölümünü Aristo’nun Rhetorica’sından (Kitâbü’l-Hatâbe) istifade ederek telif ettiği kanaatine varmıştır. Bu kanaatini İbnü’l-Mu‛tez’in çağdaşı olan Kudâme b. Ca‛fer’in Nakdü’ş-şiʿr’inde de Aristo etkisinin açıkça tespit edilebilir olmasıyla desteklemiştir. Bu çalışmada ise Fuat Sezgin’in bedî‘ sanatlarının tarihçesine yönelik söz konusu tespitlerini ve argümantasyonunu analiz edilmeye çalışılacaktır.
Fuat Sezgin graduated from the Oriental Studies Institute of Istanbul University with a thesis entitled “Evolution of Ilm al-Badi and Catalog of Badīʿiyya Manuscripts in Istanbul Libraries”. His first aim was to identify the badīʿiyya manuscripts in the libraries of Istanbul, but he later faced some problems with the history of ilm al-badi. Therefore he set himself to researching the history of rhetoric (ilm al-balagha). His thesis has not been discussed in any academic study before and his views have not been revealed. It is thought that these views will contribute to the writing of history because they contains original claims. This study aims to evaluate the information included in the thesis and to draw attention to its importance.
Ilm al-badi, which is one of the three sciences that compose ilm al-balagha, examines the ways of embellishing expressions. Badīʿiyya is a special kind of poetry written to praise the prophet, Muhammad. Certain conditions are sought in badīʿiyya poems: there must be at least one rhetorical form in each couplet, the number of couplets should be at least 50, etc. The first poet of this genre was Ṣafī al-Dīn al-Ḥilli (died 1348). About 100 poems in this genre were written by the 20th century after al- al-Ḥilli. Fuat Sezgin, in his thesis study, provided information on 17 badīʿiyya poems, their poets and the badīʿiyya manuscripts in Istanbul libraries.
The first issue regarding the history of al-balagha that Fuat Sezgin reviewed is Aristotle’s effect on the rise of al-badi. Before him, Taha Hussein was the first to draw attention to this effect. However, he could not examine the Kitab al-Badi by Abdallah Ibn al-Mu’tazz. In his paper presented at the conference of orientalists in Leiden in 1931, Hussein stated that al-balagha was influenced by Aristotle. At that time, Kitab alBadi had not yet been published - Ignatij Julianovič Kračkovskıj published it in 1935 (London). Fuat Sezgin examined Kitab al-Badi and tried to determine the effect he was highlighting. Sezgin established a relationship between the chapters of the book and the developmental stages of al-badi. He thinks that the topics discussed in the first part of the book are already known, however, the second part of the book was written per the influence of Aristotle.
One of the problems related to the history of al-balagha to which Sezgin had tried to propose a solution is Qudâma b. Ja’fer’s claim in his book Nakd al-Shi’r that he was the first author in the field of rhetorical forms. Sezgin was convinced that Qudâma who was one of the dewan clerks in the Abbasid period, could not ignore that Ibn al-Mu’tazz had written a book about al-badi. Therefore Qudama must not have seen his book. However, it is unthinkable that Qudama did not see Kitab al-Badi since he was one of the leading intellectuals of his time. Consequently, Fuat Sezgin came to a conclusion that when Qudama started writing his book, Ibn al-Mu’tazz had not yet written the second part of Kitab al-Badi. In other words, they both wrote about rhetorical forms at the same time. That’s why they both thought themselves to be the first person to approach ilm al-badi.
Another point that Fuat Sezgin deems problematic in terms of the history of al-balagha is the rise and development phase of rhetoric from its beginnings to Hijri III. century. Sezgin objected to the initiation of al-balagha and the three sciences contained in it by specific individuals. He asserted that the emergence of al-ma’ani, al- bayan and al-badi as a science is based on previous periods. The history of ilm al-bayan is initiated by the work of Jahîz Kitāb al-bayān wa al-tabyīn, however, Fuat Sezgin acknowledges that in this period, al-bayan meant al-balagha in a broad sense and that the study of Jahiz contributed to its development as a discipline.
Fuat Sezgin’s approaches to the issues he dealt with in the origins and development of al-balagha have original explanations. Nevertheless, it is a deficiency in the historical writing of al-balagha that Fuat Sezgin’s contributions were not included.
