Author: Miguel Asin
Translator(s): Harold Sunderland
Publisher: Goodword Books
Year: 2002
Language: English
Pages: 295
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8187570202
Description
This volume is an abridged translation of 'La Escatologia Musulmana en la Divina Comedia, originallty published in Spanish in Madrid in 1919.
The author, Prof. Miguel Asin Y Palacios, though a Catholic priest, was attracted by the Muslim philosophers and Sufis of Spain, particularly Ibn Massara, Ibn Hazm, Ibn Rushd and the great sufi Ibn al-Arabi. He wrote several books on Hispano-Islamic philosophy and Sufism, but the international renown he earned as on account of this book.
After years of extensive research, he discovered parallels between the Islamic lore about the after-life based on Hadith and the Divine Comedy by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), a work for which he is justly famed. The similarities, far from being superficial, pervade the entire poem. Prof. Asian concluded that Dante had derived most of the features of an episodes about the hereafter from (i) the Hadith literature relating to the Prophet Muhammad and his ascension (miraj) and (ii) to the spiritual visions of Ibn al-Arabi. In his opinion, the Divine Comedy was not an entirely original work, as Dante had had before him a ready made pattern based on Islamic writing on the after-life.
With the publication of this work, Prof. Asin found himself in the eye of a storm, as nationalist Italians, the roman catholic clergy, and other European Christians could not reconcile themselves to the thought of their most cherished religious poem being based on non-Christian sources. Prof. Asin, however, faced up to his critics by enumerating the possible sources from which Dante could have obtained the salient features of Islamic eschatology.
The consensus of opinion of all eminent scholars of Europe and America is now in favor of Prof. Asian’s thesis.
Contents
PART I: THE LEGEND OF THE NOCTURNAL JOURNEY AND ASCENSION OF MAHOMET COMPARED WITH THE DIVINE COMEDY
The Origin of the Legend
First Cycle -Versions of the Isra, or Nocturnal Journey
Second Cycle-Versions of the Miraj, or Ascension
Third Cycle-Fusion of the Versions of the Isra and the Miraj
Theological Commentaries on the Legend
Adaptations from the Legend, Mainly Mystical Allegories
Literary Imitations of the Legend
Summary of Comparisons
PART II
THE DIVINE COMEDY COMPARED WITH OTHER MOSLEM LEGENDS ON THE AFTER-LIFE
Introduction
The Moslem Limbo in the Divine Comedy
The Moslem Hell in the Divine Comedy
The Moslem Hell in the Divine Comedy-Continued
The Moslem Hell in the Divine Comedy (Conclusion)
The Moslem Purgatory in the Divine Comedy
The Earthly Paradise of Islam in the Divine Comedy
The Celestial Paradise of Islam in the Divine Comedy
The Celestial Paradise of Islam in the Divine Comedy (Conclusion)
Synthesis of all the Partial Comparisons
PART III: MOSLEM FEATURES IN THE CHRISTIAN LEGENDS PRECURSORY OF THE DIVINE COMEDY
Introduction
Legends of Visions of Hell
Legends of Visions of Hell-Conclusion
Legends on the Weighing of Souls
Legends of Paradise
Legends of Sea Voyages
Legends of Sleepers
Legends of the Respite from Torture
Legends on the Debate Between Angels and Devils for Possession of the Soul
PART IV: PROBABILITY OF THE TRANSMISSION OF ISLAMIC MODELS TO CHRISTIAN EUROPE AND PARTICULARLY TO DANTE
Introduction
Communication Between Islam and Christian Europe During the Middle Ages
Transmission of the Moslem Legends on the After-Life to Christian Europe and Dante
The Attraction Felt by Dante Towards Arabic Culture Confirms the Hypothesis of Imitation
The Close Resemblance Between Dante and the Mystic, IBN Ababi of Murcia, Furnishes Further Proof of the Thesis of Imitation