‘Imād Al‐Dīn Al‐Iṣfahānī’s Al-Barq Al‐Shāmī: a Paradigm for Cultural Memory in Autobiography of the Arabic Literary Tradition

Abstract

This paper aims at presenting ‘ImÄd al-DÄ«n alâ€Iá¹£fahÄnī’s (A.D. 1125-1201) memoirs of his association with á¹¢alÄḥ al-DÄ«n, known in the West as Saladin (A.D. 1138-1193), and his purpose to enhance the identity of his people. ‘ImÄd al-DÄ«n rose to high rank in the service of the Sultans and the Caliphate in BaghdÄd and later was in the service of NÅ«r al-DÄ«n at Damascus and became secretary (kÄtib) to Saladin in A.D. 1175. In this post, he wrote an account of his experiences in the service of Saladin, entitled al-Barq al-ShÄmÄ« (The Syrian Thunderbolt) (A.D. 1166-1193). ‘ImÄd al-DÄ«n’s work is a historical account referring to the brief but glorious reigns of NÅ«r al-DÄ«n and Saladin, that saw the unification of Syria, Palestine, and Egypt into a single kingdom and the recapture of Jerusalem from the hands of the Crusaders who had held it for eighty-eight years (A.D. 1099–1187). Although ‘ImÄd al-DÄ«n’s work is framed as a life of Saladin, the narrative focus slips away to highlight the role of ‘Imad al-DÄ«n himself (tarjama nafsah). ‘ImÄd al-DÄ«n’s historical account is in no sense an ordinary narrative chronicle. It is much more in the nature of a professional diary or record of the author’s secretarial activities, copiously illustrated with copies of or extracts from his own dispatches. Moreover, ‘ImÄd al-DÄ«n gives a detailed account of his day-to-day activities as a high-ranking administrative secretary. Emphasis is given to the role that ‘ImÄd al-DÄ«n played during the reign of Saladin and his own social commentaries regarding the ‘men of the pen’ and the ‘men of the sword’. Furthermore, ‘ImÄd al-DÄ«n’s autobiographical account focuses on the true moments of his personal glory. Certainly, ‘ImÄd al-DÄ«n shows a deep admiration for Saladin, but his greatness appears wholly as a corollary from the facts themselves, and only occasionally does he express some criticism of his master. These memoirs are seen as a chronicle of events, with the remarkable feature that they are usually related in the first person plural, a practice that gives an impression of vanity and self-importance on the writer’s part. By constructing the past and thus its cultural memory, makes one suppose that ‘ImÄd al-DÄ«n relies upon the veracity and the ‘historical conscience’ and tries through his autobiographical memoirs to present important personal and national events. All these materials, though at times appear to be straightforward eulogies, aim at serving his patron as well as to instill confidence to his people. On the whole, it may be said that the various discourses of the past that are quoted by ‘ImÄd al-DÄ«n aim at determining and enhancing the social and ethnic identity of his people.