Medieval and Modern Philologies

Series | Medieval and Modern Philologies
Edited book | Authors as Readers in the Mamlūk Period and Beyond
Chapter | 7 • al-Maqrīzī as a Reader of The Testament of Ardašīr

7 • al-Maqrīzī as a Reader of The Testament of Ardašīr

Abstract

This chapter discusses the way al-Maqrīzī quotes ʿAhd Ardašīr through Miskawayhi. As we have at our disposal al-Maqrīzī’s holograph and the manuscript of Miskawayhi’s Taǧārib he used, we can see exactly how al-Maqrīzī understood the text he quoted. This is particularly illuminating in cases where Miskawayhi, or the copyist of the manuscript, had misunderstood the ʿAhd and al-Maqrīzī had a partly corrupt text in front of him. Even though elsewhere al-Maqrīzī can be very free with his sources, with this text he avoids emendations and aims at a high fidelity to the text. Sometimes, however, we can see how he has misunderstood the text and changed its original meaning.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Submitted: July 28, 2021 | Accepted: Dec. 13, 2021 | Published March 8, 2022 | Language: en

Keywords QuotingʿAhd Ardašīral-MaqrīzīMistakesCopying


read this chapter