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It is almost unanimously agreed that Rifā‘a al-Tahtāwī
(His full name is Rifā‘a Badawī bin-Rāfi‘ al-Tahtāwī)
is the author of the modern intellectual Renaissance in Egypt and the
neighbouring countries. This man was able to open up hundreds of windows on
the culture of the European world without letting himself to be taken adrift
by its uprooting stormy winds. He was born in Tahta, a small town in Suhag
in Upper Egypt, in 1801 A.D. He studied the sciences of religion first in
his town, and then moved on to Cairo to resume his studies in Al-Azhar
University. In Al-Azhar, he met his mentor Hassan al-‘Attār who
nominated Rifā‘a to be an imam of a mission sent by Muhammad ‘Alī
Pasha to Paris. al-Tahtāwī spent five years in Paris during which
he learnt French and then wrote his celebrated magnum opus Takhlīs
al-Ibrīz fī Talkhīs Bārīz, “Extracting
Gold in Overviewing Paris”, in which he offered his own cultural reading
of the state of affairs of European life through his observation of Parisian
life.
Returning back to Egypt, Rifā‘a took the lead in presenting
European culture and civilization through the translation of the
masterpieces of European thought. Moreover, he championed the ideal of
modernization in his reformatory writings. He passed away in 1873 A.D.
leaving us a rich intellectual inheritance made up of his writings and
translations. And of his most important writings and translations, we may
mention: al-Muršid al-Amīn
li-al-Banāt wa al-Banīn- ‘The Sincere Guide for Boys
and Girls,’ Nihāyat al-Ījāz
fī Tārīj Sākin al-Hijāz- ‘The Greatest
Conciseness in the History of the Inhabitant of Hejaz (Prophet Muhammad),’
Anwār Tawfīq al-Jalīl-
‘The Brightness of the Sublime Man’s Success,’ Ta‘arīb
al-Qānūn al-Madanī al-Faransāwī-
‘Arabization of the French Civil Law,’ Jughrāfiyāt Bilād
al-Šām- ‘Geography of al-Šām’ and his translation of
Tarīkh Qalā’id al-Mafākhir
fī Ghārīb ‘Awā’id al-Awā’il wa al-Awākhir-
‘History of Necklaces of Glorious Deeds in the Exotic Traditions of
Predecessors and Successors.
It was such a great and rare chance to approach al-Tahtāwī’s
cultural and intellectual backdrop, when I indulged in the cataloging of his
manuscript collection which is currently kept in Suhag. The catalog of this
collection was published in the beginnings of the 90s by the Institute of
Arabic Manuscripts in three volumes. The catalog contains about 1900
manuscripts available entirety on the electronic catalog of manuscripts in
this website.
Now,
let’s move on to see another aspect of Rifā‘a’s personality
through the following rare document which he himself wrote to his future
wife the day he proposed to her. The text reads as follows:
The writer of these letters, Rifā‘a Badawī Rāfi‘, abides himself with a vow to his
cousin Hājjah Karīma - the daughter of the great erudite scholar
Mohammad al-Farghalī al-Ansārī-, that she will remain his
sole lawful wife, and that he will never marry another woman or maiden even
for a few days, and that the bond of marriage is to be undone on dishonoring
the abovementioned vow by marrying another woman or maiden even for a few
days. And if he gets married to another woman even for a few days, his
cousin becomes, according to his vow, irrevocably divorced and independent
of her husband’s matrimonial authority over her, the same thing applies if
he indulges in a relationship with one of his legitimately owned maidens. He
is making a solemn vow not be broken or breached that as long as she keeps
her loving tenderness, and as long as she maintains her honesty and
heedfulness towards her household, her children, her servants and maidens,
she will reside in his residence as his sole lawful wife promising never to
marry another or indulge in any relationship with his maidens, and never to
divorce her till death do them part.
This is the vow witnessed by God, His Angels and His Messengers. And if
the abovementioned man takes on a different course of action, may God
–exalted be Him- be the final Just Arbiter in favour of the abovementioned
wife, and may the one breaching the vow be retributed for the dishonoring of
his vow in this world and the afterworld. This is the agreement we have
reached. However, if she incurred his discomfort or his discontent, she is
doomed to be held responsible for the punishment she might receive.
(Rifā‘a Badawī
Rāfi‘ on the 14th of Šawāl 1255 H.)
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