La destinée de l'homme selon Avicenne. Le retour à Dieu (maʿȃd) et l'imagination by JeanMichotReview by: James Winston MorrisJournal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 107, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 1987), pp. 815-817Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/603349 .

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Reviews of Books 815

necting the two areas was traced while trenches in the broad depression between them revealed remains of what must have been the main settlement.

Using notebooks, photographs, plans and other materials comprising the dig archives, and drawing on his own firsthand knowledge of the region, as well as on his ex- perience as a numismatist and excavator, Whitcomb patiently reconstructs the history of the site through its main periods of occupation from early Sasanian times to the 14th century when it was finally abandoned. Building phases are sorted out with schematic plans redrawn from the original survey sheets. Ceramics and other finds, arranged according to location and general type, are presented in drawings which, if not elegant, are always clear and eminently readable. To insure easy access by future researchers, every page of illus- trations faces a chart containing for each object a brief description, findspot (where known), accession number, and reference to photographs, many of which are included in this book. The seals and sealings, the only part of the excava- tions hitherto fully published, are brought to bear in the discussion wherever relevant.

Individual monuments and architectural complexes, which are rarely preserved to more than a meter in height, are described as fully as the existing documentation permits and always in the context of broader problems of topography, economic history, religion and political geography. In the western area, for example, a series of small rooms including a char fasi grouped around an open court with an octagonal building opposite are reasonably interpreted as a khanagah, a shrine complex, or a zawiyah, a Sufi convent connected with a tomb. Citing the incorporation of an Achaemenid pavilion constructed perhaps in Buyid times of fragments brought from Persepolis, Whitcomb reminds us that by the 13th century, the khanagah's probable date of construction, Achaemenid remains were connected with Solomonic themes in Sufi speculation and by the rulers of Fars who considered themselves "inheritors of the realm of Solomon." He goes on to discuss the mercantile activities of the Sufi orders necessary for establishing and maintaining the prosperity of such insti- tutions which functioned variously as centers of learning, caravanserais and objects of pilgrimage. No less significant for the religious history of Iran is his interpretation, based on comparison with buildings in Iraq and on Kharg Island, of a large complex (W19) on the western slope as a Nestorian monastery.

One can only admire the author's restraint as he under- takes the frustrating task of creating a coherent picture from records which are, in many cases, ambiguous, defective and incomplete. There is none of the harsh diatribe, smugness, and counterproductive outbursts of despair so often indulged in by less temperate (and less confident?) delvers into the notebooks of our predecessors. Instead, he takes the oppor-

tunity to discourse on the various problems raised by this data, and in the process, presents us with a methodology broadly applicable to other projects of this kind. Whitcomb critically reviews modern methods best suited to evaluating ceramic and numismatic evidence collected under such cir- cumstances. He demonstrates how the cadastral principles underlying the organization and development of Iranian towns can be rediscovered. And he carefully reconstructs not only the early excavations but the often unrecorded intentions of the excavators as well.

If he fails to provide definite solutions to some larger questions, in particular, the precise relationship of Qasr-i Abu Nasr to the Buyid town of Kard Fana Khosrow, and indeed to early Shiraz itself, it is because of daunting lexico- graphical problems and the plain dearth of available evidence. At least we are satisfied that, for the time being, all that is possible with the information at hand has been done.

Before the Roses and Nightingales, then, is an important book not only because it fills a conspicuous lacuna in the archaeological map of Iran, but because its author demon- strates an approach to our profession which is at once probing and incisive, unpretentious and humane. One hopes that he will continue to apply his talents to such archaeo- logical rescue projects in the future.

LIONEL BIER

BROOKLYN COLLEGE OF THE

CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK

La destinee de l'homme selon Avicenne. Le retour a Dieu (ma'dI) et l'imagination. By JEAN MICHOT. Pp. xlvii + 237. Louvain: PEETERS. 1987.

It is certainly no exaggeration to say that the writings of Avicenna (d. 428/1037) have played a role in subsequent schools of Islamic thought in many ways comparable to that of Plato and Aristotle in the West. Hence such outwardly disparate intellectual traditions as post-Ghazalian kalam, the many attempts to formulate a speculative framework for Islamic mysticism, and the self-styled "Peripatetic" school all drew much of their conceptual apparatus and systematic expression-if not always their more original inspiration- from the works of the "Leading Master." In addition, the widespread popular adaptations of Avicenna's cosmological, psychological and metaphysical notions offered a systematic world-view providing a scientifically persuasive, yet reli- giously acceptable, framework for many less intellectual forms of mysticism and spirituality reflected throughout the Sufi poetry and literature of later centuries.

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816 Journal of the American Oriental Society 107.4 (1987)

In this context, Professor Michot's long-awaited study should provide a greatly needed comprehensive introduction to the Avicennan features of those later Islamic traditions, as well as indispensable background for students without direct access to the original sources. Its usefulness in that regard is especially enhanced by lengthy translations of many sup- porting texts, as well as by its detailed bibliography. More- over, the approach adopted here provides the uninitiated reader with a clear idea of the full interdependence of the elements in Avicenna's philosophic system-essential inter- connections which are often dealt with only tangentially in the classic studies of narrower areas of his thought. In particular, this approach brings out the potential importance of cosmological elements or Islamic theological issues that modern readers would otherwise naturally tend to overlook. Finally, the author has placed Avicenna squarely in his original historical context, not only through continuous cita- tions from the philosopher's own writings, but also by references to his most influential commentators (Ghazali, Rdzi, Ttisl, Suhrawardi and Mulla Sadra). The result is often to suggest philosophic possibilities (especially with regard to religious and kalam topics) substantially different from those discussed in earlier works focusing on Avicenna's relations to the Aristotelean tradition, or to Averroes and their reception in medieval Europe.

The central theme of this work is the problem posed by Avicenna's scattered references to the hypothesis of an "imaginal," sensible afterlife (corresponding to the scriptural promises of corporeal rewards and punishments) for that vast majority of mankind who have not yet reached their ultimate, intellectual perfection. After presenting the frame- work of this problem in terms of Avicenna's theory of the twofold functions of prophecy and revelation and his underlying "anthropological dualism," the author carefully examines the possible theoretical grounds for this imaginal eschatology in every relevant area of Avicenna's thought. His method, in each instance, involves three interrelated levels of interpretation: 1) the textual presentation and analysis of Avicennan arguments that could support this hypothesis; 2) summary reference to similar interpretations from later com- mentators who more openly adopted this "Avicennan" theory; and 3) his own independent suggestions of philo- sophic possibilities implicit in key Avicennan concepts-an approach in which he often follows the tendencies (and even the conclusions) of such later Islamic thinkers as Suhraward! and Mulld Sadra.

While the particular problem of an imaginal eschatology might at first seem to be of relatively minor significance in the overall context of Avicenna's philosophy, the wider interest of this work lies in the richness of its documentation and its insightful presentation of all the related dimensions of Avicenna's systematic thought-especially those meta- physical and epistemological questions, usually presented in

ambiguous religious terms, which came to dominate con- sideration of his work in the Islamic world. Prof. Michot's dense, but impressively clear analysis begins with the Neo- platonic, spiritualist tendencies in Avicenna's metaphysics and ontology; goes on to outline the corresponding epis- temological possibilities (especially the role of the angelic intellects and souls); continues with a suggestive discussion of his "idealism of sensation" and the possible modes of survival of these unenlightened souls; and concludes with the problems still posed by Avicenna's rigorous intellectualism, as highlighted by the contrast with GhazalT and Ibn 'Arabi. Not surprisingly, the author consistently focuses on the Neoplatonic, spiritualist and religious potentialities in each of these areas of Avicenna's thought. This interpretive emphasis has considerable advantages, but could also pose certain dangers for readers unacquainted with the full scope of Avicenna's writing and alternative interpretations.

In short, this study beautifully illustrates four fundamen- tal features of all of Avicenna's writing that accounted for the extraordinary variety of treatments it received in later Islamic thought. First, there is his clearly intentional, but often ambiguous, use of religious language (including frequent allusions to issues in kaldm and Ismaili theology), a rhetorical feature which was one of his more noticeable departures from the philosophic tradition of al-Farabl. Like Prof. Michot, subsequent Islamic interpreters-especially those defending kalam positions or forms of Islamic mysticism-tended to take Avicenna's apparent "escha- tology," "prophetology," "angelology," etc. (i.e., understood in an explicitly Islamic framework) to be the primary focus of his remarks concerning those subjects, as though his philosophic discussions were intended as supporting explana- tions of religious beliefs in those areas, and as though popular assumptions concerning those topics could in turn be used to interpret his philosophic thought. In fact, however, the same remarks could often be construed more rational- istically-i.e., in precisely the opposite direction-as sug- gesting alternative, critical philosophic perspectives for judging or interpreting such religious beliefs. Secondly, there is Avicenna's notoriously problematic combination of what could be called "Neoplatonic" and "Peripatetic" concepts and tendencies, a pervasive characteristic that has been noted by virtually every later commentator. Often such inner conceptual ambiguities are not simply matters of scholastic doctrine: their bearing on inescapable practical issues in- volving the aims and presuppositions of man's philosophic (and religious) life is strikingly exemplified in the radically opposing tendencies of later Islamic "Avicennan" traditions.

A third characteristic feature of Avicenna's philosophy is the indeterminacy of many of his most basic notions, a vagueness that was often developed in radically different directions. Many of these areas-such as his conception of the roles of material (or intellectual) "preparedness" for

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Reviews of Books 817

"illumination" and "emanation"; the ambiguities in his "formalism" (both ontological and epistemological) between "intellectualist" or far more wide-ranging "spiritualist" inter- pretations; the exact nature and extent of the contents (spiritual, ethical, etc.) "revealed" by the angelic souls and intellects; the uncertainties surrounding his discussions of the practical intellect-are thoroughly illustrated in this book. (Similar cases, such as Avicenna's conception of the relations between existence and essence, or between his "general metaphysics" and theology, were equally important in later traditions of Islamic thought.) Finally, there is the related problem of the restrictions (and occasionally surprising philosophic opportunities) posed by the ostensibly systematic character of Avicenna's thinking, a feature which-as critics as diverse as Averroes and Ibn Tayrmilya pointedly remarked- often closely parallels the procedures and results of kaldm. Given such a logically and metaphysically coherent (and theologically persuasive) structure, it was very hard to liber- ate thought and expression from the implicit constraints of that system, even for later thinkers starting from radically different insights or presuppositions. Where thinking could be dictated by such inherent conceptual possibilities, rather than by a-more profound reflection on reality, the dangers of scholasticization (as with later kaldm) were very real.

Dr. Michot's book, because of its ambitious scope and rare combination of clarity and thorough attention to detail, sheds much new light on the "Islamic Avicenna" and should become a classic reference for students of the many related traditions of later Islamic thought.

JAMES WINSTON MORRIS

INSTITUTE OF ISMAILI STUDIES, PARIS

Circles of Fantasy: Convention in the Plays of Chikamatsu. By C. ANDREW GERSTLE. Pp. xvii + 248. (Harvard East Asian Studies Monograph, No. 116) Cambridge, Mass.: COUNCIL ON EAST ASIAN STUDIES, HARVARD UNIVERSITY.

1986.

One of the pleasures of this book is "reading" again familiar works of literature through the eyes of a particularly enthusiastic and knowledgeable reader. Most of the Chi- kamatsu plays discussed at length have been translated into English by Donald Keene, so they are familiar in Japanese literature courses as well, and Gerstle's analyses will also be of interest to students. He claims quite properly that a certain amount of knowledge is necessary to read well works of a different culture, and he is offering readings of the plays from within the tradition as a way of supplying that knowl- edge. His aim in this study is "to delineate two fundamental

conventions of the Jdruri theater. The first is musical form, upon which the play is organized. The second is cyclical movement within the plays, influenced by Buddhist tradition. Ultimately the two conventions are complementary" (p. xvi). Anyone who has experienced the joy of seeing and hearing Joruri, and then the frustration of trying to communicate it to students, will read the book eagerly. Gerstle approaches his subject methodically; the first half concentrates on the musical form, and the second on the cyclical movement as supported by that form.

Chapter 1, "Introduction," briefly describes the major characteristics of the puppet theater and its relation to its theatrical predecessor, No. Chapter 2, "Musical Conven- tions," discusses the relation between the chanter and play- wright, with particular attention to the early influential chanters Uji Kaganoj6 and Takemoto Gidayi. (Short treatises by each are included as appendices.) In Chapter 3, "Mosaic," Gerstle begins to lead his readers through scenes relating the musical notation, and the "variations of voice delivery and musical rhythms" as well as structural divisions the notation represents, to the written texts. It is here that he begins to support his claim, unobjectionable in itself, that "without music, the work ceases to be Jaruri" (p. 39), and here as well that some of the difficulties of his task begin to make themselves felt.

The first of these is the problem of trying to describe music with words. The difficulty is compounded by the mix of English and Japanese words. The notations are, of course, Japanese words, and the reader is constantly referred to a set of Glossaries for their definitions. The Glossaries also repre- sent an editorial misjudgment: it is irritating that there are three of them, and there is no apparent reason for not integrating at least two. Definitions in the Glossaries are thorough; for example, ji iro, "Notation: rhythmical delivery style (parlando); samisen plays as well but not to harmonize with, rather to run parallel to, the chanter's voice" (p. 211). But definitions within the text itself are sketchy, such as "aji delivery . . ., the most adorned singing style," orji iro haru, "a singing style in a high pitch" (p. 48), and unenlightening. But even at their best, I wonder if the descriptive words do not also bring with them echoes to Western readers' ears of more familiar if less appropriate music than the sounds of Jaruri. Gerstle argues that "Even without having actually heard the sounds of Bunraku, a reader can use the general guidelines of the notation to create his own music to enhance the emotions presented in the text. As a mosaic, the text is static; a reader brings it melody and rhythm and conducts the orchestrated movements of the symphony of emotions. Once brought to life, the language sings in the many voices of human feeling. Music carries these voices-vibrant with the hot blood of passion-into the heart of the reader, as mere cool words without melody could never do" (p. 62). Other readers might have more success in following the

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