Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale [online] ISSN 2385-3042 Vol. 52 – Giugno 2016 [print] ISSN 1125-3789 Silence and Speech Etiquette A Contribution to the Study of Islamic Ethics Ida Zilio-Grandi (Università Ca’ Foscari, Venezia) Abstract When speaking of silence, the Koran employs three different verbal roots (ṣ-m-t, s-k-t, n-ṣ-t); on the basis of this linguistic profusion, Arabic Islamic culture has elaborated a complex con- ception of silence, which embraces an element of abstention, linking it to passivity and stillness, and a cognitive element, linking it to listening and learning. The exegetical corpus and above all the moral literature, represented here chiefly by the learned Sunnite Ibn Abī al-Dunyā of Baghdad (d. 281/894)’s Kitāb al-ṣamt wa ādāb al-lisān, equate silence with verbal discipline and award it the status of an Islamic value, to the extent that it is posited as an optimal attitude in the believer’s relation with God and with other members of the Islamic community. Summary 1 Premise. – 2 Silence in the Koran and the Exegetical Literature. – 3 Silence in the Ethical-religious Literature of the Classical Period. – 4 Silence and Good Manners in Speech by Ibn Abī Al-dunyā. – 5 The Government of the Tongue and the Excellence of Silence. – 6 Conclusions. Keywords Koran. Ibn Abī al-Dunyā. Silence. 1 Premise In an earlier study (Zilio-Grandi 2015) I came across silence as a con- stituent element of the virtue known as ḥilm or ‘judiciousness’, that is as a virtuous trait in the believer, and an Islamic ethical value.1 This was in such aphorisms as «silence (sukūt) is itself a reply», or «He who shows compassion is forgiven and he who remains silent (yaṣmutu, cf. ṣamt) will be safe and sound», and in such verses of poetry as «When the fool speaks do not answer him | silence (again sukūt) is better than a reply», found in that most fertile of authors in the field of homiletic literature, Ibn Abī al- Dunyā of Baghdad (d. 281/894), traditionist, jurist and tutor to the Abbasid caliphs al-Muʿtaḍid and al-Muḳtafī, specifically in a pamphlet precisely on the subject of judiciousness (ʿAṭā 1993). But silence’s inclusion among the tenets of Islamic ethics is by no means a given, granted that the culture in question is in general more inclined to 1 On silence as a ḥilm element, see also Pellat 2012. DOI 10.14277/2385-3042/AnnOr-52-16-1 Submission 2015-11-20 | Acceptance 2016-03-17 | © 2016 7 Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale, 52, 2016, pp. 7-30 ISSN 2385-3042 verbosity than silence,2 all the way back to its own cornerstone, the Koran, which in effect announces itself as the most eloquent of human speech, able to convey with precision the divine Word. And the subsequent clas- sical Arabic literary corpus continues to evince an unshakeable faith in speech, attributing to it a solid operational, and even a degree of salvific potency.3 The same goes for juridical doctrine; we may remember for ex- ample the harsh censure of silence when it is a question of ‘commanding right and forbidding wrong’, and the ‘dumb devil’ (šayṭān aḫras), the per- sonification of a servile code of silence, a familiar figure from traditional imagery.4 2 Silence in the Koran and the Exegetical Literature Alongside its respect for the word, we find a corresponding low valua- tion of silence in the Koran. One has only to remember the vicissitudes of the prophet Zechariah, who was silent for three days, possibly as a punishment, after having doubted divine manifestations (Koran, 3,41 and 19,10),5 and from another angle one could cite Mary the future mother of Jesus (19,26); or Abraham in the episode where silence is a symptom and prerogative of false gods (21,63-65 and 37,92); or again, the silence of the damned in the hereafter (23,109).6 In these cases the Koran does not refer to silence with a direct epithet, but by litotes, that is negating speech. 2 A point made by, among others, the contemporary Syrian intellectual Muḥammad Rātib al-Nābūlusī (2003). 3 «Which the example best known in the West, that of Šahrazād, demonstrates with par- ticular clarity», as Ghersetti (2010, p. 46) puts it. 4 From a late saying of the Prophet’s. The idea is picked up by for example Ibn Qayyim al-Ğawziyya (d. 751/1350; Ibrāhīm 1411/1991, vol. 2, p. 121), who writes: «How much faith and how much good can reside in one who can see the precepts of God violated […] with a cold heart and a silent tongue? Such a one is a mute devil. Similarly one who utters falsity is a talking devil (šayṭān nāṭiq)». 5 Some exegetes read Zechariah’s silence straight forwardly as a punishment. Cf. Ayoub 1992, pp. 115-122 and Marshall 2016. On the silence of Zechariah and of Mary see also below. 6 More precisely a seal placed by God on their mouths (cf. naḫtimu ʿalā afwāmi-him) in Ko- ran, 36,65. Further examples of the negativity of silence might be added, which, even if not wholly explicit in the Koran, are none the less relevant to our exegesis: the silence endured by the Companions of the Cave (Koran 18,11), Moses’s inability to remain silent as demanded by his instructor (Koran 18,67-82), the silence of the Revelation – and consequently that of the Prophet – when he failed to add in šāʾ Allāh to his declaration of his intentions for the future (cf. Koran, 8,23-24). In so far as this paper is concerned with the moral dimension of silence, it will omit some important but not strictly pertinent aspects such as the pause (waqf) in Koranic readings, or the ‘silent’ or implicit (‘al-mafhūm’) element in the Word, as opposed to that explicitly pronounced (‘al-manṭūq’). 8 Zilio-Grandi. Silence and Speech Etiquette ISSN 2385-3042 Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale, 52, 2016, pp. 7-30 Furthermore the borderline between silence from choice and muteness7 as an involuntary, perhaps pathological state, is often unclear and a mat- ter of debate between the commentators. Thus, in order to conduct an investigation into silence in the Koran and in Arabic and Islamic culture more generally, it will be more convenient to argue from the lexicography and concentrate our attention on the Arabic words used to describe the act of remaining silent. In this connection, the classical vocabulary employs mainly sukūt e ṣamt (with the cognate ṣumūt), which seem to be lexicographically synony- mous.8 While not present themselves in the Koran, we do find their verbal roots: both recurring in the space of a couple of dozen verses in sūrat al- Aʿrāf (The Heights). The root ṣ-m-t – ‘to be silent, to be speechless; to be rugged’ (DQU, s.v.) – ap- pears in the context of the obstinacy of the unbelievers, deaf to the divine word: «And if ye call them to the Guidance. They follow you not. Whether ye call them or are silent (ṣāmitūn) is all one to them» (Koran, 7,193).9 The sense is clear10 and the commentators have little or nothing to add. As to the root s-k-t – ‘being silent, becoming silent, to stop talking, to stop moving; to abate’ (DQU, s.v.) – this is used with reference to Moses, af- ter the episode of the Golden Calf: «Then, when the anger of Moses abated (sakata), he took up the tables, and in their inscription there was guidance and mercy for all those who fear their Lord» (Koran, 7,154). In this case the exegesis is more copious. Al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/923) (1412/1992, vol. 9, p. 49), 7 Which the Book treats entirely negatively. The root chiefly employed to express it is b-k-m, «dumbness, muteness; inability to express oneself; to be silent; to be born or to be- come dumb or mute; to be ignorant». From which abkam, «dumb, mute, ignorant, incapable of self-expression», which according to the Dictionary of Qurʾanic Usage (henceforth DQU, available online at http://brillonline.nl/browse/dictionary-of-quranic-usage [2016- 05-12]) appears on only one occasion (Koran, 16,76) and the plural bukm, which appears five times. By contrast, the near synonymous root aḫras (see Lane 1968, vol. 4, p. 722) does not appear at all. 8 For Ibn Manẓūr (d. 711/1312-3) in his Lisān al-ʿArab (henceforth LA), the verbs ṣamata and sakata have the same meaning (2003, vol. 8, pp. 278-279, s.v. ṣ-m-t and vol. 7, pp. 214- 215, s.v. s-k-t); for other lexicographers, the first refers only to one who does not speak for pathological reasons, while sakata can also refer to someone who remains silent while capable of speech (see al-Zabīdī, d. 1205/1791, Tāğ al-ʿArūs, 1407-1987, vol. 16, pp. 590-596, s.v. ṣ-m-t and vol. 16, pp. 558-563 s.v. s-k-t) and cf. Lane 1968, vol. 4, p. 1389 [s.v. s-k-t] and p. 1725 [s.v. ṣ-m-t]). Here and subsequently regarding lexicography cf. also http://www. baheth.info/ (2016-05-12). 9 Here and hereafter all translations from the Koran are from Pickthall’s rendering (1930). 10 As confirmed by Noah’s words in Koran, 71,7: «Whenever I call unto them that Thou mayest pardon them they thrust their fingers in their ears and cover themselves with their garments». Cf. also Koran, 2,6. Here and subsequently regarding koranic exegesis cf. also the site of the The Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought (Jordan), http://www. altafsir.com (2016-05-12). Zilio-Grandi. Silence and Speech Etiquette 9 Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale, 52, 2016, pp. 7-30 ISSN 2385-3042 voicing the standard interpretation, explains that the primary meaning of the term sakata is ‘hold back’, ‘abstain’ or ‘desist’ (kaffa), applicable to anyone ceasing to do something, including those who keep silent, in so far as they abstain from speech or have finished speaking. However – he goes on – this last explanation will not serve for the passage in question, where the Koran means to say that Moses’s anger abates. A similar reading is proposed by, among others, Faḫr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606/1209): it makes no sense – he observes (1415/1995, vol. 5, pp. 374-375) – to think of silence (ṣamt) here, because this would entail keeping the mouth closed (cf. sadda fā-hu ʿan al-kalām), presumed to be incompatible with anger; therefore sakata here should be read as a synonym for sakana, ‘calmed down’, and consequently we are not dealing with the prophet or his anger11 falling silent (sukūt), but with calmness, with equanimity regained on the dissolu- tion (zawāl) of the preceding psychological state.12 Clearly, in neither of these two cases, ṣamata and sakata, does the Ko- ran attribute any ethical import to silence, as a ‘character’ (ḫuluq) of the good believer; the commentators accept this and refrain from trying to go beyond the apparent meaning. There is however another verbal root pertinent to our argument, that is n-ṣ-t, which expresses particularly the silence required for listening to another’s discourse.13 This too we find in the Koran,14 with two instances of the imperative plural anṣitū. In the first – which is curiously also to be found in sūrat al-Aʿrāf – the appreciation of silence as an essential element in praiseworthy conduct is incontestable, although strictly confined to listening to the Word of God: «And when the Qurʾān is recited, give ear to it (istamiʿū la-hu) and pay heed to it (anṣitū) that ye may obtain mercy» (Koran, 7, 204). Here is al- Ṭabarī’s paraphrase: Lend your ears to it [the Koran] (iṣġū la-hu samʿa-kum) so that you thoroughly take in (li-tatafahhamū) each verse, and absorb (taʿtabirū) its lessons; remain silent (anṣitū) before it so as to understand it and 11 Which being the case it is personalized by the recourse to metaphor or istiʿāra; among the authors treating of this, al-Zamaḫšarī (d. 538/1144) and Faḫr al-Dīn al-Rāzī; contempo- rarily, Ṭanṭawī (d. 1431/2010), all on Koran, 7, 154. See http://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir. asp (2016-05-12). 12 This is also the view of al-Qurṭubī (d. 671/1272), Ibn Kaṯīr (d. 774/1373) and, among others, the ‘two Ğalāl’, al-Maḥallī (d. 864/1459) and al-Suyūṭī (d. 911/1505), always on Koran, 7, 154. 13 Cf. Lane 1968, vol. 8, p. 2801 and, among others, LA (Ibn Manẓūr 2003, vol. 14, 278-279, s.v. n-ṣ-t ). 14 Cf. DQU, s.v.: «To listen, to lend an ear to, to accept advice; to be silent, to silence». I note in passing that DQU also refers to silence in relation to the roots h-m-d and m-w-t, not of strict relevance in the context of this essay. 10 Zilio-Grandi. Silence and Speech Etiquette ISSN 2385-3042 Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale, 52, 2016, pp. 7-30 ponder it (taʿqilū-hu wa-tatadabbarū-hu), and do not chatter away over the top of it (lā talġū fī-hi) and fail to comprehend its meaning (fa-lā taʿqilū-hu). (1412/1992, vol. 9, p. 110) An interesting recasting, which with its references to understanding (tafahhum), absorbing (iʿtibār), pondering (tadabbur) and the intellect (ʿaql), makes the verse under analysis an appeal to cultural discernment as much as to silence; and conversely frames speech as an intrusive element. Al-Ṭabarī explains that this silence/listening refers to the Koranic passages recited by the Imam during the canonical prayer (al-ṣalāt al-maktūba, al-mafrūḍa) and backs up his case with various anecdotes on the sabab al-nuzūl of that verse, that is the circumstances that explain its revela- tion: this passage was revealed because during prayers there were some who talked about their own affairs, greeted acquaintances, got stirred up and noisy at the mere mention of paradise or hell, or arriving late asked others at what point they were and how far there was to go to the end. Returning to the theme, al-Ṭabarī (p. 111) offers an alternative explana- tion: the obligation of silence refers to the sermon or ḫuṭba that accom- panies Friday’s prayers and other mandatory feast days.15 Our illustrious commentator maintains in fact that both interpretations are correct, and adopts them himself. By way of confirmation, he (p. 112) quotes a saying of Muḥammad’s – «When the imam speaks, remain silent»16 – and various other authorities, for example the following, attributed to the ‘Follower’ Muğāhid ibn Ğabr (d. 104/722 ca) and to the highly regarded Mecca jurist ʿAṭāʾ (d. 114/732 ca): «Silence (al-ṣumūt) is obligatory on two occasions, when a man recites the Koran while praying (wa huwa yuṣallī), and when the imam does so while preaching (wa huwa yaḫṭubu)». A few centuries later, Faḫr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (1415/1995, vol. 5, p. 439) reit- erates the composite meaning of the root n-ṣ-t – «inṣāt means at the same time listening (istimāʿ) and remaining silent (sukūt)» – and thus in his turn puts the emphasis on the divine will: he explains that the imperative anṣitū voices a clearly expressed duty (wuğūb), the exact extension of which remains to be defined: has this prohibition of speech (taḥrīm al-kalām) absolute application and does it cover every occasion when the Koran is 15 Diametrically opposite views – «whoever says “be quiet” on Fridays while the imam is preaching, is talking nonsense (laġā)» – are recorded by for example al-Tirmiḏī (d. 279/892) and Ibn Ḥanbal (d. 241/855), cf. Wensinck, Mensing 1967, vol. 6, p. 457, s.v. n-ṣ-t. 16 This saying in a more extended version – «the imam is there so that his example be fol- lowed, and when he says “Allahu akbar”, you should repeat it, and when he recites the Koran, be silent» (fa-iḏā kabbara fa-kabbirū wa iḏā qaraʾa fa-anṣitūˆ) – is reported by, among others, ibn Māğa (d. 273/887), Sunan, kitāb iqāmat al-ṣalāt […], no. 838 (from Abū Mūsā al-Ašʿarī); and by al-Nasāʾī (d. 303/915), Sunan, kitāb al-masāğid, no. 981 (from Abū Hurayra). Here and hereafter, for references to the Tradition cf. http://library.islamweb.net/hadith/ hadithsearch.php (2016-05-12). Zilio-Grandi. Silence and Speech Etiquette 11 Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale, 52, 2016, pp. 7-30 ISSN 2385-3042 recited, always and regardless, as Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 110/728) and other literalists maintain? If this be the case – al-Rāzī (p. 440) observes – then it would be necessary to stay silent when anyone passing by happened to be reciting the Koran, or when a teacher was instructing his pupils. But there are some – he continues – who following Abū Hurayra (d. 58/678 ca) believe that the prohibition only applies to the ṣalāt; and others again after Saʿīd ibn Ğubayr (d. 95/712 ca) and ʿAṭāʾ, believe it to be limited to the ḫuṭba. Al-Rāzī himself follows yet a third view, from ‘the father of Koranic exegesis’ Ibn ʿAbbās (d. 68/687 ca): that God in this verse meant only to discourage the habit of repeating aloud the words of whoever is conduct- ing the prayers, overlapping with him and creating confusion, as in fact the Prophet’s Companions wanted to do. The second instance of the root n-ṣ-t occurs in the sūrat al-Aḥqāf (The Sandhills): And when We inclined toward thee [Muḥammad] certain of the Jinn, who wished to hear the Qurʾān and, when they were in its presence, said: – Give ear! (Koran, 46, 29) Here on the whole the commentators indulge in digressions of a narra- tive nature; they imagine their readers’ questions and respond according to the Tradition, almost always leaning on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās.17 When they home in on the exhortation to remain silent/listen, some even translate it with a prosaic «shhh!», some read it as quietness (sukūn), that is an abstention (sukūt) from the jinns’ usual whispering and innuendo;18 finally there are those who pick up on a note by the very early Qatāda ibn Diʿāma (d. 117/735 ca), who refers to the intellectual element implied by the root n-ṣ-t: the group of jinns were aware (ʿalima) that they would not have understood much (lan yaʿqilū) unless they kept quiet and listened.19 To recap, thanks to its recourse to three different verbal roots, the Koran is able to formulate a complex conception of silence; and this complexity 17 Asking for example: Where was the Prophet for this recital, and where exactly were the jinns? By a palm tree. And how many of them were there? Fewer than ten (cf. the use of nafar), possibly nine. Where did they come from? From the heavens, having been pelted by falling stars (cf. Koran, 15,18). Were they invisible? And if so how was Muḥammad aware of their presence? Thanks to divine inspiration. What did the jinns do having left that place? Perhaps, on the instructions of Muḥammad, they became prophets to their own kind and preached Islam, etc. (cf. in particular al-Ṭabarī’s commentary). 18 As does the commentary attributed to ‘al-šayḫ al-akbar’ Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī (d. 638/1240) (1422/2001, vol. 2, p. 223). 19 According to al-Ṭabarī himself (1412/1992, vol. 26, pp. 19-20). And here is a para- phrase proposed by the modern commentator al-Ālūsī (ʿAṭiyya 1415/1994, vol. 13, p. 187) (d. 1270/1854): «Be quiet that we may listen to [the Koran], for there is education (taʾaddub) in it which will lead us to knowledge (ʿilm)». 12 Zilio-Grandi. Silence and Speech Etiquette ISSN 2385-3042 Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale, 52, 2016, pp. 7-30 is taken up and emphasised by the main lines of exegesis: a distinction is drawn between silence of the type ṣamt (or ṣumūt), indicative of a generic absence of communication; a silence of the sukūt type, possibly abstract or metaphorical, which has more the sense of abstention, interruption or renunciation, and connects to quietness and tranquillity. And finally a remaining silent-listening conveyed by the derivatives of the root n-ṣ-t, which has an epistemological compass, and connects with knowledge and intelligence, particularly in matters of faith. As we shall see, these different interpretive strands come together in subsequent thought on silence; principally favoured will be, on the one hand, the idea that staying silent is a renunciation of potential evil and therefore a road to salvation, and on the other, the conviction that silence coincides with listening and therefore with learning. On closer inspection, both ideas function very well as approaches to the prophetic and more generally ecstatic experience, on which after all Islamic culture rests. For example we can review from such a point of view the Koranic representa- tions of Zechariah and Mary, and their parallel muteness in anticipation of the birth of the prophets John the Baptist and Jesus.20 Or, advancing chronologically in the religious literature, the accounts of Muḥammad at the cave on Ḥirāʾ, where, thanks to the intervention of the angel Gabriel, he breaks silence in a unique illuminative and redeeming experience. Or again, continuing onwards, we might think of the silence of the mystics on their path to the divine Reality. Abū Ṭālib al-Makkī (d. 386/996) – to cite a single representative example – maintains in his Qūt al-qulūb or The Nourishment of Hearts, little short of a manual of Sufism, that silence (ṣamt) is one of the four buttresses (asās) of the postulant,21 that it is an ornament to the wise (zayn li-l-ʿālim) but shameful in the ignorant (šayn li-l-ğāhil), and on its own suffices to make up half of ‘science’ (ʿilm), the other half being to know when to employ it.22 20 On this point, and on the relationship between silence and fasting, see Zilio-Grandi 1997, especially pp. 63-66. 21 The remaining three are fasting, keeping a vigil and seclusion. Cf. al-Makkī (al-Kayyālī 2005, vol. 1, pp. 169-177 and above all p. 169). 22 Al-Makkī (al-Kayyālī 2005, p. 172). On the importance of silence to the mystical ex- perience in general, see Baldini’s thorough synthesis (Baldini 2005, chiefly pp. 86-87 and 164-173). Zilio-Grandi. Silence and Speech Etiquette 13 Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale, 52, 2016, pp. 7-30 ISSN 2385-3042 3 Silence in the Ethical-religious Literature of the Classical Period As a sort of halfway house between ‘belles lettres’ or adab and the reli- gious literature which Islamic thought is pleased to call ‘science’ or ʿilm, there exists a genre of Arabic learned writing usually defined – this too indicating its intermediate nature – as ‘religious adab’.23 To this category belong a number or works on silence that present the reader with cer- tain exemplary models from history, beginning, needless to say, with the Prophet himself and his Sunna. To be more precise, these works are not dedicated exclusively to silence but more widely to ‘disciplined speaking’, and indeed, relative to the recommended forms of speech, silence properly understood occupies a relatively negligible area. Although the theme treated comes well within the ambit of ‘advice lit- erature’, which does not hesitate to recommend reticence and prudence24 to the courtier,25 the rigorously traditionistic internal structure and the general tone inevitably tend to place these texts within a religious and foundational framework. Their objective in fact is not optimum relations be- tween subaltern and current ruler but that peaceful co-existence of equals26 which the believer owes by way of tribute to his Creator in anticipation of the life hereafter; thus the many taciturn or silent ones evoked in the pages of these texts are quiet as part and parcel of a religious adherence to the right and the good, and only secondarily for motives of social harmony. Throughout the classical period we find examples of such writings on si- lence, by no means abundant but of particular theoretical and practical inter- est, distributed through fat compendia of moralia, only rarely in monographic 23 Cf. Azarnoosh, Umar 2008. Among the more typical titles of the genre, apart from many by Ibn Abī al-Dunyā, we can cite: Al-adab al-mufrad by al-Buḫārī (d. 256/870), Ādāb al-nufūs by al-Ḥārith al-Muḥāsibī (d. 243/857), Al-amthāl wa al-ḥikam by al-Māwardī (d. 450/1058), al-Ādāb by al-Bayhaqī (d. 458/1066). Also on the same theme, as the title indicates, al-Adab fī al-dīn by Abū Ḥāmid al-Ġazālī (d. 505/1111). Interesting for its particular take, Adab al-nisāʾ (also known as al-Ghāya wa al-nihāya) by ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Ḥabīb al-Andalusī (d. 238/853), and ʿIshrat al-nisāʾ by Aḥmad al-Nasāʾī (d. 303/915). 24 Azarnoosh (2008) writes: «[Ibn Abī al-Dunyā] dedicated a work, al-Ṣamt wa ādāb al- lisān, […] to two fundamental issues of adab: reticence at the right times and refraining from vain talk». 25 On the attribution of these works to a sub-genre ‘Wesierspiegel’ or ‘Mirror of the Vi- ziers’, see Ghersetti 2010, p. 48 and Bauden, Ghersetti 2007, chiefly pp. 295-296. 26 Contrastingly, in the world of ‘belles lettres’, silence is a reflection of disharmony be- tween factions, of an imbalance in power terms (Ghersetti 2010, p. 48); it emanates from the courtier towards his prince, from the inferior party, that is, to the greater. For historical examples in the opposite direction, from the greater to the lesser, and in particular on the silence of the Ottomans towards their inferiors, including foreign ambassadors, see Özkan, Speelman 2010 and Pedani 2010. 14 Zilio-Grandi. Silence and Speech Etiquette ISSN 2385-3042 Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale, 52, 2016, pp. 7-30 form. Among the more typical – in chronological order – we might note firstly the Kitāb al-ṣamt or The Book of Silence by the Egyptian Koranic commentator ʿAbd Allāh ibn Wahb al-Qurašī (d. 197/812), probably the text that pinpoints the isolation of the theme of silence from the broad context of the prophetic Tradition.27 The best known and most extensive work in the genre is Silence and Good Manners in Speech (Kitāb al-ṣamt wa ādāb al-lisān)28 from the above- quoted Ibn Abī al-Dunyā, to which we will return. Another notable example would be the chapter entitled Holding One’s Tongue and Banishing the Man and the Utterance That Are Out of Place (Bāb ḥifẓ al-lisān wa tark al-marʾ wa al-kalām fī-mā lā yaʿnī-hi), in the Makārim al-aḫlāq by the renowned Pal- estinian religious-ethical writer al-Ḫarāʾiṭī (d. 327/939-40).29 Briefer but no less interesting is the chapter Holding One’s Tongue and Paying Attention to One’s Words (Faṣl fī ḥifẓ al-lisān wa tawaqqī al-kalām) in the Hanbalite jurist Ibn Mufliḥ al-Dimašqī (d. 763/1361)’s, Al-ādāb al-šar‘iyya.30 Lastly, Ğalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (d. 911/1505)’s31 The Right Path in Silence (Ḥusn al-samt fī al-ṣamt), one of the many instances where the Egyptian polymath reframes for his contemporaries a theme previously explored by other writers; in his opening lines al-Suyūṭī announces that he is summarising the work of Ibn Abī al-Dunyā, but also refers to other authors, both ancient, like Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (d. 241/855), al-Dārimī (d. 255/869) and al-Tirmiḏī (d. 279/892), or such later ones as al-Bayhaqī (d. 458/1066) and Abū Nuʿaym al-Isbahānī (d. 430/1038). In closing, a general linguistic note: the derivatives of the root n-ṣ-t are almost entirely absent from this literature – an indication that the original rich Koranic lexicon had been lost32 – but not its contents, which we find absorbed into ṣamt and sukūt and derivatives of their roots, all apparently deployed synonymously. 27 Cf. David-Weill (2012). This work is nevertheless included in Abū al-Ḫayr (1995, pp. 405- 521, nos. 294-413); it is followed by Bāb fī al-ʿuzla, on an analogous theme (pp. 523-657, nos. 414-561). On Ibn Wahb see also the works of Muranyi, particularly ʿAbd Allāh b. Wahb. Leben und Werk. Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ (1992). 28 Consulted in the critical edition prepared by Abū Isḥāq al-Ḥuwaynī (1989), also to be found at http://islamport.com/w/don/Web/3258/1.htm (2016-05-12). 29 The work has been edited by ʿAbd Allāh ibn Bağğāš Ṯābit al-Ḥimyarī (2006, vol. 1, pp. 773-858, nos. 480-527). 30 Edited by Šu‘ayb al-Arnaʼūṭ and ‘Umar al-Qayyān (1977, vol. 1, pp. 34-43. Available online at http://library.islamweb.net/newlibrary/display_book.php?bk_no=43&ID=8&i dfrom=16&idto=18&bookid=43&startno=0 [2016-05-12]). 31 Edited by Aḥmad Muḥammad Sulaymān Disūq (2010, pp. 61-119, available online at http://ia600400.us.archive.org/0/items/hsfss/hsfss.pdf [2016-05-12]. This edition also boasts a brief study of Ibn Abī al-Dunyā and his principal works, pp. 36-43). 32 They also make few appearances in the Sunnite ‘canonical’ compilations; cf. also Wen- sinck, Mensing (1967, vol. 6, pp. 457-458, s.v. n-ṣ-t). In modern Arabic the root expresses for the most part listening alone, cf. Wehr 1979, p. 1137. Zilio-Grandi. Silence and Speech Etiquette 15 Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale, 52, 2016, pp. 7-30 ISSN 2385-3042 4 Silence and Good Manners in Speech by Ibn Abī Al-dunyā Ibn Abī al-Dunyā’s work, which occupies pride of place in the genre, is subdivided into 25 sections or abwāb, with a miscellany to close; the sec- tion titles are a sufficiently clear indication of their contents: 1) The government of the tongue and the excellence of silence;33 2) It is forbidden to speak indiscreetly and plunge into falsity;34 3) It is forbid- den to speak of what does not concern you;35 4) Censure of controversy;36 5) Censure of fastidious speech;37 6) Censure of quarrelling;38 7) Speak- ing ill of the absent to be censured;39 8) What it means to ‘speak ill of the absent’;40 9) To whom it is permitted to speak ill of the absent;41 10) The Muslim defends his brother’s honour;42 11) Censure of calumny;43 12) Censure of duplicity;44 13) It is forbidden to believers to mock one another;45 14) How to make amends when you have spoken ill of the absent;46 15) What one must do to speak well with all men;47 16) Censure of foul language and obscenity;48 17) What may not be said;49 18) Those 33 Bāb ḥifẓ al-lisān wa faḍl al-samṭ, Kitāb al-ṣamt, pp. 41-73, nos. 1-68. 34 Al-nahy ʿan fuḍūl al-kalām wa ḫawḍ al-bāṭil, pp. 74-91, nos. 69-106. 35 Al-nahy ʿan al-kalām f-mā lā yaʿnī-ka, pp. 92-98, nos. 107-122. 36 Ḏamm al-mirāʾ, pp. 99-108, nos. 123-146. 37 Ḏamm al-taqaʿʿur fī al-kalām, pp. 109-112, nos. 147-152. 38 Ḏamm al-ḫuṣūmāt, pp. 113-117, nos. 152-161. 39 Al-ġība wa ḏammi-hā, pp. 117-134, nos. 162-203. 40 Tafsīr al-ġība, pp. 134-139, nos. 204-217. 41 Al-ġība allatī yaḥillu li-ṣāḥibi-hā al-kalām bi-hā, pp. 140-146, nos. 218-238. 42 Ḏabb al-muslim ʿan ʿirḍ aḫī-hi, pp. 147-152, nos. 239-250. 43 Ḏamm al-namīma, pp. 153-161, nos. 251-273. 44 Ḏamm ḏī al-lisānayn, pp. 162-166, nos. 274-281. 45 Mā nuhiya ʿan-hu al-ʿibād an yasḫara baʿḍu-hum min baʿḍ, pp. 167-170, nos. 282-290. 46 Kaffārat al-iġtiyāb, pp. 171- 174, nos. 291-300. 47 Mā umira bi-hi al-nās an yastaʿmilū fī-hi anfusa-hum min al-qawl al-ḥasan li-l-nās ağmaʿīn, pp. 175-180, nos. 301-316. 48 Ḏamm al-fuḥš wa al-baḏāʾ, pp. 181-191, nos. 317-340. 49 Mā nuhiya an yutakallama bi-hi, pp. 192-201, nos. 341-370. 16 Zilio-Grandi. 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