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6 HISTORY & CIVILIZATION h t t p : / / w w w. t e h r a n t i m e s . c o m
APRIL 29, 2010 TEHRAN TIMES INTERNATIONAL DAILY
The splendor of Persia
ANTHROPOLOGY NOTABLE
Assyrians Muhammad Iqbal Lahori
in Iran
I
Compiled by our staff writers
Compiled by our staff writers By Robert Payne ndian poet and philoso-
H
pher, known for his influ-
T
(Part 5) (Part 3)
he various communi- e had been “King,” and would be King no more. So he ential efforts to direct his
ties of Neo-Aramaic- was simply exiled to his father’s Court in Persia. On the fellow Muslims toward the
speaking people of way he learned the full story of how he had nearly been establishment of a separate
Iraq, Syria, and Turkey advo- killed at birth, and for the first time there came to him a thirst Muslim state, an aspiration
cate different terms for ethnic for revenge against his grandfather, the King of the Medes. A that was eventually realized
self-designation: few years later, when he became King of Persia, he hurled his in the country of Pakistan. He
“Assyrians”, after the an- army at the Medes and conquered them. Once he received was knighted in 1922.
cient Assyria, advocated by their surrender, he showed mercy. He spared the capital, Ec- Early life and career
some followers of the Assyr- batana. He spared his grandfather, only making him a prisoner. Iqbal was born in 1877 at Sialkot, India (now in Paki-
ian Church of the East & the He retained the Median officials in their posts, and combined stan), of a pious family of small merchants and was edu-
Ancient Church of the East the Median army with his own. Media had grown until it reached cated at Government College, Lahore. In Europe from
(“Eastern Assyrians”),and out towards the Scythian tribes in the north and included all the 1905 to 1908, he earned his degree in philosophy from
some communities of the land touching on the Black Sea north of the Babylonian empire. the University of Cambridge, qualified as a barrister in
Syriac Orthodox and Syriac Assyria had perished some sixty years before, and now there London, and received a doctorate from the University of
Catholic (“Western Assyr- was the Empire of the Medes and Persians stretching from the Munich. His thesis, The Development of Metaphysics in
ians”) and Chaldean Catho- Halys River in Asia Minor to the borders of India. Two empires Persia, revealed some aspects of Islamic mysticism for-
lics (“Eastern Catholic Assyr- faced him: that of the Lydians in the west, and that of Babylonia merly unknown in Europe.
ians”). on his left flank. He decided to attack the Lydians first. On his return from Europe, he gained his livelihood
In those days Lydia was at the height of her power. All the by the practice of law, but his fame came from his Per-
Greek cities of Asia Minor paid tribute to the King, Croesus. sian- and Urdu-language poetry, which was written in the
The Lydians had invented banking (it is now believed, how- classical style for public recitation. Through poetic sym-
ever, that banking was invented by a coalition of prostitutes posia and in a milieu in which memorizing verse was cus-
and priests in Babylonia for the purpose of fund-raising for tomary, his poetry became widely known, even among
their temples) and almost possessed a monopoly of trade the illiterate. Almost all the cultured Indian and Pakistani
in the Eastern Mediterranean; wealth and treasure poured Muslims of his and later generations have had the habit
into the capital city of Sardis. Croesus seems to have been of quoting Iqbal.
an able monarch with an affection for philosophers and no Persepolis as an icon for Achaemenid dynasty
Before he visited Europe, his poetry affirmed Indian
“Syriacs” (Suryoye), or “Ar- particular love for ostentation, though he is remembered for nationalism, as in Naya shawala (“The New Altar”), but
amaeans” after the ancient Ar- his wealth. Once when the Athenian lawgiver Solon came to high, stern walls of the city. Then the city was besieged. For time away from India caused him to shift his perspective.
amaeans, advocated by some visit him, Goesus asked him who was the happiest of men, fourteen days it held out. At last the walls were breached, He came to criticize nationalism for a twofold reason: in
followers of the Syriac Ortho- and Solon answered that the happiest man he and the Persians poured through. Europe it had led to destructive racism and imperialism,
dox Church, Syriac Catholic had known was an obscure Athenian called Tel- So Croesus was pardoned, and Cyrus held him and in India it was not founded on an adequate degree
Church and Maronite Church. lus who had brought fine sons into the world and in high esteem, retaining him as a councilor in his of common purpose. In a speech delivered at Aligarh
“Chaldeans”, after ancient lived to see his grandchildren around his knees, court. Lydia had fallen; the empire of Cyrus ex- in 1910, under the title “Islam as a Social and Political
Chaldea, advocated by some only to die gloriously in a battle against the city tended to the shores of the Mediterranean; and Ideal,” he indicated the new Pan-Islamic direction of
followers of the Chaldean of Eleusis and to receive a public funeral at the the world shuddered. his hopes. The recurrent themes of Iqbal’s poetry are
Catholic Church. place where he died. “Until a man is dead,” said The strength of Cyrus lay in his own char- a memory of the vanished glories of Islam, a complaint
The terminological prob- Solon, “one should not use the word happy, it is acter and in the character of the army he led. about its present decadence, and a call to unity and re-
lem goes back to colonial better to use only the word lucky.” His soldiers were accustomed to privations, but form. Reform can be achieved by strengthening the in-
times, but it became more Croesus was unlucky. He had recognized they possessed an inner fire. “The Persians are dividual through three successive stages: obedience to
acute in 1946, when with the very early the formidable power of Cyrus. He tried to awaken proud, too proud, and they are poor,” Croesus said once, the law of Islam, self-control, and acceptance of the idea
independence of Syria, the Egypt and Babylonia to the common menace and succeeded unwittingly explaining the reasons which brought about his that everyone is potentially a vicegerent of God (na’ib, or
adjective Syrian referred to in procuring an alliance between them against Persia. Be- own defeat. Unlike the Lydians, they despised armor: they mu’min). Furthermore, the life of action is to be preferred
an independent state. The fore the armies could move, Cyrus was marching against wore only leather breastplates. They lived simply, and were to ascetic resignation.
controversy isn’t restricted to Asia Minor. The first battle, near the Halys, was close to the earth. Three significant poems from this period, Shikwah
exonyms like English “Assyr- indecisive. Winter was approaching. Croesus It had been hammered into them from their (“The Complaint”), Jawab-e shikwah (“The Answer to the
ian” vs. “Aramaean”, but also assumed that Cyrus would withdraw his forces earliest childhood that they had only three tasks Complaint”), and Khizr-e rah (“Khizr, the Guide”), were
applies to self-designation in and returned leisurely to Sardis, then believed to to perform well in life --to ride well, shoot straight, published later in 1924 in the Urdu collection Bang-e dara
Neo-Aramaic. be an impregnable fortress, guarded by the best and speak the truth, by which it was meant that (“The Call of the Bell”). In those works Iqbal gave intense
equipped soldiers in all Asia. The Lydians were they should speak the true words of the prophet expression to the anguish of Muslim powerlessness.
PHILOSOPHY excellent cavalrymen; so were the Persians. Zarathustra and worship the god Ahuramazda Khizr (Arabic: Khidr), the Qur’anic prophet who asks the
But Cyrus possessed camels and decided to and the other gods. Half-enviously, Herodotus most difficult questions, is pictured bringing from God the
Commentary throw them into the battle for Sardis, believing recounts the stern simplicity of their ceremo- baffling problems of the early 20th century.
on Plato’s that the presence of the camels would frighten nies; there were no flute-players, no garlands, Notoriety came in 1915 with the publication of his long
the enemy’s horses, for everyone knows that horses are in- no pouring of wine. Before worshipping, a Persian would Persian poem Asrar-e khudi (The Secrets of the Self). He
Compiled by our staff writers stinctively afraid of camels. The ruse succeeded. Croesus’s wrote in Persian because he sought to address his ap-
simply stick a spray of myrtle leaves in his headdress. For
I
(Part 20) horses turned and fled, but the Lydians hurled themselves peal to the entire Muslim world. In this work he presents
a few more years this Spartan simplicity remained; then, as
n teaching persuasion, off their horses and fought on foot. They were brave, but no a theory of the self that is a strong condemnation of the
more plunder fell into their hands, the Persians learned to
what exactly is to be match for the Persians, who sent them fleeing behind the self-negating quietism (i.e., the belief that perfection and
enjoy magnificence.
subject of persuasion? spiritual peace are attained by passive absorption in con-
Well, it must be anything, templation of God and divine things) of classical Islamic
or anything that someone is MYTH ART & CREATION mysticism; his criticism shocked many and excited con-
going to pay to learn to be troversy. Iqbal and his admirers steadily maintained that
persuasive about. This gave The Greek Goddess Artemis
the Sophists a reputation
Babylonian art creative self-affirmation is a fundamental Muslim virtue;
his critics said he imposed themes from the German phi-
of opportunism and lack of Compiled by our staff writers Compiled by our staff writers
losopher Friedrich Nietzsche on Islam.
principles. They would teach Goddess of Light and Protector (Part 4)
The dialectical quality of his thinking was expressed
I
you how to prove anything. of the Vulnerable Artists Depiction of
by the next long Persian poem, Rumuz-e bikhudi (1918;
A
Of course, not just anything n Greek mythology Artemis (also known as the Roman the Ziggurat at Ur
The Mysteries of Selflessness). Written as a counterpoint
can be proven. It is going to goddess Diana) was the daugh- round 2000 BC Hammurapi
to the individualism preached in the Asrar-e khudi, this
take dishonest and deceptive ter of Zeus, the mighty ruler of emerged as the ruler of Ba-
poem called for self-surrender.
arguments to be persuasive the Olympian gods. Artemis’ moth- bylonia. He expanded the
Lo, like a candle wrestling with the night
about a lot of things. Today, a er, Leto, gave birth to Artemis af- borders of the Empire and organ-
O’er my own self I pour my flooding tears.
deceptive and fallacious turn ter a short and painless labor. But ized its laws into a written system,
More loveliness, more joy for other men.
of argument can be called a then Leto’s labor continued, with also known as the Code of Ham-
(Eng. trans. by A.J. Arberry.)
sophism, the constant prac- her contractions growing weak and murapi. About this time Abraham
tice of such is sophistry, and painful. Moved to compassion, the left Ur, an ancient city located in HISTORY CALENDAR
someone engaged in such infant goddess Artemis, born only a lower Babylon, and moved to Ha-
practice is a sophist. What few minutes earlier, became her mother’s midwife and de- ran, a city in the north. Later, Abraham left Haran and mi-
Events
the Sophists did thus gives livered her twin brother Apollo. You could say that, of all the grated into the land of Canaan under God’s promise that he
1091 - Battle at Monte Levunium: Emperor Alexius
us the modern meanings for Greek goddesses, the goddess Artemis was literally born to would become the father of a great nation.
I beats Petshegenes
what they were called. Oth- serve as a nurturer and protector! Alongside of Babylonia there must also be a mention of
1429 - Joan of Arc leads Orleans, France, to victory
erwise, the original meaning The Greek goddess Artemis was frequently called upon to Assyria, which bordered Babylonia on the north. Assyria’s
over English
of sophistés is preserved in nurture her needy and somewhat ineffectual mother. All too development was often intertwined with the course of Baby-
1522 - Emperor Charles V names Frans van Holly
a word like “sophisticated,” often she felt compelled to come to her rescue even though lonian history. About 1270 BC, the Assyrians overpowered
inquisitor-gen of Netherlands
which implies knowledge, ei- Artemis received little from her mother in return. As a result Babylonia. For the next 700 years, Babylonia was a lesser
1540 - Emperor Charles declares all privileges of
ther the worldly knowledge of her having caused her mother no pain in childbirth, and power as the Assyrians dominated the ancient world.
Gent ended
of an individual or the com- her successful role as midwife in her brother’s birth, Artemis Around 626 BC, Babylonian independence was finally won
Birthdays
plex adaptation of advanced naturally became the patron saint of childbirth, the protector from Assyria by a leader named Nabopolassar. Under his lead-
534 - Taliesin, Welsh poet, according to legend in
knowledge to objects. of children, and the goddess who especially heard the ap- ership, Babylonia again became the dominant imperial power
Mabinogion
So to teach persuasion, peals of women. The goddess Artemis was always respon- in the Near East and thus entered into her “golden age.” In 605
1584 - Melchior Teschner, composer
the Sophists would “make the sive to the needs of the vulnerable and the suffering. She BC, Nebuchadnezzar II, the son of Nabopolassar, became
1636 - Esaias Reusner, composer
worse argument the stronger.” was quick to defend the powerless from unjust treatment at ruler and reigned for 44 years. Under him the Babylonian Em-
1660 - Matthias Henriksen Schacht, composer
But, whatever the quality of the hands of the Olympian patriarchy; it is not surprising that pire reached its greatest strength. Using the treasures which
1665 - James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, Irish
his own arguments, Socrates in current times Artemis is seen as the “feminist” goddess. he took from other nations, Nebuchadnezzar built Babylon, the
statesman and soldier (d. 1745)
was not a paid teacher, did not Even as a small child the Greek goddess Artemis was capital city of Babylonia, into one of the leading cities of the
1667 - John Arbuthnot, Scottish writer (Alexander
teach persuasion, and in fact decisive. world. The famous hanging gardens of Babylon were known to
Pope)
did not teach anything, except Zeus was amused by her precociousness and happily grant- the Greeks as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Deaths
indirectly. All he did was ask ed the little goddess Artemis her wishes. Even at this tender As previously mentioned, in 587 BC, the Babylonians de-
852 - Amalarius/Fortunatus/Symphosius of Metz/
questions. Thus, the terms of age it was clear that Artemis was going to be the most inde- stroyed Jerusalem and carried the leading citizens of the Kingdom
Lyon, bishop, dies at 76
the reputation that Socrates pendent of the goddesses, one who thrived on challenges! of Judah as prisoners to Babylon. The Hebrew prophet Jeremiah
926 - Burchard II, Duke of Swabia
has, although applicable to Artemis’ association with the natural world, the wilder- had foretold that the Jews would be free to return home to Jerusa-
1380 - Catherine of Siena, Italian saint (b. 1347)
many Greek philosophers -- ness, symbolizes her own untamed spirit. The most inde- lem after 70 years. The Lord had encouraged His people through
1499 - John IV, Dutch army leader/earl of Egmond,
though not really all to one at pendent of the goddesses, she roamed the forests in her Ezekiel and Daniel who were also captives in Babylon. During this
dies
the same time -- has nothing to role as huntress. 70 year period of captivity, the Persians conquered Babylonia, and
1535 - John Houghton, English, executed
do with him whatsoever. (To be Contd.) the Babylonians passed from the scene as a world power.
