Some Notes On The Transmission of Hadith

Maisonneuve & Larose
Hard-Boiled: Narrative Discourse in Early Muslim Traditions

Author(s): Daniel Beaumont
Source: Studia Islamica, No. 83 (1996), pp. 5-31
Published by: Maisonneuve & Larose
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StudiaIslamica,1996/1(fevrier)
83
Hard-Boiled:
NarrativeDiscourse
in Early Muslim Traditions
NarrativeForm in Khabar
In recentyears,as a resultoftheimplications oftheworkofGoldziher
and Schacht,the focusof scholarlyconcernregardingearlyMuslimhis-
toricaltraditions has moved frompurelyhistoricalconcernsto more or
less literaryones. Thatis to say,literary
formalones. For even thosewho
wish to uphold the overallreliability of the earlytraditionsmustnow
justify theirpositionin the face of theconclusionsof thosetwo scholars.
Hence, questionssuchas " Why did ithappen? " have givenway,at least
to thequestion," How was itcomposed? " But the 'it'in each of
initially,
thosequestionsdoes notreferto the same thing.In the firstquestion'it'
refersto the contentof the narrative, whilein the latterquestion'it're-
fersto the narrativeform.And narrativeformin khabar narrativeis the
subjectof thisessay.
The termsof inquiryare borrowedin large measurefromGerard
Genette'sNarrativeDiscourse(1). That work is stillthe best and most
completeaccountof narrativethatthe theoryof narratology has pro-
duced. In it Genetteappliedthe termsused to describethe verb,tense,
mood and voice,to the analysisof fictionalnarrative. Since I willfollow
his methodso closely,I shouldnote here at the outsetthatwe are con-
cerned withmore thansimplythe relationof the narrativeto its story
content,whichsuggestsso neatlythe familiardistinction betweenform
and content,forthereis a thirdtermthatmustbe added to the analysis
(1) Publishedin 1972. The editionI willreferto here is the translation

byJaneLewin,
Ithaca,1980.

DANIEL BEAUMONT
in orderto make it complete,and thistermis the narratingor the act

of narration. Narrativeformthenis takento includeall the relationsof
thistriad.I willshow - I hope - thatthe applicationof Genette'sbasic
conceptsto khabar narrativeyieldstwo results;first,it increasesour
understanding of the distinctivefeaturesof khabar narrative, revealing
khabar narrativeto be rathermorecomplexthanit mightat firstseem
(and also showingsome surprising withcertainfictionalnarra-
affinities
tivesin theWesterntradition). Second,itsuse herewillyieldsuggestions
about how these traditions were composed.Some of these suggestions
will be admittedly hypothetical - but the lack of hard evidence in this
case meansthatany explanationwillbe hypothetical.
The traditions are takenfromIbn Ishaq,al-Waqidiand Ibn Sa'd. Many
but not all of the traditionspurportto relatethe conversionsof various
earlyMuslims,some of themwell-knownand some of themobscure.
They take the formof shortnarratives knownas akhbdr(sing.khabar).
StefanLeder in his articlecalled " The LiteraryUse of the Khabar"
describesthekhabar formin thisway:
... theakhbardo notdenoteanyinvolvement on theauthor's part.On the
contrary,theyarepresented mostly as reports
bysomebody whowitnessed
theevents.Theallegedrealism ofthesetextsisduetotwoimportant elements:
first,thechainoftransmitters,
whichsupports thereliability
ofthenarration;
andsecond,narrative whichenablesthenarrator
technique, to remain inthe
background andeventohidebehindthecharacters ofthenarrative.(2)
The khabar thenconsistsof two pieces: a chainof transmitters, the
isnad, and theshortnarrative thatfollows,thematn.The analysisin this
firstpart will treatthe isndd only withrespectto its implicationsfor
mattersof narrative;the questionof itsprobativevalue whetherin gen-
eral or in anyparticularinstanceis of no concernhere.
The curiosityof the isnad aside, the brevityof khabar narrativeis
perhapstheirmostmarkedfeature.The longestsinglecontinuousnarra-
tive,'A'isha'saccountof her " scandal" forexample,is no more thana
few pages whilethe masse of these traditions are muchshorter.It is as
thoughsomeone a thousandyearsfromnow had onlyworksby Studs
Terkelto help himunderstandthe Second WorldWar.
This characteristic
brevityis oftentakento be an effectof oral trans-
missionof the narratives. In thisview, the reason why eventsin early
Islamcome to us in thisformis thatmen like Ibn Ishaq,Waqidiand Ibn
Sa'd are takingmuchof theirmaterialfroman oral tradition whichonly
the
preserves memory of events in a anecdotal
pithy, form.
(2) " The Literary

Use of theKhabar " in TheByzantineand EarlyIslamic Near East,
Vol.I: Problemsin theLiterarySourceMaterial,ed. Cameronand Conrad,Princeton,1992,
p. 307.

HARD-BOILED: NARRATIVEDISCOURSE IN EARLY MUSLIMTRADITIONS
There are, to be sure,problemswiththisview - as thereare to the

opposingview.The tradition itselfis contradictory
on thematter.Claims
thattraditionswere writtendown fromthe earliesttimeare matchedby
claimsthattherewas disagreementabout whetherit was permissibleto
writethemdown. For my own partI thinkit likelythatthe traditions
existedin oral form,and ifthatis thecase, thenthereis some validityto
thisexplanationof the brevityof the khabar narrative (3). In any case,
thediscussionthatfollowsassumesthatthetraditions did existin an oral
format some point,and some of the implications of thisview will be
discussedhere.
Leder goes on to say:
Thenarrator is absentfrom
thenarration anddoesnotserveas a focusforthe
reader'sperception.He does notconveyinsightintothecharacters
bydescrib-
ingtheirplansand thoughts:hisvisionis entirely
external.
Two modes of representation maybe distinguished:the narrator's
voice and
the wordsof the characters,
whichare givenin directspeech.
The firstobservationtellsus somethingspecificabout khabar narra-
tive,but the second merelystatesthatkhabar narrativehas the same
constituentpartsthatall narrativedoes. For,the two modes simplycor-
respondto the termsdiegesis and mimesisas describedby Plato in a
seminalpassage forWesternnarrativetheory,The Republic392 c-395.
There are,Platosays(throughthemouthof Socrates),two formsof nar-
ration;the firstPlato calls " simplenarrative" (haplhdidgsis); the sec-
ond formis " imitation " (mimesis)(4).In the former, thepoet speaks,as
Platosays:
in his own person; he neverleads us to supposethathe is anyoneelse. But in
whatfollows he takesthepersonofChryses,
(mimesis) andthenhe doesall
thathe can to makeus believethatthespeakeris notHomer,buttheaged
priest himself(5).
is this: in mimesisthewordsofChrysesare given
The chiefdistinction
in directspeech,whilein diegesistheyare renderedin indirectspeech.
As Genettenotes,Aristotle" somewhatneutralized" thisdistinction in
thePoetics1448 a, bysayingthatdirectrepresentation and purenarrative
are stilltwo formsof mimesis(6). The treatment of speech is the deter-
(3) On thequestionof oraltransmission, tradition

thehistorical is contradictory.
As Cook
saysoftheimportant traditionist " ...thesourcesarebewilderingly
az-Zuhri, about
inconsistent
hisliterary
activity writerwho wrotedownall thetraditions
: we are toldthathe was a prolific
he heard,and we are toldthathe neverwroteanything at all,and leftno book behindhim."
(Muhammad,Oxford,1983,p. 66).
(4) In NarrativeDiscourse,Ithaca,1972,p. 163.
(5) TheRepublic,trans.Bakewell,p. 101.
(6) NarrativeDiscourse,p. 163.

DANIEL BEAUMONT
minativefactorhere,and because in what is commonlycalled scene in

Anglo-Americannarrativetheory,speech is renderedin directform,
while in whatis called summaryit is usuallyrenderedin indirectform
deleteperiod." For thisreason",so itreads: " form,thetwo termsscene
and summaryare oftentakenas equivalentsof mimesisand diegesis,but
an important distinctionmustbe kept in mindhere". Strictly speaking,
mimesiscan onlybe mimesisof speech,as Platoknew.For languagecan
onlyimitatelanguage- not event.So, in whatwe call scene (underthe
influenceofdramatictheory),thereis notonlymimesis, butalso,diegesis.
For therepresentation of languagein languageis fundamentally different
fromthe representation of non-language(i.e. event) in language,and
therefore,as Genetteputsit," ... mimesisin wordscan onlybe mimesis
of words. Other than thatall we can have is degrees of diegesis." (7)
Genetterepresentsthesedifferences in degreewitha formula.He says:
we
... willhavetomarkthecontrast between mimetic anddiegeticbya formula
suchas: information+informer = C,whichimplies thatthequantityofinfor-
mationandthepresenceoftheinformer arein inverseratio,mimesisbeing
defined bya maximum ofinformation
anda minimum ofinformer,diegesis
by
theopposite relationship
(8).
Genette'ssuccinctformulatellsus thatinformationand informer vary
inversely,and, appropriatelyenough,the formknown as khabar - or
" information " - tendstowardsa maximumof information and a mini-
mumof informer.
This is why the khabar formseems objective,because, as Genette
would have it,itis characterizedby a verylow degreeof diegesis.But it
is onlytrulymimeticwhen directspeech is represented.In whatfollows
we ought to keep the fundamentaldistinctionbetween mimesisand
diegesisin mind,and we will use scene to mean narrativewhichhas a
low degree of diegesis (in which information predominatesover in-
former),and summaryto mean narrativewhichhas a highdegree of
diegesis (in which informerpredominatesover information). The two
terms,like" hot" and " cold" are onlyconceptualoppositessince they
merelymarkdifferent ends of a spectrum;forwe are in the strictest
sense always dealingwithsome formof diegesis.To reduce any con-
fusion,I willsimplydo whatPlatodid,and citean exampleof each. And,
in fact,we mayas welluse theexamplefromHomerthatPlatodiscusses,
forhe does a veryinstructive thingwiththatHomericpassage; he re-
writesit in whathe callshapld didgdsisor " pure narrative". In Homer
the originalreads:
(7) Ibid, p. 164.

(8) Ibid.,p. 166.

HARD-BOILED:
NARRATIVE
DISCOURSEIN EARLYMUSLIM
TRADITIONS
Neverlet me findyou again,old sir,nearour hollow

ships,neitherlingering
now norcomingagainhereafter,
forfearyourstaffand thegod's ribbonshelp you no longer.
The girlI willnotgiveback; soonerwillold age come upon her
in myown house,in Argos,farfromherown land,going
up and down by the loom and beingin mybed as mycompanion.
So go now,do notmake me angry;so you willbe safer.
So he spoke,and theold manin terrorobeyed him
and wentsilentlyaway beside the murmuring sea beach.
Over and overthe old manprayedas he walked in solitude
to KingApollo,whomLeto of thelovelyhairbore(9)
This is how Plato rewrites these lines in a purely diegetic mode:
Agamemnonwas angryand bade himdepartand notcome again,lestthestaff

and chapletsof thegod shouldbe of no availto him.And beforethedaughter
of Chrysesshouldbe released,he said,she wouldgrowold in Argoswithhim.
And thenhe told himto go away and not to provokehim,ifhe intendedto
gethomeunscathed.Andtheold manwentawayinfearand silence,and when
he had leftthecamp,he called upon Apolloby his manynames(10).
These two versions of the same events ought to make clear what is
meant by the termsscene and summary.The two most obvious indicators
are the reduction of direct speech to indirect speech and the relative
brevityof summaryin relatingthe same events. The latteraspect may be
termed " speed " of the narrative,and the speed is quickened not only
by the relative economy of indirect speech, but also by the elimination
of various redundant phrases and descriptive phrases, " the murmuring
sea beach" etc.(11)
Scene and Summary in Khabar
Threetraditionsmaybe citedheretoshowwhatI meanbysceneand

summary in khabar narrative; thetraditions
aretakenfromIbn Isbhq
andIbnSa'd.Thefirstrecounts theconversionofSa'db.Mu'adh, a promi-
nentleaderoftheAndr. Afterintroducing theparticulars
ofSa'd'san-
cestorsand hisissue,Ibn Sa'd'snoticeproceedsto describeSa'd'scon-
version:
Muhammadb. 'Umartoldme: IbrAhim b. Isms'ilb. Abi Habiba relatedto me
fromWAqidb. 'Amrb. Sa'd b. Mu'adh:
(9) TheIliad,trans. 1951.

Lattimore,
(10) TheRepublic,p. 102,trans.
Bakewell,1928.
(11) Genettediscussesthesechangesinsomedetail,
pp.164-165.

DANIEL BEAUMONT
The conversion(islam) of Sa'd b. Mu'adhand Usaydb. al-Hudayrwas at the

handsof Mus'abb. 'Umayral-'Abdari.Mus'abhad come to Medinabeforethe
arrivalof theseventymen who sworethesecond oathof 'Aqaba, callingpeo-
ple to Islam and teachingthemto recitethe Qur'an at the commandof the
Messengerof God. And whenSa'd b. Mu'adhconverted, everyonein theBanO
'Abd al-Ashhalconvertedthatsame day. And the clan of the BanO 'Abd al-
Ashhalwas thefirstclanamongtheAnSdrto convertinitsentirety, everyman
and womanof it.
Then Sa'd b. Mu'adhsentMus'ab b. 'Umayrand Ab Umima As'ad b. Zurara
to his house,and theybegan to call the people to Islam.Sa'd b. Mu'adh and
As'ad b. Zurarawere cousinson theirmother'sside.Sa'd b. Mu'adhand Usayd
b. al-Hudayrwere breakingthe idolsof theBani- 'Abd al-Ashhal(12).
Ibn Sa'd has the accountimmediately fromhis mentoral-Waqidi,but

the chainof attribution extendsto Sa'd b. Mu'idh's grandsonWaqid. It
is one oftheconventionsofkhabarnarrative thatthereportageof direct
speech requires a witness present at the scene to hear it. Like all such
rules, it is not always observed (13),though it is here; since WAqid is not
present at the scene, the account contains no direct speech. Moreover, it
lacksanyofthedescriptivephrasesso characteristic
ofscene,whichseem
to bringthe eventscloser to the reader'sview. For these reasons,the
narrativeought to be classed as summaryreportage.
Comparethe followingaccountof 'Umarb. al-Khattab'sconversion:
'Abdullahb. Abi Najih,theMeccan,fromhiscompanions'At&'and Mujahid,or
othernarrators, said that'Umar'sconversion,
accordingto whathe used to say
himself, happenedthus:
I was farfromIslam.I was a winebibberin theheathenperiod,used to love it
and rejoicein it.We used to have a meetingplace in al-Hazwaraat whichthe
Qurayshusedto gathernearthehousesofthefamily of 'Umarb. 'Abdb. 'Imran
al-Makhzfmi. I wentout one night,makingformyboon companionsin that
gathering,butwhenI gotthere,therewas no one present.Then I said," What
ifI wentto so-and-so,thewineseller?" a manwho was sellingwinein Mecca
at the time," perhapsI mightget somethingto drinkfromhim." But I could
notfindhimeither.Then I said," WhatifI wentto theKa'ba and wentaround
it seven or seventytimes?" So I came to the mosque meaningto go around
theKa'ba,and therewas theMessengerofGod standingpraying. As he prayed
he faced Syria,puttingthe Ka'ba betweenhimselfand Syria.His stancewas
betweentheblackstoneand thesoutherncorner.When I saw himI said," By
God, whatifI listenedto Muhammadtonightso I mighthear whathe says? "
Then I said," But ifI getnearhim,I wouldcertainly him! " So I came
frighten
fromthe directionof thehijr,and I gotunderneathitscoverings, and I began
(12) At-Tabaqdtal-kubra,Beirutno date,Vol. 3, pp. 420-21.I wishto treatisnad as part

ofthenarrative
forreasonsthatwillemergelaterinmydiscussion. Hence,thoughitmayseem
awkwardat time,I willusuallytranslate itas literally
as possible.
(13) We willsee an instancein Ibn Ishaq and al-Waqidilaterwhereitis flouted.
10

to walkslowly.The Messengerof God was standing,praying, the

reciting
Qur'an.I wenttowards
him,untilI stoodinhisqiblafacing
him,therebeing
between
nothing usexceptthecoveringoftheKa'ba.WhenI heardtheQur'An,
myheartsoftened.I criedand Islamenteredme.I continuedstandinglikethat
untilthe Messengerof God finishedhisprayer.Then he wentaway.He used
to go pastthehouse of theson of AbOIHusayn,whichwas on hisway,so that
he crossedthepathwherethepilgrims
run.Thenhe wentbetweenthehouse
of'Abbasb.al-Muttalib
andIbnAzharb.'Abd'Awfaz-Zuhri;
thenbythehouse
of Al-Akhnasb. Shariquntilhe enteredhis own house. His dwellingwas in
ad-Darar-Raqta',
whichwasinthehandsofMu'awiyah b. AbiSufyan.I con-
tinuedtofollowhim,until,
whenhegotbetweenthehouseof'AbbasandIbn
Azhar,I overtook
him.WhentheMessenger ofGod heardmyvoicehe rec-
ognizedmeandsupposedthatI hadbeenfollowinghimonlyto ill-treat
him,
me.Thenhesaid," Whathasbrought
so herepelled younow,Ibnal-Khattab ?"
Then I said," I came thatI maybelieveinGod and His messengerand in what
fromGod." ThentheapostlepraisedGod andhe said," God has
he brings
guidedyou,'Umar." Thenhe rubbedmybreastandhe prayed
thatI wouldbe
ThenI lefttheMessenger
steadfast. ofGodandhe wentintohishouse(14).
There is a briefbitof summarynarrativeto set the stage,as it were.
This summary is in Genette'stermsiterative.Thatis,itnarratesa typeof
eventthatis repeated; in iterative " a singlenarrative
narrative utterance
takes upon itselfseveraloccurrencestogetherof the same event" (').
Thus,we read," I was a winebibberin the heathenperiod,used to love
it and rejoice in it. We used to have a meetingplace in al-Hazwara at
whichtheQurayshused togathernearthehousesofthefamilyof 'Umar
b. 'Abd b. 'Imranal-Makhzumi ". Followingthis,a ratherwell developed
scene beginswiththe words," I went out one night... " As is oftenthe
case, the iterativeis used to introducea particularinstancewhen,how-
ever,somethingthatdepartsfroma seriesof eventshappens.Here, the
departureis the confrontation withMuhammadand 'Umar'ssubsequent
conversion.Followingtheconversionthenarration revertstotheiterative
to describethe way Muhammadusuallyreturnedhome.In the scene we
finddirectspeech and those sortsof detail that are " contingent " in
Genette'sterms;theyadd nothingto the eventsin the narrative, and so
theyare the " connotatorsof mimesis" par excellence; theyare only
mentionedbecause theyare " there",i.e. presentin thescene.The itera-
tive passage thatbegins," He used to go past the house of the son of
Abo Husayn..." up to," His dwellingwas in ad-Dar ar-Raqt', whichwas
(14) Siratan-nabi,Cairono date,Vol. 1,pp. 232-233.I haveused Guillaume'stranslation

The Lifeof Muhammad,Oxford,1955, pp. 157-158,but I have alteredhis translations in
placesto reflecttheArabicmoreclosely.
(15) NarrativeDiscourse,p. 116. The readermaywonderwhatis meantby the " same
event". Genette,p. 113: " a seriesof severalsimilareventsconsideredonlyin termsof their
resemblance " (his italics).The iterativeis a categoryof frequencywhichis in turnone of
threeconstituents of narrative tense,theothertwo being,orderand duration.
11

DANIEL BEAUMONT
in the handsof Mu' wiyahb. Abi Sufyn " is filledwithsuchdetails.We

may take thisas a good example of how scene is handled in khabar
narrative.
representthetwo poles of diegesis.But a narra-
These two narratives
tivemaybalance scene and summarymoreevenly.The thirdnarrative
describesthe conversionof 'Uthmanb. 'Affn. The translationreads:
Muhammad b.'Umarinformed meandsaid:Muhammad b.$lih related
tome
thatYazidb. Remansaid:
'Uthman b. 'Affan andTalhab. 'UbaydallawentoutinthepathofZubayrb.
'Awwam, andtheyentered the
upon Messenger ofGod.He presented Islam
to themandrecited theQur'anto them.He toldthemofthedutiesofIslam
andhowGod wouldblessthem.Theybelievedandaccepteditas thetruth.
Then'Uthman said,"MessengerofGod,I justcamefrom andwhilewe
Syria,
werebetweenMu'anandZurqa',itwas as though we wereasleep.Andwe
awaken! Ahmad(i.e.Muhammad)
hearda callercalltous,'Sleepers, hascome
outinMecca'.So we cameandlistened toyou" (16).
In thisbriefexample,summary ends when'Uthmanbeginsto talk,and
themimesisof 'Uthman'sdirectspeech signalsthatwe are now in scene.
The isndd wouldhave Yazid b. ROmanpresentat thetime,and thusable
to report'Uthman'sactualwords,and we can see that,when two impor-
tantrulesgoverningtheliterature are takenintoaccount- onlyfactsare
to be reported,and everyreportmustbe tracedback to a reliableoriginal
source - thentheisndd willdeterminehow scene and summary can be
employedin anyparticular khabar.I willdiscusssome of theseparticular
conventionsat greaterlengthlater.
Considerthe case of Sa'd b. Mu' dh: since the isndd extendsonlyto
Sa'd's grandson,who presumably was notpresentwhen Sa'd converted,
we can onlyhave summary. To narratethe eventsin the moremimetic
formof scene, accordingto the conventionsof thisliterature, wouldre-
quireeitherthegrandsonto be an eyewitnessto theevents,and thusin
a positionto reportdirectspeech,or theisnad would have to extendto
Sa'd himselfand we would have to have the accountin his words.The
two previousnarratives regarding'Uthmanand 'Umarshow us the two
possibilities;in thecase of 'Uthman,Yazid b. Rumanis presumably pres-
ent at his conversion,whilewe have 'Umar'snarrativedirectlyfromhis
own mouth.But sinceneitherof thesecases obtainsforthe narrativeof
Sa'd, we have summarynarrative. As I notedbefore,exceptionscan be
foundto thisrule,but theydo not weaken the generalvalidityof this
observation (17).
(16) Ibn Sa'd,At-Tabaqdtal-kubrd,Vol. III, p. 55.

oftheisnad in an earlyauthorlikeIbn Ishaq may
(17) In fact,theratherloose treatment
12

Thepreceding
remarks
bearonwhatisusually
called"point-of-view"
in narrative.The studentof narrative knowsthatthisconcepthas proven
to be a ratherimpreciseone fordescribingall themodalitiesof narrative.
But beforeleavingthisfamiliarifimpreciseconceptbehindin favorof a
conceptof Genette,we mightnote thatby the conventionsof medieval
Arabicliterature, therecan be no such thingas thirdpersonnarration.
Everything said or writtenis attributed;strictly
speakingwe are always
dealingwithsome species of firstpersonnarration (18).
Focalization in khabar
Ratherthanpoint-of-view, Genette'sdistinctionbetweenvoiceand
focalization
willbe employed here.We willdeal withfocalization
now.
If we comparethetwonarratives of'Uthman and'Umar,intheformer,
thenarration isfocalized
on 'Uthman, Yazidispresentbutinvisible,
while
in 'Umar'sstory,thenarrator is alsotheobjectofthefocalization.
In orderto describemoreprecisely therelation
ofnarratorandchar-
acterhere,Genettesettleson a threetermtypology to describewhatis
sometimes called" aspect" or "vision" in narrative.
The typology de-
scribeswhatthenarrator knowsinrelation towhatthefocalizedcharacter
knows,andmoreimportantly, whathe saysinrelation to whatthechar-
acter knows; the typologydescribesthe relationGenette calls
focalization
:
1. Narrator> Character
2. Narrator=--
Character
3. Narrator< Character(19)
The firstimpliesan omniscient andis veryrareinmedieval
narrator,
Arabicprose.The Qur'anis thenotableexception.
A fewotherworks
sui generismayqualify;thefablesofKalilah wa Dimna,al-Ma'arri's
Risdlatal-Ghufrdn andtheallegory
ofHayyibn Yaqz.:n. The second
typecorrespondsto the narrativeof 'Umarwherethe narrator's
knowl-
be takenas evidenceof thesignificance of theisnad itself.I willtakethisup laterin thises-

say.
(18) And hereI agree,as does Genette,foreven in whatis called" thirdperson" narra-
tivethereis stilla narrator. The confusionarisesbecause oftenin thatformof narrative, the
use of " I " or " we " is oftenavoided.Butnotalways,e.g.Madame Bovary.
(19) Pp. 188-189. Genettemakes the pointthatfocalizationcan and does oftenvary
throughout the same narrative. But thisis a mootconcernin the case of khabarnarrative,
briefas itis and adheringratherstrictly fortheologicalreasons,as I shallargue,to thesecond
and thirdmodels.
13

DANIEL BEAUMONT
edge is equal to thatof thecentralcharacter(20).The thirdtypedescribes

all narrativein earlyArabicprose where the focalizationis on another
person besides the narrator.In all these instances,the narratoralways
knowsless thanthe characterwho is the objectof focalization. Consider
again Leder's words:
Thenarrator isabsentfrom thenarrationanddoesnotserveas a focusforthe
reader's
perception.He doesnotconveyinsight intothecharacters
bydescrib-
ingtheirplansandthoughts: hisvisionis entirely
external.
But thiswouldonlybe trueof a khabar withthethirdtypeof aspect.
Now mysense of the literature tellsme thatthisis by farthe mostcom-
mon typeof khabar narrative, butthe exampleof 'Umarshows thatthe
narrationcan be focalizedon the narrator, in whichcase the narrator's
visionneed notbe entirely external;he can conveyinsightbydescribing
one character'splansand insights, his own.
Moreover,even withrespectto the thirdtypeof focalization, Leder's
observationdoes not alwayshold,further evidence - were any needed
- ofthenearimpossibility of alwaysand everywhereadheringto a single
narrativemodality.Considerthe followingkhabar:
Yazidb. ZiyadtoldmethatMubammad b. Ka'bal-Quragisaid:
WhentheMessenger ofGodreachedat-Ta'if, he headedfora party ofThaqif
whowerethentheleadersandoutstanding menoftheThaqif. Theywerethree
brothers;'AbdYALaylb.'Amrb.'Umayr, Mas'Odb. 'Amrb. 'Umayr,and
b. 'Amrb. 'Umayr b. 'Aufb. 'Uqdab. Ghiyara b. 'Awfb. Thaqif.One of.Habib
them
hada wifefrom theQuraysh, theBantJumah. TheMessenger ofGodsatwith
themandcalledthemtoIslam,andtalkedtothemabouthowtheycouldhelp
advancethecauseofIslamandstandwithhimagainst thoseamonghisown
peoplewhoopposedhim.One ofthemsaidtohimthathe wouldtearupthe
coveringoftheKa'ba," ifGodhassentyou".Thesecondsaid," Couldn't God
havefoundsomeonebesidesyouto send?" The thirdsaid," By God I will
nevertalktoyouagain.Ifyouarea messenger from Godas yousay,thenyou
aremuchtooimportant formetoreplyto whatyousay,andifyouarelying,
thenit'snotproper formetotalktoyou".TheMessenger ofGodgotupand
ofgetting
left,despairing anygoodoutofThaqif. Andithasbeenmentioned
tomethathe saidtothem, "Sinceyouhavedonewhatyouhavedone,keep
mymatter secret". Forhe wasloaththatthematter shouldreachhispeople,
andfurther embolden themtoactagainst him...(21)
(20) Correspondsroughly, I shouldprobablysay,forthe storyseems to be recalledby

'Umarat a distanceof some years(" I was a winebibberin the heathenperiod..."), and so
a difference
thereis potentially betweenwhat'Umarknew thenand whathe knowsnow.
Butgiventherestricted scope of thesenarratives,thisconsiderationcan safelybe set aside.
(21) Stratan-nabi, Vol. II, p. 285. Guillaume,pp. 192-193,translates,
"Could not God
have foundsomeonebetterthanyouto send? " for,A mdwajada Allahu abadan yursiluhu
ghayraka? If he did nothave a textreadingkhayraka,thenI prefersimply" besidesyou",
fornotehow therepliesmovebydegreesfromtheobviousto thesubtle,from" how prepos-
14

The khabar goes on to describehow the threedo not keep their

meetingsecret,but insteadstirup some riffraff who chase Muhammad
away.
Whatshouldbe notedhereaboutthisfailedconversionattemptis that
the narratorMuhammadb. Ka'b al-Qurazi does imputeemotionand
thoughtsto anothercharacter,sayingof Muhammad:" despairing" (wa
qadya'isa) and " he was loath" (kariha)(22). Or in thestoryabout'Umar
above: " he recognizedme and supposedthatI had been followinghim
onlyto mistreat him..." ('arafantfa-zanna rasalu 'lld... anni innamd
li-adhiyahu) We willsee anotherexamplelater,and I am cer-
tabi'tubhu
tainthatmoreinstancescould be found,butthepointis that,as Genette
has pointedout,innarrative theseare alwaysmattersofdegree,and here
these examples of attribution of thoughtand emotionmarka kind of
limit.Emotionor thoughtmaybe imputedin a contextwhere theyare
predictableand obvious,but,even in these instancesa certainreticence
is detectable.As Leder remarks,a statementby the narratorhere going
beyondthese simplestatements to somethinglike," he went away des-
pairing,thinking,"Nothinggood will ever come of these impudent
Thaqlf-"would be mostunusual.As a generalrule in khabar narrative
thoughtand emotionmustbe expressedin directspeech or else they
remaininvisible- or simplydo not exist.This is even the case in the
khabar of 'Umar,whichcomes to us in 'Umar'sown words; histhoughts
are alwaysexpressedaftertheverbqultu : "What ifI wentto so-and-so
the wine-seller? ";" What ifI wentto the Ka'ba...";" What ifI listened
to Muhammadtonight... ? " and " IfI getnearhim,I willcertainly
frighten
him". Now, I am aware thatit mightbe remarkedthatthisis no more
thana convention, and thatone oughtto translate qdla and qultu inthese
instancesas " he thought" and "I thought", but the factremainsthatin
these instancesthe styleof narrativeis to reducethoughtto language.It
is as though,if 'Umardid not talk,he could not think.The convention
requiresthatthought,whichis neitherwhollylanguagenor simplyan
eventbut a phenomenonthatpartakesof both,mustbe renderedin the
mimesisof directspeech even by the thinkerhimself(23).
At thispoint,itmaybe usefulto considerwhetherthereis anysortof
narrativein Westernliterature withwhichto comparekhabar narrative.
terous! " to the cleversophistry

of the third.I finda comictouchhere.More problematic is
the sentenceGuillaumeelides: wa kallamahumbimdjd 'aum lahu min nusratihi'ald 'I-
isldm.The 'ala 'i-islamseems odd sinceafternusratihi'aid wouldusuallymean" against"
"On behalfof" perhaps.
(22) Or itmaybe Ibn Ishaq in thesecond instance,sinceitis notentirelyclearwhether
Muhammadb. Ka'b is stillspeakingwhenthe textreads:" And he said - in whathas been
mentionedto me..." (Wa qad qdla lahumfimadhukiraI...).
(23) Cf. R. Alter'sremarkson the same phenomenonin narrative in the Hebrew Bible,
TheArtof BiblicalNarrative,New York,1981,pp. 67-68.
15

DANIEL BEAUMONT
I thinkifwe were to look forthe typeof narrative in Westernliterature

thatadheresmostcloselyto thisthirdtype,itwouldbe, curiously enough,
what is commonlycalled the " hard-boiled" school of literature. Ernest
Hemingway and Daniel Hammett are oftentaken as the foremost
expo-
nentsof thisstyle,and we mightconsiderhow each treatssuchmatters.
The followingshows how Hemingwayconveysemotionwithoutever
attributing itto anyof the characters:
Whenhe sawus comeinthedoorthebartender lookedupandthenreached
overandputtheglasscoverson thetwo-free-lunch bowls.
"Givemea beer",I said.He drewit,cutthetopoffwitha spatulaandthen
heldtheglassinhishand.I putthenickelon thewoodandhe slidthebeer
towardme.
"What'syours ? " he saidtoTom.
" Beer".
He drewthatbeerandcutitoffandwhenhe sawthemoneyhe pushedthe
beeracrosstoTom(24).
The narrator heremaintains thecompletelyexternalview thatis com-
mon to khabar narrative.The suspicionof the bartenderis conveyed
entirelyby meansof his actions;coveringup the freefood,withholding
each glass of beer untilthe money has been put forward.Another
example fromDashiel Hammettwill show the similarity of external
focalization;it displaysa similarreticenceon the partof the narrator
regardingthe focalizedsubject'sthoughts:
Spadesmiledandnoddedas ifheunderstood her,butpleasantly,
as ifnothing
seriouswereinvolved.He said," Supposeyoutellmeaboutit,fromthebegin-
ning,andthenwe'llknowwhatneedsdoing.Betterbeginas farbackas you
can"(25).
AlthoughSpade is the focusof the narrative, the narrativemaintains
a whollyexternalrelationtohim.The narrator does notknowwhatSpade
thinks, and treatshimas he treatsanyothercharacter(26).Indeed,phrases
like " as though" or " as if" are used to maintainthisillusionwhenever
anyallusionis made to Spade's thoughts, and one willlook in vainin the
textfora sentencethatbegins," Spade thought... " Comparethe follow-
ing khabar describingthe Muslimconquest and occupationof Mecca
foundin Ibn Ishaq:
(24) " The Lightof theWorld", in WinnerTakeNothing,New York,1933,p. 27.

(25) TheMalteseFalcon, 1929 (Vintage,1992 ed.), p. 5.
(26) One mustof coursedistinguish betweenthe voice of the narrator,
createdby the
author,and the voice of the author,Hammett.The restrictions
on whatthe narrator knows
are even extendedto the pointthatin Spade's telephoneconversations onlyhis speech is
reported.The voiceon theotherend of thelinecannotbe " heard" by thenarrator.
16

DISCOURSEINEARLYMUSLIM
NARRATIVE
HARD-BOILED: TRADITIONS
The Messengerof God had instructed his commanderswhen theyentered

Mecca onlyto fightthosewho resistedthem,exceptfora smallnumberwho
were to be killedeven iftheywere foundbeneaththe curtainsof the Ka'ba.
Amongthemwas 'Abdallab. Sa'd, brotherof the Banfi'Amirb. Lu'ayy.The
reasonhe orderedhimto be killedwas thathe had been a Muslimand used
to writedown revelation;thenhe apostatizedand returnedto Qurayshand
fledto 'Uthmanb. 'Affanwhose fosterbrotherhe was. The latterhidhimuntil
he broughthim to the Messengerof God afterthe situationin Mecca was
tranquil,and askedthathe mightbe givenimmunity. TheyclaimthattheMess-
engerof God was silenta longtime.Then he said," Yes ". When 'Uthmanleft,
theMessengerofGod saidto thecompanionsaroundhim," I was silentso that
one of youcouldgo to himand cutoffhishead ". Then one of the said,
An;ar
"Why didn'tyou make a signto me, oh Messengerof God ?" He said, "A
prophetdoes notkillby pointing"(27).
The focalizationis purelyexternal in each case. Silence, explicitymen-
tioned here, is fullyas importantto the narrativeas itis in the Hemingway
scene where it is merely suggested; in each case silence is used in a way
that the reader understands: silence = tension. The difference between
the two narrativesis that Hemingway means to convey the emotion of
the bartender purely by means of his actions, whereas in the khabar the
indication of emotion is usually reserved for direct speech - though ex-
ceptions occur in the case of exceptionally strong emotions, i.e.
Muhammad rubbing 'Umar's chest. In common with the storyabove, the
purpose of the khabar style is to make the voice of the narratoras un-
obtrusive as possible. If has often been said of this sort of narrationthat
it aims to " show" rather than " tell " (unlike prophets when they order
" hits "), but of course this is merely an illusoryeffect resultingfrom the
restrictionsobserved by the narrativevoice, partlythe result of what is
leftunsaid, and partlythe resultof how what is said is said, as the following
example shows:
Ibn Ishaq said: Yabya b. 'Abbad b. 'Abdallahb. Zubayrtold me - on the
authority of his fatherwho had it fromhisgrandmother Asma' d. Abi Bakr -
thatshe said:
When the Messengerof God stoppedat DhO Tuwa, Abi Qubhfasaid to one
of his youngestdaughters," My littlegirl,take me up to AbfiQubays"(28).
[Asm '] said,his visionhad gottenweak. She took himup there,and he said,
" My littlegirl,what do you see? " She said, "I see a black mass". He said,
"That is the cavalry". She said," I see a mangoingback and forthin frontof
thatblack mass". He said," That is the wdzi'" - thatis, the one who orders
thecavalry.Thenshe said," By God,theblackmassis spreading". [Asmi']said :
He said," By God,thecavalryhas been sentforward. Hastenme to myhouse ".
(27) Stra,Vol. IV, p. 867. Guillaumetrans.p. 550.

(28) Stra,Vol. IV, p. 864. Guillaumetrans.p. 548. AbuQ!bays is thesame of a hill.
17

DANIEL BEAUMONT
In thisexampletoo theemotionof fearis conveyedindirectly. The

littlegirlwhosees butdoes notunderstand whatshe is seeingandthe
old manAbi Quhfa whodoes notsee butunderstands forma pairof
opposites in thisregard ratherlike Tiresias and (Edipus (and, ofcourse,
inotherwaysalso: young/old, female/male etc.),andthedialogue, which
rather likethedialogueinHammett orHemingway saysmorebysaying
less,exploitsthepotential ofthispairverynicely.Indeed,setting aside
theconventions ofmedieval Arabicnarrative, one canimagine thisstory
beingrewritten in a wayrather likeHenryJames'WhatMaisieKnew,
wherethestoryis focalized through a childwhoalsosees butdoes not
understand, though thereaderverywellunderstands. Ofcourse,we can-
notin actuality set asidethoseconventions, and as it stands,thestory
couldnotcometo us through thevoiceofthelittle girl(unnamed here,
butgiventhename"Qurayba"in Waqidi),fortheisnadis weak.Itonly
goes backto Abt Quhafa'sgranddaughter Asm' (29).Yet,despitethis
seeming lackofa witness present atthescene,we stillhavedirect speech.
Perhapsforthisreasonthetradition is ignoredafteral-Waqidi ; foritis
notfoundinIbnSa'd or at-Tabari.
Someoftheseissuesmayalsobe examined withregard tovoice.Under
voiceGenetteanalyzes theinstance ofnarrating withrespecttothetime
ofnarrating, levelsofnarrating and" person".Timeofnarrating isusually
subsequent the
though length of time after is usually indeterminate (30).
If thisseemsso obviousas to need no mention, we shouldnotethat
narrating canbe priorwhenthenarrative is predictive, andwe willsee
an instance ofthislater.
The first instanceof narration in everycase aboveis whatGenette
wouldtermextradiegetic. Theinstance ofnarration is outsidetheevents
recounted. Anynarration doneby someonein thenarrative wouldbe
intradiegetic.We willsee anexampleofthisalso.Moreimportant forthe
issuesjustrecounted is thematter of" person". Ifeveryinstance ofnar-
rationis produced bya narrator, thatnarrator mayeitherbe a character
inthenarrative ornot.Ifthenarrator himself (orherself) appearsinthe
narrative, thenGenettecallsthepersonofthenarration homodiegetic;
ifthenarratordoes notappearin thenarrative, he callsitheterodiegetic.
At everylevel,theconventions ofkhabarnarrative wouldstillseem
to apply.Forthenarrator to narrate scene,he mustbe takenas present
in thenarrative evenifhe is sometimes almostinvisible, e.g. Yazid b.
(29) There maybe a further coincidencebetweenthese two schoolsof narrative. The

"hardboiled" schooloffiction
is oftenlinkedto thestoicism typeofthe" tough
ofthecultural
guy"; and itseemsto me thatthereserveof thenarrator is at leastcon-
in khabarnarrative
sonantwiththecultural valueof hilmin thesame way.
(30) Here I willconfinemyselfto thefirstnarrationof thetradition,
althoughtheisnad
obviouslyimpliesthatthereare severalsubsequentnarrations.
18

Remanrecounting 'Uthman'sconversion, or 'Umar.Thus,scene and direct

speech are indicatorsthatthe narrationis homodiegetic.When the nar-
rationis heterodiegetic
we oughtto expectonlysummarynarration, e.g.
Waqid. Anyotherarrangement can be takenas a breakwiththeconven-
tions.
Conversion narratives
It is a curiousfeaturein the narratives

above whichrecountthe con-
versionsof variousmen thatthe conversionscene is almostalwaysnar-
ratedin summaryfashion,withindirectdiscourseas itschiefcharacter-
istic.The accountof 'Uthman'sconversionabove is, again,typicalin this
respect:
...theyentered upontheMessenger ofGod.He presentedIslamtothemand
recited theQur'antothem.He toldthemofthedutiesofIslamandhowGod
wouldblessthem.Theybelievedandaccepteditas thetruth.
The simplicity and tersenessof the languagedescribingtheproclama-
tionof Islamis characteristicof a largenumberof conversionnarratives:
"They entered upon the Messenger of God, and he presentedIslam to
them and recited the Qur'an to them". (Dakhald 'ald rasali
-llah...fa-'arada 'alayhimd'l-isldmawa qara'a 'alayhimd'l-qur'dna).
Theiracceptanceis similarly " Theybelievedandacceptedit
presented:
as thetruth
".(dmandwa saddaqa). Furthermore,thefourverbs'arada,
and
qara'a, Amana, saddaqa, whichhere describe
theentire
processof
conversion,are foundin one tradition
afteranotherto describethepres-
ofdoctrine
entation andtherecitation
ofscripture
byMuhammad, and
on thepartoftheconvert
thebeliefandacceptance (31).
Thefollowingconversion
ofan otherwise
obscureshepherd
showsus
is in the midstof a scene,itveryoftenre-
thateven when the narration
(31) The use of theverb 'aratda,forexample,is foundin a numberof otheraccountsto

describeMuhammad's expositionofthenew faith, ortheQur'an.Some examples: inthestory
of Tufaylb. 'Amr: " Tell me of youraffair. " So the Messengerof God toldme and recited
the Qur'anto me (i'rid 'alayya amraka...fa-'arada 'alayya rasulu '11h...wa tald 'alayya
'1-qur'Ana)(Stratan-nabt,Vol. I, p. 257. Guillaume,p. 176); thestoryof al-Aswad,a black
shepherdemployedby a Jew at the oasis of Khaybar:i'rid 'alayya '1-islimafa-'aradahu
'alayhifa-aslama. (Ibid.,Vol. III, p. 806); theproto-conversionof Suwaydb. Samit(ibid.,
Vol. II, pp. 289-291) whereMuhammadasks Suwaydto show himthe " scrollof Luqman"
(majallat Luqmdn) thatSuwaydclaimsto have (i'ridhd'alayya).
Such usagescorrespondto theQur' nic usages,thoughtheverb 'ara-dais relatively rare
in the Qur' n, therebeingonlythreeinstancesof the FormI verbin the activevoice. For
example,wa 'aradndjahannama yawmaidhinlil-kefirind'artdanin 18:100.Also 7:31 and
33:72.
19

DANIEL BEAUMONT
verts to summarynarrativewhen narratingthe event of the conversion

itself.The khabar is taken fromthe Strat an-nabi:
Accordingto whatI have heardal-Aswadcame to the apostlewithhis flock

of sheep while he (Muhammad)was besiegingKhaybar.He was the hired
servantof a Jewthere.He said," Messengerof God, explainIslamto me ". So
he explainedit to him,and he converted,forthe Messengerof God never
thoughttoo littleof anyoneto invitehimto accept Islam.Havingbecome a
Muslimhe said," Messengerof God, I am thehiredservantof the ownerof
thesheep,and theyare entrusted to mycare.WhatshallI do withthem? " He
said " Throwstonesin theirfaces; thentheywillgo back to theirmaster". So
al-Aswadgotup and tooka handfulof pebblesand threwthemin theirfaces,
saying" Go back to yourowner,forby God I willaccompanyyou no more"
Theywentoffina bodyas thoughsomeoneweredriving them,untiltheywent
intothefort.Afterwards he (al-Aswad)advancedto thefortwiththeMuslims
and was struckby a stoneand killed,neverhavingprayeda singleprayer.He
was broughtto the Messengerof God and laid behindhimand coveredwith
hisshepherd'scloak.The Messengerof God, who was accompaniedbya num-
ber of hiscompanions, turnedtowardshimand thenturnedaway.When they
asked himwhyhe said," He has withhimnow his two wivesfromthe dark-
eyed houris".
'Abdullahb. Abi Najilhtoldme thathe was toldthat,whena martyr is slain,his
two wivesfromthe dark-eyedhourispet him,wipingthe dustfromhis face,
sayingthewhile," May God putduston theface of theman who putduston
yourface,and slayhimwho slew you! " (32)
Theaccount followstheterseexplanationofconversionwe haveseen
withthecharacteristic
before, verbsused: " MessengerofGod,explain
Islamto me (i'rid'alayya'I-isldma).
So he explaineditto him,andhe
converted... " (33) And even here when the narrationis in the midst of a
scene where directspeech has been employed, the preference is to revert
to indirectspeech for what, afterall, is the turningpoint of the narrative,
briefas itis. The questionarisesas to why,in so manyakhbar,summary
ispreferred
overscene,whenwe might expectthelatter
tobe employed
foran occasionwiththissignificance
(34).
(32) Stra,Vol. III, p. 806. Guillaume,trans.p. 519.

(33) saddaqa and amana, do not occur; al-Aswad'sconversionsimplybeingrendered
aslama. The storyof Tufaylb. 'Amrad-Dawsigivesanotherexamplewherein theprocess
of meetingdirectspeechis abandonedand a morediegeticmodeis employed:
" So explainthe matterto me ". The Messengerof God explained(it) to me and recited
theQur'Anto me. By God, I neverheardanything fineror anything morejust,so I con-
vertedand bore truewitness.(Sira, Vol. I, p. 257. Guillaume, p. 176).
Cf.theconversionof Mus'abal-Khayrin Ibn Sa'd,Vol. III, p. 116. The languageis similar
inallaccounts: i ril 'alayyaamrakafa 'arada(hu) 'alayya,orfa 'arada 'alayhimd'1-isldma.
(34) We will,however,examineat least one khabar in whichthe conversionscene is
narratedin themimeticmode,a second accountof theconversionof 'Umar.
20

The pat usage foundin so manynarratives maysuggestwhythe nar-

rationis so oftenhighlydiegeticat thispoint.While these usages are
consonantwiththeexternalstyleof focalization favoredinkhabar,itstill
seems ratherunlikelyto me thatthe usage is in everycase original.For
thatwouldrequireus to believethatmanydifferent people all settledon
preciselythe same fourverbsto describethe scene of conversion.But
merelyto putit thisway makesthe oppositescenarioseem muchmore
likely:thatearlyaccountsofconversionsweredisparatein formand style
because different people relateeven the same eventin different ways,
and thattheseparticular verbswere settledon inthecourseof oraltrans-
missioneitheras a partof the oral tradition, or laterby a few scholar/
editorsworkingwithlargenumbersof traditions. The latterseems more
likely to me, since it seems doubtful storytellerswould so consistently
ignorea scene withthe dramaticpotentialof conversion.Of course,to
even say the " same event" begs the questionof whetherthe event of
submissionwas alwaysand everywherethe same sortof event.
A few examplesmay make thisclearer.The motivesbehindproto-
conversionstoriesofsuchpeople as Suwaydb. Samitand Iyas b. Mu' adh
may be relatedto theirdescendants'desire to enlargetheirpensions
underthe diweansystemsaid to have been imposedby 'Umar,in which
stipendswere proportional to the date of one's conversion,i.e. earlier=
larger. On the other hand, a storylikethatof al-Aswadseems motivated
by the question of how obligatoryare the "obligatory"duties,i.e. is
martydomalone sufficientto gain one entrance into heaven?
Summarization would tend to make such disparatenarrativesresemble
each othermoreclosely.
In some respectsthismannerof narration withitsrepetitions and ver-
bal simplicityseems similarto instancesNothcitesin traditions aboutthe
conquests(35),butin the traditions whichNothtreatsthe narrativeis al-
readyin summary form- thatis,thereis no reversionto summary in the
middleof scene. Moreover,where he findsa sortof indifference in the
narrativestylein those traditions, I detecta carefulchoice of words in
theinstanceswe haveexaminedhere.These particular verbswerechosen
because theywere thoughtto be consonantwiththe largermeaningof
the events.In otherwords,theseverbsmayhave been used to harmon-
ize, so to speak,disparateaccounts.Here we enterperhapsthe realmof
whathas been called " salvationhistory "; the verbsmay,firstof all,re-
flecttheology,and secondarilyperhapsthe event.
Ifmysurmiseis correct- thattheseverbshave been used to summar-
ize accounts- thennarrativeanalysismaytellus somethingnew about
theprocessofcomposition, foritis a commonplaceofcurrentscholarship
e
(35) QJllenkritischeStudien,Bonn,1973,pp. 155-158.
21

DANIEL BEAUMONT
thatthereis a tendencyforaccountsto growin lengthas theyare trans-

mitted(6). Laterauthorities tendto know more factsthanearlierones,
and thishas aroused skepticismamonghistorians. Now such growthis
certainlyobservablein traditions thatpass fromIbn Ishaq to al-Waqidi
to Ibn Sa'd; thus,Cook on " facts" unknownto Ibn Ishaq butknownto
Waqidi a halfa centurylater: "This evolutionin the course of half a
centuryfromuncertainty to profusionof precisedetailis an instructive
one " (37). Or Crone on the same subject: "Unlike Ibn Ishaq, Waqidi
knows the exact date of the expedition,and also the whereaboutsof
Kharrar... " In thisview,traditions whichin Ibn Ishaq oftenconformto
the popularqissa, or storytelling version,growas theyare transformed
into the khabar of laterhistorians, and the growthtakes the formof
added " historical " detail.
But thepat description of theseconversionnarratives suggeststhatin
the transformation of qi.sa intokhabar theremayhave been a stagein
whichthe core of the narrativewas reducedto epitome- boiled down,
as itwere,to khabarpith.Thiswouldconsisteitheroftransforming more
mimeticnarrative intomorediegeticnarrative, or of reworkingtheusage
of diegeticnarrative.In eithercase, the objectis the same: to imposea
singularmeaningon an eventwithimportant theologicalconsiderations.
Temporality and the isnad

Most often,historianstreatthe isnad's relationto the khabar only
fromthepointofview of content;thequestionstendto be " Whywould
so-and-sohave reportedthis? "; " Are the linksof transmission valid? "
and so on - thatis, if theytreatit at all. For ever since Schachtit has
been difficult to give muchcredibility to these daisychains of names.
Here I would like to consideryet anotheraspectof the formalrelation
between the isnad and the khabar. We have discussed voice and
focalization, thatis the relationof the narrativevoice to the focalized
character;now I would like to considerthe relationbetweenthe voice
and temporalschemeof the narrative.
I began by sayingthatthisinquiryaddresseditselfto the relationbe-
tween the storyand its telling;it followsfromthisdouble scheme of
narrative thatallnarratives, even theserelatively
briefexampleshave two
timeschemes; thereis the timeof the thingtold and the timeof the
telling," story-time " and " storytelling
time" (or " narrativetime", as we
(36) Nothalso mentionssummarization as one of the distortingfactorsin the historical

(p. 12), buthe does notdeveloptheidea or linkit laterwithhisdiscussionofsum-
traditions
marynarrative under"iibergangsfloskeln "
(37) M. Cook in Mubammad,p. 64.
22

DISCOURSEIN EARLYMUSLIM
NARRATIVE
HARD-BOILED: TRADITIONS
shallcallithere)(38).Because of thistemporalduality, theorderofevents

as recountedin narrativetimemaydifferfromtheirorderin storytime.
Anydifference betweenthe two maybe termedan " anachrony" to use
again one of Genette's terms(39).
I would like to take up one lasttimethe narrativeof 'Uthman'scon-
version.The narrativeis simple,consistingof onlytwo pieces; the con-
versionof 'Uthmanand Talba and an accountgivenin 'Uthman'sown
wordsof themunddin,or thedisembodiedvoice thatcriesout whilehe
is on his way fromSyriato the Hijaz; and the two partsare narratedin
that order. Yet this order invertstheirsupposed real-lifeorder; in
Genette'stermsit is an anachrony.It is the species of anachronywhich
he calls an analepse, a recollection,thatis. The recollectioncontains,
however,a predictionthathas alreadycome true; in Genette'stermsit
is an analepsethatcontainsa prolepse.We maywonderwhyitis narrated
in thisway,forin doingso, thenarrator demursat exploitingthelittlebit
ofnarrative tensionthatchronological orderwouldcreate; thatis,a voice
in the wildernesspredictssomething, and the readerpresseson to find
out ifthe predictionwillcome true.
Voice is theconsideration here.The factthatthe accountis notgiven
by 'Uthman,but ratherby Yazid b. Roman determinesthis.For, given
theconventionsofkhabarnarrative, theorderof eventsinnarrative time
could not be the same as theirorderin storytimeunlessthe narration
was in the voice of 'Uthman.For, as Leder says,it goes againstkhabar
conventionforone who was notpresentto narratean eventsuchas the
" caller" that'Uthmanhearson his way fromSyria.So when Yazid says,
"'Uthmanb. AffanandTalba b. 'UbaydallawentoutinthepathofZubayr
b. 'Awwam,and theyenteredupon the Messengerof God ", he might
have added the information, " theyleftDamascus and traveledbetween
Mu'an and Zurqa' ", but he cannotsay by the rulesof the khabar," and
it was as thoughtheywere in a dream..." For how would Yazid know
this? This information can onlycome from'Uthmanor Talha. Hence, in
khabar narrative, theisnad itselfin determining thenarrative voice may
also determineotheraspectsof thenarrative, in thiscase, the anachrony
betweenstorytimeand narrativetime.
In eschewingthislittlebitof drama,thekhabar in thisformseems to
me to be moretheworkofa scholar'spen ratherthana storyteller's voice,
and may lend additionalsupportto my previousremarksabout what
occurredwhen qissa was transformed intokhabar.
At thispoint,itmightbe usefulto reversePlato'stacticin TheRepublic,
Book III, and re-writethe khabar entirelyin the speech of 'Uthman;it
mightthenread:
(38) Followingthe German:erzahlteZeit and Erzdhlzeit.

(39) See NarrativeDiscourse,p. 33 ff.
23

DANIELBEAUMONT
Talba b. 'Ubaydallaand I convertedafterZubayrb. 'Awwam.We werecoming

fromSyria,and whilewe were betweenMu'an and Zurqa',it was as though
we were asleep,and we hearda callercall to us, " Sleepers,awaken! Abmad
(i.e. Muhammad)has come out in Mecca ". So we hastenedto Mecca, and we
enteredupontheMessengerof God. I said to him," ExplainIslamto us ". And
he explainedIslamto us,recitedQur' n, and called us to Islam.We believed
and accepteditas thetruth. Then I said," Messengerof God, I justcame from
Syria,and whilewe werebetweenMu'anandZurqa',itwas as thoughwe were
asleep. And we heard a callercall to us, 'Sleepers,awaken! Ahmad has left
Mecca'. So we came and listenedto you ". Then he rubbedmybreastand he
prayedthatI wouldbe steadfast.
Butitcan onlyreadthiswayif'Uthman
himself theentire
narrates
story.
The khabarrecounting whichcomesto us in his
Talha'sconversion,
voice,showsus thatthisis so.ThatTalha'saccountisfactually
incompat-
iblewith'Uthman's in whichTalhaalso appearsis notof anyparticular
accounthere(40).
Muhammadb.'Umarinformed me and he said: Ad-Dahhakb.'Uthmanrelated
to me thatMakhramab. Sulaymn al-Walibisaid thatIbrahimb. Muhammad
b. Talba said thatTalha b. 'Ubaydallasaid:
I wentto the marketin Busra,and therewas a monkin his cell saying," Ask
the people of thisfestivalif thereis amongthemone of the people of the
sanctuary ". I said," Yes, I am ". He said,"Has Ahmadmade himselfknown
yet? " I said,"Who is Ahmad?" He said,"Ibn 'Abdallaibn 'Abd al-Muttalib.
Thisis hismonthinwhichhe willemergeandhe willbe thelastoftheprophets,
and he willcome out of the sanctuary, and emigrateto Nakhland Harraand
Sibakh.Take care to hastento him! " Whathe said stuckin mymind.I went
offin a hurryuntilI reachedMecca. I asked," Has anything happened? " They
said," Yes, Muhammadibn 'Abdallaal-Aminhas claimedto be a prophet,and
Ibn Abi Q_ubafa has followedhim". So I leftand wentto Abu Bakr,and I said,
" Are youfollowing thisman? " He said," Yes. Go and see himand followhim.
He willcall you to thetruth".
So Talha toldhimwhatthemonkhad said,and Abu BakrtookTalba and they
wentto theMessengerof God. Talba convertedand he toldtheMessengerof
God whatthemonkhad said,and theMessengerof God was pleased by that.
And when Abo Bakr and Talha ibn 'Ubaydalla converted,Nawfal ibn
Khuwaylidibn al-'Adawiyyatook themand tied themup withone rope and
the Banf Taymdid not defendthem.Nawfalibn Khuwaylidwas called the
(40) Itmaybe ofaccount, thatthenextkhabartellsusthatwhileMubammad

however,
was en routeto Medina,uponleavingal-KharrAr he metTalba who was comingfromSyria,
and Talha gave Mubammadand Abo Bakr Syrianrobes,and he told Mubammadthatthe
peopleofMedinawerewaitinganxiously forhim(istabttai). Now readtogetherwithTalha's
thisstoryrequiresTalha to make anothertripto Syriaafterhis
accountof his conversion,
conversion,butnotehow certainelementsremaincommonto all.
24

HARD-BOILED: DISCOURSEINEARLYMUSLIM
NARRATIVE TRADITIONS
andforthatreasonAbOBakrandTalhawerecalled" The
LionoftheQuraysh,
LinkedOnes " (al-qarinayn).
Since Talba himselfnarrateshis own story,the analepse disappears;

in hisnarrativeeventsare relatedin thechronological ordertheyhave in
story time: tripto marketat Bugra - of
prediction monk - tripto Mecca
- visitwithAbu Bakr - conversion.I emphasize" his" narrative, because
we mustnote thatanachronyis notbanishedby thischangeof speaker;
we merelyconvertone sortof anachrony,an analepse intoanother,a
prolepse.The directspeech of the monkis a predictivenarrative:" This
is his monthin which he will emerge and he will be the last of the
prophets,and he willcome out of the sanctuary, and emigrateto Nakhl
and Harraand Sibakh". Thus,we have here,even in thismodestkhabar,
a formthatGenettewould call " narrativein the second degree", a nar-
rativetoldby someone withinthe firstnarrative. And the prolepticnar-
rativeof the monkplaysitsusual role in narrativeof creatinga sense of
expectation.Indeed,Talba depictshimselfas beingin a stateof suspense
as he hurriesback to Mecca to findoutthemeaningof themonk'swords.
And at thispointwe may note thatonce again mimeticnarrationgives
way to diegeticbefore the actual conversionis narrated,and for this
purpose,the narrationis no longerin the voice of Talha, but ratherin
thatof Ibn Sa'd - presumably.
These two examplesshow that,fromthestandpoint of narrativemat-
ters,the isnad cannotsimplybe set to one side as a merepreliminary, a
kindof bothersomenecessity,like finishing one's vegetablesbeforeeat-
ingdesert; ratherthe isnad interactsand shapes the narrativein a very
concreteways.
The instance of narrating
The preceding
discussion
hasconcentrated
on therelations
between
the storyand the narrative.One more relationremainsto be clarified.
Thisis therelation
ofwhatBenvenistecalls" theinstance
ofnarrating",
theactoftelling,to thenarrative
andstory.On thismatter theisnad is
theobviousplaceto begin.EvenifIbnIshaqwereto invent a tradition
outof wholecloth,therewouldstillremaina difference betweenhis
writingdown of the narrativeand the actualnarratingof it as itis putin
the mouthof some witnessaccordingto the isnad, say 'A'isha.The two
actsmustnotbe confused,forwhetherthe narrative is a fictionor notis
besidethepoint;thenarrating
is doneby someonecalled'A'ishawho
cannotbe equatedwithIbn Ishaq evenifshe is nothing
morethana
fictionalcharacterin these traditions.
An exampleattributed
to her,the
25

DANIEL BEAUMONT
accountof the feversufferedby manyMuslimsin Medina will help to

clarifytheserelations.
Accordingto the isnad, the storyis relatedby 'A'ishato 'Urwa b. az-
Zubayr.The firstthingto be noted is that'A'ishais presentin her own
narrative. The scene is Medina.There 'A'ishavisitsthreemen who are
suffering fromthefever,herfatherAbu Bakr,'Amirb. Fuhayraand Bil"l,
and speakswiththem.In responseto herquestionof how theyfeel,each
replieswitha few verses whose importis more or less " I'm a goner".
She thenrelatestheirwordsto Muhammadwho tellsher thattheyare
deliriousand do notknowwhattheyare saying.Then Muhammadprays
forGod to make Medinadearerto the MuslimsthanMecca and forHim
to removethe feverfromMecca and inflict it on anotherplace (41).
The timeelapsed betweentheeventsof thestoryand 'A'isha'stelling
is, of course,not noted,but simplytakingthe isnad at face value and
usingthe particulars of 'A'isha'sand 'Urwa'sbirthsand deathspermitus
to assigna roughtime,accordingthe isnad, to when 'A'ishais supposed
to narratethe storyto 'Urwa,and we may also thereforeestimatethe
timethatis supposed to have elapsed between thatnarrating and the
eventsin the story.'A'isha,who was 'Urwa'smaternalaunt,is supposed
to have died in 58 A.H. (678 A.D.). 'Urwais supposedto have been born
sometimebetween23-29 A.H. (644-650 A.D.). Hence, accordingto the
tradition 'A'ishawouldhave died when 'Urwawas eithernearlythirty or
in his earlythirties.Even ifshe tellsthe storyto himas a child,thatputs
her tellingat a removeof some thirty or fortyyearsafterthe events,at
least.In otherwords,regardlessof thehistorical realityof theevents,for
Ibn Ishaq or his readersmanyyearsare supposed to have elapsed be-
tweentheeventsand theirretelling in thiskhabar.In thekhabar,while
thevoice of 'A'ishaseems immediateand close to the reader,theevents
even to her are rathermoredistant.
And I thinkthatthissupposed relationwould hold trueforthe vast
majority of earlytraditions;the initialnarrating would almostalwaysbe
supposed to take place at a remove of several decades. While thismay
seem quiteobviousto specialists, I thinkifthissituation is contrastedwith
thatof badithfora momentan interesting pointis made.
If we acceptat face value thegeneralclaimof the tradition thatMus-
limsbegan to tradein the words of Muhammadfromthe momenthe
died,indeed,even whilehe was alive - and here I am provisionally ac-
ceptingtheseclaims- thena distinction emergesbetweenso-called" his-
torical" traditions and " legal" traditions. Historicalakhbar are onlynar-
ratedyearsafterthe event,whereas hadithmustbe supposed to have
(41) Ibn Ishaq,Vol. II, pp. 425-426.
26

been recountedimmediately- or else how could Muhammad'spro-

nouncementsbeen effective ?
Hence, itwouldbe mostunusualfora khabarto begin" Talhareturned
in the morningand toldme whathappened". The instanceof narrating
is almostalwaysyearsafterthefact.It does happen,however,thatwithin
thekhabar,people recountwhattheyhave justdone. For examplein the
storyof 'Uthman'sconversion," Uthman'srecountshisexperiencein the
desert.But thisis on anothernarrative level.Or, in theIsrd',Muhammad
tellsUmmHani' thenextmorningwhathe saw on his miraculoustripto
Jerusalemduringthe previousnight.Of course,thisstoryis exceptional
in manyways besides the factthatMuhammadmakes a 1600 miletrip
in one nighton some sortof wingedsteed.We have alreadynoticedthat
treesand stonestalkin the Stra, and a numberof otherunusualthings
also happen.What is more remarkablein thiscase is thatMuhammad
narrateshis own story.For althoughthe hadithcollectionspreservean
enormousamountof Muhammad'swordsregardingmattersof faithand
practice,the Isrd' and Mi'rdj are the onlyinstancesI know of in which
Muhammadtellshis own story.
In anycase, itseemsto me thatcertaineffectsofthistemporalremove
between the narrating and the eventscannotbe discounted.I willtake
these up when we considerthe role of the narratee,or the personto
whomthe storyis told.
Even in these relativelysimplenarrativesthere exist,nevertheless,
levelsof narrating. In the exampleof 'Uthman'sconversion,the khabar
is narratedby Yazid b. Roman.Thisnarration is whatGenettecalls" first
degree". Yet withinYazid's narrationwe have 'Uthmannarrating what
he saw while en route,thissecond instancewould be termed" second
degree". While it may seem somethingof a reach to term'Uthman's
words,briefas theyare, a narrative, it mustnot be overlookedthathis
briefaccountof his experienceis potentiallyexpandable into a much
longernarrative. While not nearlyso developed a featureas itis in,say,
The Thousand and One Nights,neverthelessvariouslevelsof narrating
can be foundin earlytraditions. We have also seen thatthese levelsof
narrationare effectedby and in turneffectsuchfundamental mattersas
narrativeorder.
We mustalso considerthefactthat,as theisndd tellsus,each tradition
is not only narratedby someone, but also to some one, a so-called
narratee. 'A'ishanarratesthe storyof the fevernot to Ibn Ishaq or his
readers,butto 'Urwab. az-Zubayr.Yazid b. Roimn narratesthestoryof
'Uthman'sconversionnot to Ibn Sa'd, but to Muhammadb. $alih.The
narrateesthenrecountthe traditions more or less verbatimto a subse-
quenttraditionists, but forall thattheyneverreplacethe originalnarra-
tors.The narrators are still'A'ishaand Yazid. Typicallythenthetraditions
are narratedby an olderpersonwho was presentand participated in the
27

DANIEL BEAUMONT
events,and who simplybyvirtueof havinglivedat thattimeenjoysa sort

of luster.Theyare narratedto a youngpersonwhose statusis due to his
contactwiththefirstperson.The distanceintimeand thenatureofthese
relationsmaycreatea kindof heroicdistancebetweenthe timeof nar-
rationand thetimeof thestory.The notionof the precedenceof gener-
ations(tabaqdt) wouldseem to confirm thisfromanotherangle.The time
of the "companions" is the best, guided as they were by the living
example of Muhammad.Next in statusare the "successors", and the
implication is thatthestatusof everysucceedinggenerationis somewhat
diminisheddue to its increaseddistancefromthe timeof the Prophet
Muhammad.
There is one more matterpertaining to the isnad and itsrelationto
the instanceof narrationthatdeservescomment,and in it,the question
of whetherthese traditions were spoken firstand subsequentlywritten
arisesonce again.While citationof sourcesforone's information is no-
thingremarkable, the distinctiveness
of the isndd stillstandsout.Why?
First,the isndd would specifyforus not onlythe source,but also all
the intermediaries betweenthe finaltradentand thatsource.Once the
isndd becomes the rule(and we can see thatin Ibn Ishaq's timethisis
justbeginning to happen)itis notenoughto saythat"'A'ishasaid..." One
mustspecifyall the linksbetweenoneselfand 'A'isha...I thinkthissug-
gestsat leasttwo thingsabouthow writingwas viewed at thebeginning
of the Arabicliterarytradition.First,writingcannotbe substituted for
speech.The factthatthe wordsof 'A'ishaare foundin a textis not suf-
ficientproof,one mustdemonstrate thata seriesof reliablepersonslinks
one to the actualinstanceof 'A'ishaenunciationof the tradition.
Second, the isndldis employednot merelyto cite authoritiesand
tradents, butalso to anchorthetextto theactualinstanceof enunciation.
I would like to quote Paul Ricoeurat thispointof the questionof refer-
ence :
In oraldiscourse,
theproblem is ultimately
resolved bytheostensive function
ofdiscourse; inotherwords,reference isdetermined bytheability topointto
a reality
common to theinterlocutors.
If we cannotpointto thethingabout
whichwe speak,at leastwe can situateit in relation to theuniquespatio-
temporal network whichis sharedbytheinterlocutors... Withwriting, things
alreadybegintochange. Forthereisnolonger a situation
common tothewriter
andthereader,andtheconcrete conditions oftheactofpointing no longer
exist.Thisabolition
oftheostensive character ofreferenceis no doubtwhat
makespossiblethephenomenon we call 'literature',
whichmayabolishall
ostensivereferenceto a givenreality(42).
Paul,"Hermeneutical
(42) Ricoeur, function " in Hermeneuticsand the
and distanciation
Human Sciences,New York,1981,p. 141.
28

The problemof referencetake sus beyondthe purviewof narrative

analysis,but the factualclaimsof these traditions and the natureof the
isndd cannotbe ignoredentirely here.Ricoeur'sobservations suggestthat
the isndd,presumablyintroducedonlyaftertraditions were beingwrit-
ten,was a mean of not onlycitingone's authority, but also was also a
meansof attempting to preservetheoriginalinstanceof discourse,enun-
ciationof the narrative.It failsin this,but it also failedas a means of
weedingout fabricatedtraditions, and yetit stillbecame universally em-
ployed.
The importof Ricoeur'swordsis further borneout by the subsequent
developmentof Arabicprose literature in whichthereis an absence of
fictionin the medievalArabiccanon,and indeed,an absence of anyno-
tionof fiction.Since everytextis to be linkedto theoriginalinstanceof
enunciation,theway to begina fictionbecomesveryproblematic. Medi-
eval authorssuchas al-Jhiz,at-Tanfkhi, and Ibn Butlin,who wrotewhat
were real fictions,neverthelessalso had a verydifficult timebeginning
them.Thus in a patentfictionsuch as Da'wat al-atibbd'IbnButlAnswal-
lows hardand writes," One of themsaid..." One of whom? One thinks
of the statementattributed to Valerythathe could neverwritea novel
because he could never bringhimselfto writea sentence like, "The
Marquisewentout at fiveo'clock". The isndd in itslinkto the instance
of narratingnotonlyattemptsto addressquestionsof authority, butalso
reference.Who said that? And whatMarquise?
Conclusion
The analysisabove showsthatwithregardto narrative formtheisnad

and the matn mustbe consideredas a unit.The isndd will effectsuch
fundamentalsas whetherthe narrativeis diegeticor mimeticand the
temporalorderof events.Moreover,since in medievalArabicliterature
all narrative mustbe factual,themimeticmode in thestrictPlatonicsense
whereindirectspeech is givenmayonlybe used when the narrator was
present at thescene. Otherwise onlyindirect
speechof the mode
diegetic
maybe used. Thus,therulesof thegame allow thetransformation of the
mimeticintothediegetic,buttheydo notallowthetransformation of the
diegeticintothe mimetic.
Of course in reality,thingswere quite different,
and the complete
fabrication of bothisnad and matn was common.If the isndd was an
attemptto gain controlover the burgeoningtradition, it may have also
been used to regulatetheuse ofthedifferent narrative
modes.Of course,
itdid notworkforthispurpose- butthenitdid notworkfortheformer
purposeeither,and it was stilluniversallyemployed.
29

DANIEL BEAUMONT
We haveseenthatthepeculiar styleofkhabarnarrative corresponds

withthatoftheso-called" hard-boiled " schoolofnarrative, anditseems
to me thata fewmoreremarks might be addedhereregarding theap-
pearanceofbothnarrative stylesinparticularhistorical
circumstances. It
hasbeenremarked thatthe"hard-boiled " styleofnarrativewasa liter-
aryresponseto a generalsenseof disillusion in Europeanculture after
WorldWarI. In thisview,itwas an attempt to pareawaytheexcesses
and say,in effect, "Thismuchwe know". It is also thecase thatthe
earliestworksofArabicliterature werealso composedintheformwe
knowtheminthewakeofanupheaval thatendedwiththeestablishment
of theAbbasiddynasty. It maybe underthesecircumstances thatthe
" hard-boiled " qualityof khabarnarrative reflectsa similarimpulseto
distance one'sstylefroma previous one; inthiscase,toreduceexcesses
ofpopular narrativesandso impart thefeeloffactuality tothenarratives.
Whatshouldnotbe overlooked, as Lederpointsout,is thatthisis simply
a literaryeffect.In otherwords,it is as muchan artistic illusionin Ibn
Sa'd as itis inHemingway orHammett.
Thisaspectof" hard-boiled fromtherather
style" whichresults strict
formoffocalization employedoughtto be discussedalso inconnection
withthepatusagespreviously analyzed. Thoseusagesandthereversion
tosummary narrativewereseenas twopiecesofevidencethatdisparate
accountsofcertain topoi(conversion scenes)mayhavebeenrewritten
to conformwitha certaintheological Thereductive
viewpoint. aspectof
" stylewouldbe yetanotherpiece of evidencethat
the "hard-boiled
narratives
mayhavesometimes grownsmaller beforetheygrewlonger.
mentionof a theological
Finally, impulseshapingthesenarratives
bringsus backto Plato,fortheconcernwithnotonlythesubjects to be
narrated,butalsowiththemanner ofnarration
is similar
to hisconcern
inBookIII ofTheRepublic. Plato'sconcernabouttheliespoetstellleads
himto maketheradicalproposalthatpoetsonlybe allowedto use the
diegeticmode- whichis at leastironicsincehisowncareerhas been
madebyputting wordsin themouthof Socrates- andperhapsthatis
whyhe backsofffrom sucha stanceandproposes insteadthatpoetsonly
relatetheactionsofvirtuous men.The solutionthenis to allowa very
circumscribedroleto mimesisinnarrative.
Plato'srejection
ofcertain
forms ofnarrativeartcertainly
hasa parallel
inthehostility ofmedievalIslamicliterary
culturetowardsfictionalnar-
andhisrejection
rative, basedontheLogosisperhaps thestructural
equiv-
alentoftherejection inIslamicculture
offiction thatisscripturally
based.
Whether theabsolutebecomesknownthrough reasonor revelation,
it
seemsthatthereis alwaysa tensionbetweenitsdemandsandtherela-
tivities
of artistic
expression.Also likePlato,medievalIslamicculture
30

made an exceptionforpoetry,thoughcertainly
a different
sortof poetry
thanPlatohad in mind(43).
Daniel BEAUMONT
(Departmentof Religionand Classics
Universityof Rochester,Rochester,New York)
(43) I mustnoteheremygratitude to Professor

AndrasHamoriwho read and commen-
ted on severalversionsof thisessay; as always,hisremarksand ideas were invaluable.


Some Notes On The Transmission of Hadith

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Maisonneuve & Larose

Hard-Boiled: Narrative Discourse in Early Muslim Traditions

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(1) Publishedin 1972. The editionI willreferto here is the translation

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in orderto make it complete,and thistermis the narratingor the act

(2) " The Literary

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There are, to be sure,problemswiththisview - as thereare to the

(3) On thequestionof oraltransmission, tradition

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minativefactorhere,and because in what is commonlycalled scene in

(7) Ibid, p. 164.

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Neverlet me findyou again,old sir,nearour hollow

Agamemnonwas angryand bade himdepartand notcome again,lestthestaff

Scene and Summary in Khabar

Threetraditionsmaybe citedheretoshowwhatI meanbysceneand

(9) TheIliad,trans. 1951.

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The conversion(islam) of Sa'd b. Mu'adhand Usaydb. al-Hudayrwas at the

Ibn Sa'd has the accountimmediately fromhis mentoral-Waqidi,but

(12) At-Tabaqdtal-kubra,Beirutno date,Vol. 3, pp. 420-21.I wishto treatisnad as part

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to walkslowly.The Messengerof God was standing,praying, the

(14) Siratan-nabi,Cairono date,Vol. 1,pp. 232-233.I haveused Guillaume'stranslation

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in the handsof Mu' wiyahb. Abi Sufyn " is filledwithsuchdetails.We

(16) Ibn Sa'd,At-Tabaqdtal-kubrd,Vol. III, p. 55.

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be takenas evidenceof thesignificance of theisnad itself.I willtakethisup laterin thises-

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edge is equal to thatof thecentralcharacter(20).The thirdtypedescribes

(20) Correspondsroughly, I shouldprobablysay,forthe storyseems to be recalledby

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The khabar goes on to describehow the threedo not keep their

terous! " to the cleversophistry

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I thinkifwe were to look forthe typeof narrative in Westernliterature

(24) " The Lightof theWorld", in WinnerTakeNothing,New York,1933,p. 27.

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The Messengerof God had instructed his commanderswhen theyentered

(27) Stra,Vol. IV, p. 867. Guillaumetrans.p. 550.

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In thisexampletoo theemotionof fearis conveyedindirectly. The

(29) There maybe a further coincidencebetweenthese two schoolsof narrative. The

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Remanrecounting 'Uthman'sconversion, or 'Umar.Thus,scene and direct

It is a curiousfeaturein the narratives

(31) The use of theverb 'aratda,forexample,is foundin a numberof otheraccountsto

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verts to summarynarrativewhen narratingthe event of the conversion

Accordingto whatI have heardal-Aswadcame to the apostlewithhis flock

(32) Stra,Vol. III, p. 806. Guillaume,trans.p. 519.

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The pat usage foundin so manynarratives maysuggestwhythe nar-

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thatthereis a tendencyforaccountsto growin lengthas theyare trans-

Temporality and the isnad

(36) Nothalso mentionssummarization as one of the distortingfactorsin the historical

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shallcallithere)(38).Because of thistemporalduality, theorderofevents

(38) Followingthe German:erzahlteZeit and Erzdhlzeit.