Making Reference to Historical Precedents in Sultanic Etiquette Books: The Book "Adab al-Muluuk" by Abu Mansour al-Tha’albi as a Case Study.

Abstract

History is the free space through which the human experience can be discovered in the past, and benefited from in the present. In the existing Sultanic etiquette books, there is a great deal of making reference to and quoting from history in its different eras, and across its remote geographical places. Reference has been made to a variety of issues, and  a lot of quotations have been taken from historical narratives, facts, and incidents, all justified considering this a phenomenon to be investigated in this paper  by adopting the historical-structural approach, with special reference to the book, The Etiquette of Kings by al-Tha’albi, both sources as two case studies, and with a view of investigating the causes of this phenomenon, and the rationale behind the obsession of making reference to history.

The study has revealed that some of these causes are related to the pragmatic field (particularly to the author), and some are historical ones surrounding the author and the text he produced; yet, some of them are related to the structure of the text itself.

The study also has shown that the reason why historicity was immanent in al-Tha’albi’s works is wired with the fact that he wanted to present himself as one of the educated elites, a class that is keen on pushing the wheels of the march of the state. This entailed that he possesses an encyclopedic knowledge on history so that he can make reference to it.

The study has recommended exercising this integrative systematic practice which delves deep into the texts, analyzes and deconstructs them, and resolves their ambiguities and problems, by studying the text sometimes, by studying its author, or by linking the text to its author at other times, away from the traditional unilateral interpretation that focuses on a certain angle of the text, without paying attention to the other angles and without paying attention to the unthinkable concepts and perceptions that determine the viewpoint of the writers of the Sultanate etiquette in the political field.