‘NEWLY FOUND’ MANUSCRIPTS THAT WERE NEVER LOST
2010; Routledge; Volume: 38; Issue: 112 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/13639811.2010.514123
ISSN1469-8382
Autores Tópico(s)Linguistic, Cultural, and Literary Studies
ResumoAbstract In the early 18th century the famous Dutch missionary and student of the Netherlands East Indies, François Valentijn, amassed a most valuable collection of about 30 Malay manuscripts. However, by the mid 20th century only one manuscript from this collection in the original and five others in later copies were extant in Dutch and British libraries. The fate of the rest was unknown. But in 1974 three more manuscripts from Valentijn's collection, Hikayat Isma Yatim, Syair Perang Mengkasar and Ma‘rifat Islam, fleetingly appeared at Sotheby's only to disappear yet again as it seemed at that time. However, these found their way into the collection of Muzium Seni Asia of Universiti Malaya, and resurfaced in 1994 in the form of a splendid facsimile edition, which drew surprisingly little attention. This article investigates salient features of the manuscripts, their contents and value for Malay literary studies, their three-century long journey across the Malay world to Europe and back to the Malay world, and the people involved: Malay and Arab writers and their royal patrons, copyists and collectors, auctioneers, booksellers and academics. Notes *I am sincerely grateful to the Academy of Malay Studies, University of Malaya, for kind permission to publish seven pages from its facsimile edition of Syair Perang Mengkasar, Ma‘rifat Islam and Hikayat Isma Yatim (Syair Perang et al. Citation1994). I would also like to mention with gratitude my colleagues and friends who helped me in writing this article: Dr Michael Laffan (Princeton University), who drew my attention to the catalogue of the Hague auction of 1727 at which part of Valentijn's manuscripts was sold; Dr Stefan Sperl (SOAS) and Dr Gijs Koster (University of Porto) for their assistance in reading, respectively, Arabic and Latin passages essential for the article; and Dr Mulaika Hijjas who kindly agreed to edit its imperfect English text. Needless to say, I am fully responsible for all the mistakes in this article. 1Throughout this article the Kamus Dewan spelling is used for names of Malay persons, Arabic loan-words that have become an integral part of Malay vocabulary (for instance syahadat, not shahada), titles of and quotations from Malay texts. Only for Arabic book titles, names of authors writing in Arabic and, for the sake of clarity in some Arabic words and word-combinations, a more Arabicised orthography was accepted, albeit without diacritics. 2For Valentijn's life and work, see Aa Citation(1876) with a list of his writings; Muller and Rouffaer Citation(1921) with a history of the composition of Oud en nieuw Oost-Indien, a detailed description of its contents and a bibliography of works on Valentijn; Damsté Citation(1953). 3Six to ten of Valentijn's disciples, local young men who intended to become preachers, lived in his house in Ambon. Damsté (Citation1953: 175–6) believes that some of them may also have copied Malay books for Valentijn, for instance, Hikayat Nabi Musa. 4Abbreviations not mentioned in the text include CUL – Cambridge University Library, SOAS – School of Oriental and African Studies. 5Cornelia senior copied Hikayat Nabi Musa to be presented to Professor Reland (d. 1718), which is now kept in Utrecht University Library (MS Orient No 8, Wieringa Citation1998: 25; alias MS 1482, Iskandar Citation1999 II: 955), as well as Hikayat si burung pingai (The tale of pure [or: yellow] bird) and a fragment from Syair Perang Mengkasar (Poem of the Makassar War), both of which are kept in Leiden (LUB MS Cod.Or. 1626, Wieringa Citation1998: 26). Cornelia junior made two copies of Hikayat Nabi Musa kept in Breda (MS KMA 107 B 7, B 8, Wieringa Citation1998: 25; formerly KMA 6620 A, B, Iskandar Citation1999 II: 918) and, judging by the handwriting, one copy of Hikayat Hari Kiamat (The tale of Doomsday, Wieringa Citation1998: 26). One of the Cornelias also made a copy of Hikayat Isma Yatim, also presented to Professor Reland and now kept in the John Rylands University Library in Manchester (MS Malay 3; Ricklefs and Voorhoeve Citation1977: 130). 6In the Latin original: Catalogus Exquisitissimorum & Excellentissimorum Librorum, In omni fere materia, facultate & lingua, praecipué in linguis Orientalibus, (in?) quibus Simul Elegentissima nec minus curiosissima Manuscripta eminent, Viri Reverendi Fr. Valentyn, Verbi divini Ministri (dum viveret) fidelissimi (ad) Amboinam & ad Bandam in India Orientali, Quorum publica fiet auctio in Aula magna (vulgo) De Groote Zaal van ‘t Hof, ad diem 23. Febr. Seqq. 1728, Hagae Comitum: Apud Alberts & van der Kloof, Ubi Catalogi distribuuntur. 7Just as in Oud en nieuw Oost-Indien (Valentijn 1724–1726, V: 316), the description of Hikayat Hang Tuah in the auction catalogue (Sotheby 1728, no. 13) shows that Valentijn confused this piece of literature with the Malacca chronicle Sulalat al-salatin or Sejarah Melayu (The Malay annals). On this confusion, see Teeuw (Citation1964: 340). 8There is no mention of this title in the catalogue, but as the entry in question is presented as Historia Exemplaris veterum Sapiensum, which corresponds to the description of Kalila dan Damina in Valentijn's Oud en nieuw Oost-Indien (Valentijn 1724–1726, III: 26) as ‘het Voorbeeld der oude Wijze’ (‘The example of ancient sage’), there is little doubt that Kalila dan Damina is meant. For an edition of this hikayat, see Gonggrijp Citation(1892). 9The title is given wrongly in both the catalogue and Oud en nieuw Oost-Indien as Cahaya (Tsjahaja) Langgare, probably not only because the words jaya and caya (=cahaya) are very similar in Jawi letters, but also because two heroines whose names begin with Cahaya are present in the story. The identification can also be confirmed by a description of this entry in the catalogue: Historia Tsjahajae Langares Filii Regis d'Jimsompitensic, which is equal to Hikajat Tsjahaya Langare […], zoon van de koning van Djimsompit (the tale of Tsjahaya Langare […] son of the king of Jimsompit) in Oud en nieuw Oost-Indien (Valentijn 1724–1726, III-1: 26). In manuscripts of this hikayat (for instance, from Jakarta, Leiden and Singapore), Jaya Lengkara's father is actually the king of the country called Jin S-mp-t, or ‘Ajam Suqat, or ‘Ajam S-w-a-q-t (Ronkel 1909: 162; 1921: 10–12; Iskandar Citation1999 I: 206, 378, 468, 713; Haji Wan 1993: 36–8). For a summary of the tale based on its Singapore manuscript, see Liaw 1991-1993, I: 180-83). 10Regarding Sir Thomas Phillips, see Munby (Citation1951–1960, Citation1967); Bell Citation(2009). 11On Thomas Rodd the younger, see Tedder and Scott Citation(2004). 12The Latin inscription on the flyleaf of this bound volume informs the reader that it contains various Malay works and provides their numbered list (Syair Perang et al. 1994: 1). The first (no. 1) has dots instead of the title. This is not surprising, since the poem (of the Makassar war), which begins on the back of the flyleaf, does not have the original title (Syair Perang Mengkasar is its modern, provisional title suggested by Skinner [1963]). No. 2 is Ma‘rifat Islam and No. 3, Hikayat Isma Yatim. Importantly, Ma‘rifat Islam is described both on the flyleaf and in the catalogue of the 1728 auction in the same words: Maarifit [sic. in both cases] Isalam [sic. in both cases] sive Scientia Religionis Mohhammedanae, Arabicae cum Versioni Interlineari Malaica (Alberts and van der Kloof Citation1728, no. 14). However, this description differs from that in Oud en nieuw Oost Indien (Valentijn 1724–1726, III: 26) and could hardly be borrowed from it. It is more probable that the compilers of the catalogue took the description of this bound volume from its flyleaf. This, in turn, bears witness to the fact that the three discussed manuscripts were bound together before the 1728 auction. The title of the Makassar war poem is absent in this catalogue description precisely for the reason that it was absent on the flyleaf. 13With regard to some philological problems related to the poem, see Jones Citation(1975); Brakel Citation(1976); for a literary analysis, see Koster (Citation1997: 97–125); Braginsky (Citation2004: 568–78). 14Alongside Valentijn's manuscript, there are two London manuscripts of the poem: SOAS 40324 (lacking stanzas 1-13) and SOAS 12902 (only stanzas 1–15), both from Marsden's collection, probably originating from Sumatra and dating around 1800 and 1791 respectively (Jones Citation1975; Brakel Citation1976: 91–4), and one Leiden manuscript LUB MS Cod.Or. 1626 (3) containing stanzas 1–73 (Wieringa Citation1998: 26–7). 15The corresponding description can be found in Syair Perang et al. (1994: 16). 16For this and all other wayang characters that appear in Hikayat Sang Boma and Hikayat Pandawa Jaya, see Kats Citation(1923); Hardjowirogo Citation(1982). 17For studies of Hikayat Isma Yatim, see Siti Hawa Haji Salleh Citation(1987); Muhammad Haji Salleh Citation(1988); Braginsky (Citation2004: 400–3). 18There are five MSS of Hikayat Isma Yatim in PNRI, Jakarta (Behrend Citation1998: 282, 291, 331; van Ronkel Citation1909: 178–9); two in Perpustakaan Negeri Malaysia (PNM), Kuala Lumpur (Katalog manuskrip Melayu Citation2001: 128, Katalog manuskrip Melayu Citation2006: 92); one in the National Library of Singapore (Haji Wan 1993: 34); eleven in libraries in Britain (Ricklefs and Voorhoeve Citation1977: 107, 115, 120, 125, 130, 134, 140, 157, 166); five in Leiden (Iskandar Citation1999 I: 8, 24, 28, 161, 630) and one in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (Voorhoeve Citation1973: 56). 19In the preface to Hikayat Isma Yatim, Ismail emphasises that the goals of his book are to instruct courtiers in proper behaviour, embellish their speech with exquisite aphorisms, provide them with the means of answering the king's difficult questions with reference to precedents mentioned in the hikayat, and lastly, to comfort them in sorrow (Syair Perang et al. 1994: 72). 20Since the text in Arabic and its Malay translation sometimes differ, I quote here the English translation of the text's Arabic sections (which are italicised) and the English translation of Malay sections after the whole passage. The Arabic sections can be translated as follows: ‘And afterwards, this is a composition ‘between two hands’ of His Majesty the Great Sultan and Glorious Haqan, the shadow of God in the world. The shelter of children of Adam, the one who makes appear the highest word of God, the one who is well disposed to people of religion and people of worldliness. The one who illuminates the earth with the light of his justice and who makes horizons fragrant. His piety is pure and the country is shining through the recollection of his goodness, his power smashes delusions (or: charms) to smithereens and he is the one who subdues unbelief and heretics (or: apostates). The one who subdues unbelievers and rebels (or: tempters) and oppressors and who is the succour of dervishes and the poor, the messenger of justice against oppressors, may God make his kingship eternal!' 21Reconstruction on the basis of the corresponding section in Arabic. 22It is likely that one or more words are missing here. 23Tx: inkatharat. 24Tx: akhlab; Arab. khalaba – ‘to captivate, charm; seduce, delude, deceive’, khallab – ‘delusion, charm’; in Malay translation: berahi – ‘love passion love madness, desire’. 25Tx: m-‘-t-r-d-in; however in the Malay translation we find the reading: segala … murtad. 26Tx: b-a-w-h, probably an error and should be read bahu = bau. 27Tx: habarnya, but rather jabarnya. 28In the text there is an obvious lacuna between qami‘ and wa'l-zalimīn, which was filled on the basis of the Malay translation. 29Tx. h-r-jani. 30A. Gallop. Private communication, 6 May 2008. 31For the text of their letters and their English translation, see Gallop (Citation2007: 28–31, 34–7). Remarkably, Taj al-Alam also calls herself Sultan, not Sultanah in one of the above mentioned letters. 32For a detailed description of this episode, see Braginsky (Citation2004: 645–8, with a bibliography). 33This expression, which often occurs in classical Arabic and Persian texts, implies that the king is seated on the throne with his hands on the armrests; therefore the composition or something else presented to him is as if placed between his hands. 34For the genre definition of pasemon and its examples in Javanese literature and wayang, see Ras (Citation1976: 63–5); Ricklefs (Citation1974: 176–226); Lohuizen de Leeuw (1956: 383–90); for counterparts of pasemon in traditional Malay literature, see Braginsky (Citation2004: 471–3, 488–9 note 77, 580–1). 35For instance, in such relatively old texts of this hikayat as in its edition by Roorda van Eysinga Citation(1821) and LUB MS Cod.Or. (1693 also 1821); see Tol and Witkam Citation(1993). 36Remarkably, the justification of the text's imperfections by the age of its author, which coincides virtually verbatim with that in Valentijn's manuscript, occurs in the Leiden and London manuscripts of Hikayat Berma Syahdan: LUB MS Cod.Or. 1980, Vol. III and Royal Asiactic Society's MS Raffles Malay 12 (see Wieringa Citation1998: 208; Ricklefs and Voorhoeve Citation1977: 134). In addition, Hikayat Berma Syahdan also includes an exordium with Arabic and Malay sections and may have come from Aceh (Braginsky Citation2004: 325–6). 37‘Abdallah ibn ‘Umar (d. 693) was the son of the Prophet's companion (later the second caliph ‘of the right way’) ‘Umar ibn Khattab and one of the most respected sahabat and hadith transmitters himself (see Gibb and Kramers Citation1961: 5). 38What is meant here is the famous Qur'anic narrative of how God asked as yet uncreated human souls: ‘Am I not your Lord?’ (Alastu bi-rabbikum?), and they answered: ‘Yes, we testify’ (bala shahidna), thus making the primordial covenant (mithaq) of loyalty with God (Qur'an 7: 171); for the interpretation of this doctrine, see Schimmel (Citation1975: 24, 136–7, 146). 39See, in Indonesia: Ronkel (1909: 392); Behrend (Citation1998: 289); in Malaysia: Katalog manuskrip Melayu (Citation2000: 51, Citation2002: 103); in the Netherlands: Voorhoeve (Citation1957: 195); Pigeaud (Citation1968, II: 321, 733); Iskandar (Citation1999 I: 675, II: 936); in Britain: Ricklefs and Voorhoeve (Citation1977: 55–6, 80). 40See, in Indonesia: Friederich and Berg (Citation1873: nos. 123(2), 128(3); Ronkel (Citation1913: nos. 187, 188; Behrend (Citation1998: 38, 39); in the Netherlands: Voorhoeve (Citation1957: 195); in France (Paris): Voorhoeve (Citation1957: 195); in USA: Princeton Collection Citation[n.d.]: no. 645. 41For a description of that library, which includes a dozen manuscripts, mostly composite, see Iskandar (Citation1999 II: 936–42) and Voorhoeve (Citation1957, passim). 42For information on Petrus van der Vorm, a Dutch Protestant pastor, linguist and one of the first translators of the Bible into Malay, see Aa (Citation1876, XIX: 365-6) and Genealogie Citation[n.d.]. 43For M. Stephanus Shultz, another pastor, this time German, minister of St Ulrich cathedral in Halle, traveller, writer and fellow of the Institute of Judaica (Instituto Judaico) in Callenberg, see Voorhoeve (Citation1971: vii); Shultz (1771, title page). 44More than a dozen such treatises each, varying in length from two to nineteen pages, are described in the catalogues of LUB (Iskandar Citation1999 I-II: passim) and PNRI (Behrend Citation1998: 37–47). Many of them occur particularly in the collection of Abdurrahman Wahid, which according to Behrend, consists exclusively of manuscripts of the 18th to 19th century that originate from pesantren in East Java (Behrend Citation1998: xvi). 45Interestingly, both this phrase and the mention of the imam are found in the answer to the question on the syahadat from Mi'rat al-mu‘minin, a theological treatise by Syamsuddin al-Samatrani (Nieuwenhuijze Citation1945: 366–7). This answer is close in content to our treatise on the syahadat, but its wording is somewhat different. 46See Iskandar (Citation1999 I: 390, 504, 686, II: 777); Katalog manuskrip Melayu (Citation2000: 102, Citation2002: 152, Citation2003: 53, Citation2006: 16); Fathurahman and Holil (Citation2007: 181). 47Ronkel (Citation1921: 144) considers the treatises to be anonymous and calls Ibrahim Muhammad a scribe (katib), whereas Iskandar believes that Ibrahim Muhammad is the author of this treatise and gives the name of its copyist as Leubè Raja (Iskandar Citation1999 I: 390). 48On Abu'l-Laith al-Samarqandi and his works, see GAL (I: 195–6); Schacht Citation(1960); for English translations and studies of some of his texts, see Macdonald Citation(1964–1966); Daiber Citation(1995). 49See Juynboll (Citation1881b: 268 note 1); van Bruinessen (Citation1995: 28, note 25). 50See, in Indonesia: Behrend (Citation1998: 8, 16, 40–1, 44–7; they are mostly from Abdurrahman Wahid's collection of pesantren manuscripts, see note 44); in the Netherlands: Voorhoeve (Citation1957: 44–5); Pigeaud (Citation1968, II: 855); Iskandar (Citation1999 I: 209); in Britain: Ricklefs and Voorhoeve (Citation1977: 54–5, 63–4, 70, 80, 121); in USA: Princeton Collection Citation[n.d.], nos: 598 (1), 645(A). Remarkably, judging from Katalog manuskrip Melayu 2000–2006, the massive collection of Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia does not have this ‘Aqida. 51See, in Jakarta (PNRI): Behrend (Citation1998: 38); in Leiden (LUB): Voorhoeve (Citation1957: 45); in Yale Collection Citation[n.d.], no 2. 52The word can also be read as arshadaka, but if this is the case, it is most probably a copyist's error caused by the word arshadaka in the next line. 53These includes ten companions (sahaba) to whom the Prophet promised Paradise, i.e.: Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, Uthman, ‘Ali, Talha, Zubair, ‘Abd al-Rahman b. ‘Awf, Sa‘d b. Abi Waqqas, Sa‘id b. Zaid; in some lists Muhammad himself was included before these nine as the tenth, in other lists the tenth place was occupied by Abu ‘Ubaida b. al-Jarrah (Gibb and Kramers Citation1961: 46). 54For Tafsir al-Jalalayn and its Malay translation, see Voorhoeve (Citation1957: 353); Riddell (Citation1984, Citation1990). Particularly interesting is Voorhoeve's mention of Jalalayn's manuscript LUB Cod.Or. 3224 in two massive volumes of 421 and 430 folios respectively, which contain the Arabic text with its interlinear Malay translation. 55On al-Suyuti and his oeuvre, see GAL (II: 156–63); Sartain Citation1975; Geoffroy (Citation1997: 914–16). 56In the same GAL (II: 156) there are descriptions of manuscripts of this al-Nuqaya in various collections. 57In our text: ‘does not betray (durhaka) Him.’ 58For example, the famous chapter with this title from al-Ghazali's Ihya ‘ulum al-din (Revivification of religious sciences; for its English translation, see Calverly Citation1925), which as a comparison shows, is the source of neither the first nor the second treatise on prayer from our compilation. 59Iskandar (Citation1999 I: 360, 432–4, 555); Bandar Aceh (n.d., no. 07_01441). 60This composition may have originally consisted of several sections (bab, fasl), which explains why two treatises have only one title and how the additional basmala could appear in the second treatise. 61As one of these commentaries, al-Tamam fi bayan muqaranat al-niyya bi-takbirat al-ihram, is attributed to Abd al-Ra'uf Fansuri ibn ‘Ali (i.e. Abd al-Rauf of Singkel [1615–1693]), while another, Kashf al-kiram fi bayan muqaranat al-niyya bi-takbirat al-ihram by a certain Muhammad Zain ibn Faqih is dated 1758 (Mahayudin Citation1994: 301, 303), Asrar al-salat fi tabyin is likely to be a rather old work. 62Cf. KMI, p. 68; although the author most probably implies al-Ghazali's Mishkat al-anwar, Mishkat al-anwar by Ibn al-‘Arabi, inaccessible to me, should also be taken into consideration in the search of the source of the reference in question. 63PNRI MS Ml 110; see Ronkel (1909: 439). 64The Johns edition is based on MS SOAS 11648 (Marsden collection that includes quite a few manuscripts of the 18th century), see Ricklefs and Voorhoeve (Citation1977: 156). The original of this compilation can be dated to the 17th century; the place of its origin is probably Pasai. As Johns (Citation1957: 10) remarks, this is also a textbook, in which ‘Each tract opens with the same kind of formula as a khutbah, so that they seem to be a series of lectures giving a general outline of Sufi teaching as it was then known and popular, delivered by a guru at a mosque or surau’. 65Among other things, Bukhari al-Jauhari, states in the preface to his Taj al-salatin that his book is a garden of flowers, in other words a collection of literary pieces, created by a great number of the most authoritative writers. Further, he provides a list of these pieces and outlines the structure of his work by enumerating its chapters (Roorda van Eysinga Citation1827: 7–9). On Taj as-salatin, its structure and sources, see Braginsky (Citation2004: 431–49). 66For instance: MSS CUL Or. 194 C, D, E, RAS Raffles Java 22 (Ricklefs and Voorhoeve Citation1977: 55–6, 80); MSS LUB NBS 86 VIII, XI, XIII, XVII (Pigeaud Citation1968, II: 733), Deventer ABD 1834 VIII (Iskandar Citation1999 II: 936); MS PNM 2316 (Katalog manuskrip Melayu Citation2000: 51); MS PNRI AW 124 (Behrend Citation1998: 46–7); MS Princeton no. 645 (Princeton Collection Citation[n.d.]). 67For instance: MSS PNRI AW 84, AW 107, AW 117 (Behrend Citation1998: 40–1, 45). 68For instance: Deventer ABD 1834 VIII and PNM MS 2316 (Iskandar Citation1999 II: 936; Katalog manuskrip Melayu Citation2000: 51). 69About him and his works, in particular five ‘aqa'id, see GAL (II: 250, Suppl. II: 352–3); Bencheneb Citation(1997). 70See, for instance, Ronkel Citation(1899); Drewes Citation(1950); al-Attas (Citation1970: 142–75; 1988); Riddell (Citation1990, Citation2002). 71These MSS were purchased by Bashir Muhammad and resold to Ungku Abdul Aziz in 1981. 72Not the major Malacca chronicle, Sejarah Melayu/Sulalat al-salatin, but a short kinglist similar to LUB MS Cod.Or. 3199. VII (Iskandar Citation1999 I: 108–9). The latter was published and translated into English by Roolvink (Citation1967: 313-24). For more details on Valentijn's kinglist, see Netscher Citation(1854); Roolvink (Citation1967: 303-4). Although neither the manuscript of Valentijn's Sulalat al-salatin nor its copies are available at present, Valentijn (1724–1726, V: 316–20) retold this work at some length in his account of the history of the Malays. For this reason this work is included in the last column of this row. 73Only Syair Perang Mengkasar is meant in the following columns of this row. 74The title is given in Dutch (De geschiedenis van den dag des oordeels), but the copy of this work made by Cornelia junior is entitled Hikayat Hari Kiamat.
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