"6 prerequisites of learning are :
brainy, strong desire, poverty[1], inspiring teacher, long span of time, foreign land."
In the Malay-Jawi copy of the text Ta’lim al-Muta’allim Tariqat at-Ta’allum, in the very beginning, one’s attention would immediately be drawn to the quotation above. The quote has been invariably associated with Sayyidina Ali, Imam as-Shafi’i, and Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni, but regardless of who said what, it nicely forewarns the reader what the text Ta’lim al-Muta’allim is all about – learning and the proper way to learn.
The text Ta’lim al-Muta’allim was written a a famous scholar Imam al-Zarnuji, (of whom we know, by reading the text, had travelled widely across the known Muslim world - at least covering the Central Asian and the Middle East). Its Malay translation, Pelita Penuntut, was done by a scholar Muhammad Shafi’i bin Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Ahmad Rangkul, of Lenggeh, Fathani (Southern Thailand). The translation is printed in Jawi script and costs a dirt cheap RM2.00 at Kota Bharu, and around RM4.00 at Kuala Kangsar.
Cheap, small, and printed on yellow papers – all signs of a cheap, insignificant publication if you are living in the West. The English proverb ‘not all that glitters is gold’ (bukan semua yang lawa, cantik dan nampak mahal itu mempunyai nilai) in this case is very much applicable, because ‘some don’t’. There are many proverbs abound in the Malay language to illustrate similar points. ‘Air yang tenang jangan disangka tiada buaya’ could also mean not to overlook something which at first glimpse looks insignificant. Remember the Malay’s mother of truth: ‘hanya jauhari mengenal manikam’, that is ‘only the knowledgable one truly knows.’
The text Pelita Penuntut is an indispensable text for students studying at Malay madrasah. In many madrasah, this text, (together with the Ummu al-Barahin and Faridat al-Faraid for Aqidah, Ajrumiyyah for nahwu, Tasrif for saraf, Munyiatul Mushalli, just to name a few examples) has been made compulsory (although this is never in black-and-white) to be completed before a student move up to other texts.
The text has been translated into English early this century by Gustave E. von Grunebaum, an Austrian-born Orientalist. It is not very clear whether von Grunebaum who passed away in 1972 ever became a Muslim, although there has been suggestion that he did converted to Islam at the end of his life. Perhaps a reader who has access to the publication I have suggested above could enlighten us all, please.
The English translation has recently been published by Starlatch Press (and sold by Alhambra Production, among others), with the title Instruction of the Student, [2] with a foreword by Syeikh Hamza Yusuf Hanson, a prominent American Muslim scholar of Greek parentage. It is a very good translation, easy to read and very fluid. In one of my readings, I completed the text in one sitting while travelling on the KTM Komuter from Sentul to UPM Serdang, thanks partly to the one hour hold-up at Sentral Kuala Lumpur station.
Unfortunately, the English translation has not been totally faithful to the original work by the Imam. Comparison made between the English translation and the Malay translation, and with an Arabic copy of the text (or rather its commentary with the text on the side area – hamisy), confirmed that several omissions amounting to several paragraphs have been sliced out. Although this has not destroyed the message and content of the text, these omissions are regrettable (deplorable may be a little bit harsh) especially when readers are not warned of them. Beside, a few historical and adab points e.g. that Imam Abu Hanifah was the first to write on a rectangular, A4-size paper and hence started the tradition of writing text in that size, would be lost to modern-day readers especially those who have no access to traditional, teacher-to-student, mouth-to-ear method of learning.
I have too much respect to the people at Alhambra involved in its publication to send a complain mail, but I do hope a much proper translation copy (e.g. with annotation at where the excision has taken place, if not the reinstalment of the excised parts) in the English would be made available.
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Notes:
[1]. the word ‘faqir’ or poor has a different meaning to Muslim well-trained in tasawwuf. It does not simply means destitution but means the poverty of the heart of everything except Allah. A related word is zuhud which many people always believe to mean no desire for worldly materials and often translated into not wearing nice, proper garments. The actual meaning of zuhud is to hold the world in one’s hand and not in one’s heart. Observe, and ponder carefully the word ‘holding’.
[2]. For the purpose of completion, how about reading the Role of a Teacher?
