Les Epitres sacrees des Druzes: Rasa il al-Hikma, volumes 1 et 2.

• Author: Traboulsi, Samer
• Position: Book review

Les Epitres sacrees des Druzes: Rasail al-Hikma, volumes 1 et 2. Edited and translated by D. DE SMET. Louvain: PEETERS, 2007. Pp. xiii + 772. [euro]105.

Almost two centuries ago, the French orientalist Silvestre de Sacy published his monumental Expose de la religion des Druzes (Paris, 1838). Unfortunately, he died that same year, before finishing a planned edition and translation of the Druze canon. De Sacy's masterly study of Druze history, faith, and scripture remained unchallenged by the few scholars who subsequently ventured into the field and made occasional contributions to our knowledge of the esoteric sect. This lack of progress is mainly due to the limited availability of sources in European and North American libraries and the lack of cooperation from the Druze religious establishment. Scholars seeking to investigate the Druze faith will almost always face closed doors or be directed to an official spokesperson whose task is to reiterate the official version of Druze beliefs and drive inquisitive minds away. Contemporary studies of Druze society, politics, and modern history have fared better mainly because of the availability of resources and the greater willingness of the Druze spiritual and temporal authorities to cooperate with researchers in such fields.

The blackout in the field of religion has negatively affected academic interest in the study of the Druze faith, limiting contributions to Western scholars who do not have to worry about legal (or illegal) retribution from the Druze religious establishment. Last year, for example, the Shaykh al-Aql in Lebanon issued a memorandum banning bookstores from selling publications on the Druze that have not been authorized by the religious establishment under penalty of law. Police raids, confiscations of books, and arrests of booksellers dealing in banned books on the Druze are not unheard of in Lebanon.

This atmosphere of intimidation was challenged and aggravated by the publication of a series of books on the Druze faith by the right-wing Maronite religious establishment during the Lebanese civil war. The highlight of the series was the first complete edition of the Druze epistles, Rasail al-hikma. Though of poor quality, the Maronite edition remains the only accessible text for scholars. Without it, they would have to rely on collating manuscripts from various European and North American library collections.

Daniel De Smet's partial edition of the Rasail al-hikma is therefore...