'Uthman ibn Ibrahim al-Nabulusi. The Sword of Ambition: Bureaucratic Rivalry in Medieval Egypt.

• Author: Sabra, Adam
• Position: Book review

'Uthman ibn Ibrahim al-Nabulusi. The Sword of Ambition: Bureaucratic Rivalry in Medieval Egypt. Edited and translated by LUKE YARBROUGH. Library of Arabic Literature. New York: NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2016. Pp. xliv + 261. $40

A self-serving, whining, and bigoted appeal by a medieval bureaucrat for a job might seem like a strange choice for a critical edition and English translation, but Luke Yarbrough has done the field of medieval Middle Eastern history a service. In addition to his excellent edition and exemplary translation, Yarbrough provides the reader with a carefully thought-out introduction that places this fascinating, if rather unpleasant, text in its historical context.

Al-Nabulusi (d. 1262) was a bureaucrat in the tax administration of the Ayyubid empire in Egypt. As a result of the machinations of a rival, he says, he lost his job and his family became impoverished. He blames this turn of events on the appointment of unworthy individuals to positions of importance. In particular, he notes the important role played by Coptic Christian bureaucrats in the financial administration of Egypt, and he provides the reader with a long list of historical and literary anecdotes intended to drive home the point that it is unacceptable for an Islamic state to give preference to non-Muslims over Muslims in state employment. Read in isolation, one might get the sense of unremitting Muslim hostility to Christians and Jews. As Yarbrough points out, however, the reality was more complex.

Al-NabulusI addressed his text to the Ayyubid sultan al-Malik al-Salih Najm al-DIn Ayyub, who had issued a decree enforcing sumptuary laws that required non-Muslims to distinguish themselves from Muslims. "Aha!" one can almost hear al-Nabulusi cry, "Now is my chance to get back in favor with the court." It was also an opportunity to avenge himself on his enemies there, not a few of whom were Coptic converts to Islam. The text in our hands, however, was written and edited over a period of some years, perhaps decades. The final version was completed in 1261 or 1262, based on an internal reference.

On the one hand, al-Nabulusi's text belongs to a long tradition of advice works written by bureaucrats for powerful patrons in an effort to secure promotion or employment. Yarbrough compares al-Nabulusi to the sixteenth-century Ottoman bureaucrat Mustafa'Ali, who was similarly venomous in his literary attacks on his rivals. On the other hand, however, Yarbrough argues...