Islam and the Divine Comedy

Contents: Preface. I. The legend of the nocturnal journey and ascension of Mahomet compared with the divine comedy: 1. The origin of the legend. 2. First cycle -- Versions of the "Isra", or Nocturnal journey. 3. Second cycle--Versions of the "Miraj" or ascension. 4. Third cycle -- Fusion of the versions of the "Isra" and the "Miraj". 5. Theological commentaries on the legend. 6. Adaptations from the legend, mainly mystical allegories. 7. Literary imitations of the legend. 8. Summary of comparisons. II. The divine comedy compared with other Moslem Legends on the after-life: 1. Introduction. 2. The Moslem Limbo in the divine comedy. 3. The Moslem Hell in the divine comedy. 4. The Moslem Hell in the divine comedy--continued. 5. The Moslem Hell in the divine comedy (conclusion). 6. The Moslem purgatory in the divine comedy. 7. The earthly paradise of Islam in the divine comedy. 8. The celestial paradise of Islam in the divine comedy. 9. The celestial paradise of Islam in the divine comedy (conclusion). 10. Synthesis of all the partial comparisons. III. Moslem features in the Christian Legends precursory of the divine comedy: 1. Introduction. 2. Legends of visions of hell. 3. Legends of visions of hell -- continued. 4. Legends of visions of hell (conclusion). 5. Legends on the weighing of souls. 6. Legends of paradise. 7. Legends of sea voyages. 8. Legends of sleepers. 9. Legends of the respite from torture. 10. Legends on the debate between angels and devils for possession of the soul. IV. Probability of the transmission of Islamic models to Christian Europe and particularly to Dante: 1. Introduction. 2. Communication between Islam and Christian Europe during the middle ages. 3. Transmission of the Moslem Legends on the after-life to Christian Europe and Dante. 4. The attraction felt by Dante towards Arabic Culture confirms the Hypothesis of imitation. 5. The close resemblance between Dante and the mystic, Ibn Arabi of Murcia, Furnishes further proof of the thesis of imitation.

"Islam and the Divine Comedy, is an abridged translation of La Escatologia Musulmana en la Divina Comedia, originally published in Spanish in Madrid in 1919. The author, Prof. Miguel Asin Y. Palacios, though a Catholic priest, was attracted by the Muslim philosophers and Sufis of Spain, particularly Ibn Massara, Ibn Hazm, Ibn Rushd and the great Sufi Ibn al-Arabi. He wrote several books on Hispano-Islamic philosophy and Sufism, but the international renown he earned was on account of this book. After years of extensive research, he discovered parallels between the Islamic lore about the after life based on Hadith and The Divine Comedy by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), a work for which he is justly famed. The Similarities, far from being superficial, pervade the entire poem. Prof. Asin concluded that Dante had derived most of the features of and episodes about the hereafter from (i) the Hadith literature relating to the Prophet Muhammad and his ascension (mi\'raj\') and (ii) to the spiritual visions of Ibn al-Arabi. In his opinion, The Divine Comedy was not an entirely original work, as Dante had before him a ready made pattern based on Islamic writings on the after-life.

With the publication of this work, Prof. Asin found himself in the eye of a storm, as nationalist Italians, the Roman Catholic Clergy, and other European Christians could not reconcile themselves to the thought of their most cherished religious poem being based on non-Christian sources. Prof. Asin, however, faced up to his critics by enumerating the possible sources from which Dante could have obtained the salient features of Islamic eschatology. The consensus of opinion of all eminent scholars of Europe and America is now in favour Prof. Asin\'s thesis." (jacket)