Jabal 'Amil in a century : a translation and introduction

Abstract

This is an Arabic-English translation of a historic journal entitled Jabal 'Amil in a Century that was written by Haydar Rida al-Rukayni, a farmer from Jabal 'Amil. He began this journal in 1163 AH (1749 CE) and his son continued it after his death until 1247 AH (1832 CE). The journal covers several significant historic events but it also reports more mundane matters such as wholesale crop prices and folktales. The introduction is split into three sections that deal with the identity of the authors, the political and military events described, and the economic environment inferred from the text. In the first section, I attempt to answer questions that a reader would have about the Rukaynis based on what they write and what other secondary sources have surmised. I also investigate the authors’ motivations for writing the journal, which seems like an unlikely project for two farmers from Jabal 'Amil. I argue that the authors make a consistent argument throughout Jabal 'Amil in a Century that they are not, as one might expect, simpleton farmers. Instead, I will show that they utilized a number of complex literary mechanisms to show their sophisticated knowledge of Arabic and that their life choices reflected a desire to reclassify themselves as educated and cultured citizens of a resurgent Matāwila (Shi'ite) Jabal 'Amil. However, I qualify this statement with a discussion of the Rukaynis’ intended audience and I come to the conclusion that Jabal 'Amil in a Century was not intended to be published outside of the Rukaynis’ family unit. The political events of Jabal 'Amil in a Century are extremely complex and are presented with extremely little contextual support. The second section of my introduction attempts to introduce each major political personality and to provide sufficient contextual information in order to approach the Rukaynīs statements from a historically grounded perspective. Finally, the third section of my introduction deals with the economic information presented thro