Autobiography in Bilad al Sham in the 18th Century: The Memoirs of Abd allah Qarali

Auto biography in Bilad al sham in

the 18th Century:

The Memoirs of

Abdallah Quarali.

Hayat El

Eid Bualuan1

This paper discusses autobiography as a historical

writing in Bilad al Sham as reflected in the Memoirs of

Abdallah Qarali ( 1674-1742 ), the founder of the

Maronite Monastic orders in Lebanon.2 Qarali delves

into his inner self to express his feelings while 1 Faculty in the Civilization Sequence Program at the American University of Beirut. This paper was written under very sad and difficult circumstances. I would like to express my thanks to Dr Nayla Kaidbey and Dr Maher jarrar for their support and encouragement in those moments of sorrow and despair.2 On the Memoirs genre and its relation to autobiography see : Maher Jarrar,” Mudakarat al muthaqaffin al injilyyin al Arab-Dirasat Tasnifiyyah” al Sirat al datiah fi Bilad al Sham, ed. By Maher el Sharif & Qays al Zurli(Damascus:Dar al Mada& Institut Francais du Proche Orient, 2009).

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relating the history of the founding of these orders

and introduces us to other members of the community and

the communal life at this initial period of Maronite

history. It is in this context that Qarali will be

dealt with as an autobiographer , a biographer and a

historian. Qarali relates the history of the

Maronite orders and informs us about his experience

with the other members of the church , colleagues and

superiors and his relation with Rome and the church

authorities. This is how he reveals the details of the

communal life in these monasteries with its political,

social and intellectual preoccupations and conflicts.

He, at the same time, succeeds in describing the

struggle between his attachment to the glories of the

world and his love of God .

Quarali starts his Memoirs uttering the following

words:” I the inconsiderable among the superiors Abd

2

allah the bishop of Beirut , the Aleppian descent and

the Lebanese monk yearned to the monastic life as soon

as I reached the age of adulthood. My father Mikhail

prevented me for my ignorance about the ways of

people and the absence from my native land. I remained

perplexed in my thinking, occupying myself at times

with the world forgetting priesthood, and at other time

spending my time in studying books and reading till I

reached 21 years of my age”.3

3 Abdallah Qarali, Mudakarrat , in Joseph Qazzi,,Bidayat al Rahbanah al Lubnania,

( al Kaslik: 1988), p.25 ..Henceforth, Mudakarat. The translation is mine.

On the life of Qarali, see: Sheikho, Louis, Kitab al Makhtoutat al Arabiah li Katabat al

Nasraniah(Beiru: Jesuit Publication |House, 1924), pp.160-161; Jirjis

Manash”Tarkat al Sayid Jirmanus Farhat”,Beirut: al Mashriq(8), 1904), pp. 354-

361; Al Labboudi, Touma”Sirat al ab Abdallah Qarali” , Bidayat al Rahbaniah al

Lubnaniah, pp75-106, hereafter, Bidayat. Graf, Georg, Geschichte Der Christlichen

Arabischen Literatur(Roma:Bilbiliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, 1949),pp.406-428.

The editor mentions that Al Mudakarat reached us in an incomplete form and in

71 pages .

3

Quarali starts then by mentioning himself..The word “

I” expresses a sense of self awareness surrounded by a

pure spiritual frame describing himself as

insignificant showing his humility while being

cognizant about the weaknesses of human beings and

their evil tendencies expressing at the same time the

frailty of man and his inability to find his identity

except in his creator.

Qaral’si self awareness is grounded in traditional

religious foundations and inherited conventions the

most important obeying ones parents. This is how he

mentions his father and his compliance with his wishes

when the idea of priesthood occurred to him.4 Qarali

sais that his father complied with his wishes on

condition that he first visits Jerusalem then pass by

Lebanon to examine his willingness to live there . In

4 Mudakarat, p.163

4

this way he will appear as a visitor to these places

and not as one who has renounced the ministry.5

Quarali , as a historian, goes into details in

narrating and describing the founding of the

monasteries, the new rules he introduced and the

schools he established beside those monasteries.6 As an

autobiographer and a biographer he does not hesitate

to tell the truth about himself and the others. In this

sense, one can see the elements of history,

autobiography and biography intermingling in his

Memoirs.. He criticizes others while criticizing

himself at the same time. This occurred when he was

accusing the superior Jibrail Hawwa 7 for his

5 Opcit, p. 25-266 Opcit. P. 27-31; also, Boulos Qarali, al La’ali’ fi Hayat al Mitran AbdallahQAral(Bayt Shabab: Matbaat al Ilm. 1932), pp.41-42. The first school was in Mar Moura in Ihdin. There QArali used to teach the students under a walnut tree. The monks did not have the means to build a school at that time.7 Jibrail Hawwa is one of the founders of the monastic order. He travelled from Aleppo to Lebanon in 1649. The third founder is Yusuf al Batn who died when a rock fell on him in the monastery of Dayr quzhayya, Mudakkarat,p. 26

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interference in all matters, the thing that caused

disagreement between him and the other procurators. He

said” In general we were all not experienced and

subject to making mistakes because of our ignorance of

virtue and our lack of self mortification. There was no

one to lead us to perfection. The worm of hatred

continued slightly to graze our orchard, the

congregation’s grumbling and muttering increases from

time to time till the superior hated the procurators

position and most of the monks hated his obedience. but

the fear of God and the people preserved us from

complete downfall. We would entertain and console each

other and encourage each other too. At times we would

forget all matters and desire obedience and the will of

God, and at other times we would fall back to boredom

and anxiety.”8

8 Mudakkarat, 33

6

Qarali is writing about the past seizing the

opportunity to describe the struggle in his divided

soul between virtue and depravity, between succumbing

to ones desires and walking in the road of perfection .

Quarali’s description of this struggle revealed his

power and skill to penetrate into the inner depths of

the soul to uncover its secrets: “ the love of

leadership started to tempt me knowing that I can

replace the superior once he is deposed”9 .He adds” It

is understood by every knowledgeable person that

because of our lack of virtue and perfection we used to

offend the superior’s obedience”.10

Quarali goes on to relate how he was obliged to accept

his ordination as a bishop from the patriarch Awwad

because he feared him. He sais:” Cowardice took

possession of me, I sacrificed my heart, nothing at all

9 Opcit.,p. 3710 Opcit.,37

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distracted me, I did not know how to appease myself in

hoping and relying on God, and that he the almighty is

the origin of death and life. He lowers peoples

positions and he raises others from the dunghill11.

Quarali examines and unveils himself exposing his

cowardice and fear from a fellow human being . This

fear is a result of his love of power and his frail

belief in God. In other words the author is here trying

while exposing his weakness to convey an idea about the

inability of man to unite between love of the world and

the love of God and that a person loses himself in the

world and finds himself only in God the source of his

existence. Qaralis memoirs are a confessional

autobiography where the writer while observing

becomes himself the object of investigation,

remembrance and contemplation. He is stating a record

11 Opcit. 66

8

of a transformation of errors by values- the values of

the age he lives in .12

Quarali’s awareness of himself appeared not only in

this direct psychological nudity, but also in his

narration of the different events where we observe his

sincerity , sense of justice and wisdom. Let us read

for example what he wrote in 1715 concerning patriarch

Awwad.” In 1715 Patriarch Awwad started playing with

our order, negligent with the dissatisfied monks to

encourage them to leave the congregation, then

taking a malignant appearance to prove that he is

against this trouble..” Qarali continues” he would

flatter me without knowing his intention. Among his

flatteries he told me:” I want you to ask a favor from

me to confirm our friendship”13 . He repeated this

12 See;Autobiography:Essays Theoretical and Critical, ed. By James Iney( Princeton University Press), 1980;Also, Essays in 18th Century Biography, ed. By Philip B. Daghlian,Bloomington,( Indiana University Press,1968).13 Mudakarat, p.57-63

9

several times. I then asked him to give an acquittal

paper to release the monks from the money that his

parents gave to the governor of the country, assuring

him that my intention is only to keep our accounts

clear for the future and what might happen after our

death.”14.

This reveals Qarali’s wisdom in settling matters and

his understanding of the patriarch’s intention and his

ability to deal with him on practical and pragmatic

grounds. Qarali’s awareness of himself and his

spirituality and his life of mortification did not

prevent him from understanding the realities as they

were and situate them in their time and place context.

Self awareness in this sense appeared to move in two

14Bishop Awwad was in Kisrawan. He used to express friendship to Qarali lodging with him money which the latter did not know its source. Qarali knew later from Bishop Jirjis Amin of Ihden disgraceful news concerning Bishop Awwad. Qarali told the Bishop about the money. . The patriarch’s family gave the money to the governor of the country to win his friendship and to prevent the new Patriarch from taking it. The money was then taken by force which caused harm and insults to the monks. Opcit, pp. 55-65

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parallel directions: a spiritual dimension and a

worldly dimensions..Qarali continues:” We did not share

a spiritual love with the mentioned Patriarch, but a

love of worldly behavior only.15 The author here does

not contradict himself , but seems to find himself in

the teaching of the New Testament:” Be as shrewd as

snakes and harmless as doves”. 16

Self awareness for Qarali is also in a specific sense

of identity. This was apparent at the beginning of his

Memoirs when he mentioned that he is the bishop of

Beirut “Allepian descent and Lebanese monk”17. In this

he considers the place he lives in a vital element in

determining ones identity. Alepppo is his birth place

15 Mudakkarat,p. 63; On the subject of self awareness, see Jeremy D. Popkin, History , Historians and autobiography, University of Chicago Press, 2005 16 The Restored New Testament –A New Translation(New York:W.W. Norton and Company,2009), Mathew 10:1617 Mudakarat, p. 25

11

where he was born and raised, and Lebanon is where he

fulfilled his monastic vocation. This was grounded in

Qarali’s being for he sais in 1705 : “This year I found

it advisable to call our congregation the Lebanese

Order , and to refer to the monks as Lebanese for they

are alleged to Mount Lebanon as we call the Carmel

monks Carmels . The reason is that I knew by

insinuation that certain brethren did not find it

commendable to refer to Aleppo in naming the

congregation since it is associated with Allepian

people. When I entered in 1707 I asked the patriarch to

call us by this name. He accepted and corresponded with

us .18 The author continues” We relinquished the idea of

Rome from our heads and became convinced of our own

18 Opcit,pp.51-52

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country”19. Our country here signifies Lebanon in

particular and Bilad al sham in general.

Quarali, as stated before , is informing us about

the history of the founding of the monastic order while

penetrating into the innermost secrets of the convents

and introducing the reader to the different

personalities there. Qarali is the actor and the

observer in that he puts a deliberate distance

between him and his subject, a pose of objectivity and

authority at the same time. This is how he gave a

description of one of the founders Jibrail Hawwa when

he writes: “ He used at times to deal with

reprehensible issues harming his leadership for it was 19 OPCIT, P.60.Jibrail Hawwa , one of the founders, went to Rome and tried with the pope to found a convent for the Lebanese monks there. Quarali hesitated to send his priests , then he complied with the wishes of the priest. As a result two monks went to Rome, but after a year they disagreed with Hawwa. In 1711 quarali sent Jibrail Farhat the superior of the convent ofMar Elijah to Rome with two clergy men who founded a separate convent there when they realized the impossibility of cooperating with Hawwa).Later when facing trouble from other people , they came back to Lebanon . see Mudakarat, pp.53-60. On the subject of Lebanese identity in the 18th century, see:Hayat Bualuan, Muarikhu Bilad al Sham fi al qarn al Thamin Ashar( Beirut: Dar al Furat2002),PP.206-207

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his nature to meddle in all things and advise every

person in what he is doing event with the cook , the

shoe maker and the gardener”20 Jibrail , according to

Qarali, used to absent himself for days without

Qarali’s permission. Qarali continues”I was angry and I

scolded him. Anger surmounted me because he answered me

in a nasty way. This made things worse with me and with

some of the brethren who started hurting him with words

while I showed looseness in dealing with the matter

fearing that I might antagonize them. That was

cowardice on my part and a human weakness lest Gibrail

gets it his way to seperat e me from my brethren and

destroy the basic rule. As a result Gibrail left the

congregation and accused us in front of the bishop who

sent people to investigate about the matter. Qarali

confesses, he sais:” I became submissive out of my

20 Opcit, p.33

14

anxiety and wrote to the patriarch acknowledging my

mistakes against Hawwa and expressing my willingness

that Hawwa comes back to the convent as its superior”.

Hawwa refused fearing that the brethren in the convent

would not accept this solution..The result was that

Qarali was to direc t Mar Elisha an d Hawwa Mar Moura.

The monks were to choose where to go. One hundred and

eleven followed Qarali and only one followed Hawwa.21

This division did not last long for before the end of

the year Hawwa had a dispute with his bishop, Jirjis

Binyamin of Ihdin. Qarali does not hesitate to mention

that the bishop hit Hawwa and they both appealed to the

patriarch who did not support Hawwa in any aspect. In

fact the bishop prevented Hawwa from having any liberty

in his convent to an extent that he did not allow him

to designate the word Jesuit on his congregation. Hawwa

21 Mudakarat, p. 43-44

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abandoned by most of his monks, trav elled to Malta

and later to Rome.22

Qarali plays the role of the authentic historian and

the autobiogapher. He states the fact as they occurred

allowing the readers to penetrate into the secrets of

the monastic life. Qarali’s sincerity is exemplary in

revealing the truth without trying to show only what is

positive in the monastic life. Life in convents is

similar to every other life in the society. There are

times of peace and moments of conflict. Human nature is

the same in the convent and outside the convents.

Qarali is narrartingto give examples and make people

profit from the lessons of the past.

Qarali , on the other hand, admires Jibrail

Farhat”Jibrail was respected by the priests for he was

a convent superior and a scholar in Arabic language,

22 Mudakarat, p. 46-48

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poetry and eloquence. Qarali relates how Jibrail

separated from him in 1700 and went to teach the

children in Zgharta then came back in 1705 because of

his sickness. The doctors prevented him from living in

Zgharta because of the bad weather and the climate.

Quarali continues: “We appointed him as superior for

his wisdom and concern, he was hot tempered , serious

in his endeavors , firmly educated, a philosopher and a

poet greatly respected amongst the elderly and the

youngest for his eloquence and understanding”.23

Qarali, the biographer, draws a vivid picture of the

different personalities assessing their character and

describing their actions and reactions in the different

situations . . As an autobiographer he is uniting the

23 Opcit.p.p.50-52; Jibrail FArhat died in 1734. He was the superior of the Bishopric of Aleppo in 1725 and became known as Germanus Farhat. See Nuahd RAzzouk, Girmanus Farhat Hayatuhu wa Atharuhu(al Kaslik, 1998), Anuti, Usama, al Harakat al Adabiyyah fi Bilad al Sham Khilal al Qarn al Thamin Ashar(Beirut:Dar al Talia, 1971), pp. 118-121 ; On the monastic orders , see: Maraqi al Kamal al Rahbani, Manshurat al Rahbaniah al Makhlisiah fi Yubiliha al Miawi al Thalith, 1985; Also, Abdallah Qarali, al Misbah al Rahbany, ed. By Jirjis Midrany al Halabi, 1965

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external circumstances and internal thoughts and

feelings relating his story about the events in a

chronological sequence and basing his narration on

verified facts.24 This is how one detects Qarali the

historian with his great measure of self

consciousness while narrating the history of the

founding of the Lebanese Maronite orders. He relates

all the difficulties encountered whether inside or

outside the congregation and does not hesitate to

mention for example his experience in the convent of

Tamish where he spent three months. He wanted with

Yusuf al Batn to live in that convent on condition that

the nuns be asked to live in a separate convent. All

agreed , but the bishop refused saying that the convent

will be destroyed without the nuns. 25

24 On the identification of history with biography, see:Khalidi, Tarif, Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period(Cambridge: University Press.1994), pp.207-22125 Mudakarat, pp.27-28. The monastic orders before Qarali were not organized. The monks did not abide by the rules of obedience and purity. They had their own ways in practicing religion. See Butrus Fahd, Tarikh al Rahbaniah al Lubnaniah bi fi’raiha al al Halabi wal Lubnani( Jounieh, MAtaba’at al Karim, 1965),1,.116

18

Qarali wrote in a language similar to the classical. He

related the history of the congregation and

introduce us to the different personalities and

circumstances , commenting and reflecting on the

meaning and significance of events. He used analogy

while describing the characters like when he referred

to the Bible to clarify the meaning of a certain event

that happened to him with priest Yakoub. He sais: ”His

behavior was similar to St Peter’s because at the times

of our separation from Priest Hawwa, he used to say : I

will not leave Priest Abdallah the superior till

death...He was the first to leave me.”26

Qarali refers to the Bible to compare and contrast and

to explain his intentions . He writes his memoirs to

26 Mudakarat, p. .. Yakoub is from Ghazir..he followed Qarali then Hawwa. In 1706 qarali opened the convent of St Jhon in Rishmayya a nd appointed curate Yakoub as its superior. One day while he was on a tour in a v illgae, the people conv inced him to send a priest to teach the children and expressed their desire in taking the convent of Mar Elias. Curate Yakoub threatened Qarali that he would leave him if he does not comply with his demand. Later hecame back to Qarali

19

relate the history of the Lebanese order to inform

those coming after him about the culture and

achievements of the past and at the same time to learn

from these events and profit from its experience. There

is a sign of the historian’s ego underpinning the

narrative. The use of “ I” and” myself” to interrupt

the narrative and introduce the historians personal

comments or opinions on people and events becomes

frequent enough to be noticeable. From this follows

the temptation of being wiser after the event27.. Qarali

as a historian learns from the lessons of the past.`

27 See Khalidi, p.200-204

20

Conclusion

Qarali’s Memoirs are a historical document where

autobiography, biography and history intermingle and

interwine.28 Qarali grasps the course of his experience

in such a way as to bring to consciousness the basis of

human life, namely the historical relations in which it

is interwoven. What emerged is a didactic form of

Memoirs to describe a life journey confused by

frequent misdirection and sometimes crises but reaching

at last a sense of perspective integration.29

Qarali’s Memoirs then reflect a genre of historical

writing in 18th century Bilad al Sham . A spiritual

28 On the terms” Memoirs and Autobiography”, see Maher Jarrar” Mudakarat al Muthaqaffin al Injiliyyin al Arab-Dirasat Tasnifiyat”in al Sirat al datiah fi bilad al Sham, ed. Maher al Sharif and Qays al Zurli( Damascus: Dar al Mada & Institut Francais du Proche Orient, 2009), pp.8-1029 See: Sidonie Smith & Julia Watson, Reading Autobiography(Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press,2001),pp.83-110;also: Popkin Jeremy, History, historians & Autobiography(Chicago: University Press,2005),pp.11-32.

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Memoirs30 where Qarali is not writing to draw the

attention to his individuality , feelings, sentiments

or intellectual developments , but aspiring towards a

religious goal he has himself chosen and followed.

One can detect here the importance of the community and

the individual’s concern to adapt himself to the

society. This , however, did not prevent Qarali from

examining himself and exposing his weaknesses , but

instead of losing himself in a divided and dispersed

self, he directed it towards the creator.

Qarali is a child of his age , 18th century Bilad al

Sham where

Qarali wrote his Memoirs after a long experience in

the monastic life. He was able to penetrate the

boundaries of his being where the mystery of life was

revealed to him . These are a result of a 30 On spiritual autobiography, see:Starr, G.A., Defoe and Spiritual Autobiography, Princeton: University Press, 1965. Pp.1-50

22

continuous struggle not only with other members of his

community, but also with the church authorities in Rome

and elsewhere. They are also an expression of a

spiritual experience, a soul in solitude penetrating

into the depth of its being to know itself more fully

and be related to an ultimate reality beyond the self

to come to a new awareness of the Divine and with it

the glory of finding oneself in God .

Biblioghaphy

- Anuti, Usama, al Haraka al Adabiah fi Bilad al Sham fi al

Qarn al Thamin

Ashar, Beirut, Dar al Talia, 1971

- Autobiography: Essays Theoretical and Practical,

ed.James Iney,

23

Princeton, University Press, 1980.

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al Qarn al Thamin Ashar, Beirut, Dar al Furat,

2002.

- Essays in 18th Century Biography, ed. Philip B. ,

Daghlian, Bloomington, Indiana University Press,

1968.

- Fahd, Butrus, Tarikh al Rahbaniah al Lubnaniah bi Fir\ayha al

Halabi wal Lubnani, Jounieh, Matba’at al Karim, 1965

- Graf, Georg, Gechichte Der Christlichen Arabischen Literatur,

Roma, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, 1949.

24

- Jarrar, Maher “Mudakarat al Muthaqaffin

al Injilliyin al Arab- Dirasat

Tasnifiyyah, Al Sirat al Thatiyya fi Bilad al Sham,

ed. Maher el Sharif&

Qays al Zuhri, Damascus, Dar al Mada &

Institut Francais du Proche

Orient, 2009.

- Khalidi, Tarif, Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical

Period, Cambridge, University Press, 1994.

- Al Labboudi, Touma”Sirat Abdallah Qarali”,

Bidayat al Rahbaniah al

Lubnaniah.

- Manash , Jirjis”Tarkat al Sayyid Jirmanus Farhat,

Beirut(al Mahriq)8. 1904.

25

- Maraqi al Kamal al Rahbani, Manshurat al Rahbaniah a

Mukhalissiah fi Yubiliha al Miawi al Thalith, 1985

- The New Testament- A New Translation, New York,

W.W. Norton

& Company. 2009

- Popkin, Jeremy, D., Historians and Autobiography,

Chicago, University Press, 2005.

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al Rahbaniah al Lubnaniah, Kaslik, 1988.

- Qarali, Abdallah, al Misbah al Rahbany, ed. Jirjis

Midrany al Halabi, 1965

- Qarali, Boulos, al Lali’ fi Hayat al Mitran

Abdallah Qarali, Bayt Shebab, Matbat al Ilm, 1932

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atharuhu, al Kaslik,1998.

26

- Sheikho, Louis, Kitab al Makhtoutat al Arabiah li

Katabat al Nasraniah, Beirut, Jesuit Publication

House, 1924.

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