Concluding Postscript to the Origin of the Malay Sha'ir

by Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas

"This postscript pertains to my book entitled The Origin of the Malay Sha'ir. The necessity for writing this Postscript became apparent to me when Dr. P. Voorhoeve, in a letter from Barchem, Holland, dated April 13, 1968, posed certain questions the substance of which is later published in short Note bearing the same title as my book. It is hoped that what follows will clarify lingering obscurities and banish nagging doubts that still plague the minds and hearts of those who strive to expound and unravel scholastic problems pertaining to the Islamic aspect of Malay literary history."

58 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, born September 5, 1931 in Bogor, Java, is a prominent contemporary Muslim thinker. He is one of the few contemporary scholars who is thoroughly rooted in the traditional Islamic sciences and who is equally competent in theology, philosophy, metaphysics, history, and literature. His thought is integrated, multifaceted and creative. Al-Attas’ philosophy and methodology of education have one goal: Islamization of the mind, body and soul and its effects on the personal and collective life on Muslims as well as others, including the spiritual and physical non-human environment. He is the author of twenty-seven authoritative works on various aspects of Islamic thought and civilization, particularly on Sufism, cosmology, metaphysics, philosophy and Malay language and literature.



Al-Attas was born into a family with a history of illustrious ancestors, saints, and scholars. He received a thorough education in Islamic sciences, Malay language, literature and culture. His formal primary education began at age 5 in Johor, Malaysia, but during the Japanese occupation of Malaysia, he went to school in Java, in Madrasah Al-`Urwatu’l-wuthqa, studying in Arabic. After World War II in 1946 he returned to Johor to complete his secondary education. He was exposed to Malay literature, history, religion, and western classics in English, and in a cultured social atmosphere developed a keen aesthetic sensitivity. This nurtured in al-Attas an exquisite style and precise vocabulary that were unique to his Malay writings and language. After al-Attas finished secondary school in 1951, he entered the Malay Regiment as cadet officer no. 6675. There he was selected to study at Eton Hall, Chester, Wales and later at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, England (952 -55). This gave him insight into the spirit and style of British society. During this time he was drawn to the metaphysics of the Sufis, especially works of Jami, which he found in the library of the Academy. He traveled widely, drawn especially to Spain and North Africa where Islamic heritage had a profound influence on him. Al-Attas felt the need to study, and voluntarily resigned from the King’s Commission to serve in the Royal Malay Regiment, in order to pursue studies at the University of Malaya in Singapore 1957-59. While undergraduate at University of Malay, he wrote Rangkaian Ruba`iyat, a literary work, and Some Aspects of Sufism as Understood and Practised among the Malays. He was awarded the Canada Council Fellowship for three years of study at the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University in Montreal. He received the M.A. degree with distinction in Islamic philosophy in 1962, with his thesis “Raniri and the Wujudiyyah of 17th Century Acheh” . Al-Attas went on to the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London where he worked with Professor A. J. Arberry of Cambridge and Dr. Martin Lings. His doctoral thesis (1962) was a two-volume work on the mysticism of Hamzah Fansuri.



In 1965, Dr. al-Attas returned to Malaysia and became Head of the Division of Literature in the Department of Malay Studies at the University of Malay, Kuala Lumpur. He was Dean of the Faculty of Arts from 1968-70. Thereafter he moved to the new National University of Malaysia, as Head of the Department of Malay Language and Literature and then Dean of the Faculty of Arts. He strongly advocated the use of Malay as the language of instruction at the university level and proposed an integrated method of studying Malay language, literature and culture so that the role and influence of Islam and its relationship with other languages and cultures would be studied with clarity. He founded and directed the Institute of Malay Language, Literature, and Culture (IBKKM) at the National University of Malaysia in 1973 to carry out his vision.



In 1987, with al-Attas as founder and director, the International Institute of Islamic Thought a

Reviews

[Nuruddin Azri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a Prof. al-Attas refutation to those who claimed that al-Attas' The Origin of Malay Sha'ir is not correct when al-Attas said that Syair Dagang Perahu (if I'm not mistaken) is written by Shaykh Hamza Fansuri. Al-Attas gives a solid argument why it is not written by Hasan Fansuri and he shows – with a high ethics of disagreement – the fallacies of Western readings (Voorhoeve) on that Jawi texts.

Though I haven't read The Origin of Malay Sha'ir itself, this book still gives me an excellent framework on how to do a scientific and syntopical research on a particular text (where we need to read and know all texts written by the figure that we are going to study and the scholars at that time) and why the methodology of Western studies on Orient is problematic because they deny the other two sources of knowledge/inquiry which are authority and intuition. They only accept the senses/experience and reason which consequently lead them to translate and interpret the Malay poem into a different meaning.

Here, Prof. al-Attas manage to rectify the situation and the original message of the author (Shaykh Hamza Fansuri) back by relating it with the sociological canvas of Malay world and systematic review on the author's works and warn the world, how lose they are if they miss this important metaphysical text by a great Asian philosopher.

[Shamsudin Othman · Rating 5 out of 5]

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