SOURCE: von Grunebaum, G. E. “The Spirit of Islam as Shown in Its Literature.” In Islam: Essays in the Nature and Growth of a Cultural Tradition, pp. 95-110. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1961.

In the following essay, originally published in 1955, von Grunebaum considers how the spirit of Islam appears in Arabic literature, including the writings of al-Harīrī.

I

The search for reflections of the spirit of Islam in literature will be meaningful only when it is interpreted as the search for such character traits as are readily derivable from or co-ordinable with essential elements of Islamic doctrines or outlook. Two methodological difficulties immediately come to mind: for one thing, safeguards have to be taken against that vicious circle which finds the scholar defining the nature of Islam from the evidence of Muslim literature which evidence he then employs to demonstrate the effect Islam has had on the literary...