The Book of Charlatans
Uncovering the professional secrets of con artists and swindlers in the medieval Middle East. “A mesmerising account of . . . quacks and tricksters.” —The Spectator
 
The Book of Charlatans is a comprehensive guide to trickery and scams as practiced in the thirteenth century in the cities of the Middle East, especially in Syria and Egypt. Al-Jawbarī was well versed in the practices he describes and may have been a reformed charlatan himself. Divided into thirty chapters, the book reveals the secrets of everyone from “Those Who Claim to be Prophets” to “Those Who Claim to Have Leprosy” and “Those Who Dye Horses.”
 
The material is informed in part by the author’s own experience with alchemy, astrology, and geomancy, and in part by his extensive research. The work is unique in its systematic, detailed, and inclusive approach to a subject that is by nature arcane and that has relevance not only for social history but also for the history of science. Covering everything from invisible writing to doctoring gemstones and quack medicine, The Book of Charlatans opens a fascinating window into a subculture of beggars’ guilds and professional con artists in the medieval Arab world.
 
An English-only edition.
 
“Provides us with an unusual glimpse into the street life of medieval Islamic societies rarely captured in more elevated Arabic literary sources.” —The New York Review of Books
 
The Book of Charlatans is an amusing evocation of the seamy side of the medieval Levant, full of worthy descendants of the 1001 Nights.” —Asian Review of Books
1136796292
The Book of Charlatans
Uncovering the professional secrets of con artists and swindlers in the medieval Middle East. “A mesmerising account of . . . quacks and tricksters.” —The Spectator
 
The Book of Charlatans is a comprehensive guide to trickery and scams as practiced in the thirteenth century in the cities of the Middle East, especially in Syria and Egypt. Al-Jawbarī was well versed in the practices he describes and may have been a reformed charlatan himself. Divided into thirty chapters, the book reveals the secrets of everyone from “Those Who Claim to be Prophets” to “Those Who Claim to Have Leprosy” and “Those Who Dye Horses.”
 
The material is informed in part by the author’s own experience with alchemy, astrology, and geomancy, and in part by his extensive research. The work is unique in its systematic, detailed, and inclusive approach to a subject that is by nature arcane and that has relevance not only for social history but also for the history of science. Covering everything from invisible writing to doctoring gemstones and quack medicine, The Book of Charlatans opens a fascinating window into a subculture of beggars’ guilds and professional con artists in the medieval Arab world.
 
An English-only edition.
 
“Provides us with an unusual glimpse into the street life of medieval Islamic societies rarely captured in more elevated Arabic literary sources.” —The New York Review of Books
 
The Book of Charlatans is an amusing evocation of the seamy side of the medieval Levant, full of worthy descendants of the 1001 Nights.” —Asian Review of Books
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Overview

Uncovering the professional secrets of con artists and swindlers in the medieval Middle East. “A mesmerising account of . . . quacks and tricksters.” —The Spectator
 
The Book of Charlatans is a comprehensive guide to trickery and scams as practiced in the thirteenth century in the cities of the Middle East, especially in Syria and Egypt. Al-Jawbarī was well versed in the practices he describes and may have been a reformed charlatan himself. Divided into thirty chapters, the book reveals the secrets of everyone from “Those Who Claim to be Prophets” to “Those Who Claim to Have Leprosy” and “Those Who Dye Horses.”
 
The material is informed in part by the author’s own experience with alchemy, astrology, and geomancy, and in part by his extensive research. The work is unique in its systematic, detailed, and inclusive approach to a subject that is by nature arcane and that has relevance not only for social history but also for the history of science. Covering everything from invisible writing to doctoring gemstones and quack medicine, The Book of Charlatans opens a fascinating window into a subculture of beggars’ guilds and professional con artists in the medieval Arab world.
 
An English-only edition.
 
“Provides us with an unusual glimpse into the street life of medieval Islamic societies rarely captured in more elevated Arabic literary sources.” —The New York Review of Books
 
The Book of Charlatans is an amusing evocation of the seamy side of the medieval Levant, full of worthy descendants of the 1001 Nights.” —Asian Review of Books

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781479813223
Publisher: New York University Press
Publication date: 11/21/2023
Series: Library of Arabic Literature , #82
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 344
Sales rank: 448,608
File size: 4 MB

About the Author

Jamal al-Din ?Abd al-Ra?im al-Jawbari (fl. early seventh/thirteenth century) was born in the Ghouta region near Damascus. He was the author of three texts, of which only The Book of Charlatans survives.

S. A. Chakraborty is a speculative fiction writer from New York City. Her debut, The City of Brass, was short-listed for the Locus, British Fantasy, and World Fantasy awards.

Humphrey Davies is an award-winning translator of some twenty-five works of modern Arabic literature, among them Alaa Al-Aswany’s The Yacoubian Building, five novels by Elias Khoury, including Gate of the Sun, and A?mad Faris al-Shidyaq’s Leg over Leg. He has also made a critical edition, translation, and lexicon of the Ottoman-period Brains Confounded by the Ode of Abu Shaduf Expounded by Yusuf al-Shirbini, as well as editions and translations of al-Tunisi’s In Darfur and al-Sanhuri’s Risible Rhymes from the same era. In addition, he hascompiled with Madiha Doss an anthology in Arabic entitled Al-?ammiyyah al-mi?riyyah al-maktubah: mukhtarat min 1400 ila 2009 (Egyptian Colloquial Writing: selections from 1400 to 2009) and co-authored, with Lesley Lababidi, A Field Guide to the Street Names of Central Cairo. He read Arabic at the University of Cambridge, received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, and previous to undertaking his first translation in 2003, worked for social development and research organizations in Egypt, Tunisia, Palestine, and Sudan. He is affiliated with the American University in Cairo.
 

Table of Contents

Letter from the General Editor iii

Foreword x

Acknowledgments xiv

Introduction xv

Map: al-Jawbari's World: The Periphery xxi

Map: al-Jawbari's World: The Center xxii

Note on the Text xxiii

Notes to the Introduction xxvi

The Book of Charlatans 1

Chapter 1 Exposé of the Tricks of Fake Prophets 9

Chapter 2 Exposé of the Tricks of Fake Shaykhs and Illusionists among the Dervishes, the Shaykhs, and "the Righteous" 20

Chapter 3 Exposé of the Tricks of Fire-and-Brimstone Preachers 39

Chapter 4 Exposé of the Tricks of Monks 45

Chapter 5 Exposé of the Tricks of Jews and Others 51

Chapter 6 Exposé of the Tricks of the Banu Sasan 55

Chapter 7 Exposé of the Tricks of Those Who Work Solomon's Ant 66

Chapter 8 Exposé of the Tricks of Those Who Practice War and Bear Arms 78

Chapter 9 Exposé of the Tricks of the People of the Kaf, That Is, Alchemy 82

Chapter 10 Exposé of the Tricks of Apothecaries 102

Chapter 11 Exposé of the Tricks of the People of the Mim (Who Are Treasure Hunters Who Pretend to Have Access to Hoards of Wealth and Buried Treasure) 108

Chapter 12 Exposé of the Tricks of Astrologers Who Ply Their Trade on the Highway 114

Chapter 13 Exposé of the Tricks of Spirit Conjurors 129

Chapter 14 Exposé of the Tricks of the Doctors Who Practice on the Highways 142

Chapter 15 Exposé of the Tricks of Those Who Extract Worms from Teeth 156

Chapter 16 Exposé of the Tricks of Eye Doctors Who Use Metal Instruments 160

Chapter 17 Exposé of the Tricks of Those Who Dye Horses 161

Chapter 18 Exposé of Their Tricks; Example: Those Who Dye Humans 164

Chapter 19 Exposé of the Tricks of Those Who Manipulate Fire and Can Block Its Heat 169

Chapter 20 Exposé of the Tricks of Those Who Concoct Artificial Foodstuffs 172

Chapter 21 Exposé of the Tricks of Those Who Work Knockout Drugs and Stupefacients 176

Chapter 22 Exposé of the Tricks of Notaries, That Is, of the People Who Draw Up Contracts 180

Chapter 23 Exposé of the Tricks of Prestidigitators 183

Chapter 24 Exposé of Jewelers and Their Fake Products 186

Chapter 25 Exposé of the Tricks of Money Changers, of Scams They Pull and Scams Pulled on Them 192

Chapter 26 Exposé of the Tricks of Those Who Creep Up on Beardless Boys at Music and Chanting Performances and Weddings and on Journeys and So On 197

Chapter 27 Exposé of the Tricks of "the Masters of the Crafts" 200

Chapter 28 Exposé of the Tricks of Sneak Thieves (Thieves Who Enter Houses Unlawfully) 226

Chapter 29 Exposé of the Tricks of the Thieves Who Enter Houses by Making Holes in Walls and Committing Murder 228

Chapter 30 Exposé of the Tricks of Women, and of Their Cunning, Craftiness, and Duplicity 232

Notes 240

Glossary of People, Places, and Little-Known Simples 269

Bibliography 290

Further Reading 296

Index 298

About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute 312

About the Translator 313

The Library of Arabic Literature 314

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