Hermes and the Ṣa-bians of Ḥ arra-n
appropriate times. Hermes is also said to have commanded them “to perform prayers that he stated for them in ways that he described.” On the other hand, the religious laws of Hermes given here bear close resemblance to Islamic law: they require ritual purity, abstinence from intoxication, gˇihād against the enemies of the religion, alms (az-zakāt), and prescribe most of the punishments called ḥadd punishments in Islamic law. All this leads me to conclude that the “religion of Hermes” described here was developed and described well after the establishment of Islam and Islamic law. Again, this analysis will be elaborated in sections 5.2 and 5.3. Al-Mubaššir relates the wise sayings not only of Hermes, but also those of Ṭ āt ̣ immediately following. Here one may immediately acknowledge an ancient source for the connection between the two names, Hermes and Tat. It is interesting to note that in one branch of the stemma of the manuscripts of al-Mubaššir’s text, the name Ṭ āt ̣ is replaced by Ṣāb.135 The published text of al-Mubaššir says, “The Lessons of Ṭ āt ̣, who is Ṣāb son of Idrı-s—peace be upon him. The pagans (al-ḥunafā>) are named for him, so they are called the Ṣābians (aṣ-Ṣābi>u-n).”136 Already in 956, al-Mas<u-dı- referred in passing to Ṣābı-, “for whom the Ṣābians were named.”137 One section of the teachings of Hermes is made up of his testament to King Ammon, another name associated with Hermes in the ancient Greek Hermetica. The original compiler of these sayings of Hermes and Tat, some time before al-Mubaššir, must have had at least a bit of information—nothing necessarily substantial—derived ultimately from the ancient Greek Hermetica in order to make the association between the names Hermes, King Ammon, and Tat. Other than the Ḥ arrānians, there was no religious community that claimed Hermes as one of its special prophets, and for this and other reasons, to be elaborated in section 5.3, I conclude that al-Mubaššir’s life and maxims of Hermes probably derive from a tenth-century Ṣābian Ḥ arrānian living at the court in Baġdād. As the reader will see, I tentatively propose Sinān ibn §ābit or his less well known grandson, Isḥāq aṣ-Ṣābi>, as that author, and The Laws of Hermes (just discussed in section 3.4.5 above) as a candidate for al-Mubaššir’s source. 3.4.7 Evidence from al-Mas<u-dī (d. 956) and the Arabic Reception of Porphyry’s Letter to Anebo and the De mysteriis Aegyptiorum Al-Mas<u-dı- visited Ḥ arrān personally, and therefore Tardieu and those who have followed him have regarded al-Mas<u-dı- as the most important source on the Ṣābians of Ḥ arrān.138 One ought to keep in mind, however, that there is no particular
135. Rosenthal’s handwritten notes, 66. 136. al-Mubaššir 26.4–5: A¯dāb Ṭ āṭ, huwa Ṣābu bnu Idrīsa <alayhi s-salāmu wa-ilayhi nusiba l-ḥunafā>i fa-qīla lahumu ṣ-Ṣābi>u-n. See also Ibn Abı- Uṣaybi<a, 1.215.26–27, who used al-Mubaššir’s work: “It is said that the Ṣābians are named for Ṣāb, who is Ṭ āt ̣, son of the prophet Idrı-s—peace be upon him.” 137. al-Mas<u-dı-, Tanbīh 91.3–4. He mentions two genealogies that have been proposed: Ṣābı- ibn Methuselah ibn Idrı-s and Ṣābı- ibn Mārı-. 138. Tardieu 1986: 13.