It was first suggested by Miguel Asín Palacios in 1919 that Dante Alighieris Divine Comedy, considered the greatest epic of Italian literature, derived many features of and episodes about the hereafter directly or indirectly from Arabic works on Islamic eschatology, such as the Hadith and the spiritual writings of Ibn Arabi. The Kitab al-Miraj, concerning Muhammads ascension to Heaven, was translated into Latin in 1264 or shortly before ,as Liber Scale Machometi, The Book of Muhammads Ladder. Dante was certainly aware of Muslim philosophy, naming Avicenna and Averroes last in his list of non-Christian philosophers in Limbo, alongside the great Greek and Latin philosophers. How strong the similarities are to Kitab al-Miraj remains a matter of scholarly debate however, with no clear evidence that Dante was in fact influenced. Francesco Gabrieli described it as at least possible, if not probable that Dante may have taken certain images and concepts from Muslim eschatology.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 08:26:51 +0000
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