Work · Philosophy in the Islamic World
The Extraction of Gold in an Overview of Paris
Account of five years in Paris (1826–31): French education, science, customs and government, with a translation of the constitutional charter of 1814 and an account of the July Revolution of 1830; the first Arabic book to present a European political order in detail.
Introduction
Al-Tahtawi wrote “The Extraction of Gold in an Overview of Paris” (Takhlīṣ al-ibrīz fī talkhīṣ Bārīz) after his return from France and published it at the Bulaq press in Cairo in 1834; Muhammad Ali had it distributed to officials, and a Turkish translation followed. In six essays it describes the journey, the city of Paris, its inhabitants, housing, food, clothing, entertainment, hospitals, schools and sciences, and the system of government. Al-Tahtawi translates the constitutional charter of 1814 article by article and comments that much of it accords with justice even though it is not taken from the Qur’an; he also gives an account of the July Revolution of 1830, which he witnessed. He reports what he studied – geography, history, French literature and political writings, among them Montesquieu and Rousseau – and judges French customs with curiosity and some reserve. Daniel L. Newman’s English translation, An Imam in Paris (2004), has a detailed introduction.
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