(Unearthing a hidden treasure from the golden age of Ottom...)
Unearthing a hidden treasure from the golden age of Ottoman scholarship, this examination presents original, expert Arabic observations on the light verse of the Quran. Presented in English for the first time, the study reveals profound insights into this famous and mysterious content along with a detailed account of the original authors life and works, an analysis of his featured commentary, and a critical edition of the Arabic text. The investigation constitutes an exemplary bilingual resource for the study of Quranic exegesis, making it an ideal companion for students and teachers of Islamic studies as well as those interested in Islamic philosophy, mysticism, and the Quranic disciplines. Shedding light on the nature of philosophical and mystical discourse in the Ottoman world, this well-researched volume brings greater depth to an enigmatic aspect of Islams central religious text.
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The second of the three sons of Ibrahim Pasha, and the grandson of Muhammad Ali, Ismail, of Albanian descent, was born in Cairo at Al Musafir Khana Palace. His mother was Circassian Hoshiar (Khushiyar Khater), third wife of his father. She was reportedly a sister of Valide Sultan Pertevniyal (1812–1883). Pertevniyal was a wife of Mahmud II of the Ottoman Empire and mother of Abdülaziz I.
He completed their work in that he bought from the Ottoman sultan the right to the new title of khedive, father-to-son inheritance of the new title for his dynasty, administrative and commercial independence, and relaxation of military restrictions imposed upon Egypt by the European powers in 1841. But Ismail accomplished this at tremendous expense-and it was only the beginning of his financial adventures.
Ismail succeeded Mohammed Said as the ruler of Egypt in 1863, when the American Civil War increased the demand for Egyptian cotton and when the expected profits from the soon to be completed Suez Canal made Egypt seem more prosperous than it actually was.
In the euphoria of the 1866 Ismail dreamed of an Egyptian empire in northeast Africa and of Cairo as the Paris on the Nile.
The close of the American Civil War ended the Egyptian cotton boom, and the Suez Canal did not, at first, earn the expected profits. Ismail resorted to huge loans at ruinous discounts to obtain the funds necessary for his dreams; he further pledged the revenues of the railroads, taxes, and royal lands.
In 1875, in desperation, he sold his one remaining investment, his approximately 44 percent of the shares in the Suez Canal Company, to British prime minister Disraeli for £4 million.
Bankrupt in 1876 with a 14-fold debt increase to some £ 1 billion since his accession in 1863, Ismail had to accept Anglo-French financial supervision, called the Dual Control. The influx of foreigners during his reign, the special privileges they received via the capitulations, and their obviously increasing influence in Egypt led in the late 1876 to the development of an Egyptian national movement.
When Ismail sought to shift the blame from himself to the foreigners for Egypt's financial debacle and when Bismarck threatened German intervention, Great Britain and France succeeded in having the Ottoman sultan depose Ismail in 1879 in favor of his son Tewfik Pasha. Ismail's vainglorious ambitions and gross extravagance had paved the way for the British occupation 3 years after his deposition.
Sharing the ambitious outlook of his grandfather, Muhammad Ali Pasha, he greatly modernized Egypt and Sudan during his reign, investing heavily in industrial and economic development, urbanisation, and the expansion of the country's boundaries in Africa. In 1867 he also secured Ottoman and international recognition for his title of Khedive (Viceroy) in preference to Wāli (Governor) which was previously used by his predecessors in the Ottoman Eyalet of Egypt and Sudan (1517–1867). However, Isma'il's policies placed the Ottoman Khedivate of Egypt and Sudan (1867–1914) in severe debt, leading to the sale of the country's shares in the Suez Canal Company to the United Kingdom, and his ultimate toppling from power at British hands. He was a Kingdom of Bavaria Honorary membe of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
(Unearthing a hidden treasure from the golden age of Ottom...)
His philosophy can be glimpsed at in a statement that he made in 1879: "My country is no longer in Africa; we are now part of Europe. It is therefore natural for us to abandon our former ways and to adopt a new system adapted to our social conditions".
He borrowed heavily on Egypt's future and spent lavishly on explorations far up the Nile almost to Lake Victoria for the extension of Egyptian influence, on building many public works such as improved canals and new telegraph lines, and on the modernization of Cairo. Ismail took a personal interest in the Suez Canal, the concession for which his predecessor had negotiated with a French company.
He agreed to pay a huge indemnity equal to half the original capital of the company in order to eliminate the forced labor and other onerous requirements of the initial concession. For the grand opening of the canal in 1869, Ismail lavished over a million dollars on the entertainment of foreign dignitaries.
He had 14 wives.
