French and European political models in The Extraction of Gold or an Overview of Paris by Rifâ‘a al-Tahtâwî
Figeac, Jean-François
French and European political models in The Extraction of Gold or an Overview of Paris by Rifâ‘a al-Tahtâwî - 2025.
87
In 1826, the Pasha of Egypt, Mehmed Ali, sent a delegation of students to France led by one his advisers, Rifâ’a al-Tahtâwî. The adviser took detailed notes on the political, social and cultural life of France, particularly Paris, which he drew upon to publish his Takhlîs al-ibrîz fî talkhîs Bârîs (literally translated as The Extraction of Gold or an Overview of Paris) in 1834, after returning to the East. Praising France in relation to the other European powers, he effectively describes the instability at the end of the Restoration, while seeking to interpret it using his own frameworks for thinking, based on literature, political philosophy and Quranic references. While remaining cautious on the idea of importing a possible French constitutional model into Egypt, he sought rather to demonstrate, by holding up a mirror to France, how Egypt must emerge as a nation in the face of the Ottoman Empire, just as France emerged from the Revolution. French public life provides a wealth of examples, whether successes or failures, to draw upon in order to transform Egypt.
French and European political models in The Extraction of Gold or an Overview of Paris by Rifâ‘a al-Tahtâwî - 2025.
87
In 1826, the Pasha of Egypt, Mehmed Ali, sent a delegation of students to France led by one his advisers, Rifâ’a al-Tahtâwî. The adviser took detailed notes on the political, social and cultural life of France, particularly Paris, which he drew upon to publish his Takhlîs al-ibrîz fî talkhîs Bârîs (literally translated as The Extraction of Gold or an Overview of Paris) in 1834, after returning to the East. Praising France in relation to the other European powers, he effectively describes the instability at the end of the Restoration, while seeking to interpret it using his own frameworks for thinking, based on literature, political philosophy and Quranic references. While remaining cautious on the idea of importing a possible French constitutional model into Egypt, he sought rather to demonstrate, by holding up a mirror to France, how Egypt must emerge as a nation in the face of the Ottoman Empire, just as France emerged from the Revolution. French public life provides a wealth of examples, whether successes or failures, to draw upon in order to transform Egypt.
Réseaux sociaux