Revival of the Magian Civilization

The Other Middle East

The Flight into Egypt (Night), by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1897)

“One should not search for anything behind the phenomena. They themselves are the message.”

Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years (1821) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I visited the Middle East recently, and I was amazed. Something is slowly taking shape in the Gulf, far away from the wars, conflicts, and miserable current state of affairs. 

Of course, I was mainly interested in learning about the war in Gaza and the relationship between the Gulf and the Islamic Republic of Iran, especially at a time when Israel normalized relations with several Arab countries. But something else caught my attention: Culture.

I had an epiphany when I was talking to my dear friend last night about The Memoirs of Tahmasp I which were translated by the remarkable scholar Dr. A.C.S. Peacock. My friend remarked how Middle East studies especially in regards to archeology and translations are booming.

Since my time in London in 2019, I have noticed that the Arab world has invested heavily in cultural projects, translations, and competitions… It is only this year that I have fully appreciated the extent of it all. 

Arab culture is, after all, a culture that reveres the word, the good word, the just word, the appropriate word, the beautiful word, the well-written word. It's the culture of calligraphy, poetry, and esoteric prose. It's the culture of Al-Mutanabbi, Ibn al-Farid, and even Maimonides. It's the culture of sophisticated mysticism, and contrary to common belief, it is also the culture of romantic madness.

Arabic is a challenging and complex language, sometimes even inaccessible, which is why it has been difficult for it to shine in our "postmodern and inclusive" century. Another main reason, an obvious one, is how Jihadism, terrorism, and Islamic radicalism have distorted it all or simply made the most faithful Orientalists lose interest. It is difficult to focus on the beauty of a culture when it is the subject of the greatest perversions. 

There was also decay that one can trace back to the Renaissance. The triumph of a materialistic and technically superior European civilization created a tremendous cultural gap between the East and the West, despite both having roots in the Ancient Greek tradition. Many forget how much the Graeco-Arabic translation movement and introductions to Hellenic culture were key in the Islamic Golden Age. 

The Arab world also embarked on centuries of battles, constantly redefining and reconstructing itself. Those days are now over. There is a general understanding in the Gulf that the wars might continue, but this time not at the expense of the flourishing of the mind. 

The abundance of museums, galleries, and study areas is noteworthy. Especially compared to a few decades ago. But, what is interesting is how much time and resources were devoted to restoring pre-Islamic artifacts, sites, and manuscripts. It is not only a sign that Gulf Arabs are reconciling with their history and embracing their complex identity but that they are choosing intellectual openness, something the Arab and Islamic worlds have not excelled in since the Medieval era despite several attempts. 

When I visited, I could not help but think of Oswald Spengler's Decline of the West, as he classified the non-Babylonian Middle East in the "Magian" category. He pointed out how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam shaped the Magian soul, which he considered ontologically different from the Faustian (European) one. I thought especially of the following paragraph: 

"The Magian man, with his spiritual kind of being, is only a part of a pneumatic "We" that, descending from above, is one and the same in all believers. As body and soul he belongs to himself alone, but something else, something alien and higher, dwells in him..."

In fact, the Gulf is reviving this Magian soul. One can even speculate about how Israel's greater integration as a representative of Jewish and Hebraic civilization might accelerate the phenomenon.

These are my perhaps naive impressions, as I am overtly making generalizations and not diving into the political implications. Nonetheless, I believe that they matter. Like a butterfly that undergoes several stages until it completes its metamorphosis, I can tell that something similar is happening in the Gulf. The wars and conflicts conceal a profound cultural change, a silent earthquake, that cannot be measured through economic or social indicators—not yet.