Defining a Christian Virtue in the Islamic Context: the Concept of Gratitude in Elias of Nisibis’ Kitāb dafʿ al-hamm

Abstract

The eleventh-century “Nestorian” cleric Elias of Nisibis’ (d. 1046) Kitāb dafʿ al-hamm (The Book of Elimination of Grief) provides a strategy for readers to deal with unwanted sorrow and help them to attain moral perfection. This article focuses on an unstudied part of Dafʿ al-hamm, the virtue of gratitude, which constitutes the second chapter of the book. Analyzing the content, structure, and language, this article intends to determine how gratitude is defined and promoted in the text and the ways in which the author engaged with the surrounding Islamic culture. Throughout the chapter, Elias employs traditional Islamic material, from Sufi sources to ḥadīth quotations, to encourage his Christian audience to attain gratitude. This implies a high level of integration of the author and his Christian readers in the surrounding Islamic culture.

Keywords

• Christian ethics
• gratitude
• Elias of Nisibis
• Dafʿ al-hamm

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