The Name of the Key

Sirāj al-Dīn Abū Yaʿqūb Yūsuf al-Sakkākī’s (d. 626/1229) Miftāḥ al-ʿulūm is one of the most influential and seminal works dedicated to al-balāghah (Muslim eloquence), and one of the most extensively studied, although frequently criticised for alleged prescriptiveness and dryness. Often providing close readings on how concepts are organized within the work, previous scholarly treatments have isolated the Miftāḥ from the rest of al-Sakkākī’s production, the part that accounts for the author’s life as both locksmith and scholar, and his gloomy penchant for cultivating sciences and occultism. Conceiving al-Sakkākī’s scientist’s approach to cause and consequence as an attempt to frame them within a coherent divine and cultural project, I argue that his use of logic and wonder can be conceived as the key to a cardiogram-like mapping of emotions accessible to human rationality. My inquiries focus on al-Sakkākī’s understanding of al-ḥaqīqah wa-l-majāz and his bold perlocutionary style, sketching the craftsmans-like basis of his modus operandi in the Miftāḥ to show how the framing of language control in communicative performance retains the power of silence and the mystery of human art. This approach positions the Miftāḥ’s “dryness” and prescriptiveness as the logical output of a project intended to explore the craft, not the beauty, of the handicraft, like a spell that simultaneously performs the prodigy without unveiling its mystery. Key words: al-Sakkākī • balāghah • magic • pragmatics • literary craftsmanship • perlocutionary speech acts