Simon Ockley (16789 August 1720) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Orientalist.

Biography

Ockley was born at

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

. He was educated at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

, and graduated B.A. in 1697, MA. in 1701, and B.D. in 1710. He became fellow of Jesus College and vicar of

Swavesey Swavesey is a village lying on the Prime Meridian in Cambridgeshire, England, with a population of 2,463. The village is situated 9 miles to the north west of Cambridge and 3 miles south east of St Ives. Listed as ''Suauesye'' in the Domesday ...

, and in 1711 was chosen

Adams Professor of Arabic Sir Thomas Adams's Professor of Arabic is a title used at Cambridge University for the holder of a professorship of Arabic; Sir Thomas Adams, 1st Baronet (1586–1668), Lord Mayor of London in 1645, gave to Cambridge University the money needed t ...

in the university. He had a large family, and his latter days were embittered by pecuniary embarrassments, which form the subject of a chapter in Isaac D'Israeli's ''Calamities of Authors''. The preface to the second volume of his '' History of the Saracens'' is dated from

Cambridge Castle Cambridge Castle, locally also known as Castle Mound, is located in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. Originally built after the Norman conquest to control the strategically important route to the north of England, it played a role in the conf ...

, where he lay a prisoner for debt. Ockley maintained that a knowledge of Oriental literature was essential to the proper study of theology, and in the preface to his first book, the '' Introductio ad linguas orientales'' (1706), he urges the importance of the study. He died at Swavesey.

Works

*''

The History of the Saracens ''The History of the Saracen Empires'' is a book written by Simon Ockley of Cambridge University and first published in the early 18th century. The book has been reprinted many times including at London in 1894. It was published in two volumes that ...

'', is his main work. It was published in two volumes, 1708–1718, and long enjoyed a great reputation; unfortunately Ockley took as his main authority a manuscript in the

Bodleian The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the sec ...

Al-Waqidi Abu `Abdullah Muhammad Ibn ‘Omar Ibn Waqid al-Aslami (Arabic ) (c. 130 – 207 AH; c. 747 – 823 AD) was a historian commonly referred to as al-Waqidi (Arabic: ). His surname is derived from his grandfather's name Waqid and thus he became fa ...

's ''Futúh al-Shám'', which is rather historical romance than histor

* A translation of

Leon Modena Leon de Modena or in Hebrew name Yehudah Aryeh Mi-Modena (1571–1648) was a Jewish scholar born in Venice to a family whose ancestors migrated to Italy after an expulsion of Jews from France. Life He was a precocious child and grew up to be a re ...

's ''History of the Present Jews throughout the World'' (1707). *'' The Improvement of Human Reason, exhibited in the Life of Hai Ebn Yokdhan'' (1708), an English translation of ''Hayy ibn Yaqdhan'', a 12th-century

philosophical novel Philosophical fiction refers to the class of works of fiction which devote a significant portion of their content to the sort of questions normally addressed in philosophy. These might explore any facet of the human condition, including the funct ...

Ibn Tufayl Ibn Ṭufail (full Arabic name: ; Latinized form: ''Abubacer Aben Tofail''; Anglicized form: ''Abubekar'' or ''Abu Jaafar Ebn Tophail''; c. 1105 – 1185) was an Arab Andalusian Muslim polymath: a writer, Islamic philosopher, Islamic theo ...

. * Translated from Arabic the ''Second Book of Esdras'' * ''An Aᴄᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ of Sᴏᴜᴛʜ-Wᴇsᴛ Bᴀʀʙᴀʀʏ: ᴄᴏɴᴛᴀɪɴɪɴɢ What is most Remarkable in the Territories of the Kɪɴɢ of Fᴇᴢ and Mᴏʀᴏᴄᴄᴏ. Written by a Person who had been a Slave there a considerable Time; and Published from his Authentick Manuscript. To which are Added, Two ʟᴇᴛᴛᴇʀs: One from the Present King of Mᴏʀᴏᴄᴄᴏ to Colonel Kirk; The Other to Sir Cloudesly Shovell: With Sir Cloudesly's Answer, &c.'' London: Printed for J. Bowyer and H. Clements, 1713

* ''Sentences of Ali son-in-law of Mahomet, and his fourth successor.'' Translated from an Arabic manuscript in the Bodleian library at Oxford. London, B. Lintot, 1717.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ockley, Simon 1678 births 1720 deaths Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Fellows of Jesus College, Cambridge Historians of the Middle East Translators from Arabic British Arabists Sir Thomas Adams's Professors of Arabic Writers from Exeter People from South Cambridgeshire District People imprisoned for debt

Biography

Works

References

Further reading

External links