ABSTRACT
Below are found extracts from a letter which 'Abduh wrote to Afghani following his exile to Beirut, which Rashid Rida prints on pp. 599-603 of his Tarikh, Vol. II, 2nd ed. What Rashid Rida has printed is presumably the text of a draft found among 'Abduh's papers. The original letter itself as received by Afghani has been recently printed by Afshar and Mahdavi in Documents, plates 134-137: the letter as here printed shows additions to and variations from the draft printed by Rashid Rida. Also, in this version the letter enables us to fill in names suppressed by Rashid Rida in his text out of discretion. In the translation which follows, as in the study itself, I have used the text of the Documents in preference to that of the Tarikh. Those parts of the letter dealing with Egyptian politics, have been discussed and quoted in the body of the study, and the extracts which follow deal only with 'Abduh's attitude to Afghani; they constitute the opening paragraphs of the letter and its penultimate one:
"[My Exalted Lord, whom God preserve and second in his purpose!]* Would that I knew what to write to you. You know what is in my soul, as youf know what is in yours. You have made us with your hands, invested our matter with its perfect form [and created us in the best shape]J. Through you have we known ourselves, through you have we known you, through you have we known the whole universe. Your knowledge of us is, as will not be hidden from you, a necessary knowledge, it is the knowledge you have of yourself, your confidence in your power and will; from you have we issued and to you, to you do we return.
