Simon Ockley facts for kids
Simon Ockley (born in 1678 and passed away on August 9, 1720) was a British scholar who studied the languages and cultures of the Middle East, known as an Orientalist.
Simon Ockley's Life
Simon Ockley was born in Exeter. He went to Queens' College, Cambridge for his education. He earned his first degree in 1697 and continued his studies, getting more advanced degrees in 1701 and 1710.
He became a fellow at Jesus College and a vicar (a type of church leader) in a town called Swavesey. In 1711, he was chosen to be the Adams Professor of Arabic at the university. This was a very important job, meaning he was a leading expert in the Arabic language.
Simon Ockley had a large family. Towards the end of his life, he faced many money problems. These difficulties were so serious that he even spent time in Cambridge Castle because he couldn't pay his debts. He wrote the introduction to the second part of his book, History of the Saracens, while he was in prison.
Ockley strongly believed that understanding Middle Eastern literature was very important for studying theology (the study of religious faith). In his first book, Introductio ad linguas orientales (published in 1706), he wrote about how valuable this type of study was.
He died in Swavesey.
Simon Ockley's Books
Simon Ockley wrote several important books and translations:
- His most famous work is The History of the Saracens. This book was published in two parts between 1708 and 1718. It was very popular for a long time. However, Ockley mainly used a manuscript from the Bodleian Library by Al-Waqidi called Futúh al-Shám. This manuscript was more like an exciting story or historical romance than a completely accurate history. [1]
- He translated a book called History of the Present Jews throughout the World (1707) by Leon Modena.
- He also translated The Improvement of Human Reason, exhibited in the Life of Hai Ebn Yokdhan (1708). This was an English version of Hayy ibn Yaqdhan, which is a 12th-century philosophical novel written by Ibn Tufayl.
- He translated the Second Book of Esdras from Arabic.
- Another work was An Aᴄᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ of Sᴏᴜᴛʜ-Wᴇsᴛ Bᴀʀʙᴀʀʏ (1713). This book described what was most interesting in the lands ruled by the King of Fez and Morocco. It was written by someone who had been a slave there for a long time. [2]
- He translated Sentences of Ali son-in-law of Mahomet, and his fourth successor (1717) from an Arabic manuscript found in the Bodleian library at Oxford.
