Reynold A. Nicholson

{{Short description|British orientalist (1868–1945)}} {{Expand German|topic=bio|Reynold Alleyne Nicholson|date=May 2026}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}} {{Use British English|date=February 2015}} {{Infobox writer | embed = | honorific_prefix = | name = Reynold A. Nicholson | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FBA}} | image = Reynold A. Nicholson.jpg | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1868|8|18|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Keighley]], [[West Riding of Yorkshire]], England | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1945|8|27|1868|8|18}} | death_place = [[Chester]], [[Cheshire]], England | resting_place = | occupation = {{flatlist| * Orientalist * translator * scholar }} | language = | nationality = British | citizenship =  | education = | alma_mater = {{plainlist| * [[University of Aberdeen]] * [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] }} | period = | genre =  | subject =  | movement = | notable_works = | spouse =  | partner =  | children = | parent = [[Henry Alleyne Nicholson]] (father) | relatives = | awards = [[Porson Prize]] (1890) | signature = | signature_alt = | years_active = | module = | website =  | portaldisp =  }}

'''Reynold Alleyne Nicholson''', [[Fellow of the British Academy|FBA]] (18 August 1868 – 27 August 1945), or '''R. A. Nicholson''', was an eminent [[English people|English]] [[oriental studies|orientalist]], scholar of both [[Islamic literature]] and [[Sufism|Islamic mysticism]], and widely regarded as one of the greatest [[Rumi]] (Mevlana or Mawlana) scholars and translators in the [[English language]].

==Life== The son of [[Henry Alleyne Nicholson]], he was born at [[Keighley]], [[West Riding of Yorkshire]], [[England]] and died at [[Chester]], [[Cheshire]]. He was educated at [[University of Aberdeen]] and [[Trinity College, Cambridge]],<ref>{{acad|id=NCL887RA|name=Nicholson, Reynold Alleyne}}</ref> where he won the [[Porson Prize]] twice.<ref>"Obituary: Professor R. A. Nicholson", ''[[The Guardian]]'', 31 August 1945, p. 8. Retrieved 16 July 2020.</ref>

Nicholson was professor of [[Persian language|Persian]] at [[University College London]] from 1901 to June 1902,<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=University College London |date=7 June 1902 |page=12 |issue=36788}}</ref> then lecturer in Persian at the [[University of Cambridge]] from 1902 to 1926, and [[Sir Thomas Adams's Professor of Arabic]] at the [[University of Cambridge]] from 1926 to 1933.<ref>H. A. R. Gibb, ‘Nicholson, Reynold Alleyne (1868–1945)’, rev. Christine Woodhead, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/35230, accessed 24 Oct 2016] Reynold Alleyne Nicholson (1868–1945): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/35230</ref> He is considered a leading scholar in [[Islamic literature]] and [[Sufism|Islamic mysticism]] who exercised a lasting influence on [[Islamic studies]].<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9055742 Reynold Alleyne Nicholson, Britannica.com entry]</ref><ref name="Gibb 2004">{{Citation | last = Gibb | first = H. A. R. | contribution = Nicholson, Reynold Alleyne | year = 2004 | title = Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | place = Oxford | publisher = Oxford University Press }}</ref> He was able to study and translate major [[Sufi]] texts in [[Arabic]], [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] and [[Ottoman Turkish language|Ottoman Turkish]] to English. Nicholson wrote two influential books: ''Literary History of The Arabs'' (1907) and ''The Mystics of Islam'' (1914).<ref name="Gibb 2004"/>

He was one of the original trustees of the [[Gibb Memorial Series|Gibb Memorial Trust]].<ref>[https://archive.org/details/tajribalumamor05ibnmuoft/page/n12 ''The Tajârib al-umam; or, History of Ibn Miskawayh''], Volume V, Leiden: E. J. Brill and London: Luzac & Co., 1913. Retrieved 20 December 2022.</ref>

== Works ==

* ''Studies in Islamic Mysticism'', Cambridge University Press, 1921. * ''Le soufisme en 101 définitions'', Éditions i, mai 2023 (ISBN 978-2-37650-105-3)

===Works on Rumi=== Nicholson's [[masterpiece|magnum opus]] was his work on Rumi's ''[[Masnavi]]'', published in eight volumes between 1925 and 1940. He produced the first critical Persian edition of the Masnavi, the first full translation of it into English, and the first commentary on the entire work in English. This work has been highly influential in the field of Rumi studies worldwide.<ref name="Gibb 2004"/>

===Work on Ali Hujwiri Daata Ganj Bakhsh=== Nicholson translated the famous [[Persian language|Persian]] book on [[sufism]] ''[[Kashf ul Mahjoob]]'' into English which was written by the famous [[saint]] of the Subcontinent, [[Ali Hujwiri]] Daata Ganj Bakhsh<ref>{{cite book|last=Nicholson|first=Reynold|title=Kashf al-Mahjub of al-Hajvari|year=2000|publisher=E. J. W. Gibb Memorial}}</ref>

===Works on Iqbal=== Being a teacher of the [[India]]n scholar and poet, [[Muhammad Iqbal]], Nicholson translated Iqbal's first philosophical poetry book, ''[[Asrar-i-Khudi]]'', from Persian into English and titled it,''[[The Secrets of the Self]]''.

===Other significant translations=== * The Sufi treatise of [[Hujviri]] * [[Rumi]]'s ''[[Mathnawi]]'' * Rumi's ''[[Divan-i Shams-i Tabrizi]] (Divan e Shams)'', 1898 * [[Ibn Arabi]]'s ''[[Tarjumān al-Ashwāq]]'' (1911) * Poetry by the [[Sindhi language]] poet [[Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai]]<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Н.wrote|first1=Ходжа|last2=hojja_nusreddin|first2=Ходжа Н.|title=Reynold Alleyne Nicholson (August 18, 1868 – August 27, 1945)|url=https://hojja-nusreddin.livejournal.com/2947040.html|access-date=28 January 2022|website=hojja-nusreddin.livejournal.com|language=en-us}}</ref> *Poetry by the [[Punjabi language]] poet [[Bulleh Shah]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pakistan Journal of Language Studies|url=http://archive.org/details/article-5-v-3-1-pjls|title=Pragma-Stylistic Analysis of Bulleh Shah's Translated Poem "Ilmon Bas kren O-Yaar"|date=28 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Amir|first1=Dr|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339676837|title=Suggested Socio-Religious Reforms by Regional Sufi (Mystic) Poets: Analysis of Selected Poets of Punjab|last2=Dr|first2=Ahmad|date=4 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Bulleh Shah - The Love-Intoxicated Iconclast {{!}} PDF {{!}} Sufism|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/519882149/Bulleh-Shah-The-Love-Intoxicated-Iconclast|access-date=28 January 2022|website=Scribd|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Das|first=Sisir Kumar|date=2003|title=The Mad Lover|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23341676|journal=Indian Literature|volume=47|issue=3 (215)|pages=149–178|jstor=23341676|issn=0019-5804}}</ref>

===Students=== Among Nicholson's students was [[Arthur John Arberry|A. J. Arberry]], a translator of Rumi and the Quran. Another student, [[Muhammad Iqbal]], was a famous poet and has been called the "Spiritual Father of [[Pakistan]]". He briefly tutored Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, during summer holidays when the latter was a student at Oxford in 1920-1921. The subject was translation techniques.

==See also== *[[Persian literature]] *[[Sufi poetry]] *[[Iranology]] *[[Ali Hujwiri]] *[[Rumi]] *[[Muhammad Iqbal|Iqbal]] *''[[The Secrets of the Self]]''

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{wikisource|works=or}} * {{Gutenberg author | id=39176}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Reynold Alleyne Nicholson}} * {{Librivox author |id=15413}} * [https://archive.org/details/cu31924083936561 ''A Literary History of the Arabs'' (1907)] at Google Books * [https://books.google.com/books?id=TXX9IM0wbsoC ''The Mystics of Islam'' (1914)] at Google Books * [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9055742 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'''s entry for Reynold Nicholson] * {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928142921/http://www.dar-al-masnavi.org/about-nicholson.html |date=28 September 2007 |title=Bio from Dar-al-Mathnawi }} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20061017141204/http://www.globalwebpost.com/farooqm/study_res/rumi/intro_nicholson.html Short bio of Rumi by Reynold Alleyne Nicholson] * [http://www.allamaiqbal.com/works/poetry/persian/asrar/translation/index.htm ''The Secrets of the Self''], from Iqbal Academy {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Reynold}} [[Category:1868 births]] [[Category:1945 deaths]] [[Category:People from Keighley]] [[Category:English orientalists]] [[Category:British Iranologists]] [[Category:British Arabists]] [[Category:Iqbal scholars]] [[Category:British scholars of Islam]] [[Category:Rumi scholars]] [[Category:Sir Thomas Adams's Professors of Arabic]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of Aberdeen]] [[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]] [[Category:British translators]]