254 chapter six
Ja"afer al-Dìmashqì(late 12th century)
al-Isharah fi Maœàsin al-Tijarah, Book of Good TradingIt is not certain when al-Dìmashqìwas born or when he died, though
it has been suggested that he had lived during the latter half of the
twelfth century. This can be inferred from the date when al-Dìmashqì
said he had finished writing his book, “al-Isharah fi Maœàsin al-
Tijarah”, a date which had been stated by him as being 570 A.H.,
corresponding to 1175 A.C. He must have lived part of his life in
Damascus, Syria, before he moved somewhere else as we see him
nicknamed “al-Dìmashqì” or the “Damascusan”, the man from
Damascus. The period in which al-Dìmashqìlived witnessed the end
of the rising power of the Fatimid caliphate in Cairo, under which
Syria was also governed, and the rising influence of the Mamlùk
flul≈àn flalaadin (or flalah-al-Dìn).
The Book
“Al-Isharah fiMaœàsin al-Tijara”, “Indicators, or summary, of Good
Trading”, has various distinctive features, as we can see below.
Wealth
Al-Dìmashqì did not start his book with man, his necessities, and
needs or spending, as the writers before him had. Instead he started
with the definition of wealth, “Màl”—a reflection of him being a
business man or an entrepreneur, as well as a scholar. He equated
“Màl” with “possessions”, regardless of that being great or small.
Interestingly, he provided a taxonomy of wealth that is based on the
nature of the item of wealth of being able to generate wealth or
otherwise. To use modern terms, al-Dìmashqì’s classification of wealth
could be looked at in terms of whether the item is a fixed asset, in
an accounting sense, or a current asset. In other words, an asset
that may be used in producing another asset, or an asset that is
ready, per se, for final use.
He classified wealth into four categories:
First, what is not subject to trade, though it could be important
to the business, such as money,
Second, what could be subject to trade, such as stock, moveable
goods, metal and the products made from it,