Arabic Poetry

This critical Arabic text edition of Salwat al-ʿārifīn wa-uns al-mushtāqīn, a manual of early Sufism by Abū Khalaf al-Ṭabarī (d. ca. 470/1077), is based on a very old manuscript preserved in Dār al-Kutub al-Miṣrīya of Cairo, Egypt and copied in 459/1067. It is introduced by a detailed analytical study of the author and his work. Salwat al-ʿārifīn forms an integral part of Sufi literature and reflects Islamic developments in Nishapur in northeastern Iran. This crucial Arabic text, published for the first time, is especially valuable because of its great philological accuracy and sound textual tradition. It represents an essential source for the intellectual history of Islam during the middle of the 4th/10th to the middle of the 5th/11th century.

Examines the literary topos of dawn, the "Alba," in Persian poetry in comparative perspective, first considering the Alba poem in medieval Provencal lyric in southern France and northern Italy, establishing how the theme of the parting of two lovers at dawn was a well-established trope in European poetry of the medieval and renaissance periods.  A close parallel also appears in the Arabic poetry of Andalusia, perhaps with some interchange.  In Persian there are also some examples of the "Alba" theme -- the ghazals of Sa`di but especially Sana'i. Although Hafiz' poems do not use the Alba theme  in the same way, Hafiz does set many of his ghazals (perhaps 1/5 of all his ghazals) in the dawn or early morning.  The article develops how Hafiz uses the topos of dawn and why it is integral to his mythopoetic vocabulary.

The paper (in French) analyses the influence of German philosophy, especially Nietzsche and Heidegger, on the poetry and thinking of the Syrian Poet Adunis (or Adonis, pen-name for Ali Ahmad Said Esber). It was published in the catalogue of the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris on the occasion of an exhibition about Adunis in 2000.

I wrote these spiritual Rubaiyyat or quartains and published them among my friends on WhatsApp and other electronic devices during the last Ramadan 1440 H. (i.e. in 2019) at a rate of one Quartain every day except Fridays on which I published some of my old spiritual poems. Some of my friends then suggested that I translate them to English and publish them in both languages together in one single volume. Meanwhile Dr. Sabrina Lei, who had translated into Italian my joint book with my son Dr. Waddah on Surat Al-Fatihah as well as a selection of my poems, asked me if I had an interesting new work for translation into Italian. I showed her these Rubaiyyat and she thought they were suitable. I suggested that they were published in the three languages in one volume.


Tawasul International is devoted to building bridges of understanding between the world of Islam and the West, furthering interfaith dialogue, challenging islamophobia, sharing the peaceful message Islam with others in an unobtrusive way, sponsoring both academic and public conferences on Islam, networking among scholars and other foundations that have got similar aims like Tawasul and publishing high quality books and monographs on Islam, Arab-Muslim culture and Islam’s relationship with the West and Christianity, etc.

Dr. Shihab M. Ghanem is a UAE citizen living in Dubai. He has published about 80  books in Arabic and English including 19 books of Arabic verses and 30 collection of translated verses, 13 of them from Arabic to English. Some of his poetry has been translated into 18 languages. There are more than 20 songs by various singers including Sami Yousuf based on his poems. He is the recipient of about 30 awards including Tagore Peace Award (2012); World Poetry Society Intercontinental Poetry Award, Chennai, 2013; UAE Cultural Personality of the Year, Al-Owais Creativity Awards (2013). He is currently retired and his last posts were: Director of Engineering Dubai Ports & Jebel Ali Free Zone and Managing Director of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Technology Park, Dubai, UAE.

The significance of the Arabic language holds back from its being one of the most explicit languages in its brilliance and its repeated ability to adapt to countless other sciences and knowledge. The Arabic language has reached creativity and originality in different fields of literature in which the greatest is poetry.
The paper aims at scrutinizing the figurative, rhetorical and aesthetic images in Lamiyyat Al Arab by Ash-Shanfara in which it follows the deductive, inductive critical approach focusing analytically on the first ten verses of the poem. Applying the historical-analytical method, the study attempts to reveal in the in-depth analysis of the aesthetic qualities and poetic issues as well as the figurative images in the poem. It commences with an introduction on Arabia and Poetic Language then moves to shed light on the protagonist-poet Ash-Shanfara as a great Arabic poet to be concluded with analysis and comments on the poem Lamiyyat Al-Arab trying to find out the original Arab values, morals, ethics, and tenets in the pre-Islam era it contains.

In order for the English reader to understand, enjoy and appreciate
contemporary Iraqi poetry, light must be shed
on its past.
The reader will find that the translated poetry reflects the experiences of
theIraqi people, dictatorship, social
problems and the horrors of war and terrorism that the country still endures.
The article that accompanies the poems, written by Professor Malik AlMuttalibi (College of Fine Art, Baghdad
University) aims to paint a picture of the historical background of
contemporary Iraqi poetry and the stages through
which it went.
Khaloud Al-Muttalibi

The most popular expression of poetry in Urdu and Persian, the ghazal is known as much as a poetic form as it is as a genre of music. The ghazal has roots in seventh-century Arabia, and gained prominence in the thirteenth and fourteenth century due to works of Persian poets like Rumi and Hafiz. Indian poets started writing ghazal in Urdu and Persian in the eighteenth century.

يقدم هذا الكتاب بجزئيه نصوصًا أدبية متنوعة لأحد أهم رواد النهضة العربية الحديثة وهو عبد الله بن مصباح بن إبراهيم الإدريسي الذي عٌرف فيما بعد باسم عبد الله النديم. الجزء الأول هو ديوان النديم الشعري، والذي يطالعه القاريء العربي للمرة الأولى منذ وفاة النديم في العقد الأخير من القرن التاسع عشر. ويحتوى على كل ما وصلت إليه أيدينا من إنتاج عبد الله النديم الشعري، شعرًا وزجلاً، وهي حصيلة جهد سنوات طوال أمضاها مؤلف الكتاب بحثًا وتنقيبًا عن قصائد النديم وأبياته الشعرية وأزجاله في بطون الكتب والدوريات. ونزعم من خلال هذا الجهد أن الجزء الأول من كتاب "نصوص عبد الله النديم"، أي "الديوان الشعري"، هو أول ديوان شعر مطبوع وكامل له منذ عصر عبد الله النديم نفسه؛ وذلك أن دواوين شعر النديم وأزجاله قد آل أغلبها إلى التلف والفقد.

يسد كتاب "نصوص عبد الله النديم: الديوان الشعري والآثار النثرية" فراغًا كبيرًا في المكتبة العربية حيث يقدم إضاءات من الأهمية بمكانٍ فيما يتعلق بالكتابة الأدبية في عصر النهضة العربية في الربع الأخير من القرن التاسع عشر، كما يكشف عن فترة زمنية مهمة في تاريخ مصر الحديث وهي الثورة العرابية نتعرف فيها من خلاله بعمق على أهم أحداثها ومآلاتها بقلم خطيبها وثائرها وفيلسوفها عبد الله النديم.

This article is a literary analysis on the novel Kubah by Ahmad Tohari by using semiotic theory of Charles Sanders Pierce. This analysis discusses the religious aspects which are symbolized through the characters and background. the results shows that the characters Karman, Hajj Bakir, and Kastaghetek symbolize the humanity in achieving individual and social glory, whereas Pegaten is the name of the village that became a symbol of communal wisdom and piety; brotherhood, friendly, sense of tolerance, no hatred. The dome (Kubah) which becomes the highest element of the mosque is a symbol of religious ecstasy of humans in their vertical and horizontal interaction.

PLEASE NOTE: We are creating an international network of international researchers into the Arabic and Hebrew traditions of muwashshah and zajal poetry. If you would like to join this network, send an e-mail to [email protected]

A collection of the strophic lyrics of Ibn al-'Arabi of Murcia translated and edited by Federico Corriente and Ed Emery. Published in London and Zaragoza on the occasion of the conference "Arabic and Hebrew Strophic Poetry and its Romance Parallels", held at SOAS, London, 8-10 October 2004.

The muwashahat were the product of the popular Arabic literary tradition, but their progress is associated with social factors in the Andalusi setting. This article is an attempt to study the inspiration of the Arabic language focusing on a literary genre like the Arabic Andalusian Muwashshah as a legacy of the graceful language. The paper constitutes an endeavor to assess the motivation and influence of the Arabic tongue on the literary practice of Andalusia with reference to the muwashshah particularly a piece of poetry of the same genre by a leading poet, Ibrahim Ibn Sahl Al-Ishbili Andalusi. The researcher, in this paper, undertakes to show the perspicacity of some verses of Ibn Sahl as a case of the elegance of the Arabic tongue. Ibn Sahl’s muwashshah is worthy of being not given enough attention principally his poetry as a legacy of the dignified Arabic tongue in a part of the European continent. As a suitable approach, the researcher applies the descriptive-analysis. The article commences with a succinct exploratory framework on the importance of the Arabic language and its bond with poetry because poetry is the jewelry of Knowledge. The next point gives a justified illustration on the Muwashshah as an impact of Arab Muslims. Then, it moves progressively to present some crucial notions on the poet Ibn Sahl Al Andalusi. After that, the study attempts to give an analysis on one of the muwashshah, trying to probe the depth of the language the poet applied. Through this portion, the researcher tries to find out the influence of the Arabic tongue and to exemplify the aptitudes of Ibn Sahl through lyrics. The article finishes with a concise conclusion précising the complete analysis and commenting on the recommendations if the researcher may recommend.

This work presents a poetic translation as well as a linguistic and stylistic commentary in the form of annotations, of the Mu‘allaqât, the most famous anthology of pre-Islamic Arabic poetry, in its standard version (in order of translation: Antara, Imru' al-Qays, Tarafa, Zuhayr, 'Amr ibn Kulthûm, al-Hârith b. Hilliza, Labîd). Each poem is preceded by an introduction on the poet, the structure and thematic of the poem and the existing translations in the main European languages. The introduction offers an overview on the problems linked to the translation of these poems, with a special emphasis on their variation rather than their authenticity.

Actualités, p. 1
Obituaire, p. 1
nCmY, p. 3
Yémen, p. 3
Épigraphie, p. 37
Abou Dhabi, p. 38
Arabie, p. 38
Arabie p. 38
Émirats Arabes Unis p. 40
Sharjah p. 41
Revue de presse p. 42
ENCART :
Julian Jansen van Rensburg (Heritage Researcher Royal Botanical Garden
Edinburgh) The threatened cultural heritage of Soqotra: reports of subversion, looting and theft of antiquities and ancient manuscripts .p. 53

Articles
Carl Davila (The College at Brockport, SUNY, NY) & Anne Regourd (CNRS,UMR 7192)
Données sur les papiers à timbres secs des manuscrits d’al-āla p. 64

Alessandro Gori (Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies,
University of Copenhagen)
Yemenite mystic poetry among Ethiopian Muslims: a note on the case of
ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Buraʿī p. 82

Appel à contribution Lexicographie de la péninsule Arabique p. 107

Abdelhamid Drira (Doctorant en histoire contemporaine, Sorbonne Université) Lexicographie de la péninsule Arabique. 1.Genèse et sources du Dictionnaire arabe-français d’Albert de Biberstein Kazimirski (20 novembre 1808 Korchów-22 Juin 1887 Paris) : la question de la part des dictionnaires « yéménites » p. 115

This review has been published in Romano-Arabica XVII (2017): Fictional beings in Middle East Cultures.
Muhammad al-Sharkawi, History and Development of the Arabic Language, London and New York, Routledge, 2017, 274 p. ISBN 978-1-138-82152-1

Indiana University Press, 2002. Pp. xvi + 383.
Arabic translation, Al-Qaṣīdah wa al-Sulṭah: al-Ustūrah, al-Junūsah, wa al-Marāsim fī al-Shi‛r al-‛Arabī al-Qadīm. Trans. Hasan al-Banna ‛Izz al-Din in collaboration with the author. Egyptian National Center for Translation, 2010.

“ . . . transcends the realm of literature and poetic criticism to include virtually every field of Arabic and Islamic studies.” —Roger Allen

Throughout the classical Arabic literary tradition, from its roots in pre-Islamic Arabia until the end of the Golden Age in the 10th century, the courtly ode, or qasida, dominated other poetic forms. In The Poetics of Islamic Legitimacy, Suzanne Stetkevych explores how this poetry relates to ceremony and political authority and how the classical Arabic ode encoded and promoted a myth and ideology of legitimate Arabo-Islamic rule. Beginning with praise poems to pre-Islamic Arab kings, Stetkevych takes up poetry in praise of the Prophet Mohammed and odes addressed to Arabo-Islamic rulers. She explores the rich tradition of Arabic praise poems in light of ancient Near Eastern rites and ceremonies, gender, and political culture. Stetkevych’s superb English translations capture the immediacy and vitality of classical Arabic poetry while opening up a multifaceted literary tradition for readers everywhere.

ADONİS 1930 yılında Suriye'nin Lazkiye iline bağlı Kassabin köyünde doğduğunda işgal altındadır ülkesi. Çocukluk yıllarında tarlada çalışarak babasına yardımcı olur. Bir yandan da babasının kendisine öğrettiği şiirleri ezberler. Şiirle bu erken tanışıklığı erken düşürür kelimelerin ateşini içine. Daha çocuk denebilecek yaşlarda düşer kendi dizelerinin peşine.

"Like all multi-lingual computing, Arabic computing is now firmly in the domain of Unicode. Unicode is an industrial protocol with the status of international agreement. It is designed to encode the elements of all known script systems in such a way that they become interchangeable between programs and operating systems. Its implementation is well underway.

Unicode eliminates the need to tamper with fonts to get special characters, but it is not a font. For legible text on screen and paper, Unicode depends on compatible fonts with the required characters, where necessary with additional dedicated font technology."

This study named “An Arab Poet in the Ottoman Period Ibn an-Naqib al-Hussainy and His Poems” attempts to
analyze the life of Ibn an-Naqib al-Hussainy, a poet of the Ottoman period, and his
poetries in terms of their contentual and formal properties.
The thesis consists of an introduction and three chapters. The introduction gives
a general description about the situation of Damascus in the 17th century, where Ibn
an-Naqib lived. The first chapter deals with the poet’s life, his books and his literary
identity. The second chapter analyzes his poetry’s content. The third chapter evaluates
his poetries based on their stylistic properties. Ibn an-Naqib composed poetries on
ikhwaneyat, nature, wine, praise, love etc. He has an unsophisticated language. While
figures of speech in his poetries are rich, simile and imagery are an important part of
his style.
In conclusion, this study showed that the poetries of Ibn an-Naqib are valuable in
point of content, language and style and that he is one of the distinguished poets in his
day.
Key Words: Ibn an-Naqib, Arabic Poetry in the Ottoman Period, Diwan Ibn an-
Naqib, Damascus, Ikhwaneyat, Nature, Simile, Imagery

Çağdaş Arap şiirinin en önemli isimlerinden olan Mahmud Derviş, 1941' de Filistin sahilindeki Akka şehrinin Berve köyünde doğdu. Henüz yedi yaşındayken işgal edilen köyünü ailesiyle birlikte terk edip pek çok Filistinli gibi Güney Lübnan'a mülteci olarak yerleşti. Savaşın durgunlaştığı bir dönemde ailesiyle birlikte ülkesine dönen Derviş, doğduğu köyün yok edildiğini gördü. Filistin'in kuzeyinde bir başka köye yerleşmek zorunda kalan aileye, "ülkeye kaçak yollarla girdikleri" gerekçesiyle ikamet belgesi verilmedi; Derviş, bu kez kendi ülkesinde mülteci durumuna düştü. Ardından yine ailesiyle Hayfa'ya yerleşen Derviş, burada lise eğitimini tamamladı. El-İttihad adlı gazetede çalışmaya başladıktan kısa süre sonra tutuklandı. Araplarla Yahudilerin birlikte örgütlendikleri Maki yani İsrail Komünist Partisi'ne üye oldu. Faaliyetleri nedeniyle defalarca cezaevine kondu, zorunlu ikamete mecbur edildi. 1970'te sonra Moskova' da eğitim almaya başlayan Derviş, daha sonra Kahire'ye geçti. Burada Arap dünyasının efsanevi yazarları ve müzisyenleriyle tanıştı. Uhibbuki ev lâ uhibbuki [Seni Seviyorum yahut Sevmiyorum] adlı kitabını yayımladı. 1973'te Beyrut'a yerleşen şair, şehrin İsrail askerleri tarafından işgal edilişine, en yakın dostlarının öldürülüşüne ve Sabra ve Şatila katliamı gibi büyük insanlık suçlarına tanık oldu. 1982' de Şam mercilerinden davet aldı ve coşkuyla karşılandığı Suriye'ye yerleşti. Şam' dan ayrıldıktan sonra Filistin mücadelesinin önderlerinden Yaser Arafat'ın isteğiyle editörlüğünü yaptığı Karmel adlı dergiyi yayımlamaya devam etti. Kıbrıs'ta basılan ve tüm Arap coğrafyasına dağıtılan dergiyi Derviş, Paris'ten yönetiyordu. Paris yılları şairin kültürel ve poetik ilgi ve etki alanlarının genişlemesini sağladı, Derviş bu dönemde dünyanın çeşitli yörelerinden ağırlıklı olarak siyasal nedenlerle göç etmiş, sürülmüş entelektüellerle, sanatçılarla güçlü bağlar kurdu. İşgal altındaki Filistin' de Filistinliler belirli özerklikler edinince Ramallah'a döndü. Karmel'i burada çıkarmaya devam etti. Cidâriyye (Mural), Hâlet hisâr [Kuşatma Hali], Kezehr el-lavz ev eb' ad [Badem Çiçeği Gibi yahut Daha Ötesi] gibi kitaplarını Amman ve Ramallah'ta kaleme aldı. Dünyayı tanımış, hem Arap kültürünün köklerine hem de insanlığın ortak değerlerine eğilmiş olan şairin pek çok dünya diline çevrilen şiirleri günümüzde baskı ve zulme karşı direnişin evrensel sembolleri arasında sayılmaktadır. Filistin ulusal kimliğinin kurucu figürleri arasında yer alan Mahmud Derviş 2008' de Ramallah'ta yaşama veda etti. Filistin hükümeti, şairin ölümü üzerine ulusal yas ilan etmiş, Filistin halkı "büyük oğlunu" yüz binlerin katılımıyla sonsuzluğa uğurlamıştır. Bazı şiir kitapları: Asâfir bilâ ecniha [Kanatsız Kuşlar]; Evrâk ez-zeytûn [Zeytin Yaprakları]; Âşik min Filastîn [Filistin' den Bir Âşık]; Âhir el-leyl [Gecenin Sonu]; el-Asâfîr temût fi'l-Celîl [Celile' de Kuşlar Ölüyor]; A'râs [Düğünler]; Hisâr li medâ'ih el-bahr [Deniz Methiyelerini Kuşatma]; Hiye uğniye, hiye uğniye [O Bir Şarkıdır, O Bir Şarkı]; Vard akall [Daha Az Gül]; Lâ urîdu li hâzi'l-kasîde en tentehî [Bu Şiirin Bitmesini İstemiyorum]; Fî hadrat el-gıyâb [Yokluğun Varlığında].

Thābit b. Qurra (d. 288/901), a Sabian of Ḥarrān, and his descendants remained in their ancestral religion for six generations. Why did they persist despite pressure to convert? This article argues that religious self-identification as a Sabian could be a distinct advantage in Baghdad’s elite circles. It focuses on Thābit’s great-grandson Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm b. Hilāl al-Ṣābī (d. 384/994) and his poetry as collected by al-Thaʿālibī (d. 429/1038). Two members of the family who did convert are also considered by way of contrast.

In this comprehensive analysis of Arabic poetry during the period of the crusades (sixth/twelfth-seventh/thirteenth centuries), Osman Latiff provides an insightful examination of the poets who inspired Muslims to unite in the jihād against the Franks. The Cutting Edge of the Poet's Sword not only contributes to our understanding of literary history, it also illuminates a broad spectrum of religiosity and the role of political propaganda in the anti-Frankish Muslim struggle. Latiff shows how poets, often used by the ruling elite to promote their rule, emphasised the centrality of Islam's holy sites to inspire the Muslim response to the occupation and later reconquest of Jerusalem, and expressed some surprising views of Frankish Christians. All interested in the study of the Crusades, Muslim medieval history, and the various strands of propaganda and ideology behind the Muslim anti-Frankish jihad.

Muwashsha is a genre of strophic poetry composed mainly in formal Arabic that originated in al-Andalus at the end of the third/ninth century. While muwashsha is the name of the genre; a single poem in that genre is called a muwashshaa (pl. muwashshat). It is held that the muwashsha spread to the East of the Islamic world in the fifth/eleventh century. The muwashsha cannot be qualified as a literary genre only. From the beginning music and performance have been two of its most distinctive, if not constitutive, features. The muwashsha should therefore be considered a "musico-poetic form" (Reynolds, 35) or genre.

Saf ve temiz duyguların tahrikiyle, Arabistan’ın çetin çöllerinde filizlenen iffetli aşk şiirleri, İslam öncesinden itibaren klasik Arap edebiyatının dikkat çekici temalarından birisi olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Emevî Dönemiyle birlikte gelişen ve standartlaştırılan bu özgün tema, Abbâsî Döneminde de etkisini devam ettirmeyi başarmış ve asrın önemli şairlerinden olan el-‘Abbâs b. el-Ahnef’in dizelerinde geniş şekilde işlenmiştir. Öte yandan kendine has yönleriyle seleflerinden ayrılan bu şair, ortaya koyduğu özgün ürünleri sayesinde, kendisinden sonraki kuşakların üzerinde de büyük bir etki meydana getirmeyi başarmıştır. Emevî Döneminin afif aşk şiirlerinden aşina olduğumuz gelenekselliğin aksine, onun kasidelerinde birkaç sevgilinin konu edinilebildiği gözlemlenmektedir. Hatta bazen maddî aşka değindiği dahi vakidir. Lakin bu türdeki gazellerinin, o dönemde aşırılaşma eğiliminde olan müstehcen şiirlerden çok daha seviyeli olduğu belirtilmelidir. Arap edebiyatının meşhur halifesi Harun er-Reşîd’in yanında saray şairliği yapması, diğer bir deyişle seleflerinin düştüğü “aşk çılgınlığı” kavramına takılmaksızın işini profesyonelleştirebilmesi, el-‘Abbâs b. el-Ahnef’in gazele bakışıyla eski nazım ustalarının temayülleri arasındaki farklılığın belirginleştiği önemli noktalardandır. Manzumeleri yine de ‘Uzrî gazel geleneğinden belirgin izler taşımakta ve aşkın umutsuzluğuna değinmektedir. Şiirlerinde konu edindiği kadın unsuru, gerçekten de üslup kazanmış bir metotla ele alındığından, bu söylemlerin geçmişin klişelerinin sanatsallaştırılmış bir tekrarı mı yoksa şairin gerçek tecrübesi mi olduğunu öngörmek pek güçtür. Irak’ın Basra kentinden olan ve Bağdat’ta büyüyen bu meşhur aşk şairi, 193/808 senesinde hayatını kaybetmiştir. Fakat Hicazın seçkin şairleri olan Ömer b. Ebî Rebî‘a'dan ve özellikle Cemîl b. Ma‘mer, el-Ahvas ve el-‘Arcî’den aldığı ilhamlarla şekillendirdiği şiiri, literatüre yaptığı katkılar sayesinde, Endülüs gibi uzak diyarlarda dahi uzun yıllar terennüm edilmeye ve yeni şairlere esin kaynağı olmaya devam edecektir. Onun şiirleri için, döneminin tanınmış musikişinaslarının besteler yaptığı bilinmektedir.

The ‘Ayn ‘Abadat, Namarah, Umm al-Jimal, and Raqqush inscriptions are considered by some as the only Nabataean inscriptions containing clear Arabic language that can be identified with Classical Arabic. However, the ‘Ayn ‘Abadat inscription is the most important among them for few reasons: First, it is the oldest of the four. Second, it contained beautifully and perfectly composed Classical Arabic poem, making it the only material evidence we have for the existence of pre-Islamic Arabic poetry. Third, the two poem verses included in this inscription were provided eloquent analysis of the complex philosophical topic of life, death, and after life, from a pre-Islamic, pagan point of view. Fourth, because this inscription was found in the Negev Desert, far from Makka, it clearly reinforces the fact that Classical Arabic was not the language of Quraysh or any other Arab tribal group, or was tied to a specific geographical area in Arabia. Fifth, the fact that the two poem verses were written in Classical Arabic language within a fully Aramaic text can help identify the relation between the two languages and explain the nature and usages of Classical Arabic, in general. Sixth, the sophisticated language of the Arabic poem of this inscription illustrated few important linguistic and grammatical usages.

This article examines the dilemma of exiled Arab intellectuals and their relationship to home in the work of the Syrian novelist, journalist, and feminist, Ghada al-Samman. It argues that for Samman, a writer of multiple exiles, home and exile are dialectically related, making the contributions of intellectuals in these spaces similarly dialectical. That the life of exiled intellectuals is a circle that remains incomplete as long as they are unable to return to home. The article traces three different and recurring thematic components in Samman’s writings: First, how she problematizes and refines the notion of intellectual “commitment”. Second, how and why Samman considers “safe harbors” impossible to find either at home or in exile. Third, how exiled intellectuals in Samman’s writings constantly struggle between the gap between theory and practice. The article conducts a close analytical reading of two of Samman’s major works Laylat al-milyar: Riwaya and al-Qabila tastajwibu al-qatila. The first is one of Samman’s most celebrated novels in the Arab world and the third part of her trilogy on the Lebanese civil war, published in 1986. The second is a collection of journalistic interviews with Samman conducted by Arab journalists, writers, and poets from different countries largely in the 1970s. Paired together, these works offer rich insights on Samman’s philosophy in relation to the dilemmas of Arab intellectuals.

This article presents a critical edition and study of a 17th/18th-century poetry collection that had previously been mistaken for al-Ṯaʿālibī’s lost Kitāb al-Ġilmān. It provides a codicological analysis of Berlin MS Wetzstein II 1786 in which the poetry collection is contained and also explains and corrects long-held misconceptions regarding al-Ṯaʿālibī’s connection with the text. Finally, the article situates this poetry collection in the context of Mamluk- and Ottoman-era epigram anthologies and the critical apparatus to the edition demonstrates the key features of intertextuality and popularity that characterised these poetry collections.

This paper surveys and analyzes the written, oral, and aural sources of two major anthologies, the Yatımat al-dahr fı mahāsin ahl al-ʿasṛ and its sequel the Tatimmat al-Yatıma of Abū Mansur al-Thaʿālibı, which deal exclusively with contemporary literature
based on geographical regions. The paper uncovers a network of littérateurs, active in the second half of the fourth/10th century, who constituted the major authorities for both works. The survey of the sources in the Yatıma and the Tatimma strongly evinces a
return to oral transmission, necessitated by the newness of the information that had yet to be recorded in books. The survey also reveals the use of complementary transmissions through dıwāns, books, and other written materials. This distribution of sources is not uniform throughout the aqsām of the Yatıma and the Tatimma.

finalist for the 2019 Charles Rufus Morey Book Award, which "honors an especially distinguished book in the history of art, published in the English language" (College Art Association).

The Nasrid builders of the Alhambra – the best-preserved medieval Muslim palatial city – were so exacting that some of their work could not be fully explained until the invention of fractal geometry. Their design principles have been obscured, however, by the loss of all archival material. This book resolves that impasse by investigating the neglected, interdisciplinary contexts of medieval poetics and optics and through comparative study of Islamic court ceremonials. This reframing enables the reconstruction of the underlying, integrated aesthetic, focusing on the harmonious interrelationship between diverse artistic media – architecture, poetry and textiles – in the experience of the beholder, resulting in a new understanding of the Alhambra.
Table of Contents
List of Figures
Series Editor's Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. Colour, Design and Medieval Optics
Chapter 2. Addressing the Beholder: The Work of Poetic Inscriptions
Chapter 3. Qalahurra of Yusuf I: A Case Study of a Tower-Palace
Chapter 4. "Textile Architecture" in the Cuarto Dorado
Chapter 5. Integrating Aesthetic and Politics: The Mawlid Celebration in the Alhambra
Appendix
Bibliography
Illustration Acknowledgments
Indices
Hardback / Spring 2018 / 344 pages / 94 colour illustrations / ISBN 9781474416504 /
Published by Edinburgh University Press (distributed by Oxford University Press in the Americas) in the Edinburgh Studies in Islamic Art series, edited by Robert Hillenbrand.

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