Known as "one of the most complex and unusual texts in Arabic literature" (Banipal Magazine), The Epistle of Forgiveness is the lengthy reply by the prolific Syrian poet and prose writer, Abu l-'Ala' al-Ma'arri (d. 449/1057), to a letter by an obscure grammarian, Ibn al-Qari. With biting irony, The Epistle of Forgiveness mocks Ibn al-Qari's ......
The Expeditions is one of the oldest biographies of the Prophet Muhammad to survive into the modern era. Its primary author, Ma'mar ibn Rashid (96-153/714-770), was a prominent scholar from Basra in southern Iraq who was revered for his learning in prophetic traditions, Islamic law, and the interpretation of the Qur'an. This fascinating ......
The Epistle on Legal Theory is the oldest surviving Arabic work on Islamic legal theory and the foundational document of Islamic jurisprudence. Its author, Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i (d 204 H/820 AD), was the eponym of the Shafi'i school of legal thought, one of the four rites in Sunni Islam. This book deals with this work.
A curious figure stalks the pages of a distinct subset of mass-market romance novels, aptly called "desert romances." Animalistic yet sensitive, dark and attractive, the desert prince or sheikh emanates manliness and raw, sexual power. In the years since September 11, 2001, the sheikh character has steadily risen in popularity in romance novels, ......
Sayings, Sermons, and Teachings of 'Ali, with the One Hundred Proverbs attributed to al-Jahiz
Ali ibn Abi Talib was an acknowledged master of Arabic eloquence and a renowned sage of Islamic wisdom. This is a collection of sayings, sermons, and teachings attributed to 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (d 40H/661AD), cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, first Shi'a Imam and fourth Sunni Caliph.
It has been said that the difference between a language and a dialect is that a language is a dialect with an army. Both the act of translation and bilingualism are steeped in a tension between surrender and conquest, yielding conscious and unconscious effects on language. First published in Arabic in 2002, ""Abdelfattah Kilito's Thou Shalt Not ......
Spiro Jabbour's enigmatic exploration of the resonances between the Eastern Christian science of the soul and psychoanalysis, now in annotated English translation. Confession and Psychoanalysis, written by Spiro Jabbour-the prolific Syrian monastic, scholar, and translator-offers a speculative formulation of mystical ethics in the aftermath of ......
Spiro Jabbour's enigmatic exploration of the resonances between the Eastern Christian science of the soul and psychoanalysis, now in annotated English translation. Confession and Psychoanalysis, written by Spiro Jabbour-the prolific Syrian monastic, scholar, and translator-offers a speculative formulation of mystical ethics in the aftermath of ......
When asked what drew them to experimental Arabic-language rap, performers and fans shared a common refrain: various artists or tracks "filled their head" ('abba rasshom), offering relief from their dissatisfaction, cynicism, resignation, and disgust with contemporary politics and society. Based on ethnographic research in Ramallah (Palestine), ......
