Prophets, viziers, and philosophers stand at the crossroads of civilizations. In world literature, they came to represent Judeo-Christian, Persian and Greek influences. As literary figures, they convey a sense of supranatural authority, elicited from their intimate experience of…
This volume covers the artistic prose and poetry produced in the heartland and provinces of the 'Abbasid empire during the second great period of Arabic literature, from the mid-8th to the 13th centuries AD. Authors are quoted in English translation where possible and literary t…
"This volume of The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature covers artistic prose and poetry produced in the heartland and provinces of the 'Abbasid empire during the second great period of Arabic literature, from the mid-eighth to the thirteenth centuries AD. 'Abbasid literature…
Al-Jahiz was a bibliomaniac, theologian, and spokesman for the political and cultural elite, a writer who lived, counselled and wrote in Iraq during the first century of the 'Abbasid caliphate. 'In Praise of Books' explores the centrality of books to Al-Jahiz's work and to the s…
"In 902 the last Byzantine stronghold in Sicily fell, and the island would remain under Muslim control until the arrival of the Normans in the eleventh century. Drawing on a lifetime of translating and linguistic experience, William Granara here focuses on the various ways in wh…