Funny, bawdy and vicious Yusuf al-Shirbini’s Brains Confused is a battle between those who are “coarse” rural people against the “refined” urban populace. The first volume discusses three different rural “types”–peasant farmer, village man of religion and rural dervish. He also provides examples…
Love poems from the late nineteenth century Arabia . Arabian Romantic reveals the reality of what it was like to reside in central Arabia prior to the imposition of strict rules by the Wahhabi authority in early 20th century. Suggested…
Written in mid-seventeenth-century Egypt, Risible Rhymes is in part a short, comic disquisition on “rural” verse, mocking the pretensions and absurdities of uneducated poets from Egypt’s countryside. The interest in the countryside as a cultural, social, economic, and religious locus in its own…
Treasury – The Treasure of Virtues is an assortment of quotes as well as sermons and other teachings which are believed to be the work of ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib (d. 40/661) who was the son and cousin of Prophet Muhammad…
Disagreements – Al-Qadi al’Nu’man was the main lawmaker and theorist of North African Fatimid dynasty in the 10th century. This translation is available to the world for the first time English his most important study of Islamic theorizing on law ( usul…
The Expeditions is among the oldest biographies about the Prophet Muhammad to survive to the present day. The primary author Ma’mar ibn. (96-153/714-770) was a renowned expert from Basra in the southern part of Iraq who was admired for his knowledge of…
Tajrid Sayf Al-Himmah li stikhraj ma fi dhimmat dhimmah is an Arabic-only, scholarly version of a text written by ‘Uthman Ibn Ibrahim al-Nabulusi. The text is accessible as an English transcription from Library of Arabic Literature as The Sword of Ambition. Suggested…
It is regarded by the title of “one one of the most intricate and peculiar text that can be found in Arabic writing” ( Banipal Magazine), The Epistle of Forgiveness is a lengthy response by the prolific Syrian poetic and prose-writing, Abu l’Ala…
The earliest known source of a continuous first-person travel stories in ArabicThe Mission of the Volgais a groundbreaking text that is of unparalleled literary and historical significance. In the pages, we travel north on a mission of diplomatic service that takes…
The birth, life and early years of the Fariyaq, the alter-ego of the Arab intellectual Ahmad Faris al Shidyaq “Little Leg” tells the story from birth to middle old age, of ‘the fariyaq an alter ego for Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq, a…
Sufism – A’ishah al Ba’uniyyah, a native of Damascus is one of the most renowned women scholars of Islamic history. Born into a prominent household of revered scholars and Sufi followers, ‘A’ishah received an excellent religious education and learned the Quran…
Sufism – ‘A’ishah Al-Ba’uniyyah (d. 923/1517) of Damascus was one of the greatest female scholars of Islamic history. A poet, mystic, prolific and writer, ‘A’ishah wrote more writings in Arabic than any other woman prior to the turn of the century. Yet…
The Expeditions is among the oldest biographies about the Prophet Muhammad to survive to the present day. The primary writer, Ma’mar ibn (96-153/714-770) was a well-known academic from Basra in the southern part of Iraq who was admired for his expertise in…
Answers and questions from two famous philosophersWhat is the reason laughter is contagious? Why do mountains exist? What is the reason we yearn for the past, even though it’s a victim of suffering? It covers a broad range of topics that span…
Two Arabic Travel Books The two books combine two outstanding examples that are a masterpiece of Arabic travel writing, written in the same period however, they report on wildly different experiences. accounts for China or India can be described as a collection of…
Many essay concerning Moroccan historical background, Sufism in particular, as well as religious and cultural life Al-Hasan al-Yusi was arguably the most well-known and influential Moroccan intellectual of his time. In 1084/1685 at the age of about fifty-four, after a long…
A merchant’s account of travels within an independent African stateMuhammad ibn ‘Umar al -Tunisi (d. 1274/1857) was part of the lineage of Tunisian merchants who traded with Egypt and, more recently, Sudan. Al-Tunisi was born in Cairo and was a graduate…
Merchant’s report of journeys across an autonomous African stateMuhammad ibn Umar al-Tunisi (d. 1274/1857) was a member of an extended group of Tunisian merchants who traded with Egypt and, more recently, Sudan. Al-Tunisi was born in Cairo and was a graduate…
Unique in pre-twentieth-century Arabic literature for taking the countryside as its central theme, Yusuf al-Shirbini’s Brains Confounded combines a mordant satire on seventeenth-century Egyptian rural society with a hilarious parody of the verse-and-commentary genre so beloved by scholars of his day. in…
A merchant’s account of journeys in an independent African state Muhammad ibn ‘Umar al -Tunisi (d. 1274/1857) was a member of the lineage of Tunisian merchants who traded with Egypt and the present Sudan. Al-Tunisi was born in Cairo and attended…