A literary tour of Christian monasteries of the medieval Middle East The Book of Monasteries takes readers on an engaging tour of the monastic centers of the medieval Middle East, illustrated with a rich variety of poetry and prose. Starting with monasteries in Baghdad, readers are taken up the Tigris into the mountains of south-eastern Anatolia before moving to Palestine and Syria, along the Euphrates down to the old Christian center of Ḥīrah and onward to Egypt. For the literary anthologist al-Sh�bushtī, who was Muslim, monasteries were important sites of interactions between Abbasid elites and the Christian communities that made up about half the population of the Abbasid Empire at the time. Each section in this anthology covers a specific monastery, beginning with a discussion of its location and the reason for its name. Al-Sh�bushtī presents poems, anecdotes, and historical reports related to each site. He selects heroic and spectacular incidents, illustrations of caliphal extravagance, and occasions that gave rise to memorable verse. Important political personalities and events that were indirectly linked with monasteries also appear here, as do scenes of festive court life and gruesome murders. Through these accounts, al-Sh�bushtī offers readers a meditation on the splendor of Abbasid culture as well as moral and philosophical lessons: the ephemerality of power; the virtues of generosity and tolerance; the effectiveness of eloquence in prose and poetry; and the fleeting nature of pleasure and beauty. Translated into English for the first time, The Book of Monasteries offers an entertaining panorama of religious, political, and literary life during the Abbasid era. A bilingual Arabic-English edition.

This collection brings together discussions of the way in which Muslim and Jewish beliefs and practices are represented in modern literary texts of poetry, fiction and drama. The chapters collected here consider elements of the expression of Judaism and Islam in modern literature. Key topics such as religious ideas and teachings, aspects of mysticism, the tenets of religion, uses made of sacred texts, religion and popular culture and reflections of religious controversies are covered. While there is an embodied comparative element to the chapters, the essays are not confined by comparisons and cover a wide range of the literary expression of religious issues.

This is the first systematic literary study of one of the masterpieces of classical Arabic literature, the fourth/tenth century Kitab al-aghani (The Book of Songs) by Abu I-Faraj al-Isbahani. Until now the twenty-four volume Book of Songs has been regarded as a rather chaotic but priceless mine of information about classical Arabic music, literature and culture. This book approaches it as a work of literature in its own right, with its own internal logic and coherence. The study also consistently integrates the musical component into the analysis and proposes a reading of the work in which individual anecdotes and poems are related to the wider context, enhancing their meaning.

This is the first systematic literary study of one of the masterpieces of classical Arabic literature, the 4/10th century Kitâb al-aghânî (The Book of Songs) by Abû I-Faraj al-Isbahânî. Until now the 24-volume Book of Songs has been regarded as a rather chaotic but priceless mine of information about classical Arabic music, literature and culture. This book approaches it as a work of literature in its own right, with its own internal logic and coherence. The study also consistently integrates the musical component into the analysis and proposes a reading of the work in which individual anecdotes and poems are related to the wider context, enhancing their meaning.

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In segregated, conservative societies with a repressive attitude to women, writing on the theme of love and sexuality are of particular interest. Among the plethora of studies on modern Arabic literature, this book is a major treatment of what has generally been a taboo subject. The scope covers the entire history of modern Arabic literature from the late-19th century to the end of the 1980s, with examples drawn from countries as diverse as Egypt and Kuwait. Although the main accent is on the prose of Egypt and the countries of the Mashreq, North African literature is also included. Examples are drawn form poetry, the novel and the short story. Topics range from "Erotic awareness in the early Egyptian short story" to "Death and desire in Iraqi War literature", from "Fathers and husbands as tyrants and victims" to "The foreign woman and the European mistress in the Maghreb novel". "Love and the mechanism of power" is analyzed, as are "Sexual politics and narrative strategies". Love and sexuality are shown as key elements in the work of Tawfik al-Hakim, Fuad al-Tikirli, the Kuwaiti writer Layla al-Uthman annd Nizar Qabbani. Other chapters treat "The lover in popular 20th-century Arabic drama", "Love and beyond in Mahjar literature" and "The romantic imagination and the female ideal".

Religious Perspectives in Modern Muslim and Jewish Literatures is a unique comparative study of related literatures. It cuts across traditions, ages and cultures. Jewish literature goes back over two thousand years and the first text of Muslim literature, the Qur'an, took form in the early 7th century. The editors of this book focus on the last two hundred years of the historical spectrum of Muslim and Jewish literature, bringing together high-quality contributions with regard to the time frame and subject matter concerned. Religion and religiosity in the two forms of literature are reflected upon - with topics including religious ideas and actions, religion's teachings, mysticism, religious identity, uses made of sacred texts, controversies and religious polemics, the relationship of religion and history. Genres considered are poetry, prose and drama. This is the first book-length study to contrast and analyse the two literary traditions in detail.