An analysis of the imagery, rethorical devices, and structural patterns in the D w n of the 11th-12th century acclaimed Andalusian poet, Ibn Khaf jah, with special emphasis om his innovative use of the poetic tradition.

This study is an attempt to identify and describe the distinctive features of the poetic style of the acclaimed medieval Andalusian poet Ibn Khafaājah, who has been credited with starting a new school of poetry, in Andalus and elsewhere. It offers a close reading of his poetry, concentrating on the three basic elements of style — imagery, rhetorical devices, and structural patterns. It shows how Ibn Khafājah creatively uses the poetic tradition available to him to form new images and scenes, create multi-layered poems, and bestow different levels of unity and coherence on his poems. The study demonstrates some of the ways by which the various elements of style are combined and interrelated, to produce original, meaningful, and highly moving poems in the Khafajian style.

This work deals extensively with the Arabic themes and literary devices used by Hebrew Andalusian poets in 11th century Muslim (and Christian) Spain. Special interest is devoted to the four main poets of the Hebrew Golden Age in Spain, namely Samuel Ha-Nagid, Solomon Ibn Gabirol, Moses Ibn Ezra and Yehuda Ha-Lewi.

Although the Arabic maqāmah, a branch of the picaresque genre, was much cultivated in the Middle Ages, little is known about it aside from the works of al-Hamadhānī and al-ḥarīrī, its first two cultivators. This translation of the Maqāmāt al-luzūmīyah by the twelfth-century Andalusi author al-Saraqustī makes available to Western scholars of narrative prose a hitherto little-known but important collection of Arabic maqāmāt. The "Preliminary Study" places this specific collection in the context of the overall maqama genre, it further places that genre in the contexts both of Arabic and of world literature, exploring the differences between the picaresque genre and the modern novel. It discusses the meaning of the work, shows the way in which it is original within its genre, and establishes its organic unity. Finally, it shows that late and post-classical Arabic literary works such as that of al-Saraqustī, which were composed during the so-called "period of decadence," are not decadent at all, contrary to the opinion prevalent among scholars in the field.

This translation and study extend our knowlege of the Arabic genre of the maq?ma by some years. If translations of the genre are lacking, literary critical studies of it are even rarer. Therefore, the work will be of interest to scholars of Arabic, Spanish, and other literatures, to comparativists, literary historians, critics, and theoreticians.

This reference work covers the classical, transitional and modern periods. Editors and contributors cover an international scope of Arabic literature in many countries.

Perhaps the greatest Hebrew poet since biblical times, Judah Halevi (ca. 1075-1141) is best-known for his “Songs of Zion,” written late in life. But when Halevi first appeared on the stage of history, he was just a young man, incredibly talented - and completely unknown. This study focuses on Halevi’s earliest period of creativity within a circle of Hebrew poets centering on the Muslim city-kingdom of Granada. Part One examines the lure of Muslim Spain for an up-and-coming young poet and the poems paving his way thither; Part Two, the social setting in which this circle of poets flourished and the dynamics behind many of its poems. A number of poems are brought in translation, many for the first time.

It is an established historical fact that both sides of the Straits of Gibraltar formed a cultural unity in many different periods. After the military success of Mûs_ ib Nusayr, Islam broght unity to Arabs and many Berber tribes in the Maghrib, but the struggle for independence and the adoption of the eastern Khârijî doctrine always caused struggles. It is a well known fact that the contingent of Berbers among the Muslims of al-Andalus outnumbered considerably the inhabitants from Arab origin. After the decline and collapse of the Umayyads and Hammûdids in al-Andalus, various Berger dynasties seized their power and founded many different kingdoms (Taifas, from Arabic mulûk al-tawâ'if). Arab Andalusi culture flourished, which can be demonstrated by the fact that Arabic became the most important language of the Iberian Peninsula under Muslim rule. On the other hand, large numbers of Andalusis emigrated to the Maghrib in many different periods. Already in the first centuries of Islamic spain, many Andalusis settled in North Africa. These Andalusis fled as a consequence of the drought, or were expelled for having collaborated against the regime or were forced to leave the Peninsula by the Christian Reconquista. Mutual migrations and political unity led to the exchange of many cultural phenomena between the two sides of the Straits. This fourth issue of Orientations focuses on some aspects of the 'cultural transfer between al-Andalus and North Africa, ' and particularly deals with some aspects of Poetry, Politics and Polemics from the eleventeenth to the seventeenth century.

The contributors to this wide-ranging work of scholarship and analysis include mentors, colleagues, friends, and students of the late Magda al-Nowaihi, an outstanding scholar of Middle East studies whose diverse interests and energy inspired numerous colleagues. The book's first part is devoted to Arabic elegy, the subject of an unfinished work by al-Nowaihi from which this volume takes its title. Included here is a previously unpublished lecture on elegy delivered by al- Nowaihi herself. Other contributors examine this poetic form in both classical and modern contexts, from a number of angles, including the partial feminization of the genre, making this volume perhaps the most comprehensive resource on the Arabic elegy available in English. The book's second half features essays relating to al-Nowaihi's other research interests, especially the modern Arabic novel and its transgressive and marginalized status as literature. It deals with authors as varied as Tawfiq al-Hakim, Latifa al-Zayyat, Bensalem Himmich, and Sonallah Ibrahim. Broad in its scope and rigorous in its scholarship, this volume makes a fitting tribute to an inspiring scholar. Contributors: Roger Allen, Dina Amin, Michael Beard, Jonathan P. Decter, Alexander E. Elinson, Marlé Hammond, András Hámori, Mervat Hatem, Wolfhart Heinrichs, Richard Jacquemond, Lital Levy, Mara Naaman, Magda al-Nowaihi, Dana Sajdi, and Christopher Stone.

An extensive collection of essays that examines the place of homosexuality in the contemporary and classical Muslim world. The place of sexual and gender minorities in the contemporary Islamic world is the subject of fascinating new directions in research and scholarly thought. Islam and Homosexuality gathers together 20 experts exploring these issues to provide an expansive look at the treatment of same-sex interactions in Muslim cultures today. Islam and Homosexuality offers one volume on the specific experiences of gay Muslims today and a second volume viewing the issue from a global perspective. Essays explore the lives of LGBTIQ persons in both Islamic nations and Muslim communities in non-Islamic countries. Additional writings explore the roots of homophobia in the theology of Islam, the various judgments against homosexuality in the different schools of Islamic law, and the potential scriptural basis for including LGBTIQ persons in the Muslim community. No other resource on the relationship between LGBTIQ persons and the world's largest religion covers the topic with anything approaching this work's range or depth.