Forthcoming Publications
Ibn Aʿtham al-Kūfī and his Kitāb al-futūḥ
Author, Textual Tradition, and Ridda Narrative. With a New Edition of the Text on the Ridda (2 Volumes)
Mónika Schönléber – 2024-12
This two-volume set delves deeply into the life of the Muslim scholar Ibn Aʿtham al-Kūfī and his monumental historical work, the Kitāb al-futūḥ (Book of Conquests). Previous research has treated this work with considerable suspicion, and its historical value was called into question almost from the very moment of its discovery. This study firmly situates Ibn Aʿtham within the historical context of the early fourth/tenth century, shedding new light on his notable contributions to Islamic historiography. Volume 1 examines Ibn...
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The Banū Sulaym: A Contribution to the Study of Early Islam
Revised Edition
Michael Lecker – 2025-01
The study focuses on Sulaym in the crucial transition period from Jāhiliyya to Islam, and hence it contributes to the study of the Prophet and his time. Most of the study concentrates on the Arabian Peninsula, although a few leading families are followed into the Islamic conquests and the early Umayyad period. The focus on one tribe makes it possible to collect a large amount of data from a variety of sources: biographical dictionaries, genealogical literature, geographical literature, sīra and adab compilations, poetry Dīwā...
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Elegy as a Medium for the Indictment of Arab Culture: Death Transformed and Politicized
A Reading-Translation of Medieval and Modern Arabic Elegies
Mansour Ajami – 2025-01
The book consists of a critical introduction and six chapters on two famous great medieval poems by Ibn al-Anbari and Abu Tammam, and three unique and remarkable poems by Khalil Hawi, Nizar Qabbani, and Badr Shakir al-Sayyab. The author applies a deconstructive critical interpretation (analysis) to the two medieval poems and a reading translation of the modern ones. The introduction contains new ideas on translation from Arabic into English and a new reading of the rhyme in medieval and modern Arabic poetry....
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