Arabic and Near Eastern Languages

A project on the critical movement in its inclination towards historical as well as impressionist criticism, in addition to general literary criticism between 1920-1945 in Lebanon as represented by:

This is one of the three primary trends that I worked on for my Ph.D. thesis. I am developing this trend and extending it to cover all the writings of the above-mentioned authors, which were published between the two world wars. (Project in progress, and will be published soon.) S. Abu-Jawdeh.

This project deals with the poetical movement in Lebanon between the two world wars, as manifested in romanticism and symbolism, the first represented by Elias Abu-Cliababeh and the second by Said Akl. This represents the second trend investigated in my Ph.D. thesis. I am planning to develop and extend it to cover the above-mentioned area. (Project is in progress.) S.Abu-Jawdeh.

This project represents the third trend of the my Ph.D. thesis, which I am developing and extending to cover the narrative genre in its various types, themes and styles as well as a study of its two major figures: Toufiq Youssef Awad and Kahlil Takieddine. Project in progress. S. Abu-Jawdeh.

Qafiyyat Ta’abbata Sharran al-Mufaddaliyyah: thuna’iyyat al-wasl wa al-sarm

This is a study of the first poem in the celebrated classical anthology of ancient Arabic poetry, al-Mufaddaliyyat. It painstakingly establishes an extensively annotated text of the poem, with critically oriented and expounded choices of readings from a vast body of recensions; and it offers an in-depth analytical appreciation of this archetypal ode. (Accepted for publication and forthcoming in Fusul). S.S. Agha.

Abu Muslim’s conquest of Khurasan: preliminaries and strategy in a confusing text in the Akhbar al-Dawlah al-Abbasiyyah

This is a close textual analysis of a vital segment of the text of the single most important source on the Abbasid revolution. From this segment, when carefully read, Abu Muslim’s strategy may be elucidated. The segment, however, has been consequentially misread by scholars who interpreted it. (Accepted for publication and forthcoming in JAOS). S.S. Agha.

The final publishable version of this paper was read at MESA’98. S. S. Agha.

Did the Arabs in Umayyad Khurasan form a disenfranchised agrarian society, with a taxable landed aristocracy?

Some modern scholars have contended that the process of assimilation of the Arab conquerors in Persian Khurasan had started quite early in the Umayyad era; and that this process drew a substantial sector of the Arab population of the province into the local agrarian economy, and subjected them to the same conditions that governed the local non-Muslim peasants. This is an inquiry into the issue from the historical and jurisprudential perspectives. S. S. Agha.

The episode of the two knights in Abu Dhu'ayb’s ^cAyniyya, al-Munsifat, and Homer’s portrait of the final duel between Achilleus and Hektor

This is an analytical study of Abu Dhu'ayb’s celebrated elegy. The focus of the study is the mythological dimension of the poem, with special emphasis on the episode of the two knights as an extension of the tradition of the Munsifat (“The Fair Ones;” the evenhanded verses), and as compared to Homer’s portrait of the final duel between Achilleus and Hecktor. S. S. Agha.

Ra'iyyat Tha^claba ibn Su^cayr: one of the oldest surviving archetypal Arabian odes?

This is an inquiry into a blend of historical and artistic questions made pertinent by two ostensibly incompatible matters: (1), the claim that the poet is one of the earliest Arab poets from whom we received an extant complete qasida; and,(2), the very advanced degree of maturity attained in this single qasida of his. S. S. Agha.

The Arab population in Khurasan-2: deployment of Umayyad and revolutionary forces in the contest for the province

This is a sequel to the article which has already appeared in ARABICA, under the same title. A different type of numerical data is being examined here, in an effort to verify the compatibility of the sizes of the fighting forces on both sides with the sizes of the reservoirs of human resources on which each side drew. The inevitable conclusion is that the quantitative data do not support the contention that the Arabs were the mainstay of the “^cAbbasid revolution”. S. S. Agha.

This is a rewriting, in book form, of my Ph.D. dissertation. The project is being undertaken in response to a wish to publish expressed by an international publisher. S. S. Agha.

The way of all flesh: the fate some of the “nuqaba' bani al-^cAbbas” met with-Qahtabah ibn Shabib

The first article in a series investigating the enigmatic destinies of some of the leaders of the secret organization which brought about the destruction of the Umayyad Caliphate, and the role Abu Muslim had or may have had in bringing about these destinies. S. S. Agha.

In theory and in practice, the Umayyad Establishment in Damascus inherited and implemented the policies of inclusion-exclusion as established and enforced by the Madinan Establishment. The constitutional foundation was laid by the Prophet; it was the criterion of hijra. The executive instrument and the “by-laws” governing the implementation were initiated and “promulgated” by ^cUmar I; these were the Diwan al-^cAta' (also subsuming Diwan al-Jund) and the precedents which ^cUmar’s actions “sanctified” as rules. The project rests on an interactive approach anchored in source materials drawn from Hadith, history, and jurisprudence. S. S. Agha.

The Arabian ode: a study in the pattern-generating power of the interplay between geography and artistic expression

The relation between man and place in Arab culture generated an intimate psycho-geographical landscape of immense beauty and a heart-rending circular continuum of connectedness, separation, and longing, a relationship especially seen in poetry. Over and above its being a defining feature of the collective Arab conscience, this interplay between man and place packed such a pattern- generating power that it “institutionalized” a specific poetic form—The Arabian ode, the qasida. The ode is not only an honest expression of the “lyrical” dimensions of the experience; in form and structure, it is also a geometric reproduction of the topography of the desert, and a map of the coordinates of man’s position within its confines. (Long term, cumulative.) S. S. Agha

The main findings on the above subject have been recently published in a book entitled: Fiqh al-^cArabiyya al-Muqaran (1999). As a by-product of the work, a large body of material was amassed on the phonetic and morphological peculiarities of Arabic within the Semitic continuum. This project sets out to trace the historical development of these linguistic peculiarities and determine whether they can be traced to dialectal varieties of fusha or the Proto-Semitic tendencies that other Semitic languages have not exploited. R. Baalbaki.

This study rests on the observation of major differences in the approach of the rhetoricians (balagiyyun) and the grammarians (nahwiyyun) in dealing with this basic aspect of sentence structure. The formal aspects that the grammarians examine are contrasted with the balagi approach, which stresses the relationship between form and meaning. R. Baalbaki.

The restoration of the elided particle an before the subjunctive verb preceded by waw, fa', etc., is part of a general thof taqdir which the early Arab grammarians use to interpret utterances. This study examines the theoretical basis for this particular case of taqdir and assesses its validity within the overall system of grammatical analysis in early Arabic grammar. R. Baalbaki.

The commentary on Ibn al-Farid’s al-Qasida al-Khamriyya by Dawud al-Qaisari

Al-Qasida al-khamriyya (the wine-poem) by Ibn al-Farid is probably one of the most outstanding mystic poems that introduce the symbolism of “wine” in Islamic mysticism. Dawud al-Qaisari is regarded as one of the most prominent commentators on the works of Ibn ^cArabi and Ibn al-Farid. His commentary on al-khamriyya has not been published yet. The author tends to make available a critical edition of the work based on several manuscripts with an analytical introduction and comments. (Ready and lined up for publication in summer 1999). V. Behmardi.

Siyyid Kazim al-Rashti (d.1843) is one of the two founders of the reformist school of Shi^ci theosophy known as Shaykhism in the 19^th century. Among his works is a treatise on Suluk (the mystical journey of man) in which he combines Shi^ci ethics and theology with mystical practical theories in spite of his open hostility to the Sufi establishment. Although it appears in the catalogues of Shaykhi works, this treatise has been considered to be among the lost works of Rashti. The author is basing this critical edition of Risalah fi al-Suluk on what is most probably the only manuscript copy that exists, and which he had discovered in Iran. The critical edition of the work will include an introduction on the life and works of Rashti in addition to extensive notes. (Lined up for publication in July 1999). V. Behmardi.

Rumi is considered as the most outstanding poet among Persian mystics. Although his two poetic works are in Persian, they include over 1200 Arabic verses all dealing with the concept of love. This compilation presents the Arabic poems of Rumi, which are scattered throughout his works. The language and form of these poems differ from the standard poems composed by Classical Arabic poets, but interestingly, reflect to a large extent the modern trends of Arabic poetry—which focus on content—and are ready to sacrifice the form for that purpose. This compilation will include an introduction on stylistics and commentary notes. (Ready for publication in July 1999). V. Behmardi.

Originally a part of the my Ph.D. thesis (1990), this article tends to introduce the literary values which were introduced by Hamadhani in the 4^th/10^th century, and which contradicted those promulgated by his contemporary traditional critics. Hamadhani, following the foot-steps of his teacher Ibn Faris, rose against ‘tradition’ in literature, and introduced in his letters and Maqamat reformist literary theories which were genuine in reflecting the values of his own age, which were ignored or condemned by the class of critics. (Ready for publication in August 1999). V. Behmardi.

The aim of this study is to trace the image of women as it evolved in history, depending on many sources, such as: The “Banquet” of Plato; The Bible; Islam; Medieval Literature; “Renaissance” Literature; and Modern Literature. A. Ghosn

Post-modern critical trends entitled “Qira’at ghayr bari’ah fi al ta’wil wa- al talaqqi”

This project is in response to an invitation by the Curzon Press, London, to write a monograph on Modern Arabic Poetry that will be one of 5 books on Arabic and Islamic Literatures within a series of 35 volumes on Culture, Language and Civilization in the Middle East. The book will attempt to analyze the Arabic poetic scene in the 20^th century, namely, the explosion of poetic production and the major revolution against the old tradition and its conceptions of poetry and poetics. It will hopefully present a synthesis that will help explain what made Modern Arabic poetry so different from its own tradition, while preserving its identity in face of the great influences from the West. (Supported by Andrew Mellon Foundation Grant). A. Khairallah.

This monograph will be a collection of articles to come out in the Series “Beiruter Texte und Studien”, published by the German Orient-Institut, Beirut. These articles will be in both Arabic and English, consisting partly of already published ones, esp. the German ones (to make them accessible to the Arab reader), and partly unpublished English and Arabic lectures and papers. They will have a comparative approach to the interaction between Arabic and Western literature and thought. A. Khairallah.

This paper studies a long poem, “Isma’il”, by a leading modern Arab poet and literary and cultural critic, Adunis, whose vision of the way the Arabic culture should be revived is embodied in this poem in particularly symbolic and violent imagery. (The paper is in print within the Acts of the Symposium on Myths, Historical Archetypes and Symbolic Figures in Arabic Literature, held in Beirut: Orient-Institut, June 1996.) A.E. Khairallah.

The way of the cross as a way of life: Mgr. Georges Khodr’s hope in times of war

This article deals with the vision of a leading religious and moral thinker concerning his spiritual attitude towards the problems of conflict and violence, as well as towards love and reconciliation in present Lebanese society. (The article will appear in the coming volume on Religion between Violence and Reconciliation that will be published by the Orient-Institut, Beirut.) A.Khairallah.

This is the title of a paper dealing with the poetry of Yusuf al-Khal, the founder of the famous Shi‘r magazine. The paper attempts to show how al-Khal's strong belief in the necessity of grace colors his relation to God and the imagery he uses to express this relation. (The paper will appear in the Acts of the Conference on Representation of the Divine in Arabic Poetry, The University of Nijmegen, Holland.) A. Khairallah.

This article investigates the transformation of literary forms in the transition from one literary genre to the other, and from one language to the other. It deals with three texts relating the anecdotes and poetry of Majnun: Kitab al-Aghani, Nizami’s Majnun-o-Layla, and Q. Haddad’s Akhbar Majnun Layla. The article will appear in the Acts of The Ghazel Symposium, Orient-Institut, Istanbul. A. Khairallah.

Dissimulation of one’s faith has been generally considered to be limited to some Islamic sects usually of Batini origin. This book intends to prove that taqiyya was not restricted to such Batini sects, but was also practiced by other Islamic firaq and maqalat, namely the Khawarij, the Twelver Shi^cites and the Sunnis, in addition to the philosophers and the Sufis. The writer, however, differentiates between two kinds of taqiyya. S. Makarem.

The history of Central Lebanon between the Arab conquest and the Ottoman conquest is relatively obscure. This book deals with the political, literary and social history of central Lebanon during this period. (Ready and lined up for publication). S. Makarem.

Critical edition and translation into Arabic of Kahlil Gibran’s English works

Completing the translation into Arabic and the editing of K. Gibran’s English works with the objective of producing a bilingual edition of Gibran’s complete English works. N. Naimy

Abu-Jawdeh, S., al-Akhtal al Saghir, The Poet: his life and wor. Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kitab al-Arabi, 1998.

———, al-Akhtal al Saghir, Poetry Collection. Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kitab al-Arabi, 1998.

———, al-Akhtal al Saghir, Prose Selections. Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kitab al-Arabi, 1998.

———, al-Akhtal al Saghir, Selections of Essays on al-Akhtal al Sagir. Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kitab al-Arabi, 1998.

———, al-Akhtal al Saghir, Bibliography. Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kitab al-Arabi, 1998.

———, al-Akhtal al Saghir, a selection of letters sent to the poet al-Akhtal al Sagir by eminent men of letters and politicians. Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kitab al-Arabi, 1998.

Agha, S. S., Dhu-al Rummah: Khulasat al-Tajribah al-Sahrawiyyah. Beirut: Dar al-^cIlm Li-l- Malayin, 1998.

———, Review of M. Q. Zaman’s Religion and Politics under the Early ^cAbbasids: the Emergence of the Proto-Sunni Elite. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 31 (1), 127-8, 1999.

———, The Arab population in Hurasan during the Umayyad period: some demographic computations. Arabica, XLVI, 211-229, 1999.

Baalbaki, R., A critical edition of Ansab al-Ashraf, section on Sa'ir qaba'il al-^cArab. Beirut: United Distribution Co., 1997.

———, Min ma^cayir al-tasnif al-nahwi fi al-qarn al-hijri al-thani. In Festschrift for Ihsan Abbas, ed. Sa^cafin, I., 149-166. Beirut: Dar Sadir, 1997.

———, The relation between Arabic grammar and lexicology. Revue de la Lexicologie, 12 &13, 27-46, 1997.

———, Kitab al-^cAyn and Jamharat al-luga. In Early Medieval Arabic: Studies on al-Khalil ibn Ahmad, ed. Ryding, K.C., 44-62. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press , 1998.

———, al-Taq^cid al-nahwi: namudhaj al-^calaqa bayn al-nash`a wa-l-tatbiq. In al-^cArabiyyah fi Lubnan, 457-475. Balamand: University of Balamand, 1998.

———, Fiqh al-^cArabiyyah al-muqaran: Dirasat fi aswat al-^cArabiyya wa-sarfiha wa nahwiha ^cala daw' al-lugat al-Samiyya. Beirut: Dar al-'Ilm lil-Malatin, 1999.

———, Coalescence as a grammatical tool in Sibawayhi’s Kitab. In Arabic Grammar and Linguistics, ed. Suleiman, Y., 86-106. Edinburgh: Curzon, 1999.

Ghosn, A., Mazaheb Al Husn: A critical reading in Kitab Al ^cAyn, by Al- Khalil Ibn Ahmad. Majallat Nizwa, 1-25, Spring 1999.

———, Al-Akhtal al-Saghir fi al-khitab al-shicri wa lucbat al-aqnica. Al-Akhtal Al-Saghir, 7-49, October 1998.

———, Nizar Qabbani wa-l-Bahr al-Abyad al- Mutawasset wa-l-amira al-ma’iyya. In A poet for all generations, 1^st ed., 341-367. Beirut, Lebanon: Dar Soucad Al-Sabbah, 1998.

———, Al-Tawrat wa-l- lugha al-Lubaniya al-mariqa. In Al-^cArabiyya fi Lubnan, 205-244. Balamand: Balamand University Press, 1998.

———, Adonis aw qinac al-huwiyya al-Surriya. Majallat Fusul, 3, 191-202, Spring 1997.

———, The hero conflict in Khalil Hawi's Poem: Lazarus 1962 Lazarus or the Anti-Hero. Al Abhath, XLV, 3-23,1997.

Khairallah, A. , The Greek cultural heritage and the odyssey of modern Arab poets. In Tradition and Modernity in Arabic Literature, ed. Boullata, I.J. and DeYoung, T., 43-6. USA: The University of Arkansas Press, 1997.

———, Eternité Volante: The other side of the mirror. Banipal, I (2), 68-69, June 1998.

Makarem, S., Ad-Duktur ^cAdil Isma^cil wa falsafat at-tarikh. In: ^cAdil Isma^cil, al-Mu’arrikh wa l-Bahith wa d-Diblumasi. Beirut: Dar an-Nashr li s-Siyasa wa t-Tarikh, 1997.

———, ^cAyn ar-rida li-Halim Jurdaq: Tawajjuh ^cirfani,” al-Hikma, 31, 1998.

———, “Min at-tawa’ifiyya wa thuna’iyyat al-wala’ ila l-wahda,” al-Hikma, 38, 1998.

———, Daw’ fi madinat ad-dabab, Junieh: Dynamic Graphic lit-Tiba^ca wa n-Nashr. Juneih, Lebanon: S. Makarem, 1999.

Naimy, N., Introduction to Ayyam Mu’nis, by Mu’nis ^cAbd al-Wahhab. Beirut, Lebanon: al-Jam^c al-Wataniyya li-Huquq al-Mu^c aq, 1998.

———, Kamil al-Murr wa kitabuh. In In honor of Rashid Ma^ctuq, ed. Murr, K. Sidney: Murr Printing and Publishing, 1998.

———, Maryam. In Fi Jannat Maryam, ed. Mughamis, G. Beirut: Notre Dame University Press , 1997.

———, (ed.), Kahlil Gibran, al-Majnun, being Gibran’s The Madman, translated into Arabic with introduction (bilingual). Beirut: Naufal, 1998.

———, (ed.), Kahlil Gibran, al-Sabiq, being Gibran’s The Forerunner, translated into Arabic (bilingual). Beirut: Naufal, 1999.

Agha, S. S , The battle of the Pass: Two consequential readings. MESA Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.,4-6 December 1998.

Baalbaki, R., Word reclassification as a grammatical tool in the Arab Linguistic tradition. The Department of Arabic Language, Literature and Linguistics, Georgetown University, 17 September 1997.

———, The occurrence of insha' instead of khabar: the gradual formulation of a grammatical issue. Journées de Linguistique Arabe et Sémitique, Université de Paris 8, 24-26 September 1998.

Ghosn, A., A study on feminist literature in Lebanon. The 75^th Anniversary of the foundation of the Lebanese American University, Lebanese American University, 10-11 May 1999.

———, The centennial of Kassim Amin's Woman Liberation. Kassim Amin's Centennial, Cairo, October 1999.

———, Al- Mutalaqi aw qari' al-nass al-laqit. The Sixth Conference on Literary Criticism, Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan , 20-22 July 1998.

———, Farah Antoun wa-l- Mustalah Fi al-^cUlum al-Insaniyah. Al Nahda wa l-hadatha, Mouassassat René' Mouawad in collaboration with the A.U.B. and the Frederic Neuman Foundation, 11-13 October 1998.

———, Al-Akhtal al-Saghir fi al-Khitab al-shicri wa lucbat al aqnica. Mouassassat Abdel Aziz Sacoud al-Babtin. Conference on al-Akhtal al-Saghir, Kuwait, October 1998.

———, Tawfiq Al-Hakim bayn fay al-turath wa ghurbat al-mucasara:. Critical study in a congress marking the centennial of Tawfiq al-Hakim. Tawfiq al-Hakim's Centennial, Cairo, 28 Nov.- 2 Dec. 1998.

———, Al -naqid aw tacadudiyat al -macani la-tahdid al-macna, Shariqa. Conference on Literary Critism, U.A.E, 9-13 May 1997.

Khairallah, A., Yusuf al-Khal: Craving for divine presence. Conference on Representation of the Divine in Arabic Poetry, Nijmegen, Holland, October 1997.

———, Islamic culture and the challenge of modernism. Fundamentalism and Violence, Studienhaus Wiesneck, Himmelreich, Germany, May 1998.

———, Beirut as cultural center. The Arab-German Cultural Association, Freiburg, Germany, June 1998.

———, The way of the cross as a way of life: Mgr. Georges Khodr’s hope in times of war. Religion between Violence and Reconciliation, Orient-Institut, Beirut, September 1998.

———, The transformation of a tradition: Nizami’s Layli-o-Majnun, The Ghazel Symposium, Orient-Institut, Istanbul, May 1999.

Makarem, S., al-Khatt al-^cArabi bayn al-asala wal-hadatha. Invited lecturer, Abu Dhabi, 1999.

———, Ana l-Haqq bayn al-Hallaj wa l-Imam al-Khumayni. al-Ma^chad al-Islami li-l-Dirasat al-Hikmiyyia, UNESCO, June 16, 1999.

Naimy, N., Ishkaliyyat al-fikr al-Islami fi ^casr al-nahdah. Proceedings of the Conference on ^casr al-nahdah: Muqaddimat libraliyyah lil-hadathah, René Mouawad Inst., F. Nawman Institue, and A.U.B., Beirut, 12-13 November 1998.

Dayyah, H., The relation between frequency of usage and deletion in Sibawayhi’s Kitab (1998). R. Baalbaki