This volume brings together a set of key studies on classical Arabic poetry (ca. 500-1000 C.E.), published over the last thirty-five years; the individual articles each deal with a different approach, period, genre, or theme. The major focus is on new interpretations of the form and function of the pre-eminent classical poetic genre, the polythematic qasida, or Arabic ode, particularly explorations of its ritual, ceremonial and performance dimensions. Other articles present the typology and genre characteristics of the short monothematic forms, especially the lyrical ghazal and the wine-poem....

This volume is one of two edited by Andrew Rippin which are designed to complement one another, and to comprehend the principal trends in modern scholarship on the Qur an. Both volumes are provided with a new introduction by the editor, analysing this scholarship, and providing references for further study. The Qur an: Style and Contents reveals the variety of approaches followed within the study of the text. From NA

ldeke s examination of style through Arkoun s project for the future, these scholarly statements reflect the historical development of the discipline, while providing overviews...

This collection of articles focuses on the period between the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula and the formation of the Islamic society of al-Andalus. Subjects dealt with include the transformations in cities and countryside, patterns of settlement and ethnic and religious affiliations.

These essays provide a general - if not wholly systematic - coverage of the emergence and evolution of law during the first three and a half centuries of Islam. On another level, they reflect the different and, at times, widely divergent scholarly approaches to this subject matter.