Though there have been many studies on the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍鈥檚 importance in 迟补蹿蝉墨谤 (蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic commentary), there are comparatively few which look at the reception of the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍Muslims believe that the Holy 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 contains divine revelations to the Prophet Muhammed received in Mecca and Medina over a period of 23 years in the early 7th century CE. More in other forms of literature. This volume seeks to rectify the gap in the scholarship by placing the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 in its broader cultural and literary contexts. It explores the relation of Arabic (and Persian) classical literary traditions (adabA word of many meanings usually connoting courtesy, etiquette, rules and manners, civilisation, culture and literature.) to the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 from pre-Islamic times until the fifteenth century CE, focusing on the various ways in which the classical literati (耻诲补产腻示) engaged with the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic text, linguistically, conceptually, structurally and aesthetically, to create works that combined the sacred with the profane, thereby blurring the boundaries between formal 迟补蹿蝉墨谤 and adab.
Through a detailed introduction and a series of case studies, the volume rethinks the concept of adab and the relation of scripture to humanistic traditions in classical Islam and questions the general classification of adab as belles-lettres. It explores the religious aesthetic found in different types of adab works 鈥 poetry, literary criticism, epistles, oratory traditions, anthologies, 鈥榤irrors for princes鈥, folklore and mystical/Sufi literature.
The key themes of the contributions are the intertextuality between pre-lslamic poetry and the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍, and the innumerable approaches to the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 by classical authors and poets. Discussed here are the various citation techniques employed in the 耻诲补产腻示鈥檚 borrowing of 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic language, concepts and stories. The chapters explore how the use of these techniques reflect a hermeneutical involvement with the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 and how the choice of these techniques was determined by the literary conventions of the particular genres and contexts within which the 耻诲补产腻示 were working, as well as by their authorial intention, and theological and ideological outlooks. Also highlighted here is the link between the functions ascribed to 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic quotations in a specific text and the need to convey a particular message to specific audiences.
Collectively, these contributions by leading scholars offer a new, interdisciplinary approach to understanding the interaction of the literary traditions of classical Islam with the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍. Conversely, the analysis of these literary works enhances the understanding of the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍鈥檚 reception during the period studied. Students and specialists in the field of 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic Studies, Literature and Religion will welcome this volume.
List of Illustrations
Notes on Contributors
Note on Transliteration, Conventions and Abbreviations
Preface
1. Introduction: The Relation of Adab to the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍: Conceptual and Historical Framework
Nuha Alshaar
Section I: The Qur’an and Classical Arabic Poetry: Intertextuality and Sensibilities
2. The 鈥楧iscovery of Writing鈥 in the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍: Tracing a Cultural Shift in Arab Late Antiquity
Angelika Neuwirth
3. The 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 and the Character of Pre-Islamic Poetry: The 顿腻濒颈测测补 of al-Aswad b. Ya士fur al-Nahshal墨 (d. c. 600 CE)
Ghassan El-Massri
4. Abbasid Poets and the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍
Beatrice Gruendler
Section II: The 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 in Literary Criticism
5. The 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 in Kit膩b al-Bad墨士 by Ibn al-Mu士tazz (d. 296/908)
Geert Jan van Gelder
6. 鈥業 See a Distant Fire鈥: Tha士膩lib墨鈥檚 (d. 429/1030) Kit膩b al-Iqtib膩s min al-Qur示膩n al-Kar墨m
Bilal Orfali and Maurice Pomerantz
Section III: The 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 as a Moral, Literary and Aesthetic Model
7. The Place of the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 in 鈥楾he Sermons and Exhortations鈥 of Ab奴 士Ubayd (d. 224/838)
Andrew Rippin
8. Rhythmical Anxiety: Notes on Ab奴鈥檒-士Al膩示 al-Ma士arr墨鈥檚 (d. 449/1058) al-Fu峁Ｅ玪 wa鈥檒-Gh膩y膩t and Its Reception
Devin Stewart
9. The 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 and the Aesthetics of Adab: 岣k膩yat Ab墨l-Q膩sim al-Baghd膩d墨 by Ab奴鈥檒-Mu峁璦hhar al-Azd墨 (fl. Fifth/Eleventh Century)
Sarah R. bin Tyeer
Section IV: Approaches to the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 in Adab: Five Case Studies
10. 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 Citation in Early Arabic Oration (碍丑耻峁璪补): Mnemonic, Liturgical, and Testimonial Functions
Tahera Qutbuddin
11. The Impact of the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 on the Epistolography of 士Abd al-岣m墨d b. Ya岣膩 al-K膩tib (d. 132/750)
Wad膩d al-Q膩岣嵞
12. The 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 in Literary Anthologies: A Case Study of al-士Iqd al-Far墨d by Ibn 士Abd Rabbih al-Andalus墨 (d. 328/940)
Nuha Alshaar
13. Wisdom and Justice: The Reception of the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 in Some Arabic and Persian Mirrors for Princes
Louise Marlow
14. Solomon鈥檚 Ring in the Arabic Literary Imaginary
Wen-chin Ouyang
Section V: The 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 in Sufi Literature
15. Sufi Negotiation of the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic Text and its Prophetic Stories in the Literature of Ab奴 Sa士墨d al-Kharr膩z (d. 286/899)
Nada Saab
16. Ibn 士Arab墨 (d. 637/1240) and the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍: A Series of Poems
Denis McAuley
17. 鈥楽erving from Afar鈥: Jal膩l al-D墨n al-R奴m墨 (d. 672/1273) on the Adab of Interpreting the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍
Steffen Stelzer
Bibliography
Index of 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic Citations
General Index
鈥楾his collection treats a significant issue 鈥 the relation of the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 to the literary imagination; the analyses presented here will surely stimulate further scholarly consideration of the relation of scripture to humanistic traditions in classical Islam.鈥
鈥 Paul Heck, Professor, Department of Theology, Georgetown University
鈥楾his is a rich and eminently readable collection of articles. The volume will be a welcome addition to 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic studies as well as literary studies for its wide-ranging exploration of the connection between the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 and adab.鈥
鈥 Asma Afsaruddin, Professor, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Indiana University Bloomington
Nuha Alshaar (Phd, University of Cambridge) has been a Research Associate at the Institute of Ismaili Studies since 2009, focusing on classical literary traditions (adab). She teaches Islamic Intellectual History and Thought as well as Arabic Literature at the American University of Sharjah. She has taught at various academic institutions, including the School of Oriental and African Studies. Her publications include Ethics in Islam: Friendship in the Political Thought of al-Taw岣ツ玠墨 and his Contemporaries (Abingdon, Oxon, 2015) and the co-edited volume Sources and Approaches across Disciplines in Near Eastern Studies (Leuven, 2013), with Verena Klemm. Currently, she is preparing a volume of the Anthology of 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic Commentaries based on 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 verses on ethics, as well as a critical edition, with an introduction, of The Layered Ordering of the World, in the Epistles of the Brethren of Purity, as part of the Brethren of Purity Series.