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Publications Series | The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation

Publications Series

Kitāb Dhamm al-Dunyā
Almagor, Dr. Ella, ed. Kitāb Dhamm al-Dunyā, 1984.

Ibn Abī Dunyā, the prolific author, traditionist and compiler of adab works lived in Baghdad in the ninth century CE. The original Arabic text of his "Condemnation of the world" (Kitāb dhamm al-dunyā) is published here for the first time from three manuscripts. The book contains edifying traditions, anecdotes, parables, dreams, visions and verses of poetry, all around the broad topic of Muslim asceticism (zuhd).

In her introduction, the editor provides a brief biography of the author who served as tutor to several ʿAbbāsī princes. She points out that while Ibn Abī Dunyā's works abound in passages extolling asceticism, he was not addressing an esoteric circle of ascetics, but rather aimed at improving the society at large. His purpose was to serve as a bulwark against the moral deterioration of society which was not averse to the pleasures of the world.

The edition includes a critical apparatus of variant readings in the manuscripts, as well as copious references to parallel passages in other sources and details about personalities mentioned in the text. There is also an extensive bibliography and indices.

 

Socrates Arabus: Life and teachings
Alon, Ilai, ed. Socrates Arabus: Life and teachings. Jerusalem: The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation, 1995.

This book is a major resource for the study of Socrates as seen by the Muslim tradition. The characteristics attributed to him in Islamic thought are mainly in the realm of ethics. His wisdom was recorded in medieval Muslim literature in the form of sayings or descriptions of behavior, in a style reminiscent of prophetic traditions (ḥadīth) in Islam. The Arab Socrates is thus different from thinkers such as Plato or Aristotle, who were seen as systematic philosophers; this difference is probably due to the fact that some of their writings had been translated into Arabic.

Among the more important issues in the legacy of the Arab Socrates (who was sometimes confused with Diogenes) was his encounter with the king and his trial and death; his views on God; life and death; speech and silence, and on wisdom and stupidity.

The book contains approximately 900 items of information culled from various philosophical, historical, literary and theological sources in Arabic. The material is organized in two sections: biography and teachings. The Arabic text is accompanied by an English translation, copious footnotes, indices and a detailed critical apparatus. The book complements a previous study by the author, Socrates in medieval literature, published by the Magnes Press and Brill in 1991.

 

Ansāb al-Ashrāf VI B
ʿAthamina, Khalil, ed.. Ansāb al-Ashrāf VI B. Jerusalem: The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation, 1993.

In this part of his Ansāb al-ashrāf, the Arab historian al-Balādhurī (d. 892) deals with the career of the Umayyad caliph Hishām b. ʿAbd al-Malik (724-743). He recounts the main developments of Hishām's reign such as the revolts of the Khawārij in ʿIrāq, and pays particular attention to the events which took place there during the governorships of Khālid al-Qasrī and Yūsuf b. ʿUmar. Nonetheless, he does not neglect the history of the other provinces of the empire. Al-Balādhurī's account of historical events is interspersed with anecdotes and poems, illustrating various social and economic aspects of this period in Umayyad history.

In his Introduction, in Arabic and English, the editor discusses the reception of al-Balādhurī's work by enumerating the numerous later historians who quoted him. In contradistinction to other scholars, he substantiates the view that al-Balādhurī employed a critical approach to his material.

The edition is based on two manuscripts and includes a double critical apparatus which includes variants in the manuscripts, and references to other historical sources which deal with the contents of this volume. Indices of proper names, place names, verses of poetry, Qurʾānic verses and prophetic traditions conclude the volume.

 

Studia Orientalia Memoriae D. Z. Baneth Dedicata
Kister, Meir Jacob , and Shaul Shaked. Studia Orientalia Memoriae D. Z. Baneth Dedicata. Jerusalem: The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation, 1979.

חקרי מזרח לזכר ד"צ בנעט

 

Prof. David Hartwig (Zvi) Baneth (1893-1973) was a prominent scholar in Jewish Studies and Medieval Islamic Philosophy. Prof. Baneth taught at the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (since 1936) and laid the groundwork for the study of Judeo-Arabic, which was continued by his student, Prof. Joshua Blau. Prof. Baneth studied the religious thought of Jewish and Muslim scholars like Yehuda ha-Levi, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Bahya ibn Paquda, and Maimonides.

 

 

Jawāmi‘ Ādāb al-Ṣūfiyya and ‘Uyūb al-Nafs wa-Mudāwātuhā
Kohlberg, Etan, ed. Jawāmi‘ Ādāb al-Ṣūfiyya and ‘Uyūb al-Nafs wa-Mudāwātuhā. Jerusalem: The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation, 1976.

This is an edition of two texts by Abū ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī (d. 412/1021), one of the most important Ṣūfī authors. Al-Sulamī combined thorough knowledge of tradition (ḥadīth) with the Ṣūfī heritage. He paved the way for the gradual acceptance of Ṣūfism into the mainstream of Islamic thought, by endeavoring in much of his work to prove that Ṣūfism and Islam were mutually compatible .

The texts in this edition present two important aspects of al-Sulamī‟s writings. In the Jawāmi‘ adāb al-Ṣūfiyya ("A collection of Ṣūfī rules of conduct"), al-Sulamī provides us with what is apparently the first comprehensive documentation of Ṣūfī customs and practices. Most of the Jawāmi‘ consists of Ṣūfi sayings representing the views of five generations of thinkers. The subjects dealt with cover a wide range and reflect the preoccupations of Ṣūfī society.

The second work is a handbook of spiritual discipline entitled ‘Uyūb al-nafs wa-mudāwātuhā ("The defects of the soul and their remedy"). As its title suggests, the ‘Uyūb deals with one of the central motifs of Ṣūfism, the constant struggle against the nafs, or the "lower soul". The attitudes and beliefs expressed are on the whole characteristic of the early ascetics, who regarded the conduct of the Prophet as the supreme example. In both style and content, this work occupies the middle ground between the worlds of ḥadīthadab, and ethics. The two texts contribute not only to a better appreciation of al-Sulamī's work, but also to our understanding of a crucial phase in the history of Ṣūfism.

 

Kitāb Ādāb al-Murīdīn
Milson, Menahem, ed. Kitāb Ādāb al-Murīdīn. Jerusalem: The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation, 1978.

Kitāb ādāb al-murīdīn is unique among known Ṣūfī compositions in that it presents Ṣūfism from the standpoint of ādāb (rules of conduct). Composed by one of the four great masters of Ṣūfism bearing the nisba Suhrawardī (ca. 490/1097-563/1168), the book is characterized by a realistic approach to social necessities and to the moral capability of human nature. The Ṣūfī's sphere of activity, according to Abū al-Najīb, is within society. To accommodate the needs of lay members of the Ṣūfī brotherhood, the author makes prominent use of the traditional concept of rukhṣa, the relaxation of strict rules .

Kitāb ādāb al-murīdīn is a book steeped in the Ṣūfī literary tradition and contains elements found in earlier Ṣūfī classics. However, all the variegated elements have been recast by the author in his own mold. Its language is clear and simple, in accordance with its purpose as a popular manual. The large number of extant manuscripts and their varied provenance may indicate the great popularity which the book enjoyed.

 

Al-Aḥādīth al-Ḥisān fī Faḍl al-Ṭaylasān
Arazi, Albert, ed. Al-Aḥādīth al-Ḥisān fī Faḍl al-Ṭaylasān. Jerusalem: The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation, 1983.

Al-aḥādīth al-ḥisān fī faḍl al-ṭaylasān ("The beautiful traditions about the merits of the ṭaylasān") is a book concerned with Muslim attire. The author draws his material from the prophetic traditions, from the books of law, from Qurʾānic exegesis and from books of history. However, the book has significance for other fields as well. It reflects the various trends of thought in the Mamlūk period and the struggle between the various schools of law. These struggles seem to have revolved around questions related to the administration of the religious endowments (waqf).

The present edition of the Arabic text is based on four manuscripts. The editor has provided an introduction (in French) in which he discusses the contents and the significance of the Aḥādīth.

 

Judaeo-Arabic Literature: Selected Texts
Blau, Joshua, ed. Judaeo-Arabic Literature: Selected Texts. Jerusalem: The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation, 1985.

This anthology is designed as an introduction to the study of Judaeo-Arabic from the cultural, philosophical and linguistic point of view. Judaeo-Arabic texts are written in Middle Arabic, a language which includes Classical Arabic, Neo-Arabic and pseudo-correct elements. For students of Arabic linguistics, it is the Neo-Arabic elements in Judaeo-Arabic which are of special importance. These Neo-Arabic elements constitute the missing link between Old Arabic and the modern dialects .

The anthology includes selections from the major works written in Judaeo-Arabic, such as the Arabic translation of the Old Testament by Saadya Gaon. Karaite literature is represented by passages from Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb b. Isḥāq al-Qirqisānī, from the lexicographical work by David b. Abraham al-Fāsī and from the Commentary on the book of Job by Yefet b. ʿAlī. Maimonides is represented, among other works, by selections from The Guide of the Perplexed. A chapter from Judah ha-Levi’s Kuzari is also included. All selections are in the Hebrew script and are provided with a critical apparatus and references to J. Blau’s Grammar of Mediaeval Judaeo-Arabic.

 

Faḍā’il al-Bayt al-Muqaddas
Hasson, Isaac, ed. Faḍā’il al-Bayt al-Muqaddas. Jerusalem: The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation, 1979.

This is a critical edition of what is probably the earliest surviving treatise in Arabic on "The Virtues of Jerusalem" (Faḍāʾil bayt al-maqdis), written by Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Wāsiṭī, the Shāfiʿī preacher of al-Aqṣā Mosque at the beginning of the 5th/11th century. Its precision in giving the chain of transmitters (isnād) of each tradition enables us to reconsider some theories concerning the sanctity of Jerusalem in Islam, the sources of its holiness, the polemics concerning its place in the hierarchy of the holy cities and the beginnings of the Faḍāʾil bayt al-maqdis literature. Each tradition was systematically compared by the editor with others cited in different treatises of this genre, most of which are still unpublished. The traditions were also examined in relation to other materials from geographic, historical and ḥadīth sources dealing with the glorification of Jerusalem.

The editor's introductions (39 pages in Arabic and 22 pages in French) deal with the religious, political and local elements which influenced Muslim attitudes regarding the place of Jerusalem, both directly and indirectly. The introductions also contain a discussion of the literary sources of the Faḍā’il bayt al-maqdis literature .

This edition is based on a manuscript that was copied or written at the time of the conquest of Jerusalem by Saladin in 583/1187.

 

Studies in Memory of Gaston Wiet
ROSEN-AYALON, MYRIAM, ed. Studies in Memory of Gaston Wiet. Jerusalem: The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation, 1977.

This tribute to the memory of Gaston Wiet, who died in 1971, consists of 28 articles which, with four exceptions, treat aspects of Islamic civilization: its historical developments, its expression in art, architecture, and literature; its manifestations as a religion in theory and practice. Three of the four exceptions deal with Sasanian studies, the fourth is devoted to the Crusades.

The twenty-four articles concerning Islamic civilization were intended to be, and are, as diverse and wide in scope as Wiet's own interests and publications. In terms of time they stretch from the Sasanian period until the present day.

 

Arabic Linguistic Thought and Dialectology
Levin, Aryeh . Arabic Linguistic Thought and Dialectology. Jerusalem: The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation, 1998.

The articles collected in this volume form a contribution to the study of Arabic linguistics. Most of them deal with Arabic medieval grammatical thought and terminology and are based on the oldest grammatical treatises known to us, especially Sībawayhi's al-Kitāb. The study of these two topics is interrelated, since the understanding of Arabic grammatical thought depends on the understanding of its terminology and vice versa.

 

Revolt - the Social and Military aspects of the ‘Abbāsid Revolution (Black Banners from the East, volume 2)
Sharon, Moshe . Revolt - the Social and Military aspects of the ‘Abbāsid Revolution (Black Banners from the East, volume 2), 1990.

Black banners from the East tells the story of the first revolution in Islam which caused not merely the change of dynasties, but the end of the formative period of Islamic civilization. It is the story of a messianic movement striving and succeeding in establishing the throne of its Caliph-Messiah. The two volumes of Black banners from the East describe the two stages of the revolution from its early Shīʿī roots to the major military victories over the Umayyad army and the establishment of the ʿAbbāsī state. While the two volumes form a coherent study, each one of them is independent and can be read on its own.

Volume 2, Revolt---the social and military aspects of the ʿAbbāsid revolution, deals with the revolt itself and with it social and military aspects. It describes the rather short but decisive phase of the change that an ideological movement undergoes in order to be able to achieve its political Goal - capturing the government. The book follows step by step the emergence of the Hāshimiyyah-ʿAbbāsiyyah from hiding into the open political and military arena, under the leadership of Abū Muslim,  the character of the army it created, its social origins, its structure and the institutions which supported it. The success of the ʿAbbāsī movement relied completely on the special features of this military power whose creation revolutionized, as a by-product, the whole military system in Islam.

 

Studies in Early Ismā‘īlism
Stern, Samuel M. . Studies in Early Ismā‘īlism, 1983.

Studies in Early Ismāʿīlism treats major aspects of the history and doctrine of Ismāʿīlī Shīʿism, one of Stern’s main fields of research.  Basing himself largely on previously untapped sources, Stern deals with central questions such as the dating and authorship of the Epistles of Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ, and the historical and doctrinal affinity between the Qarmaṭians of Baḥrayn and the Fāṭimīs, the two prevailing Ismā‘īlī groups in the formative period of Ismāʿīlism.

The chapter on Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī’s analysis of Persian religions is an exemplary study in comparative religion. It shows how Abū Ḥātim and other leading Ismāʿīlī philosophers accommodated sects like the Zoroastrians and Ṣābians to the Ismāʿīlī system, and explores their attitude to religious leaders like Mazdak, Mānī, Dayṣān and Zoroaster.

Another outstanding study included in the book—“Abū’l-Qāsim al-Bustī and his refutation of Ismāʿīlism”—impressively demonstrates how a polemical treatise can also be used as a source for the reconstruction of early Ismāʿīlī history.  This book, a unique treasure trove of erudition, will be of great interest to students of medieval Muslim doctrine, philosophy and history.

 

A Handbook of Early Middle Arabic
Blau, Joshua . A Handbook of Early Middle Arabic. Jerusalem: The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation, 2002.

In the present Handbook of Early Middle Arabic, Professor Joshua Blau of  the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the undisputed dean of the study of Middle Arabic, presents a reliable and up-to-date survey, comprehensive yet concise, of the whole field.

The Handbook contains a grammatical outline of Middle Arabic structure, annotated examples of the main Middle Arabic varieties and a glossary of all words occurring in the book.

An important feature of the book is the variety of texts presented. These cover (a) Muslim, (b) Christian and (c) Jewish Middle Arabic, each represented by typical or noteworthy examples, some of them published here for the first time. Particularly significant are the Jewish texts, Rabbanite and Karaite, which have been transmitted in different orthographical modes. Standard Judaeo-Arabic orthography is represented by samples from Saadia Gaon, Qirqisānī and David b. Abraham al-Fāsī. Linguistically more revealing are Judaeo-Arabic writings in the earlier phonetic orthography; these are exemplified in the Handbook by selected texts on papyrus, by specimens of a translation of Halakhot Pesuqot and a translation of the Biblical  book of Proverbs. In the Appendix, two examples of vocalized Middle Arabic are given: one written in Coptic characters, the other a Judaeo-Arabic letter from the Cairo Geniza.

Professor Blau's Handbook will enable all Arabists to gain immediate access to the world of Middle Arabic, guided in their journey by the leading authority in the field.  On the one hand, scholars familiar only with the classical, literary tongue will be able to see in what directions the language subsequently developed; on the other hand, Arabic dialectologists will be afforded a valuable glimpse into the history of modern colloquial forms. The Handbook will thus be a valuable tool for all who are concerned with the history of the Arabic tongue.

An important feature of the book is the variety of texts presented. These cover (a) Muslim, (b)  Christian and  (c) Jewish  Middle  Arabic,  each  represented by typical or noteworthy examples, some of them published  here for  the first time. Particularly significant are the Jewish texts, Rabbanite and Karaite, which have been transmitted in different orthographical modes. Standard Judaeo-Arabic orthography is represented by samples from Saadia Gaon, Qirqisānī and David b. Abraham al-Fāsī. Linguistically more revealing are Judaeo-Arabic writings in the earlier phonetic orthography; these are exemplified in the Handbook  by selected texts on papyrus, by specimens of a translation  of Halakhot Pesuqot and a translation of the Biblical  book of Proverbs. In the Appendix, two examples of vocalized Middle Arabic are given: one written in Coptic characters, the other a Judaeo-Arabic letter from the Cairo Geniza.

 

Six Early Arab Poets: New Edition and Concordance
Arazi, Albert, and Salman Masalha, eds. Six Early Arab Poets: New Edition and Concordance. Jerusalem: The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation, 1999.

Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry is one of the greatest cultural achievements of the Arabs in the early period of their history. For several centuries it was considered the only model of poetic perfection. It is the earliest literary corpus in classical Arabic and a major part of Arab cultural heritage.

The present volume consists of a concordance of al-ʿIqd al-Thamīn fī Dawawīn al-Shuʿarāʾ al-Sitta al-Jāhiliyyīn, in the edition of William Ahlwardt. It also contains a preface in Arabic and English, a new critical edition with numerous emendations of Ahlwardt's text, and a full concordance of the poetry of Imrūʾ al-Qays, Zuhayr b. Abī Sulma, Ṭarafa b. al-ʿAbd, ʿAlqama b. ʿAbada al-Faḥl, ʿAntara b. Shaddād, al-Nābigha al-Dhubyāni and a few poems by four minor poets. The book holds almost 1,400 pages and contains more than 33,000 entries.

The concordance is an essential tool for the study of classical Arabic poetry and for the study of classical Arabic in general. In addition to the concordance of nouns, verbs, and particles, it includes separate sections on proper names, geographical names, names of horses and camels.