A J Arberry – författare

In the belief that all the great religions have similarities that confirm and differences that enrich peoples’ spiritual outlook on the world, the editors inaugurated a series which they hoped would bring out the essential tenets of religion in what they perceived to be an age of doubt. The series was originally published in the 1950s and consisted of three kinds of books: translations of imaginative, devotional and philosophic works, with an introduction or commentary; reproductions of masterpieces of religious art; and background books showing the environment in which this literature and art arose and developed. The books overlap each other: Both Eastern and Western religious art often illustrates a religious text and many of the books seek the common ground in their cultural view of religion or philosophy.

Originally published in 1964, this volume gathers together extracts from many of Arberry’s best-known works and supplements them with a selection of previously unpublished translations. The material therefore presents a vivid picture of the richness and variety of Islamic civilization from its origins to the late twentieth century.

Originally published in 1964, this volume gathers together extracts from many of Arberry’s best-known works and supplements them with a selection of previously unpublished translations. The material therefore presents a vivid picture of the richness and variety of Islamic civilization from its origins to the late twentieth century.

A. J. Arberry is one of Britain’s most distinguished and celebrated Orientalist scholars. This set contains five of Professor Arberry’s works: Scheherezade: Tales from the Thousand and One Nights (1953); The Seven Odes: The First Chapter in Arabic literature (1957); Classical Persian Literature (1958); The Romance of the Rubaiìyatì (1959); Oriental Essays: Portraits of Seven Scholars (1960); More Tales from the Masnavi (1963).

These titles include translations of key middle-eastern texts and informative works on Persian literature as well as the European scholars that paved the way for 20th century Orientalist study. This set will be of interest to those studying Middle-Eastern literature and history.