Gibb Memorial Trust Arabic Studies – serie

In this treatise Ibn Rushd (Averroes) sets out to show that the Scriptural Law (shar') of Islam does not altogether prohibit the study of philosophy by Muslims, but, on the contrary, makes it a duty for a certain class of people, those with the capacity for "demonstrative" or scientific reasoning. Apparent conflicts between the teachings of Scripture and philosophy can be reconciled by allegorical interpretations of Scripture, though such interpretations should not be taught to the common people. Ibn Rushd's contribution to what was clearly a lively debate in Almovarid Andalusia is here accompanied by extracts from two other relevant works, his Damima and Kitab al-Kashf 'an Manahij al-Adilla, and all are covered by a full intorduction and notes.

The Ta'rikh-i-Jahan-Gusha or History of the World-Conqueror is one of the most valuable sources for the life of Chingiz Khan and the establishment of the Mongol Empire. The Juwaynis, an established secretarial family of North-East Persia, made the transition to Mongol service and long prospered in it. 'Ata Malik himself was Governor of Baghdad for many years and died in 1283, shortly before the family's disastrous fall from favour. His history was conceived in 1252 or 1253, when he was at the distant Mongol capital, Karakorum, and probably completed in about 1260. In addition to written sources he had available his own and his family's first-hand knowledge of events and information from the Mongols themselves. Its elaborate style long contributed to its popularity. Qazwini's critical edition, based on the good early manuscripts, is still standard. Persian text with introduction, notes and indices.

Poems of 'Abid and 'Amir are found in other works but the 11th-century MS in the British Library on which this edition is based is unique. Both are tribal poets of the Jahiliyyah, the period before Islam. 'Abd ibn al-Abras, regarded as one of the best pre-Islamic poets, was contemporary with the greatest of them all, Imru' al-Qais of Kindah, and his poems reflect the events of the first half of the 6th century, such as the attempt and ultimate failure of the Princes of Kindah to impose their hegemony on the nomads of northern Arabia, among them 'Abid's tribe, the Bani Asad, who slew Imru' al-Qais's father, Hujr. 'Amir's tribe, on the other hand, dwelt in Central Arabia, some distance to the West of Mecca and he was a contemporary of the Prophet Muhammad. 'Amir remained pagan but, though he is credited by some accounts with bitter hostility to Islam, his poems are mainly concerned with war and rivalry with neighbouring tribes.

This chronicle is the fullest and best historical source for the conquest of Yemen to the end of the 13th century.In two volumes: Vol. I contains a critical edition of the Arabic text of Kitab al-Simt al-Ghali al-Thaman fi Akhbar al-Muluk min al-Ghuzz bi'l-Yaman, Badr al-Din Muhammad b. Hatim al-Yami al-Hamdani, Vol. II is a study of Ibn Hatim's Kitab al-Simt.Muhammad b. Hatim's chronicle, which has not been published previously, is the fullest and best historical source on Yemen for the period it covers, from the conquest of Yemen by Saladin's brother Turanshah to the author's own time, by which the Rasulids, who had come to the country as followers of the Ayyubids, had replaced their old masters as its rulers. Ibn Hatim himself came from an Isma'ili tribe of the region of San'a. From the middle of the 13th century he often gives his own account of events and he soon became one of a group of leading Amirs involved in the management of affairs for the Rasulid Sultan al-Muzaffar and thus well informed of the political situation. His book was begun in 1295.Vol. I contains the text of the Kitab al-Simt, edited on the basis of the three known manuscripts. Vol. II includes studies of the author and his work, and of aspects of the Yemeni history of the period, as well as a glossary, geographical and tribal indices and maps.G. Rex Smith was Professor of Arabic in the University of Manchester with numerous publications on the Yemen.

The author's talents spanned many disciplines and this is a collection of works on agriculture, animals, astrology, astronomy, biography, calendars, crops, genealogies, geography, grammar, lexicography, mathematics, medicine, taxes, timekeeping, warfare and weapons. It is reproduced here in facsimile with descriptions of the contents and an introduction and index by the editors. Arabic text.

This book represents an explanation of the institution of hisba in medieval Islam, through one of the most used texts in the field. It includes a thorough translation of the text, written by a practising muhtasib, scholar and judge, together with accompanying biographical and bibliographical notes. The book is unique being the only English work on medieval Hanafi law of hisba.

In early Arabic poetry, poets mostly speak in the first person - a point which sets their tradition apart from most other civilisations. This study investigates the characteristic poetic roles found in the works of thirty seven poets dating from the pre-Islamic to the Abbasid period, to which are added specimens of Spanish Arabic lyric poetry and the popular poetry of Baghdad.

Ibn Jubayr, originally from an Arab family in Spain, is best known for the account he wrote of his journey to the East. The main part of the book covers eight months spent in Mecca and gives one of the fullest early descriptions of the city and its ritual activities. A short preface in English is followed by the Arabic text.

Al-Farabi (d. 950 AD), was perhaps the most original and influential of all Muslim philosophers of the Middle Ages. His intellectual activity spanned over areas as different as music, medicine, political theory, linguistics, logic, metaphysics, religion and philosophy at large.

Fifteen essays on literature, linguistics, history and epigraphy. Contents include: Maysir-gambling in early Arabic poetry ( N Jamil ); the Qu'ran as a source of law: the case of zakat (alms-tax) ( Y Dutton ); On the difficulty of knowing mediaeval Arab authors: the case of Abu I-Faraj and pseudo-Isfahani ( H Kilpatrick ); Mahfuz's urban battlegrounds ( R Ostle ); Inscriptions of companions of the prophet in the Merv Oasis ( V Porter ); Muslim jizya-payers in Christian Sicily ( J Johns ); The Mu'allaqat in the west: a brief bibliographical survey ( H Bleaney ); Theomnestus of Nicopolis, Hunayn ibn Ishaq, and the beginnings of Islamic veterinary science ( R Hoyland ); Historians and the Arabic biographical dictionary ( P Auchterlonie ).

One of the problems pervading the study of medieval Islamic technology is the lack of surviving technical treatises. Tradition tended to be handed down by example and by word of mouth, and apprenticeships could last for decades. Fortunately, however, occasional treatises do exist. The treatise "On swords and their kinds" was written by the 9th century Muslim philosopher Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi. This work was commissioned by a powerful patron of scholarship, the Abbasid caliph Mu'tasim, and the content of the treatise presumably reflects the ruler's general interest in his army and its equipment, and his specific interest in the technical aspects of sword production. In this work, Kindi discusses the difference between iron and steel, distinguishes different qualities of sword blade, and different centres of swordsmithing. He refers to the Indian Ocean trade in steel ingots and to the distinctive character of European swords of the period. He includes technical terms used by the makers, and distinguishes swords by their physical features - form, measurements, weight, watered pattern, sculptured details, or inlaid ornaments. This publication includes the text and a translation of Kindi's treatise, and a detailed commentary on the work. The volume also includes a translation of Friedrich Schwarzlose's work on swords, which is based on the hundreds of references to swords in early Arabic poetry. Written in German, this extraordinary compendium of information was first published some 120 years ago; this volume makes it available again, and for the first time in English.