Religion, Learning and Science in the 'Abbasid Period

Writings in learned subjects from the period eighth to thirteenth centuries, AD.

The five centuries of the 'Abbasid period (eighth to thirteenth centuries AD) were the golden age of Arabic literature. They saw the appearance not only of poetry and belles-lettres (which are covered in a previous volume), but also of an extensive body of writings concerned with subjects ranging from theology and law to history and the natural sciences. This volume of The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature surveys the most important of these writings, including the literature of Sunnism and Shi'ism, Arabic philosophy, Sufism, Islamic law, grammar, lexicography, administration, historiography, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, geography, alchemy and medicine. It contains separate chapters on six of the greatest scholars of the Middle Ages, as well as on the Arabic literature of the Christians and Jews who lived under the rule of the 'Abbasid caliphate, and includes a study of one of the great cultural movements of the period, the translations from Greek into Arabic.

List of plates; Editorial preface; List of abbreviations; Map; 1. Sunni theology Salvador Gómez Nogales; 2. Shi'i theological literature I. K. A. Howard; 3. Ibadi theological literature J. C. Wilkinson; 4. Quranic exegesis John Burton; 5. The prose literature of Sufism Caesar E. Farah; 6. Philosophical literature Muhsin Mahdi; 7. Arabic lexicography M. G. Carter; 8. Arabic grammar M. G. Carter; 9. Islamic legal literature P. W. Baker and I. D. Edge; 10. Administrative literature C. E. Bosworth; 11. Arabic biographical writing M. J. L. Young; 12. History and historians Claude Cahen; 13. Fatimid history and historians Abbas Hamdani; 14. Mathematics and applied science Donald R. Hill; 15. Astronomy David A. King; 16. Astrology David Pingree; 17. Geographical and navigational literature J. F. P. Hopkins; 18. The literature of Arabic alchemy Donald R. Hill; 19. Arabic medical literature Haskell D. Isaacs; 20. Al-Kindi Fritz W. Zimmerman; 21. Al-Razi Albert Z. Iskandar; 22. Al-Farabi Alfred L. Ivry; 23. Ibn Sina Salvador Gómez Nogales; 24. Al-Biruni and the sciences of his time George Saliba; 25. Al-Ghazali Adib Nayif Diyab; 26. Christian Arabic literature in the 'Abbasid period Samir Khalil Samir, SJ; 27. Judaeo-Arabic literature Paul B. Fenton; 28. The translation of Greek materials into Arabic L. E. Goodman; 29. Didactic verse Safa' Khulusi; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.

This volume of The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature deals with writings on learned subjects from the 'Abbasid period (eighth to thirteenth centures AD), the golden age of Arabic literature. These range from philosophy, theology, and law, through grammar and lexicography, to mathematics, astronomy and medicine.