Books published by Gibb Memorial Trust

The description of his mission to the court of the Shah Tahmasp I of Persia by the Venetian Michele Membre is one of the most informative as well as one of the most individual of the few European accounts of 16th century Persia.

'Osman Aga was the son of an Ottoman officer settled in the town of Temeschwar, in the West of present-day Rumania. Entering the army in his turn he was taken prisoner by the Austrians and most of his autobiography is concerned with the eleven years he spent in captivity and his eventual escape in 1699.

Written in the middle of the 12th century for a member of the Ghurid family of Bamiyan (in modern Afghanistan) the Four Discourses are concerned with four professions necessary at the Prince's court, those of scribe, poet, astrologer and physician.

This sixteenth century biographical dictionary of Ottoman poets with comments on their style and examples of their work was one of Gibb's principle sources for Ottoman poetry in its most flourishing period. Turkish text.

Throughout his distinguished career devoted to the study of Arabic language and literature, Geert Jan van Gelder sustained a particular interest in humour and irreverence: in mujun, broadly understood as literary expressions of indecency, encompassing the obscene, the profane, the impudent, and the taboo.

The diverse studies presented in this volume recount the production, understanding and organisation of Muslim literature, both in the Muslim world and Western Europe.

This volume explores the immense achievements of the 'Abbasid age through the lens of Mediterranean history.

A study of the tradition and practice of early Arabic poetry, this book provides an investigation of the multiple versions of early poems that exist in various Abbasid collections.

In early Arabic poetry, poets mostly speak in the first person - a point which sets their tradition apart from most other civilisations.

This text, which antedates the crystallization of the Schools of Fiqh and presents a view of the relation between the Qur'an and Sunnah diverging from that of Shafi'i is of relevance to studies of the Qur'an and the formation of Islamic jurisprudence.

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.

The History of Ottoman Poetry, first published in six volumes between 1900 and 1909, was the principal product of E.J.W. Gibb's devotion to Ottoman Turkish literature. By the time of his early death in 1901 only the first volume had appeared in print.

In the past four decades since the field of late antique studies began to gather real momentum, scholars have debated the place of early Islam within the late antique world, particularly in relation to the issue of where and when 'Late Antiquity' ends.

This is an anthology of outstanding literary importance, probably the most valuable work of Arabic poetry to surface this century. It contains the largest and best collection of Andalusian Muwashshat , 354 in all, of which over 280 are not known from any other source. Arabic text.

Sanglax begins with a grammar of the variety of Turkish known as Catagay but the bulk of the work consists of a Turkish-Persian dictionary. Facsimile text in Persian and Turkish..

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.

A much-needed study of pre-Islamic poetry from Arabia, that fills a key gap in understanding not only the history of Arabian poetry, but also of Arabian ethos and ideology. What emerges is a complex, stylized discourse which reflects a distinctive cosmology.

Mazandaran and Astarabad, originally published in 1928, gives an account of two remote and inaccessible Iranian provinces written by the diplomat and Persian scholar H. L. Rabino. Accompanied by a large-scale facsimile of the detailed original map.

Translation and analysis of a rare Russian survey of the khanate of Shirvan, now Azerbaijan, after its annexation by Russia in 1820.

The Qur'an is the sacred book of Islam. For Muslims it is the word of God revealed in Arabic by the archangel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammad, and thence to mankind. Originally it was delivered orally: traditional sources indicate that Muhammad always recited his message. He was a preacher; he delivered good news; and he warned; thus, the Qur'an is a collection of sermons, exhortations, guidance, warnings and pieces of encouragement. This new translation is unique. The result of decades of study of the text, of the traditional Muslim authorities and of the works of other scholars, special thought has been given to what the text would have meant to its original hearers. The traditional verse structure has been maintained, and where necessary verses have been further divided into sections to indicate where there are natural points for pause, and to emphasize the original oral nature of the text. This is the first translation of the Qur'an to adopt such an approach. The oral nature of the text presents problems for the translator, for recitation frequently gives the text a dimension that does not come across in silent reading. Some previous translators have introduced bridging phrases drawn from past commentators, resulting in interruptions to the flow of the text. Alan Jones's approach underlines the need for a sympathetic response to the oral and aural structures of the Arabic of the Qur'an. An introductory note to each sura provides some background material on the contents of the sura and its dating, and the notes are kept to a minimum. The translation is preceded by a brief Introduction describing the religion and culture of the Arabian peninsula, and the land and its peoples, in the years before Muhammad's birth. There is an account of his life: his early years in Mecca, the hijra, the migration to Medina, and his years there. And there is an account of the Qur'an and the transmission of the text. Alan Jones is a specialist in early Arabic literature, and the author of Early Arabic Poetry, two books of translations and commentary on pre-Islamic poetry. He has been a lecturer and teacher of Arabic at Oxford University for 43 years; now retired he is at work on a commentary to accompany this new translation of the Qur'an. A Festschrift, Islamic Reflections, Arabic Musings was published by Oxbow on behalf of the Gibb Memorial Trust, in his honour.

Domenico was the name taken by a rabbi and doctor from Safed in Palestine on his conversion to Catholicism in 1593. For some ten years he served as Third Physician to Sultan Murad III. In 1611 he wrote or more accurately dictated his Relatione della gran Citta di Constantinopli .

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 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.

A two volume set comprising the critical notes and commentary provided by Nicholson to his edition and translation of Rumi's great poem on Islamic mysticism.