You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
Adam Silverstein's book offers a fascinating account of the official methods of communication employed in the Near East from pre-Islamic times through the Mamluk period. Postal systems were set up by rulers in order to maintain control over vast tracts of land. These systems, invented centuries before steam-engines or cars, enabled the swift circulation of different commodities - from letters, people and horses to exotic fruits and ice. As the correspondence transported often included confidential reports from a ruler's provinces, such postal systems doubled as espionage-networks through which news reached the central authorities quickly enough to allow a timely reaction to events. The book sheds light not only on the role of communications technology in Islamic history, but also on how nomadic culture contributed to empire-building in the Near East. This is a long-awaited contribution to the history of pre-modern communications systems in the Near Eastern world.
Born in 1004, Nasir-i Khusraw was the major poet and philosopher of the early Ismailiyya. The outward political and religious events of the first half of the 11th century were the canvas on which Nasir-i Khusraw's poetry and prose developed. It is a poetry that teaches the importance of wisdom, of reason, of the right word and the right faith. Nasir-i edifice of religio-philosophical thought with its constant emphasis on the true faith and, as importantly, on reason and its role. Unique and important for our understanding of the times in which it was written Nasir-i Khusraw's ideas and expressions appeal strongly to readers of today. . The interest in Nasir-i Khusraw's poetry lies first in i...
A comprehensive overview of the Islamic philosophical tradition. AIslamic Philosophy from Its Origin to the Present offers a comprehensive overview of Islamic philosophy from the ninth century to the present day. As Seyyed Hossein Nasr attests, within this tradition, philosophizing is done in a world in which prophecy is the central reality of life—a reality related not only to the realms of action and ethics but also to the realm of knowledge. Comparisons with Jewish and Christian philosophies highlight the relation between reason and revelation, that is, philosophy and religion. Nasr presents Islamic philosophy in relation to the Islamic tradition as a whole, but always treats this philo...
This publication examines art, the human sciences, science, philosophy, mysticism, language and literature. For this task, UNESCO has chosen scholars and experts from all over the world who belong to widely divergent cultural and religious backgrounds.--Publisher's description.
This book offers a resourceful collection of essays examining recent efforts to respond to the challenges of planning, management and conserving landscapes in contemporary Iran, the home of Persian gardens. Drawing on selected recent studies, the chapters discuss the following topics: The sphere of knowledge and theoretical bases, including a survey of recent and ongoing research; Persian gardens remaining from the 6th century BC to the 19th century AD, which have influenced garden design in a vast geographic domain extending from India to Spain; Management and conservation of cultural landscapes, historic urban landscapes (HUL), road landscapes, and natural landscapes in the face of changes...
This new view on aspects of the Ghaznavid and Seljuk dynasties concentrates on the relationship of the panegyric poets Farrukhi Sistani (c.995-1032) and Mu'izzi (c.1045-1127) to the Ghaznavid and Seljuk rulers and dignitaries for whom they wrote. Dr Tetley investigates the reliability of the historical information which may be gathered from the poems, and draws comparisons with other historical sources. A solid and impressive work of learning, of interest to scholars in Oriental Studies, Medieval Literature, and History, The Ghaznavid and Seljuk Turks: Poetry as a Source for Iranian History, is the first extended English study of Mu'izzi it presents much new material concerning both this little-studied poet and also the better-known Farrukhi. Additionally, there is a valuable exploration of the relationship between Persians and Turks, a highly significant factor during the rule of the two dynasties.
Has appendices.
Although pluralism and religious tolerance are most often associated today with Western Enlightenment thinkers, the roots of these ideologies stretch back to non-Western and premodern societies, including many under Muslim rule. This book explores the development of pluralism in Islam in South Asia through the work of the poet, historian and musician Amir Khusraw and sheds new light on how Islam developed its own culture of tolerance. Countering stereotypes of Islam as intrinsically intolerant, the book provides a better understanding of how rhetorics of pluralism develop, which may aid in identifying and encouraging such discourses in the present. Khusraw, a practicing Muslim who showed gre...
This book studies an important icon of medieval South Asian culture, Indian courtier, poet, musician and Sufi, Amir Khusraw (1253-1325), chiefly remembered for his poetry in Persian and Hindi, today an integral part of the performative qawwali tradition.