Al-Jāḥiẓ : in praise of books / James E. Montgomery.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 534-570) and index.

Print version record.

Shortlisted for The Sheikh Zayed Book Award 2017. Introduces the writings and 'Abbasid-period textual world of Al-JĹhiz, the 'father of Arabic prose'. Al-JĹhiz was a bibliomaniac, theologian, and spokesman for the political and cultural elite, a writer who lived, counselled and wrote in Iraq during the first century of the 'Abbasid caliphate. He advised, argued and rubbed shoulders with the major power brokers and leading religious and intellectual figures of his day, and crossed swords in debate and argument with the architects of the Islamic religious, theological, philosophical and cultural canon. His many, tumultuous writings engage with these figures, their ideas, theories and policies. They give us an invaluable but much-neglected window onto the values and beliefs of this cosmopolitan elite. Edinburgh University Press will publish two self-contained guides to reading al-JĹhiz that also shed light on his society and its writings. Volume 1, In Praise of Books, is devoted to bibliomania and al-JĹhiz's bibliophilia. Volume 2, In Censure of Books, explores Al-JĹhiz's bibliophobia. Praise from the BRISMES Book Prize. 'James E. Montgomery's study must rank among the finest scholarly works on classical Arabic literature ever to have appeared in any language. I would in fact consider it to be the best I have come across.' 'Montgomery's book is not only a work of great scholarship. Between the lines the reader can sense the story of an intense, long and deeply personal quest. It is that of a modern, Western intellect undertaking everything in its power to encounter, comprehend and elucidate one of the most complex and creative minds of the Islamic Middle Ages. The resulting sense of drama informs the writing on every page and turns the book into a human document of the first order.'

Preface; Part I: Physiognomy of An Apocalyptic Age; Part II: The Book of Living; Part III: The Jaḥiẓian Library Under Attack; Part IV: The Salvific Book; Part V: The Architecture of Design; Part VI: Appreciating Design; Postface; Appendix: The Praise of Books; Bibliography; Endnotes.

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