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This is the first translation of the twelfth century Armenian commentary on the death of John the Evangelist as found in the Acts of John. The last section of the apocryphal life of the Evangelist became detached from the whole, and circulated widely in the churches of east and west. The Armenian version was included in service books, Bibles, and collections of saints’ lives. Yet no medieval commentary on that brief text is known in any other language.
Nersēs of Lambron [1153-1198], Archbishop of Tarsus, was a prolific author and an influential player in the ecclesiastical politics of his era. He used this work as a medium for spiritual reflection, and for an exposition of the Armenian tradition as opposed to the theologies of the Greek and Syrian churches.
Author:
Aramaic has been spoken uninterruptedly for more than 3000 years, yet a generation from now most Aramaic dialects will be extinct. The study of the Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA) dialects has increased dramatically in the past decade as linguists seek to record these dialects before the disappearance of their last speakers. This work is a unique documentation of the now extinct Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialect of Challa (modern-day Çukurca, Turkey). It is based on recordings of the last native speaker of the dialect, who passed away in 2007. In addition to a grammatical description, it contains sample texts and a glossary of the dialect. Jewish Challa belongs to the cluster of NENA dialects known as 'lishana deni' and reference is made throughout to other dialects within this group.
Foundations of Jurisprudence: An Introduction to Imāmī Shīʿī Legal Theory is a critical edition of the Arabic text with a parallel English translation of Mabādiʾ al-wuṣūl ilā ʿilm al-uṣūl by al-ʿAllāmah al-Ḥillī, introduced, edited and translated by Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi.
Al-ʿAllāmah al-Ḥillī participated in the leading debates of his day and applied his vast erudition in philosophy, logic, and theology to the paramount subject of jurisprudence. This text presents an exemplar of the rich revival of Shīʿī scholarship in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries of the Common Era. Concise, yet comprehensive, this work sets the standard for the subsequent development and discussion of Imāmī Shīʿī legal theory, such that its influence can be traced through to modern times. This dual-text edition is indispensable for students and scholars of Imāmi Shīʿī jurisprudence.
Edition d'un récit en mandinka par Maalaŋ Galisa (octobre 1988) sur la constitution et les conditions de vie au Kaabu, territoire situé entre la Gambie, le Sénégal et la Guinée-Bissau, connu depuis le 16e siècle et détruit vers 1867. La gamme des sujets couvre: le peuplement, le gouvernement, les codes de conduite des guerriers, religieux, esclaves et 'hôtes étrangers', les règles de l'esclavage, du mariage et de la succession, la coexistence des religions, les relations entre groupes d'âge et de genre.
Le texte diffère d'autres qui se focalisent sur un unique fondateur-patriarche, Tiramakan de l'épopée de Sunjata. Galisa parle du sud-est du Kaabu, à la frontière avec la Guinée. Il ajoute des couleurs locales au modèle mandinka, évoquant la puissance féminine et certains conflits violents.

Edition of a recital in Mandinka by Maalaŋ Galisa (October 1988) on the political constitution and living conditions in Kaabu, a territory situated between present Gambia, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau, known since the 16th century, definitely destroyed in 1867. The narrative presents a range of topics covering governance, codes of conduct of warriors, clerics, slaves and 'strangers', rules of slavery, marriage and succession, the cohabitation of different religions, relations of age and gender.
This text is distinctive from others focussing on a single founder-patriarch, Tiramakan of the Epic of Sunjata. Galisa focuses on South-eastern Kaabu, bordering on the region of Labé (Guinea). He adds local colours to the Mandinka model, depicting powerful women and violent conflicts resulting from injustice.
Aqdam Riḥla Shinqīṭiyya Mudawwana: al-Riḥla al-Mubāraka lil-Ḥājj Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr al-Burtulī al-Wulātī ilā al-Ḥaramayn al-Sharīfayn (1204-1206H/1789-1791M)
The Oldest Travelogue from Chinguetti [Bilād Shinqīt, present-day Mauritania]: The Blessed Journey of al-Ḥājj Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr al-Burtulī al-Wulātī to the Two Holy Sanctuaries (1204-1205AH/1789-1790CE) was long considered lost. In addition to its historical value and the information it contains on the cultural relations between the western and eastern parts of the Islamic world, it stands out from other Ḥajj travelogues due to the itinerary it follows. The author describes cities, villages, and shrines of righteous people. The work is unique in its account of the unknown Algerian desert of Tenazruft, the landmarks and places along the way, as well as water wells and the notes on whether these are fresh or salty. The travelogue contains many historical references and reports on some ancient Arabic linguistic phenomena and is characterized by its level of detail and cautiousness.

إنها أقدم رحلة حج مدونة تخرج من بلاد شنقيط (موريتانيا الحالية) والتي بقيت دهرًا طويلاً في حكم المفقود. بالإضافة إلى قيمتها التاريخية وأهميتها في دراسة التواصل الحضاري بين غرب العالم الإسلامي وشرقه، فهي تتميز عن رحلات الحج الأخرى بمسارها. يصف المؤلف المدن والقرى ومزارات الصالحين. تتفرد الرحلة بوصف الصحراء الجزائرية المجهولة تنزروفت وتصف المعالم والأماكن على طول الطريق إلى الحرمين الشريفين في شبه الجزيرة العربية، وكذلك آبار المياه وما إذا كانت عذبة أو مالحة. والرحلة مليئة بالعديد من الإشارات التاريخية، بالإضافة إلى بعض الظواهر اللغوية العربية القديمة، وتتميز بدقة الوصف والاحتياط في الرواية.
Editor:
Sheikh al-Amin Mazrui wrote his essays of this Guidance (Uwongozi) collection in Mombasa between 1930 and 1932, providing social critique and moral guidance to Kenya’s coastal Muslims during a period of their decline during British colonial rule. The essays were initially published as a series of double-sided pamphlets called Sahifa (The Page), the first Swahili Islamic newspaper. Inspired by contemporary debates of Pan-Islam and Islamic modernism, and with a critical eye on British colonialism, this leading East African modernist takes issue with his peers, in a sharply critical and yet often humorous tone. Al-Amin Mazrui was the first to publish Islamic educational prose and social commentary in Swahili. This bi-lingual edition makes fascinating reading for specialists and general readers.
The Epic of Sumanguru Kante contains the Bamana text and English translation of griot Abdoulaye Sako’s oral narrative of the life of Sumanguru, recorded in 1997 in Koulikoro (Mali), together with explanatory notes, a scholarly introduction, and sections on the Bamana language and musical accompaniment. Sumanguru is a familiar figure within Manding epic oral traditions about ancient Mali. But while these narratives generally focus on Sunjata Keita, Sako’s oral poem is rare in according Sumanguru the central role. In so doing he includes hitherto undocumented episodes relating to Sumanguru’s life and role as the ruler of Soso, the little known state said to have flourished in the western Sudan between the fall of ancient Ghana and rise of ancient Mali.
Editors / Translators: , , and
This book presents fifty-one didactic and devotional Sufi poems (with English translations) composed by the ulama of Brava, on Somalia’s Benadir coast, in Chimiini, a Bantu language related to Swahili and unique to the town. Because the six ulama-poets, among whom two women, guided local believers towards correct beliefs and behaviours in reference to specific authoritative religious texts, the poems allow insight into their authors’ religious education, affiliations, in which the Qādiriyyah and Aḥmadiyyah took pride of place, and regional connections. Because the poems refer to local people, places, events, and livelihoods, they also bring into view the uniquely local dimension of Islam in this small East African port city in this time-period.