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Known as “one of the most complex and unusual texts in Arabic literature” (Banipal Magazine), The Epistle of Forgiveness is the lengthy reply by the prolific Syrian poet and prose writer, Abu l-'Ala' al-Ma'arri (d. 449 H/1057 AD), to a letter by an obscure grammarian, Ibn al-Qari. With biting irony, The Epistle of Forgiveness mocks Ibn al-Qari’s hypocrisy and sycophancy by imagining he has died and arrived with some difficulty in Heaven, where he meets famous poets and philologists from the past. In al-Maarri’s imaginative telling, Ibn al-Qari also glimpses Hell and converses with the Devil and various heretics.Al-Ma'arri—a maverick, a vegan, and often branded a heretic himself—seems to mock popular ideas about the Hereafter. Among other things, he introduces us to hypocrites, poets, princes, rebels, mystics, and apostates, with asides on piety, superstition, wine-drinking, old age, and other topics. This remarkable book is the first complete translation of this masterpiece into any language, all the more impressive because of Al-Ma'arri's highly ornate and difficult style, his use of rhymed prose, and his numerous obscure words and expressions. Replete with erudite commentary, amusing anecdotes, and sardonic wit, The Epistle of Forgiveness is an imaginative tour-de-force by one of the most pre-eminent figures in classical Arabic literature.

HISTORY / Middle East / General. --- Middle East --- History.

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Seljuks --- Seljuks. --- History. --- Iran --- Iran. --- History --- HISTORY / Middle East / General. --- 640-1256. --- History / middle east / general.

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History / middle east / general. --- Civilization. --- To 1500. --- Cyprus --- Cyprus --- Cyprus. --- History --- Civilization.

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"In the sixth century CE the East Roman (or "Byzantine") Emperor Justinian presided over nearly four decades of remarkable change. From his capital of Constantinople, he directed armies to re-conquer territories that had been lost to Roman control in the fifth century, while also taking on the neighboring superpower of Persia. Most histories of Justinian's reign focus on these military exploits, and on the unprecedented persecution of religious and sexual minorities that earned him the epithet "Demon King." In Justinian Cambridge historian Peter Sarris argues that the emperor's achievements were more fundamental and diverse. Justinian oversaw the formalization of Roman law, creating a body of law that survived into the Middle Ages and, to this day, forms the basis of legal systems across much of Europe. The same religious and moral agenda that earned him his reputation as a demonic tyrant also inspired him to seek to improve the lot of humbler members of Roman society, and especially of women, on behalf of whom his wife, the Empress Theodora, lobbied him persistently. The book also examines the vast impersonal forces that threatened to shake Justinian's empire to its very foundations, including a dramatic period of climate change and, most devastatingly of all, bubonic plague, which wiped out, by some estimates, half the population of Constantinople. Justinian provides a radical reassessment of an emperor's legacy and achievement. Even as Justinian sought to recapture Rome's past greatness, he paved the way for what would follow"-- Through his energetic reform program, and his energetic self-glorification, Justinian redefined what it meant to rule, providing a model of active statecraft to which future Byzantine and Holy Roman emperors, medieval kings, and even Muslim caliphs and Ottoman sultans, would aspire. And yet, in recasting Roman society as an "Orthodox Republic," one in which his vision of the true Christian faith would prevail, Justinian laid the foundations for the exclusions and persecutions that characterized Medieval Christendom. Drawing on the latest scholarship, Justinian provides a panoramic history of the emperor's life and reign, shining new light on both the context of Justinian's program of imperial renewal and his true priorities. Justinian aimed to restore the majesty of the Roman Empire and the power of the emperor, whom he believed to be appointed by God.

Emperors --- Emperors. --- HISTORY / Middle East / General. --- Justinian --- Justinian --- 527-565. --- Byzantine Empire --- Byzantine Empire. --- History

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Historians identify the Muslim conquest of the various ancient lands around the Fertile Crescent as the watershed between ancient and medieval civilization in that region. When so doing, maintains Michael Morony, they have underestimated the extent to which ancient civilization continued to develop. Contributing to our understanding of the nature of historical continuity and change, Professor Morony compares conditions in late Sasanian and early Islamic Iraq in the seventh century A.D., and depicts both the emergence of a local form of Islamic society and the interaction of Muslim conquerors from Arabia with the native population.

Ethnology --- Anthropologie sociale et culturelle --- Iraq --- Irak --- History --- Social conditions. --- Histoire --- Conditions sociales --- Irak. --- HISTORY / Middle East / General.