Damascus

The architect and planner Michel Ecochard has had a long career in developing countries, from its first works in Syria under the French rule, until the 1970s. He represented the modernist and functionalist approach to planning in a time of modernization. In this article, we concentrate on his work in Lebanon and Syria between the end of the 1950s and the 1960s. He prepared the master plans of Beirut and of Damascus. Those works represented the end of an era rooted in colonial planning. It was also the beginning of a new time, with the local planners taking on, sometimes sharing, sometimes contesting Ecochard's visions. Building on recent scholarship on the circulation of planning ideas, we focus on the reception of Ecochard's proposals. Though most political elites and planning professionals shared most of Ecochard's views, the political circumstances and the changing social conditions led to adjustments and reorientations. The new planning framework was also a major factor of change.

A Mamluk Monument "Restored": The Da≠ r al-Qur'a≠ n wa-al-Hąd|th of Tankiz al-Na≠ sir| in Damascus INTRODUCTION Sayf al-D|n Tankiz al-Na≠ sir| governed the province of Syria and played a central role in the polity of al-Na≠ sir Muhammad Ibn Qala≠ wu≠ n throughout most of the sultan's lengthy third reign. 1 Installed as na≠ 'ib al-sha≠ m in 712/1312-13, Tankiz remained in this post until his deposition in 741/1340. An active architectural patron, Tankiz initiated numerous restoration projects, infrastructural endeavors, and new buildings throughout the Syrian province. 2 The pattern of his patronage has shown him to be not only a prolific builder, but also a sophisticated planner whose individual projects were predicated on long-range urban development schemes. This building program constituted one of the primary tools in the construction of the patron's public image. Moreover, Tankiz's patronage played a significant role in the development of Mamluk urban and architectural design. However, the corpus of Tankiz al-Na≠ sir|'s architectural work is represented today by only a few, geographically dispersed fragments in varying states of preservation. Some of his commissions survived into the last century and were documented-at least in part-by photographs or drawings. Others are known only through inscriptions or references in geographical texts, historical chronicles, or biographical compilations. In some instances, the only physical remnants of his commissions consist of ex situ fragments, sometimes re-used in later architecture. In a few cases, the patron's buildings still stand, although altered over time. This article will deal with one such case: a da≠ r al-qur'a≠ n wa-al-had|th erected by Tankiz in Damascus, between 728/1327-28 and 739/1338-39. It will investigate the extent

Gustav Bauernfeind was born in southern Germany and trained as an architect before turning to painting. This panel depicting the northern gate of the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus, painted in Munich in 1890, was the result of the last of three trips he made to the Middle East. The care Bauernfeind took is valuable today, not least because the mosque was gutted by fire in 1893, only three years after he visited. His exacting style, however, also conceals some elaboration of reality: the capital and relief panels of the central pillar are actually from different columns, for example, while the patterns on the underside of the arches come from bays that are not, in fact, adjacent to one another.

This paper describes and discusses a complicated Halachic case. It begins with a quarrel between a husband and wife, who were members of the Jewish community in Damascus during the 16th century. Their marital row led to a serious argument between two rabbis in the city, namely Rabbi Yosef Ibn Sayaḥ and Rabbi Moshe Baruch. The ensuing Halachic dispute that erupted involved rabbis from the neighboring city, Safed. The paper reconstructs the series of events, and presents the complete version of one of the responsa, which was written at the time of the dispute, along with excerpts from additional responsa.
The case offers readers a vivid glimpse into the life of 16th century Jewry in Damascus. It sheds light not only on marital affairs, such as the age of marriage and the couple's relationship, but on other important aspects regarding the function of the rabbinic court within the Ottoman Empire, and the relationships and interactions between sages from different centers. Analyzing this case helps to better understand the rabbis' written correspondence, the nature of superiors-subordinate relationships, and the alliances and conflicts that existed among sages in the Ottoman Empire. Furthermore, these responsa reveal an additional piece of the Halachic work produced by Rabbi Yoseph Ibn Sayaḥ, a highly respected Musta'rib posek (adjudicator), whose writings have yet to receive their rightful place among the history pages of Halachic literature

As a leading Muslim thinker, 'Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi of Damascus creatively engaged with the social, religious, and intellectual challenges that emerged during the early modern period in which he lived. Yet, at a time of high anti-mystical fervour, his Sufi-inspired views faced strong local antipathy. Through extensive correspondence, presented here for the first time, 'Abd al-Ghani projected his ideas and teachings beyond the parochial boundaries of Damascus, and was thus able to assert his authority at a wider regional level. The letters he himself selected, compiled, and titled shed fresh light on the religious and intellectual exchanges among scholars in the eastern Ottoman provinces, revealing a dynamic and rigorous image of Islam, one that is profoundly inspired by humility, tolerance, and love.

This study named “An Arab Poet in the Ottoman Period Ibn an-Naqib al-Hussainy and His Poems” attempts to
analyze the life of Ibn an-Naqib al-Hussainy, a poet of the Ottoman period, and his
poetries in terms of their contentual and formal properties.
The thesis consists of an introduction and three chapters. The introduction gives
a general description about the situation of Damascus in the 17th century, where Ibn
an-Naqib lived. The first chapter deals with the poet’s life, his books and his literary
identity. The second chapter analyzes his poetry’s content. The third chapter evaluates
his poetries based on their stylistic properties. Ibn an-Naqib composed poetries on
ikhwaneyat, nature, wine, praise, love etc. He has an unsophisticated language. While
figures of speech in his poetries are rich, simile and imagery are an important part of
his style.
In conclusion, this study showed that the poetries of Ibn an-Naqib are valuable in
point of content, language and style and that he is one of the distinguished poets in his
day.
Key Words: Ibn an-Naqib, Arabic Poetry in the Ottoman Period, Diwan Ibn an-
Naqib, Damascus, Ikhwaneyat, Nature, Simile, Imagery

تمثل اختبارات المقررات المعمارية العملية أدوات لقياس تحصيل الطالب في مجالات هذه المقررات، يفترض بها أن تسهم في تحسين أداء العملية التعليمية والعلمية للمقررات، فالدرجة الممنوحة للطالب بنتيجة الاختبار يجب أن تعبر تماما عن القيمة النوعية للتعلم؛ وتشير أسس علم التربية والتعليم إلى أن الاختبار يوضع استنادا لمحتوى المقرر بغاية تلبية غرض أو عدة أغراض تعليمية تبعا لخصائص بنود الاختبار، كما تشير هذه الأسس إلى أهمية توزيع الدرجات العظمى على الأجوبة الصحيحة وفق سلم العلامات المقترح قبل البدء بعملية التصحيح وفقا للأغراض التي وضع من أجلها الاختبار، وأن يتم التحكيم وفق آلية مدروسة ذات أبعاد علمية تعليمية؛ إلا أن التعامل مع اختبارات المقررات المعمارية العملية في الكلية لا يتم على هذا الشكل، والتبرير يقع في اعتماد الإجابة كمكون إجمالي بتعابير وأدوات شخصية، على عكس المقررات الأخرى التي يوضع فيها سلم العلامات بتوقع تماثل إجابات الطلاب وتطابق أدوات التعبير عن فقرات نص الاختبار؛ وعلى هذا المبدأ تأسس التعامل مع نصوص اختبارات هذه المقررات وآلية تصحيحها من سنين طويلة، دون محاولة وضع سلم تصحيح وضوابط للتحكيم، ودون محاولة الكشف عن دقتها ومدى استجابتها لأسس العملية التعليمية.

يُفترض أن لكل شيء قانوناً يحكمه ونظاماً يسير عليه ووفقه؛ وكلما كانت هذه القوانين واضحة ومفصلة ودقيقة، ومعممة على كل الأشياء، أنتجت صوراً مجازية متناسقة من العلاقات المنسجمة وفق ذلك النظام؛ وبخلافه، فإن تعدد القوانين ينتج صوراً متناقضة، بل وعشوائية في ذاتها ومع مثيلاتها ومتمماتها وقرائنها، وكذلك الحال لو أن القانون طبق على بعضها دون الآخر.
  والمتأمّل في هذا الكون لا يستغرب حقيقة وجود قانون واحد يرسم الصور وينسج العلاقات بين مكوناته، بل يصعب عليه الاقتناع بعدم وجوده؛ فلولاه لعمت الفوضى وساد الشذوذ الطبيعة بأسرها.
  ولو ذهبنا مع فرضية تعدد القوانين، فإن الجوهر يبقى واحداً، فلو اختلف الجوهر لانتفت إمكانية الصلة بين الموضوعات وبين الموضوع وتفرعاته ومكوناته، واستحال إنشاء العلاقات واستنتاج الروابط. وعلى فرض أن الإنسان هو محور هذه العملية، فلا بد له من جوهر ثابت ووحيد يقيس به كلَّ ما يشاهد، ويسمع، ويفهم؛ وبغير ذلك ستكون هناك استحالة في إنشاء علاقات بين الأشياء والموضوعات وبينه، وتزداد الأمور صعوبة إذا عممنا ذلك على أناس كثيرين.
  هذا الكتاب يؤيد فرضية وجود قانون وحيد للأشياء شكلاً ومضموناً، يعتمد جوهره على نسبة محددة سميت Phi تعمل وفق كمون تبادلي تقابلي أطلق عليه الكاتب مصطلح "Dinergy"؛ وكما في هذا الكتاب، لن نتعرض لإثبات مكتشف هذا القانون، ولن ننسب فضل الأسبقية لأحد، ولكن سنؤيد وجوده لدى الجميع دون استثناء.
  والقانون عبارة عن نسبة حسابية حكمت العلاقات المختلفة بثبات منقطع النظير أثبتها الرياضيون وعمل بها المعماريون والفنانون والأدباء وقاسها علماء الطبيعة، وتعرض لها العديد من المختصين في العلوم الطبية.
  قد يدعي البعض أن هذه النسبة ظهرت بشكل فطري من استخدام الأدوات القياسية البدائية، التي غالباً ما كانت عبارة عن خيط لرسم الدائرة وتقسيماتها والأشكال الناتجة عنها باستخدام وحدات قياسية نقية كمسافة القدم والذراع، وأننا لا بد أن نجد هذه النسبة في كل الأعمال الفنية القديمة التي اعتمدت على الأشكال الهندسية الأساسية والوحدات القياسية المذكورة. وقد يدعي آخرون أن العديد من النظريات الرياضية هي مفاهيم أزلية أثبتها العلماء كواقع موجود ولازال وليست ابتكاراً، فمثلاً مثلث فيثاغورث هو قياس يعمل به كل من يريد إنشاء زاوية قائمة قبل فيثاغورث وبعده وحتى اليوم. وهناك من يدعي أنها إشارات إلهية أو كونية عندما تكون في الطبيعة، وأنها رموز دينية أو دنيوية عندما تكون في المخرجات الإنسانية.
  كذلك قد نجد من يدعي أن الموضوع مجرد صدفة، أو أن الباحث يمكن له توجيه النتائج كما يريد لتأكيد وجهة نظره باختيار عينات وأمثلة محددة، واستبعاد ما يضعف بحثه وينفي وجهة نظره.
  كل ذلك صحيح، لكن الأصح أن هذه النسبة موجودة بالفعل، ونحن نعيشها بأنفسنا وفي كل ما حولنا، ولهذا وجب علينا فهمها ومن ثمّ لنا أن نعتنقها أو نعارضها أو نتجاهلها.
  وقد يتبادر للذهن استفسار عن قيمة هذه النسبة، ولمَ لم تكن ضعفاً أو ضعفين أو نصفاً أو ثلثاً أو ربعاً أو غير ذلك؟، هذا الكتاب يجيب بوضوح عن أهمية هذه القيمة التي تجمع الأشياء مهما كان نوعها أو حجمها أو شكلها من خلال مفهوم الـ"Dinergy"، كما يبين الكتاب أنها لغز حقيقي مثبت لدى الكثيرين ومنهج يُعمل به، ومعيار يقاس من خلاله مدى التباين عن قاعدة أو قانون غالباً ما وصفه بالإلهي.
  ولا شك في إمكانية ظهور الجمال والحقيقة في نسب وصيغ رياضية أخرى، ولا يمكن معارضة أو تجاهل الأشياء والأعمال التي لم تتضمن هذه النسبة، ولكن هذا لا يعفي من التعرف على هذه النسبة؛ وعلى هذا نقترح أهمية الكتاب، ونطرحه علماً يجب فهمه، ونترك للقارئ اختيار العمل به أو بغيره، والهدف الأساسي من نشرنا لهذا الكتاب الإقرار بأن الأشياء والأعمال مهما تكن، يجب أن تحكمها قوانين؛ عملاً بمقولة أرسطاطاليس: "ليس طَلَبي العلم طَمَعاً في بلوغ قاصِيَته ولا سبيلاً إلى غايته، ولكن التماسَ ما لا يسوغ جهله ولا يحسُن بالعاقل خِلافُه".

This paper is the text of a conference I gave in Dublin in 2010. My first paper dedicated to the find of the Qubbat al-khazna was published, with my late colleague prof. Paolo Radiciotti (02.10.1961-02.04.2012), as early as 2008 (see "Nea Rhome" 5). I was pleased to see how inspiring our 2008 article has been: some colleagues used it extensively in 2011.

In the year 1900, inside the Qubbat al-khazna (the Umayyad Great Mosque courtyard), an important discovery was made: there were found documents related to the very same mosque, certificates of pilgrimage to Mecca, Qur’anic fragments, Arabic and Turkish literary texts, parchment fragments in Latin language and script, as well as Latin fragments in Greek script, fragments in old French, Hebrew (also Samaritan texts), Armenian, Coptic, Syriac, Aramaic, as well as in Greek – attested both in Greek language and script and in Arabic language and Greek script. The entire ensemble of manuscripts dates back to the period spanning from the Late Antiquity to Modern times."

Traduction intégrale, introduite et annotée, de pages consacrées par Shihāb al-Dīn Ibn Faḍl Allāh al-‘Umarī (m. Damas, 749/1349) à Ibn Taymiyya dans son “Masālik al-abṣār fī mamālik al-amṣār”, telles qu’éditées in SHAMS, M. ‘U. & AL-‘UMRĀN, ‘A. b. M. (éds), “al-Jāmi‘ li-sīra shaykh al-islām Ibn Taymiyya khilāl sab‘a qurūn.” Introduction de B. b. ‘A. A. ABŪ ZAYD, 2e édition, La Mecque, Dār ‘Ālam al-Fawā’id, « Āthār shaykh al-islām Ibn Taymiyya wa mā laḥiqa-hā min a‘māl, 8 », 1422[/2001-2], p. 312-342.

SAMER AKKACH ED., Letters of a SufiScholar: The Correspondence of 'Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi (1641-1731) Islamic History and Civilization, vol. 74 (Brill: Leiden and Boston, 2009). Pp. 560 (Arabic and English). $ 211.00 cloth.The monograph under review contains a critical edition of seventy-two letters received and written by the famous Damascene Sufiand polymath 'Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi (1641-1731). In the introduction, editor Samer Akkach describes al-Nabulusi's correspondents as "Arab and Turkish friends, colleagues, mystics, highranking officials, and individuals unknown to him, all residing outside Damascus in various cities of the region" (p. 1). The letters deal with a wide variety of issues, from the finer points of the Muslim creed, to God's role as the ultimate cause of natural causes and human actions, to the unitive/monistic metaphysics of Ibn [al-]'Arabi (d. 1240) and his school of thought, to holy war, to religious ethics, to the permissibility of certain substances (e.g., tobacco and coffee), and so on. To help the reader to locate al-Nabulusi's correspondents geographically, the editor provides a map and a list of "Places, Towns, and Correspondents" (pp. 75-78). The book is divided into the English text that contains the editor's introduction and summary of some of the letters and the Arabic part that features an Arabic version of the English introduction and a critical edition of the Arabic text of al-Nabulusi's letters. In what follows I will be quoting passages from the editor's English introduction to the book.One should point out that the letters were carefully assembled by the author himself under the title Wasa'il al-ta?qiq wa rasa'il al-tawfiq, which the editor translates as "The Means of Truth-Seeking and the Letters of Providential Guidance" (p. 1). This fact indicates that al-Nabulusi valued these letters enough to take the trouble of copying each one of them (either by his own hand or by hiring a scribe) and collecting them under one cover. The editor provides a helpful account of possible reasons for al-Nabulusi's concern for the preservation of the letters for his posterity as well as the culture of private correspondence in his age in general (pp. 21-31). He also describes the author's intellectual milieu and personal religious and philosophical predilections (pp. 32-34).For those familiar with Akkach's earlier works, especially his 'Abd al-Ghani a-Nabulusi: Islam and the Enlightenment (Oxford: Oneworld, 2007), this collection will serve as a documentary sequel of sorts. Its purpose, as I perceive it, is to marshal textual evidence in support of Akkach's understanding of the beginnings of an Islamic "enlightenment" and intellectual emancipation that he has detected in the intellectual legacy of some Muslim thinkers of the late Ottoman epoch ('Abd al-Ghani a-Nabulusi, pp. 69-75), including al-Nabulusi, Hajji Khalifa (1609-1657), Evliya Celebi (1614-1682), Ibrahim Muteferriqa (d. 1745), Ibrahim Haqqi (d. 1780), and 'Abd al-Mannan (d. after 1779). Akkach's musings about the Islamic variant of the European Enlightenment are not the primary subject of the present volume, but, it is worth mentioning here that Akkach has discovered signs of al-Nabulusi's broadmindedness and tolerance (conceivably, an intellectual attitude indicative of "enlightenment") in his advocacy of Ibn [al-]'Arabi's doctrine of the unity of being (wa?dat al-wujud), his defense of human free will versus divine predetermination of all events, as well as, somewhat more controversially, in his approval of the public consumption of tobacco and coffee. In regard to wa?dat al-wujud, Akkach seeks to demonstrate the subtlety of al-Nabulusi's interpretation of this doctrine as opposed to what he considers to be a much cruder and confrontational approach to it taken by Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328). As someone who has written at length about Ibn Taymiyya's criticism of Ibn [al-] 'Arabi's monism and its impact on the subsequent polemic over his intellectual legacy in my Ibn 'Arabi in the Later Islamic Tradition, (Albany, Suny Press, NY: 1999), chap. …

يبدأ جمال المدينة الخالدة من عبقرية المكان الجغرافي الطبيعي، ومن ثم ينتقل إلى نباهة سكانه في استخدام المكان وتطويعه، واستخداماتهم للنسب والمقاييس الإلهية الفطرية الطبيعية دون شذوذ في التراكيب والصور والمضمون، وتتفاوت تصنيفات الجمال في مكونات المدينة لتدل على رقي ثقافة ساكنيها ومقدار انتمائهم للمكان، فجدران دمشق تتحدث لغة بليغة قادرة على وصف وتفسير جمال العمران والتخطيط بدرجة رفيعة من الدقة، لأنها وسيلة اتصال فعالة لاستقصاء أنماط عديدة من عمليات التبليغ ونقل الأخبار والمعلومات، فللمكان لغة واصفة، تبنى على تحويل الظواهر إلى مفاهيم وتعبر عن نتائجه بطريقة العلامات التي تغدو دلائل، من خلال أنساق من الإشارات كالحجوم والفراغات والظل والنور والسطوح والزخارف والألوان تنقل صفات وظروف ما يخاطبنا؛ فأي عمل معماري أو عمراني إنما يعكس لنا الأعراف والتقاليد والحالة الاقتصادية والطرز المعمارية السائدة، ويفصح عن حجم التطور العمراني وتقنيات تنفيذه ومواد بنائه وبيئته؛ فالجدران المصمتة التي تغيب فيها النوافذ المباشرة والحارات الضيقة المتعرجة، والارتفاع المحدود للأبنية، والمواد المستخدمة في البناء؛ هي إشارات في نسق سيميائي يعبر عن إيمان السكان بضرورة الخصوصية الشخصية، ويعكس تقديرهم للأبعاد الإنسانية، ويفصح عن الإمكانيات المعمارية المتوفرة من طرز وتقنيات ومعالجات بيئية للمناخ السائد.

Lear began his great oil panorama of Damascus in Rome on 17 February 1860. He worked from sketches made in Syria two years earlier (several of which are held by Qatar Museums), which he labelled with notes on the colours of the landscape. His visit to Damascus was the conclusion of a three-month tour embarked upon in early 1858, which also took him to Cairo, Jerusalem, Petra and Beirut.

French rule over Syria and Lebanon was premised on a vision of a special French protectorate established through centuries of cultural activity: archaeological, educational and charitable. Initial French methods of organising and supervising cultural activity sought to embrace this vision and to implement it in the exploitation of antiquities, the management and promotion of cultural heritage, the organisation of education and the control of public opinion among the literate classes. However, an examination of the first five years of the League of Nations-assigned mandate, 1920-1925, reveals that French expectations of a protectorate were quickly dashed by widespread resistance to their cultural policies, not simply among Arabists but also among minority groups initially expected to be loyal to the French. The violence of imposing the mandate 'de facto', starting with a landing of French troops in the Lebanese and Syrian coast in 1919 - and followed by extension to the Syrian interior in 1920 - was met by consistent violent revolt. Examining the role of cultural institutions reveals less violent yet similarly consistent contestation of the French mandate. The political discourses emerging after World War I fostered expectations of European tutelages that prepared local peoples for autonomy and independence. Yet, even among the most Francophile of stakeholders, the unfolding of the first years of French rule brought forth entirely different events and methods. In this book, Idir Ouahes provides an in-depth analysis of the shifts in discourses, attitudes and activities unfolding in French and locally-organised institutions such as schools, museums and newspapers, revealing how local resistance put pressure on cultural activity in the early years of the French mandate

`This excellent study is a welcome addition to the scholarship on the inter-war mandates of Syria and Lebanon. Ouahes focuses on the cultural institutions through which the French authorities imposed their rule, ably demonstrating the ways in which the mandate system was transformed into a political and cultural framework akin to colonialism. While tracing the disillusion and contestations that ensued, he nonetheless discusses the impact and disparate legacy of the period on both the French and the diverse populations of the two mandates.' - Patricia M.E. Lorcin, Professor of History and Samuel Russell Chair in Humanities, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, `Resisting the imposition of French imperial control in 1920s

'Syria was never solely a matter of violent opposition. Ranging from classrooms and museums, to archaeological sites and vernacular journalism, in this richly evocative text Idir Ouahes reveals how Syrians contested the imposition of French Mandate rule in the realms of cultural heritage, educational provision and print media.' - Martin Thomas, Professor of Imperial History, University of Exeter

Abstract: This article discusses briefly the tragic episode after the Shahadat of Moula al Husain (as) which was Qiyamat for Ahl al Bait (as). This painful history is recorded in the authentic Maqtal of Shaikh Abbas al Qummi. ‘Aahhin Summa Aahhin’ on what the children of Rasulullah(S) faced. Pretender of the seat of the so-called caliph committed such heinous crimes with the grandson of Rasulullah(S), Moula Abi Abdillah al Imam al Husain ibn Ali(as), at Karbala in 61 (AH), the precedent of which is not found in the history of the previous nations. Yazid (L), his supporters and their like minded are that cancerous part of the Ummah who executed the family of Rasulullah(S) and continue to treat their followers with contempt and cruelty. The family of Rasulullah(S) faced such Zulm and Masaib in the long journey from Karbala to Kufa to Syria, which in the past wasn't even faced by Sualeh (as) and Hud (as) from their nations, Samud and A’ad.  Even today, the successors of Shimar and Yazid never respect Ahl al Bait (as) and deliberately ignore the injunction of the Qur’an: “Muwaddatu Fil Qurba” (expressing love for the close of kin of Rasulullah(S) – Ali, Fatimah, Hasan and Husain). What justifications will the killers of Ahl al Bait (as) (the children of Rasulullah (S)) present to Allah on the Day of Qiyamah? How will the supporters of Yazid (L) who are always ready to defend him face Rasulullah(S) on the Day of Judgement? Allah is not ignorant of the Zulm done to His servants; the victims of Zulm will have their day, a day of great importance (the Day of Qiyamah when Qis’as of their Shahadat will be taken and the criminals punished). The clarion call of Husain:“Hal Min Nasirin Yansurna”(Is there anyone to help me) still resounds and demands that the devotees practice Shariah in their daily affairs, for which Moula al Husain(as), his Ahl al Bait(as) and Ash’ab(ra) embraced Shahadat and faced trials and tribulations at the land of Karbala. For which the grand-daughters of Rasulullah(S), ladies of Bani Hashim and others bore unbearable pain. The reply to the call of Husain (as) is: “Labbaiyyka Ya Husain” which means that one is present at Karbala in the battlefield, even if alone, deserted by others, with people accusing and letting you down. It states that you, your money, your parents, family and children are all ready to participate in this battle. This is the short meaning of "Labbaiyyka Ya Husain". The unique feature of this tearful description is the side by side Marasi of the four outstanding Shia Fatemi Ismaili Du’at. These Marasi are pure from distortion.  Contrary to the Urdu and Persian poets, these Du’at focused their skill of writing poetry towards the facts and Haqaiq. They never used their pen to show the grandeur of their literary talent, like the Urdu and Persian poets.

Die vorliegende Arbeit analysiert das Bild der Franken in Usāmas Buch „Kitāb al-I'tibār“, mit der Leitfrage „Wie charakterisiert Usāma die Franken in seinem Buch?“ mit dem Ziel, ein präzises Bild der Franken aus der Sicht Usāmas zeichnen zu können. Der Autor ver-fasste seine Memoiren in zahlreiche Episoden, aus denen ich Informationen entnehme, um die Franken aus unterschiedlichen Blickwinkeln charakterisieren zu können, z. B. in den Kampfdarstellungen, welche das erste Thema dieser Arbeit bilden. Usāma schildert ver-schiedene Kampfdarstellungen mit den Franken, an denen er teilgenommen bzw. die er beobachtet hat.

Table of Contents (revised edition 2019)

Abbreviations
List of Illustrations in the Text
List of Maps (after page …)
Foreword

Introduction
Four Roads to Damascus
The setting
Legends of a birth
For want of a spade

Chapter 1 – The Emergence of Damascus (9000 – c1000 BC)
The first villages
Ta-ms-qu in Upu
The mother of all battles
A wider catastrophe

Chapter 2 – Dimashqu – Damascus from the Aramaeans to the Assyrians (c1000 – 732 BC)
After the turmoil
An Aramaean Empire (Eleventh Century–733 BC)
Aram-Damascus vs Israel
Neo-Assyrian Empire (964–c800 BC)
The city of the god
Damascus in Aramaean Times
The temple
Resurgent Assyria (8th century BC)
Epilogue: An altar for Jerusalem

Chapter 3 – A Greater Game – Assyrians, Persians, Greeks (732 – c300 BC)
Neo-Assyrian Empire (732–636 BC)
Neo-Babylonians (Chaldeans) (626–539 BC)
Persian (Achaemenid) rule (539–333 BC)
Damascus during the twilight of the Ancient Near East
After Issus (333–331 BC)
A Hellenic millennium

Chapter 4 – The Sowing of Hellenism – Ptolemies and Seleucids (300 – 64 BC)
Ptolemaic rule – Third Century BC
Damascus between rival dynasties
Seleucid rule – second century BC
The persistence of the plan
A Greek city
Temple of Zeus
A Hellenistic civilisation?

Chapter 5 – Towards a Pax Romana (64 BC – AD 30)
Rome Intervenes
Pompey’s settlement
The east Mediterranean theatre
Damascus and the struggle for empire
Stabilising the Damascus region
Urge to monumentalise
Civic works

Chapter 6 – Metropolis Romana (AD 30 – 268)
Who were the Syrians?
The city and temple of Jupiter
Importance of cult centres
First Christian mission
An imperial city
Syrian consorts
The eastern question
Population
City and country

Chapter 7 – Holding the Line (AD 269 – 610)
Nature of the Persian threat
Hard and soft frontiers
A Christian city
Cathedral of Saint John
Decline and disintegration
Who were the Arabs|?
‘Do it yourself’ defence doctrine

Chapter 8 – ‘Farewell, Oh Syria’ (611 – 661)
Damascus – The First Bulwark
The great field army perishes
Arab aims
Heraclius retreats
Arab administration

Chapter 9 – The Umayyads (661 – 750)
Muʿawiya and the new order
The Umayyad prism
The ʿAlite revolt
Acquisition of the Church of Saint John
The building of the Mosque
The fantastic garden
Threshold of Paradise
A ninety year empire
A glorious failure?

PART TWO

Preface to Part Two - When did the ancient end?

Chapter 10 – Decline, Confusion and Irrelevance (750 – 1008)
Ostracism (750–877)
Teaching Damascus a lesson
Sullen revolt
Turkish inroads, Tulunids (877–905)
Shiʿism
Fragmentation (905–964)
Fatimids (969–1071)
Seljuks (1055–1104)
Arrival of the Burids (1104)
First madrasas

Chapter 11 – Islam Resurgent (1098 – 1174)
Bulwark Against the Crusaders?
Early Burids (Tughtagin 1104–28)
Burids versus Zengids (1128–48)
Jerusalem-Damascus-Aleppo
The Second Crusade (1148) – ‘Fiasco’
Citadel of the faith
Jihad!
Nur al-Din (1154–74)
Nur al-Din’s monuments
A new ‘Golden Age’

Chapter 12 – Saladin and the Ayyubids (1174 – 1250)
Saladin’s rise
Hattin (1187)
‘The last victory’
The Ayyubid succession
Al-Muazzim ʿIssa (1218–28)
Jerusalem betrayed
Al-Ashraf (1229–38)
Back on the periphery (1238-50)
Courtly society

Chapter 13 – Mamluks (1250 – 1515)
The Central Asian threat
Baybars (1260–77)
Return of the Mongols
The Mamluk system
A new prosperity
Foreigners
Mamluk building
Tengiz’s governorship (1312– 40)
Decline (1341-82)
Burji Mamluks (1382–1516)
Siege of Tamerlane (1401)
A Venetian window
Collapse

Chapter 14 – The Ottoman Centuries (1516 – 1840)
Military rule
The Hajj
Midan
Stability of population
Reshaping Damascus
Municipal services
A new role (1706–58)
‘Age of the Aʿyans’
Cathedrals of commerce
Acre’s rise – and fall
European ambitions – Egypt intervenes

Chapter 15 – Reform and Reaction (1840 – 1918)
Tanzimat – reform and reaction
1860 massacre
A ‘Little Istanbul’
Telegraph, road and rail
To Mecca by train?
The great fire of 1893
Suq al-Hamidiye
The Damascus house
Command for monument protection
Arab awakening
‘To Damascus!’ – the great ride
Whose Damascus?

Chapter 16 Epilogue – Countdown to Catastrophe (1919–2011)

1919
1925
1948
1970
2011

Appendices
Glossary of Terms and Names
Maps of City and Environs
Bibliography

Index

يُفترض أن لكل شيء قانوناً يحكمه ونظاماً يسير عليه ووفقه؛ وكلما كانت هذه القوانين واضحة ومفصلة ودقيقة، ومعممة على كل الأشياء، أنتجت صوراً مجازية متناسقة من العلاقات المنسجمة وفق ذلك النظام؛ وبخلافه، فإن تعدد القوانين ينتج صوراً متناقضة، بل وعشوائية في ذاتها ومع مثيلاتها ومتمماتها وقرائنها، وكذلك الحال لو أن القانون طبق على بعضها دون الآخر.
  والمتأمّل في هذا الكون لا يستغرب حقيقة وجود قانون واحد يرسم الصور وينسج العلاقات بين مكوناته، بل يصعب عليه الاقتناع بعدم وجوده؛ فلولاه لعمت الفوضى وساد الشذوذ الطبيعة بأسرها.
  ولو ذهبنا مع فرضية تعدد القوانين، فإن الجوهر يبقى واحداً، فلو اختلف الجوهر لانتفت إمكانية الصلة بين الموضوعات وبين الموضوع وتفرعاته ومكوناته، واستحال إنشاء العلاقات واستنتاج الروابط. وعلى فرض أن الإنسان هو محور هذه العملية، فلا بد له من جوهر ثابت ووحيد يقيس به كلَّ ما يشاهد، ويسمع، ويفهم؛ وبغير ذلك ستكون هناك استحالة في إنشاء علاقات بين الأشياء والموضوعات وبينه، وتزداد الأمور صعوبة إذا عممنا ذلك على أناس كثيرين.
  هذا الكتاب يؤيد فرضية وجود قانون وحيد للأشياء شكلاً ومضموناً، يعتمد جوهره على نسبة محددة سميت Phi تعمل وفق كمون تبادلي تقابلي أطلق عليه الكاتب مصطلح "Dinergy"؛ وكما في هذا الكتاب، لن نتعرض لإثبات مكتشف هذا القانون، ولن ننسب فضل الأسبقية لأحد، ولكن سنؤيد وجوده لدى الجميع دون استثناء.
  والقانون عبارة عن نسبة حسابية حكمت العلاقات المختلفة بثبات منقطع النظير أثبتها الرياضيون وعمل بها المعماريون والفنانون والأدباء وقاسها علماء الطبيعة، وتعرض لها العديد من المختصين في العلوم الطبية.
  قد يدعي البعض أن هذه النسبة ظهرت بشكل فطري من استخدام الأدوات القياسية البدائية، التي غالباً ما كانت عبارة عن خيط لرسم الدائرة وتقسيماتها والأشكال الناتجة عنها باستخدام وحدات قياسية نقية كمسافة القدم والذراع، وأننا لا بد أن نجد هذه النسبة في كل الأعمال الفنية القديمة التي اعتمدت على الأشكال الهندسية الأساسية والوحدات القياسية المذكورة. وقد يدعي آخرون أن العديد من النظريات الرياضية هي مفاهيم أزلية أثبتها العلماء كواقع موجود ولازال وليست ابتكاراً، فمثلاً مثلث فيثاغورث هو قياس يعمل به كل من يريد إنشاء زاوية قائمة قبل فيثاغورث وبعده وحتى اليوم. وهناك من يدعي أنها إشارات إلهية أو كونية عندما تكون في الطبيعة، وأنها رموز دينية أو دنيوية عندما تكون في المخرجات الإنسانية.
  كذلك قد نجد من يدعي أن الموضوع مجرد صدفة، أو أن الباحث يمكن له توجيه النتائج كما يريد لتأكيد وجهة نظره باختيار عينات وأمثلة محددة، واستبعاد ما يضعف بحثه وينفي وجهة نظره.
  كل ذلك صحيح، لكن الأصح أن هذه النسبة موجودة بالفعل، ونحن نعيشها بأنفسنا وفي كل ما حولنا، ولهذا وجب علينا فهمها ومن ثمّ لنا أن نعتنقها أو نعارضها أو نتجاهلها.
  وقد يتبادر للذهن استفسار عن قيمة هذه النسبة، ولمَ لم تكن ضعفاً أو ضعفين أو نصفاً أو ثلثاً أو ربعاً أو غير ذلك؟، هذا الكتاب يجيب بوضوح عن أهمية هذه القيمة التي تجمع الأشياء مهما كان نوعها أو حجمها أو شكلها من خلال مفهوم الـ"Dinergy"، كما يبين الكتاب أنها لغز حقيقي مثبت لدى الكثيرين ومنهج يُعمل به، ومعيار يقاس من خلاله مدى التباين عن قاعدة أو قانون غالباً ما وصفه بالإلهي.
  ولا شك في إمكانية ظهور الجمال والحقيقة في نسب وصيغ رياضية أخرى، ولا يمكن معارضة أو تجاهل الأشياء والأعمال التي لم تتضمن هذه النسبة، ولكن هذا لا يعفي من التعرف على هذه النسبة؛ وعلى هذا نقترح أهمية الكتاب، ونطرحه علماً يجب فهمه، ونترك للقارئ اختيار العمل به أو بغيره، والهدف الأساسي من نشرنا لهذا الكتاب الإقرار بأن الأشياء والأعمال مهما تكن، يجب أن تحكمها قوانين؛ عملاً بمقولة أرسطاطاليس: "ليس طَلَبي العلم طَمَعاً في بلوغ قاصِيَته ولا سبيلاً إلى غايته، ولكن التماسَ ما لا يسوغ جهله ولا يحسُن بالعاقل خِلافُه".

Traduction intégrale, introduite et annotée, de la notice biographique consacrée par Ibn Rajab (m. 795/1392) à Ibn Taymiyya dans sa « Continuation des classes des Ḥanbalites » (al-Dhayl ‘alā ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābila), édition ‘A. R. b. S. AL-‘UTHAYMĪN, 5 t., Riyāḍ, Maktabat al-‘Ubaykān, 1425/2005, t. IV, p. 491-529.

تعد مادة التصميم المعماري من أهم المواد التدريسية في مناهج الهندسة المعمارية، يتم تدريسها في السنوات التحصيلية الخمسة؛ من خلال مجموعة من المشاريع، وأخرى من التمارين؛ تمثل في مجملها المنهج العلمي للمادة، ويتم التعامل مع هذه المادة في كلية الهندسة المعمارية بجامعة دمشق؛ استنادا إلى مفاهيم، وآليات من وجهة نظر خاصة بالكلية نفسها، ولبيان مدى صحتها؛ تم شرح عدد من المفاهيم، والأسس النظرية الواجب استخدامها، في أداء عملية تعليم مادة التصميم المعماري؛ مع التركيز على آلية التقييم.

  وللتأكيد على وجهة نظر البحث؛ تم تحليل نتائج الطلاب في السنوات التحصيلية الخمسة؛ خلال الأعوام الدراسية 01/02؛ 02/03؛ 03/ 04؛ في اتجاهين؛ الأول : اهتم بنتائج الطلاب في مفردات المجموعات الاختبارية، وتم التوصل من خلاله إلى شكل تطور تعليم الطلاب في المجموعات الاختبارية، والثاني: ناقش محصلات نسب نجاح الطلاب في المادة، وأوضح من خلاله أن نتائج الطلاب تتركز في مجال محدود من قيم المعدلات المتدنية. وأتت النتائج مطابقة للوصف، والتحليلات الموجودة في هذا البحث؛ انبثق عنها مجموعة من التوصيات؛ تدعو إلى وجوب وجود رعاية علمية، ومعنوية للمدرسين؛ بهدف تحسين واقع نتائج البحث.

  The Architecture design subject considered as the most important studying subject in architecture collage programs, and taught in the five studying years; through series of projects and series of exercises; which present total education program, and this subject treated in the architecture collage in Damascus University; according to conceptions, and machineries from particular view point of the collage, and to show the extent veracity of them; consummated to explain numbers of conceptions, and theoretic fundamentals which must be used in the education activity of architecture design subject; focusing on the machinery of  Valuation. 

    And to ensure the search’s view point; an analysis done to the students results in the five studying years; during the years 01/02, 02/03, 03/04; in two directions; The First: considered the students results inside the groups solitary taste, an achievement done through it to the development form of student teaching inside the taste group, The Second: discuss the sequence passing students in the subject, and declare through it that the student results concentrate in limit rang of dropped rate value. And the results became identical to the description, and the existent analysis in this search; emanated a group of recommendations; demand to find an educational, and immaterial to the teachers due to improve the search results reality.

Syria's sectarian fragmentation was not created when the war began in 2011; it had its genesis in an inherited Ottoman millet system whose traits were accentuated by the "divide to reign" policies of Hafiz al-Assad. The war has compelled Syrians to cling to their sectarian identities more tightly, whether out of socioeconomic self-interest or simply to survive. Examining these identities is therefore crucial to answering the most fundamental questions about the ongoing upheaval. In many ways, the Syrian conflict has been taken out of the hands of Syrians themselves, becoming a proxy war between regional and international forces that often exploit the country's divided society for their own benefit.

في اكتشاف جديد لمخطوطة تسمية كتب يوسف بن حسن بن عبد الهادي، يُقدِّم سعيد الجوماني وكونراد هيرشلر أضبط قائمة ببليوغرافية بمؤلفاته الشخصيَّة وبخط يده؛ فنبَّهت هذه القائمة إلى جزءٍ من إنتاجه الفكري كان مجهولاً تماماً، وصححت الكثير من أخطاء القراءة في القوائم السابقة. ونشرها سيدعم الأبحاث العاملة بحقل حركة التأليف بدمشق والحياة الفكريّة فيها نهاية القرن التاسع الهجريّ، خاصّةً ما يتعلق بالتراث الحنبليّ وعلم الحديث. وسيفتح الربط بين المؤلفات المذكورة في تسمية الكتب من جهة ووقف كتب ابن عبد الهادي من جهة ثانية والمخطوطات الموجودة في مكتبات العالم من جهة ثالثة باباً جديداً إلى دراسة التراث الفكري في مدينة دمشق أواخر العهد المملوكي. وتقترح هذه الدراسة إطاراً جديداً لدراسة التاريخ الاجتماعي اعتماداً على الوثائق الشخصيَّة والهيئات الماديّة للمخطوطات الشخصيّة.

This article examines a group of twelve fragments in different languages and different scripts previously held in the Schøyen collection in London and Oslo. After they first emerged on the market in 1993, these fragments received colourful hypothetical and/or fictional pseudo-provenances. However, a consideration of the material logic of these parchment fragments (including folding lines and sewing holes) as well as an examination of the Arabic marginal manuscript notes they carry allows us to re-establish their historical trajectory from the seventh/thirteenth century onwards. At this point, they became part of Muslim Damascene manuscript culture and were reused as wrappers for small booklets in the scholarly field of ḥadīth. In the late ninth/fifteenth century, these booklets were subjected to a massive binding project and the fragments went into new large volumes. This article thus suggests approaches to use provenance research in order to re-historicize decontextualized fragments in modern collections.

Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. Muslim b. ʿUbaydallāh b. ʿAbdallāh b. Shihāb b. ʿAbdallāh b. al-Ḥārith b. Zuhra b. Kilāb, better known as Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī (d. 124/742), was one of the founders of Islamic tradition in the widest sense of the word.  After a life rich in pioneering scientific achievements, he died at his estate where he retired in his later years. Details of Z.’s biography are discussed in the first three sections of the present study, while the last three deal with geographical aspects of his estate. The emphasis on the geographical data is methodologically important, as it stems from my conviction that the history of Arabia should be studied with constant reference to the abundant geographical information at our disposal.

Reassembles the books of a medieval Arabic library that are today dispersed around the world
    . Sets out a new approach to the study of Arabic book culture
    . Edits the most important Arabic medieval book list
    . Provides a new angle on the history of ḥadīth in the late-medieval period
    . Reconceptualises the mobility of endowed books
    . Reproduces the entire catalogue in colour

In the late medieval period, manuscripts galore circulated in Middle Eastern libraries. Yet very few book collections have come down to us as such or have left a documentary trail. This book discusses the largest private book collection of the pre-Ottoman Arabic Middle East for which we have both a paper trail and a surviving corpus of the manuscripts that once sat on its shelves: the Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī Library of Damascus. The book suggests that this library was part of the owner’s symbolic strategy to monumentalise a vanishing world of scholarship bound to his life, family, quarter and home city.

Although ‘Abd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī of Damascus (1641–1731) was not formally a Mawlawī Sufi, he claimed to have absorbed the spirituality of Rūmī and wrote passionately in defence of Rūmī’s Sufi poetry and the Mawlawī tradition. He ably synthesized Ibn ‘Arabī’s teachings concerning beauty and love with Rūmī’s teachings on these topics as well as sacred music (Samā‘) and sacred dance (Tawājud). This article introduces the significance of his mystical philosophy and his literary defence of the dervishes and ideals of the Mawlawī Order. It reviews those of his works that are relevant to the Mawlawiyya, including al-Ṣirāṭ al-sawī sharḥ dībājāt al-Mathnawī (The Straight Way in the Exposition of the Elegant Styles of the Mathnawī) and al-‘Uqūd al-lu’lu’iyya fī ṭarīq al-sāda al-Mawlawiyya (The Strings of Pearls in the Way of the Mawlawī Lords). The conclusion summarizes the impact of Rūmī on Nābulusī, on the one hand, and the significance of Nābulusī as a commentator and exegete of the Mawlawī doctrine and Rūmī’s works, on the other.

Since the Middle Ages, Saladin has been one of the most influential figures of historical memory in Eurasia. He was used as a symbol of the noble enemy, of war with the West and Israel, and of peace. In various incarnations he was also a national hero. According to Assmann, any collective memory of a symbol or figure creates orientation within a group and identity for the individual. Cultural memory is reconstructive,
as knowledge of the past is aligned anew with contemporary
needs.

This essay challenges the still prevalent historiographical trope of the decline of the Jewish communities under Muslim rule in the later Middle Ages. The essay critiques the ideological underpinnings of this notion of decline and then offers an alternative historiography based on Arabic prosopographical texts from Mamluk Syria.

The scroll Vatican Gr. 2282 represents one of the oldest and most important witnesses to the eucharistic liturgy attributed to St James (JAS), which was widely celebrated in medieval Jerusalem and beyond. Though most liturgiologists have followed a ninth-century dating for this scroll, scholarly datings have fluctuated greatly, including in recent publications. This article brings together recent studies on Vatican Gr. 2282 and important related manuscripts that are connected to the city of Damascus. The author argues in favor of a dating for the late ninth or early tenth century and situates this JAS scroll within a broader picture of Christian religious culture in Damascus at the time. The article also raises methodological questions connected specifically to the study of JAS as well as liturgical diversity within the medieval Patriarchate of Antioch.