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The Discourses: Reflections on History, Sufism, Theology, and Literature―Volume One
Wide-ranging essays on Moroccan history, Sufism, and religious life
Al-Hasan al-Yusi was arguably the most influential and well-known Moroccan intellectual figure of his generation. In 1084/1685, at the age of roughly fifty-four, and after a long and distinguished career, this Amazigh scholar from the Middle Atlas began writing a collection of short essays on a wide variety of subjects. Completed three years later and gathered together under the title Discourses on Language and Literature ( al-Muhadarat fi l-adab wa-l-lughah ), they offer rich insight into the varied intellectual interests of an ambitious and gifted Moroccan scholar, covering subjects as diverse as genealogy, theology, Sufism, history, and social mores.
In addition to representing the author’s intellectual interests, The Discourses also includes numerous autobiographical anecdotes, which offer valuable insight into the history of Morocco, including the transition from the Saadian to the Alaouite dynasty, which occurred during al-Yusi’s lifetime. Translated into English for the first time, The Discourses offers readers access to the intellectual landscape of the early modern Muslim world through an author who speaks openly and frankly about his personal life and his relationships with his country’s rulers, scholars, and commoners.
A bilingual Arabic-English edition.
Al-Hasan al-Yusi was arguably the most influential and well-known Moroccan intellectual figure of his generation. In 1084/1685, at the age of roughly fifty-four, and after a long and distinguished career, this Amazigh scholar from the Middle Atlas began writing a collection of short essays on a wide variety of subjects. Completed three years later and gathered together under the title Discourses on Language and Literature ( al-Muhadarat fi l-adab wa-l-lughah ), they offer rich insight into the varied intellectual interests of an ambitious and gifted Moroccan scholar, covering subjects as diverse as genealogy, theology, Sufism, history, and social mores.
In addition to representing the author’s intellectual interests, The Discourses also includes numerous autobiographical anecdotes, which offer valuable insight into the history of Morocco, including the transition from the Saadian to the Alaouite dynasty, which occurred during al-Yusi’s lifetime. Translated into English for the first time, The Discourses offers readers access to the intellectual landscape of the early modern Muslim world through an author who speaks openly and frankly about his personal life and his relationships with his country’s rulers, scholars, and commoners.
A bilingual Arabic-English edition.
- GenresIslamNonfictionReligion
530 pages, Hardcover
Published February 25, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 3, 2023
It is a beautiful book, which is unique in its writing style. Can be read multiple times to absorb hints of wisdom each time. It also provides tremendous insight into the anthropology and thinking of Moroccan intelligentsia during a criminally neglected epoch.
February 15, 2022
Interesting from a historical perspective but not of spiritual benefit. Al Yusi is antisemitic and misogynistic.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews