The Cutting Edge of the Poet's Sword: Muslim Poetic Responses to the Crusades

Approx. 260 pp.
ISBN: 978-90-04-34521-8
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 3, 300 Seiten, Format (B × H): 159 mm x 241 mm, Gewicht: 565 g

Reihe: The Muslim World in the Age of the Crusades

In this comprehensive analysis of Arabic poetry during the period of the crusades (sixth/twelfth-seventh/thirteenth centuries), Osman Latiff provides an insightful examination of the poets who inspired Muslims to unite in the jihad against the Franks. The Cutting Edge of the Poet’s Sword not only contributes to our understanding of literary history, it also illuminates a broad spectrum of religiosity and the role of political propaganda in the anti-Frankish Muslim struggle. Latiff shows how poets, often used by the ruling elite to promote their rule, emphasised the centrality of Islam’s holy sites to inspire the Muslim response to the occupation and later reconquest of Jerusalem, and expressed some surprising views of Frankish Christians.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Latiff, Osman

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Militärgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft: Lyrik und Dichter
• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islam & Islamische Studien
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Naher & Mittlerer Osten

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements
A Note on Transliteration
Abbreviations

1 Introduction: Setting the Scene
1.1 The Historical and Historiographical Context – Ideas and Definitions
1.2 Sanctities of Space
1.3 Sources
1.4 Ideological Pursuits: Nur al-Din, Salah al-Din, and Political Patronage: An Overview
1.5 Al-Ghazali and the New Sunnism of the Saljuq Period
1.6 Fada'il al-Quds (Merits of Jerusalem): Historiography and Relevance

2 Poetry and Poetics in Medieval Arabic Discourse
2.1 Historiographical Considerations
2.2 The Place of Poetry and Modern Perspectives

3 Theories and Principles of Jihad and the Quest for Martyrdom
3.1 Yusuf al-Findalawi and the Pursuit of Martyrdom

4 Formative Muslim Responses: Franks (Faranj), Christians (Rum) and the Making of a Christian Enemy
4.1 The First Crusade 488–493/1095–1099: Syria and Internal Reform
4.2 Verses in al-Sulami’s Kitab al-Jihad
4.3 The Proximity of an Islamic Jerusalem: The Fall of Edessa, Banu Asfar, and the Revival of Jihad
4.4 Images of the Franks in Muslim Poetry
4.5 The Merging of Sacred Designations

5 Poeticising the Reconquest and Future Expectations
5.1 The Reconquest of Jerusalem and Popular Piety
5.2 The Sanctification of Spaces
5.3 Constantinople and its Relation to Jerusalem
5.4 Ibn Jubayr: Pilgrimage, Poetry, and Social Accountability

6 Literary Underpinnings of the Anti-Frankish Jihad
6.1 Steering an Image: The Figure of the Christian ‘Other’ in Muslim Poetry
6.2 Nur al-Din and the Creation of a Pious Warrior Ethos
6.3 The Inspiration of the Qur'an in Jihad Poetry
6.4 Heightened Fears and Eschatological Undercurrents in Muslim Poetry
6.5 Gendering the Anti-Frankish Jihad

7 The Place of Egypt in Sixth-/Twelfth- and Seventh-/Thirteenth-Century Discourse
7.1 Egypt and the Language of Realpolitik
7.2 Poetry in Diplomacy and Calls for Unity

8 Shattered Dreams: Jerusalem, the Umma, and New Enemies
8.1 Post-Reconquest Poetry
8.2 Dismantling the Walls

Conclusion

Appendix: Arabic Poems
Bibliography
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Osman Latiff, Ph.D. (2011), Royal Holloway, University of London, is a researcher in medieval and crusader history. He also writes on international relations, having completed a Post-doctorate study on counter-hegemony and political syncretism in Arab-U.S relations (2015) and is currently authoring a book on the place of empathy in challenging attitudes of ‘otherness’ in conflict