This article examines the Wad Hamid narrative cycle by Sudanese writer al-Tayyib Salih as a literary project functioning as a national allegory of modern Sudanese history. Through The Wedding of Zein, Season of Migration to the North, and Bandarshah, it argues that Salih constructs a multilayered narrative in which rural communal utopia—reflecting the optimism of independence—postcolonial disillusionment with the collapse of the nahda project, the unresolved tensions of the cultural encounter between colonizer and colonized, and fragmented historical memory constitute successive stages within an overarching allegorical structure.
This article examines the Arabic manuscript inv. 1524r from the Aziz S. Atiya Collection, a fragment of paper originating from a larger scroll that contains six lines of Qurʾānic verses evoking divine love and miraculous intervention. While it can be interpreted as an amulet, the manuscript displays material features, such as traces of brown ink and decorative staining, closely resembling those found in ziyāra certificates. Comparisons with these documents reveal similarities in dimensions, layout, and folding patterns, while puncture marks along the right margin indicate a potential apotropaic function. This article provides a detailed edition, translation, and analysis of the manuscript, highlighting its paleographical and material particularities. These observations suggest that the document occupies an intermediate position between the two typologies: it may have functioned either as an independent amulet or as part of a broader ziyāra certificate. In either case, manuscript inv. 1524r reflects continuity in the production and design conventions of amulets and ziyāra scrolls during the Fatimid and Mamluk periods.
This contribution examines the historiographical problem of the alleged conversion of ʻUmar b. Ḥafṣūn to Christianity, drawing upon modern scholarly debate and, in particular, a philological analysis of the Arabic sources. The examination of the chronicles, especially that of Ibn Ḥayyān, reveals a systematic use of Islamic theological terminology (nifāq, irtidād, riddah, kufr, širk) that defines apostasy with juridical precision. Furthermore, the use of iʻtiqād indicates a firm doctrinal adherence rather than a merely superficial or ostensible affiliation. Particular significance is attached to the description of the burial “according to the Christian norm”, attested by jurists (fuqahāʼ), which reinforces the confessional identification of the deceased. Although this discourse may reflect an Umayyad agenda aimed at political delegitimisation, its lexical coherence suggests the existence of a consolidated historiographical tradition. Thus, while the historical veracity of the conversion cannot be definitively established, the sources unambiguously present Ibn Ḥafṣūn as an apostate who died as a Christian.
In view of the centrality of sufism in the work of šayj Muḥammad al-Māmī, an eminent 19th-century theologian, mystic, and reformer in Trāb al-Bidān, this article seeks to offer an approach to this aspect of his thought, based on the examination of his published works: treatises, epistles, and poetry, highlighting those parts that express it. In this regard, it attempts to investigate which line of sufism he follows, as well as the intellectual sources that nourish his elaborations, in order to highlight the distinctive features of his spiritual path. The translation and analysis of his main published works are employed.
This paper examines the first part of the Dhakhīra, a work by the Andalusi anthologist Ibn Bassām al-Shantarīnī from the Almoravid period, which immortalizes the literary splendor of the Taifa kingdoms. The aim is to visualize its internal structure and characterize Ibn Bassām’s use of language to express his stance. The paper is organized into four sections. The first introduces the author and the work, with special attention to the content of the entries that constitute the analyzed part. The second describes the methodology employed to visualize and extract information. The third presents the results regarding the presence and articulation of the authorial voice, showing the inclusion of different genres and highlighting the lexicon in use. And the fourth addresses the dispute over narrative space between the voice of Ibn Bassām and that of the Cordovan historian Ibn Ḥayyān, as well as the particularities of the former in relation to his outstanding role as a literary critic. The conclusions show the relevance of the method followed in this study in examining the relationship between the author’s own voice, his use of a specific vocabulary, and the structure, content, and context of his work.
