The studies in this volume, which cover an unusually wide range of topics in the Arabic humanities and Islamic thought, explore the richness of the Arabic literary tradition and Islamic intellectual life from the beginnings of Islam to the present.

Joseph E. Lowry, (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1999) teaches Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and is an editor of the Library of Arabic Literature.
Shawkat M. Toorawa, (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1998), teaches Arabic language and literature at Yale University and is an editor of the Library of Arabic Literature.